Multi-directional roller assembly
First Claim
1. A multi-directional roller assembly, comprising:
- a frame rotatable about a main axis;
a first roller mounted to the frame and rotatable about a first minor axis that is nonparallel with the main axis; and
a second roller mounted to the frame and rotatable about a second minor axis that is nonparallel with the main axis, wherein the first roller and second roller are mutually-actuating, such that rotation of the first roller about the first minor axis in a first direction induces rotation of the second roller in an opposite direction from the first direction.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A multi-directional roller assembly for directing articles in a conveying system. The multi-directional roller assembly has a rotatable roller frame housing at least one set of mutually-actuating rollers. The multi-directional roller assembly directs an article supported by the assembly along a trajectory determined by the orientation of the multi-directional roller assembly relative to an input force. The orientation of the multi-directional roller assembly may be changed to change the trajectory. A conveyor system may include an array of multi-directional roller assemblies. An actuator controls the orientation of the multi-directional roller assemblies individually and may also control an array of multi-directional roller assemblies as a group.
-
Citations
18 Claims
-
1. A multi-directional roller assembly, comprising:
-
a frame rotatable about a main axis; a first roller mounted to the frame and rotatable about a first minor axis that is nonparallel with the main axis; and a second roller mounted to the frame and rotatable about a second minor axis that is nonparallel with the main axis, wherein the first roller and second roller are mutually-actuating, such that rotation of the first roller about the first minor axis in a first direction induces rotation of the second roller in an opposite direction from the first direction. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
-
-
8. A multi-directional roller assembly, comprising:
-
a frame rotatable about a main axis; a first roller mounted to the frame and rotatable about a first minor axis that is nonparallel with the main axis; and a second roller mounted to the frame and rotatable about a second minor axis that is nonparallel with the main axis, wherein a central portion of the outer surface of the second roller contacts a central portion of the outer surface of the first roller so that rotation of the second roller induces rotation of the first roller. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
-
-
14. A roller plate, comprising:
-
an upper plate having at least one opening; a lower plate having at least one opening; and an array of multi-directional roller assemblies between the upper plate and lower plate, each multi-directional roller assembly comprising a frame rotatable about a main axis and a first set of rollers mounted to the frame such that at least a portion of one roller protrudes through the upper plate, each roller in each set rotatable about a minor axis that is nonparallel with the main axis, wherein the rollers in the first set are mutually-actuating so that rotation of a first roller induces rotation of a second roller in the set in an opposite direction from the first roller in the set. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18)
-
Specification