Conveyor transfer assembly
OwnerIvan Muchalovinventor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
The invention described herein is transfer assembly for transferring articles from an input conveyor to an output position. The transfer assembly includes a support structure and a conveyor assembly mounted to the support structure. The conveyor assembly has a working conveyor surface with an input end and an output end. The output end is moveable in a substantially lateral direction between a first position and a second position. The first position is such that the working conveyor surface is substantially laterally positioned away from the output position while the second position is such that a portion of the working conveyor surface is positioned above the output position.
Claims17
A transfer assembly for transferring articles from an input conveyor to an output position, the transfer assembly comprising:
- (a) a support structure;
- (b) a conveyor assembly mounted to said support structure, said conveyor assembly having a working conveyor surface, said working conveyor surface having an input end and an output end, said output end being moveable in a substantially lateral direction between a first position and a second position, said first position being such that said working conveyor surface is substantially laterally positioned away from the output position, said second position being such that a portion of said working conveyor surface is positioned above the output position;
- (c) a linear actuator mounted to said output end, said linear actuator adapted for moving said output end between said first position and said second position;
- and
- (d) a conveyor controller assembly coupled to said conveyor surface, said conveyor controller assembly being adapted to selectively translate said working conveyor surface with respect to said input end;
- said conveyor controller assembly being adapted to selectively maintain at least a portion of said conveyor surface stationary with respect to said support structure.
A process for transferring articles from an input conveyor to an output position using a transfer assembly, the transfer assembly having a support structure and a conveyor assembly mounted thereon, the conveyor assembly having a working conveyor surface extending between an input end and an output end, the output end being movable between a first position and a second position, the first position being such that the working conveyor surface is substantially laterally positioned away from the output position, the second position being such that a portion of the working conveyor surface is positioned above the output position, the process comprising the steps of:
- (a) transporting the article along the input conveyor towards the transfer assembly in a generally lateral direction;
- (b) translating the working conveyor surface with respect to the support structure in said generally lateral direction;
- (c) transferring the article from the input conveyor to the working conveyor surface;
- (d) moving the output end to the second position;
- (e) translating the working conveyor surface such that the article is positioned substantially above the output position;
- (f) maintaining at least a portion of the working conveyor surface stationary with respect to the support structure while moving the output end to the first position, whereby the article is transported vertically downwardly to the output position.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.