GB2057382A - Apparatus for transferring articles from a first to a second conveyor - Google Patents

Abstract

Transfer apparatus for the selective transfer of articles from a first conveyor (2) to a second conveyor (6) and comprising transfer means (7), is characterised in that the second conveyor (6) comprises two drive belts (12, 13) which are wound around pulleys having a substantially horizontal axis and which have substantially parallel lower reaches that are retained in guides. The guides can be moved towards or away from one another in order to grip articles (3) brought into an upper position or to release articles (3) after having discharged them laterally of the first conveyor (2). The transfer means (7) preferably comprises grippers which are movable vertically. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Apparatus for transferring articles from a first to a second conveyor The present invention relates to a transfer apparatus for the transfer of articles from a first conveyor to a second conveyor. The invention relates particularly to apparatus for transferring glass containers after their annealing.

In the glass packaging industry, articles are manufactured by successive passages through a so called rough-shaped mould and a so called finishing mould. A shaping machine comprises several pairs of rough-shaping moulds and finishing moulds. The quality of an article depends on the pair of roughshaping mould and finishing mould from which it originates.

After their manufacture, the articles are conveyed in a predetermined order to an annealing furnace where they are placed on a continuously moving belt, in successive rows. The number of articles per row depends on the dimensions of the articles and on the width of the belt used. The geographic position of the articles manufactured with the same moulds is consequently not always the same from one row to another. At the end of the belt, on leaving the annealing furnace, articles are removed for the purpose of quality control, thus leading to the rejection of articles formed in moulds which are deemed to be defective.

The removal of articles for quality control is presently carried out manually by means of a gathering rod.

A certain number of methods have already been implemented for rejecting articles.

The simplest of the latter consists of removing the articles to be rejected individually by means of a gathering rod. This method requires the presence of one or more persons solely for this operation.

Another method consists of automatically marking the articles to be rejected by means of an easily identifiable product, in order to elimininate them automatically at a later stage. There remains a risk of polluting the products packed in the glass containers, in the case of unsatisfactory operation of the identification apparatus.

A third method consists of identifying the original mould be a distinctive coded symbol printed on the article. Articles produced in the defective moulds may thus be rejected automatically at the end of the production line. But this method of marking with a symbol is frequently incompatible with the aesthetic criteria of the product. In addition, this system is not applicable to installations which comprise an accumulation and recovery belt at the end of the annealing furnace.

In a fourth method, outlet passages, located at the end of the furnace belt, are retractable and make it possible to reject the articles manufactured in defective moulds directly. But this method is applicable solely in the case where the articles coming from the same mould are aligned on the belt.

The object of the present invention is to provide transfer apparatus, in particular for use in the glass packaging industry, which is capable of being use both for removal of articles for both quality control as well as for rejection and which fulfils the above mentioned requirements without comprising the drawbacks of known techniques.

According to the present invention there is provided transfer apparatus for the selective transfer of articles from a first conveyor to a second conveyor comprises transfer means for transferring a chosen article from the first conveyor to the second conveyor, and is characterised in that the second conveyor comprises two drive belts wound around pulleys having a substantially horizontal axis and whereof their lower reaches are substantially parallel, adjacent and retained in guides which can be moved towards or away from each other in order either to grip articles brought into an upper position from the first conveyor orto release articles after having discharged them laterally of the first conveyor.

In one advantageous embodiment in which the articles are disposed in successive rows across the width of the first conveyor, a number of gripping members, equal to the intended number of articles per row, is fixed to a horizontal beam, parallel to the rows of articles and able to be moved alternately upwards and downwards, said gripping members being controlled individually.

It is sometimes necessary to cause the articles conveyed by the second conveyor to rotate about themselves, which movement may possibly be combined with the horizontal and vertical transfer movements. To this end, according to the invention, the belts of the second conveyor are set in rotation in the same direction or in opposite directions, at the same speed or at different speeds.

Thus, when the belts are driven in the same direction at the same speed, the articles, gripped by the lower reaches of the belts, are moved horizontally. If they are driven in opposite directions, the articles rotate about themselves, without moving horizontally in the case where the speeds of the belts are identical and with a simultaneous horizontal movement if these speeds are different.

According to another feature of the invention, the second conveyor is able to move vertically, so that the translation and rotation movements of the articles may be carried out at the same time as a downwards or upwards movement. In this case, the second conveyor may take over the articles on the first conveyor directly. The beam and gripping members may thus be eliminated.

The apparatus according to the invention may be used in all cases where the articles, moving along a path where they are subjected to various treatments, must rotate about themselves and move horizontally and/or vertically.

The present invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 is a diagrammatic perspective view of apparatus according to the present invention in use in the manufacture of hollow glass packaging; Figure 2 is a sectional view of the apparatus on line F-F of Figure 1; Figure 3 is a plan view of a single gripping member of the apparatus; Figure 4 and 5 are diagrammatic views of the mechanical arrangement for positioning grippers, in two different operating positions; Figure 6 is a cross sectional view of a conveyor of the apparatus; and Figure 7 is a plan view of the conveyor, without the upper reach.

The apparatus illustrated in Figures 1 and 2 is in the general form of a gantry 1 which projects over a continuously moving belt 2, on which the articles, for example hollow glass containers 3, are arranged in successive rows. The height of the gantry can be adjusted owing to the fact that its support feet are telescopic.

The removal system comprises a plurality of gripping members 4, (only one being shown in Figure 1) attached along a horizontal beam 5 and a conveyor 6 for the discharge of articles. The number of gripping members is equal to the number of articles per row, in order that each article is picked up individually by the associated gripping member.

Each gripping member comprises two grippers 7 (Figures 1 and 3) which are open in the inoperative position and actuated in a suitable manner, for example by a pneumatic system controlled by an electrically operated valve. The beam comprises as many electrically operated valves as there as are gripping members. Each electrically operated valve is controlled individually by a calculator at the time of a command coming from a control desk.

The beam 5 is attached by its ends to two small levers 8 respectively pivoted by pivots 9 to carriages 10 mounted to slide in guides 11 formed on the inner sides of the gantry legs. The beam 5 and the gripping members which it supports, may thus be moved vertically between a lower position (Figure 2) in which the grippers 7 engage the associated article 3 and an upper position in which said article is in the vicinity of the conveyor 6. On the other hand, the arrangement of the beam and gripping members may pivot between the suspended position of Figure 4 and the rectracted position of Figure 5. The sliding movement of the carriages 10 and of the beam 5 along the guides 11 on the one hand and the pivotal movement of the small layers 8 and of the beam 5 about the pivots 9 on the other hand, is controlled by any suitable drive means.

The conveyor 6 is constituted by two drive belts 12 and 13 winding around respective pulleys 14,16 and 15,17 having a horizontal axis which ensure the drive and tensioning of these belts. The lower reaches of the two belts 12 and 13 are parallel, adjacent, located at the level of the upper position of the articles and retained in guides 18,19 which may move towards or away from each other by rotation of their supports 20,21 about axes of rotation 22,23 thus ensuring the engagement or depositing of the articles. The belts are driven in rotation in the same direction and at the same speed by drive means which are not shown.

The apparatus according to the invention operates as follows: the gripping members 4 are initially in the lower position illustrated in Figure 1, the grippers being separated. The articles 3 selected for the quality control or for rejection are gripped by the grippers 7 of the associated gripping members, then brought into the upper position (Figures 2 and 6) by vertical translation of the carriages 10 and of the beam 5. In the upper position, the articles are introduced between the lower reaches of the belts 12 and 13 which are thus separated from each other.

The two reaches are then moved towards each other by a control device, which is for example pneumatic, in order to grip the upper part of the articles (Figures 2 and 6).

Once the articles have been immobilized in the conveyor 6, the grippers 7 open and the gripping members 4 are retracted by rotation of the beam 5 about the pivots 9 (Figure 5). The arrangement of the beam and gripper members descends vertically, still in the retracted position in order to reach the lower position, thus awaiting a new cycle of engaging articles from the following row.

After the gripper members have i(een retracted, the articles gripped between the belts 12 and 13 are removed from the belt, for example on a turntable 20 or the like (Figures 1 and 7).

Advantageously, belts having a trapezoidal cross section will be used. The guides 18 and 19 for these belts will be deflected slightly close to at least one of their ends, in order to facilitate the release of the articles with a view to them being taken over by the turntable or by any other conveying means.

In the preceding description, it has been assumed that the belts 12 and 13 rotate in the same direction and at the same speed: the articles entrained thus carry out a simple movement of horizontal translation.

In certain applications, it is necessary that the articles simultaneously rotate about themselves. For this, it is sufficient to rotate the belts in opposite directions or even in the same direction but at different speeds. By adjusting the driving speed of the belts, the articles are either able to rotate about themselves without moving horizontally, or to move forwards without rotating, or finally to move forwards and rotate at the same time.

In Figure 1, the conveyor 6 is at a fixed level and the gripping means move vertically in order the bring the articles to its level. It is also possible for the conveyor 6 to be able to move vertically in order that it is able to receive directly the articles placed on the belt 2. In this case, the gripping members become superfluous and can be eliminated.

A particular application of the handling apparatus comprising a conveyor which is able to move vertically and belts which can be driven in the same direction or opposite directions, is that of the surface treatment of an object, for example by spraying paint or by soaking in a coating bath. This is the case for example when it is a question of creating case-hardening and carbo-nitridation reserves on all or part of the work-pieces to be treated, such as gear-box shafts. The second conveyor is thus arranged longitudinally in order to present the objects which it picks up, in succession to the various treatment stations.

Thus, in this particular example of an application, if the case-hardening and carbo-nitridation reserves are obtained by spraying, the transfer takes place continuously with rotation of the work-pieces. As was explained previously, this movement is obtained by rotating the drive belts in opposite directions and at different speeds.

In the case where said reserves are obtained by soaking in a bath, then drying, the work-pieces travel in a measured cycle comprising the following stages: a) transfer of the work-pieces to the level of the bath, this movement being obtained by rotating the two belts in the same direction and at the same speed, b) stoppage of the work-pieces, then rotation with simulataneous descent of the work-pieces into the bath, this movement being obtained by rotating the belts in opposite directions and by lowering the entire conveying means, c) re-ascent and transfer of the work-pieces to the drying station.

Loading and unloading of the work-pieces may be carried out either manually, or automatically at the ends of the conveying means.

Advantageously, the belts will be made from a material which withstands the physical chemical or mechanical conditions prevailing at the various treatment stations through which the belt pass.

Claims (11)

1. Transfer apparatus for the selective transfer of articles from a first conveyor to a second conveyor comprises transfer means for transferring a chosen article from the first conveyor to the second conveyor, and is characterised in that the second conveyor comprises two drive belts wound around pulleys having a substantially horizontal axis and whereof their lower reaches are substantially parallel, adjacent and retained in guides which can be moved towards or away from each other in order either to grip articles brought into an upper position from the first conveyor or to release articles after having discharged them laterally of the first conveyor.

2. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1, in which the articles are intended to be arranged in successive rows across the width of the first conveyor, characterised in that a number of gripping members equal to the intended number of articles per row is attached to a horizontal beam parallel to the rows of articles and able to be moved alternatively upwards and downwards, said gripping members being controlled individually.

3. Apparatus as claimed in claim 2, characterised in that each gripping member comprises a pair of grippers which are open in an inoperative position and can be closed by a control system itself controlled by an electrically operated valve, the electrically operated valves corresponding to the gripping members being controlled individually electronically on command from a control desk.

4. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1, characterised in that said guides are mounted to pivot about two parallel axes and are able to be driven in opposite directions of rotation.

5. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 or 2, characterised in that said guides are slightly deflected close to at least one of their ends in order to allow the release of articles at this end.

6. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 or 2, characterised in that the belts have a trapezoidal cross section.

7. Apparatus as claimed in claim 2, characterised in that the beam is fixed by its ends to small levers respectively pivoted on carriages mounted to slide in vertical guides supported by the legs of a gantry which projects over said first conveyor.

8. Apparatus as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, characterised in that the belts are driven in the same direction or in opposite directions, at the same speed or at different speeds, by suitable drive means.

9. Apparatus as claimed in claim 8, characterised in that said second conveyor is mounted to move vertically.

10. Apparatus as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, which is adapted for the selective transfer of glass articles during their manufacture.

11. Transfer apparatus for the selective transfer of articles from a first conveyor to second conveyor substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.