Claims
- 1. An overhead conveyor system comprising:
a plurality of rollers rotatably mounted in fixed overhead locations spaced along a path of travel; at least one motor for driving the plurality of rollers in rotation; and at least one carriage supported on the rollers for movement along the path of travel in response to rotation of the rollers, each carriage having at least one elongate support member continuously engageable with at least two rollers simultaneously while the corresponding carriage moves along the path of travel.
- 2. The overhead conveyor system of claim 1 further comprising:
each roller operably connect to a common shaft with a driven pulley and a drive pulley; and a plurality of belts engaged between adjacent rollers connecting the driven pulley of one roller with the drive pulley of an adjacent roller for transmitting rotation from a single motor to the plurality of rollers along the path of travel.
- 3. The overhead conveyor system of claim 1 further comprising:
a workstation located along the path of travel; and at least one sensor operably positionable for sensing the carriage when at the workstation for controlling movement of the carriage at the workstation as the carriage is driven along the path of travel by rotation of the plurality of rollers.
- 4. An overhead conveyor system comprising:
a plurality of rollers rotatably mounted along a path of travel; and an elongate support member continuously engageable with at least two rollers and moveable along the path of travel in response to rotation of at least one of the plurality of rollers.
- 5. The system of claim 4 wherein the plurality of rollers are operably associated with respect to one another to rotate substantially in unison.
- 6. The system of claim 5 further comprising:
at least one belt operably associating the plurality of rollers with respect to one another.
- 7. The system of claim 5 further comprising:
at least one chain operably associating the plurality of rollers with respect to one another.
- 8. The system of claim 5 further comprising:
a plurality of belts, each of the plurality of belts operably associating two rollers positioned spaced from one another along the path of travel.
- 9. The system of claim 4 further comprising:
at least one motor for rotating at least one of the plurality of rollers.
- 10. The system of 9 wherein in the at least one motor further comprises:
a plurality of motors, each of the plurality of motors positionable along the path of travel for selectively driving at least one of the plurality of rollers.
- 11. The system of claim 4 wherein the plurality of rollers further comprise:
a first set of rollers rotatably driven to move the elongate support member along the path of travel; and a second set of rollers freely rotatable to support the elongate support member during movement along the path of travel.
- 12. The system of claim 11 wherein a first roller of the first set of rollers and a second roller of the second set of rollers are positionable along a common axis extending transverse to the path of travel.
- 13. The system of claim 11 wherein a first roller of the first set of rollers and a second roller of the second set of rollers are positionable adjacent to one another along the path of travel.
- 14. The system of claim 11 wherein at least two rollers from the second set of rollers are positionable between two rollers from the first set of rollers along the path of travel.
- 15. The system of claim 4 wherein the elongate support member is substantially cylindrical.
- 16. The system of claim 4 wherein the elongate support member is substantially hollow.
- 17. The system of claim 4 wherein the elongate support member further comprises:
first and second substantially cylindrical members.
- 18. The system of claim 4 wherein the elongate support member defines a channel.
- 19. The system of claim 4 further comprising:
at least one sensor for sensing a position of the elongate support member along the path of travel and emitting a signal; and control means for receiving the signal from the at least one sensor and controlling the rotation of the plurality of rollers in response to the signal.
- 20. The system of claim 4 further comprising:
means for moving the elongate member between a first section of the path of travel and a second section of the path of travel, where the first and second sections of the path are at an angular, non-linear, orientation with respect to one another.
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is a continuation of Provisional Patent Application U.S. Serial No. 60/369,310, filed Apr. 2, 2002 and a continuation of Provisional Patent Application of U.S. Serial No. 60/329,197 filed Oct. 12, 2001.
Provisional Applications (2)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
|
60369310 |
Apr 2002 |
US |
|
60329197 |
Oct 2001 |
US |