The invention relates to a chain link (1) for a chain conveyor for conveying small parts (17), in particular bottle closures, having a, in particular flat, support surface for small parts, wherein means (3) for fitting at least one carrier (14) are provided on opposite sides of the chain link. This allows the small parts to be conveyed without damage, on the other hand, the chain link (1) can be easily adapted to different types of small parts that differ in diameter and/or height. At least two carriers (14) are provided, each of which has a fastening part (15) which can be attached to a means (3) for fitting, and a gripping part (19) which is made of a softer material than the fastening part (15) and has one or more extensions (16) which, when the carrier (14) is in the fitted state, are aligned towards the respective other carrier (14).

Systems and methods are provided for conveyor operation and maintenance that employ a smart shoe technology where one or more conveyor shoes incorporate features, such as an RFID tag, allowing selective wireless tracking and identification capability. A conveyor system comprises a shoe management system allowing interactions directly with a reader where interface between this application and the reader can be implemented via a socket interface. An open platform communications (OPC) wrapper can be created around the interface so that a Human Machine Interface (HMI) could interact directly with shoe management system

The invention relates to a chain link (1) for a chain conveyor for conveying small parts (17), in particular bottle closures, having a, in particular flat, support surface for small parts, wherein means (3) for fitting at least one carrier (14) are provided on opposite sides of the chain link. This allows the small parts to be conveyed without damage, on the other hand, the chain link (1) can be easily adapted to different types of small parts that differ in diameter and/or height. At least two carriers (14) are provided, each of which has a fastening part (15) which can be attached to a means (3) for fitting, and a gripping part (19) which is made of a softer material than the fastening part (15) and has one or more extensions (16) which, when the carrier (14) is in the fitted state, are aligned towards the respective other carrier (14).

A conveying device (1) has conveying carts (2) arranged one behind another and spaced apart by an interspace (4). One conveying cart (2) has a cover (6) and another has a cross-belt conveyor (8) for conveying material transverse to the conveying direction. The cover (6) covers the interspace (4) between the conveying carts (2) so that the cover (6) of the one conveying cart (2) is under the upper run (21) of the transverse belt (10) of the other conveying cart (2). When negotiating curves, the cover (6) engages between an underside (22) of the upper run (21) and a first support plane (20) to hinder the transverse belt (10) from moving in the transverse conveying direction. When travelling straight ahead the cover (6) engages between the first support plane (20) and a second support plane (24) to permit movement of the transverse belt (10) in the transverse conveying direction.

Curved magnetic guide for guiding the chain of a conveyor chain along a curvilinear transport direction including a pair of first guide profiles arranged spaced apart and extending in a continuous manner along a respective development direction concentric to the curvilinear transport direction, a support structure for supporting the first guide profiles having a plurality of box-shaped bodies, the box-shaped bodies being arranged in succession one after the other and spaced apart from one another along the curvilinear transport direction, where each of the box-shaped bodies houses at least one magnetic body and has an upper surface and a lower surface opposite one another, where the upper surface is provided with a pair of first constraining projections that are spaced apart and faced with distances between centers substantially equal to the distance between the development directions where the first constraining projections of the plurality of box-shaped bodies define two rows of first constraining projections that extend, spaced apart from one another, along a respective the development direction, where each of the first guide profiles is coupled with the first constraining projections aligned along one of the two rows, where the guide defines a forward guide for guiding the forward branch of the chain, the forward guide having a forward channel adapted for receiving the hinging portions of the links and which is laterally delimited by the first guide profiles of the at least one pair, where the first guide profiles each defines a sliding surface for the plate-shaped portion of the links to slide thereon, and where the magnetic bodies interact with the links to attract the links of the chain with the part of their plate-shaped portions against the sliding surfaces defined by the first guide profiles.

A segment or a strip for a segment of a conveying device, having at least one end face, which faces a segment adjoining the segment or faces a strip on an adjoining segment, optionally a rear side and parallel ribs which extend on a top side of the segment or of the strip in the conveying direction. An end region of the ribs is beveled in the region of the end face.

The technology disclosed provides a joint for connecting carrier units together so as to dissipate and absorb axial forces experienced by the carrier units. The joint may be comprised of a joint housing and an elastomeric insert. The housing may be comprised of a body portion and a head portion and the head portion may include an annular flange in which the elastomeric insert is configured to be secured. The elastomeric joint is capable of absorbing and dissipating horizontal, rotational, and vertical forces experienced by the carrier units in non-linear travel along a track.

A conveying facility with a drivable conveying member that forms a sheet-like main surface that faces the conveyed item and defines a conveying stretch. The conveying member includes at least one conveying element that forms at least a part of the main surface. The conveying member also includes rollers that, via roller holders, are rotatably mounted on the at least one conveying element about roller pivots and can selectively assume the state of a freewheel position, an arrested position or a drive position. The conveying facility also has at least one conveying container that lies on the conveying member in a connection-free manner, wherein the rollers project at least partly beyond the main surface of the conveying element so that the at least one conveying container lies on the rollers.

Various embodiments described herein relate to a material handling system including a first conveyor and a second conveyor positioned such that a curved section of the second conveyor is substantially concentric with a curved section of the first conveyor. The speed of the first conveyor and the second conveyor are matched such that a loaded cross belt carriage may transfer an article on to an empty cross belt carriage at the curved sections of the first conveyor and the second conveyor. The speed of the first conveyor and the second conveyor are matched using a speed matching routine executed by a central controller such that the transfer of the article is facilitated at the curved sections of the first conveyor and the second conveyor.

Systems and methods are provided for conveyor operation and maintenance that employ one or both of a smart shoe technology where one or more conveyor shoes incorporate features, such as an RFID tag, and a missing pin detection technology where one or more pin components of conveyor shoes incorporate features, such as an RFID tag, allowing selective wireless tracking and identification capability. A conveyor system comprises a shoe management system allowing interactions directly with one or more RFID readers, which can detect, store and/or monitor information associated with smart shoe and/or missing pin detection RFID tags, where interface between this application and the reader can be implemented via a socket interface. System and method also or optionally provide for unique slat installation and removal.