Conveyors: power-driven – Conveyor system for moving a specific load as a separate unit – System includes a load supported by a conveyor portion which...
Reexamination Certificate
2003-01-17
2004-06-22
Ridley, Richard (Department: 3651)
Conveyors: power-driven
Conveyor system for moving a specific load as a separate unit
System includes a load supported by a conveyor portion which...
C198S463100, C198S803200, C198S463300
Reexamination Certificate
active
06752258
ABSTRACT:
The invention concerns an apparatus for intermittently conveying packages which are conveyed in a first travel direction in package carriers on a first process plane in positions beneath various treatment stations and on a second return plane in a second travel direction parallel to the first travel direction, forming a conveyor circuit.
For producing and in particular finishing packages, in known machines they are held in workpiece carriers and intermittently fed by means of endlessly circulating conveyor belts to individual treatment stations in which the respective package for example is filled after having been folded into the finished condition, and finally closed. The conveyor belts pass around two direction-changing guide rollers, wherein the workpiece carriers are turned in the conveyor arcs thereof from a vertical orientation into a horizontal one and then again into a vertical orientation. The vertical orientation is that for the process plane because conveyors of that kind are frequently used in relation to the packaging of liquid foodstuffs which are introduced from above into the package which is disposed therebeneath and which is open upwardly. In many conveyors, the workpiece carriers are rigidly interlinked, for example by way of roller chains or link chains. This is found to suffer from the disadvantage that after prolonged operation there are undesirable increases in the length of the chains, with the consequence of inaccurate positioning under the respective treatment station. If there a wish to use such conveyors in the foodstuffs industry sterile packaging is frequently required and when using roller or link chains movable parts have to be lubricated so that such conveyors cannot operate in clean room conditions where however the operation of filling the packages is carried out.
Admittedly, operators have already changed over to using toothed belts in order to avoid lubrication and to have a smaller increase in length. However, separating off the package carriers, for example for the purposes of better sterilization, and subsequent refitment, are practically impossible. In addition, when using toothed belts there is often a limited level of resistance to thermal and chemical influences in the environment.
In order to increase the machine output of packaging machines and there in particular filling devices, that is to say in order to be able to process a larger number of packages in a machine per unit of time, a plurality of package carriers have been arranged in mutually juxtaposed relationship along the process plane, the package carriers therefore being arranged in mutually juxtaposed relationship transversely with respect to the first travel direction. If the endless conveyors of the known kind can be used at all for multiplication in respect of width, the width of such a process plane however, at least for static reasons, is subject to limits which do not permit a further increase in output.
Therefore the object of the invention is to provide a conveyor apparatus for packages of the kind set forth in greater detail in the opening part of this specification, which while being of a compact structure permits a high output and operation with simple devices.
In accordance with the invention that object is attained in that the respective mutually superposed ends of the substantially horizontally extending first conveyor in the first process plane and the substantially horizontally extending second conveyor in the second return plane are interconnected to form the conveyor circuit by substantially vertically operating second and fourth lift conveyors, that each conveyor has a separate drive, that arranged between the first process plane and the second return plane is a third loading plane, the three planes are substantially horizontally arranged, each package carrier is of a substantially flat structure which is held in a substantially horizontal position over the conveyor circuit and that provided in the region of the third loading plane are means for loading and unloading the packages into and/or out of the package carriers in a loading direction which is parallel to the first travel direction of the packages.
It is firstly possible to explain the conveyor apparatus according to the invention by means of a simple conveyor picture which shows a rectangular conveyor path with a first travel direction at the top on a first process plane which is adjoined at the end of that plane by a lift conveyor in order to convey the package carriers out of the first process plane downwardly into the second return plane; that is then followed by the substantially horizontally extending third conveyor in the second return plane, in which respect here the travel direction is parallel but opposite to that of the first process plane, and the conveyor circuit is closed by a so-called fourth lift conveyor which lifts the package carriers from the lower second return plane into the upper first process plane. If that rectangular path is viewed in the clockwise direction, then the package carriers are moved in the first process plane from left to right by the first conveyor, at the end they are lowered vertically downwardly by the second lift conveyor into the second return plane, there they are moved horizontally towards the left by the third conveyor so that the fourth lift conveyor can then again vertically lift the package carriers upwardly into the initial position into the first process plane. Different travel patterns can be set by virtue of the respectively separate drives for each of the conveyors. In addition it is possible to adopt very simple drives and the drives can be caused to operate at different speeds, in accordance with the respective control thereof, in such a way that for example a large number of package carriers is present in the entire conveyor circuit only on one of the horizontal planes, while in the other three conveyors only few to no package carriers are being moved. It is possible in that way to save on package carriers, simplify operation, for example afford excellent cleaning possibilities, and nonetheless predetermine a high level of output. The most slowly operating station predetermines the time cycle for intermittent conveyance of the packaging carriers.
The advantageously compact structure of the conveyor apparatus is not subjected to any limitation if the above-mentioned third loading plane is disposed between the first process plane and the second return plane. However by virtue of the arrangement of that loading plane, it is possible to considerably increase the output of the conveyor apparatus in that the loading and unloading operation can be accelerated to a surprisingly great degree, which was not possible in the case of the previous conveyors with the feed at the entry to the process plane being vertically downwardly. The overall structure is simplified by virtue of the fact that the three planes described are arranged substantially horizontally. In a preferred embodiment the length of the conveyor is determined by the various, successively arranged treatment stations or the overall length required for same. The height of the conveyor apparatus of compact structure is kept low and operation is speeded up and simplified because each substantially flat package carrier is always held horizontally, including in the vertically operating second and fourth lift conveyors. More specifically the loading and unloading means can then withdraw finished packages from the package carriers and introduce empty packages into the package carriers at the loading position, with a high level of acceleration and over short distances, in which respect that can be effected at the same time for a multiplicity of packages if the package carriers accommodate a plurality of packages.
The foregoing measures show how a very powerful conveyor can nonetheless be of a very compact structure and permits the use of simple devices for operation thereof, for example for the loading operation, for varying the travel direction, although or precisely because no arcuately guid
Ludwig Werner
Stannek Josef
Dunn Michael L
Ridley Richard
Tetra Laval Holdings & Finance S.A.
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