Controlled gravity accumulation conveyor
AssigneeRapistan Systems Advertising Corp.
InventorsGerald A. Brouwer, Clint R. Lupton
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A gravity conveyor includes one or more zones with each zone having at least one brake associated therewith. A controller turns the brakes on for each zone according to various programmable conditions. The downstream-most zone may have its brakes turned on whenever a package is present at the end of the conveyor. Any of the zones may have their brakes turned on in a pulsed manner. The zones may also have their brakes turned on in other situations, such as simultaneous blockage of that zone with another zone, the initial sensing of the leading edge of an article, as well as in other situations.
Claims47
A method of controlling a gravity conveyor having a plurality of rollers arranged in a descending manner from an upper to a lower end such that articles move by force of gravity down said conveyor, said method comprising:
- providing a first sensor adapted to detect the presence or absence of an article at the lower end of the conveyor;
- providing a first brake located upstream of said first sensor, said first brake adapted to be turned on or off, said first brake substantially preventing at least one associated roller from rotating when turned on and allowing the at least one associated roller to rotate when turned off;
- and
- turning said first brake on when said first sensor detects an article at the lower end of the conveyor.
A gravity conveyor comprising:
- a plurality of rollers arranged in a descending manner from an upper end to a lower end such that articles move by force of gravity down said conveyor;
- a first sensor adapted to detect the presence or absence of an article at the lower end of the conveyor;
- a first brake located upstream of said first sensor, said first brake adapted to be turned on or off, said first brake substantially preventing at least one associated roller from rotating when turned on and allowing the at least one associated roller to rotate when turned off;
- and
- a controller adapted to turn said first brake on when said first sensor detects an article at the lower end of the conveyor.
A gravity conveyor having a plurality of rollers arranged in a descending manner from an upper to a lower end such that articles move by force of gravity down said conveyor, said conveyor comprising:
- a plurality of zones, each of said plurality of zones having at least one brake adapted to prevent at least one associated roller from rotating when turned on;
- at least one sensor associated with each of said plurality of zones, each said sensor adapted to detect the presence or absence of articles within the vicinity of the sensor;
- a controller adapted to send a pulsed signal to each of said brakes to turn each of said brakes on, said controller further adapted to stop sending said pulsed signal when each of said sensors has not detected a change in the absence or presence of an article for more than a predetermined amount of time.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.