Abstract: The present invention relates to a packaging device and sorting system (82) for directional packaging of products (P), such as vegetables and fruit, and a method therefore. The packaging device according to the invention comprises: —a sensor system (54) configured to detect a collection of suitable pick-up points; —at least one directing unit (16) configured to direct a product and provided with at least one degree of freedom for rotation of the product around a substantially horizontal rotation axis; and —a manipulator (28) comprising: —a pick-up element (44); and —a moving device (30) comprising at least four degrees of freedom for translation of the product and rotation around a substantially horizontal axis, wherein a rotation of the product around a substantially vertical rotation axis is possibly by means of providing the moving device and/or directing unit with an additional degree of freedom.

Abstract: A water-soluble pouch suitable for use in machine dishwashing and which comprises a plurality of compartments in generally superposed or superposable relationship, each containing one or more detergent active or auxiliary components, and wherein the pouch has a volume of from about 5 to about 70 ml and a longitudinal/transverse aspect ratio in the range from about 2:1 to about 1:8, preferably from about 1:1 to about 1:4. The water-soluble pouch allows for optimum delivery of dishwashing detergent. A process for the manufacture of multi-compartment pouches and a pack to contain the pouches are also disclosed.

Abstract: An article packaging machine includes a trailing article pusher assembly for pushing the trailing articles of a packaging production run down infeed conveyer lanes and through workstations of the packaging machine so that the trailing articles can be packaged. The pusher assembly comprises a pusher chain that is flexible in one direction to allow the chain to be coiled upon itself and generally inflexible in the other direction beyond a substantially straight configuration of the chain. A pusher block is attached to a free end of the pusher chain. The pusher chain is normally stowed on a take-up magazine beside its associated infeed lane during a packaging operation. When the trailing articles of a production run approach the workstations of the packaging machine, a gate opens to allow the pusher chain and its pusher block to be extended into the infeed lane behind the last trailing article.

Abstract: A unit for filling first containers (6), fed discontinuously, with a predetermined number of objects (3) of smaller dimensions than the first containers, said second objects (3) being fed to said unit (1) continuously by a feeder (2), said unit comprising conveyor means (12, 13, 30, 31, 50) for conveying said objects (3) into said container (6), interceptor means (31, 32) for said objects (3) to enable or prevent entry of said objects into said container, and means (40, 41) for counting the number of said objects (3) inserted into said first container (6), said interceptor means (31, 32) being associated with said conveyor means.

Abstract: A beverage bottling plant for filling and closing beverage bottles with a packaging device for packaging beverage bottles. The packaging device comprises a beverage bottle handling machine for maintaining separation and spacing of groups of bottles and for compacting bottles into groups having desired outer perimeter shape and outer perimeter size and dimensions.

Abstract: A water-soluble pouch suitable for use in machine dishwashing and which comprises a plurality of compartments in generally superposed or superposable relationship, each containing one or more detergent active or auxiliary components, and wherein the pouch has a volume of from about 5 to about 70 ml and a longitudinal/transverse aspect ratio in the range from about 2:1 to about 1:8, preferably from about 1:1 to about 1:4. The water-soluble pouch allows for optimum delivery of dishwashing detergent. A process for the manufacture of multi-compartment pouches and a pack to contain the pouches are also disclosed.

Abstract: An apparatus for depositing a filament tow in a stationary can. To this end, the filament tow is conveyed to the can by a conveyance means which includes a pair of driven reels. For deposition into the can, the filament tow is guided in such a way that the feed position of the filament tow in the can constantly changes. To allow the filament tow to be deposited with a high filling density, for deposition into the can the filament tow is guided by two separate oscillating motions of the conveyance means during conveying which are transverse to the conveyance direction. In this manner, undesired reactions on the filament tow are advantageously avoided during deposition.

Abstract: The invention relates to a method and to a device for depositing a filament tow in a stationary can. To this end, the filament tow is conveyed to the can by a conveyance means, and for deposition into the can the filament tow is guided in such a way that the feed position of the filament tow in the can constantly changes. To allow the filament tow to be deposited with a high filling density, for deposition into the can the filament tow is guided according to the invention by oscillating motions of the conveyance means during conveying which are transverse to the conveyance direction. In this manner, undesired reactions on the filament tow are advantageously avoided during deposition.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for filling a shell body with sub-projectiles in a predefined geometric arrangement and in a very short time without creating shifting errors is provided. Prior to filling the shell body, the sub-projectiles may be combined into layers which are as thick as the length of the sub-projectiles and which extend in planes transverse to a longitudinal axis of the shell body. The sub-projectiles take up a position in the layer which corresponds to their geometric arrangement in a hollow chamber of the shell body. During the combination, the outer periphery of the layers may be shaped so that, following insertion of the layer into the hollow chamber, the sub-projectiles may be held there and fixed against relative rotation while maintaining the previously formed geometric arrangement. In accordance with a preferred embodiment, the outer periphery of the layers may assume a hexagonal shape where the axes of the cylindrical sub-projectiles are aligned with the longitudinal axis of the shell body.

Abstract: An automated packaging system that can simultaneously process a single case or a plurality of cases and can be adjusted to accommodate packages and cases of various sizes. Individual packages are fed to the packaging system on the package conveyor. The packages are recognized by the system when they energize an electric eye which causes the package to be elevated above the conveying surface of the package conveyor and stopped below a pick and place mechanism. The individual packages are elevated by plates having upper surfaces that extend through slots in the conveying surface and are stopped by vacuum cups carried by the upper surfaces of the plates. The upper surfaces of the plates are inclined which causes the packages to climb the incline which functions to decelerate the movement of the package.

Abstract: An apparatus and method are disclosed where stand-up pouches are partially flattened and arranged in an overlapping row where they are picked-up by a thin cantilevered vacuum pick-up head and placed into the open side of a tilted carton with the sequence being repeated until the carton is filled.

Abstract: A device for packing filled bags in outers comprises means (1, 3) for placing the bags in a row in such a way that they overlap each other, a suction box (8) with suction cups (13, 14) for retaining filled bags, which suction box can be moved between a pick-up position above the means for forming a row and a delivery positon above an outer or device for feeding in an outer, and means (4, 6) for pushing a formed row of bags up against the suction cups of the suction box. The suction box (8) has one or more rows of suction cups (13) having mouths placed relatively high up and one or more rows of suction cups having mouths placed relatively low down. In a tint pick-up position of the suction box, the suction cups having mouths placed high up are positioned directly above the means for forming a row of bags, and in a second pick-up position of the suction box, the suction cups having mouths placed relatively low down are situated directly above the means for forming a row of bags.

Abstract: An apparatus and method for collecting flexible bagged product into groups having desired spacing characteristics and for packing such product groups in receptacles is disclosed. In a first embodiment, the apparatus of the present invention includes an infeed belt for transporting product, a collecting belt operatively aligned with the infeed belt for collecting product from the infeed in product groups, product detecting apparatus for detecting units of product passing from the infeed belt to the collecting belt, means for transporting the product groups from the collecting belt to receptacles, and a controller operatively connected to the detecting apparatus and the collecting belt for advancing the collecting belt a preselected distance for each product which passes onto the collecting belt until a group containing the preselected number of product is collected on the collecting belt, and for activating the collecting belt to advance the collected product gorups to a transporting station.

Abstract: A lettuce head holding tray is defined in which both the upper tray layer and the lower tray layer are packed side-by-side at packing stations. At a carton loading station, two side-by-side arrays of plungers each are used for packing of discrete layers of the cartons. One array of plungers packs the bottom carton layer; the other array of plungers packs the top carton layer. Two cartons are disposed opened upwardly to the plunger array at the packing station; one carton is disposed to the bottom layer loading plunger array for packing of the bottom layer and the other carton--with its bottom layer previously packed--is disposed to the top layer loanding plunger array for packing of its top layer. The cartons--between the packing of the bottom layer and the packing of the top layer--are conveyed between positions underlying the plunger arrays. Thus each carton has is lower layer packed by the lower layer loading plunger array and then its top layer packed by the upper layer loading plunger array.

Abstract: The grouping of objects, for example unit packaging goods, is accomplished by automatically assembling a stepped formation of the goods and subsequently leveling-off the stepped formation. To accomplish the foregoing, a serially increasing number of the goods are delivered in steps to a grouping station until a maximum number is reached and thereafter the number of goods per step is serially decreased. By exercising simultaneous control over the in-feed of goods and the shifting of the goods step-wise in a direction transverse to the in-feed direction after each delivery, finished groups having a predetermined size and configuration are formed at a downstream end of the grouping station and these finished groups are shifted out of the grouping station in the in-feed direction in synchronism with the in-feed of goods as the number of goods per step being fed in decreases.

Abstract: The process includes an initial phase in which pieces of fruit in a line are lifted by suction and the line of fruit is then transferred to the packing case with one piece of fruit situated in the central zone of the line being displaced angularly and the remainder of the fruit either side of this central piece being displaced towards the center of the line prior to the entry of the line of fruit into the case. After entry, the pieces of fruit resume their initial position and are deposited in the case and the suction is discontinued. The machinery includes a mechanism having a plurality of vacuum operated suction pads of which the central suction pad can be moved angularly and the remainder have the means to be displaced laterally.

Abstract: A tire handling system capable of automatically performing a series of tire handling operations including sorting of the tires from a production/inspection line according to types and sizes, stacking the sorted tires, and shelving the stacks of tires in frame pallets. The tire handling system incorporates a novel tire supplying device which supplies the sorted tire to the tire stacking device in one-by-one fashion, a tire inverting device disposed between the tire supplying device and the tire stacking device and adapted for selectively inverting tires conveyed along the sorting line, and an automatic tire shelving device for shelving the stacks of tires. These devices have simple constructions but yet are capable of performing the supplying, inverting and shelving operations with a high degree of reliability.

Abstract: A packing machine for pouches or other flexible container is provided having an indexable conveyor, a feed means which discharges pouches onto said indexable conveyor, a sensing means for indexing the conveyor, a variable stroke vacuum head assembly with a vacuum shroud for transporting and packing the pouches, and means to vary the length of stroke of the vacuum head assembly.

Abstract: Apparatus, particularly, for packing egg cartons into wire baskets includes a movable tray for delivering cartons to a basket filling station where the cartons are lowered into the basket. Tines support the cartons after the movable tray is withdrawn and a movable press urges the cartons downwardly onto the tines while the tines move downwardly. The sequence is repeated and layers of cartons are progressively added to fill the basket. A sensor determines when the baskets are full and removes full baskets and replaces new baskets for filling. The basket filling station is fed from multiple filling trays fed by multiple conveyors.

Abstract: For packing filled bags into boxes an apparatus is provided which includes a receiving plate for collecting bags in a row, and a pusher plate for pushing the row to a position above a box to allow the row to fall into the box. To achieve an accurate positioning of the rows of bags in a box and a high degree of filling of the box a movable cassette is positioned above a waiting box. In order to bridge over the varying distance between the cassette and the receiving plate, a bridging plate extends between the cassette and the receiving plate. Preferably the bridging plate is in the form of a slide plate which is joined to the cassette.

Abstract: Automatic packaging machine, in particular for bags with at least one flattened edge, comprising a frame which downwardly supports a lateral magazine of flattened boxes, an assembly for folding individual boxes to a parallelpipedal shape and an assembly for closing the bottom and transferring boxes into a filling area. The frame upwardly supports a bag feed line ending at the inlets of two co-planar, parallel and lateral transport lines for arranging side to side the bags. The transfer lines end at the machine filling area, where an assembly is provided for transferring groups of bags in the underlying box with the bottoms thereof substantially resting against the counterposed side walls of the box.

Abstract: An automatic packaging machine includes a loading station for simultaneously and sequentially picking up a plurality of elongated products and deposing them in a spaced parallel alignment within a box. At the time of loading each of the products has an initial volume which is substantially greater than the volume which the same product will have after it has settled over time within the box. Thus, the box id overfilled by an amount which will make it full after the products have settled. Then, the overfilled box is advanced to a closing station, where the lid is closed over the filled box without damage to the products. This immediately reduces the volume of the products to the volume which they would have after they have settled.

Abstract: A machine and a method for density packing of cylindrical plastic objects such as caps in layers in rectangular containers. The machine includes an elongated table and a vertical transfer mechanism for the plastic objects located at one end of the table. A loading mechanism is provided at the opposite end of the table to form a row at a time of plastic objects on the table. A pusher bar is provided to move each individual row of plastic objects along the table to an assembly area where a matrix of plastic objects is formed. A second pusher bar is provided to move the assembled matrix of plastic objects to a position under the vertical transfer mechanism.

Abstract: A DIP tube loader and handler including magazine for containing a quantity of empty DIP packaging tubes, a tube singulating mechanism for positioning the tubes one at a time into a position to be loaded with DIPs, a DIP singulating mechanism for loading a predetermined number of DIPs into the tubes, and a tube elevator for transporting the loaded tubes from the loading position into a hopper.

Abstract: A packaging machine for automatically packaging articles in a honeycomb structure which includes mechanisms for providing a honeycomb structure in an expanded condition in a loading station. The articles to be packaged are directed into the loading station, dropped into the expanded honeycomb structure, and the articles and honeycomb are subsequently dropped into the container. This is automatically done on a repeated basis until the container is filled, after which the container is automatically moved out of the loading station and a new container is moved into place.

Abstract: Manually controlled handling machine for filling or emptying cases for transporting stowed articles, including a carriage (7), displaceable between a station for supplying bottles lying head to tail and a station for loading containers, bearing a tackle-block (16), and a centering frame (17) adapted to cooperate with a plate (24) equipped with gripping suction cups (25). Carriage (7) rolls on a runway (1) which is curved in a semi-circle above the containers in order to allow the loading of one half and the other half of the containers, and an orientable guiding member (28) enables the position of the plate (24) during its rising and descending movements to be corrected.

Abstract: A packaging machine and method for automatically packaging articles such as fruit one layer at a time into containers is provided. Means are provided for disposing the articles in a nested relationship at several supply positions. Means are also provided for situating containers at loading stations adjacent to said supply positions. The articles are lifted from the supply positions and deposited into the containers at the loading positions. Each array of articles comprises a separate layer in a box or container. After such layers are deposited simultaneously at each of said loading stations, the boxes are advanced to the next loading station wherein the cycle is repeated until the container is filled. Preferably, a number of supply and loading positions and containers is equal to the number of layers which will fit into the box, so that the net result is having one box filled for each machine cycle.

Abstract: Apparatus for forming objects into groups and inserting successive groups into containers, which includes a grouping station, an individual item conveyor for guiding the objects individually to the grouping station, a group conveyor for conveying the objects in groups away from the grouping station, a container conveyor for conveying successive containers relative to the group conveyor, and a mechanism for inserting groups of objects conveyed by the group conveyor into successive containers, and in which the item conveyor and the group conveyor convey the objects at least approximately in the same direction into the inserting mechanism, and the inserting mechanism includes a vertically movable holding device movable between an upper position in which it holds a group of objects and a lowered position at which it can release such group of objects within an open container which has been brought into position by the container conveyor.

Abstract: An apparatus receives empty bins and loose articles of random size and shape, such as apples, to be stored within the bins at a fill station. The articles are delivered to an inclined conveyor which has a lower end adjacent to a horizontal conveyor with a stop roller being positioned between the conveyors. When the articles have collected on the inclined conveyor a predetermined distance up the incline, a drive is actuated which simultaneously moves the inclined conveyor upwardly and moves the horizontal conveyor away from the inclined conveyor while rotating the stop roller to permit the articles to move from the inclined conveyor to the horizontal conveyor. This conveyor motion causes the articles to gently cascade down the incline in spread out fashion so that they are transported toward the end of the horizontal conveyor remote from the inclined conveyor and across the entire breadth thereof.

Abstract: In a method of automatically packing articles produced in at least two machine units and filled by means of a cartoning machine into cartons or boxes the following steps are provided: the articles are piled up in the machine units to form stacks of articles, the stacks of articles are transferred to a conveyor means operating in cycles, conveyed to the cartoning machine and finally pushed into a carton or box transversely of the direction of transport.In a preferred installation for carrying out the method a stacking device forming stacks of articles and a transverse pusher are associated with each machine unit. The machine units are interconnected by a common compartmental conveyor moved in cycles and having compartments of the length of a stack of articles. At the end of the compartmental conveyor a cartoning machine is arranged with which another transverse pusher is coordinated so as to be aligned with the compartments of the compartmental conveyor at standstill.

Abstract: An arrangement for the feeding of objects to and grouping them on a base.In order to simplify handling and transport of milk packages it is frequent to use transport packages in the form of trays or the like, onto which a number of milk packages are placed in close stacking. For this purpose automatic machinery is used, which machinery automatically loads the milk packages on a transport package placed in position for loading. In order to avoid interruptions when an empty transport package has to be substituted for a filled one this invention suggests an arrangement according to which the milk packages are first collected in close stacking on a pre-loading surface. Thereafter, when the new transport package has been brought in correct position adjacent to the pre-loading surface, the collected milk packages are transferred onto the transport package.

Abstract: A packaging machine for automatically packaging articles in a honeycomb structure which includes mechanisms for providing a honeycomb structure in an expanded condition in a loading station. The articles to be packaged are directed into the loading station, dropped into the expanded honeycomb structure, and the articles and honeycomb are subsequently dropped into the container. This is automatically done on a repeated basis until the container is filled, after which the container is automatically moved out of the loading station and a new container is moved into place.

Abstract: A machine for packing objects into boxes comprises a platform comprising two horizontal flaps 15 on which an array of objects 11 to be dropped vertically into a box to form a layer therein is built up. When a complete array is sensed, a plunger 34 moves down to a position above or in contact with the array whereupon the flaps move first down to impart a vertically downward movement to the array and then flip quickly to a vertical position allowing the objects to fall past in their array with the plunger 34 maintaining position.The operation of the flaps and the plunger is controlled by a rotating cam that drives a con-rod connected to the plunger.