FRICTION DRIVE SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR PALLETIZED CONVEYOR
First Claim
1. A friction drive system for a palletized conveyor, comprising:
- a pair of opposing drive assemblies residing along opposite sides of both a load and unload end of said palletized conveyor;
each drive assembly including at least one drive unit having a drive motor adapted to rotate a drive belt;
each drive assembly including at least one take-up unit having a tensioning device adapted to receive a drive belt;
each drive assembly including a drive belt coupling said drive unit to said take-up unit; and
an actuator associated with each drive unit and each take-up unit for pressing said drive belt against pallets of said palletized conveyor;
wherein said drive belts associated with said drive assemblies at said unload end of said palletized conveyor rotate at a slower speed than said drive belts associated with said drive assemblies at said load end of said palletized conveyor.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A modular friction drive system and method for use with a palletized conveyor. The drive system includes drive assemblies located at opposite sides of both a load end and unload end of the palletized conveyor. Each drive assembly comprises at least one drive unit and at least on take-up unit, which are connected by a drive belt. One or more idler units may reside between the drive unit(s) and take-up unit(s). Each drive assembly is provided with an actuating means for pressing the drive belt tightly against the side walls of the conveyor pallets. Each of the drive unit, take-up unit, and idler unit is preferably modular in nature and can, therefore, be added to or removed from a drive assembly independently of the other unit(s).
19 Citations
48 Claims
-
1. A friction drive system for a palletized conveyor, comprising:
-
a pair of opposing drive assemblies residing along opposite sides of both a load and unload end of said palletized conveyor;
each drive assembly including at least one drive unit having a drive motor adapted to rotate a drive belt;
each drive assembly including at least one take-up unit having a tensioning device adapted to receive a drive belt;
each drive assembly including a drive belt coupling said drive unit to said take-up unit; and
an actuator associated with each drive unit and each take-up unit for pressing said drive belt against pallets of said palletized conveyor;
wherein said drive belts associated with said drive assemblies at said unload end of said palletized conveyor rotate at a slower speed than said drive belts associated with said drive assemblies at said load end of said palletized conveyor. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
-
-
20. A modular friction drive system for a palletized conveyor, comprising:
-
a pair of load end drive assemblies residing along opposite sides of a load end of said palletized conveyor;
a pair of unload end drive assemblies residing along opposite sides of an unload end of said palletized conveyor;
each drive assembly including at least one self-contained drive unit having a drive motor that rotates a drive unit belt sprocket;
each drive assembly including at least one self-contained take-up unit having a tensioning device coupled to a take-up unit belt sprocket;
each drive assembly including a drive belt coupling said drive unit belt sprocket to said take-up unit belt sprocket; and
an actuator associated with each drive unit and each take-up unit for pressing said drive belts against pallets of said palletized conveyor;
wherein said drive belts associated with said unload end drive assemblies rotate at a slower speed than said drive belts associated with said load end drive assemblies. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34)
-
-
35. A modular friction drive system for a palletized conveyor, comprising:
-
a pair of load end drive assemblies residing along opposite sides of a load end of said palletized conveyor;
a pair of unload end drive assemblies residing along opposite sides of an unload end of said palletized conveyor;
each drive assembly including at least one self-contained drive unit having a drive motor that rotates a corresponding drive unit belt sprocket;
each drive assembly including at least one self-contained take-up unit having a tensioning device coupled to a corresponding take-up unit belt sprocket;
each drive assembly including a drive belt coupling said drive unit belt sprocket(s) to said take-up unit belt sprocket(s); and
a slide assembly associated with each drive unit and each take-up unit, each slide assembly including a linear actuator for linearly displacing drive components of an associated drive unit or take-up unit toward said palletized conveyor, thereby pressing said belts against pallets of said palletized conveyor;
wherein drive units and/or take-up units can be independently added to or removed from a drive assembly. - View Dependent Claims (36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 47)
-
-
46. A method of driving pallets along a palletized conveyor in a controlled fashion, comprising:
-
locating a pair of load end drive assemblies residing along opposite sides of a load end of said palletized conveyor;
locating a pair of unload end drive assemblies residing along opposite sides of an unload end of said palletized conveyor;
including in each drive assembly a self-contained drive unit having a drive motor that rotates a drive unit belt sprocket, a self-contained take-up unit having a tensioning device coupled to a take-up unit belt sprocket, and a drive belt coupling said drive unit belt sprocket to said take-up unit belt sprocket; and
associating a slide assembly with each drive unit and each take-up unit, each slide assembly including a linear actuator for linearly displacing drive components of an associated drive unit or take-up unit toward said palletized conveyor, thereby pressing a drive belt associated with each drive assembly against pallets of said palletized conveyor;
wherein said drive belts associated with said unload end drive assemblies rotate at a slower speed than said drive belts associated with said load end drive assemblies, thereby encouraging said pallets to travel along said conveyor in an abutting or nearly abutting arrangement. - View Dependent Claims (48)
-
Specification