Apparatus for supplying rod-shaped articles to consuming machines

Claim 2

In an apparatus for supplying to a consuming machine groups of cigarettes or like rod-shaped articles which are normally stored in mobile trays or analogous mobile containers and form therein arrays of parallel articles, a combination comprising a magazine arranged to store a supply of articles at a first station and to feed its contents to the consuming machine; a carriage having a plurality of walls and being arranged to hold arrays of articles, to shuttle such arrays along a predetermined substantially horizontal path between said first station and a remote second station and to discharge its contents at said first station into said magazine; and conveyor means including transfer means for delivering filled containers to and for withdrawing empty containers from the carriage at said second station, said carriage further having supporting means for receiving arrays of articles from filled containers at said second station while the orientation of such filled containers remains unchanged and for retaining such arrays during transfer to said first station, said supporting means comprising a bottom portion which is movable relative to said walls from a retracted position opening the bottom of the carriage at said second station whereby the container may deliver articles into said carriage through said open bottom to an extended position supporting said articles in said carriage during movement of said carriage to said first station where said bottom portion is again retracted permitting the release of articles for entry into said magazine.

Claim 3

A combination as defined in claim 1, further comprising drive means for moving said carriage between said stations.

Claim 4

In an apparatus for supplying to a consuming machine groups of cigarettes or like rod-shaped articles which are normally stored in trays or analogous containers, A combination comprising a magazine arranged to store a supply of articles at a first station and to feed its contents to the consuming machine; a carriage arranged to shuttle groups of articles between said first station and a second station and to release its contents at said first station for entry into said magazine; and conveyor means including transfer means for delivering filled containers to and for withdrawing empty containers from the carriage at said second station, said carriage including supporting means for receiving groups of articles from filled containers and for retaining such groups during travel between said stations, said supporting means including a portion which is movable between an open position to thereby permit introduction of a filled container into said carriage at said second station and a closed position in which said supporting means retains the contents of the thus introduced container.

Claim 5

In an apparatus for supplying to a consuming machine groups of cigarettes or like rod-shaped articles which are normally stored in trays or analogous containers, A combination comprising a magazine arranged to store a supply of articles at a first station and to feed its contents to the consuming machine; a carriage arranged to shuttle groups of articles between said first station and a second station and to release its contents at said first station for entry into said magazine; and conveyor means including transfer means for delivering filled containers to and for withdrawing empty containers from the carriage at said second station, said carriage including supporting means for receiving groups of articles from filled containers and for retaining such groups during travel between said stations, said supporting means including a portion which is movable between an open position to thereby permit introduction of a filled container into said carriage at said second station and a closed position in which said supporting means retains the contents of the thus introduced container.

Claim 6

A combination as defined in claim 3, further comprising guide means confining said carriage to reciprocatory movement between said stations, said supporting means including a substantially U-shaped enclosure for the contents of a filled container, said enclosure having an open lower end for introduction of the contents of a filled container from below and said movable portion of said supporting means including a bottom member which exposes said lower end in the open position thereof and is located below said open end in the closed position thereof to thus support the contents of a container from below.

Claim 7

A combination as defined in claim 4, wherein said carriage further comprises a frame for said supporting means.

Claim 8

A combination as defined in claim 4, further comprising drive means for moving said movable portion of said supporting means between said open and closed positions thereof.

Claim 9

A combination as defined in claim 6, further comprising locking means for holding said movable portion in closed position during transport of said carriage from said second to said first station and disengaging means for said locking means.

Claim 10

A combination as defined in claim 4, wherein the groups of articles are stored in containers of the type having a bottom wall provided with a plurality of flutes and ribs supporting a group of articles from below, said movable portion of said supporting means including prongs arranged to enter into the flutes in the bottom wall of a filled container at said second station in response to movement of said portion from open to closed position whereby the group of articles in such container comes to rest on said prongs.

Claim 11

A combination as defined in claim 4, wherein said enclosure includes a first panel and two auxiliary panels flanking said first panel, said panels being located in mutually inclined vertical planes and said carriage further comprising a frame for said supporting means, said auxiliary panels having upper end portions connected with said frame.

Claim 12

A combination as defined in claim 9, wherein said auxiliary panels are movable with reference to said frame.

Claim 13

A combination as defined in claim 10, further comprising drive means for moving said auxiliary panels toward and away from each other.

Claim 14

A combination as defined in claim 11, wherein the groups of articles are stored in containers of the type having a pair of side walls each provided with at least one vertically extending slot and wherein each of said auxiliary panels comprises at least one vertical strip arranged to enter the slot of one side wall of a filled container at said second station in response to movement of said auxiliary panels toward each other.

Claim 15

A combination as defined in claim 11, wherein said magazine comprises a pair of side walls each provided with at least one vertical slot and wherein said auxiliary panels are arranged to pass through such slots in response to movement away from each other at said first station.

Claim 16

A combination as defined in claim 1, wherein said conveyor mEans further includes a first conveyor for feeding filled containers to said transfer means and a second conveyor for receiving empty containers from said transfer means.

Claim 17

In an apparatus for supplying to a consuming machine groups of cigarettes or like rod-shaped articles which are normally stored in trays or analogous containers and form therein arrays of parallel articles, a combination comprising a magazine arranged to store a supply of articles at a first station and to feed its contents to the consuming machine; a carriage arranged to hold arrays of articles, to shuttle such arrays along a substantially horizontal path between said first station and a remote second station, and to release its contents at said first station for entry into said magazine; and conveyor means including transfer means for delivering filled containers to and for withdrawing empty containers from the carriage at said second station, a first conveyor for feeding filled containers to said transfer means and a second conveyor for receiving empty containers from said transfer means, said transfer means comprising a lift arranged to move filled containers upwardly from said first conveyor to said second station and empty containers downwardly from said second station to said second conveyor, said carriage including supporting means for receiving arrays of articles from filled containers at said second station while the orientation of such filled containers remains unchanged and for retaining such arrays during transfer to said first station, said supporting means comprising a substantially horizontal bottom portion for supporting the arrays of articles from below.

Claim 18

In an apparatus for supplying to a consuming machine groups of cigarettes or like rod-shaped articles which are normally stored in trays or analogous containers and form therein arrays of parallel articles, a combination comprising a magazine arranged to store a supply of articles at a first station and to feed its contents to the consuming machine; a carriage arranged to hold arrays of articles, to shuttle such arrays along a substantially horizontal path between said first station and a remote second station, and to release its contents at said first station for entry into said magazine; and conveyor means including transfer means for delivering filled containers to and for withdrawing empty containers from the carriage at said second station, a first conveyor for feeding filled containers to said transfer means and a second conveyor for receiving empty containers from said transfer means, said transfer means comprising a lift arranged to move filled containers upwardly from said first conveyor to said second station and empty containers downwardly from said second station to said second conveyor, said carriage including supporting means for receiving arrays of articles from filled containers at said second station while the orientation of such filled containers remains unchanged and for retaining such arrays during transfer to said first station, said supporting means comprising a substantially horizontal bottom portion for supporting the arrays of articles from below.

Claim 19

A combination as defined in claim 15, wherein said first and second conveyors are disposed at different levels and further comprising means for moving empty containers from said transfer means onto said second conveyor.

Claim 20

A combination as defined in claim 15, further comprising drive means operable to move said lift up and down and control means for operating said drive means, said control means including first detectors adjacent to the path of and actuatable by said lift and at least one second detector adjacent to the path of and actuatable by said carriage.

Claim 21

In an apparatus for supplying to a consuming machine groups of cigarettes or like rod-shaped articles which are normally stored in trays or analogous containers of the type having a bottom wall provided with a plurality of parallel flutes and ribs separating such flutes and supporting the group from below and a pair of vertical side walls each having vertical slot means, a combination comprising a magazine arranged to store a supply of articles at a first station and to feed its contents to the consuming machine; a carriage arranged to shuttle groups of articles between said first station and a second station and to release its contents at said first station for entry into said magazine; and conveyor means including transfer means for delivering filled containers to and for withdrawing empty containers from the carriage at said second station, said carriage including supporting means for receiving groups of articles from filled containers and for retaining such groups during travel between said stations, said supporting means comprising a pair of vertical auxiliary panels each movable through the slot means of one side wall at said second station and a bottom panel movable with reference to said auxiliary panels between an open position and a closed position and having prongs receivable in the flutes of the bottom wall at said second station so that said panels confine a group of articles in a container at said second station from two sides when said auxiliary panels are located in the respective slot means and from below when said prongs extend into the flutes of a bottom wall at said second station in closed position of said bottom panel.

Claim 22

In an apparatus for supplying to a consuming machine groups of cigarettes or like rod-shaped articles which are normally stored in trays or analogous containers of the type having a bottom wall provided with a plurality of parallel flutes and ribs separating such flutes and supporting the group from below and a pair of vertical side walls each having vertical slot means, a combination comprising a magazine arranged to store a supply of articles at a first station and to feed its contents to the consuming machine; a carriage arranged to shuttle groups of articles between said first station and a second station and to release its contents at said first station for entry into said magazine; and conveyor means including transfer means for delivering filled containers to and for withdrawing empty containers from the carriage at said second station, said carriage including supporting means for receiving groups of articles from filled containers and for retaining such groups during travel between said stations, said supporting means comprising a pair of vertical auxiliary panels each movable through the slot means of one side wall at said second station and a bottom panel movable with reference to said auxiliary panels between an open position and a closed position and having prongs receivable in the flutes of the bottom wall at said second station so that said panels confine a group of articles in a container at said second station from two sides when said auxiliary panels are located in the respective slot means and from below when said prongs extend into the flutes of a bottom wall at said second station in closed position of said bottom panel.

Claim 23

A combination as defined in claim 18, further comprising drive means operative to move said carriage between saiD stations, for moving said bottom panel between open and closed positions and for moving said auxiliary panels, and control means including detector means adjacent to the paths of movement of said carriage and said transfer means for operating said drive means in a predetermined sequence.

Claim 24

In an apparatus for supplying to a consuming machine groups of cigarettes or like rod-shaped articles which are normally stored in trays or analogous containers, a combination comprising a magazine arranged to store a supply of articles at a first station and to feed its contents to the consuming machine; a carriage arranged to shuttle groups or articles between said first station and a second station and to release its contents at said first station for entry into said magazine; drive means operable to move said carriage between said stations; detector means for monitoring the supply of articles in said magazine and for producing signals when such supply descends below a predetermined level; conveyor means including transfer means for delivering filled containers to and for withdrawing empty containers from the carriage at said second station, said carriage including supporting means for receiving groups of articles from filled containers and for retaining such groups during travel between said stations; and means for operating said drive means in response to signals from said detector means so that said drive means advances said carriage and a group of articles therein from said second to said first station.

Claim 25

In an apparatus for supplying to a consuming machine groups of cigarettes or like rod-shaped articles which are normally stored in trays or analogous containers, a combination comprising a magazine arranged to store a supply of articles at a first station and to feed its contents to the consuming machine; a carriage arranged to shuttle groups or articles between said first station and a second station and to release its contents at said first station for entry into said magazine; drive means operable to move said carriage between said stations; detector means for monitoring the supply of articles in said magazine and for producing signals when such supply descends below a predetermined level; conveyor means including transfer means for delivering filled containers to and for withdrawing empty containers from the carriage at said second station, said carriage including supporting means for receiving groups of articles from filled containers and for retaining such groups during travel between said stations; and means for operating said drive means in response to signals from said detector means so that said drive means advances said carriage and a group of articles therein from said second to said first station.

Claim 26

In an apparatus for supplying to a consuming machine groups of cigarettes or like rod-shaped articles which are normally stored in trays or analogous containers and form therein arrays of parallel articles, a combination comprising a magazine arranged to store a supply of articles at a first station and to feed its contents to the consuming machine; a carriage arranged to hold arrays of articles, to shuttle such arrays along a predetermined path between said first station and a remote second station, and to release its contents at said first station for entry into said magazine; a housing; guide means provided in said housing and including a plurality of substantially horizontal parallel tie rods arranged to confine said carriage to reciprocatory movement between said stations; and conveyor means including transfer means for delivering filled containers to and for withdrawing empty containers from the carriage at said second station, said carriage including supporting means for receiving arrays of articles from filled containers at said second station while the orientation of such filled containers remains substantially unchanged and for retaining such arrays during transfer to said first station, said supporting means comprising a substantially horizontal bottom portion for supporting the arrays of articles from below.

Claim 27

In an apparatus for supplying to a consuming machine groups of cigarettes or like rod-shaped articles which are normally stored in trays or analogous containers and form therein arrays of parallel articles, a combination comprising a magazine arranged to store a supply of articles at a first station and to feed its contents to the consuming machine; a carriage arranged to hold arrays of articles, to shuttle such arrays along a predetermined path between said first station and a remote second station, and to release its contents at said first station for entry into said magazine; a housing; guide means provided in said housing and including a plurality of substantially horizontal parallel tie rods arranged to confine said carriage to reciprocatory movement between said stations; and conveyor means including transfer means for delivering filled containers to and for withdrawing empty containers from the carriage at said second station, said carriage including supporting means for receiving arrays of articles from filled containers at said second station while the orientation of such filled containers remains substantially unchanged and for retaining such arrays during transfer to said first station, said supporting means comprising a substantially horizontal bottom portion for supporting the arrays of articles from below.