Conveyors: power-driven – Conveyor section – Pusher conveyor and separate load support surface
Reexamination Certificate
1999-04-20
2001-08-28
Brahan, Thomas J. (Department: 3652)
Conveyors: power-driven
Conveyor section
Pusher conveyor and separate load support surface
C198S782000, C244S137100, C414S535000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06279730
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
a) Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an arrangement for moving material to be conveyed along a conveying plane, in particular for freight-loading systems in freight compartments, preferably of aircraft.
b) Description of the Related Art
So-called roller drives, which are fully described in German Patent 41 36 972, are known for the transport of loads in aircraft freight compartments. In this case, a conveying roller, which is connected to a drive, is controlled in its rolling motion by virtue of the fact that sensors detect the position of material to be transported above the conveying module driving the conveying roller and thus switch the drive on or off as required. A disadvantage in this case is that there are no measures for realizing different pressure forces. However, these are necessary in order to be able to safely move and/or stop all sorts of freight and to design such a drive in such a way that it is safe in operation and functions free of maintenance for long operating periods.
Furthermore, DE 196 08 236 C1 has disclosed a roller drive unit for the transport of freight containers in which the drive roller is simultaneously lifted, by the motor driving the drive roller, by means of a cam and pressed against the material to be conveyed.
A roller drive unit described in DE 39 11 214 C3 works in a similar manner, which roller drive unit, by means of an intermediate gear running in the roller interior and having a braking device, taps the pressure force from the drive motor, the drive axis of which lies eccentrically in the roller interior relative to the roller. In this type of conveying roller drive, the pressure force depends on the rotary drive of the conveying roller, as a result of which the pressure force cannot be set to a value suitable for the respective material to be conveyed. The consequences are increased wear and a relatively short operating period.
OBJECT AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The object of the invention is to find a novel means of moving material to be conveyed, with which safe, reliable transport of the material to be conveyed is ensured with low wear of the conveying roller under widely varying operating conditions.
According to the invention, the object, in an arrangement for moving material to be conveyed along a conveying plane, which is formed by driveless running rollers serving to carry and guide material to be conveyed, having a drivable conveying roller, which is arranged between the driveless running rollers, and control electronics for controlling a drive driving the conveying roller, is achieved in that the conveying roller is connected to a first drive and an associated first activating unit for producing a requisite traction force for moving the material to be conveyed along the conveying plane, there is a second drive having an associated second activating unit for producing an adequate pressure force of the conveying roller against the material to be conveyed. The control electronics coordinate the two drives, which can be activated independently of one another.
In such an arrangement, it is advantageous if the conveying roller, in the form of a hollow cylinder, is mounted on a cylindrical supporting body such that it can rotate about the axis of symmetry of the latter, the first drive is connected to the conveying roller via a gear unit located inside the supporting body, the supporting body is mounted such that it can rotate about an eccentric axis running parallel to its axis of symmetry, and the second drive is coupled to the supporting body for pivoting the supporting body about its eccentric axis and for pressing the conveying roller against the material to be conveyed on the conveying plane.
The control-electronics part advantageously contains a sensor unit for detecting the material to be conveyed and a self-testing device, which controls the two independent drives as a function of a motion state of the material to be conveyed, which motion state is detected at least by means of the internal sensor unit.
Gear trains are expediently used in each case for the transmission of force from the first drive to the conveying roller and from the second drive to the supporting body.
In this case, the gear unit driving the conveying roller advantageously has a pinion, which is mounted in the eccentric axis of the cylindrical supporting body, is connected to the first drive and lies inside the cylindrical supporting body, and there is an output gear, which is mounted radially between this pinion and the conveying roller so as to be rotatable in an axially parallel manner and projects radially outward beyond the supporting body and meshes with a region of the conveying roller which is designed as an internal gear.
The gear unit driving the conveying roller, between the first drive and the conveying roller, is preferably designed, at least in one section, as an epicyclic gear unit.
It proves to be especially advantageous that the gear unit driving the conveying roller and having the epicyclic gear unit, and the first drive are arranged inside the supporting body, the sun gear of the epicyclic gear unit being arranged on the axis of symmetry of the supporting body, and the planet gears meshing with a region of the conveying roller which is designed as an internal gear.
The gear unit for pivoting the supporting body, between the second drive and the supporting body, is likewise advantageously designed, at least in one section, as an epicyclic gear unit.
It proves to be expedient that the drive torque of at least the second drive can be regulated in order to set predeterminable pressure forces of the conveying roller against the material to be conveyed.
It is especially advantageous if the first and the second drives are designed as variable-speed servomotors. To this end, brushless direct-current motors are especially suitable as first and second drives.
The self-testing device contained in each drive unit is expediently connected to the sensor unit, in which case, via the activating units, as a function of the detected stationary or moving state of the material to be conveyed, alternatively the second drive can be activated first before the first drive is switched on or the first drive can be activated first before the second drive is switched on.
The self-testing device, for the purpose of the satisfactory overall functioning of a system of drive units, is advantageously connected to a central unit via connections for the transmission of obtained data (such as pressure force, traction force, sensor function and rotary speed of the conveying roller).
At the same time, anti-slip control means are expediently provided in the self-testing device, in which case, via the central unit, by means of the data obtained from various drive units, the knowledge of the exact distances between the drive units and the knowledge of the rotary speed of the conveying roller and the actual transport speed of the material to be conveyed, slip which arises can be compensated for by a specific increase in the pressure force.
The invention is based on the general idea of using drives which are independent of one another for the rotation and the applied pressure of the conveying rollers. To this end, interaction with the sensor unit and a control-electronics part is provided for the coordination of the two drives, the drives being activated and controlled in keeping with the requirements. For the proper interplay of a plurality of drive units, data exchange and control coordination with a central unit are to be provided.
With the arrangement according to the invention, it is possible to set the pressure force and the traction force of the conveying roller as a function of the detected motion state of the material to be conveyed and to reduce the wear of the conveying roller. Furthermore, the material to be conveyed, if need be, may be moved in opposite directions under a defined pressure force of the conveying roller, in the course of which accelerations and decelerations are possible. In particular, the material to be
Schreger Adolf
Wittenstein Manfred
Brahan Thomas J.
Jenoptik Aktiengesellschaft
Reed Smith LLP
LandOfFree
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