| abstract |
A hanger conveying system which routes hangers from a main screw conveyor onto a conveyor branch where they are transported through a processing station and thence returned to the screw conveyor at a point downstream from that where they were initially removed. Included in the conveyor branch is an endless conveyor of hinged links each having a plurality of hanger hook receiving slots or apertures. Also provided is a downwardly inclined input slick rail which picks off hangers from the main screw conveyor, and a cooperating peripherally notched disc which is spaced in close proximity to a curved section of the input slick rail located at the lower extremity thereof. The disc captures, in its notches, hanger hooks which have been picked off the main screw conveyor and are stacked at the bottom of the inclined input slick rail, and individually feeds the captured hangers in spaced relation to an output slick rail which is upwardly inclined. Associated with the output slick rail are chain-driven pins which move in synchronism with the notched disc along a path parallel to the output slick rail. The chain-driven pins positively advance the spaced hangers up the output slick rail, maintaining their spacing, eventually depositing them in the hanger-receiving slots of the endless conveyor links. The hangers, once on the endless conveyor, are transported through a processing station. At the output end of the processing station, a slick rail and cooperating notched disc and set of chain-driven pins positively feed hangers, which have been picked off the endless conveyor by the slick rail, to the main screw conveyor where they are deposited for transport thereby. |