GB2388833A

GB2388833A - A box tippler where the box is loaded in one direction and unloaded in another direction.

Info

Publication number: GB2388833A
Application number: GB0210979A
Authority: GB
Inventors: David Ian Haith
Original assignee: Tickhill Engineering Co Ltd
Current assignee: Tickhill Engineering Co Ltd
Priority date: 2002-05-14
Filing date: 2002-05-14
Publication date: 2003-11-26
Anticipated expiration: 2022-05-14
Also published as: GB2388833B; FR2843102A1; GB0210979D0

Abstract

A box tippler comprising a body for receiving a box for root vegetables. The body is rotatable about an axis between a first position to receive a box, a second position to empty the box and a third position to remove the box. The box is moveable into engagement with a receiving means for the box in a direction transverse to the axis. The box is removable in a direction parallel to the axis.

Description

PATENTS ACT 1977

Al 0553GB Title: Box Tippler Description of Invention

This invention relates to box tipplers, and particularly but not exclusively to box tipplers for emptying boxes containing root produce such as potatoes or carrots.

Root produce is commonly handled and stored in open boxes of varying size, conventionally capable of holding varying amounts of produce such as one tonne or up to two tonnes of produce. When it is desired to empty such boxes, for example onto a process line for handling the produce, conventionally a fork lift truck or similar apparatus is used to load a box onto a mechanical tipper which empties the produce from the box onto the process line. When the tipping operation is completed, the fork lift truck removes the empty box and returns it to, for example, a box store, and then picks up a furler box to be emptied. This process of fetching and emptying individual boxes leads to discontinuities in the supply of produce to the process line, potentially leading to the process line being stopped when no produce is available.

Conventionally, a number of fork lift trucks are used to attempt to overcome such discontinuities in supply.

GB-A 2,344,097 discloses such a box tippler, hereinafter referred to as being of the kind specified, comprising a body, having at least one receiving means for a box, and the body being rotatable about an axis between a first position to receive a box in the at least one receiving means, a second position to empty the box and a third position in which the empty box may be removed from the body.

An aim of the invention is to produce a new or improved box tippler.

According to one aspect of the present invention we provide a box tippler of the kind specified wherein a box is moveable into engagement with a receiving means in a direction generally transverse to said axis and the box is removable from the receiving means in a direction generally parallel to said axis. According to another aspect of the invention we provide a box tippler of the kind specified in which the box tippler is provided with means for removing the box from the body said means comprising a means to engage the box at the third position of the body and move the box relative to the body in a direction which is generally parallel to said axis.

The or each box receiving means may comprise a part of the body adapted to receive a box.

The body may be provided with an aperture at one end thereof for passage there through of the box and the body being supported at said one end externally of said aperture for rotation of the body about said axis.

The body may be supported at the other end thereof by means of an axle.

Retaining means may be provided to engage the box during rotation to and from said second position to hold the box in engagement with said retaining means.

The retaining means may be moveable between a retaining position to retain a box in He receiving means and a release position to permit release of the box from the receiving means.

The retaining means may be moveable between said positions manually.

Alternatively, the retaining means may be moveable between said positions automatically, for example, as a result of rotation of He body to and from the first position.

The retaining means may comprise a pair of axially spaced links, each of which is pivoted to the body at a position disposed outwardly of the space for receiving a box and the arms being interconnected, intermediate their ends, by a

retaining element adapted to engage a top of the box when in the first position to retain the box in the receiving means and the arms being provided with spring means for movement of the retaining means from the release position to the retaining position and a cam means operative to move the retaining means to the release position and hold the retaining means therein when the body is in the first position.

The means to engage the box may be a conveyer arranged for rotation with the body about the axis and arrange to convey the box from the body when the box is in the third position.

An in-feed track may be provided to speed up operation by having a full box on the in-feed track which may be transported into the tipping section as soon as an empty box has been removed from the body.

The body may be rotated in the reverse direction from the second position to the third position.

First and the third position may be the same angular position of the body.

An embodiment of the invention will now be described in more detail by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings wherein: Figure 1 is a side view of a box tippler according to the present invention; Figure 2 is a an end view of the box tippler of Figure 1, Figure 3 is an opposite end view of the box tippler of Figure 1, and Figures 4 to 8 are diagrammatic end elevations showing different stages in use of the apparatus.

Referring to Figures l to 3, a box tippler, generally shown at 10, comprises a frame 11 mounted on a wheels 12 and provided at its forward end with a tow hitch 13 and also provided with a forward pair of stabiliser legs 14.

Rear stabiliser legs may be provided as shown at 15 and the stabiliser legs may be telescopically arranged so that they may be moved into spaced relationship with the ground during towing.

The frame 11 comprises a pair of rear upright 16 connected at their upper ends by a transverse component 17 and a pair of forward uprights 18 connected by a transverse component 19. The uprights 16 and 17 are connected at their upper ends by longitudinally extending members 20.

At the rear the frame 11 is provided with a bearing 20, carried on a transversely extending member 21 fastened to the two rear uprights 16, for a pivot axle 22 of a drum shaped, generally cylindrical body 23. The drum shaped body 23 has forward and rear circular hoops 24, 25 which are connected longitudinally together by spaced side members 26 which also define the sides of a receiving means for a box. The base of the receiving means is defined by a conventional belt conveyer 27.

A retaining means 29 to retain a box in the receiving means is provided and comprises a pair of spaced parallel arms 30 pivotally connected to the body at 31 and interconnected by a clamping bar for which engagement with a top of the box.

The clamping bar 32 is moveably into a retaining position in which it is in engagement with the top of a box in the first position and remains in clamping engagement with the box until it returns to the third position which the present example is the same position as the first position whereupon the clamping part 32 is moved into a release position in which it is out of engagement with the top of a box, after the box has moved to the third/first position. The clamping bar 30 may be moveable between said retaining and release positions manually. The position of the clamping bar in the retaining position may be adjustable and, for example, it may be fixed in a desired one of four positions by any suitable means such as a bolt on pin system.

Alternatively the clamping bar may be moved from the release position to the retaining position by a spring means and moved from the retaining position to the release position by a cam or similar system arranged so that

when the body starts to rotate from the first position the cam or similar means allows the clamping bar to move into the retaining position and as the body returns to the third/first position the cam or similar means lifts the arm against the spring bias into the release position.

At the opposite end of the body 23 to the axle 22, the body supported by engagement of rollers 33, carried on mounts 34 on the frame 11, with the external circumference of the hoop 24.

The hoop 25 and the hoop 24 are each of channel section in cross section so that the hoop 24 is retained axially on the rollers 33 whilst a chain is entrained around the hoop 24 and retained in position axially thereon by virtue of the above mentioned channel shape. The chain 35 engages a sprocket 36 rotated by an electric motor 37.

As best shown in Figure 2, the box tippler is provided with a guide means 40 comprising a pair of spaced apart side plates 41, see Figure 1, and a continuous belt 42, omitted from Figure 1 for clarity, which is entrained around rollers 43 at its upper and lower end and which is constrained to follow a part circular path by a desired number of farther rollers 44. The rollers 43, 44 are un-driven but the belt 42 may rotate around the end rollers under the frictional influence of product falling from the box as it moves from the first position to the second position.

If desired any other suitable guide means may be provided to guide product falling from the box as it moves between these positions.

At the exit end of the tippler provided with the hoop 24 a feed-out conveyer 46 is provided of conventional form and is carried on a further frame 47 comprising a pair of spaced parallel uprights 48 and a single horizontal member 49 is provided to connected one of the uprights 48 to a corresponding single upright 18. A transverse member 50 is provided to connect together the 48 together at the upper ends.

In use, referring now to Figures 4 to 10, a box B full of produce is lifted by a forklift truck F as shown in Figure 4 and is fed into the box tippler's receiving means as shown in Figure S so that the box B is supported on the conveyer 27. The forklift truck F is then withdrawn and it forks are lowered as shown in Figure 6.

As shown in Figure 7 the motor 37 is then operated to rotate the body B in a clockwise direction and thus rotate the box so that produce P starts to fall out of the box as shown in Figure 7 but is guided by the guide means 40 and by a guide wall 26 although not to fall downwardly into a receiving conveyer S1.

Further rotation of the body to a second position, as shown in Figure 9 causes the side wall 26 to leave the end of the guide means 40 so that produce can start to fall onto the conveyer 51 produce being guided by a guide element 52 provided below the belt guide means 40.

As shown in Figure 9 after full rotation to the third position the direction of rotation of the motor 37 is then rotated so that the body is moved in an anti-

clockwise direction back towards the first position and as shown in Figure 10 the rotation of the body is stopped at the third position which, in the present example, is the same as the first position. The conveyer 27 is then operated to drive the box B from within the receiving means onto the further conveyer 46 shown in Figure 1. When the box B is on the further conveyer 46 a forklift truck may be driven into position to lift the box off the conveyer in a direction away from the horizontal member 49.

If desired an in-feed track may be provided to speed up operation by having a full box disposed on the in-feed track which will then be transported into the receiving means as soon as an empty box has been ejected therefrom.

If desired the orientation of the body within the frame may be changed so that the roller supported hoop is provided, in Figure 1, at the righthand end of the apparatus whilst the axle 22 is provided at the left-hand end of the apparatus if it is desired to eject produce from the opposite end of the conveyer.

The features described, and claimed herein may be provided in combination with features described, illustrated and claimed in our application number 011891.4.

In the present specification "comprises" means "includes or consists of'

and "comprising" means "including or consisting of".

The features disclosed in the foregoing description, or the following

claims, or the accompanying drawings, expressed in their specific forms or in terms of a means for performing the disclosed function, or a method or process for attaining the disclosed result, as appropriate, may, separately, or in any combination of such features, be utilised for realising the invention in diverse forms hereof.

Claims

1. A box tippler of the kind specified wherein a box is moveable into engagement with a receiving means in a direction generally transverse to said axis and the box is removable from the receiving means in a direction generally parallel to said axis.

2. A box tippler of the kind specified in which the box tippler is provided with means for removing the box from the body said means comprising a means to engage the box at the third position of the body and move the box relative to the body in a direction which is generally parallel to said axis.

3. A box tippler according to Claim 1 or Claim 2 wherein the or

each box receiving means comprises a part of the body adapted to receive a box

4. A box tippler according to any one of the preceding claims the body is provided with an aperture at one end thereof for passage therethrough of the box and the body being supported at said one end externally of said aperture for rotation of the body about said axis.

5. A box tippler according to claim 4 wherein the body may is supported at the other end thereof by means of an axle.

6. A box tippler according to any one of the preceding claims wherein a retaining means are provided to engage the box during rotation to

and from said second position to hold the box in engagement with said retaining means.

7. A box tippler according to claim 6 wherein the retaining means are moveable between a retaining position to retain a box in the receiving means and a release position to permit release of the box from the receiving means.

8. A box tippler according to claim 7 wherein the retaining means is moveable between said positions manually.

9. A box tippler according to claim 7 wherein the retaining means is moveable between said positions automatically.

10. A box tippler according to claim 8 wherein the retaining means comprise a pair of axially spaced links, each of which is pivoted to the body at a position disposed outwardly of the space for receiving a box and the arms being interconnected, intermediate their ends, by a retaining element adapted to engage a top of the box when in the first position to retain the box in the receiving means and the arms being provided with spring means for movement of the retaining means from the release position to the retaining position and a cam means operative to move the retaining means to the release position and hold the retaining means therein when the body is in the first position.

11. A box tippler according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the means to engage the box is a conveyer arranged for rotation with the body about the axis and arrange to convey the box from the body when the box is in the third position.

12. A box tippler according to any one of the preceding claims wherein an in-feed track may be provided to speed up operation by having a full box on the in-feed track which may be transported into the tipping section as soon as an empty box has been removed from the body.

13. A box tippler according to any one of the preceding claims wherein Me body is rotated in the reverse direction from the second position to the third position.

14. A box tippler according to any one of the preceding claims wherein first and the third position are the same angular position of the body.

15. A box tippler substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as shown in the accompanying drawings.

16. Any novel feature or novel combination of features described herein and/or in the accompanying drawings.