AU4258600A - Article conveying apparatus - Google Patents

Description

P/00/01I1 Regulation 3.2

AUSTRALIA

Patents Act 1990

ORIGINAL

COMPLETE SPECIFICATION STANDARD PATENT.

Invention Title: ARTICLE CONVEYING APPARATUS ROSEBAY TERRACE PTY LTD Applicant: The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to me: W:IhriswrkCOMPLETEDAVIDARRS16U dom 2 ARTICLE CONVEYING APPARATUS This invention relates to an article conveying apparatus. It has particular application in delivering articles to a moving carrier in automated article handling apparatus.

In apparatus designed for the automated handling of articles it is often necessary to transfer an article onto a carrier. The article may thereafter be processed whilst being transported on the carrier. Such processing might include labelling, cleaning, delabelling, identification, sorting, packaging or some other similar operation. The present invention does not concern the manner by which an article might be processed whilst being conveyed by such a carrier, but rather relates to an apparatus for delivering articles to a location at which they might then be transferred to a carrier preferably a moving carrier.

Apparatus for the transfer of articles onto a moving carrier is described in the applicant's international patent application PCT/AU99/00666. The contents of this earlier application are incorporated herein by reference.

It will be appreciated that the invention hereafter described is suitable for S use in conveying a range of different articles to a point at which they may be transferred to a moving carrier. For convenience, however, much of the S. subsequent discussion of the invention is made with reference to a handling of garment hangers. The present invention, whilst having particular applicability in handling garment hangers is not limited to this application. The invention is suitable for use in a range of different applications in which articles are to be handled by automated goods processing equipment.

S".I In apparatus for transferring articles onto a moving carrier it is important that one is able to control the position of the article on the apparatus and the speed of the article at the location at which it is intended to be transferred onto the carrier. It is of course possible to control the speed of the conveyor and attempt to match the rate at which articles are conveyed to the transfer location with the rate at which moving carriers arrive at the transfer location, but coordinating the rate and timing at which articles are conveyed to a transfer location is difficult, and attempting to control the speeds and rates of all moving parts gives rise to a higher risk of malfunction.

\\MINNIE\CJB\chris\nodelete\conveyor.doc It is thus an object of the present invention to provide a relatively simple mechanism whereby the rate and speed of articles delivered to a predetermined transfer location can be controlled.

Thus in accordance with the present invention, there is provided an article conveying apparatus for the delivery of articles to a transfer location at which they can be transferred to a moving carrier which includes: conveying means capable of conveying articles to a control position; conveying means capable of conveying the said articles to a transfer location; and regulating means capable of regulating the delivery of articles from said control position to the transfer location.

The conveying means for conveying articles to the control position and the conveying means for conveying the articles to the transfer location may be part of the same unit and this is preferred. In other words, in such an 15 embodiment, the control position is located at a position somewhere along the conveying means and the regulating means is capable of regulating the delivery of articles from one side of the control position to the other side of the control position on the conveying means. Alternatively, one conveying means may be used to convey articles to the control position and separate conveying means be used to convey the articles to the transfer location. In this embodiment, the regulating means should be capable of transferring articles from the control position onto the second conveying means.

In a further embodiment, a first conveying means is provided which is :capable of conveying articles to a second conveying means. The second conveying means is then capable of conveying the articles to a control position which is located at some point along the second conveying means and the regulating means is capable of regulating the conveyance of articles along the second conveying means.

The regulating means may be in the nature of a gate. However, preferably the regulating means includes an abutment surface for stopping the conveyance of said articles and a lifter capable of lifting individual articles delivered to the control position and associated means to move an elevated article located thereon to a position beyond the control position at which it may then be conveyed to the transfer location.

k\MINNIE\CJB\chr s~nodelete\conveyor.doc The means utilised to move the article located on the lifter may be of any suitable configuration. For example, it may be a fixed push rod located at a position adjacent to where the article is positioned once elevated which is adapted to push the article once the article has been elevated. Alternatively, and most preferably the means associated with the lifter to move the article is a continuous elastic belt which is driven so that that portion which comes into contact with the article is moving towards the transfer location. In this arrangement, the belt is preferably fixed above the lifter such that once an article located thereon is moved into an elevated position, the moving belt will cause the article to move off the top of the lifter and towards the transfer location.

Whatever form this associated means takes, it is preferred that the member which includes the abutment surface also include an inclined surface which extends away from the top surface of the lifter when in its elevated 15 position. Preferably the lifter elevates the article to a position adjacent to the top of the abutment surface so that transfer of the article onto the inclined surface does not result in any sudden fall of the article and towards the transfer location. A slight forward movement of the article from the top of the lifter by the associated means will cause the article to move to the inclined surface after which little force will be required for the article to slide along the inclined surface and onto the conveying means.

Preferably the regulating means incorporates control means for controlling the activation of the regulating means. The control means is preferably an electronic device associated with a sensor.

When the conveying apparatus is positioned for the transfer of articles conveyed on it onto a moving carrier on a separate conveying apparatus, the sensor of the control means may be positioned to detect carriers moving toward the transfer location. For every carrier detected the sensor may send a message to the electronic device for activation of the regulating means such that the regulating means is activated for every carrier that passes a particular point. If the carriers are moving at a predetermined speed the sensor may be positioned at a location which, having regard to the speed of the conveying means from the control position to the transfer location, will cause the regulating means to be activated at a time such that an article which moves beyond the \MINNIE\CJBchrisnodeletelconveyor.doc control position will reach the transfer location at substantially the same time as the time at which the carrier will reach the said transfer location. In this way it is possible for the control means to regulate the supply of articles to the transfer location so that an individual article will be conveyed to the transfer location every time an individual carrier reaches that location.

Because the control means can be used to activate the regulating means according to the rate at which carriers pass by the sensor it is not necessary to regulate the speed at which the conveying means from the control position to the transfer location operates provided that it remains substantially constant.

Thus, the conveying means may be set at an optimum speed for rapid transfer of the article from the conveying means onto a carrier which passes the transfer location.

In one embodiment of the invention, the speed of the conveying means from the control position to the transfer location is separately controlled. In this 15 embodiment it is preferred that the speed of the conveying means from the :O control position to the transfer location be varied by a means linked to the speed of the carriers such that any change in the speed at which carriers moves will result in a commensurate change in the speed of the conveyor from the control position to the transfer location so to regulate the supply of articles to the transfer location so that an individual article will be matched with an individual carrier even if the speed of the carriers should change.

The conveying means to the control position can operate at any speed and can vary in speed. Because the regulating means controls the rate and timing at which articles are transferred to the conveying means for conveyance to the transfer location all that is necessary is that the conveying means to the control position supply articles to the control position at a sufficient rate to ensure that articles are ready to be delivered to the transfer location for every carrier that is expected to pass the transfer location. Preferably the conveying means to the control position includes a rotating shaft with a helical groove.

This is particularly preferred when the articles are garment hangers as the hook of each hanger may be located in the groove of the helical shaft thread.

The conveying means from the shaft to the transfer location is preferably in the nature of an endless belt which is driven by wheels at either end.

\WINNIElCJBlchrisVnodeletelconveyordoc 6 Thus, in contrast to the apparatus described in the applicant's international patent application PCT/AU99/00666, the present invention does not require the use of coordinating means capable of controlling the relative movements of the conveyor and the carrier. In the present invention, the regulating means is utilised to enable individual articles to be delivered to the transfer location having regard to the speed of the carrier and the speed of the conveying means from the control position to the transfer location such that both the article and the carrier will be separately moved to the transfer location.

At the transfer location the carrier can contact the article whilst both the carrier and the article are moving. As in the applicant's international patent application PCT/AU9900666, it is preferred that the conveyor and the carrier be configured such that the article is caused to be transferred onto the carrier upon or following the carrier's initial contact with the article.

In a further embodiment of the present invention there is provided an 15 apparatus for the continuous collection of articles, said apparatus including: :t a conveyor to which there is attached a plurality of carriers; and S.i article conveying apparatus as hereinbefore described; wherein said regulating means of the article conveying apparatus is configured to enable individual articles sequentially transferred beyond the 20 control position to reach the transfer location substantially simultaneously with a respective carrier whilst both the carrier and article are moving and whereby articles are caused to be transferred onto respective carriers upon or following contact of the carrier with the article.

Preferably, articles are delivered to the transfer location such that respective articles can be transferred sequentially onto each carrier that passes the transfer location.

A preferred embodiment of the invention is hereinafter described with reference to the following drawings in which: Figure 1 is a schematic view of a conveying apparatus in accordance with the present invention located adjacent to a chain conveyor to which carriers are attached; and Figure 2 is a schematic representation of the apparatus shown in Figure 1 in which a garment hanger is shown in an elevated position preparatory to its movement onto the second conveyor.

\\MINNIE\CJBXchrdlod elet e\conveyor.doc In Figure 1 there is illustrated an apparatus 1 which includes a chain 2 which is driven by a drive wheel which is not shown. Chain 2 is preferably a continuous chain which is run in a continuous loop. To the chain there are attached respective carriers 3 suitable for holding and transporting articles for further processing. The apparatus further includes an article conveying apparatus 4. The article conveying apparatus includes a first conveying means in the nature of a conveyor shaft 5 and a second conveying means in the nature of two conveyor belts which run parallel to each other and which are spaced apart. In Figure 1 the closer of these belts 6 is identified. Conveyor shaft 5 is disposed at an angle and is inclined upwardly. Shaft 5 is, in normal operation, rotated such that articles retained thereon will move in the direction of the arrow marked 7. Garment hangers 8 are shown located in a portion of the helical groove 9 formed in the outer surface of conveyor shaft 5. The uppermost surface 10 of conveyor belt 6 is aligned to be at approximately the same height as the bottom of the seat 11 in helical groove 9 for smooth transfer of articles from the first conveyor onto the second conveyor. A lifter 12 is located between the belts of the second conveying means at an intermediate location along its length. Lifter 12 is shown in Figure 1 in its inactivated position and is shown in Figure 2 after it has been activated.

An abutment surface 14 is located at the edge of lifter 12 so that garment hangers conveyed thereto will remain seated on the lifter and will not be conveyed any further until lifter 12 has been activated.

Lifter 12 has a top surface 13 which is substantially flat such that articles :conveyed to the lifter will move onto top surface 13. Lifter 12 is also associated with an inclined face 15 as shown. Lifter 12 is attached to an activating mechanism 16 which includes a push rod which can be controlled to raise and lower articles located on lifter 12.

The article conveying apparatus 4 also incorporates control means for controlling activation of lifter 12. The control means includes a sensor 17 and electronic device 18. The sensor is adapted on receiving an appropriate signal to communicate with the electronic device which in turn activates the push rod for elevation of the lifter 12. Preferably, sensor 17 is located so to send a signal to the electronic device 18 on the passing of each respective carrier 3 past a predetermined position.

\\MINNIE\CJBchrsV\odelete\conveyor.doc In operation, hangers 8 are sequentially loaded onto conveyor shaft engaged within helical grooves 9. Conveyor means 5 should be operated to ensure a constant supply of hangers to lifter 12. The speed at which conveyor delivers hangers to the second conveyor 6 is not narrowly critical as coordination of hangers being delivered past abutment surface 14 is controlled by activation of lifter 12. It is necessary simply that conveyor 5 operate at such times and rates such that there is a constant supply of hangers to lifter 12.

Preferably a further sensor identifies when there is more than a predetermined number of garment hangers which have not been lifted by lifter 12. The sensor is linked to the motor 24 which drives conveyor shaft 5, and when it identifies that less than the predetermined number of hangers are being held on conveyor belt 6 it will activate the motor for conveyor shaft 5 to deliver further hangers onto conveyor belt 6. This ensures that an appropriate buffer of hangers is maintained on belt 6 for transfer.

15 When lifter 12 is in its inactivated position as shown in Figure 1, there is *o room on the top surface 13 of lifter 12 for at least part of just a single article, o.

abutment face 14 being located such that only one article can fit on the lifter at any one time. Lifter 12 is sized to correspond with the width of the smallest size of hanger 8 to be used with the apparatus, so that the lifter will serve to operate with hangers of considerably greater width than this minimum, as required. The control means incorporating sensor 17 and electronic device 18 activates lifter 12 every time a carrier 3 passes sensor 17. In this way, an individual garment hanger 8 is lifted and transferred onto conveyor belt 6 for every carrier that :passes by the sensor, thus ensuring a one-to-one relation of article to carrier.

Chain conveyor 2 can be set at a predetermined and fixed speed as can conveyor belt 6. The sensor 17 is located so to activate lifter 12 at an appropriate time having regard to these relative speeds so that the hanger located thereon once lifted and transferred onto the conveyor belt 6 will contact the carrier at a transfer location at or about the location marked 19 on conveyor belt 6. Preferably conveyor belt 6 is operated so that articles conveyed thereon will move at a speed approximately two thirds of the speed at which carriers 3 are moved by chain conveyor 2. In this way, hangers 8 may be deposited onto conveyor belt 6 before carrier 3 reaches the article for transfer. Because of the differences in speeds carrier 3 will be able to contact and collect garment N\INNIECJB'uhisnodeletecnveyor.doc hanger 8 at or about transfer location 19 provided that the lifter is activated at the appropriate time. Preferably, the apparatus also includes an encoder linked to chain conveyor 2 and which is capable of measuring the speed of the chain conveyor. In some circumstances, it is necessary to slow or speed up the rate at which the chain conveyor 2 moves and in such event it is necessary for the speed of conveyor belt 6 to be likewise regulated so that hangers will continue to be delivered at an appropriate rate for collection by carriers at the transfer location. Thus, encoder 25 monitors the speed of chain conveyor 2 and is linked to the motor which drives conveyor belt 6 so to ensure matching of the relative speeds for continuous delivery of hangers at an appropriate speed and rate for collection by carriers 3.

In the embodiment shown each of the respective carriers first come into contact with a hanger to be transferred whilst the hanger 8 is moving on conveyor belt 6. As the carrier 3 is moving faster than the hanger 8 whilst it is 15 on the conveyor belt after contact the carrier moves the hanger along the belt at *t i :a faster rate than at which the belt is moving. Carrier 3 includes an abutment i face 20 which contacts the hanger. As the hanger is moved along the incline of conveyor belt 6 it moves to a position above abutment face 20 so that it may be accommodated and moved into seat 21 by locking mechanism 22.

Figure 2 illustrates the apparatus with lifter 12 once activated and holding the garment hanger 8 in an elevated position. Lifter 12 is associated with ill• means to move the article located thereon onto the other side of abutment surface 14, namely inclined face 15. This means is a rotating belt 23 which :rotates in the direction of the arrows shown adjacent to the belt 23. Belt 23 is made from a resilient material such as rubber and is located and resiliently mounted so that when lifter 12 elevates hanger 8 in the fashion shown in Figure 2, the mounting assembly of belt 23 will be resiliently raised and belt 23 will be stretched by the top of the lifted hanger, thus enabling the belt to apply greater pressure against the surface of garment hanger 8. This ensures that the garment hanger 8 is held securely in position on top of lifter 12 whilst it is being elevated. The movement of belt 23 causes hanger 8 to move forward onto inclined face 15 once there is sufficient pressure applied by belt 23. This occurs when the friction between the belt and the hanger is increased by raising hanger 8. Once hanger 8 has moved sufficiently forward that it comes into \\MINNIE\CJBk\cris'odelete\conveyor.doc contact with inclined face 15, it is carried down this inclined face by the action of the forward portion of belt 23 until it once again meets the surface of conveyor belt 6. Conveyor belts 6 and 23 are driven to run at substantially the same speed (eg. by a common drive), such that when a hanger 8 has been carried down inclined face 15 by belt 23 there is a smooth transition as the hanger meets and is then carried forward by conveyor 6.

By setting the speed of conveyor belt 6 at an appropriate rate having regard to the position of the sensor 17 and the speed at which carriers 3 are moving one can match hangers 8 to carriers 3 for contact and subsequent pickup coordinating rapid transfer of hangers onto carriers.

The utilisation of regulating means such as lifter 12 enables the simply coordination and transfer of articles such as garment hangers on a moving carrier in a smooth fashion unlikely to give rise to malfunction and in a way which facilitates rapid delivery of articles onto the carrier. By utilising a lifter it is 15 possible to use the apparatus with a number of different hanger types having different hook widths provided that no more than one hanger can be located Io onto the lifter at any one time. The lifter also provides advantages over devices such as rotating flippers, as it is less likely that there will be failure of any of the S" parts during operation.

It will be appreciated that various modifications and/or improvements can be made to the apparatus hereinbefore described without departing from the spirit or ambit of the invention.

\lINNIEJB\chrsodeetejnoeyor.doc

Claims (15)

1. An article conveying apparatus for the delivery of articles to a transfer location at which they can be transferred to a moving carrier which includes: conveying means capable of conveying articles to a control position; conveying means capable of conveying said articles to a transfer 15 location; and regulating means capable of regulating the delivery of articles from said control position to the transfer location.

2. An article conveying apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the conveying means capable of conveying articles to a control position and the conveying means capable of conveying said articles to a transfer location are part of the same conveying unit, the control position being located at a position along said conveying unit and the regulating means being capable of regulating the delivery of articles from one side of the control position to the other side of the control position on the conveying means.

3. An article conveying apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the conveying means capable of conveying articles to a control position and the conveying means capable of conveying said articles to a transfer location are provided by separate units, and the regulating means is capable of transferring articles from the control position onto the conveying means capable of conveying said articles to a transfer location. XMINNIECJB'.hrisVidelete'conveyor.doc 12

4. An article conveying apparatus according to any preceding claim, including a first conveying means and a second conveying means, said first conveying means being capable of conveying articles to said second conveying means, the second conveying means being capable of then conveying the articles to a control position located at some point along the second conveying means, and the regulating means being capable of regulating the conveyance of articles along said second conveying means. An article conveying apparatus according to any preceding claim, wherein the regulating means includes an abutment surface for stopping the conveyance of said articles, a lifter capable of lifting individual articles delivered to the control position, and associated means to move an elevated article located thereon to a position beyond the control position at which it may then be conveyed to the transfer location. e 6. An article conveying apparatus according to claim 5, wherein said means associated with the lifter to move the article is a continuous elastic belt driven so that that portion which comes into contact with the article is moving in a direction towards the transfer location.

7. An article conveying apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the belt is located above the lifter, such that once an article located thereon is moved into an elevated position, the moving belt will cause the article to move off the top of S. the lifter and towards the transfer location.

8. An article conveying apparatus according to any one of claims 5 to 7, wherein said abutment surface is provided by a member having an inclined surface extending away from the lifter when in its elevated position.

9. An article conveying apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the lifter is arranged so as to elevate the article to a position adjacent to the top of the abutment surface in order that transfer of the article onto the inclined surface does not result in any sudden fall of the article and results in movement of the article towards the transfer location. %\MINNIE\CJB\chrs\nodeete\oonveyr.doc 13 An article conveying apparatus according to any preceding claim, the regulating means incorporating a control means for controlling the activation of the regulating means.

11. An article conveying apparatus according to claim 10, for the transfer of articles conveyed on it onto a moving carrier on a separate conveying apparatus, the control means including a sensor arranged to detect carriers on that separate conveying apparatus moving towards the transfer location.

12. An article conveying apparatus according to claim 11, the control means arranged to activate the regulating means for every carrier that passes a predetermined position.

13. An article conveying apparatus according to claim 12, the sensor being positioned at a location which, having regard to the speed of the conveying S.i means from the control position to the transfer location, will cause the regulating means to be activated at a time such that an article which moves beyond the Scontrol position will reach the transfer location at substantially the same time as 20 the time at which the carrier reaches the said transfer location.

14. An article conveying apparatus according to any preceding claim, for the transfer of articles conveyed on it onto a moving carrier on a separate S conveying apparatus, wherein the speed of the conveying means capable of conveying said articles to a transfer location is controllable in a manner dependent upon the speed of the carriers, such that any change in the speed at which the carriers move will result in a commensurate change in the speed of the conveying means capable of conveying said articles to a transfer location, so as to regulate the supply of articles to the transfer location in order that an individual article will be matched with an individual carrier even if the speed of the carriers should change. \\MINNIECJBChrisVdelete~mnveyor.doc 14 An article conveying apparatus according to any preceding claim, the conveying means capable of conveying articles to a control position including a rotating shaft with a helical groove.

16. An article conveying apparatus according to any preceding claim, the conveying means capable of conveying said articles to a transfer location including an endless belt conveyor.

17. An apparatus for the continuous collection of articles, said apparatus including: a conveyor to which there is attached a plurality of carriers; and an article conveying apparatus according to any preceding claim; wherein said regulating means of the article conveying apparatus is configured to enable individual articles sequentially transferred beyond the control position to reach the transfer location substantially simultaneously with a respective carrier whilst both the carrier and article are moving and whereby articles are caused to be transferred onto respective carriers upon or following contact of the carrier with the article.

18. An apparatus according to claim 17, configured so that articles are delivered to the transfer location in such a way that respective articles can be transferred sequentially onto each carrier that passes the transfer location.

19. An apparatus substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings. DATED: 21 June 2000 PHILLIPS ORIVIONDE FITZPATRICK Attorneys for: ROSEBAY TERRACE PTY LTD W.AchrisViDdeleteXconveyor.doc