US1167560A - Machine for feeding articles. - Google Patents

Description

A M. HOYT & C. A. MATSON.

MACHINE FOR FEEDING ARTICLES.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 26. I913.

Patented Jan. 11, 1916.

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COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH (20., WASHINGTON, D, c.

A. M. HOYT & C. A. MATSON.

MACHINE FOR FEEDING ARTICLES.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 26,1913.

Patented JalLll, 1916.

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c'oLuMmA PLANOGRAPH CDvflVASHlNGTON. D. c.

A. M. HOYT & C. A. MATSON.

MACHINE FOR FEEDING ARTlCLES.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 26, 1913.

Patented Jan. 11, 1916.

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A. M. HOYT & C. A. MAISON. MACHINE FOR FEEDING ARTICLES.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 26, I9I3- E I S k COLUMBIA PLANOGRAI'H cc WASHINGTON, u. c.

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ALBERT M. I-IOY'I, 0F SWAMPSCOTT, AND CARL A. MATSON, OF LYNN, MASSACHUSETTS.

MACHINE FOR FEEDING ARTICLES.

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Application filed July 26, 1913.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that we, ALBERT M. Home and CARL A. MA'rsoN, citizens of the United States, residing, respectively, at Swampscott and Lynn, in the county of Essex and State of Massachusetts, have invented new and useful Improvements in Machines for Feeding Articles, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to a machine for feeding articles from a column of the same one by one to a receptacle for said articles. The machine is particularly adapted to feed articles of sheet material, such as counters for boots and shoes, from a column of such counters to the table of a buffing or skiving machine.

The object of the invention is to take the articles one by one from the top of a column of such articles and carry them to the table or receptacle placing them on said table in readiness to be operated upon by the machine in the bufhng or in the skiving operation.

In feeding articles of thin sheet material, such as the counters of boots and shoes, from a column of such articles, ithas been customary to feed them from the bottom of the column by pushing them sidewise thereof, and as the counters vary in thickno it sometimes happens that two counters are fed forward instead of one. In our improved mechanism the feed member consists of a foot provided with ports in its under face and this foot pressed by suitable mechanism agains the upper face of the uppermost article in the column of articles. Suitable passages are 1 r vided in the mechanism which operates said foot to exhaust the air from said ports and the uppermost article is thus sucked against the under face of the foot and said mechanism is then perated to lift said article from the top of the column of articles and carry the same, without reversing it, over to a suitable table or receptacle therefor, whereupon a valve is operated to allow air to enter said passages and ports, thus breaking the vacuum and allowing the article to remain on the table while the foot is carried back by said mechanism to pick up another article from said column of articles.

In addition to the mechanism for removing the articles from the column of articles, ashereinbefore described, and placing said articles one by one upon asuitable recepta- Spccification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. if, 191%.

Serial No. 781,388.

cle, the object of the invention is to provide a. mechanism for moving the entire column of articles upwardly in a suitable hopper, intermittently, about the thickness of one of said articles at each step, so that the up per surface of the uppermost article in the column of articles shall always be at substantially the same location when the foot for removing said articles is brought into position by the mechanism hereinbefore referred to, to remove one of said articles.

It is evident that in a large number of articles, such as counters, there will be a variation in thickness and, therefore, the mechanism for moving the column of articles upwardly, hereinbefore referred to, must embody means to overcome this variation in the total thickness of the articles in the column. The means whereby this is accomplished constitutes a part of this invention and embodies mechanism which, step by step, feeds the articles upwardly in a column in a suitable hopper and when the upper face of the uppermost article in the column rises above a certain fixed line, or, in other words, when said upper face is fed to a higher point than is desirable, the

mechanism for moving the articles is so constructed that by means of a tripper actuated bv the mechanism which removes the articles from the column, said feeding mechanism will cease to operate during one feed andwill automaticallv adjust itself to move said column of articles in the next feed, said regulation of the feed mechanism of the column of articles being automatically arranged for and governed bv the position of the article at the end of' said column from which said articles are removed.

The invention further contemplates a hopper particularly adapted for guiding and feeding articles of sheet material, particu larly such articles the counters of boots and shoes.

The invention consists in the combination and arrangement of parts set forth in the following specification and particularly po nted out in the claims thereof.

Referring to the drawings, Figure 1 is a front elevation of our improved machine for feeding articles. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same. Fig. 3 is a detail side elevation of the mechanism for removing the articles from a column of articles, and placing them one by one on a receptacle therefor, some 0f the parts being shown in section, said mechanism being shown in full lines in the position occupied thereby when a counter is being delivered to the receptacle and in dot ted lines in a position midway between the position where it removes the counter from the column of counters and that position where it delivers it to the table. Fig. 4- is a detail plan view of a portion of the machine, the frame being broken away and a counter being shown in a hopper in dotted lines. Fig. 5 is a sectional plan taken on line 5-5 of Fig. 1. Fig. 6 is a detail sectional elevation taken on line 66 of Fig. 1 illustrating the table upon which the counters rest and the rack and pawl mechanism whereby Said table is moved upwardly. Fig. 7 is a sec ticnal plan broken away to save space in the drawings and taken on line 7-7 of Fig. 1, illustrating a portion of the mechanism for feeding the counters from the column of counters to the table and also illustrating the means whereby a suction is obtained to hold the counters to the feed foot as they are beingfed. Fig. 8 is a detail sectional elevation taken on line 8-8 of Fig. 2, the same being partly broken away and shown in elevation and illustrating the feed foot. Fig. 9 is a detail sectional elevation taken on line 99 of Fig. 4 illustrating the inlet and exhaust valve. Fig. 10 is a detail section taken on line 1010 of Fig. 1. Fig. 11 is a side elevation illustrating a portion of the mechanism for feeding the column of counters and the tripper whereby said mechanism is held out of operation at intervals, some of the parts being shown in section. Fig. 12 is a perspective view of a portion of the tripper and column feeding mechanism as viewed from the rear of Fig. 11. Figs. 13, 14: and 15 are views similar to Fig. 11 showing the parts in the series of different positions assumed thereby. Fig. 16 is a sectional elevation similar to Fig. 8 of a modified form of carrier. Fig. 17 is a sectional plan taken on line 1717 of Fig. 16.

Like numerals refer to like parts throughout the several views of the drawings.

The mechanism hereinbefore described is adapted to be attached to a machine for skiving or bufling shoe counters and will be described with the end in view of feeding shoe counters to such machine, although the mechanism is not limited to feeding shoe counters, but may be used for feeding any articles of sheet material, whether of regular or irregular contour.

Counters for boots and shoes vary to a great extent, both in length and width and in contour. Therefore, it is necessary that the hopper which contains and guides a col umn of said counters should be capable of various adjustments in order that one of such hoppers may be utilized for holding and guiding a variety of different sizes of counters.

In the drawings, 20 is a hopper adapted to receive a column of counters 21, 22 being the uppermost counter of said column. Said hopper is supported upon a frame 23 and consists of a pair of vertically disposed side plates 24:, said plates being angle plates. These plates are slidably supported upon guide rods 25 fastened to ears 26 on the frame 23. Said side plates are moved toward or away from each other upon the guide rods 25 by a pair of right and left screw threaded shafts 27 and 28. Said screw-threaded shafts are rotatably mounted in suitable bearings 29 and 80, respectively, on the frame 23.

The shaft 27 is rotated by means of a suitable wrench or crank attached to the squared end 31 thereof. Said shaft 27 has a sprocket gear 32 fast thereto which is connected by a sprocket chain 33 to another sprocket gear 36L fast to the lower screw-threaded shaft 28. Said upper screw-threaded shaft 27 has screw-threaded engagement with brackets extending rearwardly from the side plates 24. and the screw threaded shaft 28 has screw threaded engagement with brackets 36 extending rearwardly from said side plates 21. Thus, by rotating the shaft 27 the shaft 28 will be rotated through the sprocket gears 32 and 3 1 and the sprocket chain and according to the direction of such rotation the side plates 24 will be caused to move apart or to approach each other.

The side plates are each provided with a plurality of forwardly extending arms 37 upon. which are supported a pair of vertically disposed angle plates 88. Said angle plates are rendered adjustable on said arms by means of studs 39 which project through horizontal slots 40 provided in said arms, and said angle plates are locked in adjusted position by means of thumb-nuts 41 having screw-threaded engagement with said studs 39. Thus the angle plates are adjustable on the side plates at right angles to the direction in which the side plates are adjustable toward each other, so that by adjusting the side plates in the manner hereinbefore described the hopper mav be adjusted to feed counters of different lengths and by adjusting the angle plates 38 toward and away from the frame 23 said hopper may be adapted to receive and feed counters of different widths.

Another pair of verticallv disposed angle plates 38 are permanently fastened by suitable means, such as screws, to the arms 37. These angle plates maintain a fixed relation to the side plates 24. It will be seen by reference to Fig. 5 that when the counters are in position in the hopper the corners 42 project into the angle plates 38' and are positioned thereby, while the curved edge. 4-3 bears a ainst the other angle plates 38. By reference to F is. a it will be seen that the counters may be placed in a reversed position from that in which they are shown as occupying in Fig. 5 and in this case the coun tors are positioned with their corners 42 projecting into the angle plates 38, while the curved edge 43 bears against the vertical plates 44 which are fastened to the frame 23 and the column of counters 21 rests upon a table 45. Said table is slidably mounted upon a guide 46 which is fastened to the frame 23 and is slotted at 47 longitudinally thereof to receive two racks 48 and 49. The rack 48 is stationary and fixed to the guide 46. The rack 49 is slidable in the slot 47 longitudinally thereof.

The table has a top 50 upon which the counters rest and a downwardly extending projection 51 which encircles the guide 46. Said table has pivoted thereto at 52 pawls 53 and 53 which engage simultaneously teeth 54 of the rack 48 and teeth 55 of the rack 49, so that when the rack 49 is moved upwardly as hereinbefore described, the pawls 53 and 53 will be carried with it, together with the table 45. In so doing the pawl 53 remains in engagement with one of the teeth of the movable rack 49 while the pawl 53 slides over the stationary rack 48 and drops into the next tooth above that on which it previously rested. A spring 56 is fastened to the table 45 and has one end slotted longitudinally to form independent extensions 56 which engage tail-pieces 57 on the pawls 53 and 53 and hold them normally in engagement with the teeth of the two racks 48 and 49, respectively.

In order to automatically disengage the pawls and 53' from the racks 48 and 49 respectively and allow the table 45 to move downwardly, a lever 58 is pivoted at 52 to the table 45 and is adapted to engage the tail-pieces 57 when moved in the proper direction so to do. When in its normal state said lever is out of engagement with the tail pieces and rests against a in 59 fast to said table.

lVhen the table 45 has arrived at its extreme upward position an arm 137 on the lever 58 is adapted to engage a stop 138 on the frame of the machine. This will cause the lever 58 to rock and engage the tailpieces 57 to disconnect the pawls 53 and 53 from the racks 48 and 49. At the same time an arm 139 on the lever 58 will be moved into the position indicated in dotted lines (Fig. 6) and will be held in that position by a catch 140 which is operated by the spring 56, so that the tooth 141 on said catch will be brought beneath the arm 139 when said arm is in its elevated position. As soon as the pawls and 53 are disconnected from the racks 48 and 49, the table 45 will descend to the lower end of the column and will strike upon a bulfer 142 which is provided to take the shock of the falling table and when the table has fallen to the bottom of the hopper, as described, an arm 143 on the latch 140 will engage a stationary stop 144 and thus said latch will be rocked upon its pivot to disengage the tooth 141 from the arm 139. Thus the pawls 53 and 53 will be freed by the lever 58 and allowed to be moved by-the spring 56 into contact with the teeth of the racks 48 and If it is desired to raise or lower the table 45 by hand, the operator will raise the arm 139 of the lever 58 to disconnect the pawls 53 and 53 from the racks 48 and 49 and move the table to any position desired in the hopper.

A vertical reciprocatory motion is imparted to the slidable rack 49 by an arm 60 connected thereto by a link 61, said arm be ing fastened to a rock-shaft 62 pivoted to rock in bearings 63 on the frame 23. A rocking motion is imparted to the shaft 62 by an arm 64 fast to said rock-shaft 62 and connected by a link 65 to a. slide 66 guided by a stud 67 fast to the frame 23 and projecting through a slot 68 in said slide. A vertical reciprocatory motion is imparted to the slide 66 by a lever 69 pivoted to a stud 70 fast to the frame 23 and having a cam roll 71 journaled thereon. A rocking motion is imparted to the lever 69 by a cam 72 fast to the driving shaft 73. A spring 7 74 holds the cam roll 71 against the cam 72 except under certain conditions herein after described.

On the upper end of the slide 66 is a lateral projection 75 which is adapted to be engaged at certain times by a tripper lever 76 which is pivoted at 77 to the frame 23 and terminates at its lower end in a tooth 78, the upper end thereof being provided with an inclined edge 79 and with an oppositely inclined edge 80. At certain times in the operation of the machine the tooth 78 on the lever 76 is adapted to engage the projection 75 and at other times it is adapted to engage one of the notches 81, 82 in the free end of an arm 83, constituting a latch, said arm being pivoted at 84 to the frame of the machine. A spring 85 draws the lower end of the lever 76 toward the projection 7 5. Another spring 86 draws the latch 83 toward said projection 75.

The uppermost counter 22 in the column of counters 21 is carried from the hopper 20 and deposited upon a receptacle or table 87 by mechanism which will now be described. An arm 88 is fastened to a rockshaft 89 which is journaled in bearings 90 in the frame of the machine and has a gear 91 fastened thereto which meshes into a segmental gear lever 92 pivoted to a stud 93 fast to the frame of the machine (see Fig. 2). The lower end of the lever 92 has a cam roll 94 ournaled thereon which runs in a cam pathformed in a cam 96. The cam per 20 and then the set-screw 111 In the outer end of the arm 88 is journaled a shaft 100'which is adapted to rock in bearings 101, 102 provided in the outer end of said arm (see Fig, 7). Said shaft extends part way across and above the hopper 20 (see Figs. 2 and 4) and has fastened to the outer end thereof a carrier 103 (see Fig. 8), said carrier consisting of an arm 104 and afoot 105 pivoted at the lower end thereof on the fulcrum pins 100. Said foot is arranged to be adjusted at different angles relatively to the arm 104 by rocking the same upon the pins 106, said foot being held in adjusted position by an arm 107 on the foot 105 which is connected by a link 108 to an arm 109 fastened by a screw 110 to the outer end of the shaft 100. The arm 104 is adjustably fastened to the shaft 100 by means of a set-screw 111. The foot 105 has a rubber pad 105 on its lower face. It will be seen that by thus forming the carrier in two parts, viz., the arm 104 and the foot 105 and further by means of the link 108 and adjustable arm 109, the foot 105 may be adjusted so as to contact with the central portion of counters of different widths and also may be adjusted so as to contact throughout its entire face with said counters; or, in other words, in the embodiment of our invention disclosed in the present machine the under face of the foot 105 may be adjusted so that it will always be horizontal, no matter what the width of counter may be which is contained within the hopper 20. For example, if it is desired to move the 1 foot 105 from'the'position shown in Fig. 2

toward the left (Fig. 2) to locate the same centrally for a narrower counter than that illustrated in said figure, the set-screw 111 will be loosened, the arm 104 will be swung toward the left, together with the foot 105 carried thereby, the foot 105 will be placed with its under face in ahorizontal position so as to contact with the upper surface of the uppermost counter contained in the hopwill be tightened.-

The passage 99 in the arm 88 connects through a port 112 with a passage 113 in the shaft 100 and said passage 113 is connected by a port 114 with a passage 115 in the arm 104. The passage 115 is connected by passages 116 in the pins 106 with passages 117 extending downwardly through the foot 105 and connecting with ports 118 provided in 65111116. ower: f e ofsaid foot (seeFi 8),

In the outer end of the bearing 90 is mounted a valve 119 which isprovided with ports 120 and 121 adapted to register with ports 122 and 123, respectively, in a sleeve 124. A pipe 126 leads to a suitable exhaust pump 136 and another pipe 125 leads to the atmosphere. The valve 119 is rocked to bring the ports 120 and 121 into alinement alternately with the ports 122 and 123, respectively, and this rocking motion is imparted to said valve by an arm 127 fast to the valve 119 and connected by a link 128 to a crank-pin 129 on the disk 130 which is fastened to the shaft 73.

In the operation of the machine the carrier 103 is moved through an angle of 180 and the counter 22 is carried by said carrier from the hopper 20 and placed upon the table 87. During this movement it is desired not to reverse the counter but to carry it over to the table 87 and place it with the same side uppermost as when it was contained within the hopper 20. To accomplish this result a pinion 131 is fastened to the bearing 90 and meshes into a segmental gear 132 pivoted to a stud 133 fast to the arm 88. The segmental gear 132 also meshes into a pinion 134 fast to the shaft 100, so that when the arm 88 is moved to carry the counter from the hopper to the table the under face of the foot 105 will remain horizontal and the carrier 103 will maintain a substantially fixed position relatively to a vertical plane containing the median axial line thereof or the median axial line of the shaft 100 during the rocking of the arm.

The general operation of the mechanism hereinbefore specifically described is as follows: The counters are placed in the hopper 20 resting upon the table 45. The side plates 24 are adjusted by turning the screw-threaded shaft 27, which, through the sprockets 32 and 34 and sprocket chain 33, will rotate thescrew-threaded shaft 28 until the corners 42 of the counters engage the angle plates 38 and said angle plates are also adjusted on the arms 37 until the counter fits with its rounded edge against the plates 44, and with its corners 42 touching the inside of said angle plates. The shaft 73 is then rotated by suitable means such as a pulley (not shown in the drawings) in the direction of the arrow a (Fig. 2).

Assuming the parts to be in the relative positions illustrated in Fig. 2, the arm 88, together with the parts supported thereon, will be rocked a half rotation successively into the position shown in dotted lines (Fig. 3) and then into the position shown in full lines therein. During this movement the valve 119 is in position to cause a vacuum in the passages 97, 99, 113, 115, 116 and 117, and ports 118, thus causing the counter 22 .to-be heldfirmly against the under face of wthe.. foot; 105.wh.11e said counteris being carried from the hopper20 to the table 87. As soon as it is placed upon the table 87 the valve opens to allow air to enter through the pipe 125 and into said passages, so that the counter 22 will be released from suction and allowed to remain upon the surface of the table 87, when the arm 88 and carrier 103 return from the position illustrated in full lines (Fig. 3) to that illustrated in full lines (Fig. 2) ready to feed another counter from the hopper to the table.

The column of counters 21 is fed upwardly step by step by the table 45 in the following manner: The cam 72 causes the lever 69 to rock and move the slide upwardly which moves the link 65 upwardly, thus causing the rock-shaft 62 to be rocked through the arms 64 and 60 and thus imparting an upward movement to the movable rack 49 which causes the pawls 53 and 53 to be moved upwardly, together with the table 45, and when said pawls have been moved upwardly the extent of a tooth the pawl 53 will drop into said tooth on the stationary rack 48. During the next rotation of the machine the movable rack 49 will repeat this operation unless the upper counter 22 stands at a height above the point to which the lower face of the foot 105 descends when the parts are in the position illustrated in Fig. 2, in which case the foot is not able to descend to its proper position and the tripper mechanism will be operated to prevent the column of counters from being fed upwardly as follows:

By reference to Figs. 11, 13, 14 and 16, it will be seen that when the parts are in the position illustrated in Fig. 11 the slide 66 has just'been moved upwardly to its full extent by the cam 72 and lever 69. At this point the tripper lever 76 stands with its tooth 78 in the outer notch 81 ofthe latch 83. As the cam 72 continues its rotary movement the spring 74 and the weight of the slide 66 and attached parts will cause said slide to descend and will cause the roll 71 to move toward the left (Fig. 11) in accordance with the movement of the cam 72 and the shape thereof until the parts arrive at the relative positions illustrated in Fig. 13 in which it will be seen that the cam roll 71 is on the shortest throw of the cam 72, the slide 66 has descended until the projection 75, engaging the latch arm 83, moves said latch arm downwardly, releasing the tooth 78 of the tripper lever 76 and allowing said tooth to contact with the right hand edge (Fig. 13) of the projection 75. When the cam 72 is further rotated to the position illustrated in Fig. 14 the lever 69 will have been rocked to raise the slide 66 to the position illustrated in Fig. 14 and at this time the tripper lever 76 will assume the position illustrated in Fig. 14, with the tooth 78 thereon underneath the projection upon the slide 66 and in the notch 82 of the latch 83.

Assuming now that the uppermost counter is at a higher level than is desired or at a higher level than the lowermost position of the under face of the foot 105 when said foot is in the position illustrated in Fig. 2, then the slide 66 and the lever 69 will be held in the positions illustrated in Fig. 14.

and as the cam 72 continues its rotary nioticn it will leave the slide 66 suspended upon the tooth 78 of the tripper lever 76 and the parts will thus be in the positions illustrated in Fig. 15. The carrier 103 will remove the uppermost counter from the column of counters and carry it over to the table and at the next feed of the counter the arm 88 will descend until a pin 135 thereon engages the inclined surface 79 upon the upper end of the tripper lever 76. This will rock the tripper lever and disengage the tooth 78 from the projection 75, so that the slide 66 and lever 69 can move downwardly in position for the cam 72 to rock said lever 69 and feed the column of counters by the slide 66 and connecting mechanism hereinbefore described the height of approximately one tooth on the racks 48 and 49. This intermittent feeding movement will then con tinue until the height of the top of the column of counters is again above the normal. height of said counters, whereupon the operation hereinbefore described, whereby the column of counters is prevented from being fed, will be repeated.

When the parts are in the position illustrated in Fig. 11 the pin 135 will pass downwardly and along the inclined surface of the tripper lever 76 without rocking said lover and said pin will not engage the in- 1 clined surface 79, and the tripper lever 76 will be kept out of engagement with the projection 75 on the slide 66 by the latch lever 83. Thus it will be seen that the tripper lever 76, together with the pin 135 on the arm 88, constitutes a means for automatically causing the column counter feeding mechanism to be thrown out of operation when the height of the top of the column is above the normal height, so that the position of the article at the upper end of the column of articles in the hopper is adapted to throw out of operation the column feeding mechanism.

When all of the counters have been fed 1 142, the latch 140 being simultaneously disengaged from the arm 139 by striking the I stop 144. The hopper is then filled with counters and the operation of feeding the same upwardly by a series of steps hereinbefore described is repeated.

Concisely stated, it will. be seen that when the uppermost counter in the column of counters is at too great a height or above the normal height of said counter, then the pin 135 does not descend to a sufficient extent to engage the tripper lever 76, as seen in Fig. 15, and, therefore, the cam lever 69 will not be operated and the column of counters will remain stationary, but when the level of the top of the uppermost counter in said column is at the normal level, the arm 88 will descend until the pin 135 en gages the inclined surface 79 and the tripper lever 76 will then be operated to release the slide 66 and allow it to descend and bring the cam roll on the lever 69 into position to be operated by the cam 72, and during this descent of the slide 66 it will be understood that the latch lever 83 is moved downwardly from the position illustrated in Fig. 11 to that illustrated in Fig. 13 and upon the next movement upward of the slide 66 the tooth 78 of the tripper lever will drop into the notch 82 on the latch lever 83 in the posltion illustrated in Fig. 14.

In Figs. 16 and 17 a modified form of carrier is illustrated in which 145 1s an arm corresponding to the arm 104 Fig. 8. This arm is fastened to the shaft 100 by a set screw 146. At its lower end said arm 145 is shaped to form a ball 147 and upon this ball is pivotally mounted a foot 148 made 111 two parts joined together by screws 149. The passage 113 opens into a passage 150 in the arm 145 and said passage 150 is connected by passages 151 to ports 152 provided in the lower face of the foot 148. A spring 153 encircles the arm 145 and bears, at its lower end against the foot 148, thus preventing said foot from becoming accidentally displaced upon the lower end of said arm. The construction described enables the foot 148 to assume different positions so that its lower face will always contact throughout its entire extent with the upper face of the counter which it is desired to have picked up by said foot. The upper face of said counter is not always exactly horizontal and if said upper face is slightly inclined the lower face of the foot 148 will tip to contact with it by reason of the foot 148 tipping on the ball shaped end 147 of the arm 145.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim and desire by Letters Patent to secure is:

1. A machine for feeding an article having, in combination, a support for said article, a receptacle for said article, a rocker arm, a pivot for said rocker arm located between said support and said receptacle, a

carrier pivotally mounted on the free end of said rocker arm and adapted to hold said article, mechanism adapted to rock said rocker arm, a stationary pinion concentric with said rocker arm pivot, a pinion fast to 2. A machine for feeding an article having, in combination, a support for said article, a receptacle for said article, a rocker arm, a shaft to which said rocker arm is fastened, mechanism adapted to rock said shaft, a secondshaft rotatably mounted in the free end of said rocker arm, a carrier fast to said second shaft, means adapted to maintain said carrier in a substantially fixed position relatively to a vertical plane containing the median axial line thereof during the rocking of said rocker arm, said shafts and arm being provided with passages leading to ports provided in one face of said carrier and means adapted to alternately exhaust air from, and supply air to, said passages, whereby said. article may be carried from said support to said receptacle.

3. A machine for feeding an article having, in combination, a support for said article, a receptacle for said article, a rocker arm, a shaft to which said rocker arm is fastened, mechanism adapted to rock said shaft, a second shaft rotatably mounted in the free end of said rocker arm, a carrier, said carrier comprising an arm adjustably fastened to said second shaft, a foot pivoted to said arm, an arm adjustably fastened to said second shaft and a link connecting said foot and last-named arm, whereby said foot can be set at different positions relatively to a vertical plane containing the median axial line of said second shaft.

4. A hopper adapted to hold and guide a column of articles, a table slidably mounted in said hopper, a stationary rack, a movable rack, pawls pivoted to said table and adapted to engage both of said racks simultaneously, mechanism adapted to impart a reciprocatory motion to said movable rack whereby said table may be moved longitudinally of said hopper in one direction and a lever pivoted to said table and adapted to engage said pawls whereby the same may be dlS- engaged from said racks and said table left free to be moved longitudinally of said hopper in either direction.

5. A machine for feeding articles having, in combination, a hopper adapted to hold a column of said articles, mechanism adapted to feed said column of articles intermittently longitudinally thereof in said hopper in one direction, means adapted to hold said column of articles against movement in the opposite direction, mechanism adapted to re move said articles one by one from one end of said column, said feeding mechanism including a slide with a projection thereon, a tripper lever adapted to engage said projection and hold said slide and the feeding mechanism of which it forms a part out of operation, said tripper lever adapted to be operated by said removing mechanism to disengage said projection and allow said feeding mechanism to operate and a latch adapted to hold said tripper lever out of engagement with said projection.

6. A machine for feeding articles having, in combination, a hopper adapted to hold a column of said articles, mechanism adapted to feed said column of articles intermittently longitudinally thereof in said hopper in one direction, means adapted to hold said column of articles against movement in the opposite direction, mechanism adapted to remove said articles one by one from one end of said column, said feeding mechanism including a slide with a projection thereon, a tripper lever adapted to engage said projection and hold said slide and the feeding mechanism of which it forms a part out of operation, said tripper lever adapted to be operated by said removing mechanism to disengage said projection and allow said feeding mechanism to operate and a latch adapted to hold said tripperlever out of engagement with said projection, said latch constructed and arranged to be subsequently engaged by said projection to release said tripper from said latch and allow it to again engage said projection on said slide.

7 A hopper adapted to hold and guide a column of articles comprising a pair of vertically disposed slidable side plates, means for simultaneously moving said plates toward each other, vertically disposed angle plates on each of said side plates adjustable in a direction parallel to each other on their respective side plates and at right angles to the direction in which said side plates are adapted to be adjusted and a table slidable longitudinally of said plates within said hopper.

8. A hopper adapted to hold and guide a column of articles, a table slidably mounted in said hopper, a stationary rack, a movable rack, pawls pivoted to said table and adapt ed to engage both of said racks simultaneously, mechanism adapted to impart a reciprocatory motion to said movable rack, whereby said table may be moved longitudinally of said hopper in one direction, a lever pivoted to said table and adapted to engage said pawls and means adapted to be engaged by said lever during the upward movement of said table, whereby said pawls may be disengaged from said racks and said table allowed to move downwardly.

9. A hopper adapted to hold and guide a column of articles, a table slidably mounted in said hopper, a stationary rack, a movable rack, pawls pivoted to said table and adapted to engage both of said racks simultaneously, mechanism adapted to impart a reciprocatory motion to said movable rack, whereby said table may be moved longitudinally of said hopper in one direction, a lever pivoted to said table and adapted to engage said pawls, means adapted to be engaged by said lever during the upward movement of said table, whereby said pawls may be dis engaged from said racks and a catch adapted to engage said lever and hold the same in position with said pawls out of engagement with said racks, whereby said table may be allowed to move downwardly.

10. A hopper adapted to hold and guide a column of articles, a table slidably mounted in said hopper, a stationary rack, a movable rack, pawls pivoted to said table and adapted to engage both of said racks simultaneously, mechanism adapted to impart a reciprocatory motion to said movable rack, whereby said table may be moved longitudinally of said hopper in one direction, a lever pivoted to said table and adapted to engage said pawls, means adapted to be engaged by said lever during the upward movement of said table, whereby said pawls may be disengaged from said racks, a catch adapted to engage said lever and hold the same in position with said pawls out of engagement with said racks, whereby said table may be allowed to move downwardly, and means adapted to disengage said catch from said lever at the end of the downward move ment of said table, whereby said pawls may be allowed to engage said racks.

In testimony whereof we have hereunto set our hands in presence of two subscribing witnesses.

ALBERT M. HOYT. CARL A. MATSON.

WVitnesses:

CHARLES S. GooDINo, SYDNEY E. TAFT.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C.

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