Patent US3584434A successfully refreshed from Google Patents.
US3584434A
Expired / Lapsed
US
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Carton handling and loading method and machine
Assignee: M&E Machinery Corp
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Filing: 1968-05-16
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Granted: 1971-06-15
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Expires: 1988-05-16
Abstract
Abstract A carton handling and loading method and machine are provided wherein the cartons to be processed are initially folded to a flat condition and then erected into the configuration of a generally tubular carton structure open at its ends, the articles to be packaged are loaded into the carton structure through one of its open ends while its opposite open end is blocked by a removable closure member, the ends of the carton structure are then closed by folding end flaps of the carton across these ends, and the end flaps are finally sealed to provide a completed package.
Inventors
- 👤 James R Ellis
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-06 08:33
CPC Classifications
B; B65; B65B; B65B43/00; B65B43/26; B65B43/265; B65B43/32; B65B43/325; B31; B31B; B31B2100/00; B31B2100/002; B31B2100/0022; B31B2120/00; B31B2120/30; B31B50/00; B31B50/004; B31B50/02; B31B50/04; B31B50/06; B31B50/062; B31B50/74; B31B50/76; B31B50/78
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 8
Claim 1
Independent Claim
484 words
A machine for packaging articles in cartons having sidewalls joined along intervening fold lines extending endwise of the cartons about which the cartons are initially folded to a flat condition wherein adjacent sidewalls are disposed in face to face relation, one sidewall of each carton having a hole, and hinged end flaps along the ends of the sidewalls, said machine comprising: a frame having carton infeed, erecting, loading, flap folding, and sealing stations spaced therealong, hopper means on said frame at said infeed station for containing a stack of said folded cartons with said one sidewall of each carton lowermost, conveyor means on said frame movable through said stations for extracting said cartons in succession from said hopper means and feeding said cartons in succession through said erecting, loading, flap folding and sealing stations, carton erecting means at said erecting station for unfolding each carton about its respective fold lines to an erect position wherein the adjacent sidewalls of the respective carton are disposed in generally mutually perpendicular relation so as to define a tubular rectangular carton structure having open ends, said carton erecting means comprising initial carton erecting means including a carton erecting plunger which registers with said hole in each carton erecting position at said erecting station, means for extending said plunger through said hole in each carton in erecting position in such a way that said plunger engages the opposing carton sidewall to initially unfold the respective carton to a partially erect position, and final carton erecting means engageable with each partially erected carton for finally unfolding the respective carton to a fully erect position wherein adjacent sidewalls of the respective carton are disposed in generally mutually perpendicular relation, loading means at said loading station for blocking one open end of each erect carton structure arriving at said loading station and feeding articles into the respective carton structure through its opposite open end to fill the respective carton structure, flap folding means at said folding station for folding said flaps of each filled carton structure to closed positions, and means at said sealing station for sealing the folded end flaps of each carton structure in their closed positions. 2. A packaging machine according to claim 1 wherein: said final carton erecting means comprise a carton erecting member mounted on said frame over said plunger for movement along a direction line generally parallel to the path of movement of said cartons along said frame, said carton erecting member being spaced from said plunger a distance such that initial partial erection of each carton by said plunger locates the carton within the path of movement of said erecting member, and means for reciprocating said erecting member along said direction line in such a way that during each stroke in one direction, said erecting member initially engages the partially erected carton at said erecting station and rotates the carton to its fully erect position.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
240 words
In a machine for handling cartons having sidewalls joined along intervening fold lines extending endwise of the cartons about which the cartons are initially folded to a flat condition wherein adjacent sidewalls are disposed in face to face relation, one sidewall of each carton having a hole, and hinged end flaps along the ends of the sidewalls, the combination comprising: a frame having a carton erecting station, conveyor means on said frame for feeding the folded cartons in succession through said station with said one sidewall of each carton lowermost, and carton erecting means at said erecting station for unfolding each carton about its respective fold lines to an eRect position wherein the adjacent sidewalls of the respective carton are disposed in generally mutually perpendicular relation so as to define a tubular rectangular carton structure having open ends, said carton erecting means comprising initial carton erecting means including a carton erecting plunger which registers with said hole in each carton in erecting position at said erecting station, means for extending said plunger through said hole in each carton in erecting position in such a way that said plunger engages the opposing carton sidewall to initially unfold the respective carton to a partially erect position, and final carton erecting means engageable with each partially erected carton for finally unfolding the respective carton to a fully erect position wherein adjacent sidewalls of the respective carton are disposed in generally mutually perpendicular relation.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
240 words
In a machine for handling cartons having sidewalls joined along intervening fold lines extending endwise of the cartons about which the cartons are initially folded to a flat condition wherein adjacent sidewalls are disposed in face to face relation, one sidewall of each carton having a hole, and hinged end flaps along the ends of the sidewalls, the combination comprising: a frame having a carton erecting station, conveyor means on said frame for feeding the folded cartons in succession through said station with said one sidewall of each carton lowermost, and carton erecting means at said erecting station for unfolding each carton about its respective fold lines to an eRect position wherein the adjacent sidewalls of the respective carton are disposed in generally mutually perpendicular relation so as to define a tubular rectangular carton structure having open ends, said carton erecting means comprising initial carton erecting means including a carton erecting plunger which registers with said hole in each carton in erecting position at said erecting station, means for extending said plunger through said hole in each carton in erecting position in such a way that said plunger engages the opposing carton sidewall to initially unfold the respective carton to a partially erect position, and final carton erecting means engageable with each partially erected carton for finally unfolding the respective carton to a fully erect position wherein adjacent sidewalls of the respective carton are disposed in generally mutually perpendicular relation.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
122 words
The machine combination according to claim 3 wherein: said final carton erecting means comprise a carton erecting member mounted on said frame over said plunger for movement along a direction line generally parallel to the path of movement of said cartons along said frame, said carton erecting member being spaced from said plunger a distance such that initial partial erection of each carton by said plunger locates the carton within the path of movement of said erecting member, and means for reciprocating said erecting member along said direction line in such a way that during each stroke in one direction, said erecting member initially engages the partially erected carton at said erecting station and rotates the carton to its fully erect position.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
435 words
A machine for packaging articles in cartons having sidewalls joined along intervening fold lines extending endwise of the cartons about which the cartons are initially folded to a flat condition wherein adjacent sidewalls are disposed in face to face relation, and hinged end flaps along the ends of the sidewalls, said machine comprising: a frame having carton infeed, erecting, loading, flap folding, and sealing stations spaced therealong, hopper means on said frame at said infeed station for containing a stack of said folded cartons, conveyor means on said frame movable through said stations for extracting said cartons in succession from said hopper means and feeding said cartons in succession through said erecting, loading, flap folding, and sealing stations, carton erecting means at said erecting station for unfolding each carton about its respective fold lines to an erect position wherein the adjacent sidewalls of the respective carton are disposed in generally mutually perpendicular relation so as to define a tubular rectangular carton structure having an open end, loading means at said loading station for receiving each erected carton in a loading position wherein the open end of the respective carton opens horizontally to an article infeed region opposite the open carton end and feeding articles into each carton in loading position through its open end in a manner such as to fill the respective carton with articles arranged in a given number of layers stacked one on top of the other, said loading means comprising an article infeed chamber directly below said region, infeed means for periodically feeding a group of said articles into said chamber to provide a layer of articles within said chamber, elevator means for elevating each article group from said chamber to an elevated position within said region wherein the bottom side of the respective group is located substantially flush with the bottom wall of the carton in a loading position, retractable supporting means engageable with the article group in said elevated position for supporting the respective group in said elevated position, means for operating said infeed means, elevator means, and supporting means in timed relation such that each article group arriving at said elevated positions contacts the bottom of and elevates the previous article group currently in said elevated position to accumulate within said region a stack of said article groups containing said given number of layers arranged one on top of the other, and means operable in timed relation to said infeed means, elevator means, and supporting means for feeding said stack horizontally from said region into the carton in loading position through the open end of the respective carton.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
435 words
A machine for packaging articles in cartons having sidewalls joined along intervening fold lines extending endwise of the cartons about which the cartons are initially folded to a flat condition wherein adjacent sidewalls are disposed in face to face relation, and hinged end flaps along the ends of the sidewalls, said machine comprising: a frame having carton infeed, erecting, loading, flap folding, and sealing stations spaced therealong, hopper means on said frame at said infeed station for containing a stack of said folded cartons, conveyor means on said frame movable through said stations for extracting said cartons in succession from said hopper means and feeding said cartons in succession through said erecting, loading, flap folding, and sealing stations, carton erecting means at said erecting station for unfolding each carton about its respective fold lines to an erect position wherein the adjacent sidewalls of the respective carton are disposed in generally mutually perpendicular relation so as to define a tubular rectangular carton structure having an open end, loading means at said loading station for receiving each erected carton in a loading position wherein the open end of the respective carton opens horizontally to an article infeed region opposite the open carton end and feeding articles into each carton in loading position through its open end in a manner such as to fill the respective carton with articles arranged in a given number of layers stacked one on top of the other, said loading means comprising an article infeed chamber directly below said region, infeed means for periodically feeding a group of said articles into said chamber to provide a layer of articles within said chamber, elevator means for elevating each article group from said chamber to an elevated position within said region wherein the bottom side of the respective group is located substantially flush with the bottom wall of the carton in a loading position, retractable supporting means engageable with the article group in said elevated position for supporting the respective group in said elevated position, means for operating said infeed means, elevator means, and supporting means in timed relation such that each article group arriving at said elevated positions contacts the bottom of and elevates the previous article group currently in said elevated position to accumulate within said region a stack of said article groups containing said given number of layers arranged one on top of the other, and means operable in timed relation to said infeed means, elevator means, and supporting means for feeding said stack horizontally from said region into the carton in loading position through the open end of the respective carton.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
280 words
In a machine for packaging articles in cartons each having an open end, the combination comprising: a frame having a carton loading station, conveyor means on said frame for feeding said cartons in succession to a loading position at said station wherein the open end of each carton open horizontally to an article infeed region opposite the open end of the respective carton, and loading means at said loading station for feeding said articles into the carton in loading positions through the open end of the respective carton comprising an article infeed chamber directly below said region, infeed means for periodically feeding a group of said articles into said chamber to provide a layer of articles within said chamber, elevator means for elevating each article group from said chamber to an elevated position within said region wherein the bottom side of the respective group is located substantially flush with the bottom wall of the carton in a loading position, retractable supporting means engageable with the article group in said elevated position for supporting the respective group in said elevated position, means for operating said infeed means, elevator means, and supporting means in timed relation such that each article group arriving at said elevated position contacts the bottom of and elevates the previous article group currently in said elevated position to accumulate within said region a stack of said article groups containing said given number of layers arranged one on top of the other, and means operable in timed relation to said infeed means, elevator means, and supporting means for feeding said stack horizontally from said region into the carton in loading position through the open end of the respective carton.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
280 words
In a machine for packaging articles in cartons each having an open end, the combination comprising: a frame having a carton loading station, conveyor means on said frame for feeding said cartons in succession to a loading position at said station wherein the open end of each carton open horizontally to an article infeed region opposite the open end of the respective carton, and loading means at said loading station for feeding said articles into the carton in loading positions through the open end of the respective carton comprising an article infeed chamber directly below said region, infeed means for periodically feeding a group of said articles into said chamber to provide a layer of articles within said chamber, elevator means for elevating each article group from said chamber to an elevated position within said region wherein the bottom side of the respective group is located substantially flush with the bottom wall of the carton in a loading position, retractable supporting means engageable with the article group in said elevated position for supporting the respective group in said elevated position, means for operating said infeed means, elevator means, and supporting means in timed relation such that each article group arriving at said elevated position contacts the bottom of and elevates the previous article group currently in said elevated position to accumulate within said region a stack of said article groups containing said given number of layers arranged one on top of the other, and means operable in timed relation to said infeed means, elevator means, and supporting means for feeding said stack horizontally from said region into the carton in loading position through the open end of the respective carton.
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USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 1974-06-14 | 1974-12-14 | 1975-06-15 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 1978-06-14 | 1978-12-14 | 1979-06-15 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 1982-06-14 | 1982-12-14 | 1983-06-15 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |