Method and apparatus for deflecting articles during their conveyance

An apparatus for selectively routing articles from a supply conveyor belt to an upper delivery conveyor and a lower delivery conveyor. The apparatus has first, second and third deflecting rollers about which the supply conveyor belt is successively trained. The first and second deflecting rollers are at about the same height level, while the third deflecting roller is therebelow. The first deflecting roller defines a first discharge end and an upper reach, while the third deflecting roller defines a second discharge end and a lower reach of the supply conveyor belt. The first deflecting roller can assume an advanced position in which articles advanced on the upper reach are transferred from the first discharge end onto the upper delivery conveyor and a withdrawn position in which articles advanced on the upper reach are transferred from the first discharge end onto the lower reach. The third deflecting roller can assume an upper position in which the lower reach extends approximately parallel to the upper reach and a lower position in which the lower reach slopes downwardly to the lower delivery conveyor and in which articles advanced on the lower reach are transferred from the second discharge end onto the lower delivery conveyor.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
This invention relates to a method and an apparatus for selectively 
deflecting articles, advanced on a supply conveyor, onto one of two 
conveyor belts. 
In packaging systems, particularly for confectionary products such as 
chocolate bars or the like, it is known--as disclosed, for example, in 
U.S. Pat. No. 3,648,820--to arrange, for example, three packaging machines 
in series and to detour, by means of deflectors, the articles to be 
packaged from a longitudinal conveyor track onto transversely extending 
conveyor tracks. The delivery end of the deflector described in the noted 
patent is lowered 15.degree. out of the horizontal conveyor track and then 
withdrawn horizontally, whereby the downwardly advanced articles drop onto 
a lower transverse conveyor track. In order to ensure that the articles 
end up on the transverse conveyor track, an abutment plate is provided at 
which the articles may accumulate during their downward movement. Such an 
arrangement can find practical use only downstream of an article 
separating (single file forming) station because otherwise the articles 
arriving at random would crowd at the delivery end of the deflector during 
the withdrawal thereof. Further, this arrangement is not adapted for 
transferring articles to an accumulator belt (on which, in case of a 
breakdown of one machine, as many articles as possible should be 
accumulated along the shortest possible path) because of the unavoidable 
cadenced operation. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
It is an object of the invention to provide an improved apparatus for 
deflecting articles from a supply conveyor belt onto one of two delivery 
belts while continuously moving the articles and ensuring that either the 
one or the other conveyor belt moves away the articles without any 
accumulation. It is a further object to prevent the articles from falling 
freely or sliding on a chute and abutting against a baffle plate and from 
jamming during transfer. 
These objects and others to become apparent as the specification 
progresses, are accomplished by the invention, according to which, briefly 
stated, the apparatus for selectively routing articles from a supply 
conveyor belt to an upper delivery conveyor and a lower delivery conveyor 
has first, second and third deflecting rollers about which the supply 
conveyor belt is successively trained. The first and second deflecting 
rollers are at about the same height level, while the third deflecting 
roller is therebelow. The first deflecting roller defines a first 
discharge end and an upper reach, while the third deflecting roller 
defines a second discharge end and a lower reach of the supply conveyor 
belt. The first deflecting roller can assume an advanced position in which 
articles advanced on the upper reach are transferred from the first 
discharge end onto the upper delivery conveyor and a withdrawn position in 
which articles advanced on the upper reach are transferred from the first 
discharge end onto the lower reach. The third deflecting roller can assume 
an upper position in which the lower reach extends approximately parallel 
to the upper reach and a lower position in which the lower reach slopes 
downwardly to the lower delivery conveyor and in which articles advanced 
on the lower reach are transferred from the second discharge end onto the 
lower delivery conveyor.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
Turning now to FIG. 1, on a stationary machine frame 1 there is mounted a 
carriage 13 which supports two belt deflecting rollers 11 and 12 and which 
is horizontally displaceable by a power cylinder (pneumatic cylinder) 14. 
A bell crank lever 32 is pivotally supported at 36 and carries at one end 
of one of its legs 37 a further deflecting roller 31. To the end of a 
second leg 38 of the bell crank lever 32 there is connected a further 
power cylinder (pneumatic cylinder) 35. FIG. 1 further shows the discharge 
(downstream) portion of a supply conveyor 10 consecutively trained about 
deflecting rollers 11, 12 and 31. 
Two conveyor belts 40 and 50 are arranged vertically spaced from one 
another; their respective charging (upstream) ends 41 and 51 are trained 
about respective end rollers 42 and 52. The end rollers 42 and 52 are 
vertically offset in the direction of conveyance; the deflecting roller 31 
at the end of the leg 37 is arranged below the deflecting roller 42 of the 
upper delivery belt 40 such that upon pivoting the bell crank lever 32 
into a lower end position, the deflecting roller 31 is almost in 
engagement with the upstream end 51 of the lower delivery belt 50. 
In the description which follows, the operation of the above-described 
apparatus will be set forth with particular reference to FIGS. 2 to 5. 
In the normal operation as shown in FIG. 2, the articles R such as 
chocolate bars are conveyed from right to left on the upper reach 20 of 
the supply conveyor belt 10 and at the downstream or discharge end thereof 
the articles are transferred onto the charging (upstream) end 41 of the 
delivery conveyor belt 40. 
In case of an operational disturbance involving the upper delivery conveyor 
belt 40, such as, for example, a stoppage of a packaging machine normally 
supplied by the conveyor belt 40, the pneumatic cylinder 14 is actuated 
whereupon the carriage 13 moves, with the two deflecting rollers 11 and 12 
in the direction of the arrow A towards the right until the rollers 11 and 
12 assume a position shown in FIG. 3. As a result, the articles R are now 
transferred over the frontal deflecting roller 11 onto the lower reach 30 
of the conveyor belt 10. As the carriage 13 reaches its end position 
during the rightward travel, a switch is automatically actuated whereupon 
the pneumatic cylinder 35 is energized for pivoting the bell crank lever 
32 counterclockwise about its pivot at 36 (FIG. 1) in the direction of the 
arrow B (FIG. 3). By means of the additional effective path length on the 
lower reach 30 an additional conveyor length is provided on which the 
articles R are advanced during the pivotal motion of the bell crank lever 
32. 
Upon reaching the lower end position as shown in FIG. 4, the lower conveyor 
belt 50 is started and the articles R are thus admitted from the lower 
reach 30 of the supply conveyor belt 10 to the lower conveyor belt 50. 
As soon as the operational disturbance that has involved the upper conveyor 
belt 40 is eliminated, the carriage 13 is displaced towards the left in 
the direction of the arrow C as shown in FIG. 4, until the discharge 
(downstream) end 15 of the upper reach 20 of the supply conveyor belt 10 
is positioned at the charging (upstream) end 41 of the upper conveyor belt 
40. Upon reaching this position, the upper conveyor belt 40 is restarted. 
Since the speed of the carriage 13 in the direction of the arrow C is 
chosen to be greater than the conveying speed of the supply conveyor belt 
10, upon encounter of the two ends 15 and 41 (FIG. 1) a danger of jamming 
of an article R between the two ends is securely eliminated. The frontal 
discharge end 15 of the upper reach 20 cannot collide with the articles R 
situated on the lower reach 30 of the supply conveyor belt 10 because the 
articles R on the downwardly oriented lower reach 30 are rapidly moved 
away from the transfer zone between the upper reach 20 and the lower reach 
30. 
After a certain period of time which should be sufficient for all articles 
R to be transferred from the lower reach 30 onto the lower delivery 
conveyor belt 50, the bell crank lever 32 is, as indicated by the arrow D 
of FIG. 5, pivoted upwardly so that the spatial and operational 
relationships shown in FIG. 2 are reestablished. 
At the zone of transfer 29 a roller 33 is arranged, whose axis may 
simultaneously form the pivotal axis of the bell crank lever 32, as 
illustrated in FIG. 1. Since the pivotal angle of the bell crank lever 32 
is only about 15.degree., it is feasible to replace the roller 33 with a 
slide block 39 supporting the belt 10 as shown in FIGS. 2-5. There is 
further provided a deflecting roller 34 to generate a location of 
deflection in the belt 10 upon downward pivotal motion of the lower reach 
30. 
The various switching operations such as the pivotal motion triggered by 
the carriage 13 reaching its end position, the starting of the lower 
delivery conveyor belt 50 after the bell crank lever 32 has reached its 
downwardly pivoted position and the starting of the upper delivery 
conveyor belt 40 after the upper reach 20 has attained its frontal end 
position may be effected in a known manner pneumatically and 
automatically, because the shown positions represent in each instance the 
various end positions of the two pneumatic cylinders 14 and 35. As an 
alternative, it is feasible to use known electric limit switches which are 
actuated by the various positions of the carriage 13 and/or the bell crank 
lever 32. 
In accordance with the requirement mentioned earlier, the invention 
provides that the articles R are at no point in their travel allowed to 
move by themselves (that is, by inertia or gravity) but are at all times 
displaced solely by conveyor belts. Only at the transfer location from the 
upper reach 20 to the lower reach 30 according to FIGS. 3 and 4, have the 
articles R to overcome a step which is constituted by the end roller 11. 
Since, however, the lower reach 30 has the same velocity as the upper 
reach 20, the articles R, without free movement, are being taken over by 
the lower reach 30. 
It will be understood that the above description of the present invention 
is susceptible to various modifications, changes and adaptations, and the 
same are intended to be comprehended within the meaning and range of 
equivalents of the appended claims.