EP1468919B1 - Method and apparatus for manufacturing cigarette packages - Google Patents

Description

The invention relates to a method for producing cigarette packs of the folding box type with a cigarette block as a package contents and with a arranged in the cigarette pack, separate blank of thin material as a package addition, namely a Beigabezuschnitt, in particular a coupon, a band or the like. Furthermore, the invention relates to a device for carrying out the method.

In the cigarette industry, it is increasingly common to add to the cigarette packs print carrier, namely coupons from a separate blank. These contain information for the consumer, advertising, etc. For the effect of such print media, it is necessary that they are immediately available to the consumer when opening the package for the first time or are easily detectable by the consumer. As a result, it is not possible to fix the print carrier to the package by glue. On the other hand, the handling of the thin blanks during the packaging process is difficult. Such a method and apparatus according to the preambles of claims 1 and 5 are known from DE-A-19841526 known.

The fixation of blanks or print media in or on packages by means of electrostatic charging is basically known. In many cases, the print carrier is attached to the wrapper for an article, for example, fixed to a continuous film web and to this. Thereafter, the stocked with the print carrier blanks are separated from the film web and wrapped around the object ( US 4,757,667 . EP 0 895 946 ). In this procedure, there is a risk that the print carrier during the processing of the film, in particular during the wrapping around the article to be packaged, is not sufficiently fixed and separates from the packaging material. Also known is the attachment of a print carrier at the bottom of a carton by means of electrostatic charge. The print carrier is acted upon correspondingly outside the carton and then lowered into the carton before it is filled ( FR 2 619 356 ). Finally, when shipping book or magazine stacks, it has been proposed to fix an address sheet to be attached to the top of the stack by means of electrostatic charging and then wrap the stack. This is a technically remote state of the art, in which the peculiarities of packaging technology, in particular for cigarette packs, are not taken into account ( JP 7-267217 ).

The invention is based on the object in the manufacture of cigarette packs of the type folding box a separate blank, namely a Beigabezuschnitt to introduce into the package without affecting the manufacturing process, in particular the required folding steps of pack blanks.

1. a) der Zigarettenblock wird während des Transports entlang einer Packungsbahn, nämlich entlang einer Blockbahn, mit dem von oben zugeführten Beigabezuschnitt versehen,
2. b) die Einheit aus Zigarettenblock und Beigabezuschnitt wird entlang der Blockbahn einem Faltaggregat zugeführt, nämlich einem drehend angetriebenen Faltrevolver und im Bereich einer Einschubstation in jeweils eine Tasche des Faltrevolvers eingeführt,
3. c) in der Tasche des Faltrevolvers befindet sich ein teilweise gefalteter Packungszuschnitt,
4. d) im Bereich einer Einschubstation wird die Einheit aus Zigarettenblock und Beigabezuschnitt durch eine oberhalb der Tasche des Faltrevolvers angeordnete Aufladeelektrode elektrostatisch aufgeladen,
5. e) danach wird der Faltrevolver drehend bewegt und während der Drehbewegung der Packungszuschnitt um die Einheit aus Zigarettenblock und Beigabezuschnitt herumgefaltet.

To solve this problem, the method according to the invention is characterized by the following features:

1. a) the cigarette block is provided during transport along a packing path, namely along a block track, with the supplied from above Beigabezuschnitt,
2. b) the unit of cigarette block and Beigabezuschnitt is fed along the block track a folding unit, namely a rotationally driven folding turret and inserted in the region of a plug-in station in each case a pocket of the folding turret,
3. c) in the pocket of the folding turret is a partially folded package blank,
4. d) in the region of a plug-in station, the unit of cigarette block and blank blank is electrostatically charged by a charging electrode arranged above the pocket of the folding turret,
5. e) thereafter, the folding turret is rotationally moved and folded around the unit of cigarette block and Beigabezuschnitt during the rotational movement of the package blank.

The device according to the invention has the features of claim 5.

The invention is based on the finding that stresses on the not-fixed by glue or other way Beigabezuschnitt particular during transport act in the area of a folding turret. Here, the blank is fixed by means of electrostatic charge reliably and for a sufficient period of time, so that the blank remains exactly positioned after completion of the pack, but nevertheless can be removed when the package is open.

Fig. 1

eine Verpackungsmaschine für die Herstellung von Zigarettenpackungen in schematischer Seitenansicht,

Fig. 2

eine Einzelheit der Verpackungsmaschine gemäß Fig. 1 in Draufsicht entsprechend Sichtebene II - II in Fig. 1, bei vergrößerten Maßstab,

Fig. 3

eine Einzelheit der Fig. 2 in Seitenansicht entsprechend Pfeil III der Fig. 2, bei nochmals vergrößertem Maßstab,

Fig. 4

eine Zigarettenpackung, nämlich Klappschachtel, während der Herstellung derselben in perspektivischer Darstellung,

Fig. 5

eine (Zigaretten-)Packung in Seitenansicht mit aufgelegtem Beigabezuschnitt (Queransicht V - V in Fig. 8),

Fig. 6

eine Einzelheit einer nicht erfindungsgemäßen Verpackungsmaschine in schematischer Seitenansicht,

Fig. 7

einen Ausschnitt der Vorrichtung gemäß Fig. 6 in Queransicht, bei vergrößertem Maßstab,

Fig. 8

eine weitere Einzelheit der Fig. 6, nämlich eine Ausschnitt XIII in Fig. 6 bei vergrößertem Maßstab.

Further features of the invention will be explained below with reference to the drawings. It shows:

Fig. 1

a packaging machine for the production of cigarette packs in a schematic side view,

Fig. 2

a detail of the packaging machine of FIG. 1 in plan view according to viewing plane II - II in Fig. 1, on an enlarged scale,

Fig. 3

2 shows a detail of FIG. 2 in side view corresponding to arrow III of FIG. 2, at a further enlarged scale,

Fig. 4

a cigarette pack, namely folding box, during the production of the same in perspective,

Fig. 5

a (cigarette) pack in side view with attached Beigabezuschnitt (transverse view V - V in Fig. 8),

Fig. 6

a detail of a packaging machine not according to the invention in a schematic side view,

Fig. 7

a section of the device of FIG. 6 in a transverse view, on an enlarged scale,

Fig. 8

a further detail of Fig. 6, namely a section XIII in Fig. 6 on an enlarged scale.

It's about the production of pack 10, especially cigarette packs. As a preferred example, a pack 10 of the folding box type is shown (Figure 4). This consists of a cardboard blank 11 of thin cardboard to form a box part 12 and a lid 13. Package contents is a group of cigarettes which is wrapped in an inner blank made of paper, foil or Stanniol to form a cigarette block 14. Furthermore belongs to this Pack type a collar of a separate blanket 15.

In the production and filling of a pack 10 of the aforementioned type in a packaging machine according to FIG. 1, the pack blanks 11 are successively fed to a folding turret 16. In the present embodiment, the folding turret 16 is plate-shaped and driven in rotation about a vertical axis (intermittently). The packaging machine according to FIG. 1, FIG. 2 is oriented to two-lane operation. Each two juxtaposed pockets 17, 18 of the folding turret 16 are simultaneously with a Pack blank 11 fed. This is prefolded to the extent that a longitudinally angular or L-shaped folding position is given (Fig. 4) with upright side tabs 19 and corner tabs 20 within the pocket 17, 18. A bottom wall and subsequent lid bottom wall and lid end wall 21st and lid front wall 22 extending in the plane of the rear walls and in the plane of bottom walls of the pockets 17, 18. A radially inner upright leg of the package blank 11 consists of a bottom wall and an adjoining box front wall 31st

In the folded position according to FIG. 4, the package blanks 11 are held ready in the pockets 17, 18 for accommodating a respective cigarette block 14 (FIG. 2). The otherwise manufactured cigarette blocks are transported on a radially extending to the folding turret block track 32 for folding turret 16 and inserted into the partially folded pack blanks 11 in the pockets 17, 18 (position shown in FIG. 4).

Before the insertion of the cigarette block 14 in an associated package blank 11, a U-shaped folded collar 15 is placed on top of the cigarette block 14. The unfolded blanks for the collar 15 are fed to a collar track 23 transversely to the block track 32 of the cigarette blocks 14 and deposited under U-shaped fold on each cigarette block 14, such that a Kragenforderwand 24 rests against the large-area top of the cigarette block 14.

The packages 10 receive an addition, namely a print carrier in the form of a separate Beigabezuschnitts 25 made of paper or other thin material. Each pack 10 receives such a Zusigabezuschnitt 25. This is in the embodiment of Figure 4 within the pack 10, namely positioned within the hinged box, on the cigarette block 14 fitting, below the collar front wall 24. The Zusigzuschnitt 25 has a dimension, which extends over the majority of an upwardly directed large-area side of the cigarette block 14 (FIG. 4).

The feeding of the addition blank 25 and the introduction into the package 10 is integrated into the manufacturing process. In the present case, the Beigabezuschnitt 25 is placed on the top of the cigarette block 14 during transport thereof along the block track 32. For this purpose, a feed unit is arranged above each block track 32 in the packaging machine (FIG. 1), namely a coupon transmitter 26. This feeds the adding blanks 25 successively from above and places them on each pack 10 or on each cigarette block 14. In the production of folding box then the collar 15 is placed on the cigarette block 14 and on the Beigabezuschnitt 25. The unit formed in this way is inserted in the pockets 17, 18 or in the partially folded blanks 11 in the region of a slide-in station 33 by means of a slide-in 27.

The loose blanks 25 resting on the packs 10 or the cigarette blocks 14 can be displaced by forces occurring during the transport of the packs 10 or cigarette blocks 14, in particular if a folding turret 16 is accelerated from standstill. To fix the Beigabezuschnitte 25 to the package 10 and the cigarette block 14, an electrostatic charge is generated. This causes a full-surface adhesion of Beigabezuschnitts 25 on the package 10 and the cigarette block 14th

The electrostatic charge can already take place in the region of the conveyor track, ie in the area of the block track 32. In the exemplary embodiment shown, the folding turret 16, namely above the pockets 17, 18 in the insertion station 33, contains organs for the electrostatic charging of the pack 10 or of the cigarette block 14 and Beigabezuschnitts 25 positioned. These are charging electrodes 28, 29 for each pocket 17, 18.

The charging electrodes 28, 29 are positioned (stationary) above the packages 10 so that an approximately conical electric field 30 is transferred to the packages 10 and the cigarette block 14, respectively. The electric field 30 detects in particular an exposed area of the Beigabezuschnitts 25 below or next to the collar 15. However, the electric field 30 can be formed so that the collar 15 in the pack-oriented position the electrostatic charge is detected. Furthermore, the charging electrodes 28, 29 may be controlled such that an electrostatic field 30 is generated during the insertion of the cigarette block 14 into the associated package blank 11. The effect of the charging is such that the Zusigabezuschnitt 25 fully rests against the upwardly directed side or wall of the cigarette block 14. The holding action extends over a limited time, at least until the final fixing of the addition blank 25 within the package, in particular by folding over of cut parts, here by folding the initially erected box front wall 31 against the top of the cigarette block 14.

The charging electrodes 28, 29 or a single charging electrode may alternatively or additionally be positioned outside the region of the insertion station 33 in the path of movement of the packages 10 or the addition blanks 25 above the folding turret 16 (dashed representation in FIG. 2). In this case, the pockets 17, 18 with their contents, so pack blank 11, cigarette block 14, collar 15 and Beigabezuschnitt 25, moved past the stationary charging electrode and charged electrostatically successively. The power of the charging electrodes 28, 29 is suitably adjustable, up to a voltage of 30 KV (continuous voltage). The machine is grounded.

Surprisingly, the effect of the electrostatic charging enables the optimal temporary fixing of multi-layered addition blanks 25. FIG. 5 shows a strip-shaped blending blank 25 which is folded in a zigzag shape, that is to say a cut of several days. The right half of the representation of the package shows an order of Beigabezuschnitts 25 without electrostatic influence, the layers have due to the unconquered material tension distances from each other. The left half of the figure shows that the electrostatic charging forces the multiple layers together, as in a suction effect, so that the folded multiply blank 25 receives a flat formation desired for the packaging process.

The fixation of a Beigabezuschnitts 25 may be desired or advantageous during straight-line promotion. FIG. 6 to FIG. 8 show an example which is not within the scope of the invention the addition blank 25 is positioned on the outside of a finished package 10. It is a cigarette box of the type folding box with box part 12 and cover 13. The Beigabezuschnitt is positioned on an upwardly directed rear or rear wall 34 of the folding box.

To transfer the Beigabezuschnitte 25 on the upward side of the packs 10 is a trained in a special way coupon generator 26, which consists essentially of a multi-angled belt conveyor 35. The Beigabezuschnitte 25 are transported at regular intervals from each other by a conveying strand 36, the driver 37 has for each Beigabezuschnitt 25. In the region of a lower leg of the coupon generator 26, a transmission member is arranged, namely a transmission wheel 38. This is centrally positioned between individual straps of the belt conveyor 35 and causes a rolling movement at the top of the package 10 with simultaneous transfer of Beigabezuschnitts 25th

For electrostatic charging, an organ for generating an electrostatic field is arranged in the region of the transfer of the addition blank 25 to the pack 10. These are two charging electrodes 28, 29, which are positioned on both sides of the belt conveyor 35 and the transmission wheel 38. End pieces 39 of the charging electrodes 28, 29 are angled in the direction of each other, so that in the region of the packs 10, an electric field can be targeted to edge or end portions of the Beigabezuschnitte 25. It is thus ensured that at least (upper and lower) portions of Beigabezuschnitts 25 are fixed by electrostatic charging.

The package 10 provided with the electrostatically fixed addition blank 25 arrives at the coupon transmitter 26 by continued transport into the region of a wrapping station 40. In the area thereof, an outer wrapping of foil is folded around the pack 10 in a known manner, including the blank blank 25. In a first falling step, the transversely conveyed pack 10 is U-shaped from a blank of the outer wrapper. By inserting pack 10 and cutting the Außenumhüllung in a pocket of a folding turret is at the same time the Beigabezuschnitt 25 mechanically fixed. The electrostatic charging takes place in this example during continuous transport of the packs 10 along a packing web 41 by driver 42nd

Packing machines or devices for transporting packs 10 with attached blanking blank (25) can also have a plurality of charging electrodes mounted in different positions in order to repeatedly fix blanks to this pack during the manufacturing process of a pack or to renew a decreasing effect of the electrostatic charging.

LIST OF REFERENCE NUMBERS

10

pack

11

pack blank

12

box part

13

cover

14

cigarette block

15

collar

16

folding turret

17

bag

18

bag

19

side tabs

20

corner tabs

21

Lid front wall

22

Lid front wall

23

collar Bahn

24

Collar front wall

25

insert blank

26

coupon dispenser

27

inserter

28

charging electrode

29

charging electrode

30

Electric field

31

Box front wall

32

block path

33

insertion station

34

rear wall

35

belt conveyors

36

conveying

37

takeaway

38

transmission wheel

39

tail

40

wrapping station

41

packing sheet

42

takeaway

Claims (6)

1. A method of producing cigarette packs (10) of the hinge-lid type with a cigarette block (14) as the pack contents and with a separate blank made of thin material as a pack insert, namely as an insert blank (25) - in particular a coupon, revenue stamp or the like - that is arranged in the cigarette pack (10), with the following features:

   a) during its transport along a pack path, namely along a block path (32), the cigarette block (14) is provided with the insert blank (25) which is introduced from above,

   b) the unit comprising cigarette block (14) and insert blank (25) is conveyed along the block path (32) and fed to a folding unit, namely to a rotary-driven folding turret (16) and in each case inserted into a pocket (17, 18) of the folding turret (16) in the region of a pushing-in station (33),

   c) located in the pocket (17, 18) of the folding turret (16) is a partially folded pack blank (11), characterized by the following features:

   d) in the region of a pushing-in station (33) the unit comprising the cigarette block (14) and insert blank (25) is electrostatically charged by charging electrodes (28, 29) arranged above the pocket (17, 18) of the folding turret (16),

   e) the folding turret (16) is then rotated and during its rotational movement the pack blank (11) is folded around the unit comprising cigarette block (14) and insert blank (25).
2. The method according to Claim 2, characterized by the following features:

   a) in the region of the block path (32) the insert blank (25) is first applied to the top side of the cigarette block (14),

   b) a frame (15) is then placed on the unit comprising cigarette block (14) and insert blank (25) such that the insert blank (25) is partially covered by the frame (15),

   c) after the unit comprising cigarette block (14), insert blank (25) and frame (15) is inserted into the pocket (17, 18) of the folding turret (16), an electrostatic charge is applied by charging electrodes (28, 29) arranged above the cigarette block (14).
3. The method according to Claim 1 or 2, characterized in that an insert blank (25), which is formed in a number of layers, in particular is folded in zigzag form, is electrostatically charged such that the layers of the insert blank (25), as a result of the electrostatic charging, butt closely against one another and are fixed on the cigarette block (14).
4. The method according to Claim 1 or one of the further Claims, characterized in that an elongate insert blank (25) is electrostatically charged in each case at two marginal or end regions.
5. An apparatus for producing cigarette packs (10) in the embodiment as hinge-lid packs which have a separate blank made of thin material as a pack insert, namely an insert blank (25), in particular a coupon, revenue stamp or the like, it being possible for the insert blank (25) to be fed by a coupon dispenser (26) and positioned on a cigarette block (14) as the pack contents, with the following features:

   a) the cigarette blocks (14) can be transported at a distance from one another by a pack conveyor along a block path (32),

   b) in each case an insert blank (25) can be placed by the coupon dispenser (26) on the top side of a cigarette block (14),

   c) the cigarette blocks (14), along with the insert blanks (25) lying on top of them, can be inserted into pockets (17, 18) of a folding turret (16) in the region of a push-in station, characterized in that

   d) at least one charging electrode (28, 29) above the pockets (17, 18) of the folding turret (16), which are open at the top, is disposed in the region of the push-in station (33) for the electrostatic charging of the unit comprising cigarette block (14) and insert blank (25),
6. The apparatus according to Claim 5, characterized in that in the case of double-track operation the folding turret (16) has two adjacent pockets (17, 18) with a partially folded pack blank (11) in the region of the push-in station (33), with a partially folded pack blank (11) being arranged in each pocket which serves the purpose of accommodating one unit each comprising cigarette block (14), insert blank (25) and, if applicable, a frame (15), and with a charging electrode (28, 29) being disposed above each pocket (17, 18) in the region of the push-in station (33).

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