APPARATUS FOR TRANSFERRING ARTICLES BETWEEN MOVING CONVEYORS

An apparatus for transferring articles between two moving and perpendicularly oriented conveyors employs a parallel-crank, four-bar linkage suspended from a structural frame to support an article clamping mechanism. The motions of the orbital link and the clamping mechanism are synchronized with and in the same direction as the motions of the articles on the conveyors at pick-up and discharge positions on the conveyors. A cam drive mechanism is utilized to modulate the orbital speeds of the link in systems in which the two conveyors operate at different speeds. An elevating mechanism is also driven in synchronism with the four-bar linkage to raise and lower the linkage and the clamping mechanism at the pick-up and discharge positions. The clamping mechanism incorporates rotatable shafts to open and close a plurality of resilient fingers which engage the articles with a controlled degree of pressure. A cam and cam follower operated by the four-bar linkage adjust the amounts by which the resilient fingers open and close at both the pick-up and the discharge positions.