US2609082A

US2609082A - Hook conveyer

Info

Publication number: US2609082A
Application number: US215114A
Authority: US
Inventors: John M Leach
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1951-03-12
Filing date: 1951-03-12
Publication date: 1952-09-02
Anticipated expiration: 1969-09-02

Description

Sept. 2, '1952 J. LEACH HOOK CONVEYER 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1 Filed March 12, 1951 INVENTOR.

Sept. 2, 1952 J. M. LEACH 2,609,082

HOOK CONVEYER Filed March 12, 1951 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 na U IN V EN TOR.

yh h- M Iaten ted Sept. 2, 1952 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE HOOK CONVEYER John M. Leach, Port Washington, N. Y. Application March 12, 1951, Serial No. 215,114

3 Claims.

overhead type. i

It is an object of the present invention to provide an overhead conveyor of the chain and trolley type in which rolling contact exists at all points between the moving and fixed parts of the system. Y 7

It is another object of the present invention to provide an overhead conveyor having rolling contact at all points between the movingand fixed parts, at vertical and horizontal turns as well as on the straight sections, without resort to traction wheels or roller supports at the turns.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide an overhead conveyor in which the forces set up due to the trolleys making horizontal turns are distributed over three wheels.

It is also an object of the present invention to provide an overhead conveyor in which the pull of the chain has no tendency to tilt the trolleys relative to the track in the direction of travel of the conveyor.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide an overhead conveyorin which the load has no tendency to tilt the trolleys relative to the track on up or down runs.

It is a still further object of the: present invention to provide an overhead conveyor which can be manufactured economically from parts which are obtainable on the open market, and in which the chain pull is reduced to aminimum.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art as the description of the now preferred form of the invention proceeds.

For a more detailed description of the invention, reference is made to the accompanying drawings wherein like reference characters refer to the same parts throughout, andin which:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a trolley of the present invention;

Fig. 2 is cross sectional view of a trolley of the invention taken substantially on the plane indicated by line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a top plan view of a trolley of the present invention and connecting chain sections;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary side elevation of the trolleys, chain and track of the present invention;

Fig. 5 is a cross sectional view of the overhead conveyor of the present invention taken substantially on the plane indicated by line 5-5 of Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 is a top plan view of a horizontal curve of the conveyor of the present invention;

Fig. '1 is a cross sectional view of a horizontal curve section of the present invention taken substantially on the plane indicated by line 1-1 of Fig. 6; 1

Fig. 8 is a cross sectional view of the conveyor of the present invention taken substantially on the plane indicated by line 8-8 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 9 is a side elevational view of the conveyor of the present invention showing a vertical curve, and

Fig. 10 is a cross sectional view of the conveyor of the present invention taken substantially on the plane indicated by line Ill-4B of Fig. 9.

The supporting track structure of the conveyor is preferably formed of T-sections (see Figs. 4 and 5) l2 connected at suitable intervals by brackets M which are preferably welded to the T-sections and also serve as points of attachment for any suitable type of supporting hangers (not shown) for suspending the conveyor from the ceiling or other desired point- The trolleys comprise plates 16 carrying through shafts [8 to which vertical wheels 29 are suitably affixed. The plates l6 have openings .22 which receive horizontal wheels 24 which are suitably retained in position as by welding the shafts for the wheels 24 to the plates I6 as shown at 26. 28 are formed in the plates l6 and receive load hooks of any desired type such as shown at 30.

U-shaped clips 32 are pivoted to the plates l6 by suitable rivets or bolts 34 which pass through aligned holes in the clips 32 and plates [6. Through pins 35 of chain connecting sections 38 pass vertically through the clips 32 and thus con nect the connecting sections and trolleys together in an endless element.

The chain and trolleys are propelled along the track by any desired type of drive (not shown) which may be of the sprocket or Caterpillar'typ'e.

Where the conveyor makes horizontal turns the brackets 14 are replaced by higher brackets 40 and a third track section E2 is suitably fastened to the brackets 40 above the outside bottom track section 12. When a trolley comes into a horizon tal turn, the chain 38 chords across as shown at 44 in Fig. 6 and rocks on the inside track section I2 for the outside wheel 28 to break contact with the outside track section l2 and make contact with the underside of the top track section 42 and for the horizontal wheel 24 to make contact with the inside of the flange portion of the inside track section l2, as shown in Fig. 8. In this position, the chain pull is carried substantially equally by all three wheels as shown by the force arrows A, B, and C in Fig. 8. Under these con- Substantially arcuate shaped slots ditions, the wear is distributed between three wheels instead of being thrown upon only one or two wheels and the life of the wearing parts is greatly prolonged. Also, neither the chain 38 nor any part of any trolley rubs on any fixed part of the conveyor, which provides full rolling contact between these parts without requiring the use of a traction wheel or a separate roller turn.

The construction thus far described also makes it possible to utilize very sharp horizontal turns because of the absence of rubbing or sliding friction. The minimum turn radius is limited solely by the size of the loads being carried because the turn radius can be made as small as desired as long as it does not go below the distance between trolleys. By reducing the distance between trolleys the turn radius can be made as small as desired.

Where the conveyor makes vertical turns as shown in Fig. 9 two curved sections of

track

46 and 48 are suitablyattached to the brackets 40 over the bottom curved sections of track l2 as shown in Fig. 10. On vertical turns the chain 38 chords across between the

upper track sections

46 and 48 as shown at 50 on the up run and between the bottom rails l2 as shown at52 on the down: run. Here, as on the horizontal turns, full rolling contact is present at all points of contact between moving and fixed parts without the use of traction wheels or separate roller turns. The vertical turns can likewise be made very sharp in the same manner and under the same conditions as the horizontal turns.

At the bottom of vertical turns there is a tendency for the wheels to ride on the

top track sections

46 and 48 as shown in Fig. 10. This enables the load to tend to hold the chain taut at all times when the conveyor is loaded but not so taut when it is not loaded. This again greatly prolongs the life of the conveyor.

The load hooks 30 ride from the middle to the lower end of the load slots 28 when the conveyor is on an incline or decline. This keeps the load substantially centered beneath the axis of the vertical wheels 20 on up and down runs which eliminates the tendency for the load to tilt the trolleys and put excessive strain on both trolleys and chain. This feature again greatly prolongs the life of the conveyor, and reduces the power required to drive it. The hooks return to the middle on straight runs.

The conveyor of the present invention is simple in structural details, being capable of being assembled from standard parts so far as track, wheels and chain are concerned; leaving only the plates l6 and

brackets

14 and 40 as special parts. This'feature greatly reduces the cost of manufacture of the conveyor.

Thefact that theaxis of the chain intersects the axis of the vertical wheels and theaxis of the horizontal wheel substantially intersects the axis of the vertical wheels produces a conveyor with .very low chain pull per unit of load because this eliminates any rubbing contact between moving and fixed parts; eliminates any tendency for the pull of the chain to tilt the trolleys in the direction of the line of the chain and thereby prevents friction and undue stress on the chain; distributes the chain pull over three wheels on horizontal turns; eliminates any tendency for the chain to tilt the trolleys on vertical turns, and accomplishes all of this without the aid of traction wheels or roller turns.

The conveyor of the present invention provides a very simple and fool-proof piece of material handling equipment which has a very low initial cost and a long life with a minimum of maintenance.

Various changes in the arrangement, size and shape of the various parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of the invention and the scope of the appended claims.

The invention having been described, what is claimed is:

1. A conveyor comprising -a pair of curved, spaced apart track sections having horizontally disposed faces and the inside one of which has a vertically disposed face, trolleys positioned between the track sections, each trolley comprising a main member, a pair of vertically disposed wheels revolving about a horizontal axis carried by said main member and supported by said horizontally disposed faces, a horizontally disposed wheel revolving about a vertical axis substantiallyintersecting the axis of the horizontally disposed wheels and carried by said main memher, a third track section disposed above the outside one of the two above mentioned track sections and spaced vertically from said outside track sections a distance such that a slight rock of the trolley in a direction transverse of the line of travel will bring the outside wheel in contact with the top track section, the inside wheel in contact with the horizontal face of the inside track section and the horizontally disposed wheel in contact with the vertical face of said inside track section, and sections connecting said trolleys together and positioned above the horizontally disposed wheel but not above the axis of the vertically disposed wheels.

2. A conveyor as set forth in claim 1 in which the main member is provided with an arcuate slot for receiving the load.

REFERENCES CITED' The following references are of record in the file of this patent? UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,723,148 Fowler .1 Aug. 6, 1929' 1,810,416 Francis June 16, 1931 Neher et al 'Mar. 6, 1934