# US 4,399,904 A · Sorting and/or conveying system and relevant working plants

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- Number: US 4,399,904 A
- Document ID: US4399904A
- Status: Granted
- Kind: A
- Application number: 06/226,602
- Filed: 1981-01-21
- Granted: 1983-08-23
- Earliest claimed: 1980-04-16
- Assignees: C.M.L. Costruzioni Meccaniche Lonatesi, S.p.A.
- Inventors: Francesco Canziani
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US4399904A

## CPC

- B65G 35/00: Mechanical conveyors not otherwise provided for
- B65G 47/962: {tilting about an axis substantially parallel to the conveying direction}
- B65G: TRANSPORT OR STORAGE DEVICES, e.g. CONVEYORS FOR LOADING OR TIPPING, SHOP CONVEYOR SYSTEMS OR PNEUMATIC TUBE CONVEYORS (packaging B65B; handling thin or filamentary materials, e.g. paper sheets or thread, B65H; cranes B66C; portable mobile or lifting or hauling appliances, e.g. hoists, B66D; devices for lifting or lowering goods for loading or unloading purposes, e.g. fork-lift trucks, B66F9/00; emptying bottles, jars, casks, barrels or similar containers, not otherwise provided for, B67C9/00; delivering or transferring liquids B67D; filling or discharging vessels for liquefied, solidified or compressed gases F17C; pipe-line systems for fluids F17D)

## Abstract

A sorting and/or conveying system and relevant working plants wherein there are used a set of carriages preferably automatically tilting, dragged along a pre-determined path, there being provided a preferably tubular guide with a longitudinal opening, on the inside of which there glide a certain number of spindles or the like, worked, through proper openings made along the guide, by one or more driving wheels linked to the power plant, to some of these spindles there being fastened the supports of the carriages.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A sorting and conveying system comprising:
(a) a plurality of tiltable carriages fixed on supports mounted on separate slidable spindles;
(b) a substantially tubular guide provided with a continuous longitudinal slot through which said carriage supports extend; and
(c) a plurality of openings spaced along said tubular guide through which driving means for the sliding movement of said spindles extend,
said carriages consisting of tiltable plates which may rotate about said supports, each having a pin turning on the inside of said support, actioned by a cam inserted at a desired point along the path of travel, onto said pin there being keyed a level pinion which, when the pin is turned by the action of said cam, engages a gear on said plate, causing the tilting thereof.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

A sorting and conveying system as claimed in claim 1 wherein the pin is placed in a housing made in the plate itself, pushed outwards by a spring until it fits into a corresponding hole in the supports and clamps the plate in a substantially horizontal position.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

A sorting and conveying system as claimed in claim 1 comprising one or more rails following the path of the tubular guide, acting as support for the free end of the carriages, the distance between said carriages and the tubular guide varying according to the inclination of the path of travel, so that said plates are maintained in a substantially horizontal position during said travel.

### Claim 4 (depends on 1)

A sorting and conveying system as claimed in claim 1 wherein the slidable spindles are substantially unconnected cylindrical bodies having semi-spherical ends.