Conveyors: power-driven – Conveyor section – Endless conveyor
Reexamination Certificate
2001-03-23
2002-10-29
Ellis, Christopher P. (Department: 3651)
Conveyors: power-driven
Conveyor section
Endless conveyor
C198S850000, C198S853000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06471047
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a conveyor chain for use in a crossed delivery conveyor, the crossed delivery conveyor comprising a first conveyor for conveying articles in a first direction and a second conveyor for conveying articles in a direction orthogonal to the first direction, the second conveyor being disposed in abutment against a side edge of the first conveyor.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIG. 8
shows an example of a crossed delivery conveyor. The crossed delivery conveyor, designated by
60
, comprises a first conveyor
62
for conveying articles in a first direction and a second conveyor
64
for conveying articles in a direction orthogonal to the first direction. The second conveyor
64
is disposed in proximity to a side edge of the first conveyor
62
. In the crossed delivery conveyor
60
of this type, as indicated with arrows in
FIG. 8
, guides
66
are provided for loading an article A from the first conveyor
62
onto the second conveyor
64
or for discharging an article from the second to the first conveyor.
The first conveyor
62
shown in
FIG. 8
comprises conveyor chains
68
and
70
arranged in two lines. In each of the chains
68
and
70
, a plurality of links provided with article loading portions are connected together in an endless form. In the chain
68
, located on the side closest to the second conveyor
64
, each of the links is provided with an overhanging slat
72
extending from the associated article loading portion in a direction orthogonal to the article conveying direction of the chain.
As shown in detail in
FIG. 9
, the second conveyor
64
is disposed so as to extend under the first conveyor
62
and therefore the overhanging slats
72
are needed for the transfer of articles from the first conveyor
62
onto the second conveyor
64
. An article is moved from an article loading portion on the first conveyor
62
to overhanging slats
72
while being guided by the guides
66
(
FIG. 8
) and is then loaded onto the second conveyor
64
from the overhanging slats
72
.
In the conveyor it is desirable that the chain pitch of a conveyor chain be set small. This is because by setting the chain pitch small, it is possible to suppress a polygonal motion of the chain and hence possible to convey articles in a stable manner.
On the other hand, when articles are loaded and discharged on a crossed delivery conveyor, it is preferable that the chain pitch be set large. This is because by setting the chain pitch large, the number of overhanging slats
72
which the article straddle when moving between the first and second conveyors
62
,
64
becomes smaller, permitting a stable delivery of the article.
For example, in the case where unstable articles such as petaloid-shaped PET bottles are to be conveyed using the crossed delivery conveyor, it is important that the articles be kept stable not only during the regular conveyance on the constituent conveyors but also during transfer between the conveyors. The relation of the chain pitch to the article stability is not considered at all in the conventional crossed delivery conveyor.
FIG. 10
illustrates the behavior of an article when transferred onto an overhanging slat
72
between the first and second conveyors
62
,
64
. The overhanging slat
72
is attached to a link in a cantilevered state. When an article A has moved onto the overhanging slat
72
, a moment acting to cause tilting of the entire link is exerted on the link.
In the conventional crossed delivery conveyor, rails
74
support links for defining a track of the chain, but no consideration is given about how the load acting on each overhanging slat
72
is to be borne. Therefore, when the article A has moved from the article loading portion to the overhanging slat
72
, there is a fear that the load of the article A may cause the chain to tilt and that consequently the article present on the overhanging slat may fall down.
Moreover, in the first conveyor
62
, the left-hand conveyor chain
70
and the right-hand conveyor chain
68
with overhanging slats
72
are separate chains, so when the right-hand chain
68
with overhanging slats
72
tilts, there occurs a difference in height at a joint portion between the right and left chains. The article A being moved toward the second conveyor
64
along the guides
66
(
FIG. 8
) is likely to be caught in such a stepped portion at its bottom and may fall down. Likewise, the article A when straddling the right and left chain
68
,
70
is likely to fall down upon tilting of the right chain
68
.
Further, the spacing between the conveyor chains of the first and second conveyors
62
,
64
is set narrow so that articles can be transferred stably from one to the other conveyor, so if the conveyor chains tilt even slightly, there also arises the problem that the chain
68
of the first conveyor
62
comes into contact with the second conveyor
64
.
Further, the crossed delivery conveyor shown in
FIG. 8
takes into account only loading articles to, and discharging articles from, one side. In the first conveyor
62
, therefore, the left hand conveyor chain
70
in the figure does not function at all as a crossed delivery conveyor. If the article loading and discharging directions are different, it is necessary to substitute a separately manufactured conveyor for the left hand conveyor chain
70
. This is very uneconomical.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the present invention to provide a conveyor chain capable of stably conveying articles, particularly petaloid-shaped articles easy to fall down such as PET bottles, in a crossed delivery conveyor and also capable of delivering such articles stably between constituent conveyors of the crossed delivery conveyor.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a conveyor chain which prevents tilting of overhanging slats during the delivery of articles between constituent conveyors of a crossed delivery conveyor.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a conveyor chain capable of loading and discharging articles in both right and left directions in a crossed delivery conveyor.
According to the present invention, for achieving the above-mentioned objects, there is provided a conveyor chain for use in a crossed delivery conveyor, comprising a plurality of links connected together in an endless form, the links being each provided with an article loading portion. The links are comprised of first links and second links, the first links being each sandwiched in between two adjacent ones of the second links in a conveyance direction of the conveyor chain to constitute an endless conveyor chain. The first links are each provided with an overhanging slat which extends in a direction orthogonal to the conveyance direction of the conveyor chain from the article loading portion of the first link. The overhanging slat extends also in the conveyance direction of the conveyor chain along a side edge of the article loading portion of the associated second link, and the overhanging slat of each of the first links is adjacent to the overhanging slats of preceding and succeeding ones of the first links.
In a crossed delivery conveyor provided with guides for loading articles from a first conveyor to a second conveyor or for discharging articles from the second to the first conveyor, the conveyor chain of the present invention is used mainly in the first conveyor.
For example, in case of loading articles from the first to the second conveyor, the articles are in a loaded state onto article loading portions of constituent links in the conveyor chain of the first conveyor. As the conveyor chain is operated, the articles are conveyed in the conveyance direction of the first conveyor. At this time, a velocity component of the articles lies in only the conveyance direction.
In case of loading an article onto the second conveyor at an intermediate position of the first conveyor, the article moves along a guide. At this time, on the first conveyor the article moves with two v
Ishii Takashi
Murakami Yoshihiro
Shibayama Katsutoshi
Crawford Gene O.
Ellis Christopher P.
Howson & Howson
Tsubakimoto Chain Co.
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