Claims
- 1. An apparatus for the sequential handling and delivery of individual flexible products comprising:
- means for delivering a series of closely spaced individual flexible products to a transfer point:
- means positioned at said transfer point for transferring said flexible products to a delivery point while maintaining substantially the same spacing between said products, said means including a vacuum transfer drum having a plurality of annular grooves about the periphery thereof, and means for rotating said drum;
- a shaft mounted adjacent said transfer drum for orbital movement, including drive means for orbiting said shaft; and
- a plurality of fingers secured to said shaft and extending into said annular grooves for removing said flexible products sequentially from said transfer drum and delivering them to said delivery point, said fingers extending and contacting across substantially the full width of said flexible products as said products are removed from said transfer drum.
- 2. The apparatus of claim 1 in which said vacuum transfer drum includes a vacuum source, and a plurality of vacuum ports about the outer periphery of said transfer drum and communicating with said vacuum source for securing the leading edges of said flexible products to the outer surface of said transfer drum.
- 3. The apparatus of claim 2 including a series of vacuum ports arrayed across the transfer drum surface associated with respective leading edges of said flexible products, and means for adjusting the point at which the vacuum at each successive series of ports is terminated, said adjusting means being capable of operation during operation of said apparatus.
- 4. The apparatus of claim 1 including means for stacking said individual flexible products.
- 5. The apparatus of claim 4 in which said stacking means includes means for halting the horizontal movement of said flexible products.
- 6. The apparatus of claim 5 in which said halting means include a back stop.
- 7. The apparatus of claim 5 in which the orbit of said fingers is at bottom dead center when said individual flexible products reach said halting means.
- 8. The apparatus of claim 1 including means for adjusting the pick off position of said fingers relative to said transfer drum.
- 9. The apparatus of claim 8 in which said means for adjusting the pick off position comprise a phaser, and means for adjusting the output of said phaser to control the orbiting of said shaft and the positioning of said fingers.
- 10. The apparatus of claim 8 in which said means for adjusting the output of said phaser include a hand wheel connected to said phaser.
- 11. A method for the sequential handling and delivery of individual flexible products comprising the steps of:
- delivering a series of closely spaced individual flexible products to a transfer point;
- transferring said flexible products from said transfer point to a delivery point while maintaining substantially the same spacing between said products by transferring said flexible products onto a rotating vacuum transfer drum having a plurality of annular grooves about the periphery thereof;
- removing said flexible products sequentially from said transfer drum and delivering them to said delivery point using a plurality of fingers which extend into said annular grooves and remove said flexible products sequentially from said transfer drum and deliver them to said delivery point, said fingers extending and contacting across substantially the full width of said flexible products as said products are removed from said transfer drum.
- 12. The method of claim 11 in which the leading edges of said flexible products are secured to the outer surface of said transfer drum by vacuum, and said vacuum on said leading edges of said flexible products is released at the point at which said fingers contact across substantially the full width of said flexible products.
- 13. The method of claim 12 including the step of stacking said flexible products as said products are removed from said transfer drum.
- 14. The method of claim 13 in which said flexible products are stacked against a back stop.
- 15. The method of claim 13 in which the orbit of said fingers reaches bottom dead center as said leading edges of said flexible products contacts said back stop.
- 16. A method for the sequential handling and delivery of individual flexible products comprising the steps of:
- delivering a series of closely spaced individual flexible products to a transfer point;
- transferring said flexible products from said transfer point to a delivery point by transferring said flexible products onto a rotating vacuum transfer drum having a plurality of annular grooves about the periphery thereof:
- removing said flexible products sequentially from said transfer drum and delivering them to said delivery point using a plurality of fingers which extend into said annular grooves and remove said flexible products sequentially from said transfer drum and deliver them to said delivery point, the orbit of said fingers reaching bottom dead center as said leading edges of said flexible products contact said backstop.
- 17. An apparatus for the sequential handling and delivery of individual flexible products comprising:
- means for delivering a series of closely spaced individual flexible products to a transfer point:
- means positioned at said transfer point for transferring said flexible products to a delivery point while maintaining substantially the same spacing between said products, said means including a vacuum transfer drum having a plurality of annular grooves about the periphery thereof, and means for rotating said drum;
- a shaft mounted adjacent said transfer drum for orbital movement, including drive means for orbiting said shaft; and
- a plurality of fingers secured to said shaft and extending into said annular grooves for removing said flexible products sequentially from said transfer drum and delivering them to said delivery point; and
- means for adjusting the pick off position of said fingers relative to said transfer drum, said means for adjusting the pick off position comprising a phaser, and means for adjusting the output of said phaser to control the orbiting of said shaft and the positioning of said fingers.
- 18. The apparatus of claim 17 in which said means for adjusting the output of said phaser include a hand wheel connected to said phaser.
- 19. The apparatus of claim 17 in which said vacuum transfer drum includes a vacuum source, and a plurality of vacuum ports about the outer periphery of said transfer drum and communicating with said vacuum source for securing the leading edges of said flexible products to the outer surface of said transfer drum.
- 20. The apparatus of claim 19 including a series of vacuum ports arrayed across the transfer drum surface associated with respective leading edges of said flexible products, and means for adjusting the point at which the vacuum at each successive series of ports is terminated, said adjusting means being capable of operation during operation of said apparatus.
- 21. The apparatus of claim 17 including means for stacking said individual flexible products.
- 22. The apparatus of claim 21 in which said stacking means includes means for halting the horizontal movement of said flexible products.
- 23. The apparatus of claim 22 in which said halting means include a back stop.
- 24. The apparatus of claim 22 in which the orbit of said fingers is at bottom dead center when said individual flexible products reach said halting means.
- 25. An apparatus for the sequential handling and delivery of individual flexible products comprising:
- means for delivering a series of closely spaced individual flexible products to a transfer point;
- means positioned at said transfer point for transferring said flexible products to a delivery point while maintaining substantially the same spacing between said products, said means including a vacuum transfer drum having a plurality of annular grooves about the periphery thereof, and means for rotating said drum;
- a shaft mounted adjacent said transfer drum for orbital movement, including drive means for orbiting said shaft: and
- a plurality of fingers secured to said shaft and extending into said annular grooves for removing said flexible products sequentially from said transfer drum and delivering them to said delivery point;
- means for stacking said individual flexible products;
- means for separating a predetermined number of said individual flexible products from the stack: and
- means for adjusting the timing between the removal of said predetermined number of flexible products from said stack and the removal of said flexible products from said transfer drum by said fingers, said means for adjusting the timing comprising a phaser having an output for driving said means for separating said individual flexible products.
- 26. The apparatus of claim 25 in which the output from said phaser is controlled by operation of a hand wheel connected to said phaser.
- 27. The apparatus of claim 25 in which said means for separating a predetermined number of said individual flexible products from the stack comprise count fingers movable from a position adjacent said stack of individual flexible products to a position separating said stack into a predetermined number of individual flexible products.
- 28. In an apparatus for the sequential handling and delivery of individual flexible products including
- means for transferring said flexible products to a delivery point while maintaining substantially the same spacing between said products, said means including a vacuum transfer drum having a plurality of annular grooves about the periphery thereof, and means for rotating said drum;
- said vacuum transfer drum including a vacuum source, and a plurality of vacuum ports about the outer periphery of said transfer drum and communicating with said vacuum source for securing the leading edges of said flexible products to the outer surface of said transfer drum; and
- means for adjusting the point at which the vacuum at each successive port is terminated, said means comprising a movable slug including means associated with said slug for advancing or retarding the position of said slug, and means for providing an indication of the position of said slug, said means for advancing and retarding the position of said slug being capable of operation while said apparatus is in operation.
Parent Case Info
This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 07/606,217 filed Oct. 31, 1990, now abandoned, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 07/286,205, filed Dec. 19, 1988, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,014,978, for METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR THE SEQUENTIAL HANDLING OF FLEXIBLE PRODUCTS.
US Referenced Citations (11)
Foreign Referenced Citations (1)
Number |
Date |
Country |
3365 |
Jan 1989 |
JPX |
Continuations (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
606217 |
Oct 1990 |
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Continuation in Parts (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
286205 |
Dec 1988 |
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