U.S. patent number 3,596,778 [Application Number 04/880,177] was granted by the patent office on 1971-08-03 for cloth-blank-stacking apparatus.
This patent grant is currently assigned to I. C. Herman & Co., Inc.. Invention is credited to Joseph C. Lamonica, Marinus Troast, Jr., Timothy Troast.
United States Patent |
3,596,778 |
Lamonica , et al. |
August 3, 1971 |
CLOTH-BLANK-STACKING APPARATUS
Abstract
A stacking apparatus for cloth blanks successively fed,
one-at-a-time, into a stacking station. Each blank is deposited on
horizontally movable opposing members, then in closed position at
the station. Another pair of opposing members, arranged for
vertical movement, then close from clearance positions upon the
deposited blank, the upper member to hold the cloth blank and the
lower member to receive the same when the horizontally movable
members are withdrawn from beneath the blank.
Inventors: |
Lamonica; Joseph C. (Garfield,
NJ), Troast; Timothy (Pompton Lakes, NJ), Troast, Jr.;
Marinus (Little Falls, NJ) |
Assignee: |
I. C. Herman & Co., Inc.
(New York, NY)
|
Family
ID: |
25375653 |
Appl.
No.: |
04/880,177 |
Filed: |
November 26, 1969 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
414/794.2;
271/176; 271/213; 414/794.4; 414/907; 414/924 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B65H
29/34 (20130101); B65B 35/50 (20130101); Y10S
414/12 (20130101); Y10S 414/103 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
B65B
35/50 (20060101); B65H 29/26 (20060101); B65H
29/34 (20060101); B65g 057/06 () |
Field of
Search: |
;214/6DK,6P,6H |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Forlenza; Gerald M.
Assistant Examiner: Spar; Robert J.
Claims
What we claim is:
1. A stacking apparatus for successively fed cloth blanks
comprising a conveyor means for transporting said succession of
cloth blanks along a prescribed feed path to a stacking station, a
first pair of opposing horizontally movable cloth blank supporting
members operatively arranged at said stacking station for generally
horizontally oriented opening and closing movements relative to
each other in directions transverse to said feed path, and a second
pair of an opposing vertically movable cloth blank holding member
and a cloth stack supporting member operatively arranged at said
stacking station for generally vertically oriented opening and
closing movements relative to each other in directions transverse
to said cloth blank supporting members in accordance with a
prescribed stacking movement sequence, said stacking movement
sequence including closing movement from above of said cloth blank
holding member into holding contact against a cloth blank in
position on said closed cloth blank supporting members, closing
movement from below of said cloth stack supporting member into a
position adjacent said closed cloth blank supporting members, and
opening movement of said cloth blank supporting members from
beneath said cloth blank resulting in the deposit of said cloth
blank on said adjacently positioned cloth stack supporting member,
pressure air means for actuating said cloth blank supporting
members, said cloth blank holding member and said cloth stack
supporting member through said stacking movement sequence, and
control means operatively associated with said cloth stack
supporting member to terminate said upward closing movement thereof
in response to a pressure buildup in said pressure air means,
whereby each successive position of said cloth stack supporting
member is determined by the abutment of the top of said stack of
cloth blanks against said closed cloth blank supporting
members.
2. A stacking apparatus as defined in claim 1 wherein said conveyor
means is an endless belt operatively arranged to discharge cloth
blanks successively positioned therealong on said closed cloth
blank supporting members.
3. A stacking apparatus as defined in claim 2 wherein said cloth
blank holding member is operatively arranged to contact the medial
area of each said cloth blank and remains in said contact during
withdrawing opening movement of said cloth blank supporting members
from said area of contact, whereby said withdrawing opening
movement is effective in causing the deposit of said cloth blank in
a substantially smoothed-out condition.
Description
The present invention relates generally to cloth handling
apparatus, and more particularly to an improved cloth blank
stacking apparatus.
The handling of cloth presents problems because of its frictional
adherence to any support surface along which it is moved, as well
as other peculiarities which make it an extremely difficult
material to handle. Thus, there is an unsolved need to provide
production equipment for handkerchiefs, scarves, or other such
cloth blanks, with stacking apparatus which can effectively receive
these blanks and move the same into a stacked condition. For
example, it is not readily possible to effectively scrape cloth off
of a transporting surface, nor can the cloth be readily picked up,
carried, and deposited in a smooth condition on a stack. It is
undoubtedly for this reason that presently available stacking
apparatus is unduly complicated both in construction and mode of
operation.
Broadly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an
improved stacking apparatus for cloth blanks overcoming the
foregoing and other shortcomings of the prior art. Specifically, it
is an object to achieve cloth blank stacking through the
cooperating movements of stacking members which each are
characterized by simplicity of construction and operation such that
the resulting apparatus is similarly easy to construct and
operate.
A stacking apparatus demonstrating objects and advantages of the
present invention includes, at a stacking station, initially closed
horizontally oriented members on which the blank is easily
deposited. Then, a holding member descends from above, in holding
contact against the blank while a support platform moves up from
below to a blank-receiving position below the blank-supporting
members. While the blank is held against lateral movement, the
supporting members are stripped from beneath the blank causing the
vertical deposit thereof onto the support platform. A repetition of
this cycle results in a desired stack buildup on the platform.
The above brief description, as well as further objects, features
and advantages of the present invention, will be more fully
appreciated by reference to the following detailed description of a
presently preferred, but nonetheless illustrative embodiment in
accordance with the present invention, when taken in conjunction
with the accompanying drawings, wherein:
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a stacking apparatus in accordance
with the present invention having external portions broken away to
better illustrate internal structural features thereof;
FIG. 2 is an end elevational view of a stacker with the end wall
removed to better illustrate internal structural features; and
FIG. 3 is a partial end elevational view similar to FIG. 2 in which
positions of movement of the various parts of the stacker are
illustrated in full line and phantom line perspective.
Reference is now made to the drawings wherein there is shown a
stacking apparatus, generally designated 10, demonstrating objects
and advantages of the present invention. Apparatus 10 includes
three major or significant operating mechanisms which cooperate
with each other to effectively and efficiently cause stacking of
cloth blanks 12 which may be handkerchiefs, scarves or like items.
The cooperation of these major parts of the apparatus 10 is
primarily in the direction of movement in which they operate
relative to each other to achieve stacking. Thus, as will be
described in greater detail subsequently herein, apparatus 10
includes a conveyor 14 effective to move a succession of blanks 12
along a feed path 16 to a stacking station, generally designated
18, which is located at the discharge end of the conveyor 14. The
second major component of the apparatus 10 consists of a pair of
cloth blank supporting members 20 and 22 which are operatively
arranged for opening and closing movements relative to each other
in the direction 24 which, as clearly indicated in FIG. 1, is
transverse to the feed direction 16 of the conveyor. The third
major component of apparatus 10 consists of an opposing pair of
members 26 and 28 (see FIGS. 2 and 3), which are movable also
through opening and closing movements relative to each other but in
a direction 30 which is transverse to, or 90.degree. out of phase
with, the previously noted direction of movement 24 of the cloth
blank supporting members 20, 22. The manner in which the parts
moving in the just noted directions 16, 24 and 30 relative to the
stacking station 18 to produce effective stacking of cloth blanks
12 at that station will become more obvious as the description
proceeds.
The conveyor 14, as clearly indicated in the drawings, in a
preferred form consists of an endless belt 32 entrained about
spaced-apart supporting rollers, one end roller 34 being
illustrated, such that longitudinal movement of the belt 32
effectively defines the feed path 16 along which successively
deposited cloth blanks 12 are carried to the stacking station
18.
Located at the stacking station 18 is a generally rectangular unit
36 which, as best shown in FIG. 2, has an upper, generally
rectangular opening 38 into its interior compartment 40. Operating
in the opening 38 are the previously noted cloth blank supporting
members 20, 22, each of these members being connected via a piston
rod 42 to an appropriate pressure air-operated air cylinder or
piston (not shown). As a consequence, members 20, 22 are powered by
pressure air, in a well understood manner, through opening and
closing movements 24 relative to the opening 38 during operation of
the stacking apparatus 10. Specifically, conveyor 14 is
intermittently operated so as to deposit the cloth blanks 12, one
at a time, on the cloth blank supporting members 20 and 22 in
closed position in the opening 38. It should be readily appreciated
that this deposit is achieved by the movement of the conveyor 14 in
the feed direction 16 during which the leading edge 44 of the blank
12 is projected onto the closed members 20 and 22 and urged fully
across these members by virtue of continued movement of the
conveyor 14. To facilitate movement of each cloth blank 12 to its
deposited position on the members 20 and 22, as illustrated in
phantom perspective in FIG. 1, the members 20 and 22 have
appropriate low friction surfaces. After the deposit of a cloth
blank 12 on the closed members 20 and 22, or possibly even just
prior to or during this deposit, the previously noted member 28,
which is the cloth stack supporting member of the apparatus 10, is
moved from a clearance position below the closed members 20, 22, as
illustrated in full line in FIG. 3, into its upper position
adjacent these members, as illustrated in phantom perspective in
FIG. 3. To this end, member 28 includes a horizontally oriented
platform 46, a piston rod 48 and a pressure-air-operated piston or
air cylinder 50 having an appropriate connection, as at 52, to a
source of pressure air. Operating in a well understood manner, the
cloth stack supporting member 28 is urged through closing movement
30 upon the undersurface of the members 20, 22 and will partake of
an extent of movement in that direction until there is abutment of
the platform 46 or of the top of a cloth stack 12 supported
thereon, whichever is the case, against the undersurface of members
20, 22. When this abutment occurs, there will be a buildup of
pressure in the air motor 50 which in a well understood manner, is
effectively used to terminate operation of the air motor 50 and
thus hold the platform in a position adjacent the closed members 20
and 22.
Simultaneously with closing movement 30 of the cloth stack
supporting member 28, as just described, there is closing movement
of the previously noted opposing member 26, which is the cloth
blank holding member of the apparatus 10. Specifically, member 26
includes a depending elastomeric or other suitably fabricated
holding element 54 and is urged from a clearance position above the
stacking station 18 through movement 30 into a lowered position in
holding contact, as at 56, with a cloth blank 12 in position on the
closed members 20 and 22. To this end, the holding element 54 is
connected via a piston rod 58 to an appropriate air motor or
cylinder (not shown).
With the cloth blank 12 held along line contact 56 in its medial
area, the mode of operation of the apparatus 10 then contemplates
the urging of the members 20 and 22 through withdrawing movement
away from each other in the direction 24. It should be readily
appreciated that this results in the deposit of the cloth blank 12
through the opening 38 onto the adjacently positioned horizontally
oriented platform 46. This is illustrated in FIG. 2, in which it is
also illustrated that holding element 54, under appropriate biasing
pressure, maintains its holding contact on the cloth blank 12 until
actual deposit of this blank is made onto the platform 46 or onto
the cloth stack 12 previously built up on the platform, whichever
is the case. That is, the cloth blank holding member 26 after
making initial contact with the cloth blank 12 is capable of
additional downward movement 60 which is approximately equal to the
height of the members 20 and 22.
After deposit of the cloth blank 12 on the platform 46, this
platform is withdrawn to its starting clearance position below the
opening 38 while the holding element 54 is withdrawn in an opposite
direction into its elevated clearance position. The cloth blank
supporting members 20, 22 are then urged from their open positions
through closing movement 24 closing the opening 38 and thereby
placing the apparatus 10 in condition for the next cycle of
operation which commences with the feeding of the next successive
blank 12 by the conveyor 14 to the stacking station 18. It should
be readily appreciated that repetition of the moving parts of the
stacking apparatus 10 through the stacking movement sequence as
described herein will result in a buildup of a cloth blank stack 12
on the platform 46. Ultimately this buildup reaches an extent where
it is desirable to remove the stack 12 from the interior of the
unit 36. This removal is facilitated by the provision of a hinged
panel 62 which when opened, as illustrated in FIG. 2, readily
permits access to the cloth stack 12 on the platform 46.
A latitude of modification, change and substitution is intended in
the foregoing disclosure and in some instances some features of the
invention will be employed without a corresponding use of other
features.
* * * * *