CA2232996C - Conveyor chain apparatus - Google Patents

Conveyor chain apparatus Download PDF

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Publication number
CA2232996C
CA2232996C CA002232996A CA2232996A CA2232996C CA 2232996 C CA2232996 C CA 2232996C CA 002232996 A CA002232996 A CA 002232996A CA 2232996 A CA2232996 A CA 2232996A CA 2232996 C CA2232996 C CA 2232996C
Authority
CA
Canada
Prior art keywords
conveyor
chain
bottle
link
bottles
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.)
Expired - Fee Related
Application number
CA002232996A
Other languages
French (fr)
Other versions
CA2232996A1 (en
Inventor
Tadao Hirasawatu
Mamoru Oshida
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Yoshino Kogyosho Co Ltd
Original Assignee
Yoshino Kogyosho Co Ltd
Priority date (The priority date 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 date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Priority claimed from JP8213271A external-priority patent/JPH1035847A/en
Application filed by Yoshino Kogyosho Co Ltd filed Critical Yoshino Kogyosho Co Ltd
Publication of CA2232996A1 publication Critical patent/CA2232996A1/en
Application granted granted Critical
Publication of CA2232996C publication Critical patent/CA2232996C/en
Anticipated expiration legal-status Critical
Expired - Fee Related legal-status Critical Current

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Classifications

    • BPERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B65CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
    • B65GTRANSPORT OR STORAGE DEVICES, e.g. CONVEYORS FOR LOADING OR TIPPING, SHOP CONVEYOR SYSTEMS OR PNEUMATIC TUBE CONVEYORS
    • B65G37/00Combinations of mechanical conveyors of the same kind, or of different kinds, of interest apart from their application in particular machines or use in particular manufacturing processes
    • B65G37/005Combinations of mechanical conveyors of the same kind, or of different kinds, of interest apart from their application in particular machines or use in particular manufacturing processes comprising two or more co-operating conveying elements with parallel longitudinal axes
    • BPERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B65CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
    • B65GTRANSPORT OR STORAGE DEVICES, e.g. CONVEYORS FOR LOADING OR TIPPING, SHOP CONVEYOR SYSTEMS OR PNEUMATIC TUBE CONVEYORS
    • B65G17/00Conveyors 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
    • B65G17/20Conveyors 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 load-carriers suspended from overhead traction chains
    • BPERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B65CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
    • B65GTRANSPORT OR STORAGE DEVICES, e.g. CONVEYORS FOR LOADING OR TIPPING, SHOP CONVEYOR SYSTEMS OR PNEUMATIC TUBE CONVEYORS
    • B65G17/00Conveyors 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
    • B65G17/26Conveyors 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 co-operating units, e.g. interconnected by pivots
    • BPERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B65CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
    • B65GTRANSPORT OR STORAGE DEVICES, e.g. CONVEYORS FOR LOADING OR TIPPING, SHOP CONVEYOR SYSTEMS OR PNEUMATIC TUBE CONVEYORS
    • B65G2201/00Indexing codes relating to handling devices, e.g. conveyors, characterised by the type of product or load being conveyed or handled
    • B65G2201/02Articles
    • BPERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B65CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
    • B65GTRANSPORT OR STORAGE DEVICES, e.g. CONVEYORS FOR LOADING OR TIPPING, SHOP CONVEYOR SYSTEMS OR PNEUMATIC TUBE CONVEYORS
    • B65G2201/00Indexing codes relating to handling devices, e.g. conveyors, characterised by the type of product or load being conveyed or handled
    • B65G2201/02Articles
    • B65G2201/0214Articles of special size, shape or weigh
    • B65G2201/0217Elongated
    • BPERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B65CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
    • B65GTRANSPORT OR STORAGE DEVICES, e.g. CONVEYORS FOR LOADING OR TIPPING, SHOP CONVEYOR SYSTEMS OR PNEUMATIC TUBE CONVEYORS
    • B65G2201/00Indexing codes relating to handling devices, e.g. conveyors, characterised by the type of product or load being conveyed or handled
    • B65G2201/02Articles
    • B65G2201/0235Containers
    • B65G2201/0244Bottles
    • BPERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B65CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
    • B65GTRANSPORT OR STORAGE DEVICES, e.g. CONVEYORS FOR LOADING OR TIPPING, SHOP CONVEYOR SYSTEMS OR PNEUMATIC TUBE CONVEYORS
    • B65G2201/00Indexing codes relating to handling devices, e.g. conveyors, characterised by the type of product or load being conveyed or handled
    • B65G2201/02Articles
    • B65G2201/0235Containers
    • B65G2201/0244Bottles
    • B65G2201/0247Suspended bottles
    • BPERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B65CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
    • B65GTRANSPORT OR STORAGE DEVICES, e.g. CONVEYORS FOR LOADING OR TIPPING, SHOP CONVEYOR SYSTEMS OR PNEUMATIC TUBE CONVEYORS
    • B65G2207/00Indexing codes relating to constructional details, configuration and additional features of a handling device, e.g. Conveyors
    • B65G2207/14Combination of conveyors
    • BPERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B65CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
    • B65GTRANSPORT OR STORAGE DEVICES, e.g. CONVEYORS FOR LOADING OR TIPPING, SHOP CONVEYOR SYSTEMS OR PNEUMATIC TUBE CONVEYORS
    • B65G51/00Conveying articles through pipes or tubes by fluid flow or pressure; Conveying articles over a flat surface, e.g. the base of a trough, by jets located in the surface
    • B65G51/02Directly conveying the articles, e.g. slips, sheets, stockings, containers or workpieces, by flowing gases
    • B65G51/03Directly conveying the articles, e.g. slips, sheets, stockings, containers or workpieces, by flowing gases over a flat surface or in troughs
    • B65G51/035Directly conveying the articles, e.g. slips, sheets, stockings, containers or workpieces, by flowing gases over a flat surface or in troughs for suspended articles, e.g. bottles

Landscapes

  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
  • Intermediate Stations On Conveyors (AREA)
  • Chain Conveyers (AREA)

Abstract

A conveyor chain is each formed of a necessary number of chain links connected by connecting pins, where each chain link is provided with a bottle conveyor member attached to a main offset link member formed integrally of a pin link, a bushing, and a conveyor member attachment plate of a synthetic resin or plastics; the conveyor chain is supported by sprocket wheels and chain guidance members to configure a conveyor chain apparatus; the arrangement is such that a pair of these conveyor chain apparatuses are disposed on either side of a conveyor path for bottles and also a holder ring provided at a mouth portion of a bottle is held from both sides by the bottle conveyor members; and the conveyor chain apparatus is configured so that bottles are conveyed thereby in a state suspended fro m neck portions thereof.

Description

DESCRIPTION
Conveyor Chain Apparatus Technical Field The present invention relates to an apparatus for conveying hollow vessels and, in particular, to a conveyor chain apparatus for conveying hollow vessels in a suspended state after blow molding thereof has ended.
Background of the Invention In a production line for fabricating hollow vessels, which are bottles or the like formed by blow-molding a synthetic resin or plastics, a belt conveyor or air conveyor is often used in the art as an apparatus for conveying the m olded bottles.
H o wever, a proble m occurs during the conveying of bottles by a belt conveyor in that, if the conveyor apparatus is started or halted while the bottles are being conveyed, the bottles frequently fall over, and these bottles are particularly likely to fall over at a feed-screw inlet portion thereof, forcing the mechanism of the manufacturing line to halt.
The conveying of bottles by an air conveyor involves a problem in that, although it is possible to prevent the bottles fro m falling over because the neck portions of the bottles are suspended fro m rails provided in an opening in a lower surface of the wind tunnel box and an airflo w fro m an air blo wer is blo wn against the m outh portions of the bottles to convey the m, friction between the rails and the bottle necks occurs along the entire length of the bottle conveyor path, which tends to da m age the bottles.
A nother proble m occurs because the bottles are conveyed by an airflo w, in that the conveyor speed can easily become unstable due to variations in the air pressure or the like, and this causes bottles that have been halted to be hit by bottles co m ing fro m behind, defor m ing the m.
A further problem occurs in that there is likely to be dust in the airflow fro m the air blower, leading to the danger that this dust will be mixed into the interior of the hollow vessels, such as bottles.
Disclosure of the invention The present invention was devised with the ai m of solving the above described proble m s with the prior art and has as its objective the provision of a suspended-bottle type of conveyor chain apparatus that has none of the above problems, such as bottles falling over or beco m ing da m aged.
In order to achieve the above objective, the present invention configures a conveyor chain apparatus as a conveyor chain apparatus for bottles in such a m anner that a conveyor chain for m ed integrally of a m ain link m a m ber and a bottle conveyor m a m ber is disposed on both sides of a conveyor path for bottles, and bottles are conveyed suspended thereby with neck portions thereof held by bottle conveyor m a m bers on both sides.
In addition, the conveyor chain is formed by linking chain links by connector pins. where each chain link is formed integrally of a bottle conveyor m a m ber that is provided with a bottle holder plate and a m ain link me m ber that is equipped with a pin connection link, a bushing, and a conveyor m a m ber attach m ent portion, as specific m eans for the conveyor chain apparatus; the conveyor chain apparatus is configured by supporting this conveyor chain on sprocket wheels and intermedi-ate guidance members on either side; the thus configured pair of conveyor chain apparatuses are disposed on either side of the conveyor path for bottles in such a m anner that neck portions of bottles are held by bottle holder plates on both sides; and bottles are conveyed by the -z-driving of chain-driving sprocket wheels in a state in which the bottles are suspended.
Furthermore, the bottle conveyor member provided with the bottle holder plate is formed of a low-friction material as the bottle conveyor member, side surfaces on both sides of the bottle holder plate are formed in such a manner that lower edges thereof are inclined forward in the conveyor direction, so that, wrren bottles are delayed, the bottles are maintained in a suspended state and slide over the bottle holder plate.
In one aspect, the present invention provides a conveyor chain apparatus for conveying a bottle along a conveyor path by a holder ring in the neck of the bottle, comprising: a conveyor chain formed of chain links connected by connecting pins, each of said chain links comprising: a main link portion with a projecting end and a receiving end, each end having one or more holes so that the projecting end of one link fits into the receiving end of another link and the connecting pins form the chain links into the conveyor chain; and a bottle conveyor portion, wherein said conveyor chain apparatus is disposed on both sides of the conveyor path.
Brief Description of the Drawings Fig.i is a plan view of a conveyor chain apparatus in accordance with the present invention;
Fig. 2 is a side view, schematically showing a state in which bottles are conveyed by using the conveyor chain apparatus of the present invention;
Fig. 3(a) is a perspective view of a chain link used in the first embodiment of the conveyor chain apparatus of the present invention;
Fig. 3(b) is a side view thereof, Fig. 3(c) is a front view thereof, and Fig.
3(d) is cross-sectional view of the chain link of Fig. 3(a) taken along the line G-G;
Fig. 4(a) is a plan view illustrating a bottle conveyor portion of the conveyor chain of the present invention and Fig. 4(b) is a side view thereof;

Fig. 5(a) is a perspective view of a chain link used in a second embodiment of the present invention and Fig. 5(b) is a cross-sectional view of the chain link of Fig.
5(a) taken along the line H-H;
Fig. 6(a) is a perspective view of the bottle conveyor member used in the second embodiment of the present invention and Fig. 6(b) is a cross-sectional view of the bottle conveyor member of Fig. 6(a) taken along -3a-the line I-I;
Fig. 7 is a cross-sectional view of the sprocket portion of the conveyor chain apparatus of the present invention, taken along the line E-E of Fig. 1; and Fig. 8 is a cross-sectional view of the chain guidance m a m ber portion of the conveyor chain apparatus of the present invention, taken along the line F - F of Fig. 1.
Best Mode for Carrying Out the Invention E m bodi m ents of the present invention are described below with reference to the acco m panying figures.
The state of the conveyor chain apparatus when in use is configured as denoted overall by A in Figs. 1 and 2. This conveyor chain apparatus A
is designed to convey a bottle, which has a m outh portion for m ed into an annular holder portion, in a suspended state as denoted by the sy m bol B.
A belt conveyor C1 that carries bottles from a previous stage is provided overlapping a forward portion of the conveyor chain apparatus A and another belt conveyor C2 and a feed screw D that supply bottles to a next stage are provided overlapping a rear portion thereof.
The conveyor chain apparatus A is formed in such a manner that a pair of chain devices A 1 and A2 are disposed on either side of a path along which bottles are conveyed, and these chain devices A 1 and A2 are fixed to a device frame (not shown in the figure) by support frames 1.
Each of the chain devices A 1 and A2 is equipped with a conveyor chain 2 and a sprocket wheel 3 that drives the conveyor chain 2 around, to form a circuit The sprocket wheels 3 are driven to rotate by a drive source Cnot shown in the figure) that is mounted on the device frame, in such a m anner that the conveyor chains 2 are driven in a circuit thereby.

Chain guidance members 5 and 6 are attached by support brackets 4 to either side of each of the support fro mes 1, and an idler sprocket wheel 7 is also attached to a rear end of each of the support frames 1 in such a manner as to enable positional adjustment in the forward and rearward directions.
Each conveyor chain 2 is supported in a freely rotational manner by the corresponding driving sprocket wheel 3, chain guidance m a m hers 5 and 6, and idler sprocket wheel 7, and is configured to be driven along the chain guidance m a m hers 5 and 6 by the rotational drive of the driving sprocket wheel 3.
The linkage configuration of this conveyor chain 2 will now be described.
Each chain link 9 of the conveyor chains used in the present invention is constructed of a m ain link m a m ber 10 and a bottle conveyor m a m ber 11 that is for m ed integrally with this m ain link m a m ber, as shown in Fig.
3.
It is m ost suitable to for m each chain link 9 by using stainless steel., which has abrasion resistance and low friction characteristics, as a m aterial.
A synthetic resin co m prising a polya m ide, polyacetal, polyethylene terephthalate (P E T), polybutylene terephthalate (P B T), or other plastic could be used as a plastic material therefor, but polyacetal would be best if the bottles are made of polyethylene terephthalate Connecting links, offset links, or the like could be used as the chain link structure, but each of the m ain link m a m bers 10 used in the present invention is of a so-called offset link type having an integral structure of a link plate and a running fit, co m prising a pin connection link portion 12, a bush portion 13, and a conveyor m a m ber attach m ent portion 14.
Two link plates (offset plates) 15a and 15b are provided on the pin connection link portion12, opposed upper and lower end surfaces to thereof. through holes connection pins are provided 17a and 17b for 16 penetrating through link plates and 15b. and er and lower the 15a upp end surfaces of the plates 15a 15b are formed surfaces link and as 18a and 18b that slope s the conveyerm a m ber attachside.
to ward m ent The bush portion 13 supported he conveyor member is by t attachment portion 14 and support arms 19a and 19b that are connected to the respective link plates 15a and 15b, and a through hole 20 for one of the connection pins 16 is provided penetrating through the center of the bush portion 13.
T l1e bottle conveyor m a m ber 11 is for m ed to have an approxi m ately L -shape of an attachment plate portion 21, which is connected to the attach m ent portion 14 of the m ain link m a m ber 10, and a bottle holder plate 22, which extends horizontally fro m the attach ment plate portion.
In addition, cut surfaces 23 on either side of the bottle holder plate 22 are formed as inclined surfaces where the lower edge thereof points forward with respect to the conveyor direction (indicated by the arrow X ).
If necessary, a protective plate 33 could be provided on each of the to wer edge surfaces of the chain guidance m a m bers 5 and 6 with a liner 32 therebetween, as shown in Fig. 8.
Protruberant ridges 24 are formed at an upper end portion of each connection pin 16 and a connection between links in accordance with the present invention is made by inserting the upper end of that connection pin 16 into the through hole 17a of the link plate 15a and mating the lower end thereof with the through hole 17b, as shown in Fig. 3(d).
In addition, the bush portion 13 of one m ain link m a m ber 10 fits into the inner sides of the link plates 15a and 15b of the next main link member 10, as shown by broken lines, and the link plates 15a and 15b and the bush portion 13 are connected together by another connection pin -s-16, to form the conveyor chain 2 as shown in Figs. 4(a) and 4(b).
The above embodiment was described as having a configuration in which the attach m ent plate portion 21 of the bottle conveyor m a m ber 11 is integral with the attach m ent portion 14 of the m ain link m a m ber 10, but the conveyor chain apparatus of the present invention is not li m ited to this configuration, so that the bottle conveyor m a m ber 11 and the m ain link m a m ber 10 could equally well be for m ed as separate bodies using different m aterials that are fixed together to for m a single body by welding or other suitable fixing means.
A n exa m ple of such an a m bodi m ent is shown in Figs. 5 and 6, enabling a configuration wherein a protruding pin 25, to which is attached a head for preventing re m oval, is provided on the attach m ent portion 14 of each m ain link m a m ber 10 that for m s the conveyor chain, and a slotted hole 26 is provided in the attach ment plate portion 21 of another bottle conveyor m a m ber 11, whereby the two co m ponents are engaged together to for m the conveyor chain.
In such a case, the main link member 10 could be formed of a metal or of various other co m m only used m aterials, while the bottle conveyor m a m ber 11 alone is for m ed of a m aterial having abrasion resistance and low friction characteristics.
The various members configuring the conveyor chain apparatus will now be described.
The conveyor chain apparatus of the present invention, which is configured as described above, is arranged in such a manner that the two chain devices A 1 and A2 disposed on either side of the bottle conveyer path are capable of pincering and holding the m outh portions of the moving bottles B, as shown schematically in Fig. 1.
A neck portion provided with a holder ring 28 for conveying is formed below the mouth portion 27 of each bottle B, as shown in Fig. 8, and the chain devices A1 and A2 are disposed in such a manner that the bottle neck portions provided with the holder rings 28 are pincered and held fro m both sides while the holder plates 22 of the bottle conveyor m a m bers 11 attached to the conveyor chains 2 disposed on either side of the bottle conveyor path hold the m outh portions of the bottles B, as shown in Figs. 2 and 4.
The sprocket wheel 3 is provided with sprockets 30 that engage with the bush portion 13 of each chain link 9, as shown in Fig. 7, with the configuration being such that a drive shaft 31 of this sprocket wheel is attached rotatably to a bearing (not shown ) provided on the device fra m a and is rotated by a drive source via a suitable known trans m fission m echanis m.
A n attach menu plate 33 provided with elongated holes 32 for positional adjustment is attached by screws 34 to each support frame 1 at a rear end of the support frame 1, as shown in Fig. l, and the idler sprocket wheel 7 is fixed by screws 35 to the attach m ent plate 33 in an adjustable manner.
Indented guide grooves 40 for guiding the m ain link m a m hers 10 of the conveyor chain 2 are for m ed in the chain guidance m a m bers 5 and 6, as shown in Fig. 8, inner wall surfaces of the guide grooves are formed as gripping surfaces 41a and 41b that are a pair of tapered inclined surfaces matching the upper and lower surfaces 18a and 18b of the link plates 15a and 15b, are the m ain link m a m hers 10 are guided thereby in a state in which they are in contact with base wall surfaces 42 of the guide grooves 40.
If the protective plates 33 are provided on the lower end surfaces of the chain guidance members 5 and 6, they are provided in such a manner as to protrude between the holder plates 22 of the bottle conveyor members 11 and the shoulder portions of the bottles B, and the positions thereof are fixed in an adjustable manner in accordance with the shape and size of the bottles by set screws 34 and screw-holes formed as _8_ elongated slots, in such a m anner that front edge portions of the protective plates 33 do not touch the m outh portions of the bottles.
The above described configuration of the conveyor chain apparatus of the present invention ensures that the conveyor path can be freely rearran ged, because the m ain link m a m hers 10 of the conveyor chains 2 do not come out of the guide grooves 40 of the chain guidance members 5 and 6 during the process of conveying the bottles, and the shape of the chain guidance m a m bers 5 and 6 disposed on either side can take up various different curves.
The usage of the conveyor chain apparatus will now be described.
W hen blo w m olded bottles B that have been re m oved fro m the blo w -m ol~ding apparatus after the blow m olding is co m pleted are conveyed by the belt conveyor C1 to the conveyor chain apparatus A of the present invention, as shown in Fig. 2, the neck portions of the finished bottles are pincered and held fro m both sides by the bottle conveyor m a m bers 11 of the conveyor chains 2 of this apparatus, and are conveyed thereby in a suspended state.
D wring this ti m e, if a bottle on the into m ing belt conveyor C 1 has fallen over, the fallen bottle will drop fro m the conveyer without being suspended fro m the conveyor chains, so that only bottles in a normal state will be conveyed by the conveyor chain apparatus A.
W hen the correctly suspended bottles B transfer fro m the conveyor chain apparatus of the present invention onto the belt conveyor C2 for supplying bottles to the next stage, the bottles B are sent on towards the next processing stage in such a m anner that they are held at a fixed spacing by the feed screw D.
D wring this process, the bottles B m ay be subjected to to m porary halts but, since the conveyor m a m bers are for m ed of a m aterial w hick has to w friction characteristics and also the side surfaces of the bottle holder plates are formed in a state in which they are inclined forward in the _9_ conveyor direction, the neck portions of the bottles slide s m oothly over the holder plates without being caught by the side surfaces of the holder plates, and the bottles are halted stably while being maintained in a suspended state.
In addition, if the protective plates for m ed of a m aterial with low friction characteristics are provided, and if a halt occurs in the bottles at a position such as at the inlet of the screw and the subsequent bottles become inclined, the striking of the shoulder portions of the bottles against the protective plates 33 ensures that s m ooth sliding occurs between the holder rings and the holder plates, without the bottle holder plates 22 co m ing into direct contact with the shoulder portions of the bottles, which ensures that there is no damage to the bottles which would otherwise occur fro m the strong friction induced by the bottles in an inclined state beco m ing wedged between the holder plates.
Th.e above a m bodi m ents were described as being used for bottles for m ed by blow- m olding, as the objects to be conveyed, but it can easily be co m prehended by those skilled in the art that the conveyor apparatus of the present invention can be used for conveying other objects, such as prefor m s for blow- m olding or cups for m ed to have flanges at upper edges thereof.
Industrial A pplicability The use of the above described configuration of the present invention m kes it possible to i m ple m ent the follo wing effects:
Since the mouth portions of the bottles and pincered and held fr.o m both sides by the bottle conveyor m a m bers attached to the conveyor chains, so that the bottles are conveyed in a state in which they are suspended by the neck portions thereof, there is no likelihood of the bottles falling down on the conveyor line.
-io-If a toppled bottle should arrive fro m the previous stage, for exa m ple, that bottle will auto m atically drop fro m the belt conveyor without beco m ing suspended by the neck portion thereof, naturally making it possible to prevent the apparatus of the next stage from halting.
In addition, friction between the bottle neck portions and the bottle conveyor m a m bers can be reduced as far as possible by for m ing the bottle conveyor members of the conveyor chains of a low-friction m aterial, so that, since friction does not occur, except at portions such. as the feed screw, the occurrence of da m age to the bottles due to friction can be suppressed.
The conveyor speed can be controlled in a si m ple m anner by changing the rotational speed of the sprocket wheels and the conveyor speed of the bottles is fixed by the chain pitch, so that there are no collisions between bottles.
W hile bottles are being sent on to the next stage by the conveyor apparatus of this invention, a feed screw at the inlet of the next stage ensures that the bottles slide s m oothly over the holder plates without being caught by the side surfaces of the holder plates, even if they are to m porarily delayed, so that the bottles are halted stably while being maintained in a suspended state.
ff a halt occurs in the bottles at a position such as at the inlet of the feed screw and the subsequent bottles become inclined. The provision of the protective plates belo w the bottle holder plates ensures s m ooth sliding between the holder rings of the bottles and the holder plates, without the bottle shoulder portions co m ing into direct contact with the bottle holder plates, so that no da m age occurs.
-m -

Claims (16)

What is claimed is:
1. A conveyor chain apparatus for conveying a bottle along a conveyor path by a holder ring in the neck of the bottle, comprising:
a conveyor chain formed of chain links connected by connecting pins, each of said chain links comprising:
a main link portion with a projecting end and a receiving end, each end having one or more holes so that the projecting end of one link fits into the receiving end of another link and the connecting pins form the chain links into the conveyor chain; and a bottle conveyor portion, wherein said conveyor chain apparatus is disposed on both sides of the conveyor path.
2. The conveyor chain apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a main link member and the bottle conveyor member of said chain link are formed integrally by injection-molding a composite resin.
3. The conveyor chain apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the bottle conveyor portion comprises a substantially L-shape member having side surfaces inclined forward in a conveyor direction.
4. The conveyor chain apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the bottle conveyor portion is formed of a low-friction material in such a manner that, when bottles are delayed, the bottles are maintained in a suspended state and slide over a plurality of bottle conveyor portions.
5. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising sprocket wheels and chain guidance members.
6. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein said chain guidance members are provided with guide grooves for guiding the chain links.
7. The conveyor chain apparatus according to claim 5, wherein a protective plate is provided protruding from said chain guidance members underneath the bottle conveyor portion.
8. The apparatus of claim 5, further comprising upper and lower surfaces of the bottle conveyor portion that are formed as surfaces inclined towards the main link portion.
9. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a main offset link portion of the main link portion comprising a pin link, a bushing, and a conveyor member attachment plate, that detachably attaches the bottle conveyor portion.
10. The conveyor chain apparatus according to claim 9, wherein a main offset link member of said chain link, comprising a pin link, a bushing, and a conveyor member attachment plate, is formed integrally by injection-molding a composite resin and also a protuberant pin to which is attached a removal-preventing head is formed in said conveyor member attachment plate, such that said bottle conveyor member engages in a freely detachable manner to said protuberant pin.
11. The conveyor chain apparatus according to claim 9, wherein said bottle conveyor portion comprises a substantially L-shape member having side surfaces inclined forward in a conveyor direction.
12. The conveyor chain apparatus according to claim 9, wherein said bottle conveyor portion is formed of a low-friction material in such a manner that, when bottles are delayed, the bottles are maintained in a suspended state and slide over a plurality of L-shaped bottle conveyor portions.
13. The apparatus of claim 9, further comprising sprocket wheels and chain guidance members.
14. The conveyor chain apparatus according to claim 13, wherein upper and lower surfaces of a link plate of the chain links are formed as surfaces inclined towards the main link portion.
15. The conveyor chain apparatus according to claim 13, wherein said chain guidance members are provided with guide grooves for guiding the chain links.
16. The conveyor chain apparatus according to claim 13, wherein a protective plate is provided protruding from said chain guidance members underneath the bottle conveyor portion.
CA002232996A 1996-07-25 1997-07-16 Conveyor chain apparatus Expired - Fee Related CA2232996C (en)

Applications Claiming Priority (3)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
JP213271/1996 1996-07-25
JP8213271A JPH1035847A (en) 1996-07-25 1996-07-25 Carrying chain device
PCT/JP1997/002466 WO1998004483A1 (en) 1996-07-25 1997-07-16 Conveying chain apparatus

Publications (2)

Publication Number Publication Date
CA2232996A1 CA2232996A1 (en) 1998-02-05
CA2232996C true CA2232996C (en) 2006-09-19

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CA002232996A Expired - Fee Related CA2232996C (en) 1996-07-25 1997-07-16 Conveyor chain apparatus

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Cited By (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
CN103950684A (en) * 2014-04-18 2014-07-30 江苏新美星包装机械股份有限公司 Bucket suspending and conveying device
CN105962400A (en) * 2016-07-06 2016-09-28 福州幻科机电科技有限公司 Automatic wheat gluten cutting and skewering machine

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CN111891699B (en) * 2020-07-10 2022-01-14 安徽强旺生物工程有限公司 Continuous transfer device of refined salt plastic bottle production usefulness

Cited By (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
CN103950684A (en) * 2014-04-18 2014-07-30 江苏新美星包装机械股份有限公司 Bucket suspending and conveying device
CN103950684B (en) * 2014-04-18 2017-01-18 江苏新美星包装机械股份有限公司 Bucket suspending and conveying device
CN105962400A (en) * 2016-07-06 2016-09-28 福州幻科机电科技有限公司 Automatic wheat gluten cutting and skewering machine

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CA2232996A1 (en) 1998-02-05

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