1. Field of the Invention
The subject invention relates to a conveyor assembly for transferring a product, such as a food product, into a container suitable for bulk transport.
2. Description of the Related Art
Endless conveyors are used to transport materials or articles of manufacture over a distance. The conveyors include a conveying member such as belt rotating around at least a pair of spindles. Conveyors can include a plurality of containers mounted to the belt. Material or articles are moved to each container at a first location along the conveyor, such a loading point. Material or articles are removed from each container at a second location along the conveyor, such as a discharge point.
In some applications, it can be desirable to move the conveyor in order to enhance the efficiency of the transporting operation. For example, a pile of material can shift or shrink during removal. Therefore, moving the loading point towards the pile as the pile shrinks increases the likelihood that each container will be filled with material. Also, certain types of material can be damaged if dropped too far. Therefore, moving the discharge point to maintain a predetermined drop as the size of the pile increases.
The invention provides an apparatus including a conveying member defining a loop. The conveying member can be a belt, a chain, or plurality of hinged plates. The invention also includes first and second supporting members individually disposed at opposite sides of the loop and spaced a first distance apart from one another. The first and second supporting members support rotating movement of the conveying member. The invention also includes a moving device operable to translate the first and second supporting members concurrently along a path having at least one bend. The lengths of the portions of the conveying member disposed on opposite sides of the bend can be adjusted by the moving device.
Advantages of the present invention will be readily appreciated as the same becomes better understood by reference to the following detailed description when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings wherein:
Referring to the Figures, wherein like numerals indicate like or corresponding parts throughout the several views, the invention includes a conveying member defining a loop 98, first and second supporting members individually disposed at opposite sides of said loop 98 and spaced a first distance apart from one another, and a moving device 102 operable to translate the first and second supporting members concurrently along a path 104 having at least one bend 106. In the exemplary embodiment of the invention set forth below, the conveying member is formed as a belt 80, the first supporting member is formed as a pulley 92, and the second supporting member is formed as a pulley 94. A bendable frame assembly 108 extends between the first and second supporting members and the moving device 102 includes a bracket 76 fixedly associated with the bendable frame assembly 108, first and second sprockets 46, 48 disposed on opposite sides of the bracket 76, a chain 50 engaged with the bracket 76 and extending around both of said first and second sprockets 46, 48, and a motor 44 operable to rotate one of said first and second sprockets 46,48.
The exemplary embodiment of the invention is further defined as a conveyor assembly shown at 20 in
In a non-limiting preferred embodiment of the invention, the conveyor assembly 20 of the subject invention includes a substantially straight portion 118 with both vertical and horizontal portions 120, 122 for lowering a food into a container. The first supporting member 92 navels along the horizontal portion 122 and the second supporting member 94 travels in the vertical portion 120 in the exemplary embodiment of the invention. In alternative embodiments of the invention, a portion of the path 104 traveled by the first supporting member 92 could include vertical and horizontal components. In other words, during movement of the first supporting member 92 toward the bend 106, the first supporting member 92 could move vertically, upwardly or downwardly. Similarly, the second supporting member 94 could move in both the vertical and horizontal portions 120, 122. The preferred conveyor assembly 20 gently lowers the product to a position just inches away from a bottom of the container 22 and then raises as the top of a pile of product raises. This non-limiting preferred embodiment is primarily formed of two major components, namely a support frame 24 and a closed conveyor 26, and is discussed in greater detail below.
Referring to
A number of belt support wheels 38 are mounted to the support frame 24 for supporting a portion of the closed conveyor 26. A belt drive sprocket 40 is also mounted to the support frame 24. The belt drive sprocket 40 is located at the transition portion of the rails 28. A belt drive motor 42 is further mounted to the support frame 24 and is connected to the belt drive sprocket 40. The belt drive motor 42 turns the belt drive sprocket 40 in a clockwise manner as viewed in
A translator drive motor 44 is mounted to the support frame 24 adjacent the first end 32 of the rails 28. A translator drive sprocket 46, see
Referring back to
As shown in
Turning to
As best shown in
As discussed above, the translator drive motor 44, translator drive sprockets 46, and translator idler sprockets 48 are all mounted to the support frame 24. As also mentioned above, the translator drive chain 50 interconnects each of the translator drive sprockets 46 to a corresponding translator idler sprocket 48. As best shown in
A cable torque arm 78 is mounted to one of the end links 64. The tension chain 54 traverses over the tension sprocket 52 and is mounted at one end to a second bracket on the links 58 and at the other end to the cable torque arm 78. The tension chain 54 provides constant tension to the ends of the series of links 62 as the series of links 62 moves through the transition portion of the rails 28. The support provided by the tension chain 54 maintains the vertical run portion of the closed conveyor 26 in a substantially perpendicular relationship with the horizontal run portion. Hence, the vertical run portion of the closed conveyor 26 extends unsupported from the rails 28.
The closed conveyor 26 also includes a conveying member in the form of a belt 80 having an outer surface 82 and an inner surface 84. In alternative embodiments of the invention, the conveying member could be a chain or hingedly-connected plates. The belt 80 may be formed of any suitable material depending upon the product requirements. As best shown in
The belt 80 includes a row of bottom guides 88 mounted to the inner surface 84 and two rows of top guides 90 mounted to the outer surface 82. The bottom guides 88 engage the belt support disc 74 on the tubes 66 (see
As discussed above, the belt drive sprocket 40 is located at the transition portion of the rails 28. A first supporting member formed as a belt infeed pulley 92 is mounted to one of the end links 64 of the series of links 62 and a second supporting member is formed as a tail pulley 94 is mounted to the other end link of the series of links 62. In alternative embodiments of the invention, one or both of the first and second supporting members could be formed as a rod, a roller, a spindle, a wheel, a shaft, a gear, or sprocket. The tail pulley 94 is mounted adjacent the cable torque arm 78. The belt 80 traverses an L-shaped route from horizontal to vertical formed by the infeed pulley 92, the belt drive sprocket 40, and the tail pulley 94. In particular, the belt drive motor 42 and belt drive sprocket 40 causes the belt 80 to move in a continuous manner to lower the product into the large bag 22. Two series of tabs 96 are formed on the belt drive sprocket 40 to engage the rows of bottom guides 88 to provide the necessary interengagement between the belt drive sprocket 40 and the belt 80 to move the belt 80.
The infeed chute 56 is located in the vicinity of the vertical run portion for delivering product into the buckets 86 as the buckets 86 traverse the vertical run portion. A vertically displaceable discharge point of the closed conveyor 26 is defined by the area near the tail pulley 94 and cable torque arm 78. The movement of the belt 80 around the tail pulley 94 causes the buckets 86 to discharge. The vertically displaceable discharge point moves in relation to the extending or retracting of the series of links 62 caused by the movement of the series of links 62 along the route provided by the rails 28.
Referring now to
In another aspect of the exemplary embodiment of the invention, the distance between the first and second supporting members 92, 94 decreases in response to movement of the first and second supporting members 92, 94 along the path 104 in the second direction 116. As shown by a comparison of
In another aspect of the exemplary embodiment of the invention, the first supporting member 92 moves away the bend 106 in response to translation along the path 104 in the first direction 114 and moves closer to the bend 106 in response to translation along the path 104 in the second direction 116. Similarly, the second supporting member 94 moves away the bend 106 in response to translation along the path 104 in the second direction 116 and moves closer to the bend 106 in response to translation along the path 104 in the first direction 114.
In the exemplary embodiment of the invention, the belt 80 remains taut during movement of the first and second supporting members 92, 94 along the path 104.
The invention has been described in an illustrative manner, and it is to be understood that the terminology which has been used is intended to be in the nature of words of description rather than of limitation. It is now apparent to those skilled in the art that many modifications and variations of the present invention are possible in light of the above teachings. It is, therefore, to be understood that the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described.
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/491,817 for a CONVEYOR ASSEMBLY, filed on Aug. 1, 2003, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. This claim is made under 35 U.S.C. § 119(e); 37 C.F.R. § 1.78; and 65 Fed. Reg. 50093.
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