Abstract:
A dynamic storage for objects having an endless conveyor chain equipped with receptacles for the objects and having at least two contrarotating upper pulleys that are adjustable in height such that the conveyor chain forms two essentially vertical loops whose variable lengths are defined by the upper pulleys, the stationary lower pulleys rotating in essentially horizontal planes and being connected to the essentially vertical loops by curved guides for the conveyor chain.

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    The present application claims the benefit of priority of International Patent Application No. PCT/EP20067/006648, filed on Jul. 7, 2006, which application claims priority of German Patent Application No. 20 2005 01 3552.6, filed Aug. 27, 2005. The entire text of the priority application is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. 
       FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE 
       [0002]    The disclosure relates to a dynamic storage for objects of the type using an enders conveyor chain. 
       BACKGROUND 
       [0003]    Such a storage is already known in which the lower pulleys, which are also driving wheels at the same time, rotate in vertical planes and the conveyor chain runs directly in four vertical lines between the two lower pulleys and the two upper pulleys (EP 506 551 B1). Despite the great storage capacity, the ground area required for this storage is relatively minor due to the vertical extent of the two loops. However, when loading and unloading the conveyor chain, objects which are usually fed and removed horizontally are subjected to abrupt changes of speed and direction, so that a high output cannot be achieved and the possibility of damage to the objects cannot be ruled out. 
         [0004]    Furthermore, there is a known dynamic storage for objects in which the contrarotating pulleys and the loops formed by them are part of an endless conveyor belt running in parallel horizontal planes (WO 01/98 187 A1). Loading and unloading of the horizontal conveyor tower of the conveyor belt does not pose any problems here but the enormous space required due to the horizontal extent of the two loops is a disadvantage. 
       SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE 
       [0005]    The object of the present disclosure is to tangibly improve upon the loading and unloading options in the case of a generic dynamic storage and to do so with minimal complexity and expense. 
         [0006]    With the disclosed storage a continuous supply and removal of objects in the horizontal direction is made possible without any mentionable increase in ground area in the area of the two pulleys rotating horizontally, such that the actual storage still takes place in the area of the vertical loops. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0007]    An exemplary embodiment of the disclosure is described below on the basis of the drawings, in which 
           [0008]      FIG. 1  shows a side view of a dynamic storage 
           [0009]      FIG. 2  shows an overhead view of the storage according to  FIG. 1   
           [0010]      FIG. 3  shows an enlarged perspective view of the two loops of the storage according to  FIGS. 1 and 2   
           [0011]      FIG. 4  shows the section AB according to  FIG. 3 . 
       
    
    
       [0012]    The storage  1  according to  FIGS. 1 through 4  is equipped for dynamic buffering and conveyance of empty bottles F made of PET between two treatment machines, e.g., a labeling machine  12  and a filling and closing machine  13 . It has a base plate  14  that stands on the floor with a perpendicular pillar  15  and with a vertical linear guide  16 ,  17  attached to its front and back sides each. A roller-supported carriage  18 ,  19  with one upper pulley  4 ,  5  each runs on each linear guide  16 ,  17 . Each pulley  4 ,  5  is freely rotatable with a horizontal axis of rotation and/or a vertical plane of rotation and is mounted on the respective carriage  18 ,  19 . A pulley  20  with a horizontal axis of rotation is mounted to rotate freely at the upper end of the pillar  15  with a belt  21  running downward from it on both sides. The one end of the belt  21  is attached to the front carriage  18  and the other end is attached to the rear carriage  19 . Any movement in height of the two carriages  18 ,  19  and the upper pulleys  4 ,  5  mounted on them is thus necessarily contrarotating and synchronized. 
       DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0013]    Furthermore, two horizontal cantilevered arms  22 ,  23  are attached to the base plate  14 , extending diametrically away from the pillar  15  and away from the side between the linear guides  16 ,  17 , supporting a lower pulley  6 ,  7  with a vertical axis of rotation and/or a horizontal plane of rotation on each of its free ends. The two cantilevered arms  22 ,  23  together with the vertical pillar  15  form a symmetrical cross. 
         [0014]    An endless conveyor chain  3 , only a few links of which are shown here, runs in the direction of the arrow over the two lower pulleys  6 ,  7  and the two upper pulleys  4 ,  5 . The links are joined by a universal joint and each has a side receptacle  2  for a bottle F in the form of elastic gripper tongs which secure the bottles in a frictionally engaged and form-fitting manner beneath the collar. Furthermore, each chain link is equipped with four guide rolls  24 , the function of which is explained below. 
         [0015]    In addition to the four pulleys  4  through  7 , the conveyor chain  3  is guided by four curved guides  8  through  11  in the manner of a quarter circle, each arranged in pairs and so they coincide (as seen from the front) in the upper wedge between the vertical pillar  15  and the horizontal cantilevered arms  22 ,  23 . The two front guides  8  and  11  are situated in the same vertical plane in which the front upper pulley  4  rotates. Accordingly the two rear guides  9  and  10  are situated in the same vertical plane in which the rear upper pulley  5  rotates. The two planes are parallel to one another with a distance corresponding to the horizontal distance between the two upper pulleys  4 ,  5 . In these two planes the conveyor chain  3  is guided by the front guides  8  and  11  and the front upper pulley  4  in a front vertical loop Sa and by the rear guides  9 ,  10  and the rear upper pulley  5  in a rear vertical loop Sb. 
         [0016]    The distance between the two planes with the loops Sa, Sb corresponds in this exemplary embodiment approximately to the diameter of the lower pulleys  6 ,  7  which are in turn situated in a shared horizontal plane in which the conveyor chain  3  is guided by means of the lower pulleys  6 ,  7  between the two vertical planes. The conveyor chain  3  passes through a short horizontal section between the guides  8  through  11  and the lower pulleys  6 ,  7 ; this section has nothing to do with the actual dynamic storage function but instead bridges the given distance between the labeling machine  12  and the filling and closing machine  13 . These straight paths may also be omitted. Furthermore, as in the exemplary embodiment shown here, they may be designed as winding paths V to alter the spatial orientation of the conveyor chain  3  by 90□, for example. In the present exemplary embodiment, this is used to convey the bottles F in the area of the vertical loops Sa, Sb with a horizontal central axis and in the horizontal area of their conveyance path with a vertical central axis. This has the advantage that the bottles F can be supplied and removed in the area of the lower pulleys  6 ,  7  in their normal position by conventional conveyance means such as conveyor stars T with controlled clamps which push the bottles F into the elastic receptacles  2  and remove them from the receptacles. To prevent shimmying of the conveyor chain  3  in the area between the pulleys and the guides, vertical and/or horizontal guide rods  25  may be provided in pairs, gripped by the guide rolls  24  of the chain links. The guide rods  25  are arranged in stationary positions except for the inner vertical guide rods  25  in the area of the two loops Sa, Sb. These are attached in pairs to the respective carriage  18 ,  19  and thus also execute its movement in height (indicated by double arrows). The guides  8  through  11  are shaped from solid sections to increase their stability and together with the adjacent guide rods  25  and their supporting sections  26 , they form the cantilevered arms  22 ,  23 . They are provided on their upper end faces with groove-like recesses  27  with which the guide rods  25  that are adjustable in height engage. 
         [0017]    The lower pulleys  6 ,  7  are at the same time the driving wheels for the conveyor chain  3 . To this end the pulley  7  is connected by a gear  28  to the drive for the labeling machine  12  or it has its own motor which runs in synchronization with the labeling machine  12 . Accordingly, the pulley  6  is connected by a gear  29  to the drive of the filling and closing machine  13  or it has its own motor which runs in synchronization with the filling and closing machine  13 . 
         [0018]    In normal operation when labeling machine  12  and filling and closing machine  13  are operating at the same output, the lower pulleys  6 ,  7  rotate in the direction of the arrow at the same speed. The upper pulleys  4 ,  5  maintain their instantaneous position. The labeled bottles F are pressed into the receptacles  2  of the conveyor chain  3  in the upright normal position one after the other in order by the discharge star T, then are turned 90□ into a horizontal position in the area of the right cantilevered arm  23 , passing through the rear loop Sb in a horizontal position, then are turned back into their normal vertical position in the area of the left cantilevered arm  22  and finally are removed in order from the receptacles  2  of the conveyor chain  3  by the feed star T of the filling and closing machine  13  which is equipped with gripper elements that are not shown here. The loose side of the conveyor chain  3  then rotates in the opposite direction back to the pulley  7  via the front loop Sa. 
         [0019]    If the lower pulleys  6 ,  7  rotate at different speeds due to a difference in output of the labeling machine  12  and the filling and closing machine  13 , then the lengths of the two loops Sa and Sb automatically change in opposite directions and the number of bottles F in the rear loop Sb becomes greater. or smaller. The differences in output of the labeling machine  12  and the filling and closing machine  13  are thus dynamically buffered. The situation is similar in shutdown of one of the two lower pulleys  6 ,  7  because of stoppage of the labeling machine  12  or the filling and closing machine  13 . In both cases the dynamic storage capacity is defined by the difference between the minimal and maximal lengths of the conveyor chain  3  and/or the number of receptacles  2  in the rear loop Sb. The rear loop Sb is preferably operated in the range of minimal length during normal operation, so that when there is a sudden stoppage of the filling and closing machine  13 , the labeling machine  12  can be run until it is empty with no problem before it is also stopped. In doing so the rear carriage  19  moves with the pulley  5  out of the lower position shown in  FIGS. 1 and 3  into its upper position and the front carriage  18  with the pulley  4  conversely moves out of its upper position into its lower position.