Box sheet bending apparatus

• US 6,228,010 B1
• Filed: 12/02/1998
• Issued: 05/08/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 05/13/1998
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company, Tanabe International Co., Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Tanabe Machinery Co., Ltd.
• Inventors: Toriyama, Daigoro
• Primary Examiner(s): Vo, Peter
• Assistant Examiner(s): DESAI, HEMANT
• Application Number:
  US09/203,703
• Time in Patent Office: 888 Days
• Field of Search: 493/23, 493/177, 493/183, 493/436
• US Class Current: 493/23
• CPC Class Codes: B31B 50/00 Making rigid or semi-rigid containers, e.g. boxes or cartons
• CPC Class Codes: B31B 50/262 involving folding, leading, or trailing flaps of blanks
• CPC Class Codes: B31B 50/54 operating on moving material

Abstract

An apparatus for bending a box sheet along a fold formed at a predetermined position in the box sheet comprising a hook which can hang a tip of the sending box sheet, a sensor which can detect said tip of the sending box sheet, and a lifting means which can lift a part between said tip and a first fold of the sending box sheet up, wherein a tip of said hook is positioned above a sending route of the box sheet, and wherein, when said sensor detects said tip of the sending box sheet, said lift means can lift said part between the tip and the first fold of the sending box sheet up to said position of said hook.

Claims

1. An apparatus for bending a box sheet along a fold formed at a predetermined position in the box sheet, comprising:

a sensor for detecting a tip of the box sheet moving along a sending route;

a hook comprising a tip positioned above the sending route of the box sheet for holding said tip of the box sheet; and

a lifting device for lifting a part of the box sheet between said tip of the box sheet and said fold until said tip of the box sheet comes in contact with said tip of the hook positioned above the sending route of the box sheet when said sensor detects said tip of the box sheet;

wherein said tip of the hook operates above the sending route of the box sheet to hold said tip of the box sheet when the box sheet is lifted by said lifting device, thereby bending the box sheet along said fold and releasing said tip of the box sheet as the box sheet moves along the sending route.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said lifting device rotates in the same direction and substantially at the same speed as the box sheet to thereby minimize noise when said lifting device comes in contact with said box sheet.

3. A method of bending a box sheet along a fold at a predetermined position in the box sheet, comprising the step of:

moving the box sheet along a sending route;

detecting a tip of the box sheet moving along the sending route of the box sheet; and

lifting a part of the box sheet between said tip of the box sheet and said fold until said tip of the box sheet comes in contact with a hook comprising a tip positioned above the sending route of the box sheet when said tip of the box sheet is detected;

wherein said tip of the hook operates above the sending route of the box sheet to hold said tip of the box sheet when the box sheet is lifted by said lifting device, thereby bending the box sheet along said fold and releasing said tip of the box sheet as the box sheet moves along the sending route.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein said lifting device rotates in the same direction and substantially at the same speed as the box sheet to thereby minimize noise when said lifting device comes in contact with said box sheet.