GB874843A - Improvements in or relating to conveyors for goods - Google Patents

Abstract

874,843. Overhead conveyers. FISHER & LUDLOW Ltd. April 30, 1958 [May 7, 1957], No. 14428/57. Class 104 (2). In a conveyer system comprising two mutually converging conveyer assemblies each consisting of a track supporting a chain provided with driving dogs and a track disposed below the chain track and supporting wheeled trolleys provided with driving abutments, the chain of one assembly adjacent the position of convergence between two trolley supporting tracks is caused to follow a locally curved path offset away from the trolley track of the other assembly so that the chain of one assembly associated with the offset track drivingly engages and disengages from the trolley of the other assembly to effect the transfer of trolleys from one conveyer assembly to the other. In the arrangement shown conveyers 10 and 11 comprise respectively upper driving chain supporting tracks 19 and 16 and lower loadcarrying trolley tracks 20 and 17. The trollies are propelled in known manner by dogs depending from the driving chain. The chain track 16 of the conveyer 11 terminates before the load-carrying trolley track 17 and a sprocket 18 engages the chain 16a as it leaves the track 16. The chain is supported by a track as it leaves sprocket 18 in its passage to another sprocket, Fig. 1 (not shown). The chain track 19 of the conveyer 10 is cranked outwardly at a position adjacent the sprocket 18 so that at this position the chains associated with tracks 16 and 19 will advance in horizontal spaced relationship. The inner sides of the trolley supporting tracks 17 and 20 are inter-connected by a 90 degrees arcuate portion 22 set out from a point 24, Fig. 3, offset from the centre 23 of the sprocket 18. The tracks 17 and 22 are also inter-connected by a portion. 25 joined to the outer side of the trolley track 17. A switch tongue 26, mounted on a vertical spindle 27 and normally held by a spring 33 in a position in which its free end enters a recess 31 in the track 22 and moved to the position shown in Fig. 2 by manual or solenoid 32 operation, completes the connection between the two conveyers 10, 11. The driving dogs on the driving chain of conveyer 11 engage laterally extending bars on each trolley to propel the trolleys towards the junction of the conveyers 10, 11 and as the trolleys pass over the junction the driving chain of the conveyer 11 passes around the sprocket 18 and out of driving engagement with the trolleys and at the same time, at the position where the driving chains are horizontally spaced, the driving chain of the conveyer 10 takes up the drive to propel the trolleys along conveyer 10. When the trolley passes the switch tongue 26 the tongue 26 is automatically moved to the position shown in Fig. 2. A succeeding trolley, passing along the track 20 of the conveyer 10, moves the tongue 26 over so that its free end engages the recess 31. If the conveyers 10, 11 are operated in the reverse direction and the trolleys are to be diverted from conveyer 10 to conveyer 11, the switch tongue 26 will be moved or held in the position shown in Fig. 2 by the solenoid 32 and the trolley drive will be changed over from the driving chain of conveyer 10 to that of conveyer 11 at the point where the chains are horizontally spaced. Specification 819,343 is referred to.