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, 2002
Filed:
Jun. 23, 2000
Gene M. Barth, Glendale, WI (US);
Pflow Industries, Inc., Milwaukee, WI (US);
Abstract
A vertical reciprocating conveyor having a safety mechanism for automatically locking the carriage of the conveyor at an elevated level upon uncontrolled vertical movement of the carriage. The conveyor includes a safety mechanism having a locking device mounted onto the movable carriage. The locking device includes a safety cam that is movable between an engaging position and a non-engaging position, such that when the safety cam is in the engaging position, the safety cam prevents the carriage from moving along the vertical support columns. The safety mechanism further includes a speed-sensing device that detects the speed of vertical movement of the carriage. When the speed of the conveyor exceeds an upper speed limit, the speed-sensing device releases the locking device. The speed-sensing device includes a cylindrical housing having a weighted shaft that slides into and out of the housing. When the housing rotates at an elevated speed, the weighted shaft remains extended from the housing and contacts an abutment and releases the safety cam of the locking device.