AU4065572A - Machine for conveying and aligning rod-shaped fasteners - Google Patents

Description

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COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA Patents Act 1952-1968

40,655/72 APPLICATION FOR A PATENT (Combined Form.-Convention and Non-Convention)

Z W.Ti ,gU ,AZ1 of 7440 Mitertingen., West Germany. y a Company incorporated in th eeal Republic of Germany.'

hereby apply for the grant of a Patent for an invention entitled METHOD AND) MACHINE FOR CONVEY-rNG AND ALIG.TNtG9 F~PFM

which is described in the accompanying Copee Specification.

Str-ike 2. This application is a Convention Application and is based on the application(s) ozt6,Para. for a patent or similar protection made- 2 5lor ron- THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF GERMY

on _2nd .April 1971.( Inmee R?_A491 n numbered and

on ,numbered nd

3. X#/Our address for service is: Care of Ca 4 of 4WAL~-r-PAf Patent Attorney, of First Floor, Civic Arcade, Garema Place, CANBERRA CITY. A.C.T. 2601.

DATED this 29th. day of Karch 1972~

~ORKARL,. AD ~ES REICK MA$CHINENFABRIK. ALT1UIED BY our Patent/*ptorney:

WALTER, S. PALMER.

To the Commissioner of Patents, COMMONWEALTH- OF AUSTRALIA

_C01MONWEALTH

Form COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA

PATENTS ACT 1952-62

COM.PLETE SPECIFICATION (OR IG INAL)

4 0, ,N5 5/72 FOR OFFICE USE Class Int. Class Application Number eb6s fb *'I Lodged:, 20 1 I A

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Complete Specification Lodged '3 1Z' -'4 CO 0400 04,

Araeepe- L-f6 SEIF0-1 l4 0Q' 0

Published '14-11L0 4

Priority

Related Art- S-9~ q L+ 1 O ~i

Nam!~ of Applicant KAR M. REICHI M4ACHINEI&FABRIK

Address of Applicant: 7440 Nuertingen, West Germany.

Actual Inventor: JOANNES MOHlR 4

Address for Service: 3

S& PUffm Suto i, Cvic01.& p

Complete Specification for the invention entitled:

METHOD AND MACHINE FOR CONVEYING AND AL±IN&-I- ROD-SHAPED FASTENERS. COMAMON WEALTH MAR 1972 The following statement is a full description of this invention, including th be~ o~ 1 ~fri g it known to me.* i 1 J

The present invention relates to a method of con-

veying and aligning rod-shaped fasteners such as nails,

screws or the like, in which the fasteners are conveyed

one after the other by several conveying mechanisms so as to travel in the form of a continuous current along

guide means.

Methods pf this kind are always required when fa- steners, for example, nails, screws or the like, which

have been dumped loosely into a container are to be fed

to a mechanism, for example, for driving nails into

workpieces, for packing nails, or for connecting nails

in-a row so as to form nail strips. It is an object of the present invention to provide a method of the kind as mentioned above which permits a considerably larger number of fasteners to be supplied

Sfor subsequent use than could be supplied by the methods

as were previously known.

Another object of the invention is to provide a me-

thod in which the fasteners will be conveyed by all of

the conveying means with a conveying capacity which is

at least as high as the output which may'be attained by

a fastener utilizing mechanism at the end of the current

of fasteners which is conveyed thereto, for example, by

one of the fastener utilizing mechanisms as mentioned

above. The method according to the invention therefore

permits the highest possible output of the particular i 1 !i Ai !i iii a r fastener utilizing mechanism to which the current of fasteners is supplied to be fully attained and this me- chanism therefore to be utilized as fully and economic- ally as possible.

A further object of the invention is to provide a

method in which for preventing the -fasteners from exces-

4U sively accumulating or piling up agaihst each other du- *4: ring their travel or from being unintentionally stopped 4

at some point of their course of travel, while at other

points their conveying means may run idle, the conveying

output of one conveying mechanism of the machine is to

be controlled in response to and dependent upon the con-

veying or working output of a following conveying or fa- *f

stener utilizing mechanism.

A further object of the invention is to provide a

method in which for preventing an excessive accumulation

of fasteners at some point of their travel through the

machine, the excessive fasteners will be removed from

this point and.be returned to a preceding point so that

all of the conveying mechanisms may at all times operate

at their full capacity and will be supplied at such a

speed to the mechanism at the end of the conveying ma-

chine that this mechanism may operate at-it' fill capa-

city to utilize the fasteners for a particular purpose.

It is a further object of the invention to provide

a machine for conveying rod-shaped fasteners, for ex-

ample, nails, screws or the like, in proper alignment,

in a proper useful condition and at a considerably higher

i.

speed than-was previously attainable in similar machines

to a point or mechanism where these fasteners may be

utilized for a particular purpose, for example, for con-

necting them to each other so as to form nail strips.

While such mechanisms may often work so as to produce a aa r very high output, the conveying machines which were

known prior to this invention usually could no.t supply S the fasteners to such a mechanism at the desired speed

so as to utilize its full capacity. Thus, for example,

while one of the knowA machines could deliver only about

300 properly assorted nails per minute in a row, the ma-

chine according to the invention is capable of delivering a~, about 2000 nails, for example, to a nail-strip forming bit SC pa mechanism which is capable of connecting them at the same CS

or lower speed to each other.

This object of the invention is attained in the man-

ner as previously described with reference to the inven-

tive method by employing a series of conveying, aligning

and assorting mechanisms all of which are capable of car-

rying out their respective functions at a high speed by

the provision of suitable control means which insure that

each of these conveying mechanisms has a conveying out-

put which is at least as high as the output bf the fa-

stener utilizing mechanism at the end of the machine.

These control means are designed so as to insure that

the conveying output of at least one conveying mechanism

of the machine will be controlled by the conveying out-

put of a subsequent conveying mechanism.

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A further object of the invention as also previous- ly indicated with reference to the inventive method is to provide a machine in which subsequent to a conveying mechanism which has an excessive conveying output, the excessive fasteners instead of causing a jamming of the' further conveying movement will be~returned to a posi- tion. preceding this conveying mechanism, These and additional objectsfeatures and advantages of the present invention will become further apparent from the following detailed description thereof which is to be read with reference to the-accompanying drawings, .4S 0

*~0s in which 04$

0*0 Figures 1 and 2 respectively are a diag~anmatic side view and a diagrammnatic top view of a machine ac- cording to one embodiment: of the invention; Figure 3 is an end view of the shaking container and the associated conveying trough which form the first elements of the machine which are located at the right side in Figures 1 and'2, but are seen from the left side of these elements in Figure 1; Figure 4 is a top view of the elements as shown in Figure 3; Figure 5 is an enlarged view of a part- of Figure. 1 and shows the magnetic steep-angle conveyer at the left end of the mentioned conveying trough; Figure 6 is a view of the magnetic steep-angle con- veyer as seen from the left side of Figure Figure 7 is a view of-a broken-away part of the magnetic steep-angle conveyer, as seen in the direction olf the arrow VII in Figure 5, but without a conveyer belt so.as to illustrate the rrangement of the magnet poles;

Figure 8 is a detail view of. the first upper guide

roller for the conveyer belt of the steep-angle conveyer

as shown in Figure 1;

Figures 9, 10 and 11 are cross sections which are

taken along the lines IX IX, X X, and XI XI, re-

spectively, in Figure 7;

Figures 12 and 13 respectively are enlarged side and top views of the aligning troughs of the machine as

shown in Figures 1 and 2, respectively; Figure 14 is an enlarged side view of the adjacent ends of two successive guide rails;

Figure 15 is an end view of a nail brake, which is

partly shown,in cross section taken along the line XV

XV in Figure 2;

Figure 16 is a side view of the first nail brake,

as seen in the direction of the arrow XVI in Figure

Figure 17 is a diagrammatic side.view of the col-

lecting funnel of the second outlet of the sorting appa-

ratus as shown in Figure 1; SFigure 18 is a view similar to Figure 6 of a modi-

ficatixon of the apparatus for dividing the single nail

current into two branch current's; while

Figures 19 and 20 respectively show a top view and

a side view of the apparatus as shown in Figure 18.

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Referring to the drawings, the machine according a

to the invention comprises the following main components:

a shaking container mechanism A; a steep-angle conveyer

B; an aligning mechanism C whichdivides the single nail

current supplied by the steep-angle conveyer B into two

branch currents which are aligned-in longitudinal guide

rails; a nail brake D1 for each of these branch currents;

a sorting mechanism E; a nail brake D 2 and a mechanism

F in which the nails which are supplied in each row are

connected to each other to form a nail strip. a For/better understanding of the invention, each of e, the main -components of the machine as mentioned above *o C

will hereafter be separately described in detail: C 4

The Shaking Container Mechanism A (or hopper)

As illustrated particularly in Figures 1, 3 and 4,

this mechanism A comprises a frame 1 to which the four

side walls'of a container 2 are secured. Underneath these

side walls, the container is provided with a separate

inclined bottom 3 which is resiliently mounted by suit-

able means, not shown, and to which a vibrator 4 is se-

cured. Side wall 5 toward which the container bottom 3 i .uc'iardly inclined is provided with a relatively wide

o 7 ?)ove the bottom 3. The effective size of this

slo, 7 is adjustable by means of a slide member 6 which

is mounted on the outer side of side wall 5 and may be

shifted by the operation of a hand wheel 8.

As may be seen in the top view of the container as

shown in Figure 4, the container bottom 3 extends for a

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F li- certain distance beyond the side wall 5 so that under- Y-

neath the projecting front end of the container bottom

and independently of the frame 1 a conveying trough 14

may be provided. By resilient means, not shownthe con-

veying trough .14 is movably mounted on the.inner side of

a frame 15, and by means of a vibrator 16 this conveying

trough may be vibrated so that the nails which are fed

into it from the container 2 will be moved in the direc-

tion toward the steep-angle co/nveyer B. a, Above the bottom of the conveying trough 14 the a a *c a o a a feeler heads 17 of several proximity switches are pro- eQ. a

,a a vided. These feeler heads 17 may be adjusted so as to be oe a a as spaced at any desired distance from the bottom of the

trough and they are designed in the usual manner so as a, a to actuate the proximity switches when ferromagnetic parts such as nails move to points which are spaced at' a as a certain distance from these heads. The proximity

switches are connected into the supply circuit of the

vibrator 4 so that when energized they will interrupt

the current supply of this vibrator and thus stop the ar

a latter. a* Before the operation of the shaking container me-

chanism A is started, the container '2 is-filled with

nails which are simply dumped into the same without re-

gard of their positions relative to each other. The vib-

rators 4 and 16 which are then started cause the nails

to slide along the inclined container bottom 3 and

through the outlet slot 7 and then over the projecting

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.i k r end of the container bottom into the conveying trough 14 from which, due to the vibrations of the latter by the vibrator 16, the nails will slide along this trough toward the left, as seen in Figure 1, and form a layer of nails on the bottsm of the trough 14. When this layer of nails has 'been built up to a certain height at which the nails are sufficiently close to .the feeler heads 17, these feeler heads will respond and actuate the proximity switches which will then switch off the vibrator 4 so that a further supply of na.ils from the container 2 will be Fl*pped until ths..thicknes's of the layer of nails on t bottom e of trough 14 has decreased to such an extent. that the feeler heads 17 will again switch the proximity

Sswitches to their normal position in.which the vibrator

4 will again be started. The conveying trough 14 will

thus be filled uniformly at all times. Due to the conti- nuous shaking movement of this trough, the nails will

uaring this forward travel, be distributed over the entire

width of the trough and thus form a uniform nail current. 'The feeler heads 17 therefore form a control mechanism

which regulates the output of nails from the container 2

and also the feeding capacity of the conveying trough 14.

The Steep-Angle Conveyer B

As illustrated particularly in Figures 5 to 11, this

conveyer B comprises a frame 21 to which the frame 22 for

supporting a conveyer belt 23 is secured which has a

'width of approximately 500 mm. On this frame 22, a lower

guide roller 24 and three upper guide rollers 25, 26 and

9: r'' ;j 1 :pl. r 9r:i:

i- 27 are rotatably mounted on which the conveyer belt 23

I~ is supported. The strand of the conveyer belt 23 which

ext. .ds from the lower guide roller 24 at a steep angle

upwardly to the first upper guide roller-.25 and from the

latter substantially horizontally to the second tpper

guide roller 26 forms the nail-conveying strand of the

steep-angle conveyer'B.

The nails which are fed by the conveying trough 14

to the lower end of the conveying strand of the conveyer

belt 23 will be attached to this strand so as to be car- &e

ried upwardly by_the latter by providing underneath the u c. conveying strand of belt 23, which consists of a npnmag--

netizable material, a series of magnet poles'which are

arranged as illustrated particularly in Figures 7, 9,

and 11. A Within the lower part of the conveying strand, the

magnet poles consist of three iron rails 28 which extend 4 parallel to the longitudinal axis of this strand and are

laterally spaced from each other. The gaps between the

inner and outer iron rails 28 and the frame 22 are filled

out by four aluminum rails 29. The adjacent iron rails

28 are connected to each other by shell-shaped permanent

magnets 31. The iron rails 28 together with the aluminum

rails 29 thus form a system of magnet poles of a uniform

magnetic strength which hereafter will be simply called

a magnetic rail. This magnetic rail for the lowest part

of the-conveying strand of belt 23 only extends upwardly

beyond the end of the conveying trough 14 to a level

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*:ii which is spaced at a distance of about 150 mm from this 'ib: end. Above the upper end of the lower magnetic rail and

at a distance of about 450 mm therefrom which forms a

gap 32, an upper magnetic rail is mounted which is of

the same construction as the lower magnetic rail and has

a length of about 2000 min and extends from the upper end

of the gap 32 up to the upper guide roller

Within this gap 32 an adjustable electromagnet 33

is mounted which is adapted to produce a magnetic field

of a variable field intensity for regulating the thick- 0 00B

ness of the layer of nails which- are to be further con- 00 0

veyed. The laminated core 34 of this magnet forms poles 010 00 0 which, as shown in Figures 7 and 10, are open toward the 0 0 0 So a conveying strand of belt 23. With the exception of the

polar surfaces, the core 34 and the windings 35 are em-

bedded in a casting resin 36 within a container 37 which

is open toward the conveying strand and secured to the

frame 22. The magnetic central part of the magnetic rail

and of the electromagnet 33 has a width of about 150 mm.

For holding the layer of nails of the thickness as

controlled by the electromagnet 33 also locked to the

conveying strand of belt 23 within an area around the r upper guide roller 25, the latter c0nsists of -a plurality

of disks 39 and 41 of alternately different materials,

as shown in Figure 8, which extend vertically to the

axis 38 of the guide roller. Disks 39 which are spaced

from each other and from the frame 22 by the spacing i disks 41 are magnetized and thus form magnet poles, i

11

:I I 0*0C i: I I while the spacing disks 41 consist of a nonmagnetizable material, -for example, of aluminum.

Underneath the horizontal section of the conveying

strand of belt 23 between the upper guide rollers 25 and

26 a demagnetizing magnet 42 isamounted. o_ For driving the conveyer belt -23, a motor 45 is pro-

vided which drives the second upper guide roller 26 by

means of a reduction gear 46 and a chain 4 6'.

During the operation of the machine, the conveyer

belt 23 travels in the direction of the arrow 47, as

shown in Figure 1. The nails which are supplied by the 0,0 00 SO

0000 conveying trough 14 and lie substantially horizontally oi r on the bottom of the latter are attracted by the lower ,e magnetic rail 28, 29 toward'and upon the conveyer belt *9

23. By thus being magnetized, the nails will then form

a nail layer on the conveyer belt which is conveyed up-

wardly by the conveying strand of the belt. When the

nails on belt 23 pass over the area in which the elec-

tromagnet 33 is mounted, a layer of nails will remain on

the belt which has a thickness depending upon the inten-

sity to which the magnetic field of this magnet has been

adjusted, while the additional nails will.drop off and

fall back into the conveying troigh 14. By adjusting the

field intensity of magnet 33 it is therefore possible to

control exactly the quantity of nails which will be taken

along by the conveyer belt 23. When the 'nails reach the

horizontal section of the conveying strand of belt 23

between the two guide rollers 25 and 26, they will be

12

i demagnetized by the demagnetizing magnet 42 so that af- ter passing over the guide roller 26 the nails will drop off the conveyer belt 23 and into the aligning mechanism 0.

The Aligning Mechanism C

This aligning mechanism C which is illustrated par-

ticularly in Figures 6 and 12 to 1.4 comprises a trough-

shaped distributor 65 which is mounted in front of and

below the guide roller 26 of the conveyer B. The bottom

of this distributor 65 is shaped like a roof and forms

two gliding surfaces 65a and 65b which are downwardly in-

S elined toward the right and left from the center of the

plane of travel of the conveyer belt 23. Each of these

gliding surfaces 65a and 65b terminates into a conveying

trough 66 which is downwardly inclined from.the distri- butor 65 and extends within a plane at a right angle to

the plane of travel of the conveyer belt 23. The lower

end of each of these conveying troughs 66. terminates in-

to the upper end of an aligning-trough 51-which extends

parallel to the plane of travel of the conveyer belt 23

and is downwardly inclined from its upper end.

As shown particularly in Figure 6, the distributor

is rigidly mounted on the frame 21 which also carries the conveyer B, while the conveying"tr6ugh 66 ahd the up-

per.ends of the aligning troughs 51 are resiliently

mounted on frame 21 by means of cushion elements 67 and

57, respectively. Each conveying trough-66 carries a vib-

rator 68 and is vibrated thereby for properly conveying

the nails to the aligning troughs 51. The lower end of each aligning trough 51 is likewise resiliently mounted by cushion elements 58 on a frame 71 which also supports the associated sorting mechanism E. Each of the two align- ing troughs 51 comprises a frame 52 the upper part of which carries two parallel guide rails 53 which are spaced from each other by a guide .slot'54 which has a width substantially equal to the diameter of the nail shanks. Each pair of rails 53 further carries guide plates which extend parallel to these rails and are inclined toward the guide slot 54 and together form a trough 0 which tapers downwardly to the guide slot 54.

Each of the two frames 52 of the two aligning troughs

0.0 51 carries a pair of vibrators 59 which set .the respec- 0 tive aligning trough into-vibrations which extend in a S.. direction differing at an angle of 300 from the longitu-

dinal direction of the rails 53 so as to attain the

highest possible conveying speed of the nails.

In order to be able to continue the guide slot 54

of the vibrating aligning trougis 51 by a guide slot 73

in a guide rail 72, which is rigidly secured to the frame

71, without reducing the ability of the guide rails 53 to oscillate, the associated guide rails 72 and 53 are

completely separated from ~ch other as illustrated par- ticularly in Figure 14. Each guide rail 53 is provided

with an extension ;61 which projects beyond the actual

end of the rail and over the upper side-of the adjacent

end of the associated stationary rail 72 from which it

is spaced at a distance 62. This has not only the advantage that the.vibrating rails 53 are mechanically separated from the stationary rails 72, but also that a step is formed between the adjacent guide slots 53 and

73 whereby the adjacent nails 89 will be temporarily

separated from each other and the head of one'nail will

drop over and overlap the head of--the nail which pre-

ceded. it in the course of travel.

Guide plates 55 begin at the upper ends of guide

rails 53 which face the steep-angle conveyer B, and these

first parts of guide plates 55 are made higher and-thus

of a greater width so as to form-a wide collecting fun- So

o nel,while the subsequent parts of these guide plates may

be of a smaller width. Guide plates 55 terminate at their err

lower ends at a certain distance from the upper ends of

guide rails 53 so that any excessive nails which have

been aspplied by the steep-angle conveyer B into the

aligning troughs 51 and did not find any room in the

guide slots 54 may drop off the vibrating guide rails 53.

In order to catch these excessive nails which drop

Soff the lower ends of each pair of guide rails 53, a collecting funnel 63 is provided underneath these ends

which, as shown in Figures 1 and 2, is connected by a

pipe line 11 and a returning trough 12 to a- coiveyer

belt 64 which then returns these nails to the container 2.

The rails 53 are preferably adjustably connected to

the frame 52 so as to permit the distance between them

and thus the width of guide slot 54 to be adjusted in

accordance with different diameters of the shanks of, nails which were filled at different times into the container 1. During the operation of the machine, the aligning troughs 51 are vibrated by the vibrators 59. The nails dropping from the steep-angle conveyer B into the align- ing troughs 51 then slide along the guide plates 55, and their shanks then slide into the guide slots 54, while their heads are suspended on the guide rails 53, Due to the inclination of the aligning troughs and due to the vibration of the latter, the nails will then slide:along these troughs within the guide slots 54 until they pass to the following guide slots 73° In order to utilize the aligning troughs 51 as fully as possible, the conveying capacity of the steep-angle conveyer B is adjusted so as to be slightly larger than the receiving capacity of the aligning troughs 51. This has the consequence that more nails might be supplied to the aligning troughs than can find room in the guide slots 54. The excesr:. re nails will then slide downwardly along the aligning troughs between the guide plates 55 until at the end of the guide plates they will drop off the guide rails 53 and fall into the collecting funnel 63 aid then pass to the conveyer belt 64 which return them to the coritainrer 2. Th& Nail Brakes D1 and D

The nail brakes D and .D2 may be employed in con- nection with a guide slot for nails formed between guide rails whenever provisions are made in the preceding ap- paratus to insure that no interferences will occur in

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the operion,of the machine which may be due to an ex-

cessive supply of nails. This is attained, for eample,

in the aligning unit 0 in which any excessive nails

will be returned through the collecting funnel 63 and 4 S the return lines 11 and 12 and by the conveyer belt 64 t

to the container 2. It is the purpose of the nail brake

D to avoid interferences in the operation of the machine

which might be caused by a subsequent sensitive mechanism

when the pressure which might be caused by nails which

are dammed up against each other in the guide rail ex- a: ceeds a certain value.

In the present case, it is the object of the nail So S 565.S r brakes 'D)1 and D 2 to prevent the occurrence of interfer-

ences in the operation of-the following mechanisms, that

is, in the sorting mechanism E or in the mechanism F,

4. which may be caused by an excessive accumulation of nails

at points preceding these mechanisms. t a., The nail brakes have the advantage that, if the

speed of rotation of the brake wheel 86 as subsequently

described is properly adjusted, a small braking force

will be exerted upon the gliding speed of the individual

nails, whereby two successive nails will at first be se- 4

parated from each other and the head' of the'seond nail

will then overlap and engage upon the head of the pre-

ceding first nail. This is important especially as re-

gards the nail brake D2 since the proper operation of

the mechanism F requires the proper overlapping of the

heads of the successive nails.

17

A) and 16 illustrate the nail brake DI in detail. Frame 71 carries an arm 75 which is adjustable to different heights and the upper end of which carries an electric motor 83 the speed of which is variable.

The axis of the shaft 84 of this motor 83 extends t'qns-

verse to the direction of the rails-72 and within a

plane parallel to and above the plane of these rails.

Over the outer end of this shaft 84 a shaft 85 is plug-

ged which may be secured in different axial positions to

the motor shaft 84 by means of a screw 80. The free end

of this shaft 85 carries a brake-wheel 86 which forms a

**rotary brush which is composed of perlon bristles. Since

the arm 75 is adjustable to different heights and the

shaft 85 may be adjusted in its axial direction the brake

wheel 86 may be adjusted so as to be located directly

above the guide slot 73 and at such a distance from the

guide rails 72 that the heads 88 of the nails 89, the

shanks of which are located in the guide slot 73, will

be clamped between the brake wheel 86 end the rails 72.

Between the brake wheel 86 and the subsequent me-

chanism and at the distance from the latter which deter-

mines the highest permissible accumulation of nails, a light barrier 91, as indicated in' Figure 'is -provided

the light beam of which is adapted to pass through the

guide slot 73 and which is interrupted when the nails

are piled up against each other from the following sort-

ing mechanism E back to and beyond the light barrier 91.

This light barrier is electrically connected to the brake

18

e~ls~gpa~~~4tjr--~qi3~~r~u~ m;- motor 83 so as-to switch off this motor when the light barrier indicates that the nails are piled up against each other,

During the operation of the machine, the motor 83

rotates in such a direction that the part of the peri-

pheral surface of the brake wheel-86 facing the rails

72 moves in the direction in which the nails 89 are be-

ing conveyed. In the normal operation, the nails under-

neath the brake wheel 86 will then be pushed forwardly

due to the rotation of this wheel. The peripheral speed

of brake wheel 86 is preferably -adjusted so as to be in

accordance with the normal gliding speed of the nails.

However, as soon as the light barrier 91 indicates that

the nails are piled up in the guide slot 73 in front of

the next following mechanism, the motor 83 will be

switched off so that the brake wheel 86 will be stopped. his has the result that the following nails will be

arrested by the brake wheel 86 so that the accumulation

of nails which has been formed in front of the next me-

chanism will not be increased. If the guide slot of the

respective aligning trough 51 is filled up at the nail

brake D1, the further nails supplied by the steep-angle

conveyer B will without causing any interference be re-

turned to the shaking container 2 through the collecting

funnel 63 and the return lines 11 and 12 and by the con-

veyer belt 64. The nail brake D 2 is designed similar to

the nail brake Di and its operation is controlled by a

light barrier 149.

The Sorting Mechanism E

The sorting mechanism E as illustrated only dia-

grammatically in Figures 1 and 2 and further details of

which are disclosed in the French patent No. 2,051,062

is mounted on the frame 71 and its inlet is formed by

the guide slot 73 which is defined-by the guide rails 72.

As shown in Figures 1 and 2 and more clearly in Figure

17, this mechanism E has two outlets, that is, a first

outlet which 'is formed by the guide slot 173 between a

pair of guide rails 172 and a second outlet which is

formed by a funnel 140 which terminates into a discharge

S. So pipe 142 through which nails which are crooked or use-

less for other reasons will be passed to a container

not shown.

In order to permit the sorting mechanism E also to

be employed as a nail returning device in the event that

an excessive number of nails piles up in the guide slot

173 forming the first outlet, the funnel 140 forming the

second outlet is connected by a return pipe 113 to the

returning trough 12 as previously mentioned from which

the excessive nails are then dropped upon the conveyer

belt 64 which returns them into the container 2. The fun-

nel 140 is connected to the discharge pipe 142 and-to

the return pipe 113 by a connecting element 144 in which

a flap 146 is provided which by means of a pneumatic

jack 147 may be pivoted about an axis 145 to an ejecting

position, as indicated in dotted lines in Figure 7, and

to a returning position, as indicated in dot-and-dash

Slines.In the first of these positions, flap 146 closes

the passage to the return pipe 113 and opens the passage

to the discharge pipe 142, while in its other position

flap 146 closes the passage to the discharge pipe and

opens the passage to the return pipe. For controlling

the operation of the pneumatic jack 147 and for at the

same time controlling a switch mechaniism, not shown, for

altering- the functions of the sorting mechanism E, a

light barrier 148-is providod the light beam of which

is adapted to pass through the guide slot 173.

If this light barrier 148 is not interrupted by a

nail within the guide slot 173, flap 146 will be in its 0 0 d ejecting position in which a useless nail, for example, 0

a crooked nail, which has been sorted out by the sorting mechanism will be discharged through pipe 142. If, how-

ever, the nails 89 pile up in the area between the brake

wheel D 2 and back beyond the light barrier 148, the pneu-

matic jack 147 will pivot the flap 146 to-its returning

position and at the same time and as long as the light

trap 148 indicates that the nails are still piled up,

the sorting mechanism will be actuated so as to eject

all newly arriving nails into the funnel 140 from which-

they are then returned by the returning -trough 12 and

the conveyer belt 64 to the container 2. Thus, if an ex-

cessive accumulation of nails 89 occurs in front of the-

brake wheel D2 this cannot possibly cause the sorting

mechanism E to be clogged. As soon as the nail current

again starts to flow and the light barrier 148 will

3"1::

'1 -r r

I therefore no.longer be continuously interrupted, flap

146 will be pivoted to its ejecting position so that

the sorting mechanism E will again function normally.

The sorting mechanism E therefore forms a switch

which is adapted to be shifted by the light barrier 148

from a guiding position in which the nails are further

conveyed through the first outlet of the sorting mecha-

nism to a returning position in which the nails will be

returned by the return line 113 and 12 and the conveyer

belt 64 to the container 2.

The second light barrier 149 controls the operation

of the brake wheel D so that whenever nails are piled 2 up in front of the mechanism P up to the light barrier

149, the brake wheel D 2 will slow down the further sup-

ply of nails.

Summary

During the operation of the machine, its main com-

ponents as described above in detail are operatively as-

sociated with each other as follows: At first, a uniform

layer of substantially horizontally disposed nails the

thickness of which may be adjusted by the slide member 6

and the feeler heads 17 will be supplied from the shaking 0s r

container mechanism A to the lower end of th'e conveying

strand of the conveyer belt 23 of the steep-angle con-

veyer B. The nails lying substantially horizontally on the

conveying strand and transverse to its direction of tra-

vel then move over the electromagnet 33, which regulates

their quantity and eliminates an excessive amount from

22

I~g8AIIR~dg*J~3aa&R~~iL~d~L~*OcYnrr*-- the conveyer belt, and they are then fed to the aligning mechanism 0. The quantity of nails which is supplied from the shaking container mechanism A to the-steep- angle conveyer B is therefore adjusted so as to be lar- ger than the quantity which this conveyer should actually convey. While the conveying strand of belt 23 passes this large quantity of nails over the electromagnet 33, the excessive number of nails will drop off and fall back into the conveying trough 14 which is prevented from be-

Sing overloaded by the action of the feeler heads 14 of Pa

S° the proximity switches. The steep-angle conveyer B is

o thus controlled so that its conveying capacity will at

all times be fully utilized.

The quantity of nails carried by the conveyer B is

thus also controlled so that a larger number of nails

will be delivered to the aligning mechanism 0 than can

be aligned in the guide slots 54. This insures that the

aligning mechanism will also be fully-utilized at all

times. The excessive nails which could not enter the

guide slots 54 will then be returned by the collecting

funnel 63, the return line 11 and 12 and the conveyer

belt 64 to the shaking container 2.

The sorting mechanism E which is of a known con-

struction is designed so as normally to be able to grade

all of the nails which are supplied to it through the

guide slot 75 and to sort out those which are useless,

In the event, however, that before entering the sorting

mechanism E the nails accumulate in guide slot 73 to

25

MGMS Msft*Q LII such an extent that their pressure might impair the operation of the sorting mechanism, the nail brake D will stop a further supply of nails. Thus, when guide slot 54 of the aligning mechanism 0 is filled with nails, the further nails which are supplied by the steep-angle conveyer B3will pass into the collecting funnel 63 and be returned by the return line 11, 12 and the conveyer belt 64 to the shaking container 2.

If the nails pile up in front of the nail brake D

back to the light barrier 148, the latter will be inter-

S: rupted and actuate the pneumatic-jack 147 so as to pivot

the flap 146 so that all nails which are further supplied to the sorting mechanism E will pass through the second outlet of the latter and be returned through the return

line 113 and 12 and by the conveyer belt 64 to the shak-

ing container 2. In both of the last-mentioned cases it

is possible to eliminate the cause of an excessive accu-

mulation of nails without requiring the operation of the

machine to be interrupted and without any danger that an

actual congestion of nails and stopping of their travel

may occur anywhere. If the nails accumulate in front of

the mechanism F back to the light barrier 149, brake

wheel D 2 will hold back the nails which further arrive

until the flow of nails is again normal.

Figures 18 to 20 illustrate a modification of the

means for dividing the nail current coming from the end

of the horizontal section of the conveying strand of the

steep-angle conveyer B into two branch currents which

24

r- Illlr;rc- LL-;_;drl~ll then continue to flow along the two aligning troughs 51.

This current divider comprises a distributor 165 which

is located underneath the guide roller 26 of the con-

veyer B and again comprises two gliding surfaces 165a

and 165b which are inclined to each other like a roof.

At the ridge of this roof, the two-gliding surfaces merge

into a vertical upwardly projecting .partition 169 the

upper edge of which forms the crest line of the two roof

shaped gliding surfaces which extends in the direction

of the central longitudinal plane of the conveyer belt

23 and thus parallel to the plane of travel of this belt.

Thus, as seen from the central plane of travel of the

o conveyer belt 23, the two gliding surfaces 165a and 165b

form guide surfaces for the nails which are downwardly

inclined toward the right and left from the vertically

projecting partition 169. The ends of the gliding sur-

faces 165a and 165b opposite to those facing the guide

roller 26 are connected to a deflecting plate 170 which

projects above these surfaces and is adapted to deflect

any nails which might be thrown against it by the con-

veyer belt 25 toward the gliding surfaces 165a and 165b

and also to split up any lumps of nails by their impact

against this plate. The lower edges'of the"'lfding sur-

faces 165a and 165b are disposed above the upper ends

of the conveying troughs 166 which are downwardly in-

clined from the distributor 165 and extend substantially

within a plane at a right angle to the plane of travel

of the conveyer belt 23. Each of these conveying troughs

25

~R4*II~Bdl*W*rCI sUI--;c-

166 terminates from above into the upper end of one of

the two aligning troughs 51.

Each of the two conveying troughs 166 has a U-

shaped cross section and its bottom forms a plane glid-

ing surface the end of which facing the distributor 165

as well as the outer edges of the-two gliding surfaces

165a and 165b extend*parallel to the plane of travel of

the conveyer belt 25, while the edges of the other ends

166a of the bottoms of the two conveying troughs 166

facing the aligning troughs 51 are inclined-and inter-

sect the central vertical longitudinal planes of these

aligning troughs at an acute angle, as shown in Figure

19. The point of intersection between the edge of each

of these ends 166a with the central vertical longitudinal

plane of the associated aligning trough 51 is located at the center of the length of this edge. Each of these two

conveying troughs 166 is resiliently mounted on four cu-

shion elements 192 on the base plate 193 of a supporting

frame 194 which is secured to a shaft 195. This shaft

195 is rotatably mounted on the frame 21 and carries on

one end an arm 196 the other end of which is pivotably

connected to the piston rod 197 of a pneumat'ic cylinder

unit or jack 198 which,in turn, is pivotably'm6unted on

'the frame 21 and adapted to be controlled by a solenoid

valve 199. The stroke of the piston rod 197 in each di-

rection has such a length that, when the piston rod is

in one end position as illustrated in Figure 18 in full

lines, the gliding surface .which is formed by the bottom of the conveying trough 166 is downwardly inclined from the distributor 165 toward the aligning trough 51, while in the other end position as indicated in dotted lines in Figure 18, the gliding surface of the respective con- veying trough 166 is inclined in the opposite direction.

In the space between the base plate- 193 of each support-

ing frame 194 and the bottom of the .associated conveying

trough 166 a vibrator 168 is secured to the lower side

of each conveying trough. Each of the two conveying

troughs 166 together with the supporting frame 194 carry-

ing the same thus forms a rocker-which is pivotable back and forth from a conveying position, in which it guides

the nails from the disributor 165 to the aligning troughs a 51, to/nail returning position.

Underneath the edges of the two ends of the gliding surfaces of the conveying troughs 166 facing the distri-

butor 165, a collecting funnel 200 is mounted which for

returning the nails falling into this funnel 200 is con-

nected to the container 2 by a pipe 201, the returning

trough 12 and the conveyer belt 64.

This apparatus permits the sorting mechanism E to

be employed solely for sorting out useless nails and not

also for limiting the quantity of nails."The'light barrier

91 which indicates an excessive accumulation of nails 89

in the guide slot 73 which continues the guide slot 54

between each pair of rails 53 does for this purpose not

control the operaticn of a brake wheel D1 as previously

described, but it is connected to the solenoid valve 199 for controlling its operation in such a manner that, whenever the nails have accumulated back to the light barrier 91, the rocker which is formed by each conveying trough 166 will be pivoted from its conveying position to its returning position in which the nails coming from the distributor 165 will be returned through the convey- ing trough into the collecting funnel- 200 and from the latter back to the container 2. Brake wheel Di may in this case be omitted or be mounted at another suitable position.

The ligTt barrier 148 is therefore in this case only

provided for switching off the sorting mechanism E so

that if a row of nails has accumulated back .to the light

barrier 148, the sorting mechanism E will be switched off

so that the nails will accumulate from a point in front

of it back to the light barrier 91 and will thereby

cause the rockerlike conveyer trough 166 to be pivoted

back to its returning position.

During the operation of the machine, the nails com-

ing from the conveyer belt 23 of the steep-angle con-

veyer B will be thrown against the deflecting plate 170

and then fall upon the gliding surfaces 165a and 165b of

o the distributor from which they fall into the conveying

troughs 166 which normally are in their conveying posi-

tion and are shaken by the vibrators 168. The nails will

then slide along the gliding surfaces which are formed

by the bottoms of these conveying troughs 166 and fall

into the aligning troughs 51. Due to the inclined inter- section of the delivery edges 166a of the gliding sur- faces of the conveying troughs 166 with the central ver- tical plane of the guide slots 54 of the aligning troughs

51, the nails dropping into the aligning troughs will be

uniformly distributed over the cross-sectional area of

these troughs so that an accumulation of nails into

lumps or clusters will be prevented.-The shanks of the

nails 89 will then slide in the aligning troughs 51 into

the guide slots 54, while their heads will be suspended

on the guide rails 53. As soon as a sufficient quantity

of nails has accumulated in each -guide slot 73,this will

be indicated by the light barrier 91 which will then

S. switch over the associated solenoid valve 199 so that

the rockerlike conveying trough 166 will be pivoted from e

its conveying position to its returning.position so that

all further nails coming from the conveyer belt 23 of

the steep-angle conveyer B will be returned through the

collecting funnel 200, the pipe 20i, the returning trough

11 and by the conveyer belt 64 into the container 2.

Each of the two rockerlike conveying troughs 166

thus forms a switch which is Lutable from a conveying po-

sition to a returning position and vice versa. In the

conveying position, each conveying trough 166 c6nnects

the preceding guide means, that is, the distributor 165

to the guide means which are disposed immediately subse-

quent thereto and consist of the aligning trough 51. In

the returning position of the conveying trough 166, how-

ever, the conveying movement in this direction will be interrupted. *I

In place of the light barrier 91, it is also pos-

sible to provide any other suitable indicating device

which is adapted to indicate an accumulation of faste-

ners in the guide means at a position subsequent to the

rockerlike switch.

Instead of pivotably mounting the conveying trough

166, it is also possible according to another embodiment

of the invention which is not particularly illustrated

to design another part of the nail guiding means to be

movable, for example, so as to be slidable toward and

away from the subsequent guide means. This movable guide

S, part may, for example, also consist of a part of the

rails between which the guide slot is provided.

The apparatus as illustrated in Figures 18 to

has the advantage over that according to the first embo-

diment of the invention that it provides a very simple

returning mechanism in the form of a movable switch

which may be shifted whenever required from its nail

conveying to its nail returning position. As indicated

in the preceding paragraph, such a switch may also be

provided at any other suitable position in the course

of the guide means since it only requires a pRrt.of these

guide means to be movable relative to the others. The

inventive principle of such movable switch means for re-

turning the fasteners may therefore be applied in the

form of a very simple structure at any desired point of

the entire conveyer.

7'I

By providing the conveying troughs 166 according

to Figures 18 to 20 in the form of pivotable rockers,

there are no difficulties in mounting them so that their

opposite ends will be in the proper positions relative

to the distributor 165 and to the aligning troughs 51. It is only necessary to mount each-of these troughs 166

so that in both positions to which it is pivotable its

one end will be located underneath the distributor 165

and its other end above the aligning trough 51. Insofar

as the functions of the rockerlike conveying troughs 166

Sare concerned, they may also be employed in association

with nail collecting troughs different from the aligning

troughs 51.

If in the machine according to Figures 1 to 17 the

dividing mechanism as shown in Figure 6 for dividing the

nail current coming from the steep-angle conveyer B into

two branch currents is replaced by the mechanism as shown

in Figures 18 to 20, the machine will operate as follows: As soon as the nails have accumulated in front of the

mechanism F back to the light barrier 149, the motor of

S the brake wheel D will be switched off so that no fur-

ther nails will be supplied to the light barrier 149 un-

til the accumulated nails have suffi6iently advanced so

that the light barrier will again be free. If the nails

accumulate from the brake wheel D 2 back to the light bar-

rier 148 and interrupt the latter, it will switch off

the sorting mechanism E, while the rockerlike troughs

166 will remain in their conveying position in order to insure that a.sufficient quantity of nails will always be available in front of the sorting mechanism E. If the nails accumulate in front of the sorting mechanism

E back to the light barrier 91, the rockerlike conveying

trough 166 will be pivoted to its returning position

and remain in this position until the light barrier 91 is again free of nails. The working -capacity of the me-

chanism F will thus always be fully utilized and there

is no danger that the operation of the. mechanism F might

be even temporarily interrupted because of an excessive

accumulation of nails in the preceding part of the con-

veyer or because of an idling of any of the preceding conveying means.

Although my invention has been illustrated and described with reference to the preferred embodiments thereof, I wish to h| have it understood that it is in no way limited to the details of such embodiments but is capable of numerous modifications within the scope-of the appended claims.

the claims defiing the' invention are as follows:-

1. .A method of conveyig .and aligning rod-shaped

fasteners by conveying them by a plurality of succes-

Bive conveying mechanisms as a fas.t.ener current along

a guide track to a fastener treating mechanism located

subsequent to all of said conveying mechanisms, in which

for attaining a predetermined working output of said

treating mechanism each of said conveying mechanism has

a fastener conveying output at least ashigh as said

working output of said treating mechanism,.and in which

the actual output of f asteners of at least a first

of said conveying mechanisms is at least partly con-

trolled in accordance with the actual output of a second

conveying; mechanism which is located subsequent to said

first conveying mechanism.

2. A method as defined in claim 1, in which in the

event that a quantity of fasteners is conveyed to said

second conveying mechanism which is in excess of the

quantity of its actual output, the'excessive 'fasteners

are returned to a position along said guide track at the

rear of said first conveying mechanism.

3. method as defined in claim 2, in which,

Sif said excessi-Lfasteners accumulate directly behind said second conveying mechanism up to a certain quantity

said quantity is determinad and at least those fasteners

33.- e~irm~~l in excess of said determin dquantity are returned to a position along said guide track at the rear of said first mechanism.

4. A machine for conveying and aligning rod-shaped

fasteners in accordance with the method as defined in

claim 1 or claim 2 by means of a plurality of successive

conveying mechanisms which are adapted to convey said

fasteners as a fastener current along a guide track to

a fastener treating mechanism located subsequent to all

of said conveying mechanisms and having a predetermined

working output, in which each of said conveying mecha-

nisms has a fastener conveying output at least as high

as said working output of said treating mechanism, and

in which the actual output of fasteners of at least

a first of said conveying mechanisms is at least partly

controlled in accordance with the actual output of a se-

cond conveying mechanism which is located subsequent to

said first conveying mechanism.

5. A machine as defined in claim 4, in which at

least said first conveying mechanism has an output of

fasteners in excess of the output of said second

conveying mechanism, and in which return means are pro-

vided before said second mechanisms for returning said ex-

cess of fasteners to a position of said guide track pre-

ceding said first mechanism.

:u I 54

6. A machine as defined in claim 5, in which con-

trol means are provided for controlling the operation

of said return means.

7o A machine as defined in claim 6, in which said

control means comprise indicating means between said

first and second conveying mechanisms for indicating at

a poitt'preceding said second conveying mechanism the

accumulation of a predetermined quantity of excessive fasteners

from said first mechanism, and control means responsive

to said indicating means for actuating: said.return means

when said indicating means indicate the accumulation of

at least said predetermined quantity of fasteners behind

said second mechanism.

8. A machine as defined in claim 6, in which one of said conveying mechanisms comprises a conveyer belt

of a nonmagnetizable material movable within a vertical

plane and having a conveying strand movable upwardly and

having a conveying side and a rear side, lower and upper uniformly magnetized magnet poles mounted in fixed posi-

tions at said rear side and separated by a gap from each

other, another of said conveying mechanisms having an

outlet for delivering fasteners to a lower part of said

conveying side of said belt underneath said gap, control

means for controlling the-quantity of said fasteners ad-

hering to and conveyed upwardly by said conveying strand,

said control means comprising an electromagnet mounted in ii i i I said gap, and means for varying the field intensity of said electromagnet and for thus determining the thick-.

ness of the layer of fasteners conveyed by said convey-

ing strand upwardly beyond said electromagnet.

9. A machine as defined in claim 8, in which the

upper end of said conveying strand passes over a first guide

roller deflecting said strand in a substantially hori-

zontal direction to a second guide roller, said first

guide roller comprising a plurality of magnetized disks

and nonmagnetizable disks spacing the adjacent magnetized

Sdisks from each other, and a demagnetizing magnet mounted

intermediate said guide rollers for demagnetizing the

Sfasteners on the substantially horizontal section of

said conveying strand, said second guide roller project-

ing over the inlet of the next following conveying me-

chanism and adapted to drop said demagnetized fasteners

into said inlet.

A machine as defined in one of claims 4 to 9,

in which said fastener current'is -plit up 'ito at least

two branch currents by means of a distributor having an

inlet and at least two outlets, each of said outlets ter-

mihating into a separate fastener conveying trough.

11. A machine as defined in claim 10, in which said

distributor comprises two gliding surfaces inclined like

a roof relative to each other.and having a common ridge-

36 Lm l:: G* r I1 in straight alignment with the central vertical longi- tudinal plane of the outlet of a conveying mechanism im- mediately preceding said distributor, and a deflecting wall on said distributor and extending substantially transverse to said ridge at the end- thereof remote from of said outlet/said preceding conveying mechanism and pro- jecting above said gliding surfaces, the lower edges of said gliding surfaces being disposed above said convey- ing troughs and forming said outlets of said distributor.

12. A machine as defined in one of claims 5 to 11, o 4,

in which each of said fasteners has a shank and a head

on one end of said shank, one of said conveying mechanisms

forming an aligning mechanism adapted to align said fa-

steners received from a preceding conveying mechanism in

at least one row behind each other and comprising at

(C4 least one aligning trough, said aligning trough having

a pair of parallel guide rails having inner edges spaced

from each other by a guide slot and outwardly inclined

guide walls projecting upwardly from the outer edges of

said guide rails from one end thereof facing said pre-

ceding conveying mechanism, said guide rails including

said guide slot extending beyond the other ends of said

inclined guide walls, said guide slot being adapted to

receive and guide the shanks of fasteners the heads of

which are slidable along 'the upper surfaces of said guide

rails, while additional fasteners also supplied from said

preceding conveying mechanism but the shanks of which are

b r r

Claims (1)

1. incapable of entering said guide slot are slidable along

   and between said inclined guide walls and the upper sur-

   faces of said guide rails to a collecting funnel at said

   other ends of said guide walls which.is adapted to re-

   ceive said additional fasteners and is connected to re-

   turn means for returning said additional fasteners to a

   position of said guide track preceding said aligning

   0. trough.

   o 0 13. A -machine as defined it one of claims 5 to in which deflecting means are provided which are adapted

   to deflect excessive fasteners from said guide track to

   said return means.

   14. A machine as defined in claims 7 and 13, in

   which drive means are provided for actuating said de-

   flecting means,. and a control switch for actuating said

   drive means and, in turn, adapted to be.actuated by said

   indicating means when said indicating means indicate

   tsaid accumulation of said fasteners in said guide track

   at a position subsequent to said deflecting means.

   A machine as defined in claim 13 or claim 14,

   in which said deflecting means forms a movable element

   interposed in said guide track and adapted to be moved

   from one position in which it .connects the adjacent ends

   of said guide track to each other to another position in

   which it interrupts said guide track and leads to said return means.

   16. A machine as defined in one of claim

   in which said guide track for said fasteners includ-

   ing said movable element comprises a conveying trough

   having a bottom forming a gliding surface, and in which

   said movable element comprises a rocker which is pivot-

   able about a horizontal axis extending transverse to

   Sthe longitudinal axis of said trough. o 'a

   .17. A machine as defined in claim 16, in which

   said movable element is resiliently mounted on a sup-

   Sporting frame which is pivotable together with said ele-

   ment about said horizontal axis, and a vibrator is di-

   rectly secured to said movable element and separated

   from said frame.

   18. A machine as defined in one of claims 15 to

   17, in which underneath said movable element forming

   said deflecting means a collecting device is mounted

   which is connected by a return-line to-.a posi-tion of the

   guide track preceding the movable element.

   19. A machine as defined in one of claims 15 to

   18, in which the edge of one end of said movable element

   is disposed above a collecting trough.

   A machine as defined in claim 19, in which the

   'r

   edge of said end of said movable element intersects at

   an acute angle the central vertical longitudinal plane

   of the collecting trough.

   21. A machine as defined in claim 14, in which

   one of said conveying mechanisms forms a sorting mecha-

   nism comprising said deflecting means and having a first

   and a second outlet, said first outlet formed by a guide o 00

   .o slot between a pair of guide rails for only conducting

   So. fasteners of- a proper condition'out of said sorting me- 0 o0 chanism, and said second outlet adapted to conduct pro- l0

   per but excessive fasteners as well as fasteners of an

   Simproper condition out of said sorting mechanism, an

   ejecting pipe and a return pipe, and control means mov-

   able to one position for normally connecting said second

   outlet to said ejecting pipe so as te eject only improper

   fasteners through said ejecting pipe, said control means

   also movable to another position for connecting said se-

   cond outlet to said return pipe so as to return said

   proper and improper fasteners to a position preceding

   said sorting mechanism in response. to-the -actuation of

   said indicating means due to said accumulation of said

   fasteners in said guide track subsequent to said sorting

   mechanism.

   22. A machine as defined in one of claims 4 to 21, in which said position to which said fasteners are to be

   returned by said return means 'consists of a shaking con-

   1<

   .tainer at the beginning of said fastener *current.

   23. .A machine as defined, in one of claims 4 to

   22, in which for passing the fasteners from guide rails which are vibrated by vibrators to -stationary guide rails, said vibrating guide rails have extensions pro- jecting over and spaced at a small distance vertical~ly o from the adjacent ends of said stationary rails. 0

   *0

   0 4. 000 A,

   44 44

   "I

   44t~

   DATED THIS 29th day of Morch 1972-

   KARL W. REIML ACHINENFABRIK

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