Abstract:
A machine is provided for spreading out cardboard boxes automatically, which is structured such that cardboards can be held in a holding mechanism upright and closely side by side, and fed to a main body one after another, and which have sucking disks for drawing the cardboards to spread out the same; the sucking disks can be adjusted in position as well as length of space between them; the machine further has a bending mechanism for bending bottom shutter portions of the cardboard boxes after the cardboard boxes are spread out; adhesive tapes are automatically applied onto the bottom of the boxes to seal the boxes after the bottom shutter portions of the boxes are bent.

Description:
This is a divisional application and the assignment document for the parent application Ser. No. 10/770,453 was filed on 4 Feb. 2004. 

   BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   1. Field of the Invention 
   The present invention relates to a machine for spreading out cardboard boxes automatically, more particularly one, which is structured such that cardboards can be held in a holding mechanism upright and closely side by side, and fed to a main body one after another, and which have several adjustable sucking disks for drawing the cardboards to spread out the same, and a bending mechanism for bending bottom shutter portions of the cardboards after the cardboards are spread out; the machine further can apply adhesive tapes onto the bottom of the boxes to seal the cardboard boxes. 
   2. Brief Description of the Prior Art 
   Cardboard boxes have many different uses, and a lot of cardboards boxes are used for packaging objects and merchandises every day. Automatic machines for spreading out cardboard boxes with are available, which can help increase efficiency of packaging. Such automatic machines usually can fold the bottom shutter portions of cardboard boxes as well as joined the bottom shutter portions with adhesive tapes, too. 
   However, conventional automatic machines for spreading out cardboard boxes usually have the following disadvantages:
     1. They are very large in size therefore they will occupy too much space in a factory, and cause problems in arranging machines of the factory.   2. With the conventional machines, those cardboard boxes that have upper shutter portions can&#39;t be fed to the spreading mechanisms of the machines side by side and in an upright position when they are in the flat non-spread out position.   3. Sucking disks of the machines can&#39;t be adjusted in the size of the space between them for suiting cardboard boxes of different sizes.   

   SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   It is a main object of the present invention to provide a machine for spreading out cardboard boxes automatically to overcome the above disadvantages. 
   The machine is structured such that cardboards can be held in a holding mechanism upright and closely side by side, and fed to a main body one after another, and which have a sucking disk set including several sucking disks for drawing the cardboards to spread out the same; the sucking disks can be adjusted in position as well as length of space between them; the machine further has a bending mechanism for bending bottom shutter portions of the cardboard boxes after the cardboard boxes are spread out; adhesive tapes are automatically applied onto the bottom of the boxes to seal the boxes after the bottom shutter portions of the boxes are bent. 
   The sucking disk set has a support board, slide blocks, and slide rails; the disks are fitted to the support board with adjustment screw bolts; the support board is pivoted to an upright rod, and is joined to the slide blocks at a lower end, which slide blocks are fitted on the slide rails, and securely joined to an output rod of a horizontal cylinder such that the sucking disks can be horizontally displaced. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     The present invention will be better understood by referring to the accompanying drawings, wherein: 
       FIG. 1  is a top view of the machine of the present invention, 
       FIG. 2  is a front view of the machine of the present invention, 
       FIG. 3  is a side view of the machine of the present invention, 
       FIG. 4  is a first partial front view of the machine of the invention, 
       FIG. 5  is a first partial side view of the machine of the invention, 
       FIG. 6  is a first partial top view of the machine of the invention, 
       FIG. 7  is a partial front view of the sucking disk set of the machine of the present invention, 
       FIG. 8  is a partial side view of the sucking disk set, 
       FIG. 9  is a partial top view of the sucking disk set, 
       FIG. 10  is a second partial top view of the machine of the invention, 
       FIG. 11  is a second partial side view of the machine of the invention, 
       FIG. 12  is a second partial front view of the present machine, 
       FIG. 13  is a third partial top view of the machine of the invention, 
       FIG. 14  is a third partial side view of the machine of the invention, 
       FIG. 15  is a fourth partial side view of the machine of the invention, 
       FIG. 16  is a first view of the present machine in operation, 
       FIG. 17  is a second view of the present machine in operation, 
       FIG. 18  is a partial front-facing vertical section of the machine of the invention, 
       FIG. 19  is a partial horizontal section of the machine of the invention, 
       FIG. 20  is a partial vertical section of the machine of the invention, which faces one lateral side, 
       FIG. 21  is a first partial top view of the machine in operation, 
       FIG. 22  is a second partial top view of the machine in operation, 
       FIG. 23  is a partial side view of the present machine in operation, 
       FIG. 24  is a partial view of the present machine in operation, 
       FIG. 25  is a side view of the present machine in operation, 
       FIG. 26  is a third partial top view of the machine in operation, and 
       FIG. 27  is another side view of the machine in operation. 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
   Referring to  FIGS. 1 ,  2 ,  3 ,  18 , and  19 , a preferred embodiment of an automatic machine for spreading out cardboard boxes in the present invention includes: 
   a machine main body  1  for spreading out cardboards  11 , which are made in such manner that they can be made to become box-shaped; the machine main body  1  has sloping guide plates  12 , a projecting base  13 , conveying belts  14 , and a adhesive tape applying member  15 ; 
   a sucking disk set  2 ; referring to  FIGS. 4 to 6 , the sucking disk set  2  has several sucking disks  21 , and support boards  22 ; the sucking disks  21  are fitted to the support board  22  by means of adjustment screw bolts  211 ; one of the support boards  22  has several first adjustment rods  221  thereon while other one of the support boards  22  has second adjustment rods  222  thereon, each of which is between every adjacent two of the first adjustment rods  221 ; each of the adjustment rods  221 ,  222  has a holding rod  2211  ( 2221 ), and an insertion rod  2212  ( 2222 ); the insertion rods  2212 ,  2222  have locating elongated trenches  2214 ,  2224  thereon while adjustment screw bolts  2213 ,  2223  are joined to the holding rods  2211 ,  2221 , and screwed into the locating elongated trenches  2214 ,  2224 ; the sucking disks  21  are respectively fitted to the holding rods  2211  and the insertion rods  2212  of the first adjustment rods  221 , as shown in  FIGS. 7 to 9 ; the support boards  22  are pivoted to upright rods  23 , and are joined to slide blocks  231  at lower ends; the slide blocks  231  are fitted on slide rails  24 , and are securely joined to output rods  251  of horizontal cylinders  25  such that the sucking disks  21  can be horizontally displaced; the support boards  22  and the upright rods  23  have projecting ears  223 ,  232  on outward sides, and sloping cylinders  26  are pivoted to the projecting ears  223 ,  232  such that the support boards  22  and the sucking disks  21  on the board  22  can be angularly displaced, as shown in  FIG. 10 ; the support boards  22  have an adjustable touching rod  224  ( FIG. 5 ) for coming into contact with cardboards  11  sucked to the sucking disks  21  with proper force; a horizontally positioned screw bolt  27  is disposed to face outward side of the slide rails  24 , and a locating base  28  is screwed onto the screw bolt  27 , as shown in  FIGS. 5 ,  6 ,  16 , and  17 ; the screw bolt  27  has a chain wheel  271  fixed to one end thereof, and a chain  273  is connected to the chain wheel  271  and a chain wheel  274 , which is connected to an inward end of an adjustment rod  273 , such that the locating base  28  can be adjusted; the locating base  28  has a touching rod  281  fitted thereto for coming into contact with the upright rods  23  on the slide blocks  231  so as to limit the rightward movement of the whole sucking disk set  2 ; 
   a pushing mechanism  3 , as shown in  FIGS. 11 to 13 ; the pushing mechanism  3  has a base  31 , a pushing cylinder  32  fitted on the base  31 ; an output rod  33  of the cylinder  32  is securely joined to a pushing board  34  at outer end, which board  34  has a guiding curved portion  35  such that when cardboards  11  are being spread out, the cardboards  11  can become lozenge, and then become rectangular with the help of the guiding curved portion  35 ; a sliding rod  36  and tube  37  combination is provided such that the pushing board  34  can move smoothly; 
   a bending mechanism  4  connected to the sloping guide plates  12  and the projecting base  13  of the machine main body  1 ; the bending mechanism  4  includes front and rear tapping boards  41 ,  42 , and a lateral tapping rod set  43 , as shown in  FIGS. 11 to 13 ; the front tapping board  41  is fitted to an auxiliary support board  44 , and is actuated by means of a cylinder  411 ; the auxiliary support board  44  has a down extending support portion  441  as well as an upright support  46  while the cylinder  411  is pivoted to a lower end of the support portion  441  at a lower end, and is actuated with a cylinder  45 ; in other words, the cylinder  45  is pivoted to an extending portion  311  of the base  31 , and an output rod of the cylinder  45  is pivoted to the support board  44 ; a support rod  442  is fitted on a left side of the auxiliary support board  44 , and pivoted to a projecting ear  461  formed on top of the upright support  46 ; the upright support  46  and the base  31  are joined together at lower end portions thereof by means of a transverse support body  47 ; there are slide bases  462 ,  312  under the transverse support body  47 , and there are left and right slide rails  471 ,  472  fitted to the bases  462 ,  312  such that the bases  462 ,  312  can be moved forwards and backwards; 
   a screw tube  473  is disposed between the slide bases  462  and  312  under the transverse support body  47  while a guide screw rod  48  is screwed into the screw tube  473 ; a bevel gear  481  is securely joined to the guide screw rod  48 , and engages a bevel gear  482 , which is securely joined to an adjustment rod  483 ; a handle  484  is securely joined to the adjustment rod  483  such that the pushing mechanism  3 , the front tapping board  41 , and the auxiliary support board  44  together can be forwards and rearwards adjusted by means of turning the handle  484 ; 
   the rear tapping board  42  is angularly displaceable between the sloping guide plates  12  of the machine main body  1 , and is connected to an output rod  423  of a cylinder  422  at projecting ears  421  thereof such that it can be made to perform tapping movement by the cylinder  422 , which cylinder  422  is angularly displaceable within the projecting base  13 ; 
   the lateral tapping rod set  43  is arranged between the front and the rear tapping boards  41  and  42 , as shown in  FIGS. 12 to 14 , and includes left and right tapping rods  431 ,  432 , and a cylinder  433 ; the left and right tapping rods  431 ,  432  have rod bodies  434 ,  435 ; the rod bodies  434  and  435  are pivoted to a projecting support board  436 , and gears of a gear set  437 , which engage each other, are respectively securely joined to the rod bodies  434 ,  435 ; a cylinder  433  is pivoted to a projecting ear  438  of the rod body  455  at an output rod thereof such that the left and right tapping rods  431 ,  432  can be angularly displaced closer to each other and away from each other at the same time, as shown in  FIG. 15 ; 
   a pressing mechanism  5 , which has lateral supports  52 , and an inverted U-shaped movable support  51  passed through the lateral supports  52 , as shown in  FIGS. 1 to 3 ; the movable support  51  has screw rods  53  in two lateral portions thereof, which screw rods  53  are formed with chain teeth  531 , while a chain  54  is passed over the chain teeth  531  of the screw rods  53 ; one of the screw rods  53  projects upwards from top of the movable support  51 , and has a handle  55  fitted to the upper end thereof such that both the screw rods  53  can be turned by means of operating the handle  55 ; the lateral supports  52  have screw tubes  56  therein, and both the screw rods  53  are respectively screwed into the screw tubes  56  such that the whole movable support  51  can be moved up and down, and such that a pressing board  57 , which is joined to the movable support  51 , can be pressed against top of a cardboard  11  with appropriate force while the bending mechanism  4  is functioning to bend bottom shutter portions of the cardboard  11 , thus helping the bending mechanism  4  bend the bottom shutter portions of the cardboard  11  smoothly; 
   a material holding mechanism  6 , which has front and rear sloping supports  61 ,  62 , transverse support rods  63 ; the front and the rear sloping supports  61 ,  62  respectively have upright support rods  611 ,  621  at first ends, and are joined together with the help of the transverse support rods  63 ; a fixed guiding support  64  is arranged facing an inward side of the rear sloping support  62  while a movable auxiliary support  65  is provided between the front and the rear sloping supports  61 ,  62 ; there are at least two pairs of opposing holding tubes  612 ,  622  and  613 ,  623  in the front and the rear sloping supports  61 ,  62  while two guiding screw rods  66 ,  67  are screwed into respective pairs of opposing holding tubes  612 ,  622  and  613 ,  623 ; the guiding screw rods  66 ,  67  have gears  661 ,  671  securely joined to first ends while a chain  662  is passed over the gears  661  and  671 ; the guiding screw rods  66 ,  67  have handles  672  fitted to second ends, as shown in  FIGS. 18 to 20 ; screw tube  651  and  652  are fitted to bottom of the auxiliary support  65 , and the guiding screw rods  66 ,  67  are respectively screwed into the screw tubes  651 ,  652  such that the auxiliary support  65  is steady, an such that the auxiliary support  65  can be adjusted in position for suiting different sizes of cardboards by means of turning the handles  672 , as shown in  FIGS. 21 to 23 ; 
   the fixed guiding support  64  and the movable auxiliary support  65  are respectively formed with lower end portions  641 ,  651  projecting down into the machine main body  1 ; the lower end portions  641 ,  651  respectively have front and rear springs  68 ,  69  fitted thereon, and the front and the rear springs  641 ,  651  are slightly higher than a plane on the fixed guiding support  64  and the movable auxiliary support  65 , on which the cardboards are supported, such that a lower stopping mechanism is formed for lower ends of the cardboards to come into contact with; 
   a pressing base  7 , which have guide rails  72 , and slide bases  71 , as shown in  FIGS. 18 to 21 ; the guide rails  72  are disposed in a sloping position on the auxiliary support  65 ; the slide bases  71  have linear slide blocks  711  ( FIG. 20 ) and guide wheels  712  ( FIG. 18 ) therein, and are fitted on the guide rails  72  such that the pressing base  7  can be up and down displaced along a slope on the auxiliary support  65  with the help of the guide rails  72 ; the slide bases  71  are formed with projecting ears  713  thereon while pressing rods  73  are pivoted to the projecting ears  713  by means of pivotal shafts  714 ; extension supports  74  are fitted on the pressing rods  73 ; the extension supports  74  have locating blocks  76  arranged therein as well as rotary handles  75  connected with the locating blocks  76  thereof while the pressing rods  73  have elongated holes  731  thereon; screw rods  761  are passed through the elongated holes  731  such that length of those portions of the extension supports  74  that project outwards can be adjusted by means of turning the rotary handles  75 ; a supporting part  77  is secured to lower end of the auxiliary support  65 , and counterweights  78  are secured to the supporting part  77 ; pulling ropes  781  are passed over pulleys  771 , and connected to the slide bases  71  such that the slide bases  71  are biased inwardly of the machine main body  1 ; 
   an upper stopping mechanism  8 , as shown in  FIGS. 3 and 18  to  20 , which consists of a fixed rod  81 , two fixed opposing support boards  82  on two sides of the fixed rod  81 , and extending rods  3  movably fitted on the support boards  82 ; knobs (not numbered) are provided for releaseably securing the extending rods  3  in position such that length of those portions of the extending rods  3  that project outwards can be adjusted by means of turning the knobs; support bases  84  are arranged next to the fixed rod  81  and the extending rods  3 , and stopping wheels  85  are fitted under the support bases  83  for coming into contact with cardboards; the upper stopping mechanism  8  is further fitted in the lateral supports  52  with the help of the fixed rod  81  thereof as well as the movable support  51  of the pressing mechanism  5  such that it can be moved up and down together with the movable support  51 ; 
   a main lateral support  9 , as shown in  FIGS. 6 to 20 , which has an inverted U-shape, and has a vertical supporting part  91 ; screw tubes  93  are arranged in the vertical supporting part  91 , and vertical screw rods  92  are screwed into the screw tubes  93 ; the screw tubes  93  are securely joined to fitting holes  6111 ,  6211  of the upright support rods  611 ,  621 , and passed through elongated holes  94 ; the vertical screw rods  92  have gears  95  connected thereto, and a chain  96  is passed over the gears  95  such that the material holding mechanism  6  can be adjusted in height for suiting cardboards of various different dimensions by means of turning a hand wheel  97 , which is joined to one of the vertical screw rods  92 . 
   In using the machine of the present invention, first the sucking disks  21  are adjusted in respect of the size of space between them by means of the first and the second adjustment rods  221 ,  222  of the sucking disk set  2 , and the size of space between the auxiliary support  65  and the fixed guiding support  64  is adjusted by means of turning the handles  672 , which space will be used as holding room for cardboards  11 . And, the pressing rods  73  and the extension supports  74  of the pressing base  74  are upwards displaced by means of the pivotal shafts  714  such that a pressing section  715  is pressed against a recess between the projecting ears  713 , and such that the pressing rods  73  and the extension supports  74  are completely outside the holding area for allowing cardboards to be put in the holding area. Then, intended number of cardboards  11  are put in the holding areas side by side in upright position; a first one of the cardboards  11  will be stopped from falling into the machine main body  1  at upper and lower ends thereof by the stopping wheels  85  of the upper stopping mechanism  8  as well as by the front and the rear springs  68 ,  69  of the lower stopping mechanism, as shown  FIGS. 1 and 18  to  20 , and those cardboards  11  that are behind the first one will be side by side in upright position owing to the above stoppage. Third, the pressing base  7  is pushed upwards along the sloping guide rails  72  until it is in the vicinity of a last one of the cardboards  11 , and then the pressing rods  73  and the extension supports  74  are made to move down into the holding area such that owing to the weight of the whole pressing base  7  and the counterweights  78  ( FIG. 18 ), the pressing rods  73  and the extension supports  74  are pressed against the last cardboard  11  to prevent the cardboards  11  from falling down until the last cardboard  11  is drawn into the machine main body  1 . 
   After the above actions, left side of a cardboard  11  is sucked to the sucking disks  21 , and the horizontal cylinder  25  functions such that the sucking disks  21  are leftwards displaced; thus, the cardboard  11  changes from flat shape into lozenge one, and is spread out finally with front, rear, and lateral sides thereof forming four straight angles, as shown in  FIGS. 16 ,  17 , and  24 , and the slide block  231  is stopped by the touching rod  281  at the same time. When the sucking disks  21  are drawing the cardboard  11 , the cardboard  11  will tilt gradually, and the front side  112  of the cardboard  11  will touch the guiding curved portion  35 , and be in front of and parallel to the pushing board  34  with the help of the guiding curved portion  35 . 
   When the cardboard  11  is nearly spread out into a box-shape, the cylinder  45  will push the auxiliary support board  44  to make the same pressed against the front side  112  of the cardboard  11  such that the cardboard  11  sucked to the sucking disks  21  become completely spread out, i.e. with four lateral sides forming four straight angles. Then, the front and the rear tapping boards  41 ,  42  are made to tap front and rear shutter portions of the bottom of the cardboard  11  such that the front and the rear shutter portions are folded upwards and inwardly of the box. Next, the lateral tapping rod set  43  is made to tap lateral shutter portions  113 ,  114  of the bottom of the cardboard  11  to fold the same inwardly of the box. Next, the cylinder  32  of the pushing mechanism  3  makes the pushing board  34  move forwards to push the front side  112  of the cardboard  11 , and at the same time the sucking disks  21  stop sucking the cardboard  11 , and are moved outwards together with the support board  22  by means of the sloping cylinder  26  for allowing the cardboard  11  to move to the conveying belts  14 . Finally, the pushing board  34  pushes the cardboard  11  to the conveying belts  14 , and at the same time the adhesive tape applying member  15  between the conveying belts  14  makes adhesive tape stick to the bottom lateral shutter portions  113 ,  114  of the box made of the cardboard  11 ; thus, the box is ready for use when it is conveyed outside the machine. 
   Furthermore, an embodiment of a machine for spreading out larger cardboard boxes is shown in  FIG. 17 . 
   From the above description, it can be easily understood that the machine for spreading out cardboard boxes in the present invention has advantages over the conventional ones as followings:
     1. Cardboard boxes are in upright position with openings thereof facing up when they are spread out and sealed at the bottom in the present invention while cardboard boxes are not upright with openings thereof facing up, and have to be turned to the desired upright position when they are spread out with the conventional machines. Therefore, the present machine is more convenient to use.   2. The bending mechanism, which is used for tapping bottom shutter portions of cardboard boxes to fold the same, are always next to four sides of lower ends of the cardboards, and don&#39;t have to move around to perform the tapping action. Therefore, the bending mechanism won&#39;t increase the length of the whole machine.   3. Cardboards are positioned upright side by side in the material holding mechanism, and boxes are upright with openings facing up such that the boxes can be used right after they are conveyed outside the present machine.   4. Because cardboards are positioned upright side by side in the material holding mechanism, they will occupy the smallest space, and the whole operation of the machine is simplified.   5. Because the material holding mechanism is close to the machine main body, the length of the whole machine is shortened. In other words, the machine occupies less space.   6. The sucking disks can be adjusted in position as well as length of space between them for suiting different situations. Therefore, the present machine is convenient to use.