Substrate transport means for skin packaging machines

Claim 2

In a packaging machine having a plurality of stations along a defined path, at one of which heated thermoplastic material is applied to substrate material and articles disposed thereon to form a film over each article and a portion of the substrate top surface that surrounds it, means for advancing substrate material with articles thereon from one to another of said stations and for applying suction to the bottom of the substrate material to suck the film down into snug engagement with the articles and the top surface of the substrate, the last named means comprising: A. a vacuum table which has 1. an upwardly facing stationary top surface that is interrupted by a plurality of spaced apart air inlet openings which collectively form a station-ary air intake, and 2. manifold means communicating with said openings; B. an endless flat belt having an upper stretch which flatwise overlies and slides lengthwise across said stationary top surface of the vacuum table, said belt having apertures therethrough which register with said stationary air inlet openings as the belt travels across the vacuum table; and C. means for applying suction to said manifold means, which suction is applied to substrate material riding on the belt as the apertures in the belt are brought into communication with said stationary air inlet openings, to cause the substrate material to tractively adhere to the upper stretch of the belt for advancement therewith and to draw air through the substrate material and thus evacuate the space beneath film thereon.

Claim 3

manifold means communicating with said openings; B. an endless flat belt having an upper stretch which flatwise overlies and slides lengthwise across said stationary top surface of the vacuum table, said belt having apertures therethrough which register with said stationary air inlet openings as the belt travels across the vacuum table; and C. means for applying suction to said manifold means, which suction is applied to substrate material riding on the belt as the apertures in the belt are brought into communication with said stationary air inlet openings, to cause the substrate material to tractively adhere to the upper stretch of the belt for advancement therewith and to draw air through the substrate material and thus evacuate the space beneath film thereon.

Claim 4

manifold means communicating with said openings; B. an endless flat belt having an upper stretch which flatwise overlies and slides lengthwise across said stationary top surface of the vacuum table, said belt having apertures therethrough which register with said stationary air inlet openings as the belt travels across the vacuum table; and C. means for applying suction to said manifold means, which suction is applied to substrate material riding on the belt as the apertures in the belt are brought into communication with said stationary air inlet openings, to cause the substrate material to tractively adhere to the upper stretch of the belt for advancement therewith and to draw air through the substrate material and thus evacuate the space beneath film thereon.

Claim 5

The packaging machine of claim 1, further characterized by means adapting the machine for use with discrete lengths of substrate material, the last mentioned means comprising: D. means defining a feed table having its discharge end substantially over the upstream end of the top stretch of the belt; E. means for successively feeding discrete lengths of substrate material along said feed table off its discharge end and towards the belt at a speed which tends to be faster than that at which the top stretch of the belt travels; and F. mEans at the discharge end of the feed table for imparting a transversely bowed shape to the trailing end of each length of substrate material as it leaves the feed table by which the next successive length of substrate material is prevented from overlapping it and is thus forced into edgewise abutting relation to it.

Claim 6

the air intake means haVing a bore that extends transversely to said grooves therein and opens to them, which bore is connectable with a source of suction and thus provides for communication of said grooves therewith.

Claim 7

the air intake means haVing a bore that extends transversely to said grooves therein and opens to them, which bore is connectable with a source of suction and thus provides for communication of said grooves therewith.

Claim 8

a smaller hole opening to the bottom of the groove and to the inner surface of the belt, said apertures being centered on a plurality of laterally spaced lines that extend parallel to the edges of the belt; B. roller means around which the belt is trained and by which it is driven, providing a straight upper stretch of the belt which extends along said path and moves in said direction; C. an air intake comprising an element having an upper surface by which said stretch of the belt is supportingly engaged, said air intake having

Claim 9

a smaller hole opening to the bottom of the groove and to the inner surface of the belt, said apertures being centered on a plurality of laterally spaced lines that extend parallel to the edges of the belt; B. roller means around which the belt is trained and by which it is driven, providing a straight upper stretch of the belt which extends along said path and moves in said direction; C. an air intake comprising an element having an upper surface by which said stretch of the belt is supportingly engaged, said air intake having

Claim 10

a bore through said element, extending transversely to said grooves therein and opening to each of them, one end of said bore being connectable with a suction source so that suction can be applied to lengths of material on said stretch of the belt, to suck them into tractive engagement with the belt, through grooves in the air intake that are communicated with said bore and apertures in the belt that register with said grooves; and D. a rod-like plug receivable in the bore from the other end thereof to block communication between the bore and a selected number of grooves in the air intake, so that air is not drawn through apertures in the belt that are to one side of lengths of material being transported thereon.

Claim 11

a bore through said element, extending transversely to said grooves therein and opening to each of them, one end of said bore being connectable with a suction source so that suction can be applied to lengths of material on said stretch of the belt, to suck them into tractive engagement with the belt, through grooves in the air intake that are communicated with said bore and apertures in the belt that register with said grooves; and D. a rod-like plug receivable in the bore from the other end thereof to block communication between the bore and a selected number of grooves in the air intake, so that air is not drawn through apertures in the belt that are to one side of lengths of material being transported thereon.

Claim 12

a smaller hole opening to the bottom of each of said other grooves and to the inner surface of the belt, the last mentioned holes being centered on a line parallel to the edges of the belt to register with the groove in the air intake that is nearest said first mentioned end of the bore.

Claim 13

a smaller hole opening to the bottom of each of said other grooves and to the inner surface of the belt, the last mentioned holes being centered on a line parallel to the edges of the belt to register with the groove in the air intake that is nearest said first mentioned end of the bore.

Claim 14

The packaging machine of claim 2, wherein said means for imparting a bowed shape to the trailing end of each length of substrate comprises: G. substantially parallel longitudinal supports at the discharge end of the feed table spaced apart transversely of the belt and forming extensions of the feed table substantially parallel to the top surface of said stretch of the belt but elevated above the same; and H. hold down means between said spaced apart longitudinal supports for forcing a medial portion of the substrate material downwardly below the level of said longitudinal supports.

Claim 15

The packaging machine of claim 3, wherein said hold down means is above the top stretch of the belt and biased downwardly to force the substrate material into tractive engagement with the top stretch of the belt.

Claim 16

The packaging machine of claim 1, wherein said stationary inlet air openings in the top surface of the vacuum table comprise lengthwise extending transversely spaced grooves opening to its upwardly facing surface, and wherein said manifold means comprises: A. a transverse bore intersected by said grooves and communicable at one end with a source of suction; B. a plug axially slidable in said bore to block communication between a selected number of said grooves and the source of suction to thereby adapt the vacuum table to different widths of substrate material without loss of suction; and C. plug adjusting means connected to the plug and protruding from the other end of the bore.

Claim 17

In a packaging machine in which substrate material and articles to be packaged that are disposed thereon are carried in one direction along a defined path past a station at which heated thermoplastic material is applied to the articles and the substrate material to form a film over the same, means for moving substrate material along said defined path and for sucking film down into snug engagement with each article and with its surrounding portion of the substrate material, the last mentioned means comprising: A. a flat endless belt which is at least as wide as the substrate material and which has apertures therethrough at longitudinally and laterally spaced intervals; B. roller means around which the belt is trained with a straight stretch thereof uppermost and extending along said defined path and which drives the belt for movement in said direction; and C. air intake means between the roller means, having a stationary apertured top surface along which the upper stretch of the belt extends and with which it has intimate flatwise supporting engagement, the apertures in said surface of the air intake means being so arranged that the apertures in the belt register with them to enable air to be drawn into the air intake means through the apertures in the belt and through substrate material on the belt.

Claim 18

In a packaging machine in which substrate material and articles to be packaged that are disposed thereon are carried in one direction along a defined path past a station at which heated thermoplastic material is applied to the articles and the substrate material to form a film over the same, means for moving substrate material along said defined path and for sucking film down into snug engagement with each article and with its surrounding portion of the substrate material, the last mentioned means comprising: A. a flat endless belt which is at least as wide as the substrate material and which has apertures therethrough at longitudinally and laterally spaced intervals; B. roller means around which the belt is trained with a straight stretch thereof uppermost and extending along said defined path and which drives the belt for movement in said direction; and C. air intake means between the roller means, having a stationary apertured top surface along which the upper stretch of the belt extends and with which it has intimate flatwise supporting engagement, the apertures in said surface of the air intake means being so arranged that the apertures in the belt register with them to enable air to be drawn into the air intake means through the apertures in the belt and through substrate material on the belt.

Claim 19

The packaging machine of claim 6, further characterized by: said apertures in the belt being defined by grooves in the outer surface of the belt, and holes through the bottom of at least some of the grooves.

Claim 20

The packaging machine of claim 7, wherein said holes in the belt are aligned in rows that extend parallel to the edges of the belt and are spaced transversely thereacross, further characterized by said apertures in the air intake means being defined by:

Claim 21

The packaging machine of claim 6, further characterized by means adapting the machine for use with discrete lengths of substrate material, the last mentioned means comprising: A. a feed table having its discharge end substantially over the upstream end of said stretch of the belt; B. hold down means adjacent to the discharge end of the feed table and above the receiving end portion of said stretch of the belt to urge the lengths of substrate material into tractive engagement with said stretch of the belt as they leave the feed table; and C. longitudinally extending horizontal supports spaced laterally of the belt to opposite sides of the hold down means and substantially coplanar with the feed table to cooperate with the hold down means to flex the trailing end portion of each length of substrate material leaving the feed table into an upwardly concave curvature by which a succeeding length of such material is prevented from overrunning said length and is caused to establish edgewise abutting relationship therewith.

Claim 22

In a machine in which discrete lengths of a material on the order of paperboard are moved in one direction along a defined path past a processing station, means for establishing such lengths of material in edge-to-edge abutting relationship and for carrying them along said path in such relationship, said means comprising: A. a flat endless belt; B. roller means around which the belt is trained with a straight stretch thereof uppermost and extending along said path and by which the belt is driven for movement of said stretch in said direction; C. a feed table having a surface which is substantially parallel to, but at a level above, said stretch of the belt, and which extends in said direction to an edge near said stretch and substantially transverse thereto; D. means for advancing lengths of material in said direction along said surface of the feed table and by which such lengths are yieldingly urged in said direction at a speed which tends to be faster than the speed of said stretch of the belt; E. hold-down finger means above said stretch of the belt and spaced in said direction from said edge, said hold-down finger means being arranged to engage each advancing length of material at a portion thereof that is between its side edges, and to force the same down into tractive engagement with said stretch of the belt; and F. means providing a pair of elongated rails which extend lengthwise in said direction from said edge on the feed table and which are spaced laterally of the belt to opposite sides of the hold-down finger means, said rails having surfaces substantially coplanar with said surface on said table, which surfaces on the rails support side edge portions of a length of material engaged by the hold-down finger means and cooperate with the latter in imparting an upwardly concave curvature to the length of material that prevents overrunning of it by a succeeding length of material and establishes the latter in edgewise abutting engagement with it.

Claim 23

In a machine in which discrete lengths of a material on the order of paperboard are moved in one direction along a defined path past a processing station, means for establishing such lengths of material in edge-to-edge abutting relationship and for carrying them along said path in such relationship, said means comprising: A. a flat endless belt; B. roller means around which the belt is trained with a straight stretch thereof uppermost and extending along said path and by which the belt is driven for movement of said stretch in said direction; C. a feed table having a surface which is substantially parallel to, but at a level above, said stretch of the belt, and which extends in said direction to an edge near said stretch and substantially transverse thereto; D. means for advancing lengths of material in said direction along said surface of the feed table and by which such lengths are yieldingly urged in said direction at a speed which tends to be faster than the speed of said stretch of the belt; E. hold-down finger means above said stretch of the belt and spaced in said direction from said edge, said hold-down finger means being arranged to engage each advancing length of material at a portion thereof that is between its side edges, and to force the same down into tractive engagement with said stretch of the belt; and F. means providing a pair of elongated rails which extend lengthwise in said direction from said edge on the feed table and which are spaced laterally of the belt to opposite sides of the hold-down finger means, said rails having surfaces substantially coplanar with said surface on said table, which surfaces on the rails support side edge portions of a length of material engaged by the hold-down finger means and cooperate with the latter in imparting an upwardly concave curvature to the length of material that prevents overrunning of it by a succeeding length of material and establishes the latter in edgewise abutting engagement with it.

Claim 24

The machine of claim 10, further characterized by: G. the belt having numerous apertures therethrough; and H. a grid-like air intake disposed beneath said stretch of the belt for flatwise supporting engagement by the same, said air intake being connectable with a source of suction for drawing air through the apertures in the belt to thus suck lengths of material on said stretch into tractive engagement therewith.

Claim 25

In a machine in which discrete lengths of a material on the order of paperboard are moved in one direction along a defined path past a processing station, and which machine must at different times accommodate lengths of such material that are of different widths, means for transporting such lengths of mateRial along said path, comprising: A. an endless belt having broad inner and outer surfaces and having a plurality of apertures therethrough, each of which apertures is defined by

Claim 26

In a machine in which discrete lengths of a material on the order of paperboard are moved in one direction along a defined path past a processing station, and which machine must at different times accommodate lengths of such material that are of different widths, means for transporting such lengths of mateRial along said path, comprising: A. an endless belt having broad inner and outer surfaces and having a plurality of apertures therethrough, each of which apertures is defined by

Claim 27

The machine of claim 12, further characterized by: said belt having other apertures therein, nearer the edge thereof that is adjacent to the first mentioned end of the bore in the air intake, each of said other apertures being defined by

Claim 28

The machine of claim 13, wherein said processing station comprises means for applying molten thermoplastic to the lengths of material being processed, further characterized by: each of said transverse grooves in the belt having a locally raised portion rising from its bottom, intermediate its ends, so that thermoplastic which unintentionally may accumulate on the belt and harden into a thin ribbon with an undulated formation caused by the transverse grooves, has bridging ribs formed therein across the undulations, which ribs prevent the undulated ribbon of hardened thermoplastic from stretching accordion-wise as it is stripped off the belt.