Changing the characteristics of an article-conveying belt surface on a running conveyor
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A conveyor for conveying articles along a conveying path, comprising:
- a conveyor frame;
a driven conveyor belt supported in the frame and including;
an outer conveying surface and an opposite inner surface and forming an opening onto the outer conveying surface;
a movable assembly at least partly housed in the opening and including an article-supporting element disposable above the outer conveying surface and an adjustable element disposed along the inner surface; and
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a stationary adjustment control element supported in the conveyor frame proximate the inner surface of the belt in a position to coact with the adjustable element to move the movable assembly and the article-supporting element to provide conveyed articles with a different conveying support characteristic.
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Abstract
A belt conveyor whose article-conveying characteristics can be changed as the belt is running. The conveyor belt includes a plurality of movable assemblies supporting an article-supporting element and an adjustable element. The adjustable element coacts with an adjustment control element supported in the conveyor frame as the belt is running. The coaction causes the adjustable element to move the article-supporting element to provide a different article-conveying characteristic to articles supported at the conveying surface of the belt in zones defined by the adjustment control elements.
129 Citations
51 Claims
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1. A conveyor for conveying articles along a conveying path, comprising:
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a conveyor frame;
a driven conveyor belt supported in the frame and including;
an outer conveying surface and an opposite inner surface and forming an opening onto the outer conveying surface;
a movable assembly at least partly housed in the opening and including an article-supporting element disposable above the outer conveying surface and an adjustable element disposed along the inner surface; and
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a stationary adjustment control element supported in the conveyor frame proximate the inner surface of the belt in a position to coact with the adjustable element to move the movable assembly and the article-supporting element to provide conveyed articles with a different conveying support characteristic. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3)
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4. A conveyor for conveying articles along a conveying path, comprising:
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a conveyor frame;
a driven conveyor belt supported in the conveyor frame and including;
an outer conveying surface and an opposite inner surface and forming an opening onto the outer conveying surface; and
a retractable assembly including a retractable element movable from a first retracted position within the opening below the conveying surface to a second salient position above the conveying surface; and
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a bearing member supported in the conveyor frame proximate the inner surface of the belt along at least a length of the conveying path, the bearing member bearing against the retractable assembly to urge the retractable element from the first retracted position to the second salient position above the conveying surface in underlying support of conveyed articles. - View Dependent Claims (5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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23. A conveyor for conveying articles along a conveying path, comprising:
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a conveyor frame;
a conveyor belt, including;
a series of rows of belt modules, each row extending along the conveying path from a first end to a second end and extending across the width of the belt from a first side edge to second side edge, each row including a first group of hinge elements at the first end of the row and a second group of hinge elements at the second end of the row, the first group of hinge elements circumscribing apertures aligned across the width of the belt and the second group of hinge elements circumscribing apertures aligned along the width of the belt, the first group of hinge elements along a row being interleaved with the second group of hinge elements of an adjacent row;
a plurality of hinge pins extending through the aligned apertures of interleaved hinge elements to hingedly link consecutive rows of belt modules into a conveyor belt having an upper conveying surface and an opposite inner surface;
selected ones of the belt modules forming an opening extending between the upper conveying, surface and the opposite inner surface; and
a retractable assembly including a retractable element movable from a first retracted position within the opening below the conveying surface to a second salient position above the conveying surface;
drive means supported by the frame for driving engagement with the conveyor belt; and
a bearing member supported in the conveyor frame proximate the inner surface of the belt alone at least a length of the conveying path, the bearing member bearing against the retractable assembly to urge the retractable clement from the first retracted position to the second salient position above the conveying surface in underlying support of conveyed articles. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32)
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33. A conveyor belt for conveying articles, including:
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a series of rows of belt modules, each row extending along a conveying path from a first end to a second end and extending across the width of the belt from a first side edge to second side edge, each row including a first group of hinge elements at the first end of the row and a second group of hinge elements at the second end of the row, the first group of hinge elements circumscribing apertures aligned across the width of the belt and the second group of hinge elements circumscribing apertures aligned along the width of the belt, the first group of hinge elements along a row being interleaved with the second group of hinge elements of an adjacent row;
a plurality of hinge pins extending through the aligned apertures of interleaved hinge elements to hingedly link consecutive rows of belt modules into a conveyor belt having an upper conveying surface and an opposite inner surface;
selected ones of the belt modules forming an opening extending between the upper conveying surface and the opposite inner surface; and
a retractable assembly including a retractable element movable from a first retracted position within the opening below the conveying surface to a second salient position above the conveying surface in underlying support of conveyed articles. - View Dependent Claims (34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 45, 46)
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41. A conveyor for conveying articles along a conveying path, comprising:
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a conveyor frame;
a driven conveyor belt supported in the conveyor frame and including;
an outer conveying surface and an opposite inner surface and forming an opening onto the outer conveying surface; and
a rotatable assembly rotatable about an axis normal to the outer conveying surface, the rotatable assembly including an article-supporting element and a rotational element disposed beneath the inner surface of the belt and linked to the article-supporting element; and
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rotation control element supported in the frame beneath the inner surface of the belt in a position to rotate the rotational element and thereby the article-supporting element as the belt is driven past. - View Dependent Claims (42, 43, 44)
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47. A conveyor for conveying articles along a conveying path, comprising:
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a conveyor frame;
a driven belt supported in the frame and including a plurality of article-supporting elements having changeable characteristics relative to the articles conveyed on the felt;
one or more adjustment control elements supported in the conveyor frame in a position to alter the characteristics of the article-supporting elements as the belt is running to provide different conveying characteristics to articles supported by the article-supporting elements in zones defined by the positions of the adjustment control elements along the conveying path. - View Dependent Claims (48, 49, 50, 51)
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Specification