Container denester apparatus

摘要

A container denester apparatus which overcomes, among other problems, the problems identified above. The denester apparatus positively controls the flanges of the container so as to individually denest a lowermost container from a stack of containers. The apparatus protects the container by spreading the force required to denest the container along much of the flange structure. In addition, the stack of containers above the lowermost container are retained, again along much of the flange structure of the immediately adjacent container.

主权项

1. A container denester apparatus configured to denest a lowermost container from a stack of containers, each of the containers including a flange extending about at least a portion of either side of the container, the apparatus comprising:
a frame assembly having a front plate and a back plate defining a container cavity therebetween; an indexing assembly comprising
a first side upper slide and a second side upper slide, the first side upper slide being spaced apart from the second side upper slide and each spanning between the front plate and the back plate of the frame assembly, each of the first side and second side upper slides having an inner surface with an inwardly projecting flange, the first side and second side upper slides being slidably movable between a first inward position and a second outward position, wherein in the first inward position, the inwardly projecting flange of each of the first side and second side upper slides extend into the cavity;a first side lower slide and a second side lower slide, the first side lower slide being spaced apart from the second side lower slide and each spanning between the front plate and the back plate of the frame assembly, and corresponding to and positioned below the first side and the second side upper slides, each of the first side and second side lower slides having an inner surface with an inwardly projecting flange, the first side and second side lower slides being slidably movable between a first inward position and a second outward position, wherein in the first inward position, the inwardly projecting flange of each of the first side and second side upper slides extend into the cavity;the flange of the first side upper slide being spaced apart, vertically, from the flange of the first side lower slide, and the flange of the second side upper slide being spaced apart, vertically from the flange of the second side lower slide; and a drive assembly comprising an actuator coupled to the first side and second side upper slides, the actuator configured to direct cooperative slidable movement of the upper slides between the first inward position and the second outward position, and coupled to the first side and the second side lower slides, the actuator configured to direct cooperative slidable movement of the lower slides between the first inward position and the second outward position, wherein the drive assembly comprises a front actuator coupled to the upper slides and a back actuator coupled to the lower slides, and wherein the front actuator is configured to move in a substantially vertical direction, a first side front side linkage is pivotably coupled to the front actuator at a first end and pivotably coupled to the first side upper slide at a second end, a second side front slide linkage is pivotably coupled to the front actuator at a first end and pivotably coupled to the second side upper slide at a second end.