Suspension rail

Abstract: A suspension rail comprises a rail body (18) having slide track means (22,24) extending lengthwise of the rail, said slide track means (22,24) being adapted to slidably support hangers thereon. The general novelty is that the slide track means comprises two parallel tracks (22,24) of low friction plastics held in or by the rail body (18) and spaced by the rail body (18), so that a hanger (38) suspended on the rail contacts the rail only at the two tracks (22,24). Particular features are that the body (18) is a one piece extrusion of aluminium, and there are two rods (22,24) which form the tracks, these rods (22,24) being in grooves (18A,18B) in the body (18). The rods are firmly fixed by crimping part of the body (18) after the rods have been inserted in the grooves (18A,18B). Rods (22,24) of right angled triangular cross section are preferred as they can be inserted and clamped easier and held more securely than circular rods, and made to project further from the body than circular rods. The invention also provides an advantageous means (110) of providing jumpers for accommodating rod expansion joints and rail system switches.

Description: This invention relates to a suspension rail for the carrying of hangers, especially, although not exclusively, garment hangers. In garment manufacturing factories, in garment marshalling sheds, and garment carrying vehicles, and some other locations, rail systems are used for the suspension and conveying of garments and garment parts in large numbers. These systems use suspension rails which may be used in conjunction with drive arrangements so that the garments can be power driven from location to location. Additionally or alternatively, the systems may have rails from which the garments are suspended on their hangers for movement by manual force. In any event, the garments are suspended by their hangers in such a manner as to friction engage the rail in that the hook of the hanger drapes over the rail and depending upon the weight of the hanger and its supported garment, so the hanger will engage the rail with a certain force. To move the hanger and its garment along the rail, a certain effort is needed to overcome the friction between the rail and the hanger, and when it is noted that as many as 1000 hangers and their garments may have to be moved at any one time, considerable effort is needed to move the garments, and accordingly it is desired that the co efficient of friction, static and dynamic, between the hangers and rail, should be as small as possible. Heretofore, not much attention has been paid to the construction of the rail, as regards minimising friction, as it is most common for the systems to be power driven, and the rail simply has been made as robustly and cheaply as possible. Consequently, the rails of existing rail systems have tended to be of steel, with the hanger loop running directly on a track of steel. To keep the system running efficiently, the steel rails have to be lubricated from time to time, and the tracks are prone to rusting. Secondarily, when it has to be scrapped, the steel rail does not have a good residual value. A prior art suspension rail disclosed in International Patent Application No. WO 00/39007. The rail disclosed in that Application comprises a rail body which has spaced parallel plastic rods defining the sliding surfaces for the hangers. The Application is not concerned with reducing friction between the hanger and rail, but rather is concerned with providing a station at which the hangers can be turned through a right angle so as better to present a bar code carried by the hanger, to a bar code reader. The rods which are used for the sliding surfaces, and circular. With the construction described, improved sliding will be obtained, but the construction is limited in that bending of the rail to cause the hangers to travel from a higher level or to a lower level, will result in the rods springing out of the rail. The present invention seeks to provide a suspension rail exhibiting not only good friction characteristics and also slide rod retention qualities, and which, in the preferred form makes use of aluminium in place of steel, giving the rail a better residual value than steel. It is also to be mentioned that some steel constructions may be used, and indeed steel and aluminium combinations can also be used. According to the invention there is provided a suspension rail comprising a rail body having slide track means extending lengthwise of the rail, said slide track means being adapted to slidably support hangers thereon, and wherein the slide track means comprises two parallel, spaced rods of low friction plastics held in or by the rail body in grooves, so that a hanger suspended on the rail contacts the rail only at the two rods characterised in that the rods, initially held in the grooves in the body in a somewhat loose fashion, are anchored in the grooves by deforming the material forming the sides of the grooves onto the rods. The use of low friction plastics rods means that lubrication will not be required, overcoming the disadvantage of the known steel rails. However, it is desired that the plastics material should be of high wear resistance, so that replacement is not required too frequently, if at all. It has been found that the plastic material sold by Du Pont under the name Delrin (registered trade mark) is particularly suitable in that it has the following characteristics Dynamic coefficient of friction Delrin against steel 0.27 (see note) Delrin against Delrin 0.38 Note. The tested steel was 100 Cr6 steel, hardness HRB:93 surface roughness Ra 0.10 micron. The tests were conducted at speed 0.5 m/s and at a load of 10N Specific Wear Tests. Specific Wear Tests. Delrin against steel 12x10-6 nm3/Nm Delrin against Delrin 11.50x10-6 nm3/Nm The steel type was as above. Speed 0.084 m/s; pressure 0.624 MPs The reason for testing Delrin against steel and against itself is that the hangers typically will be of steel or plastics material. The above figures illustrate a material which is excellent for this invention, but it is to be mentioned that the invention is not to be considered as limited to this material. By virtue of using two discrete tracks, these tracks can be of a small size and of simple cross section, including circular or approximating to circular, but other shapes, such as triangular, as referred to herein are particularly effective in having particular advantage. Indeed, tracks of or approximating triangular shape are particularly preferred, in that a corner of a triangular shape can project beyond the rail body further than say circular tracks, and the wide base part can be effectively locked in grooves in the rail body. The provision of two separate and small sized rods is of importance in that it has been found that the above plastic which I have been able to identify as being particularly suitable for the purpose is very expensive, and part of this invention is to achieve low friction/low wear suspension, but to keep the cost of the rail to a competitive level. Typically, although not limiting, the rods of plastic will be of the order of 5/6 mm in diameter or maximum dimension. The rail body may be specially configured to enable the deforming to be done in a simple manner. The configuring may be done by design of the extrusion shape, when the body, as is preferred, is a one-piece extrusion. In a preferred arrangement, the rail body is entirely or mostly of aluminium extrusion or steel, and it may be in one or more parts. The use of aluminium provides the advantage mentioned above that the residual value of the rail is greater than steel in that aluminium can be more readily re-processed. The rods may be placed in grooves by being sprung or slid into the grooves. The rails used in any one factory or storage or marshalling shed, may run to many hundreds of metres, and so although long lengths of rod may be used, there will inevitably be joints or junctions (for example at switch points as explained herein) in the rods of the respective tracks. Where there are joints, in one arrangement, the joints of one of the tracks are staggered longitudinally of the joints in the other track. According to a preferred form of the invention however, the suspension rail comprises a joint or junction, preferably enabling the plastic rods to expand with temperature increase, and at such joint or junction, the ends of rod sections are covered by a jumper rail section which overlies rod ends, providing a ramp over which the hangers travel as they are moved along the rail and over the joint or junction. Preferably, when the jumper rail section is at a joint, the aligned ends of the rod sections in the respective grooves are spaced to allow for thermal expansion, and the jumper rail section has tongues which are engaged in the body grooves between the aligned ends of the rod sections, which are spaced sufficient to accommodate the expansion and the tongues. At junctions, for example at switch locations, rail sections may be coupled by connecting blocks, and each connecting block may have an integral ramp for the purposes aforesaid. At a switch section, a switch length of rail may be pivoted to a first main length of rail, so as to be selectively aligned, manually or automatically, with either of at least two further main lengths of rail, whereby the hangers can travel from the first length of rail to the second or third length of rail and vice versa. An embodiment of the invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying diagrammatic drawings, wherein;- Fig. 1 is a sectional view of part of a suspension rail installation, including a rail according to the embodiment of the invention; Fig. 2 is an enlarged detail view showing how the rods are held in the body in rail of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a perspective view of a section of the suspension rail showing the use of jumper rail sections at rod joints; Fig. 4 is a side elevation of the arrangement of Fig. 1; Fig. 5 is a sectional view taken on the line X-X of Fig. 4; Fig. 6 is a perspective view of a switch arrangement; and Fig 7 is a perspective view showing how the various rail sections of the switch of Fig. 6 are connected by specially adapted connector blocks, according to the invention. Figs. 1 to 7 show a preferred embodiment of the invention. Referring to Fig. 1, a rail body 18 according to the invention is suspended by a plurality of hanger brackets 10, of one piece aluminium extrusion. The hanger brackets are each of a simple C shape, and the lower end of the C has a cross piece 10A which is received in the base of the body 18. The body is also a one piece aluminium extrusion, and is of rectangular cross section. On the top the body 18 has two half dove tail grooves 18A and 18B defining between them a dove tail rib 18C. In the rib 18C is a slot 100 so that between the base of the slot 100 and the respective half dove tail grooves 18A and 18B, are narrow neck portions 102 (see Fig. 2). The rods 22 and 24 are of hollow, right angled, triangular form shown in Figs. 1 and 2 (but the may be rigid), and are received initially loosely in the grooves 18A and 18B. To fix the rods 22 and 24 in the grooves 18A and 18B, the rib 18C is deformed for example by crimping as indicated by arrow 104 in Fig. 2 so the rib bends at the neck portions 102 as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2 to clamp the rods 22 and 24 in the grooves 18A and 18B. Of particular advantage is the making of the rods 22 and 24 of the triangular form as the top of the triangular rod can be made to project further above the body 18 than for example circular rods. For the rods, other cross sectional shapes wherein there is a narrow projecting edge and a broad base can be used with equal effect. Fig. 1 shows how the hanger 38 seats on the rods 22 and 24 during use. As the rail will be relatively long in the majority of cases, there will be joints in the rods. Also, there will be "switches" in the rods to enable the hangers to be directed along different paths. In any event, joints may desirable in order to take account of thermal expansion of the rods 22 and 24. Figs. 3 to 5 show a preferred means of dealing with such joints. Referring to Figs. 3 to 5, at each joint, the rods 22 and 24 are in two sections 22A;22B and 24A;24B. These sections of each rod are aligned in that they are in the same grooves, but the respective adjacent ends 106 and 108 of the sections 22A and 22B (similarly for rod 24) are spaced at least by sufficient to allow for the maximum linear thermal expansion of the rods expected in use. In this case, the said spacing Z is sufficient to allow for the said thermal expansion and to accommodate a tongue 112 portion of a jumper rail section 110, in that said tongue 112 is received in the groove 18A to hold it in position (as shown in Fig. 13). The jumper rail section 110, in the same plastic as the rods 22 and 24, has a thin top section 114 and ramp sections 114A of the configuration shown. The ramp sections 114A taper downwards and narrow in width so as to incline at their free extremities between and under the tops of the rods 22A;24A and 22B;24A so that at the joint hangers can slide over the section 110. The jumper rail section is of sufficient length to cover the ends of sections 22A and 22B at all times and has the sloped portions 114A at the ends to ensure that hangers can be slid smoothly over the jumper section 110 from either direction. The jumper section is symmetrical and so has two tongues 112 engaging respectively in the grooves 18A and 18B. The operation is self-explanatory in that as each hanger 38 arrives at the joint, it will slide up the sloped section of the jumper section 110, over the section 114 and back onto the rods 22 and 24 at the other side of the joint. Figs. 6 and 7 show the arrangement adopted at a switch connection. In Fig. 6, the switch is defined by a first main length of rail 18A, a length of connector rail 200, and second and third main lengths of rail 18B, 18C. All of these rail sections are of the same cross section and construction as the rail 18 illustrated in and described with reference to Fig. 1. The main rail lengths 18A, 18B and 18C are fixed in position, and 18B and 18C lie at an angle to each other as shown, and the idea of the switch is that the connector rail, which is connected to the main length 18A can be pivoted, in this case manually, so as to align with and be connected to either rail 18B or 18C, depending upon the direction in which the garments are to be sent, or the direction from which they arrive. Fig. 7 shows in more detail how the connector rail 200 is connected to the first rail 18A. The connection is made by two complimentary blocks 202 and 204, each being of plastics material. The blocks 202 and 204 are pivotally interconnected at a pivot axis 206 defined by a plastic pin (not shown) recessed in the blocks so as not to obstruct the passage of the hangers over the blocks. The first block 202 has a lower step 208 at its front end and at its rear end it has plugs (not shown) by which the block is interference push fitted into the channels/grooves in the rail 18A. At the top, the block 202 has a jumper section 210, similar to one half of the jumper section 110 shown in Fig. 3, which is constructed similar to, and functions in the same manner as, the jumper section 110. The block 202 is of the same outer shape as the rail 18A, so that hangers travelling towards and over the block will ride up the jumper section 210 and over the block 202 and onto the block 204. The ends 106, 108 of the rods (see Fig. 3) are spaced from the blocks sufficiently to allow for the thermal expansion referred to herein. Block 204 is of similar but complimentary construction, in that it has an overhang 212 overlying the step 208, and the overhang 212 and the step 208 are curved at their extremities to fit neatly to corresponding curved walls of the other blocks. As the blocks are pivoted to different positions therefore, no gaps in which the hangers could snag are created. The block 204 fits into the connector rail 200 in the same manner as block 202 fits in rail 18A, and again block 204 is provided with a jumper section 214, similar in construction and use as jumper section 210. To enable the hangers to pass smoothly over the blocks 202 and 204, the top edges of the blocks may be chamfered or rounded. In Fig. 6, the connector rail 200 is shown as being connected to rail 18B. At this connection, similar complimentary connector blocks are used, the only difference being that the connection at the pivot axis is such that the end of the connector rail 200 adjacent rail 18B can be raised clear of the connector block in rail 18B, and the connector rail can then be swung to the dotted line position in alignment with rail 18C, and the connector block on rail 200 can be connected to the connector block on rail 18C. Regardless of whether the connector rail 200 is connected to rail 18B or 18C, the hangers can still pass over the connection in the same fashion as they pass over the connection shown in Fig. 7. In the embodiment of the invention, the two tracks 22, 24 of low friction, low wear plastics material serve as the contact surfaces for the hangers, so as to provide low friction contact, which does not require lubrication and is much more efficient than the existing steel rails. Preferably aluminium is used for the components of the rail as far as possible. Specific advantage of the invention results however in using specially shaped plastic tracks of the type having a narrow top portion and a wide base portion, and these can be more easily gripped as explained herein. The invention furthermore provides added advantage in that jumper sections which overlie the tracks and extend from a position between and/or below the tracks lead the hangers up a ramp to pass smoothly over a joint and/or switch connection. Rails constructed according to the invention can be used as direct replacements for conventional steel rails and in all instances where the conventional steel rails are used.

Claims: A suspension rail comprising a rail body (18) having slide track means (22,24) extending lengthwise of the rail, said slide track means (22,24) being adapted to slidably support hangers thereon, and wherein the slide track means comprises two parallel, spaced rods (22,24) of low friction plastics held in or by the rail body (18) in grooves (18A,18B), so that a hanger (38) suspended on the rail contacts the rail only at the two rods (22,24) characterised in that the rods, initially held in the grooves (18A,18B) in the body in a somewhat loose fashion, are anchored in the grooves by deforming the material forming the sides of the grooves (18A,18B) onto the rods (22,24). A suspension rail according to claim 1, wherein the rods (22, 24) are of, or approximating, a shape having a narrow top and a wide base, such as a triangular shape, in cross section. A suspension rail according to claim 2, wherein the rods (22,24) are hollow. A suspension rail according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the rods (22,24) are of right angled triangular shape in cross section. A suspension rail according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the rods are of the order of 5/6 mm in diameter or maximum dimension. A suspension rail according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the body (18) is a one-piece extrusion. A suspension rail according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the rail either has a) at least one expansion joint, enabling the plastic rods (22,24) to expand with temperature increase, and at such joint, the aligned ends (106,108) of rod sections (22A,22B;24A,24B) in the same groove (18A,18B) are spaced by an amount at least sufficient to allow expansion, and there is a jumper rail section (110) which overlies the spaced aligned rod ends (106,108), providing a ramp (114) over which the hangers (38) travel as they are moved along the rail and over the joint, or b) a switch section at which lengths of rail are connected together by connector blocks (202, 204) connected to the respective length sections, and there is a jumper rail section (210, 214) on each block which overlies the rod ends (106,108) of the adjacent rail, providing a ramp (114) over which the hangers (38) travel as they are moved along the rail and over the switch section. A suspension rail according to claim 7, wherein the jumper rail section (110) is for a joint, and has tongues (112) which are engaged in the grooves (18A,18B) between the aligned ends (106,108) of the rod sections (22A,22B;24A,24B), which are spaced sufficient to accommodate the expansion and the tongues (112). A suspension rail according to claim 7 or 8, wherein each jumper section has at least one ramp portion which extends from a position below and between the rods to a position above the rods.

Inventors: HOWARTH ARTHUR DENNIS, HOWARTH, ARTHUR DENNIS
Applicants: HANGERGLIDE LTD
Application year: 2001
Main classification: B65G19
IPC codes: B65G19