| 摘要 |
An accumulating conveyor system and method for accumulating articles are disclosed. The first embodiment of the conveyor system (10) includes a primary conveyor belt (11) which moves within a transport channel (30) having horizontal rest rails (31). The primary conveyor belt (11) is preferably displaced in the vertical direction by means of an underlying accumulating conveyor belt (23) which includes a plurality of low plates (38) and high plates (39). When the primary conveyor belt (11) is positioned over the high plates (39), the articles (22) are transported in a plane above the rest rails (31), but when the primary conveyor belt (11) is supported upon the low plates (38), the articles (22) are supported by the rest rails (31) without the primary conveyor belt (11) rubbing against the bottoms of the articles (22). The second embodiment of the conveyor system (102) includes carrying rollers (83) which are engageable with a drive belt (84) by means of tension rollers (82). The tension rollers (82) are vertically displaceable by means of a pair of accumulating conveyor belts (92). Travelling sensor means (54) detects the presence of accumulation of the articles (22) at the downstream end (13) of the conveyor system. The sensor means (54) then cause the accumulating conveyor belt (23, 92) to move in a direction opposite to the primary conveyor belt (11, 89) so as to adjust the position of the high and low plates. A lift system is provided to transport accumulated articles (22) off the conveyor system in an end-to-end relationship. This lift system is controlled by means of a call sensor (68) and comprises a plurality of pistons (36, 90) which act to raise the conveyor system.
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