Conveyors: power-driven – Conveyor section – Reciprocating conveying surface
Reexamination Certificate
1999-10-26
2001-08-28
Hess, Douglas (Department: 2167)
Conveyors: power-driven
Conveyor section
Reciprocating conveying surface
C198S766000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06279731
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention concerns vibratory conveyor tables.
Vibratory conveyor tables are used in various production operations for the conveyance of small particles including various food products. Characteristically, such tables include a base on which a power source is mounted for driving an actuator imparting motion to connector means coupled to a tray supporting the articles to be conveyed. Such trays are movably mounted on struts carried by the base to permit vibratory movement of the tray and advancement of articles thereon in a unidirectional intermittent manner.
Commonly vibratory tables are designed to convey specific articles with the vibratory tray travel calculated for optimum conveyance of the articles. Accordingly, a vibratory table intended for use in a particular conveying operation is not readily altered for use in a different conveying operation, for example, with articles of different size and/or weight. To modify throw or travel imparted to a vibratory tray entails considerable effort in the disassembly of drive components and substitution of different components. Additionally, the modification of a vibratory conveyor table can require taking of the table out of a production line for a substantial period of time, which is highly undesirable during the processing of food products as such equipment frequently operates on a 24 hour a day basis during such times. The changing of bearings, shafts, etc., can entail costly machining to modify tray action or simply maintain such a table as such components are often designed to accomplish a specific use. An eccentric drive for tray activation may include connecting rods and eccentrics while other such tables are powered utilizing drive leaves of planar shape terminating in attachment to other leaves which support the table in a yieldable manner.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,165,197 discloses a vibratory conveyor table utilizing connecting rods to couple an eccentric drive with the table with each of the connecting rods connected to the table by flexible tabs or strips.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,362,524 discloses leaf members supporting a vibratory table on a base of the conveyor with the leaves made of “metal, or of impregnated multi-ply laminated fibrous material . . . ”. Vibratory motion is imparted directly to the tables of the machine by eccentrics and rigid connectors.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,542,186 discloses a vibratory conveyor table having an eccentric drive powering rigid connecting rods each terminating at their distal ends in fiberglass “flexures” which depend from table segments. The “flexures” are of planar shape.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,901,380 shows a conveyor table supported by resilient struts.
SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT INVENTION
The present invention is embodied within a vibratory conveyor table and specifically the drive system for imparting vibratory movement to the conveyor table.
A base of the conveyor table supports a tray of the table in a yieldable manner by spring biased links or struts. Additionally, the base supports a power source driving an eccentric equipped shaft. The shaft carried eccentrics in bearing housings impart vibratory motion to the table tray through flexible connector plates. Each bearing housing is detachably mounted on a connector. Stiffeners in place on each connector plate and serve to reinforce a segment of the connector plate against flexure with stiffeners of different lengths being interchangeable to render desired segments of the connector plate inflexible to accomplish the desired throw or travel of the conveyor pan. Fastener elements retain the stiffeners in place on a connector plate and permit ready substitution of shorter or longer stiffeners to achieve desired tray action. Pillow block bearing housings may be utilized in the present tray drive system to render servicing or replacement of same in an economical, convenient manner as opposed to the use of custom made components.
Important objectives of the present invention include the provision of a drive system for the tray of a vibratory table including a connector plate of synthetic flexible material imparting vibratory motion directly to the conveyor table tray; the provision of a flexible connector plate coupling an eccentric bearing housing to the vibratory pan of a conveyor table with stiffener means being detachably mounted to the connector plate to permit varying the throw or travel of the tray; the provision of a laminated connector plate having stiffeners clamped thereto to vary the flexibility of the connector plate and accordingly the throw imparted to the vibratory tray.
REFERENCES:
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patent: 3348664 (1967-10-01), Renner
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patent: 4162778 (1979-07-01), Kraft
patent: 4313535 (1982-02-01), Carmichael
patent: 4449626 (1984-05-01), Dodd
patent: 4813532 (1989-03-01), Harper
patent: 6112883 (2000-09-01), Krause et al.
Givnan, Jr. James D.
Hess Douglas
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