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
  • B65G51/00—Conveying 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
  • B65G51/02—Directly conveying the articles, e.g. slips, sheets, stockings, containers or workpieces, by flowing gases
• • 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
  • B65G51/00—Conveying 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
  • B65G51/04—Conveying the articles in carriers having a cross-section approximating that of the pipe or tube; Tube mail systems
  • B65G51/08—Controlling or conditioning the operating medium
  • B65G51/16—Controlling or conditioning the operating medium varying, e.g. starting or stopping, gas pressure or flow
• • 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
  • B65G51/00—Conveying 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
  • B65G51/04—Conveying the articles in carriers having a cross-section approximating that of the pipe or tube; Tube mail systems
  • B65G51/20—Braking arrangements

Definitions

• a pneumatic pick up unit and a pneumatic conveyor system A pneumatic pick up unit and a pneumatic conveyor system.
• the present invention relates to pneumatic conveyor system in general and more specifically to a pneumatic pick up unit adapted for lifting multiple components by suction and transferring the components into a pneumatic conveyor tube system
• the pneumatic component pick up unit comprising a suction conveyor tube having an open end and an opposite end adapted to be connected to a conveyor tube of the pneumatic conveyor tube system.
• Pneumatic pick up units of this type is known in the prior art for providing an efficient transfer of components or bulk ware from a bin and to a conveyor tube of the pneumatic conveyor system.
• the open end of the suction conveyor tube sucks the components or bulk ware into the suction conveyor tube where the flow of air further lifts the components or bulk ware through the suction conveyor tube and transfers it to and through a conveyor tube of the pneumatic conveyor system.
• air is used for this purpose. In certain situations, however, it may be relevant to use other gasses for the same purposes and therefore in the following the term air shall be understood as covering air or any other suitable gas.
• An example of such a pneumatic pick up unit is known e.g. from GB patent no. 1412693 disclosing a pneumatic lifting device for transferring granular or powder abrasive material from a hopper to a blast nozzle.
• pneumatic conveyor systems and component pick up units have been used for many other applications including transferring more fragile components such as injection molded components from a large bin into smaller containers e.g. for packing or assembly.
• a second suction tube having its suction opening arranged inside the suction conveyor tube at position between the open end and the opposite end provides the option of increasing the flow of air between the open end of the suction conveyor tube without simultaneously increasing the air speed in the conveyor tubes downstream from the suction opening inside the suction conveyor tube.
• This provides the option of lift components out of e.g. a bin using a relatively high air speed and thereafter convey the components at a lower speed through the conveyor tube.
• the suction opening of the second suction tube is positioned near the open end of the suction conveyor tube in order to reduce the distance in the suction conveyor tube where the components are conveyed with a high velocity.
• the suction opening is advantageously covered by a grating.
• the suction conveyor may be a flexible tube and may even be handled manually by an operator.
• the tube is formed as a telescopic tube having a upstream conveyor tube comprising the open end and an downstream conveyor tube comprising the opposite end, and the upstream conveyor tube and the downstream conveyor tube are slidable with respect to each other.
• the downstream conveyor tube may in this relation be suspended from a support structure via a bracket allowing at least the open end of the conveyor suction tube to move horizontally in all directions.
• the bracket is advantageously a universal joint, allowing the suction conveyor tube to rotate about two substantially orthogonal axes of rotation and thereby the open end of the conveyor suction tube to swing horizontally in all directions.
• At least one actuator may advantageously be arranged for moving the open end in a predetermined pattern, and another actuator be arranged be arranged for changing the length of the telescopic conveyor tube.
• the suction tube extends outside the suction conveyor tube.
• the suction opening is arranged in the tubular wall of the suction conveyor tube.
• An especially compact construction is achieved by arranging at least a section of the suction conveyor tube inside the second suction tube.
• the present invention also relates to a pneumatic conveyor system comprising a pneumatic conveyor tube and a blower adapted for providing a flow of air through the pneumatic conveyor tube, and wherein the pneumatic conveyor system comprises a component pick up unit as mentioned above.
• the pneumatic conveyor system may advantageously further comprise a blower for providing a flow of air into the second suction tube through the suction opening.
• Figure 1 Is a drawing showing the layout of a pneumatic conveyor system comprising a component pick up unit according to the invention.
• Figure 2 Shows a cross section of the open end of the component pick up unit shown in figure 1.
• FIG. 3 Is a principle drawing showing the working principle of an embodiment of the invention. Description of an embodiment of the invention:
• Figure 1 shows a layout of one embodiment of a pneumatic conveyor system 1 with a component pick up unit 7 according to the invention. This system is designed for transferring components from the large octagonal bin 8 into a number of smaller boxes 2.
• suction is provided by the blower 3 via a suction pipe 4 to a component vacuum loader 5 adapted for separating the airflow from the components conveyed by the flow of air through the pneumatic conveyor tube 6.
• the components are transferred into the pneumatic conveyor tube 6 via the component pick up unit 7 that lifts the components out of the octagonal bin 8 by suction and further transfers the components from the component pick up unit into the pneumatic conveyor tube 6.
• the octagonal bin 8 is positioned next to the component pick up unit 7 under the open end 11 of the suction conveyor 12.
• the suction conveyor 12 is connected at its opposite end 13 to the pneumatic conveyor tube 6 so that the components in the octagonal bin can be lifted by the flow of air provided by the blower 1 .
• the suction conveyor 12 have a upstream conveyor tube 14 telescopically connected to an downstream conveyor tube 15 so that the length of the suction conveyor tube 12 can be changed in order to reach different levels of components present in the octagonal bin 8.
• the downstream conveyor tube 15 is suspended from the supporting structure of the component pick up unit 7 via a universal joint bracket 16. This provides that the suction conveyor 12 can swing about two substantially orthogonal axes 17, 18, so that the open end 11 of the suction conveyor 12 can sweep over and in a safe distance above the components in the octagonal bin 8.
• the component pick up unit 7 comprises a suction conveyor tube 19 and a second suction tube 20 having an opening inside the suction conveyor tube 19.
• the suction conveyor tube 19 and the second suction tube 20 are established using two concentric tubes with the suction conveyor tube 19 arranged inside the second suction tube 20.
• a grating 21 is made in the wall of the suction conveyor tube 19 forming the opening into the second suction tube 20.
• FIG. 3 illustrates the working principle of the embodiment of the invention as shown in figure 1 .
• the open end 11 of the suction conveyor 12 is caused first to sweep in substantial horizontal directions along the path 25 and then to move downwards along the line 26 hereafter it is again caused to sweep in horizontal directions along the path 25’.
• This working principle may be used with any type of component pick up unit and it is established in this embodiment by the bracket 16 and the telescopically suction conveyor 12, and a number of actuators that are not shown in the drawings for clarity reasons.

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• Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Fluid Mechanics (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• Specific Conveyance Elements (AREA)
• Manipulator (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=81383675

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (2)

Family Cites Families (5)

• 2021
  • 2021-11-01 WO PCT/EP2021/080270 patent/WO2022090541A1/en unknown
  • 2021-11-01 EP EP21801133.6A patent/EP4237359A1/de active Pending

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