HK1128152B - V-shaped product conveyor - Google Patents

Description

V-shaped product conveyor

Technical Field

The present invention relates to product conveyors. More particularly, the present invention relates to a conveyor system that eliminates or reduces the use of guide rails.

Background

Conventional conveyor systems carry product containers on flat, horizontal belts or other driven surfaces. When the path of travel comprises a bend, a guide is provided such that the product container encounters such a guide and is thereby deflected onto the altered path of travel. Thus, a bend in an over-length region requires more guide rails than a shorter bend.

Accordingly, there is a need for a conveyor system that employs a curved path of travel, but does not require guide rails.

Conventional conveyor systems are not always designed to take into account the comfort of workers loading and unloading the product.

There is also a need for a human positioned conveyor for products relative to workers who load and unload products from the conveyor.

A further need exists for a product conveyor that operates at a lower cost than conventional product conveyors.

In addition, there is a need for a conveyor system that can be easily reconfigured to handle small product containers, tall and narrow product containers, wide and short product containers, and large product containers.

However, it is not obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art how to meet the needs indicated for the technology considered as a whole when forming the present invention.

Disclosure of Invention

The long-felt, but heretofore unrealized, need for a track-less conveyor system is now addressed by a structure comprising: the support structure includes a first upright height adjustable column, a second upright height adjustable column disposed longitudinally spaced from the first column, a first front support arm and a first rear support arm mounted on the first column and together forming a "V" shape, and a second front support arm and a second rear support arm mounted on the second column and also together forming a "V" shape.

The novel structure is not limited to devices having only the first and second uprights and support arms, nor to a plurality of such structures arranged in a longitudinal array. Any number of posts, whether height adjustable or not, may be used and together they may define any path of travel. The path of travel may include both straight and curved portions, including ninety degree (90) turns, as well as raised and lowered portions. In addition, the novel structure can interface with conventional conveyor systems that transport product in an upright position and thus rely on guide rails to limit the product containers from performing turns. More specifically, the novel structure may feed or may be fed by a conventional conveyor.

The use of the letter "V" in describing the novel structure has many advantages. First, the left side of the "V" can be considered the driven side of the conveyor structure that supports product containers that have been tumbled to its left, with its bottom wall no longer resting firmly on top of the horizontal support surface. The right side is then considered the active side. It includes a drive arrangement that causes the product container to move along a path of travel. The inclined bottom wall of the package is drivingly engaged with the right side of the "V" conveyor structure. Instead of the left and right sides, or driven and driving sides, the opposite sides of the "V" configuration may also be referred to as the rear and front sides.

The driven or rear side of the structure may include rotatably mounted wheels positioned along the region of the conveyor structure to facilitate operation of the drive or front side of the novel apparatus by reducing resistance to movement of the product containers. The driven side may also include an elongated rail against which the product containers rest as they are driven along the travel path by the driving side of the apparatus. The rail may produce more friction, but the structure of the rail instead of the plurality of wheels is cheaper to manufacture and maintain.

Of course, the left and right sides mentioned in the preceding paragraph may be interchanged so that the product container is tilted to the right and drivenly supported by the right side of the "V" shaped structure, with the left side positively engaging the bottom of the product container and driving it along the path of travel.

The use of the letter "V" is further useful since the first embodiment of the present invention is considered to be the lower case "V", the fourth embodiment is considered to be the upper case "V", and the second and third embodiments are considered to be part of both embodiments above.

More specifically, the first embodiment includes a pair of longitudinally spaced uprights, with a pair of rear and front support arms, together forming a lower case "v", mounted above each of the uprights. The rear primary support rail is interconnected with a corresponding distal end of the rear support arm and slidably supports the product container. Alternatively, a plurality of driven support wheels may be rotatably mounted along the length of the rail to reduce the friction that must be overcome to transport the product containers. Each driven support wheel is rotatable about an axis generally perpendicular to the rear primary support rail. A conveyor belt or equivalent drive structure is mounted on the front side of the structure. The first embodiment is all that is required to deliver a product container having dimensions that fit this configuration (i.e., having a low profile and narrow width).

The second embodiment enables the transport of product containers having a narrow width but a greater height than the product containers of the first embodiment. The front side of the structure is thus the same as in the first embodiment. A rearward extension is mounted to each of the respective rearward support arms, and a rearward secondary support rail is supported at opposite ends thereof by respective distal free ends of the rearward extensions. As in the first embodiment, the friction reducing driven wheel may be rotatably mounted along the length of the rear secondary support rail, or the rail itself may serve as the driven support means.

A third embodiment delivers product containers having a low profile such that no extension is required for the driven side of the apparatus and a wide bottom wall such that an extension and a front secondary support rail are added to the driving side as in the first embodiment. A rotatably mounted driven wheel may also be provided along the length of the front secondary support rail.

The fourth embodiment has the same structure as the second embodiment, but an extension is fixed to each of the forward support arms, in effect lengthening each of the forward support arms. The forward secondary support rail connects adjacent distal ends of the forward extensions. A plurality of rotatably mounted driven wheels may be mounted along the length of the front secondary support rail or, in the absence of such wheels, the rail itself may be used to driveably, slidably support a product container. This fourth embodiment enables the transport of product containers having a large width and a high profile.

Thus, the four combinations are short-short (first embodiment, no extensions are added to the rear and front support arms), long-short (second embodiment, extensions are added to the driven side but not to the driving side), short-long (third embodiment, extensions are added to the driving side but not to the driven side), and long-long (fourth embodiment, extensions are added to both the driven side and the driving side).

In a first embodiment, each product container is supported at its bottom wall by a front drive belt or equivalent drive means and at the side walls by a rear primary support rail or a plurality of rear primary support wheels mounted along the region of the rear primary support rail. In a second embodiment, each product container is supported at its bottom wall by the front drive and at its side walls by a rear primary support rail or a plurality of rear primary support wheels mounted along a region of the rear primary support rail and a rear secondary support rail or a plurality of rear secondary support wheels mounted along a region of the rear secondary support rail. In a third embodiment, each product container is supported at its bottom wall by a front drive belt and a front secondary support rail or a plurality of front secondary support wheels mounted along the extent of the front secondary support rail, and at its side walls by a rear primary support rail or a plurality of rear primary support wheels mounted along the extent of the rear primary support rail. In a fourth embodiment, each product container is supported at its bottom wall by a front drive belt and a front secondary support rail or a plurality of front secondary support wheels mounted along a region of the front secondary support rail, and at its side walls by a rear primary support rail or a plurality of rear primary support wheels mounted along a region of the rear primary support rail and a rear secondary support rail or a plurality of rear secondary support wheels mounted along a region of the rear secondary support rail.

In all four embodiments, the containers so supported and held in the tilted configuration are tilted from a vertical axis under the influence of gravity so that the conveyor system can adopt a curved path of travel that does not include guide rails.

It is an important object of the present invention to provide a product container conveyor apparatus that is capable of spanning corners and variations in height without the presence of guide rails.

Another important object is to provide a conveyor system that can be easily adjusted to handle product containers having narrow widths and low profiles, narrow widths and high profiles, wide widths and low profiles, and wide widths and high profiles.

These and other important objects, advantages and features of the invention will become apparent as this description proceeds.

The invention accordingly comprises the features of construction, combination of elements, and arrangement of parts which will be exemplified in the description hereinafter set forth, and the scope of the invention will be indicated in the claims.

Drawings

For a more complete understanding of the present invention, reference is made to the following detailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is an end elevational view of a straight section of the novel apparatus;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the embodiment of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a screw transition from a conventional conveyor system to a new conveyor system;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing the change in elevation of the novel conveyor system;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a corner assembly forming part of the novel conveyor system;

fig. 6 is a view similar to fig. 5 showing the container package undergoing a corner process.

Detailed Description

Referring now to fig. 1 and 2, it can be seen that the illustrated embodiment of the present invention is generally designated by the reference numeral 10.

The novel conveyor system 10 includes base members 12 and 14 that are lying and secured to the ground or other support surface by bolts (generally indicated at 16) or other suitable fastening means. Alternatively, the novel conveyor system may be mounted on casters or other movable supports such as foot pads that are not fastened to the support surface. While only two such base members are shown, it should be understood that any number of base members may be used to define any travel path. The simple straight travel path shown in fig. 1 and 2 does not limit the scope of the invention, but merely simplifies the description and drawings.

The upright telescoping uprights 18, 20 are longitudinally spaced from one another and each include a hollow lower portion 18a, 20a that slidably receives the upper portions 18b, 20b therein. Suitably vertically spaced locking means (generally indicated at 22, 24) enable a user to telescopically adjust the height of the uprights.

As with the rear support arm 26b, the front support arm 26a is mounted above the mast 18. As with the rear support arms 28b, the front support arms 28a are mounted above the mast 20. As with the forward support arm 28a and the rearward support arm 28b, the forward support arm 26a and the rearward support arm 26b cooperatively form a V-shape. Because the front support arms 26a, 28a are part of the support structure that supports the bottom wall 42a of the product container 42 and the rear support arms 26b, 28b are part of the support structure that supports the side walls of the product container, the angle between the support arms is generally ninety degrees (90). However, this ninety degree (90) angle is not limiting to the scope of the present invention, as handling irregularly shaped product containers may require that the angle between the front and rear support arms be different, and such different angles are within the scope of the present invention.

The motor 30 includes an output shaft (not shown) that is connected to a gear (not shown) disposed within the transmission case 32 and meshingly engaging at least one other gear within the transmission case. The driven output shaft 33 extends from the drive housing 32 in a generally ninety degree (90) relationship relative to the drive output shaft and in a generally parallel relationship relative to the front support arms 26a, 28 b.

As shown in fig. 1 and 2, a drive wheel 34 is mounted for common rotation with the driven output shaft 33, and a drive belt 36 is engaged with the drive wheel, as best shown in fig. 1. A driven pulley 38 engages the opposite end of the drive belt 36. Idler roller 40 mounted adjacent to driven wheel 38 is conventional. The term drive "belt" is used for convenience, but the belt may be replaced by a belt strip, rope, chain, etc., all of which will be referred to by the term drive.

Fig. 2 is a view of a fourth embodiment of the present invention, but can be interpreted to include a combined view of the first three embodiments as well.

When the product container 42 is relatively small (i.e., relatively narrow in width and low in height), only the short-to-short configuration of the first embodiment is used. The bottom wall 42a of such a container, shown in solid lines, is only positively supported by the drive means 36. Reference numeral 42b indicates the top wall of such a low-profile, narrow-width container. The unmarked side walls of the small product containers are drivenly supported by a plurality of driven main rollers or wheels 46 mounted to longitudinally extending rear main support rails 50. As explained above, this first embodiment also contemplates the removal of the wheels 46 and the use of a suitably repositioned rail 50 as the driven support for the product container.

When the product container 42 is relatively narrow in width but higher in height as in the first embodiment, only the long-short configuration of the second embodiment is used, as is the top wall 42c of such a container, shown in solid lines. The narrow width bottom wall 42a of such a container is only positively supported by the drive means 36. As with the first embodiment, the unmarked side walls of the taller product containers are partially drivenly supported by a plurality of driven primary rollers or wheels 46 mounted to longitudinally extending rear primary support rails 50, and this second embodiment also contemplates the removal of the wheels 46 and the use of appropriately repositioned rails 50 as the driven support for the product containers. The taller product containers are also drivenly supported by a plurality of rear secondary support wheels 48 which are rotatably mounted to rear secondary support rails 52, which support rails 52 can also be repositioned and used as driven secondary support means without the wheels 48. The rear secondary support rail 52 is mounted at its opposite ends to rearward extensions 54, one of which extends from the rear support arm 26b and the other of which extends from the rear support arm 28b, as best shown in fig. 2. It should also be noted that fig. 2 is a perspective view of a second embodiment of the present invention.

When the product container 42 is larger in width than in the first and second embodiments but shorter in height than the second embodiment, only the short-to-long structure of the third embodiment is used. The extended bottom wall 42d of the container is positively supported by the drive means 36 and by front secondary support wheels 56 mounted along the region of the front secondary support rails 58. The forward secondary support rails 58 are mounted at opposite ends thereof to the distal free ends of corresponding forward extending members 60, each extending from the forward support arms 26a and 28 a. As with the first embodiment, the side walls of the low-profile product container are drivenly supported by a plurality of rear driven main rollers or wheels 46, the driven main rollers or wheels 46 being mounted to longitudinally extending rear main support rails 50, and this third embodiment also contemplates the removal of the wheels 46 and the use of appropriately repositioned rails 50 as the driven support means for the product container.

The long-long configuration of the fourth embodiment is used when the product container 42 has the height of the second embodiment and the width of the third embodiment and its unsupported sidewall is labeled 42 e. The components that support it are shown in fig. 1 and have been disclosed with respect to the first three embodiments.

Although not shown, it should be understood that other extension members may be added to the extension members 54 and 60, and that other support rails, with or without wheels, may be mounted to their respective distal free ends.

There may be applications where the new, guiderail-less conveyor system 10 must interface with a conventional conveyor system. Fig. 3 illustrates how a set of rollers 70 may be twisted into a helical configuration to tip a container 42 when tipping the container from a conventional horizontally disposed conveyor belt 72 onto a new tipped conveyor system 10. A second set of rails or rollers (also designated 70) is twisted in the opposite direction at the dump end of the novel system into a helical configuration to replace the container in the conventional system.

Fig. 4 shows how the new system can be changed in height so that it does not have to be positioned at the same height all the time as a conventional system. The support rail 50 is curved upwardly as shown, but may also be curved downwardly.

The wheels 46, 48 and 56 may take the form of rotatably mounted balls, plate rollers or a combination thereof. All references herein to wheels should be understood to include their equivalents. Additionally, as previously explained, any such rolling support means may be replaced by rails or similar low friction support means. It should also be noted that if wheels are used, the wheels may be mounted to shafts directly connected to the support rails as shown in these figures, or the wheels may be rotatably mounted in brackets or the like which are in turn mounted to the support rails.

The novel structure disclosed herein tilts the container relative to the vertical axis so that the container rests on and is supported or cradled by the novel structure. Thus, the container rests on the new structure under the influence of gravity, thereby removing the need for rails.

The containers may also be stacked on a drive surface, which may contain rollers to allow for increased low friction stacking. In other words, if the system designer desires that forward advancement of the container be impeded, the drive belt 36 may include rollers or the like that effect such impediment without requiring a continuous driving force to the drive belt 36 that does not allow such accumulation.

On a first side, the corner includes a drive belt strip, rope, belt, chain, drive wheel, or the like, while on a second, opposite side, includes balls, rollers, plates, wheels, rails, and various combinations thereof. Fig. 5 and 6 show the product container through the corner. It should be noted that the figures show a long-short structure or second embodiment of the invention. The steering cone 80 is mounted to a bracket 82 which is mounted to the driven secondary support rail 52. When the system is in its configuration in fig. 5, the product container 42 will continue to travel in a straight direction, but when in the configuration in fig. 6, the product container will pass through a ninety degree (90) turn. Note that in fig. 6a portion of the rear primary support rail 50 is hingedly mounted so that it can swing to the position of fig. 6. As the section 50 is raised, the diverter cone 80 diverts the product container 42 onto a conveyor structure disposed ninety degrees (90) from the main conveyor section.

It will be seen that the advantages set forth above, and those made apparent from the preceding description, are efficiently attained and, although certain changes may be made in the above construction without departing from the spirit of the invention, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description and shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

It is also to be understood that the following claims are intended to cover all of the generic and specific features of the invention herein described and all statements of the scope of the invention which, as a matter of language, might be said to fall therebetween.

Claims (8)

1. A conveyor system comprising:

a vertical first upright;

a vertical second upright;

said first and second uprights being disposed in longitudinally spaced relation to one another;

a first front support arm and a first rear support arm mounted on the first upright;

the first forward support arm and the first rearward support arm together form a "V" shape;

a second front support arm and a second rear support arm mounted on the second upright;

the second anterior support arm and the second posterior support arm together form a "V" shape;

a longitudinally extending forward drive belt mounted for rotation about a path of travel perpendicular to the first and second forward support arms;

a longitudinally extending rear primary support rail supported by the first and second rear support arms at opposite ends in a longitudinal direction of the rear primary support rail;

whereby said rear primary support rail is adapted to slidably support a side wall of a product container that is inclined from an upright position such that the side wall of the product container is at an angle defined by said first and second rear support arms;

whereby the front drive belt is adapted to support a bottom wall of the product container;

whereby the product container is held in the tilted configuration by gravity; and the number of the first and second groups,

whereby the conveyor system can take a curved path of travel that does not include a guide rail.

2. The conveyor system of claim 1, further comprising:

a plurality of rear support wheels rotatably mounted to the rear primary support rail;

each rear support wheel of the plurality of rear support wheels is rotatable about an axis generally perpendicular to the rear primary support rail;

each rear support wheel adapted to rollingly engage a side wall of the product container;

whereby the container is supported at its bottom wall by the front drive belt.

3. The conveyor system of claim 1, further comprising:

a first rearward extending member secured to the first rearward support arm;

a second rearward extension member secured to the second rear support arm;

a rear secondary support rail having opposite ends in a longitudinal direction of the rear secondary support rail mounted to corresponding distal free ends of the first and second rearward extending members;

the rear secondary support rails are thereby adapted to slidably support the side walls of the product container that are inclined from an upright position such that the side walls of the product container are at an angle defined by the first and second rear support arms.

4. The conveyor system of claim 3, further comprising:

a plurality of rear support wheels rotatably mounted to the rear secondary support rail;

each rear support wheel of the plurality of rear support wheels is rotatable about an axis generally perpendicular to the rear secondary support rail;

each rear support wheel is adapted to rollingly engage a side wall of the product container.

5. The conveyor system of claim 1, further comprising:

a first forward extending member secured to the first forward support arm;

a second forward extension member secured to the second forward support arm;

a front secondary support rail having opposite ends in a longitudinal direction of the front secondary support rail mounted to corresponding distal free ends of the first and second forward extending members;

the front secondary support rail is thereby adapted to slidably support the bottom wall of the product container inclined from an upright position such that the bottom wall of the product container is at an angle defined by the first and second front support arms.

6. The conveyor system of claim 5, further comprising:

a plurality of front support wheels rotatably mounted to the front secondary support rail;

each front support wheel of the plurality of front support wheels is rotatable about an axis generally perpendicular to the front secondary support rail;

each front support wheel is adapted to rollingly engage the bottom wall of the product container.

7. The conveyor system of claim 1, further comprising:

a first rearward extending member secured to the first rearward support arm;

a second rearward extension member secured to the second rear support arm;

a rear secondary support rail having opposite ends in a longitudinal direction of the rear secondary support rail mounted to corresponding distal free ends of the first and second rearward extending members;

a first forward extending member secured to the first forward support arm;

a second forward extension member secured to the second forward support arm;

a front secondary support rail having opposite ends in a longitudinal direction of the front secondary support rail mounted to corresponding distal free ends of the first and second forward extending members;

the front secondary support rail is thereby adapted to slidably support the bottom wall of the product container inclined from an upright position such that the bottom wall of the product container is at an angle defined by the first and second front support arms.

8. The conveyor system of claim 7, further comprising:

a plurality of front support wheels rotatably mounted to the front secondary support rail;

each front support wheel of the plurality of front support wheels is rotatable about an axis generally perpendicular to the front secondary support rail;

each front support wheel is adapted to rollingly engage a bottom wall of the product container.