GB861825A - Improvements in wrapping machines - Google Patents

Abstract

861,825. Wrapping machines. FORGROVE MACHINERY CO. Ltd. July 24, 1959 [Aug. 21, 1958; Oct. 14, 1958], Nos. 26908/58 and 32768/58. Class 94(1). [Also in Group XXIV] A wrapping machine of the kind comprising a conveyer 10, preferably an intermittently rotating disc having article receiving pockets 11 and which feeds the articles to a leading station where they are transferred to a wrapping mechanism, a mechanism for feeding wrappers to the articles so that each article carries a wrapper with it into the wrapping machanism, and a trip mechanism, for testing the presence of articles in the pockets, is characterised in that the trip mechanism comprises a cam mechanism 25, a cam lever 32, a trip arm 35 operable by the lever 32 through a spring 33, a trip member 21 coacting with the arm 35, means for disabling the wrapper feed mechanism when a detector; finger 12 movable by the cam 25 under the influence of a spring 18 enters an empty pocket 11, and causes the member 21 to obstruct the arm 35. In one embodiment, Fig. 1, the finger 12 is mounted on an arm 15 fixed to a shaft 14 to which levers 16, 17 are also fixed. The spring 18 holds the lever 17 in contact with a roller 19 on a control arm 20 which is integral with an arm 28 rotatably mounted on a shaft 29 and rocked by the cam 25. The finger 12 enters a pocket 11 upon anticlockwise rotation of the arm 20 and if it is arrested by the presence of an article therein the arm 15 and the lever 16 are prevented from moving further, under the action of the spring 18, and the member 21 remains unmoved. The arm 35 and a lever 36, both fixed to the shaft 29, are rocked to the full extent by the cam 25 so that the lever 36 is clear of a roller 43 on a pawl 39 fixed to the shaft 26 and which engages a ratchet 41 on a sleeve 42 rotatably mounted on the shaft 26 and which drives the wrapper feed mechanism. When the pocket 11 is empty the spring 18 rocks the arm 15 and the lever 16 clockwise so that the member 21 is displaced anti-clockwise. The arm 35 and the lever 36 are arrested by the member 21 and the spring 33 yields to prevent further movement of the lever 32. The lever 36 contacts the roller 43 to disengage the pawl 39 from the ratchet 41 and disable the feed mechanism. In a modification, Fig. 4, a subsidiary trip arm 135 is rocked, against a tension spring 51, when the finger 12 enters a pocket 11 containing an article 30, to move a trip plate 124, through a pin 55 and a lever 57, clear of a trip plate 125 on the arm 35 so that the lever 36 is clear of the pawl 39. When the pocket 11 is empty, the arm 135 is not rocked and the plates 124, 125 coact to limit the movement of the arm 35. The lever 36 is stopped and coacts with the pawl 39 to disable the wrapper feed mechanism.