EP0160825B1 - Appareil d'empilement et d'emballage à grande vitesse - Google Patents

Appareil d'empilement et d'emballage à grande vitesse Download PDF

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Publication number
EP0160825B1
EP0160825B1 EP85103662A EP85103662A EP0160825B1 EP 0160825 B1 EP0160825 B1 EP 0160825B1 EP 85103662 A EP85103662 A EP 85103662A EP 85103662 A EP85103662 A EP 85103662A EP 0160825 B1 EP0160825 B1 EP 0160825B1
Authority
EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
elevator
product
conveyor
pusher
units
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Expired
Application number
EP85103662A
Other languages
German (de)
English (en)
Other versions
EP0160825A1 (fr
Inventor
Joseph A. Lynch
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Nabisco Brands Inc
Original Assignee
Nabisco Brands Inc
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Nabisco Brands Inc filed Critical Nabisco Brands Inc
Priority to AT85103662T priority Critical patent/ATE32861T1/de
Publication of EP0160825A1 publication Critical patent/EP0160825A1/fr
Application granted granted Critical
Publication of EP0160825B1 publication Critical patent/EP0160825B1/fr
Expired legal-status Critical Current

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Classifications

    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
    • B65B—MACHINES, APPARATUS OR DEVICES FOR, OR METHODS OF, PACKAGING ARTICLES OR MATERIALS; UNPACKING
    • B65B35/00—Supplying, feeding, arranging or orientating articles to be packaged
    • B65B35/30—Arranging and feeding articles in groups
    • B65B35/50—Stacking one article, or group of articles, upon another before packaging

Definitions

  • the present invention relates to product handling, and, in particular, to a high speed product stacking apparatus according to the pre-characterizing part of claim 1.
  • US ⁇ A ⁇ ,641,735 shows an apparatus for packing flexible bags into cases by delivering them to a hopper having an accumulator chamber into which the bags are dropped one layer at a time; and by transferring the bags into a case when a case load is accumulated.
  • This known stacking or packing apparatus would not be useful if the bags contained product which is easily broken when dropped.
  • DE-A-1 810 954 from which the present invention starts in the pre-characterizing part of claim 1 shows a stacking apparatus for ceramic plates, tiles or the like which allows a continuous stacking or packing of the respective products, whereby a continuous incoming stream of products is transferred into an intermittent output stream of the stacked products.
  • the products handled in case of DE-A-1 810 954 are ceramic plates, tiles or the like, a high-speed stacking and packing is not possible, since then the danger of breakage of the plates will occur.
  • a product stacking apparatus includes, in combination, an infeed conveyor means, a vertically movable product elevator positioned adjacent the infeed conveyor means and a product stacking means for periodically transferring product units from the infeed conveyor means to the elevator.
  • the elevator which is composed of spaced vertical products supporting members extending upwardly from a transverse member and perpendicularly between said infeed conveyor means and the second conveyor, is connected for actuation to an elevator moving means which moves the elevator downwardly between transfer operations of the products stacking means so that the product units are stacked in a predetermined number of layers on the elevator.
  • the infeed conveyor means includes a belt conveyor, a receiving plate at the end of the belt conveyor and a product stop element positioned on the receiving plate to allow a predetermined number of product units to be fed on the receiving plate.
  • the product stacking means pushes the predetermined number of product units from the receiving plate onto the top of the elevator.
  • a second conveyor is situated adjacent to the elevator at a height at which the top of the second conveyor is substantially coplanar with the top of the spaced vertical product supporting members when the elevator is in its lowest position.
  • the combination apparatus of the invention also includes a pusher means for sliding the stacked layers of product units from the elevator onto the second conveyor along with a pusher actuating means for extending the pusher means when the elevator is fully loaded and in its lowest position so that the stacked load of product units is transferred onto the second conveyor.
  • the pusher means includes vertically oriented product engaging members spaced from one another so that they are interspersed between the spaced vertical product supporting members of the elevator. When the pusher means is extended, the top of the spaced product engaging members provides a temporary product support for product units being transferred from the infeed conveyor means while the elevator is substantially below the surface of the infeed conveyor means.
  • Operation of the elevator moving means and the pusher actuating means is timed so that the elevator is moved upwardly after transference of the stacked load therefrom while the pusher means is being retracted, the spaced vertical product supporting members of the elevator means intercalated with the spaced product engaging members to receive the transferred product units from the top of the product engaging members during upward movement of the product supporting members.
  • the product units are maintained essentially at a constant level so that the product experiences little or no dropping whatsoever.
  • the spaced vertical product supporting members of the elevator means and the spaced product engaging members of the pusher means are preferably wall elements which extend perpendicularly between the infeed conveyor means and the second conveyor.
  • the vertical product supporting members, as well as the product engaging members, are spaced so that each of the product units in the first layer of product transferred from the receiving plate spans a plurality of such elements.
  • the apparatus includes a frame means which supports a vertical rod at each end of the transverse member on which the elevator is slidably mounted.
  • the elevator moving means includes a cam operated lever means for moving the elevator along the rods, so that it descends the required distance for adding another row of packaged product after receiving the previous row, and so that the elevator is driven up the rods at the appropriate time to receive the row of packaged product from the top of the pusher means as it is retracted from the extended pushing position.
  • transverse means are provided for unifying the product engaging members
  • the apparatus includes a horizontal rod mounted to the frame means at each end of the pusher means, and means for slidably mounting the pusher on the horizontal rods is also provided.
  • the pusher actuating means also includes a cam operated lever means for moving the pusher along the horizontal rods.
  • both cam operated actuating means are driven by a common drive means which is actuated in response to the arrival of packages of product at the infeed conveyor means.
  • a mechanical high speed stacking and packing apparatus is provided by which an essentially uninterrupted flow of fragile packaged goods can be stacked to any desired carton capacity and packed without fear of loss due to breakage.
  • a belt conveyor 2 delivering in the direction of arrow "a" product packages 4, which appear in the drawing as three rows of crackers and/or cookies per package.
  • a receiving plate 6 is provided with a package stop element 8 at a distance sufficient to allow the desired number of product units to be fed onto the plate 6 at one time.
  • the preferred number of packages is three.
  • a product stacking means is located in conjunction with the receiving plate 6, such as the sprocketed chain pushing combination 10 shown in Fig. 1.
  • This product stacking means is depicted herein as a chain drive 16 which drives the chains 14 mounted thereon in the direction of circular arrow "b".
  • Sprocketed tension wheels 12 are positioned opposite drive sprocket wheels 16 to provide the appropriate tension on chains 14.
  • pushing elements 18 are fixed to chain 14 by mounting brackets 17 at appropriate distances from each other so that a full complement of product units, shown herein as three packages, will be positioned on receiving plate 6 before they are pushed therefrom by pushing elements 18.
  • timing required to effect transfer of the desired number of units from the receiving plate 6 to the elevating means, or the top of product engaging members 32, can be provided with indexing units of devices which are commercially available.
  • a convenient cycle includes 1/3 movement time and 2 / 3 resting time per cycle.
  • a preferred embodiment of the present invention also includes a product detection switch fixed on stop element 8 which, when engaged by a package unit, is retracted to facilitate easy transfer of the product units from the receiving plate 6.
  • a vertically movable product elevator 20 composed of spaced vertical product supporting members 22 which, in the preferred embodiment, are wall members extending upwardly from a transverse member 24.
  • the top of the spaced vertical product supporting members 24 are essentially coplanar with the surface of the receiving plate 6 or are just immediately therebelow so that the product units 4 will slide easily from the receiving plate to the top of the elevator without dropping a distance which would cause the contents to break.
  • the vertical product supporting members are spaced so that each product unit in the first layer of product units on the elevator spans a plurality of such members, which, in one embodiment includes three supporting members.
  • the elevator is moved downwardly, either by a timing mechanism which actuates an elevator moving means or by the weight of the product, to a position in which the last row of transferred product unit forms the receiving surface for the next row of product units such as packages 4.
  • the timing required to lower the elevator means after deposition of a row of packages can be achieved by an irregularly-shaped cam means 40, driven by common drive shaft 60, which operates cooperatively with cam follower 44 and linking arms 41, 42 and 43.
  • the present invention includes a pusher means 30 in combination with a pusher actuating means having spaced product engaging members 32 which move between the spaced vertical product supporting members 22 when the actuating means is extended to push the stacked packages from elevator 20 into the carton 50 shown here on belt conveyor 100.
  • the pusher means When the pusher means is fully extended, the top of product engaging members 32 is located substantially coplanar with the surface of receiving plate 6 or just below such surface so that the process of article transfer from receiving plate 6 can continue without interruption. See Fig. 4.
  • the product engaging members are spaced from one another so that each product unit in the first layer of product units transferred from the receiving plate 6 spans a plurality of the engaging members.
  • the elevator is moved upwardly by the elevator moving means, the vertical product supporting members spaced so that they are interspersed between product engaging members 32, simultaneously with the retraction of the pusher means 30, whereby the row of transferred product units are gently received on the product supporting members 22 without severely changing the horizontal plane of support of the product units during the combination elevator-ascending and pusher-means- retracting movement.
  • a minor drop of no more than about 1/2" can be tolerated without undue breakage.
  • conveyor 100 moves in a direction of arrow "e” shown in Fig. 1 to advance the packed carton on towards sealing and loading and introduces a new empty carton for packing.
  • the direction of movement of the pushing means 30 is shown by arrow "d” in Fig. 1.
  • Figs. 2 and 3 there is depicted a rear elevational view and a side elevational section view taken along line 3-3 in Fig. 2, respectively.
  • transverse member 24 from which vertical product supporting members 22 extend upwardly.
  • the apparatus is shown as further including frame means 28 at either end of the elevator to which a vertical rod 27 is attached by means of brackets 25 to provide a supported vertical track on which the elevator is slidably mounted via slidable mounting means 23.
  • the elevator is controlled by an elevator moving means which includes a cam-operated lever means defined generally by interconnected linking arms 41, 42, and 43, and cam follower 44.
  • the lever means is operated by rotation of cam 40, which is driven by common drive means 60, against cam follower 44 attached to the far end of lever element 42.
  • transverse unifying means 35 which stabilize the product engaging members 32 relative to each other, and a horizontal rod 31 extending essentially from front to rear of the apparatus and mounted on frame member 28 via mounting brackets 33.
  • Slidable mounting member 37 connects pusher means 30 for movement back and forth on rod 31.
  • a second cam operated lever means includes linking rod members 45, 46, 47, and 48 which connect mounting member 37 to the cammed operation provided by cam groove 61, which is cut in the surface of wheel 62, in combination with cam follower 49.
  • the cam groove 61 is shown as having a generally circular path. However, in order to provide the appropriate timing for applicafion to specific cases, it is contemplated that the cam path can have any configuration suitable for the task.
  • the wheel 62 can be driven by drive shaft 60.

Landscapes

  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
  • Container Filling Or Packaging Operations (AREA)
  • Basic Packing Technique (AREA)

Claims (4)

1. Appareil d'empilage de produits comportant:
- un transporteur d'amenée (2), un élévateur de produits (20) pouvant se déplacer verticalement, disposé adjacent au transporteur d'amenée (2) et comportant au moins un élément vertical support de produits (22) ayant une surface supérieure pratiquement dans le même plan que la surface du transporteur d'amenée (2) lorsque l'élévateur (20) se trouve dans sa position la plus haute, un dispositif de déplacement de l'élévateur (41, 42, 43, 44) pour déplacer l'élévateur vers le bas entre les opérations de transfert pour empiler des groupes de produits (4) en un nombre prédéterminé de couches et pour ramener l'élévateur dans sa position la plus haute lorsque la pile a été poussée de l'élévateur, un deuxième transporteur (100) adjacent à l'élévateur (20) à une hauteur à laquelle la surface du deuxième transporteur (100) se trouve essentiellement dans le même plan que ia surface supérieure de l'élément vertical support de produits (22) lorsque l'élévateur (20) est dans sa position la plus basse, un poussoir (30) pour faire glisser les couches empilées de groupes de produits (4) de l'élévateur (20) sur le deuxième transporteur (100) comportant des éléments espacés de coopération avec les produits (32), et un dispositif d'actionnement du poussoir (45, 46, 47, 48) pour faire sortir et rentrer le poussoir (30),
caractérisé en ce que l'élément support (22) comporte des éléments de paroi s'étendant perpendiculairement entre le transporteur d'amenée (2) et le deuxième transporteur (100) et en ce que ces éléments de paroi sont espacés de telle sorte que chaque groupe de produits dans la première couche de groupes de produits sur l'élévateur (20) recouvre une multiplicité de ces éléments de paroi.
2. Appareil selon la revendication 1, dans lequel le transporteur d'amenée (2) comporte un transporteur à bande, une plaque de réception (6) à l'extrémité du transporteur à bande, et une butée d'arrêt des produits (8) pour permettre de positionner sur la plaque de réception (6) un nombre prédéterminé de groupes de produits, et dans lequel un dispositif d'empilage des produits (18) pousse le nombre prédéterminé de groupes de produits de la plaque de réception (6) sur l'élévateur (20).
3. Appareil selon la revendication 1, dans lequel l'élévateur (20) comporte un élément transversal (24) dont partent vers le haut les éléments de paroi (22), cet appareil comportant un bâti (28) à chaque extrémité de l'élément transversal (24), une barre verticale (27) montée sur chaque bâti, des moyens (23, 25) pour faire monter à coulissement l'élévateur sur ces barres, et des transmissions par leviers à commande par cames pour déplacer l'élévateur sur ces barres.
4. Appareil selon la revendication 1, dans lequel le poussoir (30) comporte des moyens transversaux (35) pour solidariser les uns des autres les éléments de coopération avec les produits, cet appareil comportant une barre horizontale (31) montée sur chaque bâti, des moyens (37) pour monter à coulissement le poussoir sur ces barres horizontales et une deuxième transmission par leviers à commande par cames pour déplacer le poussoir sur ces barres horizontales.
EP85103662A 1984-04-12 1985-03-27 Appareil d'empilement et d'emballage à grande vitesse Expired EP0160825B1 (fr)

Priority Applications (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
AT85103662T ATE32861T1 (de) 1984-04-12 1985-03-27 Hochgeschwindigkeitsstapel- und verpackungsapparat.

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
US59943184A 1984-04-12 1984-04-12
US599431 1984-04-12

Publications (2)

Publication Number Publication Date
EP0160825A1 EP0160825A1 (fr) 1985-11-13
EP0160825B1 true EP0160825B1 (fr) 1988-03-09

Family

ID=24399585

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
EP85103662A Expired EP0160825B1 (fr) 1984-04-12 1985-03-27 Appareil d'empilement et d'emballage à grande vitesse

Country Status (4)

Country Link
EP (1) EP0160825B1 (fr)
AT (1) ATE32861T1 (fr)
CA (1) CA1241675A (fr)
DE (1) DE3561798D1 (fr)

Families Citing this family (5)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US4854111A (en) * 1984-10-29 1989-08-08 Roberts Systems, Inc. Apparatus for conveying and packaging groups of articles
DK159727C (da) * 1987-11-11 1991-04-22 Thorsted Maskiner As Fremgangmaade og maskine til stabling af flade pakninger af cylindriske emner, navnlig moentruller
US5515962A (en) * 1994-10-06 1996-05-14 Interbake Foods, Inc. Ice cream sandwich collator sub-assembly
CN102020030A (zh) * 2010-11-26 2011-04-20 武汉人天包装技术有限公司 一种盐包自动叠层装置
CN103754437A (zh) * 2013-12-31 2014-04-30 张家港市智周工业技术有限公司 蓄电池后道无人打包设备

Family Cites Families (4)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US2414059A (en) * 1944-05-22 1947-01-07 Lewis J Powers Bunch forming and spacing apparatus
US2883074A (en) * 1951-10-04 1959-04-21 Alvey Conveyor Mfg Co Pallet loading machine
US3119213A (en) * 1961-06-13 1964-01-28 American Can Co Packaging method and apparatus
DE1810954A1 (de) * 1968-09-23 1970-07-16 Thuringia Vereinigte Feinkeram Maschine zum Stapeln von keramischen Platten,insbesondere Wand- und Fussbodenfliesen

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
ATE32861T1 (de) 1988-03-15
EP0160825A1 (fr) 1985-11-13
CA1241675A (fr) 1988-09-06
DE3561798D1 (en) 1988-04-14

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