Material or article handling – Apparatus for moving intersupporting articles into – within,... – Stack forming apparatus
Patent
1998-07-21
2000-07-25
Morse, Gregory A.
Material or article handling
Apparatus for moving intersupporting articles into, within,...
Stack forming apparatus
414802, 198449, B65G 4726
Patent
active
060929790
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to packaging of articles supplied in a plurality of parallel rows, in particular blister packs.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART
There are known, specially in pharmaceutical field, packs commonly called blister packs, formed by a plate with a series of receptacles for containing articles such as capsules, tablets and the like; generally, the plate is closed with a foil, e.g. of aluminium.
Each article is taken out, when needed, by pushing outside the receptacle, and the article contained therein, thus breaking the aluminium foil.
The blister packs are usually obtained from a blister band, which is filled with articles and subsequently closed with the aluminium foil. Then, the blister band is cut into regular portions, corresponding to single blister packs.
Afterwards, these blister packs are suitably piled and moved to a packaging line so as to be inserted into cases.
The said blister band generally allows to form several rows of blisters, parallel to one another, along the same blister band.
After having been filled and closed, these rows are longitudinally separated to allow the transversal division of single blister packs.
The U.S. Pat. No. 4.845.921, owned by the same Applicant, discloses a method and an apparatus for separating single blister packs from a continuous band including several parallel rows and for longitudinal arrangement of the same blister packs for feeding thereof to a packaging line.
According to the mentioned method, all the said parallel rows of the continuous band are divided in blister packs simultaneously and staggered by one step; then the blister packs are arranged transversally during the simultaneous movement for piling and the obtained piles are arranged longitudinally in one single row, for the above mentioned step of packaging in cases.
Therefore, the packaging machine is equipped with cutting means which repeatedly sever single blister packs simultaneously in all the parallel rows. The blister packs of different rows are then staggered by a predetermined step, and fed to the means that pile them forming parallel rows of piles.
In the blister packs packaging machines a problems often occurs which derives from a possible lack of one or more articles along the feeding line, due to rejection of faulty packs or other similar event.
This results is formation of non-complete piles, and subsequently leads unavoidable rejecting the case already filled with the unfinished pile.
DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION
The object of the present invention is to propose a method according to which articles supplied in a plurality of rows and piled are brought to further packaging steps only when a complete pile of articles is formed, even if one or more articles were missing in the feeding step, without interruption of the normal operating cycle of the packaging line.
It is a further object of the invention to provide an apparatus which carries out the above mentioned method.
The above mentioned objects are obtained in accordance with the invention, by means of a method for taking over and piling articles supplied in a plurality of rows and for transferring obtained piles of articles to a packaging line, which includes the following steps: arranged side by side and parallel to each other; predetermined step; a packaging line, where they are arranged in one single row.
Accordingly, an apparatus which carries out the method includes: with means for feeding the articles to be packaged and with means for piling the articles, acting in related piling stations which are staggered by a predetermined step; to a packaging line where they are arranged in one single row, only when a pile of articles has been completed.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The characteristic features of the invention are pointed out in the following description, with particular reference to the enclosed drawings, in which:
FIG. 1 shows a schematic plan view of working lines of the subject apparatus;
FIGS. 2, 3, 4 and 5 show schematic perspective views of steps of th
REFERENCES:
patent: 3306423 (1967-02-01), Rowlands
patent: 3409115 (1968-11-01), Porcaro
patent: 3615001 (1971-10-01), Temple
patent: 4845921 (1989-07-01), Miselli
patent: 4854440 (1989-08-01), Laube et al.
patent: 5006040 (1991-04-01), Frey
I.M.A. Macchine Automatiche S.p.A.
Morse Gregory A.
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