Apparatus for the application of wrapped articles to package containers

• US 4,574,558 A
• Filed: 12/22/1983
• Issued: 03/11/1986
• Est. Priority Date: 12/24/1982
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Tetra PAK International AB
• Original Assignee: Tetra PAK International AB
• Inventors: Utsumi, Yoshikazu
• Primary Examiner(s): Coan, James F.
• Application Number:
  US06/565,013
• Time in Patent Office: 810 Days
• Field of Search: 53/128, 53/410, 53/415, 53/420, 198/480, 198/339, 198/689, 294/64 A, 294/64 B, 493/222
• US Class Current: 53/136.1
• CPC Class Codes: B65B 61/202 for attaching articles to the outside of a container B65B61/205 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: B65G 47/848 the article-engaging elements being suction or magnetic means

Abstract

An apparatus for the application of wrapped articles to package containers which includes a transferring and sealing device by means which articles are transferred and sealed to the surface of a package container which is carried in a bucket wheel. The apparatus is further characterized in that the bucket wheel is provided with an odd number of compartments and the pitch between packages on a conveyor supplying packages to the bucket wheels is twice the pitch of the compartments on the bucket wheel. In addition, the transferring and sealing device inclines the articles so that they are obliquely adhered to the package containers.

Claims

1. An apparatus for the application of wrapped elongated articles such as drinking straws or spoons on package containers, said apparatus comprising a feeding device by means of which a continuous band of the wrapped articles are supplied in a controlled way, a cutting device by means of which one by one of the wrapped articles are separated from said band of articles, a transferring and sealing device by means of which the separated articles are transferred to and sealed to the surface of the said package containers, a package carrier wheel or bucket wheel by means of which the packages are brought in position for the application of said articles to the package and a conveyor by means of which the packages are conveyed to and away from said carrier wheel, characterized in that the said carrier wheel is provided with an odd number of compartments each of which are adapted to receive one of the said packaging containers, said compartments being provided with one or more suction holes or suction cups connectable to a vacuum generating device, and that said carrier wheel or bucket wheel is adapted to cooperate with the said conveyor in such a way that the containers moving against the carrier wheel are caught by the carrier wheel and by means of suction force kepts in one of the said compartments for one full turn of the wheel during which turn said articles are applied to the surface of the packaging containers, and that the packaging containers provided with said articles thereafter are released from the carrier wheel and placed on the conveyor by means of which the containers are transported away from the carrier wheel.

2. An apparatus in accordance with claim 1, characterized in that the pitch between the packages of the conveyor is twice the pitch between said compartments of the carrier wheel, and that the carrier wheel and the conveyor are synchronized in such a way that every second compartment of the carrier wheel will coincide with a package brought forward on the conveyor, which package will be transferred from the conveyor to said compartment of the carrier wheel, and that every second compartment of the carrier wheel will deliver to the conveyor a package provided with said article.

3. A device for supplying and taking out a commodity to be carried to a bucket wheel for transmitting the same characterized such that a bucket wheel possessing around its external periphery buckets in odd number, each of which is equipped with a suction pipe and a valve opened/closed by a valve actuating lever, and a bucket conveyor moving right under said bucket wheel provided in perpendicular state, make a pitch between the latter group of buckets double the width of that between the former group of buckets, these two groups of buckets taking phases synchronous with each other, when the bucket wheel and the bucket conveyor reach the position at which they have access to each other, and a fixed cam and a movable cam are provided on the main body of the present device, touching the rotational locus of an actuating roller of the abovementioned valve transfer lever, in a manner that the fixed cam pushes the valve transfer lever to be moved so that the bucket of the bucket wheel may be in a position to absorb the commodity to be carried by vacuum action, whereas the movable cam, in interlocking with the rotation of the bucket wheel, vibratingly moves once every two pitches between both the ends of the removing distance of the bucket of the bucket wheel, and when the bucket of the bucket wheel reaches the abovementioned position at which the bucket of the bucket wheel has access to the bucket conveyor, the movable cam pushes the valve actuating lever to be moved, whereby the commodity to be carried is made free from suction force generated by the bucket of the bucket wheel so that the commodity is in a position to be taken out, the commodity to be carried being at the abovementioned position supplied to the bucket or fed out of the bucket.

4. An apparatus for the application of wrapped elongated articles such as drinking straws or spoons on package containers, said apparatus comprising a feeding device by means of which a continuous band of wrapped articles are supplied in a controlled way, a cutting device by means of which one by one of the wrapped articles are separated from said band articles, a transferring and sealing device by means of which the separated articles are transferred to and sealed to the surface of the fed package containers, a package carrier wheel or bucket wheel by means of which the packages are dropped in position for the application of said articles to the packages and a conveyor by means of which the packages are conveyed to and away from said carrier wheel, characterized in that the carrier wheel is provided with a number of compartments each of which are adapted to receive one of said packaging containers, said compartments being provided with one or more suction holes or suction cups connected to a vacuum generating device and that said carrier wheel or bucket wheel is adapted to cooperate with said conveyor in such a way that the containers against the carrier wheel are caught by the carrier wheel and by means of suction force kept in one of the compartments for one full turn of the wheel during which turns said articles are applied to the surface of the packaged containers, and that the packaged containers provided with said articles thereafter are released from the carrier wheel and placed on the conveyor belt by means of which the containers are transferred away from the wheel, said suction holes located in said compartments of the bucket wheels or carrier wheels are adapted to and connected to a vacuum source by means of a connecting device, whereby said connecting device consists of a plurality of Venturi tubes, the suction cups and a plurality of transfer valves for connecting or disconnecting compressed air to said Venturi tubes, said valves being located on the external periphery of the bucket wheel or carrier wheel, whereby a hollow driving shaft of the bucket wheel or carrier wheel is connected to a supply of compressed air, which is supplied from the driving shaft to said transfer valves.

5. An apparatus for the application of wrapped elongated articles such as drinking straws, spoons on package containers, comprising a feeding device by means of which a continuous band of the wrapped articles are supplied in a controlled way, a cutting device by means of which one by one the wrapped articles are separated from said band of articles, a transferring and feeding device by means of which the separated articles are transferred to and sealed to the surface of said package container, a package carrier wheel or bucket wheel by means of which the packages are brought in position for the application of said articles to the package and a conveyor by means of which the packages are conveyed to and away from said carrier wheel, characterized in that said carrier wheel is provided with a number of compartments each of which are adapted to receive one of the packaging containers, said compartments being provided with one or more suction holes or cups connectable to a vacuum generating device and that said carrier wheel or bucket wheel is adapted to cooperate with said conveyor in such way that the containers moving against the conveyor wheel are caught by the carrier wheel and by means of suction force kept in one of the compartments for one full turn of the wheel during which turn said articles are applied to the surface of the packaging container, and that the packaging containers provided with said articles thereafter are released from the carrier wheel and placed on the conveyor by means of which the containers are transported away from the carrier wheel, the transferring device comprises a rotatable transfer drum for fetching, holding or transferring an elongated article like a wrapped straw or a wrapped spoon from a supply of articles to a package container, said drum being arranged to turn in synchronism with a packaging container, carrier wheel or bucket wheel in such a manner that the direction of the rotating shaft of the transfer drum is inclined to the shaft of the bucket wheel or carrier wheel one half of the inclining angle at which the elongated article is adhered diagonally over the side of package container.