U.S. patent application number 14/196404 was filed with the patent office on 2014-07-17 for conveyor roller system.
This patent application is currently assigned to Advanced Aircraft Roller Systems, Inc.. The applicant listed for this patent is Advanced Aircraft Roller Systems, Inc.. Invention is credited to John Dallum, Bryan Spiess.
Application Number | 20140197007 14/196404 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 26748734 |
Filed Date | 2014-07-17 |
United States Patent
Application |
20140197007 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Spiess; Bryan ; et
al. |
July 17, 2014 |
Conveyor Roller System
Abstract
An aircraft conveyor system comprising an aircraft including an
aircraft cargo storage bay; and a roller mounted within the
aircraft cargo storage bay, the roller including a one-piece
integral body having a cylindrical shape, the entirety of the body
being made solely out of a single piece of polymeric material, said
body having a length extending from a first outermost end to a
second outermost end and a diameter and a first and second exterior
shoulders at the ends, said body including an aperture extending
longitudinally along and through the center of said body from the
first outermost end to the second outermost end, the aperture sized
to rotatably receive an axle therethrough, the axle being for
mounting the roller within the aircraft cargo storage bay, wherein
the roller has a burn rate of less than 4.0 inches per minute.
Inventors: |
Spiess; Bryan; (St. Francis,
MN) ; Dallum; John; (Ramsey, MN) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Advanced Aircraft Roller Systems, Inc. |
St. Francis |
MN |
US |
|
|
Assignee: |
Advanced Aircraft Roller Systems,
Inc.
St. Francis
MN
|
Family ID: |
26748734 |
Appl. No.: |
14/196404 |
Filed: |
March 4, 2014 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
13627500 |
Sep 26, 2012 |
|
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14196404 |
|
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|
12853407 |
Aug 10, 2010 |
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13627500 |
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10068243 |
Feb 6, 2002 |
7771333 |
|
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12853407 |
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60266752 |
Feb 6, 2001 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
193/37 ; 492/16;
492/57; 492/59 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B64D 2009/006 20130101;
B65G 39/12 20130101; B65G 13/00 20130101; B64D 9/00 20130101; B65G
39/02 20130101; B65G 39/00 20130101; B65G 39/10 20130101; F16C
13/00 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
193/37 ; 492/16;
492/57; 492/59 |
International
Class: |
B65G 39/12 20060101
B65G039/12; B65G 39/10 20060101 B65G039/10; B65G 13/00 20060101
B65G013/00; F16C 13/00 20060101 F16C013/00; B65G 39/00 20060101
B65G039/00 |
Claims
1. A roller system having at least one operable roller unit, each
roller unit comprising: a. a roller, cylindrical in shape having a
length and a diameter, the roller having a center aperture
extending through the length of the roller and the roller being
fabricated from a polymer; b. a shaft in the form of an elongate
cylinder having a diameter sized to rotatably fit within the
central aperture of the roller, the shaft further having a means
for retention located upon the shaft ends; and c. an elongate "U"
shaped roller rack, the roller rack sized to extend the length of
the roller and having a pair of upwardly extending ends located
adjacent the ends of the roller, each end having an aperture sized
to receive the respective shaft end and locate the shaft in a fixed
location.
2. The roller system as described in claim 1 wherein the polymer
forming the roller is a polymer select from the group consisting of
polysulfone, polyetherimide, polyetherketone, polyphenylene sulfide
and polyvynilidene fluoride.
3. The roller system as described in claim 1 wherein the polymer
forming the roller is an acetyl copolymer.
4. The roller system as described in claim 1 further comprising a
pair of bushings having central openings fitted within the central
aperture of the roller and attached to the roller sized to
rotatably accept the shaft within their respective central
openings.
5. The roller system as described in claim 1 further comprising a
pair of bearings having central openings fitted within the central
aperture of the roller and attached to the roller sized to
rotatably accept the shaft within their respective central
openings
6. A roller comprising: a. an outer housing constructed from a
polymer selected from the group consisting of polysulfone,
polyetherimide, polyetherketone, polyphenylene sulfide and
polyvynilidene fluoride; b. the outer housing further having a
central aperture disposed longitudinally therethrough; and c. a
bearing located surrounding the central aperture and attached to
the outer housing.
7. A monolithic roller comprising a cylindrical roller body, the
roller body having a length and a diameter, the roller also having
an aperture extending along and through the center of the roller,
the roller fabricated from a polymeric material.
8. The monolithic roller of claim 7 further comprising a pair of
bushings fitted within aperture of the roller extending inwardly
into the aperture of the roller.
9. The monolithic roller of claim 8 wherein the pair of bushing is
merged into a single bushing extending through the roller.
10. The monolithic roller of claim 7 further comprising a pair of
bearings fitted within aperture of the roller extending inwardly
into the aperture of the roller.
11. The monolithic roller of claim 7 wherein the polymeric material
of the roller is selected from the group consisting of polysulfone,
polyetherimide, polyetherketone, polyphenylene sulfide and
polyvynilidene fluoride.
12. The monolithic roller of claim 7 wherein the polymeric material
of the roller is an acetyl copolymer.
13. The monolithic roller of claim 7 wherein the polymer has a
compressibility strength of at least 20 psi, impact strength of at
least 0.5 ft. Lbs./in. and flexural strength of at least 20 psi.
Description
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is a continuation of application Ser. No.
13/627,500, filed Sep. 26, 2012, which is a continuation of
application Ser. No. 12/853,407, filed Aug. 10, 2010, now
abandoned, which is a continuation of application Ser. No.
10/068,243, filed Feb. 6, 2002, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,771,333, which
claims the benefit of provisional application Ser. No. 60/266,752,
filed Feb. 6, 2001, which applications are incorporated herein by
reference in their entirety.
BACKGROUND
[0002] Conveyors are used in various systems, including in
manufacturing plants, loading and unloading areas such as shipping
and receiving docks and cargo haulers, such as aircraft. While
these conveyors may have an extending belt which provides the
carrying surface, many do not. Conveyors for large or packaged
goods often do not have large belt and merely rely on a series of
rollers to carry the product along a production line.
[0003] Manufacture of prior rollers involved assembling various
parts including bearing, a housing, end caps and other components.
Manufacture of a variety of components and later assemblage of the
same is costly in time and money. Moreover, the complexity of the
process has led to poorly constructed rollers.
[0004] The rollers become damaged internally and externally over
the course of their usable life. Prior rollers were manufactured of
metal and provided no mechanism for viewing the internal components
of the roller to determine if the wear had become too extensive for
proper operation. Inspection of these rollers would entail
disassembly of the rollers, inspection of the interior and
reassembly if appropriate. The time and expense involved in this
process has led most users to simply discard rollers after a period
of time regardless of the condition of the roller. While the
periodic replacement of rollers obviates the inspection costs and
repair problems, it is costly to replace good rollers.
[0005] In the particular application intended by the invention, the
placement of the roller is in the cargo bays of a cargo aircraft to
allow the loading, unloading, and placement of cargo packages
within the aircraft where the rollers in the cargo bay perform the
dual function of allowing the cargo containers to be rolled into
place and supporting the cargo during flight. The aircraft
application presents the additional need that the rollers each be
relatively lightweight. The prior art makes a conventional roller
lightweight by constructing the roller as a hollow roller. While
using hollow rollers helps with the weight problems, it creates the
additionally problem that the rollers may be dented or otherwise
deformed when a user is rough in loading the cargo.
[0006] When a product moves along the conveyor system, all too
frequently, the product will get stuck, requiring operator
intervention to return the conveyer system to its operation of
moving product. Frequently and operator can manually move the
product into line and return the conveyer to operation, however,
that is not always the case and sometimes an operator will resort
to tools to move the product so that the conveyer can operate. When
large containers of products are on the conveyer and not moving,
frequently an operator will use a pry bar to urge the product into
the proper location to move the product. Unfortunately when pry
bars are used, the bar is commonly placed between the rollers to
lever the product along, the results are frequently denting of the
roller housing or otherwise damaging the roller. This problem is
exacerbated by the lack of internal support and non-resilient
materials being used to construct the prior rollers.
[0007] What is needed is a one piece roller that includes a
mechanism for viewing the structure of the roller for defects and
need for repair. Further, the roller should provide support to the
housing and the housing should be formed of a resilient material
for long life with minimal wear. Additional desired features
include corrosion resistance, low weight, and ease of cleaning
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0008] The present invention is a roller for a conveyor system with
substantial new, useful and non-obvious features, which are needed
in the marketplace. In particular the roller is a generally
integral single piece component formed of suitable polymer.
Preferably the polymer is translucent or transparent to allow
visual inspection of the entire roller without disassembly of the
conveyor system.
[0009] Similar to a conventional roller, the roller of the present
invention is a cylindrical tube having a central aperture for
mounting on a conventional axle. Where conventional rollers are
assembled from numerous parts, usually metal, to produce a hollow
roller, the conveyer roller of the present invention departs by
being constructed as a monolithic unit from a polymeric
material.
[0010] The invention as disclosed in this application is a
polymeric roller that is formed from a single piece of a polymer
that replaces a conventional metallic roller. In the simplest form,
the roller is a polymeric roller that can be used to replace a
conventional roller by simply removing the axle that supports the
conventional roller, removing the conventional roller and replacing
the conventional roller with the new polymeric roller of the proper
size and replacing the axle to retain the new roller.
[0011] It is an advantage of the invention to provide a monolithic
roller for use in a conveyer or aircraft storage bay.
[0012] It is another advantage of the invention is to provide a
lightweight roller for use in a conveyer or aircraft storage
bay.
[0013] It is another advantage of the invention is to provide a
dent resistant roller for use in a conveyer or aircraft storage
bay.
[0014] It is a further advantage of the invention is to provide
simple self-lubricating roller that does not require bearings or
lubricants for use in a conveyer or aircraft cargo bay.
[0015] The invention is needed is a one piece roller, that includes
a mechanism for viewing the structure of the roller for defects and
need for repair. Further, the roller provides support to the
housing and the housing is formed of a resilient material for long
life with minimal wear. Additional desired features include
corrosion resistance, low weight, and ease of cleaning
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0016] FIG. 1 depicts an example of one embodiment of the
invention.
[0017] FIG. 2 depicts a cross-sectional view along the longitudinal
axis of the roller shown in FIG. 1.
[0018] FIG. 3 depicts another example of an embodiment of the
invention.
[0019] FIG. 4 depicts a view of one of the ends of an exemplary
roller of an embodiment of the invention.
[0020] FIG. 5 depicts still another example of an embodiment of the
invention.
[0021] FIG. 6 depicts an exemplary roller of the invention on an
exemplary roller rack.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0022] Referring to the drawings, shown in FIG. 1 is a roller 10.
The roller is approximately between 1/2 inch and 25 feet in length
and 1/4 inch and 12 inches in diameter, more preferably is between
3 inches and 4 inches in length and 1/2 inches and 6 inches in
diameter and for aircraft conveyors most preferably is
approximately 31/4 inches in length and 1 inch in diameter. The
bushing 12 typically found in rollers are integral with the outer
housing 14 and may be integral with the end caps 16. The bushing 12
preferably extend the entire length of the housing 14 as shown.
Co-axially extending through the bushing 12 is a centrally disposed
aperture 18 sized to rotatably receive an axle 20 therethrough. The
axle 20 being securable to roller rack 42 either directly or
indirectly, thereby joining the rollers 10 to the conveyor
assembly.
[0023] The actual size of a roller 10 is dictated by the
application. During manufacturer, a roller 10 will be constructed
of a specific length and diameter to fit a specific
application.
[0024] It has been found that various readily available polymers
are suitable for fabrication into rollers 10. Suitable polymers
would include polysulfone, nylon, polycarbonate, polyetherimide,
polyetherketone, polyphenylene sulfide and polyvinylidene fluoride
and acetyl copolymers are preferred. Acetyl copolymers are readily
available under the trademarks of Celcon.RTM., Acetron.RTM., and
other trademarks from various vendors.
[0025] The acetyl copolymers have been subjected to a burn test and
have passed. The burn test requires that the roller 10 have a burn
rate of less than 4.0 inches per minute and the test samples have
shown a burn rate of 0.6 inches per minute.
[0026] While the acetyl copolymers rollers 10 do not have the
tested strength of prior art metal rollers, the strength is
sufficient for the intended uses. Notably too, was that unlike the
metal rollers, the acetyl copolymers rollers 10 did not dent or
deform during the testing. When the acetyl copolymers rollers 10
failed the failure was obvious allowing easy detection and
replacement.
[0027] Manufacturing may be made simple by machining an elongate
piece of round stock to a suitable diameter, boring the stock,
cutting to length and detailing the ends to suit. Surprisingly, it
is efficient to machine rollers 10 from readily available round
stock. The machining may be automated on any of a number of CNC
machines such as the Hardinge Super Slant and others.
[0028] The bushing 12 may be formed from any suitable material
having the required properties of allowing rotation about the axle
20 and longevity of use while not spalling bushing particles into
the environment. Suitable bushing materials include various
polymers such as Nylon.RTM., Delrin.RTM., and acetyl copolymers; or
various alloys of brass and bronze, including Oilite.RTM..
[0029] This construction is preferably done with polymers having
suitable physical characteristics for the environment in which the
rollers 10 are to operate. Of the voluminous polymers available,
some suitable polymers include polysulfone, polyetherimide,
polyetherketone, polyphenylene sulfide and polyvinylidene fluoride.
Other polymers may also work.
[0030] The polymer should have a compressibility strength
sufficient to allow the roller 10 and aperture 18 to remain
generally round as cargo passes over the conveyor. Should the
roller 10 or aperture 18 become overly distorted the rollers 10
will not rotate and impede the movement of product or cargo along
the conveyor. It has been found that a compressibility strength of
20 psi or greater is suitable for aircraft conveyor systems.
Desirably, the compressibility strength will be 200 psi or greater
when the roller is used in aircraft conveyors. The compressibility
strength causes the roller to either lose or retain shape as weight
bears of the roller.
[0031] In a second embodiment of the invention, the bushing 12 may
not extend the entire length of the roller 10, but, as shown in
FIG. 3, extends only partially into the central aperture 18 and
provides the bearing surface proximate the ends of the roller 10 to
receive the axle 20. Typically, a shoulder 36 is formed on each end
of the roller 10 in this embodiment. The shoulder 36 provides a
small space between the outer periphery of the roller and the ends
46 of the roller rack 41 to minimize the possibilities of materials
catching therebetween and fouling the roller 10.
[0032] In this embodiment, it has been found that sufficient
bearing area is provided and the removal of the central part of the
bearing does not adversely affect the longevity of the roller
10.
[0033] In a third embodiment, where heavy loads or use of the
roller 10 is expected the end of the roller 10 is bored to accept a
bearing 34. The bearing 34 may be any of the numerous types of
readily available bearings, such as a ball bearing, roller bearing,
needle bearing, or the like. Bearings 34 of this type are well
known in the art and readily available from numerous sources.
Although it is not required, the bearing 34 may be a sealed
bearing. The bearing 34 is set into the end of the roller 10
leaving the bearing extending slightly out from the end of the
roller 10 so that the bearing may perform the same function as the
shoulder 36 of the second embodiment.
[0034] In fourth embodiment of the invention the bushing 12 is
integrated into the outer housing 14 and is not a separate entity.
Here the polymeric material of the outer housing 14 bears directly
on the axle 20 to provide the bearing surface.
[0035] The lubricity is helpful to allow turning of the roller 10
on the axle 20. The lubricity may be controlled by the selection of
a polymer. Should the polymer not have natural lubricity, lubricity
may be added via a lubricant compatible with the chosen polymer.
Lubricity may also be chosen to prevent product or cargo atop the
conveyor from moving too quickly or slowly.
[0036] Loosely related to the compressibility strength is
brittleness. Rollers 10 commonly receive sudden shock loads or
other jarring force. In these situations, it is important that the
roller 10 does not chip or otherwise deform. Accordingly, the
inventor has found that an impact strength needs to remain at or
above 0.5 (foot lbs.)/inch. Desirably the impact strength will be
1.0 ft. lbs./inch or greater. It has been found that workers using
conveyors use pry bars and other similarly shaped tools prying
against the rollers to dislodge stuck product, making impact
strength important to guard against sudden shock loads that may
occur in such instances.
[0037] The polymer should further be resilient sufficiently to
return to its original shape after the cargo passes over the roller
10. Typically, the rollers 10 are used millions of times over the
life span of the roller 10. Prior rollers commonly wear by becoming
misshaped over the life of the product. Accordingly, the inventor
has discovered the roller 10 should have a flexural strength of 20
psi or greater. A higher flexural strength adds life to the roller
by providing a lower tendency to deform and a higher tendency to
return to its original shape.
[0038] The strengths in terms of compressibility, impact strength
and flexural strength are provided assuming the roller is the
preferred roller and is being used on an aircraft conveyor for
cargo. Other sized rollers and alternate uses may alter the
strengths needed.
[0039] In its use, a roller 10 the correct size is selected for
installation into an application. Typically a group of rollers is
installed as a unit called a roller tray. A roller tray consists of
a multiplicity of roller assemblies 40. The selected roller 10 is
taken to the roller assembly for installation. The existing roller
is first removed by removing the retaining pin 22 and sliding the
axle 20 from the roller rack 42 freeing the old roller. A new
roller 10 is placed between the ends 46 of the roller rack and
above the base 44 of the roller rack. The axle 20 is then passed
through an end 46 of the roller rack and through the central
aperture 18 or the roller 10 and thence through the second end 46
of the roller rack 42. The retaining pin 22 is then replaced and
the roller 10 has been installed.
[0040] After installation, a roller 10 functions as the previous
convention roller had functioned. Product is rolled over the roller
10 and perhaps, stored on the roller 10. A user may move the
product over the rollers 10 and secure the product in a suitable
location. When necessary the product may be forcibly moved either
by the user or through the use of tools such as pry bars.
[0041] Periodically, the roller 10 may be inspected visually. As
the roller 10 is translucent or transparent, a quick simple visual
inspection will detect any damage to the roller 10 obviating the
need for an inspector to crawl around on the rollers inspecting to
discover damage to conventional rollers.
[0042] Although the present invention has been described with
reference to preferred embodiments, workers skilled in the art will
recognize changes may be made in form and detail without departing
from the spirit and scope of the invention.
* * * * *