US3051334A - Apparatus for loading plating racks - Google Patents

Description

Aug. 28, 1962 G. E. ALGATT APPARATUS FOR LOADING PLATING RACKS V YiI iI '7 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed July 7, 1959 RT W m E E ATTORNEY Aug. 28, 1962 G. E. ALGATT APPARATUS FOR LOADING PLATING RACKS Filed July 7, 1959 7 Sheets-Sheet 2 ATTORNEY Aug. 28, 1962 Filed July 7, 1959 G E. ALGATT APPARATUS FOR LOADING PLATING RACKS '7 Sheets-Sheet- 3 :1 1 1x92 E 0) l I L i *T INVENTOR E i F 53 E. HLGHT'T o w ATTORNEY 1962 G. E. ALGATT 3,051,334

APPARATUS FOR LOADING PLATING RACKS Filed July 7, 1959 7 Sheets-Sheet 4 INV EN TOR 51E FlLEF-TT'T' BY W ATTORNEY Aug. 28, 1962 .e. E. ALGATT 3,051,334

APPARATUS FOR LOADING PLATING RACKS Filed July 7, 1959 7 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENIOR G. E. HLEHTT' BY W 4 ATTORNEY Aug. 28, 1962 G. E. ALGATT 3,051,334

APPARATUS FOR LOADING PLATING RACKS Filed July '7, 1959 '7 Sheets-Sheet 6 INVENT OR 5'. 5. HLE'HT'T BY ATTORNEY Aug 28, 1962' G. E. ALGATT 3,051,334 APPARATUS FOR LOADING PLATING RACKS Filed July 7, 1959 7 Sheets-Sheet 7 INVENTOR G. E. HLGHT'T' f ATTORNEY United States Patent ()fiice 3,651,334 Patented Aug. 28, 1962 3,351,334 APPARATUS FGR LOADING PLATING RACKS George E. Algatt, Allentown, Pa, assignor to Western Electric Company, Incorporated, New York, N.Y., a corporation of New York Filed July '7, 1959, Ser. No. 825,543 4 Claims. (Cl. 2148.5)

This invention relates to article loading apparatus particularly apparatus for loading racks with articles, certain portions of which are to be coated in a subsequent operation.

In the present instance, the articles are to be plated and are known as reeds for use in dry reed switches. The reeds are approximately & wide and 1%" long and either one or both ends of the reeds are to be plated with a precious metal to assure suitable electrical contact with their companion members when disposed in switches. The present plating racks are adapted to hold 100 articles of this type providing they are spaced accurately in the masking area of the rack, free of each other and with the desired length of the one or both ends to be plated extending the predetermined distance from the masking area.

The object of the present invention is an apparatus which is semi-automatic in operation for rapidly, efliciently, and accurately loading racks with articles.

In accordance with the object, the invention comprises a conveyor adapted to support rack members for movement relative to a hopper for articles, located at a feeding station, and causing the articles to drop successively from the hopper onto given locations on a masking surface of the rack member.

More specifically, the conveyor extends through two Working areas, one wherein a spacing element rides on the rack member and functions in cooperation with a feeding means operable automatically to advance the element and rack member intermittently to position passageways of the spacing element successively in alignment with an exit end of a hopper carrying the articles, at which time an article is automatically freed from the hopper and allowed to drop through the passageway at the feeding station and onto the surface of the rack member. When the predetermined number of articles have been fed to and located on the rack member, the loaded rack member with the spacing element is moved on the conveyor to the next work area where a ram, with supporting latches, is operated to remove the spacing element, without disturbing the articles, and to lower the companion rack member and cause it to be secured to the loaded rack member.

Other objects and advantages will be apparent from the following detailed description when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIGS. 1 and 2, when joined together end to end, illustrate a fragmentary top plan view of the apparatus;

FIGS. 3 and 4, when joined together end to end as FIGS. 1 and 2, illustrate a front elevational View of the apparatus;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary detailed view of a portion of the drive means for the rack member being loaded and the spacing element;

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary detailed view of a portion of the structure shown near the right end of FIG. 4, illustrating the removability of the spacing element from a loaded rack member;

FIG. 7 is a vertical sectional view of a portion of the hopper illustrating the feeding of the articles singly from the hopper to a passageway of the spacing element at the feeding station;

FIG. 8 is an enlarged vertical sectional view taken substantially along the line 8-8 of FIG. 4;

FIG. 9 is a fragmentary top plan view of one of the racks;

FIG. 10 is a fragmentary side elevational view of one of the racks loaded with the articles; and

FIG. 11 is a vertical sectional view taken substantially along the line 11-11 of FIG. 10.

The. apparatus has a main support 15 mounted on suitable legs 16, only one of which is shown. A conveyor indicated generally at 17 extends from an entrance end 18 to a finish end 19 and is supported by suitable means 20, 21, and 22; these supporting means being mounted on the main support 15. The conveyor 17 is composed mainly of side members 24 and series of supporting rollers 25 and guide rollers 26. The supporting rollers 25 in a feeding area 28 are spaced farther apart than in a finishing area 29, the reason being that in the feeding area, the supporting rollers carry the weight of only the rack member to be loaded, the spacing element and the articles, whereas in the finishing area 29 the other rack member backed by vertical pressure is added to the loaded rack member.

At this point, attention is directed to FIGS. 9, 10 and 11 which illustrate one of the plating racks, indicated generally at 30 and composed of a main rack member 31 and a companion rack member 32. These rack members composing the rack 30 are of sufiicient length to receive 100 articles 33 at spaced positions for plating either or both ends of the articles. The portions 34 and 35 of the rack members are formed of a suitable flexible material such as rubber to surround the portions of the articles 33 disposed therebetween, to completely mask these portions and hold them free of the plating solution. Therefore, the rack member 31 has a surface 36 upon which the articles 33 are to be located in the apparatus. The rack member 31 has apertures 37 therein and spring actuated latches 38 pivoted at 39 and disposed in notches 40 so as to be actuated outwardly by tapered ends 41 of connecting pins 42 of the rack member 32. Notches 43 in the pins 42 are positioned to receive the latches 38 when the vertical pressure on the companion member compresses the portions 34 and 35. A handle 44- of the companion rack member 32 is for mounting the loaded rack in the plating tank.

Returning to FIGS. 1 to 4, inclusive, attention is directed to a spring loaded stop 45 normally urged into the position shown in FIG. 1 to extend in front of each rack member 31 when moved onto the conveyor 17. By the aid of a handle 46, the stop 45 may be moved against the force of its spring 47 to move the stop free of the rack member 31. A cam 48 is carried by the stop 45 and movable therewith. When in its normal position, shown in FIG. 1, the cam 48 is disposed adjacent an arm 49 of a start switch 50 which is normally open but is actuated into closed position by movement of the stop and cam out of their normal positions to permit the rack member 31 to be advanced. After the intermittent movements of the rack begin, the stop 45 is released allowing a surface 51 of the stop to ride on the adjacent surface of the rack member 31 until it reaches a recess 53, FIG. 10. At this time, the last article for the rack member 31 is dropped onto the surface 36 and the stop 4-5, while entering the recess 53, will return to its normal position and the start switch '50 will be allowed to open.

A part of the automatic feeding means, shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, includes a spacing element 56 which has pins 57 positioned to enter the upper portions of the apertures 37 in the rack member 31 and to locate passageways 58 of the element 56 to divide the surface 36 of the masking member 34 of the rack member 31 into spaced supporting areas for the articles 33.

The passageways 58 are formed by parallel partitions 59 extending upwardly a given distance from the rack member 31 and resting upon the surface 36. Attention is directed to the spacing element 56 of FIG. 3 which is longer than the rack member 31, extending like distances beyond each end thereof. Notches 60 are formed in the ends of the element 56 and side members 61 near the ends thereof serve to straddle the rack member 31. A part of the advancing means includes a top rack 62 and a bottom rack 63 with the tapered surfaces of the teeth of these racks extending in opposing directions as illustrated in FIG. 1.

A power unit 65 is in the form of an air cylinder pivotally supported at 66, FIGS. 1 and 3, and having a piston rod 67 pivotally connected at 68, FIG. 5, to the upper end of a rocking element 69. The rocking element 69 is mounted on a spindle 70 which is supported by a stationary bracket 71. One arm of the rocking element 69 carries an adjustable screw 72, for controlling the return travel of the piston rod, positioned to engage a stationary stop 73 mounted in the bracket 71. A surface 74 of the rocking member 69 will engage an adjustable stop 75 mounted in a threaded aperture of the bracket 71 to control the forward travel of the piston rod. A lever 77 is mounted on the spindle 7 and carries a pivot 78 at its upper end for a feeding pall or detent 79. The detent 79 normally is urged cotmterclockwise about its pivot 7 8 by a spring 80 to urge it into engagement with the teeth of the rack 63. A second detent or pall 82 is supported for vertical movement in an aperture 83 of a stationary member 84 and is urged upwardly a limited distance by a spring 85 to engage the teeth of the rack 63 to hold the rack against reverse movement during the reversing action of the detent 79 to its starting or normal position.

Two separate means are provided to prevent overrunning of the feeding action of the spacing element '56 and the rack member .31, one being a spring pressed detent 87 capable of applying a holding force against longitudinal movement of the spacing element and the rack 31, the other being a spring pressed detent 88 adapted to engage successive teeth of the rack 62 to prevent over-running of the spacing element and the rack member. The detent 88, as shown in FIG. 5, has a projection 89 at one side thereof positioned to be actuated by, or under the control of, an arm 90 which is fixed to the piston rod 67. The right end of the arm 90 is positioned to ride between guide pins or rollers 91 supported by a stationary member 92. The arm is provided with a recess 93 having a tapered surface 94 cooperating with a tapered surface 95 of the projection 89. The function of this structure is to hold the detent 88 down against the force of its spring, free of its rack 62 when the power means and the other driving mechanism are in their normal positions, and to free the detent 88 to move upwardly to engage the next tooth of its rack 62 to provide a positive stop for the spacing element 56 and the rack 31 to centrally locate the next passageway '58 :at the feeding station.

Another arm or projection 95, having one end fixed to the piston rod 67, is movable therewith to alternately close normally open switches 96 and 97. In FIG. 1, lines 98 represent supply lines from a source of electrical energy to the start switch 50. Lines leading from the start switch illustrate that the switch 96, which may be described as the advancing switch, and switch 97, which may be defined as the reverse switch, are under the control of, and receive electrical energy through, the start switch as long as the start switch is closed.

A solenoid valve 100 for controlling air under pressure from a supply line 101 through lines 102 and 103 as well as exhaust conditions through either line 102 or 103 and an exhaust port 104 from opposite ends of the air cylinder 65, is under the control of solenoid windings 105 and 106 which are responsive to the actions of their respective switches 96 and 97. With this arrangement, once the start switch 50 is closed through actuation of the stop 45, the advancing means will operate automatically until the start switch is opened after loading the last article, at which time the stop 45 enters the recess 53.

The advancing switch 96 controls also energization of a solenoid 108, as illustrated in FIG. 1, to actuate a feeding element 109 for an article holding hopper 110. In the present illustration, the hopper 110, as shown in FIG. 7, holds a stack of the articles 32, the bottom one of which rests on a table 111, upon which the feeding element 109 is reciprocated. The element 109 is shown in its normal or unoperated position where it is held by the force of a spring 112, FIG. 1. Energization of the solenoid 108 will move the element 109 to the left to move the bottom article 32 free of the table 111 to drop in the passageway '58 at the feeding station. A stop 114, carried by the hopper 110, prevents over-shooting of the article and assures its dropping onto the surface 36 of the rack member 31.

At the work station 29, a press indicated generally at 115 has a bed 116 grooved at 117 to receive and support the conveyor 17. The press also has vertical guide posts 118 for a ram 119 which is secured at 120 to a head 1 21 of the press. At this work station, an adjustable stop 122, FIGS. 2 and 4, is mounted on the conveyor to position the loaded rack 31 and the element 56 relative to the ram 119. A spring pressed trigger latch 123 is moved out of the way by the loaded rack 31 in entering work station 29 and returns to the position shown in FIG. 2 to cooperate with the stop 122 to locate the element and rack with the ram. The ram has spring pressed latches 124 disposed at each end thereof to automatically engage recesses 60 of the element 56 on the down stroke of the ram so that during the up stroke of the ram, the element may be removed from the loaded rack without disturbing the location of any of the articles thereon. When the ram is in its up position, the element 56 is removed from the latches and the companion rack member 32 is mounted on the ram by positioning recesses 125 thereof on pins 126 of the ram. The pins 126 have enlarged portions 127 which act as reference surfaces to position the companion rack member 32 accurately with respect to the loaded rack member 31.

At this time, the ram is lowered to a position where the companion rack member will not only rest upon the loaded rack member but will be moved further under pressure until the notches 43 of the companion rack member 32 on the pins 42 thereof receive the latches 38 of the rack member 31, at which time the flexible members 34 and 35 will be compressed to surround and mask the adjacent portions of the articles 32.

Operation The apparatus is semi-automatic in its operation requiring initially the mounting of one of a number of spacing elements 56 on a rack member 31 with the pins 57 of the element entering the apertures 37 of the rack member. At this time, the element and rack member are moved until they engage the stop 51 which locates the first passageway 58 at the feeding station. The operator then pulls the stop 45 free of the rack causing closing of the start switch 50.

With the structure in the position shown in FIG. 1, the solenoid 108 will be energized the moment the start switch is closed, operating the element 109' to feed the article into the first passageway and onto the surface 36 of the rack 31. Immediately thereafter, the drive means is operated through its forward motion. The switch 96 is closed to operate the valve 100 to operate the power unit 65 causing the piston rod to operate the detents 79, 82, and 88. As soon as the power unit 65 is moved to its forward position, switch 97 is closed causing reverse action of the power unit and actions of the detents to permit the detent 79 to assume its new position adjacent the next tooth of the rack 63-, While the detent 8 2 prevents movement of the rack member 31 and element 56, and the detent 88 has moved free of its rack 62 for the next feeding motion. This action continues automatically and as the switch 96 is closed during each return motion, the solenoid 108 operates to feed the article or release it from the hopper and allow it to drop into the passageway at the feeding station. Therefore, the loading operation is automatic from the time the stop 45 is moved back and allowed to ride on the surface of the rack 31 and until the last article is loaded on the rack, at which time the stop returns to its normal position, the start switch 59 is opened, and the drive means is de-energized.

While another rack 31 with a spacing element 56 thereon is moved into operating position for loading, the loaded rack with its spacing element is moved to the second Work station 29 where, through actuation of the ram, the spacing element is removed and the companion rack is forced into locking engagement with the loaded rack 31 and both are removed from the conveyor by the ram.

It is to be understood that the above described arrangements 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 the spirit and scope thereof.

What is claimed is:

1. An apparatus for loading racks having connectable companion members with flexible masking surfaces comprising a conveyor to support certain members of the racks, guides on the conveyor to limit movement of the members in a given path, a hopper for articles to be plated held in stacked formation therein and having an exit opening located at a feeding station above the conveyor, a spacing element removably mounted at a given position on the masking surface of a rack member disposed on the conveyor, lateral partitions of the element dividing the masking surface of the rack member into article supporting areas and cooperating to form guide passageways to the supporting areas for the articles, means to move the element with its rack member on the conveyor relative to the exit opening of the hopper to receive the articles singly therefrom, an ejector for the articles mounted at the exit end of the hopper, means operable to actuate the ejector to cause an article to drop onto each of said areas, a reciprocable ram mounted above the conveyor at a position spaced from the hopper, and latches mounted at spaced positions on the ram to engage the ends of the spacing element on the down stroke and remove the element from the rack member free of disturbance to the articles.

2. The apparatus for loading racks according to claim 1 in which lateral projections of the ram are receivable in apertures of a companion rack member with a flexible masking surface for each loaded rack member, the projections being adapted to support each companion rack member and having reference surfaces to locate the companion rack members in given positions so that down movement of the ram will force the companion member onto the loaded rack member.

3. The apparatus for loading racks according to claim 2 in which apertures with latches therein of the loaded rack member are to receive and interengage notched pins of the companion member, and guides mounted on the conveyor to locate the loaded rack member to align the apertures with the notched pins for interlocking of the rack members during downward movement of the ram and so that the completely loaded rack will be removed from the conveyor by upward movement of the ram.

4. An apparatus for loading plating racks having connectable companion members with flexible masking surfaces extending longitudinally thereof comprising a conveyor to support one member of each rack longitudinally thereon with its masking surface positioned upper most, guides on the conveyor to limit movement of the supported members longitudinally in a given path, a hopper for articles of like lengths to be plated having the articles stacked horizontally therein and mounted above the conveyor, an exit end for the hopper located at a feeding station above the conveyor, a spacing element removably mounted at a given position on the masking surface of each supported rack member, lateral partitions of each element traversing the masking surface to divide the longitudinally extending masking surface into spaced parallel horizontally extending article supporting areas and cooperating to form guide passageways to the article supporting areas, means to move the elements successively with their rack members on the conveyor relative to the feeding station to position the guide passageways to re ceive the horizontal articles successively and guide them to lie in spaced parallel positions transversely of the masking surface on their supporting areas, an advancing rack and a retaining rack mounted on each element and provided with teeth spaced longitudinally of the element according .to the spacing of the guide passageways of the element, reciprocable forward and reverse stroke operating means, an advancing detent for the operating means adapted to engage successive teeth of the advancing rack during forward strokes of the operating means to advance the element and its rack member to position successive passageways and article supporting areas to the feeding station, and a retaining detent operable at the start of each reverse stroke to engage successive teeth of the retaining rack to hold the element and its rack against reverse movement during the reverse stroke of the operating means.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,676,639 Elliot July 10, 1928 1,841,451 Pope Jan. 19, 1932 2,801,965 Monahan Aug. 6, 1957 2,862,633 Stiles i Dec. 2, 1958 2,942,392 McCain June 28, 1960 FOREIGN PATENTS 412,641 Great Britain July 5, 1934

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