Controlling the supply of articles

Claim 2

A release mechanism for controlling the supply of flatbottomed articles slidable down a downwardly inclined ramp under the force of gravity, said mechanism comprising: A. a body member, B. a first arm i. having stop means for holding an article in an article retaining zone on the ramp against motion in a downstream direction, C. a second arm rigidly fixed relative to the first arm and i. having engagement means for engaging below the article, D. said first and second arms being pivotably mounted on said body member for motion, when considered in plan view, about an axis extending transverse of said retaining zone between respective i. first positions wherein the article is adapted to be retained by engagement with said stop means and ii. second positions wherein the stop means is lower and the engagement means is higher for lifting and supporting at least a portion of the article whereby the article is tilted to a steeper angle, E. both said arms having respective surfaces, including the surfaces of freely rotatable reel means, for supporting the article with low resistance to motion when the arms are in said second positions so that the foremost article will accelerate down the ramp more rapidly than the subsequent article, thus obtaining a spacing between the foremost article and the subsequent article, F. said arms extending on opposite sides of said axis with said engagement means disposed upstream of and closer to said axis than said stop means, G. trigger means normally holding said arms in said first positions, H. operating means for selectively releasing the trigger means, I. said arms being pivotable to said second position under the load of an article to be released when said trigger means is released, and J. return means for moving said arms from said second to said first positions when the article has been released and for causing said trigger means to lock and retain the arms in said first positions.

Claim 3

A release mechanism according to claim 1 and further comprising wheel means for at least partially supporting the article in the article retaining zone when engaged by said stop means, said engagement means being disposed further from said stop means than the wheel means when the engagement means is displaced to engage the article.

Claim 4

An article supply system comprising a downwardly inclined ramp having a support surface for supporting and engaging frictionally a stream of flat bottomed articles which are arranged to slide down the surface under the force of gravity, and a release mechanism according to claim 1 located at a downstream end of the ramp and co-operating therewith, the release mechanism supporting the article when the arms are in said second position with less resistance to motion than the resistance to motion provided by frictional forces between an article and the support surface which tend to oppose sliding motion of articles down the ramp, the supply system further comprising actuation means for actuating said operating means to selectively release a leading article from a stream of articles disposed on the ramp and to close subsequently whereby a single article can be released.

Claim 5

An article supply system comprising a downwardly inclined ramp having a support surface for supporting and engaging frictionally a stream of articles which are arranged to slide down the surface under the force of graviTy, and an article release mechanism located at a downstream end of the ramp and cooperating therewith, the article release mechanism comprising a body member, a first arm having stop means for holding an article in an article retaining zone against motion in a downstream direction, a second arm rigidly fixed relative to the first arm and having engagement means for engaging below the article, said first and second arms being pivotably mounted on said body member for motion, when considered in plan view, about an axis extending transverse of said retaining zone between respective first positions wherein the article is adapted to be retained by engagement with said stop means and second positions wherein the stop means is lower, said arms having respective surfaces including the surfaces of freely rotatable wheel means for supporting the article with relatively low resistance to motion when the arms are in said second positions, said arms extending on opposite sides of said axis with said engagement means disposed upstream of and closer to said axis than said stop means, trigger means normally holding said arms in said first positions, operating means for selectively releasing the trigger means, said arms being pivotable to said second position under the load of an article to be released when said trigger means is released and return means for moving said arms from said second to said first positions when the article has been released and for causing said trigger means to lock and retain the arms in said first positions, said support surface of the ramp having a relatively high frictional characteristic when supporting an article compared with the relatively low resistance to motion of the article when supported by said arms in said second positions, and further comprising friction brake means operatively connected to the release mechanism and displaceable by said operating means between a retracted position when said first and second arms are in said first positions and a displaced position when said first and second arms are in said second positions, the friction brake means being mounted so that an article upstream of the article to be released from the article retaining zone is engaged and tends to be retarded by engagement with the friction brake means whereby acceleration of said released article from the following article is facilitated.

Claim 6

An article supply system comprising a downwardly inclined ramp having a support surface for supporting and engaging frictionally a stream of articles which are arranged to slide down the surface under the force of graviTy, and an article release mechanism located at a downstream end of the ramp and cooperating therewith, the article release mechanism comprising a body member, a first arm having stop means for holding an article in an article retaining zone against motion in a downstream direction, a second arm rigidly fixed relative to the first arm and having engagement means for engaging below the article, said first and second arms being pivotably mounted on said body member for motion, when considered in plan view, about an axis extending transverse of said retaining zone between respective first positions wherein the article is adapted to be retained by engagement with said stop means and second positions wherein the stop means is lower, said arms having respective surfaces including the surfaces of freely rotatable wheel means for supporting the article with relatively low resistance to motion when the arms are in said second positions, said arms extending on opposite sides of said axis with said engagement means disposed upstream of and closer to said axis than said stop means, trigger means normally holding said arms in said first positions, operating means for selectively releasing the trigger means, said arms being pivotable to said second position under the load of an article to be released when said trigger means is released and return means for moving said arms from said second to said first positions when the article has been released and for causing said trigger means to lock and retain the arms in said first positions, said support surface of the ramp having a relatively high frictional characteristic when supporting an article compared with the relatively low resistance to motion of the article when supported by said arms in said second positions, and further comprising friction brake means operatively connected to the release mechanism and displaceable by said operating means between a retracted position when said first and second arms are in said first positions and a displaced position when said first and second arms are in said second positions, the friction brake means being mounted so that an article upstream of the article to be released from the article retaining zone is engaged and tends to be retarded by engagement with the friction brake means whereby acceleration of said released article from the following article is facilitated.

Claim 7

An article supply system as claimed in claim 4, wherein said friction brake means comprises a strip member pivotally connected at one end thereof to the ramp at a portion below the upper article supporting surfaces thereof, and being connected at its downstream end to the release mechanism.