Patent GB-751042-A (GB)
Title: Apparatus for stacking sheet material articles
IPC: B65B35/50
Filed: 1954-04-21
Abstract: 751,042. Sheet delivery apparatus. FOOD MACHINERY & CHEMICAL CORPORATION. April 21, 1954 [Aug. 13, 1953], No. 11465/54. Class 100 (1). Apparatus for stacking sheet material articles, e.g. paper bags, comprises a receiving station A including a plurality of spaced apart supporting members, transfer mechanism C (Figs. 1 and 3) for removing articles from the supporting members including article engaging means having openings therein corresponding to the supporting members so that the supporting members extend upward through the openings, and means for raising the transfer mechanism to remove articles from the support members. The apparatus includes a bagmaking machine 8 havhaving draw-rolls 11, 12 for periodically advancing a flat tubular web 13 of interconnected bags 14. The rollers 11, 12 are driven by a rack and pinion 27, 28 operated by a crank 24 fast on a motor-driven shaft 21. The arrangement is effective to intermittently drive the lower draw roller. By means of a cam 25 and cam follower, a rod 39 is reciprocated in timed relation to the drive of the rollers 11, 12 to oscillate a shaft 48, thereby raising arms 51 to which is connected the movable blade 16 of a bag-cutter 18. The bag is deposited on the endless bands 72 of the receiving station A, the band 72 being driven at twice the speed of the roller 11 through a sprocket and chain arrangement 82, 83, 84 and gears 76, 77, 78, 79, the gear 76 being fast on a shaft 66 having pulleys 71 around which the bands 72 are trained. The transfer mechanism C is supported by spaced brackets 91 (one only being shown) mounted upon the frame extension of the receiving station A. The brackets 91 rotatably support a shaft 93 upon which arms 94 carrying a rectangular frame 96 are mounted. The frame is provided with a number of strips 97 which together with the frame form a grid structure such that when the shaft 93 is rotated through 180 degrees from the position shown, the strips 97 are disposed between the bands 72 of the receiving station A. For oscillating the transfer mechanism, a shaft 101 (Fig. 4) continuously driven by a chain and sprocket from the shaft 21, carries a gear 108 having teeth 109 on a half only of its periphery, which co-operate with a gear 116, the ratio of the gear 108 to the gear 116 being 2:1. Plates 112 and 119 are provided on the gears 108, 116, so that after the gear 116 has been rotated a full turn by the teeth 109 of the gear 108 it is held in a fixed position, the recess 121 in the plate 119 co-operating with the plate 112, during the next half revolution of the gear 108. The gear 116 serves to oscillate a shaft 122 carrying a segmental gear 129 which co-operates with a gear 131 on a shaft 132. The shaft 132 is adapted to rotate the shaft 93 through bevel gears 134. At the start of a cycle of operations the transfer mechanism C is disposed beneath the bands 72 of the receiving station A on to which a bag is fed by the rollers 11, 12. As the roller drive mechanism commences its idle stroke the teeth 109 of the gear 108 mesh with the gear 116 to rotate the transfer mechanism through 180 and to return it to bag-receiving position, after depositing the bag on to a platform D. Delivering in counted batches; receivers.- The platform D is composed of endless bands travelling over rollers, one set of which are fast on a shaft 152 (Fig. 6) which carries a gear 151 meshing with a gear 153 rotatably mounted on the shaft 93. The shaft 93 also carries a collar 154 mounted for rotation therewith and axial movement therealong so as to clutch the gear 153 to the shaft 93. For operating the clutch mechanism a lever 156 is provided on a shaft 166, the other end of which carries a lever 171 provided with a cam 173 at its other end. The cam 173 is spring-urged towards cam discs 181, 182 which are fixed on a stub shaft 191. The discs 181, 182 are provided with a plurality of notches and are relatively rotatable so that a varying number of notches on-the discs may be made to unwind for reception of the cam 173. Mounted on the stub shaft 191 is a worm-wheel 193 meshing with a worm-gear 194 on the continuously rotated shaft 101. Thus, after a predetermined number of bags have been deposited on the platform D the cam 171 enters a notch on the discs 181, 182, the lever 171, shaft 166 and lever 156 are rotated in a clockwise direction (Fig. 6), and the gear 153 is clutched to the shaft 93 so that on the next oscillation thereof the shaft 151 is rotated to drive the endless bands of the platform D a predetermined distance to stagger the next predetermined number of delivered bags.