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:
May. 06, 2003
Filed:
Aug. 30, 2000
Donald LeCroy, Mableton, GA (US);
Donald L. Anderson, Brighton, MI (US);
Christopher J. Murphy, Ann Arbor, MI (US);
Jervis B. Webb Company, Farmington Hills, MI (US);
Abstract
A vertical conveyor including first and second conveyors having first and second ends. The first conveyor is vertically aligned with and above the second conveyor. The vertical conveyor also includes a third conveyor having a free end and a coupled end. The third conveyor is pivotable about its coupled end to permit movement of its free end between a raised position and a lowered position and includes a reversible drive operable in a first direction to move an article toward the coupled end and in a second direction to move an article toward the free end. The free end is operably aligned with the first end of the first conveyor when the free end is in its raised position and operably aligned with the first end of the second conveyor when the free end is in its lowered position. The invention is also directed to a method of moving articles through a vertical conveyor that includes first, second, and third conveyors. The first conveyor is vertically aligned with the third conveyor and the second conveyor includes a free end and a coupled end. The method includes the steps of conveying the article from the first conveyor onto the second conveyor, pivoting the second conveyor into alignment with the third conveyor, and conveying the article from the second conveyor onto the third conveyor.