EP2789540B1 - Method and device for packing tubes or cans - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a method for packaging tubes or cans that come from a production line and are arranged by means of a grouping unit in groups of adjacent tubes or cans with a predeterminable unit number and these groups are each taken over by a transport unit.

The invention also relates to a system for packaging tubes or cans comprising a grouping unit cooperating with a tube or can production line, a transport unit for conveying groups into a strapping unit in which the groups assembled into a formation can be strapped.

Cans or tubes are today manufactured in extremely efficient production lines and must be packed afterwards for further shipping. This is done either by the tubes or cans are filled into boxes or compiled in larger formations and whereupon these formations are then assembled on pallets and sent.

For this purpose, the Applicant has developed special grouping units in which the tubes or cans continuously coming from a production line are arranged in groups of juxtaposed tubes or cans with a predeterminable unit number, whereupon these groups are each forwarded to a transport unit. This transport unit is often a slider which then inserts these cans or tubes in a box by layer.

Furthermore, the applicant has also for the intermediate transport an auxiliary form, usually in a hexagonal shape, developed in the grouped tubes or cans are inserted in layers and then further promoted to a Umreifungsstation. Such a solution shows the DE 1 0006 484 A ,

Out DE2825800 a system for packaging of tubes or cans is known, which has a grouping and strapping unit. After the formation of a product group this is advanced by means of a slider over a gap for strapping. It remains partially in the grouping unit until the strapping is completed. After completely ejecting the strapped product group, a subsequent product group is formed in the grouping unit.

Packaging machines are also available on the market in which tubes or cans are taken in groups by means of a handling robot and a formation is formed in this way, which is then strapped.

The Applicant has also developed a method and apparatus for packaging tubes or cans in which the cans or tubes from the grouping unit are slid on a platen with a plurality of densely packed mandrels until a desired formation is formed, and then this spiked plate this formation of tubes or cans forwarded to fill in boxes. In order to achieve the required performance, two such thorn plates are presently present in this system today, which cooperate alternately with the grouping unit.

Although such a packaging plant works very fast, but the production lines are driven today at ever higher speed and the known system according to the European patent EP 1 656 298 now comes more to the power limit.

In order to increase the efficiency, it is possible to increase the strapping speed, which allows a few tenths of a second to be gained, but the faster the strapping, the higher the momentum of the plastic strap whip-like around the formation, whereby the tubes or cans will then be in the outer peripheral area often take damage. This has not least to do with the fact that both the tubes and the cans are always made thin-walled for material savings reasons.

During strapping, the formation of tubes or cans must remain fixed in position and accordingly, the thorn plate or handling robot can not release the formation and be driven back to the grouping unit as long as the formation of cans or tubes are not strapped.

It is therefore the object of the present invention to provide a method or to make available a system with which tubes or cans coming from a production line can be fixed and strapped more quickly.

This object is achieved by a method according to claim 1 and a system according to claim 7.

The holding tire can be a replaceable holding tire adapted to the shape of the formation to be formed.

In the following, a plant according to the invention is shown in a preferred embodiment and the method according to the invention is described with reference to this appendix with reference to the attached drawing.

Fig. 1

eine schematische Darstellung der verschiedenen Einheiten einer Abpackanlage zur Verdeutlichung der verschiedenen Verfahrensschritte;

Fig. 2

zeigt eine perspektivische Darstellung der Umreifungseinheit mit einer angelieferten Formation der Tuben oder Dosen;

Fig. 3

dieselbe Ansicht der Umreifungseinheit mit angehobener Arbeitsfläche und umreifter Formation von Tuben oder Dosen;

Fig. 4

zeigt wiederum in perspektivischer Ansicht den Haltereifen für sich und

Fig. 5

dieselbe Ansicht des Haltereifens, jedoch in einer Seitenansicht.

Fig. 6

zeigt eine Umreifungsbandführung der Umreifungseinheit

In the drawing, as mentioned, a preferred embodiment of the inventive system is shown and shows:

Fig. 1

a schematic representation of the various units of a packaging plant to illustrate the different process steps;

Fig. 2

shows a perspective view of the strapping unit with an incoming formation of the tubes or cans;

Fig. 3

the same view of the strapping unit with raised work surface and strapped formation of tubes or cans;

Fig. 4

again shows in perspective view the holding tires for themselves and

Fig. 5

the same view of the hoop, but in a side view.

Fig. 6

shows a strapping band guide of the strapping unit

In the FIG. 1 As mentioned, the entire packaging plant for packing tubes or cans is shown schematically. The open in the drawing to the right box shows the end of a production line 1. From here, the tubes or cans come continuously and are forwarded to a grouping unit 2, for example, and preferably according to the embodiment as in EP 1 114 784 B1 described, is designed. This is followed by a transport unit 3 with at least one thorn plate 7, 7 ', for example, and preferably also an embodiment according to the EP 1 656 298 B1 equivalent. Between the production line 1 and the grouping unit 2 usually a buffer 8 is inserted, which comes with a change of the spike plate 7, 7 'used. The thorn plate 7, 7 'is conveyed from the grouping unit 2 to a strapping unit 6, where the cans or tubes T are taken over. While this first thorn plate 7 transports a finished formation of tubes or cans to the strapping unit 6, a second thorn plate 7 '(not shown here) is refilled. If the first thorn plate 7 has delivered the tubes to the strapping unit 6, it is immediately returned to the grouping unit guided there and is in the waiting position until the second thorn plate 7 'is filled and moves to the strapping unit 6, so that the first thorn plate 7 is now ready for filling again.

In the grouping unit 2 groups of juxtaposed tubes or cans are arranged with a predeterminable unit number and taken in groups by the transport unit. This is preferably done by pushing these groups of tubes or cans onto a mandrel plate 7, 7 'which forms part of the transport unit 3.

The transport unit 3 consists essentially of mostly two thorn plates 7, 7 'and a means to move these thorn plates 7, 7' from the grouping unit 2 to the strapping unit 6. This can be done by means of at least one handling robot, which in each case holds a filled thorn plate and moves it to the strapping unit 6. Once the formation 9 of tubes or cans T has been delivered to the strapping unit, this thorn plate is moved back to the grouping unit and brought into a waiting position, which is shown here in dashed lines. The movement of the respective thorn plate from the waiting position to the loading position can then take place by means of the grouping unit 2 or with another handling robot.

As soon as one of the two thorn plates 7, 7 'is completely filled, this thorn plate is removed from the grouping unit 2 and conveyed up to a strapping unit 6. This strapping unit 6 has a receiving sheet 13 within which a holding tire 5 is arranged. The filled thorn plate 7, 7 'is retracted with the held on the thorns cans or tubes in the holding tires 5 and placed on a raised work table 4, whereupon the thorn plate repels all tubes or cans and immediately return to the grouping unit 2 and for the next loading is ready.

The holding tire 5 now engages the formation 9, so that all tubes or cans are fixed. The formation 9 is now strapped by means of a plastic band K in a conventional manner. If the formation is strapped, the work table 4 is raised from a lower position and the formation 9 of the tubes or cans T is strapped a second time. Now the strapped formation 9 is lowered and moved by means of the transport table 4 'to the lowest position. From there, an automatic feed can be made to a pallet.

For further details of the method and the preferred apparatus for carrying out the method, reference is made to the following figures and their description.

In the FIG. 2 the strapping unit 6 is shown in detail on a larger scale together with the work table 4 and a subsequent transport table 4 '. The strapping unit 6 has a chassis 10 on which a housing 11 is attached. In this housing 11, the already mentioned receiving sheet 13 is arranged at the upper end. The strapping unit 6 further comprises a box 12 in which a conventional strapping apparatus, such as that sold by Simplex AG, is arranged. On the box 12, the horizontal, approximately parallel to the work table 4 projecting receiving sheet 13 is formed. This receiving sheet 13 consists of two longitudinal arms 14 and a jig beam 15 connecting these longitudinal arms. In this yoke beam 15, a control unit is arranged here. This control unit 16 can, for example, monitor the presence or absence of a thorn plate 7, 7 'and, in accordance with the presence of a formation 9 of cans or tubes T, trigger the further required method steps. In the present case, this would be the movement of the work table 4, the monitoring of the position of the work table 4 then the triggering of a clamping movement of the holding tire 5 and then the triggering of a strapping process. Thereafter, either the worktop raised slightly or lowered a little more and, for example, a second strapping be performed and then the strapped formation 9 are lowered to the level of the transport table 4 '.

On the side facing the housing 11 of the strapping unit 6 end face of the work table 4 a stop bar 17 is present. This stop bar 17 serves to move the formed formation 9. If the strapped formation 9 is lowered onto the worktable 4, the stop bar 17 is moved by a chain drive 18 which is driven by an electric drive motor 19, moving in the direction of the transport table 4 'and positioning the strapped formation there. From there, this strapped formation 9 can be stored, for example, on pallets.

In the FIG. 3 in turn, the strapping unit 6 with the transport table 4 is shown in perspective. Here is the worktable raised. The formation 9 of the tubes or cans T lies within the holding tire 5. The formation 9 of tubes or cans is shown here hexagonal. Here, the formation rests with a side edge on a front panel 20. The other five sides of the hexagonal formation are formed by the holding tire 5. The more detailed design of the holding tire 5 will be discussed later.

Since the work table 4 is in the raised position, this is not visible itself, however, lifting means 21 can be seen by means of which the work table 4 can be raised and lowered. The lifting means 21 may be piston-cylinder units or lifting spindles.

In principle, it should suffice to provide only an active lifting means 21 and otherwise provide slidably mounted guide rods. For an exact guidance, it may well be useful to provide two or more actively operable synchronous lifting means 21.

Clearly visible here is now the stop bar 17 which is still in the final position. If the formation 9 strapped as desired, the work surface 4 is lowered again and now the stop bar 17 which is connected to a chain or a toothed belt drive is driven and advanced by the control unit 16 or by a central control unit not shown direction transport table 4 '.

As already mentioned, it is preferable to make the holding tire 5 firmly connected to a front panel 20, so that the entire combination of holding tires 5 and front panel 20 can be exchanged together in the simplest manner. This substitution occurs especially when another size of tubes or cans T are assembled into a formation and must be strapped. As can be clearly seen, the combined unit of front panel 20 and holding tires 5 can be designed as a pure plug-in unit of the strapping unit 6. The front panel 20 has an L-shape in cross section. The shorter leg is the front side in the housing 11. Der The shorter leg 25 has laterally slots 23, which forms part of a guide of a plug-in holder of the front panel 20 with the box 10. In the long leg 24 two approximately oval recesses 26 are formed. These recesses serve to be able to grasp the front panel 20 well to replace the front panel.

The holding tire 5 is, as shown here, preferably composed of different sections of L-profiles. The short leg 25 of the front panel 20 forms a portion 53 to which the formation to be strapped 9 comes to rest. The sections of the actual holding tire 5 are designated by 50. The portion 51, which is opposite the short leg 25 of the front panel 20 and the portion 53 is separated. These two separate sections 51 are connected to each other via an actuating element 52. This actuator may for example be a hydraulic or pneumatic piston-cylinder unit or designed as a unit consisting of a screw with electric motor drive. As actuator 52 also comes an electrically actuated solenoid in question. The holding tire 5 only has to describe a very small path for the pincer movement. Therefore, the holding tire 5 can be designed hinge-free. The holding tire 5 is dimensioned so that he exactly corresponds to the circumference of the formation 9 to be strapped. However, in order to facilitate the introduction of the tubes or cans which are held on the spiked plate, the holding tire 5 is slightly spread by means of said actuator 52. The Spreizweg is preferably only a few millimeters to a maximum of 3 centimeters.

Of course, the retaining ring 5 also have one or more hinge points and in this case, of course, both the opening and the closing movement of the holding tire 5 must be active. However, since such a solution is expensive both in production and in the operation, the former solution is preferred.

In the FIG. 6 is a partial view of the receiving sheet 13 can be seen. The view is from the inside on the yoke bar 15 and a part of one of the two longitudinal arms 14. Both the yoke bar 15 and the two longitudinal arms 14 are provided on their lying towards the center sides with a circumferential slot-shaped opening 25 '. This circumferential slot-shaped opening 25 'is largely covered by a brush 26'. The strapping is guided in the receiving sheet 13 and pulled out during tensioning from this receiving sheet 13, wherein the brush 26 'of this strapping moves in the lower area. When tensioning the strapping this is in a precise defined situation at the formation 9 come to the concern. This is achieved by appropriate guide plates. In the drawing, one recognizes an upper guide plate 27 and a lower guide plate 28. Both guide plates are interchangeably attached, since these guide plates must be adjusted according to the diameter of the cans or tubes to be strapped, and attached to these guide plates 27, 28 teeth 29 must in their adjacent distance correspond to the diameter of the cans to be strapped. It is essential that the strap does not come to rest anywhere on the cans, but in a defined height. Accordingly, therefore, these guide plates 27, 28 of considerable importance. In particular, for cans to be strapped, there are various embodiments, substantially cylindrical shapes and those cylindrical shapes which are waisted in a central region. Of course, the straps may only be installed in the cylindrical areas. Especially in the lower cylindrical portion of such cans, it is of paramount importance that they are not compressed too close to the bottom. Aluminum cans are usually slightly thicker in diameter in the foot area than in the overlying cylindrical area. This phenomenon is known in technical terms as a so-called elephant foot. Accordingly, the strapping is preferably carried out only in an upper cylindrical region and only when this strapping has already taken place and the cans relatively lie stable to each other, the strapping takes place in the lower area. This avoids that deformations of the doses occur in said area. If such deformations occurred, this would produce visible impressions that would not be accepted by the manufacturers.

The guide plates 27, 28 are arranged on the yoke bar 15 in the region of the control unit 16. Once the formation 9 is within the holding hoop 5, the holding hoop 5 packs the formation and places the cans in a tight pack, whereupon the guide plates 28 and 28 are displaced toward the center and the teeth 29 engage between the individual tubes or cans. The teeth 29 are sized so that these teeth do not come into contact with the cans, just as little as the guide plates 27 and 28 but only lead to the strapping comes to rest in the exact position.

LIST OF REFERENCE NUMBERS

1

production line

2

grouping

3

transport unit

4th

worktable

4 '

transport table

5

retaining hoop

6

strapping

7

spike plate

7 '

second thorn plate

8th

cache

9

Formation of tubes or cans

10

chassis

11

casing

12

box

13

receiving sheet

14

longitudinal arms

15

yoke bar

16

control unit

17

stop bar

18

chain drive

19

electric drive motor

20

L-shaped front panel

21

lifting means

23

slots

24

long leg of the front panel 20

25

short leg of the front panel 20

26

oval recesses in front plate

25 '

circumferential opening

26 '

brush

27

Upper guide plate

28

lower guide plate

29

Teeth of the guide plates 27, 28

50

Section of the hoop

51

separated by a gap section

52

actuator

53

section

T

Tubes or cans

K

Plastic tape

Claims (15)

1. A method for packing tubes or cans (T) which arrive from a production line (1) and are arranged in groups of adjacently arranged tubes or cans with a specifiable unit number by means of a grouping unit (2) and whereby these groups are each taken over by a transport unit (3), characterised in that the transport unit (3) moves the tubes or cans (T) in a desired formation (9) into a retaining hoop (5) which is part of a strapping unit (6) and fixes the formation (9), whereupon the transport unit (3) returns immediately to the grouping unit (2), and the formation of tubes or cans within the retaining hoop (5) is strapped at least once and the strapped formation (9) is then transported further.
2. The method according to claim 1, characterised in that the transport unit (3) used comprises at least one spike plate (7, 7'), onto which the tubes or cans (T) are pushed in groups by the grouping unit (2) until the formation (9) being formed is complete.
3. The method according to claim 2, characterised in that the loaded spike plate (7, 7') is moved from the grouping unit (2) to the strapping unit (6) and from there, from above, moves the tubes or cans (T) into the retaining hoop (5), deposits them onto a raised work table (4) and then returns immediately, whereupon at least one strapping operation of the formation (9) is carried out.
4. The method according to claim 3, characterised in that the deposited formation (9) strapped once is lowered by means of the work table (4) for a specifiable distance or is raised in order to carry out a second strapping operation.
5. The method according to claim 3 or 4, characterised in that the strapped formation (9) is lowered by means of the work table (4) to the level of an adjacent transport table (4') and is pushed onto the transport table by means of a movable stop strip (17).
6. The method according to claim 3 or 4, characterised in that prior to strapping guiding plates are brought into position.
7. A plant for packing tubes or cans (T) according to the method of one of the preceding claims comprising a grouping unit (2) interacting with a tube or can production line (1) and arranging the tubes or cans (T) in groups of adjacently arranged tubes or cans (T), a strapping unit (6), and a transport unit (3) for feeding the groups into the strapping unit (6) in which the groups held together in a formation (9) can be strapped, characterised in that the strapping unit (6) comprises a retaining hoop (5) for gripping and fixing the formation (9), such that the transport unit (3) is returnable immediately to the grouping unit (2).
8. A plant according to claim 7, characterised in that the retaining hoop (5) is an exchangeable retaining hoop (5) adjusted to shape of the formation to be strapped.
9. The plant according to claim 7 or 8, characterised in that the retaining hoop (5) consists of two parts indirectly connected with each other and is able to grip the formation (9) of tubes or cans (T) in a pincer-like movement with the aid of an actuating element (52), wherein preferably the retaining hoop (5) performing a pincer-like movement is surrounded by a receiving arch (13).
10. The plant according to claim 8, characterised in that the retaining hoop (5) is configured without joints and opened out by means of the actuating element (52) and is able to grip the formation (9) in a pincer-like movement while elastically recovering.
11. The plant according to claim 9, characterised in that the receiving arch serves to guide and protect a plastic band used for strapping, and the strapping unit comprises a the housing (11) in which a market-standard strapping apparatus is housed.
12. The plant according to claim 11, characterised in that the housing (11) comprises a L-shaped front plate (20) which as a pushfit can be hooked onto the housing, wherein the retaining hoop (5) is attached with the L-shaped front plate (20) to its shorter shank (25).
13. The plant according to claim 12, characterised in that the retaining hoop (5) is formed from several portions (50) by bending or welding and whereby the front plate (20) with its shorter shank (25) forms a portion (53), against which the formation (9) to be strapped is supported, whilst the portion lying diametrically opposite to this portion (53) consists of two partial portions (51) separated by a gap for the actuating element (52) to engage on.
14. The plant according to claim 7, characterised in that the retaining hoop (5) is arranged inside a circumferential receiving arch (13) of the strapping unit (6) and the retaining hoop (5) consists of two longitudinal arms (14) and a yoke beam (15) in which the plastic band used for strapping is guided, wherein the longitudinal arms (14) and the yoke beam (15) comprise a circumferential opening (25) in direction of the centre, which opening is covered at least partially by a brush (26).
15. The plant according to claim 14, characterised in that an upper guiding plate (27) and a lower guiding plate (28) are replaceably arranged on the yoke beam (15) so as to be in alignment with the edges of the circumferential opening (25') and in that they comprise teeth (29).

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