Device for feeding products from a supply unit to a receiving unit

Abstract: A device (1) for feeding products, e.g. soaps (2), from a manufacturing machine (3) to a wrapping machine (4), and comprising a first (15) and second (16) conveyor belt cooperating with each other and powered at different speeds. The first conveyor belt (15) presents a number of equally spaced supporting elements (24) for respective soaps (2), having respective reaction elements (26) designed to flank a first side of a respective soap (2). The second conveyor belt (16) presents a number of equally spaced positioning elements (32), each designed to flank a second side of a respective soap (2) opposite the first side. Each reaction element (26) faces a respective positioning element (32) and defines, with the same, a compartment (12) for receiving a respective soap (2) and the size of which, measured in the traveling direction of the first (15) and second (16) conveyor belt, is greater than that of the soaps (2) at the point wherein the soaps (2) are transferred into the compartments (12), and is gradually reduced until it substantially equals the size of the soaps (2) at a point downstream from the transfer point.

Description: The present invention relates to a device for feeding products from a supply unit to a receiving unit. In particular, the present invention may be advantageously employed for soap packing systems, for feeding the soaps, equally spaced, from the manufacturing to the wrapping machine. In known systems, the soaps leaving the manufacturing machine are fed randomly spaced and usually by means of a conveyor belt to a device by which they are equally spaced. One such device, described for sample in Italian Patent Application N° 3679A/88 filed on 30 November 1988 by Azionaria Costruzioni Macchine Automatiche A.C.M.A. S.p.A., picks up the soaps successively off the conveyor belt by means of suction heads fitted with suckers. The suction heads are arranged equally spaced and designed to pick up the soaps off the conveyor belt as they travel, at a different speed from the suction heads, beneath the respective suckers. The soaps picked up in substantially equally spaced manner by the suction heads are then inserted successively inside equally spaced compartments on a second conveyor belt by which they are fed to the wrapping unit. Insertion of the soaps into the compartments on the second conveyor belt, however, poses numerous drawbacks, in that the soaps are rarely centered perfectly in relation to the suckers, and can only be safely inserted inside the compartments on the second conveyor belt by allowing a good deal of clearance between the compartment and the soap. As such, the position of the soap inside the compartment is poorly defined, which obviously leads to further problems at the wrapping stage. In fact, for the wrapping unit to function properly, the incoming soaps must be accurately positioned to prevent them from being damaged during application and folding of the wrapping material and, even if such damage is avoided, to enable the wrapping unit to apply and fold the wrapping material correctly in relation to the soaps. From WO-A-88/05417, a transfer device between a supply unit and a receiving unit is known comprising an intermediate transfer conveyor and two further positioning conveyors cooperating with the transfer conveyor, and capable of performing a stop-and-go motion to set at a constant pitch a plurality of products advanced randomly by the supply unit. In said transfer device, one of the positioning conveyors has a stopping member, which stops each product on the transfer conveyor, and releases such product only when it is separated from the preceding product by a predetermined distance. Unfortunately, the above transfer device is absolutely unsuitable both for handling soaps, and for use in combination with a modern soap wrapping machine. The pitch adjustment is, in fact, obtained by stopping in succession the products on a continuously moving transfer conveyor. If the products are soaps, and the transfer conveyor is a fast moving conveyor as it would be required to feed a soap wrapping machine capable of handling more than ten soaps per second, the wear between the soaps and the transfer conveyor would be unbearable. Moreover, the stop-and-go action performed by the two positioning conveyors may be suitable for positioning a product every few seconds, but is completely out of question when more than ten products per second are to be positioned. From US-A-3 932 983, on which the preamble of claim 1 is based, a transfer device between a supply unit and a receiving unit is known. Said device comprises a main conveyor having a succession of equally spaced L-shaped pocket elements each adapted to accommodate a respective product, and an auxiliary conveyor which has a succession of equally spaced confining elements shaped as an inverted L. The auxiliary conveyor merges with the main conveyor at a path portion, along which each inverted-L-shaped element cooperates with a corresponding L-shaped element to define a fixed-length compartment, the width of which varies continuously to a final width value corresponding to a final shape of the compartment. Of course, the above known device, though advantageously used to conform a product made of soft material to the final shape of the aforementioned compartment, cannot be used to adjust the spacing of a succession of products, since the length of the compartments remains constant, and a misplaced product may either jam the device or be cut in two by the merging inverted-L-shaped element. It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a device for feeding products, in particular soaps, from a supply unit to a receiving unit, said device providing an accurate positioning and equally spacing of said products prior to feeding the same to the receiving unit. The technical solution for said object is characterized by the fact that said first and second pitches are different from one another, and said first and second speeds are different from one another; each compartment is adjustable in its size, when measured in said traveling direction, between a first value exceeding that of said products at a transfer position where said products are transferred onto said supporting elements and into said compartments, and a second value substantially equal to the size of said products at a position located downstream from said transfer position; and the pitch ratio between said supporting elements and said positioning elements is equal to the speed ratio between said first and second conveyors. The invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Fig.1 shows a schematic view of a device in accordance with the teachings of the present invention; Fig.2 shows a larger-scale view of a detail in Fig.1; Fig.3 shows a plan view of the Fig.2 detail. Number 1 in Fig.1 indicates a device for transferring soaps 2 from a supply unit, consisting of a soap manufacturing machine indicated schematically by block 3, to a receiving unit consisting of a wrapping machine indicated schematically by block 4. Manufacturing machine 3 feeds soaps 2 successively and in randomly spaced manner onto a horizontal conveyor belt 5 by which soaps 2 are fed onto a further horizontal conveyor belt 6 located beneath a known conveying device 7 designed to equally space soaps 2 and of the type described in Italian Patent Application N° 3679A/88. Conveying device 7 substantially comprises a number of equally spaced, vertically operating suction heads 8 fitted on the bottom with respective suckers 9. Suction heads 8 are supported on two chains 10 and 11, each looped about two powered vertical gears (not shown) for moving suction heads 8 over and in the same direction as conveyor belt 6. Suckers 9 operate vertically in relation to respective heads 8, for successively picking up soaps 2 off conveyor belt 6, by virtue of known actuating means (not shown), and successively depositing the same inside respective compartments 12 on a horizontal conveying device 13 located downstream from conveyor belt 6. Prom conveyor 13, soaps 2 are fed successively on to a horizontal conveyor belt 14 by which they are fed into wrapping machine 4. As shown, particularly in Fig.s 2 and 3, conveyor device 13 comprises two conveyor means consisting of conveyor belts 15 and 16, the latter substantially housed inside the former, and the top branches of which are substantially horizontal and coplanar. Conveyor 15 comprises a belt 17 looped about an idle roller 18 supported on a shaft 19 in turn supported on bed 20 of device 1, and about a roller 21 fitted on to a shaft 22 parallel to shaft 19 and connected to a motor or drive means 23. On the side facing bed 20 (see also Fig.3), belt 17 supports a number of laterally projecting, equally spaced supporting elements 24 having substantially the same spacing as suction heads 8 along conveyor 15 and extending inwards from belt 17 (Fig.2). Each supporting element 24 comprises a base plate 25 connected to belt 17 and the rear portion of which (with reference to the traveling direction of conveyor 15) supports a reaction element or tab 26 perpendicular to plate 25 and the top branch of belt 17. Conveyor belt 16 comprises a belt 27 looped about an idle roller 28 fitted on to shaft 19 between roller 18 and bed 20 and smaller in diameter than roller 18, and about a roller 29 housed inside the loop defined by conveyor 15 and fitted on to a horizontal shaft 30 connected to a motor or drive means 31. The outer surface of belt 27 is fitted with a number of equally spaced positioning elements 32, the center distance of which is shorter by a given amount as compared with supporting elements 24. Each positioning element 32 consists of a parallelepiped bar arranged crosswise in relation to belt 27, with its lateral surface adhering to the same. Each bar 32 defines, together with facing tab 26, one of said compartments 12. Conveyor belt 14 comprises a belt 33 located between conveyor 15 and bed 20, and looped about an idle roller 34 and a powered roller (not shown) located downstream from conveyor device 13 with reference to the traveling direction of the same. Roller 34 is supported on a horizontal shaft 35, beside a portion of the loop defined by conveyor 15, between roller 29 and roller 21. The outer surface of belt 33 is fitted with a number of projecting, equally spaced supporting elements 36 facing belt 17 and having substantially the same spacing as supporting elements 24. Each supporting element 36 substantially comprises a cylindrical body 37 perpendicular to the surface of belt 33 and connected to the same by a bracket 38, the free end of which supports a coral supporting plate 39. For reasons that will be made clear later on, the speed at which belt 27 is driven by motor 31 is lower than that at which belt 17 is driven by motor 23, and belt 33 travels at the same speed as belt 17. Moreover, the pitch ratio of supporting elements 24 and positioning elements 32 is preferably equal to the traveling speed ratio of conveyor belts 15 and 16. In actual use, soaps 2 are fed successively and randomly spaced off manufacturing machine 3 on to conveyor belt 5 and from there on to conveyor belt 6. As they travel along conveyor belt 6, soaps 2 are picked up successively by suckers 9 on suction heads 8, and are substantially equally spaced to match the spacing of suckers 9. Soaps 2 are then inserted successively by suction heads 8 into compartments 12 of conveyor device 13, the length of said compartments 12, at the point wherein soaps 2 are transferred from conveyor device 7 and measured in the traveling direction of conveyor belt 15, is greater than that of soaps 2 measured in the same direction. Said difference in the length of compartments 12 and soaps 2 at the point wherein soaps 2 are loaded inside compartments 12 depends on the difference in speed between conveyor belts 15 and 16, which speed difference is so selected that, at the point wherein conveyor device 7 feeds soaps 2 into compartments 12, the distance between each tab 26 and the foregoing positioning element 32 is greater than the length of soaps 2 measured in said direction. This provides a smooth insert of soaps 2 inside compartments 12, even in the event of soaps 2 being imperfectly centered on suckers 9. As they are transferred by conveyor device 13, soaps 2 are housed inside compartments 12 with tabs 26 flanking one side and positioning elements 32 flanking a second side opposite the first. By virtue of positioning elements 32 traveling at a slower speed than respective supporting elements 24, the distance between positioning elements 32 and facing tabs 26 is gradually reduced so that the length of compartments 12 is substantially equal to that of soaps 2 at the point wherein soaps 2 are picked off conveyor device 13 by supporting elements 36 of conveyor belt 14. By gradually reducing the size of compartments 12 as described above, soaps 2 are essentially perfectly positioned and equally spaced on conveyor belt 15, from which they are fed successively onto conveyor belt 14 and then to wrapping machine 4. Device 1 as described above thus provides a conveyor to feed soaps 2 in an equally spaced manner from machine 3 to machine 4. It will be noted that location of supporting elements 24 inwards of belt 17 provides for smooth, gradual release of soaps 2 as these are fed on to conveyor belt 14. According to an embodiment not shown, conveyor belt 16 may be located outside and over conveyor belt 15, between conveyor device 7 and belt 14, in which case, positioning elements 32 of conveyor belt 16 may still cooperate with tabs 26 of supporting elements 24 for defining the length of compartments 12. Moreover, according to a further embodiment not shown, tabs 26 may be provided at the front portions of supporting elements 24 (with reference to the travelling direction of conveyor belt 15) and positioning elements 32 located in such a manner as to define the rear portions of compartments 12. In this case, conveyor belt 16 and positioning elements 32 will be operated at a greater speed than conveyor belt 15, so as to gradually reduce the length of compartments 12 by moving tabs 26 up to positioning elements 32. Moreover, conveyor belts 15 and 16 may present other than straight, horizontal transportation surfaces, providing they are capable of receiving soaps 2 inside compartments of variable length as described above.

Claims: A device for feeding products (2) from a supply unit to a receiving unit along a substantially linear path, the device comprising first (15) and second (16) endless conveyors which have overlying conveyor runs cooperating with each other, and which are driven in the same travelling direction; the first conveyor (15) being a transfer conveyor adapted to receive substantially equally spaced products (2) from the supply unit, and to support said products (2) whilst they are transferred to the receiving unit, said first conveyor (15) carrying a number of supporting elements (24) equally spaced according to a first given pitch; said second conveyor (16) having a number of positioning elements (32) equally spaced according to a second given pitch; said first (15) and second (16) conveyors being driven to move in a continuous manner at a first and a second speed, respectively; and each supporting element (24) including an abutment element (26) arranged transversely with respect to the travelling direction and facing a respective positioning element (32) to define with said respective positioning element (32) a compartment (12) for receiving a product (2); characterized by the fact that said first and second pitches are different from one another, and said first and second speeds are different from one another; each compartment (12) is adjustable in its size, when measured in said travelling direction, between a first value exceeding that of said products (2) at a transfer position where said products (2) are transferred onto said supporting elements and into said compartments (12), and a second value substantially equal to the size of said products (2) at a position located downstream from said transfer position; and the pitch ratio between said supporting elements (24) and said positioning elements (32) is equal to the speed ratio between said first (15) and said second conveyors (16). A device as claimed in claim 1, characterised by the fact that said first and second endless conveyors consist of a first (15) and second (16) conveyor belt, respectively. A device as claimed in Claim 2, characterised by the fact that said second conveyor belt (16) is substantially housed inside the loop defined by said first conveyor belt (15), the transportation surfaces of said first (15) and second (16) conveyor belts being substantially coplanar. A device as claimed in Claim 2 or 3, characterised by the fact that said supporting elements (24) are located inwards of said first conveyor belt (15). A device as claimed in any one of the foregoing Claims, characterised by the fact that the speed of said first conveyor means (15) is greater than that of said second conveyor means (16).

Inventors: GORRIERI GIORDANO, MONDANI ALBERTO, NANNINI LUCIANO, GORRIERI, GIORDANO, MONDANI, ALBERTO, NANNINI, LUCIANO
Applicants: AZIONARIA COSTRUZIONI ACMA SPA, AZIONARIA COSTRUZIONI MACCHINE AUTOMATICHE-A.C.M.A.-S.P.A.
Application year: 1990
Main classification: B65G47
IPC codes: B65G17, B65G47