GB2067511A

GB2067511A - Apparatus for varying the spacing between articles arranged in a series

Info

Publication number: GB2067511A
Application number: GB8101521A
Authority: GB
Original assignee: BINDLER MASCHF Gebr CO KG GmbH
Current assignee: BINDLER MASCHF Gebr CO KG GmbH
Priority date: 1980-01-22
Filing date: 1981-01-19
Publication date: 1981-07-30
Also published as: FR2473986A1; GB2067511B; DE3002099A1; FR2473986B3; DE3002099C2

Abstract

The present invention relates to apparatus for varying the spacing between articles, e.g. confectionery articles, arranged in a series, e.g. in a line transverse to the direction of transport thereof. The apparatus comprises a plurality of gripping members 33, 35, one for each article 10 in the series, which are mounted on carriages 26, 30 displaceable along guide rails which also function as transport shafts 18 and are provided with cylindrical cam tracks 32 engaged by drivers associated with the carriages, rotation of the shafts 18 causing a variation in the spacing of the gripping members and therefore of articles carried thereby. The shafts 18 may be rotated through different angles and/or its inclination of the cam tracks may change along its length to achieve the variation in the spacing of the articles. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Apparatus for varying the spacing between articles arranged in a series The invention relates to an apparatus for varying the spacing of articles arranged in a series, particularly but not exclusively of confectionery articles which are to be inserted or packed.

It is often necessary to bring articles which occur in large quantities into a certain position relative to one another. Even when the articles are already arranged in a series, it is often necessary to vary the spacing of the articles from one another in the longitudinal direction of the series and, in particular, to provide regular spacings of a predetermined size between the articles.

Although it would, in theory, be conceivable to bring this about, in the course of a relatively long transport movement, by means of guide plates or similar devices, this would, however, take up too much space and, moreover, changing the spacing which is to be provided at any given time would require considerable outlay. If, for example, confectionery articles are to be inserted into their packs, this has to be done essentially solely by hand, whenever the articles, after being removed from the mould, occur in series running transversely to the transport direction, or are removable in such an arrangement from a magazine or the like.

According to the invention there is provided apparatus for varying the spacing between articles arranged in a series, comprising a gripping member for each article each gripping member being associated with a carriage which is displaceable on a guide rail the carriage having a driver, and a transport shaft having at least one cylindrical cam track which interacts with the driver, the transport path of the carriage being determined by the incline of the cylindrical cam and/or by the angle of rotation of the transport shaft.

By means of an apparatus designed according to the invention, a spacing, as desired at any given time, between the articles in question can be provided mechanically and irrespective of whether the spacing to be provided is larger or smaller than that spacing which the articles arranged in a series possess initially. The transport distance, required at any given time, for the individual carriages and, consequently, for the gripping members can be predetermined, as the case may be, merely by exchanging one transport shaft for another, if the spacing which can be obtained by means of the cylindrical cam track or tracks of a transport shaft already in use is not sufficient.

The technical outlay required for the apparatus can be relatively small. It is also of particular advantage that the apparatus can have only a small space requirement and, in particular, that relatively long transport paths are not necessary for providing the spacing required at any given time.

The apparatus can still be applied advantageously even if the articles in question do not occur, at the outset, in a series arrangement. It is relatively simple to provide such an arrangement in which the articles can always have only a single, fixedly predetermined spacing, if this spacing can be varied to a value which can be predetermined as desired, simply and quickly, by means of the apparatus designed according to the invention.

Although reference is made to confectionery articles in the following description of the invention and of its embodiments, this is not intended to signify any restriction of the possible scope of application.

Rather, the invention can be applied advantageously wherever any articles whatsoever are to be brought into a certain spacing relative to one another. The invention is also applicable to applications in which the direction of the spacing to be varied extends not transversely to a transport direction but parallel thereto.

Some advantageous embodiments of the invention are described in more detail below.

For some applications, it may be preferable if the carriages are driven by only a single cylindrical cam track whose incline changes along its course. In any case, this change is necessary in relation to the size of the incline. Thus, for example, the spacing of the articles from one another can be varied in the direction of the end of the series arrangement in question.

In this case, the incline of the cylindrical cam will have to change so that a certain angle of rotation of the transport shaft causes, in the region of this end, only a small, if any, axial transport of the carriages or of the gripping members, whilst in the region of the opposite end of the transport shaft the axial component, extending parallel to the latter, of the transport movement will be maximum.

Alternatively an individual cylindrical cam track can be assigned to each carriage, the incline and/or length of the cylindrical cam tracks being different in an axial direction. This ought to be simpler, in terms of construction amongst other things, than the use of a single continuous cylindrical cam track.

Irrespective of whether the transport shaft has one or more cylindrical cam tracks, it will, however, be possible to design these so that the direction of their incline changes. In this case, the carriages may be divided into two groups which are driven in different directions, each group being driven from one end of the shaft in the direction of the shaft centre or in the opposite direction, the cylindrical cam tracks or cylindrical cam track parts which are assigned to the two groups having correspondingly different incline directions. The apparatus can therefore also be designed so that the spacing required at any given time is provided in the series direction or in the lateral direction, with orientation to the central region of the series arrangement.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, two shafts are provided for the carriages, the shafts being arranged parallel to one another. The carriages and gripping members are shaped and arranged in such away that the gripping members The drawing(s) originally filed was/were informal and the print here reproduced is taken from a later filed formal copy.

which are associated with the one shaft engage bet ween the gripping members which are associated with the other shaft.

This is advantageous, in particular, forapplica- tions in which the articles are relatively small and/or the initial or subsequent spacing of the articles from one another is relatively small, relative to the neces sary size of the carriages or gripping members.

Moreover, in this embodiment, two series of articles which succeed one another in the transport direction and which are orientated transversely to this transport direction can also be arranged in a position in which the articles are offset one to another. Alternatively the apparatus can be designed so that all the gripping members are located beneath one ofthe two shafts. In this case, an arrangement in a single series is obtained for an appropriately large number of articles.

The transport shaft and the guide rail are, in general, located parallel to one another and are provided with the coupling devices which are necessary for driving the carriages. It is however particularly advantageous if the transport shaft and the guide rail are combined into a single shaft. This then serves both to guide the carriages in themselves and also to cause, by means of the cylindrical cam tracks, the transport movement required at any given time. By the combination of transport shaft and guide rail a noticeable reduction in technical outlay and space requirement can be obtained.

Furthermore, it is proposed, in a preferred embodiment of the invention, that the guide rail and the transport shaft, or the shaft fulfilling the functions of these in combination, can be moved in a vertical direction in respect of the working plane from which the articles are taken.

It is thereby ensured, in the first place, that, during the variation of the spacing between the articles, no friction occurs between these and any supporting surface. However, it is simultaneously also made possible, by means of the vertical movement, to insert the articles, afterthe necessary spacing has been provided between them, into a pack, chocolate mould or the ike orto lift the articles over the margin of such a pack.

If a vertical movability of this type is provided, the transport shaft or the single shaft can be driven in a completely different way, for example hydraulically, pneumatically or electrically. However, it is possible to effect the drive movement of the shaft by providing on at least one end of the shaft a gearwheel which interacts with a vertically arranged toothed rack.

If vertical movement of the abovementioned type is provided for the apparatus, then the shaft ends can be mounted on a carrier which can be moved in a vertical direction, the toothed rack being arranged in a stationary manner. The rotary drive of the shaft or shafts provided is thus combined with the vertical movement.

In this connection, it may be favourable if a mechanical, pneumatic or electrical control is pro vided, which enables the shafts to be driven only after the gripping members have lifted the articles from a supporting plate. It is thereby guaranteed that, even in this embodiment of the drive, a friction cannot be exerted upon the articles from a support ing plate during a transport movement in the direction of the shaft axis.

Furthermore, it can be advantageous if a supporting plate which is located underneath the gripping members can be removed afterthe gripping members have gripped the articles. The removal can be effected, for example, by lowering the supporting plate or by swinging it out, and will, in general, serve the purpose of providing a free space beneath the gripping members. A conveyor device, a container, chocolate moulds or the like can be introduced into this free space, for example for receiving the articles from the gripping members.

An embodiment of the invention will now be described by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure T is a diagrammatic illustration of a side view of an embodiment of apparatus according to the present invention; Figure 2 is a view perpendicularto that of Figure 1, of the apparatus of Figure 1 and showing two groups of gripping members in a first position; Figure 3 is a view corresponding to that of Figure 2, of the apparatus of Figure 1 and showing the gripping members in a second position; and Figure 4 is a plan view of the apparatus shown in Figure 3.

The apparatus hereinafter described and shown in Figures 1 to 4 is intended to provide a certain spacing between confectionery articles, in the form of waffles, which are arranged in a series in a straight line. The articles are designated by the reference numeral 10 and are initially contained in a magazine 11. From this, the articles 10 pass, in one series in this embodiment, onto a conveyor belt 12 along which they are pushed onto a supporting plate 14 by a slide 13 which works in timed operation. The articles 10 have, atthisjuncture, in the region of one line in the given case, an arrangement which emerges from Figure 2.The apparatus serving to vary the spacing of the articles 10, which constitute one series in the given case, has the following construction in detail: A frame-shaped supporting structure 15 has two end carriers or supports 16 which extend in a vertical direction and on which the ends of two shafts 17 and 18 are rotatably mounted. The shafts 17,18 serve the function of guide rails along which the carriages are movable and transport shafts for controlling movementthereof. The supporting structure 15, together with the shafts 17 and 18, can be moved in a vertical direction and is also held and guided correspond ingly by means which are not illustrated in detail.

This movement of the supporting structure 15 is effected by means of a drive 19 which may be a piston/cylinder arrangement of conventional design and can be actuated accordingly. One side of the drive 19 can be mounted on a suitable fixed point 20.

The shafts 17 and 18 each have, at one end of this embodiment, a gearwheel 21 and 22 respectively, each angularly fast with the respective shaft, between which gearwheels a toothed rack 23 extends in a vertical direction, the rack 23 being arranged in a stationary manner. To simplify the illustration, a fixed point 24 is shown only symbolically for the mounting of the toothed rack 23. It thus arises that, in the case of a vertical movement of the supporting structure 15, the two gearwheels 21 and 22 are driven by means of the toothed rack 23 in the same direction of rotation.

Two carriages 26 are mounted on the shaft 17 on each side of an axis 25 (Figure 2), so that the shaft 17 has altogether four carriages 26. Each carriage 26 has a driver 27 which is arranged resiliently in a radial direction and which engages in cam means comprising cylindrical cam tracks 28 and 29. The cylindrical cam tracks 28 are assigned to those carriages 26 which are nearest the axis 25, whilst the cylindrical cam tracks 29 are assigned respectively to the two outer carriages 26.

Only two carriages 30 are mounted on shaft 18, one on each side of the axis 25. The two carriages 30 each have a driver 31 which is, likewise, held resiliently and extends in a radial direction and engages in a cylindrical cam track 32.

The carriages 26 on the shaft 17 are provided at their lower ends on their undersides with gripping members 33 which are in this embodiment designed as suction plates and which can be subjected to a vacuum via connecting lines 34. The carriages 30 on the shaft 18 each have, likewise, a gripping member 35 which is mounted on a partthereoe::tending to the side underneath the shaft 17. Thus, the gripping members 33 and 35 lie on a straight line, that is to say, they constitute a uniform series.

In this embodiment, the gripping members 35 are arranged so that they lie, in each case, between two gripping members 33.

The cylindrical cam tracks 28, 29 and 32 are coordinated in respect of incline and length, so phut their final points have one and the same spacing from one another in the one and in the other direction respectively. The resulting smaller spacing of the gripping members is shown in Figure 2, whilst the resulting larger spacing is shown in Figures 3 and 4. There is no need for a more detailed explanation of the fact that either the smallerorthe larger spacing can correspond to the initial situation of the gripping members, starting from which the variation of the spacing between the articles 10 is to be effected.

As shown the cylindrical cam tracks 28 have, relative to a certain angle of rotation of the shaft 17, the smallest incline. The cylindrical cam tracks 32 on the shaft 18 have the next largest incline, whilst the outer cylindrical cam tracks 29 on the shaft 17 each have the largest incline. The same applies with regard to the lengths of the cylindrical cam tracks 28, 29 and 32.

The supporting plate 14 can be removed from its position illustrated in Figure 1, namely by means of a drive which is not shown in detail here and by means of which it can be swung or pulled out, for example, towards the side lying opposite the magazine 11, as soon as the gripping members 33 and 35 have each gripped an article 10. Subsequentlyorsimultane- ously, a container 37 can be brought underthe gripping members 33 and 35 by means of a transport device 36 which is indicated here only diagrammatically. The container 37 has individual trays 38 into each of which an article 10 is to be inserted. The spacing between the trays 38, which is indicated in Figure 3, is therefore that spacing to which the articles 10 which constitute one series in the given case are to be brought.Conversely, the spacing which is illustrated in Figure 2 between each of the gripping members 33 and 35 corresponds to that spacing which the articles 10 possess upon delivery from the magazine 11, when they are pushed onto the supporting plate 14 by the slide 13.

The apparatus described here thus takes, in each work cycle, one series of the articles 10 delivered with the last-mentioned spacing, due to the fact that a sufficiently iarge suction pressure is activated via the connecting lines 34. By means of this suction pressure, the articles 10 can be lifted at least a little way from the supporting plate 14, so that there is no longer any friction with the latter. Subsequently, the supporting plate 14 is removed, so that the drive 19 can then be switched on. With this, the entire supporting structure 15, together with the elements held by it, is lowered until the operating position shown in Figure 3 is reached.Moreover, the supporting plate 14 can be removed from the region lying underneath the gripping members 33 and 35, in such a way that, even before the start of the lowering operation or even before the articles 10 are pushed onto the supporting plate 14, the container37 can be located in position to receive articles 10 as shown in Figure 3.A particularly rapid mode of operation of 'he apparatus described is obtained because, among other things, the lowering movement and the adjusting movement of the carriages 26 and 30 which is required to provide the necessary spacing are effected simultaneously. A favourable simplification for r controlling the movements involves a positive coupling of these two movements, so that only the drive 19 isto be actuated accordingly as a single drive.

IT the spacing to be provided between the articles 10 is smaller than corresponds to the illustration according to Figure 3, a correspondingly smaller lowering of the supporting structure 15 is sufficient.

The shafts 17 and 18 then rotate through a smaller angular range, so that the carriages 26 and 30 are moved correspondingly less far apart. If necessary, the container 37 must be brought into a somewhat higher position if the articles 10 are not to fall into the trays 38 from too great a height.

There is thus provided an apparatus which is suitable for varying the spacing of articles arranged in a series, and in which the spacing to be provided at any given time is predeterminable, as desired, and the apparatus itself requires only a small technical outlay and takes as little construction space as possible.

Claims

1. Apparatus for varying the spacing between articles arranged in a series, comprising a gripping member for each article, each gripping member being associated with a carriage which is displaceable on a guide rail, the carriage having a driver, and a transport shaft having at least one cylindrical cam track which interacts with the driver, the transport path of the carriage being determined by the incline of the cylindrical cam and/or by the angle of rotation of the transport shaft.

2. Apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the carriages are driven by means of only a single cylin drical cam track whose incline changes along its length.

3. Apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein a cylindrical cam track is provided in respect of each carriage and the incline and/or length of the cylindrical cam tracks are different in an axial direction.

4. Apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the carriages are divided into two groups which are driven in different directions, each group being driven from one shaft end in the direction of the shaft centre or in the opposite direction, the cylindrical cam tracks or cylindrical cam track part which are assigned to the two groups having different incline directions.

5. Apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the transport shaft and the guide rail are combined as a single shaft.

6. Apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the carriages are provided on two shafts which are located parallel to one another, and the carriages and gripping members are shaped and arranged in such a way that the gripping members which are provided on the one shaft engage between gripping members which are provided on the other shaft.

7. Apparatus according to claim 6, wherein all the gripping members are located beneath one of the two shafts.

8. Apparatus according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the guide rail and the transport shaft or the shaft fulfilling the functions of these in combination are movable in a vertical direction in respect of a working plate for the articles and from which the articles are taken.

9. Apparatus according to claim 8, wherein a gearwheel which interacts with a vertically arranged toothed rack is attached respectively at least on one shaft end.

10. Apparatus according to claim 8 or 9, wherein the shaft ends are mounted on a carrier which is movable in a vertical direction and the toothed rack is arranged in a stationary manner.

11. Apparatus according to any one of claims 8 to 10, wherein a mechanical, pneumatic or electrical control is provided, permitting the shafts to be driven only after the gripping members have lifted the articles from a supporting plate.

12. Apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein a supporting plate is located beneath the gripping members and is removable therefrom after the gripping members have gripped the articles.

13. Apparatus according to claim 12, wherein a conveyor device, a container, moulds or the like is introduced into the region beneath the gripping members for receiving articles carried bythe grip ping members.

14. Apparatus forvarying the spacing between articles arranged in a series substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings.