Sheet feeding or delivering – Feeding – Separators
Utility Patent
1998-09-03
2001-01-02
Walsh, Donald P. (Department: 3653)
Sheet feeding or delivering
Feeding
Separators
C271S011000, C271S099000, C271S009120, C271S009130, C493S315000, C414S737000
Utility Patent
active
06168149
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a method of feeding blanks to a user machine.
Blanks are fed to a user machine, such as a packing machine for folding the blanks about respective products, by feed units, which comprise a hopper containing a stack of blanks and having an open end from which the blanks are withdrawn; a transfer device located in front of, and for successively withdrawing the blanks from, the open end of the hopper; and a conveying device associated with the transfer device and for conveying the blanks to a user station of the packing machine.
Known transfer devices comprise one or more pickup heads, each of which travels cyclically past the open end of the hopper and past the conveying device to withdraw a respective blank, which adheres by suction to an outer surface of the head, and to feed the blank into a respective conveying seat on the conveying device, which is normally defined by a rotary drum for feeding the conveying seats along a circular path, or by a pocket conveyor for feeding the conveying seats along a straight linear path. In both cases, the outer surface of the pickup head must be curved to roll along the open end of the hopper and gradually detach the respective blank from the stack, and to gradually insert the blank into the respective conveying seat by rolling along the bottom surface of the conveying seat, which may also be curved or, as in the case of a pocket conveyor, flat.
Known feed units of the above type have several drawbacks, mainly due to the outer surfaces of the pickup heads, the curved shape of which forms a curve in the blanks which is later reflected in the shape of the packages formed when the blanks are folded about the respective products. Moreover, to withdraw the blanks from the hopper, the pickup heads must bend the blanks even more sharply to detach each one separately from the stack, thus further accentuating the curvature of the blank.
To overcome the above drawbacks, feed units have been devised comprising pickup heads with flat regular outer surfaces, and which are guided by crank mechanisms along respective cyclic paths, the pickup portion of which is substantially perpendicular to the open end of the hopper, and the unloading portion of which is substantially tangent to the bottom surfaces of the conveying pockets.
Even these new feed units, however, are not without drawbacks, in that, despite the blanks being withdrawn substantially undeformed from the hopper, the way in which the blanks are fed into the conveying pockets is fairly complex and unreliable.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the present invention to provide a straightforward, low-cost method of feeding blanks to a user machine, designed to overcome the aforementioned drawbacks.
According to the present invention, there is provided a method of feeding blanks to a user machine, the method being characterized by comprising the steps of withdrawing blanks from a pickup station by means of a transfer device having at least one pickup head movable cyclically through the pickup station and through an unloading station, the pickup head having a flat conveying surface and at least one push tooth projecting from the flat conveying surface, and the blank adhering by suction to the flat conveying surface and being arranged with a respective first lateral edge projecting from the flat conveying surface and with a respective second lateral edge contacting said push tooth; engaging the first lateral edge of the blank against a stop element of a conveying pocket movable continuously along a user path of the user machine extending through said unloading station; detaching the blank from said flat conveying surface; and pushing the blank, by means of the push tooth, against the stop element to secure the blank between the stop element and the push tooth and maintain a flat configuration of the blank until the blank is fully inserted inside said conveying pocket.
The present invention also relates to a unit for feeding blanks to a user machine.
According to the present invention, there is provided a unit for feeding blanks to a user machine, the unit being characterized by comprising at least one conveying pocket movable continuously along a user path of the user machine; a transfer device having at least one pickup head movable cyclically through a pickup station to withdraw a respective blank, and through an unloading station, located along slid user path, to feed the blank to said conveying pocket, the pickup head comprising a flat conveying surface, at least one push tooth projecting from the flat conveying surface, and suction means by which the blank adheres to the flat conveying surface in such a manner that the blank has a respective first lateral edge projecting from the flat conveying surface and a respective second lateral edge contacting the push tooth, and said conveying pocket comprising a stop element for retaining the first lateral edge of the blank; and detaching means for detaching the blank from said flat conveying surface while maintaining the blank secured in a flat configuration between the stop element and the push tooth.
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G.D Societa' Per Azioni
Jones David A.
Marshall O'Toole Gerstein Murray & Borun
Walsh Donald P.
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