Magazine and sheet-withdrawing mechanism therefor

Application filed. Inly 3, .

To dll whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Alfred L. Kronqvest, a citizen of the United States residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook, State ot 5 Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Magazines and SheetWithdrawing Mechanism Therefor, of which the following is a description, reference being had to the accompanying drawing and 10 to the figures of reference marked thereon.

The invention relates to new and useful improvements in magazines and sheet withdrawing mechanism therefor, and more particularly to a magazine used for stacking 15 sheet, metal blanks, from which can bodies are to be formed. . .,

An object of the invention is to provide a magazine construction, wherein the retardin<^r friction which holds the sheets from b 20 in£ withdrawn too easily from the bottom oUche magazine is substantially unifoim regardless of the number of sheets stacked m the magazine. . . . ,

A further object of the invention is to 25 provide a withdrawing means for the magazine which is so timed as to move slowly during the first part of the sheet withdrawing movement, so as to permit the separation ot the lowermost sheet from, the one next above, 30 and thus insure the withdrawing of one sheet at a time from the magazine.

These and other objects will in part be obvious and will in part be hereinafter more fully disclosed. ,.,, _K

In the drawings which show by way ot illustration, one embodiment of the mven^tX°Figure 1 is a sectional view through a machine having the improvements embodied therein, said section being taken transversely of the magazine; ,

Fig. 2 is a side view of a machine embodying the improvements, the parts being broken away to show the operating cam for 45 the sheet withdrawing devices;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view through one ot the withdrawing devices and through the supporting table and showing the operating ' cam in side view; . .

Fig. 4 is a sectional view on an enlarged scale through the sheet withdrawing device, said section being taken at right angles to the section shown in Fig. 3.

’ The invention consists broadly in a maga65 zine for supporting sheets which are piled

75.

100

105

110

1.395,232 sists in a construction of the magazine and the withdrawing devices which will Insure the removing ot one sheet at a time from the bottom of the stacked pile or sheets of . 5 blanks.

The supporting standards for. the side plates 1 and 2 are located adjacent the ends of the plates, so as to give ample room for the moving of the sheets edgewise from beneath 10 the stack when .the sheet has been deposited on the table 4. The side plate 1 is formed with a cut-away or recess section 8. Located in this recess and extending from end to end of the magazine is a facing plate 9. Said 15 facing plate 9 . is formed with notches or grooves 10, which are V-shape in cross section. These notches or grooves 10 are located closely adjacent each other, so as to form substantially V-shaped projections be20 tween the notches or grooves. The facing plate is secured to the side plate 1 by bolts 11—11· The extreme upper inner face of the side plate 1 is curved, as indicated at 12, to facilitate the placing of the sheets in 25 the magazine. The side plate 2 is provided with a similar recess 8, in which is placed a similarly constructed facing plate 9, and said plate is held by suitable bolts 11—11. The facing plate carried by the side plate 2 is formed with notches 10 which are also similar in construction to the notches 10 in the plate 9, which is carried by the side plate 1. Adjacent the lower edge of the facing plate 9 is an inclined retaining bar 13 which ³⁵ is bolted to the side plates by means of bolts 14. These retaining bars incline toward each other from top to bottom so as to perform an increasing frictional grip upon the . sheet. The notches or grooves 10—10 in the opposed facing plates are disposed so that a groove for one plate is directly opposite a projection in the other plate.

The sheets of metal are indicated at S in the drawings. Said sheets are stacked in the magazine so as to form a vertical stack. The side plates 1 and 2 are capable of being adjusted and are set so that the distance from a projection to the bottom of an opposed groove is practically the width of a sheet. Therefore, as the sheets pass down through the magazine, the sheets will be caused to move in a zigzag path, following the inclined faces of the notches and projections. This results in the sheets sliding ^Oi> sidewise one on another and shifting back and forth and repositioning themselves as they pass down through the magazine. Any one sheet while resting on an incline at one side of the magazine is free at the other and this insures that the stacked sheets will by their own weight pass down through the magazine, but at the same time the weight of the stack is carried largely by the inclined faces forming the notches or grooves 10. 5® The retaining bars 13 are similarly inclined and when the sheets reach these bars they will be supported at both ends. The distance between the bars is such that the sheet will have to be bent before it can be withdrawn from the bottom of the stack. 70

Projecting from each side of the magazine are retaining fingers 15 which are secured to the side plates by means of bolts 16. These fingers lie in the path of the sheets and are of sufficient length so as to 75 insure that the sheet must be sharply bent, as indicated in Fig. 1 of the drawings, as it is withdrawn from the magazine. Preferably, at one end of the magazine is a guiding standard 16^a, which serves to line up 80 the sheets in an endwise direction. The other end of the magazine may be left open or may be. provided with a similar guiding standard, if desired.

The sheets are withdrawn from the maga- 85 zine, as above noted, by suckers 6 and 7. These suckers are similar in construction. Each sucker is in the form of a rubber cup which is secured to the upper end of the vertically sliding shaft 17. Mounted on the 90 underface of the table 4 is a bracket 18, carrying a depending sleeve 19. ’ This shaft 17 reciprocates in the sleeve 19. At the lower end of said shaft there is a forked head 20, carrying a pin 21. An arm 22 is formed with 95 a forked end 23, which straddles said pin 21. This arm. 22 is mounted on a shaft 24. Said shaft 24 is journaled in suitable brackets 25—25, carried by the table 4. Also mounted in these brackets 25—25 is a shaft 26 100 which is rotated by any suitable means and said shaft is provided with a disk 27 in which is formed a cam groove 28. Mounted on the shaft 24 is an upwardly projecting arm 29 which carries a roller 30 which runs 105 in the groove 28. As this shaft 26 rotates, the arm 29 will be oscillated and this in turn will oscillate the shaft 24 and raise and lower the arm 22 which moves the shaft 17 ύρ and down and thus brings the rubber 110 sucker cups into contact with the sheets. The shaft 24 is provided with an arm 22 for each sucker, while there is only one arm 29 for oscillating the shaft 24.

The vertical shaft 17, carrying the sucker 115 cups 6, is formed with a central passage 31. The rubber cup 6 is secured to the shaft by means of a screw 32 having a central opening in line with the passage 31. The shaft also has an inclined passage 33, which leads 120 from the central passage 31 to the outer face of the shaft. The sleeve 19 in which the shaft 17 reciprocates, is formed with a chamber 34 to which a pipe 35 is connected and this pipe 35 leads to a suitable source of sue- 125 tion. Below the chamber 34 is an opening 36. When the shaft 17 is moved upwardly the passages contained therein are brought into connection with the chamber 34 and through the vacuum creating means, said 130

1,305,232 the magazine, said magazine having means extending throughout the entire height thereof for engaging the stacked sheets and assisting in supporting the sheets, whereby the pressure of the stacked sheets on the 70 lowermost sheet being withdrawn due to the weight of the stack is substantially uniform.

3. The combination of a magazine for supporting stacked sheets, and means for withdrawing the sheets from the bottom of 75 the magazine, said magazine haying side members formed with horizontally .disposed V-shaped grooves and intermediate projections, the grooves being opposed to the projections, whereby the lower face of the V- 80 shaped groove engages the sheets in the stack and assists in supporting the weight thereof·

4. The combination of. a magazine for supporting stacked sheets, and means for 8 5 withdrawing the sheets from the bottom of the magazine, said magazine having facing plates on the opposite sides thereof provided with horizontally disposed V-shaped grooves forming horizontally disposed V-shaped pro- 90 jections between the same, the said V-shapea projections being opposed to the .V-shaped grooves, whereby the sheets as they pass down the magazine will be caused to follow a zig-zag path and rest first at one side and 9 5 then the other in the lower faces of the Vshaped grooves. . _;

5; The combination of a magazine tor supporting stacked sheets, and means for withdrawing the sheets from the bottom of 100 the magazine, said magazine haying means at spaced intervals for assisting in supporting the stacked sheets at points above the lower end thereof, whereby the pressure of the stacked sheets on the lowermost sheet be- 105 ing withdrawn due to the weight of the stack is substantially uniform, and means at the bottom of the magazine for sharply bending, the sheet as it is withdrawn.

6. The combination of a magazine for HO supporting stacked sheets, and means for withdrawing the sheets from the bottom, of the magazine, said magazine having facing plates on the opposite sides thereof provided with horizontally disposed V-shaped grooves 115 forming horizontally disposed V-shaped projections between the same, the said V-shaped projections being opposed to the V-shaped grooves whereby the sheets as they pass down the magazine will be caused to. follow 120 a zig-zag path and rest first at one side and then the other in the lower faces of the Vshaped grooves, and means at the bottom of the magazine for sharply bending the sheet as it is withdrawn. . ¹²⁵

7. The combination of a magazine for supporting stacked sheets, and means for withdrawing the sheets from the bottom, of the magazine, said magazine having side plates formed with horizontally disposed V- 130 suction cup will firmly grip the sheet when moved into contact therewith. The suction will be maintained as the shaft 17 moves downwardly until the suction cup is sub5 stantially on a level with the table when the inclined passage 33 is brought into register with the opening 36 and this breaks the suction and releases the suction cup from the sheet. The suction cup moves into the re10 cess in the table out of the way of the sheet and the sheet is then moved edgewise, by suitable feeding devices.

The cam groove 28 is shaped so that the section 37 which operates to lower the 15 suckers will move said suckers first downwardly rather slowly so as to give ample fimp. for the air to pass between the lowermost sheet which is being withdrawn and the sheet next above, so as to break up any 20 clinging suction between the sheets. This suction grip of one sheet on the next sheet above is also further broken up by means of the retaining fingers 15, which causes the sheet to be sharply bent as it is withdrawn 25 from the magazine. This, together with the construction of the magazine, which places a substantially uniform pressure on the lowermost sheet regardless of the number of sheets stacked in the magazine, insures that 30 one sheet at a time shall be withdrawn from the magazine and placed on the table 4.

The suckers are reciprocated so as to withdraw one sheet at a time, placing the same on the table, after which the suckers release 35 the sheet and it is moved edgewise into the machine with which the magazine is associated. Engaging means may be employed for moving the sheet in an endwise direction for properly positioning the same relative 40 to the delivering devices which carry the sheet forward. It will be understood that the improved magazine and sheet withdrawing means may be used in connection with various types of machines.

It is obvious that minor changes m the details of construction and the arrangement of parts may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.