GB615753A - Improvements in or relating to machines for making pipes and conduits of clayware - Google Patents

Abstract

615,753. Delivering moulded pipes. BOOTH, J. F. June 18, 1946. No. 18207. [Class 87 (ii)] Mechanism for transferring an extruded pipe 31, formed, e.g. from clay, from an extrusion press to a finishing or delivery station comprises a saddle 29 having a permeable surface connected to a source of suction and movably mounted so as to bring its surface into contact with one side of the pipe. The surface 30 of the saddle is formed to suit the pipe, and comprises an outer layer 33 of cloth, a central layer 34 of close wire mesh, and an inner layer 36 of perforated metal. In the form shown in Fig. 1 the saddle is mounted on a piston 28 which works in an air cylinder 17 mounted on a horizontal pivot. A central bore 32 through the piston 28 connects the saddle to a vacuum pump through a conduit 53, a valve 52 and a conduit 54. The rear of the piston has a slot 39 for passing over a fixed arcuate plate 41. When the pipe has been extruded and cut off in a press as described in Specification 615,752 the table 58 of the press operates a valve to cause compressed air to move the piston 28 so as to bring the saddle 29 into contact with the pipe 31. A trigger 42 on the piston moves a lever 43, 44 and opens the valve 52 to apply the suction. As the table 58 descends further it reverses the valve controlling the piston 28, which is retracted, and the weight of the pipe causes the cylinder 17 to turn on its pivot until the head 38 on the rear of the piston meets the lower edge of the plate 41, so clearing the pipe from the moulding die 59. The piston 28 continues to move back until the slot 39 is in alignment with the plate 41, when the cylinder turns further on its pivot and the slot moves over the plate until the head 38 strikes a stop 61 and the extension 37 strikes a lever 48, 49 and so closes the valve 52 and cuts off the suction. The pipe, then horizontal, drops on to a feed plate 62 and the cylinder 17, relieved of its weight, returns to its initial position under the action of a counterweight 23, and the cycle is repeated. In the form, shown in Fig. 5, for transferring the pipes while they remain vertical, the cylinder 17 is secured to a bracket 66 which can move vertically by the action of a piston 68 in a compressed air cylinder 69. Initially the piston 68 is in the up position and the piston 28 is fully retracted and the saddle 29 clear of the pipe 31 as shown by the dotted lines. Movement of the table 58 causes compressed air to move the piston 28 forwards until a flange 76 thereon strikes a stop 79, in which position the surfaces of the saddle and pipe are in contact and the suction valve 78 is open. The pipe is then cut off in the press, which operation, through a trip mechanism, causes downward movement of the piston 68 and so moves the flange 76 clear of the stop 79 and the pipe clear of the die 59 and allows the piston 28 to move forwards to transfer the pipe 31 to the saddle 81 of a finishing machine. As the piston 28 reaches the limit of its transfer movement a trigger 42 thereon strikes a member 77 to shut the valve 78 and cut off the suction. Further lowering of the table 58 is arranged to cause the return of the piston 28 until the flange 76 strikes the switch 74, which causes return upward movement of the piston 68 and the re-setting of the mechanism for the next cycle of operations. The Provisional Specification mentions that the operating means may be hydraulic, and that the cylinder 17, in the arrangement shown in Fig. 1, can be returned hydraulically instead of by a counterweight. Specification 615,754 also is referred to.