US 10,850,933 B1Granted

Load former and method of operating a load former

AssigneeA.G. Stacker Inc.

InventorsClarence C. Allen, Jr., Kennedy Sullivan Larramore, Jerry Blosser, Eric Stempihar, Randall Donn Senger, Joseph Wunder

Life of this patent

Estimating the term…

patentgrep

Loading patent…

Abstract

A load former includes a loading zone, a stacking zone adjacent to the loading zone, a platform in the stacking zone, a first drive configured to raise and to lower the platform, and a cookie sheet having a first portion and a second portion adjacent to the first portion. The cookie sheet is shiftable from a first position in which the first portion of the cookie sheet forms a floor of the loading zone and the second portion of the cookie sheet is not located in the loading zone or in the stacking zone and a second position in which the first portion of the cookie sheet extends directly above the platform in the stacking zone and the second portion of the cookie sheet forms the floor of the loading zone. A second drive shifts the cookie sheet between the first position and the second position.

Claims20

Dependent claims

A load former comprising:

a loading zone having a first side defined by a wall lying in a first plane;
a stacking zone adjacent to the loading zone,
a platform in the stacking zone;
a first drive configured to raise and to lower the platform;
a cookie sheet having a first portion and a second portion adjacent to the first portion, the cookie sheet being shiftable relative to the wall from a first position in which the first portion of the cookie sheet is located on a first side of the plane and forms a floor of the loading zone and the second portion of the cookie sheet is located on a second side of the plane and is not located in the loading zone or in the stacking zone and a second position in which the first portion of the cookie sheet extends directly above the platform in the stacking zone and the second portion of the cookie sheet forms the floor of the loading zone, and
a second drive configured to shift the cookie sheet between the first position and the second position.

3 more elements

A load former comprising:

a frame bounded on a bottom side by a first plane, the frame including a loading zone frame portion at least partially defining a loading zone and a stacking zone frame portion adjacent to the loading zone, the stacking zone frame zone portion at least partially defining a stacking zone,
a conveyor in the stacking zone inside the stacking zone frame portion,
a first drive mounted on the frame and configured to raise and to lower the conveyor relative to the stacking zone frame portion,
a cookie sheet having a first portion and a second portion adjacent to the first portion, the cookie sheet having a surface lying in a second plane parallel to the first plane and being shiftable in the second plane from a first position in which the first portion of the cookie sheet forms a floor of the loading zone and the second portion of the cookie sheet is not located in the loading zone or in the stacking zone and a second position in which the first portion of the cookie sheet extends directly above the conveyor in the stacking zone and the second portion of the cookie sheet forms the floor of the loading zone,
a second drive configured to shift the cookie sheet between the first position and the second position;
an opening in the frame between the loading zone frame portion and the stacking zone frame portion,
a gate shiftable between a first location in the opening and a second location out of the opening;
and
a third drive configured to shift the gate between the first location and the second location,
wherein the conveyor is supported by an element of the stacking zone frame portion in a manner that always maintains a top surface of the conveyor on a first side of the first plane, and
wherein the second plane extends between the element of the stacking zone frame portion and the first plane.

8 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.