US3678647A

US3678647A - Packaging of bottles or other articles

Info

Publication number: US3678647A
Application number: US37207A
Authority: US
Inventors: Henry M Corderoy
Original assignee: ACI Operations Pty Ltd
Current assignee: Visy Glass Operations Australia Pty Ltd
Priority date: 1969-05-15
Filing date: 1970-05-14
Publication date: 1972-07-25
Anticipated expiration: 1989-07-25
Also published as: CA919081A; GB1304399A

Abstract

The present invention relates to an improved method and apparatus for packing bottles or the like in cartons. Bottles or the like are arranged in columns and rows in open containers and partition strips are inserted therebetween. The partition strip material is delivered in continuous length to one or a plurality of partition inserting stations whereupon the material is cut off at the desired length, collected by mechanical fingers and inserted downwardly between the rows and columns of bottles or the like. The partition strips at one station are inserted transversely to the partition strips at the next immediate station, the subsequently inserted strips serving to force the first-mentioned strips downwardly between the columns or rows of partitions. This invention provides for tight packages with little or no risk of breakage as a result of relative vibration between the packed bottles.

Description

United States Patent Cordemy 1451 July 25,1972

[54] PACKAGING 0F BOTTLES OR OTHER 3,350,836 11/1967 Dillon et a]. 53/15? x ARTICLES [72] I v Henry M Comet-0y, Gladesville New Primary Examiner-Robert L. Spruill South Wales, Australi Attorney-Ryder, McAulay & Hefter 731 Assignee: A.C.l. Operations Pty. Limited, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia [57] ABSTRACT [22] Fil May 1 1970 The present invention relates to an improved method and apparatus for packing bottles or the like in cartons. Bottles or the [21 Appl, No.: 37,207 like are arranged in columns and rows in open containers and partition strips are inserted therebetween. The partition strip [30] Foreign Application Priority Data material is delivered in continuous length to one or a plurality of partition inserting stations whereupon the material is cut off May I5, 1969 Australia ..55076/69 at the desired length, collected by mechanical fingers and inserted downwardly between the rows and columns of bottles [52] U.S.C| .Q.53/l4,53/23,53 /l23, or the like. The partition strips at one station are inserted 53/ l28, 53/157, 93/37 R transversely to the partition strips at the next immediate sta- [51] lnt. Cl ..B65b 61/00 tion, the subsequently inserted strips serving to force the first- [58] Field of Search ..53/3, '14, 35, 123, 128, 157, mentioned strips downwardly between the columns or rows of 53/389, 393, 23; 93/37 R, 38 partitions. This invention provides for tight packages with littie or no risk of breakage as a result of relative vibration References Cited between the packed bottles.

UNITED STATES PATENTS 10 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures 968,898 1/196} Hickin I l I Z I 21 i 22 I 1; O 1' 0 Z I II Patented July 25, 1972 3,G78,647

2 Sheets-Sheet 1 PACKAGING OF BOTTLES OR OTHER ARTICLES The specifications of prior US. Pat. application Ser. No. 872,531 filed Oct. 30, 1969, disclosed a method of and apparatus for inserting separating strips or partitions at different levels between columns and rows of bottles, jars or other articles previously placed in a carton or other container.

It is usual to separate fragile articles such as bottles or jars in a carton or the like, by means of a preformed collapsible cellular insert composed of longitudinally and transversely extending interfitting slotted strips of paperboard or the like, which define a separate cell or compartment for each article.

The packing operation is usually carried out by manually placing the several articles in the carton and by then opening out a collapsed cellular insert and placing it in the carton so that each article is contained within an individual. compartment. Mechanical packing does not appear to be used and would be difficult to accomplish because each article should be a firm fit in its respective compartment and the operation would be equally, if not more difi'rcult, if the cellular insert were placed in the carton before the articles.

The aforesaid prior application discloses a method of and apparatus for forming a cellular structure, composed of separate preformed partition strips, in situ in a carton or the like which contains a plurality of bottles, jars or other articles arranged in at least two columns and at least two rows. For this purpose one of the preformed partition strips is inserted downwardly between each adjacent pair of columns or rows after which a partition member is inserted downwardly between each adjacent pair of rows or columns as the case may be.

The cellular structure formed by the partition members is thus not self-supporting as each partition member is retained in position solely by the articles at each side of it.

Now the object of this invention is to provide an improved method of and apparatus for applying partition members or separating strips between articles in a carton or other container.

Accordingly the invention provides a method wherein each partition or separating strip is severed from a continuous length of strip material and is then mechanically inserted downwardly between adjacent columns or rows of articles in a carton or other container.

More particularly the method preferably comprises moving to and arresting at each of a plurality of spaced stations, successive cartons or other containers accommodating bottles or other articles arranged in at least two columns and at least two rows, intermittently moving horizontally above each of at least two of said stations, the free end portion of at least one continuous length of suitable strip material having its faces disposed vertically, severing the said free end portion from the parent strip to fonn a partition member, and moving the latter downwardly so as to insert it between adjacent columns or rows of articles in a container at the respective station, the strip or strips at one of said stations being disposed parallel to the direction of movement of the container and the strip or strips at another of said stations being disposed transversely thereto.

The invention also includes partition forming and inserting apparatus comprising, means for intermittently feeding forwardly the free end portion of a horizontally extending strip of suitable material arranged on edge, means operable to grip said free end portion of the strip, means operable to sever said free end portion from the parent strip to form a partition member, means operable to move said gripping means downwards together with the partition member, thereby to insert the latter between adjacent columns or rows of articles in a container disposed therebelow, and means for returning said gripping means upwardly after the partition member is released thereby.

The said gripping means preferably comprise a plurality of vertically disposed pincers-like clamping devices spaced lengthwise of said partition member at positions corresponding to the spacing of said articles, the lower end portions of said clamping devices being adapted to enter spaces between the packed articles.

Guide means adapted to maintain the faces of the strip in a vertical 'plane while it moves forwardly as above described, are also preferably provided, while also retractable means may be provided for supporting the lower edge of the strip until it is grasped by said gripping means.

Preferably at least two of said partitions forming and inserting devices are arranged in spaced relationship adjacent to different stations at which each container is stopped in turn, said devices being arranged so that the continuous strip at one station is disposed parallel to the direction of movement of the container, while the strip at the other station is disposed transversely thereto.

In order that the invention may be more clearly understood, one embodiment thereof is more fully described below with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic plan view illustrating the manner in which layers of partition members are inserted at right angles to adjacent layers.

FIG. 2, is a perspective view showing the arrangement of adjacent layers of partition strips.

FIG. 3, is a plan view of a carton of bottles or the like with partition strips inserted between adjacent rows and columns of said bottles or the like.

FIG. 4, is a diagrammatic view in plan of apparatus for simultaneously forming and inserting three parallel partition members into a container, and

FIG. 5, is a view in sectional elevation to a larger scale taken on the line 55 of FIG. 4.

In carrying out the invention, an intermittently actuated horizontal conveyor (not shown) is preferably provided to move cartons in succession to, and arrest them in turn at, a plurality of successive stations, the cartons having previously been packed with bottles 10 or other articles arranged in longitudinally extending columns and transversely extending rows. The terms columns and rows are used merely to designate lines of articles disposed at right angles to each other and are therefore interchangeable.

Thus for example rectangular cartons each containing 16 bottles 10 arranged in four columns and four rows may be provided at one station with three parallel partitions 11 each of which is pushed downwardly between two adjacent columns of the bottles which may be assumed to be parallel to the direction of movement of the container.

At a subsequent station three further partitions arranged transversely to the direction of movement of the container are inserted downwardly between the adjacent rows of the bottles.

FIG. 4 diagrammatically shows apparatus which is arranged at each of the said two stations and. above a carton 12 indicated in broken lines in the position which it occupies when its movement in the direction of the arrow 13 is temporarily arrested at that station. As shown in this Figure the three partition members 11 which are inserted into the carton at that station are parallel to each other and to the direction of movement of the carton. The similar apparatus arranged at the other one of the said stations is arranged at right angles to the said direction of movement so that the partition members 11 inserted at that station are transverse thereto.

The apparatus shown in FIG. 4 comprises three similar units, one for each of the partition members to be inserted at that position, and each of these units comprises a coil or roll 14 of suitable strip material such as paperboard, from which the partition members are formed. Each roll is supported for rotation about a vertical axis and the width of the strip is equal to the required width of the partition members 11.

The free end portion of each strip is led from the respective coil or roll 14 to and between a corresponding pair of vertically disposed feed rollers 15, which are arranged to be driven intermittently by any suitable mechanism which is not shown. Thus when these feed rollers are actuated the strip is drawn from the respective coil and moved horizontally towards the opposite end of the unit and between interrupted guide members 16 which maintain the strip in the required vertical plane which passes midway between two adjacent columns of bottles in the carton disposed therebelow.

The feed rollers continue to operate until the leading edge of the strip reaches a predetermined position when they are automatically stopped, for which purpose the said leading edge may engage a micro-switch on a stop member 17 though any other suitable sensing means may be used for this purpose.

Immediately following this operation, the strip is engaged between the depending

arms

18 and 19 of each of a plurality of spaced gripping devices of pincers-like form, which are arranged vertically and which have their free lower ends extending through the gaps between corresponding sections of the interrupted guide member 16.

In the illustrated construction three of the said gripping devices are spaced along the length of each strip 11 and in transverse alignment with the corresponding gripping devices for the other two strips and the

arms

18 and 19 of each transversely aligned group of gripping devices are pivoted to a common, transversely extending support bar 20 arranged transversely above the strips as shown in FIG. 5.

The three bars 20 for the corresponding groups of transversely aligned gripping devices are rigidly connected together and means not shown are provided for raising and lowering them at required stages during the operation of the apparatus.

Each of the

arms

18 and 19 has an

upward extension

21, 22 which is connected by a pivoted link 23, 24 to the corresponding arms of the same transverse group and means not shown, are provided for actuating these connecting links at required intervals to open and close the several gripping devices in unison. Also the lower end portions of the gripping arms may be provided with resilient gripping pads or the like, not shown, to ensure that when they are closed they firmly grip the respective strips 11.

Immediately following the closure of the several gripping devices to engage the three projected strips 11 each of the latter is severed from the parent strip by operation of power actuated cutters which are diagrammatically indicated at 25 in FIG. 4. Each severed strip 11 is then supported solely by the respective group of gripping devices and is arranged vertically above the position in which it is to be inserted in the carton 12 as best shown in FIG. 5.

The actuating means for the support bars 20 then operates to move these bars vertically downwards, together with the respective groups of gripping devices and the three partition members 11 which are thus pushed downwardly between the respective columns or rows of bottles 10. The first group of parallel partition members inserted in the carton may be moved downwardly by the gripping members until their lower edges are close to the bottom of the carton, but this is not essential as when at a subsequent station three more partition members, arranged at right angles thereto, are similarly insertcd, they may serve to push the first group of partition members further into the carton.

The spacing of the gripping devices along the length of the partition strip corresponds to the spacing of the bottles 10 in the carton and they are so arranged and designed that their lower ends may enter the spaces between four adjacent bottles 10 as indicated near the lower left corner of FIG. 3.

When each group of partition members is inserted into the carton by the respective gripping devices, the latter are simultaneously released before being returned to their normal upper positions.

In order to stop the successive cartons in turn at the aforesaid stations, they may be supported on an intennittently operated conveyor, though alternatively the conveyor may operate continuously and the cartons may be temporarily arrested at the required positions by retractable stop members. According to a further modification the cartons may move continuously, in which case the partition gripping means may move forwardly in unison with the cartons as the partitions are inserted therein, and then return rearwardly to their original positions.

lclaim:

1. Method of packaging articles such as bottles in a carton or the like, comprising the steps of moving to and arresting at each of a plurality of spaced stations, successive cartons or other containers accommodating bottles or other articles arranged in at least two columns and at least two rows, intermittently moving horizontally above each of at least two of said stations the free end portion of at least one continuous length of suitable partition strip material having its faces disposed vertically, gripping the free end portion and supporting it against vertical movement, severing the free end portion from the strip to form a partition member, and moving the partition member downwardly so as to insert it between adjacent columns or rows of articles in a container at the respective station, the strip at one of said stations being disposed parallel to the direction of movement of the container and the strip at another of said stations being disposed transversely thereto.

2. Method as claimed in claim 1 wherein the strip or strips inserted at a second or subsequent stations forces the strip or strips inserted at the preceding station or stations downwardly between the columns and/or rows of articles a distance substantially equal to the width of the strip last inserted.

3. Apparatus for forming and inserting partition strips into an open carton or like container in which a plurality of bottles or like other articles are arranged in columns and rows comprising a continuous strip of partition material, means for intermittently delivering a free end portion of the strip horizontally to a first position spaced from and aligned between adjacent columns, the faces of the free end portion being disposed vertically, means for gripping the free end portion and supporting it against vertical movement, means for severing the free end portion to form a partition member of predetermined length, and means for inserting the partition member between the adjacent columns.

4. Apparatus for packaging articles such as bottles or the like in a carton or like container comprising means for moving to and arresting at each of a plurality of spaced stations, successive cartons or like containers accommodating bottles or like other articles arranged in at least two columns and at least two rows; a continuous roll of suitable partition strip material; means for intermittently delivering horizontally above each of at least two of said stations the free end portion of said continuous strip in such manner as to have its faces disposed vertically; means for severing the free end portion from the parent strip to fonn a partition member, and means for gripping said partition member and moving it downwardly so as to insert said partition member between adjacent columns or rows of articles in a container at the respective station, the apparatus being adapted to insert the partition member at one of said stations whereby the member at said one station is disposed parallel to the direction of movement of the container and the strip at another of said stations is disposed transversely thereto.

5. Apparatus as claimed in claim 3 wherein the gripping means comprise a plurality of vertically disposed pincers-like clamping devices spaced lengthwise of said partition member at positions corresponding to the spacing of said articles, the lower end portions of said clamping devices being adapted to enter spaces between the packed articles.

6. Apparatus as claimed in claim 3 characterized by guide means adapted to maintain the strip material on edge, that is with its faces in the vertical plane, while the free end portion of said strip material is moved forwardly.

7. Apparatus as claimed in claim 3 characterized in that at least two of said partition forming and inserting devices are arranged in spaced relationship adjacent to different stations at which each container is stopped in turn, said devices being arranged so that the continuous strip at one station is disposed parallel to the direction of movement of the container, while the strip at another station is disposed transversely thereto.

8. Apparatus as defined in claim 3 wherein the inserting means effects movement of the gripping means toward and away from the adjacent columns, the gripping means releasing the partition member when the partition member is in a second position between the adjacent columns.

9. Apparatus for forming and inserting partition strips into an open carton or like container in which a plurality of bottles or like other articles are arranged in columns and rows, the number of columns being at least three, the apparatus comprising a plurality of continuous strips of partition material, means for intermittently delivering a free end portion of each strip horizontally to a first position spaced from the articles, each strip being aligned between a corresponding pair of adjacent columns, the faces of the free end portions being disposed vertically, means for gripping each free end portion and for supporting it against vertical movement, means for severing each free end portion to form a plurality of partition members of predetermined length, and means for inserting simultaneously the partition members between their corresponding pair of adjacent columns.

10. Apparatus as defined in claim 9 including means for intermittently delivering a free end portion of a second continuous strip of partition material horizontally to a position spaced from the articles and aligned between a pair of adjacent rows transverse to the columns, the faces of the second continuous strip being disposed vertically, means for gripping each free end portion of the second strip and for supporting it against vertical movement, means for severing each free end portion of the second strip to fonn a second partition member of predetermined length, and means for inserting the second partition member between a pair of adjacent rows.

m a a

Claims

4. Apparatus for packaging articles such as bottles or the like in a carton or like container coMprising means for moving to and arresting at each of a plurality of spaced stations, successive cartons or like containers accommodating bottles or like other articles arranged in at least two columns and at least two rows; a continuous roll of suitable partition strip material; means for intermittently delivering horizontally above each of at least two of said stations the free end portion of said continuous strip in such manner as to have its faces disposed vertically; means for severing the free end portion from the parent strip to form a partition member, and means for gripping said partition member and moving it downwardly so as to insert said partition member between adjacent columns or rows of articles in a container at the respective station, the apparatus being adapted to insert the partition member at one of said stations whereby the member at said one station is disposed parallel to the direction of movement of the container and the strip at another of said stations is disposed transversely thereto.

10. Apparatus as defined in claim 9 including means for intermittently delivering a free end portion of a second continuous strip of partition material horizontally to a position spaced from the articles and aligned between a pair of adjacent rows transverse to the columns, the faces of the second continuous strip being disposed vertically, means for gripping each free end portion of the second strip and for supporting it against vertical movement, means for severing each free end portion of the second strip to form a second partition member of predetermined length, and means for inserting the second partition member between a pair of adjacent rows.