US3517481A

US3517481A - Carton closer and sealer

Info

Publication number: US3517481A
Application number: US757059A
Authority: US
Inventors: Herbert H Weber
Original assignee: HG Weber and Co Inc
Current assignee: HG Weber and Co Inc
Priority date: 1968-09-03
Filing date: 1968-09-03
Publication date: 1970-06-30
Anticipated expiration: 1987-06-30

Description

June 30, 1970 H. H, WEBER 3,

CARTON CLOSER AND SEALER Filed Sept. 5, 1968 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 i Tg sol/Raf 0F 4/? I /1 5? PRESSURE E 7 z 4 L l 47 June 30, 1970 H. H, WEBER 3,511,481

. CARTON CLOSER AND SEALER Filed Sept. 3, 195B 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 2 55. I 5 4 9 l 1 E 2/4 34;; m I WLL -11 FEE 5 I h 1 M I 7 1m vhwox.

-. l 5?? 57 J3 55 akacter 7Vzaze BY A WATTORNEYS United States Patent Ofice 3,517,481 Patented June 30, 1970 US. Cl. 53-374 13 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Carton closer and sealer in which cartons having adhesive applied to their closure flaps are successively supplied to a compression column. The flaps are moved to closed positions as they are supplied to the column and are sealed by the weight of the cartons in the column. The compression column is tilted at an acute angle with respect to the vertical. A hydraulic cylinder and piston having a lift plate on its upper end are provided to support and lower the cartons. The lift plate conforms to the plane of the bottom of the bottom carton of the column of cartons and passes downwardly beneath ejector means ejecting and supporting the stack of cartons in the column during the ejecting operation and between and beneath the material carrying surface of a pair of horizontal conveyors, successively carrying the cartons away from the closer and sealer.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The carton closer and sealer of the present application operates on principles similar to those shown and described in my joint application with Robert L. Beninger, Ser. No. 522,636, filed Jan. 24, 1966 and now Pat. No. 3,406,495.

While the carton closer and sealer in the foregoing application serves to efficiently close, seal and lower cartons in a stack or column of cartons, with such carton closers and sealers, difiiculties have been encountered in breaking the lower carton away from the column of cartons when transferring the carton from the column, many times resulting in crushing of the lower carton.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION AND OBJECTS The present invention facilitates the breaking away of the lowermost carton of the stack of cartons, and avoids crushing of the carton by inclining the compression column, along which the cartons are lowered, at an acute angle with respect to the vertical. The platform lowering the cartons has a support surface perpendicular to the angle of the column of cartons and lowers a lowermost carton at the angle of the column for ejection and transfer from the column along a horizontal traveling surface, in the form of belt conveyors having horizontal material carrying runs extending along each side of the lift plate. This breaks the lowermost carton from the bottom carton of the stack of cartons, leaving only edge contact with the bottom carton of the stack of cartons, and enables the ejector to come into supporting engagement with the stack of cartons during its initial ejecting operation.

A principal object of the invention, therefore, is to improve upon the compression types of carton closers and sealers heretofore in use, and to facilitate the breaking away of the bottom carton from a column of cartons by inclining the column of cartons at a slight acute angle with respect to the vertical and transferring the lowermost carton of the column from the bottom of the column onto a horizontal surface, all while supporting the next adjacent uppermost carton in the plane of the column of cartons.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved form of carton compression and lowering apparatus capable of efficiently sealing the closure flaps of cartons, in which the breaking away of the bottom carton from the stack of cartons is facilitated by providing vertically extending guide means for the cartons, forming a succession of stacked cartons into a column, and inclining the guide means at a relatively flat acute angle with respect to the vertical, in which the cartons are lowered by a platform engaging the bottom carton of the column of cartons and having a support surface extending perpendicular to the angle of inclination of the column, and by transferring the lowermost carton to a horizontal transferring surface as lowered and thereby providing an angle of break between the carton on the horizontal transfer surface and the bottom carton of the column of cartons.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide an article sealing and lowering apparatus arranged with a view toward effecting ready breaking away of a bottom carton from a column of cartons and thereby eliminating crushing of the lowermost carton as transferred from the column of cartons.

These and other objects of the invention will appear from time to time as the following specification proceeds and with reference to the accompanying drawings.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a fragmentary view in side elevation of a carton closer and sealer constructed in accordance with the principles of the present invention, with certain parts broken away.

FIG. 2 is an end view of the carton closer and sealer shown in FIG. 1, with certain parts broken away, and with the transfer conveyor generally shown in transverse section; and

FIG. 3 is a detail plan view showing a detail of the ejector for ejecting a lowered carton from beneath the stack of cartons.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF INVENTION Referring now to FIG. 1 of the drawings, I have shown by broken lines a packaging article such as a carton 10 on a conventional conveyor 11 delivering the cartons to a tilted compression column 12. Each carton is of a conventional rectangular form and has a pair of closure flaps 13 integrally connected thereto and having freshly applied adhesive thereon.

As shown in FIG. 1 the closure flaps 13 are moved into their closed positions by air jets 15 connected to a source of air under pressure 17. The air jets 15 are herein shown for illustrative purposes only, it being understood that various means may be provided for closing the flaps of the cartons to be adhesively sealed in the closed posi tions by the weight of a next succeeding carton discharged thereon. The supply of air through the air jets may be turned on or off by the presence of a carton in any suitable manner, which is no part of the present invention so need not herein be shown or described further.

The tilted compression column of cartons 12 is supported for lowering movement in a vertically extending frame structure 19 including vertically extending side and end frame members 20 which may be in the form of angle irons mounted in a suitable foundation on the floor and connected together adjacent their upper ends by crossbars 21, intermediate their ends by crossbars 22 and adjacent their lower ends by

crossbars

23 and 24 extending beneath the discharge end portion of the column 12. Suitable transverse frame members such as end frame members 25 are provided to space the side and end frame members apart in parallel relation with respect to each other.

The cartons are shown as being retained to form the column 12 by parallel spaced guide plates 26 mounted between the

crossbars

21 and 22 and spaced apart a distance equal to substantially the width of the article or carton to be closed and sealed. The forward and rear ends of the column are closed by guide members 27. The guide plates 26 and the guide members 27 may extend at the angle of tilt of the column 12. A suitable angle of tilt is 3 The angle of tilt, however, may be as low as 1 and may be as high as 8 and over and still attain the advantages of sealing the cartons by compression, and the ready breaking away of the cartons upon delivery. The guide members 27 adjacent the conveyor 11 are cut away to accommodate the conveyor to discharge a carton between the guide members 26 into engagement with the forward guide members 27.

The column of cartons is supported on a lift platform 30 between two horizontally extending belt conveyors 31, having horizontal material carrying surfaces mounted on the cross frame members 24. The lift platform 30 is mounted on the upper end of a piston rod 32 extensible from a cylinder 33 and suitably mounted at its piston rod end between the cross frame members 24. The piston rod 32 and cylinder 33 extend at the angle of the column 12. The carton engaging surface of the lift platform is perpendicular to the column and parallel to the bottoms of cartons therein, to maintain the lowermost carton in the plane of the tilted column of cartons, as lowered to engage the horizontal material carrying surfaces of the belt conveyors 31. The cylinder 33 serves in effect as a supporting and lowering cylinder and may be automatically operable responsive to a suitable actuator switch (not shown) at the top of the column, operated as a top carton is moved into the column as in my joint patent with Robert L. Beninger, No. 3,406,495. Lowering of the platform 30 will thus deposit a sealed carton at the bottom of the column onto the horizontal material carrying surfaces of the conveyor belts 31, as the platform 30' moves beneath the planes of said surfaces, between said conveyor belts into the position shown in FIG. 1.

As the lowermost carton rests on the material carrying surfaces of the conveyor belts 31, its top surface is at an angle to the bottom surface of the bottom carton of the column of cartons and supports the column along its trailing edge only. At this time a transverse cylinder 35 oriented in a horizontal position is supplied with fluid under pressure to move an ejector 36 along the bottom of the column to free the trailing edge of the carton 10 from the bottom carton of a stack of cartons and bring supporting surfaces 37 of said ejector into supporting engagement with the bottom carton of the stack of cartons. The lowered carton is carried away by the horizontal material carrying surfaces of the conveyor belts 31.

It may here be seen that since the bottom carton of the stack of cartons is supported only by the trailing edge of the horizontally extending carton 10, as the ejector 36 engages and moves the lowermost carton relative to the column of cartons, it will come into supporting engagement with the trailing edge of the bottom carton of the column of cartons and free the lowermost carton on the horizontal material carrying surfaces of the conveyor belts 31 from the column of cartons, with a minimum amount of travel of the lowermost carton along the belts 31. Frictional resistance between the lowermost carton as ejected from the column and the bottom carton in the colmun, therefore, is minimal and the ejected carton is freed as the supporting surfaces 37 of the ejector 36, move a distance sufficient to move the lowermost carton out of the position shown and come into supporting engagement with the bottom carton in the column of cartons.

As shown in FIG. 1 the cylinder 35 is suitably supported at its head end in an upright bracket structure 39 extending across rearward extensions 38 of the crossbars 23 and upwardly of said crossbars. The cylinder 35 is positioned to one side of the path of travel of the lift plate 30, to position a piston rod extensible from said cylinder, out of the path of travel of the lift plate 30. The lift plate 30 may, therefore, come into supporting engagement with the bottom carton in the column of cartons as the carton on the conveyor belts 11 has moved relative to the column a distance sufiicient to effect the support of the column by the support surfaces 37, to thereby accommodate free retractable movement of the ejector 36 as the conveyor belts 31 carry the lowermost carton away.

As shown in FIG. 1, the piston rod 40 has a coupling eye 41 on its outer or forward end, extending between the furcations of a bifurcated bracket 43, suitably secured to the rear face of an ejector plate 47, to one side of the platform 30. A pivot pin 45 serves to connect the coupling eye to said bifurcated bracket.

The ejector 36 includes the parallel spaced front ejector plates 47 movable along opposite sides of the platform 30 and terminating at their upper ends into the support surfaces or plates 37, extending rearwardly of the ejector plates 47 along the cylinder 35. The support surfaces or plates 37 are connected together at their rear ends by a plate 48 extending along the top of the cylinder 35 and having a recessed portion 48a, for receiving said cylinder 35.

Brackets

49, 49 extend across the rear sides of the ejector plates 47 and laterally outwardly therefrom and form supports for rollers 50 having rolling engagement with lower legs 51 of the crossbars 23 and supporting the ejector 36 for movement therealong. Similar brackets 53 extend across the plate 48 and form supports for rollers 55 supported on the flanges 51 of the crossbars 23.

Retainer gibs

56 and 57 depend from the

respective brackets

49 and 53 and extend under the horizontal legs 51 of the cross frame member 23 to retain the ejector 36 to said crossbars 23 for movement therealong in a horizontal plane.

It may be seen from the foregoing that by supporting the column of cartons in an inclined plane and deposting the bottom carton for ejection along a horizontal plane, and by supporting the column of cartons by the ejector mechanism for the bottom carton as the lowermost carton is initially moved to a discharge position, the is a mrnimum of contact between the lowermost carton as ejected and the bottom carton in the column of cartons, with a resultant ready ejection or break away of the bottom carton along the horizontal conveying surface of the conveyor belts 31 and an elimination of friction between the lowermost carton as ejected and the bottom carton of the column, thereby reducing the possibilities of crushing the lowermost carton.

It may further be seen that the conveyor belts 31 cooperate with the ejector 36 to assist in ejecting the lowermost carton from the bottom carton of the column. It should further be understood that the entire carton closing and sealing system may be controlled automatically by a system of limit switches and valves as in my joint patent with Robert L. Beninger, No. 3,406,495, or may be under manual control. The system of switches and valves may be of various well known forms and is no part of the present invention so need not herein be shown or described further.

While I have herein shown and described one form in which the invention may be embodied, it may readily be understood that various variations and modifications in the invention may be attained without departing from the spirit and scope of the novel concepts thereof.

I claim as my invention:

1. An article compression and lowering apparatus of the class described comprising;

vertically extending guide mans defining a compression chamber generally conforming to and confining a succession of articles in a vertical stack,

support means supporting and lowering the stack of articles for delivery,

transfer means for transferring a lowermost article from the stack, said guide means and stack extending at an acute angle with respect to the true vertical, said support means and lowering means being perpendicular to the angle of inclination of said guide means and stack, and said transfer means supporting the lowermost article for movement along a horizontal plane for transfer from the bottom article of the stack. 2. An article compression apparatus in accordance with claim 1,

wherein the angle of the guide means with respect to the vertical is in the range of between 1 and 5. 3. An article compression apparatus in accordance with claim 1,

wherein the angle of the guide means with respect to the vertical is in the order of 3 4. An article compression apparatus in accordance with claim 1,

wherein the support means comprises a platform having a support surface extending in a plane perpendicular to the vertical axis of the guide means, and wherein a fluid pressure cylinder having a piston there in, and a piston rod extensible therefrom forms a support for said platfrom and is supported beneath said platform for lowering said platform beneath the horizontal supporting surface of said transfer means, to support an article to be ejected in a horizontal plane at an acute angle with respect to the bottom surface of the bottom article of the stack of articles. 5. An article compression and lowering apparatus in accordance with claim 4,

wherein the transfer means comprises a pair of conveyor belts extending along opposite sides of said platform and having horizontal material carrying surfaces supporting the article as transferred from the stack at an acute angle with respect to the angle of the bottoms of the articles in the stack. 6. An article compression and lowering apparatus in accordance with claim 5,

wherein an ejector plate is movable in the direction of travel of the conveyor to eject the article from the bottom article in the stack and to come into supporting engagement with the bottom article of the stack of articles during the ejecting operation. 7. An article compression and lowering apparatus in accordance with claim 6,

wherein the ejector includes laterally spaced vertically extending ejector plates movable to extend along opposite sides of said platform during the ejecting operation, to accommodate said platform to move vertically therebetween to come into supporting engagement with the bottom article of the stack of articles, during the operation of ejecting the articles along said horizontal conveyor. 8. An article compression and lowering apparatus in accordance with claim 7,

wherein horizontal support plates extend rearwardly of said ejector plates in the plane of the top surfaces thereof to come into supporting engagement with the edge only of the bottom article of the stack of articles during the operation of ejecting an article along said conveyors. 9. An article compression and lowering apparatus in accordance with claim 8,

wherein fluid pressure operated cylinder and piston means have operative connection with said ejector and are connected together to one side of said platform, to accommodate ejecting movement of said ejector during elevation of said platform to come into supporting and lowering engagement with a bottom article of the stack of articles.

10. An article compression and lowering apparatus in accordance with claim 9,

wherein the angle of tilt of the column is in the range of between 1 and 10, and supports the bottom carton of the stack of cartons at the angle of tilt of the column, as moving to eject a lowermost carton, and

wherein the ejector moves in the plane of said conveyors, 11. An article compression closing and sealing apparatus of the class described, in which each article has at least one panel associated therewith having adhesive applied thereto for adhesively securing said panel in a closed position comprising,

vertically extending guide means inclined at an acute angle with respect to the true vertical and defining a chamber generally conforming to and confining a succession of articles in a vertically extending stack,

means successively supplying articles to said guide means,

closer means for moving each panel into a closed position as each article enters said guide means, to accommodate a next succeeding article to be supported on the panel of a preceding article, and facilitate the creation of an adhesive bond between the panel and the article, by the weight of the next succeeding article thereon,

support means supporting and lowering the stack of articles, having a support surface extending parallel to the bottoms of the articles in the stack and successively lowering the stack of articles a distance equal to the height of an article and bringing the lowermost article beneath said guide means for discharge therefrom,

reciprocable means supporting said support means and extending at the angle of the stack, and

transfer means supporting the article for movement along a horizontal plane and movable across the bottom of the stack of articles, to move the lowermost article to a position out of alignment with the stack and guide means, and accommodating the article supported on said transfer means to break away from said stack upon the initial operation of said transfer means.

12. An article closing apparatus in accordance with claim 11,

wherein the support means includes a platform having a support surface inclined at an angle parallel to the bottoms of the articles in the stack, wherein fluid pressure cylinder and piston means form a support for said platform to effect raising of said platform into engagement with the bottom article in the stack and lowering of said platform beneath the horizontal surface of said transfer means, to attain an acute break away angle between the lowermost article on said transfer means and the bottom of the bottom article in the stack of articles, and

wherein the transfer means comprises a pair of conveyors extending along opposite sides of said platform and having horizontal material carrying surfaces and,

a. cooperating reciprocably movable ejector movable in the plane of the material carrying surfaces of said conveyors to break the lowermost article away from the stack of articles and to come into supporting engagement with the stack of articles.

13. In a method of compressing and lowering articles and breaking a lowermost article away from a stack of articles, the steps of,

guiding a stack of articles in a column to move downwardly at an acute angle with respect to the verticle, supporting a bottom article of the stack of articles in 7 a plane parallel to the plane of the bottom of the lowermost article of the stack, lowering the stack of articles so supported a distance equal to the height of one articles, and during the lowering operation bringing the lowermost article in the stack into supporting engagement with 5 a horizontal transfer surface and transferring the lowermost article along this surface and then supporting the stack of articles independently of the lowermost article during the transferring operation.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,934,221 4/1960 Tonna 214-6 3,406,495 10/ 1968 Beninger et a1 53374 TRAVIS S. McGEHEE, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R.