Friction drive loader

Claim 2

In a reciprocating loading device for loading and unloading a power press or the like, the combination comprising a frame, a horizontal drive shaft journaled in the frame and having means for rotating the same, way surfaces on the frame extending parallel to the drive shaft, a reciprocating carriage embracing the shaft and mounted for movement along the way surfaces, means providing a cam track on the frame extending parallel to the path of movement of the carriage, an arm on the carriage, a set of frictionally surfaced idler rollers for frictionally engaging the drive shaft, said rollers being journaled in the carriage for rotation about axes lying in planes substantially parallel to the axis of the drive shaft, means for mounting the roller shafts in the carriage for skewing movement in their respective planes, and linkage for simultaneously skewing the roller shafts in one of two opposite directions from a neutral position in which the roller shafts are parallel to the drive shaft, the linkage including a cam follower coupled to the cam track, the cam track being so formed that the roller shafts are moved to a first skewed position in which the carriage is propelled along the shaft in one direction and a second oppositely skewed position in which the carriage is subsequently propelled along the drive shaft in the opposite direction.

Claim 3

In a reciprocating loading device for loading and unloading a power press or the like, the combination comprising a frame, a horizontal drive shaft journaled in the frame and having means for rotating the same, way surfaces on the frame extending parallel to the drive shaft, a reciprocating carriage embracing the shaft and mounted for movement along the way surfaces, cam track means on the frame extending parallel to the path of movement of the carriage, an arm on the carriage, a set of frictionally surfaced idler rollers for frictionally engaging the drive shaft, said rollers being journaled in the carriage for rotation about axes lying in planes substantially parallel to the axis of the drive shaft, means for mounting the roller Shafts in the carriage for skewing movement in their respective planes, linkage including a cam follower for engaging the cam track means and coupled to the roller shafts for skewing them in opposite directions from a neutral position in which the roller shafts are parallel to the drive shaft, said cam track means including a forward cam track for skewing the rollers to a first position for advancing the carriage along the shaft in one direction and a return cam track for skewing the rollers in the opposite direction for return movement of the carriage, and means at the ends of the cam track means for switching the cam follower from one cam track to the other.

Claim 4

In a reciprocating loading device for loading and unloading a power press or the like, the combination comprising a frame, a horizontal drive shaft journaled in the frame and having means for rotating the same, way surfaces on the frame extending parallel to the drive shaft, a reciprocating carriage embracing the shaft and mounted for movement along the way surfaces, cam track means on the frame extending parallel to the path of movement of the carriage, an arm on the carriage, a set of frictionally surfaced idler rollers for frictionally engaging the drive shaft, said rollers being journaled in the carriage for rotation about axes lying in planes substantially parallel to the axis of the drive shaft, means for mounting the roller Shafts in the carriage for skewing movement in their respective planes, linkage including a cam follower for engaging the cam track means and coupled to the roller shafts for skewing them in opposite directions from a neutral position in which the roller shafts are parallel to the drive shaft, said cam track means including a forward cam track for skewing the rollers to a first position for advancing the carriage along the shaft in one direction and a return cam track for skewing the rollers in the opposite direction for return movement of the carriage, and means at the ends of the cam track means for switching the cam follower from one cam track to the other.

Claim 5

The combination as claimed in claim 2 in which the switching means at the ends of the cam tracks include means for receiving the cam follower and guiding it from the end of one of the tracks into the initial portion of the opposite track thereby to initiate skewing of the idler rollers in the opposite direction for movement of the carriage in the opposite direction.

Claim 6

The combination as claimed in claim 3 in which the switching members at the ends of the cam track means have respective power actuators.

Claim 7

The combination as claimed in claim 2 in which the switching means includes means for holding the cam follower captive at the end of a track until intentionally released thereby to provide a defined period of dwell.

Claim 8

The combination as claimed in claim 2 in which the two cam tracks are spaced parallel to one another but converge mutually endwardly at the end portions thereof to form a closed loop.

Claim 9

The combination as claimed in claim 6 in which each switching means includes a flat plate having a notch for receiving the cam follower at the ends of its movement together with means for reciprocating the plate.

Claim 10

The combination as claimed in claim 2 in which the central portions of the cam tracks are parallel to one another and in which means are provided for changing the effective length of the parallel portions thereby to vary the length of stroke of the carriage.

Claim 11

The combination as claimed in claim 8 in which the cam track means is formed in overlapping longitudinally slidable sections for changing the effective length of the cam tracks.

Claim 12

In a reciprocating loading device for loading and unloading a power press or the like, the combination comprising a frame, a horizontal drive shaft journaled in the frame and having means for rotating the same, way surfaces on the frame extending parallel to the drive shaft, a reciprocating carriage embracing the shaft and mounted for movement along the way surfaces, an arm on the carriage, a set of frictionally surfaced idler rollers for frictionally engaging the drive shaft, said rollers being journaled in the carriage for rotation about axes lying in planes substantially parallel to the axis of the drive shaft, means for mounting the roller shafts in the carriage for skewing movement in their respective planes, cam track means extending parallel to the path of movement of the carriage, linkage means including a cam follower engaging the cam track means for skewed positioning of the roller shafts, the cam track means providing a track in the form of an endless loop having parallel side portions, stop means for limiting the range of movement of the carriage, said cam track means having provision for varying the length of the side portions and for correspondingly positioning the stop means.

Claim 13

In a reciprocating loading device for loading and unloading a power press or the like, the combination comprising a frame, a horizontal drive shaft journaled in the frame and having means for rotating the same, way surfaces on the frame extending parallel to the drive shaft, a reciprocating carriage embracing the shaft and mounted for movement along the way surfaces, an arm on the carriage, a set of frictionally surfaced idler rollers for frictionally engaging the drive shaft, said rollers being journaled in the carriage for rotation about axes lying in planes substantially parallel to the axis of the drive shaft, means for mounting the roller shafts in the carriage for skewing movement in their respective planes, cam track means extending parallel to the path of movement of the carriage, linkage means including a cam follower engaging the cam track means for skewed positioning of the roller shafts, the cam track means providing a track in the form of an endless loop having parallel side portions, stop means for limiting the range of movement of the carriage, said cam track means having provision for varying the length of the side portions and for correspondingly positioning the stop means.

Claim 14

In a reciprocating loading device for loading and unloading a power press or the like, the combination comprising a frame, a horizontal drive shaft journaled in the frame and having means for rotating the same, way surfaces on the frame extending parallel to the drive shaft, a reciprocating carriage embracing the shaft and mounted for movement along the way surfaces, a set of frictionally surfaced idler rollers for frictionally engaging the drive shaft on opposite sides, said rollers being journaled in the carriage for rotation about shafts lying in pLanes substantially parallel to the axis of the drive shaft, means for mounting the roller shafts in the carriage for skewing movement from a neutral position in their respective planes, means for skewing the roller shafts from the neutral position in a direction which depends upon the desired direction of movement of the carriage and in an amount which depends upon the desired speed, said skewing means being in the form of a cam track having generally parallel portions lying in the respective sides of a neutral position and having a cam follower controllingly connected to the roller shafts, the cam track being in the form of an elongated closed loop pointed at its ends, the ends of the track including means for reversing the direction of skew when the carriage moves beyond a desired reference limit position and which is effective, upon overtravel, to drive the carriage back to the reference limit position.

Claim 15

In a reciprocating loading device for loading and unloading a power press or the like, the combination comprising a frame, a horizontal drive shaft journaled in the frame and having means for rotating the same, way surfaces on the frame extending parallel to the drive shaft, a reciprocating carriage embracing the shaft and mounted for movement along the way surfaces, a set of frictionally surfaced idler rollers for frictionally engaging the drive shaft on opposite sides, said rollers being journaled in the carriage for rotation about shafts lying in pLanes substantially parallel to the axis of the drive shaft, means for mounting the roller shafts in the carriage for skewing movement from a neutral position in their respective planes, means for skewing the roller shafts from the neutral position in a direction which depends upon the desired direction of movement of the carriage and in an amount which depends upon the desired speed, said skewing means being in the form of a cam track having generally parallel portions lying in the respective sides of a neutral position and having a cam follower controllingly connected to the roller shafts, the cam track being in the form of an elongated closed loop pointed at its ends, the ends of the track including means for reversing the direction of skew when the carriage moves beyond a desired reference limit position and which is effective, upon overtravel, to drive the carriage back to the reference limit position.

Claim 16

In a reciprocating loading device for loading and unloading a power press or the like, the combination comprising a frame, a horizontal drive shaft journaled in the frame and having means for rotating the same, way surfaces on the frame extending parallel to the drive shaft, a reciprocating carriage embracing the shaft and mounted for movement along the way surfaces, an arm on the carriage, a set of frictionally surfaced idler rollers for frictionally engaging the drive shaft, said rollers being journaled in the carriage for rotation about axes lying in planes substantially parallel to the axis of the drive shaft, means for mounting the roller shafts in the carriage for skewing movement in their respective planes, cam track means extending parallel to the path of movement of the carriage, linkage means including a cam follower engaging the cam track means for skewed positioning of the roller shafts, the cam track means providing a track having a longitudinal portion offset from a neutral cam follower position and an end portion which converges inwardly to neutral position, the end portion of the track being slightly extended to provide a slight amount of offset in the opposite direction so that, upon overtravel of the carriage beyond a corresponding reference position, the roller shafts are skewed in the opposite direction to cause the carriage to back up to, and come to rest at, its reference position.

Claim 17

In a reciprocating loading device for loading and unloading a power press or the like, the combination comprising a frame, a horizontal drive shaft journaled in the frame and having means for rotating the same, way surfaces on the frame extending parallel to the drive shaft, a reciprocating carriage embracing the shaft and mounted for movement along the way surfaces, an arm on the carriage, a set of frictionally surfaced idler rollers for frictionally engaging the drive shaft, said rollers being journaled in the carriage for rotation about axes lying in planes substantially parallel to the axis of the drive shaft, means for mounting the roller shafts in the carriage for skewing movement in their respective planes, cam track means extending parallel to the path of movement of the carriage, linkage means including a cam follower engaging the cam track means for skewed positioning of the roller shafts, the cam track means providing a track having a longitudinal portion offset from a neutral cam follower position and an end portion which converges inwardly to neutral position, the end portion of the track being slightly extended to provide a slight amount of offset in the opposite direction so that, upon overtravel of the carriage beyond a corresponding reference position, the roller shafts are skewed in the opposite direction to cause the carriage to back up to, and come to rest at, its reference position.

Claim 18

The combination as claimed in claim 12 in which the cam track means is in the form of an elongated endless loop made up of a forward track and a reverse track and in which each track has a reference position at its end corresponding to a neutral cam follower position and in which each track is extended at its end to offset the cam follower in the opposite direction so that the carriage, upon overtravel, is restored to reference position.