St. Louis, MO, March 10, 2004: Alvey Systems, an FKI Logistex® member company and leading integrator of automated material flow solutions, announces the award of three U.S. patents for new conveyor technologies.
The first of the new patents covers an invention by Alvey Systems vice president of manufacturing operations, Brian L. Gamache. Gamache designed a conveyor roller with a telescoping axle and tapered ends. Prior to this innovation, conveyor roller axles mounted loosely in oversized holes on the side frames of the conveyor. Gamache's axle (US 6,547,054) uses tapered ends that wedge into the side frame holes for a tight, rattle-free, and wear-resistant fit. This new roller design also makes the axle stronger than common straight-shaft axles, and is available across Alvey Systems' extensive conveyor line.
The second Alvey patent (US 6,588,578) describes a snag-resistant opening for conveyor guide rails, invented by Alvey Systems senior project engineer, Ronald L. Ernst. Ernst's invention, a uniquely shaped profile for guide rail openings in which optical sensors are located, keeps irregularly shaped products from being snagged as they travel past the openings, even if they are rubbing the surface of the guide rail. This innovation limits product damage and prevents torn product shreds from blocking the conveyor's optical sensor beams. It is currently featured in Alvey Systems' Accumat™ newspaper conveyors.
Alvey System's third patent details a conveyor driver pad with a built-in wear indicator developed by Alvey Systems parts sales and marketing manager, David Silverman. This innovation (US 6,612,423) uses a colored, triangular-shaped area on the driver pad to indicate the amount of wear. As the driver pad surface wears off, the width of the colored material diminishes. When the colored width disappears entirely, the driver pad is fully worn out. The new driver pad enables wear to be determined by sight even when a conveyor is running. Previous designs had to be manually checked for wear while the conveyor was not running.
The three new patents add to the company's prestigious list of material handling innovations, which began with cofounder John A. Alvey's patent 1,219,901 for conveyor roller bearings, awarded in 1917.
"Alvey has always led the material handling industry in technology, service and innovation," said Alvey Systems president, Steve Ackerman. "These patents show Alvey System's total commitment to providing the best products, systems and service for our customers."
