DE9314051U1 - Vertical conveyor - Google Patents

Description

The invention relates to a vertical conveyor.
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Vertical conveyors are used in many areas where goods have to be transported over long vertical distances. For example, a clothing store can be equipped with a vertical conveyor that runs through several floors and is used to transport items of clothing that are attached to the vertical conveyor on different floors to a central collection point, such as a collection point, which is located on the ground floor or in the basement.

However, in such a case, relatively complex structural measures must be taken to ensure that the items of clothing can be removed from the delivery station, i.e. the central collection point, without creases or damage. For this purpose, for example, a guide plate can be arranged on the same side as the delivery stations on the floors above, through which the item of clothing is guided away from the vertical conveyor.

The present invention creates a vertical conveyor that is characterized by improved use and application. The design of the vertical conveyor can be kept relatively simple, resulting in a stable, reliable structure with precise functionality.

The vertical conveyor according to the invention is thus provided with a revolving chain (this term is of course also intended to include all other suitable elements such as belts) on which - preferably at approximately equal intervals of, for example, two m-

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protruding transport hooks are attached. These transport hooks have a hanger-shaped area into which the goods to be transported, for example clothes hanging on hangers or other goods to be conveyed, can be hooked. The goods to be transported are then guided downwards via the downward-running chain.

The bow-shaped area of the transport hook can preferably be closed by a bracket that is movably connected to it. This ability to close it has the advantage that the goods suspended on the transport hook cannot slip off the transport hook and fall down, even if the direction changes, in which the transport hook passes through the vertically lowest position and is then transported upwards on the opposite side with the bow-shaped area pointing downwards. The invention therefore also enables goods to be conveyed in a circular manner from the downward-running conveyor side through the vertically lowest conveyor point to the upward-running conveyor side.

The vertical conveyor according to the invention is therefore also characterized by the fact that the loading station or loading stations, at which the goods to be transported are attached to the vertical conveyor, and the delivery station or delivery stations, at which the goods to be transported are removed from the vertical conveyor - preferably automatically - can be or are arranged on opposite sides of the vertical conveyor. This arrangement also allows very effective use of the entire vertical longitudinal sides of the vertical conveyor, since one side is now completely reserved for the loading stations and the other can be occupied by one or more delivery stations.

A particularly simple, reliably functioning design consists in linking the bracket to the respective transport hook in such a way that it can be positioned in one orientation

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[Fi!e:ANM\GO3106b2.doc] Description, 29.11.93

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tation position, preferably the orientation position assumed on the loading side _/ is tilted into the open position, while in its opposite orientation position, preferably assumed on the discharge side, it is pivoted into the closed position. Since the transport hooks automatically change from one orientation position to the other on the lower conveyor side, this tilting of the bracket from the previously open to the closed position can advantageously also take place automatically.

The simplest method here is to use gravity , which pulls the bracket into the open position on the feed side, while on the opposite conveyor side it is pulled into the closed position by gravity, which now acts in the other direction relative to the bracket.

In a preferred embodiment, the bracket is designed so that it rests on the tip of the transport hook and thus continues the bracket-shaped area of the transport hook. The goods to be transported can then form a slideway during this rotation of the transport hook as it moves from the loading station to the delivery station, passing through the vertically lowest point, so that the goods suspended from the transport hook via brackets or the like initially slide along the transport hook and then run onto the bracket tilted into the closed position and slide further along it.

In order to achieve a defined holding of the goods to be transported on the bracket, the bracket is preferably provided with a recess in the area of its sliding surface into which a hanging hook of the goods to be transported can slide. The recess also forms a hook-shaped barrier that prevents the goods to be transported from being undesirably stripped off or falling off.

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Preferably, the transport hook also has a web element which runs diagonally downwards when the transport hook is oriented so that its bow-shaped opening points downwards (position of the transport hook on the side of the vertical conveyor corresponding to the delivery station). Alternatively, two web elements arranged in parallel can also be present.

This at least one web element can have multiple functions. On the one hand, it can serve as a holder for the swivel axis of the bracket, so that this swivel axis can be moved to an area that is spaced apart from the path of the transport hook. On the other hand, the at least one web element can also perform a holding function for the goods to be transported that have slipped from the transport hook onto the bracket, so that the weight of the goods to be transported does not have to be taken up exclusively by the bracket, but is also supported by the at least one web element.

This holding function can be used particularly effectively if the recess in the sliding surface of the bracket is arranged between the at least one web element and the tip area of the transport hook (when the bracket is in the closed position). The recess in the bracket then forms a hook-shaped barrier against unwanted slipping of the transported goods, without this recess having to bear the entire weight of the transported goods, which could be associated with the risk of unwanted slipping of the transported goods.

In a preferred embodiment, a delivery finger is provided at the delivery station, which protrudes into the movement area of the bracket. Since the bracket is movably hinged, it gives way downwards when it hits the delivery finger, so that the goods to be transported can slide off.

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In an advantageous embodiment, the bracket that runs onto the delivery finger drops below the level of the at least one web element, so that the transported goods are released from the bracket and slide over the at least one web element and slide onto the delivery finger. This allows the transported goods to be automatically stripped off in the delivery station, where they automatically slide from the transport hook or the bracket onto the delivery finger.

A defined guidance of the circulating chain can be achieved by arranging it in a conveyor profile that has a longitudinal slot for the transport hooks to pass through. With this arrangement, the chain is protected against external damage and does not pose any risk of injury, contamination, etc.

A particularly quiet and relatively vibration-free chain run can be achieved in particular if the hollow space in the conveyor profile that accommodates the chain is provided with a plastic lining.

In a preferred embodiment, the chain guide profile is formed by an aluminum profile, which is characterized by low weight and sufficient rigidity.

The invention is described in more detail below using exemplary embodiments with reference to the drawings.

Show it:

Fig. 1 is a schematic overall view of an embodiment of the vertical conveyor according to the invention,

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Fig. 2 shows an enlarged view of a transport hook with a hinged bracket,

Fig. 3 is an enlarged view of the operation of the vertical conveyor according to the invention at the delivery station, and

Fig. 4 is a schematic sectional view of the profile of the vertical conveyor with transport chain, seen along the line A-A in Fig. 1.

Fig. 1 shows a schematic overall view of the vertical conveyor. The vertical conveyor contains a chain 1 that rotates in the vertical plane and is driven by a drive station 2 arranged in the upper area of the vertical conveyor. The drive station 2 also redirects the chain from the upward transport direction shown on the right in Fig. 1 to the downward transport direction shown on the left in Fig. 1.

In the lower area of the vertical conveyor, a tensioning station 3 is provided, through which the chain can be placed under sufficient tension and which at the same time also causes the necessary chain deflection from the downward to the upward direction.

Transport hooks 4 are fixedly attached to the chain 1, preferably at regular intervals of, for example, two m, in such a way that they protrude in a horizontal direction.

In Fig. 2, a transport hook is shown in an enlarged view. In comparison to the view in Fig. 1, the transport hook 4 in Fig. 2 is shown in the position it assumes during upward transport and therefore corresponds to the view of the transport hook 4 in Fig. 1 seen from behind.

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transport hook 4 shown to the right of the vertical conveyor. Each transport hook 4 has a straight shaft 5 that protrudes at right angles from the chain 1 and thus runs horizontally, to which a curved, bow-shaped area 6 is connected.

At least one web element 7 is firmly attached to the shaft 5 in the manner shown, for example with screws 8. The web element 7 is preferably made of a flat metal and is arranged in the manner shown so that its longitudinal axis runs obliquely to the longitudinal axis of the shaft 5 and its front area is at a distance from the tip 9 of the bow-shaped area 6. In this embodiment, two web elements 7 made of metal are attached parallel to one another on the two sides of the shaft 5 so that they run parallel to one another at a distance.

A bracket 10 is movably connected between the two web elements 7, namely at the location shown in Fig. 2 by means of a pivot axis 11. The pivot axis 11 is clearly offset from the center of gravity of the bracket 10, which is located to the right of it according to Fig. 2, so that the bracket is pivoted by gravity into the closed position shown in Fig. 2 when the transport bracket 4 is transported upwards in the orientation direction shown in Fig. 2 (in the direction of arrow X).

As can be seen from the figures, the bracket 10 has a front bent section 12, with which it rests directly on the front edge 9 of the bow-shaped section 6 in the position shown in Fig. 2. In this position, the bow-shaped section 8, the bent section 12 and the web element 7 form a completely enclosed cavity 13, so that goods to be transported therein, which are suspended, for example, via a hook that reaches through the cavity 13, cannot slip off. The bent section 12 of the bracket 10

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[File:ANM\GO3106b2.doc] Description, 29.11.93

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has a recess or depression 14 on its side facing the bow-shaped section 6 and thus the cavity 13, in which a bow of the item to be transported can be held in a defined position. The recess 14 is dimensioned such that its edge facing the tip area 9 of the bow-shaped section ends with the tip edge of the tip 9 facing the cavity 13, so that no step is formed here. The other wall of the recess 14 is profiled such that it is flush with the upper edge of the web elements 7 in the position shown in Fig. 2.

As can be seen from Fig. 1, the bracket 10 is pivoted into the open position during downward transport, i.e. on the feed side to the left of the vertical conveyor, in which it no longer rests against the tip of the bracket-shaped area 6. This pivoting into the open position takes place automatically due to gravity, which in this position acts on the right (as per Fig. 1) of the articulation point 11 and thus pivots the bracket 10 clockwise until its shaft comes into contact with the shaft 5.

Depending on the overall height of the vertical conveyor, one or more loading stations can be provided on the left side as shown in Fig. 1, at which the transport hooks 4 are accessible and the goods to be transported can be hooked into the hooks 4, for example via brackets 15.
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Since the bracket 10 is always in the open position in the area of the feed side of the vertical conveyor (left side according to Fig. 1), the accessibility of the cavity 13 is further improved so that, for example, closed transport chain rings or the like can also be suspended.

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As can be seen from the illustration in Fig. 1, the transport hooks 4 are guided from the (left) feed side through the vertically lowest position and then run upwards on the opposite (right) conveyor side 5. During this passage through the lowest conveyor area, the effect of gravity results in an automatic adjustment of the bracket 10 from the open to the closed position, which is symbolized in Fig. 1 with "2.0 pivot point". The goods to be transported are then transported upwards via the brackets 4, whereby the brackets 15 or the corresponding transport goods holding elements slide in the manner shown in Fig. 1 along the inner surface of the bow-shaped, curved section 6 and slide gently over the tip area 9 onto the bracket 10 in its recess 14. The inner edge of the bow-shaped section 6 and the inner edge of the bracket 10 or the recess 14 thus form a seamlessly merging sliding surface for the suspension hook of the goods to be transported.

One of the special features of the vertical conveyor according to the invention is that the delivery station, at which the goods to be transported are removed from the vertical conveyor, is located on the other (vertical) side of the vertical conveyor than the loading station(s).

The transfer of the goods to be transported from the vertical conveyor to the delivery point, for example a collection point, is explained in more detail below with reference to the enlarged drawing according to Fig. 3.

As can be seen from Fig. 3, a dispensing finger (dispensing bracket) 16 is arranged at the dispensing station, the tip 17 of which protrudes into the path of movement of the front edge of the section 12 of the bracket 10. The tip 17 is, however, arranged in such a way that it does not protrude into the path of movement of the bracket-shaped section 6, but rather

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finally comes into contact with the front edge of the bracket 10. The width of the release finger 16 is dimensioned such that it can slide between the two web elements 7 and thus movably actuates the bracket 10 without colliding with the bracket-shaped section 6 or the web elements 7.

As can be seen from Fig. 3, the hook of the bracket 15 has already slipped into the recess 14 of the bracket 10, namely, as already described, when passing through the lower pivot point and the subsequent upward movement of the transport hook 4. In this position, the bracket 15 is held by the bracket 10 until the front section 12 of the bracket 10 comes into contact with the delivery finger 16. While the remaining parts of the transport hook 4 are continuously transported further upwards by the chain 1, the tip of the bracket 10 is held by the delivery finger 16 so that the bracket 10 begins to pivot clockwise.

As a result of this pivoting, the section 12 of the bracket 10 increasingly dips between the two web elements 7. When the bracket 10 is pivoted clockwise to such an extent that its front edge in the area of the recess 14 is lowered below the level of the upper edge of the web elements 7 (this position is shown in dash-dotted lines in Fig. 3), the bracket 15 is no longer held by the bracket 10 and slides diagonally downwards to the right along the surface of the web elements 7 that forms a sliding track (as shown in Fig. 3). However, the delivery finger 16 is located directly between the web elements 7 and continues the sliding surface formed by them for the bracket 15, so that the bracket 15 can slide gently onto the delivery finger 16 and further to the desired position.

When the transport hook 4 continues to move upwards, the front edge of the bracket 10, which is pivoted backwards and rests against the delivery finger 16, overcomes its tip

[Fi!e:ANM\GO3106b2.doo] Description, 29.11.93

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area 17 and then automatically swings back into the closed position.

This ensures that all objects transported on the transport hook 4 are automatically delivered to the delivery station.

Of course, it is also possible, if required, to provide several delivery stations arranged vertically one above the other, each of which is provided with a delivery finger 16 whose position can be controlled. If a desired transport item is to be picked up by a specific delivery station, its delivery finger 16 is moved to the position shown in Fig. 3, while all delivery fingers 16 located below it are moved to an inactive, retracted position. This control can be carried out manually or automatically.

When the transport hook 4 exceeds the vertically highest point of the vertical conveyor, as is schematically illustrated in the drawing by a broken-off transport hook 4, and then runs to the loading side, the bracket 10 automatically folds back into the open position due to gravity and runs through the loading station or stations in this position.

Fig. 4 shows a sectional view through part of the conveyor profile along the line A-A in Fig. 1. The conveyor profile 18 is made of cast aluminum and has a cavity 19 in which the chain 1 is guided. The conveyor profile is preferably elongated in the transverse direction and also has a cavity on its opposite side in which the chain is guided in the other direction. This allows high stability of the vertical conveyor to be achieved with very good reliability of the chain guide.

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As can be seen from Fig. 4, the chain 1 is designed as a roller chain. The shafts 5 of this roller chain protrude in a horizontal direction and are firmly connected to corresponding sections of the roller chain. For the shafts 5 to pass through the conveyor profile 18, corresponding longitudinal slots 21 running over the entire length of the conveyor profile are provided.

As can also be seen from Fig. 4, a chain guide 20 made of plastic is embedded in the cavity 19, so that the chain is completely guided in plastic. This reliably prevents the chain from hitting and also suppresses any undesirable noise.

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Claims (1)

[Fi!e:ANM\Go3106a1 .doc] Claims, 29.11 .93 , , * · · · Utility model avoidance Golz Systems ···· ·· Expectations 1. Vertical conveyor with a revolving chain (1) to which transport hooks (4) are attached, which (1) spaced-apart bow-shaped region (6) for hanging goods to be transported and to each of which a bracket (10) is movably hinged, which is movable between an open position and a closed position closing the bow-shaped region. 2. Vertical conveyor, in particular according to claim 1, characterized in that at least one loading station, at which goods to be transported can be attached to transport hooks (4) , and a delivery station, at which the goods to be transported can be removed from the transport hooks (4) , are arranged on opposite vertical sides of the circulating path of the circulating chain (1) . 3. Vertical conveyor according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the bracket (10) is articulated to its associated transport hook (4) in such a way that it is in its open position in one orientation position, preferably in the region of the feed side, and is tilted into the closed position in the other orientation position. 4. Vertical conveyor according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the bracket (10) in its closed position rests against the tip (9) of the transport hook (4) and forms with this a slideway for a bracket hook (15) connected to the goods to be transported. 5. Vertical conveyor according to claim 4, characterized in that the bracket (10) in the region of its [Fi!e:ANM\Go3106a1.doc] Claims, 29.11.93 Utility model application Golz Systems _.a &Lgr;&Agr; "I Sliding surface has a recess for the bracket hook (15) . (14) to record the 6. Vertical conveyor according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that at least one, preferably two parallel web elements (7) are attached to the transport hook (4) . 7. Vertical conveyor according to claim 6, characterized in that the bracket (10) is attached in an articulated manner to the at least one web element (J) . 8. Vertical conveyor according to one of the preceding claims in conjunction with claim 5, characterized in that the recess (14) of the bracket present in the sliding surface is arranged in the closed bracket position between the at least one web element (J) and the tip region (9) of the transport hook (4) . 9. Vertical conveyor according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that a delivery finger (16) is present at the delivery station, which projects into the movement path of the bracket (10) defined by the chain circulation. 10. Vertical conveyor according to claim 9, characterized in that the delivery finger (16) together with the at least one web element (J) located in the delivery station forms a slideway for a hanger hook (15) of a product to be transported. 11. Vertical conveyor according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the chain is guided in a conveyor profile (18) which has a longitudinal slot (21) for the passage of the transport hooks (4) . fFile:ANM\Go3106a1.doc] Claims, 29.11.93 Utility model application Golz Systems 12, Vertical conveyor according to claim 11, characterized in that the chain is arranged in a cavity (19) of the conveyor profile (18) which is provided with a plastic lining (20) . 13. Vertical conveyor according to claim 11 or 12, characterized in that the conveyor profile (18) consists of aluminum.