Container feed and discharge system

Claim 1

In a feed and discharge system for a cooker including a cooking chamber: the combination of an endless processing conveyor movable through said cooking chamber, said processing conveyor being of the type having articulating carriers thereon, and said conveyor being trained around small diameter sprockets at the feed and discharge stations which sprockets open the carriers sufficiently to allow rows of containers to be fed into and discharged from the carriers; a plurality of elongated carriers on said conveyor; means defining a feed station adjacent a conveyor; said feed station including a feed conveyor for moving containers supported on their ends in a predetermined direction into position to be deflected into the carriers, means for terminating movement of the containers in said predetermined direction for forming a row of abutting containers in said feed station, means for deflecting the row of spaced containers into one of said carriers, and guide means carried by said deflecting means for guiding both sides and the upper surfaces of the containers while the containers are in said feed station for maintaining the containers in a straight line; arresting means for holding other containers from entering said feed station while said deflecting means is moving the row of containers into one of said carriers; and means at a discharge station for discharging the rows of containers from the carriers after passing through the cooking chamber; said deflecting means being pivotally mounted about an axis which allows the guide means that engages the side of the containers adjacent the carriers to pivot upwardly and out of the transverse path of movement of the row of containers as the row of containers enters the carriers.

Claim 8

An apparatus for feeding rows of containers supported on their ends into carriers comprising a driven processing conveyor movable past a feed station, a plurality of spaced elongated carriers on said processing conveyor, a driven feed conveyor having a portion parallel to and immediately adjacent said carriers at said feed station for moving containers along a linear path into said feed station, first guide means associated with said feed conveyor for guiding both sides and the upper surface of the containers along said path, abutment means for terminating the movement of the foremost container as it moves to one end of said path in the feed station, movable arresting means disposed adjacent the other end of the feed station for movement between a bypass position allowing the containers to enter the feed station and an arrestiNg position preventing movement of the containers into the feed station, feed means movable between an active position for deflecting a row of containers into a carrier and an inactive position for accumulating a row of abutting containers, second guide means supported by and movable with said feed means for guiding both sides and the upper surface of the containers as they move along said path and come to rest in said feed station, power means for moving said arresting means and said feed means, and control means for moving the arresting means to its arresting position shortly before a carrier reaches the feed station and for moving the feed means to its active row deflecting position as the carrier reaches the feed station and for thereafter returning the arresting means to its bypass position and the feed means to its row accumulating position.

Claim 9

An apparatus for feeding rows of containers supported on their ends into carriers comprising a driven processing conveyor movable past a feed station, a plurality of spaced elongated carriers on said processing conveyor, a driven feed conveyor having a portion parallel to and immediately adjacent said carriers at said feed station for moving containers along a linear path into said feed station, first guide means associated with said feed conveyor for guiding both sides and the upper surface of the containers along said path, abutment means for terminating the movement of the foremost container as it moves to one end of said path in the feed station, movable arresting means disposed adjacent the other end of the feed station for movement between a bypass position allowing the containers to enter the feed station and an arrestiNg position preventing movement of the containers into the feed station, feed means movable between an active position for deflecting a row of containers into a carrier and an inactive position for accumulating a row of abutting containers, second guide means supported by and movable with said feed means for guiding both sides and the upper surface of the containers as they move along said path and come to rest in said feed station, power means for moving said arresting means and said feed means, and control means for moving the arresting means to its arresting position shortly before a carrier reaches the feed station and for moving the feed means to its active row deflecting position as the carrier reaches the feed station and for thereafter returning the arresting means to its bypass position and the feed means to its row accumulating position.

Claim 10

An apparatus for discharging rows of containers supported on their ends from articulating carriers of an endless processing conveyor comprising, means for continuously driving said conveyor, means at a discharge station for moving the conveyor around an arcuate path to open said carriers, an elongated pusher bar, means for intermittently moving said pusher bar with said conveyor for maintaining the pusher bar centered relative to each pair of adjacent carriers as the carriers move past a discharge station, means for advancing and retracting the pusher bar between each pair of adjacent carriers to push the row of containers therefrom as each pair of carriers move past the discharge station, and means for accepting the discharged row of containers and thereafter moving the discharged rows of containers away from the discharge station.

Claim 11

An apparatus for discharging rows of containers supported on their ends from articulating carriers of an endless processing conveyor comprising, means for continuously driving said conveyor, means at a discharge station for moving the conveyor around an arcuate path to open said carriers, an elongated pusher bar, means for intermittently moving said pusher bar with said conveyor for maintaining the pusher bar centered relative to each pair of adjacent carriers as the carriers move past a discharge station, means for advancing and retracting the pusher bar between each pair of adjacent carriers to push the row of containers therefrom as each pair of carriers move past the discharge station, and means for accepting the discharged row of containers and thereafter moving the discharged rows of containers away from the discharge station.

Claim 12

An apparatus for discharging rows of containers from articulating carriers of an endless processing conveyor comprising, means for continuously driving said conveyor, means at a discharge station for moving the conveyor around an arcuate path to open said carriers, an elongated pusher bar, means for intermittently moving said pusher bar with said conveyor for maintaining the pusher bar between adjacent containers confining carriers as the carriers move past a discharge station, means for advancing and retracting the pusher bar between said adjacent carriers to push the row of containers therefrom as said adjacent carriers move past the discharge station, and means for accepting the discharged row of containers and thereafter moving the discharged row of containers away from the discharge station.

Claim 13

An apparatus for discharging rows of containers from articulating carriers of an endless processing conveyor comprising, means for continuously driving said conveyor, means at a discharge station for moving the conveyor around an arcuate path to open said carriers, an elongated pusher bar, means for intermittently moving said pusher bar with said conveyor for maintaining the pusher bar between adjacent containers confining carriers as the carriers move past a discharge station, means for advancing and retracting the pusher bar between said adjacent carriers to push the row of containers therefrom as said adjacent carriers move past the discharge station, and means for accepting the discharged row of containers and thereafter moving the discharged row of containers away from the discharge station.