GB1274720A - Improvements relating to article handling equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

1,274,720. Adjustable endless conveyers; guiding articles on conveyers. SPOONER FOOD MACHINERY ENG. CO. Ltd. 14 Aug., 1970 [30 Aug., 1969], No. 43261/69. Heading B8A. [Also in Division A2] Pans (not shown) containing loaves of bread are transported by an endless conveyer 70 under a height-sensing feeler 102 which governs automatic adjustment of the height of a suction pick-up conveyer 74 by which the loaves are removed from the pans and transferred to a discharge conveyer 140. Before reaching the pickup conveyer the pans are centralized on the conveyer 70 by a pair of spring-biased guide arms (not shown) which are interconnected by linkage, a crossed belt drive, or a gear train so that they move together in opposite directions in a horizontal plane. Air blast nozzles (not shown) may be provided above a grid 142 to loosen the loaves in the pans, lifting of the loaves out of the pans being prevented by the grid. The pick-up conveyer, which is driven by a motor 88, comprises an endless perforated belt enclosing a suction chamber 76 and provided with a multiplicity of soft rubber suction cups in the form of bellows (not shown) for engagement with the loaves. Suction is generated by a fan 79 connected by a flexible conduit (not shown) with the suction chamber 76 and discharging through a silencer 82. A reversible electric motor 100 adjusts the height of the pick-up conveyer through reduction gearing 101, a screw jack 98 and vertically movable members 94 connected to the frame 89 of the conveyer. Upward or downward movement of the feeler 102 about a pivot 103 operates potentiometers in a pair of bridge circuits which, through comparators, amplifiers and relays, causes operation of the motor 100, a feedback chain 107 causing vertical adjustment of the mounting bracket for the feeler 102 so that balance in the bridge circuits is restored when the conveyer has been adjusted the requisite amount. The motor control circuit is is such that downward adjustment of the conveyer is performed more slowly than upward adjustment. In modifications, the motor 100 is controlled by a single comparator, amplifier and relay, the motor is of three-phase type and the different speeds for upward and downward adjustment are obtained by gear trains brought into operation by clutches, photo-electric cells are used for height detection, and an hydraulic or pneumatic jack is used instead of the motor 100 and screw jack.