Merge conveyor including high-friction rollers

[0001] The invention relates generally to power-driven conveyors, and more specifically to an summing conveyor according to the preamble of claim 1.

[0002] Many conveyor applications require the combination of articles moved along different paths into one row. One example of an adding conveyor is described in US Patent No. 7,426,992, "Systems and Ways to Ensure an Improved Conveyor

Synchronizing "released on September 23, 2008 for Matthew L. Foumey. FIG. This patent depicts a synchronization conveyor section containing two adjacent synchronization conveyors that collect articles at irregular synchronization intervals, accelerating time. Each item for the conveyor has designated positions that are staggered from one conveyor to another conveyor. The alternating location of the designated positions allows two synchronization conveyors to feed the articles alternately at regular intervals to an extraction conveyor that connects the spaced articles into a single row.

[0003] One typical sorting conveyor includes a flat top surface belt with a scraper or guide arranged across the belt to connect the articles to the belt exit area. Although the scrapers are made of materials with low coefficients of friction, the articles still tend to rotate at the scrapers and change their position or move slightly backwards when in contact with them. These interactions can disturb the exact synchronization of the delivery of articles from the synchronization conveyor section and set lower delivery spacing limits by the synchronization conveyor and, consequently, higher capacity restrictions. Document GB-A-2255760 discloses an summing conveyor as given in the preamble of claim 1.

[0004] Another typical sorting conveyor uses an angled roller belt to individually arrange items without a scraper as described in US Patent No. 6,758,323 "Extraction Conveyor" issued July 6, 2004 to Mark B. Costanzo. The extraction tape described has rollers of tape in motion in each half that rotate obliquely towards the center line of the tape as it moves. The rollers are made of plastic with a fairly low friction coefficient and move on the set supporting surfaces in

Slipping between rollers and conveyed items can interfere with the exact synchronization of items set by the synchronization feeder. These stripping devices with angled strips are more expensive than strips with a flat surface with scrapers and usually require a greater distance to place the items individually.

[0005] Therefore, there is a need for a simple adding conveyor that can provide high throughput.

in rollers movement or transfer direction.

SUMMARY [0006] An summing conveyor bearing the features of the invention is given in the appended claim 1.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS [0007] These features of the invention, as well as other aspects and benefits, will be better understood by reference to the following description, appended claims and accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view, in partial cross-section, of a part of one version of an additive conveyor bearing the features of the invention including an extractor belt with transverse rollers;

FIG. 2 is a top view of the summing conveyor of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of the exit end of the summing conveyor of FIG. 1; and FIGS. 4A and 4B are an isometric view and a cross-sectional view of the rollers in the transverse shifting belt of FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION [0008] FIGURES 1-3 show the summing conveyor bearing the features of the invention. (Parts of the conveyor belt in each conveyor are removed in FIGURES 1 and 2 to show further details of the conveyors.) The summing conveyor 10 includes a synchronization conveyor 12, from the inlet side, feeding the articles 13 onto the isolation conveyor 14, which arranges them in a single row for delivery to the output tray 15.

[0009] The synchronization conveyor in this example is a multi-track conveyor having five individual synchronization conveyor belts 16A-E arranged side by side for parallel displacement in the direction of conveyance 18 to the outlet end. The belts are pulled around the drive gears 22 mounted on the common drive shaft 24 at the outlet end and similar gears and loose shafts at the opposite end. The drive shaft is coupled through a gear box 26 to a motor 28 that drives the synchronization conveyor belt.

[0010] Each belt 16 of the synchronization conveyor has a plurality of rollers 30 extending the width of the belt and mounted on axes perpendicular to the direction of conveyance. A support surface 32 underneath each synchronization conveyor belt supports the belt from below and provides a surface on which the rollers can move to rotate and accelerate articles on their top in the direction of conveyance as the belt moves. The support surface may be a cup, as shown, parallel friction strips or even a flat conveyor belt that can be driven in the transfer direction or in the opposite direction to the conveyor to cause the rollers to rotate forward or in the opposite direction to the transfer.

[0011] The synchronization conveyor belt is also equipped with positioning elements, such as pop-up partitions 34, which move into the locking position upon contact with the actuating surface under the belt. The article carried on top of the synchronization conveyor belt rollers is accelerated in the conveying direction until it is stopped by a raised partition that marks a designated position on the belt. The baffles are arranged alternately at selected intervals in the direction of transfer from one track to another to ensure that the articles exit the synchronization conveyor 12 at specific, different times. In this preferred version, the rollers in each track, i.e. in each synchronous conveyor belt 16A-E, accelerate the articles forward to the partitions so that the articles can be fed at known intervals onto the extraction conveyor 12. One example of a synchronization conveyor belt that can be used in the invention is described in US Patent No. 7,426,992 "Systems and Methods for Providing an Improved Synchronization Conveyor" issued September 23, 2008 to Matthew L. Fourney.

constrained tapering [0012] The outlet 20, outlet side conveyor 12 from the outlet side rests against the sorting conveyor 14 at the end 36 on the inlet side. The extraction conveyor includes a transverse roller conveyor belt 38 having rollers 40 arranged to rotate in the transverse direction 44 to the conveying direction 18 on axles 42 parallel to the conveying direction. The extraction conveyor belt is pulled around drive gears (not shown) mounted on the drive shaft 46 at the output end 48 of the extraction conveyor and the loose gears 50 on the loose shaft 52 at the inlet end 36. The motor 54 coupled to the drive shaft through the gearbox 56 drives the belt in the transfer direction 18.

[0013] The articles received by the sorting conveyor are directed to the narrow region 48 of the belt through a scraper 60, which includes a pair of guide rails 62 angled to each other across the region 64, with a tapered width, extraction belt 14. The converging guide rails define the region triangular having an opening 66 at the exit. Staggered articles fed through a synchronization conveyor to the extraction belt are passed through a scraper to a triangular area of ​​width. Articles from the outermost tracks 16A and 16E first encounter the scraper near the end, from the inlet side, of the extraction conveyor. Articles from the next inner tracks 16B and 16D first encounter the scraper further towards the outlet. The articles from the middle track 16C aligned with the opening 66 to the outward feeder 15 pass into the exit opening even without contact with the scraper.

[0014] The transverse rollers 40 in the belt facilitate the operation of the scraper in guiding the articles transversely through the conveyor. The scraper contact surface 68 is preferably made of a material such as UHMW having a low coefficient of friction.

[0015] In order to further prevent the articles from moving slightly backwards upon contact with the scraper, the tape rollers 40 have a peripheral surface 70, rubber or elastomeric, with high friction as shown in FIGURES 4A and 4B formed or otherwise attached around the roller body 72 which can be formed of low friction plastic material. (A thermoplastic elastomer material with a hardness of about 35 on the Shore D hardness scale is one example of a high friction material.) The through hole 74 in the shaft body receives the axis 42 and defines the rotation axis 76 for the shaft parallel to the transfer direction. Unlike the row rollers in synchronization conveyor belts, the transverse rollers in the isolation belt do not move on the support surfaces. However, they rotate freely depending on the forces applied to the articles by the scraper. The low friction between the axle and the hole allows the shaft to rotate freely in lateral direction 44 when the supported article is pushed by the scraper. The peripheral surface of the high friction roller prevents the article from slipping along the roller in the transfer direction and consistently maintains the synchronization relationship established by the synchronization conveyor. Maintaining synchronization prevents articles from colliding on the extraction conveyor and allows the belts to run at high speed for high throughput without blocking.

The high friction roller surfaces also suppress the tendency of the articles to rotate about the vertical axis or to change position upon contact with the scraper guide rail. Thus, the synchronization conveyor and belt with high friction rollers with a scraper cooperate to form an effective adding conveyor.

[0016] Although the invention has been described in detail with reference to the preferred version chosen, other versions are possible. For example, the scraper could consist of a single guide rail across the extraction conveyor section of the summing conveyor. In another example, the synchronization conveyor can be implemented as a single belt divided into multiple tracks or by multiple belts that are not necessarily geometrically parallel. So, as these few examples suggest, the scope of the claims is not limited to the details of the selected version described only as an example.

Laitram, LLC

Proxy:

72P32695PL00

10), containing:

EP 2 414 261 B1