Conveyance device using carriage

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10556747-B2
Application number	US-201816146299-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 28, 2018
Priority date	Mar 31, 2016
Publication date	Feb 11, 2020
Grant date	Feb 11, 2020

Abstract

A conveyance device has a drive route part wherein conveyance carriages travel at predetermined intervals, which is connected to a storage route part having a drive conveyer chain that supports the conveyance carriages for free travel. The drive route part has a drive conveyer chain including spaced carriage propulsion claw parts. The conveyance carriages have moved pins that horizontally extends in the left/right direction and which are freely detached/re-fitted in the up/down direction with the carriage propulsion claw parts. The conveyance device has a carriage-positioning mechanism which positions a conveyance carriage at a fixed position wherein the moved pin is positioned immediately before a guide ring for a corresponding one of the carriage propulsion claw parts, and has a carriage pushing-out mechanism which pushes out the conveyance carriage positioned at the fixed position, at a timing when the moved pin is fitted to the carriage propulsion claw part.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A conveyance device using a carriage, comprising:
a horizontal travel route having a storage route part for storing conveyance carriages in a state where the conveyance carriages are adjacent in a forward/backward direction and a drive route part for causing the conveyance carriages fed out from the storage route part to be forcibly driven to travel at set intervals;
the storage route part having drive conveyor chains that support the conveyance carriages via wheels of the conveyance carriages, such that the conveyance carriages travel freely;
the drive route part having guide rails that support the conveyance carriages via the wheels, such that the conveyance carriages travel freely, and drive cord-like bodies that include, at regular intervals, carriage propulsion claw parts into which driven pins provided in the conveyance carriages and directed laterally horizontally are fitted such that the driven pins are freely fitted and detached into and from the carriage propulsion claw parts;
the driven pins of a conveyance carriage that is fed from the storage route part into the drive route part with predetermined timing are fitted into the carriage propulsion claw parts that are turned around guide rings at a beginning of the drive route part; and
a carriage positioning means to position a conveyance carriage, via the driven pins, at a fixed position directly before a turning route around the guide rings of the carriage propulsion claw parts, such that the conveyance carriage is prevented from being moved forward and backward and in which the positioning is freely released; and
a carriage pushing-out means to push out the conveyance carriage at the fixed position at a timing when the driven pins are fitted into the carriage propulsion claw parts;
where the carriage positioning means and the carriage pushing-out means are provided separately from the drive conveyor chains of the storage route part.

2. The conveyance device using a carriage according to claim 1 , wherein:
the carriage positioning means includes a stopper which freely switches between an action position for restraining a forward movement of the conveyance carriage and a non-action position for allowing the forward movement of the conveyance carriage, and a pusher which pushes the conveyance carriage so as to position the conveyance carriage between the pusher and the stopper in the action position.

3. The conveyance device using a carriage according to claim 2 , wherein:
the pusher moves forward from a first forward limit position for positioning the conveyance carriage at the fixed position between the pusher and the stopper in the action position to a second forward limit position for pushing out the conveyance carriage from the fixed position in a state where the stopper is switched to the non-action position, and the pusher also serves as the carriage pushing-out means.

4. The conveyance device using a carriage according to claim 2 , wherein:
a pair of the stoppers on left and right sides are provided so as to receive two left and right portions on a rear end side of the conveyance carriage.

5. The conveyance device using a carriage according to claim 4 , wherein:
in each of the wheels provided as left and right pairs in two front and rear portions of the conveyance carriage, a pin is provided so as to protrude outward and concentrically;
the pins which are provided so as to protrude from the pair of left and right wheels on a front side form the driven pins; and
the pins which are provided so as to protrude from the pair of left and right wheels on a rear side are targets with which the stoppers are engaged.

6. The conveyance device using a carriage according to claim 4 , wherein:
an auxiliary stopper which receives a center portion in a left/right width direction of the conveyance carriage on a front end side is provided separately from the pair of left and right stoppers.

7. The conveyance device using a carriage according to claim 1 ,
wherein:
rollers are provided in center portions of both front and rear end portions in the conveyance carriage, in a left/right width direction of a bottom portion, and the rollers are pivotally supported with support shafts that are directed laterally horizontally; and
a support guide plate is placed which supports the conveyance carriage via the rollers while the wheels of the conveyance carriage disengaged from tops of the drive cord-like bodies of the storage route part are transferred onto the guide rails of the drive route part.

8. The conveyance device using a carriage according to claim 1 ,
wherein;
in front of the storage route part, an upstream side drive route part which has a same configuration as the drive route part is also provided; and
in a state where the wheels of an upstream conveyance carriage which reaches a terminal end portion of the upstream side drive route part are supported on the drive cord-like bodies of the storage route part, the carriage propulsion claw parts which are turned around guide rings at a terminal end of the upstream side drive route part are detached from the driven pins of the upstream conveyance carriage.

9. The conveyance device using a carriage according to claim 7 ,
wherein:
in the conveyance carriage, the rollers which are pivotally supported with the support shafts that are directed laterally horizontally are provided in the center portions of both the front and rear end portions thereof in the left/right width direction of the bottom portion; and
a support guide plate is placed which supports the conveyance carriage via the rollers while the wheels of the conveyance carriage disengaged from tops of guide rails of the upstream side drive route part are transferred onto the drive cord-like bodies of the storage route part.

Assignees

• Daifuku Kk

Inventors

• Ishibashi Masahiro
• Tamura Yukichi
• Kusuhara Shigeyuki
• Baba Shigeru

Classifications

• B61B10/00

  Power and free systems (ski lifts, sleigh lift or like trackless systems with guided towing cables only B61B11/00) · CPC title

• B65G17/14

  with two spaced connections to traction element · CPC title

• B65G35/06 Primary

  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) · CPC title

• B65G17/123 Primary

  arranged to keep the load-carriers horizontally during at least a part of the conveyor run · CPC title

• B65G17/002

  comprising load carriers resting on the traction element · CPC title