Conveyor Chain Guide Plates Prevent Sliding Block Yawing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conveyor chains with small sliding blocks experience oscillations and wear due to yawing during transfer, leading to dislodgement and edge wear, particularly in systems where products need to be arranged and packaged efficiently.
Innovation Solution
A closed-loop chain with guide elements for sliding blocks, featuring articulated links with pin connections, driving and drawing portions, and guide plates to prevent yawing and enhance stability, allowing for efficient transfer and reduced wear.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Volume of moving object
If small sliding blocks are used on the conveyor chain, then the conveyor can handle smaller products and reduce space usage, but the sliding blocks experience yawing oscillations that cause them to impact against chain plates, leading to dislodgement and edge wear
Solution Approach 1:
Guide plates are introduced as intermediary elements between the sliding blocks and the chain links. These guide plates prevent yawing oscillations by providing lateral guidance, thereby stabilizing the sliding blocks without requiring changes to the sliding blocks themselves or the chain structure
Solution Approach 2:
The chain link is divided into separate functional components: driving portions for propulsion and drawing portions with integrated guide plates for lateral stabilization. This segmentation allows the guide plates to be specifically optimized for preventing yawing without interfering with the driving function
2Device complexity
If traditional chains without guide elements are used, then the chain structure remains simple, but the sliding blocks undergo yawing oscillations that lead to dislodgement and increased wear
Solution Approach 1:
The guide plates are merged with the drawing portions of the chain links, creating an integrated component that simultaneously provides both the drawing function and the guiding function. This merging eliminates the need for separate guide structures while achieving lateral stabilization of sliding blocks
Solution Approach 2:
The guide plates extend in the lateral dimension (transverse to the direction of motion), providing constraint in a previously unaddressed dimension. This adds lateral guidance capability without significantly increasing complexity in the primary motion dimension
Data Source
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AI summary
A chain (30) for a conveyor of an apparatus (10) for accumulating and arranging products or packs (P) into groups, is made loop-closed by means of a series of links articulated to each other through connection of pins (32) connected by plates (33), each link is provided with a driving portion (34) and a drawing portion (35) of sliding blocks (50) provided for accommodating the products or packs (P), such drawing portion (35) is provided with guide plates (37, 37') of the sliding blocks (50).