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Field of the invention

The present invention relates in general to lines for packaging products, with particular, albeit not exclusive, reference to the confectionery industry and even more specifically to the production of chocolate articles in the form of bars and the like.

Prior art

In the production of articles of this sort, the products exiting from the modelling line are typically grouped in an orderly way and then deposited on a conveying line for being aligned and transferred to wrapping or packaging machines. In the case where the products are set in rows alongside one another on plates, from which they are picked up, for example, via a motor-driven manipulator equipped with suction-pad pick-up devices, the rows are picked up jointly and then deposited on an initial feeder of the line, traditionally constituted by a single conveyor belt. In the case where the elongated products, such as bars of chocolate, are positioned in a direction transverse to the conveying direction of the line, during their advance towards the packaging stations they must be oriented parallel to said direction of advance, by being set in a line one after another, which traditionally calls for relatively complex arrangements .

A similar situation arises also in the case where the products, instead of being set in rows alongside one another on plates, are grouped in vertical columns of a purposely provided loader magazine, from which the products thus stacked are transferred individually from each column on the initial feeder of the conveying line .

To reduce the operating cycles for depositing the products on the conveying line it has been proposed, in the international patent application No. PCT/IB2010/054822, filed in the name of the present applicant (not published at the date of priority of the present application) to provide the initial feeder, which can receive the products from the manipulator or else from the loader referred to previously, with a plurality of belts that are motor-driven in an autonomous way, set alongside one another and driven so as to transfer the products of each row, or respectively of each column, in succession to the conveying line for subsequent alignment. In a peculiar way, the number of belts is greater than the number of rows or columns: thus, in the case of rows of products arranged alongside one another on plates, depositing on said belts of the rows of one plate by the manipulator can be performed before all the rows of the previous plate have been transferred from the belts to the alignment conveyor. A similar result can be achieved in the case where the products are grouped in vertical columns .

The object of the present invention is to provide an even more advantageous application of the aforesaid arrangement, which, as has been mentioned, refers specifically to elongated products such as bars of chocolate and the like positioned in a direction transverse to the direction of advance of the line, whereby it is possible to anticipate at least in part the step of alignment of the products in such a way that they reach the subsequent alignment conveyor in an angular position already at least partially rotated with respect to the orientation transverse to the direction of advance in order to enable them to be positioned parallel to said direction more rapidly.

According to the invention, the above object is achieved thanks to a device as defined in Claim 1, and more in particular characterized in that the aforesaid belts of the initial feeder set alongside one another, which are motor-driven in an autonomous way and driven in synchronism with deposition of the products, each have a width smaller than the length of the products of the respective rows and such that the products deposited on said initial feeder occupy at least two contiguous belts, and in that said at least two belts are hence driven in a differentiated way in terms of starting instant and/or conveying speed.

Thanks to this arrangement the products each time deposited on the belts, as has been said with an orientation transverse to the direction of advance, undergo a gradual rotation as a result of the differentiated driving of the corresponding belts in such a way as to set themselves on the subsequent alignment conveyor in a position already at least partially rotated towards the position of alignment with said direction of advance.

Brief description of the drawings

The invention will now be described in detail with reference to the annexed drawings, which are provided purely by way of non-limiting example and in which:

- Figure 1 is a schematic perspective view that shows the feed device according to one embodiment of the invention in a first operating step;

- Figures 2-7 are views similar to that of Figure

1, which illustrate respective successive operating steps of the feed device according to the invention; and

- Figure 8 is a schematic perspective view that shows the feed device according to an alternative embodiment of the invention.

Detailed description of the invention

With initial reference to Figure 1, designated as a whole by 1 is a conveying line of a plant for the production and packaging of products, in particular confectionery products and more in particular bars of chocolate B coming from a modelling line and, in the case of the example illustrated, set on plates P. In a way in itself known, each plate P is formed with cells containing, for example, two rows set alongside one another R of bars B oriented in a direction transverse to the direction of feed of the plates P, indicated by the arrow A and parallel to the direction of advance of the conveying line 1, indicated by the arrow C.

Once again in a way in itself known the plates P set themselves each time in a position corresponding to a manipulator, not illustrated, which typically includes a robot equipped with a suction-pad pick-up assembly via which the bars B of both of the rows R set on each plate P are simultaneously picked up and transferred to an initial feeder 2 of the conveying line 1.

The initial feeder 2 comprises a plurality of endless-loop conveyor belts 3 set alongside one another parallel to the conveying direction C, and hence parallel to the rows R on the incoming plates P, said conveyor belts being driven in an autonomous way, with modalities synchronised with one another and with the manipulator unit, via respective motors, which are not illustrated in so far as they are within the reach of the person skilled in the branch. Said motors can be, for example, electric motors of the brushless type.

The bars B of the rows R, which according to what has been said above are set on the plates P in a direction transverse, i.e., orthogonal, to the belts 6, have a certain length: according to the peculiar aspect of the invention, the width of each belt 3 is smaller than said length and is, for example, equal to one half or else one third of said length.

Immediately downstream of the initial feeder 2, the conveying line 1 includes an alignment conveyor 4 constituted, for example, by two consecutive conveyor belts 5, 6, set on which are deviator members 7, 8 that converge in the conveying direction C.

The belts 5 and 6 are driven continuously, preferably the first at a lower speed than the second so as to be able to set the products B each time fed on the conveyor 4 by the belts at a distance apart from one another.

In the case of the example illustrated, the width of the belts 3 is approximately equal to one half of the length of the bars B. Moreover, according to a preferred characteristic of the invention, the number of pairs of contiguous belts 3 is greater at least by one unit, and in the case of the example illustrated specifically by two units, than the number of rows R set on each plate P. Once again in the case of the example illustrated, where, as has been said, the number of rows R is equal to two, four pairs of belts 3 are hence provided, for a total of eight belts. Of course, said number may vary, provided that in any case to each row R there correspond two or more contiguous belts 3, preferably with two or more additional belts 3, for the reasons that will be clarified hereinafter.

Operation of the feed device according to the invention will be described in what follows.

Assume that we start from an initial condition where a first plate P is transferred to the manipulator in such a way as to enable simultaneous picking-up of the bars B of its two rows R by the pick-up assembly of the manipulator. Following upon the pick-up operation, the plate P is cleared, and the two rows R are then transferred and deposited on the initial feeder 2 by setting the bars B of the two rows R on the two contiguous belts 3 of two pairs, in the way represented in Figures 2 and 3. In the meantime, the subsequent plate PI with the corresponding rows Rl of bars B is fed into a position corresponding to the manipulator unit ( Figure 4 ) .

A command is then issued first for activating in succession the two belts 3 of one pair so as to transfer the bars B deposited thereon onto the alignment conveyor 4, and then, at the end, for activating the belts 3 of the other pair for subsequent transfer of the corresponding bars B to the alignment conveyor 4. Activation of the belts 3 of the first pair is performed in a differentiated way in terms of starting instant. In other words, one belt 3 of the pair of belts is made to advance first, whilst the other belt 3 remains temporarily stationary and is then in turn driven after a pre-set delay. Alternatively, or in a combined way, one belt 3 is moved at a first speed and the other belt 3 of the pair is moved at a second speed, for example lower than the first speed.

At the end, i.e., following upon complete unloading of the first row R onto the alignment conveyor 4, the two belts 3 of the other pair are driven with similar modalities for transferring also the other row R onto the alignment conveyor 4.

As a result of said differentiated driving, represented in Figure 4 for the first pair of belts 3 and in Figure 5 for the second pair of belts 3, the bars B of each row R undergo a progressive rotation, which may be more or less marked according to the adjustments set, and set themselves progressively into an angular position converging towards the conveying direction C. As the bars B of each row R are transferred onto the section 5 and then onto the section 6 of the alignment conveyor 4, as they intercept the deviator members 7, set themselves precisely in a condition aligned parallel to the conveying direction C, in the way represented once again in Figures 4 and 5. The greater speed of the conveyor 6 with respect to that of the conveyor 5 enables the bars B thus aligned to be set at a distance apart from one another.

Simultaneously, i.e., during driving of the first two pairs of belts 3, the rows Rl of bars B present on the subsequent plate PI are picked up and deposited by the manipulator unit on another two pairs of contiguous belts 3 (Figure 5) , to be then transferred in succession, with the same modalities of differentiated driving of the corresponding belts 3 of each pair, onto the alignment conveyor C (Figures 6 and 7) .

In the meantime, the rows R of bars B picked up from a subsequent plate P2 are transferred by the manipulator to the two pairs of belts 3 previously unloaded, and the cycle is thus repeated in an identical way.

From the foregoing description, it emerges clearly that the feed device according to the invention enables simplification and acceleration of the operations of alignment of the products, at the time same reducing the cycle speed of the manipulator unit so as to improve the efficiency and reliability thereof. It is hence possible to obtain along the conveying line directed to the packaging machine a flow of aligned products that is constant, homogeneous, and above all without any interruptions.

Of course, the details of construction and the embodiments may vary widely and may also be combined in a way different from what has been described and illustrated, without thereby departing from the scope of the present invention, as defined in the ensuing claims .

Thus, for example, as illustrated in Figure 8, the rows R of products B can be grouped, instead of in a condition where they are set alongside one another horizontally on the plates P, by being stacked in vertical columns of purposely provided loader magazines, from which the products B thus stacked are then transferred from each column directly onto the belts 3 on the initial feeder 2 of the conveying line