Patent GB-191303979-A (GB)
Title: Improved Means for Handling, Sorting and Distributing Parcels, Bales and Loads of Goods and the like.
IPC: B65G35/06
Filed: 1913-02-17
Granted: 1914-05-18
Abstract: 3979. Cox, H. A., Lloyd, G. E., Rottenburg, L., and New Transport Co. Feb. 17. Discharging and feeding devices for endlesschain conveyers.-In the system for distributing parcels &c. described in Specifications 17,344/08, 18,208 / 08, 15,920/10, and 12,027/11 in which wheeled trays are transported between groups of bays each served by endless trains of truckers, the various groups being connected by a main train of truckers, means are provided for constraining and propelling the trays in a desired path while being transferred between a trucker and a bay or another trucker. Fig. 2 shows one arrangement in which the' platform of the wheeled tray is carried on a stem P, and is fed from a bay by means of hooked arm A<13> rotated by hand or by the passage of the trucker, being held bv a bolt E<13>. The stem is received by a hooked arm A<1> on the trucker, and, as the parts move relatively, the bolt E<13> is unlocked by a cam E<8> while the stem is locked in the arm A<1> by a bolt E' operated by the cam E<6>. As the transfer of the tray is completed, an arm A<3> geared to the arm A<1> by an endless chain is moved into position to engage the stem in preparation for the operation of depositing the tray upon a bay or upon another trucker. In a modification, in which the truckers run upon overhead tracks, and the goods, such as carcases or sacks, are suspended, the goods are carried by a headed bolt, Fig. 7, and the arms engage the stem P between the heads T<1>, T<2>, T<3>. In a further modification, the tray has four pins on its under surface, and the transfer is effected by arms operated by cams, the arms being swung by one set of cams, and lifted and lowered by a second set of cams so that holes in the extremities of the arms may engage and disengage the pins on the tray at the commencement and completion of the transfer. Fig. 16 represents diagrammatically the operation of receiving a tray on a trucker D<2> from a bay D<1> by such a system. The receiving arm A<3> of the trucker D<2> first receives a preparatory motion I, II, III from the cam at the bay D<1>. From III to IV the cam causes the end of the arm A<3> to remain stationary while the arm A<3> and the arm A<1> at the bay are raised to engage the pins T<1>, T<3> on the tray. The tray is transferred during the period IV, V, VI, the arm A' moving with the same velocity as the trucker at the end of its motion, when the arms A<1>, A<3> are lowered and disengaged. The loaded trucker then travels away, while the arm A<1> is returned by the cam on the trucker as it passes away. The arms are rotated and lifted through link-work from levers having pins engaging the cams, and whether any particular set of cams and pins engage is determined by a pilot cam operated electro-magnetically in the manner described in Specification 21,056/13. In modifications of this system, the two arms for transferring the tray are both mounted on the same trucker or on a bay. In a further modification, the truckers carry four pairs of arms for delivering or receiving trays on either side, and each pair of arms is effective during one half of the operation of receiving or delivering, while the remainder of the operation is effected by pairs of arms on the bays or on the other truckers. In this arrangement, the arms are arranged beneath the bay or trucker decks, and pins are lifted and lowered to engage openings in the bottom of the tray, the pins working through slots cut in the decks. Mechanical selectors, such as are described in Specification 9873/14, are provided to ensure the operation of the correct pair of arms for any desired transfer. In a further modification, the truckers and bays carry sets of four pivoted arms, each set being mounted on a vertical axis and the proper arms for effecting any desired transfer are projected by cams through the decks to engage the tray, while the arms are rotated from cam gear of the kind described in Specifications 12,027/11 and 484/13, further means being provided for ensuring that the arms rotate in the right direction. In a further modification, sets of four arms are mounted on separate pivots, one set at each end of the trucker, and during a transfer one arm of each set is operative during one half of the transfer, the tray being held by bolts in the ends of the arms operated by fluid pressure or electromagnetically. The arms are operated from a pair of levers carrying pins engaging cams, and linked to rotate in opposite directions. Means are provided for moving the cam-pins so that the levers may pass one another without fouling. In a further modification, operated by a similar arrangement of cams and cam-pin levers, the trays are engaged by bolts attached to blocks moving in slides on the decks, and means are provided for holding the cams in proper alinement independently of inaccuracies of the track rails. The arms may be secured to the trays by electro-magnetic devices or by bolts actuated by pin-and-slot gear. The trays may run on castors on the truckers. The motion of the transfer means on co-operating truckers or bays and truckers may be derived from a single cam and pin, as described in Specification 9872/14.