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WO1999041167A1 - Courroie transporteuse - Google Patents

Courroie transporteuse Download PDF

Info

Publication number
WO1999041167A1
WO1999041167A1 PCT/GB1999/000406 GB9900406W WO9941167A1 WO 1999041167 A1 WO1999041167 A1 WO 1999041167A1 GB 9900406 W GB9900406 W GB 9900406W WO 9941167 A1 WO9941167 A1 WO 9941167A1
Authority
WO
WIPO (PCT)
Prior art keywords
load
belt
conveyor
zone
discharge
Prior art date
Application number
PCT/GB1999/000406
Other languages
English (en)
Inventor
Jonathan Warrilow
Calvin Barker
Original Assignee
Constructor Dexion Limited
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Constructor Dexion Limited filed Critical Constructor Dexion Limited
Priority to AU25309/99A priority Critical patent/AU2530999A/en
Publication of WO1999041167A1 publication Critical patent/WO1999041167A1/fr

Links

Classifications

    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
    • B65G—TRANSPORT OR STORAGE DEVICES, e.g. CONVEYORS FOR LOADING OR TIPPING, SHOP CONVEYOR SYSTEMS OR PNEUMATIC TUBE CONVEYORS
    • B65G47/00—Article or material-handling devices associated with conveyors; Methods employing such devices
    • B65G47/22—Devices influencing the relative position or the attitude of articles during transit by conveyors
    • B65G47/26—Devices influencing the relative position or the attitude of articles during transit by conveyors arranging the articles, e.g. varying spacing between individual articles
    • B65G47/261—Accumulating articles
    • B65G47/268—Accumulating articles by means of belt or chain conveyor

Definitions

  • This invention relates to a belt conveyor and, particularly but not exclusively, to a belt conveyor for use in a sorting/distributing system.
  • a known sorting/distributing system has a central carousel containing a plurality of load carrying trays and a plurality of discharge stations each representative of a particular destination.
  • the carousel has a control system which serves to discharge a load on a tray at the appropriate discharge station. As the tray carrying the load passes the discharge station, the tray is tilted and the load is deposited via a steel chute onto a short length of belt conveyor which is designed to slow the load down and to stop it if required. The load is then transferred from the short conveyor belt onto a main discharge conveyor belt which is inclined downwardly at an angle of approximately 15° , terminating in a picking station from which the loads are removed manually by a picker.
  • the sequence of operations with this known apparatus is that when a load is discharged onto the short conveyor belt, the load is first slowed and then, if the main conveyor is holding a load at its input end in a first section, stopped at the end of the short belt conveyor. If there is a load on the first section of the inclined main discharge belt conveyor the load on the short section cannot be transferred onto the discharge conveyor. In these circumstances, a signal is sent to the carousel to stop any further loads for that station from being discharged from the carousel. In normal operation, the inclined conveyor is stopped from rotating when a load is present at the discharge end. If there is no load in this station, the conveyor is able to move incrementally every time a load is placed on the input end of the conveyor.
  • the conveyor when a load is sensed at the top of the conveyor but no load is sensed at the bottom, the conveyor is rotated by an increment which is just sufficient to enable another load to be placed on the input end.
  • the conveyor is run incrementally as succeeding loads are placed on the conveyor until a load reaches the discharge station. Thereupon, the conveyor stops until the picker removes the load from the discharge station.
  • This arrangement has the disadvantage that the picker cannot begin to unload the conveyor until it is fully loaded with a load in every section. This means that the picker is frequently left waiting for sufficient loads for that destination to be off-loaded from the 2 central carousel to fill the conveyor to enable the first load to reach the discharge station.
  • the conveyor is provided with an override switch operable by the packer to enable him to bring a load down to the discharge station. Again, there is a delay in achieving this.
  • a consequence of using the manual override is that it is possible to have a load at the discharge station and a load at the input end with nothing in between. The load at the input end effectively prevents any more loads being transferred to that destination conveyor. In practice, it has been found that this greatly reduces the throughput of loads and often loads pass round the central carousel several times before space is made available for them at the selected destination.
  • the known system therefore has the two disadvantages that throughput of the loads through the system is slower than desirable and the efficiency of the picker is also much reduced by the delays in waiting for the loads to be transported along the discharge conveyor.
  • the present invention seeks to provide an improved form of belt conveyor and control system to improve the speed and efficiency of throughput when used in this particular application.
  • a belt conveyor having a plurality of endless elongate drive belts mounted in parallel about at least two spaced rollers, one at least of which comprises a drive roller, and brake means including a brake surface located so as to be movable between a non- operable position below a load supporting surface of the drive belts and an operable position above said load supporting surfaces to lift a load thereon clear of the drive belts to thereby brake the load.
  • a sorting/distribution system for sorting and distributing loads, including a supply conveying means having a plurality of discharge stations each representative of a criteria such as a destination or load type, each station having a belt conveyor according to the first aspect of the invention to transport loads from an input end to which loads are transferred from the supply conveying means, to a discharge position.
  • the invention also provides a method of operating a discharge conveyor of a sorting distribution system the conveyor being adapted to support a plurality of loads in respective ones of a plurality of zones, one form of the method comprising moving the loads to a discharge zone and stopping the load by lifting it clear of the rotating 3 conveyor belt, moving succeeding loads along the conveyor towards the discharge zone and lifting a load clear of the conveyor when it is in a zone where there is a load already present in the zone immediately downstream.
  • the discharge conveyor in the sorting/distribution system will consist of three separate belt conveyors each having four brake means spaced along the length of each conveyor, each brake means being operable to lift a load in its zone out of contact with the conveyor belt when there is a load in the zone immediately downstream.
  • a nine metre length of discharge conveyor made up of three three metre lengths, can support a total of twelve loads.
  • FIG. 1 shows a plan view of a belt conveyor
  • Figure 2 shows a sectional side view of the conveyor of Figure 1
  • Figure 3 shows a view of the conveyor of Figure 1 incorporating brake devices and
  • FIG 4 shows a longitudinal section through Figure 3.
  • a belt conveyor consisting of a plurality of endless, elongate drive belts 2 mounted in parallel so as to be rotatable about two rollers 3 and 4.
  • the roller 4 constitutes a drive roller being driven by an electric motor 5 through a short drive belt 6 as shown in Figure 2.
  • the upper belt runs of the belts 2 form a load supporting surface 7.
  • this example there are eleven such belts but this number may be varied depending upon the application of the conveyor and the loads to be transported.
  • the lower run of the belts 2 is supported and guided by idler rollers 8.
  • the system also includes a tensioning roller 9 located below the idler rollers 8.
  • the position of the tensioning roller 9 is adjustable towards and away from the idler rollers 8 to enable the correct belt tension to be maintained.
  • Each of the upper runs of the belts 2 is located in a shallow channel 10 which serves to support the belt throughout the length of the conveyor and also to constrain it against lateral movement.
  • the upper edges of the side walls of the channel lie below the load supporting surface of the belt.
  • Figure 3 shows an plan view of the belt 4 conveyor of Figure 1 when fitted with brake devices and Figure 4 shows a sectional view corresponding to Figure 2 showing the brake devices in more detail.
  • the conveyor is divided into four zones each having a plurality of brake shoes 11 spaced across the width on the conveyor.
  • Each brake shoe 11 consists of an elongate member located between adjacent belts 2.
  • a brake shoe 11 is located between each belt and the next although it is envisaged that brake shoes may be provided only between every other space between the belts.
  • the brake shoe 11 extends substantially throughout the length of its zone as can be seen in Figure 4, and has on its upper face a braking surface of a relatively high friction material.
  • the brake shoe 11 is movable by air cylinders shown schematically as reference 12 between a non-operable position in which the brake surface is located about 10mm below the load supporting surface of the belts 2 and an operable, braking position in which the brake shoe surface is approximately 5mm above the conveyor load supporting surface.
  • the leading and trailing edges of each shoe 13 and 14 are inclined slightly downwardly to reduce the risk of a load catching on the end of the brake shoe and damaging either the load or the brake shoe.
  • the control system for raising and lowering the brake shoes extends across all the brake shoes of each zone so that all the brake shoes of that zone are raised and lowered simultaneously.
  • the brakes are raised by air cylinders controlled by electrically operable solenoids
  • the brake shoes of each zone may be mounted together on a parallelogram framework in which the brake shoes are mounted on arms inclined at an angle to the vertical, in parallel, which are pivotally mounted on the conveyor framework and on each of the brake shoes.
  • the whole framework can be pivoted by a single solenoid, pneumatic cylinder or other means.
  • the solenoid is energised, the inclined pivot arms are moved towards the vertical position, thus causing the brake shoes to rise above the load supporting surface of the belts.
  • Such a system is shown in outline only on one of the zones at reference 15, the control solenoid and air cylinder being indicated by reference 16.
  • the same parallelogram linkage could control all the brake shoes in this zone by means of one air cylinder device controlled by a single solenoid.
  • three conveyors of the type illustrated in Figures 1 to 4 are combined to form a total belt conveyor nine 5 metres long giving a total of twelve zones in which the brakes of each zone can be controlled selectively.
  • the conveyors are inclined at an angle of 15° to the horizontal although this will depend on the particular application.
  • Loads to be distributed are placed on a main carousel at a loading station for distribution to a selected one of a plurality of discharge stations.
  • Each discharge location represents a particular destination for the products. In one installation, for example, there are forty such discharge stations each representative of a particular supermarket.
  • the destination of each load is either input when the load is placed on the carousel or is read automatically by means of, for example, a bar code on the load.
  • the carousel consists of an endless belt of individual load carrying trays which are tiltable between a transport position and a discharge position. As the load approaches its desired destination, the tray is tilted to discharge the load onto a chute from where it passes onto an input end of the belt conveyor 1.
  • the belt conveyor is normally kept rotating continuously.
  • the presence or absence of a load in each zone of the conveyor is detected by photoelectric cells and when the load reaches the last unoccupied zone, its presence there is detected, the brake means is energised and the brake shoe 11 is raised to lift the load off the load supporting surface 2 of the conveyor belt to thereby brake the load to a standstill.
  • the first load on the belt will be transported directly to the discharge station where it is immediately available for picking by the picker. Even if the load is not picked straight away, since the belt continues to rotate, succeeding loads may be transferred along the conveyor to the first unoccupied zone.
  • the brakes in all of the zones carrying a load are moved to the inoperable position to enable all the loads to be moved towards the discharge station.
  • the zone at the input end is kept as empty as possible to reduce to a minimum the number of times when a load cannot be discharged at that station. This reduces bottle necks on the main carousel and enables the throughput of the system to be greatly improved. 6

Landscapes

  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
  • Branching, Merging, And Special Transfer Between Conveyors (AREA)

Abstract

L'invention concerne un système de tri et de distribution qui comprend un dispositif transporteur d'alimentation équipé d'une pluralité de postes de déchargement. Chaque poste fonctionne selon un critère, tel que de destination ou de chargement, et comprend un dispositif transporteur de déchargement (1) constitué d'une courroie transporteuse (2) pour transporter des charges d'une extrémité d'alimentation qui transfère les charges reçues du dispositif transporteur d'alimentation vers un point de déchargement. La courroie transporteuse comprend une pluralité de courroies d'entraînement allongées sans fin (2) disposées en parallèle autour d'au moins deux rouleaux espacés (3, 4). Elle comprend également des semelles de frein (11, 13, 14) présentant une surface de freinage disposée de manière à pouvoir être déplacée entre une position inactive au-dessous d'une surface porteuse de charge des courroies d'entraînement et une position de fonctionnement au-dessus de ladite surface porteuse de charge pour y soulever une charge et en débarrasser les courroies d'entraînement (2), ce qui permet de freiner la charge.
PCT/GB1999/000406 1998-02-10 1999-02-10 Courroie transporteuse WO1999041167A1 (fr)

Priority Applications (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
AU25309/99A AU2530999A (en) 1998-02-10 1999-02-10 Belt conveyor

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
GB9802816.0 1998-02-10
GBGB9802816.0A GB9802816D0 (en) 1998-02-10 1998-02-10 Belt conveyer

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
WO1999041167A1 true WO1999041167A1 (fr) 1999-08-19

Family

ID=10826761

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
PCT/GB1999/000406 WO1999041167A1 (fr) 1998-02-10 1999-02-10 Courroie transporteuse

Country Status (3)

Country Link
AU (1) AU2530999A (fr)
GB (1) GB9802816D0 (fr)
WO (1) WO1999041167A1 (fr)

Cited By (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
DE102005019073A1 (de) * 2005-04-23 2007-03-29 Knapp Logistik Automation Ges.M.B.H. Verfahren und Vorrichtung zum Fördern und Stauen von Stückgut auf einer Förderstrecke
DE102015005508A1 (de) * 2015-04-30 2016-11-03 Heuft Systemtechnik Gmbh Transporteur mit höhenverstellbaren Stegen

Citations (4)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
WO1984003875A1 (fr) * 1983-03-28 1984-10-11 Hans J Lem Systeme transporteur permettant l'accumulation d'articles
GB2187156A (en) * 1986-02-21 1987-09-03 Logan Fenamec A conveyor system with means to accumulate articles
DE4111154A1 (de) * 1991-04-06 1992-10-08 Psb Foerderanlagen Vorrichtung an foerderbahnen
EP0780326A1 (fr) * 1995-12-21 1997-06-25 MANNESMANN Aktiengesellschaft Transporteur à accumulation avec au moins un moyen de transport sans fin

Patent Citations (4)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
WO1984003875A1 (fr) * 1983-03-28 1984-10-11 Hans J Lem Systeme transporteur permettant l'accumulation d'articles
GB2187156A (en) * 1986-02-21 1987-09-03 Logan Fenamec A conveyor system with means to accumulate articles
DE4111154A1 (de) * 1991-04-06 1992-10-08 Psb Foerderanlagen Vorrichtung an foerderbahnen
EP0780326A1 (fr) * 1995-12-21 1997-06-25 MANNESMANN Aktiengesellschaft Transporteur à accumulation avec au moins un moyen de transport sans fin

Non-Patent Citations (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Title
LIMMER G: "AUTOMATED SMALL PARTS STORE WITH MODULAR MATERIAL FLOW COMPONENTS", ENGINEERING AND AUTOMATION, vol. 17, no. 6, 1 November 1995 (1995-11-01), pages 12/13, XP000558691 *

Cited By (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
DE102005019073A1 (de) * 2005-04-23 2007-03-29 Knapp Logistik Automation Ges.M.B.H. Verfahren und Vorrichtung zum Fördern und Stauen von Stückgut auf einer Förderstrecke
DE102015005508A1 (de) * 2015-04-30 2016-11-03 Heuft Systemtechnik Gmbh Transporteur mit höhenverstellbaren Stegen
US10407255B2 (en) 2015-04-30 2019-09-10 Heuft Systemtechnik Gmbh Transporter having a tiltable web

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
GB9802816D0 (en) 1998-04-08
AU2530999A (en) 1999-08-30

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