Article grouping system

Claim 2

An article grouping apparatus for axially aligning articles into at least one column, said articles being of the type which are at least slightly out of square, said apparatus comprising, in combination, a base, an article receiving platform having an article receiving end and an exit end and being mounted on said base, said platform being inclined downwardly in the direction of travel of said articles, at least one trough means on said platform for accommodating said articles in said one column, a first surface on one side of said trough means, said surface being inclined downwardly toward said trough means, at least one guide means at the said article receiving end of said platform, said guide means being mounted angularly of said trough means and being upstream of said trough means for guiding said articles into said trough means, an opening in said inclined surface near said exit end for discharging articles which have not been aligned, and means for vibrating said platform for assisting in moving and axially aligning said articles along said platform.

Claim 3

The apparatus as set forth in claim 1 including at least one article aligning member connected to said inclined surface and adapted to engage and align non-aligned articles moving thereby.

Claim 4

The combination as set forth in claim 2 wherein said article aligning member is a substantially U-shaped wire member having ends which are connected to said first inclined surface.

Claim 5

The combination as set forth in claim 3 including a plurality of said wire members connected to said first inclined surface.

Claim 6

The apparatus as set forth in claim 1 including seven troughs and associated guide means adapted to receive the articles arranged in transverse rows having seven groups of articles with three articles in each group, each of said troughs adapted to receive one group of said articles.

Claim 7

The combination as set forth in claim 1 including an abutment connected to said inclined surface adjacent said discharge opening and intermediate the opening and the article exit end of said platform and adapted to cooperate with said opening to discharge non-aligned articles there through.

Claim 8

The apparatus as set forth in claim 1 wherein said vibrating means is connected to said platform at an angle with respect to said through.

Claim 9

The apparatus as set forth in claim 1 wherein said platform includes a plurality of said troughs and said associated guide means and said platform is divided into at least two separate platform sections mounted separately to said base.

Claim 10

The combination as set forth in claim 8 wherein said vibrating means includes at least two drive means separately connected to each of said platform sections for separately vibrating each of said sections.

Claim 11

The apparatus as set forth in claim 1 wherein said inclined surface is inclined gradually downward toward said troughs.

Claim 12

An article grouping apparatus for transporting and axially aligning substantially flat articles into at least two columns said articles being of the type which are at least slightly out of square, said apparatus comprising, in combination, means for receiving said articles, elongated trough means in said receiving means for accommodating said articles in at least two uniform columns, said receiving means and said trough means being inclined downwardly in the direction of article travel, means for vibrating said receiving means for assisting in moving and aligning said articles along said receiving means, first moving belt conveyor means for receiving said articles passing from the lower end of said receiving means, first and second spaced, fixed guide plow means mounted above said belt conveyor means and mounted at a first acute angle with respect to the direction of movement of said belt conveyor means and being directed towards one side of said belt conveyor means, said fixed guide plow means being spaced apart a distance which is greater than the major dimension of said articles, said conveyor means contacting one entire surface of each of said articles and moving said articles both with said conveyor means and laterally against said guide plow means while rotating said non-aligned articles in one direction into an axially aligned condition with other aligned articles as a result of the frictional effect from said guide plow means acting against said articles moving with said conveyor means.

Claim 13

An article grouping apparatus for transporting and axially aligning substantially flat articles into at least two columns said articles being of the type which are at least slightly out of square, said apparatus comprising, in combination, means for receiving said articles, elongated trough means in said receiving means for accommodating said articles in at least two uniform columns, said receiving means and said trough means being inclined downwardly in the direction of article travel, means for vibrating said receiving means for assisting in moving and aligning said articles along said receiving means, first moving belt conveyor means for receiving said articles passing from the lower end of said receiving means, first and second spaced, fixed guide plow means mounted above said belt conveyor means and mounted at a first acute angle with respect to the direction of movement of said belt conveyor means and being directed towards one side of said belt conveyor means, said fixed guide plow means being spaced apart a distance which is greater than the major dimension of said articles, said conveyor means contacting one entire surface of each of said articles and moving said articles both with said conveyor means and laterally against said guide plow means while rotating said non-aligned articles in one direction into an axially aligned condition with other aligned articles as a result of the frictional effect from said guide plow means acting against said articles moving with said conveyor means.

Claim 14

The apparatus of claim 11 wherein said fixed guide plow means and said belt conveyor means are level.

Claim 15

The apparatus of claim 11 including second fixed guide plow means aligned for receiving said articles from said first guide plow means, said second guide plow means being mounted above said belt conveyor means and being mounted at a second acute angle with respect to the direction of movement of said belt conveyor means and towards the other side of said belt conveyor means, said conveyor means moving said articles both with said conveyor means and laterally against said second guide plow means for rotating non-aligned articles in an opposite direction into the axially aligned condition with other of said aligned articles as a result of the frictional effect from said second guide plow means acting against said articles moving with said conveyor means.

Claim 16

The apparatus of claim 13 wherein said second angle is less than said first angle for stabilizing said articles in passing from said first guide plow means to said second guide plow means.

Claim 17

The apparatus of claim 11 including second conveyor belt means for receiving and transporting articles away from said first belt conveyor means, elongated means mounted above said conveyor means for guiding said articles into an aligned condition along said second conveyor means for readily observing and monitoring said aligned articles.

Claim 18

The apparatus of claim 15 including at least one pair of guide rail means mounted above said second belt conveyor means and being tapered toward each other in the direction of article travel for receiving said articles from said guiding means for completing the aligning and columnating of said articles for further processing.

Claim 21

The method of claim 17 wherein said rotating step includes first rotating said articles in one direction and then rotating said articles in an opposite direction, and said path of travel is level.

Claim 22

An article grouping apparatus for transporting and axially aligning articles into at least one column, said articles being of the type which are at least slightly out of square, said apparatus comprising, in combination, means for receiving said articles, elongated trough means in said receiving means for accommodating said articles in at least one uniform column, said receiving means and said trough means being inclined downwardly in the direction of article travel, means for vibrating said receiving means for assisting in moving and aligning said articles along said receiving means, first belt conveyor means for receiving said articles passing from the lower end of said receiving means, means in said receiving means for discharging non-aligned articles from said apparatus before said articles pass to said first belt conveyor means, first fixed guide plow means mounted above said belt conveyor means and mounted at a first acute angle with respect to the direction of movement of said belt conveyor means and being directed towards one side of said belt conveyor means, said conveyor means moving said articles both with said conveyor means and laterally against said guide plow means while rotating said non-aligned articles in one direction into an axially aligned condition with other aligned articles as a result of the frictional effect from said guide plow means.

Claim 23

An article grouping apparatus for transporting and axially aligning articles into at least one column, said articles being of the type which are at least slightly out of square, said apparatus comprising, in combination, means for receiving said articles, elongated trough means in said receiving means for accommodating said articles in at least one uniform column, said receiving means and said trough means being inclined downwardly in the direction of article travel, means for vibrating said receiving means for assisting in moving and aligning said articles along said receiving means, first belt conveyor means for receiving said articles passing from the lower end of said receiving means, means in said receiving means for discharging non-aligned articles from said apparatus before said articles pass to said first belt conveyor means, first fixed guide plow means mounted above said belt conveyor means and mounted at a first acute angle with respect to the direction of movement of said belt conveyor means and being directed towards one side of said belt conveyor means, said conveyor means moving said articles both with said conveyor means and laterally against said guide plow means while rotating said non-aligned articles in one direction into an axially aligned condition with other aligned articles as a result of the frictional effect from said guide plow means.