GB2108458A

GB2108458A - Grouping device

Info

Publication number: GB2108458A
Application number: GB08228855A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Bernt Andersson
Original assignee: Meco Pak AB
Current assignee: Meco Pak AB
Priority date: 1981-10-23
Filing date: 1982-10-08
Publication date: 1983-05-18
Also published as: GB2108458B; SE8106280L

Abstract

A device for grouping consumer packs with a non-circular cross-section (1) to form goods units is disposed in or adjacent to a packaging machine embracing a feed conveyor (2), which transports the packages towards a compartmented unit provided with partitions (6) movable across the feed conveyor (2). A grouping unit (13) is journalled so that it can pivot about a vertical axis at that end of the feed conveyor (2) located adjacent to the compartmented unit. The grouping unit is so arranged that a driver engages the compartmented unit which causes it to turn with the unit when the latter transports packs (1) towards a grouping belt. The driver is so controlled that it is disengaged from the compartmented unit when a compartment has been filled, whereupon the grouping unit (13) is turned towards an empty compartment. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Grouping device The present invention refers to a device for continuously collecting and grouping packs to form larger transport packages, which are for example to be placed on packaging trays adapted for these transport packages. The device is primarily intended for consumer packs of the type consisting of a bottle with a non-circular cross-section, particularly oval bottles, but can also be used to advantage for other types of pack.

It is common in the packaging industry for goods to be fed forward one by one to a packaging machine, in which the goods are collected and grouped to form a certain packaging pattern, whereupon the assembled units of goods are then placed in an open tray which has been fed forward to the machine, for example, a packaging tray.

When the abovementioned method is applied to the packaging of e.g. bottles, the bottles are transported in a row one behind the other on an endless conveyorfrom a bottle filling and capping machine to a device for grouping the bottles to form a pattern determined by the packaging. The bottles are guided in a row, one behind the other, on the conveyor by guide strips located above the conveyor. The bottles are grouped by being fed forwards towards a compartmented unit which moves in a transverse direction in relation to the feed conveyor. The compartments in this unit are filled with a predetermined number of bottles (depending on the size of the packaging tray). As soon as a compartment has been filled, the unit is moved so that the next compartment is positioned centrally opposite the feed conveyor and the compartment thus moved foward is then filled.When the number of compartments which corresponds to the size of the packaging tray has been filled, the group of bottles thus collected is moved by the compartmented unit to an intermittent feed conveyor which feeds out the bottles from the compartmented unit and transports them to the packaging tray.

During the lateral movement of the compartmented unit across the feed belt, a catch, which is normally arranged at the end of the feed belt, prevents the bottles from being moved against the compartmented unit. The movement of the feed belt is not, however, stopped since the bottle filling and capping machines which are located in front of the packaging machine work continuously. This means that while the catch is in the ON position, an increasing number of bottles are held at the end of the feed conveyor. Since the feed conveyor moves underthese bottles all the time, the bottles are pressed tight up against each other. This does not normally give rise to any problems in the case of bottles with a circular cross-section.

When transporting bottles with a non-circular cross-section, for example oval bottles, a serious problem arises, on the other hand, at the abovementioned position on the feed conveyor. When these bottles are pushed against each other while the catch is in the ON position, they are turned in relation to each other on the conveyor and are wedged against each other and against the guide strips. The wedged bottles must then be freed manually. During this operation, the forward feed of the conveyor must be halted. Since this congestion occurs at frequent intervals with time losses as a result, efforts have been made to find effective solutions to the problem.

With this view in mind, proposals have been made to arrange devices for intermediate storage of the bottles between the bottle-capping station and the feed conveyor so that the feed conveyor can be made to stop while the intermittent feed conveyor feeds out a packaging group of bottles from the compartmented unit. A solution of this type to the problem is, however, fairly expensive and has not been put to practical use to any noteworthy extent.

When handling bottles of the abovementioned type, it has therefore proved necessary to group the bottles manually. Bearing in mind the widespread use of bottles with an oval cross-section, it can readily be seen that this labour-intensive handling of the bottles does not constitute a satisfactory solution to the problem.

According to the present invention, there is provided a device for grouping consumer packs, comprising a feed conveyor for transporting packs towards a compartmented unit which is movable transversely to the conveyor and which is arranged to transport groups of packs to a grouping conveyor, a grouping unit pivotable about an upwardly extending axis being located at an end of the feed conveyor adjacent to the compartmented unit and being arranged for continuously feeding packs into successive compartments in the compartmented unit while turning.

One example of the invention applied to bottles with a non-circular cross-section will be described in further detail below, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure lisa perspective view of the infeed end of a packaging machine and shows the grouping device according to the invention there, Figure 2 is a plan view of the device in Figure 1, and Figure 3 shows the device as seen from the right-hand side in Figure 2.

The bottles 1 with an oval bottom surface (Figure 2) which are to be grouped to form goods units are transported from a bottle filling and capping machine (not illustrated) to the feed conveyor 2, which in the example shown here consists of an endless belt conveyor. Guide strips 3 are arranged in pairs above the feed conveyor 2 to guide the bottles 1 in a row one behind the other. The spacing between the guide strips 3 is adjustable to permit the guiding function to be adapted to suit bottles of different sizes.

The bottles 1 are transported by the feed conveyor 2 to a compartmented unit, generally designated 4, in which the bottles are grouped to form goods units adapted to the packaging trays (not shown). The compartmented unit 4 comprises of an endless conveyor belt 5 which is fitted with a number oflateral partition walls 6 along its entire length. This conveyor belt 5 is arranged at right angles to the feed conveyor 2 and above the feed conveyor in such a way the free edges 7 of the partition walls 6 on the lower run of the belt 5 lie immediately above the feed conveyor 2. The spacing between the partition walls 6 is adapted to the width of the bottles 1, and the depth of the compartment formed by the walls 6 can be varied by means of a movable stop device 8 so that, for example, two or three bottles can be received in the compartments.In order to make the compartmented unit 4 adaptable to bottles with different widths, the entire conveyor belt 5 can be replaced by another conveyor belt with a different space between the partition walls 6. In order to facilitate this replacement, one of the belt rollers 9 can be moved in the longitudinal direction of the belt for increasing or decreasing the belt tension with the aid of a hydraulic cylinder.

The bottles 1 fed into the compartments in the compartmented unit 4 are transported to an intermittently driven grouping belt 10, which runs at right angles to the compartmented unit 4 on the opposite side of the compartmented unit in relation to the feed conveyor 2. When the number of bottles 1 required for filling a packaging tray has been transported forwards onto the grouping belt 10, the grouping belt is started up and the goods unit which has been formed thereon is transported, with the aid of drivers 11 arranged on the belt 10, to a packaging station (not illustrated).

A detector device 12 is arranged on the machine frame to start up the grouping belt 10 at the right moment. This detector 12 senses the presences of bottles 1 in the compartment at that end of the compartment unit 4 furthest from the field conveyor 2. The detector 12 then causes the grouping belt 10 to be started up, at the same time as the movement of the compartment unit 4 is halted. The compartmented unit is thus stationary during the period required by the grouping belt 10 for transporting the bottles 1 out of the compartments.

Agrouping unit 13 is arranged at the end ofthe feed conveyor 2 located adjacent to the compartmented unit 4 with a view to preventing congestion and thus preventing the bottles 1 becoming wedged on the feed conveyor 2 in front of the compartmented unit.

The grouping unit 13 comprises a bracket 14 which is mainly designed in the shape of a fork and which is journalled in such a way that it can rotate on a vertical shaft located under the feed conveyor 2. The grouping unit 13 can be rotated between two end positions, which are indicated by the dash-dotted lines a and bin Figure 2. The fork prongs 15,16 ofthe bracket 14 surround the feed conveyor 2 and carry a pair of guide strips 17, 18 for guiding the bottles 1 which have been fed forward. A pair of detectors 19, 20 is also arranged on the bracket 14 on either side of the feed conveyor 2 and opposite each other. These detectors 19, 20 are arranged to sense the presence of the bottle 1 adjacent to the compartmented unit 2.

The purpose of this sensing function will be indicated below in conjunction with the description of the function of the device.

A driver 21 which can be moved backwards and forwards in its longitudinal direction and which is directed towards the compartmented unit 4 is arranged on a holder 22 on the bracket 14. The driver 21 is moved by a pneumatic cylinder 23 from a withdrawn position to an active position, where it comes into contact with a partition wail 6 in the compartmented unit. This latter position is indicated by means of broken lines in Figure 3.

The rotating movement of the grouping unit between end positions a and b is limited by two stop devices 24, 25 which are arranged one either side of the feed conveyor 2.

The device described above functions as follows.

Bottles 1 are transported by the feed conveyor 2 via the grouping unit 3 towards an empty compartment in the compartmented unit 4. The driver 21 in the grouping unit 13 is located in its active position and is in contact with a partition wall 6. This causes the grouping unit to pivot clockwise (Figure 2) when the compartmented unit4 moves the bottles 1 towards the grouping belt 10. The feed conveyor 2 can thus feed bottles 1 into the compartments in the compartmented unit 4 despite the fact that the compartmented unit is moving. This means that the forward feed of the bottles 1 need never be halted while the compartmented unit 4 is moving, thus eliminating congestion and wedging of bottles on the bottle conveyor 2.When a compartment in the compartmented unit 4 has been filled with a predetermined number of bottles, the detectors 19, 20 on the grouping unit 13 sense the presence of a stationary bottle between them and, with a certain delay, initiate a momentary withdrawal of the driver from the compartmented unit to above the unit 21 and cause a penumatic drive device 26 to start up and turn the grouping unit 13 countertothetransport direction of the compartmented unit 4, whereupon the driver 21 is returned immediately to its active position and comes into contact with the partition wall 6 of the compartment adjacent to the compartment which has just been filled. This new compartment is then filled with bottles 1, while the grouping unit 13 is caused to pivot as a result of the movement of the compartmented unit 4.The procedure is repeated continuously until the number of bottles which corresponds to the size of the packaging tray has been inserted in the compartmented unit.

The compartmented unit 4 is then brought to a halt through the initiation of a signal from the detector 12. While the compartmented unit 4 is stationary, the detectors 19, 20 initiate a step-by-step movement of the grouping unit 13 counter to the feed direction of the compartmented unit 4 while bottles are continuously fed into empty compartments. The maximum turning angle of the grouping unit 13 is adapted in such a way that the compartmented unit 4 has time to start up after a goods unit has been fed out from the compartmented unit 4 by the grouping belt 10 before the grouping unit 13 has reached its end position stop device 24. At the same time as the detector 12 stops the movement of the compartmented unit 4 the intermittently driven grouping belt 10 is started up. The driver 11 on this belt moves the goods unit formed in the compartmented unit 4, in other words a group of bottles adapted to a packag ing tray, to a station (not illustrated) where the unit is combined with a packaging tray.

The device described above thus permits bottles or other types of consumer pack to be fed continuously into the compartmented unit at a rate which may correspond to 100-150 packs a minute without forming jams, thus eliminating the risk of the packs becoming wedged. The stop device 24 is, however, arranged in such a way as to stop the infeed on the feed conveyor 2 if any unforeseen obstacle should occur.

The manner in which the devivce according to the invention is used for grouping oval bottles has been described above. The invention is not, however, limited to bottles only or to objects with oval bottoms but can, with the same advantages, be used in conjunction with every type of consumer pack with a non-circular cross-section.

Although the device according to the invention is primarily intended for consumer packs with noncircular cross-sections, there is no obstacle to the use of the device in conjunction with the grouping of, for example, circular bottles. An efficiently operating grouping device, which is versatile in use, can thus be produced through use of the invention.

Claims

1. A device for grouping consumer packs, comprising a feed conveyor for transporting packs towards a compartmented unit which is movable transversely to the conveyor and which is arranged to transport groups of packs to a grouping conveyor, a grouping unit pivotable about an upwardly extending axis being located at an end of the feed conveyor adjacent to the compartmented unit and being arranged for continuously feeding packs into successive compartments in the compartmented unit while turning.

2. A device according to claim 1 wherein the grouping unit comprises a forked portion by means of which is journalled so that it can pivot on a pivot support located under the feed conveyor, said forked portion comprising prongs on opposite sides of the feed conveyor supporting a pair of guide strips which, between them, guide packs which have been fed forwards one behind the other in a row on said conveyor.

3. A device according to claim 2 wherein the spacing between the guide strips is adjustable.

4. A device according to any of claims 1 to 3, wherein the compartmented unit comprises an endless conveyor belt on which lateral partition walls are arranged to form compartments.

5. A device according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein a driver is arranged on the grouping unit so that it is urged by a drive device into the path of the compartmented unit to come into contact with the compartmented unit in such a way that the grouping unit is caused to pivot when the compartmented unit transports packs towards the grouping conveyor.

6. A device in accordance with claim 5, wherein a pair of detectors are arranged on the grouping unit one either side of the feed conveyor for sensing a stationary pack between them in order to initiate a momentary withdrawal of the driver to a position away from the path of the moving compartmented unit and to actuate a drive motor causing pivoting of the grouping unit counter to the direction of movement of the compartmented unit to direct the unit towards an empty compartment of the unit.

7. A device according to claim 6 wherein the drive device of the driver is so arranged as to urge the drive back into the path of the moving compartment unit after its withdrawal so that the driver is brought in contact with a compartment partition wall for the compartment located immediately adjacent to a filled compartment in the compartmented unit.

8. A device according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the pivoting movement of the grouping unit is limited by stop devices, one on either side of the feed conveyor.

9. A device according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein a stop device is provided to stop the feed conveyor if an obstacle prevents packs from being fed into the compartments in compartmented unit.

10. A device according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the compartmented unit is removably mounted for replacement by a different said unit.

11. A device for grouping packs, constructed and arranged for use and operation substantially as described herein with reference to the accompanying drawings.