US Patent: 5,676,235
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| Linear Pallet Stop
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Patentees:
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| Ronald J. Sam (exact or similar names) - McFarland, Dane County, WI |
| Michael G. Brosier (exact or similar names) - Beloit, Rock County, WI |
| Wayne Walker (exact or similar names) - Fort Atkinson, Jefferson County, WI |
| Manufacturer: |
| Not known to have been produced |
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Patent Dates:
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| Applied: |
Sep. 11, 1995 |
| Granted: |
Oct. 14, 1997 |
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Patent Pictures:
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Joel Havens
"Vintage Machinery" entry for Giddings & Lewis Manufacturing Co.
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Description: |
| Abstract:
A linear pallet stop smoothly decelerates a heavy pallet propelled by a conveyance system in a downstream direction and stops the pallet at a predetermined location. The linear pallet stop comprises a catch arm that is translatable and rotatable between three positions. At the first position, the catch arm first end is in the pallets path to be contacted by the pallet and translated in the downstream direction by the pallet momentum. The downstream translation is resisted by a fluid circuit acting through a cylinder and a slide that is in support contact with the catch arm. A stop surface on the catch arm strikes a fixed surface on the conveyance system at a second position of the catch arm. By retracting the slide with the fluid cylinder when the catch arm is in its second position, the catch arm rotates to a third position whereat its first end is out of the pallets path. The catch arm is guided for translation and location by cam followers that are captured within slots in housings. After the pallet has been propelled further downstream, the cylinder is operated to extend the slide and push the catch arm in the upstream direction and return it to its first position.
Claim:
In combination with a conveyance system that propels a pallet in a downstream direction along a path, an apparatus for decelerating and stopping the pallet comprising a catch arm having first and second ends; a cam follower connected to the catch arm to enable the catch arm second end to translate in upstream and downstream directions and to enable the catch arm to rotate about its second end; a slide bearing adapted to slidably engage the catch arm intermediate the first and second ends to support the catch arm between the first and second ends thereof; a strike surface located at a predetermined location relative to the conveyance system for being struck by the catch arm second end; and an actuator connected to the slide bearing, the actuator forcing the slide bearing to an engagement position that pivots the catch arm into the path of the pallet, the actuator biasing the slide bearing and catch arm against downstream movement of the pallet, with the slide bearing providing resistance to rotation of the catch arm. |
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