ACCUMULATOR AND COLLATOR FOR PACKAGING APPARATUS

摘要

18 The accumulator for a packaging apparatus comprises conveyor type structure which is positioned between a sealing station of a packaging apparatus and a cutting station of the apparatus. The accumulator accumulates chained packages thereon during periods of downtime of a cartoner of the apparatus allowing package formation to continue for a significant period of time prior to necessitating shutdown of the entire apparatus. The accumulator is fed packages by a controller which correlates rate of package production to the speed of the accumulator to allow for up to twenty minutes of cartoner downtime prior to necessitating shutdown of the entire apparatus.