GB1378846A - Tray erector and filler - Google Patents

Abstract

1378846 Filling and erecting tray blanks ATO Inc 25 April 1973 [19 Jan 1973] 19639/73 Headings B8C and B8P Articles 14 are fed in streams on to a tray blank 56 at a station C and the blank is then forced downwardly so that belts 142 fold the sides and ends of the tray upwardly. Partition plates 16 extending longitudinally of an article feed conveyer 12 divide the articles into stream. The plates are pivotally mounted on a bar 18 while the downstream ends 17 can be moved laterally by an eccentric 40 so that further movement of the articles on the conveyer can be stopped by the ends of partition plates 100 located at station C. The tray blanks are fed to station C from a magazine. Shoes 112 are movable downwardly between the plates 100 by means of rack gears 118 to push the articles supported on a blank downwardly on to a stack of trays formed between the belts 142 which engage the central parts of the sides and ends. Rollers, wipers or sprayers apply adhesives to the extremities of the ends and sides before further belts 174 fold up the gusset flaps at the corners of the trays. Rollers bend the edges of the belts 174 arcuately around the corners of the tray. Hooks support the base of the stack of the trays and are periodically released to permit the bottom one or two trays to fall on to a shelf 224 movable in an endless path by a pair of conveyers 200, 202. When the shelf moves downwardly the tray is deposited on to rollers 226 and on the next forward movement of the shelf the tray is pushed on to a conveyer 230. The apparatus can be adjusted for different size articles and trays.