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US 7,415,914 B2Granted
Trim press article handling apparatus
OwnerJere F. Irwininventor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An article handling apparatus for a trim press includes a die and a cooperating punch configured to sever articles from a web, a treadle configured to move relative to the die, and a drive wheel assembly configured to move the web and the articles. The drive wheel assembly includes a pair of roller feed assemblies. Each of the roller feed assemblies include a knock-lever mechanism having a lever arm and a follower wheel, the lever arm being configured to contact the die as the treadle is moved towards the die. The the follower wheel is configured to retract from the respective drive wheel in response to contact of the lever arm with the die.
Claims13
A trim press article handling apparatus, comprising:
- a frame;
- a punch carried by the frame;
- a die carried by the frame and cooperating in relative movement with the punch to sever articles from a web;
- a treadle carried for movement relative to the die, the treadle including a web guide member, a primary guide strip spaced from the guide member slightly greater than a thickness of the web, a secondary guide strip spaced from the guide member at least four thicknesses of the web and spaced apart from the primary guide strip, and an article detector carried by at least one of the primary guide strip and the secondary guide strip and operative to detect position of an article in the web by detecting the position of a protuberance in the web as the protuberance is conveyed between the primary guide strip and the secondary guide strip;
- control circuitry communicating with the article detector and a drive motor operative to move the treadle, the control circuitry configured to receive an input signal from the article detector indicative of the position of a web-supported article relative to the punch and the die, and operative to control operation of the drive motor to synchronize movement of the web-supported article via controlled motion of the treadle;
- and
- a drive wheel assembly for moving a web and articles, the drive wheel assembly comprising a pair of roller feed assemblies provided on opposed edges of a web, wherein each of the roller feed assemblies comprises a drive release mechanism configured to release the roller feed assemblies from respective edges of the web, the release mechanism carried by the treadle and operative to cooperate with the die as the treadle is moved towards a stationary platen carrying the die.
4 more elements
A trim press article handling apparatus, comprising:
- a punch and a die carried by a frame, the die cooperating with the punch to sever articles from a web of thermoformable material;
- a treadle carried for movement relative to the die, the treadle including a web guide member, a primary guide strip disposed adjacent the web guide member, a secondary guide strip spaced from the guide member, and an article detector to detect a position of an article in the web;
- control circuitry communicating with the article detector, and a drive motor operative to move the treadle;
- and
- a drive wheel assembly for moving the web and the articles, the drive wheel assembly comprising a pair of roller feed assemblies provided on opposed edges of the web, wherein each of the roller feed assemblies comprises a drive release mechanism carried by the treadle, configured to cooperate with the die as the treadle is moved towards a stationary platen carrying the die, and configured to release the roller feed assemblies from a respective edge of the web in response to cooperation of the drive release mechanism with the die;
- wherein the control circuitry is configured to receive an input signal from the article detector, the input signal being indicative of the position of an article relative to the punch and the die, the control circuitry being operative to control operation of the drive motor to synchronize movement of the article via controlled motion of the treadle.
3 more elements
A trim press article handling apparatus, comprising:
- a punch and a die carried by a frame, the die cooperating with the punch to sever articles from a web of thermoformable material;
- a treadle configured to move relative to the die, the treadle including a web guide member, a primary guide strip disposed adjacent the web guide member, a secondary guide strip spaced from the guide member, and an article detector to detect a position of an article in the web;
- control circuitry communicating with the article detector;
- a drive motor conficiured to move the treadle;
- and
- a drive wheel assembly for moving a web and articles, the drive wheel assembly comprising a pair of roller feed assemblies provided on opposed edges of the web, wherein each of the roller feed assemblies comprises a drive release mechanism carried by the treadle, configured to cooperate with the die as the treadle is moved towards a stationary platen carrying the die, and configured to release the roller feed assemblies from a respective edge of the web in response to cooperation of the drive release mechanism with the die;
- wherein the control circuitry is configured to receive an input signal from the article detector indicative of position of an article relative to the treadle and control operation of the drive motor to move the treadle and the article relative to the punch and the die for synchronized severing of the article from the web.
4 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.