The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Feb. 28, 1995
Filed:
Jun. 06, 1994
Ralph D Burgess, Jr, Plymouth, MN (US);
David Martin, Plymouth, MN (US);
Fredrick D Wucherpfennig, Bloomington, MN (US);
Food Engineering Corporation, Minneapolis, MN (US);
Abstract
A dual drive conveyor system which has a vibration control mechanism for adjusting the application of vibratory force to the material-conveying member without changing the direction of the resultant line of vibratory force generated thereby, wherein the vibration generator connected to the material-conveying member includes a pair of opposing parallel counter-rotating eccentrically weighted master shafts driven by a first drive motor, and a pair of opposing parallel counter-rotating eccentrically weighted slave shafts driven by a second drive motor, the master and slave shafts rotating in such manner that the direction of the resultant line of vibratory force is substantially only parallel with the longitudinal centroidal axis of the material-conveying member. The vibration control mechanism monitors the angular position of the eccentric weights carried by the slave shafts relative to the eccentric weights carried by the master shafts and compares the relative angular displacement therebetween to a preselected target angular displacement, and automatically and periodically adjusts the speed of the drive motor for the slave shafts in order to change the angular position of the eccentric weights carried thereby to cause the relative angular displacement between the eccentric weights carried by the slave and master shafts to match the preselected target angular displacement therebetween. The target angular displacement may be changed during the operation of the conveyor system to cause the vibration control mechanism to readjust the relative positions of eccentric weights carried by the master and slave shafts to meet a newly selected target angular displacement therebetween. By monitoring the speed of conveyance of a given material for various selected angular displacements between eccentric weights carried by the slave and master shafts, an optimal application of vibratory force can be determined for providing the best conveyance for any such material.