Conveying system having an automatically deactivated drive

Claim 2

In a conveyor system, a conveyor including a pair of drive members disposed at spaced intervals along the length of the conveyor and disposed to support and convey articles, a shaft extending longitudinally of the conveyor, connecting means individually connecting the shaft with each drive member, disengaging means for individually disengaging each connecting means under predetermined overload conditions encountered by the respective drive member, and means responsive to a predetermined time interval for returning said connecting means to an engaged position whereby each connecting means will retain engagement if the overload condition has been cleared and will disengage if the overload condition continues to exist, the engaging and disengaging means associated with the first drive member being arranged so that the connecting means of the first drive member is engaged and disengaged at a different time interval from the connecting means associated with the second drive member.

Claim 3

In a conveying system, a series of conveyor sections to support and convey articles and disposed in end-to-end relation, each conveyor section including a plurality of rotatable drive members, a shaft extending longitudinally of the conveyor sections, a series of sleeves journalled on the shaft with each sleeve being substantially coextensive in length with a conveyor section, connecting means for connecting each sleeve with the corresponding drive members of that conveyor section, clutch means interconnecting each sleeve with the shaft, said clutch means having an engaged position in which rotation of the shaft is transmitted to the respective sleeve to drive the drive members of that conveyor section, and having a disengaged position wherein rotation of the shaft is not transmitted to the respective sleeve, means for disengaging each clutch means under a predetermined overload condition whereby all of the drive members associated with that conveyor section will be deactivated, and means for moving said clutch means to the engaged position after a predetermined period of disengagement whereby said clutch means will retain engagement if the overload condition has been cured and will disengage if the overload condition continues to exist.

Claim 4

In a conveying system, a series of conveyor sections to support and convey articles and disposed in end-to-end relation, each conveyor section including a plurality of rotatable drive members, a shaft extending longitudinally of the conveyor sections, a series of sleeves journalled on the shaft with each sleeve being substantially coextensive in length with a conveyor section, connecting means for connecting each sleeve with the corresponding drive members of that conveyor section, clutch means interconnecting each sleeve with the shaft, said clutch means having an engaged position in which rotation of the shaft is transmitted to the respective sleeve to drive the drive members of that conveyor section, and having a disengaged position wherein rotation of the shaft is not transmitted to the respective sleeve, means for disengaging each clutch means under a predetermined overload condition whereby all of the drive members associated with that conveyor section will be deactivated, and means for moving said clutch means to the engaged position after a predetermined period of disengagement whereby said clutch means will retain engagement if the overload condition has been cured and will disengage if the overload condition continues to exist.

Claim 5

The conveying system of claim 2, wherein said clutch means includes a first clutch member secured to said shaft and a second clutch member secured to the sleeve, means for biasing the clutch members into driving engagement, a projection on one of said clutch members, and an abutment disposed on the other of said clutch members, said abutment being disposed to engage said projection during normal load conditions to provide a driving connection between said clutch members and said abutment arranged to disengage said projection under overload conditions thereby permitting said first clutch member to rotate freely with respect to said second clutch member and said sleeve.

Claim 6

In a conveyor system, a series of conveyor sections disposed in end-to-end relation and adapted to support and convey articles, each conveyor section including a drive roller, a shaft extending longitudinally of the conveyor sections, connecting means individually connecting the shaft with each drive roller, disengaging means for individually disengaging each connecting means under predetermined overload conditions, and engaging means for returning said connecting means to an engaged position after a predetermined time interval whereby each connecting means will retain engagement if the overload condition has been cured and will disengage if the overload condition continues to exist, said engaging and disengaging means being arranged so that the connecting means of each conveyor section is returned to the engaged position after a predetermined arc of rotation of said shaft, and the connecting means of each section is engaged and disengaged at different sectors in the rotation of said shaft.

Claim 7

In a conveyor system, a series of conveyor sections disposed in end-to-end relation and adapted to support and convey articles, each conveyor section including a drive roller, a shaft extending longitudinally of the conveyor sections, connecting means individually connecting the shaft with each drive roller, disengaging means for individually disengaging each connecting means under predetermined overload conditions, and engaging means for returning said connecting means to an engaged position after a predetermined time interval whereby each connecting means will retain engagement if the overload condition has been cured and will disengage if the overload condition continues to exist, said engaging and disengaging means being arranged so that the connecting means of each conveyor section is returned to the engaged position after a predetermined arc of rotation of said shaft, and the connecting means of each section is engaged and disengaged at different sectors in the rotation of said shaft.

Claim 8

The system of claim 4, wherein each connecting means is returned to the engaged position after approximately 360* of rotation of said shaft.