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EP-4737257-A1 - CONVEYOR

EP4737257A1EP 4737257 A1EP4737257 A1EP 4737257A1EP-4737257-A1

Abstract

A conveyor (100) is described comprising: one or more conveyor tracks (105, 130) individually provided with at least one guide rail (200) extending along a predetermined path, and a plurality of carriages (110) which can be coupled to said guide rail (200) and adapted to run in succession along the path defined by it, wherein an electric motor (305) is installed on each carriage (110), adapted to drive the running of said carriage (110) along the guide rail (200) independently with respect to the running of the other carriages (110), and a wireless communication module (345), adapted to wirelessly connect said electric motor (305) to a remote electronic control unit (500) configured to control the operation of the electric motor (305).

Inventors

  • d'Egidio, Michele

Assignees

  • MES S.R.L.

Dates

Publication Date
20260506
Application Date
20251027

Claims (15)

  1. A conveyor (100) comprising: - one or more conveyor tracks (105, 130) individually equipped with at least one guide rail (200) extending along a predetermined path, and - a plurality of carriages (110) which can be coupled to said guide rail (200) and adapted to run in succession along the path defined by it, wherein an electric motor (305) is installed on each carriage (110) adapted to drive the running of said carriage (110) along the guide rail (200) independently with respect to the running of the other carriages (110), and a wireless communication module (345) adapted to wirelessly connect said electric motor (305) to a remote electronic control unit (500) configured to control the operation of the electric motor (305).
  2. A conveyor (100) according to claim 1, wherein each wireless communication module (345) is integrated into the respective electric motor (305).
  3. A conveyor (100) according to claim 1 or 2, wherein each conveyor track (105, 130) comprises at least one rack (205) extending parallel to the respective guide rail (200), and wherein each electric motor (305) is adapted to rotate a pinion (350), which is installed on board the respective carriage (110) and is adapted to engage with said rack (205).
  4. A conveyor (100) according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein each conveyor track (105, 130) comprises two or more electrically conductive strips (210) extending parallel to the respective guide rail (200), and wherein each electric motor (305) is powered through two or more sliding contacts (355), each of which is installed on board the respective carriage (110) and is adapted to be in contact with one of said electrically conductive strips (210).
  5. A conveyor (100) according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein an electrical accumulator (360) is installed on board each carriage (110) adapted to store electrical energy and transfer said electrical energy to the respective electric motor (305).
  6. A conveyor (100) according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein each conveyor track (105, 130) is installed within a protective casing (120), which is provided with a slot (215, 220) extending parallel to the respective guide rail (200) and through which a portion of each carriage (110) may protrude outside the protective casing (120).
  7. A conveyor (100) according to any one of the preceding claims, comprising one or more transfer devices (135, 140) individually adapted to transfer each carriage (110) from a first conveyor track (105) to a second conveyor track (130) and/or vice versa.
  8. A conveyor (100) according to claim 7, wherein said transfer devices (135, 140) comprise a first transfer device (135) adapted to transfer each carriage (110) from the first conveyor track (105) to the second conveyor track (130), and a second transfer device (140) adapted to transfer each carriage from the second conveyor track (130) to the first conveyor track (105).
  9. A conveyor (100) according to claim 8, wherein said first and second conveyor tracks (105, 130) are installed inside a single protective casing (120) provided with two slots (215, 220), each of which extends parallel to the guide rail (200) of the first and second conveyor tracks (105, 130) respectively, and through which a portion of each carriage (110) can protrude outside said single protective casing (120).
  10. A conveyor (100) according to any one of claims 7 to 9, wherein each of the transfer devices (135, 140) comprises a support body (400) carrying at least a first conveyor track section (405), and wherein said support body (400) is movable between a first position in which the first conveyor track section (405) is aligned with the first conveyor track (105), and a second position, in which the first conveyor track section (405) is aligned with the second conveyor track (130).
  11. A conveyor (100) according to claim 10, wherein the support body (400) of each transfer device (135, 140) also carries a second conveyor track section (410), wherein when the support body (400) is in the first position, said second conveyor track section (410) is aligned with the second conveyor track (130), and wherein when the support body (400) is in the second position, said second conveyor track section (410) is aligned with the first conveyor track (105).
  12. A conveyor (100) according to claim 11, wherein each transfer device (135, 140) comprises a protective casing (420) integral with the support body (400), within which said first and second conveyor track sections (405, 410) are installed, and wherein said protective casing (420) is provided with two slots (425, 430), each of which extends parallel to the guide rail (200) of a respective conveyor track section (405, 410) and through which a portion of each carriage (110) can protrude outside the protective casing (420).
  13. A conveyor (100) according to any one of claims 10 to 12, wherein said support body (400) is movable between said first and second positions by rotating about a predetermined axis of rotation.
  14. A conveyor (100) according to claim 13, wherein the guide rails (200) of the first and second conveyor tracks (105, 130) are straight, horizontal and mutually parallel, and wherein the axis of rotation of the support body (400) is parallel to the guide rails (200) of said first and second conveyor tracks (105, 130).
  15. A conveyor (100) according to claim 14, wherein the guide rails (200) of the first and second conveyor tracks (105, 130) are mutually overlapping in a vertical direction.

Description

Technical field The present invention falls in the field of industrial automation and relates, more specifically, to a conveyor, i.e., a device configured to transport objects along a predetermined path, for example but not necessarily to transfer them between two or more operating stations within a production, packaging or other process. State of the art As is known, in the field of industrial automation, there are numerous types of conveyors. A typical example of a conveyor is what is known as the conveyor belt, which comprises a belt that is wound around a plurality of return rollers and is adapted to run in a loop path that has at least one upper operating section and a lower return section. By placing objects on the upper operating section of the belt, it is therefore advantageously possible to make them advance from, for example, an entry position to an exit position. Other conveyors that essentially exploit the same principle are belt or chain conveyors, which are sometimes used to drag object-carrying equipment which, remaining fixed to the belts or chains, are adapted to move in a closed circuit, transporting or otherwise advancing the objects to be handled. A drawback of all these conveyors lies in their reduced flexibility of use, due to the fact that the transported objects can only advance or remain stationary all together. This implies, for example, that where these conveyors are used to transport objects between two or more operating stations, should one of these operating stations stop or slow down, all the other operating stations would necessarily have to be stopped or slowed down as well, without any possibility of compensation, even temporarily. Disclosure of the invention In light of the above, an aim of the present invention is to provide a conveyor with more flexible and versatile operation with respect to those of the prior art. Another aim is to achieve the aforesaid objective in the context of a rational and low cost solution. These and other objects are reached thanks to the features of the invention as set forth in the independent claim 1. The dependent claims outline preferred and/or particularly advantageous aspects of the invention but not strictly necessary for implementing it. In particular, an embodiment of the present invention provides a conveyor comprising: one or more conveyor tracks individually equipped with at least one guide rail extending along a path, anda plurality of carriages which can be coupled to said guide rail and adapted to run in succession along the path defined by it, wherein an electric motor is installed on each carriage, for example an alternating current motor (e.g., an asynchronous motor, preferably three-phase) or a direct current motor (e.g., a brushless motor), which is adapted to drive the running of said carriage along the guide rail independently with respect to the running of the other carriages, and a wireless communication module adapted to wirelessly connect said electric motor to a remote electronic control unit (e.g., a PLC) configured to control the operation of the electric motor. Thanks to this solution, the conveyor is effectively able, by means of its carriages, to transport any type of object along the path defined by the guide rail. Since the carriages are moved by respective electric motors, their movement is completely independent of each other, making transport extremely versatile and flexible. For example, within certain limits, it is possible to stop, accelerate, decelerate or possibly even reverse the advancement direction of each carriage with respect to one or more of the other carriages. It is thereby possible, for example, to create accumulation zones along the route in which the carriages approach each other, making it possible, for example, to compensate for variations in efficiency (e.g., production speed) between two operating stations arranged in succession along the route for a longer or shorter time. Furthermore, it is advantageously possible to vary the pitch (i.e., the distance) separating each pair of consecutive carriages along the path, as well as possibly control synchronous or non-synchronous carriage advancement, i.e., it is possible to advance all the carriages together or it is possible to advance only some of them while leaving others stationary. Thanks to the wireless connection to the remote electronic control unit, it is also advantageously possible to control the operation of the carriages efficiently, without the need for wired connection solutions which, in the context of electric motors mounted on movable carriages, would require the adoption of extremely complex and costly technical devices, and which are generally unsuitable for guaranteeing a sufficiently high quantity and speed of data transmission to manage several electric motors efficiently and simultaneously. In this regard, it should be noted that the wireless communication module installed on each carriage can be a wireless module con