US3648574A

US3648574A - Apparatus for setting up folded corrugated containers

Info

Publication number: US3648574A
Application number: US878763A
Authority: US
Inventors: Isac G Luke
Original assignee: L AND M Mfg AND SUPPLY Inc
Current assignee: L AND M Mfg AND SUPPLY Inc
Priority date: 1969-11-21
Filing date: 1969-11-21
Publication date: 1972-03-14
Anticipated expiration: 1989-03-14

Abstract

A folded corrugated container setting up apparatus for setting up containers and the tops thereto simultaneously or individually and having a single drive motor driving a single power shaft but having a pair of clutches in the drive shaft adapted to disable either the container setting up portion of the machine or the top for the container setting up portion of the machine. Each portion of the drive shaft drives a set of timing cams which directly actuate pneumatic valves to operate different steps of the folding operation. Each side of the drive shaft drives a slider crank mechanism which reciprocates a carriage having upper and lower dogs thereon for moving the containers through a series of stations performing the setup operation.

Description

a single the drive shaft adapted to disable either the container setting up portion of the machine. Each portion of the drive shaft drives a set of Each side of the drive shaft drives a slider crank mechanism which reciprocates a carriage having upper and lower dogs thereon for moving the containers through a series of stations performing the setup operation.

[ Mar. 14, 1972 tic valves to 3,187,648 6/1965 Tserpes................................ 3,368,461 2/1968 Grobman.. 3,476,023 11/1969 Fu1ler....... 3,478,653 11/1969 Primary ExaminerWayne A. Morse, J r. Att0rney-Duckworth and Hobby [57] ABSTRACT A folded corrugated container setting up apparatus for setting up containers and the tops thereto simultaneously or individually and having a single drive motor driving power shaft but having a pair of clutches in the machine or the top for the container setting up portion timing cams which directly actuate pneuma operate different steps of the folding operation.

7 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures 93/59 PL, 94 PS .93/49 AC, 93/36 MM ...B3lb 1/54, B3 lb 1/62, B3lb 1/80 .93/36 MM, 49 AC, 51

J y m me .m LM

Bergstein References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS FOLDED CORRUGATED CONTAINERS Isac G. Luke, Orlando, Fla.

L 8: M Manufacturing and Supply, 1nc., Orlando, Fla.

Nov. 21, 1969 93/51 R, 93153 AC, 93/59 PL, 93/94 PS o h .E B 3 6 9 1 1 l 7 6 1 l Unite States Patent Luke [54] APPARATUS FOR SETTKNG UP [72] Inventor:

[73] Assignee:

{22] Filed:

[21] Appl. No.1

[52] U.S.Cl.

[51] Int.

[58] Field ofSearch Pmwmd Mmch Mr W? 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 [ISAC G. LU IKE 1N VENTOR Pammhed Mwch ML 51%]? 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 G LUKE INVENTOR & Mm & Em

"SAC G. LUKE INVENTOR Mmmd March 14,, 1%?2 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 [ISAC G. LUKE INVENTOR APPARATUS FOR SETTING UP FOLDED CORRUGATED CONTAINERS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1.-Field of the Invention The present application relates to box folding machines and more particularly to a simplified machine for setting up folded blanks of corrugated containers, and especially to those machines for setting up folded containers which require setting up a separate top or cover container to fit over the folded container or box.

2. Description of the Prior Art In the past, machines of many kinds have been provided for opening containers which are manufactured and shipped in a knockeddown or flattened state. In the knocked-down shipping state, the four sides are permanently secured together and each side has a bottom flap thereon which is extended outwardly from side to side. Cartons are supplied from factories in this condition to conserve shipping space. However, in order to ready the boxes for loading it is necessary to open the boxes by moving the sides apart until the adjacent sides are at right angles and then bend in the inside and outside bottom flaps to enclose the bottom. In addition, boxes having covers must fold a box in a similar manner as just described but which must be slightly larger for fitting or covering the container. It is also usually necessary that the folded bottom flaps be glued or otherwise connected together prior to loading the boxes. It is still common to see boxes of this type assembled by hand utilizing many man-hours setting up each individual box by hand and gluing or stapling the bottoms together prior to loading. It is of course still economical to provide this function by hand when only a small number of boxes is involved. However, for assembling and loading large numbers of boxes such as for production lines, and the like, it becomes desirable to reduce the number of man-hours and labor by going to systems automatically assembling or folding boxes. Accordingly, many machines have been developed whose principal purpose is to automatically take folded cartons and assemble them. These machines usually have a feed mechanism for feeding flat or knocked-down boxes from a stack one at a time, grasping opposite sides of the folded carton and lifting one away from the other to unfold the box, then folding the inside and outside flaps and ejecting the box from the machine. It has also been suggested to provide for automatic gluing of the bottom flap of the box during the folding operation whereby the box as ejected from the machine is ready for loading. These prior art machines have not always been completely reliable in operation and have frequently been complex machines subject to breakdowns and jamming such as when blanks are fed to the machines of a slightly different shape or size than the machine is adapted to handle. Many of these prior art machines also have complex mechanisms for handling each step of the box folding operation and have complex feeding mechanisms such as chain drives to drive the blank from one station to the next along the machine. Accordingly, one advantage of the present invention is to provide a simplified box-folding machine for folding both the container and the top thereto simultaneously while utilizing a simplified single stroke reciprocating mechanism for moving the carton between stations and reliable mechanical pneumatic valve system driven by the same drive shaft that drives the reciprocating mechanism for moving the boxes between stations while being able to disable either the carton folding or top folding portions of the present machine separately.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A corrugated container setting up machine is provided in which a single power source or electric motor drives a single drive shaft for operating a container setting up mechanism and also for simultaneously operating a top or cover setting up mechanism. The drive shaft has a pair of clutches for enabling or disabling either side of the drive shaft whereby the container setting up portion or the cover setting up portion of the machine may be operated singly or simultaneously. Each side of the drive shaft drives a separate set of cams which operate pneumatic valves in a timing sequence. The pneumatic valves operate pneumatic lines which perform various functions in the box setting up mechanism at the proper step during the operation. Each side of the drive shaft also operates a carriage mechanism which reciprocates a carriage having upper and lower dogs for gripping and moving each carton between stations along the carton setting up mechanism and ejecting the carton from the machine. Thus a single slider reciprocating back and forth by a simple carriage mechanism provides a reli able carton moving mechanism which is economical to use and build. The bottom flap gluing mechanism is provided and is electronically operated by an electrical switch for spraying heated glue on the flaps prior to pressing the glued flaps with a platen to complete the carton folding operation.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Other objects, features and advantages of this invention will be apparent from a study of the written description and the drawings in which:

FIG. I is a perspective view of one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 shows a sectional side view of one-half of the embodiment of Hg. 1;

FIG. 3 shows a sectional end view of the embodiment of FIGS. 1 and 2;

FIG. 4 shows a view taken along line 4-4 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a portion of the embodiment of FIG. I; and

FIG. 6 is a diagrammatic illustration of one embodiment of the control system for the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring now to FIG. I, there can be seen a perspective view of the present apparatus for setting up folded corrugated containers and having a framework with horizontal floor support members I0 having vertical legs 11 rigidly attached to the footing 10 and supporting horizontal frame members 12 which frame members could be commercial grade steel assembled together, such as by welding, into a rigid framework for supporting the remaining portions of the present apparatus. A magazine or hopper I3 is loaded with folded corrugated containers 14 in a stacked manner for feeding one carton at a time to the apparatus for erecting the corrugated containers or blanks, as they are sometimes called. The magazine 13 has a box feed adjustment 15 attached thereto which is adjustable to allow one blank 14 at a time to be removed from the bottom of the stack of blanks 14 in the hopper I3. The frame members I2 have side rails 15a attached to the top thereof in a manner that they may be adjusted by sliding in and out and fixedly at taching in a desired location for a desired size of blank 14. A folded corrugated container I4 is adapted to be pulled from beneath the box feed adjustment 15 to the first station where a hold down vacuum cup I6 is advanced upward by solenoid to grip one side flap of the container in the first folding station. Similarly, at this station, a vacuum set up cup 17 is rotated to attach itself to a side flap of the container in the first station and then is adapted to pull on the flap in a manner to erect the folded container into a square or rectangular box with the flaps extended from the side, whereupon a flap tucker I8 connected to a pair of parallel bars 20 which are in turn connected to a pair of rotatable shafts 21 which flap tucker I8 moves in a manner to tuck one inside flap member of the container in the first station into a folded position along a folding crease in the container. The partially folded container will then be picked up by a lower and upper dog 22 of the sliding or reciprocating mechanism 23 which will move the partially folded corrugated container to the next station, but as the container moves to the next station, the other inside flap will be engaged by a bull horn shaped guide 24 which will fold this flap along its folding crease, and a rail 25 will come in contact with the inside flaps and hold them in a folded position as the box moves through this and the next station. An upper rail 26 and lower rail 27 will bend or partially fold the outside flaps of the container and the carton passing through the machine will be held in this intermediate station pending the next reciprocation or cycle of the carriage 23 at which time it will be picked up by upper dog 28 and a lower dog (not shown in this Figure) connected to the carriage 23 and will move the next container to the next station while passing the partially folded container past an electrically actuated glue gun 30 which sprays hot or cold glue on both of the inside flaps of the carton as the container is moved in position to be compressed by the compression plates or

platens

31 and 32 on the outside and inside respectively. The inner platen 31 is activated by a pneumatic cylinder 33 which drives the platen which is held and guided by framework 34 toward the inner platen 32, which is in turn driven by pneumatic cylinder 35 and is held by framework 36. The compression plates are moved in a manner to compress and hold momentarily the bottom flaps of the container being folded under pressure and then reversing themselves or backing off to allow the container to be pushed out of the machine by the next container being moved into the gluing and compression station.

An emergency stop 40 can be seen which disables the entire machine and it can also be seen that the present apparatus has two sides which are substantially identical with the other side being fed by magazine 39 similar to or identical to magazine 13 except that the containers would typically be of a different size or larger and would fold or set up a folded carton or top for the corrugated containers. That is to say, they would have to fit over the folded containers 14 when set up. Thus, the present apparatus being described is adapted to simultaneously set up folded corrugated containers and their tops or covers, which tops would be similar to the containers except slightly larger in size so as to fit over and onto the containers. Since the operation of each side is identical in this embodiment to the operation on the other side, only one side is being described but it will of course be understood that the other side is adapted to operate in the same manner, or which may be operated in a slightly different manner without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention.

Emergency stop 40 will disable the electrical system including the main drive electric motor 41. Motor 41 is connected to a gear box 42 for gearing down or increasing the torque on a shaft 43 passing through the gear box 42. Shaft 43 has a pair of clutches 44 on either side of the gear box 42 for disabling the shaft from the drive on either side of the gear box and also for disabling one side of the apparatus without affecting the other side thereof. Thus, for instance, the cartons 14 and the magazine 13 could be assembled without assembling the containers in the hopper 39 and the folded containers in the hopper 39 in turn could be assembled while the other half of the machine was disabled. It will of course be understood that in normal operation, both sides of the machine would be operated simultaneously. Clutch 44 is hand engaged by the clutch shifter 45. Shaft 43 drives a sprocket 46 which in turn drives a series of five cams 47. Cams 47 are used for timing various operations of the present apparatus and each activates a pneumatic valve 48 directly, thus avoiding the additional complexity involved when timing cams or motors are used in connection with electrical switches for electrically switching solenoid or slaving motors to perform various timing functions. The large mechanical cams 47 activate mechanical valves 48 which release air for timing cycles for the pneumatic cylinders 33 and 35 and other operations as will be described in detail in connection with FIG. 6.

The shaft has a crank arm 50 connected to a link 51 which is the arms 50 by pivot 53, and link 51 is also connected at a pivot 54 to the protruding arm 52 of the carriage mechanism 23. The carriage mechanism which in turn moves back and forth once while pulling one folded container 14 from the hopper l3 and then in turn moves the container through each of the stations by means of

dogs

22 and 28 and also a bottom dog 55 directly below dog 22 and a bottom dog directly below dog 28 which cannot be seen in this view, gripping the container during reciprocation and moving it to the next station. The

dogs

22, 28 and 55 are adapted to allow the containers to pass in one direction but to engage the containers in the other direction, sliding them to the next station. This may be seen to be accomplished by the dog 28 being swivel mounted on a pivot 56 and having an angled member 57 whereby a container will strike the angled member 57 lifting the dog 28 which rotates on pivot 56 allowing the dog 28 to slide along the container until reaching the other side at which time it falls from the force of gravity and will engage the container in the opposite direction. The bottom engaging dogs could either be spring or gravity loaded and operate in the same manner as the

upper dogs

22 and 28. A vacuum pump 58 is provided to produce a vacuum for the vacuum cups 17 and 16 and air pressure will of course be necessary in the operation of pneumatic cylinders 33, 35 and other pneumatic functions operated through the control valves 48.

The present machine is of course set up to operate with one size corrugated container but it is also adapted to be adjusted for handling different size containers. If a larger or smaller container is desired to be set up or folded it will of course require certain adjustments to be made in the present machine. For instance, to adjust for different size containers would require moving side member 1511 in and out to adapt it for the size of the container. It would also require the magazine 13 to be adjusted in size to handle the larger or smaller container. Similarly, the dog 22 would have to be adjusted for handling a larger or smaller box as would be vacuum set up 17 and the guide rails 25 and 26. The

platens

31 and 32 can stand a degree of variation in size without being adjusted, but if considerable variation were required then larger platens might be required to handle the larger boxes. The present ap paratus is specifically designed and assembled in a manner for easy adjustment between different size boxes and box tops.

A frame member 60 can be seen holding an electrical contact switch 61 having a roller 62 attached thereto and which switch is activated by the reciprocating mechanism 23 which has bottom members 63 having a pair of switch activating cams or knobs 64 which engage the roller 62 at two locations as the reciprocating carriage 23 moves back and forth. Switch 61 in turn electrically activates the gluing gun 30 and as roller 62 hits each knob 64 glue gun 30 squirts hot glue on each of the interior flaps of the container being folded, and thus no glue is sprayed between the two flaps which would normally not extend the length of the bottom of the corrugated container. A second electrical switch 65 is shown being connected to the fixed frame member 66 and having a roller 67 connected thereto. Roller 67 is adapted to be activated by the side of a container passing through the present machine and if no box is passing through the station and hitting roller 67 to activate switch 65, glue guns 30 will be disabled, thus preventing glue from being sprayed on the machine when a box is not passing through the gluing station. The frame member 66 also has one end portion of the rods or rails 26 connected thereto and the glue gun 30 can be of any commercial type, but it will be clear that other means than by gluing can be used for attaching flaps of the containers together. For instance, a stapling mechanism could be attached to the machine in place of the glue gun or in a different location, but adapted to be activated by the same electrical switches 65 and 61, if desired, without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention.

An air cylinder 68 can be seen driving a pivot 70 which in turn rotates a member 71 connected to the vacuum setup cup 17. Thus the air cylinder 68 rotates a vacuum setup cup 17 into and out of the way of the flaps of a container in the first station and once the cup 17 engages the flap of a container, a roller 119 (see FIG. 4) on the carriage mechanism will strike an extended portion of member 71 to erect the cup and set up the container, as will be described in more detail later.

Turning now to P16. 2, the embodiment of FIG. 1 can be seen in a side view and having bottom support frame members fixedly attached to legs 11 which are in turn fixedly at tached to top frame member 12. The bottom frame 10 also has a member 60 fixedly attached thereto for holding electrical switch 61 having rollers 62 thereon to engage switch activating cams 64 located on member 63 of carriage mechanism 23. The hopper 13 can be seen to have blanks 14 stacked therein and the gear box 42 is connected to the shaft 43 having a clutch 44 therein operated by clutch shifter 45 with the shaft 43 also being connected to a sprocket and chain 46 for driving a series of cams 47 which in turn are adapted to operate a series of pneumatic valves 48 which valves are held by valve holding frame members 30 and have protruding pneumatic rods 81 for engaging cams 47 during the appropriate timing cycle. The rear of the outer platen 31 can be seen along with the back of the cylinder 33 and upper guide rail 26 along with center guide rail 25 and glue gun 30. Similarly, upper back dog 28 and lower back dog 32 can be seen gripping a partially folded container 33 as can upper front dog 22 and bottom front dog 55 which are engaging a partially folded container 84 which is in the first folding station and has the flap tucker 18 tucking in one flap while holdout vacuum cup is engaging and holding one side flap of the corrugated container in position and vacuum setup cup 17 has already engaged top side flap of container 04 and set the container up into its rectangular position but has not yet released the vacuum cups 16 and 17, which is done by allowing a small amount of air to enter the vacuum lines for releasing the cups, in which case 16 will withdraw and 17 would return to a position to allow the box 84 to pass through to the next station such as box 33 is in. Finally, an assembled container 85 is in the process of being compressed by platens 31 and 32 (not seen in this view) to complete the gluing operations and finish the container, this being the final station of the present apparatus.

It should be clear at this point that the carriage mechanism 23 has upper frame members 36 to which the

upper dogs

22 and 28 are connected, and also has side frame member 87 connected to upper frame members 86 and also to frame member 63 and lower frame member 88 which are connected to the

lower dogs

82 and 55, and the entire carriage frame is reciprocated by protruding frame member 52 which in turn is connected to a carriage crank mechanism, as previously described. The carriage crank mechanism has crank arm 50 and link 51 connected at

pivots

53 and 43 respectively. The bull horn shaped member 24 for tucking the second inside flap may be seen in this view and is attached to a fixed frame member 90.

Dog 55 is spring loaded by spring 91 for allowing containers to pass in one direction and yet to engage at the other side of the container, such as is shown engaging container 114. A feed dog 92 operates in a similar manner on the end of the carriage 23 frame member 93 connected to the bottom portion of the carriage mechanism 23. Feed dog 92 is spring loaded by spring 94 which is connected to the dog 92 and to member 95. Thus, it can be seen that as the carriage mechanism 23 slides forward, dog 92 will engage the bottom carton 96 in the magazine 13 and pull it forward to the first station where it will be engaged by the holddown vacuum cup 16. When the carriage mechanism 23 returns, the dog 92 will pivot allowing it to pass under the blanks 14 in the hopper 13 without pushing them in a backward direction. As the carriage mechanism comes to the end of its stroke, the dog 92 will pass the bottom of the blanks 14 and will pop up by the pressure from spring 94 just sufficiently high enough to engage the bottom-most folded container 14. Similarly, the box feeder adjustment is adjusted to allow only one folded container to be fed to the first station at a time.

The disabling switch 65 can be seen having the rollers 67 for disabling the glue gun 30 when no container is passing through the gluing station. However, it can be seen from this view a container 83 is just about to engage roller 67 of the switch 65 to enable the glue gun 30 to glue the bottom flaps of the container 83 as it passes therethrough. Similarly frame member 66 can be seen holding rail 26 and switch 65 in set positions and the hold-on vacuum cup 16 can be more clearly seen as having a solenoid 97 which is operated! by electrical switch to drive the cup 16 up into engagement with a carton that has been pulled forward from the magazine 13 and engages one side of the folded carton with a vacuum to hold it in place while the carton is erected.

Referring now to FIG. 3, a sectional view of an apparatus for setting up folded containers is seen in accordance with the present invention and having floor rails 10, legs 11, a magazine 13 loaded with folded containers 14 driven by motor 41 driving a gear box 42 for driving a shaft 43, sprocket and chain 46 and which is clutched by clutch 44. Sprocket and chain 46 in turn drives five cams 47 which activate five pneumatic valves 48. Shaft 43 also drives a crank arm 50 of a slider crank mechanism, having a length 51 connected to arms 50 at pivot pin 53 and to slider mechanism 23, protrusion 52, at pivot pin 54 whereby the rotation of the shaft 43 will drive the slider crank mechanism to reciprocate the carriage mechanism 23 which includes the protruding member 52. Frame member 60 has switch 61 with roller contact 62 connected thereto for engaging cams 64 of frame members 87 of the carriage mechanism 23. The outside pneumatic cylinder 33 drives the platen 31 which is shown in its compression position in dotted lines and pneumatic cylinder 35 drives platen 32 which is shown in dotted lines in its compression position, the compression position for both cylinders being the extended position from the pneumatic cylinders. The platen and cylinder frames 34 and 36 can be seen along with an end view of switch 65 and having rollers 66 engaging a container passing therethrough. The rear dog 28 is connected to upper members 66 of carriage mechanism 23. A braking wheel is shown having a brake engaging member 101 which is driven by pneumatic cylinder 102 pivoted at pivot pin 103 to a fixed frame member 104. The cylinder 102 cylinder arm 105 is connected to a member 107 by pivot pin 106 which in turn drives a member 106 which is pivoted by pin 109 to a member 110 to drive the braking member 101 against braking drum 100. The apparatus could of course be disabled in several ways, but this braking system is provided to meet various safety codes and when the emergency stop is activated, the braking system automatically is activated to give the entire apparatus a very quick stop, since the braking wheel 100 is connected to the gear box 42 and in turn to the motor 41 and the shafts 43. Thus, while normally turning off the motor 41 or disengaging the clutch 44 would disable the shaft 43 and allow the opera tion of the reciprocating carriage mechanism 23 and sprocket and chain 46 to all stop, the application of the braking system allowed it to stop more rapidly.

FIG. 4 is taken along line 4-4 of FIG. 2 and gives a better illustration of the bull horn shaped guide 24 and'of the

guide rails

112 and 113 for holding flaps 114 of the container 115 partially closed during the intermediate step and also during the gluing operation while the bull horn guide member 24 will close the second flap which is in turn llield by guide rails 25 in its folded position. Thus the inner flaps are held in a folded position while the outer flaps 114 are held at an angled position allowing an opening for the glue to be sprayed on the inner flap without getting on the outer flaps 114 prior to compression of the inner and outer flaps together, Side member 87 of the carriage mechanism 23 as well as the top frame member 116 has the back top dog 28 connected thereto engaging the corrugated container 115. Carriage mechanism 23 is also seen as having bottom frame members 38 which are connected to rollers 116 which could be ball or roller bearings in fixed casings for allowing carriage mechanism 23 to slide in a guide groove 117 of part of the fixed frame work 12. Thus a reciprocating movement of the slider crank mechanism moving the protruding member 52 back and forth allows the carriage mechanism 23 to slide on rollers 116 in the grooves 117 in its back and forth motion. Magazine 13 can also be seen being loaded with flattened cartons l4. Roller 119 is shown attached to the slider mechanism 23 and erects the vacuum setup cup 17 from its position engaging a flattened carton to its erected position by the roller 119 striking the lower extending bar holding the cups 17 when slider 23 reciprocated.

FIG. is a perspective of the portion of the machine in which a portion of carriage mechanism 23 has upper frame member 86 and side frame member 87 frame member 86 having the front top dog 22 attached thereto for engaging a container 120 while the flap tucker 18 closes one flap 121 by pneumatic cylinder 122 driving a pair of parallel pivoting arms 123 pivoting on pins 124 connected to bar 125. Pneumatic cylinder 122 is pivotally attached to another frame member 126 by pin 127 and to one of the parallel arms 123 by pin 128 pivotally connected to the arm 130 of cylinder 122. Actuation of the cylinder 122 moves the parallel arms 123 connected together by member 125 and rotates them respectively around a pair of shafts 131 which are rotatably held by annular ledges 132 to frame 12. Actuation of cylinder 122 thus rotates parallel bars 123 rotating shafts 131 which rotates a pair of parallel bars 133 connected to and running parallel to shafts 131. Bars 133 are connected to flap tucker 18 and tuck or fold the flap 121 when the cylinder 122 is actuated, as will be described in more detail in connection with FIG. 6. Hold down suction cup 16 is shown connected to a vacuum line 134 which provides a vacuum for holding the flap 135 to the station during setting up of the folded carton. Cup 16 is released by a small amount of air being allowed into the vacuum line at the proper timing sequence. Another air cylinder 68 can be seen pivotally attached to frame 12 by a pivot pin 136 and having its rod 137 pivotally attached by a pin 70 to a crank 138 which rotates member 139 having vacuum setup cups 17 attached thereto. Thus actuation at the proper time of the cylinder 68 will rotate cup 17 from a position out of the way of a container being thereover to the next station to a position for engaging the flap 140 of container 120. Then the roller 119 (FIG. 4) strikes a lower extension of rod 137 during reciprocation of slider 23 to raise the cup 17 and container 120 to an erected position. Allowing a small amount of air into the vacuum line 141 will release the cup from the flap 140. A front bottom dog 55 engages the container 120 along with the top front dog 22, of the carriage mechanism 23 to move the container 120 to its next station. In the process, bull horn 24, along with

bull horn rail

142, 112 and 25, guide and hold flap 140 into a folded position and also hold flaps 135 in a partially folded position. A holding dog 143 can be seen in this view and pivots on a pivot pin 144 in its position to pivot upward and allow container 120 to pass to the next station and to flop back down to prevent any backward sliding of the container 120 in' the intermediate station when the carriage 23 reciprocates back to engage the next carton.

Reference is now made to FIG. 6 in which a diagrammatic view illustrates the control sequence of the present invention and shows motor 41, gear box 42, clutches 44, drive shaft 43, sprocket chain 46, and the five timing cams 47. The timing earns 47 are numbered one through five, and each actuates a pneumatic valve 48 by means of a rod 81 contacting the lobes of the cams. The vacuum pump 58 is illustrated and applies a vacuum to the vacuum cups l6 and 17; vacuum cup 16 is seen driven into position by the solenoid 97 as has already been described. Vacuum pump 58 is shown having a valve 150 and a vacuum rod 151 connecting vacuum cup 17 and also vacuum cup 16. An electrical circuit is also connected through a switch 152 by a line 153 to the solenoid 97 for electrically actuating the solenoid at the proper time. An air tank 154 is shown connected through a valve 155 to supply air I pressure for the. pneumatic system and is connected to each of the valves 48. Cam 47 (1) and valve 48 (l) are connected by a line 156 into the vacuum lines 151 leading to vacuum cups 16 and 17 whereby cams 47 will actuate valves 48 to allow air from line 157 momentarily into the vacuum to release the vacuum cups 16 and 17 at the proper time sequence. Cam 47 (2) and valve 48 (2) controls one of the back flap tuckers.

Cylinder 122 is actuated through lines 158 which in turn actuates back flap tucker 18 (not shown in this view) at the prescribed time for prescribed period. Cam member 47 (3) and valve 48 (3) are connected by lines 160 to cylinder 68 and at the appropriate time actuates cylinder 68 to operate setup vacuum cupy 17 at the appropriate time to move the cup 17 into engagement with a folded container and to set up the container. Cam 47 (4) and valve 48 (4) are connected by lines 161 to pneumatic cylinder 33 which drives the compression platen 31 at the proper sequence while cam 47 (5) and valve 48 (5) drives line 162 to actuate pneumatic cylinder 35 which drives compression platen cylinder 32 at the appropriate time.

The opposite side of the machine will of course have a control system essentially similar to the system described in this figure and the cams on both sides will be driven by one motor 41 and one gear box 42 and will be clutched to shaft 43 on opposite sides of gear box 42 from clutch 44. A glue tank 163 provides glue through a pump 164 to the glue gun 30. A glue gun pump is driven by motor 165 and has a disabling switch 65 for disabling the glue gun when a carton is not in position to be glued. Switch 61 activates the glue gun to glue the two inner flaps of a container without spraying glue between the flap of the container. A switch 166 is adapted to disable the entire system, shutting off the motors 41 and 58, as well as all the other electrically controlled portions of the present apparatus.

It should be clear at this point that an apparatus for setting up folded corrugated containers has been described in which cartons and the tops therefor are simultaneously or individually set up and in which a single drive motor is provided for driving the power shaft for both the tops and the cartons in which either may be disabled by a pair of clutches located in the drive shaft. It will also be clearthat a carton folding apparatus has been provided in which the drive shaft drives a carriage crank mechanism which has 1 a single throw reciprocating motion adapted to move each carton between each of its stations and which have a setup cam actuating pneumatic valves for directly actuating pneumatic lines perfonning each of the operations in a reliable and simple manner and which provide the high degree of reliability found in the operation of the mechanical pneumatic system with only a minimum of electrical controls.

However, the present invention is not to be construed as limited to the particular embodiment described herein, and this embodiment is to be regarded as illustrative rather than restrictive.

We claim:

1. Apparatus for setting up folded containers, and the like, comprising in combination:

a. a pair of container setting up means having reciprocating carriage means;

b. drive shaft means coupled to each said container setting up means reciprocating carriage means by a slider crank mechanism for driving each said container setting up carriage means in a reciprocating cycle;

c. power means coupled to said drive shaft means for driving said drive shaft means;

. said reciprocating cycle means including a series of dog means adapted to engage containers when said carriage means moves in one direction and to pass over containers when said carriage moves in a second direction; and

e. clutch means located in said drive shaft means to either side of the coupling between said power means and said drive shaft means and adapted to drive cam actuated means for controlling predetermined functions of said apparatus whereby either container setting up means may be disabled.

2. The apparatus according to claim 1 in which said dog means includes upper and lower dogs adapted to engage said containers in at least two places simultaneously.

the cam shaft to said drive shaft.

6. The apparatus in accordance with claim 1 in which each said container setup means includes glue spraying means for spraying glue on at least two flaps of each said container.

7. The apparatus in accordance with claim R in which said drive shaft means includes pneumatic actuated braking means for braking said shaft when actuated.

Claims

1. Apparatus for setting up folded containers, and the like, comprising in combination: a. a pair of container setting up means having reciprocating carriage means; b. drive shaft means coupled to each said container setting up means reciprocating carriage means by a slider crank mechanism for driving each said container setting up carriage means in a reciprocating cycle; c. power means coupled to said drive shaft means for driving said drive shaft means; d. said reciprocating cycle means including a series of dog means adapted to engage containers when said carriage means moves in one direction and to pass over containers when said carriage moves in a second direction; and e. clutch means located in said drive shaft means to either side of the coupling between said power means and said drive shaft means and adapted to drive cam actuated means for controlling predetermined functions of said apparatus whereby either container setting up means may be disabled.

3. The apparatus according to claim 2 in which said dog means engage and move each container at least three successive times.

4. The apparatus according to claim 1 in which each set of said cams includes five cams actuating five pneumatic valves for controlling predetermined functions of said container setting up means.

5. The apparatus according to claim 4 in which each set of said cams is rotated by a chain and sprocket means coupling the cam shaft to said drive shaft.

7. The apparatus in accordance with claim 1 in which said drive shaft means includes pneumatic actuated braking means for braking said sHaft when actuated.