Decorative facial tissue dispensers have gained wide acceptance by the consuming public. These dispensers include cartons that are typically circular, oval, or some other rounded sidewall shape, and include decorative colors, graphics, or indicia on the visible sidewalls. The cartons may be designed to coordinate or compliment the user's home décor, and are often displayed in highly visible places as a decorative accessory item.
In manufacturing of these decorative dispensers, it is often the situation that a mix of cartons with different graphic designs are processed in-line essentially in a random distribution. For example, a holiday edition of decorative dispensers may include a number of different holiday-themed graphics printed on the carton sidewalls, with these different themes being in no specific order in the processing line. For the lid application step of the process, this does not present a problem so long as the same lid (i.e., same neutral color) is used for all the designs. However, there are times when lids of a specific color are designated for particular carton graphic designs, particularly for premium grade products. This often results in the need to hand select and assemble the lids to the cartons.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,581,836 describes an apparatus and method for automatic lid selection in a produce packing process wherein different lids are assigned to containers of different types of produce. A separate lidding station is provided for each of the different lids. A symbol is affixed to each container and indicates the contents of the respective container. A reader reads the symbol and the container is directed to one of the many lidding stations to receive the correct lid. This type of system requires a multitude of lid application stations and associated conveyor and control systems, and would be extremely complicated and expensive for use in an in-line high-speed carton assembly process.
U.S. Pat. Appln. Pub. 2005/0039416 describes a color-coded shrink-wrapped closure system wherein beverage containers for different beverages are all provided with a common color cap. The beverages are differentiated by application of color-coded shrink-wrap to the caps. The publication describes that the processing facility can change the reel containing the colored shrink-wrap material based on the particular beverage being bottled at the time. This type of system does not have usefulness where the different beverages are randomly commingled in the same processing line as a result of an intentional random loading of products, a jam condition, or removal of damaged products, all of which would prohibit a strict maintaining of a specific product mix order to downstream lid application.
An efficient, compact, and relatively inexpensive automatic system is needed for matching different types or colored lids to different carton bodies in a high-speed production line. The present invention provides such a system and associated methodology.
Objects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in part in the following description, or may be obvious from the description, or may be learned through practice of the invention.
In general, the present invention is related to a system and associated method for matching lids to cartons. The system and method have particular usefulness in a manufacturing line that assembles tissue carton dispensers, such as disposable facial tissue dispensers. It should be appreciated, however, that although the system and method are described herein with reference to embodiments related to tissue carton dispensers, the invention is not limited to such use and may have benefit in any manufacturing process wherein a random mix of different types of cartons require a particular type of lid for each respective type of carton.
The system includes a carton feed conveyor having a plurality of cartons carried at individual flight positions defined along the conveyor. These flight positions may be defined by a physical barrier, such as a rail or other guide structure that also helps to align the cartons on the conveyor. In an alternative embodiment, the flight positions need not be defined by a physical member, but may be designated or simply recognized by the control system as spaced apart locations along the conveyor. Each of the cartons carried on the carton feed conveyor has a mark applied thereto that indicates a particular type of lid that should be applied to the respective carton. In a particular embodiment, this mark indicates a particular color of lid to be applied to the respective carton. However, the mark may also indicate a type of lid having a particular graphics pattern, shape, or any other distinguishing feature. The marks may comprise a printed symbol or other indicia that is applied to any desired surface on the container. For example, the mark may be applied to a surface that is not outwardly visible upon complete assembly of the carton and lid. The mark may be applied for example to an inner surface of the carton, on a bottom surface of the carton, and so forth.
A reader is operatively disposed relative to the carton feed conveyor to read the individual marks on the cartons as the cartons are conveyed past the reader. This reader may be any suitable optical reader, such as a bar code reader, scanner, and the like.
A lid feed conveyor is provided having a plurality of individual flight positions defined thereon. Each flight position on the carton feed conveyor has an assigned or associated flight position on the lid feed conveyor. The lid feed conveyor and carton feed conveyor are coordinated so that the respective assigned flight positions arrive at a downstream lid application station together.
A lid placer station is supplied with the different types of lids needed for the respective different cartons in individual respective magazines. The lid placer station is disposed along the lid conveyor and is in communication with the reader and is configured to select the appropriate lid from the magazines dictated by the mark read from the reader. The selected lid is then transferred to the flight position on the lid feed conveyor that is assigned or associated to the flight position on the carton feed conveyor containing the carton (mark) read by the reader. Thus, as the assigned flight positions on the respective conveyors reach the downstream lid application station, the correct lid and carton are brought together for assembly at the application station.
In a particular embodiment, the lid placer station comprises a single lid placer, and the magazines are carried by a lid feeder that moves relative to the lid placer to place the correct magazine of lids adjacent to the lid placer. This arrangement may utilize, for example, a turret placer with a lid feeder (and associated magazines) that reciprocates back and forth relative to the turret placer. In this particular embodiment, all of the different lids are placed by the turret placer at the same relative position with respect to the lid feed conveyor. This embodiment may be desired with regards to a compact and space-efficient configuration.
In an alternative embodiment, the lid placer station may comprise a plurality of different lid placers, with each lid placer assigned a respective lid magazine. These plurality of lid spacers may be spaced apart along a section or portion of the lid feed conveyor within the lid placer station. For example, this configuration may be embodied with individual rotary placers, with each different type of lid being assigned to a respective rotary placer at a unique relative position with respect to the lid feed conveyor.
As mentioned, the system and method has particular usefulness for assembly of facial tissue dispensing cartons. In a unique embodiment, the cartons may have different graphic designs applied thereto and arrive to the downstream carton feed conveyor in random order as a result of intentional random loading or a processing condition that results in disruption of a particular order of the cartons. The magazines at the lid placer station contain different colored lids for each of the different graphics designs. The mark applied to each of the cartons indicates the desired colored lid desired for the particular graphics design on the carton. Eventually, the carton and correct lid will reach the downstream lid application station at the same time wherein the lid is applied to the carton body.
The magazines in the lid feeder may be supplied from auxiliary lid storage devices, particularly for high processing speeds wherein manual reloading of the magazines is prohibitive. For example, the auxiliary equipment might include lid feed hoppers and rotary bowls. For slightly slower speed applications, one or more carousel-type lid dispensers could contain multiple lid stacks, with each stack having a different lid color. The carousel could rotate to dispense the appropriate stacks via a chute or other guide configured between the carousel and the lid feeder magazines. It should be readily appreciated that any type of storage and transfer system may be utilized to supply the lid placer with additional lids upon depletion of the initial magazine of lids.
The present invention also encompasses the methodology for matching lids to cartons in a production line wherein cartons are placed at designated flight positions along a carton conveyor, the cartons having different appearances, such as different graphic designs, and a mark applied thereto indicating a particular type of lid to be applied to the respective carton. This mark is read as the cartons are conveyed on the carton conveyor. The lid required by the mark is assigned to an associated flight position on a separate lid conveyor. Based on the read mark, the proper type of lid from a supply of different types of lids is selected and placed on the associated flight position on the lid conveyor. Movement and the traveling path of the carton and lid conveyors are synchronized so that the associated flight positions arrive at a lid application station at a coordinated time so that the correct lid is applied to the carton.
Various other aspects of the methodology are expressly discussed herein with respect to the described system, or are readily apparent from the present discussion.
Other features and aspects of the present disclosure are discussed in greater detail below.
A full and enabling disclosure of the present invention, including the best mode thereof to one skilled in the art, is set forth more particularly in the remainder of the specification, including reference to the accompanying figures, in which:
Repeat use of reference characters in the present specification and drawings is intended to represent the same or analogous features or elements of the present invention.
Reference will now be made in detail to one or more embodiments of the invention, examples of which are illustrated in the figures. It should be understood that each embodiment is provided by way of explanation of the invention, and not meant as a limitation of the invention. Features illustrated or described with respect to one embodiment may be used with another embodiment to yield still a further embodiment.
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A lid placer station 30 is supplied with the different types of lids necessary for application to the different types of cartons 14. For example, in the illustrated embodiment, four different types (e.g., different colors) of lids may be needed for four different types of carton bodies 14. These lids are carried by separate lid magazines 32a-32d. These individual lid magazines may be part of a larger lid feeder 34, or may be stand alone magazines, for example as illustrated in
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It should be appreciated that the control circuitry 46 represented schematically in the figures may be any combination of software and hardware components that serves to coordinate and interface the related functions of the components, and also preferably provides an operator interface and a control station. It is well within the level of those skilled in the art to design any suitable control system or circuit for this purpose.
The machines 40a-40d in the embodiment of
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It should be appreciated that the steps outlined in
These and other modifications and variations to the present invention may be practiced by those of ordinary skill in the art, without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention, which is more particularly set forth in the appended claims. In addition, it should be understood that aspects of the various embodiments may be interchanged both in whole or in part. Furthermore, those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the foregoing description is by way of example only, and is not intended to limit the invention so further described in such appended claims.