Conveyer Orientation Control via Rotating Mediator
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional transport conveyers experience orientation deviations of articles when transitioning from an upstream circular-arc path to a downstream linear path, leading to potential abrasion and misalignment, as the frictional forces on the article's back and front surfaces differ, causing the article to rotate excessively and deviate from the desired orientation.
Innovation Solution
Incorporating a rotating operation transport device at the connection point between the upstream and downstream conveyer portions to adjust the article's rotation, ensuring it remains aligned by reducing the rotation amount to match the upstream conveyer's rotation, and using guide bodies to maintain the article within the set lateral width without excessive contact.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If the upstream side conveyer portion transports the article along a circular-arc path while rotating the article about a vertical axis, then the article can be oriented parallel to the tangent line of the path, but the article's orientation deviates from the downstream side orientation at the connection location
Solution Approach 1:
A rotating operation transport device is introduced as an intermediary mechanism between the upstream circular-arc conveyer portion and the downstream linear conveyer portion. This device actively rotates the article to adjust its orientation, serving as a mediator that transitions the article from the rotated state in the upstream portion to the aligned state required for the downstream portion, thereby resolving the orientation deviation problem.
Solution Approach 2:
The rotating operation transport device changes the rotation parameter of the article dynamically. By controlling the amount of rotation to be less than or equal to the rotation caused by the upstream conveyer portion, the device adjusts the article's angular position to match the downstream conveyer's requirements, thus resolving the orientation misalignment while maintaining the benefits of the circular-arc transport.
2Manufacturing precision
If a guide body contacts the peripheral surface of the article to reduce orientation deviation, then the article stays within the predetermined lateral width, but the article may be abraded due to contact
Solution Approach 1:
The rotating operation transport device acts as an intermediary that proactively controls article orientation through rotation, replacing the passive guide body contact method. By actively adjusting the article's angle to match the downstream conveyer orientation, the device eliminates the need for guide body contact, thus preventing abrasion while maintaining lateral position control.
Solution Approach 2:
The rotating operation transport device performs preliminary orientation adjustment before the article reaches the guide body location. By pre-rotating the article to the correct orientation in the downstream side end portion of the upstream conveyer portion, the article naturally aligns with the downstream conveyer, preventing the need for corrective contact with the guide body and thus avoiding abrasion.
3Device complexity
If the article is transported from the upstream circular-arc conveyer portion to the downstream linear conveyer portion without rotation adjustment, then the transport process is simple, but the article orientation deviates and may cause the article to fall off
Solution Approach 1:
The rotating operation transport device serves as a compact intermediary mechanism that adds minimal structural complexity while significantly improving reliability. By inserting this small rotation-adjustment device at the connection point between the upstream and downstream conveyer portions, the system maintains article stability and prevents falling off without requiring major structural changes to the overall conveyer system.
Data Source
AI summary
A transport conveyer includes an upstream side conveyer portion and a downstream side conveyer portion. The upstream side conveyer portion is provided such that an upstream side imaginary path line which is circular-arc-shaped is connected to a downstream side imaginary path line such that the tangent line at the downstream side end of the upstream side imaginary path line and the tangent line at the upstream side end of the downstream side imaginary path line are at the same angle. Provided on the upstream side end portion of the downstream side conveyer portion is a rotating operation transport device for supporting and transporting the article such that the amount of rotation of the article by the downstream side conveyer portion is greater than or equal to the amount of rotation caused by the downstream side conveyer portion.