GB2234953A - Multi-section conveyor system - Google Patents

Abstract

A multi-section conveyor system comprising a plurality of mutually aligned integrally-powered conveyor sections (10) connected in series with a control box (60). The system is especially suited for use in a hen-house in view of its compact construction and the capability of using the individual conveyor sections to be transported to or from their desired locations by other sections in place within the hen-house. The individual conveyor sections (10) are stackable one on or within the other when the system is disassembled. Each section preferably comprises a motor within the confines of the section and two wall portions (14) which diverge upwardly to allow stacking. <IMAGE>

Description

1, 1 - 132792 CONVEYOR SYSTEMS The present invention relates to conveyor

systems and In particular, but not exclusively, to a conveyor system for use in populating or depopulating an egg-laying battery.

A typical large egg production enterprise comprises a number of sheds on rearing sites housing, say, 300,000 birds, and a total of, say, 40 sheds on a number of laying sites housing, say, 1 million birds. The birds are housed in cages either on solid floors at ground level or on raised wooden floors in deep pit sheds at about 2.4m above ground level.

Sheds may be over 100m long and 16m wide. Laying hens are placed at 16-17 weeks (1.5kg) and removed at 75 weeks (2kg).

During bird placement or removal the birds are carried manually for distances of up to 150m and they are passed from handler to handler.

Cages often have egg belts and feed troughs along the front which limit cage access for bird placement and removal and which obstruct the passageway between banks of cages. Some cages also have the additional feature of a standrail which also obstructs the passageway.

A typical passageway between the banks of cages can be 0.8m wide, but cage furniture and roof support posts can limit the effective width to 0.5m. Overhead obstructions, including lighting, limit headroom to 2.4m. The flooring in raised houses is of timber construction, some are chipboard sheets and some are slatted.

Across one end of each house there is usually a transverse egg conveyor which obstructs the passageway floor. Bridges allow access across this conveyor. Access doors for loading and unloading birds are often provided in each gable end of a shed.

These vary in size and location.

X_ Bearing In mind the size of the Installation and the need to clear and restock the cages in a single operation within an acceptable timescale, it will usually be necessary for operatives to carry a number of hens in each hand (holding them upside-down by one leg). Given the very limited access available, It will be no surprise to learn that injury to the birds Is not infrequent. Thus the present manual systems of populating and depopulating a laying battery are: (1) unkind or worse to the hens, because of the high stress injury- prone method of handling; (2) unpleasant for the operatives because of the need to work over a sustained period In severely cramped conditions; and (3) expensive for the owner of the Installation firstly because the work Is so labour-intensive and secondly because, as a result of injury, a proportion of the birds will be unsuitable for laying (injury during loading) or for processing as spent hens (injury during emptying of the cages).

Outside the shed, the birds are handled into or out of crates on vehicles and, once again, injury may occur.

The effect on welfare and profitability of manual live bird handling Is a matter of concern. Damage to the birds could be reduced If they were not handed from man to man, or carried manually over long distances and with this in mind, It is an object of the present invention to provide a suitable mechanised system for the transportation of birds in such an environment. 25 According to one aspect of the present Invention, a multisection conveyor system comprises a plurality of mutually aligned Individual conveyor sections adapted to discharge one on to the other. Alternatively or additionally, according to another aspect of the present Invention, there Is provided a multi-section conveyor system In which the individual conveyor sections are stackable one on or within the other when the system is disassembled.

Alternatively or additionally, according to another aspect of the present Invention, there is provided a multi-section conveyor system in which each individual conveyor se.ction is adapted for 4 p z travel on a preceding section or sections during assembly of the system.

Alternatively or additionally, according to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a multi-section conveyor system comprising a plurality of individual conveyor sections each fitted with a motor lying within the confines of the conveying belt of that section, e.g. within an end support roller for the belt.

Alternatively or additionally, according to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a multi-section conveyor system comprising a plurality of individual conveyor sections each including two wall portions extending along each side of the section. Preferably, these wall portions diverge upwardly to allow stacking of the sections one within the other when the system is disassembled.

Alternatively or additionally, according to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a multi-section conveyor system comprising a plurality of individual conveyor sections, a sensor e.g,. a pivotted flap, for sensing the presence of objects at a location in the conveyor system and control means responding to a signal from the sensor to stop the conveyor system on or following detection of an object at said location.

Alternatively or additionally, according to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a multi-section conveyor system comprising a plurality of individual conveyor sections each of lightweight construction (e.g. not more than about 40 kg or so) and of length and width dimensions (viewed in plan) not in excess of 2.4m and 0. 5m respectively.

Conveniently, in any of the systems above described in accordance with the present invention, means are provided to reverse the direction of conveyor travel.

The invention also includes a conveyor section for use in any one or more of the conveyor systems of the present invention.

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figures 1 and 2 are respectively end and side views of an individual conveyor section for use in a multi-section conveyor system in accordance with the present Invention; Figure 3 is a perspective scrap view of one end of the conveyor section together with Its section-locating support, further details of the assembly being shown in the scrap view of Figure 3A as will hereinafter be described; Figure 3B is a perspective scrap view of a modified design of conveyor section and support with Figures 3C and 3D showing scrap side views for alternative operating regimes; Figure 4 shows, in end view, a number of conveyor sections stacked one within the other; Figure 5 is a diagrammatic simplified side view illustrating a drive and control system for the conveyor assembly; Figure 5A shows an alternative design of conveyor layout; and Figure 6 Is a diagrammatic simplified side view Illustrating a multi- section conveyor assembly set up for the discharge of birds for loading Into containers on a trailer.

Thus referring first to Figures 1 to 4 of the drawings, each conveyor section 10 comprises a bottom trough component 12 to which are secured upwardly diverging side walls 14.

The troughs 12 house end support rollers 16,17 for an associated conveyor belt 19, the uppermost load-carrying run of which is supported by a plate component 21 secured between the section walls 14 and those of the trough 12.

Transverse strengthening ribs 23 are secured between the trough walls as shown In Figure 3 and, from a different viewpoint, In the scrap view of Figure 3A. These give the section additional rigidity.

Reference numeral 25, In Figure 1, indicates an optional lid component for section 10.

The belt-supporting rollers 16,17 (omitted from Figure 3) are mounted on bearings for rotation about stationary axles 27,28 mounted in the walls of the trough component 12.

1, The leading roller 16 is an integral ly-powered roller such as those currently provided by Joki Ltd. under the tradename Joki Mini, for example.

The electric motor 30 mounted within the foremost roller 16 is connected via leads 32 through a bore in axle 27 to a mains supply and control circuit 34 as will be hereinafter described in more detail with reference to Figure 5.

The conveyor section 10 is completed by wooden runners 36 secured to the underside of the trough to support the section on the belt 19 of the adjacent conveyor section when these are stacked vertically as shown in Figure 4.

The runners 36 serve the additional purpose of centering the conveyor section 10 over the variable-height section-locating supports 38 shown in Figure 3 so that the upward ly-di rected pegs 40 can be more easily located beneath the apertures 42 in the base of trough 12.

The adjacent pair of pegs 46 are used in exactly the same way to locate the next conveyor section 10 and in this fashion, the individual sections can be held close together so that, in use, the birds may be transferred from one section belt to the next with minimal disturbance. Figure 3B shows an alternative embodiment in which the section-locating supports have been redesigned to introduce a measure of articulation by having two centrally-located 25 pegs 40,46 instead of the pairs of spaced pegs shown in Figure 3. An apertured bracket 47 is also included at each end of the conveyor sections to provide stiffening. Although not shown, a quadruply-apertured version of bracket 47 may also be included in the Figure 3 embodiment, if desired. 30 It may also be desirable, when the system is being used for conveying hens, that the different conveyor belts should not be in the same plane. Accordingly, Figure 5A (not to scale) diagrammatically illustrates, by way of example, an alternative "multi-plane" arrangement in which each conveyor belt rises by a distance of 5 cm over its length.

4 X 1 The modified stand (48) of Figure 3B is especially suitable for use in the multi-plane embodiment of Figure SA In that the two pegs are separately mounted on different base sections so that one peg (40) can be lowered or raised relative to the other peg (46) to slope the conveyors for left-to-right travel (as shown in Figure SA) or for travel in the opposite direction. Alternatively, stand 48 can be set as shown In Figure 5 so that the two pegs 40,46 are kept at the same height (useful during assembly of the installation).

During assembly, bridge frames 50 are preferably also secured to adjacent ends of the conveyor sections 10 to provide stiffening at the tops of the side walls, each frame 50 being provided with a welded angle bracket 52 carrying a vertical peg 53 for location in the apertured top flanges 54 of the side walls 14 (Figure 3B).

Once in place, the frames 50 are Interconnected by slider bars 56 which are pivotally secured to the frames 50 by appropriate bolts 57 to allow variation between the "same plane" regime of Figure 3B (and Figure 3W and the "multi-plane" regime of Figure SA (and Figure 3D).

Returning now to Figure 5, it will be seen that the Individual conveyor section motors 30 are connected In series to a mains supply at 59 via an appropriate control box 60 which can be set for forward, zero or reverse motion of the conveyor, as required. Reference numerals 62,63 respectively Indicate the junction box and plug-and-socket connections for the various sections.

Reference numeral 65 Indicates diagrammatically in Figure 5 a preferred location for removing the hens from the three-stage assembly depicted there by way of illustration only. However, some protection of the birds on the assembly will be needed in the event that they are not being removed from the conveyor at the rate at which they arrive at location 65. Accordingly. the whole system will automatically be shut down on displacement of an end hen-sensing control flap 67 to feed back the appropriate stop signal through cable 69 to the control box 60.

X J x Typically, a complete hen-handling installation will include indoor conveyor sections to move birds along the length of the hen house or "shed", intermediate conveyor sections to move birds within the shed across the ends of the passageways (not needed If portholes can be created in the gable end walls of the shed), out-of- house conveyor sections to move birds between a transport vehicle and the shed, and a road trailer to carry the conveyor sections on the open highway.

The longitudinal in-house conveyor to move the birds down the passageways In the hen house will be made up of the lightweight portable conveyor sections 10 which are typically 2.4m long. These will carry birds at a convenient height above floor level. The overall length of the longitudinal conveyor can be varied by the addition or removal of conveyor sections 10 as desired.

The longitudinal conveyor Is either linked to the out-of-house conveyor directly or via an intermediate conveyor for the shed concerned. These conveyors are designed to solve the handling problems at the ends of specific sheds. It Is envisaged that these will be moved from shed to shed on a given date.

The out-of-house conveyors will move birds between the house conveyors and the transport vehicle. Their positions will be adjustable e.g. by expanding or retracting supports similar to the variable-height supports 38,48 to cope with variable loadinglunloading heights. These out-of-house conveyors will also be used to transport the In-house conveyors from ground level up to house floor level.

The road trailer 71 (Figure 6) will transport a set of In-house conveyor sections and the out-of-house conveyors. In addition it can be provided with a safety rail and ladder (72) etc. so as to serve as a safe working platform for setting up and dismantling the system.

Figure 6 diagrammatically Indicates just a part of one such installation In which spent hens are being loaded on to a series of conveyor sections 10 supplied from the trailer 71. At the 11 other end of the assembly the hens are being off-loaded Into crates on a road transport vehicle or trailer 73. For simplicity, the supports 38,48 have been omitted from this diagrammatic representation as already noted.

It will readily be understood that access to the different parts of the hen house Is a problem In view of the lack of space. Accordingly It Is a great advantage of the Illustrated system that each conveyor section can be carried to or from its desired location by the previous sections already in place when the installation is being assembled or dismantled.

Clearly, the conveyor sections should be sufficiently narrow I.e. less than 0.5m to work In those passageways which are obstructed by posts. A convenient length for the sections would be 2.4m, firstly because they are then short enough to manhandle easily and secondly because they can then be cross-stacked on a road- transport trailer without Infringing the current maximum width regulations for such vehicles in the United Kingdom.

Since it takes at least a week, and up to six weeks, to clear a typical site the system will not be moved too frequently.

Therefore, In many Instances It could be advantageous for the equipment to be set up on site by farm staff prior to the arrival of the handling crew. However, it Is also intended that the handling crew shall normally be able to set up the equipment on arrival at the farm, move a load of birds, and then dismantle the equipment within the normal overall operational time If desired without additional help. Since the conveyors will be able to transport one another the set up time will be minimised.

Typically, one set of hardware according to one embodiment of present invention might comprise 25130 lightweight conveyors (each 2.4m long and weighing 40 kg, say), 2 medium-weight conveyors (each 2.4m long and weighing 40 kg, say), and 1 transport vehiclelworking platform (trailer).

To achieve the desired overall handling rate, the conveyor system should preferably be capable of moving up to at least 3,500 birds per hour with a typical belt speed of 0.5m/s (10Oft/min).

A T t 1 1 It is believed that with the conveying assembly of the present Invention, the present teams of nine or ten men used for manual handling systems can be replaced by teams of five men (one of whom Is the lorry driver) especially if the farm staff are involved In setting up and dismantling equipment. Thus an overall reduction in labour costs can be expected.

11

Claims (11)

- 10 CLAIMS

1. A multi-section conveyor system comprising a plurality of mutually aligned Individual conveyor sections adapted to discharge one on to the other.

2. A conveyor system as claimed In Claim 1 in which the 05 Individual conveyor sections are stackable one on or within the other when the system Is disassembled.

3. A conveyor system as claimed in Claim 1 or Claim 2 In which each Individual conveyor section is adapted for travel on a preceding section or sections during assembly of the system.

4. A conveyor system as claimed in any preceding claim In which the individual conveyor sections are each fitted with a motor lying within the confines of the conveyor section belt.

5. A conveyor system as claimed in any preceding claim in which the individual conveyor sections each include two wall portions extending along each side of the section.

6. A conveyor system as claimed In Claim 5 In which the wall portions diverge upwardly to allow stacking of the sections one within the other when the sysiem is disassembled.

7. A conveyor system as claimed In any preceding claim including 20 a sensor for sensing the presence of objects at a location In the conveyor system and control means responding to a signal from the sensor to stop the conveyor system on or following detection of an object at said location.

8. A conveyor system as claimed In any preceding claim In which 25 the Individual conveyor sections are each of lightweight construction and of length and width dimensions (viewed In plan) not in excess of 2.4m and 0. 5m respectively.

9. A conveyor system substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to, andlor as illustrated in, the accompanying drawings.

10. A conveyor system as claimed in any preceding claim Including means for reversing the direction of conveyor travel.

11. A conveyor section for use In the conveyor system of any one or more of Claims 1 to 10.

Published 1991 at 7be Patent OlTice.St2te House. 66/71 High Holborn. LandonWC1114TR Further copies may be obtained from.Sales Branch. Unit 6. Nine Mile Point. Cwnifelinfach. Cross Keys, Newport. NPI 7HZ. Printed by Multiplex techniques lid. St Mary Cray. Kent-