Patent Application
20160159582
The present invention relates to a conveyor system, in particular a conveyor system in which items are transported by means of belt conveyors, the items being optionally transported in totes. The invention is of particular use for controlling impact from such items transported between two conveyor sections which may be arranged with an angle with respect to one another or at different levels.
WO 99/30993 discloses a conveyor system for transporting items in a conveying direction and comprising individual belt conveyor sections along which items are conveyed in totes. A first conveyor section is adapted to deliver one or more of the item(s) to a second conveyor section, the first and second conveyor sections each defining a conveying surface for supporting the items. In a practical application of the conveyor system, two consecutive conveyor sections may define a mutual angle in a vertical plane extending in parallel to the conveying direction, so that a transition is defined between the first and second conveyor section. Some dampening of the movement of the items passing to the second conveyor section will be provided by the items itself and by the first and/or second conveyor section. However, it has been found that this dampening is usually not sufficient in order to limit wear on the items and on the conveyor system, and it may not be sufficient to silence the conveyor system during operation, as impacts on the item and the conveyor sections may be severe.
DE 202 16 077 discloses a conveyor system of the type mentioned above which reduces the risk of items being damaged due to mechanical impact in the transition between the first and the second conveyor section by a shock-absorbing device for providing a controlled vertical deceleration of the item in the transition region between the first and the second conveyor section. The items act directly on the shock-absorbing device which provides a controlled vertical deceleration, by providing a dampening effect in addition to the dampening provided by the items themselves.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a conveyor system of the type mentioned above which may be manufactured in an economical way with simple means, even allowing existing conveyor systems with no current efficient damping to be easily modified to provide such an efficient damping. This is achieved in that the shock-absorbing device has an upper face which is located below the at least one conveyor belt, facing the lower surface of the conveyor belt, the shock-absorbing device being configured to provide a controlled vertical deceleration of the items in the transition region by the conveyor belt being pressed against the upper face of the shock-absorbing device by the impact applied by the items onto the conveyor belt in the transition region. Where an initial pressure is already being applied by the conveyor belt as such, additional pressure is applied by the impact.
Preferably, the shock-absorbing device is configured as a block, such as an elongated block, of a resilient material which may optionally locally raise the conveyor belt a distance from beams that are part of a supporting frame, and the resilient material of the device may in that case be continuously held in a state of slight compression through the tension in the conveyor belt. The shock-absorbing device may alternatively be arranged to contact the conveyor belt only when a tote impacts the conveyor belt in the item transition region above the shock-absorbing device. In some embodiments the block of resilient material may have a surface portion providing a low frictional resistance against the belt running in contact therewith.
Preferably, the second conveyor includes at least two spaced apart parallel conveyor belts that define together the conveying surface of the second conveyor, with an elongated beam extending along with and below each of the conveyor belts, and towards impact as aforementioned is directed to temporarily reduce the height of the shock-absorbing device. A respective one of the shock-absorbing devices is preferably being mounted onto the top of each of the beams, by gluing, by screws or by similar means, in the item transition region and with the upper face thereof facing the corresponding conveyor belt, preferably with a continuous contact between the upper face of the shock-absorbing device and the conveyor belt.
The conveyor system according to the invention may comprise at least two, or even a plurality of conveyor sections arranged adjacent to each other in series. Thus, a conveyor system having a modular design may be built up of a number of conveyor sections.
The conveyor system may be installed, e.g., at airports, railway stations, ship departure halls, factories, production plants, mines or at other locations wherein the modular design of the conveyor system may be applied for obtaining a high conveying capacity. The conveyor system is usually arranged to convey items from, e.g., one airport, railway or ship terminal to another.
Each item may comprise a supporting member, such as, e.g., a tray, tote or a container carrying or containing one or more articles, such as, e.g., one or more pieces of luggage, factory products or other items. However, an item may comprise an article only, which is not supported by a supporting member.
Different embodiments of a conveyor system and a shock-absorbing device for a conveyor system according to the present invention are for illustration of the invention described below with reference to the accompanying drawings of which
In the following description, items 104 are often referred to as totes. It should be 10 understood that the totes or items 104 referred to below may support articles, such as pieces of luggage, to be conveyed. In the embodiments of any of the drawings the articles need, however, not be supported by totes. Accordingly, in those embodiments, the totes illustrated in the drawing may be substituted by articles.
In
Shown in
Common to the aforementioned embodiments is a shock-absorbing device 160 located below the conveyor belt 180 in the item transition region T and that has an upper surface configured to contact the lower surface of the conveyor belt 180, at least on the tote 104 impacting the conveyor belt 180, either as it tilts or falls freely onto the second conveyor section 102. The conveyor belt 180 may be in continuous contact with the shock-absorbing device 160 during operation of the conveyor system, as schematically shown in
As shown in
While in principle any type of shock-absorber may be used a shock-absorbing device 160 formed simply as a block of a shock-absorbing material, such as a rubber material or a foamed material, possibly with any inlays, providing a damping by compression is preferred. Since, at least at the time when the tote 104 impacts the conveyor belt 180, the lower surface of the moving conveyor belt 180 will slide against the upper face 182 of the block 160, it is preferred to form the shock-absorbing device 160 with a low friction material layer 169 which forms the aforementioned upper face 182, as shown in
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/DK2013/050252 | 7/25/2013 | WO | 00 |
