Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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APPARATUS FOR FIXING FASTENERS
ON A CONVEYOR BELT OR THE LIKE
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION ;-
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The present invention relates to the attachment
of a row of fasteners to the end of a conveyor belt or
the like. -; -
More specifically, the invention is concerned
with the attachment of fasteners consisting of U-shaped
elements adapted to be mounted astride the end of a
conveyor belt in order to be fixed thereon by means of ~-
wire staples having the shape of an inverted U. This
fastening operation is carried out by inserting these
staples through holes formed in the two arms of said
fasteners and then bending-back the pointed ends which
project from these latter.
In order to fit them in position with greater
ease, the fasteners initially have a V-shape, one of
their arms being directed outwards from its normal
position. Under these conditions, when the end of a
conveyor belt or the like has been placed between the `
fasteners of the row to be fixed in position, it is
first necessary to bend-back the initially opened-out
arms of these fasteners before proceeding to insert the
clamping staples and bending-back ~heir pointed ends.
A certain number of devices designed to
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perform these different operations are in existence at
the present time. Thus French patent No. 2,590,955
describes an apparatus for fixing on the end of a
conveyor belt a row of belt-fasteners provided with
clamping staples placed in a standby position. This
apparatus has an operating head mounted for sliding
motion along a plate which is intended to serve as a
support for the end of a conveyor belt and for the
row of fasteners to be fixed on this latter. Said
operating head is provided on each side of the row of
belt-fasteners with a punch for inserting the clamping
staples and a movable die for bending-back the pointed
ends of the staples and also with a ratchet mechanism
for producing step-by-step motion of the operating
head opposite to the different fasteners to be fixed
in position.
Said operating head is thus capable of -
attaching each fastener one after the other. It is
therefore necessary to displace said operating head
progressively over the entire width of the end portion
of a conveyor belt whilst the end portion itself remains
stationary on the guide plate which serves as a support
for this latter.
The operating head of this apparatus i5
subjected to high stresses during insertion of the
clamping staples and clinching of the staple ends. ~ ;
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The means for guiding said operating head must therefore
be capable of withstanding these stresses. This makes
it necessary to provide parts having high mechanical
strength and also calls for accurate machining of the
means for guiding the movable operating head. In
consequence, devices of this type entail relatively
high capital cost.
For the reasons just given, the aim of the
present invention is to provide an apparatus which is
capable of performing the same work but which is so
designed as to overcome the disadvantages set forth in
the foregoing.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The apparatus in accordance with the invention ;
is distinguished by the fact that its operating head
comprises a frame which can be installed at a fixed
point on any suitable support such as a bench, for
example, said frame being provided with a guide on which
is slidably mounted a movable bar which is intended to
serve as a support for the end portion of a conveyor
belt and for the row of fasteners to be fixed on said
end portion, said movable bar being provided with a
series of uniformly spaced openings for receiving the
heads of the clamping staples which are initially
located in a projecting position on one of the arms of
the fasteners whilst the operating head in a fixed
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position comprises means for immobilizing the movable
bar in each of its successive useful positions of
cooperation with said operating head for fixing the
different fasteners in position one after the other. -~
Thus in the case of the apparatus considered,
the operating head remains stationary, which offers a
number of advantages and especially that of permitting
the construction of the apparatus as a whole in a
simpler form and with parts of lower mechanical strength
than in the case of a movable operating head.
In a particular embodiment of the present
apparatus, the means for immobilizing the movable bar
in each of its useful positions consist of a dog which
is capable of engaging within one of the openings of
lS said movable bar under the action of a restoring spring,
a hand-operated lever being provided for momentarily
withdrawing said dog in order to permit displacement of
the movable bar from one work position to the next.
However, in another embodiment of the apparatus
in accordance with the invention, the stationary
operating head has a mechanism which is capable of
controlling the step-by-step forward displacement of the
movable bar from one of its useful work positions to the
next, said mechanism being actuated by a lever which can
be operated by hand.
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BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a general view in perspective of
the present apparatus.
FIG. 2 is a fragmentary top view to a
different scale.
FIG. 3 iS a transverse sectional view taken
along line III-III of FIG. 2.
FIGS. 4, 5 and 6 are diagrams illustrating
the mode of actuation of the rotary control cam provided
in the present apparatus.
FIG. 7 is a detail view in perspective
illustrating the means for immobilizing the movable bar.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
As already mentioned, the apparatus under
15 consideration is so designed as to carry out the ~,
different operations required for fixing a row of
fasteners 2 on the end of a conveyor belt 1 in order to
join this end to another end of said belt. The fasteners
to be fixed in position are of the type consisting of
U-shaped elements having two arms 2a and 2b joined
together by hinge-knuckles 3 which are intended to be
united by means of a pin with the hinge-knuckles of
another similar row of fasteners. One of the two arms
of said fasteners, namely their arm 2a in the case
considered, carries two clamping staples 4 of wire each
having the shape of an inverted U. These staples are
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then mounted in the standby position. In other words,
only their pointed ends are engaged within through-holes
5a provided in the fastener arm 2a considered. These
staples are therefore arranged so as to project
externally of the fasteners (as shown in FIG. 3).
As to the opposite arm 2b of these latter, it is
accordingly provided with an "opened-out~' shape Ol, in
other words, is placed in a position which is outwardly
divergent from the normal position in which it is
subsequently located in parallel relation to the other
arm.
The present apparatus has a stationary
operating head which is designated by the general
reference 5 and is constituted by a frame having two
vertical cheeks 6 which are integral with a base 7.
Said base is intended to be fixed by any suitable means
such as bolts, for example, on a support such as a bench
8 or the like.
A longitudinal guide is provided at one end of
said operating head 5. A rule 9 is slidably mounted in
said guide and adapted to carry a flat bar 10 which is
intended to serve as a support for the end portion 1 of
a conveyor belt. Said guide is constituted by two jaws
11 placed on each side of a bar 12 which serves as a
support for the rule 9.
The movable bar 10 and said rule 9 are
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provided with a series of uniformly spaced openings 13
which are intended to receive staples 4, said staples
being placed in a standby position on the fasteners 2
carried by the end portion 1 of the conveyor belt. In
fact, this end portion is intended to be placed in the
position shown in FIG. 4 in which the standby staples 4
are directed downwards whereas the opened-out arm 2b of
each fastener is placed at the top. The engagement of
the different staples 4 within the openings 13 thereby
ensures accurate positioning of the row of fasteners 2
and of the end portion 1 of the conveyor belt on the
movable bar 10.
On each side of the position of the row of
fasteners 2, the operating head 5 has two groups of ~
15 tools which are intended to act on said fasteners and . :~.
on their clamping staples 4, namely as follows :
- on the one hand, above the row of fasteners 2, a
movable die 15 attached to one end of a lever 16
pivotally mounted on a shaft 17 carried by the
frame 6,
- on the other hand, beneath the row of fasteners, two
punches 18 and 19 mounted so as:to be capable of -
~ moving in the vertical direction within guide wells 22
¦ provided within the supporting bar 12, said punches
being coupled to two separate and distinct control .~:
levers 20 and 21 pivotally mounted on two shafts 23 ~ .
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carried by the frame.
The opposite ends 25 and 26 of these two
levers are placed in contact with a cam 24 carried by a
rotary shaft 32 which can be actuated by hand by means
of a handle 33 forming a control lever. That end 27 of
the top lever 16 which is opposite to the die 15 is
placed in contact with said rotary cam 24 which will be
described in detail hereinafter. To this end, the two
groups of levers 16, 20 and 21 can be coupled together
by means of restoring springs 28 attached to pins 28a.
Preferably, the operating head 5 is designed
to act on the clamping staples 4 of two adjacent
fasteners 2 at two different stages of attachment of
said staples, as is also the case in the apparatus
described in French patent No. 2,590,955 cited earlier.
It is for this reason that provision is made
for two separate and distinct punches 18 and 19 beneath
the row of fasteners 2. The first punch 18 is intended
to insert the two clamping staples 4 of a fastener 2
whilst the second punch 19 is intended to serve as an
anvil for supporting the two staples 4 of the preceding
fastener 2 at the time of final clinching of the staple
ends which have previously been subjected to initial
bending-back at the time of initial insertion of the
corresponding staples. In regard to the die 15, this
latter is provided with two separate groups of grooves
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placed opposite to the points of the staples of two
adjacent fasteners 2. The grooves of the first group
are inclined so as to produce initial bending-back of
the corresponding staple ends to an angle of 45, for
example. In regard to the grooves of the second group,
they are of small depth in order to carry out final
clinching of the ends of the staples of the preceding
fastener 2.
1The operating head 5 is also provided with
!i10 means for immobilizing the movable bar 10 in each of
its successive useful positions of cooperation with
said head, namely in each position in which this latter
!is capable of carrying out on the one hand the insertion
of the clamping staples 4 in a predetermined fastener 2
and the final clinching of the staple ends 4 on the
preceding fastener 2.
In the example illustrated in FIG. 7, these
immobilization means consist of a dog 29 engaged within
one of the openings 13 of the movable bar 10 under the
. 20 action of a restoring spring 30. However, a pull rod ::
31 permits momentary withdrawal of said dog so as to
displace the bar 10 in one of its work positions, this
being carried out by hand operation.
The rotary cam 24 has three distinct control .
stages 24a, 24b and 24c having different profiles which ~; :
are intended to produce action on the three levers 16, ~-
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20 and 21 from the rest position shown in FIGS. 3 and 4.
By virtue of these different control stages, it is only
necessary for the operator to actuate the handle 33
which serves as a single control lever so as to displace
this latter in pivotal motion in the direction of the
arrow F in order to obtain the different operations
required for fixing two adjacent fasteners 2, namely as
follows :
1 - Closinq of a fastener :
Initial rotation of the cam 24 ensures pivotal
displacement of the lever 16 in the direction of the
arrow Fl up to the position shown in FIG. 5. In this
position, the die 15 is pressed against the upper arm 2b
of the corresponding fastener which is thus closed in a
flat position on the end portion 1 of the conveyor belt.
2 - Simultaneous clinching o.f the pointed ends
of the staples of the preceding fastener :
The downward movement of the die 15 also has
the effect of clinching the ends of the staples 4 of the
preceding fastener which had already been partially
bent-back to 45. This clinching operation is made ~:
possible by the fact that the second punch 19 which is :~
intended to serve as an anvil is also brought in the -
raised position into the corresponding opening 13 of the
movable bar 10 by pivotal displacement of the correspond-
ing control lever 21 to the position 21a (FIG. 5) under
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the action of the respective stage 24c of the rotary cam
24.
3 - Insertion of the staples in the fastener
which has just been closed :
Continued rotation of the rotary cam 24
produces a pivotal displacement of the lever 20 in the
direction of the arrow F2. Now this pivotal displacement
has the effect of lifting the first punch 18, thus
producing insertion of the two clamping staples 4 of the :
opposite fastener 2. These two staples are therefore
inserted through the end portion 1 of the conveyor belt ~:
and their pointed ends are engaged in the holes provided
in the upper arm 2b of the corresponding fastener 2.
4 - Partial bending-back of the staple ends :
Continued rotation of the rotary cam 24 up to
the position shown in FIG. 6 has the effect of lifting
the first punch 18 to an even greater extent. Under ; ~ .
these conditions, the pointed ends of the corresponding ~ ::
staples 4 are engaged in those grooves of the die 15
20 which are located opposite, namely the sloping grooves . ~
which produce partial bending-back of said pointed ends : -~;
at 45. :~
5 - Return of the operating head to the
standby position and displacement of the movable bar 10 :
As soon as the last operation mentioned above ::
has been completed, the operator can swing the handle 33
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downwards to its initial position so as to cause lifting
of the die 15 and downward displacement of the two
punches 18 and 19 to the respective positions shown in
FIG. 3. The movable bar 10 can then be displaced in a
5 single step so as to bring it to the following work
position in which the staple ends which have been
partially bent-back will be finally clinched whilst
the following fastener will be subjected to the same
initial work stage already carried out on the fastener
10 considered.
However, instead of manual step-by-step
forward displacement of the movable bar lO by the
operator, it is possible to provide a mechanism which
is capable of controlling this forward displacement.
15 This mechanism can include a thrust dog which comes
into action successively within each opening 13 of the
movable bar lO, said dog being in turn controlled by a
hand lever.
As has already been mentioned, the main v
20 advantage of the apparatus in accordance with the
invention lies in the fact that its operating head is
stationary. In consequence, the stresses sustained by
said operating head at the time of use can be withstood ~ -
with greater ease without entailing the need to provide
25 high mechanical resistance of the parts of the apparatus
as a whole. Moreover, this dispenses with the need to
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provide this operating head with guiding means having
very high precision and very high strength. It should
be observed in this connection that the means for
guiding the movable bar are clearly much more simple ~ :
than those which are necessary in the case of a movable
operating head as contemplated in French patent
No. 2,590,955 mentioned earlier.
The apparatus in accordance with the invention,
which is intended to be installed at a fixed point on a .
10 bench or other suitable support is more particularly :-~
intended to be used for operations which consist in
coupling belts or bands of relatively limited width.
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