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:
Mar. 26, 1996
Filed:
Jan. 20, 1995
Weston R Loomer, Walton, KY (US);
Western Atlas Inc., Hebron, KY (US);
Abstract
An unscrambling conveyor includes two side-by-side sets of rollers arranged in a herringbone pattern on either side of a central axis. The rollers of the two sets are positioned at different angles with respect to the axis and the drive speeds for the rollers are chosen to provide equal and opposite forces in the lateral direction and unequal but similarly directed forces in the axial direction. The sets of rollers are divided into zones having progressively increasing roller speeds in the downstream direction with the zones staggered with respect to one another on either side of the central axis. The lateral and axial forces drive articles on the conveyor toward and away from the center axis depending on the roller speeds in the staggered zones and in the downstream direction while imparting a twist to the articles. The successive zones of increasing speed stretch a randomly arranged mass of articles into a single file line. Two unscrambling conveyors may be positioned side-by-side to form a flow splitting-unscrambling conveyor.