WO2001010634A1 - Forming, storing, and using foil cones - Google Patents

Abstract

A roll (10) of sheet material has foils (16) cut from it at (15). The cut foil is fed to a cone former (21) which is rotated to gather the foil round it and form a cone, which is held together by adhesive or welding; the foil skews on the table (16/24) during this. Table edge (24) then drops and the former (21) moves to position (21'), where the cone is deposited in a holder (30). A spike (31) guides the cone into the holder. The foils may be fed from a magazine, and adjusting their size and position produces various cone shapes. Multi-layer cones can be produced. An infeed machine may be used to extract the cones from the holder (30). The cones may be fed to a flower wrap machine, in which they pass through filling, sachet adding, and tying stations.

Description

J^o r- m±r- gS' Stor-ing, sm.c l Using Ji 'oil Cones

The present invention rebates to the forming, storing, and use of foil, cones; that is, cones of thin flexible foil, material, such as paper or thin fi m plastics material,.

A major application of foil, cones is to the wrapping of bunches of flowers. This is conventionally done by hand at the point of saje. A bunch of flowers is typical,l,y roughly cone-shaped, with the cut ends of the stacks forming the narrow end of the cone and the flowers at the other end of the stacks bushing out to form the wide end. The flower seller takes a sheet of paper or plastic film, typically around 500 to 1000 mm square or roughly so, lays the bunch of flowers down on the paper along one edge, and wraps the paper round the flowers by rolling it up round them.

Apparatus for the automatic wrapping of bunches of flowers has been described in NL 83.02402, 01,ieman. In this, a moving strip of foil, has pouches formed in it and a bunch of flowers is dropped into each pouch. A second strip of foil, is passed over the first strip and sealed to it on each side of each pouch, and the strips of foil, are then cut between the pouches; each bunch of flowers is thus enclosed in a respective sjeeve. Similar systems can be used for manufacturing empty sleeves, by passing two moving strips of foil, into contact, sealing them together along suitable transverse lines, and cutting the combined strips. By suitably slanting the transverse lines, a cone-Jike shape can be produced.

These techniques produce what may be termed pseudo-cones; two triangular pieces of foil, joined together along two edges (or two trapezium-shaped pieces joined along their sloping edges) to form a f a shape. This shape can be opened up into a cone-like shape, but the resulting shape has two seams opposite each other.

It should be noted however that the present techniques will work equally ell f°^r other thin il cones intended for other purposes such as fish and chip wrappers. The general objects of the present invention are to provide apparatus for forming true cones which are similar to those made manually as described above, to provide improved cones, to provide means for storing such cones, and to provide apparatus for utilizing cones.

Any flexible or formable sheet material can be utilized by the present techniques in a range of applications. New wrap designs can be created that were previously impractical, and coordinated with product design to create a more desirable point of sale presentation. Printed patterns or product labels can be applied to the cut sheets, prior to manipulation, in precisely defined locations such that they will be realigned in whatever locations have been specified as required for the final product.

According to one aspect, the invention provides apparatus for forming cones, comprising means for feeding foils, a cone former including means for holding the leading edge of a foil, means for rotating the cone former to wrap the foil round it into a cone, and means for attaching the trailing end of the foil to the underlying portion of foil on the cone former.

The foils may be cut directly from a continuous coil of sheet material, or may be taken from a box or magazine of pre-cut foils.

A table is preferably provided over which the foils pass between the cutting means and the rotatable cone former, the table supporting the foils as they slew as they are wound round the cone former. The cone former is preferably pneumatically controlled to hold the leading edge of a foil and to hold the following body of the foil on it by low pressure, and/or to release the completed cone from it by high pressure. Brush means may also be used to promote the wrapping of the foil round the former.

The cone former may be cone-shaped, of either skeletal or full form, or may be polygonal or substantially flat; in the latter case, the cones, when formed, are preferably caused to open out as they leave the cone former.

The cone former may be moved from its position adjacent to the table to a different position at which the formed cone is removed from it. There is preferably a plurality of such cone formers mounted on a carousel, so that as each cone former in turn leaves the position adjacent to the table, the next cone for- mer moves to that position. The table preferably has a movable segment, adjacent to the cone former, which is set to one position to guide the section of foil to the cone former and moved to another position to allow the cone former to move from its position adjacent to the table.

The attachment means for attaching the trailing edge of the foil to the underlying portion of foil on the cone former may comprise either adhesive providing means or welding means; adhesive is preferred, as it can provide attachments which are not easily noticeable. The attachment means preferably also provide further attachments on the cones, to maintain the shape of the cones, prevent sections of foil inside the cones from coming adrift, etc.

It may be preferable to separate the cutting of the sheet of material into foils and the feeding of the foils to the cone former, by generating a stack of cut foils in a sheet feeder container or box and placing the box as appropriate to feed the foils to the cone former. Preferably the position and angle of the feeder box are adjustable for the desired pick-up position and angle.

Preferably, the feeder box has a base or table which can be moved up within the sides of the box to maintain the top foil in the box at a fixed level as successive foils are removed from it, although other magazine feed arrangements can of course be used.

The foil feed arrangements can conveniently include a pneumatic picker and knife for sheet pick-up and separation.

The invention also provides a method of making a foil cone comprising initiating the rolling of the foil transversely across a corner of the foil or to the major axis of the foil. Preferably the angle at which the rolling starts is chosen so that the resulting cone i s symmetrical, ie the angle of rolling is perpendicular to the edge of the foil at the half-way point and is equal and opposite to the initial angle when rolling is completed. Preferably also adhesive is applied to the foil before or during rolling to cause the coil to maintain its shape. The invention also provides apparatus for performing the method, and cones formed by the method.

The cones may be fed to a storage unit for subsequent use. For this, there is preferably a cone receiver located to receive the cones as they are formed and assemble them in a nested stack. The cone receiver preferably has a central spike to guide the narrow ends of the cones. A plurality of cone receivers may be used, being filled in succession.

The invention therefore also provides a stack of nested cones, preferably contained within a cone receiver. Such a packed stack of nested cones will typically be sold to end users such as florists (possibly of course through middlemen).

Once the cones have been stored in a stack, it is necessary to remove them from the stack when they are to be used. The invention therefore provides a cone infeed module for this purpose, comprising a picker for picking up the cones, a picker raise/lower mechanism, a picker traverse mechanism, and control means therefor. The picker preferably has over its surface a pattern of small diameter holes and a series of shallow longitudinal slots with holes in the base of the slots, all connected to a pneumatic control unit. Means for controllably rotating the picker are preferably provided.

The picker raise and lower mechanism preferably comprises a cable drum driven by a variable speed motor, the cable passing over an idler pulley pivotally mounted with a limit switch to detect its position. A further limit switch is preferably located above the picker path and rotation sensing means are coupled to the drum. The control means preferably include memory means, and raise and lower the picker at fast speed until the picker is at or near its target position.

Instead of the cones being transferred to a cone receiver and stacked, they may utilized directly by a cone filling machine which includes cone holders for holding the cones and fills the cones with bunches of flowers. The invention therefore also provides a cone holder and apparatus for filling cones.

The cone holder may be in the form of a hollow cone which is split lengthwise so that it can then be opened and the bunch of flowers, now wrapped in the cone, removed. Alternatively, it may be in the form of a ring of suckers which can hold the cone at or near its upper (open) end.

The cone filling machine includes a cone holder which carries the cone to an upright position in which it can be filled with eg a bunch of flowers. The cone holder is preferably carried on a cone filling machine comprising a cat — ousel carrying a ring of vertically positioned cone holders, taking them through a series of stations at which different tasks (eg cone filling, labelling, sachet application, tying, and release) are performed. Each cone holder preferably has associated with it a flower bunch gripper.

A cone forming apparatus, improved cones, a cone stacking apparatus and cone storage means, and a cone utilizing apparatus, all embodying various aspects of the invention, and various modifications thereof, will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a simplified diagram of the cone forming apparatus;

Fig. 1 A shows a modification of Fig. 1;

Figs. 2 and 2A show versions of the cone former in more detail;

Fig. 3 shows the foil feed arrangements in more detail;

Fig. 4 shows a modified form of cone f o r m e r ;

Fig. 5 shows a cone former in relation to a foil;

Figs. 6 and 7 are top and perspective views of a foil magazine;

Fig. 8 shows the geometry of the technique;

Fig. 9 illustrates the rolling of the former and cone;

Fig. 10 shows the use of a diamond-shaped foil;

Fig. 1 1 shows the carousel and receiver arrangement in more detail;

Figs. 12-16 show various forms or modifications of the carrier;

Fig. 17 shows carrier unloading apparatus;

Fig. 18 shows one form of transfer carousel;

Fig. 19 shows a further flower wrapping station;

Fig. 20 shows a flower wrapping machine;

Fig. 21 shows a detail of the drive mechanism of the machine;

Fig. 22 shows a detail of the flower bunch gripper of the machine;

Fig. 23 shows the cone holder of the machine in more detail; and

Fig. 24 shows a modified form of cone holder.

Cone Forming Machine

Referring to Fig. 1 , the apparatus includes a support 10 which carries a roll 10 of sheet material. The sheet material is drawn off this roll 10 by rollers 13 and 14, with a foil cutter 15 located between them; this cutter cuts the continuous stream of sheet material 12 into separate foils 16. Means (not shown) for applying labels to the foils may be provided, preferably before the cutter 15. An optical sensor (not shown) may be provided for detecting reference marks or printed patterns on the sheet material, and the cutter controlled by the sensor, so that the location of any pattern on the sheet material always appears in the same position on the foils.

The cut foils 16 are fed onto a table 20. At the far edge of this table, here is a cone-shaped cone former 21. This former is driven by controlled drive means (not shown) to rotate, and has perforations (not shown) coupled to pneumatic control means (not shown). When the leading edge of the foil 16 reaches the cone former 21 , the pneumatic control means are operated to attract that leading edge to the cone former, and the cone former is rotated to wrap the foil 16 around it. The cone former should also be surfaced with a suitable non-slip surfacing.

A gripper arm (not shown) may be provided attached to the cone former to assist in attaching the leading edge of the foil to the cone former, initially rotating with the former and then optionally being withdrawn or moved away from the cone former. Alternatively, the cone former may be constructed with a lengthwise groove (not shown) having gripping means, so that the leading edge of the foil can be introduced into the groove and then gripped therein. The foil may be manipulated into a trough shape and the former lowered into the trough.

Pressure means (not shown) may be used to assist in close wrapping of the foil around the former, and may comprise brushes and/or pinch rollers located adjacent to the former. Such pressure means may be fixed in position, or movable to retract once the foil has become attached to the former and/or to allow rotation of the carousel discussed below. If brushes or like means are used, they may have a concave form matching the convex conical shape of the former. If a roller is used, it may be covered in soft material, eg foam rubber. A roller is conveniently positioned to engage with the leading corner of the foil, with a pressure arm trailing behind it, as shown in Fig. 1 A (which shows a modification in which the foil 16 approaches from the opposite direction). The pneumatic means may also be operated to assist in this.

The cone former is shown as a solid cone-shaped body, but may conveniently consist of a substantial number of discs (preferably with chamfered edges) spaced fairly closely along a central axis. The cone former need not have a circular cross-section, but may eg be square or triangular. Such non-circular sections will of course be used primarily where it is ^' desirable for the cones to have a non-circular cross-section.

As the foil is taken up around the rotating cone former, so the tail end of the foil remains on the table 20. This tail end moves forward on the table, and also slews or skews around on the table as a result of the former 21 having a wide end and a narrow end. A pinch roller and/or brushes (either or both of which which may be retractable), and/or pneumatic means ⁽not shown) may be provided to hold the foil on the table 20 and prevent undue flapping about during this process.

When the foil 16 has been wrapped around the cone former 21 , the trailing edge of the foil is attached to the underlying portion on the cone former, so completing the formation of a cone of foil.

The cone former 21 is carried on a carousel 22 comprising an axle 23 with a plurality of cone formers radiating from it. When the cone has been formed, the carousel is rotated to bring the next cone former into line with the table 20. This brings the cone former 21 with the completed cone on it to position 21 ', where the foil cone is removed. The carousel continues to rotate, bringing each cone former in turn into position against the table 20.

To allow the cone former 21 to move to position 21 ', the table 20 may be movable, preferably by having the end adjacent to the cone former formed as a flap 24. The flap is held in the horizontal position while the foil 16 is passing over it and being wrapped, but when wrapping on the cone former 21 is complete, the flap 24 is lowered, eg by a pneumatic piston 25, to position 24 ' to ease the movement of the cone former 21 to position 21 '.

The carousel is preferably located at a slight angle to the edge of the table 16, so that the edge of the table is parallel to the adjacent surface of the cone former. The cone former is preferably positioned so that the foil is nearly tangential to the surface of the cone former where it meets the cone former. The cone former may be either above or below the surface of the table.

The cone former 21 is shown as receiving the leading edge of the foil 16, ie a cut edge. It may however be preferable to ali gn the cone former with one of the sides of the foil. The table flap 24, carousel 22, and receiver structures 30-33 will of course all have to be rotated or swung through 90° from the positions shown for this.

The pneumatic signals to the cone formers are coupled to them via coupling means coaxial with the axle 33 of the carousel. By using sliding discs with suitable curved slots, the pneumatic signals can be turned on and off automatically in dependence on the position of the carousel. The carousel also has axially located drive means (not shown) coupled to the individual cone formers for turning them; the pneumatic signals can be coupled from the carousel to the cone formers in the same way.

The cone former need not be "solid", ie it need not have a substantially continuous surface; it can instead have a skeletal form, eg in the form of a set of discs, which are tapered if they are of significant thickness, as shown in Figs 2 and 2A.

Fig. 3 shows the foil feed arrangements in more detail. A tensioning mechanism 17 and a labelling mechanism 1.! are included between the sheet material roll carrier 10 and the feed rolls and cutter (guillotine) assembly 13-15. An adhesive spraying device (discussed below) may be incorporated on the output side of the assembly 13- 15.

The foil may be perforated with suitable holes or slits (preferably with crinkled edges), either on the roll 10 or as it passes onto the table 20, and the receiver 30 may have negative pressure pneumatic signals applied to it to assist the cone entering it from the cone former 21 ' to settle into the stack 32. This will of course require the pneumatic signals applied to the cone former 21 to be increased when the foil section is being wound round the cone former 21.

The roll of sheet material and the foils are shown with straight edges. It will be realized, however, that some or all of the edges of the foils may be of fanciful or decorative shapes, eg scalloped.

Fig. 4 shows a modified cone former 50 which is in the form of a flat paddle. The paddle is mounted on a carousel 5 1 with an axle 54, a back plate

52, and a pneumatic commutator plate 53. This paddle is lowered onto the foil section table 20 as shown, and the free portions of the foil are then folded over onto its top surface. This may be aided by providing the table with a tri- angular aperture through which the paddle may be lowered, or by dividing the table into sections which can be moved apart to produce the triangular aperture. Wiping brushes, arms, and/or rollers as indicated at 55 and 56 may be used to assist in the wrapping, and the paddle is preferably pneumatically energized to assist in the wrapping and later release of the cone.

The carousel 51 preferably has several paddles 50 attached at regular intervals around the carrier plate.

As described in detail in the section Cone Geometry below, it is necessary to present the foils to the cone former at the proper angle and position, and it may be desirable or necessary to adjust these factors as appropriate for each variation of shape. The basic machinery described above does not allow such adjustment. It is therefore desirable to modify the machinery so as to permit such adjustment.

For this, it is preferred to separate the cutting of the sheet of material into foils and the feeding of the foils to the cone former, by generating a stack of cut foils in a sheet feeder container or box and placing the box as appropriate to feed the foils to the cone former. It is relatively simple to make the position and angle of the feeder box adjustable for the desired pick-up position and angle.

Preferably, the feeder box has a base or table which can be moved up within the sides of the box to maintain the top foil in the box at a fixed level as successive foils are removed from it, although other magazine feed arrangements can of course be used.

Such arrangements give the ability to precisely predict and control the orientation and position of a sheet of material at the point of location onto a forming device, such that the predicted shape will be reliably generated. The adjustment or control may be achieved either by suitable mechanical tooling or by microprocessor based techniques, to give the geometry by which a sheet of material and a former intei — react to generate the specific conical form required.

The foil feed arrangements can conveniently include a pneumatic picker and knife for sheet pick-up and separation. Fig. 5 shows a cone former 50 located above a foil 55 to be picked up by the former for the formation of a cone. The corner of the cone will be caught by the former at the position 56.

Figs. 6 and 7 show the feeder box 60; this box will be mounted below and to the side of the one former 50 so that its open top face coincides with the position of the foil 55 shown in Fig. 2. The box or magazine assembly will be mounted such that its position relative to the cone former 50 is suitably adjustable if the machine is to be able to produce cones of more than a single shape.

The feeder box 60 has a detachable centre table (not visible). For storage and transport, a lid (not shown) is used, and the centre table is locked in position by suitable pins. For use, the lid is removed and the pins are removed to release the table so that the table can be raised (by a jack assembly not shown) to maintain the top of the stack of foils level with the top of the box as the foils are removed one by one and formed into cones.

The magazine assembly also includes a film knife or separator assembly 70 and a film pick-up assembly 75, which operate to pick up a foil and separate it from the rest of the stack. The sequence of operations is as follows.

The film pick-up assembly advances over the film at a height just above the top sheet, and is lowered onto the top sheet. Vacuum is applied through holes or suckers in the under face of the pick-up finger of the assembly, and the assembly is raised, lifting the top sheet at that corner. The film knife is advanced into the gap created, and lowered onto the stack to clamp it in position. Ionized air is blown from the leading edge of the knife, to separate the sheets of material, and the pick-up assembly is lowered onto the knife assembly. Vacuum is drawn through the top face of the knife to attract the film as air pressure is applied to the pick-up to neutralize its hold on the film and provide propulsion.

The pick-up assembly is then raised and retracted as it is above the film. The former is moved into position closely above the knife. Air pressure is used to neutralize the hold and provide propulsion in assistance of the vacuum that attracts the film to the former.

Once the film is held, the former is moved to create the wrap. In this example the former is rotated; air from the leading edge of the knife is used to reduce drag and eliminate the possibility of film wrinkling. The former is moved to a suitable location where it can place the formed wrap into a storage receptacle or transfer it to another mechanism for the next process, which may for example comprise automatic assembly with a bouquet, tape and labels.

Cone securing

When the foil section 16 has been wrapped around the coil former 21 , sealing means are operated to attach the trailing edge of the coil section to the underlying portion on the coil former, so completing the formation of a cone of foil.

More generally, it may be desirable or necessary to apply adhesive welding patterns before and/or after the forming process, to keep the generated shape intact and also to provide additional structural integrity as well as reducing gaps and other undesirable production variables. Such adhesive welding may assist in preventing formed cones from partial internal collapse, and/or preventing border regions of the foil on the inside of the cone from springing away from the cone shape to lie across the central regions of the cone. (Such transverse internal foil or web portions would weaken the cone, reduce its ability to retain any contents placed in it, and cause difficulties in placing certain types of contents such as bunches of flowers in it.)

Figs. 8 A to 8F show various foils 16 with suitable adhesive or weld lines 25 for holding the resulting cones together with good integrity. (These foils are described in detail in the section Cone Geometry below). Each foil is shown in its initial flat form against a sector 48 representing the region, in the plane of the foil, over which the cone former can be regarded as rolling.

Such sealing means may operate in a variety of ways, including eg depositing a line of glue along the trailing edge (or the underlying foil on the cone former), heat sealing ⁽welding), or ultrasonically welding the trailing edge to the underlying foil (this latter technique is best used with foil of plastics material), or depositing a strip of sti cky tape along the edge.

If adhesive is used, this may be applied by means of one or more spray heads. For simple patterns, it may be sufficient to use fixed spray heads; for more complicated patterns, eg two non-parallel adhesive li nes, it will usually be necessary for at some of the spray heads to be movable so that they can track across a foil as the foil moves beneath them.

An adhesive application mechanism 65 is moμnted adjacent to the box 60, and carries a spray head 66 for spraying adhesive. This mechanism is operated to spray adhesive along desired lines on the foil at the top of the box. In a simple case, only a single adhesive track parallel to the long edge of the foil may be reqμired; this can be formed with a single axis movement of the spray mechanism. For more complicated patterns, transverse movement of the spray head or head dμring traverse across the foil, and/or two or more spray heads, may also be reqμired.

Generally, the μse of adhesive is preferred, since it can be μsed with virtμally any type of foil and the adhesive can μsμally be chosen so that it is virtμally invisible, even with translμcent or transparent foils.

Cone Geometry

The system described above prodμces trμe cones which are similar to those made rnanμally as described above. The apparatμs inclμdes a conical former and means for passing a foil to the former. The former is coμpled to pneμmatic means for prodμcing a redμced pressμre, so that the leading edge of the foil is picked μp by the former. The former is then rotated to wrap the foil aroμnd it. The cone is then released from the former, by reversing the air pressμre, and added to a stack of cones.

By a sμitable modification of this procedμre, cones of a different and more attractive shape can be made.

A cone is normally made from a foil which is sqμare or nearly so. The former is presented to one edge of the foil (or vice versa), with the point of the former somewhat beyond one end of that edge. The foil is then wrapped aroμnd the former to form the cone. (When wrapping a bμnch of flowers manμ- ally, the bunch of flowers plays the rδle of the former, and is normally placed with the ends of the stalks at one corner of the foil.) The open end of the cone is lanceolate or lens-shaped and lies obliquely across the cone, with the outer tip being formed by a corner of the foil ; the diagonally opposite corner is adjacent to the apex or point of the cone. The open end of the present cone has a different and distinctive appearance, roughly in the shape of a zig-zag with two peaks. By a suitable choice of the shape of the foil, the positions of the two peaks can be adjusted, to lie either symmetrically opposite each other or to form a double peak on one side of the cone.

The primary characteristic of a cone is its "pointedness" - its degree of bluntness or sharpness. Thi s can conveniently be defined as the angle which results if the cone is cut along a straight line running through its apex and is then spread out flat, to form a sector of a circle.

Fig. 8 shows the sector 80 which is formed by spreading out the former in this way; this is also the area covered if the former is rolled through exactly one turn on a plane. If the rolling is continued, the former will mark out a further similar sector 80"; if the former is rolled back the other way, it will mark out further similar sectors 80', 80'" on the other side of sector 80.

Fig. 8 also shows a foil 16 which is being picked up and rolled around the former. (We assume for the moment that the former has its apex 81 fixed and is being rolled around that point on the plane of the foil in the anti-clockwise direction. Fig. 9 indicates the rolling process, with the former 21 rolling round over the foil 16.) Just before the former leaves the sector 80'" and enters sector 80', it picks up the leading corner 81 of the foil 16, and as it proceeds with its movement, it rolls the foil around itself, until eventually, just after leaving sector 80', the rolling of the cone of foil is complete.

This procedure results in the open end of the cone having two peaks cor — responding to the corners 82 and 83 of the foil. The relative positions of these peaks can be shown by copying the corner 83 from sector 80' to sector 80", as shown by the broken line corner 33'.

In practice, of course, the former 21 will have its axis fixed and will rotate around that axis. The foil 16 will be supported on a suitable surface, and will slide and skew over that surface as it is taken up by the former. The relative positions and movements of the foil and the former will however be as described above. It will be apparent that the relative positions of the two peaks 82 and 83 ' of the cone will depend on the size and position of the foil relative to the former. If the foil is lengthened slightly, then the two peaks will be moved towards each other, giving an asymmetrical zig-zag around the open end of the cone, with one small indentation and one large indentation.

It will also be apparent that the positioning of the foil relative to the former is important; the foil shoul d be preferably positioned substantially symmetrically, as shown. If the foil is shorter, so that its trailing edge 84 is in the position 84 ', then the two peaks of the resulting cone will be of different heights. A modest difference of peak heights may be acceptable or desirable for some purposes, but if one peak is too much lower than the other, the cone will resemble a conventional single-peaked cone.

With a conventional cone, there is a single peak, and the shape of the foil is immaterial. It is therefore usual for the foil to be substantially square; extending the foil to a rectangular shape would merely result in an additional layer of material round the cone. With the present cone, it is evident that a rectangular shape of substantially greater length than width may be desirable.

It has been assumed so far that the foil is square or rectangular. The present technique can however be extended to other shapes of foil. In particular, a diamond shape may be used, as shown in Fig. 10. This shape can be achieved by cutting diagonally across a continuous strip of material.

As before, this foil 16 ' is located symmetrically relative to the former. Rolling this foil into a cone will result in two sharp peaks 87 and 88 and a blunter peak 89. Again, the positions of the peaks 87 and 83 round the cone may be adjusted by suitable adjustment of the position of the foil relative to the former; the blunt peak 43 will be symmetrically located between them. As before, it is desir able for the foil 1 6 ' to be located substantially symmetrically relative to the former.

Multiple layers

It will be realized that multi-layered wraps for any suitable application can be constructed using the previously described mechanisms. There are three main ways of achieving this. One way is to join the two layers of foil before they are fed to the cone former, using welding or adhesive. For this, the successive layers are supplied with their pick-up sectors bonded or welded together. The two layers should be joined along their common leading edge, leaving them free of each other apart from that join; this allows the two layers to adjust their positions slightly relative to each other during cone forming, so reducing the risk of wrinkling. Thus for two-layered cones, inner and outer cut sheets are placed in the transport box alternately, a d an adhesive or welding system applied to join thern as appropriate.

A second way is to form an initial cone with a first foil, and then attach a sec&nd foil to the formed cone. For this, the second foil will have its leading edge offered to he formed cone of the first foil with either adhesive applied to that edge or with that edge being welded to the formed first foil cone, and the former then rotated further to wrap the second foil around it over the first foil.

A third way is to have two separate foil feeds to the former. The feeds may conveniently be spaced approximately equal distances apart from the bottom dead centre position below the former. The foils may be presented to the former simultaneously, or at slightly different intervals, provided that the second foil to be presented is presented before the leading edge of the first foil to be picked up by the former has reached the leading edge of the second foil. (Otherwise, the second foil will be shielded from the former by the first foil.)

With all these multi-layer systems, the geometries of the different layers can of course be different, at least to some extent.

Cone Storage

As noted above, the cones, once made, may either be stored for future use or transferred directly to a cone utilization machine. If the cones are to be stored, there are three aspects to the storage: storage itself, packing the cones for storage, and unpacking the cones from storage. It is convenient to describe the storage unit first.

In the case of transfer to another mechanism directly, there will of course be no need for a storage unit. In this situation, the inflation with air pressure and transfer using vacuum attraction by a suitable former or collection of elements will usually be necessary. I n the case of consumption by an automatic machine there is no need to open, inflate or separate the wrapper as it is provided ready for mechanism pick-up. However, it will be realized that the cones are generally not structurally capable of maintaining their shape after they have been released from the apparatus on which they are made or are being processed..

At present, for bouquet wrapping and the like, cut sheets or prefabricated cones are transported as flat packs. The wrappers are generally supplied in the form of booklets; a "page" is opened by the wrapper, the bouquet is inserted, and the page is torn out of the booklet. This is unsuitable for adaptation to automatic machinery, and inconvenient for human users.

The present system provides the cones (wrappers) in their open, ie final erected, form. To prevent them from collapsing or becoming damaged in transit, a storage unit holds them in a nested stack.

Storage Unit

Figs. 12- 16 show various forms of storage unit for a stack of cones; Figs. 12-14 show double units, while Figs. 15 and 16 show single units. The storage unit preferably comprises a base 60, an upper section 61, and a lid 62.

The storage unit may be cylindrical, but preferably has a hollow conical form at its bottom end to assist the cones to build up the stack without buckling and losing their conical shape. A solid conical centre is preferably placed in the stack of cones 32 when the storage unit is full.

Most cones of this type will form a vertical column or tower when a sufficiently large quantity has built up. The purpose of the upper section is to provide a support for such a column.

The storage unit need not have a circular cross-section, provided the cones fit reasonably snugly into it. Such non-circular sections will of course be used primarily where it is desirable for the cones to have a non-circular cross- section. The lid is detachable, to provide a simple closure to the top of the unit, and can be made similarly to the other components. For use, the lid is removed. The upper section, if separate from the base, may be left in place or removed from the base, depending on the nature of the end use. The upper section may consist of several stacked sub-sections which can be removed one by one as the cones are removed and the top of the remainder of the stack goes down.

The base 60 may form part of a pallet type frame, above which one or more inverted conical recesses are formed, providing a module of several individual storage units. The frame may conveniently be made of wood and polyurethane foam, or glass reinforced plastics material. Any convenient process, such as rotational moulding, vacuum forming, injection moulding, or reaction injection moulding, can be used to manufacture the module. The internal conical cavity or cavities match the size of the cones that it is to hold. The upper section of the module can similarly be made from any suitable process.

Figs. 13-15 show various forms or modifications of the unit. Fig. 16 shows how the cones stack up in the unit, and Fig.17 shows a modified form of unit in which the base and upper section are combined into a single structure 60-61.

The cones are thus stored in their formed shape, inflated ready for use rather than flat packed.

Storage Unit Filling

For filling, the storage unit is located below the coil former in position 21 ' (Figs. 1 and 1 1). Once the former has been rotated and the cone has been formed, the former is positioned over the storage unit and the cone is transferred to that unit. The pneumatic control to the coil former 21 ' is operated to release the cone from the cone former, so allowing the cone to fall into the storage unit 30. A stack of cones 32 will thus be built up in the storage unit

30.

The cones are of course somewhat asymmetrical, with one or more points at the open end, and corners of the original sheet or foil somewhere down the sides of the cone. To assist in packing the cones evenly in the storage unit, it may be desirable to distribute their asymmetry around the axis of the storage unit. To achieve this, each time a cone is formed on the cone former, the former can be rotated by a different amount before releasing the cone into the storage unit.

The storage unit 30 has a central spike or pole 31 which enters the open small end of the cone, and assists in guiding the cone down into the storage unit. This spike or rod guides the cone and prevents it from collapsing, as the edges of the film material can not pass over the centre of gravity of the cone. The geometry of the pole and carrier are designed so that the cone, should it tend to collapse, will be prevented by the spike from having its end buckle and fold over or deviate from its intended path.

The spike 31 may be an integral part of the storage unit 30. Alternatively, it may be a part of the cone forming machinery which is introduced through the base of the storage unit and removed when the unit is full. In this case there will be an aperture at the bottom of each storage unit to allow the spike to pass through it. (The aperture also serves as a drain hole.) The spike can conveniently be carried on a transportation trolley used by the cone forming machine. The aperture may be formed to receive and assists in supporting the spike while the carrier is being filled.

Fig. 1 1 shows a trolley with spikes attached to it, over which carrier bases can be placed for filling. The spike may be positioned below the cone forming machinery by dead reckoning, or position sensing and adjusting means may be provided. The spike 31 may be moved upwards, alone or with the unit 30, closer to or into engagement with the cone former 21 ' when the cone is released from the cone former and lowered again after the cone has engaged with it and started to settle in the storage unit 30.

Once a storage unit or chamber of a module has been filled to the desired level, it is moved on to fill the next unit, and when all units have been filled, it is replaced by a fresh module and has its lid put on, either manually or automatically. The module 30 may be carried on a conveyor 33 which moves it away when it is full and brings a fresh module 30' into position.

The cone storage unit thus includes a base with a cone-shaped interior into which the cones are received as they are formed and released from the former. It can also have a cylindrical extension element or unit with an (inside) diameter matching the diameter of the mouth or large end of the cones. A plurality of such extension units may be used, fitting into each other, so that the storage unit is expanded as the cones are stacked in it; the extension units may similarly be removed one by one as the cones are withdrawn from it for their final use (eg as flower wraps). Thus the storage unit or transportation container, once delivered to the customer/end user, can have the top section moved such that the stack of wraps is exposed for easy access and placement of flowers or other product directly into them. Alternatively, the storage unit may have a removable side panel, to enable the cones to be removed one by one as required.

The storage unit can, instead of being permanent as described above, be disposable. For this, it may conveniently include a cylindrical shell made of suitable material, such as corrugated cardboard, which includes a line release arranged so that, when pulled, the line tears open a track around the wrapper somewhat like a cheese cutter, allowing the top of the storage unit to be released and so expose the cones for removal as required. The line can conveniently be located at a height slightly below the top edge of the first or lowest cone in the stack. It may be convenient to provide two or more pull lines so that the stack can be exposed in stages as cones are taken from it.

Instead of retaining the stack of cones in a conical holder as described above, once the stack is complete it can be removed from the holder. If this is done, a retaining element is preferably placed inside the stack before its removal from the holder. The retaining element may be of conical shape, or it may be of flattened conical or triangular shape, in which case the stack of foil cones will be at least partially flattened around the retaining element. This will allow the stack of cones to take up less space, and will also allow them to be removed from the stack in the same order as they were put on the stack instead of in the reverse order.

Storage Unit Emptying

The cone infeed module, shown in Fig. 17, is a pick a d place arrangement for the preformed foil cones ⁽conical wraps). A storage unit full of pre-erected cones is located adjacent to the machine frame; its position is accurately registered by pre-set stops. The infeed module then transfers individual cones to the first station of the flower wrapping carousel. This infeed module comprises three main sub-modules: a conical picker (pick-up unit) for picking up the cones, a picker raise/lower mechanism, a d a picker traverse mechanism. The storage unit 60 comprises a hollow tube containing a stack of nested cones. (The drawing shows a double storage unit with 2 stacks of cones, and with the right-hand stack half cut away to show the cone inside it. When the first stack has been exhausted, the container is turned round to bring the second stack into position.) The foil picker 91 picks up cones from the storage unit; the picker raise/lower 92 mechanism lowers the picker into the stack of cones for a cone to be picked up and raises it again out of the stack; and the picker transverse mechanism 93 moves the picker between a position above the stack to a position above the first station of the filling module.

The foil picker 91 matches the inside of the stack of cones in the storage unit. The simplest form for the cones in the stack is a circular cone, but other shapes may be used, such as polygonal, typically triangular or square (and possibly curvilinear) or elliptical. If the stack of cones is in flattened form, it may need to be opened out before the cones are extracted.

The picker has a pattern of small diameter holes (not shown) over its sui — face. In addition to the holes, it has a series of shallow longitudinal slots 94 with holes in the base of the slots. (The term "longitudinal" means lying along generator lines of the conical surface pointing towards the apex of the picker, in contrast to circumferential.) The surface holes and the slot holes are all connected to a pneumatic control unit which can apply positive or negative air pressure (the latter being termed "vacuum").

The picker 91 is lowered into the centre of the stack of cones until it comes to rest on the inside face of the top cone. A vacuum is applied to the centre of the picker, which is thereby transferred onto the cone in contact with the picker. The effect of the slots 94 is to cause the cone to pucker into the slots and so separate from the adjacent cone in the stack. The picker and cone are then lifted out of the container.

As the picker is raised, it is rotated by a motor 95?>to enable the peak of the cone to be oriented correctly before before placing in the flower wrapping carousel. This is necessary because of labels applied at a later stage. Orien- tation is achieved with the use of an optical sensor (not shown) to detect the peak and stop the rotation.

The picker raise and lower mechanism 92 comprises a cable drum 100 driven by a variable speed motor 101 and having a steel cable (not shown) attached to it from which the picker is suspended. Raising of the picker is performed by energizing the motor; lowering can be achieved, at least partly, by gravity, with the motor (or a brake, not shown) controlling the rate of descent.

The cable passes over an idler pulley (not shown) which is mounted on a spring loaded pivot arm (not shown) with a limit switch (not shown) to detect its position. A further limit switch (not shown) is located above the picker path, to define an upper limit position for the picker. An apertured rotation counter disc 22 is coupled to the drum and an optical sensor (not shown) is coupled to this disc to count the number of holes as they pass the sensor. The rotation of the disc, and hence the movement and position of the picker, can therefore be monitored. The raise and lower function is guided by linear ball bushings and using hollow guide shafting. This enables the pneumatic services to be transferred easily to the picker assembly.

The sequence of operation is as follows.

At the start of the cycle, the picker 91 is in the raised position. The picker is then lowered at a rapid rate to a position just above the stack of cones in the packaging container 90. At this point the speed of descent is reduced to a creep speed, to bring the picker into contact with the cones. The winding drum continues to feed out cable. When the picker comes into contact with the cones, the drum is still feeding out cable. The cable therefore goes slack and allows the idler pulley arm to swing out and change the state of the limit switch, and this stops the winding drum.

When the picker has picked up a cone, it is raised back to the top/start position. This raising starts at rapid speed; using the counter feature, the speed is dropped down to creep speed at a short distance before top position. When the picker reaches its top position, it operates the upper limit switch, which halts the movement. During both raising and lowering of the picker, its position is monitored with the rotation counter disc and optical sensor. The machine control retains the distance of the top of the stack of cones from the previous cycle, and uses that distance to determine when to change from fast to creep speed during raising and lowering of the picker. The actual distance during the current cycle is measured (on either lowering or raising) and used to update the stored distance. Thus as the cones are emptied from the packaging container, the distance travelled at rapid speed is continuously updated, thus avoiding excessive travel at creep speed.

The picker traverse mechanism (not shown) simply moves the picker 91 and its raise/lower assembly 92 from over the centre line of the packaging container to above the first station on the flower wrap carousel. Movement is achieved using linear ball bushings and guide shafts with a rodless air cylinder. The assembly is arranged such that each end of stroke of the cylinder movement is determined by switches mounted on the cylinder, which has a magnetic piston.

To load the cone onto the flower wrapping carousel, the picker is lowered at rapid speed to a predetermined position and then into creep speed to a point at which the picker is dropped into a cone holder 1 10 on the carousel. To assist in ejecting the cone from the picker, air pressure is introduced into the centre of the picker at the same time as the vacuum is turned off. The picker is then raised, again initially at rapid speed, back to its top position, and is traversed back to its position above the sack of cones in the packaging container.

The infeed module can be adapted to load flat pack welded seam type cones. In place of the packaging container described above, there will be a mechanism with a vacuum picker which will lift the top layer of the flat cone. This will then enable a mechanism to open and erect the cone and present it to the picker. The cone will then be loaded to the first station as previously described. Alternatively the infeed module can be replaced by a combined mechanism to open and erect the flat pack cone and then place it directly to the first station on the flower wrap carousel. Again this will use a vacuum device to open the cone and to hold the cone erected before a positive air pressure is introduced to eject the cone into the first station. Instead of an automatic flower wrap carousel, the cone infeed module can of course feed a cone receiver from which the cones are taken manually for manual flower wrapping.

Cone Utilization

Instead of the cones being fed into storage units, they may be transferred directly to a cone utilization machine. Alternatively, the cones may be packed into storage units a d then removed from those units for use on a cone utilization machine.

The primary type of cone utilization envisaged here is for flower wrapping. For direct feed from the cone forming machine, the cone is transferred directly to a cone holder in the form of a hollow conical shell which is split lengthwise into two half-shells so that it can be opened up, as shown in Fig. 22. Alternatively, the cones may be fed to a storage unit and then fed from the storage unit to the cone utilization machine.

Fig. 18 shows a transfer carousel for this purpose. A set of four cone holders 1 10' are mounted on the carousel. After a cone is formed on the cone former (Fig. 12), it is transferred to a cone holder; pneumatic means may be used to effect the transfer. The cone is then carried round to a filling position at the top of the carousel, where it is manually filled. The cone holder is then opened to release the filled cone, conveniently after being carried round to a release position or station.

For direct feed, the cone former 21 (Fig. 1 ) is rotated through approximately 180" (preferably "over the top"), to the position 21 ". A cone holder 1 10' is then brought over the cone holder 21 " and the cone is transferred from the outside of the cone former 21 " to the inside of the hollow cone carrier 1 1 0'. The transfer may be aided pneumatically, by suitable signals applied to both cone former 21 " and cone carrier 1 10 '.

Fig. 18 shows the cone holders arranged with their axes radiating from the axis of the carousel. It is however preferred to have the axis of the carouse! vertical, and the axes of the cone holders also vertical. Fig. 19 shows a foil cone filling module using such a carousel of cone holders, fed directly from a conical foil cone manufacturing machine. The foil cone filling module is at the bottom right, and is intended to allw the foil cones to be filled manually, as indicated by the stylized manikin figure.

Guidance means such as a drop funnel or wings, not shown, may be provided above the filling position of the cone holder.

The cone holders are shown as having their axes projecting radially from the axes of their carousels. However, they may instead be carried on the ends of radial arms but with the axes parallel to the carousel axis, or indeed at some intermediate angle between parallel and perpendicular, for either or both carousels.

Fig. 18 shows one form of transfer carousel in more detail. This comprises four cone holders 1 10' mounted as shown on a carousel with a horizontal axis. Each cone holder comprises a split hollow shell. The cone former carousel, Fig. 1, can transfer a cone from a former 21 is a roughly horizontal position to a holder 1 10' is a matching horizontal position. The holder carousel then carries the cone round through approximately 90° to the topmost position, where it can be filled with a bunch of flowers, and its two halves opened to allow its removal (possibly at a further stage in the rotation of the carousel).

Instead of manual filling, a cone filling machine can be used with largely automates the cone filling process. Fig. 20 shows such a machine, and Figs. 21- 23 show certain details of it. This machinery comprises a filling module having a carousel which is fed from the cone stack infeed mechanism of Fig. 17 and which has 4 stations at which successive operations for filling the wraps are performed.

Referring to Fig. 20, the flower wrapping module is a four station carousel; the four stations are a wrap loading station 140 (the first station), a flower loading station 4 1, a taping station 142, and an unloading station 143. As briefly mentioned above, eacl cone holder comprises a pair of half-shells 154 and 155 (Fig. 23), which can be closed to support and retain a cone and opened to release the cone. The carousel rotates about a vertical axis, and is driven by an electric motor/gearbox 144 via a toothed belt drive 145 (Fig. 21). Positioning of ie carousel at t ιe four stations is controlled by optical sensors and adjustable clutch dogs 146. The carousel has a ring of cone holders 1 10 which are stepped on or indexed in 90° increments through the four stations;

are four holders, so that four bunches of flowers are at various stages of processing at any one time. Each cone holder consists of two halves 154 and 155 which can be opened apart, as shown in Fig. 22. The wrapping operation is carried out in stages and requires a full stepping through all four stations (ie a 360° rotation) to complete.

cone holders 1 10 are vertical hollow conical shapes with their vertexes pointing downwards, to receive the wraps. Each folder has a set of small diameter drilled holes (not shown) which are pneumatically controlled to retain the wrap in the holder. The pneumatic control is applied via a commutator ring

(not shown) in the centre hub of the carousel.

At t e base of each iolder there is a pair of grippers 151 (Fig. 23) wjiicli are spring-loaded closed and can be opened with a pneumatic cylinder 152. T e purpose of tl e grippers is to support the flower stems. Several sets of interchangeable gripper jaws may be used to suit different bunch sizes.

The sequence of operations is as follows.

At the cone loading station 140, a foil cone is loaded into the cone holder at that station, directly from a cone former or by the infeed mechanism described above, and the holding vacuum applied. If a label is required, it is applied at this station. The gripper jaws are open at this point.

At the flower loading station 14 1 , the bunch of flowers is loaded into the cone via an elevating conveyor. The conveyor has a series of horizontal troughs on an endless belt w iich is fed with bunches of flowers from the main factory process line. The horizontal troughs are shaped to suit the bunches in such a way thai as the trough goes over tlie apex of the elevator, the buncli in it will fall stems first.

A split funnel is positioned below the conveyor to catch i'ne bunch and align it with the wrap in the carousel below. The funnel is fitted with a series of brushes to catch t'ne head of the bunch and ensure that t'rie bunch falls stems first into the funnel. With bunch settled in the funnel, the two hal ves of the funnel swing open, dr opping the bunch directly into the cone below. To avoid any snagging between the stems and the inner surface of the cone, a lubricant such as a water rnist may be applied to the inside of the cone.

At the taping station 142, the flower stems are now engaged into a taping module, which gathers the wrap around the stems. As the carousel steps on again, the taping module applies the tape or ribbon. A flower food sachet can also be inserted into the cone at this point by the module 153 if required.

At the unloading station 143, as the carousel steps on from the taping station 142, the vacuum applied to the holder in turned off. At the same time the cone holder holding the wrapped bunch is opened, as shown in Fig. 22, by a cam plate (not shown). As the carousel parks at the unloading station, the wrapped bunch is held only by the grippers 1 51. These are opened by a pneumatic cylinder and the wrapped flowers fall onto an exit conveyor (not shown). An air nozzle (not shown) assists the flowers to fall in the required direction.

Obviously, the number of stations could be increased to enable the wrapped bunches to be loaded directly into boxes. This would require either additional equipment to manipulate the bunches to stack then into a box or a handling device to move the box under the box zone.

Modified cone holder

Fig. 24 shows an alternative cone holder to the cone holder shown in Fig. 23. This cone holder will be located around the position cone transfer position 21 ' (Fig. 1). A fixed vertical arm 160 has pivotally mounted on it arms

161 , 162, and 163 which carry suckers 164. When the cone former 21 is moved on its carousel to the position 21 ', carrying a formed cone, the arms 161- 1 of the cone holder will be moved inwards to embrace the cone. Vacuum will then be applied to the suckers 164 to hold the cone in the holder, and the cone will be released from the cone former 21.

The arms are moved in towards the cone only after the cone is correctly positioned relative to the cone holder. This avoids the material of the cone sliding against the suckers, and so minimizes the risks of the edges of the suckers being turned or the material of the cone puckering.

This cone holder is readily adapted to hold cones of varying angles. This cone holder is preferably arranged to hold the cone near its top (open end), with the main body of the cone hanging from the holder. If desired, additional arms can be located further down the cone; this will, however, make it more difficult to change the angle of the cones being used.

In the claims, all references in parentheses to technical features are references within the meaning of Rule 29(7) of the EPC, whether the references are to individual features within specific figures or to complete figures; they do not imply reliance on those technical features within the meaning of Rule 29(6).

Claims

Cls u rns

1 Apparatus for forming cones, comprising means for feeding foils, a cone former including means for holding the leading edge of a foil, means for rotating the cone former to wrap the foil round it into a cone, and means for attaching the trailing end of the foil to the underlying portion of foil on the cone former.

2 Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein the cone former is pneumatically controlled to hold the leading edge of a foil and to hold the following body of the foil on it by low pressure, and/or to release the completed cone from it by high pressure.

3 Apparatus according to either previous claim including brush means to promote the wrapping of the foil round the former.

4 Apparatus according to any previous claim wherein a table is provided over which the foils pass between the cutting means and the rotatable cone former, the table supporting the foils as they slew as they are wound round the cone former.

5 Apparatus according to claim 3 wherein the table has a movable segment, adjacent to the cone former, which is set to one position to guide the section of foil to the cone former and moved to another position to allow the cone former to move from its position adjacent to the table.

6 Apparatus according to any previous claim including a plurality of cone formers mounted on a carousel, such that as each cone former in turn leaves the position adjacent to the table, the next cone former moves to that position.

7 Apparatus according to any previous claim wherein the attachment means for attaching the trailing edge of the foil to the underlying portion of foil on the cone former comprise adhesive providing means.

8 Apparatus according to any of claims 1 to 6 wherein the attachment means for attaching the trailing edge of the foil to the underlying portion of foil on the cone former comprise welding means. 2y

9 Apparatus according to any previous claim wherein the attachment means also provide further attachments on the cones.

10 Apparatus according to any previous claim wherein the foils are cut directly from a continuous coil of sheet material.

1 1 Apparatus according to any of claims 1 to 9 wherein the foils are taken from a box or magazine of pre-cut foils.

12 Apparatus according to claim 1 1 wherein position and angle of the feeder box are adjustable.

13 Apparatus according to claim 12 wherein the feeder box has a base or table which can be moved up within the sides of the box to maintain the top foil in the box at a fixed level as successive foils are removed from it.

14 A method of making a foil cone comprising initiating the rolling of the foil transversely across a corner of the foil or to the major axis of the foil.

15 A method according to claim 14 wherein the angle at which the rolling starts is chosen so that the resulting cone is symmetrical.

16 A method according to either of claims 14 and 15 wherein adhesive is applied to the foil before or during rolling to cause the coil to maintain its shape.

17 Apparatus according to any of claims 1 to 14 including a cone receiver located to receive the cones as they are formed and assemble them in a nested stack.

18 Apparatus according to claim 17 wherein the cone receiver has a central spike to guide the narrow ends of the cones.

19 A cone infeed module for removing cones from a stack, comprising a picker for picking up the cones, a picker raise/lower mechanism, a picker traverse mechanism, and control means therefor. 20 A cone infeed module according to claim 19 wherein the picker has over its surface a pattern of small diameter holes and a series of shallow longitudinal slots with holes in the base of the slots, all connected to a pneumatic control unit.

21 A cone infeed module according to either of claims 19 and 20 including means for controllably rotating the picker.

22 A cone infeed module according to any of claims 19 to 21 wherein the picker raise and lower mechanism comprises a cable drum driven by a variable speed motor, with the cable passing over an idler pulley pivotally mounted with a limit switch to detect its position.

23 A cone infeed module according to claim 22 including a further limit switch located above the picker path and rotation sensing means coupled to the drum.

24 A cone infeed module according to any of claims 19 to 22 wherein the control means include memory means, and raise and lower the picker at fast speed until the picker is at or near its target position.

25 A cone filling machine including cone holders for holding the cones and means for filling the cones with bunches of flowers.

26 A cone filling machine according to claim 25 wherein the cone holder comprises a pair of half-shells in the form of a hollow cone which is split lengthwise.

27 A cone filling machine according to claim 25 wherein the cone holder comprises a plurality of hinged arms carrying suckers.

28 A cone filling machine according to any of claims 25 to 27 including a plurality of cone holders mounted on a carousel which carries the cones successively through a plurality of stations at which different operations are performed.

29 A cone filling machine according to claim 28 wherein the axes of the cat — ousel and the cone holders are substantially vertical. 30 Apparatus for forming cones according to any one of claims 1 to 13 and further including a cone infeed module according to any one of claims 19 to 23.

31 Apparatus for forming cones according to any one of claims 1 to 13 and further including a cone filling machine according to any one of claims 25 to 29.

32 Any novel and inventive feature or combination of features specifically disclosed herein within the meaning of Article 4H of the International Convention (Paris Convention).