Conveyors: power-driven – Conveyor for changing attitude of item relative to conveyed... – By conveyor and means driven for turning successive conveyed...
Reexamination Certificate
2000-02-17
2002-07-30
Ellis, Christopher P. (Department: 3651)
Conveyors: power-driven
Conveyor for changing attitude of item relative to conveyed...
By conveyor and means driven for turning successive conveyed...
C198S412000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06425475
ABSTRACT:
The invention relates to a method and apparatus for rotating an article, more particularly f or rotating a folding carton having the shape of a cuboid.
It is known for packaging machines to first of all set the carton blank upright in such a way as to form the bottom section, and the longitudinal and end wall sections of the folding carton which are disposed perpendicularly thereto. The longitudinal wall sections and transverse wall sections are joined together by, for example, stapling or gluing end wall sections to one another. As a general rule these operations are carried out while the carton blank is being carried along in a direction in which the longitudinal wall sections, seen in longitudinal extension thereof, are conveyed in the conveying direction. The lid section is then bent back and thus closes the opening in the loaded folding carton. It now only remains to fold down wall sections, which are hinged to the lid section, from their horizontal alignment into vertical alignment and to join them to the end wall sections, for example by stapling or gluing them. So that these final operations in forming the folding carton can be done from the side, based on the direction in which the folding carton is being conveyed, it is necessary to first rotate the folding carton about a vertical axis, in particular through 90°.
From EP 0 074 129 there is known a method for rotating an article that has a lower surface and lateral surfaces, in particular for rotating a folding carton in the shape of a cuboid, wherein the article is conveyed along a first lane, is turned to enable the article to be re-aligned and is carried along a second lane which runs in the direction of the first lane; the rotation of the article takes place under the action of an element that is in contact with one lateral surface of the article. There the element in contact, hereinafter referred to as the contact element, is horizontally aligned and mounted so as to be able to pivot about a vertical axis in such a way that the contact element is permanently revolving and the speed at which it revolves is harmonised with the speed of travel of the individual, partially formed folding cartons being continuously conveyed by the packaging machine. In the case of the foregoing apparatus for rotating the article, the first lane is laterally offset with respect to the second lane towards the apparatus for rotating the article. The article to be rotated, which is aligned lengthways in relation to the direction of travel of the first lane, arrives in the zone of the contact element, which moves against the leading area of the side wall section of the folding carton and thereby causes excursion of the folding carton relative to the first lane's direction of travel. Disposed above this lane is a friction plate with brushes which make contact with and brake the lid area of the folding carton as it passes through the packaging machine; the action of the brushes may be seen as a kind of torque which provides the principal contribution to rotating the folding carton. The contact element which carries on swivelling, continuing to bear against the longitudinal wall of the folding carton, has the effect of causing a further excursion and thus rotation of the folding carton, until said contact element has reached a position perpendicular to the direction of travel of the first lane. Complete rotation of the folding carton is brought about by means of driving dogs belonging to the second lane. A first driving dog of the second lane, disposed on the side of the lane that is nearest to the contact element, trails behind and comes up against the trailing longitudinal wall section of the folding carton and carries the latter along. The driver on the other side of the second lane only subsequently comes into contact with the trailing longitudinal wall section, with the result that the folding carton, which has now been rotated through 90°, is conveyed onward by the pair of drivers, before also being closed in the region of the end wall sections.
This method and apparatus for rotating the article have the drawback that the contact element only brings about an ancillary rotational movement to produce initial excursion of the folding carton from its direction of travel and makes contact with one longitudinal wall section of the packing box. The principal rotational movement of the folding carton, on the other hand, is initiated by the brushes. Besides, it is absolutely crucial for the complete rotation of the folding carton through the desired 90° to be accomplished by means of the trailing driver on the second lane. As a consequence of all this, the folding carton needs an extremely long conveyor line in order for it to be rotated. This in turn means that the packaging machine must have a great constructional length and this entails increased costs, both from the point of view of the space taken up by the packaging machine and from the point of view of the costs of building the packaging machine. A further drawback is the fact that it is only possible to convey at relatively low conveying speeds, for the diverse constructional elements outlined above for rotating the article need to be harmonised in terms of their motion. Apart from this, the contact element bears with friction against the folding carton, which means that it is not impossible for the folding carton destined to be swung out by means of the contact element from the direction of travel to be damaged in the associated long wall section or at least for the quality of its surface to be impaired.
Methods and machines for rotating an article, in particular for rotating a package or folding carton in the shape of a cuboid, are also known from EP 0 367 940 B1, EP 0 472 984 A1, DE 196 36 981 A1, U.S. Pat. No. 4,085,839 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,660,262.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is the object of the present invention to indicate a method and apparatus for rotating an article, by which it is possible for the article to be rotated within an extremely confined space even at a high conveying speed.
The object is achieved by a method for rotating an article that possesses an underside and lateral surfaces, more particularly for rotating a folding carton in the shape of a cuboid, where the article is conveyed along a first lane, is turned to enable the article to be re-aligned, and is conveyed along a second lane which runs in the direction of the first lane, and the rotation of the article takes place under the action of an element that is in contact with a lateral surface of the article; the crux of the invention is to be seen in the fact that the element is moved in the direction of the lanes, being moved against the rear lateral surface of the article, based on the article's direction of travel, and makes rolling contact with the latter.
In the case of the apparatus according to the invention, the contact element is thus not adapted to rotate about a fixed axis, but is moved in the direction of the lanes. It is thus able to follow the movement of the article in the direction of travel as the article, notably the folding carton, is being conveyed through the packaging machine, and operates permanently on said article. This action is a rolling action, readily enabling a relative movement to take place between said article and the contact element as the article is rotating. The fact that the rolling contact does not generate friction forces between the contact element and the article ensures that the lateral surface of the article, against which the contact element bears, does not become damaged or its appearance impaired from an aesthetic point of view. The rolling contact with the article is an essential pre-requisite for the packaging machine to be operated at high conveying speeds.
The method in accordance with the invention is also distinguished by the fact that the contact element is moved against the rear lateral surface of the article, based on the article's direction of travel. As the article is being conveyed by means of the first lane into the area of the rotation
Ellis Christopher P.
Helmut Seidel
Price Heneveld Cooper DeWitt & Litton
Sharma Rashmi
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