US3448560A - Four flap opener - Google Patents

Description

June 10, 1969 J. J. SHUTTLEWORTH FOUR FLAP OPENER Filed July 29, 1966 .Juhe 0, 1969 'J. J. SHUTTLEWORTH 3,448,560

FOUR FLAP OPENER Filed July 29, 1966 Sheet June 10, 1969 J. J. SHUTTLEWORTH I 3,448,560

FOUR FLAP QPBNER Filed July 29, 1966 Sheet '3 or 3 H2\ Fig. 5.

MNTOR James J. SHIJI'IZEWORTN A'r'farznn s United States Patent M US. Cl. 53-382 8 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE The present invention relates to a flap opener particularly adapted for opening the four flaps of a box prior to packing cans, bottles or the like in the box.

In commercially available case packers such as, for example, the case packer disclosed in my copending application Ser; No. 514,205, it is particularly desirable to have the four flaps of a box to be packed in open condition when the box moves into the case packer. If the flaps are not properly and completely open, breakdown and jamming of the case packer can result. It is, therefore, an object of this invention to provide an apparatus for opening box flaps.

The boxes which are packed by case packers are, in most cases, rectangular in horizontal cross section. Thus, in most cases, the box includes a pair of short flaps and a pair of long flaps. That is, the long flaps are connected to the long sides of the rectangular box and the short flaps are connected to the short sides of the box. In practically all cases the box arrives at the case packer for packing with its short flaps down or inside of the long flaps. Usually the flaps are to some extent open. In some cases, however, the flaps may be almost entirely closed and the long flaps may be inside of the short flaps. It is therefore a further object of the invention to provide a flap opener which consistently and reliably opens all of the flaps of a box to fully open condition no matter what the initial condition or position of the flaps,

Related objects and advantages will become apparent as the description proceeds.

One embodiment of the present invention might include a flap opener for a box having four flaps comprising a first conveyor adapted to move boxes longitudinally thereof, a support arranged at right angles to the length of said first conveyor for receiving boxes which have moved off of said first conveyor, means for opening a first flap of the four flaps of a box moving on said conveyor, said first flap being attached to said box transversely of said box relative to the direction of movement of said box on said conveyor and in the direction of said support, means for moving said box in a path transversely of said conveyor and onto said support with said first flap leading, and flap guide means fixed to said frame and positioned over said support and arranged to plow into and to maintain open said second, third and fourth flaps as said box moves onto said support.

The full nature of the invention will be understood from the accompanying drawings and the following description and claims.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a flap opener embodying the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged perspective detail view of a flap guide forming a part of the construction of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a vertical section taken along the line 33 of FIG. 1 in the direction of the arrows.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a conveyor support forming a part of the structure illustrated in FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary side elevation taken along the line 55 of FIG. 1 in the direction of the arrows.

3,448,560 Patented June 10, 1969 FIG. 6 is a fragmentary top plan view of a portion of the structure illustrated in FIG. 1.

FIG. 7 is a side elevation of a box pusher forming a part of the structure illustrated in FIG. 1.

For the purposes of promoting an understanding of the principles of the invention, reference will now be made to the embodiment illustrated in the drawing and specific language will be used to describe the same. It will nevertheless be understood that no limitation of the scope of the invention is thereby intended, such alterations and further modifications in the illustrated device, and such further applications of the principles of the invention as illustrated therein being contemplated as would normally occur to one skilled in the art to which the invention relates.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings, there is illustrated a flap opener 10 which includes a first conveyor 11 having conveyor belts 12 mounted thereon and driven in such direction as to cause the upper portions of the belts 12 to move in the direction of the arrows 13. The conveyor 11 is mounted upon a frame 15, best shown in FIG. 4. The frame 15 includes four posts 16 upon which are mounted horizontal members 17 and upright members 20. Rotatably mounted in the upright members 20 are threaded shafts 21 which extend through suitable threaded apertures in conveyor support members 22.

At the lower ends of the threaded shafts 21 there are fixedly mounted sprockets 25 around which extends a chain 27. The shafts 21 are caused to rotate by a suitable motor driving a further sprocket 27 fixed to one of the shafts 21. When the further sprocket 27 is caused to rotate and the one shaft 21 is caused to rotate, all of the shafts 21 rotate an equal amount by reason of the connection of the shafts through the chain 26. Such rotation of the various shafts 21 causes the conveyor supports 22 to either be raised or to be lowered to adjust the position of the conveyor 11 which rests upon the supports 22.

As mentioned, posts 16 and the horizontal bars 17 form a part of a frame 15. Fixedly mounted upon the frame 15 are kicker ar- m assemblies 31 and 32. The kicker arm assembly 31 is representative of the two kicker arm assemblies and is shown in detail in FIG. 3. The assembly 31 includes an overhead cantilever mounted housing 35 within which is pivoted a fluid cylinder 36, said cylinder being swingably supported on the housing about the axis 34. The fluid cylinder 36 has a piston rod 37 which is pivotally secured to a connecting rod 40*.

The connecting rod 40 is swingably mounted at its upper end to the housing 35 and has a kicker arm 41 pivotally secured to its lower end. As is best shown in FIG. 1 for both the kicker arm assembly 31 and the assembly 32, each connecting rod 40 has a horizontal member 42 fixed thereto at the distal end of which is mounted a block 45 which has a limit 46 secured thereto. Each rkieker arm 41 is mounted in a block 47 which is normally held in engagement with the limit 46 by means of a tension spring 50, one end of which is fixed to the block 45 by means of a bolt 51 and the other end of which is fixed to the block 47 by means of the bolt 52.

The fluid cylinder 36 operates to project and retract its piston rod 37 so as tomove the kicker arm 41 between the solid line position of FIG. 3 and the dotted line position thereof. The kicker arm 41 is caused to move from the solid line position to the dotted line position each time one of the boxes 55 moves to a position on the conveyr belts 12 wherein the kicker arm 41 is aligned with the center of the one box. Thus, when the arm 41 is moved to the dotted line position of FIG. 3, the arm 41 moves between the two longer flaps 56 of the box.

As the arm 41 moves downwardly from the solid line position to the dotted line position, it is free to swing up to move over the shorter flap 57. This upswing is perrnitted by the arm 41 pivoting upwardly relative to the connecting rod 40 through the yieldable extension of the spring 50. Once the arm 41 has moved over the shorter flap 57 and has reached the dotted line position of FIG. 3, it is immediately returned to the solid line position by the cylinder 31. In this movement the arm 41 takes the flap 57 from the dotted line position 57A to the dotted line position 57B. T=he flap, of course, tends to return to the dotted line position 57A but is prevented from doing so by the leg 60 of a hinge 61. The hinge 61 forms a part of a flap guide 62. The flap guide 62 is best shown in FIG. 2.

A. pair of the flap guides 62 and 63 are provided, one on each side of the conveyor, for use with the respective kicker arm assemblies 31 and 32. The two flap guides 62 and 63 are generally the same except that the ilap guide 62 has a guide rod 65 which is somewhat longer than the guide rod 66 of the flap guide 63. In view of the fact that the flap guide 62 and the flap guide 63 are constructed and operate in generally the same fashion, the flap guide 62 will be described as representative.

.The hinge 61 of FIG. 2 includes the leg 60 and a further leg 70 which is fixedly mounted upon a horizontal support member 71. The horizontal support member 71 is fixed to the frame so that even though the conveyor 11 is adjusted vertically by rotation of the threaded rods 21, the flap guide 62 retains its same vertical position. Fixed to the horizontal member 71 by means of a mounting member 72 is a bolt 75 which functions as a limit for the leg 60.

Acting between the leg 60 and the leg 70 of the hinge 61 is a coiled spring 76 which resiliently maintains the leg 60 in engagement with the limit member 75. The leg 60 of the hinge 61 is swingable by the forcing action of the flap 57 toward and against the leg 70 but normally retains the illustrated position by reason of the resilient action of the spring 76. It can be appreciated, therefore, that when the kicker arm 41 rnoves from the dotted line position to the solid line position of FIG. 3, the flap 57 will be forced past the leg 60 which will immediately spring back to the position illustrated in FIG. 2 so that when the flap 57 tends to move backwardly toward the dotted line position 57A of FIG. 3, the leg 60 will block the flap 57 and prevent its returning to the position 57A and will maintain the flap in the solid line position of FIG. 3.

After this action has occurred, the box 55 continues to move in the direction of the arrows 13 along the conveyor. The flap 57 is then picked up by the guide rod 65 which, as illustrated in FIG. 2, is mounted on the support member 71 by a further support member 77 and by a block 80 which permiits adjustment of the, angle of the guide rod 65 by adjustment of the bolt 81 connecting the block 80 and the member 77. The position of the guide rod 65 may also be adjusted by use of the slots 82 and 85 which receive a bolt 86 securing the member 77 to the member 71.

It should be mentioned that the boxes 55 are maintained in proper position transversely of the conveyer 11 by means of a box guide rail 90 and a box guide member 91. The box guide member 91 is fixed to the conveyor 11 and, thus, is not adjustable for diiferent sized boxes. The guide rail 90, however, is mounted on the conveyor 11 bymeans of perpendicular members 97 secured to the rail 90 and by means of thumb screws 92 which are threaded into box-shaped mounting elements 95 mounted on brackets 94 fixed to the conveyor 11. It can be appreciated, therefore, that the guide rail 90 can be adjusted to provide for different sized boxes 55.

As mentioned, the kicker arm assembly 32 is constructed and operates in the same fashion as the kicker arm assembly 31. The kicker arm assembly 32 is positioned and operated at a suitable time so that, similarly to the kicker arm assembly 31, the kicker arm moves down into the box precisely at the center of the box so that the kicker arm is not prevented from entering the box by either of the longer flaps 56.and instead moves between the two flaps 56 of the individual box. After both of the kicker arms 41 have operated upon the box, both of the flaps 57 and 100 (FIG. 3) are moved to an open position and are maintained in that open position by the flap guides 61 and 62 and their guide rods 65 and 66. As mentioned, in practically all cases, the boxes 55 arrive at the case packer with the shorter flaps 57 and 100 down or beneath the longer flaps. For this reason, the raising of the shorter fiaps, 57 and 100 also causes the longer flaps 56 to 'be raised to the vertical position illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 3 for the boxes on the conveyor 11. Even if the long flaps 56 are down, the rubbing of the kicker arms 41 against their distal edges tends to cause the long flaps 56 to be raised to a certain extent. Thus, as the boxes 55 move toward the end of the conveyor 11, the flaps 57 and 100 are completely opened and the flaps 56 are either upright or opened to a certain extent.

The boxes 55 are then cause to move at right angles to the conveyor 11 by means of a pusher mechanism 110 illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 7. The pusher mechanism 110 operates to move the boxes off of the conveyor 11 and onto a further support or conveyor 111 which is arranged at right angles to the length of the conveyor 11. In FIG. 1 a portion of a case packer 112 is illustrated. This case packer 112 is identical to the case packer illustrated in my copending application Ser. No. 514,205. In that application there is provided a flap guide member which in the present application is numbered 85' for clarity. The guide member 85 in my copending application is a part of a means for maintaining the flap in an open outwardly extending position as the box is packed wtih objects by the case packer. The case packer 112 includes a conveyor which picks up the box 55 as it is moved into the case packer 112 by the pusher mechanism and conveys the box through the case packer for packing. This conveyor of the case packer 112 moves the boxes in a parallel direction to the arrows 13. Thus, it can be appreciated that the action of the present four flap opener when used in combination with the case packer 112 is to move the boxes first in one direction, then to move them at 90 to the original direction, and lastly to have the conveyor of the case packer 112 pick up the boxes for further movement in the first direction but in a parallel path to the initial path of the boxes.

In order that the box 55 be properly prepared for packing by the case packer 112, it is necessary that the long flap 56 which leads the box in the case packer be overbent, that is, be bent downwardly beyond a horizontal position with a sufiicient amount of overbending so that the lead flaps 56 will retain a downwardly projecting position as the box 55 is moved through the case packer 112. This is necessary because there may not be a device in the case packer for keeping the lead flap 56 down. The two flaps 57 and 100, on the other hand, are picked up by suitable guide apparatus more fully described in my copending application and are maintained in a horizontal position. The flap 56, which is the following flap in the case packer, does not need to be overbent but does need to be opened and projecting outside of the box so that the funnel of the case packer is not obstructed by the following flap 56.

In order to produce these various positions of the flaps, there is provided a further flap guide means 200 best shown in FIGS. 1, 5 and 6. The further flap guide means 200 includes three rods 201, 202 and 203. The rod 201 operates upon the lead flap 56 and, consequently, is so formed as to overbend this lead flap. As mentioned above, the flaps 56 are opened to a certain extent when they are pushed onto the conveyor 111 by the pusher 110. The distal end 205 of 'the guide rod 201- '5 is positioned sufliciently low so that, as the box 55 moves onto the support 111, the guide rod 201 will be below the lead flap 56. All three of the guide rods 201, 202 and 203 slope downwardly from their distal ends to their proximal ends.

The proximal end of the guide rod 201, however, is located substantially below the proximal ends of the guide rods 202 and 203 so that the lead flap 56 is substantially overbent. As illustrated in FIG. 5, the proximal end 206 of the guide rod 201 is located well below the upper edges of the sides of the box 55. The proximal ends 207 and 208 of the guide rods 202 and 203, respectively, however, are located at the same height as the upper edges of the sides of the box 55 so that the flaps 57 and 100 and the following flap 56 are caused to assume a horizontally extending position by the time they enter into the case packer 112. It will be noted that the guide rod 202 extends on past its mounting on the member 210' of the case packer 112 to insure that the flap 57 is properly guided into the case packer guide means 80 and 82 of my copending application.

Referring to FIG. 7, there is illustrated in detail the pusher mechanism 110. This pusher mechanism includes a fluid cylinder 250 which has a piston rod 251 pivotally secured to a lever 252 having a roller 255 rotatably mounted thereon. The lever 252 is pivoted at 256 so that the lever can swing between the solid line position and the dotted line position of FIG. 7. The solid line position of .FIG. 7 is the position illustrated in FIG. 1 wherein the pusher pad 260' is projected and the box 55 is moved to the position shown in FIG. 1 on the conveyor 111. The pusher pad 260 is mounted upon a J-shaped member 261 which has an upright bearing member 262 secured thereto. The lever 252 and the fluid cylinder 250 are each pivotally mounted upon a frame 270 which has mounted thereon rollers 271 and 272 which guide the l-shaped member 261 through its path of projecting and retracting the pusher pad 260.

The pusher pad 260 includes an extension 275 which tapers in a direction opposite to the direction of movement 13 of the conveyor and which tapers away from the direction of extension of the second conveyor 111. The purpose of the extension 275 is to back up the boxes which are following the box being pushed by pusher pad 260 to insure that the following boxes do not provide an obstruction which would twist the following flap 56 of the box being pushed onto the conveyor 111. It can be appreciated that the guide rod 203 will guide the following flap 56 downwardly. If the flaps of the following boxes are in the way, this could produce a twisting action which is avoided by the extension 275.

It should also be mentioned that the kicker arms are timed to operate at the same time that the pusher pad 260 pushes. This insures that the boxes upon which the kicker arms are operating are stationary or relatively stationary while the kicker arms are operating.

It will be evident from the above description that this invention provides a device for opening the four flaps of a box. It will also be evident that the present invention provides a flap opener which consistently and reliably opens all of the flaps of a box to fully open condition no matter what the initial condition or position of the fla s.

l Nhile the invention has been illustrated and described in detail in the drawings and foregoing description, the same is to be considered as illustrative and not restrictive in character, it being understood that only the preferred embodiment has been shown and described and that all changes and modifications that come within the spirit of the invention and the scope of the claims are also desired to be protected.

I claim:

1. A flap opener for a box having four flaps comprising a first conveyor adapted to move boxes longitudinally thereof, a support arranged at right angles to the length of said first conveyor at one side thereof for receiving boxes which have moved off of said first conveyor, means for opening a first flap of the four flaps of a box moving on said conveyor, said first flap being hinged to said box with the hinge axis parallel to the direction of movement of said box on said conveyor, said first flap being on the edge of said box at said one side of said conveyor, said means for opening a first flap comprising an arm positloned over said conveyor, means for projecting said arm into the box moving on said conveyor and for moving said arm transversely of said conveyor and out of the box to open the first flap of the four flaps of the box, means for moving said box in a path transversely of said conveyor and onto said support with said first flap leading, and flap guide means fixed to said frame and positioned over said support and arranged to plow into and to maintam open said second, third and fourth flaps as said box moves onto said support.

2 A flap opener for a box having four flaps comprising a first conveyor adapted to move boxes longitudinally thereof, a support arranged at right angles to the length of said first conveyor for receiving boxes which have moved off of said first conveyor, a pair of arms positioned over said conveyor, means for projecting one of sard arms into a box moving on said conveyor and for movlng said one arm transversely of said conveyor and out of said box to open a first flap of the four flaps of said box, a first flap guide adapted to receive said first flap and maintain it open as said box moves on said first conveyor, means for projecting the other of said arms into the box on said conveyor and for moving said other arm transversely of said conveyor and out of said box to open a second flap of the four flaps of said box, a second flap guide adapted to receive said second flap and maintam it open as said box moves on said first conveyor, means for moving the box in a path transversely off the conveyor onto said support, and further flap guide means pos tioned over said support and having a pointed portion positioned centrally of the path of the box as it is moved off of said conveyor and onto said support, said pointed portion being positioned sufliciently low to be beneath the third and fourth flaps of the box as the box moves transversely of the conveyor onto said support, said further flap guide means including portions which taper downwardly over the path of said first and second flaps and which taper downwardly and diverge outboard of the box and over the path of the third and fourth flaps to open said third and fourth flaps and to maintain open said first and second flaps.

3 The invention of claim 2 wherein said means for pro ecting one of said arms comprises a frame fixed relative to said conveyor, a connecting rod swingably secured to sald frame, a fluid cylinder pivoted at one end to said frame and having a piston rod pivoted to said connecting rod, said one arm being swingably mounted on said connecting rod, a limit fixed to said connecting rod for limitmg downward swinging of said one arm relative to said connecting rod, said fluid cylinder being operable to swing said connecting rod and said one arm upwardly to open the first flap, spring means connected between said connecting rod and said one arm and normally biasing said one arm against said limit, said fluid cylinder being operable to swing said connecting rod and one arm downwardly to project the one arm into the box, said spring being resiliently yieldable to permit said one arm to pivot relative to the connecting rod whereby said one arm can pass over the first flap into the box.

4. The invention of claim 2 wherein said means for moving the box in a path transversely off the conveyor comprises a fluid cylinder, a piston rod for said cylinder, a pusher pad mounted on said piston rod and adapted to engage the side of the box to push it onto said support, said pusher pad having an extension which projects linearly horizontally in a direction partially away from said support and partially opposite to the direction of movement of boxes on said conveyor, said extension being operable when the pusher pad pushes the box back up boxes on said conveyor and to prevent them from interfering with the opening of the third and fourth flaps.

5. The invention of claim 3 wherein said first iiap guide comprises a hinge including a pair of legs, one of said legs being secured to said frame and the other projecting toward the path of the box on said first conveyor, said other leg being positioned in the path of opening of the first flap, adjustable limit means blocking movement of said other leg to prevent said first flaps moving back from open position toward a closed position, spring means biasing said other leg against said limit means but resil iently yieldable to permit said first flap to move from closed position past said other leg to open position, said first flap guide further comprising a first flap guide rod fixed to said frame and extending downwardly and in the direction of movement of said first conveyor thence generally horizontally in the direction of movement of said first conveyor, said first flap guide rod being positioned to pick up the guidance of said first flap at a location spaced away from said hinge and in the direction of movement of said first conveyor.

6. The invention of claim 2 wherein said further fiap guide means comprises three rods fixed over the support, in cantilever fashion, each of said rods having its distal end positioned above the box path as it is moved off of the first conveyor onto said support, guide bars fixed above said support for engaging the opposite sides of the box and guiding the box as it moves on the support, all three of said rods sloping downwardly from their distal end to their proximal end, one of said three rods extending generally in the box path for maintaining the first and second flaps down, a second of said three rods having its proximal end positioned outboard of said box on one side of said box whereby one of said third and fourth flaps is folded outwardly of said box by moving onto said support, a third of said three rods having its proximal end positioned outboard of said box on the other side of said box whereby the other of said third and fourth flaps is folded outwardly of said box by moving onto said support, said second rod having its proximal end positioned sufiiciently low to overbend said one flap below the upper surface of the box.

7. The invention of claim 2 additionally comprising guide elements for said box fixed above said first conveyor for guiding boxes on said conveyor, said guide elements extending in the direction of movement of boxes on said conveyor, one of said guide elements being adjustable for different sized boxes.

8. The invention of claim 7 wherein said support is a second conveyor, said first and second conveyors being vertically adjustable for boxes of diflferent sizes.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,684,799 7/1954 Holstein 53-381 X 3,224,166 12/1965 Johns et a1. 53-382 3,241,292 3/1966 Berney 53382 TRAVIS S. McGEHEE, Primary Examiner.

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