DE827061C - Machine for folding sheets, tablecloths and similar work items - Google Patents

Description

(WiGBl. P. 175)

ISSUED JANUARY 7, 1952

B 3586 VII / 8d

(England)

Work pieces

The invention relates to machines which are used in laundry facilities and are used to fold sheets, tablecloths and similar work items.

There are already folding machines in which the sheet-like piece is folded both lengthways and crossways will. In contrast, the invention is concerned with a machine in which the sheet-like Piece is only folded transversely to its running direction by the machine. It should be before especially large sheet-like pieces can be folded in such a machine, albeit the invention should not be limited to this. Should the work piece folded in this way after leaving the machine can still be folded in the opposite direction, this can be done in one other machine or by hand. The sheet-like piece can be more than_ folded once in the same direction, that is, in the machine transversely to its running direction »o by doubling the folding mechanism in the machine.

The invention consists in that two groups of vibratable fingers are arranged in the machine are. The fingers of the first group grip between all or some of the ligaments of one Conveyor a and are by contact with the starting edge of the workpiece swung out. The fingers of the second group are some distance behind the first group

and inclined to the conveyor so that the leading edge of the workpiece on the inclined surface of the second finger group runs up. The through the starting edge of the work piece triggered movement of the first finger group brings an epicyclic gear to Work, one part of which then, after a predetermined time, the engagement of a pin in one Causes a hook that pulls a rail forward that

ίο the second group of fingers pressed to the starting edge of the work piece running onto the inclined surface of the second group of fingers and raise. The sliding of the edge of the workpiece from the first group of fingers gives the transmission free. This causes the second group of fingers to return under the action of gravity their original position.

The second group of fingers can also be controlled electrically instead of mechanically. In the drawings, on the basis of which the invention is further explained, examples of both types of control are shown.
In the drawings is
Fig. Ι a side view showing the parts of a mechanically regulated control device in their positions which they assume before they are actuated by the leading edge of the workpiece coming into contact with the first group of fingers,

Figure 2 is a similar side view showing the same control device with its parts in positions which they occupy after the starting edge of the workpiece on the inclined Surface of the second group of fingers has accumulated and the regulation and control device raised the second set of fingers to hold the leading edge of the workpiece and to be lifted up over the conveyor belt, FIG. 3 is a plan view of the conveyor device and the fingers

Fig. 4 is a sectional view of an epicyclic gearbox which controls the device;

5 is a diagrammatic representation of a latch device that controls the operation of the epicyclic Transmission controls, and

Fig. 6 is a schematic side view of an arrangement in which the second group of fingers with the interposition of electrical devices through the oscillating movement of the first Group of fingers is operated.

The conveyor device A, which picks up the work piece in the state in which it arrives from an ironing machine or other machine, consists of endless belts which run around rollers α ¹ and a ² , one or both of which are driven will.

A group of fingers B, hereinafter referred to as control fingers, are mounted on a shaft b which extends across the machine above the conveyor belts. The shaft b is rotatable in bearings which are j supported by the frame of the machine. !

The free ends of fingers B usually extend down a short distance between the belts of conveyor A until they are lifted by the leading edge of the workpiece to be folded in contact with the lower surfaces of the fingers.

A handlebar 1 is swingably seated on an arm i "attached to the end of the shaft b , and the movement of this handlebar swings a lever 3 which is rotatably mounted on a short spindle 4 (FIG. 5) Control finger B is lifted, the end part 3 ″ of the lever 3 lowers. A pawl P and a lever 5 are attached to the spindle 4. On the pawl P sits a small plate 6 which carries an adjusting screw 7, the end of which rests against the end part 3 ° of the lever 3. As soon as the handlebar 1 is lifted when the control finger B is raised and accordingly the end part 3 ″ of the lever 3 is pressed downwards, a spring 7 ″ attached to the plate 6 pulls the pawl P downwards.

A differential gear consisting of three wheels A ¹ , B ¹ , C ¹ is located below the shaft b on which the control fingers are attached. The wheels A ¹ and C ¹ are sun gears, while the wheel ¹ B ¹ carries the planet pinions b. The wheel B ¹ is driven by a chain B ² from an appropriate part of the machine so that it rotates at a constant speed, depending on the speed of the conveyor.

The sun gear A ¹ has ratchet teeth on its circumference, into which the pawl P engages. The sun gear C ¹ carries a laterally projecting pin E which, as soon as the sun gear A ¹ is able to rotate freely, is held against a stop e by the spring C ³ , thus preventing rotation of the wheel C ^1. When the machine does not fold, ie when the control fingers are not raised, the sun gear A ¹ can rotate freely. However, as soon as a work piece to be folded is placed on the conveyor A , the work piece is carried forward until its leading edge lifts the control fingers B , whereby the pawl P by the movement of the handlebar 1 and the lever 3 with the on the circumference of the sun gear A. ¹ lying ratchet teeth comes into engagement and the rotation of the sun gear A ^{1 is} prevented.

Since the planet pinions carrying wheel B is driven positively ¹ through the chain B ^2, causes the stopping of the wheel A ¹ rotation ^1J 5 of the wheel C ¹ against the pressure of a spring in such a direction that the pin E of the stop e moved away will. The movement of the pin E is used to put the second group of fingers, hereinafter referred to as lifting finger D , into operation after the pin E has moved a predetermined angular deflection away from the stop e.

As soon as the pin E has moved into the position E ² by the predetermined angular deflection, it touches a hook H at / on the top

The end of the lever / 'is mounted so that it can swing. The lever J ¹ sits at its lower end on a fixed pin F ⁱ so that it can swing, so that the hook H is forced to move forward in a more or less horizontal path until the pin E has reached the position E ³ , in which he is moving away from the Ilaken H.

The lever J ¹ , on which the hook H is pivotably mounted, is supported by a horizontal rail G.

ίο attached to appropriate tie rods via an angle lever g , which actuate the lifting fingers D. One end of the rail G is hinged to .1 febel J ¹ , and the other end is hinged to the upper end of a second lever J ² , which is also pivotally seated on a fixed pin F ² , so that the rail G during its movement in a horizontal position is held.

The weight of the lifting fingers D and their control connections is chosen so that the weight tends to move the horizontal rail G and the hook // in a direction opposite to the movement through the pin E. In order to prevent this movement when the pin E in the position E ^{3 is released} from the hook H , a pawl L carried by a rocking lever 5 "engages behind a ring R of the rail G as soon as the latter is in its advanced position .

Since the pawl L engages directly in the ring R , the pull of the lifting finger D has the tendency to pull the pawl L and the lever S on which the pawl L sits in the opposite direction to the direction in which the rail G through the Pin E has been moved to move. The lever S is connected by a link M to the lever 5 on the short spindle 4 on which the pawl P is seated. In this way, the handlebar M rotates the spindle 4 in the opposite direction to that in which the spindle has been moved by the weight of the pawl P , and the pawl P is disengaged from the j ratchet teeth of the wheel A ¹ , so that the wheel A ^{1 is} no longer held. The wheel C ¹ is therefore no longer forced to turn and moves back under the influence of its spring until the pin E comes into contact with the stop e.

In this stage of the working process, the sun gear C ^{1 has returned} to its starting position, but the lifting fingers D are still raised because the pawl L is still holding back the ring R on the horizontal rail G. As soon as the end edge of the work piece has released the control arm B, the control finger B reduce downward, and the wave b returns to its normal position. An arm 2 is attached to the end of the shaft b. This arm is connected to the end piece of the pawl L by a link A *. The movement of the arm 2 and the handlebar A 'swings the pawl L around its Schvvingzapfen and makes it free from the ring R so that the lifting tinger D can freely fall and release the end of the work piece held by them.

The work piece is delivered from the conveyor in a folded condition with the original leading edge in alignment with the end edge. Lowering the lifting fingers D brings the fingers back to the position shown in Fig. 1 so that they are ready to grasp the leading edge of the next work piece to be folded.

The lifting fingers D are attached to a rotatably mounted shaft d and usually protrude downwards between the belts of the conveyor device A, so that the leading end of the workpiece runs onto the inclined surfaces of the fingers D. Above each lifting finger there is a resilient stop in the form of a lever D ¹ , which sits loosely on the shaft d so that it can swing, but is prevented by a fixed stop from resting on the lifting finger D as soon as the latter is in its lower position. The first part of the upward movement of the lifting fingers D brings the fingers against the resilient stops D ¹ , with the front edge of the workpiece lying between these two parts, and the further movement of the lifting fingers D takes the workpiece and the stops D ¹ with fingers D with it. In the end position, each lifting finger D and its stop D ^{1 are} approximately horizontal, and the work piece to be folded runs away from under them. As soon as the lifting fingers D are released by the end edge of the work piece leaving the control fingers B , it is desirable that, although the lifting fingers are lowered into their lower position, the resilient stop ^{levers D 1} remain in their upper position until the lifting fingers D are almost in have reached their lowest position. This is achieved in that the downward movement of each stop D ¹ is limited by a link 12. The upper end of the handlebar 12 is articulated to a lever 13 which is seated on a shaft 14 extending transversely across the machine. A lever 15, which carries an adjustable stop 16, is also seated on the shaft 14. This stop 16 determines the distance between the lifting finger and its resilient stop in the lowest position. When the lifting fingers D and their resilient stops Z) ^{1 are} in the upper position, a tooth T7 of the lever 15 sitting on the shaft 14 is caught by a hook 18. When the lifting fingers D lower, the hook 18 holds the tooth 17 until the rotation of the shaft d lifts a link 19 and in this way brings the hook 18 out of engagement with the tooth 17, whereupon the resilient stop levers D ^x fall until they are held in their lowest position by the stop 16.

A suitable type of shock absorber, as shown at 20 , can be incorporated into the device actuating the lifting fingers to regulate the lowering of the fingers, if desired.

The time interval between the working of the control fingers B and the lifting of the lifting fingers D can be easily and quickly changed by changing the position

of the stop e which the pin E of the sun gear C ¹ touches. In the drawing, the stop e is shown as an adjustable screw. Furthermore, the interval between the working of the control fingers B and the lifting of the lifting fingers D depends on the speed of the conveyor device. Therefore, if the speed of the ironing machine with which the folder works is changed,

ίο so doesn’t need any adjustment related to the The beginning and the duration of the working of the lifting fingers to be made, since this beginning and the Duration of work is a function of the speed of the drive chain, which itself depends on the speed of the conveyor depends.

In order to keep the control fingers B and the lifting fingers D in their raised position so that it is possible to use the conveyor belt A only for conveying the work piece from the ironing machine without folding the work piece, a cam k, which corresponds to the shaft b able to touch seated arm 2, provided on a shaft actuated by the hand lever K. As soon as the hand lever K and the cam k from the position shown in dashed lines in Fig. 1 to the position shown in Fig. 2 in dashed line position to be moved, the arm 2 is pivoted into the position which it occupies when the control finger B are raised, so that these control fingers B are raised over the conveyor belt A as a result. The movement of the arm 2 also causes the device to operate which causes the lifting fingers D to be lifted, and these fingers are thus also moved into lifted positions. The fingers B and D are held in their raised positions until the cam k is returned to the position shown in FIG.

In the electrically controlled arrangement shown in FIG. 6 , the control fingers B, the lifting fingers D , the resilient stop fingers ^{D 1} and the working and setting up of these parts are the same as described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2.

The operation of the shaft d carrying the lifting fingers D is controlled by a solenoid 21 via a handlebar 22. The solenoid is in a circuit which includes a battery or other power source 23, an adjustable delay switch 24 and a relay 25 so that the current flowing through the switch 26 can be small. The switch 26 shown in Fig. 6 is a mechanically operated switch with a fixed contact 26 ″ and a resilient contact or movable contact 20 ⁶ , which is carried by an arm 27 seated on the shaft b of the control fingers B. However , it can also be a Mercury switches or any other form of switch can be used.

In each embodiment of the invention, the machine can only have one control device have one side, so that in this case only one work piece can be folded at a time. However, the machine can also be divided in the middle, so that there are two side by side Machines with a control device on each side of the machine is equivalent. broad Work pieces such as B. Sheets, would take up the entire width of the machine, while smaller ones Workpieces can be passed through the machine in two rows.

If more than two folds are required, e.g. B. in laundries that are specially designed for treatment specializing in towels and similar large workpieces, the Machines can be divided into four or more sections, each section of which is its own Has control gear.

Claims (8)

Patent claims: 1. Machine for folding sheets, tablecloths and similar work pieces, in which the sheet-like piece is folded transversely to its running direction through the machine, characterized by two groups of swingable fingers, of which the fingers (B) of the first group between all or some the belts of a conveyor (A) engage and are swung out by contact with the starting edge of the workpiece, and the fingers (D) of the second group are arranged some distance behind the first group and inclined to the conveyor, so that the through the starting edge of the workpiece triggered movement of the first finger group brings an epicyclic gear to work, one part of which then, after a predetermined time, causes the engagement of a pin (E) in a hook (H) , which pulls a rail forward, which operates the second finger group, around the starting edge of the work running onto the inclined surface of the second group of fingers to hold and lift the piece while the sliding of the edge of the workpiece from the first finger group releases the epicyclic gear, whereby the second finger group returns to its starting position under the action of gravity. 2. Folding machine according to claim 1, characterized in that a pawl (P) is brought into engagement with seated on the circumference of one of the sun gears of the epicyclic gear ratchet teeth by the movement of the first finger group, whereby a movement of this sun gear (A ¹ ) is prevented and a rotation of the other sun gear (C ¹ ), which carries the pin (E) , is effected, the planetary gear of the transmission being continuously driven at a constant speed corresponding to the speed of the conveyor device. 3. Folding machine according to claim 2, characterized in that a pawl (L) which the Holding the second finger group actuating rail in the advanced position as soon as the rail is pulled forward through the pin (E) of the epicyclic gear until the end edge of the workpiece has moved away from the first finger group. 4 ·. Folding machine according to Claims 2 and 3, characterized in that the lifting of the second group of fingers first ^{brings each finger into contact with a resilient stop (D 1} ) in order to hold the starting edge of the work piece, whereupon the finger takes the stop with it so that the Edge of the work piece is held and lifted over the conveyor also, whereby the work piece is able to slide forward below the edge held. 5. Folding machine according to claim 4, characterized in that the resilient stops (D ¹ ) are kept from a downward movement at the beginning of the downward movement of the second group of fingers, whereby the starting edge of the workpiece is released before the fingers (D) in their lowest position again to return. 6. Folding machine according to claims ι to 5, characterized by a device (K, k) to raise the control fingers and the lifting fingers and hold them in their raised position as soon as the machine is only used as a conveyor for storing the ironing machine or the like Machine is intended to serve upcoming workpieces. 7. Folding machine according to claim 1, characterized in that the second group of fingers is actuated by a solenoid that has a delay switch through the movement the first finger group is controlled. 8. Folding machine according to claims 1 to 7, characterized by two or more groups of control devices operating at intervals lie across the conveyor, allowing the machine to fold at the same time a number of work pieces that are smaller in width than the conveyor belt can be. Referred publications:
German Patent Nos. 733 140, 724212, 616. For this purpose 2 sheets of drawings O 2652 12.