GB796969A - An improved apparatus for stacking biscuits - Google Patents

Abstract

796,969. Conveyers; shoots. BAKER PERKINS, Ltd. Jan. 24, 1957 [Jan. 24, 1956], No. 2314/56. Class 78 (1). In apparatus of the kind in which biscuits 10 delivered by a shoot 12 from a feed conveyer 11 are received by a dead plate 13 on edge for forming into a stack 14, the shoot 12 is of approximately parabolic form to correspond with the trajectory of the biscuits if discharged from the conveyer 11 in free flight at the maximum speed of this conveyer, and the biscuits are blown on to the tail end of the stack by a continuous blast of air from one or more nozzles 19, the stack being advanced to a delivery conveyer 15 by pusher mechanism operating in a clearance space between the tail end of the stack and the lower end of the shoot. The conveyer 11 may carry a number of longitudinal rows of biscuits contained between a corresponding number of upstanding guide plates 16, these being continued down the shoot at 17 and along the dead-plate at 18 so that a corresponding number of stacks 14 is formed. The guide plates 16-18 are adjustable to suit biscuits of different sizes, being located by overhead bars, or by pins engaging pin-holes in the plate 13, or by magnets associated with the plate 13. A number of nozzles 19 are arranged, closely spaced, along a transverse tube 20 supplied by a compressed air pipe 21 connected to the tube 20 midway along the length of the latter, the tube 20 tapering towards each of its ends. The tube 20 is adjustable in height and also to vary the angle of the nozzles. The pusher mechanism consists of a single transverse comb-like pusher bar 22 having a series of pusher fingers 23 operating in slots in the plate 13. It is mounted and driven such that the pusher fingers are given a forward tilt as they reach their forward positions to dispose the biscuits with a forward tilt as shown. In Fig. 1, the pusher bar is mounted on a pair of arms 26, one on each side of the table 13, each of the arms 13 being carried by two crank pins 27, 28 on two discs 29, 30 which are geared together to rotate in opposite directions. The pin 28 engages in a slot 31 in the arm 26 and the pin 27 in a bearing in the arm 26. The shaft of at least one of the discs 29, 30 extends across the apparatus to connect the discs on the two sides of the apparatus together. The arrangement is such that the fingers 23 follow the path 25. The pusher mechanism is adjustable vertically and horizontally to vary the height of the fingers 23 and the length of the clearance space between the tail of the stack and the lower end of the shoot. In the modification, Fig. 4, the ends of the pusher bar 22 are carried in a pair of arms 42 carried by a shaft 46 which also carries an arm 47 provided with a cam follower 48 engaging a cam 49. A further arm 43 is carried on a projecting end of the pusher bar 22, this arm having a cam follower 44 engaging a cam 45. The cams 45, 49 are mounted on a common driving shaft and the arrangement is such that the pusher fingers 23 are tilted rearwardly at the beginning of their operative stroke and forwardly at the end of their operative stroke. In a further modification, Fig. 6, the pusher bar 22 is carried on one end of an arm 60 pivoted at its other end to a link 62 and intermediate its ends to a lever 61. The lever 61 is pivoted intermediate its ends on a shaft 66 and has a cam follower 50 at its lower end. The link 62 is pivoted at its lower end to a bell crank 64 which is pivoted on a shaft 67 and has a cam follower 51 at its lower end. The followers 50 and 51 engage cams 63 and 65, respectively, on a common driving shaft 33. The cam 63 controls the fore and aft movement of the fingers 23 while the cam 65 controls the raising, lowering and tilting of the fingers 23.