The Procter Gamble Company

The Proctor 'gamble Company

Matthew Bernard Overley

Wesley Bernard Brokopp, Jr

Jeffrey Dean Hartline

André Mellin

Matthew Daniel Dooley

Wesley Bernard Brokopp

Joseph Clifford Noll

Andre J K De Saert

Gustav Andre Mellin

Laura Lynn Heilman

Pawel Marek Siczek

Brian Kelly Bell

A system is provided comprising a carton conveyor and a bypass carton accumulator adjacent to, and interfaced with, the carton conveyor. The bypass carton accumulator may comprise: a carton pick apparatus comprising a carton pick head; at least one stop device comprising a stopper movable between a first and a second position; and a storage apparatus. When in the first position, the stopper does not interfere with the flow of cartons along the conveyor and when in the second position, the stopper engages with a carton to stop a flow of cartons along the conveyor. The carton pick apparatus may be configured to pick up via the carton pick head a set of cartons from a pick-up zone of the carton conveyor after the stopper has moved to its second position and place the set of cartons in the storage apparatus.

Bypass carton accumulator

An apparatus for transferring and/or stacking products, the apparatus including a frame, a bar conveyor associated with the frame, the bar conveyor having a plurality of flight bars that are independently driven by a plurality of independent drivetrains, a lifting device having a lifting plate, the lifting device being located within the bar conveyor, and at least one pusher.

Apparatus for transferring and/or stacking products

An apparatus for packing cases with stacked rolled product. The apparatus can include a shuttle for receiving stacked rolled product, the shuttle operatively positioned to receive the stacked rolled product and translate the stacked rolled product from a first position to a second position. A rotatable and translatable loading head can be operatively positioned to receive the stacked rolled product from the second position of the shuttle. A first loading pusher can be operatively positioned to push the stacked rolled product from the second position of the shuttle to the loading head. A carton conveyor can be operatively positioned to convey open cartons to receive the stacked rolled product from the loading head.

Apparatus and process for packing cases

A method for transferring and/or stacking products, the method including providing a first plurality of products as a first unit, pushing the first unit onto a lifting plate, lowering the plate, providing a second plurality of products as a second unit, pushing the second unit onto the top of the first unit to create a stack.

Method for transferring and/or stacking products

A package containing rolled products. The package has an upper side, a lower side opposite and generally parallel to the upper side and four side walls. The sidewalls connect the upper side to the lower side. The package has at least first and second polymer films, the first polymer film forming the upper side and at least a portion of the four side walls, the second polymer film forming at least a portion of the lower side.

Package containing rolled products and process for making same

A conveying system and method for rotating conveyed product. The system can have a conveyor on which is conveyed a rolled product in a machine direction. The system can have conveyor having a first portion on which is conveyed a rolled product having an axis oriented in the machine direction, and the rolled product being partially wrapped in an open ended tube of polymer film. The system has a second portion on which the rolled product is rotated in a horizontal plane such that its axis is oriented in a cross machine direction, and a third portion on which the rolled product is conveyed while oriented in the cross machine direction to a sealing operation that seals the open ends of the tube of polymer film.

Apparatus and process for rotating products

An apparatus for reorienting and/or stacking products includes a frame and a telescopic infeed associated with the frame. The telescopic infeed has a receiving end and a transfer end. The transfer end is disposed at a first elevation and moveable in a machine direction and in a reverse machine direction. The telescopic infeed advances one or more products in the machine direction; and a landing surface receives the one or more products. The landing surface is disposed in a landing region proximate to the transfer end and at a second elevation. The first elevation is higher than the second elevation. A deflector is operatively engageable with the transfer end, such that the deflector is capable of deflecting a leading end of at least one of the one of more products.

Apparatus for reorienting and/or stacking products

A modular manufacturing system for wrapping and bundling or case packing rolled product. The modular manufacturing system includes a first end and a second end, a first module comprising a first piece of equipment, a second module comprising a second piece of equipment, and a third module comprising a third piece of equipment. The first piece of equipment comprises a wrapper. The second piece of equipment comprises a bundler. The third piece of equipment comprises a case closer. The first, second, and third modules are three of a plurality of additional modules arranged in a series configuration for metered product flow of the rolled product from the first end to the second end.

Modules for manufacturing systems and modular manufacturing systems

A method for reorienting products includes providing one or more products in a first orientation on a surface; advancing the one or more products in the machine direction at a nominal advance rate; and retracting an end of the surface in a reverse machine direction at a nominal retract rate, such that the one or more products are advanced beyond said end into a landing region. Said end is disposed at a first elevation. The method further comprises deflecting a leading end of at least one product, such that the at least one product lands in a second orientation on a landing surface disposed in the landing region at a second elevation. The first orientation is different than the second orientation, and the first elevation is higher than the second elevation.

Method for reorienting and/or stacking products

A method of transferring items, such as rolled absorbent product. The method includes the steps of feeding one or more input streams of items toward a turret having a longitudinal axis and arms for engaging the items, the arms being rotatable about the longitudinal axis. The arms can engage at least one of the items from at least one of the one or more input streams and rotate away from the input streams and into a position aligned with one or more output streams. The number of input streams can be different than the number of output streams. The items can be fed onto the one or more output streams.

Methods for transferring items

A conveying system for conveying rolled absorbent products. The system can include a first conveyor and a second conveyor for moving rolled absorbent products. The rolled absorbent products can be either partially wrapped or naked. The first and second conveyors can each have aligned centerlines parallel to a direction of movement. A first transfer device can be coupled to the first conveyor for diverting at least a portion of the partially wrapped rolled absorbent products in a direction substantially orthogonal to the centerline of the first conveyor to another conveyor for moving the diverted rolled absorbent products to a subsequent unit operation. The un-diverted portion of the conveyed rolled absorbent products can be conveyed to the second conveyor. In operation rolled absorbent products can be conveyed in a generally straight path from the first conveyor to the second conveyor, or in a path that diverts away from the first conveyor to the subsequent unit operation.

Method and system for conveying rolled absorbent products

A method of processing rolls of fibrous materials. The method includes the steps of providing a module comprising an internal adjustment mechanism; attaching a first piece of equipment to the module to enable the module to perform a first function; adjusting the module for the first piece of equipment using the internal adjustment mechanism of the module; removing the first piece of equipment from the module; attaching a second piece of equipment to the module to enable the module to perform a second function; and adjusting the module for the second piece of equipment using the internal adjustment mechanism of the module, wherein the first piece of equipment is different than the second piece of equipment, and wherein the first function is different than the second function.

An apparatus for laning rolled products is disclosed. The apparatus can include an infeed section having one or more adjacent infeed lanes. Each infeed lane can convey a plurality of rolled products in a first direction. The infeed section can feed rolled product to a transfer section, the transfer section receiving one or more of the plurality of rolled products from each lane of the infeed section. The transfer section can convey the one or more rolled products in a second direction substantially perpendicular to the first direction to a discharge section. The discharge section can have one or more adjacent discharge lanes for receiving the one or more rolled products from the transfer section. The discharge section can convey the one or more rolled products in a third direction substantially parallel to the first direction. A displacement device can transfer rolled products from the transfer section onto the discharge section. In operation, the number of discharge lanes can be equal to, less than, or greater than the number of infeed lanes.

Growing community of inventors

Deerfield Township, OH, United States of America

Matthew Bernard Overley