Inclined conveyor for handling fragile articles

Claim 2

In an inclined conveyor for fragile articles, a pair of laterally spaced driven chains having inclined parallel flights, a spaced series of transverse rods interconnecting said driven chains, an endless flexible draper belt arranged in a path generally the same as that of said rods during said inclined flights of said driven chains, said draper belt being arranged to support fragile articles in pendent pockets formed by looping the draper belt over adjacent transverse rods, means for effecting engagement between said transverse rods and said draper belt in said path so that there is no relative motion between said belt and said rods, moving the upstream end of said draper belt just prior to its movement in said path at a higher linear velocity than that of said driven chains in order to continuously form said draper belt into a series of pendent pockets looped over adjacent rods, said rods thereby moving the thus formed draper belt pockets and the fragile articles supported thereby to a different elevation at the velocity of said driven chains.

Claim 3

In an inclined conveyor, a pair of laterally spaced endless chains having elongate inclined upper flights, means for driving said chains, a spaced series of transverse rods interconnecting said driven chains, an endless flexible draper belt circumscribing said rods for conveying fragile articles, said draper belt having an upper flight inlet portion guided along a generally horizontal path intersecting the path of said rods, means for effecting engagement between said transverse rods and said draper belt at the intersection of said paths so that there is no relative movement between said belt and said rods during subsequent simultaneous movement with said inclined upper flight of said chains, and drive means for advancing the inlet portion of said draper belt toward said intersection at a higher linear velocity than that of said driven chains, said belt drive means thereby being effective to cause said draper belt to engage one of said rods and form a pendant pocket hanging from that rod and the subsequent adjacent rod, said draper belt drive means being ineffective tO drive that portion of said draper belt which is supported by said rods so that said rods convey the thus formed draper belt pocket and the fragile articles supported thereby to a different elevation at the linear velocity of said driven chains.

Claim 4

In an inclined conveyor, a pair of laterally spaced endless chains having elongate inclined upper flights, means for driving said chains, a spaced series of transverse rods interconnecting said driven chains, an endless flexible draper belt circumscribing said rods for conveying fragile articles, said draper belt having an upper flight inlet portion guided along a generally horizontal path intersecting the path of said rods, means for effecting engagement between said transverse rods and said draper belt at the intersection of said paths so that there is no relative movement between said belt and said rods during subsequent simultaneous movement with said inclined upper flight of said chains, and drive means for advancing the inlet portion of said draper belt toward said intersection at a higher linear velocity than that of said driven chains, said belt drive means thereby being effective to cause said draper belt to engage one of said rods and form a pendant pocket hanging from that rod and the subsequent adjacent rod, said draper belt drive means being ineffective tO drive that portion of said draper belt which is supported by said rods so that said rods convey the thus formed draper belt pocket and the fragile articles supported thereby to a different elevation at the linear velocity of said driven chains.

Claim 5

Apparatus according to claim 2 including a pair of sprockets engaged with the downstream end of said driven chains, means for driving the outlet portion of said draper belt at said higher linear velocity, said means for driving the outlet portion of the draper belt being located downstream of said sprockets whereby the leading one of said support rods of a given conveyor pocket will gradually move downward relative to the trailing support rod of that pocket to permit the pocket to flatten and continue the conveying movement of the articles supported thereby without any substantial relative movement between the articles and said draper belt.

Claim 6

Apparatus according to claim 2 wherein said means for driving said chains includes a pair of driven sprockets engaged with the upstream end of said driven chains for directing the lower flights of said chains upwardly toward said intersection with said draper belt, said draper belt drive means comprising a second pair of driven sprockets upstream of said driven sprockets of said chain drive means so that the section of draper belt forming a pocket gradually moves downward relative to the leading support rod of that pocket to form said pocket with substantially no relative movement between the supported fragile article and said draper belt.

Claim 7

In an inclined conveyor, a pair of laterally spaced endless chains having elongate inclined upper flights, means for driving said chains, a spaced series of transverse rods interconnecting said driven chains, an endless flexible draper belt circumscribing said rods for conveying fragile articles, said draper belt comprising a spaced series of transversely extending bars with interlocked ends, a radially projecting lug on each end of said rods, each lug being positioned so as to be engaged between an adjacent pair of bars of said draper belt to provide positive supporting engagement therewith, said draper belt having an upper flight inlet portion guided along a generally horizontal path intersecting the path of said rods, and drive means for advancing the inlet portion of said draper belt toward said intersection at a higher linear velocity than that of said driven chains, said belt drive means thereby being effective to cause said draper belt to engage one of said rods and form a pendant pocket hanging from that rod and the subsequent adjacent rod, said draper belt drive means being ineffective to drive that portion of said draper belt which is supported by said rods so that said rods convey the thus formed draper belt pocket and the fragile articles supported thereby to a different elevation at the linear velocity of said driven chains.

Claim 8

In an inclined conveyor, a pair of laterally spaced endless chains having elongate inclined upper flights, means for driving said chains, a spaced series of transverse rods interconnecting said driven chains, an endless flexible draper belt circumscribing said rods for conveying fragile articles, said draper belt comprising a spaced series of transversely extending bars with interlocked ends, a radially projecting lug on each end of said rods, each lug being positioned so as to be engaged between an adjacent pair of bars of said draper belt to provide positive supporting engagement therewith, said draper belt having an upper flight inlet portion guided along a generally horizontal path intersecting the path of said rods, and drive means for advancing the inlet portion of said draper belt toward said intersection at a higher linear velocity than that of said driven chains, said belt drive means thereby being effective to cause said draper belt to engage one of said rods and form a pendant pocket hanging from that rod and the subsequent adjacent rod, said draper belt drive means being ineffective to drive that portion of said draper belt which is supported by said rods so that said rods convey the thus formed draper belt pocket and the fragile articles supported thereby to a different elevation at the linear velocity of said driven chains.

Claim 9

An inclined conveyor for fragile articles comprising a pair of laterally spaced endless chains having inclined upper flights, a spaced series of transverse support rods interconnecting and affixed to said chains, a flexible endless draper belt of narrower transverse dimensions than the interspacing of said chains, said belt forming a loop containing said support rods, means for engaging the draper belt on said transverse support rods, means for continuously driving said chains to elevationally transfer said support rods at one linear velocity in said inclined upper flights of said chains, and means for continuously driving said draper belt onto said support rods at a higher linear velocity to continuously form the upper flight of said draper belt into pendant pockets each pocket depending by the engaging means from two adjacent support rods, said support rods transferring the thus formed conveying pockets to a different elevation at the velocity of said claims.

Claim 10

Apparatus according to claim 6 wherein the upper flights of said chains and said draper belt are moved upwardly, said draper belt including a substantially horizontal inlet flight for supporting incoming articles, and means for guiding said support rods from the lower flight of said chains to the upper flight thereof, said draper belt drive means including drive means located intermediate said support rod guiding means and said inlet flight for advancing said draper belt onto said support rods.

Claim 11

Apparatus according to claim 7 wherein said draper belt includes a substantially horizontal outlet flight for supporting said articles after the removal of said pockets, and means adjacent said outlet flight for guiding said support rods from the upper flight of said chains to the lower flight thereof, said draper belt diverging from the path of said support rods to gradually flatten out each conveying pocket and continue the conveying movement of the articles on said outlet flight.

Claim 12

An inclined conveyor for handling relatively fragile articles comprising an endless flexible draper belt having an inclined conveying run, a supporting conveyor including a plurality of parallel spaced rods for supporting said draper belt during its inclined conveying run, means for effecting engagement between said draper belt and said parallel rods thereby permitting the parallel rods to support the draper belt during its inclined conveying run, means for continuously driving said supporting conveyor, and means for continuously driving the upstream end of said draper belt at a higher linear velocity than that of said rods whereby said draper belt is formed into pendant pockets between adjacent rods so that said fragile articles carried by said belt will be transferred to a different elevation with a minimum amount of relative movement between the articles and the belt.

Claim 13

An inclined conveyor for handling relatively fragile articles comprising an endless flexible draper belt having an inclined conveying run, a supporting conveyor including a plurality of parallel spaced rods for supporting said draper belt during its inclined conveying run, means for effecting engagement between said draper belt and said parallel rods thereby permitting the parallel rods to support the draper belt during its inclined conveying run, means for continuously driving said supporting conveyor, and means for continuously driving the upstream end of said draper belt at a higher linear velocity than that of said rods whereby said draper belt is formed into pendant pockets between adjacent rods so that said fragile articles carried by said belt will be transferred to a different elevation with a minimum amount of relative movement between the articles and the belt.

Claim 14

An inclined conveyor as set forth in claim 9 including means for driving the downstream end of the belt at said higher linear velocity so as to cause said pockets to flatten out with a minimum amount of relative movement between the articles and the belt.

Claim 15

An inclined conveyor as set forth in claim 10 wherein said upstream and downstream ends of said draper belt extend in generally horizontal planes separated by said inclined conveying run of the belt.

Claim 16

An inclined conveyor as set forth in claim 11 wherein said draper belt and said supporting conveyor comprise endless conveyors with said supporting conveyor being enclosed within the endless loop path of the draper belt.

Claim 17

An inclined conveyor as set forth in claim 12 wherein said draper belt comprises a spaced series of transversely extending bars with perpendicularly bent and interlocked end portions.

Claim 18

An inclined conveyor for handling relatively fragile articles comprising a flexible draper belt having an inclined conveying run, said draper belt comprising a spaced series of transversely extending bars with perpendicularly bent and interlocked end portions, a supporting conveyor including a plurality of parallel spaced rods for supporting said draper belt during its inclined conveying run, each of said belt supporting rods including a radially projecting lug for engagement between a pair of adjacent bars of said draper belt, said draper belt and said supporting conveyor comprising endless conveyors with said supporting conveyor being enclosed within the endless loop path of the draper belt, means for continuously driving said supporting conveyor, means for continuously driving the upstream end of said draper belt at a higher linear velocity than that of said rods whereby said draper belt is formed into pendant pockets between adjacent rods so that said fragile articles carried by said belt will be transferred to a different elevation with a minimum amount of relative movement between the articles and the belt, and means for driving the downstream end of the draper belt at said higher linear velocity so as to cause said pockets to flatten out with a minimum amount of relative movement between the articles and the belt, said upstream and downstream ends of said draper beLt extend in generally horizontal planes separated by said inclined conveying run of the belt.

Claim 19

An inclined conveyor for handling relatively fragile articles comprising a flexible draper belt having an inclined conveying run, said draper belt comprising a spaced series of transversely extending bars with perpendicularly bent and interlocked end portions, a supporting conveyor including a plurality of parallel spaced rods for supporting said draper belt during its inclined conveying run, each of said belt supporting rods including a radially projecting lug for engagement between a pair of adjacent bars of said draper belt, said draper belt and said supporting conveyor comprising endless conveyors with said supporting conveyor being enclosed within the endless loop path of the draper belt, means for continuously driving said supporting conveyor, means for continuously driving the upstream end of said draper belt at a higher linear velocity than that of said rods whereby said draper belt is formed into pendant pockets between adjacent rods so that said fragile articles carried by said belt will be transferred to a different elevation with a minimum amount of relative movement between the articles and the belt, and means for driving the downstream end of the draper belt at said higher linear velocity so as to cause said pockets to flatten out with a minimum amount of relative movement between the articles and the belt, said upstream and downstream ends of said draper beLt extend in generally horizontal planes separated by said inclined conveying run of the belt.