FORM 2. THE PATENTS ACT, 1970 (39 of 1970) & THE PATENTS RULES, 2003

Transcription

1 FORM 2 THE PATENTS ACT, 1970 (39 of 1970) & THE PATENTS RULES, 03 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION (See section, rule 13) 1. Title of the invention: BANDING MACHINE 2. Applicant(s) NAME NATIONALITY ADDRESS ITC LIMITED Indian ITC LIFE SCIENCES AND TECHNOLOGY CENTRE #3, 1st Main, Peenya Industrial Area, Phase 1, Bangalore , India 3. Preamble to the description COMPLETE SPECIFICATION The following specification particularly describes the invention and the manner in which it is to be performed. 1 PD0221IN-SC

2 TECHNICAL FIELD [0001] The present subject matter relates to packaging of articles, particularly to a packaging machine for packaging soap units. BACKGROUND 5 [0002] Banded articles may be understood as a predetermined number of articles banded or tied as a single unit. In various industries, there may be cases where individual articles may be clubbed together to form a single unit according, for example, based on a business requirement. For example, the business requirement can be a scheme that offers one article free on purchase of two articles. For that, a total three articles are banded to form a single entity. These entities are called banded units. [0003] Conventionally, banding of articles is done manually. Recently, banding machines that perform few operations relating to banding of the articles are employed in some industries. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS [0004] Fig. 1a illustrates a schematic representation of a side view of a banding machine in accordance with one implementation of the present subject matter. [0005] Fig. 1b illustrates a schematic representation of a top view of the banding machine in accordance with one implementation of the present subject matter. [0006] Fig. 2 illustrates another schematic representation of the banding machine in accordance with one implementation of the present subject matter. [0007] Fig. 3 illustrates another schematic representation of the banding machine in accordance with one implementation of the present subject matter [0008] Fig. 4 illustrates an arrangement of an orientation mechanism of the banding machine in accordance with one implementation of the present subject matter. 2

3 [0009] Fig. 5 illustrates a schematic representation of a pair of aligning members of the banding machine in accordance with one implementation of the present subject matter. [00] Fig. 6 illustrates an arrangement of a banding assembly of the banding machine in accordance with one implementation of the present subject matter. [0011] Fig. 7 illustrates a schematic representation of a tape guide of the banding assembly in accordance with one implementation of the present subject matter. DETAILED DESCRIPTON [0012] Conventional banding machines are employed to band multiple units of articles into a single unit or banded article unit. Such banding machines are utilized to band various goods such as soap units, medicines or other small items. Generally, the convectional machines include an in-feed conveyor belt to feed the soap units into the convectional machine. The convectional machine further comprises an indexing conveyor installed downstream with respect to the in-feed conveyor. The indexing conveyor has a step wise conveyor that delivers the articles from their receiving end to their delivery in step wise motion. At the end of the indexing conveyor is the collator that groups the individual articles into a group of, for example, 2 or 3 articles. The convectional machine also includes an adhesive tape applicator that applies the adhesive tape around the grouped articles to form a banded article. Finally, the banded articles are discharged out of the conventional convectional machine. In order to regulate the operation of the conventional banding machine, a proxy sensor is installed at the end of the indexing conveyor to detect the presence of the articles on the indexing conveyor to generate a feedback and the same feedback is used to switch the conventional banding machine ON or OFF. [0013] Although conventional banding machines are effective in banding articles at low speed operation, the conventional banding machines are less effective in banding articles at high speeds. Conventional banding machines are not capable of performing high speed banding operations due their structural limitations. At high 3

4 speed operation, the collator may miss an article while grouping the articles. This phenomenon is called as article jumping. Further, jumping of the articles causes undesired grouping of the article thereby leading to poor quality of banded articles. In other case, jumping may also jam the conventional banding machine. This jamming would result in prolonged shutdown of conventional banding machine thereby reducing the output of the conventional banding machine and may further add to the associated industrial process being temporarily halted thereby resulting in monetary losses. [0014] Moreover, conventional banding machines also lack speed sensor to sense the rate of travel of the articles to tune the conventional banding machine based on the infeed of the articles. Moreover, the position of the proxy sensor with respect to the collator may not be effective in providing a suitable feedback to regulate the operation of the conventional banding machine. In addition, various conveyer systems used in the conventional banding machines are designed to operate at a lower speed and may not enable high speed delivery of the articles. Also, at high speed operation, the adhesive tape may not stick at the desired place due to high speed movement of the articles on the conveyor thereby leading to poor banding of the grouped articles. Therefore, such system are incapable of operating at varying speed or high speed operations [00] The present subject matter relates to a banding machine for packaging at least two articles into banded articles. The banding machine comprises an in-feed conveyor having a first end and a second end, disposed between a first roller and a second roller. The in-feed conveyor receives the articles at the first end to convey the articles to the second end. The banding machine further comprises an indexing assembly installed downstream with respect to the in- feed conveyor. The indexing assembly further comprises a first conveyor to receive the plurality of articles from the in-feed conveyor and deliver the plurality of articles downstream in the indexing assembly. Downstream with respect to the first conveyor is the collator that bundle a 4

5 predefined number of articles into a group and delivers the grouped articles further downstream in the banding machine. The banding machine may further comprise a banding assembly installed downstream with respect to the indexing assembly to receive the grouped articles from the articles to apply an adhesive tape to a side of the grouped articles to band the grouped articles into the banded articles. [0016] In one implementation, the in-feed conveyor may comprise a driver to drive the first roller and a speed sensor installed in proximity to the first end of the infeed conveyor to sense the speed of the in-feed conveyor. The speed sensor accordingly generates a first signal based on the speed of the in-feed conveyor. The indexing conveyor may further comprise a regulator coupled to the speed sensor and the driver. The regulator receives the first signal and accordingly regulates the speed of the driver based on the first signal. [0017] The banding machine of the present subject matter is configured to operate at high speed. Further, in accordance with various example embodiments, the banding machine overcomes the structural limitations of conventionally known banding machines that cause jumping of the articles. In an example, the present banding machine includes a speed sensor to sense the rate of travel of the articles to tune the banding machine based on the in-feed of the articles. Also, the proxy sensor is placed at an optimum distance with respect to the collator such that the proxy sensor is effective in providing a suitable feedback to regulate the operation of the banding machine. [0018] Further, the banding machine of the present subject matter includes conveyer systems that enable high speed delivery of the articles. The banding machine of the present subject matter also provides for adhesive tape to stick at the desired place during high speed operations. [0019] Various examples in the following description have been provided in context of a banding machine used for banding articles, such as soap units. It would be appreciated that such examples have been provided for the ease of understanding 5

6 and are not to be construed as a limitation in any way. The concepts explained in context of the banding soap units may be extended to any other articles wherein may be banded. [00] The manner in which the configurable packaging machine operates shall be explained in details with respect to the Fig. 1a, 1b, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7. While aspects of the described banding machine can be implemented in any number of packaging processes, the embodiments are described in the context of the following exemplary system(s) that relate to a packaging process implemented for packaging soap units. [0021] It should be noted that the description merely illustrates the principles of the present subject matter. It will thus be appreciated that those skilled in the art will be able to devise various arrangements that, although not explicitly described herein, embody the principles of the present subject matter and are included within its spirit and scope. Furthermore, all examples recited herein are principally intended expressly to be for pedagogical purposes to aid the reader in understanding the principles of the present subject matter and the concepts contributed by the inventor(s) to furthering the art, and are to be construed as being without limitation to such specifically recited examples and conditions. Moreover, all statements herein reciting principles, aspects, and embodiments of the present subject matter, as well as specific examples thereof, are intended to encompass equivalents thereof. [0022] Fig. 1a illustrates the side view of a banding machine 0 in accordance with one implementation of the present subject matter. The banding machine 0 may comprise an in-feed conveyor to receive the plurality of soap units 1. The infeed conveyor 2 may further comprise a first end 2-1 and a second end 2-2 and may be disposed between a first roller 2-3 and a second roller 2-4. Further, the in-feed conveyor 2 may comprise a speed sensor 2-5 to sense the speed of the in-feed conveyor 2 to generate a first signal. A driver 2-6 may be coupled to the first roller 2-3 to drive the in-feed conveyor 2. In the illustrated 6

7 implementation, the driver 2-6 can be a stepper motor. The in-feed conveyor 2 may comprise a regulator (not shown in Fig.) coupled to the speed sensor 2-5 and the driver 2-6. The regulator, in operation, may regulate the speed of the drive based on the first signal from the speed sensor 2-5. Further the regulator can be a programmable logic controller or a microcontroller or the like. [0023] The banding machine 0 may further comprise an indexing assembly 4 installed downstream with respect to the second end 2-2 of the in-feed conveyor 2. The indexing assembly 4, in operation, receives the plurality of soap units 1 and group a predefined number of soap units 1 depending upon the requirement. For example, the indexing assembly 4 may form a group of 3 soap units 1 and the deliver the same downstream in the banding machine 0. The indexing assembly 4 may further comprise a first conveyor 4-1 to receive the plurality of soap units 1 from the in-feed conveyor 2 and the deliver the plurality further downstream in the indexing assembly 4. [0024] Downstream with respect to the first conveyor 4-1 is a collator 4-2 that may group the predefined numbers of soap units 1 to form a plurality of grouped soap units 112 and deliver the plurality grouped soap units 112 downstream in the banding machine 0. In the illustrated implementation, the first conveyor 4-1 may be exhibit a step wise motion, i.e., the first conveyor 4-1 may convey the soap units 1 in steps unlike the continues motion conveyors. In operation, the step wise motion of the first conveyor 4-1 facilitates the collator 4-2 in grouping the soap units 1. In an example, the collator 4-2 can be a rotating body having a plurality of arms install at the circumference of the collator 4-2 such that a cavity is formed between the consecutive arms. Further, the motion of the first conveyor 4-1 would be explained, in details, in the next embodiment. Also, the rotation of the collator 4-2 is in conjunction with the step wise motion of the first conveyor 4-1 to avoid soap unit jumping. 7

8 [00] In an example implementation as illustrated, the indexing assembly may comprise a proxy sensor 4-3 installed in proximity to the first conveyor 4-1 to sense the presence of at least one soap unit 1 on the first conveyor 4-1 to generate the second signal. The indexing assembly 4 may also comprise an actuator to switch the indexing assembly 4 ON or OFF based on the second signal and a pressure plate 4-4 to prevent upward movement of the plurality of soap units 1 during their travel in the indexing assembly 4. [0026] The banding machine 0 may further include a banding assembly 6 installed downstream with respect the indexing assembly 4 to band the grouped soap units 112 into a banded soap unit. The banding assembly 6 may further comprise a second conveyor 6-1 installed in proximity and downstream with respect to the collator 4-2 to receive the grouped soap units 112 from the collator 4-2. The banding assembly 6 may further comprise a pair of aligning member (not shown in Fig.) wherein each of the pair of aligning member is installed in proximity to each side of the second conveyor 6-1. The pair of aligning member align the soap units 1 that are grouped together prior to their banding. The banding machine 6 may further comprise a roll holder (not shown in Fig.) to hold the roll of an adhesive tape and a tape guide (not shown in Fig.) to guide the adhesive tape along a side of the grouped soap unit 112. In the example, the pair of aligning member can be set of brushes wherein the diameter of the bristles is of about 0.3mm. The banding assembly 6 may also include other auxiliary components such as tape applicator and tape guide whose constructional and operational features would be explained in the subsequent embodiments. In the illustrated implementation, the position of the proxy sensor 4-3 and the speed sensor 2-5 with respect to the collator 4-2 is predetermined in order to accommodate high speed operation of the banding machine 0. Further, the banding machine 0 may comprise a third conveyor 8 installed downstream with respect to the banding machine 6 to receive the banded soap units 8

9 from the banding machine 6 and discharge the banded soap units out of the banding machine 0. [0027] Fig. 1b illustrates the top view of the banding machine 0 in accordance with one implementation of the present subject matter. The banding machine 0 can receive the soap units 1 from the source. In the illustrated implementation, the banding machine may comprise an orientation mechanism 114 installed in proximity and upstream with respect to the first end 2-1 (shown in Fig. 1a) of the in-feed conveyor 2. There may be a case where one or more soap units 1 that are fed into the banding machine 0 may not be in the predefined orientation. Such soap units 1 may choke the entry of the succeeding soap units 1 in the banding machine 0 thereby jamming the banding machine 0. The orientation mechanism 114 installed at near the first end 2-1 prevents the entry of such disoriented soap units 1, corrects the orientation of the soap units 1 and then allows the soap units 1 in the predefined configuration. [0028] In another example, the first conveyor 4-1 is installed in proximity with the second end 2-2 such that a gap is usually formed between them. Now, during the transition of the soap units 1 from the second end 2-2 to the first conveyor 4-1 at high speeds, the soap units 1 may fall in the gap between the second end and the first conveyor 4-1. This may also lead to jamming of the banding machine 0. In order to resolve the jamming, a bridge 116 is installed between the second end 2-2 and the first conveyor 4-1. In one example, the bridge 116 can be a metal plate. Alternatively, the bridge can be an idle roller. [0029] In operation, the soap units 1 are fed into the banding machine 0 in a predefined orientation from a source (not shown in Fig.). Initially, the regulator is driving the drive 2-6 at a predefined speed. Accordingly, the driver 2-6 is also driving the first roller 2-3 to drive the in-feed conveyor 2. The soap units 1 are now received at the first end 2-1 of the in-feed conveyor 2 and the in-feed conveyor 2 conveys the plurality of soap units 1 from the first end 2-1 to the 9

10 second end 2-2. As the soap units 1 arrive at the second end 2-2, the soap units 1 are transferred from the second end 2-2 to the first conveyor 4-1 of the indexing assembly 4. During the transition, the bridge 116 prevent the soap units 1 from getting to the gap between the second end 2-2 and the first conveyor 4-1 thereby preventing the jamming of the banding machine 0. [0030] In an example implementation, the in-feed conveyor 2 performs two operations. First, the in-feed conveyor 2 delivers the plurality of soap units 1 from the source to the indexing assembly at variable conveying rate. Second, the infeed conveyor acts as a buffer to facilitate the step wise motion of the first conveyor 4-1. Initially, when the soap units 1 are not present of the first conveyor 4-1, the proxy sensor 4-3 does not sense the presence the soap units 1 on the first conveyor 4-1. However, as soon as the soap units 1 are received by the first conveyor 4-1, the proxy sensor 4-3 generates the second signal and relays the second signal to the actuator. The actuator then switches the indexing assembly 4 ON by activating the first conveyor 4-1 to start conveying the soap units 1 and the collator 4-2 to rotate about its axis. After the plurality of soap units 1 are received by the first conveyor 4-1 and the indexing assembly 4 is switched ON, the first conveyor 4-1 conveys the soap units 1 to the collator 4-2. [0031] In operation, the first conveyor 4-1 may exhibit step wise motion i.e., the soap units 1 on the first conveyor 4-1 moves one step towards the collator at a time. Further, the step wise motion can be achieved by another micro controller based stepper motor. The step wise motion is executed by the first conveyor 4-1 so that the collator can group the soap units 1. As the soap units reach the collator 4-2, the collator, rotating on its axis, 4-2 picks a soap unit 1 into the cavity formed between the first two consecutive arms and places the soap unit 1 on a platform (not shown in Fig.). After that, the succeeding cavity picks up the next soap unit 1 and places the next soap unit 1 adjacent to the preceding soap unit 1. The step wise motion of the first conveyor 4-1 and the picking operation of the

11 collator 4-2 is in conjunction with each other i.e., at the end of each step movement of the first conveyor 4-1, the collator 4-2 picks up the soap unit 1 from the first conveyor 4-1. After the predefined number of soap units 1 is placed on the platform to form a grouped soap unit 112, a pusher (not shown in Fig.) pushes the grouped soap units 112 onto the second conveyor 6-1 of the banding assembly 6. [0032] Thereafter that, the second conveyor 6-1 conveys the grouped soap units 112 downstream in the banding assembly 6. During the transition of the grouped soap units 112 from the indexing assembly 4 to the banding assembly 6, the soap units 1 in the grouped soap unit 112 may get misaligned. The chances of such misalignment are higher at high speed of operation. This misalignment may result in poor quality of the banded soap units 112. Therefore, in order to rectify the misalignment, the pair of aligning member aligns the soap units 1 in the grouped soap units 112 prior to the application of the adhesive tape on the side of the grouped soap unit 112. At high speed operation of the conventional banding machine, misaligned grouped soap units may itself push the bristles of the aligning member and the misalignment would still exist. To the curb the misalignment, the larger diameter of the bristles are employed to prevent the push of the grouped soap units 112 and thus keeps the soap units 1 of the grouped soap unit 1 aligned with each other in the desired orientation. [0033] After the grouped soap units 112 are aligned, the grouped soap units 112 travels further down on the second conveyor 6-1. Now, the roll holder, rotating roll holder provides the adhesive tape in the form of continues strip to apply the adhesive tape to the side of the grouped soap unit 112. The adhesive tape is the guided towards tape applicator by the tape side. As the tape applicator receives the adhesive tape, the tape applicator applies the adhesive to the side of the grouped soap unit 112. After the adhesive tape is applied to the side of the grouped soap units 112, the tape cutter cuts the adhesive tape and then the same tape application process is performed on the 11

12 succeeding grouped soap units 112. The application of the adhesive tape results the formation of the banded soap units and the finished banded soap units is discharged from the banding assembly 6 and also from the banding machine 0 by the third conveyor 8. [0034] As mentioned previously, the feed of the soap units 1 into the banding machine 0 may vary. Therefore, in order to tune the operation of the banding machine 0, the speed sensor is installed near the first end 2-1 to sense the speed of the feed of the soap units 1 on the in-feed conveyor 2. In conventional banding machine, an increase in the infeed of the soap units remains undetected and this may lead to jamming of the in-feed conveyor. However, the issue is curbed in the banding machine 0 based on the present subject matter. In the banding machine 0, as the speed sensor 2-5 senses an increase in speed of the flow of the soap units 1, the speed sensor generate the first signal and relays the first signal to the regulator. The regulator then processes the first signal and accordingly increases the speed of the driver 2-6 thereby increasing the rotational speed of the first roller 2-3 and ultimately increasing the speed of the conveyor 2. The increased speed prevents the jamming of the in-feed conveyor 2. [0035] In the example, the speed sensor 2-5 is placed at the first predefined distance from the collator 4-2. The placement of the speed sensor 2-5 at the first predefined distance prevent soap jumping at the collator 4-2 by regulating the speed of the in-feed conveyor and thus creating a buffer so that the indexing assembly 4 can tune itself to accommodate the speed change. Further, the proxy sensor 4-3 also senses the change and the speed change and accordingly generate the second signal. The second signal is then received by the actuator and the actuator switches the indexing assembly ON and performs adjustments to the step wise motion of the first conveyor 4-1 and the rotation of the collator 4-2 to accommodate the speed change. In the illustrated implementation, the proxy sensor 4-3 is installed at the second predefined distance from the collator 4-2. The placement of the proxy 12

13 sensor 4-3 at the second predefined distances ensures that the actuator gets adequate time to tune the first conveyor 4-1 and the collator 4-2 to avoid soap unit jumping. [0036] The operation of the banding machine 0 can be enhanced by the application of the auxiliary components. The description of such components would be explained in subsequent embodiments. [0037] Fig. 2 illustrates an enlarge view of the first end 2-1 of the in-feed conveyor 2 in accordance with one implementation of the present subject matter. In the illustrated implementation, the driver 2-6 is coupled to the first roller 2-3 by a motion transmitting member 2. In one example, the motion transmitting member 2 can be a belt drive. Alternatively, the motion transmitting member 2 can be a gear train. Generally, in order to run the in-feed conveyor 2 at high speed, the belt driver needs to be replaced by another belt driver that is capable to drive the in-feed conveyor 2 at high speed. Such replacement would increase the complexity as well power consumption of the belt driver. To address the issues, the gear ratio of the first roller 2-3 with respect to the driver 2-6 is reduced to increase the running speed of the in-feed conveyor 2. In one example, the gear ratio is kept around 0.67 to drive the first roller 2-3 at increased speed. In the illustrated implementation, the speed sensor 2-5 is also installed in proximity to the first end 2-1. The advantage of installing the speed sensor 2-5 near the first end 2-1 is that any change in the speed of the feed of the soap units 1 can be detected at the entry of the banding machine 0 and accordingly other components, installed downstream with respect to the in-feed conveyor, can be adjusted even before the soap units 1 would reach to those components. This increases the adaptability of the banding machine 0 towards change in the feed of the soap units 1. [0038] Fig. 3 illustrates a schematic representation of the banding machine 0 in accordance with one implementation of the present subject matter. For the proper function of the banding machine 0 in variable speed of the feed of the soap units 13

14 1, the position of the speed sensor 2-5 and the proxy sensor 4-3 with respect to the collator 4-2 needs to be optimum. In the illustrated implementation, the speed sensor 2-5 is installed at a first predefined distance D1 from the collator 4-2 and the proxy sensor 4-3 is installed at a second predefined D2 distance from the collator 4-2. In one example, the first predefined distance D1 is of about 2860mm. Similarly, the second predefined distance D2 is of about 2130 mm. [0039] As mentioned previously, the first predefined distance D1 and the second predefined distance D2 needs to be optimum. Further, the advantages of the first predefined distance and the second predefined distance are explained in previous embodiments and would not be repeated. [0040] Fig. 4 illustrates an arrangement 400 of the orientation mechanism 114 in accordance with one implementation of the present subject matter. The orientation mechanism 114 can be installed upstream and in proximity to the first end 2-1 of the in-feed conveyor 2. In the illustrated implementation, the orientation mechanism 114 is placed at a height above the first end 2-1 so that the soap units 1 may drop from the orientation mechanism 114 onto the in-feed conveyor 2 at the first end 2-1. Further, the orientation mechanism 114 may comprise a pair of a first guide member and a second guide member each disposed side by side such that the pair of guides forms a channel to let the soap units 1 to travel through it. The orientation mechanism 114 may further comprise a dropping plate installed at a distance from the pair of guides such that a soap cavity is formed between the ends of the first guide and the second guide In the illustrated implementation, the soap cavity is in accordance with the predefined orientation of the soap unit 1 and thus, the soap units 1 those are in the predefined orientation pass through the soap cavity and any other soap unit that is disoriented from the predefined orientation is blocked by the dropping plate

15 [0041] In operation, the soap units 1 are fed into the banding machine 0 (shown in Fig. 1a) from a source. As the soap units 1 are fed into the banding machine 0, the soap units 1 are guided towards the first end 2-1 of the in-feed conveyor 2 in the channel formed between the first guide and the second guide As the soap units 1 reaches at the end of the channel 114-5, the soap units 1 enter the soap cavity 114-4, wherein the soap units 1 drops from the soap cavity onto the first end 2-1 of the in-feed conveyor 2. There may be a case, as shown in the illustrated implementation, where disoriented soap units 1 may travel through the channel As the disoriented soap unit 1 reaches near the soap cavity 114-4, the disoriented soap unit 1 not being in accordance with the predefined orientation, is stopped the entry into the soap cavity by the dropping plate [0042] As the succeeding soap units 1 approach the soap cavity, the soap units 1 apply the pressure on the disoriented soap unit 1 causing the disoriented soap unit 1 to flip. Since, the disoriented soap unit 1 is pressed against the dropping plate 114-3, the dropping plate would only allow the flipping of the disoriented soap unit 1 in a direction so that the disoriented soap unit 1 attains the predefined orientation. As the disoriented soap unit 1 attains the predefined orientation, the disoriented soap units 1 now enters the soap cavity and gets dropped on the first end 2-1 of the conveyor belt 2. Thus, the application of the orientation mechanism 114 prevents the entry of the disoriented soap units 1 and corrects the disorientation thereby prevent jamming of the banding machine 0. [0043] Fig. 5 illustrates a pair of aligning members 500 of the banding machine 0 (shown in Fig. 1a) in accordance with one implementation of the present subject matter. The pair of aligning member 500 may be installed at front end of the second conveyor 6-1 (shown in Fig. 1a). The pair of aligning member 500 may further comprise a first aligning member 502 installed on a side of the second conveyor 6-1 and a second aligning member 504 installed on the opposite of the second conveyor

16 6-1 such that there is a first space 506 is formed between the first aligning member 502 and the second aligning member 504. Further, the first space 506 is in accordance with the predefined orientation. [0044] In the illustrated implementation, the first aligning member 502 and the second aligning member 504 are brushes that align the soap units 1 (shown in Fig. 1a) in the grouped soap units 112 (shown in Fig. 1b). Further, the first aligning member 502 may comprise a first base and a first set of bristles installed on the first base Similarly, the second aligning member 504 may comprise a second base and a second set of bristles installed on the second base In one example, the diameter of the first set of the bristles and the second set of the bristles is of about 0.3 mm. [0045] Downstream to the pair of aligning member 502 is a pair of tape applicator 506 to apply adhesive tape to the side of the grouped soap units 112, wherein the each of the first tape applicator 508 and the second tape applicator 5 is installed downstream with respect to the first aligning member 502 and the second aligning member 504 respectively. The first tape applicator 508 may further comprise a lever that pivots about the point in to and fro direction 512. The same motion would be exhibited by the second tape applicator 5. At one end of the lever is the roller that rotates clockwise about an axis to press the adhesive tape on to the side of the grouped soap units 112. A similar construction would be present for the second tape applicator 5 and therefore is not repeated for the sake of brevity. [0046] In operation, the pair tape applicator 506 receives the adhesive tape from the roll holder (not shown in Fig.) in the form of continues strip through a series of guide rollers. In the illustrated implementation, the banding machine 0 may further comprise a tap cutter (not shown in Fig.) installed downstream with respect to the pair of tape applicator 506 to cut the adhesive tape to a predetermined length after the application of the adhesive tape on the side of the grouped soap units 112. In order to 16

17 perform tape cutting at high speeds, the tape cutter is actuated by high pressure pneumatic cylinders. Further, an air reservoir (not shown in Fig.) is employed to power the pneumatic cylinders to perform high speed cutting operation. In one example, the air reservoir may have a capacity of about 2 liters and can hold compressed air at a pressure of about 6 bars. [0047] In operation, the second conveyor 6-1 receives the grouped soap units 112 (shown in Fig.1a) from the collator 42. During the transition of the grouped soap units 112, the soap units 1 (shown in Fig. 1a) of the grouped soap units 112 may get misaligned due to high speed transfer. The misalignment of the soap units 1 in the grouped soap units 112 would cause irregular tape application thereby leading to poor quality of the banded soap units. To prevent this, the pair aligning member 500 is installed at the front end of the second conveyor 6-1. As any misaligned grouped soap unit 112 passes through the first space 506, the first set of bristles and the second set of bristles correct the misalignment of the grouped soap unit 112 by pushing the misaligned soap unit 1 of the grouped soap unit 112 in the aligned position. For example, if any of the soap unit 1 is biased towards the first set of the bristles 502-2, then the first set of the bristles pushes back the misaligned soap unit 1 into the aligned position. The same operation is executed by the second set of bristles if the soap unit 1 is biased towards the second set of bristles Finally, the grouped soap unit 112 leaves the first space 506 in the desired alignment. During high speed movement of the grouped unit 112, the grouped soap unit 112 may also push the bristles to restrict the correction in alignment. This issue is addressed by the incorporation of the thicker bristles. In the example, the diameter of the bristles can be about 0.3 mm. [0048] Now, as the grouped soap units 112 are aligned, the grouped soap units 112 move further in the first space 506 and between the first tape applicator 508 and the second tape applicator 5 for the application of the adhesive tape on the side of the grouped soap units 112. Simultaneously, the adhesive tape is also fed to the tape 17

18 applicator 506, wherein the adhesive tape rolls on the periphery of the roller As the grouped soap units 112 reaches the first space in between the tape applicator 506, the first applicator 508 shifts inwards in the first space 506 thereby making the periphery of the roller to abut with the side of the grouped soap units 112. Accordingly, an edge of the adhesive tape sticks to the side of the grouped soap unit 112. As the grouped soap unit 112 further moves downstream, the roller applies the adhesive tape on the side of the grouped soap units 112. Further, the roller rotates clockwise to press the adhesive tape on the side of the grouped soap unit 112 to apply the adhesive tape along the length of the side of the adhesive tape. As evident, since the adhesive tape is in a form of continues strip, the adhesive tape that was not applied to the side of the grouped soap unit 112 gets pulled away by the grouped soap unit 112. In order to cut the excessive adhesive, the tape cutter cuts the excessive adhesive tape to the predetermined length thereby discontinuing the pull of the adhesive tape. In one example, the tape cutter cuts the adhesive tape to the length little more than the side of the grouped soap unit 112 so that the extra portion of the adhesive tape can be folded on the other sides of the grouped soap units 112. [0049] In an implementation, the tape cutter can be operated by pneumatic cylinders. Further, for high speed operation, the pneumatic cylinders are powered by high pressure compressed air stored in an air reservoir A same operation would by carried out by the second tape applicator 5 on the opposite side of the grouped soap unit 112. The cutting of the adhesive tape then concludes the tape application operation and then the same operation is performed on the succeeding grouped soap unit 112. Simultaneously, the grouped soap units 112 with adhesive tape applied moves downstream wherein the extra length of the adhesive tape is folded on the other sides of the grouped soap unit 112 to complete the banding operation. The folding operation would be explained in details in the next embodiment. [0050] Fig. 6 illustrates an arrangement 600 of the banding assembly 8 (shown in Fig. 1a) in accordance with one implementation of the present subject matter. The 18

19 arrangement 600 illustrates a pair of tape folder 602 each installed downstream with respect to the pair of aligning member 500 (shown in Fig. 5). The pair of tape folder 602 may further comprise a first part 602-1, a second part 602-2, a third part 602-3, and a fourth part In the illustrated implementation, the first part and the fourth part form first set of the tape folder Similarly, the second part and the third part form the second set of tape folder Further the pair of tape folder 602 may be a brush comprising tiny bristles. Also, a second space 606 is formed between the first set of tape folder and the second set of tape folder such that the second space 606 is in accordance with the predefined orientation of the grouped soap units 112 (shown in Fig. 1a). The pair of tape folder 602 folds the extra portion of the adhesive tape on the side of the grouped soap unit 112 when the grouped soap unit 112 passes through the second space 606. [0051] In an example embodiment, the arrangement 600 may further comprise a roll holder 604 that holds the roll of the adhesive tape. In the example, the roll holder 604 can rotate about an axis to assist the unwinding of the roll of the adhesive tape. The roll holder 604 feeds the adhesive tape to the tape applicator 506 (shown in Fig. 5) through a tape guide (not shown in Fig.). [0052] In operation, the grouped soap units 112 after being aligned by the pair of aligning member 500 (shown in Fig. 5) are fed in between the first tape applicator 508 and the second tape applicator 5. Simultaneously, the roll holder 604 unwinds the roll of the adhesive tape and the feeds the adhesive tape to the pair of tape applicator 506 through the tape guide. Thereafter, the adhesive tape is applied on the side of the grouped soap unit 112 in a manner as explained earlier. [0053] Now, from the first space 506, the grouped soap units 112 enter in the second space 606. As the grouped soap unit 112 enters the second space 606 and the side of the grouped soap unit 112 starts abutting to the first part 602-1, the second part 602-2, the third part and the fourth part As the sides of the grouped soap units 112 abuts with the sides of the tape folder 602, the pair of tape folder 19

20 602folds the extra portion of the adhesive tape on the sides of the grouped soap unit 112. Finally, after the grouped soap unit 112 leaves the second space 606, the extra portion adhesive tape is applied on the sides of the grouped soap unit 112. After the folding of the adhesive tape, the grouped soap unit 112 is banded into a single banded soap unit. The banded soap unit is then discharged from the banding machine 0. [0054] Fig. 7 illustrates a tape guide 700 in accordance with one implementation of the present subject matter. The tape guide 700 guides the adhesive tape from the roll holder 604 (shown in Fig. 6) to the tape cutter. In the illustrated implementation, the tape guide may comprise an upper part 702 and a lower part 704. The upper part 702 and the lower part 704 are installed in such a way a third space 706 is formed between the upper part 702 and the lower part 704. Further, the width of the third space 706 is in accordance with the width of the adhesive tape. [0055] In operation, the roll holder 604 (shown in Fig. 6) delivers the adhesive tape to the tape cutter through the tape guide 700. In the illustrated operation, the adhesive tape passes through the third space, wherein the adhesive tape is guided by the upper part 702 and the lower part 704. During high speed banding operation, the adhesive tape may sway due to fast unwinding of the roll of the adhesive tape. This saying motion is restricted by the upper part 702 and the lower part 704 who guides the adhesive through the third surface 706. Therefore, the tape guide 700 guides the adhesive tape in the desired location. [0056] In accordance with various example embodiments described above, the banding machine of the present subject matter operates effectively at high speed. The above described banding machine overcomes various limitations associated with the conventionally known banding machines and enables the banding operation to be performed at an increased rate thereby increasing the throughput of the banding machine. [0057] Although implementations for a banding machine have been described in language specific to structural features and/or methods, it would be understood that

21 the appended claims are not necessarily limited to the specific features or methods described. Rather, the specific features and methods are disclosed as example implementations for the banding machine. 21

22 I/We Claim 5 1. A banding machine (0) to bundle a plurality of articles in a predefined orientation to form a banded article, the banding machine (0) comprising: an in-feed conveyor (2) having a first end (2-1) and a second end (2-2), installed between a first roller (2-3) and a second roller (2-4), wherein the infeed conveyor (2) is to receive the plurality of articles from a source at the first end (2-1) to convey the articles to the second end (2-2) of the in-feed conveyor; an indexing assembly (4) installed downstream and in proximity to the second end (2-2) of the in-feed conveyor (2), the indexing assembly comprising: a first conveyor (4-1) to receive the plurality of articles from the infeed conveyor (2) and the convey the plurality of articles downstream in the indexing assembly (4); and a collator (4-2) installed downstream with respect to the first conveyor (4-1), wherein the collator is to: receive the plurality of articles from the first conveyor (4-1) to form groups the articles, from amongst the plurality of articles, wherein each of the groups of articles comprise a predefined number of articles in the predefined orientation, and deliver the groups of articles downstream in the banding machine (0); and a banding assembly (6) installed downstream with respect to the indexing assembly (4), wherein the banding assembly (6) is to receive the groups the articles from the collator (4-2) to band the group of articles into the banded article; wherein the in-feed conveyor (2) further comprises: a driver (2-6) coupled to the first roller, wherein the driver (2-6) is to drive the first roller (2-3) to drive the in-feed conveyor; a speed sensor (2-5) installed in proximity to the first end (2-1) of the in-feed conveyor (2), wherein the speed sensor (2-5) is to sense a 22

23 speed of the in-feed conveyor (2) to generate a first signal based on the speed of the in-feed conveyor (2); and a regulator coupled to the speed sensor (2-5) and the driver (2-6), wherein the regulator is to the speed sensor (2-5) to control the speed of the driver (2-6) based on the first signal from. 2. The banding machine (0) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the indexing assembly (4) further comprises: a proxy sensor (4-3) installed in proximity to the first conveyor (4-1), wherein the proxy sensor (4-3) is to sense the presence of at least one article to generate a second signal based on the presence or absence of the article in the banding machine (0); and an actuator coupled to the proxy sensor (4-3), wherein the actuator is to turn the indexing assembly (4) ON or OFF based on the second signal. 3. The banding machine (0) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the banding machine (0) further comprises: an orientation mechanism (114) installed upstream and in proximity to the first end (2-1) of the in-feed conveyor (2), wherein the orientation mechanism (114) is to align an orientation of the plurality of articles in accordance with the predefined orientation. 4. The banding machine (0) as claimed in claim 3, wherein the orientation mechanism (114) is to drop one or more articles, from amongst the plurality of articles, wherein the one or more articles are misaligned with respect to the predefined orientation. 23

24 5. The banding machine (0) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the banding machine (0) further comprises: a third conveyor (8) installed downstream with respect to the banding assembly (6), wherein the third conveyor (8) is to receive the banded soap units from the banding assembly (6) and discharge the banded soap units from the banding machine (0). 6. The banding machine (0) as claimed in claim 1, the banding assembly (6) further comprising: a second conveyor (6-1) having a front end and a back end installed downstream with respect to the indexing assembly (4), wherein the second conveyor (6-1) is to receive the groups of articles at the front end to convey the groups of articles to the back end in the predefined orientation; a pair of aligning members (500) installed in proximity to the front end of the second conveyor (6-1), wherein each of the aligning members (502, 504) is installed on either side of the second conveyor (6-1) to align the group of articles in the predefined orientation; a roll holder (604) installed downstream with respect to the pair of the aligning members (500), wherein the roll holder (604) is to hold a roll of adhesive tape to feed the adhesive tape to band the group of the article to form the banded article; a tape guide (700) installed downstream and in proximity to the roll holder (604), wherein the tape guide (700) is to guide the adhesive tape along a side the groups of article; a pair of tape applicator (506) installed downstream with respect to the pair of aligning member (500), wherein each of the first tape applicator (508) and the second tape applicator (5) is to apply the adhesive tape to a side of the grouped article; 24

25 a pair of tape applicator (602) installed downstream with respect to the roll holder (604), wherein each of the tape folder(602-5, 602-6) is to fold the adhesive tape to the side of the grouped soap unit; and a tape cutter installed downstream with respect to the pair of tape applicator (602), wherein the tape cutter is to cut the adhesive tape to a predetermined length. 7. The banding machine (0) as claimed in claim 6, wherein the pair of aligning member (500) is brushes. 8. The banding machine (0) as claimed in claim 7, wherein the diameter of the bristles of the brushes is of about 0.6 mm. 9. The banding machine (0) as claimed in claim 6, wherein the tape guide (700) is to guide the adhesive tape along a center of the side of the groups of articles.. The banding machine (0) as claimed in claim 2, wherein the regulator is a programmable logic controller. 11. The banding machine (0) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the driver (2-6) is a servo motor. 12. The banding machine (0) as claimed in claimed 1, wherein the driver (2-6) drives the first roller at about 4000 rpm. 13. The banding machine (0) as claimed in any one of claim 1 and 2, wherein the speed sensor (2-5) is installed at a first predefined distance from the collator The banding machine (0) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the proxy sensor (4-3) is installed at a second predefined distance from the collator.

26 . The banding machine (0) as claimed in claim 13, wherein the speed sensor (2-5) is installed at a distance of about 2860 mm from the collator (4-2) The banding machine (0) as claimed in claim 14, wherein the proxy sensor (4-3) is installed at a distance of about 2130 mm from the collator (4-2) 17. The banding machine (0) as claimed in claim 2, wherein the first conveyor (4-1) comprises a low friction grade index belt. 18. The banding machine (0) as claimed in any one of claim 1 and 2, wherein a bridge (116) is installed between the second end (2-2) of the in-feed conveyor (2) and the first conveyor (4-1) to bridge a gap between the second end (2-2) and the first conveyor (4-1). 19. The banding machine (0) as claimed in claim 6, wherein the tape cutter is operated by a pneumatic cylinder.. The banding machine (0) as claimed in claim, wherein the pneumatic cylinder are powered by an air reservoir. 21. The banding machine (0) as claimed in claim 16, wherein a capacity of the air reservoir is about 2 liters. 26

27 22. The banding machine (0) as claimed in claim 16, wherein the pressure of compressed air inside the air reservoir is about 6 bars. 5 Date 27 February To, The Controller of Patents The Patent Office at Chennai KONPAL RAE IN/PA-1228 Agent for the Applicant 27

28 ABSTRACT BANDING MACHINE The present subject matter relates to a banding machine (0) for banding at least two articles into a banded article. The banding machine (0) may comprise an in-feed conveyor (2) to receive a plurality of articles from a source to deliver the articles downstream in the banding machine (0). The banding machine may further include an indexing assembly (4) installed downstream with respect to the in-feed conveyor (2) to group a predetermined number of articles into grouped articles. Finally, the banding machine may comprise a banding assembly (8) installed downstream with respect to the indexing assembly (4) to band the grouped articles into a banded articles. Further, the in-feed conveyor (2) may comprise a speed sensor (2-5) to sense the speed of the in-feed conveyor to regulate the speed of the in-feed conveyor (2) through a driver (2-6). (To be published with Fig. 1a) 28