System for selectively stopping product flow in a conveyor
AssigneeLaitram, L.L.C.
InventorsJoseph F. Kovacs, John E. Wenzel
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A conveying system employs a plurality of braking devices to selectively and temporarily stop product flow. A series of spaced-apart narrow belts extends longitudinally for conveying product from a first end to a second end. Selectively raisable brake pads are interspersed between the narrow belts. Actuators selectively raise a designated brake pad to push a selected product out of contact with one or more narrow belts to temporarily halt the forward movement of a selected product.
Claims18
A conveyor, comprising:
- a conveyor bed extending longitudinally from a first end to a second end;
- a series of spaced-apart conveyor belts traveling over the conveyor bed from the first end to the second end and separated by channels;
- and
- a plurality of brake pads disposed in the channels for selectively stopping a product being conveyed by one or more conveyor belts.
A spacing section of a conveyor system, comprising:
- a first conveyor belt extending from a first end to a second end;
- a second conveyor belt extending from the first end to the second end and spaced from the first conveyor belt by a first longitudinally extending channel;
- a brake pad having a first protrusion seated in the first longitudinally extending channel, the protrusion below the first and second conveyor belts in a first position;
- and
- an actuator for raising the brake pad so that the first protrusion extends above the first and second conveyor belts in a second position.
A method of selectively stopping product flow in a conveyor comprising the steps of:
- conveying a product in a longitudinal direction using a plurality of spaced-apart conveyor belts separated by one or more channels;
- and
- selectively activating a brake pad in a channel to raise the product out of contact with the conveyor belts.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.