Conveyor Roller Spacing and Stopper Layout for Stable Object Grouping
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing conveyors fail to maintain the predetermined interval between objects during heat treatment, leading to unstable conveyance due to positional disturbances, resulting in objects colliding and being conveyed as a single cluster.
Innovation Solution
A conveyor system with a first conveyor roller device that increases the interval between objects, a stopper to prevent movement, and a control unit to classify and separate object groups, ensuring stable conveyance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If objects are conveyed through the heat treatment furnace on rotatable conveying rollers, then the objects can be conveyed into and out of the furnace, but the rollers warp under the weight of the objects causing significant disturbance in the positional relationship and interval of objects in the conveyance direction
Solution Approach 1:
The conveying system is divided into multiple independent conveying rollers instead of using a single roller surface. Each roller supports a subset of objects, and the segmentation allows individual rollers to rotate without warping under the combined weight of all objects, thereby maintaining positional relationships and intervals throughout the conveyance process
Solution Approach 2:
The patent transitions from a single-point contact conveyance model to a distributed multi-point contact model by using multiple rollers arranged in space. This dimensional distribution prevents warping by spreading the load across multiple support points, ensuring stable conveyance while maintaining precise positional relationships
2Manufacturing precision
If a stopper is disposed on the conveyance passage to align objects, then objects can be aligned in the row direction, but the objects collide with each other and form a single cluster with no interval between them
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary spacing action by using multiple conveying rollers to maintain intervals between objects before they reach the stopper. The segmented roller configuration pre-distributes objects in the conveyance direction, so when the stopper engages, objects are already spaced apart and can be aligned without colliding or forming clusters
Solution Approach 2:
The multiple conveying rollers act as intermediaries between the object source and the stopper. They mediate the conveyance process by maintaining spatial separation and positional relationships, allowing the stopper to perform alignment function without causing object collision or cluster formation
3Ease of operation
If the conveying rollers rotate under the weight of objects, then the objects can be conveyed, but the intermediate portions of the rollers warp causing the predetermined interval between objects to be lost
Solution Approach 1:
The roller system is segmented into multiple independent rotating elements rather than a single continuous roller. Each segment supports a specific group of objects and rotates independently, preventing warping of the entire roller structure. This segmentation maintains the predetermined intervals between objects throughout the conveyance process while still providing the necessary conveyance function
Data Source
AI summary
A conveyor may include: a first conveyor roller device; a second conveyor roller device disposed downstream of the first conveyor roller device; and a stopper disposed downstream of the first conveyor roller device and upstream of the second conveyor roller device and configured to prohibit a movement of the objects in the conveyance direction. The first conveyor roller device may be configured to increase the interval between the objects in the conveyance direction to be wider than the interval between the objects in the conveyance direction when the objects exit from the heat treatment furnace so that the objects are separated into object groups each including the predetermined number of objects or less. The stopper may be configured to be disposed between the object groups separated by the first conveyor roller device and adjacent to each other in the conveyance direction.