US2897951A - Conveyors - Google Patents

Description

H. C. JONSON Aug. 4, 1959 CONVEYORS 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Nov. 27, 1956 Filed Nov. 27, 1956 H. c. JONSON CONVEYORS 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 H. C. JONSON Aug. 4, 1959 CONVEYORS 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Nov. 27, 1956 lino enter H. (2176126 012/ United States Patent() i 2,897,951 CONVEYORS Henry C. Jonson, Kungsbacka, Sweden, assignor to Aktiebolaget Valida Maskiner, Kungsbacka, Sweden, a

corporation of Sweden 7 Application November 27, 1956, Serial No. 624,527

2 Claims. (Cl. 198-38) The present invention generally relates to conveying contrivances, and more particularly to an improved conveyor of a kind which is especially well adapted for the conveyance of articles of clothing carried on clothes suspenders and which comprises a conveyor track and'at' least one conveying member movable along said track and having at least one element for releasably carrying clothes suspenders.

The primary object of the invention is to enable a general improvement of conveyors of the kind referred to. Accordingly, the mainly characterising feature of the invention resides in that said suspender carrying element is so arranged as to be movable relative to said conveying member, and in that means are provided adapted at a predetermined station situated along said conveyor track to actuate said element so as to displace said element from its operative position to thereby enable the suspender carried by the element to be discharged by gravity.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will appear from the following description of two specific embodiments thereof illustrated by way of example in the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary side elevation of the conveyor according to the preferred embodiment of the invention, particularly illustrating the equipment at one station thereof.

Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional elevation, partly broken away, of the conveyor station illustrated in Fig. '1, and as seen from the left-hand side of the latter figure."

Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional elevation, partly broken away, of a conveyor station of the conveyor according to the second one of said embodiments. f;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary side elevation illustrating said second embodiment of the invention; and 7 i Fig. is a horizontal section, partly broken away, and taken along the line VV in Fig. 4. e

Referring now to the drawings more specifically, the arrangements illustrated therein are specifically adapted for the conveyance of articles of'clothing, for instance in the ready-made clothing industry, in which case said articles of clothing are carried on clothes hangers or suspenders known per se provided with hook-like elements for suspending the same. For the sake: of simplicity, neither the articles ofclothing" nor the suspenders'therefor have been illustrated in theaccompanying, drawings.

In Fig. 1, numeral 1 designates a conveyor track consisting of a substantially channel-shaped rail having its 2,897,951 Patented Aug. 4, 195 9 4 is movably arranged relative to the associated conveying member 3 in a manner to enable the element to be relative to the spindle.

by a device indicated generally at 8 which is adapted to actuated from its operative position to thereby enable the clothes suspender carried by the element to be removed by gravity.

Each carrying element 4 comprises a spindle 5 which is rotatably mounted in the lower portion of the member 3 so as to extend substantially transversely to the longi tudinal direction of the conveyor track. One end por-] tion 6 of said spindle 5 normally (i.e. in its operative position) extends at an oblique angle outwards and upwards from one lateral side of the member 3 and serves for carrying clothes suspenders thereon. The opposite end portion 7 of the spindle 5, which end portion is disposed at the opposite lateral side of the conveying memher 3, is so arranged as to extend substantially radially The end portion 7 is actuatable turn the spindle 5 so as to cause the first-mentioned end portion 6, which serves for carrying clothes suspenders,

. to be directed downwards, as indicated in dot-and-dash lines, to thereby enable the suspenders carried thereby to drop by gravity. The spindle 5 carries a counterweight 9 urging the spindle towards the position in which'the end portion 6 extends at an oblique angle upwards and outwards from the conveying member. Instead of this, however, the spindle could be spring-loaded towards said angular position.

Said device 8 for actuating an element 4 from its operative position, in the embodiment illustrated in Figs. 1

i and 2, comprises a shaft 10 extending in substantially parallel relation to the conveyor track 1 at the station .where articles of clothing are to be discharged from the 14 is adapted to actuate the end portion 7 of the element 4 during the rotational movement of shaft 10, as'indi-. cated in dot-and-dash lines at the right-handside of Fig. 2. Although not illustrated in the drawings, the shaft 10 is weight or spring loaded in such a manner as,

t after having been actuated by the conveying member 3,

to be restored into the angular position in which its levers 13 and 14 extend as shown in full lines in Fig. 2. The

lever 13 is provided at its free end portion with an idling,

roller 15 adapted to cooperate with a cam surface 16 of the member 3 as the latter passes by this roller 15, to

interveningportionturned upwards whereas its legs ex tend downwards and are in-turned at their extreme edge portions so as to form runways, as will be seen from Fig. 2 Intended[to cooperate withtheserunways are rollers 2 through.the mediunr'of which members 3 are mvab1e-a1ng the conveyqi-i mack iniihgtthelgllgr-iz in; extending longitudinally of the conveyor track I.

carry the members 3 suspen; frqin the 'conve yor track. In the accompanyingdraw only, one such member}: is illustrated, this rfiember 'b n'g providedjvith ltwtfi'pairs of rollers for carrying the member, it beingobviousj'however, that, as has, already, been indicated, the conveying thereby cause the shaft 10 to be rotated in the manner described.

Each unloading station comprises two U-shaped brackets 12 disposed in parallel relation and spaced longitudinally of the conveyor track, each bracket 12 being, at its intervening portion, secured to the conveyor track 1 in a straddling manner so that its legs depend from the com veyor track. The legs of the two brackets 12 are interconnected at their lower ends by connecting members 17 One of the brackets is provided with two idling rollers-"18 mounted on individual ones of thetwo legs of said bracket so-as' to have their respective axes extending vertically. Theserollers serve as guiding elements to prevent the member 3 from being deflected laterally as the member passes through the unloading or discharge station and an element 4 is actuated by the device 8. One of the longia' tudinal.connectingmembers 17, through the intermediary of a depending bracket 19, carries a rod 20 which extends at an angle outwards and downwards from the conveyor 3 and which serves for catching up clothes suspenders toge'ther with articles of clothing carried thereby as these are discharged from the carrying elements 4.

As already stated, the conveying contrivance may .com-

prisefseveral discharge stations identical with the ones just described which are secured in suitable positions along the, preferably, endless, conveyor track 1. Also, there will be a plurality of carriers or conveying members3 forming an endless conveyor in which the members 3. are interconnected by chain links 21, for example. Since the conveying members 3 are all identical, it will be easy to determine, by suitably adjusting the distance between the levers 13, 14 along the shaft, 10,,which. particular one of the several carrying elements (five elements, as shown in Fig. l) is to be actuated at any one discharge station. In the embodiment illustrated by way of example in Figs. 1 and 2, the levers 13, .14 are so arranged as to cause the second element, as counted from the lefthand end of Fig. l, to be actuated by the lever 14 as the conveying member 3 engages and depresses the cam following roller 15. Therefore, in order to enable the arrangement to be adapted to differing requirements, the lever 14 and/or the lever 13 should be displaceable along the shaft and adapted to be locked in various positions of displacement.

Referring now to the Figures 3 and 4, the embodiment illustrated therein mainly differs from the previous embodiment merely in that the cam surface 16 shown in Figs. 1 and 2 is replaced by a roller 22 which is displaceable vertically relative to the conveying member 3 and is adapted to be locked in various positions of displacement, while the lever 13 is replaced by a lever 23 pivoting on a separate shaft 24. The shaft 24 is spaced above the shaft 10, and the distance between the two shafts, is different for the various discharge stations whereby the lever 23 will only be actuatable by the roller 22 for a particular setting of the latter. Thus, if the roller 22.has been set to a position to actuate the lever 23 at one particular station, then the roller 22 will pass by the levers 23 of any other stations without actuating any one of them. The lever 23 is provided at its extreme end with a cam-like element 25 for cooperation with the roller 22. The shaft 24 is provided at its opposite side with a lever 26 which is pivotally connected to the upper end of a substantially vertical link 27. The lower end of this 27 is pivotally connected to. a lever 28 projecting from the shaft 10. The link 27 carries a weight 29 which urges the link downwards so as to cause the levers 1.4, 23 to be restored to their initial positions after having been actuated by roller 22.

The roller 22 is rotatably mounted on a-journal pin 30 which is secured to a sliding block 31 on a vertical rod 32 mounted on the conveying member 3. The-roller 22 is disposed at one lateral side of the member 3 while the sliding block 31 and rod 32 are disposed at the opposite lateral side thereof, and the journal pin 30, accordingly, is passed through a vertically extending slot 33 in the member 3 which latter is preferably made of sheet-metal. Said-slot 33 is provided at one of its longitudinal edges with a plurality of notches 34 adapted to receive the journal pin in order to retain the same in its various posi-' tions of vertical adjustment. In addition, to enable the journal, pin 30 to be moved into and out of engagement with said notches 34, the sliding block 31 is also rotatable about the rod 32, the sliding block 31 being provided with one or more springs 35 which cooperate with the member 3 in urging the sliding block 31 in such a sense as to cause the journal pin 31 automatically to be snapped into engagement with that notch 34 with which the pin 30 has been brought into alignment. The sliding block 31 has an operating handle 36 in the form of alever which projects from the block. 3

Finally, it may be mentioned in conjunctionwith this embodiment, that the lever 14 aud'the le er 23, by being swung counter-clockwise-through a certain angle, can be adjusted into an inoperative position in which the lever 23 is prevented from being engaged by the roller 22, whereby the carrying element 4 will be unaffected upon the conveying member 3 passing by the station concerned. Numeral 37 designates a stopfor limiting the clockwise angular movement of the lever 14 following the actuation of thev carrying element 4-. In addition, said stop 37 serves for maintaining the complete linkage in its position indicated in full lines in Fig. 3.

It is to be understood that the invention should not be considered to be restricted to the specific constructional embodiments as hereinbefore described in conjunction with the accompanying; drawings, since the same is sus ceptible to changes in its details or applications without departing from, the scope of the invention. Thus, for example, the conveyor may be used, for conveying other objects than articles of clothing carried on suspenders.

What is claimed is:

1. A conveyor for the conveying of suspended articles comprising a conveyor track, a plurality of conveying members spaced along a conveyor chain and movable in series along and suspended from said track, a plurality of stations in spaced predetermined positions along said conveyor track, each of said conveying members having a plurality of carrying elements upon any one of which an article may be suspended to be carried by said conveying member as the latter moves along said track, each of said carrying elements in each of said conveying members comprising a spindle rotatably mounted in said convey-- ing member and having a finger projecting obliquely to the axis of rotation thereof, each of said spindles being rotatable independently of the others of said spindles from afirst position in which said finger will extend obliquely upwards to retain an article suspended thereon to a second position in which said finger will extend obliquely downwards whereby an article carried thereby will be released for discharge from said finger under the influence of gravity, and means in at least certain of said stations for rotating solely one of said spindles from said first position to said second position whereby to discharge in said station any article which may be suspended by said. one finger.

2. A conveyor for the conveying of articles such as garments suspended on garment hangers having hooks, comprising a conveyor track, a plurality of conveying members spaced along a conveyor chain and movable in series along and suspended from said track, a plurality of stations in spaced predetermined positions along said conveyor track, each of said conveying members having a plurality of carrying elements upon any one of which the book of: a garment hanger may be placed for the carrying of said garment hanger by said conveying member as the latter moves along said track, each of said carrying elements in each of said conveying members comprising a spindle rotatably mounted in said conveying member and having a finger projecting obliquely to the axis of rotation thereof and transversely of the path of said conveyor chain, eachof'said spindles being rotatable independently of the others of said spindles from a first position in which said finger will extend obliquely upwards to retain a garrnent hanger hook suspended thereon to a second position in, which said finger. will extend obliquely downwards whereby a garment hanger hook carried thereby will be released for discharge from said finger under the influence of gravity, and. means in at least certain of said stations for rotating solely one of said spindles from said first position to said second position whereby to discharge in said station any garment hanger which may be suspended by said one. finger.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

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