US2720069A - Wrapping machines - Google Patents

Description

4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed April 29, 1952 max/115w Oct. 11, 1955 1.. BROOK WRAPPING MACHINES 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed April 29, 1952 INVENTOR Oct. 11, 1955 L. BROOK 2,720,069

WRAPPING MACHINES I VEIVTO za MW; Q 2am HTTU/Q/VEYb Oct. 11, 1955 L.-BROOK WRAPPING MACHINES 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed April 29, 1952 n VENTOR 5 swa 40/1; M vzaazrm United States Patent (9 WRAPPING MACHINES Leonard Brook, Beeston, Leeds, England, assignor to The Forgrove Machinery Company Limited, Leeds, Yorkshire, England, a company of Great Britain Application April 29, 1952, Serial No. 284,996

6 Claims. (Cl. 53-126) This invention relates to bunch wrapping machines of the type in which articles are lifted in succession by a lifting plunger from a feed disc, each carrying a wrapper with it, through a hole, preferably lined with an annular brush, and into grippers carried by an intermittently rotating carrier head. The passage of the article through the hole drapes the wrapper around it in the form of a cup open at its lower end and a first folder operates, after the article has been received by the grippers and the lifting plunger has retired, to fold the downwardly depending wing of wrapper at one side of the article against the base thereof. The carrier head then moves, carrying the article over a fixed folder plate which folds the rest of the depending portion of the wrapper against the base of the article.

It is customary in such machines to use wrappers of waxed paper or other heat sealing material and to provide a heater which is brought into contact with the base of the article to heat seal the pleats of wrapper folded against the base. It is necessary thereafter to cool the heated portions of the wrapper and provision has been made, in a bunch Wrapping machine in which the articles are discharged from the carrier head at a station immediately following the sealing station, for a cooling pad to be moved into contact with the base of the article as it is discharged from the carrier head on to a travelling belt located slightly below the carrier head. This is not wholly satisfactory because the pleats of the wrapper have not been cooled sufliciently by the time they arrive at the discharge station to obviate all risk of disturbance of the pleats. Moreover, it is in conflict with the recognised practice that, in wrapping machines required to handle articles of irregular shape, the hold of the carrier head or other grippers on the article should be maintained until wrapping is completed.

According to the invention, wrapping of the articles is completed on the carrier head, which is arranged to move the articles in succession to a heating station and then to a cooling station on their way from the station at which they are loaded into the carrier head to the station at which they are discharged from the carrier head, and the machine includes a heater at the heating station and a cooling pad at the cooling station which are raised simultaneously into contact with the bases of the articles at their respectively stations by mechanism deriving movement from a single cam. Preferably, top pressers, deriving movement from the same cam, are brought into contact with the upper faces of the articles at the heating and cooling stations simultaneously with the movement of the heater and cooling pad against their bases. This ensures eflective wrapping and the formation of an effective heat seal.

By completing the Wrapping on the carrier head, I ensure that the pleats will have cooled suiiiciently by the time the article reaches the discharge station to obviate any risk of disturbance of the pleats during discharge of the article, and I prefer to arrange for the article to be brought by the carrier head to two successive ice cooling stations, at each of which a cooling pad is pressed against the base of the article.

One embodiment of bunch wrapping machine for confectionery according to the invention will now be described in detail, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of the carrier head and of the associated heating and cooling mechanism,

Fig. 2 is a section on the line IIII in Fig. 1, but with the carrier head omitted,

Fig. 3 is a section on the line III-III in Fig. 2,

Fig. 4 is a view of part of the mechanism shown in Fig. 3, but with the trip mechanism engaged, and

Fig. 5 is a side view of the heater and associated mechanism.

Like reference characters designate like parts throughout the figures.

The machine is of the construction described in U. S. application Serial No. 283,332, now Patent No. 2,676,441, and comprises a carrier head 10, carrying six pairs of grippers 11. The grippers 11 are pivotally mounted on the carrier head and are urged to closed position by springs 12. The carrier head 10 is suspended, by a tubular shaft 13, from a top gear box, not shown, but supported by a pillar 14 (Figs. 1 and 2) extending upwardly from the machine frame 15. A Geneva mechanism in the top gear box imparts intermittent rotation to the tubular shaft 13 to move the grippers 11 successively to stations A, B, C, D, E and P (Fig. 1).

At the loading station A a tablet 16 to be wrapped and a Wrapper, of waxed paper or other heat sealing material, are lifted by a cooperating lifting plunger and top plunger through a brush and into the grippers 11 dwelling at station A, this mechanism being described in U. S. application Serial No. 283,332, new Patent No, 2,676,441. The wrapper is thus draped partly around the tablet. A gripper opening cam 17 coacts with followers 18 associated with the grippers 11 and maintains the grippers at station A open while the tablet is being lifted to position between them. The cam 17 is then rocked in relation to the shaft 13, by a link 19 actuated by a cam, as described in U. S. application Serial No. 283,334, now Patent No. 2,643,500, to cause the grippers to close on the tablet. A shaft 20, nested within the shaft 17, is then rocked by another cam to cause a first folder to move across the base of the tablet held by a gripper at station A, to fold a part of the depending wrapper against the base of the tablet. The carrier head 10 then moves to carry the tablet to station B. During this movement the base of the tablet is moved over a fixed folder plate which folds the remaining depending portion of the wrapper against the base. Station B is an idle station, but further rotation of the carrier head 10 brings the tablet in succession to stations C, D and E and finally to a discharge station F. During its passage to stations C, D and E the base of the tablet is traversed along a stationary plate 21.

At station C, a heater 22 (see also Fig. 5) is lifted against the base of the tablet to heat seal the pleats formed in the wrapper folded against said base, and at the same time a top presser 23 (Fig. l) is pressed against the top of the tablet. At station D, a cooling pad 24 is lifted against the base of the tablet and a top presser 25 is lowered into contact with its top surface. At station E, a cooling pad 26 is raised into contact with the base of the tablet. The gripper jaws dwelling at stations C, D and E are omitted from Fig. l for clarity. When the tablet reaches the discharge station F, the grippers 11 are opened by the cam 17 and a cam operated ejector 27 ejects the wrapped tablet into a discharge chute, not shown. If desired a top presser can be added at the second cooling station E.

PatentedO'ct. 11, 1955' Movement is imparted to the heating and cooling mechanisms at stations C, D and E by the mechanism now to be described. This mechanism is shown, in Figs. 1, 2, 3 and 5, in the position which it occupies when the heating and cooling members have been moved to their operative positions.

A cam 28, Fig. 3, in a bottom gear box, coacts with a follower 29 on a lever 30, pivotally mounted at 31 and formed at its upper end with gear teeth 32. The gear teeth 32 mesh with a quadrant 33 fixed to a spindle 34. Fixed to the spindle 34 is an arm 35, and loose on the spindle 34 is an arm 36 pivoted, at 37, to a link 38. A compression spring 39, in a curved pocket between the arms 35, 36, serves to drive the arm 36 from the arm 35 when the latter is rocked anti-clockwise, to the position shown in Fig. 3. On the return, or clockwise, stroke of the arm 35, the arm 36 is returned positively by a lug 40 on the arm 35 which coacts with a screw 41 projecting from the arm 36. The link 38 serves, as later described, to actuate the heating and cooling mechanism, and the spring 39 drives the link 38 in the direction to move the heater 22 towards the article at the heating station C and can yield in the event of obstruction to movement of the heater 22 or other parts operated by the link 38.

The link 38 is connected by a pin 43 to an arm 42 fixed to a shaft 44. To the shaft 44 is fixed an arm 46 carrymg the top presser 25 at the first cooling station D, a spring 47 being disposed between the top presser 25 and the arm 46. Movement of the link 38 to the left as seen in Fig. 3, rocks the shaft 44 clockwise to lower the top presser 25 to the position shown.

The top presser 23 at the heating station C (Fig. 1) is carried by an arm 48 fixed to a spindle 49, carrying an arm 50 (see also Fig. 2) connected, by a link 51, to an arm 52 fixed to the shaft 44. When therefore the shaft '44 is rocked clockwise, as seen in Fig. 3, to lower the top presser 25 it also lowers the top presser 23.

The bottom cooler pads 24, 26 receive a considerably smaller movement than the top pressers 23, 25 and this movement is imparted to them through a linkage shown most clearly in Fig. 3. An arm 53 fixed to the shaft 44 is connected by a pin 54 to an arm 56 pivoted at to the machine frame and joined, by a pin 57 to a link 58 coupled, by a pin 59, to an arm 60 fixed to a shaft 61. The cooler pad 26 at the second cooling station E is mounted on an arm 62 fixed to the shaft 61. Clockwise movement of the shaft 44, as seen in Fig. 3, is thus effective torock the shaft 61 counter-clockwise and therefore to raise the cooler pad 26 to the position shown in Fig. 3.

The cooler pad 24 at the first cooling station D is carried by an arm 63, mounted to turn on a centre 64 and fixed to an arm 65 pivoted, by a pin 66, to a link 67 pivoted at its other end by a pin 159 (Fig. l) to an arm 160 fixed to the shaft 61. The cooler pad 24 will therefore move up with the cooler pad 26.

As shown in Fig. 5, the heater 22 is supported by a bracket 68 containing twin electrically heated cartridges 45 and pivoted by a pin 69 to an upstanding bracket 70 on the machine frame. A spring 71 disposed between the brackets 68, 70 tends to lift the heater 22 to the position shown in Fig. 5. The bracket 68 carries a screw 72 which coacts with a tappet 73 projecting downwardly from an arm 74 fixed to the end of the shaft 61 (see Fig. 1). When the shaft 61 rocks anti-clockwise, to the positron shown in Fig. 3, to raise the cooler pads 24, 26 the tappet 73 is lifted, allowing the spring 71 to lift the heater 22 to the operative position shown in Fig. 5. On clockwise movement of the shaft 61 to lower the cooler pads 24, 26 the tappet 73 depresses the screw 72, so moving the heater 22 away from the base of the tablet at the heating station C.

The machine includes an electrically controlled trip mechanism, described more fully in U. S. application Serial No. 284,995, now Patent No. 2,639,568, which serves in the event of current being cut off from an electric motor driving the machine, to prevent the arm 36 (Fig. 3) from moving sufficiently to bring the heater 22 into contact with the base of the tablet at the heating station C.

A solenoid 75 is connected in parallel with the motor across the motor supply terminals and its armature 76 is connected to a bell crank lever 77 pivotally mounted at 78. When the machine is running the solenoid is energised and the bell crank 77 is held in a position, shown in Fig. 3, in which a catch piece 79 on its free end is clear of a trip piece 80 fixed to the arm 36. As soon as the current supply to the motor is interrupted, the solenoid is tie-energised and the bell crank 77 is rocked by a spring 81 to the position shown in Fig. 4. The machine will always overrun by at least one cycle after the stop button has been pressed, and this will ensure that the catch piece 79 can engage a notch 82 in the trip piece 80, as shown in Fig. 4, and so prevent the arm 36 from following the movement imparted to the arm 35. The heater 22 is thus prevented from rising to its operative position.

What I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a bunch wrapping machine, the combination with a carrier head mounted to rotate on a vertical axis and carrying a plurality of pairs of grippers for receiving in succession at a loading station articles, each with a wrapper draped around it in the form of a cup open at its lower end, of folding means for folding the dependent pleats of wrapper against the bases of the articles, means for imparting intermittent rotation to said carrier head to bring the wrapped articles in succession to a heating station, a heater at said heating station, a first cooling station, a second cooling station and a discharge station, a pair of cooling pads one located at each cooling station, a pair of top pressers, one located at the heating station and the other at the first cooling station, a cam and mechanism operable by said cam, while said carrier head is dwelling, for simultaneously moving said heater and said cooling pads upwards and said top pressers downwards into contact with the articles at their respective stations and thereafter retracting said heater, said cooling pads and said top pressers from said articles.

2. In a bunch wrapping machine, the combination with a carrier head mounted to rotate on a vertical axis and carrying a plurality of pairs of grippers for receiving in succession at a loading station articles, each with a wrapper draped around it in the form of a cup open at its lower end, of folding means for folding the dependent pleats of wrapper against the bases of the articles, means for imparting intermittent rotation to said carrier head to bring the wrapped articles in succession to a heating station, a cooling station and a discharge station, a heater at the heating station, a cooling pad at the cooling station, a cam, a shaft, a linkage coupling said shaft to said cooling pad, mechanism operable by said cam, while said carrier head is dwelling to rock said shaft to and fro and thereby through said linkage to move said cooling pad into and out of contact with the base of the article at the cooling station, a spring urging said heater into position to contact the base of the article at the heating station, and a tappet on said shaft for normally retaining the heater in inoperative position, said tappet freeing the heater for movement to operative position when said shaft is rocked.

3. In an electrically driven bunch wrapping machine, a combination as claimed in claim 2, comprising a yielding connection for imparting rocking movement to said shaft from said cam, and a normally ineffective electrically controlled trip mechanism arranged, on stoppage of the machine, to intercept said shaft and retain said tappet in position to hold said heater in inoperative position.

4. In a bunch wrapping machine, the combination with a carrier head mounted to rotate on a vertical axis and carrying a plurality of pairs of grippers for receiving in succession at a loading station articles, each with a wrapper draped around it in the form of a cup open at its lower end, of folding means for folding the dependent pleats of wrapper against the bases of the articles, means for imparting intermittent rotation to said carrier head to bring the wrapped articles in succession to a heating station, a cooling station and a discharge station, a heater at the heating station, a cooling pad at the cooling station, a cam, and mechanism operable by said cam, while said carrier head is dwelling, for moving said heater and cooling pad simultaneously into contact with the bases of the articles at their respective stations and thereafter lowering said heater and cooling pad to inoperative positions, said cam-operated mechanism comprising a pair of arms mounted to turn on a common center, means actuated by the cam for imparting positive rocking movement to one of said arms, an operative connection between the other arm and the heater and cooling pad which is effective on rocking movement of said other arm, to cause movement of the heater and cooling pad to and from operative position, a spring connecting said arms and constituting a driving connection therebetween for moving the heater and cooling pad to operative position and coacting abutments on the arms constituting a driving connection between them for moving the heater and cooling pad to inoperative position.

5. In a bunch wrapping machine, the combination with a carrier head mounted to rotate on a vertical axis and carrying a plurality of pairs of grippers for receiving in succession at a loading station articles, each with a wrapper draped around it in the form of a cup open at its lower end, of folding means for folding the dependent pleats of Wrapper against the bases of the articles, means for imparting intermittent rotation to said carrier head to bring the wrapped articles in succession to a heating station, a cooling station and a discharge station, a heater at the heating station, a cooling pad at the cooling station, a pair of top pressers, one located at the heating station and the other located at the cooling station, a cam, and mechanism operable by said cam, while said carrier head is dwelling, for simultaneously moving said heater and said cooling pad upwards and said top pressers downwards into contact with the articles at their respective stations and thereafter retracting said heater, said cooling pad and said top pressers from said articles, said cam operated mechanism comprising a first shaft, an arm fixed to said shaft carrying the top presser at the cooling station, a further arm on said shaft for imparting movement to the top presser at the heating: station, means operable by the cam for rocking said shaft to and fro, a second shaft linked to and arranged to rock with said first shaft, a tappet on said second shaft for normally retaining the heater in inoperative position, said heater being movable by spring action into operative position on rocking of said second shaft, a third shaft linked to and arranged to rock with said second shaft and an arm fixed to said third shaft and carrying the cooling pad.

6. In a bunch wrapping machine, the combination -with a carrier head mounted to rotate on a vertical axis and carrying a plurality of pairs of grippers for receiving in succession at a loading station articles, each with a Wrapper draped around it in the form of a cup open at its lower end, of folding means for folding the dependent pleats of wrapper against the bases of the articles, means for imparting intermittent rotation to said carrier head to bring the wrapped articles in succession to a heating station, a cooling station and a discharge station, a heater at the heating station, a cooling pad at the cooling station, a pair of unheated top pressers, one located at the heating station and the other located at the cooling station, a cam, and mechanism operable by said cam, while said carrier head is dwelling, for simultaneously moving said heater and said cooling pad upwards and said top pressers downwards into contact with the articles at their respective stations and thereafter retracting said heater, said cooling pad and said top pressers from said articles.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,217,694 Bracy Feb. 27, 1917 1,590,208 Rundell June 29, 1926 1,626,378 Armstrong Apr. 26, 1927 2,196,666 Moore Apr. 9, 1940 2,332,096 McGinley Oct. 19, 1943 2,357,786 Wells Sept. 5, 1944

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