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
  • B65G47/00—Article or material-handling devices associated with conveyors; Methods employing such devices
  • B65G47/74—Feeding, transfer, or discharging devices of particular kinds or types
  • B65G47/94—Devices for flexing or tilting travelling structures; Throw-off carriages
  • B65G47/96—Devices for tilting links or platform
  • B65G47/962—Devices for tilting links or platform tilting about an axis substantially parallel to the conveying direction

Definitions

• the present invention relates to a sorting conveyor of the type consisting of an annular row of laterally tiltable carrier platforms, which, on movable supports, are conveyed past a loading station, in which articles to be sorted out are placed on the carrier platforms or so-called trays, and past a row of unloading or receiv ⁇ ing stations, in which the trays are actuated selective ⁇ ly for tilting off and unloading the articles.
• the trays are driven by way of a driving station cooperating with a chain, to which the supports of the trays are secured, and it is customary to employ- a very heavy chain, the links of which are fitted with protrud ⁇ ing guiding rollers that cooperate with longitudinal guiding rails, such that it is the chain itself which constitutes a stabilized base for the tray supports.
• This arrangement requires a guiding system made with very fine tolerances if unfortunate jammings and shak ⁇ ings should be avoided, and moreover also the chain itself should be made with fine tolerances fof a cur ⁇ rent, untroubled cooperation with the driving station.
• a main aspect of the invention is that the prin ⁇ ciple of effecting the drive of the conveyor by coopera ⁇ tion between a local driving station and a roundgoing conveyor chain is entirely left, while instead the single tray elements with associated supports constitute cart units that are driven along a carrier chassis based on the use of linear motors placed evenly distributed along the chassis, the single cart units being provided with marker means that are selectively detectable in the unloading stations.
• the single units may well be said to constitute links in a chain, but the units, as carts, may cooperate with a guiding chassis, which can have widely separated guiding rails and for that reason can be designed without the fine tolerances as required for real conveyor chains, if they shall be advanced without jamming and without shakings or undue wear.
• the carts themselves can be built with rather coarse tolerances, particularly with respect to their length dimension; it is characteristic of a chain driven by a driving station that the chain should have a constant and rather accurate pitch, but in connection with the invention it is without any opera ⁇ tive significance whether the carts are even approxi ⁇ mately of uniform lengths.
• the carts need not even be intercoupled, when only the linear motor equipment is suitably widespread to be able to steadily serve the carts.
• it is very simple to provide for an intercoupling between the carts , since a both simple and very suitable coupling can be constituted by a central ball head connection, which will enable the coupled carts to carry out mutual turns in all possible directions. This is important when driving through hori ⁇ zontal and/or vertical curves, and it should be under ⁇ lined that with intercoupled carts each cart will have to be provided with driving rollers only at its front or rear end, while the opposite end can just be centrally turnably connected with the roller carrying end of the cart to which it is coupled.
• the carts may also pass through twisted portions of the chassis, e.g. when the carts are moved into a laterally inclined position for running through horizontal curves, this making an operation at quite high speed possible; alternatively, however, the trays may be tilted into a suitably in ⁇ clined position along such curves, without the carts having to be tilted.
• the carts will be very easy to remove one by one should they need to be replaced, and it will be possible to make use of carts with different lengths.
• linear motor should be understood in a wide sense, but typically the motors will be of the travelling field type, which is usually designated by this term. Preferably use is made of a plurality of such motors with an even distribution along the conveyor track, and of course the carts should be provided with parts such as longitudinally extending rail portions of aluminium for cooperation with the motors.
• the motors should be located with sufficiently small spacing to ensure that each cart train will steadily be in driving connec ⁇ tion with at least one motor; it may well be presumed that the moved cars due to their inertia will be able to move a long distance between two motors or motor areas, but at each start of the system, preferably, all cart trains should be able to start no matter in which posi ⁇ tions they have been stopped.
• the invention implies significant consequences for the manner in which the entire system can be controlled, but that is dealt with in more detail in a parallel patent application.
• Fig. 1 is a perspective partial view of a sorter conveyor according to the invention
• Fig. 2 is a perspective view of an embodiment of a cart in such a conveyor
• Fig. 3-5 are different views of an associated tilt ⁇ ing mechanism
• Figs 6-7 are top and side views, respectively, of an actuation arrangement for the tilting mechanism.
• the conveyor shown in Fig. 1 has a rigid chassis with two parallel guiding rails 2 mounted with a sub ⁇ stantial mutual spacing, e.g. by 60 cm. Between the rails is arranged a row of carts 4 each having an upper tray 6. Each cart consists of a traverse 8 having outer driving wheels 10, which can roll in the C-profiled rails 2, and a carrier portion 12 that projects forward- ly or rearwardly from the traverse, this portion 12 at its opposite end being turnably coupled together with the following or the preceding cart. On the carrier portion is provided a top structure 16 tiltably support ⁇ ing the tray 6, which is secured to a carrier plate 18 at the top of a depending rod 20 fastened in a pivot bearing to the structure 16.
• the trays may be tilted by a suitable lateral displacing of the lower ends of the rods 20. It should be mentioned, however, that this arrangement is shown only as an illustrative example, as it will have certain drawbacks in practice.
• a longitudinally directed aluminium plate 24 for cooperation with linear motors 26 arranged locally along the guiding rails 2.
• the carts or the train of carts can be advanced without the use of any other form of fixed driving station, i.e. the carts should not be designed with accurately positioned parts for mechanical engagement with driving means of such a station.
• Fig. 2 is shown a more suitable embodiment, in which the aluminium plate 24 is mounted as a horizontal bottom plate underneath the central carrier portion 12, such that the linear motors 26 may effect driving cen ⁇ trally on the carts.
• Fig. 2 also shows in more detail that the free end of the central carrier portion is provided with a coupling hea ' d 28 to be coupled together with a ball head 30 of the neighbor ⁇ ing cart.
• Figs. 3-5 show a preferred design of the tilting mechanism.
• a rigid bracket 32 On a rigid bracket 32 is mounted a single tilting body 36 having at its top a crosswise extending arm 60, which is at either end provided with a pivot bearing 62 carrying a depending pivot arm 64, which at its lower end is provided with a laterally projecting cam follower roller 66.
• a pair of parallel plates 68 At either side of the bracket is mounted a pair of parallel plates 68 each provided with guiding tracks 70 cooperating with rollers 72 on a cross shaft pin 74 approximately midway on the arm 64.
• Each of the tracks 70 has a lower portion 76 shaped with a lowermost, inwardly directed track portion 78 and with an uppermost, correspondingly inwardly directed track portion 80, which continues further upwardly in an upper track portion 82.
• the depending arms 64 assume a normal position with the rollers 72 located adjacent to the innermost end of the intermediary track portions 80, whereby they are held in an associated, slightly inwardly inclined position by the action of a drawspring 83 interposed between the arms 64", this spring permanently seeking to swing the lower ends of the arms inwardly. In these positions the rollers 72 cannot be moved downwardly, i.e. the tilting mechanism will be locked against tilting to either side.
• the L-profiled member 86 is pivotally connected with the front end of the lower flange of the rail 84, such that it is pivotable into the position shown in full lines in Fig. 3, in which its front end is located inside the path of movement of the roller 66, such that this roller when passing the area will hit the upstanding flange 88 and thus be forced to move into contact with the rail 84.
• the L-profiled mem ⁇ ber 86 is prolonged at the other side of its pivot con ⁇ nection with the rail 84, whereby the upstanding flange portion at this end will be swung closely towards the vertical wall of the rail 84; thus, this wall may even be utilized as a pivot stop for the L-member.
• roller 66 will be pulled first some ⁇ what downwardly by its cooperation with the top flange of the inclined rail 84, whereby the rollers 72 on the arm 64 will be moved downwardly in the track portions 76 such that the roller 66 will thereafter be blocked against leaving its engagement with the rail 84, and thereafter the roller is drawn further downwardly during its following passage along the rail 84.
• the system is designed such that the rail 84 at its lower end stops just where it has operated to pull the roller 66 down to a level (Fig. 5) in which the rollers 72 get the oppor ⁇ tunity to retreat into the lower track ends 78 by the action of the spring 83, whereby the roller 66 will be pulled away from its engagement with the rail 84.
• actuation rollers 66 can freely pass the discussed means for guiding the rollers downwardly when passing the non-actuated unloading stations, but this is easily achievable by the rollers 66 in their normal positions (Fig. 4) not even projecting out to the area in which the rail 84 is located.
• any suitable mechanism can be used., e.g. a draw magnet 92 as shown in Fig. 6. It is sufficient that this magnet, by a brief actuation impulse, is brought to swing the L-member outwardly, as thereafter the magnet need not effect any holding action on the swung out L-member; this member will be self supporting during the outward movement of the roller 66, and as mentioned it will swing back by a purely mechanical influence from the roller 66 itself, i.e. the actuation member used has no other effect than bringing the light L-member into its actuated position, which can be done very fast and with a minimum of energy consumption.
• a draw magnet 92 as shown in Fig. 6. It is sufficient that this magnet, by a brief actuation impulse, is brought to swing the L-member outwardly, as thereafter the magnet need not effect any holding action on the swung out L-member; this member will be self supporting during the outward movement of the roller 66, and as mentioned it will swing back by a purely mechanical influence from
• the L-member be spring biased for swinging into an actuated position in response to .
• locking pawl being released by means of the magnet 92: by the following swinging back of the L-member this member will get into a snap lock engagement with the locking pawl.
• Fig. 7 In the left hand side of Fig. 7 is illustrated an actuated run-through of the roller 66, while in the right hand side a non-actuated run-through is illu ⁇ strated.
• the actuated units will be locked in their tilted out positions by the action of the spring 83, and of course they should be brought rightJ again before they are returned to the loading station. How ⁇ ever, such a righting will be easy to effect, viz. by means of rigid guiding or cam means mounted in front of the loading station so as to be able to pull out the rollers 66 from their respective lower positions (Fig. 5) and to thereafter guide the rollers upwardly into their normal positions (Fig. 4) , in which they are self locking by the action of the spring 83.

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Publications (1)

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Cited By (32)

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• 1989
  • 1989-02-24 DK DK86089A patent/DK161636C/da not_active IP Right Cessation
• 1990
  • 1990-02-20 DE DE19904090308 patent/DE4090308T/de active Pending
  • 1990-02-20 WO PCT/DK1990/000047 patent/WO1990009944A1/en active Application Filing
  • 1990-02-20 DE DE4090308A patent/DE4090308C5/de not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 1990-02-20 AU AU51012/90A patent/AU5101290A/en not_active Abandoned
  • 1990-02-20 JP JP2503463A patent/JPH07106772B2/ja not_active Expired - Lifetime

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