Article-spacing Helix Assistor

Abstract

Apparatus for holding articles in contact with an article-spacing helix and for preventing retrograde motion of the articles while in contact with the helix. Articles such as cans or bottles are frequently placed in a uniformly-spaced single file by a rotating helix, which engages the articles one-at-a-time and advances them through the helix. The articles are furnished to and removed from the helix by a moving, endless conveyor. In order to hold the articles in contact with the helix and to prevent any rearward slippage of the articles once contact has been made, a restraining means is provided opposite the helix. The restraining means may be a plurality of equally spaced sheets of a resilient material angled in the direction of flow of the articles and extending into the path of travel of the articles. As the articles contact the sheets, the sheets bend in a cantilevered mode and exert a force toward the helix, keeping the article in contact with the helix. The sheets then return to their normal, unstressed condition after the article passes. If an article slips and attempts to move backward, the sheet over which it had previously passed will contact the article edge on. The sheet has substantial resistance to bending from forces applied to its edge, and thus will restrain the article from reverse travel until it can again properly engage the helix.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention generally relates to devices for spacing articles on a moving conveyor. Specifically, this invention relates to rotating article-spacing helices. Most particularly, this invention relates to an auxiliary device which holds articles in contact with an article-spacing helix, while simultaneously preventing any reverse or retrograde motion of the articles while engaged by the helix.

The use of an article-spacing helix to provide a uniformly-spaced single file of articles such as cans or bottles is well known in the art. One problem with such a helix is that if the infeed is not always filled, articles may jam in the helix and attempt to move backward. When this occurs, the article usually falls and creates a blockage of flow. In addition, the articles must be urged into contact with the helix to ensure proper spacing. Numerous patents in the prior art show devices for achieving this latter function. Examples are seen in U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,959,123; 2,344,975; 2,542,090; 2,618,425; 2,645,399; and 2,890,787. However, it is believed that none of the prior art devices will accomplish both of the aforementioned functions as will the apparatus which is my invention.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

This invention is an apparatus for controllably, uniformly spacing articles in a single file, which comprises an endless moving conveyor for transporting a plurality of articles in a single file; a rotating article-spacing helix located adjacent one side of the endless conveyor, the helix forming a plurality of spaced, article-engaging flights; and restraining means located adjacent the conveyor in opposed relationship to the helix for holding the articles in contact with the article-engaging flights and for preventing retrograde motion of the articles.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a top, plan view of one embodiment of the apparatus of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a top, plan view of the mounting block of the apparatus of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the apparatus of FIG. 1 with a portion of the article-spacing helix removed;

FIG. 4 is a top, plan view of a second embodiment of the apparatus of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view, on an enlarged scale, of one of the carriers of the apparatus shown in FIG. 4 with a part of the guiding member removed; and

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the apparatus of FIG. 4 with a portion of the article-spacing helix removed.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

As seen in FIG. 1, a conventional article-spacing helix 10 is located adjacent to a moving endless conveyor 12. The top view of FIG. 1 shows only a portion of an entire system, omitting the drive mechanism for the moving endless conveyor 12 and the article-spacing helix 10. However, these mechanisms are conventional and well-known, and may be seen in more detail in U.S. Pat. No. 2,529,199. The conveyor 12 moves a plurality of articles in a single file from right to left, as seen in FIG. 1. In this specific example, the articles may be glass containers 14. The purpose of the article-spacing helix 10 is to engage the glass containers 14 and place them a precisely spaced distance apart for further processing. At the time the glass containers 14 enter the helix 10, the glass containers 14 may be in touching single-file relationship. As may be seen in FIG. 1, the helix 10 spaces the glass containers 14 in a precise and uniform single-file array. A guide rail 16 helps to guide the containers 14 into the initial portion of the helix 10. The guide rail 16 may be mounted on the side frame, which is not seen in FIG. 1, of the conveyor 12. As the containers 14 exit from the helix 10, a second guide rail 18 guides the containers 14 away from the area of the helix 10. In conventional operation of the article-spacing helix 10, the guide rails 16 and 18 are actually connected through the entire length of the helix 10 and serve to keep the glass containers 14 in contact with the helix 10. As may be seen, the helix 10 forms a plurality of article-engaging flights 20, which are separated by raised land portions 21. As the helix 10 rotates, the container 14 is engaged by the initial flight 20 and is progressively moved to the left, as seen in FIG. 1, by the screw-type motion of the rotating helix 10. In effect, the glass container 14 is transferred from one article-engaging flight 20 to another, with the lands 21 serving to space the glass containers 14, as previously noted. One of the difficulties of the prior art, as previously pointed out, is the difficulty in preventing containers 14 from tipping and falling backward when they are held in contact with the article-engaging flights 20 by a continuous guide rail.

As seen in FIG. 1, a mounting block 24 is attached to the side frame of the conveyor 12 in opposed relationship to the helix 10. As best seen in FIG. 2, one face of the mounting block 24 is made up of a plurality of contacting mounting pads 26 set into the face or, more properly, cut out of the face, in a sawtooth sort of pattern. Each mounting pad 26 has an angled attachment face 28, which terminates in a locating notch portion 30 positioned behind the adjacent mounting pad 26. It should be noted that the locating notches 30 are not a critical requirement of the mounting pads 26, but are useful and are preferred for ease of assembly of the complete device. In operation, the face 31 of the mounting block 24, opposite the face containing the mounting pads 26, is positioned generally parallel to the path of travel of the glass containers 14. The attachment faces 28 are angled toward the direction of travel of the glass containers 14. It may be noted, with respect to FIG. 1, that the glass containers 14 do not follow a perfectly linear path in their travel through the area of the helix 10, since the helix 10 is set at a slight angle with respect to the conveyor 12; thus, the containers 14 actually proceed along a somewhat arcuate path while being spaced by the helix 10. However, the average path of travel of the containers 14 is substantially linear along the conveyor 12, and the path of travel is substantially parallel to the conveyor 12. In this situation, an extension of any one of the angled attachment faces 28 would intersect the average linear path of travel of the containers 14 at an acute angle measured on the side of the intersection upstream of the bottle flow. I have found that this angle may most appropriately be set at approximately 30.degree..

Referring again to FIG. 1, the mounting block 24 is seen in position on the opposite side of the conveyor 12 from the helix 10. A plurality of flexible article-guiding members 32 are attached to the mounting pads 26 of the mounting block 24. The article-guiding members 32 are slipped into position in the locating notches 30 and then secured to the angled attachment faces 28. The guiding members 32 may be attached to the attachment faces in any convenient manner such as gluing, nailing or screwing. Since the guiding members 32 are fixed to the attachment faces 28, the guiding members 32 extend outward into the flow of containers 14 at the same angle as the attachment faces 28. The guiding members 32 are of sufficient length to project into the path of travel of the containers 14 and interfere with the path of travel of the containers 14. However, being flexible, the guiding members 32 are bent forward in a cantilevered mode as the containers 14 pass by them. This function may clearly be seen in FIG. 1 with respect to the two containers 14 shown in position in FIG. 1. As the container 14 moves past a particular guiding member 32, the guiding member 32 springs back into its normal or unstressed position. This position is shown by the center-three guide members 32 in FIG. 1. The resiliency of the guiding members 32 holds the containers 14 in contact with the article-engaging flights 20 of the helix 10, during the spacing process for the containers 14. While the article-guiding members 32 are relatively flexible and readily bent in the direction of flow of the containers 14, they present appreciable resistance to bending in the opposite direction and to forces applied to their height along the edge of the member 32. It is this resistance to bending in the opposite direction which prevents containers 14 from slipping backward and tipping over, as was possible in the guiding devices of the prior art. It may be seen in FIG. 1, that the first of the article-guiding members 32 adjacent to the entrance to the helix 10 has snapped back into its original unstressed position and is just touching the rearmost portion of the container 14 shown entering the helix 10 in an "edge on" configuration. In this position, if the container 14 were to be partially jammed on a land portion 21, the container 14 would be restrained from rearward motion by its contact with the article-guiding member 32, thus preventing tipping of the container 14. This function results because the article-guiding members 32 have substantial resistance to bending from forces applied to their edges. Thus, FIG. 1 shows a restraining means located adjacent the conveyor 12 in opposed relationship to the helix 10 for holding the containers 14 in contact with the article-engaging flights 20 and for preventing rearward or retrograde motion of the container 14.

FIG. 3 illustrates the relative dimensions of the article-guiding members 32. It may be seen that the article-guiding members 32 are of a substantially rectangular configuration, having an appreciable height with respect to the overall height of the container 14, and being substantially less in thickness than in height or length. As was previously pointed out, the length of the article-guiding members 32 is sufficient to allow them to project into the path of travel of the containers 14. The actual height of the guiding members 32 may be adjusted to compensate for various heights of containers 14 which are to be aligned by use of the helix 10. However, it has been found that the overall height of the article-guiding members 32, with respect to the container 14, should be approximately 2/3 that of the overall height of the container 14. A material which has proven to be quite satisfactory for the guiding members 32 is a polyethylene about 0.060 inches thick.

FIGS. 4, 5 and 6 show a somewhat different embodiment of the present invention which allows adjustability of the length of the helix 10 within which the restraining influence is exerted. That is, the mounting block 24 illustrated in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 is a fixed device which provides a fixed length of guiding and restraining within the helix 10. Under some conditions, it may not be necessary to guide the container 14 through the entire length of the helix 10, or it may be desirable to maintain the guiding influence on the containers 14 some short distance after the exit from the helix 10. Under these conditions, it should be clear that it would be difficult to adjust the number of guiding members 32 carried by the mounting block 24, other than by removing some of the guiding members 32. Since, as previously pointed out, the guiding members 32 are fixed to the mounting pads 26, this is obviously difficult to accomplish. Thus, I have devised a unit-type of helix assisting apparatus utilizing the principles illustrated in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3. Each of the article-guiding members 32 is carried by an individual guide carrier 34. The guide carriers 34, as best seen in FIG. 5, each have one convex face 35 and one concave face 36. The convex faces 35 all have a notched portion 38 which follows the convex curvature of the face 35. The notched portion 38 is provided to allow attachment of the article-guiding members 32 to the guide carriers 34. In operation, the article-guiding member 32 is attached to the guide carrier 34 in the notched portion 38. This again may be done by screwing the article-guiding member 32 into the convex face 35 of the guide carrier 34. This results in the guiding members 32 themselves having a slight curvature, as may be seen in FIG. 5. This curvature further reinforces the resistance of the article-guiding members 32 to reverse or retrograde motion of the containers 14 during their movement through the helix 10. The guide carriers 34 themselves are not angled to present the article-guiding members 32 at an angle to the flow of the containers 14, as was the case with the mounting pads 26 on the mounting block 24. Rather, each of the guide carriers 34 has an upper angled hole 40 and a lower angled hole 42 drilled completely through them. The holes 40 and 42 are parallel to one another and set at substantially the same angle as was the angled attachment face 28 of the mounting pads 26.

FIGS. 4 and 6 best show the assembly of a plurality of guide carriers 34 into an article-guiding array such as that seen in FIGS. 1 and 3. Two vertical support brackets 44 and 46 are attached to the side frame of the conveyor 12 (not shown) on the opposite side of the conveyor 12 from the helix 10, the bracket 44 being opposite the helix exit and the bracket 46 being opposite the helix entrance area. Each of the support brackets 44 and 46 has an upper and a lower hole drilled completely through it to accept an upper elongated threaded rod 48 and a lower elongated threaded rod 50. A plurality of guide carriers 34, with article-guiding members 32 attached thereto, are slipped onto the upper rod 48 and the lower rod 50, the rods 48 and 50 extending through the upper hole 40 and the lower hole 42 in the guide carriers 34. The guide carriers 34 are assembled in such a fashion that the convex face 35 mates with the concave face 36 of an adjacent guide carrier 34. In addition, the guide carriers 34 are assembled in such a manner that the article-guiding members 32 point in the direction of flow of the glass containers 14. When the desired number of guide carriers 34 have been placed on the rods 48 and 50, a first end stop block 52 is secured in position with a nut 53. A second end stop block 54 is positioned at the other end of the array of guide carriers 34 and is secured in position with a nut 55. It may be appreciated that tightening the nuts 53 and 55 will press the end stop blocks 52 and 54 toward one another and thus compress the guide carriers 34 between them and hold them tightly together, thereby serving as a means for holding the guide carriers 34 in a fixed position. The rods 48 and 50 are themselves secured from any further motion by the use of locking nuts 58, which serve as means for holding the rods 48 and 50 in a fixed position in the brackets 44 and 46. The description previously given for the function of the apparatus of FIGS. 1 and 3 equally applies to the embodiment shown in FIGS. 4 and 6. The curvature given to the article-guiding members 32 in the embodiment shown in FIGS. 4 through 6 does impart a somewhat greater degree of resistance to reverse motion, as previously noted, but the function is substantially the same. It will be observed that the angles of the holes 40 and 42 through the guide carrier 34 present the article-guiding members 32 at an angle toward the direction of flow of the containers 14, as was the case in the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 through 3.

Claims

What I claim is:

1. Apparatus for controllably, uniformly spacing articles in a single file comprising, in combination: an endless moving conveyor for transporting a plurality of articles in a single file; a rotating article-spacing helix located adjacent one side of said endless conveyor, said helix forming a plurality of spaced, article-engaging flights; a mounting block mounted adjacent said conveyor in opposed relationship to said helix; a plurality of contacting mounting pads integrally formed on the face of said mounting block facing said helix in a sawtooth pattern, each of said mounting pads having an angled attachment face inclined toward the direction of movement of said articles; and a plurality of flexible article-guiding members, one of said guiding members being fixed to the attachment face of each of said mounting pads, extending into the path of travel of said articles through said helix.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said flexible article-guiding members are substantially rectangular sheets of a resilient material having length and height dimensions that are substantial with respect to the thickness thereof, and further including a locating notch portion on each mounting pad located behind an adjacent mounting pad.

3. Apparatus for controllably, uniformly spacing articles in a single file comprising, in combination: an endless moving conveyor for transporting a plurality of articles in a single file; a rotating article-spacing helix located adjacent one side of said endless conveyor, said helix forming a plurality of spaced, article-engaging flights; a pair of support brackets each having an upper and a lower rod receiving hole drilled therethrough, said holes being parallel and in horizontal alignment, one of said brackets being positioned adjacent said conveyor opposite the entrance area of said helix and the other one of said brackets being positioned adjacent said conveyor opposite the exit area of said helix; an upper rod extending through the upper holes in said brackets; a lower rod extending through the lower holes in said brackets; a plurality of guide carriers each having a notched portion in one face thereof and each having an upper angled hole and a lower angled hole parallel to said upper hole, drilled through said guide carrier extending between the face of said guide carrier having said notched portion and the face opposite thereto, said guide carriers being placed with said upper rod passing through said upper holes and said lower rod passing through said lower holes with the angle of inclination of said holes acting to point said notched portions toward the direction of flow of said articles; and a plurality of flexible article-guiding members, one of said guiding members being attached to the notched portion of each of said guide carriers, extending into the path of travel of said articles through said helix.

4. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein said flexible article-guiding members are substantially rectangular sheets of a resilient material having length and height dimensions that are substantial with respect to the thickness thereof; and wherein each of said guide carriers further includes a convex face and a concave face, said convex face being the face of said guide carriers containing said notched portion, said notched portion following the curvature of said face, and said concave face being the face opposite said convex face, said upper and lower angled holes extending between said convex and said concave faces.

5. The apparatus of claim 4, further including means for holding said plurality of guide carriers in a fixed position on said rods; and means for holding said rods in a fixed position in said brackets.

6. In an appartus for placing articles in a uniformly-spaced single file, wherein articles are transported on an endless moving conveyor in a non-uniform single file to a rotating article-spacing helix, which spaces the articles a uniform distance apart, and wherein said conveyor removes said uniformly-spaced single file of articles from said helix, the improvement which comprises: a mounting block mounted adjacent said conveyor in opposed relationship to said helix; a plurality of contacting mounting pads integrally formed on the face of said mounting block facing said helix in a sawtooth pattern, each of said mounting pads having an angled attachment face inclined toward the direction of movement of said articles; and a plurality of flexible article-guiding members, one of said guiding members being fixed to the attachment face of each of said mounting pads, extending into the path of travel of said articles through said helix.

7. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein said flexible article-guiding members are substantially rectangular sheets of a resilient material having length and height dimensions that are substantial with respect to the thickness thereof, and further including a locating notch portion on each mounting pad located behind an adjacent mounting pad.

8. In an apparatus for placing articles in a uniformly-spaced single file, wherein articles are transported on an endless moving conveyor in a non-uniform single file to a rotating article-spacing helix, which spaces the articles a uniform distance apart, and wherein said conveyor removes said uniformly-spaced single file of articles from said helix, the improvement which comprises: a pair of support brackets each having an upper and a lower rod receiving hole drilled therethrough, said holes being parallel and in horizontal alignment, one of said brackets being positioned adjacent said conveyor opposite the entrance area of said helix and the other one of said brackets being positioned adjacent said conveyor opposite the exit area of said helix; an upper rod extending through the upper holes in said brackets; a lower rod extending through the lower holes in said brackets; a plurality of guide carriers each having a notched portion in one face thereof and each having an upper angled hole and a lower angled hole parallel to said upper hole, drilled through said guide carrier extending between the face of said guide carrier having said notched portion and the face opposite thereto, said guide carriers being placed with said upper rod passing through said upper holes and said lower rod passing through said lower holes with the angle of inclination of said holes acting to point said notched portions toward the direction of flow of said articles; and a plurality of flexible article-guiding members, one of said guiding members being attached to the notched portion of each of said guide carriers, extending into the path of travel of said articles through said helix.

9. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein said flexible article-guiding members are substantially rectangular sheets of a resilient material having length and height dimensions that are substantial with respect to the thickness thereof; and wherein each of said guide carriers further includes a convex face and a concave face, said convex face being the face of said guide carriers containing said notched portion, said notched portion following the curvature of said face, and said concave face being the face opposite said convex face, said upper and lower angled holes extending between said convex and said concave faces.

10. The apparatus of claim 9, further including means for holding said plurality of guide carriers in a fixed position on said rods; and means for holding said rods in a fixed position in said brackets.