Tekmax, Inc.

Other

Entek Manufacturing LLC

Mitek Holdings, Inc.

Evans Products Company

Neids, Inc.

Peter E Johnson

David Arthur Johnson

James Phillip Young

Bob G Rowland

George W Kahl

David E Johnson

An apparatus for placing an edge piece on a battery plate includes a feed mechanism which transports a strip of bendable plastic material. A bending mechanism forms this strip into an open top, U-shaped channel. A cutter cuts the channel into an edge piece having a length which is substantially equal to an edge of the battery plate which is to be covered. An in-feed conveyor transports a battery plate toward the edge piece, and a support mechanism supports the edge piece while the edge of the battery plate is inserted into it. The support mechanism then releases the edge piece so that it can travel out of the apparatus with the battery plate.

Apparatus for installing an edge piece on a battery plate

A method for placing an edge piece on a battery plate includes bending a thin strip of bendable plastic material into an open top, U-shaped channel. The channel is then cut into an edge piece having a length which is substantially equal to the edge of the battery plate which is to be covered. The edge piece is supported with this open top oriented towards a battery plate that is transported toward it in a manner such that the battery plate edge will be inserted into it. Once the edge of the battery plate has been inserted into the edge piece the edge piece is released so that the battery plate can be carried out of the apparatus. An apparatus for accomplishing this includes a feed mechanism which transports the strip of bendable plastic material. A bending mechanism forms this strip into the open top, U-shaped channel. The channel is then fully inserted into an assembly station where a first sensor stops the feed mechanism and a cutter cuts the channel into the proper-sized edge piece. An in-feed conveyor transports a battery plate toward the edge piece, and a support mechanism supports the edge piece while the edge of the battery plate is inserted into it. The support mechanism then releases the edge piece so that it can travel out of the insertion station with the battery plate. A second sensor restarts the feed mechanism once the battery plate is completely out of the assembly station.

Method of installing an edgepiece on a battery plate

Method of installing an edge piece on a battery plate and apparatus for performing same

A plate feed apparatus has a cylindrical pick-up head having a predetermined number of pick-up units. The pick-up head rotates with a first shaft at a first rotational speed. A feed mechanism places the uppermost plate in a stack of plates a nominal distance from the periphery of the pick-up head when a plate is removed from the stack. A vacuum is selectively drawn through each pick-up unit to pull the outermost plate into contact with the pick-up unit. A second shaft has a cylindrical bore which rotatably journals the first shaft and is offset from the centerline of the second shaft. The second shaft is rotated counter to the first shaft at a speed which is a multiple of the speed of the first shaft equal to the number of pick-up units. This causes the speed of the pick-up unit to be slower and its distance from the uppermost plate in the stack less each time a pick-up unit picks up a plate. The number of pick-up units and the diameter of the pick-up head are established relative to the size of the plates such that plates overlap one another on the pick-up head. An outfeed conveyer has a higher surface speed than the pick-up units so that the plates do not overlap on the outfeed conveyer. The feed mechanism places another stack of plates under the stack of plates before the stack becomes depleted.

Battery plate feeder having oscillating pick-up head

A plate feed apparatus has a cylindrical pick-up head having a predetermined number of pick-up units spaced about its periphery. The pick-up head is attached to and rotates with a first shaft at a first rotational speed. A feed mechanism places the uppermost plate in a stack of plates a nominal distance from the periphery of the pick-up head each time a plate is removed from the stack. A vacuum device is selectively coupled to each pick-up unit as it passes over the stack to pull the outermost plate away from the stack and into contact with the pick-up unit. A second shaft has a cylindrical bore which rotatably journals the first shaft and is offset from the centerline of the second shaft. The second shaft is rotated counter to the first shaft at a speed which is a multiple of the speed of the first shaft equal to the number of pick-up units. This causes the speed of the pick-up unit to be slower and its distance from the uppermost plate in the stack less each time a pick-up unit picks up a plate. The feed mechanism has fingers which are inserted under the stack of plates before the stack becomes depleted to keep advancing the stack as plates are removed and allow the feed mechanism platform to be lowered to receive a new stack of plates. A microprocessor based controller directs this activity without disruption of the feed mechanism.

An apparatus for sorting and stacking thin rigid plates, such as used in storage batteries, receives the plates horizontally in spaced-apart groups, transports the groups horizontally and deposits them into stacks on a stacking apparatus that orients them vertically and delivers them for further processing. The groups of plates are carried on a conveyor system having chains that are spaced further apart than the width of the plates. Opposed pads extending inwardly from the chains engage the edges of the plates. Each pad has a length approximately equal to the height of the plates and is separated from each adjacent pad by a distance that is greater than the height of the plates. Stops located between the chains contact the groups of plates and prevent their continued movement with the chains thus causing them to drop between adjacent pads and off of the conveyor. In a preferred embodiment the apparatus includes a collection system that causes every group of plates in a stack to drop the same distance. Also, in a preferred embodiment, at least some groups of plates in each stack are displaced onto a transfer conveyor, that operates at a lower speed than the main conveyor, before they reach the stacking apparatus. Thus, there is more time between the arrival of groups of plates at the stacking apparatus, which permits the just formed stack to be advanced without interference from the first group of the next stack.

High speed sorter/stacker

Battery plates from the high speed output conveyor of a pasted plate making machine are deposited onto a lower speed first conveyor in an overlapped fashion to create a shingled stream of plates. As plates drop off of the discharge end of the first conveyor they are accumulated in vertical stacks on a second conveyor that is located below the first conveyor. Whenever a stack is completed the second conveyor is moved approximately one plate width to remove the stack and the process continues. In order to provide time to move the stack, the flow of plates on the first conveyor is disrupted when the stack is being moved. In the preferred embodiment the disruption is caused by squeezing the plates between the jaws of a clamping mechanism that the plates pass through. A counter is used to count the number of plates in a stack and a controller causes the clamping mechanism to be engaged at the proper time, causes the second conveyor to remove the just-formed stack and then causes the second conveyor to stop and the clamping mechanism to be reopened so that a second stack can be formed. A gate extends across the second conveyor when the stack is being formed to ensure that the stack is straight. The gate is raised upon command from the controller when movement of the second conveyor commences and lowered again when movement of the second conveyor ceases.

Apparatus for stacking pasted battery plates

A method and apparatus for automated handling of battery plate stacks is disclosed. The apparatus includes an endless drive unit having a plurality of upstanding pockets which open to receive the plates and to assemble a predetermined number of them side by side in a vertically arranged stack. The drive unit includes a single revolution clutch which permits the drive unit to move a predetermined amount and then stop each time it is signaled by a controller that the proper number of plates has been inserted into a particular pocket. Thus, movement of the drive unit is interrupted while the plates are being inserted into the pockets and commences again when the pockets are loaded. The stacks of plates then are blocked and centered as they move through the apparatus in their pockets.

Apparatus for vertically stacking battery plates

The present invention comprises a rotary carrier which carries a plurality of semi-spherical gripping heads having concave gripping surfaces. The gripping heads are positioned such that the gripping surfaces become flush with the forwardmost plate in a vertically arrayed stack of plates as the carrier rotates. Each gripping head is mounted to the carrier through a hollow bellows and vacuum air drawn into a hole in the gripping face passes through the bellows. When the vacuum increases, due to the forwardmost plate in the stack being pulled up against the gripping head, the bellows collapses and pulls the forwardmost plate away from the stack. Rollers, which extend beyond the periphery of the carrier, urge the stack away from the gripping head immediately before they become aligned. The vacuum then pulls the forwardmost plate away from the stack and into contact with the gripping head before the bellows collapses thereby increasing the gap between them. Vacuum is provided to the gripping head through a passageway which opens out of an opening in the carrier. A first sector plate, which is journaled on the carrier axle but does not rotate with the carrier, has a slot passing through it which overlies the opening in the carrier when they are aligned. A second sector plate, which overlies and is attached to the first sector plate, has a hole in it which opens into the slot in the first sector plate. A vacuum tube extends between this opening and a vacuum source.

Plate feed apparatus

Method and apparatus for removing processing oil from thin sheets of microporous plastic material is comprised of a tank having a liquid zone in its bottom portion which is divided into three sub-tanks having decreasing depths extending across the tank. Heating coils in each sub-tank vaporize the solvent to form a cleaning zone, containing vaporized solvent, above the liquid portion, and condensing coils located at the top of the tank condense the vaporized solvent and deposit it into the deepest sub-tank which also is supplied freash make up solvent when required. A series of rollers feeds the material through the tank, from the side having the shallowest sub-tank toward the side having the deepest sub-tank, while repeatedly passing it between the cleaning zone where solvent is condensed on it to clean it, and the condensing zone where it is cooled to a temperature below the temperature of the vaporous solvent. Precondensing coils located medially in the tank between each pass of the material as it extends between the condensing zone and the cleaning zone and vice versa, define the extent of the cleaning zone and direct condensed solvent onto the material to wash it. Soiled solvent is removed from the shallowest sub-tank and evaporatively separated from the oil carried in it and reintroduced into the tank as vapor. After the oil has been removed from the material the solvent is displaced by pressurized steam which is directed onto the material and the steam then is removed from the material by passing it through a heater.

Apparatus for degreasing a continuous sheet of thin material

A method for removing processing oil from thin sheets of microporous plastic material is comprised of a tank having a liquid zone in its bottom portion which is divided into three sub-tanks having decreasing depths extending across the tank. Heating coils in each sub-tank vaporize the solvent to form a cleaning zone, containing vaporized solvent, above the liquid portion, and condensing coils located at the top of the tank condense the vaporized solvent and deposit it into the deepest sub-tank which also is supplied fresh make up solvent when required. A series of rollers feeds the material through the tank, from the side having the shallowest sub-tank toward the side having the deepest sub-tank, while repeatedly passing it between the cleaning zone where solvent is condensed on it to clean it, and the condensing zone where it is cooled to a temperature below the temperature of the vaporous solvent. Precondensing coils located medially in the tank between each pass of the material as it extends between the condensing zone and the cleaning zone and vice versa, define the extent of the cleaning zone and direct condensed solvent onto the material to wash said material.

Method for degreasing a continuous sheet of thin material

The plate feed apparatus of the present invention is comprised of a cylindrical carrier having air inlet holes located in its periphery which are connected to a vacuum source. A stack of plates is fed toward the carrier on a conveyor belt and each time one of the air inlet openings becomes aligned with the plates the front plate in the stack becomes affixed to the carrier and is rotated with it away from the stack. The plates then are released from the carrier for further handling. In order to prevent the plate being carried from striking the remaining plates a gap must be provided between them. In one embodiment this is accomplished by locating rollers, whose axes are parallel with the axis of the carrier, at the periphery of the carrier in positions which are rotationally ahead of the air inlet openings. In a second embodiment a pair of levers are mounted rotatably outwardly of the carrier sides. Rollers contact the levers at the proper rotational orientation of the carrier and rotate them rearwardly so that they contact the plates and move them away from the carrier. A return spring pulls the levers back toward the carrier. In both embodiments the forwardmost plate becomes free to move back toward the carrier as the air inlet opening becomes aligned with the plates. The vacuum then pulls the forward plate away from the stack thereby creating the necessary gap between it and the rest of the plates in the stack.

The calender rolls of the present invention are comprised of relatively thin-walled hollow shells which are supported at each end by shafts having bores which extend into the cavities formed in the rolls. Fittings located at the ends of the shafts are rotatable relative to them so that by tying the fittings together they do not rotate along with the rolls. The fittings at one of the ends of the rolls are connected to a source of wet steam through a pressure regulator and the fittings at the other ends carry probes which extend through the shafts and curve downwardly towards the bottoms of the rolls. A valve regulates the amount of material which flows out of the cavities through the probes. The method by which the rolls are used comprises introducing wet steam into the cavities, maintaining its pressure at a constant level. Since the temperature of wet steam depends upon its pressure, by controlling the pressure of the steam in the cavities and maintaining it at a constant pressure the outer surfaces of the rolls can be maintained at a constant desired temperature, irrespective of the effect of the temperature of the material being calendered or of ambient temperature.

Method for calendering temperature-critical thermoplastic material using

Method and apparatus for removing processing oil from thin sheets of microporous plastic material is comprised of a tank having a liquid zone in its bottom portion which is divided into three sub-tanks having decreasing depths extending across the tank. Heating coils in each sub-tank vaporize the solvent to form a cleaning zone, containing vaporized solvent, above the liquid portion, and condensing coils located at the top of the tank condense the vaporized solvent and deposit it into the deepest sub-tank which also is supplied fresh make up solvent when required. A series of rollers feeds the material through the tank, from the side having the shallowest sub-tank toward the side having the deepest sub-tank, while repeatedly passing it between the cleaning zone where solvent is condensed on it to clean it, and the condensing zone where it is cooled to a temperature below the temperature of the vaporous solvent. Precondensing coils located medially in the tank between each pass of the material as it extends between the condensing zone and the cleaning zone and vice versa, define the extent of the cleaning zone and direct condensed solvent onto the material to wash it. Soiled solvent is removed from the shallowest sub-tank and evaporatively separated from the oil carried in it and reintroduced into the tank as vapor. After the oil has been removed from the material the solvent is displaced by pressurized steam which is directed onto the material and the steam then is removed from the material by passing it through a heater.

A method and apparatus for serially removing the forwardmost plate from a stack of plates comprises rotating a cylindrical carrier having a chordal segment defined on its periphery with the stack of plates oriented so that the forwardmost plate is tangentially adjacent to the periphery of the carrier. A vacuum source draws air into an air inlet located on the chordal segment thereby creating a low pressure area. Accordingly as the chordal segment becomes parallel with the stack the low pressure causes the forwardmost plate to be drawn into contact with the chordal segment and thus block the air inlet. The plate continues to rotate with the carrier until it reaches a desired location where an air valve causes the vacuum to be temporarily discontinued thus allowing the plate to drop free of the carrier. An advance mechanism causes the stack to be advanced one plate thickness during each rotation of the carrier to position the next plate into contact with the carrier after each plate has been removed.

Growing community of inventors

Corvallis, OR, United States of America

Peter E Johnson