WO2014076450A1

WO2014076450A1 - Conveyor with brush-like grippers for impelling articles

Info

Publication number: WO2014076450A1
Application number: PCT/GB2013/052746
Authority: WO
Inventors: Colin Powell; John Salisbury
Original assignee: Knight Warner Holdings Ltd
Current assignee: Knight Warner Holdings Ltd
Priority date: 2012-11-16
Filing date: 2013-10-22
Publication date: 2014-05-22
Anticipated expiration: 2015-05-16
Also published as: GB201220657D0

Abstract

The invention relates to a conveyor for moving articles (4)along a predefined path. The conveyor comprises a plurality of gripping means (40) which include gripping members (42) arranged to exert a gripping action on an article (4) located between the gripping means (40). The gripping members (42) are provided to flex when in contact with the article (4) and then resiliently return to their original condition when out of contact with the article (4).

Description

CONVEYOR WITH BRUSH-LIKE GRIPPERS FOR IMPELLING ARTICLES

The invention to which this application relates is apparatus for use in the movement of a plurality of articles between a first position and a second position. In particular, although not neces sarily exclusively, the apparatus is for use in the movement of containers, when empty, along a path or a portion thereof which moves the containers from a storage position to a position at which the same are to be filled.

The movement of articles in an environment where the articles have been moved from a storage position to a position at which the same are to be filled with a substance, such as for example with a food stuff in the form of milk, is well known . The containers are most typically formed of a plastic material which provides structure to the container so that the shape of the container can be maintained when empty, and once filled. The use of plastics material, while convenient for a number of reasons such as cost and formation of same, does raise environmental concerns and this, in conjunction with the constant pressure to reduce costs, has resulted in the development of new forms of containers which have an alternative shape and/or have a wall thicknes s which is reduced. Typically, where the wall thicknes s is reduced, the structure of the container is maintained but the handling of the container, particularly when empty, becomes more problematic and the same is prone to deforming during the handling of the same.

The movement of the articles between first and second positions when the plane of movement is along a substantially horizontal plane, is typically achieved by the use of conveyor means onto which the base of the article is placed and the conveyer means therefore allows the movement of the article along the predetermined path. In these circumstances, vacuum means can be provided underneath the conveyer so as to further attract the base of each of the articles onto the conveyer to maintain the position of the article on the conveyer as the same moves . When the path of movement of the article is required to be in a substantially vertical or angled plane, the use of conveyer means is not appropriate as the articles are prone to falling over. Instead therefore the articles are required to be positively gripped, typically along the side walls thereof so as to cause the gripped article to be moved along the path.

It should be appreciated that the use of the gripping means, can be for the entire length of the predetermined path between the first and second positions or a portion thereof.

The gripping means provided conventionally, to achieve gripping of the article, typically comprise first and second belts, each of said belts having mounting means provided at spaced locations there along and said mounting means are provided for the reception thereon of gripping plates. The gripping plates are typically provided with engagement means which allow the engagement of the gripping plate with the mounting means and the face of the gripping plate which is to come into contact with the article to be gripped, conventionally comprises a number o f ridges, with each ridge formed along a length of the gripping plate.

In one embodiment, each of the ridges is provided at an angle other than perpendicular, to the face of the gripping plate such that the same has a particular required orientation with regard to the direction of travel of the belt and the article gripped thereby. While the ridges are deformable to a certain extent, the same are formed with a relatively rigid material such that primarily, it is the " tackines s" of the contact between the ridges and the article which achieves the gripping of the article by the gripping means on either side of the article.

It is found that in practice, the use of the conventional gripping means to grip and move articles which have a reduced wall thicknes s and therefore have a greater degree of flexibility, causes the deformation of the articles as the same are gripped and moved, to such an extent that the articles have to be discarded and therefore cannot be filled subsequently.

The aim of the present invention is therefore to provide apparatus for the movement of articles which includes gripping means to move the articles along at least a portion of the predetermined path and for the articles to be moved with the reduced risk of deformation being caused by the gripping and movement action thereon.

In a first aspect of the invention, there is provided apparatus for the movement of one or more articles between first and second positions, said movement achieved by the gripping of each of said articles by gripping means, said gripping means including a plurality of gripping members, said members having a first end to contact with said article, and at least a portion depending from the first end of the member is capable of flexing under the force of the article wall whilst in contact with said article and, following release from contact with the said article wall, the members return substantially to their initial position.

Typically, the movement of the portion depending from said first end of each of the members, is about substantially 360° of the longitudinal axis of said member between said first and second ends of the member. Typically, the second ends of the gripping members are provided in a fixed position with regard to the gripping means therefore it is only the first end and a portion of the elongate member depending therefrom which is capable of movement under the influence of the article.

Typically, for each particular article, a plurality of gripping members will be in contact therewith, with the degree of movement of the respective members dependent on the particular form of the article with which the same are in contact.

In one embodiment, gripping members are provided to depend towards opposing sides of the article which is to be gripped, with the spacing between the first ends of the respective members of the first and second gripping means being less than the spacing between the opposing walls of the article which is to be gripped thereby causing at least partial movement of the said gripping members when in contact with the article to create the gripping effect.

Typically, each of the gripping members is independently movable under the influence of the article with which the same are in contact.

Typically, a plurality of gripping members are provided in contact with, or formed as part of, a gripping plate and said members are located on said gripping plate such that in any given direction between opposing edges of said plate, there are provided a plurality of independently moveable gripping members. This is in contrast to the conventional gripping means wherein typically, any one ridge will extend continuously between opposing ends or sides of the gripping plate. Typically the gripping plate will include engagement means to allow the same to be engaged with holders provided as part o f a drive means so as to form the gripping means .

Typically, the gripping means disclosed herein, are utilised to move articles between first and second positions along a predetermined path which includes movement along a non- horizontal plane.

In one embodiment, the articles are fed onto or removed from the apparatus in accordance with the invention via conveyor means on a substantially horizontal plane.

In one embodiment, the gripping means disclosed herein are used to move articles along a substantially horizontal plane in order to introduce a space between adj acent articles as they are moved from a first to a second position.

In one embodiment, the gripping members are substantially circular in cros s-section.

In one embodiment, the gripping members are substantially linear in form or alternatively, may include one or more bends between first and second ends.

Typically, the gripping members are formed of a material such as, for example silicon, which is sufficiently resilient so as to cause the members to return to their initial position following release from contact with the article and are sufficiently flexible so as to be more likely to flex under the influence of contact with the article than the article surface and thereby allowing the gripping effect to be achieved on the article which is positioned to allow the movement of the same. In a further aspect o f the invention, there is provided a gripping plate for use in the movement of an article, said gripping plate including engagement means to allow the same to be engaged with a drive means, and a base having a face from which a plurality of gripping members depend, said gripping members each having a first end provided for contact with an article and a second end engaged, or formed integrally, with the base and said gripping members capable of flexing and de-forming when said first end thereof is in contact with an article to exert a gripping force thereon.

Typically, the gripping plate includes a plurality of said gripping members, each of which are elongate in form and which can flex around 360° of the longitudinal axis of said member.

Typically, the elongate members are resilient in that following contact with said article the same return substantially to their initial position.

In one embodiment the gripping members are provided in groups when attached to the gripping plate such that members in each group may depend outwardly from the plate with their respective longitudinal axes at different angles .

In a further aspect of the invention there is provided apparatus for the movement of a plurality of articles between first and second positions along a pre-determined path, said predetermined path including at least a portion along which a gripping action is required to be exerted on said article to move the same along said path and wherein at said portion, there are provided a plurality of gripping members mounted on gripping plates formed in accordance with the invention as herein described. Specific embodiments of the invention are now described with reference to the accompanying drawings; wherein

Figure 1 illustrates apparatus for the movement of articles between first and second position in a controlled manner.

Figures 2 and 3 illustrate gripping means in accordance with one embodiment of the invention in a first relaxed position and a second gripping position respectively.

Figures 4a -f illustrate a gripping plate of the type used in Figures 2 and 3 in accordance with one embodiment of the invention; and

Figures 5a and b illustrate an elevation and plan of elongate members in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.

Referring firstly to Figure 1 , there is illustrated apparatus 2 for use, in this example, in the filling of containers with milk. There is a requirement for the empty containers 4 to be moved from a storage position 6 to a filling position 8 within the filling plant. In order to achieve this, the empty containers are required to be moved along a pre-determined path which includes portions 10, 12, 36 along which the articles are required to move along a substantially horizontal plane, and intermediate portions 14, 50 in which the containers are required to be moved in a substantially vertical plane. There is also provided an initial feed portion 1 6 in which the articles are introduced from the storage position onto the conveying means.

Typically, the movement of the containers along the substantially horizontal portions 10,12, 36 can be achieved by placing the bases of the containers 4 onto conveying means and hence the conveying means move the articles along a pre- determined path. For the portion 14, 50 the conveying means cannot be used as the articles will fall over and therefore the articles need to gripped and moved along the substantially vertical plane. Also, in the feed portion 16 there is a need for spacing to be introduced between the respective containers as they are moved onto the pre-determined path 16 and the conveying means alone cannot achieve this and therefore once again, the gripping of the containers is required to be achieved.

The present invention is directed towards the gripping of the containers 4 so as to move the same in a required manner along portions 14 and 16 as illustrated in Figure 1.

Turning now to Figure 2 there is illustrated part of gripping means for travel in direction 52 in accordance with the current invention in one embodiment and the gripping means 40 comprise first and second belts 20, 22 each of which carries a plurality of holders 24, provided at spaced locations therealong. Each of the holders are provided with engagement means 26 to receive thereon matching engagement means 28 formed on gripping plates 30. It should be appreciated that while in this case the gripping plates are shown to be separate to the mounting means or holder, it is pos sible that the same may be formed as integral units.

The gripping plate includes a plurality of gripping members 42 in a manner which is described subsequently.

Figure 2 illustrates the gripping means in a "relaxed" manner in which no gripping force is being applied to a container. The spacing 32 between the respective first ends 34 of the gripping members 42 is provided to be less than the distance 38 between the external faces of the opposing sides of the container 4 which is to be gripped. This therefore means that when the container 4 is placed between the ends of the gripping members 42 as is shown in Figure 3, the gripping members 42 are caused to deform and flex by the contact of the first ends 34 thereof with the side walls of the container 4 and thereby, due to the inherent resilience of the material used to form the gripping members 42, a gripping effect is created on the container 4 , which is sufficient so as to cause the container 4 to be held and moved as the drive belts 20,22 of the gripping means move but also to be such that no damaging deformation of the container 4 is caused.

Figure 4a-f illustrates a gripping plate 30 in accordance with the invention in greater detail and in particular illustrates how the gripping plate comprises a plurality of groups of gripping members 42, each of which are independently flexible and each of which has a second end 44 which is connected to or formed integrally with a base 46 of the gripping plate.

In this embodiment, each of the gripping members 42 are shown as being substantially linear in form although in alternative embodiments the same could be curved in their relaxed form.

The gripping members have a longitudinal axis 48 as shown which depends between the first 34 and second 44 ends thereof and Figures 5a and b illustrate the said elongate members and illustrates how the same are free to flex around substantially 360° with respect to the longitudinal axis 48 as illustrated in Figure 5a with regard to member 42 and arrow 54 when the same come into contact with the container 4 which is being gripped. It should be appreciated that each of the elongate members 42 is independently moveable with respect to their own axis and the movement of the same is influenced primarily by the contact of the first end 34 with the container 4 rather than the action or flexing of any of the other gripping members . Thus, the present invention allows for a gripping effect to be achieved by allowing a plurality of independent points of contact on the article rather than a linear or elongate contact between the article and gripping means as is conventionally the case.

Claims

1. Apparatus for the movement of one or more articles between first and second positions, said movement achieved by the gripping of each of said articles by gripping means, said gripping means including a plurality of gripping members, said members having a first end to contact with said article and at least a portion depending from the first end of the member is capable of flexing under the force of the article wall whilst in contact with said article and, following the release from contact with the said article wall, the members return substantially to their initial position.

2. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein the movement of the portion depending from said first end of each of the members is about substantially 360° of the longitudinal axis of said member between said first and second ends of the member.

3. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein the second ends of the gripping members are provided in a fixed position with regard to the gripping means .

4. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein a plurality of gripping members are provided to contact with each article.

5. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein the gripping means are located such that gripping members depend towards opposing sides of the article which is to be gripped.

6. Apparatus according to claim 5 wherein the spacing between the respective first ends of the gripping members of the first and second gripping means is les s than the space between the opposing walls o f the article which is to be gripped.

7. Apparatus according to any of the proceeding claims wherein each of the gripping members is independently moveable under the influence of the article with which the same are in contact.

8. Apparatus according to any of the proceeding claims wherein a plurality of gripping members are provided in contact with, or formed as part of, a gripping plate.

9. Apparatus according to claim 8 wherein said members are located on said gripping plate such that in any given direction between opposing edges of said plate, there are provided a plurality of independent movable gripping members.

10. Apparatus according to claim 8 wherein the gripping plate includes engagement means to allow the same to be engaged with holders provided as part of drive means so as to move the gripping means along the required path of movement of the articles.

1 1. Apparatus according to any preceding claim wherein the gripping means are utilised to move articles between first and second positions along a predetermined path which includes movement along a non-horizontal plane for at least a portion of the path.

12. Apparatus according to claim 1 1 wherein the articles are fed onto or removed from the said pre-determined path via conveyor means.

13. Apparatus according to any of the preceding claims wherein the gripping means are used to move articles along a substantially horizontal plane in order to introduce spacing between adj acent articles as they are moved from a first to a second position.

14. Apparatus according to any of the preceding claims wherein the gripping members are substantially circular in cross-section.

15. Apparatus according to any o f the preceding claims wherein the gripping member are substantially linear in form.

16. A gripping means for use in the movement of an article, said gripping means including a plate including engagement means to allow the same to be engaged with drive means, and a base having a face from which a plurality of gripping members depend, said gripping members each having a first end provided for contact with an article and a second end engaged, or formed integrally with, the base and said gripping members capable of flexing and deforming when said first end thereof is in contact with an article to exert a gripping force thereon.

17. A gripping plate according to claim 16 wherein the plate includes a plurality of said gripping members which are elongated in form and flex around 360° of the longitudinal axis of said member.

18 A gripping plate according to claim 16 wherein the gripping members are provided in groups when attached to the gripping plate such that members in each group depend outwardly from the plate with the respective longitude and axis of different angles.

19. Apparatus for the movement of a plurality of articles between first and second positions along a pre-determined path, said pre-determined path including at least a portion along which a gripping action is required to be exerted on said article to move the same along said path and wherein, at said portion, there are provided a plurality of gripping means, each including gripping members mounted on a gripping plate.