US2074573A - Nailing table for box lidding machines - Google Patents

Description

March 23, 1937.

H. E. TWOM LEY Filed Oct. '7, 1935 llllllllllllllll O U /z o A? m m o o 42 Z /0 4 m f i' 1 07' J I w ATTORN YS March 23, 1937. H. E. TWOMLEY NAILING TABLE FOR BOX LIDDING MACHINES 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Oct. 7, 1935 INVENTOR.

ATTORNEYS Patented Mar. 23, 1937 UNITED STATES PATENT NAILING TABLE FOR BOX LIDDING MACHINES Application October 7, 1935, Serial No. 43,904

2 Claims.

My invention relates to machines for applying lids to boxes and has particular reference to a box supporting or nailing table which may be employed to support the box in position to be nailed.

In connection with machines employed to apply covers to boxes, particularly boxes which are filled or overfilled with contents, considerable pressure is required to compress the cover down upon the box preparatory to nailing, as well as the pressure which is employed to drive the nails through the cover boards into the ends of the boxes.

During the passage of boxes into and out of the machines, it is necessary that these boxes be supported upon some type of conveyor system which permits their being readily drawn into the machine and readily removed therefrom, it being a common practice in machines of this character to form the table upon which the box rests during the nailing operation as a section of roller type conveyor. However, when such roller type conveyor is used in these machines the rollers must be of sufiicient rigidity to support the box and also to resist the thrusts placed thereon during the pressing and nailing of the cover to the box and, in addition thereto, it is necessary that the rollers be accurately spaced along the length of the box supporting table so as to provide a roller underneath the exact end of the box to insure support for the end of the box during the lidding and nailing operations.

t is therefore an object of my invention to provide a box lidding machine of the character set forth with a nailing table which may act as a roller conveyor for the entrance and exit of boxes and which also provides a rigid support for the box ends during the nailing operation.

Another object of the invention is to provide a nailing table of the character set forth in the preceding paragraph, wherein the rollers of the roller conveyor are so mounted that they may be depressed due to the thrust of the lid pressing and nailing mechanisms without producing undue strain upon the axles or bearings about which the rollers rotate.

Another object of the invention is to provide a nailing table of the character set forth in which each of the rollers forming the roller conveyor is individually suspended upon resilient mounting means permitting each of these rollers to be independently depressed when pressure is exerted upon the box or its nailing cover and in which the nailing table is provided with rigid means for engaging the box ends to support the box ends during the lid pressing and nailing operations.

Another object of the invention is to provide a nailing table of the character set forth in the preceding paragraph in which the rigid box end supporting members are adjustable along the length of the nailing table to adapt the same for different lengths of boxes.

Other objects and advantages will be apparent from a study of the following specifications, read in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein Figure 1 is a vertical elevational view of a box lidding machine equipped with a box supporting or nailing table constructed in accordance with my invention;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary plan View of the machine shown in Fig. 1, illustrating the box supporting table;

Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view taken along line IIIIII of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a detail sectional View taken along line 1'VIV of Fig. 2; and 20 Fig. 5 is a detail sectional view taken along line VV of Fig. 2.

Referring to the drawings, I have illustrated a box lidding and nailing machine which may be of any suitable type well-known in the box lidding art, the particular machine selected for illustrative purposes being a machine adapted to apply lids or covers to overfilled fruit or vegetable boxes, such machine and its operating mechanism being more clearly described in my copending application Serial No. 18,767, filed April 29, 1935, for Drive for box lidding machines. Such machines comprise, generally, a suitable frame consisting of a pair of side frame members I and 2, located on opposite sides of the machine and interconnected by means of cross members 3. The upwardly projecting portions of the side frames I and 2 constitute vertical bearings upon which a cross frame 4 is adjustably mounted, the cross frame 4 bearing the lid pressing and nailing mechanism employed to press the lids upon the boxes and to nail the same to the ends of the boxes.

While the detail of the lid pressing and nailing mechanisms form no part of the present invention, and therefore need not be specifically described in detail herein, it should be understood that these machines generally include a pair of forwardly extending members or arms 5 and 6, located respectively near each side of the machine.

The arm 5 constiutes the mounting means supporting a pressing head 1 adapted to reciprocate toward and away from the arm 5 upon suitable slide bearings 8, the pressing head 1 being normally urged away from the arm 5 by means of a toggle link and spring assembly 9 more fully described in my copending application. The pressing head i carries a plurality of nail chucks I!) arranged in a row forwardly and rearwardly of the machine through which project a row of nail punches secured upon a laterally extending portion I2 of the arm 5 so that as the pressing head I reciprocates relative to the arm 5 the nail punches I will be moved through the chucks to drive nails from the chucks through the cover boards and into the ends of the boxes.

The machine illustrated herein is of the type wherein the nail punches are held stationary and the nail chucks are mounted to reciprocate relative to the nail punches so that as the nail chucks are lifted by the upward movement of the pressing head 7 the nail chucks are raised on the drivers, allowing the nails to be pushed from the chucks into the upwardly approaching box.

The arm 6 supports a similar pressing head l3 similarly supported thereon and including nail chucks M through which nail punches l5 project to perform a similar nailing function at the opposite end of the box.

The side frames and 2 constitute supporting bearing members upon which a nailing table It is mounted for vertical reciprocation toward and away from the pressing heads I and I3.

By referring particularly to Figs. 1 and 2 it will be observed that the nailing table or box supporting table l6 includes a pair of longitudinal rails i1 and I8 connected together at their ends by means of cross rails l9 and to form a substantially rectangular frame upon which may be mounted a plurality of rollers 2| constituting, with the frame, a section of roller conveyor whereby boxes may be readily drawn into the machine and readily ejected therefrom.

The box supporting table or nailing table I6 is mounted upon a pair of uprights 22 and 23 which are interconnected at their lower ends as shown in Fig. 1 by a cross brace 24, the outer ends of the cross brace 24 having a pair of rollers 25 and 26 thereon operating in grooves 21 and 28 in the side frames and 2, respectively. A pair of chains 29 and 30, connected to the cross brace 24, extend over pulleys 3| and 32 and are connected as at 33 and 34 to a drive shaft 35. The drive shaft 35 is operated by suitable motor (not shown) mounted upon a motor supporting plate 36 connected to suitable gear 31 to drive the shaft 3'5 whenever the circuit to the motor is closed by means of the control switch 38 actuated by a control pedal 39. Thus a box 4|] may be drawn into the machine over the roller conveyor formed by the box supporting or nailing table l6 until the box has arrived in a centralized position in the machine; that is, with each of its ends disposed below the nail chucks H) and M, respectively, whereupon the operator of the machine may actuate the pedal 39 to cause the drive shaft 35 to rotate, winding up the chains 29 and 30 and elevating the nailing table l9 to bring the box upwardly toward the pressing heads 1 and I3.

A suitable cover may be placed between the cover holding members 4| and 42 on the pressing heads 1 and I3, respectively, so that as the box is moved upwardly thereby the box ends will engage the cover and the cover will then be pressed by the box tightly against the nail chucks IE and I4 while continued upward movement of the nailing table i6 will cause the pressing heads I and i3 to be elevated toward the cross frame 5, the stationary nail punches II and 5 engaging the ends of the nails in the chucks as the chucks are lifted and as the upward movement of the box continues, the nails held stationary by the nail drivers 5! and I5, will be pressed through the cover ends and into the box ends as the box continues its upward movement.

As will be understood by those skilled in the art, the pressure which will be exerted upon the box ii as it presses upwardly against the cover and against the resistance of the nail chucks ID and it in an effort to elevate the pressing heads I and i3, is considerable and must be resisted by rigid construction on the nailing table I6. I prefer, however, to transmit this force directly to the frame of the nailing table |6 without requiring the rollers 2| to resist this thrust and for this purpose I mount each of the rollers upon the nailing table frame by means of yielding bearing members illustrated particularly in Figs. 3 and 4.

It will be observed that the rollers 2| may be mounted upon an axle 43 or may be formed integrally with the rollers 2|, the axles or bearing members 33 constituting the axes about which the rollers rotate. The ends of the axles or bearing members l3 extend into bearing blocks M which are preferably mounted for vertical reciprocation within a vertical bore 45 extending upwardly in a bearing support bracket 86, one of which is employed for each end of each of the rollers 25. The bearing block 44 is normally urged to its uppermost position, as shown in Fig. 4, by means of a drive spring 5! held within the bore as by means of a screw plug 43, the screw plug being adjustable inwardly and outwardly of the bore ii": to adjust the force of the spring ll resisting downward movement of the block :34 within the bore. The bearing bracket it is provided with an elongated slot 49 through which the axle 43 projects so that the axle is free to move up and down relative to the bearing block 46 as pressure is exerted upon the roller 2|.

The bearing block is provided with a laterally extending recess 5% preferably of such dimensions as will permit it to straddle the longitudinal rails l? or iii, the bearing bracket being held in place upon the rails H or I8 by means of a suitable set screw 5|. It will therefore be observed that each end of the roller 2| is mounted a yielding bearing member which will permit the roller 2| to yield downwardly when pressure is exerted upon the box due to the resistance it encounters by pressing upwardly on the cover and the cover pressing and nailing mechanisms. In order, however, to support the box ends during the lid pressing and nailing operations, I provide box end supporting members or anvils 52 and 53 extending across the nailing table it, such anvil members being preferably formed of relatively rigid stock, recessed or enlarged as indicated at 52a. (see Fig. 5) at either end of the anvil to receive the upper edge of the rails IT or E3, a lug 54 being formed upon the outer ends of the anvils to receive a set screw 55 by which the anvils may be clamped in the desired position upon the side frame of the nailing table.

By employment of the anvil structure hereinbefore described, it will be observed that the anvils may be spaced along the length of the nailing table frame gradually positioning them below the nail chucks l0 and i4 and therefore accurately aligning them with the ends of the box to be operated upon by the machine. It will also be observed that the anvils are adjustable to permit them to accurately align with different lengths of boxes so that the nailing table may be adjusted for operation upon one series of boxes of one length and then readily adjusted to operate upon a series of boxes of different length. At this point it should be noted that the arms 5 and 5 support the lid pressing and nailing mechanisms and are likewise adjustable inwardly and outwardly relative to the center of the machine to thus adjust the location of the nail chucks M for various lengths of boxes.

In the operation of the nailing table as hereinbefore described a box may be drawn into the machine until it is accurately centered below the nail chucks l0 and I4, a suitable box stop or guiding mechanism 56, 51 being usually provided for this purpose. The box ends will then be aligned immediately above the anvils 52 and 53, as will be observed fro-m an inspection of Figs. 3 and 4, the box resting upon the upper surface of the rollers 2| being spaced slightly above the anvils 52 and 53. However, when the nailing table is elevated and pressure is exerted upon the box 40, the rollers 2|, lying between the anvils i lidding machines in which each of the rollers on the nailing table over which the box may readily be drawn is individually suspended to individually yield, thereby adapting these rollers to irregularities which may be present in the bottom of the box so that no one of the rollers will receive a greater pressure than the other rollers, each of the rollers yielding in accordance with the contour of the bottom of the box when pressure is applied to the box. This feature is of importance in the lidding of boxes which have been filled with contents suflicient to cause the bottom of the box to be sprung outwardly or bowed outwardly when pressure is applied tothe cover, the central rollers being moved to greater dis tances than the rollers near the ends of the box bottoms as pressure is exerted upon the box and permitting the employment of axles of lighter construction than would be possible if all of the rollers were required to be depressed the same amount.

Also, by individually suspending each of the rollers upon the frame, the rollers may be adjusted longitudinally of the frame so as to adapt them for different lengths of boxes and permitting relatively wide adjustments of the anvil members to conform with relatively great different box lengths.

While I have shown and described the preferred embodiment of my invention, I do not wish to be limited to any of the details of construction shown herein, except as defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a machine for applying lids to boxes including mechanism for pressing covers into contact with the ends of the box, a box supporting table including a frame, a plurality of rollers mounted upon axes extending transversely of said frame to the direction of movement of boxes into and out of said machine, individual bearing members for each of said rollers, means mounting said bearing members for vertical yielding movement relative to said frame under pressure exerted upon a box resting upon said rollers, means adjustably securing said bearing mounting means upon said frame for movement along said frame in the direction of movement of boxes over said box supporting table, and rigid means extending transversely of said table below the surface of said rollers to engage boxes on said i table when said rollers yield under pressure exerted upon said box.

2. In a machine for applying lids to boxes including mechanism for pressing covers into contact with the ends of the box, a box supporting table including a frame, a plurality of rollers mounted upon axes extending transversely of said frame to the direction of movement of boxes into and out of said machine, individual bearing members for each of said rollers, means mounting J said bearing members for vertical yielding movement relative to said frame under pressure exerted upon a box resting upon said rollers, means adjustably securing said bearing mounting means upon said frame for movement along said frame in the direction of movement of boxes over said box supporting table, rigid means extending transversely of said table below the surface of said rollers to engage boxes on said table when said rollers yield under pressure exerted upon said box, and means adjustably mounting said rigid means for adjustable movement along said frame in the direction of movement of boxes thereover.

HERBERT E. TWOMLEY.

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