Patent ID: 6463713
Filing Date: 2002-10-15
Classification: B65B,B65G

Abstract:
A mass manufacturing and packaging apparatus of products in roll form comprising, from upstream to downstream, a cutting station to cut consecutive logs of a first length and of a first diameter into consecutive sequences of a plurality of adjacent rolls of a second length which is less than the first length, and at least one upstream conveyor to move the sequences of rolls following one another from the cutting station to a feeder station to stations, wherein a roll-switching system of the feeder station directs as a continuous flow each said sequence of rolls to a packaging station which is different from a packaging station toward which a preceding sequence of rolls was directed, and wherein the upstream conveyor is substantially horizontal and independently drives a sequence of rolls into a predetermined direction at a controlled speed relative to a speed of sequences leaving the cutting station in order to separate or to keep the sequences at a minimum mutual spacing to ease switching of the sequences,wherein the roll-switching system comprises a set of vertical blades simultaneously rotatable about mutually parallel vertical shafts capable of assuming, from one sequence of rolls to a next sequence of rolls, two or more distinct angular positions relative to a direction of advance of the upstream conveyor in order to direct rolls of one sequence towards a predetermined set of downstream conveyors, said set being associated with a predetermined angular position of a vertical blade, the downstream conveyors moving the rolls toward packaging stations associated with the angular position.