ARTICLE WRAPPING APPARATUS

Abstract: Article wrapping apparatus for wrapping or folding a wrapper blank around an article which may comprise or contain a group of rod-like articles such as cigarettes, includes a wrapper blank former which simultaneously folds sides and ends of a blank (60) by plunging the former (64) around an article holder (58) and subsequently plunging the article from the holder into the former. The apparatus also includes a housing (24) for supporting a partially-wrapped article which is pivoted relative to an abutment (32) so that a flap is swept into a closed position; and pivoted holders (24, 54) which are used to transfer articles between axially-spaced process positions on a process drum (6). Folding operations may be performed during transfer to or from a pivotable holder (24, 54), particularly in a radial direction of the drum (6).

Description: l Article Wrapping Apparatus 2 3 This invention relates to article wrapping apparatus, particularly for wrapping or folding a wrapper blank around an article which may 5 comprise or contain a group of rod-like articles such as cigarettes. The 6 article to be wrapped may typically be parallelepipedal in shape. The 7 product of the wrapping apparatus may be a fully or partially wrapped a package containing the article. The article may comprise a group of 9 articles. ιo Cigarettes are commonly packaged in groups which are first ιι wrapped in wrapping material and then enclosed in cardboard i2 packages, such as the well-known hinged lid packs. Large numbers of i3 such packages are commonly formed in modern factories, and the I* machinery for producing such packages must therefore have the is capability of working reliably at high speeds. i6 According to a first aspect, the present invention provides article i7 wrapping apparatus in which a blank is formed around an article, is particularly for folding a wrapper portion protruding from a partially i9 wrapped article, comprising a holder which is adapted to support the 20 article on at least two opposite sides, so that a wrapper portion protrudes 2i from at least one end of the holder lying in a plane, the holder being 22 pivotally mounted about an axis which is parallel to said plane, and at 23 least one abutment means, whereby pivoting of the holder towards the 24 abutment means causes said wrapper portion to be swept into a closed 25 position adjacent an end of the article in said holder. 26 In one embodiment of the invention, the holder consists of a 27 housing comprising a generally U-shaped body which encloses two 28 sides and one end of the article, the pivot point being positioned in the 29 region of the said one end and a single abutment member being 30 provided adjacent the opposite end. 3i In a preferred embodiment, a plurality of such closure devices are 32 spaced around the periphery of a rotary drum, and are arranged to 33 receive an article comprising a wrapped group of cigarettes from a 34 coaxially mounted delivery device. For example, this may be a plunger 35 mechanism of the type shown at the output side of the rotary apparatus 36 described in our International application no. PCT GB97/03398. 37 Preferably, the pivoting movement of the housing is so arranged 38 that the article can be swivelled through 180°, to a second, axially 1 displaced position on the drum to enable a further folding process to be 2 carried out, for example by means of a plunger mechanism which 3 transports the article outwardly in a radial direction relative to the drum, 4 i.e. parallel to the pivot axis. Preferably, before the article is moved to the 5 second position, an inner packaging member, which may comprise an e inner frame if the article is a group of cigarettes to be packaged in a 7 hinged lid pack, is placed on top of the article, and is held in position, β during the radial movement of the article, by means of a counter plunger 9 positioned radially outwardly of the second position. 0 Preferably, the arrangement is such that the outward movement of 1 the plunger mechanism then causes the sides of the inner frame to be 12 folded down, by engagement with a static inner frame former and the 13 wrapped bundle is then received in a further pivotable holder, which is 14 arranged to surround the package on all four sides, and is also pivotally is movable so as to enable the wrapped bundle to be transferred to a i6 further axially displaced position on the drum. i7 Preferably, the inner frame former is also arranged to engage with is the remaining protruding flap of the wrapper, so as to close that at the i9 same time as the inner frame is folded down. 20 Preferably, the further axially displaced position to which the 2i article is transferred comprises a packet forming station, at which a 22 cardboard blank is folded around the article, by means of a further 23 plunging action. 24 Preferably, the packet forming station comprises a further 25 plunger/counter plunger arrangement, whereby a packet blank is 26 positioned above a forming pocket containing an upwardly movable 27 plunger, and the article is positioned on the blank, with a 28 counter-plunger being positioned above the bundle. The four sides of 29 the package are then folded around the article, by a sequence of 30 movements of the plungers and the lower former, as follows: 3i (a) bringing the upper counter plunger down to contact the top 32 surface of the article; 33 (b) bringing the forming pocket upwards so that its edges engage 3 the underside of the blank at the position of the folds which are to be 35 formed; 36 (c) raising the forming pocket so as to fold the sides of the blank 37 around the edges of the housing; 38 (d) lowering the supporting plunger, the counter plunger, and the 1 forming pocket until the package is released from the upper housing. 2 Another aspect of the invention extends to article wrapping 3 apparatus in which a blank is formed around an article, comprising an 4 article holder having at least one open side, and a former which forms a 5 cooperating pocket facing said open side into which the holder can be 6 received, and means for bringing the holder and former pocket together, 7 whereby, in use, an article is positioned in the holder and a blank is β positioned between the holder and the former pocket, so that when the 9 holder and the former pocket are brought together, the blank is folded 10 by cooperation of adjacent edges of the holder and former pocket. Thus ιι the sides and ends of the blank may be simultaneously folded by i2 cooperation of adjacent holder and pocket edges. Preferably, the holder i3 and the pocket are both provided with plungers for engaging the article i4 and the blank respectively, so that after the initial folding movement, the is holder plunger can be extended towards the pocket, while the pocket i6 plunger simultaneously retracts, so as to move the article from the holder i7 into the pocket. is Preferably, the package is then moved to successive further i9 positions, to enable the remainder of the package to be closed around 20 the bundle. 2i A preferred embodiment of the invention therefore provides an 22 article wrapping apparatus, comprising a plurality of package forming 23 stations spaced around the periphery of a rotary drum, each comprising 2 a first position comprising a pivotally mounted holder for a partially 25 wrapped article, whose movement is arranged to cause inward folding of 26 two protruding corners and one flap at the trailing end of the wrapper; a 2 second, axially displaced position, at which a remaining flap of the 28 wrapper is closed, and an inner frame is folded around the sides, by 29 means of a radial plunging movement; and a third, further axially 30 disposed position, at which a cardboard blank is wrapped around the 3i sides of the package, by means of a further radial plunging movement. 32 Preferably, the package is moved between the successive positions, by 33 rotating holder at each of the first and second positions, through 180°, 34 about parallel axes which extend radially of the drum, the plane of 35 rotation of the second holder being radially displaced, relative to that of 36 the first holder, with a radially movable plunger mechanism arranged to 37 transfer the bundle from the first holder to the second holder whilst they 38 are in radially superimposed positions. 1 According to a further aspect of the invention there is provided 2 article wrapping apparatus in which a blank is formed around an article, 3 comprising a transfer mechanism for articles which are to be processed 4 at different axial positions on the periphery of a rotatable drum, 5 comprising at least one holder which is pivotally mounted on an axis β which extends radially of the drum, the holder being arranged to receive 7 an article in a first position, and being pivotable about said axis to a s second , axially displaced position. 9 Preferably, in the axially displaced position, a radially movable ιo transport mechanism is also provided so that the article can then be ιι transferred in a direction radial to the drum, for example into a further i2 pivotally mounted holder having an opening which faces in a radial i3 direction, and which is radially aligned with a corresponding opening in i4 the first holder in the transfer position, so that the further holder can then is be pivoted to a second position so as to transfer the article to a further i6 axially displaced processing station. i7 A further aspect of the invention provides article wrapping is apparatus in which a blank is formed around an article, comprising a i9 holder which is pivotally mounted to enable an article to be transferred 20 between different process stations, at least one of the process stations 2i further comprising means for carrying out an operation to fold a blank 22 around the article during transfer of the article to or from the holder. For 23 example the folding operations may be carried out by moving the article 24 into or out of the holder in a direction parallel to the pivot axis, so that 25 flaps extending from the article are folded by cooperation with the holder 26 itself, or with adjacent abutment means, during the movement. 27 The various aspects of the invention may be combined in any 28 combination or sub-combination in common apparatus. 29 Some embodiments of the invention will now be described by way 30 of example only, with reference to the accompanying diagrammatic 3i drawings, in which: 32 Figure 1 is a schematic perspective view of a cigarette packaging 33 system; 34 Figure 2 is a schematic illustration of the material flow sequence 35 employed in the system of Figure 1 ; 36 Figure 3A is a perspective view of a first wrapper forming station in 37 the system of Figure 1 ; 38 Figures 3B and 3C are plan views of the wrapper forming station 1 of Figure 3A, illustrating different operations; 2 Figure 4A is a schematic plan view of parts of an assembly drum 3 of the Figure 1 system illustrating a sequence of wrapping/packaging 4 operations; 5 Figure 4B is an elevation of the parts shown in Figure 4A; 6 Figure 5 is a perspective view of a device embodying the parts of 7 Figure 4; 8 Figure 6 is a perspective view of a blank for forming a pack 9 around a bundle in the system of Figure 1 ; 10 Figure 7 is a schematic elevational view of a plunger device for ιι making initial folds in the blank of Figure 6; i2 Figures 8 and 9 illustrate successive stages in the folding of the i3 blank of Figure 6; i4 Figures 10A to 10F illustrate stages of movement of the parts is required to produce the folds indicated in Figures 6, 8 and 9; i6 Figures 1 1 and 12 illustrate further successive stages in the i7 folding of the blank of Figure 6; and is Figure 13 illustrates a plunging operation which causes the flap i9 folding of Figure 12. 20 Referring to the drawings, Figure 1 illustrates an overall view of a 2i packing system in which groups of cigarettes are firstly formed in a 22 hopper system illustrated generally at 2, which may for example be of 23 the kind described in International patent specification no. WO 98/22349. 24 These are transported in pockets on a conveyor 4, to join the packaging 25 materials at a central assembly drum 6, as described in more detail 26 below. 27 At the left hand side of the drawing there is illustrated a wrapper or 28 foil feed system 8 which supplies foils to a foil assembly drum of the kind 29 illustrated in said application no. PCT GB97/03398, which is mounted 30 coaxially with the assembly drum 6, a blank feed apparatus 10 of the 3i kind shown for example in I nternational appl ication no. PCT 32 GB98/00932, and an inner frame feed system 12. As will be clear from 33 the drawing, the various different components required to make up the 34 final package are fed to the assembly drum 6 at different axially dis- 35 placed positions, and thus, as the drum is rotated, preferably continuous- 36 ly, the cigarette group and foil can be moved axially along its surface, to 37 discrete positions at which it is successively assembled with the required 38 components. 1 Figure 2 illustrates in more detail, the various stages of the 2 wrapping process on the assembly drum, by means of a developed view 3 in which the different station positions on the drum are numbered, 4 corresponding to those in Figure 1. Thus it will be seen that starting at 5 the left hand side of the drawing, position 1 corresponds to the β beginning of the plunging of the cigarette group into the foil 14, as de- 7 scribed in said application no. PCT GB97/03398. The cigarette group β with foil partially or fully wrapped around it is hereinafter referred to as 9 the "bundle". By the time the apparatus has rotated to position 3 in ιo Figure 2, the side flaps of the bundle being folded down into position, as ιι indicated by arrows 16, and at position 4, the bundle has exited from the i2 foil former 17 and has entered the first of three axially spaced forming i3 positions on the assembly drum 6 to allow successive wrapping and i4 packing operations to be carried out. is The positions are indicated only diagrammatically in Figure 2, but i6 in general terms, the sequence of operations is as follows: the trailing i7 ends of the foil are closed at stations 4 and 5, and the bundle receives is an inner frame 18 on top. At station 6, the inner frame is folded around i9 the sides of the bundle, and at stations 7 to 9, the bundle moves further 20 in the axial direction until it reaches the position at station 10 where a 2i blank 20 begins to be folded around it to form the final package. The 22 folding process continues as the package proceeds on to station 1 , and 23 is finally completed by station 4, at which the complete package leaves 24 the drum on an exit conveyor as indicated at 22 in Figure 1. 25 The different axial forming positions on the drum, and the 26 movements of the package between them, are illustrated in more detail 27 in Figure 3 to 6. It will be appreciated that Figures 1 and 2 are schematic 28 and omit details shown in subsequent figures. As illustrated in Figure 3A, 29 the semi-wrapped bundle, which leaves the former 17 after folding of the 30 side flaps as indicated at 16 in Figure 2, enters a generally U-shaped 3i holder 24, with its trailing end 26 protruding from the open end of the 32 holder. As can be seen from the figures, the leading end of the holder 24 33 in the axial direction 6A of the drum 6, is pivoted at 30 to the surface of 34 the drum, and an abutment 32 is fixed to the drum behind the open end 35 of the holder 24, as considered in the direction of drum rotation 36 (indicated by the arrow A in Figure 3B). The abutment 32 has a curved 37 inner face 34 whose profile corresponds to the path swept out by the 38 adjacent corner 36 of the holder, when the holder 24 is rotated in a 1 clockwise direction as seen in the drawings, so as to tuck in the adjacent 2 trailing side 26A of the end 26 of the bundle wrapper foil. The holder 24 3 is then rotated back to the axially oriented position (shown in full lines in 4 Figure 3B). 5 The arrangement for tucking in the leading side 26B of the trailing e end 26 is illustrated in Figure 3C. A fixed abutment 38, which does not 7 rotate with the drum 6, is located adjacent to the drum so that its nose 40 β engages the leading side 26B of the wrapper, as the drum and holder 24 9 rotate past it. A shaped recess in the abutment 38 or a downstream ιo abutment providing a conventional plough folder then engages with the ιι lower protruding flap 43 (see Figure 3A) so as to plough it into the closed i2 position. In this way, both the leading and trailing sides, and the lower i3 flap 43 of the trailing end 26, are tucked in. i Subsequent to this an inner frame 42 is located on top of the is bundle, as illustrated in Figure 4A, and the holder 24 is rotated through i6 180° to a second forming position indicated at 24A in Figures 4A and 4B, i7 where the holder is positioned over a plunger 44. The arrangement is is illustrated in more detail in Figure 5, which also shows support members i9 45 on each side of the holder 24, which hold the inner frame 42 in its 20 initial position. In order to prevent the foil from becoming loosened 2i during the rotation of the holder 44, support plates 46 and 48 are also 22 arranged above and below the path of rotational movement of the holder 23 24, and a rectangular frame former 50 is positioned above the plunger 24 44 so that when the plunger 44 is moved radially outwards (relative to 25 drum 6), in the direction of arrow B in Figure 4b, the upward movement 26 of the bundle folds the sides of the inner frame down, and at the same 27 time, closes the upper protruding flap 41 (Figure 3C) at the end of the 28 bundle. 29 During the upward movement of the plunger 44, a counter 30 plunger 52 is held in engagement with the top of the bundle, so as to 3i avoid buckling or other undesired upward movement of the top of the 32 bundle and the inner frame. At the top of the stroke of the plunger 44, 33 beyond the former 50, the bundle is received in a further rectangular 34 holder 54, which encloses it on all four sides. As will be clear from the 35 drawing, the lowermost edges of the holder 54 are formed in a sharp 36 configuration, which assists in subsequentforming operations. The 3 holder 54 is pivotally mounted on the drum 6, about an axis 56 which is 38 parallel to the axis 30 of the first holder 24, so that the bundle can then 1 be transferred to a further operating position, indicated at 54A at the right 2 hand side of Figure 4, for enclosure in a cardboard blank 20, as 3 explained in more detail below. 4 As will be clear from consideration of Figures 1 and 2 above, a 5 blank 20 for forming the cardboard packet has previously been 6 positioned on the drum 6, below the holder in position 54A. The blank 20 is shown in more detail in Figure 6, and lies flat when originally delivered β to the drum 6. A further counter-plunger 62 is positioned below the bundle position 54A, in a packet forming housing 64, which is illustrated ιo in more detail in Figure 7. When the blank 20 of Figure 6 is folded ιι around the bundle, it is first necessary to displace the lid tuck-in flaps i2 102 and bottom tuck-in flaps 104, which will ultimately form the extreme i3 corners of the pack, so that they will not be caught by other parts of the i4 blank as those other parts are moved out of the original plane of the is blank. This initial movement is illustrated by the arrows C in Figure 6, and i6 is achieved by means of four suitably positioned lifter pins 66 on the i7 packet forming housing 64. is The various further operations required to complete the packet, i9 are achieved by cooperation of a plunger 68 with the packet forming 20 housing 64, and with the counter-plunger 62. The sequence of 2i movements of the plungers 62 and 68 and the housing 64 are illustrated 22 in Figures 10A to 10F and are described below with reference to stages 23 A to F. 2 (A) Plunger 62 is brought into engagement with the underside of 25 blank 20 lying immediately below the bundle in holder 54 (in position 26 54A of Figure 4). 27 (B) The packet forming housing 64 is raised to engage the ∑s underside of the blank 20. The upper edges of the former 64 and lower 29 edges of the housing 54, are both quite sharp, so as to facilitate the 30 forming of proper folds. 3i (C) Housing 64 is raised so that its edges pass through the initial 32 plane of the blank 20, so that the sides and ends of the blank begin to be 33 folded upwards. As will be seen from Figure 8, it is necessary to raise the 34 sides 106, 108 of the blank, slightly in advance of the lid end 110 and 35 front panel end 112 (which are folded respectively about lines 114,116), 36 and for this reason the side edges of the packet forming housing 64 are 3 slightly proud, i.e. extend upwards slightly more, relative to the end 38 edges. For purposes of illustration the extent to which the sides are 1 raised in advance of the ends is exaggerated in Figure 8, so that the 2 sides and ends may still be regarded as being folded substantially simul- 3 taneously and in the same process operation. (D) Housing 64, plunger 68, and counter-plunger 62 are lowered 5 together, until housing 64 returns to the position at which its edges are 6 level with the original plane of the blank 20, so that the bundle begins to 7 be released from the housing 54. a (E) Housing 64 remains stationary, whilst plungers 62 and 68 9 continue to move downwardly, so that cooperation of the side panels ιo 106,108 and end panels 1 18,120 with the corresponding internal ιι surfaces of housing 64 causes them to be brought into an upright i2 position, as indicated in Figure 9. i3 (F) The movement continues, until the bundle is completely i4 contained in the packet forming housing 64. is Subsequently, the two parts of the front of the pack, i.e. the front i6 panel 122 and the lid front panel 124, are folded into position by means i7 of suitable ploughs, as indicated in Figure 1 1 , the ploughs being is arranged adjacent the opposite ends of the packet, and are so i9 positioned that they engage the respective panels as the packet 20 continues to rotate about the drum 6, from the forming position 54A and 2i eventually fold these panels over onto the remaining part of the now 22 almost-complete packet. The packet is now in the state indicated at 23 station 3 in Figure 2 and as shown in Figure 12. Finally, as shown in 24 Figure 13, the outside flaps 126,128 are folded downwardly in the 25 direction of arrows D in Figures 12 and 13, by means of an upward 26 plunging movement by a plunger 72 into another housing 70 at station 4 27 of Figure 2. The housing 70 may be a pocket on exit conveyor 22. 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38

Claims: l Claims: 2 3 1. Article wrapping apparatus in which a blank is formed around an 4 article, comprising an article holder having at least one open side, and a 5 former which forms a cooperating pocket facing said open side into β which the holder can be received, and means for bringing the holder 7 and former pocket together, whereby, in use, an article is positioned in β the holder and a blank is positioned between the holder and the former 9 pocket, so that when the holder and the former pocket are brought ιo together, the blank is folded by cooperation of adjacent edges of the ιι holder and former pocket. 12 i3 2. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 , wherein said holder and pocket i4 each include adjacent angularly-disposed edges arranged so that corre- i5 sponding angularly-disposed folds in said blank are made substantially i6 simultaneously when said holder and pocket are brought together. 17 i8 3. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2, wherein said article i9 holder is arranged to receive a parallelepipedal article and said adjacent 20 edges include edges operating on the sides and the ends of the blank. 21 22 4. Apparatus as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein said adja- 23 cent edges substantially surround said open side. 24 25 5. Apparatus as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein at least one 26 of said holder and pocket contains a plunger movable in a direction 27 corresponding to ejection of the article from the holder. 28 29 6. Apparatus as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the holder 30 and the pocket are both provided with plungers for engaging the article 3i and the blank respectively, so that the holder plunger can be extended 32 towards the pocket, while the pocket plunger simultaneously retracts, so 33 as to move the article from the holder into the pocket. 34 35 7. Apparatus as claimed in claim 5 or claim 6, including a plunger in 36 said holder for delivering an article partially wrapped in said blank from 37 said holder. 38 1 8. Article wrapping apparatus in which a blank is formed around an 2 article, particularly for folding a wrapper portion protruding from a partial- 3 ly wrapped article, comprising a holder which is adapted to support the article on at least two opposite sides, so that a wrapper portion protrudes 5 from at least one end of the holder lying in a plane, the holder being β pivotally mounted about an axis which is parallel to said plane, and at 7 least one abutment means, whereby pivoting of the holder towards the β abutment means causes said wrapper portion to be swept into a closed 9 position adjacent an end of the article in said holder. 10 li 9. Apparatus as claimed in claim 8, wherein the holder comprises a i2 generally U-shaped body which encloses two sides and one end of the i3 article, the pivot axis being positioned in the region of said one end and i4 an abutment member being provided adjacent the opposite end. 15 i6 10. Apparatus as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the holder i7 is mounted on the surface of a rotary drum and is arranged to receive an is article while in a first position with said plane substantially transverse to i9 the axis of said drum. 20 2i 11. Apparatus as claimed in claim 10, wherein the pivoting movement 22 of the holder is so arranged that it can be swivelled through 180° to a 23 second position axially displaced on the drum. 24 25 12. Apparatus as claimed in claim 11, including means for performing 26 a further folding operation at said second position. 27 28 13. Apparatus as claimed in claim 12, wherein said means for per- 29 forming a further folding operation includes means for moving said arti- 30 cle in a radial direction relative to said drum. 31 32 14. Apparatus as claimed in claim 13, including means for placing an 33 inner packaging member on said article prior to movement of said article 3 to said second position. 35 36 15. Apparatus as claimed in claim 14, including a counter plunger at 3 said second position for holding said inner packaging member on said 38 article during movement of said article in said radial direction. 2 16. Apparatus as claimed in any of claims 11 to 15, including a further 3 holder arranged radially outwards of said holder in said second position and arranged to receive said article from said holder in said second 5 position. 6 7 17. Apparatus as claimed in claim 16, wherein said further holder is β pivotable about an axis parallel to the pivot axis of said holder, whereby 9 by pivoting of said further holder about its axis an article transferred to ιo said further holder may be moved to a further axially displaced position a on the drum. 12 i3 18. Apparatus as claimed in claim 17, wherein said further axially dis- i4 placed position comprises a packet forming station, at which a second is blank is folded around the article. 16 i7 19. Apparatus as claimed in claim 18, wherein the packet forming is station includes a former pocket containing an outwardly movable i9 plunger, said pocket being substantially aligned with said further holder 20 at said packet forming station, and a counter plunger for moving said 2i article and said second blank at least partly into said former pocket. 22 23 20. Apparatus as claimed in claim 19, further including at the packet 24 forming station means for moving the counter plunger to contact a sur- 25 face of the article, means for moving the former pocket towards the arti- ∑β cle so that it contacts an interposed second blank and engages said 27 blank at the position of folds which are to be formed and subsequently 28 folds the sides of the blank around the edges of the further holder. 29 30 21. Apparatus as claimed in claim 20, further including means for initi- 3i ally moving the plunger in the former pocket into a position to support 32 the article in opposition to said counter plunger and for subsequently 33 retracting said plunger and correspondingly moving said counter plun- 34 ger to release said article from said further holder. 35 36 22. Article wrapping apparatus in which a blank is formed around an 37 article, comprising a holder which is pivotally mounted to enable an arti- 38 cle to be transferred between different process stations, at least one of 1 the process stations further comprising means for carrying out an opera- 2 tion to fold a blank around the article during transfer of the article to or 3 from the holder. 4 5 23. Apparatus as claimed in claim 22, wherein said process stations 6 are axially spaced relative to a carrier drum on which said holder is 7 pivotally mounted with its pivot axis transverse to the axis of said drum. 8 9 24. Apparatus as claimed in claim 22 or 23, wherein said operation is ιo carried out during movement of the article into or out of the holder in a ιι direction parallel to the pivot axis of the holder. 12 i3 25. Apparatus as claimed in any of claims 22 to 24, including folding i4 means for folding said blank by cooperation with an edge of said holder. 15 i6 26. Article wrapping apparatus in which a blank is formed around an i7 article, comprising a transfer mechanism for articles which are to be is processed at different axial positions on the periphery of a rotatable i9 drum, comprising at least one holder which is pivotally mounted on an 2o axis which extends radially of the drum, the holder being arranged to 2i receive an article in a first position, and being pivotable about said axis 22 to a second, axially displaced position. 23 2 27. Apparatus as claimed in claim 26, including means for delivering 25 an article to or from said holder in a radial direction in at least one of said 26 positions. 27 28 28. Apparatus as claimed in claim 26 or 27, wherein said holder has 29 an opening which faces in a direction which is substantially axial relative 30 to said drum in at least one of said positions, including means for deliver- 3i ing an article through said opening substantially in said direction. 32 33 29. Apparatus as claimed in any of claims 26 to 28, including a further 3 pivotally mounted holder having an opening which faces in a radial direc- 35 tion, and which is radially aligned with a corresponding opening in said 36 holder in at least one of said positions, and means for transferring an 37 article between said holder and said further holder in said position. 38 30. Apparatus as claimed in claim 29, wherein said further holder is pivotable about a radial axis relative to said drum, whereby an article may be transferred between said position and a further axially displaced position by pivotable movement of said further holder.

Inventors: BAILEY THOMAS WILLIAM, CHANDLER JOHN DAVID, CLEALL ANDREW JOHN, HILL BRIAN, TAYLOR ROBERT HOWARD, BAILEY, THOMAS, WILLIAM, CHANDLER, JOHN, DAVID, CLEALL, ANDREW, JOHN, HILL, BRIAN, TAYLOR, ROBERT, HOWARD
Applicants: BAILEY THOMAS WILLIAM, CHANDLER JOHN DAVID, CLEALL ANDREW JOHN, HILL BRIAN, MOLINS PLC, TAYLOR ROBERT HOWARD, BAILEY, THOMAS, WILLIAM, CHANDLER, JOHN, DAVID, CLEALL, ANDREW, JOHN, HILL, BRIAN, TAYLOR, ROBERT, HOWARD
Application year: 1998
Main classification: B65B11
IPC codes: B65B5, B65B19