FR2493269A1 - APPARATUS FOR CANNING A PRODUCT DISPOSED IN PSEUDO-HEMISPHERIC ALVEOLES - Google Patents

Abstract

THE APPLIANCE INCLUDES: A PLATFORM 2 SUPPORTING A TROLLEY 3 TRAY RACK 4-5 FOR RECEIVING PRECUT CELL PLATES, AND MOBILE HORIZONTALLY BETWEEN TWO EXTREME POSITIONS (LOADING - CUTTING AND EJECTING) THESE TRAYS IN THE SAME MOBILE - HORIZONTAL TRANSLATION IN RELATION TO THE CARRIAGE FOLLOWING A DIRECTION INCLINED AT 45 BETWEEN TWO EXTREME POSITIONS SEPARATED BY A DISTANCE EQUAL TO HALF-DIAGONAL OF THE SQUARE HAVING THE CENTERS OF FOUR CONTIGUOUS PITCHES FOR SUMMITS; A RECEPTION PLATE 7 OF SUCCESSIVE LAYERS OF PLATELETS, MOBILE VERTICALLY BETWEEN TWO EXTREME POSITIONS, THE UPWARD TRANSLATION IS CONTINUOUS AND THE DOWNTOWN TRANSLATION ACTING STEP BY STEP INSIDE A PACKAGING 9 AND A CONTROL DEVICE PLATE COOPERATING WITH A SET OF COMMANDS FOR THE VARIOUS MOVEMENTS OF THE APPLIANCE.

Description

The present invention relates to a boxing apparatus from

  precut plates forming the support of a product, for example low temperature ice cream, filling pseudo-hemispherical cells formed on said plates, and in staggered arrangement of the latter of said plates inside said box. We have known for a long time juxtaposing and disposing

  staggered objects with round bodies identical to each other.

  These objects are generally cylindrical bottles or boxes whose bottom, substantially planar and circular rests on a tray or the horizontal bottom of a case or a cardboard box. Juxtaposed in this way, these objects wedge each other, occupying the smallest possible surface, which has the effect, on the one hand, of

  reduce clutter, facilitate handling operations

  and, on the other hand, to reduce the importance of packaging. To carry out such storage operations

  staggered, there are at least two kinds of machines.

  One of them is more specially adapted to the condi-

  tction of bottles and has, for this purpose, clamps allowing to grasp the neck of diameter smaller than its body to bring it into the position assigned to it in the assembly. A machine of this type is expensive and complicated and it cannot be conveniently used for staggered juxtaposition of objects such as cans, because of the size of the clamps. Another machine, adapted to many particular forms of objects with a round body, arranges them by lines guided in corridors, forms juxtaposed files of which it then shifts one in two by half a diameter, then applies to the offset files a transverse thrust to attach objects. However, such a machine does not allow staggered storage of all the objects to be

  round body according to the three dimensions.

  The present invention overcomes this insufficiency by providing a boxing device according to the three dimensions of objects with a round body and more particularly pseudo-hemispherical objects having a flat face and housed in cells formed on precut plates. Such objects can be, for example,

  scoops of ice cream already solidified.

  The device according to the invention is essentially characterized in that it comprises: a platform forming a support for a carriage, on which are mounted two trays for receiving precut and mobile wafers

  in horizontal translation alternately between two posi-

  extreme positions corresponding one to a loading position, and the other to a position for cutting said plates into elementary portions and ejecting said portions, said plates themselves being movable in horizontal translation relative to the carriage in a direction inclined to 450 relative to the direction of translation of said carriage between two extreme positions separated by a distance equal to the half-diagonal of the square formed by joining the centers of four contiguous cells; a horizontal plate for receiving the successive layers of elementary portions of plates thus cut, movable in vertical translation alternately between two extreme positions, the upward translation being carried out continuously, while the downward translation, is carried out, in successive steps, at the inside a package along the internal walls of which it moves;

  and a device for controlling said co-receiving tray

  operating with a set of control and coordination bodies

  automatic operation of the various movements of the entire device. The characteristics and advantages of the invention

  will emerge better from the description given below as

  of nonlimiting example and with reference to the appended drawings in which: FIG. 1 represents a side view of a stack of platelets of "balls" of product as it occurs in a receiving box; - Figure 2 shows the stack of Figure 1 seen from above; - Figure 3 shows a perspective view of a portion of wafer after cutting and as then packaged, and showing the cell for receiving the product; - Figure 4 shows an overall front view of the apparatus according to the invention; - Figure 5 shows an overall side view of the apparatus of Figure 4; and - Figure 6 shows a top view of the

  trolley for the trays of the apparatus of FIGS. 5 and 6.

  In these different figures, the same references

  References represent the same elements.

  Referring firstly to Figures 1, 2 and 3, the product to be canned by means of the apparatus according to the invention is for example constituted by "balls" of ice cream previously conditioned in the form of elementary portions , that is to say solids espousing the

  form of pseudo-hemispherical alveoli (A) arranged in a regular

  smoothly in length and in width on "plates" (B) made of sheet plastic. Said cells and, consequently, the "balls" of ice cream have a shape such that they have on one side a circular transverse planar face and on the opposite side the shape of a

  pseudo-hemispherical cap and a lateral connection side

  substantially frustoconical, as shown in particular in Figures 1 and 3. The centers of the cells A represent the vertices of a square mesh network. The length of the side of the base square is chosen so that, taking into account the height of a cell, it can be placed, inverted, between four cells of the adjacent plate so that its lateral face is tangent to each of the side faces of said four cells, as shown in Figures 1 and 2. In this - way, it is possible to stack on top of each other

  sets of two plates whose plane faces coincide

  tooth, each pair of plates thus formed being offset from the previous one so as to form a staggered stack in three dimensions. The number of pairs of platelets that can be stacked in the same box can be any number, but the pairs of even rank platelets from the bottom of the box are all offset as indicated above with respect to the pairs of platelets.

odd rank.

  So, for example, each wafer can advance

  taggingly be square in shape and having nine cells regularly spaced apart in two dimensions, the centers of the circles forming their flat faces thus being arranged at the vertices of the squares forming a network with regular square meshes of nine squares. Advantageously, in this case, each receiving box can contain, for example, five pairs of two plates each joined by their flat faces, that is to say in total ten plates of nine balls each, the pairs of plates of even rank being staggered

  compared to that of odd rank, along the same slide

  gonal of the square and of a length equal to the half-diagonal

of an elementary square.

  As shown in Figures 4, 5 and 6, the device essentially comprises mounted on chassis 1: -a platform 2 on which can move in horizontal rectilinear translation and in both directions, a carriage 3 forming a support for two plates 4 and 5 platelet receptors; an assembly 6 for cutting said wafers, and for evacuating the latter in a box, below and plumb with which the two said trays loaded with a wafer are placed alternately; a plate 7 forming a support for the boxes, which cooperates with a mechanism which causes them to descend step by step as and when the plates are stacked in the receiving box; and, a set of means for closing and evacuating the filled boxes. On the horizontal platform 2 can move by means of guide members of any suitable known type, a carriage 3 on which are arranged at each of its two ends, the two plates 4 and 5. Each of these two plates 4 and 5 is shaped to receive such plates, the cells of which have been previously filled with ice cream. To this end, it includes as many cells for receiving cells as there are cells in a wafer of ice cream "balls", that is to say nine in this case and arranged in the same way as said cells as shown in Figure 6. The two plates which are integral with the carriage move at the same time as it in horizontal translation, straight bars or rails 2a and 2b forming a guide for rollers 3a and 3b integral with the carriage constituting, for example, the bodies of guidance of

this movement.

  In what follows, the apparatus is supposed to be viewed from the front, that is to say as shown in FIG. 4 so that the plate 4 is the plate on the left and the

tray 5 the right tray.

  This horizontal translation movement takes place between two express positions, sometimes from the right to the left, sometimes from the left to the right, and in such a way that, when the left plate 4 is in the extreme position, it is in position for receiving a plate of "balls", while the right tray previously loaded with a plate is plumb

  of the assembly 6 for cutting and evacuating the wafers.

  Similarly, when the right tray is in the extreme position, the left tray previously loaded with a wafer, is plumb with the cutting assembly. In addition to the reciprocating horizontal rectilinear translational movement by the carriage which supports them, the two plates are mounted on the latter so as to be able to move simultaneously with respect to it according to an reciprocating horizontal rectilinear translational movement between two extreme positions. and whose direction makes with that of the movement of. carriage an angle of 450, the amplitude of this relative movement having a value equal to that of the half-diagonal of the square forming an elementary mesh of the network along which the cells of a wafer are distributed. To this end, each of the plates 4 and 5 is mounted in a known manner on two slides 5a which are integral with it and cooperate with, for example, guide rods 5b fixed relative to the carriages as shown in FIG. 6. These different translational movements, both of the carriage and of the plates are obtained by means, for example, of jacks (not shown), the ends of the rods of which are made respectively integral both with the carriage and with each of the two plates, said movements being coordinated with each other at using any suitable known device, and as described below. The plates situated on the same side of the carriage are loaded, for example manually, so that the concavity of the cells of the plates placed on a plate are always oriented in the same direction, and the concavity of the cells of the plates, placed in place on the plate opposite to the previous one are oriented in the opposite direction. Thus, for example, the cells of the wafers placed on the right tray always have their concavity turned upwards, said cells thus being housed on the tray so that each of them is placed in a box of the corresponding tray, while that the cells of the wafers placed on the left plate are arranged so that their concavity is turned downwards, said cells then having their flat face arranged opposite the boxes of the corresponding plate. Advantageously, the plates are provided with lateral claws for retaining the plates which therein

  are placed, and the placement of which is controlled automatically

  when moving, in order to avoid any displacement-

unwanted of these.

  The plates, pre-cut and whose cells have been filled, with ice cream, in the solid state, are placed on the plates 4 and 5 as just indicated, said plates occupying the same extreme position on the carriage. The carriage, in a first phase, is moved so that the right plate comes to be placed directly above the assembly 6 for cutting the wafers and that, as explained below, it can be evacuated by a member of this same set 6 in a receiver box. At the end of these operations and in a second phase, the carriage is moved in the opposite direction to the previous one until the left tray comes to place itself in line with the assembly 6, then after cutting * the wafer which it supports, evacuated by means of the ejection members associated with the cutting device in the box

  receiver, directly above the plate that was previously

  ment arranged, the two plates then being exactly symmetrical to each other, relative to the plane

  common by which they then face each other.

  During the next cycle, the same operations are repeated, but the plates occupy the second extreme position for the duration of this cycle.

  have relative to the carriage, that is to say after a trans-

  lation along an axis inclined at 450 on the direction of movement of said carriage and over a length equal to the half-diagonal of the square forming the outline of a box

  tray, as above already mentioned.

  The device for cutting and ejecting the elementary portions of cut wafers is mounted on the carriage so that it is kept stationary during the overall movement of the carriage and that it can, on the contrary, move obliquely with respect to the direction of it at the same time as the two plates, so that it is always plumb with one or the other

  tray, in the cutting phase.

  The tray 7, which, as indicated further below

  in detail is attached to a column 8 formed of two rods-

  supports, is movable between two extreme positions, one upper, the other lower. The boxes 9 for receiving the plates which, most often are made of a material capable of supporting folding along rectilinear parts, such as for example cardboard, have a square cross section so that two successive plates placed in staggered rows one relative to the other each take support by two of their adjacent sides on the internal wall of the corresponding box. At the end of the can filling cycle, the tray 7 is located at level 10 of an evacuation device (not shown) from the filled can. When this box has been evacuated, a new empty box is pushed perpendicular to the cutting assembly 6, the inside outline of the box then being placed along the outside outline of the plate 9 of which it follows the shape. To do this, the edges 9a, 9b, 9c, and 9d of the upper part of the box 9 are folded down along the corresponding external lateral faces of the latter and held in this position as follows: the edges 9a and 9b are kept folded down respectively by the edge 9b of the empty box preceding the box to be filled and by the edge 9a of the box which has just been filled, while the edges 9c and 9a are kept folded down by and between flanges 11a and 11b integral with the machine frame. In the same way, among the edges 9e, 9f, 9g and 9h of the lower part of the box, the edges 9e and 9f are folded outwards to 900, have their internal faces applied on the upper face of level 10 and are held by means of the angles 12a and 12b secured to the frame of the machine, while the edges 9g, 9h are folded outwardly and

  maintained, like the corresponding edges of the upper part

  of the box, by the lower edges of the adjacent boxes. When the box ready to be filled has been thus placed, the plate 7, is raised from level 10 in the manner indicated below, until it is flush with the upper contour of the box as shown in Figures 4 and 5; the box is then ready to receive the layers of plates for their installation, after cutting into elementary portions, with the arrangement in

  staggered as described above.

  When a box is thus arranged, the right tray, on which the ball plates are placed so that the concavity of their cells faces upwards, is brought loaded directly above the assembly 6 of

  cutting and ejection of said wafers.

  This assembly 6 essentially comprises, mounted on the upper part of the chassis 1, at least one, but preferably two jacks 13a and 13b, with pressurized fluid, for example hydraulic, with vertical longitudinal axes, and whose rods, placed on the bottom side, their ends are rigidly secured to a cutting block 14. This comprises two groups of pairs of blades arranged parallel to each other and regularly spaced; the two parallel blades of a pair, the cutting edges of which are at the same level, have a length equal to that of the side of the square forming the outline of a compartment of a platelet receiving tray and cover the parts of the platelets not affected by the precut between two adjacent cells. The planes containing the blades of the first group are perpendicular to the direction of movement of the carriage 3, while the planes containing the blades of the second group are parallel to the direction of movement of this same carriage. Furthermore, this cutting block is provided on each of its four sides,

of two guide rods.

  When a tray of the carriage 3 supporting a wafer whose cells are filled with product is brought into line with the cutting assembly 6, each of the pairs of the cutting block is then placed directly above a partition for separation of the alveoli, a blade of each pair then being plumb with a partition of separation

  two adjacent boxes on the corresponding board.

  In this same position of the carriage 3, the guide rods mounted on the cutting block are plumb with the corresponding V-shaped notches of the plate in place on the plate placed in line with the assembly 6. In in addition, each of the upper parts of the partitions dividing the cells of the platelet receiving tray comprises, opposite the corresponding blade, a cavity of complementary shape of this same blade over a certain depth, into which the coresponding blade can sink, after having crossed the wafer and having made the cutting notch there. The corresponding simultaneous vertical movements of the different blades are caused by the simultaneous extensions of the rods of the cutting cylinders 13a and 13b. When this cutting operation of the wafers is completed, the wafer is then cut into nine parts or elements of square general contour each comprising a cell, these elements no longer resting then by the edge of their contour on the walls of the

  corresponding box on the receiving tray 4 or 5.

  The wafer cutting assembly 6 further comprises a tool for ejecting the portions of square contour wafers resting on the plate 7 where they have been cut out of this plate. This tool is constituted by a set of ejectors 16 formed by pushers integral with a common support 17 arranged on this support respectively opposite the cells. The ejector support is made integral with the end of the rod of a jack 18 secured to the frame with a longitudinal axis parallel to the longitudinal axes of the actuating jacks for cutting tools for the inserts on the plates, said jack being placed at a height such that the distance separating the point of its travel corresponding to the contact of the free end of an ejector with the corresponding ice cream cell and the point of its travel corresponding to that where said cell was ejected from the tray and pushed back into the box is equal to the height of a cell, the level at which the vertices of the nine cells alternate or their flat face being that of the orifice of the ball receiving box. This ejection and introduction operation into the receiving box 9 of the nine cells simultaneously is made possible by the fact that the support material of the ice cream balls provided with such cells is a flexible sheet material and elastic at the same time. The edges of the nine cavities forming the nine cells filled with ice cream, which, before ejection rested on the edge

  square contour cavities of the corresponding receiving tray

  laying platelets, fold back under the effect of the push of the coresponding ejection thanks to their flexibility, which allows them to cross folded said cavities by resting on the inner faces of the latter, and to resume thanks to their elasticity their initial plane shape

  after this crossing.

  il During this ejection operation, the tray of the ice cream scoops is pushed down

  the height of a cell as shown below.

  The square tray 7 receiving boxes 9 is supported in its central region by an olonnne 8 formed by a set of two vertical rods 19 of the same length. These rods 19 are interconnected by bars 20 forming notches regularly staggered together and whose number is at least equal to the number of layers of balls stacked in staggered rows in a box. In addition, these rods are guided in vertical axial translation by means of at least two groups of two rollers 21 each carried by yokes 22 made integral with the chassis of the device by any suitable known means. In each group of two guide rollers, the rollers which can rotate freely around their axes are placed so that they are opposite to each other, their grooves or raceway bearing on the outer lateral faces of the rods 19, that is to say those opposite the internal lateral faces connected together by the bars 20 and can rotate without sliding when the rods move. The two rods 19 finally are joined together at their ends by a plate

spacer 23.

  The two rods 19 are also in permanent contact with a brake, the two jaws 24 and 25 of which bear by their internal faces respectively on the two rods 20. These jaws are joined together by two rods 26 and 27 secured to the chassis. the apparatus and arranged horizontally and parallel to the vertical plane containing the vertical axes of the rods 20. At least one of these two jaws can slide along the support rods,

  the other being kept pressed on the corresponding rod 20

  dante, the sliding jaw then being pressed against the corresponding rod by any known suitable means by means of a compressible elastic member, for example a

  compressible spring directly or indirectly supported-

  on the one hand on the jaw and, on the other hand, on the chassis of the device. However, each of the two jaws can be mounted so as to bear on the corresponding rod by means of a compressible spring. In either case, the mechanical characteristics of the compression springs are chosen in such a way that the friction forces exerted in contact with the jaws and the rods are sufficient to prevent the descent against these forces under the effect of its own weight of the assembly formed by the plate 7, the rods 19 and their connecting elements 20 and 23 as well as the weight of the total maximum load of the plate 7, but that, on the other hand, this descent can be obtained by means of a thrust of appropriate value added to the weight of this assembly, such as for example, the thrust exerted by the cylinder for ejecting the ice cream scoops out of their support plate, this movement of descent of the plate 7 and all the elements

  which are linked to it ceasing as soon as this surge ceases.

  Between the two jaws 24 and 25 is disposed a pawl 28 articulated around an axis 29 parallel to the rods 26 and 27 forming their supports. This pawl has on one side of the axis 28, one end cooperating with the various bars 20 as the descent of the plate 7

  packaging holder and on the other side of this same axis an

  moth 28b connected, via an elastic member

  extendable, for example, a spring 30, to a yoke 31 holder

  pawl, also articulated around the axis 29 of said pawl. This yoke cooperates with the rod 32 of a jack 33

  integral with the chassis of the apparatus for its maintenance in posi-

  fixed position during the downward movement of the plate 7, a housing being provided for this purpose for the end of the rod of said cylinder. Furthermore, the ratchet yoke comprises, on its face opposite to the rods 19 tray holder 7 and on the other side of its axis 29 relative to these same rods, a part provided with a fork 34 with two branches, open on the side opposite said rods 19, the role of which will be specified more

  far. The device for lowering the platform 7 as shown below

  above described further comprises a vertical balance 35 articulated about a horizontal axis parallel to the axis of rotation 29 of the pawl, integral with the chassis of the device and

  disposed at a level lower than that of said axis 29. This balan-

  cier comprises, at its upper end, a ratchet guide formed by a cylindrical rod 35a, which is engaged in the fork 34 of the ratchet yoke, when said balance is in the vertical rest position. This balance comprises, in addition, at its lower end a roller 35b whose axis of rotation, parallel to its own axis of oscillation is eccentric with respect to it and disposed on the side of the rods 19, the axis of said roller being secured to the balance rod via a yoke 35c which is made integral therewith

  by any suitable known means, for example, by welding.

  Between the level of its axis of rotation and that of its upper end, the balance rod is connected to the chassis of the device by an elastic elastic member 36 which urges it under traction, so that naturally and apart from any other constraint, the part of said pendulum placed above its axis of rotation is attracted to the side of this chassis, that is to say moves away from the rods 19, this movement remaining however limited by a stopper

  adjustable length 37, while the part located above

  above this axis, and consequently, the roller 35b,

  closer together, the ratchet guide then not being, in this posi-

  tion, no longer engaged with the ratchet clevis by means of

diary of the fork 34.

  This part of the device finally comprises a jack 38 whose body is secured to the frame by any suitable known means and whose rod 38a, provided at its end with a pusher 38b is extendable downwards and retractable upwards. Said pusher cooperates on the one hand, by its plate when the cylinder rod is in the extended position, with the roller 35b to hold the balance in position

  vertical, which has the effect of putting, through

  diary of the pawl guide 35a, the pawl of the pawl in the working position and thus obtain the locking, by means of the rod 32, of the jack 33, and, on the other hand, also by this same plate, with the spacer plate of the rods 19 to raise said rods and consequently the plate 7, when, after its descending movements in successive steps, it has descended from a height equal to that of its stroke, which

  corresponds to the height of a box 9. As explained above

  afterwards, the position of the rod of the jack 33 during the descent of the plate 7 is its extension position, the balance being, therefore kept vertical during the entire duration of this descent movement, and consequently, the pawl guide engaged in the fork 34 of the ratchet yoke kept fixed by the rod 32 of the jack 33, until the spacer 23 comes into contact with the pusher 38b, which has the effect of causing the withdrawal of the cylinder rod 38, the release of the pendulum, which swivels around its axis and releases the clevis of the pawl, which, tilting in turn around its axis, causes the pawl to be erased, the corresponding erasure position being such that 'during the ascent of the plate and its support rods 19, the bars 20 have no contact with the end of the pawl, this ascent being obtained by the thrust

  that the actuator of the jack exerts on the spacer 23 against the

  frictional forces exerted by the brake on the rods 19. At the end of the stroke, the rod of the jack 38 returns as indicated below, in the extended position, position in which, after having attacked the roller 35b of the balance 35, the pusher 38b brings it back then maintains it in the vertical position, which has the effect of bringing the ratchet yoke back and, consequently, the ratchet in the working position, position in which the end of the rod 32 of the jack 33 comes place in the housing provided for this purpose in the ratchet clevis to keep it fixed for the duration of the

new descent of the platform 7.

  At the end of the descent of the plate 7, that is to say when the reception box is filled, the latter is pushed out of the plate onto a packaging machine, by an empty box which then takes its place on the tray, a jack whose end of the rod is provided with a pusher being provided for this purpose, and the empty box repelling

in turn the box full.

  The command to start and / or stop the

  different pressurized fluid cylinders ensuring movement

  the various bodies described above and the coordination

  nation of said movements is obtained by any suitable control device of known type which can implement various means, for example, electrical, electronic, electromagnetic, mechanical, pneumatic or a combination of these various means. To this end, the spacer 23 connecting the rods 19 forms the support of a part provided with cams cooperating with a movable member, along which said cams travel as the descent of the plate 7. The support of said cams is constituted, for example, by a square-shaped piece 39 having as plane of symmetry the vertical plane containing the longitudinal axes of the two rods 29, fixed by any means

  known suitable, by its horizontal branch 39a at the

  height rod 23, while its vertical branch 39b, at the free upper end, is provided with cams constituted, for example, by a series of notches 39c and redents 39d regularly spaced apart over part of the height of said upper end and cooperating with a roller 40 movable both in rotation about its axis and in rotation around an axis of rotation parallel to the previous one, fixed relative to the chassis, the link arm of the yoke of the roller to this axis being constrained by an elastic return member, in such a way that the roller finds its natural position in the notches 39c and that the spring is forced when the roller is pushed back on a redent 39d between two notches 39c. This laision arm is integral with closing (and opening) members of the control circuits of the various members of the apparatus, which, consequently,

  works as shown below.

  One of the trays, the one on the left 4, for example, loaded with a wafer of ice cream scoops being assumed to be plumb with the cutting assembly, the cells thus filled being also assumed to have their concavity upwards and the receiving plate assumed to be at its highest level, the control member of the jack 13 controls the starting of its rods 13a and 13b, an operation which results in the complete cutting of the pre-cut wafer in place on the plate 5. A once this operation is finished, that is to say when the rods 13a and 13b have reached their fully extended position, the control member of the jack for ejecting the cut balls thus actuated in turn, causes the descent of the ejectors. This operation causes said balls to pass through the plate, pushing and lowering the plate 7 on which the

  first layer of balls inside the box 9 pre-

  lablment in place, over a height equal to the height separating the plane of the flat face of a plate from that of the plane face of one of the two plates which are attached to it

  adjacent in the stacking of the box. The shift to-

  the bottom of the plate 7 of this height causes the camshaft 39b to move downwards over the same height, so that the roller which cooperates with it comes at the end of the journey to take place in the first of the notches 39c,

  which has the effect of provoking at the same time as the opening

  ture of the previously closed control circuit, the opening of the control circuit for the next phase of operations, namely the removal of the rods from the cutting and ejection cylinders, and the translation of the carriage from left to right -plates 4 and 5, translation which brings the right plate 5 perpendicular to the cutting and ejection assembly, this plate having been loaded, manually or mechanically during the previous operation with a wafer whose cells are turned in opposite directions of the cells of the previously cut and ejected wafer, so that once in place in the receiving box, the two wafers are in contact by their planar faces and that the elementary wafer portions of one and the other layer is thus in contact two by two by their flat face. When these various members thus arrive in the positions respectively indicated, an end of stroke contact of the drive cylinder of the carriage in translation causes both the latter to stop and the opening of the control circuit of the cutting cylinders. and the same operations as those indicated above are repeated and take place in the same way, the right tray being, in turn and for their duration, loaded with a plate of balls arranged in the same way as' The plate previously placed on the plate 4, but in the opposite direction. Once the lowering movement of the plate 7 is completed, the redent 39d which follows the notch 39c in which the roller was located cooperating with the camshaft 39b at the start of this second series of operations, is at the end of the cycle in contact with said roller, which has the effect of modifying the position of the contact member carried by the roller support arm. The control circuits of the organs of the apparatus are chosen in such a way that in this new position, the actuators for controlling the oblique translation of the assembly of the carriage 2 tray holders and of the assembly 6 for cutting and ejection of the ice cream balls linked to the previous one, move the said sets in a direction inclined at 450 in the direction of movement of the plates 4 and 5 on the carriage and over a length equal to half the length of a diagonal of the square formed by the centers of four adjacent cells two by two on the same wafer. Once this

  oblique displacement carried out, or possibly simultaneous-

  lying with it, the right plate 5, which was loading during the previous operation of introducing the second plate into the receiving box, is then brought into line with the cutting assembly, the plate

  that he supports having the same orientation on this tray on the right

  tation than that of the wafer which was previously supported by the same plate. Once these relative positions of the different organs have been reached, the succession of

  operations reproduced identical to that having succeeded previous-

  require the first two layers of scoops to be placed, so that at the end of the cycle four layers of scoops of ice cream are introduced into the box, arranged in two sets of two layers each, in each of which the flat face d '' a cell of one is located opposite that of a cell of the other, the two said layers, which are identical, being offset from each other along a diagonal of the square forming the outline of the

  initial plates and a length equal to half

  diagonal of the square having -for vertices the centers of four

adjacent cells two by two.

  When all the operations leading to the end of the second cycle are finished, the roller cooperating with the camshaft is in the same position as that in the lagoon, it was at the end of the first cycle; therefore, the circuit for controlling the translation of the assembly formed by the carriage 2 tray holders 4 and 5 and by the cutting and ejection assembly which is integral therewith is placed in the closed position which has the effect of bringing these two sets related to the position they occupied at the start of the first cycle, in which the contour of the platelet carrier plates is then, directly above the contour of the first layer of two plates pressed into the mailbox. As soon as this position is reached, the sequence of operations described with regard to the first two layers of platelet portions is repeated once more and continues automatically, until a predetermined number of layers, for example five (this which corresponds to the canning of ten layers of portions of ball platelets in total) has been stored in the box. When a box has been completely filled in this way and the roller cooperating with the cam rod arrives at the end of its travel, the process of evacuating said box to the final packaging station and replacing it with a empty box is triggered via said roller, while the process of raising the plate 7, as described above, is started, with a view to repeating, once again, all of the

  operations leading to the filling of a box.

  It is understood that the present invention has only been described and shown as a preferred example and that technical equivalences can be made to its various constituent elements without going beyond the ambit

  of said invention, as claimed below.

Claims (6)

  1. Apparatus for canning from precut plates forming the support of a product, for example galcée cream at low temperature, filling pseudo-hemispherical cells formed on said plates and in staggered arrangement of the latter, at the interior of said box, apparatus characterized in that it comprises: a platform (2) forming a support for a carriage (3) on which are mounted two receiving plates (4 and 5) of pre-cut wafers (B) and movable in horizontal translation alternately between two extreme positions, one corresponding to a loading position and the other to a position for cutting said plates into elementary portions and for ejecting said portions, said plates themselves being movable in horizontal translation relative to the carriage in a direction inclined at 450 with respect to the direction of translation of said carriage between two extreme positions separated by a distance equal to half diagonal of the square formed by joining the centers of four contiguous cells; a horizontal plate for receiving (7) successive layers of portions   elementaries of plates thus cut, mobile in trans-   vertical relationship alternately between two extreme positions, the upward translation being carried out continuously, while the downward translation is carried out in successive steps, inside a package (9) along the internal walls from which it moves; and a device for controlling said receiving plate cooperating with a set of automatic control and coordination members   of the various movements of the whole apparatus.   2. Apparatus according to claim 1, character-   laughed at by the fact that the plates (4 and 5) for receiving the wafers are integral with one another and form a movable unit in horizontal translation relative to the carriage which forms the support.   3. Apparatus according to any one of the claims.   cations 1 or 2, characterized in that the   cutting of the wafers and ejection of the elementary portions   shutters (6) is mounted on the carriage (3) so that it is held stationary during the overall movement of the carriage and that it can, on the contrary, move obliquely with respect to the direction of the latter at the same time as the two plates (4 and 5) so that it is always plumb with one or the other plate in the cutting phase.   4. Apparatus according to claim 3, character-   laughed at by the fact that the assembly 6 comprises at least one jack (13a - 13b) whose rods are integral with a cutting block (14) provided with two groups of pairs of blades arranged parallel to each other and regularly spaced, the two parallel blades of a pair whose cutting edges are at the same level having a length equal to that of the side of the square forming the outline of a box of a platelet receiving tray, the planes containing the blades of one of said groups being perpendicular to the direction of movement of the carriage (3) while those containing the blades of the other group are parallel to this   last, said block being also duly guided.   5. Apparatus according to any one of the claims.   cations 1 to 4, characterized in that the cutting and ejection device is mounted on a fixed frame relative to the frame of said device, that it is movable relative to this frame in transverse translation at 450, relative to the direction of movement of the carriage at the same time as the movable assembly formed by the assembly of the two platelet-holding plates and that for this purpose, said assembly and said device are rigidly integral with each other and simultaneously driven in the same movement of oblique translation by means of at least one common jack, the cutting blades and the ejection pushers remaining constantly in line with the location which the two plates alternately occupy at the end of travel during the translational movement of the carriage mobile equipment carrier.   6. Apparatus according to any one of the claims.   cations 1 to 5, characterized in that the receiving plate for the successive layers of the elementary portions of platelets is supported by a vertical column provided with a notching cooperating during its descent with a ratchet erasable during its ascent, said cooperating column , on the one hand, with a set of at least two guide members opposite one another and, on the other hand, with a set of at least two brake shoes applied by means of elastic members between its side walls; that said column cooperates, during its upward movement, by its end opposite to the plate, with the pusher which is provided with the end of the rod of a jack secured to the chassis of the apparatus, which rod remains in the extended position , during the entire downward movement of the plate, its end pusher now blocked a pendulum for holding a pawl cooperating with the notching of the support column of the plate, said balance being released and then tilting as soon as said withdrawal rod and the rise of the plate, and in turn freeing said element from any contact with the notch; and, that the end of the column carrying the plate opposite to it is integral with a ramp along which are aligned a succession of identical cams of two in two and bearing on a movable member for automatic movement control some issues   constituent elements of said apparatus.