Conveyors: power-driven – Conveyor system for arranging or rearranging stream of items – By longitudinally respacing successive articles in stream
Reexamination Certificate
1999-10-27
2001-10-23
Ellis, Christopher P. (Department: 3651)
Conveyors: power-driven
Conveyor system for arranging or rearranging stream of items
By longitudinally respacing successive articles in stream
Reexamination Certificate
active
06305525
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND
The present invention is directed to a pressureless infeed conveyor table for use with a control means for forming predetermined spaces between articles on a conveyor line in order to create a uniform column for further processing, particularly in a packaging process. The pressureless infeed conveyor table has a direct drive means for moving the first carriage which reduces stress on the sprocket assembly, thereby lessening the amount of mass required to comprise the sprocket assembly. The lightweight sprocket assembly allows an increase in the speed and efficiency at which the carriage can reciprocate, resulting in increased production speed.
In an automated packaging process, it is desirable to arrange the articles on the infeed conveying line in a uniform column with a predetermined spacing between them. However, there is a tendency for the articles to be positioned at irregular intervals along the conveyor.
If the articles being processed are sticky, the problem is compounded where even the slightest irregular spacing can cause unwanted article accumulations to occur on the conveyor. These accumulations can require that the conveying line be shut down to correct the problem. These shutdowns increase production time and production costs, as well. Consequently, there is a need for an infeed conveyor table that can quickly and efficiently form articles on a conveyor line into a uniform column having a predetermined spacing.
It is known that a predetermined distance can be created between articles moving in a column by simultaneously changing the effective lengths of a supply belt and a downstream removal belt as each article moves from the former to the latter. The effective lengths of the belts are varied by reciprocating carriages which are moved back and forth by a sprocket assembly driven by a servomotor.
The sprocket assembly must be strong enough to overcome the inertial forces created by the weight of the carriages as well as the weight of the assembly itself in order to move. Consequently, the sprocket assemblies of the prior art are of a large mass and weight. The speed of the carriages is dependent on the speed at which the sprocket assembly can be driven. A heavy sprocket assembly, such as required by the prior art infeed devices, is cumbersome and is forced to move at a slower rate of speed. Therefore, the speed of the carriage is reduced and the resultant operating speed of the infeed device is diminished by the weight of the sprocket assembly in the prior art devices.
For the foregoing reasons, there is a need for a pressureless infeed conveyor table having a direct drive means for the reciprocating carriages in order to provide a faster and more efficient device for use in a system which spaces articles in a uniform column with predetermined distance between the articles.
SUMMARY
The present invention is directed to a device that satisfies the need for a faster and more efficient pressureless infeed conveyor table for use in a conveying line to form a predetermined spacing between the conveyed articles.
In a preferred embodiment, an endless supply belt, trained about a plurality of supply belt rollers, is positioned upstream from an endless removal belt which is trained about a plurality of removal belt rollers. At least one of the supply belt rollers and at least one of the removal belt rollers is mounted on a first carriage that moves back and forth. A second reciprocating carriage also includes a supply belt roller and a removal belt roller mounted thereon.
The effective lengths of the belts are varied by moving the first and second carriages. By varying the effective lengths of the upper reaches of the supply and removal belts, a predetermined distance is established between a leading article and a trailing article as the articles move from the supply belt onto the removal belt.
The first carriage is driven by a carriage drive means which includes a reversible servo-motor and a carriage drive belt trained about rollers. The first carriage is directly attached to the carriage drive belt which is driven by the reversible servo-motor with the rollers.
The first and second carriages are interconnected by a sprocket belt which freely rotates about sprocket wheels. Since the sprocket belt is attached to the first and second carriages, it moves in concert with the carriages.
A plurality of support blocks are attached to and extend outwardly from the sprocket belt. These support blocks inhibit undesired oscillations in the endless supply and removal belts.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a pressureless infeed conveyor table which allows an increase in the rate of speed at which the carriages can be driven.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide an infeed conveyor table that operates more efficiently to increase article processing speed.
It is a further object of the present invention to increase the speed and efficiency of a pressureless infeed system for packaging processes.
It is a further object of the present invention to increase the efficiency of an infeed system by providing a pressureless infeed conveyor table that allows the reciprocating carriages to move at higher speeds by reducing the mass of the sprocket assembly.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a direct drive means for moving the reciprocating carriages on a pressureless infeed conveyor table.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide an infeed conveyor table that reduces the inertial force required to move the sprocket assembly.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a pressureless infeed conveyor table that reduces wear and tear on the sprocket assembly.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a pressureless infeed conveyor table that reduces the amount of required service and maintenance.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a pressureless infeed conveyor table that detects the conveyed articles at a significant distance upstream from the transfer location between the endless supply belt and the endless removal belt.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a pressureless infeed conveyor table having a sprocket assembly which is driven by one of the carriages.
In a preferred embodiment of the present invention the drive system used to move the carriages creates a low force loading on the sprocket assembly during the reciprocating action of the carriages. The upper carriage is driven directly, while the sprocket belt and lower carriage merely track with the movement of the upper carriage. With the low force load, wear and tear on the sprocket assembly is reduced.
With less stress on the sprocket belt and sprocket rollers, they are of a reduced size and mass, thereby decreasing the weight of the sprocket assembly. It can be appreciated that by decreasing the weight, size and mass of the sprocket assembly, the starting and stopping speeds of the sprocket assembly are enhanced, and the speed at which the carriages can move is increased.
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Layton Ken S.
Miller Terrance D.
Salley William E.
Cox Boyd D.
Delta Systems, Inc.
Dillon, Jr. Joe
Ellis Christopher P.
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