EP0527091B1 - Method and machine for overpacking luggage of users of various transport means - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a method and a machine for overpacking luggage of users of various transport means and, in particular, airline passengers. <??>This machine is characterised in that it comprises means for forming, around each item of luggage (5) moving on a mobile conveyor (8) and during its displacement, a protective envelope (16) made from plastic, while still leaving, in this envelope (16), an opening extending opposite the handle (6) of the item of luggage (5). <IMAGE>

Description

The present invention relates to a method and a machine for overpacking luggage of users of various means of transport and in particular of passengers of air transport.

Luggage, such as rigid or flexible suitcases, bags, golf bags, pairs of skis, etc ..., passengers of means of transport and in particular of air transport often undergo, during transport, damage resulting from shocks , friction or bad weather. Furthermore, even if they are fitted with "security" locks, they can be forced during their handling and the owners of the luggage can only note the theft of which they were the object, during the recovery of their luggage. Finally, they can be opened for terrorist purposes by installing an explosive device inside.

We already know, as described in document WO87 / 00144, an automatic protective wrapping machine intended to be used with luggage of different dimensions. This machine comprises conveyors for moving the luggage in the direction of a heat-shrinking tunnel oven, the luggage being wrapped in a heat-shrinkable plastic material welded all around each piece of luggage, so as to form a completely closed continuous envelope. Optical sensors are provided to detect the dimensions of the various pieces of luggage and to correlatively control the operation of sealing bars of the plastic sheet around each piece of luggage.

The present invention aims to simplify and improve such a machine and it aims to provide a method and a machine ensuring, automatically and by very simple means, protection of passenger baggage, whatever their dimensions , while facilitating their subsequent handling, once this baggage is overpackaged.

To this end, this method of overpacking baggage which has, on at least one of its faces, a carrying handle, is characterized in that a protective envelope made of plastic material is in contact with each bag. the external surface of the luggage, with the exception of an area left open to allow access to the carrying handle, once the protective envelope has been placed around the luggage.

The invention also relates to a baggage wrapping machine, of different shapes and sizes, for users of various means of transport which have, on one of their faces, a carrying handle, comprising several endless horizontal conveyors and longitudinal driven in the same direction, namely an upstream inlet conveyor, an intermediate envelope conveyor and a downstream conveyor, a device for forming, in the interval between the two upstream and intermediate conveyors, a vertical and transverse curtain consisting of at least one sheet of heat-shrinkable plastic, and a transverse cutting and welding device, comprising a cutting blade and welding jaws movable vertically and alternately, so as to form around each piece of luggage, starting from the sheet of heat-shrinkable material, a tubular casing open at both ends, and a tunnel shrink oven at t which then pass, on the downstream conveyor, the successive baggage surrounded by their respective tubular protective envelopes, characterized in that the welding and transverse cutting device comprises, on each side of the horizontal baggage transport plane, three elements, namely an upstream welding jaw, a cutting blade intermediate and a downstream welding jaw which extend vertically and transversely, the downstream jaw is continuous, that is to say that it extends over the entire length of the transverse welding zone, whereas on the contrary the upstream welding jaw is interrupted in its central part, so as to have only two opposite lateral active parts, so that one obtains, at the exit of the tunnel oven, following the shrinkage of the plastic, fully overpacked baggage with the exception of an opening which is formed, during the shrinkage of the heat-shrinkable envelope, on the side where the carrying handle is located and facing it.

• La figure 1 est une vue en plan schématique d'une machine automatique de suremballage de bagages de passagers suivant l'invention, formant, autour de chaque bagage, une enveloppe protectrice en matière plastique thermorétractable.
• La figure 2 est une vue en coupe verticale et longitudinale schématique de la machine représentée sur la figure 1.
• Les figures 3,4,5 et 6 sont des vues schématiques en coupe verticale et transversale, à plus grande échelle, faites respectivement suivant les lignes III-III, IV-IV, V-V et VI-VI de la figure 2.
• La figure 7 est une vue de face d'un bagage suremballé suivant l'invention, du côté où se trouve sa poignée de transport.
• La figure 8 est une vue en plan schématique partielle d'une variante d'exécution de la machine de suremballage de bagages.
• La figure 9 est une vue en élévation schématique partielle de la machine représentée sur la figure 8.
• La figure 10 est une vue en perspective partielle montrant l'arrière d'un bagage suremballé, obtenu après le soudage de son enveloppe dans la machine représentée sur les figures 8 et 9, et le dispositif de soudage et de coupe.
• La figure 11 est une vue en perspective montrant l'avant du bagage suremballé représenté sur la figure 10.
• La figure 12 est une vue en perspective du bagage représenté sur les figures 10 et 11 après thermorétraction de son enveloppe.
• Les figures 13,14 et 15 sont des vues en plan schématiques d'une autre variante d'exécution de la machine de suremballage suivant l'invention, utilisée avec des bagages de dimensions différentes.
• La figure 16 est une vue en perspective d'un bagage suremballé au moyen d'un bandeau thermorétracté.

Various embodiments of the present invention will be described below, by way of nonlimiting examples, with reference to the appended drawing in which:

• FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view of an automatic machine for overpacking passenger baggage according to the invention, forming, around each bag, a protective envelope made of heat-shrinkable plastic.
• FIG. 2 is a schematic vertical and longitudinal sectional view of the machine shown in FIG. 1.
• Figures 3,4,5 and 6 are schematic views in vertical and transverse section, on a larger scale, made respectively along lines III-III, IV-IV, VV and VI-VI of Figure 2.
• Figure 7 is a front view of an overpacked bag according to the invention, on the side where its carrying handle is located.
• Figure 8 is a partial schematic plan view of an alternative embodiment of the baggage overwrapping machine.
• FIG. 9 is a partial schematic elevation view of the machine shown in FIG. 8.
• Figure 10 is a partial perspective view showing the rear of an overwrapped baggage, obtained after welding its envelope in the machine shown in Figures 8 and 9, and the welding and cutting device.
• FIG. 11 is a perspective view showing the front of the overwrapped baggage shown in FIG. 10.
• Figure 12 is a perspective view of the baggage shown in Figures 10 and 11 after shrinking its envelope.
• Figures 13,14 and 15 are schematic plan views of another alternative embodiment of the overwrapping machine according to the invention, used with baggage of different dimensions.
• FIG. 16 is a perspective view of overwrapped baggage by means of a heat-shrunk strip.

The automatic machine according to the invention, which is shown diagrammatically in FIGS. 1 and 2, is intended to form, around passenger baggage, a protective envelope with regard to the damage which may be caused to the baggage itself during its transport , with regard to objects contained in the baggage and which can be stolen, as well as with regard to an untimely opening of the baggage for any other reason during its handling.

The machine according to the invention successively comprises, from upstream to downstream, a baggage arrival station 1, a station 2 for forming a tubular protective envelope, of shrinkable thermoplastic material, around each baggage, a tunnel oven for shrink 3 and a cooling device 4. The baggage 5 which must be overwrapped and which consists of suitcases, bags etc., generally have a face 5a on which is fixed a carrying handle 6. The baggage 5 is moved , through successive positions 1-4 of the machine, by means of several horizontal and longitudinal endless conveyors driven in the same direction, that is to say from left to right in Figures 1 and 2, namely an upstream inlet conveyor 7, an intermediate wrapping conveyor 8 and a downstream conveyor 9 extending through the shrinking oven 3.

The luggage 5 is placed flat on the upstream conveyor 7 and they are deposited on this conveyor so as to be all in the same longitudinal position. In other words they are arranged in such a way that their length extends in the longitudinal direction of the machine and that their faces 5a on which their transport handles 6 are fixed, are placed against a lateral stop 11 which is constituted by a vertical plate and longitudinal extending above the conveyor 1, on one side thereof, in this case on the left side of the direction of movement in FIG. 1. This stop 11 thus defines a vertical and longitudinal reference plane for the positioning of the luggage 5 on the upstream conveyor 7 and the continuation of the overpacking operations.

On leaving the upstream conveyor 1, the baggage 5 passes through the wrapping station 2 comprising the intermediate conveyor 8. This wrapping station may itself be of any known type, for example that used in machines shrink wrappers used in particular for the distribution of food products. Station 2 will therefore not be described in detail and it suffices to indicate that this station comprises a device 12 for forming, in the interval between the two carriers 7 and 8, a vertical and transverse curtain made up of at least one sheet. 13 of heat-shrinkable plastic. In the nonlimiting embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the sheet 13 is in fact formed by two sheets welded together transversely and unwound respectively from two upper 12a and lower 12b coils of horizontal and transverse axes. The two parts constituting the sheet 13 are welded to each other during the passage of the preceding baggage, being encountered by the downstream transverse face 5C of each baggage 5 and driven downstream by the baggage, as it East shown in FIG. 2. A transverse cutting and welding device 14, comprising welding jaws and a cutting blade, is provided a little downstream of the device 12 for feeding the sheet 13, to produce, upstream of the luggage, on the one hand, a transverse joint 15 between the two sheets coming from the two coils 12a, 12b, to reconstitute the continuous vertical sheet 13 and, on the other hand, another transverse joint 15a close to the upstream transverse face 5d of the baggage 5 having driven the sheet 13, as well as a cross section between the two seals 15 and 15a. After the passage of each baggage 5 through the sheet 13, the baggage 5 is provided, downstream, with a tubular envelope 16, which is obtained by winding the sheet 13 around the baggage 5 and more particularly around a transverse direction, that is to say perpendicular to the face 5a of the baggage carrying the handle 6, this tubular casing being defined by the two opposite transverse welding joints 15 and 15a.

In the wrapping station 2, the coils 12a and 12b of the device 12 for supplying the sheet of heat-shrinkable material 13 are placed in a transverse position, relative to the lateral stop 11 determining the transverse position of the luggage 5, such so that the tubular casing 16 formed by the sheet 13 around each piece of luggage 5 projects slightly outwards, in the transverse direction, by a small distance a (FIGS. 4 and 5), relative to the face 5a of the luggage 5 carrying the handle 6. On the other hand the sheet 13 whose width d is chosen to be large enough to be greater than the largest dimension of the luggage 5 in a direction perpendicular to its face 5a carrying the handle 6, projects more or less strongly, d 'a distance b, relative to the opposite longitudinal face 5b of the baggage 5, as can be seen in FIGS. 4 and 5. Naturally, at the exit from the wrapping station 2, the envelope 16 is open at its two ends, in the transverse direction of the machine, thus revealing all of the longitudinal faces 5a and 5b of the luggage 5.

The baggage 5 thus provided with its tubular envelope 16 then passes over the downstream conveyor belt 9 and it is driven by the latter through the shrinking tunnel oven 3. The tubular envelope 16 then retracts on all sides on the baggage 5 and the marginal parts of the sheet 13, which are slightly projecting, from the distance a, with respect to the longitudinal face 5a of the luggage 5, retract only over a small width of this longitudinal face 5a, from each longitudinal edge baggage. These retracted parts 16a, of small width, of the envelope 16 appear clearly in FIG. 7 and it can be seen that they delimit between them an elongated opening 17 through which the handle 6 appears and which allows access to it. this.

Preferably, the machine according to the invention is equipped, at the outlet of the shrinking oven 3, with a smoothing brush 18 which is carried by a movable support 19 so as to be applied against the mass 16b of the envelope 16, while still soft, which is located opposite the longitudinal face 5b of the baggage 5. This soft mass is more or less important along the excess distance b of the tubular casing 16, that is to say according to the dimension of the luggage in the direction perpendicular to its longitudinal faces 5a and 5b. The smoothing brush 18 makes it possible to apply and crush, against the longitudinal face 5b of the luggage 5, the excess plastic material of the mass 16b, in order to make the corresponding face of the cooled envelope as flat as possible.

After passing under the cooling device 4, of any known type, blowing cold air from top to bottom, the casing 16 is then completely cooled and hardened and the wrapped baggage 5 can then be removed, thus being protected, for further transport. The cooling device also makes it possible to cool the rollers of the conveyor 9 passing through the tunnel oven 3, thanks to this the length of the conveyor can be slightly shortened.

In the variant embodiment of the machine shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, the luggage 5 is placed flat on the upstream conveyor 7 so that its length extends in the transverse direction of the machine and that the face 5a of each piece of luggage on which its transport handle 6 is fixed, either located in front, that is to say facing downstream or to the right in FIGS. 8 and 9. Furthermore, the transverse welding and section 14 comprises, on each side of the horizontal baggage transport plane 5, three elements, namely an upstream welding jaw 14a, an intermediate cutting blade 14b and a downstream welding jaw 14c which extend vertically and transversely. In the machine according to the invention the downstream jaw 14c is continuous, that is to say that it extends over the entire length of the transverse welding zone, while on the contrary the upstream welding jaw 14a is interrupted in its central part 14d, so as to have only two opposite lateral active parts 14e and 14f. Consequently, when the tubular envelope 16 has been formed as a result of its welding on either side of the luggage 5, as shown in FIGS. 10 and 11, this envelope 16 has, on the upstream side, a seal of continuous transverse weld 16d and, on the downstream side, two separate weld joints 16b, 16c, extending transversely and separated from each other so as to delimit between them the elongated opening 17 through which the handle appears 6 of the baggage. After passing through the heat shrink tunnel oven, one obtains an overpacked baggage as shown in the Figure 12. It can also be seen in Figure 10 that the vertical sheet 13, awaiting the next piece of luggage, has a horizontal and transverse opening 17, between the two lateral weld joints 16b, 16c, opening in which the handle 6 of the luggage will penetrate. next.

In the variant embodiment of the machine which is shown diagrammatically in FIGS. 13 to 15, the vertical and transverse curtain in which each piece of luggage 5 is engaged, arranged transversely as in the case of the machine shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, consists of several sheets of heat-shrinkable plastic material coming from several coils installed side by side, for example three in number, namely the sheets 13a, 13b, 13c which extend vertically between the upper and lower supply coils 21a, 21b, 21c, being adjacent to each other and located in the same vertical and transverse plane. The coils 21a, 21b, 21c of the respective sheets 13a, 13b, 13c are mounted coaxially and they can be selectively rotated from a common drive device 22, via respective clutch devices. The drive device 22 is controlled by a sensor 23 detecting the length of each piece of luggage 5 placed on the upstream conveyor 7, that is to say its largest dimension in the transverse direction of the machine. In this way, when the baggage 5 to be overwrapped has a short length, as indicated in FIGS. 13 and 14, the sensor 23 issues an order to the drive device 22 so as to rotate only the first reel 21a unwinding the sheet 13a. Therefore the baggage 5 is overwrapped only with the sheet 13a which corresponds substantially to its length dimension.

On the other hand, if the baggage 5 placed on the upstream conveyor 7 has a greater length, as shown in FIG. 15, the sensor 23 emits a signal towards the driving device 22 which causes the driving of the two coils 21a and 21b, in order to simultaneously unwind the two sheets 13a and 13b. These two sheets then constitute two adjacent tubular envelopes around the luggage 5.

Naturally, a piece of luggage 5 having an even greater length would cause the third coil 21c to be put into service.

The machine shown diagrammatically in FIGS. 13 to 15 thus makes it possible to reduce the consumption of plastic sheets, by using for each piece of luggage one or more sheets so as to obtain one or more tubular envelopes as a function of the length of the luggage.

FIG. 16 schematically illustrates a bag 5 overwrapped in an envelope 16 forming a strip and having, in addition to its carrying handle 6, an auxiliary handle 24, on a side face left visible by the heat-shrunk tubular envelope 16 and which is opposite to rollers 25 rotatably mounted in an opposite angle to the luggage 5.

Naturally, the tubular envelope 16 made of heat-shrinkable plastic could also be formed manually on a commercial packaging machine known as an "L-sealer". In this case, the welding jaw located opposite the face of the baggage carrying its handle 6, would be interrupted in its central part, like the jaw 14a of FIG. 10, to create the opening 17 opposite the handle 6.

When disembarking passengers and delivering luggage, they can be returned to their owners either by always being provided with their protective envelopes 16, or after having been rid of these envelopes. The plastic envelopes 16 thus recovered can then be ground to be recycled in the manufacture of other plastic materials.

Although, in the foregoing description, it has been indicated that each piece of luggage 5 is overwrapped by means of a protective envelope made of a heat-shrinkable material, it goes without saying that this envelope could be made of any other plastic material can be easily and quickly put in place around each piece of luggage 5, however leaving an opening opposite its handle.

In particular, the process according to the invention could be implemented in a machine using a material sprayed in the fluid state on the luggage and hardening rapidly, or alternatively a material forming a foam shell in a cellular material or of the foam type. However, it would then be necessary to provide, in this case, zones of least resistance making it possible to easily tear off the "skin" constituting the overpack, when the baggage is returned to the passengers.

One could also use, instead of a smooth plastic sheet 13, a plastic sheet with "bubbles" promoting shock absorption.

Claims (4)

1. Method for overpacking luggage (5) of users of any means of transport and in particular by air, such luggage presenting, on at least one of its faces (5a), a handle (6) for transport, characterized in that there is formed, around each piece of luggage (5) a protective envelope (16) made of plastics material in contact with the outer surface of the luggage (5) except for a zone left open to allow access to the handle (6) for transport, once the protective envelope (16) is positioned around the luggage (5).
2. Machine for overpacking luggage (5), of different shapes and dimensions, of users of various means of transport, which presents, on one of its faces, a handle (6) for transport, comprising a plurality of horizontal and longitudinal endless conveyors driven in the same direction, namely an upstream inlet conveyor (7), an intermediate enveloping conveyor (8) and a downstream conveyor (9), a device (12) for forming, in the space between the two upstream (7) and intermediate (8) conveyors, a vertical and transverse curtain constituted by at least one sheet (13; 13a, 13b, 13c) of thermoretractable plastics material, and a transverse cutting and welding device (14), comprising a cutting blade and welding jaws which are vertically and alternately mobile, so as to form around each piece of luggage, from the sheet of thermoretractable matter, a tubular envelope open at its two ends, and a tunnel furnace (3) for retraction through which the successive pieces of luggage (5) then pass on the downstream conveyor (9), said luggage surrounded by its respective tubular protecting envelopes, characterized in that the transverse welding and cutting device (14) comprises, on each side of the horizontal plane for transport of the luggage (5), three elements, namely an upstream welding jaw (14a), an intermediate cutting blade (14b) and a downstream welding jaw (14c) which extend vertically and transversely, the downstream jaw (14c) is continuous, i.e. it extends over the whole length of the transverse welding zone, while, on the contrary, the upstream welding jaw (14a) is interrupted in its central part (14d) so as to comprise only two opposite lateral active parts (14e and 14f ), so that, at the exit of the tunnel furnace (3) following the retraction of the plastics material, luggage (5) is obtained which is totally overpacked except for an opening (17) which is formed, during retraction of the thermoretractable envelope (16), on the side where the handle for transport is located and thereopposite.
3. Machine according to Claim 2, characterized in that it comprises, at the exit of the retraction furnace (3), a smoothing brush (18) borne by a mobile support (19) and applied against the mass (16b) of the tubular envelope (16), still soft, laterally projecting with respect to a face of the piece of luggage bereft of a handle.
4. Machine according to either one of Claims 2 and 3, characterized in that it comprises, downstream of the retraction furnace (3), a cooling device (4) projecting cold air on each piece of luggage (5) provided with its envelope (16) as well as on the conveyor (9) of the tunnel furnace (3) in order to cool it and shorten it.

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