Power conveyor

A device for conveying articles along a path defined by a track, said device having a conveyor for moving the articles along the track in a stop arrangement for interrupting the movement of the articles along the track to create an accumulation of the articles in a batch adjacent the stop arrangement characterized by the conveying arrangement comprising a belt having tines extending from one side, said continuous belt being positioned with only the tines extending into the path for engaging the articles to move them along the track and with the tines slipping past those articles, whose movement has been interrupted by the stop arrangement.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention is directed to a device for conveying articles along 
a path from an input end to an output end, which path has an arrangement 
for stopping the flow of the articles to cause an accumulation thereof and 
the device maintains the orientation of each of the articles as it moves 
along the path. 
In my copending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 205,379, which was filed 
on June 10, 1988, and which issued as U.S. Pat. No. 4,874,080 on Oct. 17, 
1989, I disclose a conveyor device which receives parts in a desired 
orientation and conveys the parts in a line to a discharge position where 
an element of an assembly device picks up a part to transport it to a 
point for further assembly. In the arrangement of the copending 
application, the parts were guided between rails or guide surfaces and 
edges of the parts were supported on moving belts until a stop arrangement 
prevented their further movements so that they would slide on the surface 
of the moving belts until released for being removed from the conveyor 
device. Since the belts form a portion of a supporting surface for the 
part as it is being moved along a path, the belt always needed to be 
positioned below a portion of the part. In addition, problems would occur 
if the path deviated by a substantial amount from a horizontal position 
because the belts depended on gravitational forces to maintain a 
frictional force between the part and the surfaces of the belt. Thus, 
because of the nature of the conveying device, problems occurred when 
combining this device with other devices or machines because of the 
requirement that the belts always be positioned below the part being 
conveyed. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
In order to overcome these problems, the present invention is directed to a 
conveyor arrangement wherein the conveyor belt does not form a supporting 
surface for the product being conveyed and, thus, the position of the 
conveyor belt relative to the path can be changed to allow other devices 
to act on the articles in the path, if desired. 
Another feature of the invention is to provide a device which applies a 
conveying force to the article, which force is not dependent on the 
gravitational forces holding the article against the belt, so that the 
path can be out of a horizontal path. 
It is also an object of the invention to provide a conveying device in 
which the force transferred to the article being conveyed can be changed 
independent of the amount of contact between the belt and the article. 
To accomplish these objects, the present invention is directed to a device 
for conveying articles along a path from an input end to an output end 
while maintaining the orientation of the article, said device comprising a 
frame; a track mounted on the frame and having guide surfaces for engaging 
and supporting the article to form the path which limits movement of the 
article only along the path without movement out of said path; stop means 
mounted on said frame and movable into and out of the path to 
intermittently interrupt movement of the articles along said path to cause 
an accumulation of the articles, while said stop means is disposed in said 
path; conveyor means for moving the articles along the path including a 
continuous belt having projecting, resilient tines extending from one side 
of the belt, said belt being mounted for movement with a portion moving 
along said path and with the tines engaging said articles in the track, 
and drive means for moving said belt along said path so that the articles 
are engages by said tines of the belt to be moved along said path until 
movement is stopped by said stop means at which time the tines pass by the 
articles that are being accumulated at said stop means. 
Because the tines of the belt will engage the article when they are imposed 
into the path of the article, regardless of whether the belt is positioned 
above the path, along the side of the path, or below the path, many 
different designs are possible. For example, in one embodiment the device 
is used for accumulating a plurality of parts which are to be packaged in 
a package containing a given number of parts. In order to accomplish this, 
a ram which is actuated after a given number of parts has been accumulated 
coacts to engage the accumulated parts and to move them faster than the 
speed of the belt so that the accumulated parts are moved from the track 
at a faster rate than the parts being fed into the track at the inlet end 
by the belt. 
In another embodiment, extremely thin parts are being conveyed along the 
track and are removed from the outlet end by a standard-type escapement 
arrangement. In this embodiment, in order to maintain spaces between the 
parts and prevent them from entering into a shingled relationship or 
becoming overlapped, spacing balls are provided between each of the 
articles to maintain the spacing between the articles and to compensate 
for any warping or misalignment in the thin articles. 
Other features and advantages of the invention will be readily apparent 
from the following description of the preferred embodiments, the drawings 
and the claims.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
The principles of the present invention are particularly useful when 
incorporated in a device, generally indicated at 10 in FIG. 1. The device 
10 has a frame with a lower frame portion 11 and an upper frame portion 
12, which are connected together by a pivotable connection 13 (see FIG. 
2). A track 14 is positioned on the lower frame 11 (see FIG. 1) and has an 
inlet end 15 and an outlet or exit end 16. The device 10 also includes a 
first conveying arrangement or means, generally indicated at 20, for 
moving an article along the track 14 from the inlet end 15 towards the 
outlet end 16. The device 10 also includes means, generally indicated at 
21, which will accumulate articles in the track adjacent the outlet end 16 
and a second conveying means 22 for moving a batch of the accumulated 
articles out the exit end 16. 
The track 14 receives the articles one at a time in the desired orientation 
from a feed device, such as 17, which is positioned to introduce the 
articles to the inlet end 15. The batches, which are formed adjacent the 
outlet end 16, are moved by the second conveyor means 22 as a batch out 
the outlet end 16 into a tubular container or shipping package 18, which 
is positioned by a table or support 19. 
The first conveying means 20 includes an endless belt 30, a drive pulley 
31, pulleys 32, 33, 34 and 35, as well as a belt support 36. The two 
pulleys 33 and 34, as well as the belt support 36, are mounted on a frame 
member 37 of the upper frame portion 12. These pulleys 33 and 34 and the 
belt support 36 define a path which extends substantially along the track 
14. The drive pulley 31 and the idler pulleys 32 and 35 are mounted on an 
upper portion 38 to be positioned above the frame member 37. The upper 
frame member or portion 38 supports drive means 39 (see FIG. 2), which 
includes an electrical motor and, if desired, a reduction gear for driving 
the pulley 31. 
The track 14, as best illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3, is formed of three 
members 40, 41 and 42. As illustrated, the member 40 has a horizontal 
guide surface 43 and a vertical guide surface 44 with a longitudinally 
extending notch or groove 45 that is positioned between these two guide 
surfaces. The member 41 has a guide surface 46 which extends parallel and 
is in the same plane as the surface 43 of the member 40. The member 42 has 
a vertical guide surface 47, and a horizontal guide surface 48, which is 
separated from the vertical guide surface by a notch or longitudinally 
extending groove 49. These guide surfaces 43, 44, 46, 47 and 48 are 
constructed to receive an article 50 and to guide it for movement only 
along the length of the path formed by the track 14. As illustrated, the 
article 50 has a lower surface 51, two end surfaces 52 and 53 and an upper 
surface 54. As best illustrated in FIG. 3, the vertical surface 44 and 47 
coact with the end surfaces 52 and 53 to limit movement in the horizontal 
direction indicated by the double arrow 55. In a similar manner, the lower 
horizontal surfaces 43 and 46, as well as the upper horizontal surface 48, 
coact with the two surfaces 51 and 54 of the article 50 to limit or 
restrain vertical movement in the direction of the double arrow 56. The 
members 40, 41 and 42 are constructed with notches or grooves, such as a 
notch 49, to receive projections or protrusions, such as 57, on the 
article 50 and the spacing between the two members 40 and 41 is such to 
allow for the lower projections, such as 58. Finally, the groove 45 
receives a lateral projection 59 from the surface 52. Thus, it can be seen 
that the various guide surfaces, such as 43, 44, 46, 47 and 48, cooperate 
to entrap the article 50 and to limit its movement in the horizontal 
direction indicated by the double arrow 55 and the vertical direction 
indicated by the arrow 56. 
The belt 30 has a base portion 61 with a plurality of resilient, integral 
tines 60 extending from a base surface 62 (FIG. 3) and the belt is 
positioned with the tines 60 extending downward into the path formed by 
the guide surfaces of the track 14. Thus, more than one of the tines 60 
will frictionally engage a portion of the article 50 and will form 
transfer means to frictionally transfer linear forces from the belt to the 
article to carry the article along the track as the belt moves in the 
direction of the arrow 64 (FIG. 1). In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 
3, each of the tines 60 has a triangular configuration and is terminated 
in a point 65, which will engage the article 50. It is possible to shape 
the tines so that, instead of converging to a point, they converge to an 
end surface, such as 66, as illustrated by the modified tine 60, of FIG. 
4. 
The belt support 36 has a groove 36FI3) which has a base surface 63 and two 
lateral guide surfaces 67, 67. As illustrated, lateral projections 68, 68 
overhang a portion of the groove to provide guide surfaces 69, 69 which 
face the base surface 63. These guide surfaces 69, 69 coact with the base 
surface 63 to limit movement of the belt in the direction 56 and the 
lateral surfaces 67, 67 limit movement of the belt in the direction 55. 
As shown in FIG. 2, the drive pulley or sheave 31 has a groove with a 
cylindrical base 31a to receive the base portion 61 of the belt 30. The 
idler pulley or sheave 35 has a V-shaped groove 35a between cylindrical 
portions 35b so that the tines extend in the V-shaped groove 35a as the 
outer portions of the base surface 62 of the belt 30 are supported on the 
cylindrical portions 35b. The pulley or sheave 32 is the same as the 
pulley 35 and pulleys or sheaves 33 and 34 are the same as the pulley 31. 
As best illustrated in FIG. 5a, tines are spaced along the length of the 
belt with the distance between adjacent tines being a pitch P. Each of the 
tines 60 has a thickness T. In addition, each of the tines 60 will have a 
rake angle relative to the direction of movement indicated by the arrow 
64. The tines 60a of FIG. 5a have a neutral or zero rake angle which is 
approximately 90.degree.. The tines 60b of FIG. 5b have a positive rake 
angle relative to the direction 64 which is less than 90.degree.. The 
tines 60c of FIG. 5c have a negative rake angle of more than 90.degree.. 
Finally, it is possible to provide tines 60d of FIG. 5d, which are a 
combined rake angle having both a negative portion and a positive portion. 
The selection of the pitch P between the tines, the rake angle of the 
tines, the thickness T of each of the tines, along with the stiffness of 
the material forming the belt, coact with the amount of contact between 
each of the tines to determine the amount of frictional force being 
applied by the transfer means to each of the articles as it moves in the 
track. The material for the belt is preferably a polyurethane, which may 
be tempered, and has a Durometer hardness of 85 Shore A. Once the belt has 
been selected with the desired pitch, tine thickness, rake angle and 
material, the only variable in the device 10 is the amount of penetration 
of the tip, whether it is a point 65 or the blunt tip 66 illustrated in 
FIG. 4, into the path of the article. 
In the device 10, the amount of penetration shown in FIG. 3 can be 
controlled by raising and lowering the upper frame portion 12 relative to 
the lower frame portion. As illustrated in bold lines, the amount of 
penetration of the point 65 has a depth shown in bold lines. By raising 
the frame to raise the belt support 36 to the upper chain line position 70 
the amount of penetration can be changed to that shown by chain line 71, 
which is substantially less than the penetration shown by the bold line. 
It is also possible to lower the upper frame so that the lower edge of the 
belt support 36 assumes the position 74 to cause penetration shown by 
chain line 75. 
In order to raise and lower the belt relative to the track, adjustment 
means 80 are provided on each of the two pairs of arms which pivotably 
connect the upper portion 12 to the lower portion 11. As illustrated in 
FIG. 2, one of the adjustment means 80 includes a pin 81 which is received 
in a smooth bore 82 with the amount of insertion of the pin 81 into the 
bore 82 being controlled by an adjustment arrangement including a threaded 
member 83. The pin is held in the smooth bore by a set screw 84 and the 
pin is received in a socket formed by a bushing 86. By changing the amount 
of penetration of the pin 81 into the bore 82, the distance of the upper 
frame portion 12 from the lower frame portion 11 can be changed to change 
the amount of penetration of the tines 60 of the belt into the path. 
The means for accumulating articles, such as the article 50 in the 
right-hand end of the track illustrated in FIG. 1, includes a first stop 
90 which can be raised and lowered into the path. The stop 90, in the 
raised position, prevents passage of the article and causes an 
accumulation of the articles as the articles are being carried by the belt 
30 of the first conveying means 20. Once the movement of an article has 
been stopped, either by the stop 90 or by engaging an article already 
stopped, the tines will easily move over the article so that the belt can 
continue to move. 
The object of the device 10 is to accumulate a number of articles into a 
batch, for example twelve articles. When the twelfth article of the batch 
has been moved into the batch, it will be sensed by a sensor 91, which 
will send a signal to the control means 92, which signal is used to raise 
a second stop 93 into the path of the next following article to prevent it 
from being added to the batch of twelve articles. In addition, the control 
means 92 will deactivate the means holding the first stop 90 in the path 
to cause it to be withdrawn and, at the same time, actuate the second 
conveyor means 22 to move the batch of twelve articles rapidly out the 
outlet 16 into the tubular package 18. As illustrated, the second conveyor 
means includes a guide tube 94, which forms a cylinder which has a piston 
received therein and a carriage 95 sliding on the guide tube 94. The 
piston in the tube 94 is coupled to the carriage 95, such as by a magnetic 
attraction, so that the carriage will move with the piston when air 
pressure is applied at an end of the cylinder 94. The carriage 95 includes 
a raisable stop 96, which is movable into and out of the path of the track 
14. The conveyor also includes a sensor 98 to sense the carriage 95 in the 
retracted position, which is illustrated in FIG. 2, and also a sensor 99 
to indicate the forward position of the carriage, as illustrated in broken 
lines. It should be noted that the actual structure and construction of 
the carriage and its movement are considered conventional. 
As mentioned, the device operates in the following manner. The belt 30 of 
the first conveying means 20 moves the articles in a stream, one after 
another, along the track until the first article of the stream's movement 
is stopped or arrested by the presence of the forward stop 90. As the 
articles accumulate one after another, a batch is being formed. When the 
last article of the batch, which is assumed as the twelfth article, comes 
to rest, it is sensed by the sensor 91, which sends the command signal to 
the control means, which causes the rear stop 93 to be actuated to prevent 
any additions to the batch, lowers the front stop 90 to allow the batch to 
be carried by the belt 30 towards the outlet, causes the projecting stop 
96 on the carriage 95 to be moved in behind the last article of the batch 
and applies air through the hose 100 to cause the piston to move through 
the tube or cylinder 94 to move the carriage 95 towards the discharge end 
to rapidly expel the batch into the packing tube 18. As the piston passes 
the sensor 99, the control means stops the flow in the line 100, adds flow 
in a line 101 to reverse the piston back to the initial position to carry 
the carriage to the original starting position. At the same time, the stop 
or catch 96 on the carriage 95 is dropped to the retracted position so 
that it will not interfere with any article in the track, the rear stop 93 
is retracted, while the front stop 90 is, again, raised into a blocking 
position. Thus, the belt will carry any articles which have accumulated on 
the stop 93 towards the stop 90 and the accumulation of the next batch 
will then be started. Since the batch is inserted into a packing tube, 
such as 18, and the control means can include sensors to determine the 
presence of an empty tube. Each of the stops 90, 93 and 96 can be shifted 
between a position retracted from the path and position blocking the path 
by an air cylinder arrangement or by electrical solenoids. 
The device 10, besides enabling the accumulation of a batch, also allows 
conveying the batch at a speed greater than the speed for conveying the 
articles into the accumulating stop to form the batch. The belt 30, with 
its tines, thus, is having three different relationships during different 
steps of the above-mentioned cycle. As an article is being conveyed into 
the inlet 15 of the track 14, the belt moves the article without any 
slippage. Once the article is stopped from further movement by either 
engaging a stop 90, a stop 93 or a previously stopped article, the tines 
will slip over the article without causing any damage. When the batch is 
being shifted from the track by the second conveying means 22, the batch 
of articles move faster than the tines and, thus, the batch will be 
slipping by the tines because of the increased speed over that of the 
speed of advance for the belt 30. Since the track provides all of the 
support for the articles and also prevents any movement in any direction 
other than in the direction 64, no problems will occur from moving the 
articles at the same speed as the belt, holding the articles so that the 
belt is moving faster than the article or moving the articles faster than 
the speed of the belt, which are all conditions and relationships between 
the article of the belt and the tines of the belt during the operations of 
the device 10. 
An embodiment of applicant's invention is illustrated in a device, 
generally indicated at 210 in FIGS. 6 and 7. In the device 210, a frame 
211 supports a track 214, which has an inlet 215 and an outlet 216. The 
device 210 includes conveyor means 220, which includes a drive pulley 221, 
a pair of idler pulleys 222, 223, a head pulley 225 and an outlet pulley 
226. A continuous belt 227, which has tines 230, is wrapped around the 
pulleys and is supported on a belt support 228 (FIG. 8) along a path 
extending between the inlet pulley 225 and the outlet pulley 226. To drive 
the drive pulley 225, it is connected to a drive shaft on a drive source, 
such as 229, which can include an electric motor and a reduction gear, if 
desired. 
As best illustrated in FIG. 8, the track 214 is formed by two bottom plates 
231 and 232, which coact with two top plates 233 and 234. The plates 231 
and 233 have depressions to form a groove 235, while the plates 232 and 
234 have a similar groove 236. The two grooves 235, 236 provide lateral 
guides surfaces, such as 237, upper guide surfaces 238 and lower guide 
surfaces 239 which guide an article 240 as it moves from the inlet 215 to 
the outlet 216. 
The articles 240, as illustrated in FIGS. 8, 9 and 10, include a sheet 
metal frame 241, which has legs 242 that are interconnected to a center 
member 243 which can be a component. The sheet metal frame 241, as 
illustrated in FIGS. 8 and 10, is extremely thin and, due to processing, 
can be warped or curved within a certain limit with the article 240 still 
being a useful article. Thus, the upper and lower guide surfaces, such as 
238 and 239, have a fairly wide spacing which allows the sheet metal frame 
241 to shift laterally a slight amount. 
In order to maintain a spacing between each of the articles 240 and to 
prevent a leading edge of the frame of one article from either riding up 
over the trailing edge of the frame of the preceding article or riding 
underneath, spacer balls 250 are provided and move in ball tracks or 
passages 251 and 252. Each of the ball tracks, such as the ball track 251, 
is formed by grooves 253 in the member 231 and coacting with a groove 254 
in the member 233. The ball track 252 is formed in a similar manner by a 
groove 255 in the member 232 coacting with a groove 256 of the member 234. 
Each of the ball passages or tracks 251 and 252, as best illustrated in 
FIG. 7, extend the length of the track 214 with one portion or leg of each 
groove being adjacent the gap between the members forming the track and 
the other return side or leg being spaced outwardly therefrom. Thus, each 
of the balls 250 can move around the oval-shaped track from the exit end 
back towards the entrance end. Each of the tracks, such as the track 251 
is provided with a detent 260 formed by a spring 261 biasing a member into 
the path of the track to hold a ball in a beginning position illustrated 
by the balls 250a in FIGS. 9 and 10. To insure that the balls returning on 
the outside leg of the track will be fed into the position for being 
engaged by the detent, each of the tracks, such as the track 251 (see FIG. 
9) is provided with an air inlet 263 connected to an air line 264, which 
feeds a small stream of air against the ball, such as the ball 250b, to 
urge it towards the detent. 
When an article, such as an article 240a, enters the inlet 215 of the track 
214, its leading edge of its frame will engage the balls 250a, which are 
held by the detent. Thus, the ball 250a held by the detent will be forced 
into the track ahead of the article 240a as it enters to obtain the 
spacing, such as illustrated between the articles 240 and 240b in FIG. 9. 
As illustrated, the tines 230 of the belt 227 will penetrate into the frame 
241 of the article 240. As in the previous embodiment, by raising and 
lowering the position of the belt support 228, the amount of penetration 
can be changed. 
The belt support 228 has a support surface 265 and the support 228 is 
positioned between lateral guide surfaces 266, 267. The member 231 and 232 
overhang the lateral guide surfaces 266 and 267, respectively, and form 
upper guide surfaces 268 and 269. The guide surfaces 265, 266, 267, 268 
and 269 coact to limit movement at right angles to the path of the track 
214. 
In the device 210, adjacent the exit end 216 of the track 214, a stop 270 
of a conventional escapement arrangement can be provided to cause an 
accumulation of the articles being transported along the track by the 
conveying means 220. Thus, the articles will be moved toward the stop, 
such as 270 and, as the article engages the stop 270, an accumulation of a 
string of articles will occur so that there is slippage between the tines 
230 of the belt 227 and each of the articles whose movement in the track 
has been stopped. When the escapement device releases the leading article, 
the belt will carry it to the discharge end or outlet end 216 of the track 
214 where the article can be gripped by a further processing device. It 
should be pointed out that each of the articles, such as 240, are 
introduced to the inlet end 215 in the desired orientation which has been 
achieved by utilizing known sorting and orienting devices. It also should 
be noted that, as illustrated in FIG. 9, each of the tines 230 have a 
slight positive rake angle. 
It should be noted that as the articles leave the track, they push the 
balls ahead of them around the round curve of each of the tracks 251 and 
252 towards the return leg of these tracks. 
It is also noted that in this embodiment, the belt is positioned so that 
the tines are introduced from below into the track or path of the 
articles. It is possible to change the position of the belt support, such 
as 228, so that the amount of penetration of the tine 230 is different and 
it is also possible to change the angle of the support 228 relative to the 
track so that the amount of penetration can change along the length of the 
track to change the amount of force being transferred to each of the 
articles. 
While not illustrated in either of the illustrated embodiments, it is 
possible for the belt, which is coacting with the track, to not be 
absolutely parallel to the guide surfaces of the track. This will allow 
varying the amount of frictional force along the length of the path due to 
changing the amount of engagement between the tines and the article being 
conveyed at a specific point. It also should be pointed out that while the 
track forms a belt path which generally lies in a single plane, it could 
be a curved path that extends out of the single plane and the belt could 
also assume a path that curves out of a single plane. 
As mentioned, the embodiment illustrated by the device 210 enables handling 
articles which have very thin portions which can be warped out of a single 
plane because of the incorporation of the ball tracks with the spacer 
balls between each of the articles. As in the earlier-described 
embodiment, the belt 227 is not used for supporting the article as it 
moves between the inlet and outlet of the device. The belt's sole purpose 
is to impart movement to the article and, because of the resiliency in the 
tine, allow the belt to move past the article when the article is being 
retained by a stop or has been accumulated in a batch. 
Although various minor modifications may be suggested by those versed in 
the art, it should be understood that I wish to embody within the scope of 
the patent granted hereon all such modifications as reasonably and 
properly come within the scope of my contribution to the art.