Apparatus and method for wrapping silverware within a napkin

• US 6,023,913 A
• Filed: 11/09/1998
• Issued: 02/15/2000
• Est. Priority Date: 11/09/1998
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Reginald M. Mudd
• Original Assignee: Reginald M. Mudd
• Inventors: Gray, Charles Woodard, Brown, William Edward, Clanton, Dwight
• Primary Examiner(s): JOHNSON, LINDA B
• Application Number:
  US09/188,814
• Time in Patent Office: 463 Days
• Field of Search: 53/399, 53/461, 53/465, 53/154, 53/148, 53/587, 53/209, 53/211, 53/216, 53/218, 53/219, 53/118, 53/119, 53/430
• US Class Current: 53/399
• CPC Class Codes: B65B 11/105 the axis of the tube being parallel to the conveying direction
• CPC Class Codes: B65B 13/16 with means for severing the binding material from supply and then applying it around the articles
• CPC Class Codes: B65B 51/06 Applying adhesive tape
• CPC Class Codes: B65B 67/10 Wrapping-tables

Abstract

An apparatus and method for wrapping a napkin about silverware items into a wrapped arrangement involves a worktable within which is provided an upwardly-opening trough for accepting a napkin and silverware items positioned therein. The napkin is automatically placed over the opening of the trough in a spread condition and then silverware items are automatically directed onto the napkin so that the silverware falls to the bottom of the trough thereby positioning the napkin between the silverware and the bottom of the trough. A rotatable blade is positioned within the trough for automatically spinning the napkin and silverware items about the longitudinal axis of the trough until the napkin and silverware items are wound in a wrapped arrangement. The wrapped arrangement is thereafter removed from the trough in preparation of a subsequent napkin-wrapping operation.

Claims

1. An apparatus for wrapping a napkin about an item of silverware comprising:

a frame;

means supported by the frame defining an elongated, substantially horizontally-disposed trough having a bottom and an upwardly-directed opening for accepting a napkin and an item of silverware in preparation of a napkin-wrapping operation so that when a napkin and an item of silverware are accepted by the trough, the napkin is disposed between the item of silverware and the bottom of the trough;

an elongated blade supported by the frame within the trough and oriented substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis of the trough;

means connected to the frame for rotating the blade about the longitudinal axis of the trough so that following acceptance of a napkin and an item of silverware by the trough as aforesaid, the blade can be rotated about the longitudinal axis of the trough to wrap the napkin about the silverware item into a wrapped arrangement.

2. The apparatus as defined in claim 1 wherein the trough has at least one open end, and the apparatus further comprises means attached to the frame for withdrawing the blade along the longitudinal axis of the trough through the open end thereof so that upon completion of a napkin-wrapping operation, the blade can be withdrawn from the wrapped arrangement to facilitate the removal of the wrapped arrangement from the trough.

3. The apparatus as defined in claim 1 wherein the trough has two open ends, the elongated blade is a first elongated blade, and the apparatus further includes:

a second elongated blade supported by the frame and within the trough and oriented substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis of the trough, the first and second elongated blades being arranged in an end-to-end relationship within the trough, and the means for rotating is adapted to rotate the second elongated blade about the longitudinal axis of the trough in conjunction with the rotation of the first blade so that following acceptance of the napkin and the item of silverware by the trough as aforesaid, both the first and second blades can be rotated about the longitudinal axis of the trough to wrap the napkin about the silverware item; and

means for withdrawing the first and second blades along the longitudinal axis of the trough through the open ends thereof so that upon completion of a napkin-wrapping operation, the blades can be withdrawn from the wrapped arrangement to facilitate the removal of the wrapped arrangement from the trough.

4. The apparatus as defined in claim 3 further comprising means for supporting the first and second blades for movement longitudinally of the trough, and means associated with the blade-supporting means for moving the blades longitudinally of the trough between an operating position at which the blades are positioned adjacent the napkin and the silverware item for spinning the napkin and silverware item within the trough when rotated by the blade-rotating means and a retracted position at which the blades are withdrawn from the operating position so that following a napkin-wrapping operation, the blades can be withdrawn from the wrapped arrangement through the open ends of the trough to facilitate removal of the wrapped arrangement from the trough.

5. The apparatus as defined in claim 1 further comprising:

a napkin storage bin for containing a stack of napkins to be wrapped about silverware with the apparatus; and

a pick-up system for automatically moving a napkin from the napkin storage bin to the trough for use in a napkin-wrapping operation.

6. The apparatus as defined in claim 5 wherein the pick-up system includes a pick-up head for picking up and subsequently releasing the top napkin from a stack of napkins in the napkin storage bin and means for transporting the pick-up head from the storage bin to the trough so that by picking up the top napkin from the stack with the pick-up head, transporting the pick-up head with the top napkin held thereby to the trough, and then releasing the held napkin from the pick-up head, the napkin is permitted to fall onto the trough and into a spread condition over the trough opening.

7. The apparatus as defined in claim 6 wherein the pick-up head includes a body and a pair of rollers rotatably mounted upon the body for engaging the top napkin of a stack of napkins, and the means for picking up the top napkin from the stack includes means for rotating the rollers relative to the body so that by rotating the rollers in a predetermined rotational direction, the top napkin is pinched and thereby held between the rollers and so that rotating the rollers in the opposite rotational directions, the napkin is released from between the rollers.

8. The apparatus as defined in claim 7 wherein the pair of rollers are mounted upon the body for rotation about parallel axes and have peripheral surfaces which are in contact with one another, and the means for rotating the rollers includes an airpowered actuator.

9. The apparatus as defined in claim 5 wherein the pick-up system includes

a vertically-oriented guideway upon which the pick-up head is mounted to accommodate vertical movement of the pick-up head along the vertically-oriented guideway between a lowered condition at which the pick-up head is permitted to pick up the top napkin from a stack of napkins contained within the napkin storage bin and a raised condition at which the pick-up head is elevated above the napkin stack;

means for moving the pick-up head between the lowered and raised conditions;

a horizontally-oriented guideway upon which the vertically-oriented guideway is mounted to accommodate horizontal movement of the vertically-oriented guideway along the horizontally-oriented guideway between a first position located adjacent the napkin storage bin and a second position located adjacent the trough; and

means for moving the vertically-oriented guideway along the horizontally-oriented guideway between the first and second positions so that after the pick-up head is utilized to pick up a napkin from the napkin storage bin and is moved to its raised condition, the pick-up head and napkin held thereby can be moved from the first location to the second position adjacent the trough for release of the napkin by the pick-up head.

10. The apparatus as defined in claim 1 further comprising:

a silverware storage bin supported by the frame in an elevated condition with respect to the trough for containing a stack of silverware items to be wrapped with the apparatus; and

a silverware delivery system supported by the frame for automatically delivering an item of silverware from the silverware storage bin to the trough.

11. The apparatus as defined in claim 10 wherein the silverware delivery system includes means for dispensing a single item of silverware from the stack of silverware for delivery to the worktable.

12. The apparatus as defined in claim 11 wherein the silverware storage bin includes means for holding a plurality of silverware items in a vertically-stacked relationship and has a bottom including an opening disposed below the silverware items, and the means for dispensing is adapted to permit the lowermost silverware item to drop through the bottom opening.

13. The apparatus as defined in claim 12 wherein the means for dispensing includes a movable rack adapted to accept a silverware item dropped therein through the bottom opening and wherein the rack is supported for movement by the frame between a first location disposed generally beneath the silverware storage bin and a second location disposed adjacent the trough and further includes means for moving the rack between the first and second positions so that a silverware item which is dropped from the silverware storage bin into the rack is transported to the trough by way of the movable rack.

14. An apparatus for wrapping a napkin about an item of silverware wherein the napkin has edge sections and a central section which is bounded by the edge sections, the apparatus comprising:

a frame;

means supported by the frame defining an elongated, substantially horizontally-disposed trough having a bottom, two opposite sides and an upwardly-directed opening for accepting a napkin and an item of silverware positioned within the trough in preparation of a napkin-wrapping operation;

means attached to the frame for moving a napkin from a supply of napkins to a spread condition over the trough at which the central section of the napkin spans the width of the upwardly-directed opening of the trough;

means joined to the frame for delivering an item of silverware from a supply of silverware items onto the napkin spread over the trough so that the delivered item of silverware falls into the trough with the napkin so that the central section of the napkin is positioned between the delivered item of silverware and the bottom of the tough; and

means associated with the trough for spinning the napkin and silverware item positioned within the trough so that the napkin is wound about the silverware item into a wrapped arrangement, wherein the means for spinning includes an elongated blade positioned within the trough and adjacent one side thereof, means for supporting the blade for rotation about the longitudinal axis of the trough, and means for rotating the blade about the longitudinal axis of the trough so that when rotated by the blade within the trough, the napkin is wound about the silverware item into a wrapped arrangement.

15. The apparatus as defined in claim 14 further comprising means associated with the frame for moving the blade longitudinally of the trough so that following the wrapping of the napkin about the silverware item into a wrapped arrangement, the blade can be withdrawn from the wrapped arrangement to facilitate the removal of the wrapped arrangement from the trough.

16. A method for wrapping a napkin about an item of silverware wherein the napkin has edge sections and a central section which is bounded by the edge sections, the method comprising the steps of:

providing an elongated, substantially horizontally-disposed trough having a bottom and an upwardly-directed opening for accepting a napkin and an item of silverware positioned therein in preparation of a napkin-wrapping operation;

placing a napkin over the opening of the trough so that the central section of the napkin spans the width of the trough;

delivering an item of silverware onto the central section of the napkin so that the silverware item and napkin fall into the trough under the weight of the silverware item and so that the central section of the napkin is disposed between the silverware item and the bottom of the trough; and

spinning the napkin and silverware item about the longitudinal axis of the trough so that the napkin is wrapped about the silverware item into a wrapped arrangement, wherein the spinning step includes the steps of positioning an elongated blade within and adjacent one side of the trough so that the longitudinal axis of the blade is substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis of the trough, and rotating the blade about the longitudinal axis of the trough so that the napkin is wrapped about the silverware item by the rotating blade.

17. A method for wrapping a napkin about an item of silverware wherein the napkin has edge sections and a central section which is bounded by the edge sections, the method comprising the steps of:

providing an elongated, substantially horizontally-disposed trough having a bottom and an upwardly-directed opening for accepting a napkin and an item of silverware positioned therein in preparation of a napkin-wrapping operation;

placing a napkin over the opening of the trough so that the central section of the napkin spans the width of the trough;

delivering an item of silverware onto the central section of the napkin so that the silverware item and napkin fall into the trough under the weight of the silverware item and so that the central section of the napkin is disposed between the silverware item and the bottom of the trough; and

spinning the napkin and silverware item about the longitudinal axis of the trough so that the napkin is wrapped about the silverware item into a wrapped arrangement; and

wherein the step of placing a napkin over the opening of the trough includes the steps of providing a pair of rollers and pinching the top napkin in a stack between the pair of rollers and moving the rollers and the napkin pinched therebetween to a position over the trough and releasing the napkin from between the rollers so that the napkin falls into a spread condition over the opening of the trough.

18. The method as defined in claim 17 wherein the step of delivering an item of silverware onto the central section of the napkin includes the steps of providing a platform, dispensing an item of silverware onto the platform from a plurality of silverware items arranged in a stacked relationship, and directing the dispensed silverware item onto the napkin positioned in spread condition over the opening of the trough.