US2608405A

US2608405A - Feed roller for packaging machines

Info

Publication number: US2608405A
Application number: US191809A
Authority: US
Inventors: Herman G Kopald; Lloyd I Volckening; Salfisberg Charles Marshall
Original assignee: Ivers Lee Co
Current assignee: Ivers Lee Co
Priority date: 1950-10-24
Filing date: 1950-10-24
Publication date: 1952-08-26
Anticipated expiration: 1969-08-26

Description

Aug. 26, 1952 L. SALFISBERG ETAL 2,608,405

FEED ROLLER FOR PACKAGING MACHINES 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Oct. 24, 1950 Is fib/lafi y we 5m mfwm Lmwm Z Wwd m e e w; I 5

Aug. 26, 1952 L. L. SALFISBERG ETAL 2,608,405

FEED ROLLER FOR PACKAGING MACHINES 5 Sheets-$heet 2 Filed Oct. 24, 1950 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 mmfoa Zemj/ L .19 (x ffi ergfleceased far;

L. L. SALFISBERG ET AL FEED ROLLER FOR PACKAGING MACHINES Aug. 26, 1952 Filed Oct. 24, 1950 dn Char! Patented Aug. 26, 1952 FEED ROLLER FOR PACKAGING MACI H N 'ES Leroy L. Salfisberg, deceased, late of South Orange, N. J by Herman G. Kopald, New York, N. Y., and Lloyd I. Volckening, Glen Ridge, N. J executors, and Charles Marshall Salfisberg, South Orange, N. J., assignors to Ivers-Lee Company, Newark, N. J., a corporation of Delaware Application October 24, 1950, Serial No. 191,809

4 Claims. 1

This invention relates in general to rollers for feeding strips or webs of irregular cross section, and more particularly the invention contemplates packaging machines wherein two layers of flexible packaging material such as chlorinated rubber or metal foil having a thermoplastic coating are drawn from a supply roll into juxtaposed closely spaced relation adjacent an article feeding an depositing mechanism which deposits articles between the layers, after which the layers are sealed together around the articles and travel to a severing mechanism for dividing the strip of packages into groups of packages or individual packages, the feeding rollers embodying the invention being employed for drawing the package strip from the sealing rollers to the severing mechanism. A machine of this general type is disclosed and claimed in United States Patent No. 2,180,966 dated November 21, 1939, the feed rollers comprising two parallel rotatable brushes which frictionally receive and move the package strip between them.

The package strip as it passes between the said rollers is of non-uniform thickness because of the articles between the layers of packaging material and the bristles of the feed brushes flex to compensate for the variations in thickness of the package strip and at the same time permit the portions to frictionally pull the package strip from the sealing rollers.

A prime object of the present invention is to provide novel and improved feed rollers which shall exert a more positive and uniform pull on the package strip than can be effected by the brushes.

Another object is to provide novel and improved feed rollers which shall have soft or easily yieldable peripheral surfaces to frictionally engage and conform to the irregular surfaces of the package strip, and means for creating suction at the points of contact of the peripheral surface of the feed rollers with the package strip to ensure a firm grip of the package strip by the Still another object is to provide a novel and improved construction and combination of such feed rollers and means mounting and rotating them whereby to maintain a firm pull on the package strip and yet permit movement of the rollers-relatively to the strip when a pre-determined resistance to pulling of the package strip is encountered, thereby to prevent tearing or other damage to the strip.

Other objects, advantages and results of the invention will be brought out-by the following description in conjunction withthe accompany ing drawings in which r Figure 1 is a schematic side elevational view of sealing rollers, feeding rollers and strips of packaging material, feeding rollers being constructed in accordance with the invention and the sealing rollers beingshown in transverse section;

Figure 2 is a vertical longitudinal sectional view approximately on the plane of the line 2-2 of Figure 1; v

Figure 3 is a front elevational view of one of the feed rollers; a

Figure 4 is a transverse vertical sectional view approximately on the plane of the line 4-4 of Figure3; y

Figure 5 is an enlarged transverse vertical sectional view approximately on the plane of the line 55 of Figure 2 showing the feed rollers engaging the package-strip between two adjacent article-containing compartments; and

Figure 6 is a similar view showing the rollers.

engaging the package strip atone of the articlecontaimng compartments. V

For the purpose of illustrating the principles of the invention, it has been shown in conjunction with a known type of packaging machine such as those described in United States Patents Nos. 2,083,617 dated June 15, 1937 and No. 2,180,966 dated November 21, 1939, the machine in general comprising means for supplying layers or strips A and B of suitable flexible packaging material such as chlorinated rubber, or cellophane or metal foil having thermoplastic coatings, into juxtaposition beneath the discharge chute C of an article depositing mechanism which deposits the articles, such as medicinal tablets between the layers as the, latter pass over sealing rollers D and E which frictionally contact with and receive the layers A and B be tween them. The sealing rollers are mounted on and rotated in opposite directions by shafts F from any suitable source of power. The rollers have complemental registering recesses G to provide clearance spaces between them for the articles H, such as pharmaceutical tablets, the recesses being equidistantly spaced circumferentially of the rollers and the tablets being fed in timed relation to the rotation of the rollers. Between and around the recesses G the peripheries of the rollers have serrated surfaces for crimping and pressing together the layers A and B around the articles to form article-containing compartments between the layers.

Where the material of the layers is heat-seal able, the rollers are heated by suitable electrical heating devices J of known character which heat the packaging material or the thermoplastic coating thereon at the same time that pressure is applied to the layers by the serrated surfaces of the rollers. The sealing rollers thus produce a package strip comprising a plurality of equidistantly spaced article-containing compartments which is later divided into individual packages each comprising one compartment and a portion of the sealed strips surrounding it, or into groups of packages. The formation of the packagesas hereinbefore described is known in the art and no claim of novelty is made thereon.

The strips A and B of packaging material are withdrawn from the supply rolls by the sealing rollers D and E, and the feed rollers K and L embodying the invention cooper-ate with the sealing rollers to maintain the package strip under tension and feed the strip to a shearing mechanism or other device or point (not shown).

As shown, each said roller includes a tubular core or sleeve I, preferably of steel, having end flanges 2 between which is secured on the periphery of the sleeve, a layer of soft yieldable or resilient substance 3, preferablyrubber. Between the flanges 2, the sleeve I has a plurality of holes 4 extending therethrough, and the rubber layer 3 has apertures 5 each registering with one of the holes 4 in the sleeve. Also, the rubber layer has a plurality of recesses 6 in its poriphery into the bottom of each of which leads at least one of the apertures 5. As shown, the recesses 6 are rectangular and are arranged in. a plurality of longitudinally spaced circumferential rows, the walls of the recesses comprising circumferential and longitudinal thin webs or ribs 1 that are integral with the rubber layer, the ribs or webs I yielding to accommodate the package compartments H as shown in Figure 6 and prevent crushing of the tablets or breaking of the compartment walls.

Each sleeve I is mounted on a hollow shaft 8 the outer end of which is closed at 9 while the other end is connected to a suitable suction producing apparatus (not shown). Each sleeve i has. an extension 10 at one end beyond the flange 2 and said extension is journaled in a machine frame M, while the end of the corresponding shaft is secured at N in another portion of the frame. With this construction, the two sleeves are rotatable on their respective shafts 8, and the parts are so adjusted that norlongitudinal rolls of the holes 4 in juxtaposition to the zones of contact of the rubber layers 3 of the rolls with the package strip, as shown in Figures 2 and 5. Accordingly, when suction is applied to the shafts 8, it will tend to form a firm frictional contact between the peripheries of the rollers and the package strip, in addition to the frictional contact incident to the resiliency of the rubber layers 3.

The feed rollers are driven simultaneously in opposite directions by any suitable means, but as shown the two sleeves are geared together by pinions i2 and one of the sleeves is positively driven from any suitable source of power through a friction clutch. As shown, a gear 0 connected to the power source meshes with a gear it which is rotatable on the sleeve 8 and frictionally engaged at opposite sides by clutch discs l5 and i5 the former of which is fast connected to the corresponding sleeve while the other is longitudinally slidable and relatively rotatable on said sleeve. A compression spring I6 is interposed between the latter clutch disc l5 and adjusting nuts ll screwed 0n the sleeve, whereby the frictional pressure exerted by the spring IE on the clutch gear [3 by the discs i4 and I5 can be adjusted. With this construction, it will be observed that when a pre-determined resistance to rotation of the feed rollers is encountered, for example by stopping of the sealing rollers D and consequent holding back of the package strip, the discs i4 and [5 may slip relatively to the clutch gear 3 to compensate for the stoppage or slowing down of the feed rollers.

In actual operation of a packaging machine of this character, the feed rollers K and L rotate at a slightly faster peripheral speed than the sealing rollers so that the package strip between the two sets of rollers is maintained under tension, and the clutch as above described effectually. compensates for any irregularities in the relation of the rotation of the two sets of rollers, thereby maintaining substantially uniform tension on the package strip between the sealing rollers and the feed rollers to prevent breaking or tearing of the package strip.

While the now preferred embodiment of the invention has been described, it should be understood that this is primarily for the purpose of illustrating the principles of the invention and that the structural details of the apparatus may be widely modified and changed within the spirit and scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. In a packaging machine, the combination of means for feeding a package strip that includes a plurality of layers of material sealed together at certain points to form a plurality of material-containing compartments spaced longitudinally of the strip, said means including a pair of opposed parallel rotatable rollers to receive between them said package strip having the material-containing compartments, means for rotating said rollers in opposite direc tions, at least one of said rollers having a soft elastic peripheral surface; to contact said pack age strip and in which there are closely spaced apertures, said peripheral surface having a plurality of circumferential ribs and a plurality of longitudinal ribs intersecting the circumferential ribs to form such apertures, and means for connecting said apertures to suitable suctionproducing apparatus, whereby said package strip is drawn into contact with said roller by suc- 5 tion and is moved with said rollersby joint action of said suction and said elastic peripheral surface.

2. In a packaging machine as defined in claim 1, wherein the said means for rotating said rollers in opposite directions includes a geared connection between said rollers, a driving element and a slip clutch connection between said driving element and one of said rollers.

3. In a packaging machine as defined in claim 1, the said one roller having a sleeve core and a soft elastic layer thereon, with one end of said core extending beyond the corresponding end of said elastic layer and said sleeve core having holes in register with said apertures, and with the addition of a hollow shaft for each roller having said sleeve core rotatable thereon and having an opening in register with the holes in said sleeve core juxtaposed to the point of contact of said elastic layers with said package strip, and said means for rotating said rollers including a geared connection between said extending end portions of said sleeve cores, and means for driving one of said sleeve cores.

6 a 4. In a packaging machine as defined in claim 1, a hollow shaft for said one roller having a radial opening in register with the apertures located at the zones of contact of said rollers with said package strip.

HERMAN G. KOPALD, LLOYD I. VOLCKENING, Executors of the Last Will and Testament of Leroy L. SaZfisberg, Deceased.

CHARLES MARSHALL SALFISBERG.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,083,617 Salfisberg June 15, 1937 2,180,966 Salfisberg Nov. 21, 1939 2,191,144 Hornbostel Feb. 20, 1940 2,338,465 Street Jan. 4, 1944 2,472,440 Salfisberg June 7, 1949