CARTON FEEDING SYSTEM AND METHOD AND RELATED CARTON FORMING AND SEALING MACHINE

• US 20160159026A1
• Filed: 12/07/2015
• Published: 06/09/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 12/08/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Wexxar Packaging, Inc. (Pro Mach Group, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Wexxar Packaging, Inc. (Pro Mach Group, Inc.)
• Inventors: Porteous, David S., Tsen, Melvin
• Granted Patent: US 10,640,308 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: B31B 50/062 from the underside of a magazine
• CPC Class Codes: B31B 50/064 by being moved in the plane they are lying in
• CPC Class Codes: B31B 50/788 by introducing the blanks into undeformable holders, e.g. on a drum or on chains
• CPC Class Codes: B65G 2201/022 Flat
• CPC Class Codes: B65G 2201/025 Boxes
• CPC Class Codes: B65G 47/252 about an axis substantially perpendicular to the conveying direction
• CPC Class Codes: B65G 59/068 by means of endless elements

Abstract

A carton feeding assembly includes a carton blank storage rack for holding a stack of horizontally oriented folded carton blanks, a carton blank transport device for picking a bottommost folded carton blank from the stack and conveying it along a conveyance path, and a carton blank push up device that reorients the folded carton blank into an upright position suitable for movement into engagement with a case erector.

Claims

1. A carton feed assembly for delivering folded cartons to a carton erecting mechanism, comprising:

a carton blank storage rack holding a carton blank stack formed by plurality of folded carton blanks, the folded carton blanks stacked vertically one atop another such that additional folded carton blanks can be added to the top of the carton blank stack;

a carton blank transport device arranged below the carton blank stack and configured to pick a bottommost folded carton blank from the bottom of the stack and transport it along a conveyance path toward a carton erecting mechanism; and

a carton blank push up device toward an end of the conveyance path that receives the folded carton blank and reorients the folded carton blank from a substantially horizontal orientation to an upright orientation.

2. The carton feed assembly of claim 1 wherein:

the carton blank transport device included a push lug that is moved along the conveyance path beneath the stack by a loop conveyor;

the carton blank storage rack includes at least one stop along the conveyance path, with a lower edge of the stop positioned to retain folded carton blanks that are above the bottommost folded carton blank as the push lug moves the bottommost folded carton blank below the lower edge of the stop.

3. The carton feed assembly of claim 2 wherein the carton blank storage rack includes one or more upright members that define a downstream edge of the storage rack and one or more upright members that define a side edge of the storage rack so as to provide a corner section into which folded carton blanks being added to the top of the stack can be pushed in order to properly orient the folded carton blanks.

4. The carton feed assembly of claim 1 wherein:

the carton blank push up device includes at least movable one suction member having a down orientation and an up orientation, in the down orientation the suction member is arranged below the conveyance path to engage the bottom side of the folded carton blank when in the substantially horizontal orientation at the end of the conveyance path, in the up orientation the suction member is pivoted upward to reorient the folded carton blank from the substantially horizontal orientation to the upright orientation.

5. The carton feed assembly of claim 4 wherein:

the carton blank push up device includes a lift rail having an upwardly facing slot that is positioned to receive downwardly extending flaps of the folded carton blank when it is reoriented to the upright position.

6. The carton feed assembly of claim 5 wherein folded carton blank is delivered into abutting engagement with the lift rail by the carton blank transport device before the movable suction member moves from the down orientation to the up orientation.

7. The carton feed assembly of claim 5 wherein:

the carton blank push up device includes a retaining rail spaced vertically above the lift rail, the retaining rail movable between a raised position that allows the folded carton blank to clear a lower edge of the retaining rail when the carton blank is pivoted upward into the upright position, and a lowered position in which the lower edge of the retaining rail is moved downward alongside a top portion of the folded carton blank in the upright position and at the upstream side of folded carton blank relative to the conveyance direction so as to prevent the folded carton blank from pivoting back downward when the movable suction member releases the folded carton blank and pivots back down to its down orientation.

8. The carton feed assembly of claim 7 wherein lift rail is movable from a lowered position in which it receives the folded carton blank in upright orientation and a raised position that pushed the folded carton blank up into engagement with the carton erecting mechanism.

9. A carton forming and sealing machine, comprising:

the carton feed assembly of claim 1;

a carton erecting mechanism that receives folded carton blanks from the carton feed assembly and unfolds them into erected condition; and

a tape sealing device for sealing bottoms of erected cartons.

10. A carton feed assembly for delivering folded cartons to a carton erecting mechanism, comprising:

a carton blank transport device configured to move a substantially horizontally oriented folded carton blank along a conveyance path into abutting engagement with or close proximity to a carton blank lift rail, the carton blank lift rail including an upwardly facing slot below the folded carton blank, and a pivot device below the folded carton blank and movable to pivot the folded carton blank upward from the substantially horizontal orientation into an upright orientation in which a bottom edge of the folded carton blank seats into the upwardly facing slot of the carton blank lift rail.

11. The carton feed assembly of claim 10 further comprising a sensor that detects positioning of the folded carton blank in abutting engagement with or close proximity to the carton blank lift rail, wherein the sensor triggers operation of the pivot device to pivot the folded carton blank upward.

12. The carton feed assembly of claim 10 wherein the pivot device includes at least one suction member having a down orientation and an up orientation, in the down orientation the suction member is arranged below the conveyance path to engage the bottom side of the folded carton blank, in the up orientation the suction member is pivoted upward to reorient the folded carton blank to the upright orientation.

13. The carton feed assembly of claim 10 wherein the pivot device is movable from a lowered position in which it receives the folded carton blank in the substantially horizontal orientation and a raised position that pushes the folded carton blank up into engagement with a carton erecting mechanism.

14. The carton feed assembly of claim 10, further comprising:

a retaining rail spaced vertically above the lift rail, the retaining rail movable between a raised position and a lowered position, the raised position allows the folded carton blank to clear a lower edge of the retaining rail when the carton blank is pivoted upward into the upright position, in the lowered position the lower edge of the retaining rail is moved downward alongside a top portion of the folded carton blank in the upright position and at the upstream side of folded carton blank relative to the conveyance direction so as to prevent the folded carton blank from pivoting back downward toward the conveyance path.

15. The carton feed assembly of claim 10, further comprising:

a carton blank storage rack holding a carton blank stack formed by plurality of folded carton blanks, the folded carton blanks stacked vertically one atop another such that additional folded carton blanks can be added to the top of the carton blank stack;

the carton blank transport device passes below the carton blank stack to pick a bottommost folded carton blank from the bottom of the stack and transport it along the conveyance path.

16. The carton feed assembly of claim 15, wherein the carton blank transport device includes a push lug that engages an edge of the folded carton blank and multiple rails that support the folded carton blank as it moves along the conveyance path.

17. A carton forming and sealing machine, comprising:

the carton feed assembly of claim 10;

a carton erecting mechanism that receives folded carton blanks from the carton feed assembly and unfolds them into erected condition; and

a tape sealing device for sealing bottoms of erected cartons.

18. A method of handling carton blanks in a carton forming and sealing machine, the method comprising:

(a) storing a plurality of substantially horizontally oriented folded carton blanks in a stack at a carton blank station;

(b) automatically picking a folded carton blank from the bottom of the stack and conveying it in a substantially horizontal orientation along a conveyance path in a conveyance direction toward a carton erecting mechanism; and

(c) automatically pivoting the folded carton blank of step (b) upward into an upright orientation before opening the folded carton blank.

19. The method of claim 18, further comprising:

repeating steps (b) and (c) for multiple folded carton blanks in the stack; and

loading more folded carton blanks at the carton blank loading station by adding folded carton blanks to the top of the carton blank stack while steps (b) and (c) are continuously carried out in a repeated manner.

20. The method of claim 18 wherein in step (c) the pivoting operation loads the folded carton blank into a receiving slot in a lift rail, the method further comprises:

(d) moving the lift rail upward to push the folded carton blank into engagement with a carton erecting mechanism that operates to open the folded carton blank.