ROTARY CONVEYING DEVICE

DISPOSITIFS TRANSPORTEURS TOURNANTS

English Abstract

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Abstract:
A rotary conveying device comprises a rotatable wheel
mounted on a shaft and having a periphery containing a
plurality of receptacles for articles. Each receptacle
has a suction pad for holding an article therein and
suction pump for generating suction from a flow of com-
pressed air. There are also a valve for controlling this
flow and conduits extending from a hollow portion of the
shaft to each valve for conveying thereto compressed air
supplied to such hollow portion.

Claims

Claim:

1. A rotary conveying device comprising
(a) a rotatable wheel mounted on a shaft and having a
periphery containing a plurality of receptacles for
articles,
(b) each receptacle having a suction pad for holding an
article therein, a suction pump tube for generating
suction from a flow of compressed air and a valve for
controlling said flow,
(c) conduits extending from a hollow portion of said shaft
to each said valve for conveying thereto compressed
air supplied to such hollow portion, and
(d) cams mounted on a non-rotating part of the device for
respectively moving each said valve to an open and a
closed position, as said valves rotate with the wheel
past said cams.

Description

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Rotary conveying devlce

The present invention relates to a rotary conveying
device in which a plurality of suction pads or holding
articles by vacuum is provided at the periphery of a
rotatable wheel.
Conventionally this kind of device operates by means
of a vacuum pump which supplies suction to the suction
pads.
However, it has often been found difficult to maintain
such a vacuum at a constant level because it is subject to
air leakage and, when numerous suction pads are actuated
from one vacuum pump, the operation of one suction pad can
have a marked influence upon the effectiveness of the
others. The vacuum can also suck in fine dust surrounding
the unit, so that the equipment ~ecomes clogged with dust.
The present invention solves these problems by using
compressed air and a suction pump type of vacuum generating
device for each suction pad. More specifically, the
invention consists of a rotary conveying device comprising
(a) a rotatable wheel mounted on a shaft and having a
periphery containing a plurality of receptacles for
articles, ~b) each receptacle having a suction pad for
holding an article therein, a suction pump tube for
generating suction from a flow of compressed air and a



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valve for controlling said flow, (c) conduits extending
from a hollow portion of said shaft to each said valve for
conveying thereto compressed air supplied to such hollow
portion and (d) cams mounted on a non-rotating part of the
device for respectively moving each said valve to an open
and a closed position, as said valves rotate with the wheel
past said cams.
A preferred embodiment according to the present
invention will be described in coniunction with the
accompanying drawings, in which:
Figure 1 is a schematic view of a strip of bags and an
individual such bag secured to a container;
Figure 2 is a front view of a machine embodying the
invention;
Figure 3 is a partially cutaway ~ront view of an
embodiment of the invention utilised in the machine of
Figure 2; and
Figure 4 is a longitudinal sectional view of Figure 3.
As shown in Figure 1, a long and narrow strip B of
continuous package B is separable into bags B' each
containing a spoon A. Each bag B' is to be adhered to a
food container C, as shown in Figure 2. For this purpose
the strip B is delivered to a cutter device D where it is
cut into individual bags B' which are subsequently
transmitted by a drum E. The containers C held in a wheel
2 receive the bags B' from the,drum E. The overall
operation of the wheel 2 and the machine of which it is
part are described in copending Canadian patent application
Serial No. 444,362 of Y. Utsumi Eiled December 28, 1983
and in the companion applications referred to therein.
The present invention is concerned with the structure
of a retaining device for use with such wheel, and the
embodiment thereof is described below in conjunction with
Figures 3 and 4.
The wheel 2 is rotated by a shaft 1 and at its
periphery has a plurality of receptacles 3 which fit the
shape of the article C to be conveyed. Suction pads 4 are

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mounted on the bottoms of these receptacles 3, whereby the
articles C are retained. ~etween a face plate 2a and a
back plate 2b of the wheel 2, each suction pad 4 and an
associated suction pump tube 5 are mounted and connected
to a transfer valve 6 for controlling a compressed air
supply. A pipe 6a from the val.ve 6 communicates with the
tube 5, a suction tube Sa of which is connected to the
suction pad 4. The compressed air ~rom a compressor (not
shown) is supplied to the valves 6 through a hollow pa.rt
la of the shaft 1 and conduits 7.
The valves 6 can be mechanically shifted by levers 6b
operated by cams 8 and 9 mounted on the machine frame.
Numeral 10 designates a silencer connected to each of the
exhaust holes of the tubes 5. In all of these parts which
rotate with the wheel 2 there are no relative sliding or
moving parts except for those of the valves.
Since the compressed air flowing through the suction
pump tubes cause a vacuum to be generated in each of the
suction pads, and the pressure of the compressed air is
maintained at a substantially constant level, separate
actuation of some of the numerous suction pads cannot
deteriorate the vacuum pressure of the other suction pads
or otherwise adversely affect their operation~ Compared
with maintenance of a constant vacuum pressure by a vacuum
pump, the present device is extremely reliable and easy to
maintainO




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