GB1179857A - System for Stacking and Transporting Sheet Material - Google Patents

Abstract

1,179,857. Stacking sheets; endless conveyers; suction lifting heads. DEAN RESEARCH CORP. 3 June, 1967, No. 25738/67. Headings B8A, B8H and B8R. Apparatus for stacking and transporting sheets comprises a support carrying a hollow head connected to a source of vacuum, the head being recessed for the reception of a stack of sheets, means for raising individual sheets into the head, and a levelling plate contained in the head which contacts the top sheet of the stack. General arrangement.-A trolley 4 rides on overhead rails 2, 3, Fig. 1, and carries a hanger 7 and linked support 9 for the suction head. Sheets 26, which may be glass, are supplied by conveyer belt 25, and introduced into stack 28; when the stack is complete, trolley 4 is traversed and the stack is removed to a discharge point and the head is rotated in the direction of arrow 32. Suction head.-The head, Figs. 1 and 2, has a top 10 and at least one side, preferably two, 11, 12, provided with a cavity 13 connected to a vacuum source. A levelling plate 15, fitted with an actuator 16, e.g. an hydraulic ram, has perforations in its sides 19, 20, and in the underside of its ceiling 17 so that a hollow space 18 is formed in the plate which communicates via the perforations with cavity 13. Rubber or other elastomeric seals 23 are provided to prevent loss of vacuum. In operation, actuator 16 lowers levelling plate 15 and the stack of sheets 28 until the lowest sheet of the stack contacts a sheet 26<SP>1</SP> located on the conveyer 25 immediately beneath the head; this latter sheet then comes under the influence of the vacuum, and is retained with the stack when the levelling plate 15 is raised. Depositing of a completed stack on a receiver is achieved by releasing the vacuum. Alternative stacking devices.-In the case of heavy sheets, the conveyer is formed of a number of parallel belts (35, 36, 37), Figs. 4 and 5 (not shown), a table (38), having raised ribs which co-operate with the spaces between the belts, can be lifted under the action of a ram (39) to bring individual sheets carried on the conveyer into contact with stack 28, and hence into the range of the vacuum in the suction head. A pneumatic device which detects the presence of the lowest sheet in the stack and actuates the raising mechanism for the levelling plate 15 can also be incorporated, Fig. 6 (not shown). If large glass plates are scored before stacking. Fig. 4 (not shown), then, after stacking and transportation, they may be broken into smaller plates just prior to release. Sheet feeding.-The use of the apparatus can be reversed so that a full stack of material can be picked up and then traversed into position over the endless conveyer. The levelling plate is then lowered stepwise and sheets are delivered individually on to the conveyer.