US1388235A - Mechanism for handling articles - Google Patents

Description

' C C. BLAKE.

MECHANISM FOR HANDLING ARTICLES.

APPLlCATlON FILED SEPT; 13. 1917.

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UNITED STATES CHARLES C. BLAKE, OF BROOKLINE, MASSACHUSETTS.

MECHANISM FOR HANDLING ARTICLES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug-23,1921;

Original application filed March 27, 1916, Serial No. 86,958. Divided and this application filed September 13, 1917. Serial No. 191,102.

Handling Articles, of which the following is a specification. i

This invention relates to mechanisms for handling articles to select them in a predetermined manner, arrange them in'a certain orderor operate upon them in any desired manner. The invention will be herein disclosed as embodied in a mechanism for selecting tacks or other fastenings and arranging them for delivery to a fastening inserting mechanism. The invention aims to devise a simple and reliable mechanism of this character which can be economically manufactured and will not be liable to get out of order. To this end the invention involves certain novel combinations of parts and details of construction, the nature of which will be readily understood from the following description of the embodiment of the invention at present preferred and the novel features of which will be pointed out in the appended claims.

Referring now to the drawings,

Figure 1 is a front elevation of a tack handling mechanism embodying this invention;

Fig. 2 is a vertical cross sectional view of the mechanism shown in Fig. 1 certain parts being shown in side elevation;

Fig. 3 is a front elevation of the rotating hopper for the tacks with the front plate removed;

Fig. 4 is a plan view of the tack raceway;

Fig. 5 is a side elevation of the parts shown in Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 is a vertical cross sectional view on the line 6-6, Fig. 5;

Fig. 7 is a plan view of one of the buckets or pickers with which the hopper is equipped; and

Fig. 8 is a rear elevation of the device shown in Fig. 7.

The presentapplication is a division of my co-pending application Serial No. 86,958, filed March 27, 1916, for improvements in heel lasting machines. The machine shown in said application includes mechanism for lasting the upper at the heel end of a shoe, automatic mechanism for driving 'a series of tacks into the upper to hold it in its lasted position and a raceway which delivered the tacks to said driving mechanism. The machine also included the tack handling mechanism of the present application. -This mechanism comprises a storage raceway, normally filled with tacks, and a mechanism for selecting tacks from a supply and delivering them to this raceway; The raceway of the tack inserting machine is designed to be brought into engagement with the storage raceway at certain times and receive from the latter raceway a new supply oftacks.

In the drawings the raceway ofthe tack inserting machine is indicated at'l and the storage raceway at 2. The latter raceway is loosely received between a pair of vertical plates 3 rising from an extension 4 of the column 5 of the machine.- The raceway 2 is yieldingly held between the plates 3 by a leaf spring 6, one end of which is secured to the raceway and'the other end of which is secured to the plate 3 by a'pair of screws 7 secured to one of the plates 3. The raceway 2 supports the heads of the tacks which are covered by a plate 8 spaced from the raceway. The tacks in the'storage raceway 2 are normally held therein by'a gate 9 which is pivoted at 10 on one of the plates 3. The

gate 9 is normally held in tack-retaining position by a leaf spring 11 secured to the back of the gate and arranged to engage a pin 12 on one of'the plates? The shanks of the tacks depending through the roadway near the end of the raceway 2 are alined with the roadway by a pair of wedge-shaped blocks 13, (Fig. 6) which are supported atthe lower ends of leafsprings 14 supported at their upper ends by a bridge 15 secured" to the raceway 2. When the raceway of the fastening inserting machine (above mentioned) is brought to the fastening-storage station a fin 16 on said raceway engages a apart, thus permitting the alined tacks to slide from the storage raceway 2 into the raceway of the fastening inserting machine.

When the latter raceway is withdrawn from the raceway 2 the gate 9 and blocks 13 return to their initial positions under the influence of the springs 11 and 14, respectively, in readiness to act upon a new lot of tacks delivered to the raceway 2 for storage.

In order to supply the storage raceway 2 with tacks the column 5 supports a hopper 17 which is rotatably mounted on one end of a stub shaft 18 secured to the column. A gear 19, secured to the hopper 17 and loosely mounted on the shaft 18, meshes with a pinion 20, on a shaft21,journaled in the column 5 and driven from a vertical shaft 22 by bevel gears 23 and 24 on the shafts 22 and 21, respectively. The hopper 17 is thus continuously rotated during the operation of the machine and keeps the mass of tacks in the bottom of the hopper inmotion. The tacks are inserted in the hopper through a filling funnel 25 which is pivoted on one of the plates 3 so that it maybe tipped back to expose an opening 26 in the front face of the hopper for the purpose of inspection or repair. 7

Two buckets or pickers 27, each of which carries a pair of rails 28 spaced apart to provide a tack slot 29 therebetween, are mounted in the hopper. The buckets 27 are each provided with sloping walls 30 designed to direct the points of the tacks caught by the buckets into the slot 29. 'VVith this construction the buckets 27 are alternately passed through the mass of tumbled tacks in the hopper. Some of the shanks of the tacks will be' deflected by the sloping walls 30 into the slot 29 and the heads of these tacks will rest on the rails 28 until, during the rotation of the hopper, the ends of the rails register with a curved stationary raceway 31 mounted on the end of the stationary shaft 18. Then the tacks assembled on the rails 28 will slide therefrom into the raceway 31. The lower end of the raceway 31 and the upper end of theraceway "2 are separated by a gap 32 (Fig. 2) and the inclines of the raceways are such that the tacks delivered to the raceway 31 will jump the gap and pass into the raceway 2 under the force of gravity. When the storage raceway 2 is full of tacks the tacks from 31 spill into the hopper 17. I

In order to insure. that no tacks will remain on the rails 28 after they pass the point the raceway of registration with the raceway'31 the lower ends of the rai1s28 are permitted to spring apart as shown in Fig. 7 after the pomt of registration with the raceway 31 has been passed, to dump all the tacks remaining on the rails into the hopper. To wedge them back into a position in which they will properly support the heads of the tacks the support for the raceway 31 is provided with a curved way 33 (Fig. 3) having sloping walls at its entrance. The ends of the rails 28 engage the sloping walls and are wedged thereby toward each other into the dotted line position (Fig. 7 The way 33 then holds the rails 28 with the proper space between them until the point of registration with the raceway 31 is passed when the rails 28 pass out of the way 33 and spring apartto dump any tack still held on the rails. The entrance to the way 33 is guarded by a pair of spring metal flaring wings 34: which prevent atack from jamming between the" entrance to the way 33 and the rails 28 V In order to prevent breakage of the parts in case a tack becomes jammed in the mechanism a friction drive is provided for the hopper 17 For this purpose the shaft 21 is made in two parts (Fig. 2), each part having a collar 35 thereon. Between these collars a leather disk 36 is pinched, the condoor which is held in position by a'bolt pass-- ing through the hole 38. This door normally closes the opening but provides a 'convonient means for cleaning out the hopper whenever desired for any reason, as for instance, when changing from one size orstyle of tack to another. On such occasions itis merely necessary to rotate the hopper until the door is downward and the'nre'mox e it after first removing the bolt which holds it, whereupon thetacks in the hopper will fall through the opening 37 on to an inclined chute 39, (Fig. 1,) which will direct them to one side where they can be caught in a convenient receptacle.

While I have herein shown and described the best embodiment of the invention of which I am at present aware it is obvious I hopper and arranged to pass through the articles tumbled iii-the hopper, said bucket being provided with a disten'sible end arranged to register with the stationary raceway at times during the rotation of the hopper, substantially as described. .f f

2. A handling mechanism,having, in combination,1a rotary hopper: a stationary raceway therein; and buckets carried'by the hopper and arranged to pass through the articles tumbled in the hopper, each bucket having a distensible end arranged to register with the stationary raceway at times during the rotation of the hopper, substantially as described.

8. A handling mechanism, having, in combination, a rotary hopper, a slotted bucket carried thereby arranged to pass through the articles tumbled in the hopper, and deflecting walls on the bucket for deflecting the points of the articles caught by the bucket toward the slot therein, substantially as described.

4. A handling mechanism, having, in combination, a rotary hopper; a stationary raceway therein; and a bucket carried by the hopper and arranged to pass through the articles tumbled in the hopper, said bucket being provided with a pair of spaced rails arranged to register with the stationary raceway at times during the rotation of the hopper, the free ends of the spaced ra ls being distended after they pass the point of registration with the stationary raceway, substantially as described.

5. A handling mechanism, having, in combination, a rotary hopper; a stationary raceway therein; a bucket carried by the hopper and arranged to pass through the articles tumbled in the hopper, said bucket being provided with a pair of spaced rails arranged to register with the stationary raceway at times during the rotation of the hopper, the free ends of the spaced rails being distended after they pass the point of registration with the stationary raceway; and means for contracting the distended rails as they approach the point of registration with the stationary raceway; substantially as described.

6. A handling mechanism, having, in combination, a support, a stationary raceway carried thereby; a hopper rotatably mounted on the support; a bucket carried by the hopper and arranged to pass through the articles tumbled in the hopper, said bucket being provided with a pair of spaced rails arranged to register with the stationary race way at times during the rotation of the hopper, the free ends of the spaced rails being distended after they pass the point of registration with the stationary raceway; and a track on the support for contracting the distended rails as they approach the point of registration with the stationary raceway, substantially as described.

7. A handling mechanism, having, in combination, a rotary hopper; and a bucket carried by the hopper and arranged to pass through the articles tumbled in the hopper,

said bucket being provided with a pair .of spaced rails the free ends of which are distensible, substantially as described.

8. A handling mechanism, having, in combination,arotary hopper; and a bucket carried by the hopper and arranged to pass through the articles tumbled in the hopper, said bucket being provided with a pair of spaced rails the free ends of which are normally sprung apart, substantially as described.

9. A handling mechanism, having, in combination, a rotary hopper; a stationary raceway therein; a bucket carried by the hopper and arranged to pass through the articles tumbled in the hopper, provided with a pair of spaced rails, the free ends of which are normally sprung apart, arranged to register with the stationary raceway at times during the rotation of the hopper; and means for contracting the free ends of the spaced rails as they approach the point of registration with the stationary raceway, substantially as described.

10. A handling mechanism, having, in combination, a raceway constructed to support and loosely embrace respectively the heads and shanks of the articles handled, and a pair of spring-pressed blocks located at the delivery end of the raceway for alining the shanks of the articles, substantially as described.

11. A handling mechanism, having, in combination, a raceway for the articles handled, mechanism for holding the articles from sliding off the racewav, mechanism for alining the shanks of the articles at the de livery end of the raceway, and means for operating said mechanisms to release the articles in the raceway, substantially as described.

12. A handling mechanism, having, in combination, a raceway, a support therefor, a gate pivoted on the support constructed and arranged to normally prevent the escape of the articles loaded on the raceway, a bridge carried by the raceway, a pair of leaf springs depending from the bridge, and blocks mounted on the lower ends of the springs, respectively, for alining the shanks of the articles adjacent to the gate, substantially as described.

13. A handling mechanism, having, in combination, a raceway, a support therefor, a bridge carried by the raceway, a pair of leaf springs depending from the bridge, and blocks mounted on the lower end of the springs, respectively, for alining the shanks of the articles adjacent to the delivery end of the raceway, substantially as described.

14:. A handling mechanism, having, in combination a hopper; a stationary raceway therein; and a traveling picker arranged to pass through the articles in the hopper and provided with a distensible end arrangedto register with the stationary racewayat times during the travel of the picker.

15. A handling mechanism, having, in 5 combination, a hopper; a stationary raceway therein; and a traveling picker arranged to pass through the articles in the hopper and provided" with a pair of spaced rails artended after they pass the point of regis-- tration With the stationary raceway.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification.

CHARLES C. BLAKE.

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