Sig Schweizerische Industrie-Gesellschaft

Pierre Luginbuhl

Lars H Svensson

Apparatus for forming stacks of flat objects, such as chocolate bars, which includes a toothed wheel to which juxtaposed objects are fed while traveling on an at least horizontal input path, and between the teeth of which the objects are accommodated and are then moved to the area of a stacking station through rotation of the wheel, with the toothed wheel being composed of two toothed dics spaced apart along the axis of the wheel and each provided with circumferentially spaced teeth defining object retaining pockets between successive teeth, and the apparatus further being provided with a plunger device operatively associated with the wheel for pushing each object arriving at the end of the input path into a respective pocket when such pocket is situated at the top of the wheel and for braking the next following object on the input path to synchronize the introduction of objects with the rotation of the wheel, the wheel being driven in continuous rotation and objects being supplied continuously thereto during operation of the apparatus.

Apparatus for forming stacks of flat objects

An apparatus for sorting and orienting elongated articles of predetermined length has at least two substantially horizontal shafts supported in a parallel-spaced relationship; a pair of axially spaced discs mounted on each shaft. The axial distance between the discs of any disc pair is less than the predetermined length of the articles. Any successive two discs mounted on different shafts are in an overlapping relationship as viewed in a direction parallel to the shafts. Each disc has a non-overlapping upper circumferential portion oriented in the direction of article feed. The articles are successively positioned, in a generally transverse orientation with respect to the direction of article feed, on the discs of the first disc pair as viewed in the direction of article feed. The discs are driven unidirectionally for effecting movement of each circumferential portion in the direction of article feed for advancing each article successively on the circumferential portions of successive discs in the direction of article feed, effecting thereby an alignment of the articles into an orientation perpendicular to the direction of article feed and effecting, between the discs of a disc pair, dropout of articles that are shorter than the predetermined length.

Apparatus for orienting and sorting elongated articles

An apparatus for eliminating excessively thick elongated articles medially positioned on and advanced by a first conveyor in an orientation transverse to the direction of advance, comprises a sensor arranged above the first conveyor and responding to an article having a thickness exceeding a predetermined magnitude; and an impact mechanism connected to the sensor and having a striker positioned for delivering a blow to the excessively thick article for shifting the same into an eccentric position on and with respect to the first conveyor. The impact mechanism further has an actuating arrangement operating the striker upon receipt of a signal of response from the sensor. The apparatus also has a second conveyor formed of two parallel narrow conveyor belts extending from a discharge end of the first conveyor. The distance between the conveyor belts is less than the length of the articles. There is further provided an arrangement for transferring the articles from the discharge end of the first conveyor onto the second conveyor for effecting further conveyance of the medially arranged articles by the second conveyor by a stable engagement of the medially arranged articles with both conveyor belts and for effecting a dropout of the eccentrically arranged articles by an unstable engagement of the eccentrically arranged articles with the second conveyor.

Apparatus for rejecting excessively thick articles

In apparatus for aligning a stream of elongate articles, such as chocolate bars, delivered in a randomly ordered arrangement to a turntable, the apparatus including a stationary guide rail disposed above the turntable and extending along a path which spirals outwardly away from the axis of turntable rotation, the speed and reliability of the aligning operation are improved by forming the guide rail to have a series of breaks in the guide path which it defines and by disposing the rail so that articles come to abut only against the surface thereof which faces away from the turntable axis.

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Neuhausen am Rheinfall, Switzerland

Pierre Luginbuhl