GB1586301A

GB1586301A - Apparatus for feeding tubular workpieces

Info

Publication number: GB1586301A
Application number: GB2745777A
Authority: GB
Original assignee: Manufacture de Machines du Haut Rhin SA MANURHIN
Current assignee: Manufacture de Machines du Haut Rhin SA MANURHIN
Priority date: 1975-10-02
Filing date: 1977-06-30
Publication date: 1981-03-18

Description

(54) APPARATUS FOR FEEDING TUBULAR WORKPIECES (71) We, MANUFACTURE DE MACHINES DU HAUT-RHIN S.A., a Freneh Company, of 10 Rue de Coultz, 68200 Mulhouse, France, 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 present invention relates to workpiece feeders for feeding, one by one and each in a specific attitude, tubular workpieces such as cartridge case blanks, and it provides an improvement or modification of the invention which forms the subject of our co-pending Application No. 40658/76 (Serial No. 1,562,222) and which will hereinafter be referred to as the Parent invention.

The Parent Invention provides apparatus for feeding tubular workpieces such as cart ridge case blanks one by one in a predetermined orientation to a downstream machine tool or other processing device arranged to operate at a predetermined working rate, which apparatus comprises a feed hopper taking the workpieces in bulk, with a lower portion containing an extractor for extracting the workpieces one by one from the hopper and feeding them to a storage magazine in which the workpieces are stacked over each other with their sides in contact with each other, and orienting and transfer means situated under the magazine, the orienting and transfer means taking the lowest workpiece from the stack of workpieces in the magazine and rotating it into a vertical attitude for transference, correctly oriented, to the down stream device.

In the Parent Invention a storage magazine was provided to form a buffer between the extractor and the orienting and transfer means, the feed to this magazine being optionally controlled by a device for detection of "high level" suitable for ordering stoppage of the extractor when the level of the workpieces in the magazine exceeds a predetermined maximum. The present invention is aimed at simplifying the workpiece distributor of the Parent Invention by avoiding in particular the arrangement of such a buffer magazine between the extractor and the orienting and transfer means.

Accordingly, the present invention provides apparatus for feeding tubular workpieces such as cartridge case blanks one by one in a predetermined orientation to a downstream machine tool or other processing device arranged to operate at a predetermined rate, said apparatus comprising a feed hopper taking the workpieces in bulk, with a lower portion containing an extractor for extracting the workpieces one by one from the hopper and feeding them directly to an orienting and transfer drum, said drum having recesses arranged to receive each workpiece as it is extracted from the hopper and tilt it into a predetermined attitude so that each such workpiece can be presented automatically and correctly oriented to the downstream device.

In the case where the extractor device consists of a plate having cells mounted to revolve over the sloping bottom of the feed hopper in order, in the lower portion of it, to gather up a workpiece in each of its cells and to bring the workpieces thus gathered in succession opposite a discharge opening arranged in the upper portion of the bottom of the hopper, the drum in a preferred arrangement is arranged below the bottom of the hopper coaxially with the plate so that its recesses correspond with the cells in the latter.

In regular operation the workpieces collected by the cells rise with the revolving extractor plate and fall into the recesses in the drum when they reach the level of the discharge opening.

This device operates properly during normal running, but displays a disadvantage when the extractor plate is not revolving at the nominal speed corresponding with the normal rate of feed of the workpieces, and above all during periods of speeding up and of slowing down of the plate, for example when the machine is started or stopped.

In such a case the workpieces located in the cells reach the discharge opening at a speed which is not the right one, with the result that tilting may occur in the wrong direction.

For this reason, there is preferably provided, upstream of said discharge opening, selectively operable means for ejecting workpieces from the cells in the extractor plate.

The ejector may react to an order for starting, stopping, speeding up or slowing down of the revolving plate, for example, with a certain timing which causes it to act for a certain time starting from this order to the plate.

In this case the workpieces contained in the cells are ejected during this period of time.

One may also provide for a separate ejection order for cutting off at will the feed to the drum by ejecting the workpieces before they reach the discharge opening of the hopper. This enables the feed to be made regular when the device exceeds the rate of feed and transfer or of storage admissible for the machines which are being fed in this way. This regularization is effected without one being obliged to empty the hopper completely of the loose workpieces which it contains.

Two preferred embodiments of the invention will now be described by way of example only with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a section through a first embodiment of apparatus in accordance with the present invention; Figure 2 is a view in the direction II of the apparatus of Figure 1 after removal of the hopper and its movable portions; Figure 3 is a partial view in the direction III of the apparatus of Figure 1, illustrating the transfer and straightening wheel of the device; Figure 4 is a plan with cut-aways, in the direction IV of the apparatus of Figure 1, illustrating the detail of one of the recesses in the orienting and transfer drum; Figure 5 is a sideview of a second embodiment of apparatus according to the invention; Figure 6 is a view in the direction of arrow VI of Figure 5;; Figure 7 is a detail side view of a pneumatic ejector means along the lines VIII- VIII of Figures 6 and 7; Figure 9 is a section of a mechanical ejector means analogous to the view shown in Figure 8; and Figure 10 is a section of the mechanical ejector means along the line X-X of Figure 9.

In the Figures 1, 2, 5 and 6, is shown a device 1, intended for feeding one by one at a certain rate and in a certain orientation, workpieces 2, of generally tubular elongated shape such as blanks for cartridge cases, with a view to regular feeding of a machine (or a chain of machines) for machining and/ or processing the said workpieces. The machine or machines (not shown) which are fed by the device 1 may operate either in steps or continuously.

The feed device 1 is of the general type of that described in the Parent Specification.

It includes essentially a feed hopper 3 for receiving in bulk workpieccs to be machined, an extractor 4, for withdrawing one by one in the lying down position the workpieces contained in the hopper 3, and an orienting and transfer drum 5 driven in synchronism with the machine tool (not shown) for making the workpieces withdrawn from the hopper tilt into the required orientation with a view to their being taken over by a transfer and feed wheel 6 likewise driven in synchronism with the machine with which it is associated.

The hopper 3 consists of a tub the sidewall 7 of which is of generally cylindrical shape and the bottom of which takes the shape of a circular ring 8 inclined to the horizontal at an angle of about 45 . A vertical segmental plate 9 is attached to the sidewall 7 to assist in retaining workpieces therein. The hopper 3 is fastened by way of four columns 10 to a fixed crown 11 of a supporting frame 12.

The supporting frame 12 as shown consists of a horizontal base 13 intended for being fastened onto a table, two similar vertical uprights 14 arranged parallel to one another and fastened by any suitable means to the base 13, a strengthening crosspiece 15 and a number of flat crossbars 16, 17, 18. As shown in Figures 1, 2 and 5, the uprights 14 each include two brackets 19 onto which the crown 11 is fastened by bolts 20. The central portions of the uprights 14 are equipped with two channel-irons 21 (Figure 2) between the arms of which is fastened by welding, for example, a cylindrical sleeve 22.

The extractor 4 (see especially Figures 1 and 6) consists in conventional way of an extractor plate 23 which is provided at its periphery with a plurality of cells 24 of elongated shape. The plate 23 is mounted to revolve with respect to the sloping bottom 8 of the hopper 3 with which it is parallel and to which it is adjacent. The drive of the plate 23 in rotation is obtained by way of a driving shaft 25 which is mounted for rotation by way of two ball bearings 26 in the sleeve 22.

With this arrangement is may be understood that each of the cells 24 in the plate 23 is capable in the low portion of the hopper 3, designated "A" in Figure 1, of gathering up in the lying down position a workpiece to be machined, the rotation of the plate 23 bringing each of its cells 24 in succession opposite a discharge opening 27 arranged in the upper portion "B" of the bottom 8 of the hopper 3 so as to allow discharge downwards of the workpiece then arranged in the cell brought into the portion "B" Of course the cells 24 are shaped to accommodate the workpieces to be machined which are arranged in the hopper 3.

The orienting and transfer drum 5 has a general shape which is substantially identical with that described in the Parent Specification. In the illustrated embodiments of the present invention the drum 5 is arranged immediately underneath the bottom ring 8 of the hopper 3 coaxially with the plate 23 of the extractor 4. More precisely, the drum 5 is mounted directly on the driving shaft 25 of the plate 23 so as to be driven in synchronism with it. The drum 5 comprises a plurality of recesses 28 (Figures 1, 4 and 5) distributed uniformly round its periphery and in number equal to that of the cells 24 in the plate 23. With this arrangement the recesses 28 correspond exactly with the cells 24 in the plate 23 and like them come in succession opposite the opening 27 in the bottom ring 8 during synchronous rotation of the plate 23 and the drum 5.Thus each of the workpieces conveyed by the cells 24 will be brought by the plate 23 to the top portion "B" of the hopper 3 in order to be discharged through the opening 27 and thus arrive in the corresponding recess 28 in the drum 5.

Each of the recesses 28 exhibits as described in the Parent Specification a top portion 29 of flared shape suitable for receiving a workpiece in the lying down position upon its leaving the opening 27, and a bottom portion 30 which is straight-sided and suitable for receiving at least one workpiece in the upright position parallel with the axis of the drum 5.

Each recess 28 includes at its bottom portion 30 a radial opening 31 of elongated shape enabling the workpiece which is arranged in it to be taken over in a sideways direction by the transfer and straightening wheel 6. A guidesheet 32 of semicircular shape is fastened to the crown 11 in order to prevent unforeseen radial release of a workpiece through the opening 31 before its being taken over by the wheel 6.

Each of the recesses 28 in the drum may be obtained as shown in Figure 4 by the arrangement of a plurality of hollows arranged in the periphery of the drum 5 and covered over by a rigid plate 33, preferably transparent, fastened by screwing as at 34 onto this drum. In the centre of the top portion 29 of each recess 28 is arranged an adjustable bar 35 intended to assist the tilting of a workpiece which is introduced into it upon leaving the opening 27, towards the upright position and into the orientation required as it falls into the bottom portion 30.

It will be observed from Figures 1, 3 and 5, that the transfer and feed wheel 6 which is mounted for rotation on the crossbar 18 is of conical shape so as to bring the workpieces withdrawn from the recesses 28 into the vertical position on the plane of the base 13 of the frame 12. This plane constitutes the working plane of the machine and the workpieces thus positioned may be taken over directly by a normal transfer wheel 36 (Figure 1) suitable for bringing the workpieces to the different work-stations of the machine tool.More precisely the transfer wheel 6 is composed (see Figures 1, 3 and 5) of two crowns 37, 38 (Figure 1) of different diameters provided with registering radial notches 39, which interpenetrate slightly into annular grooves 40, 41 (Figure 4) arranged at the bottom of the drum 5 for the purpose of taking over the workpieces which it is conveying. A double semicircular apron 42, 43 has tongues 44, 45 for picking up the workpieces and keeps the workpieces in contact with the transfer wheel 6 until they are taken over by the transfer wheel 36 or the like of the machine tool.

Driving of the transfer wheel 6 in synchronism may be obtained by any suitable means. There may be provided as shown in Figure 1, between the wheel 6 and the shaft 25 a non-slip connection 46 such as a toothed belt 47 wrapped round a sprocket 48 integral with or keyed to the shaft of the wheel 6 and round a sprocket 49 fixed to one of the ends of a transmission shaft 50 mounted in a bearing 51 attached to the crossbar 17, the other end of the shaft 50 being connected to the shaft 25 by a pair of bevel gears 52 of ratio 1/1. It will be observed that the ratio of transmission of the connection 46 corresponds with the ratio of the diameters of the drum 5 and of the wheel 6 so that the notches 39 in the wheel move synchronously with the recesses 28 in the drum 5.Taking into account possible differences in diameter (as is the case in the embodiment illustrated) between the drum 5 and the wheel 6 the expression "synchronism" is to be taken in the broad sense that it implies a given phase-frequency relationship between the wheel 6 and the drum 5 (the same peripheral speed).

Driving of the extractor plate 23, drum 5 and wheel 6 may be ensured as shown, by an electric motor 53 through a reducing gear 54 and a safety friction clutch 55.

In another arrangement driving of the shaft 25 may be effected, still through the safety friction clutch 55, by a motion take-off from the machine tool arranged downstream of the feed device 1.

The friction clutch 55 has the function of limiting the maximum driving torque on the plate 23 and the drum 5. Thus in the event of a hitch in the introduction of the workpieces from the hopper 3 into the recesses 28 in the drum or in the event of blockage or of jamming of a workpiece in the discharge opening 27, deterioration of the drum and/or the plate 23 is prevented. It will be observed that in order further to reduce this risk the discharge opening has a circumferential length much greater than the circum fercntial length of the cells 24 and the top opening into the recesses 28.

In the embodiment described above, the drum 5 is arranged on the same shaft 25 as the plate 23 and is driven at the same speed as the latter. Nevertheless it may be conceived that the drum 5 is arranged on a shaft different from that of the plate 23.

What matters is only that it is driven in synchronism with it (the word synchronism having to be taken in the broad sense defined earlier) so that each of the recesses 28 presents itself under the opening 27 simultaneously with a cell 24 of the plate 23.

A further modification of the Parent Invention will now be described with reference to Figures 5 to 10.

In accordance with this modification, there is provided slightly upstream of the discharge opening 27 (or each of the discharge openings 27 if there are a number of them) a means for ejecting at will workpieces from the cells 24.

Such an ejector 56 may be made in different ways.

In Figures 5, 6. 7 and 8 the ejector 56 is made in a pneumatic form: it comprises a pipe 57 for feeding air under pressure, and a solenoid valve 58 for interrupting or allowing the flow of the compressed air to another pipe 59 which is connected to a distributor block 60 fastened underneath the bottom ring 8 of the hopper 3.

The block 60 is drilled with openings which communicate on the one hand with the pipe 59 and on the other with one or a number of orifices 61 which pass through the fixed hopper bottom ring 8 and open at its top face in the path of the cells 24 upstream of the discharge opening 27.

The drilling of the block 60 is carried out in such a way that opening of the solenoid valve 58 causes admission of compressed air to the orifice 61. This compressed air causes expulsion of any workpieces contained in the cell 24 when this cell during the course of the rotation of the plate 23 passes over the orifices 61 at a time when the solenoid valve 58 is open.

It is preferable to have a number of orifices 61, for example, three as shown, so that discharge is effected cleanly. The exact position of the orifices obviously depends upon the shape of the workpieces collected, discharge being the more effective if the orifices are located underneath a portion of the workpiece in contact with the ring 8.

One might alternatively provide that the orifices 61 are drilled in the sidewall 7 of the hopper 3 instead of being in the bottom ring 8, the block 60 then being fastened to the wall of the hopper.

In Figure 7 and 8 an example of the distribution block and the various drillings in the block and the plate 23 are illustrated in greater detail.

The block which is parallelepipedal is fastened underneath the hopper bottom ring 8 by setscrews 62. It comprises a drilling 63 to which is fitted a connection 64 for the pipe 59. This drilling 63 opens out into a channel 65 in the block and located against the bottom face of the ring 8 beneath three openings 66 drilled in the ring 8.

Transverse drillings 67 connect the openings 66 to the orifices 61. These transverse drillings are plugged by plugs 68 in order to avoid leaving them in communication with the outer air and in order to compel the compressed air admitted into the pipe 59 to be directed towards the orifices 61 in the ring 8. Other forms of distributor blocks and drillings may obviously be suitable.

In Figures 9 and 10 is illustrated in detail another ejector 56 arranged for mechanical ejection of workpieces.

In this variant a movable flap 69 is provided, which is housed in the fixed hopper bottom ring 8 underneath the path of the cells 24 and capable of being raised under the action of a suitable control for ejecting any workpiece 2 contained in a cell 24.

This flap 69 is mounted pivotally on a spindle 70 to which it is welded. The spindle may be set in rotary motion by a lever 71 which is connected to an electromagnet 72 by way of a spring 73.

When the electromagnet 72 is not excited the movable flap 69 is folded down by the revolving extractor plate 23 into the position lying against the fixed ring 8: it remains iii this position because it is not being acted upon by any force.

When the electromagnet 72 is excited it exerts a pull on the spring 73 and hence on the lever 71, and it tends to raise the movable flap 69.

Passing of the extractor plate 23 over the flap 69 folds it down against the restoring force of the spring 73 and every time a cell 24 passes over the flap 69 the latter is raised violently under the action of the spring 73, ejecting the workpiece (2 in Figure 10) contained in the cell 24.

Figure 10 shows the movable flap 69 and the parts which actuate it in two positions: the ejection position in dotted line, the waiting position in solid line.

The spindle 70 and the movable flap 69 are housed in a slot 74 cut out from the fixed bottom ring 8 upstream of the discharge opening 27 (Figure 6). The flap completely blocks this slot 74 when it is in the down position so as to allow free passage of workpieces such as 2 when this is required.

The electromagnet 72 may be replaced by a jack or another actuator motor. It is not necessary for it to have an extremely fast response time in order to ensure free ejection of the workpieces. Actually it is the spring 73 which ensures this free ejection because the flap 69 is folded down after the passing by of- each Cell and is raised abruptly under the action of the spring each time- another cell- passes by.

Whatever the embodiment adopted, eject trical control 'of the ejector means is preferably provided (electrical control of a solenoid valve, of an electromagnet, or of the admission of fluid into a jack).

There are generally two cases where ejection of the workpieces will be ordered-before- they reach the discharge opening 27. The first is the case where it'is desired that the drum 5 revolves -empty while the - hopper remains partially full. In this case an excitation current is applied to the ejector means during the whole time when it is desired to stop the workpiece feed without stopping the machine.

The second case is the one where it is required to stop or start up the machine.

During a transitory starting up or braking period the ejector 56 is operated so as to avoid the pieces collected tilting the wrong way on striking the tilting bars 35 in the recesses 28. To do that the best way is to control the ejector means (electromagnet or solenoid valve. . .) directly by a pushbutton which is used likewise for controlling the starting and stopping of the machine while timing the control of the ejection in order that it acts during the whole phase of acceleration for starting up or of braking for stopping.

It may equally well be provided that the ejection is controlled from the release of an order for slowing down or speeding up the machine.

WHAT WE CLAIM IS:- 1. Apparatus for feeding tubular workpieces such as cartridge case blanks one by one in a predetermined orientation to a downstream machine tool or other processing device arranged to operate at a predetermined rate, said apparatus comprising a feed hopper taking the workpieces in bulk, with a lower portion containing an extractor for extracting the workpieces one by one from the hopper and feeding them directly to an orienting and transfer drum, said drum having recesses arranged to receive each workpiece as it is extracted from the hopper and tilt it into a predetermined attitude so that each such wórkpiece can be presented automatically and correctly orierited to the downstream device.

2. Apparatus according to claim 1 where in said drtim - recesses are funnel-shaped, and the flared month of each of them is arranged to receive a workpiece and includes means for tilting such a workpiece so that it will fall in said predetermined - attitude into a bottom recess portion.

3. Apparatus according to claim- or 2, wherein said -"extractor comprises a plate whose periphery is notched two provide a plurality of cells and which is arranged for rotation so" that such cells successively register with - a discharge opening - in the hopper whereby a workpiece which has entered a said cell during such rotation can be discharged from the hopper fot reception by the drum.

4.- Apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the number óf recesses in the drum is equal to the number of cells in the extractor plate.

5. Apparatus according to claim 3 or 4 in which the drum is arranged below the bottom of the hopper coaxially with the extractor plate so that its recesses correspond with the cells in the latter.

6. Apparatus according to any preceding claim, wherein each recess in the drum includes in its bottom portion a radial opening of elongated shape whereby a workpiece arranged in this bottom portion can be taken up by a conical transfer and feed wheel driven in synchronism with the drum.

7. Apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the extractor and the drum are fixed onto one and the same shaft which is mounted to rotate in a frame at the top portion of which is arranged the feed hopper.

8. Apparatus according to claim 7, wherein a friction clutch is arranged between the aforesaid shaft and its driving means.

9. Apparatus according to claim 2, wherein said means for tilting the workpiece includes a bar fixed adjustably in the flared top portion of each recess.

10. Apparatus according to claim 3, wherein there is provided upstream of said discharge opening selectively operable means for ejecting workpieces from the cells in the extractor plate.

11. Apparatus according to claim 10, wherein such ejector is arranged to be operated in response to a control order for stopping or slowing down the apparatus.

12. Apparatus according to claim 10 or 11, wherein the ejector is arranged to be operated in response to a control order for starting up or speeding up the revolving plate.

13. Apparatus according to claim 11 or 12, wherein the ejector is arranged to operate

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

Claims

**WARNING** start of CLMS field may overlap end of DESC **. completely blocks this slot 74 when it is in the down position so as to allow free passage of workpieces such as 2 when this is required. The electromagnet 72 may be replaced by a jack or another actuator motor. It is not necessary for it to have an extremely fast response time in order to ensure free ejection of the workpieces. Actually it is the spring 73 which ensures this free ejection because the flap 69 is folded down after the passing by of- each Cell and is raised abruptly under the action of the spring each time- another cell- passes by. Whatever the embodiment adopted, eject trical control 'of the ejector means is preferably provided (electrical control of a solenoid valve, of an electromagnet, or of the admission of fluid into a jack). There are generally two cases where ejection of the workpieces will be ordered-before- they reach the discharge opening 27. The first is the case where it'is desired that the drum 5 revolves -empty while the - hopper remains partially full. In this case an excitation current is applied to the ejector means during the whole time when it is desired to stop the workpiece feed without stopping the machine. The second case is the one where it is required to stop or start up the machine. During a transitory starting up or braking period the ejector 56 is operated so as to avoid the pieces collected tilting the wrong way on striking the tilting bars 35 in the recesses 28. To do that the best way is to control the ejector means (electromagnet or solenoid valve. . .) directly by a pushbutton which is used likewise for controlling the starting and stopping of the machine while timing the control of the ejection in order that it acts during the whole phase of acceleration for starting up or of braking for stopping. It may equally well be provided that the ejection is controlled from the release of an order for slowing down or speeding up the machine. WHAT WE CLAIM IS:-

1. Apparatus for feeding tubular workpieces such as cartridge case blanks one by one in a predetermined orientation to a downstream machine tool or other processing device arranged to operate at a predetermined rate, said apparatus comprising a feed hopper taking the workpieces in bulk, with a lower portion containing an extractor for extracting the workpieces one by one from the hopper and feeding them directly to an orienting and transfer drum, said drum having recesses arranged to receive each workpiece as it is extracted from the hopper and tilt it into a predetermined attitude so that each such wórkpiece can be presented automatically and correctly orierited to the downstream device.

for a predetermined time following a said control order.

14. Apparatus according to any one of claims 10 to 13, wherein the ejector comprises a compressed air pipe drilled into a fixed bottom plate of the hopper up to below the path of the cells and a solenoid valve connected to this pipe for controlling the admission of compressed air into this pipe.

15. Apparatus according to any one of daims 10 to 13, wherein the ejector comprises a flap housed in a fixed bottom plate of the hopper beneath the path of the cells and arranged to be raised upon a suitable order in order to eject the workpieces contained in the cells which pass over this flap.

16. Apparatus according to claim 15, wherein the flap is connected by a linkage to a control member for causing its raising.

17. Apparatus according to claim 16, wherein the control member is an electro; magnet or a jack controlled by solenoid valve.

18. Apparatus according to either of claims 16 and 17, wherein an elastic connection is provided between the control member and the flap in order to bias the flap to its raised position when the control member is actuated so that movement of the cells past the flap allows the flap to rise to eject workpieces contained in the cells.

19. A workpiece feeding apparatus sub stantially as herein described with reference to Figures 1 to 4 or 5 to 10 of the accomZ panying drawings.