Patent GB-877175-A (GB)
Title: Improvements in or relating to machines adapted for use in the manufacture of pottery
Inventor: BOOT HERBERT WILLIAM
IPC: B28B11/22
Filed: 1956-10-05
Abstract: 877,175. Brushing hollow-ware. BRITISH UNITED SHOE MACHINERY CO. Ltd. Oct. 7, 1957 [Oct. 5, 1956; Dec. 5, 1956], Nos. 30374/56 and 37155/56. Class 138(1). A machine for brushing hollow-ware blanks after firing, in the manufacture of pottery, has an inside rotary brush and a number of outside rotary brushes which operate simultaneously on a blank positioned between the inside and outside brushes, provision being made for relative movement of separation of the outside brushes to facilitate removal of the blank after brushing. In the machine as shown, cup blanks are placed upon the delivery conveyer 28 and move forward until they come into contact with the forked member 640, Fig. 21 (not shown), when their movement is arrested and the conveyer belt slides under the cups. The conveyer is stopped momentarily and the leading cup blank is lifted from the conveyer by the suction head 580 of the transfer device 32 which then rotates and deposits the inverted cup upon an orientating mechanism which consists of a rotating disc and a stop to engage the cup handle, so that the cups are lifted by the transfer mechanism with their handles aligned in the same direction. From the orientating device, the cup is transferred to one of two brushes 210, mounted on shafts 202, carried by a turret 180 which itself is carried by shaft 182, and the blank is held in its pre-determined position by fingers 253. The turret is then rotated by shaft 182 to bring the blank into the left-hand position, shown in Figs. 1 and 6, and the blank is raised by the vertical movement of carriage 338 on the shaft 342 which engages the teeth of clutch 336 with those of 334 attached to the lower end of shaft 292. The cup blank is thus lifted vertically on the brush 210, which is then stationary, and its handle and base are brushed by the rotating brushes 140 and 48 respectively, the latter of which is pushed upwards by the cup. After the cup blank has passed the brush 140, the teeth 366, Fig. 6, engage those of clutch 402 which is keyed to the rotating shaft 342, and by means of gears 364 and 340 the shaft 202 is rotated together with the brush 210 and the cup blank passes into the nest of three rotating brushes 60 attached to spindles 58 pivotally mounted to enable them to swing about horizontal.axes causing the brushes 60 to move towards and away from the blanks; the three brushes are urged together by a spring 78, which encircles them, and are forced apart by the action of a three-lobed cam on the upper. ends of spindles 58. The direction of rotation of brushes 60 and 210 is the same and the cup blank rotates until its handle is in contact with one of the brushes 60 so that when the brush 210 is lowered, the handle of the cup blank is clear of the brush 140 and the cup blank can then be transferred to the discharge conveyer 30 by the mechanism 32. In a modification, a forked member 640, Fig. 21 (not shown) is moved away from the leading blank just after the conveyer 28 has stopped first prior to the removal of the leading blank thereby eliminating the tendency for the leading blank to be gripped between the fork and the next blank in the line. Specification 765,467 is referred to.