Flat article conveyor

Claim 2

A conveyor for conveying elongate objects having essentially parallel and essentially straight sides that have a substantially flat bottom edqe portion, said conveyor comprising a first set of a plurality of rotatable wheels, each wheel having a conveying surface for supporting only the bottom position of a conveyed object and said wheels being rotatably mounted on individual, rotational axes that are aligned along a first longitudinal axis; and a second set of a plurality of rotatable wheels, each wheel having a conveying surface for supporting only the bottom portion of the conveyed object and said wheels being rotatably mounted on individual, rotational axes that are aligned along a second longitudinal axis that is essentially parallel to and spaced apart from said first longitudinal axis, said conveying surfaces being the only portions of said conveyor in constant supporting, conveying contact with the objects being conveyed.

Claim 3

A conveyor as claimed in claim 1 and further comprising a first means for rotating all of said first set of wheels in one rotational direction; and a second means for rotating all of said second set of wheels in the other rotational direction; and wherein said first and second sets of wheels lie in a substantially horizontal plane.

Claim 4

A conveyor as claimed in claim 2 wherein said first rotating means simultaneously rotates all of said first set of wheels at the same rotational velocity and said second rotating means simultaneously rotates all of said second set of wheels at the same rotational velocity.

Claim 5

A conveyor as claimed in claim 2 wherein said first and said second rotating means each comprises a gear train that includes a drive gear individual to and rigidly mounted on each wheel and an idler gear in meshing engagement with adjacent drive gears, and motor means for driving said gear train.

Claim 6

A conveyor as claimed in claim 2 wherein said first and said second rotating means each comprises a drive gear individual to and rigidly mounted on each wheel, a belt in rotating engagement with said drive gears, and means for rotating at least one drive gear.

Claim 7

A conveyor as claimed in claim 5 wherein said first and second rotating means each further comprises an elongate guide bar extending along one side of said belt and closely spaced therefrom; and said drive gears and belt are toothed and in meshing engagement with each other.

Claim 8

A conveyor as claimed in claim 1 and further including a magazine for storing a plurality of the objects to be conveyed; and means for extracting or inserting the objects from or to said magazine and feeding the objects to or from said conveyor wheels.

Claim 9

A conveyor as claimed in claim 7 wherein said magazine stores each object in a horizontal plane, and wherein said extracting means comprises opposed, first and second vertically mounted rotatable rollers, means for rotating said rollers, and means for moving said rollers into and out of engagement with the corresponding opposed sides of a stored object.

Claim 10

A conveyor as claimed in claim 8 wherein said magazine stores the objects in a vertical stack; and said conveyor further including means for vertically moving said magazine and conveyor relative to each other; and said conveyor further comprising means for determining when an edge of a board is in said horizontal plane and for generating a signal usable for stopping the vertical movement of said conveyor.

Claim 11

A conveyor as claimed in claim 1 wherein each wheel comprises a radially extending flange, said flange having an upper, peripheral surface that extends horizontally and which is said conveying surface.

Claim 12

A conveyor as claimed in claim 10 wherein each of said wheels further comprises an axially extending, central hub, wherein each of said wheel axes is substantially vertical, and wherein said conveying surface radially extends from said hub.

Claim 13

A conveyor as claimed in claim 10 wherein said flange has a bevelled outer edge, and said conveying surface is located between said outer edge and said hub.

Claim 14

A conveyor as claimed in claim 11 wherein said hub extends in an axial direction above said conveying surface and wherein the transverse distance between opposed hubs in said first and second sets of wheels is greater than the width of the object being conveyed in an amount such that said opposed hubs cannot simultaneously contact the object being conveyed.

Claim 15

A conveyor as claimed in claim 10 wherein each wheel comprises an upper flange, a lower flange and a slot between said flanges for receiving only a side edge portion of an object being conveyed, said conveying surface being the upper, peripheral portion of said lower flange and said flanges being spaced apart such that there is no conveying engagement of the upper flange with an object being conveyed.

Claim 16

A conveyor as claimed in claim 10 wherein said first set of wheels are closely spaced apart and have diameters that are smaller than the width of the object; and wherein said second set of wheels are closely spaced apart and have diameters that are smaller than the width of the object being conveyed.

Claim 17

A conveyor as claimed in claim 15 wherein said first set of wheels have diameters that are much smaller than the length of the object being conveyed and the amount of said conveying surface in contact with an object being conveyed is small with respect to the width of the object being conveyed such that minimal rotational torque is applied to the object as it is being conveyed.

Claim 18

A conveyor as claimed in claim 15 wherein said first and said second sets of wheels are each comprised of at least three wheels that are spaced apart and have a diameter such that an object to be conveyed can be supportingly engaged along the length thereof by the conveying surfaces of at least three wheels.

Claim 19

The conveyor as claimed in claim 1 wherein said wheels of said first set are located transversely opposite corresponding wheels of said second set.

Claim 20

The conveyor as claimed in claim 1 and further including a frame having spaced apart first and second rails; and wherein said first set of wheels are mounted to the underside of said first rail; and said second set of wheels are mounted to the underside of said second rail.

Claim 21

A conveyor for conveying flat, elongate articles that have essentially parallel and essentially straight sides, such as printed circuit boards, said conveyor comprising a frame that includes spaced apart first and second rails which provide an opening therebetween; a first set of a plurality of rotatable wheels, each wheel having a horizontal conveying surface for supporting a conveyed article, and said wheels being rotatably mounted to the underside of said first rail on individual, rotational axes that are aligned along a first longitudinal axis, and said wheels being vertically mounted such that all of said conveying surfaces essentially lie in a substantially horizontal plane; and a second set of a plurality of rotatable wheels, each wheel having a horizontal conveying surface for supporting the conveyed article and said wheels being rotatably mounted to the underside of said second rail on individual, rotational axes that are aligned along a second longitudinal axis that is essentially parallel to and spaced apart from said first longitudinal axis and said wheels being vertically mounted such that all of said conveying surfaces essentially lie in said horizontal plane, said wheels of said first and said second sets being spaced apart a distance with respect to the width of the article being conveyed such that the article is only in constant conveying engagement with the corresponding conveying surfaces of said wheels.

Claim 22

A conveyor for conveying flat, elongate articles that have essentially parallel and essentially straight sides, such as printed circuit boards, said conveyor comprising a frame that includes spaced apart first and second rails which provide an opening therebetween; a first set of a plurality of rotatable wheels, each wheel having a horizontal conveying surface for supporting a conveyed article, and said wheels being rotatably mounted to the underside of said first rail on individual, rotational axes that are aligned along a first longitudinal axis, and said wheels being vertically mounted such that all of said conveying surfaces essentially lie in a substantially horizontal plane; and a second set of a plurality of rotatable wheels, each wheel having a horizontal conveying surface for supporting the conveyed article and said wheels being rotatably mounted to the underside of said second rail on individual, rotational axes that are aligned along a second longitudinal axis that is essentially parallel to and spaced apart from said first longitudinal axis and said wheels being vertically mounted such that all of said conveying surfaces essentially lie in said horizontal plane, said wheels of said first and said second sets being spaced apart a distance with respect to the width of the article being conveyed such that the article is only in constant conveying engagement with the corresponding conveying surfaces of said wheels.

Claim 23

The conveyor as claimed in claim 20 and further including a work station having a mounting board that extends between said rails, and a stop pin mounted on said mounting board and movable in the vertical direction in said rail spacing between a first position where said pin prevents conveyed movement of an article being convered and a second position where said pin does not interfere with the conveyance of the article.

Claim 24

The conveyor as claimed in claim 21 wherein said mounting board is located above said wheels; and wherein said work station further includes a tool station mounted below said wheels and having a tool that is movable in said rail spacing to engage an article being conveyed.

Claim 25

The conveyor as claimed in claim 22 wherein said work station further includes a back up bar mounted on said mounting board in said rail spacing and movable in the vertical direction between a first position where said bar engages the top of an article being conveyed and holds the article against the conveying surface and a second position where said bar is out of engagement with the article.

Claim 26

The conveyor as claimed in claim 21 wherein at least one wheel of said first set and at least one wheel of said second set located at said work station are vertically movable between a first conveyed position and a second work position; and wherein said work station includes vacuum means for applying a vacuum to the bottom of an article being conveyed such that when said wheels are in said work position, the article can be drawn in the downward direction.

Claim 27

A conveyor for conveying elongate objects having essentially parallel and essentially straight sides that have a substantially flat bottom edge portion, said conveyor comprising a first set of a plurality of rotatable wheels, each wheel having a conveying surface for supporting only the bottom portion of a conveyed object and said wheels being rotatably mounted on individual, rotational axes that are aligned along a first longitudinal axis; and a second set of a plurality of rotatable wheels, each wheel having a conveying surface for supporting only the bottom portion of the conveyed object and said wheels being rotatablly mounted on individual, rotational axes that are aligned along a second longitudinal axis that is essentially parallel to and spaced apart from said distance and said first longitudinal axis, said conveying surfaces being oriented such that said conveying surfaces are the only portions of said conveyor in constant supporting, conveying contact with the objects being conveyed and no inwardly directed compressive forces are applied to the article being conveyed.

Claim 28

A conveyor for conveying elongate objects having essentially parallel and essentially straight sides that have a substantially flat bottom edge portion, said conveyor comprising a first set of a plurality of rotatable wheels, each wheel having a conveying surface for supporting only the bottom portion of a conveyed object and said wheels being rotatably mounted on individual, rotational axes that are aligned along a first longitudinal axis; and a second set of a plurality of rotatable wheels, each wheel having a conveying surface for supporting only the bottom portion of the conveyed object and said wheels being rotatablly mounted on individual, rotational axes that are aligned along a second longitudinal axis that is essentially parallel to and spaced apart from said distance and said first longitudinal axis, said conveying surfaces being oriented such that said conveying surfaces are the only portions of said conveyor in constant supporting, conveying contact with the objects being conveyed and no inwardly directed compressive forces are applied to the article being conveyed.