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US 10,035,663 B2Granted
Continuous motion packaging machine with rotating flights
AssigneeGraphic Packaging International, Inc.
InventorsColin P. Ford, Robert Harold Irvine
Life of this patent
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AssigneeGraphic Packaging International, Inc.
InventorsColin P. Ford, Robert Harold Irvine
Estimating the term…
A packaging machine for placing articles into a carton includes rotating flight assemblies that receive a carton or carton blank, and rotate the carton blank and carton with articles while the flight assemblies move downstream. The flight assemblies each include two fixed segments and one segment that includes a block and associated bracket that rotate as the flight assembly is pulled through the machine by a conveying system. A method includes carton blanks being fed by a carton feeder onto the flight assemblies. Articles are formed into an article group, which is then placed onto a carton blank. As the blank and article group move in a downstream direction, the side panels of the carton blank are wrapped around the article group and the carton and article group are rotated to assist in closing the carton end flaps.
An article packaging machine for loading an article group in a carton, the article packaging machine having a conveyor having a flight assembly with a rotational support plate to rotate the carton while it is transported along the conveyor, and a bedplate positioned adjacent to said conveyor, wherein said bedplate supports at least part of said flight assembly and has a cam track, the flight assembly includes a first support plate, a second support plate downstream from the first support plate, and a third support plate that is positioned between the first support plate and the second support plate, the third support plate has a cam follower received in the cam track and can selectively rotate relative to the first support plate and the second support plate as the flight assembly moves along the conveyor and the cam follower travels along the cam track.
A flight assembly for a packaging machine, including a first support plate, a second support plate downstream from the first support plate, and a third support plate that is positioned between the first support plate and the second support plate, the third support plate includes a cam follower for being received in a cam track such that the third support plate can selectively rotate, relative to the first support plate and the second support plate.
An article packaging machine for loading an article group in a carton, the packaging machine comprising a conveyor,
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.