Banding Machine

Abstract

A banding machine wherein a strip of banding material is fed onto an article supported at a banding station. The article and the strip of banding material are gripped together and then given a revolving motion to cause the banding material to be wrapped completely around the articles. The wrapped portion of the banding material is then secured together in a wrapped condition by a heat sealing operation and served from the supply strip.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to the field of banding machines which are used primarily in the packaging art to band together various types of articles. For example, in the packaging art, physicians' samples are often made of articles which comprise a "sleeve" and a "frame member" as they are called in the art, the frame member being enclosed within the sleeve. The banding machines of the prior art have been slow in operation and have required substantial manpower and labor. Also, prior banding machines have not been able to achieve a high degree of uniformity in banding particularly with respect to the tightness of the wrapping.

One improvement over the prior art machines is disclosed in my copending application Ser. No. 697,371.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In accordance with the present invention there is provided a banding machine which is fast in operation, which achieves a tight band to prevent the packaged article from slipping free of the band and which achieves a uniform banding of the articles. Briefly stated, these features of the invention are provided by a banding machine construction involving means for supporting an article to be banded at a banding station and means for supplying a strip of banding material from a supply into contact with a portion of the article supported at the banding station. The machine also comprises means for gripping the article and the band together and means for revolving the article and the band secured thereto through a complete revolution to wrap the band about the article. The band is then secured together in the wrapped condition by suitable means such as a heat sealing operation.

Advantageously, the strip of banding material is a tape wound on a reel and there is provided means to sever the wrapped band from the tape supply.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a banding machine in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 2 is an elevation of the left side of the machine of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an elevation of the right side of the machine of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is an elevation taken from the left side of FIG. 1 and illustrating the drive mechanism for the machine;

FIGS. 5, 6, 7 and 8 are simplified views of the banding station illustrating sequential steps in the cycle of operation of the machine;

FIG. 9 is a fragmentary sectional view of the parts at the banding station at a step in the cycle of operation of the machine;

FIG. 10 is a top plan view of an article which is banded by the banding machine in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 11 is a sectional view taken on line 11-11 of FIG. 10; and

FIG. 12 is a section taken on line 12-12 of FIG. 1.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring preliminarily to FIGS. 10 and 11, the article to be banded by the machine in accordance with the invention may take the form of a generally flat rectangular package, indicated generally at P, and comprising a sleeve S containing a frame member F therein. The sleeve is open at each end and extends completely around the frame member as is shown in these FIGS. The band as it is applied to the package by the banding machine of the invention is indicated generally at B.

As is shown in FIG. 1, the machine comprises three essentially identical banding stations S-1, S-2, and S-3, each of which is provided with means for supporting a package P to be banded. Such package supporting means comprises four upstanding supports 21, 22, 23 and 24 which are mounted on the machine baseplate 20 which consists of four plates mounted on a rectangular frame supported on vertical legs. Each station comprises a pair of package support plates 26 carried on the ends of shafts 28 journaled in adjacent upstanding supports as is best shown in FIG. 12. The package support plates 26 provide a horizontal surface adapted to receive and horizontally support a package and are spaced apart to provide clearance for the banding material as will be apparent hereafter. As is best shown in FIGS. 9 and 12, at each station there is provided with the downwardly extending flexible rubber leaf 29 which serves to retard the package as it is inserted into the banding station from the left as viewed in FIG. 9 and to hold the same in a desired position at the banding station. The packages P may be fed into the machine in the direction of the arrows of FIG. 1 by any suitable means, such as for example, the machine of the type described in U.S. Pat. No. 2,902,806.

Mounted on each of the plates 26 is a generally rectangular member 27 having a notched corner in the lower inside portion thereof. The notched corners of members 27 cooperate with the associated plates 26 to provide opposed recessed grooves which support the packages in the manner shown in FIG. 12. The leafs 29 are mounted on members 27. The position the package assumes after it has been fed to the banding station is illustrated by reference to FIGS. 9 and 12.

Means are provided for gripping the packages and holding the same in a fixed position on the supporting plates 26. Such means at each station comprises a crossbar 30 mounted on a pair of upstanding rods 32 which are slideably mounted in bores in the plates 26 as is best shown in FIG. 12. The crossbar 30 extends horizontally across the forward edge of the package as is best shown in FIG. 9 and carries in its lower side a strip of friction material 34 such as rubber. It is this strip 34 which will engage the package of the banding tape which is fed between the top side of the package and the crossbar 30 as will be described hereafter. The crossbar 30 is biased downwardly toward gripping contact with the package by means of springs 36 positioned in compression between the lower side of the plates 26 and an enlarged head 38 secured near the lower end of each of the rods 32.

The crossbars 30 for each station are moved into and out of gripping engagement with the package at appropriate times in the cycle of operation of the machine by means of a horizontally extending bar 40 which is cam-actuated upwardly and downwardly by mechanism to be described more fully hereafter.

Means are provided for revolving the package supporting and gripping mechanism through a complete revolution, which movement, as will be described more fully hereafter, actually causes the banding material to be wrapped around the package. Such means comprises four chain drives 41, 42, 43 and 44 best shown in FIG. 12. Referring to FIG. 4, each of these chain drives comprises an endless chain 50 mounted for rotation about upper and lower sprockets 52 and 54, respectively. Upper sprocket 52 is secured to the associated horizontally extending shaft 28 which carries the associated package support plate 26. The lower sprocket 54 is secured for rotation with a drive shaft 58 which carries a small gear 60 driven by a large gear 62 mounted on a shaft 64. The shaft 64 is driven by a Geneva mechanism 66 as will be described hereafter.

As is shown in FIG. 12, the chains 50 for each of the four chain drives are secured on sprocket which are driven by the shaft 58. The chains 50 for chain drives 42 and 43 extend upwardly for cooperation with shafts 28 journaled on upright support 24.

By this arrangement, the rotation of the shaft 58 causes a corresponding rotation of the small shafts 28 carrying the package support 26 by way of the driving engagement provided by the chain drives.

The drive for the Geneva mechanism 66 is connected in the drive means for the banding machine to effect the revolving action of the package support plates 26 at a desired point in the cycle of operation of the machine as will become apparent more fully hereafter.

The supply of banding material for each station comprises a roll of tape 80 wound on a reel 82. The tape may be of any suitable material such as cellophane or other material which is capable of providing the tight band and is also adapted to be fused together by the application of heat which is important for reasons which will appear hereafter. The reels 82 for each station are rotatably mounted on a shaft 84 secured in a suitable frame 86. A tension strap 88 is wrapped around the shaft 84 and is adapted to be adjusted to vary the frictional load applied to the shaft. In this manner the braking force applied to the reel 82 may be adjusted to a desired amount. These adjustable braking mechanisms are well known in the art and need not be described in any more detail.

As is shown in FIG. 4, the tape 80 passes from the bottom of the roll and between a pair of idling mounted guide rollers 90 and 92 and then passes between a pair of tape feed rollers 94 and 96. From the feed rollers 94 and 96 the tape passes through a horizontally extending guide 98 which serves to position the tape laterally before it passes to the banding station. The guides 98 are mounted on a transversely extending frame member 100 which is supported on a pair of members 101 standing on the middle bore plates 20.

Means are provided for actuating the tape feed rollers into and out of driving engagement with the tape. To this end, the upper feed rollers 94 are mounted on a shaft 102 which is journaled at its ends in movable blocks 104 and 106. The blocks 104 and 106 (FIG. 1) are secured to a cam-actuated mechanism comprising pairs of vertically extending pins 108 and 110 which extend through frame members 112 and 114 mounted on the outer baseplates 20 beneath the members 104 and 106, respectively. The pins 108 and 110 are secured at their upper ends to blocks 104 and 106, respectively. At their lower ends pins 108 and 110 are secured to plates 116 each of which carries a cam follower roller 118. Springs 120 are mounted in compression between the plates 116 and a portion of the frame members 112 and 114 to bias the cam follower plates 116 and the blocks 104 and 106 downwardly. The cam follower rollers 118 ride on cams 122 each of which has a high portion which actuates the plates 116 and the blocks 104 and 106 upwardly during a desired portion in the cycle of operation.

It will be apparent that the springs 120 acting through the blocks 104 and 106 which carry the shaft 102 serve to bias downwardly the shaft 102 and the upper tape feed rollers 94 carried thereby. In order to assist this bias, there is also provided a pair of leaf springs 124 mounted on the plate 100 and arranged to engage a pair of blocks 126 carried by the shaft 102 to urge the same downwardly.

The lower tape feed rollers 96 are mounted on a shaft 128 journaled in frame members 112 and 114. Also, the lower guide rollers 92 are mounted on a shaft 130 journaled in members 112 and 114. The upper guide rollers 90 are supported on a shaft 132 secured at its ends on a pair of pivoted arms 134 and 136 (FIG. 1). Each of the pivoted arms 134 and 136 are biased downwardly by springs 138 and 140 as is best shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 3. Accordingly, the upper guide rollers 90 are normally biased into contact with the tape which passes between rollers 90 and 92.

Means are provided for blowing a severed end of the tape onto the top of a package positioned in the banding station. This means is best illustrated in FIG. 9 wherein the severed end of the tape is shown in dotted lines in the position it assumes at the completion of a banding operation after it has been severed from the banded package. The solid line showing of the tape end illustrates the position of the tape after the application of an air blowing operation in which the tape is positioned on top of a package in preparation for a subsequent banding operation. The means to achieve this function comprise an elongated tube 142 forming an air supply manifold and an air nozzle 144 for each of the banding stations positioned to direct air in the direction best illustrated in FIG. 9. Thus, air is supplied through the air manifold tube 142 which is connected to each of the nozzles 144 whereby the air is discharged in the direction of the spray shown in FIG. 9 to blow the end of the tape from the dotted line position to the solid line position shown in this FIG. The purpose of this air blowing operation in the overall operation of the mechanism will appear more fully during a description of the cycle of operation. It is noted that the air blowing operation is controlled by a cam (FIG. 2) and it is coordinated with the cycle of operation so that the air blowing operation occurs at the desired period of time in the cycle.

The machine comprises means for securing a band in its wrapped condition about the article after the machine has performed the wrapping operation. This means comprises a heat-sealing mechanism which applies heat to the cellophane tape to fuse the tape together in the wrapped condition thereof. To this end, there is provided at each station a heat-sealing head 150 which is mounted on a transversely extending crossbar 152 and is provided with a tape engaging heat applying bottom surface 154. The size of the portion 154 in relation to the tape is illustrated in FIG. 10 wherein the heated area is shown by the shaded lines. The heat-sealing mechanism is electrically operated in accordance with procedures well known in the art.

Means are provided for actuating the heat-sealing means and the crossbar 152 upwardly and downwardly into and out of contact with the package for effecting the heat-sealing operation at a desired point in the cycle of operation of the machine. To this end, the crossbar 152 is secured at its ends onto a pair of vertically extending rods 156 and 158 (FIG. 12). The rods 156 and 158 are guided for vertical movement in guides provided in support members 160 and 162, respectively, which are supported on the outer baseplates 20 of the machine. The rods 160 and 162 are also guided by guide means 164 and 166 positioned below the baseplates 20 and carry at their lower ends ball and socket connections 168 and 170. Each of the ball and socket connections 168 and 170 is connected to a pivoted arm 174 and 176, respectively. These pivoted arms 174 and 176 carry cam follower rollers which ride in cam tracks in a pair of cams 178 and 180, respectively.

The cam tracks in the cams 178 and 180 are arranged to move the arms 174 and 176 upwardly and downwardly as desired in the cycle of operation of the machine. It will be apparent that this movement of the arms 174 and 176 also causes a corresponding upward and downward movement of the rods 156 and 158 and a corresponding upward and downward movement of the heat-sealing heads 150.

At each end, the crossbar 152 carries a stop member 182 which will limit the downward movement of the bar 122 to prevent possible damage of the package.

Also carried by each of the heat-sealing heads 150 is a transversely extending knife 184 which will serve to sever the wrapped band from the tape supply after the completion of a sealing operation.

Each of the heads 150 also carries a mechanism 185 for holding down the tape during a cutting operation. This means comprises a pin 186 mounted on an extended portion of the heat-sealing head 150 as is best shown in FIG. 9. The pin 186 carries an enlarged cylindrical portion 188 at its lower end and is biased downwardly to the position shown in FIG. 9 by a spring 190. By this arrangement, when the head 150 moves downwardly the lower portion of the holddown mechanism clamps the tape between its portion 188 and the guide member 98 to thereby hold the tape against longitudinal movement.

As will appear more fully hereafter, the cutting action of the knife 184 is achieved by the upward movement of the crossbars 30 while the knife is held in a downward position. For this reason, the upper surface of each of the crossbars 30 in the region of the tape is provided with a cutout 31 as is best shown in FIG. 9.

The drive mechanism for the various elements of the banding machine are best illustrated in FIGS. 1 to 4. The main drive shaft is indicated at 200, extends transversely across the machine, and is mounted at its ends in suitable bearing means. The drive for the main drive shaft 200 is by way of a motor-driven shaft 202, a pair of spur gears 204 and 206, a shaft 208 and a pair of helical gears 210 and 212, the last-mentioned gear being secured to the main drive shaft 200. The parts are arranged so that the main drive shaft 200 is given a rotation in the direction indicated by the arrows in the various FIGS. In other words referring to FIG. 3, the main drive shaft 200 is driven in a clockwise direction, and referring to FIG. 4, the main drive shaft 200 is driven in a counterclockwise direction.

The drive for the tape feed rollers 94 and 96 is by way of a chain 220 which is mounted on a sprocket 222 secured to the shaft 200 and a sprocket 224 mounted on a shaft 226. The shaft 226 also drives a chain 228 by way of a suitable sprocket drive and this chain 222 drives a shaft 230 by way of sprocket 232. Secured to shaft 230 is the driving cam 234 of a Geneva mechanism 235. The star wheel 236 of the Geneva mechanism 235 is connected to a shaft 238 which drives a chain 240 by way of a suitable sprocket connection. The chain 240 drives a shaft 242 by way of a sprocket and this shaft 242 carries a spur gear 244 shown in FIG. 2. The spur gear 242 meshes with smaller spur gear 246 which is secured to the shaft 128 carrying the lower tape feed rollers 96. It is apparent that the tape feed rollers 96 are rotated in a counterclockwise direction as viewed in FIGS. 2 and 4 to thereby feed the tape toward the banding station. Moreover, by reason of the Geneva drive 235 in the feed roller drive mechanism, it will be apparent that only a predetermined length of tape will be fed to the banding station in each cycle of operation. This length of tape will be exactly sufficient to achieve the banding operation in accordance with the invention.

The means for controlling the actuation of the upper tape feed rollers 94 to the feeding position includes the pair of the cams 250 which are mounted directly on the drive shaft 200 and rotate therewith. Thus, for each rotation of the drive shaft 200 these cams 250 will actuate the feed rollers 94 into and out of the feeding position during desired portions of the cycle of operation. This is achieved by means of the movable supports for the blocks 104 and 106 described above, the cam follower rollers 118 being actuated by cams 250 as shown in FIG. 4.

The means for driving the cams which control the position of the bar 40 of the package gripping mechanism comprises a chain 260 driven by a sprocket on the shaft 200 and arranged to drive shaft 262. Mounted for rotation with the shaft 262 are the cams 264 which actuate the cam follower rollers 266 which are connected to the transversely extending bar 40. As discussed above, the bar 40 is arranged to actuate the crossbar carrying pins 32, and the crossbar 30, upwardly and downwardly.

The drive means for the shaft 58 for the package revolving means comprises a chain 270 driven by the main drive shaft 200 and connected by a sprocket to drive a shaft 272. Connected to the shaft 272 is the driving cam member 65 of the Geneva mechanism 66 which, through star wheel 63, drives the shaft 64, which in turn drives the shaft 58 through gears 62 and 60. The shaft 58 drives the chains 50 for each of the chain drives 41, 42, 43 and 44.

The drive means for achieving the upward and downward movement of the heat-sealing heads 150 is provided by connecting the cams 178 and 180 directly onto the shaft 226 which is driven by chain 220 in the manner described above.

It will be noted that each cycle of operation of the machine is achieved by a single revolution of the main drive shaft 220 in a manner which will appear more fully in connection with the description of the operation of the machine.

OPERATION

In describing the operation of the embodiment of the invention shown in the drawings, let it be assumed that the cycle of operation begins with the parts in the position wherein a package is positioned on the support plates 26 at the banding station and the air nozzle 144 has operated to position the forward edge of the tape below the gripping bar 30 as is shown in FIG. 9. Accordingly, the parts are in the position shown in FIG. 5. The description of the cycle of operation will be with respect to one of the banding stations, it being obvious that the operation is the same for each of the banding stations.

In the first step in the cycle of operation, the tape feed control cam 250 is moved to the position to actuate the upper feed roller 94 downwardly (by means of the actuating means for blocks 104 and 106) into feeding position for a short interval of time after which the cam 250 permits disengagement of the tape feed. During this short feeding period, the banding tape is fed across the top of the package to overlie a substantial portion thereof. The feed will position the forward edge of the tape to a location indicated at 280 in FIG. 10 so that the tape is located beneath portion 154 of the heat-sealing means 150. The drive of the predetermined feed of the tape is achieved by the Geneva mechanism 235 as was described above.

At the end of this first step, the tape feed roller 94 is moved upwardly to place the tape feed in a nonfeeding condition.

The next step in the cycle of operation involves the gripping of the tape onto the package. This is achieved by the movement of the package gripping means cams 264 to a position permitting the cam followers 266 and bar 40 to drop downwardly to the position illustrated in FIG. 6. This permits the springs 36 to urge the crossbar 30 to the package gripping position with the crossbar 30 being urged downwardly into gripping contact with the tape to hold the same securely onto the top of the package and to urge the package against the support plates 26. This condition of the parts is shown in FIG. 6, and it will be apparent that the gripping means secures the package and the forward edge of the tape to the plates 26.

The next step in the cycle of operation involves the wrapping of the tape around the package and is illustrated in FIG. 7. This step is achieved by causing movement of the package, along with the tape secured thereto, through a complete revolution in the manner illustrated by the curved arrow in FIG. 7. This movement is achieved by the movement of the chain drives 41, 42, 43 and 44 by means of the Geneva mechanism 66 and involves a very rapid 360.degree. movement of the shafts 28 which carry the package support plates 26. During this movement the end of the package having the tape secured thereto moves in a counterclockwise direction as viewed in FIG. 7 and away from the tape supply roll to thereby pull the tape from the supply and wrap the same around the package. It will be apparent that by the time the mechanism completes its revolution, it will pull a length of tape from the supply which approximates the peripheral dimension of the package. Moreover, this banding operation serves to make a very tight wrapping of the band because the pulling action applied to the tape is resisted by the tension force applied to the tape supply.

At the completion of this operation the parts are in the position similar to that shown in FIG. 8 with the tape extending above the bar 30 to the tape supply reel.

The next step in the cycle of operation involves the sealing of the band in the wrapped around condition thereof and is illustrated in FIG. 8. This is achieved by the action of the cams 178 and 180 which act through pivoted arms 174 and 176 and vertical rods 156 and 158 to move the heat-sealing head 150 downwardly whereby the heat-sealing portion 154 comes into heat-sealing contact with the overlapping portions of the band to thereby fuse the same together. The heat-sealing area is illustrated in FIG. 10.

The next step in the cycle of operation is the upward movement of the crossbar 30 to release the package, and cause the knife 184 to cut the wrapped band from the roll of tape. This movement is achieved by the cams 264 actuating the bar 40 upwardly to cause a corresponding movement of the crossbar 30. As the crossbar 30 moves upwardly it pulls the tape upwardly past the cutting edge of the knife 184 to thereby sever the tape from the banded portion thereof. This movement also serves to release the banded package. Also, it is noted the holddown mechanism 185 holds the tape on one side of the knife 184 and the portion 154 holds the tape on the other side of the knife 184 as the crossbar 30 moves the tape upwardly. This serves to provide an effective cutting action.

Accordingly, there is now a banded package positioned at the banding station.

The next step in the cycle of operation involves the feeding of a new unbanded package into the banding station in the direction of the arrows of FIG. 1. As the package is pushed off the support plates 26 it passes into the discharge chute 300 and slides down this chute to a desired location. It will be noted that before this can occur the sealing head 150 is returned to the upward position by means of the cam actuated rods 156 and 158. The parts are thus in the position shown in FIG. 9 with the forward edge of the tape extending above the crossbar 30 as shown by dotted lines in this FIG.

The final step in the cycle of operation involves the application of air through the nozzle 144 to push the forward edge of the tape below the crossbar 30 and into contact with the top surface of the unbanded package now in position in the banding station. The application of air is controlled by a control means 290 (FIG. 2) actuated by a cam member 292 carried by the cam 178.

The cycle of operation is now completed and is repeated for each revolution of the drive shaft 200.

It will be understood that the above described embodiment is illustrative and is not intended to be limiting.

Claims

I claim:

1. A banding machine comprising means for supporting an article to be banded at the banding station, means supplying a strip of banding material to said banding station, means for feeding said banding material strip from said supply to a position wherein a portion of said strip overlies said article supported at the banding station, means for gripping said article overlying portion of said strip to said article, said gripping means being mounted on said article support means, means for revolving said article support means along with said gripping means mounted thereon, the article supported thereby and the strip portion gripped thereto through a complete revolution to wrap said strip about said article to form a band, and means securing said strip in said wrapped condition about said article.

2. A banding machine according to claim 1 wherein said banding material supply is a roll of tape, and including means for severing the portion of said banding material which is wrapped around the article from said supply thereof.

3. A banding machine according to claim 1 wherein said banding material is heat sealable, and said means securing said strip in said wrapped condition comprises a heat-sealing means moveable into contact with overlapped portions of said strip to secure said overlapped portions together and to hold the band in the wrapped condition.

4. A banding machine according to claim 1 wherein said supply of banding material comprises a reel having a tape of banding material wound thereon, and including means for holding said reel against rotation during the operation of the revolving means to thereby tension the strip of banding material as it is being wrapped.

5. A banding machine according to claim 2 wherein said banding material is heat sealable, and said means securing said strip in said wrapped condition comprises a heat-sealing means moveable into contact with overlapped portions of said strip to secure said overlapped portions together and to hold the band in the wrapped condition.

6. A banding machine according to claim 4 wherein said banding material is heat sealable, and said means securing said strip in said wrapped condition comprises a heat-sealing means moveable into contact with overlapped portions of said strip to secure said overlapped portions together and to hold the band in the wrapped condition.

7. A banding machine according to claim 1 wherein said gripping means includes a bar arranged to clamp the strip and the article onto said supporting means, said supporting means being mounted on a rotatable shaft means extending transversely to the direction of feed of said strip.

8. A banding machine according to claim 7 wherein said revolving means includes drive means engaging said shaft means to cause rotation thereof about its axis, whereby said supporting means and an article gripped thereon by said gripping means is revolved in a path about the shaft means axis.

9. A banding machine according to claims 2 wherein said gripping means includes a bar arranged to clamp the strip and the article onto said supporting means, said supporting means being mounted on a rotatable shaft means extending transversely to the direction of feed of said strip.

10. A banding machine according to claim 9 wherein said revolving means includes drive means engaging said shaft means to cause rotation thereof about its axis, whereby said supporting means and an article gripped thereon by said gripping means is revolved in a path about the shaft means axis.