Apparatus for stacking product
First Claim
1. Apparatus for stacking web units including a frame, means on said frame for advancing product units along a horizontal path and then along a vertical path to a horizontally traveling receiving and takeaway conveyor wherein the units accumulated into stacks, the improvement characterized by a pair of transfer finger mechanisms on said frame, one on each side of said horizontal path, each mechanism carrying a plurality of L-shaped fingers, and means on said mechanisms for moving the fingers thereof through a generally obround orbit intersecting said horizontal path slightly inwardly of the sides thereof and defining said vertical path, said advancing means including first and second horizontally extending conveyors arranged sequentially in said horizontal path, said first conveyor being arranged to engage the central portion of said product units while said second conveyor is arranged to engage the side portions of said units and with the outside longitudinal edges of the first conveyor spaced from the inside longitudinal edges of the second conveyor to provide a finger engageable portion on each unit, said mechanisms being arranged relative to said first and second conveyors to orbit said fingers into supporting engagement with said finger engageable portions of certain of said product units.
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Abstract
Apparatus for stacking web units involving a transfer mechanism to accumulate substacks when traveling in a vertical path and including L-shaped fingers for supporting the stacks in the vertical path.
45 Citations
10 Claims
- 1. Apparatus for stacking web units including a frame, means on said frame for advancing product units along a horizontal path and then along a vertical path to a horizontally traveling receiving and takeaway conveyor wherein the units accumulated into stacks, the improvement characterized by a pair of transfer finger mechanisms on said frame, one on each side of said horizontal path, each mechanism carrying a plurality of L-shaped fingers, and means on said mechanisms for moving the fingers thereof through a generally obround orbit intersecting said horizontal path slightly inwardly of the sides thereof and defining said vertical path, said advancing means including first and second horizontally extending conveyors arranged sequentially in said horizontal path, said first conveyor being arranged to engage the central portion of said product units while said second conveyor is arranged to engage the side portions of said units and with the outside longitudinal edges of the first conveyor spaced from the inside longitudinal edges of the second conveyor to provide a finger engageable portion on each unit, said mechanisms being arranged relative to said first and second conveyors to orbit said fingers into supporting engagement with said finger engageable portions of certain of said product units.
- 8. Apparatus for stacking web units including a frame, means on said frame for advancing product units along a horizontal path and then along a vertical path to a horizontally traveling receiving and takeaway conveyor wherein the units accumulated into stacks, the improvement characterized by a pair of transfer finger mechanisms on said frame, one on each side of said horizontal path, each mechanism carrying a plurality of L-shaped fingers, and means on said mechanisms for moving the fingers thereof through a generally obround orbit intersecting said horizontal path slightly inwardly of the sides thereof and defining said vertical path, said L-shaped fingers having a first part connected to said means and extending in the plane of said orbit and radially away therefrom, and a second part perpendicular to said first part and spaced from said means.
Specification