AU2008323318A1

AU2008323318A1 - Strapping machine for packages

Info

Publication number: AU2008323318A1
Application number: AU2008323318A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Andreas Dufeu; Frank Kegelmann
Original assignee: Cyklop GmbH
Current assignee: Cyklop GmbH
Priority date: 2007-11-13
Filing date: 2008-11-04
Publication date: 2009-05-22
Also published as: WO2009062612A2; DE102007054436A1; DE202007018468U1; EP2207719A2; WO2009062612A3

Description

UNSER ZEICHEN Ck 522 PCT um 21.01.2010 /si OUR REF. Date521.01.2010 ,s Applicant: Cyklop GmbH, Industriestrage 133, D-50996 K51n Title: Strapping machine for packages The invention relates to a strapping machine for packages, comprising a strapping station which entwines the packages with at least one strapping tape and at least one application station for edge protection elements which are applicable between the strapping tape and the package in order to protect the edges of the package in the region of the strapping tape entwining the package. Packages such as boards stacked on a pallet or folded cardboard boxes are frequently for their transport provided with strappings consisting of plastics tapes, which are placed around the package by means of a strapping machine and which hold it securely together for subsequent transport. In particular, packages formed from pressure sensitive materials are provided in their edge regions, prior to the strapping and closure of the straps, with edge protection elements, which generally consist of a thick board and which prevent the strapping tape in the edge region from denting the packages to an inadmissible degree and hence damaging them. The edge protection elements are applied to the edges of the packages with the aid of an application station, before the strapping tape is placed around the package and is tightly braced prior to being heat-sealed. A device of this type is known, for example, from DE 24 31 153 Al. It is often necessary to mark packages which have been strapped in this way and provided with edge protection elements, for example to provide them with the delivery address of the consignee or the name of the consignor of the package, to apply weight or quantity data or to give other data needed in the handling of the package on its way to the consignee, which data should be of sufficient size and easily readable. Since the goods forming the package, such as, for example, 2 empty, folded cardboard boxes, apart from the strappings securing them on the pallet, have no additional packaging which could be provided with an appropriate address label or the like, it has been proposed to apply the necessary data on a separate routing slip, which can then be fastened with the aid of a binding wire or the like to the strapping applied to the package. Similarly, such a routing slip can also be provided with a hole which is sufficiently large to let through the strapping tape, so that, in the creation of the strapping, the tape is jointly threaded through the hole and the routing slip is thereby fastened. In both cases, there is the risk of any such routing slip being torn off from the strapping tape and of the necessary information then no longer being available in the course of the transport. In order to counter this problem, the edge protection boards wedged between the package and the strapping tape to protect the edges of the package have in the past also already been provided with the data to be given, and edge protection elements which have been ready-printed in this way have been removed from a board store and, during the strapping of the packages, applied to the edges thereof. Since the edge protection boards have a relatively large thickness and do not easily tear, this method has often proved the best for applying the necessary data to a package without running the risk of this information being lost during transport and without damaging the goods themselves by the use of adhesive or printer ink. However, the known method can scarcely be used where the data to be given can change from package to package, since the inscriptions are previously printed consistently the same on all edge protection elements placed into the board store and changes in the inscription are subsequently no longer possible. The object of the invention is to improve a strapping machine of the generic type such that the data which, for the marking of the package, are due to be given on the edge protection elements can thus be very flexibly changed.

3 This object is achieved with the invention by the use of a lettering device, assigned to the application station, for lettering of the edge protection elements, wherein the lettering device, in a preferred refinement of the invention, can essentially consist of a printer, in particular an inkjet printer, and/or a labeler. With the invention, it is easily possible to create the lettering or inscription on the edge protection elements only immediately prior to its application to the edges of the package, i.e. the edge protection elements receive their inscription, or a label displaying the same, only following the removal of the respective edge protection element from its supply store, and individually tailored to the package which is just then present in the machine. Even where packages of different type, size, diverse addressees or senders or different weight are due to be strapped with one and the same strapping machine, it is possible with the aid of the additionally provided lettering device, to apply totally diverse letterings, individually tailored to the respective package, to the edge protection elements, before or after these are applied to the package and jointly strapped. If the lettering device consists of an inkjet printer, for example, this can be connected to a controlling computer, at which the operator of the strapping machine can then individually input the various data for diverse packages. The application station preferably has a storage device for the edge protection elements, and a transfer device, which removes the edge protection elements one after the other from the storage device and applies them to that edge of the package which is to be protected, as is known per se. The lettering device is in this case preferably assigned to the transfer device, and the edge protection element which is respectively handled by this same, following its removal from the storage device and prior to or during the application thereof to the package, is provided by the lettering device with the lettering. The storage device can have a stacking shaft for the edge protection elements with a bottom-sided single-extraction device, in which case it is particularly advantageous if the transfer device has a preferably cylinder-operated slide, disposed on the bottom 4 side of the storage device or of the stacking shaft and having a carrier for a single edge protection element. For the driving of the slide, a piston rod-less pneumatic cylinder can in particular be used, which, owing to its small structural size combined with simultaneously high displacement travel, has proved particularly successful. In a further embodiment of the invention, the application station preferably has at least one contact gripper, which grasps the individual edge protection elements at a transfer position and is displaceable parallel to the plane spanned by the strapping tape and which can have, for example, at least one suction device, which, by means of vacuum, holds the individual edge protection element. At the transfer position, the contact gripper takes up the edge protection element removed from the storage device and applies it to the edge which is respectively to be protected, before the package is entwined with the strapping tape and also, at the same time, the edge protection element is jointly fastened to the package. The strapping machine according to the invention preferably has a machine frame, which straddles the package in the manner of a portal and forms the strapping station and comprises two uprising side parts and a height-adjustable pressure bar that can be placed against the top side of the package, and further has two application stations, which are assigned to the two side parts of the machine frame. In this embodiment of the machine, edge protection elements can be affixed in a single work step to two (upper) edges of the package on the left and right sides thereof in the direction of travel. The application stations are preferably adjustable in height jointly with the pressure bar, so that the edge protection elements to be applied to the edges are always in the correct height position when applied to the package, irrespective of how strongly the pressure bar compresses the package during or prior to the strapping operation. Further features and advantages of the invention emerge from the following description and the drawing, wherein a preferred 5 embodiment of the invention is explained in greater detail on the basis of an example, wherein: fig. 1 shows a strapping machine according to the invention in a front view; and fig. 2 shows the subject of fig. 1 in a side view and partially in section. The drawing shows in simplified representation a strapping machine 10 for packages 11, for example for collapsed cardboard boxes 13 stacked on a pallet 12, which, in their stacked position on the pallet, are secured in the strapping machine 2 with one or two strappings 14, represented in dash-dot representation in fig. 1. For the protection of the upper longitudinal edges 15 of the package 11, as the package is entwined with the strapping tapes forming the strappings 14, between these and the package, in the region of the longitudinal edges 15, edge protection elements 16 of thick board or the like are applied, which prevent the tightly tensioned strapping 14 from being able to dig into the cardboard boxes 13. The strapping machine 10 has a roller conveyor 17 for the feeding and evacuation of the packages 11, as well as a machine frame 18, which straddles the conveyor in the manner of a portal and which essentially consists of two uprising side parts 19 and an upper pressure bar 20 fitted in a height-adjustable manner to the side parts, the side parts and the pressure bar having guide channels (not represented), into which the strapping tape to be placed around the package can be shot in a manner which is known per se. The strapping tape is supplied via a lower guide lance 21, which, following correct positioning of the package in the strapping machine, runs transversely to the feed-in direction thereof into the space 22 in the pallet 12 and hereby forms, together with the tape guide channels on the side parts and pressure bar, a tape guide channel running around the package. The strapping tape stored on a supply roller 23, which has an inherent stiffness sufficient for the purpose, is inserted by motorized means into this circumferential 6 tape guide channel, until the front end reaches a welding station (not represented) and is secured there, while the rear end is pulled back again by the lance, whereupon, on those sides of the tape guide channel which point toward the package, spring-loaded flap elements or a flexible tape channel cover allow the strapping tape to exit the tape channel. Prior to the tensioning operation, the edge protection elements 16 are applied to the upper longitudinal edges 15 and, in the course of the tensioning operation, are then wedged between the stack of cardboard boxes and the strapping tapes. The working method - insofar as previously described - of such strapping machines, and their basic design structure, are known and do not need to be described in further detail. The present invention relates, above all, to the handling and treatment of the edge protection elements 16 in their application station, denoted in its entirety by 24, in which they are removed from a storage device 25 and applied to the edges of the package 11 by means of suitable handling devices, before the strappings entwine the package and thereby wedge the edge protection elements between the strappings themselves and the package. According to the invention, the two application stations 24 provided in the represented illustrative embodiment for the edge protection elements 16 on the left and right side of the package are assigned lettering devices 26 for lettering of the edge protection elements, which lettering devices, in the represented illustrative embodiment, essentially consist of a printer disposed in a housing 27, in particular an inkjet printer, of which only the print head 28 is schematically represented in fig. 2. The housings 27 of the two lettering devices 26, with the printers disposed therein, are arranged at the application stations 24 between the storage device 25 and the side parts 19 to which the application stations are respectively assigned. The application stations 24 here essentially consist of, respectively, a stacking shaft 29 forming a storage device and having a bottom-sided single-extraction device 30, with which the edge protection elements received in stacked arrangement in the stacking shaft can be individually extracted from the shaft at the bottom and advanced by means of a pushing unit along a 7 conveyor track configures on a supporting arm 3 initially in the direction of the lettering device 26, where the edge protection elements are provided with an inscription before being further advanced into the working range of the strapping stations 32 configured in the machine frame 18, where they are taken up by contact grippers (not represented) in the form of vacuum suction devices, these being displaceable transversely to the direction of travel of the package and thus parallel to the planes spanned by the strapping tapes, and are applied with the same to the edges 15 of the package. For the transport of the edge protection elements extracted individually from the bottom of the stacking shaft, the single-extraction device 30 has a slide 33 actuated by a piston-rod less pneumatic cylinder 32 and having a carrier 34, the effective height of which is less than the thickness of an edge protection element, so that said carrier, when the stack of edge protection elements accommodated in the stacking shaft is passed under, only ever in each case pushes out the lowermost edge protection element in the direction of the lettering device, while, in its return travel, it can pass under the element stack with an oblique sloping face 35 and can then again reach behind the next edge protection element. With the invention it is possible to provide the edge protection elements removed from the storage device, prior to their contact against the package, with a lettering, for example an inscription or a label stuck on in the lettering device, the lettering produced directly prior to the application of the edge protection element to the package being able to be individually compiled for the package which respectively has just been treated. The lettering device, which for this purpose can expediently be connected to an input computer (not represented), by which the operator of the machine can define the nature of the lettering to be applied, thus allows different letterings to be applied to the edge protection elements, for example diverse consignee names and addresses for the package strapped in the machine, weight and/or quantity data and the like, without elaborate conversions for different packages. As already indicated, it is not necessary for this purpose to print directly on 8 the edge protection elements with the print head 28, but rather it is likewise conceivable to first print in the lettering device on the labels which are stored there, which can then be stuck onto the edge protection elements. Likewise, an embodiment of the invention is also covered, in which the letterings to be applied to the edge protection elements are already stored in the form of preprinted labels in the lettering device, which can prove expedient, in particular, where frequent changing of the lettering to be applied is not anticipated. It is also conceivable to store labels with different-type letterings in the lettering device and then to stick the appropriate label to the edge protection element before this is applied to the package and pressed with strapping tape against the longitudinal edges of the package. With the invention, the possibility is thus created of providing a package, in the strapping machine, with a lettering, an inscription or the like without printing on the goods themselves, by providing the edge protection elements, placed for protection of the package between this and the strapping, with the desired lettering only immediately before they are affixed to the package. This allows maximum possible flexibility in the use of the machine, since totally diverse, optional letterings can be applied to the edge protection elements from package to package.

Claims

1. A strapping machine for packages, comprising a strapping station which entwines the packages with at least one strapping tape, and with at least one application station for edge protection elements which are applicable between the strapping tape and the package in order to protect the edges of the package in the region of the strapping tape entwining the package, characterized by a lettering device- (26), assigned to the application station (24), for lettering of the edge protection elements (16).

2. The strapping machine as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the lettering device (26) essentially consists of a printer (28), in particular an inkjet printer.

3. The strapping machine as claimed in claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the lettering device (26) essentially consists of a labeler.

4. The strapping machine as claimed in one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the application station (24) has a storage device (25) for the edge protection elements (16), and a transfer device (30-34), which removes the edge protection elements (16) one after the other from the storage device (25) and applies them to that edge (15) of the package (11) which is to be protected.

5. The strapping machine as claimed in claim 4, characterized in that the lettering device (26) is assigned to the transfer device (30-34) and provides the edge protection element (16) which is respectively handled by this same with the lettering after the removal thereof from the storage device (25) and prior to or during its application to the package (11). 10

6. The strapping machine as claimed in claim 4 or 5, characterized in that the storage device (25) has a stacking shaft (29) for the edge protection elements (16) with a bottom-sided single extraction device (30).

7. The strapping machine as claimed in one of claims 4 to 6, characterized in that the transfer device (30-34) has a preferably cylinder-operated slide (33), disposed on the bottom side of the storage device (25) or of the stacking shaft (29) and having a carrier (34) for a single edge protection element (16).

8. The strapping machine as claimed in one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that the application station (24) has at least one contact gripper, which grasps the individual edge protection elements (16) at a transfer position and is displaceable parallel to the plane spanned by the strapping tape (14).

9. The strapping machine as claimed in claim 8, characterized in that the contact gripper has at least one suction device, which, by means of vacuum, holds the individual edge protection element (16).

10. The strapping machine as claimed in one of claims 1 to 9, characterized by a machine frame (18), which straddles the package (11) in the manner of a portal and forms the strapping station and comprises two uprising side parts (19) and a height-adjustable pressure bar (20) that can be placed against the top side of the package (11), and further has two application stations (24), which are assigned to the two side parts (19) of the machine frame.

11. The strapping machine as claimed in claim 10, characterized in that the application stations (24) are height-adjustable jointly with the pressure bar (20).