EP4662539A1

EP4662539A1 - Roller conveyor arrangement

Info

Publication number: EP4662539A1
Application number: EP24707133.5A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Christian Ripperda
Original assignee: Interroll Holding AG
Current assignee: Interroll Holding AG
Priority date: 2023-02-08
Filing date: 2024-02-07
Publication date: 2025-12-17
Also published as: WO2024165600A1

Abstract

Roller conveyor arrangement, having a plurality of roller conveyor zones (2), each roller conveyor zone (2) is adapted to convey an object (9) from an inlet (I) of said conveyor zone (2) to an outlet (O) of said conveyor zone (2) along a conveying direction (d), each roller conveyor zone (2) comprises a plurality of conveyor rollers (3), the conveyor rollers (3) are rotationally connected to each other via a mechanical drive connector (31), so that a drive power can be distributed mechanically between said conveyor rollers (3); wherein in at least one of said roller conveyor zones said plurality of conveyor rollers (3) comprises at least a first motorized conveyor roller (3M1) and a second motorized conveyor roller (3M2), each having an internal electric motor (34), and wherein the first motorized conveyor roller (3M1) and the second motorized conveyor roller (3M2) are rotationally connected to each other via said mechanical drive connector (31).

Description

Roller conveyor arrangement

Description

The invention refers to a roller conveyor arrangement.

In a roller conveyor arrangement having conveyor zones an object is conveyed from an inlet to an outlet. A plurality of zones may be assembled for a conveyor arrangement. Each conveyor zone has a plurality of conveyor rollers, which are rotationally connected to each other via a mechanical drive connection. In particular such a drive connection comprises a Poly-V belt. Conventionally each conveyor zone comprises exactly one motorized conveyor roller to drive the rollers. All rollers except the one motorized roller are idler rollers. Such an arrangement is disclosed in EP 1 671 901 B1.

Conventionally a motorized roller for the use in a roller conveyor provides a drive power of about 50Wto 70W. In principle it is possible to provide motorized conveyor rollers with a larger electric motor, to enable more powerful motorized rollers. But larger motors generate more heat within the roller tube, which is a limiting factor for maximum power of a motorized conveyor roller.

US 2012/0290126 A1 describes that conventional roller conveyors comprises plurality of motorized and non-motorized rollers.

US 6,729,463 A1 discloses a conveyor having a plurality of conveyor zones. Each zone includes a plurality of rollers driven by motors. The motors are operably coupled to a controller. The controller synchronously controls each of the motors in upon sensed feedback from fixed sensors in each zone. The controller coordinates operation of the motors in each of the control zones so that the motors in each zone functionally operate as a single fixed drive unit to form fixed control zones, d and non-motorized rollers. No mechanical drive connection between the rollers is disclosed. Another conveyor comprising a conveyor zone that have more than one motorized roller is disclosed in US 2016/0075518 A1. Conveyors, requiring more power, are conventionally not operated as roller conveyors. Instead such conveyors are established by belt conveyors which are driven by much stronger drum motors or gear motors. Drawback thereby is the higher costs per conveyor length compared to a roller conveyor.

It is an object of the invention to improve the conventional conveyor zones. The object is solved by the subject of the main claims; embodiments are subject to the subclaims and the description.

The present invention proposes to use at least two motorized conveyor rollers within a conveyor zone. Also higher numbers of motorized conveyor rollers can be used within one zone. Here the drive power (generation) is split to several rollers, so that the heat generation within one of said rollers is limited. As a consequence, the cheap and easy to install roller conveyors can now be used also for heavier fields of usage.

The drive connector comprises in particular one or more Poly-V-belts, drive-connecting a plurality of rollers within one zone with each other. In an embodiment the motorized rollers are connected to each other for synchronizing the operation of the electric motors.

An example embodiment of the invention is described in more detail with the help of the figures; herein show fig. 1 a conveyor zone in perspective view; fig. 2 a conveyor arrangement in perspective view; fig. 3 a schematic diagram of the rollers and the zone controller; fig. 4 a configuration PC during configuring the zone controller.

Fig. 1 shows an exemplary conveyor zone 2, comprising several conveyor rollers 3 which are driven together. For this purpose at least two of the conveyor rollers 3 are designed as a motorized conveyor roller 3M. Each of the motorized conveyor rollers 3M are driven in particular by a three-phase motor arranged within the motorized roller 3M. Via a mechanical drive connector(s) 31 , e.g. a drive belt in particular a Poly-V belt, all conveyor rollers 3 of conveyor zone 2 are drive-connected to each other and are jointly driven by the at least two motorized conveyor rollers 3M. The upper side of the rollers 3 form a conveyor surface, on which an object 9 is in particular linearly conveyed from an inlet I to an outlet O along a conveying direction d. Conveyor rollers, which are not motorized, are idler rollers 3L.

By means of a presence sensor 5, the presence of a conveyed object 9 arranged on the conveyor zone 2 can be determined as soon as the object comes into the field of view of the sensor. The presence sensor 5 does not necessarily cover the entire conveyor zone 2; it is sufficient if the presence of a conveyed object 9 within a partial area of the conveyor zone 2 is detected by the presence sensor 5. The presence sensor 5 thereby generates a sensor signal, which is connected via a signal line (not shown) to a local zone controller 11 (see fig. 2) presented further below.

In particular the presence sensor 5 comprises a photoelectric sensor, in particular in the form of a through-beam type or a reflective type. The conveyor rollers 3 and the presence sensor 5 are attached to a common support frame 4. The conveyor rollers 3 of several conveyor zones 2 can be attached to a common support frame 4.

The motorized conveyor rollers 3M are controlled by at least one or a plurality of local zone controllers 11. A single local zone controller 11 may control all motorized conveyor rollers 3M of an individual conveyor zone 2. A plurality of zone controllers 11 are arranged in a conveyor arrangement 1 (figure 2), which communicate with each other via a bus connection 13.

Fig. 2 shows a basic conveyor arrangement 1, where conveyor zones 2a..e as described previously are provided. A plurality of zone controllers 11 control the operation of the conveyor zones 2. A PLC 12 (programmable logic control) may be provided to control the overall operation of the conveyor arrangement 1.

Scanners (not shown) may be arranged along the conveyor zones 2 and provide identification data relating to objects 9 passing the scanner in the zones. These identification data are sent via a bus connection 13 to the PLC 12. The PLC 12 has access to an object data base (not shown), which provides destination data based on the identification of the objects 9.

In an alternative embodiment as described in European patent application 22 180 381.0, no PLC or similar is required. Instead of a PLC the zone controllers are connected to a common higher-level object data broker, in particular via the bus connection, with which the zone controllers are also connected to one another. The data broker provides destination data related to the identified objects and the zone controllers are adapted to control operation of the zones based on the provided destination data.

In particular the zone controllers 11 control the motorized conveyor rollers 3M in such a way that successively approaching conveyed objects 9 do not collide with each other, which is usually called “zero pressure accumulation”. The control takes place in such a way that essentially only one conveyed object 9 is present per conveyor zone 2. However, slight overlaps may occur. For example, an upstream conveyed object 9b located on an upstream conveyor zone 2c may already enter a downstream conveyor zone 2d even though the downstream conveyed object 9a has not yet left this downstream conveyor zone 2d completely. Among other things, the sensor signals of the presence sensors 5 serve as input variables here, although it is ensured that the two conveyed objects 9a, 9b do not touch and thus do not damage each other.

Fig. 3 shows a first motorized roller 3M1 and a second motorized roller 3M2 of the conveyor zone of fig. 1 and 2. Each motorized roller 3M comprises a roller tube 32 and an internal electric motor 34, located within the roller tube 32. The roller tube 32 is drive-connected to the internal electric motor 34 by an internal connector 33. The internal connector 33 may comprise a transmission and/or a clutch.

The electric motor 34 is controlled from a motor controller 35 located within the roller tube 32. The motor controller 35 is connected via a data line 36 to one of a plurality of connector port (s), in particular connector sockets, C1 .. C4 of zone controller 11. Electric energy to power the electric motor may be provided via data line 36 or via a separate energy line (not shown).

Presence sensors 5 are connected to connector port C5, C6.

A connector socket is to be considered as a mechanical facility, where a cable can be attached mechanically. In an alternative embodiment the connecting port may be a virtual address, e.g. an IP address or a port address, which provides access to a unique identifiable motor roller. Therefore the connecting port is not limited to mechanical connecting devices.

In particular the electric motor 34 is a three-phase motor and the motor controller 35 comprises a frequency converter adapted to provide three-phase current to the electric motor 34.

To avoid any disadvantageous modes of operation between the coupled motorized rollers 3M, the operations of said motor controllers 35 are synchronized. A synchronization connection S is depicted in fig. 3 by a dotted line and enables required communication to enable said synchronization.

Said synchronization may be performed by exchanging and/or harmonizing regulator values within in both motor controllers 35. The regulator values to be harmonized may comprise a regulator set value, e.g. a set value defining the motor current.

It is to be differentiated between a regulator value of a motor controller and a control value, issued by the zone controller or another external controller. The motor regulator regulates operation of the motor within the motorized roller, thereby enabling that independently from the external load acting to the roller, the motor is operating at a given target speed. The target speed is predetermined or individually provided by the zone controller.

In particular both motor controllers 35 are operated with identical regulator set values and/or identical regulator parameter values.

The regulator values may be provided

- centrally by the zone controller to said motor controllers,

- by a first motor controller (master) to a second motor controller (slave). For enabling said synchronization, said zone controller 11 enables said synchronization connection S.

The zone controller 11 is in general suitable to support different modes of operation. In a first mode of operation, which is also known as a conventional mode of operation, a conveyor zone 2 comprises exactly one motorized roller 3M, where the motorized roller 3M is exclusively connected to idler rollers 3L. Said first mode of operation isolated is known e.g. from EP1671901 B1 (figure 13).

Within a second mode of operation (as described above), the conveyor zone 2 comprises said two or more motorized rollers 3M1, 3M2, where at least two of said motorized rollers 3M within one conveyor zone 2 are connected to each other by said mechanical drive connector 31 , e.g. shown in fig. 1. The drive connection by mechanical drive connector 31 between two motorized rollers 3M may be indirect, where an idler roller 3L may be provided in between said two motorized rollers 3M as shown in fig. 1.

To enable the operation in the second mode said synchronization connection S is established. For configuring the modes of operation a configuration application is used (see fig. 4) which is running on a configuration IT device 14, e.g. a tablet PC, or directly on the zone controller 11. By means of a user interaction III, e.g. a drag operation, the user can define a number of connector ports C1 , C2, at which the synchronized motorized rollers 3M1, 3M2 are connected to.

In an alternative embodiment the synchronization connection S is established automatically. In a configuration mode, the zone controller 11 initiates a test rotation of a first motorized roller 3M1 , e.g. connected to a first connector port C1. Accordingly, the first motorized roller 3M1 is set into rotation. This rotation will automatically cause the second motorized roller 3M2 to rotate as well, in case that said second motorized roller (e.g. connected to second connector port C2) is drive-connected via a mechanical drive connector 31 to the first motorized roller 3M1. The rotation of said second motorized roller 3M2 is now detected by an internal rotation sensor of the second motorized roller 3M2. The detected rotation is forwarded to the zone controller 11 via the data line 36.

Accordingly the zone controller 11 detects, that the second motorized roller 3M2, attached to the second connector port C2 signals a rotation, which is conform to the test rotation of the first motorized roller 3M1. Such detected synchronous movement is a hint, that there is a mechanical connector provided between the two motorized rollers 3M1, 3M2. As a consequence the zone controller 11 establishes automatically said synchronization connection S between said two connector ports C1 , C2, to which said motor rollers 3M are connected to. List of reference signs

1 conveyor arrangement

2 conveyor zone

3 conveyor roller

3L idler roller

3M motor-driven conveyor roller

31 mechanical drive connector

32 roller tube

33 internal connector

34 electric motor

35 motor controller

36 data line

4 support frame

5 presence sensor

9 object to be conveyed

11 local zone controller

12 PLC

13 bus connection

14 configuration computer

I inlet

O outlet d conveying direction

S synchronization connection

III user interaction

C1..6 connector port

Claims

1. Roller conveyor arrangement, having a plurality of roller conveyor zones (2), each roller conveyor zone (2) is adapted to convey an object (9) from an inlet (I) of said conveyor zone (2) to an outlet (O) of said conveyor zone (2) along a conveying direction (d), each roller conveyor zone (2) comprises a plurality of conveyor rollers (3), the conveyor rollers (3) are rotationally connected to each other via a mechanical drive connector (31), so that a drive power can be distributed mechanically between said conveyor rollers (3); characterized in that in at least one of said roller conveyor zones said plurality of conveyor rollers (3) comprises at least a first motorized conveyor roller (3M1) and a second motorized conveyor roller (3M2), each having an internal electric motor (34), and that the first motorized conveyor roller (3M1) and the second motorized conveyor roller (3M2) are rotationally connected to each other via said mechanical drive connector (31).

2. Roller conveyor arrangement according to the preceding claims, characterized in that a synchronization connection (S) is provided between said first motorized roller (3M1) and said second motorized roller (3M2), the synchronization connection (S) is adapted to provide a communication between the motorized rollers (3M1, 3M2) enabling the synchronous operation of the motorized rollers (3M1, 3M2).

3. Roller conveyor arrangement according to the preceding claims, characterized in that said synchronization connection (S) is adapted to exchange motor regulator values between a first motor controller (35) of said first motorized conveyor roller (3M1) and a second motor controller (35) of said second motorized conveyor roller (3M2).

4. Roller conveyor arrangement according to any of claim 2 or 3, characterized in that the first motorized conveyor roller (3M1) and the second motorized conveyor roller (3M2) each comprising a motor controller (35) adapted to control operation of the electric motor (34) contained within the motorized roller (3M); in particular having a regulator and/or a frequency converter, wherein the motor controller (35) of the first motorized roller (3M1) and the motor controller (35) of the second motorized roller (3M2) are adapted to communicate with each other via said synchronization connection (S) to enable synchronous operation of the motorized rollers (3M1, 3M2).

5. Roller conveyor arrangement (1) according to any of the preceding claims, comprising a zone controller (11), the zone controller (11) is adapted to control the operation of the motorized rollers (3M) within said conveyor zone (2), in particular the zone controller (11) is adapted to control the operation of the conveyor zones (2), based on a sensor signal received from a presence sensor (5), wherein the presence sensor (5) is adapted to detect the presence of an object to be conveyed (9) with in the conveyor zone (2),

6. Use of a zone controller (11) in a Roller conveyor arrangement (1) according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the zone controller (11) is adapted to control the operation of that said conveyor zone (2) in two different modes of operation, wherein in a first mode of operation only one motorized roller (3M) is provided in one conveyor zone (2) and the motorized conveyor roller (3M) is rotatably connected only with idler rollers (3L); wherein in a second mode of operation at least two motorized rollers (3M1, 3M2) are provided in one conveyor zone (2) and the motorized conveyor rollers (3M1, 3M2) are rotatably connected with each other via a mechanical drive connector (31); wherein for controlling the conveyor arrangement (1) the zone controller (2) is adapted to be switched from the first mode of operation into the second mode of operation.

7. Use according to the preceding claim, wherein the zone controller (11) comprises a plurality of connector ports, in particular sockets (C1 .. C4), to which a motorized conveyor roller (3M) can be attached to, wherein in a definition step during configuration of the zone controller (11), at least two connector ports(C1 , C2) are defined out of said plurality of connector ports (C1 .. C4), to which said motorized rollers (3M1, 3M2) are connected to in the second mode of operation.

8. Use according to the preceding claim, wherein the definition step is performed by a user input (Ul).

9. Use according to claim 7, wherein the definition step is performed by an automated procedure within the zone controller (11).

10. Use of a roller conveyor arrangement according to any of claims 1 to 5 or use according to any of claims 6 to 9, wherein a performance of the at least two motorized rollers are monitored, wherein in case a difference of the monitored performance is detected,

- a maintenance operation is initiated, and/or

- a increased wear of one of the motorized rollers is determined, and/or

- a alarm signal is issue.

11. Use according the preceding claim. wherein the performance is monitored by

- comparing current values, and/or

- comparing temperature values, and/or

- comparing voltage values and/or

- internal regular values of a motor regulators of the respective motorized rollers with each other.

12. Use of a roller conveyor arrangement according to any of claims 1 to 5 or use according to any of claims 6 to 11 , monitoring a direction of rotation and/or a rotation speed of the at least two motorized rollers, and in case the directions of rotation and/or the rotation speed differ from each other in particular above a predefined limit value; setting at least one of the motorized conveyor into a safety modus.