Transport apparatus with vacuum belt
First Claim
1. An apparatus for transporting particles, the apparatus comprising:
- an endless conveyor belt having a plurality of perforations along a length of the conveyor belt, the apparatus being configured to enable application of a negative pressure to said perforations so as to aspirate the particles to said perforations, the conveyor belt being configured to transport the particles along a transport direction while the particles are aspirated to said perforations, thereby defining a movable transport surface, the movable transport surface extending in an essentially vertical plane, and the transport direction being inclined upwardly relative to a horizontal direction;
a feeding device structured to feed the particles to the conveyor belt in a feeding zone along a feeding direction, the feeding direction extending essentially perpendicularly to a surface normal of the movable transport surface; and
an inclined recycling tray that is arranged below the movable surface to collect particles that have dropped from the conveyor belt outside of the feeding zone and to recycle said particles to the feeding zone by the action of gravity.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A transport apparatus comprises an endless vacuum conveyor belt (310) having a plurality of perforations (311). The conveyor belt transports the particles along a transport direction (T) while they are aspirated to the perforations, thereby defining a moving transport surface (316). The transport surface extends in an essentially vertical plane (x-z), and the transport direction (T) is inclined upwardly relative to the horizontal direction (x). An inclined recycling tray (200) recycles particles that have fallen from the conveyor belt back to a feeding zone (150) purely by the action of gravity. A separating wall (600) separates a processing zone from a clean zone of the apparatus. The conveyor belt interacts with an elongate vacuum box, which is open along one side, the open side being covered by an elongate slider. The slider has suction openings with a cross section that varies along the transport direction (T).
16 Citations
15 Claims
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1. An apparatus for transporting particles, the apparatus comprising:
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an endless conveyor belt having a plurality of perforations along a length of the conveyor belt, the apparatus being configured to enable application of a negative pressure to said perforations so as to aspirate the particles to said perforations, the conveyor belt being configured to transport the particles along a transport direction while the particles are aspirated to said perforations, thereby defining a movable transport surface, the movable transport surface extending in an essentially vertical plane, and the transport direction being inclined upwardly relative to a horizontal direction; a feeding device structured to feed the particles to the conveyor belt in a feeding zone along a feeding direction, the feeding direction extending essentially perpendicularly to a surface normal of the movable transport surface; and an inclined recycling tray that is arranged below the movable surface to collect particles that have dropped from the conveyor belt outside of the feeding zone and to recycle said particles to the feeding zone by the action of gravity. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 10, 11, 13, 14)
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7. An apparatus for transporting particles, comprising:
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an endless conveyor belt having a plurality of perforations along a length, the conveyor belt being configured to transport the particles along a transport direction while the particles are aspirated to said perforations; an elongate vacuum box extending along the transport direction, the vacuum box being open along one longitudinal side and being connectable to a source of negative pressure so as to apply a negative pressure to the vacuum box; and an elongate slider that covers said longitudinal side of the vacuum box, the slider being provided with a plurality of suction openings, the suction openings defining a free cross section that varies along the transport direction, wherein the conveyor belt is slidably guided on said slider along the transport direction, so that the negative pressure in the vacuum box causes a negative pressure at said perforations of the conveyor belt, the negative pressure at the perforations being modulated along the transport direction according to the free cross section defined by the suction openings of the slider, and wherein the slider defines a longitudinal groove that extends along the transport direction, the longitudinal groove creating a clearance space between the conveyor belt and a slider portion in which the suction openings are provided. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 15)
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12. An apparatus for transporting particles, the apparatus comprising:
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an endless conveyor belt having a plurality of perforations along a length of the conveyor belt, the apparatus being configured to enable application of a negative pressure to said perforations so as to aspirate the particles to said perforations, the conveyor belt being configured to transport the particles along a transport direction while the particles are aspirated to said perforations, thereby defining a movable transport surface, the movable transport surface extending in an essentially vertical plane, and the transport direction being inclined upwardly relative to a horizontal direction; a feeding device structured to feed the particles to the conveyor belt in a feeding zone along a feeding direction, the feeding direction extending essentially perpendicularly to a surface normal of the movable transport surface, an elongate vacuum box extending along the transport direction, the vacuum box being open along one longitudinal side and being connectable to a source of negative pressure so as to apply a negative pressure to the vacuum box; and an elongate slider that covers said longitudinal side of the vacuum box, the slider being provided with a plurality of suction openings, the suction openings defining a free cross section that varies along the transport direction, wherein the conveyor belt is slidably guided on said slider along the transport direction, so that the negative pressure in the vacuum box causes a negative pressure at said perforations of the conveyor belt, the negative pressure at the perforations being modulated along the transport direction according to the free cross section defined by the suction openings of the slider, wherein the slider defines a longitudinal groove that extends along the transport direction, the longitudinal groove creating a clearance space between the conveyor belt and a slider portion in which the suction openings are provided.
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Specification