Apparatus for extracting stacked articles from a cardboard container

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11352159-B2
Application number	US-201917281715-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 19, 2019
Priority date	Oct 17, 2018
Publication date	Jun 7, 2022
Grant date	Jun 7, 2022

Abstract

Apparatus for extracting stacked articles from cardboard containers includes a store receiving the containers with a bottom closed by a tab; a rest and sliding plane substantially vertical and transversal to the store; a channel in a second unloading position, distant from the first pick-up position, for unloading the articles in the containers; abutting and folding means, lateral to the store near the first pick-up position for abutting and folding about the tab and opening the bottoms of the containers; an abutting plane substantially horizontal and transversal to the rest and sliding plane and lateral to the store between the first pick-up position and the unloading channel, to retain the articles inside the containers once the bottoms are open, and having an opening at the inlet of the unloading channel.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. An apparatus for extracting stacked articles from a cardboard container, comprising:
a store for receiving cardboard containers having an elongate box shape and conformed in such a way as to comprise a bottom closed by a tab and containing internally thereof articles stacked on one another, the store being configured in such a way as to receive the cardboard containers arranged in a line, flanked one following another and wherein the cardboard containers are arranged with the bottom thereof closed by the tab facing downwards;
a rest and sliding plane, substantially vertical and transversal to the store;
wherein the store and the rest and sliding plane are reciprocally arranged in such a way that a first cardboard container of the line of cardboard containers present in the store is resting on a relative lateral face on the rest and sliding plane in a first pick-up position with respect to the rest and sliding plane;
an unloading channel for unloading the articles contained internally of the cardboard containers, arranged in a second unloading position with respect to the rest and sliding plane, laterally and inferiorly of the rest and sliding plane and distant from the first pick-up position;
an abutting plane, substantially horizontal and transversal to the rest and sliding plane and arranged laterally to the store between the first pick-up position and the unloading channel and having an opening at the inlet of the unloading channel;
abutting and folding means, for abutting and folding the tab which closes the bottom of the cardboard containers, arranged laterally to the store in proximity of the first pick-up position and configured to abut the tab and fold the tab with respect to the cardboard containers;
a first suction pick-up and transfer group;
a second suction pick-up and transfer group;
wherein the first suction pick-up and transfer group is configured and predisposed in such a way as to be activatable and movable with respect to the rest and sliding plane so as to abut and retain by suction the lateral face of a cardboard container which is located in the store in the first pick-up position, resting on the rest and sliding plane, and to transfer the cardboard container, by sliding the container along the rest and sliding plane on the lateral face, into a waiting position flanked to the opening of the abutting plane and therefore flanked to the inlet of the unloading channel so that, during the transfer of the cardboard container, the abutting and folding means abut a portion of the tab so as to fold the tab with respect to the cardboard container in order to open the bottom of the cardboard container and the abutting plane maintains the articles inside the cardboard container, preventing the articles from falling;
wherein the second suction pick-up and transfer group is configured and predisposed in such a way, once the first group has positioned the cardboard container in the waiting position, as to be activatable and movable with respect to the rest and sliding plane so as to abut and retain by suction the lateral face of the cardboard container in the waiting position, resting on the rest and sliding plane and, following the deactivation of the first group, transferring the cardboard container with the bottom open, sliding the container along the rest and sliding plane on the lateral face thereof, from the waiting position to the second unloading position at the unloading channel in such a way that the open bottom is at the opening of the abutting plane and at the inlet of the unloading channel so that the articles contained therein can fall by gravity in the unloading channel and are then extracted from the cardboard container in order to be transferred to a packaging machine.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the rest and sliding plane comprises: at least a first through-window, parallel to the abutting plane and having a length that is such as to extend at least between the first pick-up position and the waiting position, and at least a second through-window, parallel to the first through-window and to the abutting plane, which is arranged, and has a length that is such, as to extend between the waiting position and the second unloading position,
and wherein the first suction pick-up and transfer group comprises at least a relative suction gripping element configured and predisposed in such a way as to be able to assume two distinct configurations with respect to the first through-window and to the rest and sliding plane: a first non-operative configuration in which the suction gripping element is in a retracted position with respect to the first through-window and to the rest and sliding plane, and a second operative configuration in which the suction gripping element is in an advanced position with respect to the first through-window so as to project beyond the first through-window and from the rest and sliding plane in order to be able to abut and retain by suction the face of a cardboard container resting against the rest and sliding plane, the suction gripping element being further configured and predisposed to be movable along the first through-window, from the pick-up position to the waiting position, and vice versa, so that the suction gripping element, when positioned at the pick-up position and located in the second operative configuration can abut and retain by suction the face of a cardboard container and thus be movable along the first through-window to transfer the cardboard container from the first pick-up position to the waiting position,
and wherein the second suction pick-up and transfer group comprises at least a relative suction gripping element configured and predisposed in such a way as to be able to assume two distinct configurations with respect to the second through-window and to the rest and sliding plane: a first non-operative configuration in which the suction gripping element is in a retracted position with respect to the second through-window and to the rest and sliding plane, and a second operative configuration in which the suction gripping element is in an advanced position with respect to the second through-window in order to project beyond the second through-window and from the rest and sliding plane to be able to abut and retain by suction the face of a cardboard container in the waiting position resting against the rest and sliding plane, the suction gripping element being further configured and predisposed to be movable along the second through-window, from the waiting position to the second unloading position, and vice versa, so that the suction gripping element, when positioned at the waiting position and located in the second operative configuration can abut and retain by suction the face of a cardboard container brought into the waiting position by the suction gripping element of the first group and thus, once the suction gripping element of the first group is brought into the relative first non-operative configuration to release the cardboard container, can be movable along the second through-window to transfer the cardboard container from the waiting position to the second unloading position so that the articles contained therein can fall by gravity into the unloading channel through the opening of the abutting plane.

3. The apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the first suction pick-up and transfer group comprises a belt loop-wound so as to comprise a straight branch arranged along the first through-window and a plate provided with a through-hole mounted on the straight branch, and with the suction gripping element of the first suction pick-up and transfer group borne by the plate so as to be movable with respect to the plate and to pass through the through-hole so as to be positionable in the relative first non-operative configuration and in the relative second operative configur

Assignees

• Marchesini Group Spa

Inventors

• Monti Giuseppe

Classifications

• B65B69/00 Primary

  Unpacking of articles or materials, not otherwise provided for · CPC title

• B65B43/39

  Opening-out closure flaps clear of bag, box, or carton mouth · CPC title

• B65B69/0025 Primary

  Removing or cutting binding material, e.g. straps or bands · CPC title

• B65G59/04

  by suction or magnetic devices · CPC title

• B65B43/44

  from supply magazines · CPC title