MXPA99006090A - Assembly of drive bar of tunel charger of recoc - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to: A drive rod assembly (20) having a flexible, horizontally extending bag bar (22) of sufficient longitudinal length to push a linear array of glass containers onto a conveyor is described. crosswise, transversally to the transverse conveyor, in an annealing furnace. The bag bar, which catches the containers to be pushed, is uncoupled to a pair of aligned horizontal drive bars (26, 28), the adjacent ends of which are spaced apart from each other. The driving rods are secured, respectively, to the first and second beams extending in a downward direction (30, 3).

Description

ASSEMBLY OF TUNNEL CHARGER DRIVER BAR FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a driving rod assembly for an article transfer device, of a type used in the transfer of articles placed in a linear array on a conveyor transversely on the conveyor, to an article processing unit. More particularly, this invention relates to a push rod assembly for an article transfer device of the above type, for transferring newly formed glass containers to the upper horizontal surface of a mobile conveyor of an annealing tunnel, namely a type of transfer device that is often called an annealing tunnel loader or a stacker.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION U.S. Patent No. 5,044,488 (Bolin) discloses a tunnel loader or stacker REF .: 30704 annealing that has a vertical series of mobile carriages, the lowest of which is supported by a support structure at an elevation above the floor of the plant in which the annealing tunnel loader is installed. The lower part carriage is movable towards an adjacent annealing tunnel to advance a linear series of glass containers on a conveyor, described - in the reference as a transverse conveyor, positioned between the stacker and the annealing tunnel, transversely of the transverse conveyor inside the annealing tunnel. An intermediate carriage is mounted on the lower carriage and is movable with the lower carriage and is independently movable with respect to the lower carriage in a direction parallel to the direction of movement of the transverse conveyor, to maintain the new containers on the conveyor. Transverse to avoid the piling up against a bag bar, which is carried by a driving bar that is carried by the car of the highest part, during the movement of the car from the lower part to the annealing tunnel. The third highest carriage is mounted above the intermediate carriage and is movable with the lower carriage and the intermediate carriage, and is movable is a vertical direction independent of the intermediate carriage and the lower carriage, to raise the driving rod above the the tips of the input containers on the transverse conveyor, during the return of the driving rod to a starting position. Other annealing tunnel loaders are described in U.S. Patent Nos. 4,067,434 (Mumford) and 3,181,031 (Dunlap), which were assigned to a predecessor of the assignee of this application, the description of each of which is incorporated by reference in the present. An improved annealing tunnel loader, of the above general description, is also disclosed in pending US Patent Application Serial No. 08 / 931,720, which is assigned to the assignee of this application. The modern annealing tunnels for glass containers are very wide, in order to be able to adequately process the manufacture of modern, high-productivity glass container forming machines. The width of the conveyor belt that carries the glass containers through the annealing tunnel determines the total width required of the drive rod assembly of the annealing tunnel loader associated with such an annealing tunnel, and a full width bag bar for such a driving rod assembly, of the type taught by the prior art, is subject to distortion along its length, especially in the high temperature environment in which the annealing tunnel loaders are used, which frequently reaches , or even exceeds 204 ° C (400 ° F) -. - This problem of distortion of the driving rod is especially severe in the case of annealing tunnel loaders designed to provide containers to the annealing tunnels having an especially large internal width.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention, a driving rod assembly carrying bag bars is provided for an annealing tunnel of glass containers, whose bag bar is substantially more resistant to end-to-end distortion than the bag bars. of the driving rod assemblies of the prior art. The bag bar of the present invention is coupled to a driving rod which is constructed in at least two segments, which are placed end to end, each segment being substantially less subject to end-to-end distortion than a driving rod. simple piece. In addition, the drive rod assembly of the present invention carries a plurality of threaded fittings for horizontally and vertically adjusting the positions of the bag bar that is carried by the multi-piece driving rod to straighten the bag bar relative to the driving rod without the need for spacers and washers, as shown by the prior art, to ensure a properly straight and properly placed bag bar. Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an improved drive rod assembly for an article transfer device of the type used in the transfer of articles placed in a linear array, transversely of the linear array. More particularly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved drive rod assembly of the above type, which has utility as a driving rod assembly for an annealing tunnel loader, of the type used in the transfer of newly formed glass containers. , coming from a transversal conveyor of containers towards a mobile conveyor of an annealing tunnel. It is also an object of the present invention to provide an improved assembly. of an impeller bar for annealing glass containers that is less subject to end-to-end distortion than the annealing tunnel loader booster assemblies of the prior art. For a further understanding of the present invention, and the objectives thereof, attention is drawn to the drawings and to the brief description thereof, shown below, to the detailed description of the preferred embodiment and the appended claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Figure 1 is a front elevational view of the driving rod assembly according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention; Figure 2 is a plan view of the drive rod assembly of Figure 1; Figure 3 is a fragmentary front elevation view, on an enlarged scale, of a driving rod assembly according to Figures 1 and 2; Figure 4 is a fragmentary plan view, on an enlarged scale, of a driving rod assembly according to Figures 1-3; Figure 5 is a fragmentary elevation view, on a further enlarged scale, of the driving rod assembly of Figures 1-4; Figure 6 is a fragmentary plan view, on an enlarged scale, of the drive rod assembly of Figures 1-5; Figure 7 is a fragmentary elevation view, on an enlarged scale, of a driving rod assembly according to Figures 1-6; Figure 8 is a sectional view, on an enlarged scale, taken on line 8-8 of Figure 1; Figure 9 is a sectional view, on an enlarged scale, taken on line 9-9 of Figure 1; Figure 10 is a sectional view, on an enlarged scale, taken on line 10-10 of Figure 1; Y Figure 11 is a sectional view, on an enlarged scale, taken on line 11-11 of Figure 7; DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED MODALITY A driving rod assembly according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention is generally indicated by a reference number 20 in Figures 1 and 2. The driving rod assembly 20 includes a single piece bag 22 bar, which extends generally horizontally, extending the full width of the internal width of an annealing tunnel for glass containers (not shown). The bag bar 22 is provided with a spaced plurality of generally triangular-shaped teeth 24, which define bags for grasping the newly formed glass containers C, which are to be annealed. The bag bar 22 is supported on a plurality of driving bars "extending generally horizontally, positioned end-to-end, shown as driving rods 26, 28. The driving rods 26, 28 are secured to the beams 30, 32 which they extend in a downward direction, respectively, which are part of the highest carriage, not otherwise shown, of a three-axis annealing tunnel loader of a type known in the prior art. a flange 34 extending generally horizontally, which is secured to the bottom of the beam 30 by a threaded fastener 36, which allows the lifting of the driving rod 26 to be adjusted in relation to the beam 30. Similarly, the The thrust rod 28 is supported from a flange 38 which extends generally horizontally, which is secured to the bottom of the beam 32 by a threaded fastener 40, which allows the lifting of the bar. piston 28 to be adjusted relative to the beam 32. In addition, the adjacent inner ends of the driving bars 26, 28, are carried on a bracket 42, and can be adjusted along their longitudinal axes by threaded fasteners 44, 46, respectively, which are received in the slots 48, 50, respectively, of the flanges 52, 54, respectively. The flanges 52, 54 in turn, are secured to the bracket 42. The "adjacent internal ends of the driving rods 26, 28 are also adjustable in a horizontal plane transversely to their longitudinal axes, by the adjustable securing of the adjacent internal ends. from the flanges 52, 54 to the bracket 42, in the manner of threaded fasteners 56, 58, respectively, which are received in the grooves 60, 62, respectively, of the bracket 42. The bar 22 of the bag, which is flexible in a horizontal plane along its length to allow it to be positioned accurately relative to the containers C to be transferred thereto, it is adjustable along its longitudinal axis relative to the driving bars 26, 28 without requiring adjustment in the positions of the driving rods 26, 28. To that end, the bag bar 22 is secured to the driving rods 26, 28 by the brackets 64, 66 respectively. The bracket 64 is secured to the bag bar 22 by a threaded fastener 68, which allows the lifting of the bag bar 22 to be adjusted relative to the driving rod 26. The bracket 64 is also secured to the driving bar 26 by the threaded fasteners 70, 72, which are received in a slot 74 in the bracket 64, to allow the bag bar 22 to be adjusted along its length relative to the driving rod 26. Similarly, the bracket 66 is secured to the bag bar 22 by a threaded fastener 76, which allows the lifting of the bag bar 22 to be adjusted relative to the driving rod 28, and the bracket 66 is secured to the driving rod 28 by the threaded fasteners 78 , 80, which are received in a slot 82 in the bracket 66 to allow the bag bar 22 to be adjusted along its longitudinal axis relative to the driving rod 28. The driving rod 26 can also be pivoted in a plan or horizontal relative to the fastener 36, by providing the bracket 34 with a spigot 84 extending in a downward direction, extending through an opening 86 in a horizontally extending flange portion of the driving rod 26. Similarly, the driving bar 28 can also be pivoted horizontally relative to the fastener 40 by providing the bracket 38 with a pin 90 extending in a downward direction., which extends through an opening 92 of a portion __ of flange 94 - extending horizontally, of the driving rod 28. As shown in Figures 8 and 10, it is desirable to be able to provide the bag bar 22 with a slight inclination from a true vertical inclination, so that the containers C caught therein are pushed along a rear portion of their bottom surfaces, thereby retarding the fall of the containers C during their transfer. For this purpose, as shown particularly in Figure 10, the driving bar 28 is adjustable in its orientation relative to the beam 32. This is achieved by the construction _ of the flange 38 with a separate pair of plates, an upper plate 96 and a lower plate 98. The lower plate 98 is hingedly secured to the upper plate 96 about an axis A, which is a longitudinal central axis of a threaded fastener 100 which is used to secure the upper plate 96 and the lower plate. 98 one to the other. The lower plate 98 is urged to move in an arcuate manner relative to the upper plate 96, which is rigidly secured to the beam 32, by rotation of a threaded screw 102 with head. The body of the headed screw 102 passes through an annular member 104, generally in the form of a T, which is fixedly positioned relative to the upper plate 96 and has an internal opening large enough to allow the orientation of the screw. with head 102 is varied in a true vertical orientation, as desired. The lower part of the head of the headed screw 102 is supported on the annular member 104 by a conical washer assembly 106, which is constituted by a lower conical washer 108, with a conical surface facing upwards, and a washer conical upper 110, with a conical surface facing downwards. The lower end of the headed screw 102 is threadedly received in the lower plate 98 of the flange 38, so that any change in the orientation of the headed screw 102 will cause the lower plate 98 to move arcuately relative to the upper plate 96. about the axis A. The orientation of the screw with head 102 is changed by the sliding movement of the upper conical washer 110 and the lower conical washer 108 relative to each other, one such conical washer 108, 110 is "provided with a internal diameter large enough to allow it to be moved radially relative to the axis of the headed screw 102. While not specifically illustrated, the flange 34 is securely secured to the beam 30 in the same manner that the flange 38 is secured to the beam 30. beam 32, as described above, a head screw 112 is provided to also perform the same function as the screw of a 102 in the arrangement illustrated in Figure 10. As illustrated in Figure 5, the tab 34 is provided with an upper plate 114 and a lower plate 116. The lower plate 116 is pivoted relative to the upper plate 114, along a horizontally extending axis B, so that the lower plate 98 of the flange 38 is pivotally movable relative to the upper plate 96 about the axis A, as described above. The lower plate 116 is also pivoted in a horizontal plane relative to the upper plate 114 about a vertically extending axis D, which extends through a spike 118 extending downwardly to move the orientation of the driving rod 26 out of alignment with the driving rod 28, when required to impart a slightly crescent-shaped arrangement to the wave of the containers C being advanced by the driving rod assembly 20, as shown in FIG. illustrated in Figure 2, for example, where different positions of the driving bar 26 are illustrated in dashed lines. The pivotal movement of the lower plate 116 about the axis O is manually driven by a threaded member 120 which is threadedly received in a C-shaped elevator 122 (Figure 4). The lifter 122 receives a pin 124, which extends outwardly from the upper plate 114, and is caused to be moved back and forth by the rotation of the threaded member 120. Likewise, the lower plate 98 of the flange 38 is pivoted in a generally horizontal plane relative to the upper plate 96 around a spigot, with a threaded member 128 being provided to reallocate the function of the threaded member 120 of the array to horizontally adjust the orientation of the lower plate 116 of flange 134 relative to upper plate 114, as previously described. Because it is often desirable to change the spacing of the teeth 24 of the bag bar 22 relative to one another, for example, when the diameters of the container C change from time to time, a quick disconnect feature is provided to ensure the bag bar 22 to the driving bars 26, 28, so that a different bag bar 22, with teeth 24 -differently spaced, can be used, as opposed to the variation of the spacing of the teeth 24 on a bar bag 22, given. To that end, a plurality of spikes 130, spaced apart, each with a drive ring 132 at its upper free end, is provided to removably secure the bag bar 22 to the drive bars 28 as they are inserted through the legs. aligned openings in the bag bar 22 and the driving bars 26, 28, respectively. Although the best modality contemplated by the inventor to carry out the present invention a. the date of presentation thereof, has been shown and described herein, it will be apparent to those of skill in the art that suitable modifications, variations and equivalents may be made without departing from the scope of the invention, such scope being limited only by the terms of the following claims and the legal equivalents thereof.

It is noted that in relation to this date, the best method known to the applicant to carry out the aforementioned invention, is that which is clear from the present description of the invention.

Claims (7)

CLAIMS Having described the invention as above, the content of the following claims is claimed as property:

1. A driving rod assembly for an article transfer device, for transferring a plurality of articles placed in a linear array on an article transfer conveyor, transversely to the conveyor, the driving rod assembly is characterized in that it comprises: a bag bar which extends laterally, the bag bar having a sufficient degree to attach or catch all the articles that are to be transferred in unison from an article transfer conveyor, transversely to the article transfer conveyor; first and second driving bars positioned end to end with the adjacent ends of the driving bars that are separated from each other; the means for releasably securing the bag bar to each of the first and second driving bars, and generally parallel thereto; the first support member for supporting the first driving rod; and the second support beams to support the second driving rod.

2 . A driving rod assembly according to claim 1, characterized in that the means for releasably securing comprises a spaced plurality of spikes that extend generally vertically, each of which passes through the aligned openings in the bar bag and one of the driving bars, and a driving ring secured to each of the pins that extend generally vertically, at an upper free end thereof.

3. A driving rod assembly according to claim 1, characterized in that the first support means comprises the means for adjusting the orientation of the first driving rod in a vertical plane extending transversely to the linear arrangement; and means for adjusting the orientation of the second driving rod in a vertical plane extending transversely to the linear array; with which a slight inclination can be provided to the articles that are transferred by the driving bar assembly, to avoid the falling of the articles during the transfer.

-4. A driving bar assembly according to claim 1, characterized in that the bag bar is flexible along its length, and in that it also comprises; the means for adjusting the orientation of the first driving rod in a horizontal plane extending generally transversely to the first supporting means; and means for adjusting the orientation of the second driving rod in a horizontal plane extending generally transversely to the second supporting means; whereby a curvature to the bag bar can be imparted by the adjustment of the means for adjusting the first driving rod in a horizontal plane, and the means for adjusting the second driving rod in a horizontal plane.

5. A driving rod assembly according to claim 1, and further characterized in that it comprises: means for adjusting the elevation of the first driving rod relative to the first supporting means; and means for adjusting the elevation of the second driving rod relative to the second supporting means.

6. A driving rod assembly according to claim 1, characterized in that the means for releasably securing the bag bar to the first and second driving bars allows adjustment of the placement of the bag bar along its axis longitudinal with relation to the positions of the first and second driving bars.

7. A "booster" assembly according to claim 1, characterized in that the article transfer device is an annealing tunnel loader for loading hot, newly formed glass containers into an annealing furnace.