Article transfer apparatus

A method of controlling the operation of a stacker machine which has a stacker bar mounted for movement along a shift axis oriented parallel to a cross conveyor carrying incoming glass containers in a row extending parallel to the shift axis, a stroke axis oriented parallel to a lehr conveyor carrying the containers away from the cross conveyor in a row transverse to the lehr conveyor movement and a vertical lift axis wherein the movement of the bar along each axis is effected by a different motor, said method comprising the steps of:

• generating on a video screen a graphic image of the stacker machine;
• constructing motion plots for the desired motion along each of said axes;
• using data representative of said motion plots to simulate on the screen motions of the stacker bar along said axes to verify the validity of the motion plots;
• after the validity of the motion plots has been verified, using said data to generate electrical pulses corresponding to the motion plots;
• and
• applying said pulses to the motors in a manner to effect movement of said stacker bar along said axes in accordance with the motions represented by said plots.

In a stacker machine having a stacker bar supported to move along a shift axis oriented parallel to a cross conveyor carrying incoming glass containers in a row extending parallel to the shift axis, a stroke axis oriented parallel to a lehr conveyor carrying the containers away from the cross conveyor in a row extending transverse to the lehr conveyor movement, and a vertical lift axis, the improvement comprising:

• a motor for each of said axes operable to effect movement of the stacker bar along the corresponding axis;
• a video screen;
• means for constructing and displaying on said video screen superimposed graphic plots representing the motions of said stacker bar along all of said axes during one cycle of the stacker machine, each plot depicting the velocity of the stacker bar along the corresponding axis at each time during said cycle;
• means for using data representative of said plots to generate electrical pulses corresponding to the plots;
• and
• means for applying said pulses to the motors in a manner to effect movement of the stacker bar in conformity with the motions represented by the plots.

In a stacker machine having a stacker bar supported to move along a shift axis oriented parallel to a cross conveyor carrying incoming glass containers in a row extending parallel to the shift axis, a stroke axis oriented parallel to a lehr conveyor carrying the containers away from the cross conveyor in a row extending transverse to the lehr conveyor movement, and a vertical lift axis, the improvement

• a motor for each of said axes operable to effect movement of the stacker bar along the corresponding axis;
• a video screen;
• means for displaying a graphic image of the stacker machine on said screen;
• means for generating data representative of the desired motions of the stacker bar along each of said axes during one cycle of the stacker machine;
• means for using said data to simulate on the screen said desired motions to verify their validity;
• means for generating electrical pulses which correspond to the desired motions;
• and
• means for applying said pulses to the motors in a manner to effect movement of the stacker bar in conformity to said desired motions.