EP3007981B1 - Improved apparatus for filling containers with horticultural products - Google Patents

Improved apparatus for filling containers with horticultural products Download PDF

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Publication number
EP3007981B1
EP3007981B1 EP14731048.6A EP14731048A EP3007981B1 EP 3007981 B1 EP3007981 B1 EP 3007981B1 EP 14731048 A EP14731048 A EP 14731048A EP 3007981 B1 EP3007981 B1 EP 3007981B1
Authority
EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
container
conveyor
oscillating frame
jaws
frame
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.)
Active
Application number
EP14731048.6A
Other languages
German (de)
English (en)
French (fr)
Other versions
EP3007981A1 (en
Inventor
Luca Benedetti
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.)
Unitec SpA
Original Assignee
Unitec SpA
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 Unitec SpA filed Critical Unitec SpA
Priority to SI201430157A priority Critical patent/SI3007981T1/sl
Priority to RS20170218A priority patent/RS55760B1/sr
Priority to MEP-2017-69A priority patent/ME02649B/me
Publication of EP3007981A1 publication Critical patent/EP3007981A1/en
Application granted granted Critical
Publication of EP3007981B1 publication Critical patent/EP3007981B1/en
Priority to HRP20170286TT priority patent/HRP20170286T1/hr
Active legal-status Critical Current
Anticipated expiration legal-status Critical

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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
    • B65B25/00—Packaging other articles presenting special problems
    • B65B25/02—Packaging agricultural or horticultural products
    • B65B25/04—Packaging fruit or vegetables
    • B65B25/046—Packaging fruit or vegetables in crates or boxes
    • 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
    • B65B25/00—Packaging other articles presenting special problems
    • B65B25/02—Packaging agricultural or horticultural products
    • 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
    • B65B35/32—Arranging and feeding articles in groups by gravity
    • 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
    • B65B43/00—Forming, feeding, opening or setting-up containers or receptacles in association with packaging
    • B65B43/42—Feeding or positioning bags, boxes, or cartons in the distended, opened, or set-up state; Feeding preformed rigid containers, e.g. tins, capsules, glass tubes, glasses, to the packaging position; Locating containers or receptacles at the filling position; Supporting containers or receptacles during the filling operation
    • 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
    • B65B43/00—Forming, feeding, opening or setting-up containers or receptacles in association with packaging
    • B65B43/42—Feeding or positioning bags, boxes, or cartons in the distended, opened, or set-up state; Feeding preformed rigid containers, e.g. tins, capsules, glass tubes, glasses, to the packaging position; Locating containers or receptacles at the filling position; Supporting containers or receptacles during the filling operation
    • B65B43/54—Means for supporting containers or receptacles during the filling operation
    • 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
    • B65B43/00—Forming, feeding, opening or setting-up containers or receptacles in association with packaging
    • B65B43/42—Feeding or positioning bags, boxes, or cartons in the distended, opened, or set-up state; Feeding preformed rigid containers, e.g. tins, capsules, glass tubes, glasses, to the packaging position; Locating containers or receptacles at the filling position; Supporting containers or receptacles during the filling operation
    • B65B43/54—Means for supporting containers or receptacles during the filling operation
    • B65B43/56—Means for supporting containers or receptacles during the filling operation movable stepwise to position container or receptacle for the reception of successive increments of contents
    • 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
    • B65B5/00—Packaging individual articles in containers or receptacles, e.g. bags, sacks, boxes, cartons, cans, jars
    • B65B5/08—Packaging groups of articles, the articles being individually gripped or guided for transfer to the containers or receptacles
    • 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
    • B65B57/00—Automatic control, checking, warning, or safety devices

Definitions

  • the present invention relates to an improved apparatus for filling containers, in particular a special type of such containers, used for the final packaging of horticultural vegetable and/or fruit products of small size, and relative method of operation.
  • an established method is to transfer said products through conventional transporting conveyors, which at the end of their travel unload them into the final containers.
  • said containers into which the products are unloaded have a significant internal height, and thus it happens that at the end of the conveyor the products, which drop directly to the bottom of the container fall through the entire height of the container, which means that in its fall the product naturally reaches a certain speed.
  • a known method is to incline the containers at the end of the transporting conveyor so that the individual products are prevented from dropping vertically, but are released from the conveyor on an upper edge of one of its walls, obviously inclined with respect to the relative vertical position.
  • the present invention deals particularly with the filling of such small boxes, although in general it can be used for cases or bins of traditional type, and thus having a rigid structure and of large dimensions. Therefore, herein will be described an application aimed at such types of small boxes, although the invention may apply in general to any other type of container.
  • This objective is achieved with the type of apparatus provided and operating so as to use at least one horizontal conveyor, a moving structure arranged at the output edge of said conveyor and provided with displacement and engaging means for inclining, through a partial rotation, a container from a first inclined position with respect to the horizontal plane, in which the rim of the container remains contiguous to the output edge of the conveyor, and subsequent working positions in which the same container is moved progressively through less inclined positions until it returns to the normal horizontal position
  • said moving structure includes a U-shaped oscillating frame whose open side can be arranged in front of said output edge of the conveyor; blocking means are provided to be supported by said oscillating frame and suitable to selectively engage and disengage the outer perimeter of the container so as to initially rotate the container to a pre-determined inclination and subsequently return it by reverse rotation to the normal position, in which the container is released and removed.
  • an apparatus for filling with loose horticultural products each of a plurality of containers and/or small boxes, preferably made of plastic, in succession comprises:
  • Said moving structure includes:
  • the oscillating frame 10 is suitable to be rotated, by known means, in a plurality of reciprocally angular positions around a single axis "Z" integral with the apparatus and parallel to, and therefore integral with, said output edge 2, and specifically:
  • the blocking means 12 and 13, as shown, consist of respective partially concave jaws, with the concave surface turned toward the inside of the oscillating frame 10 and are arranged at the opposite internal sides of the frame, and specifically at the two sides 10A and 10B that make up the opposite arms of said oscillating frame 10 defined as "U" shaped.
  • the assembly formed by the oscillating frame 10 and the jaws 12 and 13 is symmetrical with respect to a vertical plane passing through the centre line of the conveyor 1; the intersection of said vertical plane with said conveyor is shown in Fig. 1 by the cross-sectional line "X".
  • FIGS 13A and 13B which illustrate schematically said two jaws 12, 13 viewed from above, also show that each of them is provided, in the relative central part, with a rectilinear profile 12A and 13A; said profiles are shaped and dimensioned so that each jaw can adapt itself around a corresponding opposite vertical side 20A, 20B of a container 20 inserted inside and in the central area of the oscillating frame 10.
  • Each of said jaws is provided with known displacement and engagement means, suitable to displace it, in a translational and rectilinear manner, through respective paths P1, P2, from a first position defined here as “open”, as in figures 1 , 12A and 13A , to a second position defined here as “closed”, as in figures 3 , 12B and 13B .
  • said jaws perform selectively and alternatively a rectilinear motion, moving reciprocally closer to each other and reciprocally apart from each other.
  • the containers used in the apparatus of the invention are empty parallelepiped containers, whose opposite sides 20A, 20B are provided, on the respective upper edges, with respective engaging rims 20A-A and 20B-B configured as outwardly and horizontal projections (with the container in a normal resting position on a horizontal plane) of the respective sides.
  • Said engaging rims which resemble typical "collars”, work therefore like “handles” that are engaged by the respective jaws 12, 13 which insert immediately below the engaging rims and clasp them firmly.
  • said jaws are limited to coming into contact with the respective sides 20A, 20B of the container 20 preventing to squeeze them, since the simple lifting of the jaws immediately brings the respective upper faces 12A, 13A ( Figures 12A , 12B ) into engagement with the lower faces of the respective engaging rims 20A-A and 20B-B, which in effect allows the lifting or partial rotation of the container without squeezing it, which is in fact the desired effect.
  • double-acting pneumatic or hydraulic cylinders 35, 36 are arranged on said oscillating frame 10; such double-acting pneumatic or hydraulic cylinders 35, 36 offer an improvement in the operating speed of the jaws 12, 13 as well as a perfect synchronism of their movements, which is necessary to prevent the possibility that an asymmetric displacement of the jaws causes a displacement of the container from the correct position in the loading phase.
  • said oscillating frame 10 is operated in a rotational motion around said orthogonal axis "Z" by means of one or more hydraulic cylinders 40, 41, (see figures 1 , 4 ), preferably of double-acting type, each of which being engaged between a portion, preferably a rear portion 40A, 40B, of said oscillating frame, and a respective resistance point 40B, 41 B, integral with the structure of said apparatus, as shown in figures 1 , 4 and 8 .
  • the apparatus includes lifting means provided with a substantially flat lifting surface 45, shown in figures 4 , 8 and 9 , arranged at and below said output edge 2 of said transporting conveyor 1 and suitable to selectively lift and lower one of said containers and/or small boxes in a controlled manner.
  • Said lifting surface 45 is operated, with known means, so as to be supplied, in a lowered position, with a single container at a time by suitable feeding means that supply said surface 45 with the individual separate containers.
  • said surface 45 forms a simple hoisting table that lifts every container to a level suitable for the correct operation of said oscillating frame 10; in fact, the oscillating frame, after having held the respective engaging rims 20A-A and 20B-B ( Figure 3 ) by means of said jaws 12 and 13, is rotated toward the conveyor 1 so as to be set at the desired inclination ( Figure 4 ); the filling of the container begins immediately after the start of rotation of the frame, and continues during the whole phase of rotation of the same and, if necessary, even after the container has been rotated to the stable position at its maximum inclination.
  • the oscillating frame When the filling of the container is completed, the oscillating frame returns in reverse rotation to its initial position, in which said container rests again on the surface 45, as in Figure 5 ; immediately after this, the jaws 12 and 13 open and free the container 20 from the frame 10 ( Fig. 6 ), and subsequently said surface 45 is lowered again to the starting position ( Fig. 7 ), from where the newly filled container is removed, and in its place is brought an empty container to begin another filling cycle.
  • FIGS 8 , 9 and 10 illustrate, from a different perspective angle, the steps of figures 3 , 4 and 5 , respectively, and thus their detailed explanation is omitted.
  • the apparatus of the invention utilizes three separate mechanisms, each of which performing a separate function:
  • the apparatus is provided with known command and control means that process the control signals that must be sent to each of said functional assemblies to implement the designated method, which is made up of the following individual steps briefly described herebelow with reference to the enclosed figures:
  • the transporting conveyor can also start to fill the container right at the start of its rotation phase:
  • the presence of means suitable to sense the presence, or the absence of products on the transporting conveyor offers the possibility of having an advantageous and improved functional mode; this consists of the fact that when said photocell senses the absence of products on the conveyor, the signal produced and transmitted by the same photocell can be used to interrupt both the movement of the conveyor itself, and also, or alternatively, the rotational movement of the oscillating frame and thus of the respective container.
  • both the movement of the conveyor and the movement of the container can be temporarily stopped (as if placed on stand-by), until new product is sensed on the conveyor, which causes the automatic resumption of operation of the complete apparatus.

Landscapes

  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
  • Life Sciences & Earth Sciences (AREA)
  • Agronomy & Crop Science (AREA)
  • Container Filling Or Packaging Operations (AREA)
  • Supplying Of Containers To The Packaging Station (AREA)
  • Specific Conveyance Elements (AREA)
  • Packaging Of Special Articles (AREA)
  • Basic Packing Technique (AREA)
EP14731048.6A 2013-06-11 2014-05-14 Improved apparatus for filling containers with horticultural products Active EP3007981B1 (en)

Priority Applications (4)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
SI201430157A SI3007981T1 (sl) 2013-06-11 2014-05-14 Izboljšana naprava za polnjenje vsebnikov z vrtnarskimi proizvodi
RS20170218A RS55760B1 (sr) 2013-06-11 2014-05-14 Poboljšani aparat za punjenje ambalaže hortikulturnim proizvodima
MEP-2017-69A ME02649B (me) 2013-06-11 2014-05-14 Unaprijeđeni uređaj za punjenje kontejnera raznim vrstama voća i povrća
HRP20170286TT HRP20170286T1 (hr) 2013-06-11 2017-02-21 Poboljšani uređaj za punjenje spremnika s hortikulturnim proizvodima

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
IT000031A ITPN20130031A1 (it) 2013-06-11 2013-06-11 Impianto perfezionato per il riempimento di contenitori di prodotti ortofrutticoli e relativo metodo
PCT/IB2014/061426 WO2014199248A1 (en) 2013-06-11 2014-05-14 Improved apparatus for filling containers with horticultural products

Publications (2)

Publication Number Publication Date
EP3007981A1 EP3007981A1 (en) 2016-04-20
EP3007981B1 true EP3007981B1 (en) 2016-12-28

Family

ID=49000563

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
EP14731048.6A Active EP3007981B1 (en) 2013-06-11 2014-05-14 Improved apparatus for filling containers with horticultural products

Country Status (22)

Country Link
US (1) US20160107777A1 (pt)
EP (1) EP3007981B1 (pt)
CN (1) CN105263807B (pt)
AU (1) AU2014279769B2 (pt)
CA (1) CA2914143C (pt)
CL (1) CL2015003576A1 (pt)
DK (1) DK3007981T3 (pt)
ES (1) ES2616482T3 (pt)
HR (1) HRP20170286T1 (pt)
HU (1) HUE033481T2 (pt)
IT (1) ITPN20130031A1 (pt)
LT (1) LT3007981T (pt)
ME (1) ME02649B (pt)
NZ (1) NZ714137A (pt)
PL (1) PL3007981T3 (pt)
PT (1) PT3007981T (pt)
RS (1) RS55760B1 (pt)
RU (1) RU2650407C2 (pt)
SI (1) SI3007981T1 (pt)
UA (1) UA115479C2 (pt)
WO (1) WO2014199248A1 (pt)
ZA (1) ZA201600096B (pt)

Families Citing this family (4)

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Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
CN105857695B (zh) * 2016-05-23 2017-12-22 浙江工业职业技术学院 一种多肉植物个性化包装系统
CN105857698B (zh) * 2016-06-07 2018-03-27 浙江工业大学 一种水果包装机
EP4255833A1 (en) 2021-01-11 2023-10-11 Durand-Wayland, Inc. Produce sorting and weighing systems and methods
CN114655507B (zh) * 2022-04-20 2023-08-25 赣州市龙源彩印包装有限公司 一种纸制礼盒用自动装箱设备

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Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
AU2014279769A2 (en) 2016-02-04
WO2014199248A1 (en) 2014-12-18
ES2616482T3 (es) 2017-06-13
UA115479C2 (uk) 2017-11-10
EP3007981A1 (en) 2016-04-20
US20160107777A1 (en) 2016-04-21
CL2015003576A1 (es) 2016-10-14
HUE033481T2 (en) 2017-12-28
CN105263807B (zh) 2017-04-05
NZ714137A (en) 2017-05-26
SI3007981T1 (sl) 2017-03-31
LT3007981T (lt) 2017-04-10
RU2015153845A (ru) 2017-07-14
PT3007981T (pt) 2017-03-17
ZA201600096B (en) 2017-04-26
AU2014279769A1 (en) 2015-12-03
CA2914143C (en) 2020-08-25
PL3007981T3 (pl) 2017-09-29
RS55760B1 (sr) 2017-07-31
ME02649B (me) 2017-06-20
AU2014279769B2 (en) 2017-07-20
CA2914143A1 (en) 2014-12-18
ITPN20130031A1 (it) 2014-12-12
HRP20170286T1 (hr) 2017-04-21
CN105263807A (zh) 2016-01-20
RU2650407C2 (ru) 2018-04-11
DK3007981T3 (en) 2017-03-27

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