Patent GB-911682-A (GB)
Title: Article caser apparatus
IPC: B65B21/16
Filed: 1960-08-12
Abstract: 911,682. Article caser apparatus. ATKRON Inc. Aug. 12, I960 [Oct. 15, 1959], No. 27957/60. Class 94(1). Apparatus for packing bottles &c. into cases comprises a sub-frame having a bottle grid, and a conveyer for moving the bottles in a plurality of parallel rows, the upstream end of which is pivotally mounted on a case supporting frame so that the bottle grid may move substantially vertically towards the frame for case filling action and then move back to its original position. Case moving means. The cases 4 are carried by an endless conveyer 6 towards a support plate 7, Figs. 2 and 3, where they abut against a control yoke 6a which when raised allows the cases to be passed by means of an endless belt 7a co-operating with idler rollers 7b on to the plate 7. They are pushed by cross-bars 9 mounted on chains 8 on to a case support plate 10. The plate 10 is movable vertically to present each case for filling by means of linkage 75, 76, 76a connecting it to the sub-frame 3. The filled cases are removed from the apparatus by a conveyer 301. Article feeding means. The sub-frame 3 pivoted to brackets 17, Figs. 1, 2, 3, is supported by means of rollers 19, which engage with cams 18 on a shaft 14, and further connected by spring control bars 29. The sub-frame has a conveyer 24 for feeding streams of bottles 5 to the grid 33. It is divided by partitions 21 adjustably secured to supports 22, into a variable number of guide channels. The conveyer is driven by a motor 25 selectively through a magnetic clutch 128 for initial fast bottle movement and through a clutch 28b when the bottle grid is full and a slow drive is required. The bottles are fed by the conveyer 24 into the grid 33, Figs. 5 and 6. As each stream of bottles fills up a channel in the grid, the first bottle in each stream strikes a contact arm 88, Figs. 6 and 7, to move a stud 85 out of contact with plate 83. When the last stud is moved, the plate 83 is lowered with it to permit closing of the switch 81. This permits continued operation of the main drive with rotation of the cams 18 and lowering of the sub-frame 3 towards the frame 2. As the sub-frame is lowered arms 44 of bell crank levers 44, 144 break contact with stop members 145 fixed on each side of the frame 2, Fig. 2, this allows rods 43 pivoted about their upstream-end, to be lowered under the action of a spring to clamp by means of clamp heads 49 a row of bottles on a plate Z, bridging the gap between the conveyer 24 and the grid, to prevent any further bottles entering the grid. The contact arms 88 are reset and the clamping heads raised when the sub-frame rises again. Case filling grid. A bottle grid is carried by rollers 34 on plates 35, Figs. 5 and 6, secured to the subframe. The bottles are supported in the grid by retainer bars 61, Figs. 5 and 13, secured to end strips 62 and moved by bell crank lever 65, 63 and lever 63 to the bottle supporting position shown in Fig. 13, against the action of spring 67 when the lever 65 contacts a fixed stop when the sub-frame is raised. On lowering to the sub-frame, the grid 33 moves slightly downstream under the action of levers 58. The levers 58 are moved by cam followers 54 in cam slots 51 in plates 52 fixed on the sub-frame. A resilient roller 42 against which the bottle streams abut also moves downstream relative to the grid, Fig. 6. These movements separate the bottles in the grid from those on the conveyer 24. Also on initial downward movement of the sub-frame, the bottles in each stream in the grid, originally abutting against one another as shown in Fig. 16, are separated into two sections by lateral movement of spacer arms 164 operatively connected to lever 65, the final positioning of the bottles being achieved by means of V shaped notches 39b, Fig. 13, as they drop into the case. The bars 61 progressively move to one side as the sub-frame is lowered and finally the bottles drop through the grid guided by means of spring fingers 41 into a case 4 which is raised on the case support 10 as previously described. Article acceleration means. Conveyer 24 is moving at full speed while the grid is filling with bottles and then drops to a lower speed when the grid is full. To assist in the acceleration of the bottles when the empty grid is to be refilled a plurality of endless vertically adjustable conveyer belts 200 is provided, the belts engaging the tops of the bottles, Figs. 1 and 2. The case filling grid assembly can be removed and replaced by a grid with a different mesh. Automatic controls. A control shaft 97 performs one revolution for each cace filling cycle and carries cams 99-102 which open normally closed switches 103-106 once per revolution. Switches 16, 96, Figs. 2, 3, and a switch 114 (not shown), carried by the yoke 6a, operated by the passage of bottles and cases are in circuit with the switches 103-106. Should no case or bottle be present to operate their respective switches when the switches operated by the cams are open, bottle or case feed or the entire mechanism is stopped and signal lights switched on.