Apparatus for transporting packaging material to a packaging machine

An apparatus for transporting packaging material, especially reels of web-shaped packaging material, from a stock to at least one reception station in a region of at least one of a plurality of packaging machines, said apparatus comprising:

• a plurality of material conveyors (41) which are movable along a conveyor track extending above the packaging machines and each of which has a material holder (44) with rigid immovable supporting members (48, 49) for the positive reception of reels (26, 27, 28) of different sizes, the reels resting with their circumferential surface (50) on said supporting members (48, 49);
• and
• at least one transfer conveyor in the region of a feed station (38, 39, 40) and at least one transfer conveyor in the region of a discharge station (71), and each having a material carrier (63, 75) which is movable upwardly and downwardly for receiving or transferring a reel from or to a material conveyor (41);
• said material carrier (63, 75) being arranged in the region of the conveyor track of said material conveyor (41), and the design of said material carrier (63, 75) being matched to the design of said supporting members of said material holder (44), such that supporting members (48, 49), located in the path of upward movement of said material carrier, and said material carrier (63, 75) pass one another during an upward movement of said material carrier, while at the same time a reel is transferred by one transfer conveyor lifting it off the other, wherein said material holder (44) comprises rigid supporting struts (45, 46) and at least two spaced-apart supporting members designed as unidirectional supporting spars (48, 49) having free ends, each of said supporting spars (48, 49) projecting from a respective supporting strut (45, 46) such that the free ends of said supporting spars are approximately parallel to one another, said supporting spars projecting approximately perpendicular to a direction of movement of said material conveyors (41), wherein said material carrier (63, 75) has supporting rods (65, 66;
• 76, 77) which pass said supporting spars of said material holder (44) during the upward movement of said material carrier, and wherein said supporting rods of said material carrier (63, 75) are spaced at a sufficiently different distance that a pair of them can move through the space between said supporting spars of said material holder (44), and
• further wherein after a reel is transferred from the material holder (44) to the material conveyor (41), the reel moves along the material conveyor (41) and then the material carrier (63,75) moves downwards.