FR2484362A1 - Packager feed for biscuits - has conveyor with spring loaded plates to retain biscuit slugs of correct length - Google Patents

Abstract

The packager has an infeed comprising a dead plate along which slugs of biscuits standing on edge are fed in succession to a wrapper by the flights of an infeed flight conveyor. The dead plate has a hole bridged by lateral spring loaded plates which nip the ends of slugs of adequate length to support them during travel over the hole but are incapable of supporting unduly short slugs. The biscuits in these slugs fall through the hole and are prevented from passing on to the wrapper. The spring loaded plates extend parallel to the direction of advance of the slugs.

Description

The present invention relates to a packaging machine of the type in which stacks or loads of biscuits arranged on the edge are driven sequentially to a mechanism to be wrapped, along a fixed table, by the pallets or push bars of a conveyor of pallet feed.

 When using such a machine, it happens that too short loads of cookies are supplied by the carrier due to a lack of cookies, in the case where the loads are formed automatically from a column of advancing cookies5 , or as a result of operator inattention when the loads are assembled manually. Cookies in a too short load tend to fall on top of each other and thereby prevent the operation of the wrapping mechanism. In such a case, the machine must be stopped, sometimes for a long time. The object of the present invention is to prevent too short loads of cookies from being conveyed beyond the feeding part of the machine.

Consequently, the subject of the invention is a packaging machine of the above type in which the fixed table has an opening between the edges of which extend lateral members loaded with springs which grip the ends between them loads of the correct length to carry them during their movement over the opening but which are unable to carry loads that are too short, so that the cookies contained in such loads fall through the opening and are thus prevented from to follow their path to the mechanism to be wrapped.

Other characteristics and advantages of the invention will emerge from the description which follows, given by way of nonlimiting example and with reference to the appended drawings, in which
- Fig. 1 is a plan view which represents a first embodiment of a feeding mechanism according to the invention;
- Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken along the line II-II in FIG. 1
- Fig. 3 is a sectional view, drawn on a larger scale, taken along line III-III of FIG. 1
- Fig. 4-is a perspective view of the first embodiment
- Fig. 5 is a plan view which represents a second embodiment of a feeding mechanism according to the invention.

 The same reference numbers have been used to designate similar elements in all the figures.

The feeding mechanism shown in Figs. 1 to 4 comprises a support plate or fixed table 10 along which loads or stacks 11 of biscuits arranged in song are moved sequentially to a packaging machine (not shown) by push bars or pallets 12 which extend between chaste conveyors 13 arranged on the opposite sides of the table 10. The table 10 has an opening 14 and, when each load 11 of biscuits passes over this opening, its ends, provided that it has the length correct, are clamped by a pair of plates 15 which extend parallel to the direction of movement of the loads and which are biased inwards towards the load by springs 16.Members 17 for guiding the lower edges are extend across opening 14 in the vicinity of the ends of full-length loads.

Full length loads 11 are thus carried by the plates 15 as they pass over the opening 14, and are thus prevented from falling through the latter. A load 11 of short length cannot be clamped by the plates 15, and its cookies fall through the opening 14.

The curling of the loads ll under the clamping load imposed by the plates 15 is prevented by fixed bars 18 (not shown in Fig. 4 j which are placed so that they do not prevent a short, loose load from falling to through opening 14.

 The feed mechanism shown in Fig. 5 differs from that shown in Figs. 1 to 4 by the fact that the clamping plates 15 are replaced by belts 19 which are driven by the loads 11 of cookies while the latter are driven by the push bars 12 along the table 10 and which are biased towards the inside by the springs 16 to clamp the ends of the full-length loads and allow them to pass over the opening 14.

Claims (4)

 1 - Packing machine, of the type comprising a feeding mechanism which comprises a fixed table (10) along which stacks (11) of biscuits arranged in song are * sequenced in sequence to a mechanism to be wrapped by the pallets (12) of a pallet feed conveyor, characterized in that the table (10) has an opening (14) between the edges of which extend lateral members (15, 19) loaded by springs (16) which clamp the ends of the correct length stacks together to carry them during their movement above the opening but which are unable to carry stacks that are too short, so that the cookies contained in such stacks fall through the opening and are thus prevented from continuing their journey to the mechanism to be wrapped.  2 - A packaging machine according to claim 1, characterized in that the members loaded by springs are plates (15) which extend parallel to the direction of movement of the stacks (11).  3 - A packaging machine according to claim 1, characterized in that the members loaded by springs are belts (19) extending parallel to the direction of movement of the stacks (11).  4 - A packaging machine according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that it comprises fixed upper and lower bars (18) which prevent the curling of the stacks (11) clamped by the members loaded by springs.