SUSPENSION UNITS FOR SUSPENSION SYSTEMS

Abstract: The present invention provides a suspension device for traveling on an overhead rail, the device including pairs of rol­ lers (52; 65, 67; and 80, 82) which are arranged in pairs to de­ fine a downwardly open v so that the outer surfaces of the rol­ lers can engage opposite sides of a guide rail (53; 63;), which is engaged by the outer surface of the rollers when the device is suspended therefrom. There are preferably two pairs of said rollers, and each roller preferably is in the form of a roller bear­ ing. In a specific arrangement, the device comprises a pair of end frames connected by upper and lower cross bars, all of the components being made of plastics material, and the roller bearing pairs being supported from the upper cross bar. The end brackets are of question mark shape to enable the device to be placed on and moved from the guide rail by moving the device laterally of said guide rail.

Description: This invention relates to suspension units for suspension conveyor systems. Suspension conveyors system are used for example, in clothing factories in order on the one hand to move groups of garment pieces between different sections in a manufacturing plant, and on the other hand to move completely or partly finished garments to intermediate storage stations or a storage area. Also, the suspension conveyor systems may be used for transporting the finished garments from storage to intermediate storage stations or to a despatch location. In some instances, the vehicles which collect the completed garments from the despatch stations are provided with means adapted to the suspension conveyor systems, whereby the suspended garments may he conveyed directly into position inside the transportation vehicles. In such systems, there are used hook suspension units, being units which are adapted to receive for example the hooks of coat hangers, and these units are of the "hook-on" variety, in that they are adapted to be mounted on tile conveying rail, which is in the form of a round sectioned tube, by hooking on in a direction laterally of the tube length. The means suspending the unit from the rail so that they can run frictionlessly thereon are roller bearings, comprising in fact two roller bearings arranged spaced and with their axes parallel. The outer races of the roller bearings are recessed so that in fact the rollers are known as diablo rollers, and the guide rail of the system engages in the recess in each of the diablo rollers. When the units are mounted on the rail, the axes of rotation of the diablo rollers are horizontal, and each roller is carried by a bracket which is a rod in the shape of a question mark, and the bracket is swivelably mounted in a rod or bar on which for example, garment hangers may be suspended. These known suspension units are approximately 2 to 3 feet long and are used mainly for the transportation of partly completed garments between work stations in the manufacturing plant, and for delivering the finished or partly finished garments to the storage area. As regards the transportation of the finished articles from the storage area to despatch, for the supply of orders, what happens is that individual orders are made up by hand picking from storage, and these are grouped together and hung on what are called "sets" which are small metal frameworks capable of hooking onto the suspension units. These frameworks are provided with handles to enable them to be easily hooked and unhooked from the suspension units. The sets can also be hooked onto and unhooked from the suspension rail of the conveyor system proper but of course they are not mobile thereon. Sometimes, if there are no sets available, the individual orders will be suspended on the individual and much larger suspension units. Alternatively, the individual orders may be in any event hung on suspension units, and the suspension units moved along the suspension conveyor system to the discharge point, where they are either loaded directly into the vehicles if the vehicle is appropriately adapted, or the individual orders are then suspended on the sets, which are manually carried into the vehicle and are placed in position therein. In any event, it is clear that the present system involves a considerable amount of handling of the sets, and in many cases will involve very poor utilisation of space, for example in the case where suspension units are moved directly into the vehicle of the vehicle suspension system, and the individual units contain only orders of a small number of garments, for example one or two garments. The present invention was conceived from the point of view of providing modified sets in order to overcome the shortcomings of the suspension conveyor systems currently used, but in the realisation of the invention, it has become apparent that the concept has wider application, and can be used in adaptation in the currently employed suspension unit. In the known suspension units which use diablo rollers, there is also a problem that the units tend to jump off the rail, and it is believed that this is caused partly by the fact that the respective faces of the groove in each diablo roller cannot rotate one relative to the other, and consequently, when the diablo roller moves around a curved portion of the guide rail, there is relative slipping or scrubbing between the rail and at least one surface of the groove, leading to a tendency for the roller to ride up on and eventually off the rail. The present invention it is believed overcomes this difficulty. It should be mentioned at this point that the suspension conveyor system may be powered or free, or may be partly powered and partly free, or may be convertable from powered to free and vice versa. By powered is meant that the suspension units can be driven by an overhead drive conveyor with drive flights, and by free is meant that the units are adapted to be moved manually along the conveyor rail. In the arrangement whereby the conveyor may be powered or free by selection, there may be an automatic catch arrangement whereby the powered conveyor can pick up suspension units on appropriate instruction. Finally, it is to be mentioned that there is a known hook on suspension unit for suspension conveyor systems, which comprises a single diablo roller located in a slot in a bracket, such bracket having a tail piece for receiving hook supporting a load. The present invention can also be applied to this form of suspension unit. The present invention provides a suspension device for a suspension conveyor system, such device being of the type which is adapted to be hooked onto a suspension rail, laterally of -the rail longitudinal axis, the suspension device including at least two independently rotatable roller means which form bearings, of which the axes of rotation are arranged so as in use to define an inverted v-shaped whereby the unit will be suspended from the rail by virtue of the outer surfaces of the roller means engaging the rail on the opposite sides of a central vertical plane thereof. Preferably, each of said roller means comprises a roller bearing with inner and outer races with rolling lements therebetween. In a preferred case, there are two pairs of these said roller bearings, each defining an inverted v-shape, the pairs of roller bearings being mounted on and spaced along a support bar forming part of the suspension device, the pairs of rollers being set at the same angle, and being of the same size. Each pair of rollers may be mounted on a mounting enabling the pair of rollers to swivel about an axis which, in the in use position, will be vertical and will lie in the central vertical plane of the guide rail, whereby each pair of rollers will "steer" as the suspension unit travels round curved portions of the guide rail. By virtue of using independently rotatable roller bearings, it will be appreciated that the individual rollers can rotate differentially, or at different speeds when the unit travels along curved portions of the guide rail. The invention can be applied to the known suspension units using diablo rollers, in that the or each diablo roller or one of The diablo rollers will be replaced by at least a pair of independently rotatable roller bearings arranged with their axes at an angle, so as to define a downwardly open V when the units are in the hooked on in use position. The invention has particular application in relation to the "sets" as used currently in the garment industry, because by using individually rotatable roller bearings, these can be made much smaller than the diablo rollers, and can be much more easily accommodated within the size requirements of the sets. These size requirements are a standard throughout the industry, and must be complied with if sets for one consumer are to be interchangeably usable with sets of another consumer, which conditions do prevail in the United Kingdom at this time. Specifically, when the invention is applied to a set, the set may be adapted by having a cross bar extending between the hook portions, the cross bar carrying two pairs of independently rotatable roller bearings, in accordance with the present invention. In a further adaptation, the said pairs of rollers will be independently steerable, as hereinbefore described. In the utilisation of the invention, it can now be seen that the sets, as they have been made mobile in an effective manner, by virtue of the invention, can be used for moving loads between a storage or warehouse area direct to the discharge point, and, where appropriate, directly into the transportation vehicle, whereby considerable manual time will be saved. It is projected that in the long term, the said sets according to the invention may well be usable throughout the entire suspension conveyor system. That is to say, such sets may be usable for transporting partly completed goods between various work stations, and for transporting such goods to storage or warehousing, and for transporting such goods to the despatch point and into transportation vehicles. In a specific arrangement, the suspension unit is fabricated as far as possible from plastics material components, which may for example be injection moulded. Such specific construction as will be clear hereinafter has a number of advantageous features. Embodiments of the present invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein: Fig. 1 shows in perspective elevation a conventional suspension unit as currently in use in clothing factories having suspension conveyor systems; Fig. 2 shows in perspective elevation, a set as currently in use in such a factory; Fig. 3 shows in perspective elevation a suspension unit of the general construction shown in Fig. 1, but modified in accordance with the present invention; Fig. 4 shows a set according to the present invention; Figs. 5 and 6 show the set of Fig. 4 in side view and in sectional end view respectively; Fig. 7 shows in perspective elevation a set according to a second embodiment of the present invention; and Fig. 8 shows an exploded view and to a larger scale a section of the set shown in Fig. 7. Referring to the drawings, in Fig. 1 there is shown a conventional suspension unit for a suspension conveyor system. The unit which is sometimes referred to as a trolley, comprises a rod or bar 10, having a zig zag shaped wire 12 welded to the top surface thereof, in order to provide a plurality of recesses and grooves for receiving individual coat hangers as indicated in dotted lines. At each end the rod is provided with a swivel bracket 14, and each bracket is pivotable about the vertical axis indicated in the drawing by reference 16. Each bracket 14 is somewhat in the shape of a question mark, and at its upper end carries a diablo roller bearing 20 of which the outer race 22 is provided with a v-shaped groove 24, and which outer race is freely rotatable about a horizontal axis 26. To position the trolley on a circular sectioned conveyor rail 27 of the suspension conveyor system, it is simply hooked on so that the rail engages between the faces of the groove of each diablo roller as shown in Fig. 1. The pivoting of the bracket 16 enables the unit to "steer" as it travels round curves in the suspension system. These units have a tendency to derail, especially when unloaded, and it is believed that it is because of the manner by which the units are suspended from the rail using the individual diablo rollers. The set which is illustrated in Fig. 2 is intended simply to be a hook on unit, and although these units are some times pushed along the guide rail, they are not specifically designed for this purpose. Each unit comprises a metal framework being in the form of a pair oX hooks 30, handle portions 32, and the handle portions are connected by a suspension bar portion 34. The additional rod 36 serves the purpose of keeping hangers on the set during transit in transportation vehicles.These sets are usually man handled from place to place, although sometimes they are suspended from the bars 10 of the mobile suspension unit such as illustrated in Fig. 1. The present invention is concerned with the utilisation of individual roller bearings defining a V suspension arrangement, and Figs. 3 and 4 show how suspension units or trolleys and sets can be constructed in accordance with the present invention. Referring to Fig. 3 it will be seen that the trolley illustrated again comprises a bar 40 similar to bar 10, but this time it is provided with brackets 42 which are fixed to bar 40. At their upper ends, the brackets 42 are provided with sleeves 44 swiveably to receive pins 46 of mounting brackets 48. The mounting brackets 48 carry stub axles 50 on which are mounted roller bearings 52. The outer races of these bearings 52 engage the opposite sides of the guide rail 53 of the conveyor suspension system when in use, and the said outer races 54 are slightly waisted for this purpose. The axis of swivelling of the mounting is indicated by reference 60, and it will therefore be seen quite clearly that this unit can steer and in addition has the advantage that the individual roller bearings associated with each mounting can rotate differentially in that each is independently rotatable, and this is of advantage when the unit is travelling around curved portions of the guide rail. In the arrangement shown in Fig. 4, the set 61 is essentially of the same overall dimensions as the set shown in Fig. 2, but in addition there is provided a mounting bar 62 extending between the end hooked portion 64, and the mounting bar carries two pairs of roller bearings 65,67. The pairs of roller bearings 65,67 are symmetrically arranged in relation to a central plane bisecting the set as shown in the side elevation of Fig. 5 and each roller bearing pair comprises an inner roller bearing 67 and an outer roller bearing 65, the expressions inner and outer being applied to the position in relation to the central plane of the set. The inner and outer roller bearings 67,65 of each pair are arranged on stub axles projecting from the mounting bar 60 so as to define a downwardly open v-shape, as shown clearly in Fig. 6, and the outer races of the roller bearings are waisted, also shown clearly in Fig. 6, so as to ensure a neater engagement on the circular sectioned guide bar, with which the sets will be used, all as shown in Fig. 6. Fig. 4 shows how the set is mounted on the guide rail o3, and also shows how the guide rail itself is suspended by means of hook shaped brackets (70). Referring now to the embodiment of the invention shown in Figs. 7 and 8, a set constructed of plastic moulded components is illustrated, and the set comprises two end brackets 72, each of which is a one-piece moulding, and generally in the form of question marks to provide hand gripping portions 74 to enable the set to be lifted from and placed on the suspension rail. At the top end each bracket 72 has a connector block 76 for connection to a top rail 78 which has V notches for engagement by overhead dogs when the carrier is power driven and carries the pairs of roller bearings 80 and 82 which function identically to the rollers 65 and 67 of the Figs. 4 to 6 embodiments. At its lower end each bracket 72 has a second mounting block 84 for connection to the Lower cross bar 86. The lower cross bar 86 has a curved upper edge 88 with grooves 90 therein for receiving coat hangers in much the same manner as illustrated in Fig. 1. The ends of the cross bars 78 and 86 have corresponding connection blocks 92 and 94 and the connections between the respective blocks 76 and 94 and 84 and 92 are made in the same fashion as illustrated clearly in Fig. 8 which shows a connecting block 94 of upper cross bar 78, and an upper connecting block 76 of a bracket 72. It will be seen that on the end face of connecting block 94 there is a square locating projection 96 of tapered configuration, and this projection locates in corresponding recess or socket on the opposing face of the block 76, such socket being in fact of the same configuration as the recess 98 illustrated in Fig. 8, so that the blocks accurately register and interf it. A screw or bolt 100 connects the blocks by passing through a bore 102 in block 76 and a bore 104 in block 96, and securement is achieved by placing a nut 106 in a reception slot 108 in block 94. The reception slot 108 is dimensioned so as to receive nut 106 slidably therein, but prevents the nut 106 from rotating when the screw or bolt 100 is screwed thereinto, and this feature can be achieved easily by moving the bar 78 from plastics material. All connections of the blocks 76, 94 and 84 and 92 are achieved in this fashion, the reception slots for the nuts being indicated in bar 86 by numeral 1101 Fig. 8 also shows how the pairs of rollers 80 and 82 are mounted on the upper bar 78. It will be seen that each block 94 has a recess 112 therein, which opens to the underside of the block 94, and a corresponding peg 114 of a bearing support fixed neatly into such recess 112, the peg having a tapered end 116 to facilitate the insertion. The mounting 114 has a body 118 provided with a pair of mutually inclined faces 120 and 124 through which respectively are formed reception bores 126 and 128 for receiving the ends of spindles 130 and 132 which carry the inner races of the roller bearings or in fact form the said inner races. The said spindle ends 130 and 132 are push fitted into the bores 126 and 128, so as to lie at the appropriate angle as defined by the angle between the faces 120 and 124, as indicated more clearly in Fig. 6. Finally, there,is a shroud or cover 134 which fits over the body 118 of the mounting, the peg in fact projecting through the shroud or cover, the said shroud or cover extending over the roller bearings 80 and 82 when in position, so as to protect same from damage in the event that the set falls to the yround. The shroud or cover inlay be in a plastics material which is ore flexible than that of the other components The set constructed according to this ernbodiment can be fabricated quickly and easily making effective use of injection moulded components. All components of this set can be of plastics material, apart perhaps from the rolling elements of the roller bearings. With the arrancjement described, the set becomes completely mobile on the guiderail and can be transported from for example a warehousing or storage department to a discharge point, and where approriate directly into the transportation vehicle. Such sets can therefore be used on an interchanged basis as the sets are used currently, so as the sets in fact circulate between different users. The time saved by using sets according to the invention, can be considerable. Although the embodiments described illustrate adaptations closely related to known units, it is to be mentioned that the invention is not to be limited to these arrangements, and in fact it is quite clear that as regards the application of the invention to sets, such sets can be moulded in one piece, apart of course from the rolling elements of The roller bearing. The invention can also be applied to replace the diablo in the single suspension units, being units in which a single diablo is used. The roller bearings which are used in connection with the invention may be any suitable, in that the races may be constructed from metal and/or plastics, and the rolling elements may be balls and/or rollers, and whilst it is preferred that waisted or diablo type roller bearings be used, it is to be pointed out that this is not essential. Furthermore, it is possible to use rollers which are not roller bearings, rollers simply being rotatable on spindle means, but it is believed that the friction loading with such arrangements may make them commercially unattractive. In a modification of the set construction the bottom rail (34 in Fig. 2 and equivalent in Figs. 4 to 8) may be in the form of a shallow V to ensure that the hangers gravitate to the centre of the rail, and/or the bottom rail may have individual hangers apertures to receive individual hangers.

Claims: CLAIMS: 1. A suspension device for a suspension conveyor system, such device being of the type which is adapted to be hooked onto a suspension rail, laterally of the rail longitudinal axis, the suspension device including at least two independently rotatable roller means, which form bearings, of which the axes of rotation are arranged so as in use to define an inverted v-shape, whereby the unit will be suspended from the rail by virtue of the outer surfaces of the roller means engaging the rail on opposite sides of the central vertical plane thereof. 2. A suspension device as claimed in claim 1, wherein each of said roller means comprises a roller hearing with inner and outer races with rolling elements therebetween. 3. A suspension device according to claim 2, wherein there are two pairs of said roller bearings, each defining an inverted v-shape, the pairs of roller bearings being mounted on and spaced along a support bar forming part of The suspension evice, the pairs of rollers being set at the same angle, and being of the same size. 4. A suspension device according to claim 3, wherein each pair of rollers is mounted on a mounting enabling the pair of rollers to swivel about an axis which, in the in use position, will be vertical and will lie in the central vertical plane of the guide rail. 5. A suspension device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the device comprises a pair of end brackets of generally question mark shape, with an upper cross-bar connecting The top ends of the brackets, and a lower cross-bar connecting the lower ends of the brackets, the upper cross bar supporting said roller means. 6. A suspension device according to claim 5, wherein the brackets and upper and lower cross bars are plastics moulded components. 7. A suspension device according to claim 6, wherein the connection between each cross bar and bracket is by plug and socket arrangement with a screw passing through the plug and socket, and one of said components having a slot slidably but non-rotationally receiving a nut into which the bolt screws. 8. A suspension device according to claim 6 or 7, wherein the roller means are supported by mounting means push fitted into the upper bar. 9. A suspension device according to claim 8 including a shroud or cover extending over the roller means to protect same in the event that the device falls to the ground. 10. A suspension device substantially as hereinbefore described, with reference to Figs. 4 to 6 or 7 and 8 of the accompanying drawings.

Inventors: GARNETT, DAVID MORRIS
Applicants: GARNETT, DAVID MORRIS
Application year: 1982
Main classification: B65G9
IPC codes: B65G9