Carriage for an endless conveyor and a conveying mechanism for such a carriage
First Claim
1. A carriage for an endless conveyor having an endless conveyance path comprising at least two substantially linear paths and turning paths connecting opposite ends of the substantially linear paths, the conveyor having a plurality of carriages driven by a pair of driving units of the conveyor in proximity to the turning paths to circulate the carriages along the conveyance path in a predetermined conveyance direction, the carriage comprising:
- a torque input member for receiving a torque from the driving unit for moving the carriage in the conveyance direction, and a carriage coupling means for connecting the carriages such that the torque received by one of the carriages on the conveyance path from the driving unit can be transmitted to the succeeding ones of the carriages, wherein the carriage coupling means separates a leading one of the carriages from a succeeding one of the carriages when the leading carriage moves from one linear path to the turning path while coupling the separated carriage with a preceding one of the carriages when the carriage moves from the turning path to another linear path.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A conveyor is provided that can easily accommodate a change in specification of stations. Carriages (100) are coupled by carriage couplers (200, 210). Driving units (20) are provided to move entire coupled units (B1, B2) together by driving some of the coupled carriages (100). A distance of conveyance can be changed and a change in specification can be easily coped with only by rearranging the driving units (20).
21 Citations
15 Claims
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1. A carriage for an endless conveyor having an endless conveyance path comprising at least two substantially linear paths and turning paths connecting opposite ends of the substantially linear paths, the conveyor having a plurality of carriages driven by a pair of driving units of the conveyor in proximity to the turning paths to circulate the carriages along the conveyance path in a predetermined conveyance direction, the carriage comprising:
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a torque input member for receiving a torque from the driving unit for moving the carriage in the conveyance direction, and a carriage coupling means for connecting the carriages such that the torque received by one of the carriages on the conveyance path from the driving unit can be transmitted to the succeeding ones of the carriages, wherein the carriage coupling means separates a leading one of the carriages from a succeeding one of the carriages when the leading carriage moves from one linear path to the turning path while coupling the separated carriage with a preceding one of the carriages when the carriage moves from the turning path to another linear path. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4)
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5. A conveying mechanism for circulating a plurality of carriages in a predetermined conveyance direction along an endless conveyance path comprised of at least two substantially linear paths and turning paths connecting opposite ends of the substantially linear paths, a pair of driving units for driving the respective carriages, wherein each of the driving units comprises:
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turning means for separating the carriages located at downstream ends of coupled units of the respective carriages coupled along the substantially linear paths and turning them along the turning paths, and linear movement output members which operate in synchronism with the turning means to convey the downstream ends of the coupled units coupled along the substantially linear paths to the turning means. - View Dependent Claims (6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A conveying mechanism comprising:
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two linear paths each said linear path having an entry and an exit;
two non-linear turning paths extending from the exits from the linear paths;
a plurality of carriages moveably positioned along a selected one of said paths, each said carriage having an upstream coupling member and a downstream coupling member, the upstream and downstream coupling members being configured for transmitting a pulling force between adjacent carriages when the upstream and downstream coupling members of the adjacent carriages are substantially linearly aligned along one of the linear paths, the downstream coupling member of any of said carriages being separable from the upstream coupling member of any of said carriages by turning any of said carriages onto one of the turning paths; and
two driving units, each said driving unit having a linear movement output member in proximity to the exit of one of the linear paths and a turning movement output member in proximity to one of the turning paths, the linear movement output members exerting a pulling force for pulling toward the exits all of the carriages on the linear paths by engaging the carriage closest to the respective exit, said turning movement output members being operative to move said carriages sequentially through said turning paths and to thereby disengage the carriages sequentially from said carriages remaining on the respective linear path. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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Specification