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(11) | EP 0 941 782 A1 |
| (12) | EUROPEAN PATENT APPLICATION |
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| (54) | Stacking and control appliance for metal strips |
| (57) Metal strips produced in large quantities as semi-manufactured articles are often
dumped loosely and then manually sorted and stacked. The invention aims to ensure
that, by means of the specially shaped stamp cutter (1), slide (5) and inspection
inlet (6) of storage- and sorting part (7) which will only accept the correctly manufactured
strips, that the metal strips (3) are always received and stored by storage- and sorting
part (7) in such a way that they maintain their position and that at the following
processing machine the full storage- and sorting part (7) can be placed on the machine
adapter part (10) so that sorting, stacking and receiving can take plae automatically,
faster and with fewer interruptions. |
[0001] This invention relates to a work-method and an appliance whereby simple metallic semi-manufactured articles produced in large quantities such as metal strips for radiators which, following manufacture, are automatically inspected for quality and systematically stacked for their storage, transport and problem-free conveyance to the following operating machine. The appliance consists of a production part, a storage-and sorting-part and a machine-adapter part.
[0002] With the present method of working, the loosely dumped strips are stacked manually at about 100-150 mm. high. They are then placed manually into a fixed holder about 400 mm. high. This holder can contain stacked strips and is equipped with a switch (without contact) which stops the welding machine If the supply of strips falls to just a few pieces. The remaining strips am not processed as the machine is brought to a halt bringing the whole production line likewise to a stand-still. The production line consists of various work-stations connected to each other according to a "cascade" system. This provides for the manufacture of paneled radiators from the raw materials to the complete welded and pressed product. Prominent Western European radiator manufacturers adopt a welding installation manufactured by the Schlatter company in Switzerland. Until now this company has only used the above-mentioned, fixed mounted holders with limited capacity. No other system for the conveyance of metal strips is used by any other machinery manufacturer nor by any other radiator manufacturer. In the past tests have been carried out with so-called "vibration fillers". This did not lead to the required result: namely the efficient and smooth conveyance of metal strips whereby welding takes place over a longer period without the need for supervision and avoiding stagnation in production.
The disadvantages of the present working method are:
a. Labour-intensive due to manual stacking.
b. Frequent stagnation of welding due to untimely filling of the holder which brings the machine to an abrupt halt.
c. Frequent stagnation if the wrong strips are supplied by the manufacturer (occasionally it occurs that strips are too wide due to manufacturing faults or breakdown and thus show signs of burring). It is impracticable to inspect all the strips for variations in size during the initial inspection.
d. Large volumes caused by depositing in bulk are disadvantageous from a logistics point of view. This also affects production at the following operating machine where the machine operator regularly has to carry strips over too great a distance. Strips deposited in bulk require a lot of space which is not readily available near to the machine.
[0003] The inventors aim is to remove the afore-mentioned problems with the following apparatus. The apparatus consists of a production part, a storage and sorting part and a machine-adapter part. The method of working is as follows: The production part consists of a stamp-cutter which is equipped with an outlet shaped in such a way that all the strips are turned out in the same position and this position is maintained even throughout the force of expulsion and gravity with which the strips glide down the slide which, in turn, ensures conveyance to the storage- and sorting-part. Inspection can take place as the strips are always conveyed in the same position and the size of the inlet to the storage- and sorting part allows only the correct size strips to be accepted. The storage- and sorting part is shaped so that stacking occurs compactly and automatically. By way of a conveyance system connected to the machine, a large quantity of empty storage parts are fed through and likewise full ones removed. Following conveyance, the storage- and sorting part is fitted to the machine-adapter part on the following processing machine and the advance of the parts in this machine can commence.
[0004] In the machine-adapter part it is also possible to place an extra switch, at about 180 mm. above the terminal switch upon which a flashing light signal, an acoustic alarm or similar can be attached. The machine operator would be warned in good time of any stagnation and would have plenty of time to place a full storage part. The storage- and sorting part is shaped so that it may be quickly mounted to the machine-adapter part and the strips are always fed into the machine in the correct position. The invention has the following advantages:
a. Time-saving as manual stacking is unnecessary.
b. Less stagnation as the holders do not have to be filled as often.
c. Less stagnation at the receiving end as the strips have been inspected for uality and the strips are stacked more accurately.
d. Advantageous logistics thanks to space saving. By way of the compact method of stacking the bin containing strips can be placed near to the machine avoiding unnecessary carrying. Furthermore, the bin itself would not have to be changed so often as it would hold more strips at a time. Because the capacity of the storage- and sorting part is greater than the standard holder, the welding machine can operate unmanned for longer.
[0005] The invention is further illustrated with the help of a drawing of the design and construction of the apparatus and the working method of the same:
The stamp-cutter (1) is equipped with a cut-out which ensures that the strips (3) leave the production machine (4) in a certain position. This position is maintained in slide (5) so that the strips are received in exactly the same position at the inspection end of the storage- and sorting part (7). If the strips (3) conform to the dimension requirements they will be accepted by the storage- and sorting part (7) and automatically and compactly stacked there.
The key-fork (12) inserted in the holes (13) ensures locking. After filling, the machine operator places the locking pin (8) which is shaped in such a way that the strips (3) maintain their position during conveyance. The conveyance part (9) ensures for the receiving of the empty storage- and sorting parts and the removal of the full storage-and sorting parts (7). The full storage- and sorting part (7) is placed onto the machine adapter part (10) of the production machine and secured by way of the key-fork (12) which is removed from the holes (13) and is inserted in the holes of the fixing pins (14).