JPS6139252B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a levitation propulsion device suitable for levitating, accelerating, and propelling a conveyed object on an air conveyor.

Conventionally, this type of air conveyor uses an air jet to levitate an item, and then another air jet acts on the item to provide thrust, thereby conveying the item. In such a method, it is difficult to constantly generate a constant thrust using air jets, and there is a problem in that the article cannot be conveyed at a stable speed.

The present invention has been made in view of the problems of conventional air conveyors, and its purpose is to provide a floating propulsion device for air conveyors that can transport articles at a stable speed.

The floating propulsion device for an air conveyor according to the present invention includes:
A rotor having a plurality of grooves formed on its outer periphery is loosely fitted into a hole in the main body, and an air nozzle is provided at the bottom of the hole to inject air substantially tangentially to the rotor.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

In FIGS. 1 and 2, an embodiment of a levitation propulsion device according to the invention is indicated at 1. FIG. In the figure, 2 is a main body in which a cylindrical hole 4 that opens on the upper surface 3 is formed, and 5 is inserted into the hole 4 with a slight gap left so that it can float and rotate (hereinafter, this state will be referred to as It is a spherical rotor (called a loose fit).

The rotor 5 is made of a material with low specific gravity such as plastic and has a spherical shape in order to facilitate floating by air pressure, and a plurality of annular grooves 6 are formed on the outer periphery of the rotor 5. This groove 6 is preferably annular, but does not necessarily have to be annular.

The bottom side wall of the hole 4 in the main body 2 is provided with air to the rotor 5.
An air nozzle 7 is attached which injects air in a substantially tangential direction, and a vent hole 8 is formed in the diametrically opposite side wall of the air nozzle 7. The orientation of the air nozzle 8 and the vent hole 8 is parallel to the central axis 0-0 of the main body when viewed from the top surface of the main body, and preferably approximately parallel to the central axis 0-0 or the conveying surface when viewed from the side of the main body. A slight angle α (α
is inclined by about 10°).

In the levitation propulsion device having the above configuration, when a predetermined amount of air is injected from the air nozzle 7 at a predetermined speed in the direction of arrow It protrudes upward slightly and begins to rotate in the direction of arrow Y. Therefore, if an object m to be conveyed is placed on the upper surface 3 of the main body, the object m will also be slightly floated due to the buoyancy of the rotor 5 and the airflow flowing upward from between the main body 2 and the rotor 5. At the same time, a propulsive force in the Z direction is applied by the rotation of the rotor in the direction of the arrow Y, and the material is conveyed in that direction.

The flying height of the rotor 5 is the installation angle of the air nozzle 2
It has been experimentally confirmed that the flying height becomes approximately constant when the supplied air amount exceeds a certain value. Further, as is clear from FIG. 3, the rotation speed of the rotor changes approximately in proportion to the amount of air supplied from the air nozzle 7. Therefore, when changing the conveyance speed of the item m, it is sufficient to change the amount of supplied air.

Note that more than half of the air ejected from the air nozzle into the hole 4 is not discharged from the vent hole 8, but is discharged upward through the gap between the main body 2 and the rotor 5, causing the article on the rotor to levitate and also to separate the article from the rotor. This is to reduce the sliding friction between the rotor and the main body, but if the amount of discharged air is too large, the rotor will float too much, making the rotor rotation unstable and causing the rotor to slip. It is preferable to minimize the gap between the two.

When the levitation propulsion device 1 having the above configuration is used for an air conveyor, as shown in FIG. installation,
Side guides 1 on both sides of the lower guide plate
2 and 13, each air nozzle is connected to the manifold 1.
4. It may be connected to an air pressure source via a flow meter 15, a switching valve 16, etc. Note that the flow meter is not particularly necessary.

In the embodiments shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the case where the air nozzle is provided in one place is explained, but as shown in FIG. Alternatively, if air is alternatively injected from 7a', the rotation direction of the rotor can be changed.
Can be changed by 90°. Further, as shown in FIG. 6, if the air nozzles 6b or 6b' are provided in opposing directions and air is selectively injected from either one of the air nozzles 6b or 6b', the direction of rotation of the rotor can be reversed.

Furthermore, although a sphere is used as the rotor in the embodiments shown in FIGS.
A cylindrical rotor 5a as shown in FIG. 7 may be used. In this case, the hole in the main body can be made square to match.

As is clear from the above explanation, according to the levitation propulsion device according to the present invention, the rotor is floated and rotated using air flow, thrust is obtained by the frictional resistance between the rotor and the article, and a portion of the supplied air is Since the object is made to float, the object can be efficiently transported at a constant speed.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a levitation propulsion device for an air conveyor according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a plan view of the levitation propulsion device of FIG. Figure 4 is a perspective view of an air conveyor using the levitation propulsion device shown in Figure 1, Figure 5 is a plan view of a modified example of the levitation propulsion device, and Figure 6 is the levitation propulsion device FIG. 7 is a sectional view of another modification of the rotor, and FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a modification of the rotor. 1: Levitation propulsion device, 2: Main body, 4: Hole, 5, 5
a: Rotor, 6, 6a: Groove, 7, 7a, 7a', 7
b, 7b': Air nozzle.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A rotor having a plurality of grooves formed on its outer periphery is loosely fitted into a hole in the main body, and an air nozzle is provided at the bottom of the hole to inject air approximately tangentially to the rotor. A levitation propulsion device for air conveyors featuring: 2. The floating propulsion device for an air conveyor according to claim 1, wherein the rotor is spherical. 3. The floating propulsion device for an air conveyor according to claim 1, wherein the rotor is a cylindrical body. 4. Claims 1, 2, or 3, wherein the air nozzle is installed at an angle with respect to the transport surface of the article.
A levitation propulsion device for an air conveyor as described in . 5. Claims 1, 2, 3, or 4, wherein a plurality of air nozzles are installed in different directions, and the direction of rotation of the rotor is changed by selectively injecting air from the air nozzles. A levitation propulsion device for an air conveyor described in .