Accumulating conveyor

In a shuttle type accumulating conveyor comprising an elongated support along which a plurality of articles are movable forwardly through a series of longitudinally spaced-apart stations, a transfer bar mounted for movement back and forth longitudinally along said elongated support, drive means for moving said transfer bar through a work cycle which includes a forward stroke wherein said transfer bar moves forwardly a distance substantially greater than the distance between stations, a plurality of feed units on said transfer bar movable between idle and feed positions, a plurality of feed unit setting assemblies on said transfer bar operatively associated with said feed units, each of said feed unit setting assemblies being movable between rest and actuated positions and being operable when moved to the actuated position to move an associated feed unit to the feed position, a plurality of actuator assemblies mounted at said stations for movement between an operative position, an inoperative position and an advanced position, each of said actuator assemblies being operable in said operative position to force a corresponding feed unit setting assembly toward its actuated position, sensing means at each station for sensing the absence of an article, each sensing means being operable upon sensing the absence of an article to maintain an associated actuator assembly in its operative position, knockdown means for moving feed unit setting assemblies in their actuated positions to their rest positions upon rearward movement of said transfer bar after full forward movement of said transfer bar, said knockdown means comprising lug means pivotally mounted on said elongated support at each station movable between an operative position and an inoperative position and stop means mounted on said elongated support adjacent said rigid arm so that when said transfer bar moves forward, feed unit setting assemblies in their actuated positions contact said lug means and move said lug means to said inoperative positions, and when said transfer bar subsequently moves rearwardly, feed unit setting assemblies in their actuated positions engage said lug means and said stop means maintains said lug means in the operative positions thereof thereby moving said feed unit setting assemblies to their rest positions.

A shuttle type accumulating conveyor comprising an elongated generally horizontal support along which a plurality of articles are movable through a series of longitudinally spaced-apart stations, a transfer bar mounted for movement forwardly and rearwardly longitudinally along said elongated support, a plurality of feed units on said transfer bar movable between idle and feed positions, drive means for moving said transfer bar back and forth through a work cycle for moving all articles situated behind an empty station to their next adjacent stations, said work cycle including a forward stroke wherein said transfer bar moves forwardly a predetermined distance which is substantially greater than the distance between stations and a return stroke wherein said feed units are returned to their idle positions, means including a plurality of actuator assemblies positioned in the path of movement of said feed units during the return stroke of said transfer bar for moving said feed units from said idle positions to said feed positions, said actuator assemblies being mounted at said stations for movement between an operative position, an inoperative position and an advanced position, a chain member connecting adjacent actuator assemblies, sensing means at each station for sensing the absence of an article, each of said sensing means being operatively associated with a corresponding actuator assembly so that at an empty station said sensing means causes said actuator assembly to be maintained in its operative position, said chain member being provided to maintain all actuator members in operative positions behind a first member maintained in the operative position so that when said transfer bar is moved fully rearwardly all actuator assemblies held in operative positions provide for movement of all corresponding feed units to feed positions, and means on each of said actuator assemblies enabling unobstructed movement of said transfer bar through said entire forward stroke in which said transfer bar is moved said predetermined distance.