Classifications

• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
  • B65G—TRANSPORT OR STORAGE DEVICES, e.g. CONVEYORS FOR LOADING OR TIPPING, SHOP CONVEYOR SYSTEMS OR PNEUMATIC TUBE CONVEYORS
  • B65G15/00—Conveyors having endless load-conveying surfaces, i.e. belts and like continuous members, to which tractive effort is transmitted by means other than endless driving elements of similar configuration
  • B65G15/10—Conveyors having endless load-conveying surfaces, i.e. belts and like continuous members, to which tractive effort is transmitted by means other than endless driving elements of similar configuration comprising two or more co-operating endless surfaces with parallel longitudinal axes, or a multiplicity of parallel elements, e.g. ropes defining an endless surface
  • B65G15/12—Conveyors having endless load-conveying surfaces, i.e. belts and like continuous members, to which tractive effort is transmitted by means other than endless driving elements of similar configuration comprising two or more co-operating endless surfaces with parallel longitudinal axes, or a multiplicity of parallel elements, e.g. ropes defining an endless surface with two or more endless belts
  • B65G15/14—Conveyors having endless load-conveying surfaces, i.e. belts and like continuous members, to which tractive effort is transmitted by means other than endless driving elements of similar configuration comprising two or more co-operating endless surfaces with parallel longitudinal axes, or a multiplicity of parallel elements, e.g. ropes defining an endless surface with two or more endless belts the load being conveyed between the belts
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
  • B65G—TRANSPORT OR STORAGE DEVICES, e.g. CONVEYORS FOR LOADING OR TIPPING, SHOP CONVEYOR SYSTEMS OR PNEUMATIC TUBE CONVEYORS
  • B65G15/00—Conveyors having endless load-conveying surfaces, i.e. belts and like continuous members, to which tractive effort is transmitted by means other than endless driving elements of similar configuration
  • B65G15/10—Conveyors having endless load-conveying surfaces, i.e. belts and like continuous members, to which tractive effort is transmitted by means other than endless driving elements of similar configuration comprising two or more co-operating endless surfaces with parallel longitudinal axes, or a multiplicity of parallel elements, e.g. ropes defining an endless surface
  • B65G15/105—Conveyors having endless load-conveying surfaces, i.e. belts and like continuous members, to which tractive effort is transmitted by means other than endless driving elements of similar configuration comprising two or more co-operating endless surfaces with parallel longitudinal axes, or a multiplicity of parallel elements, e.g. ropes defining an endless surface the surface being formed by two or more ropes

Definitions

• the present invention relates to conveying systems for articles made of thermoplastic material such as bottle preforms. It relates more particularly to the conveying member itself, that is to say a member of the endless belt type which is in direct contact with the articles.
• This device aims to pass the preforms from a random flow to an ordered flow to feed a star wheel-shaped receiving member which loads a station where these preforms are heated, before being blown and transformed into bottles by a machine. appropriate.
• the filling of the star wheel imposes an accumulation of preforms upstream of this wheel and this accumulation causes friction between the conveying members and the preforms which are in the tail leu le and touch-key between said conveying members.
• the conveying members are described as consisting of cords in the form of cords of cylindrical section, made of rubber-like material. natural or synthetic; they may also consist of a metal chain provided with a coating.
• One of the means described in this document for providing the coefficient of friction consists of using a coating which is applied temporarily to the neck of the preforms.
• the problem lies in fact in the preforms which adhere more or less to the conveying members. This adhesion is linked to many parameters such as the nature of the material constituting the preforms, the temperature and the degree of humidity of the place where the processing of these preforms takes place. To a lesser extent, it is the same for the conveying member.
• variable nature of the adhesion of the preforms to the conveying members causes a modification of the contact relationship and the coefficient of friction between the preforms and said conveying members in the accumulation zone, affecting the engagement pressure of the preforms to the receiving organ.
• the friction existing between the preforms and the Conveying in particular, can lead to damage by abrasion preforms and / or conveying members.
• Such a phenomenon can have the effect of adversely affecting the good shaping of the preforms during the blowing operation, if they have been damaged, and / or reducing the operating life of the conveying members.
• the sliding contact established between the preforms and the conveying members in the accumulation zone may, depending on the type of conveying member employed, generate a large noise.
• the coefficient of friction between the preforms and the conveying members is influenced by the material of the preforms which is more or less adherent, by the coating and the structure of the surface of the conveying members.
• the present invention proposes to establish a contact relationship that does not depend on the nature of the preforms or their potential to evolution over time and, in particular, during their conveyance and / or accumulation.
• a contact relationship that does not depend on the nature of the preforms or their potential to evolution over time and, in particular, during their conveyance and / or accumulation.
• EP 1 559 663 no other document mentions this particular problem, and does not propose or suggest a transposable solution without demonstrating inventive step.
• This contact relationship is in fact, thanks to the invention, entirely managed by the conveying members and in particular by the part of these conveying members which is in direct contact with the preforms, and this in a conveyor installation comprising a simple conveyor or a conveyor system consisting of several conveyors including at least one conveyor-accumulator, that is to say a conveyor where establishes a durable relationship of friction between the preforms and the conveying members.
• the invention makes it possible to control this friction relation between preforms and conveying members in order to obtain and maintain a substantially constant pressure of these preforms at the inlet of the receiving member which is arranged downstream of the accumulator-conveyor, and whatever the operating conditions affecting the adhesion of the preforms.
• the conveying installation according to the invention relates to the transport of thermoplastic material articles of the bottle preform kind; it comprises a conveyor system which comprises at least one conveyor equipped with two conveying members whose active strands are parallel to each other to receive and transport said articles which are arranged in a single file between said active strands, and one at the least of said conveying members comprises, at least at the level of its active part which is in direct contact with said articles, a surface consisting of a natural material: cui.
• the contact relationship between leather and preformed articles is perfectly manageable in that it overcomes all the problems encountered so far such as the problems related to the wear of the guiding components, the noise problems. etc.
• the use of leather in the conveying members allows in particular "to absorb” variations in adhesion of the preforms depending on the operating conditions, and thus to maintain in the accumulation zone a supply pressure constant for the receiving organ.
• endless conveying members consisting of leather belts
• US Pat. No. 2,713,412 which dates from 1951.
• This document addresses a problem of high speed conveying of catering trays between a kitchen and various storage stations. reception, and describes a conveying system formed of two endless conveying members made of leather and on which the trays to be conveyed rest.
• patent FR 1 099 528 which dates from 1954, relates to a transmission element intended to replace these conventional leather belts, and proposes a belt having a hybrid structure formed of a core consisting of a strip Endless steel, or other elastic material, which core is embedded in a coating of a flexible material such as rubber or plastic. This document suggests the abandonment of leather in favor of more high tech material.
• the leather also has the advantage of being antistatic and, therefore, it does not cause dust. It is also very resistant to abrasion and traction, and it respects the preform, that is to say, it does not attack.
• the leather used in the present application is a leather of the vegetable leather type, prepared by a tanning process which does not use chromium but natural products such as chestnut bark and its impregnation is carried out by means of animal oils. This This method ensures a total absence of toxicity of these leather belts, given their use in the food field, in line with the conditions imposed on products intended for young children.
• the conveying members consist of endless belts which comprise leather.
• the belts are integrally made of leather.
• the belts are mixed, or composite, that is to say they comprise a portion consisting of a conventional toothed transmission belt, for example with a tooth of the type to chevrons, or curvilinear, with a self-centering effect, and a part consisting of a leather covering for contact with the transported articles.
• the belts may be flat or of substantially circular section; in the case of a circular belt, the diameter is, for example, of the order of 9 mm.
• the leather belts of circular section have an assembly of their ends which may be in the form of at least one staple embedded in the leather, or a longitudinal Vee joint or in Whistle, which seal is assembled by gluing, or by sewing, or both, that is to say by gluing with a reinforcement by stitching.
• the belts of the mixed type, or composite may comprise, on the back of the part which carries out the transmission, a protruding peripheral rib, which rib is provided with a gorge fitted to accommodate a belt made entirely of leather.
• the assembly of the two can be realized by polymerization after impregnation of the leather, crust side, with polyurethane also, the flower side being intended to be placed in contact with the preforms.
• the invention also relates generally to the use of leather as a contact material between the conveying member and the transported article, whether it is an integrally leather-shaped belt member. or a composite or composite belt member comprising a part consisting of a conventional toothed transmission belt, for example with herringbone or curvilinear teeth, with a self-centering effect, and a part secured to the back of said transmission belt, consisting of a leather coating strip or other.
• the invention therefore relates to the use of leather, as a contact material between the conveying member and the transported article, for at least one of the conveying members in a conveying system of articles of the bottle preform type.
• the feed device like starwheel, which is, for example, associated with a packaging station of said items whose flow, in cruise mode, is constant and secondly , the extraction device which is associated with a storage station of said articles and whose flow, more random, can be adapted to meet the demand of said packaging station, which installation comprises a conveyor system with at least one conveyor and in particular a conveyor-accumulator.
• conveying members having a leather part also allows a slight desynchronization between the feeder and said conveying members without this phenomenon is detrimental for the gripping and conveying of the preforms in the position desired.
• FIG. 1 shows schematically a conveyor system according to the invention, in the case of preforms which are conveyed in a vertical position, carried by conveying members which take them under their neck;
• FIG. 2 is an enlarged section, along II-II, of Figure 1, made at the active strands of the conveying system, with a preform, partially shown, transported in a vertical position between said active strands;
• FIG. 3 shows schematically a conveyor system according to the invention, in the case of preforms which are conveyed horizontally, taken between conveying members which are in contact with the neck of these preforms;
• FIG. 4 is an enlarged cross-section, along line IV-IV, of FIG. 3, made at the level of the active strands and pulleys of the conveying system, with a preform, partially represented, transported and driven in a horizontal position between said active strands;
• FIG. 5 shows, almost to scale, a portion of a conveying member in the form of a circular section of leather cord, showing the seal which joins the two ends of said cord;
• FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the conveying member in the form of mixed flat belt, or composite
• FIG. 9 is a view similar to that of FIG. 4 in which a belt according to the embodiment of FIG. 8 is implemented.
• FIGS. 1 and 3 show a hopper 1 in which articles of the preform 2 type of bottle are stored.
• This hopper 1 releases the preforms 2 by appropriate means which are not shown, of the type described in document EP 1 690 813, for example, which preforms 2 are taken over by a conveyor installation 3 which is interposed between said hopper 1 and means that feed a processing station of said preforms 2 and in particular a packaging station 4 where these preforms 2 are heated before being introduced into blow molds, not shown, which will allow their transformation into bottles .
• the blow molds In cruising mode, the blow molds operate with a rate that is constant and which imposes a regular and continuous supply of preforms 2.
• the conveying installation 3 comprises several conveying systems of the preforms 2.
• the conveying installation 3 makes it possible to transfer the preforms 2 according to two transport modes by maintaining them, respectively, in the vertical position (FIG. 1) or in the horizontal position (FIG. 3).
• This conveying installation 3 comprises, in particular, a first conveyor 5 which carries out the extraction of the preforms 2 and comprises, at following this first conveyor 5, a second conveyor 6 which carries out the accumulation of preforms 2.
• the extraction conveyor 5 consists of two endless conveying members 7 and is in fact responsible for feeding the subsequent accumulator conveyor 6 into preforms 2.
• This accumulator conveyor 6 is also constituted by two conveying members 8 without end and it supplies, directly or not, a conveying device of these preforms 2, which is in the form of a star wheel 9, which wheel 9 supplies the packaging station 4 of the preforms 2.
• This starwheel 9 is fed by the accumulator-conveyor 6, which conveyor-accumulator may comprise two conveyors consisting, for one, of the conveying members 8 and, for the other, of two conveying members 8 ', such as represented in FIG. 1, and as described in the aforementioned document EP1559663, which second conveyor being synchronized with said star wheel 9 to control the feed pressure of the preforms to this wheel 9 star. But this synchronization can also be achieved with the first conveyor constituted by the conveying members 7, where appropriate.
• a guide 10 may be interposed between the star wheel 9 and the conveying members 8 or 8 ', as the case may be.
• this guide 10 simply ensures the junction between the end of the accumulator conveyor 6 and the wheel 9 star; in the case of FIG. 3, where the preforms 2 are conveyed horizontally, the guide 10 'provides a complementary tilting function, as described in document FR 2 930 241, for passing said preforms 2 from the horizontal position to the position vertical.
• the star wheel 9 supports the preforms 2 at the exit of the conveying installation 3 to present them to the conveyor 11 of the packing station 4.
• Figure 2 shows a preform 2, partially shown, which is carried and driven by the active strands of the conveying members 8, as described in EP1559663 supra.
• the active strands of the conveying members 8 enclose the cylindrical body 12 of the preform 2, which preform 2, when in the vertical position, rests on said active strands by means of its flange 13 which separates said body 12 from its neck 14.
• the conveying of the preforms 2 takes place in a horizontal position and, in this case, the active strands of the conveying members 8 enclose the neck 14 of said preforms 2, which preforms 2 are, in addition , guided by means of several rails 15 which serve as fixed guides; two rails 15 are arranged on either side of the body 12 of the preform 2 and behind the flange 13 and a rail 15 is disposed in front of the end of the neck 14, that is to say in front of the rim.
• the various members (7, 8, 8 ') for conveying the installation 3 are in fact constituted by belts.
• the conveying members 7 consist of two endless belts 17 which are stretched and driven by sets of pulleys 17.
• the members 8 of conveying are constituted by two belts 18 which are also tensioned and driven by sets of pulleys 28.
• the optional additional conveyor 6 ' is also constituted by two belts 18' which are stretched over sets of pulleys 28 '.
• the contact relationship may be different depending on the function assigned to the conveyor on which the preforms 2 are installed during their transport.
• the active part of the belts 18 of the conveying members 8 which is in direct contact with the preforms 2 consists of a natural material : leather.
• the endless belts 18 constituting the conveying members 8 of the accumulator-conveyor 6 can assume different shapes as shown in FIGS. 4 to 7 and 8. They can be integrally made of leather, as shown in FIGS. 5, 6 and 7, or be mixed, or composite, as shown in Figures 4, 8 and 9.
• a conveyor member 8, in the form of a monolithic belt 18, made entirely of leather, as represented in FIGS. 5 to 7, is in the form of a tanned leather cord, which cord is cut with the flower, the latter being intended to be placed in contact with the preforms, and it has a section which is circular or substantially circular. This cord can be assembled at its ends in different ways.
• FIG. 5 shows an assembly of the ends of the cord forming a belt 18, by means of a staple 19.
• This staple 19 is disposed and embedded in grooves to avoid contact with the preforms 2.
• Figure 6 shows a belt 18 whose ends of the cord are cut in Vé, axially, with an assembly by simple bonding. This configuration imposes a direction of operation of the belt 18 as represented by the arrow 20.
• Figure 7 shows an assembly of the ends of a belt 18 which is in the form of a whistle seal 21.
• This whistle seal 21 can be glued; it can also be achieved by means of stitches 22.
• Figure 8 shows a portion of an endless belt 18 whose shape is flat.
• This flat belt 18 is of the mixed type, or composite; it comprises a portion consisting of a first belt 18a, and a portion consisting of a band 18b, which covers the back of said first belt 18a.
• the first belt 18a is a conventional toothed transmission belt, for example with herringbone or curvilinear teeth with a self-centering effect, which is in contact with the guide and / or drive pulleys 28.
• the second belt 18b is in fact a strip which is formed of a leather covering intended to be in contact with the preforms 2 and in particular, as illustrated in FIG. 9, with the neck 14 of these preforms 2.
• the assembly of the two can be realized by polymerization after impregnation of the leather, crust side, with polyurethane also, the flower side being intended to be placed in contact with the preforms.
• FIG. 4 illustrates an exemplary implementation of the conveying members 8 which are of the mixed type, or composite, as well.
• Each conveying member 8 comprises a notched belt 18a which cooperates with a pulley 28 of the groove type, for example.
• the belt 18a and the pulley 28 may have herringbone type teeth, or curvilinear, self-centering effect.
• This belt 18a has, projecting on its back and integrally, for example, a belt 18d which is housed in a rib 18c which has a groove arrangement to accommodate the belt 18d made entirely of leather.
• This belt 18d is similar to the previously detailed belts, in connection with Figures 5 to 7; she is shaped circular section cord, housed in the groove of semicircular section of the rib 18c.
• the belt 18d can be in sliding contact with the groove of the rib 18c or be stuck in this groove. It projects from the rib 18c to serve as a contact surface for the preforms 2.
• FIG. 9 illustrates an example of implementation of conveying members 8 in the form of composite or composite flat belts such as that illustrated in FIG. 8.
• the conveying of the preforms 2 takes place in a horizontal position and, in this case, the active strands of the conveying members 8 enclose the neck 14 of said preforms 2, which preforms 2 are, in addition, guided by means several rails 15 which serve as fixed guides; two rails 15 are arranged on either side of the body 12 of the preform 2 and behind the flange 13 and a rail 15 is disposed in front of the end of the neck 14, that is to say in front of the rim.
• Each conveying member 8 comprises a belt
• This belt 18a has on its back a strip 18b which is formed of a leather covering intended to be in contact with the preforms 2 and in particular, as shown in FIG. 9, with the neck 14 of these preforms 2.
• the contact relation of the preforms 2 with the extraction conveyor 5 is different from that which may exist with the accumulator conveyor 6 and with the optional complementary conveyor 6 '.
• this contact relationship generates, as it were, no continuous friction; however, for reasons of homogeneity, the use of leather belts for the first conveyor-extractor 5 and for the optional complementary conveyor 6 'may prove to be advantageous, especially since, for modest belt lengths, these belts can be shaped endlessly, directly.
• the conveying members 8 may also consist of conveyor chains, as mentioned, in particular, in the aforementioned document EP 1 559 663; in this case the leather can also be used to fill only the active surface of the chain, that is to say the surface which is in direct contact with the preforms 2.
• the detailed invention for transporting preforms is fully transferable to the field of conveying bottles as well as products made of thermoplastic materials of the PET or other kind.

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• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• Belt Conveyors (AREA)
• Blow-Moulding Or Thermoforming Of Plastics Or The Like (AREA)
• Structure Of Belt Conveyors (AREA)
• Escalators And Moving Walkways (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

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• 2010
  • 2010-02-25 FR FR1051342A patent/FR2956652B1/fr not_active Expired - Fee Related
• 2011
  • 2011-02-24 WO PCT/FR2011/050388 patent/WO2011104484A2/fr not_active Ceased
  • 2011-02-24 EP EP11712637A patent/EP2539251A2/de not_active Withdrawn
  • 2011-02-24 US US13/580,842 patent/US9126760B2/en not_active Expired - Fee Related

Non-Patent Citations (1)

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