Apparatus for orienting case blanks

Claim 1

Apparatus for receiving blanks in given faced orientation within an upright stack having a longitudinal length and an altitudinal height, and delivering the blanks in shingled arrangement in reverse faced orientation, said apparatus comprising: a frame; a plurality of laterally spaced, longitudinally extending movable means mounted on the frame to establish a longitudinal conveyor having an input end and an output end, and providing a longitudinal path of travel for the blanks between the input and the output end; drive means for moving the plurality of laterally spaced, longitudinally extending movable means to convey the blanks along the longitudinal path of travel in a downstream direction between the input end and the output end; a first fork mounted upon the frame for pivotal movement about a laterally extending pivotal axis, said first fork including a plurality of longitudinally extending, laterally spaced first tines, the lengths of at least some of the first tines being greater than the height of the stack; a second fork mounted upon the frame for pivotal movement independent of the first fork about the same laterally extending pivotal axis, said second fork including a plurality of longitudinally extending, laterally spaced second tines, the lengths of at least some of the second tines being great enough to support the length of the stack; first actuating means for pivotally moving the first fork independent of the second fork between a first position wherein the first tines extend in an altitudinal direction normal to and intercepting the longitudinal path of travel of the blanks, and a second position wherein the first tines extend in a first longitudinal direction parallel to and juxtaposed with said path of travel; second actuating means for pivotally moving the second fork independent of the first fork between a first position wherein the second tines extend in a second longitudinal direction parallel to and juxtaposed with said path of travel and opposite to said first longitudinal direction, and a second position wherein the second tines extend in an altitudinal direction at an obtuse angle to said second longitudinal direction and intercept said path of travel; and a control system including control means located along the path of travel of the blanks for activating the first and second actuating means in response to the location of the blanks such that upon disposition of the stack at a predetermined upsetting location wherein the stack is juxtaposed with the first and second forks, with each fork positioned at the first position thereof, the first and second actuating means will effect synchronized rotational movement of the forks in the same direction of rotation to the second positions thereof for upsetting the stack and placing the blanks in shingled arrangement upon the conveyor for delivery to the output end thereof, with the faced orientation of the delivered blanks being the reverse of the faced orientation of the blanks when in the stack.