US2098905A - Powder filling machine - Google Patents

Description

, NOV. 9, 1937. w s ET AL 2,098,905

POWDER FILLING MACHINE Original Filed Oct; 12, 1934 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 r 1 mam rm 5: 6%}. M (agar/a5 Ma/zrz Nov. 9, 1937 C. J. WESTlN ET AL POWDER FILLING MACHINE Original Filed Oct. 12,

1954 v 5 Sheets-Sheet -2 III/l Ray/ 2y, Sr?

Nov. 9, 1937.

Original Filed Oct. 12, 19:54

5 Sheets-Sheet 3 1 R m a W 6 m w WW3 G w v Q A; m II. 0% II 22 mm v )I N)! F 99.6 E r\ K 8 w m ,f I mh w .wh 9 M U\ v MM m Ah Nov. 9, 1937. c. J. WESTIN ET AL POWDER FILLING MACHINE Original Filed Oct. 12, 1954 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 Cikriw NOV. 9, 1937. c, wEs m ET AL 2,098,905

POWDER FFILLING MACHINE Original Filed Oct. 12, 1934 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 m miss Patented Nov.9,1937 a 2 09 905 'UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE POWDER. mama moms Charles J. Westin and Albert Donaghy, Sr., Philadelphia, Pa., assignors to F. J. Stokes Machine Company, Philadelphia, Pa., 'a corporation of Pennsylvania Application October 12, 1934, Serial No. 748,047 Renewed September 28, 1937 10 Claims. (Cl. 226-99) This invention relates'to filling machines used apparent from the drawings and specification. for filling or packing powdered, pulverulent, or In the drawings: granular materials as well as viscous or pasty Fig. 1 is a side elevation of our device, with products into cans, cartons, jars, bottles, etc., and parts broken away, in vertical cross-section, and particularly to the kindof machines known as the with parts of the conveyor and holders thereon volumetric type in which the product is measured omitted for the sake of clarity. out and discharged into the container by means Fig. 2 is a front elevation of our device, with 01 the intermittent rotation of an auger. parts broken away, in vertical cross-section, and

The object of our invention is to provide a new with parts omitted for the sake of clarity. and improved machine of the single auger type Fig. 3 is a perspective view in detail of a holder which will be capable of accurately filling conwith the cup and the can received therein. tainers, without slopping over, at two to three F 4 is a p Plahviewof 0111' machine, With times the possible speed of the old type of maparts broken away, in horizontal cross-section.

chines. Fig. 5 is a view in detail, in vertical cross-sec- Some of the features of our. invention consist tion, thr the i sploeket 0f the 15 in: veyor. v

The novel arrangement of change gearing pro- Fig. 6 is a top plan view of the driving mechviding convenient means for adjusting the speed anism, with parts broken away, in horizontal of the cam shaft so that this speed is maintained cross-section, and-removed for the sake of clarity.

6 at one revolution for each fill, which is a speed Fig. '7 is a view in detail in side elevation. with go suitable to the time cycle as determined by the parts in vertical cros -section. on t e l n capacity of the auger; VII-VII of Fig. 6.

The convenient arrangement of cam-segments H8. 8 is a per p .View Of the Powder for adjusting and limiting the time of operation Supp y means and DP for the auger drive-clutch,--which controls the Fig. 9 is a vertical cross section of the clutch- 25 amount of fill; controlling lever returnmechanism as viewed The conveyor chain drive, consisting of a from e top of the sheet in Fig. 6. v v Geneva gear co-operating with a, double-arm, In that embodiment of our invention chosen for driver, whereby a rapid, intermittent movement d scripti n and f r illustra n n e draw n is imparted to the containers from station-toour v c s shown as consisting of a frame or station but at a slow retarded acceleration and pp t On which 811 the Other Parts Of the deceleration, which prevents spilling or disturbmachine a o O frame l 18 mounted ing the loose powder in the containers; a column 2, on which is supported the fe n The two-step-fill whereby the containers are hill S pp y means the pp 4 beneath 5 lifted under the auger intwo stages or steps, and the fi means z e 5 depending allowing the air to freely escape from the -cont e f m There s also mounted n column I s tainer during the first two-thirds of the filling; conveyor. genera-11y indicated a for the 08118 The no-container no-fill device, which only acto be filled. Within frame I are mounted the tuates the clutch controlling the auger rotation main drive shaft 1,,which is connected to a when a container is-present to be filled; f prime mover as by a pulley 11, the transverse 40 The automatic lift-out for filled containers cam shaft 8, the clutch 9, the brake III, the.

consisting in the channeled cups'or containero-oan no-flll device, the drivi m ans holders co-operating with the take-oi! rails so the conveyed 5 b t S in S- 6 a d 7), and

that the containers are automatically. lifted out the driving gears for the take-ofi spider II and 5 of the cups; the take-oi! disk II (best seen in Fig. 6). The 1 The automatic take-ofl comprising a spider take-oi! disk l2 and )the spider H are mounted with hinged arms r for removing the containers on the top and to the rear of the frame I, as is from the lift-out in synchronized relation to the best seen in Figs. 1 and 4'. conveyor chain movement; V Powder-handling mechanism-Referring now A slow-motion stirrer or agitator in the feed to Figs. 1, 2 and 8, the powder to be filled into hopper to avoid whipping air into the powder; the cans is placed in a supply means, or filling The baflle in the feed hopper for maintaining a. bin 3, having a bottom controlled by valve l3 constant head of material around the auger and (Fig. 2). From bin 3, when valve I3 is opened, agitator; a 3 powder flows into hopper'l into a space partially other features of our invention will be readily confined by wall I4 and slide l5, which'is ad- 5 Justable by means of wing-nuts ll. Slide |5 can thus be set to maintain a suitable head of powder in the hopper 4. The hopper has an open bottom, to which is fastened filling means or nozzle 5 as by clamp l1. As is best seen in Fig. 2, nozzle 5 has, at its lower end, a flange or collar l8 carrying an insert I! of flexible material, such as felt, in its lower face and the container is pressed against this face when filling. Within the nozzle 5, and extending up into bin 4, is a filling auger 20, which is detachably secured to the end of auger shaft 2|. As best seen in Fig. 8, auger-shaft 2| is driven through gear 34, from gear 26, on shaft 25. Gear 21 on shaft 28 is merely an idler for transmitting the power from gear 26 to gear 14. As seen in Fig. 6, shaft 25 is driven through gears 25 from shaft 30, which is driven from drive shaft 1, through clutch 9, and which is braked or stopped by brake III as soon as clutch 9 is released by control lever 46. Figs. 2 and 8 show a stirrer or agitator 3|, which is rotatably mounted on sleeve 12, surrounding shaft 2|, and thence on support 53, which is stationarily mounted on column 2. As is best seen in Fig. 8, sleeve 32 is driven through a worm gear 22, shaft 25 and gearing 24, connected to shaft 25. This gearing is so arranged that agitator 3| will rotate very slowly, usually at a speed of only 20 to 40 revolutions per minute. although shaft 25 imparts a speed of 500 to 700 revolutions per minute to auger-shaft 2|. If the agitator 3| rotates too fast, the powder is whipped up and air is trapped in it causing variations in the amounts delivered by the auger. With most powders, the success of uniform fills depends upon the emcient removal of the air and the condensing of the powder into aun'iform and dense mass. This'is accomplished by the slow speed type of agitator.

No-can no-fill device.-Referring to Figs. 1, 2, 4 and 6, and especially Fig. 2, there is seen an arm or trip 35 adjustably mounted on shaft 36, so as to normally lie inthe path of the containers carried by the conveyor, and readily turnable when the container passes the contact or index point. Shaft 36 carries, at its lower end, an arm 31 connected by a link 35 to a plvotally mounted clutch-locking arm 35. This lockingarm 39 normally overlies one end of the'pi'votally mounted clutch-lever arm 40, which, is best seen in Fig. 6, carries at its other end a cam roller 4| co-operating with a cam 42 mounted on cam shaft 8. Referring to Fig. 1, there is connected to clutch-lever 40 a forked cross arm 46, which at one arm or fork has a spring 45 yieldably pressing roller 4| againstthe cam 42, and the other arm or fork is adjustable for proper control of .the brake ll clutch. 5 by bolt I46 and locking-nuts 141. Cross arm 46 is made in two parts, one of which is connected to clutch-lever 40 and the other of which is adjustable relative thereto by means of a screwthreaded bolt or the like and which serves to actuate brake i0 and clutch 9. Calif 42 is made up of several segments clamped to the hub on shaft 8 by screw 44. The segments are adjustable fan-like so that the length of time for the clutch-engagement can be made longer-or shorter to suit the time required .for the auger 25 in delivering the desired amount of powder. A pin a or cam, for example, the inner end of screw 44 which projects beyond the back of cam 42,

' co-operates with the inner end of link 45 to return the trip 35 into the path of the container between each step of the conveyor. As is best seen in Fig. 6 in dotted lines, link 45 extends beneath clutch 5- and brake l5, so that the lefthand end of link 45 is in contact with the inner end of pin 44.

The operation of this device is as follows: A can, carried by the conveyor, turns arm 55, and consequently the linkage 15-45-31-35-45 thereby frees the end of arm 45. When roller 4| strikes a low portion of cam 42, arm 45 rises, rocking actuator 45, and thereby disengaging brake l0 and engaging clutch ,5. This drive shaft 1 to stub shaft 3., whereby gears 29, shaft 25 and anger 20 are set in motion to measure the powder. Upon one revolution of cam 42, the high part of cam 42 raises roller 4|, disengaging clutch 5 and applying brake |l. In-the meantime, the pin 44 on the rear of cam v42 actuates linkage 45 and draws arm 55 againinto position over lever 40, so that lever 45 cannot again rise until arm 35 is removed by the action of a container striking. arm 35 as can be seen in Fig. 9.

Conveyor drive-As seen in Fig. 6, drive shaft 7 turns gears 41 through worm-gearing 451, thereby driving cam shaft-l at a constant rate of speed. This rate of speed, as will be explained later, is varied to suit the time required for filling a container. Figs. 6. and "I- show a double-armed Geneva-driver 45 for convenience of construction loosely mounted on shaft 5. The arms 48 cooperate successively in turn with one of the four slots 49 in Geneva star '55,,which is rigidly mounted on shaft 5|. It will be that the two arms 48 of the drive placed 180 apart so that for each complete revolution of the driver two consecutive slots 49 of the Geneva star 50 are engaged by the arms and thereby the Geneva star 55 given two successive motions of a quarter turn or 90. each, but the Geneva star 50 must only make'one quarter in each cycle or during each rotation or the cam shaft 0. The driver is, therefore, o erated at half the speed or so, that it only makesonb half revolutionto one of cam shaft 5. This reduced speed is obtained through the gear-train 'I0-8|8384. On cam shaft I is fas ned gear 80, which drives a gear ll fastened .on stubshaft 82, to which is also fastened gear 53 which, inturn, drives gear 84 to which the driver with its 'two arms 48 is connected. Thembtion or quarter turn of the star 50 is transmitted shaft 5|, gearing 52, shaft 55 and sprocket 5! to the conveyor chain 52, the proper step-by-step motion to it. Because 02 our novel arrangement of a double-armed driver in combination with the proper gearing, the speed of the conveyor chain is reduced to one-half; permitting us to operate, the mach ne at..twice the old production rate without or shaking out the contents of the filled containers. Referring to Figs. 4 and 5;.k'eyed tojhhft 55is the hub 55, to which is fastened .drive-disk 51. The disk 51 has slots 5| for bolts 55, so thilt the conveyor chain can be adjusted so as to place the containers centrally under the nofile 5. The conveyor drive also has a safety device of the following construction: The sprochet 55 is sup- P rted between hub 55 and disk 51 so as to be free to turn. Disk 51, however, is provided with a perforated bushing 58 corresponding to a similar bushing ill in sprocket 55. The power is transmitted from shaft 55 to the conveyor drive sprocket 59 by placing shear pin, such as an ordinary wire nail of proper shearing strength, through the two bushings 58 and 5.. If a oohtainer should get caught anywhere along its travelpthis shear pin will-be cut and thus the drive and conveyor are protected from damage.

Sprocket '59 drives chain 62 or other conveyor which is guided by sprockets 68, 64 and 65 in an endless path, a portion of which passes adjacent to nozzle 5. v

Can holden-Referrihg to Figs. 1, 3 and 4, it will be'seen'that conveyor 62 carries a plural-' ity of pins 66 thereon. Pins 66 pass through perforations 61 in the rear of the holders 66, each of which has in its front va projection 69 adapted to ride on a rail III which parallels the path of conveyor 62. -Rail I9 is mounted by flanges II to the clamps 12, by which the conveyor is supported on column 2. Through one of the clamps I2 extends the adjuster I8, which bears at its lower end on the top of frame or support I. It will thus be seen that, by loosening the bolts I4 which hold the clamps I2, the

entire conveyor, indicated at 6, may be adjusted vertically on the column 2 by turning the adjuster I3. This adjustment permits the use of the machine with containers of varying heights.

A holder 68 is shown in Fig. 3. Into the cylindrical opening of holder 68 is slidably placed the cup or container-carrier 8M, held in proper alignment by screw 308 fitting into slot 802.

Two slots or notches I8 are provided in the wall 304 of cup 30I and made deep enough to I permit the lift-out rails 96 (Fig. 4) to enter under the container C which normally rests on face I9. The wall 304 is made of suitable outline-to properlyhold the containers in place while being conveyed and placed under the nozzle 5. At the fillingstatlon or nozzle 5, the cups are lifted by a two-step-motion of head I09 so as to bring the containers up to the flange I8.

Two-step filLv-Referring to Figs. 1, 2 and6, it will be seen in Fig. 6 that cam shaft 8 carn'es a cam 99 thereon, which carries a plurality of faces adjustable by means I00. The facesof cam 99 are formed by the edges of segments which are adjustable fanwise being held together by screws or bolts I00. The cam faces can be best seen in Fig. 6 which shows the faces at different distances from their center of revolu-.

tion about axis 8. -Roller IOI co-operates with cam 99 and is mounted on end of lever I02, which is pivoted on shaft I 08 andcarries a fork I 04 at its outer end. Fig. 2 shows fork I04 cooperating with collar I05 fast on shaft I06, a spring I BIservingto press shaft I06 and lever I04 up so that the follower IOI will bear oncam-99. Shaft I06 carries a powder guard I08,

thereby preventing the entrance of powder into the bearing of shaft I06 in the frame of support I. Shaft I06 also carries a head I08 at its upper end, normally out of contact but underlying the pathof holders 68 and cups I.

Upon movement of a low part of cam 99 beneath follower IOI, spring I0I pushes fork "Hand. shaft I06 up, so that head I09 lifts 'theholder 68, which is beneath outlet 6, into the position adjacent to, but spaced from, outlet or-nozzle 6: Further movement of cam 89 brings a second" and lower part of cam 99 under follower IOI,

permitting spring 101 to push shaft I06 and, consequently, the cancarried in cup I, yieldingly against the flexible padJI9 on flange I8 of outlet 5. {At thispoint, the fillingJs completed. Cam 99 then lifts follower IOI, moving fork I0 down, compressing spring 101,. so that cup 80I returns to .flange I8 or not lifted at all.

'formly accurate fills.

its seat on holder 6 8,

and head I09 is out of contact with cup 80l',-thus permitting movement, of the next succeeding cup into position to be lifted by head I09. In the old machines, thecontainers C were either lifted directly in one step against the nozzle tainer is lifted and clamped tightly against the When the connozzle flange at once, the air is trapped in the container and it is impossible to get the full amount into it. Then, when the container is released, the compressed air will carry with it an within to 1%" of the felt pad I9,'depending on the size of the container. larger containers require larger space for a free escape of 'air, and still this space must not be too large as then the powder will slop over the sides. The

air in the container is therefore replaced by loosely filled powder on thefirst step, which is then uniformly compressed by the additional powder forced in on the second step.

Automati take- IL-Referring to shaft 8 bears gear80 fast thereon,.which drives gear 8I on 82. Fast on shaft 82 is also gear 85 which drives gear 86.to which is fastened one-of gears 81. Gears 8! drive spider shaft '88 in timed relation to the step-by-step motion of the conveyor. shaft 88 and drives belt 90, pulley 9| and-shaft 92 which rotates the. take-oil disk I! at a speed sufficient to carry the containers away as they are delivered by the spider arm 94. Mounted on rail.,'I0, adjacent a portion of the path of cups 80.l, ,are lift-out rails 96, which slope upward in the direction of movement of cups 80 I and whose lower ends enter the slots I8 and pass beneath the bottom of the containers C'in the cups 3M and raise the containers gradually out of the cups 80I into the path of one of the spider arms'9l which rise along the slope of the rails 96'and co-operate with the special stationary rail 91 to guide the containers onto diskJZ. The spiderarms are hinged at 95 to the spider hub on shaft 88, so that they will slide alongthe-slo'pe of the rails 96 up onto the disk I2. Previous tothe invention'of this device, it was necessary to have one or two operators stationed at this point for the purpose of removing the filled containers, which usually requiredconsiderable care in order not to spill any of the powder.

, change-gearingfi-The weight or. amount of powder that can be filled into a: container within a certain time is basically controlled by the size and type of auger that-can be used. A certain size container with a small opening may require three times as long for. filling as a container of the same size with an opening twice the size,

because the auger usually must be in proportion to the size of container opening; The old ma- Fig. 6, cam

'A pulley 89 is fast on chines, were designed so that the cam shaft 8 would operate at a constant-number .of revolutions per minute, usually 80, regardless of the time required for filling. That meant that in a case like the one mentioned above; where a con ber of revolutions of the cam-shaft U;

tainer could be filled in one-third'the time, twothirds of the operating time was wasted.

We have overcome this loss of eificiency by the novel use in powder filling machines of conveniently driving the cam shaft I through variable gear ratios. As described above, cam shaft 8 makes one revolution for each complete cycleof operation, which includes conveying, indexing,

lifting the container, releasing the brake, engaging the clutch to start the auger, and, with the fill completed. disengaging the clutch and applying the brake. In ordier,v to accomplish the changeability of the cam-shaft speed, the shaft I was ,madeindependent of the garing I" on drive-shaft I and shaft 8 placed a suitable distance from stub-shaft l and the power transmitted from reduction gearing 1 through an interchangeable set of gears 41'. When, therefore, a container can be filled in one-third the time, a suitable gear ratio is selected and proper gearing provided for train 41 to operate the cam shaft I at approximately three times the speed. It should be understood that almost any gear ratio may be used in providing a suitable num- Thus, for example, the same machine may be operated for one size container at 20 filled containers per Y plurality of cans to be filled, a plurality of holdminute, at 30 for another size and 80 for still ers horizontally fixed to said conveyor, a plurality of cups in said holders mounted for limited vertical movement, a guide rail adjacent to said conveyor, means on each of said holders for movably supporting said holders on said guide rail, and means for' lifting each of said cups in succession during the filling operation.

2. In a powder-packing machine, the combination of, a conveyor for moving a plurality of cans to be filled, cups on said conveyor each having a notch'in its upper surface, a take-off rail sloping upwardly in the direction of movement of said conveyor and mounted to enter the notch in each cup in succession, and means for con-V veying cans along said take-oi! rail after the cans have been released from the cups. 3. In a powder-packing machine, the combination of, a'conveyor for moving a plurality of cans to be filled, cups mounted on said conveyor and each having. a notch in its upper surface, and a take-on rail sloping upward in the direction of movement of said conveyor and mounted to enter the notch in eachholder in succession.

4. In a powder-packing machine, the combination of, a conveyor formoving a plurality of cansto be packedwith powder, a drive shaft for the movable parts of said machine, a stub-shaft mounted adjacent said drive shaft, gears connecting with said drive shaft and mounted on said stub-shaft, a cam shaft driven by said gears, a Geneva gear driver driven from said cam shaft, a Geneva gear' driven by said driver, means for driving said conveyor from said Geneva gear, second means for supplying powder to said cans,

third means for driving said second means, a clutch for. connecting said second means through said third means m said drive shaft, a brake for for driving said auger and said conveyor, means.

including a stub shaft for driving said auger, a

clutch for connecting and disconnecting said drive shaft and said stub-shaft, a brake for stopping said means when said clutch is disconnected therefrom, and a cam actuating said clutch and said brake, said cam having adjustable parts for varying the times of operation of said clutch and said brake.

' 6. In a can-filling machine, the combination of, a hopper for containing powder, an auger for feeding powder from said hopper, a conveyor, for supplying beneath the hopper a plu-' rality of cans to be filled, means for driving said conveyor and-said auger, a clutch for connecting said auger to said means, a brake for stopping said auger immediately upon the disconnection of said clutch, and a no-can no-fill device comprising an arm pivotally mounted adjacent said conveyor on the oncoming side relative to said auger so as to be actuated by a can on said conveyor, a clutch-controlling lever actuated by said am, a

clutch lever connected 'to said clutch and to said brake so as. to actuate one or the other and having a portion engaging said clutch-controlling leverin one position thereof and free' of said clutch-controlling lever in another position thereof, a cam actuating said clutch lever when said clutch lever is free from said clutch-controlling lever, a spring stressing said clutch lever against said cam, and means actuated by said cam for restoring said clutch-controlling lever to locking position after it has been moved to disengaged position by said arm.

7. In a can-filling machine, a hopper for containing powder to be fed, an auger for feeding powder from said hopper, a drive-shaft for driving the moving parts of said machine, connections between said drive-shaft and said auger, a clutch controlling the connection of said connections to said drive-shaft, a brake for stopping said connections and said drive-shaft upon disconnection of said clutch, a clutch-lever actuating said clutch and said brake in interlocking relation, a cam driven from said drive-shaft, a spring stressing said clutch-lever against said cam, a no-can no-fill device located so as to be actuated by the cans to be filled, a clutch-controlling lever actuated by said no-can no-fill device and located so as to be movable into and out of a portion of the path of said clutch-lever thereby'controlling the movement of said clutchlever towards and away from said cam in response to the position of said no-can no-fill device, and means for moving said clutch-control1ing lever in the opposite direction to that caused by said nocan no-iill device to free said clutch-lever from the control of said clutch-controlling'lever.

8. In a can-filling machine, a hopper for containing powder to be fed, an outlet for powder for conveying a plurality of cans to be filled with said powder adjacent said outlet, and second means operating simultaneously with said first means for lifting each of said cans in succession from said conveyor so as to hold the lifted can adjacent to but spaced from said outlet during the initial part of said lifting so as to provide an outlet for air from said can and for lifting said lifted can into contact with said outlet during a latter part of the lifting of said can.

9. In a can-filling machine, a hopper for containing powder to be fed, an outlet for powder from said hopper, first means for feeding powder from said hopper through said outlet, a conveyor for conveying a plurality of cans to be filled with said powder adjacent to said outlet, second means for lifting each of said cans in succession from said conveyor under said outlet, and a cam having three diiferent actuating parts, one of said parts being arranged so as to hold said second means away from said conveyor, another of said parts being arranged so as to cause said second means to lift each of said cans in succession into a position adjacent to but spaced from said outlet to provide an outlet for air from said lifted can during the first part of theoperation of said first means, and said third part being arranged to cause said second means to lift said can into contact with said outlet during a latter part of the operation of said first means.

10. In a can-filling machine a hopper for containing powder to be fed, a nozzle forming an outlet for powder from said hopper, an auger for feeding powder from said hopper through said nozzle, a conveyor for moving a plurality of cans to be filled adjacent to said nozzle, a rod mounted in alignment with said nozzle so as to remove each of said cans in succession from said conveyor and to lift said can ontosaid nozzle, a spring stressing said rod toward said nozzle, a lever having engagement with said rod, and a cam having engagement with said lever and having three actuating parts, one of said parts being arranged to hold said lever in position to compress said spring and hold said rod away from said conveyor, another of said parts being adapted to provide for partial expansion of said spring to raise each of said cans in succession .from said conveyor into a position adjacent to

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