APPARATUS FOR FEEDING ARTICLES PROVIDED WITH DEVICE FOR EXTRACTING THE ARTICLES.

Technical field

This invention relates to an apparatus for feeding articles.

Background art

Apparatuses are known for feeding rolls of toilet paper packaged individually in a special wrapper, preferably made from a suitable plastic film, comprising means for conveying the articles, aligned with each other, and which are designed to place the articles with the respective longitudinal axis directed according to the feed direction, receiving the articles from the means for lateral joining or closing of the wrapper on the respective article, of a respective packaging machine positioned upstream. In the above mentioned packaging machines, the articles are fed oriented with the respective longitudinal axis, which is directed transversely to the feed direction and with the respective end faces of the articles which are held in contact with opposite elements for lateral joining or closing of the wrapper defined by opposite rotatable and heated lateral bands extending vertically.

One problem seen in the prior art apparatuses relates to the fact that the articles leaving the joining means can remain attached to one or other of the lateral belts for joining or closing the film on the roll, that is, on the joining means, in this way preventing, or obstructing, the passage of the articles to the conveying means downstream, that is, completely clogging the joining means and preventing the feeding of the articles towards the feed means downstream, that is, providing an inefficient passage of the articles with consequent poor positioning of the articles to be conveyed downstream. Disclosure of the invention

This invention therefore proposes a new solution as an alternative to the solutions known up to now and, more specifically, proposes to overcome one or more of the above mentioned drawbacks and/or problems and/or to meet one or more of the needs felt in the trade or inferable from the above.

An apparatus is provided for feeding articles, in particular articles having a respective longitudinal axis of extension and in particular which are in the form of rolls, such as rolls of toilet paper, packaged, in particular individually, in a special wrapper, preferably made from a suitable plastic film; the apparatus comprising means for conveying the articles, aligned with each other, in particular which are designed to place the articles with the respective longitudinal axis directed according to the feed direction, the conveying means receiving the articles from the means for lateral joining of the wrapper on the respective article, in particular of a respective packaging machine upstream, and which feed the articles oriented with the respective longitudinal axis directed transversely to the feed direction, with the end faces of the articles which are held in contact with opposite joining elements, preferably defined by respective rotatable lateral bands heated and extending vertically; characterised in that it comprises a device for extracting the articles from the joining means which are designed to pass the articles to the conveying means downstream.

In this way, it is possible to avoid, to the maximum extent, that the articles remain entangled between the joining means, that is, that they are passed in an inappropriate manner to the conveying means downstream resulting in an incorrect orientation of the articles, in view of the operations to be performed on the articles downstream.

Brief description of the drawings

These and other innovative aspects are set out in the appended claims and its technical features and advantages are apparent from the detailed description which follows of a preferred, advantageous embodiment, which must be considered purely as a non-limiting example, the description being made with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective side view of a preferred embodiment of conveyor apparatus, showing in particular the extraction device according to this invention;

Figure 2 is a perspective view, showing in particular the other side wall of the extraction device according to this invention;

Figure 3 is a perspective view from above, showing in particular the extraction device according to this invention;

Figure 4 is a perspective view of this conveyor apparatus, showing front of the extraction device according to this invention.

Detailed description of preferred embodiments of the invention

The accompanying drawings illustrate a preferred embodiment of an apparatus 10 for feeding articles, in particular articles having a respective longitudinal axis of extension and which are in particular in the form of rolls, such as rolls of toilet paper, packaged, in particular individually, in a special film, preferably in a suitable plastic film.

More specifically, it is understood that when, as preferred, the article to be processed comprises a respective roll, in particular a roll of toilet paper, the longitudinal axis of the article comprises the central axis of the roll. The apparatus 10 comprises means 12 for conveying the articles, in particular aligned with each other, the conveying means being, in particular, designed for positioning the articles with the respective longitudinal axis directed according to the feed direction of the articles in the conveying means.

More specifically, the conveying means 12 could comprise means of feeding, or rotating, articles known from the patent publication WO2007/135498 which is in the name of the same Applicant and which is incorporated herein by reference. More specifically, the conveying means 12 receive the articles to be conveyed downstream from means upstream 14, which are designed to join lateral portions of the wrapper on the respective article.

The lateral joining means form part of a respective packaging machine positioned upstream of the conveying means 12.

The joining means 14 feed the articles oriented with a respective longitudinal axis of extension directed transversely to the feed direction and with the end faces of the article, which are held in contact with opposite joining elements, with the respective lateral flaps of film, which are interposed between the lateral faces of the articles transversely orientated and the opposite joining elements.

The lateral joining elements are preferably defined by respective rotatable and heated lateral bands 14a, 14b, which extend vertically and are designed to feed the articles in conjunction with an underlying belt 14i for lower support and feeding the articles.

More specifically, the bands 14a, 14b for joining or closing transversal faces of the wrapping film, on the respective article, are carried on respective rollers with vertical axes, of which only the downstream end rollers 14c, 14c are illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

Advantageously, the apparatus comprises a device 16 for extracting the articles from the joining means 14, which is designed to pass the articles to the conveying means downstream 12.

Advantageously, the extraction means, or device, 16 comprise rotatable means 16a for engaging and feeding the articles, in particular for engaging an upper face of the articles.

More specifically, the rotatable means 16a extend inside the joining means 14, in particular between the lateral joining bands 14a, 14b of the joining means upstream 14, that is, at the downstream end of the joining means 14.

Moreover, the extraction means 16, in particular the rotatable means 16a, extend inside the conveying means 12, in particular above the conveying means 12, that is, above and vertically spaced from respective belts 12a, 12b defining the conveying means downstream.

More specifically, the extraction means 16, in particular the rotatable means 16a, extend transversely between belts 12a, 12b, placed side by side, of the conveying means, which are designed to rotate the articles from a position with the axis directed transversely to the feed direction to a position with the axis directed longitudinally to the feed direction.

More specifically, the extraction means 16, in particular the rotatable means 16a, extend transversely astride belts 12a, 12b, placed side by side, of the conveying means.

More specifically, continuing downstream of the zone of rotation of the articles, defined by the pair of articulated mesh belts 12a, 12b, the respective belt 12a conveys the articles downstream with their respective axis directed longitudinally, towards a corresponding use.

Moreover, numerals 12', 12' denote lateral guides for centering the articles on articulated mesh feeding means or belts 12a, 12b.

Advantageously, as illustrated, the rotatable engagement means are in the form of one or more elongate elements 16a, parallel to each other, in particular in the form of respective elastic elements, rotating on special guide means, or pulleys, 17a, 17b, 17c, 17d, 17e defining a respective path for the elongate element 16a in such a way as to have a positive feed stretch of the articles, in particular below, the positive feed stretch of which extends longitudinally according to the feed direction of the articles.

The extraction means 16 comprise a vertical supporting element, or plate, 17', elongated longitudinally, providing a rotatable support for the means, or pulleys 17a, 17b, 17c, 17d, 17e for guiding and carrying the respective elongate element 16a.

More specifically, as illustrated, the guide and carrying means for the respective elongate element 16a comprise a main drive pulley, 17a positioned above and opposite longitudinal end pulleys 17b, 17b, between which is defined the positive feed stretch of the articles, and preferably a first and a second pulley 17d, 17e for tensioning the extraction means, or belts, 16a.

Advantageously, as illustrated, the extraction means 16 have a respective end upstream, that is, the upstream end carrying pulley 17d, which is positioned between the joining means, or bands, 14a, 14b, that is, between the end guide rollers 14c, 14c, rotating according to respective vertical axes of the joining means, or bands, 14a, 14b.

Advantageously, the extraction means 16 comprise means 16b of sliding the rotatable engagement means 16a, which are designed to retain the respective elongate element 16a along the positive feed stretch of the articles, in the position of engaging the opposite surface of the article.

The sliding and retaining means 16b comprise a corresponding plate elongated longitudinally, below which slide the elements, or belts, 16a for extracting the articles.

The retaining plate 16b is supported by the vertical supporting plate 17'. More specifically, the extraction means 16 comprise rotatable means 16a for engaging and feeding the articles, which grip and feed the articles with corresponding lower means 14i for feeding the articles of the joining means 14.

In practice, the position, in height, of the rotatable elements, or belts, 16a for extracting the article is such as to act in conjunction with the underlying belts 14i of the joining means and, if necessary, with the belts 12a, 12b of the conveying means downstream, pulling the articles downstream.

In practice, the articles are held, that is, they are present, at vertically opposite surfaces, between the rotatable elements or means 16a for engaging the extraction means and the lower means, or longitudinal belt, 14i for feeding the articles in the joining means 14, in particular in a longitudinal position between the mobile lateral guide and closing surfaces 14a, 14b of the joining means.

Advantageously, the extraction means 16 comprise drive means 18, which receive the drive motion from the conveying means, or belt, downstream 12.

More specifically, the means of driving the extraction means comprise a respective pulley 18a, driven by respective belt means, or elastic belts, 18b by a respective pulley 18c, which is connected to a shaft supporting a drive wheel, or pulling wheel, of the belt of the conveying means downstream 12.

The drive pulley 18a has the respective supporting shaft, which supports on the side opposite the supporting plate 17', the main drive pulley 17a for the rotatable engagement and extraction elements.

It has, however, to be understood that the means 18 for driving the extraction means 16 would in any case be suitable to receive the drive motion also from the packaging machine positioned upstream, that is, from the lower means 14i for feeding the articles at the joining means 14.

In practice, the extraction means 16, or the respective rotatable extraction element 16a extends longitudinally between, and/or at, the conveying means downstream 12 and the joining, or packaging, means upstream 14. This solution is also advantageous in that it has a lower energy consumption and a particularly low production cost.

The invention described above is susceptible of industrial application. It would be obvious to one skilled in the art that several changes and modifications can be made to the invention without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, described in depth above. It is also easy to imagine further embodiments of the invention comprising one or more of the features described herein. It will also be understood that all the details of the invention may be substituted for technically equivalent elements.