GB565353A - Improvements in transfer mechanism chiefly designed for use with metal working machinery - Google Patents

Abstract

565,353. Feeding and delivering sheets. ARNOLD, C. (Bliss Co., E. W.). Feb. 13, 1943, No. 2427. [Class 100 (i)] [Also in Groups XXII and XXXVII] In mechanism for feeding sheets to and from a machine, such as a rolling mill, a sheet is lifted from a pile and passed between two elongated star-shaped members which are rotated intermittently to allow the sheet to pass vertically therebetween and come to rest with two arms horizontal to support the edges of the sheet whilst it is being fed horizontally to the mill. The mechanism is duplicated on each side of the mill to allow the sheets to be fed from either direction, and all the movements are synchronized by electric relay circuits. The top sheet from a pile carried by a table 55 is raised by suction pads 123 carried by a frame 111 which is moved vertically by racks 109 and a shaft 107 rotated through reduction gearing 105 from an electric motor 102. The frame is guided on the main support 97 by rods 115. The star-shaped members 37 have a number of radial arms carrying rollers 38 and are mounted in bearings 40, 41, laterally adjustable to accommodate sheets of different width between the members. An electric motor 43, driving through a gearbox 45, is capable of rotating the members 37 in opposite directions by a splined shaft 47 and further gearing 50, the action being such that as a sheet is lifted from the pile, the members are rotated to allow the sheet to pass and then remain stationary so that the sheet may rest on the two inner horizontal rows of rollers, after which the suction pads 123 are released and raised to the position shown in Fig. 3. The sheet is next fed into pinch-rolls 30 by a pusher 71 carried by a beam 72 connected to a fluid-pressure plunger 75. This plunger works in a cylinder 76 carried by a box member 73 slidable in a frame 74 by means of a rack thereon and a hand-operated pinion so as to adjust the stroke of the pusher 71 to suit different lengths of sheets. The sheet then passes through the rolling mill 15 and further pinch-rolls 30 to a second pair of elongated members 37, coming to rest on the inner horizontal rollers 38 thereof. The members 37 are then rotated in opposite directions to allow the sheet to fall on a pile carried by a table 55 at the delivery end of the mill. The edges of the sheet are engaged by joggling members 80, Fig. 3, reciprocated horizontally by fluid cylinders, so as to stack the sheets with their edges in line. The members 80 along each side of the table are connected by linkage so that one pair of cylinders will reciprocate them all, the air supply to the cylinders being controlled by a valve actuated by a solenoid and spring, and the operation being automatic under push-button control. The members 80 may be adjusted to and from each other for sheets of different size by hand wheels 93, chains and screws. In operation, on closing a switch manually, the motor 102 is started by relays to lower the frame 111 and cause the pads 123 to engage a sheet on the pile 55, other relays operating a valve to exhaust the air from the pads. Further relays operate the motor 43 to rotate and then stop the members 37, and actuate a valve for operating the pusher 71, and limit switches start the rotation of the members 37 at the delivery side of the machine when the sheet has been fed therein. Other limit switches engage the sheets as they are placed upon or removed from a pile, so that when the height of a pile deviates from the standard height by a specified amount, say, two inches, a motor 65 will be started to raise or lower the table accordingly. The circuits for the relays are shown and described in the Specification, and switches are provided for changing over to partially automatic or manual control.