GB2048208A

GB2048208A - Loading Bags Onto a Pallet

Info

Publication number: GB2048208A
Application number: GB8011998A
Authority: GB
Original assignee: OCM SpA
Current assignee: OCM SpA
Priority date: 1979-04-11
Filing date: 1980-04-11
Publication date: 1980-12-10
Also published as: IT1192708B; ES490879A0; DE3014400A1; FR2453803B1; IT7921779A0; NL8002101A; GB2048208B; FR2453803A1; ES8102534A1

Abstract

A device for loading layers of bags on to a pallet comprises a transporter- type openable floor having, at the front, a set of rollers 19 and, at the rear, a roller table 20. The roller-set and the table have separate control means so that both can be advanced in the same direction from a loading position to an unloading position, and thereafter the table can be returned. The device has a height adjustable frame (11) which supports the floor, side walls (21, 22) which are moveable inwardly to align and compact bags in the unloading position, an adjustable front wall 25 and a moveable rear stop 28 located approximately centrally of the frame (11) for retaining the bags in the unloading position. The roller conveyors may be replaced by belt conveyors and both may be reversible in movement. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Device for Forming Layers of Bags to be Loaded on to a Platform or Pallet This invention relates to a device for forming layers of bags to be loaded on to a platform or pallet.

One of the most difficult problems in palletising bags, i.e. in forming stacks of individual layers of bags superposed on a platform or pallet, is to form the individual layers of bags as squared-up, compact and accurate as possible, so as not only to ensure perfect stability of the stacks when formed, but also to produce a package of minimum overall size, either for its storage in the warehouse or for its transportation. A further problem is to then be able to unload each layer of bags on to the platform or on to a layer of bags previously deposited thereon, in an exactly superposed position and without causing, during the depositing, any disorder in the bags such as to make them lose the disposition which they have already assumed.

The object of the present invention is therefore to provide a strong and reliable device able to obviate the aforesaid problems.

This object is attained by a device comprising a transporter-type openable floor supported by a height-adustable frame, side and front walls with relative positioning means, and a rear stop disposed approximately in the centre of said frame, said transporter-type floor being constituted by a front half and a rear half, separate control means being provided for said two halves of the floor in order to impress, in succession, an advancement movement in one direction to both halves from a loading position into an unloading position, and an opening movement in opposite directions to the two halves of the floor when in the unloading position.

Preferably, the front half of the transportertype floor forms part of a first continuous endless conveyor operable by said control means in a single direction, while the rear half forms part of a second conveyor operable by said separate control means in either direction.

Both halves of the transporter-type floor can therefore be moved together from the bag loading position into the bag unloading position, and when they reach this position the front half of the floor can be moved forwards in the same direction of advancement, while the rear half can be simultaneously moved in the opposite direction in order to open the floor and unload the layer of bags formed thereon.

Advantageously, both the front half and the rear half of the openable transporter-type floor is constituted by a set of parallel rotatable rollers disposed transversely to the direction of advancement of the floor.

These and further characteristics of the device according to the invention, its operation and the advantages attained thereby, will be more apparent from the description of one embodiment given hereinafter by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings. in which Figure 1 is a diagrammatic side view of the device partly in vertical section, Figure 2 is a plan view of the device partly in horizontal section, and Figures 3 to 5 are diagrammatic illustrations of various successive operating stages of said device.

The device according to the invention forms part of a bag palletising installation for a stationary platform or pallet. In the drawings, the device is indicated overall by 10.

It comprises a sheet metal frame 11 which supports the entire apparatus. The entire frame 11 is mounted vertically slidable by rollers 12 in two vertical guides 13, and can be raised or lowered by means of a chain 14 driven by an electric motor (not shown on the drawing) disposed at the top of the slide guides.

A first pair of endless chains 1 5 and a second pair of endless chains 1 6 are mounted adjacent to the two side walls of the frame 11. Both these pairs of chains rotate in vertical planes, the first pair at an upper level and the second pair at a lower level. Over a portion 1 spa, the chains of the upper pair 1 5 run horizontally slightly above an analogous portion 1 6a of the pair of lower chains 16, this latter horizontal portion 1 6a being longer than the first portion 1 spa.

The pair of chains 15 is driven by a geared motor 1 7 which enables this pair to be advanced in a single direction, whereas the pair of chains 1 6 is driven by a further geared motor 18 which enables this pair to be driven in either direction.

The pair of chains 1 5 carries, over a certain length, a set of rollers 1 9 inserted freely rotatable into the coupling pins of the links of said chains.

This set of rollers 1 9 constitutes a first front half of a transporter-type floor.

The pair of chains 1 6 drives a roller table 20 which constitutes a second rear half of said transporter-type floor.

When the roller table 20 is in its withdrawn position (Figures 1 and 3), the set of rollers 19 can be positioned by means of the pair of chains 1 5 such that it forms a front extension of said roller table 20, with the rollers all at the same level. Starting from this position and by suitably controlling the geared motors 1 7 and 18, the set of rollers 1 9 and the roller table 20 can be made to move together into an advanced position (Figure 4). From this advanced position, by moving the pair of chains 15 in the-same direction of advancement as formerly, but moving the pair of chains 16 in the reverse direction, the set of rollers 19 can be separated from the roller table 20 (Figure 5), so opening the transporter-type floor.

At the advanced or unloading position of the transporter-type floor formed by the set of rollers 1 9 and roller table 20, two side walls 21, 22 are mounted on the walls of the frame 11 (see Figure 2), each side wall being mobile and advanceable from a withdrawn position towards the axis of the transporter-type floor by means of a pneumatic cylinder 23, 24. In addition, at the front there is provided a front wall 25 which is also mounted by lateral arms on the side walls of the frame 11, and is adjustable by support clamps 26.

Approximately at the centre of the frame 11, a stop plate 28 is mounted rotatable about pins 27, and can be moved from a raised position (as shown in Figure 1 7 to a lowered position by means of a pneumatic cylinder 29 and a lever 30.

The palletising installation also comprises a motorised roller table 31 on which the bags to be palletised arrive, and where a suitable apparatus 32 of known type can either rotate the bags through 900 or cause them to pass without rotation in accordance with a predetermined working programme. The bags then become disposed on another roLler table 33 which follows the former, and from where a pusher 34 pushes them by means of more than one pushing movement on to the transporter-type floor, constituted by the set of rollers 1 9 and the roller table 20, into a withdrawn or loading position until a layer is formed on it as determined by the programme.

In the example illustrated, each layer consists of two bags disposed transversely to the axle of the formation floor for the layers, and by three bags disposed parallel to this axis. This arrangement is reversed in alternate layers, in that in one layer the transverse bags are disposed at the front and those parallel to the axis are disposed at the rear, whereas in the next layer the bags parallel to the axis are disposed at the front and those transverse to the axis are disposed at the rear.

When all the bags for forming one layer have been transferred by the pusher 34 from the roller table 33 to the table constituted half by the set of rollers 19 and the other half by the roller table 20, the entire layer formation floor is made to advance by means of the geared motors 1 7, 1 8 from the loading position to the unloading position (Figure 4) above a platform or pallet 35 which has been previously put into position either manually or automatically. During this transfer of the bags from the loading position to the unloading position, the stop plate 28 is raised, and the two side walls 21,22 are completely withdrawn so as not to hinder the advancement of the bags.

When the layer of bags formed on the set of rollers 1 9 and on the roller table 20 is in the unloading position (Figure 4), the side walls 21, 22 are operated by means of the pneumatic cylinders 23 and 24, such that they thrust the bags towards the floor axis in order to make the layer of bags as compact and aligned as possible.

The stop plate 28 is then lowered by means of the pneumatic cylinder 29, so that it becomes disposed to the rear of the layer of bags in the unloading position. The frame 11 with the layer formation floor in the unloading position is now lowered until it presses against the underlying layer of bags previously deposited on the platform 35, in order to flatten the underlying layer as much as possible. After this, the entire frame 10 is raised by a few millimetres, and the geared motors 1 7 and 1 8 are then operated so as to cause the pair of chains 1 5 and the set of rollers 1 9 to advance, and the pair of chains 1 6 and the roller table 20 to withdraw.In this manner, the floor on which the layer of bags has been formed opens from the centre, and the bags rest on the underlying layer (or on the platform 35 if they represent the first layer). During the opening of the layer formation floor (Figure 5), the front wall 25 and the rear stop wall 28 retain the bags, while the set of rollers 19 and the roller table 20 respectively withdraw in opposite directions under them.

In this manner, the unloaded layer is perfectly superposed on the underlying layer, and as the layer is being unloaded, the bags tend to compress themselves towards the centre as they are retained by the walls 21, 22 and 25 and by the stop plate 28, and because the floor is opened from the centre.

After unloading a layer, the roller table 20 continues its movement until it reaches its completely withdrawn position, whereas the pair of chains 1 5 carries the set of rollers 19 into their initial position (Figures 1 and 3) in which said rollers 1 9 are disposed as a front extension of the roller table 20. The layer formation floor which has again been brought together and closed is now in its loading position, and a new formation cycle for a layer of bags can begin.

The device according to the invention has been described in terms of one embodiment by way of non-limiting example, and numerous modifications of various kinds can be made thereto.

Thus the two halves of the layer formation floor do not necessarily have to be each in the form of a set of rollers, but instead they could be in the form of two mobile belts. Furthermore, the front half of the floor could also be driven in either direction, so that it could be returned from the open floor state in the unloading position to the closed floor state in the loading position.

Claims

1. A device for forming layers of bags to be loaded on to a platform or pallet, comprising a transporter-type openable floor supported by a height-adjustable frame, side and front walls with relative positioning means, and a rear stop disposed approximately in the centre of said frame, said transporter-type floor being constituted by a front half and a rear half, separate control means being provided for said two halves of the floor in order to impress, in succession, an advancement movement in one direction to both halves from a loading position into an unloading position, and an opening movement in opposite directions to the two halves of the floor when in the unloading position.

2. A device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the front half of the transporter-type floor forms part of a first continuous endless conveyor operable by said control means in a single direction, while the rear half forms part of a second conveyor operable by said separate control means in either direction.

3. A device as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the two halves of the transporter-type floor are each constituted by a set of parallel rotatable rollers disposed transversely to the direction of advancement of the floor.

4. A device as claimed in claim 3, wherein the front half of the transporter-type floor is constituted by a set of rollers inserted into the coupling pins of the links of a first pair of chains, and the rear half of the floor is constituted by a roller table driven by a second pair of chains.

5. A device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the side walls are mounted on the side portions of the frame when in the unloading position, and can be controlled so that they advance towards the axis of the transporter-type floor.

6. A device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the front wall is adjustable.

7. A device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the rear stop is constituted by a plate which is mounted transversely in the frame between the loading zone and the unloading zone, and can swivel between a raised position in which it leaves the passage between the two zones free, and a lowered position in which it closes said passage.

8. A device for forming layers of bags to be loaded onto a platform or pallet substantially as described herein with reference to the drawings.