Conveyors: power-driven – Conveyor system for arranging or rearranging stream of items – By longitudinally respacing successive articles in stream
Patent
1999-10-04
2000-11-28
Bidwell, James R.
Conveyors: power-driven
Conveyor system for arranging or rearranging stream of items
By longitudinally respacing successive articles in stream
1984591, B65G 4726
Patent
active
061522856
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention refers to a conveyor arrangement including a plurality of conveyors on a track, and a separator including at least two retaining fingers for separating the conveyors.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
A conveyor arrangement is known from U.S. Pat. No. 3,055,311. The known conveyor arrangement includes a separator which is constructed like an arm, the front and rear ends of the arm defining retaining fingers. The arm is adapted to be pivoted about an axis in such a way that the retaining fingers successively enter the path of the conveyor means on the rail. For stopping and for releasing each conveyor means, the arm is pivoted about the axis. This pivotal movement about the axis has, however, the effect that the retaining fingers move along a semicircular path; in the known conveyor arrangement, this effect is utilized for giving the released conveyor means a push in the conveying direction. This, however, means that precisely predetermined distances between the conveyor means cannot be achieved.
A conveyor arrangement known from German Utility Model 94 02 990 serves to separate conveyor means, before they enter a switch, in such a way that a distance is established between the individual conveyor means, which corresponds to the change-over time of the switches at a predetermined speed of the conveyor means. The aim to be achieved by this measure is that, even at very high conveying speeds, only the conveyor means to be rerouted in the respective switch is located in the switch and that the switch has enough time to change over before the next conveyor means moves into the switch. The separator used for the purpose of separating includes a deflection wheel provided with seat recesses on the circumference thereof, each of the seat recesses being adapted to receive therein one conveyor means. It follows that the distances between the seat recesses are predetermined from the very beginning and cannot be varied. Furthermore, due to the fact that the separator is implemented as a deflection wheel, the use of the separator is limited to deflection points in the conveying path.
In comparison with this prior art, it is the object of the present invention to provide a conveyor arrangement which, when in operation, permits a higher degree of variability in a structurally simple manner.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
By means of the structural design of the separator according to the present invention, the movement of the retaining fingers can be adapted with the aid of the control means to the preselected conveying speed and the desired distance in a structurally simple manner. The first retaining finger serves to hold the conveyor means to be separated and the second retaining finger retains the subsequent conveyor means so that this last-mentioned conveyor means is prevented from following the separated conveyor means immediately as soon as the first retaining finger is drawn back. The separator according to the present invention can be provided at any point of the track, i.e. also at straight paths.
The speed of movement of the retaining fingers can be varied so that the effect produced by the separator can be adapted to the predetermined mode of operation.
A particularly preferred, structurally simple and functionally reliable structural design can be used as the crank driving mechanism for the retaining fingers.
The forced coupling of the movement of the two retaining fingers can be realized in a structurally simple manner.
In accordance with an expedient embodiment, more than two retaining fingers are provided, a number of six retaining fingers being preferred.
The dimension of the crank driving mechanism should be adapted to the dimension of the conveyor means in the conveying direction in such a way that the distance between two neighbouring retaining fingers corresponds to the dimension of the conveyor means in the conveying direction at the point of engagement.
The separator according to the present invention is particularly suitable for use with a drive means that pe
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patent: 4261457 (1981-04-01), Van Maanen
patent: 4832178 (1989-05-01), Anderson et al.
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Bidwell James R.
WF Logistik GmbH
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