EP0460374B1 - Method and device for the packaging of objects in a folding box - Google Patents

Abstract

A divided-off product group (30) is pushed onto the flattened blank (10) in a synchronising station (29). The blank (10) is set upright in a folding station (40) by means of folding tools (41 to 44) and guide rails (45, 46), folded around the product group (30) and provided with spots of glue. The folded parcel provided with glue spots is pushed with a fixed spacing through the folding station (40) into the pressing station (50), where the parcels stand firmly one against the other so that the glue which has been applied can set. <IMAGE>

Description

The invention relates to a method for packaging objects in wrap-around or tray packaging, in particular for packaging several at least single-row product groups of containers, in particular groups of bottles, glasses or cans, by completely or partially wrapping them with a one-sided open or closed cubic folding box, which is folded from a one-piece, preferably punched blank provided with folding lines, the blanks being conveyed in the conveying direction of the objects synchronously with them into a common horizontal plane and simultaneously or shortly after the objects have been deposited on the serving area Bottom wall of the blank during its further promotion by erecting or folding the side walls, the folding flaps of the side walls and possibly the top wall and the adhesive flaps folded around the objects and the overlapping folding flaps of the side walls and the Adhesive tabs and possibly the top wall and the adhesive tab located on a side wall are glued together.

The invention further relates to a device for carrying out the method, consisting of in each case for the product groups and for the blanks in a common direction synchronously drivable feed conveyors for objects or product groups of packs at equidistant distances and for blanks, one for a conveyor of the folding station Folding station with adhesive spray heads, in which folding tools that can be moved in the conveying direction with a conveyor are provided for erecting the front and rear flaps of the blank fastened to the bottom wall by 90 ° and further stationary folding tools for erecting the side walls of the blank by 90 °, and a conveyor .

Bulk packs as wrapping for a product group generally consist of cardboard material, which is formed from a pre-cut blank with corresponding folding lines to form a full or partial wrapper for the product group and is finished by gluing so-called adhesive flaps. The wrappings can be designed as a display pack, as a tray pack or as a wrap-around pack. The packaging rate per unit of time essentially depends on the folding technique. In some of the previously known prior art multi-pack machines, the flat blanks are fed perpendicularly or horizontally to the conveying direction of the product groups to be packaged, with a first side wall being erected before the product group is placed on the base of the blank. Then the top wall and then the opposite side wall are first folded around the product group before the folding flaps or adhesive flaps, which still protrude laterally in the horizontal direction, are swiveled and glued laterally after the adhesive has been applied. Due to the right-angled feeding of the blanks and the pressing of the adhesive tabs until the adhesive sets, the number of packaging cycles per minute is limited, and the technical effort for holding the adhesive tabs until the adhesive sets is relatively large.

From DE 35 15 248 A1 a method is known in which objects are fed from several parallel rows over a stacking section, these objects are separated into the product group to be packaged and blanks are fed perpendicular to the conveying direction of the product groups to be packaged, before the product group is put on a side wall is erected by 90 ° on a blank stand. A tying station is set up in front of the conveyor after the folding station. However, the right angle feeding of the blanks disadvantageously limits the packaging rate.

US-A-4 571 916, from which the present invention is based, deals with a method and a device suitable for carrying it out, in which the blanks in the conveying direction of the objects are conveyed synchronously with them to a common horizontal plane and shortly after the objects have been set down on the bottom wall of the blank during its further conveying, the front and rear flaps of the blank adjoining the bottom wall are raised by 90 ° to the horizontal and then the side walls of the blank are folded up by 90 °. For this purpose, folding tools which can be moved along with a conveyor in the conveying direction in the device disclosed there are used for erecting front and rear flaps of the blank by 90 °.

From US-A 3 844 088 it is also known to promote the blanks in the conveying direction of the objects synchronously with them in a common horizontal plane and, after the objects have been placed on a bottom wall of the blank, first of all by erecting the side walls by means of a stationary folding tool and successively by other folding tools enveloping the blank to fold the item or product group. Before the last folding down, the side wall in question is provided with an adhesive application on its inside. Then the blanks together with the product group are rotated by 90 °, so that the previous adhesive tabs on the front and back come to lie parallel to the conveying direction. Before the adhesive tab coming into contact with the top is folded in, it is applied with an adhesive on the inside and glued by pressing. A disadvantage of this method or device is the need to have to rotate the blank with the packaging group between different folding processes.

From CH-PS 478 026 a device for producing a multiple pack containing several individual packages is also known, in which the blank is placed in a U-shape around the front face and the bottom and top surfaces of the object group to be packaged. To form the end closure, two processing stations are provided, two narrow moths being arranged on a first station and one wide moth being arranged on the second station and the other wide moth being designed to be vertically and horizontally displaceable and, in addition to folding one wide flap, also for transporting the pack of the first to the second station. This division of the operations for forming the end closure into two stations gives more time for the individual operations, but extends the device considerably.

Starting from the prior art mentioned at the outset, it is an object of the present invention to develop a method with which a high packaging cycle rate can be achieved with a low outlay on folding and pressing tools. For this purpose, a device is also to be created which operates at high cycle rates and is as insusceptible to faults as possible with little tool part expenditure.

The task related to the method is achieved by the measures proposed in claim 1.

The blanks are conveyed in the conveying direction of the packaging objects, in particular multi-row product groups, synchronously with them into a common horizontal plane, which results in a space-saving structure of the feed device. The cut does not have to be pre-folded before the product group is placed on it, since the folding tabs on the side and the pivoting of the adhesive flaps on the front and back of the base part are swiveled by at least 45 ° on both sides, as is the subsequent folding up of the cut side walls by 90 °. Characterized in that according to a further essential feature of the invention, the adhesive tabs are located on the front and back in the conveying direction, the adhesive tabs do not have to be coated and pressed on each side with adhesive, rather it is possible to first of all glue the front-side adhesive tab during the passage in the folding station and then edit the rear adhesive tab. In addition, pressing tools can be saved in that in the continuous flow of packaging after the adhesive application, the fully folded packages are pushed towards one another, as a result of which the adhesive tab on the back of the previously folded packaging comes to the pressing system on the front adhesive tab of the next, completely folded packaging.

According to a further development of the invention, for the production of wrap-around packaging (outer cartons), after the side walls have been erected, the top wall attached to the one side wall and the adhesive flap attached to the other side wall can be folded in turn by 90 ° around the respective folding line and the one on the The upper wall of the front and rear attached upper adhesive flaps and the adhesive flap of the other side wall are pre-folded and glued together with the corresponding overlapping folding flaps or the upper wall by pressing. Depending on whether the adhesive flap or the top wall is to serve as the outer layer, the other part must first be folded and coated with adhesive in the overlap area.

As already mentioned above, the front and rear adhesive flaps, which are fastened to the top wall and the bottom wall in the cut, are pressed onto the corresponding folding flaps by pushing onto a previously finished packaging or by pushing a packaging that has been finished afterwards until the adhesive has hardened . For this purpose, a conveying speed of the conveyor is preferably carried out in a binding station downstream of the folding station set, which is lower than the conveying speed when performing the cuts through the folding station. As a result, the separation of the now wrapped product groups is canceled and the filled packaging is conveyed close together.

The conveying speed in the folding station is preferably selected so that it is the distance between the successive blanks plus the blank length in the conveying direction multiplied by the desired number of cycles per minute, preferably 60 / min to 80 / min, while the conveying speed in the binding station corresponds to the cutting or packet length multiplied by the aforementioned number of cycles is selected.

The task related to the device is solved by the features described in claim 6. Here, according to a pre-grouping station known in the prior art, the product groups are transferred to a synchronous station, from which they are transferred synchronized to the cutting of the folding station. The blanks are preferably fed in below the product transport plane, ie in the direction of conveyance with the products, as a result of which a lateral conveyor perpendicular to the conveying direction, as in the case of the prior art known packaging devices, is not required. According to the invention, folding tools which can be moved in the conveying direction with a conveyor for erecting the front and rear folding flaps of the blank by 90 ° and further moving tools which can be moved for erecting the front and rear lower adhesive flaps by at least 45 °, preferably 60 ° +/- 10 ° , intended. The vertical position of the folding tabs and the inclination of the adhesive tabs make it possible to subsequently raise the side walls of the blank by 90 °, the folding tabs being able to be moved past the adhesive tabs. In order to save pressure tools with which the adhesive flaps are pressed onto the corresponding overlap areas of the folding flaps, a further conveyor which can be driven at a lower speed than the folding station conveyor is provided in a binding station in front of the removal conveyor for the finished packaging. Due to the reduction in speed, the fully folded packaging pushes towards each other, which ultimately pushes on the adhesive tabs.

An endless conveyor is preferably used in the folding station, which according to a further development of the invention can be moved synchronously with endless chains (hinged belt chains) provided on both sides of the conveyor with folding tools articulated thereon at a distance of the cut length. The distance adjustment of the folding tools enables the machine to be converted to variable cutting lengths.

Furthermore, the folding tools for erecting the front and rear folding flaps of the blank are each made up of jaws and are connected with folding tools consisting of fingers for erecting the front and rear lower adhesive flaps, thereby creating a combined folding tool for two functions.

For packaging with wrap-around folding blanks, upper folding tools for folding over or folding the top wall and the upper adhesive flap are further arranged after the folding tools mentioned for erecting the side walls. The device is then able to fold so-called tray packaging as well as wrap-around packaging without lengthy and time-consuming retooling.

To prevent the pre-folded lower adhesive flaps from swinging back again after leaving the folding station, lower and possibly additional upper spring-loaded wedge-shaped counterholders for holding up or pressing down the adhesive flaps are arranged behind the endless conveyor but in front of the binding station in the conveying direction . When the packaging passes with tabs that have not yet been glued, the spring-loaded counterhold reaches into the gaps that still exist between the packaging, as a result of which the adhesive tabs are held in the pre-folded position. When the packaging is reduced in distance up to the abutment of the previously conveyed packaging, the counterholders of the wedge shape are gradually pushed back, before they lower or straighten again in a space following the spring pressure.

Preferably, in a structurally simple design, folding guide tools are used to fold up the side walls of the blanks, which, viewed in the conveying direction, rise from a horizontal plane below the endless conveyor and are tapered to the width of the product group. As a result, the side walls are continuously raised by 90 ° as the packaging passes through.

All of the folding tools mentioned so far are height and side adjustable so that any cut sizes can be folded.

The feed conveyor for the blanks preferably consists of an endless chain conveyor arranged obliquely below the conveyor for the individual product groups and equipped with drivers.

According to a further embodiment of the invention, the feed conveyor for the product groups with an endless driver chain pair with driver bars arranged vertically therebetween is also used for product group separation.

• Fig. 1 einen ebenen ungefalteten Zuschnitt,
• Fig. 2 in systematischer Darstellung das erfindungsgemäße Faltverfahren und
• Fig. 3 eine schematische Darstellung der Vorrichtung zur Durchführung des Verfahrens nach Fig. 2.

Embodiments of the invention are shown in the drawings. Show it

• 1 is a flat unfolded blank,
• Fig. 2 in a systematic representation of the folding method according to the invention and
• 3 shows a schematic illustration of the device for carrying out the method according to FIG. 2.

The blank shown in Fig. 1 consists of a pre-punched flat cardboard and has a later serving as a base wall A, adjoining side walls B and C, which can be folded up about prepared folding lines 14 and 16, and an upper wall D, which with the said side wall C is connected and foldable about a folding line 20. At the elongated end, the side wall B has an adhesive flap B3 which can be folded around the fold line 11. Further adhesive tabs A1 and A2 have the bottom wall A, these adhesive tabs also being foldable about fold lines 15 and 17. Correspondingly, the top wall D also has adhesive flaps D1 and D2 with correspondingly adjacent folding lines 21 and 22. The side parts B and C have folding flaps B1, B2 and C1, C2 which adjoin folding lines 12, 13 and 18, 19. This cut is made in the device described below introduced that the length designated A, the total width and B designated width determines the later length of the package in the conveying direction.

The folding method according to the invention can be seen in principle from FIG. 2. First, the front fold-in flaps B1 and C1 are raised by 90 °, then the product group 30, indicated here by 6 bottles, is guided on the bottom wall A of the blank 10. In the further course, the rear fold-in flaps B2 and C2 are raised by 90 ° and, when the side walls B and C are folded up, are simultaneously pivoted inwards with the fold-in flaps B1, B2 and C1, C2. Simultaneously or shortly thereafter, the adhesive flaps A1 and A2 articulated on the base part A are erected by at least 45 °, preferably approximately 60 °, to the horizontal, so that after the side walls B and C have been completely folded up, the third position shown is obtained. Now the top wall D, provided with glue on the underside, with the hinged adhesive tabs D1 and D2 is pressed down simultaneously with the adhesive tab B3. The fourth position seen from the left shows the packaging condition with adhesive tabs D1, D2 or A1 and A2 that have not yet been glued.

The adhesive flaps are applied with an adhesive on the inside before they are pivoted in the direction of the folding flaps B1, C1 on the front or B2 and C2 on the back. The adhesive tabs D1 and A1 are pressed when the packaging 10b comes into contact with the back of the packaging 10a or when the packaging 10c strikes the packaging 10b. On the right side of the figure, a continuous packaging stream with adjacent front and back sides is indicated.

Fig. 3 shows a schematic representation of the device for performing the above-described method, which essentially consists of a synchronous station 29 for the product group 30 and the blank 10, further consists of the folding station 40, a transfer station 49 and a binding station 50 - seen in the conveying direction. An endless conveyor belt serves as the feed conveyor 23 and transfers the product groups in a pair of endless drive chains 33 arranged on both sides. For product synchronization - here groups of six bottles in each case - are used carrier rods 32 arranged vertically to the pair of chains, with the aid of which the product group is deposited in horizontal movement on a bottom wall A of the blank 10. The blank 10 is conveyed here by an endless chain 24 with drivers 31 running obliquely upwards into a common plane. Before the product group 30 is brought together, the blank is gripped by the endless conveyor 25 in such a way that the front and rear jaws 41, 42 as folding tools fold up the folding flaps B1 and C1 vertically on the front side of the folding blank, the same applies to the rear folding flaps B2 and C2. Simultaneously with the folding of the fold-in flaps B1, B2 and C1, C2 mentioned, the front and rear lower adhesive flaps A1 and A2 (only the latter can be seen in FIG. 3) are pre-folded by 60 ° by means of corresponding fingers 43, 44. With further movement of the blank 10 with the belt speed v₁ finally fold rails 45 and 46 capture the side walls B and C, which are erected vertically. The adhesive flap B3 and then the upper wall D are then folded down by means of appropriate folding tools on the upper side, adhesive being applied to the inside of the upper wall D before the final lowering of the upper wall D by means of spray heads (not shown). Correspondingly, the adhesive flaps A1, A2 and D1, D2 are coated on the inside with adhesive. After the blank 10, which has already been folded except for the adhesive tabs, has left the folding station 40, the lower adhesive tabs A1 and A2 are still held in the transfer position 49 by spring-loaded wedge-shaped counterholders 48 and the upper adhesive tabs D1 and D2 by wedge-shaped counterholders 47 until the packaging in the tying station 50, the conveyor with a lower Speed v₂ is operated, the folded blank meets the back of the packaging in front, so that on the back of the last-mentioned packaging and on the front of the accumulating packaging, the adhesive flaps D2 and B2 or A1 and D1 mutually contact the corresponding folding flaps B1, C1 or B2 and C2 invest.

The method according to the invention has been described for folding and gluing on wrap-around packaging. However, tray packaging can also be folded using the same device. The speeds of the respective conveyors are coordinated with one another by control devices. For a package of the length measured in the running direction of 30 cm results in a speed v₂ of 18 m / min at a cycle rate of 60 / min, which results in a speed v₁ of 45.72 m / min if the distance between the packaging in the Folding station is 46.2 cm. At the same distance, measured from the front wall of a first package to the front wall of the next package of 0.762 m and a cycle number of 60 / min, at the same speed v 1, a speed v 2 in the binding station 50 of 12 m / min results if the packaging length in the conveying direction seen is 20 cm.

Claims (15)

1. A method for the packaging of articles in wrap-around or tray-type packages, more particularly for the packaging of each of a number of product groups of containers in at least a single row, more particularly groups of bottles, glasses or boxes, by complete or partial envelopment with a cubic folding box which is open on one side or closed and which is folded from a one-part, preferably punched blank (10) furnished with folding lines (11 to 22), the blanks (10) being conveyed in the conveying direction of the articles (30) synchronously therewith in a common horizontal plane and during the further conveying of the blank being folded around the articles (30) simultaneously with or shortly after the deposition of the articles (30) on the bottom wall (A), acting as a base, of the blank (10) by the erection or folding of the side walls (B, C), the inward folding straps (B1, B2, C1, C2) of the side walls and possibly the top wall (D) and the adhesive straps (B3, A1, A2, D1, D2), the overlapping inward folding straps (B1, B2, C1, C2) of the side walls (B, C) and the adhesive straps (A1, A2, D1, D2) and possibly the top wall (D) and the adhesive straps (B3) disposed on one side wall (B) being glued to one another, characterized in that the front and rear folding straps (B1, B2, C1, C2), viewed in the conveying direction, of the side walls (B, C) of the blank (10) are erected by 90° and the adhesive straps (A1, A2) articulated to the bottom wall (A) by at least 45°, preferably 60° ± 10° to the horizontal, thereafter the side walls (B, C) of the blank (10) are folded upwards by 90° and finally, when adhesive has been applied to the lower adhesive straps (A1, A2) attached to the bottom portion said adhesive straps are glued with the inward folding straps (B1, B2, C1, C2) acting as inner front and rear wall portions to the corresponding adhesive straps of a preceding packaging.
2. A method according to claim 1, characterized in that in the case of blanks for wrap-around packings, after the side walls (B, C) have been erected, the top wall (D) attached to one side wall (C) and the adhesive strap (B3) attached to the other side wall (B) are successively folded by 90° around the folding lines (20, 11), and the upper adhesive straps (D1, D2) attached to the front and rear sides of the upper wall (D) and the adhesive strap (B3) are prefolded and after the adhesive has been applied are glued by pressing with the corresponding overlapping inward folding straps (B1, B2, C1, C2) and the top wall (D).
3. A method according to claims 1 or 2, characterized in that the front and rear adhesive straps (A1, A2, D1, D2) are pressed on to the corresponding inward folding straps by pushing on to a previously finished package or by being pushed by a subsequently finished package, until the adhesive has cured or hardened.
4. A method according to claim 3, characterized in that the conveying speed (v₁) when the blanks (10) are guided through a folding station (40) having folding tools is higher than the conveying speed (v₂) in the curing station (50) for the adhesive.
5. A method according to claim 4, characterized by a conveying speed (v₁) in the folding station (40) corresponding to the distance between the successive blanks plus the blank length in the conveying direction, multiplied by the timed rate per minute, preferably 60/min to 80/min, and a conveying speed (v₂) in the curing station (50) which corresponds to the blank or package length multiplied by the same timed rate per minute.
6. An apparatus for the performance of the method according to one of claims 1 to 5, comprising: drivable supply conveyors for equidistantly spaced-out articles or product groups of containers and for blanks which discharge both for the product groups (30) and also for the blanks (10) respectively in a common direction synchronously on to a conveyor (25) of the folding station (40); a folding station which has adhesive spraying heads and in which folding tools (43, 44) movable together with a conveyor (25) in the conveying direction are provided for erecting by 90° the front and rear straps (A1, A2) of the blank (10) attached to the bottom wall and further fixed folding tools (45, 46) for erecting by 90° the side walls (B, C) of the blank; and a removal conveyor, characterized in that folding tools (41, 42) movable together with the conveyor (25) in the conveying direction for erecting by 90° the front and rear inward folding straps (B1, B2, C1, C2), viewed in the conveying direction, on the side walls (B, C) of the blank (10) and the folding tools (43, 44) for erecting the front and rear adhesive straps (A1, A2) by at least 45°, preferably 60° ± 10°, are provided in the folding station (40), a further conveyor drivable at a lower speed (v₂) than the folding station conveyor (25) being provided at a curing station (50) downstream of the removal conveyor.
7. An apparatus according to claim 6, characterized in that the folding station conveyor (25) is an endless conveyor.
8. An apparatus according to claim 7, characterized in that endless chains, preferably flat-top chains having folding tools (41 to 42) adjustably articulated thereto at a distance of the blank length can be driven synchronously with the endless conveyor (25) on both sides.
9. An apparatus according to claim 8, characterized in that the folding tools (41, 42) for the erection of the front and rear inward folding straps (B1, B2, C1, C2) of the blank (10) each consist of jaws (41, 42) to which folding tools (43, 44) are attached inwardly directed for the erection of the front and rear lower adhesive straps (A1, A2).
10. An apparatus according to one of claims 7 to 9, characterized in that upper folding tools for folding over the top wall (D) and the upper adhesive strap (B3) are disposed downstream of the folding tools (45, 46) for erecting the side walls (B, C).
11. An apparatus according to one of claims 6 to 10, characterized in that lower and possibly additional upper spring-loaded wedge-shaped steadying members (47, 48) for maintaining erect or depressing the adhesive straps (A1, A2; D1, D2) are disposed downstream of the endless conveyor (25), viewed in the conveying direction.
12. An apparatus according to one of claims 6 to 11, characterized in that the folding tools for the upward folding of the side walls (B, C) consist of lateral guide rails (45, 46) which, viewed in the conveying direction, are disposed rising from a horizontal plane lying below the endless conveyor (25) and taper as far as the width of the group (30) of products.
13. An apparatus according to one of claims 6 to 12, characterized in that the folding tools (41 to 48) are vertically and/or laterally adjustable.
14. An apparatus according to one of claims 6 to 13, characterized in that the supply conveyor (24) for the blanks (10) comprises an endless chain conveyor having entraining members (31) which is disposed at an angle below the conveyor (23) for the individualized groups (30) of products.
15. An apparatus according to one of claims 6 to 14, characterized in that the supply conveyor (23) for the product group (30) comprises a pair (33) of endless entraining members having entraining rods (32) vertically disposed therebetween for synchronizing the product groups.

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