US 11,787,645 B2
Conveyor device for conveying flexible containers along a packaging line
Josep Solà Gil, Vacarisses (ES)
Assigned to MESPACK, SL, Santa Perpetua de Mogada (ES)
Appl. No. 17/613,017
Filed by MESPACK, SL, Santa Perpetua de Mogoda (ES)
PCT Filed Jan. 28, 2020, PCT No. PCT/EP2020/052044
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date Nov. 19, 2021,
PCT Pub. No. WO2020/239272, PCT Pub. Date Dec. 3, 2020.
Claims priority of application No. 19382421 (EP), filed on May 27, 2019.
Prior Publication US 2022/0315356 A1, Oct. 6, 2022
Int. Cl. B65G 47/90 (2006.01); B65B 43/46 (2006.01)
CPC B65G 47/907 (2013.01) [B65B 43/465 (2013.01); B65G 2201/0238 (2013.01)] 18 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A conveyor device for conveying flexible containers along a packaging line, comprising:
a track (1) defining a closed path;
at least one pair of movers (2a, 2b) including a left mover (2a) and a right mover (2b) movably mounted on the track (1) for moving along the path;
active and reactive (29, 30) elements associated with the track (1) and the left and right movers (2a, 2b) and configured for independently driving and controlling the left and right movers (2a, 2b) along the path;
at least one pair of gripper arms (3a, 3b) including a left gripper arm (3a) connected to the left mover (2a) and a right gripper arm (3b) connected to the right mover (2b);
at least one pair of clamps (4a, 4b) including a left clamp (4a) mounted on the left gripper arm (3a) and a right clamp (4b) mounted on the right gripper arm (3b), the left and right clamps (4a, 4b) being configured for gripping a flexible container (5) at opposite side edges thereof with the flexible container (5) in a vertical position;
characterized in that:
the closed path defined by the track (1) lays in a horizontal plane and includes straight and curved sections;
the left gripper arm (3a) is pivotally connected to the left mover (2a) by a left articulation (6a) about a vertical axis and the right gripper arm (3b) is pivotally connected to the right mover (2b) by a right articulation (6b) about a vertical axis;
the left and right gripper arms (3a, 3b) are linked together by a parallelism-keeping mechanism configured for keeping the left and right gripper arms (3a, 3b) mutually parallel and with the left and right clamps (4a, 4b) facing each other in both the straight and curved sections of the path even when a distance between the left and right articulations (6a, 6b) is varied due to the relative movements of the left and right movers (2a, 2b).