US2942719A

US2942719A - Apparatus for treating articles

Info

Publication number: US2942719A
Application number: US563626A
Authority: US
Inventors: Bofinger Karl; Bert A Deisch
Original assignee: American Can Co
Current assignee: Primerica Inc
Priority date: 1956-02-06
Filing date: 1956-02-06
Publication date: 1960-06-28
Anticipated expiration: 1977-06-28

Description

June 28, 1960 Filed Feb. 6, 1956 FIG.|

4 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTORS KARL. BOF'INGEE 5521' A. DEISCH ATTOEN EY5 June 28, 1960 K. BOFINGER ETA!- APPARATUS FOR TREATING ARTICLES 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Feb. 6, 1956 l IIIII. II- I E a mm F Mo B E wdI ATTORNEYS June 28,1960 K. B $HNGER Em 2,942,719

APPARATUS FOR TREATING ARTICLES Filed Feb. 6, 1956 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 FIG.3

(9} if I 7/ @777 \if 77 4W /7 z 7 74 L M ifl 77 r A! i [ii A 62 55 Q z/ A u H 1 FIG. 4

I 4i W Z, fig/77%; 64

if I 5i I I 75 if INVENTORS 22% z avca I BY .ZM HZ? AT TOEN EYS June 28, 1960 K. BOFINGER EFAL APPARATUS FOR TREATING ARTICLES 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Feb. 6, 1956 INVENTORS. KARL BOF'NGEE BERT A. DEISCH 2 ATTORNEYS 2,942,719 APrAnArUs non TREArnIo anircrns Kari Bofinger, Cincinnati, Ohio, and Bert A.'Deisch, Lndlow, Ky., assignors-to American Can Compwy, New York, N.Y.,'a corporation of New Jersey Filed Feb. 6, 1956, Ser. No. 563,626

The present invention relates to an apparatus for treating articles such as sheet material canbody blanks and has particular reference to conveyor and gripper devices for carrying, holding and swinging the blanks into predetermined positions for treatment of the marginal edge portions of the blanks.

This application is a companion to the following applications filed in the United States Patent Otfice: Serial Number 563,578, filed February 6, 1956, in the name of Harold R. Vitense on Apparatus for Treating Articles; application, Serial Number 563,621, filed February- 6, 1956, in the names of Karl Bofinger and Ronald E. I. Nordquist, on Apparatus for Treating Articles; application, Serial Number 563,576, filed February 6, 1956, in thenames of Harold R. Vitense and Walter F-. Pillnik, on Apparatus for Treating Edge Portions of Can Body Blanks; and Serial Number 563,577, filed Februaryi 6,

1956, in the name of Harold R. Vitense, on Method of Treating Edge Portions or Blanks. 7

An object of the invention is theprovis ion in a sheet blank treating apparatus, of a conveyor having gripper devices which-are pivot able into predetermined positions While advancing along a path-of travel so as to receive and discharge a blank in a horizontal position to facilitate feeding the blanks intoand out of the apparatus and to swing a-blank into a vertically suspendedposition for treatment.

Another object is the provision-of such giipperdevices which are designed to grip-and hold a blankin an edge- 'wise relation for movement through the apparatus in such a relation.

Another object is the provision in such gripper devices of means for properly locating the blank and for firmly gripping the blank so as to facilitate treatment of marginal edge portions of accurately defined areas.

Another object is the provision of such gripper devices which are particularly adapted-to advancement along a constant level path'of travel.

Numerous other objects and advantages'of the invention will be apparent as itis better understood'from the following description, which,taken in-con-nection'with the accompanying drawings, discloses a preferred embodiment thereof.

Referring to the drawings:

Figure -1 is a side elevation-of a sheetblank treating apparatus embodying the instant "invention;

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the apparatus shown in Fig. 1, with parts broken away;

Figs. 3, 4 and are enlarged fragmentary sectional views taken substantially along the'lines 3-3, 4-4, 5-5

in Fig. 2;

Fig. 6'is an enlarged endelevation of one of the gripper devices used in the apparatus, parts being broken back-and shown in section; and

Fig. 7 is an exploded perspective view of one of the gripper devices and adjacent portions of the apparatus.

As a preferred or exemplary embodiment of the instant invention the drawings illustrate an apparatus for United tates P ice conveying sheet metal can body blanks A, held'in suspended relation with one marginal edge portion free and exposed andarranged in edgewise spaced relation, along a predetermined constant level path of travel for treatment of the free and exposed edge portion of the blanks.

The blanks A preferably are fed into the apparatus from any suitable source of supply, in spaced processional order and in a horizontal position, with their short or end marginal edge portions to be treated in the direction of travel of the blanks. This feeding of the blanks A into the apparatus is effected preferably by a short endless chain conveyor 21 (Fig. 2) having spaced feed dogs for propelling engagement behind the blanks. The blanks are supported and retained in straight line relation by'a pair of spaced and parallel horizontal guide rails 23.

As the blanks A enter the apparatus, they advance into position alongside of one run of a horizontally disposed endless conveyor chain 25 having grippers 26 pivotally mounted thereon at spaced intervals therealong for gripping one end edge portion of a blank A as it enters the apparatus and for carrying the blank along the path of travel of the conveyor. After gripping the blank, the gripper pivots it from its horizontal position to a vertically suspended position and in this position carries it through a plurality of treating stations 28, 29 (Figs. 1 and 2) for treatment of the free and exposed end marginal edge portion of the suspended blank.

After treatment, the blank A is pivoted upwardly from its suspended position into a horizontal position, by a swinging movement of the gripper 26, to facilitate discharge of the blank from the apparatus. This discharge of the blank preferably is effected by a discharge con- 'veyor 31 which is disposed adjacent the conveyor chain 25 and which is provided with spaced feed dogs for propolling engagement behind the blanks being discharged. Spaced and parallel guide rails 32 support and guide the blanks during discharge. The conveyor carries the blanks to any suitable place of deposit.

The treating conveyor chain 25 operates over a pair of spaced horizontally disposed sprockets 34, 35 (Figs. 1, 2 and 3) mounted on vertically disposed shafts 36, 37 journaled in suitable bearings mounted in a structural frame 38 which constitutes the main frame of the apparatus. The shaft 36 carrying the sprocket 34, is a driving shaft and at its lower end is connected to an angle drive device 41 actuated through a chain and sprocket connec tion 42 with an electric motor 43.

The conveyor chain 25 is accurately guided and supported along its path of travel in order to maintain it at a constant level. For'this purpose, the chain 25 carries spaced depending rollers 46 (Figs. 3, 4, 5 and 7) which while traveling between the sprockets 34, 35 operate in stationary guide tracks 47 which are secured to station- 'ary parts attached to the main frame 38. The guide tracks 47 confine the conveyor chain 25 against lateral travel and thus keep the chain accurately in a straight line between the sprockets. Around the sprockets 34, 35 the rollers 46 engage against a peripheral face 49 (Fig. 3') of the sprockets to keep the chain in proper alignment.

Vertical support of the conveyor chain 25 is effected by spaced pairs of rollers 51 (Figs. 3, 4, 5 and 7') which project inwardly from vertical brackets 52 secured to the chain 25 at intervals along its length. Between the sprockets 34, 35 and around the sprocket 35, the rollers 51 ride on a horizontally disposed stationary support plate 53 which is secured to members of the main frame 38. This plate 53 extends up to the sprocket 34 and aligns with an auxiliary support shelf 54 (Fig. 3) of a stationary cam 55 carried on the main frame 38 and surrounding the sprocket shaft 36 above the sprocket 34. In traveling around the sprockets 3-4-the rollers 51 ride on the support shelf 54.

U The grippers 26'attachedto the conveyor chain 25 for carrying and pivoting the blanks A into proper position,

' as shown in Fig. 3. The

comprise a pair of cooperating spaced apart inner and outer jaws 58, 59 (Figs. 3,4, 5, 6'and 7) hinged together on a pintle 61 intermediate their lengths forthe reception of one end marginal edge portion'of a blank A. 'At one end of the jaws, at the leftas viewed in Figs. 3 and 4,

their inner faces are provided with inwardly projecting 4 'guide lugs 62 which areutilized'to guide and partially support'a blank during its reception and discharge from the gripper. Adjacent the opposite ends of the jaws 58,

roller 85 in riding the cam groove 88 holds the inner jaw 58 in a substantially horizontal position for advancement under the incoming blank. The roller 67 on the outer jaw 59 rides under a projecting cam track 89 on the stationary cam 55 and thereby holds the jaw 59 open relative to the jaw 58 for passage over the top of the incoming blank. The cam track 89 extends for a major portion around the cam 55, over the path of travel of the conveyor chain 25.

' When the

open jaws

58, 59 of a gripper 26 and the 7 adjacent marginal edge portion'of an incoming'blank 59 and located between themjis a -compression spring 64 which operates to keep the guide lug ends of the jaws the jaws58, 59 as will be hereinafter explained; Y

closed. The spring end of the outer jaw 59 is formed with a pairof spaced outwardly projecting bearings 65 which carry a pin 66 on which is mounted a roller 67 utilized for opening Intermediate the guideilugs Y62 and the jaw pintle 61,

the inner jaw 58 carries a locating pin 69 which projects into the space between the jaws and into a clearance opening 71 inthe outer jaw "59. This locating pin 69 locates the'edge of the blank which enters between the ,jawsupon reception so as to accurately locate the outer free and exposed edge portion to be treated.

Gripping of a blankA between the jaws is eifected by apair of spaced elements located adjacent the locating pin 69 and between this pin and the guide lugs 62. For

this purpose theinner jaw 58 is provided with a pair of J bosses 73 and thewouter jaw 59 is provided'with a like oppositely disposed pair of bosses 74,- which extend toward each other for cooperation and which are spaced] near the side edges of the jaws to spread the clamping effect. The bosses 74 in the outer jaw 59.threadedly hold adjustable set screws 75 (Fig; 6) having sharp gripping 1 points 76 which extend inwardly beyond the bosses 74 for engagement with a blank interposed between the jaws.

A locknut 77 on each screw 75 holds it in an adjusted 7 position. The gripping points 76 on the screws .75 align with small clearance openings 78 (see also Fig; 7) in the oppositely disposed bosses 73 in the jaw 58 to facilitate firm gripping of the blank by the two widely spread gripping points 76. f a a a This entire gripper element 26, as'explained above is "pivotally mounted sidewise on the conveyor chain for carrying the gripped blank edgewise' and for laterally.

swinging the'blank away from the conveyor chain. For

' this purpose the inner jaw 58 provided'with a pair-of spaced, horizontally aligned hinge lugs 81 whichjare 1 mounted on a pivot pin 82 disposed parallel with the carried on the inner'jaw 58 and which rides in a cam" groove 86 Ma stationary cam or track 87 which is part of the conveyor chain support 'plates'53. This track or per 26 betweenthe sprockets 34," and' around'the i cam '87 extends fromthe driving sprocket34of the con: 7 1

veyor chain 25; for the entire path'of travel of'the'grip1 sprocket .35, and return to the sprocket 34 as best shown inFigs; 1 and 2; 'The' cam"grooye"86 is shaped to hinge the bOdily' as desired; Around the 1 driving 7 sprocket-'34, the gripper is guided'byFth'e passage of the actuating roller 85 through acamjgroove 88 (Fig; 3)' in the stationary cam surrounding the sprocket driving gripper travels around the sprocket driving ss'pr the. conveyor chain 25, so as to receive between them an incoming 'horizontallyldispos'ed' blank A on the entrance or ifeedin conveyorz l a' s' explained above. "The jaws are T .hgiaiep n through control pfithe: gripper rauis- 67, s5

move into register, with the end edge of the blank in engagement with the locating pin 69 in the gripper and with the guide lug 62 on the inner jaw supporting the blank, the roller 67 rides from under the cam track 89 and thereby permits the compression spring 64 to close the outer jaw 59 against the blank, as shown in Fig. 4. In thus releasing and closing the outer jaw 59, the sharp points 76 of the gripping screws in the outer jaw, close against and bite into the located marginal edge portion'of the blank and thus tightly or firmly grip and hold the blank between the gripper jaws. The two screws 75 being spaced apart substantially the width of the blank increases the holding power of the screws and prevents shifting of the blank during subsequent treatment.

With the

jaws

58, 59 firmly holding the blank in place,

the advancing grippercarriesthe blank edgewise and horizontally ofl'the feed-in conveyor 21 and along the path of travel of the conveyor chain 25, traveling around the "-idler sprocket'3r5 and returning to the driving sprocket its horizontal position to its yertiCa Y jSuspe'nded p'osia tionffor treatment. 7

Following treatment of the. blank and as: it advances along the return run of the conveyor chain'25 toward the driving sprocket "34; the gripper 26 is again swung bodily to pivot the blank back into its horizontal position fordischarge. The blank is returned to its horizontal position just as it approaches the dischargeconveyor31 and in this position rides onto the'dischargev conveyor. At this time in thecycle of operation, the gripper roller. 67. againengages under the cam track 89 as shown in Fig. 3 and thereby opens the outer jaw 59: to. release the blank for discharge, while the guide lug 62011 the inner jaw 58 supports the blank until the feeddogs on the discharge conveyor 31"engage behind the'blank and'adyance it out of register with the gripper 26." The gripper. thereupon advances around the driving sprocket 3 4' to return to the feed-in conveyor 21 to pick up another blankto carry it through another cycle of operation. H a 7 I It is thoughtthat the invention and many'of its attendant advantages will be understood from the foregoing description, and it will be apparent that various. changes may be made in the form construction and arrangement of the parts without departing from the spiritand. scope of the invention'or' sacrificing all of its" materialadvantages, the form hereinbefore 'describ'e'dbeing 'nierely a a preferred embodiment thereof. ,7

We claim: 7

1. In a machine for treating relatively hinr xible and flat can bodyblanks, the combination of a conveyor moving along a predetermined path of travel, a gri per comprising an inner jaw and an outer jaw, said inner jaw having a pivotal mounting on said'con'veyor extending longie tudinally thereof and said outer 'jawhaving a pivotal.

'7 jaw on its mounting to grip said marginal portionofthe blank between' 'said'gripper means and to hold the 'blank in 'an 'edgewise position relative to its direction of travel with the conveyor, locating means. disposed 'between said jaws and adjacent said pivotal mounting of the outer jaw for engaging and locating the innermost edge of a blank in a predetermined position relative to said gripper means, gripper oscillating means for engaging and swinging said inner arm on its mounting to move said gripped blank into a plurality of positions ranging from a substantially hori- Zontal to a vertically suspended position for treatment of a lower portion of the blank, and jaw opening means for releasing said blank from said jaws.

2. The combination defined in claim 1 wherein said gripping means comprises a pointed gripper element on one of said jaws and an opposing gripper element having an opening formed therein to provide clearance opposite said pointed gripper element.

3. The combination defined in claim 2 wherein said locating means provides a single gauging point and said gripping means comprises an inner and an outer jaw provided with two pairs of said opposing pointed clearanceproviding gripping elements, each of said pairs of gripping elements being disposed on a line substantially parallel to the path of the conveyor and spaced from said gauging point on opposite sides thereof.

4. In a machine for treating relatively thin, flexible and flat can body blanks, the combination of a conveyor moving along a predetermined path of travel, a gripper comprising an inner jaw and an outer jaw, said inner jaw having a pivotal mounting on said conveyor extending longitudinally thereof and said outer jaw having a pivotal mounting on said inner jaw also extending longitudinally of the conveyor, opposing gripper means on said inner and outer jaws cooperable for gripping a marginal portion of a said blank, jaw closing means for swinging said outer jaw on its mounting to grip said marginal portion of the blank between said gripper means and to hold the blank in an edgewise position relative to its direction of travel with the conveyor, gripper oscillating means for engaging and swinging said inner arm on its mounting to move said gripped blank into a plurality of positions ranging from a substantially horizontal to a vertically suspended position for treatment of a lower portion of the blank, jaw opening means for releasing said blank from said jaws, feed-in means and discharge means disposed adjacent said conveyor for feeding a said blank to said gripper and for discharging said blank from said gripper, and guide lugs adjacent the outer free ends of said jaws and projecting inwardly between said jaws for guiding said blank as it is inserted therebetween by said feed in means and for supporting said blank on opposite sides thereof during its subsequent movements while gripped by said jaws.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,949,125 Ladd Feb. 27, 1934 1,977,704 Vaughan Oct. 23, 1934 2,368,525 Daw Ian. 30, 1945 2,710,493 Glynn lune 14, 1955 2,742,017 Kennedy Apr. 17, 1956 2,755,205 Robb July 17, 1956 2,766,870 Baker Oct. 16, 1956 2,843,248 Bofinger July 15, 1958