EP0313938B1 - Device for stabilizing and drying cuboid-shaped packages - Google Patents

Description

The invention relates to a device for stabilizing the shape and drying of cuboid packs which have glued-together folding flaps, in particular folding boxes for cigarettes, with a (dry) revolver, which has a plurality of pockets on the circumference, a pocket wreath, each for receiving a pack, having.

In the case of packs which have folding flaps connected to one another by gluing, treatment for shape stabilization and drying is required after completion. For this purpose, in a packaging machine according to DE-A-24 40 006, the finished and filled packs are fed to a drying turret which has a plurality of pockets arranged along the circumference. In these the packs are stabilized with respect to the cuboid shape and dried by applying heat.

A drying revolver with cigarette packs guided in pockets along a circular path is known from EP-A-0 233 470. The bags are each designed to hold several packs. For this purpose, each bag consists of six compartments. No spatial distances or partitions or the like are provided between the individual chambers. The packs are tightly packed in the pockets. Accordingly, exactly one pocket wreath is provided in the cited document. Filling the drying turret is complex. The individual packs must be put together in a special way before they can be transferred to the pockets or chambers. For this purpose, a special filling station is provided in EP-A-0 233 470.

The invention is based on a dry turret according to DE-A-24 40 006 or a similar embodiment. The object on which the invention is based is to increase the performance, that is to say the capacity, of such a stabilization and drying station while at the same time treating the packs gently. To achieve this object, the device according to the invention is characterized in that the drying revolver has at least two concentric pocket rings each made of radially directed pockets and that outside the outer pocket ring an outer wall, inside the inner pocket ring an inner wall and between the two pockets -Cross a partition is arranged.

The capacity of the drying revolver is practically doubled by the two concentric rows of pockets. This makes the drying turret particularly suitable for two-lane packaging machines, in which two packs are finished at the same time. The drying turret according to the invention is therefore set up for the simultaneous loading and emptying of two pockets arranged side by side in the radial direction.

According to a further feature of the invention, each pocket is equipped with pocket walls resiliently resting on a (side) surface of the packs, the resiliently mounted pocket wall of the outer pockets being arranged on the radially outer side and the inner pockets on the radially inner side. This allows access to the elastic pocket walls in order to pull them back from the outside in the area of an insertion station and an extension station, in order to ensure trouble-free insertion and removal of the packs.

The almost one full turn of the folding turret in the packs stored in this way are transferred to a (horizontal) conveyor after they have been pushed out, in an upright position with the side surfaces facing downwards and upwards. The procedure according to the invention is such that one of the two packs which are ejected at the same time is passed directly to an intermediate conveyor, but the second pack is first placed on a conveyor platform and is then also transferred from this to the intermediate conveyor.

Other features relate to the design of the drying turret and organs for inserting and removing the packs and for removing them.

Fig. 1

einen Trockenrevolver mit Abförderer in Seitenansicht - von der Rückseite her,

Fig. 2

einen Ausschnitt des Trockenrevolvers, von der Vorderseite gesehen, in vergrößertem Maßstab,

Fig. 3

einen nochmals vergrößerten Ausschnitt zur Darstellung der Taschenketten in einer Ansicht gemäß Fig. 2,

Fig. 4

einen Ausschnitt des Trockenrevolvers gemäß Fig. 2 im Radialschnitt,

Fig. 5

Einschubstation und Ausschubstation mit einem vereinfachten Ausschnitt des Faltrevolvers in Seitenansicht,

Fig. 6

einen Ausschnitt der Einzelheit gemäß Fig. 5 in vergrößertem Maßstab,

Fig. 7

eine Grundrißdarstellung im Bereich der Ausschubstation mit Radialschnitt durch den Faltrevolver,

Fig. 8

eine gegenüber Fig. 7 um 90° versetzte Ansicht bzw. einen Schnitt einer Einzelheit der Fig. 7.

An embodiment of the invention is explained below with reference to the drawings. It shows:

Fig. 1

a dry turret with conveyor in side view - from the back,

Fig. 2

a section of the drying revolver, seen from the front, on an enlarged scale,

Fig. 3

FIG. 2 shows a further enlarged detail to show the pocket chains in a view according to FIG. 2,

Fig. 4

2 shows a section of the drying turret according to FIG. 2 in radial section,

Fig. 5

Slide-in and slide-out stations with a simplified section of the folding turret in a side view,

Fig. 6

5 shows a detail of the detail according to FIG. 5 on an enlarged scale,

Fig. 7

a plan view in the area of the extension station with a radial section through the folding turret,

Fig. 8

a view offset by 90 ° with respect to FIG. 7 or a section of a detail of FIG. 7.

The device shown in the drawings is part of a packaging machine, in particular for the production of cuboid packs 10, 11 (folding boxes) for cigarettes. The packaging machine can otherwise be designed as in DE-A-24 40 006. However, the device shown is particularly suitable for two-track packaging machines, that is to say for the simultaneous production of two packs 10, 11.

The cuboid packs 10, 11 have folding tabs which are connected to one another by adhesive bonding. In the case of hinged boxes, folding tabs of this type, namely side tabs, which are glued to one another, are located in the region of elongated side walls 12, 13 of the pack 10, 11.

In order to stabilize the shape of the packs 10, 11 and to harden glue spots, the packs 10, 11 are inserted into a drying turret 14 after completion.

The drying revolver 14 is set up for the simultaneous reception of two packs 10, 11 and is equipped for this purpose with two series of pockets 15, 16, each for receiving a pack 10, 11. The pockets 15, 16 are arranged in circular, concentric paths as pocket rings 17 and 18. The arrangement thereof or the relative position of the pockets 15, 16 is such that two pockets 15 and 16 of the pocket rings 7, 18 are arranged in radial alignment with one another. Between the pockets 15, 16 of the pocket wreath 17 on the one hand and the pocket wreath 18 on the other hand are wedge-shaped Spacers 19, 20 of different sizes are arranged so that the pockets 15 of the pocket ring 17 are at a greater distance from one another than the pockets 16 of the pocket ring 18.

The pockets 15, 16 are arranged and dimensioned such that the packs with the side walls 12, 13 are accommodated in the pockets 15, 16 in the radial direction pointing outwards or inwards. The dimensions of the pockets 15, 16 correspond to those of the packs 10, 11, so that their exact cuboid shape is produced or stabilized in the pockets 15, 16.

The pockets 15, 16 are open on one side and closed on the back by a rear wall 21 - except for through openings 22, 23. The packs 10, 11 are introduced into the pockets 15, 16 in the axial direction via the open side opposite the rear wall 21 and pushed out in the opposite direction. For this extension, the pockets 15, 16 are each assigned a double tappet 25, 26 in the region of an extension station 24. The two double plungers 25 and 26 are connected to one another and are actuated simultaneously. Tappets 27 pass through the openings 22, 23 of the rear wall 21 into the pockets 15, 16 and push the packs 10, 11 out over an end wall (top wall or bottom).

The outer pockets 15 of the pocket ring 17 are equipped on the radially outer side and the inner pockets 16 of the inner pocket ring 18 on the radially inner side with a movable, elastically mounted pocket wall 28 or 29. Accordingly, this lies on the respective outer or inner side wall 12 or 13 of the pack 10, namely under prestress due to compression springs 30 which are supported on the pocket walls 28, 29 on the one hand and an outer wall 31 or inner wall on the other hand. Tension pins surrounded by the compression springs 30 33 pass outwards through the outer wall 31 or through the inner wall 32. At the outer ends of each holding heads 34 are attached, which are approximately T-shaped in cross section and which can be gripped by a tool, via the tie pins 33 connected to the pocket walls 28, 29, the pocket walls 28, 29 out of contact with the packs 10, 11 to move. In the area of the push-out station 24 and in the area of a push-in station 35, the pocket walls 28, 29 are retracted radially outward or inward in the manner described, in order to enable the packs 10, 11 to be pushed in and pushed out.

The pockets 15 and 16 are heated by an electrical resistance heater. For this purpose, the dry turret 14 is provided with two concentric slip rings 37, 38 adjacent to a turret hub 36. Fixed grinding electrodes 39, 40 (carbon electrodes) lie against these. These are supplied with electricity. Electrical lines 41, 42 lead from the slip rings 37, 38 to concentric heating tapes 43, 44 and 45. These are arranged in the region of the annular outer wall 31 as well as the inner wall 32 and an intermediate wall 46. The heating bands 43, 44 and 45 run around and thus heat all the pockets 15, 16.

To lift the pocket walls 28 and 29 by means of the spring-loaded tension pins 33, in the present exemplary embodiment, lift levers arranged in a fixed manner on the outside and inside of the drying revolver 14, namely outside lift levers 47 and 48 and inside lift levers 49 and 50, are used. 50 are provided with claws 51 at their ends. The holding heads 34 of the tension pins 33 move into these as a result of the rotary movement of the drying turret 14 in the extension station 24 and the insertion station 35. By designing the claws 51, the holding heads 34 are positively gripped in these stations. As a result of pivoting movement the lift lever 47..50 the pull pins 33 of the pockets 15, 16 in the region of the extension station 24 and the insertion station 35 are pulled radially outwards or inwards, with the result that the pocket walls 28, 29 from the side walls 12, 13 of the packs 10, 11 are lifted off. The packs 10 can now be pushed into the pockets 15, 16 or ejected from them. The claw 51 is designed to grip the two holding heads 34 per pocket wall 28, 29 with a corresponding width or as a double claw, as can be seen in FIG. 4.

A special feature with regard to the actuation of the lift levers 47..50 is that the outer lift levers 47, 48 as well as the inner lift levers 49, 50 are each connected to one another in a geared manner. The outer lift lever 47 is designed in the present case as an angle lever and is connected to the second outer lift lever 48 via a pivot bearing 52. The latter is fixed in a pivot bearing 53. The free leg of the outer lift lever 47 is connected to a reciprocating crank arm 54. Its pivoting movements are thus transmitted to the outer lift lever 47 and from the same to the outer lift lever 48. The outer lift lever 47 is assigned to the insertion station 35 and the outer lift lever 48 to the extension station 24.

The inner lift levers 49, 50 are designed in an analogous manner (FIG. 1). The inner lift lever 49 assigned to the extension station 24 is driven by a crank arm 55 which can be moved back and forth. The pivoting movements of the inner lift lever 49 are transmitted via a coupling 56 to the inner lift lever 50 assigned to the insertion station 35.

The ejection station 24 is located in a radial plane below the (imaginary) horizontal center plane of the drying turret 14 rotating in an upright plane.

After leaving the drying turret 14, the packs 10, 11 are transferred to a discharge conveyor 57, which consists of an upper and lower conveyor belt with a horizontal upper run 58 and lower run 59. Between the upper run 58 and lower run 59, the packs 10, 11 are spaced apart conveyed from each other, in an upright position, such that the side walls 12, 13 abut the upper run 58 and lower run 59.

In order to achieve this position of the packs 10, 11, the packs 10, 11 are transferred to an intermediate conveyor 60 after exiting the drying turret 14, which transfers the packs 10, 11 individually to the discharge conveyor 57 along an arcuate conveyor path. The packs 10, 11 are brought from the flat lying position into the upright position during the transport in the intermediate conveyor 60.

The intermediate conveyor 60 is designed as a continuously rotating conveyor wheel with elongated driver arms 62. As can be seen from FIG. 7, the conveyor wheel 61 is designed in the manner of a spool of thread, as a result of which two driver arms 62 arranged at a distance from each other for grasping a pack 10, 11 in each area from the front or back wall.

The intermediate conveyor 60 is fixed, namely in the region of the ejection station 24, next to the outer periphery of the drying turret 14, in such a way that the packs 10 ejected from the radially outer pockets 15 each reach a driving arm 62 of the conveyor wheel 61. The movements are coordinated with one another in such a way that the pack 10 is in a receiving position for the intermediate conveyor 60 when a driving arm 62 reaches this area from below as a result of the rotation of the feed wheel 61. The pack 10 in question is then conveyed approximately along a quarter circle and then enters the entry side of the discharge conveyor 57.

The transfer of the packs 10, 11 from the conveyor wheel 61 to the discharge conveyor 57 is facilitated by the fact that this consists of two adjacent conveyor belts, that is to say also in the region of the upper run 58 and lower run 59. The intermediate conveyor 60 extends with a partial area between the conveyor belts. As a result, the packs can be conveyed into a position between upper run 58 and lower run 59 which is favorable for transport.

The package 11, which is simultaneously ejected from the drying turret 14, is deposited at a distance from the circumference of the intermediate conveyor 60, then shifted transversely into a position for receiving by a subsequent driver arm 62 of the conveyor wheel 61.

For the successive feeding of the packs 10, 11 to the intermediate conveyor 60, a platform 63 is arranged in the region of the ejection station 24 in the ejection direction of the packs 10, 11 next to the drying turret 14. This extends as a tongue-like support member for the two packs 10, 11 into the region of the feed wheel 61. With an extension piece 64 of smaller width, the platform 63 projects between the two parts of the driving arms 62 of the feed wheel 61.

The outer pack 10 is placed directly on this area of the platform 63 when it is ejected from the drying turret 10. The second pack 11 is then displaced on the platform 63 in the direction of the feed wheel 61, specifically by means of a slide element 65 which can be moved back and forth from the underside. This essentially consists of four connected by a U-frame 66 to form a unit upright drive pins 67, 68, which grip the pack 11 on the rear side wall 12 with respect to the conveying direction and on the lead opposite side wall 13 so that the pack 11 is moved exactly and positionally. The driver pins 67 and 68 are spaced from each other such that they extend to both sides of the platform 63 and can also be moved into a position on both sides of the conveyor wheel 61.

The slide member 65 is arranged below the platform 63, is moved upward to take a pack 11 with it, and is then moved in a straight line (radial) therewith. In the end position, namely after the package 11 has been handed over to the intermediate conveyor 60, the driver element 65 is lowered and returned to the starting position below the platform 63. The D-shaped movement curve 69 is shown in FIG. 6.

To carry out the described movement of the slide member 65, the latter is pivotally mounted on a crank arm 70 which is driven to swing back and forth in a plane parallel to the plane of the drying turret 14. The crank arm 70 contains two swing arms 71 and 72, which are articulated with the free ends on the slide member 65 and are attached with the other ends to a pivotably mounted coupling arm 73. The crank arm 70 is driven by a crank 74 (FIG. 5), which engages the swing arm 71.

The platform 63, which extends in the area of the extension station 24 next to the drying turret 14, has a radially outward slope. In order to place the packs 10, 11 on the platform 63 in an exact relative position and to feed them to the intermediate conveyor 60, further holding and guiding members are provided. In addition to the platform 63, which has a smaller width than the dimensions of the packs 10, 11, extends laterally - facing the drying turret 14 - an underpass 75 for the packs 11, 12 at a distance from the platform 63, so that the driving pins 67, 68 can be moved between platform 63 and underpass 75. The underpass 75 is provided in partial areas, namely in the area between the packs 10, 11 pushed out at the same time, with an angularly adjoining side guide 76. The package 11, which is pushed out radially on the inside, is moved past this when it is fed to the intermediate conveyor 60.

An upper guide 77 with an angular outline (FIG. 7) becomes effective in the area of the pack 11 during and after the ejection (s) from the dry turret 14. The upper guide 77 consists of a horizontal or in the plane of the top of the pack 11 itself Extending tongue 78 which is pivotally mounted laterally, namely on a pivot arm 79 which is mounted at a distance above the platform 63 and which carries further organs. An axis of rotation 80 of the upper guide 77 extends parallel to the conveying direction of the pack 11 on the platform 63. The upper guide 77 or its tongue 78 rests on the pack 11 under its own weight and thereby stabilizes its exact position on the platform 63.

In order to avoid unfavorable effects due to the high ejection speed of the packs 10, 11 from the drying turret 14, a common pickup 81 is assigned to both packs. This consists of an angular pick-up arm 82, which is moved towards the packs 10, 11 at the start of the ejection movement (FIG. 8). The extension movement is then continued under contact with the pick-up arm 82, the pick-up arm 82 returning to the starting position (FIG. 7) with the same movement as the packs 10, 11.

For this purpose, the pick-up arm 82 is attached to a parallelogram linkage 83, which is fixed in position with the free ends and is driven to swing back and forth by a push rod 84.

In the area of the intermediate conveyor 60, care is taken that the packs 10, 11 are properly guided after being taken over by the feed wheel 61. For this purpose, an outer guide 85 is formed on the swivel arm 79 already mentioned. This is designed in the form of an arc of a circle and limits the outer movement path of the packs 10, 11 during transport by the feed wheel 61. As can be seen from FIG. 6, the outer guide 85 remains at a short distance from the packs 10, 11. Only come outward when there are displacements the packs 10, 11 during transport through the conveying wheel 61 to bear against the outer guide 85. As shown, this is designed as part or as an end region of the swivel arm 79. The swivel arm 79 in turn extends above the platform 63.

Furthermore, a side guide piece 86 is attached to the swivel arm 79 or to the part forming the outer guide 85. This forms a lateral guide for the packs 10, 11 during transport through the conveyor wheel 61, specifically on the side facing the drying turret 14. In this respect, the side guide piece 86 is a counterpart to the pick-up 81. The side guide piece 86 prevents the packs 10, 11 from being displaced on the driving arms 62 in the axial direction of the feed wheel 61.

The outer guide 85 and the side guide piece 86, like the upper guide 77, can be moved by the arrangement of the swivel arm 79. As a result, breakage of machine parts in the event of congestion as a result of incorrectly transported or trained packs 10, 11 is avoided. As can be seen, the pivot arm 79 is designed as a two-armed lever and can be pivoted about a lever bearing 87. A free end of the swivel arm 79 rests against a fixed stop 88, specifically as a result of the action of a tension spring 89. The swivel arm 79 is accordingly pulled against the stop 88 by the tension spring 89. With increased load on the outer guide 85 and / or the side guide piece 86, the swivel arm 79 is pivoted clockwise against the load of the tension spring 89 (FIG. 5), so that the organs in question dodge and avoid breakage.

Claims (21)

1. Apparatus for the dimensional stabilization and drying of cuboid packs having folding tabs glued to one another, especially of hinge-lid packs for cigarettes, with a drying turret (14) which has on its circumference a plurality of pockets (15, 16), a pocket ring (17, 18), each for receiving a pack, characterised in that the drying turret (14) has at least two concentric pocket rings (17, 18) of respective radially directed pockets (15, 16), and in that an outer wall (31) is arranged outside the other pocket ring (17), an inner wall (32) within the inner pocket ring (18) and an intermediate wall between the two pocket rings (17, 18).
2. Apparatus according to Claim 1, characterised in that the pockets (15, 16) of the pocket rings (17, 18) are aligned with one another in pairs in common radial planes.
3. Apparatus according to Claim 1 or 2, characterised in that, in the outer pocket ring (17), a radially outer pocket wall (28) and, in the inner pocket ring (18), a radially inner pocket wall (29) is mounted resiliently and is movable outwards and inwards respectively.
4. Apparatus according to one or more of the Claims 1 to 3, characterised in that especially the encircling outer wall (31), the correspondingly designed inner wall (32) and the intermediate wall (46) are each equipped with a heating device, especially with encircling heating strips (43, 44, 45).
5. Apparatus according to Claim 3 and one or more of the further claims, characterised in that, in a pushing-out station (24) and in a pushing-in station (35) of the drying turret (14), the elastic pocket walls (28, 29) equipped with actuating means, especially outwardly directed tension pins (33), are adjustable by means of actuating members fixed in place, thereby enlarging the pockets (15, 16).
6. Apparatus according to Claim 5 and one or more of the further claims, characterised in that the pushing-out station (24) and pushing-in station (35) of the drying turret (14) are arranged adjacent to one another, especially at a distance from one another corresponding to two pockets (15 or 16), pivotable lifting levers (47, 48; 49, 50) fixed in place being arranged on the outside and on the inside for the actuation of tension pins (33, 34) with a holding head which are connected to the pocket walls (28, 29), two respective outer lifting levers (47, 48) and two respective inner lifting levers (49, 50) being connected to one another in transmission terms and being jointly actuable.
7. Apparatus according to Claim 1 and one or more of the further claims, characterised in that, in the region of the pushing-out station (24), two double tappets (25, 26) connected to one another to form a unit are movable into the pockets (15, 16), via passage orifices (22, 23) in a rear wall (21) of the drying turret (14), in order to push out the packs (10, 11).
8. Apparatus according to Claim 1 and one or more of the further claims, characterised in that the packs (10, 11) pushed out of the pockets (15, 16) of the drying turret (14) in the axial direction in the pushing-out station (24) can be transferred to a horizontal discharge conveyor (57) and conveyed away by this individually in an upright position, with narrow side walls (12, 13) directed downwards and upwards.
9. Apparatus according to Claim 1 and one or more of the further claims, characterised in that the packs (10, 11) pushed out of the pockets (15, 16) of the drying turret (14) can be fed to the discharge conveyor (57) by an intermediate conveyor (60).
10. Apparatus according to Claim 9 and one or more of the further claims, characterised in that two packs (10, 11) can simultaneously be pushed out of the pockets (15, 16) located next to one another in a radial plane and fed to the intermediate conveyor (60) in succession.
11. Apparatus according to Claim 9 and one or more of the further claims, characterised in that in that the intermediate conveyor (60) is designed especially as a continuously rotating conveyor wheel (61) with projecting take-up arms (62), and packs (10, 11) can be grasped in succession by the take-up arms (62) and fed to the discharge conveyor (57) along a path in the form of an arc of a circle.
12. Apparatus according to Claim 10 and one or more of the further claims, [lacuna] that the packs (10, 11) pushed out simultaneously can be set down on an intermediate carrier arranged next to the drying turret (14), especially on a stationary platform (63) extending in the radial direction.
13. Apparatus according to Claim 12 and one or more of the further claims, characterised in that the radially outer pack (10), after being pushed out of the pocket (15), can be set down on the platform (63) in a region located in the range of movement of the intermediate conveyor (60) in such a way that the pack (10) can be lifted off directly from the platform (63) by the intermediate conveyor (60), especially by the take-up arms (62).
14. Apparatus according to Claim 12 and one or more of the further claims, characterised in that the second radially inner pack (11), after being pushed out of the pocket (16), can be set down on the platform (63) and fed to the intermediate conveyor (60) by a slide member (65) acting in the radial direction.
15. Apparatus according to Claim 14, characterised in that the slide member (65) is movable underneath the platform (63), and take-up means, especially vertical take-up pins (67, 68) extending on both sides of the platform (63), grasp the pack (11) and take it on the platform (63) into the position for reception by the intermediate conveyor (60), and in that the take-up pins (67, 68) can be conveyed back into the initial position outside the path of movement of the pack (11).
16. Apparatus according to Claim 12 and one or more of the further claims, characterised in that the platform (63) has assigned to it guiding and leading members for the packs (10, 11), especially for the pack (11) distant from the intermediate conveyor (60) after being pushed out, especially a lower guide (75) and lateral guides (76).
17. Apparatus according to Claim 12 and one or more of the further claims, characterised in that the pack (11) distant from the intermediate conveyor (60) after being pushed out has assigned to it, on the platform (63), an upper guide (77) which is movable, especially pivotable along a radial axis, and which rests on the pack (11) essentially under its own weight.
18. Apparatus according to Claim 8 and one or more of the further claims, characterised in that the packs (10, 11) are pushed out of the drying turret (14) against a bearing member moving with them in the pushing-out direction, especially against a collector (81) movable to and fro and having a collecting arm (62) which moves with the packs (10, 11) during the pushing-out movement and against which the packs rest.
19. Apparatus according to Claim 9 and one or more of the further claims, characterised in that, during transport by the intermediate conveyor (60) the packs (10, 11) are guided on the radial outer side of the latter, especially by an outer guide (85) with a guide edge in the form of an arc of a circle, as part of a pivoting arm (79) movable counter to spring load especially against a tension spring (89).
20. Apparatus according to Claim 19, characterised in that a lateral guide (86) is mounted on the outer guide (85) or on the pivoting arm (79) of the latter, for guiding the packs (10, 11) in the region of the end faces during transport by the intermediate conveyor (60).
21. Apparatus according to Claim 17 and one or more of the further claims, characterised in that the upper guide (77) is mounted on the pivoting arm (79).

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