Transfer system

• US 7,779,986 B2
• Filed: 10/06/2006
• Issued: 08/24/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 11/04/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Daifuku Company Limited
• Original Assignee: Daifuku Company Limited
• Inventors: Enomoto, Masahiro
• Primary Examiner(s): Crawford; Gene
• Assistant Examiner(s): SINGH, KAVEL
• Application Number:
  US11/544,079
• Publication Number:
  US 20070102261A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,418 Days
• Field of Search: 198/372, 198/440, 198/370.2, 198/370.03
• US Class Current: 198/370.02
• CPC Class Codes: B65G 2207/36 Pushing shoes on conveyors
• CPC Class Codes: B65G 47/844 the article-engaging elements being pushers transversally movable on the supporting surface, e.g. pusher-shoes

Abstract

In a transfer system used for transferring articles that are conveyed on a main conveying path to branching conveying paths, change-over guiding sections of change-over units have an upper guiding body and a lower guiding body and the change-over action of the upper guiding body is caused by the motion force of an article side-push body in the direction of a main conveying path, and the change-over action of the lower guiding body is caused integrally in the second half of this change-over action. As a result, a sufficient change-over guiding length in the change-over unit can be ensured and change-over can be performed smoothly via both guiding bodies at all times.

Claims

1. A transfer system comprising:

a pair of left and right endless rotary bodies provided along a main conveying path;

a plurality of article support bodies mounted between the endless rotary bodies and having a direction perpendicular to the main conveying path as a lengthwise direction thereof; and

an article side-push body fitted around the article support body and guided thereby, wherein

a guided body is mounted on an underside of the article side-push body, and

a guiding device is installed at a main frame, for guiding the guided body,

the guiding device comprising a pair of left and right inner movement guiding sections more inclined inwardly on the lower side, and a pair of left and right outer movement guiding sections more inclined outwardly on the lower side and facing finish ends of the inner movement guiding sections via a change-over unit,

the change-over unit including a merging guiding section for receiving the guided body from both inner movement guiding sections, a branching guiding section for guiding the guided body to both outer movement guiding sections, and a change-over guiding section for distributing a guided body from the merging guiding section to one of a pair of branching guiding sections,

the change-over guiding section including an upper guiding body and a lower guiding body, said upper guiding body and said lower guiding body each being movable relative to said merging guiding section during a change-over action and together guiding the guided body from the merging guiding section to said one of said branching guiding sections, wherein a motion force of the article side-push body along the main conveying path causes the upper guiding body to perform a change-over action that moves said upper guiding body relative to said merging guiding section and causes the lower guiding body to integrally perform a change-over action during a second half of the change-over action of the upper guiding body that moves said lower guiding body relative to said merging guiding section.

2. The transfer system according to claim 1, wherein when the guided body of a leading article side-push body is guided by the lower guiding body, a following article side-push body assumes a start position for causing the upper guiding body to perform a change-over action.

3. The transfer system according to claim 1, wherein the change-over guiding section comprises:

a cam body positioned in the merging guiding section to be swingable to the left and right about a spindle center on an upper side thereof,

an upper guiding body and a lower guiding body being swingable to the left and right about the spindle center on a lower side thereof, and

a swinging response movement mechanism provided between the cam body and the upper guiding body, wherein the cam body is caused to swing to the left and right by a motion force of the article side-push body and the upper guiding body changes over in response to the left-right swinging of the cam body.

4. The transfer system according to claim 1, wherein a support shaft is provided vertically on the underside of the article side-push body, the guided body is mounted on the support shaft, and the upper guiding body is caused to perform the change-over action by a motion force of the guided body that has moved to the merging guiding section.

5. The transfer system according to claim 3, wherein a support shaft is provided vertically on the underside of the article side-push body, the guided body is mounted on the support shaft, and the cam body is caused to swing to the left and right by a motion force of the moving support shaft.

6. The transfer system according to claim 5, wherein when the moving support shaft reaches a finish end section of the cam body, the guided body mounted on the support shaft faces the upper guiding body.