GB2266046A - Article orientator - Google Patents

Description

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ARTICLE ORIENTATORS This invention concerns article orientators, and especially orientators for re-orienting adjacent articles of substantially trapezoidal cross section having a face of one of the adjacent articles abutting or being in close proximity to the corresponding face of the other article.

Various mechanisms have been proposed hitherto for orienting articles, for example to bring those articles from different orientations into substantially the same orientation or from the same orientation into different orientations or into the same but different orientation.

GB2201933, for example, describes the orienting of bottles having opposite flat and curved surfaces to bring the flat surfaces into line, for example for the application of labels. EP0099670-A and EP0256991-A describe orienting articles to change all of them from one orientation to another, and GB2003813-A and GB2173162-A describe orienting articles to bring alternate articles into different orientations.

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In all of these hitherto proposed article orientators, the articles, which all have a substantially trapezoidal cross section, are moved through the orientators with their trapezoidal sections aligned with the direction of movement of the articles through the orientators. There are, however, instances in which articles to be orientated have their trapezoidal cross sections substantially orthogonal to the direction in which it is desired to move the articles.

An example in which this happens is in the cutting and packaging of cheese from large rectilinear blocks.

Although rectilinear blocks of rectangular cross section cut from a larger block can readily be handled in packaging machines, for example using a polymeric film in a form fill seal machine, cut blocks of trapezoidal section present problems as adjacent cut blocks present different profiles to the packaging machines. Hitherto, complex mechanisms have been used in which the trapezoidally sectioned blocks are lifted and rotated, for example using suction cups applied to the blocks themselves. Such handling of the cut product can damage it, and the present invention further provides apparatus for aligning blocks which are of trapezoidal section.

According to the present invention there is provided an article orientator for aligning two substantially rectilinear blocks of substantially trapezoidal cross section, a face of one block defining one edge of said section abutting or being in close proximity to the corresponding face of the other block before said aligning, the orientator comprising block moving means for moving the blocks with their said substantially trapezoidal cross section in a plane substantially orthogonal to their direction of movement thereby, and rotator means for rotating either or both of the blocks in the plane of their respective trapezoidal sections until the respective orientations of the two blocks are

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substantially identical.

The rotator means preferably effects rotation of both blocks, the rotation of each block preferably being through an angle of approximately 90D, but in opposite senses.

The rotator means preferably comprises a guide surface or a conveyer which contacts one of the blocks while the block or blocks are rotated. For example, two curved surfaces can be used along which the respective blocks are slid to effect the desired rotation or rotations. Alternatively, the blocks can be slid along suitably shaped rods or wires to effect the required rotations. Other possible methods of effecting the rotation include the use of continuous guide belts with the necessary twist to effect the desired rotation. One or more pivotable plates or vacuum suckers can also be used to effect rotation of the blocks.

The present invention also preferably includes means for bringing the rotated blocks into a single line, for example to be fed to a packaging machine. It will be appreciated that this will necessitate moving one or the other of the rotated blocks at a different speed from that of the other in order that one block will travel in line after the other.

Embodiments of article orientators in accordance with the present invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying diagrammatic drawings in which :- Figure 1 is a perspective view of two blocks which are to be rotated in accordance with the present invention; Figure 2 is an end view of the blocks of Figure 1 showing the blocks being separated;

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Figure 3 is a similar view to that of Figure 2 but using an alternative method of separating the blocks; Figures 3a-c correspond to Figure 3 but with the blocks at various stages of rotation; Figure 4 is a perspective view of the two blocks of Figure 3c ;' Figure 5 is a perspective view of an alternative mechanism for effecting rotation of two adjacent cut blocks; and Figure 6 is a further embodiment of cutter frame for a machine of Figure 1.

Referring to Figure 1, two rectilinear blocks of cheese 101 and 102 of trapezoidal cross section are shown with their longest, sloping faces in contact. Before effecting rotation of the blocks, it is generally preferred to separate the blocks, for example using a splitter plate 103 as shown in Figure 2 whereby the blocks 101 and 102 are moved apart horizontally, or by rods 104 as shown in Figure 3 whereby the blocks 101 and 102 are moved apart vertically.

Rotation of the blocks 101 and 102 will now be described with reference to Figures 3a-c. In Figure 3a, the block 102 is shown being rotated in a counter-clockwise sense in the direction of the arrow A using rods 104, the block 101 being guided by a planar guide member 105. Eventually the block 102 will be rotated to the position shown in Figure 3b.

Figure 8b also shows the block 101 being rotated in a clockwise sense, the block 101 being guided by a rod 104 and planar guides 105 and 106. Rotation of the block 101 is continued until it reaches the position shown in Figure 3c, where both blocks are shown with the same orientation, with

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their upper surfaces inclined downwardly from left to right.

Referring to Figure 4, which is a perspective view of the blocks of Figure 3c, the block 101 and then the block 102 is moved in known manner in the direction of arrows 107 and 108 to form a single line of blocks of the same orientation, the blocks 101 and 102 joining a line of previously re-oriented blocks. The line of blocks of cheese can then be passed on to other apparatus, for example packaging apparatus where the blocks are wrapped in a packaging film.

Figure 5 shows an alternative device for effecting relative rotation of the blocks 101 and 102, the device including a plurality of plates 109, 110 and lll, alternate plates being rotatable in opposite senses as shown by the arrows. In a modification of the device of Figure 10, rotation of the blocks is effected using two plates 109 and 110 disposed back to back, in effect using a vertically split plate.

A yet further method of effecting rotation of the blocks is by the use of vacuum suckers which engage the blocks and bring about the desired degree of rotation of either or both of the blocks.

As will be appreciated, the blocks 101 and 102 can be cut by various types of cutter. Thus single wires or blades can be used to form the trapezoidal blocks from larger blocks, for example larger cuboid blocks. Furthermore, the trapezoidal blocks can be cut using hitherto proposed cutting machines.

A particularly preferred method of cutting trapezoidal blocks from larger blocks is illustrated with reference to Figure 6.

In this method, a cutter machine is used which has a cutter frame consisting of two sub-frames each having respective sets of parallel cutter wires 9 and 22, the sets of wires being arranged to overlap åt an acute ahgle. In use, a large

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block of cheese 1 is forced by a ram (not shown) past the various cutter wires 9,22 to cut the block 1 into a plurality of blocks of substantially trapezoidal cross section, adjacent blocks being oriented as shown in Fig 1.

Each sub-frame consists of a common fixed vertical member 5 and a common movable vertical member 6. The lower links of the sub-frames are formed by a triangular link 19 pivotal about a pivot pin at the lower end of the fixed vertical member 5. Each sub-frame has its own upper link 20 and 21, respectively, pivotally connected to an upper end portion of the fixed member 5. The movable member 6 is pivotally connected to the triangular link 19 by a single pivot pin 8, and the upper links 20 and 21 are separately pivotally connected to the movable member 6 by pivot pins 8. Vertical cutter wires 9 are stretched between the triangular link 19 and the upper link 20, and angled cutter wires 20 are stretched between the triangular link 19 and the upper link 21.

The lower end of the movable member 6 is connected to an actuator 24 which applies sufficient upward force to the movable member 6 that the weight of the sub-frames is substantially counter-balanced but the resultant force still acts downwardly. The movable member 6 can then be moved upwardly by hand or mechanically, for example by a wedge or by a lost motion mechanism, to increase the distance between the vertical members 5 and 6.

In use, a block of cheese 1 is placed on a flat surface 23, the movable member 6 being raised so that the block can be moved into contact with the cutter wires. The movable member 6 is then allowed to drop so that the block 1 is in contact with wedge-shaped abutments 25 and 26 on either side of the block 1. The ram 1 is then actuated, and the block of cheese is forced past the cutter wires 9 and 22 to cut the

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block 1 into a plurality of truncated wedge-shaped slabs.

Any variation in the width of the block 1 is automatically compensated by movement of the movable member 6.

The distances between adjacent cutter wires can be adjusted by adjusting the shapes of the respective cutter frames.

This can be effected manually or mechanically, for example by the use of wedge-shaped members. However, it may be preferred to control the distance between adjacent cutter wires in response to changes in the bulk density of the material being cut by the machine. The bulk density of the material being cut can be sensed by an automatic weighing machine which in turn can be used to control the distance between adjacent cutter wires, for example using a computer.

A particular advantage of apparatus in accordance with the invention which effects alignment of the cut blocks is that the speed of operation of packaging machinery for packaging the blocks can be increased compared with hitherto. This is specially so when the blocks are cut using a cutting machine as illustrated in Figure 6.

Claims (10)

Claims

1. An article orientator for aligning two substantially rectilinear blocks of substantially trapezoidal cross section, a face of one block defining one edge of said section abutting or being in close proximity to the corresponding face of the other block before said aligning, the orientator comprising block moving means for moving the blocks with their said substantially trapezoidal cross section in a plane substantially orthogonal to their direction of movement thereby, and rotator means for rotating either or both of the blocks in the plane of their respective trapezoidal sections until the respective orientations of the two blocks are substantially identical.

2. An article orientator according to claim 1, wherein the rotator means effects rotation of both blocks.

3. An article orientator according to claim 2, wherein the rotator means rotates each block through angles of substantially 90but in opposite senses.

4. An article orientator according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the rotator means comprises a guide surface or a conveyer which contacts one of said blocks while the block or blocks are rotated.

5. An article orientator according to any of claims 1 to 3, wherein the rotator means comprises two curved surfaces along which the respective blocks are slid to effect the desired rotation or rotations.

6. An article orientator according to any of claims 1 to 3, wherein the rotator means comprises one or more pivotable plates or vacuum suckers.

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7. An article orientator according to any of claims 1 to 3, wherein the rotator means comprises rods or wires shaped to effect the required rotation or rotations.

8. An article orientator according to any of claims 1 to 3, wherein the rotator means comprises a continuous guide belt with the necessary twist to effect the desired rotation.

9. An article orientator according to any of claims 1 to 8, including means for aligning the two blocks after they have been rotated, whereby the blocks are formed into a single line.

10. An article orientator for aligning two substantially rectilinear blocks of substantially trapezoidal cross section, the apparatus being substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings.