Inflatable conveyor belt
AssigneeUnited Parcel Service of America, Inc.
InventorHenri Bonnet
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A conveyor belt includes a lower surface and a number of article supporting surfaces, each of which is tiltably attached to the lower surface. Inflatable chambers are defined in the belt, the article supporting surfaces being disposed to tilt upon inflation of the inflatable chambers. An article conveyor system includes a belt having a lower surface and article supporting surfaces tiltably attached to the lower surface, a conveyor bed for supporting the belt during motion along a predetermined path, and an apparatus for selectively introducing pressurized air between the lower surface and each of the article supporting surfaces for tilting the article supporting surfaces, thereby causing an article on the selectively tilted article supporting surfaces to be discharged.
Claims38
A conveyor belt, comprising:
- (a) a lower surface;
- and
- (b) a plurality of article supporting surfaces, each of said article supporting surfaces, being tiltably attached to and normally located upward of said lower surface, wherein a plurality of openings are defined in said belt for receiving pressurized gas between said lower surface and said article supporting surfaces, each of said article supporting surfaces being disposed to tilt upon introduction of pressurized gas in a selected one of said openings.
A conveyor belt, comprising:
- (a) a lower surface;.and
- (b) a plurality of article supporting surfaces, each of said article supporting surfaces being tiltably attached to and normally located upward of said lower surface,
- wherein said belt comprises a plurality of sections, each of said sections comprising a first one of said article supporting surfaces to a first side of said section, and a second one of said article supporting surfaces to a second side of said section;
- and
- wherein each of said sections further comprises a flexible membrane attached to inner edges of each of said first and second ones of said article supporting surfaces.
A conveyor belt, comprising:
- (a) a lower surface;
- and
- (b) a plurality of article supporting surfaces, each of said article supporting surfaces being tiltably attached to and normally located upward of said lower surface;
- wherein said belt comprises a plurality of sections, each of said sections comprising a first one of said article supporting surfaces to a first side of said section, and a second one of said article supporting surfaces to a second side of said section;
- and each of said sections further comprises first and second inflatable chambers between said lower surface and said article supporting surfaces, an opening being defined in each of said inflatable chambers, said first one of said article supporting surfaces being so disposed with respect to said first inflatable chamber as to be tiltable to the first side of said section upon inflation of said first inflatable chamber, and said second one of said article supporting surfaces being so disposed with respect to said second inflatable chamber as to be tiltable to the second side of said section upon inflation of said second inflatable chamber.
A conveyor belt, comprising:
- (a) a lower surface;
- (b) a plurality of article supporting surfaces, each of said article supporting surfaces being normally located upward of and tiltably attached to said lower surface;
- wherein said belt comprises a plurality of sections, each of said sections comprising one of said article supporting surfaces disposed across the width of said section, said one of said article supporting surfaces being substantially rigid;
- and each of said sections further comprises first and second inflatable chambers between said lower surface and said article supporting surface, said one of said article supporting surfaces being so disposed as to tilt to a first side of said section upon inflation of said second inflatable chamber, and to a second side of said section upon inflation of said first inflatable chamber.
An article sorting and conveying system for conveying an article along a predetermined path and discharging the article to a selected one of a plurality of destinations on at least one side of the predetermined path, comprising:
- (a) a belt, comprising a lower surface and a plurality of article supporting surfaces normally located upward of and tiltably attached to said lower surface;
- (b) means for supporting said belt during motion along the predetermined path;
- and
- (c) means for selectively tilting said article supporting surfaces, thereby causing an article on the selectively tilted article supporting surface to be discharged to the selected one of the plurality of destinations;
- wherein said tilting means comprises means for selectively introducing pressurized gas between said lower surface and each of said article supporting surfaces.
A method for sorting an article by conveying the article along a predetermined path and discharging the article to a selected one of a plurality of destinations disposed on at least one side of the predetermined path, comprising the steps of:
- (a) moving a belt in a longitudinal direction along the predetermined path, said belt comprising a lower surface and a plurality of article supporting surfaces normally located upward of and tiltably attached to said lower surface;
- (b) placing an article on at least one of said article supporting surfaces;
- and
- (c) when the article is disposed adjacent to the preselected destination, tilting one of said article supporting surfaces on which the article is placed about a longitudinal axis by introducing pressurized gas between said tilted article supporting surface and said lower surface, so as to discharge the article from said belt to the preselected destination.
An article sorting and conveying system, comprising:
- (a) a substantially horizontal, planar bed;
- (b) an endless belt supported on said bed, said endless belt comprising a normally horizontal upper surface for conveying articles, said upper surface comprising a plurality of article supporting surfaces;
- and
- (c) means for selectively introducing pressurized gas between said bed and said upper surface for selectively tilting each of said article supporting surfaces with respect to said bed.
A method for conveying and sorting articles, comprising the steps of:
- (a) supporting an endless belt on a substantially horizontal, planar bed, said belt comprising a normally horizontal upper surface, said upper surface comprising a plurality of article supporting surfaces;
- (b) placing an article at a selected location on said upper surface, said article being supported by at least one of said article supporting surfaces;
- and
- (c) selectively tilting at least one of said selected article support surfaces by introducing pressurized gas between said bed and said upper surface.
A method as recited in 36, wherein said first supporting surface and said second supporting surface each is substantially rigid, and comprises a plurality of transversely extending fingers, said fingers of said first and second supporting surfaces alternating to define a central portion of said upper surface in said section.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.