Abstract:
Sweepout apparatus ( 10 ) for sweeping an aligned array of glass containers (C) from a deadplate ( 12 ) of a I.S. glass container forming machine to a conveyor ( 14 ) that runs transversely to the array of containers on the deadplate and serves to transfer the containers for further processing. The apparatus comprises a swivel portion ( 16  or  116 ) that is oscillatable in an arc of approximately 90° and a head ( 18 ) that is carried by the swivel portion and is reciprocable relative thereto, the head carrying an elongated bar ( 20 ) with a spaced plurality of pocket-defining fingers ( 22 ) that extend from the bar. The sweepout further comprises independently operatable first and second coaxial reversible electrical motors ( 30, 28 ), an output shaft ( 32 ) of the second electric motor ( 28 ) passing through an annular output shaft ( 56 ) of the first electric motor ( 30 ). Reversible motion imparted to the annular output shaft of the first electric motor causes oscillating motion of the swivel portion of the sweepout apparatus. Reversible motion imparted to the output shaft of the second electric motor axial through a planetary gear ( 42 ) imparts reciprocating motion to the elongated bar relative to other structure of the sweepout portion. The output shafts ( 32, 56 ) are rotatable independently of one another.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     This invention relates to a method of, and an apparatus for, transferring a multiplicity of aligned articles on a stationary member to the flight of a conveyor that is moving transversely of the alignment of the articles on the stationary member. More particularly, this invention relates to a sweepout for transferring a multiplicity of aligned, freshly-formed glass containers on a deadplate of a glass container forming machine of the I.S. (individual section) type to the upper flight of a conveyor for transferring the glass containers to an annealing lehr. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     As is explained in commonly-assigned U.S. Pat. No. 6,076,654 (Leidy), the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein, various devices and steps are involved in transferring freshly-formed glass containers from the deadplates of an I.S. machine to an annealing lehr for heat treatment of the containers. Among the devices employed in such a process is a sweepout device that is used to simultaneously transfer a plurality of aligned containers, usually two, three or four containers, from an I.S. machine deadplate to an upper moving flight of an endless machine conveyor. 
     Prior art I.S. machine sweepout devices are described, for example, in commonly-assigned U.S. Pat. No. 3,795,503 (Perry), U.S. Pat. No. 4,162,911 (Mallory), U.S. Pat. No. 4,199,344 (Mumford et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 4,222,480 (Perry), and U.S. Pat. No. 5,904,745 (Nafziger et al.), the disclosure of each of which is also incorporated by reference herein. As is disclosed in such references, or as is otherwise known, a typical I.S. machine sweepout head has a horizontally extending elongated bar with a plurality of spaced, horizontally extending fingers extending transversely from the elongated bar. Each finger defines, with the elongated bar, a generally L-shaped container receiving pocket. 
     Prime movers, heretofore usually pneumatic cylinders, provide dual motions to the head with the elongated bar and fingers that extend therefrom. The first of such motions is a reciprocating motion a first portion of which serves to move the elongated bar and its fingers from a position out of contact with containers on the deadplate into a position engaging the containers on the deadplate. The other motion is a 90° oscillating motion to the head, a first portion of which transfers the containers on the deadplate to the upper flight of the machine conveyor. Then, as a second portion of the reciprocating motion, the elongated bar and its fingers are retracted to a position out of engagement with containers on the machine conveyor to permit the containers to be conveyed away from the forming machine by the machine conveyor, and, as a second portion of the 90° oscillating motion, the head with the elongated bar with its fingers is returned to its original position to be ready to begin a repeat of the process. While pneumatic cylinders have heretofore usually used to power both required motions of a glass container sweepout head, U.S. Pat. No. 5,429,651 (Bolin), which specifically discloses a pneumatic device for actuating the reciprocating motion of the sweepout pusher mechanism, does disclose, in words only, at column 13, lines 45-50, that a stepping motor could also be used for such purpose. Further, U.S. Pat. No. 5,125,499 (Saathoff et al.) does teach the use of a stepping motor for powering the oscillating motion of a sweepout head, but also teaches the use of a fluid motor for powering the reciprocation of the pusher arm. 
     The use of a pneumatic cylinder to power either the reciprocation or the oscillation of a sweepout head finger-carrying bar has certain operating disadvantages, however. Precise control over the timing of the reciprocation or oscillation of the pusher head is difficult to achieve, which creates problems in accurately timing the motion of the pusher head relative to other motions of an I.S. machine. Further, modification of either of the timing of the sweepout pneumatic cylinders is difficult to achieve, as is required, for example, when the machine is modified to produce larger or smaller containers, and it is difficult to control the speeds of a pneumatically-powered sweepout head at the beginning and end of its extension and retraction motions. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     To overcome the aforesaid and other problems associated with prior art I.S. machine sweepouts, according to the present invention there is provided an all-electric sweepout. The sweepout of the present invention has a pair of vertically arranged, reversible electrical motors, each motor preferably an a.c. servo motor. The motors are coaxially aligned, and the output shaft of the lower motor, which provides reciprocating motion to the sweepout head through a planetary gear drive, extends through an annular output shaft of the upper motor, which imparts oscillating motion to the sweepout head. The output shafts of the lower and upper motors are rotatable with respect to one another. Because the installed positions of the upper and lower motors are fixed, the wiring for the motors need not have a pigtail to accommodate movement of a motor relative to a source of power, and oil lines for motor cooling, which is desired to permit prolonged operation in a hostile, high-temperature environment, need not have flexible components. Also positioning the motors below the sweepout head does somewhat reduce the temperatures to which the motors are exposed. 
     Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a method of and an apparatus for transferring a plurality of articles from fixed positions to a moving conveyor in which all required motions are powered by reversible electric motors whose positions are fixed. More particularly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a method and an apparatus of the foregoing character that is well-suited for operating in proximity to a glass container forming machine, where the operating temperatures can be somewhat higher than ambient. 
     For a further understanding of the present invention and the objects thereof, attention is directed to the drawing and the following brief description thereof, to the detailed description of the invention and to the appended claims. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING 
     FIGS. 1A,  1 B, and  1 C are fragmentary, perspective views of apparatus according to the present invention, each view illustrating the apparatus at a different position in a cycle of operation; 
     FIG. 2 is an elevation view, at an enlarged scale, of elements of the apparatus of FIGS. 1A,  1 B, and  1 C; 
     FIG. 3 is a fragmentary sectional view, at a further enlarged scale, of a portion of the apparatus of FIG. 2; 
     FIG. 4 is a view like FIG. 3 of an another portion of the apparatus of FIG. 2; 
     FIG. 5 is a fragmentary perspective view, with a portion of the structure broken away, of the apparatus of FIGS. 2 and 3; 
     FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken on line  6 — 6  of FIG. 3; 
     FIG. 7 is a fragmentary perspective view, partly in cross-section, of a portion of the apparatus of FIGS. 2-6; 
     FIG. 8 is a view like FIG. 2 of an alternate embodiment of the present; 
     FIG. 9 is a view like FIG. 3 of a portion of the apparatus of FIG. 8; 
     FIG. 10 is a fragmentary perspective view of a portion of the apparatus of FIG. 8; and 
     FIG. 11 is a view like FIG. 10 with the portion of the apparatus depicted therein being turned by 180° and with a portion of the apparatus being broken away. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     Sweepout apparatus according to the present invention is indicated generally by the reference numeral  10  in FIGS. 1A,  1 B,  1 C and  2  of drawing. The sweepout apparatus  10  is used to simultaneously transfer an aligned plurality of freshly-formed glass containers C on a deadplate  12  of an I.S. machine to a moving upper flight of a takeout, (machine) conveyor  14 . The containers C are then conveyed by the conveyor to an annealing lehr (not shown) for heat treatment of the containers C to relieve residual stresses therein, as is known in the art. The conveyor  14  extends transversely of the deadplate  12 , and the transfer of the containers C from a deadplate  12  to the conveyor  14  requires that the containers C be transferred to the conveyor  14  and turned by 90° as they are transferred, to ensure that the containers C will be aligned with one another on the conveyor  14  as they were on the deadplate  12 . To this end, the sweepout apparatus  10  is provided with a swivel portion  16  that is repeatedly oscillated through a 90° arc, including the motion from its FIG. 1A position to its FIG. 1C position. Further, the swivel portion  16  is provided with a sweepout head  18  that is repeatedly reciprocated, and the path of reciprocation of the sweepout head  18  includes movement from the position in FIG. 1A to the position in FIGS. 1B and 1C and then back to the position of FIG.  1 A. 
     The sweepout head  18  includes an elongated, horizontally extending bar  20  with a plurality of spaced fingers  22  extending transversely from the bar  20 . Each of the fingers  22  defines, with the bar  20 , a pocket for receiving a container C, the number of fingers  22  extending from the bar  20  being the same as the number of containers C on the deadplate  12 . The elongated bar  20  is mounted on spaced, horizontally extending rods  24  that are reciprocatable with respect to the swivel portion  16 , as will be hereinafter described more fully, to reciprocate the bar  20  of the sweepout head  18  from the position of FIG. 1A, where the containers C are not engaged in pockets of the sweepout head  18 , to the position of FIGS. 1B and 1C, where the containers C are engaged in the pockets of the sweepout head  18 . After the transfer of the containers C from the FIG. 1A position to the FIG. 1C position, the sweepout head  18  is retracted to permit the containers C to be conveyed away by the conveyor  14 , and the swivel portion  16  of the sweepout apparatus  10  is then turned, in reverse, from its FIG. 1C position to its FIG. 1A position to begin a repeat of the sweepout cycle with a fresh array of containers C on the deadplate  12 . As shown in FIGS. 1A,  1 B, and  1 C, the sweepout head  18  is provided with four container-receiving pockets, and this is the construction that is suited for an I.S. machine that simultaneously produces four containers at each I.S. machine section, a type of machine that is often described as a “quad” machine. Of course, it is also known that an I.S. machine can also be adapted to simultaneously produce three containers at each I.S. machine section, a “triple gob” machine, or even two containers at each I.S. machine section, a “double gob” machine; in such cases, a sweepout apparatus  10  for a triple gob machine would have a sweepout head  18  with only three container-receiving pockets, and a sweepout apparatus  10  for a double gob machine would have a sweepout head with only two container-receiving pockets. 
     The sweepout apparatus  10  includes a stationary housing  26  that is positioned below and in alignment with the swivel portion  16 . First and second reversible a.c. motors  28 ,  30 , each preferably a servo motor for precise controllability, are positioned in vertical, coaxial alignment with each other within the housing  26 . The motor  28 , which is positioned beneath the motor  30 , drives an output shaft  32 , FIG. 4, which is rotatably supported in spaced bearings  34 ,  36 . The output shaft  32  has a stub shaft  38  (FIG. 3) of a speed reduction planetary gear set  42  shrunk or otherwise inserted thereon, and the stub shaft  38 , which is rotatably supported in a bearing  39 , drives a sun gear  40  of the speed reduction planetary gear set  42 . The planetary gear set  42  also has a spaced plurality of planetary gears  44 , and the planetary gears  44 , which are driven by the sun gear  40 , engage an interior gear surface of a ring gear  46 . The ring gear  46  is secured to the interior of a cup-shaped portion  48   a  of a shaft extension  48  that extends into the swivel portion  16  of the sweepout apparatus  10  and is rotatably supported in bearings  47 ,  49  for rotation relative to the swivel portion  16 . The planetary gear set  42  serves to substantially reduce the rotational speed of the shaft extension  48  relative to that of the shaft  32 , for example, by a 1:5 factor. Such a planetary gear set is available as a commercial item from Mectrol, Inc. 
     The shaft extension  48  carries a drive gear  45 , and the drive gear  45  drives a sector gear  50  (FIG.  6 ). The sector gear  50  is mounted for pivoting motion in and relative to the head  16  about a shaft  51  (FIG. 5) and has an overlying arm  53  (FIGS. 3,  5  and  6 ) that pivots with the sector gear  50 , and arcuate motion of the shaft extension  48 , which is caused to oscillate by reversing motion of the motor  28 , causes reversible motion of a follower  52  that extends from the arm  53  and rides in a slot  54  in a bracket  55  to which the rods  24  are attached. Thus, the reversing motion of the motor  28  is effective to cause the rods  24 , with the bar  20  and the fingers  22 , to extend and retract in unison to move between the positions shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B, and to do so with virtually no backlash. 
     The a.c. motor  30  has an output shaft  56 , and the shaft  56  is rotatably supported in spaced-apart bearings  58 ,  60 . The output shaft  56  is annular in configuration and the output shaft  32  passes through the interior of the output shaft  56  so that the output shaft  56  and the output shaft  32  are rotatable independently of each other. 
     As seen best in FIG. 3, an annular housing  62  is secured to the shaft  56  by threaded fasteners  64 , and an integral bottom plate  66  of the swivel portion  16  of the sweepout apparatus  10  is secured to the annular housing  62  by threaded fasteners  68 . Thus, reversible arcuate motion is imparted to the shaft  56  by the motor  30 , and this motion is effective to oscillate the swivel portion  16  of the sweepout apparatus  10  between the position shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B and the position shown in FIG. 1C, and this motion is must be controlled relative to the extension and retraction motions imparted to the sweepout head  18  by the motor  28 , as both are performed together to impart such extension and retraction motions to the sweepout head while the swivel portion  16  is oscillating. 
     The sweepout apparatus  10 , as heretofore described, uses motors  28 ,  30  within a housing  26  that need not be moved in service. Thus, wiring (not shown) to such motors may be stationary, thereby avoiding the need for flexible or extensible wiring to such motors in a relatively high temperature operating environment, and such wiring may be of a plug-in, quick disconnect type for rapid installation and removal of a sweepout apparatus  10  as a unit. Further, because the housing of the motors  28 ,  30  need not be moved in service, the motors  28 ,  30  may readily be oil cooled, as desired, because coolant inlet and outlet lines for such purposes need not be flexible. Further still, an electronic control unit, not shown, may, if desired, be mounted on the housing  26  and, if also desired, it too may be oil cooled, because inlet and outlet lines to and from it will require no flexible elements. In any case, positioning the motor  28 ,  30  below the head  16  will serve to somewhat reduce the temperatures to which the motor  28 ,  30  are exposed relative to that experienced by the head  16 . 
     In the embodiment of FIGS. 8-11, elements that correspond at least in function to elements of the embodiment of FIGS. 1-7 are identified by a 100 series numeral, the last 2 digits of which are the same as the 2 digits of the embodiment of FIGS. 1-7. 
     The sweepout apparatus according to the embodiment of FIGS. 8-11 is indicated generally by the reference numeral  110  in FIG. 8 of the drawing. The sweepout apparatus  110 , like the sweepout apparatus  10 , is used to simultaneously transfer an aligned plurality of freshly-formed glass containers on a deadplate of an I.S. machine to a moving upper flight of a takeout (machine) conveyor, which transfers the containers to an annealing lehr (not shown) for heat treatment of the containers to relieve residual stresses therein, as known in the art. The sweepout apparatus  110  is provided with a swivel portion  116  that is repeatedly oscillated through a 90° arc, and the swivel portion  116  is provided with a sweepout head  118  that is repeatedly reciprocated, in the matter of the path of reciprocation of the sweepout head  16  of the embodiment of FIGS. 1-7. 
     The sweepout head  118  includes an elongated, horizontally extending bar  120  with a plurality of spaced fingers  122  extending transversely from the bar  120 . The elongated bar  120  is mounted on spaced horizontally extending rods  124  that are reciprocatable with respect to the swivel portion  116 , as will be hereinafter described more fully, to reciprocate the bar  120  of the sweepout head  118 . 
     The sweepout apparatus  110  includes a stationary housing  126  that is positioned below and in alignment with the swivel portion  116 . First and second reversible a.c. motors  128 ,  130 , each preferably a servo motor for precise controllability, are positioned in vertical, coaxial alignment with each other within the housing  126 . The motor  128 , which is positioned beneath the motor  130 , drives an output shaft  132 . 
     The embodiment of FIGS. 8-11 differs from the embodiment of FIGS. 1-7 mainly in the construction illustrated in FIGS. 9-11, where a shaft extension  148  carries a drive gear  145 , which drives a sector gear  150 . The sector gear  150  is mounted for pivoting motion in and relative to the head  116  about a stub shaft  151  (FIG. 11) and has an overlying arm  153  that pivots with the sector gear  150 . Arcuate motion of the shaft extension  148 , which is caused to oscillate by reversing motion of the motor  128 , causes reversible motion of a sleeve  152  that extends from the arm  153  and slidingly surrounds a rod  154  that is mounted in a bracket  156 , to which the rods  124  are attached. Thus, the reversing motion of the motor  128  is effective to cause the rods  124 , with the bar  120  and the fingers  122 , to extend and retract in unison to move between the innermost and outermost positions of the bar  120 , and to do so with virtually no backlash. 
     The sweepout apparatus  110 , as heretofore described, uses motors  128 ,  130  within a housing  126  that need not be moved in service. Thus, wiring (not shown) to such motors may be stationary, thereby avoiding the need for flexible or extensible wiring to such motors in a relatively high temperature operating environment, and such wiring maybe of a plug-end, quick disconnect type for rapid installation and removal of a sweepout apparatus  110  as a unit. Further, because the housing of the motors  128 ,  130  need not be moved in service, the motors  128 ,  130  may readily be oil cooled, as desired, because coolant inlet and outlet lines for such purposes need not be flexible. Further still, an electronic control unit, not shown, may, if desired, be mounted on the housing  126  and, if also desired, it too may be oil cooled, because inlet and outlet lines to and from it will require no flexible elements. In any case, positioning the motors  128 ,  130  below the head  116  will serve somewhat to reduce the temperatures to which the motors  128 ,  130  are exposed relative to that experienced by the head  116 . 
     Although the best mode contemplated by the inventors for carrying out the present invention as of the filing date hereof has been shown and described herein, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that suitable modifications, variations, and equivalents may be made without departing from the scope of the invention, such scope being limited by the terms of the following claims and the legal equivalents thereof.