Classifications

• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B31—MAKING ARTICLES OF PAPER, CARDBOARD OR MATERIAL WORKED IN A MANNER ANALOGOUS TO PAPER; WORKING PAPER, CARDBOARD OR MATERIAL WORKED IN A MANNER ANALOGOUS TO PAPER
  • B31B—MAKING CONTAINERS OF PAPER, CARDBOARD OR MATERIAL WORKED IN A MANNER ANALOGOUS TO PAPER
  • B31B50/00—Making rigid or semi-rigid containers, e.g. boxes or cartons
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B31—MAKING ARTICLES OF PAPER, CARDBOARD OR MATERIAL WORKED IN A MANNER ANALOGOUS TO PAPER; WORKING PAPER, CARDBOARD OR MATERIAL WORKED IN A MANNER ANALOGOUS TO PAPER
  • B31B—MAKING CONTAINERS OF PAPER, CARDBOARD OR MATERIAL WORKED IN A MANNER ANALOGOUS TO PAPER
  • B31B50/00—Making rigid or semi-rigid containers, e.g. boxes or cartons
  • B31B50/74—Auxiliary operations
  • B31B50/76—Opening and distending flattened articles
  • B31B50/78—Mechanically
  • B31B50/784—Mechanically for setting up boxes having their opening facing upwardly
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B31—MAKING ARTICLES OF PAPER, CARDBOARD OR MATERIAL WORKED IN A MANNER ANALOGOUS TO PAPER; WORKING PAPER, CARDBOARD OR MATERIAL WORKED IN A MANNER ANALOGOUS TO PAPER
  • B31B—MAKING CONTAINERS OF PAPER, CARDBOARD OR MATERIAL WORKED IN A MANNER ANALOGOUS TO PAPER
  • B31B2100/00—Rigid or semi-rigid containers made by folding single-piece sheets, blanks or webs
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B31—MAKING ARTICLES OF PAPER, CARDBOARD OR MATERIAL WORKED IN A MANNER ANALOGOUS TO PAPER; WORKING PAPER, CARDBOARD OR MATERIAL WORKED IN A MANNER ANALOGOUS TO PAPER
  • B31B—MAKING CONTAINERS OF PAPER, CARDBOARD OR MATERIAL WORKED IN A MANNER ANALOGOUS TO PAPER
  • B31B2120/00—Construction of rigid or semi-rigid containers
  • B31B2120/30—Construction of rigid or semi-rigid containers collapsible; temporarily collapsed during manufacturing
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B31—MAKING ARTICLES OF PAPER, CARDBOARD OR MATERIAL WORKED IN A MANNER ANALOGOUS TO PAPER; WORKING PAPER, CARDBOARD OR MATERIAL WORKED IN A MANNER ANALOGOUS TO PAPER
  • B31B—MAKING CONTAINERS OF PAPER, CARDBOARD OR MATERIAL WORKED IN A MANNER ANALOGOUS TO PAPER
  • B31B50/00—Making rigid or semi-rigid containers, e.g. boxes or cartons
  • B31B50/004—Closing boxes
  • B31B50/0044—Closing boxes the boxes having their opening facing upwardly
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B31—MAKING ARTICLES OF PAPER, CARDBOARD OR MATERIAL WORKED IN A MANNER ANALOGOUS TO PAPER; WORKING PAPER, CARDBOARD OR MATERIAL WORKED IN A MANNER ANALOGOUS TO PAPER
  • B31B—MAKING CONTAINERS OF PAPER, CARDBOARD OR MATERIAL WORKED IN A MANNER ANALOGOUS TO PAPER
  • B31B50/00—Making rigid or semi-rigid containers, e.g. boxes or cartons
  • B31B50/60—Uniting opposed surfaces or edges; Taping

Definitions

• This invention relates to container erection apparatus and is particularly concerned with apparatus which can operate on partly erected containers as they move along a conveyor path.
• a carton erection apparatus is described with a mechanism which engages front and rear flaps of each container in a stage of its erection while the container is ' being conveyed through the apparatus.
• front flap engagement elements project from one endless chain conveyor to engage each container as it moves along its path and, a little downstream of the point of front flap engagement a rear flap engagement element mounted on a second endless chain conveyor then comes into engagement with the container rear flap as it is brought around its conveyor return sprocket to run parallel with the container path.
• the movement of the conveyor chain around the return sprocket accelerates the rear flap engagement element relative to the front flap engagement element which is already travelling parallel to the container path.
• the container front and rear flaps are thereby gripped between the front and rear elements.
• the two chain conveyors extend to different points at the downstream end so that the front flap engagement element reaches the downstream return sprocket of its conveyor before the associated rear flap element reaches the corresponding return sprocket of its conveyor. As it moves around its return sprocket, the front flap element is therefore accelerated away from the rear flap element to release the container. It will be noted that this arrangement requires separate conveyors for the front and rear flap engagement elements and is therefore both complicated and space-consuming.
• apparatus for operating on a partly erected container entrained by a conveyor to close opposite tabs of the container against respective walls extending transversely from an end wall to the front and rear thereof in the direction of conveyor travel, comprising means for conveying respective front and rear presser devices for the front and rear tabs in the path of the container in the direction of conveyor travel, ' and means for retarding the entry of the rear presser device onto said path and/or accelerating the entry of the front presser device onto said path relative to their conveying means in order to provide an increased clearance between said devices for the introduction of the container between them, and for varying the speed of one or both devices thereafter relative to their conveying means to reduce said clearance and urge them against said tabs to press them against the associated container walls.
• Said presser devices can be mounted on a common endless conveyor means having a run parallel to said conveyor path along which the presser means act on the container tabs.
• similar presser devices are arranged to operate on front and rear tabs of the container respectively, the spacing between them being opened up by a temporary acceleration of the front device and retardation of the rear device and conversely being closed again by retarding the front device and accelerating the rear device.
• the or at least one presser device is mounted on endless conveyor means and comprising a pressing element mounted on a pivot connection having an axis transverse to the travel direction, and a control mechanism is arranged to swing said pressing element forwardly and rearwardly on its pivot connection for said acceleration and/or retardation.
• the required changes of speed of the pressing elements can then be obtained without altering the speed of their conveyor means.
• front and rear presser devices are mounted on separate endless bands of the conveyor means, to facilitate adjustment of the elements relative to each other in the travel direction in order to match the spacing between them to the container front-to-rear dimension.
• Fig. 1 is a plan view showing the arrangement of an apparatus according to the invention in relation to a conveyor along which the partly erected containers are transported to be erected and filled
• Figs. 2 and 3 illustrate the form of the rear presser means of the apparatus in collapsed and operative states respectively.
• Fig. 1 shows an endless band conveyor 2 having an input drive 4 connected to a return wheel 6 of the conveyor around which extend conveyor bands 8. Pairs of flight bars 10 (only two pairs being shown) project transversely from the conveyor to clamp partly erected containers C between them. Extending along part of the length of the container conveyor is an auxiliary presser conveyor 12. A top run 12a of the auxiliary conveyor is aligned parallel to the adjacent run of the container conveyor immediately below the path of the flight bars 10 and moves at the same speed as the container conveyor.
• the auxiliary conveyor comprises four similar endless bands side by side, driven in pairs 14a, 14b by respective drive inputs 16a, 16b. Pairs of front and rear presser devices 18,20. are carried by the auxiliary conveyor, the front members on one pair of bands and the rear members on the other pair.
• Figs. 2 and 3 illustrate the rear presser device 20 in more detail. It comprises a presser plate 22 attached by a pivot 24 to a position control mechanism including a mounting bar 26 which is fixed to one of said pairs of bands 14a, 14b of the presser conveyor. A support element 28 is also fixed to the same pair of conveyor bands behind the mounting bar 26 in the direction of travel, the plate 22 and the support element 28 are also connected by links 32 attached to them through respective pivots 34,36 radially outwards (with respect to return wheels 42 of the auxiliary conveyor) of the pivot 24.
• the front presser device 18 is an exact mirror arrangement of the rear device 20 so does not need to be described further.
• the partly erected rectangular-section containers C are carried by the main conveyor 2 through stations where, by conventional means (not shown) , a bottom flap B of the container blank is folded up to the bottom edges of the container side walls and tabs T at the front and rear of the flap are glued in preparation for being secured to the front and rear side walls W.
• the function of the presser devices 18,20 is to engage those tabs and press them against the side walls so as to ensure a firm adhesive bond.
• the container bottom flaps B rest on a fixed guide 44 as they move along the auxiliary conveyor to ensure they are correctly positioned when the adhesive connection is made.
• Fig. 3 shows the rear device 20 in its operative position.
• the presser plate 22 at the front of the member is held perpendicular to the top run of the conveyor with its operative pressing face projecting above the level of the container guide to engage a rear tab T.
• the front presser device 18 similarly has at the rear a presser plate with a directly opposed pressing face engaging the front tab, the spacing of the two faces being matched to the front-to-rear dimensions of the container to clamp the tabs T against their associated container walls W.
• both presser plates 22 must project into the travel path of the container, it is necessary to • ensure that they do not foul the container before reaching their operative positions. But if the main and auxiliary conveyors travel at the same speed, as is required during the clamping operation, fouling will occur if the presser plates travel round the return rollers 42 in the radially extended position they have when clamping a container.
• the control mechanism to which the presser plate 22 is pivoted causes it to swing about its pivot 24 between the collapsed position shown in Fig. 2, in which it lies close to the conveyor, and the operative position in Fig. 3, projecting perpendicularly from the conveyor when engaging with and disengaging from a container.
• the pivoting of the presser plates 22 of both devices between these positions is determined by the movement of the conveyor 14a, 14b bands around the return rollers 42 of the auxiliary conveyor. As the bands follow the curvature of a roller, because the presser plate mounting bar 26 and the support element 28 are fixed rigidly to spaced portions of the conveyor bands, they are splayed apart.
• Fig. 2 shows, the presser plate 22 is kept out of the container path while it is moving around the arc of the rear roller.
• the mounting bar 26 moves onto the planar top run 12a of the conveyor the splay between the bar and the support element 28 is rapidly lost.
• the presser plate 22 is therefore swung forwards, which movement is added to the conveyor movement as a sharp acceleration, until the presser plate is again travelling at the conveyor speed when the mounting bar and support element are both on the top run of the conveyor.
• a container C can thus be progressed by its conveyor 2 at the same speed as the presser conveyor 12 and reach the entry to the presser conveyor in advance of the presser plate, to then be engaged by the rear presser plate 22 when it is accelerated to its upright position.
• a shaft extending transversely through the support element 28 has respective cam followers 46 rotatably mounted on its projecting ends.
• cam followers 46 engage and roll along the underside of fixed guide rails 44 at both sides of. the presser conveyor 12.
• the guide rails thereby provide a fixed reaction surface for the clamping force on the presser device in operation.
• Further fixed supports 48 lie immediately under the top run 12a of the conveyor to resist downward deflection. In this way it is possible to prevent deflection of the presser devices under load which would otherwise prevent adequate clamping of the conveyor tabs.
• the front presser device is similarly collapsed as it moves around the rear roller.
• the presser plate 22 is collapsed forwards so that it is retarded as it begins to travel along the conveyor upper run 12a and swings upright.
• entering the upper run the front presser plate 22 is initially in advance of the container and reaches its operative position against the front face of the conveyor because it slows temporarily as it comes to the upright position.
• the previous entry of the front presser device into the arc of the conveyor has, of course, produced an acceleration of its presser plate to the collapsed position.
• front and rear presser devices 18,20 are mounted on separate pairs of conveyor bands 14a, 14b, the spacing between them can be adjusted by relative displacement of the bands if it is required to accommodate containers of different sizes.
• this is simply a matter of altering the relative timings of the drive chains, without affecting the drive inputs.

Landscapes

• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• Supplying Of Containers To The Packaging Station (AREA)
• Auxiliary Devices For And Details Of Packaging Control (AREA)

Priority Applications (3)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=8217727

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (10)

Citations (2)

• 1995
  • 1995-05-23 ZA ZA954195A patent/ZA954195B/xx unknown
  • 1995-05-24 PL PL95318469A patent/PL318469A1/xx unknown
  • 1995-05-24 CN CN95193351A patent/CN1149274A/zh active Pending
  • 1995-05-24 AU AU25336/95A patent/AU2533695A/en not_active Abandoned
  • 1995-05-24 WO PCT/GB1995/001183 patent/WO1995032858A1/en not_active Application Discontinuation
  • 1995-05-24 HU HU9602808A patent/HU9602808D0/hu unknown
  • 1995-05-24 EP EP95919552A patent/EP0760742A1/en not_active Ceased
  • 1995-05-24 JP JP08500481A patent/JP2000510774A/ja active Pending
  • 1995-05-24 CA CA002187183A patent/CA2187183A1/en not_active Abandoned
  • 1995-05-29 TR TR00629/95A patent/TR28494A/tr unknown

Patent Citations (2)

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