Conveyor row former, array rake and sweep mechanism for conveying objects having triangular cross sections
AssigneeOuellette Machinery Systems, Inc.
InventorJoseph F. Ouellette
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A conveyor system comprises a novel row former, a novel array rake and a novel sweep mechanism that are all designed to prevent relative movement between objects arranged in rows and then formed in two dimensional arrays of the objects as the objects are moved through the conveyor system, where the objects have triangular shaped cross sections.
Claims28
A row former that is moved vertically and horizontally relative to a row forming plane of a conveyor to form rows of objects conveyed by the conveyor on the row forming plane, the row former comprising:
- at least one pair of laterally spaced arms defining a longitudinal row forming slot between the arms, the slot between the one pair of arms being laterally dimensioned to receive only one longitudinally extending row of objects between the one pair of arms, the slot having a closed end and an opened end;
- and
- an angled surface in the slot at the closed end of the slot.
A row former that is moved vertically and horizontally relative to a row forming plane of a conveyor to form rows of objects conveyed by the conveyor on the row forming plane, the row former comprising:
- at least one pair of laterally spaced arms defining a longitudinal row forming slot between the arms, the slot having a closed end and an opened end;
- an angled surface in the slot at the closed end of the slot;
- a gate is mounted on one arm of the pair of arms and is movable between an opened position where the gate projects in a direction that is parallel with the one arm and a closed position where the gate projects into the slot in a direction that is angled relative to the one arm.
A row former that is moved vertically and horizontally relative to a row forming plane of a conveyor to form rows of objects conveyed by the conveyor on the row forming plane, the row former comprising:
- at least one pair of laterally spaced arms defining a longitudinal row forming slot between the arms, the slot having a closed end and an opened end;
- an angled surface in the slot at the closed end of the slot;
- and,
- a plurality of protrusions project from one arm of the pair of arms and are equally, spatially positioned along the one arm.
A row former that is moved vertically and horizontally relative to the row forming plane of a conveyor to form rows of objects conveyed by the conveyor on the row forming plane, the row former comprising:
- at least one pair of laterally spaced arms defining a longitudinal row forming slot between the arms, the slot having a closed end and an opened end;
- an angled surface in the slot at the closed end of the slot;
- and,
- an infeed conveyor is positioned beneath the row former where the infeed conveyor can supply objects to the slot through the open end of the slot.
A row former that is moved vertically and horizontally relative to a row forming plane of a conveyor to form rows of objects conveyed by the conveyor on the row forming plane, the row former comprising:
- at least one pair of laterally spaced arms defining a longitudinal row forming slot between the arms, the slot having a closed end and an opened end;
- an angled surface in the slot at the closed end of the slot;
- and
- the row former forms rows of objects having triangular cross-sections with width dimensions between apexes and opposite side walls of the objects, and the pair of laterally spaced arms are spaced by a lateral dimension that is larger than the object width dimension.
A row former that is moved vertically and horizontally relative to a row forming plane of a conveyor to form rows of objects conveyed by the conveyor on the row forming plane, the row former comprising:
- at least one pair of laterally spaced arms defining a longitudinal row forming slot between the arms, the slot having a closed end and an opened end;
- an angled surface in the slot at the closed end of the slot;
- and,
- an accumulating table is positioned laterally adjacent the pair of arms, the table has a surface and the pair of arms are movable laterally over the table surface, and a pair of laterally extending guide rails are positioned on longitudinally opposite sides of the table surface.
A row former that is moved vertically and horizontally relative to a row forming plane of a conveyor to form rows of objects conveyed by the conveyor on the row forming plane, the row former comprising:
- at least one pair of laterally spaced arms defining a longitudinal row forming slot between the arms, the slot having a closed end and an opened end;
- an angled surface in the slot at the closed end of the slot;
- an accumulating table positioned laterally adjacent the pair of arms, the table has a surface and the pair of arms are movable laterally over the table surface, and a pair of laterally extending guide rails are positioned on longitudinally opposite sides of the table surface;
- an array rake is mounted on the accumulating table surface for lateral movement of the rake across the surface, the array rake extends longitudinally across the surface and has a plurality of protrusions that project from the array rake over the table surface and are spatially positioned along the array rake;
- and,
- the array rake has a front surface on an opposite side of the array rake from the row former arms and the plurality of protrusions project from the front surface.
A row former that is moved vertically and horizontally relative to a row forming plane of a conveyor to form rows of objects conveyed by the conveyor on the row forming plane, the row former comprising:
- at least one pair of laterally spaced arms defining a longitudinal row forming slot between the arms, the slot having a closed end and an opened end;
- an angled surface in the slot at the closed end of the slot;
- an accumulating table is positioned laterally adjacent the pair of arms, the table has a surface and the pair of arms are movable laterally over the table surface, and a pair of laterally extending guide rails are positioned on longitudinally opposite sides of the table surface;
- and,
- a sweep mechanism is positioned adjacent the accumulating table surface for movement of the sweep mechanism relative to the table surface, the sweep mechanism has a pair of longitudinally spaced side panels that extend downwardly on opposite sides of the table surface and a front panel and rear panel that extend across the table surface, and the front panel and rear panel have respective front protrusions and rear protrusions that project toward each other.
An accumulating table for forming rows of objects on the table into an array of the objects and moving the array of objects across the table, the accumulating table comprising:
- a surface and a pair of laterally extending guide rails on longitudinally opposite sides of the surface;
- an array rake mounted on the accumulating table for lateral movement of the rake across the table surface, the rake extending longitudinally across the table surface;
- and
- a plurality of protrusions projecting from the array rake over the table surface, the plurality of protrusions being spatially arranged along the array rake.
An accumulating table for forming rows of objects on the table into an array of objects and moving the array of objects across the table, the accumulating table comprising:
- a surface and a pair of laterally extending guide rails on longitudinally opposite sides of the surface;
- an array rake mounted on the accumulating table for lateral movement of the rake across the table surface, the rake extending longitudinally across the table surface;
- the array rake has opposite front and rear surfaces and the plurality of protrusions project from the front surface;
- and,
- the plurality of protrusions also project from the rear surface of the rake.
An accumulating table for forming rows of objects on the table into an array of objects and moving the array of objects across the table, the accumulating table comprising:
- an surface and a pair of laterally extending guide rails on longitudinally opposite sides of the surface;
- an array rake mounted on the accumulating table for lateral movement of the rake across the table surface, the rake extending longitudinally across the table surface;
- and,
- a sweep mechanism is positioned adjacent the accumulating table surface for movement of the sweep mechanism relative to the table surface, the sweep mechanism has a pair of longitudinally spaced side panels that extend downwardly on opposite sides of the table surface and a front panel and rear panel that extend across the table surface, and the front panel and rear panel have respective front protrusions and rear protrusions that project toward each other.
An accumulating table for forming rows of objects on the table into an array of the objects and moving the array of objects across the table, the accumulating table comprising:
- a surface and a pair of laterally extending guide rails on longitudinally opposite sides of the surface;
- a sweep mechanism positioned adjacent the accumulating table surface for movement of the sweep mechanism across the table surface, the sweep mechanism having a pair of longitudinally spaced side panels that extend downwardly on opposite sides of the table surface and a front panel and a rear panel that extend longitudinally across the table surface, and the front panel and the rear panel have respective front protrusions and rear protrusions that project outwardly from the front and rear panels toward each other.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.