Trolley for a transport rail, especially for transporting laundry

Abstract

Trolley (1) for a transport rail, in particular for transporting laundry, with a support (2), with rollers (5, 6) mounted on the support (2) for rolling along the transport rail, with a holding element (8) arranged on the support (2), in particular for holding the laundry, and with a code carrier (9, 10) arranged on the support (2), characterized in that the code carrier (9, 10) is positively connected to the support (2).

Description

The invention relates to a trolley for a transport rail, in particular for transporting laundry, with a carrier, with rollers mounted on the carrier for rolling along the transport rail, with a holding element arranged on the carrier, in particular for holding the laundry, and with a code carrier arranged on the carrier. A suspended conveyor for clothes hangers with a carriage is known from DE 199 57 852 A1. The carriage has a label with a machine-readable code. A reading head for the code is arranged under a rail of the suspended conveyor, and its signals are transmitted to a control device. A locking bar is controlled by these signals. Labels are usually affixed by adhesive. The code can only be updated by laboriously removing the label from the carriage. A cleaning bath required to remove the label would damage the carriage's components. Furthermore, a trolley has come to light in practice where a code carrier, made of sheet metal, is welded to the trolley. However, the welds compromise the trolley's stability. Removing the code carrier to update the code is only possible with considerable effort. However, it is often desirable to update codes with minimal effort. One could consider, for example, affixing an updated label to an expired one on a familiar overhead conveyor, or removing the adhesive bond of the label. However, this would result in a very high level of effort. The invention is based on the problem of further developing a trolley of the type mentioned above in such a way that it allows for a simple update of the code. This problem is solved according to the invention by connecting the code carrier to the carrier in a form-fitting or force-fitting manner. This design allows the code carrier to be detachably and interchangeably attached to the trolley. This makes updating the code particularly easy. If the code is printed on a label, the code carrier can be easily replaced along with the label. Thanks to the invention, the trolley can be used both with and without the code carrier. Another advantage of the invention is that the code can be designed in virtually any way. For example, the code can be a barcode, a grid pattern, an RFID chip, or the like. The trolley according to the invention can therefore be mass-produced as a standard component, and the code carrier can be adapted to the intended application. This results in a particularly cost-effective trolley for various applications. According to another advantageous embodiment of the invention, further simplifying the interchangeability of the code carrier is achieved by screwing the code carrier to the trolley. It is particularly advantageous if existing threads in the trolley are used for this purpose. This allows the code carrier to be easily retrofitted to existing trolleys. According to another advantageous embodiment of the invention, loads can be easily kept away from the screw connection if the code carrier is positively supported transversely to an axis of the screw connection. With this design, a single screw connection is sufficient for fastening the code carrier, since the positive support prevents the code carrier from rotating relative to the carrier. According to another advantageous embodiment of the invention, further simplifying the interchangeability of the code carrier is achieved if the code carrier is clamped to the carrier. According to another advantageous embodiment of the invention, the code carrier can be manufactured and recycled particularly cost-effectively if it is made of sheet metal. Furthermore, this gives the code carrier exceptionally high stability and makes it easy to store. A sheet thickness of approximately 2 mm is sufficient for adequate stability in a laundry environment. According to another advantageous embodiment of the invention, a positive-locking retention of the code carrier in its plane is particularly simple in terms of construction if the code carrier has two bends and overlaps the carrier with the bends on opposite sides. According to another advantageous embodiment of the invention, particularly good readability of the code carrier can be ensured if the code carrier projects beyond the carrier in the direction of the holding element. This also allows the code carrier to have a particularly large surface area without protruding into the area of ​​the transport rail. According to another advantageous embodiment of the invention, the code carrier can be easily read if the carrier is bent in a U-shape, has an inwardly projecting roller on each of the opposing legs, and if a code carrier is arranged on each of the legs. The invention allows for numerous embodiments. To further illustrate its basic principle, one of these is shown in the drawing and described below. Fig. 1 shows a perspective view of a trolley, Fig. 2 a side view of the trolley from Fig. 1, and Fig. 3 a sectional view through the trolley from Fig. 2 along line III-III. Fig. 1 shows a trolley 1 for transporting laundry (not shown) in a laundry facility, with a U-shaped support 2. Two radially inward-projecting rollers 5, 6 are mounted on two legs 3, 4 of the support 2 for rolling along a transport rail (not shown). A base 7 of the support 2 holds a retaining element 8. A transport bracket for the laundry (not shown) can be attached to the retaining element 8. Code carriers 9, 10 are detachably connected to the legs 3, 4 on both sides of the support 2. The code carriers 9, 10 carry, by way of example, a barcode 11 and are identical in construction. The code carriers 9, 10 have two angled sections 12, 13 with which they laterally grip the carrier 2. The angled sections 12, 13 clamp the code carriers to the carrier 2. Furthermore, the code carriers 9, 10 are each screwed to the trolley 1 by a screw 14, 15. The screw 15 of the second code carrier 10 is shown in Fig. 3. The code carriers 9, 10 project beyond the base 7 of the carrier 2 in the direction of the retaining element 8. Fig. 2 shows a side view of the trolley 1 with one of the code carriers 9. It can be seen that the angled sections 12, 13 of the code carrier 9 encompass the carrier 2 externally. One axis of the screw 14 runs perpendicular to the plane of the drawing, so that the angled sections 12, 13 support the code carrier 9 transversely to the axis in a form-fitting manner. Fig. 3 shows a sectional view through trolley 1 from Fig. 2 along line III-III, revealing that the code carrier 9, apart from the angled sections 12 and 13, is manufactured as a flat sheet metal part. In the illustrated embodiment, the code carriers 9 are screwed to the carrier 2 at the points where screw threads are already present. QUOTES INCLUDED IN THE DESCRIPTION This list of documents cited by the applicant was automatically generated and is included solely for the reader's convenience. The list is not part of the German patent or utility model application. The DPMA accepts no liability for any errors or omissions. Cited patent literature DE 199 57 852 A1

[0002]

Claims

Trolley (1) for a transport rail, in particular for transporting laundry, with a support (2), with rollers (5, 6) mounted on the support (2) for rolling along the transport rail, with a holding element (8) arranged on the support (2), in particular for holding the laundry, and with a code carrier (9, 10) arranged on the support (2), characterized in that the code carrier (9, 10) is positively connected to the support (2). Trolley according to claim 1, characterized in that the code carrier (9, 10) is screwed to the carrier (2). Trolley according to claim 2, characterized in that the code carrier (9, 10) is positively supported transversely to an axis of the screw connection. Trolley according to at least one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the code carrier (9, 10) is clamped to the carrier (2). Trolley according to at least one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the code carrier (9, 10) is made of sheet metal. Trolley according to at least one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the code carrier (9, 10) has two bends (12, 13) and overlaps the carrier (2) with the bends (12, 13) on opposite sides. Trolley according to at least one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that the code carrier (9, 10) projects beyond the carrier (2) in the direction of the retaining element (8). Trolley according to at least one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that the carrier (2) is bent in a U-shape, has an inwardly projecting roller (5, 6) on each of opposing legs (3, 4) and that a code carrier (9, 10) is arranged on each of the legs (3, 4).

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