Guide rail and deadplate alignment device for flexible wall container vacuum transfer

• US 4,768,643 A
• Filed: 03/06/1986
• Issued: 09/06/1988
• Est. Priority Date: 02/12/1985
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Meyer Conveyair Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Meyer Conveyair Incorporated
• Inventors: Lenhart, Ronald A.
• Primary Examiner(s): Novosad, Stephen J.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Neuder, William P.
• Application Number:
  US06/836,811
• Time in Patent Office: 915 Days
• Field of Search: 198/457, 198/453, 198/454, 198/455, 198/689.1
• US Class Current: 198/453
• CPC Class Codes: B65G 21/2036 for retaining the load on the load-carrying surface individual suction grippers B65G17/323
• 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

A deadplate construction is provided for maintaining an equilateral contiguous triangular configuration of flexible walled containers as they move across the deadplate. The containers are held in this alignment by side rails which engage the containers at their rigid bottom-most portion and has a downstream edge whose most downstream portion is truncated so that the downstream container is subjected to the vacuum of the transfer belt before the other containers in the diagonal row. In addition, adjacent the downstream edge of the deadplate are slots which correspond in width and positioning to the openings in the transfer belt for the outside container and a narrower slot is provided over one of the rows of openings in the transfer belt for the center container. This arrangement assures that the containers are not prematurely drafted onto the transfer belt but that the outside container moves ahead of the other containers as it moves onto the transfer belt so that the deflector will bring all of the containers into single file alignment by the time they reach downstream single file rails.

Claims

1. An article alignment device for maintaining flexible wall cylindrical articles, which are supplied at a first upstream location in a three row width having an equilateral triangular configuration in which all articles are contiguous, so that they are discharged onto a vacuum belt at a second downstream location in a predetermined predictable and repeatable pattern, said apparatus comprising:

a deadplate extending from said upstream location to said downstream location, said deadplate having a diagonal downstream end which is parallel to the centerline of a diagonal row of articles forming the leading edge of the equilateral triangular configuration;

means for moving the articles across said deadplate at a first predetermined rate of speed;

a vacuum transfer belt having a reach with an article conveying side and a vacuum side and a centerline, said reach extending downstream from under the downstream end of said deadplate to transfer the articles to a single file location, said belt having a plurality of longitudinal rows of openings and an inside edge and an outside edge;

means for moving said belt downstream from said deadplate at a second greater rate of speed;

a plenum for drawing a vacuum through said rows of openings in said transfer belt on said vacuum side to hold the articles against said belt;

a deflector extending from said article conveying side of said belt at an angle across said belt from said inside edge of said belt to a point spaced from said outside edge of said belt a distance slightly greater than the diameter of the articles to realign the diagonal row of articles into a longitudinal row of articles; and

a pair of parallel side guides each having a lower rail against said deadplate and being spaced apart a distance to hold the articles in fixed equilateral triangular configuration in mutual contacting relationship so that the diagonal rows of articles are aligned with said diagonal end of said deadplate as they are moved thereacross.

2. Apparatus, as claimed in claim 1, further including:

apertures in said deadplate adjacent said downstream end under only the location of the center and outside articles in the diagonal row so that vacuum drawn through said transfer belt will hold the rows of articles in a predetermined, precise alignment before being moved onto said transfer belt by the trailing row of articles.

3. Apparatus, as claimed in claim 1, wherein said apparatus comprise:

a pair of longitudinal slots extending over said rows of openings in said transfer belt which extend under the portion of said deadplate over which the outside article in the diagonal row is positioned; and

a third longitudinal slot extending over one of said rows of openings in said transfer belt which extends under the portion of said deadplate over which the center article in the diagonal row is positioned.

4. Apparatus, as claimed in claim 3, wherein:

said pair of longitudinal slots have a width substantially equal to the diameter of said openings in said transfer belt; and

said third longitudinal slot has a width which is one-half the width of said pair of longitudinal slots.

5. Apparatus, as claimed in claim 2, wherein:

the edge of said diagonal downstream end of said deadplate has a truncated outside portion, over which the outside article of the diagonal row passes, which is perpendicular to the direction of movement of said transfer belt so that the leading edge of the outside article extends onto said belt when the row of articles are aligned along the diagonal edge of said downstream end of said deadplate so that the outside article is drawn to and moved downstream by said transfer belt before the other articles in the row to space the outside article ahead of the centerline of the diagonal row.

6. An article alignment device for maintaining cylindrical articles which are supplied at a first upstream location in a three row width having an equilateral triangular configuration in which all articles are contiguous, so that they are discharged onto a vacuum belt at a second downstream location in a predetermined predictable and repeatable pattern, said apparatus comprising:

a deadplate extending from said upstream location to said downstream location, said deadplate having a diagonal downstream end which is parallel to the centerline of a diagonal row of articles forming the leading edge of the equilateral triangular configuration;

means for moving the articles across said deadplate at a first predetermined rate of speed;

a vacuum transfer belt having a reach with an article conveying side and a vacuum side and a centerline, said reach extending downstream from under the downstream end of said deadplate to transfer the articles to a single file location, said belt having a plurality of longitudinal rows of openings and an inside edge and an outside edge;

means for moving said belt downstream from said deadplate at a second greater rate of speed;

a plenum for drawing a vacuum through said rows of openings in said transfer belt on said vacuum side to hold the articles against said belt;

a deflector extending from said article conveying side of said belt at an angle across said belt from said inside edge of said belt to a point spaced from said outside edge of said belt a distance slightly greater than the diameter of the articles to realign the diagonal row of articles into a longitudinal row of articles;

a pair of parallel side guides each having a lower rail against said deadplate and being spaced apart a distance to hold the articles in fixed equilateral triangular configuration in mutual contacting relationship so that the diagonal rows of articles are aligned with said diagonal end of said deadplate as they are moved thereacross;

a pair of longitudinal slots extending over said rows of openings in said transfer belt which extend under the portion of said deadplate over which the outside article in the diagonal row is positioned;

a third longitudinal slot extending over one of said rows of openings in said transfer belt which extends under the portion of said deadplate over which the center article in the diagonal row is positioned; and

the edge of said diagonal downstream end of said deadplate has a truncated outside portion, over which the outside article of the diagonal row passes, which is perpendicular to the direction of movement of said transfer belt so that the leading edge of the outside article extends onto said belt when the row of articles are aligned along the diagonal edge of said downstream end of said deadplate so that said most downstream article is drawn to and moved downstream by said transfer belt before the other articles in the row to space the most downstream article ahead of the centerline of the diagonal row.

7. An improvement to a vacuum single filer for converging articles received in a wide mass at an upstream location to single file at a downstream location wherein said single filer includes a foraminous belt having a reach with an article conveying side and a vacuum side, said reach extending from an upstream location to a downstream location and having an inside edge and an outside edge, means for moving said belt from said upstream location to said downstream location, a deadplate at said upstream location across said article conveying side of said reach of said belt and having a leading diagonal edge to laterally align said articles in diagonal rows as they move onto said belt, vacuum plenum means on the vacuum side of said reach of said belt having a wall adjacent said reach with parallel longitudinal slots therein to draw a vacuum through said belt, a deflector extending from said article conveying side of said belt at an angle thereto from a point adjacent said inside edge of said belt at said upstream location to a point spaced from said outside edge of said belt a distance slightly greater than the diameter of the articles to form a single file discharge for the articles at said downstream location along an axis parallel to said centerline, and means providing a greater vacuum through said belt along said axis passing through said single file discharge to hold the outside article in each row aligned with said single file discharge and providing a lesser vacuum through said belt to other articles so that they can be slid across said belt by said deflector to bring them into single file alignment along said parallel axis behind the outside article at said single file discharge;

the improvement comprising;

a pair of longitudinal slots extending over said rows of openings in said transfer belt which extend under the portion of said deadplate over which the outside article in the diagonal row is positioned; and

a third longitudinal slot extending over one of said rows of openings in said transfer belt which extends under the portion of said deadplate over which the center article in the diagonal row is positioned.

8. Apparatus as claimed in claim 7, wherein:

the edge of said diagonal downstream end of said deadplate has a truncated outside portion, over which the most downstream article of the diagonal row passes, which is perpendicular to the direction of movement of said transfer belt so that the leading edge of the article extends onto said belt when the row of articles are aligned along the diagonal edge of said downstream end of said deadplate so that said outside article is drawn to and moved downstream by said transfer belt before the other articles in the row to space the outside article ahead of the centerline of the diagonal row.

9. Apparatus, as claimed in claim 7, further including:

a pair of parallel side guides each having a lower rail against said deadplate and being spaced apart a distance to hold the articles in fixed equilateral triangular configuration in mutual contacting relationship so that the diagonal rows of articles are aligned with said diagonal end of said deadplate as they are moved thereacross.