Classifications

• • 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
  • B65G39/00—Rollers, e.g. drive rollers, or arrangements thereof incorporated in roller-ways or other types of mechanical conveyors 
  • B65G39/02—Adaptations of individual rollers and supports therefor
  • B65G39/09—Arrangements of bearing or sealing means
• • 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
  • B65G2207/00—Indexing codes relating to constructional details, configuration and additional features of a handling device, e.g. Conveyors
  • B65G2207/34—Omni-directional rolls

Definitions

• the subject of the present invention is a roller used in conveyor lines or correspondingly, as a second variation, a corresponding construction used as a wheel.
• the conveyor plane of the line is composed of a number of rollers which are mounted on shafts placed trans ⁇ versely to the line and spaced appropriately in the direction of transportation of the line.
• rollers are mounted side by side on the same shaft, depending on the requirements in each particular case.
• the rollers may be freely revolving on the shaft, or alternatively they may be mounted on the shaft so that they follow the rotation of the shaft.
• the latter mode of instal ⁇ lation is concerned in particular when the shafts are driven shafts. This mode of installation is also possible in the case of rollers provided with braking.
• rollers used for this purpose that, besides revolving around or along with the main shaft or support shaft, they are also pro ⁇ vided with the property of acting as roller supports in the direction transverse to the conveyor line.
• rollers mounted as freely revolving on their main shafts it is possible to obtain, in principle, free directions of movement in all directions by means of combinations of these two directions of rotation.
• rollers revolving along with a driven shaft produce, by means of their forced rotation, the intended movement in the main direction of transportation, but they also permit transverse shiftings of the goods placed on the conveyor line by the effect of external forces.
• this roller construction can be applied as a wheel for various trolleys, carriages and equivalent from which a possibility of substantially free movement in any optional direction is required.
• the rollers used for the said purpose are in principle known in prior art, and they are used as many different embodiments.
• One roller of this type which is of a simple construction and which permits paths of movement in different directions very easily and, on the other hand, gives good support, is described in the US Patent No. 4,018,322.
• the roller concerned consists of a frame con ⁇ struction having the shape of an equilateral triangle in the plane perpendicular to its main shaft and being mounted at the middle of the triangle on the support or main shaft.
• a shaft projecting perpendicularly to the main shaft is provided for discs shaped as segments of a sphere, which said discs permit transverse movements on the conveyor line.
• the shape of each segment of a sphere corresponds to the shape of the overall diameter of the roller.
• this construction involves the drawback that, when goods with a solid bottom travel on the line in a direction even just slightly diverging from the direction perpendicular to the main shaft of the roller and when the goods enter onto a roll at a time when the incomplete area of the segment of a sphere is near the summit point of its revolving taking place around the main shaft, the goods become supported by the cut edge of the segment in a labile situation, which results in a rotation of the segment around its own shaft into a stable situation. This unavoidably results in a shifting of the goods in the transverse direction of the line, and thereby the goods have a zig-zag path of movement on the line.
• Figure 1 shows a roller in accordance with the invention as viewed in the direction of its main shaft, partly in section.
• Figure 2 shows the roller of Fig. 1 as viewed in a direction perpendicular. " to the main shaft, like- wise partly in section.
• Figure 3 shows the roller of Fig. 1 as viewed from the top of the sphere-segment disc
• Figure 4 is a sectional view of a variation of a sphere-segment disc.
• the roller or wheel in accordance with the invention consists, in a section perpendicular to the main shaft, of a frame construction shaped as an equilateral triangle, which is provided with a centre piece 1 for mounting on the main shaft as well as, mounted on the centre piece by means of suitable supports 2, with sphere-segment disc supports 3, whose ends are interconnected so that they form the said equi ⁇ lateral triangle.
• the shaft 4 of the segment is placed, which projects perpendicularly both to its support and to the main shaft.
• annular bulge 4' which may be called lap, preferably passing around the shaft, is provided, which forms a part of the locking members of the sphere-segment disc on the shaft.
• Each segment 5 is provided with an inwardly directed shaft bushing 6 corresponding to the dimensions of the shaft 4, into which said bushing a groove 6* cor ⁇ responding to the lap 4* has been made.
• the projection of the annular lap 4" from the shaft 4 is dimensioned so that the mouth of the shaft bushing 6 in the segment 5 can be forced, while making use of a deformation of the bushing, over the lap far enough so that the lap 4* can penetrate into the corresponding groove 6' in the bushing.
• An inverse fitting, i.e. fitting the shaft bushing 6 into the shaft 4, is also possible here.
• a bearing is placed on the frame 3 below the edge portion of the segment.
• the seg ⁇ ment is provided with an annular, inwardly projecting support 8, and the frame 3 is provided with a correspond- ing bearing race .9.
• a ball bearing in accordance with Figs. 1 and 2, or, alternatively, some other roller bearing or glide bearing.
• the journalling is provided alternatively between the shaft 4 and the shaft bushing 6, but the solution illustrated in the figures gives the segment a substantially better support against loads coming from different directions. Combinations of these two bearing systems may also be concerned in cases subjected to high loads.
• journalling between the shaft 4 and the shaft bushing 6 it is possible to con- ceive a substitution of a bearing groove for the locking member 4', in which case the bearing balls can be placed in grooves 4* and 6' so as to provide journalling and locking.
• journalling is accomplished as a glide bearing, in its planning consideration should be given to a supporting corresponding to the support provided by the bearing races shown in the figures.
• the support 8 can be arranged as running in an annular glide groove.
• a separate ball 10 is placed in the summit of the segment, which said ball permits, e.g., easy shifting of goods placed on the conveyor line in the direction of the main shaft also when the goods are supported by the summit of the segment.
• the ball 10 may be mounted either in the way shown in the figures, being journalled on a shaft transverse to the main shaft, or alternatively it may be buried in a socket of rotation of its own. In the latter case the roll is freely revolving in all directions. In this latter case, the ball is preferably arranged so that it is locked in its socket of rotation at the same time as the sphere segment is pressed onto its shaft.
• This construction with an intact summit can also be applied to rollers for conveyor lines.
• the construction in accordance with the present invention is highly advantageous in the respect that the ease of rotation of the wheel in differ ⁇ ent directions can be proportioned in the desired way so as to achieve certain objectives. If the wheel is used, e.g., as a trolley wheel, as a rule it would be desirable that the wheel has a certain main direction of rotation in which it revolves as easily as possible. In addition to this, the wheel must also revolve in a maximum range of directions diverging from this main direction of rotation, but not equally easily as in the main direction of rotation.
• the wheel is mounted so that the -easiest direction of rotation complies with the intended main transportation direction, whereby, e.g., when the trolley is being pushed, it has a tendency to move primarily in this direction. Intentional shiftings in the transverse direction are, however, also possible.
• the said possibility of adjusting the ease of movement in different directions is not available in a conventional wheel used for this purpose, wherein a wheel mounted as revolving around a horizontal shaft is additionally arranged turnable around a vertical shaft.
• the main direction which is the direction of easiest rotation, can be the main direction of transportation of the goods, whereby, e.g., less agile journalling of the segments of a sphere prevents unintentional lateral shifting of the goods on the line, but intentional lateral shiftings of the goods are, however, possible.
• the roller or wheel in accordance with the invention can be mounted on its main shaft by using the conventional modes, either as freely revolving on the shaft or as revolving along with the shaft.
• the journal ⁇ ling of a freely revolving shaft may be a roller bearing or a glide bearing.

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• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• Rollers For Roller Conveyors For Transfer (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=8522555

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (3)

Citations (5)

• 1986
  • 1986-05-02 FI FI861852A patent/FI861852A/fi not_active Application Discontinuation
• 1987
  • 1987-04-29 WO PCT/FI1987/000057 patent/WO1987006562A1/en not_active Application Discontinuation
  • 1987-04-29 EP EP19870902530 patent/EP0264412A1/en not_active Withdrawn

Patent Citations (5)

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