| LAITRAM, L.L.C. Patent applications |
| Patent application number | Title | Published |
|---|
| 20120125742 | MODULAR PLASTIC SPIRAL BELT - A modular spiral belt and method for molding belt modules for constructing a heat-resistant belt. The spiral belt is constructed of a series of hingedly interconnected belt modules. The modules have single hinge links at the outside of a turn and dual hinge links elsewhere. All the hinge links extend outward from opposite faces of a central transverse spine. The dual hinge links, which each have a pair of parallel legs joined at a distal end by a yoke, are separated by a transverse pitch greater than the transverse pitch of the single one-legged hinge links at the outside of a turn. When molded from a blend of a thermoplastic polymer and a nanoclay, belt modules are useful in heat-resistant applications without sacrificing beam stiffness. | 05-24-2012 |
| 20120080290 | Conveyor, Belt, and Module Having Multi-Directional Wheels - A belt conveyor for diverting articles on actuated multi-directional wheels in a conveyor belt. The conveyor belt has article-supporting multi-directional wheels rotatably mounted in cavities in the belt. The wheels are arranged to rotate on axes oblique to the direction of belt travel. A bearing surface underlies the belt along a carryway. As the belt advances along the carryway, the rollers on the periphery of the wheel ride on the bearing surface and cause the wheel to rotate on its oblique axis. Articles conveyed on the belt atop the wheels are diverted by the rotating wheels toward a side of the belt. | 04-05-2012 |
| 20120043184 | TWO-MATERIAL CONVEYOR BELT MODULE - A two-material conveyor belt module and a method for making it. A conveyor belt module comprises a rigid thermoplastic link substrate topped with a high-friction layer made of a resilient material. A dense array of teeth protrudes upward from the link substrate. The resilient material is overmolded onto the link substrate at a temperature high enough to melt the ends of the teeth. The melted ends of the teeth mix with the resilient material to form a bond firmly retaining the high-friction layer atop the substrate. | 02-23-2012 |
| 20120006654 | POSITIVE-DRIVE SPIRAL CONVEYOR - A spiral conveyor for positively driving a conveyor belt along a helical path. The spiral conveyor includes a rotating cylindrical tower with parallel drive members extending from the bottom to the top of the tower on its periphery. Each drive member includes an outwardly protruding ridge that varies in height from the bottom to the top of the tower. The variations in height facilitate the belt's entry onto and exit from the tower and robust, positive driving engagement with the inside edge of the belt along the majority of its path along the tower. | 01-12-2012 |
| 20110303512 | CONVEYOR BELT WITH WEAR-TOLERANT STACKED ROLLERS - A conveyor belt having multiple roller sets, each roller set including a first roller and a second roller, the first roller being movable into contact with the second roller so that driving of one of the rollers in a first angular direction causes rotation of the other roller in a second, opposite angular direction. | 12-15-2011 |
| 20110284347 | METAL-FUSED PLASTIC CONVEYOR BELT COMPONENTS AND METHODS OF MAKING - Metal-coated thermo-plastic conveyor belt components and methods for their manufacture. Hinge rods, sprockets, and belt modules are coated with metal to increase their stiffness or wear resistance or to improve other performance characteristics. | 11-24-2011 |
| 20110278138 | Conveyor Belt and Module Accommodating Rod Growth - A modular plastic conveyor belt that is useful in accommodating hinge rods that tend to lengthen during use and an edge module for constructing such a belt. An edge portion of the edge module has an elongated link end that provides an unimpeded growth path for a hinge rod within the confines of the belt. The edge portion of one edge module is hooked to the edge portion of an adjacent edge module by a pivot that is pivotally received in a mating receptacle on the adjacent module. | 11-17-2011 |
| 20110278136 | Conveyor Belt and Module with Hooked Connection and Associated Method - A modular plastic conveyor belt constructed of belt modules having hooked structure to hold belt rows together during splicing for easier hinge-rod insertion and to accommodate an elongated belt edge portion permitting hinge-rod growth and a method for splicing such a belt together. The modules include a pivot end that hooks into a mating receptacle on the module of a consecutive belt row. An aperture through the receptacle and the pivot end is aligned with the apertures of other hinge elements to form a lateral passageway for a hinge rod. | 11-17-2011 |
| 20110253507 | CAROUSEL CONVEYOR AND METHOD - Apparatus and method for recirculating articles on a belt conveyor. An article-recirculation path is formed in a pair of parallel conveyor belts running continuously in opposite directions. Article-supporting rollers in each belt rotate to transfer articles from one belt to the other in a transfer region at each end of the conveyor to form an endless recirculation path. | 10-20-2011 |
| 20110237169 | PEELER WITH CROWNED ROLLERS - Roller-type peeling apparatus and crowned rollers in the peeling channels of the peeling apparatus. Each peeling channel includes small-diameter insert rollers frictionally counterrotated by simultaneous contact with two large-diameter, rotating powered rollers separated across a gap. Holddowns at spaced locations along the length of the insert rollers hold the insert roller against the two powered rollers and into the mouth of the gap. The insert roller or the powered rollers are crowned between consecutive holddowns to compensate for the tendency of the insert roller to deflect and to provide uniform contact pressure between the insert roller and the powered rollers along the insert roller's length. | 09-29-2011 |
| 20110215036 | PACKAGE-CULLING CONVEYOR SYSTEM AND METHOD - A package-culling conveyor system and a method for culling flat packages from a bulk flow of flat and non-flat packages. The conveyor system includes a tilted conveyor belt that conveys flat packages along its length while non-flat packages tumble off its lower side edge to initially cull flat packages from a bulk flow of packages. Retention means, such as a high-friction outer conveying surface or a raised barrier along the length of the outer conveying surface of the tilted conveyor belt, holds flat packages on the tilted conveyor belt. The initially separated packages are more fully culled in a conveyor comprising a roller conveyor belt with package-supporting belt rollers rotated in a direction to push packages sidewise toward a culling element that extends along the length of the roller conveyor belt. Examples of culling elements include powered rollers and vertical walls forming side guards. The powered roller lifts the contact side of non-flat packages to free flat packages underneath. The belt rollers push the flat packages under the culling elements and off the side of the roller belt. The culling elements block the non-flat packages from exiting laterally off the side of the roller belt so that they are conveyed off the exit end of the roller belt separate from the flat packages. | 09-08-2011 |
| 20110176858 | CONVEYOR SHAFT ASSEMBLY WITH SPRING CLIP - A shaft assembly using spring clips to confine components mounted on the shaft in selected positions. The shaft assembly includes a shaft with components mounted along its length. Each component is confined by a pair of flanking spring clips. Each spring clip has a pair of confronting side panels resiliently coupled together. Holes through the side panels receive the shaft. The side panels are biased to converge toward each other so that a laterally applied force from a confined component acts in the direction of the bias to prevent the clip locked on the shaft from unlocking. | 07-21-2011 |
| 20110174596 | SPIRAL BELT CONVEYOR - The spiral belt conveyor is a conveyor belt system for trans-porting articles vertically along a helical path. The spiral belt conveyor includes a platform and a central frame structure extending upwardly from the platform. Two idler rollers are mounted on the platform. A helical track having an inner portion and an outer portion is concentrically disposed around the shaft. The inner portion of the helical track has a first radius, and the outer portion thereof has a second radius greater than the first radius. An upper end of the inner portion of the helical track meets an upper end of the outer portion of the helical track adjacent an upper end of the central frame structure. A conveyor belt is mounted on the helical track and the pair of idler rollers. | 07-21-2011 |
| 20110147162 | SELF-CLEARING CONVEYOR TRANSFER SYSTEM AND TRANSFER PLATE - A self-clearing conveyor transfer system for transferring articles between two mutually perpendicular conveyor belts. One version of the transfer system includes a finger transfer plate with fingers at one end extending into the end of a raised-rib belt and powered rollers at the opposite end rotating about axes perpendicular to the fingers. A second conveyor belt perpendicular to the raised-rib belt advances parallel to the roller axes. Articles transfer from one belt to the other across the finger transfer plate. Because the rollers are powered, straggling articles are not stranded on the transfer plate. | 06-23-2011 |
| 20110132725 | CONVEYOR TRANSFER SYSTEM WITH FLOATING TRANSFER PLATFORM - A conveyor transfer system and a transfer platform for transferring articles from an upstream conveyor to a downstream conveyor across a gap. The transfer platform fits in the gap between two conveyors arranged end to end. At least one of the conveyors includes a conveyor belt that reverses direction around a reversing element at the gap. The transfer platform floats in the gap supported by the conveyor belt or its reversing element without a direct connection to the conveyor frame. | 06-09-2011 |
| 20110114448 | METHODS FOR SINGULATING ABUTTING ARTICLES - Methods for singulating laterally abutting conveyed articles in a conveyor ( | 05-19-2011 |
| 20110108476 | WATER SCREEN BELT MODULE - A water screen or conveyor belt module includes one or more projections in its top surface for increasing the surface area of the top surface. Each projection includes fluid flow openings that provide a pathway for liquid to drain or fluid to flow between the top and bottom of the module. The fluid flow openings may comprise slots extending in the lengthwise direction of the module and extending into the module. | 05-12-2011 |
| 20110108396 | CONVEYOR WITH A GENTLE RETRACTABLE STOP - A conveyor having a retractable stop providing a nonsliding contact surface to the leading faces of conveyed articles to prevent damage to the faces of the articles. One version of such a stop has a contact surface defined by the peripheries of rollers that rotate on the accumulated articles as the stop moves from a blocking position accumulating articles on the conveyor to a retracted position releasing accumulated articles to advance downstream along the conveyor. | 05-12-2011 |
| 20110089620 | RAPID-RELEASE BELT SPLICER AND METHOD OF OPERATION - A belt splicer for butt-welding conveyor belts and methods for its operation. The belt splicer has clamp jaws that close to contact the butt edges of two belt sections against opposite ends of a heating wand and to hold the two melted butt edges together as they weld to each other. A toggle linkage assembly locks the clamped jaws closed and stores energy in a spring mechanism. The toggle linkage assembly allows the rapid release of the spring energy to accelerate the clamp jaws open to pull the melted butt ends rapidly away from the sides of the wand to avoid sticking. In another version, an air cylinder is used instead of the toggle linkage assembly and spring mechanism to close and rapidly open the splicer. | 04-21-2011 |
| 20110073444 | BELT CONVEYOR WITH A MODULAR INTERMEDIATE DRIVE BELT - An intermediate drive system for driving a conveyor belt with one or more intermediate drive belts. The intermediate drive belt includes lateral rows of pivotable teeth spaced apart along the length of the intermediate drive belt. The teeth extend into the conveyor belt along a portion of the carryway to drive the conveyor belt in a conveying direction. The only component external to the intermediate drive belt that the teeth contact is the intermediate drive belt. Engagement and disengagement of the teeth with the conveyor belt is effected without the use of cams against the teeth. | 03-31-2011 |
| 20110073442 | APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR SELECTIVELY ACTUATING MOVING CONVEYOR ROLLERS - A conveyor having selectively actuated rollers whose only external contact is with conveyed articles and a method for rotating such rollers. In one version, the rollers are driven by motors that are selectively energized by a wireless signal or a sensed conveyor position. In another version, the rollers are geared to a drive wheel that engages a bearing surface underlying the conveyor along the conveying path. The rollers are selectively actuated to push conveyed articles along the conveyor as it advances. | 03-31-2011 |
| 20110056807 | CONVEYORS, BELTS, AND MODULES WITH ACTUATED ROLLERS - A conveyor, a conveyor belt used in the conveyor, and a belt module used to construct the conveyor belt, in which the module includes belt rollers that extend outward of a conveyor surface of the modules to support conveyed articles. The belt rollers are mounted in cavities in the modules that open onto the conveying surface and a recessed surface recessed inward of an outermost surface opposite the conveying surface through the thickness of the modules. Bearing surfaces, such as the peripheries of conveyor rollers underlying the conveyor belt along a carryway run, extend into the conveyor belt past the outer surface to contact the belt rollers. As the belt advances, the belt rollers rotate on the bearing surfaces to push conveyed articles along or across the belt. | 03-10-2011 |
| 20110056806 | Spiral Conveyor System and Methods - A double-helix spiral conveyor, a method for conveying articles up and down a spiral conveyor, and a method for constructing a drive drum for a spiral conveyor. The double-helix spiral conveyor conveys articles on the conveyor up the inner side of a spiral drum by engaging the outer edge of the belt and down the outer side of the drum by engaging the inner edge of the belt. A slew drive at the bottom of the drum drives the conveyor. | 03-10-2011 |
| 20110022221 | ROLLER-BELT SORTER WITH CONTROL GRID - Apparatus and method for sorting a mass flow of articles without collisions between articles. The apparatus includes a sorting conveyor having a plurality of article-supporting belt rollers selectively rotatable in a direction transverse to the direction of belt travel. The belt rollers are selectively rotated in individual grid cells formed along the conveyor's carryway. A control system creates an image of the incoming mass flow, computes trajectories along the sorting conveyor for each package, and actuates or deactuates the belt rollers passing through each grid cell according to the trajectories to orderly and rapidly divert articles off the side of the sorting conveyor. | 01-27-2011 |
| 20110017575 | Low-Pressure Accumulation System - A low-pressure accumulation system and a conveyor belt in an accumulation conveyor for the use with the system. The belt, which is flanked on opposite sides by lines of gravity rollers, has a longitudinal lane of article-supporting belt rollers arranged in groups along the length of the conveyor belt. The groups are spaced apart from each at regular intervals. Trays sit atop the gravity rollers until they are lifted slightly higher by one of the slightly elevated groups of article-supporting belt rollers, which engage the bottom of the tray and convey it along toward a discharge end. Retractable stops selectively block the trays from advancing on the accumulation conveyor. The freely rotatable article-supporting belt rollers roll along the bottoms of any blocked and accumulated trays and provide low back pressure. The belt may also include low-friction rollers that ride on bearing surfaces below the belt to help lower friction between the belt and the conveyor structure while the belt is running. | 01-27-2011 |
| 20110017031 | Box Cutter and Method - Apparatus and method for cutting boxes. The box cutter has a rectangular work area defined by the upper run of an oblique-roller conveyor belt selectively driven forward or reverse in coordination with the actuation and deactuation of the obliquely rotatable belt rollers. Cutting tools along the sides of the work area cut into the side panels of the boxes as they are translated without rotation in a rectangular path against guide surfaces on the periphery of the work area by the sequential reversing of the conveyor belt direction and the actuation and deactuation of the box-supporting rollers. | 01-27-2011 |
| 20100300836 | ROLLER-BELT DEPALLETIZER - A conveyor and a method for depalletizing and singulating packages. The conveyor comprises, in one version, a set-down conveyor on which pallet layers are deposited and conveyed, a row-separation conveyor that separates the pallet layer into spaced rows, a row-extraction conveyor that extracts a leading row of packages from the trailing rows and conveys the packages of the extracted row in a transverse direction, and a singulating conveyor that arranges the articles in a single file. The conveyor system operates by first pulling a gap in the leading row of a pallet layer when the packages cross into the row-separation conveyor. Then the row is extracted from the other rows on the row-extraction conveyor. Finally, as the packages travel on and along the singulating conveyor, they are aligned to the conveyor's outer edge and rotated, if necessary, to be properly singulated. | 12-02-2010 |
| 20100258410 | Module for a Modular Conveyor Belt - A module for a modular conveyor belt includes a flexible retainer for retaining a hinge rod in a bore of the module. A stopper limits the bending movement of the retainer and supports the midportion of the retainer to prevent stresses generated in the retainer from exceeding its design stress. | 10-14-2010 |
| 20100252398 | MERGE CONVEYOR INCLUDING HIGH-FRICTION ROLLERS - A merge conveyor comprising a timing conveyor feeding a singulating conveyor characterized by a transverse-roller conveyor belt having rollers with a high-friction peripheral surface. The timing conveyor delivers articles to the singulating conveyor one article at a time at precise intervals. The rollers in the transverse-roller belt rotate freely transverse to the conveying direction. A plow guides the timed articles received on the singulating belt into a single file. The high-friction rollers inhibit the rollers from sliding along the rollers in the conveying direction to maintain the precise timing established by the timing conveyor. | 10-07-2010 |
| 20100230245 | CONVEYOR BELT APPARATUS AND METHOD INCLUDING MAGNETICALLY ACTUATED ROLLERS - A modular conveyor belt and method provides a conveyor belt having rollers with metallic or magnetic rotors. A magnet or metallic element next to the conveyor belt is positioned to rotate the rotor. A magnetic field produced by the magnet or by the magnetic rotor rotates the rollers as they pass the magnetic field or as the magnetic field is changed. In one embodiment, the magnetic field is in the form of one or more switched reluctance motors. | 09-16-2010 |
| 20100219048 | BELT CONVEYORS WITH RETRACTABLE WALL SEGMENTS - A conveyor having a conveyor belt with wall segments that pivot between a retracted position below the conveying surface of the belt and an extended position above the conveying surface. When extended, the wall segments form a wall along the length of a portion of the belt to prevent conveyed articles from moving laterally past. The retractable wall segments are cam- or spring-actuated. Diverting conveyors using the retractable wall segments in an oblique-roller conveyor belt are useful as sorters or switches. | 09-02-2010 |
| 20100212514 | COOKER APPARATUS AND METHOD - A continuous cooker having a conveyor capable of repositioning product and cleaning itself of debris and a method for its operation. The cooker includes a conveyor that transports food atop a conveyor belt to a cooking chamber. Upper and lower diverting rollers guide the belt along an S-shaped product-repositioning path segment. The lower diverting roller is rotated at a speed different from the speed of the conveyor belt to cause the belt to slip on the roller's periphery, which effects a scraping action against the conveying side of the belt to dislodge debris. | 08-26-2010 |
| 20100200365 | CONVEYOR AND METHOD FOR SPACING PACKAGES - A spacing conveyor having article-accelerating rollers and selectively retractable stops to control the gaps between consecutive conveyed packages. A sensor measures the length of a package being fed onto the spacing conveyor. A controller selectively actuates one or more actuators positioned along the length of the conveyor to move selected stops advancing with the conveyor from a retracted position to a blocking position to receive packages a variety of sizes and to control the gaps between consecutive packages. | 08-12-2010 |
| 20100193329 | ACCUMULATION-AND-RELEASE CONVEYOR - An accumulation-and-release conveyor using a roller belt with rollers arranged to rotate in the direction of belt travel. The rollers extend through the thickness of the belt. A movable stop is positioned along the carryway just downstream of a bearing surface that is movable into and out of contact with the rollers. When the bearing surface is out of contact with the rollers, they are freely rotatable; when the bearing surface contacts the rollers, they roll on the bearing surface to propel articles in the direction of belt travel. The stop is selectively moved between a blocking position preventing articles from passing and accumulating them with low back line pressure on the freely rotatable rollers and a release position allowing articles to pass to the accumulation zone where they are propelled forward and separated from each other by the rotation of the rollers rolling on the bearing surface. | 08-05-2010 |
| 20100159099 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR STEAM-COOKING - Method and apparatus for steam-cooking food products to improve their appearance and decrease yield loss. A steam cooker includes a low-temperature, forced-convection cooking region in series with a high-temperature, steam-impingement cooking region. The food product is conveyed through both regions atop a foraminous conveyor belt. The temperature in the high-temperature cooking region is greater than the temperature in the low-temperature cooking region and less than or equal to 100° C. | 06-24-2010 |
| 20100108468 | TRANSVERSE-ROLLER-BELT CONVEYOR AND METHODS FOR CASE TURNING - A conveyor and methods for turning cases. The conveyor includes a pair of side-by-side belts running preferably at different speeds. The different belt speeds cause the leading edge of a package straddling both belts to move toward the slower belt. The two belts include transverse rollers that can be selectively actuated in a series of actuation zones along the conveyor to push packages conveyed atop them to the right or to the left. A controller controls the actuation of the belt rollers in each zone sequentially so that the belt rollers supporting the leading edge of the package push it towards the slower belt and the belt rollers supporting the trailing edge of the package push it towards the faster belt to accelerate the turning of the package as the belts advance. | 05-06-2010 |
| 20100078296 | LIVING-HINGE CONVEYOR BELT - A conveyor belt having rodless, living hinges and a method for making such a belt. One version of the belt has spaced apart belt modules joined by tension members spanning the gaps between consecutive modules. The tension members bend in the gaps to allow the belt to articulate. Resilient fillers encapsulate the tension members and, together with top surfaces of the modules, form a generally continuous article-contacting belt surface. The belt may be made by molding the rigid belt modules and the resilient fillers onto an arrangement of elongated tension members. | 04-01-2010 |
| 20100065405 | APPARATUS FOR SENSING CONDITIONS LOCAL TO A CONVEYOR BELT - Apparatus and method for sensing conditions local to a modular conveyor belt and wirelessly transmitting signals representing those conditions to an off-belt belt monitoring system. A load cell pin installed in a clevis formed at a hinge joint between adjacent rows of a modular conveyor belt serves as a clevis pin to interconnect the rows and as a sensor sensitive to belt tension transmitted through the clevis. A special load-sensing belt module forms the clevis and holds electronic circuitry that takes the measurements made by the sensor, logs them in a memory element, and transmits them wirelessly to the belt monitoring system. The measurements may also be used as part of a closed-loop control system to control the speed or other operating characteristics of the conveyor system. Furthermore, a variety of sensors housed in sensor modules similar to standard conveyor belt modules may be installed in the belt as drop-in replacements for standard modules. | 03-18-2010 |
| 20100065403 | SPLIT-LEVEL SINGULATOR - A split-level singulator for arranging and conveying articles in a single file. The singulator comprises a central conveyor and two flanking conveyors advancing in a conveying direction. Rollers in the conveyors protrude through the thickness of the conveyors and ride on underlying supporting bearing surfaces that cause the rollers to rotate as the conveyors advance in the conveying direction. The rollers in the central conveyor rotate in the conveying direction. The rollers in the flanking conveyors rotate in directions oblique to the conveying direction to direct articles conveyed atop the rollers downstream and toward the central conveyor. The tops of the rollers of the central conveyor are vertically offset above or below the tops of the flanking oblique rollers. | 03-18-2010 |
| 20100062698 | APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR CLEANING PEELING MACHINES - Methods and apparatus for cleaning the peeling section of a roller-type peeling machine. The apparatus includes an x-y robot disposed above the peeling section of the peeling machine. The robot has a cleaning tool, such as a liquid spray nozzle, as an end effector. A controller commands the robot to control the movement of the cleaning tool along a predetermined cleaning path to clean the peeling section. One such cleaning path follows each of the insert rollers in the peeling section of a peeling machine. An underside cleaner may be used in conjunction with the robot to simultaneously clean the underside of the peeling section. | 03-11-2010 |
| 20100059338 | CONVEYOR BELT AND METHOD FOR MOUNTING OBLIQUE ROLLERS ON LATERAL RODS - A conveyor belt and a method for providing a conveyor belt with rollers that rotate on axes oblique to the direction of belt travel. Axles are mounted on rods extending perpendicular to direction of belt travel. The axles have cylindrical outer bearing surfaces that define a central axis that is oblique to the direction of belt travel when mounted on the rods. Rollers mounted on the axles rotate on the outer bearing surfaces in a direction oblique to the direction of belt travel. | 03-11-2010 |
| 20100059334 | ROLLER-BELT CONVEYOR FOR MOVING ARTICLES ACROSS THE CONVEYOR - A conveyor using a roller belt with rollers arranged to rotate on oblique axes to urge articles toward a side guide. The conveyor includes an oblique-roller belt supported on a carryway for running in a direction of belt travel. Rollers extend above an outer conveying surface of the belt without contact with the carryway. Each roller rotates on an axis oblique to the direction of belt travel and intersects the side guide downstream of the roller's position. A retractable stop is movable to and from a blocking position along the carryway. In the blocking position, the stop blocks the conveyed articles from advancing in the direction of belt travel. The rollers underlying the blocked articles rotate as the belt runs by contact with the articles. The rotating rollers provide a component of force to the blocked articles directed toward the side guide to push the articles against the side guide or other articles as they accumulate under low pressure upstream of the stop. The conveyor may be used to register articles single file against the side guide or to group the articles for palletizing. For palletizing applications, an infeed conveyor feeds articles onto the belt at the side opposite the side guide. | 03-11-2010 |
| 20100018842 | POSITIVELY DRIVEN, TRACKING FLAT BELT AND CONVEYOR - A flat belt conveyor that is flexible along its length and has a chevron drive and a matching drive drum with helical drive surfaces on its periphery to drive and track the belt. The flat belt may comprise a series of flexible modules, or belt segments, of one or more lengths joined end to end to form an endless belt of desired length. | 01-28-2010 |
| 20090301357 | APPARATUS AND METHODS FOR HELPING UNLOAD A PALLET - A tiltable lift and a method for using it to aid the unloading of a pallet. The tiltable lift comprises a lift mounted atop a tiltable platform. A pallet load of pallet load elements, such as containers, cartons, boxes, trays, or bundles, deposited on the lift is tilted. A wall extending upward from the platform receives a side of the tilted pallet load, which is urged against the wall by gravity. The lift lifts the pallet load along the wall to position the topmost layer of the pallet load at a top end of the wall for easy access and removal of pallet load elements from the pallet. | 12-10-2009 |
| 20090250325 | CONVEYOR LINK CHAIN WITH UNIVERSAL COUPLING JPOINT - A conveyor chain with a universal coupling joint connecting consecutive chain links. The joint includes a joint member unitarily molded with a first link body engaged by a separately formed joint element insertable into a second adjacent link body to link the two link bodies at the joint. The insertable joint element may be made of a different material from the link body. The joint member has a convex or concave spherical bearing surface that engages a complementary concave or convex bearing surface on the joint element for universal pivoting. | 10-08-2009 |
| 20090242358 | CONVEYOR AND BELT WITH CLUTCH-DRIVEN FLIGHTS - A belt conveyor having clutch-driven flights for extremely low-torque operation. The flights have pivot members that rotate about an axis over a limited range of angles. A clutch mechanism includes a spring pushing a clutch wheel against a pivot member. The clutch wheel is arranged to rotate as the conveyor belt advances. Frictional contact between the rotating wheel and the pivot member imparts a moment on the flight to raise it to an extended position. When the flight is encumbered even by a light load, the low-torque mechanism automatically slips to prevent the flight from rising to the extended position. | 10-01-2009 |
| 20090200139 | ARTICLE-ROTATING BELT CONVEYOR - A conveyor ( | 08-13-2009 |
| 20090194391 | APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR SENSING CONDITIONS LOCAL TO A MODULAR CONVEYOR BELT - Apparatus and method for sensing conditions local to a modular conveyor belt and wirelessly transmitting signals representing those conditions to an off-belt belt monitoring system. In a preferred version, a load cell pin installed in a clevis formed at a hinge joint between adjacent rows of a modular conveyor belt serves as a clevis pin to interconnect the rows and as a sensor sensitive to belt tension transmitted through the clevis. A special load-sensing belt module forms the clevis and holds electronic circuitry that takes the measurements made by the sensor, logs them in a memory element, and transmits them wirelessly to the belt monitoring system. The measurements may also be used as part of a closed-loop control system to control the speed or other operating characteristics of the conveyor system. Furthermore, a variety of sensors housed in sensor modules similar to standard conveyor belt modules may be installed in the belt as drop-in replacements for standard modules. | 08-06-2009 |
| 20090173598 | DIAGONAL SORTER - In one embodiment, a conveyor system includes a conveyor belt having a plurality of conveyor belt rollers configured to divert articles on the conveyor belt, and a drive mechanism that engages the conveyor belt rollers, the drive mechanism being configured to drive the conveyor belt rollers, the drive mechanism being adjustable such that the conveyor belt rollers can be selectively driven in a first angular direction and, optionally, a second, opposite angular direction so that articles can be selectively diverted to either side of the conveyor belt at a desired diverting angle. One version of the drive mechanism has drive rollers mounted in cartridges and rack gears engaging pinion gears on the cartridges to adjust the orientation of the drive rollers relative to the belt rollers to drive them in selectively opposite angular directions. Such a conveyor system with a series of sequential roller actuation zones driven by separately actuated drive mechanisms is arranged diagonally to an infeed conveyor and a multi-lane outbound conveyor to realize a switch conveyor. | 07-09-2009 |
| 20090095599 | CONVEYOR BELT MODULE WITH RETAINED ROLLERS - A belt module with embedded rollers retained in cavities in the module by retention structure insertable into the module. The rollers and cavities are elongated in the direction of belt travel and closely separated by narrow dividers that form outward-facing surfaces that can serve as bearing surfaces for a belt made of the modules when the rollers are inactivated. When activated, the rollers, which rotate on axles parallel to the direction of belt travel, are supported directly on conveyor rolling surfaces. The dividers also carry the belt tension and stiffen the module. | 04-16-2009 |
| 20090090599 | Systems and Methods for Providing An Improved Timing Conveyor - A conveyor includes a conveyor belt, a plurality of rollers, and a flight. The rollers have lower surfaces configured to engage a roller-engagement surface, and upper surfaces that substantially form a plane, such that the rollers engage the roller-engagement surface and rotate to move an object supported by the rollers over the plane. The flight includes a cam configured to engage a cam surface below the conveyor belt to impart a moment on the flight, and a projection that responds to the moment by rotating from a retracted position to an extended position. | 04-09-2009 |
| 20090008218 | APPARATUS AND METHODS FOR ACCELERATING CONVEYED ARTICLES - A belt conveyor and a method for accelerating articles conveyed atop a moving conveyor belt. The conveyor belt includes rollers that are arranged to rotate on axes transverse to the direction of belt travel. The rollers have a large-diameter portion on which conveyed articles ride and one or more smaller-diameter portions that can be engaged by a bearing surface to rotate the rollers as the conveyor belt advances in the direction of belt travel. Articles atop the large-diameter portion are propelled in the conveying direction at a speed greater than twice the forward speed of the belt. | 01-08-2009 |
| 20080302634 | Conveyor Switch - A sorting switch for diverting articles from one or more infeed conveyors to two or more outfeed conveyors. A pre-alignment conveyor receives articles from one or more infeed conveyors and selectively diverts individual articles into two or more lateral regions for delivery to an alignment conveyor downstream. The alignment conveyor more precisely aligns the articles within each of the regions for delivery to outfeed conveyors at the downstream end of the alignment conveyor. The alignment and pre-alignment conveyors are realized as belt conveyors with rollers arranged to rotate universally or on axes in specific orientations. In some versions, a belt's rollers roll on bearing surfaces whenever the belt is advancing. In other versions, rollers are selective actuated by moving bearing surfaces. In yet other versions, rollers are not contacted by bearing surfaces at all. | 12-11-2008 |
| 20080289936 | ROLLER-BELT CONVEYOR FOR MOVING ARTICLES ACROSS THE CONVEYOR - A conveyor using a roller belt with rollers arranged to rotate on oblique axes to urge articles toward a side guide. The conveyor includes an oblique-roller belt supported on a carryway for running in a direction of belt travel. Rollers extend above an outer conveying surface of the belt without contact with the carryway. Each roller rotates on an axis oblique to the direction of belt travel and intersects the side guide downstream of the roller's position. A retractable stop is movable to and from a blocking position along the carryway. In the blocking position, the stop blocks the conveyed articles from advancing in the direction of belt travel. The rollers underlying the blocked articles rotate as the belt runs by contact with the articles. The rotating rollers provide a component of force to the blocked articles directed toward the side guide to push the articles against the side guide or other articles as they accumulate under low pressure upstream of the stop. The conveyor may be used to register articles single file against the side guide or to group the articles for palletizing. For palletizing applications, an infeed conveyor feeds articles onto the belt at the side opposite the side guide. | 11-27-2008 |
| 20080271978 | TRANSVERSE-ROLLER BELTS AND MODULES - A modular roller-top conveyor belt with a dense array of rollers freely rotatable toward the sides of the belt. The rollers are arranged in offset lines and columns in a checkerboard pattern on the top side of the belt. The rollers rotate on axes parallel to the direction of belt travel. The rollers extend in the direction of belt travel over the hinge axes formed between adjacent rows of belt modules. | 11-06-2008 |
| 20080271610 | Method and a Product for Heating or Cooling of Foodstuffs - The invention relates to a method and a product for heating or cooling including freezing of food items in a rotating closed pipe serpent. The technology includes a closed non-circular rotating pipe serpent for processing of food items, where the food items are transported in a preparation liquid through the pipe serpent during either heating or cooling. The invention secures a gentle but efficient mixture of the food items that prevents clogging, which secures a homogeneous thermal processing of the individual food items, which again secures a high quality of the final food items. Simultaneously the products used for processing are easy to clean, which results in low costs. The process can be run entirely automatic without the involvement of manual labour, which results in minimal demands for process resources and ensures a high standard of hygiene. Several independent rotating pipe serpent units can be combined so that the food items can run through numerous successive heating- or cooling processes in batches or in a continuous flow. The process is suited for processing of many different types of food items such as meat, shellfish or vegetables whether these are going to be steamed, blanched or boiled in liquids such as water or oil. | 11-06-2008 |
| 20080251359 | Conveyor Belt Having Rollers that Displace Objects - In one embodiment, a conveyor belt includes multiple roller sets, each roller set including a first roller and a second roller, the first and second rollers being placed in contact with each other such that driving of one of the rollers in a first angular direction causes rotation of the other roller in a second, opposite angular direction. | 10-16-2008 |
| 20080217138 | CONVEYOR SYSTEMS FOR DIVERTING OBJECTS - In one embodiment, a conveyor system includes a conveyor belt having a plurality of conveyor belt rollers configured to divert objects on the conveyor belt, and a drive mechanism that engages the conveyor belt rollers, the drive mechanism being configured to drive the conveyor belt rollers, the drive mechanism being adjustable such that the conveyor belt rollers can be selectively driven in a first angular direction and a second, opposite angular direction so that objects can be selectively diverted to either side of the conveyor belt at a desired diverting angle. One version of the drive mechanism has drive rollers mounted in cartridges and rack gears engaging pinion gears on the cartridges to adjust the orientation of the drive rollers relative to the belt rollers to drive them in selectively opposite angular directions. | 09-11-2008 |
| 20080202896 | STACKED ATTACHMENTS FOR MODULAR CONVEYOR BELTS - A detachable stacked attachment for a modular conveyor belt. An attachment, for example, a bucket, comprises a group of components arranged side by side in an aligned stack of parallel layers. Interior components are sandwiched between outermost and end components. The number and widths of the components in the stack define the width of the resulting stack attachment. In this way, an attachment of selected width may be attached to a conveyor belt. | 08-28-2008 |
