US2718701A - Automatic butter pat former and dispenser - Google Patents

Description

Sept. 27, 1955 E. FROMWILLER AUTOMATIC BUTTER PAT FORMER AND DISPENSER Filed Feb. 2, 1951 Sept. 27, 1955 E. FROMWILLER AUT OMATIC BUTTER PAT FORMER AND DISPENSER Filed Feb. 2, 1951 6 Sheets-Sheet 2 Ira/crLF01:- Edcvcud Sept. 27, 1955 E. FROMWILLER AUTOMATIC BUTTER PAT FORMER AND DISPENSER 6 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Feb 2 1951 Sept. 27, 1955 E. FROMWILLER AUTOMATIC BUTTER PAT FORMER AND DISPENSER 6 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Feb. 2 1951 I enfor- EclujardE'o-mwfller b liisflao'l l S Sept. 27, 1955 E. FROMWILLER AUTOMATIC BUTTER PAT FORMER AND DISPENSER 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Feb. 2, 1951 Sept. 27, 1955 E. FROMWILLER AUTOMATIC BUTTER PAT FORMER AND DISPENSER Filed Feb. 2, 1951 6 Sheets-Sheet 6 Ch O United States Fatentb AUTOMATIC BUTTER PAT FORMER AND DISPENSER Edward Fromwiller, Richmond Hill, N. Y.

Application February 2, 1951, Serial No. 209,071

' 8 Claims. (11. 316) This invention relates to a dispenser for cakes or blocks of material. The invention provides for automatically cutting and depositing blocks of material onto receptacles which are cut and formed of sheet material simultaneously with the cutting of the deposited material.

The invention is especially adapted to the cutting and dispensing of food products, such as butter and cheese, but it is obvious that it may be used with equal success and reduction of manual operations in the processing and delivery of other materials, suchas building materials, chemicals, plastic masses, etc.

A particular embodiment of the invention is shown in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. l is-a plan view with cover removed; Fig. la is an enlarged detail of the butter rack mount- Fig. 2 is a cross-section taken along section line 22 of Fig. 1; I Y

. Fig. 3 is an exploded perspective view of a segment of the butter rack;

Fig. 4 is an exploded isometric view of the paper advancing and paper cutting and shaping mechanism;

Fig. 5 is a detailed perspective view of the drive mechanism; t

Fig. 6 is an enlarged and butter cutting mechanism;

' Fig. 7 is a longitudinal cross-section taken along the sectionline 7-7 of Fig. 6; i

a Fig. 8 is a cross-section taken along the section line 8-8 of Fig. 7; i i v Fig. 9 is a cross-section taken along the section line 99 of Fig. 7; and

. Fig. 10 is a detail of one of the butter releases.

The machine comprises a number of mechanisms, the primary ones of which are an outer casing, a refrigerationunit, a; rotary butter rack, driving mechanism, butter clamp,'butter release mechanism, butter-cutting mechanism, a paper supply, paper feeder, paper cutter, tray former, a chute, and a switch.

Referring to the drawings, and particularly Figs. .1 and 2, the outside casing or housingv 1 of the machine is a generally cylindrical container, preferably of sheet metal, having a generally flat front wall as seen at the bottom of. Fig. .1, provided with an opening 1a and a chute 1b terminating outside the front of the machine for the delivery of cut pats of butter on their paper trays formed by the machine.

The upper portion ofthe housing isprovided with a cylindrical inner wall 2 and a further double inner cylindrical wall 2a connectingwith a double floor 2b. The entire, unit has a cover .3 which comprises a domed perforated central portion and a toroidal insulated outer rim covering the cylindrical channel defined by the walls 2, 2a, and 2b. 'Below the dome and surrounded by the double wall 2a is a refrigerator unit 4 equipped with a ventilating fan da. Refrigeration tubing 5 is disposed between thedouble walls 2a. (Insulation 6 is packed.

plan view of the paper advancing 2,718,701 Patented Sept. 27, 1955 space 6a defined by walls 2, 2a and 2b. A removable In the butter-storing space 6a, a butter rack 9 comprises upper and lower channeled rings 9a and 9b (see Fig. 3) which hold bars 10 of butter (shown in dotted lines) in vertical position in superimposed slots 10a and 10b. The butter rack is held rigid by upright braces 11, and is rotatably supported on the floor 2b of the butter space by wheels 12 mounted on the lower ring 9b (see Fig. 2). Below each slot 10b is a rotatable butter release 13, shown in detail in Fig. 10, which comprises a segment-shaped table portion 13a and a trip 13b. The butter releases are pivoted to the lower ring 9b by pins 14 and are held in normal butter block retaining position by coil springs 15.

An H-shaped guide member 16 (shown in section in Fig. la) is mounted for free movement with respect to the butter rack 9 in sliding relation to the flanges on rings 9a and 9b. Cleat 17 secured to one face of the guide 16 engages ring 9a and the lower face of guide 16 is turned up to engage the flange of ring 9b. Guide 16 is provided with a roller 18 journaled in and supported by a plunger rod 19. Spring 20 exerts downward pressure on plunger 19 and roller 18. Cleat 21 holds the roller assembly in place with respect to guide 16. The' central section of guide 16 is vertically removably mounted in a slot between slides 22 and 2211 (see Fig. 1a) which are fixed to the inner wall 2a of the refrigerated chamber.

' The lower ring 9b is provided with a stop slot 23 for each butter slot 10b. As the butter rack is rotated, it comes to rest at a predetermined and properly aligned position which is established by the spring-impelled engagement of the lower chord of roller 18 into the appropriate slot 23. The butter rack is thus held stationary until the butter block in the particular slot has been used up and the rack is again caused to rotate as described below, whereupon it will again be locked in the next succeeding position as the roller 18 engages the succeeding slot 23.

Fig. 7, a cross-section of essential parts of the machine,

showsan adjustable and removable butter cutter or slicer together with paper advancing, cutting and shaping elements. A block 10, for example the usual standard-sized quarter pound, of butter is permitted to drop by gravity. into a square slide when butter release 13 is moved awayfrom below a block of butter in the rack. As shown in Fig. l, a corresponding square passage is provided in the floor of the butter-storing space 6a to accommodate successive blocks of butter as they fall into position for the slicing operation. A plate 25 surrounds the sliding tube 24 and receives a female threaded collar .26 held in place by a flat annulus 27 removably secured to plate 25.

A male threaded frame member 28 is provided with a square opening in the center thereof so that the sliding tube 24 will be impelled upwardly or downwardly when the threaded collar 26 is turned, in order to predetermine. the thickness of the slice. A sliding frame or actuating carriage comprising member 29 moves back and forth in a;

path formed by blocks 30 and 30a (see Fig. 8) also secured to the sliding tube 24 as by brazing. The slide 29: is provided with two studs 32 and 32a mounted at the lower end of the sliding tube 24. These studs carry a wire cutter 33 stretched tautly between them. The cutter 33 is movable back and forth to cut off butter cuts or slabs.

from the lower portion of the block of butter placed into the sliding tube 24. The slide 29 is provided with a rigid 'f spear 34 adapted to pierce the butter stick or block and keep it from sliding down so long as the slide 29 is in the advanced position. A movable spear 35 is mounted on an angle shaped arm 36 which pivots on two lugs 37 and 37a which are mounted on slide 29. A spring 38 surrounds the angle of the arm 36 to exert downward pressure on the spear 35 which is raised upward into dotted position (Fig. 7) by lever 39 mounted on a pivot 40 as the sliding frame 29 travels forward. A slot 35a is provided in the tube 24 to permit downward movement of spear 35 when inserted into the butter (see Fig. 9).

Pivot 40 is mounted in a lug 41 fixed to the square slid,- ing tube 24 and is spring-actuated to move the lever 39 back down into normal position after it has been raised up when the slide 29 was moved forward by a pin 42 fixed downwardly with respect to the end of slide 29, the operation of which is described below. As shown in plan in dotted lines in Fig. 6, the lug 41 is offset to permit the tip of the arm 36 to drop into the lower position after it has traversed hfi length of the lever 39.

The entire adjustable butter slide assembly just described is removable by unkeying two sliding members 43 from studs 44 mounted as described below to the flanges on a pair of sliding frames Keyhole slots 45 are provided in the surface of sliding members 43 to permit engagement and disengagement of the assembly. The members 43 are slidably mounted on opposite sides of member 28 by screws 46 which pass through slots 47 in the members 43.

The main driving mechanism, including a single-revolution clutch, is shown in Fig. 5. Motor 48 is mounted on base plate 8 (Fig. l) and provided with a reducer 49 which drives the shaft of a wheel 50 provided with slots 51 extending around its outer perimeter. A crank 52 is mounted freely on the shaft of the wheel 50 by a screw 53. A bracket 54 is secured to the crank 52 for supporting a sliding shaft 55 and a pivoted yoke 56 having an attached crank 57. An expansion spring 58 mounted on the rod 55 normally forces the rod toward wheel 50 and into a slot 51, except when it is repelled and held away in the outer position by the yoke 56, as described below. Connecting rod 59 links the shaft 55 with one arm of a generally U- shaped driving lever 61 which is mounted by a bracket 61a onto a floor 61b supported on base member 8 by upright stanchions 61c (see Fig. 8). Connecting rod 60 is also linked to driving lever 61, and drives the rotatable butter rack 9 by linkage shown in Fig. 3 and described below.

A starter push button 62 is attached outside exterior housing 1 to a starter rod 63, the opposite end of which rigidly carries an angle member 64 bent at the top to provide a stop for the crank 57. A limit switch 65 carrying a roller 66 at the end of a switch lever 66a is screw-mounted on the angle member 64. The switch is electrically connected to the motor so that the motor runs when the roller 66 is advanced to close switch 65, and stops when roller 66 is retracted (by the shoulder of crank 52) to open switch 65. Expansion spring 67 expells the shaft 63 after the button 62 is released, thereby returning the starter button to its normal position away from the front panel of the machine as shown in Figs. 2 and 5.

When the starter button 62 is pressed in, angle member 64 moves in the direction of the straight arrow, causing the switch roller 66 to move off the crank 52, thereby starting the motor. At the same time the crank 57 is released from the upper angle stop at the top of angle member 64, releasing or unlocking the yoke 56, and permitting the spring-actuated shaft 55 to slide into the next succeeding slot 51 in the wheel 50 as the wheel is actuated by the motor. The moving wheel 50 thus linked by the engaged shaft 55, rotates and drives crank 52, bracket 54, yoke 56, crank 57, connecting rods 59 and 60, and drive lever 61. As soon as button 62 is released, the spring 67 moves shaft 63, angle member 64, switch 65, and roller 66 back into their original location. When the wheel 50 has completed a revolution in the direction shown by the arrow, roller 66 on the limit switch lever is pressed by the shoulder of the crank 52 and forced into the off position, thereby stopping the motor. Crank 57 then re-engages the stop at the top of angle member 64 and the yoke 56 is thereby pivoted away from the wheel 50 carrying with it the shaft 55 which becomes disengaged from the slot 51. The entire unit is then again at rest.

Figs. 4, 6 and 7 are, respectively, exploded perspective, plan, and section views of the paper cutting, paper actuating, and plate or patty forming mechanism. The solid lines in Fig. 7 show the assembly in the middle of an operating cycle, and the normal or rest position is shown by the dotted lines. As shown in Fig. 7, a roll of paper 68 is fed around a frame beneath the paper cutter and between slides 69 and a pair of knives 70 and 71 aligned to cut the paper at the proper position. The end of the paper lies over a female shaping die 72. The paper is actuated forwardly from the roll and into position by a clamping device 73 tensioned upwardly by an expansion spring 74a and mounted pivotally on a cross member 75. Cross member 75 includes a channel piece 74, in which drive member 61 rides. A lever 76 releases the clamp when it wedges between the base of the clamping member 73 and the lower edge of cross member 75, thereby separating them. This releasing action takes place when the paper cutting assembly is impelled forward by drive member 61 as described below and as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 7. When the assembly is returned to the position shown in solid lines, clamp 73 is released and the spring 74a presses it upwardly against cross-member clamp 77, thereby holding the paper strip 68 ready for further movement to complete the cycle. A holding finger 78 mounted on cross bar 79a holds the paper in position with the aid of a spring 79. A stud 80 is secured to cross-member 77 for movement in a slot 81 extending longitudinally within a fixed horizontal flat plate 82.

A lever 83, provided with an angular slot 84 which houses stud 80 and a curved slot which houses pin 42, is pivotally mounted on plate 82 at 83a. When the stud 80 is moved forward to the angle of slot 84 by drive member 61, lever 83 moves the slide 29 back andforth as pin 42 rides in the moving curved Slot 85. A male die 86 may be moved downwardly by pivoted die levers 87 and 87a (see Fig. 4), the actuation of which is described below.

The lower knife 71 for cutting the paper is moved upwardly by a pair of pivoted knife levers 88 and 88a.

A gate lever 89 is pivoted at 89a and mounted on the exterior of a side plate 90. An extension 89b of the lever 89 extends through slot 890 in side plate 90 to raise or lower a square drop plate or gate 91 hinged at 92 (see Fig. 8). The drop plate 91 when in normal position acts as a support under the paper strip 68, preventing the paper from sagging when the butter block is moved down on top of the paper. The die levers 87, 87a, the knife levers 88, 88a and the gate lever 89 in Fig. 4 are driven, respectively, by the four projections 93, 93a and 94, 94a extending from the upper flanges of side plates 95 and 95a which are connected for simultaneous movement by the cross members 75 and 77., The lever 76 which controls clamp 73 is pivoted at 96 to cross member 75 (Figs. 4 and 7).

As shown in Figs. 8. and 9, the vertical plates 95 and 95a slide back and forth within the plates 90 and 90a. The pair of plates 95, 95a moveback and forth between positions X and Y (shown in Fig. 4). When moved toward X, projections 93 and 93a. move levers 87 and 87a as they pass. Then the springv 97 moves. each lever 87, 87a into normal position, as shown, without any action on the male die 86, and the projections 94and- 94a act in the same manner on the similarly spring-returned levers 88 and 88a. When projection 93 reaches the lever 89, the paper support plate or gate is lifted into supporting, or horizontal, position. Covers 98, 98a are provided to house the paper operating assembly.

The following is the operating sequence. The butter rack 9 is filled with standard quarter-pound sticks of butter in each square opening, each stick being held in upper position by butter release 13. When filled to the'desired extent, the butter rack is placed into thecooling butter space 6a and permitted to rest on the floor 2b, after the H-shaped guide member 16 is inserted into the slot between the slides 22, 22a.

. A roll of paper 68 is mounted on a shaft and the paper threaded through as shown in Fig. 7.

The operator presses button 62, causing wheel 50 to rotate as described abovegthereby engaging and driving (by shaft 55) the connectingrods 59, 60 and drive member 61. The first forward movement of lever 61 moves an assembly comprising the two plates 95, 95a and their cross-members 75 and 77 and pin 80 and lever 76, causing them to release lever 89 permitting the paper supporting plate or gate 91- to dropinto the open position. At the, same time,.pin.80 moves 'lever 83 which in turn drives pin 42 to move the slide 29 to the left as shown in Figs. 6 and 7, thus driving wire cutter 33 through the butter block projecting below the butter slide 24 and slicing off a slab of butter of the desired thickness. This thickness may be predetermined by rotating the collar 26 to vary the height of the tube 24 and hence of the butter knife (supported-by slide 29 which-rides against blocks 30, 30a which are attached to the tube 29) with respect to the paper 68; At the same time, the spear 34 moves into the butter block to prevent it from slipping down. In the'same movement the projections 94, 94a actuate levers 88, 88afcausing them to raise lower knife 71 by a'pair of L-shaped blocks 99 keyed :through the wall of plate 90 thereto, thereby cutting the'end of the paper strip into an aproximate square. At this stage in the cycle of operations, both the butter and the paper have been cut.

The projections 93, 93a next act on levers 87, 87a, depressing opposed pins 100 connected to the male die 86 and also engaging the lower portion of the L-shaped blocks 99 to lower the cutting knife 71 in normal position. When the male die 86 is depressed, the severed square of paper is forced into and through the female die 72 and bent up along all four edges to form a paper plate or patty 110 (Fig. 8) and to discharge the butter slice and the fabricated paper plate, through the gate opening. At this stage, which is half-way through the cycle of operation, the assembly is in the position shown by the solid lines in Figs. 6 and 7.

Spring 104 then raises male die 86 to its normal position. The forward strokeli been completed with lever 76 pulled out from the clamping member 73 (Figs. 4 and 7) by lug 101, causing clamp 73 to press against crossmember 77 holding the paper strip (Fig. 7).

At the stage of the stroke of drive lever 61 into the position as shown in solid'lines in Fig. 7, the connecting rod 60 is in the position shown in Fig. 3. The purpose of connecting rod 60, with its associated arm 102, which is operable reciprocally in a slot 103 within the wall 2a, is to advance the rack 9 from one butter feeding position to the next after a block 'of butter has been used up in the slicing operation. As shown in Fig. 3, the butter release member 13 is in the position where the stop 13b is advanced into the path of arm 102. The completion of the cycle to return arm 102 to the opposite end of the slot 103, thereby advances the butter rack when arm 102 travels in driving engagement with stop 13b. Each cycle of the machine includes a single reciprocation of the arm 102, but arm 102 does not drive the butter rack 9 unless stop 13b happens to be in the path of arm 102. While butter block 10 is being fed into the slide tube 24, butter release 13 is held in disengaged position because the side wall of the butter block itself prevents the spring 15 from bringing the butter release 13 into the position shown in Fig. 3. Hence, While the butter block is being fed into slide tube 24, the stop 13b on butter release 13 is retracted out of the path of the am 102 whenever it reciprocates.

After the rack 9 has been advanced by the stroke of arm 102 against stop 13b, and hence the next succeeding butter block is aligned over slide tube 24, the return stroke of arm 102 passes along the sloping side of stop 13b to retract it, thereby forcing segment 13a out from under the newly positioned butter blockand permitting knife 33.

'The return stroke of drive member 61 pulls the paper 68 (see Figs. 4 and 7) through the separated knives and between the dies to provide the materialfor a new plate, and the levers 87, 87a and 88, 88a are passed over by the projections 93, 93a, 94, 94a. The levers are springreturned to their original positions and slide frame 29 is returned. This return causes slide 29 to raise lever 39,

as a wedge portion 29a catches beneath lever 39. Spear 35 is thus raised with pivoted rod 36 which slides along member 39 in an upper horizontal position (shown in dotted lines in Fig. 7), and at the same timethe spear 34 moves out from the butter block and spear 35 enters until rod 34 reaches the end of member 39, whenfthe butter stick is again pulled down by operation of the spring 38 (Fig.6). reached lever 89, thereby raising the gate 91 into normal position. As described above, at the end of the cycle, the mechanism is disengaged from the motor by withdrawal of the shaft 55 and the motor is shut ofi, ready for a repetition of the cycle.

What is claimed is:

l. A dispensing device for delivering slices of butter onto paper plates, which comprises a tube for a butter block, a reciprocating carriage carrying a cutting blade, paper feeding means mounted on said carriage, paper cutting and shaping means operatively associated with the carriage, means for predetermining the advance of a block of butter onto paper and into the path of the cutting blade, said reciprocating carriage being operable across the path of a block of butter fed from the tube, said carriage being linked to said blade and to said predetermining means.

2. A dispensing device for delivering slices of butter onto paper plates, which comprises a tube 'for a butter block, a reciprocating carriage carrying a cutting blade, a paper supply, paper feeding means and paper cutting and paper shaping means each operatively associated with the carriage, means for predetermining the advance of a block of butter onto paper and into the path of the cutting blade, said reciprocating carriage being operable across the path of a block of butter fed from the tube, said carriage being linked to said blade and to said advance predetermining means.

3. The combination of claim 2 in which the means for predetermining the advance comprises a pair of reciprocating spears extending from opposite sides into the path of the block of butter, and means linked to said carriage to control the movement of one of said spears along the axis of said tube.

4. A dispensing device for delivering slices of butter onto paper plates, which comprises a tube for a butter block, a reciprocating carriage carrying a cutting blade, a paper supply, paper feeding means and paper cutting and paper shaping means each operatively associated with the carriage, means for predetermining the advance of a block of butter onto paper and into the path of the cutting blade, said reciprocating carriage being operable across the path of a block of butter fed from the tube, said carriage being linked to said blade and to said advance predetermining means, and refrigerating means encasing said tube.

5. A dispensing device for delivering slices of butter onto paper plates, which comprises a tube for a butter block, a reciprocating carriage carrying a cutting blade, paper feeding and paper cutting and paper shaping means each operatively associated with the carriage, means for By now the projections 93, 93a :(Fig 4) have predetermining the advance of a block of butter onto paper and into the'path'of the cutting blade, said reciprocating carriage being'operable across the path of a block of butter fed from'the tube, said carriage being linked to said blade and to said predetermining means, and a drive wheel linked to said carriage.

6 A dispensing device for delivering slices of butter onto paper plates, which'comprises a vertical tube for a butter block, a reciprocating carriage carrying a cutting blade, paper feeding and papercutting and paper shaping means each operatively associated with the carriage, means for predetermining the drop of a block of butter onto paper and into the path of the cutting blade, said reciprocating carriage being operable across the path of a block of butter fed from the tube, said carriage being linked to-said blade and to said predetermining means, and a drive wheel linked to said carriage.

-7. A dispensing device for delivering slices of butter onto paper plates, which comprises a rack of tubes for butter blocks, a reciprocating carriage carrying a cutting blade, paper feeding means and paper cutting and paper shaping means operatively associated with the carriage, means for predetermining the advance of a block of butter onto paper and into the path of thecutting blade, said reciproeating carriage being operable across the path of a block of butter fed from the rack, said carriage being linked to said blade and to said predetermining means, a drive wheel linked to said carriage and to said rack, each tube having in its path a rack trip, a connecting rod linked to said wheel and engaging said rack trip only when said tubecontains a butter block.

8. A dispensing device for delivering slices of material onto shaped plates, which comprises an elongated tube for holding a block of material, a reciprocating'blade disposed below the tube and movable across the path of the tube, 'a paper feeding track disposed below said blade, a paper cutter adjacent said tube and movable parallel to the length of the tube, a male die surrounding said tube and movable parallel to the length of the tube, a female die below said track correspondingto the male die, an actuating carriage reciprocable along said track, said carriage having a paper clamp and a plurality of links attached between said carriage and said clamp, blade and die.

References Cited in the file of this patent- UNITED STATES PATENTS.

1,162,611 Jones Nov, 30, 1915' 1,171,439 Hren Feb. 15, 1916 1,970,183 Osborn Aug. 14, 1934 2,019,002 Drohmann et a1 Oct. 29, 1935 2,107,036 Heineman Feb. 1, 1938 2,321,188 Doering et a1 June 8. 1943 2,471,100 Dodge May 24, 1949 2,529,850 Scharsch Nov. 14, 1950 2,673,429 Riebe Mar. 30, 1954

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