GB2541181A

GB2541181A - Product collating machine

Info

Publication number: GB2541181A
Application number: GB1513802.7A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Alan Francis Mann David; Neville Wright Lee
Original assignee: A M PACKAGING Ltd
Current assignee: A M PACKAGING Ltd
Priority date: 2015-08-04
Filing date: 2015-08-04
Publication date: 2017-02-15
Anticipated expiration: 2035-08-04
Also published as: GB201513802D0; GB2541181B

Abstract

A stacking machine has a deck 28 located under another deck 22. A conveyor 1 feeds products to top deck 22. A deck section 24 is movable between the level of either deck. An upper looped track 10 passing over the top deck 22 carries downwardly projecting independently movable pushers 14; and a lower looped track 12 passing under the bottom deck 28 carries independently movable pushers 16 which project up through the top deck 22. A controller moves a pusher 14 on the upper track 10 to push products on the top deck 22 past the vertically movable section 24 and into contact with a stationary pusher 16 on the lower track 12. It then moves another pusher 14 on the upper track to push products on the top deck 22 on to the vertically movable section 24 and move that section downwards. The controller then moves a pusher on the lower track to push products from the vertically movable section 24 on to the lower deck 28 and into contact with a stationary pusher 16 on the lower track 12 below the other products. It then moves said two pushers on the lower track in the same direction so that the upper products move off the end of the top feed deck to stack on the lower products on the lower deck.

Description

PRODUCT COLLATING MACHINE Field of the Invention

This invention relates to a product collating machine, for example for producing stacked collations of products for packaging purposes.

Background to the Invention

Many products are packaged in stacked collations, for example foodstuffs such as biscuits (cookies), where a package may comprise two layers of products enclosed in a plastics film wrapper. As the products are typically delivered individually from the production line, there needs to be a collating stage to form the products into a two-layer collation for delivering to the packaging line. The formation of these collations tends to operate stepwise, necessitating repeated pauses in the flow of the products, which may require multiple parallel collating stages to handle the rate of delivery of the products from the production line. This can add significantly to the overall costs of the products.

The invention seeks to permit the collations of products to be formed at a faster rate.

Summary of the Invention

According to the invention, there is provided a product collating machine for forming stacked collations of products, comprising a first feed deck, a second feed deck located vertically below the first feed deck, an input conveyor for delivering products to the first feed deck, a transition section vertically movable between the plane of the first feed deck and the plane of the second feed deck whereby product can be moved from the first feed deck on to the second feed deck, a first endless track having a portion mounted above the first feed deck, the track carrying spaced pushers independently movable along the first endless track and extending vertically downwards from said portion towards the first feed deck so as to engage and move groups of the product along the first feed deck, a second endless track having a portion mounted below the first and second feed decks, the second track carrying spaced pushers independently mov able along the second endless track and extending vertically upwards through the first feed deck and through said transition section, and a controller programmed to: move a pusher on the first endless track to push a first group of products along the first feed deck to a position beyond the transition section and in contact with a stationary pusher on the second endless track; move a second group of products on to the transition section using at least one pusher on the first endless track and move the transition section downwardly; move a following pusher on the second endless track to push the second group of products on to the second feed deck and into contact with said stationary pusher on the second endless track whereby the second group is located beneath and aligned with the first group of products; and then move the stationary pusher forward and move the following pusher on the second endless track to push the first and second groups forward so that the first group moves off an end of the first feed deck and on to the second group to form a stacked collation of products.

Each of the endless tracks is preferably configured as a vertical loop and each pusher is suitably mounted on a carrier which forms a linear electric motor in combination with the respective track.

The transition section preferably comprises a parallel pair of rotary members, each comprising a plurality of bars extending parallel to each other and mounted for rotation about an axis extending parallel to said portion of the first endless track, and a motor controlled by the controller to rotate the rotary member, the motors being configured to rotate the rotary members selectively in opposite directions such that a bar on one rotary member and a bar on the other rotary member align to receive a group of the products from the first feed deck and move together to lower the group of products between them to the plane of the second feed deck.

The collating machine of the invention is capable of assembling a stream of products into stacked collations while maintaining the same direction of flow of the products, thereby increasing the speed of formation of the collations. A single collating machine can therefore handle a much higher throughput of products than has been possible with machines requiring translational movement for stacking and hence stopping and starting of the flow. Damage to delicate products, such as foodstuffs, during the collating operation is also minimised.

Brief Description of the Drawings

In the drawings, which illustrate an exemplary embodiment of the invention:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a packaging machine of which the product collating machine of the invention forms a part;

Figure 2 is an enlarged isometric view of the collating machine;

Figure 3 is an isometric view showing the input conveyor and the first endless track of the collating machine; and

Figure 4 is an isometric view showing the transition section of the collating machine.

Detailed Description of the Illustrated Embodiment

Referring first to Figure 1, a packaging machine has an input conveyor belt 1 receiving products from a manufacturing station or from holding store and delivering the products to a collating machine 2 which forms the products into collations comprising two groups of products stacked one upon the other, the collation then being delivered to a wrapping station 3 where plastics film is shaped around the collation, sealed and cut to form packages of the products. While it will be understood that the products may be of any form, including individually-packaged items or small cartons of items, it is envisaged that the invention will be especially applicable to the packaging of foodstuffs such as biscuits or cakes.

Referring now to Figures 2 to 4, the collating machine 2 comprises a pair of endless tracks 10 and 12, each arranged in a vertical loop and carrying a plurality of pushers 14 or 16, each pusher being mounted on a respective carriage 18 or 20 which is driven along the track on the linear motor principle in an indi-vidually-controllable manner, using the Beckhoff XTS (RTM) technology. Each carriage 18 or 20 can be positionally controlled along the respective track, speeding up or slowing down to vary the gap between adjacent carriages and hence pushers. The first endless track 10 is mounted above a portion of the input conveyor 1 and extends over a first generally horizontal feed deck 22 which is divided into two parts 22a and 22b with a transition section 24 between them. The first feed deck is provided with a central longitudinal slot 26. A second feed deck 28 extends at a lower level than the first feed deck along the transition section 24 and beneath the second part of the first feed deck 22b to a point where the collations are introduced into the wrapping station 3. The second feed deck is similarly provided with a longitudinal slot 30 along its centre.

The pushers 14 on the first track 10 are in the form of forks having two prongs (Figure 3), while those 16 on the second track 12 are shaped as a single prong that can pass between the two prongs of the pushers 14 on the first track. The pushers 16 extend through the slots 26 and 30, as may particularly be seen from Figure 4, to engage the products (biscuits) 32 on the feed decks and push them along the decks.

The transition section 24 comprises a parallel pair of rotary members 34 and 36, mounted on opposed sides of the feed decks 22 and 28, each comprising a plurality of cylindrical bars 38 extending parallel to each other and mounted for rotation about an axis extending parallel to the slots 26 and 30. Each has a stepper motor 40 configured to rotate the rotary members selectively in opposite directions such that a bar 38 on one rotary member 34 and a bar 38 on the other rotary member 36 align horizontally with and link the two parts 22a and 22b of the first feed deck 22, and can then can be indexed together downwardly and outwardly to deposit any product carried by them on to the second feed deck. For clarity, Figure 4 shows only one of the rotary members 34.

The operation of the pushers 14 and 16 on their respective endless tracks and of the motors 40 controlling downward movement in the transition section 24 are all controlled by a controller (not shown) which can also receive inputs from product sensors, especially on or adjacent to the input conveyor, to ensure that the movements are timed appropriately.

In use, the biscuits arriving on the input conveyor belt 1 will typically be spaced apart from each other by an approximately uniform distance. A first group of the biscuits will be formed by a pusher on the first endless track being moved round to engage the rearmost biscuit of the group while a further pusher on the same track is moved behind it to engage the leading edge of the first biscuit in the following group to retard it while the pusher ahead of it is moved forward to close up the biscuits in the group against themselves and into contact with a pusher 16a (Figure 4) on the second endless track projecting through the first feed deck. The first group of biscuits is then moved forward off the first part 22a of the first feed deck, across a pair of cylindrical bars 38 of the transition section 24 aligned with the first feed deck and on to the second part 22b of the first feed deck. The second group of biscuits is then formed by another pusher 14 on the first endless track being moved round the track to engage the rearmost biscuit of the group and move it forward to close up the gaps between the biscuits. The pair of pushers 14 then move forward to slide the second group of biscuits on to the pair of cylindrical bars 38. The motors 40 are then operated to move the pair of bars 38 downwardly and outwardly to deposit the biscuits on to the second feed deck 28, where another pusher 16 on the second endless track is moved up to slide the second group forwards into engagement with the pusher 16a holding the first group. The two pushers 16 then move forward, pushing the two groups forward so that the first group pass over a gently downwardly angled end section 22c of the first feed deck and on to the biscuits in the second group, thus forming the collation. The collation then moves forward under the control of the pair of pushers 16 towards the wrapping station 3 (Figure 1).

While the downward movement of the second group of biscuits in the transition section has been described as a separate step following their delivery on to the bars 38, it will be appreciated that these operations may be timed so that the operation of the motors 40 can commence as soon as the final biscuit of the group arrives on the bars 38, and that the forward movement of the second group can be continuous as the descent occurs and from there through to the wrapping station. Thus, the delays to forward motion of the biscuits are minimised, substantially increasing the throughput of the packaging machine as a whole without the need for multiple collating machines for a single packaging line.

The controller can be readily configured to change the constitution of the collations by changing the timings of the movements of the pushers 14 and 16. For example, the collations can readily be changed from, say, ten products (two layers of five) to eight (two layers of four) without the need for the packaging machine to be out of operation for a significant time - perhaps needing only to change over the wrapping material. This permits flexibility in packaging, enabling, for example, relatively small runs of a different package size for specific orders.

Claims

1. A product collating machine for forming stacked collations of products, comprising a first feed deck, a second feed deck located vertically below the first feed deck, an input conveyor for delivering products to the first feed deck, a transition section vertically movable between the plane of the first feed deck and the plane of the second feed deck whereby product can be moved from the first feed deck on to the second feed deck, a first endless track having a portion mounted above the first feed deck, the track carrying spaced pushers independently movable along the first endless track and extending vertically downwards from said portion towards the first feed deck so as to engage and move groups of the product along the first feed deck, a second endless track having a portion mounted below the first and second feed decks, the second track carrying spaced pushers independently movable along the second endless track and extending vertically upwards through the first feed deck and through said transition section, and a controller programmed to: move a pusher on the first endless track to push a first group of products along the first feed deck to a position beyond the transition section and in contact with a stationary pusher on the second endless track; move a second group of products on to the transition section using at least one pusher on the first endless track and move the transition section downwardly; move a following pusher on the second endless track to push the second group of products on to the second feed deck and into contact with said stationary pusher on the second endless track whereby the second group is located beneath and aligned with the first group of products; and then move the stationary pusher forward and move the following pusher on the second endless track to push the first and second groups forward so that the first group moves off an end of the first feed deck and on to the second group to form a stacked collation of products.

2. A product collating machine according to Claim 1, wherein each of the endless tracks is configured as a vertical loop.

3. A product collating machine according to Claim 1 or 2, wherein the transition section comprises a parallel pair of rotary members, each comprising: a plurality of bars extending parallel to each other and mounted for rotation about an axis extending parallel to said portion of the first endless track; and a motor controlled by the controller to rotate the rotary member; the motors being configured to rotate the rotary members selectively in opposite directions such that a bar on one rotary member and a bar on the other rotary member align to receive a group of the products from the first feed deck and move together to lower the group of products between them to the plane of the second feed deck.

4. A product collating machine according to Claim 3, wherein the motors are stepper motors.

5. A product collating machine according to any preceding claim, wherein each pusher is mounted on a carrier which forms a linear electric motor in combination with the respective track.

6. A product collating machine, substantially as described with reference to, and/or as shown in, the drawings.