JPS58135024A - Trigger assembled body sensing presence of article on conveyor - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to propeller conveyors used to convey articles along a predetermined path, and more particularly to pressureless accumulation conveyors and triggers for conveyors. This relates to an assembly.

'J Fo-La conveyors, especially accumulation conveyors, are well known in the art.

Such conventional accumulation conveyors have used various mechanisms to control the rotation of the conveyor rollers so that the conveyor rollers can be selectively rotated or stopped in order to accumulate the articles being conveyed by the conveyor. The rollers are rotated to transport the articles to the accumulation point and stopped to accumulate the articles when one or more of the articles reach the accumulation point.

One such conveyor and control mechanism is disclosed in U.S. Pat.
, No. 696,912. This patent describes a reproller conveyor having a brake assembly that is mechanically actuated by a trigger assembly that senses when articles are at their desired storage location.

The trigger assembly is mechanically connected to the brake assembly by a cable or chain to engage the brake assembly with a key on the driven shaft, and the driven shaft is connected to the conveyor roller to lock it against rotation. to drive. The trigger assembly of this patent includes a pivoted arm having a roller at the top that extends into the path of the article, and when the article reaches the roller, the roller is pushed down by the article.

Although the trigger assembly of the aforementioned U.S. patent is generally well suited for use in conveying almost any article, the trigger assembly is provided by removing at least one of the reprollers in each roller section on which it is positioned. It has the disadvantage of having to accommodate the trigger assembly. This is disadvantageous when the length of the article to be conveyed is short, that is, short in the direction of the conveyance path of the article, or when the bottom surface of the article resting on the prote has a weak frictional force. That is, removing the reproller to accommodate the trigger assembly will result in a corresponding loss of drive force, so if the article is short or has low friction, it will not be enough to get it moving again if it stops. It becomes impossible to apply a strong frictional force.

Therefore, in such cases, it would be advantageous to be able to install one trigger assembly without removing the reproller.

US Pat. No. 840,110 describes a trigger assembly for a replorer accumulation conveyor that does not require removal of any of the replorers. However, the trigger assembly of this patent has the disadvantage that the articles can only move in one direction on the conveyor because it interferes with the movement of the articles in a direction opposite to the direction of conveyance of the articles. In some conveyor systems, it may be desirable to move articles in two directions.

The pressureless accumulation conveyor and trigger assembly of the present invention overcomes several of the aforementioned deficiencies of the prior art. The pressureless accumulation conveyor and trigger assembly of the present invention eliminates the need to remove the conveyor glue prote, thus always providing maximum driving contact between the rib rollers and the articles being conveyed.

In a pressureless accumulation conveyor and trigger assembly embodying the principles of the present invention, conveyed articles can be easily moved in either direction on the conveyor without interference from the trigger assembly. A pressureless accumulation conveyor and trigger assembly in accordance with the principles of the present invention is safe, quiet, and simple in construction, thus significantly reducing conveyor maintenance requirements, conveyor assembly time, and permitting a large inventory of spare parts. The amount required also decreases.

The present invention provides a trigger assembly for sensing the presence or absence of an article on a conveyor having a plurality of revolutions arranged in one plane and spaced apart from each other in the direction of movement of the conveyed article.

The trigger assembly includes an elongate cam means and means for supporting the cam means on the conveyor for pivoting about an axis that is at but above the axis of rotation of the conveyor rollers. The cam means is spaced apart from the support means and is adapted to be directed towards one end of the cam means, such that when the cam means is supported on the conveyor by the support means,
a first extending upwardly between pairs of spaced conveyor rollers;
Includes leg means. The upper end of the leg means has a first upper position extending above the plane of the conveyor roller in the absence of an article, and a first upper position in which the upper end of the leg means is defined by the plane of the conveyor roller when pressed by an article moving on the conveyor. and a second position substantially in a plane in which the second position is located. Sensing means are also included for controlling movement of the conveyor in response to movement of the leg means and cam means about the support means.

The trigger assembly described above may include roller means rotatably supported near the upper end of the leg means and extending between the conveyor rollers. The roller means rotates about an axis substantially parallel to the axis of rotation of the conveyor roller, the axis of rotation of the roller means remaining below the plane of the conveyor roller when the roller means is in its highest position.

The brake assembly described above also includes a plurality of lip conveyor rollers, a drive means for rotating the rollers, and a trigger assembly responsive to the trigger assembly for driving the conveyor rollers when the leg means of the trigger assembly is in its first position. Leg means b' of the rotating trigger assembly is adapted for use in conjunction with control means for stopping rotation of the conveyor roller when in its second position.

The control means described above interconnects a plurality of trigger assemblies and drive means for operating separate sections of the conveyor rollers in either a single mode or a collective mode.

The above objects, other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Once a preferred embodiment of the invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and with particular reference to FIGS. A preferred embodiment is shown.

The conveyor generally includes a frame having a pair of spaced parallel side channels 10.12 that rotatably support a plurality of individually moved lateral rollers 14. There is. The upper surfaces of the individual rollers 14 are positioned in a common plane to form a path as indicated by the arrows along which the articles being conveyed are propelled in the direction indicated by the arrows. Furthermore, the components of the preferred embodiment pressureless accumulation conveyor shown in FIGS. 1-8 generally include a trigger assembly 16 that senses the presence of an article at a predetermined location on the conveyor. a brake assembly 18 for controlling the movement of roller 14, and a brake assembly 18 generally designated 2 for powering roller 14 to drive it.
The drive mechanism shown by 0 is included.

Drive Assembly: A preferred embodiment of drive assembly 20 will now be described in detail.

As shown in detail in FIGS. 1-4, drive assembly 20 includes a preferably cylindrical straight or drive shaft 22 that extends continuously the length of the conveyor. Drive shaft 22 is preferably made of a hard metal such as cold rolled steel.

A plurality of individual torque tubes, generally designated 24 in FIGS. 5 and 6, are positioned on drive shaft 22 concentrically therewith and extend the length of the conveyor as shown in FIGS. 1-4. One torque tube 24α, 24b, 24c is positioned in each interval α-C spaced apart in the direction.

The torque tube for each conveyor section α-C is the first
Reference numerals 24a, 24b, and 24c are shown in FIGS.
It is shown by . Each torque tube is preferably made of an organic polymer, with the preferred organic polymer being nylon.

A suitable nylon is, for example, nylon 6/6LNPR.
L-4540, although one skilled in the art will appreciate that other nylons and other organic polymers may be selected for the manufacture of torque tubes once the present invention is fully understood. The inner diameter of the torque tube 24 and the outer diameter of the drive shaft 22 and also the drive shaft 22
The materials of the torque tubes and the surface characteristics of these components are such that when the drive shaft 22 is rotated, the shaft drives its respective torque tube by frictionally engaging its cylindrical surface with the inner surface of the torque tube 24. select.

Torque tubes 24α-24c each rotate independently of each other. To do this, separate independent torque tubes 24
This is done by providing each conveyor section as shown in FIGS. 1 to 4.

The ends of the torque tubes 24 at the boundaries of each conveyor section are preferably supported by suitable bearings 26 mounted to the frame of the conveyor by suitable means (-not shown).

As shown in FIGS. 1 to 4, the torque tube 24α
A sliding pulley 28 is supported on each of -24c. The pulleys 28 are axially slidable back and forth along their respective torque tubes 24 such that when in one axial position they are engaged for rotation with their respective torque tubes and when displaced from this axial position. It slides relative to the torque tube and does not rotate with the torque tube. Such an action is described in U.S. Pat. No. 8,650,875. listed in the number.

Pulley 28 is also preferably made of an organic polymer such as an acetal resin, one preferred type of acetal resin being Oelrin.

Preferred is an elastic belt 80 made of elastomeric material.
However, as shown in FIGS. 1 to 4, the circumferential grooves 31 provided in each pulley 28 and each roller 14 of the conveyor
It is wrapped around.

It is preferable that each of the belts 80 is a belt having an O-shaped cross section.

Although the drawings show a plurality of boobs 9-28 on the torque tube 24, these pulleys could be replaced by integrally formed recesses in each torque tube, as is well known in the art. I understand what you can do.

If a pulley 28 is used, the steps shown in FIGS.
It is also desirable to provide spaced collars 32, as shown, which are attached to the outer surface of the torque tube 24 at spaced locations to limit axial movement of the pulley 28, and which also limit the axial movement of the pulley 28. prevent interference between

From the above description of drive assembly 20, drive belt 30 and roller 14, drive belt 30 and pulley 28
, the outer surfaces of the pulley 28 and the torque tubes 24α-24c, and the inner surfaces of the torque tubes 24α-24c and the surface of the drive shaft 22 are in frictional engagement with each other. It will be appreciated that they can slip relative to each other under restraint conditions.

BRAKE ASSEMBLY The brake assembly 18 is shown in detail in FIGS. 5 and 6. The brake assembly 18 is an L-shaped bracket 3
4, the vertical leg of this bracket is preferably T-shaped and is bolted to one of the side channels 12. An air cylinder 88 that receives air from one of the trigger assemblies 16 via conduit 40 is connected to the bracket 84.
The piston rod 42 is supported on the horizontal legs of FIGS. 5 and 6.
It extends downwardly from cylinder 88 as shown.

The horizontal legs of bracket 84 include a pair of downwardly extending flanges 44 supporting clamping means 46 therebetween. The tightening means 46 consist of a pair of shoes 48.50 which may be made of organic polymer or other suitable material. The shoe 48.50 is preferably made of durable nylon. Shoe 48.50 has pivot pin 52 on one side
are connected to each other by. Each shoe 48,50 includes a generally semi-cylindrical portion having a curved clamping surface 54 as shown in FIG. It is designed to pivot about a pivot pin 52 by contacting and separating from a cylindrical sleeve 56 positioned at a location. Cylindrical sleeve 56
is attached to torque tube 24 and is preferably made of metal such as aluminum. The sleeve 56 is, for example, L
LO activated by OCTITE'107 activator
Preferably, it is bonded to the associated torque tube by a suitable adhesive such as CTITE 826 adhesive.

Therefore, sleeve 56 always rotates with torque tube 24.

Shoes 48.50 each include arms 58.60 extending from their cylindrical portions in a direction opposite to pivot pin 52, as shown in FIG. The end of the arm 6o of the lower shoe 50 is pivoted by a pin 62 between the flanges near the bottom of the flange 44 extending downward, and the arm 58 of the upper shoe 48 is fixed to the piston rod 42 and is connected to the flange 44 by the piston rod. It is movable vertically between the two.

Thus, depending on the presence or absence of air within the conduit 40 of the associated trigger assembly 16, the upper shoe 48 will be tightened by the piston rod 42, causing the surface 54 to break contact with the outer surface of the sleeve 56 and the sleeve and its torque tube 24 are rotated by the drive shaft 22, and the tightening pivots to either a second position where the surface 54 engages the sleeve 56 and restrains rotation of the sleeve by the drive shaft. Forced to exercise.

Trigger Assembly: The trigger assembly 16 will now be described with reference to FIGS. 7 and 8, in which the trigger assembly is shown with the conveyor in its condition for the mass action mode described below. .

The nine trigger assembly shown in FIGS. 7 and 8 includes an E-shaped cam 64 disposed horizontally adjacent each of the side channels 10.12. The cam 64 includes three upwardly extending legs 66, 68, 70 of successively decreasing height. The longest leg 66 extends across the width of the conveyor and extends on both sides of the conveyor as shown in FIG.
It includes a cam roller 72 rotatably supported between the upper ends of the cam roller 72. When no article is on roller 72, the upper surface of the roller extends slightly above the plane of the top of roller 14, as shown in FIG. Pressed. Preferably, roller 72 rises 9.5ii+ above the upper surface of roller 14.

The middle leg 68 of the figure-5 cam 64 is the pivot support for the cam. A rod 74 extends laterally of the conveyor and is supported between side channels 10.12, as shown in FIG. 7, to pivotally connect a cam 64 thereto.
4. In particular, it allows its roller 72 to pivot between the position shown in FIG.

The shortest leg 70 of the trigger assembly 16 includes a counterweight 76 of the rod or tube type which also extends across the conveyor and connects the legs 70 of the cams 64 on either side. The weight of counterweight 76 and the spacing of this weight from cam pivot rod 74 is such that, in the absence of other forces, roller 72 will be pushed to its upper position as shown in FIG.

Preferably, the rotational axes of pivot rod 74, conveyor roller 14, and cam roller 72 are positioned in a predetermined relationship to each other. , the axis of rotation of the pivot rod 74 is
The axis of rotation of the cam roller 72 is preferably positioned in a plane formed by the axis y of the cam roller 72, or in a plane above the axis y of the cam roller 72.
Preferably, it is below the plane of the upper surface of. Preferably, the cam roller 72 extends no more than about 9.5 mm above the plane of the upper surface of the roller 14 when the cam row 272 is in its uppermost position. With such positioning, E
Together with the shape of the glyph cam 64, the trigger can be supported on the conveyor regardless of the direction of article flow. If you position it like that and shape it like that, for example,
Allowing articles to move in either direction on the conveyor if it is desired to manually support some of the already accumulated articles or to run the conveyor in the opposite direction.

Due to the shape of the E-shaped cam 64 and the location and shape of its legs 66 as described above, there is no need to remove any of the repro rollers to attach the trigger assembly to the conveyor. The legs 66 can move between vertical positions without interference from the tamper rollers 14 in the spaces between adjacent rollers 14. This is particularly advantageous if the articles to be conveyed have short dimensions in the direction of the conveying path.

The trigger combination shown in FIGS. 7 and 8 also includes an L-shaped bracket 78 supported on the side channel 2 by bolts 80. The active parts of the bracket 78 and trigger assembly are attached to the side channel 12 rather than to the side channel 10 on which the bracket assembly 18 is supported.
Although preferably supported on the same side channel, both the trigger assembly and the placket assembly can be supported on the same side channel. However, it is preferred to support these two combinations in separate side channels for ease of assembly and maintenance. The L-shaped bracket 78 also includes horizontal legs supporting an air valve assembly, generally designated 82, and an adjustable limit stop 84.

Air valve assembly 82 includes a valve body 86 having a T-shaped fitting conduit 88 to which two conduits 40,90 are connected. As previously mentioned, conduit 40 is connected to air cylinder 88 of brake assembly 18 shown in FIGS. 5 and 6. Conduit 90 is connected to the bottom of the valve body, as shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, which is the valve body of the adjacent trigger of the conveyor. As shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, the conduit 90 connected to the bottom of the valve body is connected to the next downstream trigger assembly's T-shaped attachment via the air supply conduit 90 as shown in FIG. A T-shaped conduit 88 extending from the source
Conduit 90, which extends horizontally to the left, is the conduit for the next upstream trigger assembly. Plunger rod 100 is preferably spring biased to force cam roller 98 against the underside of cam 64 as shown in FIG.

Limit stop 84 preferably includes a bolt 102 that is threaded upwardly through the horizontal leg of placket 78 to act as an adjustable limit stop for pivoting movement of cam 64. The roller 102 is adjusted to contact the underside of the cam 64 as shown in FIG. 8 so that the cam roller 72 projects a desired distance above the plane of the top of the roller 14 as described above. bolt 102
When the bolt is moved to the adjustment position, the bolt is fixed in this position by the locking nut (104).

As previously mentioned, the trigger assembly 16 shown in FIGS. 7 and 8 is preferably used for the collective action mode of the conveyor. A trigger assembly 16' for use in a single mode of operation of the conveyor is shown in FIGS. 9 and 10. The components of this trigger assembly 16' are similar to those described above with respect to the trigger assembly 16 shown in FIGS. 7 and 8. Therefore, this trigger assembly 16'
Components of the trigger assembly 16' that are substantially the same as those described above are designated by the same reference numerals, and components of the trigger assembly 16' that differ in some respects from those for the collective mode are designated by the reference numeral "'".
" will be added and explained below.

The main differences between the collective action mode trigger assembly 16 and the single action mode trigger assembly 16' are that the air line connections are somewhat different in the trigger assembly 16' and the additional pilot The point is that a valve assembly 106 is provided.

The valve body 86' of the trigger assembly 16' is suspended downwardly and includes a conduit 88' which connects the valve body 86' of the trigger assembly 16' in an adjacent section of the conveyor.
It has a pair of conduits 108 connecting 6'.

As shown in FIG. 9, a third conduit 110 extends from the valve body 86' to a T-shaped fitting connected to a pilot actuator 114 of each pilot valve assembly 106 to conduit 112. . A T-shaped attachment, as shown in FIG. 10, has the other conduit 116 extending from conduit 112. Air is directed to the bottom of the valve body 118 of the pilot valve assembly 106 in the assembly 16'.

Having described the mechanical components of the preferred embodiment of the pressureless accumulation conveyor and brake assembly of the present invention, the operation of the collective action and single action mode conveyors and their control circuitry will now be described. .

Collective action mode: The collective action mode refers primarily to Figures 11-13, although sometimes with reference to other figures, and also refers to the trigger assembly 1.
6 will be explained to some extent with reference to FIGS. 7 and 8. Brake assembly 18 and drive means 20 are substantially identical to each other for collective action and single action modes.

Before explaining the order of action in the collective action mode, it should be noted that the general action in this mode is that each time an item is removed from the conveyor, all items upstream of it are simultaneously advanced one position. Leave it there.

In FIGS. 11-13, it is assumed that one article A is positioned in each of the accumulation zones α-d as shown. That is, article Aα is positioned on cam roller 72 of trigger assembly 16 in interval α, article Ah is positioned on cam roller 72 of trigger assembly 16 in interval α, and so on.

When these cam rollers 72 are pushed down by the article A, the cam follower arms 96 of each valve body 86 are also pushed down, and the valves of the valve bodies 86 shown in FIGS. 7 and 8 are opened and the valves of the valve bodies 86 shown in FIGS. section α from the air supply source shown in
The T-shaped fitting allows air to flow to the valve body 86 at , then through this valve body to conduit 88 and conduit v&40, and then through these conduits to cylinder 38 of brake assembly 18 in section α. Therefore, the brake assembly 1
The cylinder 38 of 8 is actuated to move the piston rod 42 (FIGS. 5 and 6) downward, and the shoe 48.50 is tightened on the surface 5.
4, tightening of both the sleeve 56 and the torque tube 24a in the section α is suppressed, thus suppressing the rotation of the torque tube 24a and insulating the driving force applied by the continuously rotating drive shaft 22 from the conveyor roller 14.

In this condition, air also flows from the T-shaped fitting in section a via line 88 to valve body 86 of trigger assembly 16 in section a via line 90. Since the cam follower 96 is also pushed down by the article Ah located on the roller 72 of the cam, the valve of the valve body 86 in the section is also opened,
The T-mount directs air into conduit 88 to energize brake assembly 18 in section 1 and roller 1 in this section.
Apply power to 4. Air is also sent to the next upstream valve body 86 in section C via line 9o. Accordingly, all valves of the valve body 86 in each section are opened and air is directed to the brake assembly 18 in each section to stop all the rollers 14 and to accumulate all the articles Aα-Ad.

When the article Aα is removed, the balance weight 7 shown in FIG.
The force exerted by 6 causes roller 72 of trigger assembly 16 to rise in section α. The roller 72 rises.
Then, the cam follower 96 in the section α also rises, and the plunger 100 shown in FIGS. 7 and 8 moves upward by the spring force to close the valve of the valve body in the section α. When this valve closes, since all the valve bodies 86 are connected in series, the supply of air to the entire system is cut off. Therefore,
The line 40 connected to the cylinder 88 of the brake assembly 18 in section α is no longer supplied with air and the piston rod 46 rises as shown in FIGS.
8. Pivot 50 away from each other and out of contact with sleeve 54. The sleeve 54 is then no longer restrained by the brake assembly and the drive action of the rotating drive shaft 22 b'-
Acting on the interior of torque tube 24α causes it to rotate with its pulley, O-belt and roller 14 in section a.

As mentioned before, when the air supply to the valve body 86 in the section α is cut off, the air no longer flows through the T-shaped attachment of this valve body to the trigger in the section α. It does not flow to the next upstream valve body of assembly 16. Therefore,
Even if the cam followers 9, 6 are still pushed down by the article Ah in the section α, the valves of the four valve bodies 86 close in the section α, so that there is no air in the conduit 40. Cylinder 8 of brake assembly 18 in the absence of such air
8 moves the piston 42 of this brake assembly upwardly in the same manner as the piston rod 42 in section α to remove the restraining force on torque tube 24b in section α. Therefore, in this collective mode, the respective trigger assemblies are effectively connected in series with each other, so that when air is shut off at valve body 86 in section α, the system is shut off. When this air is cut off,
All brake assemblies are deenergized and all of the articles Aα-Ad are advanced simultaneously until the leading article Ab enters section α and contacts the roller 72 of the trigger assembly 16 in this section. .

When the article Ah contacts the roller 72 in section α, the valve in the valve body 86 in this section opens again and the T-fitting sends air through line 88 to line 40 and cylinder 38 to the brake assembly in section α. 18, and the valve body 86 in which this air is routed through the conduit 90.
send to If the article Ac has not yet reached the cam roller 72 in the section, the valve body 86 in the section will keep the brake assembly 18 in the section deenergized until the well is closed, causing the roller 14 in the section to reach the article Ac. The operation continues until the roller 72 contacts the roller 72 in the section.

Unimodal operation: To explain the unimodal operation, reference is primarily made to FIGS. 14 to 16, but also to FIGS. 9 and 10. In single mode, only one article A is advanced at a time. When one article leaves its previous stationary position and is on its way to a predetermined storage location, the next article begins to move forward to replace the previous article. The articles do not advance simultaneously as in the collective mode described above.

In this case, too, first there is article Aα-Ad, and the fifteenth article Aα-Ad exists.
It is assumed that each article occupies each storage location in each of the sections α-d as shown in the figure and FIG. 16. That is, the article Aα in the interval α
the article Ah is on the cam roller 72 of the trigger assembly 16' in section A, and so on.

In the single mode, air is supplied to all of the trigger valves simultaneously and in parallel via line 108 from the air supply shown in FIG. Therefore, unlike the collective mode, the valve body 86'
are energized and ready to deliver air depending on whether article A is present or not in the respective conveyor section. Pilot valve assembly 106 at interval α from the air supply source
A conduit 116 extending to a valve body 118 is also adapted to supply air to this valve body and to open the valve.

Since article Aa is pushing down on cam roller 72 in section α, cam follower 96 is also pushed down. Follow,
Therefore, the plunger rod 100 shown in FIGS. 9 and 10
is similarly depressed to open the valve of the valve body 86' in section α, and the T-shaped fitting connected to the pilot actuator 114 of the pilot valve assembly 106 in section α via line 110 allows air to flow in line 112. When air is supplied to the pilot actuator 114, the pilot actuator 11
4 actuates the valve in the valve body 118 of the pilot valve assembly 106 and opens this valve so that air flows from the line 116 extending from the air supply source through the line 40 to the cylinder of the brake assembly 18 in section α. Make it.

As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the air supplied to the cylinder 38 causes the piston rod 42 to move downward, causing the shoe 48 to move downwardly.
．． 50 are moved together to tighten the sleeve 56 and the torque tube 24α in the section α. This tightening force restrains the movement of torque tube 24α, causes the constantly rotating drive shaft 22 to slide relative to the torque tube, and deenergizes the conveyor rollers in section α.

In this fully loaded condition, i.e., with articles Aa-Ad in sections α-d, respectively, the T-fitting in section α will lead from line 112 to line 116 to pilot valve assembly 106 in section A. Air is also sent to the valve body 118. As previously mentioned, a T-shaped installation in section α allows air to be continuously pumped from line 88' to line 108, and a T-shaped installation in section .alpha.

Similarly, since the article Ab in the section rests on the cam roller 72 in the section, the cam roller 96 of the trigger assembly 16' in the section is depressed, opening the valve in the valve body 86' in the section A T-shaped attachment connected to the pilot actuator 114 of the pilot valve assembly 106 in section α allows air to flow into the conduit 112. This T-shaped attachment allows air flowing into line 112 to actuate pilot actuator 114 to open the valve in valve body 118 and allow air to flow through line 40 to cylinder 88 of brake assembly 18 in section 112. This air therefore causes the piston rod 42 of the cylinder 38 in the section to move downwardly, causing the sleeve 56 and the torque tube 24b to move downwardly.
Tightening restricts the movement of torque tube 24b and causes drive shaft 22 to slide relative to the torque tube, deenergizing roller 14 in the section.

This same procedure continues upstream, so that the rollers 14 in each of the sections α-b are all stopped because of the accumulation of articles in the sections α-d.

Assume that article Aα is removed from conveyor section α. When the article Aα is removed, the cam roller 72 is raised in the roller section α, causing the cam follower 96 of the valve body 86' in the section α to also be raised. When this happens, the T-shaped fitting connected to the pilot actuator 114 of the pilot valve assembly 106 in the interval α closes the valve of the valve body 86' in the interval α.
Shut off air to 10. When this occurs, the valve at valve body 118 of pilot valve assembly 106 also closes shutting off air from the source and line 116 to line 40 and cylinder 88 of pilot assembly 18 in section α. . When the brake assembly 18 is deenergized, the piston rod 42 of the brake assembly, as shown in FIGS. Tube 24α is released and the sleeve and torque tube are rotated again by drive shaft 22 to bias roller 14 in section α.

When the valve of valve body 86' in section α is closed, the air will flow not only into conduit 112, but also to valve body 118 of pilot valve assembly 106 in section α. Conduit 11
Air to 6 is also cut off. Without such air, the line 40 extending from the valve body 118 to the cylinder 38 of the brake assembly 18 in section 6 is also free of air. This causes cylinder 88 of brake assembly 18 to also be deenergized, thereby removing restraining force from torque tube 24b and directing torque tube 24b to drive shaft 22.
4b is rotated to energize the roller 14 in the separation. Accordingly, the next article Ab is advanced from the section to replace the article A.alpha. which was removed in section a.

However, it will be appreciated that in this case none of the remaining articles in sections c and d are moved. These articles are separated by a cam driven roller 72
Do not move until you leave.

Cam roller 72 when the article Ah still exists and is classified
As long as the cam follower 96 and its cam follower are pressed down, the valve body 8
6' is open and separates valve 86 from line 108 (line 110); air to the valve body 118 in section C. Since the pilot valve assembly 106 in section C is open, this air flows through the valve body 118 in section C.
18 and line 40 to cylinder 88 of brake assembly 18 in section C to actuate the brake assembly and inhibit rotation of torque tube 24c in section C.

When the article Ah leaves the cam roller 72 at the sorting point,
The cam roller moves upward to separate the valve body 86'.
close the valve. When this valve is closed, line 110, T
The shaped fitting is blocked from air to line 112, line 116 connected to valve body 118 of pilot valve assembly 106 in section C. This valve body 118 extends from the depressed cam follower 96 of the valve body 86' in section C.
Even though line 110 is open to receive air, line 40 extending to cylinder 38 of brake assembly 18 in section C is no longer air-filled and therefore The brake assembly is de-energized and the torque tube 24C in section C begins to rotate, causing the roller 14 in section C to rotate and move toward sectioning article AC to replace article Ah moved to section α. Start letting them do it.

It can therefore be seen that in this single mode, each of the articles moves individually, one at a time.

It is also understood that even if an article accumulates in, for example, section α, b, and the rollers 14 in this section stop, articles Ac, Ad continue to move to the upstream section until all the sections are filled with articles. I can do it. This is the 14th
As shown, a conduit 108 extending from an air supply is connected parallel to each of the valve discs 86' so that when the respective cam follower 96 is not depressed, the valve discs are ready for operation. Because there is.

Therefore, assuming that articles Aα, Ab are in the accumulated position in sections α, b, but article Ac has not reached section cK, the cam roller 72 in section C is not depressed. In this state, the cam follower 96 in section C is pulled up 1, and the valve body 86 in section C
' closes the T-shaped attachment of the pilot actuator 114 of the pilot valve assembly 112 in section C thereby shutting off air to the conduit 110 connected to the conduit 112. In the absence of such air, the pilot actuator 114 closes the valve in the valve body 118 shutting off air to the line 40 and the cylinder 88 of the brake assembly 18 in section C, deenergizing the brakes and reducing the torque in section C. Tube 24C is rotated by drive shaft 22 to bias lug 14 in section C. Thereby, article AC is fed until it pushes down on cam roller 72 in section C, and when this article pushes down on cam roller 72, roller 14 in section C is deenergized.

Although only four sections of the conveyor are shown in FIGS. 11-14, it will be appreciated that the number of sections may be increased or decreased as desired without departing from the principles of the invention. Although the control circuit of the present invention has previously been described with respect to pneumatic systems only, one skilled in the art will appreciate that hydraulic, electrical, and mechanical control arrangements will be readily available to those skilled in the art once the present invention is fully understood.

From the foregoing, it can be seen that the pressureless accumulation conveyor and trigger assembly described above ensure that the articles being accumulated come into contact with each other by ensuring that the repro rollers are decelerated as the articles arrive at their respective accumulation points. This gives rise to a clear advantage in preventing Furthermore, a trigger assembly can be installed on a conveyor without having to remove any of the rollers on the conveyor, and articles being conveyed by the conveyor can be moved in either direction on the conveyor without being obstructed by the trigger assembly. Be able to move.

It will be appreciated that the embodiments of the invention described above are merely illustrative of some applications of the principles of the invention. Various modifications can be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the principle and scope of the invention.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective partial view of a propeller accumulation conveyor embodying the principles of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a partial plan view of the accumulation conveyor with the components cut away, taken approximately along line 2--2 in FIG. , FIG. 3 is a partial cutaway side view of the storage conveyor as viewed generally along line 8--8 of FIG. 1, and FIG. 4 is a drive shaft and driven shaft of the storage conveyor according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. and a partially cut-away plan view showing one section of the pulley completely and two additional sections, FIG. 6 is a partially cutaway side view of the brake assembly taken generally along line 6--6 of FIG. 5; FIG. 7 is a collective action view of the conveyor of the present invention; FIG. One of the trigger assemblies used in the mode
2, and FIG. 8 is a partially cutaway side view of the trigger assembly taken approximately along line 8-8 of FIG. 2; FIG. 9 is a partially cut away end view of another preferred embodiment of the trigger assembly of the present invention for use in a single mode of operation of the conveyor of the present invention; FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram illustrating the preferred pneumatic control system for the four accumulation sections controlling the conveyor in the collective mode; FIG. 12 is a partial side view of the trigger assembly looking along the FIG. 13 is a partial plan view of the preferred embodiment of the conveyor of the present invention showing the location of the control elements shown in FIG.
FIG. 14 is a schematic diagram showing a preferred pneumatic control system for the four accumulation sections of the conveyor controlling the conveyor in a single mode; FIG. 16 is a partial plan view of a preferred embodiment of the conveyor of the invention showing the position of the control elements shown in FIG. 14 for a single mode of action; FIG.
6-1.6 is a partially sectional side view of the conveyor taken along line 6-1.6; A... Article, 14... Roller, 16... Trigger assembly, 64... Cam means, 66... First leg means, 68... Second leg means, 74...・Support means, 76
...Equilibrium weight.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] (1) Sensing the presence or absence of an article on a conveyor having a plurality of conveyor rollers arranged in one plane and spaced apart from each other in the direction of the movement path of the conveyed article for conveying the article. a trigger assembly, the trigger assembly comprising an elongate cam means, support means for supporting the cam means on the conveyor for pivoting about an axis at or above the axis of rotation of the conveyor roller; and a cam means. the cam means is spaced apart from the support means toward one end of the cam means and extends upwardly between the pair of spaced conveyor rollers when the cam means is supported on the conveyor by the support means; a first upper position in which the upper end of the leg means extends above the plane of the conveyor; pushed by an object moving in either direction above it,
The second part in the plane formed by the upper surface of the conveyor roller
and sensing means for controlling operation of the conveyor in response to movement of the leg means and the cam means about the support means. Features a trigger assembly. (2) includes roller means supported near one end of the leg means and extending between the conveyor rollers, the roller means being rotatable about an axis substantially parallel to the axis of rotation of the conveyor rollers; The trigger assembly of claim 1, wherein the axis is adapted to remain below the plane of the conveyor roller when the roller means is in its first upper position. 3. The trigger assembly of claim 1, wherein the cam means includes an upwardly extending second leg means, and the support means pivotally couples the second leg means to the conveyor. (4) including counterweight means provided on the cam means in a direction opposite said one end and spaced apart from the support means, said counterweight means being such that, in the absence of an article, the first
2. A trigger assembly according to claim 1, for pivoting the cam means about its support means to move the leg means to the first position. (5) The cam means comprises a pair of cams, the support means supports the pair of cams in spaced relationship at opposite ends of the conveyor roller, and the roller means comprises a pair of cams between the first legs of each cam. 3. The trigger assembly of claim 2, wherein the sensing means is responsive to pivot movement of the at least one cam. (6)) The trigger assembly of claim 1, wherein the trigger assembly is set without removing any of the conveyor rollers. (7) The first leg means is configured such that the cam means supports the conveyor. 7. The trigger assembly of claim 6, wherein the trigger assembly is movable between first and second positions in the space formed between the conveyor rollers when the trigger assembly is moved between the first and second positions. leg means, the support means supporting the second leg means on the conveyor, and counterweight means mounted on the cam means and spaced apart from the support means in a direction opposite said one end thereof; The trigger assembly of claim 2 for pivoting the cam means about its support means to move the first leg means to the first position when the first leg means is not present. cams, support means supporting a pair of cams spaced apart from each other at opposite ends of the conveyor roller, roller means extending laterally of the conveyor roller between a first leg of each cam means, and sensing means; 8. The trigger assembly of claim 7, wherein the extension trigger assembly is provided without removing any of the conveyor rollers. Trigger assembly according to claim 8. (11) The roller means is movable between first and second positions in a space formed between the conveyor rollers with the cam means supported on the conveyor. Trigger assembly in range item 10.