FR2503678A1 - Conveyor with roller support workpiece holder - has number of carrier blocks secured to top of individual chain plates - Google Patents

Abstract

The spindle conveyor system has a continuous conveyor chain, including a number of chain plates that are connected by chain pins, movably mounted in an enclosure structure. The conveyor chain has guide rollers. A number of carrier blocks are each fixedly secured to the top side of an individual chain plate. A workpiece spindle is rotatably mounted on each of the carrier blocks and adapted to carry a workpiece holder fixture on the upper end. Each of the carrier blocks has guide rollers operatively mounted on the block. Guide plates are mounted in the enclosure structure for guiding engagement with the conveyor chain guide rollers and the carrier block guide rollers.

Description

 The present invention relates to the field of industrial conveyors and more particularly to a new improved conveyor of the type with object-holder pins. The invention relates more particularly to a conveyor comprising several rotary spindles which support objects through a series of work stations such as a washing station, a painting station, a cooking station, a parts cooling station. or objects, an object unloading station and an object loading station.

 In the field of industrial conveyors, it is well known to use such conveyors to transport objects or parts through various work stations to perform certain operations on said parts. It is also well known in this field to use conveyors comprising several elongated object pins, which are intended to support parts for moving them through a series of work stations. Problems which have arisen with a conveyor of the pin type relate to the fixing of the said pins to a conveyor chain and the guiding of the said chain and of the pins so that the latter do not swing. Another difficulty encountered with the pin conveyors lies in the fact that the spindles are mounted on extended axes of the conveyor chain and that these axes are subject to rupture if a spindle gets stuck in the conveyor, which would then result in rupture and damage. of the conveyor.

 In an attempt to overcome these difficulties, the pin conveyors of the prior art have been fitted with wear plates and an additional greased track intended to guide the conveyor chains. The last mentioned prior art pin conveyors have the disadvantage that the wear plates become clogged and that, when they pass through washing installations, the grease covering the wear is removed by washing. In order to overcome this latter difficulty, separate conveyors were used. A conveyor was used only to transport the parts in a washing cabin in which they are cleaned. Another conveyor was used to transport the pieces through a paint booth and a separate conveyor was used to cure the layer of paint covering the pieces. These prior art pin conveyors required additional labor to loading and unloading of conveyors as well as additional space for said conveyors.

 The present invention relates to a continuous conveyor of the pin type which overcomes the drawbacks of prior conveyors of this kind. The continuous spindle conveyor is designed and arranged to transport objects or parts through a series of work stations, such as a parts washing station, a parts painting station, a cooking station for cooking layer of paint covering the parts, an unloading station and a parts loading station.

 The pin conveyor includes an elongated enclosure having a longitudinal slot in its upper face. A conveyor chain is mounted mobile in the enclosure and has several guide rollers mounted on an axis perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the enclosure. A lower guide device is mounted in the enclosure to come into guide contact with the guide rollers of the conveyor chain.

Several support blocks are attached to the conveyor chain. Each of said blocks is equipped with a guide roller mounted on a transverse axis perpendicular to the axis of rotation of the guide rollers of the conveyor chain and coming into contact with the lower guide device. To each of the support blocks is attached a pivot which extends towards the outside of the enclosure through the longitudinal slot. An object-holder pin pivots on each of the pivots and is intended to support an object support at its free end. Each rotating spindle is equipped with a pinion intended to engage with a device for rotating each of the spindles on the respective pivot. The elongated enclosure of the conveyor has a curvilinear lower guide device for the guide rollers of the conveyor chain. and a curvilinear upper guide device for the rollers of the support blocks at the places where the conveyor negotiates curves.

 The present invention therefore relates to a pin conveyor whose object pins are moved in a positive manner without tilting or jamming the conveyor chain. The conveyor of the present invention is intended to maintain the workpiece spindles in a safe and effective position for supporting the workpieces regardless of the slope traveled by the conveyor and without losing the workpieces supported by the spindles. The guide device of the conveyor of the present invention allows the support of the parts at the upper end of the spindles without said parts falling.

The invention will be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings by way of non-limiting example and in which
Figure 1 is a fragmentary view of the end part of a conveyor according to the invention used in an installation for painting oil filters;
Figure 2 is a large-scale section of the conveyor along line 2-2 of Figure 1, looking in the direction of the arrows
Figure 3 is a fragmentary side view with cutaway of the conveyor illustrated in Figure 2, some parts being cut away and others in section along line 3-3 of Figure 2 and looking in the direction of the arrows
Figure 4 is an exploded view of a support block and the pin and rollers of the block used in the present invention
Figure 5 is a large-scale fragmentary section of the conveyor along line 5-5 of Figure 1 and looking in the direction of the arrows; and
FIG. 6 is a side and perspective view of the conveyor shown in FIG. 5.

 Now examining the drawings and more particularly FIG. 1, the reference number 10 generally designates a pin conveyor according to the present invention, which is intended to be used in a painting installation, for example a packaging installation. and painting parts 19, in particular the casing of an automobile engine oil filter. The conveyor 10 transports the pieces 19 of oil filters to various treatment stations, for example a washing station, generally designated by 15 in FIG. 1, then through a station comprising a paint booth, designated d 'generally by 11, and finally through a cooking cabin and a cooling chamber, after which said parts are discharged from the conveyor 10. The reference number 12 designates a platform on which the washing cabin 15 is mounted and the painting booth 11 of the representative painting installation. The conveyor 10 transports the pieces 19 from the ground level 13 to the platform 12 to submit them to the various operations, then brings them back to the ground level 13. The reference 14 generally designates the external wall of the construction containing the painting installation.

 As shown in FIG. 2, the conveyor 10 comprises a conveyor chain, generally designated by 17, which can be of any suitable type, for example an ordinary calibrated, circular chain having wide lateral cheeks or links 24. The conveyor chain 17 is intended to move several spaced object holders of the spindle type, generally designated by 18, and produced according to the present invention. Each of the object holders 18 supports a part of an oil filter, generally designated by 19, which in the present case is a cover or casing of an oil filter of an automobile engine.

As can be seen in FIG. 2, the conveyor chain 17 is enclosed in an enclosure equipped with a guide device and generally designated by 20 in order to keep the conveyor chain 17 clean and to support and guide it .

 As shown in Figure 3, the conveyor chain 17 comprises several rollers 23 arranged horizontally which rotate on conventional axes 25. The latter are connected by conventional plates or cheeks 24 in the usual way. As can be seen in FIG. 3, one out of three upper plates, designated by the reference number 26, is fixed to a support block 29. The support blocks 29 are fixed to the corresponding cheeks 26 of the chain by suitable means any, for example by welding. As can be seen in particular in FIG. 4, each of the support blocks 29 has a horizontal bore 30 into which a shaft 31 is introduced. A roller 32 of steel pivots on each outer end of each of the shafts 31. The rollers 32 are retained on the respective shaft 31 by suitable washers 33 and pins 34 which pass through suitable holes 35 made in the shaft 31 at a location located beyond the adjacent washer 33.

 In FIG. 2, it can be seen that the support block 29 has a vertical bore 38 whose internal end communicates with the transverse bore 30.

A vertical pivot 39 is housed in the bore 38 of the support block 29 and its planar lower end penetrates into the bore 33 and bears against the internal face of a flat recess 40 which is formed in the center of the shaft. 31. As can be seen in FIGS. 3 and 4, each of the pivots 39 is fixed in the position last described by a suitable screw 41 which is screwed into a threaded bore 42 of the support block 29 and whose internal end is housed in a bore 43 formed in the lower end of each of the pivots 39.

 As shown in Figure 2, each of the workpieces of the present invention has a pin 48, which has the shape of an elongated cylindrical tube having an internal bore 55 in the lower end of which is fixed, for example by interference fitting , a tubular sleeve 46. In the bore 47 of the latter journals the upper end of one of the pivots 39. A bearing ball 60 is housed in each of the pins 48 in an intermediate longitudinal position and is secured in said pin 48 by any suitable means, for example by welding as shown at 61 in FIG. 3.

A hole is drilled in each of the opposite sides of the spindle 48 and is folded with a weld which fixes the ball 60 to the respective spindle 48. As can be seen in FIGS. 2 and 3, a pinion 49 is mounted on each of the pins 48 in an intermediate longitudinal position and is fixed thereto by any suitable means, for example by welding. A drain hole 62 is formed in the wall of each pin 48 near the ball 60.

 It can be seen in FIG. 2 that each of the pins 48 is fixed at its upper end, by any suitable means, for example by welding, to a circular support plate 52. Each of the circular plates 52 is pierced with a central hole 53 which communicates with the bore 55 of the spindle 48. The plate 52 is intended to support suitable mounting elements for supporting parts such as the casing 19 of an oil filter. The mounting member for supporting the parts 19 is shown as comprising a circular adapter plate 56 which is secured to a central shaft 54 which passes through it.

The lower end of the shaft 54 slides in the bore 55 of the spindle 48. The plate 56 is shown as having a peripheral peripheral wall 57.

 It is obvious that the cylindrical casing 19 of the oil filter is squarely supported by its end on the plate 56, its circular periphery coming into sliding contact with the internal surface of the peripheral wall 57 of the adapter plate.

 In FIG. 2, the enclosure is generally designated by 65 and comprises a rectangular tubular envelope made up of two profiled parts. The first of the profiled parts of the enclosure 65 comprises a bottom wall 66 which is integral with one end of a side wall 67 oriented perpendicularly. The upper end of the side wall 67 is integral with an upper wall 68 extending inwards and ending in an internal edge 69.

This first profiled part of the enclosure further comprises a partial vertical side wall 70 which is integral with the other end of the lower wall 66. The second of the profiled parts of the enclosure 65 has a vertical flange 71 which is fixed to the wall or flange 70 by suitable metal screws 72 and nuts 73. The upper end of the side wall 71 is integral with a horizontal upper wall 74 extending inwards and ending in an internal edge 75. The interval between the internal edges 69 and 75 delimits a longitudinal slot intended for the passage of the pins 48.

 The guide system of the conveyor chain comprises two spaced elongated angles, generally designated by 78, which are placed on the opposite sides of the path traveled by the rollers 23 of the conveyor chain. As shown in Figure 2, each of the guide angles 78 has a vertical guide wing 79 and a horizontal wing 80 integral with the first and extending outward. The guide rollers 32 of the support block 29 roll on the upper surfaces of the horizontal wings 80 and the rollers 23 of the conveyor chain are mounted in a manner along the passage 81 delimited by the vertical wings 79. It is obvious that the vertical guide wings 79 prevent the conveyor chain 17 from oscillating laterally and dropping the parts 19 from the support plate 52. The play between the internal faces of the vertical wings 79 and the rollers 23 can satisfy any desired tolerance. The elongated angles 78 are fixed in their spaced positions inside the tubular enclosure 65 by any suitable means, for example by welding.

 FIGS. 5 and 6 illustrate the enclosure and the guiding structure of the pin conveyor of the present invention to be used at the places where a change of direction or level occurs. In the representative painting installation described above, the washing, cooking and spraying cabins are mounted on the platform 12 above the main level of the ground 13. This is intended to keep most of the space on the ground and to separate the finishing system from the other stages of treatment of the installation. The circular calibrated chain used for the conveyor of the present invention allows changes in level and the maximum radius of curvature where the level change occurs around 150 at most1 with a radius of around 2.4 to 3 meters for descents or vertical climbs, depending on the layout of the installation. The possibility of having a pin conveyor which can move from one level to another makes it possible to place the finishing station at a level distant about 4.5 meters from the main ground level and to lower the conveyor up to a place approximately 0.9 meters from ground level 13 where the finished parts are unloaded and put in cardboard to be brought to the dispatch service, the unpainted or untreated parts then being loaded at this place and routed to the finishing station to be painted.

The structure of FIGS. 5 and 6 allows the conveyor to negotiate curves allowing it to change such a level and it is constructed as follows.

 The curvilinear structure of the conveyor of FIGS. 5 and 6 maintains the rollers 23 for guiding the chain in the low position between the guide bars when the chain negotiates curves in a vertical plane at the two locations designated by 82 and 83 in FIG. 1. The reference 84 generally designates the structure for deflecting or changing the direction of the conveyor which comprises an enclosure constituted by a curvilinear base plate 83 to which are fixed, for example by welding, two curvilinear side plates 86 which are spaced laterally.

The enclosure of the pin conveyor is completed by two curvilinear upper cover plates 87 which are secured to the side plates 86 by any suitable means, for example by welding. The internal edges 89 of the upper cover plates 87 are spaced from each other to delimit a slot in which the pins 48 move. As can be seen in FIGS. 5 and 6, the base plate 83 is mounted on several longitudinally spaced support transverse bars 85 which are fixed to it by any suitable means, for example by welding. FIGS. 5 and 6 also show that the structure for changing the direction of the conveyor comprises several vertical reinforcement plates 88 which are spaced apart longitudinally and the upper ends of which rest under and against the lower face of the adjacent upper plates 87, their lower ends resting on the external upper faces of the bars transverse support 85. The reinforcing plates 88 are fixed to the support bars 85, to the side walls 86 and to the upper plates 87 by any suitable means, for example by welding.

 The structure for changing the direction of the conveyor in FIGS. 5 and 6 comprises a device intended to guide the rollers 23 of the conveyor chain, a device which comprises two curvilinear guide bars 92 which are oriented vertically and spaced laterally. Said bars 92 are fixed, for example by welding, to the lower plate 83. As can be seen in FIG. 6, the enclosure last described for the structure for changing the direction of the conveyor describes a curve corresponding to the angle of desired curvature to negotiate the desired change of direction in the vertical plane, and the guide bars 92 follow a similar curve.

 In order to prevent the rollers 23 from lifting up and out of the corridor delimited by the vertical guide bars 92, two hourly zonal curvilinear plates 95 for guiding the rollers are mounted below the side walls 86 to which they are fixed by any means. suitable, for example by welding. The guide plates 95 are curved to the same degree of curvature as the entire structure for changing the direction of the conveyor. The guide bars 92 are spaced apart to allow the pins 48 and the blocks to pass through. support 29 and they are spaced down from the upper walls 87 of the enclosure by several suitable transverse brackets 96 which are spaced longitudinally and fixed in place, for example by welding, to the upper plates 87 and to the side plates 86, likewise than to the guide bars 95. It is obvious that, when the pin conveyor crosses the change of direction structures, the rollers 32 for guiding the support blocks roll on the lower surface of the curved plates 95 and prevent the rollers 23 from climb out of the corridor delimited by the vertical bars 92.

 It is understood that the lower guide bars 92 and the upper guide plates 95 extend beyond each end of the change of direction structure by a distance of about 0.3 meters in the straight sections of the 'enclosure of the conveyor formed by the structure shown in Figure 2. As a result, the guide angles 78 are shortened by about 0.3 meters at the ends of the structure of Figure 2 which are associated with a change of direction structure in Figure 5.

 In service, the parts 19 of oil filters are loaded on the object carriers 18 at ground level 13 from where they are transported from bottom to top in one of the change of direction structures 83, then in a rectilinear part of the type represented in FIG. 2 and then in a second change of direction structure 82 to pass again into a horizontal structure tale 1 like that represented in FIG. 2j which transports the parts to subject them to the various operations which consist in cleaning the parts , to paint them, to dry them and to bake the layer of paint covering the parts 19. The conveyor comprises a continuous return part which is produced in the same way as the structure of FIG. 1 to bring back the finished parts 19 from above below ground level 13 as in a continuous closed circuit transport system.

The pinions 49 are intended to mesh with a suitable driving gear when the workpieces 18 pass through a spray paint booth, so as to rotate the parts 19 and to distribute the layer of paint which is sprayed evenly over the surface. exterior of the latter.

 It appears from the above description that the transport structure of the present invention constitutes a pin conveyor, the pins 18 of which are moved in a positive manner without tilting or jamming the conveyor chain. The pin conveyor of the present invention is intended to keep the workpiece pins 18 in a safe and efficient transport position, regardless of the slope or level of movement of the conveyor and without the parts 19 supported by the pins 18 fall. Said parts 19 are not firmly attached to the pins 18, since it is desirable to be able to automatically load the parts 19 on the pins 18 and unload them from the latter at the desired loading and unloading station. The guide device of the conveyor of the present invention makes it possible to transport the pieces 19 on the upper ends of the pins 18 without said pieces swaying and falling.

Claims (10)

 1. Pin conveyor intended for use in high temperature installations, painting parts, washing by spraying, etc., conveyor characterized in that it comprises in combination  (a) a mobile conveyor chain (17) comprising a plurality of upper and lower horizontal cheeks or plates (24) which are connected by pins (25);  (b) the conveyor chain (17) comprising guide rollers (23),  (c) several support blocks (29) each of which is supported and is fixed to the upper face of an individual upper cheek (24) of the chain;  (d) a workpiece spindle (18) swiveling on each of the support blocks (29) and intended to support a workpiece element at its upper end;  (e) each of the support blocks (29) having a horizontal shaft (31) and a guide roller (32) mounted at each end of the latter without using a bearing; and  (f) a guide device intended to come into guide contact with the rollers (23) of the conveyor chain and the rollers (32) for guiding the support blocks (29).  2. Conveyor according to claim 1 characterized in that it comprises an elongated enclosure (65) surrounding the conveyor chain (17) and supporting the rollers (32) for guiding the support blocks (29), said enclosure having a longitudinal slot formed in its upper face to let pass the pins (18) object holders.  3. Conveyor according to claim 2, characterized in that the rollers (23) for guiding the conveyor chain comprise several horizontal rollers, each of which journals on an individual axis (25) passing through two upper cheeks (24) and two lower cheeks (24 ) chain.  4. Conveyor according to claim 3, characterized in that each of the pins (18) journals on a pivot (39) which is removably attached to the upper face of each support block (29).  5. Conveyor according to claim 4, characterized in that the guide rollers (32) of each support block (29) each consist of a roller arranged vertically and swiveling about a horizontal axis on each side of said support block (29).  6. Conveyor according to claim 5, characterized in that the device for guiding the rollers (23) of the conveyor chain (17) comprises two spaced vertical guide plates (79) secured inside the elongated enclosure and delimiting a guide corridor into which the rollers (23) of the conveyor chain penetrate.  7. Conveyor according to claim 6, characterized in that the roller guide device (32) for guiding the support blocks (29) comprises two horizontal and spaced guide plates (80) fixed in the elongated enclosure below rollers (32) for guiding the support blocks (29) and with which said rollers come into rolling contact.  8. Conveyor according to claim 7, characterized in that each of the pins (18) is equipped with a peripheral pinion (49) intended to come into engagement with a means for rotating said pinion and each of the pins (18) on their respective pivots (39).  9. Conveyor according to claim 7, characterized in that at the curvilinear locations for changing the direction of the conveyor, the devices for guiding the rollers (23) of the conveyor chain (17) and the rollers (32) for guiding the blocks of support (29) are curved and two curvilinear guide plates (95) are spaced and fixed in the elongated enclosure above the rollers (32) of the support blocks with which said rollers come into rolling contact when they pass through the curvilinear locations for changing the direction of the pin conveyor.  10. Conveyor according to claim 4, characterized in that each of the spindles (18) is tubular and contains a pivoting ball (60) which is fixed thereto; each of the pins (18) has several drain holes (62) provided above the ball; and said ball (60) of each spindle (18) rests on the upper end of the pivot (39) on which the spindle is mounted so as to come into punctual contact with it.