Patents by Inventor Heinz F. Odenthal

Heinz F. Odenthal has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 6467241
    Abstract: Flat box blanks are set up into boxes by feeding a succession of the blanks one at a time to a setup station and gripping the blanks and pulling them one after another by grippers in a direction without stopping through the station. A plurality of setup tools are moved through the station in the direction synchronously with the grippers and the blanks and are engaged with the continuously moving setup tools transversely with the blanks in the setup station to shape the blanks into boxes while the blanks are held out of contact in the station with any structure other than the synchronously moving tools and grippers.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 21, 1999
    Date of Patent: October 22, 2002
    Assignee: Nor-Reg AS
    Inventors: Heinz F. Odenthal, Bruno Baumeister
  • Patent number: 6408601
    Abstract: A pocket belt is continuously advanced by a drive at a variable pocket-belt speed, and a package supply feeds packages at a variable spacing one after another to a transfer station offset from the pocket belt. A feeding system has an intermediate belt extending through the transfer station from the supply to the pocket belt, and a drive for advancing the intermediate belt at an intermediate-belt speed and thereby moving the packages on the intermediate belt at the intermediate-belt speed from the supply to the pocket belt. A controller connected to the drives maintains the intermediate speed at a predetermined ratio to the pocket-belt speed as determined by the spacing between succeeding packages as they arrive at the transfer station from the supply.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 10, 1999
    Date of Patent: June 25, 2002
    Assignee: Nor-Reg AS
    Inventors: Heinz F. Odenthal, Marian Cioc
  • Patent number: 6038837
    Abstract: Boxes each having a plurality of relatively short side panels having upper edges three of which are free edges and one of which is connected to a cover panel itself having free edges and at least one flap projecting from one of the free edges are closed by first inserting the boxes one after the other into respective pockets formed between crosswise partitions on an endless conveyor belt spanned over a plurality of rollers. Each cover is folded onto the respective box by engagement with the partitions of the respective pocket on insertion of the respective box into the respective pocket. Then adhesive is applied to the flaps while the boxes are in the pockets and the adhesive-coated flaps are pressed against the boxes while the boxes are in the pockets.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 3, 1998
    Date of Patent: March 21, 2000
    Assignee: SIG Pack Systems AG
    Inventor: Heinz F. Odenthal
  • Patent number: 5924968
    Abstract: An apparatus for erecting flat blanks into three-dimensional box parts has a machine frame, a bin on the frame holding a stack of the blanks with a lower surface of a lowermost blank largely exposed at a base of the stack, an erecting unit on the frame spaced downstream in a transport direction from the bin, and a conveyor on the frame. The conveyor has at least two spaced endless conveyor elements having upper stretches extending horizontally underneath the bin in the direction, respective suction boxes generally level with the upper stretches, and a drive for advancing the elements in the transport direction. An extractor on the frame underneath the bin includes a vertically displaceable vacuum-operated suction head engageable with the lower surface of the lowermost blank for pulling same out of the bin and setting it on the conveyor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 15, 1997
    Date of Patent: July 20, 1999
    Assignee: OSTMA Maschinenbau GmbH
    Inventor: Heinz F. Odenthal
  • Patent number: 5768856
    Abstract: Packages arriving continuously one after the other at an input station are loaded into boxes by continuously displacing an endless pocket belt through the input station and loading the packages at the input station into respective pockets of the belt. At a transfer station offset along the belt from the input station groups of the packages in the pockets are displaced transversely of the belt out of the respective pockets while the packages are still being displaced parallel to and synchronously with the belt at least until the packages being displaced transversely are clear of the pocket belt. These groups of packages displaced out of the respective pockets of the belts are then loaded into respective boxes.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 6, 1996
    Date of Patent: June 23, 1998
    Assignee: Ostma Maschinenbau GmbH
    Inventor: Heinz F. Odenthal
  • Patent number: 5735104
    Abstract: A web withdrawn from a coil is split to form tray-forming and head-encircling strips which are passed vertically across a path of a group of articles so that the strips are entrained by the group and pass under and over the group to be connected together at a rear portion into closed bands. The tray-forming band projects beyond the edges of the group and can be folded to form the tray. The feed conveyor advances the group of articles to the packaging station from which the group of articles is transferred to the discharge conveyor operating at a right angle to the feed conveyor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 4, 1996
    Date of Patent: April 7, 1998
    Assignee: Ostma Maschinenbau GmbH
    Inventor: Heinz F. Odenthal
  • Patent number: 5661948
    Abstract: A packaging system has a conveyor, a coil of a web of box material, and a box-making unit adjacent the coil for pulling the box-material web from its coil, printing on the box-material web, cutting the printed box-material web into individual carton blanks, forming the blanks into individual upwardly open boxes, and depositing the boxes on the conveyor. A coil of label material is provided adjacent a label-making unit that pulls the label-material web from the coil, prints on the label-material web, cuts the printed label-material coil into individual labels, applies the labels to objects secured from a source of the objects, and loads respective pluralities of the labeled objects into respective ones of the open boxes on the conveyor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 20, 1995
    Date of Patent: September 2, 1997
    Assignee: Ostma Maschinenbau GmbH
    Inventor: Heinz F. Odenthal
  • Patent number: 5588285
    Abstract: A system for packing a plurality of packages into a container has an input conveyor for delivering the packages one at a time at regular intervals and at a constant input speed to a transfer station and an output conveyor having a perforated lower belt and an upper belt together defining a path extending from an upstream end at the transfer station to a vertically displaceable downstream end at a loading station. A container conveyor extends past the loading station for displacing a succession of the containers through the station. A controller connected to all of the drives operates the output conveyor at a low stacking speed to form an overlapped group of the packages on the output conveyor. It periodically switches the output conveyor from the low stacking speed to a high gapping speed when a predetermined number of the packages have been deposited on the output conveyor by the input conveyor to form a space on the output conveyor between succeeding groups of packages.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 6, 1995
    Date of Patent: December 31, 1996
    Assignee: Ostma Maschinenbau GmbH
    Inventor: Heinz F. Odenthal
  • Patent number: 5551212
    Abstract: A package is formed by holding a nonextensible strip taut and wrapping it around the upper and/or lower periphery of the bundle and joining the ends of the strip segments e.g. by adhesive bonding. A projecting margin of the strip is folded to overlie the bundle or underlie the bundle so that an L-configuration is imparted to the frame formed around the bundle after the strip is applied thereto.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 3, 1993
    Date of Patent: September 3, 1996
    Assignee: Ostma Maschinenbau GmbH
    Inventor: Heinz F. Odenthal
  • Patent number: 5046603
    Abstract: A transfer table, especially for packaging machines for stacks of paper in the paper industry comprises a plurality of rigid table elements which are linked together in the manner of a chain and are guided into a rigid transfer table configuration cantilevered on a support of the device in an extended position and capable of being guided into a zigzag or rolled-up position on the frame in a retracted position of the table. A transfer belt passes over the table and around deflection rollers mounted on the frame and defining compensating loops which contract as the table extends and expands as the table is contracted.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 9, 1990
    Date of Patent: September 10, 1991
    Assignee: Ostma Maschinenbau GmbH
    Inventor: Heinz F. Odenthal
  • Patent number: 5010712
    Abstract: Baked goods, deep-frozen comestibles and like pressure-sensitive articles are packaged by passing the articles along a transport belt onto a delivery belt which can receive only one article at a time and then controlling the speed of this belt, to precisely deposit the article one at a time upon the packing underlay forming part of a prefolded box advanced past the delivery belt on a box conveyor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 8, 1990
    Date of Patent: April 30, 1991
    Assignee: Ostma Maschinenbau GmbH
    Inventor: Heinz F. Odenthal
  • Patent number: 4988263
    Abstract: A destacking apparatus for stacked pallets has at the destacking station not only a raisable and lowerable destacking platform but at least a raisable and lowerable receiving platform upstream of the destacking platform so that, when the destacking platform is brought to its lowest position, a stacked pallet from the receiving platform can be transferred onto it. Because the receiving platform can receive the stacked pallets at a higher location or level, the time previously required for moving the stacked platform down from this higher level to a position in which destacking can begin from the top of the stack is eliminated and the entire operation is expedited.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 16, 1989
    Date of Patent: January 29, 1991
    Assignee: Ostma Maschinebau GmbH
    Inventor: Heinz F. Odenthal
  • Patent number: 4982552
    Abstract: An apparatus for packaging stacks of paper has a suction plunger assembly which can be lowered to draw a box blank and a stack of paper thereon downwardly past the box folding element of a box folding claim of guide rods which are connected to the guide rods of the suction plunger assembly so that, upon adjustment of the format of the box folding assembly, the positions of the suction plunger will be automatically adjusted.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 12, 1990
    Date of Patent: January 8, 1991
    Assignee: Ostma Maschinenbau GmbH
    Inventor: Heinz F. Odenthal
  • Patent number: 4915247
    Abstract: The packing for packaged goods stacked or provided with straight edges has a plurality of packing pieces made of packing material bent or folded in the vicinity of the edges of the packaged goods. The packing pieces have packing bars with an angular transverse cross section which are juxtaposed with and receive the edges of the packaged goods. The packing bars are assembled into a supporting framework with at least one open frame area in contrast to the solid panels used previously.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 2, 1988
    Date of Patent: April 10, 1990
    Assignee: Ostma Maschinenbau GmbH
    Inventor: Heinz F. Odenthal
  • Patent number: 4899790
    Abstract: The filling apparatus for a powdery product, especially for a freeze-dried food product, has a container conveyor for a plurality of containers, a measuring device and a plurality of filling funnels which are placed in the containers. The container conveyor has an entrance portion with a feed belt, a filling zone adjoining it and a delivery belt. A plurality of filling funnels is attached to a continuously circulating chain conveyor and guided in the conveying direction on the forwardly moving strand of a chain conveyor above and close to the container conveyor. A conveying screw driven synchronously with the chain conveyor is located in the entrance portion of the conveying belt. Its conveying helix engages the containers laterally so that the containers are movable with a feed speed corresponding to the conveying speed of the chain conveyor and can be spaced as defined in the spacing between the outlets of the filling funnels.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 26, 1988
    Date of Patent: February 13, 1990
    Assignee: Ostma Maschinenbau GmbH
    Inventor: Heinz F. Odenthal
  • Patent number: 4676050
    Abstract: The invention relates to a method of and an apparatus for transporting flexible foil packages, particularly flat bags (6, 8, 13) filled with unstabilized material to a package container (1). The flat bags (6, 8, 13) deposited flat and with uniformly distributed contents by a filling and closing machine upon a transport belt are first of all imbricated and maintained clamped on both sides during further transport into the package container, so that the uniform distribution of the contents is maintained into the container. A close filling of the container (1) without excessive pressure is ensured by this means. Because the flat bags are conveyed from the conveying path directly into the container without an intermediate magazine, containers of different size can be filled consecutively virtually without interrupting the conveyance.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 22, 1985
    Date of Patent: June 30, 1987
    Assignee: OSTMA Maschinenbau GmbH
    Inventor: Heinz F. Odenthal