Automatic cassette wrapping and assembly machine

Details Automatic cassette wrapping and assembly machine Automatic cassette wrapping and assembly machine

1999-05-27

2001-02-13

Sells, James (Department: 1734)

Adhesive bonding and miscellaneous chemical manufacture

Surface bonding means and/or assembly means therefor

With bending, folding, winding, or wrapping means

C156S566000, C156S570000, C156S578000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06186208

ABSTRACT:

The present invention relates to an automatic cassette wrapping and assembly machine for use in manufacturing video cassettes, including but not limited to the type disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,311,388. For the purposes of this patent application and description, the invention will be described for the wrapping and assembly of VHS-type tape cassettes. However, the description is not intended to be limiting upon the scope of the claims which are appended hereto.
It has long been an objective in the audio and video duplication industry to provide for the enhanced manufacture and assembly of cassettes, tapes and their labeling and packaging. Commonly, such cassettes and tapes receive labeling which is adhered directly to the cassette or tape body and the labeled cassette or tape is then placed in corrugated packaging having labeling and graphics applied thereto. Need for the corrugated sheath or container for such cassettes and tapes has been eliminated by cassettes of the type shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,311,388. Cassettes or tapes of the type shown in the '388 patent have a sheath or label which is applied to the outer surfaces of the cassette or tape which include the complete graphics and labeling, thereby eliminating the need for the outside cover. The cassette of the '388 patent is simply labeled and wrapped in clear wrap to seal its surfaces prior to shipping. Such cassettes, to date, are time-consuming in their manufacture and use as the outer sheath or label is usually hand applied. Thus, there is a need for an automatic cassette wrapping and assembly machine which performs the steps of applying the sheath to the cassette in a rapid, repetitive automated fashion.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention provides an automatic cassette wrapping and assembly machine generally composed of three stations: a station for loading cassettes and inserting cassettes into the assembly line; a sheath assembly and wrapping station; and a discharge and stacking station.
The loading and insertion station includes a magazine in which the cassettes are loaded and stacked. The magazine described herein has a capacity to retain rows of 60 units with a capacity of ten rows, thus providing for 600 cassettes in a fully loaded magazine. However, magazine capacity may be designed to meet demand. The machine, as described herein, is designed to process a minimum of 60 cassettes per minute, thereby a fully loaded magazine provides a ten minute operative capacity. A lowering and insertion member is designed to support the rows of stacked cassettes and insert one row at a time onto a feed conveyor member which transports the row of cassettes to the assembly station. The feed conveyor member is provided with a continuous belt and includes a guide member which prevents the row of cassettes from slipping out of position. The conveyor member is driven by stepper motors which receive drive inputs from a central processing unit, the inputs being regulated by sensing devices positioned to determine the relative positioning of cassette members throughout the machine. The sensors monitor the flow of cassettes on the conveyor and are used to signal when the conveyor is clear for insertion of another row of cassettes. Other sensors are used to monitor for the proper orientation and positioning of the cassettes as they approach the assembly station.
The assembly station is comprised of a flight conveyor which receives the cassettes from the feed conveyor and lifts the cassettes vertically into a compression conveyor. A sheath prefold and glue applicator apparatus operates in cooperation with the flight conveyor and compression conveyor. The flight conveyor includes a series of lift members driven by motors, preferably stepper motors programmed to move the distance of one cassette at a time, which carry a single cassette into an aligning track and into the compression conveyor. The compression conveyor receives the cassette which has engaged with a sheath having preapplied glue positioned at the mouth of the compression conveyor. As the cassette and sheath move through the compression conveyor, the pre-glued sheath is compressed and wrapped around the cassette. Sensors monitor the positioning of the cassettes and sheath and provide information signals to the central processing unit related to the cassette positioning on the flight conveyor; cassette positioning in the compression conveyor; sheath positioning and orientation; and cassette engagement with the sheath.
As the cassettes are approaching the flight conveyor and being positioned through engagement with the flight conveyor and aligning track, the sheath prefold and glue application apparatus is feeding sheath members with preapplied glue into position proximate the entrance to the compression conveyor for engagement with each approaching cassette. Individual sheaths are removed from a stack and each sheath is prefolded along scored lines and then straightened. The prefolded and straightened sheath receives an application of glue and is driven into its final position at the entrance to the compression conveyor. Again, sensors are positioned in the sheath transfer and glue application system to ensure proper positioning of the sheath with respect to the oncoming cassette, positioning of the sheath through the prefolding, straightening and gluing steps and for providing signals regarding the presence of defective and improperly positioned sheaths. After a sheath is positioned at the mouth of the compression conveyor, a cassette will be fed into the compression conveyor by the flight conveyor, first engaging the sheath along the spine of the cassette and then pressing the top flap, bottom flaps and end flaps of the sheath into engagement with the top surface, bottom surface and ends of the cassette respectively as the cassette and sheath move through the compression conveyor. It is envisioned that a quality control sensor to monitor the precise sheath wrap position on each finished cassette as the cassette exits the compression conveyor. As the cassette wrapped in the sheath exits the compression conveyor, it is guided onto a horizontally oriented compression chute having spaced rows of resilient fins designed to provide continuous pressure to the spine and ends of the sheath, thereby providing constant compression allowing the sheath and glue to set in position, thereby permanently bonding the sheath to the cassette.
As the cassette exits the compression chute, it is flipped to a horizontally oriented position onto a positioning conveyor which relays the cassette to the stacking station. The stacking station includes a bin having a vertically moving floor and an aligning and orienting apparatus located at the top of the bin. The aligning and orienting apparatus receives the cassettes from the positioning conveyor and orients them in rows of a preset number. As each row of cassettes becomes filled, a release mechanism is activated to drop the row of cassettes onto the floor of the stacking bin which is positioned immediately under the aligning and orienting apparatus. After each row of cassettes is deposited onto the floor of the stacking bin, sensors signal the central processing unit to activate a lift mechanism to lower the floor of the bin one cassette level to allow the next row of cassettes to be received from the aligning end orienting apparatus. After the bin is full, the stack of cassettes is ejected into an appropriate container and the floor of the bin is raised back to its starting position.
The present invention can be further appreciated by reference to the following description of the preferred embodiment of the invention with reference to the accompanying drawings. While the current embodiment, as described, dictates the use of specific types of drive mechanisms, motors and rollers, it is fully envisioned that the substitution of equivalent structure for the pneumatic lifts, stepper motors, servo motors, drive motors, compression rollers, conveyor belts, lift members, chain drives, gear and sprocket drives and sensors may be sub

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