Conveyor system with an overhead load carrier
AssigneeOCS Overhead Conveyor System AB
InventorAnders Persson
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The invention relates to an overhead conveyor system which includes a rail, at least one carriage which is provided with wheels and which is adapted to run along the rail and support a load suspended from the carriage, a rotatable drive shaft which extends along the rail and is located perpendicularly above the rail, and a drive arranged on each carriage and adapted to drive, in contact with the drive shaft, the carriage along the rail. The drive includes at least one wheel which is inclined relative to the longitudinal direction of the drive shaft and has a contact surface spring-loaded against the drive shaft, the spring load of the drive being independent of the load suspended from the carriage.
Claims20
An overhead conveyor system comprising:
- a rail;
- at least one carriage having wheels and being adapted to run along the rail and support a load suspended from the at least one carriage;
- a rotatable drive shaft extending along and above the rail, the drive shaft alternately having thick portions with a first diameter and narrow portions with a second diameter smaller than the first diameter, the thick and narrow portions being arranged in series along the shaft;
- a drive on the at least one carriage, the drive comprising at least one drive wheel inclined relative to a longitudinal direction of the drive shaft and that has a contact surface adapted to be spring-loaded against the thick portions of the drive shaft independently of the load suspended from the carriage, wherein there is no contact between the drive and the drive shaft when the at least one carriage is positioned directly under one of the narrow portions and supported by the rail so that the carriage is freely movable in a direction lateral of the drive shaft without being obstructed by contact with the drive shaft.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.