GB156919A - Improvements in apparatus for holding and lifting by means of suckers - Google Patents

Abstract

156,919. Pilkington Bros., Ltd., and Waldron, F. B. Oct. 17, 1919. Suction holding-appliances, specially adapted for peeling sheets of glass from polishing tables, transporting them in a substantially vertical position and placing them finally either horizontally or vertically in storage racks, are fitted with a lifting-sling arranged nearer to one side of the appliance than the other, and means are provided to enable each sucker element to remain in contact with the sheet during the bending of the latter in the peeling or subsequent operations. A channel-bar 1 has arms 2 of unequal length bolted thereto and carrying sucker elements 3. The bar also carries sockets 9 at one side for attachment of the lifting sling 10. The suckers are connected by flexible pipes 5 to a pipe 6 leading to a common pipe 8 in connection with an exhausting-appliance. The end suckers can be put out of actionby valves 14 when dealing with small plates. In operation, the pull on the sling 10 raises the shorter arms 2 before the longer arms and by lifting one edge of the plate first, gradually peels it off the table. The sockets 9 are arranged as nearly as possible in the same plane as the operative faces of the suckers, so that the sheet will hang nearly vertically during transport. To permit the suckers to remain in contact during bending of the sheet, the arms 2 are connected somewhat loosely to the bar 1 so that they can move slightly in a vertical plane. Each sucker also is arranged with both side and top clearance between the supporting-bolt 11 and the arm 2. Alternatively, the suckers may be pivoted to the arms on pivots parallel to the bar.