WO1995015885A1

WO1995015885A1 - Packaging machine with a compartmented conveyor for arranging articles

Info

Publication number: WO1995015885A1
Application number: PCT/FI1994/000551
Authority: WO
Inventors: Jouni Suokas
Original assignee: Oy Jopamac Ab
Priority date: 1993-12-07
Filing date: 1994-12-05
Publication date: 1995-06-15
Also published as: FI935456A0; FI95790B; FI935456A; FI95790C

Abstract

The packaging machine comprises a conveyor (1), a compartment (3) mounted on top of the conveyor, a feed mechanism (6) for loading the compartment (3) with articles to be packed, as well as a pusher (4) adapted to operate transversely relative to the traveling direction of the conveyor (1) through the compartment (3) for packing articles contained in the compartment into a carton (5). The conveyor (1) includes an inclined section (1a), whose extension in the advancing direction of articles to be packed comprises a section (1b) included within the range of application of the pusher element (4), and two separation walls (2), located transversely relative to the conveyor. The separation walls (2) define therebetween the compartment (3) that can be advanced by means of the conveyor (1) onto the inclined section (1a). The discharge point of said feed mechanism (6) for loading articles into the compartment is arranged above the inclined section (1a). Thus, the articles to be packed can be grouped in a narrower space by setting said articles in overlapping relationship in the rows.

Description

PACKAGING MACHINE WITH A COMPARTMENTED CONVEYOR_FOR ARRANGING ARTICLES

The present invention relates to a packaging machine as set forth in the preamble of the appended claim 1.

There are prior known packaging machines, wherein flat articles, such as bags, to be packed are carried by a conveyor in groups to a packaging station and the packaging is effected into a box or carton brought alongside the conveyor by operating a pusher across the conveyor. This enables, for example, the packing of a plurality of batches side by side in a carton by pushing the successive, conveyor-delivered batches sequentially into the carton. This type of packaging machine is disclosed e.g. in the Applicant's earlier Finnish Patent No. 84799.

As a result of the width of articles to be packed, it may often be neces¬ sary to set the articles in an overlapping fashion in a carton, whereby the edges thereof can be on top of each other. However, this cannot be managed in the above-described packaging machines, wherein the mi¬ nimum space occupied by the articles will always be some multiple of the width thereof.

An object of the invention is to eliminate the above drawbacks and to in¬ troduce a packaging machine wherein, if desired, the articles to be packed can be grouped within a narrower space by setting said articles in rows in an overlapping fashion. In order to achieve this object, a machine of the invention is principally characterized by what is set forth in the characterizing section of the appended claim 1. Upstream of the range of application of a pusher element in the advancing direction of ar¬ ticles, the conveyor includes an inclined section rising towards said range and two separation walls located transversely of the conveyor and defining therebetween a compartment that can be shifted over onto the inclined section. Above the inclined section there is a feed mechanism for discharging articles into the compartment. The feed mechanism can be used for dropping the articles for example individually or in groups into the compartment brought onto the inclined section so as to set said articles in rows with the side edges thereof on top of each other, i.e. the articles will be overlapped.

The appended non-independent claims disclose other preferred em- bodiments for a machine of the invention. A conveyor drive mechanism may be adapted to carry the compartment formed by separation walls in¬ crementally backwards along the inclined section. The feeding point for loading articles into the compartment is fixedly positioned relative to the inclined section for depositing a row of articles upon a preceding row of articles in turn pulled back a suitable distance. Upstream of the feeding point located at the end of a sliding surface, the feed mechanism can be provided with a movable stopper, behind which is the end of a feed con¬ veyor adapted to deliver the articles in a row behind the stopper and, by moving the stopper, said articles can be released therefrom along the sliding surface into the compartment located on the inclined conveyor section.

According to one preferred embodiment, the conveyor comprises a con¬ veyor loop provided with two compartments, each defined between two separation walls and each being operable in the longitudinal direction of the conveyor independently by means of its own drive mechanism. This makes it possible that, as one compartment is at a packing station within the range of application of a pusher element, the other compartment can be in the process of being loaded, and during the loading, its action can be arranged to be independent of the location of the compartment at a packing station.

The invention will now be described in more detail with reference made to the accompanying drawings, in which

Figs. 1 and 2 illustrate a packaging machine in a side view during a packing and loading process,

Fig. 3 illustrates a packaging machine in a side view during the advancing process of compartments, and Fig. 4 shows a packaging machine of the invention in a perspective view.

The figures show a packaging machine of the invention, including a con¬ veyor 1 provided with two separation walls 2 extending transversely thereto and defining therebetween a compartment 3. The machine is further provided with a plate-like pusher 4, operating crosswise of the conveyor and having a width that enables its passage through the compartment 3 as it travels across the conveyor. On the other side of the conveyor 1 , the machine is further provided with a per se known device for bringing a carton 5, which is open towards the conveyor, into alignment with the pusher element 4, whereby the articles contained in the compartment 3 can be pushed into said carton 5 by means of a pushing action effected across the conveyor.

At the packing station within the range of application of the pusher ele¬ ment 4, the conveyor 1 has a running direction which is horizontal and this horizontal section is indicated by reference numeral 1 b. Upstream of this section, the conveyor includes an inclined section 1a ascending to¬ wards the horizontal section. Along the inclined section there is effected the feeding of articles to be packed into the compartment 3 which can be carried to this location by means of the conveyor. Fig. 1 illustrates a feed mechanism 6 for dropping articles therefrom into desired rows in the compartment 3 in such a manner that the first row will be against the trailing separation wall 2, the following row is set on top of this row etc. until the entire compartment is filled. The most practical way of achieving this is by setting the end of the feed mechanism 6 in a fixed position relative to the conveyor running direction and by adapting the conveyor to step at suitable increments backwards (figs. 1 and 2) with the compartment 3 on the inclined section 1a in view of always providing space for placing a subsequent row of articles on top of the preceding one. When carrying the compartment 3 forward into the range of application of the pusher element 4 there is created a group, wherein the articles set in a desired overlapping order are included in successive rows, and this group can be pushed in a single action into the carton 5 as described above. In the direction of width of said compartments, the bearing surface of the conveyor is horizontal relative to gravity and, thus, the articles deposited in the compartments are not able to slide relative to each other in the lateral direction of the conveyor.

Figure 4 illustrates the conveyor assembly in more detail. The con¬ veyor 1 included in the packaging machine provides a loop extending around rolls and having its plane in vertical direction. In addition, it in¬ cludes two compartments 3 defined by separation walls 2 therebetween and operable simultaneously for different functions, as will be described hereinafter. The actual conveyor 1 is laterally divided into two sections, the first one being fitted with separation walls 2 defining a first compartment 3 and the second one with separation walls 2 defining a second compartment 3. The compartment floors can be sealed with flexible strips which are fastened to the compartment separation walls and to the same section the separation walls are secured to. A conveyor section is capable of running freely beneath the compartment 3 it is not secured to. In addition, each section carrying its own compartment 3 is extended through its own drive mechanism, whereby the actions of the sections and, thus, the compartments 3 can be independent of each other. In practice, this is realized by extending the sections around two drive rolls 8, one of which is positioned at the forward end of the conveyor for controlling a deflection of the conveyor into the reverse direction from the horizontal section 1b into the lower loop section 1c, and the other is positioned at the rear or trailing end of the conveyor for controlling a deflection thereof from the lower loop section 1c into the inclined section 1a. In a similar fashion, the rolls 8 are laterally divided into different components, one drive roll 8 having a drive included in a component controlling one section and a component controlling the other pair of chains being freely rotatable at this point. As for the other drive roll 8, the situation is reversed. Between the sections 1a and 1 b is also fitted a guide roll 12.

Figure 4 depicts an embodiment, wherein the conveyor sections com- prise four elements, including a first pair, for example two middle ones, which is fastened to the first compartment 3 and a second pair, two extreme ones, to the second compartment 3. The elements can be for example chains and the components included in the rolls can be gears.

Figures 1 and 2 illustrates the conveyor 1 during the process of packing and loading. One compartment 3 is located on the inclined section 1a and the other compartment on the horizontal section 1 b within the range of application of the pusher element 4. While the pusher element 4 is used for packing a batch of articles contained in the compartment 3 into the carton 5 with said compartment 3 stationary, the compartment 3 mounted on the inclined section may take steps backwards at suitable increments under the action of a drive mechanism for the pair of chains attached thereto. After being filled at the loading station, said compartment 3 advances to the position of fig. 3 within the range of application of the pusher element 4 and the compartment 3 previously located in this position can be carried by way of the lower run at its own speed around the conveyor loop onto the inclined section 1a, wherein it can be reset to take backward steps for another loading operation. Thus, each compartment 3 effects a movement mechanically independent of that of the other compartment 3 around the conveyor in such a manner that, following a packing operation, the compartment travels by way of the lower loop section onto the inclined section 1a, wherein it begins to move incrementally backwards for loading the compartment and subsequently re-advances to the packing position. Although mechanically independent of each other, the above movements can be synchronized by means of automatics relative to each other and relative to movements of other components included in the packaging machine.

The invention is particularly intended for packing flat articles, such as bags. Thus, the flat articles arrive in compartments in such a manner that the main plane thereof is transverse relative to the longitudinal direction of the conveyor and the planes thereof rest upon each other when load¬ ing the compartment 3 on the inclined section 1a.

The feed machanism 6 for delivering articles into the compartment 3 is positioned in such a manner that the end for dropping the articles into the compartment is located above the inclined section 1a. Fig. 4 depicts a solution, wherein the end of said feed mechanism 6 is the same as the end of a sliding surface 9 defined by side walls for sliding therealong a row of articles overlapped in a desired fashion and dropping such ar¬ ticles into the compartment 3 in view of placing the bottom edges thereof against the compartment floor, i.e. said articles are in a sort of upright position and supported by the trailing wall 2 of the compartment. In order to develop such a row, the inlet end of said sliding surface 9 can be pro¬ vided with a stopper 10, comprising a plate pivotably journalled above the sliding surface. The articles are dropped behind the plate by means of a feed conveyor 11 , such articles dropping from the conveyor end be¬ hind said stopper 10. The overlapping can be provided by means of a movement of the end of the feed conveyor 11 or by using a device ca¬ pable of arranging the articles in a row and in a suitable overlap already on the feed conveyor 11. Every time that one row is completed, the plate of the stopper 10 swings out of the way to provide a certain time for the articles to pass therebelow along the sliding surface, whereafter the stopper closes again. Naturally, other means are also conceivable for carrying out a loading operation into the compartment 3 located on the inclined section 1a.

The invention can be varied within the scope of an inventional concept defined in the appended claims. The section 1b, which includes a packing station, is not necessarily horizontal but it can be slightly in¬ clined in a manner to provide a less steep angle relative to the horizontal plane than that formed by the inclined section 1a. In addition, it is conceivable to use just a single compartment 3 which travels back and forth between a packing station and a loading station, but a system including two compartments provides a better capacity.

Claims

Claims:

1. A packaging machine, comprising a conveyor (1), a compartment (3) mounted on top of the conveyor, a feed mechanism (6) for loading the compartment (3) with articles to be packed, as well as a pusher (4) adapted to operate transversely relative to the traveling direction of the conveyor (1) through the compartment (3) for packing articles contained in the compartment into a carton (5), characterized in that the conveyor (1) includes an inclined section (1a), whose extension in the advancing direction of articles to be packed comprises a section (1b) included within the range of application of the pusher element (4), and two separation walls (2), located transversely relative to the conveyor and defining therebetween the compartment (3) that can be advanced by means of the conveyor (1) onto the inclined section (1a), the discharge point of said feed mechanism (6) for loading articles into the compartment being arranged above the inclined section (1a).

2. A packaging machine as set forth in claim 1 , characterized in that the conveyor (1) is provided with a drive mechanism adapted to carry the compartment (3) defined by the separation walls (2) incrementally back¬ wards along the inclined section (1a) and the discharge point provided by the feed mechanism (6) is fixedly positioned relative to the traveling direction of the conveyor (1) for forming a second row of articles on top of a row of articles pulled back a suitable distance and dropped in the compartment during the preceding step.

3. A packaging machine as set forth in claim 2, characterized in that the feed mechanism (6) is provided with an inclined sliding surface (9) terminating in the discharge point above the inclined section (1a) and having thereabove a movable stopper (10), behind which the articles are adapted to be grouped in a row through the end of a feed conveyor (11) mounted behind the stopper (10).

4. A packaging machine as set forth in any of the preceding claims, characterized in that the conveyor (1) comprises a conveyor loop pro¬ vided with two compartments (3) each defined between two separation walls (2), each compartment being operable in the longitudinal direction of the conveyor independently by means of its own drive mechanism.

5. A packaging machine as set forth in claim 4, characterized in that the conveyor (1) is divided laterally into two sections, whereby a first section is fastened to structures forming the first compartment (3) and a second section is fastened to structures forming the second compartment (3), both of said sections being extended through both drive mechanisms in such a manner that the first section is freely passed through the drive mechanism with which the second section is mechani¬ cally in power transmitting relationship and the second section is freely passed through the drive mechanism with which the first element is mechanically in power transmitting relationship.