KARPPINEN, Risto (Kuusitie 22, Kotka, FI-48130, FI)
| Claims: 1. An equipment for transferring pulp bales from a sheet cutter to a baling line, said apparatus comprising a cutter tray (1) that receives the pulp sheets in the machine direction for forming a bale row in a transversal direction, and that moves the bale row forward in the machine direction, characterized in, that the apparatus comprises a receiving conveyor (2) for receiving the bale row, transferring in the machine direction and having a width of the transversal direction, said receiving conveyor being formed of conveyor units arranged in the machine direction and separated by free distances between each other in the transversal direction, a transfer car (3) having a width of the transversal direction and being movable back and forth in the machine direction, said transfer car being equipped with lifting devices (4) that can be driven to the intermediate spaces between the conveyor units of the receiving conveyor (2), and are separated in the machine direction by free spaces between each other and liftable above the transport level of the receiving conveyor (2), and with liftable and lowerable discharge conveyors (5) transferring in the transversal direction and being located in the intermediate spaces between the lifting devices. 2. The transfer equipment for pulp bales according to Claim 1, characterized in that the lifting motion subjected to the discharge conveyors (5) is limited to the transport level of the receiving conveyor (2). 3. The transfer equipment for pulp bales according to Claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the transfer car (3) is movable supported by an air cushion. |
The present invention concerns an apparatus related to transferring cellulose or pulp bales from a sheet cutter to a baling line or lines.
Dried pulp web comes from the cutter as parallel runs of separated sheets that are stacked into bales having a weight as close to a predefined weight as possible, on a cutter tray as a transverse row. The cutter tray is liftable and lowerable, lowering according to the growing bale stack onto the discharge level and returning to its upper position after the bale row has been removed. The bale row is removed in a traditional way in transversal direction to an appropriate conveyor dispensing the bale row to the baling line for weighing, wrapping, pressing and binding. Also cutter trays dispensing the bales in the machine direction are used. In this connection, term "machine direction" is used referring to the direction, in which the pulp web moves in the cutter, and respectively the term "transversal direction" is used referring to the direction that is transversal to the machine direction.
Depending on the operation speeds, there are usually a plurality of baling lines per one cutter. A problem with the devices after the cutter and before the baling lines is caused by the operation speed, above all the required operation cycle time of the cutter tray.
An improvement of this problem has been achieved by means of an equipment according to the invention for transferring pulp bales from a sheet cutter to a baling line, said equip- ment comprising a cutter tray that receives the pulp sheets in the machine direction for forming a bale row in a transversal direction and that moves the bale row forward in the machine direction. According to characteristic features of the invention, the apparatus comprises a receiving conveyor for receiving the bale row, transferring in the machine direction and having a width of the transversal direction, said receiving conveyor being formed of machine directed conveyor units separated by free distances between each other in the transversal direction, a transfer car having a width of the transversal direction and being movable back and forth in the machine direction, said transfer car being equipped with lifting devices that can be driven to the intermediate spaces between the conveyor units of the receiving conveyor, and are separated in the machine direction by free spaces between each other and liftable above the transport level of the receiving conveyor, and with liftable and lowerable discharge conveyors transferring in the transversal direction and being located in the intermediate spaces between the lifting devices.
The invention will be described in more detail with reference to the enclosed drawing figure, where the equipment of the invention is illustrated in different phases a) - e) of operation.
In phase a) of the drawing figure, the basic parts of the apparatus are shown, including a cutter tray 1, a receiving conveyor 2, a transfer car 3, lifting devices 4 on the transfer car and discharge conveyors 5, the mutual operation of which will be described in the following.
The cutter tray 1 is in its lower position, having thereon a transversal row of full-sized bales (bales are not shown). A receiving conveyor 2 is connected in the machine direction to the cutter tray serving to receive the bale row that the cutter tray dispenses in the machine direction. This receiving phase is shown in phase b) of the enclosed drawing figure. Before the bales 6 are transferred to the receiving conveyor 2, the transfer car 3 has been driven under the receiving conveyor. In the construction of the receiving conveyor 2, re- spectively of the transfer car, it is advantageous to consider a possibility, that the transfer car in this phase supports the protruding receiving conveyor 2.
The receiving conveyor 2 is formed of a plurality of conveyor units arranged parallel in the transversal direction, located at a distance from each other and protruding in the ma- chine direction. The space between the parallel conveyor units is substantially free, so that a row or a plurality of rows of pin-like lifting devices 4 in the transfer car 3, arranged in the machine direction, can be driven into this space as shown in phase b) of the drawing figure. By means of these lifting devices, a bale 6 of the bale row can be lifted as shown in phase c) of the drawing, above the conveyor level of the receiving conveyor 2, whereby the transfer car 3 with its bale 6 can be driven in the machine direction away from the receiving conveyor 2 area, as shown in phase d) of the drawing figure.
In phase d), the transfer car 3 is driven to a predefined position in the machine direction, where the appropriate conveyor leading to the baling apparatus is ready to receive the bale row to be dispensed from the transfer car. The bale row is removed from the transfer car 3 by means of conveyors 5 comprising for example chain conveyors extending over the width of the car 3. Conveyors 5 are located between the rows of lifting devices 4, extending in transversal direction. The conveyors 5 can be lifted from their lower position, in phases a)-d), to the position according to phase e), directly to the level of the lower surface of the bales 6. In this situation, the lifting devices 4 are lowered to their lower position, and the conveyors 5 are free to remove the row of bales 6 from the transfer car 3.
With this operating cycle the equipment needs to lift the bales during the whole transfer- ring phase only in phase c) that much, that the transfer car 3 and the bales 6 supported by it are released from the receiving conveyor 2.
The cutter tray 1 is free to rise to the upper position for receiving the sheets immediately after the phase b), where the bales 6 are transferred in the machine direction, which sub- stantially speeds up the operation of the cutter tray.
The transfer car 3 can be movable on an air cushion, instead of the wheel transfer, exemplary shown in the drawing .