Slat conveyor

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9796531-B2
Application number	US-201615009396-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 28, 2016
Priority date	Oct 8, 2013
Publication date	Oct 24, 2017
Grant date	Oct 24, 2017

Abstract

A slat conveyor has a plurality of slat bodies supported between a pair of left and right driving endless turning bodies by concentric horizontal support shafts and has a pair of front and rear guide rollers supported to a guide rail laid on each of upper and lower horizontal path sections. A U-turn guiding mechanism at both ends includes the guide rollers, a slat body posture controlling rotating body, and a drive mechanism for the rotating body. The rotating body has the same turning radius as that of the horizontal support shaft on a U-turn path section, and includes an engaging portion for positioning and turning the guide rollers. The drive mechanism drives the rotating body such that the engaging portion is turned in the same direction and at the same speed as the turning speed of the horizontal support shaft on the U-turn path section.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A slat conveyor comprising:
left and right driving endless turning bodies turning along a circulation path having an upper horizontal outward path section on which upper guide rails are laid, a lower horizontal inward path section on which lower guide rails are laid, and U-turn path sections at both ends;
a plurality of slat bodies circularly turning on the circulation path with load supporting surfaces facing up;
each slat body having left and right side faces respectively pivotally supported vertically and swingably to the driving endless turning bodies via mutually concentric horizontal support shafts;
each left and right side faces of each slat body having two guide rollers in a back and forth direction pivotally supported in a front-rear symmetric position with respect to the horizontal support shaft and also between the driving endless turning bodies and the slat body in a plan view;
the upper guide rails and the lower guide rails being operable to hold each slat body moving on the upper horizontal outward path section and the lower horizontal inward path section, respectively, in a horizontal posture via the guide rollers;
the U-turn path sections each having a U-turn guiding device for making the each slat body U-turn in a parallel manner while maintaining the slat body in the horizontal posture;
each U-turn guiding device having two slat body posture controlling rotating bodies in a back and forth direction and having a drive device for driving the rotating bodies;
the two rotating bodies being shifted in front and rear directions with respect to a rotating wheel for driving the endless turning bodies in an associated U-turn path section, and the two rotating bodies being pivotally supported and spaced to correspond to the spacing of the two guide rollers in the back and forth direction, respectively;
each rotating body having an engaging portion on its outer circumference, the engaging portion having the same turning radius as that of the horizontal support shaft on the U-turn path sections and positioning and turning the guide roller, and the drive device drives each rotating body such that the engaging portion turns in the same direction and at the same speed as a turning direction and turning speed of the horizontal support shaft on the U-turn path sections;
the upper guide rails being disposed below the guide rollers so as to rollably receive the guide rollers;
the upper guide rails having end regions and each end region having a first notched portion for allowing vertical passage of one of the front and rear two guide rollers crossing the upper guide rails and making a U-turn movement, and a second notched portion for allowing vertical passage of the horizontal support shaft crossing the upper guide rails and making a U-turn movement;
an auxiliary guiding device operable to prevent falling of the other one of the front and rear two guide rollers into the first notched portion and the second notched portion;
the auxiliary guiding device including a supporting roller operable to support a bottom surface of the slat body inside the rotating body located on the inner side of the two front and rear rotating bodies along the circulation path, and a supporting rail operable to support the driving endless turning body and the horizontal support shaft coupled thereto, and a hold-down rail operable to prevent the other guide roller from lifting with the horizontal support shaft supported by the supporting rail as a supporting point.

2. The slat conveyor according to claim 1 , wherein each rotating body comprises a circular plate having a circumferential surface along an inner edge of a U-turn movement track of one of the guide rollers, and a protruding arm protruded from the circular plate in a radial direction, and an internal corner portion between one side of the protruding arm and the circumferential surface of the circular plate constitutes the engaging portion for positioning the guide roller.

3. A slat conveyor comprising:
left and right driving endless turning bodies turning along a circulation path having an upper horizontal outward path section on which upper guide rails are laid, a lower horizontal inward path section on which lower guide rails are laid, and U-turn path sections at both ends;
a plurality of slat bodies circularly turning on the circulation path with load supporting surfaces facing up;
each slat body having left and right side faces respectively pivotally supported vertically and swingably to the driving endless turning bodies via mutually concentric horizontal support shafts;
each left and right side face of each slat body having a main guide roller pivotally supported at a position away to either the front or rear side of the horizontal support shaft and located between the driving endless turning bodies and the slat body in a plan view;
an auxiliary guide roller pivotally supported concentrically with the horizontal support shaft;
the guide rails holding the slat body in a horizontal posture via the main guide roller and the auxiliary guide roller on the upper horizontal outward path section and the lower horizontal inward path section;
the U-turn path sections at both ends respectively provided with a U-turn guiding device for making each slat body U-turn in a parallel manner while being maintained in the horizontal posture;
each U-turn guiding device including rotating bodies for controlling the posture of each slat body in the U-turn path sections and a drive device driving the rotating body;
the rotating body having an engaging portion on its outer circumference, the engaging portion having the same turning radius as that of the horizontal support shaft on the U-turn path sections and positioning and turning the main guide roller;
the drive device driving the rotating body such that the engaging portion turns in the same direction and at the same speed as a turning direction and turning speed of the horizontal support shaft on the U-turn path sections;
the upper guide rails are disposed below the main and auxiliary guide rollers so as to rollably receive the main and auxiliary guide rollers;
the upper guide rails having end regions and each end region having a notched portion for allowing an inner guide roller to cross the guide rails and make a U-turn movement, which inner guide roller is one of the main and auxiliary guide rollers and is located inwardly along the circulation path with respect to an outer guide roller of the main and auxiliary guide rollers;
an auxiliary guiding device operable to prevent falling of the outer guide roller passing through and moving on the notched portion; and
the auxiliary guiding device including a supporting roller pivotally supported at a fixed position so as to receive a bottom surface of the slat body and a supporting rail operable to support the driving endless turning body and the horizontal support shaft coupled thereto.

4. The slat conveyor according to claim 3 , wherein each rotating body comprises a circular plate having a circumferential surface along an inner edge of a U-turn movement track of one of the guide rollers, and a protruding arm protruded from the circular plate in a radial direction, and an internal corner portion between one side of the protruding arm and the circumferential surface of the circular plate constitutes the engaging portion for positioning the guide roller.

Assignees

• Ishibashi Masahiro
• Suzuki Takaharu
• Daifuku Kk

Inventors

• Ishibashi Masahiro
• Suzuki Takaharu

Classifications

• B65G23/38

  for effecting intermittent movement of belts or chains · CPC title

• B65G17/18 Primary

  and move in contact with a guiding surface · CPC title

• B65G17/34

  having flat surfaces, e.g. platforms, grids, forks · CPC title