GB979916A - Carton handling apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

979,916. Setting up collapsed cartons. FMC CORPORATION. April 19, 1963 [May 7, 1962], No. 15459/63. Heading B8C. Blank cartons are unloaded singly from a stack S by three suction cups 59 mounted on a suction bracket 58 and simultaneously opened to form a tube and deposited on a conveyer 14 on which they are rigidly held in the open rectangular tube form to be carried away ready for filling. Pivotal motion of a carrier plate 52 imparts an arcuate motion to another attached shaft, its housing 54 and the attached suction cup bracket 58, which is oscillated between a position overlying the conveyer 14 and a position adjacent the stack S. At the same time the carrier plate 52 moves a rod 64 to cause a bell crank 62 to pivot and rotate the housing 54 and suction cup bracket 58. The bracket is thus subjected to a compound movement due to the arcuate motion of the shaft within the housing 54 and to the independent rotation of the housing 54 so that the suction cups face the carton blank when picking it up and face downwards when the blank is released on to the conveyer. While the blank is being transferred by the suction cups a pair of fingers 71 are rotated to engage a side panel 23 of the carton and so erect the blank into a rectangular tube. A vacuum switch 91 connecting the vacuum supply to the cups is operated periodically so that when the blank is lowered above the conveyer the supply line to the cups is vented to atmosphere and the carton falls. The deposited erected blank is engaged by one of a series of lugs 98 on the conveyer chain 82 and, guided by a pair of upwardly flared members 101, 102, travels along two support members 103, 104 on to a channelsection rail 111, the horizontal upper face 112 of which frictionally engages the upper end flaps of the carton while the vertical surface 113 serves as a back stop for articles to be inserted into the carton. A rounded edge 116 guides the lower end flap into a slot 118 formed between the rail 111 and a flange 116. The other end of the carton is prepared for filling at a filling station 16 with its lower end flap travelling below the support shelf 114 and the upper flap and tabs travelling along the top face of the shelf 114 so that articles may be slid from the shelf into the carton. The snug fit of the carton against the described parts of the rail 111, the shelf 114 and pushing lug 98 ensure that a true rectangular form is maintained. The suction cups comprise a thick body portion with a thin annular flange around the outer circumference of the body which is bent against the carton panel when the vacuum is applied, the body portion not deforming to any extent. The flange diameter is sufficiently large so that a small applied pressure flattens the flange for a good seal and supplies a relatively large gripping force.