GB112933A - Improvements in or relating to Machines for Applying Caps to Electrode Rods or Batteries. - Google Patents

Abstract

112,933. Casella, S. L. Jan. 2, 1917, [Convention date]. Feeding metal caps.-An automatic machine for applying the usual metal caps to the carbon electrodes of dry cells comprises a magazine 61 for receiving a supply of caps which are delivered through a shoot 45 to a barrel 33 in which is a reciprocating plunger 47 for forcing the caps on to the electrodes of the cells as they are brought into position one by one. The uncapped cells are delivered to the machine by means of a shoot 3 which leads to an intermittently rotating turret 4 which has notches in its flanges to receive the cells. A guard 93 prevents the cells from leaving the turret during its rotation. The intermittent movement of the turret is produced by a gear resembling a Geneva movement, one wheel 6 of which is connected to the turret 4 by pins which project into holes in a disk 8 connected rigidly to the turret. Studs 11 on the disk 8 project into the notches in the turret to form abutments for the cells at one end, a disk 14 on the turret forming an abutment at the other end. The turret, disk 8, and wheel 6 are mounted on a stationary shaft 12 from which they are separated by insulating washers and sleeves. The cells a,re guided in the shoot 3 by ribs on each side of the shoot, one of which is adjustable, an additional guide 21 lined with insulating material being fixed at one end of the shoot. The shoot is fixed to the frame by insulated bolts, and an insulated delivery shoot 24 also is provided. To absorb momentum and avoid shock, the wheel 6 is formed with a sleeve 27 against which brake members 28, 29 bear. These members are clamped together by spring bolts, one of them being anchored against rotation. The rotation of the turret 4 brings each cell in turn in front of the barrel member 33 which is movable longitudinally and is flared at one end to receive and guide the electrode of the cell. The barrel 33 is fixed in a tubular slide 34 which is guided by the frame and which is closed by a bushing 36 held in place by a stud 37 carrying a roller 38 which bears against a cam 39. The cam 39 is formed with a gear 40 which, when rotated, causes the barrel 33 to be thrust forward. The barrel is retracted by a spring 41. Within the slide 34 is a rod 46 carrying a hammer head 47 adapted to drive the cap over the electrode. The rod 46 is pivoted through a link 50 to a hammer 48 pivoted at 49 to the frame and carrying a roller 52 which is engaged by a cam 51 so shaped as to raise the hammer 48 gradually and then allow it to drop suddenly. The cams 39, 51 are arranged so that the barrel 33 is placed in position before the hammer 48 is operated, and the cam 51 is shaped so that the plunger 47 has a slight forward movement before the hammer 48 drops, thus causing the separation of the lowest cap in the shoot 45 from those above. The cams 39, 51 and the gear 40 are all fixed rigidly to a shaft 7, the gear 40 engaging a wheel connected to a pulley which can be driven by any suitable means. The magazine for the caps is carried by a rotary shaft 60 and is constructed in two parts 59, 61 which are separated by washers and bolts 62, 63. The space between the parts 59, 61 is closed by a stationary ring 64 having a gap which opens into the upper end of the shoot 45. As the magazine 61 rotates, the caps are caused to fall one by one down the shoot. The shaft 60 is rotated through gearing and a belt 91. As the caps move down the shoot 45, some of them will fall with their closed ends towards the electrode of the cell in the turret 4. These caps are removed from the machine by the following means. An arm 65 is pivoted at 66 to the shoot 45 and also pivoted by a slotted connexion at its lower end to the barrel 33. Passing through the arm 65 and a slot in the shoot 45 are a number of spring-pressed studs 67 which, when the barrel 33 is retracted from the turret 4, engage within the caps which are correctly positioned but rest on top of those which are reversed. At right-angles to the studs 67 is a second set 71 which press upon the sides of the caps and which are mounted in a slide 70 on a bracket 69. The shoot 45 has a slot in the side opposite the plungers 71 which slot is normally closed by a bar 73 carried by an arm 74 fixed to the slide 70. The operations are so timed. that when the barrel 33 is retracted so that the studs 67 are pressed inwards, the slide 70 is pressed forwards so that the plungers 71 bear against the caps and eject those which are not held by the studs 67. The ejected caps drop through a shoot 85 into a bucket 8b. The slide 70 is operated by a link and shaft mechanism from the gear 40.