Apparatus for transferring articles such as eggs using a brush member

Abstract: The invention relates to an apparatus for transferring articles (1) such as eggs or fruit from a supply conveyor (2) to a receiving station (9, 10, 11). The supply conveyor (2) having at least one row of article holders and releasing means. The apparatus further comprises driveable resilient receiving means (3) disposed beneath the conveyor (2) for receiving articles (1) dropped from the conveyor (2) and moving them to the supply end of the receiving station (9, 10, 11). According to the invention the upwardly facing portion of the resilient receiving means (3) is arranged directly below the place where the articles are dropped from the supply conveyor (2), said upwardly facing portion having a resilient structure and a laterally engaging structure to assure movement of the articles (1) in a generally horizontal direction.

Description: This invention relates to an apparatus for transferring discrete articles such as eggs or fruit comprising a supply conveyor having at least two rows of article holders for conveying articles which are spaced apart from each other in the direction of travel of the conveyor, a resilient receiving means having an upwardly facing portion and being positioned beneath the conveyor for receiving articles dropped from the conveyor, the upwardly facing portion of the receiving means being moveable transversely, relative to the direction of movement of the conveyor, and a receiving station positioned adjacent the resilient receiving means, downstream from the location where the articles are dropped thereon. Such an apparatus is known from US Patent No. 4,519,494, which comprises one rotating brush or two brushes rotating in opposite directions, the successive eggs being received in the gap between the brush and a flexible slab or between said two brushes, to be subsequently passed down, where via a guiding plate arranged obliquely under one of the brushes, they are discharged laterally to a receiving station. In this known apparatus use is made of a plurality of supply conveyors arranged side by side, so that care must be taken that the eggs are not released simultaneously, since otherwise the eggs will collide and be damaged. Another drawback of the known apparatus is that the eggs will drop over a comparatively high vertical distance, which causes high speeds and, as a consequence thereof, greater decelerating forces so that more damage may occur. Further, the articles make a deep impression in the outer layer of the brushes, so that brushes with long hairs and/or of thick soft resilient material will be required, i.e. brushes of comparatively great diameter, so that a high degree of contamination can be expected in case of breakage. It is an object of this invention to provide an apparatus for transferring eggs from a supply conveyor having at least two rows of article holders arranged side by side, which does not have the inherent disadvantages mentioned. The apparatus according to the invention, to that effect, is characterized in that the upwardly facing portion of the resilient receiving means is disposed in such a way and provides an article receiving area of such dimensions that said area, in the direction of travel, is large enough to receive, side by side, at least two articles dropped simultaneously from the conveyor, i.e. one article from each row, said upwardly facing portion having a structure capable of laterally engaging the articles dropped thereon to assure movement of the articles along with the receiving means in a generally horizontal direction to the receiving station. Further features of the apparatus according to the invention are defined in the subclaims. For the sake of completeness reference is made to GB-A-1,031,334 and U.S.-A-3,743,079, both of which describe and show apparatuses for the transportation of eggs along a vertical or near-vertical line and in which there is used a rotating brush or similar belt, which in the transportation part co-operates with a fixed guiding wall. In this known apparatus, however, no mention is made of a supply conveyor with egg holding and releasing means, nor of resilient receiving means disposed below said conveyor, nor is any mention made of using the top of the receiving means for moving the articles sideways. Embodiments of the apparatus according to the invention will be explained with reference to the drawing, in which: Fig. 1 shows a schematic side view of a part of an apparatus for transferring articles from conveyor means to a receiving station of a grading or packaging machine; Fig. 2 shows the same view of another embodiment of the apparatus according to the invention; Fig. 3 is a view according to Figs. 1 and 2 of a third embodiment of the apparatus according to the invention; According to Fig. 1, the articles, in this case eggs 1, are supplied by means of a supply conveyor 2, which is described in EP-A-0,468,589, and will therefore, not be discussed. The brush 3 consists in known manner of a multiplicity of brush elements. The eggs 1 can be released simultaneously from the separate article holders of two parallel rows of the conveyor 2 at the point where they drop, falling in slightly spaced-apart relationship onto and between the hairs of the brushes 3 each consisting essentially of a shaft 5 having provided thereon a hub 6 with brush hairs or bristles 7 arranged therein. As will appear from Fig. 1, upon simultaneous release of the eggs 1, they will be received between the brush hairs 7 in slightly spaced-apart relationship, the left-most egg reaches the brush 3 at the top thereof via a guiding plate 8, coated with a resilient material. Adjacent the brush 3 a receiving station, here a discharge conveyor 9 is arranged. In order to ensure a proper transfer from the brush 3 to the discharge conveyor 9, a transfer is arranged, consisting of separate fingers 10, which are fixed together on a support strip 11 which is part of a frame (not shown). As will appear from Fig. 1, these fingers 10 extend between the hairs 7 of the brush 3, to such an extent that the articles are discharged essentially horizontally via the fingers 10 to the conveyor 9. In the embodiment shown in Fig. 2, the brush 3 consists of a plurality of flat brushes 12 mounted on an endless belt or chain 13. For the rest the apparatus corresponds completely with the apparatus described above with reference to Fig. 1. The apparatus as shown in Fig. 3 is a variant of the apparatus according to Fig. 1, in which the brush is designed such that it forms a plurality of pockets 14 in which the articles can be received.

Claims: Apparatus for transferring discrete articles (1) such as eggs or fruit, comprising a supply conveyor (2) having at least two rows of article holders for conveying articles which are spaced apart from each other in the direction of travel of the conveyor (2), a resilient receiving means (3) having an upwardly facing portion and being positioned beneath the conveyor (2) for receiving articles dropped from the conveyor (2), the upwardly facing portion of the receiving means being moveable transversely, relative to the direction of movement of the conveyor, and a receiving station (9, 10, 11) positioned adjacent the resilient receiving means (3), downstream from the location where the articles are dropped thereon, characterized in that the upwardly facing portion of the resilient receiving means (3) is disposed in such a way and provides an article receiving area of such dimensions that said area, in the direction of travel, is large enough to receive, side by side, at least two articles (1) dropped simultaneously from the conveyor (2), i.e. one article from each row, said upwardly facing portion having a structure capable of laterally engaging the articles (1) dropped thereon to assure movement of the articles (1) along with the receiving means (3) in a generally horizontal direction to the receiving station (9, 10, 11). An apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that the resilient receiving means (3) comprises an endless conveyor (13) having a generally straight upper run, which constitutes said upwardly facing portion. An apparatus according to claim 2, characterized in that the lateral engaging structure comprises a plurality of discrete brushes (12), connected side by side to the endless conveyor (13), in such a way that the bristles of the discrete brushes (12) are positioned side by side, the bristles being oriented essentially parallel to each other when travelling along the generally straight upper run of the endless conveyor (13), but capable of separating from each other at turns at the ends of the endless conveyor. An apparatus according to claim 3, characterized in that the brush bristles are interrupted to form pockets (14), each pocket being adapted for receiving an article (1) or a row of articles. An apparatus according to claim 3, characterized in that the bristles are of different lengths to prevent the articles (1) from sinking too deep into the brush bristles.

Inventors: ARENDS WILLEM CORNELIS MARIA, VAN DER SCHOOT JELLE, ARENDS, WILLEM CORNELIS MARIA, VAN DER SCHOOT, JELLE
Applicants: FOOD PROCESSING SYSTEMS, FPS FOOD PROCESSING SYSTEMS B.V.
Application year: 1992
Main classification: B65G49
IPC codes: A01K43, B65G47