Soft landing conveyor system
AssigneeDISH Network L.L.C.
InventorsJuan Bezanilla, William L. Parent
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
The present technology is generally directed to a conveyor system and a method of using thereof. In various embodiments, the conveyor system includes: a conveyor belt; a frame; a plurality of rollers supported by the frame and configured to support the conveyor belt, wherein each of the plurality of rollers has two end portions and a middle portion between the two end portions along a length direction of the roller, the roller is supported by the frame at the two end portions, and the middle portion has a smaller diameter than the two end portions; a drive system configured to move the conveyor belt; and a control system configured to control the drive system.
Claims19
A conveyor system, comprising:
- a conveyor belt;
- a frame;
- a plurality of rollers supported by the frame and configured to support the conveyor belt,
- wherein each of the plurality of rollers has two end portions and a middle portion between the two end portions along a length direction of the roller, the roller is supported by the frame at the two end portions, and the middle portion has a smaller diameter than the two end portions, and
- wherein the plurality of rollers comprises at least one stepped diameter roller that has a recess in the middle portion of the roller relative to the end portions of the roller, and the at least one stepped diameter roller has a cushion positioned in the recess, the cushion being more flexible than the middle portion and the end portions of the roller such that the cushion deforms to a larger extent than the middle portion or the end portions of the roller when an item is placed on the conveyor belt at a position directly above the roller;
- a drive system configured to move the conveyor belt;
- and
- a control system configured to control the drive system.
A method, comprising:
- placing an item onto a conveyor belt of a conveyor system, wherein:
- the conveyor belt is supported by a plurality of rollers of the conveyor system, and
- the conveyor system includes a cushioning zone between the conveyor belt and the plurality of rollers formed by a varying dimension of each of the plurality of rollers along a length direction of the roller;
- and
- the plurality of rollers comprises at least one stepped diameter roller that has a recess in a middle portion of the roller relative to end portions of the roller, and the at least one stepped diameter roller has a cushion positioned in the recess, the cushion being more flexible than the middle portion and the end portions of the roller such that the cushion deforms to a larger extent than the middle portion or the end portions of the roller when an item is placed on the conveyor belt at a position directly above the roller;
- and
- allowing the conveyor belt to deflect into the cushioning zone to dissipate at least a portion of energy transferred to the conveyor belt by placing the item onto the conveyor belt.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.