US1833654A - Signaling system for material handling apparatus - Google Patents

Description

NOV. 24, 1931. 5, MCMULLAN 1,833,654

SIGNALING SYSTEM FOR MATERIAL HANDLING APPARATUS Filed March 31, 1925 )64 Mg /5 20;a4 /7 2/ 225 @25 I 654950 E I E /0 86 90 van/w Jamae/McMM/afi 9 Patented Nov. 24, 1931 STATES PATENT emu:

, particularly to a signalingwapparatus adapt;

, means ofdelivery-tubes indiw'dua-l tothe; coilers, each tube terminating in vpivotally mounted, portion, The operation ofa common pneumatic Valve; ,causes the stripping,

L sh vrunn arQMnLLAN, or RIVERSID V PANI rnconronn rnn, or

11:, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR o WESTERN LECTRIC coM aims-01m, n. Y., A 'oon-ronarron on NEW YORK -SIG1$TALINGE SYSTEM Ion MATERIAL HANDLING APi'ARATUs Application file'di'Ma rch 31, 1925. Serial N 19,699.

This invention relates to signaling systems for.materlalhandling apparatus, and more ed ifor usev in connection with the coiling mechanism of a rollin'gmillr l The object of the present invention is to provide in a material handling" apparatus an improved signaling device for automati eally and positivelyindicating when the apparatus condition to properly handle material. 1 we ()ne formxoi' a the invention is embodied in a rod coiling apparatus wherein the rod, after leaving the finishingpass of the rolling mill, is coiled andtransferred to a conveyor leadingjtoga. quenching 1 bath. The rod is guided to one of a plurality of coilers, by

of, the coilfrom the: coiling means and simultaneously causes the associated guidetube to be moved topermitthe transfer of the, coil tothe conveyor.v Simultaneously therewith and controlled by" the same valve a'sw tch operates wlnchcontrols an electric circultlncluding asignaling lamp. When the tubeis in its inoperativeposition the switch is open andthe circult 1s. maintalned open atthat point; untilflthe tube returns to its operative position; The circuit in; cludes second switch which automatically closes the circuit atianother. point whenthe eoi-ier has; attained, predetermined speed,

at whichwtime it is-ready to: receive ralrrod which condition is indicated by lighted:

- Other features 05 the, invention wa ts the following detailed come apparent from I description, referencelbeing 7 had to the accompanying drawings wherein 1 Fig.1-is a plan viewsof a pluralityof coile "themajorpart of .the mechanism being shown, schematically I thereofi and ing apparatus. employed in a-irod rolling millembodymg the features of the HLVBHUOIIZ to more clearly illusig. 3 shows a diagram of the electric circuit and alr control mechanism. s

Referring to F gs. ,1 andQ, of the drawings in detail, 10 indicates, schematically, a fin? ishing stand ofany suitable type in a rolling mill for producing rod,-and comprises a pin-- rality of finishing passes or rolls 11, 12,13 and 14 which lead to a plurality'of coilersindicated generally. at 15, 16 17 and 18, respectively which coilers are adapted to receive and coil the finished rod. The rod is guided to the coilers 1t, 17 an d 18 by means of pivotally mounted tubes 19, 20', 21 and 22,,respectively which are connected with the passages 11, 12, 13 andll by guide pipes 23, '24, 25. and 26, respectively. Since the coilers 15, 16, 17 and 18 aresimilarin construction and in;operation,,it is thought that a description of the construction and operation of coiler 15-wi1l sutfice. Rotatably journaled in a bearing 28 is a sleeve 29 to which is secured a bevel gear 31 meshing with a. pinion 32 which is, driven from any. suitable source of power such as" an electric motor 33. Rigidly secured nearthe top of the sleeve 29 is a disk 34 and' projecting upwardly fromv the disk area plurality of pins and36 arranged inconcentric circles andwhich are adapted, when the'coiler is in operation, to coil rod guided into the space between the circles by the tube 19. The pins project through apertures 38 formed in a stripping plate 40 which is secured to a rod 41 slidably journaledain cylinder 43 is connected to any suitable source (not-shown) of air-or other gaseous medium under pressure whereby the rod 41 andstripping plateglO may be moved upwardly to strip the coiled rod from the pins and raise it to the level of a. floor 45. s a

I Depending. from a carriage 46 are. posts47 which are adapted to push the coiled rodv acrossathe floor pm a conveyor 48 which is driven by any suitable means (not shown) and is adapted to ljdeposit the coiled rod in a quencl'iing' bath on the like (not shown), The carriage 46 is'reciprocably mo'untedpn. a pairbf" threaded rods 49 and"50 WlllCll are rotatably journaled. in suitable bearings (not shown) and are driven by any suitable The tubular member 19 is pivoted at 55 in'abracket 56 and is adapted to be oscill lated ina verticallplane by a piston rod 57 (Fig. 3) which is connected to a piston 58 in a pneumatic cylinder 60. The cylinder 60 is connected .to the supply (not shown)" of' into and out of its operative position with respect to the coiler 15, thus permitting the tube 19 to-be withdrawn from the path of the carriage 46 when the coiled. rodis to be transferred to the Conveyor 48.

ring mechanism is fully disclosedand described in Patent No. 1,598,835 to Ralph-C.

VValtefr, dated September 7, 1926. Itis there fore thought that a further detailed description thereof is unnecessaryherein;

' Associated with the coilers 15, 16,17 and 18 are signal lamps 61, 62'. 63and 64 respectively, which lamps serve toindicate to the operator which coilersare ready to rece vea rod. In order for acoiler to beready to-receive a rod it must berevolving at or above a predetermined speed and the pivotal;

guide member which guides the rod between the circles ofcoiler pins, must bein its low-, ered position. Each of they signal 7 connected in an electric circuit 65 '(Fig. 3)

" which circuit is controlled by switches 66 and 67, the switch'66 being operated simultaneously with the movement of the pivotal guide member 19, LS will hereinafter be described, and. theswitch 67 beingcontrolled by the speed ofthe coiler motor. Any wellknown mechanism maybe providedfor automatically closing the switch 67 to close the circuit when the coiler motor has attained a predetermined speed. In the pres ent embodiment of the invention the switch;

67'is controlled by the reciprocable contact support bar 71 which closes and opens the switch 67 simultaneously with the closing and openingof the final contacts 72 of the motor controlcircuit as indicated inFig. The bar 71 may be actuated inthe usual manner by a slow operating relay 95 con nected in the' motor circuit of the ooiler, the:

relay being timed so as to operate to close motor contacts 72' and switch 67 upon the coiler motor attaining a predetermined speed.

The switch 66 comprises' a contact mem ber68;(Fig. 3) which is 'adaptedtoengage a pair of contacts 69 and -70-to close thecircuit' 65 when the guide tube 119 is in its oper- 'ative position with "respect-to thecoiler 15 The contact member 168 is secured nearthe top of a .piston. rod 73 which is connected to a air under pressure whereby the air may be admitted into the cylinder in such manner that. the tube '19 may bemovedl lamps is respectively.

piston 74 disposed in a pneumatic'cylinder 75. The cylinder 75 is connected to the supply (not shown) of air under; pressure. in such manner that the air may be admitted to move the piston 74 and piston rod-73 upwardly, thereby causing the contact member 68 to-be disengaged from the'contacts 69 and 70. A' compression spring (Fig. 3) encircling the piston rod 7 3 andinterposed between the piston 7 4 and the top of the cylinder 75 serves to return the Contact member 68. to the position wherein it engages the contacts 69' andc70uafter'the guide tube 19 has returned to its operative position.

Referring to Fig. 3, the means for controlling theadmission of air under pressure into I the cylinders 43,,60 and 75 comprises a manup ally operable two-way valve 82. which is con- The aboveld'escribed coiling and transfernected by a pipe 83 to the source (not shown) of air under pressure. The valve 82 is conof the coiler 15 and its associated signaling mechanism is alone described. The .coiler is rotated by starting the driving motor 33, the

valve 82 being manipulated to admit air under. pressure through the pipe 83, valve 82,

and pipes 85 and 87 into the cylinders43 and 60, respectively, above the pistons 42 and 58, When the valve '82 is'in this positiomthe cylinders 43, 60 and 75 communicate with the exhaust pipe through the pipes 86, 88 and'89, respectively, which are connected to thecyli'nders below the. pistons 42, 58 and 74. It is, therefore, apparent that the compressedair moves the pistons 42 and 58; downwardly and, at thesame time, the

compression -'spring-8O forces the'piston :7 4 downwardly causing the contact member 68 to engage the contacts69 and 70 thus closing one opening in the circuit; Upon the. coiler attaining a predetermined speed, the switch .67 automatically closes the circuit 65 thereby lighting the lamp 61-and indicating to the operator positioned at the finishing pass that thecoiler 15. is ready to receive a rod. In responseto this signal the operator inserts the rod into the pass associated with such coiler.

" Likewise the'lamps 62, 63 .and-64'when lighted indi'cate ito the operator'that the coilers "16, 17 and 18, respectively, are each ready to receive a rod'. i V 7 After afrodhas been coiled by the coiler 15, the motor33 is brought to a stop in any usual manner and thevalve 82 is manipulated sothata r under pressure w1ll'enter thecylinders 43,. 60 and 75 through the pipes 86, 88 and 89, respectively, while the cylinders 43 and 60 communicate with the exhaust pipe 90 through the pipes 85 and 87, respectively. The stopping of the motor 33 auto-.

. the stripping plate 40, the guide tube 19 and the contact member 68, respectively.

The upward movement of the piston74 causes the contact member 68 to become disengaged from the contacts 69 and 70, thereby opening the circuit 65 at a second point.

The stripping plate 40, in moving upwardly, strips the coiled rod from the pins and 36 and raises it to the level of the floor 45.

Simultaneously therewith the upward movement of the piston 58 causes the guide tube 19 to move upwardly and out of the path of the carriage 46 which moves forwardly to push the coiled rod onto the conveyor 48. The

guide tube 19 is maintained in this position until after the carriage 46 has returned to its normal position after which the motor 33 is againstarted and the valve 82 is again ma-' nipulated to return the tube 19 to its operative position with respect to the coiler 15.

The same operation is repeated for each of the coilers 15, 16, 17 and 18 while their associated lamps 61, 62, 63 and 64, respectively,

' indicate to the operator when they are ready to receiverods.

Although the invention is herein illustrated and described in connection with a coiling apparatus employing four coilers positioned in a certain arrangement, it should be understood that theimproved signaling system is applicable to any number of coilers arranged in any manner without departing from the spiritof the inventionwhich should be limited only by the scope of the appended claims.

\Vhat is claimed is: t

4 1. In an apparatus for handling strand 1 I materiaha plurality of rotatable coilers each adapted uponattaining a predetermined rotatlve speed to receive and G011 a moving b strand, delivery pipes individual to the coilers, movable to a plurality of positions with respect thereto and operative in one of said positions for guiding strands to the associated coilers, a strand distributing member common to all of the coilers and having a plurality of strand distributing passages, guide tubes individually connecting the delivery pipes with the distributing passages, and means individual to thecoilers, distinguishable from thedistributing member, and effective when the associated coiler has attained the predetermined speed and the associated delivery pipe is in operative position with respect thereto for indicating when the respective coilers are ready to receive a strand.

ing rods to the associated coilers, a finishing stand common to all of the coilers and having a plurality of passes individually connected with the delivery pipes, and means individual to the coilers, distinguishable from the finishing stand and effective upon the respective coilers attaining the prede- V termined speed and when the associated delivery pipes are in operative position with respect thereto for indicating that the respective coilers are ready to receive a rod.

' 3. In a rod mill, a plurality of individually driven rotatable coilers each adapted upon attaining a predetermined speed to receive and coil a drawn rod, delivery pipes individual to the coilers, movable to a plurality of positions with respect thereto and operative in one of said positions for guiding rods to the associated coilers, a finishing stand removed from and common to all of the coilers and having a plurality of passes, guide tubes individually connecting said passes with the delivery pipes, and an electrical signal circuit associated with each of the coilers, each signal circuit including a circuit closer responsive to the speed of the coiler, a circuit closer actuated by the delivery pipe, and a lamp visible to an operator at the finishing stand and effective when the associated coiler has attained the predetermined speed and the associated delivery pipe is in

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