Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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The present invention relates to a method and
apparatus for setting up and filling a container, and more
particularly, to the setting up of modular display units
and setting up the units in arrays to form a display tray.
In Canadian Patent 1,058,114, issued July 10, 1979,
entitled "Container" by Joseph G. Geraedts et al and assigned
to General Foods, Limited, there is described a container
comprising a plurality of modular display units joined side
by side wherein each unit includes at least a bottom wall and
side walls and the units are joined along their side walls in
an array while the packets being contained are arranged in the
units with the packets stacked normal to the bottom wall. A
sleeve is also wrapped about the array of modular units form-
ing the container, and the sleeve is co-extensive with the
array. The sleeve and the modular display units are made of
corrugated cardboard with the corrugations running in the
direction parallel to a plane normal to the longitudinal axis
of the array of units such that when the combined tray and
sleeve is stored, the corrugated cardboard construction of the
units in the sleeve provide a suitable stacking force. A
bundling strap extends across the open end of the sleeve and
about a pair of opposed longitudinal walls of the sleeve.
It is an aim of the present invention to provide an
automated method of filling packets in the modular units and
adhering these units to each other side by side and providing
the shipping sleeve about the units for shipping.
It is a further aim of the present invention to
provide an apparatus for carrying out the method.
A method in accordance with the present invention
includes the steps of selecting a mass of shipping sleeves,
selecting a mass of blanks for forming tray modules, select-
ing a mass of packets to be filled into the display tray'
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selecting a number of successive packets from the mass and
stacking them vertically in an array at a filling station,
selecting tray module blanks and assembling them into tray
modules, and one by one on demand retaining them at the
filling station, their open sides facing the array of stacked
packets, filling the stacked packets into the tray module at
the filling station; as the tray modules are filled, placing
them down and conveyir,g them in succession past an adhesive
applicator station, and then conveying them in a transverse
direction to a shipping container loading station and separat-
ing them into arrays of several tray modules and juxtaposing
tray modules of each array and loading them into a shipping
sleeve, and at the adhesive applicator station, applying
adhesive to the side of the tray modules except for the lead
tray module of the arrays to be formed, so that when the tray
modules of each array are juxtaposed, the glued side of one
tray module adheres to the adjacent side of the preceding
module.
An apparatus for conducting the method of the present
invention includes means for selecting a mass of shipping
sleeves; means for forming tray modules from a mass of blanks,
means for stacking a successive number of packets selected
from a mass of packets, means for stacking the packets vertical-
ly in an array; means for presenting the tray modules at the
filling station, means for filling the stacked packets into
the tray module, means for conveying the filled tray modules
in succession' means for applying adhesive to the side surfaces
of the tray modules, means for separating the tray modules into
arrays of several tray modules, means for juxtaposing the tray
modules of each array and loading them into a shipping sleeve
and means for pressing the modules together as they are being
entered in the sleeve such that the side surfaces of each module
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will adhere to the adjacent side surfaces of an adjacent
moduleO
Having thus generally described the nature of the
invention, reference will now be made to the accompanying
drawings, showing by way of illustration, a preferred
embodiment thereof, and in which:
Figure 1 is a top plan view showing the advancing
blank on a conveyor, the forming thereof, filling the display
unit and collating the filled display units in a selected
array and for loading the arrays into a shipping sleeve;
Figure 2 is a side elevation of the line from Figure
1, and
Figure 3 is a perspective view of the formed package.
Referring now to the drawings, a blank for making a
display unit 10 is advanced on a conveyor 11 to a setting-up
apparatus 18. Of course, any conventional tray forming machine
could be used for setting up the display unit 10 which includes
the folding up and the hot melt adhering of the flaps forming
the end and side walls such that there is provided a bottom
wall 16 and side walls 12 and 14. An example of such a machine
could be of the type sold by General Nailing Machine under the
trade mark "Tray-Matic".
The display unit 10 exits from the forming machine 18
on a conveyor either sitting flat on the conveyor 20 or in a
position such that the bottom wall 16 is in a vertical plane~
The display unit 10 at this point is taken by an operator and
positioned on a tripping mechanism 36 and placed so that the
open top o~ the display unit 10 engages the open end of the
funnel 32 at the filling station.
Simultaneously, a plurality of flattened pouches
are placed in an outer transparent bag to form a packet 6.
This operation is conventional and is not sho~l in the present
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drawings. The packets 6 advance along the conveyor 22 onto
the section 24 which is a vibrator type conveyor for vibrat-
ing the flattened packets thereby to more equally distribute
the contents of the pouches in the packets 6. The packets 6
then advance on the stacking conveyor 26, shown in Figure 2,
which is adapted to feed a packet 6 to each shelf 28 select-
ively.
Once a predetermined number of packets 6 are
placed in the stacking shelves 28, a plurality of rams 30
are actuated simultaneously for pushing the packets 6 out
of the shelves 28 to fall in a free standing stack of a pre-
determined number of packets 6O Immediately, the ram 34 is
actuated to push the free standing stack of packets 6 through
the funnel 32 into the waiting display unit 10. The packets
6, including the pouches, are arranged therefore in the
modular unit 10 such that the plane of the pouches is normal
to the longitudinal axis of the modular unit 10. The modular
unit 10, which is sitting on the tipping mechanism 36, is
then tipped such that it lands on a conveyor 38.
The modular units 10 are moved past a cold glue
applicator 40. The glue applicator 40 applies an adhesive
to the side wall 12 of the display unit 10. In a given array
including a predetermined number of modular units 10, the first
modular unit 10 is not sprayed with the glue~ All of the
succeeding modular units 10 receive glue on their side surfaces
12.
Once a predetermined number of modular units 10
are advanced on the collating table 42, the modular units
10 may then be pressed together by the ram 44 in order to
have adjacent side surfaces 12 and 14 adhere together, and
at the same time, a hot melt may be applied (not shown). The
so-formed display tray may then be pushed by the ram 44 into
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the shipping sleeve 8 at the station 460 As shown in Figure
3, the sleeve 8 may be open at both ends. The completed
package passes through the strapping station 48 where a
strap 9 is applied to the formed package, and the strap 9
bisects the open ends of the sleeve.
The so-formed package is then ready for shipping.
It goes without saying that variations of the above
apparatus and method may be made. For instance, the product-
ion can be increased by having a double-headed stacking
operation feeding the filled modular units 10 to the collating
table 44.
A typical stacking apparatus could be that machine
made by the Deines Baker Company known under the trade mark
"Dyna-Pak". The strapping could be carried out, for instance,
by the "Avistrap" machine, produced by F.M.C. Corporation.
Although in the above method an operator is used
to place the display unit on the funnel 32, this could also
be handled automatically, mechanicallyO
At the collating station, the display units 10
could be adhered together simultaneously as the display
units are being pushed into the shipping sleeve ~. On the
other hand, the display units 10 could be adhered one to
each other to form a display tray, and then pushed on a
blank whereby the blank would be wrapped around the tray
forming the shipping sleeve and package. Finally, the
shipping sleeve would have flaps at each end thereof to
close as in conventional outer cartons.
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