GB1592758A

GB1592758A - Conveyors

Info

Publication number: GB1592758A
Application number: GB3290376A
Authority: GB
Original assignee: Ranks Hovis McDougall Ltd
Current assignee: Ranks Hovis McDougall Ltd
Priority date: 1977-09-16
Filing date: 1977-09-16
Publication date: 1981-07-08

Description

(54) IMPROVEMENTS IN OR RELATING TO CONVEYORS (71) We, RANKS HOVIS MCDOUGALL LIMITED of RHM Centre, P.O. Box 551, 152 Grosvenor Road, London, SW1V 3JL, a British Cpmpany, do hereby declare the invention, for which we pray that a patent may be granted to us, and the method by which it is to be performed, to be particularly described in and by the following statement: This invention relates to conveyors and in particular to conveyor apparatus by which an array of articles may be transferred sequentially from an input station to an output station.

According to the present invention there is provided conveyor apparatus for transferring articles and comprising an input station and an output station horizontally spaced therefrom; support means located between said stations and extending longitudinally from the input station towards the output station, said support means being capable of supporting a longitudinally spaced array of the articles; transfer means located adjacent to and substantially parallel with the support means and capable of engaging and supporting a longitudinally spaced array of the articles; displacement means for imparting relative cyclical reciprocating movement between the transfer means and the support means in a substantially vertical plane, said relative movement of the transfer means following a predetermined path the position of which is fixed relative to the support means; said predetermined path resulting from the displacement means imparting a cycle of reciprocation to the transfer means whereby the transfer means exhibits relative longitudinal displacement from the input station towards the output station, and sequentially upward and downward movement relative to the support means, and subsequently exhibits relative longitudinal displacement from the output station towards the input station, and sequentially downward and upward movement relative to the support means; a longitudinally displaceable takeoff conveyor on which the output station is located and to which the articles are intended to be progressively transferred, said take-off conveyor carrying a sheet which is preformed to provide a longitudinally extending array of pockets for receiving articles progressively transferred to the output station; the arrangement of the apparatus being such that during a first cycle of reciprocation, the transfer means will move upwardly to engage an article at the input station, continue its upward movement to lift that article from the input station, be displaced longitudinally to move that article towards the output station and move downwardly to deposit that article on the support means nearer to the output station, during a second or subsequent cycle of reciprocation the transfer means will move upwardly to engage and lift that article from the support means, displace that article further longitudinally towards the output station and move downwardly again to deposit that article on the support means at a position still nearer to the output station, and during a final cycle of reciprocation in respect of that article the transfer means will move upwardly to engage and lift that article from the support means or the support means will, displace that article longitudinally towards and deposit it at the output station, and wherein longitudinal displacement of the take-off conveyor can be synchronised with the rate of transfer of articles to the output station so that each article is transferred into a separate pocket of the sheet carried by the take-off conveyor.

By the present invention it is envisaged that as each of a succession of articles is located at the input station it will be engaged by the transfer means during cyclic movement of the latter so that the article is lifted from the input station and transferred to a position on the support means nearer to the output station. During subsequent cyclic movements of the transfer means the article will be progressively displaced by the transfer means in longitudinal stages along the support means until it is finally transferred to the output station by either the transfer means or the support means.As a consequence when a longitudinally spaced array of articles is located on the support means, all such articles will simultaneously be engaged by the transfer means and, in unison, sequentially lifted from the support means, displaced towards the output station and deposited on the support means at positions which are respectively nearer to the output station (possibly with the leading article being transferred by the transfer means from the support means to be deposited in a pocket of the preformed sheet on the conveyor at the output station or by the support means itself to be deposited in a said pocket at the output station).

The relative cyclical reciprocating movement between the transfer means and the support means may be achieved while both such means are each exhibiting a cyclic motion, the respective cycles of which are constant and out of phase with each other; by such an arrangement a rapid rate of article transfer may be achieved.Preferably however the support means is stationary while appropriate cyclical reciprocating movement is imparted by the displacement means solely to the transfer means (so that the transfer means effects displacement of successive articles both frrom the input station so the support means and from the support means to the output station) and, for convenience, the following description will be directed towards such an arrangement (it being realised that suitable constructions of the apparatus for arrangements in which both the transfer means and the support means are exhibiting individual motion relative to each other will be apparent to persons skilled in the art in having an understanding of the present invention).

The path of cyclical reciprocating movement which is imparted by the displacement means to the transfer means may take many forms but will usually follow a circular, rectangular or elliptical path in a vertical plane. A most convenient cyclic motion is that where the transfer means follows a circular path achieved bathe transfer means being movable under the control of a roatating crank or eccentric.Alternatively the cyclic reciprocating movement of the transfer means (particularly if such movement is to follow a rectangular or elliptical path) may be achieved by mounting the transfer means to be slidably movable in a vertical plane, independently vertically and horizontally; such sliding displacement of the transfer means is conveniently controlled by fluid pressure operated rams, mechanical devices such as cams or cranks or electrical solenoids actuated in a predetermined sequence by an appropriate control system to provide the predetermined path for the cycle.

The transfer means and support means may comprise a substantially parallel array of rails or bars which extend longitudinally between the input and output stations and on one or more of which an article undergoing transfer may stand or between two of which an article undergoing transfer may be supported. In a preferred arrangement there are three such rails which, in plan view, are laterally spaced and in side-by-side relation; of the three rails the centre rail may form the transfer means while the two outer rails together form the support means (or vice versa) so that the relative cyclical reciprocating movement is effected between the two outer rails and the centre rail.By this latter arrangement an article which is undergoing transfer by the apparatus may stand on the centre rail to be supported or lifted thereby as the case may be or may stand on both the two outer rails or hang between such outer rails when supported or lifted thereby as the case may be.

The apparatus of the invention in transferring articles from the input station to the output station horizontally spaced therefrom may effect such transfer either upwardly or downwardly provided that the inclination is not such as will cause loss of control of the articles during their transfer.

On this latter point, either or both the transfer means and support means can be provided with a longitudinal array of seats which are appropriately spaced and pitched in accordance with the relative cyclical movement between the transfer means and the support means so that each article will be located stably in a seat and transferred between such seats as it progresses through the apparatus. For example, an article may be transferred between seats on the support means and may also be located stably in a seat during its displacement by the transfer means, the purpose of the seats being to ensure that the articles are appropriately maintained in their correctly pitched posi- tion (and such seats are particularly desirable when articles are being conveyed along an incline).

It is envisaged that the transfer means and support means will usually be arranged such that the articles are conveyed along a substantially straight path from the input station to the output station. Upon occasion however, for example, if the conveyor apparatus is fitted into an existing conveyor system, the input station and/or the output station may be positioned at a considerable vertical spacing from a rectilinear run of the articles as transferred by the transfer and support means.With this latter possibility in mind and to permit an article to be conveyed by the transfer means either, or both, from the input station to the support means or from the support means to the output station over a considerable height differential, the ends of the transfer means and support means adjacent to the input station and/or the output station may be provided with a longitudinally stepped configuration whereby one or more steps are in eachelon respectively with a main run of the transfer means and support means so that during cyclical reciprocating movement of the transfer means an article will be displaced thereby progressively along the steps of the transfer means and over the steps of the support means upwardly from the input station or downwardly to the output station as the case may be.

An embodiment of the present invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying illustrative drawings, in which: Figure I is a side elevation of transfer means, support means and displacement means suitable for use in conveyor apparatus in accordance with the invention; Figure 2 is a section of the means shown in Figure 1 and taken on the line II-II thereof; Figure 3 is a side elevation of part of apparatus similar to that shown in Figure 1 and modified to provide displacement of articles during their transfer; Figure 4 is a side elevation diagrammatically illustrating a further form of transfer means, support means and displacement means suitable for use in conveyor apparatus in accordance with the invention; Figure 5 is a section of the means in Figure 4 taken on the line V-V thereof;; Figure 6 is a side elevation of part of conveyor apparatus in accordance with the invention and illustrates an available modification by which articles undergoing transfer in the apparatus can be located in seats formed by castellations; Figure 7 is a side elevation of a conveyor apparatus in accordance with the present invention which incorporates means similar to that shown in Figures 1 and 3 and diagrammatically illustrates a continuous production process for articles from their manufacture to packing;; Figure 8 is a plan view of conveyor apparatus which may form part of the apparatus shown in Figure 7 and particularly illustrates an arrangement in which it is desirable to change the lateral spacing between adjacent rows of articles undergoing transfer longitudinally, and Figure 9 is a lateral section of part of the apparatus shown in Figure 8 taken on the line IX-IX of Figure 8.

Where possible throughout the following description the same parts or members as referred to in each of the Figures have been recorded same references.

The apparatus of the present invention was primarily developed for the transfer of pies, cakes, tarts or similar "individual" foodstuff articles during their production and for convenience the following description will be directed towards the use of the invention for the transfer of pies. The invention, however, is not intended to be restricted to its use for the transfer of foodstuff and it will readily be appreciated that the apparatus may be adapted for conveying many forms of articles - particularly if these are of a delicate or fragile nature.

Referring firstly to Figures 1 and 2, there is a walking beam conveyor 1 comprising a horizontal support rail 2 mounted on fixed struts 3. Located one on each side of the support rail 2 and in parallel side-by-side relation therewith are a pair of transfer rails 4. Each rail 4 is supported by legs 5 and 6 which extend downwardly from, and are rigid with, their respective rail 4. The legs 5 are opposed and their lower ends are pivotally connected at 7 as cranks one with each, of a pair of discs 8 mounted on, and rotatable with, a shaft 9. Similarly, the legs 6 are opposed and their lower ends are pivotally connected at 10 as cranks one with each, of a pair of discs 11 mounted on, and rotatable with, a shaft 12. The shafts 9 and 12 are simultaneously rotated at the same speed by a motor 13 through drive shafts 14 and appropriate gearing (not shown).

The cranks formed by the pivots 7 and 10 are so arranged that during rotation of the discs 8 and 11, the transfer rails 4 move in unison and are maintained parallel with the support rail 2 whilst exhibiting a cylical reciprocating circular motion in a vertical plane relative to the support rail 2. As a consequence of this cyclical motion and with the discs 8, 11 rotating in the directions indicated by their arrows, the transfer rails 4 are displaced in unison longitudinally and laterally relative to the support rail 2 and the extent of such movement is indicated by the circular chain lines 15 in Figure 1.

The conveyor 1 in Figure 1 forms part of a transfer system for pies 16 which are individually packaged in aluminium foil frustoconical cases 16a the larger diameter part of which is uppermost and is provided with an external peripheral flange 16b. In this system, a row of the pies 16 is fed on an endless conveyor 17 in a spaced array and sequentially to an input station indicated at 18 of the conveyor 1. The pies 16 are intended to be transferred from the input station 18 to an station generally indicated at 19 on an endless conveyor 20 by which the pies are further conveyed as a row in spaced array.

The support rail 2 extends longitudinally between the stations 18 and 19. It will be seen from Figure 1 that the transfer rails 4 are somewhat longer than the support rail 2 so that during their cyclical reciprocation their respective ends are displaced longitudinally between positions in which they overlie the input station and positions substantially alongside the support rail 2 and also between positions in which they overlie the station 19 and positions substantially alongside the support rail 2.

In use of the walking beam conveyor shown in Figure 1 and with the discs 8 and 11 rotating and the conveyors 17 and 20 being displaced in the directions indicated by the respective arrows, the cyclical movement of the transfer rails 4 (which may be either intermittent or continuous) is synchronised with the position of a pie 16 on a conveyor 17 so that as that pie moves into the input station 18 it moves between the transfer rails 4 while the latter overlie the conveyor 17 and are at, or near, the lowermost position in their cycle.From this lowermost position, as the discs 8 and 11 are rotated, the transfer rails 4 are displaced upwardly until they engage the pie case (conveniently beneath the flange 16b of the pie case as shown in Figure 2) and continued upward displacement of the rails 4 causes the pie 16 to be lifted from the conveyor 17 and displaced longitudinally towards the station 19. Continued cyclical movement of the transfer rails 4 causes the pie to be carried further towards the station 19 and lowered until it eventually stands on the support rail 2 where continued downward movement of the transfer rails 4 causes then to disengage from the pie case. The cycle is completed as the transfer rails 4 are displaced longitudinally towards the input station 18 and again commence their upward approach to pick up a further pie at the input station.During sequential cycles of the transfer rails 4 each pie 16 is lifted between the rails 4 (see Figure 2) during upward movement thereof, displaced longitudinally further towards the station 19 and lowered to stand on the support rail 2; the effect of this is that as pies are progressively fed from the input station on to the support rail 2, all such pies will simultaneously be lifted from the support rail 2 and displaced towards the station 19.Upon a pie reaching the end of the support rail 2 and on a final cycle of the transfer rails 4 for that pie, the pie is lifted by the transfer rails 4 from the support rail as aforementioned and displaced longitudinally to the output station 19 over the conveyor 20; as the transfer rails 4 move downwardly, the pie is displaced downwardly until it stands on the conveyor 20 while the rails 4 continue their downward movement out of engagement with the flange 16b and the pie is carried away from the station 19 by the conveyor 20. As the pies progress along the support rail 2 it will be apparent that the spacing or pitch between such pies is substantially constant and is determined by the longitudinal stroke of the transfer rails 4.However should it be required that the pies are emitted from the apparatus at a pitch different from that determined by the stroke of the transfer rails such a change in pitch can be effected by changing the speed of the take-off conveyor 20.

It will be seen from Figures 1 and 2 that all of the components for effecting cyclical reciprocation of the transfer rails 4 are positioned below the support rail 2, this is advantageous in that it permits relatively unrestricted access to the pies while they are being transferred in the conveyor. Furthermore, the location of the drive motor, the rotating elements and the like below the level of the path along which the pies are transferred alleviates the possibility of the pies being contaminated by droppings from the machinery.Irrespective of the aforegoing however, it is realised that the cyclical reciprocating movement of the transfer rails 4 may be effected (for example by rotating cranks in a similar manner to that abovedescribed) by appropriately mounting the drive components above the level of the path followed by the pies during their transfer; in this latter construction the support rail 2 may be replaced by a broad flat surface such as a table provided that the transfer rails 4 are restricted to a cyclic motion above the level of such a broad surface.

Upon occasion there may be a considerable height difference between either or both the input station 18 and the adjacent end of the support rail 2 or the station 19 and the end of the support rail adjacent thereto. To permit a smooth transfer of pies across such a height differential between a main run of the support rail and the station 19, the conveyor apparatus shown in Figure 1 may be modified as shown at la in Figure 3. In Figure 3 ancilliary support rails 2a and 2b are rigidly carried by the strut 3 to be parallel with, and to lie in the same vertical plane as, the main support rail 2. The rails 2a and 2b are vertically spaced and extended longitudinally towards the station 19 in echelon to provide two steps which lead downwardly from the main run of the support rail to the station 19. In addition the main transfer rails 4 carry two pairs of ancilliary transfer rails 4a and 4b which are parallel therewith. The transfer rails in each pair 4a and 4b are in side-by-side relationship and are located one on each side of the support rails and the rails 4, 4a and 4b which are on the same side of the support rails are located in the same vertical plane. The pairs of ancilliary transfer rails 4a and 4b extend longitudinally towards the output station 19 and are in echelon in a similar manner to the ancilliary support rails 2a and 2b. The ancilliary rails 4a and 4b are rigid with their respective transfer rails 4 so that when the transfer rails 4 exhibit their circular reciprocating motion as shown at 15, the transfer rails 4a and 4b exhibit similar circular motions as indicated by the chain lines 15a in Figure 3.The echelon arrangements of the transfer and support rails together with the cyclic motion imparted to the transfer rails is arranged so that when a pie 16 has moved along the main support rail 2 and is located towards or at the end thereof, the next cycle of the transfer rails will cause the main rails 4 to engage and lift that pie 16 and displace it longitudinally and downwardly until it stands on the ancilliary support rail 2a. In the following second cycle the ancilliary transfer rails 4a will move into engagement with the pie on the ancilliary support rail 2a, lift the pie and then displace it longitudinally and downwardly until it stands on the ancilliary support rail 2b.

During their third cycle of movement, the transfer rails 4b will move upwardly into engagement with the pie on rail 2b, lift that pie and displace it longitudinally towards and downwardly on to the station 19 where the conveyor 20 carries it away. It will be appreciated that the number of steps provided in the echelon arrangement can be increased or decreased as necessary from that illustrated in Figure 3.Furthermore, although Figure 3 shows a step down arrangement for transferring pies to the station 19, a similar but converse arrangement can be provided at the opposite end of the conveyor apparatus for moving the pies in step-wise manner from the input station 18 to the main support rail 2; such an alternative arrangement will be readily apparent to persons skilled in the art and having an understanding of the modifications shown in Figure 3 (particularly as it will be seen from Figure 3 that if the discs 11 are rotated in the direction opposite to that indicated by the arrow then the pies 16 would reverse their direction of stepped transfer and be moved upwardly towards and on to the main support rail 2).

Figures 4 and 5 show a further form of walking beam conveyor having a pair of substantially horizontal, parallel and spaced support rails 2 which are fixedly mounted in side-by-side relationship on struts 3. Located between the support rail 4 mounted by horizontal slide bearings 21 on a frame 22.

The frame 22 is supported in vertical slide mountings 23 to be capable of vertical sliding movement during which the transfer rail 4 is displaceable in a vertical plane between the support rails 2 whilst maintaining its parallel relationship therewith. In addition the slide bearings 21 permit the transfer rail 4 to slide longitudinally relative to the frame 22 and thereby relative to the support rails 2. Longitudinal displacement of the transfer rail 4 as indicated by the arrows 'x' and relative to the support rails is controlled by a fluid pressure operated reciprocable ram 24 mounted between the transfer rail and the frame 22. A further fluid pressure operated reciprocable ram 25 is coupled to the frame 22 for controlling vertical displacement thereof and of the transfer rail 4 as indicated by the arrows 'y'.

The stroke of ram 24 is considerably less than the length of the support rails 2, however by appropriate control of stroke for the respective rams 24 and 25 and sequencing of such strokes a predetermined path of cyclical reciprocating movement can be imparted to the transfer rail 4 in a vertical plane, such cyclic movement conveniently following a rectangular or elliptical path. If required the sliding movement of the transfer rail 4 may be achieved by use of mechanical devices rather than by the rams, for example the vertical displacement may be controlled by a cam arrangement and the horizontal displacement may be controlled by a reciprocating crank arrangement.

The arrangement shown in Figure 4 includes an open centre conveyor 17a by which pies 16 are fed longitudinally and sequentially to the input station 18. The transfer rail 4 is located to extend into and be displaced vertically upwardly through the open centre of the conveyor 17a during its cyclic movement as determined by the rams 24 and 25. During such upward movement of the rail 4 it abuts the base of a pie 16 at the input station, lifts that pie from the conveyor 17a, carries it towards the station 19 and lowers the pie until its base stands on both support rails 2 as shown in Figure 5.

During the succeeding cycles of reciprocation of the transfer rail 4, the pies 16 are displaced progressively along the support rails 2 until, on a final cycle of the transfer rail 4 for a particular pie, that pie is carried by the transfer rail 4 from the support rails 2 and deposited at the station 19 which is a further open centre conveyor 20a.

Although the transfer and support rails are shown flat in Figures 1 to 5, it is likely that in practice either or both the support and transfer rails will be provided with seats or rebates within which the pies are accommodated as they are engaged by the support and/or transfer rails (as the case may be).

The location of a pie in a seat or rebate is intended to restrain the pie from accidental movement over the rails (particularly if the rails are not horizontal and so the seats or rebates will be pitched longitudinally at a spacing substantially the same as the intended longitudinal movement of the pies during a stroke of the transfer rails; by this arrangement each pie will progress longitudinally along the transfer or support rails from one seat or rebate to the next. In Figure 6 a support rail 2 (conveniently that shown in Figure 1) is illustrated with seats in the form of castellations 28 which are spaced or pitched longitudinally and substantially evenly along the rail 2. Each castellation 28 is formed by two longitudinally opposed side faces 28a and a flat base face 28b.The opposed faces 28a taper towards each other as they approach the faces 28b (substantially to correspond with the taper of the pie case 16a) so that each of the pies is closely received sequentially in each of the seats 28 as it progresses along the rail 2. In the example of Figure 6 however it will be noted that the pies 16 can be displaced laterally within their respective seats 28 by sliding over the base faces 28b and this facility can be utilised to good effect as will be described hereinafter with reference to Figure 8.

Usually the pitch between each pair of adjacent seats 28 will be constant for a particular array of such seats on a support or transfer rail (depending upon the extent of pie movement for each stroke of the apparatus). However it is possible to change such pitch (to a small extent) from that which would be expected from the stroke of the apparatus to slightly advance or retard the movement of the pies as they progress along the support rail. In Figure 6 if the pitch between two adjacent seats 28 is slightly greater or smaller than that which would be expected from the stroke of the apparatus then a pie upon entering an "out-of-pitch" seat 28 would abut and slide over the appropriate inclined face 28a of that seat until it became centred in the seat 28 at its increased or decreased pitch relative to the immediately following pie.It is realised however that this advancement or retardation of movement of the pies can only be a relatively small proportion of that which would normally be expected from a stroke of the apparatus since such pie advancement or retardation depends upon a longitudinal sliding effect of the pie cases on the faces 28a.

Figure 7 diagrammatically illustrates two walking beam conveyors 1 and la as above discussed with reference to Figures 1 to 3 incorporated in a process for the continuous production of pies 16. In Figure 7 the conveyor 17 carries an array of pallets 29 within which a longitudinal row of uncooked pies are progressively formed as the pallets are moved by the conveyor 17 to the input station 18 of conveyor unit 1. The structure of the pallets 29 and their filling is conventional so that cavities 29a of the pallets are sequentially lined with a foil case and the foil case filled with an appropriate foodstuff from an overhead filling unit 30 as the pallets 29 progress to the input station 18.

Each pallet 29 has an aperture in its base which communicates with the cavity 29a and upon reaching the input station 18 a ram or other form of elevating probe 31 is actuated to raise the pie by its base from the pallet (as shown) and to position the pie thus raised so that it can be engaged by the transfer rails 4 of conveyor 1. An appropriate control system will be provided to maintain the correct synchronisation and sequence of movement of the pallets on conveyor 17, the probe 31 and the cycling of transfer rails 4.

The pies are transferred sequentially by conveyor 1 to an intermediate station 19 which is located on conveyor 20 by which latter the pies in the row are sequentially and continuously carried through an oven 32 and a cooler 33. The cooked pies emerging from the cooler 33 are carried by conveyor 20 to the input station 18 of conveyor unit la for further transfer. The conveyor la has the step down modification discussed with reference to Figure 3 by which the pies are sequentially off-loaded to an output station 19 of conveyor la located on a further longitudinally moving conveyor belt 34. The belt 34 carries plastics sheets 35 which are pre-formed to provide a longitudinally extending row of pockets 36 each of which is substantially complementary to the shape of the pie case 16a.The longitudinal movement of the pre-formed sheets 35 is synchronised with the cyclic mdtion of the transfer rails 4 in conveyor la so that each pie is transferred by the ancilliary transfer rail 4b to be located in a pocket 36 whilst the latter is moving through, or momentarily stationary at, the output station 19. In this way the pies 16 may be continuously packaged in the pre-formed sheets for subsequent carriage.

In Figure 7 only a single longitudinally extending row of pies 16 is shown in production but generally there will be several such rows which are moving in side-byside relationship on the conveyors 17 and 20; as such separate conveyor units or sections 1 and la will be provided for each row. During the processing of several such rows as aforementioned it is possible that the lateral spacing between pies in adjacent rows emerging from the cooler 33 on the conveyor 20 will be greater than the desirable lateral spacing between adjacent longitudinal rows of pockets 36 in the pre-formed sheets 35; this is particularly seen from Figure 8 which shows a plan view of three conveyor sections la which respectively transfer pies 16 from three rows thereof on the conveyor 20 to three longitudinal rows of pockets 36 in the sheets 35.To accommodate for the difference in lateral spacing between adjacent rows of pies 16 on the conveyor 18 and the lateral spacing between adjacent rows of pockets 36 on conveyor 34 the three conveyor sections la converge as they approach conveyor 34. The transfer rails 4 of the three conveyor sections are secured relative to each other to be driven in their cyclic motion relative to their respective support rails 2 by a common eccentric (not shown) which rotates about an axis 37; by use of a common drive to the transfer rails it is ensured that such rails are maintained in phase. The centre conveyor section la of Figure 8 extends parallel to the intended direction of longitudinal motion of the pie 16 as indicated by the centre line 38 and the rotational axis 37 for the eccentric extends substantially normally to the centre line 38.By this latter arrangement it will be seen that the direction of movement of the pies along the centre conveyor section la is substantially parallel to the vertical plane within which the cyclic motion of the transfer rails is effected while the direction of longitudinal movement of the pies along each of the two outer conveyor sections la is off-set from the vertical plane within which the cyclic motion of the transfer rails is effected. By this latter effect it would seem that as the pies progress along each of the outer conveyor sections la they will tend to move longitudinally parallel with the line 38 and thereby become progressively displaced laterally from their respective support rails 2. This latter effect is alleviated however for the reasons which will now be described.

When a pie 16 is first transferred from the input station 18 and deposited on the support rail 2 of one of the outer conveyor sections la (which may conveniently be considered as the position shown at 39 on the lowermost support rail in Figure 8), such pie may be slightly off-set from the mid position of the support rail 2 in a direction parallel to the axis 37. After depositing the pie at 39 the transfer rails 4 move out of engagement with that pie and continue their cycle until they again move upwardly into engagement with the pie to lift it from the support rail and carry it stepwise towards the output station 19.During this latter upward movement of the transfer rails however the initial engagement of the trans fer rail 4 (which is outermost from the line 38) with the pie will cause the pie to slide laterally over the support rail 2 in a direction parallel with the axis 37 until the pie is located mid-way between the transfer rails along the line taken parallel with the axis 37.

The lateral sliding displacement of the pie is indicated at 40 and immediately following this lateral displacement the pie is raised by the transfer rails 4 and transferred along the conveyor in a direction parallel with the centre line 38 until it is again deposited on the support rail 2 at position 39' which may be off-set from the mid-position of the support rail 2. It will be seen therefore that for each cycle of the transfer rails 4 the pie is displaced laterally to an extent shown by the line 40 and then longitudinally to an extent shown by the line 41 and these lines 40, 41 are at right angles and their extent is consistent with the formation of a right angle triangle of which the hypotenuse is parallel with the direction along which the conveyor extends (be it either the uppermost or lowermost conveyor section in Figure 8).Consequently as the pies are moved along the uppermost or lowermost conveyor sections in Figure 8 such movement is along a zig-zag path as indicated at 42 in Figure 8.

To provide a relatively smooth engagement of the transfer rails 4 with the pies 16, particularly for smoothly displacing the pies laterally as indicated at 40 it is preferred that the transfer rails 4 have chamfered edges 43 (see Figure 9) which correspond to the taper of the pie cases 16a. From Figure 9 it will be seen that as the outermost transfer rails 4 move upwardly into engagement with the pie cases 16a the chamfered surfaces 43 will slide over the surface of the pie case and thereby displace the two outermost pies inwardly until such pies are engaged between the opposing chamfered surfaces 43 and thereafter raised from the support rail 2.

It is preferred that each of the support rails 2 in Figure 8 is provided with the castellated seats 28 (as previously discussed with reference to Figure 6) so that the pies on the two outermost support rails are displaced laterally within the confines of their respective castellations 28 as indicated in Figure 9.

For convenience of construction the transfer rails 4 between two adjacent conveyor sections la can be provided by a common rail as shown in Figures 8 and 9.

In Figure 8 the conveyors la are symmetrically arranged, this is not considered essential. Furthermore it will be realised that either or both of the conveyor units 1 and la in the conveyor apparatus of Figure 7 can be replaced by another form of walking beam conveyor such as that above described with reference to Figures 4 and 5.

WHAT WE CLAIM IS: 1. Conveyor apparatus for transferring articles and comprising an input station and an output station horizontally spaced therefrom; support means located between said stations and extending longitudinally from the input station towards the output station, said support means being capable of sup porting a longitudinally spaced array of the

**WARNING** end of DESC field may overlap start of CLMS **.

Claims

**WARNING** start of CLMS field may overlap end of DESC **.

of pockets 36 in the sheets 35. To accommodate for the difference in lateral spacing between adjacent rows of pies 16 on the conveyor 18 and the lateral spacing between adjacent rows of pockets 36 on conveyor 34 the three conveyor sections la converge as they approach conveyor 34. The transfer rails 4 of the three conveyor sections are secured relative to each other to be driven in their cyclic motion relative to their respective support rails 2 by a common eccentric (not shown) which rotates about an axis 37; by use of a common drive to the transfer rails it is ensured that such rails are maintained in phase.The centre conveyor section la of Figure 8 extends parallel to the intended direction of longitudinal motion of the pie 16 as indicated by the centre line 38 and the rotational axis 37 for the eccentric extends substantially normally to the centre line 38. By this latter arrangement it will be seen that the direction of movement of the pies along the centre conveyor section la is substantially parallel to the vertical plane within which the cyclic motion of the transfer rails is effected while the direction of longitudinal movement of the pies along each of the two outer conveyor sections la is off-set from the vertical plane within which the cyclic motion of the transfer rails is effected.By this latter effect it would seem that as the pies progress along each of the outer conveyor sections la they will tend to move longitudinally parallel with the line 38 and thereby become progressively displaced laterally from their respective support rails 2. This latter effect is alleviated however for the reasons which will now be described.

When a pie 16 is first transferred from the input station 18 and deposited on the support rail 2 of one of the outer conveyor sections la (which may conveniently be considered as the position shown at 39 on the lowermost support rail in Figure 8), such pie may be slightly off-set from the mid position of the support rail 2 in a direction parallel to the axis 37. After depositing the pie at 39 the transfer rails 4 move out of engagement with that pie and continue their cycle until they again move upwardly into engagement with the pie to lift it from the support rail and carry it stepwise towards the output station 19.During this latter upward movement of the transfer rails however the initial engagement of the trans fer rail 4 (which is outermost from the line

38) with the pie will cause the pie to slide laterally over the support rail 2 in a direction parallel with the axis 37 until the pie is located mid-way between the transfer rails along the line taken parallel with the axis 37.

The lateral sliding displacement of the pie is indicated at 40 and immediately following this lateral displacement the pie is raised by the transfer rails 4 and transferred along the conveyor in a direction parallel with the centre line 38 until it is again deposited on the support rail 2 at position 39' which may be off-set from the mid-position of the support rail 2. It will be seen therefore that for each cycle of the transfer rails 4 the pie is displaced laterally to an extent shown by the line 40 and then longitudinally to an extent shown by the line 41 and these lines 40, 41 are at right angles and their extent is consistent with the formation of a right angle triangle of which the hypotenuse is parallel with the direction along which the conveyor extends (be it either the uppermost or lowermost conveyor section in Figure 8).Consequently as the pies are moved along the uppermost or lowermost conveyor sections in Figure 8 such movement is along a zig-zag path as indicated at 42 in Figure 8.

To provide a relatively smooth engagement of the transfer rails 4 with the pies 16, particularly for smoothly displacing the pies laterally as indicated at 40 it is preferred that the transfer rails 4 have chamfered edges 43 (see Figure 9) which correspond to the taper of the pie cases 16a. From Figure 9 it will be seen that as the outermost transfer rails 4 move upwardly into engagement with the pie cases 16a the chamfered surfaces 43 will slide over the surface of the pie case and thereby displace the two outermost pies inwardly until such pies are engaged between the opposing chamfered surfaces 43 and thereafter raised from the support rail 2.

It is preferred that each of the support rails 2 in Figure 8 is provided with the castellated seats 28 (as previously discussed with reference to Figure 6) so that the pies on the two outermost support rails are displaced laterally within the confines of their respective castellations 28 as indicated in Figure 9.

For convenience of construction the transfer rails 4 between two adjacent conveyor sections la can be provided by a common rail as shown in Figures 8 and 9.

In Figure 8 the conveyors la are symmetrically arranged, this is not considered essential. Furthermore it will be realised that either or both of the conveyor units 1 and la in the conveyor apparatus of Figure 7 can be replaced by another form of walking beam conveyor such as that above described with reference to Figures 4 and 5.

WHAT WE CLAIM IS: 1. Conveyor apparatus for transferring articles and comprising an input station and an output station horizontally spaced therefrom; support means located between said stations and extending longitudinally from the input station towards the output station, said support means being capable of sup porting a longitudinally spaced array of the

articles; transfer means located adjacent to and substantially parallel with the support means and capable of engaging and supporting a longitudinally spaced array of the articles; displacement means for imparting relative cyclical reciprocating movement between the transfer means and the support means in a substantially vertical plane, said relative movement of the transfer means following a predetermined path the position of which is fixed relative to the support means; said predetermined path resulting from the displacement means imparting a cycle of reciprocation to the transfer means whereby the transfer means exhibits relative longitudinal displacement from the input station towards the output station, and sequentially upward and downward movement relative to the support means, and subsequently exhibits relative longitudinal displacement from the output station towards the input station, and sequentially downward and upward movement relative to the support means; a longitudinally displaceable take-off conveyor on which the output station is located and to which the articles are intended to be progressively transferred, said take-off conveyor carrying a sheet which is preformed to provide a longitudinal extending array of pockets for receiving articles progressively transferred to the output station; the arrrangement of the apparatus being such that during a first cycle of reciprocation, the transfer means will move upwardly to engage an article at the input station, continue its upward movement to lift that article from the input station, be displaced longitudinally to move that article towards the output station and move downwardly to deposit that article on the support means nearer to the output station, during a second or subsequent cycle of reciprocation the transfer means will move upwardly to engage and lift that article from the support means, displace that article further longitudinally towards the output station and move downwardly again to deposit that article on the support means at a position still nearer to the output station, and during a final cycle of reciprocation in respect of that article the transfer means will move upwardly to engage and lift that article from the support means or the support means will, displace that article longitudinally towards and deposit at the output station, and wherein longitudinal displacement of the take-off conveyor and sheet carried thereby can be synchronised with the rate of transfer of articles to the output station so that each article is transferred into a separate pocket of the sheet carried by the take-off conveyor.
2. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein the support means is stationary and cyclical reciprocating movement is imparted by the displacement means solely to the transfer means.
3. Apparatus as claimed in either claim 1 or claim 2 wherein the relative cyclical reciprocating movement between the support means and the transfer means substantially follows a circular, rectangular or elliptical path in a vertical plane.
4. Apparatus as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein the displacement means comprises a rotating crank or eccentric which controls the relative cyclical reciprocating movement between the support means and the transfer means.
5. Apparatus as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 3 wherein the transfer means is slidably movable in a substantially vertical plane both vertically and horizontally and the displacement means controls sliding displacement of the transfer means in a predetermined sequence to provide the relative cyclical reciprocating movement between the support means and the transfer means.
6. Apparatus as claimed in claim 5 wherein the displacement means controlling sliding displacement of the transfer means comprises fluid pressure operated ram means, mechanical cam or crank means, or electrical solenoid means actuated in the predetermined sequence by a control system.
7. Apparatus as claimed in any one of the preceding claims in which the support means or the transfer means comprises a rail extending longitudinally between the input station and the output station and on which articles undergoing transfer may stand.
8. Apparatus as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 6 in which the support means or the transfer means comprises two laterally spaced and substantially parallel rails extending longitudinally between the input station and the output station and between which articles undergoing transfer are supported.
9. Apparatus as claimed in any one of the preceding claims and comprising three substantially parallel and laterally spaced rails extending longitudinally between the input station and the output station, the centre rail comprising the support means or the transfer means and the two outer rails together comprising the transfer means or the support means respectively so that displacement means effects the relative cyclical reciprocating movement between the centre rail and the two outer rails.
10. Apparatus as claimed in any one of the preceding claims in which at least one of the transfer means and the support means is provided with a longitudinal array of seats which are spaced and pitched substantially in accordance with the relative cyclical movement between the transfer means and the support means so that each article will be stably located in a seat when in engagement with the support means or the transfer means as the case may be and will be transferred between such seats as it progresses along the apparatus.
11. Apparatus as claimed in claim 10 in which the seats comprise castellations or rebates within which the articles are received to be maintained substantially in their correctly pitched array.
12. Apparatus as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein at least one of the input and output stations is vertically spaced from a rectilinear run of the transfer means and the support means and the ends of said rectilinear run of the transfer means and the support means which are adjacent to the station vertically spaced therefrom are provided with a longitudinally stepped configuration whereby at least one step is in echelon respectively with each of the rectilinear runs of the transfer means and the support means so that during relative cyclical reciprocating movement between the transfer means and the support means an article will be displaced progressively along the steps of the transfer means and support means both longitudinally and vertically from the input station to the said rectilinear run or from the said rectilinear run to the output station.
13. Apparatus as claimed in claim 12 when appendant to claim 9 wherein the three rails comprise the rectilinear run of the transfer means and the support means and at least one end of said rails is provided with ancilliary support and transfer rails which extend from and are arranged in echelon with their respective rectilinear support and transfer rails for effecting the vertical transfer of articles to the output station or from the input station.
14. Apparatus as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein the displacement means and such other components as may be provided for effecting the relative cyclical reciprocating movement between the transfer means and the support means are positioned below the level of the transfer means and the support means.
15. Apparatus as claimed in any one of the preceding claims in which the input station is located on a feed conveyor from which the articles are intended to be progressively transferred.
16. Apparatus as claimed in claim 15 in which control means is provided by which the delivery of successive articles on the feed conveyor to the input station can be synchronised with the rate at which articles are taken from the input station by the transfer means.
17. Apparatus as claimed in either claim 15 or claim 16 wherein the feed conveyor has associated therewith elevating means by which an article located at the input station is intended to be raised from the feed conveyor prior to engagement by the transfer means and longitudinal displacement thereby to the support means.
18. Apparatus as claimed in either claim 10 or claim 11 wherein at least one seat is provided with an inclined lead-in surface over which each article is intended to be longitudinally displaced while moving into engagement with that seat, said lead-in surface being inclined in a sense to advance or retard longitudinally the position of an article which moves into that seat relative to the position in which that article would otherwise be located in the absence of the lead-in surface.
19. Apparatus as claimed in any of the preceding claims and comprising first support means and first transfer means operatively associated therewith to provide a first conveyor section and second support means with operatively associated second transfer means to provide a second conveyor section, said first and second conveyor sections being arranged to transfer two rows of articles longitudinally from a common input station to a common output station, and wherein said first conveyor section and said second conveyor section are driven by displacement means which is common to both so that the respective cyclical reciprocating movements of the conveyor sections are substantially in phase with each other.
20. Apparatus as claimed in claim 19 wherein said first and second conveyor sections converge laterally as they approach the output station so that the lateral spacing between the two rows of articles transferred to the output station is less than the lateral spacing between the two rows of articles at the input station.
21. Apparatus as claimed in claim 8 wherein the edges of the two rails between which the articles are supported are chamfered to correspond substantially with sides of the articles which are intended to be conveyed so that said chamfered edges will move smoothly into engagement with the articles to support such articles and during such engagement may cause the articles to be displaced laterally to positions in which they are respectively centralised between the portions of the edges by which they are respectively engaged.
22. Apparatus as claimed in either claim 19 or claim 20 when appendant to claim 9 in which the support means of the respective conveyor sections comprises a centre rail of the three and the transfer means of both conveyor sections includes a rail which is common to both conveyor sections and is located between the support rails of those sections.
23. Conveyor apparatus as claimed in claim 1 and substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying illustrative drawings.
24. Conveyor apparatus for transferring articles and comprising an input station at which the articles are sequentially located by first conveyor means; a walking beam conveyor by which the articles are collected at the input station and transferred sequentially to be deposited at an output station; said first conveyor means and the walking beam conveyor being synchronised so that the articles are collected by the walking beam conveyor at a rate compatible with that at which they are located at the input station and wherein the output station is located on a take-off conveyor carrying a sheet preformed with a longitudinally extending array of pockets for receiving articles sequentially transferred to the output station, longitudinal movement of said takeoff conveyor and sheet being synchronised with the rate of transfer of articles thereto from the walking beam conveyor so that each article is received by a separate pocket of the sheet on the take-off conveyor.