Smooth product transfer highspeed l-sealer

Abstract

An automatic L-sealer is arranged to pass product, including fragile items and loose piles of stacked paper, tiles or similar flat articles, through the machine without abrupt drops or changes in support level for the product to avoid breakage or upsetting of the pile. In the case of stacked loose flat articles an infeed conveyor deposits a package on an air table and an insertion arm progresses the package through the overwrap station to a sealing area where the L-seal completes and separates the overwrapped package. The sealing area includes a discharge conveyor pivoted at its discharge end and elevated at the end adjacent the air table to transfer the overwrapped package without an abrupt drop but is thereafter lowered during the sealing cycle to permit the seals to be made midway of the height of the package. The insertion arm retracts out of the path of package flow during its return stroke permitting infeeding of the next package to be initiated prior to the completion of the return stroke. Automatic controls are provided to coordinate the various operations including starting the infeed conveyor while the insertion arm is returning to its starting position.