CA2143816A1 - Unscrambling conveyor - Google Patents
Unscrambling conveyorInfo
- Publication number
- CA2143816A1 CA2143816A1 CA002143816A CA2143816A CA2143816A1 CA 2143816 A1 CA2143816 A1 CA 2143816A1 CA 002143816 A CA002143816 A CA 002143816A CA 2143816 A CA2143816 A CA 2143816A CA 2143816 A1 CA2143816 A1 CA 2143816A1
- Authority
- CA
- Canada
- Prior art keywords
- rollers
- conveyor
- zones
- axis
- unscrambling
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
- Abandoned
Links
Classifications
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
- B65G—TRANSPORT OR STORAGE DEVICES, e.g. CONVEYORS FOR LOADING OR TIPPING, SHOP CONVEYOR SYSTEMS OR PNEUMATIC TUBE CONVEYORS
- B65G47/00—Article or material-handling devices associated with conveyors; Methods employing such devices
- B65G47/02—Devices for feeding articles or materials to conveyors
- B65G47/04—Devices for feeding articles or materials to conveyors for feeding articles
- B65G47/12—Devices for feeding articles or materials to conveyors for feeding articles from disorderly-arranged article piles or from loose assemblages of articles
- B65G47/14—Devices for feeding articles or materials to conveyors for feeding articles from disorderly-arranged article piles or from loose assemblages of articles arranging or orientating the articles by mechanical or pneumatic means during feeding
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
- B65G—TRANSPORT OR STORAGE DEVICES, e.g. CONVEYORS FOR LOADING OR TIPPING, SHOP CONVEYOR SYSTEMS OR PNEUMATIC TUBE CONVEYORS
- B65G17/00—Conveyors having an endless traction element, e.g. a chain, transmitting movement to a continuous or substantially-continuous load-carrying surface or to a series of individual load-carriers; Endless-chain conveyors in which the chains form the load-carrying surface
- B65G17/24—Conveyors having an endless traction element, e.g. a chain, transmitting movement to a continuous or substantially-continuous load-carrying surface or to a series of individual load-carriers; Endless-chain conveyors in which the chains form the load-carrying surface comprising a series of rollers which are moved, e.g. over a supporting surface, by the traction element to effect conveyance of loads or load-carriers
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
- B65G—TRANSPORT OR STORAGE DEVICES, e.g. CONVEYORS FOR LOADING OR TIPPING, SHOP CONVEYOR SYSTEMS OR PNEUMATIC TUBE CONVEYORS
- B65G47/00—Article or material-handling devices associated with conveyors; Methods employing such devices
- B65G47/52—Devices for transferring articles or materials between conveyors i.e. discharging or feeding devices
- B65G47/68—Devices for transferring articles or materials between conveyors i.e. discharging or feeding devices adapted to receive articles arriving in one layer from one conveyor lane and to transfer them in individual layers to more than one conveyor lane or to one broader conveyor lane, or vice versa, e.g. combining the flows of articles conveyed by more than one conveyor
- B65G47/682—Devices for transferring articles or materials between conveyors i.e. discharging or feeding devices adapted to receive articles arriving in one layer from one conveyor lane and to transfer them in individual layers to more than one conveyor lane or to one broader conveyor lane, or vice versa, e.g. combining the flows of articles conveyed by more than one conveyor from a single conveyor lane consisting of one conveyor or several adjacent conveyors
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
- B65G—TRANSPORT OR STORAGE DEVICES, e.g. CONVEYORS FOR LOADING OR TIPPING, SHOP CONVEYOR SYSTEMS OR PNEUMATIC TUBE CONVEYORS
- B65G2207/00—Indexing codes relating to constructional details, configuration and additional features of a handling device, e.g. Conveyors
Landscapes
- Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
- Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
- Structure Of Belt Conveyors (AREA)
Abstract
An unscrambling conveyor includes two side-by-side sets of rollers arranged in a herringbone pattern on either side of a central axis. The rollers of the two sets are positioned at different angles with respect to the axis and the drive speeds for the rollers are chosen to provide equal and opposite forces in the lateral direction and unequal but similarly directed forces in the axial direction. The sets of rollers are divided into zones havingprogressively increasing roller speeds in the downstream direction with the zones are staggered with respect to one another on either side of the central axis. The lateral and axial forces drive articles on the conveyor toward and away from the center axis depending on the roller speeds in the staggered zones and in the downstream direction while imparting a twist to the articles.
The successive zones of increasing speed stretch a randomly arranged mass of articles into a single file line. Two unscrambling conveyors may be positioned side-by-side to form a flow splitting-unscrambling conveyor.
The successive zones of increasing speed stretch a randomly arranged mass of articles into a single file line. Two unscrambling conveyors may be positioned side-by-side to form a flow splitting-unscrambling conveyor.
Description
This invention relates to conveyors, and more particularly to power driven roller conveyors used to unscramble randomly arranged cartons by ~ligning the cartons in a single file and orienting the cartons along their long axis.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENT~ON
A variety of unscrambler or singulation type conveyor systems are presently known in the art. Such conveyors generally perform the function of arrAnging a randomly oriented mass or flow of articles into a single file oriented streAm to facilitate processing by downstream conveyors and associated equipment. Typically such conveyors involve the use of rollers which are skewed to effect the forcing of the articles AgAin~t a side guiding rail as in United States patent 3,866,739. Further, in order to jostle such articles into the desired orientation, the side guiding rail may be provided with an abrasive surface to encourage the rotation and jostling of articles into a single file orientation, as in United States patent 4,039,074. Such side rails may also be formed as offset segments or even randomly adjustable offset segments adjusted so that for some average mix of article configurations the segments provide the desired unscrambling as in United States patent 4,284,186. Such jostling and mixing of cartons takes place over a series of rollers which have segmented drives of increasing velocity to open up the spaces between successive articles and allow articles traveling side by side to be manipulated into single file. Some segmented drives also utilize varying roller velocities oriented to encourage separation of articles and promote movement into the desired single file arrangement as in United States Patent 4,039,074 mentioned above.
As such systems are forced to operate at higher speeds and increased throughput capacity certain problems appear with the existing technology. For example, forcing an article to ride along a guide rail 21~3816 which is coated with an abrasive substance can cause the surface of the article to become abraded, and in the case of a carton with printing, an identification label or other information on the exterior, such printing or information will be deteriorated by the abrading action causing a 5 degradation at either the information or the esthetic appearance of the printing or exterior finish of the carton or article. Such abrading also causes a build-up of debris, dust and the like in the area of the unscrambler apparatus which is not desirable. In the case of segmented adjustable guide rails, such rails are purposely arranged to provide a 10 m~ximum jostling and mixing action to the articles flowing by, and at high speeds, the impact produced by these rails can cause 1~m~ge to the articles and to the contents thereof. The rails also contribute to the creation of a jam condition by restricting lateral article travel. It would accordingly be desirable to provide an unscrambling conveyor which 15 would decrease the l~m~Ee to the articles, cartons, surfaces and the contents thereof as they are manipulated by the conveyor into a single file SUMMARYAND OBJECI S OF THE INVENTlON
An unscr~mbler conveyor comprises a herringbone pattern of rollers in which the angle of the rollers on one side of the pattern is 20 different than the angle on the other. By proper adjustment of the roller speed, the force vectors produced by the rollers can be made equal and opposite in the lateral direction and unequal but in the same direction in the axial direction. The force vectors will cause an article to be driven to the center of the herringbone pattern and to travel down the axis of the 25 conveyor while twisting about its own axis. Zones of increasing speed in the downstream direction of the conveyor aid in unscrambling a mass of articles into a single file and may cause the formation of gaps between adjacent articles. The zones are staggered to create unequal force vectors in the lateral direction causing articles to move away from the center axis 21~3816 while traveling down the conveyor. In an alternate embo-liment, two unscrambler conveyors are placed side by side to form a combined flow splitter - unscr~mbler conveyor.
It is accordingly an object of the illvenlion to provide an 5 unscrambling conve~or which minimi7es the ~i~m~Ee to articles, cartons, their surfaces and contents as such items pass through the conveyor.
It is another object of the invention to provide an unscrambling conveyor which will be operable at higher speeds and throughput capacities than known devices.
It is another object of the illvelllion to provide an unscrambling conveyor which provides the required mixin~ action of articles to achieve the descrambling process without requiring such articles to contact, rub along or be impacted by any fixed guide, surface or obstruction as it passes through the conveyor.
It is another object of the invention to provide an unscrambling conveyor which has an omni-directional mixinE action rather than the limited mixing action which can be achieved by present adjustable segmented rails, paddles or other flow disturbing devices.
It is yet another object of the invention to provide an 20 unscrambling conveyor that will urge articles of elongated shape to assume a position where the long axis of the article is parallel to the direction of travel.
BRIEF DESCRIPIION OF THE DRAWINGS
Figure 1 is a plan view of an unscrambler conveyor according 25 to the invention.
Figures 2 - 4 are vector diagrams showing the forces acting on an article on the unscrambler conveyor of Figure 1.
Figure 5 is an plan view of an alternate embodiment of the unscrambler conveyor of Figure 1.
214~16 Figures 6 - 10 are vector diagrams showing the forces acting on an article on the unscrambler conveyor of Figure 5.
Figure 11 is a plan new of a combined flow splitter unscrambler conveyor according to a further alternate embo-liment of the illvenLion.
DESCRIPIION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
Turning now to the d~awing figures there is shown in Figure 1 an unscrambling conveyor generally designated by the reference numeral 10. The unscrambling conveyor 10 is shown in overhead or plan view and comprises two sets, 12 and 14 of skewed elongated rollers 15 arranged in a herringbone pattern along the length of the conveyor 10. The conveyor is used to transport articles from left to right and the herringbone pattern of the rollers 15 will cause the articles to propagate toward the center axis 17 of the pattern. The skew angle "a" which is formed between the rollers in set 12 and a line which is perpendicular to the center axis 17 is different than the skew angle "~" of the rollers in set 14. The conveyor also comprises outside frame supports 19 and a center frame support 20 which provide attachment points for the rollers 15 in a manner which is known in the art. Because the conveyor does not rely on abutments positioned along the sides of the conveyor bed to unscramble packages, the outside frame supports do not have to project above the rollers 15 in order to support such abutments. As a result, lateral motion of packages on the conveyor is unrestricted and potential jam conditions are avoided by allowing a package overload to spill over the sides of the conveyor.
Each set of elongated rollers 12 and 14 is divided into zones of progressively increasing velocity. ~igure 1 sho~,vs three zones, however in practice the number of zones may be varied in order to achieve the desired result. The rollers in each zone on either side of the center axis 17 are driven by a belt positioned beneath the conveying surface in contact with 214~816 the rollers in that zone. Belts 21a and 21b are positioned beneath the rollers in zones la and lb, respectively; belts 22a and 22b are positioned beneath the rollers in zones 2a and 2b, respectively; and belts 23a and 23b are positioned beneath the rollers in zones 3a and 3b, respectively. It will 5 be appreciated that instead of belts, the rollers may be driven by chains or gears or may be self powered, as desired, without departing from the spirit of the illvelllion.
The belts in successive zones may be driven at increasing speeds in order to create gaps between articles on the conveyor 10. Those 10 skilled in the art will recognize that the differing skew angles of the roller sets 12 and 14 will cause unequal force vectors on opposite sides of the center axis 17. As shown in Figure 2, the force vector Vla exerted by the rollers in zone la may be resolved into a lateral force Vlla perpendicular to the center axis 17 and an axial force Vala parallel to the center axis 17.
15 In a similar manner, the force vector Vlb exerted by the rollers in zone lb may be resolved into a lateral force Vl1b and an axial force Valb. By proper choice of the speeds of the drive belts 21a and 21b, the lateral forces Vlla and Vllb may be made equal in magnitude, and, since they are directed in opposite directions, their net effect will be to center an article 20 on the center axis 17 of the conveyor. At the same time, the forces Vla and Vlb produce axial forces Vala and Vblb which are unequal in magnitude but in the same direction. The net effect of these forces on an article which is straddling the center axis 17, will be to twist or rotate the article around its own axis. As a result, the overall effect of the forces Vla 25 and Vlb exerted by the rollers in zones la and lb will be to force an articleto the center axis 17 and to convey the article along the center axis while twisting the article about its own axis.
The rollers in successive zones are driven at increasing speeds in order to assist in the unscrambling of the articles into a single 21~3816 line as the articles travel down the conveyor axis. Referring to Figure 3, the rollers in zone 2a are driven at speed V2a which produces forces Vl2a and Va2a. The rollers in zones 2b are driven at speed V2b which produces forces V12b and Va2b. The speeds V2a and V2b are chosen so that forces 5 Vl2a and Vl2b are equal in magnitude and opposite in direction. The forces Va2a and Va2b are equal in direction and unequal in m~nitude.
The overall effect of the forces V2a and V2b will be to convey an article along the central axis 17 at a speed which is greater than the speed the article is conveyed in zone 1 while twisting the article about its own axis.
In a similar manner, the rollers in zone 3 are driven at a speed which is greater than the speed of the rollers in zone 2. Referring to Figure 4, the rollers in zone 3a are driven at speed V3a which produces forces V13a and Va3a. The rollers in zone 3b are driven at speed V3b which produces forces Vl3b and Va3b. The speeds V3a and V3b are 15 chosen so that forces Vl3a and Vl3b are equal in magnitude and opposite in direction. The forces Va3a and Va3b are unequal in m~gnitude and in the same direction. The overall effect of the forces V3a and V3b will be to convey an article along the central axis 17 at a speed which is greater than the speed at which the article is conveyed in zones 1 and 2 while twisting 20 the article about its own axis.
To fully appreciate the operation of the invention, an understanding of the properties of static friction and dyn~mic friction is necessary. Static friction or "friction at rest" is greater than Dynamic friction or "friction in motion". An article being conveyed on a surface 25 such as a belt or roller will assume the direction and velocity of the surface on which it is being conveyed unless it is restricted from doing so. When an article is traveling at the same velocity and direction as its supporting conveying surface, the relatiorLship between the article and the surface conveying it is that of Static friction. When an article is traveling in a different direction or at a different velocity than its supporting conveying surface, the relationship between that article and the surface conveying *
is that of Dynamic friction. If an article is supported on a conveying surface which is moving in more than one direction or at more than one 5 velocity, or both, it will be in a Static friction relationship with a portion or none of that surface depending upon the relationship of the center of mass of the article to the direction and velocity of the area supporting the majority of the mass of the article. Thus, it can be seen that an article traveling down the center axis 17 of the conveyor 10 in Figure 1 is 10 supported by conveying surfaces moving in more than one direction, or at more than one velocity, and is generally in a relationship of Dyn~mic friction with the conveying surface. A first article which is supported entirely by rollers in one zone will be driven at the same velocity as the rollers and is in a Static friction relationship with those rollers. If in 15 traveling at that velocity and in that direction (towards the center axis 17)the first article comes into contact with a second article which is in a Dynamic friction relationship with its conveying surface, the dynamics of the first article in the static relationship will predominate and all other things being equal, the first article will squeeze its way into line displacing 20 the second article until both articles are in an area of Dynamic friction straddling the center axis 17. As a rule, an article on the conveyor will be driven towards the center axis 17 and any article deviating from the center of the conveyor will be urged to return. This area of the conveyor is called the "neutral zone" and in the conveyor shown in Figure 1, the neutral zone 25 coincides with the center axis 17.
Figure 5 shows a preferred embodiment of the invention in which the driving zones of the conveyor of Figure 5 on opposite sides of the center axis 40 are offset or staggered with one another. Where a zone of driven rollers on one side of the conveyor overlaps two zones of driven rollers on the opposite side of the conveyor which are driven at different speeds, there is a shift in the relationship of the vectors controlling the motion of the article. As shown in Figure 5, drive belt 41b in zone lb is driven slower than drive belt 41a in zone la, drive belts 41a and 42b in 5 zones la and 2b, respectively, are driven at the same speed, drive belts 42a and 43b in zones 2a and 3b, respectively, are driven at the same speed which is a higher speed than belts 41a and 42b, and drive belts 43a and 44b in zones 3a and 4b, respectively, are driven at the same speed which is a higher speed than belts 42a and 43b. Zone 2b overlaps zones la and 2a 10 and zone 3b overlaps zones 2a and 3a.
The force vectors for the conveyor in Figure 5 are shown in Figures 6 - 10. In the region of the conveyor where zones la and lb overlap, the force vectors are shown in Figure 6. As explained above in connection with Figure 2, forces Vla and Vlb produce lateral forces Vlla 15 and Vllb respectively. By proper selection of the magnitude of the forces Vla and Vlb, Vlla and Vllb are equal in magnitude but opposite in direction producing a zero net force in the lateral direction. This creates a neutral zone axis 46 in this region of the conveyor which coincides with the center axis 40. In that region of the conveyor where zone la overlaps 20 zone 2b, as shown in Figure 7, force Vla produces lateral force Vlla and force V2b produces lateral force Vl2b. Force Vl2b is greater than force Vlla producing a shift in the neutral zone axis 46 onto the rollers which are driven by belt 41a. At the same time, axial forces Vala and Va2b are equal, elimin~ting the twisting forces. In that area of the conveyor where 25 zone 2b overlaps zone 2a as shown in Figure 8, force V2a produces lateral force V12a and force V2b produces lateral force V12b. Since the lateral forces are equal and in the opposite direction the net lateral force is zero resulting in a shift of the neutral zone axis 46 back to the center axis 40 of the con~eyor.
21~3816 In that region of the conveyor where zone 3b is opposite zone 2a as shown in Figure 9, force V2a produces lateral force V12a and force V3b produces lateral force V13b. Since lateral force V13b is greater than force Vl2a, the neutral zone axis 46 shifts from the center axis 40 onto the 5 rollers which are driven by belt 42a, and the twisting forces are elimin~ted since Va2a and Va3b are equal. In that region of the conveyor where zone 3b is opposite zone 3a as shown in Figure 10, force V3a produces lateral force Vl3a and force V3b produces lateral force Vl3b. The two lateral forces are equal and in opposite directions producing a net lateral force lO equal to zero. This shifts the neutral zone axis 46 to the central axis 40 of the collvt:yor. The axial forces Va3a and Va3b are unequal producing a twisting force. Successive regions of the conveyor have similar operating characteristics .
Thus it can be seen that by selecting the proper drive speeds 15 for the various staggered drive sections, a condition is created whereby articles traveling down the conveyor shift laterally in relationship to the center axis 40 to follow the neutral zone axis 46 and will be intermittently urged to rotate or twist while in a state of Dynamic friction with the conveying surface. This motion causes randomly arranged articles on the 20 conveyor to undergo a mixin~ motion that enables them to squeeze into spaces between other articles created by the progressive velocity increase of the rollers in the dowl~lream direction of the conveyor to form a single file line of articles.
It should be noted that the drive velocities selected do not 25 have to be such that the opposed lateral forces are exactly equal in order to create the desired effect. The intensity of the mixing motion is dependent on the relationship of the skew angles "a" and "~1l, the relationship of the roller drive velocities, the co-effcients of friction, (static _ and dynamic) and the mass and velocity of the articles as they pass over the conveyor.
It should also be noted that an elongate narrow article will align itself with the longitudinal axis of the neutral zone as it is conveyed 5 downstre~m. This is due to the fact that the forces of the rollers produce a force moment along the entire length of the article and in response the article will assume a neutral position at which these forces are in equilibrium. The neutral position for elongated articles is one in which the long axis of the article is aligned with longitudinal axis of the neutral zone.
Figure 11 shows an alternate embodiment of the invention in which two flow splitters are placed side by side in order to create a combined flow splitter-unscrambler conveyor 50. The conveyor comprises four sets of elongated rollers 52 - 55 which are positioned at alternate angles to form two side-by-side herringbone patterns. The roller sets 53 15 and 54 are coupled at their upstream end to an input conveyor 57, the roller sets 52 and 53 are coupled at their downstream end to an output conveyor 58, and the roller sets 54 and 55 are coupled at their downstream end to an output conveyor 59. Articles entering the conveyor 50 from the input conveyor 57 are driven by the diverging rollers of sets 53 and 54 to 20 the two axes 61 and 62 at the intersection of roller sets 52 and 53, and 54 and 55, respectively. The roller sets 52 and 53 form a herringbone pattern of rollers similar to the conveyor of Figure 5 and are driven by belts 52a and 53a to form successive zones of increasing speeds. The rollers of sets 52 and 53 are positioned at differing angles to the axis 61 and due to the 25 staggered locations of the belts 52a and 53a, a neutral zone axis 64 will be formed which is simil~r to the neutral zone axis 46 in the conveyor of Figure 5. In a simil~r manner, the rollers of sets 54 and 55 are positioned at differing angles to the axis 62 between them and are driven by belts 54a and 55a to form zones of increasing speeds. Due to the staggered locations of the belts 54a and 55a, a neutral zone axis 65 will be formed which is similar to the neutral zone axis 46 in the conveyor of Figure 5. As a result, a mass of articles delivered to the conveyor 50 by the input conveyor 57 will tend to divide and each of the articles will be driven to 5 one of the two axes 61 and 62. The increasing speeds of the zones along the two axes 61 and 62 and the staggered arrangements of the drive belts will cause the articles to form two single file lines of articles, to rotate or twist around their own axis, and to follow the neutral axes 64 and 65 as they proceed to the two output conveyors 58 and 59. In this way, the 10 conveyor 50 will both singulate and split a mass of articles into two separate lines of articles.
Having thus described the invention various alterations and modifications will occur to those skilled in the art, which modifications and alterations are intended to be within the scope of the illvenlion as 15 defined in the appended cl~ims.
I claim:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENT~ON
A variety of unscrambler or singulation type conveyor systems are presently known in the art. Such conveyors generally perform the function of arrAnging a randomly oriented mass or flow of articles into a single file oriented streAm to facilitate processing by downstream conveyors and associated equipment. Typically such conveyors involve the use of rollers which are skewed to effect the forcing of the articles AgAin~t a side guiding rail as in United States patent 3,866,739. Further, in order to jostle such articles into the desired orientation, the side guiding rail may be provided with an abrasive surface to encourage the rotation and jostling of articles into a single file orientation, as in United States patent 4,039,074. Such side rails may also be formed as offset segments or even randomly adjustable offset segments adjusted so that for some average mix of article configurations the segments provide the desired unscrambling as in United States patent 4,284,186. Such jostling and mixing of cartons takes place over a series of rollers which have segmented drives of increasing velocity to open up the spaces between successive articles and allow articles traveling side by side to be manipulated into single file. Some segmented drives also utilize varying roller velocities oriented to encourage separation of articles and promote movement into the desired single file arrangement as in United States Patent 4,039,074 mentioned above.
As such systems are forced to operate at higher speeds and increased throughput capacity certain problems appear with the existing technology. For example, forcing an article to ride along a guide rail 21~3816 which is coated with an abrasive substance can cause the surface of the article to become abraded, and in the case of a carton with printing, an identification label or other information on the exterior, such printing or information will be deteriorated by the abrading action causing a 5 degradation at either the information or the esthetic appearance of the printing or exterior finish of the carton or article. Such abrading also causes a build-up of debris, dust and the like in the area of the unscrambler apparatus which is not desirable. In the case of segmented adjustable guide rails, such rails are purposely arranged to provide a 10 m~ximum jostling and mixing action to the articles flowing by, and at high speeds, the impact produced by these rails can cause 1~m~ge to the articles and to the contents thereof. The rails also contribute to the creation of a jam condition by restricting lateral article travel. It would accordingly be desirable to provide an unscrambling conveyor which 15 would decrease the l~m~Ee to the articles, cartons, surfaces and the contents thereof as they are manipulated by the conveyor into a single file SUMMARYAND OBJECI S OF THE INVENTlON
An unscr~mbler conveyor comprises a herringbone pattern of rollers in which the angle of the rollers on one side of the pattern is 20 different than the angle on the other. By proper adjustment of the roller speed, the force vectors produced by the rollers can be made equal and opposite in the lateral direction and unequal but in the same direction in the axial direction. The force vectors will cause an article to be driven to the center of the herringbone pattern and to travel down the axis of the 25 conveyor while twisting about its own axis. Zones of increasing speed in the downstream direction of the conveyor aid in unscrambling a mass of articles into a single file and may cause the formation of gaps between adjacent articles. The zones are staggered to create unequal force vectors in the lateral direction causing articles to move away from the center axis 21~3816 while traveling down the conveyor. In an alternate embo-liment, two unscrambler conveyors are placed side by side to form a combined flow splitter - unscr~mbler conveyor.
It is accordingly an object of the illvenlion to provide an 5 unscrambling conve~or which minimi7es the ~i~m~Ee to articles, cartons, their surfaces and contents as such items pass through the conveyor.
It is another object of the invention to provide an unscrambling conveyor which will be operable at higher speeds and throughput capacities than known devices.
It is another object of the illvelllion to provide an unscrambling conveyor which provides the required mixin~ action of articles to achieve the descrambling process without requiring such articles to contact, rub along or be impacted by any fixed guide, surface or obstruction as it passes through the conveyor.
It is another object of the invention to provide an unscrambling conveyor which has an omni-directional mixinE action rather than the limited mixing action which can be achieved by present adjustable segmented rails, paddles or other flow disturbing devices.
It is yet another object of the invention to provide an 20 unscrambling conveyor that will urge articles of elongated shape to assume a position where the long axis of the article is parallel to the direction of travel.
BRIEF DESCRIPIION OF THE DRAWINGS
Figure 1 is a plan view of an unscrambler conveyor according 25 to the invention.
Figures 2 - 4 are vector diagrams showing the forces acting on an article on the unscrambler conveyor of Figure 1.
Figure 5 is an plan view of an alternate embodiment of the unscrambler conveyor of Figure 1.
214~16 Figures 6 - 10 are vector diagrams showing the forces acting on an article on the unscrambler conveyor of Figure 5.
Figure 11 is a plan new of a combined flow splitter unscrambler conveyor according to a further alternate embo-liment of the illvenLion.
DESCRIPIION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
Turning now to the d~awing figures there is shown in Figure 1 an unscrambling conveyor generally designated by the reference numeral 10. The unscrambling conveyor 10 is shown in overhead or plan view and comprises two sets, 12 and 14 of skewed elongated rollers 15 arranged in a herringbone pattern along the length of the conveyor 10. The conveyor is used to transport articles from left to right and the herringbone pattern of the rollers 15 will cause the articles to propagate toward the center axis 17 of the pattern. The skew angle "a" which is formed between the rollers in set 12 and a line which is perpendicular to the center axis 17 is different than the skew angle "~" of the rollers in set 14. The conveyor also comprises outside frame supports 19 and a center frame support 20 which provide attachment points for the rollers 15 in a manner which is known in the art. Because the conveyor does not rely on abutments positioned along the sides of the conveyor bed to unscramble packages, the outside frame supports do not have to project above the rollers 15 in order to support such abutments. As a result, lateral motion of packages on the conveyor is unrestricted and potential jam conditions are avoided by allowing a package overload to spill over the sides of the conveyor.
Each set of elongated rollers 12 and 14 is divided into zones of progressively increasing velocity. ~igure 1 sho~,vs three zones, however in practice the number of zones may be varied in order to achieve the desired result. The rollers in each zone on either side of the center axis 17 are driven by a belt positioned beneath the conveying surface in contact with 214~816 the rollers in that zone. Belts 21a and 21b are positioned beneath the rollers in zones la and lb, respectively; belts 22a and 22b are positioned beneath the rollers in zones 2a and 2b, respectively; and belts 23a and 23b are positioned beneath the rollers in zones 3a and 3b, respectively. It will 5 be appreciated that instead of belts, the rollers may be driven by chains or gears or may be self powered, as desired, without departing from the spirit of the illvelllion.
The belts in successive zones may be driven at increasing speeds in order to create gaps between articles on the conveyor 10. Those 10 skilled in the art will recognize that the differing skew angles of the roller sets 12 and 14 will cause unequal force vectors on opposite sides of the center axis 17. As shown in Figure 2, the force vector Vla exerted by the rollers in zone la may be resolved into a lateral force Vlla perpendicular to the center axis 17 and an axial force Vala parallel to the center axis 17.
15 In a similar manner, the force vector Vlb exerted by the rollers in zone lb may be resolved into a lateral force Vl1b and an axial force Valb. By proper choice of the speeds of the drive belts 21a and 21b, the lateral forces Vlla and Vllb may be made equal in magnitude, and, since they are directed in opposite directions, their net effect will be to center an article 20 on the center axis 17 of the conveyor. At the same time, the forces Vla and Vlb produce axial forces Vala and Vblb which are unequal in magnitude but in the same direction. The net effect of these forces on an article which is straddling the center axis 17, will be to twist or rotate the article around its own axis. As a result, the overall effect of the forces Vla 25 and Vlb exerted by the rollers in zones la and lb will be to force an articleto the center axis 17 and to convey the article along the center axis while twisting the article about its own axis.
The rollers in successive zones are driven at increasing speeds in order to assist in the unscrambling of the articles into a single 21~3816 line as the articles travel down the conveyor axis. Referring to Figure 3, the rollers in zone 2a are driven at speed V2a which produces forces Vl2a and Va2a. The rollers in zones 2b are driven at speed V2b which produces forces V12b and Va2b. The speeds V2a and V2b are chosen so that forces 5 Vl2a and Vl2b are equal in magnitude and opposite in direction. The forces Va2a and Va2b are equal in direction and unequal in m~nitude.
The overall effect of the forces V2a and V2b will be to convey an article along the central axis 17 at a speed which is greater than the speed the article is conveyed in zone 1 while twisting the article about its own axis.
In a similar manner, the rollers in zone 3 are driven at a speed which is greater than the speed of the rollers in zone 2. Referring to Figure 4, the rollers in zone 3a are driven at speed V3a which produces forces V13a and Va3a. The rollers in zone 3b are driven at speed V3b which produces forces Vl3b and Va3b. The speeds V3a and V3b are 15 chosen so that forces Vl3a and Vl3b are equal in magnitude and opposite in direction. The forces Va3a and Va3b are unequal in m~gnitude and in the same direction. The overall effect of the forces V3a and V3b will be to convey an article along the central axis 17 at a speed which is greater than the speed at which the article is conveyed in zones 1 and 2 while twisting 20 the article about its own axis.
To fully appreciate the operation of the invention, an understanding of the properties of static friction and dyn~mic friction is necessary. Static friction or "friction at rest" is greater than Dynamic friction or "friction in motion". An article being conveyed on a surface 25 such as a belt or roller will assume the direction and velocity of the surface on which it is being conveyed unless it is restricted from doing so. When an article is traveling at the same velocity and direction as its supporting conveying surface, the relatiorLship between the article and the surface conveying it is that of Static friction. When an article is traveling in a different direction or at a different velocity than its supporting conveying surface, the relationship between that article and the surface conveying *
is that of Dynamic friction. If an article is supported on a conveying surface which is moving in more than one direction or at more than one 5 velocity, or both, it will be in a Static friction relationship with a portion or none of that surface depending upon the relationship of the center of mass of the article to the direction and velocity of the area supporting the majority of the mass of the article. Thus, it can be seen that an article traveling down the center axis 17 of the conveyor 10 in Figure 1 is 10 supported by conveying surfaces moving in more than one direction, or at more than one velocity, and is generally in a relationship of Dyn~mic friction with the conveying surface. A first article which is supported entirely by rollers in one zone will be driven at the same velocity as the rollers and is in a Static friction relationship with those rollers. If in 15 traveling at that velocity and in that direction (towards the center axis 17)the first article comes into contact with a second article which is in a Dynamic friction relationship with its conveying surface, the dynamics of the first article in the static relationship will predominate and all other things being equal, the first article will squeeze its way into line displacing 20 the second article until both articles are in an area of Dynamic friction straddling the center axis 17. As a rule, an article on the conveyor will be driven towards the center axis 17 and any article deviating from the center of the conveyor will be urged to return. This area of the conveyor is called the "neutral zone" and in the conveyor shown in Figure 1, the neutral zone 25 coincides with the center axis 17.
Figure 5 shows a preferred embodiment of the invention in which the driving zones of the conveyor of Figure 5 on opposite sides of the center axis 40 are offset or staggered with one another. Where a zone of driven rollers on one side of the conveyor overlaps two zones of driven rollers on the opposite side of the conveyor which are driven at different speeds, there is a shift in the relationship of the vectors controlling the motion of the article. As shown in Figure 5, drive belt 41b in zone lb is driven slower than drive belt 41a in zone la, drive belts 41a and 42b in 5 zones la and 2b, respectively, are driven at the same speed, drive belts 42a and 43b in zones 2a and 3b, respectively, are driven at the same speed which is a higher speed than belts 41a and 42b, and drive belts 43a and 44b in zones 3a and 4b, respectively, are driven at the same speed which is a higher speed than belts 42a and 43b. Zone 2b overlaps zones la and 2a 10 and zone 3b overlaps zones 2a and 3a.
The force vectors for the conveyor in Figure 5 are shown in Figures 6 - 10. In the region of the conveyor where zones la and lb overlap, the force vectors are shown in Figure 6. As explained above in connection with Figure 2, forces Vla and Vlb produce lateral forces Vlla 15 and Vllb respectively. By proper selection of the magnitude of the forces Vla and Vlb, Vlla and Vllb are equal in magnitude but opposite in direction producing a zero net force in the lateral direction. This creates a neutral zone axis 46 in this region of the conveyor which coincides with the center axis 40. In that region of the conveyor where zone la overlaps 20 zone 2b, as shown in Figure 7, force Vla produces lateral force Vlla and force V2b produces lateral force Vl2b. Force Vl2b is greater than force Vlla producing a shift in the neutral zone axis 46 onto the rollers which are driven by belt 41a. At the same time, axial forces Vala and Va2b are equal, elimin~ting the twisting forces. In that area of the conveyor where 25 zone 2b overlaps zone 2a as shown in Figure 8, force V2a produces lateral force V12a and force V2b produces lateral force V12b. Since the lateral forces are equal and in the opposite direction the net lateral force is zero resulting in a shift of the neutral zone axis 46 back to the center axis 40 of the con~eyor.
21~3816 In that region of the conveyor where zone 3b is opposite zone 2a as shown in Figure 9, force V2a produces lateral force V12a and force V3b produces lateral force V13b. Since lateral force V13b is greater than force Vl2a, the neutral zone axis 46 shifts from the center axis 40 onto the 5 rollers which are driven by belt 42a, and the twisting forces are elimin~ted since Va2a and Va3b are equal. In that region of the conveyor where zone 3b is opposite zone 3a as shown in Figure 10, force V3a produces lateral force Vl3a and force V3b produces lateral force Vl3b. The two lateral forces are equal and in opposite directions producing a net lateral force lO equal to zero. This shifts the neutral zone axis 46 to the central axis 40 of the collvt:yor. The axial forces Va3a and Va3b are unequal producing a twisting force. Successive regions of the conveyor have similar operating characteristics .
Thus it can be seen that by selecting the proper drive speeds 15 for the various staggered drive sections, a condition is created whereby articles traveling down the conveyor shift laterally in relationship to the center axis 40 to follow the neutral zone axis 46 and will be intermittently urged to rotate or twist while in a state of Dynamic friction with the conveying surface. This motion causes randomly arranged articles on the 20 conveyor to undergo a mixin~ motion that enables them to squeeze into spaces between other articles created by the progressive velocity increase of the rollers in the dowl~lream direction of the conveyor to form a single file line of articles.
It should be noted that the drive velocities selected do not 25 have to be such that the opposed lateral forces are exactly equal in order to create the desired effect. The intensity of the mixing motion is dependent on the relationship of the skew angles "a" and "~1l, the relationship of the roller drive velocities, the co-effcients of friction, (static _ and dynamic) and the mass and velocity of the articles as they pass over the conveyor.
It should also be noted that an elongate narrow article will align itself with the longitudinal axis of the neutral zone as it is conveyed 5 downstre~m. This is due to the fact that the forces of the rollers produce a force moment along the entire length of the article and in response the article will assume a neutral position at which these forces are in equilibrium. The neutral position for elongated articles is one in which the long axis of the article is aligned with longitudinal axis of the neutral zone.
Figure 11 shows an alternate embodiment of the invention in which two flow splitters are placed side by side in order to create a combined flow splitter-unscrambler conveyor 50. The conveyor comprises four sets of elongated rollers 52 - 55 which are positioned at alternate angles to form two side-by-side herringbone patterns. The roller sets 53 15 and 54 are coupled at their upstream end to an input conveyor 57, the roller sets 52 and 53 are coupled at their downstream end to an output conveyor 58, and the roller sets 54 and 55 are coupled at their downstream end to an output conveyor 59. Articles entering the conveyor 50 from the input conveyor 57 are driven by the diverging rollers of sets 53 and 54 to 20 the two axes 61 and 62 at the intersection of roller sets 52 and 53, and 54 and 55, respectively. The roller sets 52 and 53 form a herringbone pattern of rollers similar to the conveyor of Figure 5 and are driven by belts 52a and 53a to form successive zones of increasing speeds. The rollers of sets 52 and 53 are positioned at differing angles to the axis 61 and due to the 25 staggered locations of the belts 52a and 53a, a neutral zone axis 64 will be formed which is simil~r to the neutral zone axis 46 in the conveyor of Figure 5. In a simil~r manner, the rollers of sets 54 and 55 are positioned at differing angles to the axis 62 between them and are driven by belts 54a and 55a to form zones of increasing speeds. Due to the staggered locations of the belts 54a and 55a, a neutral zone axis 65 will be formed which is similar to the neutral zone axis 46 in the conveyor of Figure 5. As a result, a mass of articles delivered to the conveyor 50 by the input conveyor 57 will tend to divide and each of the articles will be driven to 5 one of the two axes 61 and 62. The increasing speeds of the zones along the two axes 61 and 62 and the staggered arrangements of the drive belts will cause the articles to form two single file lines of articles, to rotate or twist around their own axis, and to follow the neutral axes 64 and 65 as they proceed to the two output conveyors 58 and 59. In this way, the 10 conveyor 50 will both singulate and split a mass of articles into two separate lines of articles.
Having thus described the invention various alterations and modifications will occur to those skilled in the art, which modifications and alterations are intended to be within the scope of the illvenlion as 15 defined in the appended cl~ims.
I claim:
Claims (25)
1. An unscrambling conveyor for processing a randomly arranged mass of articles into a single file line of articles comprising;
a conveyor surface comprising an array of elongated conveyor rollers;
means for driving the rollers;
a first and second set of rollers comprising the array of rollers;
an axis dividing the first and second sets of rollers, said first and second sets of rollers being disposed at two different angles relative to the axis; whereby the force vectors acting on an article on the conveyor from the first set of rollers is different than the force vectors acting on an article from the second set of rollers.
a conveyor surface comprising an array of elongated conveyor rollers;
means for driving the rollers;
a first and second set of rollers comprising the array of rollers;
an axis dividing the first and second sets of rollers, said first and second sets of rollers being disposed at two different angles relative to the axis; whereby the force vectors acting on an article on the conveyor from the first set of rollers is different than the force vectors acting on an article from the second set of rollers.
2. The unscrambling conveyor of claim 1 further comprising:
a plurality of drive belt means comprising the means for driving the conveyor rollers, wherein the first and second sets of rollers may be driven at two different speeds.
a plurality of drive belt means comprising the means for driving the conveyor rollers, wherein the first and second sets of rollers may be driven at two different speeds.
3. The unscrambling conveyor of claim 2 further comprising:
a plurality of successive zones comprising the first set of rollers and a plurality of successive zones comprising the second set of rollers; and a drive belt means for each zone, wherein zones in the first and second sets of rollers are directly across the axis from one another.
a plurality of successive zones comprising the first set of rollers and a plurality of successive zones comprising the second set of rollers; and a drive belt means for each zone, wherein zones in the first and second sets of rollers are directly across the axis from one another.
4. The unscrambler conveyor of claim 3 wherein the drive belt means in the successive zones drive the rollers in the zones at increasingly higher speeds.
5. The unscrambler conveyor of claim 2 further comprising:
a plurality of successive zones comprising the first set of rollers and a plurality of successive zones comprising the second set of rollers; and a drive belt means for each zone, wherein zones in the first set of rollers are staggered across the axis from zones in the second set of rollers.
a plurality of successive zones comprising the first set of rollers and a plurality of successive zones comprising the second set of rollers; and a drive belt means for each zone, wherein zones in the first set of rollers are staggered across the axis from zones in the second set of rollers.
6. The unscrambler conveyor of claim 5 wherein the drive belt means in the successive zones on each side of the axis drive the rollers in the zones at increasingly higher speeds.
7. The unscrambler conveyor of claim 1 further comprising:
an absence of abutments along the sides of the conveyor surface, whereby lateral motion of articles on the conveyor is unrestricted.
an absence of abutments along the sides of the conveyor surface, whereby lateral motion of articles on the conveyor is unrestricted.
8. An unscrambling conveyor for processing a randomly arranged mass of articles delivered to the conveyor into a single file line of articles, the conveyor comprising:
a conveyor surface comprising first and second sets of elongated conveyor rollers;
an axis extending in the longitudinal direction of the conveyor separating the first and second sets of conveyor rollers;
first drive means for the first set of rollers and second drive means for the second set of rollers;
means for generating a first force vector with the first set of rollers having a first lateral component and a first axial component;
and means for generating a second force vector with the second set of rollers having a second lateral component and a second axial component;
whereby the first and second lateral components have the combined effect of conveying an article to the axis and whereby the first and second axial components have the combined effect of conveying an article downstream of the conveyor while twisting the article around its own axis.
a conveyor surface comprising first and second sets of elongated conveyor rollers;
an axis extending in the longitudinal direction of the conveyor separating the first and second sets of conveyor rollers;
first drive means for the first set of rollers and second drive means for the second set of rollers;
means for generating a first force vector with the first set of rollers having a first lateral component and a first axial component;
and means for generating a second force vector with the second set of rollers having a second lateral component and a second axial component;
whereby the first and second lateral components have the combined effect of conveying an article to the axis and whereby the first and second axial components have the combined effect of conveying an article downstream of the conveyor while twisting the article around its own axis.
9. The unscrambling conveyor of claim 8 wherein the first set of rollers is positioned at a first angle to the axis and the second set of rollers is positioned at the second angle which is different than the first angle to the center axis.
10. The unscrambling conveyor of claim 9 wherein the first set of rollers is driven at a speed which is different than the speed of the second set of rollers.
11. The unscrambling conveyor of claim 9 further comprising:
a plurality of first zones of rollers comprising the first set of rollers and a plurality of second zones of rollers comprising the second set of rollers;
means for driving each of the first zones of rollers at progressively increasing speeds; and means for driving each of the second zones of rollers at progressively increasingly speeds.
a plurality of first zones of rollers comprising the first set of rollers and a plurality of second zones of rollers comprising the second set of rollers;
means for driving each of the first zones of rollers at progressively increasing speeds; and means for driving each of the second zones of rollers at progressively increasingly speeds.
12. An unscrambling conveyor for processing a randomly arranged mass of articles delivered at the input of the conveyor into a single file line of articles, the unscrambling conveyor comprising:
an axis extending in the longitudinal direction of the conveyor and separating the conveyor into two halves;
means for generating first force vectors on a first side of the axis having first lateral components and first axial components; and means for generating second force vectors on a second side of the axis having second lateral components and second axial components;
whereby in a first section of the conveyor the first and second lateral components have the combined effect of conveying an article to the axis and the first and second axial components have the combined effect of conveying an article in the downstream direction of the conveyor while twisting the article around its own axis, and in a second section of the conveyor the first and second lateral components have the combined effect of shifting an article off of the axis and the first and second axial components convey an article in the downstream direction of the conveyor.
an axis extending in the longitudinal direction of the conveyor and separating the conveyor into two halves;
means for generating first force vectors on a first side of the axis having first lateral components and first axial components; and means for generating second force vectors on a second side of the axis having second lateral components and second axial components;
whereby in a first section of the conveyor the first and second lateral components have the combined effect of conveying an article to the axis and the first and second axial components have the combined effect of conveying an article in the downstream direction of the conveyor while twisting the article around its own axis, and in a second section of the conveyor the first and second lateral components have the combined effect of shifting an article off of the axis and the first and second axial components convey an article in the downstream direction of the conveyor.
13. The unscrambling conveyor of claim 12 further comprising:
means for generating a plurality of first force vectors each having a first lateral component and a first axial component; and means for generating a plurality of second force vectors each having a second lateral component and a second axial component;
wherein said plurality of first and second first vectors each increase progressively in the downstream direction of the conveyor.
means for generating a plurality of first force vectors each having a first lateral component and a first axial component; and means for generating a plurality of second force vectors each having a second lateral component and a second axial component;
wherein said plurality of first and second first vectors each increase progressively in the downstream direction of the conveyor.
14. The unscrambling conveyor of claim 13 further comprising:
a first set of elongated rollers for generating the first force vectors and a second set of elongated rollers for generating the second force vectors.
a first set of elongated rollers for generating the first force vectors and a second set of elongated rollers for generating the second force vectors.
15. The unscrambling conveyor of claim 14 further comprising:
first drive means for the first set of rollers and second drive means for the second set of rollers.
first drive means for the first set of rollers and second drive means for the second set of rollers.
16. The unscrambling conveyor of claim 15 further comprising:
a plurality of first drive belts comprising the first drive means, each of the first drive belts driving a plurality of rollers in the first set of rollers, wherein the speeds of the first drive belts increase progressively in the downstream direction of the conveyor; and a plurality of second drive belts comprising the second drive means, each of the second drive belts driving a plurality of rollers in the second set or rollers, wherein the speeds of the second drive belts increase progressively in the downstream direction of the conveyor.
a plurality of first drive belts comprising the first drive means, each of the first drive belts driving a plurality of rollers in the first set of rollers, wherein the speeds of the first drive belts increase progressively in the downstream direction of the conveyor; and a plurality of second drive belts comprising the second drive means, each of the second drive belts driving a plurality of rollers in the second set or rollers, wherein the speeds of the second drive belts increase progressively in the downstream direction of the conveyor.
17. The unscrambling conveyor of claim 16 further comprising:
means for positioning the first set of rollers at a first angle to the axis and means for positioning the second set or rollers at a second angle to the axis.
means for positioning the first set of rollers at a first angle to the axis and means for positioning the second set or rollers at a second angle to the axis.
18. The unscrambling conveyor of claim 17 further comprising:
a plurality of first zones of rollers comprising the first set of rollers, each of the first zones of rollers being driven by one of the first drive belts; and a plurality of second zones of rollers comprising the second set or rollers, each of the second zones of rollers being driven by one of the second drive belts; wherein the first and second zones of rollers are positioned directly across from one another on either side of the axis.
a plurality of first zones of rollers comprising the first set of rollers, each of the first zones of rollers being driven by one of the first drive belts; and a plurality of second zones of rollers comprising the second set or rollers, each of the second zones of rollers being driven by one of the second drive belts; wherein the first and second zones of rollers are positioned directly across from one another on either side of the axis.
19. The unscrambling conveyor of claim 17 further comprising:
a plurality of first zones of rollers comprising the first set of rollers, each of the first zones of rollers being driven by one of the first drive belts; and a plurality of second zones of rollers comprising the second set or rollers, each of the second zones of rollers being driven by one of the second drive belts; wherein the first and second zones of rollers are staggered with respect to one another on either side of the axis.
a plurality of first zones of rollers comprising the first set of rollers, each of the first zones of rollers being driven by one of the first drive belts; and a plurality of second zones of rollers comprising the second set or rollers, each of the second zones of rollers being driven by one of the second drive belts; wherein the first and second zones of rollers are staggered with respect to one another on either side of the axis.
20. A combined flow splitter and unscrambling conveyor having one input and two outputs, the conveyor comprising:
a first and second set of rollers forming a herringbone pattern and having a first output conveyor coupled to the dowstream end;
a third and fourth set of rollers forming a herringbone pattern and having a second output conveyor coupled to the downstream end;
an input conveyor coupled to the second and third set of rollers at the upstream end;
means for applying diverging lateral forces to articles delivered at the upstream end of the second and third set of rollers;
means for applying converging lateral forces to articles on the first and second sets of rollers and on the third and fourth sets of rollers; whereby articles enter the conveyor in a scrambled mass at the upstream end of the second and third sets of rollers and exit the conveyor in two lines at the downstream end of the first end second sets of rollers and the third and fourth sets of rollers.
a first and second set of rollers forming a herringbone pattern and having a first output conveyor coupled to the dowstream end;
a third and fourth set of rollers forming a herringbone pattern and having a second output conveyor coupled to the downstream end;
an input conveyor coupled to the second and third set of rollers at the upstream end;
means for applying diverging lateral forces to articles delivered at the upstream end of the second and third set of rollers;
means for applying converging lateral forces to articles on the first and second sets of rollers and on the third and fourth sets of rollers; whereby articles enter the conveyor in a scrambled mass at the upstream end of the second and third sets of rollers and exit the conveyor in two lines at the downstream end of the first end second sets of rollers and the third and fourth sets of rollers.
21. The combined flow splitter and unscrambling conveyor of claim 20 further comprising:
means for applying unequal axial forces to articles on the first and second set of rollers and on the third and fourth sets of rollers causing the articles to twist as they are conveyed downstream.
means for applying unequal axial forces to articles on the first and second set of rollers and on the third and fourth sets of rollers causing the articles to twist as they are conveyed downstream.
22. The combined flow splitter and unscrambling conveyor of claim 21 further comprising:
a plurality of zones of rollers comprising each of the first, second, third and fourth sets of rollers;
separate drive means for each of the zones of rollers, each of the drive means driving the sets of rollers at progressively increasing speeds in the downstream direction of the conveyor.
a plurality of zones of rollers comprising each of the first, second, third and fourth sets of rollers;
separate drive means for each of the zones of rollers, each of the drive means driving the sets of rollers at progressively increasing speeds in the downstream direction of the conveyor.
23. The combined flow splitter and unscrambling conveyor of claim 22 wherein the zones of the first and second sets of rollers are staggered with respect to one another on either side of an axis which separates the first and second sets of rollers and wherein the zones of the third and fourth sets of rollers are staggered with respect to one another on either side of an axis which separates the third and fourth sets of rollers.
24. An unscrambling conveyor for processing a randomly arranged mass of articles delivered at the input of the conveyor into a single-file line of articles, the unscrambling conveyor comprising:
an axis extending in the longitudinal direction of the conveyor and separating the conveyor into two halves;
means for separating each half of the conveyor into a plurality of successive zones of progressively increasing speeds, wherein the zones on one side of the axis are staggered with respect to the zones on the other side.
an axis extending in the longitudinal direction of the conveyor and separating the conveyor into two halves;
means for separating each half of the conveyor into a plurality of successive zones of progressively increasing speeds, wherein the zones on one side of the axis are staggered with respect to the zones on the other side.
25. The unscrambling conveyor of claim 24 further comprising:
means for generating lateral and axial forces in each of the zones, wherein the axial forces convey an article in the downstream direction of the conveyor and the lateral forces convey an article alternately on and off of the axis.
means for generating lateral and axial forces in each of the zones, wherein the axial forces convey an article in the downstream direction of the conveyor and the lateral forces convey an article alternately on and off of the axis.
Priority Applications (1)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA002143816A CA2143816A1 (en) | 1995-03-02 | 1995-03-02 | Unscrambling conveyor |
Applications Claiming Priority (1)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA002143816A CA2143816A1 (en) | 1995-03-02 | 1995-03-02 | Unscrambling conveyor |
Publications (1)
| Publication Number | Publication Date |
|---|---|
| CA2143816A1 true CA2143816A1 (en) | 1996-09-03 |
Family
ID=4155351
Family Applications (1)
| Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA002143816A Abandoned CA2143816A1 (en) | 1995-03-02 | 1995-03-02 | Unscrambling conveyor |
Country Status (1)
| Country | Link |
|---|---|
| CA (1) | CA2143816A1 (en) |
Cited By (8)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US9315345B2 (en) | 2013-08-28 | 2016-04-19 | Intelligrated Headquarters Llc | Robotic carton unloader |
| US9487361B2 (en) | 2013-05-17 | 2016-11-08 | Intelligrated Headquarters Llc | Robotic carton unloader |
| US9493316B2 (en) | 2013-07-30 | 2016-11-15 | Intelligrated Headquarters Llc | Robotic carton unloader |
| US10336562B2 (en) | 2013-05-17 | 2019-07-02 | Intelligrated Headquarters, Llc | Robotic carton unloader |
| US10464762B2 (en) | 2013-05-17 | 2019-11-05 | Intelligrated Headquarters, Llc | PLC controlled robotic carton unloader |
| US10661444B2 (en) | 2014-03-31 | 2020-05-26 | Intelligrated Headquarters, Llc | Autonomous truck loader and unloader |
| US10829319B2 (en) | 2013-05-17 | 2020-11-10 | Intelligrated Headquarters, Llc | Robotic carton unloader |
| US10906742B2 (en) | 2016-10-20 | 2021-02-02 | Intelligrated Headquarters, Llc | Carton unloader tool for jam recovery |
-
1995
- 1995-03-02 CA CA002143816A patent/CA2143816A1/en not_active Abandoned
Cited By (10)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US9487361B2 (en) | 2013-05-17 | 2016-11-08 | Intelligrated Headquarters Llc | Robotic carton unloader |
| US10336562B2 (en) | 2013-05-17 | 2019-07-02 | Intelligrated Headquarters, Llc | Robotic carton unloader |
| US10464762B2 (en) | 2013-05-17 | 2019-11-05 | Intelligrated Headquarters, Llc | PLC controlled robotic carton unloader |
| US10829319B2 (en) | 2013-05-17 | 2020-11-10 | Intelligrated Headquarters, Llc | Robotic carton unloader |
| US9493316B2 (en) | 2013-07-30 | 2016-11-15 | Intelligrated Headquarters Llc | Robotic carton unloader |
| US9315345B2 (en) | 2013-08-28 | 2016-04-19 | Intelligrated Headquarters Llc | Robotic carton unloader |
| US9555982B2 (en) | 2013-08-28 | 2017-01-31 | Intelligrated Headquarters Llc | Robotic carton unloader |
| US10124967B2 (en) | 2013-08-28 | 2018-11-13 | Intelligrated Headquarters Llc | Robotic carton unloader |
| US10661444B2 (en) | 2014-03-31 | 2020-05-26 | Intelligrated Headquarters, Llc | Autonomous truck loader and unloader |
| US10906742B2 (en) | 2016-10-20 | 2021-02-02 | Intelligrated Headquarters, Llc | Carton unloader tool for jam recovery |
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Legal Events
| Date | Code | Title | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| EEER | Examination request | ||
| FZDE | Discontinued |