Article-rotating belt conveyor with differential roller zones
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conveyors struggle to align and orient articles of various sizes and shapes due to limited width, leading to jamming issues, requiring manual intervention and a need for a conveyor that can efficiently align and orient oversized articles.
Innovation Solution
A conveyor design featuring a carryway with a conveyor belt divided into regions with rollers oriented differently, allowing for distinct velocity components in the conveying direction, enabling the rotation and translation of articles by utilizing in-line, oblique, and transverse rollers to manage article orientation and movement.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If the major axis of an oversized article is oriented across the width of the conveyor, then the article can be conveyed, but the article can jam between the side walls of the conveyor
Solution Approach 1:
The conveyor system employs dynamically adjustable roller orientations and variable speed control across different zones. Rollers can change their rotation direction and velocity based on the position and orientation of articles, enabling the conveyor to adapt its configuration in real-time to prevent jamming while maintaining conveying capability.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes operational parameters including roller rotation direction, roller velocity, and zone speed differentials. By varying these parameters across different conveyor zones, the system can optimize article orientation and movement to prevent jamming between side walls while maintaining productive conveying.
2Reliability
If manual intervention is used to free jams, then the jam is resolved, but manual intervention is required which reduces efficiency
Solution Approach 1:
The conveyor system is designed to automatically detect and resolve jams without manual intervention. Through sensors that monitor article position and orientation, and control systems that automatically adjust roller velocities and orientations, the conveyor self-corrects orientation issues and prevents jam formation, maintaining continuous operation and high productivity.
3Adaptability or versatility
If a conveyor is designed to handle articles of various sizes and shapes, then versatility is improved, but alignment and orientation control becomes more difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The conveyor is divided into multiple independently controlled zones with different roller configurations and velocity settings. Each zone can be optimized for specific tasks such as initial positioning, rotation, or final alignment. This segmentation allows the system to handle diverse article types while maintaining precise control through localized adjustments rather than complex global control.
Data Source
AI summary
A conveyor (20) comprising at least one belt (22) defining an outer conveying surface divided into at least two laterally offset regions in which the rollers (50) in one region rotate in a first direction and the rollers (51) in a second region rotate in a second direction as the conveyor belt (22) advances in a conveying direction. The rollers (50, 51) rotate by rolling along roller-engagement surfaces (54) underlying the conveyor belt along a carryway. The rollers rotating in the first direction rotate with a velocity component in the conveying direction (32) different from the velocity component in the conveying direction of the rollers rotating in the second direction. An article positioned simultaneously atop rollers in both regions is rotated by the rotation of the rollers as the conveyor belt advances.