NZ193271A - Conveying equipment for moving articles while maintaining spacing therebetween - Google Patents

Description

1 9327 1 Priority Pats(s): . Prf.~. .......

Complete Specification FiSed: 7?' Class: & 1 /p^o......

Publication Date: .

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L~ — ■ _ NEW ZEALAND PATENTS ACT, 1953 No.: 193271 Date: 26 March 1980 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION IMPROVEMENTS IN OR RELATING TO CONVEYORS 2 ^ - - -a -H We, MILLER'S MECHANICAL EQUIPMENT (N.Z.) LIMITED a New Zealand company of Ward Street, Dunedin, New Zealand, hereby declare the invention for which i" / we pray that a patent may be granted to-ffifr/us, and the method by which it is to be performed, to be particularly described in and by the following statement: - - 1 193271 This invention relates to conveyors.

With increasing automation in handling equipment or articles there is a need for conveying equipment which may move articles along a conveying distance while preserving the spacing therebetween and in a manner which will allow a space or area to be filled in a controlled manner. Conventional conveying equipment when applied to this purpose is very expensive.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide conveying equipment which will go some way to overcoming the abovementioned diisadvantage or which at least will provide a useful choice over known conveying equipment.

Accordingly the invention consists in conveying equipment comprising a conveyor rail, an endless conveyor operatively mounted in association with the top of said conveyor rail, drive means to move said conveyor along the conveying distance of said conveyor rail, said conveyor being associated with the top of said rail so that an article carrying attachment engaged over said rail is also engaged over said associated conveyor and in use is moved along the rail by movement of the conveyor.

The invention consists in the foregoing and also envisages constructions of which the following gives examples.

One preferred form of the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which Figure 1 is a sketch sectional view through a conveyor according to the present invention, /" 193271 Figure 2 is a detail showing an alternate form of the conveyor according to the present invention, Figure 3 shows a yet further alternative form of conveyor according to the present invention, and Figure 4 is a detail of one type of chain which may be used in a conveyor according to the present invention.

The present invention is designed in the preferred embodiment for use in meat works to provide automatic conveying equipment allowing articles to be transported along a rail for example in a freezer or in a conditioning area while preserving the spacing between the articles and allowing for intermittent movement while the articles are being loaded onto the rails. While this is a preferred use it is by no means the only use to which the conveyor according to the present invention may be put.

In a freezing area or a conditioning area it is normal to have a plurality of rails iextending from a backbone rail. Articles such as carcasses to be held in the conditioning area or to be frozen in the freezing chamber are moved along the backbone rail transferred via appropriate switches onto the parallel rails. This can be done with ganged switching or with individual switching and the control means at the switching may be used as a means for sorting carcasses or the carcasses may be sorted before they are delivered into this area. The control means used will also ensure that there is a single switch to the drive mechanism associated with the parallel rails. In conventional equipment this drive mechanism has taken the form of a walking^ beam conveyor^ 193271 but such conveying equipment has been expensive to install because of the large amount of ancillary and additional equipment necessary to mount such a walking beam conveyor and to operate the conveyor over the length of the parallel rail.

In the present instance it is intended to associate the conveyor with the rail and provide a continuous conveyor with the intermittent drive where that is required achieved by starting and stopping a drive motor or engaging and disengaging transmission to allow the appropriate movement of the conveyor itself.

In figure 1 one form of the invention is illustrated. A rail 1 is mounted on hangers 2 in the conventional manner and this rail has associated therewith a link conveyor 3 with rollers 4 located between the links. It would be envisaged that the links would be of relatively short length of between 15 and 30 mm but the exact dimensions would of course depend on the individual plant being designed. The links would carry at each junction a roller 4 and have guide members or arms 5 projecting to extend down the side of the rail 1 to keep the conveyor in place. Little driving dogs or projections could extend from the top of the conveyor at appropriate spacing to engage with the carcass carrying skids 6 which will be delivered on top of the conveyor as illustrated in figure 1. Thus when the skid is delivered over the switch it will be passed onto the top of the conveyor, this may in itself be sufficient to retain the location of the skid which will then be carried by the conveyor along 193271 the rails. Alternatively if it was found necessary a projection or locating lug or dog could extend from the top of the conveyor to prevent any slippage of the skid along the length of the conveyor. Thus it will be apparent the skid is effectively being carried and not slid along the conveying path and, it will also be appreciated that in this construction the rail is effectively acting as a strong back and accordingly can be modified in manners which will most conveniently allow this general type of conveying construction to be achieved.

One such modification is illustrated in figure 2 where the skid 6 is supported on a link conveyor 4A being located in a recess 7 in the top of the rail 1A. A central projecting guide member 8 extends into a lower central recess 7A and acts as a guide member for the conveyor. Once again the skid is carried on the top of the conveyor as is illustrated in the drawing. The recess 7 and 7A may be machined out of the metal rail 1 or otherwise suitably formed.

An alternative form of conveyor is illustrated in figure 3 where once again the rail 1 has a recess 9 machined or otherwise suitably formed therein and as an infill in the i recess is located a member 10 having a central groove 11 formed therein, member 10 is preferably formed from a suitable synthetic material having good bearina property such as a suitable nylon or Teflon (Registered Trade Mark) material.

A side view of the conveyor 12 as used in figure 3 is shown in figure 4 where the links 13 have dependent members 14 which operate within the recess 11 to operate as guides 1 9327 1 and ensure that the chain is carried about the conveying path and that there is adequate support for the skid which is carried thereon as in the previous examples.

It will be appreciated that the design and detail of the conveyor may vary considerably. It is clear also that the whole assembly might reasonably be fabricated so that it was attached to the top of a rail thereby using the rail essentially as a strong back and in such a construction there may need to be no modification of the existing rail at all but merely a capping piece faced on the top and bottom of the rail and either suitably fixed to the rail or associated with each other to provide the strength necessary in the completed assembly.

The chain has a relatively short link as was previously ■ described and at the end of the rail it would pass about a sprocket mounted on a suitable shaft, the sprocket at one end would be an idling sprocket and at the other end would be driven, this could be driven directly by a motor through a transmission means with intermitent drive achieved by starting and stopping the motor or it could be driven through a transmission means whereby engagement or disengagement of the transmission achieved the intermitent drive and the motor was able to operate continuously. These variations will of course be quite apparent to persons skilled in the art as indeed will the fact that the conveyors may be operated independently or may be ganged to operate together.

Claims (7)

193271 WHAT>fW6 ctmn tS:

1. Conveying equipment comprising a conveyor rail, an endless conveyor operatively mounted in association with the top of said conveyor rail, drive means to move said conveyor along the conveying distance of said conveyor rail, said conveyor being associated with the top of said rail so that an article carrying attachment engaged over said rail is also engaged over said associated conveyor and in use is moved along the rail by movement of the conveyor.

2. Conveying equipment as claimed in claim 1 wherein the conveyor is a conveying chain of a size and pitch to engage the top of the rail with which it is associated in use and guide means to guide the conveyor along the top of said rail.

3. Conveying equipment as claimed in claim 2 wherein the conveyor comprises a link chain with guide means projecting therefrom so that the guiding means and at least part of the link will engage within a recess in the top of the rail or within a member which can be fixed to the top of the rail.

4. Conveying equipment as claimed in any of the preceding claims wherein the drive means comprises a drive sprocket at \ one end of the conveying rail, a suitable drive to power said sprocket, an idler sprocket at the other end of said rail with an endless chain conveyor passing about said sprockets along the conveyor path on top of the rail and along a return path at or adjacent the bottom of the rail.

5. Conveying equipment as claimed in any of the preceding claims wherein the drive means incorporates control equipment to allow continuous or intermittent movement of said conveyor. , _______ IHu * *tJr* ' -■•«£*« i( 30 JAW ^ i. - 7 - 19327 1

6. Conveying equipment as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 5 comprising a plurality of parallel conveyor rails each with a conveyor operatively mounted in association with the top thereof arranged in a space for conditioning or freezing carcasses with the drive means connected to allow the rails to be operated independently or in combinations of two or more depending upon switching control means delivering carcasses to said parallel rails.

7. Conveying equipment when constructed and arranged and operable substantially as herein described with reference to figure 1 or figure 2 or figures 3 or 4 of the accompanying drawings. &GEUTS fOfi THE APPLICANTS