US20060180470A1 - Installation for sequentially transporting objects in a goods handling line, in particular for the automotive industry - Google Patents

Installation for sequentially transporting objects in a goods handling line, in particular for the automotive industry Download PDF

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Publication number
US20060180470A1
US20060180470A1 US10/532,411 US53241105A US2006180470A1 US 20060180470 A1 US20060180470 A1 US 20060180470A1 US 53241105 A US53241105 A US 53241105A US 2006180470 A1 US2006180470 A1 US 2006180470A1
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Prior art keywords
arms
pendle
cable
installation
cables
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US10/532,411
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English (en)
Inventor
Claude Fage
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Duerr Systems AG
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Duerr Systems AG
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Priority to US10/532,411 priority Critical patent/US20060180470A1/en
Assigned to DUERR SYSTEMS GMBH reassignment DUERR SYSTEMS GMBH ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST (SEE DOCUMENT FOR DETAILS). Assignors: FAGE, CLAUDE
Publication of US20060180470A1 publication Critical patent/US20060180470A1/en
Abandoned legal-status Critical Current

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    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
    • B65G—TRANSPORT OR STORAGE DEVICES, e.g. CONVEYORS FOR LOADING OR TIPPING, SHOP CONVEYOR SYSTEMS OR PNEUMATIC TUBE CONVEYORS
    • B65G17/00—Conveyors having an endless traction element, e.g. a chain, transmitting movement to a continuous or substantially-continuous load-carrying surface or to a series of individual load-carriers; Endless-chain conveyors in which the chains form the load-carrying surface
    • B65G17/16—Conveyors having an endless traction element, e.g. a chain, transmitting movement to a continuous or substantially-continuous load-carrying surface or to a series of individual load-carriers; Endless-chain conveyors in which the chains form the load-carrying surface comprising individual load-carriers which are pivotally mounted, e.g. for free-swinging movement
    • B65G17/18—Conveyors having an endless traction element, e.g. a chain, transmitting movement to a continuous or substantially-continuous load-carrying surface or to a series of individual load-carriers; Endless-chain conveyors in which the chains form the load-carrying surface comprising individual load-carriers which are pivotally mounted, e.g. for free-swinging movement and move in contact with a guiding surface
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B62—LAND VEHICLES FOR TRAVELLING OTHERWISE THAN ON RAILS
    • B62D—MOTOR VEHICLES; TRAILERS
    • B62D65/00—Designing, manufacturing, e.g. assembling, facilitating disassembly, or structurally modifying motor vehicles or trailers, not otherwise provided for
    • B62D65/02—Joining sub-units or components to, or positioning sub-units or components with respect to, body shell or other sub-units or components
    • B62D65/18—Transportation, conveyor or haulage systems specially adapted for motor vehicle or trailer assembly lines
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
    • B65G—TRANSPORT OR STORAGE DEVICES, e.g. CONVEYORS FOR LOADING OR TIPPING, SHOP CONVEYOR SYSTEMS OR PNEUMATIC TUBE CONVEYORS
    • B65G49/00—Conveying systems characterised by their application for specified purposes not otherwise provided for
    • B65G49/02—Conveying systems characterised by their application for specified purposes not otherwise provided for for conveying workpieces through baths of liquid
    • B65G49/04—Conveying systems characterised by their application for specified purposes not otherwise provided for for conveying workpieces through baths of liquid the workpieces being immersed and withdrawn by movement in a vertical direction
    • B65G49/0409—Conveying systems characterised by their application for specified purposes not otherwise provided for for conveying workpieces through baths of liquid the workpieces being immersed and withdrawn by movement in a vertical direction specially adapted for workpieces of definite length
    • B65G49/0436—Conveying systems characterised by their application for specified purposes not otherwise provided for for conveying workpieces through baths of liquid the workpieces being immersed and withdrawn by movement in a vertical direction specially adapted for workpieces of definite length arrangements for conveyance from bath to bath
    • B65G49/044—Conveying systems characterised by their application for specified purposes not otherwise provided for for conveying workpieces through baths of liquid the workpieces being immersed and withdrawn by movement in a vertical direction specially adapted for workpieces of definite length arrangements for conveyance from bath to bath along a continuous circuit
    • B65G49/045—Conveying systems characterised by their application for specified purposes not otherwise provided for for conveying workpieces through baths of liquid the workpieces being immersed and withdrawn by movement in a vertical direction specially adapted for workpieces of definite length arrangements for conveyance from bath to bath along a continuous circuit the circuit being fixed
    • B65G49/0454—Conveying systems characterised by their application for specified purposes not otherwise provided for for conveying workpieces through baths of liquid the workpieces being immersed and withdrawn by movement in a vertical direction specially adapted for workpieces of definite length arrangements for conveyance from bath to bath along a continuous circuit the circuit being fixed by means of containers -or workpieces- carriers
    • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
    • C25—ELECTROLYTIC OR ELECTROPHORETIC PROCESSES; APPARATUS THEREFOR
    • C25D—PROCESSES FOR THE ELECTROLYTIC OR ELECTROPHORETIC PRODUCTION OF COATINGS; ELECTROFORMING; APPARATUS THEREFOR
    • C25D13/00—Electrophoretic coating characterised by the process
    • C25D13/22—Servicing or operating apparatus or multistep processes

Definitions

  • the present invention relates to the conception and manufacture of installations for transporting objects sequentially along a treatling line facility comprising at least one station for treating said objects individually.
  • a treatling line facility comprising at least one station for treating said objects individually.
  • it aims at improving the operating conditions of robotized industrial sites, particularly by allowing high production rates thanks to better performance of the transport installations in speed and flexibility, while allowing great robustness providing safety of operation together with reduced infrastructure investments and maintenance costs.
  • a treatment station must be understood herein in a broad manner. It may, for example, involve subjecting the transported objects to surface treatments, to paint operations, dipping them in chemical baths or in electrochemical treatment baths as is conventional in lines for painting car bodies, just as much as operations intended to heat or cool the transported objects, or assembling operations wherein various pieces are added onto them.
  • the invention relates more precisely to an installation in which said objects are transported while suspended by pendles from two symmetrical conveyors which travel through the installation under the control of synchronized driving means to pick up said objects in a loading station and transport them individually to an unloading station while passing by at least one station for the treatment of said objects.
  • synchronized driving means to pick up said objects in a loading station and transport them individually to an unloading station while passing by at least one station for the treatment of said objects.
  • the so-called loading station is situated at the entrance of the installation while the unloading station is situated at the exit of the installation.
  • the pendles ensuring suspension of the objects may be implemented in various ways.
  • each car body is suspended by two pendles, one placed at the front and the other placed at the rear of the object in the direction of transport, and each said pendle is formed as a single piece thanks to a transverse bar securing together two vertical arms attached respectively to the chains of the two conveyors and the implementations in which the arms of the pendles are no longer connected in a rigid assembly and each car body is suspended on the two conveyors by four independent pendle arms.
  • the second implementations have over the first the advantage of lending themselves better to the implementation of relatively simple and nevertheless robust construction installations and of facilitating an equipment layout within a relatively small space requirement.
  • each car body rests on a support usually called a sled, because it essentially consists of two parallel longitudinal beams, or so-called skids, which are used to support the car bodies through other production units, equipped with ground conveyors, and to transfer them from one conveyor to another, whether they be conveyors on the ground or conveyors in the air like those considered here.
  • a sled essentially consists of two parallel longitudinal beams, or so-called skids, which are used to support the car bodies through other production units, equipped with ground conveyors, and to transfer them from one conveyor to another, whether they be conveyors on the ground or conveyors in the air like those considered here.
  • the installations with air conveyors of the type considered in the context of the present invention are particularly appreciated for providing the transport of the car bodies along circuits involving inclined sections, when in particular the car bodies have to be dipped in treatment baths in tanks as is encountered in cataphoresis paint lines.
  • the implementation of the invention has shown itself to be particularly advantageous in this type of situation, due to the fact that the moving loads tend not to be balanced and exert excessive forces on the driving chains.
  • the invention makes provision for dispensing with the driving chains of the current known implementations and the problems that they raise, by providing the drive of the pendles for suspending the objects to be transported on cables which, in each conveyor, combine the role of traction motive means with that of carrying means for the loads transported, while being kept tensioned on guide wheels in order to define a predetermined conveying circuit.
  • the subject of the invention is therefore an installation for sequentially transporting objects in a factory line facility, in which said objects are transported while suspended by pendles from two symmetrical conveyors which travel through the installation under the control of synchronized driving means to pick up said objects in a loading station and transport them individually to an unloading station while passing by at least one station for the treatment of said objects, characterized in that, in each of said conveyors, said pendles are attached in fixed positions distributed along a cable which is moved by said driving means while being kept tensioned on guide wheels defining a predetermined transport circuit, and in that the loads thus suspended on said cable via the pendles are carried exclusively by said cable between said guide wheels.
  • said cable forms both traction motive and carrier means for said objects, and that on the sections of the travel path situated between guide wheels, it is free to contribute to providing, and even provide on its own, for the balancing of the pendles and loads with respect to vertical equilibrium, due to an effect of torsional elasticity of the cable. It should be considered that here and in the rest of the description of the invention, when mention is made of guide wheels in general, this may involve as well either individual wheels some distance from one another or sets of wheels playing an equivalent role in providing a friction-free guidance contact with the cable.
  • the separation between two successive guide sets covers a distance different from the distribution pitch of the pendles, or more generally from the gap between two pendles supporting one same load.
  • This balancing capability which partly or wholly replaces the mounting with free articulation in the transverse direction encountered in previously known installations, is particularly appreciable in the installations in which the path followed by the objects to be treated comprises inclined portions, which is notably the case for motor vehicle production plants, in the lines for painting the car bodies by phosphorization or in lines in which a surface treatment is applied to them by cataphoresis, since the car bodies must be dipped in a tank containing a treatment bath and then passed over into a drying booth.
  • the invention provides various advantages which are reflected in additional features of the invention.
  • the flexibility of the tractive carrier cable allows extremely tight curves, thereby allowing relatively short inclined paths for passing from one treatment level to another and an overall reduction of the length of the installation. It is then desirable for the tractive carrier cable to be free of all guidance in its running stretch on the sloping section passing from one level to the other, when it is sufficiently tensioned to have an incline remaining always in the same direction. Greater benefit is thus derived from the elasticity effects in lateral balance of the loads on their passage into the tank, which effects are linked to the flexibility of the cables.
  • the tractive carrier cables used according to the present invention also have the value of facilitating the implementation of installations of reduced bulk in the transverse direction, because the same flexibility of the cables makes it possible to mount the arms of the pendles in cantilever manner, so that they reach an attachment point to a car body receiving sled situated beneath the car body, while passing out around the latter.
  • the implementations of this type are called as having narrow sleds, as distinct from the case of sleds having protrusions for being grasped by pendle arms which pass outside the bulk of the conveyed object, in order that the arms hang vertically.
  • this facilitates the synchronization of the driving means driving the cables along on themselves, as is necessary, above all for keeping the attachment points of the two arms of one and the same pendle on the same member set transversal to the conveyor lines, and incidentally for keeping a uniform driving speed.
  • the implementation of the installation involves an adjustment step prior to its normal operation, consisting essentially in tensioning the cables, by pulling each one at one of the ends of the installation, to bring them to their maximum length before attaching thereto the various pendle arms, in positions of mutual correspondence (between the two conveyor lines) for the suspension of the objects to be transported.
  • the installation according to the invention advantageously comprises appropriate tensioning means for each of the cables that it comprises.
  • Such means of tensioning a cable are conventional in themselves.
  • each of the moving cables describes a closed loop comprising one conveyor circuit portion called active, or forward stretch, going from the station for loading the objects to the unloading station, passing via the treatment station or stations, and one inactive circuit portion, or backward stretch, returning the pendle arms only, empty, from the unloading station to the loading station, there to load a new object to be processed.
  • the means of tensioning each cable may then advantageously comprise a cable return wheel mounted mobile under the action of a cylinder in order to move it away from the rest of the installation and thus lengthen the loop traveled by the cable. Where appropriate, this return wheel may also play the role of a driving wheel gripping the cable to provide its closed loop drive.
  • each such cylinder may be mounted permanently in order to continue to exert its tensioning effect when the installation is in operation, or be removed once the cable has been lengthened, after having locked the return wheel, by which the traction was exerted, in a fixed position.
  • the invention makes provision for forming the carrier tractive means of the objects, on each of the conveyor lines, by two coupled cables, between which are situated the points for attaching the pendle arms.
  • the coupling between the two cables of each conveyor is advantageously provided, at each pendle arm, by a grip for attaching the latter which clamps onto both of the cables.
  • the solution with two coupled cables has the advantage of distributing the forces exerted on the cables, of allowing smaller cross-sections of cables promoting their flexibility exploitable according to the invention, of avoiding a lateral swinging of the arms which would disrupt the smooth operation of the installation.
  • the arms are mounted free to pivot in rotation about a transverse shaft, more particularly a pin perpendicular to the conveyor line, therefore from front to rear in the direction of conveying.
  • This freedom of orientation in the longitudinal vertical plane is useful for several reasons. First of all, it is usually necessary, at least in a small angular gap about the vertical, for the operations of picking up and releasing the loads, particularly of the sleds on which the car bodies normally rest, which require the locking or unlocking respectively of the bottom ends of the pendle arms on transverse members of the sleds fitted with interacting handles. Also, it is desirable, even necessary over a greater amplitude, to allow the pendles to balance themselves vertically in the sections of the conveyor circuit that are on a slope in the case treatment lines with inclined portions.
  • the cables of the conveyors describe closed loops remaining in one and the same vertical plane, preferably with a return backward path of the arms placed above the stations for treating the transported objects, in particular when it involves stations for treatment in tanks requiring inclines.
  • the cables work in curved zones in the same plane as when they pass over the driving wheels or the return wheels or guide wheels on which they are tensioned.
  • FIG. 1 shows in schematic manner, in top view, the general structure of a first embodiment of the installation according to the invention
  • FIG. 2 represents schematically, in side view, a similar installation in which the car bodies are undergoing a treatment in a tank in a cataphoresis bath;
  • FIG. 3 illustrates schematically, for an installation according to FIG. 1 in side view, a car body being transported as suspended by the sled that carries it on single-cable conveyor cables;
  • FIG. 4 shows in schematic manner the installation at the same car body, seen from behind in the direction A of FIG. 3 , and it shows the section line BB used for FIG. 3 ;
  • FIG. 5 is the counterpart of FIG. 4 for an installation with two dual-cable conveyors, also in which each cable travels on a closed loop situated in one same vertical plane;
  • FIG. 6 is a schematic side view of the same installation along the section line CC of FIG. 5 , which emphasizes the position of the pendle arms on passing the loading end;
  • FIG. 7 represents in greater detail a form of construction of a cable tensioning system, taken to be situated at the end of the installation corresponding to the unloading station;
  • FIGS. 8 and 9 are respectively side views and front views of a pendle arm showing it in its mechanical relations with the tractive carrier cable of a single-cable conveyor such as that in FIGS. 3 and 4 , while applying more particularly to the case of an installation with narrow sleds;
  • FIGS. 10 and 11 are counterparts of the preceding figures for a dual-cable conveyor better suited to the features of the invention in its preferred embodiments, while on the other hand applying to the case of an installation with wide sleds.
  • This solution is generally more advantageous, particularly for an optimal exploitation of the flexibility of the cables used as tractive also load carrier means, than that which consists in suspending the car bodies, with or without supporting sled, by two rigid pendles, each linking two fixedly attached arms relating respectively to two parallel conveyors, one of the pairs of arms forming the pendles being situated at the front and the other at the rear of each car body conveyed.
  • the two conveyors 6 in the installation numbered respectively 6 R and 6 L, have each a single tractive carrier cable 60 (or 60 L and 60 R respectively) and, on another hand, each cable is driven in translation on itself to travel a path along a loop which is closed in a horizontal plane at each end of the installation.
  • each cable is driven in translation on itself to travel a path along a loop which is closed in a horizontal plane at each end of the installation.
  • the two cables are laterally spaced apart in the mid-portion of the installation.
  • the pendle arms remain secured to the cables in their respective positions and circulate empty along passive backward portions of the circuit that are situated on either side of the mid-portion of the installation, as was the case for the chain conveyors of the installation described in European patent EP 1 104 737. Note that this disposition requires a suspension by front and rear pendles that are each made of two independent pendle arms.
  • each of the successive loads is, respectively, either picked up by four pendle arms of the installation from a conveyor on the ground having brought it to a lift-lower system 71 ( FIG. 2 ), or deposited on a symmetrical lift-lower system 81 by which it passes to another conveyor on the ground once its treatment in the installation of the invention is terminated.
  • each pendle arm 4 (or 4 R, 4 L) is formed (in a manner conventional in itself, and described for example in the European patent already cited, so as to form a pick-up hook for an interacting handle 30 provided on a sled 3 ( FIG. 3 ).
  • each sled 3 Under a spacing equal to the pitch separating two successive arms of each conveyor, each sled 3 comprises two handles 30 either side, respectively on the two longitudinal skids of the sled, at the ends of crossmembers connecting the two skids in a rigid assembly.
  • the hooks 42 ( FIG.
  • each pendle arm 4 is assembled to the cable 60 by a pivot system 43 and grip 45 ( FIG. 9 ) which holds it in a position remaining permanently attached to the moving cable while allowing it full freedom to pivot in the vertical plane of the conveyor. Since the conveyor illustrated in FIG. 9 has a single cable (single-cable version of an installation according to the invention), provision has been made in this case for a cantilever suspension of the sleds, the arms 4 being formed bent and curved around the car body conveyed outside it so as to extend and reach a so-called narrow sled.
  • the cables 60 are made up, in a manner conventional per se, of a plurality of bundles wound in a helical spin about a central core, each bundle advantageously being itself formed of several bundles of metal wires spun together.
  • the cables Before the installation is started up in normal operation for the transport of the loads, the cables need to be subjected to a progressive tensioning procedure during which they are lengthened. Once this procedure is terminated, they remain tensioned in a definitive closed loop circuit practically without lengthening further.
  • the conveyor circuit is closed in a loop while passing around a driving or motive wheel 61 L or 61 R which pulls the cable along its active portion transporting the loads from the exit end of the installation, at the unloading station 8 , and around a return wheel 62 L or 62 R situated at the opposite end, at the loading station 7 .
  • the motive wheel 61 L, 61 R of the pulley type, drives the corresponding cable 60 by non sliding contact in its sheave. It pulls on the cable to drive it around the conveyor circuit through the treatment station or stations that make up the installation. It is driven in rotation by a gear motor, ML or MR respectively.
  • the return wheel 62 L, 62 R also of the pulley type, is mounted in free rotation on the fixed framework.
  • each cable 60 is defined by guide wheels 63 , distributed along the installation.
  • guide wheels are found in particular where inclined paths must be imposed, as is the case for the treatments carried out in tanks as in FIG. 2 . It may be observed, particularly in the side views of FIGS. 2 and 3 , that the distance between two successive guide wheels (or between two equivalent groups of guide wheels as illustrated by FIG. 2 ) is greater than the pitch of distribution of the pendle arms along the cables.
  • FIG. 1 illustrates schematically the presence of gear motors ML and MR which drive respectively the driving wheels 61 L and 61 R. They are supplied independently of one another with electric power with slaving as to speed and position.
  • a control circuit 9 delivers to the gear motors ML and MR, respectively, alternating current supply voltages AL and AR which are determined so as to provide a synchronous drive of the cables, with slaving of speed and position, between the two conveyors 6 L and 6 R.
  • One of the conveyors is controlled by the circuit 9 as the master conveyor and the other conveyor is controlled as the slave conveyor, slaved as to speed and position to the master conveyor.
  • the master conveyor is controlled so as to provide a cable travel speed complying with a set point value of speed V.
  • the slaving inverse feedback loops on the commands of the gear motors ML and MR are produced respectively with the aid of sensors SL and SR, consisting for example of optical sensors associated with the conveyors 6 L and 6 R respectively.
  • sensors SL and SR supply the circuit 9 with inverse feedback signals FBL and FBR, in correspondence with the detection of position markers passing in front of them.
  • the position markers may consist of marks 66 ( FIG. 1 ) made on the cables themselves and distributed at identical regular intervals along their length.
  • the function of the position markers of the cables is fulfilled by the pendle arms 4 L and 4 R, or better by the members that provide the link between each pendle arm and the cable to which it is attached (grip system 45 ).
  • the slave control supplied by the circuit 9 is determined so as to ensure that the pendles 4 L and 4 R are aligned between the two sides of the installation on the same transverse direction. It is used to make good a possible differential slippage of the cables on their driving wheels, so that a correct positional relationship is always maintained between the pendle arms and the sleds.
  • the guide wheels 63 L and 63 R are mounted rotatably by their respective axles in fixed positions of the installation, which is illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 4 by a mount on top portions of vertical uprights, 64 L and 64 R.
  • the uprights 64 L and 64 R are aligned respectively along two longitudinal axes of the conveyors 6 L and 6 R, parallel to the direction of travel A, with a predetermined lateral spacing between them, corresponding to the width of the loads to be transported.
  • FIGS. 8 and 9 show more precisely, still for an installation with single-cable conveyors, the mechanical relationships existing between a guide wheel 63 , the corresponding cable 60 (that of the left conveyor 6 L in this instance) and a pendle arm 4 , the latter being represented at the moment when it passes over the guide wheel 63 .
  • these figures and their description would be symmetrically identical for the corresponding members of the installation considered not on the left conveyor but on that of the right side of the installation.
  • the guide wheel 63 comprises a sheave groove to receive the cable 60 by preventing it from diverging laterally from its normal path. It is mounted to rotate freely on a horizontal axle, connected in fixed position to the corresponding upright 64 L.
  • the pendle arm 4 is, for its part, mounted to rotate freely on an articulation shaft taking the form of a rod 47 swiveling in a pivot race 43 and extended by a grip 45 which is firmly clamped onto the cable, such that the articulation shaft of the arm is thus fixedly attached to the cable.
  • the articulation shaft is oriented perpendicular to the cable and in the horizontal plane defined by the parallel cables of the two conveyors. In other words, the arm is assembled to the cable so as to constantly allow its front-to-rear (and vice versa) oscillation, in the normally vertical plane of its movement as defined by the conveyor circuit.
  • the installation according to the invention involves pendle arms 4 of simpler design, due mainly to the reduced number of degrees of freedom in the assembly between each pendle arm and the corresponding tractive carrier cable.
  • the preference is for the articulation described hereinabove, since it is preferred to make use of the elasticity of the cables, and particularly of their torsional elasticity.
  • FIG. 2 Another preferred embodiment of the installation for transporting objects according to the invention is chosen for the treatment line illustrated by FIG. 2 , comprising a step in which the car bodies 5 on their sleds 3 must be dipped in an electrolyte bath contained in a tank 2 .
  • FIGS. 5 and 6 also have the value of illustrating this solution of conveyors in a vertical plane whether the circuit in its forward stretch comprises inclined portions or not. Such a design satisfies a minimal width space requirement. Furthermore, the installation is here shown in a version equipped with wide sleds, onto which the suspension arms are attached at vertical level with the cables either side.
  • each conveyor is of the so-called dual-cable type.
  • the two cables are driven in synchronism along the conveyor circuit, to follow strictly parallel paths, and each pendle arm is mounted hanging between the two, in a fixed position on the two cables.
  • the two cables are thus coupled via assembly devices attaching the articulation shaft (or pin) of the pendle arms onto the cables.
  • the synchronization is provided in speed of cable travel for the four cables, and any making good of longitudinal position is provided between the two conveyors only, while trusting, for the two cables of one same conveyor, in the fact that they are coupled via the articulation pins of the pendle arms.
  • FIG. 5 illustrates the form the tensioned cable circuits may take for the two symmetrical air conveyors 6 L and 6 R.
  • the conveyor 6 L comprises essentially two tractive carrier cables, 60 a L and 60 b L, driven to travel on themselves respectively along parallel paths that are each defined by a plurality of guide wheels 63 a L, or 63 b L respectively.
  • the conveyor 6 R comprises essentially, in symmetrical manner, two tractive carrier cables 60 a R, 60 b R, tensioned on a path defined for each by a plurality of guide wheels 63 a R, 63 b R.
  • the cables 60 a L and 60 b L thus describe respectively two loops facing one another along the conveyor circuit of the left conveyor and the cables 60 a R and 60 b R describe respectively two loops opposite one another along the closed loop circuit of the right conveyor.
  • the two circuits, hence the four closed loop paths, are situated in parallel vertical planes, and they have identical shapes at each point at the same horizontal level.
  • the fixed framework supporting the various guide wheels (numbered 63 in FIG. 6 , or 63 a L, 63 b L, 63 a R, 63 b R in FIG. 5 ) by their respective axles is illustrated in the form of vertical portal frames 64 each comprising essentially two side uprights joined together by a top horizontal beam 64 H and supplemented by two intermediate uprights 64 ′L and 64 ′R. It is in the space made between each side upright and the intermediate upright opposite, that the cable guide wheels are mounted.
  • the gap left clear between two wheels facing one another, relating respectively to the two cables of one same conveyor, is sufficient for a pendle arm driven by the two coupled cables to pass freely hanging between them, without impact or friction. This gap is in practice chosen to be sufficient to also accept the lateral clearances that may be allowed by the natural flexibility of the tensioned cables when the installation is in operation.
  • the backward path of the pendle arms 4 is represented partially in FIG. 6 for the pendle arms of the right conveyor of FIG. 5 .
  • a guide rail 40 is installed in order to bring the arms to this position and keep them there when they move empty in the inactive portion of the transport loops, along the backward stretch situated, as shown, in the upper portion, above the forward stretch, in the same vertical plane.
  • it may be advantageous to shorten the circuit in its portion for returning the arms empty by providing therein a substantially rectilinear horizontal path to return from the unloading station to the loading station, even in the case of a forward path with incline slopes such as that in FIG. 2 .
  • the guide wheels may be substantially further apart therein, without fearing that the tension forces of the cables are insufficient to prevent them flexing which could be awkward.
  • FIG. 6 also illustrates a variant embodiment of the installation according to the invention in which the return wheel causing a cable of the forward path to pass to the backward path is in fact made up of a set of several wheels 62 , guiding the cable to bend through 180 degrees at the end of the installation where the loading station is situated.
  • the return wheel causing a cable of the forward path to pass to the backward path is in fact made up of a set of several wheels 62 , guiding the cable to bend through 180 degrees at the end of the installation where the loading station is situated.
  • FIGS. 10 and 11 show more precisely, for one of the two conveyors of the installation according to the preferred embodiment of the dual-cable conveyors, the mechanical relationships existing between the wheels 63 a and 63 b of a pair of guide wheels, the corresponding coupled cables 60 a and 60 b and a pendle arm 4 , represented at the moment when it passes between the guide wheels.
  • the guide wheels of the cables have sheave grooves receiving the corresponding tensioned cable to prevent it from straying sideways from its path, without for all that restraining its longitudinal movement on itself. They are mounted to rotate freely on themselves, about their respective axles, on fixed beams of the installation, 65 a and 65 b . As has already been indicated, a sufficient spacing is provided between the wheels 63 a and 63 b facing one another to allow the pendle arms 4 to pass freely hanging between them.
  • FIGS. 10 and 11 like FIGS. 8 and 9 , show a roller 41 , which is provided at the end of each pendle arm, on the hook 42 . It is placed to roll on the rail 40 of FIG. 6 in order to keep the arm 4 in the tilted position.
  • FIG. 12 shows an arm 4 hanging between two wheels 63 a and 63 b , free to rotate on the elements of fixed framework 64 .
  • the arm 4 terminates with an articulation piece illustrated by a race 43 , in which a pin 46 swivels and which is held laterally by mounting collars 48 .
  • the race 43 forms a rolling bearing cage of horizontal axis perpendicular to the line of transport and centered in the plane of the coupled cables.
  • the rotary pin 46 extends into two opposite legs, 47 a and 47 b respectively.
  • Each grip 45 a or 45 b is, in practice, formed of two jaws 68 and 69 , one above the other, which are clamped tight against the cable, on one side on the leg extending the race 46 of the articulated mount, and on the other side on a thickness spacer 49 .
  • each spacer may be cast in a single piece with one of the jaws of the corresponding grip.
  • FIG. 7 also refers to a particular embodiment of the invention, in an installation version with two dual-cable conveyors, to illustrate the means of tensioning the cables prior to assembling the pendle arms that were dealt with at the beginning of the present description.
  • This figure shows that each of the conveyors 6 L and 6 R is associated with a plate 82 which is mounted mobile in longitudinal translation on two side rails of the fixed framework 64 .
  • Each plate 82 carries with it two side plates which have not been shown so as to reveal that they support between them the mobile members associated respectively with the two cables of the corresponding conveyor.
  • the cables 60 having been closed on their respective loop circuits, by running around the return wheels 61 , the plates 82 are progressively moved, to lengthen the circuits, by means of motorized cylinders 84 , which press on a crossmember 86 of the fixed framework to push via a telescopic rod and a crossbar 85 on the corresponding plate 82 .
  • the assembly grips of the pendles for suspending the loads are put in place.
  • the cylinders remain under pressure during the operation of the installation and the plates 82 remain mobile. They are guided in their movements by forks furnished with rollers 89 which straddle a metal strip 87 of the fixed framework forming a slide.
  • FIG. 2 illustrates the invention in a particular embodiment of the conveyor circuits in which each car body conveyed must not only be dipped in a tank 2 , but also be subjected therein to an electrolytic treatment.
  • the tank 2 containing an electrolyte bath 20 is connected by electrodes 35 to the positive terminal 32 of a source of current 9 , whose negative terminal 31 is taken to the electrical ground T. Every car body 5 dipped in the tank is connected to the ground potential T via an electric connection which is made pass through the suspension arms 4 .
  • the latter are produced for this purpose of metal materials having a good electric conductibility to ground.
  • a good electric contact is also provided to the car body itself, passing through the sled 3 .
  • the necessary electrical contact is greatly facilitated both by the fact that the suspension of the sleds is of the type with four independent arms, and by the fact that the tractive means consist of tensioned cables supporting the weight of the car bodies being treated.
  • the ground circuit organized for this purpose comprises an electric rail 33 running parallel to the circuit of the cable on its forward path, and each arm 4 is fitted at its top end with a sprung pantograph or similar device elastically pushing on a skid 34 in order to keep it in electrical sliding contact with the rail 33 .
  • This device may be supplemented by an electric linking braid between the skid and the arm 4 itself.
  • the guide wheels of the cables are electrically insulated to prevent current leakage to the framework elements which are usually metal.
  • skids are provided for one arm 4 in every two along a cable 60 .
  • it will involve thus equipping the arm 4 that is the first to be attached to a sled 3 .
  • This then ensures a good electric contact between each arm and the corresponding carrier cable, at the articulated assembly device.
  • the same quality of electric contact is ensured, not only for the arm attached at the front of the sled, which is connected directly to the electric ground by a skid device 34 , but also for the arm placed at the rear.
  • the ground circuit includes the cable 60 for its section situated between the two arms engaged with a single sled, one at the front and the other at the rear.
  • the same arrangements are adopted for the electric ground circuit associated with the second conveyor, on the other side of the conveyor line.

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  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
  • Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
  • Organic Chemistry (AREA)
  • Combustion & Propulsion (AREA)
  • Transportation (AREA)
  • Chemical Kinetics & Catalysis (AREA)
  • Electrochemistry (AREA)
  • Materials Engineering (AREA)
  • Metallurgy (AREA)
  • Manufacturing & Machinery (AREA)
  • Chain Conveyers (AREA)
  • Automobile Manufacture Line, Endless Track Vehicle, Trailer (AREA)
  • Warehouses Or Storage Devices (AREA)
  • Intermediate Stations On Conveyors (AREA)
  • Measurement And Recording Of Electrical Phenomena And Electrical Characteristics Of The Living Body (AREA)
  • Forklifts And Lifting Vehicles (AREA)
  • Fittings On The Vehicle Exterior For Carrying Loads, And Devices For Holding Or Mounting Articles (AREA)
  • Discharge Of Articles From Conveyors (AREA)
  • Reciprocating, Oscillating Or Vibrating Motors (AREA)
US10/532,411 2002-10-23 2003-01-28 Installation for sequentially transporting objects in a goods handling line, in particular for the automotive industry Abandoned US20060180470A1 (en)

Priority Applications (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
US10/532,411 US20060180470A1 (en) 2002-10-23 2003-01-28 Installation for sequentially transporting objects in a goods handling line, in particular for the automotive industry

Applications Claiming Priority (3)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
US42065702P 2002-10-23 2002-10-23
PCT/FR2003/000270 WO2004041628A1 (fr) 2002-10-23 2003-01-28 Installation de transport d'objets en serie dans une chaine de manutention, en particulier pour l'industrie automobile
US10/532,411 US20060180470A1 (en) 2002-10-23 2003-01-28 Installation for sequentially transporting objects in a goods handling line, in particular for the automotive industry

Publications (1)

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US20060180470A1 true US20060180470A1 (en) 2006-08-17

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US (1) US20060180470A1 (pt)
EP (2) EP1560745B1 (pt)
CN (1) CN1688475A (pt)
AT (1) ATE337218T1 (pt)
AU (2) AU2003219258A1 (pt)
BR (1) BR0315556A (pt)
CA (1) CA2503615A1 (pt)
CO (1) CO5690625A2 (pt)
DE (1) DE60307879T2 (pt)
ES (1) ES2271554T3 (pt)
MX (1) MXPA05004433A (pt)
RU (1) RU2005116221A (pt)
WO (2) WO2004041628A1 (pt)
ZA (1) ZA200504062B (pt)

Cited By (5)

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US20110162576A1 (en) * 2008-07-29 2011-07-07 Durr Systems Gmbh Paint shop for painting objects to be painted
US20170073167A1 (en) * 2015-09-10 2017-03-16 Daifuku Co., Ltd. Suspension Conveying Device
WO2019239368A1 (en) * 2018-06-15 2019-12-19 Geico Spa Plant for moving vehicle bodies
US10968053B2 (en) * 2017-08-01 2021-04-06 Geico S.P.A. Plants for immersion of bodyworks
US11167305B2 (en) 2016-04-13 2021-11-09 Eisenmann Se Method and production system for producing vehicles, and surface treatment system for treating the surface of vehicle bodies

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DE102009052592A1 (de) 2009-11-10 2011-05-12 GM Global Technology Operations LLC, Detroit Fördereinrichtung
CN102040076B (zh) * 2011-01-07 2012-02-15 江苏天奇物流系统工程股份有限公司 积放双链座椅输送线
DE102012023765A1 (de) * 2012-12-05 2014-06-05 GM Global Technology Operations LLC (n. d. Ges. d. Staates Delaware) Karosseriehaltevorrichtung zum Halten einer Fahrzeugkarosserie auf einem Fahrzeugchassis und Montageverfahren
DE102014219764A1 (de) * 2014-09-30 2016-03-31 Dürr Systems GmbH Fördervorrichtung, Trocknungsanlage und Verfahren zum Fördern von Werkstücken
DE102015012001A1 (de) * 2015-09-18 2017-03-23 Eisenmann Se Fördervorrichtung zum Fördern von Transportstrukturen
US10947636B2 (en) 2017-03-21 2021-03-16 Rockwell Automation Technologies, Inc. Adjustable AC/DC conversion topology to regulate an isolated DC load with low AC ripple
CN107628441A (zh) * 2017-09-29 2018-01-26 湖州吴兴锐质自动化输送设备厂（普通合伙） 一种涂装生产线的传输装置
CN108163452A (zh) * 2017-12-07 2018-06-15 中国汽车工业工程有限公司 一种设置有轨道补偿结构的升降机
CN111003407B (zh) * 2018-10-08 2021-07-27 纬创资通（成都）有限公司 生产线补料方法及补料装置
US10556749B1 (en) * 2018-12-31 2020-02-11 Ppg Industries Ohio, Inc. Conveyor system including an incrementally adjustable lift frame

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US4473011A (en) * 1981-03-14 1984-09-25 Phb Weserhutte Ag Circulating aerial ropeway and car therefor
US4772374A (en) * 1983-11-14 1988-09-20 Prime-Coat Technology, Inc. Electrodeposition system and method therefor
US5718320A (en) * 1995-05-23 1998-02-17 Air Industrie Systemes - A.I.S. Cantilevered twin-chain skid-platform conveyer
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US20110162576A1 (en) * 2008-07-29 2011-07-07 Durr Systems Gmbh Paint shop for painting objects to be painted
US9592522B2 (en) * 2008-07-29 2017-03-14 Dürr Systems GmbH Multilevel paint shop for painting objects
US20170073167A1 (en) * 2015-09-10 2017-03-16 Daifuku Co., Ltd. Suspension Conveying Device
US9802766B2 (en) * 2015-09-10 2017-10-31 Daifuku Co., Ltd. Suspension conveying device
US11167305B2 (en) 2016-04-13 2021-11-09 Eisenmann Se Method and production system for producing vehicles, and surface treatment system for treating the surface of vehicle bodies
US10968053B2 (en) * 2017-08-01 2021-04-06 Geico S.P.A. Plants for immersion of bodyworks
WO2019239368A1 (en) * 2018-06-15 2019-12-19 Geico Spa Plant for moving vehicle bodies
CN112313041A (zh) * 2018-06-15 2021-02-02 杰艺科股份公司 用于移动交通工具主体的设备

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
DE60307879D1 (de) 2006-10-05
CA2503615A1 (fr) 2004-05-21
RU2005116221A (ru) 2005-11-20
ZA200504062B (en) 2006-02-22
CO5690625A2 (es) 2006-10-31
EP1560744A1 (fr) 2005-08-10
AU2003219258A1 (en) 2004-06-07
DE60307879T2 (de) 2007-04-12
CN1688475A (zh) 2005-10-26
EP1560745B1 (fr) 2006-08-23
EP1560745A1 (fr) 2005-08-10
WO2004041627A1 (fr) 2004-05-21
MXPA05004433A (es) 2005-11-23
ES2271554T3 (es) 2007-04-16
BR0315556A (pt) 2005-08-23
WO2004041628A1 (fr) 2004-05-21
ATE337218T1 (de) 2006-09-15
AU2003219259A1 (en) 2004-06-07

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