JPS6236932B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an article feeding apparatus, and more particularly to an article feeding apparatus for feeding articles to a feed conveyor of a horizontal fill-seal packaging machine.

U.S. Pat. No. 3,900,096 discloses a feeding device for a horizontal fill-seal machine in which articles are sequentially transferred at high speed from a feed conveyor to a feed conveyor of a packaging machine. Transfers are accomplished by diagonally disposed upper transfer conveyors that control the direction of the articles and the controlled sequential feed provided that sufficient hold pressure is maintained by the feed conveyor. It has a series of equally spaced engagement members configured to ensure that.

U.S. Pat. No. 3,721,330 also describes a feeding device for use with horizontal fill-seal machines. A tilting conveyor supporting articles abutting each other in single file conveys the articles between a first upper conveyor and a lower lift conveyor to tilt each article to expose its trailing end surface. A second upper conveyor engages the rear end surface of the article and feeds the article to the infeed lug conveyor of the horizontal fill-seal machine.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,197,935 discloses a feeding device in which a stack of articles is formed on an accumulating conveyor and sent to a flat belt conditioning conveyor. A photovoltaic cell and a mechanically timed signal control the advancement of successive single articles or groups of articles onto an infeed conveyor of a horizontal fill-seal machine.

The subject matter of the invention relates to an article feeding device for accumulating in one or more rows and transferring each successive article or group of articles to a processing machine, particularly a packaging machine of the type called a horizontal fill-seal machine. . Due to the fragile nature of certain articles, especially kyan davers, kutskii and other food products, it is difficult to achieve the goal of gentle and precise processing at high speeds. For example, candebars overlaid with thiokolate must be treated to minimize or prevent cracking, cracking, or flaking of the thiokolate overlay.

The prior art is full of feeding devices arranged such that the rows of articles are positioned at right angles to the infeed conveyor of the packaging machine. Sufficient hold pressure must be maintained to properly position the leading article while it is being transferred from the queue of articles. As the leading article is conveyed towards the packaging machine, a sliding interaction with the next article occurs. In addition to the collision between the articles, subsequent articles are held up until the first article is removed from the queue. In order to avoid such a collision effect, in a right-angle feeding device, the retention of the article row is made intermittent by using an indexing drive that is synchronized with the change of the leading article, or the retention of the article row is made intermittent during the change of the leading article. A mechanism is provided for imparting movement to the column of articles in a direction opposite to the direction of travel. Relying on such means makes the drive of the feeder extremely complex and often results in jamming of the articles and thus damage. These measures further impose significant limitations on the processing speed of the article train.

Most feeding devices fail to meet the above-mentioned basic requirements of gentle, accurate feeding at high speeds, especially when processing small sized candeburs at rates of 900 pieces per minute or more.

In addition to the requirements for gentle and accurate feeding, requirements regarding the dimensions of the articles also make adaptation of existing feeding devices difficult. Accordingly, it is an object of the feeding apparatus of the present invention to feed in a manner that meets these requirements and is adaptable to a wide range of article sizes.

According to the present invention, an article feeding device for feeding articles to a packaging machine includes a feeding conveyor having a plurality of evenly spaced ears for advancing articles spaced apart from each other toward the packaging machine. a supply conveyor device for receiving and accumulating articles and arranging them in abutment with each other and advancing the abutting rows of articles along an aisle toward a feed conveyor; In an article feeding device having a transfer conveyor that sequentially engages articles at the tip and conveys the articles to a feed conveyor, the feed conveyor and the feed conveyor device intersect at an angle greater than 90°, and the transfer conveyor has a plurality of vertically extending article-engaging fingers having ends in close contact with the upper surface of the feed conveyor device and traveling in a straight path parallel to the path of the feed conveyor; A guiding device is provided, the first guiding device being disposed above the supply conveyor device and extending to a point proximate the path of the fingers so as to guide the abutting rows of articles in alignment; The guide device is laterally spaced from the feed conveyor and the point where the feed conveyor device intersects and extends across the path of the abutment row of articles to touch the most advanced article of the abutment row of articles. By guiding the articles sequentially down the path of the feed conveyor and driving the transfer conveyor at a speed greater than the speed of the feed conveyor device, the speed component of the feed conveyor device along the path of the feed conveyor device is greater than the velocity component along the path of the feed conveyor device. The speed of the fingers of the transfer conveyor is increased so that each leading article passing the downstream end of the first guide is completely released and only its rear side is engaged by the finger closest to the article within the path of the fingers. The point at which the proximal finger engages the article is the point at which the center of gravity of the article is located between the line of action of the finger on the article and the second guide device, so that the finger is in the path of the feed conveyor. An article feeding device is provided which is characterized in that it applies a rotational moment to the article when it travels in the direction of the article.

Further, according to the present invention, there is provided a supply conveyor device that intersects with a feed conveyor, and a transfer conveyor provided above a point where the feed conveyor and the supply conveyor intersect, and a chain from which an article engaging piece for conveying an article hangs. In an article feeding device having a transfer conveyor equipped with a device, said chain device of the transfer conveyor runs along a path parallel to the path of the feed conveyor, and the path of the feed conveyor device is connected to the feed conveyor device and the feed conveyor. intersects the feed conveyor at an obtuse angle, as measured at a point downstream on the path of the feed conveyor device than the point where the first drive device intersects the feed conveyor device at a constant speed, and a transfer device; Providing a second drive device that drives the conveyor sufficiently faster than the speed of the feed conveyor device causes the speed of the article-engaging piece of the transfer conveyor to be greater than the velocity component along the path of the feed conveyor device of the feed conveyor. so that the article engaging piece separates the leading article on the supply conveyor device from the following articles, and when separating the leading article in this way, the article engaging piece separates the article from the center of gravity of the conveyed article. An article feeding device is provided, characterized in that the article engages only the rear side of the article at an upstream position of the supply conveyor device, and the front end of the article is not interfered with by anything while the article is conveyed. It will be done.

According to the article feeding device of the present invention, when the article is transferred from the supply conveyor device to the feed conveyor, the point in time when the center of gravity of the article is located between the line of action of the fingers on the article and the guide device on the supply conveyor. As the finger engages the rear side of the article,
The articles rotate so that the leading article can be separated from the article immediately following it without any friction between the articles and the following articles.

These characteristics mean that when transporting thiokolate or candever, etc. covered with thiyocolate, to the packaging machine, the thiyocolate does not rub against the following thiokolate, etc., making it possible to ideally handle the product without damaging it. bring benefits.

Further, according to the article supply device of the present invention, the drive speed of the transfer conveyor is configured to be faster than the drive speed of the supply conveyor device, so that the speed of the article engaging piece, that is, the finger of the transfer conveyor is higher than that of the supply conveyor device. velocity component along the path of the feed conveyor system. In this way, as soon as the article engaging piece engages the article, the article is completely separated from the following article, so as mentioned above, foods such as Chiyocolate can be transported toward the feeding conveyor without damaging each other. It becomes possible to do so.

An article feeding apparatus constructed in accordance with the principles of the present invention is indicated generally at 20 in FIG. The article feeder is operatively associated with the horizontal fill-seal-packaging machine 22. This packaging machine 22 will hereinafter be referred to as a packaging machine or a horizontal packaging machine as the case may be. The construction and mode of operation of the packaging machine are conventional and these details are not necessary for an understanding of the invention. The feed system 20 has as its main components an article accumulation conveyor 24 that receives articles from a conventional belt conveyor 26, a supply conveyor system consisting of a conditioning conveyor 28, and a transfer conveyor 30.
As will be explained in more detail below, the conditioning conveyor stacks the articles in single file. The abutted articles are transported at a constant speed toward a transfer conveyor 30 located above and in alignment with the supply conveyor 32 (FIGS. 12 and 13) of the packaging machine 22. The packaging machine feed conveyor has a series of article feed ears 144 spaced at regular intervals approximately equal to the length of the final package.

Accumulating conveyor 24 includes a plurality of conventional optoelectronic devices 34 for controlling the speed of packaging machine 22 in response to the amount of articles loaded onto accumulating conveyor 24 . For example, when all three photoelectric devices detect an article within the sensing zone, indicating that there is enough article to be delivered, the packaging machine drive is conditioned to operate at maximum speed. .

The accumulating conveyor 24 is capable of reducing to a minimum the jostling forces or pressures due to backlogs that articles in a single file are subjected to during conveyance toward connections where they are separated longitudinally for subsequent processing. It is configured so that it can be done. In order to reduce jostling forces, the accumulating conveyor 24 is provided with a large, low-velocity air flow emanating from an air supply device or blower 36 along its length. The blower 36 communicates with an air chamber 38 (FIGS. 4 and 5) by a duct 40.

2 and 3 show top and side views of the accumulating conveyor 24 and the regulating conveyor 28, but show in detail the relationship between the two conveyors and the relationship between the transfer conveyor 30 and the regulating conveyor 28. The accumulating conveyor 24 has a pair of belts 42 of circular cross-section, by which the articles A are advanced.
are spaced laterally of the conveyor by a distance sufficient to support opposite ends of the conveyor. Belt 42 is wrapped around idler pulley 44. The idler pulleys 44 are vertically spaced apart and positioned at the entrance to the accumulating conveyor 24 with a slight longitudinal step. The belt also wraps around and is driven by a pulley 46 located at the discharge end of the conveyor 24. The return portion of the belt engages a power pulley 48 located below and behind pulley 46 so as to maintain a gap with air chamber 38 . As shown in detail in FIGS. 4 and 6, there are spaced semicircular grooves 50 on the outer peripheries of pulleys 46, 48 that engage belt 42.
is formed. Each of these pulleys is
Short flat belt 54 driven by pulley 48
It has a central flat portion 52 that serves as a driving surface and a supporting surface. Pulley 46 serves two functions. That is, the round belt 42 is driven and the upper portion of the belt 54 is positioned such that the upper portion of the belt provides a continuous article support surface for the accumulating conveyor 24. Belt 54 avoids the use of stationary plates bridging the gap between conveyors 24, 28.
passes over a plate 56 having a tip 58 of small radius. As a result, the belt 54 is connected to the conveyor 24,
A short gap can be formed between 28. Board 5
6, the belt passes over idler pulley 60 without contacting pulley 46.

Regulating conveyor 2 shown in FIGS. 2 and 3
8 and its associated transfer conveyor 30 receives articles from the accumulating conveyor and transfers them to the packaging machine 22.
transfer to. The regulating conveyor 28 has a very simple structure, consisting of a frame structure 6 with a flat plate 64 at the top.
2, and a wide flat belt 66 passes over the flat plate 64. The inlet end of conditioning conveyor 28 is shown in detail in FIG. In this view, plate 64 has a small radius projection 68 through which belt 66 passes.
and by passing the belt through it,
Together with the tip 58, a narrow gap is formed between the belts 54 and 66. It is thus possible to pass articles successively from one conveyor to another without stagnation or misalignment.

See Figure 3. The belt 66 is attached to a lower first drive, i.e., a pulley 7, mounted on an axle 75.
Idler pulleys 70, 72 located on both sides of 4
is wrapped around. As shown in FIG. 2, the belt 66 of the conditioning conveyor 28 extends across the line where the transfer conveyor 30 sequentially feeds articles to the feed conveyor 32 of the packaging machine 22. The regulating conveyor has a long fixed guide fence 76 and laterally adjustable guide fences 78 that are adjustable to accommodate articles of various sizes. These fences guide the articles toward a transfer conveyor 30 which operates to transfer the leading articles to the infeed conveyor of the packaging machine 22.

The accumulating conveyor 24 is designed for use in environments requiring automatic feeding systems that produce very low jostling or stacking pressures. Prior art structures with laterally spaced driven chains mounted with free-rotating idler rolls, fixed idler rolls with tilted drives, or chains with low-friction surface belts reduce stacking pressure; It is undesirable under conditions of handling crumbly foods or sticky stick or cutie foods.

Part 3 illustrating details of a pneumatic belt conveyor
Reference is made to FIGS. 4 and 5. Air chamber 3
8 is the top, bottom and side sheet metal panels 8
It has the shape of a long rectangular box formed by 0, 82, and 84. The air chamber is secured to longitudinal support rails 86 that form part of a framework structure 88 that supports the accumulating conveyor 24 and conditioning conveyor 28. The upper sheet metal panel 80 has a plurality of holes or orifices 90 through which air supplied to the air chamber 38 exits.
has. Orifices 90 are distributed over the entire length of air chamber 38. An elongated generally rectangular platform 92 having an orifice 94 aligned with orifice 90 is secured to the top surface of panel 80.

The upper feed portion of round belt 42 is located adjacent to and in contact with both longitudinal edges of platform 92. The belt is held in this position by fixed and laterally movable plates 96, 98 mounted transversely on panel 80. These plates extend longitudinally with approximately the same length as the platform 92.
Both edges of the plates 96 and 98 are adjacent to the round belt 42,
It is chamfered downward and inward. Board 9
6,98 are well above the geometric center of the belts 42, but the thickness of the plate is less than the diameter of these belts. This geometry allows the belt to be freely captured between the platform 92 and the chamfered edges of the plates 96, 98 and maintains a straight path for the belt 42.

Since the thickness of platform 92 is approximately equal to the thickness of plates 96 and 98, article A is
rides on belt 42. Thus platform 9
A small space or gap is created between the upper surface of 2 and the lower surface of the article being transported.

To ensure that the articles are placed on the accumulating conveyor 24 in a single file along the length of the conveyor 24 and that this row is maintained, guiding devices are provided, namely lateral guide bars 100 and a central guide bar 102.
The bars are secured to threaded studs 104 which are secured by fasteners to a bridge structure 106 having upright blocks 108 and cross members 110.

The mode of operation of the accumulating conveyor 24 will now be described. It is clear that the pneumatic belt concept yields a variety of outcomes to suit a wide variety of article handling conditions. Therefore, although the description herein refers to packaging applications, it is generally applicable. The operating mode of the pneumatic belt accumulation conveyor 24 is briefly shown. Please refer to FIGS. 8, 9, 10 and 11. When a plurality of articles A move forward in the direction of arrow R (FIG. 8) and before the following article abuts the leading article that is traveling, the air supplied by the air chamber 38 passes through the orifices 90 and 94 without limit. released. An air stream emitted from an orifice directly below the article levitates the article as it advances. However, in no event will the article slide or rise to such an extent that it separates from the belt 42 before contacting the preceding article. By adjusting the air volume to achieve this result, the article speed always matches the belt speed. This fact makes it possible to avoid impact velocities that would shatter the coating of the candeaver or shatter the kutsky. Although known pneumatic conveyors are very effective in transporting goods, they are prone to high impingement velocities when backlogs occur. However, the articles used in such conveyors are typically of a nature that allows them to withstand such impacts.

Since the air from the air chamber 38 is also released unrestricted from the orifices in the areas where no articles are present, the buoyancy of the air exiting the orifices 90, 94 is such that the articles are mutually disposed in the longitudinal direction as shown in FIG. It has a minimum value when placed far apart. Under these circumstances, the article will remain on the belt 42 and will naturally be advanced by the belt. Figure 11 shows a series of articles in abutment. In this condition, the air exiting the orifices 90, 94 is substantially constricted, increasing the flotation ability and tending to levitate the article slightly above the belt 42. Cross-sectional view (first
Since the lower surface of the article is some distance above the belt 42, as shown in Figure 0), the floating effect is more clearly visible. Maintaining the longitudinal alignment of the articles is accomplished by guide rods 100.
For clarity, the floating effect is exaggerated and the article is shown above and separated from the belt 42; however, in reality, the article is always above the belt 42.
The contact pressure is kept to a minimum to reduce the jostling force or stacking pressure of the rows of articles while maintaining contact with the belt 2 and keeping the articles under control of the belt.
However, the desired degree of buoyancy can be arbitrarily controlled by the blower 36.

The above-described arrangement of the collecting conveyor provides a number of advantages. Unlike conventional pneumatic conveyors, which have high speeds and therefore create high impact forces when the articles strike, the speed of the conveyed articles matches the belt speed. The alignment of the articles is maintained by belt control and there is no tendency for them to twist sideways between the side guide bars. By adjusting the air pressure to achieve the required flotation of the handled items, the flotation effect acts as a lubricant and the handling of the items can be carried out with lower driving forces, minimizing the driving pressure. becomes. By combining the belt with an air propulsion system, it is possible to minimize confusion and the tendency to overlap. Since the articles are always in contact with the belt 42, even if they are partially floating, the agitation that occurs in the pneumatic conveyor is avoided. As the stack of articles increases, the conveying force of the belt decreases due to the increasing flotation effect.

Figures 12, 13, 14, and 15
The figure shows a detailed construction of a transfer conveyor 30, which is located between the conditioning conveyor 28 and the feed conveyor 32 and has various advantages as explained below.
The transfer conveyor 30 is supported on one side thereof and is positioned above the adjustment conveyor 28. The main feature is that the row of articles on the conditioning conveyor 28 progresses at a constant speed to the transfer point. This result is achieved as described below. Adjustment conveyor 2
The transfer of the leading article from 8 to the feeding conveyor 32 is as follows:
This is done with little or no shear contact between the leading article and the next succeeding article, and the impact force of the infeed fingers of the transfer conveyor is extremely weak, resulting in edge chips or cracks in the Chicolate-coated candeaver. Also, fragile sweets such as kutskies will not be crushed.

Please refer to FIG. The transfer conveyor 30 is mounted on the vertical plate 112. The vertical plate 112 has an idler shaft 114 and a drive sprocket 12 on which an idler sprocket 116 is mounted spaced apart on the axis.
0 and supporting a second drive, shaft 118, laterally spaced from the idler shaft. The outer end of shaft 118 is supported by an offset bracket 122 fixed to plate 112 and having a bearing 124. A sprocket chain 126, 12 is wound between the sprockets 116, 120 and driven by the sprocket 120.
There are 8. As explained below, the sprocket chains 126, 128 have lug carriers 130 pinned thereto at regular intervals. The carrier has a mounting piece 132 with matching bores for rotatably receiving a shaft 134. Vertical plate 112
Each end of the shaft 134 adjacent to the block 1
36 is fixed, and this block is attached to the vertical plate 1.
A cam follower roller 138 disposed within the cam travel path formed in the cam follower roller 138 is rotatably mounted. Axis 13
The opposite end of 4 extends beyond the carrier 130 to the point where the shaft overlaps the feed conveyor 32 above it. Fixed to the end of the shaft 134 is a laterally extending feed dog or lug 142 forming an article-engaging piece or finger 142a. Finger is chain 1 of feed conveyor 32
It is formed so as not to interfere with the ear piece 144 fixed to the ear piece 46. Ear piece 144 and finger 142
The relationship a is clearly shown in FIG.

Chains 126 and 128 are sprocket 11
A pair of upper and lower strips 148, 150 are connected to the plate 1 supported by the bracket 122 and the vertical plate to stabilize the chains 126, 128 as they travel in a straight line between the chains 126, 120.
It is fixed at 52. To further stabilize the chains 126, 128 as they travel on their lower strokes,
Brackets 156 attach platform 154 mounted to vertical plate 112. Disposed within a groove formed in platform 154 is a wear strip 158 formed of Teflon or nylon or the like. The wear strip frictionally engages the portion of the shaft between the ears 132. Wear strip 15 slidably engages stabilizing strips 148, 150 and shaft 134.
By providing platform 154 supporting 8, the lower travel of chains 126, 128 is very stable and the chains will not sag.

During operation of the transfer conveyor 30, the attitude of the ears 142 is controlled by a cam track 140 in which a cam follower roller 138 is disposed. Carrier 1
While the cam 30 travels in a linear up-and-down stroke, the lug assumes a posture almost perpendicular to the direction of movement, but while it enters the semicircular portion at the end of the cam travel path 140 and travels here, it is in a lower straight feed position. Before and after entering the stroke, the ear piece 142 assumes a vertical posture (FIG. 12). By maintaining the ears 142 vertically as they rise around the sprocket 120, there is minimal tendency to tilt or lift the rear end of the article during feeding, reducing the tendency to scrape or scrape the article. Avoided. As explained below, further measures are taken to ensure the stability of the articles as they are transferred and picked up by the feed conveyor 32 of the packaging machine.

FIG. 12 shows the packaging machine feed conveyor 32 intersecting the conditioning conveyor 28 along line 12--12 of FIG. 2, which is generally parallel to the infeed line. The adjustment conveyor 28 is connected to the longitudinal rail 1
60 and a connecting board 162, and the board 162 has a lower circular pad 1.
66 is formed with a circular opening for receiving another support structure, disk 164, which is fixedly projecting upwardly therefrom. The top plate 64 supporting the regulating conveyor belt 66 is fixed to the top surface of the longitudinal rail 160, but overlies the slotted plate 168. The rail 160 adjacent to the feed conveyor 32 has a notch 169 for plate 64 to overlap plate 168.
has. Disk 164 is rotatably disposed within a circular opening formed in substrate 162 to allow adjustment and accumulation conveyors 28, 24 to rotate about the axis of disk 164. In this way,
The intersection angle with the feed conveyor can be adjusted to suit the size and shape of the articles.

As shown in FIG. 12, the sprocket chain 146 of the feed conveyor 32 passes over a sprocket 176 fitted to an idler shaft 179. As is common practice in the state of the art, the infeed portion of the sprocket chain 146 is connected to the lug 144.
has a rail 180 slidably engaged to a base leg 182 of. In this way, each lug is ensured to remain in an upright position while the article is fed into the downstream station of the packaging machine. In order to properly guide the articles towards the feed conveyor 32, a laterally adjustable plate 1 with an outwardly opening ramp, i.e. a laterally adjustable plate 1 with rails 184, 186, is provided.
83 is suitably secured to the underlying plate 168.

Plate 183 with guide devices 184, 186 is mounted to plate 168 so as to be laterally adjustable to accommodate articles of various sizes. However, in any case each guide device is arranged such that the lug of the feed conveyor 32 is centered between the guide devices. The guide devices 184, 186 are the belt 6 of the adjusting conveyor.
6 , but plate 168 is located below plate 64 . The guide devices 184, 186 thus provide entry points for the articles as they are transferred from the conditioning conveyor 28 to the feed conveyor 32. The extent of the guide devices 184, 186 is clearly shown in FIG.

The articles are transferred from the conditioning conveyor 28 to the feed conveyor 32
A guide or hold-down bar 187 is mounted on a stud 190 connected to an L-shaped bracket 192 to help prevent misorientation of the article as it is transferred. The hold-down rod extends from the connection point between the accumulating conveyor 24 and the adjustment conveyor 28 to the transfer point T. Another hold-down bar 194 is secured to the bracket 196 and overlies the article path aligned with the infeed path to the feed conveyor 32. The holding rod 194 is
The process ends at a point after the article engages the feed lug 144 running on the upper stroke of the sprocket chain 146. It should be noted that the hold-down bar 194 is centrally located above the feed lug 144 and that the finger 142a passes through the passage between the guide device 186 and the lug 144.

Laterally adjustable article guide fence 78 (seventh
Figure) ends at point 198 (Figure 13), and bridge 2
00 to the side guide device 186. As described below, the bridge 200 is connected to the conditioning conveyor 2.
It functions to ensure that articles fed into the feed conveyor 32 from the collective row of articles above 8 are placed between the guide devices 184, 186.

In operation, as a group of articles is generated on the conditioning conveyor 28, these articles are successively advanced by the conveyor 28 towards the transfer point T. Ideally, these abutting articles move at the same speed as the conditioning conveyor. However, in order to prevent the accumulation of adjustment errors, the drive device of the adjustment conveyor is adjusted so that it can feed the articles slightly excessively, so that the front of the article is immediately before the finger 142a engages with the rear end surface of the leading article. One corner of the guide device 184
be in constant contact with. There is therefore only a very small shear between the belt of the regulating conveyor and the abutted articles conveyed by it, so that the infeed of the abutted articles takes place at a substantially constant speed and the conveying movement There are almost no interruptions.

When one of the fingers 142a engages the rear surface of the article, the article rotates in a counterclockwise direction, as viewed in FIG. 13, until the long side of the article contacts the guide device 184. Figure 16A, 16
FIGS. 16B, 16C, and 16D show that the articles are transferred from the article row on the conditioning conveyor 28 to the guide device 184,
186 illustrates the continuous movement of changing positions between 186 and its dynamics. FIG. 16A shows the situation in which article A-1 is being conveyed toward the feed conveyor 32, the advancement of which is controlled by one of the fingers 142a. Subsequent article A-, which forms the head of the article row
2 advances in a straight path toward the guide device 184 by the belt 66. Article A-2 is fixed fence 7
When leaving from 6, the approaching finger 142
a engages the end of the article. Article A-1, A-
2. The center of gravity of A-3 is marked with a black dot CG.
Figure 16B shows the moment finger 142a engages the exposed end of article A-2. The point of contact of the finger 142a here defines a line of action LA, which is separated by a small distance from the center of gravity of the article, and the center of gravity is located between the line of action LA and the guide device 184. This geometrical relationship imparts a rotational moment on article A-2, which increases and reaches a maximum when the longitudinal side of the article abuts outer guide device 184. During the transfer from the conditioning conveyor 28, the articles are continuously subjected to the action of the belt 66, which is moving towards the guide device 184. This action, combined with the rotational moment provided by finger 142a, causes the article to be transferred from the article column and
The pitch of the ears 144 serves to provide the required longitudinal spacing.

See Figure 16C. The rotational and concurrent linear motion of article A-2 engaged with finger 142a is shown in solid and dashed lines. bridge 2
00 reliably guides the incoming article toward the infeed conveyor 32 when it contacts the bridge 200, but when the article has the ideal shape and surface material, the bridge does not adjust the article. conveyor 28
does not engage the article during the transfer period from to the feed conveyor 32.

Figure 16D shows article A-2 properly oriented to be received by feed conveyor 32, with subsequent article A-3 oriented in the direction of the arrow to assume the position of article A-2 shown in Figure 16B. Shows how it is being moved.

Because the fingers 142a travel parallel to the path of the feed conveyor 32, the fingers 142a move the article smoothly in a straight line toward the feed conveyor, as seen for article A-1 in FIGS. 16A-16D. can be pushed to.

Figures 17A, 17B, and 17C illustrate the movement that the combined action of conditioning conveyor 28 and finger 142a imparts to a particular article. The movement of the article is indicated by the vector Vm provided by belt 66. The velocity component with respect to the direction of the feed conveyor 32 is the vector Vi. When the finger 142a abuts the article and begins to move the article (FIG. 17B), the velocity imparted to the article is indicated by the vector Vt defining the arm of moment relative to the center of gravity CG. The length of this arm is approximately equal to the distance d. When this condition occurs,
The article rotates counterclockwise and its instantaneous velocity in the direction of the feed conveyor 32 is the sum of vectors Vt and Vi. Rotation about the center of gravity increases the moment arm length d, which is at a maximum when the long side of the article reaches the guide device 184. This condition is shown in Figure 17C. finger 14
2a, due to the asymmetry of its line of action, keeps the article pressed against the guide device 184 until it engages the lug 144 of the feed conveyor 32.

From the above description, the article feeding apparatus according to the present invention is very advantageous since it is only necessary to change the pitch of the ears of the feed conveyor and the transfer conveyor 30 to accommodate articles over a wide range of article sizes. It is recognized that it can be used as a versatile feeding device. The articles that are aligned in abutting relationship on the conditioning conveyor are fed at a constant speed to the transfer conveyor, thereby achieving high speed feeding, which is one of the principal achievements of the present invention. In contrast, most prior art feeding devices are designed to "peel" the leading article from the row of articles it is in contact with, resulting in an indexing motion or a stepping motion of the article. ing.
Under these circumstances, the leading article must be completely removed from the row of articles it is in contact with before the next article can be fed, resulting in article stagnation or stumbling. As is clear, the technical idea of the present invention is to advance the article row without stepping by providing the adjusting conveyor obliquely with the transfer conveyor, thereby moving the article row forward at a constant speed. make it possible to Due to this arrangement, the leading article of a single file undergoes a rotational movement, so that the frictional movement between the leading article and the article adjacent to its trailing edge is minimized, and in some cases completely prevented. . The movement of the conditioning conveyor belt 66 and the angle of approach of the fingers 142a to the article produce the effects described above. Further, according to the present invention, simultaneous multiple feeding (simultaneous feeding of two or more articles) is also possible by modifying the transfer conveyor 30. The construction of the transfer conveyor 30, combined with its easy access from the outside, allows for easy changes in running pitch, modification to accommodate different article shapes, and, of course, simultaneous multiple feeding.
By providing a conveyor such as transfer conveyor 30, it is very easy to vary the crossing angle between the conditioning conveyor and the feed conveyor of the packaging machine depending on the size and shape of the product. The technical idea of the present invention is to use a transfer conveyor to directly transfer articles from the belt of the adjustment conveyor to the feeding conveyor of the packaging machine, so a stationary plate of any shape is required when transferring articles from the adjustment conveyor to the feeding conveyor. Furthermore, there is no possibility that a gap will be created between the two conveyors. Additionally, the spacing of the fingers 142a can be easily varied and the fingers can be sized to fit the article being processed.
Since wide plate-shaped tabs can be provided on the transfer conveyor and narrow tabs can be provided on the article feed conveyor, the transfer of articles can be carried out smoothly, and the packaging machine can handle the articles in good condition. This means that it can be packaged in When supporting articles with a rough textured bottom (nuts and other loose materials) on a flat adjustment belt such as belt 66, the ears of the transfer conveyor ensure that the articles are moved consistently quickly and reliably. transported to. Because the regulating conveyor does not require small radius pulleys or tip plates such as plate 56 (Figure 4), an arrangement in which belt 66 extends across the feed conveyor and transfer conveyor (Figure 13) Particularly significant advantages are obtained by . The articles are simply pushed from the conditioning conveyor belt 66 into the feed conveyor. Large diameter pulleys such as pulley 70 can therefore be incorporated into the design. Finally, a significant result achieved by the article feeding device of the present invention is that separation of the articles occurs naturally during the transfer, with separation occurring with very little, if any, frictional contact between the article being converted and the following article. This is achieved by

FIG. 18 is a schematic perspective view of a preferred embodiment of a drive group synchronizing the operation of accumulating conveyor 24 and conditioning conveyor 28, including a main gearbox 210, described below. The box 210 is driven by a drive of a packaging machine (not shown) and pulley 2
The shaft 2 has an output device mounted with a shaft 12, and a sprocket 218 is fitted onto the shaft through a belt 214.
16. Sprocket 218 drives chain 146 of feed conveyor 32. gear box 2
10 output shaft 220 is connected to shaft 2 by a belt 224.
Gear box 22 with an output device drivingly connected to 26
Drive 2. On the shaft 226 are axially spaced pulleys or sprockets 228, 230,
There are 232. Belt 224 drives pulley 230. The transfer conveyor 30 has a pulley 228 and a shaft 1.
It is driven by a belt 234 that extends between pulleys 236 fitted to 18.

The pulley 232 is connected to the gear box 2 by a belt 242.
It is drivingly connected to a pulley 238 fitted to the input shaft of No. 40. The gear box 240 is the adjustment conveyor 2
8 and the feeding conveyor 32 are adjustable;
Furthermore, in order to maintain the driving relationship of various driving elements,
It is arranged concentrically with the disk 164. Pulley 244
is fitted to the output shaft of the gear box 240, and the belt 24
6 drives the pulley 248, which serves as an input device for the gear box 250. The actuating device, ie, the transmission 252, is connected to the pulley 2 on the output shaft of the gear box 250.
54 and is driven by a gear box 250. A belt 256 drives a pulley 258 fixed to the input shaft of the transmission 252. Large diameter and small diameter pulleys 260, 262 are fitted onto a shaft 75 on which a pulley 74 for driving the adjustment conveyor is mounted. The large diameter pulley is connected to the transmission output pulley 264 by a belt 266, and the small diameter pulley 2
62 is connected by a belt 272 to a pulley 268 fixed to the shaft 270. The shaft 270 supports a pulley 48 that drives a tether or short flat belt 54.

The pulley 46 driving the drive belt 42 of the accumulating conveyor 24 is secured to a shaft 274 driven by an eddy current drive, generally designated 276. The drive device has a pulley 282 on the output shaft.
The pulley 282 drives a one-way clutch 286 mounted on a shaft 288 fitted with a stepped pulley 290 via a belt 284 having a DC motor 278 connected to a clutch 280 mounted thereon. Pulley 294 that fits stepped pulley 290 onto shaft 274
A belt 292 connected to drives the shaft 274 and thus the pulley 46 fitted thereto. A belt 296 from stepped pulley 290 drives a one-way clutch 298 fitted to shaft 75. As described above, the shaft 75 is equipped with a pulley 74 that drives the belt 66 of the adjustment conveyor 28.

A photoelectric device above the accumulating conveyor 24 detects the presence and quantity of articles on the accumulating conveyor 24. The optoelectronic device controls the packaging machine 22 so that when the optoelectronic device detects a critical mass of articles, the packaging machine operates at maximum speed, and for smaller numbers of articles, the speed of the packaging machine is reduced proportionally to the detected quantity. Integrated with drive unit. If the device 34 detects a quantity of articles below a critical amount, the speed of the packaging machine is reduced appropriately to adjust the packaging speed to the number of articles accumulated. When the accumulating conveyor 24 and the adjusting conveyor 28 are driven solely by the packaging machine 22, torque is transmitted to the shaft 274 via the clutch 298, while the clutch 286 rotates in the direction that causes sliding. The packaging machine is a photoelectric device 34
When the speed is reduced in response to a signal of
to increase the amount of goods held. This holdup, detected by the photoelectric device 34, causes the packaging machine to increase speed and issue a signal to reach maximum speed. In such a case, the accumulating conveyor 24 is connected to one side by the clutch 298 and the belt 29.
6,292.

The control system for the article cluster train, including the optoelectronic device 34, is common to the state of the art and a detailed description thereof is unnecessary.

While the best mode contemplated for carrying out the invention has been shown and described herein, it will be obvious that modifications and changes may be made thereto without departing from the perceived spirit thereof.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a novel article feeding apparatus constructed in accordance with the principles of the present invention shown with a horizontal fill-seal machine; FIG. 2 shows a linearly aligned accumulating conveyor and conditioning conveyor; 3 is an elevational view of FIG. 2; FIG. 4 is an enlarged partial section taken along line 4--4 of FIG. 2; Figure, 5th
The figure is a cross-sectional view taken along line 5-5 of FIG.
6 is an enlarged cross-sectional view taken along line 6-6 of FIG. 4; FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 7-7 of FIG. 4; FIGS. 12 is an enlarged partial cross-sectional view illustrating the effect of the air flow tending to lift the articles upwardly as they advance toward the conditioning conveyor and into mutually abutting relation on the pneumatic belt conveyor. , an enlarged cross-sectional view taken along line 12--12 of FIG. 2 showing a transfer conveyor for transferring articles from a conditioning conveyor to a feed conveyor, and FIG. 13 taken along line 13--13 of FIG.
14 is a horizontal cross-sectional view taken along the 13th
Cross-sectional view taken along line 14-14 in Figure 1.
Figure 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 15--15 in Figure 13; Figures 16A, 16B, 16C, and 16D illustrate the transfer of articles from the conditioning conveyor to the feed conveyor; Figures 17A, 17B, Figure 17C shows the vectors that affect the dynamics of the article with respect to the article being transferred, and Figure 18 is a perspective view of the main components of the drive chain. 20... Article feeding device, 24... Article accumulating conveyor, 28... Adjustment conveyor, 30... Transfer conveyor, 32... Feeding conveyor.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An article feeding device for feeding articles to a packaging machine,
a feed conveyor having a plurality of evenly spaced ears for advancing articles spaced apart from one another toward said packaging machine; a supply conveyor device for advancing abutting rows of articles along a path toward the feed conveyor; and sequentially engaging the most advanced articles of the abutting rows of articles in the passageway to transport the articles to the feed conveyor; In the article feeding device having a transfer conveyor for conveying to a conveyor, the feeding conveyor 32
and the supply conveyor devices 24, 28 intersect at an angle greater than 90°, and the transfer conveyor 30 intersects at an angle greater than 90°;
a plurality of vertically extending article engaging fingers 142a having ends in close contact with the upper surface of the feed conveyor devices 24, 28 and traveling in a straight path parallel to the path of the feed conveyor 32; A guiding device and a second guiding device are provided, the first guiding device being arranged above the feed conveyor devices 24, 28 to guide the abutting rows of articles in alignment with the fingers 142a. The second guide device 184 extends laterally away from the intersection of the feed conveyor 32 and the supply conveyor devices 24, 28 to a point adjacent to the path of the article abutment row. by extending across and touching the most advanced article of said abutting row of articles and guiding said article sequentially towards the path of said feed conveyor 32, causing said transfer conveyor to be lower than the speed of said feed conveyor system. is driven at a faster speed to increase the velocity of the transfer conveyor finger 142a greater than the velocity component of the feed conveyor device along the path of the feed conveyor device, passing through the downstream end of the first guide device. Each leading edge article is fully released and only its rear side is engaged by the proximal finger 142a to the article within the passageway of said fingers 142a, and the point at which said proximal finger 142a engages the article is , the center of gravity CG of the article is the finger 142a
line of action on the article and the second guide device 184
an article feeding device, characterized in that said finger 142a imparts a rotational moment to the article as it advances in the direction of the path of said feeding conveyor 32. 2. In the article feeding device according to claim 1, the packaging machine 22 is of a horizontal fill-seal packaging type, and the first guide device is a laterally spaced guide for aligning the articles. rail 100
wherein the fingers 142a travel along an annular path in close proximity to the downstream end of the first guide, and the second guide has a straight track for directing articles into the path of the feed conveyor 32. An article feeding device characterized by: 3. The article feeding device according to claim 1, wherein the supply conveyor devices 24, 28 have regulating conveyors, the second guide device has laterally spaced rails 184, 186, rail 1
Reference numerals 84 and 186 denote article feeding devices that extend to a point on the upstream side of the path of the feeding conveyor 32. 4. In the article feeding device according to claim 1, 2, or 3, the supply conveyor device includes an elongated closed air chamber 38, and the air chamber 38.
An air supply device 36 for supplying air to the upper panel 8 of the air chamber 38 moves laterally apart and at the same time.
a belt 42 that is supported so as to be movable on the conveyor belt 42 and advances the article toward the feed conveyor 32 while supporting the articles placed thereon; The orifice 90 has a plurality of orifices 90.
0 communicates with the air chamber 38 and connects the air chamber 38 to the air chamber 38.
The air supplied therein is discharged between the belts 42, so that the abutting rows of articles supported by the belts 42 are partially levitated by the discharged air and the articles An article feeding device characterized in that the contact pressure between the articles in the abutment row of the article is reduced. 5. An article feeding device according to claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein the supply conveyor device comprises a flat belt 66 supporting at least a single row of articles. Adjustment conveyor 2
8. an actuation device 252 for operating the adjustment conveyor 28 at a constant speed; and a support structure 162 for mounting the adjustment conveyor 28 and the feed conveyor 32;
164, and the support structures 162, 164
The adjustment conveyor 28 and the feed conveyor 32 are rotatably connected to each other so that the adjustment conveyor 28 can intersect the feed conveyor 32 at any angle between 90° and 135°. The adjustment conveyor 28 overlaps with and extends beyond the path of the feed conveyor 32, and the transfer conveyor 30 sequentially conveys articles from the adjustment conveyor 28 to the feed conveyor 32. Article feeding device. 6. In the article feeding device according to claim 1, 2, or 3, a first drive device 74 that drives the supply conveyor device at a constant speed, and a first drive device 74 that drives the transfer conveyor 30 as the supply conveyor device. A second drive device 118 is provided which drives the finger 1 at a speed sufficiently higher than the operating speed of the device.
42a engages with the leading article, the finger 142a engages only at the upstream rear side of the article. 7. An article feeding device according to claim 1, wherein the feed conveyor device comprises a regulating conveyor 28 with a flat belt 66 for continuously conveying abutting rows of articles to the feed conveyor 32. , wherein the finger 142a separates the leading article from the succeeding article without causing frictional movement between the articles that are in contact with each other. 8. In the article feeding device according to claim 1, 2, or 3, the intersection angle between the feeding conveyor and the feeding conveyor device is a point on the path of the feeding conveyor device; is measured at a point downstream of the intersection of the feed conveyor and the feed conveyor, and the feed conveyor device is rotatable by a support structure so as to intersect the feed conveyor at any angle. An article feeding device, characterized in that the article feeding device is connected to the feeding conveyor. 9. In the article feeding apparatus according to claim 1, 2, or 3, the transfer conveyor 30 includes sprocket chains 1 spaced apart laterally.
26,128, the sprocket chain 12
6,128 and a shaft 134 rotatably mounted on each carrier 130;
4 extends to a considerable extent from the associated carrier 130, and the finger 142a is connected to the shaft 13.
4. An article feeding device characterized in that the article feeding device is attached to the one end of the article feeding device. 10 In the article feeding device according to claim 9, the other end of the shaft 134 controls the position direction of the finger 142a when the finger 142a engages with or separates from the article. An article feeding device characterized in that it is coupled to a cam actuating block 136 so as to obtain an article. 11 A supply conveyor device that intersects with a feed conveyor, and a transfer conveyor provided above a point where the feed conveyor and the supply conveyor intersect, and includes a chain device from which an article engaging piece for conveying articles hangs. In an article feeding apparatus having a transfer conveyor, the chain devices 126 and 128 of the transfer conveyor 30 are connected to the feed conveyor 3.
2, the path of the feed conveyor device 24, 28 is located downstream on the path of the feed conveyor device from the point where the feed conveyor device and the feed conveyor intersect. A first drive 74 intersects the feed conveyor at an obtuse angle as measured at point 164 and drives the feed conveyor system at a constant speed, and drives the transfer conveyor 30 at a constant speed relative to the speed of the feed conveyor system. Providing a second drive device 118 that is driven sufficiently fast causes the speed of the article engaging piece of the transfer conveyor to be greater than the velocity component of the feed conveyor along the path of the feed conveyor device to engage the article. The piece is arranged to separate the leading article on the feed conveyor device from the following article, and when separating the leading article in this way, the article engaging piece is located above the center of gravity of the article being conveyed. An article feeding device that engages only the rear side of the article at an upstream position of the supply conveyor device, and the front side of the article is not interfered with by anything while the article is being conveyed. 12. In the article feeding device according to claim 11, the supply conveyor device has a guide rail on the side toward which the article engaging piece approaches first, and the guide rail Feeding conveyor 32
An article feeding device characterized in that the article engaging piece has a passageway terminating above the guide rail, the article engaging piece extending proximate an end of the guide rail. 13. In the article feeding device according to claim 11 or 12, the article engaging piece is close to the upper surface of the supply conveyor device and extends along the feeding path along the path of the feeding conveyor 32. It has a plurality of advancing fingers 142a which cooperate with the movement of the feed conveyor system to impart rotational motion to articles separated from the abutting row of articles, thereby creating friction between the abutting articles. An article feeding device characterized by conveying articles without causing movement. 14. In the article feeding device according to claim 13, when the finger 142a engages with the article, the center of gravity CG of the article is separated from the path of the finger 142a to a downstream position of the supply conveyor device. As a result, a rotational moment is generated in the article, and therefore the article is transferred to the feed conveyor 3.
An article feeding device characterized in that the article feeding device takes a position direction that is accepted by the article feeding device. 15. The article feeding apparatus according to claim 13, wherein the chain device is a laterally spaced sprocket chain 126, 128, and the transfer conveyor 30 is a sprocket chain 126, 128 that is laterally spaced apart.
carriers 130 mounted at uniform intervals on 8;
and a shaft 134 rotatably attached to one end of the carrier 130, one end of the shaft 134 extending considerably beyond the carrier 130, and the finger 142a being attached to one end of the carrier 130. Article feeding device. 16. In the article feeding device according to claim 15, the other end of the shaft 134 controls the position direction of the finger 142a when the finger 142a engages with or separates from the article. An article feeding device characterized in that it is coupled to a cam actuating block 136 so as to obtain an article. 17. The article feeding device according to claim 11 or 12, wherein the supply conveyor device has an elongated air chamber 38 connected to a low pressure air supply device 36, and the panel of the air chamber 38 80
has a plurality of orifices 90 for discharging the supplied air, and a laterally spaced belt 42 runs over the panel 80 with the orifices 90 interposed therebetween, and the belt 42 carries the article. The air supported and conveyed towards the delivery end of the supply conveyor system and discharged from the orifice 90 is
While the articles are conveyed in this manner, the articles in the abutting rows of articles are levitated, so that the contact pressure between the articles that occurs when they are conveyed by said belt 42 is reduced. Article feeding device. 18. In the article feeding device according to claim 17, plate members 96, 9 are provided on the panel 80.
8, the plate members 96, 98 forming grooves that allow the belt 42 to travel along a straight path to reduce air loss. 19. The article feeding device according to claim 17, wherein the belt 42 has a circular cross section. 20. The article feeding device according to claim 19, wherein an elongated platform 92 is provided on the panel 80, and the platform 92
The orifices 9 in the panel 80 are arranged to provide a continuous air passage for evacuation of the air.
By setting the thickness of the platform 92 to be shorter than the diameter of the belt 42, an orifice 94 corresponding to the diameter of the belt 42 is provided.
An article feeding device characterized in that an article conveyed by the air passage is located closely to an air discharge end of the air passage. 21. The article feeding device according to claim 11 or 12, wherein a support structure 164 is provided so that the feed conveyor device can be placed across the feed conveyor 32 at a predetermined angle. an article feeding apparatus, wherein the feed conveyor apparatus is rotatably coupled to the feed conveyor 32.