GB1293598A - A wrapping method and apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

1293598 Apparatus and method of wrapping commodities CANADIAN INTERNATIONAL PAPER CO 26 Nov 1969 [29 March 1969] 57859/69 Heading B8C A method of wrapping a commodity with a wrapper W having closing areas of overlap, Fig. 23, comprises providing a source of hot molten adhesive, providing a wrapper having areas of overlap adapted to be juxtaposed together to form a sealed wrapper portion, feeding the wrapper to a wrapping station, applying a hot molten adhesive 578 to the wrapper in areas of overlap, wrapping the commodity within the wrapper and placing the areas of wrapper overlap into said juxtaposition to seal the wrapper. In a wrapping machine the lowermost wrapper W in a stack tilted at the back by a manually adjustable lever 27 is selected and advanced through a gap beneath a front magazine plate 22 and a supporting surface 25 by means of mechanism comprising suction cups 31, longitudinally movable brackets 34, two pairs of drive rollers (46, 46a) and (49, 49a), and a U-shaped spring clip assembly (50) which finally advances the selected blank W between guides (56) to abut stops (57), Figs. 13, 15 not shown, and level with a downwardly movable elevator platform 138 to receive one, or two, layers of commodities such as tin cans 204. A pusher 152, operated by a piston unit P, moves in conjunction with the elevator 138 as it is moved downwardly by an arm 246, the lateral sides and ends of the wrapper being folded toward the cans by guides 44, 146 and two pairs of movable arms 162 respectively, T-shaped bars 139 folding the bottom transverse wrapper portions upwardly. The partially wrapped commodity is advanced laterally by a pusher 158 along a platform 142 and beneath rollers 167, 170 for folding down the top of the wrapper and placing a manufacturer's flap thereon. Figs. 19, 20, not shown, illustrate the latter mechanism in more detail. The wrappd package then passes between spaced moving belts 172 which close the package. Tin cans 204 are advanced toward a blank W on the elevator at the upper zone by a conveyer belt 204, past joggling sections 210, and into rows between guides 216, a predetermined number of tins being advanced on to the blank W on the elevator 738 by an advancing plate 220 which has fingers 222 and which is lowered into position and advanced by a pivotal arm 230 and rod 232 driven by cam mechanism 240. The plate 220 operates in conjunction with a barrier arm mechanism 224, 207 which carries a plate 228 to bridge the gap between the conveyer 202 and the wrapper W. The return stroke of the arm 230 lifts the plate 220 and pivots the barrier 224, 207 upwardly to block the feed of cans and remove the bridging for the gap. Detecting means 260 and 264, respectively, prevent feed of a wrapper W if there is a gap in the feed of tins and the operation of the advancing plate 220 if there is an irregularly aligned tin. A modification, Figs. 3-9 (not shown), comprises spaced-apart identical can feed systems which each have selecting and advancing mechanisms generally the same as that described above, and which are driven in unison. A layer of tins from the upper conveyer system (202) is received by a pair of plates (353, 353a) the layer being held by the suction cups 361 of a supporting head (363) which is movable vertisally downwardly on guides (369) by a piston assembly (371) when the plates (353, 353a) are moved apart by piston assemblies (355, 355a). A second pair of plates (373, 373a) is adapted to receive a layer of tins advanced by the lower feeding system and to be lowered on to a wrapper (W) on the elevator (138) when the plates (373, 373a) are moved apart by respective piston assemblies (375, 375a), the supporting head (363) then being lowered to place the upper layer of tins upon the lower layer. Operation of the barrier mechanism 224, 207 can be arrested by energizing a piston 416. The central drive and drive system is described with reference to Fig. 9 (not shown). The hot melt glue system includes a pair of spacedapart transverse side flanges 506 mounted on either side of the elevator platform 138 on rods 510, Figs. 21, 22, which are pivotable by cam mechanism 512, 514 and which are adapted to support the extending portions of the bottom wrapper panel, Fig. 23. The glue spraying apparatus comprises a support 516 at each side of the lower station and each having a spray nozzle 518 to direct glue on to the inwardly foldable flaps of the wrapper. After the glue has been applied the bottom and top portions of the wrapper are closed and sealed by a pair of plates 520, Fig. 24, which are reciprocable toward and away from the end of the package in housings 524 by cam-and-link mechanism 540. The fingers 506 may be fixed instead of being movable.