Case packing machine

Feb. 22, 1938. W. D. KIMBALL ET AL 2,109,294

CASE PACKING MACHINE

Original Filed Feb. 7, 1934 5 Sheets-Sheet 1

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Feb. 22, 1938.

2,109,294

W. D. KIMBALL ET AL

CASE PACKING MACHINE

Original Filed Feb. 7, 1934 5 Sheets-Sheet 2

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Feb. 22, 1938. w. d. kimball et al 2,109,294

CASE PACKING MACHINE

<img file="US2109294A_D0003.tif" />

Feb. 22, 1938.

W. D. KIMBALL ET AL CASE PACKING MACHINE Original Filed Feb. 7, 1934

2,109,294

Sheets-Sheet 4

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7//27R ATTORNEYS

Feb. 22, 1938. w. d. kimball et al. 2,109,294

CASE PACKING MACHINE Original Filed Feb. 7, 1934 5 Sheets-Sheet 5

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Patented Feb. 22,1938

2,109,294

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE

2,199,294

CASE PACKING MACHINE

5y.il.ee r> Kimhail, Jackson Heights, and Cornelias L Braren, Jamaica, N. Y., assignors to Standard-Knapp Corporation, Long Island City, N. Y„ a corporation of New York

Application February 7, 1934, Serial No. 714,084

Renewed January 5, 1937

Claims. (CL 226—14)

Thi* Invention relates to machines for packing articles in cartons or other containers. It has been the trtnd in recent years to pack articles of merchandise in small containers which are freft quently wrapped in ornamental wrappers or printed with advertising matter or otherwise finished in a manner such that too much handling, particularly rubbing one package on the other, tends to deface the outer surface of the wrappers 10 and render the packages less salable. For this reason there are still many articles of merchandise which are packed In their shipping containers by hand, notwithstanding the now well recognized fact that packing machines can be 1ft operated at far less expense than Involved In the employment of hand labor.

The particular object of the present Invention Is to provide a machine for packing articles In shipping containers which is particularly de20 signed to avoid as far as possible the rubbing or other handling of the articles in a way to deface the most delicate outer wrapping or label which is now in use.

In packing machines as herein placed on the 2ft market it has been customary to pack the articles in the carton layer by layer. In such operation the succeeding layers are pushed into the carton over the underlying layers, which is, for the reasons stated above, particularly disadvantageous 30 in the handling of articles in fancy wrappers. In some machines the charge of articles Is first assembled on some form of support and the charge as a whole Inserted in the carton, but in the commercial machines of this type there is also the 35 rubbing of the artictes one on the other in assembling the several layers.

In the machine of the present application the articles are superimposed by a novel arrangement of feed belts which maintains the several 40 rows of articles out of contact with each other In bringing the rows of articles to different elevations to be ultimately arranged in multiple layers in the carton. This arrangement not only has the advantage of avoiding damage to the article, 45 but permits the machine to be operated continuously at a more rapid rate than the machines of the prior art wherein the heavily laden support for the carton or for the assembled charge of articles had to be moved one step up or down be50 tween each of the successive operations of the packing plunger.

A further object of the invention is to provide a simple and entirely automatic package feeding and arranging mechanism for controlling the 55 feed of articles to the machine whereby the ma chine is designed to receive articles from a number of different chutes, conveyors or other “lines” leading from the labeling and wrapping machine whlc’ per -med the last operation in the actual manufacture of the articles to be packaged and 5 to deliver such articles. In completely filled rows of any desired number, to the conveyors for assembling the articles for the packing plungers.

A further object of the invention is to provide a machine which is adapted to package articles 10 of all descriptions including fragile articles such as above described, which i^ entirely automatic in operation, is of very simple construction, and which because the intermittently operated parts are few in number and of light weight, can be 15 rapidly operated.

Further objects of the invention will appear from the follr.wing description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein we have illustrated a preferred form of our in- 20 vention which has been found to possess the advantages above enumerated.

Referring to the drawings,

Fig. 1 is a plan view of our improved machine;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation looking from the right 25 of Fig. 1, partly in section in the line 2—2;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged vertical section on line

3—3 of Figs. 1 and 7;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged vertical sectional view bn line 4—4 of Fig. 1 showing particularly the arti- 30 cle-control feed mechanism-for insuring a full charge of articles;

Fig. 5 is an end view of the portion of the machine shown in Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 is an longitudinal sectional view at right 35 angles to Fig. 4 on line 6—6 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 7 is an enlarged vertical section on line 7—1 of Fig. 1;

Figs. 8 and 9 are detail views showing certain features of the control mechanism which will be 40 later described;

Fig. 10 is a diagrammatic view of the electric control circuit governing the operation of the charging plungers; and

Figs. 11 and 12 are detail views showing the 45 operation of the guides for separating the articles into rows.

Before describing our Improved machine in detail we will describe with reference to Figs. 1 and 2 the general construction of the machine and its 50 mode of operation. In the machine selected for illustration the articles to be packaged enter in four lines along a feed belt marked I in Fig. 1. The feed belt operates continuously but the articles are not positioned on the feed belt in im- t

2,109,294 mediate contact or in any uniform relation. This is flue to the fact that in manufacturing establishments generally it is the practice to inspect the articles when delivered from the wrap₅ ping and labeling machines and remove from the conveyors all articles which do not come up to standard,, . This examination has the effect of placing gaps in the line of articles being fed to the packaging machine, which gaps vary in ex20 tent and frequency. Also of course some one or other of the wrapping machines will be temporarily shut down for repairs or other reason, thus producing a long gap or a complete discontinuance of articles in one row or another of the four 15 rows on the feed belt.

In advance of the feed belts and in position to receive the articles fed thereby are a series of article-supports, one for each belt, marked 2 in the drawings. These article supports are in 20 line with the several lines of articles on the feed belt so that the continued movement of the feed belt will eventually deliver sufficient articles to each support to form a continuous row of articles in contact with each other. When sufficient 25 articles have been accumulated on any one of the several supports for the row to be filled as indicated, the continued movement of the feed belt causes the articles to exert sufficient pressure on the control trip 3, for that particular support, 30 which trip, by mechanism to be later described causes that particular article support to be shifted into position for the articles thereon to be advanced into the machine. In the machine shown the article-supports 2 are raised by the mecha35 nism controlled through the trip 3, into position to be engaged by a pusher mechanism 4 which shifts the row of articles transversely of the direction of feed of the belts I onto a feed belt 5 extending in a direction at right angles 'to the 40 belts I. By means of the belt 5 the articles are advanced as a complete row, extending transversely of belt 5, to the mechanism by which they are arranged in proper formation to make a charge for the packing container.

Overlying the belt 5 as shown particularly in Mg. 1 are a series of guides 6 which separate the articles of each compact row delivered from the support 2 slightly from each other, so that they may be carried by the belt 5 in separate path50 ways between guide rods 7 overlying the belt but still in a complete transverse row as indicated in Mg. 1. The belt 5 is operated continuously and serves to feed the articles continuously to a series of separate pairs of chain conveyors 8, one 55 f°r each pathway defined by the guide rods 7, which chains are mounted at different angles to the horizontal as indicated in Mg. 2, to thereby not only advance the articles toward the assembly table 9 but also to bring the articles to dif60 ferent elevations. There are as many pathways and pairs of chains 8 as there are separate layers of articles to be packed in the carton, the term “layer” being usedin the specification as indicating the rows of articles lying in the same hori65 zontal plane when the carton is supported in the position in which it is packed.

The chains 8, like the belt 5, move continuously and each time a row of articles is shifted from the supports 2 onto the belt 5, that row of arti70 cles will be ultimately delivered by the chains 8 into position in front of the packing plungers 10. There is one packing plunger for each layer of articles, the packing plungers being operated as a unit to shift the articles delivered by the chains 75 8 transversely of the direction of movement of the belts and in a direction to be ultimately guid ed into the carton.

The operation of the packing plungers is also controlled by the movement of the articles themselves, in this instance by the pressure of the ar- ₅tides under the influence of the chains 8. By “ this arrangement the packing plungers are . operated only when the article supports in front of the plunger are full, thus insuring the deposit of a complete tier of articles into the carton at each operation of the plunger. When the final tier of articles has been deposited in the carton the carton is ejected from the machine and the machine stops until a fresh carton Is supplied.

The mechanism for carrying out the operation ₁₅as above described is shown in enlarged detail in Mgs. 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7, to which reference will now be particularly made.

The feed belt I is continuously driven and the articles advanced thereby are maintained in ₂0 alignment by overlying guides 11 providing in the present instance four rows of articles moving continuously into the machine, which rows, however, may contain gaps of greater or less extent. Each article path is defined by the over- 25 lying guides 11 and leads into a separate article-support 2 the construction of which is shown In detail in Mgs. 4 and 5. Each support comprises a platform 12 whose upper surface lies in the same plane as the feed belt. The platform 12 is 30 of a width approximating the space between the guides II and lies in direct line with the pathway defined by the guides so that the articles advanced by the belt will be fed directly onto the platform 12 over an intermediate fixed bridge 13. 35

The platform 12 is mounted on the top of a tubular column 14 which is mounted for vertical adjustment on a fixed vertical shaft 15, the column and shaft constituting the sole support of the platform 12. Overlying the platform (2 and 40 spaced therefrom by a distance slightly greater than the thickness of the article to be packed, is a cover plate 17. This cover plate is supported at its end away from the belt I by means of a block 18 fixed between the platform and cover ₄₅plate. Also fixed to the block 18 is a guide roller 19 working in a vertical channel guide 20 fixed to the machine frame, the roller serving to guide the article-support in its up-and-down movement and maintain it in proper position to receive the articles from the feed belt.

A movable stop member 21 of trip 3 is mounted oh the article-support adjacent the block 18 and in position to be engaged by the articles advanced by the belt I when sufficient articles have been delivered thereto to make a complete row. This stop member 21 is suspended from a suitable pivot 22 supported on the upper face of the cover plate 17. The member 21 extends through slots in the plate 17 and platform 12 and is spaced sufficient- on ly from the block 18 to permit a slight rocking movement on its pivot under the pressure of the articles delivered to the platform by the belt I. . ·

Suspended from the under side of the platform _e512 adjacent the sleeve 14 is a trip lever 23, which lever is connected to the member 21 by an adjustable link 24. A spring 25 is provided for holding the member 21 away from the block 18 to an extent permitted by a stop pin 26 carried by 70 the fixed column 15 and cooperating with a stop projection on the trip arm 23. Cooperating with the trip arm 23 is an actuating bar 27, which bar extends across the machine underneath the four separate article-supports 2 whereby the single _7S

9,109,394 operating bar 27 will engage and operate any or all of the trip arms 23 projected into its path of movement by the pressure of the articles against the members 2i. The actuating bar 27 5 is supported for vertical oscillation upon rock arms 28 mounted on fixed pivots carried by the frame members of the machine and is periodically elevated by means of a cam 29 continuously rotated from the driving motor 30 of the machine, ₁₀ the cam operating through a cam arm 31 and link 32 connected to one of the rock arms 28 supporting the actuating bar.

The position of the trip arm 23 is so adjusted by means of the arm 24 and the adjustable stop car15 tied by the trip arm as to just be clear of the operating bar 27 when elevated by the cam when the arm 23 is held In Its position of rest against the stop 26. Until the member 21 is shifted by the pressure of the articles advanced by the feed 20 belt the article-support 2 will remain stationary and the actuating arm 27 will oscillate idly up and down. When the trip member 21 is shifted as described, the arm 23 will be brought into position over the actuating bar 27 and on the upward 2β movement of the actuating bar the support 2 will be elevated a sufficient distance to bring the articles supported on the platform 12 above the plane of the articles on the feed belts as shown . in dotted lines In Figs. 4 and 6 and into position to 30 be engaged by the reciprocating arm 33 of pusher mechanism 4 (see Fig. 6) which reciprocates across the four article-supports 2 and thereby serves to deliver the row of articles which has been elevated, from its support onto the feed belt ₃₅ 5. It may be that two or more supports will be elevated at the same movement of the actuating bar 27. In such case the reciprocating arm 33 will shift all the rows so elevated onto the feed belt. ,

The several article-supports are separated from each other by means of fixed guide bars 34 which constitute in effect extensions of the guides II. These guides 34 are fixed to the bridge 13 and extend between the several cover plates 17 ₄r as shown more particularly in Fig. 6, the top ° edges of the guide bars being flush with the upper surface of the cover plates to thereby form a continuous surface over which the articles are shifted by the arm 33. When the supports 2 are ele₅₀ vated by the actuating bar 27 as described, the platforms 12 on which the articles rest are brought into line with the cover plates 17 of the , supports which are not elevated, whereby there will always be a substantially continuous sur55 face over which the articles are advanced by the reciprocating arm 33.

The arm 33 consists of an angle member supported at one end upon a sleeve 35 mounted for reciprocation on a fixed guide rod 36 which' in ₆₀ turn is fixedly attached to the frame members in a position overlying the bridge 13. The arm 33 is operated in timed sequence with the actuating bar 27 by means of a crank shaft 36' driven from the shaft of the cam 29 through suitable bevel 05 gears, as shown, -whereby the slide makes one complete reciprocation for each revolution of the cam shaft. The cam 29 is so shaped and so timed with respect to the crank 37 which operates the arm 33 that the supports 2 will be elevated dur₇0 ing the time that the arm 33 is in its position at the end of its stroke away from the delivery belt 5, and will be held in elevated position throughout the movement of the arm across the four supports and just clear of the cover plate 17 nearest ₇₆ the belt 5. The supports are then lowered while the arm is completing its movement of delivering the articles to the belt 5. In other words the arm ,33 has a movement sufficiently in excess of the combined width of the four supports for the supports to be raised and lowered while the arm _cIs completing or reversing its movement. The arm will return to Its initial position shown in Fig. 6 while the cam roller is on the low part of the cam.

Thus the reciprocating arm 33 will deliver to jo the belt 6 on each reciprocation whatever rows of articles have been elevated by the actuating bar 27 and in the event none of the bars have been elevated, no articles will be delivered to the belt 5. The belt 5, whenever It receives articles at 15 all, thus receives articles In one or more complete rows and these rows are carried forward by the belt 6 in substantially transverse alignment but separated from each other by the overlying guide bars 7, as shown more particularly 20 in Fig. 1.

In order to space the articles from each other as they are advanced onto the belt 5 so that the guide bars 7 may pass between them, we provide a separator mounted over the pulley 4 f which sup- 25 ports the end of the belt 5 adjacent the supports 2. This separator comprises a series of guide plates 42 attached to the ends of the guide rods 7 and projecting toward the supports 2 and overlying the stationary bridge 43 lying between the 30 adjacent support and the belt forming a continuous surface for the articles thereover. The guides 42 are bifurcated at their free ends at a point corresponding with the thickness of the article and the tongues formed by this bifurcation are bent 35 in opposite directions.

As will be seen from Mg. 1, the guides are arranged so that between one pair of guide rods the two lower tongues will be flared outwardly to guide the article advanced by the reciprocating ₄₀arm 33 into the space between the guide rods while the next two guide plates 42 will have their upper tongues bent outwardly to engage and guide the article into the space between the guide rods. As stated above, the upper tongues ₄₅of the guide plates 42 are at an elevation from the belt greater than the thickness of the article and consequently the articles to be acted on by the upper tongues must be elevated above the plane of the belt as they are advanced by the arm 55 33. To this end between each alternate pair of guide rods, namely, those which have the upper tongues of the guide plates 42 flared outwardly, there is placed a bridge piece 44. These bridgepieces extend beyond the ends of the guide plates ,55 42 and the inclination of the bridge is such that every other article in the row advanced by the arm 33 will be elevated sufficiently to clear the lower tongues of the guide plates and be engaged by the upper tongues and thus directed into the go space between the adjacent guide rods. The intermediate articles, that is, those lying between the articles which ride up on the bridge pieces, will move along the surface of the bridge 43 and thus pass under the upper tongues of the guide ¢5 plates and be engaged by the outwardly flaring lower tongues and thus guided into the channels between the guide rods.

In order that the articles may be further separated laterally from each other as they are 70 advanced toward the stacking belts 8 the guide rods 7 diverge slightly toward the delivery end of the machine, as shown in Fig. 1, so as to allow ample room for the individual belts 8 to nm clear of each other. 75

3,100,904

The delivery chains 8 are all driven by a common sprocket shaft 46 at the end adjacent the belt 5, but at their ends adjacent the assembly table 9 each pair of chains is at a different ele5 vatlon from the adjacent pair by a difference at least equal to the height or thickness of the articles being packed, so that, of the single row of articles delivered in transverse alignment by the belt 6, the outermost article will be delivered 10 to the assembly table 9 at the bottom level, the next article In the transverse row will be delivered at an elevation slightly greater than the thickness of one article above the first mentioned article, and so on, across the row as shown 15 more fully in Mg. 7.

The challis are supported in proper position by channel members 46, one for each pair of chains, having sprockets at their outer ends, that is, the ends adjacent the table 9. The chains are 20 supported between the side walls of the channels, whereby the channel web serves, as a brace for the chains «and the flanges of the channel serve as side guides for the articles. These several channels are fixedly supported at their outer 25 ends with their faces in alignment, respectively, with a series of shelves 47 supported in spaced relation one above the other in the article-receiving frame 48. This article receiving frame 48 is in effect a sheet metal box one end of which SO is provided with inwardly tapering extensions 49 forming a funnel over which the carton C is telescoped by the operator as shown in Fig. 7, while the opposite end is open to receive the packing plungers i 6 by which the charge of 35 articles is delivered into the carton. The width of the frame, that is, the distance between two triangular walls, (Fig, 7) corresponds to the horizontal dimension of the carton (when supported on its side in packing position), and between 4S each operation of the packing plunger iO a sufficient number of articles must be delivered to the assembly frame 43 by the chains 8 to make a complete tier of articles. That is to say, if the transverse dimension of the carton is four times •SS the corresponding dimension of the article, four separate rows of six articles each must be delivered to the assembly frame by the chains 8 between each operation of the plungers 16.

The operation of the plungers is controlled by E9 tile articles themselves and no matter how far apart the separate rows of six advanced by the feed chains 2 may be, the plungers will not oper. ate until four complete tiers have been delivered to the assembly frame. To this end thfere is pro65 vided the electrical control mechanism shown diagrammatically in Fig. 10. This mechanism comprises a switch 53. whose movable part, consists of a push button 51 which projects through the outer side wall of the article frame 48 as SO shown in Fig. 3 in position to be engaged by the article when advanced by the uppermost pair of chains 8, and is pushed inwardly to make contact when a complete line of articles (in this case too) has been delivered to the topmost shelf 47 65 to the frame.. This operation of the switch 56 closes the circuit through a solenoid 51» to the core of which is attached, as shown to Fig. 7, an operating rod 52 which serves to release a onerevolution clutch 53 to thereby operate the pack70 ing plungers through one complete reciprocation.

The clutch 53 comprises a continuously driven toothed member loose on. the shaft 54 of the clutch, to which shaft is attached the pawl75 carrying driven member 55 and also the crank of the oscillating arm 57 which operates the cross head 58 of the packing plungers. The pawl 59 of the one-way clutch is provided with an outwardly projecting arm positioned to be engaged by a stop roller 66 on a rock arm 61 which Is 5 rocked into a position to release the pawl when the solenoid is energized and into position to engage the projecting arm of the pawl when the circuit is broken, the weight of the core serving when no longer held up by the current through 10 the solenoid to force the rod 52 downwardly and thereby through the toggle levers 62, to rock the arm 61 into position for the roller to engage the pawl and release the clutch.

The control mechanism also embodies a second 15 switch 63 in series with the switch 56 whereby both switches must be closed to order for the solenoid to be energized to release the clutch. The switch 63 is operated as shown in detail in Fig.

and comprises a cam 64 attached to the rock 20 shaft 64' supported to suitable bearings on a bracket 65 projecting from the table top beneath the carton-supporting funnel 49. Fast to the shaft 64' is an arm 66 which serves to hold the carton telescoped on the funnel 49. A spring 25 67 (see Fig. 1) normally holds the arm in the upright position shown to Fig. 7, the purpose of the spring and arm being to partially support the weight of the filled carton while it is being lowered, to the roller table 68 upon which the 30 filled cartons are discharged,. The cam 64 of the switch 63 is so shaped as to maintain the switch contact when the arm is in vertical position and to break the contact when the arm is lowered to discharge the carton. 35

The arm 66 is held in both horizontal and vertical positions by means of two pawls 68', 71 which engage a ratchet 69. also fast on the shaft 64·, as shown'in Fig. 8. The pawl 68 is provided with a crank arm 70 by means of which the op- 40 erator may readily release the pawl to allow the arm to return to vertical position when an empty carton has been placed on the funnel. The second pawl, 71, is provided for holding the arm yieldingly against reverse movement. This pawl 45 works against a rounded tooth 72 which permits the shaft to turn when sufficient force is applied; hence the carton will be held firmly in position to receive the articles, but may be readily lowered when a complete charge of articles has been deposited to the carton.

It will be observed to Fig. 7 that because of the horizontal spacing between the articles on conveyors 8 there is a progressively decreasing space between the ends of the plungers 18 and the ar- 55 tides on the shelves of the assembly frame 48. On the operation of the plungers through the one-way clutch as above described, movement of the bottom row of articles in their advance toward the carton will commence before the move- ¢0 ment of the row immediately above, and so on. Or, otherwise stated, the bottom row of articles is given the greatest movement on each operation of the plunger and each successive row above a somewhat lesser movement, the purpose of this 55 arrangement being to take up the spaces between the articles to thereby bring the articles in vertical alignment in their passage into the carton.

In Fig. 7 the articles marked A² indicate the positions, of the articles making up one row, at 75 the end of the movement effected by the belts 8 while the articles marked A* are in the positions to which the articles constituting the row marked A² are moved by the first operation of the plunger. Upon the next operation of the plunger 75

2,100,304 5 the articles in row A³ will be advanced the width of one article only.

Before starting the machine the shelves and funnel will preferably be filled with articles ar5 ranged in the manner illustrated in Fig. 7, and thereafter on each operation of the plunger one complete vertical tier of articles will be discharged into the carton. In the machine shown the carton is of a depth to accommodate four 10 tiers of articles and hence at each fourth operation of the plunger the carton will be filled and removed from the machine and replaced by an empty carton. If the operator neglects to remove the filled carton the operation of the IS plunger will serve to eject the carton from the funnel, which will be lowered by the arm 66 onto the roller table, thereby, through the switch 63, breaking the circuit through the solenoid and preventing further operation of the plunger un20 til the operator has placed a fresh carton on the funnel and restored the arm to its vertical position.

It is believed the operation of the machine will be sufficiently understood from the foregoing 25 description. It will be observed that no matter to what extent there may be gaps in the incoming lines of articles, even to the extent of one or more lines being completely stopped, the machine will automatically operate to advance com30 plete rows of articles to the assembly frame and that the plungers will operate only when a complete tier of articles, of both vertical and horizontal rows has been assembled.

It will be further observed that throughout 35 the operation of the machine there is no relative movement of the articles with respect to each other while in contact except the slight vertical movement effected by the inclined bridges 43, which movement is just sufficient to allow the 40 guide rods 42 to enter between the articles and separate them Into separate rows.

The particular advantage of the machine is that the movement of the articles from one horizontal plane to another, which is necessary to 45 provide a charge of multiple layers, is accomplished by continuously moving belts, thereby avoiding the necessity of intermittently shifting the assembled articles or the carton con' taining the articles to permit the successive lay50 ers to be superimposed one on the other. The intermittently actuated parts are hence all of comparatively light weight so that they may be rap’dly operated without producing undue vibration of the machine.

In the attached drawings and foregoing description we have disclosed one embodiment of our invention which has been found in actual practice to be satisfactory and efficient. It will be understood, however, that the invention is not 60 limited to the construction specifically disclosed except insofar as defined in the appended claims.