Carton stacking method and apparatus
AssigneeMaschinenfabrik Alfred Schmermund GmbH & Co.
InventorHarald Beckmann
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
During the packaging of articles in cartons, preparatory to shipment to consumers, the cartons are removed from filling/closing apparatus and stacked on pallets. The removal apparatus includes transporting the cartons singly to a stacking plane, orienting the cartons and then employing a robotic gripping device to move the oriented cartons to the proper stacking positions.
Claims15
Apparatus for packaging stacks of articles within a package volume, said stacks having a generally rectangular cross-section and being supplied by a conveyor, the package being formed from a flattened carton blank having a continuous side-wall defining region and integral inner and outer bottom and lid flaps extending outwardly therefrom, the carton blanks having a format comprising a width and a length, said apparatus comprising:
- at least two adjacent pallet stations, each of said pallet stations being configured to support a pallet carrying a stack of flattened carton blanks;
- a rotary turret, said turret having a substantially horizontal rotation axis and at least four receiving cells, said cells defining axes which are parallel to said rotation axis and being open at a pair of axially displaced opposite ends;
- means for causing said turret to rotate about said rotation axis, said rotation causing means producing step-wise motion of said turret whereby said cells are caused to advance from position to position along a continuous path;
- means for erecting a flattened carton blank to a tubular configuration having the carton bottom and lid flaps extending outwardly in an axial direction at a pair of oppositely disposed open carton ends;
- first griping means for gripping the uppermost blank of a stack of flattened carton blanks from a pallet supported at a selected of said pallet stations, said first gripping means being movable together with said gripped blank to transport said blank to said means for erecting flattened carton blanks;
- means for inserting an erected carton blank in a cell of said turret at a first cell, the axial direction of the erected carton being coaxial with the cell axis;
- means for transferring a stack of articles to be packaged into an erected carton blank disposed at a second position of said cell;
- means for folding an inner bottom and a lid flap of an erected carton blank inwardly to a closed position during rotation of said cell to a third position;
- means for applying adhesive to said inner folded bottom and lid flaps of an erected carton blank, said adhesive applying means being installed on both sides of said turret adjacent to the third position of said cell;
- means for folding a remaining outer bottom and a remaining outer lid flap of a carton inwardly to contact the inner flaps to which adhesive is applied by said applying means during rotation of said cell to a fourth position whereby the package of stacked articles is completely assembled;
- and
- means for ejecting the completely assembled package from a cell at said fourth position and onto a conveyor.
In apparatus for packaging articles within a package volume having a generally rectangular cross-section, the package being formed from a flattened carton blank having a continuous side-wall defining region and integral bottom and lid flaps extending outwardly therefrom each of the carton blanks having a format comprising a width and a length, the improvement comprising:
- a plurality of adjacent pallet stations, each of said pallet stations supporting a pallet carrying a stack of flattened carton blanks;
- a rotary turret, said turret having a plurality of receiving cells, each of said receiving cells having four walls defining a generally rectangular cross-sectional area and being open at a pair of opposite ends, a pair of adjacent walls of each of said cells being fixed in position and a second pair of adjacent cell defining walls being adjustable relative to oppositely disposed of said fixed walls whereby the width and height of said cells may be varied to accommodate different carton blank formats;
- means for causing said turret to rotate about an axis, said rotation causing means producing step-wise motion of said turret;
- means for erecting a flattened carton blank to a tubular configuration having the carton bottom and lid flaps extending outwardly at a pair of oppositely disposed open carton ends;
- flattened carton blank from a selected of said pallet stations to said means for erecting flattened carton blanks;
- means for inserting an erected carton blank in a cell of said turret at a first position of said turret, the open ends of the erected carton being in registration with the open ends of the cell;
- means for transferring articles to be packaged into an erected carton blank disposed in a cell of said turret;
- means for folding at least a first bottom and a first lid flap of an erected carton blank inwardly to a closed position during rotation of said turret;
- means for applying adhesive to at least said first bottom and lid flaps of an erected carton blank, said adhesive applying means being located at a second position of said turret;
- means for folding a remaining bottom and a remaining lid flap of a carton inwardly to contact the flaps to which adhesive is applied whereby the cartons are completely assembled, said means for folding being positioned at a distance from said adhesive applying means;
- means for varying the spacing between said flap folding and adhesive applying means to accommodate each of said different carton blank formats;
- means for stacking completed cartons, said stacking means including a first arm having a first end mounted for pivotal motion about a fixed axis and a second arm mounted to the second end of said first arm for pivotal motion about an axis, said arms being movable in parallel planes;
- carton gripping means mounted from the second end of said second arm;
- a turntable, said turntable being positioned within the range of movement of said gripping means, said turntable orienting cartons deposited thereon for subsequent engagement by said gripping means;
- and
- means for delivering cartons from said turret to said turntable, said delivering means being justapositioned to said turret at a location downstream of said second position and upstream of said first position in the direction of cell movement during rotation of said turret.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.