Patent ID: 9688430
Date: 2017-06-27
CPC Classifications: B65B

Claim:
1. An equipment for continuously feeding boxes or containers stacked in a flat tubular configuration to a packaging machine which also operates continuously, the equipment being of the type comprising a magazine containing the stacked containers, the stacked containers being downwardly open and located in an initial part of a cellular conveyor of the packaging machine, and comprising a carousel device for collecting the containers, one at a time, from a base of the stacked containers and for inserting them into cells of the cellular conveyor at a correct time, characterized in that the magazine is positioned with its lower end at a level slightly above that of the cellular conveyor and suitably upstream thereof, in that the carousel device, rotating about a horizontal axis orthogonal to the direction of continuous advance of an upper run of the cellular conveyor of the packaging machine, is located under the magazine and upstream of the cellular conveyor, in that the carousel device comprises a plurality of suction cup units which are spaced at equal angular intervals from each other and are positioned in a way which is determined by interaction with cams, and in that the suction cup units are designed to grip the container and draw it from the base of the stacked containers by gripping a base wall by means of which these units subsequently deposit the container in a dynamic way on to a base of the cell of the cellular conveyor, the whole being arranged in such a way as to simplify the adaptation of the equipment to changes in the format of the containers; wherein a shaft of the carousel is supported rotatably and projectingly by a supporting side member and is connected to a motion transmission system which can transmit to the carousel a rotary movement which in its upper and descending portion passes from the magazine to the cellular conveyor and which is in phase with the continuous movement of the cellular conveyor, the carousel being characterized by a star shape having a plurality of spokes, each spoke having a distal end rotatably supporting corresponding pivot pins which are parallel to the shaft and project from both sides of the corresponding spokes, one end of each pivot pin having a corresponding container pick-up and transfer unit fixed to it, while the other end, facing the supporting side member, has a right-angled lever fixed to it having end rollers interacting, respectively, with a closed profile of a primary cam and with the profiles of successive secondary cam sectors fixed to the supporting side member, in such a way as to actively control the positioning of the pick-up and transfer units, thus ensuring that they interact correctly with the magazine initially, and with the conveyor subsequently.