Riverwood International Corporation

Cory E Hawley

Bruce D Domino

An air jet carton reopening apparatus for use with an article cartoning machine. The apparatus produces a stream of pressurized gas or a gas mixture that opens carton sleeves to receive articles for packaging. The air jet apparatus comprises a gas emitting mechanism, a gas supply connected to the gas emitting mechanism, and a positioning mechanism constructed and arranged to dispose the gas emitting mechanism operationally adjacent to the carton sleeves. The stream of pressurized gas is directed at the carton sleeve such that it opens and maintains the relatively rectangular dimensions of the carton sleeves to permit the article cartoning machine to successfully load articles into an optimally sized carton.

Air jet apparatus for re-opening cartons

A wedge for selecting articles to group on a cartoning machine where a wedge face that reacts infeed pressure has an outwardly curved surface. The curved face greatly reduces damage from infeed pressure to thin-walled cylindrical articles, such as beverage cans. In the preferred embodiment, the selector wedge is designed to attach to a flight bar on a selecting system of the cartoning machine. It has a recess to accept an end of a flight bar and holes through it for bolting the wedge to the flight bar.

Article selector wedge

An apparatus for controlling the input of articles to a packaging machine. The apparatus comprises a dead plate, a plurality of stop posts and an actuator connected to each stop post. The dead plate has top and bottom surfaces and a plurality of lanes located on the top surface and extending from a proximal edge to a distal edge, across which articles are moved, and at least one aperture disposed in each lane. Each stop post is aligned for extension through a corresponding dead plate aperture. An actuator is connected to each stop post, whereby the stop posts are extendible and retractable above the top surface of the dead plate, the stop posts impeding travel of articles across the dead plate when extended and permitting travel of articles across the dead plate when retracted.

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Aitkin, MN, United States of America

Cory E Hawley