Conveyor belt apparatus including magnetically actuated rollers
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A conveyor comprising:
- a conveyor belt having a plurality of rollers;
a magnetic field passing through the conveyor belt and interacting with the rollers to affect the rotation of the rollers;
a plurality of stationary magnets producing the magnetic field.
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Abstract
A modular conveyor belt and method provides a conveyor belt having rollers with metallic or magnetic rotors. A magnet or metallic element next to the conveyor belt is positioned to rotate the rotor. A magnetic field produced by the magnet or by the magnetic rotor rotates the rollers as they pass the magnetic field or as the magnetic field is changed. In one embodiment, the magnetic field is in the form of one or more switched reluctance motors.
35 Citations
18 Claims
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1. A conveyor comprising:
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a conveyor belt having a plurality of rollers; a magnetic field passing through the conveyor belt and interacting with the rollers to affect the rotation of the rollers; a plurality of stationary magnets producing the magnetic field. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A conveyor comprising:
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a conveyor frame; a conveyor belt advancing along the conveyor frame in a direction of belt travel and having a plurality of rollers, each having a rotor and an axis of rotation; a plurality of stators positioned linearly along the direction of belt travel in the conveyor frame proximate the conveyor belt to couple magnetic fields to the rotors of the plurality of rollers and form switched reluctance motors with the rotors; wherein the rollers are controlled by the switched reluctance motors to rotate about their axes of rotation as the rollers encounter the magnetic fields produced by the switched reluctance motors. - View Dependent Claims (18)
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Specification