Graphic Packaging International, Inc.

Cory E Hawley

Colin P Ford

Kevin T May

David F Warner

A carton feeder assembly is disclosed for selecting or picking carton blanks from the end of a stack of blanks in a magazine. The assembly includes a magazine and conveyor for moving stacks of carton blanks toward a carton feeder assembly. A support shaft assembly is disposed at the downstream end of the magazine and includes a support shaft against which the forwardmost carton blank in the stack leans and rests to support the stack of carton blanks. The support shaft is eccentrically rotatably mounted and driven by a motor so that the support shaft oscillates rapidly as it is rotated. This motion of the support shaft keeps the forwardmost blank of the stack spaced slightly from and out of contact with the support shaft for a significant majority of the time, thus reducing substantially the average friction between the forwardmost blank and the support shaft. Thus, the forwardmost blank can gripped with suction cups of the feeder assembly, which can then be moved to slide the forwardmost blank from beneath the support shaft and off of the stack of blanks with very little frictional resistance. The suction cups thus stay attached to the blank and do not tend to slide off due to shear forces developed in overcoming frictional resistance.

Carton feeder having friction reducing support shaft

A system and method for grouping products for packaging, including a metering station in which a line of products is engaged by a series of metering lugs. The metering lugs urge the products into off-set positions to form multiple lanes of products. Selected ones of the products are then engaged by a series of selector lugs at a selector station to urge the products together to form product groups for packaging.

Growing community of inventors

Austell, GA, United States of America

Cory E Hawley