Stabilising device for stabilising articles during raising and grouping of the articles

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10647558-B2
Application number	US-201716099013-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 4, 2017
Priority date	May 12, 2016
Publication date	May 12, 2020
Grant date	May 12, 2020

Abstract

Device for stabilising articles has a bar abuttable by the articles during raising upwards thereof in grouping operations. A support element of the abutting bar is predisposed so as to be coupled to vertical sliding guides so as to be freely slidable along the guides and enable displacement upwards of the abutting bar pushed by the articles when raised upwards during the grouping operations. The stabilising device further comprises a contact element, predisposed on the support element so as to be translatable with respect to the support element, and an activator of the contact element, activatable for moving the contact element from a non-operative position, at which the contact element is distant from the vertical sliding guides, to an operative position, at which the contact element is in contact with at least one of the vertical sliding guides.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A stabilising device for stabilising articles during raising and grouping thereof, comprising:
an abutting bar, configured and predisposed for being abutted by the articles which are raised upwards during operations for grouping thereof;
a support element of the abutting bar;
vertical sliding guides, the support element being predisposed so as to be coupled to the vertical sliding guides and in order to be able to freely slide along the vertical sliding guides so as to enable displacement upwards of the abutting bar pushed by the articles which are raised upwards during the operations for grouping thereof;
a contact element, predisposed on the support element so as to be translatable with respect to the support element, activating means of the contact element, configured and predisposed so as to be able to be activatable for moving the contact element from a non-operative position, at which the contact element is distant from the vertical sliding guides, to an operative position, at which the contact element is in contact with at least one of the vertical sliding guides so as to provide a friction force resistant to the free sliding of the support element with respect to the vertical sliding guides and therefore provide a braking action to the movement of the abutting bar, the contact element comprising a through-hole,
the activating means of the contact element comprising:
a vertical rod, which is predisposed so as to coaxially cross the through-hole and which is pivoted to the relative ends so as to be activatable in rotation according to a rotation axis that is offset with respect to the relative axis and to the centre of the through-hole, and
rotation activating means for activating the vertical rod in rotation about the offset rotation axis so that the rotation of the vertical rod in a rotation direction or another with respect to the offset rotation axis determines translation of the contact element with respect to the support element from the relative non-operative position to the relative operative position and vice versa.

2. The stabilising device according to claim 1 , further comprising a frame on which the vertical sliding guides are predisposed and mounted and in that the vertical rod comprises, at relative ends, pins predisposed dealigned from the axis of the vertical rod and which are inserted and pivoted in seatings made in the frame so as to define the offset rotation axis for the vertical rod.

3. The stabilising device of claim 2 , wherein the rotation activating means for activating the vertical rod in rotation comprise a crank element coupled to one of the pins present at the ends of the vertical rod and an actuator organ for moving the crank element so as to activate the rotation of the vertical rod, about the offset axis defined by the pins, in a rotation direction or another.

4. The stabilising device of claim 1 , wherein the contact element comprises, at a relative head, a coupling profile profiled in a complementary way to at least one of the vertical sliding guides with which the contact element is configured to contact, when the contact element is moved into the relative operative position by the activating means, so as to exert a braking action by friction.

5. The stabilising device of claim 1 , wherein the support element of the abutting bar comprises a pair of through-slots and in that the vertical sliding guides comprise a pair of vertical bars predisposed so as to freely cross the slots so as to enable free guided vertical sliding of the support element along the vertical bars.

Assignees

• Marchesini Group Spa

Inventors

• Monti Giuseppe

Classifications

• B65G57/302

  added articles being lifted to substantially stationary grippers or holders · CPC title

• B65G2201/025

  Boxes · CPC title

• B65B35/52 Primary

  building-up the stack from the bottom · CPC title

• B66F9/18 Primary

  Load gripping or retaining means · CPC title

• B65G2814/0304

  Stacking devices · CPC title