EP1772240A1

EP1772240A1 - Production process of cork discs and machine for the production of cork discs according to the same process

Info

Publication number: EP1772240A1
Application number: EP06020984A
Authority: EP
Inventors: David Navarro Salomo
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2005-10-10
Filing date: 2006-10-06
Publication date: 2007-04-11
Anticipated expiration: 2026-10-06
Also published as: ES2272188A1; PT1772240E; DE602006002084D1; EP1772240B1; ES2320081A1; ES2272188B1; ES2320081B1; ATE403528T1; ES2310879T3

Abstract

"Cork disc production process" of the type used for the subsequent production of corks, from cork plaques served in bundles or on pallets, essentially characterized in that it consists of three stages:
-Preparation of cork plaques (1).
-Die-casting of the same to obtain cork cylinders (2).
-Cutting of said cylinders to obtain discs (3).

Description

The object of the present invention, as is expressed in the title of this specification, consists of a PRODUCTION PROCESS OF CORK DISCS AND MACHINE FOR THE PRODUCTION OF CORK DISCS ACCORDING TO THE NEW PROCESS, of the type used to make corks like those used in glass or ceramic bottles, designed to contain products such as wine, cava and others.
Traditionally, the process used in the production of cork discs for the manufacturing of corks made of the same material can be considered to be divided into six basic stages: preparation of the cork plaques, cutting of the plaques into strips, adaptation of the same, lamination, die-casting to obtain cork discs and, finally, sifting and sorting of the discs.
The preparation stage of the cork plaques consists of three phases.
Firstly, the unloading of the cork plaques, which come from the cork oak plantations, is carried out, in bundles or on pallets; in this initial state, the cork is compact, dry and hard.
Secondly, the cork undergoes a wash in water at a very high temperature with the addition of certain chemical products; the objective of this wash is to eliminate unwanted parasites and microorganisms while managing to give volume and flexibility to the cork.
Thirdly, the cork is left to steep in a period of storage during which the volume and flexibility of the same increase still more as a result of the action in the time of the washing phase and of the chemical products contained in the same.
The aim of the stage in which the cork plaques are cut into strips is to generate cork strips which are of a width which corresponds to that of the two rows of discs placed in a zigzag, since that is how the cork discs of these strips will be die-cast at a later production stage.
The adaptation stage of the cork strips consists of the elimination of the internal layer of the same, commonly denominated belly, that is to say, of the deep layer and which was initially that which was in contact with the tree trunk; the aim of this action is that of smoothening the cork strip so as to eliminate all manner of protuberances and wrinkles normal in these surfaces.
The stage which involves laminating the cork strips consists of converting the strips produced from the previous stage into sheets of the same thickness which the finished cork discs will finally have to be (in the order of 6 mm), starting with the deepest layers of the cork strip and finishing with the outermost (which becomes decomposed due to the fact that it is of very bad quality, since it is the one which was exposed to the elements in the tree). This last part is commonly denominated firewood.
The purpose of the stage in which the sheets of cork are die-cast is to obtain completed cork discs and the appropriate diameter for the subsequent production of the corks.
Finally comes the sifting and sorting stage; in the first instance, in the sifting, the incomplete or faulty discs are eliminated and, secondly, in the sorting, the latter are separated according to their qualities, taking into account the fact that those which come from the deepest layers of the cork (that is to say, those which were closer to the tree trunk) are the ones which are of the best quality, whereas those which come from the outermost layers of the tree are the ones of least quality.
This traditional processing of the cork to obtain discs has a big disadvantage: it proves to be very expensive and not very profitable for several reasons.
The first reason is that the amount of raw material wasted, in the form of remnants of cork or shavings, is very large (in the order of 75 % of the total); firstly, because the saws which cut the cork plaques into strips extract the inner layer and then laminate them, turning a section, 2mm per cut corresponding to the thickness of the saw disc, into shavings; secondly, because in the adaptation stage one can discard the total of the inner side of the cork strip which (depending on the operator's ability) can be of a thickness which is much greater than that desired in some points, whereas in others it is so light that the surface becomes marked with the colour of the stomach (in those cases the affected cork disc has a commercial value which is much inferior to the rest); thirdly, because the outer or last side are also discarded (once all the sheets have been cut), as this side can have in some points thicknesses which are much greater than that of a pulley wheel (approximately 6 mm); finally, because the outer interstitial spaces of the sheets of cork are not taken full advantage of when the die-casting of the discs is carried out by the herringbone method in rows of one to two and with a lateral margin of 2 to 5 mm.
The second reason why this process proves to be expensive and unprofitable is because practically each of the last five stages of the traditional production process previously described requires an independent machine and, of course, an operator per machine, as it is impossible to combine the manoeuvres in a single machine, given that each cut is carried out in particular conditions which are unrepeatable depending on the morphology of the cork plaque which is being cut, and for this reason, to greater redundancy, said operator has to be highly specialised to locate and diligently carry out the best cutting line in each case.
With the aim of reducing this drawback to a minimum, the novel PRODUCTION PROCESS OF CORK DISCS, object of the present specification, has been produced.
The novel process has two fundamental differences with regards to the traditional process; these are differences which mean a significant saving in the operating costs: the first and principal one, which by itself more than justifies the implantation of the same in any factory, entails the new process being designed in such a way that the amount of raw material wasted is enormously reduced with regards to the traditional method. The second difference which reduces the cost entails the new process allowing it to be carried out automatically in a single machine which, logically, requires the attention of a single operator without need for any specialisation.
The new production process of cork discs for corks made of the same material can be considered to be divided into three basic stages:

Preparation of the cork plaques.
Die-casting of the same to obtain cork cylinders.
Cutting of said cylinders to obtain discs.

The preparation stage of the cork plaques is identical to that of the traditional process previously described and therefore does not require further comment, this stage can even be omitted if the cork is already served in optimum conditions for its transformation.
The objective of the stage which involves the die-casting of the cork plaques is to obtain cork cylinders which are of the same thickness as the plaques and the diameter which the completed discs must have. These dies will be arranged by the herringbone method, being grouped together as tightly as possible in order to limit the interstitial spaces.
In the third stage, the cork cylinders are cut into horizontal sections to obtain completed discs.
This third stage has at least three phases:

1 st Superficial cut of approximately 2mm in the side of the cylinder corresponding to the surface of the plaque in contact with the tree trunk (belly), and evacuation of the residue.
2nd Cutting of the cylinders into segments of approximately 6mm (thickness of the washer) configuring the washers strictly speaking and evacuation of the parts towards deposits. This operation can be repeated several times, the evacuation being carried out in each case via an independent channel. In this way, in each operation pulley wheels of differing qualities according to the depth of where they come from within the original cork plaque are obtained: the deeper inside the cork plaque they come from, the better the quality of the pulley wheel; in this way the discs are automatically cut and sorted according to their qualities; it is not necessary to sort them afterwards, as occurred in the traditional process.
3 Expulsion of the final firewood, the last pulley wheel (corresponding to the outermost and poorest quality layer of the cork) is discarded.

As an exception, it must be said that in those cases in which cork plaques are so irregular that it makes the sorting of the discs extracted by virtue of the depth from which they are extracted inside the plaque very imprecise, a second set of sorting by way of conventional mechanisms may be necessary; however, at the very least, the volume of the material to be checked will always be 20 or 30% less than that sorted according to the traditional processes, as the firewood and the discs from the part of the belly are automatically eliminated. These special cases of highly irregular raw material do not even constitute 10% of the whole quantity of cork produced, and so their general incidence is considered to be very low.
Thus, the novel process totally eliminates the multiple manual cuts, the interstitial spaces not taken full advantage of and the necessity for final sorting of the product, characteristic of the traditional production process.
In order to carry out the novel process, a MACHINE FOR THE PRODUCTION OF CORK DISCS has been designed, which is also the object of the present invention, which is capable of automatically carrying out the whole production process as has been previously explained.
The novel machine is made up of a bedplate or chassis, equipped with a mechanical rondo on which move a plurality of transport supports, in which four differentiated zones can be perceived:

1- Loading zone.
2- Cylinder die-casting zone.
3- Cylinder cutting zone.
4- Firewood expulsion zone.

The loading zone is made up of a mobile table in which the cork plaque is inserted via push-rods to centre it against one of its corners. To support said mobile table a treader is set up which holds and flattens the cork plaque.
The cylinder die-casting zone consists of a bridge of hollow dies which act as gouges, at the bottom of which the mobile table is found with the loaded cork table. The dies are simultaneously moved by a servomotor which makes them turn to carry out the cutting of the cork cylinders and which is equipped to change its turning velocity. On the same die bridge and acting in combination with these, extractors are set up which attack the cork cylinders lodged at that moment inside the dies, making them exit and inserting them in a transport support of the rondo.
The cutting zone is made up of a plurality of stations, each one of which consists of:

A cutting disc positioned horizontally, the height and turning velocity of which can be altered.
A pushing element which pressurises the cork cylinders against the cutting plane.
An evacuation channel of the cut discs towards an independent deposit.

Of these stations, the first in forward direction of the rondo, effects a cut of approximately 2mm with which the side of the cork cylinder corresponding to the surface of the plaque in contact with the tree trunk (commonly belly) is taken out, and once it has been sectioned the belly disc is evacuated through the associated evacuation channel towards a residue deposit.
The following cutting stations section discs of generally 6mm, and there exist as many active stations as there are discs that can be extracted from the cork cylinder because of its thickness, which is directly connected to the thickness of the initial cork plaque. The sectioned discs in each station are evacuated through the evacuation channel associated with the same, said channels being independent, and for this reason discs from different stations will not be mixed, becoming sorted according to the final deposit that they are destined for.
The firewood expulsion zone is found mounted at the end of the circuit of the mechanical rondo and the rest of the remaining cork cylinder corresponding to the outer layer of the tree (firewood) is extracted from the mobile supports via extractors which make them fall on the final evacuation channel.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

With the objective of illustrating what we have explained up until now, the a set of drawings is attached to the present specification, and forming an integral part of the same, which represents a functional scheme of the novel process as well as illustrative diagrams of the machine.

Figure 1: corresponds to the functional scheme of the process.
Figure 2: corresponds to a general diagram of the machine.
Figure 3: corresponds to a schematic section of the loading zone.
Figure 4: corresponds to a schematic section of the cylinder die-casting zone.
Figure 5: corresponds to a schematic section of the cutting zone.
Figure 6: corresponds to a schematic section of the firewood expulsion zone.

DESCRIPTION OF AN EMBODIMENT OF THE PROCESS

The new process for the production of cork discs for corks made of the same material consists of three stages:

Preparation of the cork plaques (1).
Die-casting of the same to obtain cork cylinders (2).
Cutting of said cylinders to obtain discs (3).

Inside the preparation stage of the cork plaques (1) firstly, the cork plaques which come from the cork oak plantations are unloaded (4); in this initial state, the cork is compact, dry and hard. Secondly, the cork undergoes a wash in water, at a temperature of 80°, for an hour (5) and, finally, the cork plaques are left to steep for a period of 48 hours (6), after which they are ready to enter into the second stage.
In the stage in which the cork plaques (2), which are an average of approximately 800mm long and 600mm wide, are die-cast, one proceeds to die-cast the cork plaque breadth wise to extract 33 cork cylinders, 35mm in diameter, from every die-casting operation (7) and afterwards to position these 33 cylinders in a support which keeps them grouped and ordered (8).
These dies will be organized by the herringbone method according to a two row mould, one with 16 columns and another with 17, with 33 dies being carried out per operation.
In the cutting stage of the cylinders to produce discs (3) the latter are cut into horizontal sections to obtain completed discs, with the stage being subdivided into three phases:

1 st Superficial cut of approximately 2mm in the side of the cylinder corresponding to the surface of the plaque in contact with the tree trunk (belly), and evacuation of the residue towards a residue deposit (9).
2nd Cutting of the cylinders into segments of approximately 6mm (thickness of the disc) configuring the discs strictly speaking with a commercial value and evacuation of the parts towards disc deposits (10). In the illustrated example, this operation is repeated three times (10a, 10b and 10c), the evacuation being carried out in each case through an independent channel, so that they achieve three different qualities of pulley wheel, the first quality in the first cutting, the second quality in the second cutting and the third quality in the third cutting.
3rd Expulsion of the final firewood, the last one corresponding to the outermost and worst quality layer of the cork is discarded and evacuated towards the residue deposit (11).

DESCRIPTION OF AN EMBODIMENT OF THE MACHINE

The novel MACHINE FOR THE PRODUCTION OF CORK DISCS, consists of a bedplate (12) fig.1 equipped with a mechanical rondo (13) fig.1 on which a plurality of transport supports move (14), in which are perceived:

A) A loading zone (15) fig.1 consisting of a mobile table (16), push-rods (17) and a treader (18). Operatively, the cork plaque is deposited in the mobile table (16), centred with the push-rods (17) and flattened and immobilized with the treader (18).
B) A cylinder die-casting zone (19) fig.1 which consists of a bridge of dies with 33 hollow dies (20) which act as gouges, moved simultaneously by a servomotor (21) with capacity to vary its turning velocity. On said bridge, acting in combination with the dies, extractors are placed (34) which move the cork cylinders (22) of the dies towards a transport support (14) of the rondo (13).
C) A cutting zone consisting of four stations (23), (24), (25) y (30) fig.1, each one of which is equipped with a cutting disc (26) fig.5 horizontally positioned, the height and turning velocity of which can be altered, a pushing element (27) fig.5 which pressurises the cork cylinders (22) against the cutting plane and an evacuation channel (28) fig.5 of the cut discs (29). The first cutting station (23) carries out a cut of approximately 2mm with which the side of the cork cylinder corresponding to the surface of the plaque in contact with the tree trunk (belly) is removed, and once it has been sectioned the disc is evacuated through the associated evacuation channel towards a residue deposit. The second cutting station (24) carries out a 6mm cut forming 33 first rate discs evacuated through the associated evacuation channel towards a deposit of first rate discs. The third cutting station (25) carries out a 6mm cut, forming 33 second rate discs evacuated through the associated evacuation channel towards a second rate disc deposit. The fourth cutting station (30) carries out a 6mm cut, forming 33 third rate discs evacuated through the associated evacuation channel towards a third rate disc deposit.
D) A firewood expulsion zone (31) fig.1 disposed at the end of the circuit of the mechanical rondo (13) consisting of 33 extractors which remove the residue or firewood from the corresponding transport support (14) towards a firewood evacuation channel (32).

The movement of the transport supports (14) right along the rondo (13) is carried out through fixers and pneumatic cylinders (not illustrated) in the non-cutting zones and via ball screws (not illustrated) in the cutting zones.
Finally, it must be pointed out that at the protruding ends of the machine the turning zones (33) fig.1 of the transport supports (14) are situated so that the latter can turn and move indefinitely, in closed circuit, from one end of the machine to the other, in unlimited work cycles.
The materials which are used in the production of the different elements which make up the object of the present invention will be independent from it, as well as the shapes, dimensions and accessories which it can have, as it can be replaced by others technically equivalent, as long as they do not affect the essential characteristics of the same nor stray from the scope defined in the claims section.

Claims

"Cork disc production process" of the type used for the subsequent production of corks, from cork plaques served in bundles or on pallets, essentially characterized in that it consists of three stages:
- Preparation of cork plaques (1).

- Die-casting of the same to obtain cork cylinders (2).

- Cutting of said cylinders to obtain discs (3).
"cork disc production process" according to claim 1, characterized in that in the cork plaque die-casting stage (2), one proceeds to die-cast the cork plaques, extracting from the same from each cutting operation, a plurality of cork cylinders equal in diameter to that of the discs to be produced (7).
"cork disc production process" according to previous claims, characterized in that the die-casting of the cork plaques is carried out in a row or line or in several rows or lines arranged according to the herringbone method.
"cork disc production process" according to previous claims, characterized in that the die-cast cork cylinders are advantageously positioned so that they are kept grouped and ordered (8).
"cork disc production process" according to previous claims, characterized in that in the stage which involves cutting the cylinders to obtain discs (3) the cork cylinders which remain grouped and ordered are subjected to several cuts in horizontal sections to obtain completed discs, the stage being subdivided into three phases:
- A first superficial cut of approximately 2mm in the side of the cylinders corresponding to the surface of the plaque in contact with the tree trunk, being evacuated next the discs cut towards a deposit residue (9).

- A set of successive cuttings of the rest of the body of the cylinders into segments of the thickness of the cork discs, configuring the discs with strictly speaking commercial value and evacuation of the parts cut towards independent deposits per cutting (10).

- Evacuation of the final rest of the body of the cork cylinders corresponding to the layer which is outermost and of the worst quality towards a residue deposit (11).
"MACHINE FOR THE PRODUCTION OF CORK DISCS" essentially characterized in that it consists of a bedplate (12) equipped with a mechanical rondo (13) on which a plurality of transport supports move (14), in which are perceived: a loading zone for the cork plaques (15), a cork cylinder die-casting zone (19), a zone in which cylinders are cut into horizontal sections with a number of variable cutting stations and a zone for the expulsion of final remnants of cork cylinders (31).
"MACHINE FOR THE PRODUCTION OF CORK DISCS" according to claim 6, characterised in that the transport supports (14) as they pass through mechanical rondo (13), cross the cylinder die-casting zone (19), the different stations of the zone cylinder cutting and the zone for the expulsion of remnants (31).
"MACHINE FOR THE PRODUCTION OF CORK DISCS" according to claims 6 and 7, characterised in that the loading zone (15) consists of a mobile table (16), push-rods (17) and a treader (18) which supports and immobilizes the cork plaque which is to be die-cast.
"MACHINE FOR THE PRODUCTION OF CORK DISCS", according to claims 6 to 8, characterised in that the cylinder die-casting zone (19), which consists of a bridge of dies with two or more hollow dies (20) which act as gouges, moved simultaneously by a servomotor (21) which allows its turning velocity to be altered.
"MACHINE FOR THE PRODUCTION OF CORK DISCS" according to claims 6 to 9, characterised in that a mobile table is operatively placed (16) under the bridge of dies (20) with the cork plaque, and on the same and acting in combination with the dies, extractors are set up (34) which move the cork cylinders (22) from the dies where they are lodged immediately after the die-casting has been carried out, towards a transport support (14) of the mechanical rondo (13).
"MACHINE FOR THE PRODUCTION OF CORK DISCS" according to claims 6 to 10, characterized in that the cutting zone consists of two or more stations (23), (24), (25)...(30), every one of which is equipped with a cutting disc (26) horizontally positioned, the height and turning velocity of which can be adjusted, a pushing element (27) which pressurises the cork cylinders (22) against the cutting plane and an evacuation channel (28) for the cut discs (29).
"MACHINE FOR THE PRODUCTION OF CORK DISCS" according to claims 6 to 11, characterised in that the zone for the expulsion of the residue (31) is set up at the end of the circuit of the mechanical rondo (13) and consisting of a set of extractors which take the residue of the cut cork cylinders out of the corresponding transport support (14) towards an evacuation channel for the remnants (32).