Carriage for an endless conveyor and a conveying mechanism for such a carriage

• US 20010008202A1
• Filed: 01/11/2001
• Published: 07/19/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 01/17/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sumitomo Wiring Systems Limited (Sumitomo Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Sumitomo Wiring Systems Limited (Sumitomo Corporation)
• Inventors: Nakano, Yuji, Takano, Yoshitomo, Akatsuka, Isamu
• Granted Patent: US 6,502,691 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 198/793
• CPC Class Codes: B65G 35/06 comprising a load-carrier moving along a path, e.g. a closed path, and adapted to be engaged by any one of a series of traction elements spaced along the path effecting drive at two or more points spaced along the length of an endless conveyor B65G23/32

Abstract

A conveyor is provided that can easily accommodate a change in specification of stations. Carriages (100) are coupled by carriage couplers (200, 210). Driving units (20) are provided to move entire coupled units (B1, B2) together by driving some of the coupled carriages (100). A distance of conveyance can be changed and a change in specification can be easily coped with only by rearranging the driving units (20).

Claims

1. A carriage (100;

300) for an endless conveyor (10) having an endless conveyance path (PH) comprising at least two substantially linear paths (PH1, PH2) and turning paths (PH3, PH4) connecting opposite ends of the substantially linear paths (PH1, PH2), the conveyor (10) having a plurality of the carriages (100;

300) driven by a driving unit (20) of the conveyor (10) to circulate the carriages (100;

300) along the conveyance path (PH) in a predetermined conveyance direction, the carriage (100;

300) comprising;

a torque input member (112) for receiving a torque from the driving unit (20) for moving the carriage (100;

300) in the conveyance direction, and

a carriage coupling means (200;

210) for connecting the carriages (100;

300) such that the torque received by one of the carriages (100;

300) on the conveyance path (PH) from the driving unit (20) can be transmitted to the succeeding ones of the carriages (100;

300),

wherein the carriage coupling means (200;

210) separates a leading one of the carriages (100;

300) from a succeeding one of the carriages (100;

300) when the leading carriage (100;

300) moves from one linear path (PH1;

PH2) to the turning path (PH3;

PH4) while coupling the separated carriage (100;

300) with a preceding one of the carriages (100;

300) when the carriage (111;

300) moves from the turning path (PH3;

PH4) to another linear path (PH2;

PH1).

2. A carriage according to

claim 1

, wherein the carriage coupling means (200;

210) comprises at least a driving member (200) and a driven member (210).

3. A carriage according to

claim 2

, wherein the driving member (200) comprises of a rotatable cam (200b) on one of the carriages (100;

300) and the driven member (210) comprises projections (210b) mounted on an adjacent one of the carriages (100;

300), wherein the projections (210b) are spaced apart substantially in the longitudinal direction of the carriages (100;

300) and are formed with corresponding cam surfaces (210c) so that the rotatable cam (200b) can be fitted into and withdrawn from an engaging space (S) defined between the projections (210b).

4. A carriage according to

claim 1

, further comprising a torque input member having a linear movement input member (112) for transmitting an output of a linearly driving member (35a;

35b) of the endless conveyor (10) to the carriage (100;

300) by being detachably couplable to the linearly driving member (35a;

35b), and a turning movement input member (120) for transmitting a torque of a turning member (35) of the endless conveyor (10) to the carriage (100;

300) to turn the carriage (100;

300) by being detachably couplable to the turning member (35).

5. A conveying mechanism for circulating a plurality of carriages (100;

300) in a predetermined conveyance direction along an endless conveyance path (PH) comprised of at least two substantially linear paths (PH1, PH2) and turning paths (PH3, PH4) connecting opposite ends of the substantially linear paths (PH1, PH2), at least one driving unit (20) for driving the respective carriages (100;

300), wherein the driving unit (20) comprises;

turning means (35;

120) for separating the carriages (100;

300) located at downstream ends of coupled units (B1;

B2) of the respective carriages (100;

300) coupled along the substantially linear paths (PH1;

PH2) and turning them along the turning paths (PH3;

PH4), and

linear movement output members (30a;

30b;

112) which operate in synchronism with the turning means (35;

120) to convey the downstream ends of the coupled units (B1;

B2) coupled along the substantially linear paths (PH1;

PH2) to the turning means (120).

6. A conveying mechanism according to

claim 5

, wherein the at least one driving unit (20) comprises two driving units (20) disposed respectively at the opposite ends and between the substantially linear paths (PH1, PH2) for driving the respective carriages (100;

300).

7. A conveying mechanism according to

claim 6

, wherein the turning means (35;

120) comprises a cam follower (35) and a rotatable cam (120).

8. A conveying mechanism according to

claim 7

, wherein the conveyance path (PH) is formed on a table (11) having a specified height.

9. A conveying mechanism according to

claim 8

, further comprising a plurality of base blocks (12) arranged one after another, wherein the base blocks (12) comprise path defining means (13) for defining the conveyance path (PH) on the base blocks (12).

10. A conveying mechanism comprising:

at least one linear path (PH1, PH2) having an entry and an exit;

at least one non-linear turning path (PH3, PH4) extending from the exit from the linear path (PH1, PH2);

a plurality of carriages (100) moveably positioned along a selected one of said paths (PH1-PH4), each said carriage (100) having an upstream coupling member (210) and a downstream coupling member (200), the upstream and downstream coupling members (210;

200) being configured for transmitting a pulling force between adjacent carriages (100) when the upstream and downstream coupling members (210;

200) of the adjacent carriages (100) are substantially linearly aligned along the linear path (PH1, PH2), the downstream coupling member (200) of any of said carriages (100) being separable from the upstream coupling member (210) of any of said carriages (100) by turning any of said carriages (100) onto the turning path (PH3, PH4); and

at least one driving unit (20) having a linear movement output member (30a) in proximity to the exit of the linear path (PH1, PH2) and a turning movement output member (30b) in proximity to the turning path (PH3, PH4), the linear movement output member (30a) exerting a pulling force for pulling toward the exit all of the carriages (100) on the linear path (PH1, PH2) by engaging the carriage closest to the exit, said turning movement output member (30b) being operative to move said carriages (100) sequentially through said turning path (PH3, PH4) and to thereby disengage the carriages (100) sequentially from said carriages (100) remaining on the linear path (PH1, PH2).

11. The conveying mechanism of

claim 10

, wherein the at least one linear path (PH1, PH2) comprises first and second substantially parallel linear paths (PH1, PH2), each of said linear paths (PH1, PH2) having an entry and an exit, the at least one non-linear turning path (PH3, PH4) comprising a first turning path (PH3) extending from the exit of the first linear path (PH1) to the entry of the second linear path (PH2) and a second turning path (PH4) extending from the exit of the second linear path (PH2) to the entry of the first linear path (PH1) such that the linear paths (PH1, PH2) and the turning paths (PH3, PH4) define an endless conveyance path (PH).

12. The conveying mechanism of

claim 11

, wherein the at least one driving unit (20) comprises first and second driving units (20) disposed between the linear paths (PH1, PH2), the first driving unit (20) being in proximity to the first turning path (PH3) and the second driving unit (20) being in proximity to the second turning path (PH4), each of said driving units (20) having one of said linear movement output members (30a) and one of said turning movement output members (30b).

13. The conveying mechanism of

claim 12

, wherein the turning movement output member (30b) of the first driving unit (20) is operative for sequentially turning said carriages (100) from the exit of the first linear path (PH1) to the entry of the second linear path (PH2), and wherein the turning movement output member (30b) of the second driving unit (20) is operative for moving said carriages (100) sequentially from the exit of the second linear path (PH2) to the entry of the first linear path (PH1).

14. The conveying mechanism of

claim 13

, wherein the upstream coupling member (210) of each of said carriages (100) is configured for movement into engagement with the downstream coupling member (200) of an adjacent one of said carriages as said turning movement output member of the first driving unit (20) turns the carriages (100) sequentially onto the entry of the second linear path (PH2) and as the turning movement output member of the first driving unit (20) turns the carriages (100) onto the entry of the first linear path (PH1).

15. The conveying mechanism of

claim 14

, wherein the linear movement output member (30a) of each of said first and second driving units (20) comprises a rotatably driven wheel having sprockets, and wherein each said carriage (100) comprises a linear movement input member (112) extending along each said carriage (100), each said linear movement input member (112) having a plurality of recesses engageable with the sprockets of the linear movement output member (30a) of each said driving unit (20).

16. The conveying mechanism of

claim 15

wherein each said linear movement input member (112) comprises a chain (112).

17. The conveying mechanism of

claim 15

, wherein the turning movement output member (30b) comprises a rotatable member having at least one recess, and wherein each said carriage (100) comprises a cam (120) engageable by the recess of the linear movement output member (30b) for turning each said carriage (100) through the respective turning paths (PH3, PH4).