EP0053720B1 - Device for applying a carrier tying several containers into one handling unit - Google Patents

Abstract

1. A device for applying open and locking an inherently rigid carrier typing at least one row of bottles (14) or similar containers into a handling unit, said carrier made of cardboard and comprissing a bottom wall (18) provided for rest against the bottle shoulders (27) and having apertures for the bottlenecks, further comprising a top wall (19) with apertures for the bottle heads and side walls (22) joining said top (19) and bottom (18) walls, with locking tongues (20) for the bottle heads being punched out of said apertures for the bottle heads, said tongues being defined to engage undercutting edges (26) below the bottle closures (15) against which the carrier (16) is biased due to its inherent rigidity and elasticity while resting against the bottle shoulders (27), the device comprising means (10) for placing the assembled carrier (16) onto the row(s) of bottles (14) arranged on a base in the configuration in which they are to be tied and comprising a driven applying head being movable towards the row(s) of bottles (14) for pressing the entire carrier (16) positioned on the bottles (14) by means of pressure against its upper wall (19) in the proximity of the locking tongues (20) with its locking tongues (20) simultaneously behind the undercutting edges (26) of all bottle closures (15), and being provided with recesses (7) for the accomodation of those portions of the bottle heads topping the undercutting edges (26) of the bottle closures (15), characterized in that the applying head for bottles (14) of similar containers whose undercutting edges (26) are on varying levels is provided with a plurality of applying elements (3) respectively within the confinement of each bottle (14), said applying heads being arranged independently from each other within the applying head in a manner resiliently yieldable against the direction of application and provided in the recesses (7) for the bottle heads with stroke limitation abutments (8) the distance of which from the application faces (25) of the applying elements (3) being dimensioned such that the respective locking tongues (20) of the carrier (16) upon abutment of an applying element (3) with its stroke limitation abutment (8) against a bottle head become situated just below the undercutting edges (26) of the closure (15) of that bottle.

Description

The invention relates to a device for pressing and locking an at least a number of bottles or similar containers into a handling unit, intrinsically rigid carrier made of cardboard with a lower wall provided for support on the bottle shoulders with through openings for the bottle necks, an upper wall with through openings for the bottle heads and the top wall and bottom wall connecting side walls, locking tabs are punched out of the openings for the bottle heads, which are intended to engage undercut edges below the bottle closures, against which the carrier is held by its inherent rigidity and elasticity while supporting against the bottle shoulders, with means for Placing the erected carrier on the row (s) of bottles arranged on a support in the configuration to be bundled and with a driven press-on head which rests against the row (s) of Fla is movable to press the entire carrier placed on the bottles by pressing against its top wall near the locking tabs with the locking tabs behind the undercut edges of all bottle closures at the same time, and with recesses for the entry of the parts of the bottle heads projecting beyond the undercut edges of the bottle closures is provided (EP-A-31 992).

The carrier is a blank or pre-bonded blank made of cardboard or similar flat material, which is erected into a spatial configuration to produce a certain resistance, or it is already a corresponding molded part. The blanks can be put together during assembly by means of a plug connection; if they are pre-connected, this is done for example by gluing, stapling or the like. Blanks or molded parts not exclusively made of cardboard can also be welded or otherwise connected to one another to form a spatial shape. The erected blanks or molded parts forming the carrier have openings with which they are first slipped onto the containers and then locked by applying pressure with their locking edges behind the undercuts of the containers. The carriers concerned are generally further distinguished by the fact that they generally do not completely span the containers to be bundled, but rather are applied on one side to the containers, where they are supported on specific shoulders of the containers.

Since the carrier is supported on certain surface areas of the container when it is pressed on, it has to be compressed by a certain amount in order to change into the locked state. This upsetting is usually associated with a further folding, through which the carrier, on the one hand, yields when pressed on, but, on the other hand, is additionally supported on the side walls of the containers.

A press-on head is used to press on and lock the carriers, which exerts pressure on the carriers in the region of their locking edges in order to bring the latter into their locking position behind the undercut edges of the containers.

If the objects to be bundled are containers which themselves do not have sufficient undercut edges, the required undercut edges are often provided behind closures, lids and the like.

The carrier system mentioned can advantageously be used for bundling bottles into one or two rutes. The straps can be supported on the bottle shoulders and can be locked behind the lower edges of the screw caps or crown caps, for example.

Carrier systems or carriers for which the device according to the present invention can be used are described, for example, in GB-A-1 395 723 and in EP-A-0 000 627.

The press-on heads used for the carriers shown there consist of a rigid unit, which at the same time locks the entire carrier on all containers forming a bundle by means of a fixed lifting movement. Corresponding devices are described, for example, in GB-A-1 427 510 and also in EP-A-0 000 627.

Insofar as the containers to be bundled are those with small dimensional deviations with regard to the dimensions relevant for the application of the carriers, and the application of the carriers in a packaging machine can be carried out on a level surface on the objects moved in rows, the carrier can be attached and pressed on no difficulties on the containers. However, it has been shown that such difficulties occur when the containers have larger dimensional deviations or when they are pressed on they are not located on a level machine base but in transport containers whose bottom surfaces are not always ideally flat or on which dirt or foreign bodies can be found . Such conditions occur practically with reusable bottles, which after they have been refilled, already standing in boxes, are to be bundled in groups with the aid of the carrier system described. Despite the prevailing bottle standardization, there are sometimes considerable dimensional deviations between the bottles of individual manufacturers. Furthermore, dimensional tolerances cannot be avoided with the bottoms of the bottle crates and the crates are also subject to often uneven wear on their base surface after prolonged use. Overall, this means that the undercut edges of a group of bottles to be bundled do not lie at the same level when the carriers are applied. It can therefore occur that a carrier does not reach the undercut edges of certain containers when pressed on the one hand and that the carrier is stretched and compressed if the locking point on the container is exceeded too much. The result may be that the container in question is not held at all by the carrier and loosens from the bandage when the bundle is lifted, or hangs loosely in the carrier, which impairs the stability of the entire bundle.

In order to bring the undercut edges of the individual containers for pressing the carrier into a plane when the mentioned dimensional deviations occur, attempts have already been made to lift the individual containers from below by appropriate measures. Since a carrier that is correctly designed for certain containers provides an astonishingly stable bundle or packaging structure when properly pressed on, it generally does not have a disadvantage if, in the case of the corrective measure described, the ground compensation does not apply again after pressing on the carrier and, for example, a smaller container between two larger ones hangs in the carrier. While the indicated corrective measure is technically possible with containers arranged in rows, it encounters considerable difficulties if the containers are already arranged in transport boxes. Nevertheless, EP-A-0 031 992 has already proposed for use with plastic bottle crates as the only solution to the problem of holding the crates on their upper edge and selectively deforming the crate bottom from below, for example to bring the bottle mouths to the same level bring. In the long run, however, such a measure is likely to have an extremely disadvantageous effect on the life of the boxes.

From US-A-4121 401 a device for pressing carrier strips onto bottles with crown closures is known, which has a pressing head with two flexible pressing elements. However, the press-on head is intended to simultaneously connect two bottles to their respective carrier, which belong to different containers, so that two different carriers are worked on simultaneously. In addition, the supports are formed from an essentially flat strip which, by simply bending about an axis lying in its surface, permits any height deformation, so that the problem on which the invention is based does not arise here at all. It also treats a single row of bottles that move on a flat surface.

The invention is therefore based on the object of providing a device for simultaneously pressing the described type of carrier onto a number of containers to be bundled, which allow certain dimensional deviations in the position of the undercut edges of the containers without impairing the quality of the bundle produced .

This object is achieved according to the invention in that the press-on head for bottles or similar containers with undercut edges lying at different heights is provided with a number of press-on elements in the area of each bottle, which are arranged in the press-on head in an elastically flexible manner independently of the push-on direction and in the recesses for the bottle heads are provided with stroke limitation stops, the distance from the pressure surfaces of the press-on elements is dimensioned such that the corresponding locking tabs of the carrier come to lie just below the undercut edges of the closure of this bottle when a press-on element is struck by means of the stroke limit stop against a bottle head.

In this case, the procedure is advantageously such that an area is provided in the section of a carrier that connects two objects in each case, which area is excluded from the direct action of the press-on elements.

Surprisingly, it has been shown that with the described carriers, whose inherent stiffness and correct support on the containers are extremely important, a bundle with practically undiminished inherent stability can be generated if the carrier moves from container to container with different stroke on the container is pressed, with the undercut edge is just reached with respect to each container. The resulting deformation of the carrier in its areas between two containers is, insofar as the dimensional deviations occurring in the containers do not exceed an acceptable tolerance range, much less disadvantageous for the quality of the packaging than a pressing on with the same stroke, in which the undercut edge of the smallest object is achieved. This finding applies in particular to cardboard supports. The device can even be used with advantage if, for example, a container is tilted when the carrier is pressed on. In a practical version, the pressing can then be carried out for the individual container with a pivotable or articulated element, which can be aligned to the skewed position. With a suitable design of the carrier, it is not necessary that the pressing force be exerted in the entire undercut area. Rather, it is sufficient if the pressure is only applied at certain points in the undercut area.

In principle, all press-on elements of a press-on head can be provided with individual drives for the press-on stroke. However, it is more expedient to provide the entire press-on head with a stroke drive, which can be set to the largest press-on stroke to be expected according to the tolerances to be expected. The elastic support of the individual pressing elements in the pressing head can be used for example by means of metallic, rubber-elastic or pneumatic springs.

There should also be talk of the individual stroke control of the individual press-on element according to the invention if, for example, two press-on elements form a rigid unit which is tiltably supported between these elements on a plunger which in turn is elastically supported.

The locking edges of the carrier are generally provided at the end of foldable flaps which are pressed by the object when the carrier is pressed into a more or less oblique or vertical position, in which they then finally snap behind the undercut edges of the container. When this engagement finally takes place is determined by the elasticity of the material of the carrier, by the tolerance in the design of the tabs and by the transverse dimensions of the container at the point in question, since it depends on them how steep the tabs for locking the locking edges must be erected. In the case of the bottle bundling chosen as an example, the steepness of the erected tabs can depend, for example, on the diameter of the bottle mouth immediately below the closure.

The limitation of the press-on stroke must therefore include sufficient safety for the size of the stroke so that these tolerances are taken into account and that the carrier can always be locked securely on the container. However, the tolerances required for this are generally much smaller than those which are caused by differences in height between the containers and by differences in the position of the containers.

It has already been mentioned that the press-on elements only have to engage the support in places in the region of the locking edges if the support is sufficiently rigid. If the locking edges in the case of bottles, for example, encompass the entire bottle neck, it is generally sufficient if the press-on element is only provided with two web-like pressure surfaces which are tangential to the bottle neck on both sides.

An advantageous embodiment results if the press-on head is designed for simultaneous, complete press-on of several carriers. In particular when used on bottle crates, flat-type press-on heads are possible here, each having a press-on element for each bottle position in the crate and with which the bottles of an entire crate filling can be combined into corresponding bundles at the same time as desired. In general, as is also known, the press-on heads can be provided with devices for taking over, holding and / or putting on the previously erected supports. In the case of a planar press-on head, however, this can advantageously be provided with additional devices for simultaneously folding two carriers between the press-on elements for different carriers. Such devices can be, for example, expandable strips, rotatable eccentric discs or the like, which can be easily inserted between two rows of bottles or the like.

• Fig. 1 eine teilweise geschnittene Seitenansicht eines Aufdrückkopfes mit fünf in Reihe angeordneten Aufdrückelementen zum Aufdrücken eines oürdelnden Trägers auf eine Reihe von fünf Flaschen;
• Fig. 2 eine Draufsicht auf den Aufdrückkopf nach Fig. 1;
• Fig. 3 eine stirnseitige Ansicht des Aufdrückkopfes nach Fig. 3 und
• Fig. 4 eine schematische Schnittdarstellung eines Aufdrückelementes eines Aufdrückkopfes, welches mit einem mittels Kronenkorken verschlossenen Flaschenkopf in Eingriff steht und den Träger an dieser Flasche gerade in seine Arretierung überführt hat.

The invention is explained in more detail below with reference to a preferred exemplary embodiment and with reference to the accompanying drawings. In it represent:

• Figure 1 is a partially sectioned side view of a press-on head with five press-on elements arranged in a row for pressing an unsetting carrier onto a row of five bottles.
• FIG. 2 shows a plan view of the press-on head according to FIG. 1;
• Fig. 3 is an end view of the press-on head according to Fig. 3 and
• Fig. 4 is a schematic sectional view of a press-on element of a press-on head, which is in engagement with a bottle head closed by means of crown caps and has just transferred the carrier to this bottle into its locking.

1 to 3 consists of a plate-like frame 1, which is provided in the middle with a support sleeve 2 for fastening the head to the (not shown) lifting drive of a device containing the pressing head. Below the frame 1, the press-on head is provided with a series of press-on elements 3, which are guided through bores in the frame 1 by means of plungers 4 and are introduced into the spring housing 5 with their upper ends above the frame 1. 1-3 are pneumatic spring elements arranged in the spring housings 5 designed as cylinders, the construction of which is not shown in detail. Against the support of the pneumatic springs, the individual pressing elements 3 can be pressed upwards by a certain distance independently of one another and independently of the stroke of the overall pressing head relative to the frame 1 of the head. In order to prevent the pressing heads from rotating, they are additionally provided on their upper side with guide pins 6, which are also guided in bores in the frame 1. The essentially solid pressing elements 3 are provided on their underside with a cylindrical recess 7 into which the heads of the bottles to be bundled by means of a carrier can enter when the carrier is pressed on. The bottom of the recesses 7 serves as a stroke-limiting stop for the upper edges of the bottles and is therefore provided with a cushion disk 8 for shock absorption. In their adjoining areas, the press-on elements 3 are provided with bevels 9 in order to reduce engagement with the carrier in its areas lying between two bottles as much as possible. As particularly clear from the front view of FIG. 3 proceeds, the press-on head is laterally provided with holding plates 10 for receiving the pre-erected carrier. These holding plates extend along the row of press-on elements 3 and the pre-erected supports can be inserted between the holding plates 10 at the end. In their lower areas, the holding plates 10 are provided with angled portions 11, which already prepare the folding process of a carrier, which is carried out completely when the carrier is pressed on. The holding plates 10 are connected to a spring device 12 which, for example, allows the holding plates 10 to spread and thus slide off the pressed-on carrier when the pressing head is moved back.

In Fig. A pressing element is shown schematically, which is in engagement with a bottle head and has just locked a carrier located on the bottle neck. Parts corresponding to FIGS. 1-3 are designated by the same reference numerals in FIG. 4. In the spring housing 5, however, a helical spring 13 is indicated in FIG. 4 as an elastic counterpressure element for the pressing element 3.

Shown is a beer bottle 14 shown broken off below, which is closed with a crown cap 15. The beer bottle 14 stands with further bottles in a row running perpendicular to the plane of the drawing, and the row of these bottles is bundled by means of a cardboard carrier 16 applied to the bottles.

The carrier 16, which is made from a flat cardboard blank and glued to an overlap point 17, has a lower wall 18 with punched through openings for the bottle necks, an upper wall 19 with through openings for the bottle head, from which flaps 20 are punched out, the ends of which are the actual locking edges 21 form which lock behind the lower edges 26 of the crown cap 15, and two side walls 22 which are provided with inwardly directed folds 23. These foldings can be prepared, for example, by the bends 11 of the holding plates 10 in the exemplary embodiment in FIG. 3. In the area of the bottle neck itself, the carrier is also provided with archable areas 24, which ensure that the carrier is in close contact with the bottle neck and represent additional stiffening.

Before the pressing-on process is carried out, the carrier 16 is loosely applied to the bottle necks, and it can rest on the crown cap 15 with its tabs 20 which have not yet been folded up. The carrier is then brought into engagement by a downward lifting movement of the entire press-on head with the individual press-on elements 3, which grip the carrier at the side of the tabs 20 and press it down with its top wall 19, the carrier with its bottom wall 18 on the bottle shoulders 27 supports. When the carrier is pressed on, the side walls 22 lie close to the bottle neck by forming the folds 23 and the bulges 24 and are additionally supported there. The press-on stroke of the press-on head is limited for each individual bottle when the respective press-on element with the cushion disk 8 bears against the top of the crown cap. The distance between the pressure surfaces 25 of the press-on element and the cushion disk 8 is dimensioned such that when the press-on element 3 strikes against the crown cork 15, the tabs 20 move in their locking position behind the undercut edges 26 below the crown cork.

Due to the special design of the press-on head with individually movable press-on elements, this process is carried out correctly for each bottle individually, even if the tops of the crown closures 15 lie at different heights from bottle to bottle.

Claims (5)

1. A device for applying open and locking an inherently rigid carrier typing at least one row of bottles (14) or similar containers into a handling unit, said carrier made of cardboard and comprising a bottom wall (18) provided for rest against the bottle shoulders (27) and having apertures for the bottlenecks, further comprising a top wall (19) with apertures for the bottle heads and side walls (22) joining said top (19) and bottom (18) walls, with locking tongues (20) for the bottle heads being punched out of said apertures for the bottle heads, said tongues being defined to engage undercutting edges (26) below the bottle closures (15) against which the carrier (16) is biased due to its inherent rigidity and elasticitywhile resting against the bottle shoulders (27), the device comprising means (10) for placing the assembled carrier (16) onto the row(s) of bottles (14) arranged on a base in the configuration in which they are to be tied and comprising a driven applying head being movable towards the row(s) of bottles (14) for pressing the entire carrier (16) positioned on the bottles (14) by means of pressure against its upper wall (19) in the proximity of the locking tongues (20) with its locking tongues (20) simultaneously behind the undercutting edges (26) of all bottle closures (15), and being provided with recesses (7) for the accomodation of those portions of the bottle heads topping the undercutting edges (26) of the bottle closures (15), characterized in that the applying head for bottles (14) of similar containers whose undercutting edges (26) are on varying levels is provided with a plurality of applying elements (3) respectively within the confinement of each bottle (14), said applying heads being arranged independently from each other within the applying head in a manner resiliently yieldable against the direction of application and provided in the recesses (7) for the bottle heads with stroke limitation abutments (8) the distance of which from the application faces (25) of the applying elements (3) being dimensioned such that the respective locking tongues (20) of the carrier (16) upon abutment of an applying element (3) with its stroke limitation abutment (8) against a bottle head become situated just below the undercutting edges (26) of the closure (15) of that bottle.

2. The device according to claim 1, characterized in that the applying head containing the applying elements (3) is adapted to perform a total stroke which may be adjusted to a required maximum stroke.

3. The device according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the applying elements (3) are provided with applying faces (25) which engage the carrier only in places in the proximity of its locking tongues (20).

4. The device according to one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the applying head is provided with means (10, 11) for taking over, holding and/or positioning the carriers (16).

5. The device according to one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the applying elementes (3) are restrictedly pivotable for applying the carrier (16) onto tilted bottles or similar containers.

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