JPH0420435A - Device and method for picking and feeding corrugated sheet - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To precisely align the side surface edge of a sheet by crosswise centering stacks when sheets are received by a feed-in conveyer, and then by crosswise centering the sheets when the sheets taken out from the stacks are shifted onto a supply conveyer for conveying the sheets into a hopper of a processing device. CONSTITUTION: At one of normal heights in several positions, an adjustable feed-in gate 22 which is laterally attached adjacent to the receiving end 12 of a supply conveyer 10, is vertically positioned. Then, the crosswise positions of stacks into which corrugated sheets are fed, are monitored, and are biased crosswise, and accordingly, the stacks are centered when the stacks are shifted to a discharge elevator. Bottom sheets of a stack are continuously shifted onto the receiving end 12 of the supply conveyer in an overlapping condition along a longitudinal path underneath the feed-in gate 22.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of Industrial Application The bag layers and methods described herein relate to the removal and pre-feeding of flat corrugated sheets in superimposed form along a travel path.

Conventional technology For manufacturing corrugated paper cartons or 1i,
A rectangular corrugated sheet or blank (paper form) is first produced in known machines such as corrugators. The sheets are then stacked for storage and handling purposes. They are sequentially processed individually through a printer that prints on each sheet or a die cutter that stamps it into carton blanks according to the customer's requirements.

Printers and die cutters operate at very high speeds. Simply feeding successive vertical stacks of corrugated sheets into the infeed hopper for these machines is not efficient due to the amount of physical labor required to accurately position each stack within the hopper. The amount of labor required results in interruptions in the operation of the machinery being sent or in reducing the speed of the machines being operated.

The machine and method of the present invention ensures that a continuous supply of corrugated sheets is maintained within the infeed hopper of a printing or cutting machine while operating at high speeds. This is accomplished by removing the corrugated sheets and feeding them into a receiving hopper of the sheet processing machine in a continuous stack at a feed rate that does not interrupt operation of the sheet processing machine.

PROBLEM TO SOLVED BY THE INVENTION Vertical stacks of corrugated sheets are
It has side edges that often do not align precisely. Because accurate vertical stacking of these sheets is required within the infeed hopper of high speed processing equipment for corrugated sheets, it is important to realign the edges of the sheets as they are fed one by one.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides a stacking and unfeeding system for corrugated sheets that accurately aligns the side edges of the corrugated sheets as they are fed into the infeed hopper of a high speed processing machine. This is carried out in a two-step process. 1st
The steps include laterally centering each stack as the sheets are received on the infeed conveyor. The second stage requires lateral centering of each sheet as it is extracted and transferred to a feed conveyor that carries the sheet to a hopper of the processing equipment.

The machine of the present invention also reduces the time required to load and receive an incoming vertical stack of corrugated sheets so that the sheets are in a "richfeed" mode of operation.
) to ensure regular supply. This is accomplished by increasing the overlap as the last sheet inside the stack is overlapped and conveyed to the feed conveyor.

Thus, the infeed apparatus and method of the present invention provides precisely centered sheets in overlapping conditions in a manner that continuously meets the requirements of processing machines downstream of the process having high speed handling capabilities.

The elements of the Dongfeng pick-up and feed system are generally depicted in FIGS. 1-4. The machine shown in the drawings is designed to pick up and feed corrugated sheets. The machine operates from vertical stacks in which corrugated sheets are stored and handled prior to use in high speed processing machines associated with the production of corrugated paper cartons, such as printers or cutting machines. The depicted machine directs the sheets in a stacked manner along a longitudinal path that leads to an infeed hopper (not shown) of a downstream processing machine.

In order to continuously meet the infeed requirements of the manufacturing machine,
It is useful to orient the corrugated sheet to the machine in an accurately centered manner. To enable uninterrupted operation of high speed machines, the feed of sheets in stacks must always match or exceed the infeed speed of the machine into which the sheets are directed.

A powered elongate supply conveyor 10 extends along the intended longitudinal path of the corrugated sheets being fed to the receiving machine. A supply conveyor 10 is capable of moving sheet material along a longitudinal path from a receiving end 12 to a discharge end 14. The supply conveyor IO is pivotally supported on a fixed machine plate 18. It projects outwardly from the frame 18 in a cantilevered manner and is supported in a lifting manner by an adjustable lifting cylinder 16. Conveyor 1O can be raised and lowered to provide physical access to the receiving machine and hopper, which are typically located outside the discharge 414 of conveyor 10.

An elevator 20 is mounted within the stationary machine frame 18 to receive an incoming vertical stack of corrugated sheets. The elevator 20 moves each incoming stack of corrugated sheets to a discharge height where the bottom sheet of the stack is at a level adjacent to the receiving end 12 of the supply conveyor 10. In the depicted machine, the incoming vertical stack of corrugated sheets is transported on a longitudinal infeed conveyor 30 on an elevator 20 at a height lower than the height of the feed conveyor 10. Therefore, it is necessary to raise each stack of sheets on the infeed conveyor 30 before the corrugated sheets are transferred in a stacked state to the supply conveyor IO.

To stabilize the stack of corrugated sheets on the elevator 20, means are attached to the elevator 20 such that it tilts as the elevator 20 rises. This causes the top sheet of the stack of corrugated sheets to shift towards the receiving end 12 of the supply conveyor 10 while the stack is at the discharge height. Such tilting can be accomplished by raising the four corners of the elevator 20 by means of four uprights (not shown) pulled over the top sprocket on the stationary machine frame 18. By varying the diameters of the front and rear sprockets that engage the Y-descending on each side of the fixed machine frame, the elevator 20 is allowed to tilt as it ascends. This allows the front edge of each stack of corrugated sheets to tit against the front wall of the elevator 20 and prevents the stack from collapsing as it is removed.

A small conveyor 33 projecting to the rear also acts as a stabilizer for the stack. It is movable up and down on the elevator 20 and rests on the top corrugated sheet of the access stack on the raised infeed conveyor 30 to prevent the stack from collapsing as it moves progressively downward within the stationary machine frame 18 supported by the elevator. prevent.

An adjustable overfeed gate 22 connects the feed conveyor 10.
An overlapping feed gate 2 is located adjacent to the receiving end 12 of the
The details of the cross section of 2 are shown in FIG.

It includes transverse blades 24 sloping downwardly towards the infeed conveyor 30 on the elevator 20.
Freely rotatable transverse rollers 25 provide a transition between the front wall of the elevator 20 and the sloping blade 24, with the initial forward movement of the corrugated sheet required to contact the facing blade surface. make it easier to move.

The bottom edge of the blade 24 is positionable at one of several normal operating heights above the top surface of the infeed conveyor 30 depending on the infeed requirements of the receiving machinery. By gradually raising the blades 24 above the moving surface of the infeed conveyor 3o, it is possible to increase the flow of sheets along the receiving and feeding conveyor 10. As the blade 24 rises, the overlap between adjacent sheets increases. As the plate 24 is lowered, the sheet exit is increasingly restricted and there is less overlap between adjacent sheets, thereby reducing the sheet feed rate.

An infeed conveyor 30 supports a stack of corrugated sheets on the elevator 2o and successively delivers the sheets at the bottom of the stack along a longitudinal path below the infeed gate 22 to receive the infeed conveyor 10 in a roofing manner. Edge 1
2 Move it up.

The infeed conveyor 30 is laterally displaceable on the elevator 20 in the lateral direction indicated by the arrow 31 .

This lateral shift movement is used to initially center each incoming stack of corrugated sheets received on the elevator 2°. It is used successively to center individual corrugated sheets as they are transferred from the infeed conveyor 30 to the supply conveyor IO below the infeed gate 22.

The means for centering the stack includes a monitoring photocell 32 or other suitable edge sensing device mounted on the elevator 20 for sensing the lateral position of each stack of corrugated sheets. , which is combined with power means connected to the infeed conveyor 3o to laterally deflect the infeed conveyor 30 over the elevator 2o, centering each stack while the elevator is raised to its 411 height. do. The means for detecting the edge of the corrugated sheet is two photocells 3 arranged in close proximity.
6.37 or any other suitable edge sensing device on the elevator 20 capable of monitoring the lateral position of the corrugated sheet as it leaves the stack.

They are also mounted on the infeed conveyor 30 on the elevator 2o.
It also controls the power means for laterally shifting the. Two photocells 36,37 sense the limits of the position of the opposite lateral edges as the sheet passes below them.

The photocell ensures that the edge of each sheet is positioned along the edge of the mean path shown by dotted line 38.

A photocell 35 located in the front center of the elevator 20 senses the minimum height of the stack remaining on the conveyor 30 from the bottom of each stack near completion of sheet ejection. It is a "rich feed" means for increasing the overlap between adjacent sheets as the sheets remaining inside the stack are fed onto the supply conveyor 10! It is a constituent element.

The photocell 35 is connected to the infeed gate 22 for temporarily raising the height of the infeed gate 22 above the vertical operating height relative to the infeed conveyor 30.
Controls the power lifting means for use. This in effect increases the overlap between adjacent sheets and temporarily increases the flow of sheets to the receiving machinery for receiving a new stack of corrugated sheets on the elevator 20. Attend to the required time.

The method of removing and feeding the corrugated sheets by removing the sheets from the bottom of the vertical stack and feeding the sheets individually into a longitudinal path in a roofing manner comprises the following steps.

(a) moving each incoming stack of corrugated sheets to a position where the bottom of the stack is adjacent the level of the receiving end of the supply conveyor;

(b) monitoring the lateral position of each stack of incoming corrugated sheets and laterally offsetting each stack to center it relative to the supply conveyor;

(C) mounted laterally adjacent to the receiving end of the supply conveyor at one of several vertically operating heights, depending on the speed required of the corrugated sheet being offset relative to the supply conveyor; vertically positioning the adjustable infeed gate.

+d) Continuously moving the bottom sheet of the stack below the infeed gate onto the receiving end of the supply conveyor in a roofing manner.

When applied to a machine incorporating a stack elevator, the method further includes the following steps, as shown in the drawings.

(e) moving each stack up and down to the discharge elevator;

(f) tilting the stack while in the discharge elevator to shift the top of the stack toward the receiving end of the supply conveyor;

(g) monitoring the lateral position of each corrugated sheet as it exits the stack;

(h) laterally shifting the stack to center the corrugated sheets as they are transferred from the stack to a supply conveyor;

Regarding the rich feed feature, the method further includes the following additional steps.

(1) Detecting the minimum remaining stack height.

(j) a position higher than its normal operating height in order to increase the roofing overlap between the -1 abutting sheets when the remaining sheets in the stack are transferred onto the feed conveyor; A stage where the height of the infeed gate is temporarily raised.

The operation of the machine depicted is best understood in FIGS. 5-10.

5 and 6 show an incoming stack 4 of received corrugated sheets on the infeed conveyor 30 of the elevator 20.
It shows 0. Stack 40 stops before contacting the front wall across elevator 20. Two additional incoming stacks 41 are added to the infeed conveyor 30 if required.
It is supported on a powered infeed conveyor 42 for continuous upward transport.

FIG. 7 depicts the stack 40 at a raised discharge height before the individual sheets are transferred onto the supply conveyor 10. FIG. The elevator 20 is tilted forward and the stabilizing conveyor 33 rests freely on the top sheet of the stack. The sheets in the stack are thereby properly supported and
Prevent lateral or longitudinal displacement.

FIG. 6 depicts the initial lateral centering of the stack on the infeed conveyor 30 from the laterally offset center position of the incoming stack 41 (which is offset by the offset centerline 43).

Figures 8 and 9 depict the discharge of the overlapping sheets 45 along the longitudinal path provided by the supply conveyor IO. The overlapping of the corrugated sheets is carried out as detailed in FIG. 3, in which the individual sheets 44 from the stack 40 are moved longitudinally under the bottom edge of the sloping blade 24.

FIG. 1O depicts a rich feed feature in which the sheet feed gate 22 is raised above its normal operating height. This increases the overlap between the IB sheets, thereby increasing the thickness of the overlapping sheets along the feed conveyor 10.

The apparatus and methods of the invention have been described with respect to specific embodiments for carrying out the invention. Modifications in the structure of the device may be made without departing from the general description of the mechanical device and method described above.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Figure M1 is a side view of the machine, Figure 2 is a top plan view, Figure 3 is an enlarged sectional view taken along line 3-3 in Figure 2, and Figure 4 is a centering device and feed conveyor. FIG. 5 is a simplified front view showing the initial reception of an incoming stack of corrugated sheets; FIG. 6 is a top view of FIG. 5; FIG. 7 is a top view of FIG. FIG. 8 is a simplified side view showing a stack of sheets in a raised position ready for transfer to a receiving supply conveyor; FIG. 8 is a simplified side view showing the feeding of a single sheet; FIG. is the top view of Fig. 8, and Fig. 1O is the overfeed of one sheet (rich
FIG. IO... Supply conveyor, 12... Receiving end, 14.
...Discharge end, 16... Lifting cylinder, 18
...Fixed g3 machine frame, 20...Elevator, 22...Feeding gate, 24...Horizontal blade, 25...Horizontal roller, 31...Arrow, 30...
・Feeding conveyor, 33...Small conveyor, 35.36.37...
Photocell, 38... Dotted line, 40.41.
...stack, 42...feeding conveyor, 43...shifted center line, 44...individual sheet, 45...overlapping sheet. ! ==7q! =ζW"

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A corrugated sheet ejecting and feeding device for removing sheets from the bottom of a vertical stack and moving the sheets individually in a longitudinal path in an overlapping manner, comprising: a powered elongated supply conveyor extending along a path of the supply conveyor and having a receiving end and a discharge end; a laterally displaceable infeed conveyor for supporting a stack of corrugated sheets; a receiving end of said supply conveyor; an adjustable infeed gate that laterally overlies the infeed conveyor at a location adjacent to the bottom sheet of the stack of corrugated sheets on the infeed conveyor, and power means coupled to the infeed conveyor and the infeed conveyor; are sequentially moved in an overlapping manner onto the receiving end of the supply conveyor along a longitudinal path below the infeed gate, with means for centering the stacks monitoring the lateral position of each stack of corrugated sheets. , and the infeed conveyor is laterally offset to center each stack with respect to the supply conveyor. 2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the apparatus is configured to detect the lateral position of each corrugated sheet as the sheet leaves the stack on the infeed conveyor and to center the stacked sheets along the infeed conveyor. The apparatus further comprises a sheet edge sensing device for laterally deflecting the infeed conveyor. 3. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising: sensing the height of a minimum remaining stack on said infeed conveyor; The apparatus further comprises overfeed means for temporarily raising the height of the infeed gate above the normal operating height of the infeed gate so as to increase the sheet-to-sheet overlap condition. . 4. Corrugated sheets removing sheets from the bottom of the vertical stack, feeding said sheets individually in overlapping fashion along a longitudinal path, and laterally centering each sheet across said longitudinal path. a motorized elongate supply conveyor extending along a longitudinal path and having a receiving end and a discharge end, receiving an incoming vertical stack of corrugated sheets and discharging said stack; an elevator adapted to move to a discharge height, where the bottom sheet of said stack is adjacent at a height to a receiving end of said supply conveyor; means for tilting said elevator so as to deflect the top of a stack of sheets; and means for tilting said elevator transversely across said elevator at a location adjacent to a receiving end of said supply conveyor at one of several normal operating heights. an adjustable infeed gate mounted on the bottom of the stack for supporting a stack of corrugated sheets and overlapping the receiving end of the feed conveyor along a longitudinal path below the infeed gate; a laterally displaceable infeed conveyor on said elevator for continuously moving sheets; and monitoring the lateral position of each incoming stack of corrugated sheets as said stack moves to a discharge height. and stack centering means for laterally shifting an infeed conveyor on said elevator to center each stack. 5. The apparatus of claim 4, further comprising sensing the lateral position of each corrugated sheet as the sheet leaves the stack on the elevator and centering the stacked sheet along the feed conveyor. ,
Apparatus, characterized in that it comprises means for sensing the edge of a sheet for laterally deflecting an infeed conveyor on said elevator. 6. A method for removing and feeding corrugated sheets by removing sheets from the bottom of a vertical stack and feeding said sheets individually along a longitudinal path in an overlapping manner, the method comprising: moving the bottom sheet in the stack to a position where it is disposed adjacent the height of the receiving end of the supply conveyor; and the receiving end of the supply conveyor at one of several normal operating levels. positioning in the up-and-down direction an adjustable infeed gate laterally mounted adjacent to the feed conveyor; and monitoring the lateral position of each incoming stack of corrugated sheets and centering said stack relative to said feed conveyor. laterally shifting each stack as determined; and moving the bottom sheets of said stacks in an overlapping manner below an infeed gate and sequentially over a receiving end of said supply conveyor. , a method comprising: 7. The method of claim 6, wherein the lateral position of each corrugated sheet is monitored as it leaves the stack, and the lateral position of each corrugated sheet is monitored as it leaves the stack, and the overlapping The method further comprising laterally shifting the stack to center the sheets. 8. The apparatus for taking out and feeding corrugated sheets according to claim 6, wherein the minimum height of the remaining stack is detected and the height of the feeding gate is increased above the normal operating height of said gate. The apparatus further includes the step of temporarily raising and increasing the overlap of adjacent sheets as remaining sheets within the stack are transferred onto the supply conveyor. 9. Removing sheets from the bottom of the vertical stack, individually feeding said sheets in an overlapping manner along a longitudinal path, and laterally centering each sheet across said longitudinal path; a method for unloading and feeding corrugated sheets by moving each incoming stack of corrugated sheets vertically to a discharge height where the bottom sheet in said stack is adjacent the height of said receiving end of a supply conveyor. and tilting the stack of corrugated sheets while at the discharge height to offset the top of the stack toward the receiving end of the supply conveyor; and several normal operating heights. vertically positioning an adjustable infeed gate laterally mounted adjacent to the receiving end of the supply conveyor at one of the following steps; and monitoring the lateral position of each incoming stack of corrugated sheets. laterally offsetting each stack to center the stack as it travels to a discharge elevator; and displacing the bottom sheet of the stack along the longitudinal path below the infeed gate. successively moving over the receiving end of the supply conveyor in a continuous overlapping manner. 10. The method of claim 9, wherein the lateral position of each corrugated sheet is monitored as the corrugated sheets leave the stack, and the stack is laterally shifted so that overlapping sheets are aligned with the stack. The method further comprises the step of centering the stacked sheets as they are transferred from the feed conveyor to the feed conveyor. 11. The method of claim 9, further comprising: sensing the minimum height of the remaining stack; and temporarily raising the height of the infeed gate above its normal operating height; The method further comprises the step of increasing the overlap of adjacent sheets as the interior remaining sheets are transferred onto the supply conveyor.