CA1063633A - Apparatus for the intermittent feeding of articles delivered by a conveyor belt - Google Patents

Apparatus for the intermittent feeding of articles delivered by a conveyor belt

Info

Publication number
CA1063633A
CA1063633A CA266,108A CA266108A CA1063633A CA 1063633 A CA1063633 A CA 1063633A CA 266108 A CA266108 A CA 266108A CA 1063633 A CA1063633 A CA 1063633A
Authority
CA
Canada
Prior art keywords
belt
belts
articles
drive means
receiving station
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Expired
Application number
CA266,108A
Other languages
French (fr)
Inventor
Antonius B. Sanders
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
NUTS CHOCOLADEFABRIEK BV
Original Assignee
NUTS CHOCOLADEFABRIEK BV
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by NUTS CHOCOLADEFABRIEK BV filed Critical NUTS CHOCOLADEFABRIEK BV
Application granted granted Critical
Publication of CA1063633A publication Critical patent/CA1063633A/en
Expired legal-status Critical Current

Links

Classifications

    • BPERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B65CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
    • B65GTRANSPORT OR STORAGE DEVICES, e.g. CONVEYORS FOR LOADING OR TIPPING, SHOP CONVEYOR SYSTEMS OR PNEUMATIC TUBE CONVEYORS
    • B65G43/00Control devices, e.g. for safety, warning or fault-correcting
    • B65G43/10Sequence control of conveyors operating in combination
    • BPERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B65CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
    • B65GTRANSPORT OR STORAGE DEVICES, e.g. CONVEYORS FOR LOADING OR TIPPING, SHOP CONVEYOR SYSTEMS OR PNEUMATIC TUBE CONVEYORS
    • B65G2203/00Indexing code relating to control or detection of the articles or the load carriers during conveying
    • B65G2203/04Detection means
    • B65G2203/042Sensors
    • B65G2203/044Optical

Abstract

Abstract of the disclosure:
Apparatus for the intermittent feeding of articles, delivered by a first conveyor belt, to a receiving station disposed to one side of this conveyor belt, which apparatus includes a second, steadily moving conveyor belt which travels in the direction of the receiving station and cooperates at an angle with the first conveyor belt, while a third, intermittently moving conveyor belt, in line with the second, feeds the articles to the receiving station, and wherein a fourth conveyor belt is disposed between the second and third conveyor belts, this fourth belt being coupled to an synchronized with the second belt when the latter is in motion, and being coupled to the intermittently moving third belt when the second belt is at a standstill.

Description

-2~
:. . i. ' ' ~ 1~63633 '~he inve~lt.ioi3 relates to apparatus I'O~` t~3e inte~nittent ~eedin~ F
. o~ articles, delivered by a Eirst collveyor bei.t, to a receiYing station disposed to one side of this conveyor belt, ~`nich apparatus includes a second, steadlly movinæ conveyor belt, which travels in the direction o~

~, the receiving station and cooperates at an angle with the first collveyor ~. :
,. :' ' .:
belt, ~hile a third, intermi.ttently moving conveyor belt, ;n line with .
` the second, feeds the articles to the receivin~ statio-n.
.~ Such apparatus is commonly used in si.tuations where large quantities of articles, such as chocolate bars, are delivered 013 a conveyor belt and .
; 10 are to be fed to a machine for ~urther treatment or for packaging. A ~ ~.
.~; problem generally encountered here is, that the receivi.ng machines are :
capable of accepting articles only with a certain frequency, ~hereas .~ :

~`.......... articles are delivered by the conveyor belt in quantities and at intervals ~i ;3 of time which are not synchronized w1th this frequency.
~;. ~3e conveyor belt which delivers the articles usually moves at a -uniform speed.
A known solution to the~above proble~ where, for example~ articles ~
delivered by a~con~eyor belt are fed to a packaging machine to one side o~ the belt, is the following. At the end of a first con-reyor belt7 at ;20 rieht angles to it and in comm3~3ication with it~ is a second conveyor beJ.t. ~ ;
.. ~ ., .
Thie Decond belt, while~stationary, receives the articles from the ~irst belt for example, by their sliding from one to the other - after which :
the oecond belt 6tarts to move at-"..niform speed and transports the articlei3 in the dire.^itio2. of the receiving machine. The articles are then : :~
transferre.d from the ~ec.ond bélt to a third belt, which travels inter-mitter3tly touards the machine and coms3~3icates direotly with ita intake, the frequency of movement of thi~ third belt ceir,g 6ynchronized with the fregueir.cy with which the machine c~ accept the article6~

~ ",, ' ' . . , An appropriate means, such as a photoelectric cell, can be used to indicate when the second belt is empty of articles.
If this is the case, the uniform movement of the belt is caused to cease and it is then ready to receive the next batch of articles.
This known sclution has a number of disadvantages, the most important of which is that machine capacity, i.e. the quantity of articles that can be handled per unit of time, -cannot normally be fully utilized.
This follows from the circumstance that, once the load on the second belt has been transferred to the intermittently -moving feeder belt for the machine, the uniform movement of the second belt is arrested so that it is ready to receive the next load. In this interval - while the arrival of the next load is ::,- :
awaited and during the loading process - no transfer of artlcles to the third belt takes place. This means that, between the last :, ~
article of a given load and the first article of a following load, ~ -there is an empty space on the third belt, which results in the machine receiving no articles during the passage of this empty space past the machine.

~,.1 ~ . . . .
The apparatus according to the invention avoids the above-mentioned disadvantage in that a fourth conveyor belt is dis-posed between the second and third conveyor belts, this fourth .. . .
;"! belt being coupled to and synchronized with the second belt when the latter is in motion, and being coupled to the intermittently moving t~ird belt when the second belt is at a standstill.
~`1 Thus, according to the present invention, there is provided an apparatus for the intermittent feeding of articles, :. . ,.: : ~ :.
~ delivered by a first conveyor belt, to a receiving station dis-. .
posed to one side of this conveyor belt, which apparatus includes a second conveyor belt which is fed articles by said first belt -~-and alternately (a) travels at a constant rate in the direction ;
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i3633 of the receiving station, and (b) is stationary, while a third, intermittently moving conveyor belt, in line with the second, feeds the articles from the second belt to the receiving station, the improvement wherein the apparatus further comprises a fourth conveyor belt disposed between the second and third conveyor belts, and transmission means for coupling this fourth belt to and synchronized with the second belt when the latter is in motion, and for coupling the fourth belt to the intermittently moving third belt when the second belt is at a standstill.
The presence of the fourth conveyor belt makes it possible to utilize the handling capacity of the machine optimally, in !,; that a sufficient number of articles is made available at the ` intake side of the machine. It will be understood that, while j the second belt is at a standstill to receive a new load, the .~!
~, article-laden fourth belt moves intermittently in the direction of the machine, so that the third belt - -~ .

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36~33 the feeder belt for the machine - is continually recharged. In this case, no empty space occurs on ~he third belt and the machine is fed withou-t interruption in the supply of articles. Once the next load has been deposited on the second belt, the latter starts to move at uniform speed and, with it, the fourth belt in synchronization. In this n~anner, the first article of the new load is placed on the fourth be~t up against the last article of the previous load. Once the second belt is clear of articles, the uniform movement of both the second and fourth belts is ', ~ . .
arrested, the fourth belt starts to move intermittently, and so on. In these circu~stances, no empty space ever occurs on the intermittently - moYing feeder belt for the machine. Care must~ of course, be taken to ~` ensure that the rate of supply of art}cles to the fourth belt is such ~., ; .
~ that it is not allowed to become empt~, ~
,~.. .:. ~, , .
The desired coupling between the second and fourth belts, and ~ between the fourth and third belts, respectively, is preferably achieved 5 - ~ ~ with the aid of free-wheel transmission assemblies. When the second belt :. . ::: -stops, the coupling between the second and fourth belts is then automatically "free" aDd the fourth belt is then entrained by the thlrd belt by way of their mutual coupline. Convexsely, once the second belt sbarts~to move at uniform speed, the fourth belt is entrained by it by vay of their mutual coupling and the coupling~between the fourth and third belts i5 automatically "free"? ~ -:
In order to ensure that the articles on the intermittently moving eeder belt are properly closed up, it is advantageous for the intermittent travel, i.é. the distance covered per movement, of the fourth belt to be somewhat greater than that of the third belt. The articles are tbereby .. 1 . .,.:.. . , . :
urged into close mutual rélationship~
Tbe apparatus according to the invention is particularly suitable or use in the feeding o~ chocol~te bars to a psckaging machi~e.

''; , , . :. ':, " :: . .

, The invention is detailed below in conjunction with the drawing, in wh;ch 1 represents a conveyor belt on which articles are delivered at uniform speed in the direction 2. This conve~-or belt 1 cooperates with a second, transversely disposed conveyor belt ~ ~hich t-ravels in the direction 3, the delivered articles being "deposited" on this second belt by their being pushed onto it while the belt is stationary. Arrange-ments may be made for the momentum of the articles to cause them to strike the stop 5, which may be useful with a view to their correct orientation. After the load has been thus transferred, conveyor belt 1 ;;- 10 adopts the position corresponding to 1a, so that following articles C2~t :` ' .
; be transported on a secondary conveyor belt 6, possibly to another transverse belt operating in the same manner as tranverse belt 4.
The second conveyor belt 4 now stsrts to move at uniform speed `~'! ' in the direction 3, the articles being transported to the conveyor belt 7, correspondlng to the "fourth conveyor belt" referred to above. This belt -~
7 is coupled to the belt 4 by means of the schematically represented~ i tran=mîssion assembly 8 and also moves at the same uniform speed in the ,!, :
direction 9. The articles are thus transferred to the belt~7. When the photoelectric cell 10 no longer detects any articles on the belt 4, the i 4 ?Q-: latter ceases its uniform movementJand the conveyor belt 1 resumes its rai=ed~position in order that another load of article= may be deposited on the belt 4. The belt 7 ceases its uni~orm movement simultaneousl~
with belt 4, the transmission assembly 8 switches to the ~ree-wheeling position and the belt 7 then begins to move intermittently in the direction 9. This intermittent movement is imparted tv the belt 7 by way of a transmission~assembly 11 from the intermittently moving belt 12, which latter com~unicates with thé receiver, e.g. a packaging machine.
During the period in which the belt 7 moves at unifolrm speed, i,e, is coupled to the belt 4, the transmis~ion assembly 11 acts as a free-:,~ : . .
wheel mechani~
... . . .
: 1': :
., , .' -6~ 63633 :-The articles on the belt 7 are fed intermittently to the belt 12 which a~so travels interm;ttently in the di-rect;on of the receiving ~, machine. When belt 7 resumes its uniform movement, new articles are delivered to it~until the first article of the new load comes ~Ip against the laisit article of the previous load. ~eanwhile, the belt 7 slips under the articles re~aining from the previous load.
... . .
By adapting the speed at which articles are deli~ered to the belt -7 to the rate at which the belt 12 can feed articles to the receiving station, blockage of the articles is avoided. Opti~al utilization o~ the capacity of the receiving station is thus ensured - the belt 12 is kept constantly filled. -' the unit distance of travel per m~ement of the belt 7 is somewhat greater than that of belt 129 the articles on be1t 12 are kept in close order. ~-, i ~ . ~
t~

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Claims (11)

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows:
1. In an apparatus for the intermittent feeding of articles, delivered by a first conveyor belt, to a receiving station dis-posed to one side of this conveyor belt, which apparatus includes a second conveyor belt which is fed articles by said first belt and alternately (a) travels at a constant rate in the direction of the receiving station, and (b) is stationary, while a third, intermittently moving conveyor belt, in line with the second, feeds the articles from the second belt to the receiving station, the improvement wherein the apparatus further comprises a fourth conveyor belt disposed between the second and third conveyor belts, and transmission means for coupling this fourth belt to and synchronized with the second belt when the latter is in motion, and for coupling the fourth belt to the intermittently moving third belt when the second belt is at a standstill.
2. Apparatus according to Claim 1, wherein the travel of the fourth belt, when moving intermittently, is greater than that of the third belt.
3. Apparatus according to Claim 1, wherein the receiving station is a packaging machine.
4. In an apparatus for intermittently feeding articles to a receiving station, the apparatus including: first, second and third conveyor belts and drive means for moving said belts, wherein said second belt travels in a direction toward the receiving station, the first belt alternates between being stationary and moving toward said second belt for feeding articles onto said belt, and the third belt is generally aligned with the second belt for feeding articles from the second belt to said receiving station, the improvement in combination therewith, further comprising: a fourth conveyor belt between and generally aligned with said second and third belts, and wherein said drive means comprises first drive means for driving said first belt, second drive means for driving said second and fourth belts at the same constant rate at the same time, and third drive means for driving said third and fourth belts at intermittent rates at the same time, while the second belt is stationary, whereby articles are fed from the first belt, then to the second belt, then to the fourth belt, then to the third belt, and finally to the receiving station.
5. Apparatus according to Claim 4, wherein said first drive means drives said first belt at a constant rate while said second belt is stationary.
6. Apparatus according to Claim 4, wherein said third drive means is coupled to said third and fourth belts and is free-wheeling when said second drive means drives said second and fourth belts at a constant rate.
7. Apparatus according to Claim 4, wherein said second drive means is couples to said second and fourth belts and is free-wheeling when said third drive means drives said third and fourth belts intermittently.
8. Apparatus according to Claim 4, wherein said third drive means, when driving said third and fourth belts intermittently, drives said fourth belt faster than said third belt.
9. Apparatus according to Claim 4, further comprising means for determining when said second belt is loaded, for then stopping said first belt from continuing to feed articles to said second belt, and for starting said second drive means for driving said second and fourth belts to move at a constant rate, and means for determining when said second belt is unloaded of articles, for then stopping said second drive means from driving said second and fourth belts, and for starting said third drive means for intermittently driving said third and fourth belts.
10. Apparatus according to Claim 4, wherein said first belt travels in a direction generally normal to said second belt.
11. Apparatus according to Claim 1, wherein said transmission means is free-wheeling between said third and fourth belts when said second and fourth belts are moving at a constant rate, and is free-wheeling between said second and fourth belts when said third and fourth belts are moving intermittently.
CA266,108A 1975-11-19 1976-11-19 Apparatus for the intermittent feeding of articles delivered by a conveyor belt Expired CA1063633A (en)

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
NL7513498A NL179716C (en) 1975-11-19 1975-11-19 Apparatus for feeding objects from a main conveyor to a processing machine arranged next to the main conveyor, such as a packaging machine.

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
CA1063633A true CA1063633A (en) 1979-10-02

Family

ID=19824883

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
CA266,108A Expired CA1063633A (en) 1975-11-19 1976-11-19 Apparatus for the intermittent feeding of articles delivered by a conveyor belt

Country Status (9)

Country Link
JP (1) JPS5286665A (en)
BE (1) BE848457A (en)
CA (1) CA1063633A (en)
DE (1) DE2652619A1 (en)
FR (1) FR2332207A1 (en)
GB (1) GB1565372A (en)
IT (1) IT1064196B (en)
MX (1) MX143698A (en)
NL (1) NL179716C (en)

Families Citing this family (6)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
FR2464681A1 (en) * 1979-09-06 1981-03-20 Alser TRANSFER DEVICE, IN PARTICULAR FOR STORAGE OUTPUT BOXES
PH18026A (en) * 1982-04-22 1985-03-03 Sumitomo Chemical Co A fungicidal composition
GB8606023D0 (en) * 1986-03-12 1986-04-16 Cadbury Ltd Feed apparatus
IT1253889B (en) * 1991-11-19 1995-08-31 Azionaria Costruzioni Acma Spa METHOD AND DEVICE FOR THE STEP-BY-STEP TRANSFER OF PRODUCTS TO A WRAPPING LINE
DE10025513A1 (en) * 2000-04-12 2001-10-25 Karl Sicko Ohg Device for return of workpieces from end of manufacturing line to start includes transfer unit with second conveyor path which can turn around horizontal pivot point lying close to end furthest from return path
CN114104776B (en) * 2021-12-01 2024-04-26 福德机器人(成都)有限责任公司 Anti-shake transfer structure and food delivery robot

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
FR2332207A1 (en) 1977-06-17
JPS5286665A (en) 1977-07-19
IT1064196B (en) 1985-02-18
GB1565372A (en) 1980-04-16
BE848457A (en) 1977-05-18
NL179716B (en) 1986-06-02
NL7513498A (en) 1977-05-23
FR2332207B3 (en) 1979-07-27
DE2652619A1 (en) 1977-06-02
NL179716C (en) 1986-11-03
MX143698A (en) 1981-06-25

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