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:
Jul. 28, 1998
Filed:
Jan. 30, 1996
Thomas E Beall, Jr, Arlington, VA (US);
OCS-IntelliTrak, Inc., Cincinnati, OH (US);
Abstract
A load of an overhead conveyor is connected to a carriage, that has elastomeric material biasing a plurality of pivotally mounted driven wheels against a rotatable drive shaft extending along the transporting direction. The driven wheels are canted with respect to the drive shaft so that when the drive shaft is rotated, a helical loci of engagement between the drive shaft and driven wheels provides sufficient traction through the engagement force of the bias to propel the hanger along the transporting path. A first portion of weight of the load is carried through the bias member and through the driven wheels to the drive shaft, and thereafter a next portion of weight of the load is carried through a support wheel to a load support structure independently of the drive shaft. Preferably, the drive shaft is composed of a number of drivingly discontinuous sections that are aligned or alignable for diverting transporting paths so as to each be driven by a separate set of a drive motor, mechanical transmission and drive belt. The drive shaft may include curved sections so that the transporting path may take on any desired shape. The drive shaft is mounted by a plurality of bearings within a channel.