US1637030A - Method and means for feeding articles - Google Patents

Description

July 26, 1927. c; THYSSEN METHOD AND MEANS FOR FEEDING ARTICLES Filed June 18, 1924 Fig.2

H m w e 5% n e r w w WW Patented July 26, 1927.

UNITED STA ,lnmr non am) Means FOR FEEDING, narrows.

Application filed June 18, 1924. Serial No. 720,879.

memos) TES PATENT OFFICE.

CONRAD THYSSEN, OI AACEEN, GERMANY.

In many machines designed to work upon cylindrical articles, such as wire shanks used in the manufacture of needles, the articles are fed to the working place in a continuous row and the ends to be worked upon of the-articles must be uniformly dressed or alined in order to secure an accurate working of the machines.

, Now, the present invention has for its object to devise a method and device by means ofwhich theaforesaid aligning of the ends to be, worked upon of the cylindrical articles may be effected in a simple andefficient way. This object is essentially attained by 16 exerting on the articles fed as stated a pressure from two opposite sides for ieldably holding them, and while thus held imparting an endwise shifting-motion to some or all of the articles forbringing their said ends into one common line.

For the purposes of the invention, I shall now describe it with reference to the accompanying drawing which diagrammatically illustrates, by way of example, two

embodiments of the device forming part of the invention.

In the drawing: Fig. 1 is a view, partly in section, of the first embodiment; Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same,

as seen from the left of Fig. 1,

Fig. 3' is" a section along the line 3 3 of Fig. 1,

Fig. 4 is a view, similar-to Fig. 1, of a modified form,

Fig. 5 is a Side elevation of the device according to Fig.- 4, seen from the left,

Fi 6 is a. section" along: the line 6+6 of F lg. 4.

The several figures of the drawing'show only'those parts of the device which are necessary for the'understandinq of the invention, while the means for imparting the feeding motion to the cylindrical articles and the means for actuating the several parts of the device are omitted for the sake of clearness and because they may be of any approved construction.

Referrin now to the drawings the embodiment sliown in Figs. 13 which is the primitive form of my invention, will be described first. 7 is a feed track which may be arranged vertically or horizontally and which'consists of two walls 8 and 9 between wire-shanks 10, are fed in a row in the which the cylindrical articles, .for instancedirection of the arrow at, to a working place. It is assumed that the shank ends lying on the left-hand side of Figs. 1 and 3 should be worked upon and therefore must be alined. To this end the following means are used. The track wall 9 is provided with a recess 11 in which is mounted a pressure member 12. for instance in the form of a plunger. .The member 12 is adapted to be 6 moved in the direction of the arrow b and serves to press the group of shanks which lies between it and the opposite track wall 8, against this wall which constitutes another pressure member. Thepressure withIO which the shanks 10 have .to be pressed between the member 12 and the wall 8 must be greater than the relative frictional resistance between the shanks 10themselves. In order to obtain a uniform yieldable pressure 7 on the shanks and a high frictional resistance between them and the member 12 the end face of the latter is covered with a layer 13 of rubber or any other elastic material. Arranged laterally of the shank ends to be worked upon is a slide 14 which is movable towards and away from said ends in the direction of the arrow 0. While the shanks 10 are being yieldably held between the pressure member 12, 13 and the track 35 wall 8, the slide :14 is moved againstthe shank ends to be worked upon and shifts the shanks endwise individually or in groups, thereby bringing the said ends into one common line, as will be seen from Fig. 1. Owing to the friction of the shanks between the pressure member 12 and the track 7 wall 8 no shank will be shifted farther than the slide 14 is moved. As soom as the group of shanks has been dressed, the slide 14 and the pressure member v12 recedes so that the shanks are released for further feedin In order to attain that all of the shan s are delivered to the working place uniformly alined, the described alining operation is repeated in shorter or longer spaces of time which depends on the speed at which the shanks are conveyed through the feed track 7. If it is desiredto have the shanks continue their feed motion during the alining operation, the pressure member 12 and the slide 14 must likewise be moved in the direction of' feed as long a." they are operating on the shanks and thereafter be returned to their initial positions. This to and fro no movement is indicated bythe arrow (1. With the device according to Figs. 4-6

which embodies the preferred form of my invention and which is best suited for actual use, the movable slide 14 is replaced by a stationary .or adjustable fence 14', while the pressure member 12 when pressing on the shanks 10 is moved in the longitudinal direction of the shanks (see arrow f) .thereby shifting them so that the ends to be worked upon are caused to strikelagainst the fence 14 whereby such ends are alined. If, with this device, the shanks should be fed through the track 7 uninterruptedly, it is only necessary to impart to the pressure member 12 a movement in the direction of the feed motion of the shanks; that is to say, besides the movement for pressing the member 12 against the shanks and lifting it from the same, the member has an additional movement imparted to it in the oblique direction indicated by the arrow g.

Various possible embodiments of the invention and various changes in the embodiments described may be made, all within the scope of the sub-joined claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Let ters Patent, is i 1. The combination with a track forfeeding cylindrical articles in a row to a working place, of a device for alining the ends of the articles to be worked upon, comprising pressure members arranged on both sides of the row of cylindrical articles, one of the pressure members being formed by one of the track walls and the other pressure member consisting of a plunger adapted to be moved through a recess of the other track wall into and out of engagement with the cylindrical articles and designed to yieldably press and hold the articles against the firstsaid track wall, and means for imparting an endwise shifting motion to some or all of the articles held between the pressure members for bringing the ends to be worked upon intoone common line.

2. The combination with a track for feeding cylindrical articles in a row to a working placer. of a device for alining the ends of the articles to be worked upon, comprising a fence extending laterally-pf the feed track at a certain distance from"-the same, a recess in one of the'track walls and a pressure member inthe said recess, this pressure memberbeing adapted to intermittently engage a seriesof the cylindrical articles for yieldably pressing the same against the opposite track wall and movable both in the direction of feed of the articles and in the direction of their longitudinal axes for shifting the articles endwise with their ends to be worked upon against the said fence without interrupting the feed of the articles.

3. A method of aligning particular ends 4 of cylindrical articles where such articles are being fed in a continuous row in mutual contact, consisting in providing a relative lateral movement between successive groups of articles and an aligning member to simultaneously align the similar ends of the articles of a group while exerting a pressure upon the articles of the group to a degree sufiicient to prevent movement of the articles of that group as a result of their frictional V of cylindrical articles which are being fed in a continuous row in mutual contact, consisting in holding the articles of a particular group against similar lateral movement incident to their frictional engagement "one with another, and aligning the similar ends piflghe articles of the group of articles so 6. A method of aligning particular ends of articles being fed in a continuous row in mutual contact, consisting in applying pres- .sure to a group of ,the articlestsufiicient to overcome the tendency of the articles of such roup to move together, under their relative rictional engagement, and aligning the similar ends of the articles of the group under a pressure exceeding that of the first mentioned pressure.

7. A method of aligning similar ends of articles which are being fed in a continuous row in mutual contact, consisting in holding the articles of a group against their tendency to move laterally together as a result of their frictional engagement, and thereafter moving such group relatively to an aligning member to move the selected ends of the articles of the group into alignment without regard to the holding means.

SfAillGtllOd of aligning the similar ends of a series of cylindrical articles fed in a continuous row in mutual contact, consisting in moving the articles of a group relatively' and .laterally to align their similar f ends lwhileat the same time preventing the movementof any one article of the grou being .traiisferred to an adjacent artic e through the frictional engagement of such articles.

9. A trackway for feeding cylindrical articles in a row in mutual contactfan aligning means with which selected ends of the articles may be made to contact in successive' groups to align such ends, and means whereby any one of the articles of the group being aligned is held against movement rearticles of the group.

i 11. A trackway for feeding cylindrical v sultin from its frictional engagement with the 'acent articles of the'group -10. trackway for feeding cylindrical articles inarow in mutual contact, an aligning-member relative to which the articles of a group may be moved to an extent to align the similar ends of the articles of such group, and a pressure means acting up on all the articles of the group to prevent any one article thereof from moving solely through its frictional cooperation with the adjacent articles in a rowv in mutual contact, a fixed aligning member against which the similar bodily movethe exert a pressure upon said articles to a degree suflicient to prevent any one article of the group from moving as a result of the frictional engagement between such article g and the adjacent articles of the group,-and means for operating the pressure means to oup toward the aligning member for aligning the ends of{ the articles of such group.

In testimony whereof I have's'igned my name to this specification.

"' CONRAD THYSSEN.

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