GB2085834A - Automatic jumble-filling machine - Google Patents

Abstract

Elongate articles, e.g. wrapped chocolate bars, are jumble-filled into an open-topped carton by diverting successive counted-off even fractions, e.g. quarters of the number of articles to be packaged in a carton, the articles falling into alternate ones of two chambers which are so sized and shaped that the articles are automatically grouped into parallel but non-coaxial alignment; dropping the groups of articles alternately from said chambers into respective further chambers in each of which the articles form a stack; and, when two such stacks have been formed adjacent one another so that each forms a mirror image of the other in a vertical plane halfway along a carton positioned therebelow, releasing both stacks at substantially the same moment. The articles then spread evenly over the carton floor without skewing, and the process is repeated until the desired number has been cartoned. As shown an oscillating paddle comprising a central divide (24) and two drop plates (25, 26) may be provided to define the first two chambers with side walls (29 and 31). Carton erecting apparatus may be associated with the machine and the carton may start in a raised position and be lowered during filling. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Automatic jumble-filling machine and method The invention relates to the field of automatic carton-filling machinery, and is particularly concerned with the problem of filling into a sucession of open topped cartons a continuous horizontal flow of elongate generally tubular articles.

The problem outlined above arises for example in automatic high speed packaging machinery used to wrap chocolate bars and to deliver the wrapped bars at relatively high speed to a stacking station. The wrapped chocolate bars delivered by such machines arrive at the station in a continuous horizontal co-axial flow, and the machines are commonly referred to as horizontal form-fill-seal machines.

The wrapped bars are elongate and generally tubular, but no two successive bars are alike, and the bars cannot generally be stacked one on top of another.

They are usually "jumble-filled" into open topped cartons. The filling is carried out manually and is an unsatisfactory high cost operation in which the labourers havetoworkathighspeed in an attempt to keep pace with the output of the packaing machine by removing and cartoning the desired number of articles from the continuous output of the machine without there being any substantial break in output.

The invention seeks to accomplish the jumblefilling of a succession of such articles by automatic means.

According to the invention, a succession of elongate generally tubular articles delivered in a normally continuous horizontal flow is jumble-filled into an open-topped carton by performing automatically the steps of counting off from the flow an even fraction of the desired number of articles to be cartoned; grouping the counted off articles alongside one another so that they extend generally horizontally and are mutually substantially parallel but not co-axial; forming the group of articles into a stack whose members are mutually substantially parallel, extend horizontally, and have their respective corresponding end surfaces substantially co-planar; counting off from the flow a second fraction, equal to the first said fraction, of the desired number of articles to be cartoned, and grouping and forming them into a second stack geometrically similar to the first mentioned stack; positioning and holding both stacks above an open topped carton so that each stack forms a mirror image of the other stack in a vertical plane spanning the carton half way along the carton's length; releasing both stacks at substantially the same moment so that all the articles are free to fall under gravity into the carton; and repeating these steps until the desired number of articles has been cartoned.

If the filled carton is removed, and replaced with a succession of others which are similarly filled and removed, a continuous flow of articles can automatically be cartoned without the need for any manual assistance.

One machine embodying the invention is illustrated in the acompanying drawings. This machine, and the way in which it operates, will now be described with reference to the drawings. It is only one example of how the invention might be put into practice.

In the drawings: Figure 7A shows the machine viewed from front and above; Figure 1B shows the stacking and filling station of the machine from behind; Figure 2 shows the machine viewed from one side and above; and Figure 3 shows the machine viewed from the front and in operation.

The machine illustrated is designed for use in conjunction with a horizontal form-fill-seal machine whose construction is already known and which it is not necessary to describe for present purposes. The machine delivers a normally continuous and relatively high speed flow of wrapped chocolate bars to the machine which is the subject of the present invention. The bars are elongate and generally tubular, but they are not all precisely the same length, nor are they of identical cross section. In fact, the cross section of each bar is likely to be different from that of each other bar, and although all the bars are generally of similar dimensions no two bars are identical. The particular machine illustrated is designed to carton wrapped bars of chocolate coated fudge.

The wrapped bars arrive in a continuous high speed co-axial horizontal flow, indicated by the arrow A in Figure 2, from the form-fill-seal machine.

The flow of wrapped articles is carried from the machine by a normally continuously running belt conveyor referenced 11 in Figure 2. The articles pass an elongate air line 12 in which a succession of holes has been drilled. A relatively low air pressure is continuously maintained in this air line, sending a succession of miniature jets of air out through the series of holes. If, inadvertently, a pack has been formed and sealed in the packaging machine, but not filled with the chocolate product, the empty pack will simply be blow off the belt conveyor 11 by the air jets issuing from the pipe 12. This simple design detail ensures that no empty packs inadvertently reach the stacking and filing machine.

The pressure of the air jets issuing from the pipe 12 is, of course, nowhere near sufficient to alter the path of travel of packs which have been properly formed, filled with the product, and sealed. These packs enter a gate 13 which is positioned immediately above the moving surface of the belt conveyor 11.

One end ofthe gate 13 is pivoted at 14to a sub frame 15 which is fixed above the belt conveyor without impeding the travel of articles along the conveyor into the gate. The other end of the gate is pivoted to the rod end of a double acting pneumatic actuator 16 mounted on the sub frame 15.

The sub frame 15 itself is secured rigidly but detachably to the main frame 17 of the stacking and filling machine with which the invention is concerned.

A photo electric switch is referenced 18 in Figures 1 and 2 and is mounted on an extension of the sub frame 15. The switch 18 is electronically connected through a programmable logic controller to valves which govern the operation of the pneumatic actuator 16. The controller, which need not be described for present purposes, is so programmed that when the switch 18 has counted off one quarter of the desired number of articles to be cartoned, the actuator 16 automatically moves the gate 13 across the surface of the belt 11; and automatically moves the gate back again when a further quarter of the number of articles to be cartoned has been counted off the flow by the switch 18.

In this way, the gate 13 is successively and alternately moved back and forth so as effectively to divide the continuous output of the form-fill-seal machine into alternate streams each consisting of one quarter of the articles to be deposited into any one carton.

These alternate streams are directed into the upper portion of a stacking and filling station best shown in Figure 1A. The station, like the sub frame 15, is fixed to the main frame 17 of the machine. Its upper region is at approximately the same general level as the sub frame 15 and the surface of the belt conveyor 11, but the rest of the station occupys a position below the levels of the components just mentioned. The lowest region of the station constitutes a carton a receiving station into which initially emptyflap4opped cartons are conveyed. Figure 3 shows diagramatically the arrival of carton blanks, referenced 19, vertically into a carton erecting mechanism which is referenced generally 21 and which for present purposes need not be described in detail.The blanks are automatically folded up and erected into flap-topped cartons which are then conveyed intermittently as required to the carton receiving station. The direction of travel of the cartons is indicated by the arrow B.

The stacking and filling station is basically an open topped tower whose front and rear faces are spaced apart by slightly greater than the average expected length of each of the wrapped articles delivered to the station. The front and rear faces are indicated by the respective reference numerals 22, 23 in the drawings. Athree bladed paddle is pivotally mounted in the top region of the stacking and filling station, with its pivot spanning the gap between the front and rear faces 22,23 of the station. The paddle consists of a central blade 24 flanked by respective side blades 25,26 each of which makes an angle of approximately 1050 with the central blade 24. The pivot of the paddle extends through the rear face 23 of the stacking and filling station, and, as shown in Figure 1 B, has secured to it a crank 27.The projecting end of the crank 27 is pivotally connected to the rod end of a pneumatic actuator 28 which is itself secured pivotally to the rear face 23 of the stacking and filling station. Extension and retraction of the actuator 28 thus pivots the paddle 24,25,26 either clockwise or anti-clockwise as dictated by the programmable logic controller which governs the operations of the whole machine.

As best shown in Figure 1A, the blade 24 pivots between two extreme positions in each of which the blade 25 or the blade 26 forms, with a respective associated side plate 29,31, an open topped chamber into which articles are directed by the gate 13.

Depending on the position of the gate, one stream of wrapped articles will be directed into one of these open topped chambers, the next stream will be directed into the other chamber. When the gate 13 is in its right hand gating position, viewed as in Figure 1A, the paddle 24, 25, 26 is positioned as shown to form the open topped chamber 24,26,31. Articles emerging from the gate will be directed into the chamber, into which they fall under gravity, to be grouped alongside one another and form a pile of mutually parallel but not co-axial articles each substantiall spanning the gap between the front and rear surfaces 22,23 of the chamber.

As the gate 3 moves automatically to the left of Figure 1A, following the termination of the first "quarter" count by the switch 18, the paddle 24, 2 26 is automatically pivoted clockwise to form the second open topped chamber 24, 25, 29. As this happens, the grouped articles in the first, right hand, chamber 24,26,31 are dumped under gravity into another chamber formed by surfaces 32,33,34 together with the front and rear walls 22, 23 of the station.

As the articles from chamber 24, 26,31 descend into chamber 32, 33,34they retain the mutually parallel relationship they occupied in the upper chamber. In the lower chamber, however, the articles are regrouped so that although they remain mutually parallel they are for the most part horizontally and vertically offset from one another. They are guided into a stack by the surface 33 of the lower chamber which slopes downwardly between the walls 22,23 of the station.

When the following, second-quarter, stream of articles to be cartoned has been grouped in the second upper chamber 24,25, 29, the "quarter" count is automatically terminated, the gate 13 is swung back to the right of Figure 1A, the paddle 24, 25,26 is pivoted anti-clockwise, and this second group of articles is dumped under gravity into a chamber 34, 35, 36 to form a stack geometrically similar to the stack already formed in the other lower chamber 32,33, 34 The two lower chambers 32, 33, 34 and 34, 35, 36 form mirror images of one another in the notional vertical plane containing the surface 34. This plane spans the gap between the front and rear walls 22, 23 of the stacking and filling station. It also extends half way along the length of the carton receiving station defined between the walls 22, 23. The respective bottom surfaces 33,36 of the two lower chambers are each pivoted at respectively, 33A, 33B to pivot axes which are parallel and which extend between the wall 22, 23 to emerge on the rear face of the wall 23. As Figure 1 B shows, each pivot 33A, 33B carries a respective crank 37,38. Both cranks are of equal length. They are pivotally joined together where their projecting ends cross, with a lost-motion slot in the crank 37 to allow for the necessary overlapping arcs of movement of the projecting ends of the cranks.

The pivot 33B has another crank 39 rigidly secured to it. This crank 39 projects in line with the crank 38, but is shorter than the crank 38. Its projecting end is pivotally secured to an actuator 41 which is itself pivotally carried on the rear surface of the wall 23.

The overall arrangement is such that when the actuator 41 is extended and retracted the surfaces 33, 36 will pivot respectively together and apart.

When the surfaces are together, as shown in Figure 1A, they define the V angle between the two lower chambers of the station. As they are fully pivoted apart, to hang substantially vertically, they engage, and open out, the opposite end flaps of the empty flap-topped carton which has by then automatically been positioned in the carton receiving station defined between the walls 22, 23.

When both the stacks of articles have been formed, positioned, and held in the two lower chambers 32,33, 34 and 34, 35,36, the doors 33,36 are suddenly and simultaneously opened to assume a substantially vertical hanging position. As they approach this vertical position, they open the carton end flaps as outlined in the last paragraph.

The opening of the doors 33,36 releases both stacks at substantially the same moment so all the articles in the stacks are free to fall under gravity into the carton. It is found that the articles dump themselves over the entire floor area of the carton to define a substantially level upper surface. There is virtually no tendency for the articles to skew as they fall into the carton.

As soon as both stacks have been dumped into the carton, the doors 33,36 are pivoted together again to resume the configuration shown in Figure 1A in time for the arrival of the first of the next pair of stacks from the upper chambers. When both of these next stacks are formed opposite one another in the two lower chambers, the doors 33,36 are opened again to dump the articles into the same container and on top of the two "quarter" stacks already in the container. Again, it is found that no skewing normally occurs during this second "dump".

With two successive half-sets (ie. four successive quarter-counts) of articles thus dumped into the carton, the doors 33, 36 are pivoted together again; the now-filled carton is automatically removed from the stacking station; and a new, intially empty, flap-topped carton arrives in the direction of the arrow B to take its place under the doors 33,36. The filled carton may be "rumbled" as it leaves the station, to finally settle-down its contents, and its flaps can then be closed and sealed.

In practice, the operations described invidually above proceed as a smoothly continuous cycle, so that as one lot of articles is being dumped, the first of the two quarters which make up the next half-set is already being grouped together in the appropriate one of the two upper chambers of the stacking and filling station.

In the machine described and illustrated, each of the two "dump" doors 33,36 forms an angle of approximately 500 with the horizontal. It is currently thought that the angle formed by each door with the horizontal will preferably be between 45"C and 60 , but it could lie within a wider range, for example 30 to700.

The machine described and illustrated is designed to accept a continuous flow of about four hundred articles per minute from a form-fill-seal machine, to count off and stack eighteen at a time into alternate ones of the upper and lower chambers, to dump simultaneously two such lower chamber stacks each time the doors 33,36 open, and, by holding the carton in the station for two successive openings of the doors, to deliver a total of seventy two articles into the carton.

The formation of two mirror-image stackes, and their substantially simultaneous release, ensures a clean dump with minimum risk of the articles skewing as they fall into the carton.

The particular geometry illustrated in the upper chambers of the stacking and filling station is thought to be important. It allows the incoming articles to be pushed, without skewing, against the plates 29,31 as more articles pile in on top of them, and in practice this is found to create the required parallel stackwith minimum risk of distortion.

The machine described and illustrated could of course be modified. For example, the paddle 24, 25, 26 could be replaced by an arrangement in which individual flaps, corresponding to the blades 25, 26, were operable independently of one another by suitable automatically actuated means. This could result in a quicker operation than the illustrated arrangement.

Another possible modifiation would enable the machine to be used with cartons which were opentopped but non-flapped. The initially empty carton would be elevated so that the doors 33, 36 as they opened would enter the carton and would press and push outwardly against the opposite end walls of the carton. As the doors opened, the first two quarterstacks would fall into the carton. The carton would then be lowered to enable the doors 33,36 to clear those dumped articles as the doors pivot shut. Once the doors had shut, the carton would be elevated again, is that when the doors next opened they would enter just inside the top peripheral edge of the carton; and, after the "dump" the carton would be lowered to enable the doors to close without fouling the dumped articles.

If the carton were deep enough, it might not be necesary, in the modification just outlined, to elevate the carton for the first "dump". If the doors 33,36 entered just inside the top peripheral edge of the carton, they could perhaps swing shut again without fouling any of the first-half articles which would only occupy half or less of the depth of the carton. It is even conceivable that a non-flapped open-topped carton need not be elevated at all, if its walls were sufficiently rigid not to need a positive opening-out, and it was so positioned that the doors 33, 36 entered just inside its top peripheral edge on each occasion they opened.

CLAIMS (Filed 28.9.81) 1. A method ofjumble-filling into an opentopped carton a succession of elongate generally tubular articles delivered in a normally continuous horizontal flow, the method comprising the steps, performed automatically, of counting off from the

**WARNING** end of DESC field may overlap start of CLMS **.

Claims (11)

**WARNING** start of CLMS field may overlap end of DESC **. but is shorter than the crank 38. Its projecting end is pivotally secured to an actuator 41 which is itself pivotally carried on the rear surface of the wall 23. The overall arrangement is such that when the actuator 41 is extended and retracted the surfaces 33, 36 will pivot respectively together and apart. When the surfaces are together, as shown in Figure 1A, they define the V angle between the two lower chambers of the station. As they are fully pivoted apart, to hang substantially vertically, they engage, and open out, the opposite end flaps of the empty flap-topped carton which has by then automatically been positioned in the carton receiving station defined between the walls 22, 23. When both the stacks of articles have been formed, positioned, and held in the two lower chambers 32,33, 34 and 34, 35,36, the doors 33,36 are suddenly and simultaneously opened to assume a substantially vertical hanging position. As they approach this vertical position, they open the carton end flaps as outlined in the last paragraph. The opening of the doors 33,36 releases both stacks at substantially the same moment so all the articles in the stacks are free to fall under gravity into the carton. It is found that the articles dump themselves over the entire floor area of the carton to define a substantially level upper surface. There is virtually no tendency for the articles to skew as they fall into the carton. As soon as both stacks have been dumped into the carton, the doors 33,36 are pivoted together again to resume the configuration shown in Figure 1A in time for the arrival of the first of the next pair of stacks from the upper chambers. When both of these next stacks are formed opposite one another in the two lower chambers, the doors 33,36 are opened again to dump the articles into the same container and on top of the two "quarter" stacks already in the container. Again, it is found that no skewing normally occurs during this second "dump". With two successive half-sets (ie. four successive quarter-counts) of articles thus dumped into the carton, the doors 33, 36 are pivoted together again; the now-filled carton is automatically removed from the stacking station; and a new, intially empty, flap-topped carton arrives in the direction of the arrow B to take its place under the doors 33,36. The filled carton may be "rumbled" as it leaves the station, to finally settle-down its contents, and its flaps can then be closed and sealed. In practice, the operations described invidually above proceed as a smoothly continuous cycle, so that as one lot of articles is being dumped, the first of the two quarters which make up the next half-set is already being grouped together in the appropriate one of the two upper chambers of the stacking and filling station. In the machine described and illustrated, each of the two "dump" doors 33,36 forms an angle of approximately 500 with the horizontal. It is currently thought that the angle formed by each door with the horizontal will preferably be between 45"C and 60 , but it could lie within a wider range, for example 30 to700. The machine described and illustrated is designed to accept a continuous flow of about four hundred articles per minute from a form-fill-seal machine, to count off and stack eighteen at a time into alternate ones of the upper and lower chambers, to dump simultaneously two such lower chamber stacks each time the doors 33,36 open, and, by holding the carton in the station for two successive openings of the doors, to deliver a total of seventy two articles into the carton. The formation of two mirror-image stackes, and their substantially simultaneous release, ensures a clean dump with minimum risk of the articles skewing as they fall into the carton. The particular geometry illustrated in the upper chambers of the stacking and filling station is thought to be important. It allows the incoming articles to be pushed, without skewing, against the plates 29,31 as more articles pile in on top of them, and in practice this is found to create the required parallel stackwith minimum risk of distortion. The machine described and illustrated could of course be modified. For example, the paddle 24, 25, 26 could be replaced by an arrangement in which individual flaps, corresponding to the blades 25, 26, were operable independently of one another by suitable automatically actuated means. This could result in a quicker operation than the illustrated arrangement. Another possible modifiation would enable the machine to be used with cartons which were opentopped but non-flapped. The initially empty carton would be elevated so that the doors 33, 36 as they opened would enter the carton and would press and push outwardly against the opposite end walls of the carton. As the doors opened, the first two quarterstacks would fall into the carton. The carton would then be lowered to enable the doors 33,36 to clear those dumped articles as the doors pivot shut. Once the doors had shut, the carton would be elevated again, is that when the doors next opened they would enter just inside the top peripheral edge of the carton; and, after the "dump" the carton would be lowered to enable the doors to close without fouling the dumped articles. If the carton were deep enough, it might not be necesary, in the modification just outlined, to elevate the carton for the first "dump". If the doors 33,36 entered just inside the top peripheral edge of the carton, they could perhaps swing shut again without fouling any of the first-half articles which would only occupy half or less of the depth of the carton. It is even conceivable that a non-flapped open-topped carton need not be elevated at all, if its walls were sufficiently rigid not to need a positive opening-out, and it was so positioned that the doors 33, 36 entered just inside its top peripheral edge on each occasion they opened. CLAIMS (Filed 28.9.81)

1. A method ofjumble-filling into an opentopped carton a succession of elongate generally tubular articles delivered in a normally continuous horizontal flow, the method comprising the steps, performed automatically, of counting off from the

flow an even fraction of the desired number of articles to be cartoned; grouping the counted-off articles alongside one another so that they extend generally horizontally and are mutually substantially parallel but not co-axial; forming the group of articles into a stack whose members are mutually substantially parallel, extend horizontally, and have their respective corresponding end faces substantially co-planar; counting off from the flow a second fraction, equal to the first said fraction, of the desired number of articles to be cartoned, and grouping and forming them into a stack geometrically similar to the first-mentioned stack; positioning and holding both stacks above an open-topped carton so that each stack forms a mirror image of the other stack in a vertical plane notionally dividing the carton in half; releasing both stacks at substantially the same moment so that ail the articles are free to fall under gravity into the carton; and repeating the above steps until the desired number of articles has been cartoned.

2. Apparatus forjumble-filling into an opentopped carton a succession of elongate generally tubular articlesdelivered in a normally continuous horizontal flow, the apparatus comprising means for counting off automatically from the flow successive even fractions of the desired number of articles to be cartoned; means for diverting automatically each counted-off fraction into an alternate one of two mutually adjacent chambers so sized and shaped that when the articles are in their respective chambers they (the articles) extend generally horizontally and are mutually substantially parallel but not co-axia; means to deliver the articles automatically from each chamber into a respective one of two further chambers so sized and shaped that when the articles are in that further chamber they (the articles) form a stack whose members are mutually substantially parallel, extend horizontally, and have their respective corresponding end faces substantially co-planar and the two further-chamber stacks form mirror images of one another in a vertical plane; means for positioning an open-topped carton beneath the two stacks so that said vertical plane notionally divides the carton in half; means to release both stacks automatically at substantially the same moment so that the articles in the stacks are free to fall under gravity into the carton; and means to repeat the above steps automatically until the desired number of articles has been cartoned.

3. A method, or an apparatus, according respectively with Claim 1 or Claim 2, in which the articles move automaticallythrough a succession of chambers as they are grouped, formed into stacks, and positioned above the carton, and the floor of each such chamber opens automatically at the appropriate time to allow the articles to descend under gravity into the next chamber and then closes automatically to be ready to receive the next incoming group of articles.

4. The invention of any of the preceding Claims, in which the bottom layer of articles, in each said stack held above the carton, extends down towards said vertical plane.

5. The invention of any of the preceding Claims, in which the articles in the bottom layer of each said stack held above the carton all lie in substantially the same plane.

6. The invention of Claim 5, in which the articles in said bottom layer lie in a plane making an angle of between 30 degrees and 70 degrees with the horizontal.

7. The invention of Claim 6, in which said angle is between 45 degrees and 60 degrees with the horizontal.

8. The invention of Claim 7, in which said angle is approximately 50 degrees to the horizontal.

9. A method substantially as described herein with reference to the accompanying drawings.

10. Apparatus substantially as described herein with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

11. Means, relating to an essential element of the invention, for putting into effect the invention defined in any of the preceding Claims.