LOW-ENERGY ROLLER-BELT ACCUMULATOR

摘要

A conveyor system and method for cascaded accumulation on a series of in-line roller belts. An accumulation system comprises a series of roller belts that can be actuated in contiguous zones to accelerate conveyed articles forward at twice the belt speed. When articles start to accumulate on the accumulation conveyor, the belt rollers are deactuated downstream to upstream zone by zone. Then the belts are stopped as they fill with accumulated articles. The process is repeated in cascade for the upstream roller belts as articles continue to accumulate.

主权项

1. A conveyor system comprising:
an accumulation system extending in length from an upstream end to a downstream end in a conveying direction and including one or more roller belts arranged along the length of the accumulation system, wherein each of the one or more roller belts includes a plurality of article-supporting rollers supporting articles to be conveyed atop the roller belts in the conveying direction; a plurality of roller-actuating mechanisms arranged along the length of the accumulation system to selectively actuate and deactuate the article-supporting rollers in accumulation zones extending from the upstream end of the accumulation system to the downstream end, wherein actuated article-supporting rollers rotate to propel articles in the conveying direction as the roller belt advances and wherein deactuated article-supporting rollers are freely rotatable; a controller coupled to the roller-actuating mechanisms and the one or more roller belts to deactuate the article-supporting rollers zone by zone in order opposite to the conveying direction from the accumulation zone at the downstream end to the accumulation zone at the upstream end as articles accumulate on the accumulation system.