Pivotable drive conveyor system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11040829-B2
Application number	US-201916528904-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 1, 2019
Priority date	Aug 1, 2019
Publication date	Jun 22, 2021
Grant date	Jun 22, 2021

Abstract

A conveyor bed including a conveyor frame, a first set of rollers, a second set of rollers, and a pivotable frame is provided. The first set of rollers are coupled to the conveyor frame to transport an article from an upstream location to a downstream location. The pivotable frame pivotably coupled to a side of the of the conveyor frame. The second set of rollers mounted to the pivotable frame, positioned below the first set of rollers. A belt wrapped is around the second set of rollers, and selectively engages and disengages the first set of rollers in response to pivoting the pivotable frame based on predefined criteria.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A conveyor bed, comprising:
a conveyor frame;
a first set of rollers coupled to the conveyor frame to transport an article from an upstream location to a downstream location;
a pivotable frame pivotably coupled to a downstream end of the of the conveyor frame;
a second set of rollers mounted to the pivotable frame, positioned below the first set of rollers; and
a belt wrapped around the second set of rollers, wherein a portion of the belt at an upstream end disengages and a portion of the belt at the downstream end remains engaged with at least one roller of the first set of rollers in response to rotating the pivotable frame away from the upstream end and about the downstream end based on predefined criteria.

2. The conveyor bed of claim 1 , further comprises:
an actuator coupled to the pivotable frame at the upstream end of the conveyor bed to pivot the pivotable frame, wherein the actuator is one of an electric actuator or a pneumatic actuator.

3. The conveyor bed of claim 1 , wherein a roller of the second set of rollers is a motorized drive roller (MDR).

4. The conveyor bed of claim 1 , wherein a roller of the first set of rollers is an idler roller.

5. The conveyor bed of claim 1 , wherein the belt drives the first set of rollers when the portion of the belt at the upstream end and the portion of the belt at the downstream end is engaged with the first set of rollers, wherein the belt is in a driven state when the pivotable frame is in a home position.

6. The conveyor bed of claim 1 , wherein when the portion of the belt at the upstream end is disengaged in response to the rotating the pivotable frame downwards to a work position, a portion of the belt at a pivoting end of the pivotable frame is in contact with the first set of rollers to retard a rotation of a downstream roller of the first set of rollers, and wherein the belt is in a non-driven state in the work position.

7. The conveyor bed of claim 6 , wherein the article coasts to a stop when the belt is in the work position.

8. The conveyor bed of claim 1 , wherein the predefined criteria comprises an indication of a length of the article entering onto an upstream end of the conveyor bed.

9. The conveyor bed of claim 1 , wherein the predefined criteria comprises an indication of an empty space on the conveyor bed.

10. The conveyor bed of claim 1 , wherein the predefined criteria comprises an indication of a length of the article discharging from a downstream end of the conveyor bed.

11. The conveyor bed of claim 1 , wherein the predefined criteria comprises an indication of a length of the article entering onto the conveyor bed and a length of an empty space on the conveyor bed.

12. An accumulation conveyor system comprising:
a first conveyor bed with a first sensor; and
a second conveyor bed positioned downstream of the first conveyor bed, wherein the second conveyor bed comprises:
a conveyor frame;
a second sensor mounted on the conveyor frame;
a pivotable frame pivotably coupled to a downstream end of the conveyor frame;
an actuator positioned at an upstream end of the conveyor frame and attached to the upstream end of the pivotable frame;
a first set of rollers coupled to the conveyor frame to transport an article inducted from the first conveyor bed;
a second set of rollers mounted to the pivotable frame, positioned below the first set of rollers; and
a belt wrapped around the second set of rollers, wherein a portion of the belt at the upstream end disengages and a portion of the belt at the downstream end remains engaged with at least one roller of the first set of rollers in response to a rotational movement of the pivotable frame away from the upstream end and about the downstream end effected by the actuator in response to input signals from the first sensor and the second sensor.

13. The accumulation conveyor system of claim 12 , wherein the input signals are indicative of a length of the article on the first conveyor bed or a length of the article on the second conveyor bed.

14. The accumulation conveyor system of claim 12 , wherein the first sensor and the second sensor are positioned at pre-determined positions.

15. A method for accumulating articles on a conveyor bed comprises:
receiving a first input signal from a first sensor mounted on a first conveyor bed;
receiving a second input signal from a second sensor mounted on a second conveyor bed;
processing the first input signal and the second input signal to determine a length of the article on the first conveyor bed and a length of an empty space on the second conveyor bed;
determining whether the length of the article is lesser than or equal to a length of the empty space; and
actuating an actuator to pivot a pivotable frame of the second conveyor bed in order to accumulate the article entering into the second conveyor bed in the empty space when the length of the article is lesser than or equal to the length of the empty space.

16. The method of claim 15 , wherein the actuating further comprises:
moving a belt on the pivotable frame away from the conveyor bed to stop a rotation of first set of rollers on the conveyor bed, wherein the first set of rollers are rotated when the belt is in contact with the first set of rollers.

17. The method of claim 15 , wherein the actuating further comprises:
pivoting the pivotable frame from a first position to a second position, wherein in the first position, an upstream end and a downstream end of the belt is in continuous contact with the conveyor bed driving the first set of rollers of the conveyor bed.

18. The method of claim 16 , further comprises:
stopping the article on the first conveyor bed when the length of the article is greater than or not equal to the length of the empty space.

Assignees

• Intelligrated Headquarters Llc

Inventors

• Skanse Randolph T

Classifications

• B65G13/073

  comprising free-wheel gearing · CPC title

• B65G13/07 Primary

  having endless driving elements · CPC title

• B65G47/261

  Accumulating articles · CPC title

• B65G13/071 Primary

  with frictional engagement · CPC title