VIBRATORY QUANTIFYING APPARATUS

• US 3,746,211 A
• Filed: 12/06/1971
• Issued: 07/17/1973
• Est. Priority Date: 12/06/1971
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Warren C. Burgess Jr
• Original Assignee: Warren C. Burgess Jr
• Inventors: Burgess, Warren C. Jr.
• Primary Examiner(s): Reeves, Robert B.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Kocovsky, Thomas E.
• Application Number:
  US05/205,266
• Time in Patent Office: 589 Days
• Field of Search: 221/2,9,10,12,13X,2X,156-161,163,167,168,13,7 133/8 194/1H,10,16,9
• US Class Current: 221/7
• CPC Class Codes: G06M 3/02 for performing an operation at a predetermined value of the count, e.g. arresting a machine G06M3/04 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06M 7/00 Counting of objects carried by a conveyor

Abstract

There is provided a vibratory quantifying or counting apparatus which includes a vibratable receptacle for parts or individual items of common geometrical configuration and a discharge opening leading from the receptacle to a chute system composed of a pair of chutes. Counting means are provided for coaction with one of the chutes. Gate means operative in response to the counter means are provided for diverting any excess over a predetermined quantity to the other of said chutes.

Claims

1. A vibratory quantifying apparatus comprising in combination:

a. a vibratable receptacle;

b. means for supporting and guiding the receptacle for oscillatory movement;

c. means coacting with said receptacle for inducing oscillatory movement thereof;

d. a discharge opening leading from said receptacle;

e. a pair of downwardly sloped chutes disposed for selective operative communication with said discharge opening;

f. counting means settable to a predetermined quantity coacting with one of said chutes;

g. gate means operative in response to said counter means and coacting between said chutes to divert any excess over said predetermined quantity to the other of said chutes, said gate means comprising a plate movable between the chutes and lying in the plane of the bottom of one of said chutes and movable laterally to remove a bottom portion of one of said chutes to allow access to the other of said chutes.

2. A vibratory quantifying apparatus in accordance with claim 1 wherein the vibration-inducing means is electromagnetic.

3. A vibratory quantifying apparatus in accordance with claim 1 wherein the chutes are stationarily mounted.

4. A vibratory quantifying apparatus in accordance with claim 1 wherein said plate includes an opening therein, said opening having a width for at least a portion thereof equal to the width of the chute.

5. A vibratory quantifying apparatus in accordance with claim 4 wherein the gate means includes a pair of solenoids on opposite sides thereof connected to said plate and operating in push-pull relationship to shift the plate laterally.

6. A vibratory quantifying apparatus in accordance with claim 1 wherein at least one of said chutes includes a light source and a light-sensing member in opposed relationship and intersecting the path along said chute.

7. A vibratory quantifying apparatus in accordance with claim 6 wherein said light means is disposed across the width of said chute and downstream from said gate.

8. A vibratory quantifying apparatus in accordance with claim 1 wherein the vibratable receptacle comprises a circular bowl having upstanding walls and a closed bottom and a spiral trackway extending from the bottom upwardly along the upstanding wall toward said discharge opening.

9. A vibratory quantifying apparatus in accordance with claim 8 wheRein the discharge opening includes a lip having a sloped surface for smooth transition into said chutes.

10. A vibratory quantifying apparatus in accordance with claim 8 wherein the sloped surface of the lip is tangential to the surface of the trackway.

11. A vibratory quantifying apparatus in accordance with claim 8 wherein the trackway includes notch means for limiting the width of the track.

12. A vibratory quantifying apparatus in accordance with claim 1 wherein the means for supporting and guiding the receptacle include a base and a plurality of leaf springs extending between the base and the receptacle.

13. A vibratory quantifying apparatus in accordance with claim 12 wherein the receptacle is a circular bowl and wherein the springs are disposed circumferentially between the bowl and the base.

14. A vibratory quantifying apparatus in accordance with claim 12 wherein the bottoms of said chutes are sloped downwardly from said bowl toward the plane of said base.

15. A vibratory quantifying apparatus in accordance with claim 14 wherein the bottoms of the chutes are sloped downwardly from 20* to 45'"'"''"'"' to the plane of said base.

16. A vibratory quantifying apparatus in accordance with claim 1 wherein the chutes comprising said pair are disposed one above the other.

17. A vibratory quantifying apparatus in accordance with claim 16 wherein the bottom of the upper chute is flat and laterally sloped relative to the horizontal.

18. A vibratory quantifying apparatus in accordance with claim 16 wherein each of the chutes comprises a channel having parallel upstanding walls and a planar bottom.

19. A vibratory quantifying apparatus in accordance with claim 18 wherein the angle of the lateral slope to the horizontal is from 5* to 15*.