Singulator conveyor

• US 9,038,810 B2
• Filed: 03/12/2013
• Issued: 05/26/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 03/12/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Fives Intralogistics Corp.
• Original Assignee: Fives Intralogistics Corp.
• Inventors: Schroader, Steven
• Primary Examiner(s): HESS, DOUGLAS A
• Application Number:
  US13/795,112
• Publication Number:
  US 20140262686A1
• Time in Patent Office: 805 Days
• Field of Search: 198/400, 198/407, 198/411, 198/412, 198/413, 198/415, 198/436, 198/406
• US Class Current: 198/413
• CPC Class Codes: B65G 47/22 Devices influencing the relative position or the attitude of articles during transit by conveyors during feeding B65G47/14
• CPC Class Codes: B65G 47/682 from a single conveyor lane consisting of one conveyor or several adjacent conveyors

Abstract

A conveyor machine is provided. In another aspect, a singulator conveyor employs three-dimensionally obliquely skewed driven rollers angularly offset from a primary feeding and downstream direction, outboard of an adjacent driven conveyor having a top surface moving in the primary feeding and downstream direction. A further aspect provides a downstream moving conveyor belt or rollers which are vertically higher than the adjacent outboard skewed and converging driven rollers.

Claims

1. A conveyor machine comprising a singulator which further comprises:

a first driven conveyor section including at least one upper surface moving in a primary feeding direction; and

at least a second section located laterally outboard of the first conveyor section, the second section including multiple driven rollers at least a majority of which being each elongated between journalled ends thereof, and the direction of elongation of upper surfaces of the second section rollers being downwardly tilted toward an outboard end thereof and also offset tilted relative to the primary feeding direction.

2. The conveyor machine of claim 1, further comprising:

a feeding conveyor upstream of the singulator, a lateral width of the feeding conveyor being greater than twice as wide as the first conveyor section of the singulator; and

an eliminator downstream of the singulator, the eliminator further comprising a third driven conveyor section including an upper surface substantially aligned with the first conveyor section of the singulator, and at least a fourth section including multiple rollers with their rotational axes being substantially horizontal and causing a diverging action.

3. The conveyor machine of claim 2, further comprising:

a driven recirculation conveyor located outboard of the singulator and eliminator, and the recirculation conveyor including an upper surface moving in an opposite direction of the upper surfaces of the first and third conveyor sections; and

an outlet conveyor downstream of and substantially aligned with the third conveyor section of the eliminator.

4. The conveyor machine of claim 2, wherein the first and third conveyor sections each include a rotating conveyor belt driven by an electric motor, the rollers of the second and fourth sections are driven by additional electric motors, and at least a majority of the rollers of the fourth section of the eliminator are two-dimensionally skewed relative to the primary feeding direction and in an opposite mirrored configuration to those of the rollers of the second section of the singulator as viewed from above.

5. The conveyor machine of claim 1, further comprising another section of multiple driven rollers of the singulator which are three-dimensionally skewed in substantially mirrored image of the second section, and the first conveyor section of the singulator being laterally located between the singulator sections of multiple rollers, and each of the singulator rollers being circular cylindrical.

6. The conveyor machine of claim 1, wherein the first driven conveyor section includes a rotating conveyor belt having a lateral width less than an elongated length of a majority of the adjacent singulator rollers.

7. The conveyor machine of claim 1, wherein the first driven conveyor section includes a rotating additional set of laterally elongated rollers having rotational axes substantially perpendicular to the primary feeding direction and having an elongated roller length less than that of a majority of the adjacent singulator rollers.

8. The conveyor machine of claim 1, wherein the upper surface of the first driven conveyor section is vertically higher than all of the singulator rollers.

9. The conveyor machine of claim 1, further comprising parcels moved by the singulator, the fore-and-aft tilted and downwardly tilted orientation of the singulator rollers deterring undesired stacking of the parcels on top of each other on the adjacent first conveyor section.

10. The conveyor machine of claim 1, wherein at least a majority of the driven rollers of the second section are spaced apart wheels, a lateral group of the wheels are co-axially tilted in both a fore-and-aft direction and in a downward direction, and all of the wheels have a converging rotational direction substantially toward the first driven conveyor section.

11. A conveyor machine comprising:

a first driven singulator conveyor section having an upper surface;

at least a second driven singulator conveyor section located laterally outboard of and adjacent to the first section, the second section including rollers each having a rotational axis;

the upper surface of the first section being raised above all portions of each roller of the second section; and

the rotational axes of the second section rollers being obliquely angled relative to the first section, with outboard ends of the second section rollers being lower than inboard ends of the second section rollers which are closest to the first section.

12. The conveyor machine of claim 11, further comprising:

a feeding conveyor upstream of the singulator sections, the feeding conveyor being greater than twice as wide as the first singulator conveyor section; and

an eliminator conveyor downstream of the singulator sections, the eliminator conveyor further comprising a third driven eliminator conveyor section substantially aligned with the first singulator conveyor section, and at least a fourth eliminator section including multiple rollers with their rotational axes being substantially horizontal.

13. The conveyor machine of claim 11, wherein the axes of the second singulator section rollers are obliquely angled in a top view, with the outboard ends being closer toward a downstream end of the singulator than are the inboard ends.

14. The conveyor machine of claim 11, further comprising another section of multiple driven singulator rollers three-dimensionally skewed in substantially mirrored image to the second singulator section, and the first singulator conveyor section being located laterally between the singulator sections of multiple rollers.

15. The conveyor machine of claim 11, wherein the first driven singulator conveyor section includes a rotating conveyor belt having a lateral width less than an elongated length of a majority of the adjacent singulator rollers.

16. The conveyor machine of claim 11, further comprising parcels moved by the singulator sections, the obliquely angled end view orientation of the singulator rollers deterring undesired stacking of parcels on top of each other on the adjacent first conveyor section.

17. The conveyor machine of claim 11, wherein the first driven singulator conveyor section includes another set of driven rollers having horizontal rotational axes.

18. A conveyor machine comprising:

(a) parcels;

(b) a feeding conveyor including an inclined driven belt;

(c) a singulating conveyor comprising;

(i) a central belt having an upper surface moving in a primary direction away from the feeding conveyor;

(ii) a first set of driven and converging rollers each having an upper surface angularly offset along at least two planes relative to the primary direction;

(iii) a second set of driven and converging rollers each having an upper surface angularly offset along at least two planes relative to the primary direction, the upper surface of the central belt being vertically higher than the converging sets of rollers, and the central belt being located between the converging sets of rollers;

(d) an eliminating conveyor located downstream of the singulating conveyor, the eliminating conveyor comprising;

(i) a central belt having an upper surface moving away from the singulating conveyor;

(ii) a first set of diverging rollers each having an upper surface angularly offset along at least one plane relative to the primary direction;

(iii) a second set of diverging rollers each having an upper surface angularly offset along at least one plane relative to the primary direction, the central belt of the eliminating conveyor being located between the diverging sets of rollers;

(iv) angled chutes positioned outboard of the diverging sets of rollers; and

(e) recirculation conveyors located outboard of the eliminating conveyor and moving in a direction substantially opposite the primary direction;

the parcels being fed in a substantially haphazard arrangement from the feeding conveyor to the singulating conveyor, the singulating conveyor converging and deterring stacking of the parcels, and the eliminating conveyor causing any of the parcels arranged side-by-side to be recirculated back to the feeding conveyor via the recirculation conveyors.

19. The conveyor machine of claim 18, wherein the singulating conveyor belt has a lateral width of at least 25 mm but less than half of an elongated length of each of the singulating conveyor rollers adjacent a longitudinal middle of the singulator.

20. The conveyor machine of claim 18, further comprising a motor driving each of the roller sections and each of the belts mechanically independently of each other.

21. The conveyor machine of claim 18, wherein at least some of the parcels are envelopes.

22. The conveyor machine of claim 18, wherein the upper surfaces of the rollers of the singulating conveyor are all vertically lower than the singulating conveyor belt.

23. The conveyor machine of claim 18, wherein all of the rollers of the singulating and eliminating conveyors are circular-cylindical.

24. The conveyor machine of claim 18, wherein each of the driven rollers includes a group of co-axial and spaced apart wheels.

25. A conveyor machine comprising:

a driven conveyor having an upper surface moving in a feeding direction;

a left set of driven rollers each including an upper surface angularly offset along at least two planes relative to the feeding direction;

a right set of driven rollers each including an upper surface angularly offset along at least two planes relative to the feeding direction, the conveyor being located between the sets of rollers; and

parcels converging toward the conveyor when on the rollers and being deterred from stacking, and the parcels falling over on top of the conveyor and substantially losing driving contact of the rollers when the parcels have passed a converging tipping point.

26. The conveyor machine of claim 25, wherein the conveyor is an elongated belt.

27. The conveyor machine of claim 25, wherein the conveyor is a central set of driven rollers each having a lateral elongated dimension of at least 100 mm.

28. The conveyor machine of claim 25, wherein at least some of the parcels are envelopes.

29. The conveyor machine of claim 25, wherein the driven conveyor is vertically higher than all of the rollers.

30. The conveyor machine of claim 25, wherein all of the rollers are circular-cylindrical and at least a majority are elongated along their rotational axes.

31. A method of conveying parcels, the method comprising:

(a) moving parcels in a substantially downstream and inwardly converging direction on driven rollers which have parcel-contacting surfaces which are obliquely angled both downwardly and downstream toward their outboard ends relative to a downstream direction;

(b) tipping the parcels from inboard ends of the rollers onto at least one parcel-contacting surface of a driven conveyor, adjacent to inboard ends of the rollers while moving in the downstream direction; and

(c) the rollers and conveyor assisting in creating a single file line of the parcels while deterring stacking of the parcels upon each other.

32. The method of claim 31, wherein the parcel-contacting surface of the conveyor is vertically higher than all of the downwardly and downstream angled rollers.

33. The method of claim 31, where in the conveyor is an elongated belt which has a lateral width less than half an elongated length of each of at least a majority of the adjacent obliquely angled rollers.

34. The method of claim 31, wherein the conveyor includes multiple driven rollers which rotate about axes perpendicular to the downstream direction.

35. The method of claim 31, further comprising moving additional parcels toward the conveyor on a second set of three-dimensionally obliquely angled and driven rollers, the conveyor being located between the mirrored image sets of the rollers.

36. The method of claim 31, wherein the conveyor rotates about at least one axis always perpendicular to the downstream direction.

37. The method of claim 31, wherein at least some of the parcels are envelopes.

38. The method of claim 31, further comprising driving a group of the rollers with a first electric motor and driving the conveyor with a second electric motor.

39. The method of claim 31, wherein at least a majority of the driven rollers are elongated and there are at least twenty of the driven rollers on an outboard lateral side of the conveyor.