GB646723A - Improvements in or relating to devices for stacking or transferring articles - Google Patents

Abstract

646,723. Endless-belt conveyers. LAX & SHAW, Ltd., LAX, G. T., GLANCY, H., and HARRISON, S. Oct. 31, 1947, No. 29106. [Class 78 (i)] Apparatus for transferring articles between two positions in a conveying system comprises gripping jaws adapted to close on an article in one position, raise and transfer the article to the second position, and return to the first position for another article, the movements being effected by fluid pressure mechanism through valve means which are selectively operated to control the supply of fluid to the mechanism by a master control device to effect the several operations in timed sequence. The jaws 1, Fig. 1, are operated by a cylinder 4 which is attached by a rod 6 to the piston 7 of a cylinder 8. Cylinder 8 is provided with rollers 11 and is attached by a rod 15 to the piston 16 of a cylinder 13, which is secured to a fixed support. Rollers 11 run on a pair of fixed rails 12. A set of bottles in a row on a conveyer belt 30 is conveyed by the belt against a fixed stop 33 so that their necks lie between the open jaws 1 while a second stop 34 may be provided to come into operation when jaws 1 are about to close. The jaws are opened and closed by toggle levers 27, Fig. 2, pivoted on a bracket on the cylinder 4, their upper ends being slotted to receive spaced pins on the piston rod 29. The limit of closing is set by a screw 25 and pieces of resilient material are incorporated in the jaws. The pistons are all double acting and the cylinders are operated in sequence to grip the bottles, raise them by cylinder 8 to a height fixed by a screw 10 engaging the top of the piston 7, move them transversely by cylinder 13, release the bottles on to a like conveyer 32 moving transversely to belt 30, reverse the traversing motion and lower the jaws for the next set of bottles. The cylinders 4, 8 and 13 are controlled by valves 5, 9 and 14 supplied by fluid at 21. Fluid is also supplied to a rotary master valve 17 continuously rotated by a timing device to supply fluid to operate the valves 5, 9 and 14 in turn. Each valve comprises a piston 20 reciprocated by supplying fluid through conduits 18, 19 in turn by means of the master valve and thus connecting one of the conduits 22, 23 to the fluid supply while the other is exhausted through one of the ports 24.