US2995880A - Ammunition orienting and packing machine - Google Patents

Description

Aug' 15, 1961 T. F. HENEBRY 2,995,880

AMMUNTION ORIENTING AND PACKING MACHINE T. F. HENEBRY AMMUNITION ORIENTING AND PACKING MACHINE Filed April 29, 1.958

Aug. 15, 1961 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

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AMMUNITION ORIENTING AND PACKING MACHINE Filed April 29, 1958 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 United States Patent O f 2,995,880 AML'IUNITION ORIENTING AND PACKING MACHINE 4 This invention relates to semi-automatic apparatus for orienting, grouping and feeding elongated tapered objects into cartons. More specifically, the machine of the present invention is intended for use in orienting and feeding into cartons groups of rearm ammunition cartridges of the type having a tapered case and known as rimless in the trade.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved machine for continuously receiving a series of randomly positioned tapered articles such as certain lirearm ammunition cartridges, lorienting the cartridges, feeding and positioning them in groups arranged so that by one simple mechanical action each group may be simultaneously directed into a carton to ll it.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a simple reliable machine for continuously orienting, feeding and packing ammunition cartridges in a safe efficient manner and having novel means for controlling the feeding and packing operations.

' Other objects and advantages will appear from the detailed description of the following specification and the appended claims, considered with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIGURE l is a side elevation of the machine embodying features of the present invention with a part of the initial feeding means shown.

FIGURE 2 is a plan view of the machine as shown in FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 3 is a perspective view of a portion of the machine shown in FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 4 is an enlarged front view of the interior of the cartridge distributing mechanism of the machine of the present invention.

FIGURE 5 is a vertical cross-sectional view of the mechanism shown in FIGURE 4 taken at line 5-5.

FIGURE 6 is a horizontal cross-sectional view of the mechanism shown in FIGURE 4 taken at line 6-6.

FIGURE 7 is an enlarged vertical cross-sectional view taken through the packing mechanism of the machine showing a carton in position on the machine after having received its charge of cartridges.

FIGURE 8 is a perspective view on enlarged scale showing a charge of cartridges in position in a carton.

Generally, according to the present invention, cartridges are continuously fed at an even rate in random alignment from a conventional unit, which may be of the known vibrating trough type, part of which is indicated at 15, to an inclined pair of aligned rotating rolls. The cartridges are aligned and moved along the rolls to a point at which they are released therefrom and dispensed in rows on a series of parallel vibratory rails. The cartridges move in staggered rows to the end of the rails where they engage a fixed stop. When two rows of cartridges are aligned against the stop, a double trap door section in the vibratory rail assembly is pivoted downwardly to allow the two rows of cartridges to slide downwardly ot of the trap door sections and through two Vguide channels into a carton positioned beneath to eX- actly lill the same with the required number of cartridges.

"2,995,880 Patented Aug. 15, 1961 The component units will next be described more in in detail. The inclined rolls are part of an assembly which is carried by vertical supports 2 and 3 and base plate 1. The vertical supports 2 and 3 are connected at their upper extremities by a transverse panel member 4. An inclined frame assembly 5 is secured to vertical supports 2 and 3 and carries two inclined parallel roller elements 6 and 7 rotatably mounted therein. The roller elements are spaced apart a small distance which Vis slightly less than the maximum diameter of the tapered cartridges which are to be handled. The spacing of the rolls permits a cartridge placed thereon to suspend or position itself between :the rolls bullet end downward :in substantially a vertical position with respect to the rolls. When the rolls are rotated by means of a drive motor 8 via connecting drive belts, the suspended cartridges thereon move in an aligned row toward the lower end of the rolls as can be seen in FIGURE l. The rolls rotate as indicated by the arrows in FIGURE 1. A contoured rotary brush 9 is positioned above and between the rolls 6 and 7 to prevent any excess unaligned cartridges from passing to the lower end of the rolls. Rotary brush 9 is rotated by drive motor 10 and an interconnected drive belt. The cartridges are prevented from :falling from the lower end of the rolls 6 and 7 by a movable stop nger 25 which is actuated at desired intervals by solenoid 26 operatively connected thereto, to permit the aligned carttridges to drop one at a time from the lower end of the rolls 6 and 7.

Aligned with and somewhat beneath the lower end of rolls 6 and 7 is one end of a vibratory rail type feeder or conveyor device 30 having a plurality of parallel cartridge guiding elements 32 actuated by vibrating motor units 31 and 32 preferably of the syntron type and supported on frame structure 23. v

Mounted on bracket 22 secured to frame structure 23 is a cartridge dispensing or distributing mechanism comprising a transversely movable cartridge deflecting guide 21 and a deflecting guide actuating device 20. The car.- tridge dellecting guide 21 is rigidly secured to transversely movable actuating bar 24 which extends fro-xn and is po'si. tioned by deflecting guide actuating mechanism 20. The deecting guide 21 is provided with an upper ared portion for receiving the cartridges released by actuation of stop linger 25 from the lower end of rolls 6 and 7 and a necked-down lower portion for directing the released cartridges onto one of the cartridge guide elements 32 of the vibratory feeder 30. The deecting guide 21 is moved in a transverse direction in a step by step manner to position cartridges successively and sequentially on the guide elements 32 of the vibrating feeder 30. Preferably there are ten such guide elements 32. The deecting guide is controlled by its actuating mechanism sof that it makes a step by step traverse across the end of vibrating feeder 30 directing one cartridge on each guide element 32 as it completes each traverse. Then, since the cartridges on the vibratory feeder immediately commence their movement toward the stop '35, the deiiecting yguide makes a return traverse across the end of the feeder 30, placing yanother ten cartridges on the vibrating guide rails. The actuating mechanism for the dellecting guide and the solenoid-operated stop nger 25 are operated in timed relation so that the release of a cartridge by the stop nger 25 occurs at the correct instant with respect to the step movement of the deecting guide 21 to insure that one Aand only one cartridge is fed into each guide as the guide 21 passes by it and that the guide 21 is stationary at the time.

At the end of vibratory feeder 30 is an abutment 35 which is suicient to halt the movement of the rows of cartridges moving down the feeder. The end of the vibratory feeder 30 is provided with two terminal hinged sections 33 and 34 mounted for downward mot/ement about their respective axes 37 and 36. The hinged portions have a length corresponding to the length of the cartridges being handled and are actuated in their downward pivotal movement by either of manually two operated levers 45 pivo'ted at 113 to the machine structure 23. Levers 45 are rigidly attached to shaft 113 so that either may actuate the terminal hinged sections of the vibratory feeder 30. The linkage by which either lever `45 controls the terminal hinged portions consists of a vertical plate element 106 secured to one of the levers. Pivotally secured to the plate element 106 are two strap members 102 and 103, the other ends of which are secured to a exible connector 101 which passes over drive wheels 38 `and 39. Drive wheels 38 and 39 are rigidly secured to the pivot pins 36 and 37 to which are rigidly secured the terminal hinged sections of the guide 30. It Will be seen from the drawings that a downward movement of levers 45 will cause downward pivotal movement of the hinged sections 33 and 34. A tension spring connected between pin 108 and the ilexible connector 101 returns the terminal hinged portions to their horizontal positions. Mounted directly below the hinged sections 33 and 34 is a solid member having cutaway portions to acco'mmodate pivotal movement of the two sections and provided with two passageways 110 and 111 therethrough. The upper ends of passageways are aligned with the lower most ends of the pivoted guide sections 33 and 34 when in the downwardly pivoted positions so that the rows o'f cartridges supported thereon will freely slide off of the hinged sections and into the passage- Ways. Immediately below and aligned with the lower ends of the passageways 1110 and 111 is provided an abutment 41 against which is positioned successive cartons which are to be lled with cartridges. A view of a lled carton is shown in FIGURE 8 where it can be seen that each preferably holds two' rows of ten cartridges each. It will be understood that such a carton when empty may be placed in position on abutment 41 and the lever 45 conveniently actuated which will cause two rows of cartridges to simultaneously be loaded into the carton to ll it in a rapid and eliicient manner. Lever 45 is immediately released to allow the hinged sections 33 and 34 to return to their normal horizontal positions to receive the next two rows of cartridges moving down the feeder 30. The lled carton is provided manually with a closure element and allowed td drop through guide opening 45 to slideway 47 where they pass to position at 48 for removal. A rack 44 is provided on the at surface 42 to provide a convenient supply of empty cartons. Having discussed the deilecting slide 21 and it actuating mechanism 20 only generally, and in terms of its functio'n, it Will now be described more in detail so that its construction and operation may be clearly understood.

The slide actuating mechanism is mounted in a housing supported on bracket member 22. Supported on a bracket 29 on the outside of the housing is the drive motor 28 fo'r the slide actuating mechanism. The drive motor is of the right angle drive type having a drive shaft 50 extending through the housing. A drive pulley 51 is mounted on shaft 50 and engages belt 52. Belt 52 extends over idles 93 and a driven pulley 53 which is xedly mounted 0n shaft 54. A rotary cam 55 is `also iixedly secured o'n shaft 54. ACam 55 is provided with a cam follower 56 which is mounted on the upper end of a lever element 57. Lever 57 is pivotally mounted in the housing on pin 130 to be oscillated by engagement of cam follower 56 and the rotary cam 55. A tension spring 711 extends between a pin 72 fixed in the housing structure and pin 68 on the lower end of oscillating lever 57 to urge the cam follower 56 and cam into engagement.

'A' movable transverse b'ar 24 is slidably supported' in 4 guide brackets 73 and 87 and is secured to the cartridge deilecting guide 21 at one extremity. The upper and lower edges of bar 24 are provided with oppositely facing ratchet steps o'r abutments such as 61 and 76.

Pivotally mounted on oscillating lever 57 are oppositely facing ratchet pawls 59 and 65 which are positioned and aligned for engagement with the ratchet steps on the edge surfaces of transverse bar 24. Ratchet pawl 59 is pivotally secured to ocsillating lever 57 at pin 58 and ratchet pawl 65 is secured to the oscillating lever at pin 64. Pawls 65 and 59 are connected by `rigid link 63. Pawl 59 is resiliently connected to the lower end of the oscillating arm 57 by means of pin 70, tension spring 69 and pin 68. As will be understood from the drawings (FIGURE 4), the position of pin 70 on pawl 59, pivot pin 58 of pawl 59 and pin 68 to which spring 69 is. attached, form a toggle or over center linkage vwhich will hold either pawl 59 or pawl 65 in engagement with the ratchet steps on bar 24 depending on which side of pivot pin 58 the spring 69 is acting. As shown in FIGURE 4, the spring, being to the right of pin 58, urges pawl 59 into engagement with the ratchet steps on the upper edge of bar 24, and, by means of connecting link 63, holds pawl 65 out of engagement with the ratchet steps on the lower edge of bar 24.

Slidably mounted for limited movement on one side of bar 24 is a slidable plate 77. Plate 77 is secured to the side of bar 24 by element 93 and two 'fasteners such as 94. The upper and lower edges of plate 77 are each provided with a ratchet tooth (78 and 79) and a rectangular abutment (83, 81) projecting therefrom. The single ratchet teeth 78 and 79 on plate 77 are identical to those on the edges of bar 24 and are positioned with respect thereto so that the ratchet teeth 78 and 79 on the plate 77 are in alignment with those on the bar and in effect the last tooth in sequence to be engaged by the noses of pawls 59 and 65. The ratchet teeth on the plate 77 are spaced from the respective rectangular abutments so that after the pawl noses have sucessively engaged all of the ratchet teeth on the particular edge of bar 24, the pawl nose will engage the ratchet tooth on the slidable plate 77. When this occurs, the pawl reciprocating motion will not move the bar 24 but merely slides the plate 77 on the bar. The next reciprocating motion of the pawl causes the pawl abutment (160, 161) to engage the rec'- tangular abutment 81, 83 on the plate 77 which rocks the upper pawl to a position to reverse the toggle action of spring 69, disengage one pawl from its series of ratchet teeth and engage the other pawl with its series of ratchet teeth. Thus it can be seen that slidable plate 77 not only causes the bar and cartridge deflecting guide to repeat the nal step of each indexing cycle but also to drop two cartridges in the outermost guide rails of the vibrating feeder so that each row will have the full number of cartridges, and also reverses the ratchet pawls to cause reversal of the step by step movement of bar 24 and deflecting guide 21 rigidly attached thereto. Roller 91 on arm is actuated at the proper time in the oscillating motion of oscillating lever 57 to operate a switch 88 which is in the circuit controlling solenoid 26 and stop finger 25 so that a cartridge is released to be deflected by guide 21 onto the vibratory feeder 30 as desired.

The operation of the machine will now be described;

Cartridg in random alignment are continuously fed on the upper ends of rotating rolls 6 and 7 by suitable means such as a vibratory trough device 15. When the cartridges fall on the rolls 6 and 7 they suspend themselves projectile downward between the rolls due to their tapered cases and gradually move in alignment toward the lower end of the rolls. The rotating brush 9 sweeps any overow or excess unaligned cartridges back toward the upper end until they assume the proper posif tion yand alignment. Upon arriving at the lower end of the rolls the aligned cartridges strike stop nger 25 which prevents their falling from the roll assembly.

The drive motor for the deilecting guide actuating mechanism 20 is operated continuously to rotate cam 55 by means of the belt 52. Rotation of the cam causes continuous rotation of the oscillating lever 57 and the pawls 59 and 65 carried thereby. Depending on which pawl is engaged with the ratchet teeth on the bar 24, the arm 24 and deiiecting guide 21 will be moved in step by step manner across the end of vibratory feeder 30, the guide 21 being aligned with one of the guides 32 of the feeder at the end of each step movement. When the deecting guide 21 and bar 24 reaches a position aligned with the last guide in each direction, it remains there While a second cartridge is fed thereon due to the action of sliding plate 77 which then reverses the pawl engagement to commence the guide and bar movement in the return direction. As discussed earlier the cartridges are released at the proper moment with respect to the positioning of deecting guide 21 by the action of solenoid 26 and finger 25.

As will be understood, the guide 21 will position one cartridge consecutively on each guide 32 back and forth across the feeder 30, placing two in each outside guide 32 so that each traverse of the guide places a full row of cartridges on the feeder. Each row of cartridges will move down the feeder 30 until it reaches stop 35 where it will be held against further motion. The next row will move down the feeder until it is stopped by engagement with the rear ends of the cartridges already in position against stop 35. When two full rows have thus moved into position on the hinged sections 33 and 34 at the end of feeder 30, the hand lever 45 sharply actuated to pivot the hinged portions 33 and 34 downwardly to allow the two rows to slide through the pasasgeways 110 and 111 to ll the carton in position beneath them on stop 41. The lled carton is removed, the cover put on and dropped into chute 47. By the time this has been done, and another empty carton placed on stop 41, two more rows of cartridges will be in position on hinged sections 33 aud 34 and can be loaded by another actuation of the hand lever 45.

It can be seen that I have provided a unique and efcient apparatus for the safe and rapid orientation and packing of the ammunition or other articles.

While the prepared embodiment of the present invention has been shown and described, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art, that changes and modifications may be made Without departing from the invention in its broader aspects, and therefore, the aim in the appended claims is to cover all such changes and modifications as fall within the true spirit and scope of this invention.

I claim:

l. Apparatus for orienting and packing ammunition cartridges into cartons, comprising first means for continuously orienting randomly fed cartridges and feeding individual cartridges from a rst to a second position, releasable cartridge holding means at said second position, a second means for continuously feeding cartridges simultaneously in a plurality of equal groups from a third to a fourth position, transfer means for distributing said individual cartridges from said second position, when released by said holding means, to form equal groups at said third position, means responsive to operation of said transfer means for actuating said releasable cartridge holding means, and means for loading a given number of said 4groups of cartridges simultaneously into cartons at said fourth position.

2. Apparatus for packing ammunition cartridges into cartons comprising in combination, support means, a first power-driven means on said support means for receiving randomly positioned cartridges, orienting said cartridges, and feeding a single row of oriented cartridges from a lirst position to a second position, a second power-driven means on said support for feeding a plurality of rows of cartridges from a third to a fourth position, a powerdriven distributing means for moving cartridges from said second position to said third position, and manually actuated means at said fourth position for simultanenously loading a given number of cartrdiges from each of the plurality of rows into a carton to fill the same.

3. Apparatus `for orienting, feeding and packing firearm ammunition cartridges into cartons, comprising in combination, cartridge orienting and feeding means having a cartridge-receiving end and an aligned cartridgedelivering end, power drive means connected to said orienting and feeding means, releasable cartridge stop means cooperating with the cartridge delivering end of the orienting and feeding means operative to prevent movement of cartridges therefrom, means for releasing said cartridge stop means, a multi-channel cartridge feeding means having a cartridge-receving end adjacent the cartridge-delivering end of said feeding and orienting means and a cartridge-delivering end, a cartridge transfer means positioned between said cartridge-delivering end of said orienting and feeding means and the cartridgereceiving end of said multi-channel feeding means, said transfer means operating in timed relationship with said cartridge stop means to distribute cartridges from the orienting and feeding means in even transverse rows on said multi-channel feed means, power drive means connected to said multi-channel feed means, said multi-channel feeding means having adjacent its cartridge-delivering end a movable section, actuating means for moving said section, and a carton sup-port means for a cartridge-receiving carton, said movable section and carton support means constructed and arranged so that operation of said actuating means moves said section to simultaneously direct a plurality of cartridges from said movable section of the multi-channel feeding means into a carton on said car-t0n support means to ll the same.

4. Apparatus for orienting, feeding and packing ammunition cartridges comprising in combination a support structure, a pair of inclined parallel rolls rotatably mounted in said support structure in side by side relation to support, orient and feed toward the lower ends thereof a series of cartridges, drive means connected to midrolls a movable cartridge stop mounted adjacent the lower end of said rolls movable between a cartridge blocking position and a position allowing cartridges to pass from the lower end of said rolls, electrical drive means operatively connected to move said stop between its two positions, a cartridge deecting member movably mounted on said support structure adjacent and beneath the lower ends of said rolls, a deflecting member actuating mechanism operatively connected to said deecting member, a multi-channel vibrating feed assembly mounted on said support structure adjacent and beneath said cartridge deecting member, said actuating mechanism operative to position, said deecting member :transversely of said multi-channel feed assembly to distribute cartridges received from said rolls on said multi-channel feed assembly in transverse rows, said electrical drive means actuated by said actuating mechanism to operate said stop in timed relation to movement of said deflecting member, drive means connected to said multi-channel vibration feed assembly to move the transverse rows of cartridges positioned thereon to a terminal position means adjacent said terminal position for positioning a carton, and actuatable means at said terminal position for simultaneously moving a group of cartridges into a carton to ll the same.

5. Apparatus for orienting and packing elongated tapered articles into cartons comprising a first means for receiving the randomly positioned articles, orienting and conveying oriented individual articles from a first to a second position, a second means for continuously conveying said articles simultaneously in a plurality of equal groups yfrom a third to a fourth position, transfer means for distributing said articles from said second position to form equal groups at said third position, power means for actuating said vfirst means, said second means, and said transfer means, and means for loading a given number of said groups of articles simultaneously `into cartons at said Refelells Cited in i119 lof this Patent fomh Position UNITED STATES PATENTS 6. Automatic apparatus for orienting and packing cylin-V l dIical tapered articles into cartons comprising a rst 1,709,189 Y f Radtke Apr. 16, 1926 means yfor receiving unoriented articles, orienting and con- 5 1,824,413 Stein Sept. 22, 1931 veying individual oriented articles :from a Irst to a second 2,219,827 Kimball et al Oct. 29, 194()l position, a second means for continuously conveying said 2,406,176 Vergobbi Aug. 20, 1946 articles simultaneously in a plurality of equal groups from 2,428,103 Vergobbi Sept. 30, 1947-l a third to a fourth position, distributing means `for trans- 2,596,316 Wimmer May 13, 1952-' vferring said articles from said second position to form 10 V2,679,963 Neal June 1, 1954 equal groups at said ythird position, and manually actu-v 2,821,822 Mapes Feb. 4, 1958 atable means for loading a given number of said groups 2,656,656 Murdoch et al Oct. 27,- 1959 of articles into cartons at said fourth position.

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