US2926767A

US2926767A - Equipment for collecting workpieces

Info

Publication number: US2926767A
Application number: US634878A
Authority: US
Inventors: Bersa Guido
Original assignee: Gebrueder Boehler and Co AG
Current assignee: Gebrueder Boehler and Co AG
Priority date: 1956-01-23
Filing date: 1957-01-18
Publication date: 1960-03-01
Anticipated expiration: 1977-03-01

Description

March 1, 1960 cs. BERSA 2,926,767

r EQUIPMENT FOR COLLECTING WORKPIECES Filed Jan. 18, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 f N I 3 II a 'Q/ I i-gD .g cs F@ a P a L; UN 0.:

men-Z01 March 1, 1960 RsA 2,926,767

EQUIPMENT FOR COLLECTING WORKPIECES Filed Jan. 18, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 a cooling bed or the like. The

- said workpieces to that the factors which determine pieces which are identical intermittent cutting operations.

2,926,767 EQUIPMENT FOR COLLECTING WORKPIECES Guido Bersa, Kapfenberg, Steiermark, Austria, assignor to Gebr. Bohler & Co. Aktiengesellschaft, Vienna, Austria ApplicationJanuary 18, 1957, Serial No. 634,878 Claims priority, application Austria January 23,1956

5 Claims. (Cl. 193-38) This invention relates to equipment for collectingworkpieces, more particularly. for piling such workpieces with aligned ends in a receiver, which may consist of a trough, workpieces to be collected are discharged by feeding means at a predetermined velocity in a predetermined direction and in a predetermined position. An upwardly facing, rigid slideway is provided, the longitudinal axis of which extends in said predetermined direction and which has an inclination transverse to said longitudinal axis. This slideway is arranged slidingly to receive said workpieces directly from said feeding means in a zone which is spaced. above the lower side edge of the slideway and adjacent to one end of: the slideway. The slideway is adapted to progressively reduce the velocityofthe workpieces in the predetermined direction on the slideway by friction and the inclination of. theslideway is sufficient to cause reach of move laterally from said slideway across a predetermined portion of the lowerside edge thereof when the workpieces are allowed -to movefreely on the slideway. .It is apparent that the movement of the workpieces on the slideway will be substantially in accordance with a parabolic curve. When the workpieces :consist, for example, of :bars discharged by the. roller tablein the axial direction ofrthe bars, the latter will not change their position while on the. slideway.

The slideway is preferably of sufiicient length to reduce the velocity of the workpiecesinsaid predetermined. direction substantially to zero on said slideway. Inv this. case the. inclination of the slideway is preferably such asto cause each of said workpieces toreach the lower edge of the slideway when the velocity of theworkpiece in said predetermined direction has. been reduced substantially to zero. In this casethe equipment will enable the, piling up'even of deformable, for example, hot bars beside the slideway without deformation of the bars.

To ensure that all workpieces, are piled up with their ends exactly aligned it is essential, or at least desirable, the movement of the workpiece on the slideway be maintained constant for all workpieces handled in a run. These factors include:

(a) The direction in which the workpieces are moving when they arereceived by the slideway;

(b) The velocity of the workpieces in said direction when they are received by the slideway;

flush with each other, so thatadditionsl devices are re- '(c)' The positionof the workpiece at the time at which it. is received by the slideway;

(d) The weight. of the workpiece; '(e) Thescoeflicient of friction between those portions 0f the workpiece. which contact the slideway. and the latter; V t

'(f) The size and shape of the surface portions of the workpiecewhich contacttheslideway. V p

In this specification and the appended claims, the term fidentical workpieces has been used to'describe workwith respect to the factors d, e, and f above.

fThe slideway may also be used as. a cutting table for For this purpose the in- 2,926,757 Patented Mar. 1, 1960 clination of the slideway must be suilicient to enable the workpieces, which are temporarily held in position on the slideway during the cutting operation, to start moving down the slideway as soon inclination is usually greater than the optimum inclination of the slideway when used only for collecting operations.

Roller-tables have become known for an automatic collection of the workpieces. They have to be lifted on one side and to be furnished with rolls, which have to be turned into transversal direction. 7

Equipments for piling up tubes and bars have become known, furnished with a roller-gear-bed, along which the workpieces are gliding. As soon as they reach the end of that roller-gear-bed they are forced aside by loweringledges and made to roll down to the pile along a slope. Another equipment for periodical ejection of the continuously arriving rolling-bars provided a pressuremedium, eg. columns of air or water for ejection. In this equipment, however, the workpieces are not arranged quired,-which can be dispensed if an equipment as described by the invention is used.

The invention will be explained hereinafter with reference to illustrative embodiments shown in the drawings, in which:

Figs. 1 and 2, respectively, are a side elevation and a top plan view showing collecting'equipment according to the invention, i

Figs. 3a and 3!) are sectional views taken on lines AB and C-D, respectively, of Fig. 1. Fig. 31) also shows a means for adjusting the slideway to the desired inclination, I

Fig. 4 is a top plan view showing another embodiment of the inventio 5n a side elevation showing the collecting equipment of Fig. 4 viewed in the direction indicated at E in Fig. 4, and

Fig. 5b is a sectional view taken on line F-G of Fig. 4.

With reference to Figs. 1 to 3, rolled barsa, which have been cut to length, are discharged by the roller table c, exactly in the axial direction of the bars and at a predetermined velocity in said direction. The longitudinal axis of the upwardly facing, rigid slideway b extends in the axial direction of the bars a. This slideway b has an inclination transverse to its longitudinal direction and is arranged slidingly to receive the bars a from the roller table c adjacent to the end of the slideway which is near the roller table in a zone which isspaced from the lower side edge of the slideway. In the position of the slideway indicated with solid lines in Fig. 3 this lower side edge is the side edge (1' identified in Fig. 2. The slideway b is adapted progressively to reduce the velocity of the bars a in their axial direction and the inclination of the slideway is sufficient to cause the bars a to move laterally from the slideway across a predetermined portion of the lower side edge at thereof when the bars a are allowed to move freely on the slideway.

A receiver, such as the trough e, is arranged beside and below this predetermined portion of the lower side edge a" of the slideway b and receives the bars moving across this side edge.

For collecting deformable workpieces, e.g., hot bars a, the length of the slideway b is such that it reduces the velocity of the harsh in the axial direction thereof substantially to zero while the bars are on the slideway and the inclination of the slideway is such that when the bars are allowed to move freely on the slideway they will reachthe lower edge a" of the slideway when their velocity in their axial direction has just been reduced substantially to zero. In this case the bars a will drop into the trough e substantially without any velocity in their axial direc as they are released. This tion. If the hot bars a were still moving in their axial direction while dropping into the trough e, they would be likely to strike against a wall of the trough e or fall into the same with one end ahead of the other; in both cases the hot bars would be liable to be deformed.

As viewed in Fig. 3 the slideway b may be transversely inclined selectively toward the left or to the right. The latter position is indicated with dotted lines in Fig. 3. When the equipment is used for collecting bars a cut from successive ingots, all bars cut from one ingot may be collected, for example, in the trough 2'. During the short period between the discharge of the last bar of this ingot and the first bar of the next ingot the slideway b can be tilted over to the other side to discharge all bars from this second ingot across the side edge which is now the lower side edge, into the trough e ar' ranged opposite to the trough e. In the meantime, the trough e can be emptied.

Any suitable means may be utilized to adjust the slideway b to the desired inclination. An example of such means, which does not form part of the invention, is particularly shown in Fig. 3b. An arm p depends from the underside of the slideway member b and carries pins q which are received by the bearing eyes s of a push rod t, which is connected by a self-locking transmission 11 to a reversible electric motor v, the energization of which will cause the slideway member b to be adjusted to the desired inclination. The self-locking transmission u will hold the slideway member b in its adjusted position when the motor v is deenergized.

The point where the bars a move across the side edge d or a" of the slideway b can be varied and precisely adjusted by slight changes in the inclination of the slideway b. To enable this adjustment of its inclination, the slideway b is carried by a supporting structure, which comprises three semicircular members 1 rigid with the slideway b and disposed on the underside thereof. The underside of each of these members 1 is shaped in accordance with an arc of a circle extending in a vertical plane which is at right angles to the longitudinal axis of the slideway b. The underside of each of these members 1 is engaged by laterally spaced rollers g, the axes of which are parallel to the longitudinal axis of the slideway b. Withthe aid of an appropriate drive the transverse inclination of the slideway b can thus be adjusted throughout a range which includes an intermediate position in which the slideway b has no transverse inclination with respect to its longitudinal axis.

It is apparent from Figs. 4 and 5a and 5b that the equipment described may also be used as a cutting table. The slideway b is arranged slidingly to receive the workpiece across that end of the slideway which is near the roller table c. For use of the slideway as a cutting table, an axial stop means consisting of an adjustable pivoted stop i (Fig. 5b) is moved into the path of the workpiece so as to be engagcable by the latter to limit the movement thereof in its axial direction before the workpiece has been entirely received by the slideway b. in this case the workpiece may consist of a continuous ingot. Furthermore, a pivoted stop bar 11 is moved into the path of the workpiece to be engageable by the same to limit the movement of the workpiece in the direction of the inclination of the slideway b when the workpiece has en gaged the stop i. When the workpiece has engaged the stops it and i it is cut off by the shears 1 between the roller table 0 and the slideway b. Then the stop bar h is lifted for a short time. In this case the slideway b is set to an inclination sufficient to cause the cut-cit bar to move from standstill across the lower side edge of the slideway b and fall into the trough k disposed below and beside said side edge when the stop bar It has been lifted out of the path of the workpiece. The entire operation can be repeated after the stop bar It has been moved'back into the path of the workpiece.

Any suitable means may be utilized to remove the stop bar h out of the path of the workpieces. An example of such means, which does not form part of the invention, is shown inFig. 5b and comprises a reciprocable motor r connected by a linkage x to the stop bar h and operable to lift and lower the bar from and to the slideway b.

The equipment according to the invention requires only a small space and enables the piling of bars, billets and the like, which are supplied in rapid succession after they have been cut to equal lengths, e.g., with rotary shears moving with the bar, as well as the collecting of rolled bars which have been cut oil on the slideway itself.

I claim:

1. Equipment for collecting workpieces, which comprises feeding means for discharging workpieces along a predetermined straight path, an upwardly facing, rigid slideway the longitudinal axis of which extends in the direction of said path and which is unmovable in the direction of said path and arranged to receive said workpieces adjacent to one end of said slideway to permit them to move on said slideway in the direction of said path with sliding friction, and a supporting structure carrying said slideway with freedom of pivotal movement about an axis which is parallel to said longitudinal axis to a position in which said slideway has an inclination transverse to said longitudinal axis to cause said workpieces to move laterally from said slideway when said workpieces are allowed to move freely on said slideway.

2. Equipment as set forth in claim 1, in which said feeding means are arranged to discharge substantially identical workpieces at a predetermined velocity along said path to said slideway and said slideway is of willcient length to reduce the velocity of said workpieces in the-direction of said path substantially to-zero only by the sliding friction of said workpieces on said slideway when said workpieces are allowed to move freely on said slideway and the inclination of said slideway is such as to cause said workpieces to move laterally from said slideway after their velocity in the direction of said path has thus been reduced substantially to zero.

3. Equipment as set forth in claim 1, which comprises lateral stop means removably mounted in :the path of said workpieces on said slideway when the same has said inclination, said lateral stop means being engageable by each of said workpieces to limit the lateral movement thereof on said slideway.

4. Equipment as set forth in claim 3, which comprises axial stop means removably mounted in the path of said workpieces and engageable by each of said workpieces to limit the movement thereof in the direction of said longitudinal axis of said slideway, and in which said lateral stop means is engageable by each of said workpieces'to limit the movement thereof in the direction of said inclination when said workpiece has engaged said axial stop means.

5. Equipment as set forth in claim 4, in which said axial stop means is removably mounted in the path of said workpieces to be en-gageable by each of said workpieces to limit the movement thereof in the direction of said longitudinal axis of said slideway before the work: piece has been entirely received by said slideway, and which comprises cutting means disposed between said feeding means and said slideway adjacent to the path of said workpieces and operable to out each of said work pieces when the same engages said axial and lateral stop means.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,587,069 Edwards June 1, 1926 2,217,075 OMalley Oct. 8, 1940 2,518,171 Oxley et a1. Aug. 8, 1950 2,741,356 Axton Apr. 10, 1956