Conveyor assembly and method of using the same

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11958692-B2
Application number	US-202217811452-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 8, 2022
Priority date	Jul 8, 2022
Publication date	Apr 16, 2024
Grant date	Apr 16, 2024

Abstract

Various embodiments are directed to a conveyor assembly and method of using the same. In various embodiments, a conveyor assembly may comprise a plurality of rollers defining a conveyor section configured for transporting one or more objects disposed thereon along a transportation path, wherein the plurality of rollers comprises a drive roller, the drive roller being selectively configurable between a first operating condition and a second operating condition; and a controller configured to generate one or more control signals to control the drive roller; wherein the conveyor section is selectively configurable between a single-zone configuration and a dual-zone configuration based on the configuration of the drive roller in one of the first operating condition and the second operating condition, the dual-zone configuration being defined by the drive roller selectively driving operation of a first conveyor zone and a second conveyor zone defined within the conveyor section independently of one another.

First claim

That which is claimed:

1. A conveyor assembly configured for transporting an object along a transportation path, the conveyor assembly comprising:
a plurality of rollers defining a conveyor section configured for transporting one or more objects disposed thereon along the transportation path, wherein the plurality of rollers comprises a drive roller configured to drive respective rotations of each of the plurality of rollers, and wherein the drive roller is selectively configurable between a first operating condition and a second operating condition; and
a controller configured to generate one or more control signals configured to control the drive roller;
wherein the conveyor assembly is configured such that the conveyor section is selectively configurable between a single-zone configuration and a dual-zone configuration based at least in part on configuration of the drive roller in one of the first operating condition and the second operating condition; and
wherein the dual-zone configuration is defined by the drive roller being configured to selectively drive operation of a first conveyor zone and a second conveyor zone defined within the conveyor section independently of one another, wherein the first conveyor zone is defined by a first portion of the plurality of rollers and the second conveyor zone is defined by a second portion of the plurality of rollers.

2. The conveyor assembly of claim 1 , wherein the single-zone configuration is defined by the drive roller being configured to at least substantially simultaneously drive operation of a single conveyor zone within the conveyor section, wherein the single conveyor zone is defined by each of the plurality of rollers such that the single conveyor zone is defined by a full zone length; and wherein the dual-zone configuration is defined by the drive roller being configured to selectively drive operation of the first conveyor zone and the second conveyor zone defined within the conveyor section, the first conveyor zone and the second conveyor zone each being defined by a respective reduced zone length that is at least substantially less than the full zone length of the single conveyor zone.

3. The conveyor assembly of claim 1 , further comprising an imaging device configured to capture object data associated with the one or more objects disposed upon the plurality of rollers, the imaging device being in communication with the controller; wherein the controller is configured to transmit one or more control signals to the drive roller based at least in part on the object data captured by the imaging device, wherein the one or more control signals are configured to cause the drive roller to be selectively configured according to one of the first operating condition and the second operating condition.

4. The conveyor assembly of claim 3 , wherein the conveyor assembly is configured such that the drive roller being configured according to the first operating condition causes the conveyor section to define the single-zone configuration and the drive roller being configured according to the second operating condition causes the conveyor section to define the dual-zone configuration.

5. The conveyor assembly of claim 1 , wherein the conveyor section is defined by the drive roller and a plurality of idler rollers operatively connected to the drive roller such that a rotation of each idler roller is based at least in part on one or more drive rotations of the drive roller, wherein the plurality of idler rollers comprises at least one leading idler roller and at least one trailing idler roller, the at least one leading idler roller defining an upstream position along the transportation path relative to the drive roller and the at least one trailing idler roller defining a downstream position along the transportation path relative to the drive roller.

6. The conveyor assembly of claim 5 , wherein the single-zone configuration is defined by the drive roller being configured to at least substantially simultaneously drive operation of a single conveyor zone within the conveyor section, wherein the single conveyor zone is defined by each of the plurality of rollers such that the single-zone configuration of the conveyor section is defined by the drive roller being configured to at least substantially simultaneously operate the at least one leading idler roller and the at least one trailing idler roller.

7. The conveyor assembly of claim 5 , wherein the dual-zone configuration of the conveyor section is defined by the drive roller being configured to operate the least one leading idler roller independently of the least one trailing idler roller such that the first conveyor zone is defined at least in part by the at least one leading idler rollers and the second conveyor zone is defined at least in part by the at least one trailing idler rollers.

8. The conveyor assembly of claim 7 , wherein the drive roller is configured such that selective operation of the first portion of the plurality of rollers defining the first conveyor zone is defined by a first rotation of the drive roller and selective operation of the second portion of the plurality of rollers defining the second conveyor zone is defined by a second rotation of the drive roller, wherein the first rotation and the second rotation are in the same rotational direction relative to a central axis of the drive roller.

9. The conveyor assembly of claim 8 , wherein a drive motor of the drive roller is operated to facilitate execution of both the first rotation and the second rotation.

10. The conveyor assembly of claim 1 , wherein the drive roller is a motor driven roller (MDR).

11. The conveyor assembly of claim 1 , wherein the one or more control signals generated by the controller comprise a first control signal comprising a drive signal configured to cause one or more rotations of the drive roller, and a second control signal comprising a configuration signal configured to cause the drive roller to be selectively configured in one of the first operating condition and the second operating condition.

12. The conveyor assembly of claim 1 , wherein the drive roller comprises one or more clutch-activated bearing elements configured for engagement with a respective drive band to facilitate an operative connection between the drive roller and at least a portion of the plurality of rollers of the conveyor section; wherein the one or more clutch-activated bearing elements is selectively configurable between an engaged configuration and a disengaged configuration relative to a clutch element of the drive roller.

13. The conveyor assembly of claim 12 , wherein the engaged configuration of a clutch-activated bearing element is defined by the clutch-activated bearing element being engaged by the clutch element such that a rotational position of the clutch-activated bearing element is fixed relative to a drive roller housing and the clutch-activated bearing element is rotated with the drive roller housing during operation of the drive roller; and wherein the disengaged configuration of the clutch-activated bearing element is defined by the clutch-activated bearing element being disengaged from the clutch element such that the rotational position of the clutch-activated bearing element is at least substantially unaffected as the drive roller housing rotates relative to the clutch-activated bearing element during operation of the drive roller.

14. The conveyor assembly of claim 13 , wherein the one or more clutch-activated bearing elements comprise a first clutch-activated bearing element frictionally engaged with a first drive belt that is configured to operatively connect the dri

Assignees

• Intelligrated Headquarters Llc

Inventors

• Shenoy Gowrish G
• Chelliah Kalirajan
• Raj Sakthivel
• Sagar Prashanth
• Murugesan Karthikeyan

Classifications

• B65G13/06 Primary

  Roller driving means · CPC title

• B65G43/08

  Control devices operated by article or material being fed, conveyed or discharged {(and controlling the discharging devices B65G47/42)} · CPC title

• B65G2203/041

  Camera · CPC title

• G05B19/4189 Primary

  characterised by the transport system · CPC title

• B65G13/11

  Roller frames · CPC title