Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
1~51990
PACKING AND CAPPING ~CHINE
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BAC~GROUND OF TIIE INVENTlON
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Field of the Invention
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The present invention relates to improvements in
packaging systems for packing groups of articles, for example,
24 cans or bottles and the like, in a corrugated paperboard
tray and for capping the filled tray with a film sheet in a
tight package. The invention relates particularly to improve-
ments in the packer for such packaging systems, and in an
associated hopper that holds a stack of pre-cut corrugated
paperboard blanks.
Descri tion of the Prior Art
p
Machines for forming trays and packaging articles of
various kinds in a series of corrugated paperboard trays formed
from pre-cut tray blanks are knownin the art.ThUs, tray or case
formers are disclosed in my U.S. Patent No. 3,101,654, issued
August 27, 1963, and No. 3,196,761, issued July 27, 1965.
Packaging machines are also known that are operative, in sequence,
to draw a film sheet from a roll of film over the articles in
a tray, to cause the sheet to adhere to at least a pair of
opposite walls, thereby to cap and hold the articles in the tray.
Such a packaging machine is shown in my IJ.S. Patent No. 3,~390,763,
and an improvement thereof is disclosed in my published German
patent application No. 2720255, published on November 17, :L977.
Trays packaged by such packaging machines provide a number of
advantages over the conventional
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corrugated paperboar~ case, including weight savings, lower
costs, locking of articles in the trays to prevent relati~e
movement of the arti~les, and ~ransparency of tl-Le covering
sheet to name a few.
S ~owever, there has existed a need for improving the
manner in which the trays are formed from pre-cut corrugat:ed
paperboard blanks and in whicll the articles such as cans a~nd
bottles are loaded into the trays, thereby to allow higher
speeds of operation, to provide trays ~Jith improved quareness,
10 less susceptibility to problems such as jams in the machine,
and better control of tray formation and articie loading op-
erations in the event of a problem to allow cleaning out t:ray
loads from the machine and handling of the problem before the
machine stops, thereby to provide longer periods of continued
15 operation, reducing maintenance, and resulting in greater re-
liability.
Summary of the Invention
Among the objects of the invention is to provide an i.m-
20 proved method of and apparatus for successively forming andfilling at high speed each of a succession of corrugated
paperboard trays with an associated group or load of articles
such as cans or bottles.
A feature of the invention is the matmer in which a
25 group of cans contacts a partially formed tray blank and draws
it out from under a deadplate while the flaps on the ends of
the front wall are controlled to prevent the front wall from
being pushed out flat.
Another feature of the invention is the manner in which
30 the flaps on the ends of both the front walls and rear walls
of a tray blank are held down to improve the squareness of
the walls.
A further feature of the invention is the method by w~hich
pre-cut tray blanks are pulled down from a stack of such blanks
35 at positive cam controlled s?eeds of vacuum cups with fast rise
followed initially by slow descent to pull only one
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blank from the stack in the hopper and then fast descent
again.
Still another feature of the invention is the method
of forming the front wall of a pre-cut tray blank and pre-
5 breaking the rear wall of the blank over fixed cams to giverigidity to the blank and to eliminate warp during transfer
of the blank to the packing station.
An additional feature of the invention is the articu-
lating can flîgh~ bar drive for pushing a group of cans iIltO
10 contact with the front wall of a partially formed tray for
drawing the tray out from under a deadplate and for trans--
ferring the tray and cans from the deadplate to a deadplal:e
further downstream
A further feature of the invention is the use of an air
15 clutch for ~uick release the can flight bar drive in the
event a problem such as a jam in the packer station arise~; to
allow cleaning out of the tray loads from the machine before
the machine stops. The machine additionally includes electri-
cal interlocking safety features to prevent machine damage in
20 the event of jams.
Another feature of the invention is the use of the grouper
control electrical circuits to slow the machine down to "slow
speed" before the grouper clutch can re-engage.
Brief Description of the Drawings
Figs. lA and lB comprise left and right hand portions"
respectively, of a view in side elevation that shows the gen-
eral arrangement of the packing and capping machine in accord-
ance with the invention;
Figs. 2A and 2B comprise left and right hand portions"
30 respectively, of a view in top plan of the packing and capping
machine of Fig. l;
Fig. 3 is an elevational view of the hopper assembly of
the machine looking from the packer station in Fig. l;
Figs. 4 and 5 are fragmen~ed perspective views of the
35 hopper assembly looking toward the packer station in Fig. l;
A
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Fig. ~ is a view similar to Figs. 4 and 5 showing a
stack of tray paperboard blanks in place;
Fig. 7 is a view showing the hopper assembly of the
machine looking from the right in Fig. 3;
Fig. 8 is a perspective view showing the tray blank
conveyor, the deadplate in the packer station, and the feed
to the deadplate of the tray blank and grouper conveyors,
and the gate forming a downstream bridge;
Fig. 9 is a side elevational view of an enlarged sca.Le
lQ of the packer station showing the pusher bar and flight as-
sembly.
Fig. 10 is a perspective view of the packer with a load
of cans being picked up by the pusher bar and can flight
drive assembly;
Fig. 11 is a perspective view showing in greater detail
one of the can flight bars and an associated actuating cam;
Fig. 12 is a perspective view of the packer with a load
of cans in place, a few cans being removed to show the front
wall of the cans picking up the tray blank front wall and
20 forming an end flap;
Fig 13 is a cross sectional view looking at the pac~;er
from the downstream side
Figs. 14A and 14B comprise left and right hand portions,
respectively, of an enlarged side elevational view of the
25 pusher bar conveyor e~tending from the packer throught the
glue station to the flap seal to the film wrap station;
Figs~ 15A and 15B comprise left and right hand portions,
respectively, of a view in top plan of the pusher bar conveyor
of Figs. 14A and 14B; and
Fig. 16 is a perspective view that shows the chain drive
for the pusher bar conveyor and also a take-away belt that: is
provided.
Descri tion of the Preferred Embodiment
p
The packing and capping machine 1 illustrated in Figs,.
35 lA, lB and 2A, 2B includes, in sequence along a predetermi.ned
path, a feeder 10, a lane divider station 12, a grouper 14,
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a hopper s~ation 16, a packer station 18, a glue station
20, a flap seal 22, a film wrap 24, a film sealer 26 and
a heat tunnel 28
The feeder 10 co~prises a suitable feeder conveyor
5 and delivers a flow of cans indicated generally at 30 in
nested orientation, to the lane divider station 12. The
lane divider station 12, as shown, includes five lane
guides indicated generally at 32. The lane guides 32
cause the cans 30 that are delivered to the grouper 14 to
10 be separated into six separate rows.
The grouper 14 serves a holdback function, releasing
at predetermined intervals groups or loads 31 of cans that:
are to go into a tray. Typically, such a grou? is six cans
wide and four cans long, thus providing twenty-four cans to
15 a pack. It will be understood, however, that with appro-
priate adjustment of the lane divider station 12, other size
groups of cans may be provided, if desired, for example, four
cans wide and three cans long thus making up twelve to a pack.
A clutch drives the grouper 14 from a sprocket 214 on the
20 pusher bar conveyor. The grouper 14 is used as a metering
device to control the whole machine 1, to control precisely
the delivery of a load of cans 31 and a tray blank to the
packer 18. The grouper 14 further is controlled to slow the
machine down to "slow speed" before the grouper clu~ch can re-
25 engage~ The machine illustrated in Figs. lA and lB has arated speed of 75 filled trays or cases a minute. When it is
desired to clear out the machine, in the event, for example,
of trouble, the operator can cut back the speed back to 60
trays per minute by switching the grouper 14 in and out. Also,
30 the grouper can be disengaged and the trays downstream can be
ran out. When the grouper 14 engages, there is a delay of a
second or two and then the machine is run up to full speed~
The operator control panel is shown at 33 in Fig. lA,
The hopper station 16, as seen by reference to Fig. 3,
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includes a support bar bracket 34, a slide support bar 36,
a support bar 38, a hopper clamp bar 40, a hopper rear sup-
port 42, a rear wall breaking cam or pre-breaker ~, a
hopper front support 46, a ront wall breaking cam 48,
5 and hopper stack end guides 50. The hopper station further
includes a blank guide 52 that is supported on a suitable
bracket 51, a blank guide 54, a blank guide spacer 56, a
blank feed guide 58, a flap holding guide plate 60, and a
front wall holding guide 122.
Included in the hopper station 16, as shown in Figs. 4
and 6, is a stack 65 of corrugated paperboard blanks 66.
Each paperboard blank is pre-cut to facilitate forming the
blank into a tray having a bottom panel 67, a front wall 68,
a rear wall 70, and end walls 72 and 74. Also, there is pro-
15 vided on the blank 66 a back or rear wall flap 76 at each end
of the rear wall 70 and a front wall flap 78 at each end of
the front wall 68. ~dditionally, there is provided a front
wall crease line 80, a back wall crease line 82, end wall
crease lines 84 and 86, the crease lines for the flaps 76 and
20 73 comprising extensions of the end wall crease lines 84 arld
86, respectively.
As may be seen particularly by reference to Figs. 5 and
7, the hopper section further includes a vertically oscil~lating
vacuum cup lift that is indicated generally at 88 that is con-
25 nected to a suitable vacuum pump (not shown) having its owndrive for pulling down the bottom paperboard blank 66 of t:he
stack 65 of such blanks that are stored in the hopper 16. The
vacuum cup lift 88 includes four oblong-shaped vacuum cups 90,
92, 94 and 96. The mechanism for raising and lowering the
30 vacuum cup lift 88 comprises a vacuum cup lift plate 98, a
pusher plate 74, a pusher plate bracket 100, a block pusher
guide 102, a pusher linkage rod 104, a pusher linkage rod end
106, a vacuum cup lift lever arm 108, a face cam 110 having
an oscillating follower 112, the face cam 110 having a
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characterized track (not shown) b~t which the cam ollower
112 follows to rock lever arm 108 about a pivot 114 and
thereby alternately, through linkages 106 and 104 and
pusher plate 100, to lift the vacuum cup lift plate 98 and
thereby the four vacuum cups 90, 92, 94 and 96 into engage-
ment with the bottom paperboard blank 66 in the hopper stack
65 and to pull down such bottom blank 66 into position for
transfer to the packer station 18,
The characterized track of face cam 110 causes the
rise of the vacuum cup lift plate 38 toward the bottom
paperboard blank 66 of the stack 65 to be very rapid. The
rate of descent, however, of the vacuum cup lift 88 is
initially slow and is followed by a fast descent again. It
has been found that as a result of such characterized rise
and descent of the vacuum cups lift 88 the tendency for more
than one paperboard blank 66 to be pulled down from the
stack 65 is eliminated or substantially minimized. This
method of pulling down a tray blank 66 from the hopper 16
at positive cam controlled speeds with fast rise and initial
slow descent to pull only one blank 66 from the hopper 16,
followed by fast descent again is a feature of the inven-
tion. The initial slow descent allows air to leak in
between the paperboard blank 66 that is being lowered and
the adjacent paperboard blank, thereby relieving a suction
effect that tends to cause an adjacent blank also to be
pulled down and contributing importantly to the reliability
of pulling one tray at a time from the stack,
It will be noted with respect to the vacuum cup lift
~3, particularly as seen in Fig, 5, that provision is made
by way of a clamping plate 116 for adjustment of the spac-
ing between the pairs of vacuum cups 90, 94 and 92, 96.
Specifically, the vacuum cups 90 and 94 are fixed in posi-
tion, but by loosening clamping plate 116, the vacuum cups
92 and 96, those disposed to the upstream side of the
hopper section 15, may be adjusted in position relatively
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to vaCuum cups 90 and 94.
As shown in Figs. 3-6, there is provided a ledge 118
on the hopper rear support 42 and a ledge 120 on the hopper
front support 46. The ledges 11~ and 120 are stack breakers,
the purpose being to shuffle, that is, to relatively vertically
to shift the paperboard blanks, as indicated generally in
Fig. 6, so as to minimize the pressure on the bottom surfaces
of the blanks, specifically the surface areas of the bottom
of the blanks that engage the flap breaking cams 44 and 48.
The perspective view of Fig. 4 of the hopper station
shows a paperboard blank 66 as having been lowered into posi-
tion for, and in the process of being transferred to the packer
station 18. A front wall 68 of the blank 66 is shown as having
been erected to a vertical, squared position with respect to the
bottom panel 67. This erection is produced by the camming action
of cam 48 as the paperboard blank 66 is being pulled down. Also,
the crease line 82 for the rear or back wall 70 of the blank 66
is shown as having been broken. The front wall 68 is shown as
being captured by a plastic channel guide support 62 which, as
shown, includes an upper ledge 124. It will be apparent to
those skilled in the art that as the paperboard blank 66 is
~ulled down by the vacuum cup lift 88 that the edge of the
front wall 68 slides off the upper ledge 124 of the channel
guide 122 and is latched thereby. That is, the edge of the
front wall 68 of the paperboard blank 66 slides down over the
ledge 124 until the tension or bending memory of the joint
formed at the crease line 80 of the front wall 68 flips the
wall 68 forward under the ledge 124, thereby allowing the
ledge 12~ to capture the paperboard front wall 96 in an up-
right position with respect to the bottom panel 67. It i~;important to get the front wall 68 upright with the bottorn
panel 67. Doing so also takes out some of the warp out oi-
the tray blank 66.
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lleanwhile, the rear flap breaking cam or pre-breaker
44 flips up the back wall 70 of the blank 66 and allows it to
flip down again. The back wall 70 i9 pre-breaked to avoid
holding up subsequent operations when the back wall is erected
to a square position
Also shown in Figs. 3, 4 and 7 is a pusher bar 126.
Pusher bar 126 is connected by a stem 128 to an air cylinder
130, as seen particularly in Fig. 7. Pusher bar 126 is
operative, when actuated, to engage the adjacent end of the
paperboard blank 66, as best seen in Figs. 4 and 7, to move
the blank 66 into engagement with a tray blank conveyor 132 for
transporting the blank 66 to the packer station 18.
The tray blank conveyor 132, as seen in Figs 7 and 8
includes an endless belt 134 that is driven by a chain drive
mechanism indicated at 136. Associated with the tray blank
conveyor 132 in the hopper section 16 are two pairs of infeed
rollers 138 and 140, as shown in Fig. 4, that desirably are
spring biased downwardly and which, in cooperation with a
roller 138 underneath, as seen in Fig. 5, guide the paper-
board blank 66 in driving engagement with the drive belt134 of the tray blank conveyor 132.
By reference to Fig. 8 it is noted that the packer
station 18 includes a deadplate 142. Cans (not shown) in
groups, six abreast and four long, for example, are succes-
sively delivered to the top of the deadplate 142 by thegrouper 14. Additionally, tray paperboard blanks 66 are
successively moved into cooperative relation with the
deadplate 142 by the tray blank conveyor 132, the bottom
panel 67, back wall 70 and end walls 72 and 74 of each tray
blank 66 being positioned under the deadplate 142, with lthe
front wall 68 of the tray blank 66 extending above the
deadplate 142 and maintained in an erect position by the
channel guide support 122, the end latter terminating in
the packer section 18 at the adjacent edge of the deadplate
142. Also included in the packer station 1~ is a plactic
tray blank stop indicated at 144 against which the end wall
d of the tray blank 66 abuts to terminate the transverse
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movement by the blank convPyor 132 of the tray blank 66 from
the hopper section ]6 to the packer section 18. The inner
rollers are so positioned that with the paperboard blank 66
abutting blank stop 144, the blank 66 is just barely out away
from them. This is necessary because if the blank 66 were
still engaged by the rollers 138, 140 and 1~1, the blank
would not be free to move out from under the deadplate 142.
In Fig. 8 there is indicated, generally, at 146,
six articulated drive chains at the exit end of the grouper
14. These chains 146 deliver the successive groups of cans,
six abreast and four deep substantially to the packer station
18 but do not drive the successive groups of cans on to t:he
deadplate 142. For the latter purpose, and for conveying
each group of cans, as contained or captured in an individual
tray, for a further distance downstream, there is provided
an overhead pusher bar and can flight assembly that has been
indicated generally at 147 in Fig. 9.
As shown in Fig. 9 the pusher bar and can flight
assembly includes a pair of chains 148 on which are mount:ed
five flight bars 150 that are equally spac~d along chains 148.
The flight bars lS0 are driven in an orbital path by the chains
148 which in turn, are driven from a grouper and flight bar
sprocket 152 by a chain 15~.
In operation, as illustrated in Fig. Y, 10 and 11,
each of the flight bars 150 operates, in turn, to swing down
and around tail sprockets 166 of pusher bar and can flight
assembly 1~6 and comes up from behind to engage the rear wall
156 of a load of cans 31 as the cans 31 leave the lane guides
32, as seen in Fig. 2, and approach the packer 18. In this
way the load of cans 31 is pushed on to the deadplate 142 in
the packer 18, the forward wall 160 of the cans 31 being
moved into engagement with the erect front wall 68 of the
tray blank 66 then positioned in packer station 18.
Referring to Figs. 10 and 11 it will be seen that
each of the can flight bars 150 are square and have a spring
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steel plate 162 which is controlled by a cam follower or
roller 164. The cam roller 16A is adapted, as the bar 150
rounds a sproc]~et 166, at the upstream side of the assembly
146, to strike a cam track 170 of a cam 168. This makes
the flight bar 150 and spring steel plate 162 rotate 90
and brings the steel plate 162 into position to push the
load of cans 31. The flight ~ars 150 are suspended by
being locked into a locking position. There are five flight
bars 150 and cam rollers 164. Desirably, the shape of plate
162 is so selected as to cause the plate 162 to engage the
rear wall 156 of cans 31 at a low position, a position below
their center of gravity, so as to avoid toppling the cans
as they are being pushed. It is noted that the ends of the
lane guides 32 of the lane divider 12 adjacent the tail
sprockets 166 of the pusher bar and can flight conveyor
146 are cut down to allow the passage of the flight bars 150.
This is to avoid having the spring steel plates 162 come
into contact with the la~e guides 32.
Desirably, there also is provided a hold-down
indicated at 172 for the loads 31 of cans as they are moved
in succession on to the deadplate 142 in the packer 18
Hold-down 172 is made of a sheet o~ a very tough durable
plastic, and acts to hold down the tops of the cans 31 to
prevent the cans 31 from toppling forward
In Fig. 10 a load of cans 31 is shown as having
just been picked up by a flight bar 150. The hold-down
172 has not been shown in Fig. 10 to avoid complication of
the drawing. The forward wall 160 of the cans 31 is shown
still some distance from the front and squared wall 68 of
the tray blank 66, thus revealing the front wall 68, the
inner front wall flap 78 and the crease line for the latter.
Fig. 12 is a view of the packer station 18 that is
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sirnilar to the view of Fig. 10 but shows some of the cans of
load 31 have been taken out to reveal how the front wall. 160
of the cans 3i engages the :Eront wall 68 of the paperboard
b]ank 66 and pulls or draws the blank 66 out from under the
deadplate 142. Fig. 12 shows that as the blank 66 is drawn
out from under the deadplate 142, the inner or front flap
7~ of the tray begins to form about an inner cam shoe in-
dicated at 174 the u~per edge of the turned flap 78 being
captured under a ledge 178 to hold it in its turned position.
A similar cam shoe 174 (not shown) is provided at the ot:her
side of the front wall 68 of the tray blank 66, and as a
result, the other inner front flap 78 of the tray also begins
to form. The inner flaps 7~ are ma~,,^ one-sixteenth of an
inch (1/6") (0.1587 centimeters) higher than the end walls
72 and 74 to hold the flaps 78 in place under the ledge 178.
This results in the formation of trays that are very square.
It will be noted that as the inner and outer front
flaps are formed the squared and erect position of the front
wall 68 of the paperboard blank 66 is maintained notwithstand-
ing that the front wall 68 no longer is being su]pported in
its erect and squared position by the plastic channel guide
122.
As shown in Figs. 8, 9 and 13 there is provided a
tray gate indicated at 176.
The gate 176, when in a vertical position, serves
to escort the tray blank 66 across an opening called the
"throat of the machine, from the hopper station 66 to the
packer station. The gate 176 serves to get the leading
edge of the tray blank 66 past the outer cam shoe that forms
the outer or leading flap 78, thereby maintaining the squaredposition of the front wall 6~ of the paperboard blank 66. The
gate 176 guides the blank 66 and holds the front wall 68 up
as the front wall 68 leaves the plastic channel guide su]pport
122, the support 122 terminating adjacent the inner shoe 174,
as seen in Fig. 12. Thus the leading edge of the front wall
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68 stays up long enough to get the leading edge of the blank
over the outer shoe, the flaps 78 at the end of the front wall
68 being in line to be bent back by the inner shoe 174 and
the corresponding outer shoe that is provided.
By reference to Fig. 9, it is seen that the gate
176 is arranged to be actuated between its erect position
shown to a horizontal position by an air cylinder indic~ted
at 179, a tray stop cylinder lever, a blank gate shaft :L82,
a tray stop lever shaft 184, a tray gate rod 186, and a gate
hinge pin 188. Upon actuation of the air cylinder 179 the
gate 176 is lowered to its horizontal position thereby allow-
ing the load of cans 31 to be conveyed by the pusher bar and
can flight assembly 146 thereacross and on to next deadplate,
that indicated at 190.
In accordance with the invention, once the tray
blank 66 has been escorted by the tray gate 176 across ~he
throat of the machine between the hopper 16 and packer 18,
as described, with the front wall 68 and associated outer
flap 78 past the outer flap forming shoe, the gate 176 has
done its job, and as the cans 31 come in, just before the for-
ward wall 160 of the cans contacts the front wall 68 of the
tray blank 66, the air cylinder 178 is actuated to move the
gate 176 from its vertical position to its horizontal posi-
tion. It is noted that in its horizontal position the gate
176 acts as a drawbridge to support the front portion o~ the
tray blank 66 underneath across the void to the next dead-
plate, a short deadplate 190, where the successive tray
blanks 66, partially formed and with the load of cans 3]l
thereon, are picked up and conveyed to the glue station 20
by a pusher bar conveyor 192 which also conveys the part:ially
formed trays and cans 31 to tray erecting and sealing means
191 to be described.
The glue station 20, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2
includes four spray guns indicated at 194, 196, 198 and 200
that are arranged to spray adhesive downwardly on each of
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the end surfaces of the end walls 72 and 74, the latter being
still flat, that is, as yet, not raised into square positions
with the bottom panel 67 of tlle tray blank 66.
The pusher bar conveyor 192 includes first and
second pairs of pusher bar chains ~02 and 203, as seen partic-
ularly in Figures 14B and 16 that are driven by a chain drive
206 and sprocket 208 from a gear box 207. A plurality of
front pusher bars 204 are carried by the first pair of chains
202, being suspended therebetween. Similarly, a plurality of
rear pusher bars 205 are carried by suspended between, the
second pair of chains 203. Thus, there is provided a
plurality of sets of front and rear pusher bars 204 and 205,
the spacing between each set of bars 204 and 205 bei.ng such
as to embrace a filled tray with a front ~usher bar 204 in
contact with the front wall 68 and a rear pusher bar 205 in
contact with the rear wall 70 of the tray. Desirably, suita-
ble means are provided for adjusting the spacing between the
front pusher bars 204 and the rear pusher bars in order to
accommodate trays having different distances between their
front and rear walls.
Provided on the tail shaft 210 of the pusher bar
chains 202 and 203, as seen in Fig. 15A is a Ferguson Over-
load Coupling 212 and also a double drive sprocket 214 for
the grouper 14 and the pusher bar and can flight assembly
146. Thus, a chain drive, as indicated as 154 in Fig. 9,
is provided between the double sprocket 214 and the sprocket
152 of the pusher bar and can flight assembly 146. Drive
215, as seen in Fig. lA, drives the grouper 14 and the six
individual chains 146. Sprocket 152 is mounted on an air
clutch that allows quick release of the can flight assembly
146 drive in the event a problem arises.
The pusher bar conveyor 192 also includes a plurality
of deadplates 215 on which a tray blank 66 and its load of
cans 31 are adapted to be pushed. In the operation of the
conveyor 192, a rear pusher bar 205 comes up from behind the
filled tray and pushes up the rear wall 70 into a square
position with the bottom panel 67, the front wall 68 of the
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tray meanwhile bein~ pushed into engagement with the asso-
ciated front bar 204 of the conveyor 192, the squared
position o~ the front wall 68 having been maintained by the
cooperati.on of flaps 78 of the tray blank 66 and the ledge
175.
As the tray blank 66 is moved forward from the
packer station lS with the front wall 68 and rear wall 70
both in square positions with the bottom panel 67, flap
tuckers 216 and 21~ that are provided on opporite sides of
the conveyor 192, as seen in Fig. 15, are rocked to turn. or
tuck inwardly the back wall flaps 76 of the paperboard blank
66. Flap tuckers 216 and 218, as shown, are carried on a
shaft 220 that is rocked by a flap tucker cam 222 through
a flap tucker lever arm 224 having a cam follower 226 on
the end thereof in engagement with the cam surface of cam
222.
Further movement of the tray blank 66 and the load
of cans 31 by the pusher bars 204 and 205 results in the
capture in their inwardly tucked positions of the back wall
flaps 76 by side guides indicated at 228. With the back
wall flaps 76 so captured, the tray blank 66 and its load of
cans is moved to the glue station 20 where, as previously
mentioned, glue is sprayed downwardly on each of the end
surfaces of the end walls 72 and 74 of the blank 66, which
end walls 72 an.d 74 are still in a horizontal position~
Following such application of glue to the end
walls 72 and 74, each side of the tray blank 66 and its
load of cans is moved by the pusher bars 204 and 205 past
the tray erecting and sealing means 191 which, as seen in
Fig. 14A, includes a pair of rollover bars 230. The roll-
over bars 230functions to erect the end walls 72 and 74, a
flap guide 232 being provided at the end of each rollover
bar 230, as shown. With continued movement forward, the end
walls 72 and 74 are captured between opposed compression
plates 234 that are provided on the sides of the conveyor
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192 in the flap seal section 22 of the packaging machine 1.
In the flap seal section 22, the adhesive that was
applied to each end of the end walls 72 and 74 dries to form a
strong bond between each of the end walls 72 and 74 and an
associated flap 78 of the front wall 68 and associated flap 76
of the back wall 70, thus forming a completed tray around the
associated load of cans 31, that is -to say, a filled tray.
At the exit end of the pusher bar conveyor 192
there is provided a take-away belt indicated at 236. The
take-away belt 236 may comprise a belt and is a little speedup
belt that pulls the filled trays away from the rear pusher bar
206 thereby preventing the pusher bar 206 from possibly damaging
the tray as it whips around the end of the pusher bar conveyor
192.
After leading the pusher bar 192, as seen in Figs.
1 and 2, the filled tray is moved into and through the film
wrap and sealer station 26 where the filled tray is capped with
a film sheet, for example, of thin polyethylene, stretch
filml or paper. From the film wrap and sealer station 26, the
filled and capped tray is moved by a discharge conveyor indicated
at 238 to a film seal 26 to bond or weld the film sheet to
the tray walls to produce a tight bond between the film sheet
and the tray, and then to a heat tunnel 28 where the filled
and capped tray is formed into a tight package.
The film wrap 2~, film seal 26 and heat tunnel 28
preferably are constructed and arranged as illustrated by rny
aforementioned German application for patent published on
November 17, 1977 and bearing serial No. 27 20 255, and hence,
detailed description thereof herein is believed to be unnecessary.
Suffice it to say with respect to the film wrap 24 and filrn seal
26 that power driven means are provided to push a filled tray
against a film sheet extending from a constant-tension filrn-
unwend device, follwing whioh a flight bar pulls the film
sheet tautly over the tops of the packaged articles and against
~5~9~0
- 17 -
the trailing wall of the tray. Heat is supplied to the flight
bars. Pressure of the film sheet against the tray is effective
to bond or "weld" the film sheet to the tray wall to produce
a tight bond between the film sheet and the tray.
As illustrated in the several drawings, power driven
means including a number of separate motors are provided for
driving the several conveyors. These motors may be similar
to the power driven means that are described in U.S. Patents
3,101,654, 3,196,761, 3,890,763 and in the aforementioned
German application No. 27 20 255 published on November 17, 1977.
Thus, there has been provided, in accordance with the
invention a method of and a system for packaging a plurality
of articles such as cans and bottles and the like in trays
that are erected from pre-cut corrugated paperboard blanks
comprising, a feeder 10 of articles to be placed in a tray, a
lane divider 12, a grouper 14, a hopper station 16, a packing
station 18, a glue station 20, tray erecting and sealing means
191, a film wrap and film seal station 26, and a heat tunnel
28.
The hopper station 16 includes means for holding a
stack of pre-cut paperboard blanks each having crease lines
defining a bottom panel, front and rear walls with flaps and a
pair of end walls, cam-operated and positively controlled
pulling means for pulling a tray blank 66 from the bottom of
the stack, front flap breaking cam for breaking the front
wall crease lines and camming the front wall intoan upright:
position with the bottom panel, a rear flap breaking cam
44 for breaking the rear wall, a pusher bar 126 for pushinq the
blank from the hopper station 16 to the packing station 18,
and a guide support 122 for holding the front wall of the blank
in an upright position with the bottom panel during the transfer
of the partially formed tray from the hopper station 16 to the
packing station 18.
-18-
The packing station includes shoe means 174 for
folding the tray front wall flaps 78 into square position
with the ront wall 68~ a ledge 178 for controlling the
position of the top ed~e o~ the flaps 73 for controlling
the top edge of the front wall and for maintaining the
front wall in square position, a dead plate 142, a tray
gate 176 for guiding the front wall 68 of the tray into a
desired position with the packing station, the bottom panel
67 being beneath the dead plate, a pusher bar and flight
assembly 146 for delivering a load of cans 31 or the like
over the dead plate to the front wall of the tray and for
pushing the front wall and the tray away from the packing
station 1~ and on to a downstream dead plate 190, an air
cylinder 178 and associated linkage for rotating the gate
away from the front wall 68 of the blank 66 so that the
tray gate 176 forms a draw bridge between the deadplate
142 in the packing station 18 and the downstream deadplate
190, and a pusher bar conveyor 192 for conveying the loaded
tray to the glue station which includes means for applying
glue to the end walls o the tray.
The tray erecting and sealing means 191 inclucling
flap tuckers 216 and 218 for kicking the rear wall flaps 76
of this partially formed tray into square position with the
rear wall 70, pusher bars 205 of the pusher bar conveyor for
erecting the rear wall 70 into square posltion with the
bottom panel 67, and rollover bars and flap guides for
erecting the end walls 72 and 74 into square position wi.th
the bottom panel 67 and into adhesive con~act for bonding
with the front and rear flaps 76 and 78, thus forming a
completed tray around the load of cans 31, that is, a filled
tray.
The film wrap 24, film seai 26 and heat tunnel 28
cap the filled tray with a film sheet in a tight package.
