AN APPARATUS FOR REMOVING AND PACKAGING ELASTOMERIC ARTICLES

Abstract

The present invention discloses an apparatus (100) for removing and packaging elastomeric articles (80), the apparatus comprising a stripping means for removing said articles (80) from their former to a moveable receptacle (30), the moveable receptacle (30) having a bottom surface which opens up to unload the articles (80) into a layering conveyor (40), wherein the layering conveyor (40) is provided with side barriers (41) for aligning and stacking of the articles (80) to be collected by an end effector (50) thereafter.

Claims

1.-10. (canceled)

11. An apparatus for removing and packaging elastomeric articles, comprising: a stripping means for removing each article from its former upon which the article is dangling from; an inclined guide for guiding the removed article; a moveable receptacle for receiving the article from the inclined guide having a bottom surface which opens up to unload the articles; a layering conveyor for receiving the article from the moveable receptacle, being provided with side barriers for aligning and stacking of the articles to be collected by an end effector thereafter; wherein the inclined guide is incorporated with a sensor for detecting presence of the dangling article for triggering the stripping means, and presence of the article being moved along the inclined guide such that the moveable receptacle is triggered to move towards the inclined guide to receive the article, and the moveable receptacle is included with another sensor to detect presence of the received article from the inclined guide such that one article is received at one time prior to releasing said article into the layering conveyor.

12. The apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the stripping means comprises at least two semi-cylindrical rollers.

13. The apparatus according to claim 12, wherein the rollers are fitted with an abrasive material on its surface.

14. The apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the moveable receptacle is moveable by a linear motion motor.

15. The apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the layering conveyor moves a stack of the articles upon reaching a predetermined number of articles.

16. The apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the side barriers have shapes complementary to claws of the end effector.

17. The apparatus according to claim 12, wherein the sensor detects presence of the articles upon reaching the rollers.

18. The apparatus according to claim 12, wherein the sensor trigger the rollers to rotate and the moveable receptacle to move towards or away from a position below the inclined guide.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0017] For the purpose of facilitating an understanding of the invention, there is illustrated in the accompanying drawing the preferred embodiments from an inspection of which when considered in connection with the following description, the invention, its construction and operation and many of its advantages would be readily understood and appreciated.

[0018] FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating an apparatus for removing and packaging elastomeric articles.

[0019] FIG. 2 is a side view of the apparatus for removing and packaging elastomeric articles.

[0020] FIG. 3 is a side view illustrating an enlarged section A.

[0021] FIG. 4A illustrates an exemplary embodiment of the elastomeric article being transported to a moveable receptacle.

[0022] FIG. 4B illustrates an exemplary embodiment of the moveable receptacle transporting the elastomeric article.

[0023] FIG. 4C illustrates an exemplary embodiment of the elastomeric article being unloaded from the moveable receptacle.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0024] Hereinafter, the invention shall be described according to the preferred embodiments of the present invention and by referring to the accompanying description and drawings. However, it is to be understood that limiting the description to the preferred embodiments of the invention is merely to facilitate discussion of the present invention and it is envisioned that those skilled in the art may devise various modifications without departing from the scope of the appended claim.

[0025] The invention will now be described in greater detail, by way of example with reference to the drawings.

[0026] FIG. 1 illustrates a preferred embodiment of an apparatus 100 for removing and packaging elastomeric articles 80, preferably installed at a stripping section of a production line. In a preferred embodiment, the apparatus 100 comprises a frame 70 for attaching at least one pair of stripping means for removing said articles 80, preferably gloves such as, by way of example but not limited to, nitrile gloves, latex gloves and the likes. Preferably, the stripping means comprises at least two semi-cylindrical rollers 10 held in place by shafts 11 disposed therealong the centre of each roller 10, in which the shafts 11 may be connected at one end to a motor 13 via belts 12, wherein the rotation of the motors 13 causes the shafts 11 rotate the rollers 10. The motors 13 are also attached to an upper portion on the sides of the frame 70. Further, the rollers 10 may be partially covered with an abrasive material on a curved surface of the rollers 10 for enhancing gripping on the articles 80 to be removed. The rollers 10 are triggered by external sensors mounted above former chain conveyors to detect incoming formers upon which the articles 80 are dangling from. Upon detection of the articles 80, the external sensors may trigger the rollers 10 to rotate 360° , whereby the surface of the rollers 10 covered with the abrasive material will grip onto the dangling articles 80 and pull them down from their formers.

[0027] In a particular embodiment, an inclined guide 20 is disposed beneath the rollers 10 for guiding the articles to a moveable receptacle 30 below said guide 20, such as illustrated in FIG. 2, FIG. 3 and FIG. 4. The inclined guide 20 may be a belt conveyor with a belt extended in an endless loop between two end-pulleys and may operate at a predetermined speed to allow transfer of the articles 80 to the moveable receptacle 30 at a manageable pace. Another belt conveyor 21 is disposed above the inclined guide 20 at a steeper angle, to facilitate the alignment of the articles 80 as they are guided through the incline guide 20 and ensure the article 20 is laid flat as shown in FIG. 4A. The sensor 90 for detecting the presence of the dangling articles 80 is disposed behind the inclined guide 20 also functions to detect the presence of the articles 80 being moved along the inclined guide 20, subsequently triggering the moveable receptacle 30 to move longitudinally from its resting position towards the bottom of the inclined guide 20 to receive the articles 80. The moveable receptacle 30 will then move to a predetermined location away from the inclined guide 20 as illustrated in FIG. 4B upon receiving the article 80.

[0028] In a preferred embodiment, the moveable receptacle 30 is provided with an opening and closing mechanism at its bottom surface, the mechanism comprising of a pair of plates 32 with shafts 33 connected to two ends of the receptacle 30 walls, in which the shafts 33 may be connected to a motor 31 using a gear system for controlling the rotation of the plates 32 to alternate between a closed configuration and an opened configuration. Preferably, the plates 32 rotate no more than 90° to the opened configuration and likewise back to the closed configuration. In a further embodiment, another sensor may be disposed in the moveable receptacle 30 to detect the presence of the received article 80 which then triggers the plates 32 to rotate to the opened configuration. Preferably, the moveable receptacle 30 receives one article at a time.

[0029] In another preferred embodiment, the apparatus 100 further comprises at least one layering conveyor 40 for receiving unloaded articles 80 from the moveable receptacle 30. The layering conveyor 40 is similar to a slat conveyor or apron conveyor whereby slats are discretely spaced and connected to a low friction roller chain for conveyance. Attached to each slat on the layering conveyor 40 is a typically U-shaped strip, preferably made of plastic, forming side barriers 41 on the layering conveyor 40. Tips of the strips may be slightly bent outwards to facilitate the aligning of the articles 80 as they are unloaded from the moveable receptacle 30. The articles 80 are subsequently stacked one on top of another within the side barriers 41 for a predetermined amount, preferably in a stack of ten articles 80, before the layering conveyor 40 conveys the stack away from the position below the moveable receptacle 30, wherein the stack of articles 80 will then be collected to be packaged thereafter.

[0030] In a particular embodiment, the apparatus 100 further comprises an end effector 50 for collecting the stack of articles 80 from the layering conveyor 40, such as illustrated in FIG. 2. The end effector 50 comprises a claw 51 attached to an arm 52, in which the arm 52 is fixed to a bracket on a track 53 which is able to move laterally from the layering conveyor 40 to a packaging conveyor 60. The movement of the end effector 50 is further facilitated by a motor and roller chain system 54, whereby the end effector 50 is programmed to move from the layering conveyor 40 to the packaging conveyor 60 at a predetermined speed. Preferably, the end effector 50 may also be programmed to collect the stack of articles 80 from either one layering conveyor 40 on the apparatus 100 when the stack reaches a predetermined location on the layering conveyor 40. The space between the strips of the side barriers 41 complement the claw 51 of the end effector 50, allowing the claw 51 to clamp onto the stack of articles 80 without obstruction. Further, the end effector 50 then transfer the stack of articles 80 to the packaging conveyor 60 to be packaged thereafter.

[0031] The present disclosure includes as contained in the appended claims, as well as that of the foregoing description. Although this invention has been described in its preferred form with a degree of particularly, it is understood that the present disclosure of the preferred form has been made only by way of example and that numerous changes in the details of construction and the combination and arrangements of parts may be resorted to without departing from the scope of the invention.