Claims
- 1. Apparatus for folding and gluing a blank into a carton having two outboard panels, two inboard panels and a glue flap at the edge of one outboard panel adhesively secured to the edge of the opposite outboard panel, said panels and glue flap being defined by fold lines, said apparatus comprising,
- a conveyor for feeding carton blanks in a direction parallel to their folded lines,
- a first rotatable plow on one side of said conveyor for folding said glue flap and outboard panel over upon said one outboard panel,
- conveyor means on the other side of said conveyor opposite said first rotatable plow for tightly gripping the upper and lower sides of said one outboard panel to convey said blank past said first rotatable plow while holding said blank securely in longitudinal alignment,
- means upstream of said rotatable plow for applying glue to an edge of said blank,
- a second rotatable plow located downstream of said first rotatable plow and on the opposite side of said conveyor from said first rotatable plow for folding said opposite outboard panel on the other side of said blank over upon said blank with an edge portion overlying the glue flap of the first panel,
- conveyor means securely gripping the upper and lower surfaces of said folded blank and located on the side of said conveyor opposite to said second rotatable plow to securely grip said blank and maintain it in longitudinal alignment,
- and means downstream of said rotatable plow for pressing said edge portion and glue flap together with said applied glue therebetween.
- 2. Apparatus for folding and gluing a carton comprising,
- a conveyor for feeding carton blanks in a direction parallel to their fold lines,
- a first rotatable plow on one side of said conveyor for folding a first panel on one side of the blank over upon the blank,
- a second rotatable plow downstream of said first plow on the other side of said conveyor for folding a panel on the other side of the blank over upon the blank with an edge portion overlying an edge portion of said first panel,
- a glue applicator upstream of said plows for applying glue to one of said edge portions prior to the folding of said first panel,
- and means, downstream of said second plow, for pressing said edge portions together,
- said conveyor comprising,
- first and second laterally spaced endless belts passing between and adjacent said first and second plows, respectively,
- a first pressure section located opposite said first plow and associated with said second belt,
- a second pressure section located opposite said second plow and associated with said first belt,
- each said pressure section including means for pressing said blank against said belt to securely grip said blank and drive said blank longitudinally at least during the plowing operation of the respective plow while maintaining longitudinal alignment of said blank.
- 3. Apparatus for folding and gluing a carton comprising,
- a coveyor for feeding carton blanks in a direction parallel to their fold lines,
- a first rotatable plow on one side of said conveyor for folding a first panel on one side of the blank over upon the blank,
- a second rotatable plow on the other side of said conveyor for folding a panel on the other side of the blank over upon the blank with an edge portion overlying an edge portion of said first panel,
- a glue applicator upstream of said plows for applying glue to one of said edge portions,
- means, downstream of said second plow, for pressing said edge portions together,
- means for detecting improperly glued or folded blanks,
- and means controlled by said detecting means for rejecting said improperly glued or folded blanks.
- 4. In carton gluing apparatus having a feeder for feeding individual carton blanks into the gluing apparatus, said blanks having printing on one side and having preformed score lines depressed into the printed side of said carton,
- at least two sets of creasing roll means between said feeder and said gluing apparatus for depressing back-break lines into the unprinted side of said blanks along at least two of said preformed score lines to back-break said preformed score lines.
- 5. Creasing roll means as in claim 4 including in each set an upper roll having a circumferential rib and a lower roll having a cooperating circumferential groove, said carton blank being received between said rolls to effect the scoring of said blanks and said ribs engaging said blanks on an opposite side thereof from said preformed score lines.
- 6. In carton gluing apparatus having a feeder for feeding individual carton blanks into the gluing apparatus, said blanks having printing on one side and having preformed parallel score lines dividing said blank serially into a first side panel, a front panel, a second side panel, a back panel and a glue flap,
- at least two sets of creasing roll means between said feeder and said gluing apparatus for depressing back-break lines into the unprinted side of said blank along the said preformed score lines between said front panel and second side panel and between said back panel and glue flap respectively to back-break said preformed score lines.
Parent Case Info
This application is a continuation-in-part of my copending application Ser. No. 690,644, filed May 27, 1976, now U.S. Pat. No. 4,056,046 entitled "Apparatus for Folding and Gluing Carton Blanks."
This invention relates to apparatus for folding and gluing carton blanks to form flat-folded side-seamed blanks which are subsequently opened into tubular shapes, filled with product and closed.
In cartoning apparatus, flat-folded cartons are fed from a magazine, erected, filled with a product and sealed. The packaging company which operates the cartoning apparatus has two principal alternatives for providing a supply of folded carton blanks.
First, the packager may obtain the flat-folded blanks from the converter which first forms the blanks, creases them, folds them and forms a glued seam. In this form, the blanks are shipped to the packager. The packager may simply load the pre-folded and glued carton blanks into the magazine of the cartoning machine and thereafter perform the steps of cartoning on the apparatus.
Alternatively, the packager may obtain flat, open carton blanks from the converter and, on apparatus provided for that purpose, perform the folding and sealing operations. The folding and sealing apparatus preferably is associated with the cartoning apparatus so as to continuously supply carton blanks as required by the cartoner, or, alternatively, the carton blanks can be first formed, stored and then used as required.
The first approach, that is, obtaining folded and sealed carton blanks from the converter, has its disadvantages. The cost of the carton blanks is increased. There is an additional cost for storage and handling. More importantly, however, the carton blanks when stored become compacted by the weight of the blanks upon one another and thus are more difficult to open on the cartoning apparatus.
The alternative approach of folding and sealing the carton blanks on appartus associated with a cartoner, while preferred, has the disadvantage that the folding and sealing apparatus heretofore known has been quite large and thus requires considerable floor space alongside the cartoning apparatus. Such folding and sealing appartus is exemplified by U.S. Pat. No. 3,418,892.
That apparatus which employs a conveyor for moving carton blanks past stationary plows to effect the folding operation has, in practice, a length of about twenty-eight feet.
An objective of the present invention has been to provide apparatus which efficiently folds and seals carton blanks and in practice requires a length of only about nine feet.
A principal structural feature of the invention which enables the apparatus to fold the cartons in a short excursion on the apparatus conveyor is a pair of rotating plows on each side of the conveyor and spaced longitudinally from each other. The rotating plows, cooperating with wedge-shaped stationary plows which start the folding of the outboard panels, cause the outboard panels to be folded at an angle of approximately 180.degree.. In one rotation of a rotating plow, it is possible to fold a panel upon itself, thereby eliminating the need for a series of stationary plows which gradually effect the folding of the panels upon the blank.
Another objective of the invention has been to provide, in the conveyor for the blanks, a drive mechanism which grips the blanks securely to move them through the operating sections. This drive mechanism includes, on both sides of the conveyor, at least one pressure section consisting of alternating upper and lower rollers between which a conveyor belt passes carrying a carton blank. The tension on the belt, interacting with the rollers, causes the blank to be securely gripped as it is conveyed through the machine. Normally, only one side of a blank is gripped while the other side is moved through an operating station.
Another objective of the invention has been to provide a detector and eject mechanism which detects a condition of two or more blanks folded together and causes them to be ejected from the system instead of being dropped into the magazine of the cartoning apparatus.
Another objective of the invention has been to improve the opening characteristics of a carton blank after it has been sealed and fed into a cartoner. In this regard, the carton blanks are normally printed on one side and are prescored to form the four panels and glue flap. The prescoring is done by depressing score lines or creases into the carton blank from the printed side, apparently in order to improve the appearance of the carton when it is filled and sealed. These preformed score lines, however, tend to resist opening the carton in the cartoner. The objective of the invention has been achieved by providing creasing rolls which back-break the preformed score lines by depressing creases into the unprinted side of the carton.
It is preferred to have at least two sets of creasing rolls which back-break those preformed score lines which remain unaffected by the side seam gluing apparatus. The remaining score lines, along which the panels are folded by the rotating plows, need not necessarily be back-broken. However, some board which is used for forming carton blanks is so stiff that the action of the rotating plows is facilitated by the back-break creasing rolls, and in this event four sets of creasing rolls would be employed to back-break all preformed score lines.
US Referenced Citations (9)
Continuation in Parts (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
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690644 |
May 1976 |
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Patent Grant
4144800
