AU681504B2 - Pipe handling system - Google Patents

Description

I I_ -1-

AUSTRALIA

PATENTS ACT 1990 COMPLETE S PE QT RT rAT T QN FOR A STANDARD PATENT

ORIGINAL

5.55 -T~L Name of Applicant: Actual Inventors: Address for Service: Invention Title: Details of Associated JAMES HARDIE RESEARCH PTY. LIMITED, A.C.N. 066 114 092 Koos BAAS and Robert LEVERS SHELSTON WATERS Margaret Street SYDNEY NSW 2000 "PIPE HANDLING SYSTEM" Provisional Application No: PM5978 dated 31st May, 1994 The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to us:ae~ ,a ~Cg 2- The present invention relates to materials handling systems and in particular to an apparatus for counting and dispensing predetermined numbers of generally cylindrical articles such as rods, pipes and the like.

The invention has been developed primarily for use in the packaging of lengths of plastic piping or conduit and will be described hereinafter with reference to this application. However, it will be appreciated that the invention is not limited to this particular field of use.

In the past, operator intervention was generally required at the end of a plastic pipe manufacturing to.. process, to collect predetermined numbers of pipe lengths t efor subsequent strapping in bundles or for packaging in some other manner.

15 Whilst automatic counting or measuring systems have been contemplated using containers sized only to receive .a certain number of rods or the like, different container sizes are required to cover the various combinations of diameters and the number of rods required. In the present case where a reasonable variety of pipe sizes are produced, such an option is not a practical solution due, for example, to cost, container storage problems and change over times.

It is a first object of the present invention to provide an apparatus for counting and dispensing like sized generally cylindrical objects such as rods or pipes, that is sufficiently flexible to readily adapt to various rod diameters and quantities.

3- According to a first aspect of the invention there is provided an apparatus for counting and dispensing a plurality of like sized cylinders or rods, said apparatus comprising: an inclined rod collecting rack for supporting a two-dimensional array of parallel transversely contiguous rods, said rack having an upper longitudinally extending rod receiving side and a parallel lower rod dispensing side having stop means associated therewith; and 10 adjustably positionable stationary rod detection means and barrier means disposed at a predetermined location across the rack intermediate said upper and lower sides; said barrier means being operable in response to 15 the rod detection means to extend from an inoperable retracted position away from the surface of the rack to S/ :.an operable position at or adjacent the surface of said rack to thereby separate a predetermined number of rods from the array for subsequent dispensing from said lower side.

Preferably, the rod stop means are separate from the rack, such that dispensing of the predetermined number of pipes is achieved by either moving the stop means away from the lower side of the rack or, as in the preferred form, moving the rack away from the stop means. This is achieved in one embodiment by, for example, vertically raising or lowering the collecting rack so as to clear the stop means, such that the rods I ~I 4 are dispensed under the action of gravity from the lower side of the rack. The preferred inclination of the collecting rack is between 20 and 150 to the horizontal.

Desirably, the stationary rod or pipe detection means comprises an electronic proximity sensor located beneath the rod collecting rack.

Preferably, the barrier means comprises two longitudinally spaced reciprocally movable pin or finger formations disposed beneath the rod collecting rack.

Desirably, the pins are selectively operable, by, for example, pneumatic cylinders, to extend upwardly from the rack between two adjacent contiguous rods, to thereby separate the rod array at the predetermined location. In this manner the pins retain and prevent the dispensing of 15 any rods disposed above their location.

In the preferred embodiment, the electronic sensor 4. and barrier means are slidably mounted on guide tracks so as to be variably positionable according to the number and diameter of the rods to be dispensed.

Preferably, the system is controlled via a programmable logic controller (PLC) or the like.

Turning next to the stage of strapping the bundles of pipes, past practice has been to provide typically two to eight strapping machines positioned at spaced intervals along the bundle that apply the various straps simultaneously. Whilst this minimises the operation time, the strapping units themselves are extremely costly.

Furthermore, the rate at which the pipes are produced 5 does not permit this time saving on strapping to have any influence on total process times.

It is a second object of the invention to provide a pipe bundling and strapping system that overcomes or at least ameliorates one or more of the disadvantages of the prior art.

According to a second aspect of the invention there is provided a pipe handling system for bundling and strapping a predetermined number of pipes, said system comprising: pipe or rod counting and dispensing means according to the first aspect of the invention; means to convey pipe lengths to said counting and Sdispensing means; 15 means to form the pipes dispensed from the counting means into a bundle; and pipe conveying and strapping means operable to sequentially apply two or more straps to the bundled pipe lengths.

In the preferred form, the system includes tilting conveyor means to transfer the loose pipes directly from the completed pipe manufacturing process and onto the pipe counting and dispensing means previously described.

Desirably, the pipe bundling means comprises a chain conveyor having adjustable carrier tynes adapted to form the lower portion of the bundle into a predetermined cross-sectional shape. Preferably, nozzle means are also provided at the exit of the chain conveyor to form the 6 upper portion of the bundle into the shape required.

Desirably, the system includes a single automatic strapping machine of the kind well-known to those skilled in the art that is disposed adjacent the nozzle exit and upstream of an optional final feed conveyor.

Preferably, a plurality of pipe detecting sensors are disposed at predetermined downstream distancet from the strapping machine, which sensors signal the feed conveyor to stop periodically as a strap is applied to the bundle.

Again it is preferred that the apparatus include a programmable logic controller (PLC) to control the S"sequencing of operations for various pipe diameters, lengths and quantities.

A preferred embodiment of the invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 is a schematic plan view of a first embodiment pipe handling system in accordance with the o 0 invention; Figure 2 is an enlarged sectional view of part of the pipe handling system taken on line 2-2 of Figure 1 comprising a first embodiment pipe counting and dispensing apparatus together with a first embodiment pipe bundling means; Figure 3 is an enlarged fragmented schematic sectional view of the pipe counting and dispensing apparatus shown in Figure 2; and 7 Figure 4 is a schematic end view of a first embodiment tilting in-feed or out-feed conveyor shown in the horizontal conveying position; and Figure 5 is a schematic end view of the conveyor shown in Figure 4 illustrated in the tilted dispensing position.

Referring to the drawings, the pipe handling system shown generally at 1 comprises a pipe counting and dispensing apparatus 2 intermediate a pipe in-feed 10 conveyor 3 and a pipe bundling apparatus 4. The bundling I* apparatus 4 feeds to a strapping machine 5 and then to an out-feed conveyor 6.

Referring in particular to Figures 2 and 3, the pipe counting and dispensing apparatus 2 comprises an 15 inclined rod collecting rack 9 that is disposed on the So. downside of a correspondingly inclined feed surface .The collecting rack 9 has an upper longitudinally extending rod receiving side 11 and a parallel lower rod dispensing side 12. Pipe stop means 13 are provided in the form of a vertically extending conveyor wall 14 that is disposed adjacent the lower rod dispensing side 12.

The rack 9 is preferably inclined at an angle of between 2 and 15 degrees to the horizontal such that the pipes will roll freely on the surface toward the stop means 13, without gathering excess momentum that may cause the pipes to climb one upon another. In this manner pipes fed onto the rack form a two dimensional array of parallel transversely contiguous rods.

I-

8 The rack 9 includes adjustably positionable stationary rod detection means and barrier means shown generally at 15. In the preferred form illustrated, the barrier means comprises two longitudinally spaced reciprocally movable separating pins 16 that are operated by, for example, pneumatic cylinders 17. An alternate position for the pin 16 and cylinder 17 is shown by ghosting in Figure 3. The pipe detection means comprises an electronic proximity sensor (not shown) that is 9*a* 10 mounted, for convenience, with one of the separator pins and pneumatic cylinder assemblies.

9 .The pin and cylinder assemblies are each slidably mounted on optionally graduated guides 18 such that their position can be altered according to the number and size 15 of pipes to be counted.

The rack 9 is also preferably mounted for vertically reciprocating motion by connection with one or more pneumatic cylinders 20 that are each connected with the support frame 21. This frame 21 includes guide means 22 in the form of guide rollers 23 which operate against supporting guide surfaces 24.

Referring again to Figure 2, there is shown a cross-sectional view of the pipe bundling apparatus 4.

This apparatus comprises a chain conveyor 27 having a plurality of adjustable carrier tynes 28 which are used to form the lower portion of the bundle into a predetermined truncated V-shaped cross-sectional configuration. Adjustment is preferably achieved by ~ra% ~d 9 making one side of the tyne arms movable towaid and away from the other side.

A nozzle 29 is disposed adjacent the downstream end of the chain conveyor 27 (see Figure This nozzle extends over the upper portion of the chain conveyor to round the top portion of the bundles into the desired shape such that a generally hexagonal or rounded bundle of pipes is formed at its exit.

The strapping machine 5 shown adjacent nozzle 29 is :eeoee 10 of a conventional construction having a substantially square passage through which the bundled pipes pass to be strapped then on to the out-feed conveyor 6.

*9 9 S"In the system illustrated in Figure 1, both the ~in-feed conveyor 3 and out-feed conveyor 6 are tilting 15 conveyors of the kind illustrated in Figures 4 and These conveyors comprise support frames 31 with fairly .standard conveyor belt structures 32. The belt structures however are hingedly connected along one .gle longitudinal edge 33 to the frame 31 and attached at or adjacent the opposing longitudinal edge 34 to a generally vertically acting pneumatic cylinder 35 which is secured to the frame 31. Alternative actuating means can be used throughout the system such as hydraulics, gear motor and rack mechanisms or the like.

The system also includes a controller (not shown), preferably a PLC, which controls the timing and sequencing of the various components of the apparatus in a known manner. Desirably, the controller is I I q L I~ CI~-(ll II 10 pre-programmed for a variety of pipe sizes, units and lengths.

In use, the system is first set up by adjusting the types on the chain conveyor to suit the bundle size. The PLC is then set to the approximate program based on pipe length and whether strapping is required. The extruded and cooled plastic pipes are then fed on to the in-feed conveyor 3. When there is a suitable gap in the process, the in-feed conveyor is tilted as shown in Figure 5 so as *coo 10 to dispense the pipes onto the inclined feed surface 9* 0 of the counting and dispensing apparatus 2. From this point the pipes roll over the pipe receiving side onto the inclined pipe collecting rack 9 until they abut either the conveyor wall 14 or an adjacent pipe disposed 15 therebetween. This is repeated until sufficient pipes have been fed onto the rack and formed into a two o dimensional array to trigger the separator pins 16. It should be noted that pipes rolling past the sensor will not be detected until they form part of the stationary array.

Once the separator pins have been triggered, the controller signals the rack lifting mechanism thereby actuating the vertically acting pneumatic cylinder such that the rack is lifted to the ghosted position shown in Figure 2. At this location, the pipes are no longer retained by the conveyor wall 14 and they roll under gravity onto the chain conveyor 27 between the tynes 28. Any pipes on the rack above the separator pin a~ ~a ~d~i 11 16 are retained. The rack can then be lowered and the separator pins withdrawn so that additional pipes can be collected whilst the first bundle are being strapped.

The pipes dispensed into the chain conveyor are then conveyed through the nozzle 29 wherein the bundle is finally formed into the desired overall shape for passage through the strapping machine A plurality of pipe detecting sensors are disposed at predetermined downstream distances from the strapping 10 machine 5, which sensors signal the out-feed conveyor 6 9: to stop periodically so that a strap can be applied to e the bundle at that particular location. The conveyor then recommences until the bundle is transported to the next downstream sensor at which stage a further strap is 15 applied. The straps are preferably applied approximately 500mm from each end and at approximately im intervals therebetween. Typical pipe lengths that can be handled *goo by the system embodiment illustrated are 4m, 5m and 6m.

Although the invention has been described with reference to a specific example, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, that the invention may be embodied in many other forms.

11~111-411~-41 C1~4~Y Ih~l

Claims (20)

1. An apparatus for counting and dispensing a plurality of like sized cylinders or rods, said apparatus comprising: an inclined rod collecting rack for supporting a two-dimensional array of parallel transversely contiguous rods, said rack having an upper longitudinally extending rod receiving side and a parallel lower rod dispensing side having stop means 10 associated therewith; and adjustably positionable stationary rod detection means and barrier means disposed at a predetermined location across the rack intermediate said upper and lower sides; 15 said barrier means being operable in response to the rod detection means to extend from an inoperable retracted position away from the surface of the rack to an operable position at or adjacent the surface of said rack to thereby separate a predetermined number of rods from the array for subsequent dispensing from said lower side.

2. An apparatus according to claim 1 wherein the rod stop means and/or rack are movable relative to the other to effect dispensing of the pipes from the rack.

3. An apparatus according to claim 2 wherein the stop means are separate and the rack can be vertically raised or lowered so as to clear the stop means such that the rods are dispensed under the action of gravity a 13 from the lower side of the rack.

4. An apparatus according to any one of the proceeding claims wherein the preferred inclination of the collecting rack is between 20 and 150 to the horizontal.

An apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the stationary rod detection means comprises at least one electronic proximity sensor located beneath an upper surface of the rcd collecting rack.

6. An apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the barrier means comprises two longitudinally spaced reciprocally movable pin or finger formations disposed beneath the rod collecting rack. 15

7. An apparatus according to claim 6 wherein the pins are selectively operable to extend upwardly from *too the rack between two adjacent contiguous rods to thereby separate the rod array at the predetermined location.

8. An apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the rod detection means and barrier means are slidably mounted on guide tracks so as to be variably positionable according to the number and diameter of the rods to be dispensed.

9. An apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims including control means in the form of programmable logic controller.

A pipe handling system for bundling and strapping a predetermined number of pipes, said system comprising: I, 14 pipe or rod counting and dispensing means according to any one of claims 1 to 9; means to convey pipe lengths to said counting and dispensing means; means to form the pipes dispensed from the counting means into a bundle; and pipe conveying and strapping means operable to sequentially apply two or more straps to the bundled pipe lengths. e*o 10

11. A pipe handling system according to claim .ee including tilting conveyor means to transfer the loose pipes directly from a completed pipe manufacturing S. process and on to the pipe counting and dispensing means.

12. A pipe handling system according to claim 10 or claim 11 wherein the pipe bundling means comprises a chain conveyor having adjustable carrier tynes adapted to form the lower portion of the bundle into a predetermined cross-sectional shape.

13. A pipe handling system according to claim 12 wherein the carrier types are provided in pairs where one type is fixed and the other can be moved to thereby adjust the cross-sectional shape of the lower portion cf the bundle.

14. A pipe handling system according to claim 12 including nozzle means provided at or adjacent the exit of the chain conveyor to form the upper portion of the bundle into the shape required.

A pipe handling system according to any one of -s 15 claims 10 to 14 including a single automatic strapping machine disposed adjacent the exit to the bundling means.

16. A pipe handling system according to any one of claims 10 to 15 including a final feed conveyor downstream of the strapping machine.

17. A pipe handling system according to any one of claims 10 to 16 includilig a plurality of pipe detecting sensors disposed at predetermined downstream distances from a strapping machine, which sensors signal a feed 10 conveyor to stop periodically as the strap is applied to o* the bundle.

18. A pipe handling system according to any one of claims 10 to 17 including a programmable logic controller to control the sequencing of operations for various pipe diameters, lengths and quantities.

19. An apparatus for counting and dispensing a plurality of like sized cylinders or rods substantially as herein described with reference to Figures 1, 2 and 3 S"'of the accompanying drawings.

20. A pipe handling system substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings. Dated this 30th Day of May, 1995 JAMES HARDIE RESEARCH PTY. LIMITED Attorney: CAROLINE M. BOMMER Fellow Institute of Patent Attorneys of Australia of SHELSTON WATERS L IL I I. I ABSTRACT An apparatus for counting and dispensing a plurality of like sized cylinders or rods, including an inclined rod collecting rack for supporting a two-dimensional array of parallel transversely contiguous rods. The rack has an upper longitudinally extending rod receiving side (11) and a parallel lower rod dispensing side Pipe stop means (13) are provided which may be in the form of a vertically extending conveyor wall (14) that is disposed 10 adjacent the lower rod dispensing side The rack 9 also includes adjustably positionable stationary rod 4 detection means and barrier means The barrier means (16) are operable in response to to rod detection means (not shown) to extend from an inoperable retracted position away from the surface of the rack to an operable position at or adjacent the surface of the rack a 4 to thereby separate a predetermined number of rods from the array for subsequent dispensing from the lower side **44 The invention also provide a pipe handling system for bundling and strapping a predetermined number of pipes which incorporates the apparatus described above. The system also includes conveyor means (27) and (29) to transfer pipe lengths to the counting and dispensing means and means form the pipes dispensed from the counting means into a bundle. Pipe conveying and strapping means and are also provided which are operable to sequentially apply two or more straps to the bundled pipe lengths. ll11111 I IPY BI~-Pll~sYIJIIIJI