This invention relates to a conveyor--particularly for serving a packing machine--and is of the type which has an endless sprocket chain on which there are mounted a plurality of longitudinally spaced article carriers. Each article carrier is supported by cylindrical pins constituting outwardly projecting continuations of respective chain link pins and referred to hereafter as "support pins". Each carrier has an upwardly oriented carrier lug which projects through a longitudinal slot in a conveyor track and is adapted to engage articles and transmit a conveying force thereto from the sprocket chain.
A conveyor device of the above-outlined type is known and is disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,068,756. According to the construction described therein, each article carrier has a carrier body and a two-arm lever articulated to the carrier body by means of a pivot pin. One arm of the lever constitutes the carrier lug proper which projects through a longitudinal slot in the conveyor track and is adapted to engage an article supported on the conveyor track. The other arm of the two-arm lever carries a roller which is guided in a cam track. By appropriately designing the shape of the cam track in the vicinity of a chain sprocket, during deflection of the chain about the sprocket the carrier lug does not impart an excessive acceleration to the article it conveys. It is a disadvantage of such a prior art construction that the mechanism for achieving the desired results is complex and furthermore, the operation is noisy.
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds