GB2277312A - .Packaging plant adjustable for different package sizes - Google Patents

Description

2277312 ADJUSTING SYSTEM FOR A PACKAGING PLANT The present invention

relates to an adjusting system for a packaging plant.

Packaging plants for packaging individual items, in particular food items, in groups of varying size often have several individual drives for the various pieces of equipment constituting such a plant.

Such individual drives are usually adjusted individually by hand or by means of rotational gearing components with fixed gear ratios, consisting for example of a worm gear or a pinion. It is relatively complicated to effect an adjustment that is exact or at all correct with these known devices, which in addition are unsafe and prone to develop faults.

According to this invention there is provided an adjusting system for a packaging plant comprising at least two conveyors for individual items and an adjusting device which has coding means enabling adjustment of at least two adjusting mechanisms of the packaging plant independently of one another. The invention is explained below in more detail with reference by way of example to the accompanying drawings in which: 25 Figure 1 is a flow diagram illustrating the operating procedure of a packaging plant in which an adjusting system according to the invention can be applied, Figure 2 shows a schematic plan of a part of such a packaging plant with a central adjusting system according to the invention, Figure 3 shows a front view of a control lever with a control plate of a system according to the invention, Figure 4 shows a side view corresponding to Figure 3, partly cut-away, of a mechanism with several 2 such control levers, and Figure 5 shows a plan partly cut-away, of the mechanism of Figure 4.

The packaging plant according to Figure 1 includes a stacker 1, a grouping device 2 and two packaging machines 3 and 4. The individual items to be packaged are, for example, conveyed from a baking oven to the stacker 1 in several rows via a first conveyor 5. From stacker 1 the items, still in several rows, arrive via a second conveyor 6 at the grouping device 2, where the groups are formed which are conveyed via a third conveyor 7 to the first packaging machine 3, downstream of which, via a fourth conveyor 8, the second packaging machine 4 is situated. According to Figure 1 a central adjusting device 9 according to the invention can, for example, be arranged in the area of the grouping device 2. The grouping device 2 brings about a rotation of the direction of movement of the 0 conveyors by 90 In Figure 2 the stacker shown in Figure 1 between the conveyors 5 and 6, is not represented, since stackers of this type are known. The grouping device 2, however, is represented schematically in Figure 2 in order to show how the formation of groups and the rotation of the direction of motion of the conveyors by an angle of 90 0 are brought about. In this Figure the direction of motion of the conveyors 5 and 6 is from right to left, and that of the conveyor 7 from the bottom to the top. In conveyor 5 the individual items 10 lie flat in the plane of the conveyor, and in conveyor 6 the individual items are arranged edgewise in rows after stacking. In Figure 2 the individual items 10 are represented in three parallel rows. In practice, however, a number of rows N may be provided, whereby N may, f or example, lie between 3 and 20. The adjusting device 9 is arranged in the area of the corner space defined by the conveyors 5 and 6 on the one hand and the conveyor 7 on the other hand. The adjusting system comprises the adjusting device 9, a number of rocking levers, guide rods, articulated rods and mechanisms, by means of which, in each case, an adjusting movement carried out by the adjusting device 9 is transmitted to the various components of the packaging plant in order to bring them to a desired adjustment position. Represented schematically in Figure 2 are only a few of said levers bearing the reference numbers 11, 12, 13,... 19, a few of said guide rods bearing the reference numbers 21, 22,... 27 and a few of said articulated rods 11' to 19' and 21' to 27'. By means of an adjusting movement of device 9 it is consequently possible, via said levers, rods and mechanisms, for the various components or individual drives of the packaging plant to be adjusted simultaneously.

It is known to adjust the rods 21 to 27 by hand and, where necessary, additional rods and the mechanisms actuated by them. According to the present invention this task is achieved from a central location with the aid of the adjusting device 9. According to the invention it is also possible for means to be provided other than the levers 11, 12,..., the rods 21, 22,... etc, in order to actuate the various adjusting mechanisms, in particular guide units 31, 41, 51. Such means may also be of hydraulic or electrical type. By means of the adjusting device 9 it is possible in particular to adjust the conveyors 5, 6 and 7, the stacker 1, the grouping device 2, the packaging machine 3 and a cutting device 20 with which a length of foil 30 is cut through, either after or during production of packages.

The adjusting device 9 comprises at least two levers to be actuated by hand, each having a longer arm - 4 91 and at least one shorter arm 98 which is connected by one (e.g. 17') of the articulated rods 11' to 19' and 21' to 27' or other means to at least one (17) of the rocking levers 11, 12,... in order to actuate one (27) of the corresponding guide rods 21, 22, In order to simplify the drawing, only two engagement levers are shown in Figure 2.

The adjusting device 9 shown in Figures 3, 4 and 5 shows one such engagement lever mounted for movement about an axis of rotation 90 (Figure 4). At the free end of the engagement lever there is arranged an adjusting knob 71 with a sliding plate 71' and a pin 71- which are capable of being raised radially upwards. The adjusting device comprises also two curved plates 61 and 62 arranged coaxially with the axis of rotation 90, plate 61 being provided with slots 81, 82, 83 and notches 81', 83', and plate 62 having preferably round apertures 84, 85 (Figure 5). Pins 71- and 72- for example can engage in the notches and 20 adjusting knobs 71, 72, 73 can project into the apertures 84, 85. The adjusting device shown in Figure 4 is provided with several engagement levers which are supported so as to be capable of rotating independently of one another about a common axis of rotation 90.

Into each of the longer lever arms 91, 92, 93 of said engagement levers two screws 91', 92', 93' are firmly screwed, so that the sliding plates 71', 72', 73' are each guided in longitudinally movable manner by a slot.

In Figure 3 the slot 87 of the sliding plate 71' can be seen. Figure 4 illustrates shanks 92- of the screws 92' and the slot 88 of the sliding plate 72'. Attached by pins 65 to the plate 61 are two supports 63 and two supports 64 (Figures 4, 5), so that the plate 62 overlies and is correctly positioned in relation to plate 61 by engagement of pins 65 in two holes 100, 101 Figure 5 shows a slot 83 of the inner plate 61, which is arranged to be stationary and has several marked notches 83' and a few round apertures, for 5 example 84, 85 for the adjusting knobs 71, 72 of the control plate 62, which can be removed as a coded cover. The adjusting system comprises several such coded control plates, each of which has apertures in precisely predefined positions, there being a specific control plate for each predefined set of positions of adjustment. As a result of such adjustments the packaging plant can be adapted to predefined object sizes and also to a desired number of objects per package. By virtue of the control plate which is precisely coded for each predefined application, central adjustment of the plant is no problem, even for staff who have not been specially trained.

Consequently, while taking a multitude of adjustment conditions into account, the system also enables the adjusting system to be adapted, without great wastage of packaging foil, to varying crosssectional dimensions of the objects.

Since the control plate 62 can be detached easily, a control switch 103 can be provided which, after overlaying of the correct control plate 62, 62' etc. is actuated by a cam 104 in order to indicate whether said control plate is sitting correctly or whether it was selected correctly. A control plate 62' for another setting exhibits apertures 84', 85' 30 cams 104' and control switch 103' in other locations. For this purpose the fact that the control plate 62 is somewhat curved is of no significance. In Figure 4 it can be seen that the adjusting knobs 71. 72, 73 have rounded gripping ends projecting into the apertures of the control plate which act as programming holes.

6 The rocking levers can be moved readily within a swivelling range of 60 0 as indicated in Figure 2.

By way of further development of the invention, the adjusting system can be provided with electrical and/or electronic circuits which are actuated with the aid of coded plates in order to carry out the various adjustments. Such coding systems can, for example, be achieved with the aid of magnets and 10 reed relays or optical-electrical elements etc.

Claims (10)

1. Adjusting system for a packaging plant comprising at least two conveyors for individual items and an adjusting device which has coding means enabling adjustment of at least two adjusting mechanisms of the packaging plant independently of one another.

2. Adjusting system according to Claim 1, wherein several adjusting mechanisms are adjustable jointly in groups by means of the adjusting device in accordance with a code setting.

3. Adjusting system according to Claim 1 or Claim 2, wherein the adjusting device comprises at least two operating levers and the adjusting mechanisms comprise rocking levers and connecting rods connecting the operating levers to the rocking levers.

4. Adjusting system according to Claim 3, wherein at least some of said rocking levers have a 0 swivelling range of 60

5. Adjusting system according to Claim 3 or Claim 4, wherein the operating levers are supported so as to be capable of rotating about a common axis of rotation.

6. Adjusting system according to any one of Claims 3 to 5, wherein the coding means comprises coded control plates provided with respective sets of apertures, to locate the operating levers in predetermined positions.

7. Adjusting system according to Claim 6, wherein the operating levers have rounded ends which are adapted to locate in the apertures in the control plate.

8. Adjusting system according to Claim 6 or Claim 7, comprising means whereby the control plates, when correctly positioned in the adjusting device, actuate respective control switches.

9. Adjusting system according to Claim 1 or Claim 2, wherein the adjusting device comprises a set of coded control plates providing said coding means and adapted to bring about electromagnetic or electro5 optical control of the adjusting mechanisms.

10. Adjusting system substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.