Three-dimensional conveyer

Abstract

A three-dimensional conveyor is provided which can be curved in a small curvature even with a wide top plate unit for forming a conveyance face and can be moved in three-dimensional directions, vertically, laterally, or slantingly, and which is turnable around the conveyance direction axis. The three-dimensional conveyor has top plate units connected by couplers. The respective top plate unit has two ball-holding cavities at the front portion and the rear portion thereof for holding terminal balls of the coupler, as the joints. The terminal balls are fit loosely into the ball-holding cavities non-detachably, so that the top plate units can be slanted freely within a prescribed angle range. Further, the top plate units have respectively an engaging portion on each side of the ball-holding cavity on the bottom face of the top plate units to engage with a standardized sprocket to be driven by the rotating driving force the sprocket in a desired direction, vertically or horizontally.

Description

technical field [0001] The present invention relates to a three-dimensional conveyor capable of effectively arranging transmission lines in a two-dimensional or three-dimensional direction with a high degree of freedom of arrangement in a small space. The direction of the conveying line for containers and the like or the like is to make a U-turn with a small curvature or go up or down on multiple circulation steps in a small space. Background technique [0002] A variety of conveyors for conveying items in three dimensions have been disclosed. For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2001-139121 discloses a chain structure for a three-dimensional conveyor line. Japanese patent Kohyo 2001-517591 (published by Japanese translation of PCT application) discloses a chain conveyor system. [0003] The chain structure disclosed in the above-mentioned Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2001-139121 is composed of a top tray for transporting articles thereon and...

AI Technical Summary

Problems solved by technology

[0006] Therefore, a conveyor chain line with a large top plate for conveying large items cannot be bent at a small radius of curvature, and installing such a conveyor chain requires a large area, which is also inconvenient

[0007] In addition, on the return journey of the cycle, the top plate of the above-mentioned known conveyor is necessarily inverted, since the conveying surface is twisted up and down, so that the conveyor can only be used in one direction, and the return stroke cannot be used for conveying items

[0008] Moreover, any conventional conveyor using a chain can only be driven by a special sprocket with a structure specially designed for that chain only: the general sprockets for roller chains conforming to JIS or ISO standards are in this is not applicable

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