Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
CA 02623028 2008-03-18
-2~~$ 281433 Nr, 35a 1
15-01-2008 1B2006002660
1
Title: Unit for feedin sheets of material i,nto a machine for manufacturin 4f
acka in s
Technical Field
Thc invcntion relates to a unil for feeding shects of materia1 into a machine
for
manuthGturing of packagings, safd unit comprising a frame with a height
adjusta.ble
support folr the sheets of material, said sheets preferabiy beung Fresent in
t,be form of
a stack, twe separate conveyor devices being provideda at ieast one cunveyor
device
beirg la.terally adjustable in order to align each sheet of material with a
main line
operative for t~~ ~maining paut of the machine for manufacturing of
packagings.
Backgrocn Art
An apparatus for fceding and aligning a sheet is lcnown; said machine having a
double drive, Two "catch" wheeis are provided,, each being driven by its own
motor
and each optionally rotating with it,s own speed, said wheels being able to
"catch"
the top sh.eet of astack of sheets in a tray. Simultaneoualy with advancing
the sheets
the ea.tch wheels "align" thema i.e. turn the sheets a litUe with respect to
their main
advance direction. However, this apparatus does not operate reliably wtth
respect to
its aIigung ability, especialiy when large sheets are being advanced.
Us publishcd laatent application No 5234205 relates to a "Docunlent feeder
apparatus utifizing driven beltg". This publicatiori cliscloses a, unit frame
on which a
stack of sheets is plac;ecl. On top of the stack two sing1e conveyors are
mounted
whose relative position is a.djustable iri dhe width directian. This f~eder
has turneci
out not lo work in a suff ciently rcliable maimer.
The problein to be solved is to pravide a unit which is morc reliable compared
to the
prior art..
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,ceived at the EP4 on Jan 15, 2008 1 4:35:06. Pa AMENDED SHEET
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CA 02623028 2008-03-18
28 14; 33 Nr, 3501
~5-0~-2oos 1B2006002660
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DisClosure of Invcntion
Thc unit according to thc invention is characterized in tia,at e~ch conveyor
device
comprises a set o[' conlinuous conveyory, the coAveyors of cach convoyor sct
bcing
interconnected!. In this way, a more reliable unit is providcd,
ceived at the EP4 on Jan 15, 200814:35:06. Pa qMENDED SHEET
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According to the invention, at least one set of interconnected conveyors may
. . increase their sheet advancing velocity with respect to the sheet
advancing velocity
. of the second set of interconnected conveyors. This provides better
adjustrnent
possibilities.
.
Moreover, according to the invention, at least one set of interconnected
conveyors
may laterally move a packaging sheet aligned at its front edge. This ensures
that the
advanced sheets can be centred with respect to the subsequent machine for
manufacturing of packagings in a very reliable manner.
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. . Furthermore, according to the invention, the front conveyor, seen in
advance
i direction, of each conveyor set may comprise at least two rollers and a
continous
belt led around them. As a result an especially "good grip" of each conveyor
set in
the top sheet of said stack at any time, is obtained.
According to the invention, the continuous belt for the front conveyor . of
each
conveyor set may comprise of a comparatively thick belt portion, the end of
which
being connected to a comparatively thin belt portion, the end of said latter
belt
portion being connected to the beginning of the comparatively thick belt
portion. In
this way, when the top sheet of the stack of sheets has been advanced so far
into the =
unit that "the thick belt portion" lies opposite the sheet, said sheet may be
easily =
moved sideways by means of said thick belt portion, since the thick belt
portion
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exerts pressure on the sheet, in order to centre the sheet with respect to the
subsequent machine for manufacturing of packagings.
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. Moreover, according to the invention, the front conveyor of each conveyor
set may
be provided with th.ree rollers, around which the corresponding continuous
belt is
led. Zn practice, this has also proved to be particularly practical.
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Further, according to the invention, the two sets of conveyors may each be
driven by
' its own servomotor operational at different angular velocities, thus
permitting the
two conveyor sets to be brought to run with exactly the same advancing
velocity,
Furthermore, according to the invention, each of the two conveyor sets may be
driven by its own variable frequency motor thus achieving a very reliable
operation
o the unit.
Finally and according to the invention, the sheets for the packaging may be of
corrugated cardboard, solid (thick) cardboard or plastics. In practice, it has
been
found that the unit can advance this type of packaging sheet in a particularly
reliable
way. ' .
Brief Description of the Drawing
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The invention is explained in detail below with reference to the drawing, in
which
Fig. l is a perspective view of an embodirnent of a unit according to the
invention,
Fig. 2 is a top view of another embodiment of the unit, where said embodiment
is
positioned on top of a stack of paper,
Fig. 3 is a schematic side view of the same embodiment, and
Fig. 4 is a side view of an ernbodiment of the conveyor belt, said belt
comprising a
comparatively thick belt portion and a comparatively thin belt portion which
are
connected. . V
Best Modes for Carryin out the Invention
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Fig. 2 shows an embodiment of a un.it for feeding a sheet of material into a
machine
~ for the manufacturing of a packaging I; the machine comprises a frame with a
height adjustable support 2 for sheets of material3, as shown in Fig. 3. The
sheet
material is usually present in the form of a stack, as shown in Fig. 2. As
shown in
Fig. l, the unit possesses two separate sets 4 and 5 of continuous conveyors.
The
conveyors 4a and 4b of the conveyor set 4 are interconnected. Similarly, the
conveyors 5a and 5b of the conveyor set 5 are interconnected, ane conveyor set
4 of
the conveyor sets 4, 5 is laterally adjustable; this means first and foremost
that the
conveyor set 4 or conveyor set 5 may conduct a lateral translational movement,
cf.
1 o the double arrow A in Fig. 2--, in order to align the sheets of rnaterial
advanced by
means of this unit with a main line H operative for the remaining part of the
machine
for the manufacture of packagings l. Usually, the second conveyor set 5 is not
laterally adjustable. .
The two separate sets of continuous conveyors 4 and 5 are usually mounted
parallel
+ to each other and on top of said stack. At least one of the conveyor sets,
e.g. the
conveyor set 4, may increase its sheet a.dvancing velocity compared to the
sheet
advancing velocity obtainable by the second set 5 of the interconnected
conveyors.
Thus, it is possible to align (i.e. turn) the sheet of material (on top of the
sheet
Zo stack) which is being advanced. Turning takes place in such a way that as a
result
the front edge of the sheet will be exactly perpendicular to the advance
direction of
the sheet
The front conveyor 4a, 5a, seen in advance direction, of the conveyor set 4
and 5
may e.g. comprise two, three or more rollers' 12a, 12b and 13a, 13b, 13c, and
a
continuous belt 12',13' is led around each of these roller sets.
With respect to the continuous belt 12' or 13' for the front conveyor of each
conveyor set 4 5, it may be made of a comparatively thick belt portion 12'a,
the
end 12'ae of which being connected to the beginning of a comparatively thin
belt
portion 12'b, the end 12'b0 of said latter belt portion being connected to the
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beginning of the comparatively thick belt portion 12'a, as shown in Fig. 4.
This '
.
ensures that pressure exerted by the unit on the top sheet of the stack can
increase a
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CA 02623028 2008-03-18
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little, when said comparatively thick belt portion 12'a is positioned above
the top
sheet of the stack,. which is advantageous, if the conveyor is to be moved
laterally
for a moment and is to pull the top sheet of the stack for a short distance.
5 Instead, the front conveyor 4a, 5a of each conveyor set 4, 5 may be provided
with
three rollers (cf. Fig. 1), around which the corresponding continuous belt
12', 13' is
led, as shown in Fig. 2. Normally, the conveyor 4b, 5b, the "next in line" in
each
conveyor set 4 or 5, is only provided with two rollers, around which a
continuous
belt runs.
The two sets of ~conveyors 4, . 5 may be driven by their own servomotors (not
shown), and each servomotor may operate at different angular velocities.
Optionally, each servomotor may be a variable frequency motor (not shown).
The invention may be modified in many ways without thereby deviating from its
scope. Thus, each conveyor may consist of more than three rollers and a
continuous
belt led around them.
