EP2384983A1 - Vorrichtung zur Extraktion des Inhalts eines Beutels, wie z.B. ein Beutel, der mindestens ein pharmazeutisches Produkt in Pulverform enthält - Google Patents

Abstract

The device has a gripping unit for gripping a sachet (1), and a cutting unit (2) for cutting an opening on the sachet, where the opening is defined by two edges. A separating unit (3) separates the two edges of the opening so as to create a passage to extract content. A recovering unit recovers the content outside the sachet. A cutting unit passage (21) comprises a blade (22) against which the sachet is pulled such that the opening is formed on the sachet. A display unit vertically displays the sachet.

Description

The field of the invention is that of the design and manufacture of equipment for the pharmaceutical, parapharmaceutical or cosmetic industry. More specifically, the invention relates to a device for extracting a content of a bag, such as a powder contained in a bag consisting of two walls welded to their peripheries.

In the field of the invention, it is conventional to package pharmaceutical, parapharmaceutical or cosmetic products in sachets consisting of two walls secured at their periphery (by welding or gluing). Conventionally, the contents of these sachets may be in the form of a powder or a liquid (more or less thick). The bags are filled while the two walls of the bag are secured by three of their sides, the fourth forming a passage for filling the bag with the powder.

To do this, pharmaceutical companies (or other) are equipped with bagging machines for packaging powders.

Of course, in many cases, the powder to be packaged contains one or more active products which, because of their activity (which can lead to a very strict dosage) and / or their cost, need to be weighed in order to to condition very precise unit doses. For this, the setting of the bagging machines, to obtain the desired weight in the bags, is very fine, and the tolerances are considerably low. Also, it is common that, given the little room for maneuver offered by the tolerances, the settings are not made correctly or the settings made correctly deviate from the initial values for various technical reasons. Equipment and / or packaging machines are of course provided with means for detecting non-compliance with tolerances. If this is the case, a usually automatic procedure leads to discard the non packaging chain, or at the very least to stop the machine in order to recover the non-compliant pouches.

In practice it is observed that the bags declared non-compliant can be in considerable quantity. Currently, once declared non-compliant, the sachets and their contents are discarded and later destroyed. As a result, losses for production can be high. In this case, the direct consequence is a significant financial loss.

Of course, there is clearly a need to remedy this situation.

The invention therefore particularly aims to overcome the disadvantages of the prior art.

More specifically, the invention aims to limit the losses associated with the destruction of bags and their contents due to non-compliance with a weight tolerance of packaged products in the bags.

The invention also aims to provide such a technique whose implementation is compatible with the technical and economic constraints of the pharmaceutical or parapharmaceutical or cosmetic industrial field.

• des moyens de préhension dudit sachet ;
• des moyens de découpe d'une ouverture sur ledit sachet, ladite ouverture étant délimité par au moins deux bords ;
• des moyens d'écartement desdits bords de l'ouverture en vue de créer un passage pour extraire ledit contenu ;
• des moyens de récupération dudit contenu hors dudit sachet.

These objectives, as well as others which will appear later, are achieved thanks to the invention which relates to a device for extracting the contents of a bag, comprising:

• means for gripping said bag;
• means for cutting an opening on said bag, said opening being delimited by at least two edges;
• means for spacing said edges of the opening to create a passage for extracting said contents;
• means for recovering said content out of said packet.

Thus, thanks to a device according to the invention, it is possible to avoid considerable losses related to the disposal and destruction of non-compliant bags due to failure to meet the weight tolerance of the contents of the bags.

In addition, these losses can be limited or even eliminated in compliance with the technical and economic constraints of the field of industry pharmaceutical, parapharmaceutical or cosmetic. Indeed, a device according to the invention makes it possible to recover the content of the bags without human intervention or almost (the routing of the bags and / or the supply of the extraction device in non-conforming bags that can be executed by an operator or, alternatively, using appropriate conveying means). In addition, as will become clearer later, a device according to the invention can perform the extraction of the content of the bags with relatively high rates.

According to an advantageous solution, the cutting means comprise a passage in which a portion of said bag is intended to be driven by said gripping means, said passage having at least one blade against which said bag is driven such that an opening is cut on said bag.

In this way, the simple act of engaging the bag in the passage and scrolling it along the entire length of the passage is enough to create an opening, by cutting.

According to a preferred embodiment, in which the bag is of the type comprising two walls interconnected at their periphery, said spacing means comprise, for each wall, at least one suction cup intended to act on said wall, at least one one of the suckers being movable so that it can be moved away from the other sucker.

Thus, means are obtained for spacing the edges of the opening, to create a passage to extract the contents of the bag, which can be obtained by simple and inexpensive means, acting effectively.

Preferably, the device comprises means for presenting said bag vertically, the gripping tool and said cutting means being adapted to make a cut at the bottom of said bag.

In this case, said spacing means are advantageously positioned to act on said bag while it is presented vertically, said recovery means comprising a tray placed under said spacer means.

With a device arranged in this way, it is understood that the cut is made at the base of a bag presented vertically, which leads, once the walls apart from each other, the extraction of content from of the sachet in a natural way, since the contents, in particular in the form of a powder, extract themselves under the effect of gravity from the sachet, and fall into the recovery tank.

It is noted that the simple fact of spreading the walls of the bag from one another is enough to cause the contents to fall out of the bag.

According to another advantageous characteristic of the invention, the device comprises a store for storing and / or dispensing said bags, intended to bring the bags one after the other at said gripping tool.

• une position de départ ;
• une position au niveau des moyens de découpe, et
• une position au niveau des moyens d'écartement.

According to an advantageous embodiment, said gripping tool is rotatably mounted between at least the following successive positions:

• a starting position;
• a position at the cutting means, and
• a position at the level of the spacing means.

Preferably, in this case, said gripping tool is rotatably mounted 360 °.

Thus, the extraction device can operate at relatively high rates, the tool proceeding in successive rotation cycles, from one working position to another.

In addition, such a feature of the device makes it possible to achieve it with a relatively small footprint.

According to another advantageous characteristic, said gripping tool is adapted to occupy a position of evacuation of a bag emptied between said positions at the level of the spacer means and said starting position.

According to yet another advantageous characteristic, the device comprises a container for recovering the contents of a bag, said tray being coupled to a suction and sieving system.

The suction and sieving system thus makes it possible to recover the contents, in particular in the form of powder, extracted from the sachets while retaining in the tray the possible pieces of sachet.

• la figure 1 illustre schématiquement le principe de fonctionnement d'un dispositif d'extraction selon l'invention ;
• les figures 2 et 3 sont des vues schématiques d'un dispositif selon l'invention, respectivement vu de face et vu de dessus ;
• les figures 4 à 7 sont des vues de dessus d'un dispositif selon l'invention, représentant des étapes successives de fonctionnement du dispositif ;
• la figure 8 est une vue des moyens de préhension d'un sachet dans un dispositif d'extraction selon l'invention ;
• la figure 9 est une vue partielle des moyens d'écartement dans un dispositif d'extraction selon l'invention ;
• la figure 10 est une vue des moyens de récupération dans un dispositif d'extraction selon l'invention.

Other characteristics and advantages of the invention will emerge more clearly on reading the following description of a preferred embodiment of the invention, given by way of illustrative and nonlimiting example, and the appended drawings among which:

• the figure 1 schematically illustrates the operating principle of an extraction device according to the invention;
• the Figures 2 and 3 are schematic views of a device according to the invention, respectively seen from the front and seen from above;
• the Figures 4 to 7 are top views of a device according to the invention, representing successive steps of operation of the device;
• the figure 8 is a view of the gripping means of a bag in an extraction device according to the invention;
• the figure 9 is a partial view of the spacing means in an extraction device according to the invention;
• the figure 10 is a view of the recovery means in an extraction device according to the invention.

As indicated above, the principle of the invention lies in the fact of proposing a device comprising means for making a cut-out on a bag, spreading the edges of the opening obtained by the cut made and recovering the contents of the bag, all of these means forming a device for extracting the contents of a bag or a plurality of bags.

With reference to the figure 1 the principle of the invention is described below.

It should be noted that the principle described hereinafter is applied to bags of the type formed of two walls joined together at their periphery so as to delimit an internal volume accommodating a content, such as a powder of pharmaceutical product (s) (s). ), parapharmaceutical (s) or cosmetic (s).

According to the illustrated example, the bag is of rectangular shape and the two walls of the bag 1 are joined together by a weld line 10 made on each edge of the walls.

• des moyens de préhension du sachet 1 (non illustré sur la figure 1) ;
• des moyens de découpe 2 ;
• des moyens d'écartement 3 de l'ouverture engendrée par la découpe réalisée par les moyens de découpe 2 ;
• des moyens de récupération (non illustrés sur la figure 1) du contenu hors du sachet.

According to the principle of the invention, a device for extracting the contents of a bag comprises:

• gripping means of the bag 1 (not shown on the figure 1 );
• cutting means 2;
• spacing means 3 of the opening generated by the cut made by the cutting means 2;
• recovery means (not shown on the figure 1 ) content outside the bag.

According to the example illustrated by figure 1 the bag 1 is presented vertically and brought into this position at the cutting means.

The cutting means 2 comprise a base 20 having a passage 21 in which the lower end of the bag 1 is intended to be engaged.

The passage comprises an introduction zone 210 of flared shape, whose width decreases to a cutting zone 211 in which the passage has a blade against which the bag is driven so that an opening 11 is cut on the bag 1 at the outlet of the passage 21. Of course, the depth of the passage 21 and the position of the blade 22 in the passage are provided so as to produce a cutting line extending above the weld strip brought into the passage of the cutting means.

At the outlet of the cutting means, the cut bag is brought to the level of the spacer means 3. According to the present embodiment, these spacing means comprise, for each wall, a suction cup 30 intended to act on the corresponding wall, so that the sucker and the corresponding wall are temporarily secured. In addition, at least one of the suction cups 30 is movable in horizontal translation in a direction orthogonal to the wall of the bag, so as to be spaced from the other suction cup. It is also possible that the two suckers are movable in translation in the direction just indicated.

By pulling away from each other, the suction cups drive the walls of the bag and tend to separate them too from one another. The opening created by the cutting line 11 widens, creating a passage sufficient to promote the fall of the contents out of the bag under the simple effect of gravity.

A tray for recovering the content of the bags is placed under the spacer means 3, so as to collect the contents flowing out of the bags under the effect of gravity.

• le sachet est présenté verticalement ;
• la découpe est réalisée en partie inférieure du sachet ;
• les moyens d'écartement sont configurés et positionnés pour écarter les parois du sachet tandis que celui-ci est toujours en position verticale.

It should be noted that the extraction of the contents out of the bag is carried out in a very simple manner with a device according to the embodiment which has just been described, this because the content flows out of the bag under the simple effect of gravity as indicated previously. This is enabled by the fact that:

• the bag is presented vertically;
• the cut is made in the lower part of the bag;
• the spacer means are configured and positioned to spread the walls of the bag while it is still in the vertical position.

With reference to Figures 2 and 3 a preferred embodiment of a device according to the invention is described below.

As it appears on the Figures 2 and 3 , a device according to the invention is in the form, according to the present embodiment, of a mobile equipment comprising a frame 4 mounted on wheels 40, having a control panel 41 and carrying a chamber 42 of extraction to the interior of which opens a store 43 for storing and dispensing sachets.

The chamber 42 is delimited by a cowling in several parts, each being mounted on hinge (s) so as to occupy an open position or a closed position of the enclosure.

Inside the enclosure is mounted a gripping tool 5, rotatably mounted about an axis 50 of vertical rotation. The gripping tool is rotated 360 ° about the axis 50 by an indexing motor, step-type, for bringing and stopping the gripping tool in different predetermined angular positions (detailed below). after).

According to the present embodiment, this gripping tool 5 comprises one or more suction cups 51 mounted at the end of the movable part of a jack 52, itself rotatably mounted about the axis 50, this being illustrated by the figure 8 .

The magazine is designed so that the bags are presented one after the other at the outlet of the magazine, in a vertical position and facing the gripping tool when it occupies a starting position of a cycle of rotation.

As illustrated by figure 3 , the spacing means 3 are presented in the enclosure in a position representing a 90 ° stroke of the gripping tool from its starting position at the store. With reference to the figure 9 these spacing means are constituted by one or more suckers 30 mounted at the end of the movable portion of a jack 31, the body 310 is fixedly mounted in the enclosure. The operation of such spacing means is provided such that, when the gripping tool 5 has a bag at the spacing means 3, the jack of the spacing means brings the corresponding suction cup 30 into contact with the bag. , the cylinder of the spacer means subsequently retracting to separate the temporarily fixed wall of the spacing means from that secured to the gripping tool.

It is noted that the suction cup (s) of the gripping tool and the suction cup (s) of the spacer means are of the suction type, and are therefore connected to a system likely to create a depression in the suction cup.

Note that the cutting means 2 are positioned such that the passage 21 having the blade extends angularly on the angular stroke of the bag moved by the gripping tool. According to the present embodiment, the cutting means 2 extend in the vicinity of the magazine 43.

Moreover, the enclosure 42 includes a tray 6 for recovering the contents of the bags, positioned under the spacer means 3 (as it appears on the Figures 2 and 3 ).

As illustrated by figure 10 , this recovery tank is of the type having a bottom in the form of a screening screen 60.

The operation of the device as described above is now described with reference to Figures 4 to 7 .

In a first step, the bags are loaded into the magazine 43, this operation being performed manually by an operator.

The gripping tool is brought into a starting position of the cycle as illustrated by the figure 4 , according to which the gripping tool extends opposite the outlet of the store. The cylinder of the gripping tool is deployed to bring the suction cup of the tool against the wall of the bag. The vacuum system of the suction cup is activated, so that the bag is sucked by the suction cup.

The cylinder of the gripping tool is slightly retracted to extract the bag from the magazine. It is noted that the bags are retained at the outlet of the magazine 43 by a series of lugs 430 against which the bag to extract bears. The bag driven by the gripping tool therefore bends at the lugs 430 at the time of its extraction from the store.

The gripping tool is then rotated about the axis 50, passing the lower end of the bag into the cutting means ( figure 6 ), creating an opening at the base of the bag.

The travel of the gripping tool in rotation about the axis 50 continues until the gripping tool faces the spacing means ( figure 6 ). The suction cup of the spacer means is brought into contact with the wall of the bag by deploying the corresponding cylinders. The vacuum system of the suction cup spacer means is activated, so that the corresponding sucker sucks the wall of the bag opposite to that already sucked by the gripping tool. The ram of the spacer means retracts slightly so as to spread the two walls of the bag, which causes a spacing of the two edges of the opening obtained by the cut previously made.

The powdered content falls out of the bag under the effect of gravity and is collected by the recovery tank.

The vacuum system of the spacer means is then inactivated, releasing the bag from the action of the suction cup spacing means (the bag is always maintained by the gripping tool).

The gripping tool is then rotated 180 °, so as to occupy a position of evacuation of a bag emptied. This displacement is carried out in the same direction of rotation as the previous displacements. In this evacuation position, the vacuum system of the gripping tool is deactivated so as to release the bag, this above a collection tank 7 emptied bags.

The gripping tool is then rotated about the axis 50 until it is brought back to its starting position of the cycle, in front of the magazine, this in order to carry out a new cycle.

Claims (10)

Device for extracting the contents of a sachet, comprising: means for gripping said bag; means for cutting an opening on said bag, said opening being delimited by at least two edges; means for spacing said edges of the opening to create a passage for extracting said contents; means for recovering said content outside said bag. Device according to claim 1, characterized in that the cutting means comprise a passage in which a portion of said bag is intended to be driven by said gripping means, said passage having at least one blade against which said bag is driven in such a way an opening is cut on said bag. Device according to one of claims 1 and 2 wherein said bag is of the type comprising two walls interconnected at their periphery, characterized in that said spacing means comprise, for each wall, at least one suction cup intended to act on said wall, at least one of said suckers being movable so as to be spaced from the other sucker. Device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that it comprises means for presenting said bag vertically and in that the gripping tool and said cutting means are capable of making a cut in the lower part of said bag. Device according to claim 4, characterized in that said spacing means are positioned to act on said bag while it is presented vertically, said recovery means comprising a tray placed under said spacing means. Device according to one of Claims 1 to 5, characterized that it comprises a storage magazine and / or distribution of said bags, for supplying them one after the other pouches at said gripping tool. Device according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that said gripping tool is rotatably mounted between at least the following successive positions: - a starting position; a position at the level of the cutting means, and a position at the level of the spacing means. Device according to claim 7, characterized in that said gripping tool is rotatably mounted 360 °. Device according to one of claims 7 and 8, characterized in that said gripping tool is adapted to occupy a discharge position of a bag emptied between said positions at the spacing means and said starting position. Device according to any one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that it comprises a container for recovering the contents of a bag, said tank being coupled to a suction and sieving system.

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