GB1560855A

GB1560855A - Endless chain conveyor

Info

Publication number: GB1560855A
Application number: GB2479177A
Authority: GB
Original assignee: RUD Kettenfabrik Rieger und Dietz GmbH and Co KG
Current assignee: RUD Kettenfabrik Rieger und Dietz GmbH and Co KG
Priority date: 1976-07-09
Filing date: 1977-06-14
Publication date: 1980-02-13
Also published as: ATA345077A; DE2631508A1; BE855807A; AT355498B; IT1083517B; FR2357442A1; JPS538974A

Description

(54) ENDLESS CHAIN CONVEYOR (71) We, RUD-KETTENFABRIK RIEGER & DIETZ GMBH & CO., a Company duly organised under the Laws of the Federal Republic of Germany, of 7080 Aalen 1/ Unterkochen, Federal Republic of Germany, do hereby declare the invention, for which we pray that a patent may be granted to us, and the method by which it is to be performed, to be particularly described in and by the following statement::- The invention relates to an endless chain conveyor, with a conveyor portion for installation at a fixed height and a conveyor portion for positioning at variable heights, the conveyor having load carriers which are conveyed by chains acting through drivers, the load carriers being maintained in their correct attitudes, at least between a loading and an unloading station, by rollers which run along supporting guide rails, each driver having at least one roller.

A chain conveyor of this general kind is known in which each load carrier is connected at its four corners, which lie essentially in a flat plane, through drivers to four chains. At the deflector stations, that is where the chains are deflected in direction, two of the drivers are temporarily separated from their chains, so that the rollers provide support only along the horizontal conveyor path portions (German Patent Specification No. 1244054). This known conveyor does operate quietly and guides the load carriers reliably, but it has the disadvantage that four chains are required and this is too costly in construction, and also too heavy, for many applications. Furthermore, the conveyor is not capable of unloading the load by tipping the load carrier, that is to say by "dumping" the load.

There are other known chain conveyors of this general kind which are lighter in weight and less costly in construction, and which use only two chains. But these known conveyors are capable of conveying either only horizontally or only vertically (German Offenlegungsschrifts 2025677 and 2 523).

The intention in the present invention is to provide a chain conveyor of the kind mentioned at the beginning, that is to say which is capable of conveying the loads simultaneously along horizontal, vertical and inclined path portions, the conveyor having the same number d chains as the known conveyors which convey either only horizontally or only vertically, the conveyor having a guide system which allows the load to be dumped automatically.

According to this invention there is provided an endless chain conveyor with a conveyor portion for installation at a fixed height and a conveyor portion for positioning at variable heights, the conveyor having load carriers which are conveyed by chains acting through drivers, the load carriers being maintained in their correct load bearing attitudes despite being moved along a nonlinear path, at least between a loading and unloading station, by rollers which roll along supporting guide rails, each driver having associated with it at least one roller, and wherein the conveyor has only two chains, each load carrier having, in addition to the rollers associated with the drivers, at least two further rollers spaced away from the rollers associated with the drivers and spaced away from each other in and/or across the conveyor path.

The chain conveyor according to the invention has the advantage that, although it has only two chains, it is nevertheless capable of conveying the loads simultaneously in different directions. This is obtained by arranging the rollers as described above, so that each load carrier is supported by different pairs of rollers along different portions of the conveyor path.

The invention will now be described in greater detail with the help of the drawings in which: Figure 1 is a side view of a first chain conveyor in a first working position; Figure 2 is a side view of the chain conveyor of Figure 1 in a second working position; Figure 3 is a plan view of a load carrier of the chain conveyor of Figure 1; Figure 4 is a back view of the load carrier shown in Figure 3; Figure 5 is a side view of the load carrier of Figure 3; Figure 6 is a side view of a telescopically extensible guide rail, shown fully extended; Figure 7 is a plan view of the telescopic guide rail of Figure 6, the guide rail being fully contracted; Figure 8 is a cross section taken in the plane VIII-VIII of Figure 7; Figure 9 is a side view of a second chain conveyor in a first working position;; Figure 10 is a side view of the chain conveyor of Figure 9 in a second working position: Figure 11 is a side view of an extensible and pivoting guide rail in a first working position; Figure 12 is a plan view of the guide rail of Figure 11; Figure 13 is a side view of the guide rail of Figures 11 and 12 in another working position; Figure 14 shows a deflector station of a still further chain conveyor.

Figure 1 shows generally at 11 the vertical portion, and at 12 the horizontal portion of a chain conveyor. The vertical conveyor portion 11 has deflector wheels 13 and 14, and also guide rails 15 and 1 & Running around the deflector wheels 13 and 14 are two chains 17 of which the first is in the plane of the paper, the second being behind this.

At the transition between the vertical conveyor portion and the horizontal conveyor portion 12 there are further deflector wheels 18, 19, 20, 21. Furthermore, the horizontal conveyor portion has guide rails 22, 23, 24, 25 and further deflector wheels 26, 27, 28, 29. Co-operating with the deflector wheels .14 and 21 are supporting wheels 30, 31. At the loading station where loads 32 are fed to the conveyor, there is a further guide rail 33, and a still further guide rail 34 which extends parallel to the lower portion of the guide rail 16. The guide rail 34 is a telescoping structure, and at its upper end there is a shunting device 35. Attached to the chains are numerous load carriers 36.

which receive loads 32 at the lower end of the vertical conveyor portion 11 and discharge the loads at the right-hand lower end of the horizontal conveyor portion 12.

When the conveyor is in operation the horizontal conveyor portion 12 always remains where it is, but the vertical conveyor portion 11 can be raised and lowered. For this purpose the. chains are blocked, allowing the driving motor for the chains to raise and lower the vertical conveyor portion. It will be observed that during the raising and lowering the- lentlis of the two chain loops remain constant. Figure 2 shows the chain conveyor after lowering the vertical conveyor portion, and the telescopic guide rail 34 has been extended downwards.

The construction of a load carrier 36 is shown in Figures 3 to 5. Each load carrier consists of a comb-like supporting floor 37 from which project booms 38. Mounted on the four corners of each supporting floor 37 are rollers 39, 40, 41, 42. Of these four rollers, the rollers 39 and 41 are twin rollers and are coordinated with drivers 43, 44.

Two further rollers 45, 46 are mounted on the ends of the booms 38. The use of load carriers 36 equipped with booms 38 on which are mounted rollers 45, 46 ensures that each load carrier 36 maintains its attitude, at least between the loading station and the unloading station of the conveyor, each load carrier being guided on its path of movement sometimes by the rollers 39, 41, 45, 46 and at other times by the rollers 39, 40, 41, 42, as shown clearly in Figures 1 and 2. During the return journey of the load carrier, that is to say from. the unloading station back to the loading station, the load carrier can be allowed to swing freely, that is to say it is not necessary over this portion of the conveyor path to hold the load carrier in its working attitude.

Figures 6 to 8 show details of the telescopic guide rail 34. Each telescopic rail 34 consists of three box-section members 47, 48, 49, of which the innermost one 49 has a completely closed cross section. The two outer box members 47 and 48, on the other hand, have longitudinal slots through which project outwards, from the more-inner members, longitudinal supporting rails 50, 51. The outermost box member 47 also has an outwards projecting supporting rail 52.

Each supporting rail 50, 51, 52 has a thickness sufficient to give the boom-end roller 46 full support over the entire length of the fully extended telescopic rail.

Figures 9 and 10 show a chain conveyor of modified construction. This chain conveyor has a swinging arm 53 with parallel chain paths, the swinging arm being adjustable in angle, that is to say so that it can adopt different angles of slope. Two possible angular positions of the swinging arm are shown in Figures 9 and 10. In this chain conveyor it is also necessary to ensure that each load carrier retains its correct attitude, so that the load 32 is always supported on a horizontal floor, all the way along the conveying path. This is achieved by using guide rails and support wheels which need not be described in greater detail here.And it should be observed that in this conveyor the boom 56 of the load carrier 54 does not from a right-angle with the comb-like supporting floor 55, as the boom 38 of the previously described conveyor does with the supporting floor 37, but forms an angle other than 90" with the supporting, floor. And in this second version of the chain conveyor the supporting floor 55 and the booms 56 are equipped with rollers, as described before.

A further point to observe is that in the second version of the chain conveyor the length of the chain loop varies somewhat with the angle of deflection of the chains over the deflector wheels at the two ends of the swinging arm. When the swinging arm is horizontal this angle is zero and the chain loop has the least length. With increasing deflection angle, that is with increasing slope of the swinging arm, the length of the chain loop increases. These changes in chain loop length are compensated in the conventional manner, which need not be described here, at compensating stations provided for the purpose.

Moreover, it is also necessary to make the guide rails for supporting the load carriers adjustable to suit different chain loop lengths. For this purpose the ends of the guide rails on the swinging arm 53 are equipped with compensating devices arranged as represented in Figures 11 to 13.

In this region, that is at the two ends of the swinging arm, the guide rails consist of partly overlapping guide rail portions 57 and 58. The rail portion 57 has a rollerchain end, that is to say this end consists of outer plates 59 and 60 enclosing between them an inner plate 61, the plates being connected together by pivot pins 62. The ends of the pivot pins are guided in a guide slot 63 of the guide rail portion 58. In Figures 11 and 12 the guide rail portions are shown in the positions they adopt when the swinging arm is inclined, whereas in Figure 13 the swinging arm is assumed to be horizontal.

Figure 14 shows a deflector station for a still further chain conveyor equipped with load carriers 54. In this example it is not the rollers 42 mounted on the outer end of the comb-like supporting floor of the load carrier that are supported by support wheels 64, but rather the rollers 46 on the ends of the booms 56 that are so supported. In this version of the chain conveyor the support wheels 64 co-operate with guide rails 65, 66, as described before.

WHAT WE CLAIM IS:- 1. An endless chain conveyor with a conveyor portion for installation at a fixed height and a conveyor portion for position ing at variable heights, the conveyor having load carriers which are conveyed by chains acting through drivers, the load carriers being maintained in their correct load bearing attitudes despite being moved along a non-linear path, at least between a loading and an unloading station, by rollers which roll along supporting guide rails, each driver having associated with it at least one roller, and wherein the conveyor has only two chains, each load carrier having, in addition to the rollers associated with the drivers. at least two further rollers spaced away from the rollers associated with the drivers and spaced away from each other in and/or across the conveyor path.

2. A chain conveyor according to claim 1, wherein each load carrier has at least six rollers.

3. A chain conveyor according to claim 2, wherein each load carrier has, at each side, at least three rollers.

4. A chain conveyor according to one of the claims 1 to 3, wherein there are four rollers at the four corners of a supporting floor of the load carrier and two rollers mounted on booms attached to and projecting from the supporting floor.

5. A chain conveyor according to claim 4, wherein the booms form right-angles with supporting floor of the load carrier.

6. A chain conveyor according to claim 4, wherein the booms form; an angle other than 90" with the supporting floor of the load carrier.

7. A chain conveyor according to either one of claims 5 or 6, wherein the booms are connected to that end of the supporting floor of the load carrier where the drivers are.

8. A chain conveyor according to one of the claims 1 to 7, wherein the load carriers have comblike supporting floors.

9. A chain conveyor according to one of the claims 1 to 8, wherein the conveyor has deflector stations equipped with guide rails and support wheels acting in cooperation with the guide rails for guiding the load carriers, the wheels having guiding notches, each for taking a roller.

10. A chain conveyor according to claim 9, wherein each support wheel serves for guiding one of the rollers each of which is mounted away from a roller which is associated with a driver.

11. A chain conveyor according to claim 9, wherein the support wheels support the rollers mounted on the booms.

12. A chain conveyor according to one of claims 1 to 11, wherein the conveyor has path portions whose positions are variable.

13. A chain conveyor according to claim 12, wherein the conveyor has extensible guide rails for the rollers.

**WARNING** end of DESC field may overlap start of CLMS **.

Claims

**WARNING** start of CLMS field may overlap end of DESC **. along the conveying path. This is achieved by using guide rails and support wheels which need not be described in greater detail here. And it should be observed that in this conveyor the boom 56 of the load carrier 54 does not from a right-angle with the comb-like supporting floor 55, as the boom 38 of the previously described conveyor does with the supporting floor 37, but forms an angle other than 90" with the supporting, floor. And in this second version of the chain conveyor the supporting floor 55 and the booms 56 are equipped with rollers, as described before. A further point to observe is that in the second version of the chain conveyor the length of the chain loop varies somewhat with the angle of deflection of the chains over the deflector wheels at the two ends of the swinging arm. When the swinging arm is horizontal this angle is zero and the chain loop has the least length. With increasing deflection angle, that is with increasing slope of the swinging arm, the length of the chain loop increases. These changes in chain loop length are compensated in the conventional manner, which need not be described here, at compensating stations provided for the purpose. Moreover, it is also necessary to make the guide rails for supporting the load carriers adjustable to suit different chain loop lengths. For this purpose the ends of the guide rails on the swinging arm 53 are equipped with compensating devices arranged as represented in Figures 11 to 13. In this region, that is at the two ends of the swinging arm, the guide rails consist of partly overlapping guide rail portions 57 and 58. The rail portion 57 has a rollerchain end, that is to say this end consists of outer plates 59 and 60 enclosing between them an inner plate 61, the plates being connected together by pivot pins 62. The ends of the pivot pins are guided in a guide slot 63 of the guide rail portion 58. In Figures 11 and 12 the guide rail portions are shown in the positions they adopt when the swinging arm is inclined, whereas in Figure 13 the swinging arm is assumed to be horizontal. Figure 14 shows a deflector station for a still further chain conveyor equipped with load carriers 54. In this example it is not the rollers 42 mounted on the outer end of the comb-like supporting floor of the load carrier that are supported by support wheels 64, but rather the rollers 46 on the ends of the booms 56 that are so supported. In this version of the chain conveyor the support wheels 64 co-operate with guide rails 65, 66, as described before. WHAT WE CLAIM IS:-

1. An endless chain conveyor with a conveyor portion for installation at a fixed height and a conveyor portion for position ing at variable heights, the conveyor having load carriers which are conveyed by chains acting through drivers, the load carriers being maintained in their correct load bearing attitudes despite being moved along a non-linear path, at least between a loading and an unloading station, by rollers which roll along supporting guide rails, each driver having associated with it at least one roller, and wherein the conveyor has only two chains, each load carrier having, in addition to the rollers associated with the drivers. at least two further rollers spaced away from the rollers associated with the drivers and spaced away from each other in and/or across the conveyor path.

14. A chain conveyor according to claim

12, wherein the guide rails are telescopically extensible.

15. A chain conveyor according to claim 14, wherein the telescopic guide rails consist of lox-section members of which the innermost one preferably has a fully closed cross section, whereas the outer ones have longitudinal slots through which project outwards in staggered formation support rails from the inner box-section members.

16. A chain conveyor according to one of claims 12 to 15, wherein the conveyor has pivoted guide rails for the rollers.

17. A chain conveyor according to claim 216, wherein at the location of the guide rail pivots these are adjacent overlapping guide rail portions one of which has a guide slot for pivot pins of a roller-chain end section of a co-operating guide rail portion.

18. An endless chain conveyor substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.