Electromagnetic conveyor system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11208274-B2
Application number	US-201916982826-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 11, 2019
Priority date	Apr 13, 2018
Publication date	Dec 28, 2021
Grant date	Dec 28, 2021

Abstract

A conveyor system for conveying electrically conductive articles such as aluminum bottles or cans. The conveyor system comprises a plurality of coils below the top surface of an electromagnetic conveyor at a junction between an infeed conveyor and a discharge conveyor. The coils propagate electromagnetic flux waves that induce currents in the electrically conductive articles that force the articles to follow a conveying path from the infeed to the discharge conveyor. Dead spots on the electromagnetic conveyor can be eliminated by adjusting the coil drive waveforms. And a long electromagnetic conveyor driven by a train of narrow pulses is used to singulate electrically conductive articles.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A conveyor system comprising:
an electromagnetic conveyor including:
a top surface extending in width from a left side to a right side and in length in a transport direction from an entrance to an exit;
wherein electrically conductive articles are transferred onto the top surface at the entrance and transferred off the top surface at the exit;
a plurality of coils arranged below the top surface and producing electromagnetic flux waves producing actuation forces that move the electrically conductive articles across the top surface from the entrance to the exit;

a controller driving the coils with a train of pulses having a peak amplitude and a pulse width and an off-time sufficient to produce an average actuation force against the electrically conductive articles that exceeds the friction force between the top surface and the electrically conductive articles.

2. A conveyor system as in claim 1 wherein the peak amplitude of the drive pulses is great enough to ensure that the net force on the electrically conductive articles during the drive pulses is sufficiently greater than the friction force that friction does not affect the acceleration of the cans during the drive pulses.

3. A conveyor system as in claim 1 wherein the duty cycle is less than about 20%.

4. A conveyor system as in claim 1 wherein the pulse width of the pulses is less than about 5 ms.

5. A conveyor system as in claim 1 wherein the coils are arranged direct the actuation force against the electrically conductive articles to push the articles away from the left and right sides of the conveyor toward the center of the top surface while pushing the articles in the transport direction.

6. A conveyor system as in claim 1 wherein the coils under the center of the top surface are arranged to direct the actuation force only in the transport direction.

7. A conveyor system as in claim 1 wherein the actuation force directed perpendicular to the transport direction and toward the center of the top surface increases from the entrance to the exit.

8. A conveyor system as in claim 1 wherein the actuation force in the transport direction is greater at the left side than at the right side of the top surface.

9. A conveyor system as in claim 1 wherein there is no actuation force perpendicular to the transport direction in a portion of the conveyor extending from the entrance toward a location of the top surface short of the exit.

10. A conveyor system as in claim 1 wherein the actuation force perpendicular to the transport direction is uniform along the length of the conveyor from the entrance to the exit of the top surface.

11. A conveyor system as in claim 1 wherein the actuation force in the transport direction is greatest at the center of the top surface.

12. A conveyor system as in claim 1 wherein the length of the top surface is much greater than the width of the top surface.

Assignees

• Laitram Llc

Inventors

• Mehendale Aditya
• Van Der Laan Ewout Peter
• Sahin-Nomaler Funda
• Klop Pieter Aarnout

Classifications

• B65G54/02 Primary

  electrostatic, electric, or magnetic · CPC title

• B65G2201/0252

  Cans · CPC title

• B65G47/53

  between conveyors which cross one another · CPC title

• B65G47/54 Primary

  at least one of which is a roller-way · CPC title

• B65G47/682

  from a single conveyor lane consisting of one conveyor or several adjacent conveyors · CPC title