Skidless Conveyor Unit with Integrated Coupling for Vehicle Bodies
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing vehicle body treatment plants require a large quantity of steel for constructing skids and their drives, leading to high costs due to the need for multiple skids and conveyors to handle numerous vehicle bodies simultaneously.
Innovation Solution
A movable conveyor unit with a chassis and a coupling device that directly interacts with the vehicle body's floor regions, allowing for skidless transportation between treatment stations, and a conveyor system featuring individually controllable units that can move on a rail system, reducing the need for multiple skids and optimizing space usage.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If skids are used to convey vehicle bodies, then vehicle bodies can be transported between treatment stations, but a large quantity of steel is required for constructing skids and their drives, increasing total cost
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts the coupling mechanism from the skid structure and integrates it directly into the vehicle body. The coupling device is built into the vehicle body's floor region, eliminating the need for separate skids to provide coupling functionality. This allows vehicle bodies to be conveyed directly by the conveyor unit without requiring traditional skids, thereby reducing steel consumption while maintaining transportation capability
Solution Approach 2:
The invention merges the coupling device with the vehicle body structure itself. The coupling elements are integrated into the vehicle body's floor region, combining the functions of the vehicle body and the coupling mechanism into a single unified structure. This eliminates the need for separate skids and reduces the overall steel quantity required for the conveyor system
2Productivity
If multiple skids are used to handle numerous vehicle bodies simultaneously, then throughput is maintained, but the number of skids and conveyors required increases, leading to higher costs
Solution Approach 1:
The conveyor unit with integrated coupling device serves multiple functions: it provides coupling elements for vehicle body attachment, acts as the conveyance mechanism, and eliminates the need for separate skids. This multi-functional design reduces the total number of components (skids and conveyors) while maintaining the capability to handle multiple vehicle bodies simultaneously, thereby reducing device complexity without compromising productivity
3Reliability
If coupling elements project beyond the conveyor unit contour in load-carrying position, then vehicle bodies can be effectively coupled, but space occupied by unladen conveyor units increases
Solution Approach 1:
The coupling elements are designed to be movable between a load-carrying position (projecting beyond the conveyor unit contour) and an idle position (retracted within the contour). This dynamic configuration allows the coupling elements to extend when needed for reliable vehicle body coupling, while retracting when not in use to minimize the space occupied by unladen conveyor units, thereby resolving the contradiction between coupling effectiveness and space efficiency
Data Source
AI summary
A conveyor unit which can be displaced for conveying vehicle bodies and which includes a bogie assembly and a coupling device which is connected to the bogie assembly and which is configured such that it interacts with the base areas of the vehicle body which are upwardly orientated to the roof. Also a conveyor system having at least one conveyor unit of such type and a plant for machining vehicle bodies. Vehicle bodies are conveyed by a conveyor system between and/or in machining stations, said plant also including such a conveyor system.