CONVEYOR ROLLER OR WHEEL REVOLVING IN ALL DIRECTIONS

Abstract: Conveyor roller which is capable of revolving in many directions. As one of its embodiments, the roller may also be used as a wheel revolving in many directions. The roller consists of a unilaterally triangular frame (3) in whose middle a bearing (1) is fitted for the main shaft of the roller. The shaft (4) of rotation of a roller disc (5) shaped as a segment of a sphere is placed as projecting perpendicularly from the middle of each side of the triangular frame. The sphere-segment disc has a corresponding, inwardly directed shaft bushing (6). The disc shaft and the shaft bushing in the disc are arranged so that they are locked together by means of a reversible deformation of the material of the bushing and/or of the shaft when the discs are pressed onto their shafts. In view of obtaining additional support for the discs, their peripheral areas may also be journalled (8, 9) against the side (3) of the triangular support. In the summit of the sphere segment (5), there may be an additional bearing (10).

Description: Conveyor roller or wheel revolving in all directions The subject of the present invention is a roller used in conveyor lines or correspondingly, as a second variation, a corresponding construction used as a wheel. When such rollers are used in conveyor lines, the conveyor plane of the line is composed of a number of rollers which are mounted on shafts placed trans¬ versely to the line and spaced appropriately in the direction of transportation of the line. Several rollers are mounted side by side on the same shaft, depending on the requirements in each particular case. The rollers may be freely revolving on the shaft, or alternatively they may be mounted on the shaft so that they follow the rotation of the shaft. The latter mode of instal¬ lation is concerned in particular when the shafts are driven shafts. This mode of installation is also possible in the case of rollers provided with braking. It is a feature common of all the rollers used for this purpose that, besides revolving around or along with the main shaft or support shaft, they are also pro¬ vided with the property of acting as roller supports in the direction transverse to the conveyor line. Under these circumstances, for example, by. means of rollers mounted as freely revolving on their main shafts, it is possible to obtain, in principle, free directions of movement in all directions by means of combinations of these two directions of rotation. Correspondingly, rollers revolving along with a driven shaft produce, by means of their forced rotation, the intended movement in the main direction of transportation, but they also permit transverse shiftings of the goods placed on the conveyor line by the effect of external forces. In a corresponding way, this roller construction can be applied as a wheel for various trolleys, carriages and equivalent from which a possibility of substantially free movement in any optional direction is required. The rollers used for the said purpose are in principle known in prior art, and they are used as many different embodiments. One roller of this type, which is of a simple construction and which permits paths of movement in different directions very easily and, on the other hand, gives good support, is described in the US Patent No. 4,018,322. The roller concerned consists of a frame con¬ struction having the shape of an equilateral triangle in the plane perpendicular to its main shaft and being mounted at the middle of the triangle on the support or main shaft. At the middle of each side of the triangle, a shaft projecting perpendicularly to the main shaft is provided for discs shaped as segments of a sphere, which said discs permit transverse movements on the conveyor line. The shape of each segment of a sphere corresponds to the shape of the overall diameter of the roller. How¬ ever, it is a drawback of this prior-art construction that each sphere-segment disc is attached to its shaft by means of a bolt passing _ through the summit of the segment of a sphere. In such a case, according to the prior-art construction, a recess remains at the point of passage of the bolt, which cuts the summit area of the segment of a sphere so that it diverges from a spherical face. When such a construction is used as a roller in a conveyor line, the roller loses its carrying capacity within this area of the segment of a sphere in the situation in which the segment of a sphere reaches the summit point in the movement of .rotation of the roller. This fact causes that the rollers must be placed on the conveyor line as more densely spaced than would be neces¬ sary otherwise. Moreover, it has been noticed that this construction involves the drawback that, when goods with a solid bottom travel on the line in a direction even just slightly diverging from the direction perpendicular to the main shaft of the roller and when the goods enter onto a roll at a time when the incomplete area of the segment of a sphere is near the summit point of its revolving taking place around the main shaft, the goods become supported by the cut edge of the segment in a labile situation, which results in a rotation of the segment around its own shaft into a stable situation. This unavoidably results in a shifting of the goods in the transverse direction of the line, and thereby the goods have a zig-zag path of movement on the line. In connection with this prior-art construction, it is also fully possible that, in a corresponding situation, the roll remains in such a position that the cut-off top of the segment is in the topmost position, in which case, when goods with a solid bottom are carried, the roller is out of operation as the goods travel over it without reaching contact with the roller. If such a prior-art construction were applied to a wheel purpose, it would be unsuitable for the purpose, because the construction does not provide a solid circular support face required from a wheel. In order to eliminate the problems related to the use of the prior-art construction, the said con¬ struction has been developed further in accordance with the present invention, above all as regards the fixing of the sphere-segment discs onto their shafts. The charac¬ teristic features of the solution in accordance with the invention come out from the accompanying claim 1. The invention will be described in more detail with the aid of the accompanying drawing, wherein Figure 1 shows a roller in accordance with the invention as viewed in the direction of its main shaft, partly in section. Figure 2 shows the roller of Fig. 1 as viewed in a direction perpendicular. " to the main shaft, like- wise partly in section. Figure 3 shows the roller of Fig. 1 as viewed from the top of the sphere-segment disc, and Figure 4 is a sectional view of a variation of a sphere-segment disc. In a way known in prior art, the roller or wheel in accordance with the invention consists, in a section perpendicular to the main shaft, of a frame construction shaped as an equilateral triangle, which is provided with a centre piece 1 for mounting on the main shaft as well as, mounted on the centre piece by means of suitable supports 2, with sphere-segment disc supports 3, whose ends are interconnected so that they form the said equi¬ lateral triangle. At the middle of each sphere-segment disc support, the shaft 4 of the segment is placed, which projects perpendicularly both to its support and to the main shaft. In a suitable location on this shaft, pre- ferably close to its root, an annular bulge 4', which may be called lap, preferably passing around the shaft, is provided, which forms a part of the locking members of the sphere-segment disc on the shaft. Each segment 5 is provided with an inwardly directed shaft bushing 6 corresponding to the dimensions of the shaft 4, into which said bushing a groove 6* cor¬ responding to the lap 4* has been made. The projection of the annular lap 4" from the shaft 4 is dimensioned so that the mouth of the shaft bushing 6 in the segment 5 can be forced, while making use of a deformation of the bushing, over the lap far enough so that the lap 4* can penetrate into the corresponding groove 6' in the bushing. An inverse fitting, i.e. fitting the shaft bushing 6 into the shaft 4, is also possible here. In order to make the sphere segment readily revolving, a bearing is placed on the frame 3 below the edge portion of the segment. For this purpose, the seg¬ ment is provided with an annular, inwardly projecting support 8, and the frame 3 is provided with a correspond- ing bearing race .9. Between these, it is possible to fit either a ball bearing in accordance with Figs. 1 and 2, or, alternatively, some other roller bearing or glide bearing. It is, of course, fully within the scope of the invention if the journalling is provided alternatively between the shaft 4 and the shaft bushing 6, but the solution illustrated in the figures gives the segment a substantially better support against loads coming from different directions. Combinations of these two bearing systems may also be concerned in cases subjected to high loads. Especially in the case of journalling between the shaft 4 and the shaft bushing 6, it is possible to con- ceive a substitution of a bearing groove for the locking member 4', in which case the bearing balls can be placed in grooves 4* and 6' so as to provide journalling and locking. If the journalling is accomplished as a glide bearing, in its planning consideration should be given to a supporting corresponding to the support provided by the bearing races shown in the figures. In such a case, e.g., the support 8 can be arranged as running in an annular glide groove. In some particular cases, in the realization of such a glide bearing, it may be possible to make use of a locking solution similar to that pro¬ vided between the shaf 4 and the shaft bushing 6, in order to obtain additional strength. The basic construction of a roller or wheel in accordance with the present invention makes it possible to allow the whole summit area of the sphere-segment disc to remain intact. Moreover, the construction permits modifications in respect of the formation of the summit of the segment, one of the said modifications being shown in Figures 1 and 2. According to this embodiment, a separate ball 10 is placed in the summit of the segment, which said ball permits, e.g., easy shifting of goods placed on the conveyor line in the direction of the main shaft also when the goods are supported by the summit of the segment. The ball 10 may be mounted either in the way shown in the figures, being journalled on a shaft transverse to the main shaft, or alternatively it may be buried in a socket of rotation of its own. In the latter case the roll is freely revolving in all directions. In this latter case, the ball is preferably arranged so that it is locked in its socket of rotation at the same time as the sphere segment is pressed onto its shaft. A solution with a fully intact summit of the segment, which is shown in Fig. 4, is advisable in par¬ ticular in a wheel application of the invention. This construction with an intact summit can also be applied to rollers for conveyor lines. It is in particular in a wheel application that the construction in accordance with the present invention is highly advantageous in the respect that the ease of rotation of the wheel in differ¬ ent directions can be proportioned in the desired way so as to achieve certain objectives. If the wheel is used, e.g., as a trolley wheel, as a rule it would be desirable that the wheel has a certain main direction of rotation in which it revolves as easily as possible. In addition to this, the wheel must also revolve in a maximum range of directions diverging from this main direction of rotation, but not equally easily as in the main direction of rotation. By means of this different ease of rotation in different directions an excellent possibility is obtained for controlling the trolley. The wheel is mounted so that the -easiest direction of rotation complies with the intended main transportation direction, whereby, e.g., when the trolley is being pushed, it has a tendency to move primarily in this direction. Intentional shiftings in the transverse direction are, however, also possible. The said possibility of adjusting the ease of movement in different directions is not available in a conventional wheel used for this purpose, wherein a wheel mounted as revolving around a horizontal shaft is additionally arranged turnable around a vertical shaft. This roller that has different ease of rotation in different directions has also its possible applications in embodiments of roller conveyor lines. The main direction, which is the direction of easiest rotation, can be the main direction of transportation of the goods, whereby, e.g., less agile journalling of the segments of a sphere prevents unintentional lateral shifting of the goods on the line, but intentional lateral shiftings of the goods are, however, possible. The roller or wheel in accordance with the invention can be mounted on its main shaft by using the conventional modes, either as freely revolving on the shaft or as revolving along with the shaft. The journal¬ ling of a freely revolving shaft may be a roller bearing or a glide bearing.

Claims: WHAT IS CLAIMED IS: 1. Conveyor roller or wheel revolving in all directions, which said roller or wheel is mounted on a substantially horizontal main shaft and which con¬ sists of a frame construction which is shaped substan¬ tially as an equilateral triangle in a section perpendi¬ cular to the said shaft and which said frame construction is mounted as freely revolving on the said shaft or mounted on the shaft as revolving along with the shaft, as well as of segments of a sphere (5) substantially following the overall diameter of the roller or wheel, which are journalled as revolving around an auxiliary shaft (4) perpendicular to the said main shaft and placed at the middle of each side (3) of the said triangle, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that each segment (5) is arranged so that it becomes locked on its shaft (4) by means of a momentary, reversible deformation of parts (6) of the segment of a sphere or of parts of the shaft (4) , respectively, when the segment of a sphere is pressed into its position in the direction of its shaft. 2. Roller as claimed in claim 1, c h r ¬ a c t e r i z e d in that each segment of a sphere (5) is provided with a substantially freely revolving ball bearing fitted in the summit area of the segment. 3. Roller as claimed in claim 1, c h a r ¬ a c t e r i z e d in that each segment of a sphere (5) is provided with a ball bearing (10) fitted in the summit area of the segment of a sphere and arranged as revolving around a shaft perpendicular to the main shaft of the roller. 4. Roller or wheel as claimed in claim 1 , c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that the summit area of the segment of a sphere (5) is closed. 5. Roller or wheel as claimed in any of the preceding claims 1 to 4, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that each segment of a sphere (5) is provided with a bearing (8, 9) placed at the proximity of its peripheral area and resting against the frame construction (3) . 6. Roller or wheel as claimed in any of the preceding claims 1 , 4 or 5 and mounted as freely revolving on its main shaft, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that the revolving of the roller or wheel around its main shaft has been made easier than the revolving of the segments of a sphere around their shafts.

Inventors: KOIVUSILTA RAIMO, KOIVUSILTA, RAIMO
Applicants: KOIVUSILTA RAIMO, KOIVUSILTA, RAIMO
Application year: 1987
Main classification: B65G39
IPC codes: B65G39