Endless-chain conveyor,particularly for transporting independent cars

Claim 2

Endless-chain conveyor, particularly for transporting independent cars, characterized in that it comprises a track forming a loop and having at least one guide rail and fixed inductors of an electric linear induction motor spaced along the at least one guide rail, the conveyor further comprising an endless chain in the general form of a flat ribbon disposed around the said track with the same ribbon face turned upwardly at all points on the track, this endless chain being formed essentially by flat armatures of a linear induction rotor, which armatures are articulated to one another and each of which is supported, a short distance above the fixed inductors on the track, by supporting means solid with the armature and cooperating with the guide rail of the said track, each armature in the endless chain being supported by two lateral shoes sliding respectively on the at least one guide rail and being suspended, at a location spaced from its center of gravity, from a platform which is itself supported directly by the two lateral shoes, this platform being able to serve as a support for at least a part of one of the cars to be transported.

Claim 3

Conveyor according to claim 1, characterized in that elastic links are provided between each armature in the endless chain and the corresponding platform, as well as between its latter and the two shoes.

Claim 4

Conveyor according to claim 1, characterized in that the platforms from which the successive armatures in the endless chain are suspended are shorter in length than the said armatures and are coupled to one another by horizontal links of lengths selected to keep the adjoining ends of successive armatures in abutment, which links are arranged to and allow relative pivoting of the successive armatures and insure that the end of each armature which is furthest from the corresponding platform rests on the adjoining end of the following armature.

Claim 5

Endless-chain conveyor, particularly for transporting independent cars, characterized in that it comprises a track forming a loop and having at least one guide rail and fixed inductors of an electric linear induction motor spaced along the at least one guide rail, the conveyor further comprising an endless chain in the general form of a flat ribbon disposed around the said track with the same ribbon face turned upwardly at all points on the track, this endless chain being formed essentially by flat armatures of a linear induction motor, which armatures are articulated to one another and each of which is supported, a short distance above the fixed inductors on the track, by supporting means solid with the armature and cooperating with the guide rail of the said track, the conveyor further being characterized in that it comprises, between two terminal stations, two guide-rail pairs which are preferably a short distance from one another and along each of which are spaced fixed inductors, and in that in each terminal station the outlet of one of the two guide-rail pairs is joined to the entry of the other by a smooth surface on which the supporting means of the armatures in the endless chain rest and on which the armatures are free to follow a substantially semicircular path between the said entry and outlet of the guide-rail pairs.

Claim 6

Endless-chain conveyor, particularly for transporting independent cars, characterized in that it comprises a track forming a loop and having at least one guide rail and fixed inductors of an electric linear induction motor spaced along the at least one guide rail, the conveyor further comprising an endless chain in the general form of a flat ribbon disposed around the said track with the same ribbon face turned upwardly at all points on the track, this endless chain being formed essentially by flat armatures of a linear induction motor, which armatures are articulated to one another and each of which is supported, a short distance above the fixed inductors on the track, by supporting means solid with the armature and cooperating with the guide rail of the said track, the conveyor further being characterized in that it comprises, between two terminal stations, two guide-rail pairs which are preferably a short distance from one another and along each of which are spaced fixed inductors, and in that in each terminal station the outlet of one of the two guide-rail pairs is joined to the entry of the other by a smooth surface on which the supporting means of the armatures in the endless chain rest and on which the armatures are free to follow a substantially semicircular path between the said entry and outlet of the guide-rail pairs.

Claim 7

Conveyor according to claim 4, characterized in that, in order to even out the tensions in the endless chain, along the two guide-rail pairs and regardless of the distribution and the loads of the cars on these two guide-rail pairs, there are provided in at least one of the terminal stations means for detecting deviations of the endless chain with respect to its assigned semicircular path in the corresponding station and for producing deviation signals which are used to regulate the feeds to the inductors of at least one of the two guide-rail pairs for eliminating the deviations.

Claim 8

An endless chain conveyor for use for movement along a track forming a loop and having a plurality of longitudinally aligned, fixed inductors of an electric linear induction motor and at least one guide rail extending parallel to the inductors, said conveyor comprising: a plurality of longitudinally spaced platforms, each of said platforms having at least one shoe engageable with the at least one guide rail for supporting the platform above the inductors; link means pivotally connecting adjacent platforms for pivotal movement about longitudinally spaced axes; and an armature below and connected to each of said platforms and movable longitudinally above the fixed inductors of the track, adjacent ends of adjacent ones of the armatures being connected for pivotal movement rel-ative to each other at locations between and spaced from the axes of pivotal movement of the platforms.

Claim 9

An endless chain conveyor for use for movement along a track forming a loop and having a plurality of longitudinally aligned, fixed inductors of an electric linear induction motor and at least one guide rail extending parallel to the inductors, said conveyor comprising: a plurality of longitudinally spaced platforms, each of said platforms having at least one shoe engageable with the at least one guide rail for supporting the platform above the inductors; link means pivotally connecting adjacent platforms for pivotal movement about longitudinally spaced axes; and an armature below and connected to each of said platforms and movable longitudinally above the fixed inductors of the track, adjacent ends of adjacent ones of the armatures being connected for pivotal movement rel-ative to each other at locations between and spaced from the axes of pivotal movement of the platforms.

Claim 10

The conveyor of claim 6, wherein each of said armatures comprises a frame of non-magnetic conductive substance, a body having magnetic particles embedded in a non-magnetic substance, and conductors in said body extending transversely of said conveyor.

Claim 11

The conveyor of claim 6, said at least one shoe of each platform being connected thereto for pivotal movement about a horizontal transverse axis.

Claim 12

The conveyor of claim 8, wherein said armatures are pivotally connected to said platforms at locations spaced longitudinally from the centers of gravity of the armatures.

Claim 13

The conveyor of claim 9, wherein said guide shoes are pivotally connected to said platforms at locations spaced longitudinally from the centers of gravity of the armatures.

Claim 14

The conveyor of claim 7, wherein said armatures are pivotally connected to said platforms at locations spaced longitudinally from the centers of gravity of the armatures.

Claim 15

The conveyor of claim 11, wherein said guide shoes are pivotally connected to said platforms at locations spaced longitudinally from the centers of gravity of the armatures.