Manufacturing container or tube from paper; or other manufacturi – Container making – Rigid container
Reexamination Certificate
1999-11-10
2001-10-30
Vo, Peter (Department: 3721)
Manufacturing container or tube from paper; or other manufacturi
Container making
Rigid container
C493S120000, C493S180000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06309335
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to container forming machines, and in particular to a new and improved apparatus for supplying end panels to machines which form Bliss-style containers.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART
In the packaging industry, numerous fiberboard containers and designs have been developed over the years. Such containers are typically constructed of a corrugated material. These materials may be single face corrugated, single wall (double-faced) corrugated, double wall corrugated, triple wall corrugated, etc. Containers may also be made of other paperboard products including, without limitation, container board, boxboard, linerboard, and cardboard.
Many different container box styles and types have also been developed over the years, each being optimally suited for one or more particular products or industries. One such container is known as a “Bliss” box which has special characteristics which make Bliss boxes highly desirable for use in bulk packing industries such as meats, explosives, fresh fruits and vegetables, and other areas where strong construction and stacking strength are important.
Bliss boxes were first developed in the 1920s, and were the subject of a number of early U.S. patents (e.g. U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,697,709 and 1,974,527). Generally speaking, a Bliss box is made of three distinct pieces of paperboard material. The first is an elongated panel or body matt, which is folded around itself in the shape of the letter “U.” The folded body matt defines the bottom, front and back of the final container, leaving the top and ends of the container open. Two separate end panels, usually mirror-images of each other, are attached to the open ends of the larger folded panel to form a Bliss box that is open at the top. The top can then be closed using flaps attached to the front, back or end panels.
Because of its three-part construction, Bliss style boxes offer a wide range of variations in both construction and materials. For example, the end panels may or may not include upper flaps for closing the top of the box. The body matt may include two large flaps (one on the front panel, another on the back panel) to form the top of the box so that these flaps either meet or overlap; there may be only one large top flap (with or without a tuck-in lip) provided to form the top of the Bliss box; or some other suitable combination of large or small flaps from the front, back and/or end panels may be employed.
Similarly, the corner-area overlaps provided by the side panels may vary widely depending upon the degree of strength required. In some Bliss box variations, flaps are provided along the front and back of the body matt so that, when the body matt is folded over itself, these flaps create a frame to which the end panels may be attached (on the inside of the body matt). This way, instead of front and back panel flaps overlapping the outside of the body matt corners for attachment and strength, body matt flaps in these corners overlap the end panels. Such frames may be made with panels along both sides as well as the bottom end of the body matt. In many cases, the side panels and the body matt may be made of different paperboard materials (e.g., corrugated body matt and linerboard side panels). The overlapping areas of Bliss boxes are generally glued together, but may also be adhered using staples, rivets, or other similar attachment devices.
The process of manufacturing Bliss boxes first requires the creation of the three panels of the box. The size and shape of the final box is determined by the dimensions of these pieces which are, in turn, determined by the ultimate product to be placed therein. Once these dimensions are determined, the appropriate method and amount of top flap overlap is determined, as well as the manner and amount of attachment of the end panels to the body matt.
Special Bliss box forming machines have been developed over the years to assemble these three panels into the completed Bliss box, such as those described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,807,223 and 5,876,319. These machines employ a mandrel which moves back and forth along a track, retracting to pick up end panels as a body matt drops in front of the mandrel, the mandrel then moving forward bringing the end panels with it, bending the body matt over itself and adhering the end panels thereto. Unfortunately, the end panel supply hoppers provided with such machines do not have large capacity, and often require that the end panels be carefully oriented, shuffled, stacked in place, and closely monitored in order to avoid jamming the machine. Using such hoppers can slow down the production of the machine, and detracts from its otherwise automatic operation.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention overcomes the aforementioned drawbacks of existing supply hoppers for Bliss box forming machines and provides an improved hopper having a vertical or substantially vertical orientation that is capable of holding a large supply of Bliss box end panels that need not be carefully shuffled, stacked or monitored in order to be used by the machine. The end panel supply hopper mechanism of the present invention includes a pair of vertically oriented adjustable trays, each tray providing one of the two end panels required by each Bliss box to be formed. The trays are open at the top and bottom, and may be adjusted to accommodate a wide range of differently sized end panels. A large number of panels may be stacked in each of these trays, the trays and stacks being limited only by the height of the ceiling where the machine they are attached to is located. Because of the vertical orientation of the hoppers, less side space is required around the machine when they are used. The trays are deployed along both sides of the path of the mandrel of the Bliss box forming machine.
A shuttle or pick mechanism is provided at the bottom of each of the vertically oriented trays, together with an adjustable gate for controlling the output from the hoppers. The position of each gate is set according to the thickness of the end panels in the hopper, in order to allow only one end panel at a time to be removed from the bottom of the stack. The shuttle or pick mechanism includes a removable slidable low-profile member that oscillates between a retracted position behind the tray, and an extended position immediately below the tray. The profile of the slidable member should be the same as or slightly less than the thickness of a single end panel in the stack. In this way, the slidable member will engage only the lowermost end panel in the stack. This identical structure is provided for each of the two trays of the supply hopper apparatus of the present invention.
The shuttles for each of the two trays operate simultaneously, beginning in the retracted position. The height of each gate is set so as to only allow a single end panel to pass underneath it at a time. A stack of end panels is then loaded into each of the generally vertical trays, each panel being in a generally horizontal position. Activation of the two shuttles causes the slidable member of each shuttle to move under each tray, moving the lowermost end panel out from under the tray. Each gate prevents any other panels which may be stacked on top of the lowermost panel from also being moved out of the tray. Each slidable member is then retracted out from under the tray and gravity causes each stack of panels to drop. The process then repeats, with the slidable members again removing the lowermost panels from the bottom of the stack in each tray.
An elevating mechanism is provided adjacent to each of the two trays. Each shuttle moves the lowermost panel out of the tray to a position above the corresponding elevating mechanism. As soon as the shuttle retracts, the elevating mechanism brings the panel from a generally horizontal position to a vertical position alongside the mandrel of the container forming machine. The mandrel then picks up the elevated end panels from each side, and takes them into the machine where they are used to form the three-part B
Delaware Capital Formation
Miller Mark D.
Tawfik Sam
Vo Peter
LandOfFree
Vertically displaced hopper for bliss machines does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Vertically displaced hopper for bliss machines, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Vertically displaced hopper for bliss machines will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-2566628