MULTIPATH CONVEYOR INSTALLATION

• US 20110088997A1
• Filed: 06/11/2009
• Published: 04/21/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 06/13/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Gebo Packaging Solutions France SAS (Gebo Cermex USA Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Sidel Participations (Tetra Laval Holdings BV)
• Inventors: Touitou, Haim, Perrin, David, Petrovic, Zmaj
• Granted Patent: US 8,668,073 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 198/461.1
• CPC Class Codes: B65G 2047/685 Devices for preventing jamming in converging flows
• CPC Class Codes: B65G 21/2072 Laterial guidance means
• CPC Class Codes: B65G 47/31 by varying the relative speeds of the conveyors forming the series
• CPC Class Codes: B65G 47/682 from a single conveyor lane consisting of one conveyor or several adjacent conveyors
• CPC Class Codes: B65G 47/71 the articles being discharged or distributed to several distinct separate conveyors or to a broader conveyor lane

Abstract

The conveyor installation makes it possible to control the speed of items of the bottle (1) type dispatched in several trains distributed across various paths in the form of single-file lanes (11). The lanes are delimited by a pair of walls (16, 17) which are arranged in an omega shape over a base plate made up of several juxtaposed conveyors (13, 14, 15). Each lane (11) may comprise a fixed wall (16) acting as a reference, and a moving wall (17) that can be adjusted according to the dimensions of the items that are to be conveyed.

Claims

1. A multipath conveyor installation, for controlling the speeds of items between two workstations, said items, of the bottle kind, or other containers, having been dispatched in several strings distributed across the various paths in the form of single-file lanes in the shape of an omega,

Wherein said lanes each consist of their own conveyor baseplate and of a pair of distinct walls, arranged above said baseplate, to guide each string of bottles separately.

2. The multipath conveyor installation according to claim 1,

wherein each baseplate consists of a succession of chains the speeds of which vary from one to the other, and wherein the chains are arranged in an omega shape, that is to say that the downstream end of one borders on the upstream end of the next to allow the bottles to pass from one chain to the other, guided by the walls of the corresponding lane.

3. The conveyor installation as claimed in claim 2, wherein the ends of adjacent chains of one and the same baseplate border one another over an appropriate length which is dependent on the rate and stability of the bottles.

4. The conveyor installation as claimed in claim 1, comprising, for each lane, a guide wall that acts as a right edge and a wall that acts as a left edge, wherein the opposing walls of two adjacent lanes are separated by a space the magnitude of which corresponds at least to the difference in width of the items which are likely to pass along said lanes.

5. The conveyor installation as claimed in claim 4, comprising, for each lane, a fixed wall acting as reference, secured to the chassis, and a moving wall, each moving wall being carried by a structure which is guided transversely on said chassis and the position of which can be adjusted through appropriate means.

6. The conveyor installation as claimed in claim 5, wherein the fixed walls of the lanes are carried by the chassis, which chassis serves to support and guide the structure which carries the moving walls.

7. The conveyor installation as claimed in claim 6, comprising supporting structures for the walls of the lanes, which structures are installed under the item conveying surface.

8. The conveyor installation as claimed in claim 6, comprising supporting structures for the walls of the lanes, which structures are installed above the item conveying surface.

9. The conveyor installation as claimed in claim 6 comprising means for maneuvering the structure, said means for maneuvering consisting of screw nut systems, which systems are operated in a coordinated manner through suitable maneuvering means.

10. The conveyor installation as claimed in claim 9, wherein the nut is a floating nut.

11. The conveyor installation as claimed in claim 9, wherein the suitable maneuvering means consist of a crank which is secured to the screw.

12. The conveyor installation as claimed in claim 9, wherein the suitable maneuvering means comprise an angle transmission comprising a gearwheel which rotates as one with the screw and a threaded flexible shaft which runs laterally along the length of the chassis, controlled by electric motor means.

13. A line for controlling the speed of a stream of products between a machine of the labeling machine kind and a machine of the pallet wrapping machine kind, comprising a multipath conveyor installation according to claim 1.