Apparatus for transporting articles

Abstract: Apparatus for transporting articles includes a closed track (1) comprising rectilinear track portions. Disposed in the track are series of carriers 2 movable along the track and arranged to carry the articles. Drive means 3 are provided which act on the respective rear one of a series of successive carriers, which contact each other in a non-resilient manner, for incrementally moving the carriers along the track. There is also provided a joining means (4) which acts on the carriers of a series to keep the carriers in closed-up formation as they are moved.

Description: This invention relates to an apparatus for transporting articles to perform a treatment thereon, comprising a closed track including rectilinear track portions containing carriers for carrying the articles, the bottom surface of the carriers bearing on guides in the track and the track including guides for guiding the carriers along the side edges thereof, and drive means arranged to act on the respective rearmost ones of a plurality of series of successive carriers in trailing side to leading side contact for sliding the carriers stepwise over the carrier track. Prior apparatus of this type is disclosed in British patent no. 1 490 878 which relates to a transport system for conveying workpieces on carriers moving over a rectangular track. Series of successive carriers are arranged in both the long and the short legs of the carrier track. These series are periodically moved forward over a given distance along the carrier track by drive means which push against the rearmost one of a series of carriers. When the carriers are stationary, the foremost one of a series is removed, which is effected by pushing such carrier to an adjacent different series. At the same time a carrier is added at the rear of the former series of carriers from a different series of carriers. Thereafter the entire series of carriers, now with a fresh rearmost and a fresh foremost carrier is again advanced by one increment. When the series is not moved, lateral brakes are applied to maintain the series stationary whereby the articles carried by the carriers can be subjected to a treatment by one or more stationary treating devices. At the final portion of a stroke, the movement of a series of carriers is cushioned by shock absorbers engaging the foremost carrier of a series shortly before it reaches the end of its rectilinear track. The carriers in a series, during their movement along the rectilinear track portions, are left free to exercise small displacements one relative to the other. Only at the very end of a stroke, when the series of carriers is clamped between the drive means acting on the rearmost carrier of the series and the shock absorber acting on the foremost carrier, such relative displacements between the individual carriers of a series are not possible, provided that the movement of the shock absorber is accurately controlled. This freedom of the carriers in a series to make small individual movements one vis-a-vis the other is very undesirable. One consequence of this mobility is that in intermediary positions between the beginning and end of a forward step and without the use of special provisions for this purpose the carriers are not accurately positioned with respect to the track. Hence working positions of the carriers where precise operations are to be performed on the articles carried by the carriers cannot be arranged at these intermediate positions. Furthermore, the relative displacements of the carriers are the cause of collisions resulting in increased wear and tear of the carriers and of the track. There is also an increased danger that irregularities in the operation of the apparatus may occur, in particular when the series is pushed up by the drive means and when the foremost carrier of a series thereof is pushed into an adjacent different track. Reference is also made to Dutch patent application nr.7811982 disclosing a transport system in which a series of carriers is moved in a circuit comprising a horizontal upper track in which articles carried by the carriers are subjected to a working operation. The empty carriers are returned over a horizontal lower track which is disposed underneath the upper track. At the end of the upper or lower track the carriers are lowered or raised to the other track by means of lifting devices. In the upper track the carriers are moved forward by and between pressure elements; in the lower track the carriers are not moved between pressure elements but are displaced by means of a flat hose extending along the track under the carriers and adapted to be gradually inflated so as to apply a forward driving force on the carriers. The leading and trailing sides of the carriers are provided with a deep central recess, so that two successive carriers engage one another only at their edges via buffers. These buffers are resiliently mounted in the carriers by means of a disc type spring. The carriers, at the positions at which operations are to be performed on the articles loaded thereon, are locked in a stationary position by clamps located at the working positions of the carriers and comprising centering means to firmly hold the carriers in stationary position. The series of carriers are adapted to support articles only on the upper track; the remaining portions of the circuit serve only to return the carriers to the beginning of the upper track. Also in this transport system the carriers in a series during their movement are exposed to relative displacements and do not maintain their exact relative positions with respect to one another. It is an object of the present invention to provide an improvement of the above prior apparatus in which no irregularities or deviations occur in the movements of the individual carriers of the series, either when they are advancing or are stationary. To this effect, the apparatus for transporting articles to perform a treatment thereon is characterized in that the apparatus comprises a plurality of counter-pressure means each of which during the advance of the successive series of carriers over their whole track of movement exerts a force opposite to the direction of movement on the foremost carrier of each of these series for keeping the carriers of this series in closed-up formation during this movement, the drive means and the counter-pressure means defining the exact position of the carriers for the treatment of the articles carried thereon. Naturally, the force to be exerted on the series of carriers by the counter-pressure means should be less than the pushing force from the drive means on the series of carriers, so that the balance is a positive pushing force which advances the series. The counter-pressure can be obtained in various ways, for example, by electromagnetic, hydraulic or pneumatic means, possibly in association with mechanical means. Alternatively, the counter-pressure means may be a purely mechanical structure, for example, incorporating a lever system and/or spring means. A preferred system is one in which the counter-pressure means includes a stop to be pushed against the foremost carrier and which is arranged to reciprocate in the direction of movement of the series of carriers. The stop may for example be connected to a plunger rod reciprocating in a hydraulically or pneumatically operated cylinder. In this arrangement, the cylinder may be arranged so that, before the series of carriers is moved, the stop is moved in the direction of the foremost carrier by supplying a pressure fluid to the cylinder until the stop comes to rest against the carrier. When the series of carriers is now pushed on by the drive means, the stop will be pushed back also. During this push-back movement, the stop can exert counter-pressure by virtue of the resistance which the plunger rod connected to the stop experiences during the back stroke in the cylinder. This resistance is, for example, the result of pressure fluid flowing away from the cylinder to a discharge line. In the discharge line, means may be incorporated to increase or control the magnitude of the flow resistance in the line, such as a throttle plate, which may or may not be replaceable, and/or a pressure regulator. A simple and hence preferred form of the counter-pressure means is that in which both this means and the drive means comprise hydraulic cylinders with plungers, and these cylinders are all operated with an hydraulic fluid of equal pressure, but in which the diameter of the plunger of the counter-pressure means is less than that of the drive means. It is thus achieved that the counter-force exerted on the series by the counter-pressure means automatically has a lower value than the push-on force exerted on the series by the drive means. A further advantage of the invention is that shorter times of movement of the series of carriers are possible. In the prior apparatus, shorter times of movement, and hence higher velocities, result in increased forces of acceleration on the carriers as they are pushed on, as a consequence of which the displacements of the individual carriers may be going to deviate from each other to a greater extent. Owing to the use of drive means which always keep the carriers together and as a consequence of which the carriers are all displaced in exactly the same degree as they are pushed on, this drawback does not occur in the apparatus according to the present invention. Generally speaking, a series of carriers is incrementally pushed on a distance substantially equal to one or more times the dimension of one carrier (as viewed in the direction of advance) until the series of carriers strikes a fixed stop in the carrier track. In the prior apparatus, the displacement of each individual carrier in the moving series is not controlled. In the apparatus with counter-pressure means according to the present invention, the movement of the series of carriers takes place in a fully controlled manner between a drive means and a counter-pressure means. This makes it possible for the movement of the series of carriers to be interrupted in an orderly manner at any given place of the path ultimately to be traversed by the series, for example, after covering a distance equal to half the length of a carrier for causing the articles carried along by the carriers to be subjected to a treatment at these locations. In other words, a treatment of the articles is not only possible at the beginning or end of the total path to be traversed by the (unchanged) series, but also at any desired intermediate location and even during the movement without changing the relative positions of the carriers. The invention will be described in more detail hereinafter, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying diagrammatic drawings. In said drawings: Fig. 1 shows in top plan view an apparatus according to the invention in which the joining means take the form of counter-pressure means; and Figs. 2a-h show the apparatus of Fig. 1 in top plan view during successive stages during use. Fig. 1 shows a rectangular carrier track 1 with two long rectilinear track portions 1a and two short track portions 1b. Contained in the track are identical carriers 2, movable along the track, for carrying one or more articles. In the example, the carriers 2 take the form of square flat tiles, in a total of twelve. The bottom surface of the carriers bears on guides in the carrier track, and the track includes guides for guiding the carriers along the side edges thereof. The carrier track is formed as a matrix system, that is to say, that both the long and the short track portions have a length amounting to a whole number of times the lengths of the carrier in the respective track portion. In Fig. 1, the length of the long track portions 1a equals six times the carrier length; the length of the short track portions 1b is thrice the carrier length. It will be noticed that the carrier track has two open or vacant places where there are no carriers. The position of the open places in the carrier track changes continually, however, as will become apparent later. The apparatus further comprises four drive means 3a-d, each disposed in the vicinity of a corner of the track. Opposite each drive means is a counter-pressure means 4a-d. The means 3 and 4 are all formed identically as hydraulic cylinders, with a thin plunger rod 6 being arranged to reciprocate in cylinder 5. Plunger rod 6 includes at the end projecting from the cylinder a stop 8. In the retracted position of the plunger rod, stop 8 is received in a lateral recess of the carrier track, so that the carriers can pass the stop without hindrance. The cylinders are connected to conduits for the supply and discharge of fluid to and from the cylinders. The drive means are all operated at the same fluid pressure; the counter-pressure means 4 are also operated with mutually equal fluid pressure, which however is lower than that of the drive means. The result is that the counter-force to be exerted by the counter-pressure means 4 is less than the driving force from the drive means 3. An alternative is for the counter-pressure means to be formed with plungers having a smaller diameter than that of the drive means. In this case, all cylinders may be operated with the same hydraulic pressure, while yet the counter-pressure force will be less than the driving force. Along the carrier track, one or more treating devices (not shown) are disposed for subjecting the articles carried along by the carrier to a treatment as they are stationary or during their advance along the track. In the latter case, it may be of particular importance that the carriers remain joined together, if the articles on some of the moving carriers are treated from one or more treating devices at the same time. The operation of the apparatus will be further elucidated with reference to Fig. 2. Fig. 2a shows a position of the carriers in which the open or vacant places in the carrier track are in the right-hand top corner and in the left-hand bottom corner. All of the eight plunger rods of both the drive means 3 and the counter-pressure means 4 are in the retracted position. The plunger rods of the counter-pressure means 4a and 4c are now protracted simultaneously, whereby the stops come to rest against the foremost one of the shorter series of carriers contained in the short track portions (Fig.2b). Subsequently, the drive means 3a and 3c are activated, for the short series to be simultaneously moved along the short track lengths (Fig. 2c). Owing to this movement, the plunger rods of the counter-pressure means 4a and 4c are pushed back, while the stops of these rods continue to be in contact with the carriers. The moving force acting on the carriers equals the pushing force exerted on them by the drive means, less the counter-pressure force exerted by the counter-pressure means. The sliding movement of the short series of carriers continues until the end of the short track portions is reached, whereafter the plunger rods of the drive means 3a and 3c are again retracted (Fig. 2d). In this situation, the foremost carrier of each short series can now be regarded as the rearmost one of a long series of carriers located in the long track portion. Fig. 2e shows that, subsequently, the plunger rods of the counter-pressure means 4d and 4b are projected. By activation of the drive means 3b and 3d, the long series of carriers are now simultaneously moved in a manner similar to that described above with regard to the short series (Fig.2f). When the long series have reached the end of the long track portions, the situation is as shown in Fig. 2g. Finally, the plunger rods of the drive means 3b and 3d are retracted (Fig. 2h) to create the same situation as shown in Fig. 2a at the beginning of the cycle, which can now be repeated.

Claims: Apparatus for transporting articles to perform a treatment thereon, comprising a closed track (1) including rectilinear track portions (1a;1b) containing carriers (2) for carrying the articles, the bottom surface of the carriers bearing on guides in the track and the track including guides for guiding the carriers along the side edges thereof, and drive means (3a;3b;3c;3d) arranged to act on the respective rearmost ones of a plurality of series of successive carriers in trailing side to leading side contact for sliding the carriers stepwise over the carrier track, characterized in that the apparatus comprises a plurality of counter-pressure means (4) each of which during the advance of the successive series of carriers over their whole track of movement exerts a force opposite to the direction of movement on the foremost carrier of each of these series for keeping the carriers of this series in closed-up formation during this movement, the drive means and the counter-pressure means defining the exact position of the carriers for the treatment of the articles carried thereon. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1, in which each drive means (3) includes a plunger rod (6) connected to a plunger (7) in a fluid-pressure operated cylinder (5), characterized in that the counter-pressure means (4) include a reciprocating stop (8) connected to a plunger rod (6) which is connected to a plunger (7) in a fluid-pressure operated cylinder (5), the diameter of the plunger of the counter-pressure means being smaller than the diameter of the plunger of the drive means.

Inventors: AARTS MATHIAS LEONARDUS CORNEL, AARTS, MATHIAS LEONARDUS CORNELIS
Applicants: PRODUCT SUPPLIERS AG
Application year: 1989
Main classification: B65G35
IPC codes: B65G47, B65G35, B23Q7