Pallet assembling system
AssigneeFMC Corporation
InventorGarye R. Vial
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An automatic pallet assembling system which includes a pair of conventional nailing machines for separately nailing each side of a pallet and conveying means for carrying the half-finished pallet between the nailing machines. The stringers and deck boards are automatically fed to the first nailing machine in the proper sequence for nailing. After nailing, the half-finished pallet is automatically turned over and offset with respect to its direction of movement before being fed to the second nailing machine where the final set of deck boards are automatically fed into position for nailing. With five personnel (including two inspectors) operating the assembly system, a production rate of up to eight pallets per minute can be achieved.
Claims18
A pallet assembling system for assembling a pallet comprised of a plurality of deck boards placed crosswise to and on both sides of a plurality of spaced parallel stringers, said system comprising a first nailing machine, means for simultaneously feeding one set of deck boards to said first nailing machine, means for individually and sequentially feeding said stringers to said first nailing machine and for aligning said stringers within said first nailing machine in a position underlying said one set of deck boards for receipt of fasteners from said nailing machine, means for indexing said one set of deck boards after the delivery of each successive stringer to the nailing machine and the nailing of said deck boards to said stringer, a turnover device positioned downstream from said first nailing machine for reversing the orientation of the half-formed pallet after the first set of deck boards have been nailed by rotating it through 180.degree. to place the unnailed side of the pallet face up, a second nailing machine, means for feeding said turned pallet to said second nailing machine, means for feeding a second set of deck boards to said second nailing machine in a position overlying said turned pallet, and diverting means located between said first nailing machine and said pallet feeding means of the second nailing machine for providing an offset in the path of the pallet through the system so that the deck boards for the second nailing machine can be directly loaded into said pallet feeding means at the upstream end thereof by being moved in a direction parallel to their longitudinal axes.
A pallet assembling system for assembling a pallet comprised of a plurality of deck boards placed crosswise to and on both sides of a plurality of spaced parallel stringers, said system comprising a first nailing machine, means for feeding one set of deck boards to said first nailing machine, means for individually and sequentially engaging said stringers, means connected to said engaging means for individually moving said stringers to an aligned position with said one set of deck boards in said first nailing machine, means for indexing said one set of deck boards after the delivery of each stringer to the nailing machine and the nailing of said deck boards to said stringer, means positioned downstream from said first nailing machine for rotating the half-formed pallet of said one set of deck boards and said stringers to place the unnailed side of the pallet face up, a second nailing machine, means for feeding said turned pallet to said second nailing machine, means for feeding a second set of deck boards in unison to said second nailing machine in a position overlying said rotated pallet, and diverting means located between said first nailing machine and said pallet feeding means of the second nailing machine for providing an offset in the path of the pallet through the system so that the deck boards for the second nailing machine can be directly loaded into said pallet feeding means at the upstream end thereof by being moved in a direction parallel to their longitudinal axes.
A pallet assembling system for assembling a pallet comprised of a plurality of deck boards placed crosswise to and on both sides of a plurality of spaced parallel stringers, said system comprising a first nailing machine, means for feeding one set of deck boards to said first nailing machine, an arm adapted to successively rotate each stringer in an arcuate path to its nailing position beneath said one set of deck boards, means for indexing said one set of deck boards after the delivery of each stringer to the nailing machine and the nailing of said deck boards to said stringer, a turnover device positioned downstream from said first nailing machine for reversing the orientation of the half-formed pallet after the first set of deck boards have been nailed by rotating it through 180.degree. to place the unnailed side of the pallet face up, a second nailing machine, means for feeding said turned pallet to said second nailing machine, means for feeding a second set of deck boards to said second nailing machine in a position overlying said turned pallet, and diverting means located between said first nailing machine and said pallet feeding means of the second nailing machine for providing an offset in the path of the pallet through the system so that the deck boards for the second nailing machine can be directly loaded into said pallet feeding means at the upstream end thereof by being moved in a direction parallel to their longitudinal axes.
A pallet assembling system for assembling a pallet comprised of a plurality of deck boards placed crosswise to and on both sides of a plurality of spaced parallel stringers, said system comprising a first nailing machine, means for feeding one set of deck boards to said first nailing machine, an arm adapted to successively rotate each stringer in an arcuate path to its nailing position beneath said one set of deck boards, a pocket assembly at said arm's free end for holding a stringer, said pocket assembly including a spring-loaded member capable of pivoting outwardly to release said stringer when the arm is moved downwardly, means for indexing said one set of deck boards after the delivery of each stringer to the nailing machine and the nailing of said deck boards to said stringer, a turnover device positioned downstream from said first nailing machine for reversing the orientation of the half-formed pallet after the first set of deck boards have been nailed by rotating it through 180.degree. to place the unnailed side of the pallet face up, a second nailing machine, means for feeding said turned pallet to said second nailing machine, means for feeding a second set of deck boards to said second nailing machine in a position overlying said turned pallet, and diverting means located between said first nailing machine and said pallet feeding means of the second nailing machine for providing an offset in the path of the pallet through the system so that the deck boards for the second nailing machine can be directly loaded into said pallet feeding means at the upstream end thereof by being moved in a direction parallel to their longitudinal axes.
In a pallet assembling system for assembling a pallet comprised of a plurality of deck boards placed crosswise to a plurality of spaced parallel stringers, the combination comprising a nailing machine, means for feeding an aligned set of deck boards to said nailing machine, means for feeding an aligned row of stringers to said nailing machine in a path generally parallel to and below that of said deck board feeding means, means for individually and sequentially moving the endmost stringer on said stringer feeding means to a nailing position in said nailing machine beneath said set of deck boards and for aligning said stringer at said nailing position with said deck boards, and means for indexing said deck boards forwardly after each stringer is nailed thereto.
In a pallet assembling system for assembling a pallet comprised of a plurality of deck boards placed crosswise to a plurality of spaced parallel stringers, the combination comprising a nailing machine, means for feeding an aligned set of deck boards to said nailing machine, means for feeding an aligned row of stringers to said nailing machine in a path generally parallel to that of said deck board feeding means, an arm adapted to rotate each stringer in an arcuate path from a horizontal to a vertical position and to successively move the endmost stringer on said stringer feeding means to a nailing position in said nailing machine beneath said set of deck boards, and means for indexing said deck boards forwardly after each stringer is nailed thereto.
In a pallet assembling system for assembling a pallet comprised of a plurality of deck boards placed crosswise to a plurality of spaced parallel stringers, the combination comprising a nailing machine, means for feeding an aligned set of deck boards to said nailing machine, means for feeding an aligned row of stringers to said nailing machine in a path generally parallel to that of said deck board feeding means, an arm adapted to rotate each stringer in an arcuate path from a horizontal to a vertical position and to successively move the endmost stringer on said stringer feeding means to a nailing position in said nailing machine beneath said set of deck boards, a pocket assembly at said arm's free end for holding a stringer, said pocket assembly including a spring-loaded member capable of pivoting outwardly to release said stringer when the arm is rotated downwardly, and means for indexing said deck boards forwardly after each stringer is nailed thereto.
A method of assembling a pallet comprised of a plurality of deck boards placed crosswise to a plurality of spaced parallel stringers, said method including the steps of placing a plurality of deck boards in spaced parallel stacks, stripping the lowermost layer of deck boards in said stacks and moving said layer into position to be nailed by a nailing machine, moving a continuous row of stringers along a path parallel to the path of said deck boards, removing individually and successively the end stringer off of said row of stringers, and moving said end stringer to said nailing machine in an aligned nailing position directly below said deck boards.
A method of assembling a pallet comprised of a plurality of deck boards placed crosswise to and on both sides of a plurality of spaced parallel stringers, said method comprising the steps of automatically feeding one set of deck boards and stringers to a first nailing machine in a straight line path to cause them to be nailed together in said machine with the deck boards being aligned and moved simultaneously in a direction parallel to their longitudinally extending axes, flipping the half-formed pallet over while it continues in said path, shifting the horizontal direction of movement of said turned-over pallet by 90.degree., shifting the horizontal direction of movement of the pallet again by 90.degree. to move the pallet in a second straight line path parallel to but offset from said first path, feeding a second set of deck boards in a direction parallel to said second path of the pallet and into a second nailing machine with the deck boards being aligned and moved simultaneously in a direction parallel to their longitudinally extending axes, bringing said pallet into said second nailing machine in said second path beneath said second set of deck boards, and completing the nailing of the second set of deck boards to said pallet in said second nailing machine.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.