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Apparatus for ordering and feeding a small item like a tablet, capsule, pill or dragee in a packaging machine

  • US 4,693,057 A
  • Filed: 11/24/1986
  • Issued: 09/15/1987
  • Est. Priority Date: 11/26/1985
  • Status: Expired due to Fees
First Claim
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1. In an apparatus for feeding and depositing a small item to be packaged like a tablet, capsule, pill or the like in a packaging machine into a plurality of upwardly open cups in a foil strip to package said small item, especially in a deep drawn foil strip, said apparatus comprising a feed slider and a distributing slider movable substantailly parallel to said foil strip positioned above said foil strip over each other, of which the upper one of said sliders movable transverse to the feed direction of said foil strip is said feed slider and is provided with a plurality of openings each dimensioned for receiving and passing only one of said small items and arranged in a pattern like said cups and of which the lower one of said sliders movable parallel to said feed direction of said foil strip is said distributing slider and is provided with a plurality of holes for the passage of said small items from said openings into said cups, wherein said sliders are slidable into a delivery position in which said openings coincide with said holes and with said cups and at least one of said sliders is slidable into a closed position in which said distributing slider secures said openings in said feed slider underneath against said passage of said small items, the improvement wherein said distributing slider is movable into said closed position and said holes are interrupted in the sliding direction of said distributing slider by a plurality of cross members which are oriented longitudinally in the sliding direction of said feed slider and in said closed postion of said distributing slider are under said openings of said feed slider movable into said delivery position, said feed slider forming the bottom of a loading box filled with said small items in no particular order provided laterally adjacent said foil strip in said motion direction of said foil strip and being movable back from and into said delivery position with all of said openings into said loading box, further said loading box being closed in the direction of said foil strip on the top side of said feed slider for said small items by a skimmer strip and being provided with a lower base under said feed slider which extends under said loading box to said distributing slider and secures said openings of said feed slider from said distributing slider from below against said passage of said small items as well as aligns with said cross members of said distributing slider and forms a sliding path for said small pieces with said openings of said feed slider during motion of said feed slider, said small pieces in said openings on said lower base being substantially completely shut off with said upper side of said feed slider and said feed slider being movable in a quickly alternating fashion, namely vibrating, shaking or the like, in position with said openings inside said loading box for uniform filling of said openings with said small items and said loading box in comparison to said feed motion is of such a size that in said sliding motion none of said openings reach a position under said skimmer strip or a rear wall opposing said skimmer strip.

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