GB2368830A

GB2368830A - Pack feeding

Info

Publication number: GB2368830A
Application number: GB0027630A
Authority: GB
Inventors: John T Wilby
Original assignee: P J CONTRACTORS Ltd
Current assignee: P J CONTRACTORS Ltd
Priority date: 2000-11-11
Filing date: 2000-11-11
Publication date: 2002-05-15
Also published as: GB0027630D0

Abstract

Apparatus for feeding packs 6 from first location A to second location C comprises a reception zone B, a drop zone from which the packs will be dropped to the second location C, alignment means 26, transportation means (8 figure 1), spacing means (42 figure 4) and dropping means 30. A conveyor 4 may be provided to convey packs to zone B. Transportation means (8) may be a chain or belt conveyor with spaced dogs (42). Signal/sensor means may be provided to detect the presence of packs in the dropping means. The dropping means may be a pair of rails 30. The alignment means may comprise a pair of rails 12 and 26. The conveying means may be at right angles to the reception zone. The apparatus is used in conjunction with a lid sealing machine 50.

Description

PACK INFEEDER

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION (1) Field of the Invention The present invention relates to apparatus for feeding items from a first location to a second location, notably for handling filled trays or pods for deposit in a lid sealing machine.

(2) Description of the Related Art Pre-packaged meat is typically sold in supermarkets in trays, sealed with a transparent seal. Sealing machines are used to apply seals to the filled trays. Typically, a sealing machine is fed with three or four rows of filled trays on a conveyor. The conveyor is provided with holes or recesses into which the trays fit to ensure that each tray is correctly located for the seal to be applied.

Each row is supplied with filled trays via a downward sloping conveyor which drops the trays into the holes. A problem with this arrangement is that it is not completely reliable, and occasionally a tray will not align correctly with the hole. Because of this, the prior art system requires an operator to be close by, to manually adjust any misaligned trays.

It is an object of the invention to provide an improved pack infeeder apparatus.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to an aspect of the present invention there is provided apparatus for feeding items from a first location to a second location, the apparatus comprising: a reception zone for receiving incoming items; a drop zone from which items will be dropped to the second location; alignment means for aligning items in a desired orientation; transportation means for transporting items from the reception zone to the drop zone, including means for spacing items a predetermined distance apart from each other; and dropping means for dropping the items when in the drop zone.

By enabling the items to be correctly aligned and spaced apart, the apparatus can accurately feed items from the first location to the second without the need for supervision or manual intervention.

The invention is of particular use in feeding packs, for example trays or pods, from a filling machine or production line which puts meat or other food product into them, to a conveyor belt of a sealing machine which applies a seal to the packs. The packs are generally rectangular in plan. For convenience, the invention will be described hereinafter with reference to this application. However it will be understood that the

invention is not limited to this embodiment. Preferably the apparatus further comprises conveying apparatus, for example a conveyor belt, which conveys the packs from the production line to the reception zone.

However, the apparatus could be used with an existing conveyor associated with the production line. It is preferred that the conveyor transports packs to the reception zone in a direction which is at right angles to the direction in which the packs are transported from the reception zone to the drop zone, because this facilitates alignment and spacing of the packs. However, other arrangements could also be used. The invention will be described hereinafter with reference to this embodiment.

The alignment means preferably comprises a surface against which incoming packs bear when they reach the reception zone. However, it would also be possible to align the packs during or after transport to the drop zone.

In a preferred embodiment, the packs are transported by means of drive dogs which are driven by a moving chain or belt. The dogs may be spaced apart to define a desired pitch corresponding to the repeat distance of holes on the conveyor below the drop zone.

To enable the apparatus to be used with a range of sealing machines, which may require different numbers of packs to be fed in a row, for example three up or four up, the chain or belt may be provided with a plurality of signal

means, spaced apart by a distance corresponding to the number of packs to be dropped together. When a sensor detects the passage of the signal means it causes the computer to drop the trays which are in the drop zone at the time. Any suitable-s-ignal means may be used, located on the chain or belt or on an associated drive dog. Where the chain or belt is non-metallic the signal means may comprise metal inserts which trigger an adjacent metaldetecting sensor. In a preferred embodiment, a plurality of chains are available for use, each having signal means spaced apart by a pitch which is appropriate for a specific sealing machine. The chains may be colour or otherwise coded for ease of selection.

Other features and advantages of the present invention will be readily appreciated, as the same becomes better understood, after reading the subsequent description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention will now be further described, by way of example, with reference to the following drawings in which: Figure 1 is a perspective view of an apparatus for feeding packs to a sealing machine, in accordance with one aspect of the present invention; Figure 2 is a plan view of part of the apparatus of Figure 1; Figure 3 is an end elevational view of the apparatus of Figure 1; Figure 4 is a front elevational view of part of the apparatus of Figure 1; and Figure 5 shows part sectional view illustrating dropping of a pack at the drop zone.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION Pack infeeding apparatus 2 comprises a conveyor belt 4 which conveys trays 6 from point (A) where they are received from a production line (not shown) to a reception zone at point (B) (Figure 2). The conveyor belt 4 carries each tray 6 sequentially against a rear guide rail 26, which also functions as a back stop so that each tray 6 is

squared up and correctly aligned. There is a corresponding front guide rail 12 aligned parallel with the rear guide rail 26, but not extending to point (B) so as to permit entry of trays 6.

A chain drive 8, operated by a servo motor 16, carries a plurality of spaced-apart drive dogs 42 (Figure 4). The chain drive 8 is located above the end of the conveyor belt 4 and the dogs 42 are initially disposed so as to permit the passage of a tray 6 to the reception zone (B).

When a tray 6 arrives at the reception zone, its presence is detected by a sensor 28 which sends a signal to a computer (not shown). The computer causes the motor 16 to index the chain 8 by a distance corresponding to a single pitch 44 (Figure 4). As each tray 6 arrives at the reception zone, it is in turn conveyed by a drive dog 42 towards the drop zone, which is defined by the area of overlap with holes 48 in a conveyor belt 46 of a sealing machine 50.

For food packs, a typical pitch is in the range 172 to 260 mm, with corresponding tray widths in the range 143 to 237 mm. These numbers are given by way of illustration, and do not limit the invention in any way.

The drive dogs 42 initially convey the trays 6 onto the guide rails 12,26 and then, as the chain drive 8 is progressively further indexed, onto release guides 30 which support the trays by their rims, as illustrated in the left hand side drawing of Figure 5. With a continuous

flow of trays, indexing continues at a rate of about 1/second. When a leading tray 6 reaches point (C), a release sensor 32 is activated, and this in turn, via the computer, opens the release guides 30. Trays 6 which are supported by the release guides 30 drop down and are supported in holes 48 in the sealing machine conveyor 46.

Because the trays 6 are uniformly aligned and accurately spaced apart, they register correctly with the array of holes 48.

Any suitable release means 14 may be employed. In this example, pneumatic cylinders 14 are used to retract the release guides 30 and permit the trays 6 to drop into the holes 48, as illustrated in the right hand side drawing of Figure 5.

Each release guide 30 and associated release mechanism are mounted on the underside of one of a pair of mount plates 24. The guide rails 12,26 are also mounted under the mount plates 24, by means of mounting members 10, only one of which is illustrated in Figures 1 and 2 for clarity.

By adjusting the horizontal position of the mount plates 24, different sizes of pack may be accommodated.

Horizontal adjustment of the mount plates 24 is controlled by a hand wheel 18, connected to the mount plates 24 by means of a screw thread/reverse screw thread mechanism 35 of a type known per see Vertical adjustment is achieved by turning of height adjusting screws 20.

To facilitate accurate registration of trays with corresponding holes 48, the working parts of the apparatus are slidably mounted for horizontal adjustment on cross members 33 of the frame by means of traversing bobbins 36 located in bobbin housings 34. Other suitable adjusting means will be well known to those skilled in the art.

Referring now to Figure 4, the chain 8 is provided with drive dogs 42, every fourth of which has a metal insert 43. When the insert 43 passes a detector 45, this triggers the release guides to open. By varying the spacing between inserts 43, the apparatus may be adjusted to drop an appropriate number of trays 6 simultaneously, for example from one to four trays. The apparatus may therefore be used with different sealing machines by varying the insert spacing. This may conveniently be done by replacing one chain by another when a different sealing machine 50 is to be fed.

Many modifications and variations of the present invention are possible in the light of the above teachings.

Therefore, within the scope of the appended claims, the present invention may be practiced other than as specifically described.

Claims

1. Apparatus for feeding items from a first location to a second location, the apparatus comprising: a reception zone for receiving incoming items; a drop zone from which items will be dropped to the second location; alignment means for aligning items in a desired orientation; transportation means for transporting items from the reception zone to the drop zone, including means for spacing items a predetermined distance apart from each other; and dropping means for dropping the items when in the drop zone.

2. Apparatus for feeding packs from a production line to a conveyor of a sealing machine, the apparatus comprising: a reception zone for receiving incoming packs; a drop zone from which packs will be dropped to the conveyor of the said sealing machine; alignment means for aligning packs in a desired orientation; transportation means for transporting packs from the reception zone to the drop zone, including means for spacing packs a predetermined distance apart from each other; and dropping means for dropping the packs when in the drop zone.

3. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2, further including conveying apparatus for conveying the items to the reception zone.

4. Apparatus as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the transportation means comprises a chain or belt drive which drives a plurality of spaced apart drive dogs.

5. Apparatus as claimed in claim 4, wherein the transportation means further includes a plurality of signal means which are spaced apart from each other along the drive by a distance corresponding to the number of items which are to be dropped together, and the apparatus further includes a sensor which sends a signal when it detects the presence or passage of one of the said signal means, the said signal causing or permitting actuation of the dropping means.

6. Apparatus as claimed in claim 5, wherein the said signal means are made from metal

7. Apparatus as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein the dropping means comprise a pair of spaced apart release guides and associated means for moving the guides further apart in response to a signal.

8. Apparatus as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein two spaced-apart guide rails are provided for guiding packs from the reception zone to the dropping

means.

9. Apparatus as claimed in claim 8, wherein the guide rail which is furthest from the first location or the production line extends further than the other guide rail, the extended portion functioning as a back stop to provide the said alignment means.

10. Apparatus as claimed in claim 3, wherein the conveying apparatus is arranged to convey items to the reception zone in a direction which is at right angles to the direction from the reception zone to the drop zone.

11. Apparatus for feeding items from a first location to a second location, substantially as herein described with reference to or as shown in the drawings.