US1962372A - Flexible conveyer - Google Patents

Description

June 12, 1934. H. E. TWOMLEY FLEXIBLE CONVEYER Filed Dec. 21, 1952 3 Sheets-Sheet l Filed Dec. 21. 1932 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 June 12, 1934. EY 1,962,372

FLEXIBLE CONVEYER Filed D80. 21, 1952 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Patented June 12, 1934 UNITED STATES FLEXIBLE CONVEYER Herbert E. Twomley, Riverside, Calif., assignor to Clara B. Parker, Riverside, Califl, executrix of the estate of George B. Parker, deceased Application December 2 4 Claims.

My invention relates to conveyers, and has particular reference to a conveyer which is laterally flexible relative to the direction of motion of parcels passing over the conveyer to permit it to be adjusted to various curves and angles.

In my copending application, Serial No. 590,-

;046, filed February 2nd, 1932, I describe a conveyer construction in which the conveyer included a central runner and a par of ribbon joists, one on each side of the central runner across all of which extended a number of parcel supporting rollers with the roller mounting so formed as to encircle a portion of the central runner to prevent longitudinal movement of the roller assemblies but permitting lateral flexing of the joists and central runner to allow the conveyer to assume various angles and curves.

In that application the central runner was illustrated as constituting a third ribbon-like joist, while the roller mountings comprised lugs having rectangular passageways therethrough conforming with the shape of the ribbon runner.

My present invention relates to the same type of conveyer construction, but has for its primary object the employment of a central runner which is formed of any desired shape.

An object of the invention, therefore, is to provide a conveyer of the type set forth in the preceding paragraph, in which the central runner comprises an elongated wire.

Another object of the invention is to provide a conveyer of the type set forth in the preceding paragraph in which the roller mounting members may be formed of sections of tubingwith the ends thereof drawn down to conform in size with the sidesof a wire or rod-like central runner.

Other objects and advantages will be apparent from a study of the following specifications, read in connection with the accompanying drawings,

wherein Figure 1 is a top plan view of a conveyer constructed in accordance with my invention and illustrated as extended in a straight line.

Figure 2 is a top plan View of the conveyer shown in Figure 1, but illustrated in the position in which it is bent to form a curve;

Figure 3 is a side elevational view of the conveyer shown in Figures 1 and 2; I

Figure 4 is an end elevational View of the conveyer shown in Figures 1 to 3;

Figure 5 is a detailed vertical sectional view taken along line VV of Figure 3;

Figure 6 is a detail sectional view taken along line VIVI of Figure 3;

Figure '7 is a detail vertical sectional view taken along line VII-VII of Fig. 1;

Figure 8 is a detail sectional View taken along line VIII VIII of Figure 7; and

Figure 9 is a detail vertical sectional view through one of the rollers and its mounting, illus- 1, 1932, Serial No. 648,220

trating the manner of mounting the same upon the side joists of the conveyer.

Referring to the drawings, I have illustrated in Figures 1 to 4 a conveyer comprising a pair of ribbon joist members 1 and 2, the ribbon 1 being formed of a pair of flat ribbons 3 and 4 of steel, or similar flexible material, which is rigid in the direction of the greatest width, but is flexible in the direction of the narrower width thereof. The joist 2 is likewise formed of a pair of ribbons 5 and 6 constructed of the same, or similar material.

The ribbon joists extend substantially throughout the length of the section of the conveyer constructed in accordance with my invention, the ends of the joists 1 and 2 being received in box like slideways 7 and 8 upon a supporting standard 9 at one end of the conveyer and box-like slideways 10 and 11 formed upon an end standard 12 at the opposite end of the conveyer.

By referring particularly to Figures 3 and 4, it will be observed that the standards 9 and 12 are formed with a base member 13 supported in spaced relation to the floor or ground upon which the standard rests by means of feet 14. A pair of upright lugs 15 and 16 extend vertically from the base 13 and are braced near their upper ends by means of a cross brace 17 upon the outer ends of which are preferably formed a pair of sockets 18 and 19 to receive in telescopic engagement therein a pair of extensions 20 and 21, respectively, of the lugs 15 and 16. The upper end of the extension 20 is illustrated as being provided with a bifurcated head 21 between the arms of which is received a depending lug 22 formed upon the slideway 8, while in a similar manner the upper end of theextension 21 is formed with a bifurcated head 23 receiving the lug 21 formed upon the other slideway '7 constituting a portion of the end standard. The slideways '7 and 8 are preferably braced against relative lateral and longitudinal movement by means of a plurality of cross bars 25, three of which are illustrated herein and which are preferably employed as a mounting for the end rollers 26 constituting the parcel supporting rollers for the conveyers, as by means of turning up the ends 27 of the bars to form bearings 28 and 29 for opposite ends, respectively, of the axle 30 upon which the roller 26 is mounted.

In order to facilitate handling of the conveyer, and to facilitate moving it to various positions and various curves, I prefer to provide a handle member 31 which may take the form of a flat bar extending laterally across the ends of the slide ways 7 and 8. 7

By referring particularly to Figure 4, it will be observed that the slideways 7 and 8 are each formed with a rectangular passageway 32 extending therethrough, this passageway being just OK u;

slightly in excess of the dimensions of the cross sections of the ribbon joists 1 and 2 so that the ribbon joists may be telescopically moved into and out of the slideways '7 and 3 or the two ribbons forming either of these joists may be telescopically moved relative to the slideway and relative to each other when the conveyer is to be positioned in an are or curve, as will be more fully described hereinafter.

Referring particularly to Figures 1 and 3, it will be observed that the space between the end standards 9 and 12 is traversed by the ribbon joists 1 and 2 and a plurality of parcel supporting rollers 33 are spaced evenly along these joists so as to provide a substantially continuous parcel supporting surface over which parcels may move.

By referring particularly to Figures 1, 3 and 5, it will be observed that each of the rollers 33 is rotatably supported upon a roller mounting 34 which in effect comprises a cross bar, the ends 35 and 36 of which are turned upwardly and are formed with bearing openings 37 and 38, to receive the ends of the axles constituting the axes about which the rollers 33 rotate or, if desired, the axle 39 may constitute trunnions formed upon the outer ends of the rollers 33.

Depending downwardly from the lower surface of the cross bar or mounting 34, is a pair of lugs 40 and 41, which are preferably U-shaped in cross section so that they, together with the bottom surface of the cross bar 34, form a rectangular passage 42 through which the ribbon joists 1 and 2, respectively, may extend. Preferably the passageway 42 is of such size as to permit relative sliding movement between the lugs 40 and the joists 2 and also to permit relative longitudinal movement between the two ribbons forming the joists. At or near the center of the cross bar 34 I have illustrated an additional lug 43 which, as is more clearly illustrated in Figures 7 and 8, is preferably formed of a section of tubing, the longitudinal axis of which extends at right angles to the longitudinal axis of the cross bar 34.

The lugs 43 are employed to hold the cross bars and their associated rollers upon the conveyer assembly and are further employed for the purpose of holding the rollers in longitudinal, spaced relation relative to each other, and for this reason I have illustrated the lugs 43 as being threaded upon a central runner 44, the longitudinal dimension of each of the lugs 43 being such as to conveniently space the rollers 33 relative to each other longitudinally of the conveyer when the ends of the adjacent lugs 43 are in abutting relation with each other.

By referring particularly to Figures '7 and 8, it will be observed that the central runner 44 is formed of a round rod or wire which extends throughout the entire length of the conveyer unit and it will also be observed that the interior diameter of the lugs 43 is considerably in excess of the diameter of the wire or red forming the central runner 44 so that there is permitted a considerable lateral movement of that portion of the runner 44 which lies within the lug 43.

It will also be observed that the ends 45 of the lug 43 are struck inwardly or collapsed to substantially close the ends of these tubular members, leaving therein only a passage just sufficient to readily permit the wire or rod 44 to pass therethrough. This collapsing or drawing down of the ends of the tube may be formed in any suitable manner and by any well known machine shop practice, though I prefer to simply flatten the ends of the tubular section forming the lug 43 and then drilling a longitudinal hole in this collapsed end of the lug through which the runner may pass as it appears to be the quickest and most economical manner of producing the lugs.

It will also be observed that lugs formed in this manner may be formed from sections of standard pipe and then welded, as is indicated at 46, to the cross bars 34 forming the roller mounting.

The central runner 44 is preferably not only flexible but also resilient so that when it is distorted, as by curving the ends toward each other, the body of the central runner or rod will assume a true arc, the radius of which is the center of curvature of the curve assumed by the conveyer. Thus that section of the rod or wire which lies within any one of the lugs will form an are having this same radius and the longitudinal axis of the lug will form a chord of this are. Thus when the rod with its assembled lugs and rollers is curved the of each of the rollers will extend along one of the radii of the curve formed by the curved configuration of the conveyer and hence, irrespective of the degree of the curve, and irrespective of whether a single curve or whether a plurality of curves is formed by the conveyer, those rollers which lie on any portion of any of the curves will lie with their axes aligned with radii of the curve in which they are positioned. Thus when parcels are passed along the conveyer on the rollers such parcels will automatically travel around the curve without the necessity of guides, tracks, wires, or other devices preventing them from falling from the conveyer, since as the parcels engage each roller with its axis extending along the radius of the curve, the parcel will be automatically guided to the new position around the curve. Such auto-- matic alignment of the axes of the rollers is illustrated particularly in Figure 2, in which the conveyer is shown as having been bent to assume a curve of a little more than 120.

The central runner 44 is preferably secured to the end standards 9 and 12 by passing the same through an end lug 47 similar to lugs 43, secured to the foremost cross bar 25 on the end standard. A collar 48 may be secured upon the runner 44 in back of the lug 47 by means of a set screw 49. Thus when the rollers are assembled with their lugs 43 threaded upon the central runner 44 and the central runner is fixed at each of its ends to the end standards, the entire assembly will be held rigidly against longitudinal displacement.

The lugs 40 and 41 of the roller supports 34 are threaded upon the joists 2 and 1, respectively, so that irrespective of the displacement of the axes of the rollers the joists 1 and 2 will constitute a support rigid in the vertical direction for the rollers and the parcels passing over the conveyer. If it is desired to provide additional support intermediate the end standards, intermediate standards 50 may be provided each of which preferably includes a base portion corresponding to the lower sections of the end standards 9 and 12, the upper ends of these intermediate standards being formed of a pair of extensions 51 of the lugs forming the base section of the standard and having upon their upper ends a U-shaped bracket 52, the lugs 53 and 54 of which are provided with passageways through which the joists may extend.

It will be observed that the construction herein described will permit of the ready manufacture and assembly of a conveyer unit in which the ribbon joists constitutes the support in the vertical direction, but which may be readily flexed into any desired curvature or other configuration, and

in which, when so flexed or curved, will cause the rollers to assume positions which will guide the parcels, such as 55, accurately along the length of the conveyer. It is preferred to secure the two ribbons forming each of the joists, together near their centers as by means of pins 56 and 57 passing laterally through both of the ribbons upon opposite sides of the lugs 41 formed upon the central roller mounting. Thus when the conveyer is flexed or curved the ends of the ribbons may be moved relative to each other as they assume the curved positions, but the pins 56 and 57 will prevent any major longitudinal displacement between the ribbons forming the joist.

By referring particularly to Figure 6, it will be observed that after the conveyer has been moved to the desired curved position and the joists have thus been moved relative to each other to the curved positions, the entire conveyer may be locked in the new position by means of clamping the ribbons 5 and 6 together and clamping them rigidly with respect to the slideway 8 into which they project. Such clamping action may be readily performed by means of a wing-screw 58 extending laterally through the slideway '7, there being only one of the wing-screws upon each of the slideways.

While I have shown and described the preferred embodiment of my invention, it is to be understood that I do not wish to be limited to any of the details of construction shown or described herein, except as pointed out in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a conveyer unit, joists extending longitudinally of the conveyer, a plurality of axles extending crosswise of said joists, a runner of circular cross section extending substantially parallel to said joists, means mounting said axles upon said runner including a tubular lug rigid with respect to the axis of said axle and extending at right angles to the said axis, said lug being formed of a section of circular cross section tubing having an internal diameter larger than the diameter of said runner with reduced end portions conforming substantially with the diameter of said runner.

2. In a conveyer unit, joists extending longitudinally of the conveyer, a plurality of axles extending crosswise of said joists, a runner of circular cross section extending substantially parallel to said joists, means mounting said axles upon said runner including a tubular lug rigid with respect to the axis of said axle and extending at right angles to the said axis, said lug being formed of a section of circular cross section tubing having an internal diameter larger than the diameter of said runner and having the ends of said tubular section drawn inwardly with an entrance opening therethrough conforming substantially with the diameter of said runner.

3. In a conveyer unit, joists extending longitudinally of the conveyer, a plurality of axles extending crosswise of said joists, a runner of circular cross section extending substantially parallel to said joists, means mounting said axles upon said runner including a tubular lug rigid with respect to the axis of said axle and extending at right angles to the said axis, said lug being formed of a section of circular cross section tubing having an internal diameter larger than the diameter of said runner, and having the ends thereof closed, a longitudinally extending entrance opening through said closed ends having a diameter substantially equal to the diameter of said runner, and aligned concentrically with the interior of said tubular section.

4. In a conveyer unit, joists extending longitudinally of the conveyer, a plurality of axles extending crosswise of said joists, a runner extending substantially parallel to said joists, means mounting said axles upon said runner, including a tubular lug rigid with respect to the axis of said axle and extending at right angles to the said axis, said runner being formed of a length of circular cross section resilient wire, and said lug being formed of a length of circular cross sectional tube with an interior passage extending longitudinally therethrough of greater diameter than the diameter of said wire and having the end portions thereof closed and formed with an entrance passage therethrough conforming substantially to the diameter of said wire.

HERBERT E. TWOMLEY.

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