4-DIMENSIONAL MOVEMENT IN LOADER-UNLOADER SERVICE TO A LATHE-TYPE SPINNER

摘要

Automatic loader equipment picks up a cup-shaped metal pulley blank at a supply station and places the blank between headstock and tailstock assemblies of an automatic pulley spinning machine; and simultaneously removes or unloads a previously placed blank in which pulley groove means has been spun from the headstock and tailstock assemblies and deposits the spun pulley at a discharge station. A carriage is mounted on a pair of slide rods above the spinning machine for transverse sliding movement with respect to the longitudinal axis of the machine between the pulley blank supply or pickup station and the spun pulley discharge station. A pair of load and unload assemblies is mounted in the carriage for relative independent sliding movement on the carriage parallel to the longitudinal axis of the spinning machine. Each slide assembly has a gripper assembly mounted on its forward end which moves generally toward and away from the axis of the spinner or vertically between outer and inner or raised and lowered positions. Finger means are provided on an end of each gripper assembly for gripping a pulley blank or a spun pulley therebetween. The load slide gripper assembly grips a pulley blank by its finger means simultaneously with the upload slide gripper assembly finger means gripping a spun pulley positioned on the headstock spindle of the spinning machine. Both gripper assemblies move away from the axis or vertically upwardly, simultaneously with the horizontal sliding movement of the carriage whereupon the gripped spun pulley is deposited at the discharge station and the pulley blank is placed on the headstock spindle upon the carriage reaching the pulley discharge station. During the subsequent spinning operation of the pulley blank the carriage, slide assemblies and gripper axsemblies return to their normal or home positions for initiating another cycle of operation.