Articulated Package Stream Indexer with Dynamic Reorientation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing package stream indexers are complex, costly, and inflexible, requiring significant rearrangement for alternative conveying arrays, as they often rely on fixed curved conveyors with large radii and multiple sections for directional changes within a package handling system.
Innovation Solution
A package stream indexer device with articulated tracks and pressure wheels that allows dynamic movement and reorientation of packages within a stream plane, enabling 90-degree rotations and flexible path adjustments using displaceable conveyors and motor-driven rollers, reducing maintenance and installation costs.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If fixed curved conveyors with large radius are used to change stream direction, then packages can be conveyed along a curved path, but the device complexity and space requirements increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies dynamics by replacing fixed curved conveyors with a dynamic articulated track system. The track consists of multiple independently movable links that can be positioned at different angles to create various curvature profiles. This allows the same physical structure to adapt to different stream direction requirements without requiring multiple fixed conveyor configurations, thereby reducing device complexity while maintaining versatility.
Solution Approach 2:
The conveyor system is segmented into multiple articulated links that can move independently. Each link can be positioned to contribute to the overall curvature needed for stream direction change. This segmentation allows the system to achieve complex curved paths using simple, modular components rather than requiring a single complex fixed conveyor structure.
2Adaptability or versatility
If multiple successive removable sections are used to achieve different curve angles, then stream direction flexibility improves, but the cost and maintenance requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The articulated track design creates a universal structure where the same set of links can generate multiple different curve angles and paths by varying their relative positions. Rather than manufacturing multiple specialized conveyor sections for different curve angles, a single multi-functional articulated track system handles all directional change requirements, reducing manufacturing complexity and maintenance needs.
3Ease of manufacture
If fixed conveyors are used for package stream indexing, then the structure is simple, but the flexibility for alternative conveying arrays is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The system maintains structural simplicity through the use of identical, repeatable articulated link modules. Each link has the same basic construction, keeping individual component complexity low. However, the dynamic ability to reposition these simple modules creates flexible conveying arrays that can be reconfigured for different operational requirements, achieving both simplicity and adaptability.
4Adaptability or versatility
If articulated tracks with dynamic movement are used, then conveying array flexibility improves, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The complex function of dynamic reconfiguration is segmented into simple, identical modular links. Each link performs a basic function of supporting and guiding packages, while the collective arrangement of these segments creates the complex flexible behavior. This segmentation reduces the complexity of individual components even as the overall system gains reconfigurability.
Data Source
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AI summary
A package stream indexer device (1) for indexing a stream (S) of packages (P) being displaced thereon within a stream plane includes a first articulated track (24) with live rollers (28) and a second articulated track (50) with depending pressure wheels (58) for maintaining packages (P) in contact with the first track (24) and within the package path defined there between within the stream plane. The first and second articulated tracks (24, 50) are each composed of a plurality of interconnected links (26, 52) frictionally engaged together to allow adjustment in track orientation from one set position to another by means of dynamic movement on the track (24, 50).