Patent ID: 9162825
Filing Date: 2015-10-20
Classification: B65B,B65G

Abstract:
1. A machine for packaging products in rigid or semirigid trays sealed across the top by a thermoplastic film, for producing packs with a modified or nonmodified atmosphere, having intermittent operation, comprising: a first station arranged to prepare groups of product-filled trays arranged with a predetermined mutual spacing in one or two parallel rows; a second station arranged to close and heat-seal a cover onto the top edge of said groups of trays, after removing the air from said trays and replacing said air with a modified atmosphere useful for the preservation of the packaged products and with a subsequent cutting mechanism to separate the closed trays from a length of film from which said closing cover is taken; a third station arranged to discharge the groups of trays with the packed product; a transfer structure which cyclically and simultaneously transfers the groups of trays with the product from said first station to said second station and from the said second station to said third station, said first and third stations being equidistant from the second station in the horizontal direction, said transfer structure comprising moving and lifting combs that operate alongside said stations, that have a length such as to occupy simultaneously two consecutive such stations and have teeth which can be inserted transversely into engagement with the front and rear of the groups of the row or rows of trays, and then be raised so as to lift said groups of trays and remove them from a surface on which they were resting, then move longitudinally to transfer the groups of trays from the first and second stations to the station immediately following, then be lowered to deposit the groups of trays in the new stations, then be withdrawn laterally from said groups of trays, and finally be returned, by a longitudinal movement, the reverse of the previous movement, to the starting condition in order to be able to repeat the operation of moving the trays for the first and second stations to the immediately following station, said moving and lifting combs being movable along three orthogonal axes, namely along an X axis for horizontal movements towards and away from the groups of trays, a Y axis for horizontal movements for the transfer of trays from one station to the next, and a vertical Z axis for lifting and lowering movements, the moving and lifting combs each being fixed to the lower end of a respective vertical arm which has slides allowing it to run on complementary vertical guides mounted on a forearm housing a sealed actuator, which actuator operates a crank mechanism having a crank button connected to an adjustable link, the other end of which link pivots on a pin fixed to said arm, in such a way that the comb connected to the fixed arm can receive from said link and crank assembly the necessary variation in upward and downward motion along said Z axis, the forearm being provided at its top with horizontal slides to travel on corresponding straight guides oriented along the X axis and fixed to the underside of a carriage, mounted on top of which are slides which travel on straight horizontal guides oriented along the Y axis and connected to a base frame which is in the upper part of the second station of the machine, which frame is closed on its underside by closing walls that separate an upper chamber in which the X- and Y-axis comb actuating structure is confined and separated from the lower chamber in which the products are packaged, to avoid contaminating the lower chamber and to ensure that the actuating structure can be washed without damage to the parts contained in the upper chamber.