Weighing scales – Collapsible – foldable – knockdown
Reexamination Certificate
2000-11-20
2003-01-21
Gibson, Randy W. (Department: 2841)
Weighing scales
Collapsible, foldable, knockdown
C177S145000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06509533
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates to a conveyor for carrying articles, a measuring machine having the conveyor for measuring mass of article and a metal detector for detecting a metal object and particularly relates to a conveyor capable of easily interchanging a carry unit and a measuring machine as well as a metal detector using the conveyer.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Conventionally, a conveyor for carrying articles is applied to a measuring machine for measuring mass of an article while carrying the article, a metal detector for detecting mixture of metal in the article while carrying the article and the like.
FIG.
18
(
a
) illustrates a plane view showing a conventional measuring machine and FIG.
18
(
b
) illustrates a side view.
A measuring machine
60
can measure mass of article by a measuring section while carrying the article by driving a conveyor
61
. The conveyor
61
is constituted by a support unit
62
and a carry unit
63
attachable to and detachable from the support unit
62
. The support unit
62
is constituted by a pair of side plates
62
a
and a drive motor
67
. The carry unit
63
is constituted by a receive base
64
, a drive roller
65
a
and a driven roller
65
b
provided at two side portions of the receive base
64
and an endless belt
66
between the rollers
65
a
and
65
b.
The carry unit
63
is fixed and held by a fixing piece
69
in the attachment state. The carry unit
63
can be lifted and detached from the support unit
62
by releasing the fixing piece
69
. The drive motor
67
is provided on the support unit
62
side and is connected to a rotating shaft of the drive roller
65
a
via a connecting belt
68
.
The measuring section is constituted by, for example, a strain gage type load cell (hereinafter, abbreviated as load cell). The support unit
62
is mounted and fixed onto the load cell and the load cell measures a total of the conveyer
61
and mass of the article. There is constructed a constitution in which a measuring signal of the load cell is outputted to an operating section (not illustrated) and the mass of the article is calculated by subtracting a weight of the conveyer
61
by operation processing of the operating section.
According to the conveyer
61
, there is needed maintenance and check such as periodically cleaning or interchanging respective constituent portions (for example, belt
66
) of the carry unit
63
. Particularly, when the article is food, sterilization or decontamination of the conveyer
61
portion is necessary.
However, attachment and detachment of the carry unit
63
to and from the support unit
62
cannot be carried out easily. In removing the carry unit
63
, the connecting belt
68
expanded between the drive roller
65
a
and the drive motor
67
must be removed. For example, the drive motor
67
is removed from the support unit
62
by disengaging screws of a base seat of the drive motor
67
and the connecting belt
68
is removed. In addition thereto, in removing the connecting belt
68
, attachment screws of a (safety) protection cover
68
a
of a connecting belt
68
need to be removed.
At this occasion, in a state in which the protection cover
68
a
is removed, the connecting belt
68
is exposed and accordingly, there causes a danger of pinching the hand or the like. Further, in attachment and detachment operations, parts of respective portions are liable to fall and there also is a concern of losing the parts. When the measuring machine
60
measures food, mixing parts into food must absolutely be avoided.
In order to resolve the above-described situation, there is constructed a constitution in which in transmitting drive force between the drive roller
65
a
and the drive motor
67
of the conveyer
61
, instead of the above-described connecting belt
68
, the drive roller
65
a
and the drive motor
67
are respectively provided with spur gears and connected by bringing the spur gears in mesh with each other.
Also in the constitution using the spur gears, the gears need to be in mesh with each other by a predetermined pitch (accuracy) and accordingly, it is difficult to simply connect the conveyor
61
without adjustment at the gear portion. Further, after adjustment, the drive motor
67
needs to be fixed firmly. Although when the mesh accuracy is alleviated by changing the shape of the gear or the like, the conveyor
61
can be made attachable and detachable at the gear portion, there poses a problem in which transmission characteristic of drive force (efficiency and durability) is deteriorated. Further, although detachment and attachment of the drive motor
67
is carried out by screws, the operation needs to carry out such that the screws are not lost, further, the drive motor
67
is firmly fixed.
The present invention has been carried out in order to eliminate the above-described drawbacks.
And it is an object thereof to provide a conveyor capable of easily and safely carrying out attachment and detachment of portions for carrying article in cleaning or the like by a simple constitution.
Further it is other object to provide a conveyor capable of preventing parts from being fallen in the attachment and detachment operation, a measuring machine for measuring mass of article and a metal detector for detecting a metal object in the article by using the conveyer.
DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION
In order to achieve the above-described object, according to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a conveyor comprising:
a motor unit including a motor and an output shaft for outputting a rotational force of the motor;
a support unit attached with the motor unit;
a carry unit including a drive roller rotated by receiving the rotational force, a driven roller and an endless belt expanded between the drive roller and the driven roller and made attachable to and detachable from the support unit only in an up and down direction;
a first connecting piece provided at one end of the output shaft; and
a second connecting piece provided at one end of the drive roller for transmitting the rotational force by being engaged with the first connecting piece; and
wherein the motor unit is fixed attachably to and detachably from the support unit by clamps, when the clamps are released, the motor unit is movable in a direction of a rotating shaft of the drive roller and engagement between the first and the second connecting pieces is released to thereby make the carry unit attachable to and detachable from the support unit in an upward direction.
According to the above-described constitution, the carry unit on the support unit can be attached and detached by operating to release the clamps. In attaching and detaching operation, the first and the second connecting pieces provided between the output shaft of the motor unit and the rotating shaft of the drive roller can be separated and removed. Thereby, attachment and detachment of the carry unit can easily be carried out by simple operation and cleaning of the carry unit can easily be carried out.
Further, according to a second aspect of the present invention, there may be constructed a constitution in which the first and the second connecting pieces are provided with a protection case for positioning axis centers of the output shaft of the motor unit and the drive roller by engaging the output shaft and the drive roller with each other and covering a connected portion thereof.
According to the above-described constitution, connecting portions of outer peripheries of the first and the second connecting pieces are covered by the protection case, rotating portions thereof are not exposed and safety in operating the conveyor and in the attachment and detachment operation can be ensured. Further, by fitting the protection case, a deviation between axis centers in connecting the first and the second connecting pieces is eliminated and axial position can be positioned and predetermined connecting accuracy can be ensured by simple operation.
Further, according to a third aspect of the present invention, there may be constructed
Murata Norikazu
Sekiguchi Hiroyuki
Tanaka Osamu
Anritsu Corporation
Kanesaka & Takeuchi
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