Claims
- 1. In a gravity conveyor including upper and lower oppositely inclined sections connected to each other at diverging ends by a first radiused track end section, connected to each other at converging ends with a second radiused track end section, smaller sized than said first radiused track end section, and a plurality of trolleys having support rollers enabling said trolleys to roll down said upper section, around said first radiused track end section and down said lower section, a return mechanism for returning said trolleys from a lower end of said lower conveyor section up around said second radiused track end section to an upper end of said upper conveyor section, said return mechanism comprising:
- a first rotary member mounted for rotation about the center of said first radiused track end section;
- a first drive motor rotating said rotary member;
- a spring-loaded engagement element mounted to said rotary member adapted to be retracted against a spring force urging at least a portion said element radially outwardly;
- each of said trolleys including a recess in an upper portion thereof with said trolley on said lower conveyor section, said recess adapted to receive an end of said element as said first rotary member rotates to carry said first rotary element across an upper surface of a trolley disposed at said lower end of said lower conveyor section;
- said spring-loaded engagement element moved radially outwardly into said recess, thereby establishing a driving engagement of said engagement element with said trolley to cause said trolley to be swept around said first track end section by rotation of said first rotary member and deposit said trolley onto said upper end of said upper conveyor section.
- 2. The gravity conveyor according to claim 1 wherein said first rotary member comprises a rod assembly, said rod assembly including a spring-loaded plunger at the outer end adapted to be retracted against a spring force urging said plunger outwardly.
- 3. The gravity conveyor according to claim 1 wherein said first radiused track includes a pair of side plates, a pair of outer arcuate pieces, each defining a radiused surface aligned with one of a pair of roller surfaces on said lower end of said lower conveyor section to define a roller track to receive said trolleys driven by said drive mechanism, and a pair of inner plates each defining an inner surface aligned with a respective one of a pair of roller surfaces on said upper end of said upper conveyor section, said inner surfaces supporting each of said trolleys as said trolleys become inverted in moving around said second radiused track and guiding said trolleys onto said upper track section.
- 4. The gravity conveyor according to claim 1 wherein said first drive motor comprises an electric motor and a chain loop engaging a sprocket on an output shaft of said electric motor and a sprocket drivingly connected to said first rotary member.
- 5. The gravity conveyor according to claim 1 wherein each trolley has a trailing edge engaged by said element if another trolley is not queued behind said trolley.
- 6. The gravity conveyor according to claim 1 wherein said first rotary member comprises a carrier sprocket having a series of dogs pivotally mounted about a perimeter of said carrier sprocket, each of said dogs having an engagement end urged radially outward by a spring to be positioned to engage a leading side of said recess in each trolley, but able to be forced radially inward when engaging portions of said trolley adjacent said recess have a trailing surface adjacent said engagement end.
- 7. The gravity conveyor according to claim 6 wherein said dogs are each configured to be able to be forced radially outward by a trailing edge of a trolley recess, whereby said trolleys can overrun said engagement with said engagement end of said dogs when impacted from the rear.
- 8. The gravity conveyor according to claim 1 further including a second rotary member mounted for rotation about the center of said second radiused track end section, a second drive motor rotating said second rotary member;
- an engagement element mounted to said second rotary element extending radially to engage each of said trolleys to restrain movement thereof around said second radiused track end section so that said trolleys are lowered from said upper section to said lower section at the speed of rotation of said second rotary member.
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
This application is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 08/381,499, filed on Jan. 31, 1995, U.S. Pat. No. 5,549,192.
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Number |
Name |
Date |
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4088220 |
Jacksch et al. |
May 1978 |
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4712670 |
Burkhardt |
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Continuation in Parts (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
381499 |
Jan 1995 |
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