A mechanical linkage providing simultaneous and synchronized operation of the feed device and netting station by which containers of fruit and vegetable produce are wrapped in automatic netpacking equipment.
An automatic net packing equipment basically comprising a feed device (5) and a netting station (8), by which containers of fruit and vegetable produce are wrapped in tubular netting (3). The feed device comprises a longitudinal element (6) reciprocating in a tube (2) from a retracted limit position in front to an extended limit position beyond the netting station. The netting station is basically a guillotine (9) consisting of a fixed (10) and a moving (11) pair of elements disposed transversely to the feed direction of the containers (4). The moving elements are capable of a vertical movement in either direction between a raised position, in which the fixed and moving elements form an opening (12a) to allow the forward passage of the longitudinal element (6) with a single container (4) ensheathed by its net (3), and a lowered position in which the fixed and moving elements (10, 11) draw together the net (3) behind the container (4). The all-mechanical linkage (14) disclosed features an epicyclic rod-and-crank mechanism (14a) serving to operate the guillotine (9). The linkage comprises a rod (18) hinged at one end (18b) to the moving elements (11) and at the remaining end (18a) to the periphery of a planet disk (16), and a crank (175) by which the disk (16) is rotatably carried and subjected to a controlled rolling and rotary motion deriving from the crank action. The same linkage (14) further comprises means (14b) by which the operation of the rod-and-crank mechanism (14a) is synchronized with that of the feed device (5).
