US2685762A

US2685762A - Mount loading guide and bulb centering device

Info

Publication number: US2685762A
Application number: US253410A
Authority: US
Inventors: Mullan Daniel
Original assignee: Westinghouse Electric Corp
Current assignee: CBS Corp
Priority date: 1951-10-26
Filing date: 1951-10-26
Publication date: 1954-08-10
Anticipated expiration: 1971-08-10

Description

Ail@ 10, 1954 D. MULLAN 2,685,762

MOUNT LOADING GUIDE ANDEULB CENIERING DEVICE Filed ocnf'ze, 1951 l v .s sheets-sheet 1 J9' I A. 15E f9.2.-

7M mi? Q i 'f 174494 165- .m 9? )ATTORNEY Aug. l0, 1954 D. MULLAN 2,685,762

MOUNT LOADING GUIDE AND BULB CENTERING DEVICE Filed Oct. 26, 1951 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR @26" I I w/z Mau/4N.

16 ATTORNEY Patented Aug. 10, 1954 MOUNT LOADING GUIDE AND BULB CENTERING DEVICE Daniel Mullan, Hillside, N. J., assignor to Westinghouse Electric Corporation, East Pittsburgh, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Application October 26, 1951, Serial No. 253,410

This invention relates to sealing machines for incandescent lamps, electronic tubes and the like and, more particularly, to a mount loading guide and a bulb centering device for a sealing head on a sealing machine.

In the manufacture of incandescent electric lamps, for example, the present process of sealing the lamp mount into the glass envelope or bulb involves the manual loading of the lamp mount into the hollow mountl pin of the sealing spindle or head.

The lamp mount usually comprises a coiled refractory lament mounted on a pair of leading-in conductors of a vitreous stem having an exhaust tubulation. To load the machine, the sealing operator aligns the external portions of the conductors along the tubulation and inserts the tubulation and conductors of the mount into the relatively small hole of the mount pin. The tubulation and wires must iit this hole with only a' small amount of clearance to prevent mount wobble during sealing and resultant off-center mounts.

The sealing spindles or heads and, more particularly, the mount pins, rotate continuously in the path of the sealing fires at all times except in the seal molding, cooling, unloading and loading stations. The machines operate at high speed and the heads index from station to station in a matter of seconds. period of operation the mount pins become `eX- tremely hot and untouchable by the operator with her bare hands.

' Further, the small size of the mount pin holel and the short loading time provided by the rapid indexing of the high speed machine makes the task of loading the mounts into the sealing head a tedious and artful one. ditions, mounts are frequently erroneously loaded with one or both lead wires not within the hole in the mount pin but exposed on the outside to' the sealing fires. When this occurs, the exposed lead wire or wires is burned oi' during sealing and mount or lamp shrinkage results which involves costly repair work or the total loss ofthe lamp and/or mount.

When a bulb is loaded into a bulb holder, a mount is elevated by an inclined portion of the sealing machine cam track into sealing alignmentl with the bulb. If the bulb is not axially aligned in the holder, the fragile lament is damaged by contact with the bulb at its opening or side Walls. Further, at the rotating, sealing and cooling stations, the light bulbs tend to wobble, thereby'pro ducing crooked sealed mounts.

Thus, after a short Because of these con-v 7 claims. H(crisi-2) Hence, it has been found advantageous, ac-

cording to my invention, to provide an automatic mount loading guide, and an automatic bulb centering device for each sealing head. My mountloading guide functions about the pin only in the operation with the bulb holder, locks the bulb in an axial position immediately beyond the bulb loading station, remaining locked throughout the entire sealing operation untii the station immediately ahead of the position where the bulb is automatically removed from its sealing head.

My automatic mount guide comprises two arms, pivoted on a platform bracket connected by a link and normally separated by a coiled spring. A roller attached to one arm is provided for engagement with a cam track having inclined `encls adjacent the unloading and loading stations; Engagement of the roller on this track closes the pivoted arms above the mount pin, thus providing an inverted conical guide for the convenient, accurate and rapid insertion of the mount tubulation into the pin. lts location directly above the mount pin insures an axially straight mount on the pin.

My bulb-centering device comprises a pair of bulb centering arms rotatable horizontally by a pair of spur gears, the driver gear of which is pinned to a vertically pivoted arm having a roller on its upper end for engagement with a cam track and a recovery counterweight affixed thereto by a counterweight arm.

In its general aspect, the present invention has the object of overcoming the afore-mentioned disadvantages of the prior art manual loading of mounts into sealing heads.'

Specically, an object of the present inventionv is the elimination of operator contact with the heated mount pins of an automatic sealing machine head during the mountv loading operation.

Another and specific object of the invention is the elimination of the insertion into the mount pin of an automatic sealing machine head of mounts having lead wires Vexposed to the sealingv res.

Still another object of the invention is to provide an automatic guide on an automatic sealing .machine head for the accurate and rapid insertion of the mount into the relatively small hole of the mount pin. Y

-A further object is an automatic pin guide for Ian automatic sealing machine head which will function as a guide vat the non-rotating loading vstations and then fall away from the sealing pin prior to its arrival at the bulb loading station.

A still further object is an automatic mount pin guide for an automatic sealing machine head comprising two arms pivoted on a platform bracket, joined by a connecting link, normally separated by a coiled spring, and provided with a closing mechanism engageable withA a springtensioned track behind the unloading and loading positions.

Another object is an automatic bulb centering device for an automatic sealing machine head which locks the bulb axially and eliminates fila.- ment distortion during the mount elevation into and alignment within the bulb.

An additional object is an automatic bulbcentering device for an automatic sealing machine head which eliminates bulb wobble in the rotating, sealing and cooling stations of an automatic sealing machine.

Another object is an automatic bulb-centering device, which'cooperates with a sealing head bulb holder' and locks the lbulb in an axial position immediately beyond the bulb loading station, remaining locked throughout the entire sealing operation untily arrival at the station immediately ahead of the unloading station.

A further object is a bulb centering device for an automatic sealing machine head comprising horizontally pivoted bulb centering arms operable by a pair of spur gears, the drive gear of which is pinned to a vertically pivoted roller arm having a roller for engagement on an upper cam track and a recovery counterweight affixed thereto.

Other objects and'advantages of my invention will appear to those skilledv in the art to which it appertains as fthe description thereof proceeds, both by direct recitation thereof and by implication from the context.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, in which like numerals of reference indicate similar parts throughout the several views:

Fig. l is an elevational View of an automatic sealing machine head at a loading station and embodying an automatic mount-loading guide and an automatic' bulb-centering device of my invention;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation sectional view of a sealing head ata loading station of an automatic sealing machine, on the line II-II of Fig. l, in the' direction of the arrows;`

Fig. 3 is a diagr'annnaticplan view of an automatic sealing machine;

Fig. 4 is a side elevational view of a sealing head' showing' details to illustrate the operation ofA the automatic mount loading guide;

Fig. 5 is a horizontal sectional view ofthe head at the loading station of the sealing machine on the line V-V of Fig; 4, in the direction of the arrows;

Fig. 6 is a plan view of the automatic bulb centering device ofY the automatic sealing machine;

Fig. 7 is a side elevational view of a lamp bulb locked axially by the automatic bulb centeringdevice in a bulb holder, and a mount on the sealing pin in the first rotating sealing` station of the automatic sealing machine;

Fig. 8 is a side elevationalv View of. a `sealed miniature lamp.

Referring to the drawings in detail, and par lamps, electronic tubes and the like, in this showing having 16 heads, is designated by the reference numeral I8. Each of the 16 sealing heads I2, only one of which is shown in Fig. 1, is mounted on the indexing table or conveyor i4 of machine I8, and moved thereby and indexed at stations. Each comprises a sealing pin shaft assembly I6, rotatably mounted with respect to said table I4, a bulb support assembly I8, an automatic mount loading guide 22 of my invention and an automatic bulb centering device 24, also of my invention and both on said assembly I8.

Sealing pin shaft assembly This lower shaft assembly I6, as shown in Fig. 1, comprises a rotatable slidable sealing pin shaft 25, a hollow shaft housing 28 of generally T- shaped vertical section, about the shaft 26, and means for rotating said head I2, such as a rotatable pulley 38, affixed to the lower extremity of the housing 28 and abutting the underside of a bea-ring portion of table I4. This hollow shaft 26 is slidable within an upper bushing 32 and a lower bushing 33 in housing 28. Its bottom extremity is threaded to receive a hardened cam track cap 34, slidable on a means for reciprocating each assembly I5, such as sealing machine cam track 38. The shaft 25 is provided with a longitudinal keyway 38, the length of which is greater than the combined axial length of the bearing of table I4 and the desired Vertical travel of shaft 28 as shown in Fig. 1. On its upper extremity is mounted a hollow sealing pin 4D for receiving leads 58 and 5I and a tubulation 52 of a mount 45. Said pin has an upwardly flared opening 4I (Fig. 4), to a lead wire and tubulation hole 42 therein defined by a frusto-conical upper edge portion 43 to fit the inner flared surface of the stem 44 of a mount 45.

This mount 45 shown particularly in Fig. 4, comprises in addition to the stem 44, a circularly arranged filament 48 supported on the looped ends of filament supports 41, 48 and 49 projecting from stem 44, and leads or leading-in conductors 50 and 5I of stem 44. The exhaust tubulation 52 is provided on stem 44 between conductors 50 and 5i. To avoid mount wobble during sealing, the diameter of hole 42 is only slightly greater than the combined diameter of tubulation 52 and conductors 58 and 5I.

This shaft housing 28 of lower shaft assembly I6, shown in Fig. 1, rotates in a bushing 58 in table I4. A vertical key 57 extends from the inner surface of housing 28 into keyway 3S of shaft 26so that it rotates as a unit with housing 28. Vertical motion of the housing 28 with respect to table I4 is prevented by a thrust ball bearing 58 thereabout between the top surface of table I4 and a collar 80 thereof, and the pulley 30 on the bottom portion of housing 28. Two vertical holes 62 and 54 in a top flanged portion 66 of housing 28 extending parallel to the shaft 26, and symmetrically located are provided for the sealing head guide rods 68 and 'I8 of bulb support assembly I8.

Bulb support assembly This bulb support assembly I8 above said sealing pin 40 and' shown most clearly in Fig. 1, comprises the rods 68 and 'I8 and a bulb holder 12. The lower portions of the

rods

68 and 70 are of smaller diameter than the bodies of the rods and threaded for securement in

holes

62 and 64 in housingv 28 by means of nuts 'I4 and 1B. As shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the bulb holder I2 is secured to the upper extremities of

rods

68 and 10, and has, as shown in Fig. 6, three

bulb holder fingers

18, 80 and 82 disposed in spaced circular arrangement and shaped to supportingly engage a bulb 84.

Mount loading guide The automatic mount-loading guide 22, as

shown particularly in Figs. 4 and 5, has a pair of separable mount guide members or levers, namely a lever or arm 86 and lever or arm 88. `These levers are movable to overlie sealing pin 40 for directing the leads 50 and 5| and the tubulation 52 of mount 45 thereinto during loading. The latter lever 88 is of bellcrank formation 4with a cam track roller 82 pivo-ted on the end of its generally-horizontal portion 90. l The

levers

86 and 86 are pivotally mounted on a platform bracket 94 about sealing

head guide rods

68 and 10, said levers being connected together by a link 96 for causing them to simultaneously move toward and away from one another and normally held apart by a coiled spring 9.8. Means, such as a spring-tensioned cam track |06 adjacent the unloading and loading stations of machine |0, is provided for moving said

levers

86 and 88 toward one another. Platform bracket 94 (Fig. 5) is generally U-shaped in plan with side portions |02 and |64 of greater width than the intermediate portion I t3 6.

In side portion |82 of bracket 94 (Fig. 5), there is provided a hole |08 for sealing head guide rod 68 and there is provided a mount guide arm pivot slot 0 in its forward face for receiving the mount arm 86 and limiting the pivotable motion thereof. There is a similar hole ||2 in side portion |04 for rod 10. The bracket 04 is supported on and aixed, as by bolts, to blocks H6 and ||8 (Fig. 4), secured to

rods

68 and 10 respectively by set screws and |22.

The lever 86 is desirably of rectangular cross section, as shown in Figs. 4 and 5, and has an upper inwardly projecting mount guide finger |24 with an inverted semi-conical pocket |25 for receiving and supporting the ilare of stern 44. It pivots within the limits imposed by the side walls of slot ||9 in bracket 94 on a fulcrum pin |26 extending through a hole |21 in arm 86. The lower extremity of lever 86 is pivotally secured to the link 96 by a, pin |28 below its pivot.

The horizontal lever portion 90 of the lever 88 (Figs. 4 and 5) extends diagonally inward from the pivot point of lever 88 and then radially inward toward the center of machine |0, to permit roller 92 to follow the circular cam track |90. From the rearward side of extension 90, a coiled spring support rod |34 extends horizontally and then vertically downward. One end of coiled spring 98 is afxed to its lower extremity. The other end of spring 9-8 is secured in the lower end of a rod |36 depending vertically downward from the rearward portion of block ||6.

This cam track |64, sho-wn in Figs. 1, 2 and 6, is a ilatr plate arranged similar to track |00 for engagement with a roller |66 of the bulb-centering device 24, and, as shown in Fig. 3, extends from the last cooling station, behind the unloading and mount loading stations, to the bulb loading stations of machine I0.

Bulb centering device The bulb-centering device 24 for axially aligning bulb 84 while supported on the bulb support assembly i8, as sho-wn in Figs. 1, 2 and 6, comprises a driver gear bulb-centering arm assembly l61 and a driven gear bulb-centering arm assembly |68, both mounted on bulb holder 12 as hereinafter explained. Assembly |61 comprises a roller arm plate |68 (Fig. 6) on the rearward portion of holder 12, the bulb-centering member or arm |10 with the bulb-centering ringer |12 bolted to its forward face (as shown in Fig. 2), a drive gear |14 on said arm, a roller arm drive pin |16 projecting rearwardly from a cylindrical hub |18 on said gear, and a roller arm assembly (Figs. 1 and 2) pivoted on a fulcrum pin |82 extending into the rear face of plate |69. This plate |69 is rigidly secured as by bolts to the bulb holder 12. The finger |12 of arm |10 has a v-shaped bulb-centering notch |84, as shown in Fig. 6, cut into its inner face. Arm |18, gear |14 and its hub |18 are pinned to a shaft |86 which is rotatable in plate |60. The roller arm drive pin |16 engages a longitudinal roller arm drive pin slot |88 in a roller arm |88 of roller arm assembly |80.

and a hub 204 similar to hub |18. Arm |96, gear 202 and its hub 204 are pinned to a shaft 205 which is rotatable in plate |95.

Operation At station I or 2 of the automatic sealing machine I0, as shown in Fig. 3, a mount 45 is loaded with its tubulation and leads iitting into the sealing pin 40, by means of the mount-loading guide 22, as hereinafter explained. At station 3, a bulb 84 is automatically loaded into the bulb holder 12, with the ngers |12 and |98 of assemblies |81 and |68 open, as hereinafter explained. From station 2 through station 5, the sealing pin shaft 26 and hence the mount 45 on sealing pin 48, is raised upwardly in a gradual ascent by an inclined straight portion of the sealing machine cam track 38 into sealing position with respect to bulb 84 on holder 12. At stations through IZ, the mount 45 and bulb 04 are rotated and sealed together to form a lamp 209 (Fig. 8) by means of

stationary res

208 and 208, shown in Fig. 7. At the seal molding station I3, sealing head I2 makes a half revolution and strikes a stop 2|@ (Fig. 3) thereby ceasing to rotate and permitting molding arms (not shown) to mold the seal to fit a conventional base (also not shown). At station I4 the lamp 209 rotates 1/2 revolution and strikes a stop 2 2. Rotation of the lamp 299 ceases and cooling air is blown thereon at station i4 and at the final cooling station l. At station iii, the sealed lamp 85 iS automatically unloaded from the machine i0. Between cooling station i5 and lamp unloading station. i8 and unloading station i9 and mount loading station i, cam track 33 and hence mount pin 40 on shaft 28, drops in two steps 2|4 and 2|6, respectively (Fig. l) to its mount loading position shown in Fig. l.

Accordingto my invention, when the machine indexes from the unloading station I6 to the mount loading station i, the mount guide arm roller 92 (Figs. 4 and 5) rides up the inclined end of cam track |08, thereby bringing together the fingers |24 and 20 of mount guide

arms

88 and 88. Whenthe mount i5 is inserted between the semi-conical surfaces |25 and 138 of iingers |24 and |29, its downward descent is automatically properly guided into the hole 42 (Fig. 4) ofY sealing pin 48, due to the short distance between said fingers and the top of the mount pin 40. C'onductors 50 and 5| are maintained in the desired alignment along tubulation 52, thereby preventing exposure of either or both of conductors 50 and 5| to sealing fires 2.88 and 288. As the mount leaves station 2, roller 92 rides down the inclined end of cam track |08 and the

arms

88 and 88 fall backward from the axis of sealing head |2 to permit the upward motion of mount 45 on the sealing pin 40.

Further, according to my invention, as the sealing head i2 indexes from the cooling station i4 to cooling. station i5, of machine |0, the bulb centering device roller |89 (Fig. 6) engages upper cam track |04, thereby forcing the roller end of arm |90 downwardly and counterweight |94 upwardly, separating fingers |12 and |98 of bulb centering arms and |98. These fingers remain separated while the roller |88 is in engagement with track |84 at the unloadingI station I8, the mount loading stations and 2 and the bulb loading station 3. Between station 3 and station 4, the roller |96 disengages itself from track |64. The counterweight |94 pulls the roller end of arm |90 upwardly to the vertical position, thereby permitting closing of the ngers |12 and |98 about the top of bulb |84 as shown in Fig. 7. Thus the roller arm assembly pinned to gear |14 by roller arm drive pin |18 rotates the gears |14 and 202 and causes said centering arms |10 and |96 to periodically swing toward one another for adjusting a bulb 84 on holder 12 at station 3 so that the mount 45, when raised, is in the correct sealing engagement therewith.

Thus, it will be seen from the foregoing description that I have eliminated operator hand contact with the hot sealing pin 40 of the sealing head I2 in the loading stations and 2 of sealing machine I8 and the insertion into the mount pin 40 of mounts 45 having lead wires 50 and 5| exposed to the Sealing fires 208 and 208. My automatic mount loading guide 22 for an automatic sealing machine i0 permits the accurate and rapid insertion of a mount 45 into the relatively small hole 42 of the mount pin 48. This guide 22 functions as a guide at the non-rotating mount loading stations and 2 and then falls away from the sealing pin 40 prior to the bulb loading station 3. My invention has further produced an automatic bulb centering device 24 for an automatic sealing machine I0 which locks the bulb 84 axially in bulb holder 12 immediately beyond the bulb loading station 3 and eliminates lilament distortion during mount elevation into and alignment within the bulb 84. This centering device 24 eliminates bulb wobble in the rotating sealing stations 5 through I3 of the automatic sealing machine I0.

While l have shown and described a specific embodiment of my invention, I am fully aware that many modifications thereof are possible, and therefore, do not intend to be restricted except as is necessitated by the scope and spirit of the appended claims.

I claim:

l. A machine for sealing tubulation and leadcarrying mounts to bulbs of evacuated electrical devices comprising a conveyor; heads on said conveyor which are moved thereby and indexed at a plurality of stations including loading and unloading stations, each head comprising a hollow sealing pin for receiving the tubulation and leads of a mount, a mount loading guide having separable guide members movable to overlie said pin for directing the tubulation and leads of a mount thereinto during loading, 9, bulb support assembly above said sealing pin, and a bulb centering device having separable centering members for axially aligning a bulb on said assembly; means for reciprocating each pin; means for rotating each head; means for moving together said guide members during loading; and means for separating said centering members during loading and unloading.

2. A machine for sealing tubulation and leadcarrying mounts to bulbs of evacuated electrical devices comprising a conveyor; heads on said conveyor which are moved thereby and indexed at a plurality of stations including loading and unloading stationseach head comprising a hcllow sealing pin for receiving the tubulation and leads of a mount, amount loading guide having a pair of separable guide members pivoted on said head to overlie said pin for directing the tubulation and leads of a mount thereinto during loading, said guide also having a link connectingv said pair of guide members for causing them to simultaneously move toward and away from one another, a coiled springv for normally holding said members apart, atleast one of said guide members having a horizontal extension and a cam track roller on the extremity of said extension, a bulb support assembly above said sealing pin, and a bulb centering device having separable centering members for axially aligning a bulb on said assembly; means for reciproeating each pin; means for rotating each head; means for engaging said roller and for moving together said guide members during loading; and means for separating said centering members during loading and unloading.

3. A machine for sealing tubulation and leadcarrying mounts to bulbs of evacuated electrical devices comprising a conveyor; heads on said conveyor which are moved thereby and indexed at a plurality of stations including loading and unloading stations, each head comprising a hollow sealing pin for receiving the tubulation and leads of a mount, a mount loading guide having a pair of separable guide members pivoted on said head to overlie said pin for directing the tubulation and leads of a mount thereinto during loading, said guide also having a link connecting said pair of guide members for causing them to simultaneously move toward and away from one another, a coiled spring for normally holding said members apart, at least one of said guide members having a horizontal extension and a cam track roller on the extremity of said extension, a bulb support assembly above said sealing pin, a bulb centering device having a pair of separable centering members for axially aligning a bulb on said assembly, said centering device also having intermeshing gears each for carrying one of said centering members, a roller arm assembly pinned to one of said gears for rotating said gears and causing said centering inembers to periodically swing toward one another for adjusting a bulb on said support so that the mount when raised is in the correct sealing engagement therewith; means for reciprocating each pin; means for rotating each head; means for engaging said roller and for moving together said guide members during loading; and means for engaging said yroller arm assembly and for separating said centering members during loading and unloading.

4 A machine for sealing tubulation and leadcarrying mounts to bulbs of evacuated electrical devices comprising a conveyor, heads on said conveyor which are moved thereby and indexed at a plurality of stations including loading and unloading stations, each head comprising a sealing pin shaft, a hollow sealing pin on said shaft for receiving the tubulation and leads for a mount, a mount loading guide having a pair of separable guide members pivoted on said head to overlie said pin for directing the tubulation and leads of a mount thereinto during loading, a bulb support assembly above said sealing pin,

a bulb centering device having separable centering members for axially aligning a bulb on said assembly, a sealing machine cam track ior reciprocating each pin, a pulley on said shaft for rotating each head, a lower cam track for moving together said guide members during loading, and an upper cam track for separating said centering members during loading and unloading.

5. A head for a machine for sealing tubulation and lead-carrying mounts to bulbs o1" evacuated electrical devices comprising a hollow sealing pin for receiving the tubulation and leads of a mount, a mount loading guide having separable guide members movable to overlie said pin for directing the tubulation and leads of a mount thereinto during loading, a bulb support assembly above said sealing pin and a bulb centering device having separable centering members for axially aligning a bulb on said assembly.

6. A head for a machine for sealing tubulation and lead-carrying mounts to bulbs of evacuated electrical devices comprising a hollow sealing pin for receiving the tubulation and leads of a mount, a mount loading guide having a pair cf separable guide members pivoted on said head to overlie said pin for directing the tubulation and leads of a mount thereinto during loading, said guide also having a link connecting said guide members for causing them to simultaneously move toward and away from one another, a coiled spring 'for normally holding said members apart, at least one of said guide members being a bell crank having a horizontal extension and a cam track roller on the extremity of said extension; a bulb support assembly above said sealing pin, and a bulb centering device having separable centering members for axially aligning a bulb on said assembly.

7. A head for a machine for sealing tubulation and lead-carrying mounts to bulbs of evacuated electrical devices comprising a hollow sealing pin for receiving the tubulation and leads of a mount, a mount loading guide having separable guide members movable to overlie said pin for directing the tubulation and leads of a mount thereinto during loading, and a bulb support assembly above said sealing pin.

References Cited in the iile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,628,410 Koning 1 May 10, 1927 1,780,618 Fleischmann Nov. 4, 1930 2,135,290 Loebe et al. 1 Nov. l, 1933 2,143,708 Muller et al. Jan. l0, 1939 2,153,370 Donovan et al Apr. 4, 1939 2,494,870 Greiner Jan. 17, 1950