MXPA97002329A - Assembly of gate by vacuum for the deposit of feed of primordes of boxes of carton deuna maquina emasad - Google Patents

Abstract

An improved gate assembly is described for the feeding container of cardboard box blanks of a packaging machine, which includes a frame or structure fixedly mounted on the feed container. The frame has a formed longitudinal aperture to allow the passage of a simple cardboard box blank through it. The frame has air ducts extending therethrough and receiving members extending from the air ducts. Each of the receiving members has at least one groove formed in the surface thereof facing the feed tank. Each of the receiver members has an inner channel formed therein for air communication between the slots and the respective air duct. In operation, the air pressure induces that a cardboard box primordium coming from the feeding container comes in contact with the receiving members

Description

ASSEMBLY OF GASKET HELPED BY VACUUM FOR THE DEPOSIT OF FEEDING PRIMORDES OF CARTON BOXES OF A PACKAGING MACHINE TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to packaging machines. In particular, the present invention relates to a vacuum-assisted gate assembly for the introduction of carton blanks held in a feeding container of the packaging machine.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION In packaging machines that produce sealed cartons containing food or liquid products, the primordia of cardboard boxes are typically introduced to the machine from a feed bin. The feed hopper usually holds a stack of cardboard box blanks in an un-erected and compressed state, and pushes the blanks of cardboard boxes to a gate.

The gate places and maintains the primordia of cardboard boxes so that they can be picked up one at REF: 24453 at a time with a mechanism that deploys and erects the "Ios ics" to form cardboard sheets that have side walls and upper panels. If the lower panel of the erected cardboard box blank is sealed, a food product or liquid can be received in the carton, the upper panel of the cardboard box can then be formed and sealed, and the filled and sealed cardboard box can be supplied from the packaging machine for the eventual shipment to the consumers.Many of the cardboard box primordia feeding tanks, nowadays, require high pressure application by the pusher mechanism of the feed hopper, to overcome the friction of the stack of carton blank, against the inner surfaces of the feed hopper, and for .emp Take the stack of primordia towards the gate. Under such high pressure, the primordia can be compressed to the extent that the primordia can become difficult to separate when they reach the gate. In such cases, two or more primordia of cardboard boxes may be inappropriately fed simultaneously to the packaging machine, thereby creating the potential for misalignment of the primordia, -) or of cardboard carton bsec Q te Q '' a packaging machine and jamming of the packaging machine. When the cardboard box blanks are misaligned, the food product can be wasted if the misalignment persists through the filling area. If the machine becomes jammed, then valuable production time may be lost, during the time required to service the machine.

PREVENT DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION An improved gate assembly for the feeding container of cardboard boxes primordia of a packaging machine, comprising a frame fixedly mounted on the feed tank. The frame has a longitudinal opening formed therein to allow the passage of a single blank box core through it. The frame has at least one air duct extending therethrough and a plurality of receiver members extending from at least one air duct. Each of the receiver members has at least one groove formed in the surface thereof facing the feed tank. Each of the receiver members also has at least one irtericr channel formed therein for communication of air between at least one slot and at least one air duct. In operation, the negative air pressure, applied to at least one air duct, induces a cardboard box blank coming from the supply tank to come into contact with the receiving member.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Figure 1 is a perspective view of a portion of the carton blank feeding tank of a packaging machine, which includes a vacuum-assisted gate assembly.

Figure 2 is an enlarged, perspective view of the gate assembly illustrated in FIG.

Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a perspective view of the portion of the packaging machine containing the reservoir for feeding cardboard box blanks, including the gate assembly, the bending cam mechanism, the rotary collector that includes the vacuum elements for move the primordia of rii-i-ij r ^ a "^ t1" ^ "from the feeding pad v Q1 r nspo t do crue receives the primordio of carton cans Figure 4 is a top plan view of the portion of the packaging machine, containing the feeding tank of cardboard box blanks, the bending cam mechanism, the rotary collector, and the box-priming receiving conveyor. of cardboard erected, illustrated in Figure 8.

Fig. 5 is an enlarged, perspective view of yet another embodiment of a vacuum-assisted gate assembly for use in conjunction with a cardboard box of smaller capacity than that for the gate assembly of Figs. 1 and 2.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED MODALITIES Returning first to Figure 1, a portion 10 of the carton blank feeding container of a packaging machine includes a surface 20 of the feed container. The surface 20 of the feed tank has a pair of rails 22a, 22b in general L-shaped, which face each other to receive and contain a stack of cardboard paper 5 above the surface 20 of the feed tank , and between the rails 22a, 22b. A shelf 24 conveniently supports the carton blanks (not shown in Figure 1) before being loaded between the rails 22a, 2 ° B. As shown in Figure 1, the feed container 10 further includes a pusher 26. and a gate assembly 38. The pusher 26 is supported above the surface 20 of the feed tank by a tubular support element 30. The tubular element 28 maintains the alignment of the cardboard box blanks between the pusher 26 and the gate assembly 38. The pusher 26 is pneumatically biased on the tubular element 30, to push a stack of cardboard box blanks, loaded between the rails 22a, 22b towards the gate assembly 38. The pusher 26 also holds the stack of primordia of cardboard boxes in a non-erected and compressed state, before they are presented to the gate assembly 38. The gate assembly 38 includes a frame or structure 40 which It has a longitudinal opening 48 formed therein to permit the passage of a cardboard blank through it. The frame 4 n also has a receiving member 42a extending therefrom. The receiving member 42a has a groove 44a formed in the surface thereof facing the feed reservoir. An inner channel 'or shown in Figure 1) is formed in the receiving member 42a for air communication between the slot 44a and an air duct (not shown in Figure 1) extending through the frame 40. The frame 40 it also has additional receiver members 42b, 42c extending therefrom, each of which has an interior channel for air communication between its slot and an air duct. In operation, the negative air pressure applied to the air ducts of the frame, induces that a cardboard box blank (not shown in Figure 1) coming from the feed container, comes in contact with the receiving members 42a, 42b, 42c. The stationary guide fingers 46a, 46b direct the carton blank primers in an appropriate position with respect to the gate assembly 38, as the carton blank primers are pushed towards the gate assembly 38 by the pusher 26. When a box blank of cardboard is in contact with the 42a receiving members, 42b, 42c, a vacuum element of.! rotating pusher 'not shown in Figure 1 ^ located Behind the comp assembly 3Q laterally displaces the cardboard cane blank from the gate assembly 38 through the longitudinal opening 48. At the same time, the movable guide fingers 45a, 45b are pushed forward by the cam drive members 80a, 80b, respectively, from their normally rearward positions, to reveal the opening 48, to allow passage of a simple cardboard box blank therethrough. Once moved through the opening 48, the cardboard box blank passes to the successive portions of the packaging machine, where the cardboard box blank is unfolded and erected before being filled with a food product or a liquid, and then sealed. In Figure 1, the switch 52 activates the moving components of the supply tank 10. The switch 54 deactivates the moving components of the supply tank 10 in the event of an emergency or other reason to cease operation of the supply tank 10. Figure 2 is a perspective view of the damper assembly 38 of a supply tank 10 of carton blank primers, and the adjacent lett mechanism, to bending machine ^^. The food bag of cardboard core blanks includes a surface 20 of the feed container. The surface 20 of the feed tank has a pair of rails 22a, 22b in general L-shaped, facing each other to receive and make contact with a stack of cardboard box blanks, above the surface 20 of the tank of feeding, and between the rails 22a, 22b. The supply reservoir 10 further includes a pusher 26 and a gate assembly 38. The pusher 26 is supported above the surface 20 of the feed reservoir, by the tubular supporting element 30. The tubular element 28 maintains the alignment of the cardboard box blanks between the pusher 26 and the gate assembly 38. The pusher 26 is pneumatically biased to push a stack of cardboard box blanks loaded between the rails 22a, 22b towards the gate assembly 38. The pusher 26 also keeps the stack of cardboard box blanks in a non-erected and compressed state, before they are presented to the gate assembly 38. As shown in detail in Figure 2, the gate assembly 38 includes a fixedly mounted frame 40 on the surface 20 of the feed tank. The frame 40 has a longitudinal opening 48 formed therein to allow the passage of a simple cardboard box blank (not shown in the Fiaur 2 ^ through it) The frame 40 has air ducts 56a, 56b, 56c which are extend therethrough The receiving members 42a, 42b, 42c extend from the air ducts 56a, 56b, 56c, °? r ° ctit / 3ir.? pt ° Each of the receiving members 42a, 42b, 42c it has at least one slit or groove formed in the surface thereof facing the feed tank 10. As shown in Figure 2, the receiving member 42a has slots 44a, 44d formed therein, the receiving member 42b has a groove 44b formed therein, the receiving member 42c has a groove 44c formed therein, each of the receiving members 42a, 42b, 42c has at least one channel formed therein (not shown in Figure 2) for air communication between the slot or slots and the respective air duct. For example, a channel formed in the interior of the receiving member 42a communicates air between the slots 44a, 44d and the air duct 56a. An inner channel in the receiving member 42b communicates air between the slot 44b and the air duct 56b. An inner channel in the receiving member 42c communicates air between the slot 44c and the air duct C "" "- Figure 2 shows the stationary guide fingers 46a, 46b, which direct the carton blank primers to their proper position with respect to the gate assembly 38, as the carton blank primers are pushed towards the carton. gate assembly 38, by the pusher 26. The negative air pressure applied to the air ducts 56a, 56b, 56c induces a cardboard box blank coming from the feed tank 10, to come into contact with the receiving members 42a, 42b, 42c. Negative air pressure can, for example, be supplied by a fan (not shown in Figure 2). When a blank of cardboard boxes is in contact with the receiving members 42a, 42b, 42c, a vacuum element of the rotary pusher (shown for example in Figure 3, as the vacuum element 282) located behind the gate assembly 38, laterally displaces the cardboard box blank from the gate assembly 38 through the longitudinal opening 48. At the same time, the movable guide fingers 45a, 45b are pushed forward (front pusher 26) by the drive members by cam RD, sn from its normally posterior positions to ^ to discover the opening 48, sufficiently for cardboard through the opening 48. The wheel extending downward direction of each of the cam drive members 80a, 80b , is pushed to rotate by the frictional contact of the wheel against the drive collar 72b secured to the rotating shaft 62. The movable guide fingers 45a, 45b are pushed forward As each cardboard box blank is displaced from the gate assembly 38. As shown in FIG. 2, the cam mechanism 60 includes first and second cam members 72, ", substantially identical, mounted on a rotating shaft 62. The shaft 62 is rotatably mounted between the female bushes 64a, 64b. The upper bushing 64a is fixedly mounted on and extends laterally from the frame 40 of the gate assembly 38. The lower bushing 64b is fixedly mounted on the surface 20 of the feed tank. The cam member 72 in Figure 2 comprises an annular belay collar 72a, for retaining the cam member 72 on the shaft 62, and an adjacent, annular drive collar 72b, which imparts rotational force to the drive member. cam 0a. The cam member 2 also comprises longitudinally extending side walls, one of which is designated in Figure 2 as the side wall 72c, and the corner portions interconnecting the side walls, one of which is designated in Figure 2 as the vertex portion 72d. The cam member 74 is substantially identical in configuration to the cam member 72, and imparts rotational force to the cam drive member 80b. Figure 2 also shows the respective sites of the rails 22a, 22b, as well as the pusher 26 and the tubular support elements 28, 30 with respect to the gate assembly 38. With respect to the negative air pressure or the vacuum applied to the air ducts, it has been found more advantageous to induce a low negative pressure, high air flow stream, to counteract the leakage that occurs when a cardboard box blank is pushed laterally away from the slot or grooves in the receiver members , by the mobile members. In this regard, a negative high pressure stream of low air flow has been found less desirable to keep the blanks of cardboard boxes in contact with the receiving members, when the blanks are pushed laterally away from the groove or grooves, by the moving members, whereby the slot or slots are exposed to atmospheric pressure. Both schemes, however, provide negative air pressure for the operation of the system, although the first annotated pattern is preferred. Figures 3 and 4 show the portion of the packaging machine containing the feeding container 10 of cardboard box blanks, including gate assembly 38, bending cam mechanism 60, rotary harvester 280 including vacuum elements 282 for moving cardboard box blanks (not shown in FIGS. 3 and 4) away from feed magazine 10, and the reception conveyor 290 of primordia of cartons erected. As shown in Figure 3, a band 286 interconnects the shaft 62, which extends from the braking cam mechanism 60, and the shaft 284, which is understood from the rotary collector 280. The band 286 synchronizes the rotation of the shaft 62 with that of the rotary collector 280. FIG. 5 illustrates yet another embodiment of a vacuum-assisted gate assembly 138 suitable for use in conjunction with a smaller capacity carton (not shown in FIG. 5). ) which acuella for the gate assembly 38 of Figures 1 and 2. Cc ^ shown in Figure 5, the gate assembly 138 includes a frame 140 which is fixedly mounted on the end of a feed reservoir of the box blank of cardboard of the type shown as the supply container 10 in Figures 1 and 2. The frame 140 has a cut portion 140a, which forms a longitudinal opening 148 to allow passage of a simple cardboard box blank through of this one The frame 140 has air ducts 156a, 156b, 156c extending therethrough. Receiving members 142a, 142b, 142c extend from air ducts 156a, 156b, 156c, respectively. Each of the receiving members 142a, 142b, 142c has at least one groove formed in the surface thereof facing the feed tank. As shown in Figure 2, the receiving member 142a has the slot 144a formed therein. Receiving member 142b has five slots formed therein, one of which is designated in Figure 5 as slot 144b. The receiving member 142c has a slot 144c formed therein. Each of the receiver members 142a, 142b, 142c has at least one channel formed therein (not shown in Figure 5) for air communication between the slot or slots and the respective air duct. In this regard, a channel formed within the receiver member 142a communicates air between the slot 144a and the air duct 156a. An interior channel in the receiving member 142b communicates air between the slot 144b and the air duct 156b. An inner channel in the receiving member 142c communicates air between the slot 144c and the air duct 156c. Figure 5 shows the stationary guide fingers 146a, 146b, which direct the carton blank primers to their proper position relative to the gate assembly 138, as the carton blank primers are pushed towards the gate assembly 138 by the pusher 126. Negative air pressure applied to air ducts 156a, 156b, 156c induces a cardboard box primord from the supply reservoir (not shown in Figure 5) to come into contact with receiving members 142a, 142b , 142c. The negative air pressure can, for example, be supplied by a fan (not shown in Figure 5). When a cardboard box blank is in contact with the receiving members 142a, 142b, 142c, a vacuum element of the rotary collector (shown for example in Figure 3, as the vacuum element? Q2 ^ located behind the gate 138, ^^ laterally the cardboard rod blank-from the gate assembly 138 through the longitudinal opening 148. At the same time, the movable guide fingers 145a, 145b are pushed forward towards the pusher by the cam actuation member 1 ^ 0 from its normally rearward positions to discover opening 148, sufficiently to allow passage of a simple cardboard box blank, through opening 148. Wheel extending in a downward direction, of the cam drive member 180, is urged to rotate by the frictional contact of the wheel against a drive collar secured to the rotating shaft of the adjacent bending cam mechanism (not shown). shown in Figure 5). The movable guide fingers 145a, 145b are pushed forward as each cardboard box blank is moved from the gate assembly 138. The negative air pressure applied to the air ducts 156a, 156b, 156c induces a box primordium. cardboard from the adjacent feed tank (not shown in Figure 5) comes into contact with the receiving members 142a, 142b, 142c. Negative air pressure can, for example, be supplied by a fan (not shown in Fig. 2. With respect to the location of the receiver members and their respective slots, it has been found to be advantageous to position the slots so that The carton blank is vacuum-clamped in a substantially balanced manner In this regard, the clamping of a cardboard box blank through the slots on one edge of the blank must preferably be displaced by the clamping vacuum, by the grooves on an opposite edge, so that the cardboard box blank maintains its alignment with the gate assembly.While particular elements, embodiments and applications of the present invention have been shown and described, it will be understood, of course, that the invention is not limited thereto, since modifications can be made by those skilled in the art, particularly in the light of e the previous teachings. It is therefore contemplated by the appended claims, to cover such modifications, as to incorporate those features that fall within the spirit and scope of the invention.It is noted that in relation to this date, or method known to the applicant to carry out the aforementioned invention, it is clear from the present description of the invention.

Having described the invention as above, property is claimed as contained in the following:

Claims (6)

1. A gate assembly for the feeding tank of cardboard box blanks of a packaging machine, characterized in that it comprises a structure or frame fixedly mounted on the feed tank, the frame has a longitudinal opening formed therein to allow the passage of a simple cardboard box blank therethrough, the frame has at least one air duct extending therethrough, and at least one receiving member extending from at least one air duct, each having at least one of the receiving members, at least one slot formed on the surface thereof, facing the feed tank, and at least one inner channel formed therein for air communication between at least one slot and at least one an air duct, whereby the negative air pressure applied to at least one air duct induces a cardboard box blank coming from the power tank. On, get in touch with at least one receiving member.

2. The gate assembly according to claim 1, characterized in that at least one air duct comprises a plurality of ducts of

3. The gate assembly according to claim 1, characterized in that at least one receiving member comprises a plurality of receiving members.

4. The gate assembly according to claim 1, characterized in that at least one slot comprises a plurality of slots.

5. The gate assembly according to claim 4, characterized in that at least one interior channel comprises a plurality of interior channels.

6. The gate assembly according to claim 1, characterized in that the negative air pressure is supplied by a fan.