R.A JONES & CO.

A method for unloading from a supporting element a stack of blanks resting on an interlayer including one or more protrusions that delimit one or more channels. The method including positioning a robotic arm on which a handling member is mounted, including one or more prongs and a gripping element movable between a gripping position and a disengagement position; inserting each prong between the stack of blanks and the interlayer, so that each prong engages a respective channel; moving the gripping element until reaching the gripping position to clamp the stack of blanks between the gripping element and each prong; lifting the stack of blanks to unload the stack of blanks; and moving the stack of blanks in space.

A rotary carton feeder includes a planetary drive having two sun rings with angular phase, cam surfaces on each ring about a common axis. Planetary members rotate about the common axis with a number of said planet members in operative engagement with one of the cams and another number of planet members in operative engagement with a second one of said sun rings. Spindles are selectively combined with selected planet members to selectively accommodate handling variably sized cartons of 1, 2, 3 or 4 count. Suction cups on spindle ends traverse an enclosed path having four cusps. Variations are disclosed.

A device for packaging articles in boxes, including a carousel rotatable about a substantially vertical axis of rotation and a frame provided with a first operating unit arranged to operate on one of said articles and/or one of said boxes. The frame is supported and kept raised from the ground by the carousel by a rotatable coupling that allows the relative rotation between the carousel and the frame. The device also includes a fixing structure connected to the frame so that the frame remains fixed with respect to the ground when the carousel rotates around the axis of rotation. A method for packaging articles in boxes is also described.

A stack of products such as pouches is formed in a product bucket, pushed into a stack guide bucket and from there into a carton. A stack tamp descends over the stack, engages and confines it downwardly during stack pushing from product bucket and through stack guide bucket into a carton. Multiple product buckets, stack guide buckets and cartons move downstream during cartoning, and are respectively aligned in a cartoning station. Reciprocal containment blades hold the stack in respective cartons prior to flap closing.

A method for packaging products in boxes comprises the steps of: a) providing a plurality of boxes in a folded configuration, b) collecting one box in the folded configuration and modifying the configuration thereof so as to bring it into an open configuration which is suitable for containing said products, c) verifying the conformity of the box in the open configuration with at least one predetermined quality parameter, and d) if the box in the open configuration complies with the quality parameter, introducing the products into the box, otherwise e) if the box in the open configuration does not comply with the quality parameter, returning the box to the folded configuration.

A carrier comprising a pair of movers that are movable about a transport table of a cartoning system for transporting a carton. Each mover of the pair includes a carriage that is configured to operatively couple the mover to a track of the transport table for movement therealong and a jaw supported by the carriage. The jaw is rotatable about a pivot axis relative to the carriage such that the jaw is movable between a loading position, where a longitudinal axis of the jaw is approximately perpendicular to a travel direction of the mover along the track of the transport table, and an angled position, where the longitudinal axis of the jaw is angled relative to the travel direction of the mover. Each mover further includes a biasing member that is configured to apply an orienting force to the jaw to maintain the jaw in the loading position.

A packaging unit for packaging articles in boxes, including a mandrel, a movement device, a feeding device, a folding device, and an actuation device. The mandrel is configured to accommodate at least one of said articles inside it. The movement device is configured to move said mandrel along a movement trajectory at a desired movement speed. The feeding device is configured to feed at least one blank towards said mandrel along a feeding trajectory which intersects said movement trajectory. The folding device is intended to abut said blank and is configured to cooperate with said mandrel to fold said blank around said mandrel when said blank is positioned between said mandrel and said folding device to form one of said boxes. The actuation device is configured to displace said folding device along at least one folding stroke with an accompanying speed having at least one accompanying component with the same direction as the movement speed of the mandrel and modulus lower than the movement modulus in said folding stroke.

A packaging unit for packaging articles into boxes includes a mandrel and a folding device. The mandrel is configured to accommodate at least one of the articles and is adapted to be at least partially wrapped by a blank. The blank has an outer flap and an inner flap intended to be mutually overlapped and fixed so as to form a partially closed box. The folding device is configured to abut and fold the inner flap of the blank in the direction of the mandrel when the blank is at least partially wrapped onto the mandrel. A method for packaging articles into boxes includes arranging, abutting, and folding with the packaging unit.

A transfer unit includes a first transfer element provided with a first support structure to receive an article, and a conveyor to receive the article from the first transfer element, positioned at a vertical height which is lower than the first support structure and movable along a transport direction. The first transfer element is moved by an actuation device between a receiving station in which the first transfer element receives the article and a storage station in which the first transfer element releases the article onto said conveyor. The transfer unit also includes a rotation unit to rotate the first support structure about a first rotation axis from a support configuration in which the article is supported by the first support structure to a discharge configuration in which the article is free to fall from the first transfer element onto the conveyor.

A transfer unit for transferring articles includes: a first transfer element with a first support structure and a first abutment structure for a first article; a second transfer element with a second support structure and a second abutment structure for a second article; a conveyor adapted to receive said first and second articles from the first and second transfer elements; a rotation unit configured to rotate the first and second support structures about respective rotation axes from a support configuration in which the first and second articles are supported by the support structures, to a discharge configuration in which the first and second articles are free to fall from the transfer elements onto the conveyor. In the support configuration, the support structures are inclined with respect to a horizontal plane so as to ease the movement of the first and second articles respectively towards the abutment structures