CA1064297A - Packaging machine for use with cartons of different sizes with minimum adjustment - Google Patents

Abstract

PACKAGING MACHINE FOR USE WITH CARTONS OF
DIFFERENT SIZES WITH MINIMUM ADJUSTMENT
Abstract of the Disclosure A packaging machine includes oscillatable feeding means for withdrawing cartons from a hopper in sequence together with pusher means which engages withdrawn cartons and moves the cartons in sequence into cooperative relationship with conveyor means having transversely disposed spaced apart flight bars which move the cartons along a predetermined path so that leading end flaps of transversely disposed open ended cartons are disposed for engagement by static plows and so that a folding arm movable in a horizontal plane and through a clearance notch formed in each leading end flap may engage the immediately preceding trailing end flap so as to impart closing movement thereto. The machine may be readily converted for use with cartons of different sizes by suction means disposed on the oscillatable feeding means and arranged to provide suction pressure during every cycle or during alternate cycles only.

Description

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Wide spread proliferation of many sizes and shapes of primary packages requires that secondary packages such a8 sleeve type cartons of different sizes be provided. It i8 current practice to provide an end loaded sleeve type carton for packaging a dozen primary packages. Such cartons are also frequently provided for use in packaging two dozen primary packages. Machines which are constructed for loading and closing end loaded sleeve type cartons ordinarily are well suited for use with a carton of a particular predetermined size.

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10f~97 Such machines require substantial modification in order to adapt them for uQe with cartons of the same type but of a different capacity.
According to this invention in one form, a machine is provided which includes oscillatable feeder means on which several suction cups are mounted for engaging in sequence and for withdrawing standard size cartons from a hopper and such mechanism is provided with means for applying vacuum pre~sure to the cartons during each operating cycle of the oscillatable means. According to one feature of the invention, the suction means is deactivated during alternate cycles of the oscillatable means so as to render the feeder means adaptable for use with cartons which are larger than standard size cartons. According to one facet of the invention, certain suction cups may be deae~ivated when the mechanism is used in conjunction with small cartons and reactivated for use with large cartons. In addition pusher means is provided and synchronized with conveyor means having spaced transversely disposed flight bars so that during feeding of standard size small cartons, two such cartons are moved into the space between two adjacent flight bars whereas a single large carton whose dimensions in the direction of movement along the conveyor having flight bars is twice that of the standard size smaller cartons so that a single larger carton may occupy the space between two adjacent flight bars. A folding arm according to another feature of the invention is arranged to swing through a clearance ~lot formed in each leading vertical end flap of each carton so as to engage the trailing vertical end flap of an immediately preceding carton and thus to fold the trailing end flap toward lC~ 9~
closed position. If th~ machine is adjusted for use with large cartons~ the folding arm simply idles at a po~ition intermediate the leading and trailing edges of the larger cartons but of course the folding arm engages each trailing end flap of each carton whether the machine is used in conjunction with smaller type cartons in which two cartons for example are disposed between adjacent flight bars or with larger cartons when only one carton is disposed between adjacent flight bars~
Por a better understanding of the invention, referenee ~y be had to the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the aceompanying drawings in whieh FIG. 1 is a ~omewhat schematically represented side view of a maehine construeted aecording to this invention and whieh in solid lines depicts the feeding meehanism during an intermediate stage of a feeding operation ad~usted for use in eonjunction with small or standard sized eartons: FIG. 2 is a view of a portion of the left hand end of FIG. 1 and shows the parts in solid lines in the positions whieh they oeeupy upon completion of a feeding operation FIG. 3 is a perspeetive view of a pair of standard size small eartons whieh illustrates the elosing of the leading and trailing end flaps: FIG~ 4 is a view similar to FIG. 2 but whieh depicts the maehine in eonjunetion with larger eartons, eertain dimensions of whieh are multiples of the corresponding dimensions of the smaller eartons shown in FIG. 2: FIG. 5 is a sehematie view similar to FIG. 1 but whieh shows the pneumatie system for applying vaeuum and air under pressure to the main and eontrol valves during a feeding eyele for a machine whieh applies suetion during alternate eyeles only a~d in which FIG. ~ is a view similar to FIG. 5 but which depicts the parts in the positions which they occupy during that part of a cycle of operation of the oscillatable feeding means during which vacuum pressure is cut off.
As shown for example in FIG. 1, the machine includes a hopper 1 in which a plurality of small or standard size cartons C are stacked. oscillatable means in the form of arm

2 is pivoted at fixed pivot 3 and provided with crank arm 4 which is connected by link 5 and pin 6 to an operating crank 7 via pin 8. Driving crank 7 is rotated by means not shown in a cloekwise direction. As is obvious, arm 2 oscillates to and fro about pivot 3 and its position adjaeent the lowermost earton C in hopper 1 i8 designated by dotted lines.
For engaging and withdrawing the lowermost earton C
from hopper 1, a plurality of suetion eups 9 and 10 are provided and engage the lowermost earton C in known manner and withdrawn the earton downwardly when the oseillatable arm 2 swings in a eloekwise direetion about pivot 3. A withdrawn partially set up earton i8 indieated at Cl and is deposited atop stripper plate 11 in known manner in eoordination with the release of vaeuum pressure.
For the purpo~e of moving a earton sueh as Cl from stripper plate 11 onto eonveyor 12 and intermediate flight bars sueh as 12a and 12b, a pusher arm 13 is provided and is pivoted to fixed pivot 14. Pusher arm 13 is oscillated to and fro about pivot 14 by conneeting rod 15 whieh is pivoted at 16 to pusher arm 13 and whieh is pivoted at its other end at pin 17 to rotatable erank 18. erank 18 is rotated in a eloekwise direetion by means not shown but whieh is well known. As is 10~ 57 indicated in FIG. 1, in solid line~ the pusher 13 occupies an intermediate position and upon movement into engagement with carton Cl causes that carton to move from stripper plate 11 onto conveyor 12 and to a position immediately adjacent and behind flight bar 12b.
During a succeeding operation of oscillatable arm 2 and pusher arm 13, a succeeding carton is moved behind carton Cl and immediately in front of flight bar 12a. During a subse~uent phase of the operation, two cartons occupy positions designated at C3 and C4 between flight bars 12b and 12c. Similarly cartons C5-C12 are disposed along the working reach of conveyor 12 as shown in FIG. 1.
FIG. 2 shows the pu~her arm 13 in the position which it occupies upon completion of a feeding operation such as that effected in conjunction with a carton such as i~ designated at C4. Conveyor 12 i8 driven by driving sprocket 19 and the conveyor is disposed about idler sprockets 20 and 21 in known manner. operating movement is imparted to driving ~procket 19 by means of driving chain 22 which cooperates with sprockets 23 and 24. Sprocket 24 is driven from a gear box 2~ in known manner by means not shown.
The working reach of conveyor 12 extends horizontally from sprocket 19 to sprocket 21 and defines a pr~determined path along which the cartons on the c~nveyor and between the flight bars are loaded and their end flaps closed. Preferab~y the ~o~ding operation is effected in the region at which the cartons C3, C4 and C5 are disposed as indicated in FIG. 1.
Following completion of a loading operation through the open ends of the cartons, the end flaps must be closed. As is best shown in FIG. ~ in conjunction with carton~ C5 and C6, carton C5 i8 provided with top end flaps 25 and bottom end flaps 26 only one of which i~ observable in FIG. 3. In addition carton C5 includes trailing end flap 27 only one of which is observable in FIG. 3 together with a leading end flap 2~Q only one of which is observable in FIG. 3. Similarly carton C6 includes top end flaps 29 and bottom end flap~ 30. Leading end flaps 31 and trailing end flaps 32 are associated with carton C6.
Leading end flap 28 of carton C5 and trailing end flap 32 of 10 carton C6 are in close proximity with each other when the elements occupy the positions ~hown in FIG. 3.
As is well known, upper and lower flaps such as 29 and 30 of carton C6 may be folded into closed position downwardly and upwardly respectively by known static plows not shown in the drawings. Similarly static plows such as those indicated at 33 in FIG. 3 may conveniently be employed to fold the leading end flaps such as 28 and 31 into closed position.
As is well understood, static plows as such are not suitable for performing a complete folding operation of trailing 20 end flaps such as 27 df carton C5 and trailing flap 32 of carton C6.
In order to fold the trailing end flaps, a folding arm 34 is provided on each side of the path of movement of the cartons and preferably is supported by a substantially vertical oscillatable shaft 35 which is oscillated by knGwn means such as gear box 25a.
In order to provide clearance between the leading end flap 28 of carton C5 and folding arm 34, a clearance notch 36 is formed in the leading end flap 28 of carton C5 so that iO~4~7 arm ~ may swing in a clockwise direction as viewed from above through the clearance slot 3f~ and into engagement with trailing flap 32 of carton C5. This swinging movement of folding arm 34 causes the trailing flap 32 of carton C6 to fold approximately to the position indicated in FIG. 3. Thereafter static flight bar 33 engages the trailing flap 32 and completes the folding of that flap into closed position. Following this operation static plows not shown in the drawings fold top end flap 29 downwardly into overlying relationship with respect to leading end flap 31 and trailing end flap 32 and bottom end flap 30 is folded upwardly by static plows into flat face contacting relation with the leading end flap 31 and the trailing end flap 32 so that upon completion of this operation the closing of the carton is substantially complete. Of course suitable applications of glue are made so as to effect a proper bond in known manner.
If desired, the end flaps may be secured by other known means such as locks.
Following the glueing operation, the carton is complete and the completed cartons are fed toward the right through the positions designated in FIG. 1 at Cll and C12. The so-called standard size or small cartons C which are depicted in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, do not require as many suction cups as do larger cartons. -~For this reason, only the mounting so~kets for a row of suction CUp8 iS depicted at 40 in FIG. 1. These mounting sockets may ~imply be sealed off by any suitable means when the machine is used in conjunction with small cartons as depicted in FIGS. 1-3.
When the machine is used in conjunction with larger cartons such as are designated at LC in FIG. 4, a full complement of suction cups is employed and such suction cups are designated in FIG. 4 by the numerals ~3, 1(~ and 4ea. It will be under~tood that suction cup 4()a need not be physically removed as indicated in FIG. 1 but simply may be ~ealed off by means of a closure element such as 40b which is threaded into an appropriate hole on oscillatable operating arm 2. Larger cartons LC are twice as large as smaller cartons C in the direction of movement along the working reach of conveyor 12 and hence occupy the entire space between adjacent flight bars such as 12b and 12c as indicated at LCa.
Since half as many of the larger cartons LC can be accommodated by the conveyor 12 as compared to the smaller cartons C, it is necessary in the illustration shown in FIG. 4 to feed one half as many of the larger cartons LC in a given time interval. ~his is accomplished according to one facet of the invention by simply shutting off the vacuum pressure to suction cups 9, 10 and 40a during alternate cycles. Thus while ; the oscillatable arm 2 and the pusher 13 continue to operate in the manner described in connection with FIGS. 1 and 2, suction pressure is not applied during each cycle but rather is applied only during alternate cycles. The arrangement shown in FIG. 5 depicts conditions during a feeding cycle when the machine is adjusted for use with large cartons LC while FIG. 6 depicts conditions during the alternate or non-operating cycle when the machine is adjusted so as not to ~eed a carton LC.
As is shown in FIG. 5 in connection with a feeding cycle, a cam operated main valve 41 is interconnected by conduit 42 with suction cups 9, 10 and 40a.
Main valve 41 i8 connected by conduit 43 with a vacuum sGurce schematically represented at 44. Main valve 41 is ~ 0~ 7 operated by cam 4~, having raised portlon 4~a and lower portion 45b. A cam follower llla is provided on the stem of ma~n valve 41 and follows cam 45 during the rotation thereof by shaft 45c.
Shaft 45c also drives arms 7 and lR in unison with the cam 45.
A pneumatic system includes manually operable control valve 46 having manual button 46a. Valve 46 is connected with main valve 41 via conduit 47. Pneumatic means also includes a cam actuated control valve 4~ on whose stem 48a a cam follower 48b is mounted to ride on cam 49 driven by chain 50 and sprocket 51. Sprocket 51 is twice the diameter of sprocket 45d so that for each revolution of shaft 45c and of sprocket 45d, sprocket 51 and its associated cam 49 rotate one half revolution.
Thus cam actuated valve 48 operates one half as many times in a given time interval as does main valve 41 and only during alternate cycles. Manually operated valve 46 is interconnected with air supply source schematically represented at 52 by a bypass conduit 53 which bypasses cam actuated control valve 48.
A conduit 54 interconnects cam actuated control valve 48 and manually actuated control valve 46. Similarly a conduit 55 interconnects the vacuum source 44 with cam actuated control valve 48.
Cam actuated control valve 48 is provided with a compres~ion spring 48c which causes the cam follower 48b to maintain constant contact with the cam 49. It should be pointed out that main valve 41 is not provided with a spring such as 48c. Instead this valve i8 supplied with pressure which bears against the piston 41b to urge the cam follower 41a and stem 41c into contact with the surfaces of cam 45. When pressure is relieved in the main valve 41 and is then not applied to piston 41b, the ca~ follower 41a rides along the cam surface 45a but does not e~gage the lower cam surface 45b.
With the units in the positions depicted in PIG. 5, vacuum pressure i8 applied from the vacuum source 44 through the conduit 43 and the sequentially operable main valve 41, conduit 42 to the suction cups 9 and 10 when the roller 41a rides on the lower surface 45b of cam 45 as shown in PIG. 5.
The roller 41a i8 maintained in the position shown in PIG. 5 by pressure fluid supplied through conduit 47, manually operable control valve 46, conduit 54, cam actuated control valve 4~, and conduit 56 from the air supply 52, the pressure of which is in excess of atmospheric pressure. This pressure causes cam follower 41a to follow the cam 45 and during each rotation thereof turns the vacuum on and off as required. For example during a carton withdrawing operation the vacuum is on and the parts occupy the positions shown in FIG. 5. When the cam follower 41a rides on the upraised portion 45a of the cam 45, main valve 41 i~ closed with its cam follower 41b moved toward the right 80 a~ to shut off and to isolate the vacuum in conduit ~3 from conduit 42 and from suction cups 9 and 10 while allowing atmospheric air to enter port 41c, conduit 42 and cups 9 and 10. It should be ted that the valve button 46a is in its depressed position in both FIGS. 5 and 6.
FIG. 6 as explained also represents the depressed condition of valve button 4Ça but shows the cam follower 41a spaced from the cam 45 because no pressure above atmospheric pressure is applied to the right hand end of main valve piston 41b. This condition i8 due to the fact that the cam 49 has rotated one half revolution during a complete revolution of cam 10~'}~9~7 l~5 as shown ~n FIG. ~). This operation, due to the action of spring 4$~c, causes the cam follower 4~b to move onto the lower portion 49a of cam 4~3. This action effectively inter-connects vacuum conduit 55 through valve 4~, and conduit 54, through manually operable control valve 46 with conduit 4~ so that vacuum pressure is applied to the piston 41b in main valve 41. This action precludes the cam follower 41a from following the cam 45 and thus effectively closes the valve 41 and isolates the vacuum in conduit 43 from conduit 42 and connects conduit 42 to atmosphere. Of course with no vacuum in conduit 42 no vacuum is available in suction cups 9, 10 and 40a. Thus during the engagement of suction cups 9 and 10 with the lower-most carton LC in hopper 1, a carton is not withdrawn and the oscillatable arm 2 simply idles without any effective withdrawal during the portion of the cycle represented by FIG. 6. It i8 by this means that one half the number of larger cartons are fed according to the arrangement represented in FIGS. 4, 5 and 6 as are fed by the arrangement represented in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3.
Since each of the larger cartons LC occupies the same space as that which normally is occupied by small cartons such as C3 and C4 in FIGS. 1-3, for example, the trailing end flaps such as are designated at 32 on carton C6 and the leading end flaps such as are designated at 2~ on carton C5 can be considered as nonexistent in connection with the arrangements of FIGS. 4, 5 and 6. Under these conditions, the oscillatable vertical shaft 35 and the folding arm 34 simply idle and oscillate to and fro without engaging any end flaps in the region intermediate the leading and trailing edges of a large carton LC which i~ the space equivalent of two small cartons C5 10~
and ~,. of course the parts are operated in synchroniqm 80 that the action de4cribed above in connection with the smaller cartons such as C3 and C4 occurs to allow the end of folding arm 34 to swing through a clearance notch ~uch as indicated at 36 and which is formed in the leading end flap of a large carton LC to allow the folding arm 34 to engage a trailing end flap on a larger carton LC such as that designated at 32 in FIG. 3 in connection with the small carton C6.
In order to preclude alternate deactivation of the vacuum cups such as 9 and 10 and to insure proper application of vacuum during each oscillation of oscillatable arm 2 and of oscillatable pusher arm 13, the button 46a is simply elevated to a position not represented in FIGS. 5 and 6 but which effectively interconnects the piston 41b of main valve 41 through conduit 47, valve 46, and bypass conduit 53 with the air ~upply under pressure schematically represented at 52 to cause the stem of valve 41 to move toward the left and thus to cause cam follower 41a to follow the cam surfaces 45a and 45b of cam 45. Under these conditions the main valve 41 operates to supply suction on and off during each operating cycle, that is during each o~cillation of oscillatable feeding arm 2 and of o~cillatable pusher arm 13. The change over for cartons of different sizes is thus simplified and requires the simple activation manually of push button 46a.
While the drawings show cartons LC which are twice the size of cartons C in the direction of feed, it is obvious that other dimensional multiples may be employed without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

Claims (5)

THE EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION IN WHICH AN EXCLUSIVE
PROPERTY OR PRIVILEGE IS CLAIMED ARE DEFINED AS FOLLOWS:

1. A machine for feeding sleeve type cartons having end flaps from a hopper and for closing the end flaps the leading ones of which include a clearance slot, said machine comprising oscillatable means movable sequentially toward and away from the hopper, suction means mounted on said oscillatable means and movable therewith for engaging and withdrawing cartons in sequence from the hopper, and means for rendering said suction means ineffective during preselected oscillations of said oscillatable means without interfering with said suction means during other oscillations of said oscillatable means, means for moving the cartons along a predetermined path, and a folding arm arranged to swing through the clearance slot of each leading end flap and into engagement with the trailing flap of an adjacent immediately preceding carton for closing said trailing flap.

2. A machine according to claim 1 wherein said folding arm is mounted on a substantially vertical shaft and arranged to swing in a horizontal plane.

3. A machine according to claim 2 wherein said shaft is arranged to oscillate in synchronism with movement of the cartons along said predetermined path.

4. A machine according to claim 1 wherein said folding arm swings at an effective velocity which is greater than that at which the cartons move along said predetermined path.

5. A machine according to claim 1 wherein static plows are arranged to engage and fold the leading end flaps and to engage the trailing end flaps following initial folding thereof by said folding arm.