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AssigneeJoseph E. Seagram & Sons, Inc.
InventorWitold W. Falkowski
Estimating the term…
An adjustable railing support system has a conveyor and a railing extending along each side of the conveyor. The conveyor is used to transport containers of various sizes and shapes in different runs. For each size and shape of container, the support posts must be adjusted and the actuators are connected to a programmable logic controller that is operable and connected to sequentially adjust the support posts relative to the conveyor until all of the support posts have been adjusted as required to transport container of one particular size and shape. The controller has a memory so that the precise location of the support posts for a particular product line can be stored. When switching from one known product line to another, the adjustments can be made automatically from the memory of the controller.
An adjustable railing support post system for conveyors comprises a conveyor and a railing for said conveyor, said conveyor being used to transport several types of containers of various shapes and sizes, said railing being supported by a plurality of support posts, said support posts being supported by a plurality of actuators, there being one actuator for each support post, each actuator being connected to a controller, said controller being operable and connected to sequentially adjust the support posts relative to the conveyor until all of the support posts have been adjusted to transport containers of one particular shape and size, said controller having a memory to retain a position of each support post relative to the conveyor for each type of container to be transported, said memory being accessible to automatically return said support posts to a configuration to transport that type of container.
A method of adjusting a railing support post system for a conveyor, said conveyor having at least one railing supported by a plurality of support posts, said support posts being supported by a plurality of actuators, there being one actuator for each support post, each actuator being connected to a controller, said controller having a memory, said method comprising operating the controller to sequentially adjust the location of each support post, thereby adjusting the location of the railing, or using the controller to adjust the position of each of the support posts for several different product lines and storing the adjustments for each product line in memory, using the memory to automatically adjust the support posts whenever the product line is switched to a product line that has been stored in memory.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.