Conveyors: power-driven – Conveyor section – Reciprocating conveying surface
Reexamination Certificate
1998-06-25
2001-04-03
Ellis, Christopher P. (Department: 3651)
Conveyors: power-driven
Conveyor section
Reciprocating conveying surface
C198S750400, C198S817000, C198S850000, C193S038000, C193S003000, C193S004000, C193S0250FT, C414S267000, C414S276000, C414S286000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06209712
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention refers to a conveying apparatus for shelf channels of rack storage facilities.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Conveying apparatuses for shelf channels of rack storage facilities of the kind discussed herein usually comprise two parallelly arranged, circulating conveying means by means of which the goods can be loaded into and unloaded from the individual shelf channels. The one half of the conveying means receiving the goods to be loaded is designed, in most cases, as a roller or supporting roller chain, while the other half is designed as tape. This arrangement lowers the costs and saves weight. However, such a design requires that one of the deflections must be adapted to a chain and the other one to a tape. In practice, the result is that the path of displacement of the chain is strictly limited to a value that is less than the distance between the centers of the front and the rear displacement, while the total length of the particular shelf channel is more than this distance. Thereby, there is a high risk that the path of displacement induced by the unloading vehicle during loading and unloading of goods is greater than the predetermined path of displacement of the conveying means. Thereby, the conveying means and/or the deflections often is/are damaged because the forces exerted by an unloading vehicle, e.g. a fork lift truck, can be very high.
Thus, the necessity is compellingly given that the chain is longer than the distance between the centers of the deflections. However, in the existing systems, this is not possible because the particular deflection can deflect only either the chain or the tape.
A further problem arising in connection with such conveyors consists in that the two conveying means, e.g. during the loading of goods, are very frequently not parallelly moved, but the one conveying means is forwarded somewhat more than the other one. Small differences can sum up in time to a great offset between the two conveying means, thereby further increasing the danger of a damage.
In order to ensure a reliable non-positive connection between the pallets put onto the conveying means and the chains, the individual chain links are provided with acute projections which engage the wooden material of the pallets. In this connection, a further well known problem arises inasmuch as the individual chain links rotate in relation to each other upon deflection. Such rotation leads to a relative displacement of the projections from one chain link to the other one. Since the pallet simultaneously rests both on the chain links rotating away during deflection as well as on the immediately subsequent horizontal chain link, wooden splinters are broken out of the pallet during the deflection operation. It is understood that this is undesired.
Thus, it is a task of the invention to propose a conveying apparatus for shelf channels of rack storage facilities that can be manufactured at low costs and simultaneously ensures a gentle, reliable and safe operation.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
A conveying apparatus for use in a shelf channel of rack storage facilities. The conveying apparatus comprises circulating conveying means for conveying and storing goods. The conveying means is an endless loop formed partially by a roller chain and partially by a tape. The roller chain includes a plurality of chain links. Adjacent chain links are interconnected by an axes of a roller. The plurality of interconnected chain links includes two end links. The end links are interconnected by the tape. A rail extends linearly and supports a portion of said endless loop. The rail has a loading/unloading end where the goods are loaded onto said conveying means and unloaded from said conveying means. The rail includes a first and a second deflection member. The first deflection member is located in a region of the loading/unloading end and the second deflection member is located in a region remote from the loading/unloading end. The first deflection member is a stationary and non-rotating deflection member and includes a substantially round front face and a top side having a recess. The first deflection member is adopted to cooperate with adjacent rollers of a respective chain link such that during unloading of the goods the chain link is lowered immediately prior to deflection operation.
In one embodiment of the invention, the recess of the first deflection member has a length that is shorter than a distance between axes of adjacent rollers. A horizontal distance between an end of the recess nearest to the loading/unloading end and the front face of the first deflection member is shorter than the distance between axes of adjacent rollers.
In another embodiment of the invention, The first deflection member has a pair of ramps. A first ramp forms an end of the recess opposite the loading/unloading end and a second ramp connects the top side and the front face of the first deflection member. The first ramp and the second ramp have corresponding height levels. A horizontal distance separating the corresponding height levels of the first and second ramps approximately corresponds with a distance between axes of adjacent rollers.
REFERENCES:
patent: 3134472 (1964-05-01), Schuricht
patent: 4688670 (1987-08-01), Lapeyre
patent: 4804353 (1989-02-01), Wenman
patent: 4865183 (1989-09-01), Hodlewsky et al.
patent: 5320582 (1994-06-01), Takeda
patent: 5538384 (1996-07-01), Haldimann
Ellis Christopher P.
Gilgen Fordersysteme AG
Shapiro Jeffrey A.
Tarolli, Sundheim, Covell Tummino & Szabo L.L.P.
LandOfFree
Conveyor for channels between storage racks does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Conveyor for channels between storage racks, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Conveyor for channels between storage racks will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-2497213