US2080277A - Apparatus for delivering thin articles one by one - Google Patents

Description

May 11, 1937. H, KADE 2,080,277

APPARATUS FOR DELIVERING THIN ARTICLES ONE'BY ONE Filed Jan. 25, 1936 Jne/aeno'k MAM 0g 7 Patented May 11, 1937 PATENT OFFICE APPARATUS FOR DELIVERING THIN ARTICLES ONE BY ONE Hermann Kade, Berlin-Frohnau, Germany, as-

signor to Edward May, London, England Application January 23, 1936, Serial No. 60,421 In Germany June 21, 1933 2 Claims.

The invention relates to an apparatus for delivering thin articles one by one, for example paper strips folded on pieces of cardboard, which are stored in a plurality of magazines, diagonally inclined and arranged side by side and above each other.

The purpose of the invention is to improve the operation of an apparatus of this kind and at the same time to simplify its construction.

According to the invention, the articles are discharged, one by one, by the operation of manually controlled release mechanisms which are arranged at the door or the front wall of the apparatus opposite the discharge openings of the magazines. Each of said release mechanisms operates upon an ejector so mounted at each of the magazines as to be capable of being shifted and turned with respect to said magazine for the purpose of being brought into engagement with the first article in the magazine and ejecting said article respectively.

Several advantages are obtained by this arrangement. On account of the fact, that the ejector is arranged in the direction of the corresponding magazine, space is saved as compared with arrangements in which the ejector is mounted at the side of the discharge opening of the magazine, or above or below the magazine.

This is of particular importance in the case of an apparatus having a large number of magazines, for example automats, because such apparatus would require impractical great dimensions, if the space necessary for each individual dispensing device were not reduced to a minimum.

Furthermore, the ejector in this arrangement may be actuated from the front of the apparatus without requiring complicated intermediate links, as the release mechanisms, for instance press buttons, are located in front of the coordinated magazine discharge openings.

Moreover, in this arrangement the ejector member may easily be connected to the corresponding magazine itself. The ejectors and the release mechanisms may therefore be arranged independently of each other so that changes in the distance between the delivery chute of the apparatus and the various magazine discharge openings have no influence upon the discharge process. This is of particular importance in the case of an apparatus having a large number of magazines arranged side by side and above one another, for in this case it is hardly possible to prevent considerable bending of the delivery chute.

As the ejectors may be swung as well as displaced longitudinally, the generally arc-like swinging movement of same may automatically be changed to a straight-line movement. The arrangement preferably being such, that, on operation of the release mechanism, the ejector first makes a longitudinal movement until it assumes an active position with regard to the first article, whereupon the swinging movement starts resulting in the discharge of the article. The idle movement thus obtained at the beginning of the discharge process allows the ejector to automatically return in its inactive position under the influence of its own weight, as soon as the discharge operation is completed, thereby preventing the ejector from touching the next following article in the magazine. This is of particular importance in cases of sensitive articles, such as cardboards upon which strips of paper are folded.

In the accompanying drawing an apparatus for dispensing strips of paper wrapped about pieces of cardboard is illustrated by way of example.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 shows a broken away vertical section of the apparatus according to the invention, the section being taken in the central plane of one of the magazines,

Fig. 2 is a section on the line 2--2 in Fig. 1, and

Fig. 3 is a detail sectional view, showing a modification.

In Figs 1 and 2 a portion of the casing 1 of the apparatus is shown carrying an inclined supporting plate 8 at the upper end of a curved delivery chute 9. A front wall or door [0 forms the front portion of the apparatus. Magazines 23 in the form of U-shaped boxes are mounted in rows side by side and one above the other upon said plate 8, so as to occupy a position inclined towards the discharge chute 9. Each of the magazines 23 serves for the reception of the articles to be ejected and carries a weight 30 of suitable shape, preferably in the form of a roller having a groove in its periphery, for a purpose to be explained later. The bottom of the magazine 23 is equipped with a pair of parallel ribs or rails 32 and notched at 29a at its outer end. The weight 30 as well as the articles stored in the magazine 23 slide on the rails 32 to reduce friction. The weight 30 constantly presses the articles in the magazine 23 against a pair of checks 29 extending inwardly from the side walls of the magazine at its outlet end. Between these two checks 29 and a top piece 23a, arranged near the outletend of the magazine on top of same so far to the rear that the ejected article clears it, the delivery aperture of the magazine 23 is formed.

Each of the magazines 23 is equipped with an ejector mechanism, consisting substantially of a U-shaped swinging, or oscillatory stirrup 24 the shanks of which are provided with elongated holes 26 near the ends. The side walls of the magazine 23 carry outwardly extending pins 25 which engage in the elongated holes 26 of the stirrup 24. A dispensing lug 28 whose lower face 28a is curved to form a cam, is secured atthe centre of the web 21 of the ejector stirrup 24. The length of the lug 28, reckoned inwardly from the web 21 must be exactly equal to the thickness of the article plus the thickness of the checks 29, so that it can engage only the first article in the magazine 23 which is held against the checks 29 by the weight 38.

A manually controlled release mechanism for each ejector 24, 21 28 comprises a knob I the shank of which is mounted in a well known manher in a sleeve I I passing through the outer wall or door II) of the apparatus. A stop 2I is mounted on the shank of the knob I to limit the outward movement of the shank. A spring I2 surrounding the shank of the button'l tends to maintain the knob I in its outward or inactive position.

A driving memberor a one-armed lever I6 is fulcrumed at I! ma pair of channel sections 26 located between the door or outer wall It of the apparatus and the magazines 23. A roller I8 is mounted on the driving member I6 so as to be engaged by the rear end of the shank when the button or knob I is pushed home and the spring I2 is compressed. By means of this roller I8, friction between the shank of the press button or knob I and the driving member or arm I6 is prevented and a reliable engagement of the two parts is obtained.

The operation of the apparatus is as follows:

Inits initial position, as shown in Fig. 1, each ejector 24, 21, 28 is held by the pins 25 of the magazine 23 engaging the rear ends of the elongated holes 26 of the shanks which rest on the edge where the supporting plate 8 adjoins the chute 9. The dispensing lug'28 presents its curved lower face or cam face 23a to the free end of the driving member or arm I6. 7

The person who wants a certain article finds out the button or knob I belonging 'to this article and operates it. The shank of the button or knob I moves inwardly against the action of the spring I2 and strikes the roller I8 on the lever I6, which now swings through the space between the inner surface of the door or wall In and the magazines 23 through which space the ejected articles fall on their way to the central delivery chute 9. The free end of the arm or lever I6 strikes the curved portion 28a of the lug 28, mountedon the web 27 of the stirrup 24, and by, the action of the free end of the lever or arm I6 against the curved portion 28a the stirrup 24 is first longitudinally pushed backwards until its web 21 is arrested by the checks 29 and the inner end of the lug 28 enters the recess 29d in the bottom of the magazine 23. Further movement of the stirrup 24 in this direction is prevented by the pins 25 engaging the front endsof the elongated holes 26. The driving member or arm I6, however, is moved further, so that now the stirrup 24 is raised and swung about its pivots 25. The inner end of the lug 28 now engages below the first article in themagazine 23 and ejects it. When the momentum imparted to the ejected article has become exhausted, the article descends toward the chute 9 and can be removed at the lower end of the chute. Finally, the free end of the arm or lever I6 releases the lug 28. By means of the pressure constantly exerted by the weight 38 upon the articles in the magazine 23, the lug 28 together with the stirrup 2c is forced forwards away from the checks 29. This movement is limited by the rear ends of the elongated holes 26 engaging the pins 25, whereupon the stirrup swings, by its own weight, into its original position.

If the magazine 23 is empty, the weight 30 projects into the outlet end of the magazine, and to prevent damage to the inner end of the lug 28 the groove .3I is provided in the weight 36, so that, the lug 28 is able to freely pass.

Fig. 3 shows an advantageous arrangement of the lever or arm I6. The axis I! of the lever I6 is here not borne in the flanges of two adjacent channel sections 20, but in the flanges of the same channel section 20. The roller I8 then assumes a position between the flanges of this channel section 26, and the lever l6 itself occupies a position between the flanges of adjacent channel sections 20, thereby reducing the mutual distance of the channel sections. With the lever I6 in a position of rest, the rear sides of the channel sections form a substantially closed wall on which the discharged articles may easily slide down without any danger of becoming jammed.

The delivering device according to the invention may be used in connection with any known coin-freed mechanism.

What I claim is:

1. An apparatus for delivering thin articles one by one, a plurality of magazines slightly inclined towards the horizontal line, mounted side by side and above one another and serving for the reception of the articles, ejector mechanisms, one for cooperating with the delivery end of each of said magazines and normally out of touch with said articles, and manually controlled release mechanisms, one for cooperation with each of said ejector mechanisms and being adapted to be brought into contact with said ejector mechanism to shift said ejector mechanism first in a longitudinal direction to bring said mechanism underneath the first of said articles and then to shift it in another direction essentially perpendicular to the aforementioned direction, whereby said first article is ejected and whereupon said ejector mechanism is directly returned to its' normal position under its own weight without touching the second of said articles.

2. In an apparatus for delivering thin articles one by one, a plurality of inclined magazines, mounted side by side and above one another and serving for the reception of the articles, each magazine having straight checks at each side of the delivery end thereof, a bottom having a recess at its delivery end, a pivot pin secured on the outside of each side wall and nearer the upper end than the lower end, a pair of longitudinally extending rails on said bottom, a grooved weight adapted to run on said rails and to constantly press against the articles in said magazine, a plurality of ejector mechanisms, one for each magazine, each consisting of a U-shaped stirrup the shanks of which have elongated holes engaging said pivot pins at the side walls of said magazine and the web of which carries a lug at about its middle portion and a front wall for said apparatus having secured on its inner side juxtapositioned vertically extending channel sections, a plurality of release mechanisms, one for each ejector mechanism, each consisting of a spring actuated press button shiftably arranged with its shank in said front wall of the device in front of the delivery end of said magazines, and a lever fulcrumed between said vertically extending channel sections, said lever being adapted to be brought into contact with said lug by said press 10 button to shift said ejector mechanism first in a longitudinal direction to bring said web into engagement with said checks and said lug underneath the first of said articles in said magazine and into the recess of the bottom of said magazine, and. then to turn said ejector mechanism about its pivots to eject the first of said articles in said magazine by means of its lug whereby the lul will travel in a straight line upon movement of the ejector stirrup.

I-IERMANN KADE.

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