Supply device and method for producing a supply device

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10815062-B2
Application number	US-201816490062-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 17, 2018
Priority date	Mar 2, 2017
Publication date	Oct 27, 2020
Grant date	Oct 27, 2020

Abstract

A supply device is provided for laterally feeding of goods to be transported to a conveyor device (25). The supply device has a drive pulley (5), end pulleys (7) and conveyor belts (9). Each of the end pulleys (7) is associated with one of conveyor belts (9). Each of the conveyor belts (9) extends around the drive pulley (5) and the associated end pulley (7) and can be driven the drive pulley (5). A friction-enhancing element (41) is configured on the drive pulley (5) for enhancing friction between the respective conveyor belt (9) and the drive pulley (5).

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A supply device for lateral feeding goods to be transported to a conveyor device ( 25 ), comprising:
a drive pulley ( 5 ),
at least one end pulley ( 7 ),
guide grooves ( 19 ) formed in the drive pulley ( 5 ) and in the at least one end pulley ( 7 ), and at least one receptacle ( 39 ) arranged on each side of each of the guide grooves ( 19 ), and
at least one conveyor belt ( 9 ) that extends around the drive pulley ( 5 ) and the associated end pulley ( 7 ) and that can be driven by the drive pulley ( 5 ), wherein:
the at least one conveyor belt ( 9 ) has an inner side ( 21 ) with a guide strip ( 23 ) arranged approximately along a feed direction ( 13 ), the guide strip ( 23 ) engaging in the guide grooves ( 19 ) formed in the drive pulley ( 5 ) and in the at least one end pulley ( 7 ) for laterally guiding the respective conveyor belt ( 9 ), and
friction-enhancing elements ( 41 ) mounted respectively in the receptacles ( 39 ) on the drive pulley ( 5 ) for enhancing friction between the respective conveyor belt ( 9 ) and the drive pulley ( 5 ).

2. The supply device of claim 1 , wherein the friction-enhancing elements ( 41 ) are releasably attached to the drive pulley.

3. The supply device of claim 1 , wherein each of the receptacles ( 39 ) is configured as an annular groove.

4. The supply device of claim 1 , wherein the friction-enhancing element ( 41 ) has a substantially annular configuration and has a substantially circular or substantially rectangular cross-section.

5. The supply device of claim 1 , wherein the guide strip ( 23 ) is configured as a tapered strip.

6. The supply device of claim 1 , wherein multiple conveyor belts ( 9 ) are arranged approximately along the feed direction ( 13 ) and approximately parallel adjacent to each other, and wherein a belt length of the respective conveyor belts ( 9 ) increases from a first lateral end section ( 15 ) of the supply device to a second lateral end section ( 15 ) of the supply device.

7. The supply device of claim 1 , wherein each of the end pulleys ( 7 ) is configured as a tensioning pulley for tensioning the respectively associated conveyor belt ( 9 ).

8. The supply device of claim 7 , wherein the end pulley ( 7 ) can be pivoted from a detensioning position ( 47 ) to a tensioning position ( 45 ) for tensioning the respectively associated conveyor belt ( 9 ), and wherein the end pulley ( 7 ) can be pivoted to the detensioning position ( 47 ) for the assembly or disassembly of the respectively associated conveyor belt ( 9 ).

9. The supply device of claim 8 , wherein the respectively associated conveyor belt ( 9 ) exhibits a belt elongation of about 2% to about 8% in the tensioning position ( 45 ).

10. The supply device of claim 8 , wherein the end pulley ( 7 ), when pivoting from the detensioning position ( 47 ) to the tensioning position ( 45 ), passes through a dead center where the belt elongation is greater than the belt elongation in the tensioning position ( 45 ).

11. The supply device of claim 3 , wherein the guide grooves ( 19 ) and the guide strips ( 23 ) have tapered cross-sectional configurations and are dimensioned to define lateral clearances ( 42 ) between the guide grooves ( 19 ) and the respective guide strips ( 23 ).

12. A method for laterally feeding goods to be transported to a conveyor device ( 25 ), comprising:
providing a drive pulley ( 5 ) and end pulleys ( 7 ), the drive pulley ( 50 ) and each of the end pulleys ( 7 ) being formed with a guide grooves ( 19 ) and at least the drive pulley ( 5 ) further being formed with receptacles ( 39 ) on each side of the respective guide grooves ( 19 );
mounting friction-enhancing elements ( 41 ) respectively in the receptacles ( 39 ) of the drive pulley ( 5 );
providing conveyor belts ( 9 ) so that each of the end pulleys ( 7 ) is associated with one of the conveyor belts ( 9 ), each of the conveyor belts ( 9 ) having an inner side ( 21 ) with a guide strip ( 23 ) arranged approximately along a feed direction ( 13 );
mounting the conveyor belts ( 9 ) around the drive pulley ( 5 ) and the respective end pulley ( 7 ) so that the guide strips ( 23 ) engage respectively in the guide grooves ( 19 ) of the drive pulley ( 5 ) and the end pulleys ( 7 ) and so that areas of the inner sides of the respective conveyor belts ( 9 ) on opposite sides of the guide strips ( 23 ) engage the friction-enhancing elements ( 41 ) in the receptacles ( 39 ) of the drive pulley ( 5 ); and
operating the drive pulley ( 5 ) so that the conveyor belts ( 9 ) are driven by the drive pulley ( 5 ) with the friction-enhancing elements ( 41 ) arranged on the drive pulley ( 5 ) enhancing friction between the conveyor belt ( 9 ) and the drive pulley ( 5 ).

Assignees

• Interroll Holding Ag

Inventors

• Droste Heinrich
• Dudek Siegmund

Classifications

• B65G15/64 Primary

  for automatically maintaining the position of the belts · CPC title

• B65G23/44

  Belt or chain tensioning arrangements · CPC title

• B65G23/04

  Drums, rollers, or wheels {(B65G23/18 takes precedence)} · CPC title

• B65G15/12

  with two or more endless belts · CPC title

• B65G15/50

  Endless load-carriers consisting of a series of parallel ropes or belt strips · CPC title