Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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FREI)~NllA~,EN ~C
Spren-llinger L~n-lsLras.se 18l
6050 Oflenhacl
Uescri.ption
~lethod and Means lol~ the rl(:)velllellt o~ loads
I
The inverltion re].ates to a metllorl for the movellletlt of lo~ds along a
belt conveyor comprisi.rlg a hea(l roller, a t.ake-up roller to adjust
helt tension, as well as rel:urn idler rollers arld a profiled be.lt
reciprocally enga~ed with the l.atter, said belt being provi.ded with
profiles di.sposed across the belt eclge areas and said profiles being
spaced apart, and means used lllore particular1.y for imf)lelllentillg said
metho~.
A belt conveyor may be desiglled such that ldler ro]lers are fastenecl
to a frame, for example made of structurtll shspes or tubes, and that
rubber or plastic conveyor belt Eeatur:i.ng higtl-terlsile-stress inserts
is placed Otl thelll. The Carryl.llg L`UII i5 0~ flat cross-section to carry
uniti~.e(l l.oads sucl as aulonlol)ile parts or car bo-lies~ ~t tlle l-ead and
tail encls of t~le conveyor tlle belt is guLdecl by belt drwlls~ The helt
is also movecl to rub against head ro].lers an(-l is pre-t.ensionecl by a
l)elt take-up~
Belt conveyors oE this type can be used as an alternative to chain
conveyors whi.cll, due to tlle polygorl effect, llave the disa~vantage t:llat
their ma~i.mum speeds may l)e in the order of up to 30 m/min, while belt
conveyors allow far higher speeds.
In orcler to train the belt to run true and to keep it in accurate
position, said belt may be designed as a belt having profiles
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ullderlleath~ sucll ploriles being posit-i.vel,y engage~, in accorclance Witll
the st.ate o~ the art,, witll profil.es d-isposed on the head rollers or
take-up rol.lers and on the snub pulleys. ~elt conveyors laid out in
thi.s manner pe~ pee(ls -in che order of up to 120 mlmi.n atld
acceleraLi.ons in the order of 1.5 m/sec .
When belt corlveyors were rull at sucll hi~l speeds or acce~erat.ions, it
was found that i.n carrying heavy loads ohjection3ble noise developed
whicll made operatioll unacceptable. Also, at high speeds the profiled
belt starts to vibrate such that loads weighing one or several tons
may slip si.deways on the profi.led belts. The result is, especially in
aut.omatic procluctlon processes, that the lo~d Call no longer be
accur~tely positi.oned.
The ohjecL oE the present. invention is to improve a method and means
oE the type describe(1 above so that the load may be moved at high
speeds or at hi.gh acceleratiolls, eliminaCing objectionable noise or
preventing the profi.led belc from vibrati.llg that may lead to sideways
s~i.ppnge of the ].oad.
The task is subs-allt:ia].:l.y so1.ved through a method cllaracterized in
that the loads are fully support.ed by the regions between the pro~iles
of the bel.t, sa;.d regions being flat osl the underside of the
belt. Compal~e-l to the state of the art., it follows that the entire
helt width is no longer needed as a loacl supporting area, but only
such region as is not positively engaged with the head rollers and
take-up rollers or the îdler rol'lers.
In another notable emhodiDIerlt. clesignecl by the inventor provision is
made such that the profiling of the belt is positively engaged only
wi.th the head roller and that said prof'.ling fu1.1y mates with the
take-up roller ancl the idler rollers. This measure, more particularly
in combination with the load being supported only itl the region from
which profiling is absent, permits the movement oE loads at high
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speeds or acceler.~tions, willlotlt objectionahle noise and without the
profiled belt starting to vibrate. Loa-ls moved by the method according
to the inventioll may tllerefore be eonveyc!d with lligh precisi~n and at
hi~ll speed, for ex;~ le, t-~ WOL'k sta~ions, e.limillating ~:he need for
reacljustment o:r inspection of belt position. ThereEore, use in
automatic processing li.nes presents no problems.
A belt conveyor comprisillg a head rl~ller, 8 take-up roller to adjust
belt tension, as well as return idler rollers and a profiled belt
reciprocally engaged with the lntter, said belt havin2 profiles
disposed across the belt edge areas and saicl proFi.les being spaced
apart, is charact.eri~.ed in that the load is supported within the belt
region e~isting l~etween tlle profiled bel.t edge areas, witll the
un(lerside of the pL~oFile-l be].t beirlg flat in thi.s region.
In contrast to the known profi.le-l belts, t.he load supporting region
lies entirely outside the profiles, with the underside of the belt
being flat in thi.s region. Accorcling to the state of the art, this
region is provided with ramp-shaped projections servi.ng as bel.t
guides. The measures according to the invention wi.l]. safeguarcl that
the belt conveyor can be run at high speects, without objectionable
noise or vibrations.
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In embodyill~ the invent:ic-ll, provls:Lon has been made to see that the
flat reeion is reciprocally engaged with the take-up roller ancl the
idler rollers, while the profiling is spaced apart from the latter.
This is a supplementary measure to reduce the levels of noise and
vibration. Drive of the profi.led belt is also exclusively by positive
engagement of the profiles disposed on belt and head roller.
Provision is made in another embodiment of the invention to have the
head roller rnade up by two gear disks and a hollow cylinder providing
support of the flat portion of the profiled belt, said cylinder
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heing preferably srratlgel:l betweell the gear rlislts. Thi.s measure has the
aclvanlage that i(Jentical. gear disks may be used for profiled belts of
diErerent widths anrl t:hat onl.y the ho]l-,w cylinder must be replaced to
Eit its wicl~:h t-o tbal of the Elat port:i~n ,r the proEiled belt.
Provision is also made to see that the head roller a~d/or the idler
rollers are made up of two outer clisks and a replaceable cylinder
memher received by sai-l disks, whelein the out.er diameter oE the
cylinder members e~ceecls that of each disk by an amount that is
greater than the hei.gllt oE belt profile.
0tller details, advantages, an~ characteristics o~ the present
invention will become apparcnt not only Erom the claims and the
characteristics described therein - either alone andlor in
combination -, but also from the following descriptiotl of a preferred
embodiment il.lustrated in the accolllpanyi.ng clrawing:
IG. l is purely schematic diagram showing a conveyor section
nlade up oE belt conveyors;
IG. 2 is a sectional view of a proElled belt;
IG. 3 is a l)ottOIll view oE the proEile(l belt as shown ln Fig. 2;
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FIG. 4 is a detailed view o~ a llea{l roller; and
FIG. 5 is a detailed view oE an idler roller.
FIG. l is a sectional view oE a conveyor line comprising a number oflined-up belt conveyors (10) used also to move loads, not shown, such
as automobile parts or car bodies, on carrier means. Each belt
conveyor comprises arl en-lless proflled belt (12) movecl on idler
rol]ers (14) and over a head drum or head roller (18) and a take-up
roller (18). As mentioned before, the conveyor belt (12) is
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a profiled belt as sh()wn in I~IGS. 2 and 3 to illustrate the various
characteristics. The profil.ecl belt (12) may consist, for e~xample, of
polyul-ethane provifle-l will~ steel. c~rd i.nserts (20), and on its
underside has a profiJ.ing in tl)e e-lge areas ~22) alld (24), and said
profi].ing may be oE Crapezoi.clal shape. In FIG. 3, the individual
profi].es carry the reference numerals (26), (28), (30) and (32) by way
of e~ample. Situated between the edge areas (22) ancl (24) is a flat
region (34) without any projections, said region fu]ly supporting the
material to be conveyed. In other worrls, the ].oads are supported by
the upper sicle opposite t:o region (36).
In conl.r~st to the fitate oE t.lle art, the region (34) of the proEiled
belt (12), that is, the unprofiled region, is p~sil:ive].y engagecl with
the idler rollers (14) and Witll the take-up rollers (18). This implies
tllat the proEiling is spaced apart from the mating surfaces of the
rollers (14) and (18). This is also illustrate(l in FI(,. 5 wllich is a
diagram show~ an idl.er roller (14) Said idler roller consists of
two outer smooth-surfaced clisks (38) and (bO), which between them have
a replaceable smooth-surfaced di.sk (42), wherein tl~e surface of disk
(42) serves as a supporting surface for region (34) of the profilecl
belt. The difference between the diameters of the midclle disk (42) and
those of the out.er disks (38) and (40) has been so selected thst the
profiles (26), (28), (30) and (32) wlll not be in contact with the
outer disks (38) ancl (40). The profilecl belt (12) may be guided by the
steps (44) and (46) clisposed between the disks (40) and (46) or (38)
and (42), said steps capab].e of being positivel.y engaged with the
inner faces oE the profiles (26), (28), (30) and (32). There is
naturally no need of employing multi-part idler rollers (14) or
take-up rollers (18). Instead, onc-piece rollers may be used having a
geometry as shown in FI~. 5.
If the idler rollers (14) or the take-up ro].ler (18~ are positively
engaged only in the region (34) of the profiled belt (12), the
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profiles (26), (28), (30) and (32) will mate with adequately designed
gear rims (48) and (~0) of the heacl roller (16). Tlle gear rims od gear
llisks (~,8) allrl (50), SUCII as tllose indicateA in FIG. l" receive a
hollow cy].inder memher (52), whose free surEace is ~)ositively engagecl
with t.he regiotl ~34) of thc profiled belt. Suitable design of the head
roller (].6) ensu1es a non-s].ip drive, wich conveying speeds attainAble
in the order oE 1.20 m/min, wlliLe accelerations may be in the order oE
1.5 mlsec . The head rol1ers oE consecutive belt conveyors (lO) may
have a common (-Irive t:o pelmit continuolls loa-l transfer.
As is further to l)e illu6trllted in FIC. b, the repl~ceaille hollow
cylincler section (52) i.s rece;.ved hy the gear lisks (48) and (50).
Steps, not. shown in detail, have a support functi.on. The
replaceabi.lity has the advantage that, with uncllallge-l gear rlisks (48)
and (50), the hollow cylincler inserts (52) may be difEerentl.y sized
so that there will be no problem in USillg tllem 011 profiled be].ts oE
rliEferent widths.
It wi]l also be seen t.hat the elfect:ive 8enr width of the gear disks
(b8) and (S0) varies in order to pe1mit positive engagement, for
example, with profilecl bell;s feat~ring an asymmetric clesign of the
proEiles (28) (28) or (30), (32)~ This impli.es that, for example,
wldtll n of the profiles (26) and (28) diEEers froln width C of the
proEiles (30) and (32).
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