US3368694A - Cigarette tray construction - Google Patents

Description

Filed Sept. 28 1965 Feb. 13, 1968 MoRRls ET AL CIGARETTE TRAY CONSTRUCTION 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 T; Q INVENTORS 2 HIE/101775 J/i flash? 9260 da, g/[xa/Ze. 44 7161235011 ATTORNEK J. E. MORRIS ET AL 3,368,694

CIGARETTE TRAY CONSTRUCTION Feb. 13, 1968 5 Sheets-Sheet Filed Sept. 28, 1965 p INVENTORG KATA 07771; JSA. M05022 J. fizaisg.

MStbb, 6p2.. @rzzafle ml 114225070 ATTORNEYS Feb. 13, 1968 J. E. MORRIS ET AL 3,368,694

C IGARETTE TRAY CONSTRUCTION Filed Sept. 28, 1965 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTORS x 55 v @5022 Q ER Q J 5124/2312 United States Patent 3,368,694 CIGARETTE TRAY CONSTRUCTIGN James Ernest Morris, James Arthur Mason, and .iuhus Szaksz, Richmond, Va., assignors to The Molina 0rganisation, Limited, London, England, a corporation of Great Britain Filed Sept. 28, 1965, Ser. No. 4%,839 8 Claims. (Cl. 2i1134) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLGURE A tray for receiving a stack of cigarettes for transporting the same from one machine to another, the tray having one open side through which the cigarettes are introduced into the tray, and a control plate supported on the tray for guided displacement from an operative position across the open side of the tray, in which it blocks accidental discharge of cigarettes during transportation, to an inoperative position at the opposite side of the tray, to permit introduction of the cigarettes, and having devices for retaining the closure plate in the operative position to resist unintentional displacement of the plate.

This invention relates to trays for containing stacks of cigarettes, filter rods or the like and, more particularly, to such a tray having an open side for conveniently receiving the stack of articles and a control plate to be positioned across said open side to prevent spilling of said articles.

During the manufacture of cigarettes it i required for a stack of cigarettes to be transferred from one machine to another in various stages of manufacture. To accomplish this function, cigarette trays have been provided that are designed to receive a stack of cigarettes from a cigarette collecting and filling mechanism that is stationed to receive the output of any particular manufacturing machine. One of the most successful types of cigarette trays has been the type in which the cigarettes are pushed axially, that is, end first, in a stack through an open side of the tray. The cigarette tray is designed so as to have an appropriate Width to accommodate the length of a cigarette which defines the width of the stack.

Since these trays are transported from one machine to another by a conveyor, for example, which is susceptible to jolts and bumps, it has become necessary to provide an arrangement for preventing the stack of cigarettes from spilling out of the open side during these operations.

Prior to this invention, several proposals have been made r in which a cover member is supplied for the open side of the tray to be positioned across the tray during the transporting operations of a filled tray. In these prior art devices when it becomes necessary to gain access to the open side for filling the tray, then the cover member is moved away from the tray so as to reveal the open side.

Many problems are inherent in these known prior art arrangements. In the type of tray employing removable cover members, the latter are often damaged during or after removal due to the rough handling by the operator as, for example, if the operator drops it to the floor in an attempt to speed up the placement of the tray in the filling position in the machine. Also, of course, these loose parts become a safety hazard to the operator and are, in some cases, even forgotten about so that they become permanently lost from the tray. In still other types of trays where the cover member is positioned in a space outside the normal boundary limit of the tray while the filling operation takes place, it becomes difiicult to properly position the tray in existing machines due to the increased dimensions of the over-all tray assembly. This trol plate attached to said tray so as to be movable between an operative position across the open side of said tray and an inoperative position outside said tray along said side wall. In addition, the tray is provided with guide means for positively holding the control plate captive on said tray whereby said control plate is in juxtaposition to said tray in all positions of movement and is positioned substantially parallel to said tray along said side wall in said inoperative position. With this arrangement, the open side can be conveniently exposed for receiving the cigarettes by retracting the control plate and then said control plate can be repositioned across the open side to contain the cigarettes in the tray while being transported in the usual manner.

An object of the present invention is to provide a tray of the character described wherein the control plate is positioned across the open side of the tray with a controlled arcuate movement and is spaced from the end walls by bumper blocks whereby said control plate is easy to position and does not tend to pinch the ends of articles upon positioning in the operative position across said open side.

Still other objects and advantages of the present invention will become readily apparent to those skilled in this art from the following detailed description, wherein we have shown and described only the preferred embodiment of the invention, simply by way of illustration of the best mode contemplated by us of carrying out our invention. As will be realized, the invention is capable of other and different embodiments, and its several details are capable of modification in various obvious respects, all without departing from the invention. Accordingly, the drawings and description are to be regarded as illustrative in nature, and not as restrictive.

Referring now to the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a side view of a tray constructed in accordance with this invention looking in from the open side with the control plate in a confining position;

FIG. 2 is an end view of the tray illustrated in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a top view of the tray illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2;

FIG. 4 is a detailed view partly in cross section taken along the line 44 in FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a detailed cross-sectional line 55 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 6 is a detailed perspective view of a modification 0f the present invention with parts broken away for clarity;

FIG. 7 is a side view of another embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a top view of the tray illustrated in FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is a side view of still another embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 10 is a top view of the tray of FIG. 9.

Referring first to the embodiment of the invention illustrated in FIGS. 1-7 of the drawings, the numeral 10 designates a receptacle or tray for cigarettes, filter rods or the like embodying the present invention. For ease of discussion and illustration, the following discussion will be directed to the case where the tray of the invention is used for confining a stack of cigarettes. It should be understood, however, that the tray is well adapted for other uses, such as with filter rods, as mentioned above. For example, it is well known that machines designed for making double length cigarette products can be easily adapted for making filter rods that are the same length view taken along so that in such a case the same tray can be used for collecting and stacking the filter products.

The cigarette tray 10, which is preferably fabricated from metal for stability and long life includes a base 11, one side wall 12, and a pair of opposed end walls 13, 14. The side wall 12 and the two end walls 13 and 14 are preferably made from a single piece of relatively heavy gauge metal, the latter walls being bent at an angle of substantially 90 with respect to the side wall 12, as well illustrated in FIG. 3. The top portion of the side wall 12 may be provided with flared portions 15, 16 along the top for stability While the middle portion of the side wall 12 is retained in a flat condition to receive a retractable handle 17 mounted on any number of studs 13 by suitable elongated slots 19 (see dotted-line outline in FIG, 1). This handle 17 is provided for the purpose of transporting the tray from one machine to another in the manufacturing facility.

Other handles 20, 21 are provided for use when it is necessary for the tray to be transferred by hand. Thus, it can be seen that the tray can be grasped either by a conventional conveyor at handle 17 or manually with handles 20, 21 in such a manner that the tray maintains its upright position at all times.

The base 11 is designed to maintain the tray in its upright position when the same is resting on any type of horizontal support and includes a pair of feet 25, 26 that are preferably cast for convenience and include upwardly extending bosses 27, 28 for engaging a desired portion of a filling machine (not shown) being utilized to fill the tray 10.

Disposed through a slot 30 (FIG. 2) in the support feet 25, 26 is a bottom plate 31 having conventional stop pins 32, 33 for preventing accidental dislodgement of said bottom plate 31 during transport. The bottom plate 31 supports the stack of cigarettes, generally represented by the reference numeral 34, in the usual manner; and when it is desired to dump the cigarettes, in the hopper of a machine, for example, the right-hand end of the bottom plate 31 (as viewed in FIG. 1) is simply raised until the bottom pin 33 is clear to pass through the slot 30 whereupon the cigarettes are dumped as the left-hand end of the bottom plate 31 disengages the support foot 26.

It should now be evident that when the bottom plate 31 is in position through the support feet 25, 26, the stack of cigarettes 34 is confined by the structure described above except on the open side of the tray Ill, which is the near side of the tray in FIG. 1. In many cases the stack 34 could be safely transported from one machine to another without dislodgement of the cigarettes from their resting position in the tray. In fact, there are a number of prior art trays that operate on this principle of no control along at least one side of the tray, as exemplified by the patent issued to D. W. Molins, 3,132,746, May 12, 1964, and assigned to the same assignee as the present case. However, experience has taught that because of jolts or bumps that might occur during the transporting operation of a filled tray, better control over the stack 34 is required. According to the present invention, the stack 34 is positively controlled in a convenient manner by a relatively simple mechanism that can be rapidly positioned in the desired operating mode.

To accomplish this, a control plate 40, preferably of clear plastic, is mounted for positioning across the open side of the tray 10. It has been discovered that the control plate 40 need not extend the entire length of the tray but needs to extend only little more than half way down to effectively control the stack of cigarettes 34 in the tray 10; the lower layers of cigarettes being retained in the tray 10 as a result of the friction between adjacent cigarettes and the weight of that portion of the stack 34 above. This is important since this construction allows the cigarettes to be controlled and yet allows the control plate 40 to be of such a size to be easily supported and rapidly 4 movable from the operative position across the open side of the tray 10 to the inoperative position in the manner to be described subsequently.

The mounting of the control plate is effected by a pair of movable end plates, generally designated 41, 42, that are positioned adjacent the end walls 13, 14, respectively, and secured to plate 40. These end plates 41, 42 are a part of a guide and operating assembly that is positioned on each end wall 13, 14, and generally represented by the reference numeral 43. This guide assembly 43 is identical for both of the end plates 4/1, 42 and therefore only one needs to be described herein.

As best illustrated in FIG. 2, the end plate 41 of the guide assembly 43 is provided with a 90 bend thereby providing a flange portion 59 extending along the outside of the end wall 13 of the tray 10. The flange portion receives a pin 51 that serves to support the end plate 41 through an elongated link 52 that is pivotally mounted by pivot pin 53 extending outwardly from the end wall 13. The mounting of the pivot pin 53 is preferably reinforced by a strap 54 that extends transversely of the end plate 13.

With the foregoing pivoted link arrangement, the control plate 40 is capable of movement in the direction of the dotted-line arrows in FIG. 2 through an intermediate dotted-line position along the top of the tray 10 to a final dotted-line position substantially parallel to the tray along the side wall 12. It will be noted that the control plate 40 remains in juxta osition to the tray in all positions of movement from the operative position across the open side of the tray 10 to the inoperative position on the outside of the tray next to the side wall 12.

To further aid in guiding the control plate 40 and in positioning the control plate 40 in the operative position across the stack of cigarettes 34, there is provided a flange extension having an inwardly extending latch pin 61 for engagement with a slot 62 formed along the upper edge of the end wall 13 and a reinforcement piece 63 (see FIGS. 2 and 4). In operation, as the control plate 46 is returned to the solid-line operative position of FIG. 2, the positioning of the guide pin 61 is designed so that it engages the slot 62 and thus serves to guide the control plate 40 during the final stages of movement.

Thus, the control plate 40 approaches and leaves the operative position across the open side with a controlled pivotal or arcuate movement about the pin 61, which type of movement is easier to effect and properly control than a random type of movement that would otherwise pre- Vail. As a result, the positioning of the control plate 40 can be easily and quickly accomplished with uniform results each time and without fear of pinching the ends of the cigarettes that might be caused as a result of such random movement.

According to this invention, means are provided to insure that the control plate 40 is retained in the full-line position of FIG. 2 to prevent the stack 34 from spilling in the event that the tray 16 is tilted slightly toward the open side while filled. For this purpose a self-centering latch pin 65, as best shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, is mounted on the flange portion 545* at the base of the flange extension 6%. An aperture 65 is positioned for cooperation with the latch pin 65, which aperture 66 is conveniently located in the terminal end of the reinforcement strap 54. In operation, as the control plate 4% is moved into the position across the open side of the tray 10, the latch pin 65 is caused to ride up on the end of the strap 54 due to the flexibility of the material whereupon the latch pin 65 is capable of seating in the aperture 66 as the control plate 4 1i is moved to the final position across the open side of the tray 10.

As illustrated in FIG. 5, the terminal end 67 of the strap 54 also serves as a bumper block to space the control plate 46 from the end walls 13, 14 in the full-line operative position of FIG. 2. To aid in this function, there is further provided a second bumper block 68 positioned lower down on the end wall 13 as illustrated in FIG. 2.

As shown in FIG. 2, this insures that the control plate 40 is spaced from the edge of the end wall 13 so as to prevent accidental pinching or crushing of the ends of the cigarettes between the control plate 40 and the end wall 13.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an arrangement for automatically retraciing the control plate 40 from its position across the open side of the tray and positioning it into the dottedline position of FIG. 2 along the outside of the side wall 12 as the tray 10 is moved into a collecting and filling machine (not shown) in the direction of the solid arrow of FIG. 6. To do this, there is provided as shown in FIG. 6, a pinion gear 70 having a hub 71 that is secured to the link 52 by any number of suitable support rods 72. If desired, the hub 71 may include a clutch for accommodating overrun of the mechanism and other emergencies.

A rack 73 is suitably mounted to the cigarette-collecting and filling apparatus that is or may be of the known type, such as described in U.S. Patent No. 2,919,529. The purpose of this rack is to engage the pinion 70 as the tray 10 is moved into the machine, as indicated by the solid arrow in FIG. 6. As the tray is moved in the direction of this arrow, the pinion 79 will be rotated in the clockwise direction as indicated by the arrow whereupon the link 52 will also assume a clockwise rotation. This movement then automatically serves to actuate the guide means 43 of the cigarette tray 10 whereupon the control plate 40 is conveniently retracted from across the open side of the tray to the inoperative position along the side wall 12; i.e. said pinion 70 serving to translate the movement of the tray 10 in the machine into rotary driving power that, in turn, effects a pivoting of the link 52 about a stationary pivot pin 74.

The pivot pin 74 has gear teeth formed about the periphery of the enlarged terminal portion so as to form a stationary sun gear 75 for actuation of a train of planet gears, generally indicated by the reference numeral 76. The final planet gear of the train 76 engages a gear segment 77 formed on the flange portion 50 about the pivot pin 51 so that as the link 52 is pivoted to retract the control plate 40, the stationary sun gear 75 through the train of planet gears 76 causes an angular positioning of the end plate 41 and the attached control plate 40 with respect to said link 52 in accordance with the progressive showing of movement in FIG. 2.

It will be realized that upon withdrawal of the tray 10 from the collecting and filling machine upon which the rack 73 is mounted, the pinion 70 will be eflfective to withdraw the control plate 40 from its inoperative position back to the operative position across the open side of the tray 1t) merely by reverse movement of the action described above, whereby the stack of cigarettes 34 is again confined and ready to be transported.

In the form of the invention illustrated in FIGS. 7 and 8, the cover plate 40 is mounted in a pair of opposed end plates 80 by offset segments 81 along end flange portions 82. As illustrated in FIG. 7, the end flange portion 82 is U-shaped and extends along and in juxtaposition with the end wall 13, as before.

In the considered embodiment of the invention, one pivot pin is located on each end wall along the center line thereof as indicated by reference numeral 83. In the full-line position of FIG. 7 wherein the cover plate 40 extends across the open side of the tray 10, the pin 83 is located in one terminal end of an elongated track 84 that extends substantially the length of the U-shaped flange 82. When it is desired to retract the cover plate 49 to the inoperative position along the rear side wall 12, the control plate 40 and guide assembly is moved along the track 84 that engages the pin 83 until the dotted-line position is reached.

Preferably a pair of bumper blocks 86, 87 is provided along the end Wall 13 in the manner indicated so as to prevent possible damage of the ends of the cigarettes, as the control plate is positioned in the operative position across the open side.

To lock the cover plate assembly into position there is provided a self-centering pin 88 that is positioned to receive the terminal end of the track 84 opposite to the end of said track 84 that is embracing the pivot pin 83. In operation, the resiliency of the flange portion 82 is suflicient to allow the end to ride up over the self-centering pin 88 and assume the locking position.

In another embodiment of the present invention illustrated in FIGS. 9 and 10 of the drawings, a plurality of cover plate assemblies 90 comprising the end plates 80 and the control plate 40 are provided whereby each of the end plates 80 carries its own pivot pin 91; each pivot pin 91 slidably engaging an inverted U-shaped track 92 extending around the top portion of the cigarette tray 10. The several cover plate assemblies 90 are connected by suitable hinges 95 that are preferably located at the inside limit of the end plate 80.

In the operation of this embodiment of the invention, the limits of movement of the cover plate assemblies 90 are determined by the terminal ends of the track 92 and the spacing of the cover plates 40 from the end walls 13 is also conveniently determined by the extent of the track 92 from the end of the end wall 13.

As in the first described embodiment of the invention, these embodiments (FIGS. 7-10) may employ suitable automatic means for retracting the cover plate 40 upon entering the collecting and filling machine. For example, the interlocked assemblies 90 of the embodiment of FIGS. 9 and 10 could be supplied with a suitable flexible rack that is engaged by a gear mounted on the tray 10 for rotation upon movement of said tray 10 in the machine. While the control plate 40 has been illustrated as extending only part way down the open side of the tray 10, it should be realized that if greater control of the stack 34 is desired, the guide mechanism 43 could be designed to guide a full length cover plate in accordance with the present invention.

In this disclosure, there is shown an described only the preferred embodiment of the invention, but, as aforementioned, it is to be understood that the invention is capable of various changes or modifications within the scope of the inventive concept as expressed by the accompanying claims.

What is claimed is:

1. An open-sided tray for confining a stack of elongated articles comprising a base defining the bottom of said tray, two end walls extending upwardly from said base, a side wall extending between said end walls, a control plate on said tray adapted for movement between an operative position across the open side of said tray for confining said articles and an inoperative position outside said tray, and guide means for holding said control plate captive on said tray whereby said control plate is in juxtaposition to said tray in all positions of movement and is positioned substantially parallel to said tray along said side wall in said inoperative position, said guide means comprising a pivot pin extending outwardly from each end wall, an elongated link pivotally mounted about one of its ends on each pivot pin, an end plate mounted on each end of said control plate, the other end of saidlinks being pivotally attached to the respective end plate of said control plate.

2. The combination of claim 1 wherein said end plates include flange portions extending along the outside of the end walls of said tray, a latch pin extending inwardly from said flange portion and an aperture in said end plate for receiving said latch pin in at least one of said positions.

3. An open-sided tray for confining a stack of elongated articles comprising a base defining the bottom of said tray, two end walls extending upwardly from said base, a side wall extending between said end walls, a control plate on the upper part of said tray adapted for 7 movement between an operative position across the open side of said tray for confining said articles and an inoperative position outside said tray, said control plate terminating substantially short of said base, a pivot pin extending outwardly from each end wall, an elongated link pivotally mounted about one of its ends on each pivot pin, an end plate mounted on each end of said control plate, said end plates including flange portions extending along the outside of the end walls of said tray, the other end of said links being pivotally attached to the respective flange portion, and bumper blocks mounted on said end plates for retaining said control plate spaced from and parallel to said tray in said operative position.

4. The combination of claim 3 wherein said pivot pin is mounted along the center line of said end Wall adjacent the top portion of said tray whereby the movement of said control plate is effected across the top of said tray,

5. The combination of claim 4 wherein is further provided a latch pin extending inwardly from at least one of said flange portions, a terminal slot opening at the top edge of the respective end plate to receive said pin.

6. An open-sided tray for confining a stack of elongated articles for use with a filling machine for said tray comprising a base defining the bottom of said tray, two end walls extending upwardly from said base, a side wall extending between said end walls, a control plate attached to said tray so as to be movable between an operative position across the open side of said tray for confining said articles and an inoperative position outside said tray, guide means for holding said control plate captive on said tray whereby said control plate is in juxtaposition to said tray in all positions of movement and is positioned substantially parallel to said tray along said side wall in said inoperative position, and actuating mechanism on said tray for moving said control plate between said positions,

8 said actuating mechanism being responsive to the movement of said tray in said machine.

'7. An open-sided tray for confining a stack of elongated articles comprising a base defining the bottom of said tray, two end walls extending upwardly from said base, a side wall extending between said end walls, a control plate on said tray adapted for movement between an operative position across the open side of said tray for confining said articles and an inoperative position outside said tray, and guide means for holding said control plate captive on said tray whereby said control plate is in juxtaposition to said tray in all positions of movement and is positioned substantially parallel to said tray along said side wall in said inoperative position, said guide means comprising a pair of links, each link being pivotally connected to one of said end walls and to said control plate, and gearing connecting said tray and said control plate to control the angular relation between said control plate and said links during movement of said control plate between the said operative and inoperative positions of the control plate.

8. The combination of claim 7 wherein said gearing comprises a planet train having a sun gear fixed to said tray, a driven gear fixed to said control plate, and at least one planet gear interposed between said sun and driven gears and mounted on one of said links.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,540,507 6/1925 Wayland 3l2325 X 2,485,837 10/1949 Nadelson 220-38 X 2,490,939 12/1949 Aldrich 220-38 X 3,132,746 5/1964 Molins 211-134 ROY D. FRAZIER, Primary Examiner.

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