CA1193628A - Parts feeding bowl with orienting means - Google Patents

Abstract

PARTS FEEDING BOWL WITH ORIENTING MEANS

Abstract of Disclosure Apparatus is disclosed for accepting an initially pre-sented population of randomly oriented elongated slender articles which terminate in an enlarged head portion, and pro-viding a high-speed output stream, wherein all said articles are commonly oriented for further mechanical manipulation.
The apparatus comprises an input bowl for accepting the art-icles, which bowl includes a rotatable central disk for feeding objects incident thereupon to the periphery of the disk. A
continuous wall member extends upwardly from the disk periph-ery about a major arced zone, the bottom of the wall member being spaced from the disk to define a gap through which the elongated portion of the articles may protrude while the heads of same continue to ride upon the disk periphery in sliding contact with the side wall. An output section defined adjacent the periphery of the disk at the portion opposed to the arced zone receives and delivers the articles from the disk. A con-tinuous conveying band extends about the periphery of the disk and moves with the articles in the direction of disk rotation at the arced zone. The band separates from the disk peripheral edge beyond the arced zone and extends into the output section.
Means cooperate with the band at the output section to constrain the articles between the band and constraining means, whereby the articles are conveyed into the output section. The band diverges from the cooperating means at the end of the output section to release the constrained articles for further mechan-ical manipulation.

Description

Background of Invention This invention relates generally to apparatus for accepting an initially presented population of randomly oriented articlee and providing a high-speed output ~tream wherein all the articles are commonly oriented for further mechanical manipulation. The invention i8 more specifically applicable to apparatus of this type, which are adapted to so treat articles, which are of the type including an elongatea ~lender portion, and an adjoined enlarged head portion.
In numerou~ application~ of proces~ing apparatus, in-cluding for use in the packaging industry and the like, it i8 neces~ary to orlent objects in a common direction and feed same a~ a high-speed 3tream for further mechanical manipula-tion and use. An example of such requirement occur~ in connection with the apparatus disclosed in the present in-ventors' U.S. patent No. 4,055,455, which apparatu~ is u~eful in lining and testing container closures such as caps or the like. The cap~ or closures to be thereby proce~ed, mu3t be presented to thi~ apparatu~ as an incoming stream wherein each ~ap i8 oriented with its open end facing in an upward direc~
tion: i.e., this is neceRsary in order that all appropriate function~ of the lining and testing apparatus be performed.
It will be ev~dent, further, that in numerou~ other manufac-turing operation~, part~ similarly must be oriented in common direction~ to enable a contlnuou~ stream for proce~sing of same.

~ 3628 Pursuant to the foregoing, variou~ apparatu~ for orienting and feeding small parts, such as caps, lids, or ~he like, have been developed over the years. The pre~ent inventors' U.S.
patent No. 4,2147656 for example, i~ specifically directed at the cap orienting and feeding problem which ha~ been des-cribed. In this patent, a con~truction i8 thus disclosed which enables increased dependability in cap orientation and al~o higher speed and feeding of same. The~e objectives are achieved by an arrangement which includes a feeder bowl which accepts the randomly oriented cap~ and feeds same from an output port thereof, a~ an in-line ~tream of cap oriented in a substantially horizontal plane. An inclined twisting chute extend~ rom the output of the feeder bowl. Thi~ chute receives the in-line ~tream of caps and twi~ts the plane of advance through 90, whereby the caps are reoriented to a stream wherein the diam-eters are sub~tantially in a vertical plane. A guide chute extends at an incline from the twi~ting chute and includes an input ~ection for receiving the cap~ at the vertical orienta-tion, an output section whereat the eap~ are oriented with their diameters parallel to the support ~urface, and a tran~ition zone between the input and output ~ections, whereat the cap6 gravitationally tip and fall from the vertical plane to the reoriented, more nearly horizontal position~. A biasing device can be usea in con~unction with this arrangement for biasing the tipp~ng of the capB 80 that they fall with t~e open ends thereof, facing in upward direction. This can in clude a knife edge along w~ich t~e caps roll on their ~de edge6 and mean~ to encourage the desired tipping, such as lateral air jets.
Provided that the object~ to be treated reeem~le a simple cylinder, apparatus of the aforementioned type is very effective in achieving the desired orientation and eed.
However, there are numeroufi parts, including in instance~, cap lids and the like, which take the form of an article in-cluding an elonged ~lender portion terminating in an enlarged head portion. For example, many cap closure~ commonly in use in the di pensing industry, include an elongated nozzle which extends from an enlarged ba~e portion. Such base may have internal threads for securing to a container. Clearly, this type of closure cannot be effectively handled by the apparatus of ~ur said 4,214,656 patent. It will also be clear that num-erous article~ (other than cap closures) have the type of shape mentioned.
In accordance with the foregoing, it may be regarded aa an object of the pre~ent invention, to provide apparatu~ cap-able of orienting, ordering, and rapidly feeding a popula-tion of randomly arranged objects of the type which include an elongated ~lender portion, which i8 adjolned to an enlarged base portion, to yleld an output ~tream wherein all such objects are uniformly oriented, thereby facilitating further manipula-tion and/or processlng of the said object~.
It i~ a further object of the pre~ent invention to pro-vide apparatu~ of the foregoing character, which i8 capable of feed rates for the said objects which have heretofore been un-36~8 ' I

attainable in prior art apparatus, which apparatus further,acheives unusually hiqh dependability, as measurea by the deviation in number~ of articles from the desired orienta-tion at the output of the ~aid apparatus.

Summary of Invention Now in accordance with the present invention, apparatus i~ diqclosed for accepting an initially presented population of randomly oriented elongated slender articles which terminate in an enlarged head portion, and providing a high-speed out-put stream, wherein all said article~ are commonly oriented for further mechanical manipulation.
The apparatus of the invention comprises an input bowl for accepting the ~rticles, whlch bowl include~ a rotatable central dis~ for feeding ob~ects rendered incident thereupon to the periphery of the disk. A continuous wall mem~er extends upwardly from the disk periphery about a major arced zone, the ~ottom o~ the wall member being ~paced from the disk to define a gap through which the elongated portion of the articles may protrude w~ile the head~ oP same continue to ride upon the disk periphery in sliding contact with the ~ide wall. An output section defined adjacent the perlphery of the di~k at the por-tion oppo~ed to the arced zone, receives and deliver~ the art-icles from the disk.
A continuous conveying band extends about the periphery of the disk and move~ with the articlefi in the direction of disk rotation at the arced zone. ~he ~and separate~ from the l ( ( disk peripheral edge beyond the arced zone and extend~ into the output ~ection. Mean~ cooperate with the band at the output section to constrain the articles between the band and constraining means, whereby the articles are conveyed into the output ~ection~ The band diverge~ from the cooperat-ing mean~ at the end of the output Rection to release the con-strained articles for di~charge and further mechanical manipu-lation.
A platform i8 adjoined to the periphery of the disk at the output ~ection and extend~ into the output section. The platform extend~ upwardly at an angle from the plane of the disk, and the apparatus further includes mean~ to di~place article~ improperly conveyed by the ~aid band and cooperating con~training mean~, to the inclined platform, whereupon the articlea are gravitationly returned back to the adjoining disk for further orientation and feeding. The means to so displace the articles may comprise air jet~ and/or mechanical displac-ing means which act against the constrained articles while same are being conveyed, whereby article~ improperly ~eated are displaced by said means.
The constraining mean4 cooperating with the band may com-prise a dead plate spaced from the band by approximately the ~pacing of the elongated, narrow portion of the articles, whereby the articles may be carried by the band with their narraw portion~ constrained between the band and dead plate, in sliding contact with the latter, and with the enlarged head 1 11936~B

portion protruding beyond the band and plate.
The means cooperating with the conveying band to constrain the articles, can further comprise a second carrier band and mean3 to move said ~econd band in the direction of the first band with the constrained article being carried ~y the movement of ~oth said bands. The first and second band~ can be driven at a common speed. It is also possible to drive the first and ~econd bands at differing speed~, u~ing a common driving ~ource through separate power trains, or using two driving sources. This last feature can be useful for,encouraging orientation of certain types of objects.
The apparatu~ of the inventlon can al80 be utilized for orienting and feeding cylindrical objects of uniform diameters, when the gap between wall and rotating di~X i8 less than the diameters of the object~. In ~uch instance, the gap serves to discharge debris and "short-shot" mold-ings from the rotating disk. Again, however, objects not constraine~ by the conveying band and cooperating constrain-ing means, are displaced back to the disk for refeeding.
Brief Descri~tion_of Drawin~s The invention is diagrammatically illustrated, by way of example, in the drawing~ appended hereto, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a parts feeding apparatus in accordance with the present invention;

FIGURE 2 is a siae elevational view of the input bowl and 1 ~3~;2~

central disk portion of the Figure 1 apparatus, and illustrates arrangement of certain of the conveying belt elements pre~ent in the device;

.

FIGURE 3 is a somewhat schematlc side elevational view of the central disk portion of the Figure 1, apparatus and il-lustrates one arrangement for driving the said disk;

FIGURE 4 iB a transver~e cro~s-sectional view through the disk of Figure 2, and illus~rate~ (partially in schematic fashion) a further mode for driving the disk;, FIGURE 5 is an external ~ide elevational view of the ap-paratus of Figure l; and FIGURE 6 is a perspective view of the output portion~ of apparatus generally similary to that of Figure 1, but illu~-trating a further embodiment of the invention with reRpect to the conveying arrangement for parts leaving ~he feed bowl for discharge.
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Description of Preferred Embodiment .
Apparatus 10 in Figure 1 will be deRcribed especially for use in connection with orientation and feeding of articles, parts~ or component~ 12, of t~e type seen in that and in the remaining Figure~, such as e.g~ Figure 6. These components 12 are characteristic of the type of articles with which the present apparatus i~ intended to be utilized. The arti-I

cle~ 12~ as thus seem to include an elongated ~lender centralportion 14, which terminates in an enlarged head portion 16.
There is no intention to in any way be limited with re~pect to use of the apparatus with particular types of 9uch articles 12;
but for purpose of illustration, it can be pointed out that in many typical applications, article 12 can compri~e a closure or container cap, in which instance the portion 12 is actually a cylinder, open at one end and provided with internal threads, with a central nozzle (corresponding to 14) extending from the center of the closed end This last type of closure i8 commonly u~ed for dispensing containers and the like, with the nozzle being provided with an opening, or being hollow and openable by cutting of~ the tip prior to use of the di~pensing container.
It is reitarated, however, that numerous other articles have similar 6hape characteristics, and thus for purposes of Figure 1, it primarily is to be considered that a collection of randomly arranged such articles are intended for initial feed to the input bowl generally designated at 16, with the objective being to provide an output feed at a (see especially Figure 6), wherein the discharged articles are oriented in a common direction -- in this instance with the slender elongated portion facing downward, and the head facing in an upward di-rection. Thu6, in tho~e instances where the articles 12 are container cap6, this orientation permit~ rapid feed of the ob-jection~ to further proce~nlng m~inery~ ~D for example, the cap lining and testing apparatus which heretofore has been described.
Apparatus 10 is seen to include a support base 18 from which the feed bowl 16 is supported by a plurality of uprights 20 which extend from the base (Figure 5). The said base 18 also supports electric drive motors 22 and 24, and a reduce 26 which is provided in the power train between motor 22 and the drive shaft 28 for a central disk 30 which defines the bottom receiving surface of feeder bowl 16.
A continuous wall member 32, formed of sheet metal or the like, extends upwardly from above the periphery of disk 30 and extends about a mojor arc of the disk. In particular, as seen in Figure 1, the said member 32 extends upwardly from approximately points 34 to 36 about the intervening major arc of the said disk. As may be seen from Figures 1 and 2 the bot-tom 38 of the said wall member, is slightly spced from the disck periphery, to therby define a gap 40. During use of apparatus 16, the articles 12 to be oriented are deposited en mass upon the upwardly facing surface of disk 30, whis is rotating in direction 46 at a relatively reapid speed, in consequence of being driven by motor 22 through reducer 26. Centrifugal forces acting upon the individual articles 12 drive same outwardly, and the continued rotation of the disk causes the elongated slender portions 14 of the articles 12 to protrude through gap 40.
Upon this happening the said articles continue to ride upon the disk periphery about the bowl, with the downwardly facing surface I ' ~ 3~

of head portioni 16 riding in sliding contact with ~idewall 32.
This type of action can be seen with the articles 12a and 12b .
in Figure 1.
Toward the right side of Figure 1 an output ~ection 42 i~ defined for apparatus 10. This output section 42 i~ adja-cent the periphery of di~k 30 at the portion thereof which is opposed to the arced zone, i.e. the output section 42 adjoins the minor arc between 34 and 36 on the di~k. At thi~ portion of the feed bowl, the wall 3Z is cut upwardly as at 44, so that articles such a~ 12a and 12b which advance about the disk in the direction of rotation 46, can exit the bowl, iie. can depart from the disk at approximately point 44.
In accordance with a major aspect of the present inven-tion, ~t ls ieen that a continuous conveying belt or band 48 extends about the peripheral edge of disk 30, departing from such periphery at about the points 34 to 36, and extending from such points into the oùtput zone 42 of the apparatus. At the far end of such output zone, the band 48 passes about a roller 50, which in the embodiment of the apparatuR shown in Figure 1 is driven by a roller 52, in turn driven by motor 24 through the drive belt 54. The rollers 50 and 52 are carried on an axle 53 which iB journaled for rotation in a support frame 56, in turn secured via member 58 to the frame 18.
The articles that exit from the bowl 16 are ~pecifically conveyed therefrom by beiny constrained in firm fashion between the conveying band 48 and a dead plate 60 which i~ spacea from band 38 by approximately the distance appropr~ate to ~onstrain 1 ~3~

the reduced portion 14 of the article~ 12. The band 48 is preferrably formed of a flexible elaRtomeri~ material which ha~ rea60nbly good frictional properties, such as a vinyl-type plastic; or of other elastomeric materials including natural and artificial rubbers. Thus good contact and engagement with the said articles 12 is enabled, and the ~aid article8 are readily conveyed in sliding contact with the dead plate 60, and then di6charged in oriented fa~hion at the far output end 18 o the apparatus.
It iB further seen in Figures 1, 2, and 5 that a smooth surfaced platform 62 i3 adjoined to the periphery of di~k 30 at the output ~ection 42, and extends into the ouLput section indeed constituting the underlying portion of ~ame. Thi~
platform 42, as may be seen Pspecially in Figures 2 and 4, extends upwardly at a angle from the generally horizontal plane of the disk. A guide plate 64 i8 pre~ent at the side of plat-form 62 opposed to that bordering whrere the article~ exit.
It will also be clear that the extended end 66 of wall 32 i8 approximately contiguous to aurface 62; and thus it will be clear that articles 12 that become deposited upon that the sur-face of platform 66 will be conined and tend to sliae back to the central disk 30.
More specifically, it i8 seen that a plurality of air jet~ 68 are provided to one side of dead plate 60. The object of these air jets, the outputs of which are generally directed across the line of advance of the articles 12, i~ to provide a I ~L~ ;~

I

force against same tending to displace improperly oriented art-icles which are being conveyed between the dead plate 60 and band 48, ~o that such improperly oriented articles are forced rom the zone of convey~nce defined between plate 60 and band 48 onto plate 62, where they are gravitationally returned to disk 30 for refeeding and reorientation. In conqequence, a relatively high ~peed output of highly oriented articles is fed through the zone of conveyence, to be discharged as shown, e.g.
in Figure 6.
It will al80 be evident that other displacing means such a6 electromechanically activated pu~hers can perform the func-tion of air jet~ 68 - i.e., in aisplacing articles onto ~urface 62 which are not properly constrained between dead plate 60 and band 48.
In the embodiment of the invention shown in Figures 1

2, and 4, it i~ seen that conveying band 48 i8 actually driven by motor 24, i.e., via the roller 50. Referring to Figure 4, it i~ seen conversely that disk 30 is independ-ently driven by motor 22 and reducer 26, with the disk being independently rotatable from band 48 by virtue of the journal-ing provided by ball bearings 70, which permit a belt drive pully 72 to rotate independently of the di~k 30.
It i~ further w~thin ~he province of the invention, how-ever, as shown e~pecially in Figure 3, for the belt 48 to be directly driven by the disk 30; i.e., in the arrangement of Figure 3, there i8 no separate belt drive pully; rather t~e belt 48 i~ in direct contact with and driven by the di~k 30 proper, which i~ driven by motor 22 through ~he redu~er 26.
In Figure 6, a further embodimenf of the apparatus of the present invention appeara. Except for the arrangement utili~ed at the output end 42 of the apparatus, and more ~pe-cifically, the arrangement u~ed in the conveyence zone 43 which extends from pOilt 34 on the disk periphery to the di~charge zone 8, the element~ of the apparatus in Figures 6 are ident-ical to those previously described e.g., in connection with Figure 1. The zone of conveyance 43 can alternatively be re-garded as being the space between band 48 and the portion 71 o~ belt 43 which iB parallel to and moves in the same direc-tion a~ band 48.
In the instance of the embodiment of Figure 6, however, it i~ seen that dead plata 60 of Figure 1, has been replaced by a ~econd conveying belt or band 74. This band 74 is com-pr~6ed of the same material as 4 described in connection with band 48. The band 74 i8 driven by a roller 76, which in turn, i~ carried by a drive axle 78, extending to a drive gear 80.
Gear 80, in turn, i~ seen to be driven by gear 82, which i8 journaled commonly with the drive roller 50, which a~ described in connection with Figure 1, control~ the ~peed of advance of band 48.
Clearly, where a 1:1 ratio exi~ts between geara 80 62~3 and 82, the 6peed of advance of each of the bands 48 and 74 can be common. In some instan~e-~, however, it has been found desirable to utilize different gear ratios, or to otherwi~e adjust the ~peed of advance of band 74 with respect to that of band 48, 80 that they advance at differing rates. The objec-tive of such an arrangement i8 to achieve reorientation of cer-tain types of objects being conveyed by the present device through zone 43. It will be clear further, that the gearing arrangement discussed can be utilized regardless of whether the band 48 is driven through motor 22 a~ in Figure 3, or whether it i9 instead driven through motor 24, a~ would be the case where the arrangement of Figure 4 were utilized for driving disk 30.
While the present invention has been particularly described in term~ of specific embodiments thereof, it will be understood in view of the present di~clo~ure, that numerou~ variations upon the invention are now enabled to those ~killed in the art, which variations yet re5ide within the scope of the present teaching.
Thus for example, while the apparatus of the invention has been part~cularly described for use in connection with orienting and feeding objects characterized by an elongated narrow portion adjoined to an enlarged ba~e portion, the apparatus can 6erve to orient and feed commonly sized elong-ated cylindrical objects of uniform diameter. Thu8, if the gap between wall number 32 and disk 30 is less t~an the dia-l ~
I ~ %8 meters of such objects, the gap serve3 only the function of permitting di~charge of debris and so-called "short shots" molded objects. The remaining cylinders, however, (e.g. lipstick cases) proceed to the disk periphery where their axe~ become approximately tangential to the periphery of the disk, and are then received and constrained between the output conveying belt and dead plate (or between the two belts as in Figure 6).
Again, improperly constrained such article~ (e.g.
those riding only partly held by the conveyi~g and coopera-ting means) are di~placed by the air jet~ or equivalent~ t back to surace 62 for reorientation and feeding.
Accordingly, the invention i~ to be broadly conRtrued, and limited only by the scopa and spirit of the claims now apended hereto.

Claims (16)

THE EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION IN WHICH AN EXCLUSIVE
PROPERTY OR PRIVILEGE IS CLAIMED ARE DEFINED AS FOLLOWS:

1. Apparatus for accepting an initially presented pop-ulation of random articles of the type including an elongated narrow portion adjoined to an enlarged base portion, and pro-viding a high speed output stream, wherein all said articles are commonly oriented for further mechanical manipulation; said apparatus comprising:
an input bowl for accepting said articles, said bowl including a rotatable central disk for feeding said articles rendered incident thereupon to the periphery of said disk;
a continuous wall member rising upwardly from a point adjacent the periphery of said disk and extending about a major arced zone of said disk: the bottom of said wall member being spaced from the disk periphery to define a gap through which the elongated portions of said articles may protrude while the bases of same continue to ride said disk periphery in sliding contact with the inner surface of said side wall:
an output section for receiving and delivering said articles from said disk, being defined at said apparatus adja-cent the periphery of said disk, at the portion thereof opposed to said major arced zone;
a continuous conveying band extending about the periph-ery of said disk, said band and said articles moving in the direction of disk rotation at said arced zone;
said band separating from said disk periphery beyond said major arced zone and extending into said output section;

said wall member having an opening at said output section whre said band separates from said disk, for permitting said articles to leave said disk and said bowl with said band;
means cooperating with said band at said output sec-tion to constrain said articles between said band and said means, whereby said articles are carried into said output section; and said band diverging from said cooperating means at the end of said output section to release said constrained art-icles for said further mechanical manipulation.

2. Apparatus in accordance with claim 1, further includ-ing a platform adjoined to the periphery of said disk at said output section and extending into said output section, said platform extending upwardly at an angle from the plane of said disk; and said apparatus further including means to displace articles improperly conveyed by said band and cooperating con-straining means to said inclined platform, whereby said articles are gravitationly returned back to the adjoining said disk for further orientation and feeding.

3. Apparatus in accordance with claim 2, wherein said means to displace said articles comprise air jet means for di-recting air jets against said constrained articles while same are being conveyed, whereby articles improperly seated are displaced by said jets.

4. Apparatus in accordance with claim 2, wherein said constraining means cooperating with said band comprises a dead plate spaced from said band by approximately the spacing of the elongated, narrow portion of said articles, whereby said articles may be carried by said band with said narrow portion constrained between the band and dead plate in sliding contact with the lat-ter, and with the said base portion protruding beyond the sand-wiched hand and plate.

5. Apparatus in accordance with claim 2, wherein said means cooperating with said band to constrain said article, comprises a second carrier band, and means to move said second band in the direction of the said first band with the con-strained article being carried by the movement of both said bands.

6. Apparatus in accordance with claim 5, wherein said first and second bands are commonly driven.

7. Apparatus in accordance with claim 5, wherein said first and second bands are driven at a common speed.

8. Apparatus in accordance with claim 5, wherein said first and second bands are driven at differing speeds.

9. Apparatus for accepting an initially presented pop-ulation of cylindrical commonly sized articles, and provid-ing a high speed output stream, for further mechanical manipu-lation; said apparatus comprising:
an input bowl for accepting said articles, said bowl including a rotatable central disk for feeding said articles rendered incident thereupon to the periphery of said disk;
a continuous wall member rising upwardly from a point adjacent the periphery of said disk and extending about a major arched zone of said disk; the bottom of said wall member being spaced from the disk periphery to define a gap through which undersized articles or debris may exit while the remaining said articles continue to ride said disk periphery in sliding contact with the inner surface of said side wall;
an output section for receiving and delivering said articles from said disk, being defined at said appara-tus adjacent the periphery of said disk, at the portion thereof opposed to said major arced zone;
a continuous conveying band extending about the periphery of said disk, said band and said articles moving in the direction of disk rotation at said arced zone;
said band separating from said disk periphery beyond said major arced zone and extending into said out-put section;
said wall member having an opening at said out-put section where said band separates from said disk, for permitting said articles to leave said disk and said bowl with said band;
means cooperating with said band at said output section to constrain said articles between said band and said means, whereby said articles are carried into said output section; and said band diverging from said cooperating means at the end of said output section to release said constrained articles for said further mechanical manipulation.

10. Apparatus in accordance with claim 1, further includ-ing a platform adjoined to the periphery of said disk at said output section and extending into said output section, said platform extending upwardly at an angle from the plane of said disk; and said apparatus further including means to displace articles improperly conveyed by said band and cooperating constraining means to said inclined plat-form, whereby said articles are gravitationly returned back to the adjoining said disk for further orientation and feeding.

11. Apparatus in accordance with claim 2, wherein said means to displace said articles comprise air jet means for directing air jets against said articles while same are being conveyed, whereby articles improperly seated are displaced by said jets.

12. Apparatus in accordance with claim 10, wherein said constraining means cooperating with said band comprises a dead plate spaced frm said band by approximately the dia-meter of said articles, whereby said articles may be carried by said band sandwiched between the band and dead plate in sliding contact with the latter.

13. Apparatus in accordance with claim 10, wherein said means cooperating with said band to constrain said article, comprises a second carrier band, and means to move said second band in the direction of the said first band with the article being carried by the movement of both said bands.

14. Apparatus in accordance with claim 13, wherein said first and second bands are commonly driven.

15. Apparatus in accordance with claim 13, wherein said first and second bands are driven at a common speed.

16. Apparatus in accordance with claim 13, wherein said first and second bands are driven at differing speeds.