US3221470A - Stripping means for a container pack forming machine - Google Patents

Description

1965 J. STEVENSON, JR 3,221,470

STRIPPING MEANS FOR A CONTAINER PACK FORMING MACHINE Filed Nov. 21, 1962 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 IN VEN TOR.

John 5zez/en5onJr.

ATT'Y.

Dem 1965 J. STEVENSON, JR 3,221,470

STRIPPING MEANS FOR A CONTAINER PACK FORMING MACHINE Filed NOV. 21, 1962 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. JO/zn 5Zez/e7250n,L/r W m ATT'Y.

United States Patent 3,221,470 STRIPPHNG MEANS FOR A CONTAINER PACK FGRWING MACHINE John Stevenson, in, Hoopeston, llL, assignor to Illinois Tool Works Inc, Chicago, lit, a corporation of Delaware Filed Nov. 21, 1962, Ser. No. 239,212 8 Claims. (Cl. 53-48) This invention relates in general to a stripping means for a container pack forming machine and more particularly it relates to a stripping means for operable association with the carrier applying means during the assembly of a fiat somewhat elastic carrier to containers such as beer cans or the like.

This invention is, concerned with an improvement to the container pack forming machine shown in the copending application SN. 174,023 filed February 19, 1962, assigned to the same assignee of which I am one of the coinventors. The stripping mechanism is also adapted to be associated with the assembly machine shown in US. Patent 3,032,943, issued in May 8, 1962, assigned to the same assignee.

Machines for assembling containers and container carriers to form multipacks of containers which are convenient for carrying are assuming ever greater commercial and economic importance. Examples of container carriers of the type which are assembled with containers by a machine to which the instant invention relates are shown in US. Patent No. 2,874,835, issued to O. J. Poupitch, and in other patents and applications disclosing various improvements thereto.

In assembling carriers of the Poupitch type, one of the problems encountered relates to the positive stripping of the carriers from the carrier applying means in a fast repetitive trouble-free manner. When it is considered that machines of the type shown in the aforementioned copending application are designed to operate at a production rate of 1200 cans per minute, said production being continuous 24 hours a day, seven days a week, the importance of having a positive stripping means which will always assure that the carriers will leave the carrier applying means so that the containers and carriers are correctly assembled comes into direct focus. Due to the almost astronomical number of cans and carriers passing through the machines, the number of moving parts in the assembly machine, and the wear of these moving parts inherent in the operation of the machine, the necessity for a safe, positive, rugged, always operable stripping means which will operate independent of dimensional variances in the cans and carriers, and will continue to operate independent of wear of parts will be apparent.

The instant stripping device overcomes all the aforenoted problems and provides a safe, rugged stripping means which is always operable to strip the carrier from the carrier applying shoes at the assembly station of the carrier and the containers passing therethrough.

The novel features that are considered characteristic of this invention are set forth with particularity in the appended claims. The invention itself, however, both as to its organization and its method of operation, together with additional objects and advantages thereof, will be best understood by the following description of the specific embodiment when read in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which;

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the carrier applying expanding jaw subassembly which is mounted on a rotor as shown in FIG. 4;

FIG. 2 is a front elevational view of one-half of the subassembly shown in FIG. 1, the subassembly being substantially symmetrical about the center line;

31,221,470 Patented Dec. 7, l9fi5 FIG. 3 is a top plan view of the subassembly shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the left hand portion of the subassembly showing the jaws in expanded relation, the right hand half of the subassembly showing the jaws in closed relationship;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view through the rotor mechanism carrying a plurality of subassemblies such as shown in FIGS. 1 through 3 showing the relative positions of the parts between the carrier pick-up station and the assembly station to illustrate the operation of the stripper mechanism; and

FIG. 5 is a semidiagrammatic view of a container pack assembly machine utilizing the subassemblies shown in the foregoing views.

Before discussing the stripper mechanism in detail, it would appear beneficial to discuss, in somewhat capsulized form, the assembling machines with which the in stant apparatus is designed to operate. For a complete detailed picture of the apparatus, reference should be had to the aforementioned patent and patent application. The apparatus it as shown in FIG. 5, basically comprises a machine for high speed assembly of containers 8 or other articles to a carrier means 24 and means for segregating the assembled containers and carriers into units such as six-packs and, when desired, adding transporting means in the form of handles to the package. These assembling machines 10 are inherently Well suited to be used as an attachment to the conventional filling and closing machines such as, for example, a machine for filling and closing a conventional can of beer. The machine or apparatus in general has a carrier storage area 12, a container entering area 20, a carrier pick-up area 14, an assembly area 16, and an area 22 downstream of the assembly area 16 for segregating the assembled containers and cans into discrete units such as 6-packs or the like, it being realized that the carriers 24 are initially in the form of flat, somewhat elastic, apertured, plastic sheet material members stored on a continuous roll 12 similar to a spool or the like. The finished packaged products leave the discharge or output area 26 of the apparatus lit and are further assembled into case lots and/or are otherwise taken to market as are, Whichever is more suitable and is desired.

The instant invention is concerned with the stripping mechanisms 28 and 30 mounted on a rotor 18 in association with the individual carrier applying jaw subassemblies 32 mounted on the rotor. There are usually 12, 18 or 24 sub assemblies 32 mounted on the rotor, each subassembly 32 being adapted to successively fit into consecutive spaced apertures in the can carriers shown in the aforementioned Poupitch patent at station 14 to pick up the carriers. The rotor means 18 is driven by suitable driving means (shown diagrammatically at 34) through suitable gears 36 to turn shaft 38 in timed relationship to other portions of the assembly apparatus. A pai. of spaced plates 40 and 42 mount the individual subassemblies 32 on the periphery of the rotor. Through rotation of the rotor means 18, the individual subassemblies 32 pass through the carrier pick-up station 14 at the top of the apparatus as shown in FIG. 4 and move the carriers into embracing relationship with the containers 8 at the assembly station 16 shown at the bottom of FIG. 4, it being realized that the containers move from left to right on suitable belt means in the apparatus as viewed in FIG. 5.

As perhaps best perceived in FIG. 1 the subassemblies 32 each essentially comprise two sets of shoes 46 and 48, each pair or set 46 and 48 being made up of individual shoes 56 through 56. Shoes 52 and 56 are fixedly mounted to parallel rods 58 and 60 which are in turn fixed at the ends thereof to block 62 carrying cam follower 64. Shoes and 54 are fixedly mounted to rods 66 and 68, which are in turn fixed to block 70, which carries cam follower 72 thereon. The rods 58, 60, 66, and 68 each respectively movably extend through suitable apertures in discs 74 and 76 which rotatably mount the carrier applying subassembly 32 to the plates 40 and 42 respectively. The mounting of the discs 74 and 76 to the plates 40 and 42 respectively, permits the discs to rotate about their own axis on the plates 40 and 42, but prevents any other movement thereof. The reason for having discs 74 and 76 pivotal about their own axes on plates 40 and 42 is to accommodate the shoe sets 46 and 48 to the varying center distances of apertures in the carriers to be applied to the cans 8. This is described in detail in Patent No. 3,032,943. The cam followers 64 and 72 are cooperable with cams fixedly mounted relative to the machine to cause the rods 58-60, 66-68 associated with the blocks 62 and 7 to move relative to each other to in turn cause the individual jaw sets 46 and 48 to have relative separating and approaching movements of the individual jaw members 50-52 and 54-56. Cam follower 64 cooperates with cams 78-80 and cam follower 72 cooperates with similarly formed cams 82-84. As will be seen, cams 78-84 are such as to cause the jaw sets 46 and 48 to be in closed position at the carrier pick-up station 14 (top of FIG. 4) and to be completely expanded or open at the assembly station 16 (bottom of FIG. 4). It is the removal of the carriers from the expanded jaw sets 46 and 48 when they are in the assembly station 16 with which the instant invention is particularly concerned.

To this end, the stripping means 28 and are individually mounted on the respective discs 74 and 76 for cooperation with the outboard shoes and 56 as shall now be explained in detail. The stripper means 28 shall be described in detail, the stripping means 30 being substantially identical except for left and right hand considerations. The stripping means 28 is mounted on disc 74 and comprises a U-shaped member 86 having a pair of spaced arms 90-92 which mount a shaft 94 therebetween. Lever means having a pair of arms 96- 98 is pivotally mounted on the shaft 94. As will be appreciated, lever arm 96 is disposed at right angles to arm 98 and mounts a cam follower 100 at the end thereof. Lever arm 98 is biased to the recessed position shown in FIG. 2 by a suitable biasing spring 102 trapped between arm 96 and the disc 74, arm 96 being biased against an adjustable stop 103. Arm 98 is formed with a plurality of fingers 104 which are adapted to cooperate with apertures 106 and the lip of the outboard shoe means 50. Fixed cam means 108-110 are suitably fixedly mounted on the frame of the machine to engage the rollers 100 on arms 96 of stripper means 28-30 when the subassemblies 32 are in the assembly station 16. This causes the fingers or tangs 104 of stripper means 28 to move in the apertures 106 to the position indicated on the left side of the subassembly 32 shown in FIG. 4 at station 16 to positively strip a carrier mounted on the shoes, off of the shoes. The stripping means 30 in the right hand half of the subassernbly 32 shown in FIG. 4 at station 16 is shown just prior to actuation by the cam 110, it being appreciated that stripping means 28 and 30 actuate simultaneously. It will be further appreciated that cams 108-110 only extend through the area of the assembly station 16, the stripping means 28-30 each returning to its recessed position under the influence of springs 102 when rollers 100 are not causing actuation of the stripping means. Further, it will be seen that the stripping means only comes into play after the shoe sets 46-48 have been expanded to their final position under the influence of the rollers 64 and 72 in engaging the cams 78 through 84. Thus, a positive mechanical stripping engagement of the carriers mounted on the shoe sets 46-48 is afforded as the subassemblies 32 pass through the station 16.

Although a specific embodiment of the invention has been shown and described, it is with full awareness that many modifications thereof are possible. The invention, therefore, is not to be restricted except insofar as is necessitated by the prior art and the spirit of the appended claims.

What is claimed as the invention is:

1. For use in a machine for assembling containers into packs held together by generally flat, somewhat elastic carriers, said machine including means for directing a procession of containers to a carrier and container assembly station, there being rotor means-proximate to said assembly station and means for supplying a succession of carriers to said rotor means at a location circumferentially spaced from said assembly station, said rotor means including shoe means on the periphery thereof for picking up successive carriers from said carrier supplying means and applying the carriers into embracing relations to containers in said assembly station, the improvement comprising stripper means mounted on said rotor means for association with said shoe means, said stripper means having a stripping position and a recessed position, there being means operable to move said stripping means from its recessed position to its stripping position at said carrier and container assembly station.

2. For use in a machine for assembling containers into packs held together by generally fiat, somewhat elastic carriers, said machine including means for directing a procession of containers to a carrier and container assembly station, there being rotor means mounted on frame means proximate to said assembly station and means for supplying a succession of carriers to said rotor means at a location circumferentially spaced from said assembly station, said rotor means including two pairs of relatively movable horizontally aligned shoe means on the periphery thereof for picking up successive carriers from said carrier supplying means and applying the carriers into embracing relations to containers in said assembly station, the improvement comprising stripper means mounted on said rotor means for association with the outboard shoe of each pair of said shoe means, said stripper means having a stripping position and a recessed position, there being cam means mounted on said frame means operable to move said stripping means from its recessed position to its stripping position at said carrier and container assembly station.

3. The improvement set forth in claim 2 including means for returning said stripper means to its recessed position when it is not in said assembly station.

4. For use in a machine for assembling containers into packs held together by generally flat, somewhat elastic carriers, said machine including means for directing a procession of containers to a carrier and container assembly station, there being carrier applying means proximate to said assembly station and means for supplying a succession of carriers to said carrier applying means at a location spaced from said assembly station, said carrier applying means including shoe means for picking up successive carriers from said carrier supplying means and applying the carriers into embracing relations to containers in said assembly station, the improvement comprising stripper means mounted on said carrier applying means for association with said shoe means, said stripper means having a stripping position and a recessed position, there being means operable to move said stripping means from its recessed position to its stripping position at said carrier and container assembly station.

5. For use with a machine for assembling a procession of containers into a succession of carrying packs, comprising means for directing a procession of containers to an assembly station, a rotatable rotor mounted in operative association with said station, a circumferential series of spaced carrier applying shoe sets mounted on said rotor in pairs, means for supplying a series of interconnected and apertured carriers to said rotor in spaced relation to said assembly station, said carrier applying shoe sets projecting into said apertures in said carriers at said position in spaced relation to said assembly station, means for moving corresponding shoes of each pair away from each other as the shoe sets approach said assembly station to expand the apertures in the carriers on the shoes to fit the carriers around containers in said station, the improvement comprising stripping means having a recessed position and movable to a stripping position associated with the outboard shoe of each set of shoes, said stripping means upon movement of the shoe sets into expanded position at said assembly station being operable to positively strip the carrier from said shoes.

6. The improvement set forth in claim 5 wherein said stripping means comprises pivotly mounted lever means having first and second arm means, the axis of the pivot of said lever means being fixed relative to said movable shoe sets, the first arm means being cooperable with the outboard shoe of said shoe sets, said second arm means being cooperable with cam means to pivot said lever means from its recessed position to its stripping position.

7. The improvement set forth in claim 6 wherein said shoe sets are mounted for approaching and separating movement relative to said stripping means, the outboard shoe of each of said shoe sets being formed with aperture means opening in the direction of approaching movement to said stripping means, said first arm of said stripping means being configured and disposed so that approaching movement of said outboard shoe to said stripping means causes the insertion thereof Within said aperture means, there being cam means cooperable with said second arm means to pivotly move said first arm of said stripping means relative to said outboard shoe means to cause stripping movement of said first arm means in said aperture means in a direction substantially transverse to the opening movement of said shoe sets.

8. The improvement set forth in claim 7 wherein the individual outboard shoes of each shoe set are formed with a plurality of spaced apertures, and said first arm means of said stripping means is formed with a complementary number of spaced prongs individually insertable in the individual spaced apertures of said outboard shoe members.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,680,549 6/1954 Levy 53-303 X 3,032,944 5/1962 Hull et a1. 53-48 FRANK E. BAILEY, Primary Examiner; TRAVIS S. MCGEHEE, Examiner.

Claims (1)

1. FOR USE IN A MACHINE FOR ASSEMBLING CONTAINERS INTO PACKS HELD TOGETHER BY GENERALLY FLAT, SOMEWHAT ELASTIC CARRIERS, SAID MACHINE INCLUDING MEANS FOR DIRECTING A PROCESSION OF CONTAINERS TO A CARRIER AND CONTAINER ASSEMBLY STATION, THEIR BEING ROTOR MEANS PROXIMATE TO SAID ASSEMBLY STATION AND MEANS FOR SUPPLYING A SUCCESSION OF CARRIERS TO SAID ROTOR MEANS AT A LOCATION CIRCUMFERENTIALLY SPACED FROM SAID ASSEMBLY STATION, SAID ROTOR MEANS INCLUDING SHOE MEANS ON THE PERIPHERY THEREOF FOR PICKING UP SUCCESSIVE CARRIERS FROM SAID CARRIER SUPPLYING MEANS AND APPLYING THE CARRIERS INTO EMBRACING RELATIONS TO CONTAINERS IN SAID ASSEMBLY STATION, THE IMPROVEMENT COMPRISING STRIPPER MEANS MOUNTED ON SAID ROTOR MEANS FOR ASSOCIATION WITH SAID SHOE MEANS, SAID STRIPPER MEANS HAVING A STRIPPING POSITION AND A RECESSED POSITION, THERE BEING BEING OPERABLE TO MOVE SAID STRIPPING MEANS FROM ITS RECESSED POSITION TO ITS STRIPPING POSITION AT SAID CARRIER AND CONTAINER ASSEMBLY STATION.

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