Abstract:
Centering devices for carrier packers are provided. Such devices may include two series of flexible tabs, aligned along two parallel shafts. The shafts rotate the flaps in two alternative angular positions. In a lowered angular position, the tabs are introduced partly in the cells of a carrier, to guide bottles towards the centers of the cells. In an angularly raised position, the tabs are rotated away so as not to interfere with the bottle necks once the bottles have been fitted in the cells, so that it is convenient for a conveyor to take away the carrier. Carrier packers including such devices are also provided.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    The present invention relates generally to carrier packers, that is machines for placing articles, typically bottles, in carriers or cartons, in a predetermined array. More specifically, this invention relates to devices for centering and guiding articles such as bottles to be loaded into upwardly open packing cases. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    In a carrier packer, articles such as bottles or cans are continuously supplied to the packer by a conveyor. The moving bottles are formed into a predetermined number of parallel lines, typically two, three or four lines. The lines are separated in lanes, spaced apart by lane dividers. The bottles are fed into the respective lanes by the movement of a conveyor. The conveyor feeds the bottles into an array-forming section where the bottles are grouped into a desired pattern for packing. This array, that is the number of lines and the number of bottles in each line, corresponds to the particular carrier into which the bottles are to be packed. A carrier will generally have an outer paperboard box and inner grid-like partitions which subdivide the space within the carrier into upwardly open compartments or cells where the bottles are fitted individually. 
         [0003]    A transfer device grips an array of bottles and drops them in an upright position into the carrier. As they drop, the bottles are guided toward and into the respective cells, between the partitions of the carrier, by an intermediate grid having a number of flexible fingers or flaps around the fall path of each bottle, which funnels the bottle into its particular cell within the carrier. 
         [0004]    Such devices are provided with flexible members for directing the bottles being dropped from a gripping assembly into particular locations within the container. Finger assembles or clusters are generally mounted to parallel rails in a vertically movable grid assembly, either at the sides of individual passages for the bottles, or at the corners of square passageways for the bottles. With conventional finger assemblies, it may happen that the fingers will catch against the upper edges of the partitions, thus causing the entire production line to stop. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0005]    A primary object of the invention is to improve the performance of a carrier packer. In particular, it is desired to speed up the cycles of loading or filling of the carriers and eliminate down times due to failures of the loading device. A specific object of the invention is to provide highly reliable centering devices which are simple in construction. 
         [0006]    The above and other objects and advantages which will be better understood herein after, are achieved, according to the invention, by centering devices having features described and claimed herein. 
         [0007]    In summary, centering devices may be installed at loading or filling stations in a carrier packer or packing machine, where groups or arrays of bottles or other containers are placed in carriers each having two rows of upwardly open cells. To guide the downward movement towards the center of each cell, in representative embodiments there are provided two series of flexible tabs, aligned along two respective rotatable shafts. The shafts are mounted on two opposite sides of the loading station, from where a conveyor belt carries away the carriers once they have been filled. The two shafts are rotatable in order to rotate simultaneously all the flaps between two alternative angular positions. In a lowered angular position, the tabs are introduced partly in the top parts of the carrier cells, to guide the individual articles (bottles or cans or other containers) towards the center of the respective cells. In an angularly raised position, the tabs are rotated so as not to interfere with the articles, in particular with bottle necks, once the bottles have been located in the cells, so that a conveyor may take the carrier away. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES 
         [0008]    There will now be described particular embodiments, given by way of example, reference being made to the accompanying drawings briefly described below. 
           [0009]      FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a package comprising a carrier with six bottles; 
           [0010]      FIG. 2  is a perspective view of the carrier of  FIG. 1 , in an empty condition; 
           [0011]      FIG. 3  is a schematic plan view of a carrier erector and packer, which can incorporate a centering device according to the present invention; 
           [0012]      FIGS. 4, 5 and 6  are respectively, a perspective view, a top view and a front view of an empty carrier and a centering device with its tabs in a raised position; 
           [0013]      FIGS. 7, 8 and 9  are respectively, a perspective view, a top view and a front view of an empty carrier and a centering device with the tabs in a lowered position; 
           [0014]      FIGS. 10, 11 and 12  are perspective views showing bottles being fitted in the carrier; 
           [0015]      FIG. 13  is a front view of the carrier and a centering device in the arrangement of  FIG. 12 ; 
           [0016]      FIGS. 14 and 15  are respectively a perspective view and a front view showing the bottles fitted in the carrier with the tabs of a centering device raised; and 
           [0017]      FIGS. 16 to 19  are views of the tabs of a centering device. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0018]    Referring initially to  FIGS. 1 and 2 , with the number  10  designating as a whole a package of containers  11 , in this example bottles, inserted in a carrier  12 , typically of cardboard. This embodiment refers to a carrier containing two rows of three bottles each. The carrier  12  has an upwardly open outer box  13  with a rectangular base, with a wall or vertical median partition  14  that extends in a direction defined herein as “longitudinal”, and one or more internal walls or partitions  15  parallel to one another and extending in a transverse direction. The partitions  14 ,  15  define, within the carrier, two parallel rows of upwardly open cells or receptacles  16 ,  17  each suitable for accommodating a respective bottle. Designated at  19  are upper edges of the transversal partitions  15 . The outer box has two pairs of vertical side walls  13   a , a transversal vertical front wall  13   b  and a transversal vertical rear wall  13   c.    
         [0019]    The number of bottles and corresponding cells in each row may be greater or less than three. There may be, for example, two, or four, or more than four cells. The material which the carrier is made of may be paperboard or cardboard. However, other materials may be used as well. For example, the carrier may be made of plastic material. The container  11  need not necessarily be a bottle. As alternatives, the containers  11  may be cans, flasks, or other containers, typically containers for liquids. 
         [0020]    Shown in  FIG. 4  is a centering device, designated as a whole at  20 , which serves to direct the bottles that are dropped or deposited by a gripping device (designated as  34  in  FIG. 10 ) in respective cells  16 ,  17  of the carrier. The centering device  20  can be inserted in a machine schematically illustrated in plan view in  FIG. 3 , in this example carrier erector and packer, i.e. a machine which forms the carriers erecting them from folded blanks and fills the carriers with articles such as bottles or other containers. 
         [0021]    The general characteristics of a carrier packing machine are known in the art. Consequently, in the present specification the elements of specific importance for the purposes of implementing the invention will be described in detail. For the construction of parts and elements not shown in detail, reference may be made to any carrier packer of known design. 
         [0022]    As shown in  FIG. 3  a carrier erector and packer includes a bottle input zone A, from where the bottles are sorted and arranged in two parallel rows in a bottle sorting and gathering zone B. The bottles are handled in an upright position, carried on conveyor belts. The carriers  12  are formed from a store C where the carriers are initially stacked in a closed or flattened condition. By means of conventional devices, the carriers are taken one by one from the store C, opened in an opening area D, and taken in a carrier preparation E located to the left of a conveyor belt F which advances in a longitudinal direction of advancement L. The carriers are placed in an upstream area on the conveyor belt F and are transferred in a row by the belt F to a packing station G located transversely to the left of the bottle sorting and gathering area B. 
         [0023]    A gripping and transferring device  34  ( FIG. 10 ), picks up a group or array of six bottles  11  from the bottle sorting and gathering area B and drops the bottles letting them fall in a vertical position into a carrier  12  located in the packing station G, where the centering device  20  (not shown in  FIG. 3 ) is arranged. The array of bottles is arranged in two parallel rows of three bottles each, in a pattern that corresponds to the particular carrier  12  in which the bottles are to be packed. 
         [0024]    Designated at  21 ,  22  in  FIG. 4  are two parallel longitudinal side boards, transversely spaced from one another. The side boards delimit laterally a path for the carriers  12  placed on the belt conveyor F. 
         [0025]    In representative embodiments the centering device  20  comprises two rows of flexible tabs  23 ,  24 , adapted to guide the movement of descent of the bottles, centering them each in a respective carrier cell. Each row  23 ,  24  of the flexible tabs is mounted along a respective one of a pair of parallel longitudinally extending rotatable shafts  25 ,  26 . 
         [0026]    The shafts  25 ,  26  are rotatable simultaneously to bring the tabs  23 ,  24  alternately in an angular position or lowered engagement condition, in which the tabs are introduced partly in the top parts of the carrier cells ( FIGS. 10-12 ), and an angularly raised position or disengagement condition ( FIG. 14 ), wherein the tabs are rotated away so as not to interfere with the bottle necks to be removed by the conveyor F along with the carrier in which the bottles have been placed. 
         [0027]    In the illustrated example, the shafts  25 ,  26  are placed along two opposite and transversely facing sides of the loading or packing station G, above the longitudinal side boards  21 ,  22  which delimit the path of the carriers  12 . 
         [0028]    In certain embodiments, the tabs  23 ,  24  are mounted on each shaft  25 ,  26  in pairs of adjacent tabs, wherein the two tabs of each pair of adjacent tabs are diverging downwards. In this way, each bottle is guided toward the center of the cell by two flaps converging towards the center of the cell and belonging to two consecutive pairs of tabs. 
         [0029]    In certain embodiments, tabs  23 ,  24  may be made out of foils or sheets of flexible plastic material. 
         [0030]    The two tabs of each pair may have upper adjacent edges  28  which, in the angularly lowered position, are arranged astride or bridging over the upper edges  19  of transverse partitions  15  of the carrier and the front and rear walls  13   b ,  13   c , favoring the downward sliding of the bottles to the cells. 
         [0031]    In certain embodiments, the two adjacent tabs of a same pair, intended to be inserted into two respective contiguous cells, have their adjacent upper edges  28  defining together a ridge which, in the angularly lowered position of insertion, is inclined downwardly toward the bottom of the carrier. This arrangement favors the sliding of individual bottles and their gradual introduction into the cells. 
         [0032]    In the illustrated embodiments, the tabs are fixed in pairs to a rigid block  27  which is locked angularly and longitudinally of the respective shaft. The shafts may have a cross section with at least one flat face, in order to facilitate an accurate angular alignment of all the tabs mounted on a same shaft, and to keep more precisely the angular orientation between each tab relative to the supporting shaft. In the illustrated example, the shafts  25 ,  26  have polygonal transversal cross-sections, particularly hexagonal cross-section. Alternatively, the shafts  25 ,  26  may have a square section, or have a circular cross-section with one or more flat surfaces. In the illustrated embodiment, the rigid blocks  27  provide a mounting seat  29  of polygonal or flattened shape, at least partially complementary with the cross-sectional shape of the shafts. 
         [0033]    The sequence illustrated in the Figures provides that at first a carrier  12  arrives in the loading or packing station, with the flaps all rotated in the raised position ( FIGS. 4-6 ). The carrier is moved by the conveyor belt and may be temporarily stopped in the loading station by a movable detent (not shown). Alternatively, the movement of the conveyor may be stopped for predetermined loading intervals. Then, the tabs are rotated in the lowered position ( FIGS. 7-9 ), penetrating partially in the top parts of the cells  16 ,  17 . The bottles  11  are inserted from above, and guided in the cells  16 ,  17  of the tabs  23 ,  24  ( FIGS. 10-13 ). Once the carrier is packed, the tabs are rotated upwards again ( FIGS. 14-15 ) and the full carrier is taken away by the conveyor belt. 
         [0034]    The longitudinal position of the blocks  27  may be adjustable. In the illustrated example, the blocks  27  each have a transverse seat  30  for a screw or other transversely extending fastening element device which releasably and temporarily locks the block to its shaft and secures the block in a different longitudinal position along the same shaft, depending on the width of the bottles or their mutual distance in the longitudinal direction. 
         [0035]    To adapt the centering device to different formats of carriers and containers (or bottles)  11 , the shafts  25 ,  26  may be height adjustable by vertically extendible upright supports  33  which sustain the opposite ends of the shafts. The two side boards  21 ,  22  also may be moved away or toward each other in the transversal direction, depending on the width of the carrier. 
         [0036]    The centering device may be adjusted, appropriately spacing the tabs in two or more longitudinally spaced groups of tabs, in order to simultaneously pack more than one carrier in a same loading cycle. 
         [0037]    To ensure the angular orientation of each tab relative to the shaft on which it is mounted, each tab may be fixed to the block  27  at two distinct points  31 ,  32 , for example by screws or other fasteners. 
         [0038]    According to a further embodiment (not shown), the two tabs of each pair of adjacent tabs may be formed together as a single piece having a V-shaped section with two radiused flaps downwardly diverging toward the centers of two contiguous cells. 
         [0039]    As will be appreciated, the invention provides centering devices which are particularly compact and which allow to operate the insertion of bottles at high speed due to the low inertia of the centering tabs which can be rotated quickly out of the carrier, releasing it. 
         [0040]    Experimental tests carried out by the Applicant show that the invention provides excellent results in terms of speed, eliminating the times needed for the ascent and the descent of conventional centering devices with fingers. Centering devices according to the invention are reliable and cut down on idle time due to the jamming of conventional fingers with the carriers, particularly with carriers having small-sized cells. 
         [0041]    Various aspects and embodiments of centering devices have been described. It is understood that each embodiment may be combined with any other embodiment. The invention is not limited to the embodiments described but may be varied by a person skilled in the art and still fall within the scope of the invention as defined by defined by the appended claims and in light of the specification.