GB672061A - Improvements in and relating to weighing and sorting apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

672,061. Endless conveyers; rotary elevators; shoots and hoppers. BRITISH THOMSONHOUSTON CO., Ltd. March 21. 1950. [March 31, 1949] No. 7024/50. Class 78 (i). [Also in Group XVIII] In a sorting mechanism of the kind in which glass rods are deposited on weighing levers carried by a conveyer, the movement of each lever from a balanced position determining which of a number of pre-adjusted trip members will discharge the articles, the rods are deposited on the levers by means of intermediary supports also carried by the conveyer. The rods 1, Fig. 1, roll down a shoot 4 and are transferred singly by a drum 5 to intermediary supports 7 carried by a double chain conveyer 6 which is driven synchronously with the drum. As the loaded members 7 move around the left end of the conveyer, guides 9, 10 first move weighing levers 8 downwardly into engagement with the rods and then as the members 7 are inverted slowly lower the levers which now carry the rods, the purpose of this arrangement being to ensure that the levers do not oscillate on receiving the rods, and this is further prevented by incorporating damping means (not shown) on the lever pivot shafts 66. When the levers leave guides 10, Fig. 2, they pivot on knife edge bearings (not shown) at the ends of shafts 66, against the counter-balancing force exerted by pendulum type weights (also not shown) secured to the shafts 66, and assume angular positions determined by the weights of the rods. A number of fixed devices 93 each have a trip bar 86 which is adjusted to engage those fingers 83 secured to shafts 66 which correspond with a predetermined angular position of the levers 8, and pivots said levers to cause them to discharge the rods into associated hoppers 12. The trip bars 86, which are arranged to discharge rods of progressively diminishing weight by adjustment of screws 91 and compression springs 92, are normally maintained in a vertical position by permanent magnets 88, but after each finger 83 and lever 8 has been pivoted into a vertical discharging position, the bar 86 temporarily disengages from the magnet to allow the finger to pass, as shown on the left hand device in Fig. 2. To allow time for these bars to stop bouncing, the devices are arranged to discharge alternate levers 8 only, a similarly adjusted device (not shown) being located on the opposite side of the conveyer to co-operate with fingers 83 secured to the other ends of the shafts 66 of the remaining levers. Shoots hoppers; rotary elevators. The angle of shoot 4 is adjustable by means of a screw 21 and, if it is desired to stop the supply of rods to drum 5, the top members 40 of the shoot can be moved by a pivoting lever 26, so that a stop 24 maintains the rods clear of steps 28 in the drum. After each step has passed the pick up point a member 31 is moved outwardly by a cam (not shown) to discharge any additional rods which may be resting on the step.