A CONVEYOR, IN PARTICULAR FOR OBJECTS SUSPENDED FROM HANGERS

Abstract: A conveyor (1) consisting of a cross-sectionally U-shaped, elongate, stationary rail with the opening upwards and with a rod (5) reciprocable therein by an operating mechanism (9, 10), the upper edge (11) of said rod being lifted above the opening of the stationary rail (2) by movement in the forward direction and being lowered below said opening by movement in the rearward direction. Lifting and lowering are effected by means of U-shaped slide members (4) with inclined tracks (8) to cooperate with projections (6) on the sides of the rod (5). When the rod (5) is moved forwardly, its upper edge (11) rises above the upper edge (12) of the stationary rail (2) and lifts and therefore carries along the hangers in the forward direction. During the rearward movement, the upper edge (11) of the rod (5) is lowered below the upper edges (12) of the stationary rail (2), so that the hangers remain thereon and are not carried along in the rearward direction.

Description: A conveyor, in particular for objects suspended from hangers • The invention concerns a conveyor of the type defined in the introductory portion of claim 1. Such a conveyor is known from the US Patent Specification 2 057 367. The object of the invention is to provide such a conveyor which has a simple structure and is easy to erect. This object is achieved according to the invention in that the conveyor stated in the opening paragraph is cha¬ racterized by the subject-matter defined in the charac¬ terizing portion of claim 1. In use, the hangers are suspended from the conveyor so that the hook of the hanger is positioned around the upper edges of the U-shaped stationary means. When the rod-shaped member is moved forwardly, its upper edge rises above the upper edges of the stationary means and lifts and therefore carries the hangers along in the forward direc¬ tion. When the rod-shaped member is moved rearwardly, its lower edge is lowered below the lower edges of the stationary means so that the hanger remains thereon and is not carried along in the rearward direction. Conse¬ quently, the hangers are carried along at a speed which is essentially proportional to the frequency of the reci- procating movement and the stroke of this movement. The invention will be described more fully below with reference to the drawing, in which fig. 1 shows the conveyor of the invention, as seen from the side in section along the line 1-1 in fig. 2, fig. 2 is a cross-section along the line 2-2 in fig. 1, fig. 3a is a schematic and lateral view of a second embo¬ diment of the invention during a rearward movement of a rod-shaped member shown in the figure, fig. 3b shows the same as fig. 3a, seen from above, fig. 3c is a vertical cross-section of the rod-shaped member of figs. 3a and 3b with a wheel journalled in it, fig. 3d shows the same as fig. 3a, but during a forward movement of the rod-shaped member, fig. 4a is a schematic view of a third embodiment of the invention during a rearward movement of a rod-shaped mem¬ ber shown in the figure, fig. 4b" shows the same as fig. 4a, seen from above, fig. 4c shows the same as fig. 4a, but during a forward movement of the rod-shaped member, and fig. 4d is an enlarged view of the set of rollers of the embodiment shown in figs. 4a to 4c, with a shaft inter¬ connecting the rollers. One end of a conveyor 1 of the invention, very long in principle, is shown in fig. 1 of the drawing. The conveyor shown in the drawing consists of a stationary cross-sectionally. U-shaped rail 2, which is secured to a suspension device (not shown) e.g. by means of screws 3. Within the U-shaped rail 2 there is provided a plurality of longitudinally evenly spaced slide members 4, which preferably consists of plastics and which can be displaced in the longitudinal direction 2 when overcoming a certain friction. The slide members 4 are likewise U-shaped, as shown, and form a mount for a rod-shaped member or a rod 5 of flat iron or optionally plastics, which can easily slide in the slide members 4, and which has a length corresponding to that of the rail 2. The rod 5 has on both sides longitudinally evenly spaced projections 6 with rollers 7, which are journalled in longitudinal, inclined tracks 8 in the slide members 4. The rod 5 may be reciprocated with respect to the rail 2 by means of an operating mechanism, which is a crank 9 in the shown embodiipent, reciprocating, upon rotation in the direction of the arrow, a connecting rod 10 whieh is journalled at one end of the rod 5. Instead, the operating mechanism may be a hydraulic cy¬ linder or a pneumatic cylinder, and instead of engaging the rod 5 at one end thereof, it may engage the rod through a cut in the U-shaped rail 2. Another possibility is to replace the crank 9 by a closed chain path. The stroke of the reciprocating movement of the rod 5 is considerably longer than the inclined tracks 8 in the slide members 4. During the movement of the rod 5 to the. right in fig. 1, the rod is lifted so much by the engagement of the rollers 7 with the tracks 8 that the upper edge 11 of the rod 5 rises above the upper edges 12 of the rail 2. When, during this part of the movement, the rollers 7 reach the right-hand end of the tracks 8, the slide members 4 are carried along during the further movement of the . rod 5 to the right against the frictional force between the slide members 4 and the rail 2. When the rod 5 is then returned to the left in fig. 1, its upper edge 11 is first lowered below the upper edge 12 of the rail 2, with the rollers 7 reaching the left- hand end of the tracks 8. Then the movement of the rod 5 is continued to the left, while its upper edge 11 is still below the upper edges 12 of the rail 2. During this movement, the slide members 4 are. carried along to the left against the frictional force against the rail 2. Hangers for clothes or other objects hanging in over the upper side of the rail 2 will thus be moved from the left to the right. Several conveyors may be mounted side by side, so that large objects, such as boxes resting on the upper side of the conveyor, may likewise be carried along. It should also be mentioned that the transport movement does not have to be horizontal, since the rail 2 may form a certain angle with the horizontal. Further, the upper side 11 of the rod 5 may be rugged or serrated, so that a greater frictional force may be transferred to the hangers or other transported objects. On the other hand, the upper side 11 of the rod may be coated with or be formed from a material with a low co¬ efficient of friction, so that a large number of hangers or other objects can be accumulated against a stop with a minimum pressure of accumulation. Figs. 3a-3d show a second embodiment of the invention, and the stationary U-shaped rail is omitted from these figures for reasons of clarity. Fig. 3a shows a second embodiment of a slide member 40 whose underside 41 slides on the internal bottom (symbo- lized at 42) of the U-shaped stationary rail (not shown) during the shown rearward movement of a rod-shaped member 50. The rod-shaped member 50 is slidably mounted in the slide member 40 and has a wheel 51 accommodated therein, as appears in particular from fig. 3c, to cooperate with an inclined face 43 in the internal bottom of the slide member 40. The wheel 51 is journalled on a shaft 52 whose ends protruding beyond the rod-shaped member cooperate with stop ^ means 44 and 45 in the forwardly directed and rearwardly directed end of the slide member 40, respec¬ tively. The slide member 40 has two pairs of wheels 46a, 46b and 47a, 47b, respectively, journalled in the forwardly direct end, and only the pair of wheels 46a, 46b touch the bottom 42 when the slide member 40 is in the position shown in fig. 3a, in which the rod-shaped member 50 is moved rear¬ wardly, while its upper edge 53 is below the upper edges of the U-shaped stationary means (not shown) corresponding to the rail 2 in figs. 1 and 2. When the rod-shaped member 50, like the rod 5 in fig. 1, is moved to the right, it first slides or rolls with the wheel 51 on the inclined face 43 until the protruding shaft ends of the wheel abut the stop means 44. This po¬ sition appears from fig. 3d. During this movement the load impact from the rod-shaped member 50 and the load from clothes hangers or heavier goods supported by said member is moved together with the wheel 51 to the area between the pairs of wheels 46a, 46b, and 47a, 47b. The slide member 40 tilts so that it rolls on the mentioned pairs of wheels, thereby reducing the kinetic resistance between the slide member 40 and the bottom 42. At the same time, the rod-shaped member 50 has been lifted so much because of the movement of the wheel 51 up the in¬ clined face 43 in spite of the mentioned tilting that the upper edge extends above the edges of the stationary U-shaped means, and during the further movement of the rod-shaped member to the right (carrying along the slide member 40) the transported goods will also be moved to the right. Figs. 4a and 4e show a third embodiment of the invention. This embodiment is shown in a manner similar to the second embodiment, without indicating the stationary U-shaped means, but only its internal bottom 42. In this third embodiment, the slide members, a single one 400 being shown, are secured to the rod-shaped member 500, e.g. by rivets. The slide member 400 has a downwardly directed inclined face at both sides of the rod-shaped member 500, only one of these inclined faces 430 being visible in figs. 4a and 4c. Between each of these inclined faces and the internal bottom 42 in the stationary U-shaped means there is pro¬ vided a roller 460a and 460b, on which the slide member 400 rolls during its movement from the position in fig. 4a to the position in fig. 4c. The rollers 460a and 460b are interconnected by a shaft 470. The slide member 400 is formed with a depression 440 between the inclined faces on the two sides of the slide member 440, so that the shaft 470 does not touch the slide member 400 during the movement form the position in fig. 4a to the position in fig. 4c. During this movement, the slide member 400 is lifted with the rod-shaped member 500 as shown so that the upper edge 530 of the latter rises from below the upper edges of the stationary U-shaped means (not shown) up above these upper edges. During the continued movement of the rod-shaped member to the right, hangers or other material is therefore moved by the upper edge 530 to the right. At both end positions, shown in figs. 4a and 4c, the bottom of the depression 440 in the material of the slide members forms a slide bearing for the shaft 470, while the rollers 460a and 460b in these positions clear their respective inclined tracks. This third embodiment is characterized by being very simple to manufacture and by its ability to transport very heavy loads. The rollers 460a and 460b shown in fig. 4d and their con- necting shaft are preferably made in one piece of steel.

Claims: P a t e n t C l a i m s 1. A conveyor, in particular for objects suspended from hangers, e.g. clothes, said conveyor consisting of a cross- sectionally U-shaped stationary means with the opening facing upwardly and with a rod-shaped means reciprocable therein by an operating mechanism, the upper edge of said rod-shaped means being adapted to be lifted above the opening of the stationary means by coupling means upon movement in the forward direction and to be lowered below said opening upon movement in the rearward direction, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that the coupling means consist of U-shaped slide members, likewise having the opening upwards, which are slidable in the longitudinal direction of the stationary means upon overcoming fric- tional forces, said slide members accommodating the movable rod-shaped means and having tracks or faces inclined with respect to the direction of movement of the rod-shaped means to cooperate with projections or rollers, said tracks or inclined faces being shorter than the stroke of the rod-shaped means during its reciprocating movement. 2. A conveyor according to claim 1, c h a r a c t e r ¬ i z e d in that the rod-shaped member (5) is slidably journalled in each of said slide members (4) between ex¬ treme positions in which the projections (6, 7), which are secured to the rod-shaped member (5), abut one or the other end of the inclined tracks (8). 3. A conveyor according to claim 2, c h a r a c t e r ¬ i z e d in that the rod-shaped member (50) accommodates a wheel (51) to cooperate with an inclined face (43) in the internal bottom of the U-shaped slide member (40). 4. A conveyor according to claim 3, c h a r a c t e r - i z e d in that each slide member (40) has wheels (46a, 46b; 47a, 47b) at its front end in the forward direction to support the slide member (40) in the stationary means during the movement of the rod-shaped means (50) in its forward direction. 5. A conveyor according to claim 1, c h a r a c t e r ¬ i z e d in that each slide member (400) is secured to the rod-shaped member (500) and has at least one downward¬ ly directed inclined face (430), and that a roller support- ing the slide member is provided between said inclined face (430) and the internal bottom (42) of the stationary means. 6. A conveyor according to claim 5, c h a r a c t e r ¬ i z e d in that each slide means (400) has a downwardly directed inclined face at each side, that the rollers (460a and 460b) associated with each of said two inclined faces are interconnected by a shaft (470), and that bearing are formed between the inclined faces for said shaft (470) opposite the ends of the inclined faces.

Inventors: SOELUND JOERGEN, SOELUND, JOERGEN
Applicants: INT TRANSPORT SYST ITS, ITS-INTERN TRANSPORT SYSTEM A/S
Application year: 1986
Main classification: B65G25
IPC codes: B65G19, B65G25, B65G35