Apparatus and method for orienting and case packing bailed containers

Claim 2

Apparatus for receiving bailed containers in a single file array and to orient and deliver the bailed containers in groups of two into an erected carton and after filling said carton to seal the carton, said apparatus including: (a) means for feeding a series of bailed containers in a pre-oriented and like array to an orienting mechanism; (b) means for sequentially receiving and orienting said bailed containers including apparatus providing a programmed and timed engagement with the upper end of each container by one of a plurality of selectively rotatable pressure pads adapted to rotate each container to a determined orientated condition and to arrange said containers in oriented pairs in a side-by-side arrangement on a feeding conveyor; (c) means for feeding at least two of said pairs of oriented containers into the open side of an erected carton until said carton is filled with the desired quantity of oriented containers; (d) means for advancing said filled cartons to a closing and sealing station whereat said carton is closed and sealed, and (e) means for deliveriNg said sealed cartons to accumulating and delivery means.

Claim 3

Apparatus for receiving and orienting bailed containers as in claim 1 in which the means for feeding the series of containers is a receiving conveyor upon which the containers are arranged with a theoretical line connecting the bail ears being normal to the flow of the containers on the receiving conveyor.

Claim 4

Apparatus for receiving and orienting bailed containers as in claim 2 in which the conveyor is adapted to feed the containers by gravity and in which the orienting means has four pressure pads moved and rotated by apparatus so as to selectively engage the containers in sequential groups of four and to rotate them so that after orienting is complete the line connecting the ears of each of the four containers is disposed at about 45* to the delivery flow of the containers into the erected carton.

Claim 5

Apparatus for receiving and orienting bailed containers as in claim 3 in which the containers are fed through the orienting means apparatus on a gravity conveyor which is inclined at an angle sufficient to enable the oriented containers as they are accumulated in pairs to be released as pairs for gravitational flow into the open side of an erected carton.

Claim 6

Apparatus for receiving and orienting bailed containers as in claim 3 in which the pressure pads are carried on a pair of turning members which are in turn carried on shafts rotated by a pair of like meshed gears driven by a motor means, said turning members being selectively raised and lowered so that one of the pressure pads will engage a cover of a container during which the turning member is rotated slightly less than 90*.

Claim 7

Apparatus for receiving and orienting bailed containers as in claim 3 in which the first container of a series of four containers is moved by a turning member rotating in a clockwise direction while the container is being simultaneously rotated counterclockwise for about 45* from its start condition, and in which the second container in the series is moved by a turning member rotating in a counterclockwise direction while the container is being simultaneously rotated clockwise for about 45* from its start condition, and in which the third container of said series is moved by a turning member rotating in a clockwise direction while the container is being simultaneously rotated clockwise an additional amount so as to achieve a rotation of the container of about 135* from its start condition, and in which the fourth container of said series is moved by a turning member rotating in a counterclockwise direction while the container is being simultaneously rotated counterclockwise an additional amount so as to achieve a rotation of about 135* from its start condition.

Claim 8

Apparatus for feeding and orienting containers as in claim 1 in which the containers are fed with their bail on the forward side of the container and along a conveyor providing the means for feeding the containers, said oriented containers when inserted into the carton having the bails facing into the corners of the carton.

Claim 9

Apparatus for feeding and orienting containers as in claim 1 in which the containers are fed with their bails on the trailing side of the container and along a conveyor providing the means for feeding the containers, said oriented containers when inserted into the carton having their bails facing toward the center of the carton.

Claim 10

Apparatus for feeding and orienting containers as in claim 1 in which the orienting means has four pressure pads arranged as opposite pairs which are carried on two counterrotating turning members, and with a rotative and a lift mechanism associated with said turning members and providing a sequential orienting of the containers, said members and mechanism being carried on a support plate which is adjustably supported so as to provide and permit a height adjustment to accommodate the orienting means to a desired height of a covered and closed Container.

Claim 11

Apparatus for feeding and orienting containers as in claim 9 in which there are additionally provided on the turning members a plurality of roller stops disposed to insure that the sequence of containers to and through the orienting means is spaced in a desired manner with a roller stop disposed in way of a succeeding container until the immediately prior container has been desirably orientated and positioned.

Claim 12

Apparatus for receiving and orienting bailed containers as in claim 1 in which the apparatus additionally includes an automatic carton erecting mechanism wherein folded cartons are stored in a substantially vertical manner in a chute from which they are delivered to a mostly horizontal carton retaining means and from which the lowermost carton is drawn from the stack by means of a plurality of suction cups conductively associated with a source of vacuum, each of said cups being mounted on and carried by an arm mounted on and swung in an arc by the rotation of a shaft moved in response to a signal demand for cartons which signal is generated by the feeding of a determined sequence of containers to an erected carton.

Claim 13

Apparatus for receiving and orienting bailed containers as in claim 11 in which the apparatus for feeding of the cartons from the chute to the carton delivery means includes an endless toothed belt which provides a support for one edge of the folded cartons, said belt being carried on a plurality of pulleys and advanced in an intermittent manner in response to the rotative motion of the shaft which carries the suction arms and cups.

Claim 14

Apparatus for receiving and orienting bailed containers as in claim 12 in which the apparatus providing the intermittent feed of the tooth belt includes a cam actuated tightening pulley carried on a pivoted arm and with a cam being carried on and rotated by the shaft which carries the suction arms.

Claim 15

Apparatus for receiving and orienting bailed containers as in claim 12 in which the erected carton is carried on a reciprocated frame moved by a hydraulic cylinder, the movement of said frame also causing a drive shaft to be rotated, said drive shaft and the shaft carrying the suction arms being connected by a belt drive arranged in a manner so as to provide a determined lost motion to insure a delay in the movement of the suction cups and arms to the lowermost folded carton in the stack and in the movement of the cups from the erected carton.

Claim 16

Apparatus for receiving and orienting bailed containers as in claim 14 in which the reciprocating frame is disposed to bring an erected carton from an erecting station to a loading station, said carton being brought in way of and past a turning finger assembly whereat a forward end flap of the rear of said carton is turned to a partly closed condition and as the carton proceeds toward the station whereat the oriented bailed containers are fed into the carton said rear forward flap is brought in way of a closing slide guide, and during the same carton advancing movement the turning finger assembly rotates so as to turn a trailing flap member of the rear of the carton, said trailing flap being turned forwardly and inwardly toward a closing condition and finally in way of said closing slide guide wherewith the end flaps of the rear portion of the carton are retained in a closed condition at and during the carton filling operation.

Claim 17

Apparatus for receiving and orienting bailed containers as in claim 15 in which the reciprocated frame is disposed to bring the erected and filled carton from the loading station to a front flap closed condition, Said frame as it moves the carton forwardly one station from the loading station causing the end flaps of the front of the carton to be brought in way of and past a partially rotated turning finger assembly whereat a forward end flap of the front of said carton is turned to a partly closed condition and as the carton proceeds forward toward the closed condition station said front forward flap is brought in way of a closing slide guide which is substantially parallel to the slide guide still retaining the rear flaps in a closed condition, and during this same carton advancing movement the turning finger assembly disposed to close the front flaps is rotated so as to turn a front trailing flap member, said flap being turned forwardly and inwardly toward a closing condition and finally in way of said forward closing slide guide wherewith the end flaps of the forward portion of the carton are brought to a full closed condition.

Claim 18

Apparatus for receiving and orienting bailed containers as in claim 16 in which the reciprocated frame is disposed to bring the filled carton with its closed end flaps in way of a gluing means and after the glue has been applied to bring the carton to a sealing and delivery station.

Claim 19

Apparatus for receiving and orienting bailed containers as in claim 1 in which the closing and sealing station includes a support frame disposed at a determined incline, a lift platform and means for lifting said platform from a carton receiving condition to a position slightly greater than the thickness of the filled carton, and at least two shoes pivotally mounted in a face-to-face relationship and disposed to be moved inwardly toward each other by gravity so as to engage, grip and press the outer end flaps of the carton against the closed inner flap portions of the carton and in an engaged condition to retain a carton when brought between the shoes, said shoes being further movable from said gripping condition to an outwardly condition to permit the carton to be moved upwardly between the opposed pair of shoes.

Claim 20

Apparatus for receiving and orienting bailed containers as in claim 18 in which the shoes are of sufficient length to grip and simultaneously retain two contiguously stacked containers.

Claim 21

Apparatus for receiving and orienting bailed containers as in claim 18 in which the means for lifting the lift platform is a telescoping hydraulic cylinder disposed to selectively lift the platform and auxiliary parts thereof to both a determined carton retaining height between the shoes and if desired to further lift the carton to a position above the opposed shoes so as to permit ready removal of a sealed carton from the closing and delivery station.

Claim 22

Apparatus for receiving and orienting bailed containers as in claim 18 in which the lift platform is provided with finger members disposed to engage and press the carton''s outer lower flaps toward and against the folded inner flaps and in which the shoes have their lower ends contoured so as to provide camming means to engage and press the cartons outer upper flaps toward and against said folded inner flaps.

Claim 23

Apparatus for receiving and orienting bailed containers as in claim 21 in which the lift apparatus is provided with an associated gravity actuated discharge conveying means.

Claim 24

Apparatus for receiving and orienting bailed containers as in claim 16 in which the closing and sealing station includes a lift platform and means for lifting a carton from a receiving condition to an elevated position slightly greater than a filled carton, and at least one pair of opposed endless belts having their inwardly facing extents spaced substantially parallel to each other at a determined distance so as to grip the ends of the carton when brought therebetween, and means for permitting upward travel of the belts while limiting a reverse travel of the belt so that the upward travel is at a determined increment substantially equal to the thickness of a filled and sealed carton.

Claim 25

Apparatus for receiving and orienting bailed containers as in claim 23 in which the means for permitting upward travel of the belt while limiting the reverse travel is a roller chain moved with the travel of the facing belts, said chain having a plurality of like spaced cooperating means disposed to be engaged by a spring biased latch mechanism at the desired intervals of upward travel of the belt.

Claim 28

The method for receiving and orienting bailed containers as in claim 25 in which the feeding of the series of containers includes arranging said containers on a conveyor with a theoretical line connecting the bail ears being normal to the flow of the containers on the conveyor.

Claim 29

The method for receiving and orienting bailed containers as in claim 26 in which the feeding of the containers is on a gravity conveyor in which the step of orienting includes moving and rotating four pressure pads so as to selectively engage the containers in sequential groups of four and to rotate them so that the theoretical line connecting the ears of each of the four containers is disposed at about 45* to the delivery flow of the containers into an erected carton.

Claim 30

The method for receiving and orienting bailed containers as in claim 27 in which the step of orienting and transporting the containers on a gravity conveyor includes accumulating the containers in pairs and releasing the containers as said pairs for gravitational flow into the open side of an erected carton.

Claim 31

The method for receiving and orienting bailed containers as in claim 27 in which the orienting of the containers by the rotation of pressure pads includes carrying the pads on turning members carried on shafts rotated by a pair of like meshed gears and driving these gears by a motor means, and selectively raising and lowering the turning members so that a pressure pad will engage a cover of a container during the orienting step and during this engagement the turning member is rotated slightly less than 90*.

Claim 32

The method for receiving and orienting bailed containers as in claim 25 in which the step of orienting includes feeding the first container of a series of four containers to container engaging apparatus carried by a turning member, rotating said turning member in a clockwise direction while simultaneously rotating the container counterclockwise so that the resulting rotation of the container is about 45* clockwise from its start condition; and in which the second container in said series is engaged by apparatus carried by a turning member, rotating this turning member counterclockwise and while the turning member is being rotated, simultaneously rotating the second container clockwise so that the resulting rotation of the container is about 45* counterclockwise from its start condition; and in which the third container of said series is engaged by apparatus carried by a turning member, rotating this turning member in a clockwise direction and while the turning member is being rotated, simultaneously engaging and rotating the container clockwise an additional amount so as to achieve a total rotation of about 135* clockwise from its start condition; and in which the fourth container of said series is engaged by apparatus carried by a turning member, rotating this turning member in a counterclockwise direction and while the turning member is being rotated, simultaneously engaging and rotating the container counterclockwise an additional amount so as to achieve a total rotation of about 135* counterclockwise from its start condition.

Claim 33

The method for feeding and orienting containers as in claim 25 in which the step of orienting the containers includes feeding the containers with their bails on the forward side of the container and along a conveyor and in which the engaging means for rotating the containers arranges the containers with their bails so that when inserted the oriented containers have their bails facing into the corners of the carton.

Claim 34

The method for feeding and orienting containers as in claim 25 in which the step of orienting the containers includes feeding the containers with their bails on the trailing side of the container and along a conveyor and in which the engaging means for rotating the containers arranges the containers with their bails so that when inserted the oriented containers have their bails facing toward the center of the carton.

Claim 35

The method for receiving and orienting bailed containers as in claim 25 in which there is additionally included the step of erecting a folded carton drawn from a mostly horizontal carton retaining means; drawing the lowermost carton from the stack by means of a plurality of suction cups conductively associated with a source of vacuum, said cups being mounted on and carried by arms mounted on a shaft, and swinging the arms by rotating said shaft in response to a signal demand for cartons generated by the feeding of a determined sequence of containers to an erected carton.

Claim 36

The method for receiving and orienting bailed containers as in claim 33 in which the feeding of the cartons includes moving a toothed belt disposed to provide a support for one edge of the folded cartons and in which said belt is advanced in an intermittent manner in response to the rotative motion of the shaft carrying the suction arms and cups.

Claim 37

The method for receiving and orienting bailed containers as in claim 33 in which the advancing of the erected carton is by moving a reciprocated frame by means of a hydraulic cylinder, the movement of said frame also causing a drive shaft to be rotated, and connecting said drive shaft and the shaft carrying the suction arms by a drive belt having a determined slack so that a determined lost motion is provided to cause the delivering and erecting of the carton to include the step of delaying the movement of the suction cups and arms to the lowermost folded carton in the stack and delaying the movement of the cups and arms from the erected carton to again engage the lowermost carton in the stack.

Claim 38

The method for receiving and orienting bailed containers as in claim 25 in which there is provided the additional steps of moving a reciprocated frame so as to bring an erected carton from an erecting station to a loading station and during this moving step, closing the rear end flaps by bringing said flaps in way of a turning finger assembly which is selectively rotated to cause the flaps to be turned toward each other and then bringing these partly closed rear end flaps in way of a slide guide to fully close and retain the flaps in a closed condition during loading of the carton; and in which is included the step of moving the reciprocated frame to bring the erected and filled carton from the loading station to a front end flaps closed condition station, closing said front end flaps by bringing these flaps in way of a second turning finger assembly which is selectively rotated to cause the flaps to be turned toward each other and then with the frame still moving forwardly, bringing these partly closed front end flaps in way of a slide guide to fully close and retain the flaps in a closed condition prior to fully closing and sealing the carton.

Claim 39

The method for receiving and orienting bailed containers as in claim 36 in which the step of closing and sealing includes the step of bringing the ends of the filled carton in way of a glue applying apparatus and applying glue to selected portions of the closed end flaps.

Claim 40

The method for receiving anD orienting bailed containers as in claim 37 in which the step of delivering a sealed carton includes the steps of moving the outer flaps of the carton into a tight engagement with the glue conditioned inner flaps and then pressing the flaps into a determined sealing engagement.