FR2724369A1 - DOUBLE CHANNEL CONVEYOR INSTALLATION - Google Patents

Abstract

Double-track conveyor installation, comprising a trolley track (10) and drive tracks (12). The carriages have a structure (36) provided with a drive system. The propulsion means comprise pushers (34) extending in the direction of the carriage track (10). The drive system comprises a drive cleat (40) movable between an operating position, in which it can cooperate with a pusher (34), and a non-operating position. This system also comprises two fixed lateral arms (46, 48) extending on each side of the drive cleat (40), with a view to cooperating with a sending pusher in a transfer zone of the installation. The respective positions of the first and second drive tracks are determined such that the receiving pusher does not come into driving contact with the latch (40) until the drive contact between the sending pusher (34) and this cleat has ceased.

Description

The present invention relates to a double conveyor installation

  track, such as those known as "Power and Free".

  This installation comprises a trolley path, a motor network comprising at least first and second driveways spaced vertically from said trolley path, trolleys carried by the track to

  trolleys and means of propulsion carried by the motorways.

  These propulsion means comprise push-buttons extending towards the carriage track and each having a pushing face, while each carriage has a structure provided with a drive system comprising a drive dog, extending towards the driveways and having a drive face. The driving lug is movable, relative to said structure, between an operating position in which its driving face is capable of cooperating with the thrust face of a pusher and a non-driving position.

  operation in which it escapes the pushers.

  The installation further comprises a transfer zone to which a carriage is propelled by a first push-button, said "sending", belonging to the first drive and from which said carriage is propelled by a second push-button, said "receiving", belonging to the second way

driving.

  In such an installation, known from the French patent FR 2 508 013, the driving latch is integral with a pair of transversely extending wing sections, through which the

  transmission of the propulsion, of the push of sending to the push of reception.

  Thus, in the transfer zone, the sending pusher is gradually shifted towards a first section of wings before ceasing to cooperate with the driving stopper, while the receiving pusher comes into contact with the second section of wings to gradually fall back to the party

median of the workout.

  It can therefore occur during the transfer a situation in which the push buttons for sending and receiving cooperate simultaneously with

  the cleat, which causes risks of mechanical conflict.

  The pusher or cleat may be damaged and the conveyor may become jammed. In addition, under certain circumstances, a disengagement of the carriage with respect to the push-button can occur, which, at all

  less, slows the propulsion on the conveyor installation.

  Attempts have already been made to reduce the risk of mechanical conflict by providing the wing sections with an anti-jam camming surface.

  does not solve the problems associated with declutching.

  The present invention aims to remedy these disadvantages.

  For this purpose, for each trolley, the drive system comprises two fixed side arms, extending on each side of the cleat.

  drive towards the drive and integral tracks of the structure.

  Each of said arms has an active face disposed substantially in the same plane as the driving face of the drive lug when it occupies its operating position and capable of cooperating with the sending pusher. In the transfer zone, the respective positions of the first and second drive means are determined such that the receiving pushbutton only makes driving contact with the drive stopper when the drive contact enters the pushbutton.

sending and said stop has ceased.

  Thanks to this conformation, and to the extent o, when the drive contact between the sending pusher and the driving stop ceases, it is replaced by a drive contact between this sending pusher and one lateral arms, it ensures a positive drive of the carriage in the transfer zone by the sending pusher. It also ensures correct positioning of the carriage for its support by the push button without risking the appearance of mechanical conflicts, since only one of the

  pushers can, at a given moment, drive the drive.

  Advantageously, the lateral arms extend towards the

  driveways to a lesser distance than the drive.

  It is thus ensured that, when it arrives at the level of the trolley, the receiving pusher is not yet sufficiently centered with respect to the drive system to ensure propulsion in good conditions, and if its speed is greater to that of the sending pusher, it simply passes under one of the arms without risk of damaging the cleat or

pinch the cart.

  The sending pusher is, for its part, progressively shifted towards one of the arms, whose active face is suitably arranged, and the receiving pusher does not come into contact with the cleat when, on the one hand , the contact between this cleat and the sending pusher has ceased, and, on the other hand, the receiving pusher is actually correctly positioned by

  compared to the drive system.

  The invention will be well understood and its advantages will appear better at

  reading the following detailed description of an embodiment

  indicated by way of non-limiting example. The description refers to the drawings

  in which: - Figure 1 is a side elevational view of a portion of the dual-track conveyor installation according to the invention, with a carriage, - Figure 2 is a side elevational view of the trolley portion; which comprises the drive system, on which the latter cooperates with a pusher of a driving way, - Figures 3 to 6 are rear views of the carriage of Figure 2 showing different stages of its propulsion, - Figure 7 is a top view of the conveyor in the transfer zone, showing different positions of the truck in this area, and on which, in addition to certain elements belonging to the drive tracks and the carriage track, only the drive cleat and the lateral arms of the trolley,

  that the push of sending and the push of reception, are schematized.

  In Figure 1, the carriageway 10 is located above the network

  motor, of which only a power path 12 is shown.

  The carriage 14 circulates on the carriageway 10 and carries a load 16,

  for example constituted by the carcass of a vehicle being manufactured.

  The conveyor installation transports this load to the various posts

implemented for its manufacture.

  It is also possible to design a similar double-track conveyor installation, in which the carriageway is located below the motor network, the essential point being that the carriageway and the driveways are

spaced vertically.

  In the following, it will be placed in the case of the example shown, that is to say we designate by lower parts of the various elements the parts closest to the motor channels. On the other hand, the parties

  higher will be the most remote motor.

  In the example shown, the carriage 14 comprises two trolleys carrying loads 18 and 20, and a front drive trolley 22. The latter is not directly part of the load-bearing structure,

  but is connected to the rest of the carriage by a drawbar 24.

  Depending on the load to be carried, the carriage may have a different number of trolleys. Depending on the case, and in particular when the trolley comprises two or even a single trolley, the training trolley can

  also be part of the load-bearing structure itself.

  As can be seen better in FIGS. 3 to 6, the carriageway consists of two U-shaped rails 10a and 10b arranged horizontally facing one another. The trolleys are provided with lateral wheels 26 which roll on these rails and a central wheel with a vertical axis 28 which cooperates with the ends of the upper branches of the U-shaped rails 10a and 10b for

properly guide the trolley.

  The driving way is also constituted by two rails U 12a and 12b facing each other, in which wheels 30 which support a chain 32 are driven. This chain is driven into the drive channel 12 by conventional means not shown. In addition to this chain, the propulsion means of the carriages comprise pushers 34 which extend in the direction of the carriageway 10. In the figures, it can be seen that the pushers 34 are mounted on the carriage.

  chain 32 and extend upwards.

  Each carriage has a structure provided with a drive system. In the example shown, this structure is constituted by the frame 36 of the drive trolley 32 and the drive system 38.

  extends downwards from this chassis.

  With reference to FIGS. 2 and 3, a system is now described.

drive and a pusher.

  The drive system 38 has a drive lug 40 which extends toward the driveways and has a drive face 40a. This cleat is fixed on a support 42 pivotally mounted relative to the structure 36 about an axis 44. In fact, the cleat can be fixed

  on the support 42 or to be one with it.

  This drive lug 40 can thus adopt an operating position in which its driving face 40a is capable of cooperating with the thrust face 34a of a pusher 34 and a non-operating position in which it escapes the pusher. It can be seen that, in the event of sufficient pivoting of the support 42, the lower end of the catch 40 can be above the upper end of the pushers

34.

  The support 42 is normally biased, for example under the effect of its own weight, so that the operating position is that adopted spontaneously cleat. The carrier 42 may be controlled to move the drive latch to its non-operating position. We are interested here more particularly in the propulsion of the carriage in a transfer zone of the conveyor installation. Indeed, the installation comprises at least one transfer zone in which the trolley path passes from one driving path to another, for example during a

  referral or a conveyor change.

  FIG. 7 shows a transfer zone in which a conveyor change takes place, the carriages being carried by the continuous track 10 (indicated in broken dashed lines), whereas the pushers of the first driving lane 12 are relayed by those of the second driving way 12 '. In fact, the first and second motorways can be two sections of the same path. The qualifiers "first" and "second" are

  used to differentiate these two sections in the transfer area.

  In this figure, to avoid burdening the drawing, the drive stop is schematized by a rectangle framed by two squares schematizing the two side arms. Send and receive push-buttons

  are also schematized by squares.

  Referring to FIGS. 2 to 6, it can be seen that the drive system 38 has two fixed lateral arms 46 and 48, which extend on each side of the drive cleat 40 towards the driveways

  and are integral with the structure 36.

  FIG. 2 shows that the arm 46 is fixed with respect to the structure 36, whether it is an integral part thereof as shown or that it is

fixed by any suitable means.

  The arms 46 and 48 each have an active face 46a and 48a, disposed substantially in the same plane as the drive face 40a of the drive lug 40 when it is in its operating position. This is visible in the side view of FIG. 2, in which it can be seen that the faces 40a and 46a are located in the

extension of one another.

  Figures 3 to 6 show the respective situations of the drive system and pushers in the positions successively occupied by the latter in the transfer zone and indicated by the references A, B, C and D. Figure 3 illustrates the position A of Figure 7, wherein the drive is done in a conventional manner, by driving contact between the thrust face 34a of the pusher 34 and the driving face 40a of the driving catch 40. This driving face 40a is arranged, in relation to the

  direction of propulsion F of the carriage, on the rear side of the cleat 40.

  The lateral arms 46 and 48 extend towards the driving tracks, that is to say, in the example shown, downwards over a distance

  less than the drive stop 40.

  FIG. 4 shows the carriage in its position B of FIG. 7. It can be seen that the sending catch 34 has shifted towards the lateral arm 46, a situation in which the propulsion of the carriage by this pusher 34 can be carried out thanks to the driving contact of the pushing face 34a on the active face

46a of the arm 46.

  This transition from the drive to the arm 46 is done gradually and smoothly. Indeed, although the arm 46 extends downwards a distance less than the stop 40, its active face 46a is at the same level as the upper part of the driving face 40a of the

cleat.

  Moreover, as can be seen by comparing FIGS. 3 and 4, the sending pusher 34 is, in the transfer zone, in a position higher than that which it occupies under conventional conditions of

  propulsion, outside this area.

  To allow a gradual transition from one to the other of these positions, the driving way 12 has, at its entry into the transfer zone, a trunk Tl (visible in FIG. 7) on which, from its level normal, it is gradually approaching the vertical level of the carriageway to reach a so-called "transfer transfer" level, which it occupies

  when the pusher 34 passes from the latch 40 to one of the lateral arms.

  FIGS. 4 and 5 show that the difference between the carriageway 10 and the second driveway 12 'is slightly greater than the normal spacing, visible in FIG. 3, between the carriageway and a driveway 12 This difference is calculated so that, if the receiving pusher is too early in the axis of the arm 48 and if the speed of the pusher 34 'is greater than that of the pusher 34, this pusher 34' does not enter. in contact with the arm 48

  but simply exceed the carriage.

  In addition, when properly positioned, the receiving pusher can thus come into contact with the end portion of the drive face 40a, that is to say, here, its lower part, without engaging the

arm 48.

  For this purpose, the second driving way 12 'is, at its entry into the transfer zone, vertically further away from the carriageway 10 than, in the normal direction F of propulsion, downstream of this zone. To progressively reach its normal level, it presents, at the exit of the transfer zone, a section T2 on which, starting from a so-called "reception transfer" level, it is gradually approaching the vertical level of the track at the end of the transfer zone. carts. In general, the second driving way 12 'occupies, relative to the carriageway 10, a position capable of allowing a driving contact between the catch 40 and a receiving pusher 34' only when the first driving channel 12 occupies a position which allows the carriage to be driven by the sending pusher 34 only through

  one of the side arms of the drive system.

  For this purpose, the respective vertical positions of the two tracks

  motor skills can be used.

  Complementarily or alternatively, the respective horizontal positions of the two driveways can be used. To do this, the zone T in which the two driving lanes are tangential is generally centered on the longitudinal axis X of the carriageway and relatively short, for example of the same order of magnitude as the width of the drive lug, the second driving way 12 'enters the transfer zone with an angle of incidence α relative to the relatively high carriageway 10, for example in the range from 30 to 50.degree., while the exit angle fi defines the first driving way 12 with respect to the carriageway 10 at its exit from the transfer zone and the zone T is also relatively

  high, for example equal to the angle cta.

  FIG. 5 illustrates the position C of FIG. 7, which corresponds to

  when the sending pusher 34 ceases to cooperate with the lateral arm 46.

  It can be seen that at this moment the propulsion of the trolley is ensured by the cooperation of the thrust face of the receiving pusher 34 'and the face

40a drive.

  Figure 6 illustrates the position D of Figure 7, in which the carriage is towards the end of the transfer zone. We see that at this place,

  s the reception push-button 34 'is located in the axis of the driving cleat 40.

  Up to this point, the pusher 34 'is in contact with the end (lower) portion of the driving face 40a located beyond the end of the arms 46 and 48, ie the second drive lane 12 'still occupies its receive transfer level. It is from here that begins the section T2 allowing the pusher 34 'to adopt its conventional position of propulsion in which its thrust face cooperates with the whole of the

  drive face 40a and which corresponds to the situation of FIG.

  In FIG. 2, it can be seen that the drive face 40a of the cleat and the active faces of the lateral arms 46 and 48 are inclined downwards and forwards. In general, the faces 40a, 46a and 48a are inclined towards the

  driveways and in the normal direction F propulsion.

  To facilitate the gradual disengagement of the sending pusher, it is also possible to provide the active faces of the side arms so that their outer lateral end is set back relative to their inner lateral end. Of course, the outer lateral end of an arm is its end farthest from the drive stopper, while

  its inner side end is closest to this cleat.

  In this configuration, at least the inner lateral ends of the arms are at least at the level of the portion

  upper side of the driving face 40a.

  It can be seen from the figures that the drive system comprises a retaining cleat 50 arranged, in the normal direction of propulsion, behind the driving cleat 40. The cleats 40 and 50 form between them

  a space 51 adapted to the dimensions of the pushers.

  Thus, as seen in Figure 2, the pusher 34 is disposed between the drive and retaining cleats under normal propulsion conditions. If, as a result of a slowing down of the propulsion means, the thrust face 34a temporarily ceases to cooperate with the active face a, the retaining cleat 50 prevents the pusher from disengaging from the

drive system.

  The retaining cleat is capable of adopting an erasing position that allows the insertion of a pusher in the space 51 and a

  holding position that prevents it from holding back out of this space.

  It can be seen in FIG. 2 that the retaining latch 50 is pivotally mounted on the carrier 42 of the drive latch 40. Thus, even when the drive latch is in the operating position, the retaining latch 50

  can adopt its erase position.

  Therefore, when a pusher comes from the rear of the carriage to engage with the drive system, it can cooperate with the rear face of the retaining cleat which acts as a cam surface, to bring this last in its erasing position and, regardless of its speed, enter into cooperation with the active face 40a of the cleat

  drive which has remained in its operating position.

  The retaining cleat is urged, for example under the effect of its own weight, to naturally adopt its retaining position. This position can be defined by an abutment surface 52 offset from

  the pivot axis 53 of the retaining cleat 50.

  In order to avoid stressing the retaining cleat in the transfer zone, the latter can be made so that, even in its natural retaining position, it extends towards the driving lanes for a shorter distance than the cleat of the clutch. drive, so that the pusher 34 'can enter into cooperation with the lower part of the active face of the

  driving cleat 40 without acting on the retaining cleat 50.

Claims (5)

  1. Double track conveyor installation comprising a carriageway (10), a motor network comprising at least first and second second motorways (12, 12 ') spaced vertically from said carriageway (10), carriages ( 14) carried by the carriageway and propulsion means (32, 34) carried by the driveways (12, 12 '), said propulsion means having pushers (34) extending towards the track at trolleys (10) and each having a thrust face, each trolley having a structure (36) provided with a drive system (38) having a driving cleat (40), extending towards the driveways ( 12) and provided with a driving face (40a), this cleat being movable, relative to said structure (36), between an operating position in which its driving face (40a) is able to cooperate with the pushing face (34a) of a pusher and a non-operating position in the it escapes the pushers (34), the installation further comprising a transfer zone to which a carriage (14) is propelled by a first push (34), said "sending", belonging to the first path motor (12) and from which said carriage is propelled by a second pusher (34 '), said "receiving", belonging to the second driving way (12 '),   characterized in that, for each carriage, the drive system (38) has two stationary side arms (46, 48) extending from each side of the drive lug (40) toward the driveways (12, 12 ') and integral with the structure (36), in that each of said arms (46, 48) has an active face (46a, 48a) disposed substantially in the same plane as the driving face (40a) of the cleat (40) when the latter occupies its operating position and capable of cooperating with the sending pusher (34), and in that in the transfer zone, the respective positions of the first and second driving means ( 12, 12 ') are determined such that the receiving pusher (34') only makes driving contact with the latch (40) when the contact   drive between the sending pusher (34) and said stop has ceased.   2. Installation according to claim 1, characterized in that the lateral arms (46, 48) extend towards the motor channels (12, 12 ') on a   distance less than the drive stop (40).   3. Installation according to one of claims 1 and 2, characterized in that   that the second driving way (12 ') is, at its entry into the transfer zone, vertically further away from the carriageway (10) than at its normal level downstream from this area.   s 4. Installation according to any one of claims 1 to 3,   characterized in that the first drive (12) has, at its entry into the transfer zone, a section (T1) on which it is progressively closer to the vertical level of the carriage track to reach a level called "transfer".   5. Installation according to any one of claims 1 to 4,   characterized in that the driving face of the cleat (40) and the active faces (46a, 48a) of the lateral arms (46, 48) are inclined towards the tracks   motor (12, 12 ') and, in the normal direction (F) of propulsion.