Patent GB-812802-A (GB)
Title: Lamp bulb feeder
IPC: B65G47/14
Filed: 1956-08-15
Abstract: 812,802. Endless-belt conveyers; rotary conveyers; shoots. SYLVANIA ELECTRIC PRODUCTS Inc. Aug. 15, 1956 [Aug. 22, 1955], No. 25010/56. Class 78 (1). Apparatus for feeding lamp bulbs 40, Fig. 2, having a restricted open neck terminating in a flared portion of diameter greater than that of the neck but smaller than the major diameter of the bulb, comprises a hopper 20, conveyers 22, 23, Fig. 1, and an elevator 24 for delivering the bulbs to a shoot 25 leading to a metering device 27, and a pair of shoots 28 extending from the device 27 to a pair of turrets 21 delivering to a sealing &c. machine. The sides 35 of the hopper slope downwards to an endless belt conveyer 36 which discharges the bulbs through an opening 44 having a partial closure 45 of flexible material, e.g. sheet rubber. The upper run of the belt is supported by a roller 73 and a number of rollers 75. The roller 73 is mounted eccentrically on a shaft 72 which is driven by the same mechanism as the driving drum 49 of the conveyer. The rollers 75 are mounted eccentrically on idler shafts 76. The bulbs pass from the belt 36 on to a conveyer 22 which comprises an inclined wall 81, Fig. 3, and an endless belt 82 parallel thereto. The bulbs travel along this conveyer in single file and are delivered on to the inclined wall 87 of a similar conveyer 23 which arranges them in neck-down position. The bulbs pass from the conveyer 23 on to an elevator 24 comprising a V-belt 157 and a fixed guide 156. The driving side of the belt is engaged by a number of spring-loaded sheaves 165, Fig. 6, to tension it. Nozzles 186, 187 at the lower end of the elevator 24 are supplied with compressed air for the ejection of bulbs, whose necks have been broken off, into a tray 175. The air jets may be replaced by a leaf spring disposed angularly across the path of the bowl portions 41 of the bulbs. The bulbs then pass on to a shoot 25 provided with a normally closed switch 198. When the supply of bulbs on the shoot is insufficient to reach the actuating arm 199 of the switch, a solenoid is energized and the motors driving the conveyers 36, 22, 23 and 24 are switched in. If the switch 198 is opened by contact of a bulb with its arm 199, the motors are cut out and the supply of bulbs to the shoot ceases. The bulbs pass from the shoot to the metering device 27 which comprises a rotating turret 202, Fig. 8, driven through a friction coupling. The periphery of the turret has a series of slots 213, each of which receives a bulb. A nozzle 230 supplied with compressed air is arranged opposite the upper end of each shoot 28 to effect the transfer of the bulbs. The supply of air is cut off when the number of bulbs in any shoot is sufficient to cause the actuation of a switch 228 controlling a valve 231. A switch 226 sounds an alarm when the number of bulbs is not sufficient to maintain contact with its actuating arm 227. The shoots 28, 25 are vibrated by electric means. In a modification, Fig. 9, switches 232, 233 arranged above the shoots 28 control solenoids 236, 237 connected to guide members 241. When the number of bulbs in a shoot is insufficient to deflect the switch arm, the corresponding guide is in such a position that it ejects a bulb from a slot 213 as the latter reaches it. When the switch arm is actuated by the bulbs, the guide is removed from the path of the bulbs on the turret. Specification 801,777, [Group XI], is referred to.