1316422 Making record sleeves MASSON SCOTT THRISSEL ENG Ltd 8 May 1970 [10 May 1969] 23891/69 Heading B5D [Also in Divisions B6 B8 and G1] (i) General arrangement, Fig. 2.-A record is fed from a stack, e.g. 68, 69, inspected by an assembly 70, inserted at a station 6 in an inner bag fed from a supply 30, placed at the station 6 on a back sleeve blank fed from a hopper 701 and at a blank uniting device 60 receives the correct front sleeve blank fed from a hopper 702, the resulting packaged record being checkweighed at a rotatable weighing unit 258 before being over-wrapped in stacks 13 at a station 63. (ii) Blank movement and folding, Fig. 2.- From the hopper 701 each back blank travels on a continuously moving conveyer belt 706 to an intermittently-moving chain conveyer 105, which carries the back blanks to the station 6. The blanks are then transferred by a continuously moving third conveyer 127, Fig. 5A (section (vi)) through a uniting device 60 to a continuously moving final conveyer 251, Fig. 6A (section (ix)) which carries the sleeves to the weighing unit 258. From the hopper 702, the front blanks travel on a continuously moving conveyer belt 705 to a continuously moving conveyer 59 which carries them to the uniting device 60 where they are carried obliquely downwardly by driven grooved rollers on to the back blanks held in adjustable pockets in the third conveyer 127. A spine is formed along one edge and a flap along the opposed edge in each back blank by an adhesive applicator 56, ploughs 53a and folders 55b positioned alongside the conveyer 706. Spines along the other two edges of a back blank result from contact with an adhesive applicator 57, reciprocating folders 58a and folders 58b positioned alongside the second and third conveyers 105, 127. (iii) Blank feed mechanism, Fig. 3B.-The feed mechanism for the back blanks comprises a sucker pad 725a, Fig. 3B, carried on two pairs of levers 750, 751 for pivotal movement to and from an inclined stack 712 so that the leading blank may be pulled downwardly over a lug 721 to two pairs of adjustable rollers 726, 727 (726, 728, Fig. 3A), which feed the blank along a curved guide plate 772 to the conveyer 706. Simultaneously with the sucker movement, a roller 771 is swung across to relieve the lug 721 of the weight of the stack 712. The presence of the roller 771 also helps to ensure that only one blank is removed since the latter is caused to bend therearound and by the sucker 725 consequently pulled clear of the nip between the stack 712 and a pair of angled upper blocks 718. The mechanism also includes a stack joggler comprising a pair of strips 741 mounted on bearers 742 carried on eccentrically mounted shafts 743. Passage of two blanks between the rollers 726, 727, 728 causes a lever 737 mounted on a roller shaft 733 to operate a micro-switch 739 connected to a deflector 777 so that the blanks are directed by rollers 775, 775a down a shoot 779 into a reject hopper (780, Fig. 3). The feed mechanism (702, Figs. 3A, 3C) for the front blanks is similar to that above except it is inverted so that the blanks are fed upwardly, the blank bending rollers (772) are not movable and a pair of sucker pads (725a, Fig. 3A) are provided. (iv) Record insertion into inner bags, Fig. 7B.-A record 164, Fig. 7B, is fed from a buffer stack (395, Figs. 1, 8) of inspected records by mechanism similar to that described in section (v) so that a pusher 165 on a continuously driven chain conveyer 166 may push the record to a record insertion device 163 to coincide with the arrival of a plastics or paper bag 160 which is fed to the device 163 by a finger 161 on a chain conveyer 162. The device 163 comprises a pair of rollers 175 (175a, Fig. 7) and a perforated endless suction belt 179 which feed the bag 160 to a pair of eccentric suction rollers 186 (187, Fig. 7A) which open the bag 160 so that the record may be inserted by a pusher 189 mounted on two overhead chain conveyers 190. After insertion, the pusher 189 continues to push the bagged record which slides across the perforated suction belt 179 to a rubber pad 197 whereupon the pusher 189 runs off guide rails 196 to pivot away from the record, the perforated belt suction is cut off and the bagged record allowed to drop on to a pair of pivoted bars (198, 199, Fig. 7) which are actuated by a pneumatic cylinder (204, Fig. 7) to allow the bagged record to drop further on to the top of a stack BR, Fig. 4. (v) Placing bagged records on back blanks, Figs. 4, 4B.-The device for placing a bagged record on a back blank 320, Fig. 4, delivered by the intermittently-moving conveyer 105 comprises three chain escapement mechanisms 325, 327 (326, Fig. 4A), which are operated by a solenoid actuated single revolution clutch 351 upon the latter receiving a signal from a photoelectric device 375, 376 sensing the presence of an arriving blank. Each escapement mechanism, e.g. 325 comprises slidable, spring-loaded upper and lower fingers 331, 329, the former normally supporting the stack BR except the lowest one which is normally supported by the latter. Under the action of the clutch 351, cams, e.g. 338, 337 act on the respective fingers, e.g. 331, 329 so that the lower fingers retract to allow the lowest record to drop and then return to support the stack which drops thereon as the upper fingers are withdrawn and re-inserted to separate and support the stack from the new lowest record. The stack height is stabilized to a maximum value by a photo-electric device 373, 374. The record is prevented from sliding off the back blank as the conveyer moves away by a pair of hooked fingers moved up from the blank path and a horizontally reciprocating member which engages the blank's rear edge. The clutch, Fig. 4B, comprises a recessed driving disc 356 fixed to an input shaft 352 and a larger driven disc 357 which is fixed to the cam drive shaft 350 and which carries a spring-loaded pivoted arm 360 and a block 358. Upon energization, a rotary solenoid 372 moves linkage 371, 368 against a return spring 369 so that a hooked lever 364 and a lever 366 provided at one end with a spring-loaded plunger 367 are pulled clear of the arm 360 and block 358 respectively so enabling a projection 361 on the arm 360 to enter the driving disc recess and cause rotation of the disc 357 and shaft 350. (vi) Uniting device, Fig. 2.-The bagged record and back blank are transferred from the intermittently-moving conveyer 105, Fig. 5A, which comprises fingers 104 carried by a pair of endless chains to the continuously moving third conveyer, 127, Fig. 5A (Figs. 5, 5B, 5C), for conveyance through the uniting device 60. The transfer is achieved using cam-operated pivotal flaps 116 (Fig. 5F) and an overhead brush 129. The third conveyer 127 comprises pairs of carriers 125, 126 mounted on endless chains to form blank pockets. Each carrier 126 comprises a bar (141, Figs. 5C, 5D) which can slide rearwardly over a supporting beam (132) against return springs (145) by a cam actuated lever 137a to facilitate blank entry, the bar (141) returning to co-operate with the appropriate front carrier 125 in positioning spines 101a, 102a. The uniting device 60 comprises apparatus similar to an off-set printing mechanism which applies adhesive to each front blank and a series of spring pads which hold a pair of belts against the upper surface of the sleeve to ensure a good bond. (vii) Record feed mechanism. Figs. 2, 8B.- Records are fed from one of two stacks, e.g. 68, 69, Fig. 2, by a respective one of two identical mechanisms. Each mechanism, Fig. 8B, comprises a vertically movable suction head 391 positioned off-centre from a record stack 390. The stack is brought to the mechanism on a pallet 396 and then lifted by three rods 399 which are passed through pallet holes, the rods 399 being mounted on a vertically movable triangular platform 401. To remove a top record, a finger 415 which also serves as a stack level indicator, moves the record to the left as viewed in Fig. 8B, so that as the suction head 391 is lowered the nose 430 of a pneumatically actuated plunger 423 (Fig. 8C) may pass through the central hole of the record to rest on the next lower record and suction pads 418 may grip the record. Pressure air fed via a plunger recess (429, Fig. 8C) from a pipe 426 acts on the plunger head and escapes from a nose slot (431, Fig. 8C) to assist in separating the top record. After separation, the suction head 391 is lifted until the record can be gripped by two pivotal gates 448, 448a. The record is then pushed by fingers 393 along guides (392, Figs. 8, 8A) to a buffer stack (395, Figs. 1,8). A number of metal support discs included in the stack 390 are lifted as described for records above, but are detected as they travel along the guides (392) by a magnetic or capacitative sensor (454, Fig. 8A) which causes a further pair of pivotal gates (456, Fig. 8A) to open and allow the metal discs to drop into a box (456a, Fig. 8). Cams 453, 437, 443 which actuate respectively the gates 448, 448a, the suction head 391, and the finger 415 are mounted on a shaft 438 driven by a single revolution clutch (458, Fig. 8A) constructed as that described in section (v). The movement of the platform 401 and finger 415 are controlled by microswitches 409, 410 and 412 respectively. (viii) Record inspection. Figs. 2, 9B.-From the buffer stack (395, Figs. 1, 8) in section (vii) each record is carried round a generally figure of eight path (Fig. 9) to three inspection stations by two intermittently counter-rotatable heads 500, 501, Fig. 9B, each having four record supports apiece i.e. 502, 503 respectively (Fig. 9). The lowest record of the stack (395) is dropped on to a support 502 by mechanism (Fig. 9A) similar to that described in section (v) and retained thereon by a catch 510 comprising two hooked levers (511, Fig. 9D), Each support 502 comprises a disc 507 which is set revolving as the head 50