US1082876A - Box-filling machine. - Google Patents

Description

W.- G.- KENDALL.

BOX FILLING MACHINE. APPLICATION HLBDVAEB.. 17. 191e.y

1,082,876. Patented Dee. 3o, 1913.

4 SHBETS-SHEBT l2.

W. G. KENDLL.

BOX FILLING MACHINE..

APPLIUATION FILED APR. 17, 191,3.

.Patented Dec; 30, 1913.

4 SAHEETS-SHEET 3.

y i 70 IHMl cLUMuIA PLANOURAPH CO.,WASHINGTON. D. c,

W. G. KENDALL.

' BOX FILLING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 17, 191s.

Patented Dec. 30, 1913.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

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CULUHBIA PLANOGRAPH C0. WASHINGTON, D. C.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM er. KENDALL, 0E NEWARK, NEW JERSEY, AssIGNoR or ONE-HALE To FREDERIC s. ivrAsoN, or NEW YORK, N. Y.

BOX-FILLING MACHINE.

To all 'LU/10m imag concern.'

Be it known that I, VILLIAM G; KENDALL, a 'citizen of the United States,residing at Newark, in the county of Essex and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Box-Filling Machines, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to mechanism for filling small boxes and particularly to a mechanism for filling tablets into boxes.

The primary object of my invention is to provide means whereby tablets deposited initially in the hopper maybe formed into rows, each row containing a certain number of tablets and the rows of tablets carried into a box and depositedl in their regular order.

A further object of the invention is to provide means whereby tablets disposed in a hopper may be readily fed from the hopper in such manner as to prevent the tablets from jamming at the discharge mouth of the hopper and breaking.

A further object is to provide a tablet carrier adapted to be shiftedinto or out of position beneath the hopper, and to receive a denite number of tablets and arrange these tablets in certain regular order, this carrier being movable away from the hopper to deposit the tablets in the boxes, the mouth of the hopper being closed by a cut-off movable with the carrier. y

`A further object of the invention' 1s to provide in connection with a-carrier having means for-supporting tablets in rows, means for forcing the tablets out of the carrier' and into position upon a table, and in this connection to provide means whereby the rows of tablets after they leave the carrier may be shifted toward each other so as to decrease the area covered by the tablets and so that they may bedeposited in a relatively small box in their proper position and order.

A further object is to `provide a tiltable table and box support adapted to receive an inverted box and also receive upon its surface the ordered rows of tablets, the support being tiltable and being provided with a plunger so that the tablets and the box may be inverted and the tablets discharged into the box in their regular order.

A further object of the invention is to pro-vide a. construction of the character stated which will require a minimum of at- Speeication of Letters Patent.

Application filed April 17, 1913.

Patented Dec. 30, 1913. Serial No. 761,862.

is a plan view. Fig. 2l is a longitudinal section taken on the line 4 4 of Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the box support detached. Fig. 6 is a longitudinal section of t-he box support and the table adjacent thereto, showing the parts in the position in which they are disposed when filling. Fig. 7 is a like view to Fig. 6 but showing the box supporting table inverted and the tablets deposited within the box. Fig. 8 is a fragmentary cross section on the line 8 8 of Fig. 2. Fig. 9 is a detail view of the latch for supporting the plunger carrying members.

Corresponding and like parts are referred to in the following description and indicated in all the views of the accompanying drawings by the same reference characters.

Referring now to Fig. l, 2 designates a base plate of any suitable character and having thereon the upwardly extending supporting post 3. The upper end of this post supports a transversely extending plate t formed integral with a rearwardly extending sleeve 5. Superposed upon the plate 4- is a cap plate 6, and mounted upon this plate 6 is an angle-bracket 7. The rearwardly extending sleeve 5 forms a guide. for a reciprocating rod as will be later olescribed, and extending upward from the sleeve 5 is a saddle 8 supporting bearings for .an eccentric shaft 9. This shaft constitutes the driving shaft of the machine and is provided with a pulley 10 whereby power' may be applied to the shaft to drive it. The shaft 9 is formed with eccentrics l()a which operate reciprocating rods 10? whereby power is transmitted to the brushes 18.

Att-ached to the angle iron 7 and disposed at the end of the sleeve 5 is a chamber 11 rectangular in form, the interior of the chamber being also rectangular and relatively narrow, the end walls of the chamber flaring outwardly as at 12 and resting upon these end walls is a supporting plate 13 of any suitable material, preferably of hard fiber. Mounted upon the supporting plate is a cylindrical member 14 which constitutes a hopper'. This is heldin position against the plate 13 by means of vertically extending bolts 15, the lower ends of which are screw threaded and extend through the plate 13 while the upper ends are hooked, these hooks engaging over the upper edge of the hopper 1li.

The upper face of the chamber 11 isV flat and relatively wide. The under face of the plate 13 is transversely cut away as at 16 (see Fig. 8) to accommodate reciprocating rods 17 provided with inwardly projecting bristles 18. The plate 13 is formed upon its Y upper face with a transversely extending slot 19 which opens into the recess or cutaway portion 16,-as illustrated in Fig. 8, to permitthe tablets contained within the hopper 14 to pass downward between the reciprocating brushes 18 and into parallel guide ways 19 formed .within the chamber 11. The chamber 11 is divided longitudinally into these guideways by meansof a lo-ngitudinally extending partition plate or septum 20, as seen most clearly in Figs. 3 and 8. rlhe elongated passages 19 are of a size adapted to receive a tablet when the tablet is on edge, but they are too wide to receive the tablet unless it is turned upon its edge. The object of the reciprocating` brushes is to shift the tablets which are adjacent to thel brushes so that all the tablets will eventually be turned from a horizontal position into a vertical position, and thus be in position to drop down through the passageways 19.

Disposed within thc sleeve 5 is a guide rod 21 which is formed integral with a tablet carrier designated generally 22. This tablet carrier has the same cross sectional area as the chamber 11. The upper edge face of the carrier is rounded as at 23 and the nuclei' edge of the chamber' 11 is convarea equal to the diametrical section of one of the tablets, each compartment beingl adapted however to contain a plurality of tablets.

In the form of my invention illustrated, the tablets are about the size shown in Fig. 2 and designated a, and under these circ-umstances the compartments are designed to receive about seven tablets. As shown, in Fig. 9, the interior of the carrier is divided longitudinally by means of a partition plate or septum 211 and transversely by means of septums 25. The carrier therefore will contain ninety-eight tablets altogcther-forty Vnine on each side of the septum 24 and seven in each compartment of the carrier.

Extending downward from the end walls of the carrier are the guide rods 26, shown most clearly in Fig. 2, these guide rods being provided at their ends with nuts or heads 27. Mounted upon these guide rods is a slide 28. Disposed in each compartment of the carrier is a plunger 29, this plunger forming the inner extremity of al rod 30 whose other end is bifurcated as at 31 and is pivotally connected to the slide 28 at 32 for movement in .a plane parallel to the plane of the slide. The upperface of the slide is provided with the button 33 whereby the slide maybe handled; It is to be noted at this point that the shaft 21' is rotatable within the sleeve A5. Vhen the carrier is in the position shown in Fig. 1 and beneath the chamber 11, the compartments in the carrier will be vertically disposed, one series of compartments alining with one of the passageways 19 and the otherseries with the other passageway 19, as illustrated in Fig. 8. rl`he weight of the slide 28 holds the'plungers 29 at the. lower ends of the compartments of the carrier so that the tablets passing into the receiving chamber 11 will be directed into the compartments of the carrier and will fall therein in vertical rows, as illustrated in Fig. 2.

The receiving table upon which thev tablets are designed to be deposited by means of the carrier 22, is mounted upon a standard designated 34. Disposed in this standard is a vertically adjustable post 35 carrying upon it the table 36. VFormed integral with the table or otherwise rigidly connected thereto is a sleeve 37. Attached to the upper face of the table 36 are the laterally disposed marginal guide member 38,' the rear inner faces of which are beveled outward and rearward as at 39. These marginal members 38 form side walls to the table and disposed between these marginal members 38 are a Y plurality of vertically disposed I guiding strips 40. As will be seen from Fig. 3, there are four of these guiding strips 49 arranged i'io in two pairs, one pair having a divergent re-` the tablets, and this Vouter guiding strip.

is in turn spaced from the face 39 a distance equal to one of the tablets. The guideways formed between these guiding strips and the face 39 are thus adapted to registerwith the compartments in the carrier when the carrier is shifted outward from lbeneath the chamberll and into alinement with the table 36. Y Y Y Losasvs Extending into the sleeve 37 is a shaft 41 as illustrated in Fig. 4, this shaft carrying upon it a box support designated 42. This box support is in the form of a table, the under side of which is formed toreceive and be rigidly attached to the shaft 41. The upper face of the table is formed with laterally disposed walls 43 of the same width as the walls 33 of table 36 and the length of the table is exactly the same as the length ofa box A designed to receive the tablets.

The outer extremity of the table carries a plate 44 cut away to provide a central upstanding portion and two lateral upstanding tongues 45 which register with the walls 43. These tongues are adapted to engage an inverted box in the manner illustrated in Fig. 6. In order tocenter the box properly upon the box supporting table, I provide the laterally disposed blocks 46 which are held to the walls 43 by screws or other suitable devices. The inner faces of these blocks 46 are disposed outwardof the inner faces of the side walls 43 as illustrated in Fig. 5. When the box A is inverted upon the bo-x support as illustrated in Fig. 6, the side walls of the box rest upon the inner margins of the side walls 43 and the side walls bear against and are held against lateral displacement by the blocks 46. The side walls pass through the space between the tongues and 44 and the box cover, if the cover is hinged to the box body,` extends downward and outward. y It will be seen that in this position which is that shown in Fig. 6, the inverted box'body entirely covers the free space of the table 42. Disposed upon the face of the table is a plunger plate 47 which has the same area as the interior of the box A. The plunger plate is attached to a plunger rod 48 which extends down 4 through the table 42 and projects below the same and is there provided with a .handle 49. It will thus be seen that the table 42 may rotate from the position shown in Fig. 6 to the position shown in Fig. 7, and that when so rotated, the plunger plate will drop and carry whatever tablets there may have been deposited upon the plunger plate into the box.

In order to support the carrier in a horizontal position and in register with the'entranceV end ofthe table 36, I provide a latch designated generally 5() and `illustrated in detail in Fig. 9. This latch is mounted in an upwardly extending supporting post or in any other suitable support which may be used, the post being designated 51. The latch is normally pressed outward by means of a spring 52 disposed within the post and engaging the renuced shank of the latch. The forward face of the latch on its Aunder side is beveled as at 53. Normally the latch projects out into the path `of movement of one of the guides 26 when the guide is turned from a vertical to a horizontal position, and it will be obvious that as the guide moves upward past the latch it will engage the bevel face 53 and force the latch inward against the force of spring 52, and that as soon as the guide has passed the latch, spring 52 will force the latch outward again.

In order to permit the depression of the carrier from a horizontal to a vertical position, it is necessary to withdraw the latch and for this purpose I have provided a Einger lever 54 which is pivotally supported upon the upper end of the standard 51 and which has an angularly extended end 55 engaging around the shank of the latch and engaging with a head 56 formed on the end of said shank. By a depression of the free end of this lever 54, the latch may be retracted.

The operation of my invention is as follows: The tablets which are about the size of those illustrated in Figs. 2 and 3 are lilled into the hopper 14. No tablets can pass into the receiving chamber 11 unless they are turned upon their side as the compartments formed on each side of the septum 20 are only as wide as the thickness of one of the tablets. The tablets fall into the two passageways or guideways 19 as illustrated in Fig. 3. The dropping of the tablets into the passageways 19 is aided by the continual reciprocation of the brushes 17. This continual reciprocation is secured by connecting the wheel 10 to any suitable motor, or the wheel may be operated by hand. The bristles 18 of the brushes will not damage the tablets but merely agitate the tablets until they turn in a vertical position as illustrated in Fig. 8 and pass down into the passageways 19. At this time the. carrier 22 is disposed beneath the chamber 11 in the position shown in Figs. 2 and S. The tablets therefore are guided into the compartments from the hopper, these compartments being shown` in Fig. 2. Each compartment is adapted to contain seven tablets. There are seven of these compartments on each side of the middle septum 24 and as a consequence the carrier is adapted to contain ninety-eight tablets altogether, in other words, just enough tablets to lill one of the boxes illustrated in Figs. 6 and 7. After the carrier has been filled it is moved outward and as it moves outward, the shaft or bar 21 acts as a cut-off closing the lower end of the compartment 11. When the carrier has been moved completely outward, it is in alinenient with the receiving table 36 as illustrated in Fig. 3. The slide 2S is then moved inward by hand and the pushers or plungers 29 act to push the tablets out of the compartments of the carrier and onto the table 36. It will be understood that there are as many pushers or plungers as there are compartments in the carrier.

As the tablets and the plungers move forward onto the table 36, the outer tablets are guided inward or toward the longitudinal center of the table by means of the guides 40 and 40@ and the plungers are also guided irl the same manner, this being permitted by reason that the plunger rods are pivoted at their rear ends to the slide QS. The slide 28 is pushed inward until the tablets have all beenforced over onto the face of the plunger 47 in the position illustrated inl Fig. 6. Previous to this, a box A has been placed upon the upper face of the box support and inverti edv over the plunger, the box being supported in such position however that the tablets may pass beneath the box. then the tablets have been deposited upon the face of the plunger 47, they will form a square as illustrated in Fig. 3, there being seven tablets on each side of the square and there being two layers of these tablets. `When the tablets have been entirely deposited upon the plunger 47, the box support is rotated to the position shown inV Fig. 7 whereupon the plunger will fall carrying the tablets down into the box. The box is then removed and the carrier returned to its original position for a new charge. IIei'etofore these boxescontaining small tablets of this character have been filled by hand, an operation requiring about tive or six minutes inasmuch as the tablets have to be arranged by the use of small pincers and pointed instruments. With my device, a box can be filled in about a half a minute and absolutely no skilled labor is required to do so.

While I have illustrated the mechanism which is operated entirely by hand, I wish it understood that I do not intend to be limited to this as it is obvious that the means for reciprocating the carrier and rotating it and operating the plungers might be automatic in their action. My invention is very effective for the purpose intended, is simple in construction, easy to operate and has no complicated parts to get out of order.

lvVhat I claim is:

l. In a box filling mechanism, a vertically ldisposed hopper, a carrier movable into and out of position beneath thedischarge opening of the hopper, the carrier beino` mounted for rotative movement from a horizontal into a. vertical position, stops for limiting the rotative movement of the hopper, a plunger disposed in the carrier and movable therethrough, and a horizontally disposed receiving table with which the carrier registers when turned into a horizontal position.

Q. In a box filling mechanism, a hopper having a discharge opening, a carrier rotatably and slidably mounted beneath the hopper, the carrier being rotatable from a vertical to a horizontal position and slidable into and out of position beneath the discharge opening of the hopper, a receivingI table, and means for discharging tablets from the carrier onto said'receiving table.

3. In a box filling mechanism, a hopper having a discharge opening, a rotatably and slidably mounted carrier movable into and out of position beneath t-he discharge opening of the hopper and rotatable from a vertical to a horizontal position, plungers mounted within the carrier normally at the lower end thereof, and a horizontally disposed receiving table wit-h which the carrier is adapted to register when moved out of engagement with the hopper and turned into a horizontal position. Y

4. In a box filling mechanism, a hopper having a discharge duct leading therefrom, the duct being longitudinally divided'into two halves, a carrier rotatably and slidably mounted, said carrier being divided by a partition into two halves corresponding to the two halves of the duct, plungers disposed in each of the compartments so formed, and a receiving table with which the carrier is adapted to register when moving out of engagement with the hopper and turned to a horizontal position.

5. In a box filling machine, a hopper having a discharge duct leading therefrom, the duct being relatively long and relatively narrow and being divided longitudinallyV into two halves, a carrier movable into and out of position beneathsaid duct and having the same cross sectional area as the duct, the carrier being divided by a longitudinal partition into two lateral halves, said halves being in turn divided into a plurality of compartments by means of transverse partitions, plungers operable through said carrier, means for rotating the carrier from a vertical position to a horizontal position, and a receiving table withvthe face of which the opening in the carrier is adapted to aline when the carrier is turned to a horizontal position. e

6. In a box filling machine, a hopper, a chamber disposedv beneath the hopper and formed with a vertically disposed duct, a carrier movable into and out of position beneath said chamber and having a plurality of vertically disposed compartments, a shaft upon which the carrier is mounted, the shaft being shiftable with the carrier and acting as a cut-oft closing the mouth'of saidduct when the carrier is shifted outward and away from registration with the duct, a horizontally disposed receiving table into registry with Vwhich the carrier may be turned, and means moving with the carrier for discharging the contents of the carrier upon said receiving table. l

7. In a box filling machine, ahopper, a chamber disposed beneath the hopper and formedV with a vertically extending duct, the lower face of the chamber being concavely rounded, a shaftV Vrotatably and slidingly mounted in alinement with the under face of the chamber, a carrier Vmounted upon `the shaft and having a convexiace conforming to the concave face of the chamber, a horizontally disposed receiving table mounted to one side of the said chamber, the carrier being shitable from beneath the chamber into a position in alinement with the receiving table and being rotatable from a vertical position to a horizontal position, plungers disposed within said carrier and adapted to discharge the contents of the carrier upon the receiving table, a box support rotatably mounted adjacent the receiving table and having a plunger whose upper tace is flush with the receiving table,means for supporting a box in an inverted position upon the box support, and means whereby the box support may be inverted to permit the plunger to carry the article supported thereon into said box.

S. In a box iilling machine, a carrier longitudinally shiftable and rotatable from a vertical to a horizontal plane, the interior of the carrier being divided into a plurality of compartments, guide rods extending from the carrier, a slide mounted on the guide rods, a plurality of plungers, o-ne for each of said compartmentsmounted at their ends in said slide, means :tor discharging tablets into the carrier, and a receiving table upon which the carrier discharges when turned to a horizontal position.

9. In a machine for lilling boxes with tablets, a receiving` table having a plurality of guide walls converging for a portion of their length, and a plurality of plungers disposed between each pairof guide walls and movable longitudinally therebetween and adapted to shift rows of tablets along the face of the plate parallel to the guide walls to thereby cause the rows of tablets to be longitudinally shifted and simultaneously brought nearer to each other.

10. In a machine for filling boxes with tablets, a receiving tablehaving side walls converging for a portion of their length and spaced guides extending parallel to the side walls7 of means for discharging rows of tablets upon the face of said receiving plate and for shifting the` tablets along the face of the plate parallel to the side walls of the guides to thereby cause the rows of tablets to be brought nearer to each other, and a box support arranged adjacent to and flush with the receiving table and having side walls and an end wall and including means for supporting a box in an inverted position.

11. In a machine for filling tablets into boxes, a hopper, a tablet carrier, means intermediate of the carrier and hopper for arranging the tablets in the same vertical plane and discharging them into said carrier, means :tor shifting the carrier outl from beneath the hopper and rotating the carrier into a horizontal plane, a receiving table upon which the carrier is adapted to discharge, means on the receiving table vfor causing the rows of tablets as they pass the receiving table to be shifted toward the longitudinal axis of the receiving table, a rotatable box support having its face flash with the receiving table, means for supporting a box in an inverted position thereon, and means io-r moving the contents of the carrier over the tace of the receiving table and onto the face of the box support.

12. In a machine for filling tablets into boxes, a receiving table having side walls, the rear ends of the side walls having diver'- gent relation, guides extending parallel to the side walls and spaced therefrom, guides intermediate the last named guides and disposed parallel to the longitudinal axis of the receiving table and spaced from each other, a box support mounted in proximity to the table and flush therewith, means for supporting a box in an inverted position upon the box support, and means for dis charging rows of tablets upon the receiving table and between said series of guides.

13. In a machine for filling boxes with tablets, the combination with a receiving table having side walls, the rear portions of which have divergent relation to each other, guides spaced from the side walls and from each other and extending parallel to the rear portions of the side walls, intermediate guides between the first named guides, of a tablet carrier movable into alinement with the receiving table and being divided into a plurality oi' compartments adapted to aline with the spaces between said guides, a slide mounted upon said carrier, and a plurality ot plungers pivotally mounted upon said slide, one for each of said compartments, said plungers having movement in a vertical plane whereby to permit the plungers to be laterally shifted by said guides on the receiving table.

14. In a` machine for filling boxes with tablets, a box support rotatable in a vertical plane, a plunger mounted upon and constituting the face of the box support, means for supporting a box in an inverted position over said plunger, means for arranging tablets in a plurality of rows, and means for discharging said tablets upon the tace of the plunger.

15. In a machine for filling boxes with tablets, a carrier slidably and rotatably mounted and divided into a plurality of compartments, a plurality of plungers closing the outer ends of said compartments, a slide mounted upon the carrier and to which the plungers are connected, means for discharging the tablets into the compartments of the carrier, a horizontally disposed receiving table into alinement with which the carrier is adapted to be shifted, means for support ing the carrier in a horizontally disposed position in register with the face of the receiving table, and a box support mounted beyond the receiving table and having means for supporting a box in an inverted posit-ion, said box support including a plunger normally lush with the face of the receiving table.

16. In a machine for filling boxes with tablets, a box support rotatable in a vertical plane and normally supported in a horizontal plane, said box support being adapted to support a box in an inverted position over the face of the support, means for arranging tablets in a plurality of separated rows, means for causing the tablets to move laterally toward each other to thereby contract the width of the space occupied by the tablets, and means for discharging said tablets upon the face of the box support.

17. In a machine for filling boxes with tablets, a box support rotatable in a vertical plane and normally supported in a horizontal plane, a receiving table horizontally disposed iiush with the face of the box support when the latter is in a horizontal position, means for arranging tab-lets in a plurality of separated rows, means for shifting said ro-ws of tablets across the face of the receiving table and onto the face of the box support, and means acting while the tablets are being shifted across the face of the receiving table for guiding said rowstoward each other and toward the longitudinal axis of the receiving table to thereby contract the total width co-vered by the rows of tablets.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

WILLIAM G. KENDALL. "[L. s.] IVitnesses y FREDERICK M. BoLLns,l HENRY E. WooDBURN.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, Vby addressing the Commissioner ofY Patents,

Washington, D. C.

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