EP0152927B1 - Large package and method for its manufacture - Google Patents

Abstract

1. Process for the manufacture of a bulk package (19) which can be stacked automatically on pallets, for a plurality of goods (23) combined to form packs (5), in particular light-weight goods, such as paper handkerchiefs and rolls of paper kitchen towels, wherein at least two of the light-weight goods (23) are combined to form a pack (5) and at least four packs (5) from a bulk package (19) which is covered in partial areas by a continuous sheet material (1), wherein the sheet material (1) is conveyed to a packing station, a predetermined number of packs (5) are placed thereon and the sheet material (1) is moulded into a U-shaped casing (4), the region of the sides (6) of the U-shaped casing (4) protruding above the packs (5) are folded down over the packs (5) and the U-shaped casing (4) is folded in and secured, characterized in that a row (14) of packs (5) which are to be combined to form one bulk package (19) is disposed tranversely on the continuously fed sheet material (1), this is folded parallel to its direction of feed to form a U-shaped casing (4) in such a manner that its sides (6) protrude above the height of the packs (5), the end faces are folded in and secured and the protruding area of the sides (6) is turned down over the first and last pack (5) of the row (14), wherein the width of the roll of material (2) is so chosen that after the sides (6) have been turned down they form an edge strip (12) which covers the thickness (13) of the first and last pack (5) by at least 40 % and up to a maximum of 90 %.

Description

The invention relates to a large container and a method for producing a large container that can be automatically stacked on pallets for a plurality of combined, in particular lightweight goods, such as paper handkerchiefs and paper towel rolls, at least two of the lightweight goods being combined into one container and at least four containers being one large container form, which is enveloped in parts by a sheet-like sheet, the sheet being fed to a packing station, a predetermined number of containers placed on it and the sheet being shaped into a U-shaped shaft which extends beyond the area of the legs of the legs of the U-shaped shaft The container is beaten and the U-shaped shaft is folded in and fastened. Such a method is e.g. known from US.A 2,895,601.

Large containers currently containing a different number of packaged small containers consist of packaging that is closed on all sides. These large containers are stacked on a pallet, but have the disadvantage that they have to be opened individually if the small containers in the department store are to be provided with price tags or labels. These large containers are cut open in the sales room, and in many cases the small containers are injured when they are cut open, the contents damaged and thus unsaleable. Large customers, such as department stores and supermarkets, therefore prefer a solution in which the small containers are stacked in a tray which is roughly the size of a pallet, with several of these trays, depending on the height of the pack, in 4 to 8 layers one on top of the other Pallet are arranged and the last tray is covered with another as a lid. The stacking of the containers into these trays must be done by hand and is therefore very time-consuming, and there is also an expense for bulky trays, which is particularly annoying, since the supermarkets in the sales rooms now generally have these trays made of cardboard or cardboard in larger amounts and must be destroyed.

From DE-OS 31 23 212 a multi-object packaging is known, in which the individual objects are welded between two foils, the top foil having interruptions, openings or incisions which are intended to replace each packed object or certain objects, that form the content of the multi-object packaging. According to this document, it is therefore necessary to control the top film in such a way that interruptions or openings are always arranged above the packaged objects, so that they can be labeled and / or removed through the openings. This inevitably results in the fact that a different top film has to be used for each item of packaging, that is to say an top film which is adapted to the size of the packaged item with regard to its interruptions. When packaging different articles, a separate top film is therefore required for each article, which leads to increased storage costs and continuous changeover work.

US-A 3 336 727 describes the combination of cardboard trays with tin cans arranged therein, wherein several filled trays are stacked on top of one another and placed on a packaging line. On this packaging line, shrink film is unrolled from above and guided over the stacked trays as a continuous u-shaped tunnel. After this film has been cut and glued under the lowest tray, the large container thus formed is placed in a shrink oven and the film is shrunk. This means that all end faces of the inserted cans are fully encased and can neither be labeled nor removed without destroying the large container.

In US-A 2 895 601 and US-A 3 071 244, cardboard or another sheet-like material, ie a blank, is used as the packaging material. So it is not worked continuously from role. The erection of blanks is more time-consuming and requires the production of the blank as an additional work step, furthermore the finished product results in a stiff, voluminous packaging for the large container with the previously described difficulties of removal in the sales room.

The present invention is therefore based on the object of creating a large container which consists of a commercially available material which does not have to be subjected to special treatment, this large container allowing fully automatic pallet loading and allowing safe handling on the belt and roller transport paths, even if it is soft easily deformable content. Furthermore, the large container should offer the possibility of being able to remove and label the small containers packed in it without opening the large container. Furthermore, the packaging material accumulating in the sales room should be reduced and reduced to a small volume by using the large container.

These objects are achieved by a method for producing a large container that can be automatically stacked on pallets for a plurality of, in particular light-weight goods, such as paper handkerchiefs and paper kitchen towel rolls, combined, at least two the lightweight goods are combined to form a bundle and at least four bundles form a large bundle, which is covered in some areas by a sheet-like flat structure, the flat structure being fed to a packing station, a predetermined number of bundles being placed and the flat structure being formed into a U-shaped shaft, the areas of the legs of the U-shaped shaft projecting beyond the containers are knocked over the containers and the U-shaped shaft is folded in and fastened, with the characteristic feature that a number of several containers which are to be combined to form a large container crosswise onto the continuously supplied sheet is applied, this is unfolded parallel to its direction of advance to a U-shaped shaft so that its legs protrude above the height of the container, folded in and fastened to the end faces and the protruding area of the legs over the first and last container of Row reversed The width of the roll of material is chosen so that after the legs have been turned over, they form an edge strip which covers at least 40 and at most 90% of the thickness of the first and last container.

A large container produced by this method is open at the top, i. that is, the application of labels on the individual containers is possible without additional operations. Through the use of a sheet-like fabric to form the large container, the previously customary use of cardboard trays, into which the individual containers were stacked, is eliminated. H. the packaging material in the sales room is reduced by badly deformable, large-volume units. Despite these surprising advantages, the strength of the large container is sufficient for safe handling on belt and roller transport devices, so that even with different speeds and rotating and sliding movements in the horizontal and / or vertical with the large container, as are required for the automatic loading of pallets , no damage to the large container occurs.

When using wrapping paper as a sheet-like fabric, the block base is expediently fixed by hot melts. According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, however, a polyolefin is used as the material for the sheet-like fabric, the block base being fastened by welding the gusset. The polyolefin material web can be guided in such a way that the rear end face of the first large container and the front end surface of the following large container are formed at the same time, i. that is, a double seam or a wide-area seam is produced during welding and the first large container is separated from the second between the double seam or approximately in the middle of the wide-area seam. Compared to the use of wrapping paper, in which the separation process has to be carried out by a knife, the separation in polyolefin materials is simplified, since here a heating wire can take over the separation function as a "hot knife".

A large container produced by the process is characterized in that a row of containers is arranged transversely on the flat structure, the legs folded over around the end faces of the row each form an edge strip which has a strip width of 30 to 120 mm and with one on the end faces extending web is connected.

The large container thus has the shape of a fruit crate, usually referred to as a tray, which consists of thin wood, that is to say in its edge region on the narrow sides it is provided with a wooden strip as a handle. In the large container according to the invention, which can be addressed as a film tray, in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention, an edge strip with a strip width of 30 to 120 mm takes the place of the wooden strips and is connected to a web running on the end faces.

The web, which is formed when the wide weld seam or the two parallel weld seams are cut through between the rear end face of the first and the front end face of the second large container, stiffens the large container, that is to say the film tray, because it is arranged essentially at right angles to the end surface. In the case of large trays, in which the web length is 450 mm and more, there is a risk, in particular if the tray is filled with soft, deformable goods, such as paper towel kitchen rolls, that the central region of the web bulges during automatic transport on roller conveyors and caught on the guides of the roller conveyors. The resulting malfunctions in the workflow can only be eliminated by hand.

A preferred embodiment of the invention therefore provides that at least one reinforcement strip is arranged between the two edge strips, this reinforcement strip expediently extending over the joint between the individual containers in the film tray. The reinforcement strips are advantageously welded to the web and have a width between 25 and 160 mm. It is important in this connection that the width of the reinforcement strips is selected so that bulging of the web is reliably prevented on one side, but on the other side the packaged containers are still released so far that labeling is possible.

Further expedient configurations of the Invention provide that the large container consists of a polyethylene film with a thickness between 50 and 100 ₁ 1m, wherein the height of the large container is equal to or less than 400 mm, the width is equal to or less than 600 mm and the length is equal to or less than 800 mm. With the foil trays designed in this way, containers up to a maximum weight of 15 kg can be combined, the lower economic limit being 2 kg, but preferably the limits between 4 kg and 10 kg and 2 kg corresponding to twelve kitchen rolls.

• Fig. 1 zeigt ein Großgebinde mit zu Einzelgebinden zusammengefaßten lagenförmig gepackten Toilettenpapierblättern,
• Fig. 2 ein Folientray ohne Inhalt,
• Fig. 3 ein Großgebinde, das sechs Gebinde a vier Rollen Küchentücher enthält,
• Fig. 4 ein Folientray mit Verstärkungsstreifen für Küchenrollen,
• Fig. 5 ein Großgebinde mit mehreren Verstärkungsstreifen,
• Fig. 6A bis G zeigen als Prinzipskizzen die einzelnen Schritte des Verpackungsverfahrens.

The invention is explained below using the example of drawings.

• 1 shows a large container with layered toilet paper sheets packed into individual containers,
• 2 a film tray without content,
• 3 a large container containing six containers and four rolls of kitchen towels,
• 4 a film tray with reinforcement strips for kitchen rolls,
• 5 a large container with several reinforcement strips,
• 6A to G show the individual steps of the packaging process as schematic diagrams.

Fig. 1 shows a large container (19) consisting of six containers (5) and each container (5) contains twelve packets of folded toilet paper of one hundred and forty sheets, as is usually sold in the French market. The container (5) represents the pack size that the end user takes from the large container (19) and which must be labeled accordingly in the department store.

In Fig. 2 the same large container (19) is shown without the content previously contained in it to give a better overview of this so-called film tray. As shown in Fig. 2, it is a basket-like packaging, but made of very soft material, so that it is only self-supporting in the drawn form if it consists of relatively strong film or wrapping paper. Their shape is heavily dependent on the goods that are arranged in the large container (19), which is very clearly shown in Fig. 4, where this film tray has rounded edges, which is due to the introduction of containers (5), in which four Kitchen towel rolls (23) were combined into a container (5).

Fig. 3 shows a large container (19) consisting of six containers (5), each containing four kitchen towel rolls (23). The containers (5) are therefore rounded on their narrow sides, which is why this rounding also occurs in the large container (19). 3 differs from FIGS. 1 and 2 essentially in that there is no reinforcement strip (16). This packaging strip (16) is only required if the web (18) has such a length that without this reinforcement strip (16) the web (18) bulges, which leads to obstructions on the transport route of the large container (19) . 6 therefore shows a large container (19) with five additionally arranged reinforcement strips (16), each of which is located above the joint (17) of the individual containers (5), but this form of packaging is only used when large containers (19) must be made that have considerable dimensions, so that there is a strong risk of bulging the web (18). The production of the large container (19) is described in detail below with reference to FIGS. 6A to 6G.

From a arranged in a packing station (3) material roll (2) a polyethylene film of 80 _I lm thickness is drawn off and passed over the table (22) of the packing station (3) as fabric (1). The feed belt (21) is arranged perpendicular to the table (22), on which four kitchen towel rolls (23) combined into a bundle (5) are transported and pushed onto the table (22). The sheet (1) moves on as soon as the required number of packs (5) are on the sheet (1), in the present case six packs (5) are combined.

The flat structure (1) is erected in its edge areas during the feed stroke (FIG. 6B) and thereby forms a U-shaped shaft (4), the legs (6) of which protrude above the height of the containers (5). This U-shaped shaft (4) is guided between guide plates (24), its legs (6) are folded over the edge region of the container (5) (FIG. 6C) and form the edge strips (12). The containers (5) are thus wrapped in an open hose which was formed from the flat structure (1).

A narrow material web (7) is guided (Fig. 6D) onto the bundles (5) thus wrapped in such a way that the joints (17) overlap between two bundles (5). The material web (7) is pressed onto the container (5) by a roller (not shown) and held in this position. A slide (20) presses from behind the rows (14) of containers (5) arranged between the guide plates (24), while at the same time swords (9) from both sides into the U-shaped shaft (4) from the flat structure (1 ) press in and fold the gusset (15).

In the retracted state (FIG. 6E) of the swords (9) and when the container (5) is pressed by the slide (20), two sealing jaws (25) move towards one another from below and above and meet in the middle of the height of the containers (5), whereby a block bottom (10) is formed from the U-shaped shaft (4) on the end face (8). The heating wire (26) is arranged between the sealing jaws (25) and, after opening the sealing jaws (25) between the two weld seams (27), cuts through the polyethylene film from which the flat structure (1) is made.

With this welding process is the rear end face (8) of the first large container (19) and at the same time the front end surface (8) of the second large container (19) formed (Fig. 6F).

The resulting large container (Fig. 6G) is shown in Fig. 3. The material web (7) pressed onto the container (5) is welded to the web (18) that forms during the welding process and forms the reinforcement strip (16). Instead of a reinforcement strip (16), very narrow containers (5) can be combined into one Large containers (19) are combined, several reinforcement strips (16) are arranged side by side, but they are all guided so that they cover the joints (17) between two containers (5) and there is enough space on the containers (5) for attachment leave of price labels.

The thickness (13) of the container (5) depends on its content and the arrangement of the content in the container (5). It is also decisive for the width of the edge strip (12) and the width of the reinforcement strip (16). The width (11) of the material roll (2) is chosen so that the edge strip (12) half covers the container (5).

Claims (9)

1. Process for the manufacture of a bulk package (19) which can be stacked automatically on pallets, for a plurality of goods (23) combined to form packs (5), in particular light-weight goods, such as paper handkerchiefs and rolls of paper kitchen towels, wherein at least two of the light-weight goods (23) are combined to form a pack (5) and at least four packs (5) form a bulk package (19) which is covered in partial areas by a continuous sheet material (1), wherein the sheet material (1) is conveyed to a packing station, a predetermined number of packs (5) are placed thereon, and the sheet material (1) is moulded into a U-shaped casing (4), the region of the sides (6) of the U-shaped casing (4) protruding above the packs (5) are folded down over the packs (5) and the U-shaped casing (4) is folded in and secured, characterised in that a row (14) of packs (5) which are to be combined to form one bulk package (19) is disposed transversely on the continuously fed sheet material (1), this is folded parallel to its direction of feed to form a U-shaped casing (4) in such a manner that its sides (6) protrude above the height of the packs (5), the end faces are folded in and secured and the protruding area of the sides (6) is turned down over the first and last pack (5) of the row (14), wherein the width of the roll of material (2) is so chosen that after the sides (6) have been turned down they form an edge strip (12) which covers the thickness (13) of the first and last pack (5) by at least 40 % and up to a maximum of 90 %.

2. Process according to claim 1, characterized in that a polyolefin is used as the material for the continuous sheet material (1), and the fastening of the block end (10) is effected by heat-sealing the gusset (15).

3. Process according to one of claims 1 and 2, characterized in that at least one reinforcing strip (16) is arranged in between the two edge strips (12).

4. Process according to one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the reinforcing strip or strips (16) extends/extend over gaps (17) between the packs (5).

5. Pack manufactured according to one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that a row (14) of packs (5) is arranged transversely on the sheet material (1), the sides (6) of which, turned down over the end faces of the row (14), each form an edge strip (12) which has a strip width ranging from 30 to 120 mm and is joined to a ridge (18) running along the end faces (8, 8').

6. Bulk package according to claim 5, characterized by a reinforcing strip (16) which joins the two end faces (8) when the length of the ridge (18) exceeds 450 mm and/or when the thickness (13) of the packs (5) stacked in the bulk package (19) is small.

7. Bulk package according to one of claims 5 and 6, characterized in that the reinforcing strip (16) is heat-sealed to the ridge (18).

8. Bulk package according to one of claims 5 to 7, characterized in that the reinforcing strip (16) has a width of between 25 and 160 mm.

9. Bulk package according to one of claims 5 to 8, characterized in that it consists of a polyethylene film having a thickness of between 50 and 100 _Ilm.

Images