GB2224991A

GB2224991A - Conveyor belt with lateral walls

Info

Publication number: GB2224991A
Application number: GB8926292A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Edwin Vincent Rumbol
Original assignee: Glaxo Group Ltd
Current assignee: Glaxo Group Ltd
Priority date: 1988-11-22
Filing date: 1989-11-21
Publication date: 1990-05-23
Also published as: GB8827276D0; DE3938543A1; FR2639332A1; DE8913710U1; GB8926292D0; IT1237183B; IT8948579A0

Description

k 222499 1 1 APPARATUS The present invention relates to a conveyor

apparatus, in particular for conveying pharmaceutical tablets from the tablet forming machine to a large container for transportation to a packaging facility, for example. In practice, the space available between the tabletting machine and the container is limited and it is therefore desirable that the conveyor can carry the tablets up a relatively steep slope. Moreover, there is a desire in the art to utilise containers which have a substantially greater capacity than conventional tablet boxes and are therefore much higher. The invention also relates to a novel form of conveyor belt.

Conveyor belts for conveying articles up steep inclines are known and comprise ledges at intervals along the conveyor belt which prevent the articles from sliding down the belt as it moves upwardly. Such conveyors are generally termed "flighted" conveyors.

Some flighted conveyor belts known for transporting certain articles, for example potatoes, have side walls to prevent the articles from contacting the fixed wall of the conveyor and from falling over the edges of the belt. These side walls are generally concertina-shaped or "ruffled" so that they can spread out when the belt travels around a pulley wheel. Such walled flighted conveyors tend to be complicated and expensive to produce. Moreover, a conveyor for tablets is on such a scale that the pulley wheels for the conveyor belt are of too small a diameter to accommodate the design of conventional walled belts which are only suitable for relatively large wheels.

A particular problem with conveying pharmaceutical tablets is that contact with the fixed conveyor walls and excessive movement of the tablets relative to the conveyor belt causes chipping of the tablets and that any damaged tablets must be removed before packaging, which is an expensive and time consuming exercise.

Conveyors for tablets are known from US Patent nos.

2 4185734 and 4308942. These patents-disclose belts of complex crosssection which includes a plurality of recesses, in operation each recess being filled with one tablet to be transported. The belts are designed primarily for the purpose of orientating the tablets singly and not for the purpose of transporting tablets in bulk.

One aim of the invention is to provide an improved conveyor for transporting articles upwardly, and also to provide a novel conveyor belt.

Accordingly, the present invention provides a conveyor comprising a conveyor belt and a track which defines a rising path for the conveyor belt, the belt having means along its length to prevent articles from sliding down the belt and at least one lateral wall, and wherein the or each wall is formed by a plurality of protruding fingers which can separate when, in use, the belt deviates from a linear path.

Preferably the means for preventing sliding comprise a plurality of flights and each of the flights may comprise a plurality of fingers, like the side wall or walls. It will be understood that the belt deviates from its linear path when it passes around a pulley wheel, roller or the like at the end of the track.

According to another aspect of the invention there is provided a conveyor belt comprising at least one lateral wall, wherein the or each wall is formed by a plurality of protruding fingers which can separate when, in use, the belt deviates from a linear path.

The belt with the protruding fingers can easily pass around pulley wheels and the like because the or each wall does not impede the deviation of the belt. Further, if the belt is made of a flexible material such as rubber, the flexible fingers of the walls and/or flights provide for a very gentle handling of the articles to be conveyed. This is obviously important when the articles are fragile or friable, for example, pharmaceutical tablets. The flexible fingers are also a safety feature since these tend to be the only exposed and moving parts of the conveyor.

A preferred embodiment of the present invention is 3 described below, by example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Fig 1 is a side elevation of a conveyor; Fig 2 is a sectional view along line A.A in Fig 1; Fig 3 is a plan view of a conveyor belt; Fig 4 is a side elevation of the belt of Fig 3; and Fig 5 is a cross-section of this belt.

The conveyor shown in Figs 1 and 2 consists of an elongated 10 track 1 having a lower supply end 2 and an upper delivery end 3. An endless conveyor belt 4 is arranged around the track 1. The belt 4 is described in more detail later on.

The belt is driven by drive means (not shown) over rollers 5 on the upper surf ace of the track and is supported below by support wheels 6.

The track has side plates 7 and is supported on a frame 8, adjustably mounted on a chassis 9 which is in turn moveable on casters 10. The conveyor is, with the exception of the belt, essentially conventional and is not therefore described here in detail.

The belt is shown in detail in Figs 3, 4 and 5. The belt comprises a flat base 11, side walls 12, 121 and transverse flights 13. The walls are illustrated as double walls, but single walls only are equally possible.

Each wall 12, 121 consists of a row c-0 protruding fingers 14 arranged at a very slight spacing. Tht- fingers may taper gradually from the base 11 to their tips.

The flights 13 are also formed of rows of fingers 13 and the flights extend across the width of the base 11 between the inner walls 121.

As an example, if the width of the belt is 150 mm, the double walls 12, 12f may be at a spacing of 20.25 mm and the length of the flights may be 97.5 mm. The fingers may be 6 mm in diameter at their bases and may be arranged at a spacing of 7.5 mm, that is with 1.5 mn, in between. The length of the fingers may be 30 mm. The taper of each finger might be 1 in 50.

The belt is preferably made of non-toxic food quality 4 grade rubber with the rubber f ingers either moulded directly thereto or hot bonded thereto.

As most clearly seen in Fig 5, the base 11 of the belt has a central ridge 15 along its underside. The ridge locates within a corresponding recess 16 in the rollers 5 in Fig 2 to maintain the belt in a central position as it is driven around the track 1.

In use, tablets from a tablet making machine are fed onto the conveyor at the lower position 2 and entrained by the flights moving upwardly towards the delivery position 3, above a container (not shown). The walls prevent the tablets from contacting the side plates of the conveyor and thus from being damaged.

After the tablets are conveyed to the delivery end 3, the walled belt must travel around the end of the track 1, back down the underside to the supply end 2. In other words the belt is forced to deviate from its previous linear path. As most clearly seen in Fig. 4 when the belt goes around the end, which may comprise a pulley of only 75-150 mm diameter, in particular 100 mm diameter, the fingers 14 of the walls 12, 12f of the belt simply fan open, without impeding the bending of the belt. It is of no consequence that the walls open out at this stage, as the tablets are above the container into which they are delivered.

While a belt having means to prevent articles from sliding downwards has been described, a belt without such means is also part of the invention. Such a belt is useful in situations where the path of travel is substantially horizontal or only gently inclined but where the articles being transported are fragile or friable, and of course in any situation where the wall belt must deviate from a straight path.

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Claims

1. A conveyor comprising a conveyor belt and a track which defines a rising path of the conveyor belt, the belt having means along its length to prevent articles from sliding down the belt and at least one lateral wall, and wherein the or each wall is formed by a plurality of protruding fingers which can separate when, in use, the belt deviates fror a linear path.

2. A conveyor according to claim 1, wherein the means f or preventing sliding comprise a plurality of transverse walls, each wall being formed by a plurality of protruding fingers.

3. A conveyor according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the or each lateral wall is formed by two rows of protruding fingers.

4. A conveyor according to any preceding claim, wherein the fingers are flexible.

5. A conveyor according to any preceding claim for conveying pharmaceutical tablets, wherein the track comprises at least one roller around which the belt passes, the roller having a diameter of from 75 to 150 mm.

6. A conveyor according to any preceding claim, wherein the belt consists of non-toxic rubber.

7. A conveyor belt comprising at least one lateral wall, wherein the or each wall is formed by a plurality of protruding fingers which can separate when, in use, the belt deviates from a linear path.

8. A conveyor belt according to claim 7, wherein the or each wall is formed by two rows of protruding fingers.

9. A conveyor belt according to claim 7 or 8, wherein the fingers are flexible.

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10. A conveyor substantially as herein described and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

11. A conveyor belt substantially as herein described and as illustrated in Figs. 3, 4 and 5 of the accompanying drawings.

Published 1990 at The Patent Office. State House. 66 71 High Holborn. London WC1R4TP- Further copies maybe obtainedfrom The Patent Office Sales Branch, St Ma-,y, Cray. Orpington. Kent BR5 3RD Printed byMultiplex techruques ltd. S' Mary Cray, Kent. Con V87