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US 2005/0229548 A1Published application
Device for guiding objects into containers
AssigneeManufacturing Solutions PTY Ltd
InventorLeon Hooper
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AssigneeManufacturing Solutions PTY Ltd
InventorLeon Hooper
Estimating the term…
Disclosed is a device for temporarily creating and maintaining a depositing cavity in a container to be filled with objects, in particular flexible packages, standing substantially upright on the floor of said container, said device including: a moveable planar first restraining member with an anterior surface facing into said cavity and a posterior surface; and a moveable planar second restraining member with an anterior surface facing into said cavity and a posterior surface; the restraining members being operationally arranged to be removably insertable into and between facing side walls of a container to be filled with upright stacked objects and thereby to define a temporary cavity which facilitates the insertion of the objects into the container. The cavity is defined, in an object receiving configuration, by facing anterior surfaces of said first and second restraining members, by facing side walls of said container and by a portion of the floor of said container delimited thereby, such that upon deposition a given object sits upon said portion of said floor and between said facing anterior surfaces. The posterior surface of said first restraining member acts to restrain previously deposited objects against movement. According to the invention so configured, following deposition of an object into said cavity, said first restraining member may be withdrawn from its position on one side of said object, and reinserted so as to take up a new restraining position on the opposite side of said object, and said second restraining member may then be moved away from said first restraining member thereby to create a new cavity for the deposition of a further object.
A device for temporarily creating and maintaining a depositing cavity in a container to be filled with objects, in particular flexible packages, standing substantially upright on the floor of said container, said device including:
The device of any preceding claim, wherein the surfaces of said first restraining member are treated to reduce their coefficient of friction.
The device of any preceding claim, wherein the first restraining member is mounted on a moveable articulated arm, and is pivotally connected to said arm such that the centre of gravity of the first restraining member is substantially directly beneath the centre-line of said pivot.
The device of any preceding claim, wherein in said object receiving configuration, said first restraining member is actively biased such that its posterior surface acts to place said previously deposited objects under compression, sufficient to prevent relative movement amongst said objects.
The device of any preceding claim, wherein in said object receiving configuration, said first and second restraining members are disposed within said container such that said portion of said container floor represents substantially the final position of said object in said container, thereby obviating any requirement for the deposited object to be subsequently repositioned.
The device of any preceding claim, wherein in said object receiving configuration, said first and second restraining members are disposed within said container such that said cavity tends to taper inward toward said floor of said container.
The device of any preceding claim, wherein said objects fall into said cavity via the force of gravity alone.
The device of any preceding claim, wherein said objects are relatively stiff, and wherein the posterior surface of said first restraining member only contacts an upper portion of said previously deposited objects to restrain them against movement.
The device of any preceding claim, wherein said container is a commercial packaging receptacle for consumer goods.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.