Device for applying a frame on a pallet

Abstract

 A device for applying a rectangular frame (5) consisting of angled profiles (6) around the upper rim of a pallet (26), comprising a number of upper and lower centring members (1,2) spaced apart around the four sides of a pallet (26) and of a frame (5), the upper centring member (1) comprising a leg (7) extending downwards from a pivot shaft (4) and being provided with a guiding cam (8) for the frame (5) being brought into the device, said lower centring member (2) consisting of an upwardly extending pivotable arm (10,14) comprising a support surface (25) for the frame (5) and carrying a leaf spring (18) extending obliquely upward from said arm (14), means being provided to move the pallet (26) upwards into said frame (5) in such a way that the leaf springs are received into the space (28) between said frame (5) and said pallet (26).

Description

[0001] The invention relates to a device for applying a rectangular frame consisting of angled profiles around the upper rim of a pallet.

[0002] When a pallet is used for the transport of cans, these cans are positioned in a number of layers, whereafter a rectangular frame consisting of angled profiles is positioned around and onto the upper layer of cans. This frame is connected to the pallet in one way or another in order to prevent that cans may drop from the pallet during transport.

[0003] When afterwards the cans have to be removed from the pallet first the frame is lifted, whereafter the cans can be taken away. Thereafter the frame is placed on the pallet and preferably in such a way that the frame extends around and onto the upper rim of the pallet. This assembly can be passed to a storage yard till it is used again.

[0004] In practice it appears to occur rather often that the frame is not accurately applied on the upper rim of the pallet. This causes disadvantages for the storage of a number of pallets, which have to be stacked one on top of the other.

[0005] Now the invention has as an object to remove these dis­advantages and to that end is providing a device which is characterized in that it comprises a number of centring means spaced apart around the four sides of a pallet and of a frame which can be positioned into the device one above the other, each of said centring means consisting of an upper and a lower centring member, the upper centring member comprising a leg extending substantially downwards from a pivot shaft running parallel to the relevant side of the frame, the lower portion of said leg extending substantially in horizontal direction for obtaining a guiding cam for the frame being brought into the device, said leg being pivotable in order to be brought into or out of engagement with the frame, the lower centring member consisting of an arm extending upwards from a pivot shaft running parallel to the relevant side of a pallet being brought into the device, said arm comprising a support surface for the frame and carrying a leaf spring extending obliquely upward from said arm in the direction of a pallet brought into the device, said arm being biased to the pallet, means being provided to move the pallet upwards in such a way that the side walls of it will engage the leaf springs of the lower centring members so that the leaf springs are pushed in the direction of the inner side walls of the frame which has been brought onto the lower centring members, whereafter the leaf springs are moved out of the spaces between pallet and frame by moving the pallet further upwards together with the frame after which the assembly can be removed out of the device.

[0006] So when moving the frame downward it is first guided by the legs of the upper centring members and in particular by the cams extending from these. Then the frame is coming to rest on the support surfaces of the lower centring members and the leaf springs extending from these support members will be positioned inside the frame. Now the pallet is upwardly moved into the frame and during this it is guided by the leaf springs which are gradually biased towards the inner side walls of the frame.

[0007] In this way a proper guidance of the pallet is obtained so that the frame will fit over it in the right way.

[0008] According to a preferred embodiment of the invention it may be provided that the lower surface of the cam of the leg of the upper centring member is having substan­tially the shape of a circle segment, which circular portion may be moved till above the frame by pivoting the leg when the pallet is introduced into the frame from below. In this way it is avoided that the frame is lifted by the pallet before the pallet is completely moved into the frame.

[0009] Pivoting of the leg might be used as well to check whether the frame has come to rest on the support surfaces of the lower centring members. If the framework should still be present, either completely or partly, on the legs of the upper centring members, no inward pivoting of all the legs would be possible and the device might be stopped.

[0010] According to a further elaboration of the invention the lower centring member comprises two side plates with a support block between them, said block carrying the leaf spring and being pivotable in respect of the side plates and being biased towards the pallet by means of a spring, the rotation of said block being limited by abutments, said side plates being positioned on either side of the leg of an upper centring member.

[0011] In this way a simple and strong device is obtained in which specific parts of the upper and of the lower centring members are cooperating with each other.

[0012] In particular the side plates of the lower centring member will be outwardly pivotable in order to bring the leaf spring outside the formed assembly of pallet and frame so that this assembly can be removed out of the device downwards.

[0013] For operating the centring means in particular use will be made of pressurized medium cylinders which are controlled by a relay- or PLC-control.

[0014] It can be remarked that by DE-A-3 143 093 a device is known for bringing a rectangular lid onto a box positioned on a fixed support. To that end the upper edge of the side walls of the box are pressed inwardly by means of rotatable supported cams. Said cams are biased towards the position in which they are pressing the upper edge of the side walls of the box inwardly and are moved downward by the lid which is applied on the box from above. So this device is only suitable for bringing a lid onto a box made from a flexible material such as cardboard or such like. So the known device is not suitable for bringing a rectangular frame onto a stiff pallet as this is aimed by the present invention.

[0015] The invention will now be further elucidated by means of an embodiment represented in the drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 schematically shows a side view of the centring means according to the invention together with a cross-section of a portion of a pallet and of a frame when these are brought into the device;

Fig. 2 shows a side view according to Fig. 1 but during moving the pallet into the frame;

Fig. 3 shows a side view according to Fig. 1 and 2 but with the parts in the position during removing the assembly of frame and pallet out of the device;

Fig. 4 schematically shows a top view of a device according to the invention with a frame in it;

Fig. 5 shows a view along the line V-V of Fig. 1.

[0016] The figures 1-3 are showing the centring means of a device according to the invention comprising an upper centring member 1 and a lower centring member 2. The upper centring member 1 is pivotable around a shaft 4 over an angle β shown in Fg. 2, for example by means of a pneumatic cylinder 3. The angle β will be 45° at the most.

[0017] As in particular appears from Fig. 4 two sets of upper and lower centring members are present near each side 6 of a frame 5, only the shafts 4 of the upper centring members 1 being indicated.

[0018] The upper centring member 1 substantially comprises the leg 7 with a cam portion 8, the upper surface 9 of which is forming a guide for the angled profiles 6 of the frame 5.

[0019] The lower centring member 2 comprises the side plates 10, as in particular appears from Fig. 5, a protruding portion 11 of said plates being pivotable supported by means of the shaft 12, while pivoting can take place by means of the pneumatic cylinder 13.

[0020] Between the side plates 10 a support block 14 is provided which is pivotable around the shaft 15 in respect of the side plates 10. The support block 14 is composed of the parts 16 and 17 between which the leaf spring 18 is clamped by means of the screws 19, which are screwed into the part 16.

[0021] The support block 14 is biased to the position shown in Fig. 1 by means of a spring 20, the other end of which is connected to the protruding portion 11. In said position a protruding portion 21 of the support block 14 engages an abutment 22 of a side plate 10.

[0022] The side plates 10 each are provided with an oblique surface 24 near its upper end, said surfaces serving to guide a frame 5 and joining a support surface 25 on which the lower rim of the frame can come to rest.

[0023] As appears in particular from Fig. 1 the support block 14 may be pivoted in the direction of arrow P over an angle δ of about 25° while the related side plates 10 can be pivoted around the shaft 12 over an angle γ, as is in particular shown in Fig. 3. The angle γ will be 45° at the most.

[0024] It will be clear that the shafts 4 and 12 and the outer ends of the pneumatic cylinders 3 and 13 are supported by portions which can form part of a frame, said frame not being shown in the drawing.

[0025] When using the device the procedure is as follows: The upper and lower centring members 1 and 2 respectively are in the position as represented in Fig. 1. A frame 5 now is introduced into the device from above so that it may pass over the slanting edges 9 of the legs 7 to the position 5′ as represented with dashed lines in Fig. 1, the lower rim of the frame then resting on the support surfaces 25 of the side plates 10. So during this the frame 5 substantially will move in the direction of arrow A.

[0026] After doing this a pallet 26 is moved from below into the device in the direction of the arrow B by means not shown in detail. When doing this the side surfaces 27 of the pallet 26 initially are engaging the support block 14 and thereafter the leaf springs 18 extending from this block, so that the block 14 will be pivoted in the direction of the arrow P against the force of the spring 20. By this the leaf springs 18 will be received in the space 28 which is present between the vertical inner surface of the angled profile 6 of the frame 5 and the side wall 27 of the pallet 26.

[0027] In the meantime the leg 7 of the upper centring member 1 is pivoted counter clockwise from the position shown in Fig. 1 to the position shown in Fig. 2 by means of the pneumatic cylinder 3. When doing so the curved lower surface 29 of the cam 8 of the leg 7 will be positioned above the frame 5 so that when moving the pallet 26 into the frame 5 the latter can not be moved upwards or over a small distance only.

[0028] When the pallet 26 is completely moved into the frame 5, as shown in Fig. 2, the leg 7 of the upper centring member 1 is pivoted away by means of the cylinder 3 so that the assembly of frame 5 and pallet 26 can be moved further upwards to remove the springs 18 out of the spaces 28.

[0029] Once this has been done the lower centring member 2 is pivoted to the position shown in Fig. 3 by means of the pneumatic cylinder 3 so that the assembly of pallet 26 and frame 5 can move downward to be removed from the device. After this the centring members will reassume the position shown in Fig. 1.

[0030] It can be remarked, that the means for bringing the frame 5 and pallet 26 below and above the device respec­tively and for moving the frame and pallet either separate or together are not shown in the drawing, because for these objects known devices can be used.

[0031] It will be obvious that only a possible embodiment of the device according to the invention is shown in the drawing and described above and that many modifications can be made without leaving the inventive concept.

Claims

1. A device for applying a rectangular frame (5) consisting of angled profiles (6) around the upper rim of a pallet (26), said device comprising a number of centring means (1,2) spaced apart around the four sides of a pallet (26) and of a frame (5) which can be positioned into the device one above the other, each of said centring means consisting of an upper (1) and a lower centring member (2), the upper centring member (1) comprising a leg (7) extending substantially downwards from a pivot shaft (4) running parallel to the relevant side of the frame (5), the lower portion of said leg (7) extending substantially in horizontal direction for obtaining a guiding cam (8) for the frame (5) being brought into the device, said leg (7) being pivotable in order to be brought into or out of engagement with the frame (5), the lower centring member (2) consisting of an arm (10,14) extending upwards from a pivot shaft (12) running parallel to the relevant side of a pallet (26) being brought into the device, said arm (10) comprising a support surface (25) for the frame (5) and carrying a leaf spring (18) extending obliquely upward from said arm (10,14) in the direction of a pallet (26) brought into the device, said arm (10,14) being biased to the pallet, means being provided to move the pallet (26) upwards in such a way that the side walls (27) of it will engage the leaf springs (18) of the lower centring members (2) so that the leaf springs (18) are pushed in the direction of the inner side walls of the frame (5) which has been brought onto the lower centring members (2), where­after the leaf springs (18) are moved out of the spaces (28) between pallet (26) and frame (5) by moving the pallet (26) further upwards together with the frame (5) after which the assembly (5,26) can be removed out of the device.

2. A device according to claim 1,
characterized in
that the lower surface of the cam (8) of the leg (7) of the upper centring member (1) is having substan­tially the shape of a circle segment, which circular portion may be moved till above the frame (5) by pivoting the leg (7) when the pallet (26) is introduced into the frame from below.

3. A device according to claim 1 or 2,
characterized in
that the lower centring member (2) comprises two side plates (10) with a support block (14) between them, said block (14) carrying the leaf spring (18) and being pivotable in respect of the side plates (10) and being biased towards the pallet (26) by means of a spring (20), the rotation of said block (14) being limited by abutments (21,22), said side plates (10) being positioned on either side of the leg (7) of an upper centring member (1).

4. A device according to claim 3,
characterized in
that the side plates (10) of the lower centring member (2) are outwardly pivotable in order to bring the leaf spring (18) outside the formed assembly of pallet (26) and frame (5) so that this assembly can be removed out of the device downwards.

5. A device according to one of the preceding claims,
characterized in
that for operating the centring means (1,2) in particular use is made of pressurized medium cylinders (3,13) which are controlled by a relay- or PLC-control.

Drawing