GB1565372A - Apparatus for the intermittent feeding of articles delivered by a conveyor belt - Google Patents

Description

(54) IMPROVEMENTS IN OR RELATING TO AN APPARATUS FOR THE INTERMITTENT FEEDING OF ARTICLES DELIVERED BY A CONVEYOR BELT (71) We, NUTS CHOCOLADE FABRIEK B.V., a Dutch body corporate of Industrieweg Oost 7, Elst, the Netherlands, do hereby declare the invention, for which we pray that a patent may be granted to us, and the method by which it is to be performed, to be particularly described in and by the following statement::- The invention relates to apparatus for the intermittent feeding of articles, delivered by a first conveyor belt, to a receiving station disposed to one side of this conveyor belt, which apparatus includes a second, uniformly moving conveyor belt, which travels in the direction of the receiving station and cooperates at an angle with the first conveyor belt, while a third, intermittently moving conveyor belt, in line with the second, feeds the articles to the receiving station.

Such apparatus is commonly used in situations where large quantities of articles, such as chocolate bars, are delivered on a conveyor belt and are to be fed to a machine for further treatment or for packaging. A problem generally encountered here is, that the receiving machines are capable of accepting articles only with a certain frequency, whereas articles are delivered by the conveyor belt in quantities and at intervals of time are not synchronised with this frequency.

The conveyor belt which delivers the articles usually moves at a uniform speed.

A known solution to the above problem, where, for example, articles delivered by a conveyor belt are fed to a packaging machine to one side of the belt, is the following. At the end of a first conveyor belt, at right angles to it and in communication with it, is a second conveyor belt. This second belt, while stationary, receives the articles from the first belt - for example, by their sliding from one to the other -- after which the second belt starts to move at uniform speed and transports the articles in the direction of the receiving machine.The articles are then transferred from the second belt to a third belt, which travels intermittently towards the machine and communicates directly with its intake, the frequency of movement of this third belt being synchronized with the frequency with which the machine can accept the articles.

An appropriate means, such as a photoelectric cell, can be used to indicate when the second belt is empty of articles. If this is the case, the uniform movement of the belt is caused to cease and it is then ready to receive the next batch of articles.

This known solution has a number of disadvantages, the most important of which is that machine capacity, i.e. the quantity of articles that can be handled per unit of time, cannot normally be fully utilized.

This follows from the circumstance that, once the load on the second belt has been transferred to the intermittently moving feeder belt for the machine, the uniform movement of the second belt is arrested so that it is ready to receive the next load. In this interval -- while arrival of the next load is awaited and during the loading process no transfer of articles to the third belt takes place. This means that, between the last article of a given load and the first article of a following load, there is an empty space on the third belt, which results in the machine receiving no articles during the passage of this empty space past the machine.

According to the invention there is provided an apparatus for the intermittent feeding of articles, delivered by a first belt, to a receiving station disposed to one side of this conveyor belt, which apparatus comprises a second conveyor belt which travels in the direction of the receiving station and cooperates at an angle with the first conveyor belt, the second conveyor belt having periods during which it is stationary and periods during which it moves at a uniform speed, a third intermittently moving conveyor belt, in line with the second, for feeding the articles to the receiving station, and a fourth conveyor belt disposed between the second and third conveyor belts, the fourth belt being synchronized with the second belt when the latter is in motion, and being synchronized with the second belt when the latter is in motion, and being synchronized with the second belt when the latter is in motion, and being synchronized with the second belt when the latter is in motion, and being synchronised with the intermittently moving third belt when the second belt is stationarv.

The presence of the fourth conveyor belt makes it possible to utilize the handling capacity of the machine optimally, in that a sufficient number of articles is made available at the intake side of the machine.

It will be understood that, while the second belt is at a standstill to receive a new load, the article-laden fourth belt moves intermittently in the direction of the machine, so that the third belt - the feeder belt for the machine - is continually recharged. In this case, no empty space occurs on the third belt and the machine is fed without interruption in the supply of articles. Once the next load has been deposited on the second belt, the latter starts to move at uniform speed and, with it, the fourth belt in synchronization. In this manner, the first article of the new load is placed on the fourth belt up against the last article of the previous load. Once the second belt is clear of articles, the uniform movement of both the second and fourth belts is arrested, the fourth belt starts to move intermittently, and so on.In these circumstances, no empty space ever occurs on the intermittently moving feeder belt for the machine. Care must, of course, be taken to ensure that the rate of supply of articles to the fourth belt is such that it is not allowed to become empty.

The desired coupling between the second and fourth belts, and between the fourth and third belts, respectively, is preferably achieved with the aid of free-wheel transmission assemblies. When the second belt stops. the coupling between the second and fourth belts is then automatically "free" and the fourth belt is then entrained by the third belt by way of their mutual coupling.

Conversely, once the second belt starts to move at uniform speed, the fourth belt is entrained by it by way of their mutual coupling and the coupling between the fourth and third belts is automatically "free." In order to ensure that the articles on the intermittently moving feeder belt are properly closed up, it is advantageous for the intermittent travel, i.e. the distance covered per movement, of the fourth belt to be somewhat greater than that of the third belt. The articles are thereby urged into close mutual relationship.

The apparatus according to the invention is particularly suitable for use in the feeding of chocolate bars to a packaging machine.

The invention is detailed below in conjunction with the drawing, in which 1 represents a conveyor belt on which articles are delivered at uniform speed in the direction 2. This conveyor belt 1 cooperates with a second, transversely disposed conveyor belt 4, which travels in the direction 3, the delivered articles being "deposited" on this second belt by their being pushed onto it while the belt is stationary. Arrangements may be made for the momentum of the articles to cause them to strike the stop 5, which may be useful with a view to their correct orientation.

After the load has been thus transferred, conveyor belt 1 adopts the position corresponding to la, so that following articles can be transported on a secondary conveyor belt 6, possibly to another transverse belt operating in the same manner as transverse belt 4.

The second conveyor belt 4 now starts to move at uniform speed in the direction 3, the articles being transported to the conveyor belt 7, corresponding to the "fourth conveyor belt" referred to above.

This belt 7 is coupled to the belt 4 by means of the schematically represented transmission assembly 8 and also moves at the same uniform speed in the direction 9. The articles are thus transferred to the belt 7.

When the photoelectric cell 10 no longer detects any articles on the belt 4, the latter ceases its uniform movement and the conveyor belt 1 resumes its raised position in order that another load of articles may be deposited on the belt 4. The belt 7 ceases its uniform movement simultaneously with belt 4, the transmission assembly 8 switches to the free-wheeling position and the belt 7 then begins to move intermittently in the direction 9. This intermittent movement is imparted to the belt 7 by way of a transmission assembly 11 from the intermittently moving belt 12, which latter communicates with the receiver, e.g. a packaging machine.

During the period in which the belt 7 moves at uniform speed, i.e. is coupled to the belt 4, the transmission assembly 11 acts as a free-wheel mechanism.

The articles on the belt 7 are fed intermittently to the belt 12, which also travels intermittently in the direction of the receiving machine. When belt 7 resumes its uniform movement, new articles are delivered to it until the first article of the new load comes up against the last article of the previous load. Meanwhile, the belt 7 slips under the articles remaining from the previous load.

By adapting the speed at which articles are delivered to the belt 7 to the rate at which the belt 12 can feed articles to the receiving station, blockage of the articles is avoided. Optimal utilization of the capacity of the receiving station is thus ensured the belt 12 is kept constantly filled.

If the unit distance of travel per movement of the belt 7 is somewhat greater than that of belt 12, the articles on belt 12 are kept in close order.

WHAT WE CLAIM IS: 1. Apparatus for the intermittent feeding of articles, delivered by a first belt, to a receiving station disposed to one side of this conveyor belt, which apparatus comprises a second conveyor belt which travels in the direction of the receiving station and cooperates at an angle with the first conveyor belt, the second conveyor belt having periods during which it is stationary and periods during which it moves at a uniform speed, a third, intermittently moving conveyor belt, in line with the second, for feeding the articles to the receiving station, and a fourth conveyor belt disposed between the second and third conveyor belts, the fourth belt being synchronized with the second belt when the latter is in motion, and being synchronized with the intermittently moving third belt when the second belt is stationary.

2. Apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the fourth belt is coupled to the second and third belts with the aid of a free-wheel transmission assemblies.

3. Apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the travel of the fourth belt, when moving intermittently, is greater than that of the third belt.

4. Apparatus according to any one of the foregoing claims, wherein in that the receiving station is a packaging machine.

5. Apparatus for the intermittent feeding of articles, substantially as herein described, with reference to the accompanying drawing.

**WARNING** end of DESC field may overlap start of CLMS **.

Claims (5)

**WARNING** start of CLMS field may overlap end of DESC **. the previous load. Meanwhile, the belt 7 slips under the articles remaining from the previous load. By adapting the speed at which articles are delivered to the belt 7 to the rate at which the belt 12 can feed articles to the receiving station, blockage of the articles is avoided. Optimal utilization of the capacity of the receiving station is thus ensured the belt 12 is kept constantly filled. If the unit distance of travel per movement of the belt 7 is somewhat greater than that of belt 12, the articles on belt 12 are kept in close order. WHAT WE CLAIM IS:

1. Apparatus for the intermittent feeding of articles, delivered by a first belt, to a receiving station disposed to one side of this conveyor belt, which apparatus comprises a second conveyor belt which travels in the direction of the receiving station and cooperates at an angle with the first conveyor belt, the second conveyor belt having periods during which it is stationary and periods during which it moves at a uniform speed, a third, intermittently moving conveyor belt, in line with the second, for feeding the articles to the receiving station, and a fourth conveyor belt disposed between the second and third conveyor belts, the fourth belt being synchronized with the second belt when the latter is in motion, and being synchronized with the intermittently moving third belt when the second belt is stationary.

2. Apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the fourth belt is coupled to the second and third belts with the aid of a free-wheel transmission assemblies.

3. Apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the travel of the fourth belt, when moving intermittently, is greater than that of the third belt.

4. Apparatus according to any one of the foregoing claims, wherein in that the receiving station is a packaging machine.

5. Apparatus for the intermittent feeding of articles, substantially as herein described, with reference to the accompanying drawing.