Information
-
Patent Grant
-
6497084
-
Patent Number
6,497,084
-
Date Filed
Friday, July 9, 199925 years ago
-
Date Issued
Tuesday, December 24, 200222 years ago
-
Inventors
-
Original Assignees
-
Examiners
- Vidovich; Gregory M.
- Jimenez; Marc
Agents
- Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice, PLLC
-
CPC
-
US Classifications
Field of Search
US
- 053 488
- 053 486
- 053 3891
- 053 3892
- 053 3894
- 053 3895
- 271 273
- 271 271
- 271 12
- 271 1001
- 271 110
- 271 34
- 271 185
-
International Classifications
-
Abstract
There is provided transport apparatus for carton blanks 11. The blanks are delivered to a pair of rotating nip rollers 17 by using a segment wheel 15 and a swinging suction arm 16. The nip rollers 17 are drive at a predetermined speed so as to deliver the blanks 11 between two pairs of endless belts 18, 19 which are driven at the same speed as each other, the speed of the belts being slower than that of the nip rollers 17. The blanks 11 are, therefore, received by the nip rollers 17 in a pitched manner but the relative speeds ensures that the blanks are transported by the endless belts 18, 19 in an unpitched, end to end relationship.
Description
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to apparatus for transporting carton blanks in a packaging machine from a pitched carton pick mechanism to an unpitched carton folding mechanism.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
In known packaging machines which are pitched, for example machines for producing multipacks of bottles or cans, carton blanks are held in a magazine and are picked off one by one by a carton feeder before being transported in a pitched manner to an area where they are folded around the articles to be packed. In a packaging machine which is not pitched, the carton blanks have to be transported to the folding area in back to back fashion, aligned with the unpitched articles supplied by the infeed mechanism of the packaging machine.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
According to the present invention there is provided transport apparatus for transporting carton blanks from a pitched carton pick mechanism to an unpitched carton folding mechanism, said transport apparatus comprising: a pair of nip rollers for rotation at a first speed which rollers receive the carton blanks at pitched intervals, at least one pair of opposed endless belts which in use move at an identical second speed, the belts defining therebetween a gap, the blank being received in the gap and conveyed by the belts, the gap at the upstream end of the belts nearest the nip rollers being widened such that the nip rollers accelerate the blanks into the widened gap, the distance between the nip rollers and the non-widened section being substantially equal to the carton length such that downstream of the widened section the successive blanks are disposed in end to end relationship.
Preferably two pairs of endless belts are provided at laterally spaced locations for receiving lateral extremities of the cartons. In preferred arrangements the gaps between the pairs of belts widen slightly at their downstream ends to facilitate removal of the extremities of the cartons.
In some arrangements the length of the widened upstream section between the nip rollers and the non-widened section of the endless belts is variable to enable the apparatus to be used with cartons of different lengths. Conveniently the upstream end of one belt of each pair is guided by two spaced guide rolls at its upstream end, the axes of the rolls being located on a line parallel to the path of travel through the non-widened section, the most upstream first guide roll being of smaller diameter than the second guide roll which constitutes the junction of the widened upstream section, the smaller diameter first guide roll effecting said gap widening.
A preferred feature is that the axis of the second guide roll is movable along said parallel line to effect the variable length of the widened upstream section. Normally the lower belt of each pair is provided with said first and second guide rolls.
Typically the upstream widened section and the non-widened section of the endless belts are angled downwardly so as, in use, to approach from above a stream of product moving unpitched along a substantially horizontal product path. Also the downstream widened section of the endless belts is substantially parallel to and above part of the horizontal product patch so as, in use, to place the successive carton blanks on to successive groups of products as side folding arms engage the blank and pull the lateral extremities of the blank from between the pairs of endless belts.
An embodiment of the present invention will now be described in more detail.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1
is a schematic side view showing a carton transport apparatus according to the present invention,
FIG. 2
is a schematic side view of part of the carton transport apparatus,
FIG. 3
is a perspective view from above of the apparatus of
FIG. 2
,
FIG. 4
is a perspective view similar to that of
FIG. 3
at a different time, and
FIG. 5
is a reverse schematic side view of a further part of the carton transport apparatus.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
In the figures there is shown transport apparatus
10
for moving a carton blank
11
from a carton feeder arrangement
12
to a carton folding arrangement
13
where the blanks
11
are folded around a plurality of articles
14
. In the embodiment shown the articles
14
are bottles and the blanks
11
form wraps around bottles
14
, the necks of which project through corresponding holes in the blank
11
. Machines to form such wraps from blanks
11
are known. These known machines are however pitched in that the articles to be wrapped are supplied to the folding area in distinct groups of a certain size and the blanks are also transported in a pitched manner to the articles from the carton feeder arrangement.
Pitched machines however have a number of problems associated with them. Firstly, the articles have to be separated into distinct groups with a fixed distance between the groups. This requires additional mechanisms, such as flight bars or side transport lugs, which are undesirable. Secondly the machines are inherently less efficient in operation because there are empty spaces passing through the machine.
The transport apparatus
10
enables blanks
11
to be delivered in an unpitched manner to an unpitched flow of articles which are wrapped in an unpitched folding section. The term unpitched means that the articles are fed in a constant stream in back to back manner but it can also incorporate a product pitched arrangement where the articles are fed in a constant stream with a regular space between the articles.
In the drawings, there is shown part of the carton feeder arrangement
12
. Such feeders
12
are known and so the operation of it will not be described in detail. Other types of carton feeder arrangement are known and could be used in place of the one illustrated. Essentially the feeder arrangement picks the end carton blank
11
from a pile of blanks
11
located in a magazine (not shown) using a rotating segment wheel
15
and a swinging suction arm
16
. The blanks are then delivered to a pair of rotating nip rollers
17
between which the blanks pass and which are driven at a predetermined speed.
The blanks
11
are driven by the nip rollers
17
to the transport apparatus
10
which comprises two pairs of cooperating endless belts
18
,
19
. One pair of belts
18
,
19
is provided for each lateral marginal edge portion of the blanks
11
as can clearly be seen from FIGS.
3
. and
4
. The action of the two pairs of belts
18
,
19
mirror each other and so the action of only one pair will be described.
In order for the packaging machine to operate on an unpitched stream of articles, the blanks
11
must also be provided in an unpitched stream. The blank feeder arrangement
13
is, however, pitched. Each pair of belts, an upper belt
18
and a lower belt
19
, comprises first, second and third sections
20
,
21
,
22
. The upper belt
18
is driven by a drive roller
23
and is guided around free rollers
24
and a fixed guide
25
. The lower belt
19
is driven by a drive roller
26
and is guided around free rollers
27
,
28
,
30
such that in the second section
21
the upper and lower belts
18
,
19
are separated by a small gap so that they grip and transport a blank which is located therebetween. The upper and lower belts are both driven at the same machine speed as that of the unpitched folding section
13
.
In the first section
22
the gap between the two belts widens slightly. The free guide roller
28
which is most upstream has an axis of rotation
29
which is aligned with the axis
31
of the second guide roller
30
. This alignment of axes is substantially parallel to the upper belt
18
in this first section
20
. However the first guide roller
28
is of slightly smaller diameter than the second guide roller
30
such that at the upstream end of the belts
18
,
19
the gap between them is wider than in the second section
21
.
The axis
30
of the second guide roller is located a distance X from the nip rollers
17
and this distance X is equal to the length of the carton blank in the machine direction. In addition the speed of the nip rollers
17
is faster than the machine speed of the upper and lower belts
18
,
19
. The nip rollers
17
therefore “shoot” the blanks between the belts
18
,
19
(see
FIG. 3
) and the relative speeds of the rollers
17
and the belts
18
,
19
is such that a following blank catches up the previous blank because the nip rollers drive it downstream quicker than the previous blank which is now being driven only by the slower belts
18
,
19
. The widening of the first section
20
ensures that the following blank is not affected by the belts
18
,
19
until it reaches the second guide roller
30
at which point the upstream end of the blank is leaving the faster nip rollers
17
(see FIG.
4
). The relative speeds are such that the following blank is caused to abut the previous blank at the second guide roller
30
to produce an unpitched supply of blanks in the second section
21
of the belts. The same operation occurs for subsequent blanks.
In the arrangement shown the location of the axis
31
of the second rollers is adjustable along the lower belt
19
. This is ideal for accurate setting up of the apparatus and enables the apparatus to be changed so that it can operate on blanks
11
of different length. The distance between the nip rollers
17
and the axis
31
of the second guide rollers
30
is changeable so as to be equal to the length of the blanks. This adjustability is achieved by having the axis of the second guide rollers
30
being slidable along a slot
32
and lockable in any chosen position.
In the second section
21
, the belts
18
,
19
hold the edges of the blank tightly and transport them to the moving stream of bottles
14
below and into engagement therewith. The apparatus is of course synchronized using known techniques such that the blanks and bottles are correctly in register with each other and moving at the same speed.
The third section
22
of the belts
18
,
19
sees a further slight widening of the gap between the belts. This coincides with the blanks
11
entering the folding section
13
of the packaging machine. By this time the second section
21
of the belts has guided the blanks downwardly into engagement with the bottles
14
. In the third section
22
, a side folding device
33
, well known in the field, engages and folds down the sides
34
of the blanks
11
ready for tightening and locking. The slight widening of the gap between the belts in this third section enables the edges of the blanks to withdraw easily from between the belts
18
,
19
.
The result is an effective unpitched carton transport for an unpitched packaging machine.
It will be clear to the skilled reader that other ways of widening the upstream gap are possible as are other ways of making the device adjustable for different length cartons and accuracy.
It further will be understood by those skilled in the art that while the invention has been disclosed with reference to preferred embodiments, various modifications, changes and variations can be made thereto without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention as set forth in the following claims.
Claims
- 1. A transport apparatus for transporting carton blanks from a pitched carton pick mechanism to an unpitched carton folding mechanism, said transport apparatus comprising:a pair of nip rollers which rotate at a first speed; and, a pair of cooperating endless belts spaced from and aligned with said pair of nip rollers and which rotate at a second speed, wherein said first speed is faster than said second speed, said pair of cooperating endless belts defining a gap therebetween in which the blanks are received, said pair of belts including a first section defining an upstream widened gap section between said endless belts, a second section defining an unwidened gap section and a third section defining a downstream widened gap section between said endless belts, wherein said upstream widened gap section is wider than said unwidened gap section and said downsteam widened gap section is wider than said unwidened gap section, wherein said first section and said second section of said pair of belts are angled downwardly and said third section of said pair of belts is substantially horizontal, and wherein at least one of said belts is received about a guide roller that is movable with respect to said nip rollers so as to adjust spacing between said unwidened gap section and said nip rollers, wherein said spacing is substantially equal to a length of the blanks.
- 2. The transport apparatus of claim 1, further including another pair of endless belts spaced laterally from said pair of endless belts.
- 3. The transport apparats of claim 1, wherein the length of said upstream widened gap is variable.
- 4. The transport apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a first guide roller and a second guide roller, wherein said first guide roller has an axis of rotation aligned with an axis of said second guide roller and said first guide roller has a smaller diameter than said second guide roller.
- 5. The transport apparatus of claim 4, wherein said first guide roller is upstream of said second guide roller.
Priority Claims (1)
Number |
Date |
Country |
Kind |
9622710 |
Oct 1996 |
GB |
|
PCT Information
Filing Document |
Filing Date |
Country |
Kind |
PCT/GB97/02977 |
|
WO |
00 |
Publishing Document |
Publishing Date |
Country |
Kind |
WO98/18677 |
5/7/1998 |
WO |
A |
US Referenced Citations (12)
Foreign Referenced Citations (2)
Number |
Date |
Country |
27 21 138 |
Jan 1978 |
DE |
0 602 299 |
Jun 1994 |
EP |