Processing transport apparatus
US7249670B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Feb 22, 2005 |
| Grant date | Jul 31, 2007 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Aug 30, 2025 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC Y)Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
- CPC primaryY10T29/53048
- WIPO fieldHandling
- WIPO sectorMechanical engineering
Abstract
In a conveyor work-piece processing system, transport carriages move along a work path, each carriage carrying a plurality of work-piece articles. In the disclosed embodiment, the path is folded back upon itself forming two parallel paths, one above the other, with transport carriages moved vertically from the lower path to the upper path, so that the entrance to the track and the exit from the track are positioned in close proximity to each other. Each transport carriage has a long dimension and a relatively shorter dimension, and each carriage can be reoriented selectively so that the long dimension or the short dimension can be aligned parallel to the work path. Changing the alignment of the two dimensions relative to the direction of the path permits a work piece to remain for a longer time within a given process stage or area along the work path while achieving a system flow-rate of one carriage-in-one carriage-out.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.