Device for accumulating and supplying lengths of material in sheet form

Abstract

A device for accumulating and supplying lengths of material in sheet form or in cuttings, such as, for example, labels, adhesive stamps, revenue stamps, coupons and cuttings of various shapes, etcetera, to be used in wrapping machines in conjunction with a fixed container or vertical well-shaped cavity from the base of which the cuttings are removed so that they can be supplied to the wrapping units of a wrapping machine. This device consists of a cylindrical body which is rotatably supported around its vertical shaft above the well-shaped cavity and is provided with a plurality of peripheral compartments, each of which is able to contain a pile of cuttings. A plurality of movable supports is provided for supporting a given pile of cuttings at a point inside the compartments corresponding to where the base of the stack is located. The cylindrical body is caused to rotate in an intermittent fashion in such a way as to cause the compartments to halt, one at a time, in alignment with the aforementioned well-shaped cavity responsive to a photoelectric sensor sensitive to the level of the pile of cuttings in the inside of the well-shaped cavity. This allows the subsequent transfer of the cuttings from the compartments to the well-shaped cavity once a predetermined level has been reached inside the cavity.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to devices for accumulating and supplying lengths of material in sheet form or in cuttings, such as, for example, labels, adhesive stamps, revenue stamps, coupons and cuttings of various shapes, etcetera, to be used in wrapping machines.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART

With wrapping machines the usual practice is to stack the said cuttings in a column storage unit, inside which they drop downwards by gravity and from the base of which they are removed individually in order to be subsequently supplied, in succession, to the wrapping mechanism of the machine.

The recharging operation is carried out by manually topping up the stack with fresh piles of cuttings inserted through the top of the said storage unit, as they become depleted.

The systems for removing the cuttings from the storage unit necessitate the pressure exerted by the pile on its lower level being kept within certain limits, in such a way that the extraction of the cuttings from the base of the stack, customarily performed by suction means, is not hampered.

Because of the said reasons of a mechanical nature and for practical reasons connected with the manual recharging operation, the height of the storage unit containing the stack of cuttings has to be limited.

On account of the foregoing, the potential of the said means for accumulating and supplying cuttings to a wrapping machine is seriously restricted and thus it is necessary for the operator to frequently recharge the storage unit.

High speed wrapping machines are particularly prone to the said difficulties and thus for the cigarette packeting machine according to Italian Pat. No. 803.352 in the name of the same Applicants as herein, by way of an example, the question of solving the problem of recharging the storage unit containing the adhesive stamps or revenue stamps, presents an aspect of special practical and financial interest.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The object of the present invention is, therefore, to overcome the aforementioned difficulties by making available a high potential device for accumulating and supplying lengths of material in sheet form or in cuttings, that is to say, a device able to supply lengths of material in sheet form to a wrapping machine, even the types operating at the highest speeds, in periods of time considerably improved with respect to the devices of a known type.

The subject of this invention is, in fact, a device for accumulating and supplying lengths of material in sheet form or in cuttings, of the type that works in conjunction with a fixed container or vertical cavity shaped in the form of a well, from the base of which the said cuttings are removed so that they can be supplied to the wrapping mechanism of a wrapping machine, essential features of the said device being that it comprises: a cylindrical body supported rotatably around its vertical shaft above the said cavity of well shape and provided with a plurality of peripheral compartments, each of which able to receive and contain a pile of cuttings; movable means for supporting a given pile of cuttings at a point inside the said compartments corresponding to where the base of the stack is located; means for causing the said cylindrical body to move in an intermittent fashion in such a way as to cause the said compartments to halt, one at a time, in alignment with the aforementioned cavity of well shape; and feeler means sensitive to the level of the pile of cuttings in the inside of the cavity of well shape, for tripping the said means for operating the cylindrical body intermittently and the said movable support means so as to allow the subsequent transfer of the cuttings from the compartments to the cavity of well shape, once a predetermined level has been reached inside the said cavity.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Further characteristics and advantages will emerge more clearly from the following detailed description of a preferred but not the sole form of embodiment for the device according to the invention, illustrated purely as an unlimited example on the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 shows, in a perspective view, the end of a cigarette packeting machine to which the device in question is connected;

FIG. 2 shows, again in a perspective view, the device forming the subject of the invention with certain parts in sectional form and removed so that the drive mechanism can be better seen;

FIG. 3 shows the electrical operating circuit diagram for the device in question;

FIG. 4 shows the time-phase graphs, based on one operating cycle, for the fundamental units of the said device.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Although the said device is intended, as previously stated, to provide a solution for problems relating in general to the accumulation and supply of lengths of material in sheet form or in cuttings, such as, for example, labels, adhesive stamps or revenue stamps, coupons and cuttings of various shapes, etcetera, in the following description reference is made to the specific case depicted in the above mentioned figures, that is to say, to the supply of the revenue stamps used to seal the packets of cigarettes and, in consideration of this, the device in question can be considered an integral part of a cigarette packeting machine.

With reference to the aforementioned figures and, in particular, to FIG. 1, the frame 1 of a cigarette packeting machine can be seen and this, for example, is of the type according to the previously mentioned Italian Pat. No. 803.352 in the name of the same Applicants as herein, with two wrapping wheels or stations C and D, respectively, for creating the outer wrap around batches of cigarettes enclosed in their inner wrap of lined foil. The formation of the said inner wrap is carried out on a part of the machine which is not shown in the said FIG. 1.

Whilst the operation of transferring the packets of cigarettes from the station D to an exiting station E is in progress, see again FIG. 1, a previously glued revenue stamp is pasted on to each of the said packets of cigarettes in the way described in detail in the cited Patent.

At 2, indicated in its entirety, see also FIG. 2, there is the device according to the present invention for accumulating and supplying the revenue stamps, beneath which are provided means of a known type, as described for example in the aforementioned Italian Pat. No. 803.352 in the name of the same Applicants as herein, constituted principally by a container 3 carried by the frame 1 of the cigarette packeting machine through a plate 4.

The said container 3 is designed to hold one single vertical stack of revenue stamps and, in the case of necessity, access can be gained to the inside of the said container by removing a plate 5 integral with a bar 6 complete with handle, mounted on a vertical hinge fixed to a bracket 8 secured to the plate 4.

A lamp F' in a feeler group or detector device projects a ray of light towards a photo-electric cell F positioned in such a way as to be hit by the said ray of light, at a suitable level, through the inside of the said container 3.

A micro-switch M1 is carried by a bracket 9 fixed to the plate 4 and this is tripped by the bar 6 through a screw 10.

The revenue stamps removed from the bottom of the said container 3 are fed to a gluing device and then, after certain transfer phases, are pasted on to the end of the packets of cigarettes, in accordance with the description given in the cited Italian Pat. No. 803.352 in the name of the same Applicants as herein.

The device 2 consists externally of a vertical axis cylindrical body divided into 15 radial S compartments dimensioned to contain vertical stacks of revenue stamps.

An intermittent rotatory motion around its axis in the direction of the arrow f is given to the said device 2 so that during the phases when it is at a standstill, the compartments S align, one at a time, vertically with the container 3 at a point corresponding to a station referred to as the "infeed station."

The said cylindrical body supported by a horizontal plate 11 fixed to the frame 1 of the cigarette packeting machine has its mechanical operating mechanism enclosed inside it and the top is sealed by a fixed cover 12 in which the housing for a geared motor M is machined.

The revenue stamps are placed manually in the compartments S through the openings at the top so as to form piles resting on the fork shaped plates 13 which lie on a horizontal plane and which, for the reasons to be explained in due course, can be retracted one at a time from the bottom of the compartments S inside the cylindrical body 2 at a point corresponding to where the infeed station is located.

Even during the intermittent rotatory movement, the piles continue to be properly stacked and this is due to the presence of the vertical walls 14 which partially delimitate the openings in the compartments S on the lateral surface of the cylindrical body 2.

The geared motor M, see FIG. 2, causes a shaft 15 to rotate and this vertical drive shaft located in the inside of the cylindrical body 2 is supported at the lower end by a fixed plate 16 integral through the bars 17 and 18 with the cover 12 and, through the pin 19, with the plate 11 for supporting the complete device.

The bottom end of the drive shaft 15 is keyed to a gear 20 which causes the rotation, through the pair of idle gears 21 and 22, the spindles of which are fixed in the said plate 16, of a gear 23 with an identical number of teeth.

The said gear 23 is, in turn, integral with a shaft 24 carried at both ends by fixed supports and this, from the bottom upwards, has keyed to it a cam 25, a device 26 of a known type for operating a Geneva mechanism, and a second cam 27.

The said device 26 is provided with a pin or idle roller and, in a diametrically opposed position to this, an arcuated or centering device. The pin and centering device more the six star Geneva mechanism 28, thereby causing it to rotate intermittently around its shaft 29, the lower extremity of which is provided with a gear 30. The said gear 30 passes the intermittent rotatory movement on to a gearwheel loosely mounted on the pin 19 and numbered 31.

The said gearwheel 31 is integral with a disk 32 which idles on the said pin 19, the outer circular rim edge 33 of which is fixed to the base of the cylindrical body 2.

It should be borne in mind that each rotation fully completed by the drive shaft 15, that is to say, each cycle, is the equivalent of a 60.degree. rotation on the part of the six star Geneva mechanism 28 and, consequently, of the gear 30 with which it is integral.

Furthermore, since the number of teeth in the gearwheel 31 and the gear 30 has been chosen, respectively, at a ratio of 5:2, it is obvious that each cycle of the drive shaft corresponds to a 24.degree. rotation on the part of the gearwheel 31, the disk 32 and of the cylindrical body 2 provided with the fifteen compartments S.

As a consequence of this, the said compartments S are made to halt, one at a time, in alignment with the fixed container in the said infeed station, as the cycles of the drive shaft 15 follow on one after the other.

The idle roller 34 carried on one end of an arm of a two armed lever 35 pivoted to the said plate 16, engages with the profile of the previously mentioned cam 25, whilst the second arm, restrained by a spring 36, is secured through a connecting rod 37 to the end of one of the arms of a second two armed lever 38.

The said lever 38, pivoted to the plate 16, carries an idle roller 39 on the free end of its second arm and the purpose of this will be explained in due course.

The plates 13 for supporting the piles of revenue stamps are fixed to the blocks 40 which slide on the radially extending rods 41 and these are fastened at one end to the bottom of the radial slots 42 in the disk 32 and, at the other, to the circular rim edge 33.

The blocks 40 are provided with a slot which runs tangentially with respect to the disk 32 and is designed to accept the profile of a fixed guide 43 integral with the plate 16, concentric with the cylindrical body 2 and broken at a point corresponding to the infeed station.

As a result of this, the plates 13 are able to adopt two different positions with respect to the compartments S. When, in fact, the blocks 40, moved by the disk 32 via the rods 41, slide with an intermittent movement on the fixed guide 43, the plates 13 carry out the function of supporting the piles of revenue stamps and occupy a position which will subsequently be referred to as the "external position."

At a point corresponding to the infeed station, the fixed guide 43 which, as stated, is broken in this particular area, is replaced by the idle roller 39 carried by the lever 38 being inserted in the slot in the block 40 in order to operate it.

Through the previously described mechanical linkage, each time the cylindrical body 2 is at a standstill, the plate 13 belonging to the particular compartment S positioned in the infeed station, can be transferred from its external position to an internal or release position with respect to the pile of revenue stamps, as shown by the dots and dashes in FIG. 2 and subsequently be moved back to the said external position: all this being done with a radial reciprocating movement passed on by the roller 39 to the block 40 sliding on the rod 41.

Now that the basic mechanism of the device in question has been described, consideration will be given to the various operating phases with reference also to FIGS. 3 and 4.

In FIG. 3 which represents an example of the electrical operating circuit diagram for the device according to the invention, M is the aforementioned geared motor manufactured by Messrs. Henkel and known in commerce under the reference WE 3145/2KG4A/3; TL a contactor for the said geared motor M; F' and F the aforementioned photo-electric cell detector device; T1 the contact of a switch tripped cyclically by the cam 27; T2 the contact of the micro-switch M1 for stopping the geared motor M, tripped by the opening in the plate 6; and, finally, TF is a voltage transformer connected to the line supplying current to the geared motor M and, in turn, to the components mentioned above.

Assuming now the device under consideration to be at a standstill and in the condition whereby the plate 13 belonging to the particular compartment S in the infeed station is in the release position inside the cylindrical body 2, the revenue stamps contained in the said compartment S are no longer supported and thus form one joint stack along with those in the fixed container 3, from the base of which they are removed in accordance with the description given earlier on.

As the above condition continues, the revenue stamps contained in the compartment S in question are gradually depleted and once the level of the pile contained in the fixed container drops below the level of the ray of light projected by the lamp F' towards the photo-electric cell F, the excitation circuit of the contactor TL closes and this, in turn, closes through its contacts, the supply circuit for the geared motor M.

This results in the operation of the drive shaft 15 and thus, for the reasons previously outlined, the shaft 24 is made to rotate and, through the cam 27, to close, by means of the contact T1 a self-excitation circuit of the contactor TL, see FIG. 3.

At this juncture, see also FIG. 4, through the lever 35, the connecting rod 37 and the second lever 38, the cam 25 causes the plate 13 belonging to the empty compartment S still at a standstill in the infeed station, to move to the said external position.

Subsequently, through the device 26 provided with an idle roller, the shaft 24 causes the six star Geneva mechanism 28 to rotate one step, that is to say, 60.degree. which, for the reasons known, corresponds to a rotation of 120.degree. on the part of the shaft 24 and of the drive shaft 15, see FIG. 4.

From the Geneva mechanism 28, the movement is passed on through the pair of gears 30 and 31 to the cylindrical body 2 which, on account of the reasons given earlier on, undergoes a rotation of 24.degree. in the direction of the arrow f, that is to say, clockwise, thus carrying a fresh compartment S to the infeed station and the empty compartment to a subsequent station where it is possible for it to be recharged.

The cycle of the drive shaft 15 ends with the plate 13 being transferred from its external position at the base of the said fresh compartment S to the position previously referred to as the "inner position," the result of this being that a new pile of revenue stamps drops down to supply the fixed container 3 and breaks the ray of light from the photo-electric cell detector device. Whilst the above described operations are in progress, the said fixed container 3 continues to dispense revenue stamps normally.

As can be seen from the graph in FIG. 4, the movement of the plate 13 from the external position to the internal position, takes place in a very short period of time (from 10.degree. to 20.degree. of the cycle).

It is, in fact, obvious that the slow withdrawal of the plate 13 from underneath the compartment S would favour the revenue stamps dropping into the fixed container 3 in a disorderly fashion and even their tipping up.

As stated earlier on, the idle roller 39 operated by the cam 25 through the described mechanical connections, moves the block 40 with which the said plate 13 is integral.

When the ray of light from the photo-electric cell detector device is broken, the excitation circuit of the contactor TL is also opened.

The geared motor M, however, supplied from the self-excitation circuit, continues its rotation movement until, at the end of the cycle, the contact T1, tripped by the cam 27, opens.

At this point the various operating phases of the devices are repeated in accordance with the description given previously.

T2 is, as stated in the foregoing text, a normally closed contact for manually stopping the complete device.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. A device for accumulating and supplying material in sheet form or in cuttings which operates in conjunction with a fixed reception chamber so that the material is successively supplied to the fixed reception chamber and then supplied to a wrapping mechanism of a wrapping machine, comprising:

a body, having an outer periphery, a portion of the outer periphery being disposed above the fixed reception chamber, said body being movable such that different portions of the outer periphery thereof come into alignment with the fixed reception chamber as the body moves;

a plurality of body compartments provided along the outer periphery of said body, each of said compartments including means for receiving and containing a pile of material;

moving means for causing said body to move intermittently so as to cause said body compartments to halt, one at a time, in alignment with the fixed reception chamber;

a plurality of movable support means, each being contained in one of said plurality of body compartments, for supporting a pile of material within each respective body compartment, wherein said plurality of movable support means are movable radially with respect to said body and are provided with a member which cooperates with an operating device and works in conjunction with said moving means for intermittently operating said body, in order that said plurality of movable support means can be displaced radially from a support position within the compartments to one whereby the pile of material in the particular compartment located above the fixed reception chamber can be discharged therein, said plurality of movable support means engaging with a fixed rail so as to maintain stable their support position for the piles of material in all the other positions; and

sensing means sensitive to the level of the pile of material inside the fixed reception chamber for activating said moving means and, after one of said body compartments has halted in alignment with the fixed reception chamber, causing the movable support means thereof to release the material contained in said body compartment so as to allow transfer of material into the fixed reception chamber.

2. A device according to claim 1, wherein said plurality of peripheral compartments extend parallel with the axis of the body and, virtually for their whole height or vertical extension, have their external delimitation wall partly open.

3. A device according to claim 1, wherein the said moving means comprises a system of articulated levers.

4. A device for accumulating and supplying material in accordance with claim 1 wherein said body is cylindrical.

5. A device for accumulating and supplying material in accordance with claim 1 wherein said moving means allows said body to rotate about the vertical axis thereof.