Moveable conveyor guide rail
AssigneeOuellette Machinery Systems, Inc.
InventorJoseph F. Ouellette
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Moveable conveyor guide rails are located on opposite sides of a conveyor which conveys articles, such as beverage bottles. The guide rails are pivotable or otherwise moveable from a first position, where they serve as conventional conveyor guide rails by preventing the articles being conveyed from tipping, rocking, or falling off the sides of the conveyor, to a second position, where the guide rails are concealed by being pivoted or otherwise moved downwardly so that the articles being conveyed on the conveyor can be accessed by a palletizing machine from the sides of the conveyor without obstruction from the guide rails.
Claims17
A moveable conveyor guide rail, for use with a conveyor having a substantially planar conveying surface with a longitudinal length and a lateral width, the conveyor being configured to convey articles having a height on the conveying surface in a downstream direction along the longitudinal length of the conveyor, said moveable conveyor guide rail comprising:
- an elongated guide rail, said guide rail being positioned at a side of the conveying surface and having a length extending longitudinally along the side of the conveyor for at least a portion of the longitudinal length of the conveyor, said guide rail having an inner edge facing the conveying surface and an outer edge facing away from conveying surface, the inner edge being configured to engage articles being conveyed by the conveyor and the outer edge being pivotably attached to a fixed surface for movement of the guide rail relative thereto, the fixed surface being located at the side of the conveyor so that the inner edge of said guide rail can be moved to a position relative to the conveying surface where it does not obstruct access to the conveying surface from either side of the conveying surface.
A moveable conveyor guide rail, for use with a conveyor having a substantially planar conveying surface with a longitudinal length and a lateral width, the conveyor being configured to convey articles having a height on the conveying surface in a downstream direction along the longitudinal length of the conveyor, said moveable conveyor guide rail comprising:
- an elongated guide rail, said guide rail being positioned at a side of the conveying surface and having a length extending longitudinally along the side of the conveyor for at least a portion of the longitudinal length of the conveyor, said guide rail having an inner edge facing the conveying surface and an outer edge facing away from conveying surface, the inner edge being configured to engage articles being conveyed by the conveyor and the outer edge being operatively attached to a fixed surface for movement of the guide rail relative thereto, the fixed surface being located at the side of the conveyor so that the inner edge of said guide rail can be moved to a position relative to the conveying surface where it does not obstruct access to the conveying surface from either side of the conveying surface;
- a cylinder actuator having a first end which reciprocates axially in relation to a second end between a retracted configuration of the cylinder and an extended configuration of the cylinder, the first end being connected to said guide rail and the second end being mounted to the fixed surface.
A moveable conveyor guide rail, for use with an article conveyor and an article removing apparatus, the conveyor having a substantially planar conveying surface with a longitudinal length and a lateral width, the conveyor being configured to convey articles having a height on the conveying surface in a downstream direction along the longitudinal length of the conveyor, and wherein the removing apparatus includes at least a pair of moveable flaps positioned over the conveying surface at a height sufficient to allow the articles being conveyed on the conveying surface to pass beneath the moveable flaps, the flaps being disposed in initial positions away from the articles being conveyed, and the flaps being configured to move inwardly toward the articles being conveyed on the conveying surface to engage and remove the articles from the conveyor, said moveable conveyor guide rail comprising:
- an elongated guide rail, said guide rail being positioned at a side of the conveying surface and having a length extending longitudinally along the side of the conveyor for at least a portion of the longitudinal length of the conveyor, said guide rail having an inner face facing the conveying surface and an outer face facing away from conveying surface, the inner face being configured to engage articles being conveyed by the conveyor and the outer face being pivotably attached to a fixed surface located at the side of the conveyor so that the inner face of said guide rail can be pivoted about a fixed pivot axis that is substantially parallel to the downstream direction of the conveyor;
- a bracket having a first leg and a second leg, the first leg being fixedly connected to said guide rail;
- and
- a cylinder actuator further comprising a closed cylinder and a tight-fitting piston positioned within the closed cylinder, the piston being configured to reciprocate axially within the closed cylinder so that said cylinder actuator has a retracted configuration and an extended configuration, said cylinder actuator having a first end pivotably attached to the second leg of said bracket and a second end pivotably mounted to a fixed surface.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.