Apparatus for forming groups of packs

An apparatus for forming groups of cuboidal packs (11) by pushing a group (12) of superposed packs (11) from the top of a stack (13) of packs (11) which are stacked on top of one another by a pack lifter (14) which supplies said stack (13) with packs (11) by lifting packs (11) from below the stack, said apparatus comprising:

• a) an intermittently operated pusher (10) which pushes said group (12) of packs (11) in a transverse direction off of said stack (13) and onto a discharge conveyor (22);
• b) a pusher drive (68) which is coupled to said pusher (10) and to a drive for the pack lifter (14) to produce, after each lifting movement of a pack (11) from below the stack, a drive movement of the pusher;
• c) said pusher (10) comprising an actuating lever (24) and a pushing arm (19) which are fixed to a common main shaft (21);
• d) spring means (26) for moving said actuating lever (24) and, thereby, said pusher (10) in a pushing direction;
• and
• e) locking means for locking, in an initial position, said actuating lever (24) and thereby said pusher (10), said actuating lever and said pusher being movable by said pusher drive (68) in a direction opposite to said pushing direction;
• f) said locking means comprising a pivotable locking lever (69) which contacts and supports said actuating lever (24) in a locked position.
• g) said actuating lever (24) being held in its initial position until there is a preselected number of superposed packs (11) in said group on the top of said stack (13).