Fki Industries, Inc.

Acco Systems, Inc.

Richard G Hooper

Christopher A Wood

Thomas A Moroney

Robert E Mahu

A system for dipping workpieces into a coating tank that includes a conveyor disposed above the tank and a workpiece carrier movable on the conveyor along a path above the tank The carrier includes a box frame having pivotal corner connections and vertically spaced guide rollers disposed on lateraly opposed sides of the frame. Longing spaced cables suspend the carrier frame from winces on the conveyor for selectively raising and lowering the carrier with respect to the conveyor. The winches and cables are also selectively operable for rocking the carrier frame about a horizontal axis lateral to the path of travel along the conveyor. A pair of track rails are disposed in fixed position on laterally opposed sides of the conveyor for engaging the guide rollers on laterally opposed sides of the carrier frame during lowering of the frame into the tank and maintaining horizontal position of the carrier frame during rocking thereof within the tank. The method of this invention then includes lowering the vehicle body into an electrostatic dip tank, preferably at an angle, then rocking the forward and rearward ends of the vehicle upwardly and downwardly about a lateral axis generally perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the vehicle, then raising the vehicle body out of the dip tank preferably at an angle relative to horizontal.

Method of electrocoating a vehicle body

A system for dipping workpieces into a coating tank that includes a conveyor disposed above the tank and a workpiece carrier movable on the conveyor along a path above the tank. The carrier includes a box frame having pivotal corner connections and vertically spaced guide rollers disposed on laterally opposed sides of the frame. Longitudinally spaced cables suspend the carrier frame from winches on the conveyor for selectively raising and lowering the carrier with respect to the conveyor. The winches and cables are also selectively operable for rocking the carrier frame about a horizontal axis lateral to the path of travel along the conveyor. A pair of track rails are disposed in fixed position on laterally opposed sides of the conveyor for engaging the guide rollers on laterally opposed sides of the carrier frame during lowering of the frame into the tank and maintaining horizontal position of the carrier frame during rocking thereof within the tank.

Dip tank workpiece carrier with rocking frame

A carrier conveyor system wherein carriers are disengaged from a main conveyor in advance of a work station and re-engaged beyond the work station. A transfer conveyor is positioned such that it receives the carriers as they are disengaged from the main conveyor, transfers them as required to the work station, removes them from the work station after the work is performed, and returns them to the main conveyor. The transfer conveyor comprises a plurality of transfer assemblies arranged in succession along the carrier travel path, and each include right and left hand mirror-imaged belt modules that are mechanically drivingly cross-connected to each other.

Carrier conveyor system

Apparatus for preventing runaway of trolleys in a power-and-free conveyor system that includes a friction bar that extends lengthwise of the free conveyor track on a side of the track remote from the power conveyor for motion lengthwise of the track at an acute angle to the direction of motion of the trolleys along the track. The friction bar is releasably biased laterally outwardly from the track and in a direction lengthwise of the track opposed to the direction of trolley motion on the track so that trolleys may travel freely along the free conveyor track past the bar. In the event that a trolley is traveling at excessive velocity along the tree conveyor track, the friction bar is moved in the direction of motion of the trolley and at the acute angle laterally into a position for frictional engagement with the trolley on the track, such that momentum of the trolley cooperates with frictional engagement of the bar with the trolley to wedge the bar against the trolley and arrest motion of the trolley on the track. Thus, momentum of the trolley along the track cooperates with angulated motion of the bar into frictional engagement with the trolley for automatically and inherently increasing frictional forces that arrest motion of the trolley on the track.

Growing community of inventors

Southfield, MI, United States of America

Richard G Hooper