US3557523A - Food feeding and packaging equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

THE MACHINE IS DESIGNED TO RECEIVE INDISCRIMINATELY ARRANGED ARTICLES AND TO FEED AND RE-ARRANGE THEM IN TRANSVERSE AND LONGITUDINAL ROWS, SO THAT FOOD ARTICLES (SUCH AS DOUGHNUTS) ARE FED INTO A COLLATING AND DISPENSING MECHANISM WHEREIN A DESIRED NUMBER OF DOUGHNUTS, FOR

EXAMPLE, ARE ARRANGED IN SIDE-BY-SIDE RELATION ABOVE AN OPEN BOX INTO WHICH THEY ARE PLACED.

Description

Jan. 26,15571 A Rfk.' 1DAucal-l15m-Y ET AL A FOOD FEEDING AND PACKAGING EQUIPMENT 'l' Sheets-Sheet l Filed Dec. 25,. 1968 INVENTORS. POuL H. BAUMANN RALPH K.DAUGHERT.Y BY

446% ff /f ATTORNEYS 5 Filed'nec. 25, 196s R. K. DAUGHERTY ETALA FOD FEE-DING AND" PACKAGING 'EQUIPMENT I I Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTORS. POUL H. BAUMANN RALPH K. DAUGHERTY ATTORNEYS y Y FooD FEEDING AND PACKAGING EQUIPMENT Filed Dec. 25, 196e fr sheets-sheet s .FIGA @o INVENTOR. POUL. H. BAUMANN ATTORNQYS RALPH K.DAUGHERTY Jim 26, 1971 L RNK. DAUGHERTY ET AL 3,557,523`

v FooD PENDING AND PACKAGING EQUIPMENT fr sheets-sheet 4 'Filed Dec. l23, 1968 INVENTORS. POUL H. BAUMANN RALPH K .DAUGHERTY Nm um Jam.l 26, V1971 R. K. DAUGHERTY ET AL 3,557,523

FOOD FEEDING AND' PACKAGING EQUIPMENT Filed Dec. 23, 1968 'l Sheets-Sheet '7 I INVENTORS. POUL H. BAUMANN RALPH K.DAUGHERTY ATTORN YS United States Patent O 3,557,523 v FOOD FEEDING AND PACKAGING EQUIPMENT Ralph K. Daugherty and Poul' H. Baumann, San Jose, Calif., assignors of one-,half to Genevieve I. Hanscom (formerly Genevieve I. Magnuson), Saratoga, Calif., and `one-half'to Genevieve I. Hanscom, Robert Magnuson and Lois J. Thomson (formerly Lois J. Duggan), as trustees of the estate of Roy. M. Magnuson Filed Dec. 23, 1968, Ser. No. 786,322 Int.Cl. B65b 57/06, 63/02, 35/30 U.S. Cl. 53--63 16 Claims ABSTRACT or VTHE DISCLOSURE l The machine is designed to receive indiscriminately arranged articles and-to feed and re-arrange them in transverse andlongitudinal rows, so thatfood articles (such as doughnuts) arefed into a collating and dispensing mechanism wherein a desired number of doughnuts, for example, are arrangedY ini side-by-side relation-above an open box into whichl they are placed.

Inthe processing of doughnuts, it isv desirable that the doughnuts be packaged automatically into a box inthe required quantityv for marketing, andto accomplish this end, it` is desirable "to have'an automaticv means for ar- A ranging'the doughnuts in the 'required number in a row, feeding the row to a'collating and dispensing station, from which they can be'dispensed into a box or a package.

Accordingly, itis" a general object of the invention to provide a novel means and method for arranging indis-v cjriminatelypositionfed food articles such as doughnuts in an' appropriate nurnber'-y in orderly fashion, segregating these doughnuts and placingthem 4inl a box.

- -'further object of theinvention is'to provide a mal chine of the above character wherein the doughnuts are Patented Jan. 26, 1971 pensing and collating mechanism, the view being taken as indicated by the line 7-7 in FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a fragmentary sectional view generally similar to a portion of FIG. 6, but illustrating a modified form of the invention;

FIG. 9 is a horizontal elevational view of the mechanism shown in FIG. 8 being similar to a portion of FIG. 7;

FIGS. 10 through 15 are schematic operational views illustrating the cycling of the parts controlling the feeding of the doughnuts from the chutes to a carton.

Referring to FIGS. l, 3 and 4, the machine comprises generally a main supply conveyor unit 10, a shuffle feed unit 11, and a collating and dispensing lunit 12. All of which will be referred to in greater detail hereafter.

A main frame (FIG. 1) of generally rectangular box frame construction is provided upon which the shuffle feed until 11 is adjustably carried by four support brackets 16 which have vertical slots 16a secured to respective depending side plates 17 of the shuflie feed unit 12 by respective bolt 16b so that the shufiie feed unit can be adjusted vertically to the desired position both with respect to the main conveyor 10 and the collating and dispensing unit 12.

In the supply conveyor 10, there is provided a belt 21 (FIGS. 1 and 4) trained about suitable idler and driven drums 22 and 23, journalled in respective side members 24 of the conveyor unit which form part of the frame work 25 supported on the main frame 15 by box frame members 26, only one of which is seen. The drive for the feed drum 23 is through a suitable chain and sprocket connection from a drive motor 27 (FIG. l).

Positioned above the main supply conveyor 10 is a feed control mechanism including an auxiliary frame 31 (FIGS. l and 4) which is secured to a shaft 32 at one end which is journalled in the side members 24 and the opposite end of the frame 31 including a cross piece 33 which rests freely on the side plates 24, for a purpose later described.

The longitudinally slotted members 36 are provided on the frame 31 which carry doughnut diverting or shear plates 37 and 38 which are secured to the slotted members 36 by means of suitable fastening bolts 39. Thus, the doughnuts or food articles being conveyed along the conveyor 10 in the direction of the arrow as shown in FIG.

apparent from t heffollovs`1ing`I description of avpreferred embodiment thereof as shown inthe attached drawings,;n which; ,y FIG. l is a side elevationalview-of the machine; s

"'FIG. 2"is a` fragmentary operational view of the` 'up per right hand portion of FIG. l illustrating the operation'of the doughnut feed;

FIG. 3" is a" front 'elevation ofthe machine as viewed from the right of FIG. l; t i f FIG. 3A is a fragmentary side elevational view taken as vindicatedby the 1ine'3A`-3Ain FIG. 3;

FIG. 4 isa plan view of the machine;

' FIG; 5A is 'a schematic plan view illustrating the operation of the feed of doughnuts from the shuffle feed mechanism; f

"'FIGySB is a fragmentary elevational view taken as indicated by'the line SB-SB iny FIG. 5A; N

f6 is a sectional view through the vcollating and dispensing mechanism, the view being indicatedv by the line 6- 6"in FIG. 3;

' FIG. 6A is a horizontal sectional view partially in elevation and taken as indicated by the line 6A-6A in FIG.'6; v

FIG. 7 is a horizontal sectional view through the dis- 4, are diverted from the conveyor at a desired point. Preferably the shear plates 37 and 38 are coated with a friction free plastic or .release agent such as Teflon or a Teflon derivativeisuch as Kel-F. An electrical vibrator 41 is also provided on the auxiliary frame 31 so as to implement release action of the doughnuts from the shear plate and to facilitate and transfer the doughnuts across the path of the conveyor belt 10` and onto a drop chute 46 which leads to a feed hopper 47 which includes an inclined plate 47a to receive the doughnuts from the drop plate 46 and feed them onto the shuffle feed mechanism 11.

The hopper47 includes side Walls 47b extending along each side of the shuffle feed mechanism. The shuie feed mechanism 1-1 is of the general type disclosed in U.S.

. Letters Patent No. 2,792,929, issued May 2l, 1957, and

comprises alternate sets of shuffle members 51 and 52 carried by respective actuating members S3 and 54, and operated in the usual reciprocatory fashion, the shuflie members 51 moving rearwardly as the shuflie members 52 move forwardly in effecting the feed so that the articlesare advanced step-by-step from the feed end to the storage end. The actuating members 53 and 54 are carried on respective pairs of parallel pivoted links 56 and 57 and are actuated by a cam mechanism 58 driven from a motor 59. l

At the feed end of the shuffle feeds are shuie members 51a and 52a having plane frontal edges to allow the flow of indiscriminately arranged doughnuts to spread across'the face of the flights during their feed over these straight edged shuflle feed members 51a and 52a. The shule feed mechanism also includes an intermediate section of shule members Slb and 52b with their frontal edges scalloped to begin forming of the longitudinal rows by laning operations, and, following the intermediate scalloped shuflle members 52b and 51b, there is a straight shuffle feed member 52e` to permit sidewise movement of any doughnuts which arrive spaced two to a pocket or scallop. The last section of the shuffle feed has scalloped members 51d and 52d for a final laning operation.

It will be noted in general that the shule feed mechanism is at an angled position to the horizontal with the feed end lowest and with the discharge end uppermost, and the doughnuts are thereby progressed upwardly at slight angle to the horizontal. To avoid missing the feed of a doughnut in a pocket, preferably the forward edge of the shuflle feed members 51d and 52d are beveled rearwardly toward the bottom as seen in FIG. 1 to produce a restraining action on upward movement of the face of the doughnut being contacted.

The doughnuts therefore when they arrive at the last section 51d and 52d of the shuffle feed members are arranged in transverse rows and in longitudinal rows or files in the appropriate number, nine in the present case for packing in a carton.

The doughnut collating and dispensing unit 12 (FIGS. 1, 3 and 4) comprises a plurality of adjacently situated inclined storage chutes 61 which are spaced apart at their upper ends to correspond to the spacing of the lanes or pockets of the shuilie feed and which converge at their lower ends to be closely spaced apart, separated only by the partitions 62 between the respective chutes. These chutes 61 are inclined from their upper ends outwardly at 61a so as to provide a rolling support for doughnuts introduced at the upper end, as will be explained. The inclined portions 61a lead to vertical lower portions 61b. The upper entrance end of the chutes 61 is formed by an entrance plate member 71 having a planar portion 71a (FIG. l) projecting underneath the endmost shuflle feed member 51d, disposed parallel to the shuffle feed members. On the opposite side from the panel portion 71a the member 71 has a series of cut away portions 71b providing a series of entrance openings above the chute 61 between a series of ribs 71c, these openings providing passages of a dimension of a doughnut positioned edgewise. Each entrance opening 71b is defined on one side by a straight vertical wall of the rib 71C and on the other side by curved shoulder 71d. The curved shoulder 71d of each rib 71e flows smoothly into a vertical wall of the passage 61 which vertical wall is in line with the center line of one of the concavities or pockets of the adjacent shuffle feed. A doughnut pushed over the plate member 71 and onto a rib 71e will be supported only by the rib 71c and have its center of gravity in space over the adjacent opening 71b to provide for tipping of the doughnut thru 90 as it falls into the opening. Thus each doughnut as it is pushed up onto the plate 71b will be in unbalanced condition and will tilt sideways into rolling relation with the cooperating chute 61 to roll down it into position to provide a reservoir of stored doughnuts in each one of the chutes 61. A vibrator 79 (FIG. l) is attached to the chutes 61 to maintain the doughnuts in aligned condition to assist in the feeding operation. A portion of the various chutes '61 is closed by a door 76 (FIG. 3), having a hinged support 76a at its upper end so that the door 76 may be opened for inspection. Preferably this door 76 is of transparent material to allow the doughnuts to be seen as the operation proceeds.

The lower ends of the chutes 61 (FIG. 6) is closed by movable door or escapement member 76 having a stop portion 77 normally underlying the chute 61 having a downwardly offset outer end 78 spaced downwardly from the stop portion 77 a distance exceeding slightly the maximum diameter of a doughnut. The door member 76 is slotted at 74 (FIG. 7) to telescope over the walls 62 of the chutes. This door member 76 (FIGS. 6

and 7) is mounted for a horizontal reciprocating movement by means of an upright flange intermediate its ends having a pair of bosses 82 carried by a pair of shafts 83, and also an upstanding flange 81 at its rear carrying a bushing 113 engaged by a shaft 112. The shafts 83 are supported in a cross frame piece 84 at the left end as seen in FIG. 6, and at the right end are slidably engaged with suitable bushings in a cross piece 86 of a movable rectangular carriage frame 87, a pair of springs 96 are mounted in their respective shafts 83 and are disposed below bushings 110 and adjustably mounted collar 95 and urge the carriage 87 to the right as seen in FIG. 6. The door member 76 is brought to the left in FIG. 6 by the spring 111.

`Referring to FIG. 6, it will be seen that when doughnuts are stored in a chute `61, the lowermost doughnut will engage and pivot a latch 91, each latch being pivoted at 92 and having its hook engaging over a latch bar 93 secured to the top of the upright flange 80 on the shelf or door 76. Thus, the door or shelf 76 is not free to move to the left until a full complement of doughnuts are positioned on the shelf 76 in each of chutes 61.

Means are provided for periodically attempting to cycle the shelf '76 (FIGS. 6 and 7) to effect its movement from the position shown in FIG. 6 to the left to move the lower shelf 78 underneath the chute 61, and this means comprises the rectangular carriage frame 87 which is urged by springs 96 on the shafts 83 to engage its cam rollers 97 with a pair of cams 98 on a drive shaft 99 which is journaled in the frame plates 101 and 102 by bearings 103, the right end of the shaft 99, as seen in FIGS. 1 and 3, is driven by chain and sprocket mechanism 107 from a motor 108. Thus, through the above described drive, the rectangular carriage control or actuating frame 87 is periodically reciprocated on its supporting shafts 83 and during this movement one of its walls 86 operates against the spring 111 carried by shaft 112 (FIGS. 6 and 7) which is slidably supported in collars 113 on the upturned end 81 of the door members 76 as seen in FIGS. 6 and 7.

From the above description, it will be seen that on each reciprocation of the carriage frame 87, an attempted reciprocation of the door member or plate 76 will be effected and this can only be performed if all the latches 91 have their hooks raised to free the latch bar 93 carried by the door 76.

Manual means are provided for lifting the doughnut stops if for some special reason it is wished to free the chute and allow dropping of a doughnut irrespective of completion of an entire row. Each of the doughnut stop pawls 91 (FIG. 6) has its outer end overlying a release bar 121, which extends underneath each of the doughnut stops 91 and is carried by a pair of arms 122 pivoted on to the shaft 92. The shaft 92 carries a suitable handle in an accessible position so that operating this handle al the pawls or stop members 91 can be operated.

In order to allow free dropping of the row of doughnuts from the shelf or stop portion 77 to the shelf or stop portion 78 when it is moved to active position, retainer elements 126 (FIGS. 3 and 3a) are provided in each chute 61 for the next doughnut above the doughnut to be discharged. Referring to FIGS. 3 and 3a, a plurality of doughnut restraining fingers 126 shown in full lines in their retracted position in FIG. 3a are carried by transverse bar 127 which is carried at the ends by a pair of levers or arms 128 pivoted on suitable support pins 129 in the frame. One of the arms 128 extends rearwardly and has pivoted thereon at 131 a depending link 132 which is connected by a tension spring 133 to a link 134 on an actuating lever 136 pivotally mounted at 137 on a frame piece 128. The lever 136 has a depending ear `136a lying in front of an actuating finger 138 carried by the lower shelf 78 of the door member 76. The actuating lever 136 is connected by an actuating link 139 to the pivot point 131 on the lever 128 so that upon movement of the shelf 76 to the left from the position shown in the weight of the stack of doughnuts will not interfere with the free feeding of the lowermost row of doughnuts.

From the above description, it will be apparent, assuming a full row of doughnuts are at the bottom of the respective chutes `61 that upon movement of the escapement or door member 76 to the left as shown in FIG. 6,

the bottom row of doughnuts will be released to fall down onto the shelfy 78 when it comes underneath the bottom of the chutes, the next row of doughnuts above being restrained as explained. When the escapement or door member 76 is returned to position shown in FIG. 6, the row of doughnuts will be moved into position in side-byside relation between the vertical wall 75 of the escapement member and a fixed wall 85 on the frame, and also between ay compressor means for compacting it to the length of a box. This latter means comprises a stop plate 141 (FIGS. 3 and 6r) which is fixed against lateral movement but which can be moved vertically, and a laterally reciprocating compressor plate 142 carried bythe ram or plunger 143 (FIG. 3), of the pneumatic cylinder 144 having suitable intake and exhaust hoses connected thereto, and connected to a suitable solenoid valve.

The stop plate 141 (FIG. 3) comprises the bent end of a horizontal plate 161- which is carried by the plunger or ram 162 of a vertically disposed pneumatic cylinder 1-63 which has respective hoses connected at its ends excollars 151 and 152 and an ear 153 of a bracket 154 car-vil,

ried by the door or escapement member 76 is disposed between two collars 151 and 152, the depending earh153 being apertured or slotted to permit its cooperation with the shaft 146 without interference. With the parts as shown in FIG. 6, the collar 151 is engaged with a roller 157 on an arm 158 to close a switch 156 for-the soleg'i noid valve. As a result the ram or plunger 143 of the cylinder 144 is fully extended to compress the doughnuts between the plates 141 and 142 to the-.desired length for the box. This results in a row of`v doughnuts being held suspended between the plates 141`and 142 in posiabove the roller 158, thus releasing the microswitch 101 from its actuation.

In this connection, it should be noted `thatthe horizon-l tal pusher plate 161 (FIGV) carriesV a rearward upstanding wall 161a which serves as a block for the forward open edges of the chutes 61 as clearly seen in FIG. 6 to prevent the doughnuts rolling out duringthe transfer from the shelf portion 77 to the lower shelf 78. Referring to FIG. 6, it will be noted that in additionto the plate 161a, there is provided a pair of guide4 plates, plate 165 and 166 which also in part block the openings in the chutes 61.

In order to control the operation of the ram 162A and the vertical cylinder 1-63, a rst control is provided in the form of cycling cam means on the actuating shaft 99 for the carriage frame 86 and alsopa second control exercised by the actual position of the horizontally movable escapement member 76. The first of these controls comprises a pair of relatively adjustable cam plates 171 and 172 (FIG. 7) carried by the shaft 99 and relatively adjustable to each other and these cam plates serve to close and maintain closed a microswitch 173 for the solenoid valve for the cylinder 163. Thus, during each rotation of the-shaft 99 during a certain portion of this rotation, the microswitch 173 will be closed. In series with the microswitch 173 is a second microswitch 177 which is controlled by an arm 178 (FIG. 6) having a roller 179 adapted to be operated to close the microswitch by a cam 181 secured to the lower face of the escapement member 76 during movement to the left from its position in FIG. 6.

Preferably the timing of the operation of the rams 143 and 162 (FIG. 3) are such that the ram 143 is retracted just ahead of the descent of the ram 162 to place the doughnuts in the box so that there is insufficient time for the doughnuts to expand sufliciently from the amount of compression given them before they actually enter the box.

All of the above operation has been made Jassuming that a carton is in place ready to receive the doughnuts, and the carton conveyor carrying the cartons comprises a pair of conveyors arranged in series. The lirst of these is a conveyor 186 trained about respective idler and driving drums 187 and 188 and the second of these is a conveyor 191 trained about its respective idler drum 192 and driving drum 193. These conveyors may be driven in any suitable fashion through a chain and sprocket drive 194 from a motor 196. Above the conveyors 186 and 191 there are provided suitable guide rails 197. The upper stretch of these conveyors run on a platform 189 (FIGS. 3 and 6).

AIn order to prevent misfeeding of doughnuts when no carton is present, a no-carton, no-doughnut feed is provided and this takes the form of a lever 201 (PIG. 6) which is secured to a vertical shaft 202 and is springurged by spring 203 into position overlying the belt 186. The shaft 203 (FIG. 6) carries at its upper end a lever 204 having a vertical lug 204a at its end. The lug 204a is positioned in front of a block 206 secured to a plate extension 207 depending from the door or escapement member 76 and serves to hold the escapement member 76 VLfrom moving to the left in FIG. 6 Whenever there is no `carton present to move the ylever 201 to its inactive position.

One purpose of providing the two belts 186 and 191 is to provide for fast release of a iilled carton and the belt 1.91 through appropriate gearing runs at considerably higher speed than the belt 186. Means is provided for holding the carton in place against the friction of the constantly running belt 186 underneath it and this takes ,the place of a carton holding and release bar 211 (FIG.

6) which is mounted on a vertical pin 212 pivoted in a bracket 213 and normally urged to position shown by spring 214. The arm 211 is urged against stop formed by the frame plate 216. The member 211 has avhook end or projection 211a which extends out into the path of the carton and holds it there until released and then extends lparallel to the conveyor for some distance to the point 214 of pivoting, thus forming a -bellcrank lever whose .inner projecting end carries a roller 217 for cooperation with an alternator or one-way arm 218 which is pivotally mounted on pin 219 carried by a bracket 221 secured to the underside of the door or escapement member 76. The arm 214 is normally urged` against a portion of the bracket 221 by a spring 222 and the lower end of the alternator or one-way arm 218 is twisted at a 45 angle to the direction of travel of the door member 76. Upon moving from the position shown with the door or escapement member 76, the member 218 will yield or pass around on ythe roller 257, but on the return movement, the arm 21'8 is unyielding and will rock the lever 211 in a direction to withdraw the hook 211a so that the carton will be released and quickly removed from its filling position.

Upon escape of the carton, the hook or latch 211a collating unit will be filled so that doughnuts fed by the next reciprocation or feeding action of the shuffie feed mechanism will be fed over the top of the plate 171, and will slide down the inclinedl face 231 of the chute mecha- -uism (FIG. l), over a diverter plate 232 and onto a retu'rn conveyor 233 extending acrossthe face of the'chut'e mechanism' as seen in FIGS. 1 and 4, and then will be` discharged onto an elevating conveyor 234 extending upwardly at the side of the shule feed mechanism and then downwardly through a discharge belt 236 onto'the feed end of the shuffle 'feed mechanism. The belts 233,

234 and'236 are suitably driven in any convenient manner. Y

From this it will be seen that any surplus doughnuts are recirculated and carried back into the feed end of the doughnut feeding, collating and dispensing mechamsm.

FIGS. 8 and 9 show a modified form of the invention i wherein means is provided if a doughnut is in each chute ready to be fed to a box, then the no-doughnut sensing fingers are removed to inactive position during the feeding operation. Referring to FIGS. 8 and 9, one of the arms 122 carrying the doughnut sensing pawl lifting rod 121 has secured thereto an integral downward extension 241 which is pivotally connected at 242 at its lower end to a link 243 disposed below and parallel to the door or escapement member 76. Link 243 has a horizontal slot 244 which engages a pin 246 carried on a depending bracket 247 secured there to the shelf or door ymember 76. The pin 246 is normally toward the right hand end of the slot 244 so that initial movement of the shelf 76 to the left to permit dispensing of the lowest row of doughnuts will effect movement of the pin 246 to the left end of the slot 244. If one of the pawls or doughnut sensing members 91 is not lifted, the bar 93 will engage this pawl before the pin 246 engages the left hand end of the slot 244. However, if all of the pawls 91 have been rocked by doughnuts being aligned therewith then the pin 246 will move with the door member 76. This operates the link 243 to move the arms 241 and 122 and the rod 121 to lift all of the pawls 91 free of the doughnuts. This release prevents wiping action on the doughnuts due to interference with their movement and would also tend to'wipe them free of any coverings such as a glaze or a powdered sugar.

Also in this modification the operating crank 248 (FIG. 9) for the doughnut sensing pawl release is shown. This operating crank is connected by a sleeve 249 and an arm 251 through a spring 252 to the lever 122. In this way when a pawl is frictionally engaged with the bar 93, the spring 252 will yield, and no lifting of the /pawl will occur. However, if all pawls l91 are free from the bar 93 (FIG. 5)A by the diverting or shear plates 37 and 38, these plates and their supporting frame being vibrated toy assist feeding action and the doughnuts are then carried down onto the shufiie feed mechanism-wherein the doughnuts are arranged in transverse rows and also longitudinal rows by the pockets in the scalloped face of the shuffle feed members 51 and 52. Referring to FIGS. 4, 5A and 5B, the final' shufide feed fiight member 51d pushes the doughnuts onto the members 71 over the slots 71C so that with the doughnut positioned as shown in FIGS. 5A and 5B it must turn 90 on the rib 71c and fall into the en- `france end of the aligned chute 61. This is done successivelyon each cycle of reciprocation of the shuffle feed,

'assuming no doughnuts are taken from the lower end until the various chutes 61 are full. The chutes 61 are vibrat'ed'to assist the feeding action of the doughnuts. At this timef'the excess doughnuts will be pushed over thetop of the member 71 down the face of the chute lmechanism and into the return conveyor means as previ- "ously described.

l'Referring to FIG. 10 the parts are shown in their 'condition at'the time of the beginning of a feeding operation, the ram 162 being in its retracted position (switches 173 and 177 open), 'the ram 143 being in its extended position (switch 156 closed), and the escapement member `"I6 being in its rightmost position blocking the feed of aswas the case in FIG. l1. It will be noted in FIGS. 1l

andl 12 that'the ram 162 is extended ( switches 173 and 177 closed), this stroke of the ram 162 and the plate 161 being ineffective at the beginning of the operation.

FIG. 13 illustrates the next condition of the parts wherein the plunger 162 has been retracted due to the opening of the switch 173 by the cam 171, and the cylinder 144 remains inactive because the switch 156 remains open.

"FIG. 14 illustrates when the escapement member 76 is'ag'ain brought forward to place the row of doughnuts V'on thel 'shelf 78 between the compressor plates 141 and 142,'and the next step of movement is illustrated in FIG. ,1;4 where the compressor plates move in to compress the doughnuts above the box C ready for delivery to the box.

As shown in FIG. 15 the ear 153 on the escapement member 76 has just engaged the collar 152 to move the "collar 151 and open switch 156 and thereby cause the yplunger of the cylinder 144 to retract. This operation occurs just ahead ofthe condition of the parts shown in FIG. 15 where the ram 162 of the cylinder 163 has v"again been extended by the simultaneous closing of the switches l173 and 177, thus restoring the parts to the condition shown in FIG. 11. Note also that the posi- `tonof the parts shown in FIG. 14 is identical with that shown in FIG. 10. This last operation of the ram 162 andthe plate v161 serves to place the doughnuts D in the cartOnC. This operation takes place with sufficient rapidity that the doughnuts have not had time to expand beyond the length 'of the box.

` -`If, during this sequence there had not been a full row of doughnuts in the bottom position, one of the latches 'or pawls 91 will remain active with respect to the bar 95 -(FIG. 6,) and restrain the slide 76. from moving under the actuation of the carriage 86, and the parts merely continue cycling until the last doughnut is present when the last pawl will be lifted and the filling operation will proceed.

Also, if there were nobox present, the arm 201 remains in, its triggering position, and the lug 204a remains in blocking position with respect to the slide or door memberf76 .to keep it in its position.

While the machine has been described as collating and inserting nine doughnuts in each carton, a fewer number of doughnuts canbe collated and inserted by placing blocking-strips at the-top of a desired number of chutes `61 so that doughnuts fed to these chutes are simply bypassed over to the return conveyor. At the same time the stroke of the ram 143` is adjusted in accordance with the number of doughnuts. Appropriate adjustment of the shear plates 318 can also be made to direct the doughnuts into the desired portion of the shuffle feed conveyor.

While we have shown and described a preferred embodiment of the invention, it Will be understood that the invention is capable of variation and modiication from the form shown so that the scope thereof should be limited only by the proper scope of the claims appended hereto.

We claim:

1. In a machine for receiving indiscriminately arranged articles such as doughnuts and for placing the articles in a plurality of single tile arrays arranged in rows for subsequent handling,` a conveyor having a feed end for receiving articles and having a discharge end, said conveyor including means for advancing articles row-by-row from said feed end toward said discharge end in timed relation, said conveyor also including means adjacent the discharge end providing a transverse array of pocket means to control the spacing of said articles in transverse rows whereby articles are formed as spaced longitudinal tiles and spaced transverse rows, a plurality of receptacles positioned across said discharge end for direct feed of articles thereto by said conveyor, each receptacle being positioned to receive an article from an associated one `of said pocket means as each transverse row is discharged from said conveyor, and means for operating said conveyor.

2. In a machine for receiving indiscriminately arranged articles as recited in claim 1, in which said conveyor comprises a shuiile feed conveyor, including respective sets of reciprocatory shufe members to advance the articles row-by-row, and in which said transverse array of pocket means are provided in the article advancing face of the shuffle feed members.

3. In a machine for receiving indiscriminately arranged articles as recited in claim 2, in which certain of said shufe feed members have their article advancing faces inclined from their upper edge rearwardly to their lower edge.

4. In a machine for receiving indiscriminately arranged articles as recited in claim 2, in which said shufe feed conveyor is inclined upwardly from the feed end to the discharge end, and in which said receptacles having feed openings positioned in a plane continuing the inclination of said shuiile feed conveyor.

5. In a machine for receiving indiscriminately arranged articles as recited in claim 1, in which a bypass return means is provided to receive overliow articles when said receptacles are full and including means for returning said articles to the feed end of said conveyor.

6. In a machine for receiving indiscriminately arranged articles as recited in claim 1, in which said plurality of receptacles comprise substantially vertically disposed passage means having converging lower ends to place articles therein in side-by-side relation, and means is provided for controlling discharge of the lowermost row of articles from said array of passage means, and also includes compressor means for gripping the articles by engaging the endmost ones and compressing them as a row to hold them in suspended position, and means for discharging said row of articles and for placing them in a container.

7. In a machine for receiving indiscriminately arranged articles such as doughnuts and for placing the articles in a plurality of single lfile arrays for packaging, a plurality tion for admitting one article from each chute to said lower shelf portion in another position of said member, means mounting said escapement member for back and forth movement between said two positions, cyclically operable operating means for effecting said back and forth movement of said member on said mounting means, a container holding station cooperatively related to said escapement member in the projected position of said escapement member, and means for preventing operation of said escapement member if a full row of articles is not present in said chutes.

8. In a machine for receiving indiscriminately arranged articles as recited in claim 7, in lwhich means is also provided for preventing operation of said escapement member if no box is present at said box holding station.

9. In a machine for receiving indiscriminately arranged articles as recited in claim 7, in which said operation preventing means consists of a plurality of article responsive elements, each of which is individually responsive to the presence of an article in one of said chutes.

10. In a machine for receiving indiscriminately arranged articles as recited in claim 9, in which means is provided for completely holding said elements out of operative relation with said chutes after each element has individually moved to indicate the presence of an article in the corresponding chute.

11. In a machine for receiving indiscriminately arranged articles as recited in claim 7, in which said cyclically operating drive means for said escapement member includes a yieldable drive connection to said escapement member.

12. In a machine for receiving indiscriminately arranged articles such as doughnuts, as recited in claim 11, in which means is provided for blocking movement of said escapement member in the event the machine is not properly conditioned for operation to effect yielding of said yieldable means.

13. In a machine for receiving indiscriminately arranged articles as recited in claim 7, in which means is provided for releasing a iilled box under control of said escapement member during the reciprocation thereof.

14. In a machine for receiving indiscriminately arranged articles as recited in claim 7, in which means is provided for compressing the articles into engagement with each other to less than the full length of the box to prepare them for insertion into the box, and means is thereafter operable to insert said members in said box as they are released from said compressing means, said last named means comprising a vertically movable ram controlled by said cyclically operable means and by said escapement member to effect movement of the articles as a row in the box.

1S. In a machine as recited in claim 7, including means controlled by said escapement member for restraining the next row above the row to be discharged by said escapement member so as to free said last-named row for unimpeded movement.

16. In a machine as recited in claim 5, in which means is provided for blocking a desired number of the receptacles to cause return of doughnuts to said bypass return means, and in which means is provided for controlling the feed of articles to said conveyor.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,656,656 10/ 1953 Murdoch et al. 53-61 TRAVIS S. MCGEHEE, Primary Examiner U.S. Cl. X.R.

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