WO1993010027A1

WO1993010027A1 - Vertical conveyor

Info

Publication number: WO1993010027A1
Application number: PCT/AU1992/000618
Authority: WO
Inventors: Alexander Mckechran Hardie Mcneil; Mark Hubble
Original assignee: Vfj Electronics Pty Ltd.
Priority date: 1991-11-15
Filing date: 1992-11-16
Publication date: 1993-05-27

Abstract

A vertical conveyor (1) conveys coins from a hopper (2) upwards and into a coin sorting or counting machine (not shown) via a guide tube (4). The vertical conveyor (1) comprises a plurality of bucket-like containers (6) each having an opening (9) and being pivotally coupled to each adjacent container, the containers being arranged to move in a loop in the direction of arrow (7), with the opening (9) of each container (6) lying in the loop. The body of each of the container (6) extends outwardly from the loop and is preferably raked rearwardly relative to the direction of motion of the containers. The hopper (2) comprises a sloping surface (10) arranged to guide the coins towards the interior of the loop of the conveyor to form a reservoir of coins therein. Thus, as the containers (6) move around the loop and empty containers pass through the bottom portion of the conveyor (1), they are filled with coins from the reservoir. Movement of the containers around the loop causes the coins to tumble within the reservoir and so fill the containers. As each container (6) passes the bottom portion of the loop and starts the upward motion, the body of the container lies at an angle of 45° to the vertical and any excess coins in the container drop through the aperture (9) of the container and back to the reservoir. As the containers (6) reach the upper portion of the conveyor (1) and the containers move around at the top of the loop, the coins start to fall out through the aperture (9) of the container (6) and into a respective sector of a cam wheel (17) bounded by two radial vanes (18) and the surface of a substantially frusto-conical portion (19) from where they are guided away to the coin sorting machine.

Description

Vertical Conveyor

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to generally vertical conveyors. Many so-called vertical conveyors in fact convey articles or substances upwards, but an an angle to the vertical. In order to adjust the vertical height of such conveyors the lateral extent must necessarily also be adjusted. In a confined space, such lateral adjustment is not always easy or even possible.

Although a number of more truly vertical conveyors are known, they generally involve a plurality of scoops which pass through a reservoir of the articles or substance to be conveyed, thus involving shear, or dragging, forces on the scoops of the conveyor. These forces can be quite high depending on the articles or substances being conveyed. Furthermore, it can be quite difficult, if not impossible, to adjust the vertical extent of such conveyors. Although the present invention will be further discussed with reference to the conveying of coins, for example, in banks or gaming premises where large quantities of coins must be conveyed upwards to be tipped into sorting machines or counting machines, it will be appreciated that the conveyor could easily be used for conveying other articles or substances, such as minerals or coal. Furthermore, although the invention is described as a vertical conveyor, it will be appreciated that it would also be applicable to conveyors which only have a component of their motion in the vertical direction.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a generally vertical conveyor which overcomes or at least reduces some of the disadvantages of the prior art.

Accordingly, the invention provides a generally vertical conveyor comprising a substantially vertical loop defined by a plurality of pivotally coupled components, at least some of the components each comprising a container having a substantially closed end and an open end defined by a rim which is pivotally coupled to adjacent components, whereby the open end of the container is directed towards the interior of the loop, means for driving the components around the loop, means for guiding articles or substances to be conveyed to a lowermost interior portion of the loop and means for guiding the conveyed articles or substances away from a topmost interior portion of the loop. It will be appreciated that by "pivotally coupled" it is meant that the components are coupled in such a manner that a component can move through an arc of rotation relative to an adjacent component. For example, the components can be coupled together by means of hinges, straps, flexible plastics material, or any other way which allows pivotal motion about one or more pivot points between adjacent components.

By "substantially closed end", it is meant only that the container will hold the articles or substances to be conveyed, and the end could include holes therein, smaller than the articles to be conveyed, so as to allow, for example, impurities, fluid or anything other than the articles of interest to escape therethrough.

In a preferred embodiment, each container is arranged such that its closed end extends outwardly of the loop and rearwardly with respect to the direction of movement of the containers in the loop. Preferably, the lowermost interior portion of the loop is covered on either side of the loop so as to define a reservoir for receiving the articles or substances to be conveyed.

The means for driving the components preferably comprises a motor driving a cam wheel mounted on a spindle arranged at the topmost portion of the loop. The cam wheel is preferably provided with sprockets on its outer periphery which engage at least a portion of the rim of the components at the topmost portion of the loop to drive the components around the loop- Alternatively, the components can be driven and the cam wheel engages at least a portion of the rim of the components at the topmost portion of the loop to drive the cam wheel.

Preferably, the cam wheel further comprises radial flanges defining sectors of the wheel open at the circumference thereof. The open sides of the sectors preferably match the open sides of the containers as they move past so that the conveyed articles or substances exit each container into a corresponding sector. Adjacent radial flanges are preferably coupled at a radially inner point by a guide face extending at an angle to the axis of the cam wheel so as to guide the articles or substances away from the loop.

Preferably, a funnel is provided adjacent the cam wheel with an opening facing the sector of the cam wheel at the top of the loop. Preferably, a leading portion of the opening of the funnel, with respect to the direction of movement of the containers around the loop, is spaced from the cam wheel and the funnel is provided with a barrier portion separating the leading portion of the opening from the remainder of the opening to provide two guide paths, a first one of which extends from the remainder of the opening to a guide tube and a second one of which extends from the leading portion of the opening away from the cam wheel. The second one of the guide paths preferably leads to the reservoir of the articles or substances to be conveyed. The guide tube preferably guides the articles or substances to a desired location. The length of the conveyor can be conveniently adjusted by adding or removing components to or from the loop. Furthermore, the direction of guiding the conveyed articles or substances from the topmost portion of the loop can be reversed by repositioning the cam wheel and the guide tube so that the sprockets engage an opposite side of the rim of the components.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS An embodiment of a generally vertical conveyor according to the present invention will now be more fully described, by way of example, with reference to the drawings, of which: Figure 1 is a schematic side view of a generally vertical conveyor according to the invention in position between a lower coin hopper and an upper coin counting or sorting machine;

Figure 2 is an isometric part cut-away view of the vertical conveyor of Figure 1 ; Figure 3 is an enlarged view of the upper portion of Figure 2; Figure 4 is an enlarged view of the lower portion of Figure 2; Figure 5 is a cross-sectional view of the top portion of the vertical conveyor on line V-V of Figure 2;

Figure 6 is a cross-sectional view of the lower portion of the vertical conveyor and the coin hopper on line VI-VI of Figure 2; and Figure 7 is an isometric view, similar to that of Figure 2 of a variation to the conveyor of Figures 1 to 6.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION Thus, as shown in Figure 1 of the drawings a vertical conveyor 1 according to one embodiment of the invention is positioned so as to convey coins from a hopper 2 upwards and into a coin sorting or counting machine 3 via a guide tube 4. As will become apparent later, although the coin sorting machine 3 is on the opposite side of the conveyor to the hopper 2 in the drawing, the conveyor 1 can be easily adjusted so that the guide tube 4 can be moved to the same side of the conveyor as the hopper 2.

The hopper 2 is provided with a pivoting lid 5 so as to allow the coins to be loaded into the hopper 2 in bulk and then for the hopper to be closed until a fresh load is to be placed into the hopper 2.

As best seen in the remaining figures, the vertical conveyor 1 comprises a plurality of bucket-like containers 6 each having a rim 21 defining an opening 9 of the container, the containers being arranged to move in the direction of arrow 7. Each container 6 is pivotally coupled to each adjacent container by hinges 8 joining the rims 21 of adjacent containers 6. The hinged rims thereby form a loop around which the containers 6 move with the opening 9 of each container 6 lying in the loop. The body of each of the containers 6 extends outwardly from the loop and is preferably raked rearwardly relative to the direction of motion of the containers. Preferably, the containers are raked at an angle of 45°.

The hopper 2 comprises a sloping surface 10 arranged to guide coins, or other articles in the hopper -2, towards the interior of the loop of the conveyor. A floating shield assembly formed by a shield 11 and an expansion guide 23 is provided adjacent the loop. In this way, the coins form a reservoir within the interior of the loop. The hopper 2 is also provided with a baffle 12 which limits the coins in the reservoir to a predetermined level, indicated by dotted line 13 in Figure 6.

The floating expansion guide 23 engages the containers 6 by means of a hook portion 24 which engages the interior of the containers so as to keep the loop of containers aligned with respect to the reservoir and to provide a barrier to prevent coins from the reservoir from entering the mechanism. The shield 11 is also provided with a similar hook portion 25 which engages the interior of the containers as they move around the bottom of the loop. The floating shield assembly is not rigidly attached to hopper 2 in the vertical direction but is allowed to move up and down adjacent the hopper exit so as to compensate for the changes in loop length due to differential thermal, hygroscopic and/or tensile expansion of the components.

Thus, as the containers 6 move around the loop and empty containers pass through the bottom portion of the conveyor 1, they are filled with coins from the reservoir. Movement of the containers around the loop causes the coins to tumble within the reservoir and so fill the containers. As each container 6 passes the bottom portion of the loop and starts the upward motion, the body of the container lies at an angle of 45° to the vertical and any excess coins in the container drop through the aperture 9 of the container and back to the reservoir in the lowermost interior portion of the loop. As coins flow from the reservoir into the containers, more coins flow from the hopper into the reservoir to replenish it. The conveyor 1 is powered by a motor 14 controlled from a control box 15 and is arranged to turn a cam wheel 17 which is mounted on a spindle 16. The cam wheel 17 and spindle 16 are arranged in the interior portion of the top of the conveyor such that the top of the loop of containers 6 rides over the cam wheel 17. The cam wheel 17 is provided with radially extending vanes 18 circumferentially spaced at a spacing equivalent to the spacing between adjacent hinges of the containers in the loop. Sprocket teeth 20 (as shown in Figure 5) on the periphery of the cam wheel 17 engage co-operating portions of the rim 21 of at least one of the containers 6 so as drive the containers 6 around the loop.

The cam wheel 17 is provided with a substantially frusto-conical portion 19, coaxial with the spindle 16. The outer circumference of the substantially frusto-conical portion 19 extends out as far as the radial vanes 18 so as to contact one side of the aperture 9 of each container 6. The inner circumference of the substantially frusto-conical portion 19 extends to a radially inner portion of the cam wheel 17 with the radial vanes 18 radially extending from the inner circumference of the substantially frusto-conical portion 19 and extending out to the outer circumference of the substantially frusto-conical portion 19. In this way, the radial vanes 18 divide the substantially frusto-conical portions into sectors having an outer opening which matches the aperture 9 of each of the containers 6. Thus, when adjacent radial vanes 18 engage with adjacent rims 21, the aperture 9 between the adjacent hinges 8 matches an opening in the sector formed by the adjacent radial vanes 18 and the substantially frusto-conical portion 19 therebetween acts to guide the coins which fall by there own weight out of the container 6 radially inwardly and axially outwardly from the loop. A funnel 22 is provided between the guide tube 4 and the cam wheel 17 to direct the conveyed coins from the cam wheel 17 and through the guide tube 4 into the coin sorting or counting machine 3. As will be apparent, as the containers 6 reach the upper portion of the conveyor 1 and are engaged at their rims by the adjacent sprocket teeth 20 so as to be driven round the loop, as the containers start to move around at the top of the loop, the coins start to fall out through the aperture 9 of the container 6 and into the respective sector of the cam wheel bounded by two radial vanes 18 and the surface of the substantially frusto-conical portion 19 as the cam wheel 17 rotates. During rotation of the cam wheel 17, the coins fall through an opening in the funnel 22 through which they are guided into the opening of guide tube 4 from where they are directed into the sorting or counting machine 3. The now empty containers 6 then continue moving around the loop until they reach the bottom portion where they are once again filled with coins, as previously described.

It will be appreciated that the speed of the containers moving around the loop should be sufficiently slow that all the coins from the full containers arriving at the top of the loop fall, under the action of gravity, through the opening in the funnel 22 before the following one of the two radial vanes 18 passes the edge of the opening of the funnel 22. Nevertheless, the speed of the containers is desirably as high as possible to provide the fastest conveying possible.

The guide tube 4 is movable to guide the coins in a desired direction. For example, the tube could be flexible so as to be adjusted to an exact position of an opening in a counting or sorting machine, or could be rigid, but rotatable about an axis at an angle to the axis of the tube, e.g. an axis parallel to the spindle. Furthermore, the guide tube could comprise a single inlet opening but a plurality of outlet openings each coupled to the inlet opening via a diverter which could be used to guide coins through the tube into any one or more of the plurality of outlet openings.

As described above, the coins fall from the full container, as it reaches the top portion of the loop, through the opening of the funnel 22. It will be appreciated, however, that if the containers are moving too fast or the coins are delayed, for example due to sticky matter on the coins, then some coins may not fall completely clear of the opening of the funnel before the following radial vane passes the edge of the opening. In such a case, a coin could lodge between the following vane and the edge of the opening and thus jam the conveyor.

As shown in Figure 7, a variation to the conveyor described above provides a funnel 26 having an opening 27 to receive coins falling from a container 6 moving around the top of the loop, in the same way as described above. The funnel 26, however, provides two guide paths for the coins. A first guide path 28 extends from the main part of the " opening 27 to the guide tube 4, as described above. The second guide path 29, separated from the first guide path 28 by a barrier 30, extends from a leading portion of the opening back to the reservoir of coins in the lower part of the loop. The opening 27 is bigger than the opening of the previous embodiment and is shaped so that a leading edge 31 thereof, with respect to the direction of movement of containers around the loop, is spaced from the loop of containers to avoid the possibility of coins getting jammed between that edge and the following radial vane of the cam wheel.

The opening 27 thus has a leading portion through which any delayed coins will fall into the second guide path 29 if they have not already fallen on the other side of barrier 30 into the first guide path.

Although the particular embodiment of the invention has been described in a configuration having a cam wheel to guide the conveyed coins out from the interior of the loop of the conveyor, it will be apparent that other ways of guiding the conveyed articles could be utilised.

Furthermore, various other changes and modifications could also be made without departing from the scope of the present invention. For example, by making the cam wheel of polygonal shape, the sprocket teeth could be removed and the containers could be driven by engagement with the flat faces of the polygonal cam wheel. Further, instead of driving the cam wheel, the loop of containers can be driven, the cam wheel being rotated by engagement with the containers.

Claims

CLAIMS 1. A generally vertical conveyor comprising a substantially vertical loop defined by a plurality of pivotally coupled components, at least some of the components each comprising a container having a substantially closed end and an open end defined by a rim which is pivotally coupled to adjacent components, whereby the open end of the container is directed towards the interior of the loop, means for driving the components around the loop, means for guiding articles or substances to be conveyed to a lowermost interior portion of the loop and means for guiding the conveyed articles or substances away from a topmost interior portion of the loop.

2. A conveyor according to claim 1, wherein each container is arranged such that its closed end extends outwardly of the loop and rearwardly with respect to the direction of movement of the containers in the loop.

3. A conveyor according to either claim 1 or claim 2, wherein a lowermost interior portion of the loop is covered on either side of the loop so as to define a reservoir for receiving the articles or substances to be conveyed.

4. A conveyor according to any preceding claim, wherein the components are driven and there is further provided a cam wheel mounted on a spindle arranged at the topmost portion of the loop.

5. A conveyor according to claim 4, wherein the cam wheel is provided with sprockets on its outer periphery which engage at least a portion of the rim of the components at the topmost portion of the loop to drive the cam wheel.

6. A conveyor according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the means for driving the components comprises a motor driving a cam wheel mounted on a spindle arranged at the topmost portion of the loop.

7. A conveyor according to claim 6, wherein the cam wheel is provided with sprockets on its outer periphery which engage at least a portion of the rim of the components at the topmost portion of the loop to drive the components around the loop.

8. A conveyor according to any one of claims 2 to 7, wherein the cam wheel further comprises radial flanges defining sectors of the wheel open at the circumference thereof.

9. A conveyor according to claim 8, wherein the open sides of the sectors match the open sides of the containers as they move past so that the conveyed articles or substances exit each container into a corresponding sector.

10. A conveyor according to either claim 8 or claim 9, wherein adjacent radial flanges are coupled at a radially inner point by a guide face extending at an angle to the axis of the cam wheel so as to guide the articles or substances away from the loop.

11. A conveyor according to any one of claims 4 to 10, wherein a funnel is provided adjacent the cam wheel with an opening facing the sector of the cam wheel at the top of the loop.

12. A conveyor according to claim 10, wherein a leading portion of the opening of the funnel, with respect to the direction of movement of the containers around the loop, is spaced from the cam wheel and the funnel is provided with a barrier portion separating the leading portion of the opening from the remainder of the opening to provide two guide paths, a first one of which extends from the remainder of the opening to a guide tube and a second one of which extends from the leading portion of the opening away from the cam wheel.

13. A conveyor according to claim 12, wherein the second one of the guide paths leads to the or a reservoir of the articles or substances to be conveyed.

14. A conveyor according to either claim 12 or claim 13, wherein the guide tube is provided to guide the articles or substances to a desired location.

15. A conveyor according to any preceding claim, wherein the length of the loop can be adjusted by adding or removing components to or from the loop.

16. A conveyor according to any preceding claim, wherein the direction of guiding the conveyed articles or substances from the topmost portion of the loop can be reversed by repositioning the cam wheel and the guide tube so that the sprockets engage an opposite side of the rim of the components.

17. A conveyor according to any preceding claim, wherein the means for guiding the articles or substances to be conveyed comprises a hopper for receiving the articles and guide means for guiding the articles from the hopper to the lowermost portion of the loop.