Device for conveying products, in particular fruit

Details Device for conveying products, in particular fruit Device for conveying products, in particular fruit

1999-11-03

2001-05-22

Valenza, Joseph E. (Department: 3651)

Conveyors: power-driven

Conveyor arrangement for selecting among plural sources or...

By loading or unloading section at selected one of a...

C209S912000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06234297

ABSTRACT:

The invention relates to a device for conveying products, in particular fruit, which is designed to provide transport of the said products, and selected discharge of the latter at unloading areas, and comprising:
a plurality of conveyor carrier arms, which are articulated on supports which are supported by a longitudinal endless chain, and are provided with units for maintenance of the said conveyor carrier arms in a position for transport of the products; and
means for release, which are designed to generate selectively tilting of the conveyor carrier arms, for the purpose of discharge of the products supported by the latter in one of the unloading areas.
Conveyor devices of this type are used commonly at present in the fruit-growing industry, and are conventionally integrated into sorting units comprising an area for loading fruit, means for analysis of, and/or weighing the said fruit, and areas for unloading this fruit, in which the latter are discharged selectively according to the selection criteria determined.
A sorting unit of this type is described in particular in French patent FR 2,716,874, and comprises a conveyor device which contains an endless chain, which supports two series of facing supports, on each of which there is articulated a conveyor carrier arm, which is provided with a transverse central bar, on both sides of which longitudinal fingers are distributed.
Although at present conveyor devices of this type are very reliable, they are relatively complex, for example as a result of the design of the units for release of the conveyor carrier arms which are supported by the supports, or the arrangement of these supports, which are mounted on both sides of endless chains, and which in particular make it necessary to provide a support structure which can accept the differences of loading of the two conveyor lines carried by a single endless chain.
In particular, the units for release of the conveyor carrier arms consist of numerous moving parts, the ageing and wear of which lead to relatively high maintenance costs, and frequent operative stoppages.
The object of the present invention is to eliminate these disadvantages, and its main objective is to provide a conveyor device which has a very simple design, and of which the cost price and maintenance costs are reduced substantially in comparison with those of the present conveyor devices.
Another objective of the invention is to provide a conveyor device which has a transverse dimension which is reduced in comparison with the present conveyor devices.
Another objective of the invention is to provide a conveyor device which can permit transport and sorting of fruit of very different sizes and/or shapes.
For this purpose, the invention relates to a conveyor device as described in the preceding preamble, wherein:
each conveyor carrier arm is extended transversely by a hollow body delimited by a peripheral edge, inside which there extends a longitudinal sleeve which accommodates a longitudinal articulation shaft, which is integral with the support, the said sleeve being connected to the peripheral edge by a transverse flexible component, which can be deformed during a force of raising of the conveyor carrier arm, disposed in its position for transport of the products; and
the units for maintenance of the conveyor carrier arms in their position for transport of the products comprise a recess which is provided in the body of the said conveyor carrier arm, and a longitudinal pin which is integral with the support, and is designed to be accommodated in the recess, in the position for transport of the conveyor carrier arms, the said recess being disposed such as to release the pin during deformation of the flexible unit, derived from a force of raising of the said conveyor carrier arms.
According to the invention and firstly, the articulation of each conveyor carrier arm on a support, and release of this conveyor carrier arm for the purpose of tilting of the latter, are obtained by means of a number of parts which is reduced in an optimum manner, of which only one is in motion, ie. the conveyor carrier arm itself.
Consequently, the cost price of the conveyor units of the conveyor device is optimised, and maintenance of the latter is greatly reduced, owing to the absence of parts which are liable to wear, as a result of friction forces.
In addition, the design of the articulation of the conveyor carrier arm, the articulation shaft of which is offset transversely relative to the surface which supports the product, provides a positive opening for the said conveyor carrier arm, and instantaneous and quasi-vertical dropping of the product, when the tilting has been triggered.
In practice, this design provides a significant transverse reduction of size of the conveyor device in comparison with that of the present conveyor devices. In fact, in the case of the latter, and in particular that which is described in patent FR 2,716,874, the fruit falls according to an oblique path which moves it away from the support, by a distance which is variable according to the speed of travel of the conveyor device. On the other hand, according to the invention, the products drop vertically, and thus the transverse size of the conveyor device can be reduced.
According to another characteristic of the invention, the flexible unit of the conveyor carrier arms consists of a flexible plate, which is disposed such as to extend horizontally in the position for transport of the said conveyor carrier arms.
Furthermore, the recess is advantageously provided in the peripheral edge of the body, on the inner side of the said body, at a portion of the said peripheral edge which is disposed in the upper part of the body, in the position for transport of the conveyor carrier arms.
According to another characteristic of the invention, the peripheral edge of the body of the conveyor carrier arms comprises an inclined flat ramp for access to the recess. In fact, a ramp of this type facilitates locking of the conveyor carrier arm, and also makes it possible to limit the length of the surface along which the pin rubs after release takes place.
According to another characteristic of the invention, the release means comprise:
for each conveyor carrier arm, a lower ejection heel, which projects beneath the body of the said conveyor carrier arm; and
at each unloading area, a cam which is associated with pivoting means, which can make the cam tilt around a longitudinal axis, between an active position in which it is on the path of the ejection heels of the conveyor carrier arms, and gives rise to upward displacement of the said ejection heels, and initial tilting of the said conveyor carrier arms, and a passive position, in which the said cam permits passage of the ejection heel.
In addition, the conveyor carrier arms can be of the type which comprises a central bar, which extends transversely relative to the endless chain, and a plurality of fingers which are disposed at right angles, and are distributed on both sides of the central bar. In this case, the body of these conveyor carrier arms advantageously extends into the extension of the central bar, and has substantially the same width as the latter.
It should be noted that in this case, the width of the central bar of these conveyor carrier arms can be substantially reduced in comparison with that of the conveyor carrier arms of the conveyor device described in French patent FR 2,716,874. As a result, when the conveyor device according to the invention is fitted onto a sorting unit as described in this patent, the distance between centres of the support plates of the carriages of the weighing conveyor can be reduced, thus permitting acceptance and weighing of fruit of a very small size, or fruit with a shape other than spherical, such as pears.
According to another characteristic of the invention, for each conveyor carrier arm, each support comprises a transverse slide, which can accommodate the body of the said conveyor carrier arm, whilst permitting tilting of the latter. Slides of this type make it possible to

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