Note : Les descriptions sont présentées dans la langue officielle dans laquelle elles ont été soumises.
1088300
This invention relates to a method and apparatus for the
treatment, especially drying, of cup-shaped articles that have been coated or
printed with a heat-sensitive material, especially thin-walled articles of
thermoplastic synthetic material, by passing the articles on a suitable trans-
port arrangement past heat treatment devices. The transport arrangement may
preferably comprise an endless belt system arranged essentially vertically in
a closed tunnel system containing the heat treatment devices and associated
suction means holding the articles on the belt or belts and for the evacuation
of media, for example, vapors, gases, or the like, used and/or developed in
the treatment of the articles. Apparatus of this type are disclosed in
German Offenlegungsschrift No. 23 35 910 published January 30, 1975, and in
German Offenlegungsschrift No. 24 27 448 published December 12, 1975.
It is proposed in said DT-OS 23 35 910 and DT-OS 24 27 448 to
discharge the articles from a treatment machine, for example a printing
machine, directly bottoms down onto continuously running endless belt means
of the treatment apparatus, using compressed air or other means. However, it
can not be assured in this manner that the articles attached to the endless
belt means at equal distances and in desired lateral arrangement, or are
adequately held on the endless belt means. Rather, with this type of loading,
the articles may either not be held adequately on the endless belt means and
thus drop away, or they are held on the endless belt in an oblique, unsuitable
position.
The present invention relates to the substantial development
and improvement of such apparatus with respect to the rapid, secure and ac-
curate oriented transfer and attach~ent of the articles to endless belt or
belts and the secure holding of the articles in position while being trans-
ported past the heat treatment devices. The term heat treatment as used here-
in includes radiation in the infrared and ultraviolet regions. For this pur-
pose, several problems for attaining the desired, accurate and secure attach-
ment of the articles on the continuously running and vertically arranged end-
less belt means had to be solved.
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88300
One aspect of the invention provides apparatus ~or treating
cup-shaped articles comprising a treatment device having an inlet and outlet
and containing moving article transporting apertured belt means and associated
suction means disposed for acting through said belt means for holding said
articles in inverted position on said belt means to transport said articles
in a predetermined direction bitween said inlet and an outlet of said treat-
ment device and means for treating the moving articles, in combination with
means for feeding a succession of articles into said treatment device at said
inlet in such predetermined orientation that said articles are transferred to
said belt means while moving laterally at substantially the same speed and in
the same direction of movement as said belt means and enter said treatment
device with their open ends facing said belt means.
Another aspect of the invention provides a method of drying
generally cup-shaped articles which have had their external surfaces freshly
printed or coated with a heat sensitive material which comprises the steps of
placing a succession of said articles in longitudinally spaced relation along
apertured endless belt means that transports the articles through a heat
treatment tunnel having air admission openings, with said articles being in-
verted so that their open ends extend over at least some of the apertured
region of the belt means in contact with said belt means but leaving some of
said ape~tured regio~ uncovered, and exerting suction through said apertured
belt means to hold the articles on the belt means and at the same time drawing
air through said openings into the tunnel and directing it along the article
surfaces being heat treated before exhausting it through said belt means.
In one embodiment, the apparatus is for drying articles having
had a previous surface treatment such as printing, in which such articles are
transferred by a feeding device to a vertically running transporting means
such as endless belt means, transfer being such that the articles being fed -
approach the transporting means of the drier in a movement substantially co-
directional with the movement of that transporting means. Thereby shock or
abrupt movement is avoided when the articles are taken over by the transport-
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108l330
ing means of the drier. Preferably the transporting means includes endlesstransporting belt means, and the invention ~urther provides a secure and
efficient related speed transfer and attachment of the articles to be dried
onto continuously moving endless belt means.
me a~ticles to be dried may be taken over by the endless
belt or other transporting means of the drying device in an optimum con-
dition for drying.
A novel feeding device is also provided wherein a succession
of articles having been pretreated as by printing are transferred in pre-
determined orientation to enter the lower end of a vertically moving endless
belt means or like transport for carrying the articles through a treatment
tunnel.
A particular embodiment of the invention provides a noveldrying apparatus for thin-walled articles having a bottom part and a circum-
ferential wall part ending at a circumferentially open top rim, for example
thin-walled cups or the like, such articles having been treated as by print- -
ing on the outer surface of the circumferential wall, wherein the articles
are transferred in inverted condition onto transporting means of the drier, -
such as one or more endless belts, so that the open rim of each article is ~ -
held in contact with the said transporting means.
A further important embodiment of the invention conbines a
novel feeding device with the transport of the drier device, for the effic-
ient rapld feeding in of the articles with accurately oriented movement in
the article
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carrying direction of the endless belt. In this manner, a considerably greater
amount of treatment time than was hitherto available is provided for the arti- -
cles on the endless belt means, whereby the operating speed of the endless
belt means and the drier can be increased in comparison with earlier apparatus.
Moreover, it is assured that each article is brought into accurately prede-
termined lateral position on the endless belt means and into secure connection
with the endless belt means, and particularly into secure cooperation with
suction holding devices of the endless belt means.
In a preferred embodiment, the novel feeding device is essentially
configured as a channel which guides the articles being fed to the drying de-
vice essentially into movement in the direction of motion of the endless belt,
the articles being preferably pneumatically transported and positioned in the
lateral direction. In this channel, the feeding motion of the articles is
stabilized and they are deflected to move out of the channel approximately
parallel to the direction of motion of the endless belt means. The width of
the channel is preferably adjustable to suit the height of the articles. By
such adjustment of the channel width to provide only little clearance with
respect to the height of the moving articles, the articles are forced to main-
tain the desired accurate orientation and lateral position through the channel,
so that jamming of the articles, as well as contact between the channel and
the printed and stiil moist outer surfaces of the cup or beaker, is avoided.
The foregoing novel features are provided as specific objects of the invention.
When the feeding device follows a pretreatment apparatus, for example
a printing machine, from which the articles are ejected axially from a carrier,
it is an object of the invention to arrange resiliently urged impact and
buffer piate at the inlet of the feeding device for controllably intercepting
the articles. In this manner, the relatively rapid motion of the articles
entering into the feeding device is effectively intercepted and buffered, so
that the articles can be fed to and into the drier in stabilized motion.
The endless belt means of the drying device in accordance with the
1~38830
preferred embodiment of the invention is arranged vertically with respect to
the outlet of the feeding device, and so that channel of the feeding device is
preferably arranged to extend in an arc from an upwardly facing inlet into
which the articles fall downwardly and then upwardly toward the bottom inlet
of the drying device, In this manner, free fall of the articles can be uti-
lized for introduction into the feeding device.
It is within the scope of the invention, to provide a resiliently
urged braking and pressure plate for the articles at the end of the channel
which is located at the feeding point or inlet to the drying device. At this
inlet the articles are pressed against the endless belt means by suction hold-
ing and association with this plate so that they attain a secure engagement
and position on the endless belt means.
In another embodiment of the invention, the feeding device can be a
transfer device which holds the articles by suction on a carrier element and
feeds them through an arcuate path to the endless belt. In this embodiment,
the carrier element can be a porous endless belt which runs over a suction -
chamber. This porous endless belt may hold the articles temporarily by suction,
and then release them when they are taken over by the endless belt means of
the drying device.
For the treatment of containers which are open at the top for example
cups or beakers, it is an object of the invention to relate the holding de-
vices of the endless belt and feeding devices for feeding the containers to
the endless belt means of the drier in such a manner that the containers are
applied and held on the belt means with their openings contacting the belt or
belts. By such inverted mounting of the containers on the endless belt, a
particularly secure seating of these containers on the endless belt means is
assured. The negative pressure of the suction means occupies the interior of
the articles, which are thereby held with the opening edges pressed against
the belt means. Even wllen the action of this suction may be interrupted for
a short time, the container may still continue to be held to the endless belt
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10883()
means by residual suction.
The invention offers special advantages in apparatus in which the
articles which are to be treated are fed past treatment devices, for example
radiation heating elements, at a desired accurate distance. Because the feed-
ing device in accordance with the invention, as explained above, is especially
suitable for the positioning of the articles in an exact location and with spe-
cial security on the endless belt means, it suffices, for the precision and
security of the desired treatment of the articles, if the treatment devices,
for example radiation heating elements, are arranged along at least one side
wall of the tunnel. With the use of radiation heating elements as the treat-
ment devices, a further improvement in equalization of treatment can be
attained by configuring as reflectors those portions of the tunnel side walls
and cover which are not occupied by radiation heating elements. To increase
the operating safety, especially since no special alignment and safety mea-
sures are required during the feeding of the articles on the endless belt, it
is recommended to configure one of the side walls of the tunnel with a side
hinge in order to provide free access to the inside of the tunnel at any time.
These features may be regarded as further specific objects of the invention.
Purther objects of the invention will appear in connection with the
appended claims and the annexed drawings.
Pigure 1 is a schematic side view showing a drying apparatus in
accord with one embodiment of the invention, with one side wall removed;
Pigure 2 is an enlarged section substantially on line II-II of
Figure l;
Figure 3 is a somewhat schematic front view showing the feeding
device for the articles which are to be dried into the drying apparatus;
Figure 4 shows the feeding device of Figure 3, with parts broken
away and in longitudinal section along the feeding channel;
Figure 5 is an enlarged section substantially on line V-V of Figure
3:
1~883(~
Figure 6 is a plan view of the feeding device of Figure 3;
Figure 7 is an enlarged fragmentary view in section showing the
inlet of the feeding channel of Figure 6;
Figure 8 is a section substantially on line VIII-VIII of Figure 6;
Figure 9 is a partial side view of the outlet side of the feeding
channel of Figure 3;
Figure lO is a schematic side view showing a further embodiment of
the drying apparatus of the invention, with a side wall removed and the feed-
ing device omitted;
F~r~ 5 ~ e~ a~ge~ pa~ia~ ~ ew sect~ ~n s~o~lng t'ne a~tic~e5
i~ ~asitfan ~n the ~elt means of ~igule 1~; and
~ i~ure ~2 is a~ e~a~pe~ pa~tia ~iew in section shcwi~g t~e tleat-
ment lamp in the dryer of Pigure 10.
The drying device 1 shown in Figure l is arranged between a print-
ing machine 2 ~Figure 3) and a removal device 3. An endless belt 4 runs on
the side of the drying device 1 nearest to machine 2 from a pick-up point or
inlet vertically upwards to an arcuate dome 5 where it turns through 180
and runs from dome 5 vertically down to the delivery point or outlet at de-
vice 3. As shown the pick-up point and the deliver point lie at about the
same height at the lower end of the drying device 1. Below the pick-up and
delivery points, belt 4 is guided over a deflecting roller and drive roller 6.
Equally well two coaxial deflecting rollers with a central slot
left open axially between them could be arranged at the top deflection point
of the continuous belt 4 in place of the dome 5.
The belt 4 runs in the drying apparatus 1 inside parallel tunnels.
Each of these tunnels is formed from two hinged, angle-profiled side walls 7
which overlap in the roof area and inside which the belt 4 runs, so that at
each side an open ended enclosed re~tical tunnel is formed with the delivery
belt 4 and belt support bed 9. Interiorly of the bed 9 a suction chamber 9a .
is formed with solid side walls~ to which an evacuation tube 8 is connected
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108~3~3
through one of the side walls. The evacuation tube 8 leads to devices (not
shown) for evacuating and rendering harmless the vapours arising from or re-
leased during the drying process.
As can be seen from Figure 2, the bed 9 is formed with a through
slot lO while in the central region of the belt 4 there is a row of holes 11
running over slot 10. The diameter of holes ll is considerably less than that
of the article 12 which is placed on belt 4. In addition, the distance be-
tween the holes 11 is established so that at least two holes 11 open into the
belt surface occupied by the article. In this way the slot 10 and the holes
11 form a suitable holding device for the articles and at the same time the
holes between spaced articles provide a completely effective suction device
for the vapours arising or being released in the tunnel, and for the treat-
ment medium introduced into the tunnel, which is dry air in this embodiment.
As shown in Figure 1, articles 12, which are cup-shaped or beaker-
shaped in this example, are placed on belt 4 with their open ends down, so
that positive suction exerted through holes 11 holds them on the continuous
belt, even in the region of the arc-shaped path of the belt 4 over dome 5.
The drying of the articles is carried out here by the combined effect of in-
frared radiators 15 arranged on the inner side of the side walls 7 and the
air drawn in through slots 16 located in the angle areas of the side walls and
the tunnel ends and evacuated through holes 11, the slot 10, the evacuation
chamber 9a and suction tube 8.
Picking up of the articles and feeding them to the drying device is
preferably carried out by means of the feeding device 31 shown in Figures 3
to 9 in detail, although equivalent devices which make possible the placing
of the articles on the continuous belt 4 with their open end down may also be
considered. The removal device 3 connected to the take-off point of the dry-
ing device is pneumatic and may be of a known type. It may be constructed to
remove the treated articles at the take-off point by suction.
The suction chamber 9a is formed with substantially solid side walls ~
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and belt bed 9 is closed at the bottom by a sealing wall 13. This sealing
wall 13 extends up to below the drier pick-up point but on the other hand
lies above the drier discharge point. Slot 10 extends from the pick-up point
all the way around the bed to termina$e just above the discharge point. Thus,
the slot lO in the belt bed 9 and the holes ll in the belt 4 are effective at
the pick-up point as holding devices for the articles 12, but not at the de-
livery point. If desired, a compressed air nozzle can be arranged at the de-
livery point behind the belt 4 which, as shown by the arrow 19, is effective
through the belt 4 by way of the holes 11 for blowing the articles off the
belt onto the device 3.
Operation of the foregoing drying apparatus is as follows:
When the exhaust system is connected, evacuation tube 8 is energiz-
ed, and a partial vacuum forms in chamber 9a. This causes gaseous treatment
medium, which is air in this embodiment, to be continuously suck~d in from
A slots 16 and the tunnel through the slot 10 in the belt bed 9~the holes 11
in the delivery belt 4. If an article 12 is now placed on belt 4 by the pick-
up device, it is immediately held fast thereon by suction acting through slot
10 and holes 11. The forward speed of belt 4 driven by drive roller 6 is
variable and adjusted to the time sequence of the arriving articles, so that
continuous loading of belt 4 may be guaranteed, and between the individual
articles 12 there are still sufficient holes 11 left free in the belt to
maintain a continuous flow of air through the two tunnels.
Within the two tunnels the moving articles 12 on the belt are thus
subjected to the combined effect of infrared radiation and the enveloping
passage of air. As the air enters not only through the slots 16, but is
also sucked in through the open tunnel ends, there is advantageously a tur-
bulent type of air movement inside the tunnel. However, with the articles
12 firmly held down by suction with their open ends on belt 4, there is no
danger of the articles 12 being lifted or thrown from their places on
belt 4.
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1~88300
Due to the flow and turbulence of air in the tunnels, the heat pTO-
duced on those surface areas of the articles 12 nearest to the infrared radi-
ators 15 is effectively distributed by the air over the whole surface of the
articles 12 to be dried. Thus, on the one hand, an effective, rapid drying of
the entire surface of each article is achieved, and on the other hand there
is no danger of local over-heating of those surfaces. In order to prevent the
tunnel walls from being locally heated by the infrared radiation and thus
causing heating effects on the articles which cannot be calculated or control-
led, it is desirable that, where they are not covered by infrared radiators
15, the inner tunnel wall surfaces should be constructed to reflect heat.
This provides for more uniform heat distribution. In addition, the constant
flow of air in the tunnel will also prevent localized heating of the tunnel
walls.
The feeding device 31 indicated in Figure 1 and shown in Figures 3
to 9 is basically constructed as a channel 32 which leads from below to the
pick-up point of the drying apparatus 1, and in which the articles 12 are
transported pneumatically, Iying in a crosswise direction and moving parallel
to their length axes. As can be seen from Figures 3 and 4, this channel is
formed mainly as an arc, so that the articles 12 are introduced from above on
the inlet side into this channel, directed along a semi-circular path and -
brought up to the belt 4 from below, i.e. along the vertical travel path
show~ approximately by the arrow 4c in Figures 3 and 4. The outlet of channel
32 is in alignment with belt 4 as will appear.
The channel 32 has a rear wall 33, a front wall 34, a dividing or
intermediate wall 35 parallel to the front and rear walls, an arcuate top wall
3~ and an arcuate base 37. The dividing wall 35 is formed essentially in an
arc, as are rear wall 33 and front wall 34. Front wall 34 and rear wall 33
are firmly secured to base 37 and top wall 36. ~n the other hand, dividing
wall 35 is adjustable in the direction of the double arrow 38 of Figure 8
sliding parallel to rear wall 33 between ~ase 37 and top wall 36. For this
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purpose (Figure 8), on its side furthest from the operati~e channel 32 which
is the space between the rear and dividing walls, dividing wall 35 bears a
number of screw spindles 39 which are mounted rotatably at 40 on the dividing
wall, but are axially immovable. Cn the outside of front wall 34, a nut 41
for each of these adjusting spindles 39 is fixed, so that by turning spindles
39 in one direction dividing wall 35 is brought nearer to the rear wall 33
and by turning the spindles on the other direction wall 35 is brought nearer to
front wall 34. All the adjustment spindles 39 ha~e the same thread. Each
spindle 39 bears on its outer end a chain-wheel 42. As can be seen from
Figure 3, over all the chain-wheels 42 of the adjustment spindles 39 a drive
chain 43 is fitted and tensioned by means of tensioning device 44. Drive
chain wheel 45, on the axle 46 of which a manual adjustment wheel 47 is fitted,
also meshes into drive chain 43. By turning this manual adjustment wheel 47
all the adjustment spindles 39 are thus turned in the same direction and by the
same amount so that the parallel position of the dividing wall 35 in relation
to the rear wall 33 is guaranteed at every adjusted location. For the
pneumatic oriented feeding of articles 12 along the channel, dividing wall 35
is adjusted to approximately the height of the article so that there is little
play remaining and tipping of the articles 12 inside the channel 32 is preven-
ted.
At the entry point of the feeding device the article is axially
displaced from carrier 14 and falls downward in free fall. The article enters
channel 32 in free fall with its axis horizontal. Then the article 12 passes
by a blowing nozzle 48 ~Figures 4 and 5) which is arranged in rear wall 33 and
points across and down into channel 32. The stream of air 49 emerging from
nozzle 48 is directed, as shown in Figure 4, more or less tangential to the
delivery path of the articles and goes out through an opening S0 in base 37
smaller than an article. By the effect of this tangentially directed flow of
air 49 the article initially free-falling, is guided positively along base 37,
oriented as shown in Figure 8, and the downward mo~ement of the article is
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1~883VO
increased to such an extent that the centrifugal force effective on the
article guides it over the remaining path through the arched channel 32.
Purther along the path of channel 32 blowing nozzles 51 (Figure 4) are arrang-
ed, which blow into the interior of channel 32 through openings in base 37
streams of air 52 which are pointed more or less in the direction of the
circumference, thus along the base 37. These blowing nozzles 51 are connected
to a common compressed air inlet 53, and together with blowing nozzle 48 to a
control device and air compression source (not shown).
At the entry to channel 32 of the feeding device there is a resil-
iently urged impact and buffer plate 54 which serves to intercept the articles
from carrier 14, for example beakers, which are normally forced by the speed
of fall past the rear wall 33 of the channel, and to damp out the movement of
the articles 12 so that the articles enter channel 32 already stabilized. --
As can be seen from Figures 3 and 9, the feeding device 31 is ad-
justed to fit tightly over belt 4 with a preferably suitably sloping end in-
clined relative to its base 37. For obtaining this fit adjustment member 55
is provided, fitted for exa~ple with adjusting screw spindles 56. For the
secure feeding of each individual article 12 on to the endless belt 4, a
rèsiliently urged iDclined pressure and braking plate 57 is attached on the
end of the dividing wall 35. This plate 57 presses the articles 12, arriving
at high velocity in channel 32, against the endless belt 4 and thereby brakes
each article 12 which is brought into contact with endless belt 4, to the
speed of belt 4. For this purpose the resiliently urged pressure and braking
plate 57 presses against the bottom of each article 12 emerging from channel
32 with a predetermined or adjustable pressure.
As can be seen from Figures 3 and 4, the feeding device 31 is
especially suitable for ensuring the picking up of articles forced away by
compressed air axially from a caTrier projection, for example from the molding
projection 14 of a printing machine 2 and for guiding them at regular inter-
vals into the drying apparatus 1. In this way, damage to the article surface
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1~8300
which has been treated, for example by printing, can be positively avoided.
At the outlet of feeding device 31, in addition, appropriate adaptation of the
transportation speed of the articles to the running speed of the endless bel~
4 of the drying apparatus 1 reduces the risk of dama~e to the treated surface
of the article.
In the embodiment of the drying apparatus shown in Figures 10 to 12
there are two parallel endless belts 4a a~d 4b situated adjacent to each
other with a slot-shaped gap 20 between them and running vertically upwards
through the tunnel at the side of the article pick-up point. At the dome 5
round which the two continuous belts 4a and 4b turn through 180, the tunnel
is constructed in the form of an arch and runs continuously to the tunnel
which continues to the delivery point.
The speeds of the two endless belts 4a and 4b are individually con-
trolled. The slot-shaped gap provided between the two belts 4a and 4b serves
also as the evacuation slot 20 for the downward suction onto the two belts
of the open ends of the inverted articles 21, which are for example in the
shape of beakers, by vacuum from the evacuation chamber 9a.
One drive roller as for belt 4a is indicated in Figure 10. The
other drive roller, separately powered for driving belt 4b is coaxial.
The endless belts 4a and 4b are equipped with drives which may be
controlled independently of each other, and may thus be independent of each
other in the control of the forward movement imparted to the articles. By
setting up different drive speeds for the belts 4a and 4b, the beaker-shaped
articles 21 are each advanced along the belts with a simultaneous rotating
and forward movement. Belt 4a, for example, may run backwards, but never
faster than belt 4b. Thîs ensures that the articles 21 are always pressed
during the rotating and transporting movement against a fixed skirting board
or guide rail 22.
~s can be seen from Figure 10, two ultraviolet lamps 23, 24 are
arranged opposite to one another on the side containing the pick-up point of
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the feedin~ device. Lamps 23, 24 extend the vertical height of an article 12
and are fixed diagonally displaced from one another. In this way, instead of
the only limited effective beam-width of the ultraviolet lamp, the total
height of the article is treated during the drying process. The oblique
location required for the ultraviolet lamps can be determined from the maxi-
mum height of the articles 21. By using different speeds and sometimes also
different movement directions of the two belts 4a and 4b individually tuned
to each other, it is possible to establish a selected number of rotations of
each article along the extent of lamps 23, 24 for example over a distance of
one meter
As soon as an article 21 is set up on the drier belts 4a and 4b,
for example by means of feeding device 31 as in Figures 3 to 9 or a similar
device, a firm holding suction occurs of this article at the evacuation slit
20. Immediately after being set down, the article 21 is also set in rotation
by the different running speeds of the two drier belts 4a and 4b. During
rotary movement the article 21, as Figure 11 and 12 show, presses against the
guide rail 22, so that the articles substantially roll along in contact with
the guide rail 22 and are maintained at a constant distance from the heat
lamps 23, 24. The lamps 23 and 24, between which the articles 21 are guided,
may on one hand be adjusted to be substantially parallel to the inclination
of the adjacent sides of the articles (see Figure 12) and on the other hand
set up obliquely in the lengthwise direction. The oblique positioning can be
directly conformed to the maximum height of the actual article 21 and in
addition it allows the full use of the limited effective beam width of the
lamps 23 and 24.
The speed of passing through or the number of re~olutions of the
articles in the drier is usually determined by the surface sensitivity of the
material By controlling independently the speeds for the two belts 4a and
4b, a selected relationship between them is possible. For example, if the
belt 4b runs forward through the tunnel only very slowly with a simultaneously
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108830
increased number of rotations (see Figure 11, arrow "B" denotes travel direc-
tion of the bea~ers, and arrow "C" denotes rotation of the beakers).
An increased forward movement of each article with a reduced number
of rotations can be achieved if the belt 4b is moved forwards with the speed ~ -
"X" (therefore in the direction of the arrow "B") and the belt 4a much more
slowly, for example at half speed, moved backwards. The forward movement of
the articles 21 can be still further increased and the number of rotations
still more reduced if, for example, the belt 4b is run at speed "X" and the
belt 4a is left stationary. A still further increase in the forward movement
of the beakers can be reached if the belt 4b runs forwardly at speed "X" and
the belt 4a is run forwards, for example, at approximately half-speed. Here,
not only is the forward movement further increased, but also the number of
rotations of the articles 21 is still further reduced. This adjustment can
be varied until a very rapid forward movement of the articles 21 with only
very slight rotating movement is achieved, for example, when belt 4b is run
at speed "X" and belt 4a is run only slightly more slowly than belt 4b, also
in a forward direction.
In the embodiment shown in Figures 10 to 12 the drying apparatus is
equipped only on its pick-up side wi~h ultraviolet lamps 23 and 24 which cross
with their oblique arrangement on either side of the articles 21 to be treated.
However, there are also other arrangements of such lamps which are equally
possible. For example, there could also be ultraviolet lamps or infrared
radiators arranged at the outlet side of the drying device 1. It would also
be possible to provide the lamps only on one side of the article path. It is
also conceivable that several ultraviolet lamps or pairs of ultraviol0t lamps
could be arranged behind one another along the path of the article through
the tunnel.
Finally, in the embodiment shown in Figures 10 to 12, again a
somewhat different device for taking off and delivering the dried articles
is provided. After the end of the drying process, the beaker-shaped articles
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1~8830
21 held by suction on the delivery belts 4a and 4b are carried on downwards
over a relatively short distance in the open air until they are relased just
above a transportation belt 17 by the cessation of the suction effect at the
slit between the continuous belts 4a and 4b due to the fact that the tunnel
ends just above that point as shown in Figure 10. In order to ensure the ar-
rival of the treated beaker-shaped articles on the delivery belt 17, one or
more compressed air nozzles can be arranged in the location 19 shown in the
smbodiment of Figure 1, at the delivery point behind the slit between the
continuous belts ~a and 4b. The beaker-shaped articles 21 taken off by the
transportation belt 17 are carried together to a stack 18 and piled up until
the desired number of articles for each stack 18 is reached. The completed
stack 18 may then be taken on for further processing.
In both embodiments, the upward pointing part and the downward
pointing part of the drying device are essentially the same, and the article
pick-up point and discharge point are arranged at substantially the same
height. However, this is not essential to the invention. On the contrary,
the drying apparatus also offers the possibility of accommodating differences
in height between the outlet of a previous treatment appliance, for example,
a pressing or molding machine 2, and a device connected later, for example a
sorting and pacXing device. It would also be conceivable to install the
pressing machine on one floor and the packing device, and therefore the de-
livery device 3, on another, i.e. lower or higher floor of a building. If
such a difference in height is sufficient for the length of the treatment
section, the articles 12 or 21 can be removed before reaching the turning
point of the continuous belt 4 or the continuous belts 4a and 4b.
Within the framework of the invention differently constructed
types of devices for the transfer of the articles from a treatment machine,
for example, a pressing machine, to the dIying apparatus 1 can also be in-
stalled instead of the feeding device shown in Figures 3 to 9. For instance,
such a feeding device can itself contain a driven article carrying element,
.
~C~8~3300 -
for example a porous continuous belt which runs over an evacuation chamber
and onto which the articles are held by suction. This carrying element can
then travel over a semi-circular path to the continuous belt 4 or the contin-
uous belts 4a and 4b of the drying device, in the manner of channel 32.
Preferably, in this case the carrying element of the pic~-up device
will travel àt a distance corresponding to the height of the articles parallel
to and in the same direction as the continuous belt 4 or 4a, 4b of the drying
device, so that on transference to the continuous belt 4 or 4a, 4b of the dry-
ing device 1 the articles to be dried are already moving in the desired direc-
lOtion of travel and at approximately the desired travelling speed.
The invention may be embodied in other specific forms without de-
parting from the spirit or essential characteristics thereof. The present
embodiments are therefore to be considered in all respects as illustrative
and not restrictive, the scope of the invention being indicated by the append-
ed claims rather than by the foregoing description, and all changes which
come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are therefore
intcndcd to bc c=braced therein,
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