CPC B65G 47/847 (2013.01) [A24C 5/002 (2013.01); A24C 5/02 (2013.01); B65G 43/08 (2013.01); B65G 59/062 (2013.01); B65G 59/106 (2013.01); B65G 2201/0226 (2013.01); B65G 2203/0241 (2013.01)] | 14 Claims |
1. Feed apparatus for automatically feeding casings for forming smoking articles toward at least one transport member having one or more first seatings aligned along a substantially horizontal transport axis and configured to each receive one of said casings, in which said casings are hollow and stackable so as to be partly inserted into one another forming stacks, said apparatus comprising:
feed means disposed in a position above said at least one transport member and configured to temporarily support the stacks of said casings and conveyor means interposed between said feed means and said at least one transport member and configured to selectively convey said casings from said feed means one by one toward said one or more first seatings of said at least one transport member, in which each of said stacks comprises a first casing located at a lower end of the respective stack and in which at least a second casing is partly inserted from above,
said conveyor means comprising first stop means configured to move between a position of interference, in which said first stop means cooperate, for each of said stacks, with said first casing to temporarily stop the fall of the first casing, and a position of non-interference, in which said first stop means free said first casing, so that the first casing freed can be released into one of said one or more first seatings, wherein said conveyor means also comprise second stop means, disposed between said feed means and said first stop means, configured to move between an engagement position, in which said second stop means cooperate, for each one of said stacks, with the second casing closest to the first casing, in order to temporarily stop the fall, for each of said stacks), of the casings above said first casing, at least when said first stop means are in the position of non-interference, and a disengagement position, in which said second stop means free the second casing closest to the first casing to let it fall onto said first stop means, only while said first stop means are in the position of interference, the second casing left to fall by said second stop means becoming the new first casing when it arrives at said first stop means,
wherein said feed means comprise a rotating member mounted rotatably about a substantially vertical axis of rotation and having a plurality of second seatings parallel to said axis of rotation and configured to each receive one of said stacks of said casings, wherein said rotating member is configured to perform incremental rotations, each of a determinate angle, to selectively take a row of said plurality of second seatings disposed along a radial segment of said rotating member, in vertical alignment with said conveyor means,
wherein said feed means comprise a closing disc configured to selectively occlude said plurality of second seatings and free only the second seatings which are located along the row disposed along said radial segment in vertical alignment with said conveyor means, so as to allow the descent only of the stacks of casings which are located in the second seatings which are not occluded by said closing disc.
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