Claims
- 1. A conveyor system comprising:
a plurality of conveyance members for supporting a respective plurality of articles to be conveyed, each conveyor member having laterally opposed flanges and mounted for sliding translation upon laterally opposed guide rails, each conveyor member being connected to a common drive mechanism operative to translate the conveyor members along the guide rails, each conveyor member having a common length dimension defining a conveyor pitch wherein the conveyor members are in end-to-end abutment; and an article engagement device attached to one or more conveyor members.
- 2. The conveyor system of claim 1 wherein the conveyor members are connected to the common drive mechanism at a spacing greater than a length of the conveyor members.
- 3. The conveyor system of claim 1 wherein the common drive mechanism is attached to the conveyor members between the guide rails.
- 4. The conveyor system of claim 1 wherein the common drive mechanism is attached to a bottom side of the conveyor members.
- 5. The conveyor system of claim 1 wherein the article engagement device is attached to a top surface of a conveyor member.
- 6. The conveyor system of claim 1 wherein the conveyor members are generally rectangular, with the laterally opposed flanges formed in first opposed sides and fore and aft ends formed in second opposed sides.
- 7. The conveyor system of claim 1 wherein the fore and aft ends of the second opposed sides are configured for abutment with adjacent conveyor members mounted on the guide rails.
- 8. The conveyor system of claim 1 wherein the article engagement device is attached to the conveyor member by a fitting which holds the article engagement device in a particular orientation.
- 9. The conveyor system of claim 1 wherein the common drive mechanism is a sprocket-driven chain.
- 10. The conveyor system of claim 9 wherein the sprocket-driven chain is attached to a conveyor member by a fitting which joins two links of the chain.
- 11. The conveyor system of claim 1 further comprising an articulated component in cooperation with the article engagement device operative to maintain orientation of an article engaged by the article engagement device.
- 12. The conveyor system of claim 9 wherein the common drive mechanism further comprises an indexer for maintaining tension on the chain to achieve spacing of the conveyor members at distances greater than a length dimension of the conveyor members.
- 13. The conveyor system of claim 1 further comprising a brake mechanism operative to brake one or more conveyor members on the guide rails.
- 14. The conveyor system of claim 13 wherein the brake mechanism comprises a linear actuator operative to engage a conveyor member.
- 15. The conveyor system of claim 1 further comprising upper and lower sets of laterally opposed guide rails, and a reversible path by which conveyor members move from the upper guide rails to the lower guide rails, the common drive mechanism extending along the upper and lower guide rails.
- 16. The conveyor system of claim 1 wherein the article engagement device comprises a spring-biased assembly which bears against an article engaged by the article engagement device.
- 17. The conveyor system of claim 16 comprising a hinge-mounted plate which is spring biased against the article engagement device to bear against an article engaged by the article engagement device.
- 18. The conveyor system of claim 17 further comprising a frictional surface on the hinge-mounted plate.
- 19. The conveyor system of claim 17 wherein a spring extends from a surface of the conveyor member to the plate.
- 20. A conveyor system comprising:
a longitudinal guide rail; multiple flights mounted to slide upon the guide rail; a drive mechanism operative to move the flights along the guide rail, the drive mechanism connected to each flight with available slack between each flight to enable variable spacing between the flights on the guide rail.
- 21. The conveyor system of claim 20 wherein each of the flights further comprises an article engagement device.
- 22. The conveyor system of claim 20 wherein the drive mechanism includes a drive line connected to each of the flights.
- 23. The conveyor system of claim 22 wherein a length of the drive line between first and second adjacent flights is greater than a distance from a point of connection of the drive line to the first flight to a point of connection of the drive line to the second flight when the first and second flights are in end-to-end abutment.
- 24. The conveyor system of claim 22 further comprising an indexer in connection with the drive line operative to control tension on the drive line.
- 25. The conveyor system of claim 21 wherein an article engagement device further comprises a spring-biased engagement device.
- 26. The conveyor system of claim 21 wherein an article engagement device further comprises a frictional contact element.
- 27. The conveyor system of claim 20 wherein the flights are generally in the form of rectagular blocks having a planar top surface to which an article engagement device is attached.
- 28. The conveyor system of claim 20 wherein the article engagement device comprises a clip configured to engage an article.
- 29. The conveyor system of claim 21 wherein the article engagement device comprises a spring-biased member.
- 30. A conveyor system for conveying articles from a first point to a second point, the conveyor system comprising
a track for slidably supporting a plurality of conveyance members, the track extending from a first point to a second point, each conveyance member having an article engagement device configured to engage an article to be conveyed; each conveyance member being attached to a drive mechanism, the drive mechanism having an extendable length between the conveyance members whereby spacing of the conveyance members on the track is variable.
- 31. The conveyor system of claim 30 wherein the conveyance members are in the form of flights mounted to slide upon the track, each flight having a mounting surface upon which an article engagement device is mounted.
- 32. The conveyor system of claim 30 wherein the article engagement device is configured to exert a gripping force on an article engaged by the article engagement device.
- 33. The conveyor system of claim 32 wherein the article engagement device includes a wire form configured to clip on to an article to be engaged.
- 34. The conveyor system of claim 30 wherein the article engagement device includes a frictional surface for contacting an article engaged by the article engagement device.
- 35. The conveyor system of claim 34 wherein the frictional surface is spring biased.
- 36. The conveyor system of claim 30 further comprising a clip configured to engage an article, and a spring-biased member mounted to place pressure upon an article engaged by the clip.
RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 09/723,668, filed Nov. 28, 2000, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 09/151,872, filed Sep. 11, 1998, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,155,310.
Continuation in Parts (2)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
09723668 |
Nov 2000 |
US |
Child |
09966284 |
Sep 2001 |
US |
Parent |
09151872 |
Sep 1998 |
US |
Child |
09723668 |
Nov 2000 |
US |