GB1412911A - Live storage conveyor system - Google Patents

Abstract

1412911 Conveyers C H STEVENSON 1 April 1974 14295/74 Heading B8A A conveyer system for use in a dairy products plant conveys cases 32 of products along production lines 34 to stacking machines 42, the cases being transferred to a series of live storage conveyers 50 by conveyers 46, 48, 49. Cases of products are then transferred to trucks 40 via an outfeed conveyer 52 and a shipping area 38. Each conveyer 50 comprises a pair of tracks 58 and a pair of case-engaging and sensing assemblies 70, each track and each assembly extending along the opposing sides of adjacent track supports 54, Fig. 2. The cases are supported and guided by wear strips 66, 84 and the assemblies 70 are supported for reciprocation on wear strips 76. In Fig. 4, a case-engaging lug 80 is pivotally mounted in a channel 74 of an assembly 70 the lug being normally urged to its fullline position by a case-sensing spring 90. The lug is also controlled by a spring 101 mounted on a bar 106 slidable in channel 74. When the channel 74 is moved to the right the lug 80 engages a downwardly extending rim of a case 32 which is accordingly moved along the tracks 68. Return of the channel 74 causes the sensing spring 90 to engage the moved case and the lug 80 is free to pivot under gravity to its phantom position such that the following case is not moved when the channel 74 again moves to the right. When it is required to transfer a line of accumulated cases on to the outfeed conveyer 52, the bar 106 is moved, by an air cylinder 200, to its forward position, Fig. 11, and each lug 80 is maintained in its operative position while the channel 74 continues to reciprocate. Cross feed conveyer 49 has lugs (166) which engage the rear walls of the cases; sensing springs are dispensed with, Figs. 15, 16 (not shown). Fig. 17 indicates how stacks of cases are transferred by hydraulic pushers 184 from the conveyer 49 to selected conveyers 50. Each conveyer 50 has an hydraulic indexing cylinder 190 which reciprocates the channel 74 containing the lugs 80. The selection of stacks to be forwarded is controlled by a code-bearing card on each stack, the cards being sensed by photoelectric cells 182. Control also depends on numerous limit switches :and upon manually operated "move-up" and "load-out" switches, Fig. 18 (not shown). Modifications.-The track 68 may comprise rollers in place of the wear strips, Figs. 21, 22 (not shown), and modified lug control springs and mountings are specified, Figs. 23-26 (not shown). For moving stacks or cases having no bottom rims, the lugs may have friction formations on their upper surfaces, Figs. 30, 31 (not shown). In Figs. 34, 36, objects 32 are pushed along a storage conveyer 369 for discharge on to an outfeed 406. Both conveyers have single reciprocating lug channels in place of pairs of channels 74. Figs. 37-39 (not shown) illustrate a mechanism (432), actuated by an air cylinder (458), for transferring objects from a crossfeed conveyer to the storage conveyer 369.