Container transfer system for coating line with rotary loader, plunger chuck and knock-off mechanisms
AssigneeFECO Engineered Systems, Inc.
InventorsThomas G. Whitby, Kenneth A. Krismanth, Joseph R. Lawn, David W. Black
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An article transfer system and method and various components thereof that provide various benefits and advantages comprises a conveyor carrying a plurality of article holding devices having an eject feature, a rotary loader for loading articles onto the holding devices carried by the conveyor for transfer through one or more processing stations including, for example, a spray coating station, and a rotary unloader for removing the articles from the holding devices. Provision also is made for selective removal of articles from the holding devices at one or more strategic locations along the conveyor.
Claims24
An article conveying device comprising
- a conveyor,
- at least one article holder attached to said conveyor for movement therewith along a conveyor path,
- said article holder including
- a support member having an axis extending generally perpendicular to said conveyor path, and
- a chuck carried on said support member for telescoping axial movement between first and second axially displaced positions,
- said chuck being radially expandable and contractible and having an interior socket for receiving therein an end of an article to be gripped by the chuck when said chuck is in said first position,
- said support member having a plunger portion movable axially into said socket when said chuck moves from said first position on said support member to said second position for engaging and axially ejecting the article out of said socket.
A method of processing an article comprising the steps of:
- supporting articles to be processed on respective article holders attached to a conveyor for movement therewith along a conveyor path, each article holder including a support member having an axis extending generally perpendicular to said conveyor path, and a chuck carried on said support member for telescoping axial movement for between first and second axially displaced positions, said chuck being radially expandable and contractible and having an interior socket for receiving therein an end of an article to be gripped by the chuck when said chuck is in said first position, said support member having a plunger portion movable axially into said socket when said chuck moves from said first position on said support member to said second position for engaging and axially ejecting the article out of said socket;
- moving the conveyor along said conveyor path through a loading, processing and unloading stations;
- loading articles onto the holders at the loading station;
- performing a processing function on the articles at the processing station;
- and
- unloading articles from the holders at the unloading station.
An article conveying device comprising
- a conveyor,
- at least one article holder attached to said conveyor for movement therewith along a conveyor path,
- said article holder including
- a support member having an axis extending generally perpendicular to said conveyor path, and
- a chuck carried on said support member for telescoping axial movement between first and second axially displaced positions,
- said chuck being radially expandable and contractible and having an interior socket for receiving therein an end portion of an article to be gripped by the chuck when said chuck is in said first position,
- said chuck having at least one gripping finger at least partially defining said socket, said gripping finger including an article-engaging cam surface which is inclined with respect to the axis of the support member, and
- a plunger movable axially into said socket when said chuck moves from said first position on said support member to said second position for urging the article against the cam surface of the finger to expand the fingers and so eject the article from said socket.
A method of processing an article comprising the steps of gripping the article in a chuck which is carried by and telescopically mounted on a support member carried by a conveyor, the chuck having a socket at least partially defined by at least one resilient gripping finger, and the gripping finger having an inclined cam surface engaging the article to retain the article in the socket, moving the conveyor for transfer of the article held by the chuck through at least one processing station for performing a processing operation on the article, and ejecting the article from the chuck by axially moving a plunger relative to the gripping finger to urge the article against the inclined surface of the gripping finger to cam the gripping finger outwardly for ejecting the article from the socket.
An article holder for receiving an article and for conveying the article along a path, said holder comprising a support member having an axis extending transverse to the path, and a chuck telescopically carried on said support member, said chuck being moveable between first and second positions on said support member, said positions being axially displaced from each other, said chuck having a plurality of gripping fingers at least partially defining an internal socket for receiving an end portion of the article to be gripped when said chuck is in said first position, the gripping fingers having an article-engaging cam surface inclined with respect to the axis of the support member disposed to engage the article when the article is in the socket, the support member having a plunger portion movable into the socket to engage the end portion of the article and to push the article against the cam surfaces causing the fingers to move radially outward and so to eject the article from the socket.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.