Line converger with label dispenser

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9580198-B2
Application number	US-201414553455-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 25, 2014
Priority date	Dec 5, 2013
Publication date	Feb 28, 2017
Grant date	Feb 28, 2017

Abstract

The present invention relates to a line converger comprising a label dispenser and to a method for converging a row of at least three packages into a single lane and for applying a label to each package before the packages leave the line converger.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A line converger comprising:
a conveyor belt having a first end, a second end, a width, and a length defined by said first end and said second end, said conveyor belt disposed for movement to convey a plurality of packages along said length in a conveying direction, wherein said width allows for conveyance of two or more of a plurality of packages in a side-by-side arrangement in said conveying direction;
at least one guide rail having an upstream end and a downstream end, said at least one guide rail disposed above said conveyor belt between said first end and said second end of said conveyor belt;
wherein said at least one guide rail is disposed to reduce a conveying width of said conveyor belt between a first conveying width and a second conveying width, and wherein said first conveying width allows conveyance of two or more of a plurality of packages in a side-by-side arrangement, and said second conveying width only allows conveyance of a plurality of packages in a one-after-the-other arrangement;
wherein said upstream end of said at least one guide rail at least partially defines said first conveying width, and said downstream end of said at least one guide rail at least partially defines said second conveying width, and wherein said downstream end of said at least one guide rail is disposed for movement in at least a direction transverse to said conveying direction for reducing or increasing the second conveying width;
said at least one guide rail further comprising a guide member disposed at said downstream end to align a package at a location along said width of said conveyor belt;
at least two stoppers disposed above said conveyor belt between said first end and said second end and upstream of said at least one guide rail, each of said at least two stoppers being arranged laterally adjacent to each other in a direction transverse to the conveying direction, wherein each of said at least two stoppers are independently moveable for selectively stopping the conveyance of one or more of a plurality of packages conveyed on said conveyor belt while said conveyor belt is moving;
a control unit in electronic communication with said conveyor belt;
a label dispenser disposed above said conveyor belt proximate said second end of said conveyor belt and disposed downstream of said downstream end of said at least one guide rail, said label dispenser being disposed along said width of said conveyor belt to align with said downstream end of said at least one guide rail for applying a label to a package while the package is still fully or partly conveyed on the length of the conveyor belt; and
said label dispenser further including a sensor connected to the control unit for detecting a leading edge of a package upon which the label is to be applied.

2. The line converger according to claim 1 , wherein a position of the label dispenser is adjustable relative to the conveyor belt in a direction transverse to the conveying direction.

3. The line converger according to claim 1 , wherein a position of the label dispenser is adjustable relative to the conveyor belt in a vertical direction.

4. The line converger according to claim 1 , wherein the at least two stoppers are each vertically movable by means of a respective pneumatic cylinder arranged above the conveyor belt, and wherein the pneumatic cylinders are controllable individually by the control unit.

5. The line converger according to claim 1 , wherein the control unit controls the conveyor belt and the label dispenser.

6. The line converger according to claim 5 , wherein the control unit is part of a machine control unit of a thermoform packaging machine arranged upstream of the line converger.

7. The line converger according to claim 1 , wherein the width of the conveyor belt and the first conveying width provide for the conveyance of three or more packages in the side-by-side arrangement.

8. A method of operating a line converger that includes a conveying belt, a control unit, a label dispenser and a sensor, the method comprising the steps of:
positioning a downstream end of at least one guide rail disposed above the conveyor belt to at least partially define a second conveying width of the conveying belt, wherein the downstream end of said at least one guide rail is disposed for movement in a direction substantially transverse to the conveying direction for increasing or reducing the second conveying width, and wherein the second conveying width is less than a width of two packages in a side-to-side arrangement;
receiving a row of two or more separate packages arranged side-by-side from a thermoform packaging machine onto the conveying belt;
moving the conveyor belt to convey said row of two or more separate packages arranged side-by-side in a conveying direction;
stopping one or more of the two or more separate packages on the conveying belt by moving a stopper into a conveying path of the one or more of the two or more separate packages while the conveying belt is moving;
selectively releasing the one or more of the two or more separate packages by moving the stopper out of the conveying path of the one or more of the two or more separate packages after the stopping step;
converging the two or more separate packages from a side-to-side arrangement to a one-after the other into a one-after-the-other single lane of successive packages after the selectively releasing step by using the at least one guide rail disposed on the conveyor belt, wherein an upstream end of the at least one guide rail at least partially defines a first conveying width of the conveyor belt, the first conveying width is greater than a width of the two or more separate packages in the side-to-side arrangement;
detecting a leading edge of at least one of the two or more separate successive packages moving past the sensor after the converging step; and
reporting the detection of the leading edge of the at least one of the two or more separate successive packages to the control unit;
applying a label on the at least one of the successive packages while the at least one of the successive packages is still fully or partly being conveyed on the conveyor belt.

9. The method according to claim 8 , wherein the selectively releasing the one or more of the two or more separate packages after the stopping step further includes sequentially releasing the one or more of the two or more separate packages so that the packages leave the line converger in the single lane after the converging step with a predetermined distance between the two or more separate successive packages.

10. The method according to claim 8 further comprising the step of:
guiding a package at least partially by a guide member disposed on the downstream end of the at least one guide rail during the applying the label step.

11. The line converger according to claim 1 further comprising two guide rails disposed on said conveyor belt, the two guide rails forming a V-shape having a wide end and a narrow end, said wide end of said V-shape upstream of said narrow end of said V-shape, the wide end defines the first conveying width and the narrow end defines the second conveying width.

12. The line converger according to claim 11 wherein the downstream ends of the two guide rails define a gap at said narrow end, wherein said gap has a width greater than a width of one package and less than a width of two packages.

13. The line converger according to claim 11 wherein the downstream ends of each of the two guide rails are disposed for movement in a direction substantially transverse to the conveying direction, and wherein the downstream ends can be arranged o

Assignees

• Multivac Sepp Haggenmüller Gmbh & Co Kg
• Multivac Haggenmueller Kg

Inventors

• Ehrmann Elmar
• Spix Guido

Classifications

• B65C9/1869

  and being transferred directly from the backing strip onto the article · CPC title

• B65C1/00 Primary

  Labelling flat essentially-rigid surfaces (labelling of fabrics B65C5/00) · CPC title

• B65C1/02 Primary

  Affixing labels to one flat surface of articles, e.g. of packages, of flat bands · CPC title

• B65G47/681

  from distinct, separate conveyor lanes · CPC title