The present application relates to a flap gripper for a case erector and, more particularly, to a pin type gripper with a movable dome.
Pin type grippers that employ a combination of substantially straight pins and cooperating domes have been used successfully in case opening systems for corrugated boxes many years. Corrugated boxes are boxes generally make from corrugated board composed of a pair of outer liner with a corrugated medium there between. The corrugated medium connects and holds the liners in substantially parallel spaced relationship. These pin type gripper systems rely on a series of pins that are carefully aligned with domes and that penetrate the open end of panels (flaps) on the flattened or folded corrugated box or carton (i.e. between the liners) in a direction parallel to the longitudinal axis of the corrugations in the medium. The pins combine with their respective adjacent domes to grip the liner there between.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,316,643 and U.S. Pat. No. 7,422,552 are representative of such pin holder and dome carton flap griping systems. The '643 patent discloses and claims an embodiment in which the dome is movable, which aids in assuring proper gripping of the carton blanks during the unfolding or erecting of the blanks. However, improvements in such systems are regularly sought.
It would be desirable to provide an improved dome mounting system for such gripping arrangements.
In one aspect, a gripping arrangement for handling carton flaps includes an operating panel including an inner side and an outer side, a pin holder located on the operating panel and including at least one pin extending therefrom and terminating in a free end extending along and spaced from the inner side of the operating panel. The operating panel includes a through opening with a first portion and a second portion, the first portion extending from the outer side toward the inner side and the second portion extending from the inner side toward the outer side. The first portion has a first cross-sectional area and the second portion has a second cross-sectional area, wherein the first cross-sectional area is larger than the second cross-sectional area such that a first shoulder is defined within the through opening, the shoulder facing the outer side of the operating panel. A dome member is movably positioned within the through opening and includes a front dome portion and a rear retention portion. The front dome portion is sized for passage through the second portion of the through opening so as to extend beyond the inner side of the operating panel toward the pin, and the rear retention portion is sized to define a second shoulder that engages the first shoulder to prevent complete passage of the dome member from the outer side of the operating panel through the through opening to the inner side of the operating panel.
In another aspect, a case erecting system includes a gripping arrangement for handling carton flaps, where the gripping arrangement includes an operating panel including an inner side and an outer side, a pin holder located on the operating panel and including at least one pin extending therefrom and terminating in a free end extending along and spaced from the inner side of the operating panel, the operating panel including a through opening from the outer side to the inner side. A dome member is positioned within the through opening for movement between a grip position in which a dome surface of the dome member is located toward the pin member and a non-grip position in which the dome surface is located away from the pin member. A pneumatic actuation assembly is provided for selectively urging the dome member into the grip position by applying gaseous pressure from the outer side of the operating panel.
In a further aspect, a case erecting system includes a gripping arrangement for handling carton flaps, the gripping arrangement including an operating panel including an inner side and an outer side, a pin holder located on the operating panel and including at least one pin extending therefrom and terminating in a free end extending along and spaced from the inner side of the operating panel, the operating panel including a through opening from the outer side to the inner side. A dome member is positioned within the through opening for movement between a grip position in which a dome surface of the dome member is located toward the pin member and a non-grip position in which the dome surface is located away from the pin member. A pneumatic assembly is provided for selectively urging the dome member into the grip position by applying gaseous pressure. A controller is operatively connected with the pneumatic assembly, the controller configured to cause the pneumatic assembly to apply gaseous pressure when a carton is being opened, the controller configured to remove gaseous pressure when a carton flap is initially being received by the pin member such that the dome member can move toward the non-grip position under interaction with the carton flap in order to facilitate the carton flap moving into position on the pin member.
The details of one or more embodiments are set forth in the accompanying drawings and the description below. Other features, objects, and advantages will be apparent from the description and drawings, and from the claims.
Referring to
The knocked down blanks 100 (only a portion shown—see
Each gripper 20 is mounted on its jaw or operating panel 12 or 14 with its gripping pin(s) substantially parallel to the surface 12A or 14A of the operating panels 12 or 14 and are positioned to cooperate with dome shaped projections 24 extending from the surface 12A or 14A to grip the adjacent surface layer (i.e. the outer layer 102 on opposite sides of the blank 100 in
In operation as the blank 100 is moved as indicated by the arrow 101 and the pins 22 pass inside the panel immediately adjacent to the adjacent surface panel (outside layer 102) while the panels are being deformed by the domes 24 to an undulating shape in the illustration in
Referring now to
Below each pin holding body 214, a through hole 222 is located on the operating panel. Each hole 222 receives a dome member 230 that interacts with the pins 212 to facilitate gripping a carton flap. The dome member is movable to facilitate both proper gripping of flaps and to enable the pins to readily be inserted into the flap edges. As seen in
A set (e.g., 4) of small holes 240 surrounds each through hole 222 and is used to attach a pressurization assembly 242 to the outer side of the panel over the through opening, which maintains the dome member within the hole 222. The dome member 230 is movably positioned within the through opening 222 and includes a front dome portion 244 and a rear retention portion 246, where the front dome portion 244 is sized for passage through the second portion 234 of the through opening so as to extend beyond the inner side of the operating panel toward the pin(s) 212. The rear retention portion 246 is sized to define a shoulder 248 that engages the shoulder 236 to prevent complete passage of the dome member 230 from the outer side of the operating panel through the through opening to the inner side of the operating panel. The pressurization assembly 242 includes an air feed 250, which connects to a passage 252 provided in a stiff plate 254 that is attached at the outer side of the of the operating panel over the through opening. A flexible plate 256 is disposed between the stiff plate 254 and the dome member 230. Bolts or screws 258 connect the assembly to the holes 240.
In operation, the pneumatic assembly provides a pressurization system for selectively supplying pressurized fluid to urge the dome member 230 into a seated position in which the shoulder 248 engages the shoulder 236. This seated position places the dome surface of the dome member in a grip position toward the pin(s) 212 for adequate and effective gripping of a carton flap that is received on the pin(s). When pressurized fluid is not being supplied the dome member 230 can be moved into an unseated position in which the shoulder 248 is spaced from the shoulder 236, and thus the dome surface of the dome member is in a non-grip position away from the pin(s). When fluid pressure (e.g., compressed air from compressed air source 260) is applied via the air feed 250, the gaseous pressure applied to the rear side of the flexible plate 256 thereby causes the flexible plate 256 to urge the dome member 230 into the grip position. In the absence of the fluid pressure, the dome member can move toward the non-grip position, such as when a carton flap is being moved onto the pin(s) and the carton flap interacts with the dome member 230.
A controller 262 is operatively connected with the pneumatic assembly and may be configured to cause the pneumatic assembly to apply gaseous pressure when a carton is being opened (e.g., after the carton flap has been inserted onto the pins). The controller 262 is configured to remove gaseous pressure when a carton flap is initially being received by the pin(s) such that the dome member can move toward the non-grip position under interaction with the carton flap in order to facilitate the carton flap moving into position on the pin member.
It is to be clearly understood that the above description is intended by way of illustration and example only, is not intended to be taken by way of limitation, and that other changes and modifications are possible. Although not described in detail above, operating panel 220 may include similar pneumatic assemblies in connection with its dome members.