Unstacking conveyor with floating surface
First Claim
1. A conveyor for unstacking articles in an article stream comprising:
- an angled conveyor including a substantially planar moving conveying member surface;
a stationary surface suspended above the angled conveyor to contact the article stream without contacting the moving conveying member;
a support frame, and a plurality of support lines coupling the support frame to the stationary surface, at least some of the support lines being angled toward an upstream direction as they approach the stationary surface, and at least some of the support lines being angled toward a downstream direction as they approach the stationary support surface, thereby suspending the stationary surface above the angled conveyor to contact the article stream;
wherein the stationary surface is positioned to contact the articles and thereby exert a downward force on the articles; and
wherein the stationary surface, in response to contact with the articles, is stationary in relation to a direction of movement of the article stream, but moveable in relation to an upward direction perpendicular to the direction of movement.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A conveyor system can includes a feed conveyor, a declined conveyor, and an inclined conveyor. A declined stationary surface is suspended above the declined conveyor and positioned to exert a counter-moment on the articles related to the weight of the stationary support surface and the coefficient of sliding friction of the stationary support surface that is sufficient to resist forward rotation of the articles down the declined conveyor. An inclined stationary support surface is suspended above the inclined conveyor and positioned to exert a forward-moment on the articles related to the weight of the stationary support surface and the coefficient of sliding friction of the stationary support surface that is sufficient to resist counter-rotation of the articles that results in movement of the articles down the inclined conveyor. The vertical height of the stationary surfaces can be adjusted. A related method is also described.
41 Citations
44 Claims
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1. A conveyor for unstacking articles in an article stream comprising:
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an angled conveyor including a substantially planar moving conveying member surface; a stationary surface suspended above the angled conveyor to contact the article stream without contacting the moving conveying member; a support frame, and a plurality of support lines coupling the support frame to the stationary surface, at least some of the support lines being angled toward an upstream direction as they approach the stationary surface, and at least some of the support lines being angled toward a downstream direction as they approach the stationary support surface, thereby suspending the stationary surface above the angled conveyor to contact the article stream; wherein the stationary surface is positioned to contact the articles and thereby exert a downward force on the articles; and
wherein the stationary surface, in response to contact with the articles, is stationary in relation to a direction of movement of the article stream, but moveable in relation to an upward direction perpendicular to the direction of movement. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A conveyor for unstacking articles in an article stream comprising:
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an angled conveyor having a substantially planar moving conveying member surface; a stationary surface, suspended above the angled conveyor to contact the article stream, and the stationary surface having a stiffness such that a stiffness contact angle S results from contact with the article; a support frame, and a plurality of support lines coupling the support frame to the stationary surface, at least some of the support lines being angled toward an upstream direction as they approach the stationary surface, and at least some of the support lines being angled toward a downstream direction as they approach the stationary surface, thereby suspending the stationary surface above the angled conveyor to contact the article stream; wherein the stationary surface exerts a force on one of the articles related to an effective weight of the stationary surface acting on the one of the articles. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. A conveyor for unstacking articles in an article stream comprising:
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a conveyor system comprising a feed conveyor, a declined conveyor, and an inclined conveyor; a declined stationary surface suspended above the declined conveyor by support lines and positioned to contact articles in the article stream; an inclined stationary surface suspended above the inclined conveyor by support lines and positioned to contact articles in the article stream; wherein at least one of the support lines extends at an acute angle relative to horizontal with an origin of the acute angle being at a lower end of the at least one of the support lines and the at least one of the support lines extends upwardly from the origin toward an upstream side of the conveyor system; and wherein at least another of the support lines extends at an acute angle relative to horizontal with an origin of the acute angle being at a lower end of the at least one of the support lines and the at least another of the support lines extends upwardly from the origin toward a downstream side of the conveyor system. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23, 24)
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25. A method of unstacking articles in an article stream, the method comprising:
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suspending a stationary surface above an angled conveyor, comprising a conveying moving member surface without any article-engaging features, with a plurality of support lines; extending at least one of the plurality of support lines from a stationary surface at an acute angle relative to horizontal with an origin of the acute angle being at a lower end of the at least one of a plurality of support lines, and with the at least one of the support lines extending upwardly from the origin toward an upstream side of the angled conveyor; feeding the articles along another conveyor to the angled conveyor; exerting a forward conveying force on one of the articles due to friction between each article and the angled conveyor surface; and exerting a force on the one of the articles related to an effective weight of the stationary surface acting on the one of the articles thereby sandwiching the one of the articles between the stationary surface and the conveying moving member and sliding the one of the articles along the stationary surface; wherein the stationary surface, in response to contact with the articles, is stationary in relation to a direction of movement of the article stream, but moveable in relation to an upward direction perpendicular to the direction of movement. - View Dependent Claims (26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34)
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35. A method of unstacking articles in an article stream, the method comprising:
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suspending a stationary surface above an angled conveyor from a plurality of support lines; extending at least one of the plurality of support lines at an acute angle relative to horizontal with an origin of the acute angle being at a lower end of the at least one of a plurality of support lines, and with the at least one of the support lines extending upwardly from the origin toward an upstream side of the angled conveyor; feeding the articles to the angled conveyor; sandwiching the articles between the angled conveyor and the stationary surface, during a sandwiching period; conveying the articles forward due to the angled conveyor; exerting a force on the articles related to the weight of the stationary support surface. - View Dependent Claims (36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44)
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Specification