APPARATUS FOR INVERTING CONTAINERS

Abstract: A container turn-over apparatus (1) including a base (2) and a container cradle (3) with openable latchable ends (8, 9) and an open side (6) to allow a container to be placed in the cradle (3). Two selectively engagable spaced apart pivotal connections (12, 14 and 13, 15) allow the cradle (3) to be turned end over end by means of piston and cylinder assemblies (45). When the cradle (3) is turned over to stand on one of its ends (8, 9) the other end of the cradle (3) is automatically unlatched and opened.

Description: APPARATUS FOR INVERTING CONTAINERS This invention is concerned generally with apparatus to invert an open topped container to allow the container to be discharged through the open top. Whilst the invention has been devised with containers in mind which are of the type which comprise a pallet or base to which there is mounted four interlocked sides the invention is not limited to such containers. When containers are to be emptied the methods adopted depend to a large extent on the contents of the container. In the case of flowable material, such as granules, gravitational discharge is the preferred method. To facilitate this method of emptying a container attempts have been made to develop containers which have bottom discharge means. For a number of reasons containers with a bottom discharge incorporated in the base or pallet forming part of the container have not found favour with users. An alternative is to tilt the container, usually in a tilting device on which the container is mounted, to the extent required to cause the contents to flow from the container over a top edge of one of the container sides. To provide a generally uniform rate of discharge, which is the normal requirement, the tilt of the container has to be continually adjusted. This discharge method is labour and/or time intensive and is therefore not favoured. Another discharge method is to mount a hood with a discharge opening, and usually fitted with a flow controlling device, to the open top of the container and then support the container in an inverted condition to allow material within the container to gravity discharge through the discharge opening of the hood. The challenge with this method is how to invert the container/hood assembly, hereinafter termed 'a container', in the most 5 efficient and economical manner. The present invention addresses this challenge. Broadly stated the present invention can be said to provide a container turn-over apparatus including a base means and a container support having two ends respectively provided with openable end covers and an l o open side whereby a container can be entered into and removed from said container support, two selectively engagable spaced apart pivotal connection means between said base means and said container support, and turn-over means permanently connecting the base means to the container support whereby the container support can be sequentially 15 pivoted about one of said connection means and then about the other of said connection means by said turn-over means to turn said container support from a first position where is stands on one of its end covers to a second position where it stands on the other of its end covers. A presently preferred embodiment of the invention will now be described 20 with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Fig.1 is a schematic side view of the apparatus with an end cover open to allow a container to be loaded into the container support, Fig.2 is a view similar to Fig.1 with a container mounted in the container support, 25 Fig.3 is a schematic side view of the apparatus of Fig.2 after the closure of the container support end and completion of a first stage in the container turn-over and prepared for the second stage of the turn-over, Fig.4 is a schematic view of the apparatus after the completion of the second stage of the turn-over with the end cover open ready for the removal of the container, Fig.5 is an enlarged scrap view of the latching means for retaining each of the end covers of the container support in the closed position, Fig.6 is a view similar to Fig.5 where the latching means is released and the end cover for the container support is open, and Fig.7 is a schematic perspective view of retaining means to releasably retain pivot pins of the cradle in pin receiving sockets. The illustrated turn-over apparatus, indicated generally as 1 , includes a base 2 with and a container support 3, hereinafter called a cradle for convenience. The cradle 3 is conventionally made in the form of a skeletal frame of welded metal bars and includes two sides 4, an open front side 6 and a back 7 and it has two end covers 8 and 9 pivotally connected to the frame. Fixed to the back 7 of the cradle there are two pairs of pivot pins 12 and 13 respectively adjacent the ends of the cradle 3. The base 2 is provided with two pairs of sockets 14 and 15 selectively engagable by the pins 12,13. As illustrated in Fig.1 the cradle 3 is resting on the end cover 8 with the pivot pins 12 engaged in the sockets 14. A turn -over means comprised of two piston and cylinder assemblies 45 respectively connect the base 2 at points mid-way between the sockets 14,15 to mounting frames 16 on the cradle sides 4 at locations which are mid-length of the cradle. The pairs of bars 17 and 18 respectively slidably mounted on the cradle sides 4, and as will be seen in Fig.1 , each bar includes an end part projecting beyond the cradle ends 8,9 and terminates with a ground engaging end, as illustrated, fitted with a wheel 10. The bars 17 are connected to the cradle end cover 9 and in the Fig.1 illustration the wheels 10 of the bars 17 are in engagement with the ground and the end cover 9 is held raised and latching means to retain the cover 9 closed is in the released condition. The operation of the latching means and the cover hold open arrangements will be described later. In Fig.2, the cradle turn-over has just commenced around the pivot connection 12,14 by contraction of the devices 45 and the cover 9 is closed and the latching means to hold the end cover 9 closed has been engaged, as will later be described. These operations are related to longitudinal movement of the bar 17 and the disengagement of the wheel 10 thereon from the ground. It will be understood that in order to maintain engagement of the members 12,14 there needs to be retaining means and this will also be described later. In Fig.2 a container assembly comprised a pallet 20 with four container sides 21 affixed and with a hood 22 attached is shown in the cradle. The container is placed in the cradle through the open front side 6 of the cradle whilst the cradle was in the Fig.1 condition and whilst the end cover 9 was open. The spacing between the covers 8 and 9 when closed is minimally greater than the overall height of the container and hood assembly so that during a turn-over operation there will be no significant endwise movement of the container hood assembly. The covers 8 and 9 are made openable so that there will be operating clearance for the loading of the container hood assembly into the cradle by a fork lift truck or other like container handing device. In Fig.3 the cradle is in the mid-position of the turn-over operation and the other pivotal connection members 13,15 are engaged and the turn-over power unit 45 is fully contracted. At this stage the retaining means maintaining the connection between 12,14 is released and a like retaining means is applied to the connection 13,15. In Fig.4 the second phase of the turn-over process is complete as a result of the operation of the turn-over hydraulic power unit 45. The latching for the cradle end cover 8 has been released and the end cover 8 is raised due to the engagement of the wheel 10 on the bar 18 with the ground to move the bar 18 longitudinally. This is the complementary position to that shown in Fig.1. The end cover 9 now rests on the platform part 5 of the base 2. The container hood assembly can now be removed. Having described the general operation of the apparatus the mechanisms controlling various operations described will be detailed. The end cover latching arrangement is best seen in Figs.5 and 6. The pairs of bars 17,18 are both slidably supported adjacent their ground engaging wheels 10 in pivotal bearing blocks 11 mounted on the cradle frame. At the other ends the bars 17,18 have slots 24 respectively engaged with pins 25 respectively on the end covers 8 and 9. It follows, referring now to Fig.1 and Figs.5 and 6, that as the cradle approaches the end of a turn-over cycle the bars 17 are longitudinally moved in the direction of the arrow in Fig.5, by engagement of its wheel 10 with the ground the end cover pins 25 will traverse the slot 24. This movement is resisted by tension springs 26 between end cover spring supports 27 and the bar 17. When the pins 25 engage the ends of the slots 24 the movement of the bars 17 will be transferred to the end cover 9 to pivot the end cover to the Fig.1 and Fig.6 position. In order that the end cover 9 can be raised its latching means must have been released. The latching means includes links 28 connected at first ends to the bars 17 and at the other ends to first ends of latch bars 29 pivoted at 30 to the end cover 9 and provided with a hooked ends 31. The hooked ends 31 are engaged with lugs 32 on the cradle end. The geometry of the arrangement is such that initial longitudinal movement of the bars 1 in the direction of the arrow in Fig.5, as their wheels 10 come into contact with the ground, will move the links 28 longitudinally and this will pivot the latch bars 29 and disengage the hooked ends 31 from the lugs 32. This will occur prior to the ends of the slots 24 engaging the pins 25 to apply end cover lifting force to the end cover 9. In an end cover closing operation, as will occur at the commencement of a cradle turn-over movement from the Fig.1 to the Fig.2 position, the cradle will pivot and move relative to the bars 17 as their wheels 10 are still held engaged with the ground because of the force applied by the springs 26. The cradle end will approach and then engage the end cover 9, which holds its position due to the pins 25 being engaged with the lower end of 5 the bar slots 24. As pivoting movement of the cradle continues the pins 25 will traverses the slots 24 as the wheels 10 of the bars 17 are still engaged with the ground. At this stage due to the force applied by the springs 26 the bars 17 will slide through their bearings 11. The movement of the pins 25 along the slots 24 will result in movement of the links 28 and the o pivoting of the members 29 and engagement of the hooks 31 with the lugs 32. When the pins 25 engage the upper ends of the slots 24 the bars 17 can no longer move relative to the cradle under the influence of the springs 26 and the wheels 10 will be lifted from the ground. Referring now to Fig.7, this is a diagrammatic representation of the 5 retaining means for the pins 12,13 in the sockets 14,15. The sockets 14,15 are represented as members adapted for fixing to the base 2. The retaining means comprises two bars 33,34 slidably supported in bearings 35 on the socket members 14,15 and of a length such that when extending across the sockets 15 they do not extend across the sockets 14. o The bars 33,34 are both provided with lugs 36 engaged by legs 37 fixed to a connecting shaft 38 pivotally supported in bearing 39 on the frame 2. There is a handle 40 fixed to the shaft 38 whereby the bars 33,34 can be slid backwards and forwards in the bearing 35. The allows the bars 33,34 to be placed across one or other of the sockets 14,15 but not both at the 5 same time. In this way the pin pairs 12,13 of the cradle are retained in one or the other of the socket pairs 14,15. A security means is provided to prevent the operation of the bars 33,34 at any time except when the cradle is in the Fig.3 position. The security means includes a lug 41 on the bar 34 and an arm 42 pivoted to the base 5 2. The arm 42 has a long portion 43 and a lug 44 on a short portion of the arm 42. The arrangement is such that the portion 43 of the arm 42 normally rests on the ground and lifts the lug 44 into the path of travel of the lug 44 thereby preventing the withdrawal of the bars 33,34 (in the illustrated arrangement) from the sockets 15. l o When the cradle approaches the Fig.3 position a projection of suitable size and suitably located on the cradle engages the lug 44 to move it out f the path of travel if the bar lug 41. This allows the bars 33,34 to be disengaged from the sockets 15 (releasing the cradle pins 13) and to be engaged with the sockets 14 (to retains the cradle pins 1 in the sockets 15 14) . As the cradle pivots to the weight of the arm portion 43 pivots the arm 42 and places the bar lug 41 on the other side of the arm lug 44 preventing the reverse sliding movement of the bars 33,34. As will be understood it is preferred if both bars 33 and 34 have lugs 41 for respective co-operation with two arms 42. 20 The foregoing is a presently preferred form of the invention. It will be understood that the construction described and illustrated could be modified without departing from the inventive concepts disclosed.

Claims: CLAIMS: 1. A container turn-over apparatus including a base means and a container support having two ends respectively provided with openable end covers and an open side whereby a container can be entered into and removed from said container support, two selectively engagable spaced apart pivotal connection means between said base means and said container support, and turn-over means permanently connecting the base means to the container support whereby the container support can be sequentially pivoted about one of said connection means and then about the other of said connection means by said turn-over means to turn said container support from a first position where is stands on one of its end covers to a second position where it stands on the other of its end covers. 2. A container turn-over apparatus as claimed in claim 1 including latching means associated with each end cover to releasably retain said end covers in closed condition. 3. A container turn-over apparatus as claimed in claim 2 wherein the latching means for each end cover is operable by an associated latch operating means, the arrangement being such that as said container support approaches the completion of a turn-over action the latch operating means associated with the latch means of the end cover upon which said container support will not stand at the end of a turn-over action releases its associated latch means, and at the commencement of a turn-over action the latch operating means associated with the latch means of the end cover opposite to that upon which said container support stands at the commencement of the tum-over action engages its associated latch means. 4. A turn-over apparatus as claimed in claim 3 where each of said latch operating means subsequent to releasing its associated latch means also opens the end cover having that latch means against the action of means biassing the end cover to closed position and engages its associated latch means after the closure of the end cover having that latch means. 5. A turn-over apparatus as claimed in claim 4 wherein the end covers for the container support are connected by hinges to a body part of said container support. 6. A turn-over apparatus as claimed in any one of the claims 1 to 5 wherein each pivotal connection means comprises a pair of pins respectively engagable with and disengagable from a pair of sockets and releasable retainer means mounted on the base means to retain the pins in the sockets of the pivotal connection means about which said container support is to be pivoted. 7. A turn-over apparatus as claimed in claim 6 where the pins of the two pivotal connection means are on the container support and the sockets engagable by the pins are on the base means. 8. A turn-over apparatus as claimed in claim 6 or claim 7 wherein the releasable retainer means for both pivotal connection means are interconnected and operable in unison so that when the retainer means of one pivotal connection means is moved into a pin retaining position the retainer means of the other pivotal connection means is moved into a pin release position. 9. A turn-over apparatus as claimed in claim 8 including security means which when operative prevents and when inoperative permits operation of said interconnected retainer means, said security means being automatically released by the container support when in a mid-position in a turn-over sequence with both pivotal connection means engaged. 10. A turn-over apparatus as claimed in any one of claims 6 to 9 having control means for said turn-over means operated by said interconnected retainer means to prevent operation of said turn-over means where a condition exists other than one where one of said pivotal connection means is retained and the other pivotal connection means is not retained. 11. A turn-over apparatus as claimed in claim 10 where said turn-over means comprises a pair of extensible hydraulic members linking the container support to the base means and said control means is a hydraulic fluid flow control valve on the base means operated by a cam fixed to and moving with said interconnected retainer means. 12. A turn-over apparatus as claimed in claim 9 wherein said security means is a pivoted arm mounted on the base means and biassed to position a lug in a notch of said interconnected retainer means and which is held removed from said notch by an actuator fixed to said container support when said container support is in a position where both pivotal connection means are engaged. 13. A turn-over apparatus as claimed in claim 4 wherein the latch operating means for each end cover includes a pair of elongated bars respectively slidably mounted on the container support on opposite sides of the container support disposed to either side of the container support open side, said elongated bars project beyond a back of said container support positioned opposite the open side of said container support and terminate in ground engaging ends, the elongated bars each pair are both coupled to an end cover and are respectively coupled through links to latch arms pivotally mounted on that end cover, said latch arms are movable by longitudinal movement of said elongated bars between latched position where they engage co-operating means on the container support and unlatched position, the arrangement being such that as a container support approaches the end of a turn-over movement the ground engaging ends of the longitudinal bars connected to the end cover which will be uppermost when the container support completes its turn-over will engage the ground causing longitudinal movement of said elongated bars from a rest position against a bias towards the rest position, the coupling of those elongated bars to said uppermost end cover is such that longitudinal movement of said elongated bars will not be transferred to said uppermost end cover to open said uppermost end cover until after the longitudinal movement of the elongated bars has unlatched the latch arms, and at the commencement of a container support turn-over the biassed return movement of the elongated bars to the rest position as said ground engaging bar ends leave the ground will sequentially allow said uppermost end cover to close before the latching of said latch arms.

Inventors: KARPISEK LADISLAV STEPHAN, KARPISEK, LADISLAV, STEPHAN
Applicants: KARPISEK LADISLAV STEPHAN, KARPISEK, LADISLAV, STEPHAN
Application year: 1997
Main classification: B65G65
IPC codes: B65G65