Method of and apparatus for feeding randomly received items
AssigneeHayssen Manufacturing Company
InventorsCharles G. Hart, John S. Gordon, Richard D. Sorenson
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A method of and apparatus for feeding randomly received items and for placing these items on apparatus, such as a flight conveyor or a packaging machine, which cycles continuously at a steady rate, with the flight conveyor being operated at a cycling rate slightly faster than the average rate at which the items are randomly received, with the placement of an item on the flight conveyor being in timed relation to a portion or window of each cycle of the flight conveyor, and with placement of an item on the flight conveyor being intermittently deferred so as to bring the rate at which the items are randomly received and the operating rate of the flight conveyor into phase with one another.
Claims13
The method of feeding items one after another to an apparatus which cycles continuously at a steady rate, referred to as the first rate, with an item being receivable by the apparatus only during a portion of each cycle, items to be fed to the apparatus being randomly delivered one at a time at an average rate, referred to as the second rate, said method comprising the steps of:
- feeding the randomly received items one at a time to a holding station where an item may dwell for an interval;
- feeding each item which has been delivered to the holding station in time for delivery to said apparatus during said portion of said cycle forward to said apparatus in timed relation with said apparatus for delivery of the item thereto during said portion;
- the feeding of a randomly received item to the holding station occurring at a relatively slow speed while the next leading item is at the holding station, and at an accelerated speed when the next leading item is fed forward to said apparatus;
- and
- deferring the feeding forward of an item which has been delivered to the holding station too late for delivery to said apparatus during said portion of a cycle until a next successive cycle.
Conveying apparatus for feeding items one after another to means which cycles continuously at a steady rate, referred to as a first rate, with an item being receivable by said means only during a portion of each cycle thereof, said items to be fed to said means being randomly delivered to said conveying apparatus one at a time at an average rate, referred to as a second rate, said second rate being somewhat slower than said first rate, said conveying apparatus comprising a first conveyor adapted to receive said items one after the other at said second rate, said first coveyor delivering the items one at a time to a holding station, and having a slow speed and a fast speed, means for selectively changing said first conveyor between its fast and slow speeds, means responsive to an item being conveyed from said holding station for actuating said first conveyor speed change means thereby to accelerate the delivery of the next item to said holding station and upon delivery of said next item to the holding station for actuating said speed change means thereby to slow down said first conveyor, and a second conveyor for conveying each item delivered to said holding station in time for delivery to said means during said portion of a cycle of said means in timed relation to operation of said means, and means for sensing said portion of a cycle of said means and for initiating operation of said second conveyor so as to convey an item at said holding station and to place it on said means within said portion of said cycle of said means and for deferring operation of said second conveyor until a successive cycle of said means when the next item is not in said holding station prior to said second conveyor completing placement of the preceding item on said means.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.