Conveyor belt formed by a plurality of hair brushes

Abstract

The bristle brush comprises a support plate (1) and a plurality of flexible bristles (2) emerging from one of the faces of the support plate (1), the ends of the bristles (2) furthest from the support plate (1) defining a support surface intended to receive parts to be conveyed and / or cut. The support plate (1) comprises a leading edge (11) and a trailing edge (12), the leading edge (11) and the trailing edge (12) comprising complementary shapes, which allows the conveyor belt formed by the brush to have a very small turning radius.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a modular bristle brush, and more particularly to a bristle brush that can form a uniform base such as an endless conveyor belt by joining a plurality of such brushes.

Background Art

[0002] Currently, there are known brushes that form a movable surface by an endless conveyor belt when properly fixed to a series of mechanical elements.

[0003] The above conveyor belt is used in various industrial fields for the transportation and / or handling of elements that need to be lifted or elements that should not come into contact with hard or continuous surfaces.

[0004] There are brushes in which a plurality of bristles are mechanically fixed to a support plate, and a plurality of brushes are connected to form a large surface or a conveyor belt.

[0005] This system has several drawbacks, such as manufacturing cost (fixing the bristles to the support plate), weight (the support plate has to be thickened to properly fix the bristles), and the power required to move the conveyor belt (the greater the weight, the greater the required power).

[0006] An example of this type of brush is described in Patent Document 1. This is a plastic modular self-engaging bristle brush, and includes a pair of opposing guides and a set of runners including self-centering ends protruding from around the brush. It is described that the runners are distributed such that the ends of consecutive brush runners can fit together by overlapping each other.

[0007] Furthermore, the runner includes, at its guide and self-centering edge, articulation means between successive brushes for self-engagement of the runner, changing the set of a plurality of brushes to a cutting base, leaving material thereon, enabling its handling, cutting, die-cutting, etc., thereby forming an endless conveyor belt.

[0008] Preferably, the hair modules formed by injection, molding, or 3D printing are manufactured from different materials of different hardnesses for various applications such as cutting, handling, or conveyance on an endless belt.

[0009] Initially, the material of the hair brush was a relatively hard plastic, and a specific radius of rotation was required to rotate the conveyor belt, generally larger than 150 mm. For cutting and subsequent handling applications, a highly flexible material has been selected, making handling easier and more comfortable, and at the same time, due to the bendability of the base, the radius of rotation can be made very small, down to a minimum of 30 mm.

[0010] The design described in this document has the drawback that when the modules are joined by a single axis, the axis has to withstand all stresses, resulting in a slight separation between the modules in the running direction of the belt. This has little effect on the operation, but it would be better to be improved from the viewpoints of durability and aesthetics.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0011]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0012] Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a hair brush that is highly flexible and enables a conveyor belt to have a very small radius of rotation.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0013] The above-mentioned drawbacks are solved by the hair brush of the present invention. Other advantages will be described below.

[0014] The hair brush according to the present invention includes a support plate and a plurality of flexible hairs extending from one of the surfaces of the support plate. The support plate includes a connecting element, and the end of the hair farthest from the support plate defines a support surface intended to receive a part to be conveyed and / or cut or handled. The support plate includes a front edge and a rear edge, and the front edge and the rear edge have complementary shapes (for example, including complementary concave and convex portions), or the support plate includes a polygonal shape (for example, hexagonal), thereby enabling a plurality of brushes to be combined in a staggered or interspersed manner.

[0015] Due to the shape of the hair brush as described above, a uniform transition can be obtained when passing over a gear or roller forming a conveyor belt, particularly during movement at the end of the conveyor belt when changing direction. This is because the flexible material tends to yield slightly in the shaft region where a small separation occurs between the brushes.

[0016] Furthermore, in the hair brush, the support plate also includes a connecting element.

[0017] According to the first embodiment, the connecting element is an anchor provided with a longitudinal hole. This longitudinal hole is for arranging a tie and a towing rod.

[0018] Preferably, the anchors are associated in pairs, and the longitudinal holes of the anchors define two longitudinal axes on the front edge and two longitudinal axes on the rear edge, each of which is for a corresponding traction rod.

[0019] In this way, a more uniform and micro-separation-free visual transition of the shaft direction change is achieved, and a better distribution of tensile stress is achieved by being divided between two traction rods longitudinally inserted between the brushes in each joint region.

[0020] According to another embodiment, the brush may not necessarily be square and may be in the shape of a polygon having any number of faces. When using a hexagonal shape, the brushes have a regular equidistant distribution on the traction shaft.

[0021] Furthermore, according to one embodiment, the support plate includes a plurality of notches on the surface opposite to the flexible hairs.

[0022] According to the second embodiment, the connecting element is a flange that fits into a complementary housing.

[0023] According to this embodiment, the flange is preferably disposed on the convex portion of the support plate, and the housing is disposed in the concave portion of the support plate.

[0024] Furthermore, according to this embodiment, the surface of the support plate opposite to the flexible hairs is smooth, and the opposite surface includes an adhesive substrate.

[0025] This smooth support plate can be used especially when the end of the conveyor belt is a cylinder without steps or pull notches, and is generally used for belts that move faster and do not require precise positioning.

[0026] Moreover, this can also be a system that can adapt or conform the traction to specific or standard modules in the industry, in which case a standardized pull pinion is used as required.

[0027] Preferably, the adhesive substrate is covered by a protective sheet before its first use, and this protective sheet is removed to fix the support plate.

[0028] According to a preferred embodiment, each convex portion of the front edge and the rear edge of the support plate is formed by a straight central portion and two straight side portions arranged vertically or at any other arbitrary oblique angle.

[0029] According to a second aspect, the present invention also relates to a conveyor belt formed by a plurality of hair brushes as described above. The brushes are alternately joined to each other due to the complementary shapes of the front edge and the rear edge.

[0030] In these different embodiments, the lower surface of the support plate of the hair brush is attempting to adapt a conventional belt made of a laminated material. Therefore, the hair brush has a hair surface that enables the use of a robotic system. Also, this surface is incorporated into static work and handling surfaces, and in operations that require handling of elements or materials (such as cutting, die-cutting, linear objects, organic materials, compact and low-height flat elements, etc.) at a lower position, and also in operations where collection must be rapid and preferably performed at a lower position, physical contact between the hand and the hard surface of the support or the robotic surface can be avoided, thus improving productivity.

[0031] The advantage of using a hair brush instead of a smooth belt as the material conveying surface is that the material placed on the brush is substantially floating, enabling handling that was not possible with automation or robots, or that had to be done using clamps or complex designs. This is because the handler or robot tool can penetrate the hair and access from below the hair.

[0032] This function greatly simplifies the design of robot clamps and enables "gravital picking" that does not require vacuum or advanced operations. Also, this function enables multiple collection "multipicking" and reduces the robot's movement by enabling it to carry different objects or different amounts in one identical movement.

[0033] Also, this design is very useful for the collaborative work between a robot or cobot (collaborative robot) and a human. For this purpose and to enable comfortable work, the hair design is completed to finally obtain a hemispherical or conical surface. This makes the interaction with the operator's or robot's hand more comfortable and enables more reliable use of available tools such as blades, drills, or dies.

[0034] This enables the hand to be used smoothly and improves the durability of mechanical elements (such as blades, or cutting with another material like clamps, or robot / cobot attachments) in the cutting or handling process by enabling a more smooth and less collisional progressive penetration.

[0035] In some cases, it is also possible to inject the module into one or more materials and combine their properties. In this method, the hairbrush can be injected by combining a stiffer and more resistant polymer for the anchor area to improve the mechanical performance of the brush, and a softer and smoother polymer for the rest of the base and the hair to improve the bending property of the base and the feel of the hair during rotation. Considering their simplicity, versatility, and economic cost compared to other methods, these injection modules are very useful.

[0036] To better understand the above content, several drawings are attached. In the drawings, the actual embodiments are schematically shown as merely non-limiting examples.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0037]

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

Figure 4

Figure 5

Figure 6

Figure 7

Figure 8

Figure 9

Figure 10

Modes for Carrying Out the Invention

[0038] Figures 1 to 4 show a first embodiment of a hairbrush according to the present invention. The hairbrush includes a support plate 1, and a plurality of flexible hairs 2 extend from the support plate 1 (specifically, from the upper surface of the support plate 1).

[0039] The support plate 1 defines four edges, namely, a front edge 11, a rear edge 12, and two side edges 13. The front edge 11 and the rear edge 12 include complementary recesses and protrusions. The protrusions are, for example, trapezoidal in shape, defining a straight central portion and two straight side portions that also form an oblique angle.

[0040] The support plate 1 further includes connecting elements (including anchors 3 (fasteners) in this embodiment), and each of the anchors 3 includes a longitudinal hole for arranging a traction rod.

[0041] The anchors 3 are associated in pairs so as to define two longitudinal shafts for corresponding traction rods. Two of these traction rods (not shown) are arranged on the front edge 11, and two traction rods are arranged on the rear edge 12.

[0042] The anchors 3 are not essential but are preferably made of a material harder than the support plate 1 and the flexible hairs 2, for example, a harder polymer. This feature is shown in FIG. 4 with the anchors 3 in a darker color than the support plate 1 and the flexible hairs 2.

[0043] The support plate 1 includes a plurality of notches 14 on its lower surface. This is to enable the traction of the support plate 1 by a gear (not shown) when using a plurality of brushes according to the present invention as a conveyor belt.

[0044] FIG. 3 shows how a plurality of brushes are combined using complementary recesses and protrusions according to the present invention, and the brushes are combined either scattered or alternately.

[0045] FIGS. 5 and 6 show a second embodiment of the hairbrush according to the present invention.

[0046] For the sake of simplicity, in this second embodiment, features common to the first embodiment will not be described, and identical or similar elements are denoted by the same reference numerals.

[0047] This second embodiment differs from the first embodiment in that the lower surface of the support plate is smooth and the support plate includes an adhesive substrate 15 covered by a protective sheet 16 before being fixed to the surface.

[0048] Furthermore, in this second embodiment, the connecting element is a flange 4 housed in a complementary housing 5. As can be seen in FIGS. 5 and 6, the flange 4 is preferably disposed on a convex portion, while the housing 5 is preferably disposed on a concave portion.

[0049] FIG. 7 shows a part of the conveyor belt according to the present invention formed by a plurality of hair brushes, and it is shown that a small radius of rotation can be achieved thanks to the flexibility of the brush material, particularly the support plate 1.

[0050] FIGS. 8 and 9 show a third embodiment of the hair brush according to the present invention.

[0051] In this third embodiment, the support plate 1 has a hexagonal shape, and a plurality of brushes are alternately arranged (FIG. 9), for example, by one anchor 3 on the front edge 11 of the support plate 1 and two anchors 3 on the rear edge 12 of the support plate 1.

[0052] Although specific embodiments of the present invention have been referred to, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that numerous variations and modifications can be made to the described hair brush without departing from the scope of protection defined by the appended claims, and that all the details described above can be replaced by other technical equivalents.

Explanation of Reference Numerals

[0053] 1 Support plate 2 Hair 3 Anchor 4 Flange 5 Complementary housing 11 Leading edge 12 Trailing edge 13 Side edge 14 Notch 15 Adhesive substrate 16 Protective sheet

Claims

1. A support plate (1), A plurality of flexible hairs (2) extending from one of the surfaces of the support plate (1), A conveyor belt formed by joining a plurality of hair brushes each comprising the above, The end of the hair (2) furthest from the support plate (1) defines a support surface intended to receive the parts to be conveyed and / or cut, The support plate (1) includes a leading edge (11) and a trailing edge (12), The leading edge (11) and the trailing edge (12) define complementary shapes, The surface of the support plate (1) opposite to the flexible hair (2) is smooth, and the opposite surface includes an adhesive substrate (15). A conveyor belt characterized by this.

2. The support plate (1) includes connecting elements (3, 4), The conveyor belt according to claim 1.

3. The connecting element is an anchor (3) provided with a longitudinal hole, or a flange (4) fitted into a complementary housing (5), The conveyor belt according to claim 2.

4. The anchors (3) are associated in pairs, The longitudinal holes of the anchors define two longitudinal shafts on the leading edge (11) and two longitudinal shafts on the trailing edge (12), The conveyor belt according to claim 3.

5. The support plate (1) includes a plurality of notches (14) on the surface opposite to the flexible hair (2), The conveyor belt according to claim 1.

6. The flange (4) is arranged on the convex part of the support plate (1), and the housing (5) is arranged on the concave part of the support plate (1), The conveyor belt according to claim 3.

7. The upper surface of the plurality of flexible hairs (2) is a hemispherical or conical surface. The conveyor belt according to claim 1.

8. The adhesive base material (15) is covered by a protective sheet (16) before its first use. The conveyor belt according to claim 1.

9. The hair brush is made of a single piece. The conveyor belt according to claim 1.

10. The hair brush is made of a polymer. The conveyor belt according to claim 1.

11. The anchor (3) is made of a material harder than the materials of the support plate (1) and the flexible hair (2). The conveyor belt according to claim 3.

12. Each convex portion of the front edge (11) and the rear edge (12) of the support plate (1) is formed by a straight central portion and two straight side portions forming an oblique angle. The conveyor belt according to claim 1.

13. A plurality of the hair brushes are formed by being joined alternately. The conveyor belt according to any one of claims 1 to 12.

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