GB449166A - Improvements in and relating to machines for feeding rods or tubes of fragile material - Google Patents

Abstract

449,166. Feeding hoppers ; making electric lamps. BRITISH THOMSONHOUSTON CO., Ltd., Crown House, Aldwych, London. Dec. 19, 1934, No. 36433. Convention date, Dec. 20, 1933. [Class 78 (i)] [See also Group XI] Devices for feeding lengths of rod or tubing of glass &c. as in the lamp-sealing machine described in Specification 252,395, [Class 39 (ii)], consists of a hopper having oppositely disposed apertures in the walls through which the rods are delivered by a reciprocating ram. The rods are transferred to the sealing machine by a carriage which has a linear reciprocating movement and a rocking movement about a pivot. The mass of rods in the hopper is, agitated by giving the ram a lateral movement by a reciprocating bar pushing up through the bottom of the hopper and by a vibrating device acting on the bottom of the hopper. The hopper 11, Fig. 2, has an inclined bottom 17 and oppositely inclined false bottom 16 and a partition 18 which forms a passage through which a small number of rods gravitate to the feeding position at the lower left-hand corner. At this point aligned openings are formed through which a reciprocating ram operates to push out the rods in succession. The ram is also given a lateral movement to agitate the mass of rods, and a knocking device 52 acts on the bottom of the hopper for the same purpose. A separator 51 is attached to the knocker 52 and works through the bottom of the hopper to isolate the rod which is in feeding position from the others. The operative movement of the ram is obtained from a spring and its return movement by a cam. The lateral movement is obtained by mounting it in a guide which performs a vertical reciprocatory movement under the action of a cam and spring mechanism. The rods are delivered to a transfer mechanism shown in Fig. 4, comprising a carrier with grooved blocks 66 and spring-actuated clamping fingers 71. The carrier is hinged to a slide and co-operates with a cam-groove in the fixed part of the machine so that when the slide is moved from its receiving position the carrier is turned through 90‹ about its pivot. The jaws of the sealing - machine then grip the rod between the fingers 71 and pull it out. In the receiving position, the fingers 71 are held up by a rod 78 engaging a fixed part of the frame. A feeler device is provided acting in conjunction with the sealing-machine to stop the feed of rods when a lamp is missing from the sealing head. This is done by a stop member interposed in the path of the ram.