Feeder for small diameter bars

Claim 2

A bar feeder for feeding bars or tubes comprising a conveyor (5) having mounted thereon a series of bar-receiving carrier (7) and a pusher (18) with feed fingers (122) for gripping the rear end of a bar (b) on said carriers, a feed rack (13, 14) for supporting a plurality of bars, escapement means (C) for feeding one bar at a time laterally from said feed rack to said carriers, clamping jaws (55, 56) for engaging the opposite sides of a bar on said carriers to support the bar and hold it against axial movement while the conveyor is advanced, and motor means (57, 58) for moving said clamping jaws laterally between an advanced gripping position in engagement with a bar and a retracted position out of the path of movement of said pusher.

Claim 3

A bar feeder as defined in claim 1 wherein said clamping jaws (55, 56) have means (142) for lifting the rear end portion of a bent bar as the jaws are moved against the bar to straighten the bar.

Claim 4

A bar feeder as defined in claim 1 wherein one of the clamping jaws has a generally V-shaped portion (142) for engaging a bar to hold it in a position coaxial with the pusher.

Claim 5

A bar feeder as defined in claim 1 wherein said carriers (7) are spaced at least 8 inches apart and said clamping jaw (55, 56) provide the sole means for preventing axial movement of the bar on the carriers while the pusher (18) is moved against the end of the bar.

Claim 6

A bar feeder as defined in claim 1 wherein means (2TR, 2SOL) are provided for automatically advancing the clamping jaws (55, 56) against the opposite sides of a bar after said bar is fed from the feedrack to said carriers, means (4TR, 3SOL) are provided for automatically advancing the conveyor after the bar is gripped by said jaws to force the feed fingers over the rear end of the bar, and means (6TR) are provided for thereafter automatically releasing the clamping jaws and causing them to be retracted out of the path of movement of the pusher.

Claim 7

A bar feeder as defined in claim 1 wherein a stop (101) is provided to limit the movement of one of the clamping jaws, and means (94, 102) are provided for adjusting the position of said stop in accordance with the size of the bars being fed to the conveyor.

Claim 8

The bar feeder as defined in claim 1 wherein a retractable stop (117) is provided to limit the rearward movement of the pusher (18) and to stop retraction of the bar remnant after the rear of the bar arrives at a position rearwardly of the clamping jaws (55, 56), means (8LS, 9TR) are provided for automatically advancing the clamping jaws against the bar after it arrives at said last-named position, and means (4TR, 3SOL, 4SOL) are provided for releasing the feed fingers while the bar remnant is gripped by said jaws.

Claim 9

A bar feeder as defined in claim 7 wherein means (9TR) are provided for automatically retracting said stop out of the path of movement of said pusher before said feed fingers are released from the remnant.

Claim 10

A bar feeder as defined in claim 8 wherein means (9TR, 6SOL) are provided for automatically increasing the rearward force on the pusher (18) when said stop (117) is retracted and while the bar remnant is held by said jaws against axial movement to cause high-speed retraction of the pusher and to pull the feed fingers (122) off the remnant.

Claim 11

A bar feeder as defined in claim 9 wherein means (5SOL, 6SOL) are provided for retracting the pusher at a relatively high speed and means (7LS) are provided for automatically slowing down the retraction of the pusher before it arrives at said last-named position.

Claim 12

In a process for feeding long bars (b) in which an escapement mechanism (C) is provided for feeding such bars one at a time from a storage rack (13, 14) to a conveyor (5) having a pusher (18) with feed fingers (122) for gripping the rear end portion of a bar supported on said conveyor, the improvement which comprises gripping and supporting the rear portion of a bar after it is moved onto the conveyor (5) and holding said rear portion in axial alignment with said pusher (18) while advancing the pusher relative to the bar to force said feed fingers (122) over the rear end of the bar, thereafter discontinuing such gripping, and advancing the pusher to feed the bar axially while it is gripped by saId feed fingers.

Claim 13

In a process for feeding long bars (b) in which an escapement mechanism (C) is provided for feeding such bars one at a time from a storage rack (13, 14) to a conveyor (5) having a pusher (18) with feed fingers (122) for gripping the rear end portion of a bar supported on said conveyor, the improvement which comprises gripping and supporting the rear portion of a bar after it is moved onto the conveyor (5) and holding said rear portion in axial alignment with said pusher (18) while advancing the pusher relative to the bar to force said feed fingers (122) over the rear end of the bar, thereafter discontinuing such gripping, and advancing the pusher to feed the bar axially while it is gripped by saId feed fingers.

Claim 14

A process as defined in claim 11 wherein a lifting force is applied to said rear portion to straighten the bar before it is gripped by said feed fingers.

Claim 15

A process as defined in claim 11 wherein the feed fingers are forced over the rear end of the bar by advancing the pusher (18) at a relatively high speed, and thereafter the bar is advanced by the pusher at a slower speed.

Claim 16

A process as defined in claim 11 wherein the bar is advanced by the pusher in a forward direction and thereafter retracted in the opposite direction by said feed fingers, the movement of the bar is stopped at a predetermined position before the pusher is fully retracted, the rear end portion of the bar is gripped on its opposite sides and held against axial movement while the pusher is moved rearwardly to its fully retracted position, and said rear end portion is thereafter released and removed.

Claim 17

A process as defined in claim 14 wherein said rear end portion of the bar is gripped and held against axial movement out of said predetermined position while said feed fingers are pulled off the bar by retracting the pusher.

Claim 18

A process as defined in claim 15 wherein the pusher is retracted at a relatively high speed until the bar approaches said predetermined position, the speed of retraction is reduced before the bar reaches said last-named position, and the retracting force is increased to pull the feed fingers off the bar after the rear end portion of bar has been gripped.

Claim 19

A bar feeder having a conveyor (5), a feedrack at one side of the conveyor including a plate (13) and guide means (14) for holding a stack of bars (b) against said plate, a stop member (4) for engaging the lowermost bar in said stack, said guide means being spaced from said stop member to permit one bar only to move between said stop member and said guide means, at least one escapement finger (15) having a bar-engaging portion (49) with a thickness less than the diameter of each bar mounted to reciprocate in the space between said stop member and said guide means, an escapement shaft 16 having a pin (45) with a head portion (47) pivotally connected to said escapement finger to hold said finger against said stop member means (84) mounting said shaft for turning, and motor means (17) for turning said shaft (16) in the opposite direction to advance said finger (15) and feed one bar (b) between said stop member (4) and said guide means (14) and to return said finger to a normal retracted position so that the next bar in said stack moves against said stop member.

Claim 20

A bar feeder having a conveyor (5), a feedrack at one side of the conveyor including a plate (13) and guide means (14) for holding a stack of bars (b) against said plate, a stop member (4) for engaging the lowermost bar in said stack, said guide means being spaced from said stop member to permit one bar only to move between said stop member and said guide means, at least one escapement finger (15) having a bar-engaging portion (49) with a thickness less than the diameter of each bar mounted to reciprocate in the space between said stop member and said guide means, an escapement shaft 16 having a pin (45) with a head portion (47) pivotally connected to said escapement finger to hold said finger against said stop member means (84) mounting said shaft for turning, and motor means (17) for turning said shaft (16) in the opposite direction to advance said finger (15) and feed one bar (b) between said stop member (4) and said guide means (14) and to return said finger to a normal retracted position so that the next bar in said stack moves against said stop member.

Claim 21

A bar feeder as defined in claim 17 wherein said stop member (4) is a flat plate, said escapement shaft (16) is parallel to and adjacent said plate, and said pin (45) has a rounded head portion (47) which fits in a recess (48) in said escapement finger.

Claim 22

A bar feeder as defined in claim 18 wherein a narrow slot (15a) is provided between said stop member (4) and said first-named plate (13) to receive said bar-engaging portion (49) of the escapement finger.

Claim 23

A bar feeder as defined in claim 19 wherein each escapement finger has bar-engaging portions (49, 50) at its opposite ends, one of said portions (49) having a thickness greater than the other (50), each of said portions being of a size to fit in said narrow slot (15a).

Claim 24

A bar feeder as defined in claim 17 wherein said conveyor comprises a chain (5) mounted on a box beam 1, said stop member comprises a long inclined plate (4) extending longitudinally in the direction of said beam, and said first-named plate (13) comprises an inclined plate transverse to said stop member (4) for holding the bars in said stack parallel to said box beam, a series of vertical plates (20) rigidly mounted on one side of said beam for rigidly supporting said stop member, and a series of vertical plates (9) rigidly mounted on the opposite side of said beam and having means (42) extending above the box beam for supporting said first-named plate (13) above and adjacEnt to said stop member.

Claim 25

A bar feeder as defined in claim 21 wherein a capping assembly (D) is mounted on said vertical plates (9) and has a capping bar (8) mounted to move upwardly and downwardly toward and away from said conveyor (5).