Pouch containment and carton loading
AssigneeR.A. Jones & Co. Inc.
InventorsWilliam E. Engelhardt, Steven C. Hamilton, Eric M. Schaefer
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A stack of products such as pouches is formed in a product bucket, pushed into a stack guide bucket and from there into a carton. A stack tamp descends over the stack, engages and confines it downwardly during stack pushing from product bucket and through stack guide bucket into a carton. Multiple product buckets, stack guide buckets and cartons move downstream during cartoning, and are respectively aligned in a cartoning station. Reciprocal containment blades hold the stack in respective cartons prior to flap closing.
Claims5
A method of loading a stack of products into a carton moveable in a machine direction and comprising steps of:
- depositing a stack of product in a moveable product bucket;
- interposing a static stack guide across a discharge end of said product bucket;
- moving said product bucket and a stack guide bucket in the machine direction past an end of said static stack guide for accommodating passage of the product stack into said stack guide bucket;
- pushing the product stack into said stack guide bucket from said product bucket;
- tamping the product stack in said product bucket and in said stack guide bucket;
- pushing the tamped product stack from the stack guide bucket into the carton through a first end thereof;
- vertically moving a stack containment blade to a position on a side of the pushed product stack in the carton, wherein the stack containment blade extends in a vertical direction;
- closing first minor carton flaps toward the side of the product stack and the stack containment blade;
- after the closing, withdrawing the stack containment blade from the stack;
- and
- moving the loaded carton in the machine direction.
A method of cartoning a plurality of asymmetric products in a stack from a product bucket into a carton including steps of:
- depositing said stack into the product bucket;
- conveying the product bucket, containing said stack and having a discharge end, in a machine direction;
- aligning a moveable stack guide bucket with said discharge end;
- disposing an elongated static guide between said discharge end and said stack guide bucket and holding said stack in said product bucket;
- moving said product bucket and said stack guide bucket in the machine direction downstream beyond said static guide;
- tamping a top of said stack in said product bucket and in said stack guide bucket;
- pushing the tamped stack from said product bucket into said stack guide bucket;
- pushing said stack from said stack guide bucket into an open end of the carton;
- vertically moving a stack containment blade to position the containment blade against the stack pushed into said carton, wherein the stack containment blade extends in a vertical direction;
- moving carton flaps toward said stack and said containment blade;
- and
- after moving the carton flaps, withdrawing said containment blade from said stack.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.