US2692670A

US2692670A - Sheet-handling device

Info

Publication number: US2692670A
Application number: US338957A
Authority: US
Inventors: Richard F Lescallette
Original assignee: Armstrong Cork Co
Current assignee: Armstrong World Industries Inc
Priority date: 1953-02-26
Filing date: 1953-02-26
Publication date: 1954-10-26
Anticipated expiration: 1971-10-26

Description

1954 R. F. LESCALLETTE SHEET-HANDLING DEVICE Filed Feb. 26, 1955 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR RICHARD F. LESCALLETTE M+ IP ATTORNEY 06L 1954 R. F- LESCALLETTE 2,692,670

SHEET-HANDLING DEVICE Filed Feb. 26, 1953 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR RICHARD F. LESCALLETTE ATTORNEY Oct. 26, 1954 Filed Feb. 26, 1953 R. F- LESCALLETTE SHEET-HANDLING DEVICE 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR RKZHARD F. LESCALLETTE ATTORNEY Patented Oct. 26, 1 954 orrics SHEET-HANDLING DEVICE Application February 26, 1953, Serial No. 338,957

6 Claims.

This invention relates to a device for transferring sheets and turning them through 130. The device is particularly useful in the delivery of lightweight sheets of relatively large size, such as sheets of cork composition about 26 X 51" x or less in thickness which are delivered from a sanding machine which smooths one side of the sheet, are turned over, and are then fed to a second sanding machine which smooths the opposite side of the sheet.

Conventional wicket or so-called porcupine type sheet turning device such as are used in handling sheets of steel are not suitable for turning lightweight sheets of cork composition or the like because the sheets fall by gravity as the wicket is rotated and as the sheet approaches a position overlying the delivery belts. This results in misalignment of the sheets on the wickets consequent misalignment on the delivery belts.

When the wicket is moved at relatively high speed, there is also a tendency for the sheets to bounce upon falling into engagement with the belts, also resulting in improper lateral alignment.

An object of the present invention is to provide a device which will mechanically engage a sheet while supported in an inclined position and at rest and gently move it through a vertical position and into an opposite inclined position for subsequent delivery to a take-away conveyor.

Another object of the invention is to provide a turnover device of the wicket or porcupine type with a combined sheet-positioning arrangement which will be effective for imparting a controlled movement to a sheet while the same is fully supported by the wicket arrangement.

Other objects of the invention will be clear from the description of an embodiment of the invention which is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure l is a diagrammatic side elevational view of the device of the present invention;

Figure 2 is a diagrammatic top plan view of the device of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a detailed view, partially broken away and partially in section, illustrating the sheet-turning mechanism and the control equipment therefor, with the driving arrangement for the sheet-positioning unit removed; and

Figure 4 is a detailed bottom plan View of the sheet-turning and sheet-positioning unit.

The device comprises a continuously operating conveyor 2 powered by a drive 3 (Figure l). The conveyor is preferably in the form of a muturnin arms by an air cylinder El (Figures 3 and 4) which actuates a rack and pinion drive Ill connected to shaft 6. This drive includes rack I i, attached to piston rod I 2 of air cylinder 9'. A gear segment 13 is mounted on shaft 6 but is free to revolve thereabout upon motion of the rack II. Attached to the segment I3 is a pawl plate I l. A pawl pin I5 is threaded into plate M and receives a ratchet pawl l6 which is arranged to actuate a ratchet H which is keyed to shaft 6. A coil spring l8 and a set collar 19 urge the ratchet pawl It into engagement with the ratchet H. The ratchet I l, as shown in Figure 3, is arranged to impart a clockwise rotation to shaft 6 upon each motion of the piston rod I 2 to left as viewed in Figure 3, the piston rod in that view being shown in fully extended position.

As mentioned above, the sheet-positioning arms I are intermittently moved during the period when the sheet-turning arms 5 are at rest. This is conveniently accomplished by a ratchet arrangement actuated upon movement of the rack Ii toward the right as viewed in Figure 3. This arrangement is shown in Figure 4. It includes a pawl pin 2c threaded into pawl plate I4 previously described. A ratchet pawl 21 is mounted on pin 20 and engages a ratchet 22 which is press fitted onto a hub 23 which rotates freely on shaft 6. The hub 23 is counterbored at 24 to fit over the hub of ratchet ll. Hub 23 has a sprocket 25 fastened to it by screws 2B.v A limiting collar 21 is secured to shaft 6 and positions the hub 23 and the members carried by it against axial displac ment while permitting free rotation of the hub about the shaft 6. to impart a counterclockwise rotary motion to sprocket 25 and through a chain 28 (Figure l) and sprocket 28A connected to shaft 8 a counterclockwise rotary motion to sheet-positioning arms I. This motion is effected upon movement of the piston rod I2 toward the right, as viewed in Figure 3, which imparts a counterclockwise rotary motion to gear segment I3 and pawl plate I 4, bringing pawl 2| into operation against ratchet 22 while pawl I6 is returning overratchet H,

The ratchet 22 is arranged preparatory to the indexing of the sheet-turning arms upon reverse movement of the piston rod [2.

Operation of air cylinder 9 which imparts intermittent motion to both the sheet-turning arms and the sheet-positioning arms as mentioned above is controlled in the following manner, reference being made to Figure 3. Air for cylinder 9 is supplied from a source S through a filter 29, a pressure regulator 30, and an oiler 3|. A solenoid valve 32 controls the supply of air to opposite ends of air cylinder 9 through conduits 33 and 34, interposed in which are

speed control valves

35 and 36, respectively, which accurately control the speed of motion of the piston of the air cylinder 9 and the associated rack and pinion drive, thus properly to time the delivery of a sheet by the turnover arms.

The solenoid valve 32 is electrically controlled by a pair of

switches

31 and 38 connected to a source of current 39. Switch 3'! is normally open and has a control arm 40 which normally lies above the path of an oncoming sheet ll, diagrammatically shown in Figure 3 being moved in the direction of the arrow by the sheet conveyor belts 4. Upon engagement of sheet 4| with switch control arm 40, switch 31 is closed and the circuit for solenoid valve 32 is completed from source 39, and air is supplied through line 34 and speed control valve 36 to pull the piston rod from the solid-line position shown in Figure 3 to the dotted-line position. The rack I I lies in engagement with an actuating roller arm 32 of normally closed switch 38 when in the full-line position shown in Figure 3, and in such position switch 38 is open. Thus when the rack moves to left upon closing of switch 31, it is disengaged from arm 42 and switch 38 moves to its normally closed position. Upon completion of movement of the piston rod [2 to the dotted-line position which effects a one-sixth revolution of the sheetturning arms through the ratchet l'l secured to shaft 6, solenoid valve 32 which is actuated by momentary contact and then completes its cycle of operation will instantly reverse (because switch 38 has moved to its normally closed position) and air flows through line 33 and speed control valve 35, returning the piston of air cylinder. 9 to its normally solid-line position where rack H will engage actuating roller arm 42 of switch 38, opening the same. This reverse motion of the piston rod i2 effects a one-half revolution of the sheet-positioning arms I through the ratchet 22 and the chain and sprocket drive associated therewith. The parts remain in this position until the next oncoming sheet engages control arm 40, whereupon the cycle is repeated.

It will be noted by reference to Figure 1. that the sheet 43 disposed in the sheet-turning device is in a slightly inclined position, as shown in solid line, and at rest on one set of the arms 5 when it is gently engaged by one pair of the sheet-positioning arms I and moved to the dottedline position. There it is positioned in an inclined position on the next advance set of arms 5 and serves to hold the sheet in a position where it will come into contact with the belts 4 upon the next cycl of operation of the device substantially instantaneously throughout its full length to avoid any slippage between the belts and sheet which might result in improper positioning of the sheet or timing of the delivery of the sheet from the machine to the next fabricating operation.

I claim:

1. A sheet-handling device comprising a rotatable wicket having radially spaced sheet-turning arms for the reception of sheets therebetween; means for intermittently moving said wicket about its axis to bring said spaced sheet-turning arms into predetermined at-rest positions; sheet-positioning means movable through a path intersecting a sheet disposed on said sheet-turning arms to move said sheet from an inclined atrest position, through a vertical position, and into a reverse inclined position; and means for intermittently moving said sheet-positioning means in timed relationship with the intermittent motion of said wicket about its axis.

2. A sheet-handling device comprising a conveyor; a wicket including a pair of radially spaced sheet supports movable from a position where one of said supports is substantially parallel to the path of travel of said conveyor to receive a sheet delivered by said conveyor, through a vertical position, and into a position where the other of said supports is parallel to said conveyor for delivery of said sheet to said conveyor in an inverted position; means for rotating said wicket; sheet-positioning means movable through a path intersecting a sheet disposed on one of said sheet supports in an inclined position and engageable with said sheet to move the same through a vertical position and to an inverted inclined position on the other of said supports; and means for moving said sheet-positioning means to engage said sheet for inverting the same while in an inclined position.

3. A sheet-handling device comprising a wicket having radially spaced sheet-turning arms for the reception of sheets therebetween, means for rotating said wicket about its axis with a stepwise motion, sheet-positioning means including an arm engageable with an article disposed in said wicket, and means for intermittently moving said sheet-positioning arm in timed relationship to the stepwise movement of said wicket to bring said sheet-positioning arm into engagement with an article disposed in said wicket in an inclined position to invert the same while disposed in an inclined position and supported by said wicket.

4. In a sheet-handing device including a 1'0- tatable wicket and a rotatable sheet-positioning device engageable with a sheet disposed within the wicket, the combination of means for rotating said wicket and said sheet-positioning means in timed relationship comprising a ratchet for rotating said wicket and a ratchet for rotating said sheet-positioning means; a gear rack; a gear segment cooperating with said rack and having its axis coincident with the axis of said ratchets; a pawl plate connected to said gear segment and movable therewith; and a pair of pawls carried by said pawl plate and engageable with said ratchets to impart motion thereto upon rotation of said gear segment effected through motion of said gear rack, one of said ratchets being of right-hand formation and one of left-hand formation, whereby motion is imparted to one of said ratchets upon motion of said gear rack in one direction and motion is imparted to the other of said ratchets upon motion of said gear rack in the opposite direction.

5. In a sheet-handling device as recited in claim 4, the combination of a fluid pressure cylinder for actuating said gear rack and means actuated upon movement of a sheet to be turned into a predetermined position for controlling the operation of said cylinder to move said gear rack.

6. A sheet-handling device comprising a rotatable wicket having radially spaced sheet-turning arms for the reception of sheets therebetween; means for intermittently moving said wicket about its axis to bring said spaced sheet-turning arms into predetermined at-rest positions; a conveyor for delivering sheets sequentially to said rotatable wicket between the arms thereof; rotatable sheet-positioning means movable through a path intersecting a sheet disposed on said sheetturning arms of said wicket to move said sheet from an inclined at-rest position, through a vertical position, and into a reverse inclined position; and means for intermittently moving said sheet-positioning means in timed relationship with the intermittent motion of said wicket about its axis.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,567,153 Kelly Dec. 29, 1925 1,966,268 Stefien July 10, 1934 2,501,224 Kadell Mar. 21, 1950