Trolley conveyor system having a helically twisted track for a p

Railways – Car-carried propulsion system – Electric

Patent

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Details

104 89, 104106, 105 30, 105155, 191 53, 191 63, 362 61, 362285, B61B 300, E01B 2500

Patent

active

053516206

DESCRIPTION:

BRIEF SUMMARY
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a carrier system for a positionable mobile device, in various directions in space, comprising a trolley movable along a guide ramp, the guide ramp acting as a support for the device. This device can be any device emitting or receiving rays provided with a directive nature, such as a light source emitting luminous beam, a scanner providing a directional characteristic, or any other device that has to adopt various positions during its functioning, such as a material handling device ensuring the gripping of an object or an article and then depositing it at another place.
2. Discussion of Background Information
Currently, in the field of lighting, systems are known which comprise a horizontal electric lamp along which a journalled support equipped with a socket and a reflector receiving an electric bulb can slide. Such a system has several disadvantages. Notably, the system requires displacement means in each of the horizontal and vertical directions, making this a complex and expensive system, which however, only enables the system to perform relatively slow maneuvers because of the decomposition of the movement and stop time necessary to pass from one displacement direction to another.


SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The object of the present invention is to overcome the disadvantages of known systems by creating a system that is simple and inexpensive, and enables displacement of a device positionable in such a way that it can be easily directed along any direction, and ensures an omni-directional scanning of space.
To this end, in a system according to the invention, the ramp has a shape of a ribbon twisted helically about a rectilinear or possibly incurred axial line, and the trolley is constituted by a pair of axles having substantially parallel axes holding the ramp between them in a sandwich, against which they are applied by virtue of elastic connecting means that bias them toward each other, whereas the positionable device is mounted in one of the two axles, so as to turn with it about its own axis, either permanently or intermittently.
In a system conceived as such, a displacement of the trolley along the helical ramp is accompanied by a double rotational movement of the positionable device, or in other words about the axial line of the ramp, because of its helical shape, and about the axis of the axle that beds such device, because of the rotation of this axle moving on the ramp. Thus, the system enables a simple and easy positioning of the positionable device in an omni-directional manner, any journalled complicated assembly becoming useless henceforth. When this device is a source emitting luminous beam, the trolley need only be displaced on its ramp to be able to light up any point in space.
It must be ensured that the two axles of the trolley have respective moment of weight substantially equal with respect to the axis of the ramp, so that the trolley is always in equilibrium, not affected by its angular position about the axis of the ramp.
In one embodiment, the ramp has a continuous slot along its axial line and the elastic connection means of the two axles comprise a central elastic link passing through this slot, thus ensuring the guidance of the axles along the ramp.
In another embodiment, each of the axles comprises a central body that rests on a respective surface of the ramp by wheels capable of rolling on it or possibly sliding on it by guiding the axles when they are displaced along the ramp; whereas, the device that is positionable is affixed to the central body of one of the two axles, this central body being rotationably coupled with the wheels of the latter either permanently or intermittently.
A manual displacement means can be attached to the trolley along the ramp, such as a cord following the axial line of such ramp, and being able to be manually moved by a translational movement. It will then be necessary for the wheels of the axle whose central body bears the positionable device to be affixe

REFERENCES:
patent: 2959138 (1960-11-01), Foster
patent: 3345471 (1967-10-01), Kilburg
patent: 3681542 (1972-04-01), Johnson
patent: 4023503 (1977-05-01), Grop
patent: 4170942 (1979-10-01), Achreka
patent: 4430694 (1984-02-01), Koivumaki et al.
patent: 4519021 (1985-05-01), Oram
patent: 4553193 (1985-11-01), Evans

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