Patent ID: 6135262
Filing Date: 2000-10-24
Classification: B65G

Abstract:
A link conveyor, specifically for conveying and sorting parcel items, having a drivable conveyor section running along a self-contained conveyor line and having a plurality of carrying plates arranged in close proximity in succession in the direction of conveyance, with the plates being supported by supporting devices on a continuous supporting chain which can be driven along the conveyor line, whereby links of the chain are pivotable about vertical and optionally also horizontal swivel axes relative to one another, wherethe supporting devices each have a bottom support section connected fixedly to them and projecting upward from the supporting chain, connected with a joint over a tilt axle running in the conveyance direction to a top support section projecting downward from substantially the center of the carrying plate and fixedly attached to it;each carrying plate has a tilting mechanism connected to a top support section; the carrying plate can be tilted laterally by this tilting mechanism about the tilt axle from an essentially horizontal conveyance position into an inclined delivery position;an end wall pointing down at a right angle from the carrying area is arranged on the front and/or rear edge running across the conveyance direction of each carrying plate, andthe carrying plates each have two partially overlapping carrying plate sections, with one carrying plate section guided by a guide on the facing side of the other carrying plate section in such a way that it can move relative to the other carrying plate section in traveling through curved sections of the conveyor line, in that the other carrying plate section of a carrying plate basically has an essentially flexurally stiff plate or the like extending essentially over the entire length of the carrying plate and supported on a link of the supporting chain at a distance from the overlap area with a supporting device; and of the carrying plate, the one carrying plate section which is not connected directly to the supporting chain is coupled to another adjacent carrying plate section of the carrying plate by a sliding guide so that the two carrying plate sections can move relative to one another in a horizontally and/or vertically curved conveyor line section while maintaining an essentially self-contained, gap-free conveyor plane on uncurved sections of conveyor line.