Abstract:
An apparatus and method for packaging containers, of the type having an engagement lip, wherein the apparatus includes tacks to engage the engagement lip to move the containers from starting point to a delivery point. The containers are moved by the apparatus while being engaged by the track such that the containers are never free from the track until loaded on a pallet. A set of the containers is constricted into a bundle and the bundle is then resquared and set on a pallet. One a pallet includes a sufficient number of bundles the pallet is bound for shipment or storage.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to a container handling system and, more particularly, to a container handling system which stacks a predetermined number of containers in a predetermined configuration for shipping and reduces the need for operator involvement. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Currently, various packaging and shipping methods are used to transport containers, such as bottles, from one location to another. Such methods include palletizing layers of vertically orientated bottles upon one another to form a shipping package, wherein the shipping package contains a predetermined number of bottles. Subsequently, the stacked layers of bottles are wrapped or otherwise secured to ensure that they withstand the harshness associated with shipping. 
     Due to inventory and cost, it is critical that the number of bottles shipped in each container is known and consistent. As such, feeding mechanisms have been devised which ensure that the shipping package contains a predetermined number of bottles. Such mechanisms typically have a conveyor on which a pre-selected number of bottles are loaded. The bottles are then transported along the conveyor and loaded onto a pallet. 
     One conventional method of palletizing bottles is to feed them in from the single lane conveyance onto an accumulation conveyor by use of a slow down module. In this way, the single lane of bottles is changed to a stream of either two wide or three wide, which then hit the back of a previously accumulated pack. When this happens, the stream spreads out over the entire width of the belt to the edges of the accumulator and are patterned. Once the bottles are patterned, a layer is swept onto a pallet. While this method does palletize bottles, it has several drawbacks. Specifically, as the bottles are flowing to the sides of the accumulator, they can either fall over, miss a spot (void), or jumble up such that they are out of pattern. In addition, when a layer is swept off, bottles may be crushed and destroyed. Overall, with these drawbacks an operator is required full time to watch the pattern, fill voids, and make corrections as required. 
     A second method of palletizing blow molded bottles is to separate the one single lane as described above into six single lanes with automatic divert gates. Once the proper number of bottles are counted, a bottle stop is closed and the six lanes of bottles are run into the sweep mechanism. The sweep mechanism sweeps as many times as it takes to form a complete layer. Once the layer is formed, then it is moved forward and stacked on the pallet. This method also has some drawbacks. Specifically, the bottles are unstable in the sweep mechanism and can tip over during the sweeping process. As a result, the machine is limited in speed and even at a low speed the sweep mechanism is unreliable and thereby requiring an operator. In addition, the entrance of high speed blow molders into the bottling market are too fast for this concept, thereby requiring multiple palletizing machines to be used. The present invention was developed in light of these and other disadvantages. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     It is therefore an advantage of the present invention to provide a container material handling system and method which reduces the amount of container tippage during packaging. 
     It is yet another advantage of the present invention to provide a container material handling system which quickly and accurately selects and organizes a predetermined number of containers into a layer configuration for stacking. 
     Another advantage of the present invention is to eliminate the need for a human operator to ensure proper stacking and palletizing. 
     Yet another advantage of the present invention is the speed at which bottles may be patterned and placed onto a pallet. 
     An additional advantage of the present invention is that the bottles are held in place until they are palletized, thereby virtually eliminating the possibility of tipping which would destroy the pattern and certainty of the system. 
     To accomplish these and other advantages, the present invention provides a method and apparatus for packaging a plurality of containers, wherein each container has a body and an engagement lip surrounding a neck portion, which comprises a plurality of steps. First, a set of containers is provided. Next, the containers are loaded on a plurality of neck guides and driven along the neck guides to a gathering area to form a bundle of containers. The containers are patterned and closed into a “nesting” pattern bundle to provide the maximum number of containers per volume. A transfer device then stacks the bundle on a pallet where it is “resquared” to ensure maximum rigidity. In a further aspect of the present invention, the above steps are repeated for a plurality of sequential sets of containers and corresponding bundles until the proper shipping package size is achieved. 
     Further areas of applicability of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description provided hereinafter. It should be understood that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicating preferred embodiments of the invention, are intended for purposes of illustration only, since various changes and modifications within the spirit and scope of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this detailed description. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     The present invention will become more fully understood from the detailed description and the accompanying drawings, wherein: 
     FIG. 1 is a side elevation view of an palletizing apparatus; 
     FIG. 2 is a top plan view of a palletizing apparatus; 
     FIG. 3 is an end view of the palletizing section of the palletizing apparatus with the hoist in a lowered position according to the present invention; 
     FIG. 4 is an end view of the palletizing section of the palletizing apparatus with the hoist in the fully up position according to the present invention; 
     FIG. 5A is a detail view of the hoist from FIG. 3 in the uncollapsed position according to the present invention; 
     FIG. 5B is a detail view of the hoist from FIG. 4 in the collapsed position according to the present invention; 
     FIG. 6 is a cross-section view of the hoist taken along line  6 — 6  of FIG. 5A; 
     FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of the hoist taken along line  7 — 7  of FIG. 5A; and 
     FIG. 8 is a detail view of the row opening cylinder and bar according to the present invention. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     With particular reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, a bottle or container palletizing apparatus is illustrated generally at  10 . Palletizing apparatus  10  is designed to move bottles or similarly formed containers  12  from a first position to a palletized position. The palletizing apparatus  10  includes several distinct sections to move the bottles  12  from the first position to the palletized position. With reference to FIG. 8 the bottles  12  are held in the neckguides by a lip  12   a  formed in an upper portion of the bottle  12 . However, the bottle  12  is able to slide along the neckguide thus being able to move from position to position within the neckguide. Returning reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, generally, bottles  12  are moved in the direction of Arrow A from their initial position in the single lane neck guide  14  through a six lane former  16 . Once the bottles  12  are through the six lane former  16 , they continue down the six lane neck guide  18 . At the end of the six lane neck guide  18 , the bottles encounter an eighteen row indexer  20 . After the bottles  12  have filled the eighteen row indexer  20 , the bottles then move to the palletizing section  22 . 
     A plurality of air plenum create a jet in the adjacent neckguide which pushes the bottle  12  through the neckguides. An air plenum  24  pushes the bottles  12  along the first single lane neck guide  14  towards the six lane former  16 . A second air plenum  26  pushes the bottles through the six lane former  16  and to the six lane neck guide  18 . The six lane former  16  includes internal passageways  28  and internal gates (not shown) which move the bottles from the single lane neck guide  14  to the six lane neck guide  18 . The bottles  12  then travel along the six lane neck guide  18  toward the eighteen row indexer  20  under the force of the air plenum  26 . The eighteen row indexer  20  is movable from a first position  20   a  to a second position  20   b  (shown in dashed lines). A final air plenum  30  assists in pushing the bottles  12  along the six lane neck guide  18  into the eighteen row indexer  20 . 
     The eighteen row indexer  20  fills the first six rows and then indexes from the first position  20   a  towards the second position  20   b  to fill the next six rows and then indexes a final time to the  20   b  position to fill the final six rows. In this way, up to eighteen rows may be formed. However, it is to be understood that this is exemplary only and that more lanes may be included in the eighteen row indexer  20  or fewer than the entire eighteen rows may be filled with bottles  12 . Once the eighteen row indexer  22  has been filled to the desired capacity, then the last air plenum  30  pushes the bottles from the eighteen row indexer  20  into the row closing neck guides  32 . 
     Continuing reference to FIG.  1  and further reference to FIGS. 3 and 4, the palletizing section  22  of the palletizing apparatus  10  is in greater detail described. The hoist  34  generally includes a plurality of holding members or row closing neck guides  32  which engage the bottles  12 . The bottles  12  from the eighteen row indexer  20  move into the row closing neck guides  32  of the hoist  34  where upon each row of bottles  12  engages a stop  36  to form a first nested pattern. The first nested pattern being where an individual bottle  12  is positioned between two other bottles such as one may stack logs of wood or other round objects. However, when the bottles first engage the stops  36 , they are spaced a distance apart. After the bottles  12  have stopped in the row closing neck guides  32  of the hoist  34 , the row closing neck guides  32  are actuated to compress the bottles.  12  together to form a constricted nested pattern wherein each bottle  12  is nearly touching the adjacent bottle  12 . Once the row closing neck guides  32  have been closed (described herein), the hoist  34  then proceeds down the hoist guides  37  placing that layer of bottles  12  in the constricted nested pattern on a pallet  38 . Each layer of bottles  12  is referenced as a bundle or tier  40  of bottles  12 . Once a tier  40  has been placed upon a pallet  38 , a resquare apparatus  42  constricts the tier  40  further to ensure that the tier  40  is as tightly packed as possible. The resquare apparatus  42  also places a tier sheet  44  on top of the tier  40 . The process of forming, placing, and resquaring tiers  40  is repeated until a full pallet  38  is produced. A pallet  38  is considered full when a predetermined number of tiers  40  has been placed on the pallet  38  which takes into consideration the size and shape of bottles along with other factors. A full pallet  38  may be produced to resemble that illustrated particularly in FIG.  4 . Once a full pallet  38  is produced, the pallet  38  is conveyed along the pallet conveyor  46  where it is bound and removed for shipping or storage. 
     Now with particular reference to FIGS. 3 and 4, the hoist  34  runs on the hoist guide tracks  37  and is movable from a top position  34   a  to a lowered position  34   b , and may be lowered to a position substantially adjacent the pallet  38  (not shown). When the hoist  34  is in the fully upright position  34   a , the hoist  34  engages fixed cams. The fixed cams  48  ensure that the row closing neck guides  32  return to a proper position to receive a new set of bottles  12  from the eighteen row indexer  20 . The fixed cams  48  are necessary to ensure that the row closing neck guides  32  are in proper alignment with the neck guides in the eighteen row indexer  20  so that the bottles  12  will move easily into the row closing neck guides  32 . The hoist  34  is preferably moved on the hoist guide tracks  37  with servo motors, however it is to be understood that any number of means may be used to move the hoist  34 . After the bottles  12  have been moved into the row closing neck guide  32  of the hoist  34 , the hoist  34  moves from the top position  34   a , engaging the fixed cams  48 , to an intermediate position  34   b  not engaging the fixed cams  48  so the row closing neck guides  32  may then be closed to form the tier  40  into the constricted nested pattern. The movement of the row closing neck guides  32  is actuated by a driving mechanism, preferably the driving mechanism is an air cylinder  50  that further actuates a first arm  52 . The first arm  52  engages at least one end of the set of row closing neck guides  32 . Each of the row closing neck guides  32  are interconnected to another row closing neck guide  32  through linkages  54 , therefore movement in one of the row closing neck guides  32  creates movement in all of the row closing neck guides  32 . Preferably the row closing neck guides  32  move towards the center most row closing neck guide  32  (process and apparatus described herein). 
     With particular reference to FIGS. 5A and 5B, the general construction of the hoist  34  including the row closing neck guides  32  is illustrated. In particular, FIGS. 5A and 5B, illustrate the hoist  34  and the row closing neck guides  32  as seen in direction of Arrow A as shown in FIG.  1 . The row closing neck guides  32  as illustrates in FIG. 5A are in their fully extended position, that being a position which the row closing neck guides  32  and the hoist  34  are in the fully up position  34   a  and engaging the fixed cams  48  (illustrated in FIG.  3 ). The row closing neck guides  32  may then be moved more adjacent one another to form the constricted nested pattern with the bottles  12  to form a tier  40 . The air cylinder  50  drives the first arm  52  which engages the chain linkages  56  to drive the chain linkages  56  in a chain guide  69  (shown in FIG. 6) around sprockets  58  to move the neck guide engaging arms  60  which in turn moves the row closing neck guides  32  which then constricts a tier  40  into the constricted nested pattern as illustrated particularly in FIG. 5 b.    
     Each row closing neck guide  32  is pivotally affixed to a first pivot guide  62 , the first pivot guide  62  also engages a linkage  54 . The linkage  54  is further pivotally affixed to an adjacent linkage  54  through a second pivot guide  64  wherein the linkages  54  generally form a V or W pattern along the entire length of the hoist  34 . When the first arm  52  is actuated by the air cylinder  50 , the chain linkages  56  move the neck guide engaging arm  60  which in turn drives the row closing neck guides  32  towards the center. As this happens the individual linkages  54  collapse towards the fixed center  66 . 
     With continuing reference to FIGS. 5A and 5B, and further reference to FIG. 6, the action of moving the row closing neck guides  32  towards the fixed center point  66  is described in detail. The neck guide engaging arm  60  is affixed at a first end to the chain linkages  56  in the chain guide  69  and a second end the neck guide engaging arm  60  is affixed to the first pivot guide  62 . The first pivot guide  62  is also affixed to the row closing neck guides  32 . The first pivot guide  62  further engages a first lower track  68  on a first side of the hoist  34  and a second lower track  70  on a second side and opposite side of the hoist  34 . Therefore, when the air cylinder  50  is actuated to drive the neck guide engaging arm  60  towards the fixed center point  66 , the neck guide engaging arm  60  moves the first pivot guide  62  along the tracks  68  and  70  thereby moving the new closing neck guides  32  toward the fixed center point  66  by means of the linkages  56 . The amount of movement of the first pivot guide  62  and the row closing neck guides  32  is limited through a second pivot guide  72  and an upper track  74 . The second pivot guide  70  is interconnected to the first pivot guide  62  through the linkages  54  at the point where the linkages  52  are pivotally interconnected. As the neck guide engaging arm  60  is driving the first pivot guide  62  towards the center fixed point  66 , the linkages  54  are compressed therefore driving the second pivot guide  72  towards the center fixed point  66  and upwards. As the second pivot guides  72  are driven upwards, the upper track  74  is also driven upwards. Affixed to the upper track  74  is a pin  76  which is disposed within a stop motion slot  78 . Therefore, as the pin  76  moves within the stop motion slot  78 , the movement of the pin  76  is restricted, thereby restricting the upper track  74  movement as well. Therefore, at a particular point, the linkages  54  can no longer move the second pivot member  72  any further due to the restrictiveness of the track  74  withheld by the pin  76 . At this point, the row closing neck guides  32  can travel no further. The above described interaction allows the driving of the row closing neck guides  32  to be uncontrolled beyond the fact of simply being driven together. However, it is to be understood that the row closing neck guides  32  may also be driven by servo motors or other means to accomplish similar results. 
     With reference to FIGS. 3,  6 ,  7  and  8 , the bottles  12  must be released from the row closing neck guides  32 . Once the bottles  12  and the row closing neck guides  32  are in the first constricted pattern, the hoist  34  moves down the hoist tracks  37  to place the current tier  40  upon the previous tier  40  which is on the pallet  38 . Once the present tier  40  is set upon the previous tier  40  of bottles  12 , the bottles  12  must be released from the row closing neck guides  32 . Each row closing neck guide  32  includes a first side  32   a  and a second side  32   b  which are interconnected through the first pivot guide  62  at a pivot point  79 . Once the bottles  12  are placed upon the previous tier  40 , the opening cylinder or piston  80  is actuated to press down an opening bar  82  onto the two sections  32   a  and  32   b  of the row closing neck guides  32  which terminate in an upper part in a first tab  84   a  and a second tab  84   b . The tabs  84   a  and  84   b  cross one another so that the first tab  84   a  is over the second side  32   b  of the row closing neck guide  32  and the second tab  84   b  is over the first side  32   a  of the row closing guide  32 . Therefore, when the opening bar  82  is pressed down, it engages the first and second tabs  84   a  and  84   b  forcing open the neck guide  32  in a scissor fashion where the first side  32   a  of the row closing neck guide  32  and the second  32   b  of the row closing neck guide  32  open as they rotate above the pivot point  78 . Therefore, when each of the row closing neck guides  32  have been opened, the bottles  12  are released from the row closing neck guides  32  allowing the hoists  34  to again return to the top position  34   a  as illustrated in FIG.  4 . After the opening bar  82  has disengaged the tabs  84   a  and  84   b , a spring  86  biases the first and second sides  32   a  and  32   b  of the row closing neck guide  32  together thereby reclosing the row closing neck guides  32 . 
     The invention being thus described, it will be obvious that the same may be varied in many ways. Such variations are not to be regarded as a departure from the spirit and scope of the invention, and all such modifications as would be obvious to one skilled in the art are intended to be included within the scope of the following claims.