GB2153323A

GB2153323A - Curve-negotiating plate conveyor

Info

Publication number: GB2153323A
Application number: GB08418780A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Richard Sattler; Karl G Oelschlager; Wolfgang Bannert
Original assignee: Rexnord Kette GmbH
Current assignee: Rexnord Kette GmbH
Priority date: 1984-01-26
Filing date: 1984-07-24
Publication date: 1985-08-21
Also published as: FR2558808B1; BE900339A; BR8404807A; DK503684A; IT1178015B; ES290149U; DK503684D0; GB8418780D0; SE8404594D0; NL8402328A; ZA846499B; DE3402529A1; GB2153323B; IT8448940A0; IT8448940A1; SE8404594L; FR2558808A1; CH664341A5

Abstract

A curve-negotiating plate 4 conveyor 1, which comprises a series of plate links 2 which are connected to one another at their front and rear edges by means of hinge eyes 4 and hinge pins 5, is provided with guide surfaces 8 which extend parallel to the longitudinal axis of the conveyor and engage with fixed guide rails to guide the conveyor 1 along its required path of conveyance. The guide surfaces 8 are provided on the ends of the hinge pins 5. The guide surfaces 8 can be formed more cheaply in this way than by providing them on separate parts welded to the plate links of the conveyor as is usual. They can also be more easily replaced when they become excessively worn. In an alternative embodiment the guide surfaces are provided on the outer end faces of the hinge eyes 4. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Curve-negotiating plate conveyor This invention relates to curve-negotiating plate conveyors comprising a series of plate links which are connected together end to end by hinge eyes and hinge pins extending through the hinge eyes and which have guide surfaces extending parallel to the longitudinal axis of the conveyor for engagement with guide rails to guide the conveyor along its required path.

In such conveyors, an example of which is disclosed in U.S. Patent Specification No.

3,513,964, separate guide shoes are usually welded under the individual plate links to perform the function of guiding the conveyor on guide rails along its curved path. For this purpose, inclined side faces of the guide shoes slide along similarly inclined guide faces dn the guide rails which are fixed. The angle of inclination is selected so that the plate links cannot lift off upwards from the guide rails.

It is also known from German Patent Specification 2,829,108 to weld to the hinge eyes of the plate links guide tabs which keep the plate links on the prescribed track. However, both these ways of providing the guide surfaces are either too costly or are difficult to manufacture, or both.

The object of this invention is accordingly to reduce appreciably the outlay in terms of manufacturing cost and material used for forming the guide surfaces of a conveyor as initially described and this is done by enabling the plate links to be guided without providing additional components just for this purpose.

Thus, according to this invention, in a conveyor as initially described the guide surfaces are provided on ends of the hinge pins or on parts mounted at ends of the hinge pins.

The hinge pins can be made by cold-upsetting in a two-stage press, a subordinate operation being to form a head on one end of the hinge pin. Pins formed in this way can be mounted in the plate conveyor either with the guide surfaces alternately on the sides of the conveyor or on one side only; there is no longer any need for the separate guide elements hitherto provided.

Each hinge pin may have a blind bore in one end face or have blind bores in both ends and then plastics or steel guide tabs can be provided with spigots which are inserted into the bores. The spigots which may, for example, be snapped into the bores can be of various forms and/or can consist of different materials, and the tabs may be provided either on one end or on both ends of the pins.

The guide tabs can be parts injection-moulded from plastics material or forged from steel.

The guide surfaces may be either rectangular or trapezoidal, or of other shapes.

The invention may alternatively consist according to another of its aspects in a conveyor as initially described, wherein the guide surfaces are provided on outer end faces of outer hinge eyes.

With this arrangement, the plate links again guide themselves along the rails without any additional guide components being necessary.

So that the guide surfaces can be provided on the hinge eyes without any additional outlay in terms of manufacture, each plate link may be made from a plate link blank having a central tongue at one end to form one hinge eye and two tongues spaced-apart side by side at the other end to form two spaced apart hinge eyes, the outer longitudinal edges of the spaced-apart tongues having arched outer edges shaped to form the guide surfaces when the tongues are rolled to form the hinge eyes. Because of the guiding properties which are improved as a result of the invention, the rails of a plate conveyor in accordance with the invention preferably have inclined guide surfaces, so that the matching guide surfaces of either the hinge pins or the hinge eyes have to be inclined in a corresponding way.The arched outer longitudinal edges of the tongues of the stamped-out blank make it possible to obtain inclined guide surfaces automatically, when the tongues for producing the hinge eyes are rolled up to form the eyes in the conventional way.

There is no need for the arch shape of the tongues if guide shoes enclosing the hinge pin are pressed into the hinge eyes. In this construction, hinge pins of shorter length can be used.

Some examples of conveyors in accordance with the invention are illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 is an underneath plan view of a first example; Figure 2 is a side view of one plate of the first example showing a hinge pin with a guide surface formed on it; Figure 3 is a partial cross-section of the plate and pin shown in Figure 2; Figure 4 is a view of the whole of a hinge pin of the first example: Figure 5 is an end view of the pin of Figure 4 showing a rectangular guide surface; Figure 6 is a cross-section through one plate of a second example showing a modified hinge pin; Figure 7 is a cross-section through one plate of a third example; Figure 8 is a plan view of a stamped-out blank for making a plate of the third example; and, Figure 9 is a cross-section similar to Figure 6, but of a fourth example.

A curve-negotiating plate conveyor 1 is commonly used, for example, for conveying bottles and vessels of various types in industrial installations and for handling foodstuffs and liquids in containers in packaging installations. The plate conveyor 1 comprises a series of plate links 2 arranged in succession and forming a flat supporting surface 3 for the transported material. Each link consists of a flat middle part, of which one edge has a central hinge eye 4 and the opposite edge has two hinge eyes 4 arranged at a distance from one another. The central eye 4 engages in the gap between the spaced eyes 4 of the adjacent plate link and is connected pivotally to the latter by means of a hinge pin 5. The eyes 4 between the plate links 2 are constructed so that they allow the individual plate links 2 to pivot laterally relative to each other.

In curve-negotiating plate conveyors 1 such as this, the flat plate link parts are guided along a fixed guide track consisting of two guide rails 6 located opposite one another (Figure 6). The rails 6 each have an inclined guide surface 7, and these hold the flat plate link parts in a horizontal plane and guide them around curves.

Guide surfaces 8 on the conveyor which engage with the guide rails 6 are likewise inclined and are located directly against the hinge pins 5, for which purpose the pins each have a head formed on one end. With the exception of special uses allowing guide surfaces to be provided on one side of the plate conveyor 1 only, the hinge pins 5 are mounted with the surfaces 8 alternately on the two sides when the individual plate links 2 are joined together, so that guidance on both sides can be achieved by means of the guide surfaces or heads 8 arranged alternately on the left and right.

The hinge pins 5 illustrated in Figure 4 have the slightly inclined guide surfaces 8 which can be made either trapezoidal (Figure 2) or rectangular (Figure 5). The end of each hinge pin 5 located remote from the guide surface 8 tapers conically, thus providing an aid to assembly since the pin, when inserted into the eyes 4, can thereby be centered automatically and pushed through more easily.

In the hinge pin 5 according to Figure 6, inclined guide tabs 10 are inserted into blind bores 9 located in both ends of the hinge pin by means of spigots engaging into the blind bores. Such a pin makes it possible to provide on both ends of each hinge pin guide tabs 10 of various shapes and produced from different materials and to secure them in the blind bores 9, for example by means of a snap connection. The guide tabs 10 and their spigots may be moulded out of plastics material or they may be of steel.

In the plate conveyor according to Figure 7, the outer hinge eyes 4 of the plate links 2, which are joined to one another by means of a central hinge eye between two outer hinge eyes and are secured by means of the hinge pin 5, are provided at their outer ends with inclined outer guide surfaces 12, which match and engage with the inclined surfaces 7 of the guide rails 6.

Each plate link 2 of the conveyor of Figure 7 is produced from a blank 1 3 (Figure 8) and is usually stamped out from sheet carbon steel or stainless steel. The blank 1 3 has the generally rectangular part of the subsequent supporting surface 3 of the final plate link 2. A pair of tongues 1 4 arranged at a distance from one another extends from the front edge of the blank 1 3 and a central tongue 1 5 extends from its opposite edge. The hinge eyes 4 are formed from the tongues 14, 1 5 when the latter are rolled up. So that the guide surfaces 1 2 can be obtained with the desired inclination, without an additional manufacturing step, the two tongues 1 4 arranged next to one another have arched outer longitudinal edges 16.

The plate conveyor illustrated in Figure 9 has hinge eyes 4 without outer inclined surfaces. Here, guidance is provided by guide shoes 1 6 each of which has a sloping surface and which are pressed into the hinge eyes 4 from the outside by means of a peg 1 7. The hinge pin 5, which is very short in this example, is clamped securely in position between the pegs 1 7 of the guide shoes located on the outer ends of the outer hinge eyes 4.

Claims

1. A curve-negotiating plate conveyor comprising a series of plate links which are connected together end to end by hinge eyes and hinge pins extending through the hinge eyes and which have guide surfaces extending parallel to the longitudinal axis of the conveyor for engagement with guide rails to guide the conveyor along its required path, wherein the guide surfaces are provided on ends of the hinge pins or on parts mounted at ends of the hinge pins.

2. A conveyor according to Claim 1, in which the guide surfaces are provided on guide shoes which are pressed into the hinge eyes at ends of the hinge pins.

3. A conveyor according to Claim 1, in which each guide surface is provided on a head formed on the end of a hinge pin.

4. A conveyor according to Claim 1, in which each guide surface is formed on a tab which is fixed to an end of a guide pin by means of a spigot which fits in a blind bore in the end of a hinge pin.

5. A conveyor according to Claim 4, in which some at least of the hinge pins have blind bores with tabs fixed to them at both ends.

6. A conveyor according to Claim 4 or Claim 5, in which the tabs and their spigots are of plastics material.

7. A conveyor according to Claim 4 or Claim 5, in which the tabs and their spigots are of steel.

8. A conveyor according to any one of the preceding Claims, in which the guide surfaces are substantially rectangular.

9. A conveyor according to any one of the preceding Claims, in which the guide surfaces are trapezoidal.

10. A conveyor according to any one of Claims 4 to 7, in which the spigots are a snap fit in the blind bores.

11. A curve-negotiating plate conveyor comprising a series of plate links which are connected together end to end by hinge eyes and hinge pins extending through the hinge eyes and which have guide surfaces extending parallel to the longitudinal axis of the conveyor for engagement with guide rails to guide the conveyor along its required path, wherein the guide surfaces are provided on outer end faces of outer hinge eyes.

12. A conveyor according to Claim 11, in which each plate link is manufactured from a plate link blank having a central tongue at one end to form one hinge eye and two tongues spaced-apart side by side at the other end to form two spaced-apart hinge eyes, the outer longitudinal edges of the spaced-apart tongues having arched outer edges shaped to form the guide surfaces when the tongues are rolled to form the hinge eyes.

1 3. A conveyor according to Claim 1, substantially as described with reference to Figures 1 to 5, or Figure 6, or Figure 9 of the accompanying drawings.

14. A conveyor according to Claim 11, substantially as described with reference to Figures 7 and 8 of the accompanying drawings.