U.S. patent number RE31,945 [Application Number 06/442,913] was granted by the patent office on 1985-07-16 for conveyor apparatus.
This patent grant is currently assigned to AXIS S.p.A.. Invention is credited to Antonio Magni.
United States Patent |
RE31,945 |
Magni |
July 16, 1985 |
**Please see images for:
( Certificate of Correction ) ** |
Conveyor apparatus
Abstract
Conveyor apparatus comprises an endless conveyor operative to
convey workpieces past a number of processing stations. The
workpieces are conveyed in seats of the conveyor, each of the seats
being designated to receive a workpiece which is at a predetermined
stage in the process. Means are provided to sense the presence of
filled and empty seats and to control workpiece removal and
depositing means associated with the processing stations so that
workpieces are only removed from, and deposited in, the appropriate
designated seats.
Inventors: |
Magni; Antonio (Florence,
IT) |
Assignee: |
AXIS S.p.A.
(IT)
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Family
ID: |
11132945 |
Appl.
No.: |
06/442,913 |
Filed: |
November 19, 1982 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
Issue Date |
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851754 |
Nov 15, 1977 |
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Reissue of: |
157483 |
Jun 9, 1980 |
04306646 |
Dec 22, 1981 |
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Foreign Application Priority Data
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Nov 15, 1976 [IT] |
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9659 A/76 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
198/341.07;
198/370.1; 198/803.14; 198/836.1; 29/564.1; 29/714; 29/732; 29/742;
29/784 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B23Q
7/03 (20130101); B23Q 7/1415 (20130101); B65G
47/42 (20130101); H02K 15/00 (20130101); Y10T
29/53061 (20150115); Y10T 29/53187 (20150115); Y10T
29/5337 (20150115); Y10T 29/53143 (20150115); Y10T
29/5137 (20150115) |
Current International
Class: |
B23Q
7/14 (20060101); B23Q 7/03 (20060101); B65G
47/34 (20060101); B65G 47/42 (20060101); H02K
15/00 (20060101); B65G 043/00 () |
Field of
Search: |
;198/339,340,341,370,472,580,655,836
;29/732,783,791,822,564.1,742,784,799,824,714 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Valenza; Joseph E.
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Lerner, David, Littenberg, Krumholz
& Mentlik
Parent Case Text
.[.This is a continuation of application Ser. No. 851,754 filed
Nov. 15, 1977, now abandoned..]. .Iadd.This application is a
reissue of Ser. No. 157,483, filed June 9, 1980, now U.S. Pat. No.
4,306,646, which was a continuation of Ser. No. 851,754, filed Nov.
15, 1977, now abandoned..Iaddend.
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. Conveyor apparatus comprising means defining an active conveyor
path passing adjacent a plurality of processing stations, means
defining an endless conveyor movable along said path, said conveyor
having means defining seats for workpieces to be conveyed along
said path, means operative to feed workpieces to predetermined
seats of the conveyor, means associated with the processing
stations for removing workpieces from the seats for processing at
the corresponding stations and to deposit the processed workpieces
into the seats, said seats consisting of a plurality of groups of
seats, in each said group of seats individual seats being
designated to receive only workpieces which are at a predetermined
stage in the process, detecting means for detecting the
instantaneous condition of the conveyor and the locations of filled
and empty seats in predetermined positions of the seats along the
path, said detecting means controlling the operation of the
workpiece removal and depositing means whereby the workpiece
removal and depositing means only remove workpieces from, and
deposit workpieces into, the designated seats, and means defining a
return conveyor path vertically aligned with the active conveyor
path which comprises profiles following the return conveyor path to
retain within their seats workpieces which are being returned along
the return path to the beginning of the active conveyor path for
completion of processing.
2. Apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the detecting means
comprises first sensor means for determining the position of the
conveyor, second sensor means associated with the workpiece
depositing the removal means for detecting the presence and absence
of filled and empty seats, and third sensing means for sensing the
presence of predetermined empty seats and to control the feed means
to deposit the workpiece into said predetermined empty seats.
3. Conveyor apparatus comprising means defining an active conveyor
path passing adjacent a plurality of processing stations, each
station of said plurality of stations adapted to execute a work
function which is different than the work function executed by the
preceding station, means defining an endless vertical conveyor
movable along said path, said conveyor having means defining seats
for workpieces to be conveyed along said path, means operative to
feed workpieces to be conveyed along said path, means operative to
feed workpieces to predetermined seats of the conveyor, means
associated with the processing stations for removing workpieces
from the seats for processing at the corresponding stations and
depositing the processed workpieces into the seats, said removing
and depositing means comprising a lifting means adapted to move the
workpiece vertically with respect to the conveyor and a means for
moving the workpiece horizontally from a position above the
conveyor to the processing station, said seats consisting of a
plurality of groups of seats, in each said group of seats
individual seats being designated to receive only workpieces which
are at a predetermined stage in the process, first detecting means
for detecting the instantaneous position of the conveyor said first
detecting means comprising cam means in a number equal to the
groups of seats rotating synchronically with the conveyor and an
equal number of respective active feelers to denote the
instantaneous position of the seats of the various groups of seats
for the conveyor; second detecting means of the condition of filled
and empty seats in predetermined positions of the seats along the
path, said first and second detecting means controlling the
operation of the workpiece removal and depositing means whereby the
workpiece removal and depositing means only remove workpieces from,
and deposit workpieces into, the designated seats, and means
enabling any incompletely processed workpieces to be returned to
the beginning of the active conveyor path, and third sensor means
for sensing the presence of predetermined empty seats and to
control the feed means to deposit the workpiece into said
predetermined empty seats, means defining a return conveyor path
vertically aligned with the active conveyor path and guides
following the return path to retain within their seats workpieces
which are being returned along the return path to the beginning of
the active path for completion of processing.
4. Apparatus according to claim 3, wherein said cam means of said
first detecting means are mounted on a transmission shaft of said
continuous conveyor and cooperate with respective switch
feelers.
5. Apparatus according to claim 3, wherein said second detecting
means comprise switches in said predetermined positions of the
seats along the path positioned to sense the presence or the
absence of a workpiece in said seats.
6. Conveyor apparatus comprising means defining an active conveyor
path passing adjacent a plurality of processing stations, means
defining an endless conveyor movable along said path, said conveyor
having means defining seats for workpieces to be conveyed along
said path, means operative to feed workpieces to predetermined
seats of the conveyor, means associated with the processing
stations for removing workpieces from the seats for processing at
the corresponding stations and to deposit the processed workpieces
into the seats, said seats consisting of a plurality of groups of
seats, in each said group of seats individual seats being
designated to receive only workpieces which are at a predetermined
stage in the process, detecting means for detecting the
instantaneous condition of the conveyor and the locations of filled
and empty seats in predetermined positions of the seats along the
path, said detecting means controlling the operation of the
workpiece removal and depositing means whereby the workpiece
removal and depositing means only remove workpieces from, and
deposit workpieces into, the designated seats, and means defining a
return conveyor path vertically aligned with the active conveyor
path, wherein said seats are shaped to retain workpieces which are
being returned along a major portion of the return conveyor path to
the beginning of the active path for completion of processing and
means for assisting in the retaining of articles in the seats is
positioned along the remaining portion of the return path.
7. An apparatus according to claim 6, wherein said seat comprise a
lower and upper saddle, the lower saddle being adapted to support
the workpiece along said active conveyor path and said upper saddle
being in a position reverse of that of the lower saddle and adapted
to support the workpiece along said return conveyor path.
8. An apparatus according to claim 6, further comprising means
defining a first and second curved path portion interconnecting
adjacent ends of the active and return path, and said assisting
means comprises electromagnetic means for retaining in their seats,
workpieces moving along said first curved portion.
9. An apparatus according to claim 8, wherein said upper and lower
saddles are connected by an intermediate saddle which supports the
workpiece along the second curved portion interconnecting the
active and return paths of the conveyor. .Iadd.
10. Conveyor apparatus for conveying workpieces to be processed in
a predetermined fixed sequence of processing steps to a processing
station at which a predetermined process in said fixed sequence is
to be performed upon said workpieces, said conveyor apparatus
comprising conveyor means adapted to move the workpieces through a
continuous path which includes a portion adjacent to said
processing station, said conveyor means including a plurality of
workpiece advancing means, said workpiece advancing means being
adapted to advance said workpieces through said continuous path so
that they pass sequentially adjacent to said processing station,
said plurality of workpiece advancing means comprising a plurality
of first workpiece advancing means continuously having a first
predetermined designation during operation of the conveyor
apparatus and a plurality of second workpiece advancing means
continuously having a second predetermined designation during such
operation, said first predetermined designation designating
workpieces in which the next processing step to be performed in
said predetermined fixed sequence is the one to be performed in
said processing station and said second predetermined designation
designating workpieces which have just completed said next
processing step, there being no specific required relationship
between the position of a first workpiece advancing means on said
conveyor means relative to the position of a second workpiece
advancing means on said conveyor means as they do not interact
directly one with the other, first detection means for determining
which of said first and second workpiece advancing means is
presented at said processing station, workpiece handling means
associated with said processing station for removing said
workpieces from said first workpiece advancing means for processing
in said processing station and for returning said processed
workpieces to said second workpiece advancing means, said workpiece
handling means being operable in response to said first detection
means so as to selectively remove said workpieces only from said
first workpiece advancing means and to selectively return said
processed workpieces only to said second workpiece advancing means,
said conveyor means being designed so as to return any of said
workpieces remaining in said workpiece advancing means to said
portion of said path adjacent to said processing station. .Iaddend.
.Iadd.
11. The conveyor apparatus of claim 10, further including feed
means for feeding workpieces to be processed to said workpiece
advancing means of said conveyor means and discharge means for
removing processed workpieces from said workpiece advancing means
of said conveyor means, said feed means being operative to feed
workpieces to only said first workpiece advancing means and said
discharge means being operative to remove said workpieces only from
said second workpiece advancing means .Iaddend. .Iadd.12. The
conveyor apparatus according to claim 10, wherein said conveyor
means comprises an endless conveyor. .Iaddend. .Iadd.13. The
conveyor apparatus of claim 12 wherein said conveyor includes shaft
means for driving said conveyor, and wherein said first detection
means comprises a plurality of cam members including a first cam
member corresponding to the location of said first workpiece
advancing means and a second cam member corresponding to the
location of said second workpiece advancing means and a plurality
of microswitch means, including first microswitch means which are
activated by said first cam member when said first workpiece
advancing means are located at said processing station, and second
microswitch means which are activated by said second cam member
when said second workpiece advancing means are located at said
processing
station. .Iaddend. .Iadd.14. The conveyor apparatus according to
claim 10, further comprising second detection means for detecting
the presence or absence of a workpiece in said first and second
workpiece advancing means at said processing station. .Iaddend.
.Iadd.15. The conveyor apparatus of claim 14 wherein said second
detection means comprises microswitch means. .Iaddend. .Iadd.16.
The conveyor apparatus according to claim 10, wherein said
workpiece advancing means comprises seats for carrying said
workpieces, and said seats are affixed to said conveyor means.
.Iaddend. .Iadd.17. The apparatus of claim 16 wherein said
plurality of workpiece seats are shaped to retain workpieces which
are being returned to said portion of said path adjacent to said
processing
station..Iaddend. .Iadd.18. Conveyor apparatus for conveyor
workpieces to be processed in a predetermined fixed sequence of
processing steps to a plurality of processing stations including
first and second processing stations at which first and second
predetermined processes, respectively, in said fixed sequence are
to be performed upon said workpieces in a sequential manner, said
conveyor apparatus comprising conveyor means adapted to move the
workpieces through a continuous path which includes a portion
adjacent to said plurality of processing stations, said conveyor
means including a plurality of workpiece advancing means, said
workpiece advancing means being adapted to advance said workpieces
through said continuous path so that they pass sequentially
adjacent to said plurality of processing stations, said plurality
of workpiece advancing means comprising a plurality of first
workpiece advancing means continuously having a first predetermined
designation during operation of the conveyor apparatus, a plurality
of second workpiece advancing means continuously having a second
predetermined designation during such operation, and a plurality of
third workpiece advancing means continuously having a third
predetermined designation during said operation, said first
predetermined designation designating workpieces in which the next
processing step to be performed in said predetermined fixed
sequence is the one to be performed in said first processing
station, said second predetermined designation designating
workpieces which have just completed said processing step performed
in said first processing station and in which the next processing
step to be performed in said predetermined fixed sequence is the
one to be performed in said second processing station, and said
third predetermined designation designating workpieces which have
just completed said processing step performed in said second
processing station, there being no specific required relationship
between the position of a first workpiece advancing means on said
conveyor means relative to the position of a second workpiece
advancing means or a third workpiece advancing means on said
conveyor means or between the position of a second workpiece
advancing means on said conveyor means relative to the position of
a third workpiece advancing means on said conveyor means as they do
not interact directly one with the other, first detection means for
determining which of said first, second and third workpiece
advancing means is presented at each of said plurality of
processing stations, first workpiece handling means associated with
said first processing station for removing said workpieces from
said first workpiece advancing means for processing in said first
processing station and for returning said workpieces processed in
said first processing station to said second workpiece advancing
means, second workpiece handling means associated with said second
processing station for removing said workpieces from said second
workpiece advancing means for processing in said second processing
station and for returning said workpieces processed in said second
processing station to said third workpiece advancing means, said
first and second workpiece handling means being operable in
response to said first detection means so as to selectively remove
said workpieces only from said first workpiece advancing means for
processing in said first processing station, to selectively return
said workpieces processed in said first processing station only to
said second workpiece advancing means, to selectively remove said
workpieces only from said second workpiece advancing means for
processing in said second processing station, and to selectively
return said workpieces processed in said second processing station
only to said third workpiece advancing means, said conveyor means
being designed so as to return any of said workpieces remaining in
said workpiece advancing means to said portion of said path
adjacent each of said plurality of
processing stations. .Iaddend. .Iadd.19. The conveyor apparatus of
claim 18, further including feed means for feeding workpieces to be
processed to said workpiece advancing means of said conveyor means
and discharge means for removing workpieces processed in said first
and second processing stations from said workpiece advancing means
of said conveyor means, said feed means being operative to feed
workpieces only to said first workpiece advancing means and said
discharge means being operative to remove workpieces only from said
third workpiece advancing means. .Iaddend. .Iadd.20. The conveyor
apparatus according to claim 18, wherein said conveyor means
comprises an endless conveyor. .Iaddend. .Iadd.21. The conveyor
apparatus according to claim 18, further comprising second
detection means for detecting the presence or absence of a
workpiece in said first, second and third workpiece advancing means
at each of said plurality of processing stations. .Iaddend.
.Iadd.22. The conveyor apparatus according to claim 18, wherein
said workpiece advancing means comprises seats for carrying said
workpieces, and said seats are affixed to said conveyor means.
.Iaddend.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to conveyors.
2. Description of the Prior Art
There has been proposed conveyor apparatus for workpieces which are
to undergo processing operations along the path of the apparatus,
for example workpieces in the form of rotors of electrical machines
which are to undergo winding and welding operations.
Such apparatus comprises an endless flexible member having a
plurality of seats for the workpieces and a plurality of processing
stations (such as winding and welding stations) along an active
upper path of said conveyor.
An object of the invention is to provide an improved apparatus of
this type.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
According to the present invention, there is provided conveyor
apparatus comprising means defining an active conveyor path passing
adjacent a plurality of processing stations, means defining an
endless conveyor movable along said path, said conveyor having
means defining seats for workpieces to be conveyed along said path,
means operative to feed workpieces to predetermined seats of the
conveyor, means associated with the processing stations for
removing workpieces from the seats for processing at the
corresponding stations and to deposit the processed workpieces into
the seats, said seats consisting of a plurality of groups of seats,
in each said group of seats individual seats being designated to
receive only workpieces which are at a predetermined stage in the
process, detecting means for detecting the instantaneous condition
of the conveyor and the locations of filled and empty seats in
predetermined positions of the seats along the path, said detecting
means controlling the operation of the workpiece removal and
depositing means whereby the workpiece removal and depositing means
only remove workpieces from, and deposit workpieces into, the
designated seats, and means enabling any incompletely processed
workpieces to be returned to the beginning of the active conveyor
path.
Further according to the present invention, there is provided
conveyor apparatus comprising means defining an endless conveyor
path passing adjacent a plurality of processing stations means
defining an endless conveyor movable along said path, said conveyor
having means defining seats for workpieces to be conveyed along
said path, means operative to feed workpieces to predetermined
seats of the conveyor, means associated with the processing
stations for removing workpieces from the seats for processing at
the corresponding stations and to deposit the processed workpieces
into the seats, said seats consisting of a plurality of groups of
seats, in each said group of seats individual seats being
designated to receive only workpieces which are at a predetermined
stage in the process, and means sensing the prescence of filled and
empty seats in specific positions of the conveyor, said sensing
means controlling the workpiece removal and depositing means,
whereby the workpiece removal and depositing means only remove
workpieces from, and deposit workpieces into, the appropriate
designated seats.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The invention will now be described, by way of example only, with
reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
FIG. 1 is a side elevation of conveyor apparatus according to a
first embodiment of the invention;
FIG. 2 is an enlarged view showing sensing means of the conveyor
apparatus;
FIG. 3 is a view of the sensing means along line III--III of FIG.
2;
FIG. 4 is a fragmentary transverse section through the conveyor
apparatus;
FIG. 5 shows schematically the conveyor apparatus and an associated
working station;
FIG. 6 shows a modified form of conveyor for the apparatus of FIGS.
1 to 5;
FIGS. 7 and 8 are a schematic plan view and side elevation of
another embodiment of conveyor apparatus in accordance with the
invention;
FIGS. 9 and 10 are cross-sections, to an enlarged scale, showing an
endless flexible conveyor and a carriage of the apparatus shown in
FIGS. 7 and 8; and
FIGS. 11 and 12 are respectively, a vertical section and a section
taken along line XII--XII of FIG. 11 showing a driving and control
system of the apparatus as shown in FIGS. 7 and 8.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
The conveyor apparatus shown in FIGS. 1 to 5 comprises a main frame
1 having guide means 3 (see FIG. 4) for an endless conveyor
comprising two conveyor chains 5. The two chains 5 are driven in
unison, the chains 5 being parallel and being suitably connected to
each other. The chains are driven by means of a motor 6 which
effects stepwise movement of the conveyor or continuous movement,
with controls to stop and start the conveyor depending upon the
condition of control means as will be described hereinafter. The
conveyor chains 5 carry saddle shaped, i.e. V-shaped, seats 7, the
seats 7 of the two chains being aligned to receive workpieces 9.
These workpieces may be electric motor rotors which are to be
subjected to various operations along the path of the conveyor,
including winding of insulated wires and welding of the ends
thereof to the commutators. The workpieces are fed to the conveyor
by feed means 10.
Two successive winding stations 12 and 14 include winding machines
of conventional type having means for picking-up the workpieces 9
from the seats 7 and for depositing the workpieces into the seats 7
after the winding operation. References 16 and 18 denote two
successive welding stations including conventional welding machines
also provided with pick-up and depositing means for the workpieces.
Discharge means 20 are provided at the end of the conveyor to
pick-up workpieces for delivery to further processing stations or
for delivery to further conveyors.
The conveyor has means for retaining certain workpieces which are
to be moved along the lower run of the conveyor in a direction
f.sub.2 opposite to the advance direction f.sub.1 of the upper run
for reasons which will be explained hereinafter. These means may be
constituted by profiles 22 extending along the whole of the lower
run, from the discharge means 20 to the feed means 10.
When the apparatus is being used for the manufacture of electric
motor rotors (as described) the following are present on the
conveyor--workpieces in an unwound state, wound workpieces still to
be welded, and wound and welded workpieces. For this purpose, the
conveyor has groups of three seats 7, in each of which the
respective seats are designated to receive, respectively, the
unwound workpieces, the wound and unwelded workpieces, and the
wound and welded workpieces. In particular, in a group of three
successive seats, one seat designated O is intended to receive an
unwound workpiece, a second seat I is intended to receive a wound
and unwelded workpiece, and a third seat II is intended to receive
a wound and welded workpiece. Successive groups of said seats
follow each other along the conveyor, whose seats are therefore
arranged in groups of three, designated O, I and II. In order to
designate the different seats, suitable marks may be provided on
the same seats so that they can be recognized by sensor means, such
as microswitches or the like, or selection means may be provided
which are linked to the transmission means of the chain conveyor.
In this latter case, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, on a shaft 24 which
carries driving sprockets of the transmission means, there is
provided a group of three cams 26, 28, 30 which are associated with
three microswitches 32, 34 and 36. The cams 26, 28, 30 and the
seats on the chain are positionally synchronized so that the
position of the seats O, I, II of the successive groups is
determined and set for the whole path by the position of the shaft
24, and thus of the cams, in any standstill position of the
conveyor. At each of the stations 12, 14, 16 and 18 sensing means
are provided to detect the presence or absence of a workpiece on a
given seat positioned with respect to the corresponding group. Such
sensing means may be microswitches 38, 40, 42, and 44, which detect
the presence of a workpiece or the empty seat in the desired
position at which the picking-up or the depositing of the workpiece
must be accomplished in the respective group.
The unwound and unwelded workpieces from the feed means 10, are
deposited in the seats which are designated O. The workpieces on
the seats designated O can be picked-up for the winding operation
at either of the stations 12 and 14, at which their presence is
detected by the sensing means 38 and 40. At the stations 12 and 14
the then wound but unwelded workpieces are deposited into empty
seats designated I which are also detected by the sensing means 38
and 40. At the stations 16 and 18, the sensing means 42 and 44
detect the presence of the workpieces in the seats designated I so
that these workpieces are picked up for the welding operation; the
then wound and unwelded workpieces are deposited into empty ones of
the seats designated II and which are presented before the
depositing position in the stations 16 and 18.
The selection among the O, I, and II seats and among occupied and
empty seats is determined by the operative cooperation between the
sensing means 32, 34, 36 and the sensing means 38, 40, 42, and 44,
respectively.
Feeding and unloading of the conveyor can be controlled in response
to means detecting the presence of empty seats O to operate the
feed means 10, and means detecting the presence of occupied seats
II to operate the discharge means 20.
The feed means 10 can accumulate workpieces ready for winding and
welding so as to act as a storage unit between the conveyor and
means upstream of the conveyor for the production or feeding of the
workpieces. It may occur that certain workpieces are not wound, or
welded at the stations 12, 14 or 16, 18, and these workpieces may
be recycled along the lower run of the conveyor so that these
workpieces can be presented again to the stations 12, 14 and 16, 18
until these workpieces are finished and deposited in the seats II
and finally discharged. If more than a certain number of workpieces
are accumulated at the feed means 10, there can be a stop in the
production or of the feeding of further workpieces to the feed
means 10.
FIG. 5 shows schematically the station 14 having a turret 14A
movable around a vertical axis and carrying a double collet 14B
which can be horizontally moved. In a pick-up and/or depositing
zones associated with the station 14 there is a lift 50 responsive
to the controls already described and operative to lift a workpiece
from the seat 7 to present it to a collet 14B (and/or to present a
workpiece to the seat 7 after receiving the workpiece from one of
the collets 14B).
In a modified arrangement as shown in FIG. 6, instead of providing
the guides 22, the seats (designated 70) are shaped with a saddle
72 to support the workpiece 9 along the upper run TA and with a
reversed saddle 74 to support the workpiece along the lower run TR,
the workpiece sliding from the saddle 72 to the saddle 74 along a
curved portion C1 of the conveyor path by sliding along portion 76
of the seat. In order to retain the workpieces when moving along
the other curved portion C2 of the conveyor path, electromagnetic
means 78 can be provided, possibly energized by the passage of the
seats of the groups O and I. The workpieces 9 are deposited and
picked up along paths shown by the double arrow f10.
In the embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 7 to 12, 101 denotes an
elongate casing (see FIG. 8) in which are arranged two opposed
guides 103, 105 extending in a closed loop to form an annular track
having two parallel rectilinear portions which are joined at the
ends by curved portions 107. Along the opposite faces of the guides
103 and 105 are located rollers 109 mounted in stationary positions
to form tracks for workpiece conveying members 110 which form
carriages. The carriages 110 are arranged in an endless loop and
may be entrained by an endless chain 112 (or other flexible endless
members), the chain being suitably guided along a path located
between the guides 103, 105 and the tracks formed by the rollers
109.
Means such as those indicated at 114, 116, 118, 120, 122, 124, and
intended to effect the same operation or different operations on
the workpieces, are provided along a rectilinear portion A of the
annular track. The above described arrangement of these means is
similar to that of the working stations in the previous embodiment.
The means 118, 120, 122 may operate in parallel to effect the same
operation in a slower manner than those operated, for instance, by
the means 114, 116, 124. The means 118, 120, 122 may each be
associated with two mechanical grippers or hands 126 for
transferring the workpieces to and from the conveyor portion A by
angular movement in a horizontal plane. A similar mechanical
gripper is associated with each of the other means 114, 116,
124.
A carriage 110 can be engaged by the mechanical grippers and
transferred together with the workpiece P transported thereby and
which still has to undergo an operation. The workpiece P may for
instance, be a stator or an annular rotor of an electric motor, on
which a winding is to be applied or another preliminary or
complementary or subsequent operation is to be carried out. In the
case of an annular workpiece P, the workpiece is located in an
annular recess of the carriage 110 (see FIGS. 9 and 10), and the
carriage has jaws 130 articulated at 132 to the carriage 110 and
biased by springs 134 in such a direction as to engage the
workpiece P. The jaws 130 can be opened by means of suitable
pushers (not shown) which act in the direction of the arrows
f.sub.4 of FIG. 10 and which pass through suitable recesses in the
carriage 110 to act on arms 134A of the jaws; the pushers will be
arranged to act in correspondence of loading and unloading
positions of the manual or automatic type. Unloading may also be
provided from the final processing means 124, when the arrangement
is such that at least at this station the carriage 110 is carried
from the conveyor to the processing means together with the
workpiece P for the final working.
The several carriages 110 are engaged by the chain 112 by
appropriate projections 143 so that a respective carriage is
engaged between pairs of adjacent projections in such a manner that
each carriage 110 may be seized by a mechanical gripper, such as
126.
The chain 112 is driven by a gear wheel 146 located at one of the
curved portions of the track and actuated by a pinion 148 meshing
with a pinion of a drive unit 150 (see FIG. 11). Appropriately
shaped cams 154 are provided on a shaft 152 of the members 146, 148
and are positioned in order to cooperate each with an appropriate
feeler 156 of means 158, which may be a switch or the like, to
determine the control for the loading, unloading and the
intermediate removals, following the same criteria already
discussed in connection with the previous embodiment. The positions
of the seats defined by the projections 143 of the chain 112 are
always controlled by the cams 154, with each seat designated for a
specific function.
* * * * *