GB1359977A - Apparatus for feeding workpieces - Google Patents

Abstract

1359977 Transferring between conveyers CARLE & MONTANARI SpA 7 March 1973 [9 March 1972] 11149/73 Heading B8A Articles P are arrested on a conveyer T1 by a stop 2 and are transferred to a second conveyer T2 by grippers T depending from a turntable 22, the articles being spaced regularly on the second conveyer T2. Each gripper T comprises two jaws 34, 35 secured to pivotal toothed segments 31, 32 which engage with a rack 133 carried by a rod 33 which is reciprocated, to open and close the jaws 34, 35, by means of a circular cam 46, the rod 33 being connected to an arm 38 carrying a roller 44 which follows the cam 46. The rod 33 passes through a gripper body 26 slidably and rotatably supported by the turntable 22, the body 26 being connected to an arm 37 carrying a roller 43 which follows a cam 45 to raise and lower the gripper. A gear-wheel 24 is splined to the body 26 and meshes with a gear 27 meshing with a stationary gear 28. Thus, as the turntable rotates, the grippers rotate to deposit the articles transversely of the second conveyer 72. The stop 2 is moved out of the path of the articles during transfer, but is prevented from so doing if a photo detector 3, 103 detects that no article is adjacent the stop 2 or that an article is incorrectly aligned on the conveyer. In such cases the photo-detector also causes a movable cam track (51, Fig. 10) to be pivoted into a position adjacent the cam track 46 so that a second roller 50 on the arm 38 engages the movable track (51) to prevent the jaws 34, 35 of the gripper from being closed.