Patent Description:
Cleanroom production lies at the heart of many of the world's leading industries. These include pharmaceutical, medical, semiconductor, etc. For example, in a Computer, Communication and Consumer (3C) industries, various products need to be assembled in a clean room, i.e. a dustless environment. Thus, components to be assembled are required to be carried and conveyed to the clean room rapidly and safety.

In a conventional way, the supporting member is driven by a rack-pinion mechanism through mechanical engagement or driven by a belt, a roller, and a link plate through friction. In this case, particles generated by mechanical engagement or friction cannot be ignored.

To eliminate most of contacting during conveying with simple structure and low-cost, it has been considered using a magnetic conveyor for clean room. However, this conveyor has the limitation of speed (<NUM>/s) due to the tangible magnetic field engagement between the magnetic gear and rack, which becomes a bottleneck for further reducing the production cycle time. <CIT> discloses the preamble of claims <NUM> and <NUM> and addresses a conveying system for conveying between different transfer systems.

Aspects of the present invention provide a conveyor, a conveying system having the same and a method of manufacturing the conveyor.

In a first aspect, a conveyor according to claim <NUM> is provided. The conveyor comprises a carrying member adapted to carry an object to be conveyed. The conveyor also comprises a plurality of rollers arranged under the carrying member and adapted to be guided to move along guide rails in a first direction. The conveyor further comprises a first magnetic engaging portion arranged to extend from a lower surface of the carrying member to a position near to the guide rails in a second direction normal to the first direction, and adapted to interact with a second magnetic engaging portion on the guide rails, to generate a driving force for driving the conveyor in the first direction.

The conveyor of the first aspect proposes a novel arrangement of magnetic engaging portion on the conveyor, which may extend from the lower surface of the carrying member still a position adjacent to the guide rails. In this way, the first magnetic engaging portion on the conveyor may interact better with the second magnetic engagement portion when a magnetic field is generated at the second magnetic engagement portion, thereby a sufficient driving force can be generated to improve the carrying capacity of the conveyor.

Meanwhile, the conveyor will be lifted up at an assembly location. The first magnetic engaging portion of the first aspect makes it easier to separate the first magnetic engaging portion from the the second magnetic engagement portion at a tangible direction of the the second magnetic engagement portion. Without step change of magnetic force during separating, the lifting up motion can be smoother.

According to the invention, the first magnetic engaging portion comprises a first set of magnetic racks and a second set of magnetic racks. The second set of magnetic racks are arranged opposite to the first set of magnetic racks at a predetermined distance from the first set of magnetic racks such that the second magnetic engaging portion is locatable between the first set of magnetic racks and the second set of magnetic racks.

In this way, a plurality of magnetic racks can be arranged around the second magnetic engaging portion, which is protruded from the guide rails such that the magnetic coupling between the first magnetic engaging portion and the second magnetic engaging portion becomes more strengthen. Therefore, the driving capacity of the magnetic conveyor, especially the speed and load capacity of the conveyor can be significantly increased with the embraced magnetic field engagement around the second magnetic engaging portion.

According to the invention, the first magnetic engaging portion further comprises a connecting element fixed on the lower surface of the carrying member and a pair of first supporting members connected to the connecting element and adapted to support the first set of magnetic racks and the second set of magnetic racks respectively.

The connecting element and the pair of first supporting members may achieve a simple and stable connection of plurality of sets of magnetic racks to the carrying member, which is an indispensable intermediate structure for implementing the rack arrangement of the present disclosure.

In some embodiments, the first set of magnetic racks and the second set of magnetic racks may be arranged to be inclined in opposite directions with respect to the second direction on the respective first supporting members.

In some embodiments, the first set of magnetic racks may be inclined to form a predetermined angle with the second set of magnetic racks and the predetermined angle corresponds to half of an inclination angle of a magnetic pole generated by the second magnetic engagement portion with respect to the second direction.

The inclined first set of magnetic racks and the second set of magnetic racks may interact with the second magnetic engaging portion, respectively, to generate driving force in a same direction, such that the conveyor can be driven from both sides. By this inclination arrangement of the first and the second magnetic engagement portions, the driving force caused by the magnetic field may be optimized and therefore the plurality of rollers can slide more smoothly and rapidly.

In some embodiments, the conveyor may further comprise a third magnetic engaging portion arranged on the connecting element and adapted to interact with the second magnetic engaging portion on the guide rails, which may further increase the driving capacity of the magnetic conveyor.

In some embodiments, the conveyor may further comprise a pair of second supporting members fixed on the lower surface of the carrying member. The plurality of rollers may be mounted on the respective second supporting members such that a second height from a lower end of the connecting element to a bottom of the magnetic engagement portion is greater than a first height of the second magnetic engagement portion.

Since the rack arrangement is changed to improve the driving capacity, the height of the conveyor may be adjusted to avoid the contact between the connecting element and the second magnetic engagement portion, because particles may be generated due to the friction during the conveying, which is unexpected for the dustless environment. The arrangement of the second supporting members may lift the height of the conveyor, which maintains the first magnetic engaging portion to be located at a position near the second magnetic engaging portion without contacting the second magnetic engagement portion.

In some embodiments, the conveyor may further comprise a pair of third supporting members fixed on the respective second supporting members and limiting member mounted in the respective third supporting members and adapted to limit the movement of the conveyor on the guide rails. In this way, the conveyor can be maintained on the guide rails to ensure a stable conveying process.

In a second aspect, a conveying system according to claim <NUM> is provided. The conveying system comprises a conveyor according to the first aspect. The conveying system further comprises guide rails adapted to guide the plurality of rollers to move the conveyor in the first direction. The conveying system also comprises a driving shaft arranged between the guide rails and adapted to be driven to rotate in a third direction. Furthermore, the conveying system comprises a second magnetic engaging portion comprising a plurality of magnetic gear arranged on the driving shaft and adapted to rotate with the rotation of the driving shaft, to generate a magnetic field.

Due to the increased driving capacity of the conveyor, a conveying system with a simple structure and low-cost can be achieved, thereby the performance and the efficiency of the conveying system can be improved.

In some embodiments, the conveying system may comprise a motor adapted to drive the driving shaft.

In a third aspect, a manufacturing method of a conveyor according to claim <NUM> is provided. The method comprises providing a carrying member adapted to carry an object to be conveyed; arranging a plurality of rollers under the carrying member. The plurality of rollers is adapted to be guided to move along guide rails in a first direction. The method further comprises arranging a first magnetic engaging portion to extend from a lower surface of the carrying member to a position near to the guide rails in a second direction normal to the first direction and adapted to interact with a second magnetic engaging portion on the guide rails, to generate a driving force for driving the conveyor in the first direction.

In this way, the conveyor of the first aspect of can be manufactured with a simple structure and low cost. In order to save costs, the conventional magnetic conveyor can be replaced by the conveyor according to the first aspect, without having to replace other components, such as guide rail, in the conveying system.

It is to be understood that the Summary is not intended to identify key or essential features of embodiments of the present disclosure, nor is it intended to be used to limit the scope of the present disclosure. Other features of the present disclosure will become easily comprehensible through the description below.

The above and other objectives, features and advantages of the present disclosure will become more apparent through more detailed depiction of example embodiments of the present disclosure in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein in the example embodiments of the present disclosure, same reference numerals usually represent same components.

The present disclosure will now be discussed with reference to several example embodiments. It is to be understood these embodiments are discussed only for the purpose of enabling those skilled persons in the art to better understand and thus implement the present disclosure, rather than suggesting any limitations on the scope of the subject matter.

As used herein, the term "comprises" and its variants are to be read as open terms that mean "comprises, but is not limited to. " The term "based on" is to be read as "based at least in part on. " The term "one embodiment" and "an embodiment" are to be read as "at least one embodiment. " The term "another embodiment" is to be read as "at least one other embodiment. " The terms "first," "second," and the like may refer to different or same objects. Other definitions, explicit and implicit, may be comprised below. A definition of a term is consistent throughout the description unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.

Unless specified or limited otherwise, the terms "mounted," "connected," "supported," and "coupled" and variations thereof are used broadly and encompass direct and indirect mountings, connections, supports, and couplings. Furthermore, "connected" and "coupled" are not restricted to physical or mechanical connections or couplings. In the description below, like reference numerals and labels are used to describe the same, similar or corresponding parts in the figures.

As mentioned above, in a Computer, Communication and Consumer (3C) industries, various products need to be assembled in a clean room, i.e. a dustless environment. Thus, components to be assembled are required to be carried and conveyed to the clean room rapidly and safety. Particles may be generated by mechanical engagement or friction in a conventional way. In order to eliminate most of contacting during conveying, the magnetic engaging components can be used for the conveying.

However, the conveyor has the limitation of speed and load capacity due to insufficient driving force and the weak magnetic field engagement. Thus, a conveyor with high efficiency and low cost is expected.

<FIG> show a side view of a conveyor according to embodiments of the present disclosure. In a case that the conveyor <NUM> moves along with the direction X, <FIG>, for example, may show the conveyor <NUM> from left side, i.e. in a direction Z while <FIG> show the conveyor <NUM> from the right side, i.e. in a direction Z' opposite to the direction Z. The direction Z and Z' are arranged to be normal to the direction X.

As shown, the conveyor <NUM> may comprise a carrying member <NUM>. An object to be conveyed may be carried by the carrying member <NUM> and transferred to a target destination. A plurality of rollers can be arranged under the carrying member <NUM>. For example, as shown, two pairs of rollers <NUM><NUM>, <NUM><NUM> and <NUM><NUM> and <NUM><NUM>, hereafter may be referred to rollers <NUM> collectively, can be mounted under the carrying member <NUM>. The plurality of rollers <NUM> may be guided to be moved on the specific rails (not shown) along the driving direction X.

A first magnetic engaging portion <NUM> may be arranged to extend from a lower surface of the carrying member <NUM> to a position near to the guide rails (not shown), on which the conveyor <NUM> can be guided to move, in a second direction Y. The first magnetic engaging portion <NUM> may comprises a first set of magnetic racks <NUM><NUM>-<NUM><NUM> (as shown in <FIG> and hereafter may be also referred to as a first set of magnetic racks <NUM> collectively) and a second set of magnetic racks <NUM><NUM>-<NUM><NUM> (as shown in <FIG> and hereafter may be also referred to as a second set of magnetic racks <NUM> collectively. ) The second set of magnetic racks <NUM> may be arranged opposite to the first set of magnetic racks <NUM>.

It should be understood that the first set of magnetic racks <NUM><NUM>-<NUM><NUM> and the second set of magnetic racks <NUM><NUM>-<NUM><NUM> may be covered by other elements, for example, a supporting element and therefore cannot be seen in the direction Z and Z'. The illustration of the magnetic racks as shown in <FIG> is only for the sake of explanation.

In some embodiments, the first magnetic engaging portion <NUM> may comprise a pair of first supporting members <NUM>, which may be arranged under the carrying member <NUM> and configured to support the first set of magnetic racks <NUM> and the second set of magnetic racks <NUM> respectively.

Additional, in some embodiments, the conveyor <NUM> may further comprises a pair of second supporting members <NUM> fixed on the lower surface of the carrying member <NUM>. The plurality of rollers <NUM> may be mounted on the respective second supporting members <NUM>.

<FIG> shows a front view of a conveying system <NUM> having a conveyor <NUM> according to embodiments of the present disclosure. With reference to <FIG>, the magnetic engagement arrangement according to the present disclosure may be further described in detail.

As shown in <FIG>, a plurality of rollers <NUM> of the conveyor <NUM> can be guided to move along guide rails <NUM> in a driving direction X, for example, to transfer electronic components to be mounted in the clean room to the target destination. The first magnetic engaging portion <NUM> can extend from a lower surface of the carrying member <NUM> to a position near to the guide rails <NUM> in a direction Y, which may be normal to the driving direction X. When the magnetic field is generated at the second engagement portion <NUM> on the guide rails <NUM> of the conveying system <NUM>, the first magnetic engaging portion <NUM> may interact with a second magnetic engaging portion <NUM>, to generate a driving force in the driving direction X, so that the conveyor <NUM> may be driven by the driving force.

In this way, compare with the conventional magnetic engagement arrangement, the first magnetic engaging portion <NUM> of the conveyor <NUM> may be disposed closer to the second magnetic engagement portion <NUM> and therefore may interact better with the second magnetic engagement portion <NUM> when a magnetic field is generated at the second magnetic engagement portion <NUM>. By using this novel magnetic engagement arrangement, a sufficient driving force can be generated to improve the carrying capacity of the conveyor <NUM>.

As shown in <FIG>, the second set of magnetic racks <NUM> may be arranged opposite to the first set of magnetic racks <NUM> at a predetermined distance d from the first set of magnetic racks <NUM> such that the second magnetic engaging portion <NUM> is located between the first set of magnetic racks <NUM> and the second set of magnetic racks <NUM>.

In this way, a plurality of magnetic racks <NUM> and <NUM> can be arranged around the second magnetic engaging portion <NUM>, which may protrude from the guide rails <NUM> such that the magnetic engagement between the first magnetic engaging portion <NUM> and the second magnetic engaging portion <NUM> becomes more strengthen. Therefore, the driving capacity of the magnetic conveyor <NUM>, especially the speed and load capacity of the conveyor <NUM> can be significantly increased with the embraced magnetic field engagement around the second magnetic engaging portion <NUM>.

Furthermore, in some embodiments, the first magnetic engaging portion <NUM> may further comprise a connecting element <NUM> fixed on the lower surface of the carrying member <NUM> and a pair of first supporting members <NUM> connected to the connecting element <NUM>, by which the first set of magnetic racks <NUM> and the second set of magnetic racks <NUM> may be supported respectively.

By using the connecting element and the pair of first supporting members, a simple and stable connection of plurality of sets of magnetic racks to the carrying member may be achieved, which is an indispensable intermediate structure for implementing the magnetic rack arrangement of the present disclosure.

As mentioned above, a pair of second supporting members <NUM> may be fixed on the lower surface of the carrying member <NUM> and the plurality of rollers <NUM> may be mounted on the respective second supporting members <NUM>. In this way, as shown in <FIG>, a height H2 from a lower end of the connecting element to a bottom of the magnetic engagement portion is greater than a height H1 of the second magnetic engagement portion.

Due to the position of the magnetic rack arrangement, which extends towards to the guide rails in a direction Y, the height of the conveyor <NUM> may be adjusted to avoid the contact between the connecting element <NUM> and the second magnetic engagement portion <NUM>, because particles may be generated due to the friction during the conveying, which is unexpected for the dustless environment. The second supporting members <NUM> may lift the height of the conveyor <NUM>, which maintains the first magnetic engaging portion <NUM> to be located at a position near the second magnetic engaging portion <NUM> without contacting the second magnetic engagement portion <NUM>.

In some embodiments, the conveyor <NUM> may further comprise a pair of third supporting members <NUM> fixed on the respective second supporting members <NUM> and limiting member <NUM> mounted in the respective third supporting members <NUM> and adapted to limit the movement of the conveyor on the guide rails <NUM>. For example, the limiting member <NUM> may be formed as a roller. As an option, the limiting member <NUM> may also be formed as a limiting block. In this way, the conveyor can be maintained on the guide rails to ensure a stable conveying process.

In addition, the first set of magnetic racks and the second set of magnetic racks may be arranged to be inclined with respect to the direction Y on the respective first supporting members, which may further refer to <FIG>, which show the perspective view of the inclined magnetic racks according to embodiments of the present disclosure in the direction Z.

As shown in <FIG>, the first set of magnetic racks <NUM><NUM>-<NUM><NUM> and the second set of magnetic racks <NUM><NUM>-<NUM><NUM> may be arranged to be inclined in opposite directions with respect to the second direction Y on the respective first supporting members <NUM>.

In some embodiments, each of the first set of magnetic racks <NUM><NUM>-<NUM><NUM> may be inclined to form a predetermined angle with the respective ones of the second set of magnetic racks <NUM><NUM>-<NUM><NUM>. For example, <FIG> shows the angle θ formed between the magnetic rack <NUM><NUM> and the magnetic rack <NUM><NUM> when assuming that the magnetic rack <NUM><NUM> and the magnetic rack <NUM><NUM> are placed in a same plane.

As an option, the predetermined angle θ may corresponds to half of an inclination angle of a magnetic pole generated by the second magnetic engagement portion <NUM> with respect to the direction Y. By this inclination arrangement of the first and the second magnetic engagement portions, the driving force caused by the magnetic field may be optimized and therefore the plurality of rollers can slide more smoothly and rapidly.

<FIG> shows a front view of a conveying system <NUM> having a further conveyor <NUM> according to embodiments of the present disclosure. The most components and structures shown in <FIG> are same or similar with the conveyor shown in <FIG>, which may not be repetitively explained here.

Different with the conveyor shown in <FIG>, the conveyor <NUM> shown in <FIG> may further comprise a third magnetic engaging portion <NUM> arranged on the connecting element <NUM>. The third magnetic engaging portion <NUM> may also be interact with the second magnetic engaging portion210 on the guide rails <NUM>, which may further increase the driving capacity of the magnetic conveyor.

By illustrating the embodiments in <FIG>, a novel magnetic engagement arrangement has been explained. It can be realized, from figures and description, the driving capacity and the load capacity of the conveyor may be increased due to a more strengthen magnetic engagement between the first and the second magnetic engagement portions.

The present disclosure also proposes a conveying system having the conveyor as mentioned above. <FIG> show a side view of a conveying system having the conveyor according to further embodiments of the present disclosure. In a case that the conveyor <NUM> moves along with the direction X, <FIG>, for example, may show the conveying system <NUM> from left side (in a direction Z) while <FIG> show the conveying system <NUM> from the right side (in a direction Z'). With reference to <FIG>, a conveying system will be explained as below.

As shown, the conveying system <NUM> comprises a conveyor <NUM> which has been described above. The conveying system <NUM> may further comprise guide rails <NUM>, which can guide the plurality of rollers <NUM> of the conveyor <NUM>, to move the conveyor <NUM> in the driving direction X.

Furthermore, the conveying system <NUM> may also comprise a driving shaft <NUM>. The conveyor <NUM> may be arranged between the guide rails <NUM>. When the power is applied to the driving shaft <NUM>, the driving shaft <NUM> may be driven to rotate in a rotating direction R. It should be understood that only a schematic rotating direction R is shown in <FIG>, which can be set to be clockwise or counterclockwise depending on the application.

In addition, the conveying system <NUM> may also comprise a second magnetic engaging portion <NUM> comprising a plurality of magnetic gear arranged on the driving shaft <NUM>. The plurality of magnetic gear may be configured to rotate with the rotation of the driving shaft <NUM>, to generate a magnetic field.

In some embodiments, the conveying system <NUM> may also comprise a motor M, which may be configured to apply the power to the driving shaft <NUM>, to drive the driving shaft to be rotated.

Furthermore, a method <NUM> of manufacturing a conveyor according to the embodiments of the present disclosure is provided. <FIG> shows a flowchart illustrating a manufacturing method of a conveyor according to embodiments of the present disclosure. The method <NUM> may be implemented for manufacturing the conveyor <NUM> described with reference to <FIG>.

At <NUM>, a carrying member is provided to carry an object to be conveyed. At <NUM>, a plurality of rollers is arranged under the carrying member. The plurality of rollers is adapted to be guided to move along guide rails in a first direction.

At <NUM>, a first magnetic engaging portion is arranged to extend from a lower surface of the carrying member to a position near to the guide rails in a second direction normal to the first direction. The first magnetic engaging portion can interact with a second magnetic engaging portion on the guide rails, to generate a driving force for driving the conveyor in the first direction.

Claim 1:
A conveyor (<NUM>) comprising:
a carrying member (<NUM>) adapted to carry an object to be conveyed;
a plurality of rollers (<NUM>) arranged under the carrying member (<NUM>) and adapted to be guided to move along guide rails (<NUM>) in a first direction (X); and
a first magnetic engaging portion (<NUM>) arranged to extend from a lower surface of the carrying member (<NUM>) to a position near to the guide rails (<NUM>) in a second direction (Y) normal to the first direction (X) and adapted to interact with a second magnetic engaging portion (<NUM>) on the guide rails (<NUM>), to generate a driving force for driving the conveyor (<NUM>) in the first direction (X);
wherein the first magnetic engaging portion (<NUM>) comprises:
a first set of magnetic racks (<NUM>); the conveyor being characterized in that the first magnetic engaging portion (<NUM>) further comprises
a second set of magnetic racks (<NUM>) arranged opposite to the first set of magnetic racks (<NUM>) at a predetermined distance (d) from the first set of magnetic racks (<NUM>) such that the second magnetic engaging portion (<NUM>) is locatable between the first set of magnetic racks (<NUM>) and the second set of magnetic racks (<NUM>);
wherein the first magnetic engaging portion (<NUM>) further comprises:
a connecting element (<NUM>) fixed on the lower surface of the carrying member (<NUM>); and
a pair of first supporting members (<NUM>) connected to the connecting element (<NUM>) and adapted to support the first set of magnetic racks (<NUM>) and the second set of magnetic racks (<NUM>) respectively.