Turret device for supplying articles from plural magazines

Abstract

The invention disclosed is a machine for applying in series a molded plastic shell-like carrier over a pre-arranged grouping of containers, such as bottles. The machine includes a storage magazine turret supplying the carriers in nested fashion to a hopper device at a feeding station. The magazine turret indexes a magazine to the feeding station and a cam-operated device releases the nested carrier stack in a magazine to the underlying hopper. A carrier feed device continuously separates the lowermost carrier and drops it to an underlying carrier delivery conveyor. Bottles are advanced in parallel rows under the conveyor and past a carrier gate at the end of the carrier conveyor. First star wheel mechanism spaces the bottles on the conveyor to correspond as groups with compartment cavities in the carrier. Bottles moving through the first star wheel pull carriers from the feed gate; whereupon each such carrier falls over a group of bottles. A horizontal overhead guide rail holds down the carrier in a preliminary position of assembly whereat the bottles are each inserted into a compartment cavity of the carrier. The bottle conveyor moves bottles and carriers through a second star wheel device stabilizing the bottles under a rotary applicator wheel. The wheel has peripherally spaced pockets that coincide with the compartments of the carrier and the wheel, on a yieldable arm, bears against the carrier to seat the annular retaining bead in the carrier compartments over an enlarged end portion of the bottles. The grouping of bottles is held in the carrier as a packaged unit.