US3266795A

US3266795A - Feed apparatus

Info

Publication number: US3266795A
Application number: US315978A
Authority: US
Inventors: George F Howatt
Original assignee: New England Envelope Mfg Compa
Current assignee: New England Envelope Manufacturing Co
Priority date: 1963-10-14
Filing date: 1963-10-14
Publication date: 1966-08-16
Anticipated expiration: 1983-08-16

Description

Aug. 16, 1966 HOWATT 3,266,795

FEED APPARATUS Filed Oct. 14, 1963 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 32 '1 4 I7 I w K .iilfl lmllllillllrllfl.IINIIWVLIN!, 26 24 22 I6 FIG.

GEORGE Fl HOWATT INVENTOR.

Aug. 16, 1966 F. HOWATT 3,266,795

FEED APPARATUS Filed Oct. 14, 1963 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG. 5

GEORGE Fl HOWATT INVENTOR.

,amd

United States Patent Office 3,2fififl'95 Patented August 16, 1966 3,266,795 FEED APKARATUS George F. l-llowatt, Ncrthhcro, Mass, assignor to New England Envelope Mfg. iiornpany, Worcester, Mass, a corporation of Massachusetts Filed Get. 14, 1963, Ser. No. 315,978 6 Claims. (Cl. 271-40) This invention relates to a feed apparatus and, more particularly, to apparatus arranged to interrupt a con tinuous flow of articles to produce a gap in the flow.

There are many situations in the automatic treatment of articles in which the articles flow in an uninterrupted stream from one machine and must be introduced into another machine in a flow of large groups of the articles, each group followed -by a space in which no articles flow to the second machine. Such a situation exists, for instance, in presenting the flow of envelopes from an envelope-making machine to an envelope bander wherein bundles of the envelopes are tied with a paper band. It has been found that, if one attempts to present the envelopes in a continuous stream to the bander, it is difiicult to make the bander operate properly because there is no gap in which mechanism of the bander can move transversely of the direction of envelope flow. A similar situation exists in the case of articles leaving a fabrieating machine in a continuous flow, wherein it is desired to package the articles by means of a packaging machine which operates transversely of the. article flow; in such a case, a space must be provided between the last article of a group to be packaged and the first article of the next group in order to permit the reciprocating mechanism of the packaging machine to operate effectively and also to assure that the first article of the following group does not interfere with the operation of the packaging machine. These and other difficulties exerienced with the prior art devices have been obviated in a novel manner by the present invention.

It is, therefore, an outstanding object of the invention to provide a feed apparatus for interrupting a continuous flow of articles to produce a gap in the flow.

Another object of this invention is the provision of a feed apparatus capable of receiving articles in series and passing them onwardly in predetermined groups interrupted by gaps.

A further object of the present invention is the provision of a feed apparatus for receiving continuous flow of envelopes from an envelope-making machine and transmitting them in large uninterrupted groups of predetermined quantity to a machine for banding or packaging groups of the envelopes.

It is another object of the present invention to provide an apparatus for Changing continuous flow to discontinuous flow, which apparatus is simple and inexpensive to manufacture, which may be operated by unskilled labor and which is capable of a long life of useful service.

It is a further object of the invention to provide an article-feeding apparatus having a means for accumulating articles and a means for passing a pre-determined number of articles onward in which the means for accumulating assures that never less than a given number of particles are accumulated at any given time.

With these and other objects in view, as will be apparent to those skilled in the art, the invention resides in the combination of parts set forth in the specification and covered by the claims appended hereto.

The character of the invention, however, may be best understood by reference to one of its structural forms as shown by the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of an apparatus embodying the principles of the present invention,

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the apparatus,

FIG. 3 is a view of the apparatus taken on the line ILIIII of FIG. 2,

FIG. 4 is an enlarged sectional view of the apparatus taken on the line lVIV of FIG. 2, and

FIG. 5 is a schematic view of the electrical circuitry used in the invention.

Referring first to FIG. 1, wherein are best shown the general features of the invention, the feed apparatus, indicated generally by the reference numeral 10, is shown in use (for the purpose of illustration) with an envelopemaking machine 11 and a banding machine 12. The banding machine is of the nature shown in the patent to Howatt No. 2,842,915 issued July 15, 1958 and serves to tie a number of the envelopes together by means of a strip of paper. The output portion only of the envelope-making machine is shown, and this portion consists of a roll 13 which carries the finished envelope into a serrated wheel 14 whose spiral slots 15 serve to carry the envelopes around with it, the edge of an envelope having the flap residing innermost of each respective slot.

The banding machine 12 has an entering roll 16 and a guide finger 17 between which the envelopes are introduced. They accumulate immediately to the right of these two elements until a pre-determined number have arrived and a solenoid 18 is energized. This solenoid operates an arm 19 which moves past the fingers 17 and compacts the group of envelopes which are already in the machine. At that time, a pair of opposed teeth appear at the top and bottom of the bundle of envelopes and carry them into the machine an incremental distance. At the same time that this bundle 21 is moving into the machine a predetermined distance, another bundle at the. end of the machine is being banded in the well-known manner.

The feed apparatus consists of a roll 22 which is keyed to a rotating shaft 23. Extending between the serrated wheel 14 and the roll 22 of the feed apparatus is a rack 24 on which the envelopes 25 accumulate. At each side of the rack 24 and engaging the end edges of the envelopes is a guide 26. Underlying the end of the rack 24 adjacent the periphery of the roll 22 is a small roll 27.

Extending parallel to the axis of the shaft 23 and generally in front of but above the roll 22 is a mounting bar 28 from which extends an electrical cable 29 for a purpose to be explained more fully hereinafter. Also attached to the mounting bar 28 is a finger 31 and a finger 32, the finger 32 pressing against the downstream. end of the accumulation of envelopes 25 on the rack 24.

Referring now to FIG. 2, it can be seen that the shaft 23 is mounted for rotation in a pedestal 33 and is driven by an electric motor 34 through a gear 35 and a gear 36. Extending from the pedestal 33 is a suction sleeve 37 to which is connected a suction conduit 38 connected to a source of suction (not shown). The roll 22 is shown as consisting of four disc-

like portions

39, 41, and 42, and 43 which are mounted on the sleeve 37 and keyed to the shaft 23, the center two

portions

41 and 42 being provided with suction apertures 44, while the

outer portions

39 and 43 are not so provided. The

portions

39, 41, 42, and 43 are spaced apart; located in the space between the

portions

42 and 43 is a photoelectric apparatus 45 for counting the envelopes as they pass through. This apparatus is supported on a slotted bracket 46 which is fastened to the right-hand end of the mounting bar 28.

Fastened to the mounting bar 28 are two bushing blocks 47 and 48 in which are rotatably carried a horizontal shaft 49. Keyed to this shaft is the finger 31 and

similar fingers

40 and 50 in alignment with the spaces between the

portions

42 and 43, and portions 39 and 44-, and

portions

41 and 42 of the roll 22, respectively. The mounting bar 28 is fastened to supporting plate 51 and this holds the mounting bar 28 in cantilever fashion extending horizontally in front of the roll 22. Mounted at the top of the plate 51 is a block 52 hingedly mounted on a vertical pin 53. Extending through the block 52 in a direction which is generally horizontal and transverse of the apparatus is an elongated rod 54 bent downward at its outer end in a plane midway between the

portions

41 and 42 of the roll 22 to form the finger 32. Extending also from the block 52 at a portion thereabove outwardly of the pin 53 is an actuating finger 55 which is in position, on occasion, to engage the operating member 58 of a microswitch 56 fastened to the side of the vertical plate 51. Also mounted on the plate is a solenoid 57 connected to the rod 49 to operate the

fingers

31 and 50.

FIG. 3 shows the arrangement of the parts associated with the mounting plate 51. The microswitch 56 is shown with its actuating finger 58 in position to be engaged on occasion by the finger 55 mounted on the block 52. The nature of the pin 53 is clearly shown in this view, as is the presence of the rod 54. At the same time, it can be seen that the solenoid 57 has an outwardly-extending plunger 59 which is pivotally attached to the lower end of a lever 61. This lever is keyed at the upper end to the shaft 49. Also attached to the plate 51 is a bracket 62 which is L-shaped and which has a first leg which lies in the plane of the plate 51 and is fastened thereto, and which has another leg extending at a right angle to the first and has running through it an adjustable stop screw 63. This screw is in a plane to be engaged by the lever 61 to limit the swing of the lever. Extending from the intermediate portion of the lever to the same leg of the bracket 62 in which the stop screw 63 resides is a coil spring 64 which serves to bias the lever in such a way that the rod 59 is withdrawn from the solenoid 57. Energization of the solenoid causes the rod to move inwardly.

In FIG. 4 is shown the manner in which the photoelectric apparatus 45 is mounted on the roll. A nonrotating sleeve 65 extends along the shaft 23 to about the mid-point between the portion 42 and the portion 43. The photoelectric apparatus is provided with a main body 66 which is fastened by means of a screw 67 to the bracket 46 which is adjustably fastened to the outer end of the mounting bar 28 and which is provided with an elongated slot 68. The main body 66 is provided with a semicylindrical curved surface 69 which exactly fits around the outer cylindrical surface of the sleeve 65 for a portion thereof. Bolted to the main body 66 is a clamping plate 71 which is recessed to provide a vertical flat surface 72 which rests against the outer cylindrical surface of the sleeve 65 opposite the surface 69 and a flange which engages the outer end surface of the sleeve. Mounted in the main body 66 are a sender 73, which may be an electric lamp, and a receiver 74 which may include a photoelectric cell. The cable 29 is suitably connected to the sender and receiver in the usual way and the sender and receiver are directed toward the periphery of the roll 22 and toward the surface of an envelope passing around on the peripheral surface of the roll.

Referring to FIG. 5, a source 75 of alternating current electricity is provided and connected by

lines

76 and 77 to the sender 73 and to the receiver 74, these elements being suitably connected together electrically. The receiver 74 is connected to a counter 78 of the conventional type adapted to receive electrical pulses to accumulate them and, when a pre-determined accumulation has resulted, to energize the coil 79 of a relay 81. Such a counter may consist, for instance, of a mechanical apparatus, such as a stepping switch, or it may consist of a thyratron having a capacitor connected from ground to its grid, the charge on the capacitor being increased with each pulse of a signal received from the photoelectric cell and, eventually, reaching the firing point of the thyratron to energize the coil 79 which is connected in its plate circuit. In any case, the energization of the coil 79 causes the closure of a normally-open contactor 82 forming part of the relay 81. This contactor lies in a line 83 joining one side of the electrical source 75 to one side of the bander solenoid 18, the other side of which is connected by a line 84 back to the other side of the source 75. A point in the line 83 between the contactor 82 and the solenoid 18 is connected by a line 85 to one side of the finger solenoid 57. The other side of the solenoid 57 is connected by a line 86 to the other side of the source 75. The line 85 is also connected to one side of the microswit-ch 56, the other side of which is connected by a line 87 to the line 83 and the source 75.

The operation of the apparatus will now be readily understood in view of the above description. Envelopes formed in the envelope-making machine 11 pass around the roll 13 and are deposited one-by-one in the slots 15 of the serrated wheel 14. As the wheel 14 (there are two of them in side-by-side position engaging the central portion of the envelopes) rotates and each envelope reaches the rack 24, it is deposited on the rack and forms a stack of the envelopes 25 011 the rack. The envelopes are retained against movement in their longitudinal direction by the side guides 26 and are arranged with their flaps in the downward direction and facing rearwardly toward the envelope-making machine, the envelopes added to the back of the pack residing on the rack 24 as they advance forwardly toward the roll 22. It should be noted that, although the

fingers

31, 40, and 50 are located below the surface of the roll, the finger 31 resides in the space between the portion 42 and the portion 43, while the finger 50 resides in the space between the portion 41 and the portion 42 of the roll, and the finger 40 resides between the

portions

39 and 41. The foremost envelope of the stack on the rack eventually advances to the point where it is engaged by the roll 22 and the suction on the suction apertures 44 pulls the envelope toward the roll so that it sticks to the roll and rotates with it. The suction enters the suction sleeve 37 through the conduit 38 and is commutated in the well-known manner within the roll so the envelope suction appears on an aperture on the roll only when the particular aperture is going through the lower portion of the periphery from the neighborhood of the finger 31 to the neighborhood of the guide finger 17. Each envelope, therefore, rolls over the roller 16, up under the guide finger 17 of the bander 12. As it passes around the bottom of the periphery of the roll 22, it eventually passes within the focus point of the photoelectric apparatus 45, and a signal from the receiver 74 passes through the cable 29 to the counter 78 so that the particular envelope is counted. The counter 78 is set for a pre-determined number of envelopes and, when that predetermined number of envelopes has passed under the roll into the bander, the relay 78 is energized. The energization of the coil 79 causes the closing of the normally-open contactor 82 which has the effect of energizing the bander solenoid 18 and causing the arm 19 to swing inwardly and to press the accumulated bundle of envelopes well into the bander where it is engaged by the usual mechanism of the bander. At the same time, the finger solenoid 57 is energized so that the rod 59 is drawn inwardly carrying the lever 61 with it against the tension of the coil spring 64. The movement of the lever 61 causes a corresponding rotation of the shaft 49 and the

fingers

31 and 50 move out of their grooves and press against the incoming end of the stack of envelopes on the rack 24. This presses the whole body of envelopes away from the roll 22 so that they are not picked up by the suction apertures and, therefore, cannot be carried around the roll. The counter 78 energizes the coil 79 only momentarily so that the mechanisms return almost immediately to their former normal positions, particularly the

fingers

31, 40, and 59 return to their resting place in the grooves in the rolls so that the envelopes 25 are allowed to advance toward the roll and be picked up by the suction. However, in the moment during which the fingers are pressed toward the envelopes, the movement of the fingers causes a gap in the continuous movement of the envelopes through the roll and, therefore, a corresponding gap in the envelope stream that arrives at the bander. Since the movement of the arm 19 or any corresponding reciprocating movement of the apparatus in the bander must, necessarily, interfere with the steady flow of envelopes if such a gap were not present, there would be an interference between the envelopes. For instance, if such were the case, the last-counted envelope of the group would pass under the guide finger 1'7 and be pressed by the arm 19 but, while the arm 19 was active in pressing the last envelope of that group, the forwardmost envelope of the next group would be piling up in back of the arm and it would be diflicult for the arm to retract without disturbing the envelope arrangement.

It is interesting to note that the envelopes leave the envelope-making machine upside down with the flaps facing rearwardly but that, when they arrive at the bander, they are right side up with the flaps facing forwardly. Occasionally, for one reason or another, the envelopes arriving at the rack 24 will not arrive as quickly as they are absorbed by the feed apparatus. The finger 32 is continuously pressed against the forwardmost of the envelopes by the operation of a coil spring 88 which extends from the block 54 to the end of an adjustable screw 89 mounted on the surface of the mounting bar 23. If the stack of envelopes diminishes due to failure of envelopes to arrive from the envelope-making machine, the finger 32 will advance rearwardly because of the spring pressure. Eventually, this will cause the finger 55 to engage the actuating finger 58 of the microswitch 56. This will close the normally-open microswitch 56 which, in turn, will energize the solenoid 57 and cause the

fingers

31 and 50 to remain in their operative position away from the roll 22, thus maintaining the envelopes out of contact with the roll so that they are not picked up. In this way, the package of envelopes on the rack 24 can accumulate until the envelope pressure causes the finger 32 to be pushed rearwardly so that the finger 55 eventually moves out of engagement with the actuating finger 58 of the microswitch 56, thus allowing the microswitch to open and de-energize the finger solenoid 57. In this way, an adequate accumulation of envelopes 2S always remains on the rack 24; this means that the pressure on the foremost envelope is such as to press it against the roll in the proper manner so that it can be easily picked up by the suction apertures.

It can be seen, then, that the articles are introduced into the feed apparatus at a pre-determined continuous rate, but that they leave the feed apparatus in groups with a gap in delivery between the groups.

It is obvious that minor changes may be made in the form and construction of the invention without departing from the material spirit thereof. It is not, however, desired to confine the invention to the exact form herein shown and described, but it is desired to include all such as properly come within the scope claimed.

The invention having been thus described, what is claimed as new and desired to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. Feed apparatus for interrupting the continuous flow of articles to produce a gap in the flow, comprising (a) a rotatable drum adapted to lie in the line of flow of articles, the drum having a suction means for causing the articles to cling to the drum and revolve therewith from one side to the other and having a peripheral groove formed therein,

(b) a rack on the said one side of the drum on which the articles arrive seriatim and accumulate,

(c) a discharge means at the said other side of the drum to receive the articles as they leave the drum,

(d) finger means normally lying in the said groove of the drum and operative on occasion to leave the groove to prevent the article on the rack which is closest to the drum from approaching the drum to be effected by the said suction means,

(e) photo-electric means counting the articles and rendering the finger means operative, and

(f) an accumulator finger overlying the rack to render the suction means inoperative when the number of articles accumulated on the rack falls below a predetermined number.

2. Feed apparatus for interrupting the continuous flow of articles to produce a gap in the flow, comprising (a) a drum adapted to lie in the line of flow of articles, the drum having securing means for causing the articles to cling to the drum and revolve therewith from one side to the other,

((1) means operative on occasion to prevent the article on the rack which is closest to the drum from approaching the drum to be affected by the said securing means, and

(e) an accumulator finger associated with the rack,

which finger renders the securing means inoperative with less than a predetetrmined number of articles are arranged on the rack.

3. Feed apparatus as recited in claim 2, wherein the finger is hingedly mounted over the rack to pivotal movement about a vertical axis, wherein a spring bias is provided to direct the finger against the article, and wherein an electrical switch is located to be operated when the finger swings to a pre-determined position about the said axis.

4. Feed apparatus for interrupting a continuous flow of articles to produce a gap in the flow, each article having inherent resilience, comprising,

(a) conveyor means adapted to lie in the line of flow of articles, the conveyor means having securing means associated therewith for causing the articles to cling to the surface thereof for movement therewith from a first portion to a second portion,

(b) a rack on the said one side of said conveyor means to which the articles arrive seriatim and accumulate, the accumulation of the articles bringing about a resilient pressure toward the conveyor means of the article closest thereto,

(c) discharge means at the said other side of said conveyor means to receive the articles as they leave said conveyor means, and

(d) an accumulator finger associated with the rack, the finger rendering the securing means inoperative when less than a predetermined resilient pressure exists on the article closest thereto.

5. Feed apparatus for interrupting the continuous flow of articles to produce a gap in the flow, comprising (a) a rotatable drum adapted to lie in the line of flow of articles, the drum having a suction means for causing the articles to cling to the drum and revolve therewith from one side to the other,

(d) means operative on occasion to prevent the article on the rack which is closest to the drum from approaching the drum to be alfected by the said suction means, and

(e) a counting means that renders the last-named means operative when a pre-determined number of articles have passed from one side to the other of the drum.

6. Feed apparatus as recited in claim 5, wherein a photoelectric apparatus is associated with the drum to 10 observe the passage of the articles from one side to the other of the drum.

8 References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,006,902 10/ 1911 Bickerton.

1,100,570 6/1914 Jahn 27181 2,917,884 12/1959 Winkler et a1. 53198 2,969,979 1/1961 Nelson et al 27l5 3,173,684 3/1965 Binzoni 271-57 M. HENSON WOOD, 121., Primary Examiner.

ROBERT B. REEVES, Examiner.

W. F. MCCARTHY, J. N. ERLICH, Assistant Examiners.

Claims

1. FEED APPARATUS FOR INTERRUPTING THE CONTINUOUS FLOW OF ARTICLES TO PRODUCE A GAP IN THE FLOW, COMPRISING (A) A ROTATABLE DRUM ADAPTED TO LIE IN THE LINE OF FLOW OF ARTICLES, THE DRUM HAVING A SUCTION MEANS FOR CAUSING THE ARTICLES TO CLING TO THE DRUM AND REVOLVE THEREWITH FROM ONE SIDE TO THE OTHER AND HAVING A PERIPHERAL GROOVE FORMED THEREIN, (B) A RACK ON THE SAID ONE SIDE OF THE DRUM ON WHICH THE ARTICLES ARRIVE SERIATIM AND ACCUMULATE, (C) A DISCHARGE MEANS AT THE SAID OTHER SIDE OF THE DRUM TO RECEIVE THE ARTICLES AS THEY LEAVE THE DRUM, (D) FINGER MEANS NORMALLY LYING IN THE SAID GROOVE OF THE DRUM AND OPERATIVE ON OCCASION TO LEAVE THE GROOVE TO PREVENT THE ARTICLE ON THE RACK WHICH IS CLOSEST TO THE DRUM FROM APPROACHING THE DRUM TO BE EFFECTED BY THE SAID SUCTION MEANS, (E) PHOTO-ELECTRIC MEANS COUNTING THE ARTICLES AND RENDERING THE FINGER MEANS OPERATIVE, AND (F) AN ACCUMULATOR FINGER OVERLYING THE RACK TO RENDER THE SUCTION MEANS INOPERATIVE WHEN THE NUMBER OF ARTICLES ACCUMULATED ON THE RACK FALLS BELOW A PREDETERMINED NUMBER.