JP4302434B2 - Belt conveyor with self-aligning pulley - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a steel belt is passed sieved endless between the drive pulley and the driven pulley belt conveyors.
[0002]
[Prior art]
BACKGROUND ART A belt conveyor is widely used as a conveying device for various articles. Particularly, a belt using a high hardness steel belt is used in a clean room or the like for manufacturing semiconductors including chemicals and foodstuffs.
In particular, in a belt conveyor that requires positional accuracy of conveyance, it is important to prevent meandering during belt travel. A V-shaped cross-section guide band is attached to the back surface of the belt, and a V-shaped cross-section groove is provided. The meandering is prevented by a pulley having
[0003]
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H10-228561 discloses a belt provided with hooks at both ends of a pulley, and a rotating roller is axially attached to the hook to guide a belt that is offset.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-228667 discloses a belt that is supported by self-aligning bearings on both sides of a pulley and prevents the meandering of a traveling belt by utilizing the fact that the shaft of the pulley moves in the axial direction.
Patent Literature 3 discloses a self-aligning bearing that is used as a bearing that supports both ends of a shaft.
[0004]
[Patent Document 1]
JP 2000-264425 A [Patent Document 2]
JP-A-6-247526 [Patent Document 3]
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-79343
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
All of the devices disclosed in the above-mentioned patent documents have complicated mechanisms.
The present invention provides a self-aligning pulley for a belt conveyor that can prevent the running belt from meandering with a simpler structure, and a meandering prevention device for the belt conveyor provided with the pulley.
[0006]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
The self-aligning pulley of the present invention includes, as basic means, a shaft, a drum disposed on the outer peripheral side of the shaft, a spherical plain bearing that is attached to the shaft and supports the central portion of the drum so as to be swingable, A flange that is attached to both ends of the drum, and a connecting member that is fixed at both ends to the shaft and the drum and transmits torque between the shaft and the drum. The connecting member is made of an elastic material.
[0007]
The connecting member includes a ring-shaped member having a U-shaped cross section, a ring-shaped member having a V-shaped cross section, a ring-shaped member having a S-shaped cross section, a ring-shaped member having a Z-shaped cross section, It can be made of a cylindrical ring-shaped member having a parallel cross section.
[0008]
And the rubber or resin is selected as the material of the connecting member.
Further, the connecting member can be made of a plurality of leaf springs arranged in a spoke shape or made of a member having a bellows structure, and the material of the connecting member is made of metal, resin, ceramics, or a composite material.
[0009]
The belt conveyor and the belt power transmission device of the present invention include the above-described self-aligning pulley as a driving pulley and a driven pulley, and an endless belt that spans between the driving pulley and the driven pulley.
[0010]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
FIG. 1 is an explanatory view of the self-aligning pulley of the present invention, a belt conveyor provided with this pulley, and a belt power transmission device.
The belt conveyor and the belt power transmission device, indicated as a whole by reference numeral 1, have a pair of self-aligning pulleys 20 according to the present invention, and an endless belt 10 is stretched between a pair of automatic centering pulleys.
[0011]
One self-aligning pulley 20 functions as a driving pulley and includes a driving device 80 such as a motor.
The other self-aligning pulley 20 functions as a driven pulley. The two self-aligning pulleys 20 are supported by a bearing device (not shown).
[0012]
The self-aligning pulley 20 includes, as basic means, a shaft 21, a spherical plain bearing 50 provided at the center of the shaft 21, a cylindrical drum 30 attached to the outer periphery of the shaft 21, A connecting member 40 is provided at both ends to connect the shaft 21.
[0013]
The connecting member 40 is made by bending a flexible material such as neoprene rubber into a U-shaped cross section.
An inner peripheral portion of the U-shaped connecting member is fixed to a collar 22 fixed to the shaft 21. The outer periphery of the connecting member 40 is fixed to the drum 30 integrally with the flanges 24 attached to both ends of the drum 30.
[0014]
The self-aligning pulley 20 rotates integrally because the shaft 21 and the drum 30 are connected by the connecting member 40. However, since the shaft 21 supports the drum 30 via the spherical plain bearing 50 at the center thereof and the connecting member 40 is made of a flexible material, the rotation axis C ₁ of the shaft 21 and the drum 30 are supported. and a function that can be co-rotating while intersecting with the rotation axis C ₂ is within the angular range.
[0015]
FIG. 2 is an explanatory view showing the entire structure of the self-aligning pulley 20, and FIG. 3 is an explanatory view showing the structure of the main part.
A pair of collars 22 is fixed to the shaft 21 of the self-aligning pulley 20 with a set screw or the like using a screw hole 23.
[0016]
An inner peripheral portion 42 of the connecting member 40 is joined to the outer peripheral portion of the collar 22. In this case, an adhesive or means such as baking is used.
The outer peripheral portion 41 of the connecting member 40 is overlapped with the flange 24 and is fixed by a bolt or the like using the screw hole 31 of the drum 30.
[0017]
In the spherical plain bearing 50 that supports the drum 30 at the center portion of the shaft 21, the inner race 51 is fixed to the shaft 21, and the outer race 52 is fixed inside the center portion of the drum 30.
The joint sliding surface 53 between the inner race 51 and the outer race 52 is formed in a spherical shape.
[0018]
As shown in FIG. 3, the connecting member 40, because it is made of an elastic material neoprene rubber, distance of the inner peripheral portion 42 and the outer peripheral portion 41 can expand and contract in the direction indicated by the arrow F _1.
Since the shaft 21 and the drum 30 are supported by _one spherical plain bearing 50 at the center, the rotational axis C ₂ of the drum 30 is centered on the spherical plain bearing 50 with respect to the rotational axis C ₁ of the shaft 21. As shown in FIG.
[0019]
FIG. 4 is an explanatory view showing the principle of operation of the belt conveyor using the self-aligning pulley of the present invention.
As described above, the shaft 21 of the self-aligning pulley 20 transmits torque to the drum 30 via the connecting member 40. Therefore, the pulley on the driving side to which torque is applied from the driving device 80 such as a motor rotates the drum 30 and sends the endless belt 10.
[0020]
The driven pulley is driven by the endless belt 10, and the drum 30 and the shaft 21 rotate together.
Both the driving pulley and the driven pulley support the shaft 21 rotatably by an appropriate radial bearing (not shown).
By an appropriate adjustment mechanism, to adjust the center distance L ₁ between the pulley on the driving side pulley and the driven, given a predetermined tension to the endless belt 10, the rotation axis C ₂ of the drum 30, endless belt They are centering in the direction perpendicular to the running axis V ₁ of the 10.
[0021]
Therefore, even if the rotation axis C ₁ of the shaft 21 is shifted from the rotation axis C ₂ of the drum 30 by an angle α and an angle θ, respectively, due to the positional accuracy of the bearing that supports the shaft 21, the rotation axis of the drum 30. Is correctly aligned, and the endless belt 10 can be prevented from meandering.
[0022]
FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing the relationship between the width dimension W ₁ of the endless belt 10 and the dimension W ₂ between the flange 24 of the self-aligning pulley 20.
The width dimension W ₁ of the endless belt 10 is set to be smaller than the dimension W ₂ between the pulley flanges 24.
[0023]
Therefore, the endless belt 10 by a distance of the difference between the width during travel, to move the drum 30 over the arrow S ₁ direction. The moved belt contacts the inner surface 24 a of one flange 24. As the belt travels, the belt moves toward the other flange 24 and repeats the contact with the inner surface 24a, thereby causing meandering.
However, when the self-aligning pulley of the present invention is used, the drum 30 bends with respect to the shaft 21 so that the endless belt travels in a state in which the endless belt is in contact with one of the flanges 24. Keep the position in the direction.
[0024]
Therefore, the conveyor using the self-aligning pulley of the present invention can be configured such that the running surface of the endless belt is an inclined surface other than a horizontal surface, and further a vertical surface.
[0025]
FIG. 6 shows a case where a hard metal such as stainless steel is used as the material of the endless belt 10, and a mirror finish is applied to the inner peripheral side surface 24 b of the flange 24 to prevent the endless belt 10 from riding on the flange 24.
[0026]
FIG. 7 shows a means for chamfering the end portion 10a of the endless belt 10 to prevent the endless belt 10 from getting on the flange.
In the embodiment of the present invention described above, an example is shown in which the connecting member is formed by bending an elastic material such as rubber or resin so that the cross section is U-shaped.
However, since this connecting member only needs to have a function of transmitting only torque between the shaft 21 and the drum 30 and absorbing the displacement of the rotating shaft, various forms can be adopted.
[0027]
FIG. 8 shows four examples.
(A) shows the example which formed the connection member 140 in the ring whose cross section is V-shaped.
(B) shows the example which formed the connection member 141 in the ring whose cross section is S-shaped.
(C) shows the example which formed the connection member 142 in the ring whose cross section is Z-shaped.
(D) shows the example which formed the connection member 143 in the ring from which a cross section becomes parallel.
In either case, the material is rubber (neoprene, NBR, silicon, polyurethane, fluorine rubber, etc.) or resin (vinyl chloride, ABS, polyethylene, Teflon (registered trademark), etc.).
[0028]
9 to 11 show an embodiment of a connecting member that transmits a relatively large torque.
FIG. 9 shows an example in which the connecting member 240 is composed of a plurality of leaf springs. The leaf springs are fixed to the mounting member 21b of the shaft 21 and the mounting member 30b of the drum 30 with rivets 240a or the like.
[0029]
FIG. 10 shows an example in which the connecting member 241 is made of a bellows.
[0030]
FIG. 11 shows an example in which the connecting member 242 is configured by a welding structure.
In any case, the material is selected from metals such as spring steel, FRP, ceramics, or a composite material thereof.
[0031]
FIG. 12 is an explanatory view showing another embodiment of an automatic alignment pulley used on the driven side of the belt conveyor of the present invention.
A self-aligning pulley on the driven side generally indicated by reference numeral 300 has a shaft 310, and a drum 330 is disposed on the outer periphery of the shaft 310. A self-aligning bearing 360 is attached to the center of the drum 330 via an attachment portion 332.
[0032]
Flange 340 is fixed to both ends of drum 330. On the shaft 310 facing both ends of the drum 330, an automatic alignment bearing 360 is disposed. The outer race 362 of the bearing 360 is fixed to the inner peripheral portion of the ring member 320. The flanges 340 of the ring member 320 are connected by a connecting member 350.
[0033]
The connecting member is made of an elastic material and allows a deviation between the rotation axis of the shaft 310 and the rotation axis of the drum 330.
The shape, structure, material, and the like of the connecting member 350 can be those of the above-described embodiment.
[0034]
Since the driven pulley does not require torque transmission, the shaft 310 of the driven self-aligning pulley 300 need not rotate.
Therefore, as in the present invention, since the shaft is fixed and the drum is rotated and supported by the self-aligning bearing, smoother rotation of the drum is achieved.
[0035]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, the self-aligning pulley of the present invention transmits torque between the shaft of the pulley and the drum, but allows the shaft and the rotating shaft of the drum to deviate to achieve automatic centering. It is.
The belt conveyor and belt power transmission device equipped with this self-aligning pulley can prevent the belt from meandering and eliminate the inconvenience of the belt riding on the flange of the pulley drum.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram of an automatic alignment pulley and a belt conveyor according to the present invention.
FIG. 2 is an explanatory view showing the overall structure of the self-aligning pulley of the present invention.
FIG. 3 is an explanatory view showing the structure of the main part of the self-aligning pulley of the present invention.
FIG. 4 is an explanatory view showing the operation of the belt conveyor of the present invention.
FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing a dimensional relationship between a belt and an automatic alignment pulley.
FIG. 6 is an explanatory view showing a mirror finish of a flange.
FIG. 7 is an explanatory view showing chamfering processing of the end portion of the belt.
FIG. 8 is an explanatory view showing an example of a connecting member.
FIG. 9 is an explanatory view showing another example of a connecting member.
FIG. 10 is an explanatory view showing another example of a connecting member.
FIG. 11 is an explanatory view showing another example of a connecting member.
FIG. 12 is an explanatory view showing another example of the driven pulley of the present invention.
[Explanation of symbols]
1 Belt conveyor 10 Endless belt
21 shaft 22 collar 24 flange 30 drum 40 connecting member 50 spherical plain bearing 80 driving device

Claims (2)

A belt conveyor comprising a driving pulley, a driven pulley , and an endless belt made of steel that is spanned between the driving pulley and the driven pulley ,
The drive pulley includes a shaft connected to the drive device for transmitting torque, a cylindrical drum having flange portions at both ends disposed on the outer peripheral side of the shaft, and a central portion of the drum attached to the shaft. A spherical plain bearing that is slidably supported, and a connecting member that connects between both ends of the drum and the shaft, and the connecting member is formed by bending a flexible material into a U-shaped cross section; It has the function of absorbing the deviation of the drum relative to the shaft and transmitting the torque of the shaft to the drum,
The driven pulley includes a shaft that is rotatably supported, a cylindrical drum having flange portions disposed on both ends of the shaft, and a shaft that is attached to the shaft so as to swing freely. And a connecting member for connecting between both ends of the drum and the shaft. The connecting member is formed by bending a flexible material into a U-shaped cross section, and the drum is offset from the shaft. With the ability to absorb
The width between the flanges provided at the end of the drum is set to be larger than the width of the endless belt, and the inner surface of the flange is mirror finished.
A belt conveyor characterized in that a steel endless belt travels in contact with one flange . A belt conveyor comprising a driving pulley, a driven pulley, and an endless belt made of steel that is spanned between the driving pulley and the driven pulley,
The drive pulley includes a shaft connected to the drive device for transmitting torque, a cylindrical drum having flange portions at both ends disposed on the outer peripheral side of the shaft, and a central portion of the drum attached to the shaft. A spherical plain bearing that is slidably supported, and a connecting member that connects between both ends of the drum and the shaft, and the connecting member is formed by bending a flexible material into a U-shaped cross section; It has the function of absorbing the deviation of the drum relative to the shaft and transmitting the torque of the shaft to the drum,
The driven pulley includes a fixed shaft, a cylindrical drum disposed on the outer peripheral side of the shaft, flanges fixed to both end sides of the drum, and a central portion of the drum that is swingable by being attached to the shaft. A self-aligning bearing is provided on the shaft facing the flanges at both ends. The outer race of the self-aligning bearing is fixed to the inner periphery of the ring member, and includes a connecting member that connects the ring member and the flange. The connecting member is made by bending a flexible material into a U-shaped cross section, and has a function of absorbing the displacement of the drum with respect to the shaft.
The width between the flanges provided at the end of the drum is set to be larger than the width of the endless belt, and the inner surface of the flange is mirror finished .
A belt conveyor characterized in that a steel endless belt travels in contact with one flange .

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