Dual clamshell front end conveyor

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11987464-B2
Application number	US-202217734661-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 2, 2022
Priority date	May 4, 2021
Publication date	May 21, 2024
Grant date	May 21, 2024

Abstract

A front end conveyor include a lower deck having a plurality of lower sheet supports, an upstream upper deck having an upstream end at the upstream end of the front end conveyor, a downstream end and a plurality of first upper sheet guides and a downstream upper deck having an upstream end, a downstream end at the downstream end of the front end conveyor, and a plurality of second upper sheet guides. The lower sheet supports and the upper sheet guides define a sheet transport path for moving sheets of material though the conveyor. The downstream end of the upstream upper deck and the upstream end of the downstream upper deck are independently pivotably mounted to the frame such that the upstream end of the upstream upper deck and the downstream end of the downstream upper deck shiftable toward and away from the lower deck.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A front end conveyor having an upstream end and a downstream end configured to transport sheets of material from the upstream end to the downstream end in a sheet transport direction, the front end conveyor comprising:
a lower deck frame having an upstream end and a downstream end, the lower deck frame supporting a plurality of lower sheet supports, a first set of the plurality of sheet supports being spaced apart in a width direction perpendicular to the sheet transport direction and a second set of the plurality of sheet supports being spaced apart in the width direction and spaced from the first set of the plurality of sheet supports in the sheet transport direction;
an upstream upper deck frame having an upstream end, a downstream end and a plurality of first upper sheet guides supported by the upstream upper deck frame and spaced apart in the width direction;
a downstream upper deck frame comprising an upstream end adjacent the downstream end of the upstream upper deck frame, a downstream end, and a plurality of second upper sheet guides spaced apart in the width direction,
wherein the lower sheet supports and the first upper sheet guides and the second upper sheet guides define a sheet transport path for moving the sheets of material in the sheet transport direction,
wherein the upstream upper deck frame is pivotably mounted to the lower deck frame such that the upstream end of the upstream upper deck frame is pivotable toward and away from the lower deck,
wherein the downstream upper deck is pivotably mounted to the lower deck frame such that the downstream end of the downstream upper deck frame is pivotable toward and away from the lower deck,
wherein the plurality of first upper sheet guides are mounted to the upstream upper deck frame to move as a unit with the upstream upper deck frame when the upper deck frame is pivoted relative to the lower deck,
wherein the plurality of second upper sheet guides are mounted to the downstream upper deck frame to move as a unit with the downstream upper deck frame when the downstream upper deck frame is pivoted relative to the lower deck, and
wherein the upstream upper deck frame and the lower deck frame are configured such that the plurality of first upper sheet guides do not contact the lower sheet supports when the sheet transport path is empty of the sheets of material.

2. The front end conveyor according to claim 1 ,
wherein the upstream upper deck frame is shiftable independently of the downstream upper deck frame.

3. The front end conveyor according to claim 1 ,
including scrap removal means for removing scrap from the sheet transport path.

4. The front end conveyor according to claim 1 ,
wherein each lower sheet support of the plurality of lower sheet supports comprises a disk having an annular outer surface configured to contact the sheets of material in the sheet transport path, the disk being mounted for rotation relative to the frame.

5. The front end conveyor according to claim 4 ,
wherein each first upper sheet guide of the plurality of first upper sheet guides comprises a first belt, and
wherein each first belt is supported by at least two pulleys.

6. The front end conveyor according to claim 1 ,
wherein each first upper sheet guide of the plurality of first upper sheet guides comprises a first belt, and
wherein each first belt is supported by at least two pulleys.

7. The front end conveyor according to claim 6 ,
wherein each second upper sheet guide of the plurality of second upper sheet guides comprise a second belt, and
wherein each second belt is supported by at least two pulleys.

8. The front end conveyor according to claim 1 ,
wherein the plurality of lower sheet supports comprise a plurality of shafts extending in the width direction, and
wherein a plurality of disks are attached to each of the plurality of shafts such that the disks rotate with each of the plurality of shafts.

9. The front end conveyor according to claim 8 ,
wherein the disks of a first shaft of the plurality of shafts are offset from the disks of a second shaft of the plurality of shafts in the width direction and
wherein the second shaft is adjacent to the first shaft in the sheet transport direction.

10. The front end conveyor according to claim 9 ,
wherein each of the disks has an annular outer surface, and
wherein an upper portion of each of the annular outer surfaces of the disks is configured to contact the sheets of material in the sheet transport path.

11. The front end conveyor according to claim 10 ,
including a drive configured to rotate the plurality of shafts.

12. The front end conveyor according to claim 11 ,
including at least one brush extending into the sheet transport path, the brush being configured to contact at least one surface of the sheets in the sheet transport path.

13. The front end conveyor according to claim 11 ,
including an air knife adjacent the sheet transport path and configured to direct a flow of air against at least one surface of the sheets in the sheet transport path.

14. The front end conveyor according to claim 1 ,
including an air knife adjacent the sheet transport path and configured to direct a flow of air against at least one surface of the sheets in the sheet transport path.

15. The front end conveyor according to claim 1 ,
wherein the downstream end of the upstream upper deck frame is pivotable about a first pivot axis and the upstream end of the downstream upper deck frame is pivotable about a second pivot axis, and
wherein the first pivot axis and the second pivot axis lie in a plane parallel to the sheet transport path.

16. A system comprising:
a rotary die cut machine having an output;
a stacking conveyor having an input; and
the front end conveyor according to claim 1 arranged between the output of the rotary die cut machine and the input of the stacking conveyor and configured to receive the sheets of material from the rotary die cut machine at the upstream end of the front end conveyer and to output the sheets of material from the downstream end of the front end conveyor toward the input of the stacking conveyor.

17. The front end conveyor according to claim 4 ,
wherein each of the disks has an axial width and a diameter, the diameter being greater than the axial width.

18. The front end conveyor according to claim 4 ,
wherein the disks of the lower sheet support are bounded by a first plane defining a lower boundary of the sheet transport path,
wherein the first upper sheet guides are bounded by a second plane defining an upper boundary of the sheet transport path, and
wherein the upstream upper deck frame and the lower deck frame are configured to maintain a non-zero thickness of the sheet transport path when the sheet transport path is empty of the sheets of material.

19. The front end conveyor according to claim 1 ,
including at least one electric actuator configured to raise and lower the upstream end of the upper deck frame relative to the lower deck frame and/or to raise and lower the downstream end of the downstream upper deck frame relative to the lower deck.

20. The front end conveyor according to claim 4 ,
wherein the disks of the lower sheet support are bounded by a first plane defining a lower boundary of the sheet transport path,
wherein the first upper sheet guides are bounded by a second plane defining an upper boundary of the sheet transport path, and
wherein the upstream upper deck frame and the lower deck frame ar

Assignees

• A G Stacker Inc

Inventors

• Hege Dalton
• STEMPIHAR Eric
• Wunder Joseph
• Allen Jr Clarence C

Classifications

• B08B1/34

  rotating about an axis parallel to the surface · CPC title

• B65H29/6618 Primary

  upon transfer from a first conveyor to a second conveyor advancing at slower speed · CPC title

• B26D7/32 Primary

  for conveying or stacking cut product (means for removing cut-out material or waste B26D7/18) · CPC title

• B65G47/22

  Devices influencing the relative position or the attitude of articles during transit by conveyors (during feeding B65G47/14) · CPC title

• B65H2701/176

  Cardboard · CPC title