Article-rotating belt conveyor
First Claim
1. A conveyor comprising:
- a carryway extending longitudinally in a conveying direction from an upstream end to a downstream end and laterally in width from a first side edge to a second side edge;
at least one conveyor belt advancing along the carryway in the conveying direction and forming an outer conveying surface, wherein the conveyor belt includes rollers extending upward through the thickness of the conveyor belt into supporting contact with conveyed articles along the carryway;
wherein the outer conveying surface is divided into at least two regions including a first region nearer the first side edge and a laterally offset second region nearer the second side edge and wherein the rollers in the first region are oriented to rotate in a first direction and the rollers in the second region are oriented to rotate in a second direction;
roller control means for causing the rollers in the first region to rotate at a first velocity and the rollers in the second region at a second velocity, wherein the component of the first velocity in the conveying direction is different from the component of the second velocity in the conveying direction.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
A conveyor (20) comprising at least one belt (22) defining an outer conveying surface divided into at least two laterally offset regions in which the rollers (50) in one region rotate in a first direction and the rollers (51) in a second region rotate in a second direction as the conveyor belt (22) advances in a conveying direction. The rollers (50, 51) rotate by rolling along roller-engagement surfaces (54) underlying the conveyor belt along a carryway. The rollers rotating in the first direction rotate with a velocity component in the conveying direction (32) different from the velocity component in the conveying direction of the rollers rotating in the second direction. An article positioned simultaneously atop rollers in both regions is rotated by the rotation of the rollers as the conveyor belt advances.
40 Citations
19 Claims
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1. A conveyor comprising:
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a carryway extending longitudinally in a conveying direction from an upstream end to a downstream end and laterally in width from a first side edge to a second side edge; at least one conveyor belt advancing along the carryway in the conveying direction and forming an outer conveying surface, wherein the conveyor belt includes rollers extending upward through the thickness of the conveyor belt into supporting contact with conveyed articles along the carryway; wherein the outer conveying surface is divided into at least two regions including a first region nearer the first side edge and a laterally offset second region nearer the second side edge and wherein the rollers in the first region are oriented to rotate in a first direction and the rollers in the second region are oriented to rotate in a second direction; roller control means for causing the rollers in the first region to rotate at a first velocity and the rollers in the second region at a second velocity, wherein the component of the first velocity in the conveying direction is different from the component of the second velocity in the conveying direction. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A conveyor comprising:
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a carryway extending longitudinally in a conveying direction from an upstream end to a downstream end and laterally in width from a first side edge to a second side edge; at least one conveyor belt advancing along the carryway in the conveying direction and forming an outer conveying surface divided into a first region and a laterally offset second region; first rollers in the first region extending through the thickness of the conveyor belt and rotatable on parallel first axes generally perpendicular to the conveying direction; second rollers in the second region extending through the thickness of the conveyor belt and rotatable on parallel second axes oblique to the first axes; roller-engagement surfaces underlying the conveyor belt along the carryway in contact with the first and second rollers to cause the first and second rollers to rotate as the conveyor belt advances in the conveying direction; wherein the engagement of the roller-engagement surfaces with the first and second rollers causes the first rollers to rotate with a velocity component in the conveying direction different from the velocity component in the conveying direction of the second rollers as the at least one conveyor belt advances along the carryway. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A method for rotating an article conveyed atop a belt conveyor comprising:
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advancing at least one conveyor belt in a conveying direction, the conveyor belt having an upper conveying surface divided into laterally offset first and second regions with first rollers in the first region extending through the thickness of the conveyor belt and arranged to rotate in a first direction and second rollers in the second region extending through the thickness of the conveyor belt and arranged to rotate in a second direction; rotating the first rollers in the first direction with a first velocity component in the conveying direction and the second rollers in the second direction with a different second velocity component in the conveying direction to cause an article simultaneously in the first and second regions atop first and second rollers to rotate on the upper conveying surface.
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Specification