Conveyor Means

Abstract

A conveyor for beverage packages includes an endless series of spacer elements by which successive packages (A) are spaced apart from one another. Each spacer element of the series includes a pair of leading and trailing carton engaging lugs (412, 414). The leading and trailing lugs (412, 414) are adjustable from a first setting in which both the leading and trailing lugs of each pair are in abutment with one another to a second setting in which the leading and trailing lugs of each pair are separated from one another.

Description

FIELD OF INVENTION

The present invention relates to an improved conveyor means for use in such applications as a conveyor belt-based system for assembly of a series of objects. More particularly but not exclusively, the present invention relates to a conveyor such as that used in the construction, assembly and filling of packaging items such as cartons.

BACKGROUND OF INVENTION

It is known to provide packaging assembly systems which are dedicated machines, adapted to construct only a single size and type of carton. Accordingly, modern packaging plants are required to use a plurality of packaging machines to package different carton types, each machine taking up considerable floor space and being expensive both to purchase and to operate.

There exists a limited selection of packaging assembly systems which may be adapted to accommodate different sizes and configurations of packaging. However, typically such systems are characterised by a fairly complex operation to adapt them in order to accommodate a new configuration or size of packaging blank. This results in considerable ‘change over time’, time when the machine is not being operated while the necessary changes are effected to adapt the machine to accommodate the new packaging blanks. As such, the adaptation process can be lengthy, and may include manual removal of all of the integers within the packaging machine and possibly the mechanical adjustment of components in the machine. This extended change-over process may give rise to a significant downtime and to a substantial loss of output, with concomitant economic disadvantages.

One prior art packaging assembly machine is disclosed in EP 0 017 333. In this document, however, the adjacent articles to be assembled on the conveyor are separated and progressed along the conveyor by metering bars 51. However, the metering bars disclosed in EP 0017333 are not easily removable or adaptable, nor able to aid the biasing of an adjacent article into a desired configuration.

It is an object of the present invention to seek to overcome, or at least to mitigate, the problems associated with prior art packaging assembly systems, by offering an alternative conveyor system that is readily adaptable so as to allow for the accommodation of differing sizes and shapes of containers on the conveyor within the scope of a single assembly system.

It will be understood that, whilst the example of a packaging machine is referred to throughout this specification, this serves as an exemplary non-limiting aid to elucidation of the details of the present invention only, and that the conveyor of the present invention may be applied to any large-scale assembly means for a series of integers.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION

According to a first aspect of the present invention there is provided a conveyor for beverage packages which conveyor incorporates an endless series of spacer elements by which successive packages are spaced apart from one another by a predetermined distance each spacer element of the series comprising a pair of carton engaging lugs in which a leading lug and a trailing lug can be adjusted from a setting in which both the leading and trailing lugs of each pair are in abutment with one another to maximise the spacing between successive spacer elements to a setting in which relative movement between the leading lug of one pair and the trailing lug of the next succeeding pair decreases the spacing between those successive spacer elements.

Preferably, the lugs of each spacer element are so constructed and arranged as to be capable of fitting together in a spatially complementary manner. More preferably, one or more of the lugs are carried on a movement track.

It is preferred that one or more of the lugs are adapted to be removable from the movement track.

It is further preferred that each movement track is provided with one or more pin components, and one or more of the lugs are supported upon one or more of the pin components.

More preferably, each lug is provided with securement means complementary to a securement portion of the pin component, so as to secure the or each lug to a pin component.

According to an optional feature of this aspect of the present invention, each secured lug can be disengaged by hand from its respective pin component or pin components without the need for any tools or machinery.

A still further optional feature of this aspect of the present invention provides that at least one edge of each lug is so constructed as to bias an edge of an adjacent article to be assembled on the conveyor toward the adoption of a desired configuration.

According to a further optional feature of this aspect of the present invention, one or more of the lugs is further provided with pivot means and actuator means adapted to mechanically urge each such lug toward an adjacent article so as to bias that article towards a desired configuration.

Within the scope of this aspect of the present invention one or more of the pin components may preferably be provided with a plurality of securement portions at different heights, such that a lug may be mounted on such a pin component at any one of a plurality of different heights.

According to a yet further preferred feature of this aspect of the present invention, it is provided that the adoption of different configurations of lugs allows for the accommodation of a plurality of different sizes and configurations of article to be assembled on the conveyor.

According to a second aspect of the present invention there is provided a pin component adapted to engage a lug of a conveyor as according to the present invention.

Preferably, the securement means takes the form of a slit or aperture within the form of the pin component.

According to an optional feature of this aspect of the present invention, the pin component is further adapted to engage a movement track of the conveyor.

A third aspect of the present invention provides a lug for use in conjunction with the conveyor of the present invention.

Preferably, an outer edge of the lug is so constructed and arranged as to bias an adjacent article into a desired configuration.

More preferably, the lug is further provided with pivot means and actuator means to aid the direction of the lug towards an adjacent article.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In order to further aid its description, a series of exemplary, non-limiting embodiments of the present invention will be described. To that end, reference may be made to the accompanying drawings, which also serve only to exemplify and not in any way to limit the scope of the present invention, and in which:

FIG. 1 is a side view of part of a conveyor as according to the present invention in use;

FIGS. 2A and 2B show lugs according to the present invention, the lugs corresponding (interchangeably as according to use) to a first and second lug of a spacer element as according to the present invention;

FIGS. 2C and 2D show how, according to a preferred feature of the present invention, a first, leading lug may be brought into registry with a second, trailing lug, in a spatially complementary fashion;

FIG. 2E shows an alternative embodiment of the lugs as according to the present invention brought together into abutment with one another, in which numerals corresponding to those in FIGS. 2C and 2D are employed, but with the suffix ‘a’;

FIG. 3 shows movement tracks according to the present invention, provided with pin components according to a preferred optional feature of the present invention;

FIG. 4 shows a plan view of lugs carried on a movement track;

FIGS. 5 to 7 illustrate schematically how a variation in pitch may be achieved within the scope of the present invention by adjusting the relative positions of respective leading and trailing lugs of successive spacer elements so as to accommodate different sizes and configurations of articles to be assembled on the conveyor.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

According to the preferred specific embodiment of the present invention, and with particular reference to FIG. 1, there is shown in use a part of an exemplary packaging machine 410 for the assembly of cartons A, which machine incorporates the conveyor 420 of the present invention. There is shown a conveyor 420 for conveying the cartons A to be assembled, and it is provided with one or more lugs 412, 414 according to the present invention on either side of the conveyor 420. There is further shown a plurality of cartons A being assembled on the conveyor 420 of the present invention.

The conveyor 420 comprises a number of lugs 412, 414 grouped as one or more spacer elements, each comprising a pair of lugs 412, 414. Each such pair is separable, one lug 412, 414 from the other 414, 412, and the two lugs 412, 414 of such a pair are each moveable independently of the other, along a movement track 440 provided to facilitate the displacement of a series of lugs 412, 414 in a forward and backward direction relative to the direction of movement X of the conveyor means 420.

As such, in operation, at least one, leading, lug 412 can be rapidly displaced relative to the position of another, trailing lug 414 so as to vary the spacing between adjacent lugs 412, 414. The resultant change in pitch on the conveyor 420 allows for easy accommodation of different sizes or configurations of article—or in this non-limiting example, carton A—with a rapid change-over leading to minimal downtime before the conveyor 420 continues in operation. FIG. 5 schematically illustrates this process of adapting the pitch by movement of the lugs 412, 414.

An alternative interlocking arrangement for the lugs 412a, 414a is illustrated in FIG. 2E of the present invention, and may be employed so as to confer additional lateral stability to the pair of lugs 412a, 414a in use.

In particular, it is preferred but not required that this interlocking arrangement of lugs 412a, 414a be employed along one side of a conveyor 420 in use, and that the arrangement of lugs 412, 414, substantially as shown in FIGS. 2A to 2D, is employed along the opposite side of the conveyor 420. Most preferably, the interlocked set of lugs 412a, 414a is employed on the side of the conveyor 420 from which the cartons A are loaded before assembly, for instance with bottles. Still more preferably, the set of lugs 412a, 414a nearest the loading side of the cartons A is adapted to be of slightly wider form than the lugs 412, 414 on the opposite side of the conveyor 420. As such, in this preferred case the interlocking set of lugs 412a, 414a has sufficient stability and strength that the interlocking set of lugs 412a, 414a may optionally be used alone to convey articles A along the conveyor 420.

In order to maximise the possible distribution in pitch lengths that can be provided by the lugs 412, 414 of the present invention, the lugs 412, 414 are preferably arranged in pairs, adapted to be spatially complementary to one another, in order that they may fit together to form effectively single lugs, each maximally separated from the next. This fitting together of complementary sets of lugs 412, 414 is illustrated in FIGS. 2C, 2D and 2E. The lugs are capable of fitting together such that a pair of lugs can mate with one another such that each lug assists the stability of the other lug in either longitudinal direction, along the path of the conveyor. Additionally the interlocking arrangement of the lugs provides lateral, transverse to the conveyor path, stability to the lugs.

It will further be appreciated that in the preferred embodiment the overlapping and/or interlocking configuration prevents lugs on different chains from passing one another. In other words a selected lug on one movement track 440 such as a chain is confined between two adjacent lugs on the other chain.

It is preferable that the lugs 412, 414 are so adapted along an edge which engages the articles A to be assembled as to bias the articles A into a desired configuration. In FIG. 1, each pair of lugs 412, 414 has been brought together so that the two lugs 412, 414 are in abutment, and so as to maximise the pitch between successive pairs of lugs 412, 414.

The outer edges of the combined pair of lugs 412, 414 are adapted in the example shown in FIG. 1 to be wider in their top portions 422, 424 than at their middles, so that the top portion of each carton A held between these lugs 412, 414 is biased inwardly of that carton A structure, so as to achieve the desired tapered “gable-ended” carton A. In the alternative case, for example, of a flat-edged carton A, a simple, substantially oblong-shaped lug 412, 414 could be substituted. Such a lug may comprise parallel sides, the lugs may still be arranged to provide longitudinal support to another lug, such that both lugs form a pair which can be considered as effectively a single lug.

In the case of the “gable-ended” carton A, the configuration of the present invention brings clear advantages. Particularly, when adjacent lugs 412, 414 are brought into close registry by movement of at least one lug 412, 414 along its movement track 440 and relative to another, the resulting effective double-lug has a substantially Y-shaped configuration. However, the two lugs 412, 414 retain their ability to bias their respective adjacent cartons A into the “gable-ended” configuration, even when they are spaced apart by a further movement of one relative to the other along its movement track 440, so as to accommodate a smaller size of carton A. It will further be appreciated that each lug is capable of engaging with a carton A on both its leading and trailing ends such that the lugs can be adapted to act on a carton A on both ends thereby providing a conveyor means having a plurality of configurations in which there is no ‘dead space’ in other words all the space on the conveyor is being used for transportation of articles as illustrated in FIGS. 5, 6 and 7.

One optional aspect of the present invention provides that one or more of the lugs 412, 414 be disposable about an articulated pivot means (not shown), and may preferably be pivoted about said pivot means by actuator means so as to cause the lug 412, 414 to be pushed toward an adjacent article A, to aid the article A being biased into a desired configuration.

It will be understood that the lugs 412, 414 are not at all limited in shape within the scope of the present invention, and could adopt any configuration so as to be complementary to the desired configuration of the articles A to be assembled on the conveyor 420.

Indeed, according to a further preferred optional feature of the present invention, one or more of the lugs 412, 414 may easily be changed for those of a different configuration, so as to accommodate a different set of articles A on the conveyor 420.

According to this feature of the present invention, one or more of the movement tracks 440, such as a chain, is provided with a series of pin components 430, exemplified by those as shown in FIG. 5. These pin components 430 are preferably so constructed and arranged as to securably engage the lugs 412, 414. The pin components 430 are more preferably so arranged as to be capable of being moved by a movement track 440 in the backward and forward directions Y,Z with respect to the direction of movement of the conveyor 420. The pin components 430 are capable of moving past one another when the lugs 412, 414 have been removed.

Preferably, the securement is brought about by the provision of a securement means 416, 418 within a lug 412, 414; typically, though not of necessity, this securement means 416, 418 takes the form of a short bar or pin. According to this preferred configuration, the securement means 416, 418 is so constructed and arranged as to co-operate with a complementary securement portion 432 of the pin component 430. This complementary securement portion 432 preferably comprises a slit or aperture within the outer form of the pin component 430.

Optionally, there may be provided a plurality of securement portions 432 at different heights on the pin component 430, each able to co-operate with the securement means 416, 418 of a lug 412, 414. As such, a lug 412, 414 may be mounted on the pin component 430 at any one of a plurality of heights, thereby providing for the accommodation of a plurality of different heights of article A on the conveyor 420.

More preferably, the securement means 416, 418 of the lug 412, 414 is spring-loaded such that it may easily be disposed out of co-operation with the securement portion 432 of the pin component 430 by hand. This further facilitates the rapid change-over between different shapes and sizes of lug 412, 414 to allow for adaptation of the arrangement, to accommodate a different configuration or size of article A on the conveyor 420 with a minimal conveyor downtime.

It is clearly envisaged by the present applicants that the features of the particular preferred embodiment described hereinbefore could be altered without departure from the scope of the present invention. For instance, it will be understood that the spacer element may equally employ more than two lugs in co-operation with one another, and still fall within the scope of the present invention.

It is contemplated to be within the scope of the present invention, as defined by the claims, that the device may form a sub assembly of a larger packaging machine that offers further functionality in respect of packaging articles such as cans or bottles, within the erected cartons.

It will further be understood that whilst terms such as “top,” “middle,” “centre,” “first,” and “second” have on occasion been used through this specification, they do not limit the respective components to which they refer to any particular position or orientation. Further, it will be understood that any particular configuration of lug 412, 414, or of pin component 430, or of securement means 416, 418, may be adopted without a departure from the scope of the present invention.

Claims

1-19. (canceled)

20. A conveyor for beverage packages which conveyor incorporates an endless series of spacer elements by which successive packages are spaced apart from one another by a predetermined distance each spacer element of the series comprising a pair of leading and trailing carton engaging lugs, said leading lug and said trailing lug being adjustable from a first setting in which both the leading and trailing lugs of each pair are in abutment with one another to bring the spacing between said spacer elements to the maximum to a second setting in which the leading and trailing lugs of each pair are separated from one another such that the spacing between said spacer elements is less than said maximum wherein the leading and trailing lugs of each pair interlock with one another, when brought into said abutment, such as to prevent them from passing one another.

21. The conveyor of claim 20, wherein the leading lugs and the trailing lugs are so constructed and arranged as to fit together in a spatially complementary manner.

22. The conveyor of claim 20, wherein one or more of the lugs are carried on a movement track.

23. The conveyor of claim 22, wherein one or more of the lugs are adapted to be removable from the movement track.

24. The conveyor of claim 23, wherein the or each movement track is provided with a series of pin components, and one or more of the lugs are supported upon one or more of the pin components.

25. The conveyor of claim 24, wherein each lug is provided with securement means complementary to a securement portion of the pin component, so as to facilitate securement of the or each lug to a pin component.

26. The conveyor of claim 24, wherein each secured lug can be disengaged by hand from its respective pin component or pin components without the need for any tools or machinery.

27. The conveyor of claim 20, wherein an edge of each lug is so constructed as to bias an edge of an adjacent article to be assembled on the conveyor toward the adoption of a desired configuration.

28. The conveyor of claim 20, wherein the lug is further provided with pivot means and actuator means adapted to mechanically urge the lug toward an adjacent article so as to bias that article towards a desired configuration.

29. The conveyor of claim 25, wherein the pin component is provided with a plurality of securement portions at different heights, such that the lug may be mounted on the pin component at any one of a plurality of different heights.

30. The conveyor of claim 23 wherein the adoption of different lugs allows for the accommodation of a plurality of different sizes and configurations of article to be assembled on the conveyor.

31. A pin component adapted to engage the lug of the conveyor of claim 20.

32. The pin component of claim 31, wherein the securement means takes the form of a slit or aperture within the form of the pin component.

33. The pin component of claim 31 which pin component is further adapted to engage a movement track of the conveyor.

34. A lug for use in conjunction with the conveyor of claim 20.

35. The lug of claim 34, wherein an outer edge of the lug is so constructed and arranged as to bias an adjacent article into a desired configuration.

36. The lug of claim 34, further provided with pivot means and actuator means to aid the direction of the lug towards an adjacent article.

37. A machine for packaging articles comprising adaptable conveyor means to enable the machine to be readily adapted to convey cartons of alternate configurations.

38. The conveyor of claim 20, wherein the interlocking of the trailing and leading lugs augments the rigidity of at least one of the lugs in at least one direction.