Article packaging machine

Claim 2

An article packaging machine comprising: a. a support frame; b. a motor driven, endless, article conveyer means mounted to the support frame including an upper treatment portion and a lower return portion and having an article loading station and a package emitting end downstream thereof, said conveyer comprising a pair of spaced, parallel, synchronously driven longitudinal drive chains and a plurality of lateral rods joining said chains at spaced intervals along said conveyer and wherein Each of said rods is bent inwardly of said conveyer to form a centrally tapering longitudinal trough along said conveyer, said trough formed by side walls which are continuously sloped to substantially the center of said trough said conveyer including a plurality of outwardly extending, lateral fences spaced along said conveyer to form loading zones and wherein said upper treatment portion of said conveyer is inclined to the horizontal upwardly from said loading station to said downstream emitting end; c. heat shrinkable, packaging film supply means mounted to the support frame and including a lower film supply roll and a lower film feed mechanism for feeding a lower film ribbon onto the end of the conveyer in a downstream direction and an upper film supply roll and upper feed mechanism for feeding an upper film ribbon downwardly onto the lower film ribbon downstream of said loading station; d. a film welding and severing means mounted to said frame adjacent said upper treatment portion of said conveyer and downstream of said upper film ribbon for laterally bonding said upper and lower film ribbons and for laterally severing said ribbons intermediate a bond; and e. heat shrink means mounted to said frame adjacent the upper treatment portion of said conveyer downstream of said welding and severing means for heat shrinking said film around said articles.

Claim 3

An article packaging machine comprising: a. a support frame; b. a motor driven, endless, article conveyer means mounted to the support frame including an upper treatment portion and a lower return portion and having an article loading station and a package emitting end downstream thereof, said conveyer comprising a pair of spaced, parallel, synchronously driven longitudinal drive chains and a plurality of lateral rods joining said chains at spaced intervals along said conveyer and wherein each of said rods is bent inwardly of said conveyer to form a centrally tapering longitudinal trough along said conveyer, said trough formed by side walls which are continuously sloped to substantially the center of said trough, said conveyer including a plurality of outwardly extending, lateral fences spaced along said conveyer to form loading zones and wherein said upper treatment portion of said conveyer is inclined to the horizontal upwardly from said loading station to said downstream emitting end wherein each of said lateral fences comprises a relatively rigid fence member having an angle bracket fixed to each end thereof and extending outwardly therefrom, each of said angle brackets having a first manually operable fastener member extending therefrom, and wherein a plurality of laterally aligned second fastener members are fixed near opposite ends of said rods spaced along said conveyer, matingly alignable with said first fastener members; c. heat shrinkable, packaging film supply means mounted to the support frame and including a lower film supply roll and a lower film feed mechanism for feeding a lower film ribbon onto the end of the conveyer in a downstream direction and an upper film supply roll and upper feed mechanism for feeding an upper film ribbon downwardly onto the lower film ribbon downstream of said loading station; d. a film welding and severing means mounted to said frame adjacent said upper treatment portion of said conveyer and downstream of said upper film ribbon for laterally bonding said upper and lower film ribbons and for laterally severing said ribbons intermediate a bond; and e. heat shrink means mounted to said frame adjacent the upper treatment portion of said conveyer downstream of said welding and severing means for heat shrinking said film around said articles.

Claim 4

An article packaging machine comprising: a. a support frame; b. a motor driven, endless, article conveyer means mounted to the support frame including an upper treatment portion and a lower return portion and having an article loading station and a package emitting end downstream thereof, said conveyer comprising a pair of spaced, parallel, synchronously driven longitudinal drive chains and a plurality of lateral rods joining said chains at spaced intervals along said conveyer and wherein each of said rods is bent inwardly of said conveyer to form a centrally tapering longitudinal trough along said conveyer, said trough formed by side walls which are continuously sloped to substantially the center of said trough, said conveyer including a plurality of outwardly extending, lateral fences spaced along said conveyer to form loading zones and wherein said upper treatment portion of said conveyer is inclined to the horizontal upwardly from said loading station to said downstream emitting end wherein each of said lateral fences comprises a relatively rigid fence member having an angle bracket fixed to each end thereof and extending outwardly therefrom, each of said angle brackets having a first manually operable fastener member extending therefrom, and wherein a plurality of laterally aligned second fastener members are fixed near opposite ends of said rods spaced along said conveyer, matingly alignable with said first fastener members; c. heat shrinkable, packaging film supply means mounted to the support frame and including a lower film supply roll and a lower film feed mechanism for feeding a lower film ribbon onto the end of the conveyer in a downstream direction and an upper film supply roll and upper feed mechanism for feeding an upper film ribbon downwardly onto the lower film ribbon downstream of said loading station; d. a film welding and severing means mounted to said frame adjacent said upper treatment portion of said conveyer and downstream of said upper film ribbon for laterally bonding said upper and lower film ribbons and for laterally severing said ribbons intermediate a bond; and e. heat shrink means mounted to said frame adjacent the upper treatment portion of said conveyer downstream of said welding and severing means for heat shrinking said film around said articles.

Claim 5

a second slider means including a second pair of spaced slides constrained to reciprocation along a second path transverse to said first path;

Claim 6

a second slider means including a second pair of spaced slides constrained to reciprocation along a second path transverse to said first path;

Claim 7

An article packaging machine comprising: a. a support frame; b. a motor driven, endless, article conveyer means mounted to the support frame including an upper treatment portion and a lower return portion and having an article loading station and a package emitting end downstReam thereof said conveyer comprising a plurality of longitudinally spaced discrete conveyer members having interposed voids; c. heat shrinkable, packaging film supply means mounted to the support frame and including a lower film supply roll and lower film feed mechanism for feeding a lower film ribbon onto the end of the conveyer in a downstream direction and an upper film supply roll and upper feed mechanism for feeding an upper film ribbon downwardly onto the lower film ribbon downstream of said loading station; d. a film welding and severing means mounted to said frame adjacent said upper treatment portion of said conveyer and downstream of said upper film ribbon for laterally bonding said upper and lower film ribbons and for laterally severing said ribbon intermediate a bond wherein said welding and severing means comprises:

Claim 8

An article packaging machine comprising: a. a support frame; b. a motor driven, endless, article conveyer means mounted to the support frame including an upper treatment portion and a lower return portion and having an article loading station and a package emitting end downstReam thereof said conveyer comprising a plurality of longitudinally spaced discrete conveyer members having interposed voids; c. heat shrinkable, packaging film supply means mounted to the support frame and including a lower film supply roll and lower film feed mechanism for feeding a lower film ribbon onto the end of the conveyer in a downstream direction and an upper film supply roll and upper feed mechanism for feeding an upper film ribbon downwardly onto the lower film ribbon downstream of said loading station; d. a film welding and severing means mounted to said frame adjacent said upper treatment portion of said conveyer and downstream of said upper film ribbon for laterally bonding said upper and lower film ribbons and for laterally severing said ribbon intermediate a bond wherein said welding and severing means comprises:

Claim 9

a parallelogram means having sides pivotally connected at the corners thereof by pivot means and having the pivot means of a one pair of diagonally opposite corners mounted one to each of said second slider means for reciprocating translation therewith;

Claim 10

a parallelogram means having sides pivotally connected at the corners thereof by pivot means and having the pivot means of a one pair of diagonally opposite corners mounted one to each of said second slider means for reciprocating translation therewith;

Claim 11

a pair of connecting rod means each pivotally connected at one to a different one of the other pair of diagonally opposite pivot means and pivotally connected at the other end to a different one of said first slider means;

Claim 12

a pair of connecting rod means each pivotally connected at one to a different one of the other pair of diagonally opposite pivot means and pivotally connected at the other end to a different one of said first slider means;

Claim 13

A machine according to claim 3 wherein said first path is linear and perpendicular to said upper treatment portion of said conveyer and said second path is linear and perpendicular to said first path; wherein both of said connecting rod means extends inwardly of said parallelogram and one of said connecting rod means also extends outwardly of said parallelogram into driving engagement with said crank.

Claim 14

A machine according to claim 4 wherein the effective offset between the pivot axis of said crank is one fourth the maximum distance between said welding bumper members.

Claim 15

a film welding and severing mechanism including a pair of engageable welding and bumper members having a different one of said members mounted to each of said connecting rod means for movement therewith; and

Claim 16

a film welding and severing mechanism including a pair of engageable welding and bumper members having a different one of said members mounted to each of said connecting rod means for movement therewith; and

Claim 17

A machine according to claim 5 wherein said conveyer includes a plurality of outwardly extending lateral fences removably mounted at spaced, selected positions along said conveyer means to form loading zones of selected sizes and wherein said welding means includes a cam follower operated actuating means mounted to be actuable by said lateral fences for actuating said crank means for one rotational cycle of operation.

Claim 18

a drive means including a crank drivingly engaging one of said connecting rod means for driving said members in synchronism with said conveyer means and for driving said members into engagement through said voids while said conveyer means is operating; and e. heat shrink means mounted to said frame adjacent the upper treatment portion of said conveyer downstream of said welding and severing means for heat shrinking said film around said articles.

Claim 19

a drive means including a crank drivingly engaging one of said connecting rod means for driving said members in synchronism with said conveyer means and for driving said members into engagement through said voids while said conveyer means is operating; and e. heat shrink means mounted to said frame adjacent the upper treatment portion of said conveyer downstream of said welding and severing means for heat shrinking said film around said articles.

Claim 20

An article packaging machine comprising: a. a support frame; b. a motor driven, endless, article conveyer means mounted to the support frame including an upper treatment portion and a lower return portion and having an article loading station and a package emitting end downstream thereof, said conveyer comprising a pair of spaced, parallel, synchronously driven longitudinal drive chains and a plurality of lateral rods joining said chains at spaced intervals along said conveyer and wherein each of said rods is bent inwardly of said conveyer to form a centrally tapering longitudinal trough along said conveyer, sAid trough formed by side walls which are continuously sloped to substantially the center of said trough; c. heat shrinkable, packaging film supply means mounted to the support frame and including a lower film supply roll and a lower film feed mechanism for feeding a lower film ribbon onto the end of the conveyer in a downstream direction and an upper film supply roll and upper feed mechanism for feeding an upper film ribbon downwardly onto the lower film ribbon downstream of said loading station; d. a film welding and severing means mounted to said frame adjacent said upper treatment portion of said conveyer and downstream of said upper film ribbon for laterally bonding said upper and lower film ribbons and for laterally severing said ribbons intermediate a bond; and e. heat shrink means mounted to said frame adjacent the upper treatment portion of said conveyer downstream of said welding and severing means for heat shrinking said film around said articles wherein said conveyer includes a plurality of outwardly extending lateral fences removably mounted at spaced, selected positions along said conveyer means to form loading zones of selected sizes and wherein said welding means includes a cam follower operated actuating means mounted to be actuable by said fences for actuating said film welding and severing means for one cycle of operation.

Claim 21

An article packaging machine comprising: a. a support frame; b. a motor driven, endless, article conveyer means mounted to the support frame including an upper treatment portion and a lower return portion and having an article loading station and a package emitting end downstream thereof, said conveyer comprising a pair of spaced, parallel, synchronously driven longitudinal drive chains and a plurality of lateral rods joining said chains at spaced intervals along said conveyer and wherein each of said rods is bent inwardly of said conveyer to form a centrally tapering longitudinal trough along said conveyer, sAid trough formed by side walls which are continuously sloped to substantially the center of said trough; c. heat shrinkable, packaging film supply means mounted to the support frame and including a lower film supply roll and a lower film feed mechanism for feeding a lower film ribbon onto the end of the conveyer in a downstream direction and an upper film supply roll and upper feed mechanism for feeding an upper film ribbon downwardly onto the lower film ribbon downstream of said loading station; d. a film welding and severing means mounted to said frame adjacent said upper treatment portion of said conveyer and downstream of said upper film ribbon for laterally bonding said upper and lower film ribbons and for laterally severing said ribbons intermediate a bond; and e. heat shrink means mounted to said frame adjacent the upper treatment portion of said conveyer downstream of said welding and severing means for heat shrinking said film around said articles wherein said conveyer includes a plurality of outwardly extending lateral fences removably mounted at spaced, selected positions along said conveyer means to form loading zones of selected sizes and wherein said welding means includes a cam follower operated actuating means mounted to be actuable by said fences for actuating said film welding and severing means for one cycle of operation.

Claim 22

A machine according to claim 7 wherein the cam follower of said actuating means is positioned upstream of said welding and severing means for registration with the upstream fence of the loading zone which is in operable alignment with the welding and severing means.

Claim 23

An article packaging machine comprising: a. a support frame; b. a motor driven, endless, article conveyer means having a plurality of regularly spaced voids therein, said conveyer means mounted to the support frame, including an upper treatment portion and a lower return portion and having an article loading station and a package emitting end downstream thereof; c. heat shrinkable, packaging film supply means mounted to the support frame and including a lower film supply roll and lower film feed mechanism for feeding a lower film ribbon onto the end of the conveyer in a downstream direction and an upper film supply roll and upper feed mechanism for feeding an upper film ribbon downwardly onto the lower film ribbon downstream of said loading station; d. a film welding and severing means mounted to said frame adjacent said upper treatment portion of said conveyer and downstream of said upper film ribbon for laterally bonding said upper and lower film ribbons and for laterally severing said ribbons intermediate a bond; e. heat shrink means mounted to said frame adjacent the upper treatment portion of said conveyer downstream of said welding and severing means for heat shrinking said film around said articles; f. a package discharge lift comprising a body rotatably mounted to said frame at the downstream end of and beneath the upper treatment portion of said conveyer means and synchronously, drivingly connected to said conveyer means, said body having a plurality of radially outwardly extending arms in dynamic registration with and extending outwardly through the voids of said conveyer means; g. an auxiliary discharge conveyer mounted at the downstream end of said conveyer means for receiving packages therefrom, said discharge conveyer comprising: (1) a pair of substantially parallel, laterally oriented rolls journalled to said frame, one of said rolls being drivingly connected to a drive means; and (2) a plurality of endless, resiliently elastic, laterally spaced bands surrounding and engaging said rolls; and h. a transfer conveyer mounted to receive packages from said discharge conveyer and to transport them laterally away from said discharge conveyer, wherein the improvement comprises a wheel mounted to said frame for rotation about a generally vertical axis, said wheel extending above in overlapping arrAngement to said transfer conveyer for centering packages on said transfer conveyer.

Claim 24

An article packaging machine comprising: a. a support frame; b. a motor driven, endless, article conveyer means having a plurality of regularly spaced voids therein, said conveyer means mounted to the support frame, including an upper treatment portion and a lower return portion and having an article loading station and a package emitting end downstream thereof; c. heat shrinkable, packaging film supply means mounted to the support frame and including a lower film supply roll and lower film feed mechanism for feeding a lower film ribbon onto the end of the conveyer in a downstream direction and an upper film supply roll and upper feed mechanism for feeding an upper film ribbon downwardly onto the lower film ribbon downstream of said loading station; d. a film welding and severing means mounted to said frame adjacent said upper treatment portion of said conveyer and downstream of said upper film ribbon for laterally bonding said upper and lower film ribbons and for laterally severing said ribbons intermediate a bond; e. heat shrink means mounted to said frame adjacent the upper treatment portion of said conveyer downstream of said welding and severing means for heat shrinking said film around said articles; f. a package discharge lift comprising a body rotatably mounted to said frame at the downstream end of and beneath the upper treatment portion of said conveyer means and synchronously, drivingly connected to said conveyer means, said body having a plurality of radially outwardly extending arms in dynamic registration with and extending outwardly through the voids of said conveyer means; g. an auxiliary discharge conveyer mounted at the downstream end of said conveyer means for receiving packages therefrom, said discharge conveyer comprising: (1) a pair of substantially parallel, laterally oriented rolls journalled to said frame, one of said rolls being drivingly connected to a drive means; and (2) a plurality of endless, resiliently elastic, laterally spaced bands surrounding and engaging said rolls; and h. a transfer conveyer mounted to receive packages from said discharge conveyer and to transport them laterally away from said discharge conveyer, wherein the improvement comprises a wheel mounted to said frame for rotation about a generally vertical axis, said wheel extending above in overlapping arrAngement to said transfer conveyer for centering packages on said transfer conveyer.

Claim 25

A machine according to claim 9 wherein the wheel is driven at a rate exceeding the linear velocity of the transfer conveyer.