Patent GB-1122421-A (GB)
Title: Improved machine for erecting cartons
Inventor: SANDERS HORACE FREDERICK
IPC: B31B3/46
Filed: 1963-11-08
Abstract: 1,122,421. Carton erecting machines. BELL ENG. (SLOUGH) Ltd. 8 Feb., 1965 [8 Nov., 1963], No.44111/63. Heading B5D. [Also in Divisions B6, B8 and F2] A carton erecting machine comprises a carton blank holding magazine 3 and a die 2, the machine having a periodically operating pivoted suction gripper 4 for withdrawing and releasing the leading carton blank so that it falls in front of the die, where a ram 19 operating in synchronism with the gripper conveys the blank into the die. The machine is driven by an electric motor 32 coupled through a belt 49 and an electromagnetic clutch 50 to a driving shaft 21 carrying a flywheel 5 which may be arrested by a brake band 6 controlled by a knob 7. Chains 46, 59 and sprockets driven by the shaft 21 rotate a disc 60 carrying a crank arm 61 oscillated to pivot the gripper 4 about a shaft 63, thereby bringing suction pads 65 into engagement with the surface of the leading. carton blank held in the magazine 3. A follower 66 controlled by a cam 70 also driven by the chains, &o. 46, slides towards the top of a slot 67 in the gripper 4, causing plungers 69 to create a vacuum and hold the blank. The gripper 4 is then pivoted back by the crank arm 61, thereby removing the leading carton blank from the magazine. The retracting plungers 69 eventually pass air vents in cylinders 64 whereupon the vacuum is released and the carton blank drops into the front of the die 2. A sprocket 10, eccentrically mounted on the flywheel 5, is attached to a bar 12 which is coupled to a pivoted link 13 mounted on which is a sprocket 14. The reciprocating motion of the bar 12 is transmitted to a lever 15 by a follower 17 mounted on the lever and engaging a groove 16 in a cam fast with the sprocket 14. The ram 19 which is connected to the lever 15 by a link 71 and a rod 18 is then pushed into the centre of the carton blank to form the base and erect the sides of the carton. The groove 16, which is in the cam driven by a chain 11 running over the sprockets 10, 14, has two 60 degree straight sectors 16a, 16b, which hold the ram at the end of its inward stroke for a sufficient time to enable hinged folding plates 30 to crease two opposite side margins of the carton blank over the trailing edges of the ram as well as breaking the extreme ends of the creases over blocks, (not shown), set on the ram 19. A cam track 8 in the flywheel 5 is engaged by a follower 36 on a lever 35 accordingly oscillated back and forth and connected through a rod 34, rack and pinion mechanism 25, 26 and linked shafts 29, 31 to the hinged folding plates 30. Stop plates (54), Fig. 2a (not shown), the movements of which are controlled by a finger 57, a shaft 56, a rod 55, an arm 45, a roller 43 and a cam track 41, hold the carton in place during the forming operation. The ram 19 is then withdrawn and held in position by the delay cam 16 until the folding plates 30 have turned through 180 degrees from their initial position to fold the side margins flat against the carton sides. A pair of bars (58), Fig. 2a (not shown), controlled by mechanism similar to that which controls the plates (54), having a small lateral movement engage the sides of each formed carton and displace alternate cartons in opposite directions thus enabling them, after sliding down the delivery table 33, to be nested at a slight angle one within another. The die 2 and folding plates 30 may be replaced by dies, &o. of different size and the operating mechanism as well as its timing may be correspondingly adjusted. The magazine 3 can be raised or lowered and has laterally adjustable sides for different sized carton blanks, the presence of which in the magazine operates a microswitch to start the motor 32.