GB2152463A - Powered overhead conveyor systems - Google Patents

Abstract

An overhead powered conveyor system comprises a powered, endless flexible member driven in an endless path and contained in an endless guide rail. A portion of the member projects through a slot in the top of the guide rail to provide a live band for the support of suspension devices such as hangers for garments. There is described a specific form of the endless member to enable it to travel round curves in two different planes whilst maintaining the continuity of the live band. There is also disclosed a picking device for picking the suspension devices from the system individually, and a conveying input, output and storage layout are also described. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Improvements relating to powered suspension systems This invention relates to powered suspension systems, and in particular provides a suspension system in which articles or objects supported by the suspension system can be transported thereby under power.

Typicaliy, such suspension systems are used in factories and storage warehouses for the support of articles, such as garments, and for the transport of articles such as partially completed garments between work stations. It is to be appreciated that the articles which are supported by the suspension system are not material to the novelty of the invention, as will be clear hereinafter.

There are known overhead suspension systems which are driven in that the articles suspended by the system are powered along a guide rail or rails from station to station, and typically these systems comprise an overhead rail or rails on which are mounted transport trolleys, the trolleys serving to support hangers on which the articles are supported. The trolleys are powered by means of a drive chain or conveyor located above the guide rails, and from which powered conveyor drive dogs or fingers extend downwardly. These fingers engage the trolleys and propel same.

The provision of the superimposed drive conveyor of course takes up valuable space, but also the fingers constitute a hazard to personnel, or a means whereby the system may become jammed.

According to the invention there is provided a powered suspension system comprising an endless flexible drive member contained in a rigid guide tube and defining a path of travel, the drive member having a drive portion extending out of the guide tube for the driving of suspension units around at least a section of the path of travel, and drive means for driving the drive member around the path of travel.

Preferably, the guide tube has a slot in the top thereof through which the drive portion extends.

Preferably also, the drive member comprises a chain with iniversally coupled links and roller means which engage the inner surface of the guide tubes.

It is furthermore preferred that said drive portion comprises a plurality of drive shoes which are carried by the said chain, the shoes jointly defining a drive support surface which can carry hangers, which lies outside the tube and which is in effect continuous over said path of travel.

The said shoes are preferably elongate, and are arranged end to end and adjacent ends of adjacent shoes have overlapping portions so that the shoes remain overlapped even when the drive member passes round a curve of said endless path tending to cause the shoes to separate.

The shoes may be mounted individually on the chain, for pivotal movement about an axis lying at right angles to the chain length direction.

In an alternative embodiment, the drive member may comprise an endless band, and preferably the band is located in the guide tube.

Preferably, the band projects above the tube, and forms a support surface for example for a garment hanger, such upper surface also forming a transport means when the band is driven.

Preferably in said alternative embodiment, the band is a band of a synthetic plastics material and is generally rectangular in cross section with spaced .slits for engagement of the teeth of a drive sprocket of the drive means, and the band is disposed so that in cross section its long direction is upright, and a top narrower surface forms the support surface for the hangers or the like. The guide tube may comprise a circular, rigid tubular rail with a slot along the top thereof for receiving the drive portion. The guide tube will of course require to be cut away at a location where the band is engaged by a drive means, preferably comprising said sprocket.

Although the drive member is described as being endless, it need not be endless in a physical sense, but it is endless in a mechanical sense. It may in fact be made up of a number of sections of plastics material joined end to end.

The path of travel may comprise simply a single loop with parallel reaches, and at one end of the loop the drive member may be engaged by a suitable drive sprocket. It is not necessary to provide an idler sprocket at the other end of the loop, as the rigidity of the guide tube can provide adequate support means for this purpose.

To keep the drive member in the guide tube, the drive member may be provided with projections on the sides thereof which engage under the edges of the guide tube defining the top slot.

With either arrangement described, it can be appreciated that if there is a blockage, the suspensison devices supported by the drive portion will simply slide relative to the drive portion, and location of the drive member in the guide tube removes the need for having an exposed overhead chain with depending fingers, The intention is that the top edge of the drive member will drive hangers and articles carried thereby by virtue of the friction between the top surface of the drive member and the hanger, but if this proves insufficient, for example if a reach of the drive member is to travel up an incline, the top edge of the drive member may be provided with projections against which the hangers will abut, but over which the hangers can ride in the event of a blockage.In an arrangement where the top edge of the drive member is used as the drive surface, in the event that the power system fails, it is quite easy to use the guide tube to one similar to a conventional guide tube, and to position trolleys thereon. A power failure will therefore not mean that the system is out of commission.

The speed of travel of the drive member and the amount of moving drive member which is exposed to the fingers will be such that the moving drive member will not constitute a danger to operators.

An inexpensive system results by the method of the invention, and it can be installed in much less space than the conventional overhead suspension drive system.

It will be appreciated that the system can be designed to carry any suitable type of garment or product or component, and the system can be used in warehousing storage or in factory conditions.

By having the upper edge of a drive member form the transporting surface, it has been possible to provide .an effective "picking" device for lifting, for example hangers, from the suspension system individually, and for enabling the individually picked hangers to be deflected to another and adjacent transport system or for grouping purposes as will be explained in more detail hereinafter when describing the specific embodiments of the invention illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

The picking device which is envisaged is driven from the moving drive portion, and preferably is adapted to be moved into engagement with the drive portion when picking is required, or retracted from the band when picking is not required. The device may comprise a first drive roiler which is frusto-conical which in the in-use position engages the moving transport surface of the band, and the drive roller is coupled to a driven roller frictionally, the driven roller being connected to a picking disc which is arranged to lie with its axis at a predetermined angle to the guide tube so that the plane of the disc intersects the suspension hook portion of the hangers, and by virtue of the fact that the disc is made to rotate in the opposite direction to the direction in which the hangers are approaching the device, notches in the disc periphery can be used to pick hangers from the suspension system and raise them clear of the suspension system, enabling these hangers to be dropped on to a finger guide along which the hangers travel by gravity and drop onto, for example, another transport system.

By selective engagement of the pick-up device, so selected ones of the hangers on the suspension system can be removed as desired. This provides considerable advantage when for example a large number of garments of various kinds are supported on the suspension system, and only a certain number of each garment are to be picked to form a batch or block. This can be achieved automatically by selective operation of the picking device. The control of operation of the picking device may be controlled by the garment hangers by appropriate coding thereon, and by appropriate picking for the selected picking process.

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying diagrammatic drawings, wherein: Figure 1 is a perspective view of an overhead suspension system according to the invention; Figure 2 is a plan view showing the drive wheel arrangement for propelling the endless band of the suspension system; Figure 3 is a sectional elevation of the rail and drive band, the section being taken on Ill-Ill end of Fig. 2; Figure 4 is a side view of the rail section shown in Fig. 3, the view being taken in the direction of arrow IV in Fig. 3; Figure 5 is a perspective view of a portion of the drive belt showing how stop members may be clipped thereto; Figure 6 is a view similar to Fig. 4, but shows a picking device and its driving engagement with the drive belt;; Figure 7 is an end view of the arrangement shown in Fig. 6, the view being in the direction of arrow VI in Fig. 6; Figure 8 is a layout of endless suspension systems for a storage warehouse typically for storing garments; Figure 9 is an end view of the arrangement shown in Fig. 8; Figures 10 and 11 respectively show in perspective view and side view two further forms of conveying layouts in relation to which the present invention may be required to be used; Figure 12 illustrates in perspective exploded view one form of link of a drive member suitable for use in connection with the conveying arrangements of Fig. 6, 10 and 11; Figure 13 is a side view of the link shown in Fig.

12 but in assembled condition; Figure 14 shows in sectional elevation how respective shoe members interfit; Figure 15 is a plan view of the arrangement shown in Fig. 14; Figure 16 is a sectional elevation of the shoe members shown in Fig. 15, the section being taken on the line B-B in Fig. 15; and Figure 17 is a view similar to Fig. 3 but shows a drive member constructed of links as shown in Fig.

12.

Referring to the drawings, Fig. 1 illustrates an endless band 10 which, as shown in Fig. 3, is of rectangular cross section, and is disposed with its longer dimension vertically. The endless band is contained in a guide rail 12 of circular form having a slot 14 at the top side thereof, through which the endless band 10 projects. The guide rail 12 is shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1 as are hanging brackets 16 of hook shape and located to the inside of the endless path of the band. These brackets are connected to fixed suspension points on the overhead ceiling, and are secured to the underside of the guide rail 12 so as to support same, and so that hangers 18 which carry garments 20 and are propelled round the endless path as indicated by arrow 22. The hangers 18 and garments 20 are propelled as shown in Fig. 3 by being supported on the top surface 24 of the endless band 10, the bottom surface resting on the inside of the guide rail 12. The band 10 is provided with spaced drive apertures 26 of elongated form by which the endless band is propelled as indicated by the arrow 22 by means of a drive sprocket 28 driven via a motor 30 through a bevel gear box 32.

As shown in Fig. 2, the guide rail 12 is cut away at 34 to allow the sprocket wheel 28 to drivingly engage via its teeth tips 28A in the apertures 26 in the band. It will be appreciated that the tips 28A are spaced similarly to the slots 26 in the band 10.

The hangers 18 can continue to be supported by the upper edge 24 of the band 10 in that they locate between the teeth 28B of the sprocket as they are supported by the portion of the band which is driven by the sprocket as it travels round the sprocket axis 36.

The sprocket teeth have upstanding pins 38 which serve to prevent the band 10 from moving too close to the sprocket axis and becoming jammed on the teeth 28B.

The simple friction achieved between the han gers 18 and the surface 24 of the band 10, which preferably is made of a self lubricating type plas tics material, will normally be sufficient to continue to propel the hangers around the suspension sys tem, but should it prove necessary, for example when a reach of the system is to travel in an up wards direction, to provide a stop for each hanger to prevent slippage relative to the top surface 24, there may, as shown in Fig. 5, be apertures 40 in the said surface 24 for the receipt of pins 42 of a stop member 44 of the form shown in Fig. 5 or of any other suitable form.

The system described has a number of advan tages in that it is of empirical simplicity so much so that it is not necessary to provide an idler sprocket at the opposite end of the system from the drive wheel 28 as the guide rail 12 will be of sufficient rigidity to support the band 10. Also, there is no need to provide any overhead drive chain or conveyor with downwardly depending dogs or fingers. If the drive system breaks down, then the suspension rail system can still be used with trolleys which can be designed to run direct around the rail 12 or jointly on the rail 12 and/or the top edge of band 10.

If necessary, the band 26 can be provided with projections such as are indicated by reference 46 in Fig. 3 to prevent the band 10 from riding up out of the guide rail 12 by more than a desired amount.

Because only a small portion of the band 10 projects above the guide rail 12, and that portion is smooth in the length direction of the band, the moving band constitutes very little danger to per sonnel.

Operators or storemen can simply hang hangers directly onto the rail without the use of intermedi ate trolleys.

Figs. 6 and 7 show a useful form of picking de vice for picking individual hangers from the guide rail system. The device shown in Figs. 6 and 7 is supported from above by means of a movable support arm 48 connected to a bracket 50 on which are mounted assemblies which are pivotable about parallel axes.

The first assembly comprises a rotor 52 of fric tion material such as rubber or the like having a frustoconical section 54 and a cylindrical section 56. As shown in Fig. 7, when the assembly is moved downwardly as indicated by arrow 58, the frusto-conical portion 54 frictionally engages the top surface 24 of the drive band 10 whereby the rotor 52 is caused to rotate about its axis. That axis as shown in Fig. 7 is inclined relative to the horizontal so that the lower edge of the frusto-conical section 54 can lie on the horizontal for best contact with the surface 24. The rotation of the rotor 52 effects rotation of the other rotary assembly comprising a driven wheel 60 which is connected by a shaft 62 to a pick up disc 64.Because of the inclination of the axes of the rotary assemblies, the disc 64 is inclined as shown in Fig. 7, so that its plane intersects the plane of movement of the hook portion of the hangers 18. Cut-outs 64A in the disc 64 form pick-up pockets into which the hooks of hangers 18 pass as the disc 64 rotates.

The assembly 52 is rotated by frictional engagement with the band 10 and rotates as indicated by arrow 66 in Fig. 6, the wheel 60, being rotated by cylindrical portion 56, rotates as indicated by arrow 68, and the disc 64 rotates also in the direction of arrow 68. This means in effect that the disc 64 is contra rotating in relation to the direction of feed of the hangers (direction 22 in Fig. 6) and the pockets 64 will therefore pick up the hangers and lift them clear of the rail 12 to the position shown for example at 70 in Fig. 7. The disc 64 lifts the hangers into the path of a guide rail 72 and with continued rotation of the disc 64 the hangers rest on rail 72 and become disengaged from disc 64.If rail 72 is appropriately inclined and bent away from rail 12, it is a simple matter to ensure that the hangers will fall by gravity along the rail 72 and then for example on to another overhead suspension system of the nature illustrated in Fig. 1. The picking device is raised in the direction of arrow 58 away from the band 10 when it is desired that it should not pick hangers from the suspension system, and the device can therefore be arranged to operate automatically for selective picking of particular hangers. This may be done electronically by bar coding the hangers and by sensing that bar coding, followed by control of the operation of the picking device in accordance with the bar codings sensed by the control system.

Fig. 8 illustrates an emanently suitable arrangement for the suspension system and picking device according to the present invention. The Figure shows a layout of suspension systems for warehousing, and the arrangement comprises a first suspension conveyor as illustrated in Fig. 1 and indicated by reference numeral 74, this conveyor forming an input conveyor onto which incoming articles on hangers are loaded as indicated by the arrow 76. Parallel to conveyor 74 but spaced therefrom is an output conveyor 78 from which articles are removed as indicated by arrows 80 for transportation and distribution. These conveyors 74 and 78 are coupled by a plurality of storage conveyors 80 (of which only two are shown in the Figure but there may be as many as fifty to one hundred in a typical installation).The conveyors 74 and 78 are coupled to the storage conveyors by picking devices as indicated in Figs. 6 and 7 but represented generally by reference numerals 82 in Fig. 8.

The utility of the system of Fig. 8 can be readily understood. The arriving hangers of garments are loaded on to the input conveyor 74, and then the picking devices 82 between the conveyor 74 and conveyors 80 are operated selectively p order for example to put particular garments on to particular ones of the storage conveyors 80. The picking devices 82 for loading garments on to the output conveyor may be operated in a different sequence to provide different forms of combinations of garments at the output 80. For example respective picking devices 82 may pick single garments from the respective conveyors 80 in turn in order to provide blocks of different garments for packing and transportation.

Figure 9 shows that the storage conveyors 80 may be slightly inclined so that their input ends 80A are located lower than input conveyor 74, whilst their output ends 80B are located above output conveyor 78, so that the hangers will fall by gravity from conveyors 74 onto the storage conveyors 80, and from the storage conveyors 80 onto the output conveyors 78.

Figs. 10 and 11 show two conveying paths which may be required to be executed by the drive member of the present invention, and the drive member described in relation to Figs. 1 to may not be completely suitable, because the drive member must flex in different directions. Thus, referring to Fig.

10, the conveying arrangement illustrated requires a drive member 100 travelling in a guide tube 102 to travel between sprockets 104 and 106 which are at different heights. This means that in the reaches the drive member 100 between the sprockets 104 and 106, the drive member must travel up an incline section 108, travelling up the incline in one reach, and back down the incline in another reach.

In the locations 110 therefore the endless band must curve in a vertical plane, and whilst it travels round the sprockets 104 and 106, it must curve in a horizontal plane. Such layer would place too much stress on the band if it were formed in accordance with the arrangement of Figs. 1 to 5.

Again, in the arrangement of Fig. 11, the drive member 100 although it travels only in a vertical plane, nevertheless it is required to pass round sprockets 104 and 106 so that its inner and outer radii must travel around paths of different lengths and this would be difficult to achieve without distorting or stressing the band or creating considerable friction because the band would then have to curve in a direction in which its longer cross sectional dimension lies radially relative to the axes or sprockets 104 and 106 around which the band is required to turn.

This leads to the designing of the flexible drive member in the nature of a chain with universal coupling between the links, and a particularly suitable design for the endless flexible drive member, and one which has a number of advantages and novel features is illustrated in Figs. 12 to 17. A flexible member constructed in accordance with the arrangement of Figs. 12 to 17 will be accommodated in and travel satisfactorily in the guide tubes 110 which I use in connection with the conveyor layouts of Figs. 10 and 11.

Referring to Figs. 12 to 17, and firstly to Fig. 12, a single link of the chain construction of the flexible member comprises a square section bar 112.

At one 14 end, on what can be considered the upper and lower face sides are two tongues 114. At the other end, the bar has a cut-out 116 extending from top face to bottom face, and in the slot is universal joint coupling member 118. Member 118 is pivotally mounted between plate portions 120 and 124 formed by making a slot 116 so as to be pivotal about a horizontal axis 126. The next adjacent link which couples with the member 118 is coupled by its lugs 114 to form a pivot joint between the links having an axis of pivoting which is vertical and defined by pivot mountings 128. With bars of adjacent links so coupled, they can pivot universally one relative to the other.

Towards the end having the lugs 114, there is provided in a through slot 130 a guiding roller 132 which is rotatable about a vertical axle 134. The roller 132 projects beyond the sides of the bar link so as in fact to engage the inner surface of the guide tube 110, as shown in Fig. 17.

Towards the other end under the outside of the bar are provided two side mounted rollers 136.

These rollers are pivotable about an axle 140, and are, as also shown in Fig. 17, for engaging the inside of the guide tube 110. A central slot 142 is for receiving the tooth of the drive sprocket in much the same manner as the slots 26 in the Fig. 1 embodiment receive the points of the drive sprocket as described in relation to Fig. 2. Thus, a chain formed of links as shown in Fig. 12 will fit in the guide tube 110, and can be propelled around the tube 110, for example in the arrangement illustrated in Fig. 10 or Fig. 11 without any excess stress.

Each link bar in this example is provided with a pair of apertures 144 on the top surface thereof, for receiving plastic shoes 146, which will in fact form the portion of the driving member which projects above the guide tube 110 and forms the drive band for the hangers or the like. Each shoe is essentially an elongate member and is provided on its base with a pin 148 for engaging pivotally in the apertures 144. The shoes can therefore pivot individually at least to a limited extent to enable the chain to traverse curved paths in horizontal plane. At one end, each shoe is provided with a projecting finger 150, whilst at the other end there is a slot 152 for receiving the finger 150 of the adjacent shoe. As shown in Fig. 13, when the shoes 146 are in position on the bar link, the finger 150 is located in the slot 152 so that a continuous surface 154 i formed, thereby enabling the hangers to slide freely thereon. The ends of the shoe are also curved as indicated by numerals 154 and 156 in Fig. 14, and the under surface 158 of each shoe is also slightly convex as shown clearly in Fig. 14. This shaping of the shoe is to enable relative tilting movements between shoes on adjacent link bars, for example as indicated in chain dotted lines by reference numeral 160 and 162 in Fig. 14.

Figure 15 is included to indicate that each finger 150 engages in the adjacent shoe with clearance to enable adjacent shoes on respective link bars to tilt in the longitudinal plane of the shoes as indicated by reference numeral 162, and the chain dotted lines. It is also to be noted from Fig. 15 that there is a clearance between the end of finger 150 and the base of slot 152 which will enable some expansion of the shoes without interferance. Also, it is to be mentioned that the curving of the ends of the shoes as indicated at 154 and 156 is to ensure that when adjacent shoes tilt as indicated by numeral 160 in Fig. 14, if a recess to the shoes develops such that a hanger drops into that recess, when the shoes return to the aligned position as shown in Fig. 13, the hanger will be pushed upwardly onto the continuously defined surface 154.

Reference is now made to Fig. 16 which shows that the top surface of the shoes is in fact made convex so that the overlapping region between respective shoes will provide minimum resistance to the sliding of the hanger 164 in Fig. 17 along the live band portion defined by the shoes.

The embodiment of the drive member illustrated in Figs. 12 to 17 is particularly advantageous as the drive member will be able to travel round corners in vertical and horizontal planes without the live band portion becoming interrupted. It is appreciated however that other constructions are possible.

For example the link bars as shown in Fig. 12 may be constructed so that adjacent bars are arranged at 90" to one another, and alternate bars have guide wheels, such as wheel 132 lying within the link band in a vertical plane, and universal joint coupling block may be used between the links.

Other forms of shoe construction may be used for defining the live band portion of the drive member.

The shoes may be for example knuckle jointed to provide the continuous support.

The feature of the Figs. 1 to 5 embodiments as illustrated in Fig. 5 may be used in conjunction with the drive member constructed according to Figs. 12 to 17 where, as illustrated in Figs. 10 and 11, the hangers are to be conveyed up inclined portions of the suspension system.

A considerable advantage of the present invention is that it requires no trolleys of any kind to operate effectively, nor does it require any overhead drive conveyor. The system is therefore space saving and economical.

Modifications may of course be made without departing from the scope of the invention. The drive member could be of different construction. It could be a continuous extrusion with the ends welded. The upper edge of the band could have notches to provide automatic separation of the hangers. This could be achieved for example by providing notches of spaced intervals, and a friction device which acts on the upper edge of the band to hold the hangers from advancing until a notch arrives under the hanger, when the hanger drops into the notch and then moves past the restraining device.

Claims (13)

1. A powered suspension system comprising an endless flexible drive member contained in a rigid guide tube and defining a path of travel, the drive member having a drive portion extending out of the guide tube for the driving of suspension units around at least a section of the path of travel, and drive means for driving the drive member around the path of travel,

2. A system according to Claim 1, wherein the guide tube has a slot in the top through which the drive portion extends.

3. A system according to Claim 1 or 2, wherein the drive member comprises a chain with universally coupled links and roller means which engage the inner durface of the guide tube.

4. A system according to Claim 3 wherein the chain links have apertures for receiving the teeth of a drive sprocket of said drive means.

5. A system according to claim 4 wherein the guide tube is cut away or absent where the drive sprocket engage the chain.

6. A system according to claims 3, 4 or 5, wherein said drive portion comprises a plurality of drive shoes which are carried by the said chain, the shoes jointly defining a deive support surface which can carry hangers, which lies outside the tube and which is in effect continuous over said path of travel.

7. A system according to claim 6, wherein said shoes are elongate, are arranged end to end and adjacent ends of adjacent shoes have overlapping portions so that the shoes remain overlapped even when the drive member passes round a curve of said endless path tending to cause the shoes to separate.

8. A system according to Claim 7, wherein the shoes are mounted individually on the chain, for pivotal movement about an axis lying at right angles to the chain length direction.

9. A system according to claim 7 or 8, wherein the adjacent ends of adjacent shoes comprise a single finger on one shoe lying between a pair of fingers on the other shoe.

10. A system according to claim 9, wherein in order to enable the adjacent shoes to tilt relative to one another from aligned relationship the said one finger fits with clearance between said pair of fingers.

11. A system according to any one of claims 6 to 10, wherein said shoes are of plastics material.

12. A system according to Claim 1, wherein the drive means comprises an endless band which is located in the guide rail but also projects therefrom to form said projecting portion.

13. A system according to Claim 12, wherein the band is a band of a synthetic plastics material and is generally rectangular in cross section with spaced slits for engagement of the teeth of a drive sprocket of the drive means and the band is disposed so that in cross section its long direction is upright, and a top narrower surface forms the support surface for the hangers or the like.