Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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Centering devices for carrier packers
Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to carrier packers,
that is machines for placing articles, typically bottles, in
carriers or cartons, in a predetermined array. More
specifically, this invention relates to devices for centering
and guiding articles such as bottles to be loaded into
upwardly open packing cases.
Background of the Invention
In a carrier packer, articles such as bottles or cans are
continuously supplied to the packer by a conveyor. The moving
bottles are formed into a predetermined number of parallel
lines, typically two, three or four lines. The lines are
separated in lanes, spaced apart by lane dividers. The
bottles are fed into the respective lanes by the movement of
a conveyor. The conveyor feeds the bottles into an array-
forming section where the bottles are grouped into a desired
pattern for packing. This array, that is the number of lines
and the number of bottles in each line, corresponds to the
particular carrier into which the bottles are to be packed. A
carrier will generally have an outer paperboard box and inner
grid-like partitions which subdivide the space within the
carrier into upwardly open compartments or cells where the
bottles are fitted individually.
A transfer device grips an array of bottles and drops them in
an upright position into the carrier. As they drop, the
bottles are guided toward and into the respective cells,
between the partitions of the carrier, by an intermediate
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grid having a number of flexible fingers or flaps around the
fall path of each bottle, which funnels the bottle into its
particular cell within the carrier.
Such devices are provided with flexible members for directing
the bottles being dropped from a gripping assembly into
particular locations within the container. Finger assembles
or clusters are generally mounted to parallel rails in a
vertically movable grid assembly, either at the sides of
individual passages for the bottles, or at the corners of
square passageways for the bottles. With conventional finger
assemblies, it may happen that the fingers will catch against
the upper edges of the partitions, thus causing the entire
production line to stop.
Summary of the Invention
A primary object of the invention is to improve the
performance of a carrier packer. In particular, it is desired
to speed up the cycles of loading or filling of the carriers
and eliminate down times due to failures of the loading
device. A specific object of the invention is to provide
highly reliable centering devices which are simple in
construction.
The above and other objects and advantages which will be
better understood herein after, are achieved, according to
the invention, by centering devices having features described
and claimed herein.
In summary, centering devices may be installed at loading or
filling stations in a carrier packer or packing machine,
where groups or arrays of bottles or other containers are
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placed in carriers each having two rows of upwardly open
cells. To guide the downward movement towards the center of
each cell, in representative embodiments there are provided
two series of flexible tabs, aligned along two respective
rotatable shafts. The shafts are mounted on two opposite
sides of the loading station, from where a conveyor belt
carries away the carriers once they have been filled. The two
shafts are rotatable in order to rotate simultaneously all
the flaps between two alternative angular positions. In a
lowered angular position, the tabs are introduced partly in
the top parts of the carrier cells, to guide the individual
articles (bottles or cans or other containers) towards the
center of the respective cells. In an angularly raised
position, the tabs are rotated so as not to interfere with
the articles, in particular with bottle necks, once the
bottles have been located in the cells, so that a conveyor
may take the carrier away.
Brief Description of the Figures
There will now be described particular embodiments, given by
way of example, reference being made to the accompanying
drawings briefly described below.
Figure 1 is a perspective view of a package comprising a
carrier with six bottles;
Figure 2 is a perspective view of the carrier of Figure
1, in an empty condition;
Figure 3 is a schematic plan view of a carrier erector
and packer, which can incorporate a centering device
according to the present invention;
Figures 4, 5 and 6 are respectively, a perspective view,
a top view and a front view of an empty carrier and a
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centering device with its tabs in a raised position;
Figures 7, 8 and 9 are respectively, a perspective view,
a top view and a front view of an empty carrier and a
centering device with the tabs in a lowered position;
Figures 10, 11 and 12 are perspective views showing
bottles being fitted in the carrier;
Figure 13 is a front view of the carrier and a centering
device in the arrangement of Figure 12;
Figures 14 and 15 are respectively a perspective view
and a front view showing the bottles fitted in the carrier
with the tabs of a centering device raised; and
Figures 16 to 19 are views of the tabs of a centering
device.
0 Detailed Description
Referring initially to Figures 1 and 2, with the number 10
designating as a whole a package of containers 11, in this
example bottles, inserted in a carrier 12, typically of
cardboard. This embodiment refers to a carrier containing two
rows of three bottles each. The carrier 12 has an upwardly
open outer box 13 with a rectangular base, with a wall or
vertical median partition 14 that extends in a direction
defined herein as "longitudinal", and one or more internal
walls or partitions 15 parallel to one another and extending
in a transverse direction. The partitions 14, 15 define,
within the carrier, two parallel rows of upwardly open cells
or receptacles 16, 17 each suitable for accommodating a
respective bottle. Designated at 19 are upper edges of the
transversal partitions 15. The outer box has two pairs of
vertical side walls 13a, a transversal vertical front wall
13b and a transversal vertical rear wall 13c.
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The number of bottles and corresponding cells in each row may
be greater or less than three. There may be, for example,
two, or four, or more than four cells. The material which the
carrier is made of may be paperboard or cardboard. However,
5 other materials may be used as well. For example, the carrier
may be made of plastic material. The container 11 need not
necessarily be a bottle. As alternatives, the containers 11
may be cans, flasks, or other containers, typically
containers for liquids.
Shown in Figure 4 is a centering device, designated as a
whole at 20, which serves to direct the bottles that are
dropped or deposited by a gripping device (designated as 34
in Figure 10) in respective cells 16, 17 of the carrier. The
centering device 20 can be inserted in a machine
schematically illustrated in plan view in figure 3, in this
example carrier erector and packer, i.e. a machine which
forms the carriers erecting them from folded blanks and fills
the carriers with articles such as bottles or other
containers.
The general characteristics of a carrier packing machine are
known in the art, consequently, in the present specification
the elements of specific importance for the purposes of
implementing the invention will be described in detail. For
the construction of parts and elements not shown in detail,
reference may be made to any carrier packer of known design.
As shown in Figure 3, a carrier erector and packer includes a
bottle input zone A, from where the bottles are sorted and
arranged in two parallel rows in a bottle sorting and
gathering zone B. The bottles are handled in an upright
position, carried on conveyor belts. The carriers 12 are
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formed from a store C where the carriers are initially
stacked in a closed or flattened condition. By means of
conventional devices, the carriers are taken one by one from
the store C, opened in an opening area D, and taken in a
carrier preparation E located to the left of a conveyor belt
F which advances in a longitudinal direction of advancement
L. The carriers are placed in an upstream area on the
conveyor belt F and are transferred in a row by the belt F to
a packing station G located transversely to the left of the
bottle sorting and gathering area B.
A gripping and transferring device 34 (Figure 10), picks up a
group or array of six bottles 11 from the bottle sorting and
gathering area B and drops the bottles letting them fall in a
vertical position into a carrier 12 located in the packing
station G, where the centering device 20 (not shown in Figure
3) is arranged. The array of bottles is arranged in two
parallel rows of three bottles each, in a pattern that
corresponds to the particular carrier 12 in which the bottles
are to be packed.
Designated at 21, 22 in Figure 4 are two parallel
longitudinal side boards, transversely spaced from one
another. The side boards delimit laterally a path for the
carriers 12 placed on the belt conveyor F.
In representative embodiments the centering device 20
comprises two rows of flexible tabs 23, 24, adapted to guide
the movement of descent of the bottles, centering them each
in a respective carrier cell. Each row 23, 24 of the flexible
tabs is mounted along a respective one of a pair of parallel
longitudinally extending rotatable shafts 25, 26.
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The shafts 25, 26 are rotatable simultaneously to bring the
tabs 23, 24 alternately in an angular position or lowered
engagement condition, in which the tabs are introduced partly
in the top parts of the carrier cells (Figures 10-12), and an
angularly raised position or disengagement condition (Figure
14), wherein the tabs are rotated away so as not to interfere
with the bottle necks to be removed by the conveyor F along
with the carrier in which the bottles have been placed.
In the illustrated example, the shafts 25, 26 are placed
along two opposite and transversely facing sides of the
loading or packing station G, above the longitudinal side
boards 21, 22 which delimit the path of the carriers 12.
In certain embodiments, the tabs 23, 24 are mounted on each
shaft 25, 26 in pairs of adjacent tabs, wherein the two tabs
of each pair of adjacent tabs are diverging downwards. In
this way, each bottle is guided toward the center of the cell
by two flaps converging towards the center of the cell and
belonging to two consecutive pairs of tabs.
In certain embodiments, tabs 23, 24 may be made out of foils
or sheets of flexible plastic material.
The two tabs of each pair may have upper adjacent edges 28
which, in the angularly lowered position, are arranged
astride or bridging over the upper edges 19 of transverse
partitions 15 of the carrier and the front and rear walls
13b, 13c, favoring the downward sliding of the bottles to the
cells.
In certain embodiments, the two adjacent tabs of a same pair,
intended to be inserted into two respective contiguous cells,
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have their adjacent upper edges 28 defining together a ridge
which, in the angularly lowered position of insertion, is
inclined downwardly toward the bottom of the carrier. This
arrangement favors the sliding of individual bottles and
their gradual introduction into the cells.
In the illustrated embodiments, the tabs are fixed in pairs
to a rigid block 27 which is locked angularly and
longitudinally of the respective shaft. The shafts may have a
cross section with at least one flat face, in order to
facilitate an accurate angular alignment of all the tabs
mounted on a same shaft, and to keep more precisely the
angular orientation between each tab relative to the
supporting shaft. In the illustrated example, the shafts 25,
26 have polygonal transversal cross-sections, particularly
hexagonal cross-section. Alternatively, the shafts 25, 26 may
have a square section, or have a circular cross-section with
one or more flat surfaces. In the illustrated embodiment, the
rigid blocks 27 provide a mounting seat 29 of polygonal or
flattened shape, at least partially complementary with the
cross-sectional shape of the shafts.
The sequence illustrated in the Figures provides that at
first a carrier 12 arrives in the loading or packing station,
with the flaps all rotated in the raised position (Figures 4-
6). The carrier is moved by the conveyor belt and may be
temporarily stopped in the loading station by a movable
detent (not shown). Alternatively, the movement of the
conveyor may be stopped for predetermined loading intervals.
Then, the tabs are rotated in the lowered position (Figures
7-9), penetrating partially in the top parts of the cells 16,
17. The bottles 11 are inserted from above, and guided in the
cells 16, 17 of the tabs 23, 24 (Figures 10-13). Once the
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carrier is packed, the tabs are rotated upwards again
(Figures 14-15) and the full carrier is taken away by the
conveyor belt.
The longitudinal position of the blocks 27 may be adjustable.
In the illustrated example, the blocks 27 each have a
transverse seat 30 for a screw or other transversely
extending fastening element device which releasably and
temporarily locks the block to its shaft and secures the
block in a different longitudinal position along the same
shaft, depending on the width of the bottles or their mutual
distance in the longitudinal direction.
To adapt the centering device to different foLmats of
carriers and containers (or bottles) 11, the shafts 25, 26
may be height adjustable by vertically extendible upright
supports 33 which sustain the opposite ends of the shafts.
The two side boards 21, 22 also may be moved away or toward
each other in the transversal direction, depending on the
width of the carrier.
The centering device may be adjusted, appropriately spacing
the tabs in two or more longitudinally spaced groups of tabs,
in order to simultaneously pack more than one carrier in a
same loading cycle.
To ensure the angular orientation of each tab relative to the
shaft on which it is mounted, each tab may be fixed to the
block 27 at two distinct points 31, 32, for example by screws
or other fasteners.
According to a further embodiment (not shown), the two tabs
of each pair of adjacent tabs may be formed together as a
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single piece having a V-shaped section with two radiused
flaps downwardly diverging toward the centers of two
contiguous cells.
5 As will be appreciated, the invention provides centering
devices which are particularly compact and which allow to
operate the insertion of bottles at high speed due to the low
inertia of the centering tabs which can be rotated quickly
out of the carrier, releasing it.
Experimental tests carried out by the Applicant show that the
invention provides excellent results in terms of speed,
eliminating the times needed for the ascent and the descent
of conventional centering devices with fingers. Centering
devices according to the invention are reliable and cut down
on idle time due to the jamming of conventional fingers with
the carriers, particularly with carriers having small-sized
cells.
Various aspects and embodiments of centering devices have
been described. It is understood that each embodiment may be
combined with any other embodiment. The invention is not
limited to the embodiments described but may be varied by a
person skilled in the art and still fall within the scope of
the invention as defined by defined by the appended claims
and in light of the specification.
