Apparatus for Separating Entangled Parts

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates generally to a method and apparatus for untangling parts of a wide range and variety of sizes and shapes.

2. Description of the Prior Art

A common problem with known part separators is that they fail to properly untangle component parts without breakage or damage thereto. It is very common for parts of irregular shape to hook or become firmly entangled with each other and it becomes a very difficult and sometimes almost impossible job to untangle same.

Another problem with known devices is that while they will do a fairly good job on one or two types or sizes of parts, they fail to work efficiently and effectively with a wide range of different types of parts and shapes thereof.

Another problem with known devices and methods of separating entangled parts is that the parts are often damaged, broken or bent in the operation of the apparatus and therefore even though untangled, the parts may not be usable for their originally intended purpose.

Another problem is that the method of separating so often employed involves strong physical and structural force upon the entangled parts and do not employ natural gravity action which is more gentle and much less likely to cause damage to the parts.

Known prior art patents which may be pertinent to this invention are as follows:

None of these known prior art devices offers the new and unique features of the invention disclosed herein.

An object of the present invention is to provide a method and apparatus for separating entangled parts that tend to hook into and onto each other and become one large mass. It is desirable to separate these parts into the individual pieces and without damage or breakage thereof.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a reciprocating parts separating apparatus which has minimal vibration thereto. This is achieved in part by a counterweight and counterbalancing system which is unique to the field.

A further object of this invention is to provide a method of separating parts which employs and utilizes the natural gravity force to assist in the part unentangling method. Again, it is important that the method effectively untangles the parts without damage or breakage thereof.

A still further object of this invention is to provide a parts untangler which employs a changeable grid to permit various sizes and shapes of parts to readily be separated by the use of this apparatus.

A still further object of this invention is to provide a parts separator having a unique crankshaft and counterbalance assembly in connection with the parts bin and counterweight spring mount for reducing vibratory motion and in order to effectively separate parts that are in an entangled mass when put into the apparatus.

The method and apparatus for separating entangled parts of this invention has many advantages over conventional type parts separators and methods thereof. A unique reciprocating method of separating parts is employed wherein the effective utilization of the natural force of gravity is employed. The method employs the use of horizontal bars in a grid spaced approximately 10% greater distance than the longest dimension of the parts to be separated and with the size of the bars large enough to prevent the parts from becoming directly locked thereupon. This grid structure is then reciprocated in a vertical direction at a speed fast enough to exceed gravity approximately 3:1. That is, the grid must accelerate about three times the force of gravity in the vertical direction. This reciprocation allows the parts on the bottom of the mass to spring and/or fall away from the mass and then pass through the grid. Because of the rapid rate of movement of the grid the mass of parts is bounced about, allowing the parts on the bottom to untangle and fall through in a unique and novel manner.

Since the apparatus involved in effecting the above method requires reciprocating movement in a vertical direction of a relatively heavy parts container with grid structure, in order to keep the vibratory motion to a minimum, a unique counterweight and drive system is utilized. The parts bin and grid bar assembly of one particularly useful size for the overall apparatus weighs approximately 49 pounds and reciprocates approximately 350 cycles per minute. The counterweight found to successfully and effectively operate with this structure also weighs approximately 49 pounds and reciprocates at the same rate. Without this combination structure as disclosed herein the overall device would not be practical.

The method and apparatus disclosed herein presents a novel method for separating entangled parts that tend to hook into each other and become one large mass the size of the container they are in. A very wide range and variety of sizes and shapes have been successfully untangled and with no breakage or other damage to any of the parts, regardless of how delicate or brittle the parts may be, by using the method and apparatus herein. The number and variety of part types and also the variety of sizes thereof that this apparatus can handle is very much greater than any other known parts separator structure. Also known devices tend to damage and/or break ring forms, such as those commonly desired to be separated and shown and described herein, this being due to the high impact constantly delivered by physical striking means and separator means as so often employed.

The apparatus disclosed herein has a crankshaft having two pins approximately 180 degrees apart and with one-half inch offset providing a one inch stroke for the bin-grid assembly and for the counterweight assembly. These assemblies operate and reciprocate 180 degrees from each other. This cancels out most of the accelerating-decelerating forces of the assembled structure. Also the parts bin-grid assembly and the counterweight assembly are each mounted by a flat spring suspension system which permits the relative vibratory force cancelling action of the overall structure without undue complication or future maintenance requirements.

These together with other objects and advantages which will become subsequently apparent reside in the details of construction and operation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout.

FIG. 1 is a top plan view of the device of this invention.

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view, partly in cross section, taken generally along line 2--2 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is an end elevational view, partly in cross section, taken generally along line 3--3 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the parts bin or receptacle for the entangled parts with the spring suspension therefor.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the counterweight and spring suspension therefor.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the grid bar arrangement for the parts container of FIG. 4.

FIG. 7 is a plan view of various shapes of parts which can be untangled by the method and apparatus of this invention.

Referring to FIG. 1 of the drawings, the overall apparatus of this invention may be seen as viewed from the top thereof. Reference numeral 10 indicates the parts bin receptacle which has horizontal spaced grid bar structure 20 removably mounted at the bottom of the container 10. A counterweight assembly 30 is provided for counterbalancing and offsetting the vibratory action of the main parts container. A drive motor 40 together with an output shaft 42 (see FIG. 2) and a drive pulley 44 mounted upon said shaft provide motive power for the overall apparatus through a drive belt 50 connected to a driven pulley 60 for the crankshaft of the apparatus. A crankshaft 70, of conventional crankshaft type structure and shape, appropriately connects and supports for reciprocating motion, connecting rods 80 and 90. Suitable bearings, not shown, are mounted between the ends of the connecting rods 80 and 90. Suitable bearings, not shown, are mounted between the ends of the connecting rods 80 and 90 and the throws of the crankshaft 70. The structure 70, 80 converts the rotary motion from the pulley 60 into the necessary reciprocating motion of the parts bin 10 with grid 20 therein, and effects the desired action of the bin-grid for separating entangled parts or articles which have been placed in the parts bin on the grid. The connecting rod 90 with suitable bearings on the crankshaft 70 is connected to the counterweight 30 for converting rotary motion of the power source to the necessary reciprocating motion of the counterweight in order to cancel out the vibratory motion of the parts bin and grid. Spring packs 100 and 110 are used for supporting and movably suspending the parts bin and counterweight, the packs 100 and 101 connecting to the inner wall of the support structure 13. The necessary relative position of the counterweight and parts bin may be seen in FIG. 1. This is explained in greater detail below.

Looking at FIG. 2, the crankshaft support bearings 11 may be seen together with the frame cap 12 as in place, and a cross section of the main support frame 13, the connecting rods 80 and 90, a cross section of the parts bin 10 and the grid structure 20, and a cross section of the counterweight 30. It should be noted that the main frame 13 may be appropriately secured to a support table or other support structure by conventional type mounting bolts 23 as indicated.

The support structure 13 with strengthening partitions and support brackets, etc. may be of any desired material and relative appearance, just as long as the necessary strength and rigidity is present to support the primary components of the apparatus.

Looking now at FIG. 3 and with reference to FIG. 1 also, one can see the necessary relative position of the counterweight 30 and the parts bin 10. This arrangement, both the shape and position of the counterweight and parts bin, allows for positioning the two masses with their respective center of gravities in the same plane at right angles to the crankshaft centerline. This arrangement of parts bin, counterweight, and crankshaft pin position, spaced at approximately 180 degrees from each other around the center-line of the parts bin and the counterweight, makes for an effective vibration-dampening design. It has been found to be extremely effective in actual use for reducing and practically eliminating all of the vibratory motion in excess of that needed for the actual parts separation.

FIG. 4 shows the parts bin 10 in perspective together with the projecting back cover 10' for enclosing the upper end of the connecting rod assembly 80, and also shows in perspective the spring packs 100 used for suspending this bin. The spring packs 100 consist of one or more flat springs at each side attached to an appropriately spaced bracket 104 by means of spacers and bolt attachments 106. This means of suspension for the parts bin is extremely simple, requires no lubrication, has extremely low maintenance, and is very economical to manufacture.

FIG. 5 shows the basic shape of the counterweight assembly in order to allow its center of gravity to be in the correct relative position to the parts bin when they are assembled as in the primary FIGS. 1, 2 and 3. Also the spring packs 110, which are similar to those 100 described above, may be seen as used for the suspension of the counterweight 30. Spacers 112 are provided to separate the individual flat spring components from the counterweight assembly and again spacer and bolt members 106' are used to retain same attached.

Looking at FIG. 2 again, the upper end 82 of connecting rod 80 is appropriately connected to the parts bin 10 by means of a bearing and connecting pin 84 mounted by conventional means and likewise the upper end 92 of connecting rod 90 is shown as connected by another bearing and connecting bolt 94. The relative reciprocating movement of the parts bin and counterweight assembly is indicated by the double lined arrow A in FIG. 2. The spring suspension packs 100 and 110 also are indicated in dotted lines in this figure.

Looking at FIG. 6, the grid bar assembly 20 may be seen in greater detail. The bars 22 are appropriately spaced and separated at a distance apart of approximately 10% greater than the maximum length of the parts to be untangled. Side members 21 support and hold them in rigid relationship. A number of different size grid bar structures 20 normally would be provided for use with this apparatus in order to increase the adaptability and flexibility of same. The dimensions as just described will also be seen in FIG. 2 as two sample parts B are shown in this figure passing between adjacent grid bars. At each of the ends of the grid bar support structure 21 are appropriate apertures 24 for retention of the assembly 20 within the parts bin 10 by pins 26 or other appropriate means. In use the entangled mass of articles is placed on the grid as installed in the parts bin. The grid must be specifically designed for each different size and shape of articles being disentangled. The complete grid is made up to two support rails 21 separated by the bars 22, which may be either round or rectangular, and sized in diameter or cross section to prevent the articles being separated from snapping over them and remaining on them. The bars 22 must be spaced enough apart to allow the longest dimension of the article being disentangled to pass therethrough.

FIG. 7 shows some of the typical shapes of the parts which this device and method is capable of disentangling. As can be seen the part labelled B is almost completely circular in shape with an opening along the circumference thereof, the part labelled C is generally of rectangular configuration and also has an opening along one side thereof, while the remaining part D generally combines the two shapes already described. Parts of many other shapes may be effectively disentangled, these three merely shown as examples. Obviously these parts offer a number of interengaging surfaces and ends which will readily become entangled when a number of similar parts are piled or loaded into a container. Once such a container is shipped or handled extensively, the parts inherently become greatly entangled. To separate same by hand or other method is extremely laborious and time-consuming.

Conventional type separators will not properly handle this job either. It has been found that the method employed herein of reciprocating an entangled mass of such components vertically to permit the action of gravity to be involved effectively allows for disentanglement of these parts. It is important that the rate of reciprocation be approximately three times faster than the amount or action of gravity. This rate has been found to work extremely well.

As can be visualized by looking at FIG. 2, the support frame 13 is so designed as to provide an open area directly beneath the reciprocating parts bin 10 with the grid structure assembly 20 at the bottom thereof. This is for the purpose of providing a disentangled part receiving receptacle directly therebeneath or a conveyor belt or other means for removing the parts as they become disentangled.

The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention.