EP0291692B1 - Procedure, wels and device for manufacturing of precut packaging - Google Patents

Description

The invention relates to a method for producing packaging blanks and for feeding them to a packaging machine, in particular for the production of hinged boxes (hinge-lid packs) from (thin) cardboard or the like, the blanks being formed by punching packaging material and the Blanks are separated from a continuous web of material in the width of at least one blank such that the blanks are first punched down to remaining connections during manufacture of the web of material and are separated from the web of material by use or separation, in particular within the packaging machine.

When producing packages from thin packaging material such as paper, the packaging material is made available to the packaging machine as a wound material web (bobbin). In the packaging machine, the material web is pulled off the bobbin and divided into cuts by cutting knives, which are then folded to form the packaging.

For packaging material with greater rigidity, e.g. In the case of packaging made of cardboard, blanks are prefabricated by punching from sheets of material (benefit), delivered in stacks and thus entered into the packaging machine. This is equipped with a blank magazine for taking the stacked blanks and removing them one after the other. This is how packaging machines for the production of hinged boxes (hinge-lid packs) for holding cigarettes etc. work.

The prefabrication of the blanks in separate production facilities, the transport and the handling of the blank stack are cumbersome and complex. In addition, the spatial capacity of a blank magazine of a packaging machine for blank stacks is limited.

From DE-A-1 802 706 it is known to use blanks for folding boxes which are separated from a pre-punched material web. The material web is provided in roll form.

EP-A-0 187 323 discloses a method for separating blanks from a continuous material web. The separation process is carried out partly by separating cuts and partly by tearing.

Proceeding from this, the object of the invention is to improve the appearance of the finished package.

To achieve this object, it is proposed according to the invention that the blanks are connected to one another only in the area of such blanks, in particular folding tabs, via residual connections within the material web which, in the finished packaging, are concealed within the packaging, at least with their edges resulting from the blanks being torn off.

The invention is based on the finding that the production of complete blanks from (thin) cardboard within the packaging machine by punching cannot be carried out. For this reason, the blanks are pre-punched in the area of the previous production facilities, especially in the cardboard box factory. However, the blanks are delivered contiguously via residual connections and thus made available to the packaging machine. In the area of the same, the individual blanks are then formed by tearing them off. The blanks prepared in this way are no longer made from sheet-like blanks, but are delivered as a continuous, wound material web that forms a bobbin. This is used in the packaging machine. The material web is pulled off. The blanks are then successively produced by tearing them off.

According to the invention, the edges of the folding tabs which become free after the remaining connections have been separated are now concealed within the (fully folded) package. This means that the irregularly shaped edges formed by tearing or severing the blanks are not visible on the finished package.

The delivery of partially prefabricated, but still interconnected blanks of cardboard or the like enables storage and presentation as wound roll (bobbin) of larger diameter, for example 80 cm. This creates a considerable supply in the area of the packaging machine, which - depending on the performance of the packaging machine - is sufficient for about an hour of uninterrupted production of the packaging machine. The bobbin is expediently wound on a drum which is provided with lateral drum flanges to protect the pre-cut blanks. The diameter of the drum flanges is preferably larger than the diameter of the bobbin, so that the filled drum can be handled and transported by rolling on the drum flanges.

Fig. 1

eine teilweise gefaltete Verpackung des Typs Klappschachtel in perspektivischer Darstellung,

Fig. 2

einen Abschnitt einer Materialbahn aus Zuschnitten für eine Verpackung gemäß Fig. 1 in vergrößertem Maßstab,

Fig. 3

eine Trommel zur Aufnahme einer Bobine aus einer Materialbahn gemäß Fig. 2 in Seitenansicht, teilweise geschnitten,

Fig. 4

einen Teil einer Verpackungsmaschine für die Fertigung von Verpackungen gemäß Fig. 1 in Rückansicht,

Fig. 5

die Verpackungsmaschine bzw. deren Einzelheiten in einem gegenüber Fig. 4 um 90° versetzten Querschnitt, in vergrößertem Maßstab.

Further features of the invention relate to the design of the blanks and the material web. Exemplary embodiments for the design of the blanks and the material web and a drum are explained in more detail below with reference to the drawings. Show it:

Fig. 1

a partially folded packaging of the hinged box type in a perspective view,

Fig. 2

1 shows a section of a material web from blanks for packaging according to FIG. 1 on an enlarged scale,

Fig. 3

3 shows a drum for receiving a bobbin from a material web according to FIG. 2 in a side view, partly in section,

Fig. 4

part of a packaging machine for the production of packaging according to FIG. 1 in rear view,

Fig. 5

the packaging machine or its details in a cross-section offset by 90 ° compared to FIG. 4, on an enlarged scale.

The exemplary embodiments shown in the drawings relate to cuboid hinged boxes (hinge-lid packs) for cigarettes. Such a hinged box made of thin cardboard usually consists of a box part 10 and a hinged lid 11. The box part 10 comprises a front wall 12, an opposite rear wall 13, a bottom wall 14 connecting them to one another and (narrow) side walls which are formed from superimposed, that is to say overlapping, outer side flaps 15 and corresponding, approximately equally wide inner side flaps 16. The outer side tabs 15 are connected to the front wall 12 and the inner side tabs 16 to the rear wall 13. In the case of the folded folding box, the aforementioned side tabs 15, 16 lie against one another with full coverage and are connected to one another by adhesive bonding.

The hinged lid 11, which is also only partially folded in the present case, is connected to the box part 10 or the rear wall 13 thereof via a transverse hinged hinge 17. This is followed by a lid rear wall 18, a lid upper wall 19 and a lid front wall 20.

In the case of the hinged cover 11, side walls are also formed from cover side tabs lying one above the other and bonded to one another, specifically from outer cover side tabs 21 connected to the cover front wall 20 and inner cover side tabs 22 connected to the lid rear wall 18.

The packaging (hinged box) formed in this way is produced from a blank 23 which has pre-embossed folding lines for delimiting the described packaging walls and folding flaps.

In the present exemplary embodiment, the blanks 23 are connected to one another to form a continuous material web 24 of the packaging material. The material web 24 (FIG. 2) consists of blanks 23 which are transverse with their longitudinal extension and which are pre-punched and pre-embossed. The adjacent blanks 23 are only with one another in partial areas of the abutting edges connected, via residual connections 25, which are formed by short punchings 26 at a distance from one another. Outside the area of these residual connections 25, the blanks 23 are separated from one another due to continuous punch cuts 27 and 28, respectively. The blanks 23 are held together by the remaining connections 25 to form a continuous material web 24, the width of which corresponds to the length of the blanks 23. The edge contours of the material web 24 correspond to the design of the blanks in the end areas.

The remaining connections 25 are formed in the area of blank parts which are inside or hidden in the finished hinged box. In the exemplary embodiment shown, the adjacent blanks 23 are connected to one another in the area of the inner side tabs 16 and also the inner lid side tabs 22, that is to say in a central area of the material web 24.

For the processing of the blanks 23, these are separated from the material web 24 one after the other, namely torn off. The resulting free edges 29 of the side tabs 16 and lid side tabs 22 have an irregular, jagged shape (FIG. 1). As described, these edges 29 are covered by the outer side tabs 15 or lid side tabs 21 in the finished packaging and are not visible from the outside.

The material web 24 designed according to FIG. 2 is preferably wound into a roll or bobbin 30. In this space-saving arrangement, the material web 24 is inexpensive to transport, store and handle in the packaging machine. The bobbin 30 is arranged on a drum 31 which, according to the exemplary embodiment in FIG. 3, consists of a drum core 32 and lateral drum flanges 33 and 34. The latter protect the irregular edges of the material web 24 or bobbin 30 by punching.

The drum flanges 33, 34 are dimensioned such that they protrude a sufficient distance 35 over the outer circumference of the bobbin 30. As a result, the filled drum 31 can be transported by rollers on the ground and stored standing on the drum flanges 33, 34.

The drum core 32 is dimensioned in the axial direction so that the bobbin 30 wound off-center in the present example on the side sensitive to mechanical loads due to the design of the blanks 23, namely on the free edges of the front wall 12 and the tapered outer side tabs 15 effective gap 36 forms against the adjacent drum flange 34. This gap 36 prevents mechanical loads and thus deformations of the blanks 23 by pressing against the drum flange 34.

For better handling and also for trouble-free production of the bobbin 30, at least one drum flange 34 can be removed, that is to say the one facing the front wall 12. For this purpose, the drum flange 34 is provided with an internally arranged plug-in sleeve 37 which enters into a correspondingly dimensioned ring recess 38 in the drum core 32 in a form-fitting but releasable manner. In this exemplary embodiment, the drum core 32 is only connected to the opposite drum flange 33.

A central, continuous drum opening 39 enables placement on a rotatable support pin 40 in the packaging machine.

The blanks 23 of the present exemplary embodiment are processed in a packaging machine for the production of hinged boxes. 4 and 5 show interesting details of such a packaging machine (known in principle) in the present context.

On the back of a machine frame 41, the rearward-facing support pin 40 is mounted at such a distance from the floor that a bobbin 30 or a drum 31 is held a short distance above the floor. The trunnion 40 is rotatably driven by a motor via a pinion 42 and a gear 43.

The material web 24 is pulled off the bobbin 30 or drum 31 by a first pair of pull rollers 44, 45. The lower pulling roller 45 with a larger diameter also has a deflecting function. A second pair of pulling rollers 46, 47 is arranged at a distance above the pulling rollers 44, 45, the pulling roller 47 with a larger diameter again acting as a deflecting roller for feeding the material web 24 into a horizontal conveying path 48. Between the pulling rollers 44, 45 on the one hand and the Pull rollers 46, 47, on the other hand, a free sag 49 of the material web 24 is formed as a small web supply. The sag 49 is monitored in terms of size by a light barrier 50.

In the area of the horizontal conveyor track 48, the blanks 23 are separated from the material track 24 by tearing. For this purpose, two pairs of tear rollers 51, 52 on the one hand and 53 and 54 on the other hand are arranged at a distance from one another in the conveying direction. The distance between the tearing rollers 51, 52, on the one hand, from the tearing rollers 53, 54, on the other hand, is somewhat less than the width of a blank 23. The tearing rollers 53, 54 are driven at a higher speed than the tearing rollers 51, 52 Material web 24 torn from this.

In the present example, the cut blanks 23 are fed into an upright blanking chute 55, specifically by conveyor rollers 56. The blanking chute 55, stack of blanks 57 are removed one after the other and placed on a cross conveyor 59 by a slide 58. This transports successive blank stacks 57 into an area above a custom-designed blank magazine 60. The respectively arriving blank stack 57 is inserted through a lowering platform 61 into the upper area of the blank magazine 60 by downward movement. The lowering platform 61 is retracted in the transverse direction in the lower position (dash-dotted positions) and then moved back into the upper receiving position for the next blank stack 57, by means of correspondingly driven links 62.

On the underside of the blank magazine 60, blanks are removed one after the other by a known unwinder 63 and fed to a folding turret 64 shown schematically in FIG.

The processing of the blanks 23 within a packaging machine can also take place in another way.

Claims (7)

1. Process for producing packaging blanks and for delivering them to a packaging machine, especially for the manufacture of hinge-lid packs from (thin) cardboard or the like, the blanks being formed as a result of the punching of packaging material, and in which the blanks (23) are severed from a continuous web of material (24) of the width of at least one blank (23), in such a way that the blanks (23), with the exception of residual connections (25), are initially punched during the production of the web of material (24) and are separated during use, especially within the packaging machine, by being severed or torn off from the web of material (24), characterised in that the blanks (23) are connected to one another within the web of material (24), via residual connections (25), only in the region of those blank parts, especially folding tabs, which, in the finished pack, have concealed within the pack at least their edges (29) obtained as a result of the tearing off of the blanks (23).
2. Process according to Claim 1, characterised in that blanks (23) for hinge-lid packs are arranged with their longitudinal extension transverse relative to the longitudinal direction of the web of material (24) and are connected to one another via residual connections (25), especially perforations, only in the region of inner side tabs (16) and lid side tabs (22).
3. Process according to Claim 1 or 2, characterised in that the blanks (23) are severed from the web of material (24) by means of two drawing members arranged at a distance from one another in the conveying direction, especially by means of two pairs of tearing rollers (51, 52 and 53, 54) with different conveying speeds for the web of material (24) and for the severed blank (23).
4. Process according to Claim 3, characterised in that a reserve loop (sag 49) of the web of material (24) is formed before the severing of the blanks (23) from the web of material (24), in the conveying direction, and is monitored to ensure that it is maintained.
5. Process according to Claim 1 and one or more of the further claims, characterised in that the web of material (24) is fed to the packaging machine in the form of a wound roll (reel 30) and is drawn off from this in accordance with the consumption of blanks (23).
6. Web of material consisting of foldable packaging material, such as (thin) cardboard, for the production of blanks, especially for hinge-lid packs, using the process according to one or more of Claims 1 to 5, characterised in that the elongate, approximately rectangular, blanks, aligned so as to lie next to one another, are provided with folding lines for defining folding tabs and pack walls and with punching cuts, mutually confronting edges of folding tabs located on the inside in the finished hinge-lid pack (side tabs 16 and lid side tabs 22) being connected to one another by means of residual connections (25).
7. Web of material according to Claim 6, characterised in that the blanks (23) are directed with their longitudinal extension transverse relative to the longitudinal direction of the web of material (24).

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