Apparatus and method for feeding carton blanks from a magazine to carriers
AssigneeTetra Laval Holdings & Finance S.A.
InventorPersson RICHARD
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An apparatus for fetching a blank from a magazine holding a number of blanks is presented. Each of the blanks is a sleeve shaped piece of packaging material folded planar. The apparatus comprises a rotary feeder provided with a gripper. The rotary feeder and the gripper are arranged to rotate around a main rotational axis, such that the gripper is moved between a fetching position in which a blank is fetched and a releasing position in which the blank is released. The gripper is arranged to rotate around a gripper specific rotational axis, such that fetching the blank in the fetching position is facilitated.
Claims17
An apparatus for fetching a blank from a magazine holding a number of blanks, each of said blanks being a sleeve shaped piece of packaging material folded planar, said apparatus comprising
- a rotary feeder provided with a gripper,
- wherein said rotary feeder and said gripper are arranged to rotate around a main rotational axis, such that said gripper is moved between a fetching position in which a blank is fetched and a releasing position in which said blank is released,
- wherein said gripper is arranged to rotate around a gripper specific rotational axis, such that fetching said blank in said fetching position is facilitated, and
- a gripper cam curve to control rotation of said gripper around said gripper rotational axis when said rotary feeder is rotated around said main rotational axis.
(canceled)
A method for fetching a blank from a magazine holding a number of blanks, each of said blanks being a sleeve shaped piece of packaging material folded planar, said method comprising
- rotating a rotary feeder provided with a gripper around a main rotational axis, such that said gripper is moved between a fetching position in which said blank is fetched and a releasing position in which said blank is released, and
- rotating said gripper around a gripper specific rotational axis, such that fetching said blank in said fetching position is facilitated.
An apparatus for fetching a blank from a magazine holding a number of blanks, each of the blanks being a folded planar blank of packaging material that is expandable to a sleeve shaped piece of packaging material, the apparatus comprising:
- a rotary feeder that includes a gripper comprised of a base structure, a projecting receiving structure that projects from the base structure, and a suction cup mounted on the projecting receiving structure to grip one of the blanks;
- the rotary feeder and the gripper both being rotatable around a main rotational axis to move the gripper between a fetching position in which a blank is fetched and held by the suction cup and a releasing position in which the blank held by the suction cup is released;
- the gripper also being rotatable about a gripper specific rotational axis, different from the main rotational axis, to facilitate fetching of the blank when the gripper is in the fetching position;
- a guide assembly fixedly attached to a frame, the guide assembly comprising a first guiding track and a second guiding track that are spaced apart from one another, the first and second guiding tracks each forming respective non-circular cam curves;
- the projecting receiving structure including a first roller that is in contacting engagement with the cam curve of the first guiding track;
- and
- the base structure including a second roller that is in contacting engagement with the cam curve of the second guiding track.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.