Patent GB-890499-A (GB)
Title: Improvements relating to automatically controlled conveying apparatus
Inventor: PEARSON ARTHUR WILLIAM
IPC: B65G47/49
Filed: 1957-03-12
Abstract: 890,499. Endless conveyers; rope railways. ELECTRIC & MUSICAL INDUSTRIES Ltd. March 3, 1958 [March 12, 1957], No. 8035/57. Classes 78 (1) and 104 (2). In a conveyer system comprising an endless carrying or driving member for articles or trolleys, the route to be taken by an article or trolley is predetermined by a device disposed in advance of or associated with the article or carrier, the device comprising one or more electronic oscillators whose frequency can be set to one of a number of values, the oscillator coil being disposed to pass close to a series of stationary tuned coils disposed at each of a number of junctions in the system, the device also including a relay which is operated when its oscillator passes a stationary coil tuned to the same frequency so as to project an arm into a position where the arm operates a trip to divert the article or trolley to a branch of the conveyer system. As shown, the device 1 includes two knobs 2, 3 for controlling independently the frequencies of two oscillators, the oscillator coils of which are indicated at 4 surrounding an opening 5. An arm 6, normally retracted, is projected by a spring 56 when its inner end is released by the withdrawal of a catch 57, the latter being withdrawn upon energization of a solenoid 59 in response to operation of the relay (not shown). As the arm 6 is projected, a pawl 60 carried by the arm turns a ratchet wheel 61 which operates a change-over switch to put one oscillator out of operation and the other oscillator into operation. By this means the device is automatically re-set for a second selecting operation at a second junction after having operated the trip mechanism at a first junction in the system. As shown in Fig. 2 one embodiment may comprise a system of endless belts 9-15 on which articles are placed, a device 1 being placed in front of each article or batch of articles to be discharged at a particular one of the receiving shoots 16. The first oscillator is set to cause the appropriate one of the three deflector arms 18 on belt 9 to be operated, while the second oscillator determines which of the arms 18 on each of the belts 10-13 is operated. The devices 1 are arranged to be deflected off the belt 9 with the articles but are preferably arranged to pass the deflector arms on the belts 10-13 before causing these to be operated so that all the devices 1 are received on the belt 14 for delivery to the belt 15. Each of the deflector arms 18 is mounted on a vertical shaft 66, Fig. 2a, journalled in the conveyer frame. A crank arm 69 carried by the shaft 66 is connected by a link 70 to a piston 71 acted on by fluid supplied to a cylinder 72 via a control-valve 74. An operating spindle 75 of the control valve is connected by a crank arm and link 77, 78 to a lever 79 carried by a shaft 80. The shaft 75 is provided with a second lever 76 arranged to be at right-angles to the lever 79. In operation, as a device 1 approaches the deflector arm, the lever 79 is engaged by a re-setting arm 7 on the device 1 to swing the lever 79 and so project the lever 76, the valve being operated to cause the arm 18 to be retracted. If the device 1 is set for operation of that particular deflector, when the device passes the stationary tuned coil 85 for that deflector the arm 6 on the device is projected so that it engages the lever 76, operating the valve 74 to cause the arm 18 to be swung into deflecting position. A ramp 81 returns the arm 6 of the device 1 to retracted position. The device 1 will have passed the deflector arm before the latter is swung to deflecting position so that only the articles following are deflected. Where the device 1 has also to be deflected the location of the parts 74-80 is changed to a position wholly in advance of the deflecting arm. Fig. 4 shows a portion of an endless conveyer having pivoted buckets 40 which are normally held upright by a release lever 44 engaging a catch member on each bucket. At each of a number of discharge points a ramp 47 is provided which is carried by a lever swingable about a pivot 48. The passage of a device 1 past a stationary coil tuned to the frequency set on the device 1 causes the appropriate ramp 47 to be swung into a position where it is engaged by the lever 44 to release the catches 45 of following buckets and tip them. Rope railways.-In a further embodiment, Fig. 3, a modified device L is attached to a load bar 32 of an overhead conveyer, the load bar being propelled along a pair of tracks 30, 31 by a chain. The passage of the device L past a stationary tuned coil 34 in advance of each of a munber of track switches 33 determines whether each track switch is operated or not.