EP2490948B1 - Device for storing (cigarette) packets - Google Patents

Description

The invention relates to a device for storing and / or shaping substantially parallelepiped-shaped packs, in particular packs of cigarettes which are interconnected by adhesive bonding, with at least one dry roler comprising at least two concentrically arranged rows of receptacles or pockets for each pack, namely, a radially inner pocket rim and a radially outer pocket rim, which are arranged concentrically to one another, wherein the packs in the axial direction in the at least one axial side open pockets insertable and after a partial revolution of the dry turret are pushed out of this, the packs the dry turret by a Transfer turret as a cyclically rotatable conveyor with multiple receptacles for each pack can be fed, the recordings for each pack are arranged individually adjacent to each other in the circumferential direction.

Cigarette packs, in particular of the folding box type, are designed such that folding flaps which at least partially overlap one another are adhesively bonded to one another. The residence time of the packages in the packaging machine is not sufficient due to the short cycle times to complete the setting process of the glue joints. The packages are therefore not dimensionally stable after leaving the packaging machine because of the still unfinished glue joints.

For curing of glue-containing packs, it is known to feed the packs following the packaging machine to a drying turret, which receives the finished packs for a sufficient time to set the glue ( EP 0 313 938 B1 ). The pockets are arranged in two pocket rings with an alignment of the associated pockets of the adjacent pocket rings in an exact radial plane. Furthermore, it is known to pass cigarette packs in pairs to a dry turret ( EP 0 317 805 B1 ). In this prior art according to the preamble of claim 1, the packages are placed on two packaging webs, in pairs, fed to a trained transfer turret. Here, therefore, a two-lane operation of the upstream packer is given.

The invention has for its object to further develop a device of the aforementioned type to the effect that in single-lane feeding of packages a powerful operation of the dry turret is ensured.

• Bei der erfindungsgemäßen Handhabung der Packungen wird so verfahren, dass diese - von einer Verpackungsmaschine kommend - einzeln entlang einer Packungsbahn transportierbar sind. Die Packungen werden jeweils durch eine Aufnahme bzw. Halterung des Übergabeorgans - Übergaberevolver - erfasst und durch taktweises Drehen des Übergaberevolvers dem Trockenrevolver zugeführt. Dieser ist mit mindestens zwei Taschenkränzen versehen, sodass gleichzeitig zwei Packungen von dem Übergaberevolver an den Trockenrevolver übergeben werden. Der Übergaberevolver führt demnach je Arbeitstakt zwei Bewegungsschritte aus, um zwei Packungen in eine Position gegenüber zwei benachbarten Taschen des Trockenrevolvers zu fördern.

To solve this problem, the device according to the invention is characterized by the features of the characterizing part of claim 1:

• In the handling of the packs according to the invention, the procedure is such that they can be transported individually along a packing path, coming from a packaging machine. The packs are each detected by a recording or holding the transfer organ - transfer turret - and by cyclically turning the transfer turret the dry turret fed. This is provided with at least two rims, so that two packs are simultaneously transferred from the transfer turret to the dry turret. The transfer turret therefore performs two movement steps per power stroke in order to convey two packages to a position opposite two adjacent pockets of the dry turret.

Transfer turret and dry turret are in the (cyclic) rotational movement coordinated so that each working cycle two (free) pockets of the dry turret in aligned relative position opposite two images of the transfer turret. The drive of the dry turret can be controlled so that each operating cycle a switching step is carried out - corresponding to the distance of two consecutive pockets. An innovative feature, however, is that the dry turret performs several, in particular two sub-steps during a work cycle to move the (next) pockets in the receiving position. The partial steps are preferably half of a full rotation step of the dry turret.

After an approximately complete revolution of the dry turret, the finished molded and cured in terms of glue compounds packages are ejected in pairs from the associated, adjacent pockets and transported away in succession, in a single row of packages.

Fig. 1

eine Vorrichtung zum Behandeln von Packungen im Anschluss an den Verpackungsprozess in schematischer Seitenansicht,

Fig. 2

eine Darstellung analog Fig. 1 mit weiteren Einzelheiten der Vorrichtung,

Fig. 3

einen Ausschnitt III der Fig. 2 in vergrößertem Maßstab,

Fig. 4

eine Darstellung entsprechend Fig. 3 bei veränderter Relativstellung von Organen,

Fig. 5

die Einzelheit gemäß Fig. 3 und Fig. 4 bei nochmals veränderter Position von Organen,

Fig. 6

einen Querschnitt durch Teile der Vorrichtung entsprechend Schnittebene VI-VI in Fig. 5,

Fig. 7

einen weiteren Querschnitt der Vorrichtung gemäß Fig. 5 in der Schnittebene VII-VII,

Fig. 8

eine schematische Darstellung des Antriebs der Organe einer Vorrichtung gemäß Fig. 1, in vergrößertem Maßstab.

Further details of the invention relate to the particular relative arrangement of the transfer turret to dry turret and to the organs for conveying the finished packages. Details of the device and the operation will be explained in more detail with reference to the drawings. It shows:

Fig. 1

a device for treating packages following the packaging process in a schematic side view,

Fig. 2

a representation analog Fig. 1 with further details of the device,

Fig. 3

a section III of Fig. 2 on an enlarged scale,

Fig. 4

a representation accordingly Fig. 3 with altered relative position of organs,

Fig. 5

the detail according to Fig. 3 and Fig. 4 with a changed position of organs,

Fig. 6

a cross-section through parts of the device according to section plane VI-VI in Fig. 5 .

Fig. 7

a further cross section of the device according to Fig. 5 in section plane VII-VII,

Fig. 8

a schematic representation of the drive of the organs of a device according to Fig. 1 , on an enlarged scale.

The illustrated device is concerned with the treatment or after-treatment of substantially cuboidal packs 10, in particular cigarette packs. This after-treatment is particularly important for packages of the folding box type with a plurality of folding flaps interconnected by glue.

The central organ of the device is an assembly for temporarily receiving packages 10 during the curing of glue compounds while stabilizing the (cuboid) contour of the package 10. This organ is presently designed as a dry turret 11 with a plurality of the size and size of the packs 10th tailored cavities, namely pockets 12, 13. A plurality of the pockets 12, 13 is arranged along the outer periphery of the dry turret 11 in (two) rows or flanges 14 and 15. The pocket rings 14, 15 are formed as parallel rows, wherein the pockets 13 of the inner pocket rim 15 have smaller distances from each other than the pockets 12 of the outer pocket ring 14. The number of pockets 12, 13 per pocket ring 14, 15 is consistent. Furthermore, the rectangular in cross-section pockets 12, 13 are arranged within a pocket rim 14 or 15 at a very acute angle to each other, so not aligned with the larger side surfaces parallel.

In each case two pockets 12, 13 of the two pocket rings 14, 15 are loaded simultaneously with one pack 10 each. These mutually assigned, adjacent pockets 12, 13 are arranged at an obtuse angle to each other, so that a certain relative position of the pockets 12, 13 in the region of a loading station 16 (FIG. Fig. 4 ) given is. The pockets 12, 13 are further aligned offset to the (imaginary) radial plane of the dry turret 11.

The packs 10 coming from a packaging machine (or other processing unit) are transported individually or in a single row along a pack web 17. The cuboidal packs 10 are arranged with their longitudinal extent in the conveying direction. In the area of a transfer station 23, namely below a transfer conveyor, the packs 10 are removed one by one from the packing web 17 and fed to the drying turret 11.

For this purpose, in the transfer station 23 - above the packing web 17 - a rotatable in a transverse plane transfer turret 18 is arranged. This is in particular designed so that a plurality of holding members or receptacles 19 is arranged for each pack 10 along the circumference. The receptacles 19 are provided, for example, with a circumferentially facing, flat bottom plate 20 and with lateral, movable retaining webs 21. In the receiving position ( Fig. 3 , bottom), the receptacles 19 are opened, by sideways moving retaining webs 21, so that from below a pack 10 can be inserted through a pack lifter 24 in the receptacle 19. This is then closed and the relevant pack 10 further transported, in the present direction in the direction of rotation of the arrow 22. The pack 10 is oriented with the longitudinal extent in the axial direction of the transfer turret 18.

The transfer revolver 18, which is rotatably mounted in upright position and cyclically driven, transports the pack 10 to the loading station 16. The transfer turret 18 is equipped with a plurality of receptacles 19 which adjoin one another without gaps and produce a polygonal contour of the transfer turret 18 through the flat bottom plates 20. neighboring Receivers 19 are aligned at an obtuse angle to each other. A corresponding relative position results for the adjacent packages 10.

In the region of the loading station 16 are two receptacles 19, each with a pack 10, in the region of two adjacent pockets 12, 13 of the pocket rings 14, 15. The relative position or the angular position of the receptacles 19 and held by these packs 10 on the one hand and to be loaded pockets 12, 13 on the other hand is congruent. By axial or axially parallel thrust movement, the two packs 10 (simultaneously) from the receptacles 19 and inserted into the immediately adjacent pockets 12, 13 of the dry turret 11. For this purpose, in the region of the charging station 16, the two pockets 12, 13 are each assigned a slide 25, 26, which preferably simultaneously detects the two packs 12, 13 in the receptacles 19 and pushes them out until the end position in the pockets 12, 13 of the dry turret 11 promotes ( Fig. 7 ).

Also, the dry turret 11 is cyclically driven in rotation. After loading the two adjacent pockets 12, 13 of the drying turret 11 is indexed. At the same time, namely due to a coordinated drive, the transfer turret 18 is moved further until the following two packs 10 with the relevant receptacles 19 reach the region of the following, associated pockets 12, 13. In principle, therefore, the drying turret 11 is further rotated by one clock, while at the same time the transfer turret 18 performs two movement or switching steps.

Immediately adjacent to the loading station 16 is a Ausschubstation 27, in which during the stoppage phase of the drying turret 11, two packs 10 from pockets 12, 13 are pushed out in the axial direction and preferably individually, transported one after the other. For this purpose, on the opposite side to the transfer turret 18 of the dry turret 11 two ejectors 28 are arranged, which are each aligned with a pocket 12, 13 of the pocket rings 14, 15 and actuated so that during the stoppage phase for inserting packages 10 at the same time two packs 10 from pockets 12, 13 of the drying turret 11 are pushed out. The two ejectors 28 are mounted in a corresponding relative position on a preferably common actuating arm 29.

The ejection station 27 is located in the direction of rotation of the dry turret 11 (arrow 30) immediately before the loading station 16, such that up to this three switching steps of the drying turret 11 are required, so two empty stations for the pockets 12, 13 are traversed.

The ejection station 21 is designed so that the two simultaneously ejected packs 10 are transported one after the other to form a series of successive individual packs. To the Ausschubstation 27 includes a discharge conveyor 31, which transports the packs 10 at a distance from each other. An upper flange and a lower flange are provided with corresponding drivers, which each detect a pack 10 on the back. The packs 10 are transported in a position in which narrow side surfaces are directed upwards and downwards in the case of transverse alignment of the packs 10.

The packages 10 emerging from the pockets 12, 13 are deposited on a support or on a (stationary) guide 32, which consists of an underpass 33 and an upper guide 34. At least the underpass 33 is arcuate to adapt to the relative position of the pockets 12, 13 and the emerging from these packs 10. The guide 32 is disposed transversely to the drying turret 11 and to the pocket wreaths 14, 15 and serves for successive removal of the two Packs 10.

A transfer member inserts the packages 10 in succession into the area of the discharge conveyor 31. The transfer member is formed as a stamper 35 with approximately radially or at an angle to the radial directional Mitnehmerarmen 36. The stamper 35 is arranged in the relative position so that when a package 10 out of a pocket 12 of the radially outer pocket ring 14 this pack 10th directly from one available Mitnehmerarm 36 detected and carried away. The package in question 10 is passed to the discharge conveyor 31 after a short rotation or conveying path, namely introduced into the region between the two straps of the same.

The interacting in the Ausschubstation 27 organs and guides are divided so that no collisions occur during the movements. The stamper 35 consists of two spaced apart Radstegen 37. These each collectively a pack 10. Furthermore, there is also the discharge conveyor 31 of two spaced-apart individual belts 38th

The guide 32 is formed accordingly. The underpass 33 consists of two guide webs 39 arranged at a distance from one another, on which end face and bottom end regions of the large-area package side rest. Furthermore, the guide 32 is provided with a lateral guide or side wall 40, which at the same time acts as a stop or support during the ejection of the two packs 10 out of the pockets 12. 13. The side wall 40 causes an exact alignment of the packs 10 on the process of Abfördems. The lower guide webs 39 have at their ends legs 41, 42, which also serve as stops for the exact positioning of the packs 10 in the transfer to the stamper 35. In particular, the stems wheel 35 facing leg 41 has the task to align the pack 10.

The guide webs 39 are arranged at such a distance from each other that the star wheel 35 between these organs is movable, namely rotatable and the respective pack 10 lifts as a result of the rotational movement of the guide webs 39.

The package 10 of the outer pocket ring 14 is lifted immediately after the ejection by the stamper 35 of the guide 32 and the discharge conveyor 31 passed. The radially inner pack 10 from the pockets 13 of the pocket ring 15 is from the Ausschubstellung on the guide 32nd moved into the region of the outer pocket rim 14 and in a take-up position for the Stemrad 35. For this purpose, the radially inner pack 10 is detected by a transverse conveyor and slidably moved on the underpass 33 along in the transfer position.

The cross conveyor consists of a driver head 43 which is attached to an actuating lever 44. This is driven by a shaft 45 in the sense of a reciprocating pivoting movement. The driver head 43 is provided with projections which detect the package 10 without changing the relative position on opposite sides. The driver head 43 is formed substantially fork-shaped with spaced support legs 46. Their distance is dimensioned so that the star wheel 35 between the support legs 26 is movable. At the free end of each support leg an upright projection 47 is arranged, which supports the facing (longitudinal) side of the pack 10. On the opposite side, corresponding rear projections 48 are arranged on the driver head 43, which engage the package 10 on a rear (side) surface in the direction of movement. By the conveying movement, namely by the pivoting movement of the thus formed driving head 43, the packing from the radially inner position ( Fig. 4 ) is moved to the position for takeover by the stamper 35.

An innovative feature of the device is the coordination of the movements of the dry turret 11 and the transfer turret 18, regardless of the design of the aforementioned organs. The transfer turret 18 performs individual movement steps 49 in the direction of rotation, which are determined by the (center) distance of the adjacent receptacles 19. With each movement step 49, a receptacle 19 is moved into the (downwardly directed) transfer position for a pack 10. In order to provide two packs 10 which can be simultaneously transferred to the drying turret 11, two successive movement steps 49 of the transfer turret 18 are required.

The drying turret 11 is adapted to move in a rotational step in each case two free pockets 12, 13 in the receiving position for the packs 10. The present feature is that the dry turret 11 performs the same number of rotation steps to move the two associated pockets 12, 13 in the receiving position. The drying turret 11 therefore performs two partial steps 50 in the direction of rotation in order to effect a total rotation corresponding to the (center) distance of the circumferentially successive pockets 12, 13. The drive of the dry turret 11 and the transfer turret 18 agree with respect to the movement or switching steps per power stroke. Each sub-step 50 of the dry turret 11 corresponds to half the distance between successive pockets 12, 13 in the circumferential direction of the dry turret 11. In the present case, two movement steps 49 of the transfer turret 18 and two sub-steps 50 of the dry turret 11 are carried out to two packages 10 on the one hand and two pockets 12, 13th to move to the loading station 16.

Fig. 8 schematically shows an advantageous embodiment of a transmission for the rotary drive of the transfer turret 18 and the dry turret 11. It is envisaged that both organs are driven by a common shaft, a central shaft 51. The central shaft runs with continuous rotation. With dotted lines partial circles of gear or gears are shown. The drive of the central shaft 51 is on the one hand via gears 52 and 53 to generate a gear stage on the dry turret 11 and a gear 54 thereof, such that the switching steps and the movement steps, in particular in the embodiment as substeps 50, are generated. Furthermore, the drive of the central shaft 51 is transmitted to gears 55 and 56 which are associated with the transfer turret 18 (gear 56).

The rotational movement of the central shaft 51 is transmitted from a gear 57 to a clock, which converts the continuous movement in clocked movements. One of the central shaft 51 via the gear 57 driven gear 58 are associated with this rotating cams 59, 60. These are therefore also continuously rotating driven. The cams 59, 60 is a roller star 61 downstream, which is acted upon by the two cams 59, 60 at each revolution. The interaction of the cams 59, 60 with the roller star 61 leads to a cyclic rotational movement of a transmission wheel 62 on the axis of the roller star 61. By the transmission wheel 62 are cyclically rotational movements on the gear 52 (for the dry turret 11) and at the same time on the gear 55 ( for the transfer turret 18). The number of rotational steps of drying turret 11 on the one hand and transfer turret 18 on the other hand per working cycle is therefore the same. Two movement steps 49 of the transfer turret 18 bring about provision of two receptacles 19 with packs 10.

Dry turret 11 and transfer turret 18 are geared together via gears in a fixed ratio. The organs are followed by a clock drive, wherein the translation between drying turret 11 and transfer turret 18 is selected so that the number of movement steps and the number of rows of packages or packing wreaths in the dry turret 11 and accordingly the number of each cycle out of the dry turret 11 simultaneously ejected packages 10 corresponds. LIST OF REFERENCE NUMBERS 10 pack 39 guide web 11 drying turret 40 Side wall 12 bag 41 leg 13 bag 42 leg 14 pocket wreath 43 driving head 15 pocket wreath 44 actuating lever 16 loading station 45 wave 17 packing sheet 46 supporting leg 18 Transfer turret 47 head Start 19 admission 48 head Start 20 baseplate 49 moving step 21 holding web 50 partial step 22 arrow 51 central shaft 23 Transfer station 52 gear 24 pack lifter 53 gear 25 pusher 54 gear 26 pusher 55 gear 27 out station 56 gear 28 ejector 57 gear 29 actuating arm 58 Pinion 30 arrow 59 cam 31 discharge conveyor 60 cam 32 guide 61 roll star 33 underpass 62 transmission wheel 34 upper guide 35 star wheel 36 driver arm 37 wheel web 38 single strap

Claims (10)

1. An apparatus for storing and/or for forming essentially cuboidal packs (10), which are connected to one another by adhesive bonding and have folding flaps, having at least one drying turret (11) which has at least two concentrically arranged rows of mounts or pockets (12, 13) for in each case one pack (10), namely a radially inner pocket ring (15) and a radially outer pocket ring (14), which are disposed concentrically to one another, wherein the packs (10) can be introduced in the axial direction into the pockets (12, 13), open at least on one axial side, and, following a partial revolution of the drying turret (11), can be pushed out of the same, wherein the packs (10) can be fed to the drying turret (11) by a transfer turret as an incrementally rotatable conveyor with a plurality of mounts (19) for in each case one pack (10), wherein the mounts (19) for in each case one pack (10) are arranged individually one beside the other in the circumferential direction, characterized by the following features:

   a) the packs (10) are removed individually one after the other from a single pack path (17) and fed to the mounts (19),

   b) all adjacent packs (10), in the region of the transfer turret (18), are arranged at an angle to one another, on account of the polygonal arrangement of the mounts (19) along the circumference of the transfer turret (18),

   c) the circumferentially adjacent pockets (12, 13) of a pocket ring (14, 15) are arranged at an acute angle to one another and at an angle to the imaginary radial plane of the drying turret (11), and adjacent, associated pockets (12, 13) of the two pocket rings (14, 15) are directed at an obtuse angle to one another, in coordination with the relative position of two adjacent mounts (19) of the transfer turret (18),

   d) adjacent pockets (12, 13) of the two pocket rings (14, 15) are arranged in a relative position corresponding to the position of adjacent mounts (19) of the transfer turret (18) such that, during a joint standstill phase of the drying turret (11) and transfer turret (18), simultaneously two packs (10) can be pushed in the axial direction out of the mounts (19) into associated, adjacent pockets (12, 13),

   e) the drying turret (11) and the transfer turret (18), on account of the coordinated drive system, can be moved further at the same time until the following two packs (10), with the relevant mounts (19), pass into the region of the following associated pockets (12, 13), wherein the drying turret (11) is rotated further by one increment while the transfer turret (18) simultaneously executes two movement or switching steps.
2. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1, characterized by the following features:

   a) the two adjacent or associated packs (10) of the two pocket rings (14, 15) of the drying turret (11) can be pushed (approximately) simultaneously out of the pockets (12, 13),

   b) one of the pushed-out packs (10), in particular of the radially outer pocket ring (14), can be fed directly to a pack conveyor, in particular to an incrementally rotating star wheel (35),

   c) the second, in particular radially inner pack (10) can be fed to an interim conveyor with a driver head (43), which can be moved back and forth essentially in the radial direction and which feeds the radially inner pack (10) to the star wheel (35) once the radially outer pack (10) has been removed.
3. The apparatus as claimed in claim 3 or 2, characterized in that at least the radially inner pack (10) of the packs (10) which are pushed simultaneously out of the associated pockets (12, 13) can be set down on a guide (32), which is arranged preferably in a fixed manner alongside the drying turret (11), wherein the interim conveyor or the driver head (43) transports the radially inner pack (10) to the removal station or to the star wheel (35) with sliding action along the guide (32) or on a lower guide (33) of the same.
4. The apparatus as claimed in claim 3, characterized in that the lower guide (33) comprises preferably two spaced-apart guide crosspieces (39) as a bearing means for the pack (10), wherein the interim conveyor or the driver head (43) can be moved back and forth along a preferably circular movement path in order to transport the pack (10) between the guide crosspieces (39).
5. The apparatus as claimed in claim 4 or one of the further claims, characterized in that alongside the guide (32), on the side opposite to the pushing-out side of the packs (10) or on the side opposite to the drying turret (11), a stop is provided for the pushed-out packs (10), this stop being, in particular, a side wall (40) of the guide (32).
6. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the drying turret (11) can be rotated in a plurality of, in particular two, rotary steps, that is to say sub-steps (50) in order, once packs have been received, to convey following pockets (12, 13) into a receiving position adjacent to the transfer mechanism.
7. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the drives of the drying turret (11) and of the transfer turret (18) are coordinated with one another by gear mechanisms, in particular by geared connection to a common central shaft (51).
8. The apparatus as claimed in claim 7, characterized by the following features:

   a) the central shaft (51) is driven continuously in rotation,

   b) the continuous rotary movement of the central shaft (51) can be converted into an incremental rotary movement by an incremental gear mechanism (59, 60, 61),

   c) the drying turret (11), on the one hand, and the transfer turret (18), on the other hand, are connected to the incremental gear mechanism (59, 60, 61) via separate gear-mechanism elements.
9. The apparatus as claimed in claim 8, characterized in that the incremental drive, on account of the incremental gear mechanism (59, 60, 61), is stepped down by means of appropriately dimensioned gearwheels (52, 53, 54) such that the drying turret (11) can be rotated in small sub-steps (50), in particular such that one sub-step (50) of the drying turret (11) can be executed for each movement step (49) of the transfer turret (18).
10. The apparatus as claimed in claim 7, characterized in that the drying turret (11) and the transfer turret (18) are connected to one another with a fixed transmission ratio via gearwheels (52..57), wherein the transmission between the drying turret (11) and transfer turret (18) is selected such that the number of sub-steps (50) of the drying turret (11) corresponds to the number of pocket rings (14, 15) and the number of packs (10) which can be pushed simultaneously out of the pockets (12, 13).

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