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US 4,066,163 AGranted
Row former for articles
AssigneeThe Lodge & Shipley Company
InventorEdward F. Rowekamp
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Apparatus for forming multiple rows of articles from a single incoming row of articles. The apparatus has an elongated guide adapted to swing about a pivot point adjacent the incoming single file of articles. The downstream end carries a freely rotatable wheel with circumferentially spaced lugs engageable by the articles. A brake is connected to the wheel and a counting mechanism, associated with the wheel, operates the brake and effects the shifting of the swinging guide from one downstream lane to another when a preselected number of articles is counted.
Claims5
Apparatus for forming a single file of articles into multiple files comprising,
- a single file conveyor,
- a multiple file conveyor having multiple lanes downstream of said single file conveyor,
- an elongated guide overlying said single file conveyor and pivoted at its upstream end for swinging in a horizontal plane,
- the downstream end of said guide swinging adjacent the upstream end of said multiple file conveyor,
- means for positioning the downstream end of said guide adjacent any of said multiple lanes,
- a wheel mounted on said guide for rotation about a vertical axis, said wheel being normally freely rotatable,
- a plurality of lugs circumferentially spaced about the periphery of said wheel and projecting into the path of articles passing through said guide,
- means for braking said wheel to block the flow of articles as said guide shifts from one lane to another,
- said means for positioning the downstream end of said guide comprising,
- a screw mounted over said guide and extending transversely to said single file conveyor,
- a block threaded on said screw,
- a roller depending from said block,
- a longitudinal slot in said guide receiving said roller,
- and a stepping motor for rotating said screw in either direction.
11 more elements
Apparatus for forming a single file of articles into multiple files comprising,
- a single file conveyor,
- a multiple file conveyor having multiple lanes downstream of said single file conveyor,
- an elongated guide overlying said single file conveyor and pivoted at its upstream end for swinging in a horizontal plane,
- the downstream end of said guide swinging adjacent the upstream end of said multiple file conveyor,
- means for positioning the downstream end of said guide adjacent any of said multiple lanes,
- a wheel mounted on said guide for rotation about a vertical axis, said wheel being normally freely rotatable,
- a plurality of lugs circumferentially spaced about the periphery of said wheel and projecting into the path of articles passing through said guide,
- means for braking said wheel to block the flow of articles as said guide shifts from one lane to another,
- said means for positioning the downstream end of said guide comprising,
- support structure for said guide,
- a double-acting cylinder mounted on said guide,
- a piston within said cylinder having rods engageable with said support structure to swing said guide,
- the axis of said piston and cylinder being spaced from the pivoted upstream end of said guide by distance d,
- a pair of opposed cylinders mounted on said support structure with their axes spaced downstream of the upstream end by a distance 2d,
- said downstream cylinders having pistons with rods engageable with said guide to move said guide transversely.
12 more elements
Apparatus for forming a single file of articles into multiple files comprising,
- a single file conveyor,
- a multiple file conveyor having multiple lanes downstream of said single file conveyor,
- an elongated guide overlying said single file conveyor and pivoted at its upstream end for swinging in a horizontal plane,
- a screw mounted transversely of said guide,
- means connecting said screw to said guide,
- a stepping motor for rotating said screw in either direction for swinging the downstream end of said guide back and forth adjacent the upstream end of said multiple file conveyor, and for positioning the downstream end of said guide adjacent any of said multiple lanes,
- a wheel mounted on said guide for rotation about a vertical axis, said wheel being normally freely rotatable,
- a plurality of lugs circumferentially spaced about the periphery of said wheel and projecting into the path of articles passing through said guide, said articles rotating said wheel as they pass it,
- means on said wheel for counting the articles passing it,
- means for braking said wheel in any preselected angular position after a predetermined count of articles to block the flow of articles as said guide shifts from one lane to another,
- and means for passing bottles to said multiple lane conveyor on each back and forth excursion of said guide,
- said counting and braking means effecting deposit of twice as many articles in the outside lanes as in the inside lanes of said multiple file conveyor.
9 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.