Abstract: An improved case packer machine is disclosed, of the type where containers are dropped through grid fingers to an empty case positioned on a lift table. The case packer machine of the present invention includes a flap opener which includes a pair of shoes mounted to an air cylinder. The shoes are extended by the air cylinder to contact and open the leading flap. The lifting table of the present invention is motor driven and controlled to limit the shock loading experienced by the containers as they are positioned within the cases. The lifting table includes a pair spur gears driven by the motor in meshing arrangement with a pair rack gears each mounted to a table and a novel gear guide to maintain proper engagement between the racks and gears and further to provide for backlash adjustment between the gears.

Abstract: An improved case packer machine is disclosed, of the type where containers are dropped through grid fingers to an empty case positioned on a lift table. The case packer machine of the present invention includes a flap opener which includes a pair of shoes mounted to an air cylinder. The shoes are extended by the air cylinder to contact and open the leading flap. The lifting table of the present invention is motor driven and controlled to limit the shock loading experienced by the containers as they are positioned within the cases. The lifting table includes a pair spur gears driven by the motor in meshing arrangement with a pair rack gears each mounted to a table and a novel gear guide to maintain proper engagement between the racks and gears and further to provide for backlash adjustment between the gears.

Abstract: A modular sliding door grid including a sliding door mounted on a low profile frame. The sliding door is actuated by at least one pivot bar, connected at one end to the sliding door and at the other end to a mechanical linkage. Actuation of a frame bar in a forward direction urges the mechanical linkage in a forward direction and causes the pivot bar to move around a center-point such that the sliding door moves in a backward direction. The backward movement of the sliding door removes support for a case load positioned on the sliding door so that the case load drops.

Abstract: A slitter machine of the type where tab lock cases of varying height, width, and length are advanced therethrough in a product flow direction on a machine bed by a main drive motor, is presented. The slitter machine includes a frame, a centerline, a leading flap lifter and a trailing flap lifter. The leading flap lifter and trailing flap lifter are mounted are mounted to the frame on opposite sides of the centerline, and extend at an incline relative to the machine bed. Each flap lifter includes a tear drop assembly attached to a drive chain and actuated by a pair of cams to rotate the leading flap and the trailing flap toward a closed position. A chain track is disposed in each of the flap lifting assemblies, with the drive chains disposed therein. Each chain track has a first section having a first distance between the drive chains and a second section having a second distance between the drive chains. The second distance is greater than the first distance.

Abstract: An improved case packer machine, of the type where containers are dropped through grid fingers to an empty case positioned on a lift table. The case packer machine of the present invention includes a flap opener which includes a pair of shoes mounted to an air cylinder. The shoes are extended by the air cylinder to contact and open the leading flap. The lifting table of the present invention is motor driven and controlled to limit the shock loading experienced by the containers as they are positioned within the cases. The lifting table includes a pair spur gears driven by the motor in meshing arrangement with a pair rack gears each mounted to a table and a novel gear guide to maintain proper engagement between the racks and gears and further to provide for backlash adjustment between the gears.

Abstract: A grouping system for a packaging line is provided with first and second pin conveyors adapted to group predetermined number of articles in a line without segregating the group from the line has the ability to feed the line of articles in timed relationship to a third pin conveyor which engages the leading group of articles from the line to accelerate it into a flight bar conveyor system provided in a continuous motion packer that is capable of packing the group of articles into a case fed into the load station in timed relationship with the progress of the article group through that load station.

Abstract: A packer is provided with a continuous flow of side-by-side columns of plastic bottles that move down an inclined ramp and into a load station where groups or slugs of bottles are deposited into trays or cases. An overhead flight bar conveyor provides a gap between each such group and the cases move by line pressure through the load station. Neck ring guides are provided above the flight bar path to control the descent of the bottles into each case. The path of the flight bars assures that each slug or group is closely controlled, initially by the steep entry angle and as a result of the shallow V-shaped path defined by the angularly related linear active runs on the flight bars prior to entry into the load station and by a second active run forming an abrupt V at the entry to the load station and inclined toward the neck ring guides at the same angle defined by the first run.

Abstract: In a packaging line adapted to feed articles into a packer and including lane guides defining lanes for columns of articles fed under line pressure to the packer, the lane guides are provided with an offset portion adapted to create a back pressure for reducing the line pressure at the packer. The offset portion provides sufficient resistance to the flow of articles so that the articles entering the packer are more readily accommodated, particularly articles of the type which are compressed by excessive line pressures and tend to upset the operation of the packer as a result of excessive or varying line pressure. The reduced line pressure permits operation of standard packing equipment for the handling of relatively soft and compressable cylindrical plastic bottles.

Abstract: Round bottles are moved between side walls in a tightly packed configuration by an underlying conveyor in a packaging line that requires the bottles to be divided into a plurality of side-by-side lanes for entry into the packer. The divider has selectively movable panels that normally form a divergent funnel for the bottles to allow them to expand and to move into the lanes. Void detectors in each of the outside lanes provide a signal to move one or both panels outwardly to clear a jam of bottles in the funnel. After a delay, the panels return slowly to their normal positions where they remain until the void detectors signal another jam in the funnel.

Abstract: An inline packaging machine for folding the flaps of a paper board tray blank around a group of articles loaded on the bottom panel of the tray has provision for emergency shut-down whereby any glue applied to the side flaps of the tray will not set before the tray is completely formed. Moveable side flap folding means is provided at the glue station itself for this purpose. The said emergency flap folding means also serves to support the tray end flaps during gluing. The compression section of the machine that normally applies pressure to the glued flaps includes an inlet portion that is re-configured during emergency shut-down for the same purpose, that is to assure that the flaps are completely folded as the glue sets. The glue station and compression section are mounted on beams that are movable toward and away from one another to accommodate trays of various width.

Abstract: A paperboard tray packaging machine is adapted to handle the tray blanks and product to be packaged as both move continually in a downstream direction. The blanks are stored in an auxiliary magazine alongside the main magazine and are transferred from one to the other individually so each tray blank can be printed, at least on the blank end walls that cannot be conveniently printed in the machine itself.

Abstract: Plastic bottles filled with hot liquid such as fruit juices or the like are packaged in cases fed in line below the path of these bottles in the machine. Line pressure urges the bottles down an inclined ramp into a load station where the plastic trays are continuously filled with the bottles. The trays are indexed by a flight bar conveyor that lifts each tray turn at the load station. Overhead flight bar conveyor chains operate separator pegs that move downwardly between selected article rows to index groups of the softened hot bottles as they are loaded into the inline trays. Overhead separator discs are used in place of these flight bars and pegs for loading conventional plastic bottles or the like.

Abstract: In a packaging machine the articles to be packaged are handled by escapement means that generate gaps between successive articles in each column. The escapement means includes at least two pin conveyors, each of which is driven at a speed which is controlled whereby to permit varying the pitch distance between the pins of each of these two conveyors in order to accommodate a different number of and differently sized articles. The articles are separated by a take away conveyor driven at a slightly greater speed than the pin conveyors to create gaps between the adjacent rows of articles. Partitions may be fed into these gaps, and other gaps are used to permit entry of a flight bar grouper conveyor that ultimately groups the articles so as to create a desired pack pattern for loading.

Abstract: Tandem magazines store tray blanks of different size for loading product in different pack patterns. Each magazine has a depending cam device that engages unique lugs on the tray conveyor to allow the lowermost blank to be received on the tray conveyor, and then to be gripped by the unique lug for transport downstream toward the load station. Since only one magazine is used at one time these cam devices can be deactivated as desired. One of the two blank withdrawing means associated with each magazine is located under the tray blank conveyor and operates in timed relationship with it. The blank withdrawing means are also selectively deactivated for the same reason.

Abstract: Articles, such as small plastic bottles, or six packs consisting of such bottles, are moved by line pressure down an inclined ramp into a load station where plastic trays are continuously filled with these articles. The trays are indexed by a flight bar conveyor that raises each tray, to be in position to index the next tray, and driven separator discs above the articles have lugs that move between selected article rows to index groups of the articles as they are loaded into the tray.

Abstract: Upright containers of non-rectangular shape move downstream in a plurality of parallel columns and in laterally aligned rows toward a load station where the containers are deposited row-on-row into partitioned packing cases. The cases move continuously through the load station end-to-end and are indexed to the rows of containers by depending pegs that move in between the containers from above. The pegs are provided in flights of an overhead flight bar conveyor and camming means keeps these pegs oriented perpendicular to the upright containers as the legs move in between the containers to control the containers dropped at the load station.

Abstract: Two side-by-side columns of containers are fed between laterally spaced container conveyors that have lugs which move inwardly between the adjacent containers of each column. Some lugs are oversized to create a space between the foremost containers in one slug or array and the last containers in an adjacent array. These lugs also have bifurcated lower portions and the lug conveyors move these lugs downwardly to engage the adjacent end panels of two end-to-end packing cases so the containers can be lowered into these cases at a load station.

Abstract: Oscillating lane guide segments define a diverging laterally shifting path for the articles tending to break up the nested articles and to facilitate feeding the articles in orderly rows more suitable for a conventional case packer. Left and right primary lane guide elements are pivotably mounted to the downstream ends of left and right stationary intake lane guides. Left and right secondary lane guide elements are pivotably mounted in turn to downstream ends of the primary lane guide segments. An actuator is provided for oscillating the left and right primary lane guide segments.

Abstract: Reusable plastic trays of the type adapted to transport large plastic soda bottles generally have cylindrical pockets for receiving the base of the bottle, and these pockets are uniformly spaced with respect to one another in each tray, and also with respect to adjacent bottles in adjacent trays at least when the trays are oriented in end-to-end relationship with respect to one another. This feature is one the present invention takes peculiar advantage of providing for orienting the bottles in two columns, and synchronizing bottle and tray movements so that the bottles can be lowered by their neck rings into the upwardly open pockets of the tray without necessity for periodically interrupting forward movement of the containers and of the trays in an improved continuous motion bottle packer especially suited for use with such reusable plastic trays.

Abstract: A nested pattern of round containers accumulates on an infeed conveyor between side guides so spaced as to accommodate the containers in nested columns. Individual venturi, or lane conveyors, are non-linear and achieve a lateral spreading of the center columns without relying on a fixed lane guide or divider. Outer lane conveyors do the same immediately downstream of this center column spreading action and the containers are then fed to a case packer in orderly columns.