US2931487A

US2931487A - Article feeding mechanism

Info

Publication number: US2931487A
Application number: US779189A
Authority: US
Inventors: Frank Anton Richard; William H Giles
Original assignee: BUREN MACHINE CORP VAN
Current assignee: BUREN MACHINE CORP VAN; VAN BUREN MACHINE CORP
Priority date: 1958-12-09
Filing date: 1958-12-09
Publication date: 1960-04-05
Anticipated expiration: 1977-04-05

Description

April 5, 1960 A. R. FRANK ETAL 2,931,487

ARTICLE: FEEDING MECHANISM Filed Deo. 9, 1958 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTORS #mrow/5760600 PA/v/f rM/QEY April 5, 1960 A. R. FRANK AEl' AL ARTICLE FEEDING MECHANISM Filed Dec. 9, 1958 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 YM//u/AM H. 'MES April 5, 1960 A. R. FRANK ET AL 2,931,487

' ARTICLE FEEDING MECHANISM April 5, 1960 A. R. FRANK ET AL 2,931,487

ARTICLE FEEDING MECHANISM Filed Dec. 9. 1958 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Jl u icy-g:

United States Patent O 2,931,481 Y ARTICLE FEEDING MECHANISM Anton Richard Frank, Jamaica, and William H. Giles, Brooklyn, N.Y., assignors to Van Buren Machine Corp., Brooklyn, N.Y., a corporation of New York Application December 9, 1958, Serial No. 779,189

5 Claims. (Cl. 198-232) This invention relates to feeding mechanism for feeding articles to be wrapped to awrapping machine.

It is most important that a st eady supply line of articles be fed t'o a wrapping machine and the present invention has for its salient object to insure a constant supply o'f articles to a wrapping machine.

Another object of the invention is to provide control means so operated that in the event that the constant Iflow of articles is interrupted, the wrapping machine moto'r, which also normally drives the feeding mechanism, will cease t operate, and an auxiliary motor will be cut in to drive the article feeding mechanism.

Another object of the invention is to provide a constant supply of articles in the feed line of a Wrapping machine by providing a dual feed to the Wrapping machine line and controlling alternate feeding o'f articles from the two supply lines.

Further objects of theinvention Will appear from the following specification taken in connection with the drawings which form a part of this application, and in which Fig. 1 is a top plan View of a machine constructed in accordance with the invention;

Fig. 2 is a horizontal sectional view taken below the top plate or table of the machine and showing in plan view the feeding conveyors and driving connections;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged sectional elevation taken substantially on line 3 3 of Fig. 2, looking in the direction o'f the arrows;

Fig. 4 is a sectional elevation, on an enlarged scale, taken substantially on line 4 4 of Fig. 2, looking in the direction of the arrows;

Fig. 5 is a sectional elevation, on an enlarged scale, taken substantially o'n line 5 5 of Fig. 2, looking in the direction of the arrows;

Fig. 6 is a sectional elevation, on an enlarged scale, taken substantially on line 6 6 of Fig. 2, looking in the direction of the arrows;

Fig. 7 is a top plan view of the structure shown in Fig. 6;

Fig. V8 is a detail sectional elevation taken substantially on line 8 8 o'f Fig. 2, looking in the direction of the arrows; and

Fig. 9 is a diagrammatic view showing the operation of the feeler which is mounted in conjunction with the delivery conveyor which delivers the articles to the wrapping machine, and the switches and motors controlled thereby.

The invention, briefly described, comprises a pair of supply lines fo'r feeding articles to vbe wrapped, and a central delivery line or conveyor mounted betweeny the two supply lines and adapted to receive varticles alter- 2,931,487 Patented Apr. V5,]19'60 tions from the motor which operates theA wrapping machine, but when the supply of articles 'on the delivery conveyor is interrupted a switch is operated to interrupt the operation of the Wrapping machine motorl and to start in operation an auxiliary motor which under these conditions drives the conveyors and the delivery conveyor until a constant supply of articles again flows to the wrapping machine on the delivery conveyor. When the constant stream of articles again flows, the auxiliary motor is cut out and the wrapping machine motor is cut in. Since alternative drives are provided for the conveyors which supply the articles, overrunning clutches are provided at various points in the operating connections, these clutches operating in the manner hereinafter described.

Further details of the invention will appear from the following description. l

In the particular embodiment of the invention illustrated in the drawings, there is shown in Fig. 1 a table or platform 20 above which the conveyor belts operate. The articles are brought into the feeding mechanism by feed belts 21 and 22, shown in Fig. 2. These belts feed the articles through channels 23 and 24 onto' ledges or anges 25 and 26 formed on disks 27 and 28 which, as shown in Fig. 3,` have annular grooves 29 therein.

The flanges 25 and 26 receive the articles S, which in the present instance are lumps of sugar, from the conveyors 21 and 22 and the articles are stripped from v the flanges and delivered to a pair of

conveyor belts

30 and 31 by fingers 32 on the platform 20.

A delivery belt 33 is mounted .betweenthebelts 30 and 31 and the articleson the

belts

30 and 31 arealternately fed to the delivery belt by a reciprocable slide block or valve 35, illustrated particularly in Figs. 5, 6 and 7.

The

conveyor belts

30, 31 and 33 are mounted on

pulleys

40, 41 and 42 and the

belts

30 and 31 are "ice mounted at their outer ends on

pulleys

43 and 44. The

belt 33 is mounted at its other end on a pulley 45.

The

pulleys

40, 41 and 42 are mounted on a shaft 46 which is mountedv in brackets 47 carried by avertical plate 48. The shaft 46 has secured to its

ends bevel gears

49 and 50 which mesh with

gears

51 and 52 on

shafts

53 and 54 which are suppo'rted in vertical plates or frame members 48 and 55. Shafts 53 and 54 have also "When the wrapping machine motor ceases to operate, an

auxiliary motor, designated as M in Figs. 2 and 3, will be cut into operation. f

Driving connections from auxiliary motor The'driving connections from the motor M will first be described and thereafter the driving connections from the Wrapping machine motor will be described.

The motor M is mounted on a suitable support below the table or platform 20 and the motor shaft is connected through an overrunning clutch 65 to a shaft 66 on which is mounted a sprocket 67. The sprocket 67 drives a chain 68 which is mounted on a sprocket 69 secured toa shaft 70. Shaft 70 has also secured thereto a sprocket 75 which drives a chain 76 which is mounted onvthe sprocket V7 5 and on a sprocket 77 on the shaft 46.

'.Tfhe shaft V70'ialso .has :secured thereto bevel gearsv 78 and 79 which mesh withbevel` gears.80uand.81.mounted on

shafts

82 and 83 on which the disks 27 and 28 are mounted.

YTheoperation of and driving connections rfortheslide -.valve.or block 35, as'shown particularlyin Figs. 5, 6 and 7, -will now be described.

The valve .or block 35 has a pair of pockets or re- .cesses 90 and'91 which open downwardly and are dimensioned to fit over the articles S which are fed by the conveyors'30, 31 and 33. The block 35 also has faces or surfaces 92 and 93 which in certain positions of the vblock .are adapted to engage and hold the advance articles on the

conveyors

30 and 31. `For instance, in Fig. 6 the article yS on conveyor 30 is being engaged and held by the surface 92, and in Fig. the article S on conveyor 31 is being held by the surface93.

As shown in Fig. 7, articles are also held after passing through one of the pockets or channels 90 and 9=1 by `

blocks

95 and 96 supported by bars 97 and 98 mounted between the delivery conveyor 33 and the pulleys 43 and 44.at the delivery ends of the

conveyors

30 and 31.

' 4The slide valve or block 35 Valternately delivers'articles S from the conveyors 30 and 31to the central or deliveryconveyor 33. In Fig. 7, an article S is shown in engagement with the block 96 and in the channel or pocket 91. When the slide valve or block is reciprocated from 'theposition shown in Fig. 6 to the position shown in Fig. 5, this article S in the channel 91 will be moved across the intervening portion of the table from the conveyor 31 tothe conveyor 33. After the article has been so delivered, the block or valve will be reciprocated again back -to the position shown in Fig. 6, whereupon the article S on the conveyor 30 will be moved from the conveyor 30 to the conveyor 33.

The operation 'ofthe slide valve or block` will now be described. This block is pivotcd at v100 to an upwardly `extending larm 101 on a bar 102, and the block is held in the position shown in Figs.' 5 and 6 by a spring 103. The bar 102 is mounted to slide on a block 104 and the 'bar'has on itsV under surface a rack 105. lThis rack is engaged by a gear 106 mounted on a spindle 107. The

Y spindle 107 has also secured thereto a gear 108 which is engaged bya rack 109 on a rack bar 110. The bar 110 hasa bifurcatedextension 111 which straddles a square block 112 on the shaft 54. This shaft has also secured thereto fa cam 113 which ris engaged by a roller V114 carriedlby the rack bar 110. As the cam rotates, the rack bar..110 and rack 109 will be reciprocated and through the

gears

108 and 106 will reciprocate the rack 105 and bar 2 'and thereby reciprocate the slide valve or block35.

rAsishown in Fig. 2, the shaft 54, which is driven by the

bevel gear connections

50 and 52 from the shaft 46, extends upwardly, and on the upper end thereof there is a `bevel gear 120 which meshes with a gear 121 mounted on the shaft 122 on which the

pulleys

43 and 44 are mounted.

Drive Control As hereinbefore described, the feeding conveyors are normally driven by driving connections to the wrapping machine motor, that is, as long as a constant supply of articles is being fed to the Wrapping machine by the delivery belt 33. When the stream of articles is interrupted, the Wrapping machine motor is stopped and the auxiliary motor M is cut into operation and drives the feeding mechanism. This is accomplished by the feeler Vdevice and switch mechanism shown in Fig. 4 and shown diagrammatically in Fig. 9. The feeler consists of a bell crank lever 125 which is pivotcd at 126 and comprises

tWo arms

127 and 128. The arm 128 has an extension 129 disposed over the path of movement of the articles Sand when the delivery of the articles is interrupted the extension 129 drops, thus moving the bell crank lever in avcloekwise direction and causing an extension 13@ Q11 the arm 127 to engage a switch arm 131 of a'micro-switc'h n.13210 close this switchand cut-inthe-motor M orset-the motor M in operation.

On the other hand, when'a constant stream of articles S is moving along the delivery conveyor 33, the arm 130 will be moved in an anticlockwise direction, thus operating a switch `arm 133 of `a micro-switch 134, causing the wrapping machine motor to operate. This operation is shown diagrammatically in-Fig. 9.

Driving connections from wrapping 'machine rolle`ll When the wrapping machine motor is in operation, it is connected by a chain to astub shaft 141 having a bevel gear 142 connected to a bevel gear 143 on a shaft 144. The shaft 144 is connected through an overrunning clutch 145 to a spindle'146 on which the pulley 45 is mounted at the delivery end of belt 33. Thus, when the wrapping machine motor is operating, the pulley 45 will be driven through the clutch 145.

The stub shaft 1141 has mounted thereon asprocket wheel Which-is connected by -achain 151 to a sprocket 152 on a -shaft 153. This shaft 153 has also mounted thereon a sprocket wheel 154 which is ,connected Vby a chain 155 which drives a sprocket wheel 156, which in turn drives an overrunning clutch 157 on the shaft 54. The clutch 157 drives the shaft 54 when the wrapping machine motor is operating and idles when the shaft is being driven from the auxiliary motor M.

summarizing, when the wrapping machine motor is driving the`feeding mechanism, the drive is communicated through the chain 140 to stub shaft 141 and through

gears

142 and 143 to the overrunning clutch 145, and thence to the shaft of the delivery belt pulley 45. Also, the stubshaft 141, through the sprocket and chain drives 150, 151 and 152, drives the shaft 153, and throughthis shaft and sprocket and

chain connections

154, 155 and 156 drives the overrunning clutch 157, which in turn drives the shaft 54. The driving connections between the 'shaft 54 andthe delivery belts 21 and 22 and

lthe belts

30 and 31 Yhave been described and need not be repeated.

From the foregoing description it will be clear that simple and practical mechanism has been provided for insuring a constant 'supply to the wrapping machine of articles Vto be Wrapped and for providing alternative drives from the Wrapping machine motor and from the auxiliary motor which is cut into'operation when the supply of articles is interrupted.

Although one'specic embodiment of the invention has been particularly shown and described, it will be understood that the invention is capable of modification and that changes in the construction and in the arrangement of the various cooperating parts may be made without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention, las expressed in the'following claims.

What we claim is: v

1. Feeding mechanism for a wrapping machine cornprising a pair of supply belts, a delivery belt disposed between the supply belts, operative driving connections for said belts, a motorfor driving the wrapping machine, means foroperating said connections by the wrapping machine motor, an auxiliary motor, means for'operating the driving connections for the belts by said auxiliary motor, and control mechanism'for stopping the wrapping machine motor and starting theauxiliary motor whenthe supply of articles on the delivery belt is interrupted.

`2. Feeding mechanism for a wrapping machine coinprising a pair of supply belts, a delivery belt disposed between the supply belts,.means.for supplying articles to be wrapped toV said supply belts, means for alternately moving articles laterally from the supply belts tothe delivery belt, operative driving connections for said belts, a motor for driving the wrapping machine, means for operating said connections by the wrapping machine motor, an auxiliary motor, means for operating the driving connections for the belts by @said-auxiliary motor,

chine motor and starting the auxiliary motor when thesupply of articles on the delivery belt is interrupted.

3. Feeding mechanism for a wrapping machine comprising a pair of supply belts, a delivery belt disposed between the supply belts, operative driving connections for said belts, a motor for driving the'wrapping machine, means including overrunning clutches for operating said connections by the wrapping machine motor, an auxiliary motor, means including an overrunning clutch for operating the driving connections for the belts by said auxiliary motor, and control mechanism for stopping the wrapping machine motor and starting the auxiliary motor when the supply of articles on the delivery belt is interrupted.

4; Feeding mechanisml for a wrapping machine comprising a pair of supply belts, a delivery belt disposed between the supply belts, means for supplying articles to be wrapped to said supply belts, means for alternately moving articles laterally from the supply belts to the delivery belt, operative driving connections for said belts, a motor for driving the wrapping machine, means including overrunning clutches for operating said connections by the wrapping machine motor, an auxiliary motor, means including an overrunning clutch for operating the driving connections for the belts by said auxiliary motor, and control mechanism for stopping the wrapping machine motor and starting the auxiliary motor when the supply of articles on the delivery belt is interrupted.

5. Feeding mechanism for feeding articles to a ma- `chine comprising a delivery conveyor for conveying articles to the machine, a motor for driving the machine, operative driving connections for connecting the motor to drive the conveyor, an auxiliary motor, means for connecting said auxiliary motor to the conveyor driving connections, and control mechanism for stopping the machine motor and starting the auxiliary motor when the supply of articles on the delivery conveyor is interrupted.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 976,264 Johnson Nov. 22, 1910 1,501,622 Ruau July 15, 1924 2,630,951 Slightam Mar. 10, 1953