Patent GB-1304471-A (GB)
Inventor: KING P
IPC: B31B50/32
Filed: 1971-01-05
Abstract: 1304471 Forming, filling, and sealing gabletop plastics coated paperboard containers HASKON Inc 5 Jan 1971 [7 Jan 1970] 443/71 Heading B8C A machine 60 for setting up, forming, filling and sealing gable-top, plastics-coated, paperboard containers, Fig. 26, and 27-31 not shown, comprises a supporting structure 66, a spindle 70 which is journalled in the structure to rotate about a horizontal axis 74, carries a plurality of radially-extending mandrels 80 for receiving and holding a container blank in an open position, and is rotatable by means with an indexing motion for sequential registration with a plurality of machine stations A-H. The latter include at A, Fig. 2, container blank erecting means 102, Fig. 6, for erecting a tubular blank into open-ended tubular form and for feeding the blank on to a mandrel; at B- to F container bottom-forming means for breaking, heating, folding, and sealing the bottom closure panels of the container on the mandrel; at G, container removing means, Figs, 13-15, located in the lower quadrant of the path of rotation of the spindle 70 for removing a bottom-formed container off the mandrel 80 in a downwardly inclined direction; and container transfer means 98, Fig. 16, for receiving the container removed from the mandrel and for gripping and pivoting the container through an angle of less than 90 degrees to an upright position. Mandrel construction.-Each mandrel 80, Fig. 4, comprises a sleeve 86 which is composed of a pair of shoulder halves 88 which are connected together by a bolt 90 which extends through a slot 84 in the arm 78 of the mandrel for longitudinal adjustment therealong to accommodate various size containers. Top closure panels 16, Fig. 26, are engageable by fingers 98, or fingers 100, according to whether the containers are of larger, or smaller, size. An end cap 92, against which the bottom flaps 14 of the container are to be creased, is secured to the outer end of the arm 78. Container erecting mechanism.-A stack of flattened containers are removed, one at a time, from the bottom of a basket 104 by a reciprocable suction manifold 118 which pulls the lowermost container downwards past a curved plate 114 to open the container and retain it between a lower retaining edge 112 and an upper retaining edge 116 on the plate 114. The opened container is pushed through an opening 108 in a support plate 106 with top panels 16 leading, on to a mandrel 80 resting at station A by means of one of the lugs 126 on an endless chain conveyer 124. Bottom panel pre-breaking means.-Bottom gusset panels 18 are bent along their fold lines by a pair of fingers 132, Fig. 7, which, under the action of a cylinder 134 operate with a scissors type action about pivots 133 and which are connected by pin and slot mechanism 137, 138 with arms 136 to move the latter in step sequence so that bars 135 on the ends of the arms 136 engage and fold the bottom closure panels 14. Heating means.-The bottom of the container is softened by gas burners 140 at stations C and D each burner 140 being of conventional type and being adjustably mounted toward, or away from, the mandrel to accommodate containers of different length. Sealing and heating the bottom panels.-As a container leaves the station D it passes folding rails 142, 144 which acts to tuck in bottom closure panel 20<SP>1</SP> before the container passes to the first of two identical succeeding sealing and heating units 148, 149 at stations E and F. The pressure sealing means at each station includes a press plate 148 having internal passages connected to a cooling water conduit 150 and reciprocable toward and away from the mandrel end cap 92 by a cylinder 149. Top panel breaking mechanism.-Breaking fingers 168, pivoted on a pair of identical assemblies 152, 154 longitudinally adjustable along corresponding guide rails 156, 156, are pivoted inwardly to break the top panels 16 about fold lines 52 as the press plate 148 moves towards the end cap 92, the press plate transferring movement by means of a rod 174 and pivot block 177. Container discharge mechanism.-At station G a bottom-formed container is moved off the mandrel by a pair of opposed lugs (186) on a pair of endless chains (180, 180),each of which is mounted on a plate (184) apertured at (185) to permit the passage of the mandrel (80), Fig. 14 not shown. The mechanism passes the bottom-formed container to a shoot (192) which releasably secured to a supporting structure (66) by a locking wheel (194) so that shoots of varying width can be fitted. The mandrel is finally indexed to a machine cooling station H where the cap 92 of the mandrel is cooled. Container transfer mechanism.-A suction cup transfer arm 200 is longitudinally adjustable in a block 206 which is pivoted at 213, Fig. 16, to a block 212 secured to the frame 66 and is movable in an arc by a hydraulic cylinder 214 from an inclined position to receive a container from the shoot (192) to an upright position for feeding through the machine filling mechanism. The container can be rotated during the movement of the arm 200 by afixing a follower arm 216 to the arm 200 and mounting a removable pin 220 and a fixed post 218 to the arm 216, and connecting a biasing spring 222 between a bracket 226 on the block 206. The follower arm 216 cooperates with a cam rod 226 to rotate the arm 200 as it moves in an arc. Feeding mechanism.-Upright containers are moved through a liquid filling unit 240 by means of a pair of endless chain assemblies 290, 292, Fig. 22, arranged on either side of the required path of movement of the containers through the filling unit 240, each chain assembly including upper and lower endless chains 294, 296 which are guided in rails 306 and between which are mounted container engaging blocks 310 which are in transverse registration. Each block 310 is formed with two sets of corners along each side so that four corresponding corners on four adjacent blocks 310 can embrace the corners of a container, the two sets of corners being provided to accommodate containers of different sizes. The chain assemblies 290, 292 are movable toward and away from each other by rotatably adjusting rods (335, 350) Fig. 21 not shown, to provide a proper distance between the assemblies according to the size of the containers. A pair of spring-loaded arms 322, each pivotally mounted to a plate 324 affixed to the top of an idler shaft 304, momentarily arrest the movement of a container to square up the side walls of the container as it enters the chain assemblies 290, 292. A flipper bar 404 is movable by a hydraulic cylinder (408) to push the container into extensions 402 on the arms 322. Container filling mechanism.-A pair of rods 234, Fig. 2, support components of the filling mechanism which includes the filling unit 240 comprising a supply tank 248 and a plurality of filling stems 250 each with a dispensing valve 252 in its lower end, a heating unit 242 which has control means, not shown, and which is pivoted on one of the rods 234 so that it can be pivoted away from the containers. A pair of guide rails (244), located beneath the heater 242, Fig. 3, not shown, fold the top closure panels 16 of the containers during heating, the rails (244) being hollow to receive cooling water. Sealing means.-A plurality of sealing means 246 to permit increase of speed of operation each sealing means comprises a pair of jaws 266 which are pivotable towards each other by a hydraulic cylinder 270 acting through a mechanical linkage. Filled and sealed containers accumulate on a table 274 and when the foremost reaches a limit switch (276), Fig. 3, not shown, a pusher (278) is actuated to move the entire row, the cycle being continued up to the capacity of the table.