DE3301477A1 - Device and method for stacking flat articles - Google Patents

Description

PROF. DR. DR. J. REITSTÖTTER ""DR.'WEixNER"KiNZEBACH DR. ING. WOLFRAM BUNTE (,» _Ββ -ι »7β>

■ 'S'

RIDER KILLER. KINZEBACH ft PARTNER PATENT LAWYERS

POST BOX 7βο. D-eooo MUNICH AZ APPROVED REPRESENTATIVES AT

EUROPEAN PATENT OFFICE EUROPEAN PATENT ATTORNEYS

TELEPHONE: (OBB) 2 71 65 83 TELEX: 052IS2O8 ISAR D BAUERSTRASSE 22. D-BOOO MUNICH

DSO: 10 ^ 523

Munich, January 18, 1983 M / 23 289 M / 23 290

OUR FILES: _n

OURREF: M / 23 289

REFERENCE:
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ETABLISSEMENTS RUBY
VOIHON (ΚΗΑΝΠΐ Ι

Device and method for stacking flat articles

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The invention relates to apparatus and methods for stacking a predetermined number of flat sheets Articles, for example for stacking panty liners, sanitary napkins or baby diapers.

ILQ The aforementioned flat articles, the panty liners, Sanitary napkins or baby diapers are relatively soft and easily deformable objects. Such articles are light and sensitive, you should only manipulate them as little as possible, so that the stacks produced

2g do not deform when placed vertically.

The articles are continuously consumed and are produced in large numbers by automatic machines with high output manufactured, the prices of which are rising more and more.

2Q The difficulty in stacking lies in the texture the articles that should be particularly soft. The various stacks are to be placed in a package that should always contain the same number of articles. After stacking, the prior art must

nc number of stacks in the packaging again and again the be the same.

A further difficulty is that the products are sensitive, that is, they can not expose higher O ₀ pressure to violate the absorbent layers without a part.

There are devices for stacking the flat articles described above. However, these devices are very much “R complex, not very resistant and can only insufficiently work in continuous operation.

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When high cycle rates are required on the production lines

are, the known devices exert excessive forces 5

on the flat articles. Different types of devices, which reduce the forces on the articles cannot match the cycle rates of the production machines keep up and require slowing them down. Another

a major disadvantage of the known devices occurs 10

when you change the dimensions or the number of items in a stack, as this is essential Modifications to the machines and complex dismantling become necessary.

The object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus and method for stacking flat articles, which is simple and robust and works easily and only applies low forces to the article, the stacks always consist of the same number of articles

forms, and their cycle rate determines the speed of the production machines does not inhibit, and can be used on different numbers of items without dismantling or replacing parts can be set per stack or its type.

This task is performed by a device for stacking flat articles released, which are arranged horizontally and one above the other in a first horizontal direction and which is characterized in that it comprises:

A stop arrangement which is arranged horizontally and transversely to the path of the articles in this path so that the Article should fall flat vertically due to its own weight;

a conveyor belt moving in a second direction, essentially is arranged transversely to the first direction, which is a substantially horizontally arranged conveyor belt

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represents and which is arranged to the stop member so that the article flat on the substantially horizontal Conveyor belt fall;

a drive mechanism for the conveyor belt, which drives this so that between the reception of two successive Articles the tape around a predetermined

^ q further moves the amount which is below the maximum width of the flat article, measured in the second direction, so that two articles falling one after the other onto the belt partially overlap;
an arrangement for rapidly driving a group of

- ^ g articles that overlap each other on the belt, namely by sliding the articles on the conveyor belt in the second direction, and

an arrangement for erecting the articles of a group by stopping the first article of the group

η «by means of an inclined part, namely when the Group by the arrangement for fast driving is still in the process of moving.

Preferably a measuring 2g sensor attached to the item. The arrangement for driving the conveyor belt can thus with a constant Speed operated by the clock rate of the incoming flat article and the desired overlap depends, with an arrangement then the drive under- "Q breaks when the sensor detects a deficit in the articles supplied. "In a preferred embodiment- ' form can incrementally advance the drive device for the conveyor belt when the arrival of an article was detected.

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The fast drive arrangement preferably includes

at least one plate that is parallel to the conveyor belt 5

is moved and which is arranged in its immediate vicinity. The device preferably also has a second sensor which measures the passage of a plate. For this purpose, the drive member is provided for the fast feed with a control device so that it is activated when the first probe has counted a predetermined number of articles and then stops when the second detector passes a record.

° The arrangement for erecting preferably has an inclined holding part which is mounted on a table, which is an extension of the conveyor belt. In a further preferred embodiment, the arrangement for erecting is arranged with its inclined holding part ^ above the conveyor belt.

In the device according to the invention, the position of the holding part is preferably a puncture of the number and Thickness of the articles in a group that form a stack, adjustable.

The inclined holding member and optionally the plates preferably have an angle of inclination of 30 ° to 60 °

to the horizontal.
30th

A discharge device is preferably parallel to the first direction intended for the articles when they are erected.

The inventive method for stacking flat Articles that are horizontal and each other in a first

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Arranged horizontally overlapping direction includes:

counting the articles;

stopping each successive article so that Due to their own weight, they can fall onto a means of transport that is arranged below them, in a second direction that is transverse to the first direction;

shifting the articles that have fallen onto the means of transport so that one article precedes the previous one Article partially overlapped;

quickly moving a group of articles forward in Direction towards a holding plate, preferably inclined at an angle of 30 to 60 to the horizontal, which then takes place when the article count has resulted in a predetermined number, and

erecting and discharging a group of articles by sliding the first article of the group along the Holding part.

In the method according to the invention is also preferred the group of articles by stopping the 25th

rapid shifting when the last item in the group experienced a certain shift Has.

For a better understanding of the invention, 30

a preferred embodiment of the device according to the invention explained in more detail. Here shows:

Figure 1 is a schematic plan view of the stacking device according to the invention for flat articles,

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FIG. 2 shows a schematic longitudinal section along the line H-II of the device according to FIG. 1, and

FIG. 3 shows a frontal section of the device according to FIG

Figure 1 along the line IH-III of Figure 2, which also shows the end of the production machine

The schematized machine shown in the figures is used for stacking in the example shown here of ten sanitary towels. The objects are in the production machine, the end of which is schematized in figure 3 is made. The sanitary napkins 10, which are cut to size in the form of a continuous ribbon

are, run between two conveyor belts 12 to an arrangement 14, which cuts the corners round, and to Ejector rollers 16. These eject the articles 10 at great speed in a substantially horizontal direction Direction as the items are laid out flat and horizontally

are. The sanitary napkins then go to the invention Stacking device.

The device has a stop plate 18 which is arranged along the edge of a conveyor belt 20.

_n

As shown in FIG. 1, the stop plate 18 forms a lateral guide of the successively ejected articles 10. The upper running surface of the belt 20, which picks up the successive articles, is continued by ■ a horizontal table 22 on which a

inclined holding member 24 is mounted. This organ is held by an axis 26 in an adjusting member 28, which is attached to the table 22 and the machine bed (not shown here) of the device.

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The belt 20 and table 22 extend in one

Direction perpendicular to the direction of arrival of the 5th

Article 10 runs. Parallel to the direction of arrival of the Article 10, the table 22 is extended by a slide 30. On the other side of this table, across the street the chute 30, a working cylinder 32 is arranged, whose piston rod 34 is provided at its end with a plate 36 which serves to hold a stack of Article 10 formed on the table 22 to slide away over the upper running surface of the conveyor belt 20 plates 38 (in this case three plates) are arranged, which move along the conveyor belt 20

can. The plates 38 are carried on rods 40 which have rearward extensions 42 which extend beyond the bearing chains 44 protrude. The chains 44 form a conventional conveyor.

The drive of the device according to the invention is through two independent drive means accomplished, a first arrangement 46 for driving the belt 20 and a second assembly 48 for driving the chain 44.

In addition, the device has a first sensor 50, which in this example is the light source is designed with an upstream photodetector, wherein the sensor measures the passage of the article 10, which in enter the device. In addition, there is a second

Sensor 52 is provided, which is formed in a known manner and which may be the passage of the extension 42 of the rods 40 for holding the plates 38 at a given Position.

With the number 54 are the articles lying on the belt denotes, with the number 56 those articles that have a

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Take up position shortly before ejection from the device.

The device works as follows: The Ai ¹ S jogging rollers 16 of the production machine (FIG. 3 ″) eject the articles 10 at high speed, for example about 100 meters / min. This speed is achieved by

their light weight and their deflection at the 10th

Cutting achieved. Then they hit the stop plate 18. Since the articles are very soft, they bounce do not fall back and fall flat on the running surface of the conveyor belt 20. In the pictures are the items arranged on the narrow side, is a reverse arrangement

but also possible.

The articles pushed in one after the other are spaced from one another. For example, the distance at the exit of the (manufacturing) machine between 3 and 30 cm

lie. As the conveyor belt 20 advances, one article at a time falls on it and finds it there is no partial overlap of the articles. In the device according to the invention and the one according to the invention However, it is essential for the method that at least some, partial overlap takes place. As in figure As shown, this partial overlap provides the articles with good stability on the conveyor belt 20. The probe 50 detects the passage of each article that is pushed into the device. With the probe

a logic circuit is connected, which counts the number of articles thrown in and if one is stuck Value is reached, a command to the device 48 for driving the chains 44 is. The order 48 works at great speed. When this device is switched on, it accelerates the

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Plates 38 very strong. The next article 54 then pushes a group of articles comprising a predetermined number to the left at high speed (see FIGS. 1 and 2). That is, the plate 38 extends beyond the place where the articles 10 fell on the belt. The plate then moves the group quickly to the table 22 and there against the stop member 2k . The first article of the group then hits the base of part 2k . Since this has an inclination between 30 and 60 °, preferably in the range of 45 °, this first article is erected and

. _ rests on part 2k. At the same time, the 0

the following article erected so that they have a slope essentially of the order of k ^ ° . The plate 38 preferably has a slope corresponding to the plate 2k. So that the group of articles is not excessively compressed, the plate 38 is then stopped when the second sensor 52 detects the extension k2. In this way, the group which has just been pushed together and which is not compressed can pass through the plate 36 of the working cylinder 32

be pushed onto the slide 30. This has inclined 25th

Edges and is located in the vicinity of the table 22, this inclination corresponding to that of the part 2k of the plate. The edges of the chute are increasingly, so roughly helical, in the direction of their exit, so that the groups form a perfectly aligned stack, the bandages being with their plane at right angles to the bottom of the chute. The plate 36 is then pushed back into its retracted position by the ram 32 and the device is ready for use

a new functional cycle of the plates 38. Accordingly 35

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can, depending on the cycle, the production device continuously eject the bandages 10, so that the band a certain number of structures 5 ^, for example 4 or 5 carries.

In order to ensure the functionality described above, the belt 20 is provided with a running surface, so that jQ no excessive braking force is applied when the plates 38 Slide a group of articles 54 onto table 22.

Preferably, when the first sensor 50 detects no passage of articles at certain times, , p- the logic command circuit of the belt drive 46 is operated so that the bandages deposited on top of one another always have the same overlap on the tape. this will accomplished by a coupling connected to the drive motor.

The arrangement 48 for driving the chains 44 is then actuated, when the logic circuit of the detector 50 has determined that the group of Articles reached the required predetermined number

2J- has, and is then stopped when the second detector indicates that the corresponding plate is in the stacking position of the group formed.

The above description shows that the function _ _0, the device comprises a number of control options that are independently, offers. Fixed parameters are specified by the production machine, namely the distance between the articles and their production Kcr.chwiiul i i \ ke \ I , the liriiAt, ddc available /.(.-it

in the two consecutive articles on 'floor-35

be practiced. This speed determines the minimum speed the deflection of the plates 38, so that

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be able to push this one group in front of you without that Disrupting slipping of the article. Experiments have shown that when the articles are spaced apart of about 50 mm, the chains have a speed should have between 0.5 and 1.5 m / s. The regulation becomes simple by regulating the drive speed determined by the drive member 48 when this is the start

IQ command received. The control of the device is extremely simple if the number of articles in a stack is to be modified: the logic circuit is provided with the information about the desired number available, so that the chain drive 48 at the appropriate moment

jg begins to work, and arranges the holding member 24 in such a way indicates that the group with the new number of articles is correctly layered just when the plate 38 persists.

2Q The rapid drive cycle of a group of articles for erection and discharge into the chute 30 takes a certain time before a new cycle can take place. The cycle time has a lower limit on the number of items that form a group. If the Maschi ^ne 300 items per minute produced and has the values previously mentioned here, it is the minimum number of items in the group of five.

The overlap of the flat item 54 on the tape OQ is made independent by the drive speed of the Belt drive 46 set.

The adaptation of the device to different articles and different numbers of articles in a group g ₅ is therefore extremely simple and can be carried out by regulating two mutually independent organs.

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The drive elements 46 and 48, which drive the belt 20 and the chains 44, respectively, can be implemented in various ways be. The belt drive 46 can, for example, be a 5th

Have motor controller that stops the device in the event of a stop in the supply of articles. The chain drive can for example have a variable speed motor coupled via a clutch, the

is not driven when the command circuit 10

this indicates.

In the apparatus described above, the articles are piled up on a table 22 which extends the belt 20. However, the holding member 24 can also be used directly

arrange on the belt 20. Then this preferably has a corresponding running surface, so that the plates Ties can easily propel on the surface. In this way, the tape does not have any high disruptive forces Group that is located between the holding member and the plate

is arranged. Such an arrangement allows for a shortening the device and in particular the chains 44, which can then carry a smaller number of plates 38.

The device described above has a number of

Benefits on. On the one hand, it is simple and robust, since it only has a small number of simple device parts having. How they work can be selected continuously. The handling of the article is very gentle, since they are not subject to any greater forces, whereby

the greatest impact on their front sides occurs when they hit the retaining plates. The formed stacks are always suitable, as the partial overlap of the articles is set according to the production rate can be. Due to its simplicity, the device can work quickly and therefore does not constitute a limitation on the

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Production speed of the production line connected to it.

Adjusting the number of articles per batch or to a different type of article is easy, the adjustment parameters are independent of one another and there is no need to dismantle the device.

The previously described device according to the invention is particularly suitable for sanitary napkins or diapers made of fibrous or textile material and / or applied plastic foils are produced as tape sections. Even if the above description is for sanitary towels or baby diapers, the device can also be used for a number of other articles where no major forces may act on the flat article.

, 49.

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Claims (12)

M / 23 289 - / - Munich, January 18, 3983 M / 23 290 PATENT CLAIMS _in 1. Apparatus for stacking flat articles which are arranged horizontally and which are arranged one above the other in a first horizontal direction, characterized in that the apparatus comprises: - A stop member (18) that is horizontal and transverse to the path of the superposed articles (10) in this path is arranged so that the Articles fall vertically due to their own weight; - a conveyor belt (20) which, in a second direction, is arranged substantially transversely to the first direction, which is a substantially horizontally arranged Is conveyor belt and which is arranged to the stop member (18) so that the article is flat 25th fall onto the substantially horizontal conveyor belt; - a drive mechanism (^ 6) for the conveyor belt (20), who drives it in such a way that between the 30th Picking up two consecutive articles advances the belt (20) by a predetermined amount, which is below the maximum width of the flat article, measured in the second direction, so that two 35 Articles partially overlap; M / 23 289 -2- M / 23 290 - An arrangement (38,48) for rapidly driving a Group of articles that overlap each other on 5 the belt (20) by sliding the articles on the conveyor belt in the second direction, and an arrangement for erecting the articles of a group by stopping the first article of the Group by means of an inclined part (24) when the group through the arrangement (38,48) is still shifted for fast driving. 2. Apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that 15 it has a first sensor (50) for the flat articles protruding in the first direction. 3. Apparatus according to claim 2, characterized in that the arrangement (46) for driving the belt (20) drives this at a constant speed which is a function of the sequence of arrival of the flat articles is, and that it has a blocking arrangement for the drive, which then comes into operation when the first Sensor (50) detects a gap in the supply of the article. 25th 4. Device according to one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the arrangement for fast driving has at least one plate (38) which is parallel is driven to the conveyor belt and in its 30th in the immediate vicinity. 5. The device according to claim 4, characterized in that the device has a second sensor (52) which the passage of a plate (38) is detected. 35 M / 23 289 -3- M / 23 290 6. The device according to claim 5, characterized in that it has a command generator for the arrangement for fast driving to ensure their puncture when the first detector (50) _{has detected the passage of a predetermined number of articles in} , and to stop when the second sensor (52) has detected the passage of a plate (38). 7. Device according to one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that the arrangement for erecting a has inclined holding part (24) on a Ib Table (22) is arranged, which represents an extension of the conveyor belt (20). 8. Device according to one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that the position of the inclined Holding part (24) is adjustable, preferably as a puncture of the number and thickness of the article a group. 9. Device according to one of Claims 1 to 8, 25 characterized in that the inclined holding part (24) and the plates (38) are inclined to the horizontal be between 30 ° and 60 °. 10. Device according to one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that it has an arrangement (30,32,36) which allows the removal of a group of stacked articles in one Ensures direction parallel to the first direction. .... 330H77 M / 23 289
M / 23 290 11. The device according to claim 10,
characterized in that the device for discharging has a sliding member (32,36) which moves in the first direction, to ensure the transport of a group of stacked articles and their introduction into an erecting chute (30). 12. Method of stacking flat articles arranged in a horizontal direction and in a protrude in the first horizontal direction, characterized in that: the protruding article counts; stops the article and lets it fall one after the other by its own weight onto a conveyor belt that is in a second direction is arranged transverse to the first direction; that one moves the articles that have fallen on the conveyor belt so that an article denotes the previous partially covered;
2ö that when one has counted the articles and there is a predetermined number, one is a group of articles in the second direction on a holding part inclined between 30 ° and 60 ° to the horizontal moves quickly, and that one can erect and discharge a group of articles by sliding the first Article of the group along a holding part
35 accomplished.