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US 12,703,576 B2Granted
Feeding device and method for feeding small parts
AssigneeOPTIMA pharma GmbH
InventorsBernd Laukenmann, Fabienne Lydia Bernatek, Florian Weippert
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AssigneeOPTIMA pharma GmbH
InventorsBernd Laukenmann, Fabienne Lydia Bernatek, Florian Weippert
Estimating the term…
The invention relates to a feeding device (1) for feeding small parts, in particular closure elements, comprising a vibrating spiral conveyor (20) having an outlet (200), a feed rail (20), which is arranged downstream of the outlet in the feed direction, and a vibratory drive (201, 211, 221), wherein, by means of the vibratory drive (201, 211, 212), vibrations can be applied to the vibrating spiral conveyor (20) to move the small parts in the direction of the outlet (200) and to the feed rail (21) to move the small parts along the feed rail (21), wherein an intermediate rail (22) is arranged between the outlet (200) of the vibrating spiral conveyor (20) and the feed rail (21), wherein vibrations can be applied to the intermediate rail (22) by means of the vibratory drive (201, 211, 221) to move the small parts along the intermediate rail (22) in the direction of the feed rail (21), wherein a monitoring device (3), associated with the intermediate rail (22), is provided, wherein the monitoring device (3) is designed to detect an abnormality and/or disturbance in the movement of the small parts along the intermediate rail (22).
A feeding device for feeding small parts, comprising a vibrating spiral conveyor having an outlet, a feed rail, which is arranged downstream of the outlet in a feed direction, and a vibratory drive, wherein, by means of the vibratory drive, vibrations can be applied to the vibrating spiral conveyor to move the small parts in the direction of the outlet and to the feed rail for moving the small parts along the feed rail, wherein an intermediate rail is arranged between the outlet of the vibrating spiral conveyor and the feed rail, wherein vibrations can be applied to the intermediate rail by means of the vibratory drive to move the small parts along the intermediate rail in the direction of the feed rail, wherein a monitoring device, associated with the intermediate rail, is provided, wherein the monitoring device is designed to detect an abnormality and/or disturbance in the movement of the small parts along the intermediate rail, and wherein the feeding device is designed to temporarily interrupt the application of vibrations to the intermediate rail and to temporarily interrupt the vibrating spiral conveyor in order to rectify an abnormality and/or disturbance in the movement of the small parts along the intermediate rail, which is detected by the monitoring device, without interrupting the application of vibrations to the feed rail for moving the small parts along the feed rail.
A method for feeding small parts by means of a vibrating spiral conveyor having an outlet and a feed rail, which is arranged downstream of the outlet in a feed direction, wherein, by means of a vibratory drive, vibrations are applied to the vibrating spiral conveyor to move the small parts in the direction of the outlet and to the feed rail to move the small parts along the feed rail, wherein an intermediate rail is arranged between the outlet of the vibrating spiral conveyor and the feed rail, wherein vibrations are applied to the intermediate rail by means of the vibratory drive to move the small parts along the intermediate rail in the direction of the feed rail, wherein the intermediate rail is monitored in an automated manner by a monitoring device, wherein an abnormality and/or disturbance which occurs in the movement of the small parts along the intermediate rail is detected by the monitoring device, wherein, to rectify an abnormality and/or disturbance detected by the monitoring device during the feed of the small parts, the application of vibrations to the intermediate rail and to the vibrating spiral conveyor is temporarily interrupted without interrupting the application of vibrations to the feed rail for moving the small parts along the feed rail.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.