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
  • B65G47/22—Devices influencing the relative position or the attitude of articles during transit by conveyors
  • B65G47/26—Devices influencing the relative position or the attitude of articles during transit by conveyors arranging the articles, e.g. varying spacing between individual articles
  • B65G47/30—Devices influencing the relative position or the attitude of articles during transit by conveyors arranging the articles, e.g. varying spacing between individual articles during transit by a series of conveyors
  • B65G47/31—Devices influencing the relative position or the attitude of articles during transit by conveyors arranging the articles, e.g. varying spacing between individual articles during transit by a series of conveyors by varying the relative speeds of the conveyors forming the series
• • 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
  • B65G15/00—Conveyors having endless load-conveying surfaces, i.e. belts and like continuous members, to which tractive effort is transmitted by means other than endless driving elements of similar configuration
  • B65G15/10—Conveyors having endless load-conveying surfaces, i.e. belts and like continuous members, to which tractive effort is transmitted by means other than endless driving elements of similar configuration comprising two or more co-operating endless surfaces with parallel longitudinal axes, or a multiplicity of parallel elements, e.g. ropes defining an endless surface
  • B65G15/12—Conveyors having endless load-conveying surfaces, i.e. belts and like continuous members, to which tractive effort is transmitted by means other than endless driving elements of similar configuration comprising two or more co-operating endless surfaces with parallel longitudinal axes, or a multiplicity of parallel elements, e.g. ropes defining an endless surface with two or more endless belts
  • B65G15/14—Conveyors having endless load-conveying surfaces, i.e. belts and like continuous members, to which tractive effort is transmitted by means other than endless driving elements of similar configuration comprising two or more co-operating endless surfaces with parallel longitudinal axes, or a multiplicity of parallel elements, e.g. ropes defining an endless surface with two or more endless belts the load being conveyed between the belts
  • B65G15/16—Conveyors having endless load-conveying surfaces, i.e. belts and like continuous members, to which tractive effort is transmitted by means other than endless driving elements of similar configuration comprising two or more co-operating endless surfaces with parallel longitudinal axes, or a multiplicity of parallel elements, e.g. ropes defining an endless surface with two or more endless belts the load being conveyed between the belts between an auxiliary belt and a main belt
• • 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
  • B65G43/00—Control devices, e.g. for safety, warning or fault-correcting
  • B65G43/08—Control devices operated by article or material being fed, conveyed or discharged

Definitions

• the present invention relates to an apparatus and method which uses a separate registration staging drive for registering packages or bags, particularly large multiwall and woven packages or bags, into a machine, such as a main conveyor, that processes such packages or bags.
• Figure 1 is a schematic of an embodiment of the present invention.
• Figure 1 is a schematic of an embodiment of the registration apparatus 10 of the present invention.
• Initial conveyor 12 includes two opposed rollers 14, 16 with lug chains 18 traveling thereon (typically one lug chain proximate to each lateral edge of initial conveyor 12).
• lug chains 18, as well as rollers 14, 16 are traveling in a clockwise orientation, typically at a constant speed.
• Lug chain 18 includes evenly spaced lugs 20 which engage the trailing edge of successive packages or bags 100.
• Packages or bags 100 are typically large multiwall paper or woven bags. Those skilled in the art will recognize a broad range of possible contents for the packages 100, including, but not limited to, charcoal, pet food, livestock or other animal food, cat litter, fertilizer, seeds, plant . bulbs, rock salt, and foodstuffs.
• Initial conveyor 12 successively passes packages or bags 100 to staging conveyor 30.
• Staging conveyor 30 includes upper and lower belts 32, 34.
• Upper belt 32 traverses the path defined by first and second upper rollers 36, 38 while lower belt 34 traverses the path defined by first and second lower rollers 40, 42.
• Nip 44 is formed between upper and lower belts 32, 34 as upper and lower belts 32, 34 pass between first upper roller 36 and first lower roller 40.
• the lower path of upper belt 32 and the upper path of lower belt 34 impinge against each other so as to engage the packages or bags 100 securely therewithin and to temporarily remove wrinkles from the packages or bags 100 during processing.
• Second upper roller 38 is illustrated as driven by servo 50, but those skilled in the art will realize, after review of this disclosure, that other rollers could be driven.
• the movement of second upper roller 38 likewise induces the movement of rollers 36, 40, 42 as well as that of upper and lower belts 32, 34 due to the contact between upper and lower belts 32, 34.
• Servo 50 is controlled by programmable logic controller (or similar microcomputer or other computing device) 52.
• Programmable logic controller 52 receives information fed back from photo-electric eye 54 which senses the leading edge of the package or bag after the package or bag 100 is captured within staging conveyor 30 and is passing through the staging conveyor 30.
• This information is used by the programmable logic controller 52 to adjust (i.e., increase or decrease) the speed of the belts and rollers of the staging conveyor 30 via servo 50 whereby the packages or bags 100 can be introduced into the main conveyor 60 at the correct or desired time, as required by the specifics of the operation of main conveyor 60.
• the photoelectric eye 54 is illustrated in Figure 1 as being within the loop formed by upper belt 32, but those skilled in the art will recognize, after review of the disclosure, will recognize that other positions may be desirable to accurately sense the leading edge of the package or bag 100.
• Main conveyor (or subsequent conveyor or other similar device) 60 typically includes upper and lower belts 62, 64.
• Upper belt 62 traverses the path defined by first and second upper rollers 66, 68 while lower belt 64 traverses the path defined by first and second lower rollers 70, 72.
• Nip 74 is formed between upper and lower belts 62, 64 as upper and lower belts 62, 64 pass between first upper roller 66 and first lower roller 70.
• the lower path of upper belt 62 and the upper path of lower belt 64 impinge against each other so as to engage the packages or bags 100 securely therewithin.
• the speed of the upper and lower belts 62, 64 and rollers 66, 68, 70, 72 . is typically constant, and may be either the same or different as the speed of the initial conveyor 12
• packages or bags 100 are introduced to nip 74 at the desired time, typically to achieve a controlled position for improved registration.
• This desired time may vary depending upon the specific application and function of main conveyor 60, and would be known by those skilled in the art, after review of the present disclosure.
• a staging roller could be used instead of a staging conveyor.

Landscapes

• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• Control Of Conveyors (AREA)
• Structure Of Belt Conveyors (AREA)
• Attitude Control For Articles On Conveyors (AREA)
• Making Paper Articles (AREA)

Priority Applications (3)

Applications Claiming Priority (4)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=42171122

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (5)

Families Citing this family (8)

Citations (2)

Family Cites Families (14)

• 2009
  • 2009-08-13 US US12/540,466 patent/US20100122892A1/en not_active Abandoned
  • 2009-11-11 EP EP09828028.2A patent/EP2356048A4/en not_active Withdrawn
  • 2009-11-11 WO PCT/US2009/063956 patent/WO2010059470A1/en not_active Ceased
  • 2009-11-11 CN CN200980146355.9A patent/CN102216181B/zh not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 2009-11-11 JP JP2011536426A patent/JP5819729B2/ja not_active Expired - Fee Related

Patent Citations (2)

Non-Patent Citations (1)

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