US 5,045,148 AGranted

Article attaching apparatus

AssigneeGa-Vehren Engineering Company

InventorsArmand C. L. Hoffstetter, Ronald L. Schilling

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Abstract

This article attaching apparatus (10) for attaching a coin or similar object (38) to each of a sequence of continuously moving carrying sheets (14) includes a vacuum belt conveyor (24) for transporting the carrying sheets through a gumming station (26), where said sheets are provided with an adhesive area (34), to a location below a coin storage assembly (81). The coin storage assembly includes a feed tube (142) from which an individual coin is deposited onto the carrying sheet adhesive patch without interruption of the forward movement of the carrying sheet (14) by a feed wheel assembly (80) the feed assembly being mounted to a support frame (60) and disposed between the coin storage assembly and the carrying sheet. The feed wheel assembly includes a rotatable feed wheel (102) having opposed inserts (122, 124) each provided with a circumferentially disposed coin-receiving groove (134). The feed wheel is sequentially supplied with vacuum pressure and positive pressure from an air supply unit (114), which includes a stationary air valve (150 ), so that the coin is picked up under vacuum pressure from the coin tube and held during rotation to the deposit point where it is momentarily subjected to positive pressure to facilitate deposit. A spring-loaded anti-jamming device 220 is provided adjacent a cut-away portion (232) at the lower end of the coin tube.

Claims14

Dependent claims

A high speed apparatus for attaching articles to each of a sequence of longitudinally moving sheets, the apparatus comprising:

(a) conveyor means for continuously transporting the sheets,
(b) adhesive means for applying an adhesive area to each sheet as it is being transported,
(c) storage means holding a plurality of articles in a stack above the conveyor means, the storage means having a top end adapted to receive articles, and a bottom end adapted to release them,
(d) a rotatable feed wheel means disposed between the article storage means and the conveyor means and adapted to rotate rapidly therebetween and having a cylindrical surface adjacent the bottom end of the article storage means and with a portion of that cylindrical surface holding articles in the storage means while continuously passing beneath the article release bottom end of the storage means,
(e) a groove substantially the width of the article, formed substantially as an arc of the cylindrical surface, the groove having a feathered forward open end and a rearward closed end, in the direction of rotation, passing beneath the article release bottom end of the article storage means, the groove being tapered from its rearward end to its feathered forward end a distance, given the speed of rotation, for the article to be received in its forward end and to seat in the rearward end to be withdrawn from the bottom end of the article storage means during rotation,
(f) retaining means for retaining the article in place on the feed wheel means during its rotation,
(g) deposit means for depositing the article on a sheet on the conveyor means, and
(h) drive means for driving the feed wheel means.

5 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 07/237,303Filed 26 Aug 1988 · continuation in part
Priority: 15 Oct 1986
Granted: 3 Sep 1991
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification14 codes

B65H 11/005
Incorporating transport belts: suction belts
B42B 7/00
Permanently attaching objects
B42B 9/06
Devices common to machines for carrying out the processes according to more than one of the preceding main groups: for pasting
B65H 1/06
Adapted to support articles substantially horizontally, e.g. for separation from top of pile: for separation from bottom of pile