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US 3,983,988 AGranted
Conveyor diverter
AssigneeRapistan, Incorporated
InventorsWesley R. Maxted, Bernard H. Woltjer
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A diverter for use in high speed transferring of selected articles moving along a conveyor onto an intersecting conveyor includes first and second rows of independently driven powered wheels and selectively movable mounting means for the two rows such that they can be moved between a first position where no diverting takes place and a second operative position in which the wheels of the first or upstream row are skewed at a first angle and positioned at a first vertical position above the conveyor surface and the wheels of the second row are skewed at a greater angle and are above the first row.
Claims16
A diverter for selectively diverting articles from one conveyor to an intersecting conveyor comprising:
- first article conveying means positioned on said one conveyor upstream of the intersecting conveyor and skewed to transport articles at an angle relative to the direction of advancement of such articles on said one conveyor;
- second article conveying means positioned between said first article conveying means and the intersection of said one conveyor with said intersecting conveyor and skewed to transport articles at a greater angle relative to the direction of advancement of such articles on said one conveyor than said first article conveying means;
- drive means coupled to said first and second article conveying means for driving them at a speed to move articles in contact therewith at a speed greater than the conveying speed of said one conveyor;
- and
- selectively actuated means coupling said first and second article conveying means to said one conveyor for moving said first and second article conveying means between an operative position with said first article conveying means extending above said one conveyor a predetermined distance and said second article conveying means extending above said one conveyor a greater predetermined distance than said first article conveying means for progressively elevating and rotating articles onto said intersecting conveyor and an inoperative position where articles continue along said one conveyor.
2 more elements
A diverter for selectively diverting articles from one conveyor to an intersecting conveyor comprising:
- a first row of spaced power driven wheels positioned on said one conveyor upstream of the intersecting conveyor and skewed to transport articles at an angle relative to the direction of advancement of such articles on said one conveyor;
- a second row of spaced power driven wheels positioned between said first article conveying means and the intersection of said one conveyor with said intersecting conveyor and skewed to transport articles at a greater angle relative to the direction of advancement of such articles on said one conveyor;
- drive means coupled to said first and second rows of spaced power driven wheels for driving them at a speed to move articles in contact therewith at a speed greater than the conveying speed of said one conveyor;
- and
- selectively actuated means coupling said first and second rows of spaced power driven wheels to said one conveyor for moving said first and second rows of spaced power driven wheels between an operative position skewed with respect to the longitudinal axis of said one conveyor for diverting articles onto said intersecting conveyor and an inoperative position aligned with the longitudinal axis of said one conveyor where articles continue along said one conveyor wherein said coupling means includes means for mounting said wheels of said first row to extend slightly above the upper surface of said one conveyor and for mounting said wheels of said second row to extend slightly above said wheels of said first row and wherein each of said wheels is rotatably mounted in a bracket and said coupling means includes first and second fixed support bars to which said first and second rows of wheels are pivotally coupled respectively;
- first and second sliding bars associated with said first and second fixed support bars respectively;
- a plurality of coupling arms each having one end secured to one of said brackets and the opposite end coupled to one of said sliding bars for coupling each bracket to one of said sliding bars;
- a pivot arm having one end pivotally coupled to said one conveyor and wherein ends of said first and second sliding bars are pivotally coupled to said pivot arm spaced from said one end and from each other;
- and means coupled to said pivot arm for selectively moving said pivot arm to thereby rotate said brackets between wheel aligned and wheel skewed positions.
6 more elements
For use in transferring articles from one conveyor onto an intersecting conveyor, diverter mechanism comprising:
- a first row of wheels positioned on said one conveyor upstream of the intersection of the conveyors and elevated above said one conveyor a predetermined distance and skewed with respect to the longitudinal axis of said one conveyor;
- at least a second row of wheels positioned on said one conveyor between said first row and said intersection and elevated above said one conveyor a greater predetermined distance than said first row and skewed a greater amount than said first row;
- and
- drive means for driving said first and second rows of wheels at a speed greater than the speed of said one conveyor whereby articles are progressively elevated, rotated and accelerated from said one conveyor onto said intersecting conveyor.
1 more element
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.