Pillow Block Bearing Gap Reduction for Shaft Conveyor Propulsion
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional rotating shaft driven overhead conveyor systems experience a loss of propulsive force and potential slowdown or stoppage when canted driven wheels decouple from rotating drive shafts across gaps between inline sections, especially with heavy loads.
Innovation Solution
A rotating shaft drive system with a stationary frame, pillow blocks to reduce the gap between adjacent drive shafts, and canted driven wheels that maintain continuous contact with the drive shafts, ensuring constant traction and propulsion across gaps.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the gap between adjacent drive shafts is reduced using pillow blocks, then continuous propulsion is maintained, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
A pillow block is introduced as an intermediary component between adjacent drive shafts. The pillow block contains a bearing that supports the drive shaft and reduces the gap between shafts, ensuring continuous engagement of driven wheels while distributing mechanical loads. This mediator resolves the contradiction by maintaining reliable continuous propulsion through the added structural element.
2Force
If canted driven wheels maintain continuous contact with drive shafts across gaps, then propulsive force is sustained, but the manufacturing precision requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The driven wheels are designed with canting angles and mounting configurations that allow dynamic adjustment and maintenance of continuous contact with the rotating drive shafts. The wheels can accommodate minor misalignments and maintain traction across shaft transitions, sustaining propulsive force while reducing the stringency of manufacturing precision requirements through dynamic adaptability.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The system ensures continuous propulsion of the carriage by maintaining driven contact with the rotating drive shafts as the carriage transitions across gaps, preventing slowdowns and ensuring smooth operation even with heavy loads.
Implementation Method 1
The at least one driven wheel canted at an angle to the shaft axis of the drive shaft and configured to tractionally engage with an outer drive surface of at least one of the plurality of rotating drive shafts with sufficient traction so as to form a helical loci of engagement with sufficient force to propel the carriage along the conveying path.
Data Source
AI summary
A rotating shaft drive system is configured to propel a load along a conveying path of an overhead conveyor system. A stationary frame extends along the conveying path and supports the rotating shaft drive system. A movable carriage is suspended from the stationary frame and engages with a rotating shaft of the shaft drive system to propel the carriage and the load. The rotating shaft comprises a plurality of shaft segments supported pillow blocks at each end of the rotating shaft segments, and the pillow blocks create a gap between adjacent shaft segments. The movable carriage has at least one canted driven roller configured to engage with adjacent rotating shaft segments and to create a helical loci of tractional engagement that provides sufficient drive force to propel the carriage and the load along the conveying path. The drive system is further configured to provide continuous propulsion as the canted driven roller moves across the gap between adjacent shaft segments.