High speed automatic casing machine

Claim 2

An automatic casing machine adapted to receive at a carton inlet a continuous stream of cartons having front, rear and side flaps and to receive at an article inlet a continuous stream of articles and further adapted to pack said articles in said cartons at a packing station, said machine comprising means at said carton inlet for receiving cartons having top flaps closed and at least said bottom side flaps open and for conveying same in spaced relationship past a flap opening station to said packing station, means at said flap opening station for opening said front and rear flaps on said carton if they are closed, said flap opening means comprising a dead plate upon which said cartons are adapted to be conveyed by said carton conveying means, said dead plate having an opening therein and means under said dead plate opening adapted to operatively engage said front flap through said opening and to pivot same to the open position as said carton moves past said opening, means for receiving a continuous stream of articles at said article inlet and for conveying same to a grouping station, means at said grouping station for separating said articles into groups adapted to fill said cartons, and for conveying the thus grouped articles to said packing station under said carton conveying means, means operatively drivingly connecting said carton conveying means to said article grouping means, whereby a group of articles is aligned at said packing station with a carton as it reaches said packing station, and means at said packing station, operatively connected to said carton conveying means, for lowering a carton over a group of articles as it reaches said packing station.

Claim 3

The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said front flap engaging means comprises a cleat and further comprising endless cleat conveyor means for moving said cleat in an endless path under said opening in said dead plate thereby to engage the front flap of a carton each time a carton moves past said opening.

Claim 4

The apparatus of claim 2, wherein said endless cleat conveyor means is effective to move said cleat under said opening in substantially the direction of said carton movement but at a greater speed than said carton is moved, said cleat catching up to said front flap and engaging same through said opening.

Claim 5

The apparatus of claim 3, wherein said cleat is pivotally mounted on said endless conveying means and further comprising means for pivoting said cleat upwardly through said opening to raise said front flap above the level of said dead plate before said front flap reaches the end of said opening.

Claim 6

The apparatus of claim 4, wherein said pivoting means comprises cam means operatively connected to said cleat.

Claim 7

The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising carton indexing means, said carton conveying means further comprising carton inlet conveyor means at said carton inlet adapted to convey a continuous stream of cartons to said carton indexing means, a flight bar conveyor having a plurality of spaced flight bars adapted to engage said cartons on said dead plate, said carton indexing means being operatively connected to said flight bar conveyor and effective to release cartons in timed sequence with the movement of said flight bar conveyor, said carton inlet conveying means being effective to convey said released cartons to said dead plate, whereby one carton is deposited on said dead plate between the passage of consecutive flight bars thereover.

Claim 8

An automatic casing machine adapted to receive at a carton inlet a continuous stream of cartons having front, rear and side flaps and to receive at an article inlet a continuous stream of articles and further adapted to pack said articles in said cartons at a packing station, said machine comprising means at said carton inlet for receiving cartons having top flaps closed and at least said bottom side flaps open, means operatively engaging said cartons and effective to convey same in spaced relationship in a given direction past a flap opening station to said packing station, means at said flap opening station for opening said front and rear flaps on said carton if they are closed, means for receiving articles at said article inlet and for conveying same to a grouping station in a continuous stream moving in said given direction, means at said grouping station for separating said articles into groups adapted to fill said cartons while said articles continue to move in said given direction, and for conveying the thus grouped articles in said given direction to said packing station under said carton conveying means, means operatively drivingly connecting said carton conveying means to said article grouping means such that a group of articles and a carton reach said packing station simultaneously and are brought into momentary vertical alignment at said packing station, and means at said packing station, operatively connected to said carton conveying means, and effective to lower a carton over a group of articles at said packing station while said carton and said articles continue to move in said given direction, said carton conveying means remaining engaged with said carton until said carton is lowered into engagement with said group of articles.

Claim 9

An automatic casing machine adapted to receive at a carton inlet a continuous stream of cartons having front, rear and side flaps and to receive at an article inlet a continuous stream of articles and further adapted to pack said articles in said cartons at a packing station, said machine comprising means at said carton inlet for receiving cartons having top flaps closed and at least said bottom side flaps open, means operatively engaging said cartons and effective to convey same in spaced relationship in a given direction past a flap opening station to said packing station, means at said flap opening station for opening said front and rear flaps on said carton if they are closed, means for receiving articles at said article inlet and for conveying same to a grouping station in a continuous stream moving in said given direction, means at said grouping station for separating said articles into groups adapted to fill said cartons while said articles continue to move in said given direction, and for conveying the thus grouped articles in said given direction to said packing station under said carton conveying means, means operatively drivingly connecting said carton conveying means to said article grouping means such that a group of articles and a carton reach said packing station simultaneously and are brought into momentary vertical alignment at said packing station, and means at said packing station, operatively connected to said carton conveying means, and effective to lower a carton over a group of articles at said packing station while said carton and said articles continue to move in said given direction, said carton conveying means remaining engaged with said carton until said carton is lowered into engagement with said group of articles.

Claim 10

The apparatus of claim 7, wherein said article grouping means comprises a plurality of article grouping fingers adapted to be inserted laterally between two consecutive articles on said article conveying means, said grouping fingers being mounted on endless finger conveyor means and spaced from each other such that when so inserted, one or more articles are positioned therebetween.

Claim 11

The apparatus of claim 8, wherein said articles are conveyed to said article grouping means in a double row, there being two of said endless finger conveying means disposed at opposite sides of said article conveyor and operatively engaging said two rows of articles, respectively.

Claim 12

The apparatus of claim 8, wherein said cartons are provided with internal partition means extending transversely to the direction of carton movement and wherein article spacing fingers are provided between said grouping fingers on said endless finger conveyor means, said spacing fingers being adapted to separate individual articles within a given group by a spacing generally corresponding to the thickness of said carton partition means.

Claim 13

The apparatus of claim 10, wherein said articles are conveyed to said article grouping means in a double row, there being two of said endless finger conveying means disposed at opposite sides of said article conveyor and operatively engaging said two rows of articles, respectively.

Claim 14

An automatic casing machine adapted to receive at a carton inlet a continuous stream of cartons having front, rear and side flaps and to receive at an article inlet a continuous stream of articles and further adapted to pack said articles in said cartons at a packing station, said machine comprising means at said carton inlet for receiving cartons having top flaps closed and at least said bottom side flaps open and for conveying same in spaced relationship past a flap opening station to said packing station, means at said flap opening station for opening said front and rear flaps on said carton if they are closed, means for receiving a continuous stream of articles at said article inlet and for conveying same to a grouping station, means at said grouping station for separating said articles into groups adapted to fill said cartons, and for conveying the thus grouped articles to said packing station under said carton conveying means, means operatively drivingly connecting said carton conveying means to said article grouping mEans, whereby a group of articles is aligned at said packing station with a carton as it reaches said packing station, and means at said packing station, operatively connected to said carton conveying means, for lowering a carton over a group of articles as it reaches said packing station, wherein said flap opening means comprises cleat means under said carton conveying means adapted to operatively engage said front flap, and means operatively connected to said carton conveying means for moving said cleat under said cartons in the same direction as the movement of said cartons but at an increased speed relative thereto, said cleat engages said front flap of a carton from the rear, thereby to pivot same to the open position.

Claim 15

An automatic casing machine adapted to receive at a carton inlet a continuous stream of cartons having front, rear and side flaps and to receive at an article inlet a continuous stream of articles and further adapted to pack said articles in said cartons at a packing station, said machine comprising means at said carton inlet for receiving cartons having top flaps closed and at least said bottom side flaps open and for conveying same in spaced relationship past a flap opening station to said packing station, means at said flap opening station for opening said front and rear flaps on said carton if they are closed, means for receiving a continuous stream of articles at said article inlet and for conveying same to a grouping station, means at said grouping station for separating said articles into groups adapted to fill said cartons, and for conveying the thus grouped articles to said packing station under said carton conveying means, means operatively drivingly connecting said carton conveying means to said article grouping mEans, whereby a group of articles is aligned at said packing station with a carton as it reaches said packing station, and means at said packing station, operatively connected to said carton conveying means, for lowering a carton over a group of articles as it reaches said packing station, wherein said flap opening means comprises cleat means under said carton conveying means adapted to operatively engage said front flap, and means operatively connected to said carton conveying means for moving said cleat under said cartons in the same direction as the movement of said cartons but at an increased speed relative thereto, said cleat engages said front flap of a carton from the rear, thereby to pivot same to the open position.

Claim 16

An automatic casing machine adapted to receive at a carton inlet a continuous stream of cartons having front, rear and side flaps and to receive at an article inlet a continuous stream of articles and further adapted to pack said articles in said cartons at a packing station, said machine comprising means at said carton inlet for receiving cartons having top flaps closed and at least said bottom side flaps open and for conveying same in spaced relationship past a flap opening station to said packing station, means at said flap opening station for opening said front and rear flaps on said carton if they are closed, means for receiving a continuous stream of articles at said article inlet and for conveying same to a grouping station, means at said grouping station for separating said articles into groups adapted to fill said cartons, and for conveying the thus grouped articles to said packing station under said carton conveying means, means operatively drivingly connecting said carton conveying means to said article grouping means, whereby a group of articles is aligned at said packing station with a carton as it reaches said packing station, and means at said packing station, operatively connected to said carton conveying means, for lowering a carton over a group of articles as it reaches said packing station, wherein said cartons are conveyed to said packing station above said group of articles on support means, aperture means in said support means of a size and shape adapted to receive said cartons therethrough, yieldable holding means adapted to hold said carton above said aperture means and to yield upon forceful pushing of said cartons downwardly, said carton lowering means comprising carton pushdown means adapted to engage said carton and push it downwardly through said opening with sufficient force to cause said holding means to yield.

Claim 17

An automatic casing machine adapted to receive at a carton inlet a continuous stream of cartons having front, rear and side flaps and to receive at an article inlet a continuous stream of articles and further adapted to pack said articles in said cartons at a packing station, said machine comprising means at said carton inlet for receiving cartons having top flaps closed and at least said bottom side flaps open and for conveying same in spaced relationship past a flap opening station to said packing station, means at said flap opening station for opening said front and rear flaps on said carton if they are closed, means for receiving a continuous stream of articles at said article inlet and for conveying same to a grouping station, means at said grouping station for separating said articles into groups adapted to fill said cartons, and for conveying the thus grouped articles to said packing station under said carton conveying means, means operatively drivingly connecting said carton conveying means to said article grouping means, whereby a group of articles is aligned at said packing station with a carton as it reaches said packing station, and means at said packing station, operatively connected to said carton conveying means, for lowering a carton over a group of articles as it reaches said packing station, wherein said cartons are conveyed to said packing station above said group of articles on support means, aperture means in said support means of a size and shape adapted to receive said cartons therethrough, yieldable holding means adapted to hold said carton above said aperture means and to yield upon forceful pushing of said cartons downwardly, said carton lowering means comprising carton pushdown means adapted to engage said carton and push it downwardly through said opening with sufficient force to cause said holding means to yield.

Claim 18

The apparatus of claim 13, wherein said pushdown means comprises rotary means having a pushing element adapted to engage a carton at a given point in its rotary path during each complete rotation of said rotary means, said rotary means being operatively drivingly connected to said carton conveying means whereby a carton is aligned over said aperture each time said pushing element reaches said given point.

Claim 19

The apparatus of claim 13, wherein said flap opening means comprises a dead plate upon which said cartons are adapted to be conveyed by said carton conveying means, said dead plate having an opening therein and means under said dead plate opening adapted to operatively engage said front flap through said opening and to pivot same to the open position as said carton moves past said opening.

Claim 20

The apparatus of claim 15, wherein said front flap engaging means comprises a cleat and further comprising endless cleat conveyor means for moving said cleat in an endless path under said opening in said dead plate thereby to engage the front flap of a carton each time a carton moves past said opening.

Claim 21

The apparatus of claim 16, wherein said endless cleat conveyor means is effective to move said cleat under said opening in substantially the direction of said carton movement but at a greater speed than said carton is moved, said cleat catching up to said front flap and engaging same through said opEning.

Claim 22

The apparatus of claim 17, wherein said cleat is pivotally mounted on said endless conveying means and further comprising means for pivoting said cleat upwardly through said opening to raise said front flap above the level of said dead plate before said front flap reaches the end of said opening.

Claim 23

The apparatus of claim 18, wherein said pivoting means comprises cam means operatively connected to said cleat.

Claim 24

The apparatus of claim 13, further comprising carton indexing means, said carton conveying means further comprising carton inlet conveyor means at said carton inlet adapted to convey a continuous stream of cartons to said carton indexing means, a flight bar conveyer having a plurality of spaced flight bars adapted to engage said cartons on said dead plate, said carton indexing means being operatively connected to said flight bar conveyor and effective to release cartons in timed sequence with the movement of said flight bar conveyor, said carton inlet conveying means being effective to convey said released cartons to said dead plate, whereby one carton is deposited on said dead plate between the passage of consecutive flight bars thereover.

Claim 25

The apparatus of claim 13, wherein said flap opening means comprises cleat means under said carton conveying means adapted to operatively engage said front flap, and means operatively connected to said carton conveying means for moving said cleat under said cartons in the same direction as the movement of said cartons but at an increased speed relative thereto, said cleat engaging said front flap of a carton from the rear, thereby to pivot same to the open position.

Claim 26

An automatic casing machine adapted to receive at a carton inlet a continuous stream of cartons having front, rear and side flaps and to receive at an article inlet a continuous stream of articles and further adapted to pack said articles in said cartons at a packing station, said machine comprising means at said carton inlet for receiving cartons having top flaps closed and at least said bottom side flaps open and for conveying same in spaced relationship past a flap opening station to said packing station, means at said flap opening station for opening said front and rear flaps on said carton if they are closed, means for receiving a continuous stream of articles at said article inlet and for conveying same to a grouping station, means at said grouping station for separating said articles into groups adapted to fill said cartons, and for conveying the thus grouped articles to said packing station under said carton conveying means, means operatively drivingly connecting said carton conveying means to said article grouping means, whereby a group of articles is aligned at said packing station with a carton as it reaches said packing station, and means at said packing station, operatively connected to said carton conveying means, for lowering a carton over a group of articles as it reaches said packing station, further comprising second carton conveying means for conveying said filled carton along a support means past means for closing said front flap after said carton is lowered onto said group of articles, said support means having an opening, said front flap closing means comprising a pair of spaced reciprocating members in said opening defining a slot therebetween and means for reciprocating said spaced members to receive said front flap extending outwardly ahead of said carton in said slot in the direction of carton movement and to thereafter engage said front flap and pivot same inwardly toward the underside of said carton, said front flap leaving said slot in the closed position.

Claim 27

An automatic casing machine adapted to receive at a carton inlet a continuous stream of cartons having front, rear and side flaps and to receive at an article inlet a continuous stream of articles and further adapted to pack said articles in said cartons at a packing station, said machine comprising means at said carton inlet for receiving cartons having top flaps closed and at least said bottom side flaps open and for conveying same in spaced relationship past a flap opening station to said packing station, means at said flap opening station for opening said front and rear flaps on said carton if they are closed, means for receiving a continuous stream of articles at said article inlet and for conveying same to a grouping station, means at said grouping station for separating said articles into groups adapted to fill said cartons, and for conveying the thus grouped articles to said packing station under said carton conveying means, means operatively drivingly connecting said carton conveying means to said article grouping means, whereby a group of articles is aligned at said packing station with a carton as it reaches said packing station, and means at said packing station, operatively connected to said carton conveying means, for lowering a carton over a group of articles as it reaches said packing station, further comprising second carton conveying means for conveying said filled carton along a support means past means for closing said front flap after said carton is lowered onto said group of articles, said support means having an opening, said front flap closing means comprising a pair of spaced reciprocating members in said opening defining a slot therebetween and means for reciprocating said spaced members to receive said front flap extending outwardly ahead of said carton in said slot in the direction of carton movement and to thereafter engage said front flap and pivot same inwardly toward the underside of said carton, said front flap leaving said slot in the closed position.

Claim 28

The apparatus of claim 22, wherein said reciprocating means comprises rotary cam means operatively drivingly connected to said second carton conveying means.

Claim 29

The apparatus of claim 22, further comprising means for closing said rear flap, said second carton conveying means conveying said carton successively past said front flap closiNg means and said rear flap closing means after said carton is lowered onto said group of articles.

Claim 30

The apparatus of claim 24, wherein said rear flap closing means comprises a movable member under said carton conveying means, means moving said movable member in the direction of movement of said second carton conveying means at a speed greater than the speed of said carton, said movable member including a pivotal member defining a slot in said moveable means, means to pivot said pivotal member downwardly away from said carton as said slot approaches said rear flap thereby to receive said rear flap in said slot, said movable means engaging said rear flap and pivoting same to the closed position as said slot moves past said flap, and means pivoting said pivotal member upwardly into said carton above the plane of said movable means as said slot moves away from said rear flap whereby said rear flap is retracted from said slot in the closed position.

Claim 31

The apparatus of claim 25, wherein said second carton conveying means is a flight bar engaging said carton at its rear, said movable means comprising vertical support means for said carton and further comprises holdback means effective to hold back said carton against said flight bar thereby to prevent said carton from being moved away from said flight bar by said movable support means.

Claim 32

The apparatus of claim 25, further comprising fluid spray means mounted above said cartons and adapted to spray a jet of fluid on said rear flap to press it against said pivotal element in its downwardly pivoted position thereby to facilitate entry of said rear flap into said slot.

Claim 33

The apparatus of claim 27, wherein said second carton conveying means is a flight bar engaging said carton at its rear, said movable means comprising vertical support means for said carton and further comprises holdback means effective to hold back said carton against said flight bar thereby to prevent said carton from being moved away from said flight bar by said movable support means.

Claim 34

The apparatus of claim 24, further comprising means along said second carton conveying means for applying adhesive to said side flaps and closing same to seal said carton for shipment.

Claim 35

An automatic casing machine adapted to receive at a carton inlet a continuous stream of cartons and adapted to receive at an article inlet a continuous stream of articles and further adapted to pack said articles in said cartons at a packing station, means for receiving a continuous stream of articles at said article inlet and for conveying same in a given sense to a grouping station, means at said grouping station for separating said articles into groups adapted to fill said cartons while said articles continue to move generally in said given sense, and means for conveying the thus grouped articles to said packing station under said carton conveying means while said articles continue to move generally in said given sense, means operatively drivingly connecting said carton conveying means to said article grouping means, whereby a group of articles is aligned at said packing station with a carton as it reaches said packing station, and means at said packing station, operatively connected to said carton conveying means for lowering a carton over a group of articles as it reaches said packing station.

Claim 36

An automatic casing machine adapted to receive at a carton inlet a continuous stream of cartons and adapted to receive at an article inlet a continuous stream of articles and further adapted to pack said articles in said cartons at a packing station, means for receiving a continuous stream of articles at said article inlet and for conveying same in a given sense to a grouping station, means at said grouping station for separating said articles into groups adapted to fill said cartons while said articles continue to move generally in said given sense, and means for conveying the thus grouped articles to said packing station under said carton conveying means while said articles continue to move generally in said given sense, means operatively drivingly connecting said carton conveying means to said article grouping means, whereby a group of articles is aligned at said packing station with a carton as it reaches said packing station, and means at said packing station, operatively connected to said carton conveying means for lowering a carton over a group of articles as it reaches said packing station.

Claim 37

An automatic casing machine adapted to receive at a carton inlet a continuous stream of cartons and adapted to receive at an article inlet a continuous stream of articles and further adapted to pack said articles in said cartons at a packing station, means for receiving a continuous stream of articles at said article inlet and for conveying same to a grouping station, means at said grouping station for separating said articles into groups adapted to fill said cartons, and for conveying the thus grouped articles to said packing station under said carton conveying means, means operatively drivingly connecting said carton conveying means to said article grouping meAns, whereby a group of articles is aligned at said packing station with a carton as it reaches said packing station, and means at said packing station, operatively connected to said carton conveying means for lowering a carton over a group of articles as it reaches said packing station, wherein said cartons are conveyed to said packing station above said group of articles on support means, aperture means in said support means of a size and shape adapted to receive said cartons therethrough, yieldable holding means adapted to hold said carton above said aperture means and to yield upon forceful pushing of said carton downwardly, said carton lowering means comprising carton pushdown means adapted to engage said carton and push it downwardly through said opening with sufficient force to cause said holding means to yield.

Claim 38

An automatic casing machine adapted to receive at a carton inlet a continuous stream of cartons and adapted to receive at an article inlet a continuous stream of articles and further adapted to pack said articles in said cartons at a packing station, means for receiving a continuous stream of articles at said article inlet and for conveying same to a grouping station, means at said grouping station for separating said articles into groups adapted to fill said cartons, and for conveying the thus grouped articles to said packing station under said carton conveying means, means operatively drivingly connecting said carton conveying means to said article grouping meAns, whereby a group of articles is aligned at said packing station with a carton as it reaches said packing station, and means at said packing station, operatively connected to said carton conveying means for lowering a carton over a group of articles as it reaches said packing station, wherein said cartons are conveyed to said packing station above said group of articles on support means, aperture means in said support means of a size and shape adapted to receive said cartons therethrough, yieldable holding means adapted to hold said carton above said aperture means and to yield upon forceful pushing of said carton downwardly, said carton lowering means comprising carton pushdown means adapted to engage said carton and push it downwardly through said opening with sufficient force to cause said holding means to yield.

Claim 39

The apparatus of claim 31, wherein said pushdown means comprises rotary means having a pushing element adapted to engage a carton at a given point in its rotary path during each complete rotation of said rotary means, said rotary means being operatively drivingly connected to said carton conveying means whereby a carton is aligned over said aperture each time said pushing element reaches said given point.