Apparatus to uniformly distribute bulk conveyed parts for inspection by a camera
US6257395A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Apr 21, 2000 |
| Grant date | Jul 10, 2001 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Apr 21, 2020 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC B)Performing Operations; Transporting
- CPC primaryB65G47/1492
- WIPO fieldHandling
- WIPO sectorMechanical engineering
Abstract
An apparatus for uniformly distributing parts on a conveyor surface which includes a storage bin for holding randomly oriented parts in bulk, a conveyor adjacent the storage bin for acquiring a fragment of the randomly oriented parts in the storage bin and delivering that fragment of randomly oriented parts to a chute, a vibratory conveyor receiving the fragment of randomly oriented parts from said chute, and a belt conveyor for receiving the randomly oriented parts from said vibratory conveyor. The vibratory conveyor includes at least one rib projecting upward therefrom and extending across at least a section of the vibratory conveyor perpendicular to the direction of conveyance, the at least one rib acting as a flow obstruction to cause the randomly oriented parts traveling on the vibratory conveyor to gather and spread across a width of said vibratory conveyor to thereby spread more uniformly on the vibratory conveyor after passing over the at least one rib.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.