GB1218259A - Stacking device for metal plates - Google Patents

Abstract

1,218,259. Stacking sheets; conveyers. MOELLER & NEUMANN G.m.b.H. 25 April, 1968, No. 19685/68. Headings B8A and B8R. A device for stacking metal sheets carried on a roller conveyer comprises a movable transfer device including support rollers for the sheets rolling on a fixed guide rail for a first part of the movement of the transfer device to initiate delivery motion of a sheet being stacked, the support rollers rotating freely after leaving the guide rail to allow the sheet to travel onward to the stacking position. General arrangement (Fig. 1, not shown).- Metal sheets 13 carried on a roller conveyer are delivered by a transfer device (2) to a stacking box (3) arranged at one side of the conveyer and provided with a fixed stop (4) and an adjustable stop (5) for receiving sheets of varying widths. The transfer device (2) comprises support rollers 8 mounted on carrier arms 7 and riding on relatively fixed guide rails 9 for a part of their travel. Each guide rail 9 is pivoted about supports (10), (11) remote from the stacking box, and can pass between the rollers (1) of the conveyer. Thus, in operation, the guide rails 9 and carrier arms 7 are initially below the plane of the conveyer, and are then pivoted under the action of hydraulic unit (12) so that the rollers 8 engage a sheet 13; an endless cable 15 is then driven to advance the carrier arm 7 towards the stacking box, the rollers 8 riding on guide rails 9 and thereby moving the sheet 13 at twice the speed of the arms 7. The rollers 8 at the right-hand end, as seen in Fig. 4, of the carrier arms travel past the ends of guide rails 9, and rotate freely on support strips 7b in the carrier arms, the rollers being allowed a measure of vertical displacement. The drive to cable 15 is then cut off, and the momentum of sheet 13 is sufficient to deliver it against stop (5) where it drops under gravity into stacking box (3) when the drive to cable 15 is reversed. Transfer device details (Fig. 4).-The loaded carrier arms are prevented from pivoting with respect to the guide rails 9 by means of rollers 25, 26 riding in channel members 9a, (9b), Fig. 5, (not shown), of the rails 9. The vertical play in the support rollers 8 is provided by a roller link chain 8a, (8b) secured under tension to the carrier arms 7, the chains 8a, (8b) engaging support members 7b on the arms 7. A limit switch (30), Figs. 1 and 3 (not shown), operated by the rear edge of a sheet being delivered, controls the retardation of the carrier arms 7 with respect to the width of the sheets.