Conveyors – chutes – skids – guides – and ways – Rollerways – Submerging and rising
Reexamination Certificate
2000-12-11
2003-02-11
Bidwell, James R. (Department: 3651)
Conveyors, chutes, skids, guides, and ways
Rollerways
Submerging and rising
C193S0350MD
Reexamination Certificate
active
06516934
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates generally to material handling equipment and relates more particularly to pneumatic pop-up units adapted for use in material handling equipment.
The manufacture and/or packaging of many types of commercial articles often involves the use of material handling equipment. One example of material handling equipment is a bench or workstation at which certain assembly or packaging steps for an article are performed. Another example of material handling equipment is a conveyor system for transporting an article from one workstation to another.
As can readily be appreciated, an article that is seated on top of a bench or workstation often must be re-positioned or rotated thereon so that certain assembly or packaging steps can be performed. Similarly, it is often the case that the direction in which an article is traveling along a conveyor system must be altered or its movement altogether stopped. For these reasons, various omni-directional devices and stopping devices have been devised that are adapted for use in material handling equipment.
For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,627,526, inventor Masciarelli, which issued Dec. 9, 1986, and which is incorporated herein by reference, there is disclosed a conveyor system which includes a number of driven rollers mounted in a spaced, parallel relationship. A conveyor element is located between adjacent driven rollers, the conveyor element consisting of a main body having a series of passages in which plungers are slidably carried. An inflatable bladder moves each of the plungers from a retracted position to an operative position. More specifically, each passage is a bore in the main body, and each plunger consists of a sphere rotatably carried in a sheath whose outer surface is formed to slide smoothly in the bore. In this manner, when the bladder is inflated, the spheres are moved from their retracted positions to their operative positions, where they engage the article and lift the article above the top level of the driven rollers, thereby enabling the article to be re-positioned relative to the rollers (or pushed off of the driven rollers, for example, onto a lateral conveyor). When the bladder is then deflated, the spheres retract and an article situated thereon is lowered back onto the driven rollers. Alternatively, instead of including a sphere, the plunger may include a stop pin for use in stopping the movement of the article across the series of driven rollers.
As another example of an omni-directional device adapted for material handling equipment, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,660,994, inventor Masciarelli, which issued Apr. 28, 1987, and which is incorporated herein by reference, there is disclosed an anti-friction (i.e., omni-directional) assembly adapted for use in material handling equipment. More specifically, the aforementioned assembly comprises a main body having a first bore entering one surface and a second bore concentric with but non-coextensive with the first bore. A piston is slidable in the second bore and has a stem whose free end is slidable in the first bore. The stem carries a ball which is rotatable on a nest of secondary balls in a cavity in the free end of the stem. The piston and the stem are movable from a first position in which the ball lies substantially within the first bore below a friction element (e.g., the workstation, driven rollers, etc.) to a second position in which the ball protrudes from the first bore above the friction element. Means are provided for introducing fluid under pressure to the second bore to move the piston and to carry the ball from the first position to the second position. In addition, means are provided in the second bore to bias the piston to normally maintain the piston and the ball in the first position.
As still another such example., in U.S. Pat. No. 6,019,211, inventor Masciarelli, Jr., which issued Feb. 1, 2000, and which is incorporated herein by reference, there is disclosed a conveyor having a plurality of spaced rollers mounted between a pair of elongated horizontal frame members for supporting an article and enabling the article to be conveyed longitudinally of the frame members. The conveyor has a workstation formed by a plurality of interrupter strips extending in the spaces between rollers. Each interrupter strip has a plurality of lifting pads which are selectively movable between a lower position in which the upper surface of the pads are below the tops of the rollers and an upper position in which the upper surface of the pads are above the tops of the rollers for supporting the article and frictionally engaging the article to maintain the article in a stable position above the strips. The interrupter strips also have a plurality of balls mounted for omnidirectional rotation on the interrupter strips. Each ball is selectively movable between a lower position in which the top of the ball is below the top of the rollers and an upper position in which the top of the ball is above the top of the rollers. The balls are selectively moved independently of the lifting pads so that the article can be supported solely by the balls or by the lifting pads.
Referring now to
FIGS. 1 through 4
, there are shown various views of still yet another example of a conventional pneumatic pop-up unit, said unit being of the omni-directional variety and being represented generally by reference numeral
11
. Unit
11
comprises a housing
13
, housing
13
being a generally cylindrical, cup-shaped member having a circular side wall
15
, a bottom wall
17
and an open top. A nipple
19
is mounted in bottom wall
17
, nipple
19
being adapted for connection to a pressurized gas (or other fluid) supply. Housing
13
is typically made of machined metal (e.g., aluminum, steel).
Unit
11
also comprises a cap
21
, cap
21
also being made of machined metal (e.g., aluminum, steel). Cap
21
comprises a top wall
23
and a side wall
25
. Top wall
23
is flat and annular in shape. Side wall
25
, which extends downwardly from the inside diameter of top wall
23
, is circular in cross-section. Side wall
25
is dimensioned to fit closely inside side wall
15
of housing
13
, with top wall
23
extending radially outwardly across side wall
15
and defining a circumferential flange
27
used to mount unit
11
in a hole H formed in a workbench W or the like. A pair of spaced apart circumferential lips
29
and
31
are formed on the outside surface of side wall
25
of cap
21
, lips
29
and
31
defining a groove
33
therebetween. The outside surface of side wall
25
tapers slightly inwardly in diameter from lip
31
to the bottom surface thereof. Housing
13
and cap
21
are secured to one another by staking (i.e., mechanically deforming) housing
13
into groove
33
at approximately four points
34
equidistantly spaced around the circumference of housing
13
.
Unit
11
further comprises a piston
41
, piston
41
being slidably mounted within housing
13
. Piston
41
, which is made by stamping and rolling a suitable sheet of metal, is a generally cylindrical, hollow member and includes a bottom wall
43
, a circular side wall
45
and an open top. A ring
47
is fixedly secured by a press-fit to the outside surface of side wall
45
, ring
47
being disposed a short distance from bottom wall
43
. The top surface of ring
47
is used to engage the bottom end of a spring
49
, the top end of spring
49
being engaged by lip
31
of cap
21
. Spring
49
serves to bias piston
41
downwardly towards bottom wall
17
of housing
13
. A rubber seal
51
is snugly fitted around side wall
45
of piston
41
and is engaged at its top surface by the bottom surface of ring
47
in such a way that ring
47
keeps seal
51
from sliding up on piston
41
. Seal
51
serves to create an air-tight chamber between the bottom end of piston
41
and housing
13
, seal
51
typically being of the split design variety (e.g., U-cup, block-V) so that, when seal
51
is subjected to upward fluid pressure, its outer leg is urged against the inside surf
Bidwell James R.
Kriegsman & Kriegsman
LandOfFree
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