Note : Les descriptions sont présentées dans la langue officielle dans laquelle elles ont été soumises.
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Field of the Invention
This inv~ntion relates to conveying apparatus and
in particular a device which may be used to shift a conveyed
container from a first conveyor onto a second conveyor.
Background of the Invention
In many instances of bottle handling, there is a need
to shift containers from one conveyor onto another. Such
a situation may arise in the liquor bottling industry.
Many high speed automatic labelling machines are faster in
operation than subsequent machines in the same production line
or a conveyed row of containers needs to be split up and
slowed down to facilitate visual inspection. It is, therefore,
common to divide a single conveyed row of containers into two
slower moving rows and, in the instance where subsequent
machine steps are involved, to use two slower machines to
handle the same number of containers per hour as the upstream
faster processing machine. Other typical examples are
bottling lines involving case packers as the final machine
in the process. In some instances, for smooth operation to
eliminate bottle rough handling and breakage, two case packers
are provided to handle the flow of product from an upstream
single row. At some time after labelling of the bottles,
the flow must be separated from one line into two lines.
Ideally, this should be done at the labeller where the regis-
tered spaced-apart positions of bottles on the conveyor
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is known.
An approach, for forming two rows of conveyed containers
from a single row, is to provide two additional conveyors
overlapping and on each side of the main conveyor. A
paddle arrangement is located near the end of the bottle
conveyor and is operated to deflect each container laterally
onto a respective additional conveyor. This arrangement is
satisfactory for slow speed operation; however, at higher
speeds, the paddle arrangement can break the conveyed
containers.
British patent 421,228 discloses a mechanized device
for laterally shifting a container from one conveyor onto
another. However, the device is not capable of shifting
continuously conveyed containers and is, therefore, unsuitable
for high speed operations. The device is stationary relative
to conveyor travel as its Eam crosses the conveyor to push
a container directly onto a side conveyor.
Another approach to shifting a known size of container
onto another conveyor and then either leaving containers to
remain on the main conveyor, or have those remaining con-
tainers shifted onto anOther conveyor, is shown in Figure 1
of the drawings and identified as prior art. That device,
as will be described in detail, effects a shifting of con-
tainers by using reciprocal plunger pads which are synchro-
nized with the movement of the conveyed containers and are
extended outwardly to contact a container and shift it onto
the laterally overlapping second conveyor. Providing that
the same size container is always used on this conveying
system and that the shifting apparatus is set up for that
container, the system works relatively well. However, should
a smaller size container be used, the plunger pads, as they
move into alignment with the conveyed containers, are spaced
significantly apart from the container, so that as a result,
the plunger has an opportunity to move appreciably outwardly
before contacting the container which can upset and break
the container. In addition, because the device is fixed
relative to the conveyor bed, even if the smaller containers
are not knocked over by the plunger pad, the pad arrangement
in its reciprocal movement does not extend sufficiently
to move the smaller containers onto the second conveyor.
On the other hand, if the same device were set up to
handle small bottles and the conveying system were used to
convey larger bottles, there would be interference between
the plunger pads and the larger bottles. This would knock
them off the conveyor and cause breakage.
The container shifting device, according to this
invention, overcomes a number of the above problems to
provide for a smooth shifting of conveyed containers from a
first conveyor onto a second conveyor and is adapted to
accommodate within a predetermined range varying sizes of
containers to provide a greater degree of flexibility in
container handling.
Summary of the Invention
A container shifting apparatus, according to this
invention, is provided for conveyors which convey evenly
spaced-apart containers having first and second overlapping
conveyors at the same level. The container shifting appara-
tus shifts conveyed containers from the first moving conveyor
onto the second moving conveyor. Theapparatus comprises a
plurality of plunger pads mounted on a carrier for reciprocal
movement across the first conveyor. The path of travel of
the carrier is in the form of a loop which is above and
essentially parallel to the conveying surfaces. The carrier
is supported by the support frame with the plunger pads
evenly spaced apart about the carrier.
Control means is provided for controlling reciprocal
movement of the plungers. A swivel mounting at the end of
the support frame provides for the mounting of the device
onto the conveyor main frame alongside the first conveyor and
opposite the second conveyor to permit swinging of the support
frame toward and away from the second conveyor. A driveshaft
for driving the carrier is located to rotate about the swivel
axis. Means is provided for securing the support frame in
any adjusted position relative to the first conveyor.
The control means comprises a cam of a simple harmonic
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outline for controlling reciprocal movement of the plunger
pads. Cam followers are secured to each plunger pad and
ride along the cam, at least while travelling by the conveyor.
The movement of the carrier is synchronized with conveyed con-
S tainer to be shifted onto the second conveyor. The cam con-
tacts the plunger pad against a container and moves the
plunger pad across the first conveyor to shift a contacted
container onto the second conveyor, while the carrier moves
the plunger pad along with the conveyed container.
By this arrangement, the device is adapted to accommo-
date shifting of containers of varying cross-sectional
dimensions, by swinging the support frame and securing it at
a desired position relative to the first conveyor. For these
various adjusted positions, the synchronized reciprocal
movement of the plunger pads shift particular sized containers
onto the second conveyor.
The shifting apparatus, according to this invention, may
be set up to shift every other container of a first row of
conveyed containers onto a second conveyor to form two rows
The use of a simple harmonic outline for the cam, which
controls the movement of the plunger in shifting the con-
tainer, enhances the gentle contacting of plunger pads with
container and controlled shifting of a conveyed container
onto the second conveyor.
Brief Description of the Drawings
Preferred embodiments of the invention are shown in
E'igures 2 through 5 of the drawings, wherein:
Figure 1 is a top plan view of a prior art arrangement
for shifting containers from a first conveyor onto a second
conveyor;
Figure 2 is a perspective view of a preferred embodi-
ment of this invention for shifting containers;
Figure 3 is a top plan view of the device of Figure 2;
Figure 4 is a section taken along lines 4-4 of Figure
3; and
Figure 5 is a top plan view of the device shown in
its two extreme adjusted positions for shifting the respective .
sizes of shown containers.
Detailed Description of the Preferred Embodiments
Referring to Figure 1, a prior art device is shown
for shifting containers from a first conveyor 10 onto a
second conveyor 12, which overlaps a portion of the first
conveyor 10 and is at the same level. Containers 14 are
evenly spaced apart along conveyor 10, where the device
generally designated 16 is arranged to shift every other
container onto conveyor 12. The device 16 has a support
frame 18 which is rigidly secured to the conveyor main frame
(not shown) by bolts 20. The position of the device 16 is
always fixed relative to the first conveyor 10. Chains 22,
as trained about spaced-apart sprockets 24 and 26, have
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secured thereto block portions 28 on which reciprocal plungers
30 are mounted for reciprocal movement back and forth across
the conveyor 10. Each plunger pad 30 has mounted thereon a
cam follower 32 which rides on linear cam 34, as the reci-
procal pad 30 moves into alignment with a container 14. The
follower, as it rides up linear cam 34, contacts the container
14 where the chain movement~is such that the plunger
pad moves along with the container as it shifts the con-
tainer onto conveyor 12.
The head sprocket 26 for the chain 22 may be secured
to a driveshaft (not shown). The drive is controlled to
move the plunger guide blocks 28 at a linear speed which is
synchronized with the movement of the conveyed containers.
It is apparent from Figure 1 that the plunger pad
has been set up to contact a container 15, shown in dot, which
is larger than the smaller container 14. With this set-up
for shifting container 15, it is shifted to be centrally
located at 15a on the conveyor 12. However, with the smaller
container on conveyor 10, a space 36 is developed between the
plunger pad 30 and container 14 before the plunger pad
contacts the container. As a result, the plunger pad moves
outwardly and slams in~o the container 14. This can cause
upset of the smaller container 14 with consequent breakage.
A further drawback with shifting device 16 is that, even if
the smaller container 14 remai~ upright, it is not pushed
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centrally of the conveyor 12, as shown by position 14a
on conveyor 12. In some instances with a relatively smaller
bottle, it may not be pushed entirely onto conveyor 12 and
remain partially on conveyor 10 which would be unsatisfactory.
Thus, with the prior art shown in Figure 1, it is only
suitable for shifting a particular size of container and
cannot be adjusted to accommodate other sizes.
Turning to Figure 2, the arrangement of the container
shifting device, which effects a smooth shifting of a
variety of container sizes from the first conveyor 10 onto
a second conveyor 12, is shown. The device generally
designated 40 has a support frame 42 with lower plate portion
42a which are interconnected by blocks (not shown). The
support frame 42 is swivelly connected to a driveshaft 44
by bushing connections 46 and 48. The other end of the
device 20 rests on a post 50 and is free to slide along the
post 50. Thus, the support frame 42 swivels about the axis
52 of the driveshaft 44 inwardly and outwardly relative to
the first conveyor 10. An adjustment securing device 54 is
located at the other end of the shifting device 40 which con-
sists of a bolt which, when tightened, holds the relative
adjusted swung position of the support 42 relative to the
conveyor 10.
The carrier arrangement for the reciprocal plungers 56
consists of a pair of spaced-apart chains 58 and 60 which
are trained about sprockets 62, 62a and 64, 64a. The carrier
chains travel about a loop defined by the sprockets. The
planes through which the chains travel are parallel to and
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spaced above the conveying surfaces of conveyors 10 and 12.
A guide block 66 is secured to parallel spaced-apart chains
58 and 60. The plunger pad 56 has a plunger rod 68 which is
adapted to move inwardly and outwardly of and provide
guidance for the movement of the plunger pad through an
appropriately formed sleeve 70 in block 60. Spring members
72 are provided on the plunger pad and are secured to the
block 66 to constantly urge the cam followers 74 and 74a,
mounted on the plunger pad 56, against cam face 76 for
determining the reciprocal movement of the plunger pad.
The container shifting apparatus may be located down-
stream of a container labelling station and container
orienting device or other devices which perform a certain
operation on the conveyed containers. In order to perform
the same function on each container, they are arranged to be
equally spaced apart on the conveyor. The equal spacing of
containers on conveyor permits coordination of the shifting
device with conveyed container movement. Thus, the movement
of the plunger pads may be synchronized with conveyed container
movement to align each of them with a respective container
to be shifted onto the second conveyor 12.
As shown in Figure 3, a plurality of evenly spaced-
apart containers 80, 80a, 80b are conveyed on conveyor 10.
The driveshaft 44 for the carrier chains 58 and 60 is driven
at a speed which moves the chains and, thus, the plunger pads
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56 at the same linear speed as the conveyor lO. The spacing
of the plunger pads 56 about the carrier chains 58 and 60
corresponds to the spacing between the first and third bottles
on the conveyor, such as the distance between bottles 80
and 80b on conveyor 10. This establishes that the device
shifts every other container onto conveyor 12.
The support frame 42 has formed integrally therewith
the cam 76 which determines the reciprocal movement of the
plunger 56. The outline for the cam is a simple harmonic
form, having an entrance portion with a low slope portion 76a,
a higher slope intermediate portion 76b and a low slope
portion 76c. As is apparent from the position of the adjust-
ment securing device 54, the support frame 42 is in its
outermost position to accommodate the larger size containers
80 on the conveyor lO. The relative position of the device
40 to conveyor 10 for a predetermined plunger depth provides
for the plunger pad to brush, or almost touch, the container
80a as it is moved into alignment therewith by the carrier
chains. As is shown, the cam follower 74, as it rides
on the entrande portion 76a, touches the face portion
82 of the plunger pad 56 to the external surface 84a
of the container 80a. Thus, the use of a simple harmonic
outline for the cam provides for this very gentle con-
tacting of plunger pad face 82 with the container, so as
to effect as explained this brushing of the pad against the
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container face. As the carrier chains continue to move the
cam follower 74 along the cam face 76, it commences to ride
up the intermediate higher sloped section 76b of the cam.
This area accelerates movement of the bottle toward conveyor
12. However, this is not a problem since the entrance
portion for the cam has assured contact between the pad and
bottle. Thus, the speed at which the bottle is now moved
onto conveyor 12 may be greater than that which could be
accomplished with a linear cam arrangement, such as shown
in Figure 1 of the drawings.
As the container moves onto conveyor 12, the cam follower
74 moves onto the deceleration segment 76c of the cam which
slows down the outward movement of the pad and thus, the
resultant deceleration in the movement of the bottle onto the
conveyor 12. This deceleration of bottlemovement decreases
its momentum and, thus, prevents it from continuing to slide
further outwardly of the conveyor 12 against its extremity
86, as would be the case if a linear sloped cam of the type
of Figures 1 were used at higher speeds. Thus, as the cam
follower 74 rides onto the extremity 76d of the cam, the
bottle movement is almoststopped as it is now positioned
completely onto the conveyor 12.
The use of a simple harmonic-shaped cam outline has
many advantages in providing a controlled shifting of the
container from conveyor 10 onto conveyor 12. The container
is gently contacted at the commencement of the shifting
operation and once contacted by the pad, is accelerated
quickly toward conveyor 12 and then lts movement decelerated
to ensure proper positioning onto conveyor 12. This
arrangement avoidsthrowing or projecting a bottle which causes
bottle tilting and possible breakage of the bottle in its
shifted movement.
The face portion 82 of the plunger pad 56 may be
shaped to provide an arcuate portion 88 which conforms to
the exterior shape of the container 80 and prevents the
container from moving rearwardly of conveyor 10 as it is
moved onto conveyor 12. This is particularly advantageous
in instances where the conveyor 12 is moving at a slower speed
than the container 10. The arcuate portion 88 of the pad
face cups the container and prevents the container from moving
rearwardly at it slides onto conveyor 12. In order to
accommodate a touching of the plunger pad 56 with the con-
tainer, as the pad comes around sprocket 62a and swings into
alignment with the container 80, the leading portion 90 of
the pad face 82 is curved inwardly. This permits the pad
leading portion 90 to move past the container 80a, as the
pad aligns with the container to contact portion 88 with the
container wall 84a.
The section through line 4-4 of Figure 3 shows the
sprockets 62a and 64b mounted in bearings 90 which are
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secured to the plates 42 and 42a. The entrance to cam 76,
which is integral with plates 42 and 42a, is shown at 76a ,
where the cam followers are in contact therewith under
the bias of spring members 72. The guide block 66 for the
plunger pad 56 is secured to spaced-apart chains 58 and 60.
The block includes a sleeve 70 which, in this instance, is
circular to receive the circular plunger rod 68. The solid
lines for the plunger pad 56 show its retracted position
with the cam follower 74 against cam portion 76a. This
positions the face 82 of the plunger pad above the first
conveyor 10, which was coincident with a container side.
As the cam follower 74 rides up the cam to its outermost
position at 74d, the plunger pad 56 is moved to the position
shown in dot at 56a to shift the container 80a onto the
conveyor 12.
Figure 5 shows the shifting device in two extreme
positions for handling container dimensions at both extremes
of the anticipated container dimensions to be conveyed. The
support frame 42 i5 shown in solid line to indicate its inner-
most position relative to the first conveyor 10 and is shown
in dot at 42b to indicate its outermost position relative to
conveyor 10. The position for support 42, as secured by
securing device 54, is set up to contact the smaller con-
tainers 94 and shift every other one 94a onto conveyor 12.
For the shifting device 40 in the other position, it is set
up to shift every other container 96 onto conveyor 12, as
shown at 96a.
It can be seen by swinging the support frame 42 about
the drive 44, the device 40 can be moved to a position such
that when the plunger pads 56 move around, they touch a
container of the appropriate size and by way of the cam 76,
shift the container onto the other conveyor. This swinging
movement also ensures that, regardless of the size and the
range for which the unit is set up, it will shift either
the larger or smaller container completely onto the conveyor
12, where the relative positions for each extreme in size
are shown at 94a and 96a.
In swinging the support frame 42 about the axis of the
drive 44, it can be seen that, with the smaller containers,
the face 84 of the pusher pad 56 is inclined or angled
towards the direction in which the smaller container is to
be moved onto the conveyor 12. This inclining of the pusher
pad face assists in reaching further around behind the smaller
container to enhance resistance to any drag which may be
induced by a slower moving conveyor 12. The swinging aspect
of the support 42 for the shifting device 40, therefore,
not only assists in accommodating various container sizes, it
also ensures a better contact with smaller containers to
effect a better shifting.
Angular movement of the cam, as the support is swung
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toward and away from the conveyor 12, provides a lesser
movement in cam segment 76d compared to segment 76a.
~owever, when the support is swung inwardly about its end,
for shifting the smaller container, segment 76d is moved
inwardly with segment 76a to provide at the apex of cam
follower travel a centering of the smaller container on
conveyor 12, as shown in Figure 5. Thus, desired shifting
of the full range of container sizes onto the second
conveyor can be achieved by swinging the cam to the proper
position and securing it there.
The face portions 84 of the pads of the plunger assem-
bly 56 may be interchangeable so that sets of pads may be
provided having various curvatures for different sized
containers. Thus, a set of pad face portions having appro-
priately contoured face portions would be installed for a
particular bottle size. It is apparent that device 40
appreciably increases the flexibility of the conveyor system
for shifting containers of varying sizes and always maintains
a controller shifting.
~hen it is desired to provide two lanes of containers
which are moving at a slower rate than the single lane of
containers, an additional conveyor 98 may be provided inside
of conveyor 10 relative to conveyor 12 and moving at the
same speed as conveyor 12. A def ector arm may be positioned
to move the containers remaining on conveyor 10 onto
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conveyor 98 to thus provide two slower moving rows of con-
veyed bottles. This is convenient in instances where visual
inspection at slower speeds is needed.
Although various pr~eferred embodiments of the invention
have been described herein iln detail, it will be understood
by those skilled in the art that variations may be made
thereto without departing from the spirit of the invention
or the scope of the appended claims.
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