GB2242661A

GB2242661A - Transport apparatus comprising an endless conveying member

Info

Publication number: GB2242661A
Application number: GB9006086A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Marius Boers
Original assignee: BOAL UK Ltd
Current assignee: BOAL UK Ltd
Priority date: 1990-03-17
Filing date: 1990-03-17
Publication date: 1991-10-09
Also published as: GB9006086D0

Abstract

Transport apparatus comprises at least one endless elongate conveying member 14, 20 e.g. a chain, arranged about first and second wheels 16, 18 and 22, 24 in meshing engagement therewith. A plurality of elongate pallet members 12 are pivotally attached to the chain and are arranged in succession on the chain. Drive means is connected to the first toothed wheel to drive the conveying chain about the first and second toothed wheels, each pallet member being provided with a support surface to support an article to be transported whereby when the conveying chain is driven about said first and second toothed wheels the plane of each surface remains substantially parallel to the plane of the other surfaces. Each pallet is preferably pivotally attached to two chains, the points of attachment being spaced from each other. <IMAGE>

Description

TRANSPORT APPARATUS This invention relates to transport apparatus.

In the manufacture of metal extrusions, such as aluminium extrusions, the handling of the extrusions is usually carried out manually or by the use of fork lift trucks. This can limit the size of the extrusions to be carried, and has the disadvantage that it is time consuming and uneconomical.

In our co-pending UK patent application entitled "Transfer Apparatus", there is disclosed an apparatus for transferring extrusions from a first station to a second station.

It is an object of this invention to provide transport apparatus to overcome the above disadvantages.

According to one aspect of this invention there is provided transport apparatus comprising at least one endless elongate conveying member, first and second rotatable carrying member to carry the conveying member, the conveying member being arranged about the carrying members, a plurality of pallet members being pivotally attached to the conveying member and being arranged in succession on the conveying member, and drive means to rotate the first carrying member to drive said conveying member about the carrying members each pallet being provided with a support surface to support an article to be transported, whereby when the conveying member is driven about said carrying members, the plane of each surface remains parallel to the plane of each other support surface.

The transport apparatus may further comprise two conveying members arranged about first and second carrying members. Each pallet member may be pivotally attached to each conveying member. The conveying members may be arranged substantially parallel to each other on opposite sides of the pallet member.

Preferably each conveying member comprises an endless conveying chain and the first and second carrying members comprise a first toothed wheel spaced from a second toothed wheel whereby the conveying chain is arranged about the wheels in meshing engagement therewith and extends from the first wheel to the second wheel.

The drive means may comprise a first sprocket fixedly connected to one of the first toothed wheels, a second sprocket fixedly connected to a drive shaft and an endless drive chain in meshing engagement with the first and second sprockets whereby rotation of the drive shaft causes rotation of the first sprocket which rotates the first toothed wheel.

The region of attachment of each pallet member to one of the conveying members may be spaced from the region of attachment of each pallet member to the other conveying member.

Each pallet member may be elongate. One of the conveying members may be attached to each pallet at one of the ends thereof and the other of the conveying members may be attached to each pallet at the other end thereof.

One conveying member may be offset from the other conveying member by a distance substantially equal to the distance between the regions of attachment of the transmission member and the support member to one pallet member.

Reference is now made to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a perspective view of transport apparatus according to one aspect of the invention in which the casing has been removed; Figure 2 is a view along the line II-II of Figure 1; Figure 3 is a plan view of the transport apparatus shown in Figure 1; and Figure 4 is a perspective view of a plurality of transport apparatus as shown in Figure 1 arranged side by side and transporting a plurality of extrusions.

Referring to the drawings, Figure 1 shows transport apparatus 10 which comprises an outer casing 11 but only the end portions of the casing are shown, the rest being broken away for clarity so that the parts inside can be seen.

The transport apparatus 10 comprises a plurality of elongate pallet members 12 (in the embodiment shown there are four such pallet members 12) arranged in succession on an endless conveying member in the form of an endless conveying chain 14 to which a first end 15 of each pallet member 12 is pivotally attached by a pivot member 15a surrounded by a bush 15b pivotally attached to one of the links of the chain 14 (see Figure 3).

The conveying chain 14 is arranged about first and second carrying members in the form of first and second toothed wheels 16, 18 respectively. In Figure 2 only four of the teeth on each of the wheels is shown for clarity.

The transmission chain 12 is arranged in meshing engagement with and extends between the wheels 16, 18 as shown.

The conveying chain 14 is arranged to one side of the pallet members 12. The transport apparatus 10 also comprises a further endless conveying member which is in the form of a further conveying chain 20 to which the pallet members 12 are also pivotally attached. The conveying chain 20 is arranged on further first and second carrying members in the form of toothed wheels 22, 24 respectively. Only four of the teeth are shown on the wheels 22, 24 for clarity. The conveying support chain 20 is arranged in meshing engagement with, and extends between the wheels 22, 24 as shown.

The conveying chain 20 is pivotally attached to each pallet member 12 at a second end 26 thereof, opposite to the first end of each pallet member 12. The end 26 of each pallet member 12 is attached to the conveying chain 20 by a pivot member 26a surrounded by a bush 26b. As seen from the drawings the first and second wheels 16, 18 are offset from the wheels 22, 24 by a distance which is substantially equal to the distance between the first end 15 and the second end 25 of one pallet member.

A housing 28 is provided for bearings for each of the toothed wheels 16, 18, 22, 24. The bearings are housed within the housing 28.

The first wheel 16 is connected to drive means 30 to drive the first wheel 16 and thereby the conveying chain 14 and pallet members 12 are driven about the wheels 16, 18.

The drive means 30 comprises a first sprocket 32 fixedly connected to the first wheel 16, a second sprocket 34 fixedly connected to a drive shaft 36 and a drive chain 38 arranged in meshing engagement with, and extending between, the first and second sprockets 33, 34.

The drive shaft 36 is connected to a motor (not shown) and when the motor is activated it rotates the drive shaft 36 to drive the second sprocket 34, the drive chain 38 and thereby the first sprocket 32. In view of the fact that the first sprocket 32 is fixedly connected to the first toothed wheel 16, the rotation of the first sprocket 32 rotates the first wheel 16 which thereby drives the conveying chain 12.

Thus, the force applied to the first wheel 16 by the driving means 30 is transmitted to the pallet members 12 which are driven with the conveying chain 14 about the first and second wheels 16, 18. Since the conveying chain 20 is pivotally connected to each of the pallet members 12 the support chain 20 is driven about the wheels 22, 24.

When the first sprocket is rotated in the direction indicated by the arrow R (see Figures 1 and 2) the pallet members 12 on the top of the transport apparatus 10 are caused to move from a first one end 40 of the transport apparatus 10 to a second end 42. As each pallet member 12 reaches the second end 42 of the transport apparatus 10, the links of the transmission chain 14 and the support chain 20 which are attached to that particular pallet member designated 12a will be meshed with the first and third toothed wheels 16, 22. Thus the pallet member 12a in question will begin to descend as the wheels 16, 22 continue to rotate. The pallet member 12a will then return to the first end 40 of the transport apparatus 10 underneath the pallet member 12 on top of the transport apparatus 10.Each pallet member 12 has a support surface 41 and the plane of the surface 41 of each pallet member remain parallel to the plane of each other pallet member through a cycle of operation.

As the pallet members 12 are moved across the top of the transport apparatus 10 articles can be disposed on the pallet members 12 to transport the articles down the first end 40 of the transport apparatus 10 to the second end 42 of the transport apparatus 10.

Referring to Figure 4, a plurality of transport apparatus 10 are shown arranged side by side. The distance between adjacent transport apparatus 10 is wide enough to allow a person to walk between them. A plurality of metal extrusions 44 are arranged on the pallet member 12 at the first end 36 of each transport apparatus 10. It will be noted that the pallet members 12 of all the transport apparatus 10 are synchronised with each other. As drive means 20 is operated the pallet members 12 on top of each transport apparatus 10 are moved towards the second end 42. Thus, the extrusions 44 are also moved towards the second end 42 of each apparatus. It will be appreciated that the number of transport apparatus 10 will depend on the length of the extrusions 40 to be transported. Also, the length of the transport apparatus 10 can be varied together with the number of pallet members 12 and the length of the transmission and support chains to vary the distance across which the extrusions are transported.

Each of the toothed wheels 16, 18, 22, 24 is provided with bearings housed in a housing 46 to allow the wheels 16, 18, 22, 24 to run smoothly.

This invention is suitable for use with the plant disclosed in our co-pending UK patent application claiming priority from UK patent application No 8906293.9

Claims

CLAIMS 1. Transport apparatus comprising at least one endless conveying member, first and second rotatable carrying members to carry the conveying member the conveying member being arranged about the carrying members, a plurality of pallet members being pivotally attached to the conveying member and being arranged in succession on the conveying member, and drive means to rotate the first carrying member thereby to drive said conveying member about the carrying members, each pallet member being provided with a support surface to support an article to be transported, whereby when said conveying member is driven about said carrying member the plant of each support surface remains parallel to the plane of each other support surface.
2. Transport apparatus according to Claim 1 comprising two conveying members arranged about first and second carrying members wherein each pallet member is pivotally attached to each conveying member, and each conveying member being arranged substantially parallel to the other conveying member on opposite sides of the pallet members.
3. Transport apparatus according to Claim 2 wherein each conveying member comprises an endless conveying chain and the first and second carrying members comprise a first toothed wheel spaced from a second toothed wheel whereby the conveying chain is arranged about the wheels in meshing engagement therewith and extends from the first wheel to the second wheel.
4. Transport apparatus according to Claim 3 wherein the drive means comprises a first sprocket fixedly connected to one of the first toothed wheels, a second sprocket fixedly connected to a drive shaft and an endless drive chain in meshing engagement with the first and second sprockets whereby rotation of the drive shaft causes rotation of the first sprocket which rotates said first toothed wheel.
5. Transport apparatus according to Claim 2, 3 or 4 wherein the region of attachment of each pallet member to one of conveying members is spaced from the region of attachment of each pallet member to the other conveying member.
6. Transport apparatus according to Claim 5 wherein each pallet member is elongate, and one of the conveying members being attached to each pallet member at one end thereof and the other of the conveying members being attached to each pallet member at the other end thereof.
7. Transport apparatus according to Claim 6 wherein one conveying member is offset from the other conveying member by a distance substantially equal to the distance between the regions of attachment of both conveying members to one pallet member.
8. Transport apparatus substantially as herein described with reference to and as shown in the accompanying drawings.