Belt buffer

Abstract

In a belt buffer including a plurality of buffer belts arranged one above the other, receiving edges of the buffer belts at entry and delivery edges of the buffer belts at an exit of the belt buffer are height-adjustable. The buffer belts can include a plurality of belt modules arranged one after the other.

Claims

1. A belt buffer for intermediate storage of conveyed products comprising: a plurality of buffer belts arranged in levels one above the other, each buffer belt having a product entry side and a product exit side and consisting of a plurality of serially arranged belt modules comprising a single tiltable entry belt module having a height-adjustable receiving edge at the product entry side and a delivery edge being level with subsequent belt modules, a single tiltable exit belt module having a receiving edge being level with preceding belt modules and a height-adjustable delivery edge at the product exit side, and wherein the plurality of serially arranged belt modules are horizontally arranged between the single tiltable entry belt module and the single tiltable exit belt module.

2. The belt buffer according to claim 1, wherein the height-adjustable belts at the entry or exit can be raised for rows of product to be channeled out.

3. The belt buffer according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of entry or exit belt levels, which can be approached by the height-adjustable buffer belts, are provided on the entry or exit side.

4. The belt buffer according to claim 1, wherein the height adjustment of the individual entry-side or exit-side buffer belts takes place independently.

5. The belt buffer according to claim 1, wherein length of a buffer belt corresponds to length of a formation.

6. The belt buffer according to claim 1, wherein length of the buffer belts corresponds to an integral multiple of a product formation.

7. The belt buffer according to claim 1, wherein the buffer belts arranged one above the other are curved belts.

8. The belt buffer according to claim 1, wherein a running direction of the buffer belts is reversible.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) Preferred exemplary embodiments of the invention are described below with reference to the attached drawings. In the drawings

(2) FIG. 1 shows a belt buffer having three levels between an entry and exit belt,

(3) FIG. 2 shows a belt buffer having three levels and three exit belts,

(4) FIG. 3 shows a belt buffer having three levels, three entry and three exit belts,

(5) FIG. 4 shows a belt buffer with reversible belt direction for the first-in/last-out method (FILO),

(6) FIG. 5 shows the channeling-out of rejects,

(7) FIG. 6 shows a plan view of an alternative embodiment.

PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

(8) The belt buffer 1 shown in FIG. 1 consists of three levels of belt sections arranged one above the other which, for their part, consist of a plurality of belts 2, 3, 4, 5 arranged one after the other. The system is a modular system in which the individual belts have a length which corresponds to the multiple of a product formation. The individual belts are driven individually by means of servo motors 6.

(9) As a basic principle, a different number of levels, for example two, four or more, is also possible instead of three levels.

(10) The belt buffer 1 is inserted between a belt 7 coming from production and a belt 8 going to a packaging system. The receiving edges of the entry-side belts 2, which transfer the products from the entry belt 7, are height-adjustable as shown by the arrow 9. In this way, it is possible to bring the products directly, i.e. without interposing a deflector, onto the entry-side belts 2 of the belt buffer. In the position of the belts 2 shown, the incoming products are loaded onto the bottom level of the belt buffer.

(11) There is a corresponding situation on the exit side: the delivery edges of the belts 5, which transfer the products to the exit belt, are likewise height-adjustable as shown by the arrow 10. In the position shown, the products are discharged for packaging from the middle level.

(12) An advantage of the direct delivery without deflectors consists in that the height-adjustable belts are actively used as buffer belts so that a higher capacity can be achieved with the same length of belt buffer or, conversely, a required capacity can be achieved with a smaller installation length.

(13) A further advantage consists in that there is a cost saving due to the omission of deflectors.

(14) The ability to adjust the height of the entry-side and exit-side belts 2, 5 enable several requirements to be covered without additional length and belt equipment, for example the classic merging of the plurality of buffer levels to one conveyor level in the direction of the packaging area.

(15) A further requirement can be fulfilled with the embodiment having a plurality of exit belts shown in FIG. 2. In this embodiment, a plurality of conveyor levels can be loaded with product. In addition, these levels can also be operated at different speeds.

(16) In FIGS. 2-6, only the upper belt of identical belts of the modular system is shown with references.

(17) In the entry section of the belt buffer, as shown in FIG. 3, it is also possible to process a plurality of levels lying one above the other with incoming rows of product without any problems, namely as a consequence of the ability to adjust the height of the entry and exit-side belts in many different combinations.

(18) As shown in FIG. 4, the belt buffer can also be operated using the first-in/last-out principle. For this purpose, the buffer belts are driven reversibly, as shown by the double arrow, and the entry and the exit of the belt buffer lie on the same side.

(19) In addition, an often required reject function, shown in FIG. 5, can be incorporated. If faulty products are detected at the product entry, the belts 2 are raised and the faulty products are simply channeled out.

(20) The modular construction of this belt buffer enables widely differing layout requirements to be covered. As well as the classic in-line arrangement, it is also possible to cover very different space requirements by the use of curved belts as shown in FIG. 6. Here, it must be ensured that the development of the curved belts is sized such that one or more complete product formations can be placed thereon.

(21) Instead of the modular system described in the exemplary embodiments, a simple embodiment, in which only one belt with height-adjustable receiving and delivery edges is provided on each level, is also possible.

(22) The control of the proposed belt buffer is implemented in a control cabinet, which is preferably arranged in the vicinity of the belt buffer. The drive equipment for the buffer belts and the drives for the height adjustment of the buffer belts are executed by means of servo motors. This enables product handling and conveyor capacity to be set up optimally. The output capacity of the belt buffer is based on the degree to which it is filled. That is to say, the greater the degree to which it is filled, the faster the packing machines are supplied with product. In this way, imminent overfilling of the buffer is counteracted in good time and overflow and losses are prevented. This enables the line efficiency to be drastically increased.