GB2218607A

GB2218607A - A method and installation for the handling of articles, particularly for automatic packaging lines

Info

Publication number: GB2218607A
Application number: GB8829003A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Renzo Francioni
Original assignee: Cavanna SpA
Current assignee: Cavanna SpA
Priority date: 1988-05-18
Filing date: 1988-12-12
Publication date: 1989-11-22
Also published as: CH674499A5; FR2631604A1; DE3842556A1; IT8867461A0; NL8803054A; IT1219312B; GB8829003D0; ES2013377A6; FR2631604B1

Description

1 2218607 "A method and installation for the handlinq of articles,

particularly for automatic packaqinq lines".

The present invention relates to the automatic manipulation or handling of articles in general and has been developed with particular attention to its possible use in automatic packaging installations for food products.

More specifically, the present invention confronts the problem of combining a transfer unit for the articles, which periodically supplies groups of articles (for example a manipulator, an automat or a robot) with a continuous conveyor provided with positions for receiving the articles. The conveyor may, for example, be constituted by a chain conveyor intended for supplying a machine such as an automatic wrapping machine.

It is common knowledge in the field of automatic packaging equipment that a conveyor of the type specified above must be driven continuously in order to be able to operate satisfactorily at high working rates. This operating criterion cannot, however, be reconciled easily with a need, which often arises in this type of application, to supply the continuous conveyor with articles coming from a transfer unit (such as an ejector, a manipulator or a robot or automat) in groups, in a sequence which is, by its nature, intermittent.

Generally, in fact, the transfer unit takes groups of articles from an upstream station (for example the output of an oven, or the output of a packaging machine in which the products are wrapped individually in respective wrappers) and transfers them to the continuous conveyor by means of a reciprocating 2 movement which includes an active stroke for transporting the articles and a return stroke.

Particularly when the installation is operating at fast rates, the products tend to be transferred to the continuous conveyor under increasingly critical conditions. For example, if the continuous conveyor is a chain conveyor provided with entrainment nibs for the individual articles, the fact that the transfer unit deposits the articles in respective receiving positions on the conveyor - which is moving at high speed - can result in erroneous positioning such as adversely to affect the correct operation of the conveyor and of the stations downstream thereof.

This problem could be resolved, at least in principle, by making the transfer unit, so to speak, follow the movement of the continuous conveyor during the deposition of the articles on the conveyor itself. This type of solution cannot, however, be proposed since it requires a structure for moving the transfer unit and for linking this movement to the fairly refined movement of the continuous conveyor which would make the production cost of the transfer unit prohibitive.

Another possible solution could be to provide a launch unit downstream of the transfer unit for accummulating the groups of articles supplied periodically by the transfer unit and imparting thereto a movement which is synchronised with that of the continuous conveyor. This solution would, however, be of little advantage since it would require the action of additonal components.

3

Claims

According to the present inventionr however. the problem explained above is solved by means of a method having the characteristic of Claim 1.below. In other words, the present invention is based on the recognition of the fact that the continuous conveyor downstream can be moved intermittently with a rest condition, in which the transfer unit deposits the articles in the receiving positions on the conveyor (without thereby giving rise to any particular problems of positioning) and a condition of movement in which the conveyor advances by a number of receiving positions at least equal to the number of articles in each group. The solution according to the invention, which can to advantage be effected by means of an installation in accordance with Claim 2 below, in addition to providing a completely satisfactory solution to the problem explained above, has the further advantage of enabling the combination of a continuous conveyor (such as the chain for supplying a wrapping machine) and a handling station with an intrinsically discontinuous operation, for example a packaging machine, as the units located downstream of the transfer unit. Further characteristics and advantages of the present invention will become clear from the detailed description which follows with reference to the appended drawings, provided purely by way of non-limiting example, in which: Figure 1 shows schematically a possible configuration of an installation formed in accordance with the invention, and 4 Figure 2 is a plan view of the installation of Figure 1, together with a further line for transferring articles. In the appended drawings, a unit for transferring articles is generally indicated 1 and operates between two conveyors 2, 3 arranged upstream and downstream of each other respectively in the general direction of transportation of certain articles A. In the preferred embodiment illustrated purely by way of non-limiting example, it is assumed that the articles (A) in question are constituted by food products, such as bars of chocolate, snacks, etc of generally parallelepipedal shape, inserted in respect packages of sheet material of the type currently known as "flow-packs". The upstream conveyor 2 may, for example, be constituted3 by an ordinary endless belt conveyor which supplies a continuous or substantially continuous flow of articles A from an upstream station, for example a wrapping machine, in which individual food products are inserted in respective individual packages of the "flow-pack" type. The transfer unit 1 has the function of taking the articles A in groups from the conveyor 2 and transferring them to the downstream conveyor 3. In the example illustrated, the latter is constituted by a chain conveyor which supplies a further working station (not illustrated) located downstream of the group 1, 2, 3 illustrated in the drawings. This downstream handling unit may, for example, be constituted by another packaging machine in which groups of the articles A are inserted into larger 1 -11 flow-packs to produce multiple packages sometimes known as "multipacks". -W The transfer unit 1 may take various forms depending on the specific applicational requirements. Purely by way of example, it is assumed that the transfer unit is constituted by a transfer unit with a gripping "hand" 4 supported so that it can be lowered and raised selectively by two actuators 5 carried by a bridge structure 6. The structure 6 is in turn reciprocable on two facing horizontal guides 7 which extend generally transverse the direction of advance-of the articles A on the conveyors 2 and 3. By controlling the operation of the actuators 5 and the reciprocation of the bridge structure 6 along the guides 7 (according to widely known criteria which will not be described here in greater detail since they are irrelevant for the purposes of understanding the present invention), it is possible to carry out an operating sequence comprising the following steps: - the lowering of the gripping hand 4, which has been brought into vertical alignment with the conveyor 2, towards the conveyor 2 and the picking up of a group of articles A comprising, for example, six articles A, - the raising of the hand 4 and the gradual movement of the bridge structure 6 and of the hand 4 suspended therefrom towards a position of vertical alignment with the conveyor 3, - the lowering of the hand 4 and the consequent deposition of the articles A in the receiving positions on the conveyor 3 defined by pairs of entrainment nibs 3a provided on the latter, and - the return of the hand 4 to the raised position 1 6 and the subsequent movement of the. bridge structure 6 and of the hand 4 back to the position of vertical alignment with the conveyor 2. The criteria by which the hand 4 grips the articles A and subsequently releases them into the receiving positions on the conveyor 3 are also held to be widely known in the art and, as such, do not require specific description herein. As regards the criteria for the supply of the articles A to the end portion of the conveyor 2 where the unit 1 reaches its gripping position, reference may be made, for example, to a patent application for industrial invention of the same date by the same Applicant. The salient characteristic of that invention is that, instead of being advanced continuously or substantially continuously as in prior-art solutions, the chain conveyor 3 is advanced intermittently. in particular, the movement of the conveyor 3 is stopped when the gripping hand 4 is lowered towards the conveyor 3 to deposit thereon a group of articles A which has previously been taken from the conveyor 2. The movement of the conveyor 3 is then restarted, the conveyor 3 being advanced by a number of receiving positions for the articles A which is at least equal to the number of articles A in each group (six in the case illustrated). The deposition of the articles A on the conveyor 3 can thus be achieved without any particular problem since the transfer unit 1 is working with a conveyor 3 which is momentarily stationary. It is therefore unnecessary Y 7 for the transfer unit to follow the nibs 3a of the conveyor, in order to avoid any erroneous positioning of the articles A.

1 Thp conveyor 3 may be advanced intermittently by the corresponding operation of the drive unit (not illustrated). In this connection it may be noted that the solution for making the chain conveyor advance intermittently is known, this being described, inter alia. in Italian patent No. 1 167 475, in the name of the same Applicants but in a different context.

The plan view of Figure 2 shows how a further, intrinsically discontinuously-operating handling unit can be inserted within an installation such as that illustrated in Figure 1.

This may, for example, be a packaging line comprising a belt conveyor 8 on which boxes S for receiving the groups of articles A taken from the unit 1, possibly in superposed rows, are advanced one after another in close contact with each other.

The boxes S are filled by being passed beneath the transfer unit 1 which, in this case, can arrest the bridge structure 6 which supports the gripping hand 4 either in vertical alignment with the packaging line 8 or in vertical alignment with the conveyor 3.

In the latter case, the intermittent movement of the conveyor 3 may be synchronised like the intrinsically-intermittent movement of the packaging line 8.

The transfer unit 1 may thus be made to operate equally 1 8 well (except for the need to adjust the distance travelled by the bridge structure 6) either to transfer the articles A to the packaging line 8 or to transfer them to the conveyor 3, without the need for more complex synchronisation operations.

In particular, the configuration of the installation described has the further advantage that the conveyor 3 can operate, to a certain extent. as a storage unit or discharge line for any excess groups of articles A which cannot at the time be transferred to the packaging line 8.

Naturally, the principle of the invention remaining the same, the forms of embodiment and constructional details may be varied widely with respect to those described and illustrated, without thereby departing from the scope of the present invention.

11 . 3 9 CLAIMS 1. A method for combining a continuous conveyor which is provided with positions for receiving articles with a. transfer unit for the articles which periodically supplies groups of the articles, including the operation of advancing the conveyor intermittently with a rest condition, in which a group of articles supplied by the transfer unit is introduced into respective receiving positions on the conveyor, and a condition of movement, in which the conveyor advances by a number of receiving positions at least equal to the number of articles in each group.

2. An installation for handling articles, comprising, in cascade:

- a transfer unit for articles which periodically supplies groups of the articles and - a continuous conveyor provided with positions for receiving the articles, which can advance intermittently with a rest condition, in which a group of articles supplied by the transfer unit is inserted in respective receiving positions on the conveyor, and a condition of movement, in which the conveyor advances by a number of receiving positions which is at least equal to the number of articles in each group.

3. An installation according to Claim 2, in which the continuous conveyor constitutes the input conveyor of a wrapping machine.

4. An installation according to Claim 2 or Claim 3, in which the continuous conveyor is a chain conveyor.

5. An installation according to any one of Claims 2 to 4, including a further unit which can receive the 2 groups of articles from the transfer unit and which can move intermittently in synchronism with the supply of the groups of articles by the transfer unit, and in that the intermittent movement of the continuous conveyor is synchronised with the movement of the further unit and the transfer unit is arranged so as to achieve the transfer of the articles alternatively to the further unit and to the continuous conveyor.

6. A method for combining a continuous conveyor with a transfer unit substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

7. An installation for handling articles substantially as herein described with reference to, and as shown in, the accompanying drawings.

Published 1989 atThe Patent Office. State House, 66"71 High Holborn. London WClR 4TP Further copies maybe obtaaned from The Patent Office. Sales Branch, St Mary Cray, Orpington, Kent BF.5 3RD. Printed by Multiplex techniques ltd, St Mary Cray, Kent, Con. 1/87 n 1 k