Conveyor

Claim 2

A conveyor comprising a number of rotatable supporting members arranged in two rows longitudinally thereof, a drive chain interposed between the two rows of supporting members, pushers tiltably pivoted to the drive chain each at the approximate midportion of its length and spaced apart by a distance at least longer than articles to be conveyed and pusher tilting levers pivoted to the drive chain each at the approximate midportion of its length and positioned in front of the pushers in mating combination therewith, each of the pushers having an upper projection upwardly extending obliquely forwardly of the pivot therefor and engageable with the article, a lower projection serving as a weight and a front projection extending toward the lever, the pusher being prevented from turning rearward when in engagement with the article, each of the levers having an upper projection extending upward from the pivot therefor and contactable with the rear side of the article, a lower projection serving as a weight and a rear projection extending toward the pusher to overlap the front projection thereof, the lever being pushable downward by contact with a stopped article on the conveyor while travelling with the drive chain and to thereby tilt the mating pusher downward.

Claim 3

The conveyor as set forth in claim 1 wherein an interconnecting link is provided between the front projection of the pusher and the rear projection of the pusher tilting lever and is pivotally connected at its one end to the end of the front projection and at the other end thereof to the end of the rear projection by pins respectively.

Claim 4

The conveyor as set forth in claim 1 wherein the upper projection of the pusher tilting lever is provided at its upper end with a roller rotatable in contact with the under surface of the article stopped during conveyance.

Claim 5

The conveyor as set forth in claim 3 wherein the article to be conveyed is a pallet having lugs with which the pusher is engageable from inside, guide rails each extending between each pair of the lugs opposing each other to guide the roller on the pusher tilting lever and slider surfaces extending in parallel for movable contact with the rotatable supporting members of the conveyor.

Claim 6

The conveyor as set forth in claim 1 wherein the lower projection of the pusher extends below the drive chain and has a roller at its lower end.

Claim 7

The conveyor as set forth in claim 5 wherein stopping means is disposed in a specified portion of the conveyor and includes a cam positioned below the drive chain and upwardly movable into contact with the roller of the pusher to push up the lower projection of the pusher and to thereby bring down the upper projection thereof from a position where it is engageable with the article to a disengaged position, the cam further being downwardly movable away from the roller of the pusher in its raised position.

Claim 8

The conveyor as set forth in claim 1 wherein at least at the front end of the conveyor the path of travel of the drive chain has a lower level section longer than the dimension of the article in the direction of travel of the article, the lower level section being at a lower level than the other portion of the path of travel of the drive chain so as to permit the pusher to engage the article but to keep the lever out of contact with the article.

Claim 9

A conveyor comprising a number of rotatable supporting members arranged in two rows longitudinally thereof, a drive chain interposed between the two rows of supporting members, pushers tiltably pivoted to the drive chain each at the approximate midportion of its length and spaced apart by a distance at least longer than articles to be conveyed and pusher tilting levers pivoted to the drive chain each at the approximate midportion of its length and positioned in front of the pushers in mating combination therewith, each of the pushers having an upper projection upwardly extending obliquely forwardly of the pivot therefor and engageable with the article, a lower projection serving as a weight and a front projection extending toward the lever, the pusher being prevented from turning rearward when in engagement with the article each of the levers having an upper projection extending upward from the pivot therefor and contactable with the rear side of the article, a lower projection serving as a weight and a rear projection extending toward the pusher to overlap the front projection thereof, the lever being pushable downward by contact with a stopped article on the conveyor while traveling with the drive chain and to thereby tilt the mating pusher downward, wherein the stopping means is disposed in a specified portion of the conveyor and includes a cam positioned below the drive chain and upwardly movable into contact with the roller of the pusher to push up the lower projection of the pusher and to thereby bring down the upper projection thereof from a position where it is engageable with the article to a disengaged position, the cam further being downwardly movable away from the roller of the pusher in its raised position, and wherein the stopping means further includes a coasting arresting dog operable with the dog operable with the cam and upwardly movable into the path of travel of the article and downwardly movable out of the same path of travel.

Claim 10

A conveyor comprising a number of rotatable supporting members arranged in two rows longitudinally thereof, a drive chain interposed between the two rows of supporting members, pushers tiltably pivoted to the drive chain each at the approximate midportion of its length and spaced apart by a distance at least longer than articles to be conveyed and pusher tilting levers pivoted to the drive chain each at the approximate midportion of its length and positioned in front of the pushers in mating combination therewith, each of the pushers having an upper projection upwardly extending obliquely forwardly of the pivot therefor and engageable with the article, a lower projection serving as a weight and a front projection extending toward the lever, the pusher being prevented from turning rearward when in engagement with the article each of the levers having an upper projection extending upward from the pivot therefor and contactable with the rear side of the article, a lower projection serving as a weight and a rear projection extending toward the pusher to overlap the front projection thereof, the lever being pushable downward by contact with a stopped article on the conveyor while traveling with the drive chain and to thereby tilt the mating pusher downward, wherein the stopping means is disposed in a specified portion of the conveyor and includes a cam positioned below the drive chain and upwardly movable into contact with the roller of the pusher to push up the lower projection of the pusher and to thereby bring down the upper projection thereof from a position where it is engageable with the article to a disengaged position, the cam further being downwardly movable away from the roller of the pusher in its raised position, and wherein the stopping means further includes a coasting arresting dog operable with the dog operable with the cam and upwardly movable into the path of travel of the article and downwardly movable out of the same path of travel.

Claim 11

The conveyor as set forth in claim 8 wherein pushing means is further disposed in the front end of the conveyor, the pushing means including pivotal members reciprocally movable between a lower position and an upper position with respect to the upper ends of rotatable supporting members of the conveyor, the pivotal members being operable to come into contact with and thereby push forward the rear end of article advanced by the pusher when moving upward from its lowered position so as to discharge the article completely from the conveyor when in its elevated position.