Conveyors: power-driven – Conveyor system for establishing and moving a group of items – Subdivides continuous item stream into longitudinally spaced...
Reexamination Certificate
1999-10-07
2001-07-03
Bidwell, James R. (Department: 3651)
Conveyors: power-driven
Conveyor system for establishing and moving a group of items
Subdivides continuous item stream into longitudinally spaced...
C198S429000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06253903
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a conveying apparatus, and in particular relates to a conveying apparatus in which the configuration pitch of the conveying member (guide pin) is made roughly the same as the rear-to-front length of the conveyance objects (i.e., objects to be conveyed) in order to carry out efficient conveyance. Further, when arranged upstream from a packaging machine, the conveying apparatus can be utilized to supply products (i.e., objects to be packaged) to the packaging machine.
2. Description of the Prior Art
When a conveying apparatus is arranged upstream from a packaging machine to convey products and to supply such products in an ordered manner to the inside of a packaging film, the products need to be conveyed over a prescribed interval. In general, such a conveying apparatus is equipped with an endless chain having pushing fingers mounted at fixed intervals, in which the pushing fingers push against the rear side of the products to move them in the forward direction, whereby the products are conveyed. In this way, when the products are moved by being in a contact state with the pushing fingers, if the conveying interval of the products is set to match the configuration pitch of the pushing fingers, it is possible to convey the products over a prescribed interval.
Now, in order to accommodate a plurality of cut dimensions, the configuration pitch of the pushing fingers is normally set at a relatively long interval, and in this way, products having different lengths can be made to fit such configuration pitch.
However, the prior art conveying apparatus described above has the following problems. Namely, because the configuration pitch of the pushing fingers is longer than the rear-to-front length of the products, when a product is in a proper conveyance position with its rear end in contact with a pushing finger, there is open space between the front end of the product and the pushing finger positioned in front of the product. Accordingly, in cases where the products have rod or spherical shapes which make it easy for rolling motion to occur, or in the case where the products have low frictional resistance which makes it easy for sliding movement to occur, there is the risk that the products will move away from the rear pushing fingers and experience motion within the interval between the rear and front pushing fingers. If this happens, the conveyance interval of the products will be dispersed. Then, if the products are supplied to the inside of the packaging film, there is the risk that a sealing apparatus will bite into the products.
If the products have a rod shape, the backward and forward movement described above can be restricted by matching the axial direction of the products with the conveying direction. However, in cases where a plurality of relatively short rod-shaped objects such as dry batteries and the like are packed in a single package, the rod-shaped objects need to be lined up in an ordered manner between the pushing fingers, and each rod-shaped object must be conveyed with its axial direction arranged orthogonal to the conveying direction. As a result, the above-described problem of movement due to rolling of the products will occur.
Furthermore, because the configuration pitch of the pushing fingers is longer than the rear-to-front length of the products, the difference therebetween becomes wasted space, and this degrades the conveyance efficiency. Moreover, because the overall length of the endless chain on which the pushing fingers are mounted must be a whole number multiple of the configuration pitch of the pushing fingers, the design and construction thereof is troublesome. Accordingly, when the configuration pitch is to be changed, there are many cases where it becomes necessary to also change the overall length of the endless chain, and this makes it impossible to easily change the configuration pitch. As a result, in order to have general applicability, wasted space is accepted, and the configuration pitch is made long enough to accommodate the products.
However, because the interval for finally supplying the products to the inside of the packaging film must be made to match the cut dimension, if the configuration pitch of the pushing fingers is too long, the movement speed of the pushing fingers for matching the cut dimension must be made relatively faster than the movement speed of the packaging film.
Furthermore, in the case of conveyance objects that move easily, because the configuration pitch of the pushing fingers and the rear-to-front length of the objects need to be roughly matched, an exclusive conveying apparatus must be designed, and this leads to high costs. Further, with such arrangement it is not possible to easily carry out design changes to suit changes in the dimensions of the products and changes in the cut dimension.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In view of the background given above, it is an object of the present invention to solve the problems of the prior art described above by providing a conveying apparatus which makes it possible to set the configuration pitch of guide members for restricting backward and forward movement of conveyance objects at roughly the same value as the rear-to-front length of the conveyance objects in order to prevent the conveyance objects from slipping out of position in the backward and forward directions. Further, it is another object of the present invention to utilize such ability to set the configuration pitch at roughly the same value as the length of the conveyance objects to provide a general purpose conveying apparatus that can accommodate objects having different rear-to-front lengths. Furthermore, it is still another object of the present invention to provide a conveying apparatus which does not require the acquisition of the relationship between the configuration pitch of the pushing fingers and the moving distance (one cycle) of the guide members, and which simplifies design and makes it possible to freely select the overall length.
In order to achieve the objects stated above, the conveying apparatus according to the present invention is equipped with a conveyance line along which conveyance objects (referred to as “products
1
” in the preferred embodiment) are conveyed, a plurality of guide pins capable of reciprocal movement in a direction orthogonal to the advancing direction, and means for moving appropriate guide pins freely selected from among the plurality of guide pins in such orthogonal direction to position guide members provided on the tips of the guide pins at either an operating position that lies above the conveyance line to enable the guide pins to make contact with the conveyance objects, or a base position which does not lie above the conveyance line (claim
1
).
With this structure, by positioning prescribed guide pins at their operating positions to match the size of the conveyance objects to be conveyed, namely the rear-to-front length of the conveyance objects, it is possible to arrange the tips of the guide pins close to the front and back ends of the conveyance objects. Accordingly, it is possible to convey the conveyance objects while restricting positional slippage in the forwards and backwards directions thereof. Also, in the case where the dimensions of the conveyance objects are changed, the guide pins positioned at the operating position can be changed, and this makes it possible to match such dimensions. Furthermore, in the present embodiment, in addition to supplying a conveyance force to the conveyance objects (products
1
) from the conveyance line
2
, it is also possible to use the guide pins to supply a conveyance force. Further, prescribed guide pins from the guide pins that move along the conveyance line may be positioned at the operating position. Furthermore, each of the guide pins can be freely selected for movement. Accordingly, there is no need to know the relationship between the moving distance of one rotation cycle of the guide pins and the configuration pitch betwee
Bidwell James R.
Marger & Johnson & McCollom, P.C.
Omori Machinery Co., Ltd.
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