Rotary articulated pusher for removing items, such as luggage, from a conveyor belt
First Claim
1. For use with an elongate conveyor belt designed to transport articles from one location to another, a pusher device mounted adjacent one long side of the belt, said pusher device utilizing an elongate, rotatably mounted arm having first and second ends, said first end being pivotally affixed at a location relatively close to the long side edge of the belt, with said arm being arranged to rotate about said fixed pivot for less than 90°
- , said arm normally residing in an inactive position extending along the long side of the belt, said second end of said arm being arranged to move outwardly, on occasion, from said inactive position and across at least a portion of the belt when an article is to be deflected off of the belt, an article-engaging paddle pivotally mounted on said second end of said arm, with said paddle being able to rotate with respect to said arm for a limited extent, a link having first and second ends, with a first end pivotally attached at said location relatively close to the long side edge of the belt, said second end of said link being pivotally attached to said paddle at a location adjacent one end of said paddle, with said link serving to control and limit the motion of said paddle during rotation with respect to said rotatable mounted arm, and actuating means for causing selected rotation of said arm about said fixed pivot, such that upon said actuating means being activated to cause said arm to undertake rotation about said fixed pivot, said paddle will move in an arc across the conveyor belt in a direction consistent with the direction of belt travel to briefly but continuously contact the selected article, and cause such article to be deflected off of the belt, said actuating means thereafter causing said arm to undertake a return stroke and to resume its inactive position.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
For use with an elongate conveyor belt designed to transport articles from one location to another, a novel pusher device mounted adjacent one long side of the belt. The pusher device utilizes an elongate, rotatably mounted arm having first and second ends, with the first end being pivotally affixed at a location relatively close to the belt, and arranged to rotate about the fixed pivot for less than 90°. The arm normally resides in an inactive position extending along the long side of the belt, with the second end of the arm being arranged to move outwardly, on occasion, from the inactive position and across at least a portion of the belt when an article is to be deflected off of the belt. An article-engaging paddle is pivotally mounted on the second end of the arm, and a novel actuating device causes selected rotation of the arm about the fixed pivot, such that upon the actuating means being activated to cause the arm to undertake rotation about the fixed pivot, the paddle will move in an outward stroke to briefly contact the selected article and to cause such article to be deflected off of the belt. The actuating device thereafter causes the arm to undertake a rapid return stroke and to resume its inactive position.
44 Citations
30 Claims
-
1. For use with an elongate conveyor belt designed to transport articles from one location to another, a pusher device mounted adjacent one long side of the belt, said pusher device utilizing an elongate, rotatably mounted arm having first and second ends, said first end being pivotally affixed at a location relatively close to the long side edge of the belt, with said arm being arranged to rotate about said fixed pivot for less than 90°
- , said arm normally residing in an inactive position extending along the long side of the belt, said second end of said arm being arranged to move outwardly, on occasion, from said inactive position and across at least a portion of the belt when an article is to be deflected off of the belt, an article-engaging paddle pivotally mounted on said second end of said arm, with said paddle being able to rotate with respect to said arm for a limited extent, a link having first and second ends, with a first end pivotally attached at said location relatively close to the long side edge of the belt, said second end of said link being pivotally attached to said paddle at a location adjacent one end of said paddle, with said link serving to control and limit the motion of said paddle during rotation with respect to said rotatable mounted arm, and actuating means for causing selected rotation of said arm about said fixed pivot, such that upon said actuating means being activated to cause said arm to undertake rotation about said fixed pivot, said paddle will move in an arc across the conveyor belt in a direction consistent with the direction of belt travel to briefly but continuously contact the selected article, and cause such article to be deflected off of the belt, said actuating means thereafter causing said arm to undertake a return stroke and to resume its inactive position.
- View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
-
12. A pusher device for use with an elongate conveyor belt operably arranged on a generally horizontally disposed support surface, which conveyor belt is designed to move along said surface and to transport articles from one location to another, mounting means operably located on said support surface relatively close to one long side edge of the belt, upon which mounting means said pusher device is operably mounted, said pusher device utilizing an elongate, rotatably mounted arm having first and second ends, said first end being pivotally affixed to said mounting means relatively close to the long side edge of the belt, with said rotatably mounted arm being arranged to rotate about said mounting means for less than 90°
- , said rotatably mounted arm normally residing in an inactive position in general alignment with the long side edge of the belt, said second end being arranged to extend, on occasion, from said inactive position, across at least a portion of the belt when a selected article carried by the belt is to be deflected off of the belt, an article-engaging paddle rotatably mounted on said second end of said rotatably mounted arm, said paddle having front and rear ends, with the attachment point of said paddle to said arm being at a location approximately midway between said front and rear ends, said paddle being able to rotate with respect to said arm for a limited extent, a link having first and second ends, with a first end pivotally attached to said support surface at a location laterally removed from said mounting means on said support surface, said second end of said link pivotally attached to said paddle at a location adjacent one end of said paddle, with said link serving to control and limit the motion of said paddle during rotation with respect to said rotatably mounted arm, actuating means for causing selected rotation of said rotatably mounted arm about said mounting means, such that upon said actuating means being activated to cause said rotatably mounted arm to undertake rotation in an arcuate manner about said mounting means, said paddle will move in an arc across the conveyor belt in a direction consistent with the direction of belt travel so as to briefly but continuously contact the selected article, and cause such article to be deflected off of the belt, said actuating means thereafter causing the retraction of said rotatably mounted arm from its extended position, and braking means for causing said arm to stop at said inactive position.
- View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
-
25. A pusher device for use with an elongate conveyor belt operative on a support surface, which conveyor belt is designed to move along the surface and to transport articles from one location to another, said pusher device comprising a pivotally-mounted article-engaging paddle for contacting a selected article being conveyed on the belt, and while maintaining continuous contact with such article, being arranged to cause the removal of such article from the belt, mounting means operably located on the support surface relatively close to one long side edge of the conveyor belt, upon which mounting means an elongate, rotatable arm having first and second ends is mounted, said first end being pivotally affixed to said mounting means, actuating means for selectively causing said arm to rotate about said mounting means for less than 90°
- during article removal from the belt, said paddle being pivotally attached to said second end of said arm so as to be able to rotate for a limited extent with respect to said arm, said second end of said arm being arranged to extend, on occasion, from an inactive position in which it resides alongside the belt, across at least a portion of the belt when a selected article carried by the belt is to be deflected off of the belt by said paddle, means for assuring controlled rotative motion of said paddle with respect to said arm during rotation of said arm about said mounting means, whereby upon said actuating means being activated to cause said arm to undertake rotation in an arcuate manner about said mounting means, said paddle will travel outwardly in an arc across the conveyor belt and cause such article to be deflected off of the belt, said actuating means thereafter causing the retraction of said arm from its extended position into the inactive position alongside the belt.
- View Dependent Claims (26, 27)
-
28. A pusher device for use with an elongate conveyor belt operably arranged on a generally horizontally disposed support surface, which conveyor belt is designed to move along the surface and to transport articles from one location to another, said pusher device comprising a pivotally-mounted article-engaging paddle for contacting a selected article being conveyed on the belt, and while maintaining continuous contact with such article, being arranged to cause the removal of such article from the belt, mounting means operably located on the support surface relatively close to one long side edge of the conveyor belt, upon which mounting means said pusher device is operably mounted, said pusher device also comprising an elongate, rotatably mounted arm having first and second ends, said first end being pivotally affixed to said mounting means relatively close to the long side edge of the belt, actuating means for selectively causing said rotatably mounted arm to rotate about said mounting means for less than 90°
- during article removal from the belt, said rotatably mounted arm normally residing in an inactive position in general alignment with the long side edge of the belt, said paddle being pivotally attached to said second end of said arm so as to be able to rotate for a limited extent with respect to said arm, said second end of said arm being arranged to extend, on occasion, from the inactive position, across at least a portion of the belt when a selected article carried by the belt is to be deflected off of the belt by said paddle, said paddle having front and rear ends, with the pivotal attachment point of said paddle to said second end of said arm being at a location approximately midway between said front and rear ends, pivotally mounted motion controlling means extending between the support surface and said paddle, for assuring controlled motion of said paddle during rotation of said arm about said mounting means, such that upon said actuating means being activated to cause said arm to undertake rotation in an arcuate manner about said mounting means, said paddle will travel outwardly in an arc across the conveyor belt in a direction consistent with the direction of belt travel so as to briefly but continuously contact the selected article, and cause such article to be deflected off of the belt, said actuating means thereafter causing the retraction of said arm from its extended position, and braking means for causing said arm to stop at the inactive position.
- View Dependent Claims (29, 30)
Specification