GB2261202A - A conveyor trolley - Google Patents

Abstract

A conveyor trolley has a main trolley frame 3, and rollers 4 which enable the trolley 1 to be suspended from and to run along a guide track in the form of a tube 2 of a conveyor system. A hangar 7 consisting of two identical parts 8, 9 depends from the frame 3 and has means 14 to enable a drive chain to be connected thereto and a mounting element 16 for hanging items from the trolley. The mounting ends 10 of the two parts of the hanger 7 one located in an orifice 6 in the main frame 3 and secured there by clamping the two parts together against the resilience of the hanger material. The main frame 3 and hanger parts 8, 9 can be moulded from a suitable plastic. <IMAGE>

Description

A CONVEYOR TROLLEY This invention relates to a conveyor trolley for a conveyor system comprising an overhead guide rail along which the trolley runs.

In known conveyor systems of this type, a plurality of trollies are connected together by a drive chain which pulls the trollies along the guide rail. Typically, each trolley includes a hanger from which articles to be conveyed are suspended. Known trollies may be formed of a casting or forging to which the hangers are secured by welding, or a similar secure fastening. The conveyor drive chain is typically bolted to the hanger and this bolted connection is a source of wear. When an unacceptable degree of wear has taken place at this point, the whole trolley has to be scrapped.

The present invention seek to provide a trolley for a conveyor which overcomes this disadvantage.

According to the present invention there is provided a conveyor trolley including a main trolley frame, and rotatable means mounted thereon to enable the trolley to be suspended from and to run along a guide track of a conveyor system, a hanger depending from the frame having means to enable a drive to be connected thereto and a mounting element for hanging items from the trolley, the hanger being adapted to be held in an orifice in the main frame by virtue cf the resilience of the hanger material.

Preferably, the hanger comprises two cooperating elements each having a mounting end adapted to be located in the orifice in the hanger thereby to enable the elements to be secured to the hanger.

The two elements are preferably identical and the mounting ends are preferably shaped so that, when inserted in the orifice, adjacent faces of the elements in the region of the orifice engage each other in such a way that the remainder of the elements are held slightly apart. Securing means, which may be a bolt, may be provided to clamp the two elements together to thereby rigidly secure the elements to the main trolley frame.

The frame is preferably U-shaped, and is preferably Ushaped in cross-section, and may be formed of a stainless steel pressing. The two elements of the hanger may also comprise stainless steel pressings, but alternatively may be moulded from a plastics material such Nylon or Teflon. The said drive is preferably a conveyor drive chain secured to the two elements.

A preferred embodiment of the present invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying informal drawings in which: Figure 1 shows an end view of a conveyor trolley; Figure 2 shows a sectional view through the centre of the trolley; Figure 3 shows a sectional view along the line BB of Figure 2; Figure 4 shows a scrap view in the direction of the reference X of Figure 1; and, Figure 5 shows a detail of Figure 1.

Referring now to Figure 1 there is shown a view of a conveyor trolley 1 which is adapted to run along an overhead guide rail in the form of a tube 2. The trolley has a main frame 3 which is U-shaped and having at its outer ends two inclined wheels or rollers 4 which are adapted to run along the conveyor guide tube 2. Because of the opposed angles of inclination of the wheels 4, the main frame 3 tends to hang vertically. The frame 3 is formed of a stainless steel pressing of U-shape in cross-section having two arms joined by an arcuate base part and has at the lowermost part of its base 5 an orifice 6, shown in greater detail in Figure 4, to which a hanger 7 is mounted.

The hanger 7 consists of two identical elements 8 and 9 which are formed from a stainless steel pressing.

Each of the elements has a mounting end 10 which is adapted to pass through the orifice 6 to enable the two elements to be secured to the main frame 3. The detailed shape of the mounting ends 10 is shown in.greater detail in Figure 5 and will be described hereinafter. The two elements 8 and 9 are adapted to be secured together by two spaced bolts 11 and 12.

Referring now to Figure 3 also, the two elements 8 and 9 of the hanger 7 are shaped between the two securing bolts 11 and 12 so as to accommodate a link 13 of a conveyor drive chain by which the trolley is pulled along the guide track 2. As shown in Figure 2, each of the elements has a pair of opposed U-shaped recesses 14 which are each adapted to accommodate the U-shaped end of adjacent links 15 of the drive conveyor 13. In this way, the drive conveyor is securely fastened to the hanger 7 and hence to the main trolley frame 3.

As its lower most end, the hanger 7 has a bifurcated mounting point 16 by which a further hanger or shackle may be mounted to enable an item to be suspended from the trolley.

Referring now to Figure 5 there is shown, to a much greater scale, a scrap view cf the connection between the elements 8 and 9 and the main frame 3. It can be seen that the mounting end of each of the elements 8 and 9 is shaped to engage the upper face 17 of the base 5 of the frare 3.

Each mounting end therefore has a first part 18 angled slightly out of the axis 19 of the element and a second part 20, at a much greater angle which is adapted to abut the face 17 referred above. When ifl this position, the elements 8 and 9 are in contact with each other at a point 21 adjacent the orifice 6 so that the remainder of the lengths of the elements are held slightly apart. The two elements are then clamped together by the bolts 11 and 12 which causes the ends 20 of the elements to be urged firmly into engagement with the face 17 of the main frame 3, to thereby provide a secure connection between the hanger 7 and the main frame 3.

To secure the hanger 7 to the main frame 3, the two elements 8 and 9 are inserted separately into the orifice 6 where they are initially located in the position shown in Figure 5. The drive chain is then located between the two elements which are then secured together by means of the bolts 11 and 12 clamping the link 13 of the chain therebetween. When wear occurs in the connection between the chain and the hanger it is necessary simply to dismantle the trolley and to replace the worn elements 8 and 9 with new elements. This operation can be carried out without dismantling the remainder of the trolley and conveyor system.

It will be understood that many variations may be made to the apparatus without departing from the concept of the invention. For example, it is envisaged that the elements 8 and 9 may be formed of a plastics material such a nylon or a polytetrafluoroethylene such as Teflon (a Registered Trade Mark), preferably by moulding. It is also possible that the main frame 3 may be made of plastics material in a similar way.

The present invention therefore provides, not only a trolley which is cheaper to manufacture, but one in which repair and servicing costs, and machine down time and conveyor system down time because of malfunction are considerably reduced compared to known conveyor systems.

Claims (13)

1. A conveyor trolley including a main trolley frame, and rotatable means mounted thereon to enable the trolley to be suspended from and to run along a guide track of a conveyor system, a hanger depending from the frame having means to enable a drive to be connected thereto and a mounting element for hanging items from the trolley, the hanger being adapted to be held in an orifice in the main frame by virtue of the resilience of the hanger material.

2. A trolley according to claim 1 wherein the hanger comprises two cooperating elements each having a mounting end adapted to be located in the orifice in the hanger thereby to enable the elements to be secured to the hanger.

3. A trolley according to claim 2 wherein the two elements are identical.

4. A trolley according to claim 2 or 3 wherein the mounting ends are shaped so that, when inserted in the orifice, adjacent faces of the elements in the regicn of the orifice engage each other in such a way that the remainder of the elements in a direction away from the mounting ends are held slightly apart.

5. A trolley according to claim 4 wherein securing means are provided to clamp the two elements together against the resilient bias of the elements to thereby rigidly secure the elements to the main trolley frame.

6. A trolley according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the frame is U-shaped in an end view and has said rotatable means located on each of the arms of the U.

7. A trolley according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the frame is U-shaped in cross-section.

8. A trolley according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the frame is formed of a stainless steel pressing.

9. A trolley according to any one of claims 2 to 8 wherein the two elements of the hanger comprise stainless steel pressings.

10. A trolley according to any on of claims 2 to 8 wherein the two elements of the hangar and/or the frame are moulded from a plastics material.

11. A trolley according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the said drive is a conveyor drive chain secured to the two elements.

12. A trolley according to claim 11 wherein the drive chain is clamped between the two hangar elements.

13. A conveyor trolley substantially as described herein with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawing.