US1938482A - Packing machinery - Google Patents

Description

Dec. 5, 1933. J. w. cHALMERs PACKING MACHINERY Filed July 5, 1932 3 Sheets-Sheet l //TR 35%@ @Wmv Dec. 5, 1933. .1. w. CHALMERS PACKING MACHINERY Filed July 5, 1932 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Dec. 5, 1933. J. w. cHALMERs PACKING MACHINERY Filed July 5, 1932 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 IN VEN www Patented Dec. 5, 1933 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 1,938,482 PACKING MACHINERY Application VJuly 5, 1932, Serial No. 620,925, and in Germany August 6, 1931 7 Claims.

This invention relates to machines for packing block shaped articles, for example, batches of cigarettes, and refers more particularly to an improved machine for producing automatically a packet having a flexible outer covering reinforced by an internal strip of rigid material and filling the same with cigarettes.

It has previously been proposed to produce such a cigarette packet by folding the strip of rigid material about the cigarettes, and afterwards folding a wrapper about the batch of cigarettes and the strip and sealing the same, but this method is open to the objection that the heat required. for drying the gum which secures the long side folds of thepacket is liable to spoil the flavour of the cigarettes.

According to the present invention the outer wrapper is rst formed up into a U shaped block ended packet openat one end, the side folds being sealed during the process of manufacture and a batch of cigarettes embraced by a reinforcing strip as afterwardsY thrust yinto the open packet which is then folded down and sealed in the usual manner.

The sealing of the closure aps does not require such prolonged heat treatment as is the case with the side flaps-and therefore the heat does not affect the flavour of the cigarettes to any appreciable amount.

The invention consists of a packing machine which comprisesrin combination means (for example an endless conveyor) operable' automatically to` move a block shaped article or batch of articles along the bed of the machine, means for l feeding and locating automatically a strip of rigid material (for example, cardboard)` transversely to the path of said article, means oper-f ableto fold said strip around three sides of said article, means for inserting the article, together with the folded strip, into a U shaped block ended packet, and means for folding the open end of the packet together with the projecting strip and sealing the same. Y

The invention will be more particularly described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:-

Fig. 1 shows an elevation of a machine constructed according to the invention.

Fig. 2 is a. plan of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 isa section of a portion of the machine shown in Fig. 1 to a larger scale.

Fig. 4 is a view of a portion of the machine shown in Fig. 2, taken in the direction of the arrow 4. f

Fig. 5 is an enlarged plan of a detail of Fig. 2.

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of one kind of packet showing the manner in which the closingof the' same is effected.

Fig. 'Tis a similar view showing the next stage in the operations after Fig. 6, and

Fig. 8 is a perspective view of a finished packet.

Referring to the drawings, a packet forming mechanism is mounted on a frame 1 and comprises a reciprocating plunger 2 upon which a U shaped block ended packet is formed. 35

The plunger 2 is guided by rollers 3 and revciprocated between parallel jaws 5. and 6 by a connecting rod (not shown) arranged at the back of the machine. The connecting rod is driven from a crank pin attached to the fly wheel '7.

The packet blanks which consist of rectangular sheets of paper are stacked in a magazine 8 and the blanks are removed singly from the bottom of the pile by an oscillating sucker 9 which pulls the front edge of the blank on to the continuously rotating roller 10.

In the present case the blanks have a slit 8 at each end parallel to one long side thereof of a length equal approximately to the thickness of the finished packet and distant from the edge by a similar amount. These slits may be seen in the plan view of the magazine in Fig. 2.

An oscillating pusher roller 11 then moves into contact with the upper surface of the sheet so that the latter is drawn out of the magazine by the rotation of the two rollers and fed through another pair of continuously rotating feed roll- 81's 12. p v 90 Twov gum rollers are mounted on the same spindle as the upper feed roller 12 and receive gum from gum pots 13 and apply a streak of gum at each side of the packet blank.

The sucker 9 and roller 11 are operated by a rod 14 which is reciprocated. by a cam on' the crank shaft l5 of the machine.

The blank is finally fed forward by two further rollers 16 so that it lies on a guide 17 and is located in position beneath the plunger by a stop (not shown) .v The plunger then descends and carries the blank down between the jaws so that it is first formed into a U shape and continued movement carries the blank down so that the sides come into contact with folders 22 of the usual spiral shape.

The narrow bottom tuck 18 and the inner side fiap 19, Fig. 6, are formed by an oscillating folder 20 immediately before the outer flap 21 is bent down by the folder 22, the inner side 110 on the crank shaft.

flap being preferably folded first, so that the inside of the packet is free from any obstructions such as would be offered by the bottom tuck 18 if the latter were folded first. This construction enables the cigarettes surrounded by the strip to be easily inserted in the packet as described later, and also permits the consumer to Withdraw the cigarettes by the strip and then thrust it back again as explained in more detail in the prior patent to Molins No. 1,784,701, granted December 9, 1930.

The open packets descend into a heater box 23 and are ejected therefrom by a plate 24 operated by the lever 25 from a cam (not shown) The packets pass along the heater box 23 in contact with one another and during this movement the gum on the packets is dried and the packets eventually fall over into a magazine 26 so that they lie in a superimposed pile on the bed 27 of the portion of the machine on which the packets are filled with cigarettes.

The cigarettes are fed from a hopper 28 which is furnished in the usual manner with a series of slots in its base formed by vanes 28a down which the cigarettes pass and rest on the bed 27. A series of pusher pieces 29 carried on a continuously moving chain conveyor 29a remove a row of cigarettes at a time from the slots and carry them along between guides 30.

The cardboard strip is fed from a reel 81 which is of a Width equal to the total length of the strip. The web of cardboard is drawn downwardly by rollers 32 and 33 which are provided f, with creasing devices 34 in the form of ribs and grooves on the rollers, see Fig. 2, which crease the cardboard on the lines at which folding is to take place, and the creased web eventually passes into a cutting mechanism comprising a rotary cutter 35 which co-operates with a fixed cutter 35B.

As each strip of cardboard issevered from the web it falls down the guides 36 and lies in the path of a batch of cigarettes carried by one of the pushers 29. The cigarettes press the cardboard through the guides 30 and form the strip into a kind of U shaped member. The web of cardboard is preferably so arranged that the U shaped member has one limb considerably longer than the other, the difference in length being equal to the width of the packet plus, say, three millimetres.

The batches of cigarettes embraced by the U shaped cardboard strip is next carried by the pusher piece through a mouthpiece 37 which is preferably reciprocated by the levers 38 to cause the same to enter into the mouth of the lswerin packet lying on the bed 27. The packet is held in position by a spring stop 39 which resists movement sufliciently to enable the mouthpiece to enter into the packet. As the mouthpiece enters, the blades are expanded in a known manner and the batch of cigarettes, together with the cardboard strip is carried into the packet and immediately the strip touches the bottom of the packet the pressure of the pusher piece lifts the spring stop 39 and the filled packet is carried out of the magazine 26.

The pusher piece disappears beneath the bed as the conveyor chain turns around the wheel 40, but in the meantime, the packet has been pushed between two rapidly rotating rollers 41 which give it suicient velocity to cause it to move across on to the closing mechanism 42 where it is brought to rest by a guide 42.

The closing mechanism which is shown to a slightly larger scale in Fig. 4 consists of a continuously moving chain conveyor 43, furnished with a series of pusher pieces 44 each of which carries a filled packet in a direction at right angles to its previous movement.

The mouth of the packet first contacts with a tucker bar 45, Figs. 2, 5 and 6 which closes down the leading narrow fold 46, Fig. 7, together with the extending portion of the cardboard frame 47. An instant before the extending portion of the frame 47 is completely folded on to the top of the cigarettes an oscillating tucker 48 moves inA from the rear of the packet and folds down the other narrow fold of the packet so that the same is held in position by the cardboard strip. The tucker 48 is operated by a cam 49 and spring 50, as clearly shown in Fig. 5.

The packet next passes by a spiral folder 51 which folds up the lower broad flap 52 and immediately afterwards a streak of gum is applied to the upper broad flap 53 by a gum roller 53 receiving gum from a bath 55.

The upper broad flap 53 is folded down by a spiral folder 56 and the packet then passes by a heater rail (not shown) where the gum on the closure flap is dried and the finished packets, Fig. 8, are ejected from the machine in any desired manner, or if necessary, fed to a further machine, for example, a Banderoling machine.

It will be understood that the strip could, if necessary, be fed horizontally from a narrow reel corresponding in width to the width of the narrow panels, but the broad reel as previously described is more convenient and economical.

'Ihe packet described in the description of the machine is a particular form of packet which can be easily opened by the protruding strip shown in Fig. 8, after which the reinforcing frame may be pulled' up to assist in removing some of the cigarettes and then be thrust ldown again. For this purpose the bottom folds of the block ended packet are formed in the manner described to avoid any internal projections, Whilst the closure fold adjacent to the projecting portion of the strip is disposed at-right angles to the strip by reason of thev slitting of the blank, hereinbefore referred to, to facilitate the tearing of the closure flaps, but although the invention has been described with reference to a special kind of packet, lit will be appreciated that the cardboard strip may be so arranged that the ends thereof lie in the middle of the closure end of the packet. Y

-The slits in the blank may be dispensed with and both narrow tucks may be made as shown on 46, Fig. 7. The minor adjustments necessary to the tucking mechanism will be apparent to any persons skilled in the art.

WhatI claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent isz- 1. In a machine for packing cigarettes, the combination with means for forming a U shaped block ended packet having side folds and an open end, of means for sealing the side folds of the packet, means for folding a strip of relatively rigid material about three sides of a batch of cigarettes and thereafter feeding the batch through a predetermined path, means' for conveying the partially sealed packet transversely of and into the path of movement of the batch for receiving the batch and strip therein.

2. In a machine for packing cigarettes, the combination with means for folding a strip of relatively rigid material about three narrow sides of a batch of cigarettes, said strip being of such length as to extend beyond the third side of the batch, of means for inserting'the batch and partially encompassing strip into an open ended U shaped block ended packet with the extended portion of the strip protruding from the packet, and means for forming a narrow end fold in the open end of the packet on that side of the packet remote from the extended portion of the strip and thereafter folding the strip against the batch and over the said narrow end fold to retain the latter in position.

3. In a machine for packing cigarettes, the combination with means for folding a strip of relatively rigid material about three narrow sides of a batch of cigarettes, said strip being of such length as to extend beyond thethird side of the batch, of means for inserting the batch and partially encompassing strip into an open ended U shaped block ended packet with the extended portion of the strip protruding from the packet, means for forming a narrow end fold in the open end of the packet on that side of the packet remote from the extended portion of the strip and thereafter folding the strip against the batch and over the said narrowl end fold to retain the latter in position, and means for thereafter forming the longer end folds in the open end of the packet, whereby the strip will lie between the short and the longer end folds.

4. In a machine for packing cigarettes, the combination with means for folding a strip of relatively rigid material about three narrow sides of a batch of cigarettes, said strip being of a length substantially that of all four narrow sides of the batch and being extended past the third side of the batch, of means for inserting the batch and partially encompassing strip into an open ended U shaped block ended packet with the extended portion of the strip protruding from the packet, and means for forming a narrow end fold in the open end of the packet on that side of the packet remote from the extended portion of the strip and thereafter folding the strip against the batch and over the said narrow end fold to retain the latter in position.

5. In a machine for packing cigarettes, the combination with means for folding a strip of relatively rigid material about three narrow sides of ya batch of cigarettes, said strip beingof a length substantially that of all four narrow sides of the batch and being extended past the third side of the batch, of means for inserting the batch and partially encompassing strip into an open ended U shaped block ended packet with the extended portion of the strip protruding from the packet, means for feeding the packet and batch through a predetermined path with the third side of the batch facing forwardly, devices located adjacent the said path for folding the extended end of the strip against the batch, and means for forming a narrow end fold in the packet between the strip and the batch.

6. In a machine for packing cigarettes, the combination with means for folding a strip of relatively rigid material about three narrow sides of a batch of cigarettes, said strip being of a length substantially that of all four narrow sides of the batch and being extended past the third side of the batch, of means for inserting the batch and partially encompassing strip into an open ended U shaped block ended packet with the extended portion of the strip protruding from the packet, means for feeding the packet and batch through a predetermined path with the third side of the batch facing forwardly, devices located adjacent the said path for folding the extended end of the strip against the batch, and means for forming a narrow end fold in the packet between the strip and the batch, saidlast named means comprising an oscillating folder, movable to form the narrow end fold immediately prior to the folding of the extended end of the strip.

'7. In a machine for packing cigarettes, the combination with means for forming a U shaped block ended packet having side folds and an open end, said packet being slit to form a substantially rectangular tongue constituting an extension of one of the narrow long sides of the packet, of means for folding a strip of relatively rigid material about three narrow sides of a batch of cigarettes, said strip being of such length as to extend beyond the third side of the batch, means for inserting the batch and partially encompassing strip into the packet with the extended portion of the strip protruding from the packet on that side of the packet remote from the said tongue, means for folding the tongue against the batch, and means for thereafter folding the extended portion of the strip against the batch and the tongue and for forming the longer end folds over the strip.

JOHN WALKER CHALMERS.

iso`

Images