Abstract: A component mounting device mounts electronic components fed at component feeding positions arranged in one line onto printed circuit boards, and includes a rotary head and a head transfer mechanism. The rotary head includes a rotary body, an N-axis servomotor that rotates the rotary body, pickup nozzles attached to the rotary body in a movable manner along a rotation axis, and two Z-axis drive units. The pickup nozzles are arranged on an imaginary circle centered at the rotation axis, and hold and release the electronic components. The Z-axis drive units move one of the pickup nozzles located at a predetermined driving position on the imaginary circle along the rotation axis. The N-axis drive units are arranged with the rotary body therebetween in a direction in which the component feeding positions are arranged. The head transfer mechanism moves the rotary head in a direction perpendicular to the rotation axis.

Abstract: An automated method and system for stacking and loading wrapped facemasks into a carton in a facemask production line include conveying individual wrapped facemasks to a delivery location adjacent to a rotary wheel, the rotary wheel conveyor having individual pick-up devices spaced around a circumference thereof. Each wrapped facemask is picked-up with a respective pick-up device on the rotary wheel conveyor and transported to a first carton staging area at a first location on the circumference of the rotary wheel. At the first staging area, the facemasks are released from the rotary wheel conveyor and deposited into a carton.

Abstract: A component mounting machine which deals with a component remaining on a nozzle of a mounting head includes a board conveyance device conveying a board to a predetermined position, a component supply device accommodating multiple components therein, a component mounting device on which a mounting head which picks up and holds a component by vacuum pumping of a suction nozzle is installed and which mounts a component which is taken out from the component supply device onto a board which is conveyed by the board conveyance device, and a control device controlling each of the devices. The component mounting device performs lowering of the component, releasing the component with respect to the suction nozzle of the mounting head, a first lifting of the component to a middle height, a component pickup performed at the height of the first lifting, and a second lifting after the component pickup.

Abstract: A transport unit includes: a transporting device that turns a pad 90 degrees while the pad rotates from a receiving position to a transfer position; and first and second receiving rollers that sandwich a sheet and an absorbent body between a holding surface and the respective receiving rollers at the transfer position. The holding surface includes first and second sloped surfaces that are aligned along a pad rotating shaft which extends at the transfer position. The first and second receiving rollers have outer diameters decreasing from proximal ends to distal ends and are disposed such that the distal ends are positioned on sides of first and second ends of the holding surface, respectively. The first and second receiving rollers are disposed so as to sandwich the sheet and the absorbent body between the first and second sloped surfaces and the first and second receiving rollers, respectively.

Abstract: A placement device for arranging parts of a disposable worn article on the base material B, wherein: a first unit U1 includes first and third pads P1 and P3 capable of accelerating and decelerating; a second unit U2 includes second and fourth pads P2 and P4 capable of accelerating and decelerating; the first unit U1 includes separate servo motors M for rotating the first pad P1 and the third pad P3 about a common axis and does not include three or more servo motors M; and the second unit U2 includes separate servo motors M for rotating the second pad P2 and the fourth pad about a common axis and does not include three or more servo motors M.

Abstract: The present disclosure is directed to a method of transferring discrete articles between a transfer assembly and an apparatus comprising a head. The transfer assembly comprises a frame defining a first rotation axis and a transfer member comprising a transfer surface configured to receive one of the discrete articles. The method comprises rotating the transfer member of the transfer assembly about the first rotation axis at a substantially constant angular velocity, maintaining the transfer surface at a substantially constant minimum distance away from a surface of the head at a point of discrete article transfer, and rotating the head of the apparatus about a second rotation axis at a plurality of angular velocities. A first angular velocity of the head is substantially constant at the point of discrete article transfer.

Abstract: The present disclosure is directed to a method of applying a fluid pressure to a portion of a transfer member of a transfer assembly. The transfer member rotates about a first rotation axis and comprises leading and trailing portions. The portion of the transfer member is rotatable about a second rotation axis between a first position and a second position. The method comprises providing a fluid conduit in fluid communication with the leading or trailing portion of the portion of the transfer member when the portion of the transfer member is in the first position, rotating the portion of transfer member between the first position and the second position, and maintaining the fluid conduit in fluid communication with the same of the leading or trailing portion of the portion of the transfer member after the portion of the transfer member is moved into the second position.

Abstract: A printing system includes carriage assemblies, a preparation station, a printing station, and a selection station. The carriage assemblies receive flexible bodies and are coupled to a conveyance assembly that moves the carriage assemblies along a direction of travel. The preparation station receives the flexible bodies from the loading station and manipulates the flexible bodies to at least partially flatten printing surfaces of the flexible bodies. The printing station prints images on the flexible bodies. The selection station examines the images on the flexible bodies and selects one or more of the flexible bodies based on the images. The selection station also individually grips and removes selected flexible bodies from the carriage assemblies and conveys the selected flexible bodies to a first collection location while the other flexible bodies remain on the carriage assemblies and are conveyed to a different, second collection location.

Abstract: The present disclosure is directed to a rotation assembly for a transfer member of a transfer assembly. The rotation assembly comprises a torque transmitting assembly comprising input and output members, a link comprising a first end operably coupled to the input member and a second end comprising a follower member, a shaft comprising a first end operably coupled to the output member and a second end engaged with a portion of the transfer member, and a track. The follower is movably engaged with the track and circumnavigates about a path in correspondence with the track. The follower member is moved radially relative to a first rotation axis by the track as it circumnavigates about the path to transmit torque through the torque transmitting assembly and to the shaft. The torque causes a portion of the transfer member to rotate between a first position and a second position.

Abstract: An apparatus for conveying a plurality of parts to a substrate in a configuration which is offset from the centerline of the supply feed of discrete parts is disclosed as well as the related process. Such an apparatus and process are suitable for use in the production of products where one or more components of the product must be spatially shifted from their incoming location relative to the movement of the assembly line to a second position which is offset from its incoming location and orientation.

Abstract: The present disclosure is directed to a rotation assembly for a transfer member of a transfer assembly. The rotation assembly comprises a torque transmitting assembly comprising input and output members, a link comprising a first end operably coupled to the input member and a second end comprising a follower member, a shaft comprising a first end operably coupled to the output member and a second end engaged with a portion of the transfer member, and a track. The follower is movably engaged with the track and circumnavigates about a path in correspondence with the track. The follower member is moved radially relative to a first rotation axis by the track as it circumnavigates about the path to transmit torque through the torque transmitting assembly and to the shaft. The torque causes a portion of the transfer member to rotate between a first position and a second position.

Abstract: An apparatus for transferring an article from a first carrier moving at a first speed to a second carrier moving at a second speed is provided. The apparatus comprises a support member comprising a track comprising an arcuate portion, and a carrier member configured to be moved relative to the track. The carrier member comprises a surface configured to receive the article from the first carrier in a receiving zone and deposit the article onto the second carrier in an application zone, an aperture in the surface, and a passage in fluid communication with the aperture. The apparatus further comprises a vacuum manifold in fluid communication with the passage. The carrier member is configured to be moved relative to the vacuum manifold. The apparatus also comprises a linear motor operably engaged with the carrier member and configured to move the carrier member relative to the track.

Abstract: A process and a device for picking up, transferring and handling plastic container preforms molded by a special molding machine, wherein gripper pick up and transfers the preforms from the mold or from an ejector to a conveyor device. The preforms are deposited and carried on the conveyor in a standing position. The conveyor device (2) holds the preform in a stable position during handling.

Abstract: The invention relates to a system for feeding pouches and spouts to an apparatus for processing same. A system in accordance with an embodiment of the invention can feed pouches and spouts to a rotary machine simultaneously. More specifically, the system can provide a transferring assembly for grasping a single spout and pouch simultaneously from a spout supply and a pouch supply, respectively, then relinquishing the spout and pouch simultaneously to the rotary machine.

Abstract: An apparatus for coating such as printing objects transports the objects through treatment stations along a transport path using at least one transport means. The transport means is in the form of an endless flexible belt which circulates in a vertical plane and which is provided at its outer surface with holding means for the objects to be decorated. The holding means are in the form of flexible portions of plastic material which are connected to the belt. The belt and the holding means are provided with at least one opening connectable to a reduced pressure source in such a way that the reduced pressure acts on an object in the respective holding means and fixes it in its position.

Abstract: A method and an apparatus process a substrate to divide a mother substrate into unit substrates. The apparatus is provided with a scribing portion for drawing a scribe line on a mother substrate, a breaking portion for breaking a mother substrate along the formed scribe line, and a portion for conveying a substrate for conveying a mother substrate or a unit substrate at least between the above described respective portions, wherein portion for conveying a substrate has a number of rotational supports and with a suction surface for sucking and holding each substrate from a main surface, rotational supports and have rotational axes, as well as suction members for respectively sucking and rotating a substrate which rotates substrates around rotational axes approximately simultaneously in such a manner that at least two main surfaces of each substrate are turned over in the upward and downward direction.

Abstract: A bag-making and packaging machine, in which a horizontal bag-making machine and a packaging machine are provided, including a positioning conveyor for positioning bags fed out from the horizontal bag-making machine, a feed conveyor for feeding the bags to the packaging machine, and first, second, and third transport mechanisms provided between the positioning conveyor and the feed conveyor. The first transport mechanism lifts up the bags up and change their attitude to a vertical attitude with the bag mouths oriented upward. The second transport mechanism receives the bags from the first transport mechanisms, transports them, and rotates the bags to orient bag surfaces in the feed direction of the feed conveyor. The third transport mechanisms receives the bags from the second transport mechanisms, changes their attitude to a horizontal attitude, and places them on the feed conveyor with the bag mouths oriented in the feed direction.

Abstract: An apparatus (1) for sorting packages, comprising means (2) for supplying the packages to at least a station (3) for their manipulation and orientation, which is characterised in that the manipulating station (3) comprises at least a manipulator head (7) having at least two degrees of freedom of motion. In particular, the manipulator head (7) is movable by translation according to the axis of an orthogonal Cartesian triad and is movable by rotation about a substantially vertical axis. A method for putting in step packages conveyed by conveyor belts set side by side including varying the speed of said belts.

Abstract: An apparatus for transferring articles such as absorbent cores or disposable diaper chassis components from a rotary mechanism, such as a pad turner, to a linear mechanism, such as a conveyor, for further processing. The invention provides a device for picking an article from the outside of a toroidal surface, thence extending transversely under tension the article to be transferred so that at the point of deposition the article is held flat and at full length. Further, the invention allows for apparatus to match the velocity of both the first and second transfer points, even if these velocities are not the same. The device is of particular benefit where an article to be transferred is subject to internally biasing elastic forces.

Abstract: An apparatus for conveying and simultaneously turning objects has a first conveyor device for conveying the objects into the area of two conveyor-turning stations and a second conveyor device for conveying the objects out of the area of the conveyor-turning stations. The conveyor-turning stations have a conveyor that rotates horizontally and at least one turning device for contacting and turning the objects. The two conveyor-turning stations are used for alternate conveying of the objects along a common conveyor path. Each conveyor-turning station can be driven by its own electric motor with controllable speed. In an access area of the conveyor-turning stations, there is a device for detecting the position of the next object to be contacted and to be conveyed by the respective conveyor-turning station.

Abstract: An article turning-round apparatus includes a rotary table rotated by a first shaft, load-carrying tables mounted on the rotary table along a peripheral zone thereof, a first conveyor serving to convey articles to a first station and a second conveyor serving to convey the articles away from a second station. Each load-carrying table is either a first load-carrying table adapted to rotate counterclockwise or a second load-carrying table adapted to rotate clockwise around its own axis as it moves along with the peripheral zone of the rotary table. The articles are successively loaded, at the first station, on these load-carrying tables. The first load-carrying table is turned counterclockwise approximately by 90° and the second load-carrying table is turned clockwise approximately by 90° in the course of traveling from the first station to the second station.

Abstract: An apparatus comprising a first conveyor and a second conveyor, the first and the second conveyor being arranged in line with each other, having the same conveying direction and, in use, having substantially the same conveying speed, while between the first and the second conveyor a pattern former is arranged which is adapted to pick up products supplied by the first conveyor and, while maintaining the forward conveying speed, to place the products on the second conveyor, the pattern former being provided with steering means to displace each product in a direction transverse to the conveying direction, and optionally reorient it, between the pickup and placement of the product.

Abstract: A transfer apparatus is provided for transferring a workpiece from a moving anvil to a moving carrier. The apparatus comprises: a support structure comprising a support member rotatable about a first axis, and a workpiece gripping structure mounted to the support structure comprising at least one workpiece gripping member having a workpiece-receiving surface. The gripping member is rotatable about a second axis substantially parallel to the first axis such that the gripping member is capable of being rotated about the second axis during transfer of a workpiece from the moving anvil to the workpiece-receiving surface. The workpiece gripping member is also rotatable about a third axis substantially transverse to the first and second axes so as to be capable of rotating the workpiece from a first angular position at the anvil to a second angular position.

Abstract: An assembly for conveying packets of cigarettes has a first and a second conveyor, which extend side by side along a given portion and are operated at a first and second speed respectively; and a transfer device, which has a deflecting member for transferring the packets of cigarettes from the first to the second conveyor along the given portion, and which is movable along the given portion.

Abstract: According to a method for transferring blister packs to a feeding line of a packaging machine, a series of blister packs arranged in a line at a cutting station is picked-up and arranged in alignment with receiving and moving means, adjacent to the cutting station. The series of blister packs is released simultaneously, so that a first blister pack, situated in a foremost position falls onto the receiving and moving mechanism and the further blister packs of the series of blister packs fall onto support elements, carried by a selective releasing member and disposed above the receiving and moving mechanism. The support elements are operated selectively, so as to release, one by one and in succession, the further blister packs aligned and regularly spaced apart, onto the receiving and moving mechanism.

Abstract: A transfer apparatus 10 includes crank arms 22 each of which is pivotally attached to a driving wheel 21, link levers 23 each of which has its one end pin-linked to the tip of the crank arm 22, and revolving sections 30 each of which is pin-linked to the other end of the link lever 23 and held at a distance from the rotation axis 210 of the driving wheel 21, wherein: the crank arm 22 is provided with a velocity-changing cam roller 223 protruding therefrom at a position spaced apart from the pivot center thereof; the velocity-changing cam roller 223 is guided while being engaged with the velocity-changing cam groove 44 which is formed to be eccentric to the rotation axis 210 of the driving wheel 21, whereby the tip of the crank arm 22 swings during one complete rotation of the driving wheel 21; and, as a result, the angular velocity of the link lever 23 linked to the tip of the crank arm 22 and the revolving section 30 periodically increases/decreases with respect to the angular velocity of the driving wheel 2

Abstract: An apparatus for transferring articles such as absorbent cores or disposable diaper chassis components from a rotary mechanism, such as a pad turner, to a linear mechanism, such as a conveyor for further processing. The invention provides a device for picking an article from the outside of a toroidal surface, thence extending transversely under tension the article to be transferred so that at the point of deposition the article is held flat and at full length. The device is of particular benefit where an article to be transferred is subject to internally biasing elastic forces.

Abstract: With an article transfer apparatus 1 of the present invention, when a negative pressure is applied on an air outlet 20 in a non-attracting state, the amount of air that is sucked through suction holes 6 in a front attracting section 2f is greater than the amount of air that is sucked through suction holes 7 in a rear attracting section 2b. Therefore, the suction amount through the front attracting section 2f is increased while reducing the suction loss of the attracting pad 2, thereby improving the reliability of the attraction operation.

Abstract: An object of the present invention is to enable the orientations of chip components accommodated in groove portions of an index table to be assuredly uniformized. When a polarity judgment device finds that the orientation of the chip component accommodated in the groove portion of the index table is opposite, the polarity inversion apparatus according to the present invention moves the chip component to the component accommodating inversion portion by using compressed air and the intake air from air inlet/outlet ports. Since the bottom surface of the inlet of the inversion portion is set so as to be lower than the base surface under the index table and the width of the inlet of the inversion portion is set so as to be wider than the width of the groove portion, the chip component can move to the inversion portion without getting stuck in the vicinity of the boundary.

Abstract: The apparatus according to the invention, which serves for transporting supplementary products, in particular sheet-like printed products provided with adhesive, from a receiving location to a discharge location, has at least one retaining element which is moved along a continuous circulatory path and by means of which supplementary products can be gripped at the receiving location and released again at a discharge location. By means of a control arrangement, with changeover operation, during the transportation from the receiving location to the discharge location, the retaining element, which is mounted such that it can be rotated about an axis which is located at least more or less perpendicularly to the circulatory path, is optionally left unchanged in a rotary position or rotated about the axis through a certain angle until an end position of the transported supplementary product which is envisaged for further processing has been reached.

Abstract: With an article transfer apparatus 1 of the present invention, when a negative pressure is applied on an air outlet 20 in a non-attracting state, the amount of air that is sucked through suction holes 6 in a front attracting section 2f is greater than the amount of air that is sucked through suction holes 7 in a rear attracting section 2b. Therefore, the suction amount through the front attracting section 2f is increased while reducing the suction loss of the attracting pad 2, thereby improving the reliability of the attraction operation.

Abstract: A tube loading system includes two flat conveyor belts which are perpendicular to each other for holding a tube having an open end thereagainst with two lines of contact; a motor drive for moving the conveyor belts; a gap between the two lines of contact at meeting edges of the conveyor belts; a vacuum source positioned behind the conveyor belts for supplying a vacuum to the gap so as to pull the tube against both conveyor belts in engagement with the two lines of contact; a pin chain having a plurality of pins spaced therealong for receiving the open ends of the tubes thereon, the pins being positioned adjacent the conveyor belts; and a delivery device for supplying the tubes in sequence to the conveyor belts such that each tube is held in engagement against both conveyor belts with the two lines of contact by the vacuum at the gap, and as the belt moves, each tube is deposited on a respective pin of the pin chain.

Abstract: The invention relates to a rotatable gripper device (1) for picking up and rotating products which are supplied on a conveyor belt. The device according to the invention comprises a gripper head (2, 3) which can rotate about a vertical central shaft (4) and has a gripping member (18) which can rotate about its axis. For upward and downward movement, the device comprises a first cam roller (6, 7) and cam discs (8), and for rotation about the axis comprises a second cam roller (9, 10) and cam disc (11). The device according to the invention is of a simple and relatively lightweight design, so that it is suitable for operating at high speeds. The gripper device according to the invention can be used to accurately set the rotational path of the gripping member (18) at the gripping position and the release position, by means of the shape of the cam disc, in order to produce a gradual transfer.