CA1058504A - Device for folding the head portions of inner wrappers in a machine for packeting cigarettes into hinged-lid type packets - Google Patents

Abstract

ABSTRACT

In hinged-lid type cigarette packets, the upper flap protruding from the front wide side of the inner wrapper is, for convenience in the use, folded over the upper flap protruding from the rear wide side of the same inner wrapper.
In some of the conventional soft type packeting machines the folding disposition of the upper flaps is exactly opposite to the one above described, and the present invention provides for a device which allows the use, in a hinged lid type packet-ing machine, of a rotating wrapping head normally used in the soft type packeting machine, since said device reverses the folding disposition of the upper flaps.

Description

` " 105~504 BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an improved device for folding the head portions of inner wrappers in a machine for packeting cigarettes into hinged-lid type packets.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART
The wrapping elements which together form a hinged-lid type packet consist of a tin foil innex wrapper, and an outer wrapper or thin board box.
The inner wrapper can be wound about the cigarette batch according to several wrapping styles: in the contents of the present specif~cation reference will be made to the use of the wrapping style known as "soap style wrap"O
In said wrapping style, the wrapper - obtained from a rectangular length of tin foil - is wound as a tube, and in the direction of its greater dimension, for wrapping the four longitudinal sides of the cigarette batch, thus to have its two extremities paxallel to the axes of the cigarettes.
The cigarette heads, or head portions of the batch, are then covered by folding down thereunto the flaps of the length protruding from the two extremities of each side, by folding - in particular - firstly the flaps protruding from the opposite extremities of the narrow sides of the batch, and then the flaps protruding from the opposite e~tremities of the wide sides of the same batch.
In order to remove the cigarettes from a hinged~lid packet, the upper extremity of the batch is partially opened by firstly lifting the lid of the packet, and then by tearing off a portion of the tin foil inner wrapper. In order to facilitate the latter operation, this portion is bordered by a series of cuts which make the detaching of said portion easier.
Such portion is grasped on the upper flap protruding from the front wide side of the inner wrapper and folded onto ~5~5~9~

the head portion of the batch.
It is obvious, for -this reason, that - in order to make this operation faster - the flap to be grasped has to be over-folded onto the flap protruding from the opposite rear wide side of the same inner wrapper. In other words, it is advisable that - during the manufacturing of the inner wrapper - the flap to be grasped, and forming part of the portion that is to be removed is the last to be folded.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

_ An object of the present invention is to provide a device adapted -to allow the use in a hinged-lid type packeting machine, for the wrapping of cigarette batches into a tin paper inner foil, of a rotating head of the type described with refer-ence to the soft type packeting machine.
A further object is to provide a device for obtaining, in conformity with the above stated object, tin foil inner wrappexs having in correspondence of the ejecting station of a rotating head of the type above described, the flap associated to the upper face superimposed to the flap associated to the lower face, the upper and lower faces being referred to a hori-20ntal plane~
These and other objects are all attained with the improved device, according to the invention, for folding the head portions of inner wrappers in a machine for packeting cigarettes into hinged-lid type packets, said machine sub-stantially comprising: a plurality of stations for folding the wrapping material, each station having a radially compartmented wheel for housing individual cigarette batches to the wrapped;
stationary and movable folding means for folding said wrapping material about said cigarette batches; transfer means for sub-: sequently transferring said cigarettes batches and related wrapping material from one wheel to the next one; and a driving kinematic mechanism substantially comprising a stepwise device ~5~35~4 for step-by-step rotating each wheel, and including a con-tinuously rotating shaft, a driving means for said movable folding means, and a driving means for said transfer means, to the continuously rotating shaft of at least one of said stepwise devices being associated a pair of said movable fold ing means, each pair being formed by two folding blades position-ed on the opposite sides of said wheel in a station wherein successive compartments are brought to dwell, said blades being associated to an oscillatable shaft oscillated by a kinematic mechanism linked to a driving cam keyed on said continuously rotating shaft, which improved apparatus is characterised in that the driving cam for driving the folding blades positioned downstream relative ~o the rotating direction of the related wheel is associated to the corresponding driving kinematic mechanism through a member pivoted oscillatable about a station-ary pivot point and provided in correspondence of points position-ed in an arm lever fashion relative to said pivot point of a cam-follower cooperating with the same driving cam and of a toothing engaging a correspondlng toothing of said oscillatable shaft, the operatXng profile of said cam being configured to drive the associated folding blades to carry out, in the o.rder, a first oscillating movement in a direction opposite to the rotating direction of said wheel, a dwell, a second oscillating movement in a direction opposite to the first oscillating movement, a third oscillating movement in the same direction of said first movement, and a fourth oscill.ating movement in the direction of said second movement to bring said folding blades back to their starting position.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Further features and advantages will be more apparent from the following description of a preferred, but not exclusive, embodiment of the improved device according to the invention, as shown by way of example in the accompanying drawings, in ~6~S~51~
which:
Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a hinged-lid type cigarette packet, some parts having been removed for a clear showing of other parts;
Fig. 2 is a diagrammatic perspective view of a hinged-lid type packeting machine;
Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the driving means for driving the machine of Fig. 2, and for controlling the improved device accordin~ to the invention;
Fig. 4 iS a perspective view of the wrapping wheel of the hinged-lid type packeting machine, and of the improved device according to the present invention; and Fig. 5 shows in a graph form the motion laws relating to a machine cycle of some of the most important parts of the hinged-lid type packeting machine, and of the improved device according to the inYention.
The h~nged~lid t~pe packeting machine, to which refer-ence is made in the present specification, is diagrammatically shown in Flg. 2 In said ~lgure only the rotating heads for carrying out t~e various wrapping operations of the cigarette batches are shown. The means for forming the cigarette batches and fox transferring said batches to the wrapping heads have not been shown since theyrare of conventional type, and well known in the art.
In particular, starting from right to left, the first of said rotatiny heads is supported by a horizontal shaft, and is the station wherein the cigarette batches are wound by a tin foil inner wrapper. A second rotating head, suppoxted by a vertical shaft, follows said first rotating head, and is the station wherein the already wrapper batches are provided, if required, with a reYenue stamp, or with an advertising picture.

It follows, then, a third rotating head also supported by a ~L0S~5~

vertical shaft, for the application of the so called 'collar' and for the feeding of a thin board cut piece; and - at last -a fourth rotating head supported by a horizon~al shaft for obtaining, from said cut pieces, the hinged-lid packets.
It should now be noted that the wrapping style, above defined as "soap style wrap", is also used for obtain-ing the inner wrappers of the soft type cigarette packets (ox American type packets~ produced by a high speed operating cigarette packeting machine manufactured by the same applicant as herein, G~ D. Societa per Azioni, and described for example in Canadian patent applications Serial No. 187,825 filed December 1~, 1973 and Serlal No. 200,~39 filed May 23, 1974.
The hinged-lid type packeting machine, diagrammati-cally shown in Fig. 2, has su~stantially the same structure of the soft type packeting machine described in the above cited patentapplications. This is particularly true for what concerns the means for forming and transferring the cigarette batches, as well as for what concerns the first rotating head for wrapping said bAtches ~ith a tin foil wrapper.
According to what ls known, in said soft type packeting machine the rotating head is intermittently clock-wise moved, and is proYided with eight peripherically and radially disposed c~mpartments.
At each rotational step, one of said compartments comes to dwell in a station, called inlet station, horizontally aligned relative to transferring means for inserting into each of said compartments a cigarette batch, together with a length of wrapping material (tin foil).
As known, the cigarette batch is longitudinally positioned relative to the compartment, and edgewise positioned relative to the axis of the rotating head.

During the rotation of the head, stationary and movable folding means operate to wind the length of wrapping material so ~a~58Sa~4 that to wrap the four longitudinal sides of the cigarette batch, and to fold the flaps protruding from the narrow sides onto the two head portions of the batch.
In the same dwelling position, the flaps protruding from the wide sides are then folded down onto the two head portions, i.e. firstly the upstream flap, relative to the rotating direction of the head, and then the downstream flap.
The choice of such a folding order, rather than the opposite one, it allows to caxry out the final wrapping opera-tions in the simplest way/ and in the shortest time.
It should be noted that, in these conditions, the final folding of the downstream flap can be completed by stationary folding means during the transferring of the com-partment from one to the next dwelling position.
From the above it appears that, during the ejection of a packet from the rotating head, along a horizontal plane diametrally positioned relative to the inlet station, the tin foil inner wrapper presents the upper flap partially super-imposed to the lower flap.
For this reason, and as thereinafter demonstrated, it has to be excluded the passibility of a simple transferring to the hlnged~lid t~pe packeting machine diagrammatically shown in Fig. 2 of the ~irst rotating head used in the soft type packet-ing ~ach~ne. In the hinged-lid type packeting machine, the cigarette batch - wound about the tin foil inner wrapper -maintains, relative to its horizontal supporting plane, and between two subsequent Yertical axis rotating heads, the position which it had when ejected from the first rotating head.
The upper face of the inner wrapper will come to adhere~ in correspondence of the second vertical shaft rotating head, to that surface of -the blank which will form - at the completion of the wrapping operations,- the back surface of the hinged-lid type packet (see Fig. 1~.

~5~ 4 In conclusion, the use of the described rotating head in a hinged-lid type packeting machine of the type dia-grammatically shown in Fig. 2 would result in a hinged-lid type packet different ~rom the one shown in Fig. l, i.e., in a packet having the flap relating the rear wide side of the inner wrapper partially overlapping the flap ~ making part of the removable portion - relating the front wide side of the same wrapper, and this in contrast with what is above stated.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
~ ith particular reference to Fig. 3, with l is indicated an electric motor for driving the machine diagrammati-cally shown in Fig. 2. From shaft 2 of said motor, the drive is transmitted, through belt 3 and pulley 4, to a horizontal shaft 5 having a gear wheel 6 keyed on one end thereof.
The gear w~eel 6, through an idle gear 7, drives a gear 8 keyed on the right end of a shaft 9, parallel to shaft 5. On shaft 9 are further keyed, starting from right to left, t~o grooved driving cams 10 and ll, the task of which will be described thereinafter. On the left end of shaft 9 is keyed a conventional device 12 formed by an arcuated sector and by an idle roller for intermlttently operating an eight-spaces Maltese cross 13.
The Maltese cross 13 is keyed on a tubular sleeve 14 to which is fastened, externally to the machine's bed ~not shown), a cylindrically shaped rotating head or wheel 15, detailed shown in Fig. 4, for wrapping cigarette batches each into a tin foil wrapper.
The rotating head 15, fed with cigarette batches by 3~ a two compartmented wheel 16 ~see Fig. 2), and feeding in its`
turn a vertical axis rotating wheel 17, is intermittently and clockwlse rotated, with a 45 rotation for each intermittence, and is provided with eight radially disposed compartments 18, ~58~

peripherally positioned at 45 one from the other.
The rotating head 15 is substantially formed by two coaxially disposed disks 19 and 20, spaced apart of a distance corresponding to the length of a cigarette, and fastened one to the other by rods 21 parallel to the rotation axis of the head.
The compartments 18, obtained by radially cutting the body of the head 15, are adapted to contain parallelepipedon forms having dimensions corresponding to those of the cigarette batches longitudinally and edgewise positioned relative to ~; said rotating axis. Said compartments 18 are each provided with an inlet opening positioned on the cylindrical outline of head 15, and are opened ~t the two longitudinal ends.
On the right, viewing Fig. 4, of the rotating head 15, along a vertical plane are conventionally fed rectangular lengths 22 of tin foil wrapping material each provided, on a corner, with a weakening line 23 obtained with the device des-cribed in the Canadian application Serial No. 225,730 filed April 29, 1975, in the name of the same applicant as herein.
In order to make easier the understanding of the following description, the lengths 22 are each subdivided by theoretic folding dash-marked lines, into areas or panels delimiting the various faces of the inner wrapper. Such areas are indicated, from top to bottom, with the reference numerals 24, 25, 26, 27 and 28, while the same reference numerals with the addition of an tnde~ ~') .tndicate the two extremities, or flaps, of each of said areas forming, as it will be described thereinafter, the two head portions of the inner wrapper.
The compartments 18 are each brought to dwell in sequence in llne with an inlet station I.
As described in the above-noted Canadian applications No. 187,825 and No. 200,839, the transferring of a cigarette batch with a moYement transversely directed relative to the cb/ - 8 -5~
axes of the same cigarettes, together with a length of wrapping materiall into a compartment 18 dwelling in line with the station I is carried out by a pusher 29 cooperating with a counter-pusher 30, both carried by horizontal shafts, and reciprocatingl~ and radially moved relative to the rotating head 15.
In its forward strokel the counter~pusher 30 back-: wardly approaches (viewing Fig.4~ a length 22 of tin foil wrapping material standing in proximity of station I, thus carrying the panel 26 to adhere to the left side of the cigar-ette batch.
During the introduction of the cigarette batch into a compartment 18, the two panels 25 and 27 are progressively folded onto the upper and lower layers of cigarettes forming the batch. ~s soon as the introduction of the batch into the compartment is completed, ~hile the counter-pusher 30 moves further away from panel 26, the pusher 29 begins its backward stroke.
The cigarettesare held within the compartment 18 by the intervention of rectangular plates 31 and 32 synchronously moyed to engage the longitudinal extremities of the outer side, relative to the rotation axis of head 15, of the cigarette batch.
Plates 31 and 32 are integral with the extremities of arms 33, 34 oscillating on the same radial plane, and about fulcra carried by the disks 19 and 20~
Each compartment 18 is provided with arms 33 and 34, and the same arms do constitute two symmetrical systems relative to -the rotating head 15.
Idle rollers 35 are provided near the fulcra of arms 33 and 34, and cam means ~not shown in the figures, but describ-: ed in the above-noted application No. 200,839) impart to arms 33 and 34 - through said rollers 35 an oscillatin~ movement ~ ~os~sO4 to approach and remove the plates 31 and 32 towards and away frorn the relative compartment 18. After intervention of plates 31 and 32, and with compartment 18 stlll dwelling in station I~
the two flaps 26' are folded over and against the head portions of the cigarette batch.
The head 15 is then rotated clockwise, and the con-sidered compartment 18 transferred up to a station II position-ed at 45 from the inlet station I.
During the dwelling in station II, the flap 24, protruding from the upper part of compartment 18, is folded down by a hoe-shaped folder 36, tangentially to the cylindrical surface of rotating head 15, and folds said flap 24 over the outer side of the cigaretta batch.
The head 15 is further rotated up to station III, positloned at 90 relative to the inlet station I. During said later .rotation, and before that panel 24 be abandoned by folder 36, the panel 28 is overturned by a stationary guide 37 concentric to the rotating head 15, and circumscribing the outline of the same head starting from said station II up to a station V for ejecting the wrapped batches.
During these phases, the two plates 31 and 32 con-ventionally act as counteracting elements against the action of the folder 36, and of the stationary guide 37, thus avoid-ing damages to the cigarettes, and further allowing to obtain ~ell defined corners between panels 25 and 24, and between panels 27 and 28, During the transferring of a compartment 18 from station II up to station III, the cited cam means causes the opening o~ arms 33 and 34, and the removal of plates 31 and 32 from between the overlapped panels 24 and 28.
The cigarette batch, partially wrapped by the length 22, is impeded to move relative to compartment 18 by the station-ary guide 37.

`` ~0~8~

The considered compar-tment 1~ is then rotated up to station I~. In said station IV the stationary guide 37 is interrupted to allow the insertion of a bloc]~ member 38, to which an oscillating motion is imparted by means described in the above cited application No. 200,~39.
The block member 38 is firstly oscillated and brought to act onto the overlapped panels 24 and 28, thus maintaining said panels in their relative overlapped position. The two flaps 24' and 2~', forming the extremities of panels 24 and 28, are then folded over and onto the two head portions of the ci~arette batch.
This is carried out by means of oscillating folders 39 (only one is shown in Fig. 4), described in detail, together with their own driving means - in the above cited application NoO 200,839.
At the end of such operation, and during the same dwell, the flaps 27' protruding from the two disks of the rotating head, and downstream relative to the head rotating direction are folded over the two head portions of the batch.
The folding of the flaps 27' is carried out by a first pair of oscillating folding blades 40 and 41, edgewise engaging said flaps 27' during their forward stroke, thus folding the same flaps onto the opposite head portions of the cigarette batch.
Blades 40 and 41 are secured to a common oscillatable shaft 42, parallel to shaft 9, and provided at one end thereof with a toothed sector 43, meshing with a toothing provided on a vertex of an oscillatable member in the form of a triangular plate 44, another vertex of which plate 44 is pivoted on a stationary plvot pointo~-~pin 45 fastened to the bed of the machine. A third vertex of plate 44 is provlded with an idle cam follower 46 engaging the groove of cam 10.
The groove of cam 10 has a profile so made that, ~OS8S~

at the end of their ~orward oscilla~ing stroke, the two fold-ing blades 40 and 41 stay at rest until completion of the fold-ing of flaps 25', protruding from the side disks 19 and 20 of the rotating head 15, upstream relative to the rotating direction of the same head.
The folding of flaps 25' is carried out by a second pair of oscillating blades 47 and 48 which, during -their forward oscillating stroke, fold down the two flaps 25' onto the blades 40 and 41 t the latter acting - in this stage - as counteracting rigid elements, and with a task substantially equal to that of plates 31 and 32.
Blades 47 and 48 are integral with a common shaft 49, on which a gear 50 is also keyed. Gear 50 engages a toothed sector carried b~ one extremity of a lever 51 secured to a shaft 52 fastened to a second lever 53 provided with an idle cam follower engaging the groove of cam 11.
Blades ~0 and 41, therefore, during their backward oscillating stroke disengage themselves from beneath the flaps 25', and said flaps 25' come consequently to rest onto the underlying flaps 27' During the backward oscillating stroke of blades 47 and 48, and before their disengagement from the head portions of the wrapper, the blades 40 and 41 are again oscillated, thus overlapping flaps 25'.
The continuous presence of retaining means tightly contacting the two head portions of the wrapper has, during this stage of the wrapping operation of the cigarette batch, the essential task of avoiding that the flaps 25' folded, for the purpose above mentioned, in a direction opposite to the rotating direction of head 15, could interfere - at the beginning of the rotation of said head - with the same blades 40 and 41 or, as it will be seen thereinafter, with downstream positioned guiding means.

` ` l~S~5~14 As soon as bloc~ member 38 has disengayed the panels 24 and 28, i.e., after completion of its task of containing and holding the cigarette batch and of the related wrapper within compartment 18, the head 15 is further rotated to transfer the considered compartment up to the ejection station V.
The adhesion of flaps 27' and 25' against the opposite head portions of the batch is assured, during the starting phase of this last transferring, by the blades 40 and 41 still adher-ing to the extremities of the compartment also during their back-ward oscillatlng stro~e and then, without any discontinuitysolution, by t~o lateral crown shaped guides 54 and 55 (only one is shown in Fig, 4) adherlng to the opposite sides of the rotating head 15.
In said station V, diametrically opposite to the inlet station I, the ejection of the wrapped batch is carried out by a pusher 56 reciprocatingly moved, and radially position-ed relative to head 15.
The pusher 56 engages, in a conventional manner, the wrapped batch along its inner side, while a counter-pusher 57 engages the outer slde of the same wrapped batch. The batch is thus transferred onto a vertically and reciprocatingly movable elevator 58, dwelling in its uppermost:' position at the same lever of station V.
The elevator 58, cooperating with a counter-elevator 59 which approaches the upper face of the wrapper, at the end of its down~ardly directed stroke transfers the wrapped batch into one of a plurality of compartments ~0 of the vertical shaft rotating head 17.
The graphs of Fig. 5 diagrammatically show, in function of rotation degrees of a common driving shaft ~for example, shaft 91, the laws that govern the dwells and movements of rotati~ng head 15, of shaft 4~2-to which the first pair of fold-ing blades 40 and 41 are associated, and of shaft 49 to which ~OS8S(l ~
the second pair of folding blades 47 and 48 are associated.
In the graph relating the rotating head 15 the portion coinciding with the hori~ontal axis represents the dwelling time, and the dashed area represents the movement times; in the graph relating the shafts 42 and 49 the hori%ontal portions indicate the dwelling times, the upwardly directed portions represent the forward movement times, and the downwardly 8 directed portions represent the backward movement times.

Claims (3)

THE EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION IN WHICH AN EXCLUSIVE
PROPERTY OR PRIVILEGE IS CLAIMED ARE DEFINED AS FOLLOWS:

1. Improved device for folding the head portion of inner wrappers in a machine for packeting cigarettes into hinged-lid type packets, said machine substantially comprising: a plur-ality of stations for folding the wrapping material, each station having a radially compartmented wheel for housing individual cigarette batches to be wrapped; stationary and movable folding means for folding said wrapping material about said cigarette batches; transfer means for substantially transferring said cig-arette batches and related wrapping material from one wheel to the next wheel; and a driving kinematic mechanism substantially com-prising a stepwise device for step-by-step rotating each wheel, and including a continuously rotating shaft, a driving means for said movable folding means, and a driving means for said transfer means, to the continuously rotating shaft of at least one of said stepwise devices being associated a pair of said movable folding means, each pair being formed by two folding blades positioned on the opposite sides of said wheel in a station wherein success-ive compartments are brought to dwell, said blades being assoc-iated to an oscillatable shaft oscillated by a kinematic mech-anism linked to a driving cam keyed on said continuously rotat-ing shaft, characterized in that the driving cam for driving the folding blades positioned downstream relative to the rotating direction of the related wheel is associated with the correspond-ing driving kinematic mechanism by an oscillatable member pivot-able about a stationary pivot point and which oscillatable member is provided with contacts positioned in lever fashion with res-pect to the stationary pivot point and which contacts consists of a cam-follower contacting the said driving cam, and toothing adapted to engage toothing on said oscillatable shaft, the operat-ing profile of said cam being configured to drive the associated folding blades to carry out, in order, a first oscillating move-ment in a direction opposite to the rotating direction of said wheel, a dwell, a second oscillating movement in a direction op-posite to the first oscillating movement, a third oscillating movement in the same direction of said first movement, and a fourth oscillating movement in the direction of said second move-ment to bring said folding blades to their starting position.

2. Improved device according to claim 1, wherein said oscillatable member is a triangular plate, in relation to the vertices of which are provided said pivot point, said cam follower and said toothing.

3. Improved device according to claim 2, wherein the toothing of the oscillatable member is an arcuated toothed sector.