EP0570871A2 - Device for transporting packaging material to a packaging machine - Google Patents

Abstract

2.1. The supply of high-performance packaging machines with web-shaped wound packaging material (reels) and/or prefabricated blanks has hitherto necessitated a considerable amount of manual labour. The sometimes appreciable deadweight of the packaging material primarily has an adverse effect here. 2.2. In order to allow a virtually fully automatic feeding of the packaging machines with packaging material, a conveyor track (31) leading to the individual consumption points on the packaging machines is arranged above the packaging machines ("overhead"). Individual reels (26, 27, 28) or blanks (82) stacked in cassettes (84) are respectively transported along this conveyor track (31) by means of material conveyors (41). These are equipped with respective material holders (44) which consist solely of rigid immovable supporting members for the reels or cassettes (84). The feed and unloading of these material holders (44) take place automatically as a result of a corresponding relative movement of feeding and unloading members. <IMAGE>

Description

The invention relates to a device for transporting packaging material, in particular bobbins made of sheet-like packaging material, from a supply to at least one removal station, in particular in the area of a packaging machine, with a loading conveyor with a material holder that can be moved up and down and from which the bobbins can be transferred to a material holder.

The present patent application is a divisional application to the European patent application published under No. 0 347 586. The background is the supply of high-performance cigarette packaging machines or so-called lines from several connected ones Packaging machines of different functions with packaging material. For this purpose, a conveyor system has already been proposed in which web-shaped packaging material in the form of bobbins is fed to the individual consumption points in the area of the packaging machines by a circular conveyor with a plurality of rotating support members, each for receiving a bobbin. The bobbins are conveyed to the circular path in the area of a loading station by a loading conveyor and are automatically taken over by bobbin carriers. In the reverse order, the bobbins in the packaging machine area are taken over by an unloading conveyor. To accommodate the bobbins during transport, the rotating conveying elements are provided with a support pin which enters a central opening in the bobbin. The support pin is attached to a support arm rotatable about a vertical axis (DE-A-36 32 237).

The present invention is concerned with the transfer of the material, ie the bobbins or cassettes for bobbins, from one or more loading conveyors to downstream material carriers and vice versa from these to unloading conveyors. It is an object of the present invention to develop a device of the type mentioned in the introduction such that the bobbins can be transferred automatically.

According to the invention, the object is achieved in that the material receptacle of the loading conveyor and the material holder for transferring the bobbin can be moved past one another. The automatic transfer of the reels therefore takes place by relative movement between the material holder and the material holder, preferably in the vertical direction.

In the area of an unloading station, that is to say on a packaging machine, the bobbins are transferred from the up and down unloading conveyor to a bobbin magazine of the packaging machine, in a manner analogous to that of the Transfer of the bobbin from one conveyor to another. The carrying member of the unloading conveyor is moved to a position below the bearing members of the bobbin magazine, whereby the transfer takes place there.

Another feature is that the organs for transporting the packaging material are of universal design and also enable the promotion of stacked blanks in containers or cassettes. These are designed in such a way that they can be accommodated on support elements of the conveyors, in particular on the material holders of the roller carriages.

Fig. 1

eine Anlage mit einer Mehrzahl von mit Verpackungsmaterial zu versorgenden Verpackungsmaschinen in vereinfachter Grundrißdarstellung,

Fig. 2

eine Einzelheit der Anlage gemäß Fig. 1 in vergrößertem Maßstab, ebenfalls im Grundriß,

Fig. 3

eine Einzelheit eines Materialhalters als Teil eines Materialförderers in stark vergrößertem Maßstab, in Seitenansicht,

Fig. 4

eine Stirnansicht der Einzelheit gemäß Fig. 3,

Fig. 5

eine Förderbahn im Bereich einer Beschickungsstation in Queransicht,

Fig. 6

eine gegenüber Fig. 5 um 90° versetzte Seitenansicht der Einzelheit gemäß Fig. 5,

Fig. 7

eine Darstellung entsprechend Fig. 6 im Bereich einer Entladestation,

Fig. 8

die Entladestation gemäß Fig. 7 in einer Queransicht bzw. im Vertikalschnitt, in vergrößertem Maßstab,

Fig. 9

eine Seitenansicht zu Fig. 8 (entsprechend Fig. 7), bei vergrößertem Maßstab,

Fig. 10

eine weitere Darstellung im Bereich der Entladestation in einer Queransicht bzw. im Querschnitt bei veränderter Relativstellung,

Fig. 11

eine Darstellung entsprechend Fig. 10 bei nochmals veränderter Relativstellung,

Fig. 12

eine Kassette zur Aufnahme von Zuschnitt-Stapeln im Grundriß,

Fig. 13

einen Teil eines Materialhalters mit einer Kassette in Seitenansicht,

Fig. 14

die Darstellung gemäß Fig. 12 in einer um 90° versetzten Queransicht, teilweise im Schnitt.

Further details of the invention relate to the design of the material conveyor, the conveyor track (rail track) and the loading and unloading conveyor. Exemplary embodiments of the invention are explained in more detail below with reference to the drawings. Show it:

Fig. 1

a plant with a plurality of with Packaging material for packaging machines to be supplied in a simplified plan view,

Fig. 2

1 on a larger scale, also in plan view,

Fig. 3

a detail of a material holder as part of a material conveyor in a greatly enlarged scale, in side view,

Fig. 4

3 shows an end view of the detail according to FIG. 3,

Fig. 5

a conveyor track in the area of a loading station in a transverse view,

Fig. 6

5 by 90 ° offset side view of the detail of FIG. 5,

Fig. 7

6 in the area of an unloading station,

Fig. 8

7 in a transverse view or in vertical section, on an enlarged scale,

Fig. 9

8 shows a side view of FIG. 8 (corresponding to FIG. 7), on an enlarged scale,

Fig. 10

another representation in the area of the unloading station in a lateral view or in cross section with changed relative position,

Fig. 11

10 with a further change in the relative position,

Fig. 12

a cassette to hold stacks of blanks in the floor plan,

Fig. 13

part of a material holder with a cassette in side view,

Fig. 14

12 in a transverse view offset by 90 °, partly in section.

As an exemplary embodiment, the drawings deal with the supply of packaging machines for cigarettes, in particular of the hinged box type. A cigarette manufacturing and packaging system housed in a factory building consists of a plurality of so-called lines 20. Each of these lines 20 consists of a cigarette manufacturing machine 21, a packaging machine 22 for producing the (cigarette) packaging, i.e. the hinged box, a wrapping machine 23 for producing an outer wrapping of the packaging from plastic film, a pack packer 24 and a carton packer 25. The latter are used to produce small containers ("cigarette sticks") and carton packs.

Several of these lines 20 are to be supplied with packaging material automatically. The exemplary embodiment shown is primarily concerned with the feeding of web-shaped packaging material available as bobbins. On the one hand, collar bobbins 26 are to be fed. These collar bobbins 26, which have a small width (in the axial direction) but a large diameter, are used as part of the packaging for the production of collars to be inserted into the hinged boxes.

Furthermore, tin foil bobbins 27 are to be fed to the packaging machines, namely the wrapping machine 23. Stanniol bobins 27 have a smaller diameter, but a larger ("middle") dimension in the axial direction.

The smallest bobbins with the largest dimension in the axial direction are polybobines 28, ie bobbins made of web-shaped plastic film as the outer wrapping of the packaging for the wrapping machines 23.

In the area of a station 29 there is a larger supply of packaging material of the above type. The bobbins are each arranged on pallets 30.

The packaging material, namely the reels 26, 27, 28 are fed along a conveyor track 31, namely along a rail track, to the individual consumption points in the area of the packaging machines. The conveyor track 31 is arranged above the packaging machines, in particular hanging from a ceiling or a supporting structure of the manufacturing building. In the present exemplary embodiment, the conveyor track 31, namely a running rail 32 of the same, is attached to a supporting rail 34 with adjustable hanging supports 33.

In the exemplary embodiment shown, the conveyor track 31 designed in this way is designed as a closed, rectangular orbit with transverse tracks 36 branching off from a main track 35 via switches. Each consumption point of each packaging machine can be reached via the track system designed in this way.

In the area of the station 29, the main rail 35 is guided as a loop 37, which creates sufficient space for loading stations of the individual types of bobbins.

Depending on the consumption of packaging material or the capacity of the individual bobbins, four loading stations 38 for collar bobbins 26, three loading stations 39 for tinfoil bobbins 27 and three loading stations 40 for polybobines 28 are set up in the present case. In the area of this loading station 38, 39, 40 is the bobbin required in each case by a consumption point placed on the transport route and automatically fed to the packaging machine 22 (collar bobbin, tinfoil bobbin) or wrapping machine 23 (polybobine). In addition, loading stations can be set up for further packaging material, for example for the production of containers in the area of the container packer 24.

The individual bobbins 26, 27, 28 are each transported by a material conveyor 41 which can be moved along the conveyor track 31 to the point of consumption requesting the material. The entire conveyor system has a plurality of such material conveyors 41, which can be moved independently of one another.

The material conveyor 41 consists of a commercially available roller carriage 42 which is known in its construction and which is mounted on the rail 32 so as to be movable with a plurality of rollers. A separate drive motor 43 is assigned to each roller carriage 42.

On the underside of the roller carriage 42 there is a receptacle for one bobbin, namely a material holder 44 which is designed in a special way. This is fixed, that is to say immovable, arranged on the roller carriage 42 and consists exclusively of rigid, immovable parts.

As can be seen particularly from FIG. 9, the material holder 44 consists of two support struts 45, 46 which diverge downward and are secured here by a cross strut 47. The support struts 45, 46 are off-center, that is to say offset to the vertical longitudinal center plane of the roller carriage 42 (see FIG. 5).

At the lower ends of the support struts 45, 46 are horizontal support bars 48, 49 pointing transversely to the conveying direction as support or bearing members for the bobbin. The Support bars 48, 49 are rigidly attached to the support struts 45, 46 as projecting parts, that is, projecting parts, in such a way that a bobbin received by the support bars 48, 49 is held substantially centrally below the roller carriage 42.

The bobbins rest on the support bars 48, 49 with their circumferential surface 50. To secure the bobbin resting in the upright position on the support bars 48, 49 against transverse or tilting movements, the material holder 44 is designed with rigid side holders which on the side faces 51, 52 of the Support the bobbins. In the exemplary embodiment shown, these side holders, each assigned to a bobbin in pairs, are formed by fixed side stops 53, 54, 55 of the support bars 48, 49. For this purpose, these are stepped in the longitudinal direction, so that depressions of different lengths - in the direction of the support bars 48, 49 - are formed. Paragraphs formed in this way form the side stops 53, 54, 55 with their upright or slightly diverging inclined heel surfaces.

The distances from side stops 53..55 interacting in pairs are set to the dimensions of the bobbins. The bobbin with the smallest dimension in the axial direction (collar bobbin 26) lies in an approximately central recess 56 of the support bars 48, 49. This bobbin is held laterally by the side stops 55 arranged at a minimum distance from one another. A recess 57 formed on a higher level with support surfaces on both sides of the central recess 56 serves to receive a tinfoil bobbin 27 between side stops 54. Finally, a recess 58 with the smallest depth but greatest width is provided for the reception of polybobins 28 between the outer side stops 53 . When loading a material conveyor 41, the bobbins are automatically centered on the assigned recess 56, 57, 58 according to their size.

In order to load the material conveyors 41, there is an upward conveying feed conveyor 59 in each loading station 38, 39, 40. This consists of an upright support column 60 with an endless conveyor, for example a toothed belt 61. This material receptacle 63 attached to a holding frame 62 moved up and down. In a lower position (shown in solid lines in Figs. 5 and 6) the material receptacle 63 is loaded with a bobbin, e.g. by hand. In an upper position (dash-dotted lines in FIGS. 5 and 6), the automatic transfer of the same to a material conveyor 41 takes place. For this purpose, the toothed belt 61 is driven by a motor 64 in one and the other direction.

The material receptacle 63 is designed in a special way. The bobbin rests with its peripheral surface 50 on two support rods 65, 66 arranged at a distance from one another. Stop pieces 67, 68 are arranged on these at an adapted distance from one another. The support rods 65, 66 are connected via a support piece 69 off-center to (two) support rods 70, which in turn are attached to the support frame 62 as a cantilevered support member. The actual material holder 63 is thus free in the area below the bobbin and on one side.

In the upper transfer position of the material receptacle 63, the latter is in a position relative to the material conveyor 41 in such a way that the support rods 65, 66 extend in a plane above the plane of movement of the support bars 48, 49 of the material conveyor 41. This can be moved into the loading station, the support struts 45, 46 being able to be moved past the bobbin and the support rods 65, 66 on the side opposite the support piece 69 of the material receptacle 63, while the support bars 48, 49 below the bobbin between the latter and the holding rod 70 run through. To take over the bobbin, the material conveyor 41 in the loading station 38, 39, 40 is so stopped that the support bars 48, 49 are aligned with the bobbin. By moving the material receptacle 63 downward, the bobbin is placed on the support bars 48, 49. Their spacing from one another - in the present case - is greater than the spacing of the support rods 65, 66 from one another, so that they can be moved downwards past the support bars 48, 49 - namely between them - into the lower receiving position.

In an analogous manner, the material conveyor 41 is unloaded in the area of an unloading station 71 on the packaging machine 22 or on the wrapping machine 23. In the area of each of these unloading stations there is an unloading conveyor 72, also a vertical conveyor. The unloading conveyor 72 can be arranged on the packaging machine 22 or the wrapping machine 23 or next to it. In the exemplary embodiment shown, the unloading conveyor is designed as a spindle conveyor with one (or two) upright, rotatable spindle rod (s) 73, on which a spindle sleeve 74 can be moved up or down when the spindle rod 73 rotates.

A material carrier 75 is attached to the spindle sleeve 74 in an analogous embodiment to the material holder 63. This is designed as a laterally projecting arm with two spaced-apart, one-sided projecting support rods 76, 77 for receiving a bobbin.

The transfer of a bobbin brought up by the material conveyor 41 to the unloading conveyor 72 or to its material carrier 75 takes place in an analogous manner to the loading process. In the unloading station 71, the material holder 44 of the material conveyor 41 is aligned with the material carrier 75 while the latter is still in a lower position (FIG. 9). By moving the material carrier 75 upward, its support rods 76, 77 are moved between the support bars 48, 49 of the material holder 44. The support rods 76, 77 take over the bobbin, which is at the same time lifted off the support bars 48, 49. In the upper end position (dash-dotted in Fig. 9 or shown in Fig. 10), the material carrier 75 with the bobbin is so far above the support bars 48, 49 that the material conveyor 41 can be moved on the running rail 32. The material carrier 75 with the bobbin is now moved downward to transfer the bobbin to the packaging machine or to a bobbin magazine 78.

The aforementioned relative movement of the conveying and supporting members for bobbins, transferring them from one conveying member to the other, is possible in that the material holder 44, on the one hand, and the material carrier 75 of the unloading conveyor 72, on the other hand, are eccentrically mounted on different sides of the bobbin or the conveyor track thereof as cantilevered members are and can be moved past each other without interference at different distances between the supporting parts.

The bobbin magazine 78 is designed in a special way in the exemplary embodiment shown, namely it consists of two magazine rods 79 and 80 which run approximately axially parallel to the offset bobbins. The bobbins with their peripheral surfaces 50 rest on these. The magazine rods 79, 80 are driven in rotation, namely in the same direction (in Fig. 9) counterclockwise. As a result, the bobbins resting on the magazine rods 79, 80 are also rotated. Furthermore, the magazine rods 79, 80 are arranged to be slightly divergent in the conveying direction of the bobbins. As a result of the rotation of the magazine rods 79, 80, there is a constant, gradual conveying movement in the direction of the divergence of the magazine rods 79, 80. In the present case, the bobbins are thereby successively moved from the back of the packaging machine to the front or into the area conveyed to a processing station (in FIG. 8, for example, from left to right). The processing the bobbin is then made in a known, suitable manner.

The magazine rods 79, 80, as can be seen in particular from FIG. 8, are arranged offset in height from one another. The magazine rod 80 arranged on the right in the given direction of rotation is higher. The spacing of the magazine rods 79, 80 from one another is such that the supporting part of the material carrier 75 with the bobbin can be moved downwards between the magazine rods 79, 80, into a lower transfer position, in which the bobbin is removed from the magazine Rods 79, 80 is taken over and the support rods 76, 77 come free down.

The conveyor track 31 is set up in the present embodiment such that the material conveyors 41 are always and exclusively moved in one direction. After a material conveyor 41 has been unloaded, it is accordingly transported in the conveying direction indicated by arrows until it reaches the station 29. A storage path 81 for temporarily unused material conveyors 41 is arranged in the area thereof. The circulation path of the material conveyors 41 in the same direction can always be shortened by the cross rails 36 connected to the main rails 35 via switches, so that the functionally most favorable path is always chosen.

The transport system is preferably operated fully automatically. When a predetermined minimum stock of material (bobbins) in the area of a bobbin magazine 78 is reached, the corresponding material is requested. In this case, a material conveyor 41 waiting in the area of the storage path 81 is first set in motion and fed to a free loading station 38, 39, 40 for the packaging material requested in each case. Here the material conveyor 41 waits until it is loaded with the bobbin in question. After that, the transportation continued by the material conveyor 41 until the respective requesting point of consumption or unloading station 71 was reached. Because of the always identical circulation, the material conveyor 41 may have to cover a certain detour. After unloading, the return to the station 29 or to the storage section 81 of the same takes place.

The material conveyors 41 can be controlled in various ways. A solution has proven to be favorable in which the material conveyors 41 each receive control impulses in the area of holding positions via the running rail. Accordingly, no control pulses are transmitted during the running movement of the material conveyor 41. Control lines should therefore only be routed to the specified and specified holding stations. In the area of the travel routes of the material conveyors 41, sensors are arranged which trigger control pulses in accordance with the respective positions, in particular infrared light barriers with a transmitter and receiver. This ensures automatic target control and target finding for the material conveyors 41. The drive of the material conveyor 41 (drive motor 43) is effected via busbars and sliding contacts.

Another special feature of the exemplary embodiment shown is that the organs provided for the transport of the packaging material can be used universally and can also carry out the cuts 82. The blanks 82 can consist, for example, of thin cardboard and can be used to produce (cigarette) hinged boxes. Such blanks are usually produced outside the cigarette packaging system, in particular in a paper factory, and delivered as a blank stack 83. In the present exemplary embodiment, a plurality of blank stacks 83 are accommodated in one container, namely one in a special one Cassette 84 formed in this manner. This essentially consists of a bottom wall 85 on which the stack of blanks 83 lie. Partitions, namely upright webs 86, are fastened to the bottom wall 85. These are aligned in longitudinal and transverse rows, so that a plurality of chambers 87 arranged next to one another are formed on the bottom wall 85, each for receiving a stack of blanks 83. The chambers 87 are open at the top and on one long side of the cassette 84 for the insertion of the blank stacks 83 and for their removal. Furthermore, the cassettes 84 are designed such that a plurality of (empty) cassettes can be nested one inside the other for space-saving storage or for (return) transport to the paper stationery.

The cassettes 84, on the one hand, and the conveying members, on the other hand, are designed such that, as an alternative to the bobbins, cassettes 84 with cut stacks 83 can be transported. The design of the material holders 44 arranged on the material conveyors 41 is of particular importance. In each case a cassette 84 is received on the support bars 48, 49 of the material holder 40. The bottom wall 85 rests on these support members.

To secure the cassette 84 on the material holder 44, protrusions of the support bars 48, 49 enter into depressions 88 on the underside of the bottom wall 85. The projections in question are lugs 89 at the ends of the support bars 48, 49. The lugs 89 result from the already described design of the support bars with step-like stops for receiving bobbins of different sizes. The cassette 84 is dimensioned such that it rests on the bearing surfaces or steps for the largest (in terms of axial dimension) bobbin, that is to say in the depression 58.

The vertical conveyors of the conveyor system, namely the loading conveyor 59 and the unloading conveyor 72, are also designed in such a way that they can be used without any design changes each of the reels a cassette 84 can be raised and lowered. The transfer of the cassettes 84 to the material conveyor 41 or the material holder 44 takes place in the same way as described in connection with the bobbins.

The above-described feeding of prefabricated blanks 82 to a packaging machine 22 is new in itself. The conveyor system or its individual conveyor elements can therefore also be designed so that they are only suitable for the transport of containers (cassettes) with cut stacks 83.

In the area of the packaging machine 22, the cassettes 84 are placed on a cassette conveyor on the machine side and then unloaded in stacks.

Claims (11)

Device for transporting packaging material, in particular bobbins made of web-shaped packaging material, from a store to at least one removal station, in particular in the area of a packaging machine, with a loading conveyor (59) with a material holder (63) that can be moved up and down, from which the bobbins are passed to a material holder ( 44) can be transferred, characterized in that the material receptacle (63) and the material holder (44) can be moved past one another to transfer a bobbin. Apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that the transfer of the bobbin from the material receptacle (63) of the loading conveyor (59) to the material holder (44) by upward or downward movement of the material receptacle (63), preferably from a position above the material holder (44 ) to a position below it. Device according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the material holder (44) can be moved transversely to the material receptacle (63) with a material conveyor (41). Device according to one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the material holder (44) has at least two spaced-apart support members (support bars 48, 49) on which the bobbins rest with their peripheral surface (50) and which preferably rest on one A conveyor track (31) or a running rail (32) of the same movable roller carriage (42) of a material conveyor (41) are attached. Device according to one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the material receptacle (63) has support rods (65, 66) for supporting a bobbin with the peripheral surface (50). Apparatus according to claim 5, characterized in that the carrier bars (48, 49) of the material holder (44) can be moved into a receiving position below the supporting rods (65, 66) of the material holder (63) in order to take over a bobbin. Device according to one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that in the area of an unloading station (71) is arranged an unloading conveyor (72) designed as a lifting conveyor with a material carrier (75) which can be moved up and down to take over a bobbin from a material conveyor (41). Apparatus according to claim 7, characterized in that the material carrier (75) of the unloading conveyor (72) has supporting members (supporting rods 76, 77) for a bobbin which can be moved past the supporting bars (48, 49), the bobbin passing through in the unloading station (71) Upward movement of the material carrier (75) can be lifted off the material holder (44) and can be lowered after its further movement. Apparatus according to claim 7 or 8, characterized in that the bobbins can be deposited by the unloading conveyor (72) on elongated, spaced-apart support members (magazine rods 79, 80) of a bobbin magazine (78), the support members in one are arranged such that the material carrier (75) can be lowered in a position below the magazine rods (79, 80) while the bobbin is transferred to it. Device according to one of Claims 1 to 9, characterized in that prefabricated (punched) new (pack) blanks (82) as a stack of blanks (83) in containers (cassettes 84) open at least at the top by the material conveyors (41) from one A supply or a loading station can be conveyed to at least one removal station, in particular a packaging machine (22), the material holders (44) of the material conveyor (41) being provided for receiving a cassette (84) each. Apparatus according to claim 10, characterized in that recesses (88) are formed in the bottom wall (85) of the cassette (84), into the projections or stops, in particular upwardly directed lugs (89), at the free end of the support bars (48, 49 ) of the material holder (44).

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