EP0511045B1 - Method and device for packaging hanging products like clothing - Google Patents

Abstract

a) Method and device for packaging hanging products such as articles of clothing. b) Device characterised by a straddler chassis (18) surrounding the bar (10) for supporting the hooks (16), by legs (19, 20) equipped at their lower end (22, 23) with knitting members (25, 46) and a means (30) for driving and transferring the hooks. c) The invention relates, in particular, to the packaging of clothing grouped into batches. <IMAGE>

Description

The present invention relates to a method of packaging products suspended by a hook from a bar, these products being grouped in batches, detachably but solidly connected to allow them to be held and blocked in the batch during transport and handling according to the preamble. of claim 1.

An example of such a known method is described in document DE-A-37 20 794.

The invention also relates to a device for producing such packaging.

The invention applies in particular to the packaging of pieces of clothing protected by hangers, in order to group them either at the factory, or at the time of their distribution into lots destined for the various stores.

Currently, for the transport and handling of clothes hanging from hangers, in large retail networks, processing a large number of pieces of clothing, we proceed as follows:

The suppliers, that is to say the clothing manufacturers, package the clothes hung on hangers by grouping them in batches (loads) of ten or twenty pieces. The hangers are hung on bars themselves carried by a cart or similar, both in the factory for shipment and in the trucks themselves fitted with hanging bars.

However, to facilitate operations and prevent the hooks of the hangers from coming off for example under the effect of the twists and turns of the vehicle, and to avoid that when we take the load between his arms, the hangers move, slide and descend in clothes and no longer allow the hanging in block of all the hangers of the load, it was found particularly interesting to bring the base of the hooks together and form a batch. For this, we use adhesive tape which is passed on one side of the base of the hooks and on the other; in the interval of the hooks, the two strips of adhesive tape are glued to one another and thus trap the hooks of the hangers at the desired spacing. This fixing or blocking which relates only to the right part of the hangers above the garment and below the hook, is not annoying and allows to hang or unhook the whole lot of clothes.

For transport, this connection also prevents a hook from being able to separate from the bar and cause the garment to fall onto the bottom of the truck.

The same risk exists, to a lesser degree, during transport to the factory or to distribution centers, when the hooks of a batch are attached to a bar carried by a carriage traveling along rails.

In fact, according to the commercial organizations of the large distribution networks, the batches of products are centralized at distribution points which receive orders from different stores to deliver and distribute the clothes according to orders (sizes, colors, models, etc.). Orders are thus made from batches themselves grouped together with the manufacturer, always using adhesive tape.

However, in such a distribution center or goods processing center, lots arriving from the manufacturer must be opened. This requires cutting or tearing the adhesive tape between all the hangers in the same batch and removing by hand the adhesive tape remaining on the hook.

The same operation must be done at the reception in the retail store.

In these distribution centers, the clothes circulate in the hanging position on bars carried by carriages which are themselves mobile along rails. The hooks are thus at the greatest height, (a height of 1.60 m) to allow the passage of all the clothes whatever their size without them not rubbing on the ground, but at a height nevertheless as low as possible so as not to unnecessarily complicate the work of the staff ensuring the opening of the lots, and the preparation of orders. Under these conditions, it is extremely painful for the personnel who must open the batches (to cover them, redistribute them, or carry out a quality control), to keep the hands raised at this height for a prolonged period, to cut the adhesive tapes, peel off the adhesive tape from the hangers, etc.

The same difficulty exists with the recipient, upon receipt of the order. Added to this is that, in one case as in the other, it is necessary to remove the pieces of adhesive tape which can remain on the hooks. This work needs to be done particularly carefully at the retailer receiving the order so that the hooks are perfectly presentable for display and sale.

The work of fitting the adhesive tapes at the manufacturer and in the distribution center is only done manually under the current circumstances. Even if it can be envisaged to mechanize this gluing work, it is not possible to envisage it for the opening of the batches, that is to say the cutting or tearing of the adhesive tapes between the different hangers and, above all, not for removing the adhesive tape from the hangers.

These operations, in addition to their tedious nature, represent a relatively long working time and, in any case, proportional to the quantities of garments treated.

The present invention aims to create a method and a packaging device for grouping detachable batches of products suspended by hooks on bars for their transport and handling, so as to allow, on the one hand, the automatic realization of the link bringing together the different products of a batch, and this in a solid and reliable manner and, on the other hand, the easy opening of this link at reception to separate the different products from the batch, in particular for the clothing industry and, in general, for all hanging products intended to be grouped in batches, for example food products.

To this end, the invention relates to a method of the above type, characterized by the characterizing part of claim 1.

This operation is particularly simple to carry out automatically since it suffices to scroll the hooks in a connection station performing the ligature. This ligature is particularly interesting if it is made with a chain stitch which is tied after the last hook because this chain stitch ligature opens very simply if you pull on the thread (after having cut your knot) , very simply although the ligature performed is particularly resistant.

• un châssis enjambeur entourant la barre de support des crochets du lot de pièces, par des jambes définissant un intervalle dans lequel défile une partie du corps des crochets, ces jambes étant munies à leur extrémité inférieure d'organes de tricotage coopérant, pour réaliser la ligature,
• un moyen d'entraînement des organes de tricotage et un moyen de transfert des crochets pour faire défiler une partie du corps des crochets par l'intervalle et ligaturer en série, les crochets d'un lot.

The invention also relates to a device for packaging products for implementing the method defined above, such a device being characterized in that it comprises:

• a straddle frame surrounding the support bar of the hooks of the batch of parts, by legs defining an interval in which a part of the body of the hooks passes, these legs being provided at their lower end with cooperating knitting members, for making the ligature ,
• a means for driving the knitting members and a means for transferring the hooks to make part of the body of the hooks pass through the gap and tie up the hooks in a batch in series.

This device is of a particularly simple embodiment and implementation; it can easily be placed at the level of a conveyor, on the passage of the carts carrying the batches of products; it can also be fixed to a wall, straddling a bar itself movable in an alternating movement between a first and a second position, the first position being that upstream of the device or receiving position; in this position of the bar, the clothes are hung to constitute the lot and then the bar with the clothes is passed through the conditioning device to make the ligature. When the assembly has arrived downstream of the device in the second position, the batch or batches thus formed are removed and the bar is renewed upstream of the device in its first position.

According to another particularly advantageous characteristic, the device comprises a detection and counting means for detecting the start of a batch, counting the hooks and controlling the formation of the knot downstream of the last hook in the batch.

According to another characteristic, the device comprises a cutting means controlled by the detection means for cutting the ligature wire downstream from the knot. The device also includes a motor with mechanical transmission of movement to the knitting members and the hook driving members through the gap of the device.

In general, the device can operate automatically; it detects the arrival of a batch of products, performs the ligature then when it has detected the end of the batch, it performs the knot of the ligature and cuts this ligature by an automatic cutting device; he can then process a new batch and so on.

To prevent the clothes from being caught in the ligature, the device comprises in its interval, two guides placed below the needle working area, guides which position, on the one hand the hooks along from their scrolling through the device and, on the other hand, disengage the collar of the garment by keeping it below this zone of action of the knitting needle.

To prevent the carriage, generally consisting of a horizontal bar terminated at its two ends by a curved part provided with rollers, in the manner of a U-section, from swinging transversely, a guide is provided in the machine which drives the carriage and prevents it from swaying sideways.

In general, the present invention makes it possible to carry out a connection (ligation) in a particularly simple and automatic manner of a batch of products hooked by a hook to a bar. This makes it possible, depending on the nature of the wire or cord used to make the ligature, to make a particularly resistant bond which, however, can be opened very easily, especially if it is a chain stitch because it is then sufficient to cut the ligature and to pull on the wire to open the ligature automatically and without any trace of the ligature remaining on the hooks.

The time saved in this way is considerable both in the reception center for batches of goods and distribution on orders and at the final recipient, that is to say the retailer.

As the needle which carries out the ligature ends in a point, it automatically spreads forwards and backwards the right part of the hook which it meets; in other words, the needle integrates the hook into the ligature without it being necessary to provide a particular positioning and locking means for the hooks at the level of the zone in which the ligature is made. The hooks can remain almost free (with the exception of the limits formed by the guides) in this area for carrying out the ligature.

As however the ligature is solid, there can be no significant sliding of the hooks with respect to each other, which facilitates the taking of an armful of clothes and its detachment and above all its new attachment to a bar for, in one only operation, hang all the hooks of the products without having to search for such or such hook which would have slipped at the bottom of the garment wedged between the two adjacent garments or which would have fallen with the garment.

• la figure 1 montre schématiquement la mise en oeuvre du procédé selon l'invention,
• la figure 2 est une vue en perspective d'une partie d'une installation équipée d'un dispositif de conditionnement selon l'invention,
• la figure 3 est une vue de face du dispositif de la figure 2.

The present invention will be described below in more detail with the aid of the accompanying drawings in which:

• FIG. 1 schematically shows the implementation of the method according to the invention,
• FIG. 2 is a perspective view of part of an installation equipped with a conditioning device according to the invention,
• FIG. 3 is a front view of the device in FIG. 2.

According to Figure 1, the invention relates to a method of packaging products with a hook and hanging from a bar; these products which are, for example, pieces of clothing (coats, jackets, etc.) put on hangers, are grouped in batches or brewed, either by batches of sizes, colors or models when these products are conditioned by the manufacturer, either by orders when these products are broken down according to the different orders; these parts 1, provided with a hook (hanger) 2, are suspended from a bar 3 generally secured to a carriage which circulates in a reception, distribution and distribution installation. It can also be a bar 3, fixed, to which the pieces of clothing to be joined under the form of a batch.

These parts must be grouped together in an easily detachable manner; however, the connection between the different parts, that is to say the hooks which carry them, must be strong enough to hold them and at least partially block them in the batch to allow their transport and handling.

For this, according to the method of the invention, the hooks 2 are ligated by a ligature 5 which passes around the base 4 of the hooks. This ligature 5 is looped or tied at its front end 6 and at its rear end 7 so as not to accidentally open.

To separate the garments 1 forming the lot 8, it suffices to cut the ligature in one place to detach the wire or wires constituting the ligature.

It is also possible to subdivide a lot by a spacer member forming a retaining stop, allowing the first part of the lot to advance to be ligated and allowing, behind this part, the achievement of a sufficient ligature in the interval separating the two parts of the lot. Then the stopper will be retracted and the second part will be tied up to form a new batch.

According to the method, the ligature is preferably carried out with a chain stitch, that is to say a knitted or knotted cord with a single thread. It then suffices to cut the tie 5, preferably behind the front end 6 or the rear end 7, to pull on the wire and automatically open the whole tie; the hooks 2, 4, that is to say the pieces of clothing, are then freely hung on the bar 3; they can be removed or moved as needed. After a new classification or sorting, the products forming a batch are brought together for subsequent transport or handling operations.

Although the process described above is preferably applicable to the detachable packaging of clothes (pieces) put on hangers, it can also be applied to other products capable of being transported and grouped in the hanging position.

The implementation of this method is done using a device shown in Figures 2 and 3. According to the example described, this device is astride a conveyor 10 in the form of a rail on which trolleys 11 or trolleys formed by a bar 12 with curved ends each carrying a roller 13, 14. The bar 12 receives the parts to be packaged as is shown diagrammatically by the hanger 15 whose hook 16 is suspended from the bar 12.

The bar 12 may also include stops 17 to prevent the hooks 16 from sliding along the bar 12 when the latter passes over slopes connecting different levels.

In another variant, the above device is applicable to a fixed installation, comprising only a base receiving a batch of parts. This base 12 in this case performs a back and forth movement relative to the device.

The actual device consists of a straddle frame 18 with two legs 19, 20 connected by an intermediate part 21. The legs 19, 20 are terminated in their lower part by a base 22, 23 respectively to reduce the interval 24 between legs 19, 20.

The device comprises a knitting member (needle 25) which works in the interval 24 separating the opposite ends of the bases 22, 23. This knitting member 25 is supplied with yarns of suitable quality from a spool 26. The drive of the knitting member 25 is ensured by a motor 27 with reducer / variator mounted for example, in the upper part of the chassis 18, on the horizontal part 21, so as to be easily accessible.

Downstream of the knitting member, there is provided a sectioning means controlled by the counting means to cut the thread at the end of the tying.

At the level of the interval 24, there is the stop member (not shown) which makes it possible to subdivide a batch into several parts, on the same bar 12. This stop lets pass the chosen number of pieces to be tied up then retains the following pieces to allow the achievement of a sufficiently long ligature after this first new batch; then the stopper lets the pieces of the next batch pass and so on.

There is also provided a drive means 30 consisting of a conveyor belt 31 passing over rollers 32, 33. The roller 32 is carried by a fixed axis, not shown; this roller is free while the roller 33, carried by a pin 34 mounted between the legs 19, 20 of the chassis 18, is driven by the common drive means, that is to say a transmission connected to the motor 27.

The conveyor belt 31 carries, for example, two retractable tabs 35, 36 which each push the upstream roller 13 of a carriage 11 to advance it through the gap 24 of the knitting member. The device also includes a detector, for example a light barrier, not shown, located in front of the gap 24 to detect the arrival of the first hook 16 and to command at this time the knitting of a tie, so that the front end 6 (figure 1) of the tie is already made when the first hook 16 or the first part arrives in the interval 24 at the level of the needle 25.

Figure 3 shows in more detail the different means described above and in particular the shape of the frame section 18 with its two legs 19, 20, the transverse part 21, the motor 27 and the transmission. This transmission consists of the axes 40, 41, 42, 43 connected, on the one hand to the axis 34 of the roller 33 and, on the other hand, to the mechanism 45 controlling the needle 25 and the hook 46 which cooperate in the 'interval 24 to perform ligation.

The movement transmission member 45 is, for example, a simple control by crank and connecting rod, the needle 25 being guided in translation in two bearings 48, 49.

The gap 24 is further closed by two guides 50, 51 which support the right part of the hanger hook and release the collar from the garment. These guides 50, 51 are located under the needle 25.

Above the bar 12 of the trolley, there are also two guides 52, 53 to avoid transverse rocking of the trolley. For the sake of simplification, the means 50-53 have not been shown in FIG. 2.

This FIG. 3 also shows the carriage or trolley 11 with its horizontal bar 12, its tab 12a and its front roller 13.

Claims (8)

1. Method of packaging products hung from a bar by a hook, these products being grouped into batches which are connected in an easily detachable but lasting manner in order to enable them to be retained and locked in the batch, for transportation and handling, according to which method the bases of the hooks carrying the products making up the batch are bound in series, and characterised in that the binding is performed using a chain stitch.
2. Method according to Claim 1, characterised in that the stitch is knotted after the last hook in the batch.
3. Device for packaging products provided with hooks to be suspended from a bar for transportation and handling, for performing the method according to Claims 1 and 2, the device being characterised in that it comprises:

   - a straddling chassis (18) surrounding the bar (10) which supports the hooks (16) of the batch of parts, with legs (19, 20) defining a space (24) in which there runs a part (15) of the body of the hooks (16), these legs (19, 20) being provided at their lower ends (22, 23) with cooperating knitting members (25, 46) for producing the binding;

   - means (30) for entraining the knitting members and means for transferring the hooks (16) to cause one part (15) of the body of the hooks (16) to run through the space (24) and to bind the hooks (15, 16) of a batch in series.
4. Device according to Claim 3, characterised in that it comprises a detecting and counting means for detecting the start of a batch, counting the hooks (16) and controlling the formation of a knot downstream of the last hook of the batch (6, 7).
5. Device according to Claim 3, characterised in that it comprises a cutting means controlled by the detecting means for cutting the binding thread downstream of the knot in the binding.
6. Device according to Claim 3, characterised in that it comprises a motor (27), with mechanical transmission (40, 41, 42, 43) of movement to the knitting members (25, 46) and the members (30, 33) entraining the hooks (16) through the space (24).
7. Device according to Claim 3, characterised in that it comprises guides (50, 51) disposed in the space, below the area of activity of the needle (25) producing the binding, in order, on the one hand, to retain the hooks (16) laterally and, on the other hand, to disengage the collar of the garment.
8. Device according to Claim 3, characterised in that it comprises guides (52, 53) for the carriage carrying the bar (12) supporting the hooks (16).

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