Patent GB-559704-A (GB)
Title: Improvements in packeting machines for cigarette booklets or like articles
IPC: B65B19/02
Filed: 1942-08-27
Abstract: 559,704. Packetine. GAMBLE. H., and HORGAN. G. D. Aug. 27, 1942, No. 12104. [Class 94 (i)] Relates to a machine for inserting flat articles, particularly booklets of cigarette papers, into shallow cartons or covers formed by pressing blanks of thin card into pockets which are carried by an endless conveyer and are moved step-by-step through the machine. According to the present invention, the conveyer runs lengthwise of the machine between two laterally spaced guide bars, and the pockets for containing the cartons are constituted partly by the guide bars and partly by platforms which are attached to the conveyer and have ledges toward their forward and rearward edges. The conveyer comprises an endless chain 1, Fig. 1, passing around sprocket wheels 2. 3. The wheel 3 is rotated by a Geneva gear composed of a crank 13 rotating at constant speed and reciprocating a bar 14 that slides through a boss 15 loose on the shaft of the wheel 3. A feather 17 on the bar 14 engages slots in a rim 16 on the wheel and turns it intermittently, the wheel being locked between movements by a detent 20 on a lever 18 rocked by a cam on the shaft of the crank 13. Platforms or formers 21 are attached to the chain at regular intervals and have undercut ledges 22, Fig. 3, at their forward and rearward ends, the spacing between the ledges being adjustable to suit the size of the cartons. The platforms 21 are carried beneath longitudinal guide strips and co-operate with them to support the cartons while they are being formed and during the filling and folding operations. The platforms Pass in succession beneath a plunger A, and in this position each receives a cut blank 24 suitable for making a carton or cover. The blank is shaped as shown in Fig. 8, and the panel a is formed with a slot b through which the cigarette papers are drawn from the finished packet. The blank is pressed into the pocket formed by the ledges 22 and the guide strips, as shown in Fig. 3, and is tucked beneath the ledges by pawls 26 which are spread laterally by the descent of the plunger. The flap portions 32 of the blank are pressed down and creased by the outer portion 31 of the plunger A. After being shaped, the cover is carried beneath a magazine 37, Fig. 1, from which it receives a booklet of cigarette papers. The booklets are carried down the magazine by an endless band conveyer, and are ejected on to a plate 38 by a reciprocating pusher 39. The upper surface of the pusher is stepped, and on its forward stroke it pushes a booklet out of the magazine, and at the same time pushes the preceding booklet off the plate 38 into the shaped cover. The booklet on the plate 38 is retained, during the backward movement of the pusher, by a reciprocating stop plate 44. A reciprocating feeler is brought into contact with the flap of each carton as it approaches the point where the booklets are inserted. If a carton be absent from a pocket 21, the movement of the feeler is not restrained and a rod is thrust forward -and prevents the backward movement of the pusher 39. The feed of the booklets is also stopped. After being filled with a booklet, the cover is conveyed to a station where it is folded and gummed by suitable mechanism. The packet is finally ejected from the platform 21 by a reciprocating pusher and is received by one of a number of holders 57, Fig. 7, secured to a rotary member 56. The first movement of this member brings the holder 57 into a vertical position, and a suction nozzle 70 on a oscillating arm 71 enters the slot in the front of the packet and on receding extracts the free edge of the first leaf or sheet. The package is then carried to a horizontal position where it is ejected from the holder 57 on to a plate 59 where the cover flap is folded and the packet is finally pressed by an oscillating plate 60.