US2256684A - Handling of rod bundles or the like - Google Patents

Description

Sept. 23, 1941. M. MORGAN ET AL HANDLING OF ROD BUNDLES OR THE LIKE Filed Aug. 4, 1939 INVENTORS w T 6 =5 3 L 4 H 7 i 4 v u r u l i i m fi n u m 6 0 Z 3 y 6 4 h 6 6 A "I "u u. H- n 1|!) Ha .Ilil kb 1 sun L rub /I n! a .I. w 7 i 7 a v w N MW m a? 5% L H m Sept. 23, 1941. M. MORGAN ET AL 2,256,684

HANDLING OF ROD BUNDLES OR THE LIKE I Filed Aug 4, was 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTORS MYLES MORGAN JOHN N. WHALEN ATTCRNEY Sept. 23; 1941.

,M. MORGAN ET AL 2 25 HANDLING OF ROD BUNDLES OR THE- LIKE 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Aug. 4, 1939' INVENTORS MYLEs MORGAN JOHN 1v. WHALEN BY Mg,

ATTORNEY Sept. 23, 1941. M, MORGAN ET 2,256,684

HANDLING OF ROD BUNDLES OR THE LIKE Filed Aug. 4, 1939 '5 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTORS MYLEs VMORGAN JOHN N. WHALEN ATTO RNEY Sept. 23, 1941. MORGAN ET AL 2,256,684

HANDLING OF ROD BUNDLES OR THE LIKE Filed Aug. 4, 1939 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTORS 'MYLES MORGAN JOHN M WHALEN ATTORNEY Patented Sept. 23, 1941 iLUNil .ifST OFF-I '-2,256,684 V I HANDLING-- OF R01) BUNDLES- ORQTHE LIKE =-Myles *Morga n, Worcester, and John N. Whalen,

BoylstomMass; assignors -t Morgan G'onstruc- :tion'"Oompanmtworcester;Mass.,.a corporation 1' bis Massachusetts -'Ai pli.cation"Au ust4, waafseriiar no: 288,39 I. 8 Claims. (01;: 198*.20)

This, inventionrelatesto the handling .of rod .-bundles or the like, 2' and more particularly to. the construction: .andarrangement. of apparatus for aremoving coiled rod bundles and similar annuli -from .amovingconveyor.

into-annular.- bundles which i are .placed on. a. .coil .conveyor. and .then transferredto .a .so-called hook. car rier.which "comprises-,aseries of. sus- ;.pendedhooks upon-which ,thebundles are hung,

'- withtheir. axes substantially horizontal. These hooks. travel continuously. at a rather slowspeed. awhile various' mechanisms have been proposed heretofore for removing. the; bundles from ....the

hooks. these, prionarrangements have, .in general.

.-be en complicated, expensiveand. unreliable, with 1 a tendency -.to .disarrange the, convolutions of. the bundles. ,Consequently it is @still. .the common lpracticestomutilize .manual labor for thislopera- -.tion.

It isaccordingly ,thevmain object. of thepresent invention to provide,.in combination.with ..a hook carrier, a. simple. inexpensive,- .and dependable apparatus. for. removing rod. bundles or. 1 similar .annuli therefrom.

Hbine "with. a .hook.,..carrier..a .mechanism..of .a ruggedand. dependable. nature. arranged: to remove rod bundles .or,.similar.- annuli -therefrom andto place themlin groupsadaptedtofacilitate subsequenthandling. I

I With .ithese. and. other. objects. in. view, .as ,will "be apparentto.those...skilled. in .theflart, the inv vention. resides .in the. combination. 0t parts set i-forthuin th specification. and. covered. by. the.

"Fig; 4- is a section onflthe line. 4-54 .01 Big. 1;

Fi 5 isa section on'flthe. 1ine;.5,15,,of Fig. 1; Fig. 6 isa wiring'diagram; .F ig:'7 is .a section on-theJinej l-.- of 1?ig. 1;

1' Fig; 8 .is a view of a p ortion.of Fig. 3, showing adifferentpart of the cycle; and

Eig1'9 is a view similar to. Fig. 8 showing a still ,difierent part ofthe cycle.

' The: embodiment illustrated comprises a hook :carrier. 15' ('Eigs.',4 and. 5).. including, a series 02 5 1 an, apparatus for.

.hooks i6, oiwhichonlyetwo are. shown. These hooks are. arranged to .movein a. substantially horizontal .pathhand in, theparticular constructionJshown. in the. drawings theirpoints extend e .inthedirection. ofjtravel. For this purpose ,each ,iIn rod zmills it isthev praoticeto coil .,the. rods hook, is suspendedwfrom .a bracket 11', thereabove which ,is provided ,with. a wheel. l9 arranged .to roll l .a10nga, .horizontal rail .20. .A horizontal QfleXibIe cable. 2 l. extends .beneath. and .parallel' to 'the'rail, this. cablev bein suitably connected to ,.,the brackets. The cableismoved longitudinally. by any. suitable,.,,and well-knownmeans. The hooks! 6 serve to. support. bundles B of wirerod, .or. similar annuli, w hi ch depend from the hooks in a. wel1- known m'anner withtheinaxes substantially horizontal.

, ,When .thebun-dles reach apredetermined location1 they, are removed ,fromth'e hook carrier. by an automatic mechanism. which ,serves to ,lift 20.

them upwardly and then move 1them axially at,a

7 speed suliicient. to avoid interference iwi'thflthe hooks, whereupon. they may. be lowered and deed.. .n. a su table recepta l For thispur- 1.25 It .is a .furtherobjectlof the finventionlto com pose 'there,,-is ;proyided 'a..transfer. device in the form of an; L- sh ap ed cradle 23 Iocatedbeneath the pathof'. theiihqoks and comprising a an up- I right back-rest Mend apairof'laterallyspaced ..parallel. armsj25 which extend .in the samegenheralcdirection as the pointsof therhooks l 6. The

, verse to the ,axes .of .the bundles, The back-rest '24 is cut awaycentrally at 29.,to

arms'l25' joinytthe; lower portion of theba'ck-rest 24. at substantiallya right angle, and the cradle is pivotallysupported near this. junction point on a horizontal pin 2! which is connected at its opposite ends to a pair oiparallel cranks28 arranged to rotate about a horizontal axis transavoid interfer- Inaddition to, thecircular movementwhioh is of the cranks 28 .andarranged to rotate about an .laxis parallel to the axis. of the .cranks 28. The

lowercrank, 30* has asomewhat smaller radius than the upper cranks; and. it carries on its free 'enda;;block"-3| which is" free. to turn thereon about an axis parallel, to the crank axis. The

.block' 3| is provided with an aperture therethrough, to receive a rod133'forming adownward extension of an arm 34 which projects down- ..wardly from the. cradle 23. During the rotation of the cranks the rod 33 slidesthrough the-block 3} and the. bl k. imparts, the. desired oscillating which is connected thereto by a suitable speedreducing unit 49. The rotatable cranks and the gears associated therewith are shown mounted in a supporting frame 4|.

, opposite side of As indicated in Fig. 4, clockwise rot ation of the cranks 28 and 30 will causethe cradle 23 to move upwardly beneath the bundle B, the arms 25 first engaging the bottom of the bundle to lift it from i the hook l6.

As the crank rotation continues the back-rest 24 will move into contact with the. surface of the bundle which is remote from the point of the hook, and the bundle will be carried axially and downwardly until it is deposited in a receptacle shown as a trough or guideway 43 which extends transversely of the axes or: the bundles. Thebottomof this trough is notched'at 44 (Fig. 1) to allow the arms to pass'downwardly therethrougliwithout interference, leaving the bundle in theft-rough. Preferably one wall 45 of the trough is" inclined slightly so that the bundles may leanj against the same, as shown in'Fig..4., Re-' ferring now ,to Figs. 1 and '7, it will be seenthat the trough '43 slopes downwardly from its receiving end,'so thatthe bundles will roll along'the trough until they are stoppedby a wall 41 extending across the lower end thereof.

.Preferably the cradle 23 remains stationary in f the position shown' in full lines in, Fig. 4 until one of the hooks l6 arrives, whereupon the cranks 28 and 39 are turned through one revolution and "'thecradle. serves to remove the bundle from the i hooki This is preferably brought about by automatic means arranged to start and stop the motor 39*at'the proper times Forthis purpose each bracket IT! on the hook carrier is provided with a camplate 49 arranged to engage and close a norm'ally' open limit switch 50 when the hook reaches the unloading position. As shown in Fig. 6, the

limit switch 50 is connected in series with a coil contacts 54 which in turn control theenergization of'the motor 39 from a source 55 of electric current. These parts are so arranged that whenfthe switch 50 is closed by the cam plate 49, upon 7 arrival'of a hook Hi, the coil 5| will be energized,

closing contacts 54 and starting the motor 39.

' The cradle 23 will thus be actuatedandthe bun- ,dle will beremoved from the hook. and placed in the trough 43.; In order thatthecranks 28 and may continuetheir movement after the cam plate '49 has passed the limit switch 50, and then come to rest when they have completed one revolution,.we provide a normally closed limit switch upon open. Consequently when the switch 58 is opened the coil-5| will be dew-energized, and the motor 39 will stop.

'. After reaching the lower end of the trough 43, the bundlesare'removed therefrom and arranged 'in groups adapted to'facilitate" their further handling. For this purpose there is provided a conveyor 6! located close to the trough and at the rear side thereof. This conveyor comprises a series of spaced parallel horizontal bars 62 arranged in pairs to form supports for groups of bundles. These bars are mounted on two endless chains 63 which pass around sprocket wheels 65 'carred by a pair of horizontal rotatable, shafts 65. One of the shafts 66 is connected by suitable gearing 6'! (Fig. 1) to an electric motor 69. At the theconveyor Bl from the trough 43 there is provided a stationary upright plate 18 which is inclined slightly away from the conveyor. This plate is formed with a series of notches H therein which extend downwardly fromthe' upper' edge of the plate, these notches being spaced apart a distance corresponding to the spacing of the successive pairs of bars 62.

; Means. is provided to remove the bundles from thelower end of the trough 43 and arrange them in groups, on the conveyor bars 82." As shown particularly in Figs. 1, 3 and 7-, the bottom of the trough 43 is cut away near the wall 41 to receive a tray 13 so located that the bundles will rest thereon after they have rolled alo nglthe trough into contact with the wall 41. This jtray is'arpose the tray is mounted 'on thefront end of a '15 (Figf 1). A par horizontal cylinder 7 v v moved longitudinally. This cylinder is supported by two pairs of guide rolls 15 mounted in brackets 'tition 18 (Fig. 3) extends across the cylinder, and a piston T9 is mounted within the cylinder in'the rear of this partition,

" the piston having a-pistorirod .88 which extends tionary bracket 8 l rearwardlyv therefrom and connects with a sta- In order to controlthe movements of the-cylinder 14, a manually operable four-way valve 83 is, provided, this valve'being 1 connected by .a flexible tube 84 to the "rear-end of l he cylinderand b a fieXible u 35 {GO-the I 83, a bundle can be transported on the tray 5f across a source 53of electric current, this "coil being arranged'to control apair of normally open cylinder at a point immediately in the rear of the partition 78. This valve 83 is provided with an exhaust pipe 81 and an inlet pipe 88, theflatter being supplied with 'a'suitable fluid such as compressed air. By proper actuation of the valve a position'over the conveyorbars-BZ. 3

""In order to remove the bundlesfrom the tray and deposit them on the bars 62; we provide'a pusher 98whichis located immediately in front of the cylinder 14 and connected by r I a rod 9| to a piston 92 within the cylinder and in front of the partition 18. The movements of the pusher 99 are controlled by a manually operable four-way valve 94 whi'ch is connected by a flexible tube 95 'tothe front end of the cylinder 14 and by a flexible tube 96 to the cylinder at a point immediately in front of the partition 78. This valve 94 is ,provided .with an exhaust'pipe 98 and an inlet pipe '99, the latterbeingsupp-lied withcompressed Jair or any other suitable fluid under pressure. "By means of the Valve 94 it is possible toadvance 1 13 in a desired manner,

parent from the above disclosure; As each book and withdraw the pusher 99 relative to thetray The operation oftheinventioln nowbe apllire'aches the unloading station, the cam plate 49 will engage thelimit switch 50 and close the same, thereby energizing'fthe ,coil 51. This will close the contacts'54, 'startingthe motor-'39 and turning the cranks 28 an'd 38 in a. clockwise direction as Tvie'wedin Fig. .4. As soon as the cam plate 59'ha's'cleared the switch'58, thisswitch which isfarranged' to be r thebunclle will be deposited in supported-by the wall I V the slope of the trough-the bundlewill immediengaging the bottom ot the bundle-to lift'it from the hook and the =backrest- 2 4' tipping forwardly to engage the rear of the bundlei Thespeedof movement of the cradle" is so muchgreaterthan the speedof the hook that :the bundle will be carried forwardly-and thenlowered into the trough 43 --without interference withthe hook.

' The -a-rms will--passdownwai-dly through the notches 44 the bottombf the trough; so that 45; thereof. Eecausebf ately' roll downwardly? along the-same until it 4 rests on the tray- 13. Infth meantime; and be- "fore. the cranks-have completed one revolution, 1 thecam'plate 49 will have cleared-the limit switch .5!) and allowed this switch to open. This will not stop the motor, however, since the coil will be supplied with current through the switch 53.

Upon'completion of -the cycle, the cam plate 59 will open the limit switch 58, de-energizing the coil 5!, opening the contacts 5 and stopping the motor 39. Upon arrival of the following hook N5 the cycle will be repeated.

As soon as the bundle has rolled along the trough 43 to the tray 73, the valve 83 will be turned ninety degrees, as shown in Fig. 8, admitting air through the tube 85 and exhausting air through the tube 84. This will move the cylinder i4 and tray 13 forwardly over the conveyor 6|, whereupon the valve 94 will be turned ninety degrees, as shown in Fig. 9, admitting air through the tube 95 and exhausting air through the tube 95. This will cause the piston 92 and the pusher 99 to advance relative to the cylinder M, thereby pushing the bundle off the tray 73 and into contact with the wall It, the bottom of the bundle resting on two of the bars 62, which remain stationary during this phase of the operation. The valve 83 will now be turned to its orignal position, admitting air through the tube 84 and exhausting air through the tube 85, thereby withdrawing the cylinder 14 and the tray 13. The valve 94 will then be turned to its original position, admitting air through the tube 95 and exhausting air through the tube 95, thereby withdrawing the piston 92 and the pusher 9E! until the parts once more occupy the positions shown in Fig. 3. When the next bundle reaches thetray 13, the valves 83 and 94 will again be actuated. This bundle will be deposited against the first bundle and in axial alignment therewith. This mode of operation will be continued until bundles have been placed along the entire length of one pair of bars 62, whereupon the motor 63 will be started and the conveyor 6! actuated until the group of bundles is in line with the next notch TI and the following pair of bars are in position to receive bundles from the tray 13, when the motor 69 will be stopped. In this manner groups of axially aligned bundles are formed on the conveyor BI and they can readily be removed therefrom by well-known means. For example, a hairpin hook I00 (Fig. 2) may be suspended from an overhead crane and inserted into the center of the bundles through one of the notches ll.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In combination with a hook carrier having a the trough and aseries of suspended travelinghooks arranged-to series of suspended-traveling :hooks-x arranged. .to convey rod bundles or similar annuli, an L-shaped cradle located beneath the. path loftlthe hooks, the cradle including zan up right backerest, and. .actuating means; arranged-"to :inovei the. cradle. up-

wardly and into I engagement "with eachbundle from the side thereo'fawhich is remote-from the point (if-the hook to remove the bundle from its hook, said actuating means i thereupon .;moving t'he cradle with the bundl thereon away from the hook and then ='downWa1-dly, the :backeres't' being cut awaycentrallyto'avoid interference with the hooks 1 during the removal :of the bundles therefrom. I

I 2. In combination with a hook carrier having convey rod bundles or similar-annuli, an L-shapecl cradle located beneath the path Of-thehooks, the cradle including an arm which extends in'the same general-direction as the points of the hooks, a I receptacle "located adjacent the cradle, and actuating-means arranged tomove the cradle up- -wardly and into engagement with. each :bundle from-the i side thereof: which is remote from. :the

\ point of the hookaiandcauseithe arm to support the bundle from beneath the same, said actuating means thereupon moving the cradle with the bundle thereon away from the hook and then downwardly, the receptacle having a notch formed therein and so located that the arm will pass downwardly through the notch and the bundle will be deposited in the receptacle.

3. In combination with a hook carrier having a series of suspended traveling hooks arranged to convey rod bundles or similar annuli, an L-shaped cradle located beneath the path of the hooks, the cradle including a pair of laterally spaced parallel arms which extend in the same general direction as the points of the hooks, a receptacle located adjacent the cradle, and actuating means arranged to move the cradle upwardly and into engagement with each bundle from the side thereof which is remote from the point of the hook and cause the arm-s to support the bundle from beneath the same, said actuating means thereupon moving the cradle with the bundle thereon away from the hook and then downwardly, the receptacle having two spaced notches formed therein and so located that the arms will pass downwardly through the notches and the bundle will be deposited in the receptacle.

4. In combination with a hook carrier having a series of suspended traveling hooks arranged to convey rod bundles or similar annuli, a transfer device located beneath the path of the hooks, and two crankshafts of different radii rotatable about parallel axes extending transversely of the axes of the bundles,the transfer device being pivotally connected to one crankshaft and both pivotally and 'slidably connected to the other crankshaft, the two crankshafts imparting a combined rotational and oscillatory motion to the transfer device to cause the same to remove the bundles from the hooks.

5. In combination with a hook carrier having a series of suspended traveling hooks arranged to convey rod bundles or similar annuli, two crankshafts of different radii rotatable in the same direction about parallel axes extending transversely of the axes of the bundles, and a transfer device pivotally connected t the crankshaft of the larger radius and both pivotally and slid-ably connected to two crankshafts imparting a combined rotational and oscillatory motion to the transfer device to the other crankshaft, the

cause the hooks and including'an upright back rest, mean's to move the cradlein a generally circular path about an axis extending transversely oi-the axes ofthe bundles, the movement of the cradle being such thatwhile in the upper portion of'its path it will travel in the general direction toward which the hooks are pointed, and means to oscillate the cradle in synchronism with its circular movement so that the back-rest will swing into contact with each bundle after it has been lifted from the hook, the continuedmovement of the cradle serving to carry the bundle axially and downwardly.

7; In combination with a hook carrier having a series of suspended traveling hooks arranged to convey rod bundles or similar annuli, an L'-*sh'aped cradle located beneath the path of the hooks, the cradle including an upright back-rest and. an arm which extends in the same general direction as :the point of the hooks, andactuating means arranged to move the cradle upwardly to bring the arm into engagement with the bottom of the bundle and the back rest into engagement with the side of the bundle which is remote from the point of the hook, thereby lifting the bundle from the hook, said actuating means thereupon movin the cradle with the bundle thereon away from the hook and then downwardly. a

8. In combination with a hook carrier having a seriesof suspended traveling hooks arranged to convey rod bundles or similar annuli, an L-shaped cradle located beneath the path of the hooks, the cradle including an upright back-rest and an arm which extends in the same general direction as the points of the hooks, and means to move the cradle in a substantially circular path about an axis extending transversely of the axesof the bundles, the arm engaging the bottom surface of each bundle and the back-rest engaging the sidethereof which is remote from the point of the hook to thereby remove the bundle from the hook.

MYLESMORGAN. JOHN N. WHALEN.

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