US2859854A

US2859854A - Article-loading apparatus

Info

Publication number: US2859854A
Application number: US518784A
Authority: US
Inventors: Warren O Simpson; Frederick L Strain
Original assignee: Western Electric Co Inc
Current assignee: AT&T Corp
Priority date: 1955-06-29
Filing date: 1955-06-29
Publication date: 1958-11-11
Anticipated expiration: 1975-11-11

Description

Nav. l1, 1958 w. o. slMPsoN Erm. 2,859,854

ARTICLE-LOADING APPARATUS Filed June 29, 1955 2 Sheetsheet 1 n Lf l MNM/,rms ai 5 W. QS/MAsaN 1 a, A'LmA/,v 4 :a

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ARTICLE-LOADING APPARATUS Filed June 29.- 1955 2 SheetsPSheet 2 wsrf/17ans W O. $/MPso/l L. 57m /N Unite Sttcs ARTICLE-LOADING APPARATUS Warren U. Simpson and Frederick L. Strain, Indianapolis,

Ind., assignors to Western Electric Company, Incorporated, New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application June 29, 1955, Serial No. 518,784

10 Claims. (Cl. 198-26) This invention relates to article-loading apparatus, and more particularly to devices for moving protector blocks from a chute into a dial.

An object of the invention is to provide apparatus for gently gripping ceramic protector blocks and moving the blocks into a dial of a machine.

Another object of the invention is to provide apparatus for feeding protector blocks to a loading station over a dial, gripping the top and bottom of each protector block and lowering the block while it is still gripped into a socket in the dial.

An apparatus illustrating certain features of the invention may include a pair of opposed grippers between which a protector block and a socket in a dial may be moved, after which the grippers grip the block and move it into the socket.

A complete understanding of the invention may be obtained from the following detailed description of an apparatus forming a specific embodiment thereof when read in conjunction with the appended drawings, in which Fig. 1 is a fragmentary, top plan view of an apparatus forming one embodiment of the invention;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary vertical section taken along line 2--2 of Fig. l;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged vertical section of a portion of the apparatus shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged horizontal section taken along line 4-4 of Fig. 3, and

Fig. 5 is an enlarged sectional view of a protector block loaded by the apparatus shown in Fig. 1.

Referring now in detail to the drawings, there is shown therein a machine for testing cylindrical protector blocks 7 comprising ceramic bodies 8 carrying carbon rods 9. The machine includes a dial 10 having sockets 11 therein for receiving the protector blocks 7 from a loader 12 receiving the protector blocks from a chute 13 leading from a hopper (not shown). Ledges or projecting supports 14 at the bottom of each socket prevent the protector blocks from falling through the dial 10. The dial 10 is moved by a well known drive (not shown) step-bystep to locate each socket 11 roughly at the loader 12, remain stationary while one of the protector blocks 7 is positioned in the socket 11 by the loader 12 and then move again to move the next socket to the loader.

The loader 12 is mounted on a stationary plate 21 at the periphery of the dial 10, and includes a top frame 22 and a bottom frame 23 fixed rigidly to the plate 21 by cap screws 24. The frame 22 has a bore 28 therein of a diameter just slightly larger than that of the protector blocks, and a guideway 29 having bottom supports or ledges 30 etxends from the chute 13 to the bore 28 so that the protector blocks 7 travel one at a time into the bore 28 from the guide, the blocks being urged gently theretoward by well known means (not shown), such as, for example, a vibrator vibrating the chute 13.

There is a slight play between the dial 10 and the step- 2,859,854 Patented Nov. 11, i958 by-step drive (not shown) for the dial 10 so that each socket 11 is positioned only roughly inalignment with the bore 28 and a rod 35 aligned with the bore 28 and having a slot 36 for clearing the retaining ledges 14. After the dial 10 has been stopped with an empty socket 11 approximately directly below the bore 28, an actuating plate 37 is raised to swing a lever 38 on a lxed pin 39 in a counterclockwise direction, as viewed in Fig. 2. This swings a lever 40 through a pin 41 counterclockwise about a pin 42 heldin a slot 43 in the frame 23 by tension springs 44. The lever 40 pushes the rod 35 upwardly in fixed guide arms 45 and 46 against the action of a compression spring 47 seated between the arm 46 and a collar 48 pinned to the rod 35. 'Ihe rod 35 is pushed up into the socket 11, a tapered nose portion 49 of the rod 35 entering the socket 11 lirst, and the rod 35 moves the dial 10, if necessary, to center the Socket 11 below the bore 28. The rod 3S engages the protector block l in the bore 28, and pushes it against a round nose 50 of a spring-pressed plunger 51, which slightly enters the upper end of the ceramic body 8 of the protector block. The rod 35 and the plunger 51 grip the protector block with the force of a compression spring 52 in a guide 53 mounted on an arm 54 and urging the plunger 51 downwardly. Downward movement of the plunger 51 is limited by a pin 55 on the guide 53 projecting into a slot 57 in the plunger 51. An extension 58 of the pin 55 permits the pin 55 to be moved upwardly manually. The arm 54 is fastened rigidly to a mounting rod 59 normally urged upwardly by a spring 60 and mounted slidably in bores 61, 62 and.63 in the frame 22, an arm 65 and the arm 46, respectively. Upward movement of the rod 59 is limited by a tapped collar 64 mounted adjustably on a threaded end portion 67 of the rod 59 and secured in desired position by a set screw 66.

As the rod 35 is raised, it raises the arm 65 pinned thereto and slidable on the rod 59, and, as the rod 35 and the plunger 51 grip the protector block, the arm 65 is moved completely above a guideway 72 in the plunger 59. Then springs 73 seated in

sockets

74 and 75 in U- shaped locks 76 push the ends of the locks 76 under the arm 65. Then the plate 37 is lowered, and the spring 47, which is stronger than the spring 60, pushes the rod 35, the rod 59 and the plunger 51 downwardly to seat the protector block 7 in the socket 11 against the ledges 14, the rod 59 being locked against upward movement relative to the rod 35 by the locks 76 projecting under the arm 65.

Before the protector block 7 is seated in the socket 11. an actuating rod 81 slidable in a bore 82 in the rod 59 engages an adjustment screw 83 on the arm 45, and is held against further downward movement with` the rod 59. The rod 59 continues downwardly, and inclined cam faces 84 on the rod 81 engage inclined faces 85 on the locks 76 and pull the locks 76 completely into the guideway 72 to release the rod 59 from the arm 65. The rod 59 then is moved back up to its initial or starting position by the spring 60, the rod 35 is lowered further to its starting position, and the dial 10 is stepped to move the loaded protector block out of the loader 12 and an empty socket into the loader for loading.

The above-described loader grips each protector block gently and moves it into one of the sockets by the gentle pressure of the spring 52. Also, in case a socket 11 is moved to the loader 12 with a previously loaded protector block therein, crushing of the blocks 7 is prevented by the springs 44 permitting the pin 42 to move down in the slot 43. Since the nose of the plunger 51 is rounded and each ceramic body 8 is generally tubular, the body centers` itself on the plunger as the protector block is pushed upwardly by the rod 35, in case the protector block had been slightly cocked in the bore 28.

It is to be understood that the above-described arrangel ments are simply illustrative of the application of the principles of the invention. Numerous other arrangements may be readily devised by those skilled in the art which will embody the principles of the invention and fall within the spirit and scope thereof.

What is claimed is:

l. An article-loading apparatus, which comprises a carrier having a hole therethrough, a pair of gripping elements positioned on opposite sides of the carrier, means for actuating the carrier to move the hole into alignment with said gripping elements, means for moving one of said gripping elements through the hole to grip an article with the other gripping element, means operated by the moving gripping elements for locking the gripping elements together, means for moving the locked gripping elements toward the hole to move the article into the hole, and means for unlocking the gripping elements upon movement of the article into the hole.

2. An article-loading apparatus, which comprises a pair of gripping elements, a carrier having a hole therethrough, means for moving the carrier to advance the hole between the gripping elements, means for feeding an article to a position between the elements at one end of the hole, means for moving a first of said gripping elements through the hole to grip an article with the other gripping element, means actuated by the movement of the first gripping element for locking said gripping elements together, means for moving the gripping elcments together to move the article into the hole, and means actuated by the second gripping element for releasing the locking means.

3. In an apparatus having a carrier provided with a socket extending therethrough, a transfer device comprising a guide positioned adjacent to the carrier for guiding an article into the socket, a plunger positioned above the bore, a gripping member movable through the socket to grip the article with the plunger, a resiliently biased latch actuated by the movement of the gripping member for latching the plunger to the gripping member, means for moving the plunger toward the socket and the gripping member therewith to move the article into the socket, cam means mounted in the plunger for releasing the latch, and means rendered effective by movement of the plunger for operating the cam means to release the latch.

4. In an apparatus having a dial provided with a socket extending therethrough, a transfer device comprising a guide positioned above the dial and having a bore aligned with the socket in the dial and a guideway for guiding a cylindrical article laterally into the bore, a plunger positioned above the bore, an actuating rod having an arm thereon carrying the plunger and mounted vertically and urged upwardly, a gripping rod mounted below the dial in alignment with the plunger, an arm carried by the gripping rod and slidable on the actuating rod, means for moving the gripping rod into the socket toward the plunger to grip an article therebetween,v latching means carried by the actuating rod and the arm carried by the gripping rod for locking the actuating rod to the gripping rod, means for lowering the gripping rod to move the actuating rod and the plunger therewith so as to load an article in the socket, and means for releasing the latching means after the article has been loaded in the socket.

5. In an apparatus having a dial provided with a socket extending therethrough, a transfer device comprising a guide positioned above the dial and having a bore aligned with the socket in the dial and a guideway for guiding a cylindrical article laterally into the bore, a plunger positioned above the bore, an actuating rod mounted vertically and having an arm thereon carrying the plunger and urged upwardly, said rod also having a bore in the lower end thereof and a transverse slot therein, a gripping rod mounted below the dial in alignment with the plunger, an arm carried by the gripping rod and slidable on the actuating rod, means for moving the gripping rod into the socket toward the plunger to grip an article therebetween, a latch carried in the slot in the actuating rod and movable when the arm is moved up the actuating rod for locking the actuating rod to the gripping rod, means for lowering the gripping rod to move the actuating rod and the plunger therewith so as to load an article in the socket, and means movable in the bore for actuating the latch to release the actuating rod from the gripping rod after the article has been loaded in the socket.

6. A protector block processing machine, which comprises an arcuate plate mounted in a fixed horizontal position, a dial having sockets extending therethrough and rotatable step-by-step past the plate, a member fixed to the plate in a position extending over the path of the sockets and having a bo-re aligned with each socket as that socket is stopped thereunder in the stepping of the dial, said member having a guideway extending laterally into the bottom portion o-f the bore for guiding a tubular article laterally into the bottom portion of the bore, an actuator rod mounted vertically and slidably on the plate, a spring-pressed plunger carried by the actuator rod in a position offset from the rod and extending into the bore, means urging the rod upwardly to a position in which the plunger does not extend into the lower portion of the bore, a gripping rod mounted vertically in a position below the dial and aligned with the plunger, means for moving the gripping rod upwardly through one of the sockets to press an article in the lower end of the bore against the plunger, means for lowering the gripping rod, means for latching the actuator rod to the gripping rod while the gripping rod is lowered through the socket, and means for rendering the latching means inoperative when the article has been placed in the socket.

7. A protector block processing machine, which comprises an arcuate plate mounted in a fixed horizontal position, a dial having sockets extending therethrough and rotatable step-by-step past the plate, a member fixed to the plate in a position extending over the path of the sockets and having a bore aligned with each socket as that socket is stopped thereunder in the stepping of the dial, said member having a guideway extending laterally into the bottom portion of the bore for guiding a tubular article laterally into the bore, an actuator rod having a bore therein and a lateral slot extending from the bore, said actuator rod being mounted vertically and slidably on the plate, a spring-pressed plunger carried by the actuator rod in a position offset from the rod and extending into the bore, means urging the rod upwardly to a position in which the plunger does not extend into the lower portion of the bore, a gripping rod mounted vertically in a position below the dial and aligned with the plunger, means for moving the gripping rod upwardly through one of the sockets to press an article in the lower end of the bore against the plunger, means for lowering the gripping rod, a cam plate slidable in the slot in the actuator rod for latching the actuator rod to the arm carried by the gripping rod while the gripping rod is lowered through the socket, a release pin carried in the -bore in the actuator rod, and a stop for actuating the release pin to withdraw the cam plate from latching position when the article has been placed in the socket.

8. In an apparatus for transferring articles to a carrier wherein the carrier is provided with facilities for receiving the articles, a first gripping means positioned in register with one of said receiving facilities, a second gripping means positioned in alignment with and spaced from said first gripping means on the opposite side of said article receiving facility, means for moving said first gripping means toward and away from said receiving facility, means actuated by said first gripping means moving toward said receiving facility for latching said second gripping means to said first gripping means, and

means actuated by the movement of said second gripping means for releasing said latching means.

9. An article-loading apparatus, comprising a first `movably mounted article gripping member, a second movably mounted gripping member spaced from and positioned to be engaged by the first gripping member, a spring-biased latch connected to said second gripping member and adapted to latch the second gripping member for movement with the first gripping member, means mounted on the first gripping member for holding said latch from the latching position, means for imparting a reciprocatory movement to said first gripping member whereby said latch is released to hold the gripping members together as the gripping members are returned to the initial position, and means for restoring said latch upon movement of the gripping members into the initial position.

10. An article-loading apparatus, comprising a first slidably mounted article gripping member, a second slidably mounted article gripping member spaced from the first gripping member and adapted to be engaged by an article moved by said first gripping member, means for moving said first gripping member toward and away from said second gripping member, a spring-biased latch connected to said second gripping member, a holding means connected to said first gripping member for holding the latch from a latching position and permitting release of the latch upon movement of the first gripping member toward the second gripping member whereby movement of the first member toward the initial position causes said latch to advance the second member with the first, and means for restoring the latch to the initial position upon movement of the first member into the initial position.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,911,650 Smith May 30, 1933 Bergstrand Nov. 20, 1956