US1049525A - Mechanism for assorting eyelets or similar articles. - Google Patents

Description

M. H. PEARSON & A. B. JERRAM. MECHANISM FOR ASSORTING EYELETS 0R SIMILAR ARTICLES;

A PPLIOATION FILED DEC, 21, 1904.

Patented Jan. 7, 1913.

v2 BHEBTSSHEET 1.

M. H. PEARSON & A. E. JBRRAM. MECHANISM FOR Asso wme EYELETS 0R SIMILAR ARTICLES.

APPLICATION FILED DISC. 21, 1904.

Patented 52111.7, 1913.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 W W IF I/J/F/VESSES.

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MARSHALL HENRY PEARSON AND ARTHUR. ERNEST LAND, ASSIGNOFS T0. UNITED SHOE MACHINERY JERRAM, OF LEICESTER, ENG- COMPANY, 01 PATERSON, NEW

JERSEY, CORFORATIGN OF NEW JERSEY- MECHANISM FUR ASSOBTING EYELE TS R SIMILAR ARTICLES.

Specification ofv Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. t, 1913.

Application filed December 21, 1904. Serial Ito/37,881

To all whom it may concern Be it known that we, MARSHALL HENRY PEARSON and ARTHUR Ennnsr JERRAM, both subjects of the King of Great Britain, re-

siding at Leicester, in the county of Leicester, England, have invented certain Imtion, like reference characters on the draw-' ings indicating like parts in the several figures.

lhis invention relates to apparatus for separating eyelets, headed rivets, or similar articles, from-a mass and delivering them to a raceway which guides them into position to be operated on, and the object of this invention is to provide improved means for rapidly and accurately separating anddelivering eyelets or similar articles from. a mass without marring or damaging them.

To this end eyelets or similar rticlesare placed on a supporting member which 13' actuated for causing the eyelets to move therefrom and pass under a gaging device. Preferably the supporting member is moved in the plane of its surface about a center so as to transmit rotary movement to the eyelets thereon and generate within. thema centrifugal tendency to travel away from said center and pass under the gaging device, which is so arranged that it permits the passage thereunder of only such eyelets as stand in either of two positions. The eyelets which pass under the gaging device move into contact with a guide rail that is provided with means for assorting the eyelets which stand in one position from the eyelets which stand ,in the other position, and in the embodiment of our lnvention herem shown means are.

provided for carrying back to the hopper the eyelets which, stand in one of said positions.

In the drawings Figure 1 is a front elevation of a hopper and an assorting mechanism embodying the features of our inven-.

tion; Fig, 2 is aplan view of the hopper and the mechanism shown in Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a sectional View taken on the line w ag of Fig. *2; Fig. 4 is a detail perspective view of the mechanism for asserting the differently positioned eyelets, and for guiding them indifierent directions; Fig. 5 is a'sectional view of the raceway taken on the'line of Fig. 4; and Fig. 6 is a detail view, 1n side elevation, of the mechanism for carrying eyelets from the guide rails back ,to

the hopper.

Referring to the drawings, which illustrate the preferred form of our-invention, 2 designates the cylindrical wall of the hopper which is fastened by screws 4: to the head 6 of an eyeleting machine. The bottom of the hopper comprises a disk or article supporting member 8 which is adapted to rotate in a horizontal plane in a circular 'guideway formed in the head of the machine, so as to transmit movement to eyelets supported thereon for generating with in them a centrifugal tendency to travel away from the center of rotation of the disk. Said disk is provided with a downwardly projecting hub 10 which is rotatably mounted in a bearing in the head 6, and the upper surface of the; disk is recessed, as shown in Fig. 3, to receive a ring 12 of'vulcanized fiber or some such material ofa high coeflicient of friction, which will cause the eyelets to partake of the rotaryaction of the disk. Preferably the disk is formed of metal or some other hard material so that the portion of said disk which is contiguous to the wall of the hopper will have a low coeflicient of friction, the center of the disk being cone shaped, as shown in Fig. 3, for the purpose'of causing eyelets which might otherwise lie at the center of the disk to slide by gravity outwardly where they may develop a greater centrifugal tendency. In order that the upper surface of the disk may have a true working bearin withthe lower edge of the wall of the-hopper, said disk is adapted to be adjusted vertically, the hub 10 having a screw-threaded bore which receives a pin 20 having at its lower end a ball-and-socket bearing 22 in the head 6 of the machine, so that by turning said pin the disk will be moved relatively to the wall.2 of the hopper, the pin being locke ir adjusted position by a nut 24:. The disk or article supporting member 8 may be rotated in any convenient manner, for instance by a driven shaft 14 having a pinion 16 which meshes with an internal gear 18.fastened to the disk, asrshown in Figs. 2 and 3.

"The walLof' the'hopper is provided with a gilideway which receives a gageplate- 26 having its lower edge parallel to the upper which, as shown in Fig. 3,'extends beneathsaid plate, is less than the diameter of the head of an eyelet and is slightly greater. than the length of an eyelet as measured from the top of its head to the end of its I barrel, so that'only those eyelets can .pass under the gage plate which stand either on their heads or on the ends of their barrels.

The object of having that portion of the disk which is contiguous to the wall of the hopper formed of some hard material is to I prevent damaging the eyelets which do not standeither on their heads or on the ends of their barrels, but which have their barrel portions projecting slightly under the gage plate. If that portion of the disk which extends under the gage plate were formed of material having a high coeflicientof frietion, eyelets so-positioned would be likely to adhere to the disk and be jammed under said gage plate, thereby crushing the eyelet and abrading the'surface of the disk.

The gage plate can be adjusted vertically to-vary the distance between its lower .edge and the upper'surtace of the disk to provide for eyelets of dit'ierentsizes by the tollow in'g mechanism: It pin 28 is screwed or otherwise fixed in the gage plate, and rotatably mounted on said pinis an adjusting device 30 having an eccentric boss 32 rotatably and eccentrically carried in a disk 34 which is itself rotatable in an offset 3 of the wall of the hopper. By turning the adjusting' device 30 the action of the two eccentrics gives' a vertical movement to the gage plate, which insures an exact adjustment of the lower edge thereof relatively to the upper surface of the disk. The end of the pin 28 ,is screw-threaded and is provided with a lock nut 36 which prevents accidental displacement of the gage plate, theadjusting device 30 being provided with an index which cooperates with a mark on the wall of the hopper to indicate the position of the gage plate relatively tothe disk.

-A guide rail 40 is provided for engaging the eyelets as they pass under the gage plate,

- and said rail, for a portion of its length, ex-

tends circumferentially to the wall of the hopper. Said rail has an undercut groove 41, shown in Fig. 3, which is adapted to receive the flanged portion of the heads of the eyelets C which pass under the gage plate standing on their heads, and the height or thickness of said rail is less than the length of the barrel of an eyelet, so that the upper edge of said rail will be engaged by the fl nged portion of the heads oi" the eyelets D whim er-s under the gage plate standing on and 4-. In the embodiment of'our invention herein shown the eyelets D which pass under the gage plate standing on the ends of their barrels are carried back to the hopper, and

hereinafter such eyelete will be referred to as incorrectly. positioned eyelets to distinguish them from the correctly positioned eyelets C which pass under the gage plate standing on their heads and which are guided down the raceway into position to be operated upon.. It will be understood, however, that if-it, is desired to have the eyelets stand in the reverse positionwhen they arrive in position to be operated on, the

eyelets which pass under the gage plate standing on the ends of their barrels may be guided into position to be operated on and those which pass under said plate standing on their heads may be carried back to the hopper without departing from. the scope ot'my invention, and, also, that the eyelets may pass under the gage plate lying fiat instead of upright in case the..eyelets being operated on have barrels which are of greater length than the Width of their heads. It will be apparent from a consideration of the above that this construction actsv to separate eyelets occupying the correct or desired position from the mass of eyelets in the hopper by a plurality of steps,'in each of which such eyelets as occupy any of a certain number of possible positions are separated from the other eyeletswith which they are asso-' ciated at the time.

' parallel to rail 40 is provided with an undercut groove and is fastened 'tothe hopper,

said rails extending slightly under the gage plate, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2. Auxiliary rails 40 and 44, forming continuat-ions otthe guide rails 40 and 44, are formed integral with the raceway 46, which guides the correctly positioned eyelets into position to be operated upon, and said auxiliary rails are adapted to be engaged by the flanged portion of the'heads of the incorrectly positioned eyelets D and to 'guide them to the device which carries them back to the hopper. The raceway 46 is detachably connected to the head of the machine by a pin 48, so.that said raceway and the auxiliary rails 40 and 44 may be easily replaced by others of different size or form to accommodate eyelets of different size. The raceway 46 is provided with undercut grooves in alinement with the undercut grooves in the guide rails iO and 44, so that the correctly positioned eyelets (I will pass from the guide rails down the raceway 46 and the incorrectly positioned eyelets D will pass down the auxiliary rails 40 and 44' to a pocket 50 on the end of a tipping arm 52, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. The tipping arm 52 is contimwl between friction plates 54 and 56 on the end of a horizontal rock shaft 58 mounted in the head of the maconnects said arm 60 with suitable actuatmg mechanism which intermittently rocks said shaft for elevating the tipping arm, so

that the incorrectly positioned eyelets in the pocket 50 will flow back into the hopper through an opening '64 in the wall thereof. The extent of movement of the tipping arm 52'is determined by a stationary stop 66 adapted to engage with lugs 68 and 69 on said arm when the pocket 50 is positioned in alinement with the auxiliary rails or opposite the opening 64 in the wall of the hopper. A retaining detent 70, preferably formed of wire, is fastened by a screw" 72 to the race- Way 46 and is engaged and held depressed by the pocket 50 when it is in alinement with 20;"

the end of the guide rails, so as to leave a clear passage for the eyelets to pass down said rails.

In order that the operator may readily examine theopening beneath the gageuplate, the guide rail 40 is pivotally connected by a bolt 41 to a lug 43 on the wall of the hopper, and a spring-controlled plunger i5 which is confined in an offset 47 on the wall of the hopper engages a shoulder 49 on the end of said rail and holds it normally in operative position in alinement with the rail 40. An adjusting screw 51 is threaded in a lug on the guide rail 40 and bears against the wall of the hopper, thereby enabling said rail to be accurately positioned relatively to the auxiliary rail 40', said screw also acting as a handle for swinging the rail on its pivot. The offset 47 on the wall ofv the hopper is provided with a pas sageway, shown in dotted lines in Figs. 1 and 2, which leads from the hopper, so that eyelets can be swept down said passageway when it is-desired to empty the hopper quickly. movably mounted in the wall of the hopper for closing the end of said passageway, said slide being arranged to be raised and lowcred at the will of the operator by a pin 86 passing through a slot in the wall of the hopper and prcferahl y screwed into the slide 82, so as to enable said slide to be locked in any desired position.

The assorting device hereinabove described possesses a marked advantage over those in which a ribbed plate or casing is rotated to agitate the articles. In those devices a row of eyelets or the like frequently collects and catches between the ports and the ribs, resulting in the distortion of one or more eyelets which are then likely to stick in the raceway. In the present improved construct-ion, however, the articles are not likely to become ammed and scratched during the time they remain in the hopper, for,

as already explained, the walls and bottom face, said gage being so constructed and ar- As shown in Fig. 2, a slide 82 is of the hopper are smooth and continuous and in the operation of the device the articles are carried around on the rotating bottom plate being meantime gently urged outwardly by centrifugal force.

Having described our invention, what we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is z 1. In mechanism for assorting articles, a hopper having an opening in its wall, a supporting member therein having a substantially continuous supporting surface constructed and arranged to cause the free passage of articles to the opening in the wall of said hopper, means for moving said member in the plane ofsaid surface for causing articles to pass therefrom, and a gage under which the articles pass in leaving said surranged as to permit the articles to pass in 85 either of two predetermined positions.

' 2. In mechanism for assorting articles, a hopper, a supporting member therein constructed and arranged to cause the free passage of articles to the wall of said hopper and havinga smooth surface, means for moving said member in a horizontal plane for causing articles to pass therefrom, and a gage under which the articles are carried by said surface during the movement of the supporting member.

3; In mechanism for asserting eyelets, a hopper having an unobstructed inner surface, an eyelet supporting member therein constructed and arranged to.cause the free 109 passage of eyelets to the wall of said hopper, means for rotating said member always in one direction to generate frictionally a centrifugal tendency in the eyelet-s supported thereon for causing them to move from said member, and a wall, having an opening through which the eyelets pass in leaving said supporting member.

a. In mechanism for a ssorting eyelets, a

hopper, an eyelet supporting member there- 11o in constructed and arranged to cause the free passage of eyelets to the wall of said hopper, means for actuating said member to cause eyelets to move centrifugally therefrom, and a gage arranged to permit the passage thereunder of eyelets which. stand in either of two positions.

5. In mechanism for assorting articles, a hopper, a supporting member forming the bottom of the hopper, an adjustable gage plate independent of said member, and means for rotating said member to cause the articles to move centrifugally under the gag plate.

6. 'In mechanism for assorting eyelets, an eyelet supporting member, means for actuating said member to cause eyelets to move therefrom, and means separate from the supporting member for assorting the eyelets which pass from said member, whereby eyelets which stand in similar positionsare grouped together.

-' 7. In mechanism for assorting eyelets, a hopper for containing a mass of eyelets, means for agitating said'mass to cause singleeyelets to separate therefrom, a wall having an opening to permit the passage therethrough of .eyelets which stand in either of two positions, and means for assorting the eyelets which stand in one o- -sition from those which stand-in the ot er position.

8. In mechanism for assorting eyelets, an

' which stand either on their heads or-on the ends of their barrels, and means for assorting the eyelets which stand in one position from those which standin the other position.

hopper for; cpnt'aining a mass of eyelets, means for .agltatingsaid mass for causing single eyelets to separate therefrom, a wall having van opening to permit the passage therethrough of eyelets which stand in either of two positions, means for assortihg the eyelets which stand in 'one position from those which stand in the other position, and means for carrying back to'v the hopper the eyelets whichs'tandin one of said positions.

11. In mechanism for assorting eyelets, a hopper having a, wall, vand 'aneyelet supporting member constructed and arranged to cause the free. passage of eyelets to said wall, said member comprising a rotating disk forming the 'bottom'of the hopper and having a portion of its surface, formed of material having a high coefficient of-friction, said wall having an opening through which the eyelets pass in leaving said disk.

12. .In' mechanism for asso-rting eyelets, a-

hopper havinga wall, a rotating disk forming the bottom of the hopper and having a portion of its surface formed of material v having a high coeflicient of friction, and'a mit the passage thereunder of eyelets which portion of its surface formed of material having a low coeificient of friction, and a gage contiguous to that portion of the disk which is formed of material having a low coeiiicient of friction and arranged to perstand in an upright position.

, 10. In mechanism for asserting eyelets; a

13. In mechanism for assorting eyelets, a

hopper for containing a mass of eyelets, means for separating single eyelets from said mass, a gage arranged to permit the passage thereunder of eyelets which stand 'either on their heads or on the ends of their groove for receiving the flanged-portion of the heads of the eyelets which pass under the gage standing on their heads, the upper edge of saidrail being adapted to be engaged by the flanged portion-of the heads of the eyelets which pass under said gage standing on the ends of their barrels. 14. .In mechanism for assorting eyelets, a

hopper for containing a mass of eyelets, means for separating eyelets from said mass,

a gaging device arrhnged to permit the passage thereunder of eyelet-s standing in upright positions, a guide rail pivotally connected to the hopper and arranged to assort incorrectly positioned;eyelets from correctly positioned eyelets, an auxiliary rail communicating with said guide rail,and means for effecting relative adjustment of said rails.w 1

; 15. In mechanism for assorting eyelets, an

passage thereunder of eyelets standing in" upright positions, means for assorting the incorrectly positioned eyelets. from the correctly positioned eyelets, rails communicat- 'ing with said asserting means, and a raceway for guiding the differently positioned eyelets respectively, in different directions, a

device having a pocket which stands normally in alinement with said rails to receive eyelets passing therefrom, and means for actuating said/device to carry eyelets said rails back to the hopper.

16. In mechanism for assorting eyelets, a hopper for containing .a mass of eyelets, means for separating single eyelets from said mass, a gaging device arranged to permit the passage thereunder of eyelets which from stand in an upright position, a guide rail having means for assortmg the incorrectly positioned eyelets from the correctly positioned eyelets, and a'raceway and continuation rails adapted to cooperate with the guide rail and formed independently thereof.

.17. In mechanismvfor assorting eyelets, a hopper for containing a mass of eyelets, means for agitating said mass to cause eye- 'letsto separate therefrom, means for assorting incorrectly positioned eyelets from correctly positioned eyelets, rails and a racewayfor' guiding the differently positioned eyelets respectively in different directions, a device for carrying eyelets from the end of the rails backto the hopper,"and means for preventing the escape of eyelets from the rails when said device is being operated.

1b.; In a; mechanism for assorting eyelets,

step being returned to said receptacle.

19. In a mecha'nismfor assorting eyelets, the combination with a receptacle to receive eyeletspof means for assorting the eyelets contained in said receptacle and removing the eyelets therefrom in predetermined position, said means acting 1n a plurality of steps in each of which steps such eyelets as occupy any of 'a certain number of possible positions. are separated from the other eyelets with which they are associated at the time, the number of possible posit-ions occupied by the eyelets before the separation being greater than the number of possible positions of those that are removed, and means for returning eyelets discarded at other than the first step to said receptacle.

20. In'mechanism for asserting articles, a.

hopper having a recessed wall, means for causing articles within said hopper to approach said recess, and a guide rail pivoted adjacent to said hopper and normally maintained in the recess in the wall of the hopper.

21. In mechanism for assortin articles,

the combination with a raceway, of a hopperhavingan aperture the lower surface of which mergesinto the end of the raceway,

surface of the plate, and a wall adjacent to said plate having" an aperture under which.

said plate extcn s and through which eyelets or the like lying on the plate may pass only when properly. positioned, the wall serving to retain upon the plate such eyelets as fail to pass through said aperture.

23. In mechanism for assorting articles, the combination with horizontal rotary plate adapted to engage eyelets by friction only, the plates upper surface, inclined downwardly beyond theplates margin, and a wall provided with an aperture above the surface of the plate adapted to allow eyelets on the plate to passwhen properly positioned, a portion of the wall serving to re tain the eyelets upon the plate until they pass through the aperture.

In testimony whereof we have signed our names to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

MARSHALL HENRY PEARSON. ARTHUR ERNEST JERRAM.

Witnesses ARTHUR HOPKINS, GRACE HOLMES,

of a raceway adjacentto a portion of"

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