US1549149A - Unloading mechanism - Google Patents

Description

Aug. 11, 1925.

J. l. POLLOCK UNLOADING MECHANISM ori inal Filed May 25, 1921 3 Sheets-Sheet l labour- Aug. 11, 1925. 1,549,149

J. l. F'QLLOCK UNLOADING MECHANI SM Original .Filed May 25. 1921 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 ATTORNEY Fatented ll, i925.

UMTEn s1" isaaia UNLOA D-ING- Application filed May 25, 1921, Serial No. 472,346.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, JAMES I. POLLOOK, a citizen of the United States, residing at Seattle, in the county of King and State of ashington, have invented a certain Unloading Mechanism, of which the follow- .ing is a specification.

My invention relates to the art of unloading devices. More particularly, it relates to devices for unloading lumber or the like from trucks or dollies which are used in transporting the lumber about the premises during the operation of manufacture.

In general, I provide a tilting platform capable of supporting a load of lumber; a

discharging frame mounted upon said platform adapted to move against said load of lumber so that it may be pushed off the 'dollies tier by tier; a clamping arm arranged to hold the said load in position while being tilted; and driving mechanism to actuate said parts in their various operations.

After the lumber is prepared for drying in the kiln, the practice is to stack it upon trucks, such stacking being done after a definite 'manner, namely, the boards are placed on edge with spacing strips there- :between. Mechanism for effecting the unloading of such trucks or dollies as heretobefore designed, operates by causing the lumber to be lifted and then discharged upon carrying belts or other receiving mechanism. Such unloading mechanism has lugs positioned at intervals, which ordinarily represent the height of a tier of lumber on such dry kiln truck. In the event that there is a slipping back of the boards, it is manifest that it will take a lug to lift each board that so falls back and hence the capacity and efliciency of the machine is very'much reduced. Such slipping back is common in view of the fact that the boards, after being withdrawn from thedry kiln, are usually warped and of irregular shape so that such lugs are very apt to engage one end only of a tier and wreck the same by causing one end to be elevated while the other end is not similarly acted upon by the corresponding lug, owing to the warped condition of the lumber.

Furthermore, such unloading mechanism as now obtains in common practice is objec- .tionable by reason of the percentage of broken or marred boards which result.

MECHANISM.

Renewed January 112, 1925.

Since such mechanism operates by lifting the boards upward, comparatively complex machinery for such lifting is involved. The manifest lack of efficiency .of such machines by reason of such action greatly augments the labor cost element, which is of especial importance in the manufacture "of lumber, since in sections of the country where such manufacture is commonly carried on, there is at all times a scarcity of labor, "or such labor is only available at high prices.

One condition to be met in'unloading is that the stack must be supported so that it will not fall to pieces when the bolster stakes are removed, and yet the boards of the stack must be free to fall out of the stack successively in a predetermined, orderly manner. Also, the stack must be necessarily broken by removing a tier of lumber at a time, since the spacing strips subdivide the stack into tiers. And still another condition is that the act of unloading must be so performed that the boards are delivered in a suitable manner for further handling, and such unloading, in providing an efficient machine, should be limited only by the speed of the sorting table. Such mechanism must be subject to control throughout its operation and simple in construction. Finally, the vertically positioned spacing strips which divide the lumber into tiers must be disposed of in a manner which will not interfere with or delay the movements of the lumber.

The object of my invention in general -1s to provide a device which will overcome the above objections and meet the said conditions. A primary object of my invention is to provide an unloading mechanism characterized by its simplicity, efiiciency and economical use of power in its operation. Another primary object of my invention is to provide an unloading mechanism for lumber or the like which will remove the same from the stack on a truck or other transporting means, tier by tier. Another primary object of my invention is to provide such an unloading mechanism which will maintain the stack and yet permit of the discharge of the boards successively, tier by tier, at a predetermined rate.

The above mentioned general object of my invention, together with others inherent in the same, are attained by the mechanism illustrated in the following drawings, the

same being merely a preferred exemplary form of embodiment of my invention, throughout which drawings like reference numerals indicate like parts:

Figure 1 is a view in side elevation of a device embodying my invention;

Fig. 2 is a front view of the same;

Fig. 3 is a side view in elevation of said device in operative position for unloading the lumber;

Fig. 4 is a plan view of the driving mechamsm;

Fig. 5 is a view of the lever and tripper mechanism to control the tilting operation;

Fig. 6 is a view in section on broken line 6, 6, and

Fig. 7 is a view of the lever andtripper mechanism to control the advance and retraction of the discharging member.

A tilting platform 8 formed of girders 9 and 10 secured together by cross beams 11 and 12, is pivotally mounted at 13. On beams 11 are track sections 14 to receive the lumber trucks or dollies 15. Upon girder 10 is mounted the discharging member 16 of triangular form disposed to move against the lumber stacked on the trucks and push the load up the incline so that it will fall off the ends of the bunks 17. This discharging frame (for detail see Fig. 6) has channel girders 18 on each side slidably mounted on straps 19 secured to the beams 10. Clamps 20 extend over a flange of the channel girder 18 and holds said channel upon the straps 19. A rack 21, secured to the inner side of the channel girder 18, ex-

tends below the bottom of said channel so ing mechanism 23, consisting of a right angle clamping arm 24 mounted in a sleeve 25, said arm being disposed to be actuated by means of a ratchet 26 which has the handle 27. By means of these elements, the arm 24 may be clampedtight against the stacked lumber 28 so that the bolsters 29 may be removed. A hinged apron 30 guides the falling boards to the sorting table 31.

A motor 32 has a shaft 33 which has a worm 34 disposed to engage the worm gear 35 mounted 011 shaft 36, upon which are idlingly mounted the bevel gears 37 and 38, the same being subject to engagement with the clutch members 39. Also, mounted upon shaft 36 are the sprocket wheel 40 (idlingly mounted) and the pinion 41 which are engageable by the clutch members 42. From this general driving base the following engagements are made:

5 (1) To tiltfithe platform, bevel gear 43 is mounted in engagement with the bevel gears 37 and 38. Bevel gear 43 is mounted on shaft 44, which has worm 45 (shown in dotted line under worm wheel 46) disposed to engage worm gear 46 on shaft 47, and said shaft in turn having pinion 48 engageable with the tilting rack 49 mounted on tilting platform 8.

(2) To drive forward and retract the discharging frame (see Figs. 4 and 6), pinion 41 engages large gear 50, which is mounted on a shaft 51, which, also, has keyed thereto gear 52 and sprocket wheel 53. Gear 52 is positioned so as to engage gear 54 carried by the tilting platform 8 when said platform is tilted to a predetermined angle. Gear 54 is mounted on shaft 55, which has right and left handed worms 56 and 57 respectively. These worms in turn are engageable respectively with the horizontally mounted gears" 58 and 59 mounted on shafts 60 and 61 on the oppositeend of which shafts are gears 62 and 63, which engage the rack 21 carried by the channel 18 of the discharging member 16. Shaft 55 has bevel gear 64 engageable with gear 65 on shaft 66, whereby a wrench 67 can be applied to one end 68 of shaft 66 when it is desired to manually advance or retract the discharging member 16. The chain 69 connects the two sprocket wheels 40 and 53. v

(3) To automatically stop the tilting of the tilting platform 16, a tripper control may be provided to throw the clutch 39 into neutral position, said tripper comprising pivotally mounted arm 70 engageable with the clutch members 39, an arm 71 pivotally connected at one end to said arm 70 and pivotally connected at the other end to the angularly formed and pivotally mounted tripper 72, which tripper is dis posed to be operated by the extension member 73 which may be secured to the side of the girder 9 as it moves up or down, said end bearing as it descends against the incline 74 and as it ascends against the incline 75 of the tripper. Clearly, the tripper 72 may also be manually moved out or in, depending on position of the platform 8.

(4) The clutch members 42 may be controlled by the lever 76 (see Fig. '7 for detail) and its connecting members 77, 78, 79, 80 and 81.

The mode of operation of a device embodying my invention will next be set forth. The sequence of operations may be varied and in general they may be as follows:

A load of stacked lumber 28 is run upon the track sections 14. The wrench 67 is employed to advance the discharging frame 16 against the load 28 of lumber, clutch members 42 being in neutral position. The ratchet 26 through handle 27 is then operated to draw clamping arm 24 into firm position against the lumber on the front ide; e, the d e the se ene t b so t t he b ls ers 2 n a d-fro t sid ybe n xt rem d fife he bunk i T e tripper 7 f 'the ree to move clntcl'- 1 men1bers 39 so that gear 13' is caused to be actuated: to raise tl' epla'tform 8- into tilted position as appears in Fig. 3; When gear 453 is driven, pinion 48 through its conifiectijons is set in motion against the rack The weight of the end portion of the platform 8 opposite the pivoted end is carried by the rack 49 and the. pinion 48 so that there is no play therebet ween.

To advance the discharged member 16, the lever T6 is next operated to move clutch members 42 so that the 'p'injion 41 is caused to actuate the largegear '0, and hence gear 52 is actuated and through it gear 54:. Then e Worms .6 am. r actuated, d as these engage gears 58 and 59, gears 62 and are set in 'motion against the racks '21 of the discharging member 16.

This discharging member 16 then pushes the lumber up the inclined bunks 17 at a predetermined speed, and causes the lumber o to fall? off the end, tierby' tier, whence the lumber moves down the apron 30'to the sort;- ing table 31,, The clamping arm 2st may be loosened if necessary to free the boards. The incline is preferably of such an angle that the stack maintains itsstacked position without any releasing or yielding means pressing against the front side thereof; and the lumber is thus free to; fall by theforce of gravity so soon as displaced from the endofthe bunks 17; This, arrangement preferably provides for a fixed point of discharge and the-lumber is moved to the'dislodging: point. This obviously greatly simplifies the mechanism and byp'r-oviding for the movement of the lumber downwardly, the rate ofunloading is greatly increased, aswell as eliminates the difiiculties arising upon the. breaking of a tier. The spacing strips (not shown) be tween the tiers of lumber are removed in the same direction as are the'boards so that no separate provision is required for' their disposal. p

lVhen the load of lumber 28 is discharged, clutch members 12 are thenmoved into neutral position so that the advance of the discharging member 16 is stopped. This may be done automatically by having an extension member 82 carried by the discharging member 16 engage the lever 76. The clutch members 12 are manually moved by lever 76 to transmit power to the sprocket wheel 40 and thence to sprocket 53 which rapidly retracts the discharging member 16. Obviously, the complete cycle of movements can be rendered automatic by making use of tripping devices well known in the art.

Obviously, changes may be made in the forms, dimensions and arrangements of the parts of my invention without departing from the principle thereof, the abOVeQsetting' forth only a preferredformof embodiment I claim:

1. An unloading mechanism embodying a tiltingplatfo-rm, one end of which is dis posed to receive material to be unloadedin predetermined order, one vertically CllS- posed section after another; and a discharg ing member slidab'ly mounted on said platform disposed to maintain said material in vertically disposed sections when said platform istil-L ed and to move lengthwise of said platform, whereby said material is pushed upwardly relative the inclined platform and edits and in said predetermined order.

2. An unloading mechanism embodying a tilting platform, one end of which is disposed to receive material to be unloaded in a predetermined order, one vertically disposed section after another; a clamping means; disposed to hold said material in position; and a discharging member slidably mounted on said latform disposed to maintain said material in vertically disposed sections when said platform is tilted and to move lengthwise of said platform, whereby said material is pushed upwardly relative the inclined platform and off its end in said predetermined order;

3', An unloading mechanism embodying a tilting platform, one end of which is dis posed to receive material to be unloaded in a predetermined. order; one vertically disposed sect-ion after another; means to cause said platform to tilt; and a discharging memberslidably mounted on said' platform disposed to maintain said material in vertically disposed sections when said platform is tilted and to move lengthwise of said platform, whereby said material is pushed upwardly relative the inclined platform and off its end in said predetermined order.

4; An unloading mechanism embodying a tilting platform, one end of which is disposed to receive material to. be unloaded in a predetermined order, one vertically disposed section after another; means to cause said platform to tilt; a clamping means disposed to hold said material in position; and a discharging member slidably mounted on said platform disposed to maintain said" material in vertically disposed sections when said platform is tilted and to move lengthwise of said platform, whereby said material is pushed upwardly relative the inclined platform and off its end in said predetermined order.

5. An unloading mechanism embodying a tilting platform; track sections on said platform; trucks carrying materials to be unloaded disposed on said sections; and a dis charging member disposed to move crosswise of said truck, whereby the position of the material on said truck is changed.

Fri.

6. An unloading mechanism embodying a tilting platform; track sections on said platform, the pivoting point or axis of rotation of said platform being positioned intermediate said tracks; trucks carrying materials to be unloaded disposed 011 said sections; and a discharging member disposed to move crosswise of said truck, whereby the position of the material onsaid truck is changed.

7. An unloading mechanism embodying a tilting platform; means whereby said platform is actuated into tilting position; track sections on said platform; trucks carrying materials to'be unloaded disposed on said sections; and a discharging member disposed to move crosswise of said truck, whereby the position of -the material on said truck is changed. p l

8. An unloading mechanism embodying. a tilting platform; track sections on said platform; trucks carrying material to be unloaded disposed on said sections; a discharging member disposed to move crosswise of said truck, whereby the position of thematerial on said truckv is changed; means whereby said platform may be actuated into said tilting position; and a clamping means disposed to hold said material in position.

9. In combination with an unloading mechanism, a discharging member disposed to support the material units to be unloaded in a predetermined position and'to move said units to the point of discharge.

10. In combination with a lumber unloading mechanism having a tilting plat-form, a discharging memberdisposed to changethe position of the lumber to be unloaded, said discharging member embodying an upright frame, and driving means to cause said frame to move against the lumber to be unloaded, whereby the said lumber may be unloaded in a predetermined, orderly manner.

11.. In combination with a lumber un-' loading mechanism having a tilting platform, a dischargmg member disposed to change the position of the lumber to be unloaded, said discharging member embodybe unloaded in' a predetermined, orderly manner.

12. In combination with a lumber unloading mechanism having a tilting platform, a discharging member disposed to change the position of the lumber to be unloaded, said discharging member embodying an upright frame, means to move said frame preliminarily into position against said lumber, and driving means to cause said frame to move against the lumber to be unloaded, whereby the said lumber may be unloaded in a predetermined,:orderly manner.

13. In combination with a lumber unloading mechanism having a tilting platform, a discharging member disposed to change the position of the lumber to be unloaded,said discharging member embodying anupright frame, means to move said frame preliminarily into position against said lumber, driving means to cause said frame tomove against the lumber tobe unloaded, and a control member to automatically cause the advance of said frame to be stopped, whereby the said lumbermay be unloaded in a predetermined, orderly manner.

14. An unloading mechanism embodying a tilting platform; a carriage on which ma terial to be unloaded may be disposed;.&

sup-porting means on said platform to receive said carriage; a clamping means mounted on said platform independent of said carriage; and a dischargingmember disposed to move against said material.

15. A lumber unloading mechanism embodying a tilting platform, supporting means on said platform to receive lumber stacked in tiers to be unloaded, a clamping means disposed to hold said lumber in position duringthe tilting operation, means to adjustably release said clamping means preliminary to the unloading operation, and a discharging member disposed to move against said lumber, displacing said lumber crosswise ofsaid supporting means, whereby said lumber may be caused to be unloaded board by board and tier by tier, said boards descending under the force of gravity.

my name this 18th day of May, 1921.

JAMES I., POLLOGK.

In witness whereof, I hereunto subscribe

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