Conveyor unit having adjustable transport rollers

Abstract

A conveying unit for transporting goods on transport rollers in a transport plane. The transport rollers can be rotated about their respective axes of rotation with an adjustable rotational speed and adjustable direction of rotation. The axes of rotation of the transport rollers are adjustable by rotation about their respective pivot axes by a particular pivot axis angle, and at least two of the transport rollers can be adjusted differently from one another. There is also described a method for adjusting the conveyor unit.

Claims

1. A conveying unit for transporting goods in a transport plane, the conveying unit comprising: transport rollers rotatably mounted about respective axes of rotation with an adjustable rotational speed and an adjustable direction of rotation; and the axes of rotation of said transport rollers extending substantially parallel to the transport plane and being adjustable by rotation by a given pivot axis angle about respective pivot axes that extend substantially orthogonally to the transport plane and being selectively adjustable to extend non-orthogonally to the transport plane; and a control unit configured for actuating said transport rollers, to adjust the pivot axis angle of two or more of said transport rollers, and to individually control a rotation of said two or more of said transport rollers; and wherein at least two of said transport rollers are adjustable differently from one another.

2. The conveying unit according to claim 1, wherein said transport rollers have a rounded spherical surface in an area intended for contact with the goods.

3. The conveying unit according to claim 1, further comprising actuatable drive devices for driving a transport roller.

4. The conveying unit according to claim 3, wherein said drive devices are servo drives.

5. The conveying unit according to claim 1, wherein said transport rollers are selectively drivable in a positive direction of rotation and a negative direction of rotation opposite the positive direction.

6. The conveying unit according to claim 1, wherein the pivot axis angle is continuously adjustable.

7. The conveying unit according to claim 1, wherein two or more of said transport rollers are arranged in a given order.

8. The conveying unit according to claim 7, wherein said two or more said transport rollers are arranged along a line.

9. The conveying unit according to claim 1, wherein said transport rollers have a circumferential surface which, in an area intended for contact with the goods, in an optimized manner for the transport of goods with regard to contour and/or surface quality.

10. The conveying unit according to claim 1, wherein said control unit is configured to actuate said transport rollers as a function of a position and/or an orientation of one or more items of the goods.

11. A method for adjusting a conveying unit having transport rollers for transporting goods on a transport plane, the method comprising: selectively rotating the transport rollers about respective axes of rotation thereof extending substantially parallel with the transport plane with an adjustable rotational speed and an adjustable direction of rotation via a control unit; and selectively pivoting the axes of rotation of the transport rollers about respective pivot axes by a particular pivot axis angle via the control unit, with the pivot axis selectively extending orthogonally and non-orthogonally to the transport plane; individually adjusting the rotational speed and the direction of rotation of the transport rollers via the control unit, and jointly adjusting the pivot axis angle of groups of at least two of the transport rollers; and transporting an item of the goods item by way of the adjusted transport rollers.

12. The method according to claim 11, which comprises adjusting at least one parameter selected from the group consisting of the rotational speed, the direction of rotation, and the pivot axis angle of at least two of the transport rollers of the conveying unit differently from one another.

13. The method according to claim 11, which comprises adjusting two or more of the conveying units in a coordinated manner.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING

(1) Embodiments of the invention are explained in more detail hereinafter with reference to the figures by way of example. The figures show:

(2) FIG. 1 A conveying unit according to the invention with all degrees of freedom;

(3) FIG. 2 A section of a further conveying unit with transport rollers adjusted differently from one another;

(4) FIG. 3 A conveying unit with a joint adjustment device for all the transport rollers;

(5) FIG. 4 A conveying unit with its own adjustment device for each transport roller;

(6) FIG. 5 A modular conveying unit with transport rollers arranged in an ordered manner along a line;

(7) FIG. 6 A further conveying unit in plan view.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

(8) FIG. 1 shows the degrees of freedom of a conveying unit 2 according to an embodiment of the invention in a lateral cross-section. The conveying unit 2 comprises transport rollers 8a-8d, each with its own axis of rotation 10a-10d, and its own pivot axis 12a-12d, wherein the transport rollers 8a-8d span a transport plane 6. By driving the transport rollers 8a-8d, a goods item 4 not shown here on at least one of the transport rollers 8a-8d can be transported along the transport plane 6 and/or altered in its orientation—simultaneously or sequentially. The transport rollers 8a-8d can be rotated about their respective axis of rotation 10a-10d with an adjustable rotational speed and adjustable direction of rotation. The rotational speeds may coincide in magnitude and/or sign with each other and/or differ from one another completely or in groups. A positive rotational speed corresponds to a positive direction of rotation, a negative rotational speed to a negative direction of rotation. The transport rollers 8a-8d with their own axes of rotation 12a-12d can be rotated by particular pivot axis angles 14a-14d, whereby their respective transport directions 34a-34d are adjustable. The transport rollers 8a-8d thus have three adjustable degrees of freedom—the rotational speed, the direction of rotation and the pivot axis angle—which are individually adjustable. An individual adjustability here also includes the adjustment of two or more of the transport rollers 8a-8d with regard to all or specific instances of the three adjustable degrees of freedom coinciding or being jointly adjustable. The transport rollers 8a-8d can thus be adjustably rotated at the same and/or a different velocities about their axes of rotation 10a-10d. The pivot axis angles 14a-14d of two or more transport rollers 8a-8d can be adjusted in accordance with and/or differently from one another.

(9) If the transport rollers 8a-8d are arranged such that their axes of rotation 10a-10d are in the drawing plane, the transport direction 34a-34d of the transport rollers 8a-8d is into or out of the drawing plane—depending on the direction of rotation. As shown in FIG. 1, the transport rollers 8a-8d may be cylindrical, but also rounded, cambered, like the surface of a ball or otherwise spherical in design. In the case of a pivot axis 12a not arranged orthogonally to the transport plane 6 and a cylindrical transport roller 8a, when adjusting the axis of rotation 10a about the pivot axis 12a by a pivot axis angle 14a, the transport roller 8a would protrude from the transport plane 6.

(10) In order to rotate a goods item 4 which is supported equally on all four transport rollers with axes of rotation adjusted in parallel and corresponding pivot axis angles 14 on the spot, the two right-hand transport rollers 8c, 8d can be driven in a positive direction of rotation and the two left-hand transport rollers 8a, 8b in a negative direction of rotation but at a corresponding amount of rotational speed—or vice versa. Instead of driving the transport rollers 8a-8d in the opposite direction of rotation, alternatively the pivot axis angles 14a-14d could also be adjusted.

(11) At least two differently adjustable transport rollers 8 are required to rotate a goods item 4. With more transport rollers 8, the guiding of the goods item 4 is improved.

(12) FIG. 2 shows in plan view a section of a further conveying unit 2 with differently adjustable transport rollers 8a-8d according to a further embodiment of the invention. Only the transport direction 34b of the transport roller 8b coincides with the main transport direction 22 of the conveying unit 2, the pivot axis angle 14b is 0° in this case. The transport rollers 8a, 8c are driven in the negative direction of rotation, the transport rollers 8b, 8d in the positive direction of rotation.

(13) FIG. 3 shows a cross-section of a conveying unit 2 with a control unit 20 and a common adjustment device 16 for all transport rollers 8a-8d according to a further embodiment of the invention. The transport rollers 8a-8d are fastened to transport roller bearings 24a-24d and are each connected to the control unit 20. The transport rollers 8a-8d comprise their own drive means 18a-18d integrated into the respective transport roller 8a-8d. The control unit 20 is designed to actuate the adjustment device 16 and the drive means 18a-18d. The drive means 18a-18d can be individually actuated and regulate the direction of rotation and angular velocity of the respective transport roller 8a-8d, an embodiment of the drive means 18a-18d is particularly well suited as a servo drive as these are designed for accurate individual adjustment and actuation. The adjustments of the transport rollers 8a-8d can be actuated and adjusted using the control unit 20.

(14) The adjustment device 16 connected to the control unit 20 is mechanically connected via an adjustment device axis 16′ to the transport roller bearings 24a-24d, so that the axes of rotation 10a-10d of all the transport rollers 8a-8d can be jointly adjusted by the same pivot axis angle 14a-14d. The axes of rotation 10a-10d thus always remain parallel to one another. The pivot axis angles 14a-14d can be continuously adjusted with the adjustment device 16 and thus assume random angular values between 0° and 360°. The continuous adjustment of any angular values allows a very accurate adjustment of the transport direction 34a-34d of the transport rollers 8a-8d.

(15) However, restricting the pivot axis angle to values between, for example, +−45° or +−90° is also conceivable. Nevertheless, by adjusting the direction of rotation with positive and negative directions of rotation, any transport direction 34 of the transport rollers 8a-8d can be achieved. A manipulation of the goods 4 is also achieved by different rotational speeds and/or directions of rotation of the transport rollers 8a-8d.

(16) FIG. 4 shows a further conveying unit 2 with its own adjustment device 16a-16d for each transport roller according to an embodiment of the invention. Each of the transport rollers 8a-8d comprises a separate, individually adjustable drive means 18a-18d which can be individually actuated by the control unit 20. The adjustment devices 16a-16d are also designed to be individually adjustable and individually actuatable by the control unit 20.

(17) FIG. 5 shows a modular conveying unit 2 with transport rollers 8a-8h arranged in an ordered manner along a line according to yet another embodiment of the invention. The conveying unit 2 comprises transport roller bearings 24a-24h for the specific transport rollers 8a-8h and in each case a drive means 18a-18h designed as an external motor for the specific transport rollers 8a-8h. The modular conveying unit 2, like the conveying unit 2 of FIG. 3, has a common adjustment device 16 with an adjustment device axis 16′ for the simultaneous adjustment of the axis of rotation 10a-10h of all the transport rollers 8a-8h. The modular conveying unit 2 also a compact built-in electronic unit 30 which, in addition to a control unit 20, also has a connecting device 32 for uncomplicated connection to a higher-level controller 21.

(18) The surface of the transport rollers 8a-8h is partially coated with a friction lining 26 designed as a friction belt, which optimizes the transmission of the movement of the transport roller 8 to the goods item 4. The friction lining is durably designed and thus requires very little maintenance.

(19) FIG. 6 shows a further conveying unit 2 in plan view comprising a plurality of transport rollers 8 according to an embodiment of the invention. The transport rollers 8 are arranged in the manner of roller carpet and individually adjustable and actuatable. The supported goods 4, 4′ to be transported are transported in the main transport direction 22, wherein the orientation of the goods 4′ which are not aligned parallel to the main transport direction 22 is changed during their transport by those transport rollers 8 on which a goods item 4 is supported with the same or different pivot axis angles 14 being driven with a different rotational speed and/or direction of rotation.

(20) According to a further embodiment, the transport rollers 8 of a conveying unit 2 are arranged in a circle and are thus even better suited to rotating a goods item 4. A plurality of conveying units 2 can be arranged as desired one behind the other and/or next to one another and thus also enable the simultaneous directional transport and rotation of a plurality of goods items 4 which cannot be supported on the transport rollers 8 of a conveying unit 2 at the same time due to their dimensions. The conveying units 2 are actuated in a coordinated manner.

LIST OF REFERENCE CHARACTERS

(21) 2 Conveying unit

(22) 4 Goods item

(23) 6 Transport plane

(24) 8 Transport roller

(25) 10 Axis of rotation

(26) 12 Pivot axis

(27) 14 Pivot axis angle

(28) 16 Adjustment device

(29) 16′ Adjustment device axis

(30) 18 Drive means

(31) 20 Control unit

(32) 22 Main transport direction

(33) 24 Transport roller bearing

(34) 26 Friction lining

(35) 30 Electronic unit comprising control unit 20

(36) 32 Connecting device

(37) 34 Transport direction