Modular diverter shoe and slat construction
DCFirst Claim
1. In a conveying system having a longitudinally moving conveying surface defined by the uppermost ones of a plurality of slats connected at opposite ends in spaced relation with each other to a pair of endless chains;
- a plurality of diverter shoes each moveably mounted on one of said slats for lateral movement with respect to said conveying surface; and
track means engaging said diverter shoes for imparting a lateral force to move said diverter shoes laterally to displace product positioned on said conveying surface, wherein the improvement comprises;
each of said slats being defined by a wall formed as a right cylinder including an outer surface having a planar upper portion defining said conveying surface; and
each of said diverter shoes having a support portion including a substantially continuous glide surface surrounding said wall, said glide surface having substantially the same configuration as said outer surface of said slat.
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Abstract
A sortation system includes a plurality of slats connected at opposite ends in spaced relation with each other to a pair of endless chains. The slats define a conveying surface moving longitudinally along a frame. A plurality of diverter shoes are provided. Each diverter shoe is movably mounted on one of the slats for lateral movement with respect to the conveying surface. Each slat is defined by a wall formed as a right cylinder including an outer surface having a planar upper portion defining the conveying surface, each diverter shoe having a support portion including a substantially continuous glide surface surrounding the wall, the glide surface having substantially the same configuration as the outer surface of the slat.
Each diverter shoe additionally has a diverting portion joined to the support portion by a dove-tail groove and includes one or more vertical diverting surfaces and a plurality of contiguous, generally planar surfaces sloping downwardly from the upper extent of each diverting surface laterally inwardly as well as forwardly and rearwardly. Different configurations of diverting portions may be easily applied to the support portions to accommodate left-hand divert, right-hand divert or bi-directional divert applications. Both the support and diverting portions are defined by a plurality of wall segments having substantially the same thickness and arranged in a honey-comb manner.
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Citations
51 Claims
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1. In a conveying system having a longitudinally moving conveying surface defined by the uppermost ones of a plurality of slats connected at opposite ends in spaced relation with each other to a pair of endless chains;
- a plurality of diverter shoes each moveably mounted on one of said slats for lateral movement with respect to said conveying surface; and
track means engaging said diverter shoes for imparting a lateral force to move said diverter shoes laterally to displace product positioned on said conveying surface, wherein the improvement comprises;each of said slats being defined by a wall formed as a right cylinder including an outer surface having a planar upper portion defining said conveying surface; and each of said diverter shoes having a support portion including a substantially continuous glide surface surrounding said wall, said glide surface having substantially the same configuration as said outer surface of said slat. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
- a plurality of diverter shoes each moveably mounted on one of said slats for lateral movement with respect to said conveying surface; and
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13. In a conveying system having a longitudinally moving conveying surface defined by the uppermost ones of a plurality of slats connected in spaced relation with each other in an endless web;
- a plurality of diverter shoes each movably mounted on one of said slats for lateral movement with respect to said conveying surface; and
track means engaging said diverter shoes for imparting a lateral force to move said diverter shoes laterally to displace product positioned on said conveying surface, wherein the improvement comprises;each of said slats defined by a wall having generally planar upper and lower wall portions joined by side wall portions defining joining edges between each of said wall portions; each of said diverter shoes having a support portion including a glide surface surrounding said wall; and bearing means defining a bearing between at least one of said joining edges of each of said slats and an engaging portion of said glide surface of the corresponding one of said diverter shoes. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
- a plurality of diverter shoes each movably mounted on one of said slats for lateral movement with respect to said conveying surface; and
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23. In a conveying system having a longitudinally moving conveying surface defined by the uppermost ones of a plurality of slats connected in spaced relation with each other in an endless web;
- a plurality of diverter shoes each movably mounted on one of said slats for lateral movement with respect to said conveying surface; and
track means engaging said diverter shoes for imparting a lateral force to move said diverter shoes laterally to displace product positioned on said conveying surface, wherein the improvement comprises;each of said slats defined by a wall having generally planar upper and lower wall portions joined by side wall portions defining joining edges between each of said wall portions; each of said diverter shoes having a support portion includes a glide surface surrounding said wall; and means defining lateral stabilizing means between one of said wall portions of each of said slats and an engaging portion of said glide surface of the corresponding one of said diverter shoes, said lateral stabilizing means resisting vertical-axis reaction-force-couples. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29)
- a plurality of diverter shoes each movably mounted on one of said slats for lateral movement with respect to said conveying surface; and
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30. A diverter shoe for use in a conveyor system having a longitudinally moving conveying surface defined by the uppermost ones of a plurality of slats connected in spaced relation with each other in an endless web;
- and track means extending below said uppermost ones of said slats for engaging and imparting a lateral force to displace selected ones of said diverter shoes laterally with respect to said conveying surface;
said diverter shoe comprising;a support member having a glide portion including means defining a glide surface adapted to glide along one of said slats; and a diverting member joined to said support member and having at least one substantially vertical diverting surface on a lateral end thereof and a plurality of contiguous, generally planar surfaces sloping downward from an upper extent of said diverting surface laterally inward and longitudinally forward or rearward. - View Dependent Claims (31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41)
- and track means extending below said uppermost ones of said slats for engaging and imparting a lateral force to displace selected ones of said diverter shoes laterally with respect to said conveying surface;
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42. A diverter shoe for use in a conveyor system having a longitudinally moving conveying surface defined by the uppermost ones of a plurality of slats connected in spaced relation with each other in an endless web;
- and track means extending below said uppermost ones of said slats for engaging and imparting a lateral force to displace selected ones of said diverter shoes laterally with respect to said conveying surface;
said diverter shoe comprising;a support member having a glide portion including means defining a glide surface adapted to glide along one of said slats; a diverting portion joined to said support portion and having at least one substantially vertical diverting surface on a lateral end thereof; and wherein said support member glide portion is defined by a multiplicity of interconnected wall segments having substantially the same thickness. - View Dependent Claims (43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51)
- and track means extending below said uppermost ones of said slats for engaging and imparting a lateral force to displace selected ones of said diverter shoes laterally with respect to said conveying surface;
Specification