Patent GB-1278387-A (GB)
Title: Apparatus for packing articles in containers
IPC: B65G57/04
Filed: 1970-11-23
Abstract: 1278387 Packing articles in containers HAMAC-HANSELLA GmbH 23 Nov l97 [16 Jan 1970] 55585/70 Heading B8C Apparatus for conveying articles such as packed bags b, successively to, and depositing them into, storage bins comprises a conveyer 74 for transporting the bags b to a support member 45 for receiving the packages and depositing them into a bin b, the support member 45 being mounted on a carriage 29 which is movable longitudinally and transversely by separate drive motors 24 and 41 respectively above the open top of the bin. As shown, a bin a is located on an endless conveyer belt 11 below a cantilever frame structure 12, 13 carried by a main frame 10, the carriage 29 being mounted by rollers 28, 28 on rails 26, 27 on another carriage 16 which is mounted by rollers 17, 17 on rails 14, 15, which extend between the side walls 12, 13 of the cantilever structure, for reciprocal travel in the longitudinal direction parallel to the conveyer 11. A drive chain 20, which passes round guide pulleys 21, 22 and the drive pulley 23 of the motor 24 for driving the carriage 16, is connected to an arm 18 which projects from the carriage 16 and carries guide rollers 19, 19 which engage the vertical leg of the rail 15. A guide rail 30, engaged by a pair of rollers 31, 31 on an arm 32 which projects upwardly from the carriage 29 to impart transverse movement to the latter, is connected, at each of its ends, to | the lower runs of each of two endless drive chains 33, 34 which are trained respectively round pulleys 35, 36 and 37, 38. The chain 34 also passes round the drive pulley 40 of the motor 41, the guide pulleys 35, 37 being interconnected by a shaft 42. The support member 45 comprises an inverted U-shaped frame which accommodates a suction cup 67 supported by the rod 66 of a cylinder unit 65 mounted on the carriage 29. A chamber 62 in the member 45, open on one side for receiving a package b from the conveyer 74, is formed in the member 45 by a pair of flaps 52, 53 which are pivotable towards, or away from, each other by cylinder units 56, 57 to open, or close, the lower face of the chamber 62, two adjustable side wall elements 58, 59, and, at right angles to the latter, two relatively adjustable abutment members 60, 61. The conveyer belt 74, driven by a motor 81 through a shaft 82 and bevel gear 83, is mounted, at one end, on a fork member 71 pivotally mounted, about a vertical axis, on the carriage 29 and, at the other end, on a fork member 76 which is pivoted about a vertical axis on a bearing block 77 displaceable along guide rods 78. Packages b are successively received from the conveyer 74 into the chamber 62, the motors 24, 41 being appropriately energized to regulate the position of the member 45 for depositing the packages b in stacked rows in the container a. The packages b can also be deposited in patterns by appropriately employing a cylinder unit 47, 46 to rotate the member 45. If the packages are not to drop in free fall from the chamber 62, the packages are held by the suction cup 67 and guided downwards into the bin a by a subsequent stroke of the rod 66 of the cylinder 65. The suction cup 67 may be replaced by a pressure plate. A counter 90 counts the packages on the conveyer 74 and delivers a working signal to the cylinders 56, 57 for the flaps 52, 53. A deflector 88 on the conveyer 74 can be pivoted by a cylinder 87 so that the packages come to lie side-by-side in the receiving chamber 62. Control apparatus could be controlled by punch cards.