R. A. Jones Co., Inc.

Robert M Kalany

Anthony B Salvato

Joseph D Greenwell

Matthew R Lukes

Jerome M Brugger

J Daniel Greenwell

Michael E Myers

John M Paselsky

Mark R Nease

Keith G Jacobs

Eric W Scarpa

Milo Vaniglia

Michael Andre Lemay

Sima Paunesku

Steven F Mustain

Mark Roland Godon

Wickliffe Jones

Robert J Burkhardt

Aleksandr Shneyder

Ronald W Schachleiter

Wickliffe Jones, Deceased

A pouch machine vertical sealer capable of fusing a pouch film web to form a plurality of spaced vertical seals along a length of the film web to form pouches. The pouch machine vertical sealer includes a sealer wheel rotatable about a vertical axis of rotation and defines a film web path about a periphery of the sealer wheel. The vertical sealer further includes a plurality of vertical sealer land assemblies spaced apart about the periphery of the sealer wheel. Each vertical sealer land assembly includes an impulse heater such that contact between the film web and each impulse heater of the plurality of vertical sealer land assemblies forms the spaced apart vertical seals along the length of the film web.

Sustainable film pouch machine

Packaging apparatus and methods include a plurality of article grippers driven by independently controlled motors in an end-of-arm tooling (EOAT), for picking articles, grouping articles, adjusting group pitch and placing article groups in packages where incoming articles and packages are continuously or intermittently moving and without motion of the entire EOAT in the direction in which articles and packages are picked and moved. Hole healing and incoming product registration apparatus and methods are disclosed.

Apparatus and methods for transferring continuously moving articles to continuously moving packages with intervening article grouping and group pitch adjustment

Articles are transferred from an article supply conveyor to an article receiving conveyor while the transferring articles are selectively reoriented. When the conveyors are in parallel, a travelling article reorienting turret seeks articles following an article absence or hole on the supply conveyor and transfers the following article to a next-in-line position on the receiving conveyor to cure or avoid holes of articles on the receiving conveyor.

Apparatus and methods for product orientation and hole healing applications

A packaging system includes a transport defined by a linear motor driving independent elements in a path to carry out a packaging function. The elements are driven independently of other elements in the path and are driven by the linear motor in a section of the path under the influence of an external axis signal from an operably adjoining packaging function to register and synchronize the elements in position and time with a moving component or event of the adjoining function in a downstream direction. Method and apparatus are disclosed.

Packaging apparatus and methods

A case packer includes a mass flow conveyor moving containers in defined lanes and lane deflectors for urging containers laterally across the conveyor into a selectively actuable metering station. Containers are selectively metered into row groups of select count and segregated by transfer guides on an underlying transfer conveyor. The row groups are directed to move rearwardly or upstream on the forward moving transfer conveyor into alignment with an open case mouth. A rotary loader has extensible can pushers maintained in parallel with open case mouth during a substantial portion of movement of the cases past the rotary loader. This maintains the rows of cans in proper alignment for final case loading and prevents undesirable 'A' pattern lock up. The transfer guides and rotary loader can be adjusted and/or modified to handle varied row counts of cans. The case packer is capable of full case run out, full final run out and automatic prime so there are no partially filled cases at the beginning or at the end of a run. Case sie changeover is facilitated.

Case packer

Partitions are fed from a single magazine by a feeder and are transported in timed mode to two sets of rotary blades which open the partition flaps. The open partitions are carried in a guide work to a nip point between a set of belts which are supported in such a manner that allows their discharge. The motion of the discharge end of the belts is in the direction of the machine direction of the moving bottle pitches and this motion is utilized to follow an insertion point for a time period long enough to insert the partition. The discharge end can then be returned and follow the next gap for insertion of the following partition. A subsequent final seating device insures the partitions are fully engaged with the group of bottles.

Partition feeder

A quick-disconnect lug for transporting cartons along the conveyor of a cartoning machine. The lug includes a base member for attachment to studs extending from the endless chain of the conveyor. The base member preferably has a pair of slots or recesses extending upwardly from its bottom edge for receiving the studs. A latch member is pivotally attached to the base member and includes a hooked end that acts to firmly engage one of the studs in a slot to lock the lug onto the conveyor chain. A spring member on the latch arm keeps the hooked end in a normally closed position to retain the hooked stud in a locked position. The pivot point of the latch member is positioned between the lever end and the hooked end of the spring member. The lever end may be moved downwardly to pivot the hooked end of the spring member out of the recess to allow a stud to be engaged or disengaged from the recess during machine set-up or changeover. Lugs are reset quickly and without tools. The quick disconnect apparatus can be used to secure various devices onto chains with extending studs.

Quick-disconnect lug for a cartoning machine

A web of pouches is fed past a detector. Inflating mechanism inflates individual pouches to create individual profiles. The detector responds to the appearance of a preselected distance between the surface of the pouch and the detector as each pouch passes the detector.

Pouch profile detector

A web is folded upon itself and transversely sealed. The web is cut into individual pouches which are fed into gripper units, on an endless conveyor, each having a fixed leading jaw and a movable trailing jaw which grip the leading and trailing edges of the pouches. To open a pouch, the trailing jaw is moved toward the fixed jaw by a cam and held in position by friction. Each opened pouch is carried around a filler unit where it is filled. Thereafter, a cam causes said jaws to spread apart, stretching the mouth of the pouch, where it is sealed in a heat sealer.

Growing community of inventors

Florence, KY, United States of America

Robert M Kalany