CN112292327B

CN112292327B - Drawer, relative feeding method and packaging machine for smoking articles

Info

Publication number: CN112292327B
Application number: CN201980039063.9A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 安杰洛·利·维尼; 吉贝托·斯皮里托; 卢卡·费代里奇
Original assignee: GD SpA
Current assignee: GD SpA
Priority date: 2018-06-27
Filing date: 2019-06-27
Publication date: 2022-11-08
Anticipated expiration: 2039-06-27
Also published as: IT201800006711A1; EP3814236B1; EP3814236A1; WO2020003199A1; CN112292327A; PL3814236T3

Abstract

A drawer (20) suitable for housing a group of smoking articles (6) and a collar (9); the drawer (20) has a recess (24) with a tubular shape and a rectangular cross section, suitable for housing the group of smoking articles (6) and the collar (9), and has a first opening (25) through which the group of smoking articles (6) can be inserted and a second opening (26) opposite to the first opening (25) through which the group of smoking articles (6) and the collar (9) can be extracted together from the drawer (20). At least one wall (27) of the recess (24) has a step (31) arranged close to the first opening (25), locally reducing the size of the recess (24), and having a thickness at least equal to the corresponding thickness of the collar (9).

Description

Drawer, relative feeding method and packaging machine for smoking articles

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a drawer suitable for housing groups of smoking articles and collars, a method for feeding groups of smoking articles and collars to a drawer, and a packing machine for smoking articles provided with a wrapping conveyor having a drawer.

The invention applies to the manufacture of packets of cigarettes, to which the following description will explicitly refer without thereby loosing in generality.

Background

The cigarette packs comprise a wrapper formed by a group of cigarettes wrapped in a wrapper sheet, and an outer shell, usually formed by a rigid box with a hinged lid obtained by folding a rigid blank around the wrapper.

When the wrapper is sealed and has a cigarette extraction opening at the top and front, closed by a reusable closure label, a "U" shaped collar is typically provided inside the wrapper (in direct contact with the cigarette). In this case, the feeding of the collar is complicated, since the collar must be arranged and maintained in a precise position in contact with the group of cigarettes without adhering to the group of cigarettes (wherein the group of cigarettes does not provide a uniform support surface and does not have a stable shape); in fact, only subsequent folding of the wrapping sheet around the group of cigarettes can stabilize the position of the collar.

Patent application EP2008935A1 describes a method for coupling an insert (for example a collar) to a group of cigarettes: feeding a group of cigarettes to a first seat of the recess, which is adapted to receive the group of cigarettes, and feeding an insert (collar) to a second seat of the recess, which is adapted to receive the insert (collar) and is separate from the first seat; and extracting the group of cigarettes and the insert (collar) together from the recess by a single common extraction means, in order to couple the insert (collar) to the group of cigarettes.

However, the method proposed in patent application EP2008935A1 has the drawback of requiring the insertion of a collar (which is an incompressible and deformable body) into a second seat of the recess, into which the collar enters with little clearance; feeding the collar into the second seat of the recess therefore requires a high precision of the positioning of the collar and a good control of the configuration of the collar. Thus, when the packaging machine achieves a high production rate (typically measured as the number of packages produced per minute), feeding the collar into the second seat of the recess may become complicated.

Patent application EP1854725A1 describes a packaging machine for packaging groups of cigarettes by respective collars. The packaging machine comprises a plurality of rigid wrapping pockets, each having a substantially tubular first portion and a second portion aligned with the first portion, the second portion being "C" shaped with an outwardly facing concave surface; each wrapping recess is fed through a first loading station, in which a "U" -shaped folded collar is fed into a second portion of the wrapping recess, then through a second loading station, in which the wrapped group of cigarettes is fed axially into the wrapping recess through the first portion of the wrapping recess until a temporary relative position is reached with respect to the collar, and finally through an unloading station, in which an axial movement is applied to the wrapped group of cigarettes with respect to the collar, so as to arrange the wrapped group of cigarettes in a final relative position with respect to the collar.

Disclosure of Invention

The object of the present invention is to provide a drawer suitable for housing groups of smoking articles and collars, a method for feeding groups of smoking articles and collars to a drawer and a packing machine for smoking articles provided with a wrapping conveyor having a drawer, which are free from the above-mentioned drawbacks, while being simple and inexpensive to implement.

According to the invention, a drawer adapted to accommodate groups of smoking articles and collars, a method for feeding groups of smoking articles and collars to a drawer and a packing machine for smoking articles provided with a wrapping conveyor having a drawer are provided.

Embodiments of the invention which form an integral part of the specification are described below.

Drawings

The invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, which show non-limiting examples of embodiments of the invention, and in which:

FIG. 1 is a front perspective view of a closed configuration of a cigarette package made in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a rear perspective view of the cigarette package of FIG. 1 in a closed configuration;

FIG. 3 is a front perspective view of the cigarette package of FIG. 1 in an open configuration;

FIG. 4 is a front perspective view of the wrapper of the package of FIG. 1 in a closed configuration;

figure 5 is a perspective view of a group of cigarettes enclosed in the wrapper of figure 4;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a collar coupled to the group of cigarettes of FIG. 5 and enclosed in the wrapper of FIG. 4;

FIG. 7 is a plan view of a heat sealable wrapper sheet for making the wrapper of FIG. 4;

fig. 8 is a perspective schematic view of a portion of a cigarette packaging machine suitable for producing the wrap of fig. 4;

figure 9 is a perspective schematic view of a variation of the cigarette wrapping machine of figure 8;

figure 10 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the drawer of the wrapping conveyor of the cigarette wrapping machine of figure 8;

figure 11 is a front view of the drawer of figure 10;

figure 12 is a perspective view of the extraction of the upper wall of a portion of the drawer of figure 10;

figures 13a to 13g show the feeding of the collar of figure 6, the group of cigarettes of figure 5 and the wrapping sheet of figure 7 to the drawer of figure 10 in sequence;

figures 14a to 14b show two different possibilities for housing the group of cigarettes of figure 5 in the drawer of figure 10;

figure 15 is a longitudinal section of a variant of the drawer of figure 10;

figure 16 is a longitudinal section on an enlarged scale of a detail of a variant of the drawer of figure 10; and

figure 17 is a longitudinal section on an enlarged scale of the detail of another variant of the drawer of figure 10.

Detailed Description

In fig. 1, 2 and 3, numeral 1 indicates the entire rigid packet of cigarettes. Packet 1 of cigarettes comprises a cup-shaped outer container 2 made of cardboard or rigid paperboard and a sealing wrapper 3 (better shown in figure 8) housed inside container 2.

The outer container 2 has an open upper end and is provided with a lid 4 which is cup-shaped and is hinged to the outer container 2 along a hinge 5 (shown in fig. 2) to rotate relative to the outer container 2 between an open position (shown in fig. 3) and a closed position (shown in fig. 1 and 2) of the open upper end.

The sealing wrap 3 encloses a parallelepiped-shaped group 6 of cigarettes (partially shown in figure 3 and fully shown in figure 5); furthermore, the sealing wrap 3 has a cigarette extraction opening 7 at the top and front, which opening is closed by a reusable closure label 8.

The sealing wrap 3 comprises a collar 9, i.e. a stiffening element (shown in figure 6), made of cardboard or rigid paperboard (completely similar to the cardboard or rigid paperboard forming the outer container 2), which is "U" -shaped and is arranged inside the sealing wrap 3 in contact with the group of cigarettes 6. Collar 9 comprises a rectangular front wall 10, arranged in contact with the front wall of group 6 of cigarettes, and a pair of side walls 11, connected to opposite sides of front wall 10 and arranged in contact with the side walls of group 6 of cigarettes. Front wall 10 has a window arranged on the upper part, which is delimited by an edge 12 having a "U" shape and facilitates the extraction of cigarettes from group 6 of cigarettes when it exposes an upper region of the front wall of group 6 of cigarettes.

The function of the collar 9 is to give the sealing wrap 3 greater rigidity and greater shape stability, so as to prevent the sealing wrap 3 from collapsing on itself after some of the cigarettes contained in the sealing wrap 3 have been extracted, thereby complicating the extraction of the remaining cigarettes, in particular the opening and subsequent reclosing of the closure label 8. Another function of the collar 9 is to provide sufficient mechanical protection to the cigarette during formation and handling of the sealing wrap 3. Finally, a further function of the collar 9 is to keep the lid 4 in the closed position, since, in order to pass the lid 4 from the closed position to the open position (and vice versa), it is necessary to deform slightly the upper and front portions of the collar 9 in an elastic manner.

It will be appreciated that the collar 9 may have a different configuration to that shown in figure 6. For example, the collar 9 may have a bottom wall or may have side walls 11 having a height lower than the height of the front wall 10.

As shown in fig. 7, the sealing wrap 3 is obtained by folding a heat-sealable wrapping sheet 13 having a rectangular shape, which is folded around the group of cigarettes 6 and, once folded, is stabilized by heat-sealing (i.e. the overlapping portions of the wrapping sheet 13 are joined to each other in a stable manner by heat-sealing). The wrapper sheet 13 has a "U" shaped cut and defines an extraction opening 7 for sealing the wrapper 3; furthermore, a closure label 8 completely covering the cut, i.e. the extraction opening 7, is glued to the wrapping sheet 13.

In figure 8, numeral 14 generally indicates a part of a packaging machine for making packets 1 of cigarettes as described above; in particular, fig. 8 shows a first portion of a packaging machine 14, in which the sealing wrap 3 is made by folding a wrapping sheet 13 around the group 6 of cigarettes coupled to the collar 9, and downstream of the first portion a second portion (known and not shown), in which a box with hinged lid is formed around the sealing wrap 3 by folding a rigid blank around the sealing wrap 3.

The packing machine 14 includes: a forming unit 15, in which groups 6 of cigarettes coupled to respective collars 9 are formed continuously; a preliminary folding unit 16, in which a respective wrapping sheet 13 is folded in a "U" shape around each group 6 of cigarettes; a transverse folding unit 17, in which each wrapping sheet 13 is transversely folded at the bottom wall of the respective group 6 of cigarettes so as to form a tubular wrapper; and a longitudinal folding unit 18, in which each wrapper sheet 13 is folded longitudinally at the side walls of the respective group 6 of cigarettes to complete the formation of the sealing wrap 3.

The wrapping machine 14 comprises a wrapping conveyor 19 comprising a plurality of drawers 20 (one of which is shown in figures 10 to 12) adapted to accommodate the respective groups 6 of cigarettes and collars 9 and to feed them in steps (i.e. with a law of motion of cyclically alternating motion steps and stationary steps) along a wrapping path P1 through the forming unit 15 and the preliminary folding unit 16.

According to a preferred (but not limiting) embodiment, each drawer 20 of the wrapping conveyor 19 forms a hollow folding mandrel around which the wrapping sheet 13 is folded in a "U" shape; in other words, wrapping sheet 13 is initially folded in a "U" around a drawer 20 of wrapping conveyor 19, which accommodates group 6 of cigarettes coupled to collar 9, and subsequently group 6 of cigarettes coupled to collar 9 is inserted into the wrapping sheet when "U" folded wrapping sheet 13 is extracted from drawer 20.

Preferably, the drawer 20 projects in cantilever fashion from the wrapping conveyor 19, i.e. each drawer 20 is fixed to the wrapping conveyor 19 only at a first end and at a second end opposite the first end is free from the wrapping conveyor 19 and relatively far from the wrapping conveyor 19.

In the non-limiting embodiment shown in the figures, the wrapping conveyor 19 comprises a belt wound around end pulleys (one of which is motorized) and moving in steps along a closed loop path; alternatively, the wrapping conveyor 19 comprises a wheel mounted so as to be rotatable about a central axis of rotation.

The first feeding station S1 is arranged along the wrapping path P1, wherein the collar 9 is fed to each drawer 20 by entering the drawer 20 in the direction D1. A second feeding station S2 is arranged along wrapping path P1 and downstream of first feeding station S1, in which groups 6 of cigarettes are fed into the same drawer 20 in a direction D2 opposite to direction D1; in particular, forming unit 15 comprises a hopper (schematically illustrated) arranged at second feeding station S2 and provided with four outlet mouths for feeding four groups 6 of cigarettes simultaneously to respective drawers 20 of wrapping conveyor 19 moving in steps along wrapping path P1.

The preliminary folding unit 16 is arranged downstream of the forming unit 15 along the wrapping conveyor 19 (i.e. along the wrapping path P1). In the preliminary folding unit 16 and at the third feeding station S3, each drawer 20 is coupled to a corresponding wrapping sheet 13 folded in a "U" around the drawer 20 (housing the group 6 of cigarettes and the collar 9).

The transverse folding unit 17 comprises a wrapping conveyor 21 which receives the formed sealed wrappers 3 in succession from the wrapping conveyor 19 in the transfer station S4 (each sealed wrapper being formed by a wrapping sheet 13 folded in a "U" shape around the respective group 6 of cigarettes coupled to the collar 9) and feeds the formed sealed wrappers 3 in succession along a circular folding path P2. In other words, in the third feeding station S3, the wrapping sheet 13 is folded "U" around the drawer 20 (housing the group 6 of cigarettes coupled to the collar 9), and then in the transfer station S4, the group 6 of cigarettes coupled to the collar 9 coming out of the drawer 20 enters the wrapping sheet 13 folded "U", with consequent folding of the wrapping sheet 13 into a "U".

Wrapping conveyor 21 comprises a wrapping wheel 22 rotating in steps about a central axis of rotation 23 (i.e. with a law of motion of cyclically alternating movement steps and stationary steps) and provided with a plurality of peripheral recesses, each of which is adapted to accommodate a corresponding sealing wrap 3 being formed (i.e. group 6 of cigarettes is coupled to collar 9 and partially wrapped in a wrapping sheet 13). The transverse folding unit 17 comprises folding means (known and not shown) which fold the wrapping sheet 13 in a known manner so as to give the wrapping sheet 13a tubular shape. The transverse folding unit 17 also comprises welding means (known and not shown) which stabilize each wrapping sheet 13 of tubular shape by heat sealing.

At the end of the transverse folding unit 17 (i.e. at the entrance of the longitudinal folding unit 18), each wrapping sheet 13 has a tubular shape with two lateral edges open at the lateral walls of the group 6 of cigarettes. The longitudinal folding unit 18 comprises a wrapping conveyor (known and not shown) which receives in succession, in the transfer station S5, the formed sealed wrappers 3 (each formed by folding a wrapper sheet 13 into a tubular shape around a corresponding group 6 of cigarettes coupled to the collar 9) coming from the longitudinal wrapping conveyor 21, and advances along a folding path P3, which is rectilinear and arranged perpendicularly to the folding path P2. The transfer station S5 is opposite the transfer station S4 and is arranged at 180 ° along the wrapping path P2 with respect to the transfer station S4. The longitudinal folding unit 18 comprises folding means (known and not shown) which fold the two open lateral edges of each tubular wrapping sheet 13 in a known manner to complete the formation of the sealed wrapper 3; preferably, the folding means of the longitudinal folding unit 18 are passive (i.e. they have no moving parts at all) and comprise only a fixed folding helix. Longitudinal folding unit 18 also comprises welding means (known and not shown) which stabilize each sealing wrap 3 by heat-sealing the overlapped portions of wrapping sheet 13 at the lateral walls of group 6 of cigarettes.

As shown in fig. 8, the preliminary folding unit 16 comprises a feeding conveyor which feeds the wrapping sheets 13 continuously along a rectilinear feeding path P4; for example, the feeding conveyor comprises two conveyor belts, closed in a loop, arranged at opposite ends of the wrapping sheet 13 and holding the wrapping sheet 13 by suction. The feeding path P4 has a section parallel to and alongside the wrapping path P1 at a third feeding station S3, in which each wrapping sheet 13 is transferred from the feeding conveyor to the drawer 20 of the wrapping conveyor 19 to be coupled to the drawer 20 as described above. A wrapping device (known and not shown) is coupled to the wrapping conveyor 19, which folds the wrapping sheet 13 in a "U" shape around the drawer 20 as previously described.

According to an alternative and fully equivalent embodiment, not shown, each wrapping sheet 13 is fed straight at transfer station S4 and is folded around group 6 of cigarettes coupled to collar 9 in a "U" shape as group 6 of cigarettes enters the pocket of wrapping wheel 22; in other words, in this embodiment, each drawer 20 is not a mandrel around which the wrapping sheet 13 is folded, but the wrapping sheet 13 is fed downstream of the drawer 20 without touching the drawer 20.

Fig. 9 shows a variant of the packaging machine 14 shown in fig. 8. In particular in the packaging machine 14 shown in fig. 9, the wrapping conveyor 19 is entirely linear and the wrapping conveyor 21 is also linear. Moreover, in the preliminary folding unit 16 of the wrapping machine 14 shown in fig. 8, the wrapping sheet 13 initially has a more open shape forming a folding angle greater than 90 ° and therefore assumes its final shape when the group 6 of cigarettes coupled to the collar 9 leaves the corresponding drawer 20 of the wrapping conveyor 19 together with the wrapping sheet 13; in contrast, in the preliminary folding unit 16 of the packaging machine 14 shown in fig. 9, when the wrapping sheet 13 is folded around the drawer 20 of the wrapping conveyor 19, it immediately assumes the final shape it already has.

In the non-limiting embodiment shown in the figures, the longitudinal folding unit 18 comprises a linear wrapping conveyor with pushers that feed the sealing wrappers 3 through a fixed folding channel; alternatively, the longitudinal folding unit 18 comprises a circular wrapping conveyor (i.e. a wrapping wheel mounted so as to be rotatable about a central axis of rotation).

As shown in fig. 10, 11 and 12, each drawer 20 (adapted to house group 6 of cigarettes and collar 9) has a recess 24 with a tubular shape and rectangular section developing around a longitudinal axis and adapted to house group 6 of cigarettes and collar 9, and each drawer has a first opening 25 through which group 6 of cigarettes is axially inserted (i.e. parallel to the longitudinal axis of recess 24 and to the longitudinal axis of the cigarettes) 25 and a second opening 26 opposite to first opening 25, collar 9 is initially axially inserted through second opening 26 (i.e. parallel to the longitudinal axis of recess 24), group 6 of cigarettes and collar 9 are subsequently axially extracted (i.e. parallel to the longitudinal axis of recess 24 and to the longitudinal axis of the cigarettes) and are extracted together with drawer 20.

In the embodiment shown in the figures, the recess 24 of each drawer 20 has a rectangular cross section; typically, the shape of recess 24 assumes the shape of group 6 of cigarettes, so if group 6 of cigarettes has a non-rectangular cross section (for example, triangular or trapezoidal), recess 24 will also have a non-rectangular cross section (for example, triangular or trapezoidal).

Each recess 24 is defined by: a bottom wall 27 on which the collar 9 rests, in particular the front wall 10 of the collar 9, two side walls 28 parallel and opposite to each other and perpendicular to the bottom wall 27 and on which the collar 9 rests, in particular the side walls 11 of the collar, and an upper wall 29 parallel and opposite to the bottom wall 27. The bottom wall 27 may serve as a first wall and the side wall 28 may serve as a second wall. The upper wall 29 has a thickness less than the

other walls

27 and 28 and is centrally crossed by a slit 30 through which passes a control rod of the pusher which withdraws the group 6 of cigarettes coupled to the collar 9 from the recess 24 of the drawer 20.

In each drawer 20, the bottom wall 27 of the recess 24 has a first step 31, which is arranged close to (at) the first opening 25, locally reduces the size of the recess 24, and has a thickness at least equal to the corresponding thickness of the collar 9 (in particular of the front wall 10 of the collar 9). In other words, the first step 31 is (closer) to the first opening 25 than to the second opening 26, i.e. the first step 31 is (to a large extent) moved towards the first opening 25, thus closer to the first opening 25 and further away from the second opening 26.

According to a preferred embodiment, the thickness of the first step 31 is slightly greater than the corresponding thickness of the collar 9, so as to ensure that the first step 31 is always slightly higher than the collar 9, thus avoiding constructional tolerances and positioning inaccuracies. For example, the thickness of the collar 9 is typically in the range of 0.3 mm to 0.5 mm, while the thickness of the first step 31 is typically in the range of 0.5 to 0.8 mm.

According to the preferred but non-limiting embodiment shown in the figures, the side wall 28 of the recess 24 also has two second steps 32, which are a natural continuation of the first step 31 (as clearly shown in fig. 12), and are entirely similar to the first step 31; thus, each second step 32 is arranged close to (at) the first opening 25, locally reducing the size of the recess 24, and has a thickness at least equal to the corresponding thickness of the collar 9 (in particular the side wall 11 of the collar 9).

According to a possible embodiment shown in fig. 10, 11 and 12, the first step 31 and the second step 32 each have a respective inner wall inside the recess 24, which protrudes from the bottom wall 27 or the side wall 28 of the recess 24, is straight and perpendicular to the bottom wall 27 or the side wall 28 of the recess 24. According to the variant shown in fig. 16, the first step 31 and the second step 32 each have, inside the recess 24, a respective inner wall which protrudes from the bottom wall 27 or from the side wall 28 of the recess 24, is straight and forms an acute angle (equal to 60 ° according to fig. 16) with the bottom wall 27 or with the side wall 28 of the recess 24. According to another variant shown in fig. 17, the first step 31 and the second step 32 each have a respective inner wall inside the recess 24, which wall protrudes from the bottom wall 27 or from the side wall 28 of the recess 24 and each has a groove having a thickness at least equal to the corresponding thickness of the collar 9.

According to a possible (but non-limiting) embodiment shown in fig. 15, the bottom wall 27 and the side wall 28 of the recess 24 are provided with suction to hold the collar 9; in other words, a suction hole 33 is provided through the

walls

27 and 29 of the recess 24, which can be connected to a suction source to suck the collar 9 by suction (at least between the first feeding station S1, in which the collar 9 is inserted in the recess 24, and the second feeding station S2, in which the group 6 of cigarettes is inserted in the recess 24).

As better shown in fig. 14a to 14b, the bottom wall 27 of the recess 24 (and therefore the recess 24) has an axial dimension from the edges of the first step 31 and of the second step 32 to the second opening 26 that is at least equal to the axial dimension of the collar 9 (and therefore of the group 6 of cigarettes, which is substantially equal to the axial dimension of the collar 9). In this way, the entire collar 9 can be accommodated in the recess 24 upstream of the first and

second steps

31, 32, i.e. between the first and

second steps

31, 32 and the second opening 26.

The supply of groups 6 of cigarettes, collar 9 and wrapping sheet 13 by means of drawer 20 will be described below with reference to figures 13a to 13 g.

As shown in fig. 13a and 13b, at the beginning of the wrapping path P1, the drawer 20 is arranged in the first feeding station S1, in which a "U" -shaped collar 9 (shown in fig. 6) is axially fed into the recess 24, this collar entering from the second opening 26 and following the direction D1; the collar 9 enters the recess 24 and is arranged in contact with the first step 31 and the second step 32, i.e. it is in contact with the first step 31 and the second step 32, through the head (the window of the collar 9 formed in the front wall 10 and delimited by the edge 12 is arranged at the second opening 26 or on the opposite side of the first step 31 and the second step 32).

Subsequently, as shown in fig. 13c and 13D, the drawer 20 moves along the wrapping path P1 from the first feeding station S1 to the second feeding station S2, where the group of cigarettes 6, entering from the first opening 25 (opposite to the second opening 26) and following the direction D2 (parallel and opposite to the direction D1), is fed axially into the recess 24; group 6 of cigarettes enters recess 24 and moves more on the inner side of first step 31 and second step 32 and does not "hit" previously fed collar 9 (i.e. is already present in recess 24) because the edge of collar 9 is "hidden" ("covered") by first step 31 and second step 32. During this step, as shown in fig. 13e and 14a, group 6 of cigarettes may be aligned with collar 9 (completely bypassing first step 31 and second step 32), or, as shown in fig. 14b, group 6 of cigarettes may remain misaligned with respect to collar 9 (not completely bypassing first step 31 and second step 32).

According to a preferred but non-limiting embodiment, in second feeding station S2, a counter-element 34 is provided, which, when group 6 of cigarettes is inserted into recess 24 through first opening 25 (i.e. in second feeding station S2), abuts against second opening 26 of recess 24 to prevent group 6 of cigarettes from entering recess 24 and pushing collar 9 out of recess 24 by friction. According to a possible embodiment, the counter-element 34 is arranged in a fixed position along the wrapping path P1, so that the drawer 20 arranged in front of the counter-element 34 moves along the wrapping path P1; alternatively, when the drawer 20 reaches the second feeding station S2, the counter-element 34 can move and abut against the drawer 20.

Subsequently, as shown in figure 13f, the drawer 20 moves along the wrapping path P1 from the second feeding station S2 to the third feeding station S3, where the wrapping sheet 13 is folded around the drawer 20 (the recess 24 of which accommodates the group 6 of cigarettes and the collar 9) in a "U" shape; in particular, the wrapping sheet 13 is folded in a "U" shape around the drawer 20, so that the "U" shaped folding sheet 13 closes the second opening 26 of the recess 24 and releases the first opening 25 of the recess 24.

Finally, as shown in fig. 13g, the drawer 20 moves along the wrapping path P1 from the third feeding station S3 to the transfer station S4, in which the pusher enters the recess 24 from the first opening 25 to axially eject from the recess 24 the group 6 of cigarettes and the collar 9, which emerges from the recess 24 through the outlet opening 26 and drags with it the wrapping sheet 13 folded into a "U". In this way, when group 6 of cigarettes and collar 9 are extracted together from recess 24 of drawer 20 through second opening 26, group 6 of cigarettes and collar 9 are inserted into wrapping sheet 13 folded in a "U".

In summary, only the collar 9 is initially inserted into the recess 24 of the drawer 20 through the second opening 26 (first feeding station S1), after the collar 9 has been inserted into the recess 24, the group 6 of cigarettes is inserted into the recess 24 through the first opening 25 (this group of cigarettes moves more on the inside of the first step 31 and the second step 32) (second feeding station S2), after the group 6 of cigarettes has been inserted into the recess 24, the wrapping sheet 13 is folded into a "U" around the drawer 20 (third feeding station S3), and finally the group 6 of cigarettes and the collar 9 are extracted together from the drawer 20 through the second opening 26, carrying with it the wrapping sheet 13 folded into a "U" (transfer station S4).

In the embodiment shown in the figures, in each drawer 20, the recess 24 has two grooves 35 which are axially arranged (i.e. extend parallel to the longitudinal extension of the recess 24), extend from the first opening 25 to the second opening 26 over the entire length of the recess 24, are obtained by the side walls 28 and also pass through the corresponding second step 32 (as clearly shown in figures 11 and 12), and are adapted to be crossed by the lateral appendages (shown in broken lines in figure 11) of a rectangular pusher 36 when the group 6 of cigarettes is extracted from the recess 24 together with the collar 9. The function of the two grooves 35 is to allow the rectangular pusher 36 (and the two lateral appendixes thereof) to push not only the group 6 of cigarettes but also the collar 9, so as to extract both from the recess 24. In other words, without the groove 35, the pusher can only push the group 6 of cigarettes directly (i.e. it cannot push the collar 9 directly), and therefore it will not be guaranteed that the collar 9 is correctly extracted from the recess 24; instead, the two grooves 35 allow the lateral appendages of the pusher 36 to also push the collar 9 directly, thus ensuring the correct extraction of the collar 9 from the recess 24. According to a different embodiment, in each drawer 20, the recess 24 has (at least) one groove formed through the bottom wall 27 and also through the corresponding first step 31, and said (at least) groove is added to the groove 35 formed in the side wall 28, or alternatively, it replaces the groove 35 formed in the side wall 28.

In the embodiment shown in the figures, each recess 24 has three first steps 31 and second steps 32 arranged in a "U" shape; according to an alternative embodiment, not shown, each recess 24 may have only a first step 31, only two second steps 32, or an additional fourth step formed in the upper wall 29 (this embodiment is generally reserved for the case where the collar 9 has four walls).

In the embodiment shown in the figures, initially the collar 9 is inserted into each recess 24 through the second opening 26, which collar comes into contact with the first step 31 and the second step 32 (having a thickness at least equal to, i.e. preferably slightly thicker than, the corresponding thickness of the collar 9) by the head, and then subsequently the group 6 of cigarettes is inserted through the first opening 25, moving more on the inside of the first step 31 and the second step 32. According to a different embodiment, the supply of collar 9 and group 6 of cigarettes is reversed, and in this case first step 31 and second step 32 have a thickness at least equal to or preferably slightly higher than the corresponding thickness of group 6 of cigarettes; in other words, according to this different embodiment, group 6 of cigarettes is initially inserted into each recess 24 through second opening 26, with the head in contact with first step 31 and second step 32 (having a thickness at least equal to, i.e. preferably slightly greater than, the corresponding thickness of group 6 of cigarettes), and then collar 9 is subsequently inserted through first opening 25, moving more on the inside of first step 31 and second step 32.

According to a possible embodiment, in each recess 24, the first step 31 and/or the second step 32 can be movable to project inside the recess 24 when feeding the collar 9 and the group 6 of cigarettes and to retract flush with the corresponding

walls

27 and 28 when extracting the collar 9 and the group 6 of cigarettes.

In the embodiment shown in the drawings, the collar 9 is initially folded in a "U" shape (as shown in figure 6) and then inserted in the recess 24 of the drawer 20 in the "U" fold. According to a different embodiment, not shown, collar 9 is not preliminarily folded in a "U" shape, and is therefore inserted straight (i.e. without folding) into recess 24 of drawer 20; obviously, in this case, the collar 9 is subsequently folded into a "U" shape (as shown in figure 6) after having been extracted from the recess 24 of the drawer 20.

In the embodiment shown in the figures, each collar 9 is inserted axially into a corresponding recess 24 through a second opening 26, which is opposite to a first opening 25 through which group 6 of cigarettes is inserted axially; that is, each collar 9 is inserted axially into the corresponding recess 24 through a second opening 26, which also serves to axially extract group 6 of cigarettes together with collar 9 from drawer 20. In this embodiment, each collar 9 is pushed into drawer 20 and through second opening 26 until it (substantially) abuts first step 31. According to a different embodiment, not shown, each collar 9 is inserted axially into a corresponding recess 24 through a first opening 25, which is also used for inserting axially (and subsequently) group 6 of cigarettes; in this embodiment, each collar 9 must be pushed into drawer 20 and through first opening 25 until it passes first step 31 (i.e., until it reaches beyond first step 31). Even if more complication is caused by the fact that an upper stroke must be applied to the collars 9 and the stroke of the collars 9 cannot stop on the first step 31, each collar 9 can be inserted axially into the corresponding recess 24 through the first opening 25, in this embodiment the step must be bypassed from above.

The embodiments described herein may be combined with each other without departing from the scope of the present invention.

The above-described wrapping machine 14 has a number of advantages.

Firstly, the above-mentioned packaging machine 14 is able to operate quickly (i.e. with a high hourly production rate), while ensuring a high and above all constant production quality. This result is achieved since the insertion of the collars 9 into the recesses 24 of the drawer 20 (at the first feeding station S1) can be carried out with high precision and without problems even at high speed operations, since each collar 9 must enter a very large space (the entire recess 24) and therefore, by entering the recess 24, it has a wide tolerance margin which allows compensation without any damage to the collars 9 and without any positioning errors of the collars.

Moreover, the above-described packaging machine 14 is particularly simple and inexpensive, since the formation of the first step 31 and the second step 32 in the recess 24 of the drawer 20 involves only a trivial and quick machining of the components.

The embodiment shown in the drawings relates to the manufacture of cigarette packs, but the invention can also be applied, without substantial modification, to the production of any other type of smoking article pack (e.g. cigar packs, electronic cigarette packs of the liquid vaporisation type, new-generation cigarette packs without tobacco burn).

Claims

1. A drawer (20) suitable for housing a group of smoking articles (6) and a collar (9); the drawer (20) comprises a recess (24) having a tubular shape suitable for housing the group of smoking articles (6) and the collar (9) and having a first opening (25) through which the group of smoking articles (6) can be axially inserted and a second opening (26) opposite to the first opening (25) through which the group of smoking articles (6) and the collar (9) can be axially extracted together from the drawer (20);

wherein at least one first wall of the recess (24) has a first step (31) arranged close to the first opening (25), locally reducing the size of the recess (24), and having a thickness at least equal to the corresponding thickness of the collar (9);

the drawer (20) is characterized in that the recess (24) has at least one groove (35) which extends from the first opening (25) to the second opening (26).

2. The drawer (20) according to claim 1, wherein the first step (31) has a thickness in the range of 0.5 mm to 0.8 mm.

3. The drawer (20) according to claim 1, wherein the collar (9) is in contact with the first step (31) by a head.

4. The drawer (20) according to claim 1, wherein the two second walls (28) of the recess (24) arranged on opposite sides of the first wall of the recess (24) have two second steps (32), each arranged close to the first opening (25), locally reducing the size of the recess (24) and having a thickness at least equal to the corresponding thickness of the collar (9).

5. The drawer (20) according to claim 1, wherein the first step (31) has an inner wall inside the recess (24) which projects from the first wall of the recess (24), is straight and perpendicular to the first wall of the recess (24).

6. The drawer (20) according to claim 1, wherein the first step (31) has an inner wall within the recess (24) which projects from the first wall of the recess (24), is straight and forms an acute angle with the first wall of the recess (24).

7. The drawer (20) according to claim 1, wherein the first step (31) has an inner wall inside the recess (24), which wall protrudes from the first wall of the recess (24) and has a groove with a thickness at least equal to the corresponding thickness of the collar (9).

8. The drawer (20) according to claim 1, wherein at least the first wall of the recess (24) is provided with suction to hold the collar (9).

9. A drawer (20) according to claim 1, wherein the first wall of the recess (24) has an axial dimension from the edge of the first step (31) to the second opening (26) at least equal to the axial dimension of the collar (9).

10. The drawer (20) according to claim 1, wherein the first wall of the recess (24) provided with the first step (31) is a bottom wall (27) on which the collar (9) rests.

11. The drawer (20) according to claim 1, wherein said at least one groove extends through the corresponding second step (32).

12. A feeding method for feeding a group (6) of smoking articles and a collar (9) to a drawer (20) according to one of claims 1 to 11 and comprising a recess (24) having a tubular shape and adapted to accommodate said group (6) of smoking articles and said collar (9); the supply method includes the steps of:

-axially inserting the collar (9) into the recess (24);

-axially inserting the group (6) of smoking articles into the recess (24) through a first opening (25); and

-extracting the group (6) of smoking articles and the collar (9) axially together from the drawer (20) through a second opening (26) opposite to the first opening (25);

at least one wall of the recess (24) has a first step (31) arranged close to the first opening (25), locally reducing the size of the recess (24), and having a thickness at least equal to the corresponding thickness of the collar (9); and is

The step of inserting the collar (9) into the recess (24) comprises facing the collar (9) head-forward towards the first step (31) of the recess (24);

the feeding method is characterized by comprising the further steps of:

-inserting the collar (9) axially into the recess (24) first through the second opening (26); and

-resting the counter-element (34) against the second opening (26) of the recess (24) when inserting the group (6) of smoking articles into the recess (24) through the first opening (25).

13. The feeding method according to claim 12, wherein the step of inserting the collar (9) into the recess (24) comprises bringing the collar (9) into contact with the first step (31) of the recess (24) by a head.

14. The feeding method according to claim 12, wherein:

-feeding the drawer (20) along a wrapping path (P1) by means of a wrapping conveyor (19); and is

-arranging said counter-element (34) in a fixed position along said wrapping path (P1).

15. The feeding method according to claim 12, comprising the further step of:

-folding a wrapping sheet (13) in a "U" shape around the drawer (20), so that the wrapping sheet (13) folded in a "U" closes the second opening (26) of the recess (24) and does not close the first opening (25) of the recess (24); and

-inserting the group of smoking articles (6) and the collar (9) into the wrapping sheet (13) folded in a "U" shape when the group of smoking articles (6) and the collar (9) are extracted together from the drawer (20) through the second opening (26).

16. The feeding method according to claim 15, wherein the wrapping sheet (13) is folded into a "U" shape around the drawer (20) after the insertion of the collar (9) and/or the group of smoking articles (6) in the recess (24).

17. The feeding method according to claim 12, wherein the group (6) of smoking articles together with the collar (9) is extracted from the drawer (20) by means of a pusher (36) provided with at least one protruding appendage, which is inserted in a groove (35) of the recess (24) extending from the first opening (25) to the second opening (26).

18. The feeding method according to claim 17, wherein the grooves pass through the corresponding second steps (32).

19. A packaging machine (14) for smoking articles, comprising:

at least one drawer (20) according to one of claims 1 to 11 and comprising a recess (24) having a tubular shape and adapted to house a group (6) of smoking articles and a collar (9);

-a wrapping conveyor (19) supporting the drawer (20) and feeding the drawer (20) along a wrapping path (P1);

a first feeding station (S1) in which the collar (9) is axially inserted into the recess (24);

a second feeding station (S2) in which the group (6) of smoking articles is inserted axially into the recess (24) through a first opening (25); and

a transfer station (S4) arranged along the wrapping path (P1) downstream of the first feeding station (S1) and of the second feeding station (S2) and in which the group (6) of smoking articles and the collar (9) are extracted together from the drawer (20) through a second opening (26) opposite to the first opening (25);

wherein at least one wall of the recess (24) has a first step (31) arranged close to the first opening (25), locally reducing the size of the recess (24), and having a thickness at least equal to the corresponding thickness of the collar (9); and is

Wherein, in the first feeding station (S1), the collar (9) is arranged facing head-front towards the first step (31) of the recess (24);

the packaging machine (14) is characterized in that:

in the first feeding station (S1), the collar (9) is inserted into the drawer (20) through the second opening (26); and is

-providing a counter-element (34) arranged in said second feeding station (S2) and in contact with said second opening (26) of said recess (24) when said group of smoking articles (6) is inserted into said recess (24) through said first opening (25).

20. The packaging machine (14) according to claim 19, wherein the counter-elements are arranged in fixed positions.

21. Packaging machine (14) according to claim 19, wherein in the first feeding station (S1) the collar (9) is arranged in contact with the first step (31) of the recess (24) by a head.

22. The packaging machine (14) according to claim 19, wherein:

-providing a third feeding station (S3) arranged along said wrapping path (P1) downstream of said first feeding station (S1) and said second feeding station (S2) and in which a wrapping sheet (13) is folded "U" around said drawer (20) so that said wrapping sheet (13) folded "U" closes said second opening (26) of said pocket (24) and does not close said first opening (25) of said pocket (24); and is

In the transfer station (S4), the group of smoking articles (6) and the collar (9) are inserted into the wrapping sheet (13) folded in a "U" shape, when the group of smoking articles (6) and the collar (9) are extracted together from the drawer (20) through the second opening (26).

23. The packaging machine (14) according to claim 19, wherein:

said recess (24) having at least one groove (35) extending from said first opening (25) to said second opening (26); and is provided with

-the transfer station (S4) comprises a pusher (36) which withdraws the group (6) of smoking articles together with the collar (9) from the drawer (20) through the second opening (26); and is

The pusher (36) is provided with at least one projecting appendix which is inserted into the groove (35) of the recess (24).

24. The packaging machine (14) according to claim 23, wherein the grooves extend through the corresponding second steps (32).