US1731946A - Wrapping machine - Google Patents

Description

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Patented Oct. 1S, `1929 ELMER LOVELL SMITH, OF SPRINGFIELD,

MASSACHUSETTS, Assleiv'oa To PACKAGE MACHINERY COMPANY, Olli SPRINGFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION` OF MASSACHUSETTS WBAPPING 'MACHINE Application led March 17, 1926. Serial No. 95,436.

This invention relates to Aimprovements in lwrapping machines.

The novel features to be hereinafter described are applicable to all machines of this 'general character, but for illustrative pur poses a machine for wrapping rectangularly shaped articles will be described.

'Une object of the invention is 'to provide means for guiding the wrapping material across the open mouth of a Wrapping wheel While the Wrapper is being delivered thereto and is accomplished by actuating the guiding means towards and away from the delivering means.

[Another object ofthe invention is the provision of means movable in a pocket of the wrapping vand other means for pressing an article and wrapper thereagainst, which acts in conjunction with the pressing means to clamp the article and wrapper therebetween as they are advanced into the pocket lso that the Wrapper isheld from shifting With respect to the article.

Another object is the provision of means operable by the article-advancing plunger for ejecting an article from the Wrapping wheel whether or' not an article is Vinserted thereinto by said plunger.

Another object of the invention is the provision of adhesive applying means, the operation of which is controlled by thecondition of plasticity of the adhesive material.

Other objects and advantages will appear from the following description of the invention which is illustrated in the form at present preferred by 4means of the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. l is a plan view of a machine embodying the features of my invention;

Fig. 2 is a sectional elevational view on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig 2b is a diagrammatic view representing the path of the article transporter;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged side elevational .view

of a portion of the machine taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1 and shows the adhesive applying mechanism and operating means there for' Fig. 3a is an isometric View of the member movable in the pbcketof the wrapping wheel and the. end tuckers of said wheel; Fig. 4 is a sectional elevational View taken onthe line 1f-4 of Fig. 1 showing the tumble box operating mechanism;

Fig. 5 isa diagrammatic isometric View showing the plungers for operating on the article; v

Fig. 6 is an isometric view of the reciprocating guide for the Wrapper Sheets; and

Figs. 7 to 12, inclusive, are isometric views showing the manner of folding the wrapper about thearticle.

Referring now to the drawings in detail, i

a bed 1 and side supporting frames 2 land 3 Aare suitably secured together and arranged to support the mechanism constituting the invention. A drive shaft D rotatable in Suitable bearings 'of the frames 2 and 3 may be driven from any suitable source offpower,

such as a line shaft belted therefrom to al pulley fixed on either end of said shaftbut which has been omitted in the drawings for clearness. y

The articles A may be fed to the machine by a feed belt B of ordinary construction so as to be delivered thereby in the direction of the arrow a inmFig. 1 and onto a support or chute 4 which is provided with oppositely disposed side guideways 5 for guiding the articles into proper position with respect tothe mechanism for advancing the same through the machine.

I preferably employ a belt feed of the intermittently operating type arranged so that a line of articles in the chute is urged against a stop plate 6 at the end of the chute. The stop plate is preferably positioned so that it will locate the article bearing thereagainst accurately beneath and in alignment with a vertically reciprocating plunger 8, and the chute 4 is disposed so as to convey the articles at a level above that of a plunger 9 which advances it into the wrapping mechanism. The article, as it abuts the plate 6, is unsupported by the chute by reason of the chute at this point being cut awayto allow the article to be forced downwardly therethrough onto a table 10.

The articles, arranged in line in end to end relation in` the chute or one abutting the next and-being urged forwardly by the belt,

l of levers 14 and'v15, which are oscillatable on shafts 16 and 18 fixed in spaced-apart bearings 17 fixed to bed l. A rearwardly extendln arm 19 ofthe lever 18 is pivotally connecte tothe end of a connecting rod 20 which is fixed to a yoke 21- slidable on the "driving shaft D. A cam of suitable form ixedon said shaft operates on a cam roll 22 of the yoke 21 and is arranged to actuate the plungerr- B up and down in a proper timed relation with respect to j the other parts of the machine, the arrangement of the levers 14 and 15 being such that the U plunger will be maintained in a level position during its up and down movement.

The plunger 9, having a forwardly dependin portion 25, is xed to a member `26 which .1s slidable back and forth. on a guide rodl 27 supported byxthe table 10 and a' bracket 28. A downwardly extending portion 29 of the member is arranged to straddle a bar .30 fixed to the underside of the bed and is ladapted to maintain the member and plunger 9 in .a level position during the reci lrocation thereof. A

T eplunger member 26 is connected by a link 31 tothe upper end of a'lever 32 mounted to swing on a rock shaft 33 extending between the supports 2 and 3 andreceiving its motion from-an eccentric 34 fixed onl the driving shaft D and connected thereto by a connecting rod 35. A

. Portions 36, extending from opposite sides of the member 26, have in screw threaded en agement therewith, so as to be adjustable, orwardly extending ejectors in the form of rods 39 which, as will later appear are arranged to actuate a movable member `of the wrapping wheel. These ejectors -are carried forwardly with the plunger 9 in each forward movement thereof. The mechanismjustdescribed is 'preferably arranged so that the plunger'9 will operate aftert an article has een deposited on thetable 10 to advance it and a wrapper sheet into a ypocket of the wrapping wheel.

'The wrapping material, which `may be in the form of sheets, is delivered to the machine by any, suitable feeding mechanism such as is disclosed in my pending application Patent No. 1,656,084 Jan. 10, 1928, and may be received between vertically disposed guides 40 supported above the machine which are arranged to direct the -sheetbf .serted into the wheel.

wrapping material between the table 10 for supporting the article and a pocket 11 of the wrapping wheel.

Ordinarily, a movable guide for guiding the paper is disposed in the path of the article to be advanced into the wrapping mechanism and is arran ed to be moved out of the path by the a vancing article or plunger so as to allow. the article to be in- According to one novel feature of my invention,l I eliminate the necessary mechanism therefor and provide guiding means movable in and out of the path of the article which receives and guides the sheet and is so arranged as to be positively moved out of the path of the advancing article at a certain time, and consists of the following. Guidemembers 42 having slots 43 in the upper ends thereof to form separated side guide bars 44 for receiving therebetween the lower end of t-he f wrapping sheets are mounted in a spaced relation on a vertically movable member 45, supported onthe ends of levers 46 and 47 which are oscillatable on pivots 48 of a Vbracket 49 fixed to the under side of the bed 1. The lever 47 has a depending arm 50 which is connected to an eccentric 51 fixed on the shaft D and by the means of which the levers are oscillated to move the guides `up and down between they position shown the guides may be timed so as to be in their.

upper position so that the sheet S is delivered thereinto by the guides 40. As the sheet' continues to descend between the guides, they are lowered simultaneously therewith so as to be out of the path of the article as it is bleing advanced forwardly by the plunger 9.

In order to properlyposition the sheet so that it will register with the articles in the desired manner, sheet supporting or stop members 52 are provided against which the lower end of the sheet may rest. These comprise upwardly and forwardly extending arms fixed to a shaft 53 that is oscillatable in the bed 1. A slotted lever arm 54, fixed to the shaft adjacent the outer side of the bed, may be secured in various positions of adjustment by means of a screw 55 whereby the stopsl 52 that, as the article is advanced thereto as in Fig. 7, the said article and wrapper may be inserted in a pocket of the wrapping wheel lnow to be described.

-The wrapping ,wheel 12'comprises upper and lower walls that may be integralwith forks 61 at opposite ends thereof. Shafts 62,

secured to the forks and to the walls, are ro- Plates 64 are resiliently mounted in the well.

known manner adjacent the inner faces of the members 6.0 and are adapted to yieldingly ein brace thewrapper and opposite sides of theA article for folding the wrapper about three sides of the article as shown in Fig. 8, as they are inserted therebetween bythe plunger 9. Side folders 66, arranged in pairs so as to engage' opposite ends of the article, are carried by the upper and lower plates 60 and are preferably adjustably secured `thereto 'by means of screws 67. These folders 66'are arranged and adapted to embrace the ends of the article and to tuck the wrapper, as at b in Fig. 8, as the wrapper and article are inserted therebetween and into' the pocket of the wheel. It will be noted by referenceto Fig. 8 that an extension of flap c of the Wrapper will project outwardly'from the pocket of the wheel in the well known manner. I These folders A66 are, as usual, spaced at top and bottom from the face of the plates 60 so as to permit the extensions c and c of the wrapper to extend between them and the plates, as is customary in devices of this character, and are s aced apart as shown to form a slot 67' there etween for the purpose nowfto be described. A bar 68, disposed in parallelism with the axis of rotation of the wrapping wheel,

'has reduced portion 68 for movement in the slot 67 between the folders 66 and at its opposite ends is fixed to rods 69 slidable in the yokes 6l. rPlates 70, fixed to the bar 68 between the end folders, are arranged so as to form, in conjunction with the bar, a block or movable bottom for the pocket. It will be noted that the plates 70 are spaced apart to form anopening therebetween through which a transporter pusher member may operate, engaging the rear side of an article after 1t has been ejected therefrom. When the wheel is positioned for receiving an article and wrapper, the bar is located in the opposite end of the pocket from that shown in Fig. '2 andin which position the forward plates have their forward face substantially flush with the edges of the tension plates 64 at the receiving side of'the pocket. As the article and wrapper are brought into engagementl therewith by the plunger4 9, the article andl wrapper will be clamped `between the plate and plunger so that the wrapper will not shift relative to the article and the plunger, in advancing', will move the plate and bar rearwardly of the pocket as the article is inserted thereinto and at the same time will eject an article from the other .side of the pocket into a folding chute.

vVlvith the bar 68 in the receiving position just described, the rods 69 will extend towards the ejectors 39 and will, if there is no article in the pocket, be engaged by the ej ectors 39 rok as lthe plunger-9 advances in a feeding movement whereby* the ejectors will move the barl rearwardly of the pocket and thereby eject an article and wrapper from the pocket of the wrapping wheel. The eje'ctors B9, however, are preferably so 'adjusted that there will' not be a-contaet of the ejectors 39 and rods `69 whenever there is an article in position on the table l0 to be inserted into the pocket by the plunger 9, in which case'thearticle will act to move the so-called tumble box bottom forejecting the article at the opposite side ing engagement with a gear 7 3 rotatable on v a stud 74. Rolls on the face of gear 73 enterv slots g of a geneva G in the well known manner to rotate said geneya, which is rotatable on a stud 76, and a gear 7,7, integral with said geneva, is in meshing engagement with a driven pinion of the shaft 62 of the wrapping wheel. Keepers 73 ofl well known form are carried by the gear 73 and are, as usual, arranged to prevent a rotation of the geneva as the driving rolls are rotated from engagement with one slot and into another.

As the article is rotated by the wheel in a clockwise direction, the extendingwrapper flap c is frictionally engaged by a wiper W pivoted to a 'support W and which is urged against the article and wrapping wheel by a spring w of usual form.' As the wrapping v wheel comes to rest, the article and wrapper are in the form shown in Fig. 9 and may then be ejected into the folding chute.

'As the article and wrapper-are ejected from the pocket of the wheel either by the insertion of an articleat the other side thereof or by the action of the ej ectors, all f which has been previously explained, it is a vanced into the ,mouth of a folding chute which chute, aside from its novel characteristics as will be vmore particularly pointed out, is of well known form and comprises the'following. Bars 78 are provided that extend longitudinally of the machine and are adjustably sel cured by screws 7 8 to a vertically adjustable of the rods and as the said shaft is rotated,

the member will be raised or lowered to various positions of adjustment. The member n under.

, lthe article 1s formed of bases or tables 85 that extend inthe direction of travel of the article Thelower-side ofthe chute for supporting and are adjustably secured to the upper side vof the bed by screws 86. These members are spaced apart so as toallow a transporting mechanism to operate therebetweenv on the articles and are made adjustable so that they j vanced in a step-by-step manner through the imay be moved towards or away from one another to accommodate articles of'different sizes.

85 vand function in the ordinary manner to form the tuck d in the wrappers as the articleand wrapper are advanced into the chute. The article and wrapper are preferably adehute by a'transporter` mechanism later to be described, and during the movements of the article the various folding operations are performed by means of the'following.l p

Folders 90, carried by the bars' 78, are formed so as tolay the flap 'e against the ends `of the article as it is moved to the position represented by dotted lines Pf in Fig. 2. As the article is advanced and left in this position, the lower wrapper extensions f which project outwardly from the ends of the article receive a daub of adhesive. material as 'represented X from a daubing mechanism which wil presently he described.

The Atransporting mechanism referred to will now be described with particular refer ence to Figs. 1, 2, and 3.

A central web 100 hasdownwardly depend-i1 ing lugs 101 and carries on its upper side a plurality of article engaging or pusher members 102. 4The forward pusher ber 10,2'is adapted in the operation of the transporter to enter between the-plates 70 in order to engage the rear .face of an article ejected fromfthe pocket of the wheel. A bracket 103 fixed to the under side of the bed has swinging levers 104 pivoted thereto that :have their lower ends connected to links 105.

movement back and forthwithin the chute and the parts are preferably so designed that the pushers are carried in a path as diagram- Endtuckers- 88 are secured-to the members memmatically represented in Fig. 2b.. That is to say, each of the pushers will engage the rear face of the articles in the chute and advance them simultaneously therealong the desired or required distance during each cycle of operationof the machine. As the transporter reaches the forward end of its stroke, as will be seen in the diagram, the pushers return for another article advancing movement by a lowering and a rearwardly directed motion.

The 4shafts 107 receive their rotary motion by means of the mechanism shown in Fig. 3. A driving pinion 108 fixed on the shaft D is in driving engagement with a gear 109 fixed on shaft 107 at the left for drivings'aid shaft, while a connecting rod 110, pivotally connected to said gear 109 and to the end of a crank 111 fixed on the other of the shafts 107, imparts a rotary motion t@ the latter. The web` member 100, together with the links 101 connecting it to links 105, operates as a second eonnecti'nor rod to prevent stalling of the right hand shaft 107 as the driven shaft 107 passes dead center.

shaft 117, has its end pivotally connected to al link 121 which has its lower end connected to a member 122 fixed to the bed 1. A pawl 123, carried by the lever 120, is arranged to engage with the teeth of the ratchet 119 and as the box is raised by the lever 116, since the end of lever 120 will be held from a raising movement, the pawl 123 will ride over the teeth of the ratchet. As the lever and box descend, the pawl in engagement with the ratchet will cause a rotation thereof and will bring the face of the roll 118 carrying the adhesive from within the box so that it will be applied tothe extending wrapper flap f. A scraper 124, adjustable on the box and arranged to he positioned adjacent the periphery of the wheel 118, is adapted to regulate or control the thickness of the film of adhesive in the well known manner.

A heating element E, which may be in the form of an electrical resistance unit, is provided for insertion in a side of the box and may easily be controlled for maintaining the plasticity of the material in any desired deree.

When the sealing wax is hardened by cooling, it will be obvious that it would be difficult to rotate the wheel 118 without liability of injuring the mechanism and in order that the level and box may not be forced downwardly by the operating mechanism, I provide the following.

The levers 116 are rotatable on an oscillatable shaft 130 and have upwardly extending arm portions 131 which carry adjusting screws 132. A central lever 133 fixed to the 115. As the lever 133 moves to the left, the 'i levers 131 will follow such movement or not, according to whether the adhesive material is suficiently plastic lto allow a rotation of the wheel 118. If the material permits a rotation of the wheel, the box and lever' will move downwardly so that the wheel will apply a daub of adhesive to the extending wrapper flaps as at X.

The shaft 130 is oscillated by means of the following. A downwardly depending lever 135, fixed' to said shaft 130, is pivotally connected to a link 136 which is similarly connected to a member 137 fixed to a stud 111 of the crank 111. i

As the crank 111 is .rotated by the connecting rod 110 for actuating the transporter, the inner end of themember 137 is rotated about` the axis of the shaft 107, whereby the arm 135 is moved back and forth to raise the lever 116 and to allow it to subsequently descend for an adhesive applying operation. i

In the operation of the'machine, artlcles to be wrapped and sheets of wrapping material are delivered to the feed channel 4 and guides 40 respectively. As has been explained, the articles in the channel are in end to end contact and the action of the feed belt will force the endmost article against the stop plate 6, and the plunger 8 in the lowering movement will carry the endmost article downwardly onto the table-10. a During thls downward movement of the plun er 8 the wrapper sheet guides 42, which ave een elevated to receive the lower end of the sheet, areA moved downwardly simultaneously with the sheet, the lower edge of which comes to rest upon the positioning stops 52. The

' guides 42, however, continue downwardly to their lowermost position wherein they are below and out of the path of movement of the plunger 9. The wrapping wheel pocket is positioned to receive an article and wrap per in which position the bar 68 and plate structure are at the receiving end of the pocket.

The Aplunger 9 on advancing engages the side of an article on the.table 10 and movesit into engagement Vwith the vertically dlsf posed wrapper sheet and by its continued advancing movement clamps the sheet between the article and a movable plate 7 0 or bottom of the wrapping pocket. The bar 70 and plates 64 of the wheel will preferably offer some resistance to the advancing movement of the plunger and are desirable in order to firmly clamp the wrapper between the article and plate so as to hold the wrapper from a shifting movement with respect to the article. The movement of the plunger will force the article and wrapper into the pocket and cause the bar and plate to eject an article from the opposite side of said pocket into the folding chute. l

If for any reason an article is not positioned for the action of the plunger 9, the ejectorscarried thereby will, on being advanced, engage the rods 69 fixed to the bar of the wrapping wheel and will move the same to eifect yan ejection of an articleiffcarried by the pocket at its discharging-side.

As the article and wrapper areinserted in the wheel, the wrapper will extend from the upper side thereof as at C; and as the wheel is rotated in a clockwise direction, the flap will be engaged between the wiper W and wrapping wheel and pulled tightly about the article and will assume the position shown in Fig. 9.

As the article and wrapper are ejected into the foldingchute, the flap extension is laid against the upper side of the article by the plate 83, while the tucks d are made inthe end extensionsl of the wrapper by the folding blades 88. 4

The article is advanced by the trans orter in a step by step manner throughout the ength ofthe folding chute and, durin 'these movements, the end extensions e are olded against the ends of the articles while, when at rest in.

Ivanced to the supports at the end of the ma sov chine from which they may be removed by the operator.

f .While the invention `has been described in the form at present preferred, I- am aware that many changes may be made 'in the form thereof without departing from the scope thereof and I therefore prefer to 'be limited bythe appended claims rather than by the description.

What I claim is:

q1. A wrapping machine comprising in combination, a wrapping wheel having o` posed openings for receiving articles to e wrapped, means actuated by an article delivered into one .opening for ejecting an article from the opposed opening, and means o erable only in the absence of an article to e delivered into one opening for expelling an article from the'opposed opening.

2. A wrapping machine comprising in comthe pocket.

bination, awrapping wheel having a pocketextending therethrough for receiving an article, a member movable in the pocket by an article inserted at one side thereof to eject an article at the other side thereof, means for delivering an article into the pocket, and con-` nections between the delivery means and the member operable only in the absence of an v-article to be delivered into the pocket for shifting the plunger to eject an article from 3. A wrapping machine comprising in combination', a wrapping wheel having a pocket extending theret rou h for receiving an article, a member'mova le in the pocket by an article inserted at one side thereof to eject 'an article at the other side thereof, a plunger for delivering an article into the pocket at one side of the wheel, and projections carried signature. lELMER L. SMITH.

by the plunger of insuiicient length to reach said member in the presence of an article-but o c e from the wheel in the. absence of an article being delivered into the wheel by the plunger.

4. A wrapping machine comprising in combination, a wrapping wheel having opposed perable to shift the member to eject an artipockets forreceiving articles to be wrap ed,

connected movable bottoms in said poc ets .positioned so that when one bottom is pushed into-its pocket the `depth of an article the other bottom will be substantially iush with the outer surface of the wrapping wheel, means for rotating the wheel so that the openings are` alternately presented into receiving and discharging positions, means for introducing an article and a wrapper into a pocket when in receiving position so that the wrapper is gripped between the article and the outermost pocket bottom, a .partially Wrapped 4article in the other'pocket of the the motion Wra ping wheel being ejected li) b by the moveof t e connected bottoms caused ment of the article into the Wheel, and mechanism for moving the connected bottoms to discharge an' article from the wheel operative onl in the absence of an article to be delivere into the wrapping'wheel.

5. A wrapping machine comprising, in. comblna'tion, a wrapping-channel, means for delivering wrapping material to intersect the channel, a reciprocable paper guide present-' ing anopen paper-receiving slot intowhich the lpaper may drop freely from said means, mec anism for reciprocating the guideacross the wrapping channel, and an adjustable pa-` er stop upon, which the paper is deposited uring the downward motionofthe guide.

6. wrapping machine comprising in combination, a wrapping chute having wrapper folding means, a wrapping wheel aligned with the chute and having opposed pockets, means for rotating the wrapping wheel to bring the pockets successivelyinto alignment wlth the entrance to the wrappin chute, connected movable bottoms in sai pockets, a

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