Patent GB-1351361-A (GB)
Title: Packaging machines
IPC: B65B61/28
Filed: 1971-07-05
Abstract: 1351361 Packaging machine UNION CARBIDE CORP 5 July 1971 [6 July 1970] 31367/71 Heading B8C A machine, for packaging one or more articles, such as flashlight batteries 20, in a pouch 20, Fig. 14, formed by a strip of thin heat shrinkable film folded upon itself and heat sealed to a header board 26 to form an open-ended tube, comprises means to index a multi-station indexing horn assembly 30, having at least one article receiving horn 274, adjacent means 34 for supplying a package load of articles, means for indexing a multi-station indexing mandrel assembly, 32 having at least one mandrel arm 126 extending therefrom, from a pouch supply magazine 40, 46, for receiving a pouch, to a pouch transfer station 150 the horn assembly 30 and the mandrel assembly 32 being arranged so that the said horn 274 and the said mandrel arm 126 are transversely aligned when located at the transfer station 150. Transfer means 314 is also provided at the pouch transfer station 140 for transferring a pouch from the mandrel arm to the horn containing the articles to be packaged. As shown, a row of flat pouches 22, having V- notches in opposite ends of their header boards 26 engaged in guide rods 38, are urged forward by pressure pads 46, 48, which are rotatable by bars 42, 44 into and out of operative position, toward a shear assembly 50 which has a reciproeatable blade 52 and a vacuum pad, not shown, for successively delivering the pouches to a shuttle carriage 54. The latter, Fig. 2, has gripper bars (94, 96) for clamping the head board of a pouch and vacuum shoes 98, 100, the latter, during a transfer motion of the shuttle carriage 54 to straddle a corresponding mandrel arm 126, being cammed outwardly to slightly open the film loop 24 of the pouch so that the pouch can be slid over a pair of expandible mandrel plates 144, 146 while the latter are in their contracted position, Fig. 7. The pouch header board 26 is received in a slot 142 which has spring-loaded discs (149), Fig. 4 (not shown), projecting therein and which is formed between a pair of parallel bars 138, 140 on the mandrel arm 126. The mandrel assembly 32 comprises a hub 110, Fig. 5, which is driven by an indexer 124 through a clutch 122 and which carries eight identical mandrels 126 the plates 144, 146 of which are carried by a pair of pivoted supports 128, 130 the lower ends of which are urged by a spring 136 into contact with a cam complex 134 to move them from an expanded position, Fig. 6, to a contracted position, Fig. 7. While the mandrel assembly 32 is indexed clockwise toward the pouch transfer station 150 the plates 144, 146 of the mandrel arm 126 are spread apart by the cam complex 134 to expand the pouch, a crease being removed from the bottom of the pouch by a heater (160), Fig. 4, not shown. Batteries 20 are moved along a conveyer 164 past a star wheel and ratchet metering device 166, 170, Fig. 8, which selects the required number, in this case four, batteries to proceed forward and be contained between transversely movable guide plates 200, 201 where they are individually rotated at orientation stations 182, 184, 186, 188 which work in conjunction with four photo-electric cells 252 to make all of the labels on the selected batteries face in the same direction. A battery transfer shuttle 254, Fig. 1, slidably mounted on rails 256, 258 and including a pair of cam-operated, reciprocatable, rubberfaced, gripper jaws 260, transfers the selected batteries from the orientation station to a position above a corresponding horn 274 of the indexing horn assembly 274. The latter comprises a hub 276 which supports eight identical horns 274 and which is rotated by an indexer (290) Fig. 13 (not shown), through asafety clutch (288). Each horn 274 comprises two parallel bars 296, 298 having a header board slot therebetween, and a support trough 302 which has suction holes in its base which communicate with a V-shaped vacuum channel 310, Fig. 14, which is valve-controlled so that vacuum can be applied to hold the batteries in position on the trough 302. When the horn is loaded it is indexed into alignment with the pouch carrying mandrel 126 at the pouch transfer station 140 where a carriage 314 is located. The latter, which includes a pair of reciprocatable gripper bars 316 for grasping the header board held by the parallel bars 138, 140 of the mandrel and a pair of reciprocatable vacuum bars 318 for grasping the pouch loop surrounding the mandrel plates 144, 146, transfers the pouch to the aligned horn 274 the pouch header board entering the receiver slot 300 between the bars 296, 298 and the pouch loop straddling the trough 302. The carriage 314 then releases the pouch and header board so that the pouch is entirely supported by the bars 196, 198. The carriage 314 is retracted and the horn assembly is then indexed forward until the loaded horn arrives at a package removal station where a transfer shuttle 322, which is slidable on the rails 56, 60 transfers the loaded pouch from the horn assembly to a conveyer belt 325 which leads to a heat shrink tunnel, not shown. The transfer shuttle 322 includes reciprocatable gripper bars 326, 328 for gripping respectively the header board and the packed loop of the pouch. The machine can be adapted to form more than one pack during each indexing cycle.