GB1225680A - - Google Patents

Abstract

1,225,680. Stacking articles. MOORE-IEM Inc. 31 Oct., 1968, No. 51576/68. Headings B8A, B8B and B8C. A machine for stacking boards 62 comprises a framework 10, board supporting means 28 movable forward, down, back and upwards relatively to the frame, power means 40, 42, 44 being provided for effecting the forward and backward movement and control means for the power means, a gravity operated device 30, 33, 35 being provided to control and provide the up and down movement of the board support means 28. The framework comprises vertical members 11, upper members 12 on to which the boards 62 are introduced by a conveyer 61, and lower members 19 on which the boards are, in one embodiment, stacked. Within the framework is a carriage 20 movable to the right, as seen in Fig. 1, by the rotation of the motor driven wheel 42, a crank arm 38 moving therewith being attached by a link 40 to the carriage. The carriage presents arms 28 movable vertically on the carriage and provided with a counterweight 30 attached to the arms by chains 33 and normally biasing the arms upwards. When the carriage is in its fully leftward position within the frame, rollers on the arms engage under inclined plates on the frame which hold the arms below the upper surfaces 19 of members 12. Boards fed to the upper members are moved therealong by a chain conveyer 14, 15 on the frame until the leading board reaches stops 57, a switch 58 then being actuated to allow the motor 45 to drive forward carriage 20. This movement is controlled by cams and switches on wheel 42. As the carriage moves the arms forward rollers thereon rise up cam faces on the framework to lift the layer of boards and carry them forward to the upper position shown in dotted lines. At this position rollers on the arms are freed from tracks on the framework and the combined weight of the load and the arms overcome the counterweight 30, the arms descending with the load to the lower position where switch 56 is operated by a lever 49 sensing the position of the top of the timber stack to cause the carriage to move back to its original position, the boards being stripped from the arms by the uprights 11. The counterweight then raises the freed arms to their upper position. The cycle is repeated, providing a stack of such layers of boards. End guides for the boards may be provided on the arms. The arms may deflect under the load of boards to reduce the distance through which the boards fall as they are stripped therefrom. The framework may itself be mounted on a carriage movable transversely between spaced locations at which stacks are required, the surfaces on which the boards are stacked then being independent of the framework.