GB1374842A - Method of and apparatus for transferring soft articles - Google Patents

Abstract

1374842 Transferring soap tablets between conveyers COLGATE-PALMOLIVE CO 5 Jan 1972 [6 Jan 1971] 490/72 Heading B8A Tablets of soap on a belt conveyer 12 are lifted by suction heads 41 carried by a rotary member 11, and are deposited between flights 81, 81, of a second endless conveyer 13. Two out of the three heads 41 are omitted from Fig. 2 for clarity. The head 41 is adjustable in directions parallel with the axis of the member 11 by virtue of the positioning of an attachment screw 37 (Fig. 3) in a choice of holes on a bracket 21. The head 41 is adjustable in a direction parallel with the plane of the member 11 by rotation of a screw 39 (Fig. 11). The head 41 is caused to pivot relatively to the member 11 while the latter is rotating, by the action of a follower 29 (carried by the mechanism on which the head 41 is mounted) moving relative to a cam surface formed on a member 77 rigid with the frame of the apparatus. Suction to the head 41 is controlled by a rotary valve 55, a fixed part of which is mounted on a bracket 49 and a movable part of which is rotated by the forked end of a member 62 which is rigid with the drive shaft of the member 11. The forked end engages a rod 63 which is rigid with the rotatable part of the valve. Transfer of the soap tablets from the conveyer 13. A second suction head device carries three suction heads 93, and these operate in a similar manner to the member 11 and heads 41. They are each however associated with a bucket-like container 94 for the tablets, and a pair of pusher members 109. The stem (126) (Figs. 13 to 16, not shown) of the head 93 extends through the base of the associated bucket, so that with rotation of a drum 91 carrying the buckets (corresponding to member 11 in Fig. 3). The head 93 picks up a tablet from the conveyer 13 (Fig. 4) and lifts it into the bucket (Fig. 15, not shown). The bucket 94 rotates round and upwardly to the position of Fig. 19 and then the tablet is displaced by the pusher 108 into engagement with carriers 151, 151, of a conveyer chain 152 (Fig. 19). The buckets 94 and pushers 109 form part of a mechanism which is similar to that described in Specification 1,015,910. The bucket 94 is given a cylically varying movement (in addition to its rotation with the drum 91) by a cam follower wheel 105 (Fig. 10, connected by a cranked shaft 102 to the bucket) and a fixed cam groove 106 in a member 107. Similarly the pusher is connected to a cam follower 115 which runs in a groove 116. The suction head 93 receives its movement from a cam track 144 formed on the periphery of a fixed disc 141. The suction head may be formed by a double head assembly (Fig. 20, not shown).