Method and device for withdrawing flat folded carton blanks from a magazine and for feeding them to a carton set up line

• US 5,588,643 A
• Filed: 02/06/1995
• Issued: 12/31/1996
• Est. Priority Date: 02/08/1994
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: IMA - Industria Macchine Automatiche SPA (Vacchi Family)
• Original Assignee: IMA - Industria Macchine Automatiche SPA (Vacchi Family)
• Inventors: Caroli, Rodolfo, Tagliaferri, Roberto
• Primary Examiner(s): Bollinger, David H.
• Application Number:
  US08/383,634
• Time in Patent Office: 694 Days
• Field of Search: 271/35, 271/10.06, 271/10.07, 271/121, 271/124, 271/150, 271/157, 271/162, 271/166, 271/167, 271/171, 493/318, 493/319, 493/120, 493/122, 493/147, 414/795.8, 414/797.4, 414/797.5, 414/797.6, 414/797.9
• US Class Current: 271/35
• CPC Class Codes: B31B 2100/00 Rigid or semi-rigid containers made by folding single-piece sheets, blanks or webs
• CPC Class Codes: B31B 2120/30 collapsible; temporarily collapsed during manufacturing
• CPC Class Codes: B31B 50/00 Making rigid or semi-rigid containers, e.g. boxes or cartons
• 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 50/78 Mechanically

Abstract

Tubular blanks, from which containers to be filled and closed are set up, are stacked in flat condition inside a magazine (3), so that they rest on supporting bars. A back edge of the lowermost blank of the stack is engaged by a pair of lugs mounted on a belt conveyor situated under the magazine, so that the lugs protrude upwards beyond a rest plane defined by the supporting bars. The lowermost blank is stripped by passing it through a passage delimited by the supporting bars and stops situated above the supporting bars, and aimed at stopping blanks of the stack situated above the blank just withdrawn. The belt conveyor carries the withdrawn blank through following working stations.

Claims

1. A device for withdrawing flat folded cannon blanks from a magazine where said carton blanks are stored in a flat folded condition to form a stack, and for feeding said cannon blanks to a feeding line, said device comprising:

supporting bars located under said magazine for supporting said stack of flat folded tubular cannon blanks;

stop means located downstream of said magazine and over said supporting bars, said stop means cooperating with said supporting bars to delimit an opening having a height equal to a thickness of a folded carton blank; and

belt conveyor means situated under said magazine and featuring a plurality of lugs regularly spaced apart and protruding upwardly beyond said supporting bars, said lugs engaging a rear edge of a lowermost carton blank of said stack for stripping said lowermost blank and conducting said lowermost blank through said opening delimited by said supporting bars and said stop means situated thereabove;

said magazine including front vertical guides and rear vertical guides, with reference to advancement movements of said belt conveyor means, with at least said front vertical guides supported by a carriage that is slidably supported by a frame forming part of said magazine, and that is moved by rack means, so that said front vertical guides can be moved to adjust longitudinal dimensions of said magazine.

2. A device according to claim 1, wherein said rear vertical guides have upper inclined sections connecting said magazine with a belt conveyor that brings carton blanks to said magazine, guiding means positioned in front of said upper inclined sections for guiding said carton blanks, said guiding means being adjustable in accordance with the size of said blanks.

3. A device according to claim 1, wherein a resting plane defined by upper surfaces of said supporting bars is slightly higher than a conveying plane defined by said belt conveyor means.

4. A device according to claim 1, wherein said supporting bars are fixed to an adjusting member so that they can be moved vertically to adjust a width of said opening, said adjusting member including a slide, guided along a vertical slot made in each supporting bar, and a locking member that locks said slide to a corresponding wall of a stationary support structure, said slide having a plate fixed at bottom and aimed at defining an opening having a width equal to the width of said opening delimited by said supporting bars, when said device is in operation, and aimed at clamping elastically a blank, due to the action of spring means, when said device is adjusted.

5. A device according to claim 1, wherein rocker means are located under said magazine and mounted on an axis fixed to said frame and transversal to said belt conveyor means, said rocker means being made to oscillate by respective jacks between a lowered position, and a raised position in which said rocker means raise said stack of blanks thus preventing said blanks from being withdrawn by said lugs.

6. A device according to claim 1, wherein said magazine includes a pair of sidewise positioned vertical belts for holding lateral flaps of said blanks, said vertical belts being driven by respective gear motor means so that side edges of said lateral flaps are pushed downwards against a rest plane.

7. A device according to claim 1, wherein said vertical belts are fastened to respective supporting means mounted on a frame of said magazine, said supporting means being moved, transversally relative to said belt conveyor means, by threaded shafts, namely a first threaded shaft and a second threaded shaft, which are in screw engagement with internal threads made in said supporting means, so that said vertical belts are adjusted in direction transversal to said belt conveyor means and independently from each other.

8. A device according to claim 1, wherein said magazine includes a pair of side walls for holding said blanks, said side walls being located sidewise at top of said magazine and supported by a frame of said magazine by means of respective sliding blocks, namely a first sliding block and a second sliding block, which are moved transversally relative to said belt conveyor means in opposed direction by a first threaded shaft and a second threaded shaft which are set in screw engagement with internal threads of said sliding blocks and rotated to adjust said side walls transversely relative to said belt conveyor means.

9. A device according to claim 1, wherein said first threaded shaft has a threaded portion situated at one end and in screw engagement with an internal thread of said first sliding block while a remainder end of said first shaft is telescopically inserted into a corresponding end of said second threaded shaft that is tubular and has a respective outer threaded portion arranged in screw engagement with a corresponding internal thread made in the said second sliding block, said second threaded shaft having a transversal pin that runs in a longitudinal groove made in said first threaded shaft.

10. A device according to claim 1, wherein a lower run of said belt conveyor means cooperates with other belt conveyor means provided with respective lugs which hold and push fore and rear ends of a set up carton, while said lower run of said belt conveyor means holds said carton at the top.

11. A device according to claim 1, wherein said stop means are arranged with a horizontal axis transverse to said belt conveyor means so that they can oscillate against related spring means, said stop means further including a shoulder facing downwards and towards said magazine, said shoulder having a height equal to the thickness of a flat folded blank, so that said shoulder is engaged by a lowermost blank (2) of said stack with an escapement effect.

12. A device according to claim 11, wherein said lowermost blank, is inclined inside said magazine with its rear edge supported by said supporting bars and its front edge in engagement with said shoulder of said stop means.

13. A device according to claim 1, wherein said magazine has a frame connected to a plurality of arms, said arms being pivoted to a stationary structure of said machine, so that said arms can be swung in a longitudinal vertical plane to move said magazine to a raised position higher than an underlying feeding line formed by said belt conveyor means.

14. A device according to claim 1, wherein said stop means is supported on said carriage, further comprising guide means on said carriage for guiding said blanks downstream of said magazine.