Method and apparatus for packaging a series of articles in different formations

An apparatus (1) for collecting, stacking and packaging a plurality of articles (3), the apparatus comprising:

• first and second longitudinal conveyors (2) for carrying a plurality of articles towards a common receiving zone (6) located therebetween;
• first stop means (7-11), located at a first stop zone (8) of the first longitudinal conveyor, for stopping the articles conveyed along the first longitudinal conveyor, and a first lateral conveyor (15) for laterally transferring the articles conveyed by the first longitudinal conveyor from the first stop zone (8) of the first longitudinal conveyor to the receiving zone (6);
• second stop means (17-22), located at a second stop zone (8) of the second longitudinal conveyor, for stopping the articles conveyed along the second longitudinal conveyor, and a second lateral conveyor (15) for laterally transferring the articles conveyed by the second longitudinal conveyor from the second stop zone (8) of the second longitudinal conveyor to the receiving zone (6);
• the first lateral conveyor (15) and the second lateral conveyor (15) being offset with respect to one another to facilitate stacking of the articles fed from the first and second longitudinal conveyors in a partially overlapped stacked formation;
• collecting means for collecting the stack of articles fed from the first and second longitudinal conveyors in the partially overlapped formation;
• the collecting means comprising a duct defined by a pair of angled guide plates, each angled guide plate has a first leg which extends in a plane defined by an upper surface of the first and second longitudinal conveyors, and a second leg which extends toward the collecting means, and the collecting means is further defined by a plurality of vertical slats;
• an upper step lift comprising a grid of horizontal bars (24) which have free ends and the free ends of the horizontal bars (24) of the upper step lift (25) are insertable between the vertical slats (23), the upper step lift is positioned adjacent the vertical slats (23) of the duct and the horizontal bars are movable between a withdrawn position and an inserted position by means of an upper step lift actuator (26), and the horizontal bars (24) forming an intermediate platform for receiving and stacking the articles, and during a collecting operation the upper step lift is provided to travel transversely into the duct and the upper step lift (25), when in an upper level engagement step (43), collects the articles, and the upper step lift progressively steps downward (37) from the upper level to a lower level as the articles are sequentially stacked thereon, and the upper step lift has a disengagement step (44), at the lower level, in which the upper step lift releases the stack of collected articles and transversely moves out of the duct and then returns vertically upward, in a single step (45), to an upper standby position to await a subsequent collecting operation.

A method collecting, stacking and packaging a plurality of articles (3), the method comprising the steps of:

• providing first and second longitudinal conveyors (2) for carrying a plurality of articles towards a common receiving zone (6) located therebetween;
• positioning first stop means (7-11), located at a first stop zone (8) of the first longitudinal conveyor, for stopping the articles conveyed along the first longitudinal conveyor, and providing a first lateral conveyor (15) for laterally transferring the articles conveyed by the first longitudinal conveyor from the first stop zone (8) of the first longitudinal conveyor to the receiving zone (6);
• positioning second stop means (17-22), located at a second stop zone (8) of the second longitudinal conveyor, for stopping the articles conveyed along the second longitudinal conveyor, and providing a second lateral conveyor (15) for laterally transferring the articles conveyed by the second longitudinal conveyor from the second stop zone (8) of the second longitudinal conveyor to the receiving zone (6);
• offsetting the first lateral conveyor (15) from the second lateral conveyor (15) with respect to one another to facilitate stacking of the articles fed from the first and second longitudinal conveyors in a partially overlapped stacked formation;
• and
• collecting the stack of articles fed from the first and second longitudinal conveyors in the partially overlapped formation in collecting means.