Station for feeding closing seals and method of sealing containers for a packaging line
AssigneeI.M.A. Industria Macchine Automatiche S.P.A In Sigla Ima S.P.A.
InventorFilippo Furlotti
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A station for feeding closing seals for containers includes at least one fixed magazine of seals which is provided with an outlet from which the seals can be taken individually. The station further includes a carousel for feeding seals which can rotate with respect to a first central rotation axis and is provided with pickers which are radially spaced apart from the first rotation axis. The pickers are individually rotatable about a second rotation axis which is not parallel to the first axis of the carousel. During rotation of the carousel, at least one picker is configured to rotate about the second axis from a position for taking the seal from the magazine to a position for releasing the seal.
Claims12
A seal feeding station for feeding closing seals for closing containers, the seal feeding station comprising:
- a plurality of magazines of seals, each magazine being provided with an outlet at the bottom from which said seals are taken individually, said seal feeding station comprising a seal feeding carousel for feeding seals configured to rotate with a continuous motion with respect to a first central rotation axis and is provided with a plurality of pickers radially spaced apart from said first rotation axis, said pickers being further individually rotatable about a second rotation axis which is not parallel to said first rotation axis of the seal feeding carousel, so that during the rotation of the seal feeding carousel at least one picker rotates about the second axis from a seal retrieving position, in which the picker faces said outlet at the bottom of the magazine in order to take a respective seal, to a release position for releasing the seal, in which the picker is rotated 180° around said second rotation axis with respect to said retrieving position and in which the picker releases said seal, wherein said magazines of seals are fixed with respect to said first rotation axis and said second rotation axis and are mutually angularly spaced apart at angles that correspond to an angular distance of said pickers along a pitch circle of said seal feeding carousel, wherein the seal feeding station comprises means for rotating the pickers which are configured so that, during the continuous rotation of said seal feeding carousel about said first rotation axis, a number of said pickers corresponding to said plurality of magazines are located simultaneously in the seal retrieving position at a corresponding magazine so that a plurality of seals are picked up simultaneously by said number of pickers.
A method of sealing containers, the method including the following steps:
- providing a plurality of fixed magazines of seals, each of which is provided with an outlet at the bottom, and a seal feeding carousel for feeding seals which rotates with respect to a first central rotation axis and is provided with a plurality of pickers which are radially spaced apart around said first rotation axis, said magazines being mutually angularly spaced apart at angles that correspond to an angular distance of said pickers along a pitch circle of said seal feeding carousel, said pickers further being individually rotatable about a second rotation axis which is not parallel to said first rotation axis of the carousel,
- rotating said seal feeding carousel with a continuous motion about said first axis,
- during said rotation of the seal feeding carousel, rotating said pickers about said second rotation axis so that a number of said pickers is located simultaneously in the retrieving position at a corresponding one of said magazines and simultaneously retrieving a seal from each of said outlets by way of a respective picker of said number of pickers, whereby said number of fixed magazines of seals are fixed with respect to said first rotation axis and said second rotation axis,
- during said rotation of the seal feeling carousel, rotating said pickers about said second axis to a release position, and
- during said rotation of the seal feeding carousel, releasing said seals to a sealing carousel that is laterally adjacent to said seal feeding carousel.
A seal feeding station for feeding closing seals for closing containers, the seal feeding station comprising a plurality of magazines of seals, each magazine being provided with an outlet at the bottom from which said seals are taken individually, said seal feeding station further comprising a seal feeding carousel for feeding seals which is configured to rotate with a continuous motion about a first central rotation axis and which is provided with a plurality of pickers radially spaced apart from said first rotation axis, said pickers being further individually rotatable about a respective second rotation axis which is directed radially with respect to said first rotation axis of the seal feeding carousel, so that during the continuous rotation of the seal feeding carousel about the first rotation axis the pickers rotate about the respective second rotation axis from a seal retrieving position, in which a number of said pickers corresponding to said plurality of magazines faces the outlet at the bottom of a respective magazine in order to simultaneously take a respective seal, to a release position suitable for releasing the seal, in which the pickers of said number of pickers are rotated 180° around said second rotation axis with respect to said retrieving position, wherein said magazines of seals are fixed with respect to said first rotation axis and said second rotation axis and are mutually angularly spaced apart at angles that correspond to an angular distance of said pickers along a pitch circle of said seal feeding carousel, wherein the seal feeding station further comprises means for rotating the pickers which are configured to make said number of pickers simultaneously describe a cycloid portion from said retrieving position to said release position, so that cusps of said cycloid coincide with the respective outlets of said magazines.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.