Blank magazines comprising agitated blank supporting rods

July 5, 1966 w. h. hittenberger 3,259,384

BLANK MAGAZINES COMPRISING AGITATED BLANK SUPPORTING RODS

Filed April 23, 1964 5 Sheets-Sheet 1

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INVENTOR.

, . William H. Hittenberger r ig. 1 by

ATTORNEY

July 5, 1966 w. h. hittenberger 3,259,384

BLANK MAGAZINES COMPRISING AGITATED BLANK SUPPORTING RODS

Filed April 23, 1964 5 Sheets-Sheet 2

<img file="US3259384A_D0002.tif" />

INVENTOR.

William H. Hiiienberger

BY . ~

I** ATTORNEY

July 5, 1966 w. h. Wittenberger 3,259,384

BLANK MAGAZINES COMPRISING AGITATED BLANK SUPPORTING RODS

Filed April 23, 1964 5 Sheets-Sheet 3

<img file="US3259384A_D0003.tif" />

INVENTOR.

William H. Hittenberg&amp;r BY

ATTORNEY

July 5, 1966 w. h. hittenberger 3,259,384

BLANK MAGAZINES COMPRISING AGITATED BLANK SUPPORTING RODS

<img file="US3259384A_D0004.tif" />

INVENTOR. William H. Hitienberger BY •i+orua*d ·β.

ATTORNEY

July 5, 1966 w. h. hittenberger 3,259,384

BLANK MAGAZINES COMPRISING AGITATED BLANK SUPPORTING RODS

Filed April 23, 1964

Sheets-Sheet ό

<img file="US3259384A_D0005.tif" />

INVENTOR.

William H. Hittenberger

BY •foljax/. “S’.

t** ATTORNEY

3,259,384

Patented July 5, 1966

United States Patent Office

3,259,384

BLANK MAGAZINES COMPRISING AGITATED BLANK SUPPORTING RODS

William H. Hittenberger, Santa Clara, Calif., assignor, by mesne assignments, to Kliklok Corporation, New York, N.Y., a corporation of Delaware

Filed Apr. 23,1964, Ser. No. 362,117 6 Claims. (Cl. 271—62)

This invention relates to improvements in magazines of the type in which stacks of articles of sheet material, such as box blanks, or stacks of nested articles, such as trays, are supported on edge on supporting elements, such as rods, along which the articles move toward a magazine gate for withdrawal or release one at a time. It is known in this connection to agitate the rods by rotation or oscillation about their axes to reduce the friction between rods and articles. As disclosed in the United States patent to Baker et al., No. 2,642,285 dated lune 16, 1953, the rods are preferably oscillated, permitting variation in the degree of agitation by variation at the length of arc of oscillation.

It is desirable to make the magazine quite long to reduce the need for frequent reloading. This produces a problem in that a very long agitated stack results in a vary substantial increase in the pressure of the foremost blank or. other article on the gate, more particularly on the retaining tabs past which the blank or article must be withdrawn. A great increase in the pressure interferes with the orderly withdrawal of articles from engagement with the tabs. If the articles are telescoped, as are for example nested trays, the nesting becomes too tight for dependable separation. Also, the retaining tabs may produce permanent marks on the blanks or trays if the contact pressure becomes too great.

Other variables are introduced by the size, weight and .shape of the articles, the condition of the edges and other factors.

The present invention eliminates the aforesaid difficulties by an arrangement in which the blanks or articles are supported on agitated, as well as stationary, supporting elements, the arrangement being such that the agitated elements lie in one inclined plane, the stationary elements .lie in a plane of different inclination, but intersecting the first plane along a line of intersection or transfer, the distance of said line from the magazine gate being variable by a change in the slope of one of the planes. In this manner the length of the portion of the stack which is being agitated can be varied in relation to the length of the portion of the stack which is at rest.

The various features and advantages of this invention will appear more fully from the detailed description which follows, accompanied by drawings showing, for the purpose of illustration, a preferred embodiment of the invention. The invention also resides in certain new and original features of construction and combination of elements, as hereinafter set forth and claimed.

.. Although the characteristic features of this invention which are believed to be novel will be particularly pointed out in the claims appended hereto, the invention itself, its objects and advantages, and the manner in which it may be carried out, may be better understood by referring to the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings forming a part of it in which:

FIGS. 1 and 2 are perspective views of the right hand portion of a tray feeding device incorporating the present invention, the device being shown in two successive phases of operation;

FIGS. 3 and 4 are perspective views of the tray supporting rod assembly extending to the rear in FIGS. 1 .and 2, the rod assembly being shown in two successive phases of operation; and

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the left hand portion of the device of FIGS. 1 and 2.

In the following description and in the claims various details will be identified by specific names for convenience. The names however are intended to be generic in their application.

Corresponding reference characters refer to corresponding parts in the several figures of the drawings. The drawings accompanying, and forming part of this specification disclose certain specific details of construction for the purpose of explanation of broader aspects, but it should be understood that structural details may be modified in various respects without departure from the principles of the invention and that the invention may be incorporated in other structural forms than shown.

The invention will be explained by illustrations showing the application of the invention to a device for feeding preformed trays from two magazines simultaneously onto a conveyor band (not shown) which the device straddles. The feeding mechanism proper does not form a part of the invention, nor does the particular mechanism which controls the release of trays from the magazine, one at a time. The latter details are disclosed in a. copending application of Pierce Serial No. 308,279, filed September 11, 1963 and will be described here only to the extent necessary to understand the present invention.

The drawings are tracings of photographs. FIGURES 3 and 4 show the rod assembly of the right hand magazine only, the blanks being removed. The rod assembly of the left hand magazine was blanked out for the sake of clarity, as additional rods would have tended to confuse the illustration.

The magazine shown in FIG. 1 comprises a gate through which stacked trays move, one at a time. The gate proper comprises two upright bars 11 and 12 interconnected at the bottom by a horizontal bar 13, the three bars forming a U-shaped structure which is secured to a transverse supporting bar 14 of the illustrated machine by bolts 15. The bolts 15 also pass through a rod supporting front plate or bracket 16 from which a pair of stationary rods 17, 18, and a pair of pivotally supported rods 19, 20 extend rearwardly.

In the illustrated arrangement the outer rods are pivoted and carry so-called acorn nuts 21, 22 at their ends. The inner and stationary rods 17, 18 are fixedly attached by bolts 23, 24 extending through the bracket into the tapped ends of the rods 17 and 18.

The upright magazine bars 11 and 12 are fitted with article retaining tabs or fingers 25, 26 spaced apart slightly less than the greatest width of the articles stored in the magazine.

These articles may be folding box blanks, but happen to be tapered trays T in the illustrated example. These trays T are preformed by appropriate equipment and are delivered to the illustrated machine set up and stacked. The trays fit one into the next. This fit is sometimes referred to as a “nesting” fit.

FIGURE 1 illustrates that the side edges 27, 28 of the foremost tray bear against the fingers 25, 26 which thus retain the stack in the magazine.

A step-by-step release mechanism is provided which engages the sides of the foremost tray and flexes the sides inwardly for a distance sufficient to pry the tray out of the grip of the retaining fingers.

This mechanism comprises a pair of reciprocating pry blades 29, 30 having studs 31, 32 on them extending into slanted cam ways 33, 34 of vertically reciprocating operating plates 35, 36. These operating plates are normally held in an upward position (FIG. 1) by springs inside cover sleeves 37, 38.

Forwardly extending cam arms 39 and 40 are secured to the lower ends of the operating plates just below a

3,259,384 transverse operating cam bar 41. When this bar 41 is depressed it bears against the cam arms 39, 40 and pulls the operating plates 35, 36 down. This, in turn, causes the springs inside the sleeves 37, 38 to be compressed (compare FIG. 2 with FIG. 1) and the pry blades 29, 30 to be moved towards each other (FIG. 2) as their studs 31, 32 are being horizontally displaced by the slanted cam ways 33, 34.

The foremost tray T is then freed from the retaining grip of the magazine gate mechanism and may be removed by a feeder device.

The illustrated feeder device comprises a pair of vacuum cups 42, 43 on arms 44, 45 clamped to a transverse feeder bar 46. The feeder bar 46 is movable from one extreme position (FIG. 2) in which the cups 42, 43 grip the tray to a second extreme position (FIGS. 1 and 3) in which the tray is substantially horizontal and is then released. FIG. 1 shows the position of the feeding mechanism just prior to the release.

The motive portion of the feeding mechanism comprises a driven oscillating bar 47 to which an oscillating arm 48 and a sector plate 49 are welded.

A bell crank casting 50 is pivotally mounted on the end of the oscillating arm at 51. One end of the casting 50 is claw shaped, and the end of the feeder bar 46 is held in the claw 52. A guide channel 53 is secured to the other end of the bell crank casting 50 at 54. A fixed pivot 55 on a stud 56 engages the guide channel and the latter may slide as well as turn with respect to the pivot, as is readily seen by comparing FIGS. 1 and 2. FIG. 1 also shows well the bell crank shaped assembly comprising the bell crank casting 50 with its claw 52 at one end and the guide channel 53 at the other, both ends being disposed at right angles to each other.

FIG. 5 illustrates the corresponding mechanism at'the left hand side of the machine or device. It further illustrates the mounting of the cam bar 41 on plates or brackets 57, 58 welded to the oscillating arm 48 and the oscillating bar 47, respectively.

The drive means for oscillating the bar 47 are not shown, as such means are of conventional construction, it being sufficient to state that the bar 47 is oscillated to move the arm 48 between the deposit station (FIG. 5) and the pick up station (FIG. 2).

During this motion the sector plate 49 (FIG. 2) rocks back and forth and operates a vacuum control valve 59 by control stops 60 and 61 on the plate 49 and further pulls and relaxes a cable 62 attached to the plate 49 just behind the arm 48 in the position shown in FIG. 2.

FIGURES 3 and 4 show the rearward portion of the magazine from which the trays are removed. A rear rod plate 63 on the machine bed or base 64 supports the rear ends of the the stationary rods 17, 18 which are disposed at an upward slant from the magazine gate. The rear ends of the rods are secured to the rear plate by bolts which are not visible, but which correspond to the front bolts 23, 24. It should be noted that the setting of the rear end of the rods 17 and 18 is adjustable in vertically elongated slots 65, 66.

The pair of stationary rods 17, 18 is straddled by the two oscillating rods 19 and 20. The oscillating rods are pivotally mounted in the rear rod plate 63 at points slightly below the stationary rods. Thus blanks or trays within the rearward portion of the magazine rest on the stationary rods 17,18 and are not engaged by the agitated rods 19 and 20.

Turning to FIG. 2, it is seen that the front ends of the stationary rods terminate at a lower level (indicated by the heads of bolts 23, 24) than the front ends of the agitated rods 19, 20 (as indicated by the position of the nuts 21 and 22). For this reason blanks or trays within the forward portion of the magazine rest on the agitated rods with the result that the frictional engagement between rods 19, 20 and the blanks or trays is greatly reduced,

As all the rods are disposed at an upward slant the blanks or trays tend to slide toward the magazine gate and exert a force on the gate tending to push the blanks or trays through the gate, were it not for the retaining action of the fingers 25, 26.

The greater the force the greater is the urge of the blanks or trays to advance toward the gate, i.e., to move up in order to make up for the withdrawal of the foremost blank. This is desirable.

On the other hand, an increase in force tends to nest the stacked trays more tightly, which is undesirable because it makes separation more difficult.

For these reasons it is desirable to adjust the force or pressure of the blanks or trays on the main gate. This is accomplished by varying the length of the agitated portion of the stack in relation to the length of the noriagitated portion.

The uppermost surface of the stationary rods represents a plane which intersects with the plane represented by the uppermost surface of the agitated rods. At the line of intersection blanks or trays move from the non-agitated rods onto the agitated rods.

The inclination of one set of rods is for this purpose varied with respect to the inclination of the second set of rods. It is generally preferable to reset the stationary rods.

Moving the rear ends of the stationary rods towards the upper portion of the elongated slots moves the line of intersection forward, i.e., toward the gate, thus shortening the agitated portion of the stack. Lowering the rear ends of the stationary rods lengthens the agitated portion of the stack until, in the extreme case, the entire stack is agitated.

The agitating mechanism comprises arms 67 and 68 mounted on the rods 19, 20 to extend at right angles therefrom.

The wire cable 62 extends over a pulley 69 on the base 64 to the arm 67 (visible only in FIG. 4) to which the cable is attached, and then continues around a return pulley 70 (diagrammatically indicated) to the arm 68 on rod 20 to which the cable is attached, and thence over a further pulley 71 to a spring 72. The other end of the spring 72 is attached to the base at 73.

The rods 19 and 20 are normally in the position shown in FIG. 3 in which markers 74 and 75 are attached to the uppermost portion of the rods 19 and 20 for the purpose of illustration. Two further markers 76 and 77 indicate the corresponding portions of the stationary rods 17 and 18.

When the cable is pulled in the direction of the arrow 78 the rod 20 oscillates towards the observer, as indicated by its marker 75 (FIG. 4). The corresponding marker 74 of the rod 19 moved away from the observer and is not visible. The markers 76 and 77 remain unchanged in their position. The spring 72 is extended in this condition and the arms 67 and 68 are swung towards each other.

When the pull on the cable 62 is released, the rods 19 and 20 oscillate in the opposite direction under the action of the contracting spring 72.

This happens once for each stroke of the feeder.

A further pair of rods 79, 80 is seen above the blank or tray supporting rods 17 to 20. The rods 79 and 80 serve to align the blanks or trays of the magazine laterally, as is best seen in FIGS. 1 and 2 in which rod 79 is visible.

It is obvious that the invention is equally applicable to magazines in which the supporting elements, bars, rods or the like are agitated in other manners, such as by continuous rotation, back and forth motion, and so forth.