US1409188A - Power-operated counter - Google Patents

Description

L. E. LA BOMBARD AND M. H. SIDEBOTHAM.

POWER OPERATED COUNTER. APPLICATION FILED APR. 7. 1920.

Patented Mar. 14, 1922.

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UNITED STATES ATENT OFFICE.

LEON E. LA BOMBARD,

MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNORS TO SPEC AND MELVIN H. SIDEBOTHAM,

OF CLIFTONDALE,

ALTY AUTOMATIC MACHINE COMPANY, OF

POWER-OPERATED COUNTER.

Application filed April 7, 1920.

T 0 all whom it may concern Be it known that we, LnoN E. La Born nAnn, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Chelsea, in the county of Suffolk, State of Massachusetts, and MELvIN H. SIDEBOTHAM, a. citizen of the United States, and resident of Cliftondale, in the county of Essex and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Power-Operated Counters, of which the following is a specification. y

This invention relates to mechanical counters and has particular reference to that type of devices which are attached to ma chines for making articles such as flat paper boxes or cartons and effect counting of such. articles by indicating to an attendant that a predetermined number (such as fifty) are ready to be picked for boxing or laying aside in piles or groups. Usually the articles issue from the making machine either to mechanism which assembles them in a ver tical pile, or onto a belt which moves so slowly that the articles rest thereon in inclined overlapping condition, such belt forming a travelling'platform from which the attendant removes the'articles in groups for packing. The machine produces the articles too rapidly for anyone to count them individually and therefore several devices have been proposed to so change the posi tion of some of the articles arriving in the pile or row, relatively to the intervening ones, as to indicate to the attendant where to effect a separation of the pil or row in order to remove a predetermined number, such as fifty. If the device changes the position of more than one article at each displacing operation, the attendant can not determine accurately where toefiect the sepa ration, and is liable to pick up 51 or 52 or 49 or 48 articles. The smaller the articles, the greater is the liability of displacingtwo or more articles instead of one.

The principal object of the present in vention is to provide mechanism of the character described which, even when the small- Specification of Letters Patent.

Serial No. 371,889.

est sizes of flat folded boxes are to be count ed will, when operating to designate the last of a group, act upon but one box lVith this object in view the invention consists in a counter having a movable member which is moved by every passing article and which itseli acts to displace some of them at intervals, and means connected with said member to determine the periods when that member shall act. In the embodiment oi the'invention illustrated, the displacing means comprises a pair of rolls between which the articles pass, said rolls being shifted aside to displace one article passing between them at a time which is determined by the numbe' of preceding articles which passed between said rolls.

One embodiment of the above described invention is explained in our application filed February 6, 1920, Serial No. 356700 in which the mechanism for effecting the selcctive displacingis carried by a laterally swinging arm. In the present illustrated embodiment of the invention the displacing mechanism is carried by a laterally movable slide by means of which, in connection with other features of our invention, the counter as a whole is simplified and is capable of operating at a higher rate of speed. F or instance, so far as we are aware, no counter has heretofore been produced which would accurately designate groups of boxes folded and passing at the speed attained by the folding machine described in our application filed May 5, 1920, Serial No. 380,326 The present counter, with that folding machine, has demonstrated accurate counting of boxes passing at a rate exceeding 75,000 an hour. Hence sensitiveness and quickness of action of the counter are required.

Of the accompanying drawings:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the coun ter, with the casing or frame partly broken away.

Figure 2 represents a vertical transverse section of the counter.

Patented Mar. 14:, 19222 p Cir pulley 23 at the other end.

Figure 3 is a sectional plan view.

Figure 4 is a sectional perspective of a portion of the casing.

Figure 5 represents a of the floor of the casing.

Figure 6 is a detail perspective view of two members of the friction driver.

Figure 7 is a perspective view of one of the ratchets and the cam connected thereto.

Similar reference characters indicate similar parts in all. of the views.

The frame of the device comprises a boxshaped casting 12 having an arm 13 apertured for one or more screws or bolts by means of which the counter is secured to a suitable part-of a machine such asabox folding machine not necessary to illustrate. The articles to be counted, such as flat-folded boxes or cartons that are being made by such folding machine, are fed through a [throat or passageway 14 one end of which isflared as at 15. The articles are fed into the mouth 15 and through the throat 14 in rapid succession bysuitable means such as the usual belts (not shown) employed for delivering boxes from the folding devices.

Secured to the lower edges of the side walls of the frame 12 are two strips 16 which support a slide 17. As it is quite essential, for rapid operation, that the slide 17' shall be able to move with the least possible friction we preferably construct it andthe strips 16 with grooved edges, a series of anti-friction balls 18 being mounted in the grooves. And to reduce the momentum and inertia of the slide, it is preferably formed with openings as at 19 (Figs. 1 and 2).

Depending'from the slide 17 and movable with it is a thin web 20 having a bearing for a shaft 21 carrying a roll 22 at one end and a A spring 24, best transverse section illustrated by dotted lines so connected to'the web and frame as to exert a constant tendency to shift the parts which are carried. by the slide in the direc tion of arrow (1 of Figure 1.

Supported by the slide and web is a vertical spindle 25 having a bevel pinion 26 meshing with a bevel pinion 27 carried by shaft 21. It is to be understood that in use a constantly driven beltengages pulley 23 so as to act through the shaftto rotate the roll22 in the direction of arrow 1; (Fig. 1). Through the bevel gearing the spindle 25 is also constantly driven.

Loosely mounted on, the spindle above the slide are upper and lower ratchet wheels 23, 29, and a cam 30, said wheels and cam being secured together by means such as one or more pins-.31 (Figs. 3 and 7). Said wheels and cam are frictionally rotated as presently described. The lower wheel 29, rides .on a ball bearing 32 (Fig; 2). Mounted on the upper portion of the spindle is a disk 33, a friction washer 34 of leather or other suitthe two ratchet wheels in Figure 2, 1s

ling influence of the friction drive tendency of rotation able material being interposed between the disk 33 and the upper ratchet wheel. The hub 35 of disk 33 is slotted as at 36 to receive a transverse pin 37 of the spindle (Fig. (3), said slots being wider than the diameter of the pin 37 to enable the disk to have a limited rotary movement on the spindle for a purpose to be explained.

A collar 38 engages a screwthrea-ded portion of the spindle and is preferably locked in adjusted position'thereon as by a set screw 39 (Fig. 2). A spring 40 is coiled around the hub 35 and at its ends bears upon, without being secured to, the under face of collar 38 and the upper face of disk 33. The turn-- tion of this spring is two-fold as will be explained hereinafter.

An upper roll 41 which will be lifted by 3 every article passing between it and the roll 22 is mounted to rotate freely on the outer end of a lever 42 which is pivoted at 43 to a bifurcated arm 44 carried by the slide 17. A spring 45 acts to tilt said lever to yieldingly hold the roll 41 down.

Secured to, or a part of, the lever, is a pawl arm 46 having its tip or tooth 47 shaped to engage and arrest one or the other of the two ratchet wheels 28, 29. Normally the spring 45, acting on the lever 42, holds the tooth 47 in engagement with the upper ratchet wheel 28, but said tooth is wide enough so that just before it leaves a tooth of the upper wheel, due to a passing article causing the lever to tilt, the lower edge of said pawl tooth reaches position to form a stop for a tooth of the lower ratchet wheel 29. As indicated in Figure 1, the teeth of are so related as to be alternately stopped by the pawl tooth, the teeth of the upper wheel being above the spaces between the teeth of the lower wheel.

The mechanism just as an escapement device to permit intermittent rotation of the cam 30 under the impelmechanism which consists of lhe friction disk 31: and the constantly rotating disk 3);). the being in the direction of the arrow 0 in Figure 3.

In alinemcnt \\'ill\ the spare lictncen the ratchet wheels (Fig. 2) is a fixed thin flat lug 48 carrying a small roll 1 and. having a shoulder or tip 50 in horizontal alinement with the roll 49 and with the cam 21 i (Figs. 1, 2. 3 and 4). An adjustable stop such as a screw 51 is in alinen'ient with lug: 52 at the inner end of the slide 17.

The operation is as follows:

The front end of each article passing through the throat 14 and entering between the rolls 22, 41, effects sufficient lifting of described operates the roll 41 and consequent tilting of the u wheel 39, and when such article has passed the rolls, the spring returns the lever to" normal position. Each passing article permits,- in this manner, a stepby-step rotation of the two ratchet wheels and the interposed cam 30. Since the slide 17 carries all of the parts just mentioned and the other parts immediately related thereto, and since the spring 24 exerts a constant tend ency to shift all of these parts toward the right (Figsf Qand the cam 80 is held in peripheral contact wit-h roll 49. As the cam rotates step-by-step in the direction of the arrow 0 in Figure 3, and rides over said roll 49, the result is to gradually push the slide 17 and allparts'carried thereby toward the left in opposition to the spring :24. The slow movement of'the rolls 9.2, 41, in this direction does not in any degree affect the passing articles, as said rolls simply engage the articles at different distances from their edges without diverting them from the path in which they are being carried.

Assuming, for instance, that each ratchet wheel has twenty five teeth, then the cam will be permitted to be rotated by its file tio'n drive once during the passage of twenty five articles. "When the tip or high point of the cam not only passes the roll 49'but also the tip of the fixed lug 4L8, the spring 24 acts to instantly shift the slide 17 and all parts carried thereby, ineluding the rolls 22, ll, to the right, to a point determined by the screw stop The parts are so proportionedthat, since the movement of the ratchet wheels and the cam are initiated when the front end of an article lifts roll, 41., the tip of the cam passes the tip 50 and spring 2% acts before that same article entirely passes the rolls 22, 41. Therefore, since the spring 45 causes the upper roll to act on the article with a considerable grip, the sudden movement of the slide and the rolls 22, 41, to the right pulls the'twenty fifth article, and only that one. out of the line-of those which preceded .it. In other words the articlewhich is displaced is the one which causes displacing action of the device after an exact predetermined number of articles have preceded it. Of course the articles which follow the dis placed one are engaged by the rolls 22, 4-1, nearer the edges of said articlesthan the displaced one, but that does not cause them to be shifted laterally from their normal line of travel. Then as the cam rotates as the resultof the passing of those following articles, the slide and said rolls are gradually shifted back to position ready to effect lateral displacements of the next twenty-fifth article.

The reason for the tip 50 at one side of the 'roll 49 is that if the roll alone were depended upon for 'coa'ction with the cam, it would have to be exceedingly small to let the tip of the cam pass it quickly. In fact the roll 49 might be dispensed with but for the desirability of reducing as far as possible the friction between the cam and the element against which it rides.

Reference has been made to the slots 36 in the hub of the friction driving disk being wider than the diameter of the pin 37 which drives it, and to the fact that the ends of the spring 40 are not positively connected to anything. Said spring is under sufficient compression to cause the disk 33 to press the washer 34 upon the upper face of ratchet wheel 28 to effect friction drive of the latter when permitted by the oscillating pawl tooth 47, and the spring has the following additional function The spring rotatively connects the spindle 25 with the disk 33, owing to the frictional bearing of its ends on said disk and the collar 38, and so the spring serves to yieldingly transmit the constant rotary movement of said spindle to the disk somewhat as it would if the pin 37 were omitted and the ends of the spring connected positively instead of frictionally to the collar and disk. This rotary movement exerts a constant tendency to tighten or wind up the spring because the ratchet wheels are held back by the pawl 4-6, and the friction washer 34 retards rotation of the disk Then when the pawl shifts to release the ratchet wheel which it was holding. the spring imparts a quick action to the disk due to the effort of the spring to unwind, and this action is instantly transmitted through the friction washer to the ratchet wheels and cam. Said quick action is particularly advantageous when the last of the predetermined number of articles is passing and the tip of the cam is just about to pass the tip 50 of lug 48 to release the slide and effect displacement of said last article. The purpose of the pin 37 and the relatively wide slots 86 in the hub of the disk 33 is to limit the extent or degree of winding up action that can be imparted to the spring. Moreover with said pin and slot connection it is not necessary to positively connect the ends of the spring to the collar and disk and therefore it is easier to 1 enible. or make repairs in case a new spring is needed.

Ha ving now clescribec our invention. we claim: v I

l. The combination with a guideway for articles to be counted, of a slide movable in a direction at an angle to said guideway, a member carried by the slide in position to be acted upon by each passing article, and mechanism under the control of said member to effect an article-displacing movement of said slide when the last one of a predetermined number of passing articles acts upon said member.

2. A device of the character described comprising a pair of members for engaging articles passing between them, a slide carrying said members, and means controlled by one of said members for shifting the slide and said members periodically at predetermined times to displace articles at spaced points.

3. A. device of the character described comprising a: pair of rolls for engaging articles passing between them, a slide carrying said rolls, and means controlled by one of said rolls for shifting the slide and said roll periodically at predetermined times to displace articles at spaced points.

4. A device of the character described, comprising a slide carrying a member mounted to be moved by eachof a series of passing articles, means for actuating said slide to cause said member carried thereby to displace some of the articles at intervals, and means connected with said member to determinethe periods when the slide and its article-displacing member shall act.

5. A device of the character described, comprising a slide carrying a member mounted to be moved by the front portion of each of a series of passing articles, and means controlled by the number of times that said member is moved for effecting a displacing movement of that member in another direction.

6. A counter mechanism of the character described having, in combination, a pair of rolls for the passage of articles between them, a slide carrying said rolls, and means cooperating with said rolls to efiect movement of the slide and its rolls to laterally displace some of the articles at predetermined intervals.

7. A counter mechanism-of the character described having, in combination, a pair of rolls for the passage of articles between them .-a slide carrying said rolls, means for moving said slide andits rolls periodically to displace individual articles, and means controlled by'the parting movement of the rolls to effect movement of the slide and said rolls in an article-displacing direction.

8. A counter having a toothed wheel. a friction driver for said wheel, a detent for said wheel. a member connected with said detent and mounted to be moved by each of a series of passing articlesto effect release of the wheel, and means controlled by the wheel to cause said member to displace some of said articles at intervals.

9. A counter having a toothed wheel. a friction driver for said wheel, a detent for said wheel, a member'connected with said detentand mounted to be moved by each of -a series of passing articles to effect release of the wheel, and means controlled by the wheel to cause said member to displace one of the articles upon each complete rotation of said wheel.

10. Acounter having a toothed wheel, a

medium of said spring,

cam in contact with sai friction driver for said wheel, a spring, means for actuating the driver through the a detent for said wheel, a member connected with the detent and mounted to be moved by each of a series of passing articles to release the wheel to permit said spring to effect a quick partial rotation to the wheel, and means controlled by the wheel to cause said member to displace one of the articles upon each complete rotation of the wheel.

11. A counter having a pair of rolls one of which is movable relatively to the other to be moved by each of a series of articles passing between them, a laterally movable support for said rolls, a toothed wheel and a "friction driver therefor carried by said support, a detent connected with the movable roll and constructed and arranged to permit intermittent actuation of the toothed wheel by the friction driver, and means controlled by said wheel to cause the said support to shift at predetermined intervals.

12. A counter having a pair of rolls one of which is movable relatively to the other to be moved by each of a series of articles passing between them, a laterally movable support for said rolls, a toothed wheel and a friction driver therefor carried by said support, a detent connected with the movable roll and constructed and arranged to permit intermittent actuation of the toothed wheel by the friction driver, a cam connected to rotate with said toothed wheel, an abutment 'for said cam, and a spring for shifting said support when the higher portion of the cam passes said abutment.

13. In a counter mechanism of the characterdescribed, a Slide, a pair of rolls carried thereby, one of said rolls being pivotal}? supported by the slide, a driven spinde mounted in the slide, a toothed wheel and; a cam loosely mounted on the spindle, a biotion driver for the toothed wheel and cam, said driver being operatively connected with the spindle, an abut-ment for the cam, a detent for the toothed wheel connected with the pivotally supported roll, and a spring normally holdin the slide with the cam in contact with sai abutment.

14. In a counter mechanism of the character described, a slide, a pair of rolls carried thereby, one of said rolls-being pivotally supported by theslide, a driven spindle mounted in the slide, a toothed wheel anda cam loosely mounted on the spindle, a friction driver for the toothed wheel and cam, said driver having a yielding connection with the spindle, an-abutment for the cam, a detent for the toothed wheel connoded with the pivotally. supported roll, and a spring normally holdin the slide with the abutment.

15. A counter comprisinga guideway for the articles to be oounted,a slide mountud'to I reciprocate at an angle to said guideway, a and cam operatively connected with the 10 spring for moving the slide in one direction, spindle, a detent pawl for the toothed Wheel a driven shaft carried by the sllde and havcarried by-said lever, and an abutment for ing aroll, a lever carried by the slide and said cam.

having at one end a roll to coact with the In testimony whereof We have aflixed our first mentioned roll, a spindle carried by signatures.

the slide and geared to the driven shaft, 2:.

toothed Wheel and a cam loosely mounted on LEON E. LA BOMBARD.

the spindle, a friction driver for said wheel MELVIN H. SIDEBOTHAM.

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