The present disclosure is directed to a load former having a space that can be used for storage and/or as a work area that is easily accessible by an operator of the load former.
Paperboard blanks can be produced by various machines including rotary die cut machines. These blanks exit the rotary die cut machine individually or a small number at a time and are then formed into small stacks or bundles in a known manner. These bundles must then be arranged into larger stacks on pallets for transport and storage.
For example, through known processes, the blanks may be formed into bundles of 20. If each bundle is 24 inches long by ×20 inches wide, four of these bundles can be arranged in a layer having a footprint that corresponds to the 40×48 inch surface of a standard pallet. Assuming each of the bundles is 12 inches high, four to eight of these layers can be stacked one on top of another to form a 48 inch to 96 inch tall stack on the pallet. The dimensions of a standard pallet may be discussed herein, but bundles having different dimensions and/or bundles arranged in different patterns in a layer or on a pallet having different dimensions can also be formed.
While the stacks could be formed completely manually, that is, by having a worker placing each of the bundles on a pallet in a pattern and then stack additional bundles on top of the first layer, this process is inefficient and it can be difficult to form a final stack that is square. Therefore devices known as “load formers” are used to partially automate this process.
A conventional load former 500 is schematically illustrated in
In operation (
With these four bundles in place, the worker presses a button (not illustrated) or otherwise generates a signal to cause a drive 520 to retract the cookie sheet 502 through or past the stop wall 504 to deposit the four bundles onto a support conveyor 508. The support conveyor 508 is mounted on a lift table 510 which allows the support conveyor to be moved between a lowered position illustrated in
For safety reasons, panels including a front panel 522 are provided on the machine frame 524 to substantially enclose the region upstream of the load forming area (to the left of the load-forming area in
A first embodiment of the present disclosure comprises a load former with a frame having a first end and a second end and a front side and a rear side. A loading zone is bounded on a first end by a stop wall having a stop surface lying in a plane and a rear wall at the rear side of the frame; the loading zone is open at the front side of the frame. A cookie sheet is slidably supported by the frame for travel along a path perpendicular to the plane, and the path includes a first portion on a first side of the plane and a second portion on a second side of the plane. A portion of the cookie sheet in the second portion of the path defines a bottom of the loading zone. A platform is supported by the frame and extends over the first portion of the path, and a top wall is vertically spaced from the platform to define a storage space between the top wall and the platform. The storage space has a front opening at the front side of the frame such that is accessible from the front side of the frame.
An embodiment of the present disclosure is described below in connection with the attached drawings wherein:
As will be apparent from
The storage space 112 may be open or closed on the left and rear sides. For example, a left side panel 116 is visible in
While the storage space 112 may comprise substantially all the vertical space between the path of the cookie sheet 502 and the top wall 118, that is, it may extend from the front side 101 of the load former 100 to the rear side 103 of the load former 100, in the alternative, the storage space 112 may occupy only a portion of the space between the path of the cookie sheet 502 and the top wall 118 if room is needed to accommodate motors or other functional elements of the load former 100. For example, the rear wall 117 may be located at the rear side 103 of the load former 100 or at a location between the front side 101 and the rear side 103 of the load former 100.
Regardless of the location of the rear wall 117, the storage space extends at least part way over (above) the portion of the path followed by the cookie sheet 502 that is to the left of the stop wall 504 so that the cookie sheet 502 moves back and forth under the storage space 112 when the load former 100 operates.
Optionally, the cover 102 can support one or more slidable shelves 122; a single slidable shelf 122 is illustrated. A top of the slidable shelf 122 may form a writing surface or be used to support an item such as the computer 108 shown mounted on the slidable shelf 122 in
The cookie sheet 502 is mounted at a height that is easy for an operator to access as bundles are placed thereon. The top surface 106 of the storage space is located slightly higher than the top of the cookie sheet (by 0.5 to 2 inches, for example) and is therefore also located at a convenient work height for the operator.
The storage space 112 may optionally be closable by a cover such as a door.
The present invention has been described herein in terms of presently preferred embodiments. Modifications and additions to these embodiments will become apparent to persons of ordinary skill in the art upon a reading of the foregoing disclosure. It is intended that all modifications and additions to these embodiments form a part of the present invention to the extent they fall within the scope of the several claims appended hereto.
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63/306,795, filed Feb. 4, 2022, the contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.
Number | Name | Date | Kind |
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4600249 | Anderson | Jul 1986 | A |
9778707 | San Clemente | Oct 2017 | B1 |
10850933 | Allen, Jr. | Dec 2020 | B1 |
10934108 | Allen, Jr. et al. | Mar 2021 | B1 |
20190300283 | Hellenbrand | Oct 2019 | A1 |
Number | Date | Country | |
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20230249924 A1 | Aug 2023 | US |
Number | Date | Country | |
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63306795 | Feb 2022 | US |