US1402121A - Can-feeding machine - Google Patents

Description

F. VAUGHAN. CAN FEEDING MACHINE.

APPL ICATION FILED OCT. 29. 1920.

1,402,121 Patented J an. 3, 1922.

3 SHEETS-SHEET I.

. a I wsr" F. VAUGHAN.

CAN FEEDING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. 29. 1920.

Patented Jan. 3,1922...

3 SHEETSSHEET 2.

Patented Jan. 3, 1922;

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Qwuamtoz dttozmuaq UNl'l'EB STAE'EE FRANK VAUGHAN, OF HONOLULU, TERRITORY 0F HAVTAII, ASSIGNOR T0 LIBBY, MCNEIL & LIBBY, OF HONOLULU, LIHIITED, A CORPORATION OF HAWAII.

CAN-FEEDING: MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 3, 1922.

Application filed October 29, 1920. Serial No. 420,395.

To all whom it may concern."

Be it known that I, FRANK VAUGHAN, a citizen or" the United States, residing at Honolulu, in the county of Honolulu and Territory 01"- Hawaii, have invented a new and useful Can-Feeding Machine, of which the following is a specification.

The object of my invention is to provide an efficient machine for rapidly and automatically feeding cans to the intake of a labelling machine; and to provide the novel combination and arrangement 01 parts described and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which-Fig. l is a side elevation of the machine; Fig. 2 is a top plan; Fig. 3 is a rear elevation; and Fig. 4: is an enlarged detail elevational view.

Like numerals designate like parts in each of the several views.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, I provide hoppers A and B. The hopper A is made up of the table 2 and the cover 4; and hopper B is mace up of the table 1 and the cover 3; together with the guiding strips 19 forming the sides of each of the hoppers, as illustrated in Fig. 8. The cans D are fed through the hoppers to a runway 5 formed of spaced angle iron members. This runway is mounted on suitable supports stands 6. Attached to one end or" the runway 5 are bearings 8 in which is mounted a shaft 7, carrying the sprocket wheel 9 on which is mounted the endless sprocket chain 10 which is provided with spaced lugs that project outwardly and engage successive cans to convey them along the runway toward the end C of the machine which is connected with the intake of a labelling machine to which this machine feeds the cans. The chain 10 is run over an idler pinion 16 and over the lar e sprocket whee 13 which is mounted on a shaft 11, on which shaft is also mounted the drive wheel Li which is driven by a suitable power belt 15 from any suitable source or power. As illustrated in 1 I provide an outwardly inclined overflow runway 11, adjacent to the delivery end C or" the machine to take care of cans when they are fed too fast for the labelling machine to handle. Overflow runway 17 consists of strips of angle iron similar to those used in the main runway 5, and is arranged on an incline so that the cans accumulated in it will roll back into the main runway 5 by gravity.

The driving pulley 15 which is operated by outside power such as an electric motor or overhead shaiting drives the main sprocket wheel 13 and thus the endless chain 10 which engages the cans and moves them along the runway 5 from the mouth of the hoppers to the delivery end C of the machine. The endless chain may or may not have lugs, and a canvas or leather belting may be substituted if preferred for the chain. A dozen or more cans are fed at one feeding into each hopper directly from the tables 1 and 2. Members 1 and 2 are made large enough to receive two dozen or more cans. The overflow cans which collect on overflow runway 1'? are autoi'natically "fed back on runway 5 as the lower layer of the cans moves toward the labelling machine. The endless chain 10 is driven at the same speed as the corresponding mechanism in the labelling machine, to the receiving end of which the cans are carried, as indicated by the arrow in the drawings.

What I claim is: I

1. in a can feeding machine, the combination of a runway comprising spaced angle irons, an endless chain extending longitudinally or" the middle of the runway, means for continuously operating said chain in the desired direction, means for feeding cans into the runway, and an overflow runway at one end of the main runway for temporarily holding overflow cans.

2. In a can feeding machine, the combination of an elevated runway, an endless traveling member extending longitudinally of the runway and adapted to engage cans and convey them along the runway, an inclined overflow runway positioned at one end of the main runway and adapted to receive overflow cans and to return them to the main runway by gravity.

3. In a can feeding machine, the combination of a runway of suitable size to receive a line of cans, spaced hoppers of suitable size'to hold a considerable number of cans and to permit of feeding same rapidly to the runway, endless traveling means for engaging the cans in the runway and conveying them from the receiving to the delivering end of the runway, and an overflow runway, said overflow runway being disposed above and at an inclination to the-main runway, whereby cans which collect on the overflow runway are automatically returned by gravity to the main runway.

FRANK VAUGHAN.

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