APPARATUS FOR DIVERTING A STREAM OF ARTICLES

• Main Authors: BOGLE, DAVID, W, HORTON, PAUL, L, HAWKINS, JOHN, C., JR, DEPASO, JOSEPH, M
• Format: Patent
• Language: English; French; German
• Published: 03.05.2006
• Subjects: CONVEYING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL; PACKING; PERFORMING OPERATIONS; PNEUMATIC TUBE CONVEYORS; SHOP CONVEYOR SYSTEMS; STORING; TRANSPORT OR STORAGE DEVICES, e.g. CONVEYORS FOR LOADING ORTIPPING; TRANSPORTING

Apparatus for diverting a stream of articles, comprising: - a first conveyor belt (28) conveying a stream of articles (50) along a conveying surface; - a second conveyor belt (30) disposed parallel to the first conveyor belt (28) and having a conveying surface; - a carrier (46, 104, 106) arranged to travel along a path parallel to the first and second conveyor belts (28, 30); - a first drive mechanism (38) for driving the first conveyor belt (28) at a first speed in a first direction; - a second drive mechanism (40) for driving the second conveyor belt (30) at a second speed in a second direction opposite to the first direction; - a diverter element (44, 44', 44") affixed to the carrier and extending across at least a portion of the conveying surfaces of the first and second conveyor belts (28, 30) to divert articles (50) in the stream on the first conveyor belt (28) onto the second conveyor belt (30), - a differential drive mechanism (66, 110) for traveling the carrier (46, 104, 106) along said path at a speed and in a direction that depend on the first speed and the second speed; - a first rotating member (64) receiving input based on the speed of the first conveyor belt (28); - a second rotating member (65) receiving input based on the speed of the second conveyor belt (30); and - a differential gear arrangement (78A-D) operationally connecting the first and second rotating members (76, 76') for traveling the carrier (46, 104, 106) along said path.