GB1128778A - Transfer and packaging of articles - Google Patents

Abstract

1,128,778. Packaging-machines; suction lifting heads. AMERICAN MACHINE & FOUNDRY CO. 3 Dec., 1965 [15 Dec., 1964], No. 51375/65. Headings B8C and B8H. A group of articles such as buns, rolls, are transferred from a tray T, Fig. 5, to a container K, Fig. 2, by an oscillating vacuum pick up head H, the empty tray being removed by a conveyer 130, Fig. 1. In the embodiment described, a tray containing buns is moved by a pair of endless conveyers C, Fig. 2, to beneath an oscillating vacuum pick-up head H, whereupon the tray T, Fig. 5, is held stationary by fingers 84 engaging beneath the tray and rollers 96 and 110 pressing against the top surface of the tray. To assist removal of the buns, the surface of the tray is first blasted with air through nozzles 352, after which the suction cups 158 of the pick-up head H engage the top surfaces of the buns. The suction cups 158 are suspended from blocks 160, Fig. 6, which are slidably supported on transverse rods 210, 216 and 222 and longitudinal rods 230. A U- shaped member 232, secured on a longitudinal rod 230, is connected by links to the transverse rods 210 and 222 and also to an air cylinder 218, the actuation of which, during the upward movement of the pick-up head H, causes its pistons to slide towards each other over the transverse rod 216 moving the blocks 160 and hence the buns into contiguous engagement. During movement of the pick-up head H, which is oscillated by a connecting rod 202, Fig. 1, secured to a sprocket 194 driven by an endless chain 198, a carton K, Fig. 2, is released by a finger 284 actuated by an air cylinder 290. The carton K is moved on a conveyer 260 to a pair of plates 294, oscillated by a cam mechanism, which plates push the carton on to tilted U-shaped cradle bars 298, Fig. 5. The suction on the buns is then released by a sliding valve 180, Fig. 1B, not shown, to cause them to be deposited into the carton resting on the cradle bars, the rear wall of the carton being bent backwards by a finger 342, to facilitate packaging. Finally, the cradle bars 298 are tilted by cam mechanism to deliver the filled carton on to a conveyer 380. After the buns have been extracted from the trays, the empty trays are pushed from the end of the conveyers C by rods 120 (Fig. 2), on to a pair of tray return conveyers R positioned directly below the in-feed conveyers C. The machine is controlled by a pneumatic control system, the valves being secured on a ring member (416), (Fig. 4, not shown), surrounding a drive shaft (196) on which is keyed a cam (418) which actuates the valves as the shaft (196) rotates. Also, a tray sensing valve 428, (Fig. 2) and a carton sensing valve 430 are interconnected to prevent carton feeding when a tray is absent and vice versa. A channel (82), (Fig. 2A, not shown), for guiding the trays is disposed between the two infeed conveyers C, which may be vertically pivoted to compensate for variation in tray and bun heights.