Material or article handling – Device for emptying portable receptacle – Nongravity type
Reexamination Certificate
1998-04-06
2001-09-04
Brahan, Thomas J. (Department: 3652)
Material or article handling
Device for emptying portable receptacle
Nongravity type
C414S403000, C414S627000, C198S433000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06283694
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a system for the alignment of products.
The present invention can be used to good advantage in the food packaging industry, in particular for the packaging of biscuits, chocolates and similar products which do not have any surface that is flat enough to allow them to assume a stable transfer position. The description which follows refers to this particular field of application but without thereby restricting the scope of the inventive concept.
Usually, the food products feed out of the production machines on a conveyor arranged in ordered lines parallel to the direction of feed of the conveyor itself and normally side by side in such a manner as to form ordered rows crossways with respect to said direction of feed.
If the shape of the food products is like that described above, it is practically impossible to arrange them on the conveyor in the manner described above and to maintain the arrangement. Therefore, products that are shaped in such a manner that they cannot maintain a stable transfer position, for example, those with polyhedral or substantially spherical or ovoid shapes, must be placed in specially made hollows, side by side in such a way as to form ordered rows. These hollows can be made directly in the conveyor or in trays which are in turn placed on the conveyor.
The conveyor is normally driven intermittently and feeds the products to an alignment device constituting an infeed device to a second conveyor, also driven intermittently, which in turn feeds a user unit normally consisting of a line for the packaging of the products themselves. When the products reach the alignment device, they stop for a defined length of time required by the alignment device itself to arrange them in a single line where previously they were arranged in two or more lines parallel to the feed direction of the conveyor.
The disadvantage of the method just described is due to the intermittent feed motion of the conveyors and, hence, the relatively low speed at which the alignment device can rearrange the products while transferring them from one conveyor to the other.
Up to the present time, use has been made of devices designed to align rectangular food products, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,381,884 which can be referred to for a complete description. Devices of this kind are used to pick up rectangular products, having substantially parallelepipedal shapes, from a first feed conveyor and to transfer them to a second conveyor in any position relative to the carrying surface of the second conveyor. In practice, the products can be dropped onto the second conveyor in any position.
Devices of this kind, however, have the disadvantage of being unsuitable for products whose shapes make them unstable during transfer. This is because it is difficult to achieve the precision required to drop each product exactly into the corresponding hollow made in the receiving conveyor and designed to keep it in the right position while it is being transferred.
The aim of the present invention is to provide a method to align products whose shapes make them unsuitable for stable transfer and which overcomes the disadvantages described above.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention provides a method comprising the step of arranging the products on a first conveyor equipped with first means for the stable supporting and positioning of each product in such a way as to arrange the products in defined positions in a plurality of lines parallel to a first feed direction of the first conveyor, the lines being placed side by side in order to form a succession of rows of products placed crossways with respect to the first feed direction and the step of feeding the lines along a first defined path and being characterized in that it also comprises the following steps: feeding at least one transfer head along a second path extending partly over the first path, the transfer head being designed to move along the second path and position itself over at least a part of a corresponding row of products at a pickup position along the first path; activating the transfer head at the pickup position in order to pick up the products from said part of the row; transferring the products held by the transfer head along a portion of the second path between the pickup position and an unloading position; and dropping the products at the unloading position onto a second conveyor equipped with second means for the stable supporting and positioning of the products and arranged in series to receive the products; the second conveyor extending along a third path which is parallel to the position assumed by the transfer head when it reaches the unloading position; the dropping step occurring in such a way that, at the unloading position, each product is dropped into the corresponding stable support and positioning means on the second conveyor and under the unloading position at that moment.
The present invention also relates to a device for aligning products.
The invention provides a product alignment device designed to be used in conjunction with a first conveyor equipped with first means for the stable supporting and positioning of the products and on which the products themselves are arranged, positioned and ordered in a plurality of lines parallel to a first feed direction of the first conveyor; the lines being placed side by side in order to form a succession of rows of products placed crossways with respect to the first feed direction; and the first conveyor being designed to feed the lines of products lengthways along a first defined path and through a pickup position; and being characterized in that it comprises at least one transfer head; driving means to enable the transfer head to move along a second path extending partly over the first path; the transfer head being designed to move along the second path and position itself over at least a part of a corresponding row of products at a pickup position; a second conveyor equipped with second means for the stable supporting and positioning of the products, arranged in series to receive the products and extending in a second direction and along a third path forming a defined angle with the rows and through an unloading position along the second path; and means to activate the transfer head so that it can pick up a group of products from the part of the row of products that is in contact with the transfer head itself and to deactivate it so that it can drop the products onto the second conveyor at the unloading position; the transfer head, when it reaches the unloading position, being oriented in the same way as the second conveyor and being equipped with means to hold the products already arranged in the right manner to be dropped into the stable support and positioning means on the second conveyor and under the unloading position at that moment.
REFERENCES:
patent: 3235057 (1966-02-01), Rea et al.
patent: 5174428 (1992-12-01), Durst
patent: 5381884 (1995-01-01), Spatafora et al.
patent: 5680746 (1997-10-01), Hornisch
patent: 239 547 (1987-09-01), None
patent: 538 767 (1993-04-01), None
Ghiotti Roberto
Spatafora Mario
Azionaria Costruzioni Macchine Automatiche - A.C.M.A. - S.p.A.
Brahan Thomas J.
Pillsbury & Winthrop LLP
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