US2523711A - Dispensing apparatus - Google Patents

Description

Sept. 26, 1950 N. c. MOORE msrmsmcmrr mmus 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Dec. 8, 1945 INVENTOI? NC. MOORE ATTORNEY Sept. 26, 1950 Filed 1m. a, 19 15 N. C.. MOORE DISPENSING APPARATUS 4 Sheets-PSheet 2 INVENTOR N-C MOORE A TTORNEV Sept. 26, 1 950- N, c. oons misPEysmc magmas 4 Sheetg-Shget 3 filed Dec. 8, 1945' A TTORNEY .ing drawingsjwherein. Fig.1 is yafront elevational. vie.

Patented Sept. 26, 1950 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE DISPENSING: APPARATUS Norman 0., Moore, West Newhury, Mass, assignor to Western Electric Company, Incorporated, New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application. December 8, 1945, Serial No. 633,893.

This: invention. relates. to dispensing apparatus. and more particularly to apparatus for dispen r ing flat articles such as laminations, for cores. of

electrical units.

The various typesof laminations used in the 3 Claims. (01. 214-85);

forming of cores for electrical, units are usually 'i selected manually andconsiderable time may be required, not only to count the. number oflarninations, bu-tto assemble. them inproper stacked formation.

An object of thisinventionisto provide adistable to support a-.-s.upply of. .flat, articlesor laminations, a shelf.- movably mounted. at oneend of the table. to receivea given number of the articles as determined by; the setting, of a stop OIL the shelf, and mechanism operated to. hold the. re.-

maining articlesof the supply against movement while the givennumberof articleson the shelf are removed therefrom,

More specifically, the. shelf isvv .pivotally' supported at the exit endof the table toward which of the apparatus, portions thereof being shown in section;

Fi 3 is a fragmentary top plan view taken substantiallyalongthe line 33 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary sectional view taken from one side of the front portion of the apparatus; and,

Fig. 5 is a vertical sectionalview taken along the line. 5.-5 of Fig. 3.

Referring now to the drawings, the apparatus includes a hollow frame or base which supports a table formed of two sections ,l l and 12 connected at the meeting-line [3 as shown in Fig. 3. These table sections haveupper surfaces which lie in a common plane and have, pairs of spaced guides l4 and I mounted thereon. The

distance between each pair of guides depends upon the length of the articles which are to be side, edges.

the supply of articles or laminations-are-constantly urged by'a bar: A fluid operated gripper, functioning in -cooperation with the table. is

bya slide, thelattennormally supportingnthe; shelf inits receiving position.- During, the first partial movement of the handle. from its normal position, an arm,-carried bytheslide, releases the valveto operate the grippingelement. Further movement of the handle causes-the slide to free the shelf which it normally supports in its upward position so that the shelf may? move downwardly, by gravity, about its pivot to position the group of laminations thereon free of the supply.

Other objects and advantages will be apparent from the, following, idetailedj description when considered in conjunction with the accompanywet the dispensing. apparatus, a. portionlthereofbeing broken -Fig. 2 s a fragmentar at elevational view caused tooperate through the opening of avalve' to grip the last article. of the supplyadjacentqthe The. feeding means for the articles includes a movable-element I8 which, extends laterally .of

the table and. is supported by guide rods IS, the latterextending through openings 20 (Fig-.5.) in the. element It. The inner ends of the guide rods I 9 are threadedlydisposed in suitable apertures 2| (Fig. 3) in their respective guides l5, while the rearmost ends of the. guide rods are supported in a bracket 23; The bracket 23 is fixedly mounted upon the table byscrews 24- and has apertures'25 to. receive the guide rods t9, the

latter having their outer ends reducedas at 26 to receive a wrench so that the guide rods may be removed and replaced by other rods if sodesired. The element I8 has cables 28 fixed to: the

outer ends thereof, the cables extending over.

their respective pulleys 29 and through apertures 30 in the base Ill and also apertures 3| in a'bench 32 upon which the apparatus is mounted. The cables further extend around pulleys 33 and 34 (Fig; 1), after which they are connected to a weight 3.5 which supplies the force necessaryto move the. element. [8 and cause movement of the supply of articles I6 toward the exit end of the: table. 1

A shelf 38 has legs 39. which extend into. cut away portions 40 of. the table, that is, the adjacent section l2 thereof where they are mounted upon. a pivot or shaft 4|. The shaft. 4| is mounted in suitable hearings in the table. When the shelf 38 is in its normal position, the upper surface 42 thereof is irr the plane of the upper surface. of

the springs 53.

3 the table so that the articles may be moved from the table onto the shelf. The portion of the table indicated at 44 between the legs 39 of the shelf the space they are to consume between the portions 41 and the last article of;the supply on the the handle in this direction, the pinion I3 causes movement of the rack 14 to move the slide 16 (Fig. 2) to the left, moving with it the arm 18 to free the valve plunger 80 to open the valve 59. The unit 5'! is therefore actuated by the application of a fluid under pressure thereto to move the plunger 56 thereof downwardly and move the element 52 into gripping position. The leading article of the supply adjacent the articles on the -helf has therefore been firmly gripped between the reduced portion 55 and the table. Furthermore, the gripping element has been assisted by the pressure pad 60 in holding the articles retable. Resilient members or springs 54) mounted upon the shelf 38 extend inwardly toward the table beyond the exit end of the table to hold the articles moved onto the shelf against .accidental displacement during the lowering of the shelf-to the position shown in Fig. 4.

A gripping element 52 is supported adjacent .article of the supply adjacent the, group which has been moved'lonto'th'e shelf.,.The reduced portion 55 is normally positioned above. the supply of articles and held in that position by The element ismoved into its gripping'position by a plunger 56 of an air cylinder unit .57. The .unit 5'! is supported by a bracket 58 and is underthe control of a. valve .59, (Figs.'2, 3, and 4). Apressure pad 6!} carried byscrews 5! is positioned to assist the gripping element in holding the articles of the supply by ,applying pressure to a plurality of the articles back of thereduced portion 55 as illustrated in Fig. 4. The pressure applied to the pad is receivedfrom springs 52 partially housed in the .element 5 2; The screws 6! are movable in aperturesin. the element 52, their heads 64, limiting Vthe downward movement of the pressure pad.

A shaft .15 is journalled insuitablebearings H the base 50 and is rotated by the aid of a "handle 12; 'A pinion T3 is keyed to the shaft 1D and interengages a rack 14. The rack 74 is sup- .maining in the supply from forward movement.

Continued movement of the handle 12 causes continued movement of the slide 16 to free the shelf 38 so that it may move, by gravity, about its pivot to the position shown in Fig. 4. While in thisposition, the articles may be readily removed from the shelf'in their stacked formation, an accurate number of the articles being in this group due to to the measured distance between the stops 49 and the edge of the table. The apparatus may now be returned to its normal position by moving the handle 12 from the dotted position to the'full-line position shown in Fig. 2 to first return the shelf 38 to its upward position by the movement of the slide 16 to the right, after whichthe, arm 78, with its screw 79,

will move the pmngr'ao; of the valve inwardly to again close the valve and permit the fluid in the unit to escape by any conventional means (not shown). Theelement 52, with its pressure pad 60, will be. moved upwardly by the force of the springs, 53 to free the supply of articles for movement to the right by thelcontinued force of the element l8 The springs' 5ll hold the leading the bracket 23 and fil1 the space between the element and the articles on the table with an tion and to release the shelf for itsmov'ement downward tothe position shown in Fig; 4. The slide 16 also supports'ari arm-18 which carries'an "adjustable screw 19 positioned to engage a'valve 1 the element It rearwardly (to the left Figs. 2 and 3) by the aid of its handle 8 I. The apparatus as shown in Figs. 2 and 3 is in its normal position with the shelf 38 in alignment with'the table. The weight 35 has caused forward movement of the element l 8 to move the entire supply of articles to the right to load the shelf with the given number of articles. The operator may, at this time, move the handle "from the solid line position shown in Fi g. 2 to the dotted position shown in this figure. During the first portion-or approximately one quarter of the movement of the handle 12 from added number of articles to replenish the supply.

With this mechanism, a. predetermined variable number of articles may be dispensed in'stacked formation merelyby the rocking movement of its normal to its operating position. .Although specific improvements of the invention have been shown and described, it will be understood thatth'ey are but illustrative and that various modifications may be made therein withoutdeparting from the "scope and spirit of this invention as'defined by the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1'.A dispensing apparatus comprising a table having a support surface for a supply of closely positioned fiat articles resting edgewise on the table, a shelf, pivotally supported at an exit end of the table and having a supporting surface lying in the plane of they supporting surface of the table when in its; loading position, movable to an unloading position, a slide movable beneath the table and the shelf to hold the shelf in its loading position, free the shelf for movement into its unloadin glpo'sition and move the shelf into its loading position, means to move the slide,

actuable means including an element cooperating with the table to grip the article at the exit end of the table to hold the supply of articles on the table against movement, and unit operable by the slide when moved in one direction to cause actuation of the last named means prior to the slide releasing the shelf for movement into its unloading position.

2. A dispensing apparatus comprising a, table having a support surface for a supply of closely positioned fiat articles resting edgewise on the table, a, shelf, pivotally supported at an exit end of the table and having a supporting surface lying in the plane of the supporting surface of the table when in its loading position, movable to an unloading position, a slide movable beneath the table and. the shelf to hold the shelf in its loading position, free the shelf for movement into its unloading position and move the shelf into its loading position, means to move the slide, means urging the supply of articles toward and onto the shelf, a stop on the shelf to limit the number of articles to be loaded on the shelf, actuable means including an element cooperating with the table to grip the article at the exit end of the table to hold the supply of articles on the table against movement, and a unit operable by the slide when moved in one direction to cause actuation of the last named means prior to the slide releasing the shelf for movement into its unloading position, and also operable by the slide when moved in the opposite direction to cause the actuable means and element to release the leading article of the supply subsequent to the return of the shelf to its loading position by the slide.

3. A dispensing apparatus comprising a table to support a supply of fiat articles, a, shelf pivotally supported at the exit end of the table for movement between a loading position in alignment with the table and an unloading position away from the table, a stop on the shelf to limit the number of articles moved onto the shelf, means to, move the supply of articles to feed given number of the articles to the shelf, a fluid actuated gripping means to cause gripping of the first article of the supply adjacent the given number of articles on the shelf, a fluid control valve actuable to cause operation of the gripping means, an element movable in one direction to move the shelf into its leading position and movable in another direction to free the shelf for movement into its unloading position, means to move the element alternately in the said directions, and means movable with the element to actuate the valve during predetermined portions of the movements of the element to cause the gripping means to be actuated into gripping position prior to the time the element frees the shelf for movement out of its loading position and to cause the grippin mean to be actuated out of gripping position after the shelf returns to the loading position.

NORMAN C. MOORE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,854,446 Campbell Apr. 19, 1932 1,870,207 Washburne Aug. 2, 1932 2,065,674 Fay, Jr. Dec. 29, 1936

Images