DEVICE FOR SELECTING A PREDETERMINED NUMBER OF CONTAINERS PARTIALLY INSERTED WITHIN ONE ANOTHER, THEREBY FORMING A PACKAGE OF THE SAME CONTAINERS

Abstract: The device comprises a base (2) featuring a belt (3) upon which a row (F) of containers (10) rests being moved by the belt through the space between two bars (21, 22) until the top part of the edge of the container (10) at the front of the row strikes against the edge of a disc (9) the outside circular rim of which is divided into sectors (11) each of which is turned through a predetermined angle on its related radial axis (D). The disc is made to rotate in direction (R) until the number of sectors to have passed the point of contact with the row is the same as the number of containers (10) which are required to compose a package (P) of container, each package being then sent to a wrapping machine.

Description: This invention concerns a device for forming packages of containers, each package being composed of a preset number of containers which are partially inserted within one another. The containers may, in particular, be plastic beakers destined for use in the food industry. The device usually operates in conjunction with a wrapping machine which subsequently wraps each package of containers. There are known types of devices which carry out the counting of the containers and the formation of the resultant packages in the manner described below. The containers are aligned, partially inserted within one another, in a row that is kept horizontally aligned by suitable guide means. The row is pushed in a predetermined direction by moving the base upon which it rests, a base that can be a closed loop belt that runs over a series of motorised rollers. A toothed wheel is supported so that it is located above the row with its axis of rotation horizontal and perpendicular to the row of containers. The pitch of the teeth of this wheel and its position are such that the edges circumscribing the openings of the containers, edges which project radially from the row one after another, can be inserted progressively between one tooth and the next during the forward movement of the row. The wheel idles in only one direction of rotation in accordance with the direction of the forward movement of the row of containers, and is connected to means able to detect its movement and count the number of complete revolutions or fractions of revolutions through which it turns as a result of the forward movement of the row itself. The containers are thus counted by the wheel, which is stopped, together with the belt, when a package comprising the preset number of containers is formed downstream of the row. Suitable means, generally comprising appropriately shaped calipers grip the newly formed package and push it over to the wrapping machine. One problem encountered with the device described above results from the low sensitivity of the toothed wheel with regard to the edges of the containers. It is in fact possible for two successive containers to be too far inserted one within the other, so that the two related edges are in close contact, and there is no space for the tooth of the wheel, which should separate and count the containers, to be inserted between them. In this way it can sometimes occur that two contiguous edges, instead of one single one, are inserted between two successive teeth of the wheel, and two containers are made to move forwards at the same time. On other occasions, due to the fact that the teeth of the wheel follow a descending trajectory in relation to the row of containers, a tooth could strike full against the edge of a container, deforming the latter and compromising the entire packet that will subsequently be formed. A further problem encountered with the device described above consists in the fact that there needs to be a different and corresponding size of toothed wheel for each size of container handled. One final and very important drawback consists in the fact that the operating stages of the device demand a considerable amount of time for the calipers to transfer the package. The device must indeed halt the flow of containers for the entire period during wich the calipers operate, only starting it up again when the calipers have returned to their original position. From the DE-A-27.15.487 there is known a denesting unit for stacked egg cartons, that has a relief plate holding cartons against inclined face and that separates the cartons by feed screws. The carton denester receives a stack of cartons e.g. pulp egg cartons and separates the cartons so that they can be conveyed to a handling apparatus. The carton denester includes a relief plate supported inclined and receives a stack of cartons against its inclined surface. The carton denester further includes a feed screw assembly connected to the lower end of the relief plate and perpendicularly to it to support the bottom of the stack of cartons. The feed screw assembly includes a pair of rotatable feed screws located on opposite sides of the stack of cartons and which include helical grooves to receive the flanges of the bottom carton of the stack and to cause the bottom carton to be pulled away from the remainder of the stack upon rotation of the feed screws. The feed screws are positioned below the lower edge of the relief plate and the cartons must move past the end of the relief plate before they are received in the helical grooves of the feed screws. The object of the present invention is to propose a device that is able to form a package comprising a preset number of containers without there being any possibility of one of these containers being damaged, by operating radially on the head of the container instead of one edge of the container, or to form packages containing a different number of containers than has been preset. A further object of the present invention is to propose a device able to run at a higher operating speed than the device described in the introduction, by, to be specific, avoiding the occurrence of dead time as much as is possible. A final object of the present invention is to propose a machine that can easily be adapted to different sizes of containers by employing a technical solution that is, nevertheless, both effective and easy to produce. The said objects of the present invention are achieved by means of a device for determining a preset number of containers that are partially inserted within one another, forming a package of these same containers, the said device being made according to what stated in claim 1. An embodiment of the invention is explained hereinafter with specific reference to the enclosed tables of drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a diagrammatic illustration in perspective of the device which is the subject of the present invention; Figures 2a, 2b and 2c are diagrammatic illustrations, seen from one side,of the device in three subsequent operating stages respectively. With reference to the said figures, shown at F is a row of containers 10 that are partially inserted within one another. The row is resting upon a base 2 in such way as to be aligned in a certain direction, horizontally, for example, and is subjected to the action of means which tend to push it in a predetermined direction A. In the case under consideration these means take the form of base 2 itself, and comprise a closed loop belt 3 that runs over a series of motorised rollers (not illustrated). Guide means 20, comprising a pair of horizontal bars 21 and 22, mounted on corresponding structures 23 24, are positioned on either side of the belt 3. The row F moves through the space between the two bars 21 and 22. Means 7 for determining the number of containers 10 required to form a package P of containers 10 downstream of the row F, are located above the belt 3. These packages of containers 10 are subsequently sent to a wrapping machine, (not illustrated since not pertaining to the present invention), that is located so as to effect a drop-in feed from the device. Means 7 consist in a disc 9, the outside circular rim of which is divided into sectors 11, each of which is turned through a predetermined angle on its related radial axis D. The number of degrees in the aforesaid angle is sufficient for the distance between the contiguous rims of two successive sectors 11 to permit the edge of a container 10 to be inserted between them at a point on the outer circumference of the disc 9. The disc 9 is mounted on support means 4 with its axis Y parallel to the row F, slightly above the latter, and is driven so that it rotates (using means of known type, not illustrated) in a predetermined direction R. The row F, composed of containers 10 all of which are oriented with their openings facing the disc 9, is pushed in direction A by the belt 3 until the top part of the edge of the container 10 at the front of the row strikes against the edge of the disc 9, with the latter stopped, causing the entire row to be halted. The disc is then made to rotate in direction R until the number of sectors to have passed the point of contact with the row is the same as the number of containers 10 which are required to compose each package P. The device can, however, also be fitted with means (of known type, not illustrated) for counting the containers moved on by the disc 9, such as encoders, photocells, or other mechanical or electronic devices. During the rotation of the disc the outside rim of every sector 11 is inserted between the edges of the first two containers 10 if the row F, subsequently pushing the first container forwards whilst retaining the second in position, which then in its turn becomes the front container. The following sector is then moved round and its rim is inserted between the edge of the second container and the edge of the third container, operating in the same way as described above for the preceding sector, and so on until the predetermined number of containers 10 has been moved further downstream of row¢F. The present invention also features pushing means 13 comprising two ducts 15 and 17 that are connected to a compressed air supply via valved means 16 and a pipe 14. The ends of the ducts 15 and 17, through which the compressed air is expelled, are respectively located beside the row F at a point corresponding to the zone of the belt 3 where the package P is formed. The ducts 15 and 17 are held firmly in the correct position by means of anchoring means 18 and 19 respectively which are mounted on structures 23 and 24. When the package P of containers has been completely formed downstream of disc 9, the disc 9 and belt 3 are momentarily stopped, whilst the valved means 16 are activated, causing a jet of compressed air to be briefly expelled from ducts 15 and 17. The air jets cause the package P to moved in direction A until causing the package P to be introduced in the wrapping machine. Immediately after the package has been moved, which takes an extremely short moment of time, the belt 3 and disc 9 are once again activated to form a new packaqe P. The two eccentrics must then by rotated through 360o for the same number of times as the number of containers required to form each package P. It is clear that the device which is the subject of the present invention is able to determine the number of containers with accuracy, rapidity and above all with practically no possibility of error, in both the embodiment illustrated in the figures and in the other embodiments described (but not illustrated). In addition to this, there is undoubtedly also a total reduction in the number of containers that can be damaged, due to the precise operation of the present device and the manner of insertion of means 7 between the contiguous edges of the successive containers at the front of the row, always effected following a trajectory that is tangential to the edges themselves, in such a way that the action of these same means 7 is applied more to the head of the container than to the outside surface of the relevant edge. It should finally be emphasised that all dead time is completely eliminated, in that the belt 3 and means 7 only interrupt the flow of containers for the amount of time strictly necessary to move the package P which has been formed downstream of the row F; this period of time being limited to an absolute minimum through the use of the technical solution described above.

Claims: A device for determining a preset number of containers that are partially inserted within one another, forming a package of these containers, the said device being of the type comprising first means (3) for moving a row (F) of containers (10), second means (20) for guiding the same row; third means (7) for effecting the forward movement of the above-mentioned containers (10) one at a time in relation to the aforesaid row (F) in order to form a package (P) of these same containers; fourth means (13) for pushing the aforementioned package (P) in a forwards direction; the said device being characterised in that the above-mentioned third means (7) comprise a disc (9) that is located above the said row (F), and divided along its outside circular rim, into a series of sectors (11), each sector being turned through a predetermined angle on its related radial axis (D); the said disc being able to turn around an axis (Y) parallel to the said row (F), in a predetermined direction (R), causing the rims of the successive sectors to be progressively inserted between the contiguous edges of the pair of containers at the front of the above-mentioned row, in order to separate them from one other by imposing a forwards movement on the first one, due to the inclined shape of the said rim, and retaining the second one. A device as in claim 1, characterized in that the said fourth means (13) comprise a series of ducts (15, 17) located on either side of the said row (F) with their relevant ends positioned in the zone where the package (P) is, formed, these ducts being connected to a compressed air supply via valved means (16) that can be activated in synchrony with the formation of the aforementioned package (P). A device as in claims 1 characterised in that that the rims of the said sectors (11) have the development of the same number of portions of helixes.

Inventors: MONTALI, GIAN LUIGI
Applicants: S.T.S.  SRL
Application year: 1988
Main classification: B65B57
IPC codes: B65G59, B65B57