GB1413385A - Apparatus for the automatic feeding of articles to packaging machines - Google Patents

Abstract

1413385 Conveying articles to packaging machines ALISYNCRO SAS DI BRUNO & CO 20 July 1973 [2 Aug 1972] 34759/73 Heading B8A A single chain conveyer 2 feeding articles A to a packaging machine (not shown, but further to the left of Fig. 2) is itself fed by a group of belt conveyers 5a-5d, and a group of intermediate conveyers 30a-30d. The latter, as shown in Fig. 2, are step-by-step conveyers, and at the upstream end of each of these conveyers is a respective photo-electric sensing device 74-76 (Fig. 7). When an article is sensed, the associated conveyer 5a-5d, as the case may be, is stopped and moved a short distance in reverse to effect a separation between the articles being fed on to the intermediate conveyer. This is carried out by the operation of an electromatic clutch on a drive drum 13 (Fig. 7) of the conveyer belt and the energization of a solenoid 22, which acts on a lever plate 19 of the drum 13 and thereby causes the reverse movement. The step-by-step conveyers 30: These comprise four pairs of rods 30a, 30b, 30c, and 30d, each rod carrying article engaging lugs 30 projecting upwardly between article support plates 29. Each pair of rods 30a is connected at each end to a respective triangular lever 46, 46a. The levers 46 are pivotally mounted on a transversely disposed beam 37. The levers 46 are mounted on a similar beam 37, the two beams being connected by a pair of slide rods 36 mounted in respective bearing sleeves 35 carried by a fixed frame 31 of the conveyer. The rods 36 are given a reciprocating movement by a bell-crank 42 having a follower 43 running in an annular channel-shaped cam track of a cam 44 (Fig. 10) on a drive shaft 59. Also mounted on the shaft 59, are cams 58, one of each respective to each pair of conveyer rods 30a-30d, and their associated levers 46, 46a. Each lever 46a is connected by a link 52 to a bell-crank 54. Each of the latter has a follower 57 capable of bearing on the respective cam 58 when released by a solenoid-controlled latch 60, 61. When an article A is sensed (Fig. 7) on one of the conveyers 30, the latch 60, 61, is released, and the lugs 30 are lifted (under the action of the associated cam 58) so as to convey the article under the action of the continuously reciprocating rods 30a-30d driven by the cam 44. Modified conveyers 30 for operation on sticky articles: Each step-by-step conveyer is replaced by an endless chain conveyer 82 (Fig. 14) carrying article pushers 83. On the arrival of an article at the sensing device 74, a solenoid 99 is activated to release a bell-crank linkage 93. This produces periodic lifting of an upstream end of the conveyer thereby feeding the sensed article into the fixed run portion of the conveyer. Cam-operated pushers 101 engage the article at the downstream end of the conveyer so as to provide a necessary acceleration of the article towards the conveyer 2. The acceleration may alternatively be achieved by the action of an endless belt conveyer (111) (Fig. 16, not shown). In a further modification of the conveyers 30 (Fig. 17, not shown), both runs of the conveyer 82 are disposed in a horizontal plane, and the downstream end of the conveyer is carried round in a curve to merge with the direction of the conveyer 2. In a modification of the whole system (Figs. 20-22, not shown), the conveyers 5c, 5d slope upwardly together to have their downstream ends at a higher level than the level of the conveyers 5a, 5b. The intermediate conveyers 30b, 30c, are at a correspondingly higher level throughout their working runs, the object being to deliver the articles in a series of two-layer stacks on the conveyer 2.