GB2158028A - Conveying articles in overlapping relationship - Google Patents

Abstract

Articles 10 to be packed are successively fed to an upstream end of a walking beam conveyor 11 having wells 16, 19 smaller in dimension than the articles 10 themselves. The articles 10 are received on inclined base surfaces 17, 20 of the wells and extend beyond the ends thereof due to this dimensional difference, thereby overlapping the article in the next well along. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Method and apparatus for arranging articles in overlapping relationship This invention relates to a method of arranging articles in overlapping relationship (i.e. for shingling the articles) apparatus for performing the method, and a packing mechanism which includes the apparatus.

When articles such as bags or sachets (e.g.

containing a snack food product, a confectionary product or the like) are prepared for packing, it is the practice to arrange them in slightly overlapping relationship, known in the art as "shingling". A layer of shingled articles is then transferred by suitable means into a packing case.

One manner of shingling currently used by the Applicant is to place the bags on a pocketed conveyor such that a side of each bag projecting beyond the flight of the conveyor with a part of the bag projecting beyond the flight to lie at an acute angle relative to the conveyor base. The shingling arrangement operates very satisfactorily but does not lend itself to handling sets of bags having different external dimensions.

It is an object of the present invention to remedy this deficiency.

According to a first aspect of the invention, there is provided a method of arranging articles in overlapping relationship, comprising conveying said articles along a walking beam conveyor having wells in which the individual articles are received, the wells having dimensions less than those of the articles being conveyed.

Preferably, each well is of generally saw-tooth configuration, and the articles are supported on inclined base surfaces of the wells which are shorter than the articles themselves. Because the articles are located in individual ones of the saw-toothed wells and the wells have smaller dimensions than the articles, the articles lie inclined to a base of the conveyor with part of the article projecting beyond its respective well. The articles are thus disposed in overlapping or shingled relationship.

Desirably, the articles are held in wells formed in a first set of members while being transported between successive wells formed in a second set of members interleaved with the members of the first set, and the first set of members execute a cyclic motion along a generally rectangular closed path. In this case, it is preferred that the second set of members is fixed and the first set of members is moved relative thereto.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided apparatus for arranging articles in overlapping relationship, comprising a walking beam conveyor having wells in which the individual articles are received, the wells having dimensions less than those of the articles being conveyed.

Preferably, each well is of generally saw-tooth configuration and has an inclined base surface on which an article being conveyed is supported, the base surface being shorter than said article.

Desirably, the walking beam conveyor is composed of two sets of members in which respective ones of the wells are formed, the members of one set being interleaved with the members of the other set, and means imparting a relative cyclic close-loop motion between the sets of members such that the articles are held in the wells in the first set of members while being transported between successive wells in the second set of members. In a preferred arrangement, the cyclic closed-loop motion is generally rectangular. Conveniently, the second set of members is fixed and the first set of members is movable relative thereto.

To enable the apparatus to handle a greater size range of articles, the pitch of the wells, their rise and/or the angle of their base surfaces may be made adjustable. Alternatively, the wells can be replaced by others having a different pitch, rise and/or angle of their base surfaces.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a mechanism for packing articles in a container, comprising apparatus as defined in any of the last four preceding paragraphs for arranging said articles in overlapping relationship, delivery means operative to deliver the articles successively to an upsteam end of the walking beam conveyor of said apparatus, and transfer means operative to remove the overlapping articles from a downstream end of the walking beam conveyor and place these in said container.

The invention will now be further described, by way of example only, with reference to the single figure of the accompanying drawing, which is a schematic side view of a packing mechanism including apparatus for arranging articles in overlapping relationship in accordance with the invention.

The illustrated packing mechanism is designed to pack articles such as bags or sachets 10 e.g.

containing a snack food product, a confectionary product or the like into a packing case or other container (not shown), and includes a walking beam conveyor 11 on which the sachets become arranged in overlapping or shingled relationship in a manner to be explained later. The sachets 10 are delivered successively to an upstream end of the walking beam conveyor 11 from a bag filling machine (not shown) by an endless pocketed conveyor 12. A transfer device composed of an array of suction cups 13 mounted on an arm 14, is disposed at a downstream end of the walking beam conveyor 11 and transfers the shingled sachets from the conveyor into the aforesaid container.

The walking beam conveyor 11 is composed of a first, movable set of members 15 (shown in broken lines) whose upper surfaces are generally of sawtooth configuration and which define a series of wells 16 having inclined base surfaces 17. The members 15 are interleaved with a second, fixed set of members 18 of similar configuration which define a series of wells 16 having inclined base surfaces 17.

The members 15 are interleaved with a second, fixed set of members 18 of similar configuration which define a further series of wells 19 having inclined base surfaces 20. In each case, the length of the base surfaces 17 and 20 is somewhat less than the length of the sachets 10. The movable members 15 are connected to a drive (not shown) which causes them to execute a cyclic close-loop motion of rectangular shape, as depicted by arrow 21. A sachet disposed in one of the wells 19 is thereby picked up in a well 16 in the movable members 15 and transferred to the next successive well in the fixed members 18.

Because the wells 16 and 19 have dimensions which are less than those of the sachets 10, each sachet will project slightly beyond the end of the base surface 17 or 20 in which it rests, and will therefore overlap the shachet held in the next well along. Thus, simply by feeding them successively along the walking beam conveyor 11, the sachets 10 automatically become arranged in overlapping relationship, and are ready for transfer to the container as a shingled layer. It will be manifest that the container may take several rows and/or such shingled layers in order to fill it.

In the illustrated construction, the suction cups 13 of the transfer device grasp the shingled sachets 10 while these rest in the wells 19 in the fixed members 18. However, the suction cups 13 can be arranged alternatively to pick up the sachets from the wells 16 in the movable members 15 while the latter are in their uppermost position, in which case the stroke of the transfer device can be made shorter than has previously been possible.

In order to increase the versitility of the apparatus to handle an even greater range of sachet sizes, the members 15 and 18 can be designed such that the pitch of the wells, their rise and/or the angle of their base surfaces can be adjusted. Alternatively, the members can be replaced by others in which the wells have a different pitch, rise and/or angle of their base surfaces, matched to the dimensions of the sachets.

Claims (15)

1. A method of arranging articles in overlapping relationship, comprising conveying said articles along a walking beam conveyor having wells in which the individual articles are received, the wells having dimensions less than those of the articles being conveyed.

2. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein each well is of generally saw-tooth configuration, and the articles are supported on inclined base surfaces of the wells which are shorter than the articles themselves.

3. A method as claimed in claim 1 or 2, wherein the articles are held in wells formed in a first set of members while being transported between successive wells formed in a second set of members interleaved with the members of the first set, and the first set of members execute a cyclic motion along a generally rectangular closed path.

4. A method as claimed in claim 3, wherein the second set of members is fixed and the first set of members is moved relative thereto.

5. Apparatus for arranging articles in overlapping relationship, comprising a walking beam conveyor having wells in which the individual articles are received, the wells having dimensions less than those of the articles being conveyed.

6. Apparatus as claimed in claim 5, wherein each well is of generally saw-tooth configuration and has an inclined base surface on which an article being conveyed is supported, the base surface being shorter than said article.

7. Apparatus as claimed in claim 5 or 6, wherein the walking beam conveyor is composed of two sets of members in which respective ones of the wells are formed, the members of one set being interleaved with the members of the other set, and means comprising a relative cyclic closed-loop motion between the sets of members such that the articles are held in the wells in the first set of members while being transported between successive wells in the second set of members.

8. Apparatus as claimed in claim 7, wherein the cyclic closed-loop motion is generally rectangular.

9. Apparatus as claimed in claim 7 or 8, wherein the second set of members is fixed and the first set of members is movable relative thereto.

10. Apparatus as claimed in any of claims 5 to 9, wherein the pitch of the wells, their rise and/or the angle of their base surfaces is adjustable.

11. Apparatus as claimed in any of claims 5 to 9, wherein the wells are replaceable by others having a different pitch, rise and/or angle of their base surfaces.

12. A packing mechanism for packing articles in a container, comprising apparatus as claimed in any one of claims 4 to 10 for arranging said articles in overlapping relationship, delivery means operative to deliver the articles successively to an upstream end of the walking beam conveyor of said apparatus, and transfer means operative to remove the overlapping articles from a downstream end of the walking beam conveyor and place these in said container.

13. A method of arranging articles in overlapping relationship, substantially as herein before described with reference to the accompanying drawing.

14. Apparatus for arranging articles in overlapping relationship, substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawing.

15. A packing mechanism for packing articles in a container, substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawing.