Technique for removing a cover from cylindrical modules
AssigneeStover Equipment Co., Inc.
InventorJimmy R. Stover
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
In one embodiment, a system for removing a plastic wrap from a cylindrical module includes a conveyor transporting the cylindrical module toward a disperser with the cylindrical axis of the module parallel to the direction of conveyor movement. In another embodiment, the disperser is a travelling head disperser thereby providing relative movement between the modules and the disperser. The direction of the wrap around the module is determined and the cover is removed during rotation of the module, either by unwrapping the plastic or by slitting the plastic and then rotating the module. The equipment used to handle a cylindrical module is moved out of the path of movement of a conventional rectangular module so an installation can handle both rectangular and wrapped cylindrical modules.
Claims22
A module handling device, adjacent a disperser adapted to reduce the contents of the module to clumps, comprising equipment for unwrapping cylindrical modules having ends and a round side, the modules being wrapped with a cover at least a plurality of times around the round side of the module where adjacent wraps are adhered to each other, the cover including an interior tail unattached to an adjacent wrap along an area between the module ends and a machine readable tag on the cover, the equipment includes
- a device for picking the cylindrical module up off an underlying surface, a mechanism for rotating the module when it is off the underlying surface, sensor means, operative during rotation of the module, for detecting the machine readable tag on the wrapper and thereby determining a radial location of the tail on the round side of the module and control means for energizing the rotating mechanism for rotating the module after the sensor means locates the tail so the wrapper can be slit at a location where the tail remains adhered to the wrapper.
A module handling device, adjacent a disperser adapted to reduce the contents of modules to clumps, the modules having ends and a round side and wrapped with a cover at least a plurality of times around the round side of the module where adjacent wraps are adhered to each other, the cover including an interior tail unattached to an adjacent wrap along an area between the module ends and a machine readable tag on the cover, comprising
- a device adapted to pick up the round module off an underlying surface;
- a mechanism to rotate the module when it is off the underlying surface;
- a sensor, operative during rotation of the module, for detecting the machine readable tag on the cover to determine a radial location of the tail on the round side of the module and
- a controller for energizing the mechanism for rotating the module after the sensor locates the tail so the cover can be slit at a location where the tail is not present.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.