US 4,413,462 A · Accumulator and stacker for sandwiched biscuits and the like

Abstract

Accumulator and stacker for sandwiched cookies, biscuits and like articles in which two side-by-side rows of sandwiched cookies are delivered from a conventional sandwiching machine and stacked one sandwich on top of another sandwich in an adjacent row and then accumulated into individual two high stacks with the stacks in tandem groups of two, three, four or more stacks at the in-feed conveyor of a conventional horizontal wrapping machine. The sandwiched cookies may be round, square and elongated rectangular cookies or of various similar shapes. The accumulator is between the discharge end of the sandwiching machine and the intake end of a wrapping machine, and provides a continuous high speed stacker supplying pre-selected stacked groups of sandwiches to the infeed conveyor of the wrapping machine in a continuous path. The transitions from the sandwiching machine to the stacker and accumulator and the stacking and accumulating and feeding of the accumulated groups to the wrapping machine are smooth and gradual, making it possible to handle rectangular cookies in a cross-wise orientation without crumbling of the cookies or other damage thereto. This is all attained by a series of overhead conveyors cooperating with the sandwiching machine and wrapping machine conveyor and upwardly inclined and declining conveyor troughs for each row of sandwiches, elevating one row of sandwiches and diverting this row over a next adjacent row and lowering this row on top of the next adjacent row of sandwiches and moving the sandwiches out of the paths of the accelerating conveyor flights as picked up by other conveyor flights, making it possible to have final production rates of 300 or more packages per minute with no damage to the cookies because of this high speed operation.

Claims19

Dependent claims

In a sandwiching machine and wrapping machine spaced in advance of the sandwiching machine a stacker cooperating with the sandwiching machine to stack sandwiches delivered therefrom and cooperating with the wrapping machine to effect the accumulation of stacked sandwiches into two, three, or four stacks in tandem arrangement relative to each other to thereafter be wrapped by the wrapping machine,

two side by side sandwiching carrying conveyor troughs extending from the sandwiching machine over the wrapper and carrying sandwiches for stacking and having flight receiving slots extending therealong, a first trough for one row of sandwiches declining to substantially the plane of the top of the wrapping machine and having a first conveyor extending therealong and a second trough for the other row of sandwiches having a second conveyor and extending parallel to the first trough for the one row of sandwiches and angularly toward the trough for the one row of sandwiches and therealong to intersect the line of travel of the one row of sandwiches, the sandwiches in each trough being carried by the flights of said second conveyor and carried therealong as the flights recede beneath the bottom of its trough and the flights depending from the intersecting trough carry the sandwiches in both troughs in aligned relation for stacking said second trough extending along a wrapper conveyor for a portion of the length thereof and constructed to enable the depending flights to pass outwardly out said second trough beyond a sidewall thereof to a return path of said flights, and disengage the sandwiches in a decelerating path as the flights move outwardly of the sidewall of said second trough, to avoid crumbling of the trailing edges of the sandwiches as said flights move out of engagement therewith.

In combination with a sandwiching machine and wrapper accumulating biscuits in pre-selected groups, the improvement comprising a stacker at the discharge end of the sandwiching machine and the receiving end of the wrapper and cooperating with the sandwiching machine and wrapper to effect the stacking of sandwiches as delivered from the sandwiching machine and accumulating the stacked sandwiches into two, three, four or more stacks in tandem arrangement relative to each other in cooperation with the wrapper at the entering end of the wrapper, two side-by-side conveyor troughs extending from the sandwiching machine in alignment with the discharge path of travel of biscuits sandwiched in the sandwiching machine, said side-by-side conveyor troughs each having slots in the bottoms thereof and extending therealong, each trough being inclined upwardly as it leaves the sandwiching machine and then declining, a first trough extending angularly towards a second trough and terminating in alignment with and above the second trough, individual overhead conveyors for each trough having depending flights for pushing sandwiches along said troughs, the overhead conveyor for a first trough terminating prior to intersection of said troughs, and a stacker conveyor beneath said second trough and having flights extending upwardly through the slot extending along the second trough, and continuing motion of the sandwich to a position adjacent the point of intersection of said first trough with said second trough, to accommodate the conveyor movable along said second trough to carry the sandwiches along each trough and stack one on top of the other at the end of said first trough, for accumulation into groups for wrapping.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Accumulator and stacker for sandwiched biscuits and the like

Life of this patent

Accumulator and stacker for sandwiched biscuits and the like

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims19