Patent GB-965527-A (GB)
Title: Improvements in or relating to packaging machines
Inventor: WESTON BENNETT
IPC: B65B23/14
Filed: 1959-08-11
Abstract: 965,527. Packaging; endless conveyers; hoppers. H. & B. PRECISION ENGINEERS Ltd. Nov. 11, 1960 [Aug. 11, 1959], No. 27450/59. Headings B8A, B8C and B8S. A packaging machine has means for feeding an object together with a wrapper through first and second folding dies, and then past folding fingers to a transporting device which holds the partly wrapped object while the folding fingers are operated sequentially, and then moves the wrapped object to a sealing position. A predetermined number of articles, e.g. biscuits, are removed from a magazine 2 by teeth 10 on an inclined belt conveyer 4 which is intermittently driven by a reciprocating rod 16 through pawl and ratchet mechanism 20. The rod is adjustably reciprocated by known means or alternatively the stroke is fixed and the gather of the pawl 22 is restricted by an adjustable masking plate. The biscuits are thus forwarded in overlapping relation. During each stop of the conveyer a pair of reciprocating pushers 34 engage the rear edges of one of the biscuits and as the pusher moves up a ramp 26 this biscuit is pushed forward to completely overlie the one in front. The two are then forwarded by the pushers to overlie a third biscuit until the required stack has been formed, the stack being received in a collector 48. The pushers then move further apart and return down the ramp, this separating motion ensuring that the pushers do not contact the ensuing biscuits which have already commenced their forward movement in the next cycle of operation. The stack in the collector 48 is lifted on a vertical pusher 50 through an aperture 53 in a table 52 on to which is fed a wrapper 55 which is severed from a web by a cutting means 54. The stack with the wrapper draped over it is then pushed through a pleater 56 which moves with but slower than the stack, conical pleats being formed between the pleating blades as the stack rises. The motion of the pleater is separately controlled by cam means. The partially wrapped stack is then pushed by the pusher 50 through a fixed die 102 which flattens the pleats against the sides of the stack, and through an aperture in a plate 100 to be brought to rest between a pair of jaws 138. The pusher 50 then descends to its original position. During the upward movement the top of the package is held by a plunger 70. The jaws 138 hold the package stationary while an end folding device folds the depending skirt of wrapping material on to the base of the package. The device consists of a number of radially extending fingers 106 which slide in grooves 104 in the fixed apertured plate 100. The fingers are moved in sequence towards the centre of the aperture and then back to their original position by cams 128, 130, 132 mounted for constant rotation on a driven ring 116, the cams coacting with studs 108 which extend through slots 110 in the plate 100. If desired, an auxiliary blade may be employed. This is mounted on a vertical pivot on the plate 100 and sweeps over a part of the aperture to retain the earlier folds while the remainder are being formed. On completion of the end folding the jaws 138 push the package along the plate 100 to a heat sealer plate 186 on to which the package is pressed by a shoe 194. During the motion a label may be fed through a slot between the plates 100 and 186 by known means. At this stage the jaws 138 are opened to release the package and then they return to their initial position and close again. The jaws are arranged to have two stable states i.e. open and closed, by the provision of a toggle device (Figs. 8-10, not shown) which is tripped by fixed stops in the path of the jaws. The package is pushed off the sealer plate on to a delivery plate 192 by the forward motion of the jaws in the next wrapping cycle. Several modifications are described. The magazine 2 may be replaced by an automatically replenished stack. The conveyer belt 4 may be continuously moving and its speed may be varied to adjust the number of biscuits in each package. The jaws 138 may be replaced by three co-operating pairs of jaws mounted on a pair of chains and a modified chain driven set of folding fingers is detailed. The machine frame and " chain " and " cam and follower " drives are also detailed. Specification 827,173 is referred to.