US1680487A - Filling and weighing machine - Google Patents

Description

Aug. 14, 1928. 1,680,487

W. L. TAYLOR l FILLNG AND WEIGHING MACHINE Filed Feb. '7, 1923 4 Sheets-Sheet '1 o. 0 c l Y mp1s i 97 61/ 1262 7 Je y A, O 619 23K l". 72 "lll I 30 f n f7 66 66 u ,-I-Ill e UH ,l I A.

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Aug. 14, 1928.

W. .L TAYLOR FILLING AND WEIGHING MACHINE Filed Feb.' v, 1923' 4 sheets-sheet 5 Aug. 14, 1928.

w. 1 TAYLR FILLING AND WEIGHING MACHINE Filed Feb.'v,192:s 4 sheets-sheet 4j Patented Aug. 14, 1928.

UNITEDl STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM L. TAYLOR, OF BATTLE CREEK, MICHIGAN, ASSIGNOR T0 JOHNSON AUTO- MATIC SEALER CO., LTD., OF BATTLE CREEK, MICHIGAN, A PARTNERSHIP ASSO- CIATION LIMITED.

FILLING AND WEIGHING MACHINE.

Application led February 7, 1923. Serial No. 617,564.

The present invention is an improvement in filling and weighing machines and the objects of the invention are to provide a simple and efiicient device of the character described which will rapidly and freely feed materials with decided non-free flowing characteristics, such as brown sugar, seeded raisins and the like. Heretofore most of these materials have been packaged manually, owing to the diiiculties inherent in machine handling such materials.

In the preferred embodiment of the inventive idea, there are employed, as a feeding means, a pair of smooth rollers arranged across the discharge end of the feed hopper, with a scraper associated with each roller and an agitator arranged above Athe rollers to prevent the material from caking in the hopper. 1If the material is to be fed intermittently, as in the case with the usual automatic scale, the feed rollers will be operated intermittentl and if both a rough load feed hopper an a drip stream feed f hopper are employed, the feed rollers in the former are preferably operated faster than in the latter.

The invention will be better understood by reference to the accompanying drawings illustrating one expression of the inventive idea and whereinh Fig. 1 is an end elevation of a scale equipped with'the resent invention;

Fig. 2 is a rear e evation of the same;

Fig. 3 is a perspective view showing the drive for the feed rolls and the agitators;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged detail;

Fig. 5 is an enlarged pers ective showing the clutches for effecting t e intermittent operation of the feed rolls; and

Fig. 6 is a detail.

Referring to the drawings, wherein like reference numerals indicate like arts, 10 is -the main receptacle into which t 1e material is fed from a chute (such asa ta ered pipe ,larger at the bottom than at t e top, 'or otherwise) through opening 11 centrally disposed .in thetop ofthe same. The material falls on an imperforate surface 12 immediately under said opening 11. This surface is preferably curved in cross-section as clearly shown in Figs. 14 and 2. The material is fed laterally along this surface into 15 and 16 of the main hopper is a shaft 17 on which is mounted a fplurality of feed agitators 18 preferably in the form of stout bent wires. The wires on the right-hand side of the center of the main hopper feed the material into the feed-hopper 13 (as seen in'Fig. 3) and those on the left into feed-hopper 14. These Wires are spaced and arranged so that they not only feed the material but also simultaneously agitate the same and break all lumps; and the' wires are arranged to closely approach the walls so that the same are kept clean and free fromaccumulations. As illustrated, these wires pass through openings in the shaft 17 and each is held in lplace by any suitable means as a set-screw 19. Any suitable number of wires 18 to effectively feed and agitate the material may be utilized, this dependin somewhat on the particular kind of materlal being handled.

Heretofore the hoppers 13 and 14 have been provided 'with agitators similar in their nature to the agitators 18 on shaft 17. According to the present invention, however, such agitators are omitted from the hoppers 13 and 14 and the material is effectively fed out of the hoppersby feed rolls 20 and 21 mounted on shafts 22 and 23,l respectively, supported in the walls of the 'hopper 13 and adjustable toward-and from each other in any suitable manner. The shaft 23l is driven from a shaft 24 suitably mounted in standards 25 supported on the machine frame, and this sha t 24 is driven from a shaft 26 through a sprocket chain 27 Which passes around a sprocket 28 on shaft 24 and a sprocket 29 on shaft 26. The shaft 23 is driven from shaft 24 through a sprocket chain 23a passing around sproc ets on said shafts 23 and 24. The shaft 26 in turn is driven from shaft 30 through the medium of a sprocket cha-in 31 passing around a sprocket wheel 32 on shaft 26 and 33 on shaft 30; and shaft 30 is driven from shaft 34 through bevel gears 35 and 36. A pulley 37 is mounted on shaft 34 and around this pulley passes a drive belt 38 that 1s driven fromthe motor 39 in any suitable manner.

In order that the feed rollers 2() and 21 may rotate downwardly to discharge the material into the cartons, a gear 40 is mounted on shaft 23 and this gear meshes with a gear 41 carrying a sprocket 42 mounted on a stub shaft 41', around which sprocket 42 passes a sprocket chain 43 that also passes around a sprocket wheel 44 on shaft 22. Hence, these rollers 20 and 21 rotate in opposite directions and downward# ly at the point where the material passes between their contiguous surfaces.

In order that the 1 aterial shall not cake in the hopper, an agitator is provided above he feed rolls to loosen the same. This agitator preferably is operated once for cach package and acts simply to keep the material from caking or packing in a lump so that the rollers will feed it. As here shown, the agitator 45 is carried on the lower end of a rod46 and is a piece ofl metal in the form of an elongated S. It will be understood that any other suitable form of agitator may be employed, and also that the extent of Vmovement and speed of oper-` ation of this agitator may be varied according to the nature of the material being fed; but it has been found that such an agitator as described functions satisfactorily with brown sugar, for example.

To the upper end of the rod 46 is secured one end of a rocking beam 47 pivoted at 48 in a bearing 49 secured to the frame of the machine, and the upper end of the rod 46 is guided in its movements in a casting 50 located on the frame 51 that carries the bearing 49. The other end of the rocking beam 47 is connected to the upper end of a link 52, the lower end ofwhich is pivoted eccentrically at 53 to the gear 54 mounted on a short shaft 55. This gear 54 meshes with a pinion 56 mounted on shaft 24 and is driven thereby. The link 52 may be lengthened or shortened to modify the extent of reciprocation of the agitator 45 by meansA of the pin and slot connections 57 and 58, it being understood that this link 52 is in two -parts secured together by saidv connections.

The feed rollers 20 and 2l for the other' or drip-stream hopper are driven from the same shaft 26 through similar connections as 'heretofore described in connection with the feed rollers in the 4rough-load hopper' 13, said connections including the sprocket chain 27', shaft 24 and sprocket chain 23h. Shaft 24 is, however, extended somewhat and carries on its end a pulley 59 around which passes a belt 60 that also passes varound a pulley 61 on shaft 62. Shaft 62 also carries a pinion 63 that meshes with a gear 64 on shaft 65, this shaft in turn carrying a pinion 66 that meshes with a gear 67 on shaft 17 that carries the agitator-s 18.

he shaft 17 is driven through these connections.'

As is well understood in devices of this general character, the rough-load hopper is discharged at regular intervals and the dripstream hopper is likewise, discharged at regular intervals, into portable containers or packages, any given package being rst A form by the conveyor and carried alongA way A to a top-sealing machine or other instrumentality (not shown). Means are accordingly provided for operating the feed rollers 20 and 21 intermittently and also the feed rollers 20 21intermittently. As here shown, the means for operating the feed rollers 2() and 21 intermittently consists of a pair of cams 70 a and 7Gb, the former being of Z-shape and carried by a disk 70, fast on'shaft 71. Cam 70b is carried by a disk' 70d. Disk 70d is loose on shaft 71 but is secured to disk "('0e fast on said shaft by pin and slot connections 70t which permit of adjustment of said cams toward each other. Shaft 71 is driven from shaft 26 through sprocket chain 72 that passes sprocket Wheel 73 on shaft 26 and 74 on shaft 71. The cams 7()a and 70b engage a roller 7 5 carried on a clutch arm 76 pivoted at 77 in the frame. of the machine. A clutch fork 7 6 on arm 76 operates a clutch of any suitable construction to control the power to the feedA rollers 20 and 21 through the sprocket chainA 27.' As here shown, the sprocket wheel 29 is fast to the shell 30 of the clutch, but both the sprocket wheel and the shell are loose on shaft 26. The clutch arm 76 is operated to move `a cone 78 to rock the spreader arm 79 to clamp together the two parts of the clutch (of any suitable construction) and thus transmit' power through the chain 27 to the feed rollers -20 and 21. As will be observed, the parts are moved'into clutching position under the action of cam 7 0a and are moved out'of clutching position under the action of cam 70h.

The intermittent operation of the fd rollers 20 and 21 is effected through the chain 27 from a cam 85 loosely mounted on shaft 26, said cam engaging a roller 86 around llo carried by one arm 87 of a bell-crank lever pivoted at 88, the other arm 89 of said lever being forked to engage one element 90 of a clutch mechanism, the other element 91 of which has secured thereto a sprocket wheel 29 about which chain 27 passes. The clutch element 90 is keyed to the shaft 26 at 92, whereas thel clutch element 91 and the sprocket wheel 29 are loose on said shaft. Theseclutch elements may be provided with the usual interengaging teeth 93. A spring 94 operates to hold the roller 86 in engagement with the face of the cam 85. It will be understood that, when the parts are in the position illustrated in Fig.

5, the clutch is closed and power is being transmitted to drive the feed rollers 20 and 21 in the drip-stream ho per; and it will also be understood that, w en the high part 85 of the cam engages the roller 86, the clutch will be opened so that the feed rollers 20 and 21 Vwill not be driven and no material will be fed out of the drip-stream hop- The cam 85 is intermittently operated by a pawl and ratchet connection (not shown) which pawl and ratchet connection is controlled by the carrier 68 (that moves the cartons) and th`e scale beam, in a well known manner. The carrier operates to rotate said cam 85 to close the clutch 90 and the scale beam operates to rotate said cam to open the clutch.

The feed rollers 20 and 21, on the one hand, and 20 and 21` on the other, are identical and theserollers are smooth and imperforate rollers. 4It has been found in feeding materials of the characteristics referred to, that-it is quite necessary to keep these rollers free of any accumulation of material, and for this reason a scraper is associated with each of the four rollers to prevent any accumulation of the material being fed on the surfaces of these rollers. As shown particularly on Fig. 4, the Scrapers are shown at 95 and 96, these scrapers'being mounted on the walls of the hoppers 13 and 14 and are adjustable toward and from the rollers by means of the pin and slot connections 97 and 98 (Fig. 1). These Scrapers extend across the full length of the rollers, and it has been found that they operate very effectively when arranged at an angle of about 12. It has also been yexperienced that in handling brown sugar, for example, it is quite necessary to keep the feed rollers free from any accumulation of sugar, and it is accordingly necessary to set the Scrapers very close to the rollers. At the same time it has been foundl that the rollers will not operate to freely feed the sugar out of the hoppers until the rollers have become sticky from the passage of the sugar thereover, or otherwise. So far as this particular material is concerned, therefore, it has been found necessary, maximum of efficiency, that the rollers should be kept clean but sticky.

' As shown' in Fig. 3, the carton 99 is receiving a stream from the rollers in the drip-load hopper, and it will be understood that this carton has already received its load from the rollers 20 and 21 in the rough-load hopper. The mechanism for moving these cartons into the machine under the roughload hopper and from thence under the dripload hopper, sociated with these hoppers, are of a well known and usual type and need not be further described or illustrated.

While one embodiment of the inventive in order to feed the material with the I and the scale mechanism as-v idea has been herein described and illustrated in great detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited thereto but that various modifications may be made Within the limits of the appended claims. For example, if desired only one feed hopper may be employed as it will sometimes happen that one will answer all of the re quirements. Further, whilethe inventive idea has been shown as embodied in a hopper or hoppers for a scale, it is to be understood that the improvement may be used for feeding materials in other relations.

What is claimed is:

1. In a machine of the character described, the combination of a receptacle supported above the machine and having a substantially horizontal inner surface, means for depositing material on said surface at a point removed from one extremity thereof, a hopper at said extremity of the surface, means for feeding the material along the surface into said hopper, and a horizontally disposed rotating, cylindrical element for feeding the material out of the hopper into a portable container.

2. In a machine of the character described, the combination of a receptacle supported above the machine and having a substantially horizontal inner surface, a chute for deposit-- ing material on said surface at a point removed from one extremity thereof, a hopper -at'said extremity of the surface, means for thereof, a-hopper at said extremity of ,thev A surface, means for feeding the material -along the surface into said hopper, and a pair of smooth, rotating, imperforate elements at the bottom of the hopper for feeding material out of thesame into a container.

4. In combination, a receptacle having a horizontally extending inner surface, means for depositing material on said surface at a point removed from one extremity thereof,

a hopper at said extremity of the surface,

means for feeding the material along the surface into said hopper, a pair of horizontally disposed rollers for discharging material from the hopper into containers, and means intermittently rotating said rollers in opposite directions.

5. In combination, means for :feeding material in opposite direction from a source ot' supply, :ind a plurality of driven rollers arranged in spaced sets receiving material from said last named feeding means and discharging the material into a. plurality ofv spaced containers.

6. In combination, means for feeding material from a source of supply, a pair of smooth rotating imperforate rollers for discharging material received from said feeding means, and means disposed above said rollers for agitating the material fed thereto.

7. In combination, means for feeding material in opposite directions from a source "of supply, a plurality or rollers spaced apart in pairs each receiving material fromV said material feeding means, and means for rotating the contiguous surfaces of each pair -of rollers downwardly so as to discharge material into a container..

8. In combination, means 'for feeding ma terlal in opposite directions from a source of supply, a pluralit of rollers spaced apart in sets each adapte to receive material from said feeding means and discharge the same into a container, mechanism for driving .the rollers of each set in opposite directions, and means operatively connecting the material feeding means with said rollers.

9. In combination, means for feeding material in opposite directions from a source of supply, a lurality of rollers spaced apart 1n pairs eaci adapted to receive material from said feeding means and discharge the same into a container, mechanism for intermittently rotating the rollers, and means operatively connecting the material feeding device with said rollers.

10. In combination, means for feeding -matcrial in opposite directions from a source of supply, a plurality of smooth imperforate rollers spaced apart in sets each adapted t0 receive material from said material feedin means, means disposed above each set o rollers for agitating the material fed thereto, and mechanism for rotating the sets of rollers to discharge the material.

11. In a device of the character described, a surface on which the material is deposited, a hopper, a driven shaft, means operatively cbnnccted with saidshaft for feeding the material laterally along said surface into said hopper, and a smooth rotating imperforate element operatively connected With the driven shaft and arranged across the and means for rotating their contiguous surfaces downwardly.

13. In an apparatus of the character de` scribed, a device for feeding material in o posite directions, a pair of longitudina y spaced rollers receiving material from said feeding device, mechanism for driving said rollers, and means operatively connecting the rollers with said material feeding device.

In testimony whereofI have signed'this specification.

WILLIAM L. TAYLOR.

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