Conveyors: power-driven – Conveyor system for establishing and moving a group of items – Having items discharged from plural distinct outlets into group
Reexamination Certificate
2000-01-24
2001-10-09
Bidwell, James R. (Department: 3651)
Conveyors: power-driven
Conveyor system for establishing and moving a group of items
Having items discharged from plural distinct outlets into group
C198S418100
Reexamination Certificate
active
06298976
ABSTRACT:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
Priority is claimed with respect to application No. 199 02 597.5 filed in Germany on Jan. 23, 1999, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates to a device for assembling article groups from layers of rod-shaped articles used in the tobacco-processing industry, which are stacked one above the other and side-by-side. The device comprises group-forming bins that move forward intermittently, as well as funnels that correspond to the number of article layers and are divided into chutes. Assigned to these funnels are transfer push rods which can be moved along the article axis and correspond to the height of the respective layer, as well as phantom articles at the chute outlet, which correspond to elongated slots in the transfer push rods.
For reasons of pricing, package production and handling, devices of the aforementioned type are designed to create one or several gaps or defined empty spaces on the cigarette pack inside with identical format or identical dimensions, meaning to create packs with a purposely incomplete content, which can thus contain a varied number of cigarettes.
With respect to such an arrangement, U.S. Pat. No. 4,700,825, for example, discloses preventing or blocking the flow of articles to the intended empty spaces with the aid of phantom articles during the layer or block formation of the pack content, which is pushed into the intermittently moved transport bins.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the invention to optimize in particular the block-forming process during the transfer of cigarette layers with gaps into the transport bins.
The above and other objects are accomplished in the context of the assembling device first described above, wherein in accordance with the invention the phantom articles are arranged so that they can be moved in a direction crosswise to the axial direction of the phantom article. In principle, the mobility in such crosswise direction can be achieved in different ways or through respective guides for the phantom articles. A simple, preferred embodiment, however, consists in suspending the phantom articles in the manner of a pendulum. It is particularly useful in this connection if the pendulum suspension extends in an upward direction of the chute, which can be used for another advantageous design in that the pendulum suspension has a closing member for closing off the chute inlet. In addition, it is particularly advantageous if the closing member has a roof-type design to allow surplus articles that drop to be diverted to the side, into neighboring drop chutes.
An advantage achieved with the invention is that the lateral compressing of the cigarettes, which is necessary for the longitudinal axial insertion of the cigarette layers into the transport bins and results in a compressing of the block formation, is made easier in a manner that protects the cigarettes in that the phantom cigarette serving as a mock-up article adapts to any lateral displacement of the cigarettes during the course of their longitudinal axial insertion.
REFERENCES:
patent: 4167091 (1979-09-01), Ruppert et al.
patent: 4306648 (1981-12-01), Manservisi et al.
patent: 4471866 (1984-09-01), Erdmann et al.
patent: 4700825 (1987-10-01), Mattei et al.
patent: 5375392 (1994-12-01), Oberdorf
patent: 5522493 (1996-06-01), Spada et al.
patent: 5548941 (1996-08-01), Portaro et al.
Bidwell James R.
Kinberg Robert
Spencer George H.
Topack Verpackungstechnik GmbH
Venable
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