GB2216508A

GB2216508A - Apparatus for removing generally planar articles from a stack

Info

Publication number: GB2216508A
Application number: GB8904739A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Robert Julian Simmons
Original assignee: BURTON S GOLD MEDAL BISCUITS
Current assignee: BURTON S GOLD MEDAL BISCUITS
Priority date: 1988-03-03
Filing date: 1989-03-02
Publication date: 1989-10-11
Anticipated expiration: 2009-03-02
Also published as: GB2216508B; GB8805082D0; GB8904739D0

Abstract

Apparatus for use in removing generally planar articles from a stack 2 of articles comprises a rotatable wheel 1. Provided around the circumferential surface of the wheel 1 are plurality of indents 4 having base surfaces 5 whose radial depth varies from zero at their leading ends to a maximum at their trailing ends. The circumferential surface of the wheel is arranged to support the articles in the stack 2 so that as the wheel 1 rotates the lowermost article in the stack 2 is gradually lowered into an indent 4, for removal from the stack 2. The articles may be biscuits, and may be removed by transport on rails 12 under the effect of pushers 14 on endless belt 11. Alternatively they may be inverted by a shroud co-operating with wheel 1, the biscuits being discharged at the "six o'clock" position. <IMAGE>

Description

Improvements in and relating to Apparatus for use in removing Generally Planar Articles from a Stack This invention relates to apparatus for removing generally planar articles from a stack of articles and particularly, but not exclusively, to apparatus for incorporation in a production line for producing biscuits.

In the manufacture of biscuits it may be necessary to transfer biscuits from a generally vertically extending stack individually onto a horizontal conveyor. It is known to provide a rotatable wheel under the stack, the periphery of the wheel being provided with recesses into which the biscuits drop when the recesses pass under the stack. The provision of such recesses, which give the circumference of the wheel a castellated profile in axial section, has the disadvantage of causing the biscuits in the stack to move jerkily downwards each time the lowermost biscuit becomes aligned with a recess and abruptly drops into it. With delicate articles such as biscuits, this can cause damage to the articles.

According to one aspect of the present invention there is provided apparatus for use in removing generally planar articles from the lower end of a stack of articles, comprising a generally circular rotatable wheel which is in use arranged below the lower end of the stack with its rotational axis generally horizontal, the wheel having a circumferential surface for support ig the lowermost article in the stack, a plurality of article receiving indents provided in the circumferential surface, each indent having a generally circumferentially extending base surface and a radial depth which varies in the circumferential direction so that, as the wheel is rotated, an article is gradually lowered into a respective indent for removal from the stack.

The radial depth of each indent advantageously increases from zero at the leading end of the indent to a maximum at the trailing end of the indent. The depth of the indent at the trailing end is preferably equal to or smaller than the thickness of an article.

The leading end of one indent may be immediately adjacent the trailing end of the immediately preceding indent in the direction of rotation of the wheel.

Alternatively, a circumferential surface portion, centred on the axis of the wheel, may be provided between the leading end of one indent and the trailing end of the immediately preceding indent in the direction of rotation of the wheel.

The generally circumferentially extending base surface of each indent may be generally arcuate and may be continuously curved from the leading end to the trailing end. Alternatively, the base surface may comprise a first arcuate portion at the leading end of the indent and a second generally planar portion at the trailing end of the indent. The extent of the generally planar portion in the circumferential direction may advantageously be generally equal to the length of an article in that direction.

The apparatus may further comprise conveying means positioned adjacent the wheel for receiving articles from the wheel. The conveying means may comprise article support means arranged laterally of the wheel in the region of the lower end of the stack to be generally co-planar with the base surfaces of the trailing ends of the indents when aligned with the lower end of the stack. The conveying means may comprise engagement means for engaging articles received in the indents of the wheel to remove them from said indents.

Alternatively, a generally radial end surface portion may be provided at the trailing end of each indent, which portion may be used to engage and remove the lowermost article from the stack.

A plurality of co-axial wheels may be provided for supporting the lowermost article in the stack, the wheels being arranged for co-rotation and with their indents aligned. The plurality of wheels may be formed on a single rotary means provided with a groove or grooves to define the circumferential surfaces of the wheels. The conveying means may advantageously be positioned between adjacent circumferential surfaces.

Arcuate retaining means may be provided positioned adjacent the circumferential surface of the wheel or wheels, downstream of the lower end of the stack, to retain articles in the indents as they are rotated downwardly away from the stack. The arcuate retaining means may be arranged to release articles from the indents when the wheel has inverted the articles and means may be positioned below the wheel for receiving the inverted articles released from the indents by the retaining means.

Embodiments of apparatus in accordance with the present invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 is a-vertical section through an embodiment of apparatus according to the present invention; Figure 2 is a section through the apparatus of Figure 1 along the line II-II of Figure 1; Figures 3 to 6 are schematic representations, in section along the line III-III of Figure 2, showing a sequence of operations of the apparatus of Figure 1; Figure 7 is a sectional side elevation of a further embodiment of apparatus according to the present invention; and Figure 8 is a sectional side elevation of a yet further embodiment of apparatus according to the present invention.

Figure 1 shows a generally circular rotatable wheel 1 for use in removing generally planar articles, in this embodiment in the form of biscuits (not shown), from the bottom of a generally vertically extending stack 2 of articles to allow them to be moved from the bottom of the stack individually along a generally horizontal conveyor 3.

The wheel 1 is provided with a circumferential surface with a plurality of article receiving indents 4, for example as shown, six indents. Each indent 4 has a leading end 6 and a trailing end 7. The trailing end 7 of each of indent is provided with a generally radially extending end surface 8 which may, as shown, be a radial surface. The base or generally circumferentially extending surface 5 of each indent, between the leading and trailing ends 6, 7, may be generally arcuate e.g. as shown, continuously curved, with a distance from the axis of the wheel 1 which increases from the trailing end to the leading end to provide an indent with a radial depth which is maximum at the trailing end and reduces to zero at the leading end.Where it is required to remove only a single article at a time from the stack, the radial depth of the indent at the trailing end is preferably equal to, or slightly smaller than, the thickness of a biscuit.

As shown, the leading end 6 of one indent may be adjacent the trailing end 7 of the immediately preceding indent in the direction of rotation.

Alternatively, adjacent indents may be spaced apart by arcuate circumferential surface portions (not shown) of constant radius centred around the axis of the wheel.

The wheel 1 is mounted on an axle 9 for rotation in a clockwise direction (as shown in Figures 1 to 6). The remainder of the apparatus shown in Figures 1 and 2 is conventional and will only be briefly described.

A guide 10 for receiving a stack 2 of biscuits is arranged with its lower end above the horizontal axis of the wheel 1. Extending horizontally on each side of the wheel 1 are conveying means comprising two endless belts 11 and, above and in between the belts, article support means in the form of two stationary support rails 12. The belts 11 pass over pulleys, of which one pulley 13 is shown and of which one is driven to drive the belts in a clockwise direction (as shown), and are provided with article engagement means comprising longitudinally spaced projections 14. The projections 14 protrude above the plane of the stationary rails 12 and are adapted to engage individual biscuits (not shown) removed from the lower end of the stack in indents 4 of the wheel and to push them along the rails 12. At least in the region of the wheel and the lower end of the stack 2, the rails 12 are arranged to be generally co-planar with the trailing end of the base surface 5 of an indent 4 when aligned with the stack 2.

The projections 14 provided on the belts 11 may be arranged to engage and remove the lowermost articles in the stack from the stack 2.

A sequence of operations will now be described, with reference to Figures 3 to 6 from which the belts 11 and projections 14 have been omitted. The trailing end portion 7 of an indent 25 is aligned with the stack 2 of biscuits and the lowermost biscuit 15 of the stack 2 is received in the indent 25 (Figure 3). The biscuit may rest on the base surface 5 of the indent 25, on the stationary support rails 12 or (as shown in Figure 3) on both the rails and the trailing end portion of the surface 5 of the indent 25. The lowermost biscuit 15 may be removed from the stack either by the projections 14 moving from left to right with belts 11 (not shown), or by engagement and abutment with the end surface 8 of the indent.As the biscuit 15 is removed (Figure 4), the next lowermost biscuit 16 is initially supported on the lowermost biscuit 15 and subsequently, when the biscuit 15 is completely removed from the stack 2 (Figure 5), by the leading end portion 6 of the surface 5 of the next indent 26. With continued rotation of the wheel 1, the biscuit 16 is progressively lowered (with the stack) as it moves along surface 5 (Figure 6), making generally tangential contact therewith, until it reaches the trailing end portion of the indent 26 (Figure 3) and is ready for removal from the stack.

Thus with the above described apparatus, as the wheel 1 rotates and biscuits are removed from the bottom of the stack, the biscuits in the stack 2 move substantially continuously downwardly towards the bottom of the stack, minimising damage to the biscuits.

It will be appreciated that, overall, the stack of biscuits may have any appropriate configuration provided that, at its lower end it is orientated generally radially with respect to the wheel to present the lowermost biscuits in an attitude generally tangential to the circumference of the wheel.

Although as described, a single wheel with a single circumferential surface is provided, it will be appreciated that two or more circumferential surfaces may be provided, either on two or more wheels or on a single rotary means having a circumferential groove or groove, defining the circumferential surfaces of the wheels, the circumferential surfaces being positioned under a stack 2 with their indents 4 radially aligned.

The conveying means may then be at least partly provided between the circumferential surfaces in alignment with the stack 2.

In a modification of the above described apparatus, a biscuit may be inverted by the wheel 1 before it is placed on a horizontal conveyor. Such a modification is shown in Figure 7, in which the operation of the wheel in removing biscuits from the stack 2 is generally similar to that described above, except that a biscuit removed by the wheel is retained in the indent 4 as the wheel rotates and is only released by the retaining means when it has been inverted and is then deposited on a horizontal conveyor (not shown) below the wheel. In this embodiment, in which the wheel 1 rotates anti-clockwise, the end surface 8 of each indent 4 is used to engage a lowermost biscuit 15 to remove it from the bottom of the stack 2.

Means are provided for receiving the biscuits from the bottom of the wheel, which means may for example comprise support rails 20 and belts (not shown) carrying projections as described above. As shown in Figure 7, the retaining means is in the form of an arcuate semicircular support member 17 which is provided around the biscuit carrying circumferential surface portion of the wheel 1 downstream of the stack in the direction of rotation of the wheel, to retain the biscuits in the indents 4 as they are rotated downwardly away from the stack 2 and which is arranged to release the biscuits from their indents when the biscuits have been inverted.

The wheel 1 may, as shown, be provided with a circumferential groove 19 to provide two circumferential surface portions to thefwheel. Spring means in the form of an arcuate spring member 18 is provided in the groove 19, the lower end of member 18 resiliently bearing against support rail 20 at the lower end of member 17.

As a biscuit in its indent arrives at the lower end of member 17, it is contacted by the lower end of spring member 18 and momentarily held thereby against continued movement to ensure that the biscuit is seated in its indent abutting the end surface 8 of the indent.

The biscuit is then pushed forward by the end surface 8 causing the lower end of member 18 to be deflected upwardly in the direction of arrow A out of its path along rails 20 and beneath guide rails 21. Thus the effect of the spring member 18 contacting a biscuit is to locate it at the trailing end of its indent 4 against the end surfaces 8, so that each biscuit is released from the wheel in precise alignment with, for example, engagement projections co-operating with rails 20 positioned below the wheel.

In Figure 8, a wheel is shown similar to that shown in Figures 1 and 7, but with the shape of the base surfaces of the indents modified. Instead of being continuously curved as in Figures 1-7, each base surface 5 comprises a first generally arcuate portion 22 at its leading end, which merges with and is followed by a generally planar portion 23 at the trailing end. Such a wheel is particularly suitable where, as in the embodiment of- Figure 7, it is required to invert a biscuit before placing it on a horizontal conveyor. The length of the generally planar portion 23 in the circumferential direction is generally equal to the corresponding dimension of a biscuit (not shown).This shaping has the advantage that a biscuit received in portion 23 does not tend to rock as it may with the continuously curved surface 5 in the embodiment of Figure 7, and this allows the support member 17 (not shown in Figure 8) to be positioned closer to the periphery of the wheel 1. Although particularly suited to the embodiment of Figure 7, this modification is equally applicable to the embodiment of Figure 1.

Although as described the apparatus is intended to remove only single articles from the stack, one article at a time, it will be appreciated that a plurality of articles may be removed from the stack in a single indent by increasing the depth of the indents and the spacing of the stack guide from the wheel accordingly.

In the embodiments of apparatus shown in Figures 1 to 6, the centre of the guide 10 is shown as being aligned with the axle 9 of the wheel. The centre of the guide 10 may however advantageously be offset relative to the axle 9 in the direction of rotation of the wheel 1, as shown in Figure 7, so that at the point that the end surface 8 of an indent contacts the lowermost article in the stack, the surface 8 is substantially perpendicular to the lower end of the stack so that there is no tendency for the lowermost article to ride up the surface 8.

Claims

CLAIMS:

1. Apparatus for use in removing generally planar articles from the lower end of a stack of articles, comprising a generally circular rotatable wheel which is in use arranged below the lower end of the stack with its rotational axis generally horizontal, the wheel having a circumferential surface for supporting the lowermost article in the stack, a plurality of article receiving indents provided in the circumferential surface, each indent having a generally circumferentially extending base surface and a radial depth which varies in the circumferential direction so that, as the wheel is rotated, an article is gradually lowered into a respective indent for removal from the stack.

2. An apparatus as claimed in Claim 1, wherein the radial depth of each indent is zero at the leading end of the indent and increases to a maximum at the trailing end of the indent.

3. An apparatus as claimed in Claim 1 or Claim 2, wherein the radial depth of each indent at the trailing end thereof is at most equal to the thickness of an article.

4. An apparatus as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the leading end of a first indent is adjacent the trailing end of the immediately preceding indent in the direction of rotation of the wheel.

5. An apparatus as claimed in any of Claims 1 to 3 wherein a circumferential surface portion, centred on the axis of the wheel, is provided between the leading end of one indent and the trailing end of the immediately preceding indent in the direction of rotation of the wheel.

6. An apparatus as claimed in any of the preceding claims, wherein a generally radial end surface portion is provided at the trailing end of each indent.

7. An apparatus as claimed in any of the preceding claims, wherein the generally circumferentially extending base surface of each indent is generally arcuate.

8. An apparatus as claimed in any of the preceding Claims, wherein the generally circumferentially extending base surface of each indent comprises a first arcuate portion at the leading end of the indent and a second generally planar portion at the trailing end of the indent.

9. An apparatus as claimed in Claim 8, wherein the extent of the generally planar portion in the circumferential direction is generally equal to the corresponding dimension of an article.

10. An apparatus as claimed in any of the preceding claims, comprising conveying means positioned adjacent the wheel for receiving articles from the wheel.

11. An apparatus as claimed in Claim 10, wherein the conveying means comprises article support means arranged laterally of the wheel in the region of the lower end of the stack to be generally co-planar with the base surface of the trailing end of an indent aligned with the lower end of the stack.

12. An apparatus as claimed in either of Claims 10 and 11, wherein the conveying means comprises engagement means for engaging an article received in an indent for removing the article from the indent.

13. An apparatus as claimed in any of Claims 6 to 11, wherein said end surface portion is arranged for engagement with the lowermost article in the stack for removing the article from the stack.

14. An apparatus as claimed in any of Claims 1 to 10, comprising arcuate retaining means positioned adjacent the circumferential surface of the wheel downstream of the lower end of the stack in the direction of rotation of the wheel, for retaining articles in the indents as they are rotated downwardly away from the stack.

15. An apparatus as claimed in Claim 14, wherein the arcuate retaining means is arranged to release articles from the indents when the wheel has inverted the articles, and means are positioned below the wheel for receiving inverted articles released from the indents by the retaining means.

16. An apparatus as claimed in any of the preceding Claims, comprising a plurality of co-axial wheels for supporting the lowermost article in the stack, the wheel being arranged for co-rotation and with their indents aligned.

17. An apparatus substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings.