De-palletizer

Abstract

Abstract A de-palletizer for removing articles such as kegs or drums from a pallet utilizes a conveyor to move the pallets, one at a time, to an unloading station where a mechanism pushes the articles from the pallet on to a discharge table. The unloaded pallet is removed from the unloading station before another loaded pallet is moved into that station. To enable the articles to be easily pushed off the pallet, a tilting mechanism causes the articles to tilt on edge as the articles are pushed toward the discharge table, with the articles tilting away from the discharge table. The tilting mechanism is mounted on a reciprocating carriage carrying a pusher plate. When the carriage moves toward the discharge table, articles on the pallet are pushed by the plate toward that table. To cause the articles to tilt away from the table, the pusher plate has a protruding bar that engages the lower portion of the articles. Situated at the front of the carriage is a hinged flap which applies force to the upper portions of the articles in the direction opposite to the force exerted by the protruding bar of the pusher plate. Consequently, a force couple is set up that causes the articles to tilt away from the front of the carriage. Because the tilting mechanism is mounted on the carriage, the tilting mechanism moves along with the articles as those tilted articles travel toward the discharge table. When the carriage moves back to its initial position, the hinged flap is moved out of the way to enable another loaded pallet to enter the unloading station.

Inventors

• 👤 Kenneth F. C. Avey

Bibliographic Details