US2239945A - Feeding and folding mechanism for wrapping machines - Google Patents

Description

April H. B. TU'I 'HILL E'l'AL 2,239,945

FEEDING AND FQLDING MECHANISM FOR WRAPPING MACHINES Filed April 26, 1939 6 Sheets-Sheet 1 April 29, 1941. H. B. TUTHILL mm. 2,239,945

FEEDING AND FOLDING MECHANISM FOR WRAPPING MACHINES I Filed April 26, 1939 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 April 29, 1941.

H. B. TUTHILL 'EIAL FEEDING A'ND FOLDING MECHANISM FOR WRAPPING MACHINES,

Filed April 26. 1959 s Sheets-Shet 4 Wags April 29, 1941. H. B. TUTHILL ETAL 2,239,943

FEEDING AND FOLDING MECHANISM FOR W RAPPING MACHINES mm Apr i1 26. 1939 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 f, Hovaw ome A fifl 29, 1941. H. B. TUTHILL arm. 2 3

FEEDING AND FOLDING MECHANISM FOR WRAPPING "AflINES Filed April 26, 1939 s Sheets-Sheet e m 2 co h folded upwardly.

Patent ed Apr. 29, 1941 v UNlTED STATES. PATENT oFFic FEEDING sun rommc nmcnlimsn ron' wmirrmo moms Howard B. 'luthiil and Harry E. Caldwell, Grand Rapids, Mich, amignors to Oliver Machinery Company, Grand Rapids, Mich, a corporation of Michigan Application April 28;, 1939, Serial N 0. 270,066

' (cl. sa-ii 15 Claims. This invention relates generally to feeding and for feeding and folding'inwardly the ends of pasteboard blanks, which have'previously been scored, to form what is commonly known as .U

' boxes.

These U boxes are adapted to be filled between the upturned ends thereof with articles of any desired shape or contour. The boxes are then wrapped and placed on sale. The economical feature of these boxes will;.he immediately apparent upon considering the fact that the sides and covers are omitted, and they are ordinarily wrapped with a transparent material such as Cellophane so as to be enable the prospective purchaser to view the contents thereof.

Heretofore. these 'U boxes have beeniormed by hand before filling and wrappin but my infolding mechanism and is particularly adapted previously filed application filed December 21, 1938 and bearing Serial No. 247,063, or maybe made as a separate unit adapted to be connected to a wrapping machine and. operated in conjunction therewith in the. manner shown by our copending application filed June th, 1938 bearing Serial No. 213,806. The operation of the folding machine itself will be the same whether it is integral with or a separate unit from the wrapping machine. 5 I

i It is the principal object of our invention to provide means for feeding,a single pasteboard blank to amechanism designed to fold the ends thereof inwardly.

Another object of the invention is to provide amagazine or rack to hold a plurality of pasteboard blanks from. which the blanks are delivered intermittently to the. folding mechanism.

vention is chiefly directed to a mechanism whereby these boxes may be formed automatically. It is to be understood that these boxes are adapted to receive any type of article, but they are commonly used in. the baking industry for containing articles such as cakes, cookies, buns and sweet rolls. Since articles of this nature are usually round or at least have curved'corners. they are difficult to wrap unless some means of stiffening is provided at the ends thereof so that the article, in its final wrapped condition, will be similar to a box having square corners.

. It will be obvious that round cookies or round cakes, or even such cakes that have been cut in half, would be most difficult to wrap unless stiffening means were provided at each end, and this is precisely the object of the U box, namely,

"the upturned endsthereof are 'adaptedto lie 7 against the cake or cookies and is wrapped in that condition. When the article is enclosed within the ends of a U box it adapts itself admirably to being wrapped automatically by any of the well-known wrapping machines in use at the present time.

Specifically our invention is also directed to mechanism for feeding only fiat pieces of cardboard which do not have the ends thereof turned upwardly. when. substantially square cakes or V cookies are to be wrapped, it is not always necessary that reinforcing means at each end be provided and in this case the cardbcards are fed in the usual manner and conveyed to the wrapping machine except that the ends thereof .are not The folding of thepresent invention may be either made integrally with a wrapping machine of the character such as shown in our will actuate the aforementioned independent means at a speed greater than the speed of the I conveyor. y V D Other objects of the invention will appear more fully as the description proceeds.

,To the accomplishment of the foregoing and related ends said invention, then, consists of the means hereinafter fully described and particularly pointed out in the claims.

The annexed drawings and following description set forthin detail certain means for car-.

rying out our invention, said means constituting,

however, but one of various ways in which the principle of the invention may be employed.

In said annexed drawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to like parts throughout the various views: Fig. l is a broken folding machine.

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the machine as showninFig. 1. v

Fig. Sis a fragmentary enlarged vertical section taken longitudinally-through the machine showing particularly the means which actuate side elevationalview or the with a sprocket wheel.

blank to the folding mechanism and the folding mechanism itself. V

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary perspective view of the fingers and parts associated therewith which carry a blank through the folding elements and onto the conveyor. 1 r

Fig. '7 is a sectional view taken substantially on the plane of line 1-4 of Fig. 5.

Fig. 8 is a vertical section taken substantially onthe plane of line 8-8 in Fig. 1.

Fig. 9.1a a perspective view of the resulting U a box having an article therein ready to be wrapped.

Fig. 10 is an enlarged horizontal sectional view of the means for disengaging the feeding mechanism and,

Fig. 11 is an elevational view showing a portion of one side of the machine wherein there is a connected to a compression spring I1. The other I end of the compression spring is secured to a member l8 extending inwardly from one side of the machine. The position of the member provided with them l3, l4 and 15 determines whether or not the gears i and 8 are in mesh;

the action of the spring I! tending to rotate the three arms in a counter-clockwise direction, will maintain the two gears out of mesh, but when the lever 9 is moved toward the left as viewed in Fig. l, the arm l2 and arm 13 to which it is connected, will be moved downwardly thus causing the arm Is to rotate'in a counter-clockwise direction against the force of the spring II on the arm ll to.thereby'engage the gears 6 and 8 for operation of the folding machine.

The rear portion of the machine is provided with side plates l8 at each side thereof between modification of the means for intermittently feeding the pasteboard cards. I

.Referring now more particularly to the drawings and more especially to Fig. 1, the machine is supported by legs I at the front end and the legs. 2 at the rear end. The particular device illustrated is adapted for use as a separable unit from the wrapping machine, but it is to be understood that the same mechanism embodied in the present machine can be built integral with a wrapping machine without-in any way departing from the spirit of the invention. In this particular embodiment of the invention, the front and rear legs are provided with castors '3 to enable the unit to be easily separated and moved away from the wrapping machine.

The manner in which the operation of the folding machine is made to coincide with that of the which at their rear ends is secured a plate or casting 20 having a cross-section of the general configuration shown in Fig. 3. Across the plate 20 in substantially a horizontal plane is positioned an angle 2! secured to the plate by means of the bolts 22 or any other desired means. Each end of the angle 2! is provided with an ear 23. Onthe wrapping machine at each side thereof are inwardly extending members 24 which cooperate with the ears '23 on the angle 2i to guide the folding machine when it is being .moved to operative position. That is, the cars 23 are situated a distance apart slightly less than the distance between the members 24 and the ears are moved into place between the members 24 to prevent any side motion of the machine and. to hold it in operative alinement with the wrapping machine.

The wrapping machine is also provided with a bar 25 which extends the entire distance across wrapping machine is quite similarin most res'pects to the driving means between the slicing and wrapping machines of our previously referred to application Serial No. 213,806 and consists generally in a stub drive shaft t provided A chain 5 passes around said sprocket-wheel and is driven from any desired source such as an electric motor. Also secured to the shaft 4 and driven thereby is a gear .6. The shaft 4 together with the sprocket wheel and the gear 6 are all mounted at one end the levers 9, one at each side of the machine,

which are connected at their lower ends to the shaft M. Then at one side-of the machine a short am It extends downwardly from the shaft 10' and is pivotally secured at its lower end to a second arm l2. Another member having an arm l3,asecond arm ll andathirdarm Ibis pivotally as at IS. The outer end of the machine andis secured at each end to the members 28. The plate 20 is provided with an elongated rod having an enlarged portion 26- and a smaller portion 21 which is threaded. There is an opening in the plate 20 to admit the smaller threaded portion of the rodand the shoulder between the larger and smaller portions 26 and 21 is adapted to abut against the inner side of the plate 20. The outer end of the portion 26 is provided with a handle or knob 28 in order to more easily operate saidrod for the purpose intended. The lower edge 'of the plate 20 is provided with a bracket 29 having a rod 30 extending between the outer ends thereof on which is pivotally mounted a member 39. Said member 3| is provided at its outer end with two hooks 32 be tween which extends a rod 33 provided with a screw threaded opening in the center thereof adapted to receive the threaded portion of the rod 21. Viewing the mechanism as shown in Fig.

3, it will be evident that a rotation of the knob 28 will cause the hooks 32 to be moved either toward the left or the right, depending upon the direction of rotation. These hooks are so located with respect to the bar 25 that when the two machines are in operativerelation the hooks 82 abut tightly against an edge of the bar 25 to hold the folding machine securely in place.

A horizontal bar 34 having a plurality of fingers 38a provided with horizontal portions 35 at the the arm I3 is pivotally secured to the lower end of the arm l2;' thearm' I5 is curved-as shown in Fig. 1 and has its lower end mounted on the shaft I, while the arm 14 extends rearwardly in substantial alinement with the arm I: and is upper end thereof is secured to the. uppper portion of the plate 20. Said horizontal portions are adapted to extend and bridge the gap between the end of the conveyor on the folding machine and the conveyor on the wrapping machine to provide a support for the U. boxes in their transfer from one machine to the other. It is sometimes necessary to vary the distance the two machines depending upon the'size of the hooks 32. Obviously, therefore, the'distance that the heads 31 are from the plate 29 determines the distance between the two machines in their operative relation and will also determine'the' position of the fingers 34 with respect to the two machines. adjust theposition of theflngers 3441.

At each side of the machine andpositioned vertically is a siding plate 39 extending substanr tially the full length thereof andis secured to the inner side of each side plate l9. Extending in a horizontal plane from the upper edge of each side plate 39 is a horizontal member-.49 which may either be integral with or rigidly secured to said side platesuch as by welding. The horizontal members 49 each at its inner edge has" an upturned portion 4|. A plurality of angles such as at 42 extending across the machine between the side plates have their upper horizontal .por-

tions secured to the under side of the members 49, thus making a more rigid structure.

' A shaft 43 extends at the front end of the machine between the two side portions 39 and is screw-threaded in opposite directions for a-considerable distance each side of its center for purposes of adjusting certain parts of the machine- 1 extends the full length of the folding machine and passes around the sprockets on the two shafts 43 and 45. A plurality of spaced apart cross- The nuts 39, then, are utilized to on the shaft 59 and secured thereto one at each side of the machine's-re sprocket wheels 51 which have endless chains 58 therearound extending to and incontact with similar wheels on the shaft 45, which, when rotated, will also rotate the shaft '45 together with the sprocket wheels 49 thereon.

v It will be evident that when the gears 9 and 9 are in mesh and thegear 9 rotates in a clockwise direction'(Flg. 1) the gear 8 and shaft l with the sprocket wheel thereon in contact with the chain 99 will be rotated in a counter-clockwise direction. This direction of rotation of the shaft.

.landthechain59willcauseaclockwiserotation of the shaft 5l together with the sprocket wheel 94 thereon and a counter-clockwise rotation of the shaft 59 and the sprocket wheel 55.

This, inturn, will also cause a counter-clockwise rotation of the sprocket wheels 51 and, through the chains 59 will cause a similar rotation in the shaft 45. A counter-clockwise rotation of the shaft 45 together with the sprocket wheels 49 thereon will cause the upper runs 41 of the chains which extend the length of the machine, to-'- gether with the cross-flights 49 therebetween, to

move toward the left as viewed in Fig. 1.

Also extending substantially the full length of the machine and on each side thereof are the flights 49 extend between the two chains and are secured at each end thereto and-in order to insure the upper run of the chains extending in a 50 shaft 59 which has sprocket wheels 49a near eachlend thereof (one of which is shown in Fig. 4) freelyriding thereon and adapted to contact the lower run 48 of the chains. Below the shaft 59 but above the stub shaft 1 and extending across the machine between downwardly extending portions of the side members 19 is located a shaft 5!. Above this shaft is a short stub shaft 52 which has thereon a sprocket wheel 59. Secured'to the outer end of shaft 5| and rotateble therewith is a sprocket wheel 54. Still another sprocket wheel is secured tothe stub shaft 1 and is adapted to rotate with the gear 9 when the screw-threaded shaft .43, and the inner side it is in mesh with the gear 9, and another sprocket wheel 55 is secured to the outer end of theshaf't 59. All of the sprocket wheels 59, 94 and 95, to-

the outer end of the stub shaft I. are in substangether with the one just mentioned secured to tially the same vertical plane and have in contact therewith and passing therearound in the manhorizontally positioned plates 59 (Fig. 2), the inner edges of which extend downwardly at an angle as at 99 (Fig. 8). The edges are then return bent horizontally as at 9| and then again upwardly as at 92. The outer longitudinal sides thereof extend downwardly as at 93. These members 59 not only serve as surfaces on which the operator ofthe machine may work but their inner edges also provide-guides for the ends of the U boxes as they are moved along the conveyor by the'cross-flights 49.

A plurality of narrow angles on each side of the machine and-spaced apart throughout the length thereof are provided which have horizontal inwardly extending arms94 and downward- 1y or vertically extending arms 95. Openings are provided in the upturned portions 92 of the therein in alinement with similar screw-threaded holes in the downwardly extending portions 99 of the plate 59 adapted to receive a wing nut 99 whereby the plates and the angles are secured 1 together. Extending inwardly from the lower ends of each the portions 95 are rods 91 which haveblocks 99 secured thereto at their inner ends. .To the under side of the blocks 99 are there is located a U-shaped bracket indicated generally at Ill and which is provided with inner and outer sides II and 12 respectively. The forwardends of the sides I! and 12 are secured to II is provided with an extension 13 which is secured torthe forward end of the member. 99 by means of the screws 14. The rear of the members 9'9,fadjacent the point where they are secured to the blocks 99 onthe rods 91, arealso. secured to the bearing members I5 through which passes the rearmost shaft 19 which lsalso screwthreaded in opposite directions for a distance each side of its center similar to the screw-..

threadedshaft 43. The shaft 19 also extends acrossth'emachineandhasits'endsmountedin bearlngs on theside members- Obviou y, since it is desired to have the displates 59 to receive the inner ends of the -horlzontal portions 94 of said angles, while the vet-4 tical' portions 99 have screw-threaded holes tance between the plates 59 accommodate various size boxes, it is important that they be adjustable. Said side plates 59 are connected indirectly through the angle members 64, the rods 81 and the elongated members 59 to the front and rear screw-threaded shafts 43 and 16 respectively. The outer end of the screw-threaded shaft $3 is provided with a crank member 11 secured thereto so that the screw-threaded shaft- 43 may be manually rotated. To avoid the possibility of one end of the guide plates 59 being is passed (Fig. 1) so that when the shaft 43 is I rotated manually by means of the crank handle 11, the chain 82 will cause a similar rotation of the shaft i6, and since the elongated members 69 are connected at both ends to these shafts, the guide plates 59 will be moved simultaneously either toward or away from each other depend- .ing upon the direction of rotation of the shafts.

At the front end of the machine two plates or castings 83 of the configuration shown in Fig. 1 are secured, one at each side, to the side plates '39, and between the plates 83 is located the rack which holds a plurality of pasteboard blanks, to-'- gether with the mechanism which feeds 'said blanks intermittently to the conveyor and folds the ends thereof inwardly to form the U box. A shaft 84 extends across the front of the machine which is screw-threaded in opposite directions for a distance on each side of the center thereof, and secured to the outer end of the shaft is a handle or crank member 85 which is used to manually rotate the shaft 94. Brackets 86 are provided, one at each side of the machine, having a configuration substantially as shown in Fig. 5 and which have bearings 8'! at their lower ends surrounding the shaft 84 (Fig. '7) Each of the bearings is provided with a screw-threaded member 88 integral therewith adapted to're ceive the threadedportion of the rod or shaft 84. The upper portion of the brackets 88 are provided with hat faces normally set at an ang'le to the vertical and the supporting angle members 89 are adapted to be secured thereto. The stack of pasteboard blanks 90 is adapted to be placed between the angle members 89 and, to accommodate various size blanks it is necessary that the angle members 89 be adjustable. Furthermore, some of the blanks, although they may be longer than others, may be adaptedfor boxes having a greater depth than others in which case the guide members 59 and parts associated therewith would need no adjustment to accommodate different size blanks. For this reason the shaft 84 is adapted to be rotated independently of the other two similar shafts 43 and 18. Obviously, a rotation of the shaft 84 bymeans of the handle 85 will cause the brackets 85 together with the supporting angles 89 seof one inch, the over all length of the pasteboard blank would then be twelve inches. This would mean that the supporting angles 99 would be positioned approximately twelve inches apart whereas the longitudinal guides extending the length of the machine above the conveyor would 'be located only ten inches apart. Also, if a; U

box is to be made having a length of ten inches but a depth of two inches, the over all length of the pasteboard blank would then be fourteen inches. guides above the conveyor would remain the samelto accommodate this size box, but it would be necessary to adjust the supporting angles 89 so that the distance between them would be fourteen inches. Thus is demonstrated the necessity for having-the adjustingmeans for the supporting angles 89 separate and independent from the adjusting means for the guide plates 59 and parts associated therewith.

Rearwardly of the angles 89, in a direction toward the wrapping machine, a casting 9! is provided which extends across the machine and is secured at each end to the cast plate 83. In substantially the center of the casting 9| and to the upper side thereof is secured a member 92 (Fig. 5) which is grooved and is adapted to receive a slotted member 93 adapted to be secured'to the member 92 by means of the wing nut 94. The slot in the member 93 enables it to be adjusted either toward or away from the angle members 89. The member 93 aids in supporting the stack of pasteboard blanks 9.0 asshown in Fig. 5 and is made adjustable to accommodate blanks of different stiffness which are being fed to the folding machine.

Each of the brackets 85 at its lower end curved inwardly, as shown in Fig. 5, and terminates in a flat portion adapted to have secured thereto the side guide plates 95 by means of the bolts 96. The side guides 95 maintain each of the pasteboard blanks in alinement with the conveyor as they are fed downwardly intermittently from the supporting angles 89, and being secured to the same member as the supporting angles and spaced apart the same distance they will also be adjusted simultaneously with said supporting angles 89. Between the supporting angles 89 and the bracket 86, and extending across the front of the machine is an elongated cast bar 91 which is secured at each end by means of the bolts 98 to the side plates 83. The lower end of the bar cured thereto to move either toward or away.

from each other depending upon the direction of rotation of said shaft, and this adjustment is 'made independently of the longitudinal side 91 is provided with a fiat surface on an enlarged portion 99 (Fig. 5) to which is secured ,by means of the bolt I00 the strip or plate II. This plate is located substantially midway between the ends of the bar 91 and serves as a support for each pasteboard blank as it is fed downwardly from the supporting angles 89 and before it is picked up and fed to the conveyor.

Thespecific means which we have chosen to intermittently feed a single blank from the rack to the supporting strip it'll consists of a shaft I02 which extends acrossthe front of the machine and is mounted in bearings at each side thereof in the side plates 83. Near one end of the shaft I02 a sprocket wheel 103 is secured thereto and is adapted to rotate with a similar sprocket wheel I04 in the same vertical plane therewith near one end of "the shaft 43. The previously described sprocket wheel 44 is integral with or securedto the sprocket wheel I04 and rotates continuously therewith. The sprocket chain I05 extends around the sprocket wheel I03 The distance between the longitudinal which extends acrossthe front of the machine in parallel relation to the shaft I 02 and is adapted to be freely movable longitudinally within the hollow shaft ltd. The hollow it r it! is mounted between the side plates It and at the outer end thereof a disk It! is provided either integral therewith or secured thereto. At the same end of the inner shaft Ml a gear H is secured adapted to be enmeshed with the gear lot on the shaft 92. As previously pointed out the shaft M7 is freely slidably longitudinally within the hollow shaft W8 and at its opposite end it is provided with a knob iii which may be pushed or pulled for a purpose which will be more fully described hereinafter.

Referring for the moment to Fig. it which shows the detailed construction of the disk W9 and the gear Mo on an enlarged scale it will be noted that the plate was is provided with a slot H2. The gear Mil is of the shape-shown in Fig. l0 and is provided at its inner face with a pin H3. The gears I M and H0 are in constant engager'nent, the gear to; rotating continuously,

.the form of a fork provided with a pin H9 on which the roller "8 is mounted torotate. In cooperation with the rollers H8 are the rubber rollers I20, which may either be solid rubber or a metal roller having an outer rubber covering entirely therearound. These rollers are mounted on the shaft I02 and'rotate continuously therewith. The upwardly extending arm of -the cast member iIE has an opening therein adapted to receive an elongate threaded pin I2i which also extends through an opening in the casting 9| and is provided with a head I 22. A nut IE3 is placed on the lower end of the threaded pin I to prevent the arm of the casting lit from being disengaged therefrom. A compression spring I21 extends around the pin iii and between the under side of the casting 9i and the upper side of the arm H6. The spring with the roller thereon, toward the right as viewed in Fig. 5 and forces the roller H8 against edge of the blank will be forced between theand when the knob III is pulled, the pin 3 will enter the slot ll2 thereby transmitting a rotative movement in a clockwise direction of the outer hollow shaft ill. There is usually a covering or guard (not shown) over the gears I06 and Hit which limits the outward sliding movement of shaft I" thereby preventing disengagement of the two gears. A plurality of rollers I" are secured to the shaft I08 in spaced apart relation as shown in When the shaft I08 and the wheels Ill secured thereto rotate in a clockwise direction, the pad H5 will intermittently strike a pasteboard blank- 90 and the friction between the two will cause the lowermost blank to be moved downwardly and fed to the supporting member Ill. If, for any reason,'it is desired that the machine be kept running without the feeding mechanism operating, the knob III may be pushed to disengage the pin .III i'romslot II2 thereby preventing any further rotation of the shaft Ill and consequent feeding of a pastcboard blank. It will be obvious .that the size of thewheels Ill which the space will permit will not be large enough to move each of the pastcboard blanks the entire distance they are to travel, since the machine is designed to contact each blank near I the lower edge thereof, and it therefore becomes necessary to provide further means to continue movement of each blank after it has been started in the proper direction by contact with the pads H5. This .mechanism which continues movethe rubber surface of the roller I20. The continuous rotation of the shaft-I02 and rollers 52d in contact with the rollers H8, will also cause a continuous rotation in a clockwise direction. of said rollers IiB.

Since these rollers are positioned adjacent the rollers Ill with the rubber pads. i i5 thereon. each time the lowermost blank is contacted by the rubber pad H5 and moved downwardly, the lower rollers [I8 and IN which are continuously rotating in a direction such. that the blank will be picked up and forced to move onto the supporting plate mi from which point it is picked up and transferred to the conveyor, during which movement the ends thereof will be folded inwardly in a manner which will presently be de scribed.

The pasteboard blanks 90 are each previously scored at a distance in from each end thereof equal to the depth of the final U-box before they are stacked in the rack provided by the supporting angles 89, and when they are'fed downwardly to thesupporting plate IBI and transferred to the 55 adiusting crank I1 is rotated.

ment of the blanks consists in a plurality of spaced apart castings llt-which are mounted loosely on the shaft I08 and which have upward- 1y extending arms terminating beneath the cast bracket 8|. a bell crank and has integral therewith a lower arm II'I extending downwardly and provided The casting II! is in the form of v with a roller member I I8 freely rotatable with m are held rigidly with respect to the cover plates 5! and vwill move therewith when the Mounted loosely on the shaft it at each side of the machine and between the open ends of the U member II is a block I28which has integral therewith oppositely extending fingers I29, one at i the bottom and one at the top thereof. The block '12! together with the fingers I29 thereon isadapted to be rotated each time a cross-flight 49 approaches said block at the underside thereof and as said cross-flight moves upwardly to the top run ll of the sprocket chain. Fig. 5 will 11- lustrate the manner in which this operation occurs where it is seen that a cross-flight moving toward the right on the bottom run'll'of the sprocket chain comes against the lowermost finger I2! and carries the-finger upwardly during which time a pasteboard blank will have been fed to the supporting member III. As'the fingers I2! move upwardly, carried by a cross-flight I,

- they will pick u said pasteboird blank, and in respect thereto. The arm III may be made in 5 transferring it to the conveyor will pass between 6 ascents the side members I25 which are set a distance apart equal to the final length of the box. This movement will cause the ends of the blank beyond the scored section to be folded inwardly. V The V U box is, then, formed before it reaches the conveyor.

Each of the cross-flights 40 is provided in substantially the center thereof with spaced apart downwardly extending fingers Ill (Figs. 2, 7 and 8) which engage against a side edge of the box and move it toward the wrapping 10 machine. The fingers I29 are adapted to come within the side members I25 and after one blank has been deposited on the conveyor, the

' next succeeding cross-flight will again contact the oppositely extending .flnger I29 which will then pick up. a succeeding blank to repeat the operation.

It has been found that if the ends of the blank are folded merely to a ninety degree position, there will be a tendency for the ends to spring outwardly and it is therefore necessary for some additional force to beapplied to the ends which will bend them inwardly stil1 farther for only a short period of time after which the ends will normally remain in an upright position.

This succeeding operation on the upturned ends is accomplished by means of the membersor plates III positioned at each side of themachine. These members are provided with slots I32 through which a screw I83 passes and which secures the members to the top covers 59. The cross section of theplates ISI is as shown in Fig.

8 and is provided with inwardly extending portions I34 (Fig. 2). The portions I34 are of a substantially triangular shape and as the U -box 35 moves toward the rear of the machine the ends thereof will contact the portions I34 which extend inwardly, thereby forcing the end members inwardly during the time they are that particular point. After the box has passed the inwardly extending portions I34, the scored section has been sufliciently broken so that there will no longer be any tendency for theend portions to move outwardly.

To obviate any possibility that the box itself will be moved laterally of the machine during the time the end portions are being bent in-' wardly by the members I34, means have: been provided to contact the lower edges of the box to hold it in position until after the portion I34 5 has been passed. -Thts means consists of an elongated bar I84 on each side which may either be integral with or secured to the rearmost portion of the U. member'll (Fig. 8).- The outer longitudinal edge of each bar Iii-is thickened as at I36 (Figs. 8. and 8) 'thereby providing a; shoulder I3], and it is against this shoulder that. thebottom edges of the .U box are adapted to abut during its movementpast the portion I34.

Spaced-apart supporting members Ill extend so longitudinally of the machine and are secured by means of welding. or, any other desired means, I

to the cross bars orangles 42. The supporting members I30 are spaced apart a distance on each side thereof which extend downwardly and which terminatein inwardly extending portions cross bars 42. The supporting surfaces Illto gather with the bar I serve as means to support the box as it travels towardthe wrapping machine after it has been folded by means of the the bar I and between it and the supporting surfaces ill are provided to permit movement therethrough of the downwardly extending flngers III on the cross-flights 49.

As the cross-flights move rearwardly toward the wrapping machine and carry the U boxes" over the supporting surfaces I38 and thebar I4I, operators may stand' at either side of the machine and placethe articles into the boxes which are to be eventually wrapped and placed on sale. When the boxes reach the end of the conveyor where the cross-flights move downwardly to begin their return to the front of the machine, it is necessary to provide additional means which will move the boxes from the conveyor onto the wrapping machine before the cross-flights reach the end of the conveyor and move downwardly. This is obviously necessary in view of the fact that if an edge of the box remains in contact with a cross-flight and is in contact therewith at the moment the cross-flight turns downwardly, the edge of the cross-flight will tend to either upset the box together with its contents or cut theedge cross-flight before it turns downwardly. The

means-which performs this function must also move rearwardly at a rate of speed greater than that of the crow-flight.

The mechanism which we have particularly designed for this purpose includes a cross bar I42 which has a plurality of fingers I43 extending upwardly therefrom and which are adapted to extend upwardly through the spaces between the plurality of spaced apart bars I44 which 7 act as a pport for the box beyond the rearmost edge of the supporting plates I38. Near each end of the bar II! the end of .a channel member I I4! is welded, which channel members extend rearwardly and have secured thereto a bearing member I46 by means of the screws I41. The bearing member I48 extends forwardly and is mounted on a shaft I4 which extends across the machine. At each side of the machine and pivotally mounted on the shaft I4! is an arm I48 which extends downwardly and has its other end mounted on the rock shaft I" which also extends across the width of the machine. At substantiallythe center of the machine another arm III is secured-to the rock shaft I54 and extends downwardly and rearwardly therefrom. The lower end of the arm Iil is provided with a pin I62 which has a roller I53 rotatably mounted thereon. Adjacent the roller Ill and secured to the shaft fl is a splitbearingmember II4 which is secured to the shaft I. Thebearing member. I4 at one side thereof is provided with a vertical face with. a plurality of bolts extending therefrom. Also mounted on the shaft BI and adjacent the split bearing III is scam I" having the configuration substantially asshown inl'lg. 3 and provided with a plurality of arcuate slots side members III. The on each side of vclltiqn since it could he done by providing the split bearing with a plurality of screwthreaded openings adapted to receive bolts inserted therein'through the slots I56. The obvious purpose of the plurality of slots is to regulate or set the cam I55 any desired position, because it is this cam which controls the movement of the bar I42 and the fingers M3 extending therefrom.

Also secured to the shaft I50 is an arm I5l which extends upwardly and is secured to a block l58. An elongated rod I59 is either secured to or integral with the block I53 and extends rearwardly of the machine throughan opening in the plate 20. At a distance away from the plate along the rod a collar I60 is secured. Between it and the plate 20 is located a compression spring IM coiled around the rod I59. With particular reference for the moment to Fig. 3 it will be evident that the spring itl willforce the rod I together with its associated parts E50 and, I51 L the machine, and this movement is designed to take place at a rate of speed greater than the movement of the cross-flights 09.

It is to be understood that the fingers Hi3 must be able to be positioned below the cross-flights. during certain intervals to enable said crossflights to move freely toward the wrapping machine, but at other times they must be raised in the path of a cross-flight in order to contact an edge of the box to move it rearwardly. Therefore, the movement of the fingers M3 is such that they will be moved upwardly at the moment the forward edge of a cross-flight is in vertical alinement therewith. I-his is permitted by reason of the recesses in said cross-flights as shown in Figs. 2, 7 and 8. The fingers I43 then move forwardly at a comparatively rapid rate of speed and as soon as the box has been deposited on the conveyor of the wrapping machine they are then lowered and returned to their original position in readiness for the next succeeding box. It has been seen by the above explanation the manner in which the rearward and forward movements of the fingers take place, and in order that the fingers may be raised and lowered at the proper moment, the cam members I62 are secured to the shaft 50 immediately below the channel members I45. During each revolution of the cams I62 their enlarged portion will contact the under side of the channel member thus raising the fingers I43, and by the time'these fingers have reached the rear of the machine the cam will have-passed its highest point at which time the fingers will be lowered during the forward or return movement thereof. By the time the nextsucceeding cross-flight with its box is in vertical alinement with the fingers, the cams I02 will have completed a rotation and will have raised the fingers again for the next succeeding operation. I

In certain instances the pasteboard blanks may be covered with wax, depending upon the type of article to be wrapped, and when thisoccurs the use of the plain section of rubber I I5 has been found to be "rather unsatisfactory. When the rubber H5 should be roughened to a certain extent so that suflicient friction will occur between the rubber and the blankto enable said blank to be fed. Obviously the member H5 which frictionally feeds the blanks need not be rubber but could also be made of any other material with a sufficiently roughened surface to prevent slipping on the waxed surface of the blanks.

It has been stated heretofore that it is not always necessary to form a U box, it being permissible at times to feed merely fiat cards on which the articles to be wrapped are placed before wrapping. When it is desired to merely feed a flat card and omit the folding operation, it is merely distance between the side folding members 925.

will be equal to the length of the card being fed and the folding operationwill thereby be omitted.

blanksto be fed'are waxed, the surface of the EDGE.

With particular reference to Fig. 11, wherein a modification of the intermittent feeding device is shown, the wheelsorrollers ill will be formed as a complete circle without any additional material lying around aportion of the circumfer- When the full circular wheels are used, ,they are adapted to move or rotate approximately one-third of a revolution andthen stop and remain stationary while the rollers ltd are turning approximately two-thirds of a revolution. This intermittent motion of the rollers H0 is caused by the mechanism shown in Fig. 11. In this case the gears I06 and I 10 will be omitted entirely and in the place of the gear E06 there will be a sprocket wheel I10 which is provided with teeth around only a portion of its circumference. The wheel I10 is secured to the shaft I02 and rotates continuously therewith. The gear H0 will be replaced by the sprocket wheel Ill which is secured to the shaft I01. Below the shaft I02 at the same side of the machine and pivotally mounted to the side thereof by means of the stub shaft I12 is an arm I13. A stub shaft I14 extends through the outer end of the arm and has secured thereto the sprocket wheel I15. A round these various sprocket wheels extends a sprocket chain I16 in the manner shown in Fig. 11. Any desired means may be used for exerting a downward pressure on the arm I13 to prevent slipping of the sprocket chain I16. 1

Obviously the same driving connection could be used between the shaft I01 and the hollow shaft me as is s own in Fig. 10. but it has been determined that a friction drive between a solid plate similar to the plate I09 and the fiat side of the sprocket wheel I" would operate equally as well. When the shafts I01 and I08 are in driving to be separable, they will'first be moved in longitudinal' alinement and the gears I; and 8 will be brought into contact by operation of the lever 9; the chain 54 will then cause a clockwise rotation of the shaft 5| and a counter-clockwise rotation of the shaft 50. By means of the chains 50 at each side of the machine driven from sprockets on theshaft 50, the shaft 45 together with the sprocket wheels thereon will drive the chain having the upper and lower runs 41 and 48- respectively. The movement of the last named chain will cause a rotation of the sprocket wheel II, and the chain I associated therewith will also cause a rotation ofthe shaft I02 and the gear Int. At this point the cross-flights as on the upper run of the chain 41 are moving rearwardly toward the wrapping machine.

Assuming that a pack of pasteboard blanks have been placed in the rack provided by the sup! porting angles 89, the knob II will then be pulled to engage the gear IIII with the gear I08 thereby causing a rotation of the shaft I01, the hollow shaft I08, and the rollers I. associated therewith. As has been pointed out previously, each rotation of the rollers Ill, by means of the pad H5 thereon, moves the lower-most blank to be fed downwardly between the rollers IIB and I20, and since the roller I20 is secured to the shaft I02'it will be continuously rotating to carry the blank downwardly and deposit it on the support IIII. At this point a cross-flight 49 on the lower run 48 will have moved forwardly to begin its upward travel and bring with it the two fingers.

I29 which will pick up a blank previously deposited on the support I'Iil to carry it upwardly between the side members I25 which automatically means to transfer a blank from said support to said conveyor, and means to engage the ends of a blank before it reaches the conveyor to fold said plurality of pasteboard blanks, a conveyor, a supbend the end portions inwardly. When the fln-.

gers I 29 again reach theirhorizontal position the U box will then have been deposited on the supporting side members I with its outer edges abutting against the shoulders I31. The crossflight then moves the box rearwardly past the inthen to avoid any damage to the box'by :a subport between said rack and said conveyor, means for delivering said blanks singly to said support, means to transfer a blank from said support to said conveyor, and means interposed in the path of movement of the blankfrom the support to the conveyor to engage against the ends thereof, thereby folding said ends inwardly.

3. A pasteboard folding machine of the character described comprising, a conveyor, a rack for holding a plurality of pasteboard blanks. a support adjacent said rack, friction means to deliver a single blank intermittently from the rack to the support, means to deliver a blank from said support to-said conveyor, and means adjacent said support to engage the ends of said blank as it is 7 being delivered to the conveyor, whereby said ends are folded inwardly.

4. A pasteboard folding machine of the character described comprising, a conveyor, a plurality of spaced apart cross-flights thereon and movable' therewith, a rack at one end of said conveyor adapted to hold a plurality of pasteboard blanks, means between said conveyor and said rack to fold the ends of a blank inwardly, thereby forming a U-box, means for depositing said U -'box onsaid conveyor between successive crossflights whereby it is carried to the opposite end of the conveyor.

5. The combination of elements defined in claim 4, combined with means adjacent said opposite endto transfer a U'-box to a point beyond the end before the cross-flight immediately behind sequent movement downwardly of the crossflight, at the proper'moment the fingers Ill will be raised upwardly and moved rearwardly and deposit the box across the intermediate support 35 onto the conveyor of the wrapping machine. The fingers will then be lowered and begin their forward or return movement to permit the crossflight 49 to move downwardly and return to th front end of the machine. v e

As above pointed out, the folding mechanism can be made integral with the wrapping machine for use in smaller bakeries where they have only a limited line of goods. On theother hand it can be made in a separate unit for use inthose bakeries which are already equipped with a wrappin machine and which do a large bread slicing andwrapping.

amoimt of claims or the equivalent of such stated means beemployed.

i We, therefore, particularly point, out

tinctly claim as our invention:

1. A pasteboard folding machine of the character described comprising, arack for holding a plurality of pasteboard blanks, a conveyor, :5. sup-- port between said rack and said conveyor, means and dis chine conveyor to push an article toward the re-.- ceiving conveyor, and means to transfer the ar ticle from the folding machine conveyor to the said blank reaches said end.

-6. The combination of elements defined in claim 4, combined with means to fold the ends of said U-box inwardly still farther for only a short period of time.

Fl. A pasteboard folding machine of the char-- acter described comprising, aconveyor, means for folding inwardly the ds of a pasteboard blank to form a U-box, means for feeding single blanks to said folding means, means for transferrlng said U-box to said conveyor, and means to'momentarlly hold the ends of said wardly still farther.

8. The combination with a folding machine and a receiving conveyor to receive articles from the folding machine, of a conveyoron the fold-' ing machine, a cross-flight on the folding mareceiving conveyor before said cross-flight reaches the end of the folding machine conveyor.

9. The combination of elements defined in claim 8, wherein said means moves said article at a speed greater than the speed of said folding machine conveyor.

10. The combination of elements defined in claim 8, said means including a bar providedwith a plurality of fingers, a cam for moving said fingers upwardly immediately behind said article, andacamactuated armsecuredto saidbarto move said lingers forwardly, whereby said article is deposited on said receiving conveyor.

1-1. A pastehoard folding machine for making U-boxes comprising, a conveyor, a. rack for holdfor delivering said blanks singly to said support, 7 ms a p u y s imr s. a s pport U-box inextending between said rack and conveyor, means for intermittently depositing-a single blank from the rack onto said support, fingers located at each side oi! said support and below the same, means for moving said fingers upwardly to pick up said blank and deposit same on the conveyor, and means mounted at each side of said conveyor in the path of movement or said blank to fold t the ends thereof inwardly.

12. The combination of elements'defined in claim 11, combined with a plate at each side of said conveyor having a portion thereof extending in the path of movement of said intumed ends, to momentarily hold said endsinwardly still farther.

13. The combination of elements defined in claim 11, combined with a plurality of spaced apart cross-flights on saidconveyor, said crossflights constituting said means for moving the fingers upwardly.

14. A pasteboard folding machine comprising,

a rack for holding a plurality of pasteboard blanks, a conveyor adjacent said rack, means to deliver blanks singly from said rack, means to deposit each of said delivered blanks to said conveyor, and means located between said rack and conveyor to fold the ends of said blanks inwardly. 15. A pasteboard folding machine comprising,

a rack for holding a plurality of pasteboard blanks, a conveyor adjacent said rack, means to deliver blanks singly from said rack, means to deposit each of said delivered blanks to said con veyor, means to fold the ends of said blanks inwardly, means at the opposite end of the conveyor to receive said blanks, cross-flights on said conveyor, and means to deliver said blanks to said receiving means before each preceding crossflight reaches the end of said conveyor.

HOWARD B. TUTnnL. HARRY F. CALDWELL.

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