U.S. patent application number 14/139387 was filed with the patent office on 2014-07-03 for high capacity conveyor trolley and method.
This patent application is currently assigned to Frost Tech LLC. The applicant listed for this patent is Frost Tech LLC. Invention is credited to Charles C. Frost.
Application Number | 20140182476 14/139387 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 51015683 |
Filed Date | 2014-07-03 |
United States Patent
Application |
20140182476 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Frost; Charles C. |
July 3, 2014 |
HIGH CAPACITY CONVEYOR TROLLEY AND METHOD
Abstract
An overhead conveyor, components therefor and method for making
same, in which the conveyor trolley utilizes load wheels having
double row bearings, and is designed for a channel having a height
"X," but is built with a maximum allowable load value which is
equal to or greater than the maximum allowable load value for a
trolley used in channels of height greater than X.
Inventors: |
Frost; Charles C.; (Ada,
MI) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Frost Tech LLC |
Grand Rapids |
MI |
US |
|
|
Assignee: |
Frost Tech LLC
Grand Rapids
MI
|
Family ID: |
51015683 |
Appl. No.: |
14/139387 |
Filed: |
December 23, 2013 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
|
|
|
|
|
|
Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
61764774 |
Feb 14, 2013 |
|
|
|
61747172 |
Dec 28, 2012 |
|
|
|
Current U.S.
Class: |
104/93 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B61B 3/00 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
104/93 |
International
Class: |
B61B 3/00 20060101
B61B003/00 |
Claims
1. A conveyor trolley comprising: a body and a set of load wheels
mounted on said body; said trolley body and said load wheels being
dimensioned to be carried in a conveyor channel having a height
"X," but having an allowable load value which is equal to or
greater than the maximum allowable load value for a trolley used in
channels of height greater than X.
2. The conveyor trolley of claim 1 comprising: said trolley load
wheels having double row bearings.
3. The conveyor trolley of claim 1 comprising: a 3 inch trolley
having a load capacity of at least 1600 pounds.
4. The conveyor trolley of claim 1 comprising: a 4 inch trolley
having a load capacity of at least 4000 pounds.
5. The conveyor trolley of claim 1 comprising: a 6 inch trolley
having a load capacity of at least 8000 pounds.
6. The conveyor trolley of claim 1 comprising: said load wheels
having an outer tracking surface which is generally flat and
inclined slightly to match the incline of the track flanges on
which the load wheels will ride.
7. The conveyor trolley of claim 6 comprising: each said load wheel
having an outer tracking surface which is wider than the outer
tracking surface on prior art wheels for a correspondingly sized
trolley.
8. The conveyor trolley of claim 6 in which said trolley body
comprises two steel side-plates, each having a thickness of 7/16 to
1/2 of an inch.
9. The conveyor trolley of claim 1 comprising: a 3 inch trolley
having a wheel diameter of 2.0-2.2
10. The conveyor trolley of claim 1 comprising: a 4 inch trolley
having a wheel diameter of 2.7-2.9 inches.
11. The conveyor trolley of claim 1 comprising: a 6 inch trolley
having a wheel diameter of 3.2-3.8 inches.
12. A conveyor trolley comprising: a body and a set of load wheels
mounted on said body; each of said load wheels having a double row
of bearings positioned next to and parallel to one another within
the confines of said load wheel; and said load wheels having an
outer tracking surface which is flat and inclined slightly to match
the incline of the track flanges on which the load wheels will
ride.
13. The conveyor trolley of claim 12 comprising: each said load
wheel having an outer tracking surface which is wider than the
outer tracking surface on prior art wheels for a correspondingly
sized trolley.
14. The conveyor trolley of claim 13 comprising: a 3 inch trolley
having a wheel diameter of 2.0-2.2 inches.
15. The conveyor trolley of claim 13 comprising: a 4 inch trolley
having a wheel diameter of 2.7-2.9 inches.
16. The conveyor trolley of claim 13 comprising: a 6 inch trolley
having a wheel diameter of 3.2-3.8 inches.
17. The conveyor trolley of claim 12 comprising: a 3 inch trolley
having a wheel diameter of 1.9-2.3.
18. The conveyor trolley of claim 12 comprising: a 4 inch trolley
having a wheel diameter of 2.5-3.0 inches.
19. The conveyor trolley of claim 12 comprising: a 6 inch trolley
having a wheel diameter of 3.2-3.8 inches.
20. The conveyor trolley of claim 12 in which said trolley body
comprises two steel side-plates, each having a thickness of 7/16 to
1/2 of an inch.
21. An overhead conveyor comprising: a trolley having a body and a
set of load wheels mounted on said body; said trolley body and said
load wheels being dimensioned to be carried in a conveyor channel
having a height "X," but having an allowable load value which is
equal to or greater than the maximum allowable load value for a
trolley used in channels of height greater than X; and a channel
for carrying said trolley, wherein the channel strength as
determined by pounds of material per foot of track, are 50-75%
greater than standard CEMA strengths for a channel of height X, as
set forth in the table below: TABLE-US-00004 Trolley CEMA Strength
Claimed Channel Standards Strengths 3'' I-Beam 5.7 lbs/foot 8.5-10
lbs/foot 4'' I-Beam 7.7 lbs/foot 11.5-13.5 lbs/foot 6'' I-Beam 12.5
lbs/foot 18.7-21.8 lbs/foot 3'' C-Channel 4.1 lbs/foot 6.1-7.2
lbs/foot 4'' C-Channel 5.4 lbs/foot 8.1-9.5 lbs/foot 6'' C-Channel
10.5 lbs/foot 15.7-18.4 lbs/foot
22. The conveyor trolley of claim 21 comprising: said trolley load
wheels having doable row bearings.
23. The conveyor trolley of claim 22 comprising: said load wheels
having an outer tracking surface which is generally flat and
inclined slightly to match the incline of the track flanges on
which the load wheels will ride.
24. The conveyor trolley of claim 23 comprising: each said load
wheel having an outer tracking surface which is wider than the
outer tracking surface on prior art wheels for a correspondingly
sized trolley.
25. The conveyor trolley of claim 24 comprising: axels on said load
wheels of 3/4 to 1 inch in diameter.
Description
FIELD AND BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] The present application claims priority to U.S. Provisional
application Ser. No. 61/747,172, filed Dec. 28, 2012, entitled HIGH
CAPACITY CONVEYOR TROLLEY AND METHOD, and U.S. Provisional
application Ser. No. 61/764,774, filed Feb. 14, 2013, entitled HIGH
CAPACITY CONVEYOR TROLLEY AND METHOD.
[0002] The present invention relates to overhead conveyors, which
typically comprise at least an "I-beam" track 1, trolleys 2 which
have opposed wheels 3 engaging the bottom flanges of said I-beam
track 1 on opposite sides of the center web of the beam, and a
driven conveyor chain (not shown) connected to said trolleys at
spaced intervals (FIG. 1). The chains usually comprise center links
alternating with a pair of side links, which overlap the end of the
center link on the opposite sides thereof, and are joined to the
center link by a pin passing through the overlapping ends of the
side links and center links. When the trolleys are thus driven by a
chain, they are referred to as power trolleys.
[0003] While power trolleys are sometimes used directly to convey
whatever items are being processed, they are more typically used to
drive free trolleys 10, which travel freely on paired, laterally
spaced load wheels 20 running on the lower flanges 41 of spaced
inwardly facing "C" shaped tracks 40. Two horizontally oriented
guide wheels 30 at the bottom of each free trolley are positioned
between the C channel flanges 41, to help keep trolley 10 from
shifting too far to the right or left as they travel in tracks
40.
[0004] The C channel tracks are supported by a pair of support arms
5, mounted atop the I-beam 1 and depending downwardly past either
side thereof and past either side of the power trolleys. Downwardly
depending pushers (not shown) are mounted on either the power
trolleys 1 or the chain carried by and driving the power trolleys,
for engaging dogs 11 on the free trolleys, to thereby move the free
trolleys 10 along in their tracks 40. When it is desired to stop a
trolley, mechanisms are provided for retracting either the pushers
or the dogs 11, so that the trolley stops. The so called free
trolleys thus carry the heavy loads which are to be moved from
place to place. The trolley and "C" track arrangement can be used
as powered trolleys driven by a drive chain. However, this
arrangement is typically used as a set of free trolleys.
[0005] In accordance with long standing industry practice, trolleys
are numbered in accordance with the approximate height of the
I-beam or C channel tracks they are carried on. Industry standards,
and longstanding industry practice call for 3 inch tracks, 4 inch
tracks and 6 inch tracks. Thus, there have long been 3 inch
trolleys, 4 inch trolleys and 6 inch trolleys.
[0006] Also by long recognized industry standards, the so called
free trolleys (which can be driven) are built to carry heavier
loads than the so-called driven trolleys. The free trolleys come in
a standard grade and a heavier grade for carrying heavier loads.
These loads are in accordance with long recognized standards. Thus
the heavy load capacities for 3, 4 and 6 inch free trolleys
are:
TABLE-US-00001 3 inch free trolley 800 # 4 inch free trolley 2,000
# 6 inch free trolley 4,000 #
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0007] The present invention comprises an overhead conveyor,
components therefor and method for making same, in which the
conveyor trolley is designed for a channel having a height "X," but
is built with a maximum allowable load value which is equal to or
greater than the maximum allowable load value for a trolley used in
channels of height greater than X. The trolley of the present
invention utilizes load wheels having double row bearings.
[0008] This surprising departure from industry standards makes it
possible to use, for example, four inch trolleys and four inch
tracks, to care a load normally requiring six inch trolleys and six
inch tracks.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0009] FIG. 1 is a lateral cross sectional view of a prior art
power and free trolley arrangement;
[0010] FIG. 2 is a lateral cross sectional view of a power and free
trolley arrangement made in accordance with a preferred embodiment
of the invention;
[0011] FIG. 3 is a side perspective view of a four inch trolley in
accordance with the preferred embodiment, with the dog mechanism
not shown;
[0012] FIG. 4 is a top plan view of view of a lour inch trolley in
accordance with the preferred embodiment, with the dog mechanism
not shown;
[0013] FIG. 5 is a lateral cross sectional view of double row
bearing wheel for use as a load wheel in a preferred embodiment
trolley;
[0014] FIG. 6 is a side elevational view of the wheel of FIG.
5;
[0015] FIG. 7 is an exploded cross sectional view of a double row
bearing wheel for use as a load wheel in a preferred embodiment
trolley.
[0016] FIG. 8 is a lateral cross sectional view of double row
bearing wheel for use as a guide wheel in a preferred embodiment
trolley.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
[0017] Trolleys 10a of the preferred embodiment comprises a pair of
spaced side plates 50a joined by bolts 51a (FIGS. 3 and 4). A pair
of load wheels 20a are mounted to each side plate 50a, facing
outwardly from each side of trolley 10a. Load wheels 20 a travel on
the bottom flanges 41a of channel shaped tracks 40a (FIG. 2). Guide
wheels 30a are mounted on vertically oriented axels, located
between side plates 50a (FIGS. 2-4). Guide wheels 30a project
beyond side plates 50a on each side of trolley 10a, and have an
outside diameter just slightly less than the space between the
inwardly facing, spaced edges of the bottom flanges 41a of opposed
channel tracks 40a. Dogs 11a are retractable by a conventional
mechanism, such that trolleys 10a can be disengaged from pushers
mounted on the power trolleys 2 or on the power chain carried by
and driving the power trolleys 2.
[0018] Instead of a single row of bearing wheels conventionally
used in conveyor trolleys, load wheels 20a have a doable row of
bearings 22a and 22b, positioned next to and parallel to one
another within the confines of wheel 20a (FIGS. 5 and 7). Bearings
22a are located in the inside, or proximate row of bearings, that
is the row facing a trolley side plate 50a, while bearings 22b are
located in the outside, or distal row of bearings which faces away
from a trolley side plate 50a. This additional row of bearings
significantly increases the overall load capacity of load wheel
20a. Each wheel 20a is formed on its interior to define an inwardly
opening proximate outer race 21a and an outwardly opening distal
outer race 21c, separated by a shared outer race wall 21b. A
proximate inner race defining ring 23a and a distal inner race
defining ring 23b are inserted into wheel 20a from opposite sides,
so as to abut one another and trap the bearings 22a between the
inner races 23a and b, and the outer races, 21a and b,
respectively. Inner race rings 23a and b are carried on hub 27,
which includes an inside lip 27a, which locks proximate inner race
23a in place when the components are assembled. A similar outer lip
27b is then swaged on the outside edge of hub 27 to lock distal
inner ring 23b in place. The interior of hub 27 has a diameter to
accept a wheel axel which is at least 25% greater than the standard
5/8 inch axel of prior art-trolley wheels, more preferably 50%
greater (3/4 to 1 inch in diameter). Hub covers 25 and 26 cover the
opposite sides of each load wheel 20.
[0019] As can be seen by comparing the prior art trolley of FIG. 1
to the preferred embodiment trolley of FIG. 2, the outer tracking
surface of each preferred embodiment load wheel is wider than the
tracking surface on the prior art wheels on a correspondingly sized
trolley. Specifically, FIG. 2 shows the preferred embodiment wheel
tracking surface to be 100% wider than the tracking surface of
prior art wheels on a correspondingly sized trolley.
[0020] The trolley wheels 22a of the preferred embodiment are also
preferably from 5 to 20%, more preferably from 10 to 15% less in
mean outside diameter than the standard 2.4 inch diameter wheels
used on 3 inch trolleys (i.e. 1.9-2.3, preferably 2.0-2.2 inches
instead of 2.4), and the standard 3.2-3.3 inch diameter wheels used
on the 4 inch (i.e. 2.5-3.0, preferably 2.7-2.9 inches) and the
standard 4.0-5.25 inch wheels used on 6 inch trolleys (i.e. 3.2-3.8
inches, preferably 3.4-3.6 inches). The use of smaller outside
diameter wheels is surprisingly made possible by the use of double
row bearings. The decreased size of the load wheel allows for the
use of smaller C-channels, saving significant materials.
[0021] The trolley guide wheels 30a also preferably employ a double
row of bearings 32a and b, which significantly increase the overall
load capacity of the wheel. (FIG. 8) For purposes of discussion,
bearings 32a are proximate, facing up toward the bottom of trolley
10a. Bearings 31b are distal, and will face down away irons the
bottom of trolley 10a, when the guide wheels are installed. The
guide wheels 30a axe of similar construction to the load wheels,
except that the exterior of the guide wheel itself arcs outwardly
slightly from side to side. In contrast, load wheels 22a have
generally flat outer surfaces, inclined slightly to match the
incline of the track flanges 41a on which they ride.
[0022] Each wheel 30a is formed on it interior to define an
inwardly opening proximate outer race 31a and an outwardly opening
distal outer race 31b, separated by a shared outer race wall 31c. A
proximate inner race defining ring 33a and a distal inner race
defining ring 33b are inserted into wheel 30a from opposite sides,
so as to abut one another and trap the bearings 32a between the
inner races 33a and b, and the outer races, 31a and b,
respectively, inner race rings 33a and b are carried on hub 37,
which includes an inside lip 37a, which locks proximate inner race
33a in place when the components are assembled. A similar outer lip
bob is then swaged on the outside edge of hub 37 to lock distal
inner ring 33b in place.
[0023] The two substantially parallel side-plates 50a are connected
preferably by at least grade 8 bolts 51a, rather than by grade 5
bolts as are conventionally uses. These plates are preferably at
least 15% thicker than prior art 3/8 inch thick trolley
side-plates, and more preferably, at least 25% greater ( 7/16 to
1/2 of an inch).
[0024] In a preferred embodiment, the channel strengths as
determined by pounds of material per foot of track, are 50-75%
greater than standard strengths.
TABLE-US-00002 Trolley CEMA Strength Preferred Channel Standards
Embodiment Strengths 3'' I-Beam 5.7 lbs/foot 8.5-10 lbs/foot 4''
I-Beam 7.7 lbs/foot 11.5-13.5 lbs/foot 6'' I-Beam 12.5 lbs/foot
18.7-21.8 lbs/foot 3'' C- 4.1 lbs/foot 6.1-7.2 lbs/foot Channel 4''
C- 5.4 lbs/foot 8.1-9.5 lbs/foot Channel 6'' C- 10.5 lbs/foot
15.7-18.4 lbs/foot Channel
[0025] The benefits of the present invention have not at ail been
recognized or thought of by prior artisans. The use of at least
double-row bearings in the load and guide wheels significantly
increases the load capacity of the trolley without increasing the
size of the trolley or track. This allows, for instance, loads
traditionally carried only by a 6-inch trolley on a 6-inch track to
be carried on a 4-inch track and trolley. Further reduction to the
amount of materials needed for tracks is achieved by reducing the
axial height of the load wheels.
[0026] For example, one 4 inch trolley has been load tested to
23,800 pounds without breakage. The preferred embodiment trolleys
can he comfortably rated to twice the standard loads given for
prior art trolleys of the same size:
TABLE-US-00003 Prior Art Load Preferred Embodiment Free Trolley
Size Rating Load Rating 3 inch free trolley 800 # 1600# or higher 4
inch free trolley 2000 # 4000# or higher 6 inch free trolley 4,000
# 8000# or higher
[0027] Other embodiments of the invention are contemplated by the
inventor.
* * * * *