JP3476005B2 - Air levitated belt conveyor device - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a conveyor device for supplying air to the lower surface of a conveyor belt that moves above a trough to float the belt.

[Prior art]

In a device for moving a conveyor belt in a trough, for example, Japanese Patent Publication No. 7-64405 discloses
In order to reduce the frictional resistance between the belt and the trough,
An air supply hole is formed in the lower part of the curved trough, and air is blown from this hole toward the back surface of the belt. As a result, a configuration is adopted in which the belt is run while floating in the air.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention]

In the above-mentioned prior art, the air blown toward the belt from the hole provided in the trough floats the entire curved belt. However, depending on the weight and shape of the article conveyed by the belt, there is a possibility that the article is deformed from the regular curved state. When deformation occurs, the amount of deformation becomes the largest in the area near the upper end of the belt, and it is unavoidable that the belt in the area near the upper end of the belt contacts the inner surface of the trough, causing friction between the belt and the trough. Occurs.

Further, in the above-mentioned prior art, the air supply hole is provided in the lower part of the trough, and the floating amount is small. As a result, the levitation air blows through a very narrow gap,
At that time, the pressure is reduced. Therefore, it is necessary to increase the supply air pressure by an amount corresponding to this pressure decrease.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide an air levitation type belt conveyor device capable of reducing the frictional force generated between the upper end of the belt and the trough and reducing the air pressure for levitating the belt. And

[Means for Solving the Problems]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, an air-floating type belt conveyor device according to the present invention is a conveyor device in which air is sent from a trough toward the lower surface of the belt and the belt is moved while floating the belt. Attach a low-friction member to the opposite surface, and
Crosses in the belt conveyance direction at the roughly arranged air supply hole position
Slits are formed in the low-friction member in the area to be filled. Scarecrow
The belt that floats and travels due to the configuration
Even if the belt comes into contact with the trough by being deformed due to the weight or shape of the article , a large frictional force is not generated. Further, a space is formed between the upper surface of the trough and the belt, and the air supplied from the air supply hole to this space acts on the back surface of the belt via this space.

Further, the air supply hole is located at a substantially central portion between the slits with a space at the bottom of the trough in the belt conveying direction. As a result, the air supplied from the holes is evenly supplied along the slit in the direction intersecting the belt transport direction.

In addition, the end of the low friction member is located above the end of the belt. As a result, even if the belt is deformed when the article is conveyed, the end portion of the belt comes into contact with the low friction member, and the friction between the low friction member and the belt can be reduced.

Further, a Teflon sheet is preferable as the low-friction member, and according to this, it is only necessary to attach the Teflon sheet to the trough.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is an overall schematic view of an air levitation type belt conveyor device according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a partially cutaway view of the trough 1 to show the internal structure of the trough 1. An endless belt 4 is wound around pulleys 2 and 3 which are rotatably driven by a motor (not shown) in a cylindrical trough 1. A low-friction member 5 indicated by a broken line is attached to the inner surface of the trough 1.

At the bottom of the trough 1, a plurality of air supply holes 6 are provided linearly in the longitudinal direction of the endless belt 4.
A pipe 8 for supplying air from the blower 7 into the trough 1 is connected to each of the air supply holes 6.

As shown in FIG. 2, two low friction members 5 are symmetrically attached to the inner surface of the trough 1 located on the left and right sides of the air supply hole 6 provided at the lower portion of the trough 1. . Although the Teflon sheet is used as the low-friction member 5 in the present embodiment, a member in which a steel plate is coated with a composite material of organic and inorganic materials may be used instead.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the shape of the low friction member 5. The rectangular slit 9 provided in the low-friction member 5 has a width dimension of L1. The slit 9 is formed by sandwiching the width L2 portion where the slit 9 is not formed.
Are continuously provided in the longitudinal direction. In addition, the slits 9 are parallel to each other and have the same length.
When the two low friction members 5 are attached to the inner surface of the trough 1, the slits 9 are attached so as to be symmetrical with respect to the position of the air supply hole 6 provided in the trough 1.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view showing the internal structure of the trough 1. Here, the distance L3 between the low friction members 5 in the region where the slit 9 is not formed is uniform in the longitudinal direction of the belt 4. In this figure, the upper end portion of the low friction member 5 which is symmetrically attached to the inner surface of the trough 1 with respect to the air supply hole 6 arranged at the bottom portion of the trough 1 is located above the upper end portion of the belt 4 by L4. As a result, even if the belt 4 is deformed when the article is conveyed, even if the end portion of the belt 4 comes into contact with the low friction member 3, a large friction force is not generated between the belt 4 and the low friction member 5. Therefore, a large driving force is not required.

FIG. 5 is a partial sectional view showing the shape of the slit 9 attached to the upper surface of the trough 1. Assuming that the thickness of the low-friction member 5 is uniform as a whole, its value is L5.
Therefore, the air passage groove 5a is formed between the two low friction members 5 in the arrangement direction of the air supply holes 6 including the slit 9.

[0018] Then, the air supplied from the supply hole 6 for ejecting from the air passage groove 5a via the slit after being supplied to the air passage groove 5a, the conveying direction of the belt 4 air hardly flows, Therefore, the air supplied from the air supply hole 6 can float the belt even with a small pressure.

FIGS. 6, 7 and 8 below are explanatory views of the operational effects when a Teflon sheet is used as the low friction member 5.

FIG. 6 shows this characteristic. The horizontal axis represents the distance between the air supply hole 6 and the bottom surface of the belt 4, and the vertical axis represents the air supply pressure. In this graph, due to the thickness of the Teflon sheet, the distance between the air supply hole 6 and the belt 4 becomes large, and the amount of pressure drop when air is ejected from the air supply hole 6 is reduced, so that the belt is floated with a small supply pressure. Is possible.

FIG. 7 shows the distribution of the pressure on the lower surface of the belt in the belt width direction. In the central area of the belt width direction, the pressure of the present method shown by the broken line is smaller than the pressure of the conventional method shown by the solid line. Is shown. This also shows that it is possible to reduce the air supply pressure.

Further, as shown in FIG. 8, even if the gap between the trough and the belt becomes larger due to the thickness of the Teflon sheet, the flow rate of the supplied air does not change much.

【The invention's effect】

The air levitation type belt conveyor device of the present invention has the following effects. (1) Since a low friction member such as a Teflon sheet is attached to the inner surface of the trough, the frictional force generated at the belt end can be reduced, and the belt driving force can be reduced. (2) By forming slits in a low friction member such as a Teflon sheet, it becomes difficult for air to flow in the longitudinal direction of the belt, and the air for floating the belt can be used effectively, so the device output for air supply must be reduced. Is possible. (3) Due to the slit, the maximum value of the pressure distribution on the lower surface of the belt can be reduced, and the air supply pressure for floating the belt can be reduced. (4) Since the holes for supplying air to the lower surface of the belt need only be provided at the bottom of the trough, the air supply mechanism can be simplified.

[Brief description of drawings]

[0024]

FIG. 1 is a schematic overall view of an air levitation type belt conveyor device.

FIG. 2 is a partially cutaway view of the trough to show the internal construction of the trough.

FIG. 3 is a plan view showing the shape of a low friction member.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an internal configuration of a trough.

FIG. 5 is a view showing slits provided in an air supply hole and a low friction member.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a floating air pressure distribution in the belt width direction.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a relationship between a gap between a belt and an air supply hole and an air supply pressure.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a relationship between a gap between a belt and an air supply hole and a supply air flow rate.

[Explanation of symbols]

[0025] 1 trough Two pulleys 3 pulleys 4 belts 5 Low friction member 6 air supply holes 7 Blower 8 piping 9 slits

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (56) Reference JP 2000-62928 (JP, A) JP 2000-118662 (JP, A) JP 11-91922 (JP, A) Japanese Patent Publication 7-64405 ( JP, B2) (58) Fields surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) B65G 15/00-15/64

Claims (4)

(57) [Claims] 1. A conveyor device in which air is sent from a trough toward a lower surface of a belt to move while floating the belt, and a low friction member is attached to a belt facing surface of the trough ,
At the position of the air supply hole provided in the trough in the transport direction,
The slip on the low friction member in the area intersecting the vertical direction.
Air levitation belt conveyor
A device. 2. The air levitation type belt conveyor device according to claim 1 , wherein the air supply holes are arranged at a bottom portion of the trough in the belt conveying direction with a space therebetween and located substantially in a central portion between the slits. 3. The air levitation type belt conveyor device according to claim 1, wherein an end of the low friction member is located above an end of the belt. 4. The air levitation type belt conveyor device according to claim 1, wherein the low friction member is a Teflon sheet.