Apparatus and method for selectively ejecting malformed articles

Claim 1

An apparatus for ejecting selected articles from an array of closely-spaced articles, comprising: (a) conveyor means for conveying a flexible web along a path, said flexible web having an outer surface for supporting said articles and an inner surface for engagement by conveyor rollers for moving said web along a continuous path; (b) said flexible web being configured to support said array of articles during movement along said path, said conveyor means having a discharge end for discharging articles of said array; (c) rotatable ejector means located above and overlying said flexible web adjacent said discharge end for allowing articles in said array of no greater than a preselected vertical dimension to pass beneath said ejector means while ejecting from said array those articles having a vertical dimension greater than said preselected vertical dimension, said rotatable ejector means comprising a plurality of substantially linear blades extending radially from the axis of rotation of said ejector means, said blades extending substantially across said flexible web and substantially parallel to said axis; and whose outer ends are moved through a path above said flexible web with at least a portion of said path including a lowermost position substantially equal to said preselected vertical dimension with respect to said flexible web during rotation of said blades; (d) said blades being mounted on a hub member and equally spaced peripherally about the hub and extending in a radial direction from the axis of the hub to an extent where the periphery of the blades upon rotation of the hub are positioned above the flexible web at a height slightly greater than a preselected vertical height for ejecting articles from the flexible web that extend above the preselected height, and said blades in their lowermost position being spaced away from the vertical axis of a terminal roller for the flexible web slightly upstream of the path of movement of the articles; (e) said blades when moving through said portion of said path being moved in the same direction as said flexible web and said axis of rotation extending substantially at right angles to the path of movement of said flexible web; and (f) means for rotating said ejector means at a substantial differential speed with respect to the speed of said flexible web sufficient to knock said articles of greater vertical dimension selectively from the said layer in a path above the path taken by those articles having a vertical dimension less than the preselected vertical dimension at said discharge end.

Claim 2

An apparatus for ejecting selected articles from an array of closely-spaced articles, comprising: (a) conveyor means for conveying a flexible web along a path, said flexible web having an outer surface for supporting said articles and an inner surface for engagement by conveyor rollers for moving said web along a continuous path; (b) said flexible web being configured to support said array of articles during movement along said path, said conveyor means having a discharge end for discharging articles of said array; (c) rotatable ejector means located above and overlying said flexible web adjacent said discharge end for allowing articles in said array of no greater than a preselected vertical dimension to pass beneath said ejector means while ejecting from said array those articles having a vertical dimension greater than said preselected vertical dimension, said rotatable ejector means comprising a plurality of substantially linear blades extending radially from the axis of rotation of said ejector means, said blades extending substantially across said flexible web and substantially parallel to said axis; and whose outer ends are moved through a path above said flexible web with at least a portion of said path including a lowermost position substantially equal to said preselected vertical dimension with respect to said flexible web during rotation of said blades; (d) said blades being mounted on a hub member and equally spaced peripherally about the hub and extending in a radial direction from the axis of the hub to an extent where the periphery of the blades upon rotation of the hub are positioned above the flexible web at a height slightly greater than a preselected vertical height for ejecting articles from the flexible web that extend above the preselected height, and said blades in their lowermost position being spaced away from the vertical axis of a terminal roller for the flexible web slightly upstream of the path of movement of the articles; (e) said blades when moving through said portion of said path being moved in the same direction as said flexible web and said axis of rotation extending substantially at right angles to the path of movement of said flexible web; and (f) means for rotating said ejector means at a substantial differential speed with respect to the speed of said flexible web sufficient to knock said articles of greater vertical dimension selectively from the said layer in a path above the path taken by those articles having a vertical dimension less than the preselected vertical dimension at said discharge end.