US3264917A

US3264917A - Sheet handling system

Info

Publication number: US3264917A
Application number: US344013A
Authority: US
Inventors: Frank L Califano; Paul N Shutak
Original assignee: Flintkote Co
Current assignee: Flintkote Co
Priority date: 1964-02-11
Filing date: 1964-02-11
Publication date: 1966-08-09
Anticipated expiration: 1983-08-09

Description

Aug. 9, 1966 CALIFANO ET AL 3,264,917

SHEET HANDLING SYSTEM 6 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Feb. 11, 1964 mun mwxoanrm INVENTORS FRANK L. CALIFANO a PAUL N. SHUTAK ATTORNEY g- 1966 F. CALIFANO ET AL 3,264,917

SHEET HANDLING S YS TEM Filed Feb. 11, 1964 6 Sheets-Sheet Z (D In INVENTORS FRANK L. CALIFANO 8| PAUL N. SHUTAK ATTORNEY Aug. 9, 1966 CALIFANO ET AL 3,264,917

SHEET HANDLING SYSTEM 6 Sheets-Sheet 15 Filed Feb. 11, 1964 INVENTORS FRANK L. CALIFANO 8| TAK BY PAUL N SHU ATTORNEY Aug. 9, 1966 F. L. CALIFANO ET AL 3,264,917

SHEET HANDLING SYSTEM Filed Feb. 11, 1964 6 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTORS m FRANK L. CALIFANO 8k BY PAUL N. SHUTAK FIG. 5.

Aug. 9, 1966 Filed Feb. 11 1964 F. L. CALIFANO ET AL SHEET HANDLING SYSTEM 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTORS FRANK L. CALIFANO 8\ PAUL N. SHUTAK BY ATTORNEY Aug. 9, 1966 F. L. CALIFANO ET AL SHEET HANDLING SYSTEM Filed Feb. 11, 1964 6 Sheets-Sheet 6 CUTTER OPERATOR'S STATION |74- f LAmIEg i. It

i in i 59 Woe no INVENTORS FRANK L. CALIFANO 8\ PAUL N. SHUTAK ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,264,917 SHEET HANDLTNG SYdTEM Frank L. Califano, Hackensack, and Paul N. Slrutak, Kearny, NJL, assignors to The lFlintlrote (Zompany, New York, N.Y., a corporation of Massachusetts Filed Feb. llll, T964, Ser. No. 344,013 3 Claims. (Cl. EBB-94) This invention relates generally to improvements in the efficiency of heavy industrial production lines wherein asphalt shingles or the like are cut from a web of material, and resides more particularly in a conveying and handling system which permits more effective rejection of defective shingles and affords other desirable controls without any attendant interference with continuity of operation.

Although this invention will be described in its application to the solution of certain problems involved in asphalt shingle manufacturing plants, it will be recognized that this invention is applicable to other manufacturing situations wherein the same basic problems are involved.

A very common type of shingle comprises asphaltimpregnated heavy paper stock having mineral granules embedded in one face thereof and cut to a rectangular shape including slits which define separate tabs. Modern industrial technology requires that shingles shall be completely formed, cut, bundled and packaged in a single continuously operating production line. Typically, on such a production line a wide web of paper stock progresses continuously at a very high rate of speed through the successive stages of impregnating with liquid asphalt, coating with mineral granules, and cutting to size. This cutting operation, which likewise is performed at high speeds, includes the slitting of the web into strips, cutting these strips into individual shingle lengths, and cutting the slits which define tabs. Immediately thereafter the shingles desirably are delivered directly to a plurality of stacking machines which form individual bundles and to machines for wrapping these bundles.

Due either to defects which occur in production of the asphalt-impregnated and granule-coated web from which shingles are cut, or to other causes, a certain minor percentage of defective shingles is produced and desirably there is a system whereby these shingles are prevented from being included in the final packaged bundles. Defects in the web can occur either across the entire width thereof, such as when a splice has taken place, or across a smaller portion of its width affecting only some of the lanes leading to the stackers. Thus, a major aim is to be able to extract the defective shingles as effectively as possible, with a minimum of waste of good shingles, and without any interruption of the continuously operating process equipment which forms the web of shingle material. A major factor concerning the operation of a shingle production line is that any conditions that require a stopping or slowing down of this Web processing equipment must be eliminated if possible, for obviously they lead to production of further defective shingles, with consequent increase in waste, and a slowing down of the rate of production. This can be particularly significant when considering that any of a variety of possible occurrences at one of the stackers, such as a jam, may require an interruption in the making and supply of shingles.

Certain specific problems which existed prior to invention of the herein-described system will be highlighted only briefly as examples. When shingles enter the stackers they travel at speeds of several hundred feet per minute, and a stacking machine operator cannot easily see an average defect in a fast-moving shingle. When a splice had taken place, for example, this operator could be forewarned of the fact (as by a yell from an operator Elm-El? Patented August h, 1966 up the line), but he could only guess when defective shingles cut from the spliced section would arrive so that he could then discard whole bundles supposedly containing them. There was no way that an operator viewing the splice before-hand, from up the line, could definitely assure the removal of the defective shingles from the production line prior to their going to the stackers. It should be realized that it is quite impractical to inspect and remake bundles manually once they have been pulled [from the line leading to packing machinery. A similar and closely related problem was that there was no way to handle defects appearing at only one location across the web width while permitting other unaffected lanes leading to the stackers to continue to operate normally. A still further problem was that at times it was necessary to halt an entire six-lane production line because of a jam-up or other occurrence actually requiring interruption of shingle delivery in one lane only. These were the major problems, and others that were overcome will become evident hereafter. Their principal consequences were a large percentage of defective and wasted shingles, and a comparatively low overall efiiciency.

Accordingly, the main object of this invention is to overcome all of the above-mentioned problems inherent in shingle manufacture according to the prior art. More specifically, it is an object to provide a system for dependa'bly and effectively removing defective shingles or the like from a production line in which a single large Web of material traveling at high speed is slit and cross-cut into pieces which immediately are automatically stacked in bundles.

It is a further object of this invention to provide means whereby said defective shingles are removed prior to their passage to the stacking machinery.

It is a still further object to provide, in a production line having several lanes defined by slitting of a web, a system of this type that can be controlled by different operators in response either to conditions limited to only some of the lanes or to all of the lanes.

A further major object of this invention is to provide a production line wherein operations involving rejection of defective shingles and the handling of other conditions in the line can be effected without disrupting the normal continuous operation of the web processing equipment.

In accordance with this invention, there is provided a bypass system in which a major distinguishing feature is the ability to divert shingles in all or only some of the lanes away from the stackers, and to perform this under the joint control of several machine operators at both the stacking and cutting sections of the line. In the specific system disclosed herein, in conjunction with the cutting and slitting station there is provided a set of controls whereby shingles in all six lanes can be diverted from the stackers to a side destination where defective shingles are collected; also, there is a set of controls whereby the operator at each of the stackers can initiate this same diverting action in any of these lanes individually as necessary due to special conditions therein. For example, when a splice has occurred, the operator up the line, at the cutting station, can momentarily divert shingles in all lanes away from the stackers. On the other hand, when defective shingles are detected or are believed to be delivered at one of the stackers, or for other reasons it is necessary to interrupt the delivery of shingles thereto, the operators can effect the diverting of shingles from only that one lane while the other lanes and the main web processing equipment continue to operate as normal.

Further objects, advantage and details of this invention will become apparent from the following description when read with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a schematic illustration representing the side view of a complete system including shingle cutting and stacking equipment in combination with means effecting the rejection of defective shingles prior to their arrival at the stackers;

FIGURE 2 represents schematically a plan view of the apparatus shown in FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a side view showing in greater detail the main portion of the system which includes the shingle rejecting means in accordance with this invention;

FIGURE 4 is a view from the right end of the structure shown in FIGURE 3;

FIGURE 5 is a plan view of the structure shown in FIGURE 3, as indicated by lines 5-5 therein;

FIGURE 6 is a view similar to FIGURE 5, but taken at a lower level as indicated by lines 66 of FIGURE 3; and

FIGURE 7 is a schematic diagram of the electrical control circuit for the apparatus shown in the preceding figures.

The basic arrangement of the shingle cutting devices and the stackers does not form a part of this invention and will be described only generally with reference to FIGURES 1 and 2, while the section of this apparatus which mainly involves the present invention will be described more specifically with reference to FIGURES 3 to 7.

In the manufacture of shingles, a web W is produced by continuously running process equipment (not shown), which are previously mentioned involves the impregnation of a special paper stock with liquid asphalt and embedidng in the surface thereof a layer of mineral granules. By means generally indicated at 2 in FIGURES 1 and 2, the web W is slit longitudinally into strips and these strips are then cut transversely to a rectangular size typically measuring one by three feet. Also, in the latter operation there is involved the formation of tabs by cutting out narrow slits extending inwardly from one side edge. In the illustrated case the Web W is slit into six strips, although it should be recognized that wider or narrower webs can be used and that practically any desired size of sheets in the form of shingles or the like can be cut. In any event, the web W i cut into sheets S, which for present purposes of illustration may be considered as asphalt shingles. In the organization of the presently illustrated machine the six strips into which the web W is slit continue through the machine in what will be referred to as lanes, and it is desired to divide the line into conveying mean representing three lanes at an upper level and three lanes at a lower level. To this end, the sheets or shingles S emitting from the cutting means 2 enter either a pair of conveyor belts 4 or a pair of conveyor belts 6. It will be noted particularly from FIGURE 2 that adjacent pairs of

belt conveyors

4 and 6 diverge in an alternate fashion, the belt conveyors 4 in the first, third and fifth lanes being inclined upwardly and the belt conevyors 6 in the second, fourth and sixth lanes being inclined downwardly. These six lanes will be designated and referred to herein, respectively, as lanes #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6. Thus, in addition to delivering the shingles S to the upper and lower levels of the machine, the

belt conveyors

4 and 6 serve also to insure a tearing apart of the adjacent shingles along their longitudinally severed lines.

At 8 there is generally indicated a group of gates or deflectors operable to direct shingles onto either an upper conveyor 12 or a lower conveyor 14. When desired, deflectors 8 can be operated to direct shingles onto belt conveyor -12 and then through turnover or twister belts 16, because in the handling of certain types of shingles having adhesive thereon every other shingle must be turned over. Normally, however, the shingles proceed from belt conveyors 4 to belt conveyors 14 and then onto belt conveyors 18. Similarly, deflectors 10 can be operated to direct shingles onto either

belt conveyors

32 or 34. The belt conveyors 32 deliver shingles through turnover or twister belts 36 (similar to belts 16) although normally the shingles are delivered to belt conveyors 34 and then to belt conveyors 38. It will be understood that the belt conveyors 18 are in lanes #1, #3 and #5, and the belt con veyors 38 are in lanes #2, #4 and #6.

The central aspect of this invention begins with an assembly of gates or flipper-like deflectors generally indicated at 20 in FIGURE 1. Assembly 20 comprises three deflectors numbered 21, 2-3 and 25 in lanes #1, #3 and #5, respectively. Each of the

deflectors

21, 23 and 25 is individually and independently operable to effect the delivery of a shingle S traveling on its associated belt 18 to either a conveyor belt 22 for acceptable shingles or to a conveyor belt 24 for defective shingles. (Rejected shingles will be referred to herein as those shingles which, for one reason or another, are diverted by one of the deflectors onto the

conveyor belts

24 and 48 and then to the

conveyor belts

30 and 54, respectively.) Also, as described more fully hereafter, all of the

deflectors

21, 23 and 25 can be operated simultaneously and in unison to effect the delivery from all three lanes #1, #3 and #5 to either the

conveyor belts

22 or 24. Shingles conveyed on belts 22 are delivered to conveyor belts 26, which in turn, deliver the shingles to the stackers as illustrated in FIGURES 1 and 2. Shingles delivered to conveyor belts 24 are discharged beneath guide plates 28 and fall onto a transversely traveling conveyor belt 30.

Also involved in the central aspect of this invention is an assembly of gates or flipper-like deflectors generally indicated at 40 in FIGURE 1. This assembly comprises three deflectors numbered 42, 44 and 46 in lanes #2, #4 and #6, respectively. As in the case of the deflector assembly 20, the

deflectors

42, 44 and 46 are independently operable or operable simultaneously to direct shingles in one or more of the lanes #2, #4 and #6 to either the conveyor belts 48 for defective shingles or the conveyor belts 50 for acceptable shingles. Shingles conveyed on belts 50 are delivered directly to the stackers as illustrated, while shingles deflected to belts 48 are discharged beneath guide plates 52 and onto a transversely traveling conveyor belt 54.

The stackers #1 through #6 comprise the subject matter of Patent No. 3,205,794, which issued from a copending application of the present applicant. Therefore, these stackers will not be described in detail herein. Briefly, however, their function is to receive shingles at very high rates of delivery and to stack them in individual bundles which typically may number 21, 26, or 28 shingles per bundle. These bundles are then delivered by a conveyor to standard equipment for wrapping them with heavy paper or cardboard. Various types of stacking machinery other than the type presently mentioned and identified also can be used in conjunction with apparatus forming the subject matter of this invention. For present purposes it may be noted that one or more machine operators are stationed at the stackers, and that in accordance with this invention there are control means whereby these operators can control individually the operation of the

deflectors

21, 23 and 25 at the upper level and the

deflectors

42, 44 and 46 at the lower level.

The overall system of belt conveyors and deflector assemblies is supported and housed in a structural frame- Work basically comprising uprights 56 and stringers 60. The upper reaches of conveyor belts 18 are supported by fixed belt trays 62. Belts 18 are trained about pulleys which are keyed to a shaft 64, which through a chain drive 66, drives the shaft 70 on which the pulleys of belt conveyors 22 are keyed. The conveyor belts 22 similarly are supported by trays or pans indicated at 72.

As shingles S proceed along the belt 18 in lane #1, they pass a pair of spaced, upstanding brackets 74 which mount a pair of photorel-ays PRa and PRb. The function of these photorelays will be described hereafter, but for the present it may be noted that through an opening 77 cut in the pan 72 the light beams from a pair of

lamps

76 and 78 can activate these photorelays. When a shingle S passes above the opening 77, of course, the light beams from the

lamps

76 and 78 to the photorelays are interrupted momentarily and the photorelays respond accordingly. It should be noted that due to the spacing of brackets 74- the response of the photorelays PRa to passage of the leading and trailing edges of a shingle will precede slightly the activation of the relay PRb.

Immediately in front of each of the

deflectors

21, 23 and 25 there is an overlying guide 86 which insures proper approach of shingles to the deflectors. Each of these

deflectors

21, 23 and 25, has a pair of bearings whereby it is freely journalled for angular motion on a stationary shaft 82 extending the width of the machine. As evident particularly from FIGURES 3 and 4, each deflector consists of a pair of upstanding side plates in which are spanned by a member having a V-shape pointing against the direction of travel of shingles. By means of fluidoperated piston and

cylinder units

81, 83 and 85, respectively, the

deflectors

21, 23 and 25 are movable from their position as shown in FIGURE 3 to the same position 'as occupied by deflector 42 in FIGURE 3. As shown in FIGURE 4, these fluid-operated units are connected to their respective deflectors by means of connecting

rods

81, 83 and 85'. When any of the deflectors of assemblies 2t} and 40 is in the position which deflector 21 is seen to occupy in FIGURE 3 it will be referred to as being in the through position, whereas if it is in the position in which deflector 42 is shown in FIGURE 3 it will be referred to as being in the reject position. As will be described hereafter, the

fluidoperated units

81, 83 and 85 can be operated either independently or in unison. Thus, when any one of the

deflectors

21, 23 and 25 is operated by its associated fluid-operated unit to move it to a reject position, it will deflect one or more shingles downwardly onto its associated conveyor belt 24, the number of shingles which are so rejected being dependent upon the length of time during which the deflector remains in the reject position.

Each of the conveyor belts 42 has a supporting tray 86. The driving pulleys for belts 24 are keyed to a common cross shaft 88 journalled in the framework and driven through chain drive 90 by a motor 92. Shingles carried by conveyor belts 24 drop onto the wide conveyor belt 30, which is trained over rollers 94 that are driven from a motor 96 through chain drive 98. From FIG- URE 4 it will be seen that a curved plate or chute 100 serves to direct rejected shingles smoothly downwardly onto the conveyor belt 54. The position of chute 101) can be varied through means of an adjustable line 102.

At the lower level, the belts 38 are supported by trays 104. Brackets 1G6 extending above lane #6 immediately ahead of the deflector 46 mount a pair of relays PRc and PRd. An opening 108 in the tray 105 of lane #6 permits light beams from a pair of

lamps

108 and 110 to activate, respectively, the photorelays PRc and PRd as the leading and trailing edges of shingles pass this point. After shingles pass beneath the photorelays PRc and PRd, they proceed beneath guides 112 associated with the three

deflectors

42, 44 and 46. Each of these deflectors is freely journalled for rotation about a shaft 114, and as evident from FIGURE 3 they have the same substantially V-shaped configuration as the previously described deflectors in assembly 20.

Referring to FIGURE 4, rotational movements of

deflectors

42, 44 and 4-6 between the through and reject position are effected, respectively, by fluid-operated piston and

cylinder units

116, 118 and 120, these units being connected to the deflectors by connecting

rods

116, 118' and 120. The means whereby operation of the

units

116, 118 and 120 is controlled is described more fully hereafter.

The lower belts 48 for handling rejected shingles are trained over pulleys 122 and are driven from a common shaft 124 under power transmitted from a motor 126 through chain drive 128. Each of the belts 48 has a supporting tray 1311 including side walls.

At opposite sides of the machine there are

walkways

132 and 134 for use by personnel in servicing the machine. The wide conveyor belt 54 which receives rejected shingles from upper belt conveyor 24 and lower belt conveyors 48 is trained around pulleys 136 and is driven from a motor 138 through chain drive 140. Shingles carried on belt 54 can be discharged into a suitable receptacle such as a wagon, or can be dropped onto a table for further handling as desired.

Reference next will be made to FIGURE 7, which is a simplified diagram of the machine control circuit. Power is supplied through main terminals or lines L and the control circuit is placed in on or off condition by operation of a main switch 142. The operation of the fluid-operated unit 81 in lane #1 is controlled by a conventional solenoid-operated valve 146. Similarly, solenoid-operated

valves

148, 156, 152, 154 and 156 control the fluid-operated units for operating the deflectors in lanes #3, #5, #2, #4 and #6, respectively. The individual circuits for operating these solenoid-operated valves in lanes #2 to #6 are a repetition of the circuit provided for control of the valve 146 and, therefore, in the interest of brevity of description only that circuit associated with valve 146 will be described in detail. Energization of a solenoid 158 incorporated within the valve unit causes it to move piston and cylinder unit 81 in a direction to rotate deflector 21 to the previously mentioned reject position. Energization of an opposed solenoid 160 in the valve unit will, in the absence of concurrent energization of solenoid 158, cause piston and cylinder unit 81 to maintain deflector 21 in the normal or through position. A double manual reset type switch has a first pushbutton switch 162 connected in series with solenoid 158 through line 166 and a second pushbutton switch 164 connected in series with solenoid 161} through line 168. The closure of switch 162 will cause opening of switch 164, and will effect energization of solenoid 158 to move deflector 21 to the reject position. The pushbutton switches 162 and 164 are located on a panel associated with the stackers, and when a stacking machine operator depresses pushbutton switch 162 the deflector 21 will continue to cause rejection of shingles until the operator depresses pushbutton switch 164 to restore the deflector 21 to its normal or through position. The same operation can also be effected from a remote location, the cutter operators station, through closure of a set of relay contacts designated URa. Contacts URa are normally open, but when closed they bypass the pushbutton switch 162, thereby effecting positioning of the deflector 21 in lane #1 to the reject position as long as these contacts are held closed. An indicator lamp connected in series with line 166 is located at the stackers and a similarly connected lamp 172 is located at the Cutter Operators Station which is generally indicated at 174. Thus, the flashing of lamps 171i and 172 will indicate to both the stacking machine operator and the cutter station operator that shingles in lane #1 are being rejected. At station 174 there is a pushbutton switch 176 which is connected in series with a pair of relays having operating coils UR and LR, and an indicator lamp 180 on a control panel will flash at any time that pushbutton switch 176 is depressed. Relay coil UR operates the relay contacts URa and hence it will be observed that closure of pushbutton switch 176 by the cutting station operator, as well as closure of switch 162 by the stacker operator, can effect the rejection of shingles traveling in lane #1.

The previously mentioned photorelays PRa and "PRb have relay contacts PRCa and PRCb connected in series in a line 182. The function of these photorelays will be described more fully hereafter, except to note for the present that the photorelay contacts in line 182 are closed except when the beams of light from their

respective lamps

76 and 78 are interrupted momentarily by a passing shingle S.

The

valve units

148, 150, 152, 154 and 156 have

solenoids

184, 186, 188, 190 and 192, respectively, which are energized to effect movement of their associated deflectors to the reject position. These valve units similarly have

solenoids

194, 196, 198, 200 and 202 which are energized to cause the fluid-operated piston and cylinder units to hold their associated deflectors in the normal or through position. In circuits which are identical to that previously described in connection with lane #1, the controls include pushbutton switches 204, 206, 208, 210 and 212 corresponding, .respectively, to lanes #3, #5, #2, #4 and #6. The depression of any one of the last-mentioned pushbutton switches will effect the rejection of shingles in its designated lane, and restoration to the normal through position is effected by

pushbutton switches

214, 216, 218, 220 and 222. It should be noted that when relay coil UR is energized through closure of pushbutton switch 176, all three of the pushbutton switches 162, 204 and 206 are bypassed by closure of relay contacts URa, URb and URc; also, simultaneously the energization of relay coil LR effects the bypassing of all three

pushbutton switches

208, 210 and 212 through closure of relay contacts LRa, LRb and LRc. When shingles are being rejected in any of the lanes #3, #5, #2, #4 and #6, a

corresponding indicator lamp

224, 226, 228, 230 or 234, respectively, at the cutter operators station 174 will flash. Also, at the stackers there are

indicator lamps

234, 236, 240 and 242 which will flash during rejection of shingles in their particular lanes.

The function of the photorelays PRa, PRb, PRc and PRd and their effect on operation of these controls will now be described. Referring particularly back to FIG-

URES

5 and 6, it will be evident that it is desirable to prevent the motion of any of the

deflectors

21, 23, 25, 42, 44 and 46 to a rejection position when a shingle is approaching a deflector or is passing over it. As a shingle S advances to a position close to the deflector 21, for example (FIGURE 5), its forward portion will pass beneath the photorelays PRa and PR!) and, due to its length, will remain beneath these photorelays until it has almost completely crossed the deflector 21. Throughout this time, the beams from one or both of the

lamps

76 and 78 will be interrupted and the photorelay contacts PRCa and PRCb consequently will be opened. When either of the sets of photorelay contacts PRCa. and PRCb is opened, none of the

valve unit solenoids

158, 184 and 186 can be energized to initiate such movement of a deflector to a reject position. Hence, movement of a deflector to a reject position in any lane, #1 for example, cannot occur until a shingle S has passed almost completely over it or unless the shingle has not yet reached a position in proximity to the first photorelay PRa. Because the shingles in lanes #1, #3 and #5 travel sideby-side, the photorelays PRa and PRb in lane #1 are adequate to control the operation of all three

deflectors

21, 23 and 25. Similarly, the

solenoids

188, 190 and 192 cannot be energized to effect rejecting movement of deflectors in lanes #2, #4 and #6 when either of the sets of relay contacts PRCc and PRCa is opened by a shingle S interrupting the beams from

lamps

108 and 110 in lane #6.

In summary of the operation of this machine, there is first to be considered the operator at the cutter station. When this operator detects a uniform defect across the web W, or a splice, he can depress the pushbutton 176 to effect the closing simultaneously of all six sets of contacts URa, URb, URc, LRa, LRb and LRc, which in turn will cause simultaneously the movement of the

deflector assemblies

20 and 40 in all the lanes to a reject position. At the stackers, by use of the

pushbuttons

162, 204 and 206 provided for stackers #1, #3 and #5 and the

pushbuttons

208, 210 and 212 provided for stackers #2, #4 and #6, shingles can be rejected selectively in any of these lanes. For example, the operator may find that only the shingles in one of the lanes are coming defective and therefore only the shingles in this particular lane should be rejected. As a further example, suppose that one of the stackers becomes jammed in which case it is desired to interrupt only the feed of shingles to this particular stacker. When a stacker operator is rejecting shingles in any one of the lanes, the operator at the cutter station is alerted to the fact by the flashing of one of the

indicator lamps

172, 224, 226, 228, 230 or 232 as previously described. Also, the

lamps

170, 234, 236, 238, 240 and 242 will flash at the location of the stackers when shingles in their corresponding lanes are being rejected.

One modification that can be provided in the control circuit diagrammed in FIGURE 7 is that the full set of individual pushbutton controls operable from the location of the stackers (e.-g., pushbutton switch 162) can simply be duplicated for operation by the cutter station operator. Thus, if desired the cutter operator can be provided with controls whereby we can selectively reject shingles in any one of the lanes.

From the above it will be evident that all of the objects and advantages discused in the introduction hereto are attained in accordance with this invention. An existing shingle production line which was modified to incorporate the bypass system according to this invention has shown a substantial increase in overall operating efficiency. Fewer defective shigles are now included in the stacking operation and fewer good shingles are wasted. In the operation summarized above, it should be noted that because of the ability to divert shingles from all lanes or selectively from only some of them, the continuity of operation of the line need not be interrupted.

Again it is noted that although this invention has been described in the environment of asphalt shingle manufacturing, it is applicable to the handling of sheets in general in situations where the same basic problems prevail.

It will be understood further that various departures from the specifically disclosed embodiments of this invention can be effected without departing from the scope thereof as defined by the following claims:

What is claimed is:

1. A sheet handling and conveying line comprising means for feeding a wide web of material; means for cutting the web longitudinally and transversely to form sheets; conveyor means for receiving series of sheets cut from different locations across the width of the web and conveying them in separate lanes; a plurality of deflector elements at the delivery end of said conveyor means; each of said deflector elements being aligned with one of said lanes and being movable between a normal through position and a reject position wherein sheets are directed from its one associated lane; second conveyor means receiving sheets travelling across said deflector elements when the same are in said through position; a driving means individually connected to each of said deflector elements for moving it between said positions; high speed automatic stacking apparatus at stations located to receive sheets from lanes of said second conveying means; and a control system for all of said driving means comprising: two sets of visual indicators located respectively at said stacking apparatus and at a station adjacent said cutting means, both of said sets each having a plurality of visual indicators, each said indicator being responsively coupled to one of said deflectors and operative to emit a signal indicating if the deflector is in said through position or reject position, a single manually operable control element at said cutting means station, means connecting the last-mentioned control element to all of said driving means to elfect movement of said deflectors in all lanes simultaneously between said through and reject positions,

a plurality of manually operable control elements closely combined with and corresponding to said set of indicators at said stacking apparatus, and plural means individually connecting each of the last-mentioned control elements to one of said driving means similarly to eflect movement of its associated deflector element between said through and reject positions.

2. The invention according to claim 1, including a visual indicator at said cutting station responsive only to operation of said single manually operable element to eflect movement of all of said deflector elements simultaneously.

3. The invention according to claim 1, including means to prevent operation of any one of said deflectors when sheets are approaching or travelling over it, and comprising a pair of photorelays spaced along the length of said conveyor means in advance of the deflector element, said spaced photorelay being identically operable to produce 10 a signal indicating the presence of a sheet passing thereby, and means responsive to said signal from either of said photorelays and connected to said control system to prevent movement of a deflector element, whereby deflector elements will not operate until sheets have passed both photorelays.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,258,428 10/1941 Stadler 83-107 X 2,427,223 7/ 1947 Moore 83l06 X 2,540,972 2/1951 Wagner et al. 271-64 X 3,097,807 7/1963 Erskine 83-106 X WILLIAM W. DYER, JR., Primary Examiner.

I. M. MEISTER, Assistant Examiner.

Claims

1. A SHEET HANDLING AND CONVEYING LINE COMPRISING MEANS FOR FEEDING A WIDE WEB OF MATERIAL; MEANS FOR CUTTING THE WEB LONGITUDINALLY AND TRANSVERSELY TO FORM SHEETS; CONVEYOR MEANS FOR RECEIVING SERIES OF SHEETS CUT FROM DIFFERENT LOCATIONS ACROSS THE WIDTH OF THE WEB AND CONVEYING THEM IN SEPARATE LANES; A PLURALITY OF DEFLECTOR ELEMENTS AT THE DELIVERY END OF SAID CONVEYOR MEANS; EACH OF SAID DEFLECTOR ELEMENTS BEING ALIGNED WITH ONE OF SAID LANES AND BEING MOVABLE BETWEEN A NORMAL THROUGH POSITION AND A REJECT POSITION WHEREIN SHEETS ARE DIRECTED FROM ITS ONE ASSOCIATED LANE; SECOND CONVEYOR MEANS RECEIVING SHEETS TRAVELLING ACROSS SAID DEFLECTOR ELEMENTS WHEN THE SAME ARE IN SAID THROUGH POSITION; A DRIVING MEANS INDIVIDUALLY CONNECTED TO EACH OF SAID DEFLECTOR ELEMENTS FOR MOVING IT BETWEEN SAID POSITIONS; HIGH SPEED AUTOMATIC STACKING APPARATUS AT STATIONS LOCATED TO RECEIVE SHEETS FROM LANES OF SAID SECOND CONVEYING MEANS; AND A CONTROL SYSTEM FOR ALL OF SAID DRIVING MEANS COMPRISING: TWO SETS OF VISUAL INDICATORS LOCATED RESPECTIVELY AT SAID STACKING APPARATUS AND AT A STATION ADJACENT SAID CUTTING MEANS, BOTH OF SAID SETS EACH HAVING A PLURALITY OF VISUAL INDICATORS, EACH SAID INDICATOR BEING RESPONSIVELY COUPLED TO ONE OF SAID DEFLECTORS AND OPERATIVE TO EMIT A SIGNAL INDICATING IF THE DEFLECTOR IS IN SAID THROUGH POSITION OF REJECT POSITION, A SINGLE MANUALLY OPERABLE CONTROL ELEMENT AT SAID CUTTING MEANS STATION, MEANS CONNECTING THE LAST-MENTIONED CONTROL ELEMENT TO ALL OF SAID DRIVING MEANS TO EFFECT MOVEMENT OF SAID DEFLECTORS IN ALL LANES SIMULRANEOUSLY BETWEEN SAID THROUGH SAID REJECT POSITIONS A PLURALITY OF MANUALLY OPERABLE CONTROL ELEMENTS CLOSELY COMBINED WITH AND CORRESPONDING TO SAID SET OF INDICATORS AT SAID STACKING APPARATUS, AND PLURAL MEANS INDIVIDUALLY CONNECTING EACH OF THE LAST-MENTIONED CONTROL ELEMENTS TO ONE OF SAID DRIVING MEANS SIMILARLY TO EFFECT MOVEMENT OF ITS ASSOCIATED DEFLECTOR ELEMENT BETWEEN SAID THROUGH AND REJECT POSITIONS.