Patent GB-1323285-A (GB)
Title: Package manipulating apparatus
IPC: B65G57/28
Filed: 1972-05-02
Abstract: 1323285 Forming packages in stacks ROTHMANS OF PALL MALL CANADA Ltd 2 May 1972 [10 May 1971 26 Jan 1972] 20275/72 Heading B8C Packages such as cigarette packets 34, having faces 38, 40 spaced by end walls 42, 44 and side walls, not shown, are fed end-to-end in a stream 32 by gravity, or other force, to descend, one at a time, into a corresponding recess formed by one of a plurality of pairs of surfaces 14, 16 which form a number of projections 18 around a freely rotatable wheel 10, the force of the packets 34 falling into their respective pockets 14, 16 rotating the wheel 10 to displace successively the packets laterally in face-to-face stacking relationship 48 on a stacking surface 46. The packets 48 are pushed along the plate 46 by each projection 18 to provide a gap to receive the next package before the respective projection passes through a recess in the end of the plate 46, the face-to-face stacking 48 continuing until the force applied by the stream 32 is insufficient to drive the wheel 10. The parameters which are variable in connection with the wheel 10 either separately or, in combination, are the number of pairs of surfaces 14, 16, the angular spacing of the pairs of surfaces 14, 16, the angle between the pairs of surfaces 14, 16, and the geometric relationship of the surfaces 14, 16 to each other and to the wheel 10. The width of the latter may vary up to just below the width of a package and the angle of the shoot 32, and the surface 46, in relation to the wheel 10 may both be varied. A plurality of shoots 32, wheels 16, and stacking surfaces 46 may work side-byside. In a modification, Fig. 7, each projection 116 on the wheel 110, Fig. 4, is formed by sides 118, 124, 122 and 120 each surface 122 engaging, in turn, the leading package in a stream of packages 314 urged along a supporting surface 316 before the package is subsequently pushed into the advancing recess formed by the corresponding walls 124, 118, 120. The wheel 110 is thus rotated clockwise until the associated projection 116 passes through a slot 334a in the rear upper wall 322 of a shoot 318 to deposit the respective package on top of a stack of packages 326 in the shoot 318 while the succeeding package is engaging the next surface 122 to repeat the operation. The number of projections, the orientations of the sides 120, 122, 118, 116a and the geometric relationship between the sides and to the circle 114 may be varied. The wheel 110 may be shaped to provide thicker peripheral portions wherein the packages are received, and a camming surface, not shown, can be provided to prevent the lead package 328 riding up the respective surface 122. The feed 316 may be orientated at an angle to the horizontal and the apparatus may be modified to realign a stream of horizontal end-to-end packages as a vertical upwardly projecting stack of packages. The stack 318 may be used to feed a wrapping apparatus. In another arrangement employing the wheel 110, Fig. 4, a horizontal end-to-end aligned stream (210) of packages on a surface (212), Fig. 5, not shown, is displaced to form a horizontal face-to-face stack (216) on a surface (218) where a heat sealer (230) is provided. The degree of orientation of the packages can be varied by changing the relative positions of the surfaces (212) and (218).