US2005496A - Apparatus for feeding fragile rods, tubes, and similar articles - Google Patents

Description

June 18, F .DONOVAN El' AL APPARATUS FOR FEEDING FRAGILE RODS, TUBES AND-SIMILAR ARTICLES Filed Dec. 2o. 19:53 2 sheets-sheet 1 .Z'Az VEN TDR. s JUA/'Az' F DUN-D mzxz; SEUR GE'J'LL INEI/VDR TH,

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June 18, 1935. J. F DONOVAN Er AL 2,005,496

APPARATUS FOR FEEDING FRAGILE RODS, TUBES-AND SIMILAR ARTICLES Filed Deo. 20, 1935 2 Sheets-Sheeil 2 .Z'Nv EN TDF; 5: :TDH-N P. DUNE 155A?, G2 an @E .Z'LL INE-'WDR TH,

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Patented June .18, 1935 APPARATUS FOB FEEDING FRAGILE RODS, TUBES, AND ARTICLES John F. Donovan and George Illingworth, East Cleveland, Ohio, assignors to General Electric Company, a corporation of York Application December 20, 1933, Serial No. '103,278

' 5 claims. w1. 4er-14) Qur invention relates tofeeding devices and more particularly to devices for feeding single lengths of rod or tubing from a pile thereof. Our invention is particularly adapted to devices i for feeding lengths of glass tubing such as are used in lamp `manufacture for stems, exhaust tubes, arbors and co-called top tubes. For instance, such a device may be'used to advantage as the top tube feeder in the miniature lamp I sealing machine disclosed in Stiles et al. Patent 1,742,153 which requires the tubes to beplaoed one at a' time ia vertical position in the machine heads as they are indexed in and out of position in front of the feeding device. The

i principal object of our invention is to provide means for feeding substantially cylindrical objects at a high rate of speed. Another object of our invention is to provide feeding means suitable for use with articles of glass or other eas- 3 ily damaged or brokenl materials. Other objects of our invention will be apparent from the drawings and description which follows of one species thereof.

In the drawings Fig. 1 is a side elevation of 5 a device of our ,invention for feedingso-called top tubes; Fig.12 is an end view of a portion thereof; Fig. 3 is a perspective View of the feeding ram and a portion of its operating mechanism; Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the tube carriage of the transfer means; and Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the feed control mechanismKr The particular species of our invention shown is contructed so as to operate with the miniature lamp sealing machine described in the patent 5 hereinbefore referred to.' The operation consists in pushing one tube from a pile thereof in which all of the tubes are arranged and then transferring the same to the machine head which 'is to receive it. The device isl attached to and 0 is driven from Ithe sealing machine. Referring now to Figs. 1 and 2, the tubing lengths I0 are carried within hopper II whichl is moimted through brackets I2-I3 and rods Il some distance above bed plate I5. The orientation of =5v the tubes is such that the downwardly tilted side of the hopper which is mounted vat a slight angle butts against the ends of the tubes and the two remaining sides of the hopper engage the sides of the tubes. No fourthV side is needed c on account of the tilt of the hopper. The tubes are fed as shown in Fig. 2 from'the lower left- `hand corner of the hopper-into which they are caused to roll or shift from other parts thereof. As the lower tubes are taken away those above drop onto the false bottom I6 which by its slope causes the tubes to move to the lower-v right-hand corner of the hopper from which they move down the inclined bottom I1 of the hopper to the feeding position. In order that the corner will not be choked up lor clogged with an excess of tubes, a channel is 'formed by partition I8 over the bottom which allows only a few tubes at a time to pass thereto. The

-open side of that portion of the hopper from which the tubes are fed is covered by a plate I9 to prevent the tubes from shifting longitudinally. A

The method of removing the tubes from the hopper consists in pushing end iirst through a hole in the vtilted side of said hopper that tube which is located in the 'extreme lower left hand corner. This is done by ram 20 which. like all the remaining undescribed mechanism is not shown in this position but at the position it occupies during the presentation ofV the tube to the sealing machine. The ram 20 is located along line 2l and is caused to move into engagementwith the tubes by spring 22 (Fig. 3) which extends between a post 23 in one end thereof and a post 24 lin the ram bearing or guide 25. The extent of themovement is governed by the end of lever 26 which engages pin 21 in the ram and is itself operated from cam 28 through universal joint 29, rod 30 and lever 3l. Lever 26 operates about pin 32 in bracket 33 extending from the bed plate l5, and lever 3| operates about pin 34. Shaft 35 on which cam 28 is mounted represents a drive shaft of the sealing machine l and roller 36 represents the means by which lever 3| engages said cam. After pushing the tubing length from the yhopper into the transfer-ring means the ram is drawn back until the end no longer protrudes through the side of said hopper whereupon itis moved upward into the position' shown. The purpose of this movement is to break the bridge of tubing which often forms about the feeding position. .A narrow slot 31 (Fig. 2) corresponding to the width of the ram is provided in plate I9 to permit this movement which" occurs as ram guide 25 slides upward within its ways in bracket I3 inwhich it is retained by plate 38 (Fig. 3). The lower end of 'ram guide 25 is engaged by screw 39 (Fig. l) in lever l0 which operates about pin 4I between collars I2 and 43 in bracket I3 and is operated by lever M through link 45. Lever 44 is in turn operated, by cam 46 through roller 41 on lever 48 which is connected to a link rod 49. The downward movement of the ram is produced by spring 50 after the ram has been withdrawn from which is supported through pin 55 and shaft 56 extending from bracket 51. During the period the separator is within the hopperboth pin 55 and shaft 56 are at the bottom of the slots in slide 54 which they occupy due to the pull of spring 58 which extends between post 59 in the end of the slide and the end of pin 55. At other times when the separator has been withdrawn from the hopper the raised portions of ratchet 60 (Fig. 1) are below pawl 6| on pin 62 in the end of slide 54.` This occurs as shaft 56 is turned clockwise by lever 44 with the lowering of the ram which results in the thicker portion of pawl 6I engaging ratchet 60 since the said pawl is prevented from turning about pin 62 by the ange 63 engaging the slide 54. With the counter-clockwise turning of the ratchet, pawl 6| turns away from the raised portions against the pressure of a torsion spring 84 which is attached to pin 62 and said pawl.

The transferring mechanism into which the tubes are fed comprises a carriage 65 (Figs. 1, 2 and 4) which receives and holds a tube in grooves of blocks 66 and 61 attached thereto, and a slide 68 on which a carriage carrying bracket 69 is pivotally mounted. Each of the blocks 66-61 engages the tube on the bottom and on one side while the remaining side is covered by arm 10 attached to the hopper holding bracket l2 and the top is covered by jaw 1|. vents the tube from moving out endward. After receiving the tube the carriage is swung counter-clockwise 90 and advanced into the sealing machine to the position shown in Fig. 1 by the leftward movement of slide 68 which is operated by lever 44 through links 12. ment occurs as lever 44 swings to lift the ram. As the slide begins to move rollers 14 on arms 15 move upward in the ways of camsV 16 attached tobracket 51 turning shaft 11 to which both arms 15 and bracket 69 are attached. As the carriage turns rod 16 lifts from the face of Acam 19 on said slide allowing spring 80 which extends between a post in the carriage and one in the jaw 1| to pull said jaw against the tube.

Rod 18 ridesfree in carriage 65 and is only used to push 1| open. No means are provided for opening the jaw at the full advanced position in this instance since the sealing machine jaws 8| grip the tube and pull it out of the transferring mechanism as they are indexed. Screw 82 supports the end of bracket 69 when the bracket is in a horizontal position.

In order to render the device fully automatic, it may be provided with means such as shown in Figs. 1 and 5 for preventing the feeding of a tube if the sealing head in front of the device does 'not carry a lamp bulb. This means comprisesa feeler mechanism consisting of arm 83, link 84 and finger 85 which are caused to swing about pin 86 in bracket 81 to engage the bulb 88 in the stem head 89. Should the bulb not be there, stop 99 on arm 9| extending from pin 86 will be pulled up in front of the ram Block 61 pre- The move- 20 preventing its feeding motion. This mechanism is actuated by rod 92 of the sealing machine which moves downward at the proper time and which engages the feeler mechanism through arm 93, spring 94 and bumper 95. The bumper 95 rides freely in arm 93 allowing spring 94 to take up the excess motion thereof. A collar 96 is attached to the upper end of the bumper to keep it in place when lifted from the feeler and spring 91 is provided between arm 9| and bracket 51 to lift the feeler back to rest position.

What we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is:

1. A device for feeding fragile rods, tubes and similar articles comprising a hopper having oppositely disposed openings in the walls thereof and adapted to contain a quantity of said articles substantially uniformly disposed in axial alignment with said openings, a ram disposed outside of said hopper in axial alignment with said openings, transfer mechanism comprising gripping means disposed on the opposite side of said hopper in axial alignment with said openings, means for reciprocating said ram to cause it to enter one of said openings and engage an end of one of said articles and push it out of said hopper through the opposite opening into said gripping means of said transfer mechanism, and means for actuating said transfer mechanism to deliver said article to a desired point.

'2. A device for feeding fragile rods, tubes and similar articles comprising a substantially vertically disposed hopper having substantially horlzontally aligned oppositely disposed openings in the sides adjacent the bottom thereof and containing a quantity of said articles substantially uniformly disposed horizontally 4in axial alignment with said openings, a ram disposed outside of said hopper in axial alignment with said openings, means for reciprocating said ram to cause it to enter one of said openings and engage an end of one of said articles and push it out of said hopper through the opposite opening, and means for raising said ram to agitate the articles disposed around said openings.

3. A device for feeding fragile rods, tubes and similar articles comprising a hopper having oppositely disposed openings in the walls thereof and adapted to contain a quantity of said articles substantially uniformly disposed in axial alignment with said openings, a ram disposed outside of said hopper in axial alignment with said openings, a wedge-shaped separator disposed outside of said hopper adjacent to said openings, means for-reciprocating said ram to cause it to enter one of said openings and engage an end of one of said articles and push it out of said hopper through the opposite opening, and means for `reciprocating said separator to cause it to move through an opening in said hopper transversely of said articles to agitate saidarticles and cause one of them to be disposed in line with the said oppositely disposed openings in said hopper.

4. A device for feeding'glass tubes to a sealing head for incandescent lamps and similar articles comprising a substantially vertically disposed hopper having substantially horizontally aligned oppositely disposed openings in the sides adjacent the bottom thereof and containing a quantity of said articles substantially uniformly disposed horizontally in axial alignment with said openings, a ram disposed outside of said hopper in axial alignment with said openings, pivotally mounted transfer mechanism comprising gripping means disposed on the oppositefside of said hopper in axial alignment with said openings, means for reciprocating said ram to cause it to enter one of said openings and engage an end of one of said glass tubes in said hopper and push it out of said hopper through the opposite opening into said gripping meansvof said transfer mechanism, and means for pivoting said transfer mechanism to deliver said glass tube to the said sealing head in a vertical position.

5. A device for feeding glass tubes to sealing heads carrying glass bulbs to which said tubes are to be fused comprising a hopper having substantially horizontally aligned oppositely disposed openings in the sides thereof and containing a quantity of said articles substantially uniformly disposed horizontally in axial alingment with said openings, a ram disposed outside of said hopper in axial alignment with said openings, means for reciprocating said ram to cause it to enter one of said openings and engage an end of one of said glass tubes and push it out of said hopper through the opposite opening, feed control means comprising a stop and a feeler, means for actuating said feeler to cause it to engage the bulb carried by one of the said sealing heads, and means controlled by said feeler for actuating said stop to cause it to block the path of said ram and render it inoperative'in case a bulb is not present in saidsealing head.

JOHN F. DONOVAN. GEORGE IIlINGWOR'IH.

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