EP1663790A2

EP1663790A2 - Method and device for producing (cigarette) packets

Info

Publication number: EP1663790A2
Application number: EP04764884A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Thomas Häfker; Jens Schmidt
Original assignee: Focke and Co GmbH and Co KG
Current assignee: Focke and Co GmbH and Co KG
Priority date: 2003-09-25
Filing date: 2004-09-07
Publication date: 2006-06-07
Anticipated expiration: 2024-09-07
Also published as: US20070028934A1; JP4688807B2; WO2005037651A3; DE10344675A1; US7591120B2; EP1663790B1; JP2007506621A; WO2005037651A2

Abstract

The invention relates to the production of (cigarette) packets by means of packers (13) wherein print carriers i.e. optionally, multi-folded coupons, are added to the packets according to the design of the packet. Said coupons are produced in a coupon device (15) by a coupon manufacturer (16) and are placed into containers, i.e. cartridges, in a filling station (18). They are then stored in amounts corresponding to requirements on vehicles, i.e. transport carriages (42,43) in order to be fed to the packer (13). The relevant machines and units are connected to a central control unit (91) which determines the amount of coupons to be produced and results in coding of the cartridge (20) and/or transport carriages such that the supply of coupons to the packers (13) is controlled according to the packet charge to be produced.

Description

Method and device for producing (cigarette) packs

description

The invention relates to a method for producing (cigarette) packs which are provided with at least one blank, in particular with a multiply folded coupon, the blanks or coupons being produced by a coupon manufacturer and being fed to a packaging machine. The invention further relates to a device for carrying out the method.

When producing cigarette packs, it is desirable or necessary to provide them with separate cuts. These can be (tax) banderoles, which are to be attached to the pack due to regulations. As an alternative or in addition, print carriers, namely coupons, can be included in the pack. The latter can be folded several times to enlarge the printable areas. The training and manufacture of such folding coupons is generally known. It is also state of the art to insert coupons and other printing media into a container, namely into a magazine and to attach it to a magazine carousel in the area of the packaging machine (EP 1 125 843 A1). The coupons are removed one after the other from the shafts and fed into the packs.

The invention is based on the object of coordinating the handling of the blanks or coupons with the manufacture of the packs in such a way that the coupons are made available to the packaging machine automatically or with little manual construction.

To achieve this object, the method according to the invention is characterized by the following features:

a) the coupons are introduced into containers - magazines - after the coupon manufacturer, forming stacks, b) a number of containers with correspondingly designed coupons corresponding to a batch of (cigarette) packs to be produced are provided with a marking, in particular with a readable (bar) code,

c) The marking or the barcode of a container - magazine - is checked in the area of the packaging machine for correct assignment, in particular by a reading device.

The special feature of the invention is accordingly that the coupons produced in a coupon manufacturer assigned to several packaging machines are collected in the immediate vicinity of the packaging machines and filled into magazines. The magazines are delivered to the packaging machine as required by a conveyor, in particular by a transport vehicle.

According to the invention, a separate coupon device therefore consists of a coupon manufacturer, a distribution system for the coupons and a filling station. Several coupons are produced at the same time in one work cycle, distributed in the transport direction, so that individual, successive coupons arrive at the filling station and are filled into a magazine that is always ready.

A special feature is the coordinated control of the coupon device, the conveyor and the packaging machines, preferably by means of a central computer. This receives the data about the (cigarette) packs to be manufactured. The need for packaging material and coupons is determined from this. The computer then controls the production of the coupons and their provision according to the requirements for each packaging machine. Further details of the invention are explained in more detail below on the basis of exemplary embodiments of the device for handling labels or coupons. It shows:

1 shows a plant for the production of (cigarette) packs in a schematic plan view,

2 shows a detail II of the device marked in FIG. 1 on an enlarged scale, likewise in plan view,

3 shows a detail of a device for handling coupons marked with III in FIG. 2 on an enlarged scale,

4 shows a detail of the device marked IV in FIG. 1 on an enlarged scale,

5 shows the device according to FIG. 4 in a side view or in cross section corresponding to the sectional plane V-V in FIG. 4, FIG. 6 shows a detail of the device according to FIG. 4 in a side view according to arrow VI in FIG. 4, on an enlarged scale,

7 shows a detail of the device according to FIG. 4 in cross section of the sectional plane Vll-Vll,

8 shows a detail of the device in FIG. 6 in the cross-sectional plane Vlll-Vlll,

9 to

12 shows a detail of the device according to FIG. 6 in successive phases of the movement in a side view.

The exemplary embodiments shown in the drawings deal with the production of (cigarette) packs and with the production and handling of blanks, namely multiply folded coupons 11 made of paper or similar material. The packs are produced in the area of a packaging system 12 and provided with the blank or coupon 11. 1 shows an embodiment with two packaging systems 12. Each of these packaging systems 12 consists of a packer 13 and a machine for mounting an outer wrapping made of film, a so-called cello 14. The package can be designed such that the coupon 11 is attached to the outside of the package and a film is folded around the outside of the package, including coupon 11.

The packaging system 12 is associated with a device for producing and handling the coupons 11, namely a coupon device 15. This is positioned separately from the packaging system 12, in particular at a distance, but in such a way that the coupons 11 are fed to the packaging system 12 via appropriate conveying paths can.

The coupon device 15, which is common for several packaging systems 12 in particular, essentially consists of a production unit, namely a coupon manufacturer 16, a distribution system 17 and a filling station 18. In the area of the filling station 18, the blanks or coupons 11 are filled into elongated containers to form coupon stacks 19 , namely in shaft-like magazines 20. These, in turn, are transported to the packaging system 12 and held there for processing in the area of the packer 13. A magazine carousel 21 is assigned to each packer 13 in the present exemplary embodiment. The filled magazines 20 are inserted into this. The packer 13 removes the coupons 11 from the magazines 20 one after the other in accordance with the production of packs. The magazine carousel 21 is preferably designed in accordance with EP 1 125 843.

In the present exemplary embodiment, the coupons 11 are constructed in multiple layers by appropriate folding. For this purpose, a web 22 of material, in particular paper, is passed through a folding unit 23 and folded several times in the area thereof. The folding unit 23 is known as a buckle folder. The web 22 is prepared by pre-folding and by the folding unit 23 in such a way that, following the folding unit 23 in the area of a separating device 24, at the same time four are arranged next to one another transversely to the conveying direction Coupons 11 are manufactured, namely by three adjacent cutting knife 25th

The simultaneously produced (four) coupons 11 are handed over to the distribution system 17 immediately after completion. This consists of a number of interacting endless conveyors and guide elements. Coordinated behavior has the effect that the coupons 11 are transported individually, that is to say individually, in succession and then distributed to (2) filling units 26, 27 of the filling station 18 to form coupon stacks 19.

A conveyor, namely a transfer belt 28, 29, 30, 31, is assigned to each of the adjacent coupons 11 on the exit side of the coupon maker 16. On the one hand, these conveyors move the coupons 11 during transport from a horizontally oriented initial position into a vertical position on the exit side , For this purpose, the transfer belts 28 to 31 are twisted, namely with horizontally oriented deflection rollers on the entry side of the coupons 11 and upright deflection rollers on the exit side.

Furthermore, the relative position of the coupons 11 is changed during the transport, specifically by means of different conveying characteristics or conveying speed of the transfer belts 28. 31. Decelerating or accelerating causes the coupons 11 to be offset in the transport direction, so that the (four) coupons 11 fed in at the same time arrive successively on the exit side of the belts 28, 31. In the example shown, the edge-side transfer belt 28 is driven at a lower speed than the adjacent transfer belt 29, etc.

Following the takeover belts 28, 31, the coupons 11 are first combined on two conveyor tracks by intermediate conveyors 32, 33. Two coupons 11 each, in the present case those of the take-over belts 28, 29, are passed to the common intermediate conveyor 32 and the coupons 11 of the two other take-overs. Megurte 30, 31 fed to the second intermediate conveyor 33. The intermediate conveyors 32, 33 have two pairs of endless conveyors on the input side, which are arranged convergingly in the conveying direction, that is to say converge. The coupons 11 arriving successively in each intermediate conveyor 32, 33 are transferred to a common collecting conveyor 36 via connection conveyors 34, 35 which are also arranged convergingly with respect to one another. This is designed analogously to the intermediate conveyors 32, 33 and guides the coupons 11 arriving in two lanes through converging conveyor lanes into a common movement path and to an input conveyor 37 of a distributor 38 which is designed in a special manner. This alternatively transfers the arriving coupons 11 to one or the other other filling unit 26, 27 to form the coupon stack 19th

The distributor 38 is designed in a special way and has the task of feeding the individually arriving, successive coupons 11 to one or the other filling unit 26, 27 of the filling station 18. For this purpose, two diverging conveyor units, namely (pairs of) transfer conveyor (s) 39, 40 are connected to the input conveyor 37 (consisting of two upright belts lying against one another). Each of these transfer conveyors 39, 40 leads (indirectly) to a filling unit 26, 27. The transfer of the coupons 11 from the input conveyor 37 to one or the other transfer conveyor 39, 40 can be adjusted, and is preferably controlled in accordance with the requirements. For this purpose, a switch or a guide element 41 is arranged in the area of the transfer of the coupons to the transfer conveyor 39, 40, namely in the area of a gap that arises here. The guide element 41 is here approximately triangular and can be pivoted about a vertical axis of rotation. This results in lateral guide surfaces which, depending on the position of the guide member 41, connect the input conveyor 37 to one or the other transfer conveyor 39, 40 in the sense of corresponding guidance of the coupons 11.

The filling station 18 and in particular the filling units 26, 27 is or are a special feature. On the one hand, the coupon stacks are located in the area of the filling station 18 19 formed and filled into the magazine 20. Furthermore, the filled magazines 20 are transferred to a conveyor for transporting them to one or the other packer 13.

In this exemplary embodiment, the coupon or magazine conveyors are designed as transport carriages 42, 43. These can be moved by hand on wheels. Each transport carriage 42, 43 consists of a base frame 44 and a bearing for the magazines 20 positioned in the upright position, consisting of a bearing plate 45 and upright, lateral support walls 46, which are arranged in a U-shape, such that one of the filling units 26 , 27 facing side is open. The magazines 20 are positioned aligned in rows next to one another on the bearing plate 45. A quantity of magazines 20 or coupons 11 corresponding to the respective requirement is fed to the specified packer 13 with the aid of the transport carriage 42, 43, in the present case by an operator (machine operator). From this, the magazines 20 are inserted into a magazine carousel 21 in the area of the packer 13.

The filling station 18 is designed such that two transport carriages 42, 43 can be positioned next to one another.

The conveyors or transport carriages 42, 43 are also intended for the return of empty magazines 20 (transport carriages 42 in FIG. 4). The filling station 18 or the filling units 26, 27 work in such a way that empty magazines are picked up by removing them from the transport carriage 42. The filled magazines 20 are returned and placed on the bearing plate 45 of the other transport carriage 43. For this purpose, the filling station 18 is assigned a lifting and conveying device, namely a portal conveyor 47. This consists of two spaced-apart longitudinal beams 48, 49, laterally next to the parking position of the transport carriages 42, 43. On the fixed longitudinal beams 48, 49 a cross member 50 movable according to the double arrow. In one of the end positions (FIG. 4), the cross member 50 faces the filling units 26, 27. At the Cross member 50 is a receiving member for the magazines 20 attached, namely movable in the longitudinal direction of the cross member 50, that is, transverse to the longitudinal members 48, 49. The receptacle consists of an upright support arm 51, which can be moved up and down on the cross member and mounted in the transverse direction is. The support arm 51 has a holder for a magazine 20 at the lower end. In the present exemplary embodiment, the holder consists of a transversely projecting leg 52 and a (clamping) holder 53 arranged at the end thereof for laterally gripping the magazine 20. The holder 53 or the leg 52 can be rotated about a vertical axis of the upright support arm 51 , so that different angular positions are possible for the positionally accurate receiving and depositing of the magazine 20.

Empty magazines 20 are successively fed to one or the other filling unit 26, 27 and correspondingly filled magazines 20 are taken back and placed on the relevant transport carriage 42, 43. During this transport of the magazines 20, the cross member 50 is moved along the longitudinal members 48, 49, the support arm 51 is adjusted as required on the cross member 50 and finally the leg 52 is pivoted with the holder 53 for precise positioning.

The empty magazines 20 are placed on a base 54 of the filling unit 26, 27, namely on a lower support plate. The depositing position is selected such that the magazine 20 can be gripped and transported away by a conveyor of the filling unit 26, 27. It is a magazine conveyor 55, which consists of two endless belts arranged one above the other at a distance. These are arranged centrally within the filling unit 26, 27 and transport the magazines 20 in succession along a U-shaped movement path, the magazines 20 being supported in a sliding manner on the base 54. The magazine conveyor 55 or its belts have drivers, namely in each case two drivers 56, 57 arranged at a distance from one another corresponding to the transverse dimension of a magazine 20. A magazine 20 is positioned between each of these. An all-round guide is wall 58 is provided, against which the magazines 20 slide during transport. The guide wall 58 running on both sides is open and set back on the side facing the portal conveyor 47, so that the magazines 20 can be transferred to the magazine conveyor 55 or deposited on the support 54.

The empty magazines 20 are transported through a run of the magazine conveyor 55 into the area of the filling, specifically in the area of a returning conveyor path of the magazines 20, in the embodiment according to FIG. 4 in the area of external movement paths. The magazines 20, which are transported in cycles, reach the area of a filling point 59 below one end of insertion conveyors 60. These connect to the transfer conveyors 39, 40 and cause the coupons 11 to be fed to the magazine 20 held in each case in the filling point 59. The insertion conveyors 60 are formed by a corresponding arrangement of deflecting rollers so that the coupons 11 are turned back into a substantially horizontal relative position during transport. The coupons 11 are inserted directly into the respective magazine 20 by a filling conveyor 61, which consists of two interacting belts guided over several deflecting rollers, of which an upper belt extends with a horizontal partial area into an upper insertion opening of the magazine 20 and the other The belt extends with an upright support section in the region of an upright partial opening of the magazine 20, so that each coupon 11 is guided exactly between two belts and is deposited in the magazine 20 to form a coupon stack 19. The incoming coupons 11 are conveyed against an upright magazine wall opposite the entry side. A sensor 62 checks the correct insertion of the coupons 11 or the correct feeding thereof.

The coupon stack 19 formed in the magazine 20 is accordingly built up from above, the coupons 11 being able to be lowered within the magazine 20

Support rest. These are (two) upright support plungers 63, which are moved upward via openings in a lower wall of the magazine 20 and are lowered during the filling process from an upper starting position in accordance with the progressive filling level in the magazine 20 until the magazine 20 is completely filled. For the filling process, the (initially empty) magazines 20 are lifted from the level of the base 54 by means of lifting plungers 64 onto a higher platform 65. Processing elements, such as the filling conveyor 61, are positioned such that the magazines 20 have to be raised relative to the feed plane to the level of the platform 65. The lifting movement takes place relative to the magazine conveyor 55, namely relative to the two belts of the same. The difference in level for the magazines 20 is caused by the relative position of the processing elements, in particular by the position of the filling conveyor 61. The stroke movement of the magazine 20 ensures that it reaches the filling position next to or below the filling conveyor 61 directly and exactly (FIG. 6).

The filling process inside the magazine 20 is monitored from the outside by sensors 69, 70. These check the correct position of the coupons 11 and the filling progress in the upper area of the magazine. The sensors 69, 70 are directed onto the coupon stack 19 via openings 71 in an upright side wall of the magazine 20. Any incorrect positions of the coupons 11 in the magazine 20 trigger an error signal.

The filled magazines 20 are fed to the filling station 59 by the magazine conveyor 55 of a closing station 66. The filled magazines 20, which are open at the top, are (partially) closed by attaching a closure member, namely a closure strip or a tape 67. This is necessary because the magazines 20 are turned over for use on the packer 13 in such a way that the open side facing upward during the filling is turned downward for the removal of the coupons. For this purpose, the closure member or the tape 67 is removed. In the area of the sealing station 66, a tape unit 68, designed and working in a special way, for attaching the sealing strip or tape 67 is arranged.

The tape 67 is preferably designed such that it is releasably anchored to the outside on opposite upright walls of the magazine 20 by gluing. For easy removal of the tape 67 by (manual) peeling off, a leg 73 is formed at one end of the tape 67 by folding over, namely by folding over one end of the tape by 180 °. This leg 73 is connected to the magazine 20 in the upper region by gluing. The tape 67, which extends across the open side of the magazine 20, is also attached by a downward-facing end piece 74 to the opposite side of the magazine 20 by gluing. An adhesive-free grip tab 75 enables, in particular, manual removal of the tape 67 when the filled magazine 20 is used.

A special feature is a tape unit 68 for attaching the strip or tape 67. The tapes 67 are provided on a carrier tape 78 pulled off from a bobbin 77, specifically above the path of movement of the magazines 20. The tapes 67 are designed such that on opposite sides , in each case at the end regions, glue surfaces are applied to connect the leg 73 and the end piece 74 to the magazine 20. Because of the construction of the tape 67, the glue surfaces are located on opposite sides of the tape 67. The empty carrier tape 78 is wound as an empty bobbin 79. The carrier tape 78 is guided around a pressure roller 80 and deflected from a downward direction to an upward direction. In the area of this deflection, the tape 67 is transferred to the magazine 20, namely in a functional sequence according to FIGS. 9 to 12 while the magazine 20 continues to move. This is moved past the tape unit 68 with the tape 67 being received. The pressure roller 80 is attached to a pivotable support lever 81. This is loaded by a (tension) spring 82 into a certain starting position (FIG. 9), directed towards the arriving magazine 20. The relative position of the support lever 81 and the pressure roller 80 are selected such that an upper edge region of the incoming magazine 20 grips the pressure roller 80 and the support lever 81 with continued movement against the load of the spring 82 around a rotary bearing 83 in the counterclockwise direction, namely in the conveying direction of the magazine 20, pivots. First, the leg 73 with the adhesive layer is pressed onto the magazine 20 (FIG. 10). Thereafter, the pressure roller 80 travels along the upper side of the magazine 20 while pressing the tape 67 when the support lever 81 is pivoted further. In an end position of the pressure roller 80 and the support lever 81 (FIG. 11), the support lever 81 is released and is released by the spring 82 moved back to the starting position (Fig. 12).

The complete application of the tape 67 is now carried out by a pressure roller 84. This is fixed on a pivot lever 85 above the path of movement of the magazine 20. The pivot lever 85 can be moved by a drive, namely by a motor 86. The latter performs a (controlled) pivot movement of the pivot lever 85 via a shaft while pressing the pressure roller 84 against the tape 67. The movement of the pivot lever 85 and thus the pressure roller 84 are controlled such that in one end position (FIG. 12) the pressure roller 84 folds the end piece 74 of the tape 67 into an upright plane over an upper edge of the magazine 20 while pressing the end piece 74 with the adhesive onto the upright side wall of the magazine 20 ,

In the area of the tape unit 68, a hold-down element is assigned to the magazines 20 which are open at the top. These are two endless belts 87, 88 which grip the magazine 20 at edge areas of the open side (FIG. 8). The preferably driven endless belts 87, 88 depress the coupons 11 stacked in the magazine 20 against a material-related restoring force of the folded coupons 11. The integration of the manufacture and handling of coupons 11 into the production process of the packs is of particular importance. A basic requirement for this is the marking or marking of the magazines 20 with coupons 11 of a specific design. The marking takes place in the area of the removable closure member, namely the tape 67. In particular, a readable code, for example a bar code, is attached to the tape 67 by printing. For this purpose, the filling station 18 is provided with a printer 89 above the path of movement of the magazines 20 following the closing station 66 for printing the (bar) code on the tape 67.

The processing machine, that is to say the packer 13, is provided with a reading device 90 for the code on the magazine 20 or on the tape 67. The reading device 90 is positioned in particular in the region of the magazine carousel 21, so that the correctness is checked at this point, namely before the coupons 11 are introduced into the packer 13.

To integrate the coupon production into a (central) control of the packaging system, the coupon device 15 or the coupon manufacturer 16 is connected to a central control unit 91. This is also connected to the packaging system 12. The production of a specific type of (cigarette) pack including the assigned coupon 11 is entered as a program in the central control unit 91 or in a computer thereof. The quantity of packaging material, package content and the quantity of coupons 11 to be produced are then calculated. The packaging material is provided on the machines. Furthermore, coupon production is initiated with a lead time for the manufacture of the packs, the quantity of coupons 11 to be produced being specified and the printer 89 being activated to apply the code. The quantity of coupons 11 required for the relevant batch of packs is finally kept ready on one or more transport carriages 42, 43, possibly in a separate warehouse near the machines. At the start of the production of the packs, the coupons 11 or magazines 20 are called up and the transport carriages 42, 43 are fed to the machines or the packer 13 in accordance with the quantity to be produced. The magazines 20 can also be transported with automatically operating vehicles, namely either floor vehicles or transport devices that can be moved on monorails. The magazine carousel 21 or the reading device 90 is also connected to the control unit 91, so that detected errors in the area of the magazines 20 lead directly to the triggering of an error signal. In the case of automatic conveyor devices for the coupons or magazines, the conveyor systems can also be connected to the control unit 91. Furthermore, as an alternative or in addition, codes can also be attached to the transport carriage 42, 43 itself, specifically also information that can be read directly. Corresponding marking cards or other carriers of the data can also be created directly by the printer 89 and attached to the transport carriage 42, 43.

LIST OF REFERENCE NUMBERS

11 Coupon 56 drivers

12 Packaging system 57 carriers

13 packers 58 guide wall

14 cello 59 filling station

15 Coupon device 60 insertion conveyor

16 coupon manufacturers 61 filling conveyors

17 Distribution system 62 sensor

18 filling station 63 support plunger

19 coupon stacks 64 lifters

20 magazine 65 platform

21 magazine carousel 66 locking station

22 lane 67 tape

23 Folding unit 68 Taping unit

24 separating device 69 sensor

25 cutting knife 70 sensor

26 Filling unit 71 opening

27 filling unit 73 legs

28 Transfer belt 74 end piece

29 Transfer belt 75 Grip tab

30 transfer belt 77 Bobine

31 Transfer belt 78 carrier tape

32 intermediate conveyors 79 empty bobbins

33 intermediate conveyor 80 pressure roller

34 Connection conveyor 81 support lever

35 Connection conveyor 82 spring

36 collective conveyors 83 rotary bearings

37 input conveyor 84 pressure roller

38 distributor 85 swivel lever

39 Transfer conveyor 86 motor

40 transfer conveyor 87 endless belt

41 guide element 88 endless belt

42 transport trolleys 89 printers

43 dolly 90 reader

44 Base 91 control unit

45 bearing plate

46 retaining wall

47 portal conveyors

48 side members

49 side members

50 cross beams

51 support arm

52 legs

53 holder

54 document

55 magazine feeders

Claims

claims

1. A method for producing (cigarette) packs which are provided with at least one blank, in particular with a multiply folded coupon (11), the blanks or coupons (11) being produced by a coupon manufacturer (16) and a packaging machine (13) can be supplied, characterized by the following features:

a) the coupons (11) are filled into containers - magazines (20) - to form coupon stacks (19) after the coupon manufacturer (16), b) several containers or containers assigned to a batch of (cigarette) packs to be produced Magazines (20) are marked in accordance with the design of the coupons (11) with regard to the production of the batch of (cigarette packs, in particular by attaching a bar code, c) the containers or magazines (20) are in the area of a processing station, in particular on checked by a packer (13) with regard to the assignment to the (cigarette) packs to be produced, in particular by a reader (90) assigned to the packer (13).

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that the number of filled magazines (20) required for the manufacture of a batch of (cigarette) packs is collected, in particular on one or more conveyors, for example on transport wagons (42, 43) and that the conveyors or transport carriages (42, 43) for transporting the magazines (20) to the packer (13) are called up at the start of the production process.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the conveyor for the magazines (2O) to the packer (13) or the like alternatively or are additionally provided with a print carrier for attaching markings or codes, in particular to the transport trolley (42, 43).

4. The method according to claim 1 or one of the further claims, characterized in that a coupon device (15) or its coupon manufacturer

(16) and / or a printer (89) for attaching markings to the magazines (20) and / or transport trolleys (42, 43) and / or packers (13) of a packaging system (12) and / or a machine-side reader (90 ) is connected to a common control unit (91), through which a program is created according to the manufacture of (cigarette) packs and through which the connected units and machines are controlled.

5. The method according to claim 1 or one of the further claims, characterized by the following features:

a) the coupon manufacturer (16) produces several, in particular four, coupons (11) at the same time in one work cycle, b) the coupons (11) lying next to one another after production are then separated and transported one after the other, namely to a filling station (18) , c) in the area of the filling station (18), the coupons (11) are inserted one after the other into the open magazine (20).

6. Device for handling blanks in the production of (cigarette) packs with at least one blank attached to the pack, in particular a multiply folded coupon (11), which in the area of a packaging machine - packer (13) - a container, can be removed in particular from a magazine (20) and can be fed to the pack, characterized by the following features: a) the blanks or coupons (11) can be produced in the area of a separate coupon device (15) by a coupon maker (16), b) to the coupon maker (16) a distribution system (17) connects to feed the coupons (11) in succession Containers, namely magazines (20), are kept in an upright position to a filling station (18), c) in the area of the filling station (18), the coupons (11) being successively fed by a filling conveyor (61) into the magazines (20) open at the top can be conveyed to form a stack of coupons (19) within the magazine (20), d) the magazines (20) filled with coupons (11) can be deposited on a conveyor, in particular on a transport carriage (42, 43) for transporting a selected one Number of magazines (20) to packer (13).

7. The device according to claim 6, characterized in that a (separate) coupon device (15) consists of a coupon maker (16), a subsequent distribution system (17) and a subsequent filling station (18), in the area of the coupon maker (16 ) several, in particular four, coupons (11) can be produced simultaneously and separated by the distribution system (17) and can be fed in succession to the filling station or the filling conveyor (61).

8. The device according to claim 6 or 7, characterized in that the distribution system consists of a plurality of successive endless conveyors, namely take-over belts (28, 29, 30, 31), due to the difference in conveying speed, a distance between the simultaneously manufactured coupons (11) intermediate conveyors (32, 33) as well as connecting conveyors (34, 35) and a collecting conveyor (36) for bringing together the coupons (11) fed in several lanes into a common lane for transfer to an input conveyor (37).

9. The device according to claim 6 or one of the further claims, characterized in that the successively arriving coupons, in particular in particular in the area of the input conveyor (37) to the filling station (18), can be distributed over at least two transfer conveyors (39, 40), each of which is assigned to one of several, in particular two, filling units (26, 27).

10. The device according to claim 6 or one of the further claims, characterized in that in the area of the filling station (18) magazines (20) in the upright position by a magazine conveyor (55) can be successively transported into a filling point (59) in the area, namely below of the filling conveyor (61) and that the filled magazines (20) can be conveyed by the magazine conveyor (55) into a subsequent closing station (66) for attaching a closure to an upwardly facing open side of the magazine (20), in particular for attaching a transverse one Closure strips or tapes (67).

11. The device according to claim 10 or one of the further claims, characterized in that the sealing means, in particular the tape (67), can be applied to the top of the magazine in the area of the sealing station (66) by a tape unit (68), wherein the magazine (20) for attaching the tape (67) can be conveyed by the magazine conveyor (55) relative to the tape unit (68).

12. The device according to claim 11 or one of the further claims, characterized in that the tape (67) in the region of the tape unit (68) by a pressure roller (80) on side walls and on the top of the magazine (20) can be pressed, the pressure roller (80) movable against pressure can be moved through the transported magazine (20) from a pressure position for the tape on a side wall over the top of the tape under guidance of the tape (67).

13. The apparatus of claim 12 or one of the further claims, characterized in that tapes (67) on a continuous carrier tape (78) and that the spring-loaded pressure roller (80) rests on the carrier tape (78), specifically on the side facing away from the tape (67).

14. The device according to claim 11 or one of the further claims, characterized in that the tape (67) U-shaped around an upper side of the

Magazine (20) is folded around, namely with a leg (73) on one side and an end piece (74) on the opposite side, two pressing members effecting the transfer of the tape (67) from the carrier tape (78) to the magazine, namely the pressure roller (80) on the one hand and a separately movable pressure roller (84) on the other.

15. The device according to claim 10 or one of the further claims, characterized in that a printing unit (89) is arranged in the region of the filling station (18), in particular in connection to the closing station (66) for attaching the tape (67) is for attaching production-related data or codes to the magazine (20), in particular to the tape (67).

16. The apparatus according to claim 6 or one of the further claims, characterized in that the magazines (20) filled in the region of the filling station (18) can be removed and opened from the filling station (18) by a transfer conveyor, in particular by a portal conveyor (47) can be placed on a conveyor, in particular on the bearing plate (45) of a transport carriage (42, 43), the gantry conveyor (47) preferably consisting of two side members (48, 49), a cross member (50) movable along the side members (48, 49) and a support arm (51) which can be moved up and down on the cross member (50) and has a holder (53) for magazines (20).

17. The device according to claim 6 or one of the further claims, characterized in that coupon device (15), in particular coupon manufacturer (16) and / or printer (89) and / or packer (13) and / or reading device (90) for marking Rations on the magazines (20) with a control unit (91) are connected to control the coupon production depending on the need in the area of Packers (13) and for the corresponding coding of the magazines (20) and / or the trolleys (42, 43).