Article row former

• US 20040000464A1
• Filed: 06/30/2003
• Published: 01/01/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 07/01/2002
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Busse SJI Corp (Regal Rexnord Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Busse SJI Corp (Regal Rexnord Corp.)
• Inventors: Busse, Brian E.
• Application Number:
  US10/610,109
• Publication Number:
  US 20040000464A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 198/442
• CPC Class Codes: B65G 2047/686 Lane boundaries which reciprocate or oscillate, e.g. vibrating boundaries
• CPC Class Codes: B65G 2201/0244 Bottles
• CPC Class Codes: B65G 47/682 from a single conveyor lane consisting of one conveyor or several adjacent conveyors

Abstract

An article row former for arranging an unorganized stream of articles into a plurality of rows. The row former includes a conveyor for conveying articles in a flow direction and a frame. A support assembly is slideably coupled to the frame for movement above the conveyor substantially parallel to the flow direction, and a carriage assembly is slideably coupled to the frame for movement above the conveyor substantially perpendicular to the flow direction. Each of a plurality of elongated guides has an upstream end that is pivotally coupled to the support assembly, and a downstream end that is pivotally coupled to the carriage assembly. The guides define a plurality of guide channels that receive the articles. Each of a plurality of starwheels is rotatably coupled to the downstream end of a respective guide, and rotate in timed relation with the movement of the carriage assembly to control the release of articles from the guide channels.

Claims

1. A row former for arranging an unorganized stream of articles into a plurality of rows, the row former comprising:

a conveyor for conveying the articles in a flow direction;

a frame adjacent the conveyor;

a plurality of elongated guides coupled to the frame and supported thereby for oscillatory movement above the conveyor between a first position and a second position;

a plurality of guide channels defined by and extending between the guides to receive and guide the articles; and

a plurality of shafts supported by the frame and moving in timed relation with respect to the oscillating guides to intermittently allow articles to flow out of the guide channels.

2. The row former of claim 1, wherein the guides oscillate in a direction that is substantially perpendicular to the flow direction.

3. The row former of claim 1, wherein a downstream end of each guide oscillates in a direction substantially perpendicular to the flow direction, and wherein an upstream end of each guide is pivotally coupled to the frame.

4. The row former of claim 3, wherein the upstream end of each guide is further coupled to the frame for translational movement in a direction substantially parallel to the flow direction.

5. The row former of claim 1, wherein each shaft retains an individual article in the guide channel until the guides reach one of the first and second positions, at which time each shaft allows an individual article to flow out of a respective guide channel.

6. The row former of claim 1, further comprising a plurality of starwheels coupled to the shafts for rotation therewith, each starwheel defining a plurality of article receiving recesses.

7. The row former of claim 6, wherein the article receiving recesses each receive an individual article and retain each individual article in the guide channel until the guides reach one of the first and second positions.

8. The row former of claim 7, wherein when the guides reach one of the first and second positions, a downstream end of each article-receiving recess rotates to a position that is substantially tangent to the flow direction, thereby releasing the articles and allowing the articles to flow out of the guide channels.

9. The row former of claim 6, wherein a portion of each starwheel extends into a respective one of the guide channels to regulate the flow of articles out of the respective guide channel.

10. The row former of claim 1, wherein one article is allowed to flow from each guide channel each time the guides reach one of the first and second positions, and wherein no articles are released when the guides are between the first and second positions.

11. The row former of claim 1, further comprising:

a carriage slideably coupled to the frame for translational movement in a direction that is substantially perpendicular to the flow direction;

a motor supported by the carriage and drivingly coupled to the shafts for rotation thereof;

a cam rotatably driven by the motor; and

a cam follower coupled to the frame and engaged with the cam,

wherein the plurality of guides and the plurality of shafts are at least partially supported by the carriage, and wherein rotation of the cam imparts oscillatory movement to the carriage.

12. An article row former for arranging an unorganized stream of generally cylindrical articles into a plurality of rows, the article row former comprising:

a conveyor for conveying the articles in a flow direction;

a frame adjacent the conveyor;

a carriage coupled to the frame for translational movement in a direction substantially perpendicular to the flow direction;

a motor supported by the carriage for movement therewith;

a cam supported by the carriage and drivingly coupled to the motor for rotation thereby;

a cam follower fixedly coupled to the frame and engaging the cam, the carriage oscillating in response to rotation of the cam; and

a plurality of guides, each guide having a first end supported by the carriage for oscillation therewith, and a second end supported by the frame.

13. The article row former of claim 12, wherein the carriage oscillates between a first position and a second position.

14. The article row former of claim 13, wherein the cam defines a cam profile having a first constant radius portion, a second constant radius portion, a first variable radius portion, and a second variable radius portion, and wherein when the cam follower is in the first constant radius portion, the carriage is substantially stationary in the first position, and when the cam follower is in the second constant radius portion, the carriage is substantially stationary in the second position.

15. The article row former of claim 14, wherein when the cam follower is in one of the first and second variable radius portions, the carriage is between the first and second positions.

16. The article row former of claim 12, further comprising a plurality of starwheels, each starwheel supported by the carriage and rotatably coupled to a downstream end of a respective guide, wherein each starwheel is drivingly coupled to the motor for rotation thereby.

17. The article row former of claim 16, wherein the starwheels synchronously rotate to intermittently allow individual containers to flow from respective guide channels, thereby forming the plurality of rows.

18. The article row former of claim 17, wherein the carriage oscillates between a first position and a second position, and wherein the starwheels rotate in timed relation with the oscillation of the carriage to allow the individual containers to flow from respective guide channels only when the carriage is in one of the first and second positions.

19. An article row former for arranging an unorganized stream of articles into a plurality of rows, the article row former comprising:

a conveyor for conveying articles in a flow direction;

a frame adjacent the conveyor;

a plurality of article guides supported by the frame and defining a plurality of substantially parallel guide channels that extend in the flow direction, each guide including an upstream end that guides individual articles into one of the guide channels, and a downstream end having a curved portion that diverts the articles in a direction that is angled with respect to the flow direction prior to releasing the articles from the guide channels.

20. The article row former of claim 19, wherein each guide channel has a width that substantially corresponds to a diameter of the articles.

21. The article row former of claim 19, further comprising a discharge assembly coupled to the downstream end of the guides and operating to intermittently allow articles to flow from the guide channels, and wherein the curved portion prevents a tipped article from reaching the discharge assembly.

22. The article row former of claim 19, further comprising a feed jam sensor positioned over the guide channels upstream of the curved portions, the feed jam sensor operable to detect a tipped article in the guide channel.

23. An article row former for arranging an unorganized stream of articles into a plurality of rows, the article row former comprising:

a frame;

a plurality of guides supported by the frame and defining guide channels, each guide having an upstream end and a downstream end;

a plurality of starwheels each rotatably coupled to a downstream end of a respective guide to control the release of articles from the guide channels;

a plurality of drive pulleys, each drive pulley coupled to a respective starwheel for imparting rotation thereto;

a motor coupled to the frame;

a flexible drive member driven by the motor and engaging each drive pulley for imparting rotation thereto;

a sensor pulley coupled to the frame and engaging the flexible drive member; and

a sensor operatively associated with the sensor pulley to sense movement of the sensor pulley in response to an increase in tension of the flexible drive member.

24. The article row former of claim 23, wherein the sensor pulley is slideably coupled to the frame and wherein the sensor is a position sensor for sensing movement of the sensor pulley.

25. The article row former of claim 23, wherein the sensor is a load sensor.

26. The article row former of claim 23, wherein the sensor pulley is slideably coupled to the frame and wherein the sensor is a micro-switch that is actuated when the sensor pulley moves in response to the increase in tension of the flexible drive member.

27. The article row former of claim 23, further comprising a plurality of idler rollers disposed between adjacent drive pulleys and engaging the flexible drive member to guide the flexible drive member along a serpentine path.

28. An article row former for arranging an unorganized stream of articles into a plurality of rows, the article row former comprising:

a conveyor for conveying articles in a flow direction;

a frame having a first frame rail on one side of the conveyor, and a second frame rail on an opposite side of the conveyor;

a support assembly slideably coupled to at least one of the frame rails for movement substantially parallel to the flow direction;

a carriage assembly slideably coupled to the frame rails for movement substantially perpendicular to the flow direction;

a plurality of guides, each guide having an upstream end pivotally coupled to the support assembly and a downstream end pivotally coupled to the carriage assembly.

29. A method for clearing jams in an article row former, the article row former including a conveyor for conveying articles in a flow direction, a frame adjacent the conveyor, and a plurality of article guides supported by the frame and defining a plurality of substantially parallel guide channels that extend in the flow direction, the method comprising:

sensing the absence of an article in one of the guide channels;

waiting for a period of time corresponding to a feed rate at which articles flow from the guide channels;

automatically performing jam remediation operations in response to continued absence of an article in the one guide channel after waiting for the period of time;

operating the article row former normally after performing the jam remediation operations;

checking for the continued absence or presence of an article in the one guide channel; and

alerting an operator in response to a continued absence of an article in the one guide channel.

30. The method of claim 29, wherein performing jam remediation operations includes operating the row former in reverse.

31. The method of claim 30, wherein sensing the absence of an article in one of the guide channels includes sensing the movement of an article engaging member that is supported above the guide channels.