Abstract:
A transfer device for a linear conveyor ( 1 ) comprising means for displacing objects ( 2 ) along a direction different of the conveying direction (XX′) of the conveyor, whereby a pendulum lever ( 5 ) is capable of exerting selectively onto the objects a thrust load (E), whereas the pendulum lever is controlled by a rod ( 11 ) brought into rotation by a driving assembly ( 8 ), whereby the cinematic link between the rod and the lever is a sliding link, in order to enable pivotless evacuation of the objects ( 2 ) outside the conveyor.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The invention relates to a transfer device and to a conveyor fitted with such a device. 
     In these conveyors used for the transportation of three-dimension objects such as parcels, pushers working in a direction different from that of the conveying direction have been used most often in a linear section of the conveyor, in order to extract the said objects from the conveying direction towards an external zone, for instance towards another, perpendicular, conveyor. 
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART 
     Generally, these pushers are arranged on one side of the conveyor, opposite the zone towards which the said objects must be sent, which becomes cumbersome transversally and is often unacceptable. 
     It is thus quite common that the pushers protrude, sometimes rather significantly, outside the conveyor, onto this transversal side. 
     Moreover, the actuators of these pushers are generally designed to reverse the pusher&#39;s motion upon completion of each stroke, i.e. once the object has been pushed entirely and upon completion of the pusher&#39;s retraction with respect to the conveyor. 
     In both cases, this motion reversion calls for additional pieces of equipment (such as stops and object sensors) in order to stop the motion in ‘forward’ direction, to respect a fixed point and to initiate the motion in ‘return’ direction. 
     Then, the fixed point is reached with little accuracy so that the halting position of the objects is not controlled efficiently. 
     In this context, let us mention the document DE-U-86 07 794 which describes a pusher designed for directing parcels carried by a first conveyor towards a second conveyor. 
     The pusher is articulated round a fixed pin located on the first conveyor&#39;s side, perpendicular to the conveying direction. 
     Thus, each object displaced from the first to the second conveyor, undergoes a rotation motion by co-operating with a pusher&#39;s end roller. 
     The document FR-A-1 687 777 describes a dispenser comprising a bowl feeder connected to a track for the supply of parts, whereas three pushers move perpendicular to the track on a crossbeam, without pivoting round a pin. 
     The document DD-A-30 935 describes a device for separating pressed parts on a circular press. Pushing plates are used to move the parts. 
     The document GB-A-733 204 describes a conveying system in which a carriage, moving perpendicular to the conveying direction of a worm band, moves the objects perpendicular to this conveying direction, whereas a switch is provided to be actuated by the objects when reaching a stop. 
     The document FR-A-2 056 305 describes a horizontal pushing device for the displacement of parts, comprising a hydraulic engine driving a toothed wheel thanks to a thread. It has not been designed for transferring a parcel and the angular motion of the shaft is limited to amplitude smaller than one revolution. 
     The document U.S. Pat. No. 3,246,733 describes a conveying system with several output bands or chutes, opposite which individual pushers have been provided. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The purpose of the invention is to remedy the shortcomings mentioned above while providing notably a transfer device whose pushing element is driven by an accurate, simple and little cumbersome mechanism, which does not call for reversing the rotation direction and generally without any rotation speed variation. 
     Thus, the invention allows for a transfer without the object revolving round its axis and without changing the circulation direction of the said object. 
     The aim is therefore to enable the transfer of the objects outside the conveyor, in fixed and accurately reproducible position, regardless of the mass of the said object. 
     To this end, it is a first object of the invention to provide a transfer device designed for a linear conveyor such as defined in the claims. 
     Thanks to the invention, the engine rotation motion is transformed into an angular forward and return motion of a thrust lever. The motion of the lever follows a sine wave curve, uniformly varied with a mechanic acceleration and deceleration upon completion of each forward and return stroke. 
     This enables transferring the objects significantly faster than with known technologies, for a given conveying speed. 
     Obviously, according to the situation, the transfer unfurls with the conveyor in operation, slowing down or stopped. 
     According to a characteristic, the driving mechanism rotates in one direction only, which enables to do away with reversing the rotation direction of the lever&#39;s driving mechanism. 
     According to an embodiment, the lever pivots round a pin which is substantially parallel to the conveying direction, whereby this pin is located above or below the conveyor, whereas the free end of the lever follows a trajectory along an arc of a circle above or below the conveyor. 
     It is thus quite thinkable that the device should comprise several levers, actuated by a common driving assembly, whereby the control rods of the levers are installed on a common shaft, itself driven by the said assembly. 
     According to another embodiment, the lever pivots round a pin substantially perpendicular to the conveying direction, whereas the said pin is located above or below the conveyor, whereby the free end of the lever follows a trajectory along an arc of a circle, on a plane substantially horizontal, above or below the conveyor. 
     For instance, the pin is vertical, i.e. not only perpendicular to the conveying direction, but also intersecting the transfer direction. 
     In the embodiments, the lever is shaped or is machined in order to reduce the space requirements in the conveying direction, which enables arranging several transfer devices close to one another. 
     In the case of pins perpendicular to the conveying direction, such as vertical pins, an embodiment sets forth several articulated levers, whereas the length of the section of each lever located substantially at the same height as the corresponding pivot pin, is smaller than the distance between two adjacent pivot pins. This layout eliminates any risk of interference between two close transfer devices. 
     According to an embodiment, the device comprises means to sense the position of the rod&#39;s end, then so-called ‘irradiating’ rod, actuated at each revolution, upon completion of the return stroke of the rod and connected to an engine control device. 
     This enables controlling with accuracy the irradiating rod&#39;s driving assembly, especially to determine the precise stop position of the pendulum lever, in relation to the displacement of the rod&#39;s end. 
     This system also enables sensing and indicating the lever&#39;s retraction close to the conveyor and authorizing its operation or not. 
     A second object of the invention relates to at least one linear conveyor comprising a transfer device as mentioned, and defined in the claims. 
     This conveyor functions efficiently and its commissioning and operation costs are relatively low. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     The invention will be understood more clearly in the light of the following description of two embodiments, given solely for exemplification purposes with reference to the appended drawings on which: 
     FIG. 1 is an elevation view, perpendicular to a conveying direction, of a conveyor fitted with a transfer device according to the invention in a first standby position; 
     FIG. 2 is a view similar to FIG. 1 whereas the transfer device is in a second position after transferring an object; 
     FIG. 3 is an elevation view perpendicular to the conveying direction at greater scale of a portion of the transfer device in the position of FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG.  3 . whereby the transfer device is in the position of FIG. 2; 
     FIG. 5 is a sectional view along the line V—V of FIG. 4; 
     FIG. 6 is a top plane view of a conveyor fitted with a transfer device according to a second embodiment of the invention, and 
     FIG. 7 is a lateral elevation view of a conveyor fitted with several transfer devices such as that of FIG.  6 . 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     In FIG. 1, the function of a conveyor  1  is to move three-dimension objects, here parcels  2  in a conveying direction XX′ perpendicular to the plane of this figure. Instead of the parcels  2 , objects of another nature could be moved as well, wrapped or nor. 
     It appears that the object  2  is represented in this FIG. 2, before transfer. 
     A fixed frame  3  is here designed on the side of the conveyor  1  in order to receive a parcel  2 ′ to be transferred to a location  4  described below. 
     In other embodiments, instead of the fixed frame, a sorting rail or another conveyor can be provided for the reception of the objects from the conveyor. 
     The orientation of the reception structures  3  is, according to the embodiments, horizontal (i.e. parallel to the transfer and conveying directions), inclined or similar. 
     A parcel  2 ′ is represented in FIG. 2 during motion along the direction of arrow F, from the conveyor  1  to the location  4 , via the frame  3 . 
     It results from the preceding paragraph that, when a parcel  2 ′ is already on the frame  3 , pushing the parcel  2  onto  2 ′ evacuates the said parcel onto the location  4 . 
     As was the case for the reception structure or frame  3 , the location  4  is replaced, in some embodiments, with a sorting rail. 
     In another embodiment, the location  4  is fixed. 
     In another embodiment still, this location  4  is part of a conveyor, enabling for instance along the direction X-X′ to evacuate the parcels as they arrive on this conveyor. 
     As stated above, transfer onto this reception conveyor  4  or from the arrival conveyor  1  of objects  2 , is actuated according to the situation when the conveyor  1  or  4  respectively, is operating and hence mobile, or stopped during the said transfer. 
     In order to pass a parcel  2  from the conveyor  1  onto the frame  3 , i.e. in the position  2 ′ in FIG. 2, a lever  5 , here, an elbowed lever has been provided, pivoting as a pendulum round a pin  6  substantially parallel to the direction XX′. 
     This lever is fitted at its free end  5   a , here its lower end, with a contact roll  7  designed for exerting a single resting or a thrust load E onto the parcel  2  during transfer. 
     Other contact pieces are used in other embodiments, such as pads. In other embodiments still, the contact piece is a lever-pivoting shoe, maintained vertical during the movements of the said lever, by a pendulum pantograph. 
     It should be noted that the load E is substantially parallel to the arrow F and hence substantially perpendicular to the direction XX′. 
     The lever  5  is driven round the pin  6  by a driving assembly  8 , operated by a control unit  9  and fitted with an output shaft  10 . 
     The cinematic link between the output shaft  10  of the assembly  8  and the lever  5  is provided by a rod  11  solid with the shaft  10  and fitted with a roller  12  designed for sliding in a rail  13  installed on the lever  5 . The rail  13  is part of the lever  5  in an embodiment that is not illustrated. 
     A rod/crank-type articulation can thus be obtained. 
     The driving assembly  8  is designed to revolve in a single rotation direction represented by the arrow R in FIGS. 3 and 4. 
     The rotation of the shaft  10  induces a translation motion of the roller  12  inside the rail  13 . The effect of this motion is to cause the lever  5  to pivot round the pin  6 . This enables to move the end  5   a  of the lever  5  between the positions in FIGS. 1 and 3 and those in FIGS. 2 and 4 following an arc of a circle C (FIGS. 1 and 2) located in a plane which is here a vertical plane, i.e. substancially perpendicular to the direction XX′ and hence in the plane of FIGS. 1 and 2 above the conveyor  1 . 
     It appears clearly that the end  5   a  switching from its position in FIG. 1 co its position in FIG. 2 enables to transfer the parcel  2  from the conveyor  1  to the frame  3  thanks to the load E exerted by the roll  7  installed on the lever  5 . 
     It also appears that the rod/crank-type articulation enables, without modifying the rotation direction R of the assembly  8 , to reverse the motion of the end  5   a  of the lever  5  in both positions represented. 
     The acceleration and the deceleration, necessary upon completion of each stroke of the end  5   a , are thus provided while the engine rotates in a single direction, here at substantially constant speed. 
     In other words, an engine revolution corresponds to a forward and return motion of the end  5   a  of the lever  5 , from the first position in FIG. 1 to the second position in FIG. 1, while passing via the position in FIG.  2 . 
     The engine-controlled motion of the assembly  8 , operated thanks to the unit  9 , enables to have two accurate stop points of the lever s independently of the functional plays. 
     Thus, an accurate position of the parcel  2  after transfer, with good reproducibility, is obtained without installing precise and costly sensors, still with a simple structure. 
     It appears from FIGS. 2,  3  and  4 , notably, that in the intermediate zone of the arc of a circle C, the speed of the lever  5  is relatively significant, whereas this speed is reduced uniformly towards the end of the stroke until it becomes nil. 
     The transfer device therefore enables to start rapidly the transfer of the parcels  2  from the conveyor  1  to the frame  3 . 
     And then, when approaching the requested final position of the parcel, the motion speed is dying down, in order to avoid any shocks, notably when the end  5   a  couches the parcel  2  to be transferred. 
     Once this position has been reached, this parcel is ‘released’ at a precise location on the frame  3 . 
     In such a case, the forward time of the pendulum lever  5  (when pushing the object) and its return are proportional to the angle travelled by the rod. 
     On the embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 1 to  5 , the return time is approximately half (for a driven assembly  8  rotating at a substantially constant speed) the forward time. Indeed, the return angle is substantially 120°, and the forward time substantially 240°. 
     The forward push load is proportional to the action radius of the rod with respect to its pin. The arc C is laid out to obtain a significant load when pushing, before dying down gradually until it almost disappears, close to the release position. 
     Consequently, when the parcel  2  slides onto the frame  3  and as the speed of the lever  5  is dying down towards the end of the stroke, this parcel  2  is immobilised by its friction against the frame  3  without its own inertia tending to carry it along the arrow F too far towards the location  4 . 
     Besides, it should be noted that the image of the rod&#39;s position is that of the pendulum lever  5 . There is therefore no electric contact on this lever. 
     Moreover, according to the objects or parcels to be transferred, for instance in relation to their masses or their frictions against the frame  3 , the materials of the frame are selected to ensure accurate and rapid placement. 
     In an embodiment designed for heavy objects  2 , in order to reduce the load E, the frame  3  has been replaced with a rolling place whose rolling coefficient is light. 
     In order to enable the unit  9  to stop the operation of the driving assembly  8 , as shown in FIGS. 3 to  5 , a fixed sensor  14  has been provided co detect the course completion, a sensor actuated by the rod  11 , at each revolution. 
     It is not necessary to provide other course completion sensors, notably delineating the position of the object or parcel since the motion reversal of the end  5   a  in the position in FIGS. 2 and 4 takes place without any particular action of the unit  9 . 
     The sensor  14  used here is relatively inaccurate since the immobilisation irradiating position of the rod  11  corresponds to an inactive position of the lever  5 , at return stroke completion. 
     The driving assembly  8  and the pin  6  are installed on a plate or part  15  supporting the whole transfer device, with the exception of the control unit  9  which is accommodated in a control cabinet close to the conveyor. 
     Thus, the mechanic components of the transfer device, i.e. the elements  5  to  8 , can be installed individually above the conveyor  1  by simply attaching the part  15  on a carrying structure  16 . 
     We can thus obtain a spare modular assembly, comprising the transfer members, among which the lever  5  and its driving assembly  8 . 
     It then suffices co connect logically the sensor  14  to the unit  9  and to power the engine  8  electrically from the unit  9 . 
     This enables easy and rapid maintenance, without any risk of errors in the transfer device. The same goes for its initial installation. 
     In the second embodiment, represented in FIGS. 6 and 7, the elements similar to those of the embodiment in FIGS. 1 to  5 , bear identical references, added the number  50 . 
     In FIG. 6, a conveyor  51  is used to move parcels  52  along a direction XX′. 
     A lever  55  is articulated round a pin  55  substantially perpendicular to the direction XX′ and driven by an assembly  58  to which it is connected by a rod  61 . The end of the rod  61  carries a roller  62  designed for sliding in a rail  63  provided in the lever  55 . 
     The rail  63  could also be installed on the lever  55 . A contact roll  57  is provided at the free end  55   a  of the lever  55 . Thanks to this arrangement, the free end  55   a  is mobile in a forward and return motion along an arc of a circle C′ whereas the output shaft  60  of the assembly  58  revolves in a single direction represented by the arrow R′. 
     It appears in FIG. 7 that the lever  55  is elbowed and consists of three sections  55   b ,  55   c  and  55   d  which are substantially rectilinear. In ocher embodiments, the lever  55  takes on another shape as a continuous elbow or bend. 
     The rail  63  is provided in the globally horizontal section  55   b  of the lever  55  located substantially at the same height as the pin  56 . 
     FIG. 7 shows a transfer device comprising several pivoting levers  5  with which it is possible to carry the various levers and their associated driving devices with good compactness. 
     In particular, the length L of the section  55   b  of each lever  55 , located substantially at the same height as the pivot pins  56 , is smaller than the distance D between two adjacent pivot pins  56  and  56 ′. 
     There is, consequently, no interference between the different levers. This layout enables to farm out the levers  55  by a distance D that is substantially equal to the pitch P of the objects  2  on the conveyor  51 . 
     In an embodiment, several levers  5  or  55  are actuated by a common driving assembly  8  or  58 , whereby the control rods of these levers are installed on a common shaft operated by the common driving assembly, via individual motorised couplings, such as electromagnetic or similar couplings, of each transfer lever  5  or  55 , to ensure separate control, simultaneous or distinct, of at least one of these levers or of all the said levers. 
     Although not represented, the devices shown in FIGS. 6 and 7 comprise means to sense the position of the rod&#39;s end, similar to those of the first embodiment and a control unit  9 . 
     The invention has been represented whereby the parcels are displaced substantially perpendicular to the conveying direction. It is however applicable when the parcels are displaced in other directions, for example 30 or 45°, with respect to the conveying direction. 
     The invention has been exposed with pins  6  and  56  located above the conveyor. 
     Other transfer devices have their pins located below the conveyors. The invention is also applicable while combining the various devices described, nested above and below or not, along a conveyor. 
     Contrary to the known arrangements, designed for making parcels revolve with a 90° angle round their axes while evacuating the said parcels from a conveyor onto another, embodiments of the invention comprise a vertical pendulum lever whose horizontal pin is placed above or below the routing conveyor of the parcels, which evacuates the parcel along an orthogonal direction. 
     In the embodiment where the transfer lever is horizontal, its vertical pivot pan can be located for instance above the conveyor, limiting substantially the angular displacement chord of the end of this lever, which authorises, there again, a rotarionless transfer of the parcel provided it is placed between two guides.