Tape head assist assembly
A tape head assembly—which tapes flaps of boxes on a conveyor—includes power-assist functionality to stretch a first spring used to power a trailing roller to press tape against a trailing case sidewall of a case. A force by the case moving on the conveyor acting upon a leading roller may provide some of the energy to stretch the first spring. However, a roller-assist air cylinder uses compressed air to assist or fully stretch the first spring. A knife assembly may be used to cut the tape applied to a case. A second spring may be stretched by the force of the moving case acting upon a knife arm. The second spring may be used later operate the knife blade. However, a knife-assist air cylinder uses compressed air to assist or fully stretch the second spring. Both assist assemblies may be turned off to operate the tape head in a conventional manner.
1. A tape head, comprising:
a roller assembly comprising:
a leading roller and a trailing roller;
a linkage connecting the leading roller to the trailing roller, wherein the linkage moves the leading roller and the trailing roller in unison; and
a spring configured to be tensioned as the leading roller and the trailing roller are moved from a lowered position to an elevated position and configured to be relaxed as the leading roller and the trailing roller are moved from the elevated position to the lowered position;
a roller-assist assembly configured to assist the roller assembly to tension the spring, the roller-assist assembly comprising:
a roller-assist air cylinder; and
a roller-assist arm linkage connected to the roller-assist air cylinder, wherein the roller-assist arm linkage defines a slot within which a spring extension shaft translates, wherein extension of the roller-assist arm linkage tensions the spring, and wherein retraction of the roller-assist arm linkage allows the tape head to operate without operation of the roller-assist assembly; and
a control assembly configured to control operation of the roller-assist air cylinder of the roller-assist assembly.
2. The tape head of claim 1 , additionally comprising:
a knife-assist assembly configured to assist a knife assembly to tension a spring of the knife assembly;
wherein the control assembly is additionally configured to control operation of the knife-assist assembly.
3. The tape head of claim 2 , wherein the control assembly is configured to perform actions comprising:
extending a knife-assist cylinder to tension the spring of the knife assembly, wherein the extending of the knife-assist cylinder is performed at least in part while a knife arm is in contact with a case; and
disengaging the knife-assist cylinder, wherein the disengaging of the knife-assist cylinder is performed prior to tape being cut by a knife blade.
4. The tape head of claim 2 , wherein the knife-assist assembly comprises:
a knife-assist cylinder; and
a knife-assist push-block moved by the knife-assist cylinder and configured to move portions of the knife assembly.
5. The tape head of claim 1 , wherein the control assembly is configured to perform actions comprising:
extending the roller-assist air cylinder to tension the spring, wherein the extending of the roller-assist air cylinder is concurrent with at least one of:
a case approaching the leading roller; or
the case contacting the leading roller.
6. The tape head of claim 5 , wherein the control assembly is configured to perform additional actions comprising:
removing compressed air to the roller-assist air cylinder while the leading roller is in the elevated position.
7. The tape head of claim 1 , wherein the control assembly is additionally configured to perform actions comprising:
disabling the roller-assist assembly; and
disabling a knife-assist assembly;
wherein the roller assembly and a knife assembly are configured to operate when one or more of the roller-assist assembly and the knife-assist assembly are disabled.
8. The tape head of claim 1 , wherein the control assembly is additionally configured to perform actions, comprising:
extending the roller-assist air cylinder to tension the spring of the roller assembly, wherein the extending of the roller-assist air cylinder is performed at least in part while the leading roller of the roller assembly is moving into the elevated position; and
disengaging the roller-assist air cylinder, wherein the disengaging of the roller-assist air cylinder is performed at least in part while the leading roller is in the elevated position.
9. The tape head of claim 1 , wherein the control assembly is additionally configured to perform actions, comprising:
extending a knife-assist air cylinder to tension a spring of a knife assembly, wherein the extending of the knife-assist air cylinder is performed at least in part while a knife arm is elevated by contact with a case; and
disengaging the knife-assist air cylinder, wherein the disengaging of the knife-assist air cylinder is performed at least in part while the knife arm is sliding on a top surface of the case.
10. The tape head of claim 1 , wherein the control assembly is additionally configured to perform actions, comprising:
extending the roller-assist air cylinder to push a roller arm of the roller assembly while the leading roller of the roller assembly is in contact with a leading side of a case.
11. The tape head of claim 1 , wherein the control assembly is additionally configured to perform actions, comprising:
disengaging the roller-assist air cylinder while the leading roller is in the elevated position; and
disengaging a knife-assist cylinder while a knife arm is sliding on a top surface of a case.
12. The tape head of claim 1 , wherein the control assembly is additionally configured to perform actions, comprising:
disabling the roller-assist assembly by preventing extension of the roller-assist air cylinder; and
disabling a knife-assist assembly by preventing extension of a knife-assist air cylinder.
13. The tape head of claim 1 , additionally comprising:
a knife-assist push-block, moved by a knife-assist air cylinder and configured to move a knife assembly.
14. The tape head of claim 1 , wherein the control assembly is additionally configured to perform actions, comprising:
extending a knife-assist cylinder to tension a spring of a knife assembly, wherein the extending of the knife-assist cylinder is performed at least in part while a knife arm is moving into an elevated position; and
disengaging the knife-assist cylinder, wherein the disengaging of the knife-assist cylinder is performed at least in part while the knife arm is in the elevated position.
15. The tape head of claim 1 , wherein the control assembly is additionally configured to perform actions, comprising:
receiving a signal, wherein:
the signal is from a sensor and is sent in response to the sensor detecting a case, or
the signal is from a timer; and
responsive to receiving the signal, extending the roller-assist air cylinder.
16. The tape head of claim 1 , wherein the control assembly is additionally configured to perform actions, comprising:
receiving a signal, wherein:
the signal is from a sensor, or
the signal is from a timer; and
responsive to receiving the signal, extending a knife-assist cylinder.