阅读说明：本技术 运输系统 (Transport system ) 是由 朱塞佩·蒙蒂 于 2019-03-14 设计创作，主要内容包括：运输系统(S)包括引导路径(1)和至少可沿引导路径(1)移动的移动托架(2)。引导路径(1)包括第一引导轮廓(11)和第二引导轮廓(12)。单对辊(31、32)以彼此独立的方式可旋转地安装在由移动托架(2)承载的第一旋转轴(51)上,以便与第一引导轮廓(11)接触。第一对辊(41、42)和第二对辊(43、44)以相互独立的方式可旋转地安装在由移动托架(2)承载的第二旋转轴(52)和第三旋转轴(53)上,以便与第二引导轮廓(12)接触。(The transport system (S) comprises a guide path (1) and a mobile carriage (2) which is at least movable along the guide path (1). The guide path (1) comprises a first guide profile (11) and a second guide profile (12). The single pair of rollers (31, 32) is rotatably mounted, independently of each other, on a first rotation shaft (51) carried by the mobile carriage (2) so as to be in contact with the first guide profile (11). The first (41, 42) and second (43, 44) pairs of rollers are rotatably mounted, in a mutually independent manner, on a second (52) and third (53) rotation axis carried by the mobile carriage (2) so as to be in contact with the second guide profile (12).)

1. A transport system (S) for the transport of products, comprising:

a guide path (1) and at least a mobile carriage (2) for transporting products movable along said guide path (1),

The guide path (1) is configured to comprise a first guide profile (11) and a second guide profile (12), the first guide profile (11) and the second guide profile (12) being parallel to each other and having an extension comprising at least a straight portion (R) and at least a curved portion (C),

the first guide contour (11) is configured with a first rolling wall (11A) and a second rolling wall (11B) arranged obliquely to each other,

the second guide contour (12) is configured to have in sequence a first rolling wall (12A) and a second rolling wall (12B) arranged obliquely to each other,

wherein the mobile carriage (2) comprises a first set (21) of rolling members (3) and a second set (22) of rolling members (4), the mobile carriage (2) being coupled to the guide path (1) such that the first set (21) of rolling members (3) is in contact with the first guide profile (11) and the second set (22) of rolling members (4) is in contact with the second guide profile (12),

wherein the first set (21) of rolling members (3) comprises a single pair of rollers (31, 32), the single pair of rollers (31, 32) being rotatably mounted on a first rotation axis (51) carried by the moving carriage (2) in a manner independent of each other, the rollers (31, 32) of the single pair of rollers (31, 32) being mounted on the first rotation axis (51) so as to bring a first roller (31) into contact with the first rolling wall (11A) of the first guiding profile (11) and a second roller (32) into contact with the second rolling wall (11B) of the first guiding profile (11), so that the first roller (31) can roll along the first rolling wall (11A) of the first guiding profile (11) independently of the second roller (32) rolling along the second rolling wall (11B) of the first guiding profile (11) when the moving carriage (2) moves along the guiding path (1),

Wherein the rolling members (4) of the second group (22) comprise a first pair of rollers (41, 42) and a second pair of rollers (43, 44), the rollers (41, 42) of the first pair of rollers being rotatably mounted, in a mutually independent manner, on a second rotation axis (52) carried by the mobile carriage (2), and the rollers (43, 44) of the second pair of rollers being in turn rotatably mounted, in a mutually independent manner, on a third rotation axis (53) carried by the mobile carriage (2),

the rollers (41, 42) of the first pair of rollers are mounted on the second rotation axis (52) so as to bring a first roller (41) into contact with the first rolling wall (12A) of the second guiding profile (12) and a second roller (42) into contact with the second rolling wall (12B) of the second guiding profile (12), and the rollers (43, 44) of the second pair of rollers are mounted on the third rotation axis (53) so as to bring a first roller (43) into contact with the first rolling wall (12A) of the second guiding profile (12) and a second roller (44) into contact with the second rolling wall (12B) of the second guiding profile (12), so that the first roller (41) of the first pair of rollers and the first roller (43) of the second pair of rollers can be moved independently of the second roller (42) of the first pair of rollers and along the second guiding profile (1), respectively, when the mobile carriage (2) moves along the guiding path (1) The second roller (44) of the second pair of rollers, on which the second rolling wall (12B) of the guide profile (12) rolls, rolls along the first rolling wall (12A) of the second guide profile (12),

Characterized in that said mobile carriage (2) comprises: a base plate (25), the base plate (25) having the first rotation shaft (51), the second rotation shaft (52), and the third rotation shaft (53) mounted thereon; an upstanding member (26), the upstanding member (26) being supported by the base plate (25); a first support member (27), said first support member (27) being predisposed transversely on said upright member (26) in a facing manner with respect to said base plate (25) and being configured to hook and support a relative product (P1) to be transported; and a second support member (28), on the opposite side to the first support member (27), the second support member (28) being removably coupled to the upright member (26) and configured to hook and support a relative product (P2) to be transported.

2. Transport system according to claim 1, characterized in that said first rotation axis (51), said second rotation axis (52) and said third rotation axis (53) are predisposed and mounted on said mobile carriage (2) so as to be parallel to each other.

3. Transport system according to claim 2, characterized in that said first rotation axis (51), said second rotation axis (52) and said third rotation axis (53) are predisposed and mounted on said mobile carriage (2) so as to be arranged at the vertices of a triangle.

4. Transport system according to claim 3, characterized in that said first rotation axis (51), said second rotation axis (52) and said third rotation axis (53) are predisposed and mounted on said mobile carriage (2) to be arranged at the vertices of an isosceles or equilateral triangle or right-angled triangle.

5. The transport system according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein:

a first spacer member (61) mounted on said first rotation axis (51) interposed between said rollers (31, 32) of said single pair of rollers of said first set (21) of rolling members (3) to maintain a spacing of said rollers (31, 32) of said single pair of rollers with respect to the distance between said first rolling wall (11A) and said second rolling wall (11B) of said first guide profile (11),

a second spacer member (62) mounted on said second rotation axis (52) interposed between said rollers (41, 42) of said first pair of rollers of said second set (22) of rolling members (4) to maintain a spacing of said rollers (41, 42) of said first pair of rollers with respect to the distance between said first rolling wall (12A) and said second rolling wall (12B) of said second guiding profile (12),

a third spacer member (63) is mounted on the third rotation axis (53) interposed between the rollers (43, 44) of the second pair of rollers of the second set (22) of rolling members (4) to maintain the spacing of the rollers (43, 44) of the second pair of rollers with respect to the distance between the first rolling wall (12A) and the second rolling wall (12B) of the second guide profile (12).

6. The transport system according to the preceding claim, characterized in that:

-said rollers (31, 32) of said single pair of rollers of said first group (21) of rolling members (3) are mounted on said first rotation axis (51) so that at least one of said rollers (31, 32) of said single pair of rollers is detachable from said first rotation axis (51) in order to be able to replace said first spacing member (61) with another spacing member having a different size;

-said rollers (41, 42) of said first pair of rollers of said second set (22) of rolling members (4) are mounted on said second rotation axis (52) so that at least one of said rollers (41, 42) of said first pair of rollers is detachable from said second rotation axis (52) in order to be able to replace said second spacing member (62) with another spacing member having a different size;

the rollers (43, 44) of the second pair of rollers of the second set (22) of rolling members (4) are mounted on the third rotation axis (53) such that at least one of the rollers (43, 44) of the second pair of rollers is detachable from the third rotation axis (53) in order to be able to replace the third spacer member (63) with another spacer member having a different size.

7. The transport system according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein: the rollers (31, 32) of the single pair of rollers of the first set (21) of rolling members (3) have lateral contact surfaces with the first guide profile (11), said lateral contact surfaces being in the shape of a truncated cone or a spherical crown; the rollers (41, 42) of the first pair of rollers of the second set (22) of rolling members (4) have lateral contact surfaces with the second guide profile (12), said lateral contact surfaces being of truncated cone or spherical crown shape; the rollers (43, 44) of the second pair of rollers of the second set (22) of rolling members (4) have lateral contact surfaces with the second guide profile (12), which lateral contact surfaces are of truncated cone or spherical crown shape.

8. The transport system according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein: the rollers (31, 32) of the single pair of rollers of the first group (21) of rolling members (3), the rollers (41, 42) of the first pair of rollers of the second group (22) of rolling members (4) and the rollers (43, 44) of the second pair of rollers of the second group (22) of rolling members (4) are made of a yielding plastic material.

Technical Field

The invention relates to a transport system (S) for transporting products.

Background

In the field of automated machinery, it is known that there is a need to be able to transport products, objects, items, parts, etc. along predetermined paths in order to have an accurate and precise knowledge of their position and orientation in the particular phase relationship to be performed.

One type of transportation system currently used for the transportation of products includes: at least one mobile carriage for transporting at least one associated product; and a guide path along which the mobile carriage is moved by associated actuating means, such as a linear motor or a conveyor belt.

Some of these transport systems are implemented such that the guide path along which the moving carriage moves is constructed and arranged to have a first guide profile and a second guide profile that extend parallel to each other and that have a straight portion and a curved portion.

The guide path is generally constructed and arranged such that the first and second guide profiles identify a closed loop guide path for movement of the carriage, and thus comprise a succession of straight portions connected by a curved portion.

The first guide profile is configured to have in turn a first rolling wall and a second rolling wall arranged obliquely to one another, and likewise the second guide profile is configured to have in turn a first rolling wall and a second rolling wall arranged obliquely to one another.

In order to be guided and moved along the guide path and thus along the first and second guide profiles, the mobile carriage comprises rolling members which have to be provided beforehand in contact with and roll on the two rolling walls of each of the two guide profiles.

Currently, in these transport systems with this type of guide path, the mobile carriage is conceived and configured to comprise: a first set of rolling members predisposed to be coupled to the first guide profile; and a second set of rolling members predisposed to be coupled to the second guide profile.

In particular, in the moving carriages used so far, the first set of rolling members coupled to the first guide profile and the second set of rolling members coupled to the second guide profile each comprise two or more wheels.

Each of these wheels is configured to comprise a first contact surface and a second contact surface and is predisposed on the carriage so that the first contact surface is in contact with the first rolling wall of the (first or second) guide profile and the second contact surface is in contact with the second rolling wall of the (first or second) guide profile. Each wheel is also pre-vertical and mounted on the carriage so as to be able to rotate about an associated rotation axis, so that when the mobile carriage is moved by the actuating means (in such a way that the carriage can move along the guide path, with the wheels rolling along and in contact with the two rolling walls of the guide profile), the two contact surfaces can rotate along the rolling walls of the guide profile.

However, these transport systems have some drawbacks.

First, the pallet must transport products with a weight, and therefore the stresses to which the wheels are subjected may result in a different distribution of the friction forces acting on the first contact surface and on the second contact surface.

In fact, depending on the weight distribution of the products to be transported, it may happen that the first contact surface of the wheel is pushed with greater force towards the first rolling wall of the profile, and therefore towards the second rolling wall with respect to the second contact surface (or the opposite may happen).

When both contact surfaces of the wheel rotate at the same speed, the first contact surface will be subjected to greater friction and therefore greater wear. Furthermore, the guiding profile of the guiding path may have defects, and therefore the distance between the two rolling surfaces (or the mutual inclination) may vary, albeit slightly.

Since the distance between the two contact surfaces of the wheel is always constant, in this case also different stresses may be exerted on the two contact surfaces of the same wheel, and therefore also different friction forces, resulting in different degrees of wear.

In the long term, these disadvantages affect the stability of the pallet and result in frequent wheel changes.

Finally, another drawback of this type of transport system is represented by the travel of the mobile carriage from the rectilinear portion to the curved portion of the guide path.

In fact, depending on the degree of curvature of the curved portion, it may happen that not all the wheels of the first set of rolling members and/or all the wheels of the second set of rolling members simultaneously remain in contact with the first and second guiding profiles when the moving carriage transitions from the straight portion to the curved portion and follows the curved portion.

Also in this case, stresses are generated if one or more of the wheels loses contact with the associated guide profile, so that those wheels which remain in contact with the guide profile are subjected to significant friction by the stresses, thus resulting in high wear.

Furthermore, during movement of the carriage along the curved portion of the guide path, loss of contact of one or more wheels can affect the moving carriage and thus also affect the stability and orientation of the transported product.

Disclosure of Invention

The object of the present invention is therefore to describe a new type of transport system for transporting products which is able to eliminate the drawbacks present in the above-mentioned transport systems of known type.

In particular, it is an object of the present invention to provide a novel transport system which is capable of significantly reducing the degree of wear of rolling members and further ensuring the stability of a moving carriage even when the moving carriage moves along a curved portion.

The above object is achieved by a transport system as claimed in claim 1.

Further advantageous technical features of the transport system of the invention are specified in the various dependent claims.

Drawings

The technical characteristics of a preferred but not exclusive embodiment of the transport system of the invention are described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view of the transport system of the present invention in its entirety, with portions partially broken away to show some of the important components;

FIG. 2 is a schematic view of the apparatus according to FIG. 1 on a larger scale, section II-II;

FIG. 3A is a schematic perspective view of the transport system of the present invention arranged according to a possible preferred arrangement of guide paths;

FIG. 3B is a side view of the transport system of FIG. 3A;

FIG. 4A is a schematic perspective view of the transport system of the present invention arranged according to another possible preferred arrangement of guide paths;

FIG. 4B is a side view of the transport system of FIG. 4A;

fig. 5A shows a top view of the mobile carriage and the rolling members of the transport system proposed by the present invention;

fig. 5B and 5C show perspective views of the mobile carriage of fig. 5A from various angles.

Detailed Description

With reference to the accompanying drawings, the reference numeral (S) designates as a whole a transport system for transporting products according to the invention.

The transport system (S) comprises a guide path (1) and at least one mobile carriage (2), the mobile carriage (2) being used for transporting products that can be moved along the guide path (1).

For example, in a preferred manner (neither shown nor described in detail as being of a known type and not part of the present invention), the mobile carriage (2) can be moved along the guide path (1) by using an actuation band or other actuator, such as a linear motor or the like.

The guide path (1) is configured to include a first guide profile (11) and a second guide profile (12), the first guide profile (11) and the second guide profile (12) being arranged parallel to each other and having an extension portion including at least a straight portion (R) and at least a curved portion (C), for example, as shown in fig. 1, the straight portion (R) and the curved portion (C) connected thereto are annularly closed.

The first guide profile (11) is configured to have in sequence a first rolling wall (11A) and a second rolling wall (11B) arranged obliquely to each other, while the second guide profile (12) is configured to have in sequence a first rolling wall (12A) and a second rolling wall (12B) arranged obliquely to each other (see for example fig. 2).

For moving along the guide path (1), the moving carriage (2) comprises a first set (21) of rolling members (3) and a second set (22) of rolling members (4), the moving carriage (2) being coupled to the guide path (1) such that the first set (21) of rolling members (3) is in contact with the first guide profile (11) and the second set (22) of rolling members (4) is in contact with the second guide profile (12).

The transport system (S) of the invention is characterized in that the first set (21) of rolling members (3) comprises a pair of rollers (31, 32), said pair of rollers (31, 32) being rotatably mounted, independently of each other, on a first rotation axis (51) carried by the mobile carriage (2).

Specifically, the rollers (31, 32) of the single pair of rollers (31, 32) are mounted on the first rotation shaft (51) such that the first roller (31) is in contact with the first rolling wall (11A) of the first guide profile (11), and the second roller (32) is in contact with the second rolling wall (11B) of the first guide profile (11) (for example, in the right cross-sectional portion, see fig. 2).

In this way, the first roller (31) can roll along the first rolling wall (11A) of the first guide profile (11) independently of the second roller (32) rolling along the second rolling wall (11B) of the first guide profile (11) when the mobile carriage (2) moves along the guide path (1).

Further, the second group (22) of rolling members (4) includes a first pair of rollers (41, 42) and a second pair of rollers (43, 44).

The rollers (41, 42) of the first pair are rotatably mounted, in a mutually independent manner, on a second rotation axis (52) carried by the mobile carriage (2), and the rollers (43, 44) of the second pair are in turn rotatably mounted, in a mutually independent manner, on a third rotation axis (53) carried by the mobile carriage (2).

Specifically, the rollers (41, 42) of the first pair are mounted on the second rotation shaft 52 so that the first roller (41) is in contact with the first rolling wall (12A) of the second guide profile (12), the second roller (42) is in contact with the second rolling wall (12B) of the second guide profile (12), and the rollers (43, 44) of the second pair are mounted on the third rotation shaft (53) so that the first roller (43) is in contact with the first rolling wall (12A) of the second guide profile (12), and the second roller (44) is in contact with the second rolling wall (12B) of the second guide profile (12) (see, for example, fig. 3B, 4B).

Thus, also in this case, when the mobile carriage (2) moves along the guide path (1), the first roller (41) of the first pair of rollers and the first roller (43) of the second pair of rollers can roll along the first rolling wall (12A) of the second guide profile (12) independently of the second roller (42) of the first pair of rollers and the second roller (44) of the second pair of rollers rolling along the second rolling wall (12B) of the second guide profile (12), respectively.

Due to these specifications, the rollers of the two sets of rolling members can roll along the two guide profiles of the guide path in a manner independent of each other, and therefore can autonomously cope with the stresses that may act thereon, thus reducing wear.

Furthermore, since the first set of rolling members comprises a single pair of rollers in contact with the first guide profile and the second set of rolling members comprises two pairs of rollers in contact with the second guide profile, the mobile carriage has only three points of contact with the guide path, one for the first guide profile and two for the second guide profile (see, for example, fig. 1, on the left and partially cut away).

This specification thus enables the mobile carriage to travel from the rectilinear portion of the guide path to the curved portion and vice versa, while always remaining in contact therewith and in any case, thus reducing the friction stresses acting on the rolling members with respect to the transport systems of known type and also ensuring good stability of the position and orientation of the transported products.

This specification therefore also makes it possible to reduce the wear that can occur on the rollers of the two sets of rolling members and therefore to reduce the frequency with which they need to be replaced.

Another particular aspect of the transport system of the invention relates to the particular configuration and structure of the mobile carriage (2).

The mobile carriage (2) comprises: a base plate (25) on which a first rotation shaft (51), a second rotation shaft (52), and a third rotation shaft (53) are mounted; an upright member (26) supported by the base plate (25); a first support member (27) which is laterally pre-disposed on the upright member (26) in a manner opposed to the base plate (25) and is configured to hook and support a relevant product (P1) to be transported.

A second support member (28) may be further added to the mobile carriage (2), removably coupled to the upright member (26) on the opposite side to the first support member (27), and configured to hook and support the relative product (P2) to be transported.

In this way, for example in the case shown in fig. 3A and 3B, in the case where the guide path (1) is configured as a closed loop and is arranged on a horizontal plane, the second support member (28) can be coupled to the upright member (26) and constitute a hooking and supporting point of the relative product (P2) to be transported.

Alternatively, for example in the case shown in fig. 4A and 4B, in the case where the guide path (1) is configured as a closed loop and arranged on a horizontal plane, the second support member (28) may be detached from the upright member (26), and the product (P1) to be transported may be hooked on and supported by the first support member (27).

Thus, thanks to its particular structure, and to the fact that the second support member (28) is removably coupled to the upright member (26) on the opposite side to the first support member (27), so as to be removable from the upright member (26), the mobile carriage (2) can be used advantageously also in the case where the endless path of the transport system (S) is arranged on a horizontal plane and in the case where the closed-loop path of the transport system (S) is arranged on a vertical plane.

Further advantageous features of the transport system of the invention are set forth below.

The first rotation shaft (51), the second rotation shaft (52), and the third rotation shaft (53) are mounted on the movable bracket (2) in a parallel manner.

Specifically, a first rotation shaft (51), a second rotation shaft (52), and a third rotation shaft (53) are provided and mounted on the moving carriage (2) in advance and arranged at the vertices of a triangle.

The first rotation axis (51), the second rotation axis (52) and the third rotation axis (53) are preferably predisposed and mounted on the mobile carriage (2) and are arranged at the vertices of an isosceles or equilateral triangle or right triangle.

In the preferred embodiment shown in the figures, the first rotation axis (51), the second rotation axis (52) and the third rotation axis (53) are arranged at the vertices of an isosceles triangle, so that the contact points between the single pairs of rollers (31, 32) of the first set (21) of rolling members (3) and the first guiding profile (11) and between the two pairs of rollers (41, 42 and 43, 44) of the second set (22) of rolling members (4) and the second guiding profile (12) are also arranged at the vertices of an isosceles triangle (for example, on the left side of the partial section, see fig. 1).

In particular, such a configuration is particularly advantageous when it travels from a straight portion of the guide path to a curved portion and vice versa, in terms of the balance and stability of the carriage.

More specifically, in this particular configuration, the point of contact between a single pair of rollers (31, 32) of the first set (21) of rolling members (3) and the first guide profile (11) is at the radius of curvature of the curved portion (C) of the closed-loop guide path.

Other advantageous features of the transport system (S) of the invention are as follows.

The transport system (S) comprises a first spacer member (61) mounted on the first rotation axis (51) interposed between the rollers (31, 32) of the single pair of rollers of the first set (21) of rolling members (3) to keep the rollers (31, 32) of the single pair of rollers spaced apart with respect to the distance between the first rolling wall (11A) and the second rolling wall (11B) of the first guide profile (11) (see for example fig. 2 and 5A).

The transport system (S) further comprises: a second spacer member (62), the second spacer member (62) being mounted on the second rotation axis (52), interposed between the rollers (41, 42) of the first pair of rollers of the second set (22) of rolling members (4), to keep the rollers (41, 42) of the first pair of rollers spaced apart with respect to the distance between the first rolling wall (12A) and the second rolling wall (12B) of the second guide profile (12); and a third spacing member (63), the third spacing member (63) being mounted on the third rotation axis (53), interposed between the rollers (43, 44) of the second pair of rollers of the second group (22) of rolling members (4), to maintain the spacing of the rollers (43, 44) of the second pair of rollers with respect to the distance between the first rolling wall (12A) and the second rolling wall (12B) of the second guide profile (12) (see, for example, fig. 5A).

Due to the presence of the spacing members interposed between the rollers of the pair of rollers of the rolling members, it is advantageously possible for the rollers to be spaced apart from each other on the basis of the effective distance present between the two rolling walls of the two guide profiles, and also to adjust and vary their distance according to whether or not there are any defects or irregularities of the two rolling walls.

In this respect, the rollers (31, 32) of a single pair of rollers of the first set (21) of rolling members (3) are mounted on the first rotation axis (51) so that at least one of them can be detached from the first rotation axis (51) in order to be able to replace the first spacing member (61) with another spacing member having a different size.

In the same way, the rollers (41, 42) of the first pair of rollers of the second set (22) of rolling members (4) are mounted on the second rotation axis (52) so that at least one of them can be detached from the second rotation axis (52) in order to be able to replace the second spacing member (62) with another spacing member having a different size; and the rollers (43, 44) of a second pair of rollers of the second set (22) of rolling members (4) are mounted on the third rotation axis (53) such that at least one of them is removable from the third rotation axis (53) in order to be able to replace the third spacer member (63) with another spacer member having a different size.

The rollers (31, 32) of the single pair of rollers of the first set (21) of rolling members (3) have lateral contact surfaces with the first guide profile (11), which are truncated-cone-shaped or spherical-crown-shaped; the rollers (41, 42) of the first pair of rollers of the rolling member (4) of the second group (22) have lateral contact surfaces with the second guide profile (12), which are truncated cone-shaped or spherical crown-shaped; the rollers (43, 44) of the second pair of rollers of the second set (22) of rolling members (4) have lateral contact surfaces with the second guide profile (12) which are truncated cone-shaped or spherical crown-shaped.

The rollers (31, 32) of the single pair of rollers of the first set (21) of rolling members (3), the rollers (41, 42) of the first pair of rollers of the second set (22) of rolling members (4) and the rollers (43, 44) of the second pair of rollers of the second set (22) of rolling members (4) are made of a yielding plastic material.

This may further reduce the extent of roller wear due to frictional stresses acting on the rollers during movement of the carriage along the guide path.

It is apparent from the foregoing that how the transport system of the present invention effectively eliminates the various problems encountered in the aforementioned prior art transport systems.