US3632106A

US3632106A - Modified stacker

Info

Publication number: US3632106A
Application number: US832698A
Authority: US
Inventors: Arthur Schwenk; Herschel Baron; Herbert V Jacobs
Original assignee: Jacobs Machine Corp
Current assignee: Jacobs Machine Corp
Priority date: 1969-06-12
Filing date: 1969-06-12
Publication date: 1972-01-04
Anticipated expiration: 1989-01-04

Abstract

A stacker for flexible articles, such as cloth workpieces, that are successively presented to an output station. The stacker includes a support member for the flexible article and a movable member for transporting the articles from the output station to the support member. The output station has an opening which permits each flexible article to pass towards the support member to be grasped by clamping means, with there also being a movable member like a delivery tray which is adapted to assist in the draping of an edge of each article about an arm of the support member.

Description

United States Patent Primary Examiner.loseph Wegbreit Assistant ExaminerBruce H. Stoner, Jr. Attorney-Caesar, Rivise, Bernstein & Cohen ABSTRACT: A stacker for flexible articles, such as cloth workpieces, that are successively presented to an output station. The stacker includes a support member for the flexible article and a movable member for transporting the articles from the output station to the support member. The output station has an opening which permits each flexible article to pass towards the support member to be grasped by clamping means, with there also being a movable member like a delivery tray which is adapted to assist in the draping of an edge of each article about an arm of the support member.

PATENTEDJM 4m 06 SHEET 1 UF 6 Z IO INVENTORS. ARTHUR SCHWENK HERSCHEL BARON HERBERT v. JACOBS ATTORNEYS,

PATENTED JAN 4 E72 SHEET 3 BF 6 IIIII'LIIIIIIIII'II INVENTORS. ARTHUR SCHWENK HERSCHEL BARON HERBERT v. JACOBS ATTORNEYS PATENTS) JAN 4m sum 5 BF 6 202 200 I86 45 I88 I90 49 I92 INVENTORS. ARTHUR SCHWENK HERSCHEL BARON HERBERT V. JACOBS ATTORNEYS.

PATENTEDJAN 4m: GIGS-2.10%

sum s 0F 6 INVENTORS. ARTHUR SCHWENK HERSCHEL BARON HERBERT V. JACOBS ATTORNEYSo MODIFIED STACKER This invention relates generally to the output portion of an automatic production device and more particularly to a modified stacker for flexible articles produced in successive order by an automatic filing assembly, such as that as shown in Jacobs U.S. Pat. No. 3,223,059 and Jacobs et al. U.S. Pat. No. 3,386,396.

In most conventional production facilities for flexible articles, as each article is produced, an operator is required to manually take the article and pile it on a supporting device until a completed bundle is produced having a predetermined number of articles therein. The bundle is then removed and the next bundle is made. Various automatic stacking arrangements have been suggested, but they have been proven to have disadvantages.

One problem is that the bundles produced by the automatic stacking device are not neat or uniform. Therefore, an operator must be provided to align each of the articles in a bundle prior to the use in another operation. Moreover, after a bundle has been completed, an operator must be provided to remove the bundle so that there will be room to assemble the next bundle. Where an operator is not provided, the bundles are intermingled or the machine must be stopped after each bundle is completed and remain stopped until the bundle which is completed is removed.

It is therefore an object of the invention to overcome the aforementioned disadvantages.

Another object of the invention is to provide a new and improved modified stacker for flexible articles.

Another object of the invention is to provide a new and improved stacker which is both efficient and inexpensive.

Another object of the invention is to provide a new and improved modified stacker which enables continuous operation of an automatic sewing assembly producing successive flexible articles.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide a new and improved modified stacker for flexible articles which is space saving.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a new and improved modified stacker for flexible articles which piles articles into neat bundles and which enables storage of a plurality of bundles while a new bundle is being completed.

Reference is hereby made to copending application, Ser. No. 736,629, filed in the name of Baron et al. which discloses and claims a stacker which has proved to be quite satisfactory for many purposes. In said application, Ser. No. 736,629 there is provided a movable member which has means for producing suction. The suction means act to secure the articles to the movable member as the movable member transports the article to the support member.

In another aspect of the invention of said application, Ser. No. 736,629 the support member includes a vertically extending shaft with elongated members extending radially and perpendicularly from the shaft, with the shaft being rotatable so that after a predetermined number of articles has been placed by the movable member on one of the arms, the shaft is rotated to present yet another am to support the next articles that are transported by the movable member.

The present invention presents a modified stacker which, in some instances, is more reliable and does not require the use of vacuum in order to achieve the objective of the present invention.

The foregoing as well as other objects of the invention are achieved by providing a modified stacker for flexible articles which are successively presented to an output station. The modified stacker comprises a support member for the articles, with there being an opening in the support member to allow each of the articles to be delivered within the grasp of clamping means that are positioned adjacent the output station. Each article is also brought within the range of a delivery tray or other movable member, which serves to drape the article about the support member.

Other objects and many of the attended advantages of this invention will be readily appreciated as the same becomes better understood by reference to the following detailed description when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view showing the modified stacker of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an end elevation of the modified stacker of FIG. 1, taken along the lines 2-2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a top plan view of the modified stacker taken along the lines 3-3 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged sectional view taken along the lines 4-4 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged sectional view taken along the lines 5-5 of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is an enlarged sectional view taken along the lines 6-6 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 7 is an enlarged sectional view taken along the lines 7-7 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 8 is an enlarged sectional view taken along the lines 8-8 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 9 is a schematic view showing the delivery of a flexible article from the support member into working range of the delivery tray;

FIG. 10 is a view similar to FIG. 9, but wherein the clamping means has closed and the delivery tray or movable member has begun its stroke; and

FIG. 11 is a view similar to FIGS. 9 and 10, but wherein the delivery tray has completed its stroke and the flexible article has been delivered to an arm support member.

Referring now in greater detail to the various figures of the drawing wherein similar reference characters refer to similar parts, a modified stacker embodying the invention is shown generally at 10 in FIG. 1.

The stacker l0 basically comprises a support member or tumstile l2 and a reciprocable movable member or delivery tray 14. The turnstile 12 includes a plurality of arms l6, I8, 20 and 22, each of which acts to support a bundle of flexible articles or cloth workpieces such as work fronts.

Each of the arms are secured to and extend radially from a vertically extending shaft 24 and are angularly spaced from each other about the periphery of shaft 24. Each of the arms l6, 18, 20 and 22 each extend horizontally and are secured at the uppermost portion of the shaft 24. It will be seen that the shaft 24 is adapted to be rotated 90 after a predetermined number of workpieces 26 have been draped upon a particular arm.

With reference to FIG. 1 it will be seen that each workpiece 26 is delivered one by one while lying in a horizontal plane in a downstream direction as indicated by arrow 30 by the action of delivery belt 32. It will be further seen from FIG. I that each workpiece 26 is moved across a horizontal bed 34 which possesses an opening 36 that allows the workpiece 26 to drape downwardly past the arm of tumstile 12.

It will be seen from FIGS. 1 and 9 that the leading edge 40 of the workpiece 26 will be delivered to the space between movable jaw 42 and fixed jaw 44 of the clamping means 38.

From a further inspection of FIGS. 7 and 9 it will be seen that the delivery tray or movable member 14 possesses spaced

parallel rods

46, 48 and 49, and that the workpiece 26 is caused to pass between the

rods

46 and 48. When the downstream movement of the workpiece 26 has ceased, the movable jaw 42 of the clamping means makes its stroke in the direction of arrow 50 of FIG. 10. Thus, the downstream end of the workpiece 26 is tightly clamped. The delivery tray 14 is now actuate in the direction of arrow 52, and with rearward movement of the delivery tray 14 the rod 46 engages (FIG. 10) the workpiece 26 is its middle section and gives said middle section a backward tug.

It will be seen that the rearward portion of the workpiece 26 will be caused to drape over arm 18 of tumstile 12 in the direction of arrow 54 of FIG. 11. As this occurs there is sufficient weight of draped workpiece 26 that the remaining portion 58 (FIG. 10) including trailing edge 60 is caused by gravity to drape in the direction of arrow 54 about the arm 18 as can be seen in FIG. 11.

As can also be seen in FIG. 11 the movable jaw 42 of the clamping means 38 returns to its normally open position, and the delivery tray or movable member 14 will move forwardly to its original position to await the next workpiece.

From the foregoing description it will be seen that the present invention requires four mechanical movements. First, there is the movement of the delivery belts 32 in order that the workpieces 26 be fed through opening 36. Second, there is the movement of the clamping means 38 in order to grasp the leading edge 40 of the draped workpiece 26. Third, there is the reciprocated movement of the delivery tray 14 in order to drape the bulk of the workpiece 26 over an arm of support member of tumstile 12. Finally, there is the periodic movement of the tumstile 12 in order to present a different arm that is to be loaded with workpieces 26.

The various elements contributing to the aforesaid four movements will now be discussed. The details of the delivery belt 32 and its associated elements can best be seen in FIG. 1 wherein the delivery belt 32 is shown as being positioned immediately above the bed 34 along the right hand side of FIG. 1 for the purpose of acting as a top feeding mechanism for each workpiece 26. The delivery belt 32 extends about the rollers 102 and 014, and then moves upwardly to upper rollers 106 and 018. The delivery belt 32 then completes is endless path by returning to roller 102. It will be seen from FIG. 1 that suitable framing to support the various rollers about which the delivery belt 32 passes are provided. Also, openings 110 are provided in horizontal frame 112 for the purpose of tightening or loosening block 114 which serves as a common support for one of the rollers 104 and one of the rollers 106.

It will be further seen from FIG. 1 that the roller 108 is driven by chain 116. Reference is made to FIG. 2 wherein the chain 116 is shown as extending between upper sprocket 118 and lower sprocket 120. Driving force is presented by the sprocket 112 which is connected to a motor (not shown). The rotation of the sprocket 112 is conveyed by shaft 124 to the lower sprocket 120, which through chain 116 serves to drive upper sprocket 118. This in turn causes rotation of upper shaft 124 which in turn drives the roller 108. It will further be seen from an inspection of FIG. 2 that auxiliary supports 126 are provided, and such supporting devices will readily occur to those skilled in the art. Of further interest in FIG. 2 is the base frame 128 and standards 130 which support the horizontal bed 132.

By virtue of the foregoing, each workpiece is top fed by the belt 32 to the opening 36. A bafile 134 may be provided to prevent the workpiece 26 from passing beyond the opening 36. Alternatively, a downward jet of air may be provided to act upon the leading edge 40 of the workpiece 26 in order to urge it into the opening 36.

It is to be noted that the amount of drape of the workpiece 26 is controlled by providing an indicating member (not shown) between the rollers 104 in order to stop the action of the belt 32 prior to the time that trailing edge 60 of the work piece 26 has pased beyond all of the rollers 104. With this arrangement the trailing edge 60 of the workpiece 26 will be held between the belt 32 and the bed 34 until the delivery tray becomes active, at which time the action of the delivery tray overcomes the holding action of the belt 32 and the bed 34 in order to complete the action of draping the workpiece 26 over one of the arms of the support member 12, as shown in FIG. 1 1.

With reference to FIG. 1, it will be seen that movement of movable jaw 42 of the clamping means 38 is achieved by the action of an air cylinder 152 that is held on a bracket 154. The plunger 155 of the air cylinder 152 is joined to the

movable jaw

42 and 156. When movement of belt 32 is stopped, as described hereinabove, through the action of indicating means, such as photosensitive means positioned between the rollers 104, the same signal which stops the driving means for the belt 32, also actuates air cylinder 152. Thus, as shown in FIGS. and 11, the air cylinder plunger 155 is urged outwardly in order to drive movable jaw 42 against fixed jaw 44 to clamp leading edge 40 of the workpiece 26. It will be seen that the

jaws

42 and 44 are pivotally connected at 160.

When the tray 14 returns to its original position, the solenoid associated with air cylinder 152 is actuated to retract the plunger 155, and thereby return the movable jaw 42 to its open position of FIG. 9. Also, the motor for the belt 32 is again started, and a new workpiece 26 is fed to the opening 36.

It will be seen that as new workpieces 26 are draped about a particular arm of the support member 12 the clamping means 38 will clamp upon an ever growing bundle upon the particular arm of the support member 12. This is not a serious limita tion upon the number of workpieces that can be draped upon a particular arm of the support member since the opening between the

jaws

42 and 44 can be made wider to accommodate a sufficient number of workpieces as are present in a practical bundle which can be lifted away by an operator or by automatic machinery.

It will be further seen from FIGS. 1 and 2 that each of the

jaws

42 and 44 possesses a contact roller which may be of rubber or other frictional material. Furthermore, the clamping means 38 itself actually comprises sides 172 which define fixed jaw 44 and sides 174 which define the movable jaw 42. Extending between these sides, as shown in FIG. 2, are horizontal struts 176.

The operation of the delivery tray 14 can be better understood by reference to FIGS. 7 and 8. The flow of goods in FIG. 7 is as indicated by the arrow 30, with reference also being made to FIGS. 9, l0 and 11. It will be seen from FIG. 7 that upstream rod 49 is rotatable about its own axis as is intermediate rod 48. Only downstream rod 46 is fixed. From an inspection of FIGS. 9, 10 and 11, it will be seen that the workpiece 26 is intended to pass between the downstream rod 46 and the intermediate rod 48. It will be seen from FIG. 3 that the ends of the

rods

48 and 49 are secured for movement in parallel tracks 180, with the actual movement being caused by the action of air cylinder 182. It will be seen from FIG. 7 that the

rotatable rods

48 and 49 each pass through the connecting link 45, whereas the fixed rod 46 is attached to the connecting link 45. It will be further seen that the passage of the

rods

48 and 49 to connecting link 45 is a free passage in order that these two rods may be rotatable. Instead, as exemplified by rod 49 in FIG. 8, there is a support bushing 186 which is attached to the link 45. A shorter bushing 188 is provided and a rotatable gear 190 is interposed between the shorter bushing 188 and an end bushing 192. It is to be noted that the gear 190 is attached directly to the rotatable rod 49, so that rotation of the gear 190 will be in turn conveyed to the rod 49.

It will also be seen from FIG. 8 that the gear 190 is adapted to mesh with the teeth in the rack 194 which extends along the length of the track 180. Also, the air cylinder 182 is attached to the rotatable rod 49 as shown in FIG. 8, wherein the plunger (not shown) of the cylinder 182 is attached to coupling 196 that is secured to tab 198 of the block 200. Another end bushing 202 is provided keeping in mind that the rod 49 is free to rotate with respect to the block 200 as urged under the rotation of the gear 190, and the rod 49 is not restrained by any

ofthe elements

192, 188, 186, 200 or 202.

With further reference to FIG. 7, it will be seen that intermediate rod 48 is similarly attached to a gear 190, but does not have any coupling to the air cylinder 182. As previously noted the downstream rod 46 is fixed, and is simply attached to the link 45 by means of a coupling 204.

From the foregoing description it will be seen from FIG. 2 that gears 190 are provided at each end of the rod 48 in order to mesh with teeth in racks extending along tracks as also seen in FIG. 2. A similar arrangement prevails for the upstream rod 49.

Thus, after the clamping means 38 has closed, the air cylinder 182 is actuated by a solenoid (not shown) in order to urge rod 49 in an upstream sense. This immediately causes the gear to rotate along the track 194 which in turn initiates rotation of the rod 49. The rod 48 behaves in a similar way, and also rotates. Thus, actuation of the air cylinder 182 urges the link 45, and therefore, the delivery tray 14, to move in an upstream sense in the direction of arrow 52 of FIGS. 10 and II in order to achieve the draping action of the workpiece 26 as shown in FIGS. and 11. After the delivery tray or movable member 14 has completed its upstream stroke, the air cylinder 182 is forced to reverse to return the delivery tray 14 to its initial position to be ready to act upon the next workpiece 26.

The operation of the support member or tumstile 12 can best be seen from an inspection of FIGS. 4 and 5. It will be seen that the tumstile 12 includes a lower housing 60 with a lower block 62 and an upper block 64. A central shaft 66 is provided that extends upwardly from the lower block 62, through the upper plate 64 and toward the

arms

18, 20, 22 and 24. An intermediate plate 68 is provided with a coupler 70 in order to lend support for bearings 72, with due allowance being made for the passage of the shaft 66. Near the lower end of shaft 66 a clutch 74 is provided, and a gear 75 is attached to the shaft 66 immediately below the clutch 74. The shaft 66 terminates in a narrowed lower end 76 which fits within the block 62, with a bearing 78 being provided. As further shown in FIG. 4 the entire assembly sits upon a support 80 which passes about frames 82.

It will be further seen that an upper coupler 84 is provided which receives each of the arms l6, 18, and 22 of the tumstile 12.

It will be seen from FIG. 5 that an air cylinder 85 is provided in order to reciprocate the rack 86 having teeth which mesh with the teeth of the gear 75. The rack 86 rides in a track 88. Thus, movement of the rack 86 will cause a turning movement of the tumstile 12. However, it is usually desired that such turning movement be in increments of 90. Thus, a stop member 200 is provided as can be seen in FIGS. 1 and 6. The stop member 200 is solenoid actuated, so that when the air cylinder 85 operates, the stop member 200 will be raised to allow rotation of the arms of the turnstile 12 with the stop member 200 immediately returning to its initial place in order to restrict rotation of the arms of the tumstile 12 to a simple 90 turn. Altemately, indexing means or other stop mechanisms may be used as will occur to those skilled in the art. In actual operation of the present invention, a predetermined number of workpieces will be deposited upon a particular arm of the tumstile 12. Then, a control device will actuate movement of the arms of turnstile 12 in order to present a different arm below the delivery tray 14 to allow the formation of a new bundle.

It will therefore be seen that a modified stacker for flexible articles such as cloth workpieces is provided. Each workpiece is caused to pass from the output station by means of the action of delivery belt 32 which initially moves the workpieces across the output station 31. The workpieces are caused to be delivered to the support member of tumstile 12 by the action of a movable member, like the delivery tray 14. The clamping means 38 serves to hold the downstream edge of the workpiece 26, while the upstream edge 60 of the workpiece 26 is still being held by the delivery belt 32. The action of the delivery tray causes the upstream end of the workpiece to be separated from the delivery belt, and then draped over an arm of turnstile 12.

By virtue of the foregoing action it has been found that a reliable modified stacker is provided wherein very neat bundles are achieved which do not require reshuflling by an operator. Instead, the bundles are ready for the next sewing operation.

Without further elaboration, the foregoing will so fully illustrate my invention that others may, by applying current or future knowledge, readily adapt the same for use under various conditions of service.

What is claimed as the invention is:

l. A stacker for flexible articles comprising an output station to which the flexible articles are conveyed, a support member and a movable member to transport the articles from the output station to the support member, said movable member being reciprocable and including rod means to contact said flexible article and convey it toward said support member said movable member being a delivery tray comprised of at least one rod WhlCh contacts said flexible article,

said support member including an output station having four arms spaced from one another with said movable member draping said flexible article on one of said arms, said output station having an opening through which said flexible member passes downwardly and past said rod with said output station also including a transport belt which holds said flexible article until said movable member is actuated, said output station further including means which hold the leading edge of said flexible article during the action of said movable member, and control and motor means to rotate said support member after a predetermined number of flexible members have been draped on one of the arms of the support member.

2. The stacker of claim I wherein said clamping means are actuated prior to the rotation of said movable member.

3. A stacker for depositing flexible cloth workpieces on a support member, including four arms spaced 90 from one another, said workpieces having a leading edge, a middle section and a trailing edge, said stacker including an output station, belt means to convey said articles to said output station, said belt means initially holding said trailing edge, clamping means holding said leading edge, reciprocable delivery tray means including at least one rod contacting said workpiece in said middle section to urge said trailing edge away from said belt means as said middle section is draped upon said support member.

4. The stacker of claim 3 wherein said reciprocable delivery tray means is adapted to drape said workpieces on one of said arms.

5. The stacker of claim 3 wherein said output station has an opening through which said flexible member passes downwardly and past said rod.

6. The stacker of claim 3 including control and motor means to rotate said support member after a predetermined number of workpieces have been draped on one of the arms of said support member.

i i 3! i

Claims

1. A stacker for flexible articles comprising an output station to which the flexible articles are conveyed, a support member and a movable member to transport the articles from the output station to the support member, said movable member being reciprocable and including rod means to contact said flexible article and convey it toward said support member, said movable member being a delivery tray comprised of at least one rod which contacts said flexible article, said support member including an output station having four arms spaced 90* from one another with said movable member draping said flexible article on one of said arms, said output station having an opening through which said flexible member passes downwardly and past said rod with said output station also including a transport belt which holds said flexible article until said movable member is actuated, said output station further including means which hold the leading edge of said flexible article during the action of said movable member, and control and motor means to rotate said support member after a predetermined number of flexible members have been draped on one of the arms of the support member.

2. The stacker of claim 1 wherein said clamping means are actuated prior to the rotation of said movable member.

3. A stacker for depositing flexible cloth workpieces on a support member, including four arms spaced 90* from one another, said workpieces having a leading edge, a middle section and a trailing edge, said stacker including an output station, belt means to convey said articles to said output station, said belt means initially holding said trailing edge, clamping means holding said leading edge, reciprocable delivery tray means including at least one rod contacting said workpiece in said middle section to urge said trailing edge away from said belt means as said middle section is draped upon said support member.