Royston
Maurice
Royston
Maurice
| 1. | Apparatus for forming a stack of articles, comprising support means for defining at least three article support locations arranged in a successively descending array, means for sliding an article or articles in the upper location of an adjacent pair onto the top of an article disposed in the lower location in the pair and further means for sliding the stacked articles in the lower location in the pair onto the next location. |
| 2. | Apparatus as claimed in Claim 1 wherein the sliding means and the further sliding means are constituted by the same means. |
| 3. | Apparatus as claimed in Claim 1 or Claim 2, wherein the locations are formed a series of steps. |
| 4. | Apparatus as claimed in any one of the preceding claims further including a support means for retaining a horizontal row of articles and means for relatively moving the location defining means and the support means such that the locations pass through the row position to receive, in use respective articles in the locations. |
| 5. | Apparatus as claimed in Claim 4 wherein the location defining means rises through the support means. |
| 6. | Apparatus as claimed in Claim 4 wherein the support means descends past the locations. |
| 7. | Apparatus as claimed in any one of Claims 4 to 6 wherein the support means are constituted by a table, platten conveyor or the like. |
| 8. | Apparatus as claimed in Claim 7 wherein the location defining means are constituted by a pair of spaced elements having stepped top profiles. |
| 9. | Apparatus as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein the article sliding means comprises a pushing element or elements. |
| 10. | Apparatus as claimed in Claim 9 as dependent on Claim 8 wherein the pushing element passes between the spaced elements. |
| 11. | Apparatus as claimed in any one of the preceding claims further comprising an abutment for engaging the stack at or adjacent the lowest location. |
| 12. | Apparatus as claimed in Claim 11 wherein the abutment is slidable away from the locations. |
| 13. | Apparatus as claimed in Claim 12 as dependent on Claim 9 wherein the pushing element and the abutment cooperate to form a pocket for the stack. |
| 14. | Apparatus as claimed in any one of the preceding Claims further comprising releasable stop means, at at least some of the locations, for retaining the article in the respective location whilst an article or stack of articles is being slid onto it from the immediately preceding location. |
| 15. | Apparatus as claimed in Claim 1 further comprising the support means for retaining a horizontal row of articles with their ends overhanging edges of the support means and for receiving a continuous supply of articles from an article feeding means, means for raising the location defining means upwardly past the support means to lift the articles" therefrom, to form an array and to allow operation of the article sliding means whilst a new horizontal row is formed on the support means and means for retaining the location defining means to its original position without inteferring with the forming row. |
| 16. | Apparatus as claimed in Claim 15 wherein the location defining means is formed in two parts disposed on respective sides of the support means. |
| 17. | Apparatus as claimed in Claim 16 wherein the returning means moves each part laterally outwardly from the support means prior to returning the parts down past the forming row. |
| 18. | Apparatus as claimed in any one of Claims 15 to 17 wherein the support means has an elevated plateau for receiving the formed stack such that the horizontal row can lie beneath the path of the sliding means. |
| 19. | Apparatus as claimed in any one of Claims 15 to 18 wherein the sliding means are constituted by a pair of plates and carriage means for lateral movement with respect to the support means so that one or other of the plates can be located over the support means, whilst the other is located to the side of the support means. |
| 20. | Apparatus as claimed in any one of Claims 15 to 18 wherein the sliding means are constituted by a continuous convey or bearing a series of spaced paddles. |
| 21. | Apparatus as claimed in any of claims l to 17 wherein the sliding means are constituted by a variably inclined plate or the like which progressively engages articles' in the locations. |
| 22. | Apparatus as claimed in any one of the preceding Claims wherein the location defining means are pivoted once the articles are located thereon in a sense such that the sliding means operate up hill. |
| 23. | A method of forming a stack comprising disposing articles at stepped locations in a row sliding the uppermost articles onto the top of next article and sliding the articles thus stacked on to the next article. |
| 24. | A method as claimed in Claim 2 wherein the second sliding step is repeated for successively throughout the row of locations. |
| 25. | Articles stacked by the apparatus of any one of Claim 1 to 21 or by the method of Claims 22 or 23. |
This invention relates to methods and apparatus for forming stacks of articles.
In almost every industry there is a need to stack articles and, to date, the machinery and methods which have been developed are either extremely time consuming and/or are very specific to the particular article being handled. One example can be shown in the cigar industry where packets of cigars have to be assembled into side by side stacks for insertion into display boxes. In a typical arrangement the cigar packets arrive at a stacking point in a horizontal row and they are lifted one of top of the other to form stacks of five. These stacks of five are then moved to another station in which they are formed into stacks of ten and then two stacks of ten are manoeuvred adjacent each other for insertion into display boxes. The whole operation is mechanically complex, expensive and a source of handling problems.
According to one aspect the invention consists in apparatus for forming a stack of articles, comprising support means for defining at least three article support locations arranged in a successively descending array, means for sliding an article or articles in the upper location of an adjacent pair on to the top of an article disposed in the lower location in the pair and further means for sliding the stacked articles in the lower location in the pair onto the
next location.
For the purposes of this specification the article is any object which can be slid onto the top of an identical object to form a stable stack. In a preferred embodiment the sliding means and further sliding means are constituted by the same means and it will be understood that they may sweep successively through the locations progressively building up a stack one by one.
Thus the locations may be formed as a series of steps and may be constituted by a pair of spaced elements which have stepped top profiles. In this case the article sliding means may comprise a push element or elements and the push elements may pass between the spaced elements or element along their edges. In an alternative construction there may be a stepped element which supports the articles with their ends overhanging.
The apparatus may further include support means for retaining the horizontal row of articles and means for relatively moving the location defining means and the support means such that the locations pass through the row position to receive, in use, respective articles in the locations. Conveniently the location defining means may rise through the support means but alternatively the support means may drop past the locations. The support means may be constituted by a table, platter or conveyor or the like.
The apparatus may further comprise an abutment for engaging the stack at or adjacent the lowest • location, in which case the abutment may be slidable away from the
locations, for example, under pressure, transmitted through the stack from the sliding means. The sliding means and the abutment may co-operate to form a pocket for the stack.
In any of the above cases the apparatus may further comprise releasable stop means, at at least some of the locations, for retaining the article in a respective location whilst the article or stack of articles is being slid onto it from the immediately preceding location.
In a further embodiment the apparatus may be arranged for continuous use by further comprising support means for retaining the horizontal row of articles with their ends overhanging the edges of the support means and for receiving a continuous supply of articles from an article feeding means, means for raising the location defining means upwardly past the support means to lift the articles therefrom, to form an array and to allow operation of the article sliding means whilst a new horizontal row is formed on the support means and means for returning the location defining means to its original position without interfering with the' forming row.
Preferably the location defining means is formed in two parts disposed on respective sides of the support means, in which case the returning means may move each part laterally outwardly from the support means prior to returning the parts down past the forming row.
The support means may have an elevated plateau for receiving the formed stack such that the horizontal row can lie beneath the path of the sliding means.
The sliding means may be constituted by a pair of plates and carriage means for supporting the plates for lateral movement with respect to the support means so that one or other of the plates can be located over the support means, whilst the other is located to the side of the support means.
With this arrangement one plate can be moved oper¬ ationally along the location defining means, whilst the other returns to a position adjacent a start position for the operational movement. When both plates have completed these movements the carriage may be laterally translated, by suitable means, so that the other plate can move oper¬ ationally whilst the one plate returns. It will be appreci¬ ated that with this arrangement the one plate will always return down one side of the location defining means whilst the other plate will return down the other.
Other systems of maintaining a supply of plates or other sliding means are equally included in the invention.
For example a continuous conveyor with a series of spaced paddles could be used, or for low speeds of operation, a single plate could be returned along its original path.
In an alternative construction the sliding means may be in the form of a variably inclined plate or the like which progressively engages articles in the locations. The plate may for example be pivoted. This arrangement is particular¬ ly suitable for small square cross section articles, such as boxes of camera film, or other items which may tend to overshoot.
In a still further construction the location defining means may be pivoted once it has articles located therein, in a sense such that the sliding means operate uphill. This construction allows the apparatus to collate articles which have either too high or too low mutual friction for normal operation.
From a further aspect the invention includes a method of forming a stack comprising disposing articles at stepped locations in a row, sliding the uppermost article onto the top of the next article and sliding the articles thus stacked onto the next article.
Preferably the second sliding step is repeated successively throughout the row of locations.
The invention also includes articles stacked by either and apparatus or method defined above.
Although the invention has been defined above it is to be understood that it includes any inventive combination of the features set out above or in the following description.
The invention may be performed in various ways and a specific embodiment will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
Figure 1 is a schematic view of the apparatus for creating a stack; Figures 2a to f are diagrammatic views showing the stages of operation of the apparatus;
Figure 3 is a scrap side view showing a detail of the article locations of the apparatus; and
Figures 4 and 5 are diagrammatic side views of an alternative construction of apparatus in the article receiving and article lifted positions respectively.
Figure 6 is a schematic view generally corresponding to Figure 1 but showing an alternative embodiment;
Figures 7a to f are diagrammatic side views of the apparatus of Figure 6 showing the stages of operation of that apparatus;
Figures 8a to d are schematic side views of an alterna- tive stacking apparatus showing progressively the stages of operation; and
Figures 9a to e illustrate progressively the operation of yet another form of the stacking apparatus.
For convenience the apparatus will be described in terms of stacking a number of boxes of cigars, but as already been pointed out it is applicable to a wide range of articles including almost any form of carton, bricks, pallets, building materials etc.
A stacking apparatus is generally indicated at 10 and comprises a support table 11, a product insertion device 12, a pusher plate 13, an article locator 14 and a movable abutment 15. In the described embodiment the table 11 is essentially fixed, but all other elements are movable, as indicated by the arrows in Figure 1. Any suitable means may be used for moving these elements, but it is most likely that hydraulic or pneumatic rams will be most appropriate.
The article locator 14 comprises a base 16 and a pair of upstanding walls 17 extending along its length. Each
wall has a stepped top profile 18 defining aligned steps or locations 19. The table 11 has elongate slots 20 extending along its length, the slots being disposed and dimensioned so that the walls 17 can pass through the bed of the table 11.
In use a number of packets 21 are slid onto the upper surface of the table 11 by the insertion device 12 so that they form an edge-to-edge row, which overlies the slots 20. Conveniently there are the same number of packets 21 as there are locations 19, but the apparatus will work perfectly well if there are less packets.
Once the row has been formed, as shown in Figures 1 and 2a the abutment 15 is moved to a point adjacent one end of the row. The article locator 14 is then moved upwardly through the table 11 as each step or location 19 passes through the slots 20 it picks up, from the table 11, its own respective package (see Figure 2b) .
When this operation is completed there will be a packet 21 on each location 19 (see Figure 2c) . The pusher plate 13 is then swept, at an appropriate speed, between the walls 17 so that it engages the uppermost packet 21 and sweeps it onto the adjacent, and slightly lower packet 21a, and it then engages the stack of articles and sweeps them onto the third packet 21b. This process is continued down the steps until all of the packets 21 form a stack 22 located against the abutment 15. Under the pressure of the pusher plate 13 the abutment may slid away from its original position allowing the stack to be moved in
a pocket formed between the abutment 15 and pusher plate 13 so that he stacking apparatus can pass into its next cycle and the stack of ten is ready for insertion in a display box. This stack may wait in this position for another stack of ten to be formed so that they can both be inserted together and indeed as many stacks as required mkay be assembled.
In an alternative construction the table 11 may be sunk slightly vis-a-vis the level of the bottom of the final stack, so that the plate 13 can be retracted to its starting position over the incoming packets 21.
As can be seen in Figure 3 the height of the steps or locations 19 is preferably greater than the depth of the product so that there is no obstruction to the packets being slid onto the packet beneath. For some articles it may be desirable to have fingers, pneumatic or vacuum stops or restraints (not shown) for engaging the edge of the packet whilst the other packets are being slid onto it so as to make sure that the stack is neatly formed. It will be well understood that the basic principles described above can be used in a number of configurations. For example the article locator could be stationary and the table 11 may be dropped down passed it; the article locator could have a single central stepped body, in which case the pusher plate may be replaced by fingers which sweep along the edges of the body which has the additional advantage that items could feed onto the table in line with the locator from the rear; the packets may be end to end rather
than edge to edge; the table could be replaced by any other suitable " support, for example a pair of spaced lips; and multi side-by-side article locators could be provided to support more flexible items such as magazines, catalogues or paperback books.
If fingers are used in place of the pusher plate 13, the fingers may be mounted on the article locator so that collation can begin as the collator passes through the table 11. As has been mentioned above the apparatus could be used for any appropriate article and the dimensions of the various elements would be adjusted appropriately.
Figures 4 and 5 show a further possible construction of the apparatus 10. Here the steps 19 are replaced by individual tables 23, which are mounted on respective stalks 24 of ever increasing length. The stalks 24 are in turn mounted on an articulate linkage 25 so that they can be moved between the Figure 4 position and the Figure 5 position by a hydraulic ram 26. Pushing fingers 27 are provided.
It will be understood that in this embodiment the apparatus combines the table 11 and the article locator 18 in a single unit. This construction is particularly applicable when there is a tendency for the articles not to separate very well when lifted vertically.
The apparatus, generally indicated at 25, in Figure 6 is essentially similar in layout to the apparatus lό shown in Figure l. Thus there is a support table 26, an article
locator 27, a pusher plate assembly 28 and an adjustable movable "abutment 29.
However, in this arrangement the table 26 is less wide than the articles 21 and has a raised plateau 30 at its downstream end. The article locator 27 again has two walls 31 but they are independently laterally movable although they are interconnected for simultaneous vertical movement. The pusher plate assembly 28 has two pusher plates A and B which are each mounted on a carriage (not shown) disposed above the table 26. The carriage can be moved laterally with respect to the table so that one or other of the pusher plates A,B overlie the table at any one time. Each pusher plate can be moved backwards and forwards independently on the carriage, for example by a rodless cylinder. Thus each can move operatively over the table 26, but return on a respective side of the table in accordance with the position of the carriage.
Turning to Figure 7 the operation of the apparatus 25 is as follows: a) . Articles are fed onto the support table 26 from an in-feed conveyor 32. At this point the walls 31 are disposed below the table 26 and plates A and B are at the upstream and downstream ends of the table respectively. b) . The walls 31 begin to rise past the table picking up the articles starting at the upstream end. c) . The walls 31 continue to rise lifting more articles and a fresh supply 33 begins to be fed beneath the rising walls on to the table 26. Plate A starts to move to
push the lifted articles into a stack, whilst plate B begins its return trip. d) . The operation of (c) continues with the articles being stacked shortly after they are lifted from the table 26 by the walls 31. e) . The stack has been delivered to the plateau 30 and plate B is almost in the start position ready to collate the next group of articles which are being pushed on to the table by the input conveyor 32. f) . The walls 31 are moved outwardly so that they can pass downwards to their start position (as shown in (a) ) without interfering with the new set of articles laid out along the table 26. The cycle can be continuously repeated.
Figure 8 shows an arrangement for use with small cross
_ section articles, such as boxes of film. Here a pusher plate 35 is pivotally mounted on a frame 36 for movement by a cylinder 37. As can be seen in Figures (b) and (d) the frame can be moved between the walls 31 to allow the pivoting plate 35 to progressively engage the box-like articles 37 so that the lower articles are urged forward as the upper articles are moved on to them. This prevents overshoot occurring.
Referring to Figure 9 an alternative form of the general apparatus is shown in which the table 11 is pivotally mounted so that the article locator 14 can be inclined, after the articles have been lifted and collation thereby takes place uphill (see <c) and (d) ) . ' This over¬ comes problems arising from there being too little friction
between the articles, or indeed too great a friction when considerable collating force may be required. Once the stack is formed, the table 11 is returned to its original position and the stack is moved on to a receiving table 39. As has been mentioned already, the article locator walls and pusher plates can all be moved by any suitable means, for example, hydraulically or pneumatically, and rodless cylinders are particularly suitable for many of these operations.
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