US3227248A - Escapement mechanism - Google Patents

Description

Jan. 4, 1966 R. K. DAUGHERTY 3,

ESCAPEMENT MECHANISM Filed July 8, 1963 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. PAL PH K. DAUGHE/PT) -wfda A T TOPNEVS Jan. 4, 1966 R. K. DAUGHERTY 3,227,248

ESCAPEMENT MECHANISM Filed July 8, 1963 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 ATTORNEYS Jan. 4, 1966 R. K. DAUGHERTY ES GAPEMENT ME CHANI SM 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed July 8, 1963 FIG- 7 W m5 TH N6 U A m0 K. w M R Maw A T TO/PNE Y2 3,227,248 ESCAPEMENT MECHANISM Ralph K. Daugherty, San Jose, Calif., assignor of onehaif to Genevieve I. Magnuson and one-half to Genevieve I. Magnuson, Robert Magnuson, and Lois J. Fox, trustees of the estate of Roy M. Magnuson Filed July 8, 1963, Ser. No. 293,371

2 Claims. (Cl. 188-85) The present invention relates to the feeding of articles by count into containers so that an exact desired number of articles will be placed in each of a succession of containers in an automatic manner.

This invention relates to article feeding apparatus of the type shown in the patent to Magnuson No. 2,990,665 dated July 4, 1961, and reference is made to said patent for such parts of the apparatus as are not disclosed in detail.

It is a general object of the invention to provide for the feeding of an exact number of articles by count into a container where the articles are separated from a single 1e and diverted to different container receiving stations to be placed in succession, into a container, the diversion from one container to another being performed by a mechanical gate which is extremely fast and reliable in operation. a

A further object of the invention is to provide improved means and methods for forming a single file feed of articles for subsequent placement into containers.

A further object of the invention is to provide article feeding apparatus of the above character in which the mechanical gate for diverting articles selectively from one station to another is operated at the same speed in traveling from either one of its positions to direct articles to one or the other of two desired locations.

Still another object of the invention is to provide apparatus of the above character which is relatively simple in construction and which is reliable in operation.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description of a preferred embodiment thereof, as illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of the apparatus embodying the invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged side elevational view of a portion of the apparatus shown in FIG. 1; i b

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the apparatus shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a vertical sectional view partially in elevation taken of one of thedischarge stations, and indicated by the plane of the line 44 in FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a vertical sectional view partially in elevation taken as indicated by the plane of the line 55 in FIG. 1; 7

FIG. 6 is a vertical sectional view showing the diverting gate and the operating solenoids therefor being taken in a Plane of the line 6-6 in FIG. 1;

FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken as indicated by the line 77 in FIG. 3; b

FIG. 8 is an enlarged sectional view taken as indicated by the line 8-3 in FIG. 4;

FIG. 9is an enlarged sectional view taken as indicated by the line 9-9 in FIG. 6.

Referring first to FIG. 1, there is shown a plan view of the apparatus including a shufiie feed 10 for articles, the discharge end of the shufile feed placing the articles in a V-shaped belt conveyor 11 which carries the articles in a direction indicated by the arrow and places them on a second V-shaped belt conveyor 12, which operates at a faster speed and from which the articles are discharged as will later be described.

United States Patent 0 ICC Upon leaving the V-shaped conveyor belt 12 (FIG. 1), the articles are discharged past a counting station comprising a light source 13 and a photoelectric cell 14 which are connected by the cable 16 to a counting circuit 17 which may be of the type disclosed in the patent to Cowan No. 2,870,585 dated January 27, 1959. The counting circuit control mechanism 17 serves to operate solenoid control escapement mechanisms 18, each of which controls movement of an open container carried by one of the conveyors 19 or 21. Conveyors 19 and 21 are of the platform type and operate continuously to carry the containers away when released. The desired count is placed in each can by a control of a diverter gate mechanism 22 of a type referred to more specifically hereinafter.

It is a result of the above operation that the articles are placed in single file in approximately separated relation by the conveyor means including the shuttle feed 10 and the sets of conveyor belts 11 and 12 and are counted as they are discharged from the end of the conveyor 12. A desired number of articles are placed successively in each of the two containers on the respective belts 19 and 21, and when a count is completed, the conveyor belt with the filled can operates to remove this container upon operation of the escapement mechanism, and the gate mechanism 22 sets the gate to divert subsequent articles to the opposite container associated with the other conveyors 19 or 21.

A shufiie feed conveyor 10 is of the type disclosed in the patent to Magnuson et al No. 2,792,929, dated May 21, 1957, and this shufiie feed conveyor 10 operates to separate articles from a bulk supply into successive transverse files and to feed each file transversely for discharge over the end of the conveyor at 31 where each file is received between two opposite belts 32 which are trained about respective driving rolls 33 (FIGS. 2, 3 and 7) and idler rolls 34. Idler rolls 34 are journaled on a suitable V-shaped bracket 36, which is carried by a sleeve 37 slidable on a frame shaft 38, and the idler rolls 34 are urged to the left as viewed in FIG. 2 by a spring 39 disposed between the sleeve 37 and a stationary bracket 41 which serves to support a sheet metal guide 42 for the belts 32. The frame member or shaft 38 is carried by suitable brackets such as the brackets 43 (FIGS. 1 and 2) on the frame of the machine,. Referring to FIG. 7, the two driving rolls 33 are recessed to receive a bevel gear 44, the two bevel gears 44 meshing. The supporting shaft 45 for the left-hand roller or drum, as seen in FIG. 7, is stationary and carried by a support 46 (FIGS. 2, 3 and 7) on the shaft 38 and an L-shaped extension 46a of the support 46. The drive shaft 47 for the right-hand roll 33 is journaled in the member 46 and in a second extension 46a, and carries a pulley 48 through which a drive is transmitted by the belt 49 from a motor 51.

As seen in FIGS. 2 and 3, the drive belt 49 is also trained about a driving pulley 52 for the second pair of drive rolls 53 similar in mounting and construction to the rolls 33, but associated with respective belt 54 of the second conveyor 12. The driving pulley 52 is smaller in diameter than the pulley 48 to provide a faster speed of the conveyor 12, is disposed at a lower level than the conveyor 11 so that the articles are in effect thrown between the two belts and are accelerated by the conveyor 12.

As seen in FIG. 5, the V-shaped sheet metal guide 42 for the belts 54, which is identical with a similar guide Referring to FIG. 6, the discharge ends of the belts 54 of the conveyor 12 are adjacent an inclined chute 61 of sheet metal which opens V-shaped at the top and converges to a central two-part discharge opening controlled by a gate 62. Gate 62 is carried by shaft 63 secured to the lower edge of the gate and pivoted at one end in a bushing 64 in an insert or guide 65 of the chute structure 61. The other end of the shaft 63 extends through a support bracket 66 and is supported by a coupling 67 by which it is connected with an output shaft 68 of a rotary solenoid 69 which may be of the type disclosed in the patent to Smith et al. No. 2,950,424, dated August 23, 1960. This solenoid 69 is secured to an internal flange 71 of a housing 72 which has annular ribs for dissipation of heat. The shaft 68 of the solenoid 69 extends through the solenoid and is connected by a coupling 73 with the output shaft 74 of a second solenoid 76 similar in all respects to the solenoid 69 but placed in opposed end-toend relation therewith. The second solenoid 76 is secured to a transverse wall 77 of a housing or casting 78.

Rotary solenoids of the type disclosed in the Smith et al patent, as shown at 69 and 76, operate upon receiving an electrical impulse to move their armature in a rotary fashion through a limited arc of movement in a given direction, and the two solenoids 69 and 76 are opposed, i.e., they have their magnetic force oriented to operate on the respective shafts 68 and 74 in opposite directions. When one of the solenoids is energized, i.e., the solenoid 69, the gate 62 will be swung to one side of the chute 61 to divert the falling articles into a container at one of the container-holding stations on the respective conveyors 19 and 21. When the other solenoid 76, for example, is energized, the gate 62 will be swung to the opposite side of the chute 61 so as to direct articles to the opposite positioned container on one of the conveyors 19 or 21. It should be understood that the armature of the solenoids and the shafts 68 and 79 are connected and move together so that the gate 62 is driven in both directions and a fast operation results.

The time at which the gate 62 is operated back and forth is controlled by the circuit 17 so that when a desired count of articles, say 4, is placed into one of the containers, the gate is then swung so as to direct the next four articles into the opposite container, etc.

The control circuit 17 also serves to operate the escapement mechanism for the respective containers, and for this purpose is connected by suitable wiring to a rotary solenoid 81 (FIGS. 1 and 4), which is vertically disposed and is carried by support casting 82. The casting 82 is supported by a bracket 83 carried by a frame piece 84, and journaled in the bracket 83 is a vertical shaft 86 which carries at its bottom respective aligned pairs of escapement sprockets 87 having a desired number of can-restraining and advancing recesses therein.

The solenoid 81 controls operation of the shaft 86 and the star wheels 87 by the containers and their supporting conveyor through an intervening escapement mechanism. For this purpose, the upper end of the shaft 85 (FIG. 8) has a ratchet wheel 91 secured thereon which cooperates with respective opposite restraining pawls 92 and 93, these pawls being urged toward each other and the ratchet wheel 91 by a suitable spring 94. Also positioned between the pawls 92 and 93 is a control cam 96, which is carried by the operating shaft 85 of the solenoid 81, this cam being urged in a clockwise direction by spiral type spring 97 (FIG. 4).

The net result of the operation of the cam 96 through a fixed angle by the solenoid 81 is first to release the pawl 92 from the engaged position with ratchet wheel 91 as shown in FIG. 8, so the ratchet wheel 91 will advance counter-clockwise through one step until it is restrained by the latch 93. When the cam 96 is returned to the position shown by the spring 97, it again enables the pawl 92 to move into latching position, and disengagcs the pawl 93 from the ratchet wheel 91 so that the ratchet wheel 91 will move through another shorter step of advance. For each activation of the solenoid 81, the ratchet wheel 91 will advance two steps of movement totaling one-sixth of a revolution, and will allow the star wheel 87 to turn through one-sixth of a revolution under the drive of the containers on the conveyor 19 to release a container and to allow a subsequent container to move into position to receive articles such as meat balls. The escapement mechanism 18 associated with the conveyor 21 is similar to that described except that the pawls and the ratchet wheel are reversed from those shown in FIG. 8. It will be understood that the escapement mechanisms 18 and their controlling solenoids S1 operate alternately in controlling the release of containers.

While I have shown and described a preferred embodiment of the invention, it will be seen that it is capable of variation and modification from the form shown so that its scope should be limited only by the scope of the claims appended hereto.

I claim:

1. An escapement mechanism comprising an oscillatory operating shaft and an intermittently operated driven shaft, a ratchet wheel attached to said driven shaft, oppose latching pawls engaging said ratchet on opposite sides and being out of phase whereby when one latching pawl is engaged with the tooth of said ratchet, the opposite latching pawl will have its latch tooth displaced from the tooth of the ratchet wheel, spring means urging said pawl-s toward said ratchet wheel, and an operating cam disposed between said latching pawls and adapted to oscillate first in one direction and then the other to first move the first or engaged latching pawl to a wheel releasing position and allow the second or disengaged latching pawl to engage the wheel upon movement thereof and then to engage and move the second latching pawl to a wheel releasing position and allow the first latching pawl to re-engage.

2. An escapement mechanism comprising an oscillatory operating shaft and an intermittently operated driven shaft, a ratchet wheel attached to said driven shaft, opposed latching pawls engaging said ratchet on opposite sides and being out of phase whereby when one latching pawl is engaged with the tooth of said ratchet, the opposite latching pawl will have its latch tooth displaced from the tooth of the ratchet wheel, spring means urging said pawls toward said ratchet wheel, and operating means engage- I able with said latching pawls and operable to first move the first or engaged latching pawl to a wheel releasing position and allow the second or disengaged latching pawl to engage the wheel on movement thereof and then to engage and move the second latching pawl to a wheel releasing position and allow the first latching pawl to reengage.

References Cited by the Examiner SAMUEL F. COLEMAN, Primary Examiner.

HYMAN LORD, Examiner.

Claims (1)

1. AN ESCAPEMENT MECHANISM COMPRISING AN OSCILLATORY OPERATING SHAFT AND AN INTERMITTENTLY OPERATED DRIVEN SHAFT, A RATCHET WHEEL ATTACHED TO SAID DRIVEN SHAFT, OPPOSED LATCHING PAWLS ENGAGING SAID RATCHET ON OPPOSITE SIDES AND BEING OUT OF PHASE WHEREBY WHEN ONE LATCHING PAWL IS ENGAGED WITH THE TOOTH OF SAID RATCHET, THE OPPOSITE LATCHING PAWL WILL HAVE ITS LATCH TOOTH DISPLACED FROM THE TOOTH OF THE RATCHET WHEEL, SPRING MEANS URGING SAID PAWLS TOWARD SAID RATCHET WHEEL, AND AN OPERATING CAM DISPOSED BETWEEN SAID LATCHING PAWLS AND ADAPTED TO OSCILLATE FIRST IN ONE DIRECTION AND THEN THE OTHER TO FIRST MOVE THE FIRST OR ENGAGED LATCHING PAWL TO A WHEEL RELEASING POSITION AND ALLOW THE SECOND OR DISENGAGED LATCHING PAWL TO ENGAGE THE WHEEL UPON MOVEMENT THEREOF AND THEN TO ENGAGE AND MOVE THE SECOND LATCHING PAWL TO A WHEEL RELEASING POSITION AND ALLOW THE FIRST LATCHING PAWL TO RE-ENGAGE.

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