Blank dispensing apparatus having oppositely rotating separator elements and method for use

An apparatus for the feeding of individual carton blanks from a stack of blanks held in a retaining magazine to an adjacent takeaway belt of a conveyor. A bi-directional roller of two or more wheels is provided whereby a cleat attached to the rim of one wheel is used to bias a package blank to an adjacent carton blank conveyor. A second wheel of the roller rotates in the opposite direction of the first wheel which engages and supports the remaining blanks.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention relates to an apparatus for the withdrawal of 
individual carton blanks from a magazine stack and conveying them to an 
adjacent conveyor. 
Recent developments in handled packages has allowed for the high speed 
mating of bayonet handles with a carton blank. The bayonet handle package, 
described in pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 07/566,159, filed 
Aug. 9, 1990, and incorporated herein by reference, and a continuous 
motion package assembling apparatus, described in pending U.S. Pat. No. 
5,095,638 patented Mar. 17, 1992, and incorporated herein by reference, 
portray the rapid evolution within the packaging field. The 
above-referenced assembling apparatus and bayonet handle package allow 
rapid insertion of handles during the assembly of cartons. 
To keep pace with the current technology, it has been necessary to increase 
the supply rate of carton blank stock to the machines referenced above. 
Apparatuses of the prior art are unable to supply carton blank stock in a 
rapid and synchronized fashion to keep up with capabilities of the new 
packaging technology. 
An apparatus of this type is known from U.S. Pat. No. 4,369,961 which uses 
conveyor belts driven by an eccentric roll and a shaft drive to propel the 
carton blanks to an adjacent conveyor. However, with such an arrangement, 
as the speed of the conveyor belt increases so does the contact force and 
withdrawal power of the belts. For high speed, repetitive operations, the 
contact forces and withdrawal power reach excessive levels resulting in 
slippage, fouling, excessive belt wear and damaged blanks, all of which 
result in costly production stoppage. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
It is the object of this invention to provide an apparatus which overcomes 
the limitations of the prior art and allows high speed processing of 
carton blanks while minimizing production delays attributed to slippage, 
fouling, belt wear and carton blank damage. 
It is a further and more particular object of this invention to provide a 
high speed carton feeder which is compatible with numerous sizes, weights 
and finishes of available carton blank stock. 
It is still a further and more particular object of this invention to 
provide an apparatus which provides long wearing biasing means for feeding 
carton blanks to a carton blank conveyor. 
It is still a further object of this invention to provide an apparatus with 
adjustable biasing means for accommodating a variety of carton blank 
stock. 
In accordance with this invention, these objects are accomplished by 
providing a bi-directional multiple wheeled roller beneath a stack of 
carton blanks. The multiple wheeled roller has a cleat carried on one 
roller wheel to lift the carton stacks while simultaneously engaging and 
biasing the lower most blank to an adjacent carton blank conveyor. As the 
cleat disengages from the biased blank, the remaining stack of blanks is 
thereby lowered onto a second smooth surfaced wheel of the roller which 
rotates the direction opposite that of the cleated wheel. The smooth 
surfaced wheel thus engages the next blank providing both support and a 
frictional force which prevents the premature biasing of the second blank 
toward the conveyor. 
It is preferable that the adjacent conveyor system be in synchronized drive 
with the cleat wheel of the blank feeder. A 90.degree. gear box can be 
used to provide the necessary synchronization. Belt means connecting the 
cleated wheel axle to a reverse rotation gear box can be used to provide 
the counter rotation to the adjacent smooth surfaced wheel. 
The multiple wheeled roller is best positioned near the end of the carton 
blank stack distal to the conveyor system. The magazine stack is inclined 
with the lower end adjacent to the conveyor so that the higher end of the 
carton blank engages the roller wheels. This arrangement facilitates the 
feeding of the lower blank edge to the conveyor system. The elevated 
distal end of the blank stock is supported by the multiple wheeled roller, 
the respective roller wheels providing a firm biasing and securing means.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
In accordance with this invention, it has been found that a novel apparatus 
and method may be provided to facilitate the high speed feeding of carton 
blanks to a carton blank conveyor. The apparatus provides a bi-directional 
roller with a cleated wheel to lift and feed an individual carton blank on 
a stack of cartons to an adjacent carton blank conveyor, while an adjacent 
oppositely rotating wheel secures the sequential carton blank of the 
magazine stack. 
As seen in FIG. 1, directional arrows indicate the general path of carton 
blanks (not shown) from a pre-feeder 1 to the dispensing apparatus 11 
which inserts the blanks into a feeding belt 5 and nip rollers 7 of the 
adjacent conveyor 9. 
As seen in FIG. 2, dispensing apparatus 11 provides a stacking magazine 
having two retaining walls 15 and 17 and an angled support seat 19 for the 
proper positioning and retaining of carton blanks. As seen in FIG. 3, a 
stack of multiple carton blanks 21 supplied by pre-feeder 1 (not shown) is 
supported at an inclined angle with the bottom carton blank 23 engaging a 
multiple-wheeled roller 25 at a raised end distal from the lower end in 
close proximity to conveyor 9. The wheels of roller 25 traverses support 
seat 19 through roller guide slots 27 (best seen in FIG. 8) defined by 
support seat 19. 
As further seen in FIGS. 4 and 7, roller 25 can define a set of three 
wheels; an inner cleated wheel 31 carrying cleat 33 and two exterior 
smooth surfaced wheels 29 and 32. Smooth wheels 29 and 32 should be of 
identical size while cleated wheel 31 should have a smaller diameter than 
wheels 29 and 32 so as not to engage the carton blank stock with its 
non-cleated surface. Wheels 29 and 32 of roller 25 are carried upon axle 
37 in an independent fashion by hubs 46 such that wheels 29 and 32 are 
able to rotate in a clockwise direction (in reference to FIGS. 1 through 
6) while wheel 31 can rotate in a counterclockwise direction. 
It has been found that this arrangement of a three wheeled roller 
traversing a magazine support surface works best for supplying high speed 
conveyors with carton blanks. However, many variations are possible to 
accommodate various stock blank dimensions and properties. 
As seen in FIG. 1, the speed of wheel 31 is preferably synchronized with 
the speed of the adjacent conveyor 9. A first 39 and a second 41, 
90.degree. or right angle gear box can be used to provide a synchronizing 
means for driving conveyor 7 and axle 37 of wheel 31, respectively. As 
seen in FIGS. 4 and 7, axle 37, in synchronization with conveyor 7, drives 
cleated wheel 31 and engages a first belt 43 which is used to drive a 
reverse rotation gear box 45. Gear box 45 in turn drives shaft 44 in the 
opposite direction than that of shaft 37. Belts 47 are then used to drive 
hubs 46 of wheels 29 and 32, thereby turning wheels 29 and 32 in the 
opposite direction of cleated wheel 31. While a three wheeled roller is 
shown in FIG. 4, the number, location and spacing of both the rollers and 
the wheels can be varied according to the user's needs. While FIG. 4 shows 
gear box 41 and reverse gear box 45 in vertical alignment, this 
positioning is illustrative only. As seen in FIG. 7, the respective gear 
means 41 and 45 can occupy opposite sides of apparatus 1. 
Roller 25 and its associated drive belts, wheels and shafts are ideally 
designed so that they can be positioned at varying locations and heights 
along the length of support seat 19. Adjusting means 49, controlled by 
hand wheel 51, is provided to facilitate the positioning of roller 25. In 
this manner, roller 25 can accommodate a variety of different sized carton 
blank stock. 
For many applications, it is preferred to position roller 25 so that cleat 
33 of wheel 31 engages an edge 38 of a single piece of carton blank stock 
23 as seen in FIG. 6. Under such circumstances, cleat 33 must be 
sufficiently thin so that edge 38 of only a single carton blank stock is 
engaged with each pass of the wheel. The thickness of the required cleat 
would naturally vary with the thickness of the carton blank stock. 
Adjusting means 49 and hand wheel 51 is able to precisely orient roller 25 
and cleated wheel 31 for proper engagement of the cleat with edge 38 of 
the carton blank stock. 
In another preferred embodiment best seen in FIG. 3, as wheel 31 rotates in 
a counterclockwise direction, cleat 33 engages a lower surface of the 
bottom carton blank 23 held in magazine 13. As a result, cleat 33 
displaces in an upward direction the stack of carton blank stock while 
simultaneously biasing the bottom blank 23 toward conveyor 9. As cleat 33 
disengages from bottom blank 23, the remaining supply of stock 21 held in 
magazine walls (not shown) is lowered with the next sequential carton 
blank now engaging the smooth surface of wheels 29 and 32 (best seen in 
reference to FIG. 4). The engaging forces supplied by wheels 29 and 32 to 
the bottom blank stock piece 23 counters the opposite force of belt 5 
supplied by conveyor 9 and prevents the simultaneous feeding of two stock 
blanks to the adjacent conveyor 9. As a result, jamming, slippage, and 
machine down time is substantially reduced. 
It is also possible to vary the height and length of cleat 33 which in turn 
can control the magnitude and duration of the biasing force. Further, 
cleat 33 can be designed to reversibly engage the rim of wheel 31. This 
arrangement simplifies maintenance and permits a variety of different 
sized and textured cleats to be employed to accommodate different textures 
and weights of the blank stock. Furthermore, it would be possible to 
supply a wheel carrying more than one cleat. This arrangement of a 
multiple cleated wheel would provide an additional means of synchronizing 
the cleated wheel speed to the speed of the adjacent conveyor 9. 
The invention provides a continuous virtually trouble-free production rate 
of at least two hundred packages per minute. Furthermore, the rate of 
nearly seven hundred packages per minute may be maintained for shorter 
periods of time. This is in contrast with prior art machines which have 
had difficulty maintaining such a sustained production rate. Thus, it can 
be seen that a novel and useful apparatus and process for the feeding of 
carton blank stock to an adjacent conveyor has been provided. 
Many variations of the above invention may be apparent to those skilled in 
the art from the reading of the description which is exemplary in nature. 
Such variations are embodied in the spirit and scope of this invention as 
measured by the following appended claims.