US 3,937,316 A · Method of and means for cooling support trays for hot-pressed boards

Abstract

Trays carrying hot-pressed boards, coming from a platen press, are delivered by an input conveyor to a cooling rack comprising an endless vertical transporter with chain-supported radial arms forming peripherally separated tray-receiving stages, the boards being stripped off the oncoming trays and being temporarily retained on the input conveyor as the trays advance into stages then aligned therewith. Upon the loading of each tray into a transporter stage, the board previously stripped therefrom is released and passed by the input conveyor on through a clearance between successive stages on the ascending side of the slowly moving transporter into the nip of a set of feed rollers which drive that board through a similar clearance on the descending side onto an output conveyor. The empty trays, after passing around the upper vertex of the transporter to the descending side, are intercepted either by the output conveyor receiving the boards or by another outgoing conveyor overlying the latter for removal from the cooling rack and recirculation to the press via a loading station. Each conveyor is divided into several endless bands offset from the orbits of the radial transporter arms, the bands being located on a level near the lower vertex.

Claims10

Dependent claims

A method of unloading and cooling a series of trays carrying flat, hot workpieces, comprising the steps of:

serially feeding hot trays loaded with workpieces on an input conveyor to the ascending side of a vertical transporter forming a multiplicity of peripherally separated tray-receiving stages moving in an endless path around an upper and a lower vertex;
upon the approach of a tray to said transporter, stripping the workpiece therefrom and temporarily retaining same on the input conveyor while advancing the tray into a confronting stage of the transporter;
after a movement of the transporter sufficient to align the input conveyor with a clearance between stages on the ascending side and a similar clearance on the descending side of the transporter, releasing the retained workpiece and passing same from the input conveyor through the aligned clearances onto an output conveyor on the descending side of the transporter;
and
discharging the tray from its stage on the descending side after a travel around the upper vertex of the transporter.

2 more elements

An apparatus for unloading and cooling a series of trays carrying flat, hot workpieces, comprising:

a cooling rack including a vertical transporter forming a multiplicity of peripherally spaced tray-receiving stages movable in an endless path around an upper and a lower vertex;
an input conveyor approaching an ascending side of said transporter for serially feeding trays loaded with workpieces thereto;
detent means above said input conveyor operable to strip a workpiece from an oncoming tray and to retain the workpiece on said input conveyor during the advance of the tray into a stage aligned therewith;
an output conveyor in line with said input conveyor at a descending side of said transporter, said input and output conveyors being disposed at a level at which they are simultaneously aligned with inter-stage clearances on both the ascending and the descending side at periodically recurrent intervals;
control means for deactivating said detent means in correlation with the movement of said transporter at a time of alignment of said conveyors with inter-stage clearances for passing a retained workpiece from said input conveyor through the aligned clearances onto said output conveyor;
and
discharge means for removing each tray from said transporter on the descending side thereof.

4 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Method of and means for cooling support trays for hot-pressed boards

Life of this patent

Method of and means for cooling support trays for hot-pressed boards

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims10