Classifications

• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
  • B65H—HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL, e.g. SHEETS, WEBS, CABLES
  • B65H29/00—Delivering or advancing articles from machines; Advancing articles to or into piles
  • B65H29/66—Advancing articles in overlapping streams
  • B65H29/669—Advancing articles in overlapping streams ending an overlapping stream
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
  • B65G—TRANSPORT OR STORAGE DEVICES, e.g. CONVEYORS FOR LOADING OR TIPPING, SHOP CONVEYOR SYSTEMS OR PNEUMATIC TUBE CONVEYORS
  • B65G17/00—Conveyors having an endless traction element, e.g. a chain, transmitting movement to a continuous or substantially-continuous load-carrying surface or to a series of individual load-carriers; Endless-chain conveyors in which the chains form the load-carrying surface
  • B65G17/30—Details; Auxiliary devices
  • B65G17/32—Individual load-carriers
  • B65G17/323—Grippers, e.g. suction or magnetic
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
  • B65G—TRANSPORT OR STORAGE DEVICES, e.g. CONVEYORS FOR LOADING OR TIPPING, SHOP CONVEYOR SYSTEMS OR PNEUMATIC TUBE CONVEYORS
  • B65G47/00—Article or material-handling devices associated with conveyors; Methods employing such devices
  • B65G47/52—Devices for transferring articles or materials between conveyors i.e. discharging or feeding devices
  • B65G47/56—Devices for transferring articles or materials between conveyors i.e. discharging or feeding devices to or from inclined or vertical conveyor sections
  • B65G47/57—Devices for transferring articles or materials between conveyors i.e. discharging or feeding devices to or from inclined or vertical conveyor sections for articles
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
  • B65H—HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL, e.g. SHEETS, WEBS, CABLES
  • B65H29/00—Delivering or advancing articles from machines; Advancing articles to or into piles
  • B65H29/003—Delivering or advancing articles from machines; Advancing articles to or into piles by grippers
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
  • B65G—TRANSPORT OR STORAGE DEVICES, e.g. CONVEYORS FOR LOADING OR TIPPING, SHOP CONVEYOR SYSTEMS OR PNEUMATIC TUBE CONVEYORS
  • B65G2201/00—Indexing codes relating to handling devices, e.g. conveyors, characterised by the type of product or load being conveyed or handled
  • B65G2201/02—Articles
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
  • B65H—HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL, e.g. SHEETS, WEBS, CABLES
  • B65H2301/00—Handling processes for sheets or webs
  • B65H2301/40—Type of handling process
  • B65H2301/44—Moving, forwarding, guiding material
  • B65H2301/447—Moving, forwarding, guiding material transferring material between transport devices
  • B65H2301/4471—Grippers, e.g. moved in paths enclosing an area
  • B65H2301/44712—Grippers, e.g. moved in paths enclosing an area carried by chains or bands
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
  • B65H—HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL, e.g. SHEETS, WEBS, CABLES
  • B65H2301/00—Handling processes for sheets or webs
  • B65H2301/40—Type of handling process
  • B65H2301/44—Moving, forwarding, guiding material
  • B65H2301/447—Moving, forwarding, guiding material transferring material between transport devices
  • B65H2301/4473—Belts, endless moving elements on which the material is in surface contact
  • B65H2301/44732—Belts, endless moving elements on which the material is in surface contact transporting articles in overlapping stream
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
  • B65H—HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL, e.g. SHEETS, WEBS, CABLES
  • B65H2555/00—Actuating means
  • B65H2555/10—Actuating means linear
  • B65H2555/13—Actuating means linear magnetic, e.g. induction motors

Definitions

• the presentinvention relates to conveyor systems and, more particularly, to novel, improved systems for conveying parallelepipedal or generally parallelepipedal articles at high speed from one location to another.
• the perhaps most commercially important application of the invention is in the transfer of newspapers or newspaper inserts from an infeed conveyor to a drop-off conveyor.
• the infeed conveyor in a typical application of the invention, delivers newspapers or newspaper inserts from a press room to a conveyor system as disclosed herein. That conveyor system, located in the mail room of the printing establishment, transfers the articles 300 feet or more and to a different level to the drop-off conveyor which feeds a stacker or inserter in newspaper handling applications of the invention.
• insert appearing above and hereinafter is employed in the usual sense to include both magazines, advertisements, and the like and those separate sections of a Sunday or other larger paper. Such papers will typically exceed the 160 page maximum of a modern, high speed press. Consequently, one or more inserts of specified sections will also be printed and inserted in the paper before it is delivered to the stacker.
• the conveyor systems disclosed herein feature a novel, superior gripper conveyor for transferring the articles • being handled from the infeed conveyor to the drop-off conveyor.
• Those gripper conveyors have grippers that can be locked in any one of an essentially unlimited number of positions with a force which can be varied as needed from " application-to-appli ⁇ ation of the invention.
• Relatively simple mechanisms including an off-the-shelf, one-way spring clutch can be used to insure that the jaws of the gripper assemblies remain positively closed during the article transfer portion of the operating cycle and open in an equally superior fashion and with a minimum of shock loading at the drop-off point.
• the consequence of these features is that the gripper conveyors disclosed herein operate reliably and, because the forces exerted on the articles being handled can be tailored to the article thickness, with minimized strain on and wear of the gripper assemblies.
• This conveyor is also constructed to acc ⁇ miodate two or more stacked aritcles arriving together on the infeed conveyor, eliminating the jam which might other ⁇ wise occur in such circumstances.
• the efficiency of the conveyor system as disclosed herein will depend upon the gripper conveyor of that assembly seizing and carrying away the articles trans ⁇ ferred to it at a spacing or pitch differing from that-at which those typically imbricated articles are delivered from the press by the infeed conveyor (by "pitch” is meant the distance between the leading edges of successive articles) . This may differ by several inches, and it is accordingly significant that the conveyor systems disclosed herein are capable of changing the pitch of the articles supplied to them from an infeed conveyor to the gripper conveyor pitch simply and in a manner which will insure that those articles are securely siezed by the gripper assemblies.
• the transfer conveyor typically of the lug belt type, is also preferably pivoted about its feed end or otherwise so constructed that the upper, discharge end of the conveyor can be vertically displaced.
• the provision for vertical adjustment can be taken advantage of to insure that articles of different thicknesses will be properly positioned between the jaws of the conveyor' gripper assemblies before the latter are closed upon those articles.
• This novel drive arrangement is important in that it substan ⁇ tially extends the service life of those gripper conveyor com ⁇ ponents most subject to wear.
• Yet another innovative feature of the conveyor systems dis ⁇ closed herein is an arrangement by which the relationship of the gripper conveyor assemblies and the lug belt conveyor can be so adjusted as to accommodate articles with different cut-off lengths (that term is employed herein as in the technologies to which the present invention relates to designate the distance between the leading and trailing edges of the article being con ⁇ veyed) .
• conveyor systems which can transfer the articles being handled over relatively long distances and from one elevation to another reliably and at high speeds; which can handle, with equal facility, articles varying in thickness by an order of magnitude or more; which are so constructed as to minimize wear on those system components most subject to wear, thereby substantially increasing the service life of those components; which are capable of diverting articles away from major system components if a malfunction occurs, thereby protecting those components against the damage which might otherwise result; which, in addition to being readily adjustable to accommodate articles of different thicknesses, can with equal facility be programmed to handle articles of different top- to-bottom lengths; which are capable of accepting articles at one pitch andspacing and delivering those articles to a conveyor designed to accept those articles at a different pitch; which are so constructed that a single article, or a small number of articles, can, upon demand, be dropped off at any given location along the conveyor system route.
• one of the major components or subsystems of the novel conveyor arrangements disclosed herein is a conveyor of the gripper type employed to transfer the articles being handled over the major part of the path travelled by those articles.
• Another important and primary object of the invention resides in the provision of novel, improved gripper conveyors for transferring articles in a specified orientation along a path of determined configura ⁇ tion which may include both horizontal and vertical components and in the provision of novel, improved gripper assemblies for such conveyors.
• Fig. 1 is a generally pictorial layout of a conveyor system constructed in accord with, and embodying, the principles of the present invention
• Fig. 2 is a partial, partly schematic, side view of the conveyor system
• Fig. 2A a fragmentary plan view of a lug belt conveyor incorporated in the conveyor system of Fig. 1;
• Fig. 3 is a fragmentary, pictorial view of a gripper conveyor constituting a major subsystem of the conveyor system shown in Fig. 2;
• Fig. 3A is an elevation of one of a serially connected complement of truck assembly, gripper assembly combinations which are constituents of the gripper conveyor;
• Fig. 4 is a fragmentary view showing, in elevation, two of the serially connected gripper assemblies employed in the system of Fig. 3;
• Fig. 5 is an elevation of a gripper assembly taken at right angles to Fig. 3A, it also shows details of the acco- ciated truck assembly employed to guide the gripper assembly along a conveyor system track such as that shown in Fig. 1;
• Fig. 6 is a side elevation of a cam-type mechanism employed in the gripper conveyor to actuate jaw closing mechanisms incorporated in the gripper assemblies;
• Fig. 7 is an end view of the actuating mechanism
• Fig. 8 is an elevation of a drive mechanism incorporated in the gripper conveyor to displace the gripper assemblies of the latter along a track such as that shown in Fig. 1;
• Fig. 9 is a top view of the drive mechanism
• Fig. 10 is an elevation of mechanism employed in the gripper conveyor which cooperates with an also illustrated release mechanism in each gripper assembly to cause the jaws of that assembly to open as it reaches an article drop ⁇ off point;
• Fig. 11 is a partial section through a gripper assembly, showing a clutch mechanism incorporated in that assembly to lock the jaws of the latter in any one of an essentially infinite var of closed positions and mechanism for releasing the clutch and allowing the jaws to open at an article drop-off point.
• Fig. 1 is a layout of a conveyor system 20 constructed in accord with, and embodying, the principles of the present invention
• Fig. 2 shows the major components of that system.
• the infeed conveyor typically of the endless tape type, may, in a prominent applicaiton of the invention, be employed to transfer news- papers or inserts from the folder of a high ' speed press to conveyor system 20, passing from a pressroom to a ailroom isolated therefrom as it does so.
• the infeed conveyor is not. part of the present invention, and conveyors of this character are commercially available. Therefore, the infeed conveyor will be referred to hereinafter only to the extent necessary for an appreciation of the present invention.
• Drop-off conveyor 26 is, likewise, not a component of the exemplary conveyor system disclosed herein. Instead, it is designed to receive articles from that conveyor and, in a typical application of the type under discussion, deliver those articles to a stacker or to an inserter where the news ⁇ paper is assembled before it is delivered to the stacker.
• inserters, stackers, and tape, wire, or belt type conveyors such as that identified by reference character 26 in Fig. 1 are commercially available, are not part of the present invention, and will not be descsribed further herein except in their relationship to conveyor system 20.
• conveyor system 20 includes, in addition to the gripper conveyor 22 identified above, an emergency exit conveyor 28, a force feed conveyor 30 located at the downstream or delivery end of the latter and a lug belt conveyor 32 for transferring articles delivered to it by the force feed conveyor to the gripper assemblies (see, also, Fig. 3) of gripper conveyor 22.
• gripper conveyor 22 is employed to transfer the articles being handled over all but a few feet of the up to several hundred feet and one or more changes in elevation from the infeed conveyor to the drop-off conveyor.
• the points at which the gripper conveyor picks up and drops off articles being handled by it are identified by reference characters "A" and "B" in Fig. 1.
• the gripper conveyor is typically the most significant conveyor subsystem from the cost point-of-view, at least.
• Emergency exit conveyor 28 is ⁇ onequently provided to protect the gripper conveyor against the damage to it which might otherwise result from a jam in the gripper conveyor or an emergency press shutdown and consequent abnormal influx of articles from the press via infeed conveyor 24.
• the illustrated, exemplary, emergency conveyor includes one or more endless wires, tapes, or belts 35 trained around horizontally oriented, transversely extending rotating members such as rolls 36 and 38 at the lower, feed end and upper, delivery end of the emergency exit conveyor.
• the emergency exit conveyor is mounted for pivotal movement about a hori ⁇ zontal axis at its lower, infeed end via a shaft 40 which carries rotatable drive member 36.
• the upper end of the emergency exit conveyor is displaceable between an operative position in which it is capable of transferring articles being handled onward for delivery to gripper conveyor 22 and a position in which those articles are instead dumped onto the floor behind conveyor system 20 or into a discharge chute (not shown) or otherwise deflected away from the gripper conveyor to prevent damage to the latter.
• the operative and dump positions of the emergency exit conveyor are identified by reference characters "C" and "D" in Fig. 2.
• the upper end of the emergency exit conveyor is supported for movement between the operative and dump positions just described by pneumatic cylinders 42 at opposite sides of the conveyor (only one of which is shown) .
• the pneumatic cylinders are supported from the framework 46 of conveyor system 20. The details of the latter, are, again, not part of the present invention; and the framework will accordingly be described hereinafter only to the extent necessary for an understanding of the invention.
• Each pneumatic cylinder 42 has a piston rod (not shown) connected through a clevis 48 to the conveyor. Consequently, by admitting fluid to the upper ends of the pneumatic cylinders, the conveyor can be pivoted downwardly to the dump position D. Conversely, by supplying fluid to the lower ends of the cylinders the conveyor can be rotated upwardly in a counterclockwise direction to the operative, "C", position.
• a normal biasing force is imposed upon them.
• This is provided by a companion, endless wire, tape, or belt system 50 having a lower run 52 which parallels the upper run 54 of the emergency exit conveyor.
• This force applying, cover system (which includes details that are not part of the present invention) is supported from the framework 46 of conveyor system 20 at both its lower and upper ends by support assemblies 56. As shown in Fig. 2, these assemblies are of the adjusting screw type. These are used to raise and lower the cover system for articles of different thicknesses.
• each of these support assemblies preferably includes a flexible link 58.
• a flexible link 58 In newspaper handling (and other) applications of the present invention, two or more superimposed or stacked articles may simultaneously be delivered to the emergency exit conveyor by infeed conveyor 24.
• the flexible links allows the cover assembly to move upward and accommodate such anomalies without interfering with the biasing action which the assembly provides.
• the articles being handled by system 20 are delivered from the emergency exit conveyor to the (typically lug belt type) transfer conveyor 32.
• Force feed system 30 insures that the articles will be propelled sufficiently far along the transfer conveyor to insure engage ⁇ ment between that conveyor's lugs and the upstream, lower, trailing edges of the articles.
• the force feed system includes an endless belt 60 trained around rolls 62 and 64 and a transversely extending roll 68 which is preferably faced with a soft, resilient material to create a strong gripping force at the nip 70 between that roll and the upper end of endless belt 60. Articles passing through the nip 70 between the softly surfaced roll 68 and driven belt 60 are accordingly positively propelled sufficiently far along conveyor 32 to be securely engaged by the lugs of that conveyor.
• Lug belt conveyor 32 is not shown in detail herein be ⁇ cause, again, the details of this system are not part of the invention.
• this conveyor includes a lower roll driven by a sprocket 72 and a freely rotatable upper roll (not shown) around which two or more transversely spaced, endless chains 74 (see Fig. 2A) are trained. These chains carry lugs 76 designed to engage the lower, trailing edges of the articles 78 being handled by the conveyor system 20.
• the illustrated conveyor has disappearing lugs; i.e., lugs which rotate downwar toward their supporting chains as they reach the upper end of t conveyor. This system is not necessary, however; a conveyor wi fixed lugs can equally well be employed.
• conveyor 32 It is the function of conveyor 32 to so transfer the articles arriving on infeed conveyor 24 to gripper conveyor 22 a manner that the articles can be securely seized by the grippe assemblies 34 of the latter.
• the lug belt conveyor also con ⁇ tributes to the versatility of the novel conveyor systems dis ⁇ closed herein in that it can be employed to insure that article of different thicknesses and cut-off lengths are properly positioned with respect to the gripper conveyor assemblies when the latter are closed.
• this conveyor is also used to change and match the pitch of the imbricated articles arriving on infeed conveyor 24 to the generally different pitch (typically three vs. six inches) of the gripper conveyor. That this match can be made is an important practical feature of the present invention because press and conveyor system operating pari aters require those differing pitches for operating efficiency.
• the lug belt conveyor is pivotally supported at its lower end for rotation- about a transversely extending, horizontal axis by shaft 80.
• the latter also supports the lug belt conveyor drive sprocket 72.
• the upper, delivery end of this inclined, transfer conveyor is supported for vertical movement about the horizontal axis just described by pneumatic cylinders at opposite sides of that conveyor.
• pneumatic cylinders One of these is shown in Fig. 2 and identified by reference character 82.
• the upper end of the lug belt conveyor can be so vertically adjusted that the leading edges of articles of different thicknesses will be precisely aligned with the gripper assemblies 34 of conveyor 22 in the manner shown in Fig. 4 as the articles reach the feed end of the gripper conveyor.
• Timing of the movements of the gripper and lug belt conveyors 22 and 32 to insure that the articles are properly gripped by assemblies 34 is accomplished by employing a single drive system 84 (see Fig. 8) for both conveyors. Adjustment of that timing to accommodate articles with different cut-off lengths is effected by shifting the drive sprocket 72 at the lower end of the lug belt conveyor.
• the gripper assemblies 34 of conveyor 22 are mounted on, and conveyed along, conveyor track 86 by truck assemblies 88 to which the gripper assemblies may be attached by screws or the like.
• the track has a C-section as shown in Figures 3 and 5.
• the lower end of the track extending vertically to a level such as that identified by reference characters E in Fig. 1, will typically be machined from appropriate stock for rigidity and strength and to otherwise accommodate the forces imposed upon that section of the conveyor track. Elsewhere, loads are lighter and the requirements for rigidity and strength lower. A more cost effective, rolled or otherwise formed shape will preferably be employed in those sections of the track.
• each of the truck assemblies 88 has a frame 89 fabricated from a more-or-less V-shaped member 90, a W-shaped member 91, and angle-type stiffeners 92 and 94, all fixed into a unitary structure.
• the lower angle 94 also serves as a mounting platform or bracket for the associated gripper assembly 34.
• each truck assembly 88 Supported from the frame 89 of each truck assembly 88 by axles 95 are four track-engaging wheels 96. As is apparent from Fig. 5, these wheels 96 guide the truck assembly along a path determined by the configuration and orientation of the gripper conveyor track.
• the gripper assemblies 34 are best shown in Figures 3 and 3A. Each includes a sheet metal frame 104 fixed to the associated truck assembly 88. Also, each gripper assembly includes a sheet metal jaw 106 bolted or otherwise fixed to frame 104 and a shaft 108 extending transversely of the gripper assembly and supported for rotation about an axis 110 from the side walls 112 (only one of which is shown) of gripper assembly frame 104. A movable jaw 114 is fixed to shaft 108 for rotation therewith between an open position and any one of an essentially infinite number of closed positions with respect to fixed jaw 106. The open position is shown in solid lines in Fig. 3A and the "most closed" position in dotted lines in that Figure.
• fixed and movable jaws 106 and 114 may be made of sheet metal.
• the material from which the latter is fabricated will preferably be of a relatively lighter gauge, giving it sufficient flexibility to accommodate variations in the nominal thickness of the articles being handled without damage to the gripper assembly components.
• Rubber, or similar, members 115 are fixed to the opposit sides of movable jaw 114. These protect the articles being handled by the gripper assemblies against damage. They also increase the fri ⁇ tional forces exerted on those articles, further insuring that they will not be dropped as they are carried along the route determined by the configuration of gripper conveyor track 86.
• gripper conveyor 22 includes a series of truck and gripper assembly combination connected into an endless, articulated chain by drive pins 120.
• the number of truck and gripper assembly combinations will vary from installation-to-installation but will be of a number such that the endless chain of assemblies is equal in length with gripper conveyor track 86.
• Each drive pin 120 extends through and is supported from the frame 89 of a truck assembly 88 to which reinforcements 12 and 124 are attached.
• the pin is fixed through a bifurcated extension 126 of the frame of the truck assembly it follows along the gripper conveyor track (see,, particularly Fig. 3) by a frictional spring retainer 128.
• the chain or train of articulated truck assemblies and gripper assemblies carried by the latter are displaced along the gripper conveyor track by the linear drive system 84 mentioned briefly above.
• This drive system is shown schematically in Fig. 2 and in more detail in Figs. 8 and 9. It includes two drive motors 132 and 13" . These are supported from the conveyor system framework 46 at a location somewhat above the bottom end of the first vertical run of gripper conveyor 22 as shown in Fig. 2.
• Motors 132 and 134 are connected through gear boxes 136 and 138 to gripper conveyor drives 140 and 142. Each of the
• the lower section of gripper conveyor track 86 is preferably fabricated from solid stock. As is shown in Fig. 5, a slot 159 is milled in this track to accommodate the rollers 154-2 of endless drive 142.
• a timing system 160 is incorporated in linear drive 84 to match the speeds of the two truck assembly drive systems 140 and 142.
• off-the-shelf gear boxes 136 and 138 have auxiliary shafts 162 and 164 for fans or other accessories.
• Timing sprockets 166 and 168 are fixed to these shafts, and a timing belt 170 is trained around them and an idler sprocket 172 which is adjust ⁇ able to take up slack in the belt.
• each of the gripper conveyor truck assembly pin drives 140 and 142 in ⁇ cludes a pair of vertically extending, backup members 180 and 182. These parallel the vertical runs of endless chains 148 and are employed to take up slack in the latter. Members 182, for example, are engaged by rollers 186 of the endless drive carrier components 152. They bias rollers 154-1 and 154-2 toward the truck assembly drive pin 120. engaged by those rollers in the direction indicated by arrows F in Fig. 5 to insure that a firm driving engagement is maintained between the driving rolls and the drive pin.
• Members 180 similarly take up the slack in the endless chains 148 as they travel downwardly in the return path shown by arrow H, for example, in Fig. 8.
• the adjusting members in question are fixed at both their lower and upper ends to conveyor system framework 46 by adjusting screws 192 threaded into the latter. These allow the tension or force exerted on the endless chains to be adjusted for proper engagement with the truck assembly drive pins and to adjust the slack taken up in the chain on its return path.
• linear drives as just described can be employed at (preferably equally spaced) interval ' s along gripper track 86 to further equalize loads on that conveyor, if desired.
• the drive system for the lug belt conveyor also includes a drive with an output . sprocket 193 and an input from the two gripper conveyor motors 132 and 134.
• An endless chain 194 is trained around sprockets 72 and 193 and the sprockets of an idler assembly 195. This assembly can be displaced along the framework 46 of gripper conveyor 22 to also adjust the timing between the gripper and lug belt conveyors.
• gripper conveyor 22 Other, important subsystems of gripper conveyor 22 are those for closing the jaws of the gripper conveyor assmeblies upon the articles being handled by them and mechanisms for releasing these jaws to drop articles 78 onto conveyor 26 at one or more intermediate points along the track of the conveyor system.
• the gripper assembly jaw closing mechanism is shown in Figure 6 and 7 and identified by reference character 196. It includes a cam 198 pivotally supported at its upstream end from the conveyor system framework 46 on a transversely ex ⁇ tending pivot member 200. The downstream end of the cam is articulately fixed by a pin 202 and connector 204 to the piston rod 206 of a pneumatic cylinder 208 also supported from the conveyor system framework. This arrangement permits cam 198 to be rotated about shaft 200 to vary the locus of cam surface 210 as shown in dotted and full lines in Fig. 6, for example.
• the force which the gripper assembly jaws are capable of exerting on an article clamped therebetween can be limited to a maximum appropriate to the thickness of the article. That is, the pressure in the cylinder can be in ⁇ creased to insure that thicker articles are securely seized and decreased when thinner articles are being handled to reduce the gripper force and, therefore, wear on the gripper assem ⁇ blies yet still insure that the thinner articles are secur ⁇ ely gripped.
• a trailing link 214 Pivotably fixed to the downstream end of cam 198 by member 212 is a trailing link 214.
• the downstream end of the trailing link is articulately and adjustably connected to the upstream end of the conveyor system framework 46 by a spring biased linkage identified generally be reference character 216. It is not thought necessary to describe this connecting arrangement further herein as its details are not part of the present invention and as the adjustability of the connecting arrangement is employed only in setting up the system, not in its operation.
• the moveable jaws 114 of the gripper assemblies are biased toward the open position shown in Figures 3 and 3A by coil springs 218 and 220 wound around shaft 108 at , the opposite ends thereof.
• One end of each spring engages the moveable jaw 114 and the other similarly engages fixed jaw 106 to bias the moveable jaw away from the fixed jaw.
• Jaw 114 is rotatably moved toward jaw 106 against the bias exerted by these springs to any one of the infinite number of closedpositions it is capable of assuming by cam 198 and a follower mechanism 221 incorporated in each of the grippper assemblies.
• This follower mechanism includes an arm 222 fixed to the gripper assembly shaft 108 for rotation therewith and a follower 224 rotatably supported at, and from, the free end of the arm.
• cam follower 224 rolls along cam track 210. This results in shaft 108 and the moveable jaw 114 fixed to that shaft being rotatably displaced toward a closed position.
• the arc through which the moveable jaw can be pivoted and, therefore, the spacing between the moveable and fixed jaws in the closed position and the force which those jaws are consequently capable exerting on an article of given thickness is determined by the position in which cam 198 is located by pneumatic cylinder 208. This is in turn determined by the pressure across the fluid in that cylinder. For example, if cam surface 210 is displaced to the position shown in dotted lines shown in Fig. 6, the maximum extent to which the gripper assembly jaws 106 and 114 can be closed is greater than if the cam surface is in the full line position shown in that Figure. At the same time, the gripping force which those jaws are capable of exerting is limited by the pneumatic pressure in cylinder 208.
• cam member 198 will simply retract upwardly against the force exerted by the pneumatic cylinder, limiting the rotation of movable jaw 114 to a closed position by the cam follower mechanism because the resulting relocation of cam surface 210 will limit to a smaller magnitude the rotation of cam arm 222 and consequently, the rotation of shaft 108 and the "toward a closed position rotation" of movable jaw 114.
• a one-way spring clutch 230 that clutch includes two clutch hubs 232 and 234 and a coil spring 236.
• Clutch hubs 232 and 234 are journalled on gripper assem ⁇ bly shaft 108 in end-to-end relationship. Hub 232 is fixed against rotation relative to the gripper assembly frame 104 in any convenient manner and is rotatable relative to shaft 108. Clutch hub 234 is fixed to the gripper -assembly shaft 108 for rotation therewith by a pin 238.
• Helical or coil spring 236 overlaps and surrounds the apposite sections of the two hubs.
• One end of this spring is fixed to hub 232, and the spring is dimensioned to tightly grip hub 234 in the absence of a force effective to relaxed or unwind that spring.
• the cam follower mechanism rotates shaft 108 and hub 234 in a "spring unwinding" direction, allowing that shaft, hub 234, and moveable gripper assembly jaw 114 to move toward fixed jaw 106. Rotation in the opposite direction, however, is prohibited as this is the "spring tightening" direction; and any tendency toward movement in that direction conse ⁇ quently locks the two hubs together and to the gripper frame, preventing rotation of the moveable jaw toward the open position.
• cam follower 224 of each gripper assembly rides from cam surface 210 onto the lower, arculately configured surface 240 of trailing link 214 as the moveable gripper assembly jaw 114 reaches.the wanted closed position and cam follower 224 rides off cam surface 210. This keeps cam follower 222 from being snapped in a clockwise direction (as shown in Fig. 6) by moveable jaw opening springs 218 and 220 as might occur if the follower simply dropped off the end of cam 198.
• dampers 254 Shock loads on the gripper conveyor assemblies 34 are further reduced by the dampers 254 shown in Figure 10.
• dampers 254 fabricated from rubber or another resilient material, are housed in an extension 255 of gripper assembly frame 104 and in the return or "jaw opening" path of gripper assembly moveable jaw 114.
• the resilient bumper • limits the travel of the moveable jaw as it reaches its open position and, because of its resiliency, minimizes the loads which might otherwise be imposed upon the jaw at that point.
• the mechanism for releasing clutch 230 and allowing gripper assembly moveable jaw 114 to be restored to its open position by springs 218 and 220 (see Fig. 3) , thus permitting the -article being transferred to drop from the gripper assembly includes a clutch release 246 incorporated in each gripper assembly 34 and a release actuating mechanism 248 located at each drop-off point. Two of these are illustrated in Figure 1 and identified by reference char ⁇ acters 250 and 252.
• the clutch release includes a collar 256 journalled on the shaft 108 of the gripper assembly 34 with which it is associated for rotation thereabout.
• a rotor clip 258 keeps the collar from sliding along shaft 108.
• the second end or tang 257 of the gripper assembly clutch spring 236 is fixed to the release collar for rotation there ⁇ with as shown in Fig. 11.
• Rotational movement of the collar between positions in which it is effective to unwind the clutch spring and allow the gripper assembly jaws to open and a second position in which the spring is sufficiently relaxed to lock hubs 232 and 234 together and prevent the rotation of shaft 108 and the opening of jaw 114 is limited by a disc 260 journalled on gripper assembly shaft 108 adjacent the release collar and a pin 262 fixed to the release collar and extending into a circumferentially elongated slot 264 in disc 260.
• Release collar 256 has an elongated, flat extension 266 (see Fig. 10) .
• This extension is engagable by a roller 268 of clutch release actuating mechanism 248 as the gripper assembly moves past the drop-off point at which the actuating mechanism is located.
• This relative movement between the release collar extension 266 and roller 268 as a gripper assembly 34 moves past the drop-off point (to the left as shown in Fig. 10) results in relaxing or unwrapping of the clutch spring allowing gripper assembly jaw 114 to be restored by springs 218 and 220 to its open position.
• the roller 268 of the clutch release actuating assembly is carried on one end of lever 279which is supported from the conveyor system track 86 by a pivot member 272, a bracket 274, and a support 276 bolted or otherwise fixed to the track.
• Lever 270 can be displaced between an operative position in which roller 268 is positioned to engage release collar extension 266 in the manner just described and (clockwise, as shown in Fig. 10) to a second position in which the roller will not engage the release collar. In that case, the clutch release mechanism is not actuated; and the gripper mechanism is located without dropping off the article clamped between its jaws.
• Lever 270 can be shifted between the positions just de ⁇ scribed by solenoids 278 and 280 having armatures 282 and 284 fixed to lever 270 on opposite sides of pivot member 272. This permits lever 270 to be shifted between its operative and in ⁇ operative positions so fast that even a single gripper assembly can be opened, allowing a single article to be removed from the stream ofthose being transferred by the gripper conveyor although a larger number can of course be removed from the strea by keeping lever 270 in its operative position for a longer period of time, if desired.
• This novel arrangement is particularly useful in newspaper handling and similar applications of the invention, for example, as it permits single check copies or a small number of such copies to be recovered from the stream of copies at a drop-off point such as that shown at 250 in Fig. 1.

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• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• Discharge By Other Means (AREA)
• Chain Conveyers (AREA)

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• 1984
  • 1984-12-07 EP EP19850900384 patent/EP0207073A4/de not_active Withdrawn
  • 1984-12-07 WO PCT/US1984/002006 patent/WO1986003476A1/en not_active Application Discontinuation
• 1985
  • 1985-09-30 JP JP60217782A patent/JPS61136855A/ja active Pending

Non-Patent Citations (1)

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