1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to removing collated stacks of packets from the end of a production line.
2. Description of the Related Art
A system for collating packets on a production line is described in British Patent Application No. 0208389.7. This system has an in-feed conveyor and a stacking conveyor on which discrete stacks of collated packets are formed. The in-feed conveyor runs at a constant speed and has an associated photodetector which detects the position of packets on the in-feed conveyor. This allows a computer to determine when the packets will reach the end of the infeed conveyor and fall onto the stacking conveyor. The computer is then able to control the motion of the stacking conveyor such that it decelerates just as the packet leaves the in-feed conveyor, thereby allowing the packet to land in a controlled fashion at a known location. The risk of the packet bouncing or skidding is reduced by using a high friction conveyor material.
Typically, this type of collating system is used to stack packets of snack products, such as, for example, potato chips, before the stacks of packets are finally packaged into a cardboard box. The individual stacks are conventionally removed from the stacking conveyor by a vacuum head which places the stacks into the cardboard box on an adjacent conveyor.
The vacuum head can only remove packets when the packets are in a laid down configuration. However, it is becoming increasingly desirable to package such packets in a standing up configuration since this prevents damage to the product during long distance haulage. As such, there exists a need for a system that can remove packets from a conveyor in a standing up configuration, and then package the packets.