EP2805633B9 - Trays made of conductive plastic material and device and method for automatically discharching trays filled with rod-shaped articles - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to trays for receiving rod-shaped products of the tobacco processing industry, comprising a tray body formed by a rear wall, two at least substantially parallel and spaced apart side walls and a bottom wall, forming a receiving space for the products that is open at the front and at the top, wherein the tray can be designed as a shaft tray.

The invention also relates to a tray emptying device for automatically emptying trays filled with rod-shaped products into a production or packaging machine in the tobacco processing industry, comprising a feed device for feeding trays filled with rod-shaped products, an emptying station with an emptying position for overhead emptying of the trays, a A transport device for transporting away the emptied trays and a transfer device for transporting the trays within the tray emptying device during an emptying cycle, and a method for automatically emptying trays filled with rod-shaped products, comprising the steps of feeding trays filled with products by means of a feed device, transporting the trays from the feed device into an emptying position of an emptying station by means of a transfer device, so that the trays are upside down in the emptying position , overhead emptying of the trays, transporting the empty trays by means of the transfer device from the emptying position to a transport device, and transporting away the empty trays by means of the transport device.

The trays described are used in particular in the tobacco processing industry when processing rod-shaped products. Tobacco rods, cigarettes, filter rods and in particular filter rod segments or the like are kept in containers, the so-called trays, in particular for transport and storage. The containers can be designed as standard trays with a single receiving space for all products or as shaft trays in which the products are located in several shafts that are separate from one another. For further processing of the stored products, these are delivered to downstream devices, such as packing machines or the like, or introduced into an existing mass flow.

Such trays are now usually made of plastic such as polystyrene (PS) or acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), since this material is stable and at the same time light and inexpensive. Such trays are, for example, in DE-Gbm. 1,882,950.

A downstream device in which trays are used is a tray emptying device, with the help of which rod-shaped articles that are stored in trays for various reasons are reintroduced into the production process. For this purpose, the tray emptying devices are combined with production machines to form a production arrangement for carrying out corresponding production processes, which include cigarette production, filter production and also the packaging of the same.

Known tray emptying devices have transfer devices for manipulating or handling the trays, which are designed as a pivoting mechanism. With the known pivoting mechanism, all the trays, ie the full trays and the empty trays, are handled during the emptying cycle. An emptying cycle includes removing the full trays from the feed device, emptying the full trays overhead in the emptying station and delivering the empty trays to the removal device.

Such tray emptying devices are, for example, in DE 10 2008 027 636 described.

With the known tray emptying devices, the problem arises that stick-shaped products remain in the tray during or after emptying, although the tray should have been completely discharged in the tray emptying device. Stick-shaped products get caught on the bottom and/or wall of the tray because an electrostatic field has formed in the tray, which prevents the stick-shaped products from falling out. Such an electrostatic field is created by friction due to the fact that the trays are made of plastic, a dielectric material. Friction occurs on one side when the rod-shaped Products are filled in the trays rubbing against the walls and bottom of the tray. The tray walls or floor and rod-shaped products are charged with different charges, which leads to the formation of an electrostatic field that prevents the trays in the emptying device from being completely emptied, as actually desired. Further charging occurs when the trays come into contact with other plastic objects during transport. For example, the conveyor belts on the one hand for the infeed device and on the other hand for the removal device are usually made of plastic. The friction between the tray and the conveyor belt in turn creates an electrical charge. Such a charge occurs in a particularly relevant manner during the transfer of the tray from the feed device to the emptying station if the tray is stopped by means of a stopper for the purpose of transfer to the emptying device, while the conveyor belt of the feed device continues to run under the tray. The drier the ambient air, the greater the resulting electrostatic charge.

So far, this problem has been taken into account by having one person check the empty trays and manually removing any remaining stick-shaped products. However, with an increasing degree of automation in production, which is intended to lead in particular to reducing costs, there is an increasing lack of people throughout the process who could exercise such a control function.

It is therefore desirable to ensure that, if possible, no stick-shaped products remain in the tray after the emptying process.

For this, the WO2011/090395 two measures, on the one hand blowing ionized compressed air into the bottom of the trays to neutralize the charge, on the other hand using an insert or an insert made of a conductive material inside the tray to essentially prevent the occurrence of electrostatic charges.

The provision of a device for blowing in ionized compressed air is structurally complex and associated with increased costs. The provision of deposits or inserts is also expensive, since an additional work step of inserting the insert is required in the production of the trays, which in turn increases the costs elevated. There is also a risk that the insert or insert will come loose from the tray, get caught in the machine and cause damage.

It is therefore the object of the present invention to provide a tray which can be guaranteed to be completely emptied and which is at the same time simple and inexpensive to produce.

According to the invention, this object is achieved by a tray having the features of claim 1 . By using electrically conductive plastic as the tray material, any charging that occurs can be dissipated immediately. It is not necessary to apply an additional layer, insert or the like. The tray can be made structurally very simple. An electrically conductive plastic within the meaning of the invention is a plastic which--unlike plastics which are usually considered excellent insulators--has an electrical conductivity of at least 10 ^-10 S cm ^-1 . For the purposes of the invention, electrically conductive plastics are understood to mean the so-called intrinsically conductive polymers, which have conductivity per se.

This works particularly well if the entire tray is made of electrically conductive plastic. Advantageously, the tray is designed in one piece and is produced by injection molding. In this way, a very stable tray is obtained, which at the same time is inexpensive to produce. Existing molds for producing trays can also continue to be used, since only the material changes, while the tray mold remains identical.

The tray according to the invention can also be a shaft tray, ie a tray in which the products lie in several shafts separated from one another by intermediate walls. Advantageously, the partitions are also made of electrically conductive plastic.

The electrically conductive plastic is an intrinsically conductive polymer, in particular a doped intrinsically conductive polymer. Among the intrinsically conductive polymers are in particular cis-polyacetylene (cis-PA), trans-polyacetylene (trans-PA), poly(paraphenylene) (PPP), polythiophene, polypyrrole, poly(para-phenylene-vinylene) (PPV) and polyaniline (PANI). Particularly preferred because one by several powers of ten Those polymers that are doped, ie in which a small amount of foreign atoms are incorporated, have higher conductivity.

The conductive plastic tray according to the invention exhibits greatly reduced adhesion of the articles to its inner walls. This has an advantageous effect on the filling and the emptying operations, but this could possibly have an adverse effect on safe transport of the upright trays filled with rod-shaped articles, especially during acceleration and/or deceleration operations.

In a development of the tray according to the invention, it is therefore provided that the rear wall of the tray is inclined on its inside by at least 1 degree from the vertical relative to the vertical outside, with the wall thickness of the rear wall increasing from top to bottom toward the bottom wall.

Due to the rear wall tapering towards the open upper side, there are also advantages in the production of the plastic bevel, namely a so-called demoulding bevel is created in this way.

In a development of the tray according to the invention, it is also provided that the bottom wall of the tray is inclined on its inside by at least 1 degree from the horizontal compared to the horizontal outside, with the wall thickness of the bottom wall decreasing from front to back towards the rear wall.

Preferably, the inner sides of the back wall and the bottom wall are inclined by approximately the same angular amount, such that the included angle is approximately 90 degrees.

The above-described developments now allow the articles to be transported safely in upright trays without the conveying means, in particular for the transport of full trays, being designed to be inclined as is customary in tray filling devices and tray emptying devices. In order to ensure safe filling or emptying of the trays in the tray filling devices or in the tray emptying devices, the trays are tilted for filling or emptying by means of a pivoting device in such a way that the inside of the rear wall of the tray is in the same, preferably vertical, plane as the upstream or downstream rear wall of the intermediate or buffer store of the tray filling device or the tray emptying device.

The object is also achieved by a tray emptying device of the type mentioned at the outset, in which at least one charge-dissipating element is provided on at least one device selected from the feed device, emptying station, removal device and transfer device, which is designed and set up to prevent contact between the tray and the grounded machine base frame.

As stated above, it is very advantageous if the trays are made of electrically conductive plastic, since this allows the charge produced by friction to be dissipated. In order to achieve the desired effect, it is necessary that the charge is discharged from the tray. Customary machines and devices in the tobacco processing industry have a machine base frame to which the individual components and parts are attached. This machine base frame is always grounded. It is therefore ideally suited to dissipate the resulting charge. To do this, it is necessary to establish a conductive connection between the charged trays and the machine base frame. According to the invention, this is provided by at least one charge-dissipating element, which is attached either to the feed device, to the emptying station, to the removal device or to the transfer device. The charge-dissipating element or the charge-dissipating elements can be designed in particular as contact surfaces made of metal. Silver, copper and iron, which are good electrical conductors, are particularly suitable as metals.

In a preferred embodiment of the tray emptying device, its transfer device has a pivoting mechanism that performs a pivoting movement limited to 180°, with a pivoting cassette that can pivot about a stationary pivoting axis S, which is designed and set up for fixing, pivoting, and releasing the trays, with the pivoting axis containing the charge-dissipating element is. A particularly good discharge is guaranteed if the swivel mechanism is additionally provided with a copper mesh. Since the panning movement of the cassette is limited to 180°, problems caused by the braid twisting are eliminated.

It is particularly advantageous if as little electrostatic charging as possible is generated throughout the entire process. According to an advantageous embodiment, it is therefore provided that the feed device and/or removal device is/are designed as a conveyor belt, with the conveyor belt consisting of an electrically conductive plastic. In this way, the charging that occurs as a result of the friction between the trays and the conveyor belt is largely avoided.

Finally, the object is also achieved by a method of the type mentioned at the outset, in which the trays of the present invention are used as trays and in which charge dissipation takes place in at least one of the method steps. With such a method, the static charge in the trays is reduced to such an extent that stick-shaped products getting caught in the trays after the emptying process should essentially be ruled out. The method is particularly effective and at the same time simple, since no complex additional devices, for example for deionization, have to be provided.

Fig. 1

eine perspektivische Darstellung eines erfindungsgemäßen als Schachtschragen ausgebildeten Schragens,

Fig. 2

eine Ausführungsform eines nicht erfindungsgemäßen Schragens,

Fig. 3

eine weitere Ausführungsform eines nicht erfindungsgemäßen Schragens,

Fig. 4

eine Seitenansicht der erfindungsgemäßen Entleereinrichtung mit einem auf der Zuführeinrichtung befindlichen Schragen in der Abholposition,

Fig. 5

die Entleereinrichtung gemäß Figur 4 mit dem in eine Kassette aufgenommenen Schragen während der vertikalen Aufwärtsbewegung und

Fig. 6

die Entleereinrichtung gemäß Figur 4 mit einer in die Entleerposition geschwenkten Kassette.

Further expedient and/or advantageous features and refinements result from the dependent claims and the description. A particularly preferred embodiment and the principle of the method are explained in more detail with reference to the attached drawing. In the drawing shows:

1

a perspective view of a tray designed as a shaft tray according to the invention,

2

an embodiment of a tray not according to the invention,

3

a further embodiment of a tray not according to the invention,

4

a side view of the emptying device according to the invention with a tray located on the feed device in the pick-up position,

figure 5

the emptying device according to figure 4 with the tray received in a cassette during the vertical upward movement and

6

the emptying device according to figure 4 with a cassette swiveled into the emptying position.

The in the Figures 1 to 3 Trays shown by way of example are used in the tobacco processing industry in particular for transporting and storing rod-shaped products such as cigarettes, filter rods or the like. for use. The in the Figures 4 to 6 The emptying device shown by way of example is used for sequentially emptying containers filled with rod-shaped products into an emptying magazine or the like. However, it is pointed out that the features and feature combinations described below can also be implemented in combinations other than those shown.

the Figures 1 to 3 show a shaft tray 1, which has two side walls 3 and 4, a bottom wall 5 and a rear wall 6 to form a tray body 2. The side walls 3 , 4 are arranged spaced apart essentially in parallel (may have draft angles, which cannot be seen from the figures) and laterally delimit a receiving space 7 defined by the tray body 2 . The bottom wall 5 delimits the receiving space 7 at the bottom. The shaft trays 1 are usually designed to be open at the front and at the top. Of course, front walls and cover elements can also be provided. The tray body 2 can be made in one piece or in several pieces. The receiving space 7 itself can be subdivided. A plurality of shaft walls 8 are preferably connected to the tray body 2 in a detachable or fixed manner in order to divide the receiving space 7 into a plurality of shafts 9 . The shaft walls 8 can also be formed integrally with the tray body 2 . The shaft walls 8 run parallel and spaced apart from one another or from the side walls 3, 4.

The tray 1 can also be designed as a standard tray without shaft walls 8 .

The tray is made of electrically conductive plastic , which is what is known as an intrinsically conductive polymer se has a conductivity.

The in the figures 2 and 3 Trays shown is an example not according to the invention and is made of a plastic with the addition of additives. Fibers of an inorganic substance are included as an additive. Such fibers can in particular be stainless steel fibers or carbon fibers. The conductivity in the fiber direction is significantly higher than perpendicular to it. At the in 2 shown trays, the fibers are formed substantially parallel to the longitudinal extent of the tray side and partition walls 3, 8. At the in 3 In the trays shown, the fibers run essentially parallel to the longitudinal extent of the tray base 5.

The in the Figures 4 to 6 The emptying device 10 shown comprises a feed device 11, a transport device 12, an emptying station 32 and a transfer device 13. The feed device 11 is used for feeding and storing products-filled (full) trays 14 made of electrically conductive material. The feed device 11 is arranged above the transport device 12 and, like the transport device 12, runs essentially horizontally. Substantially horizontally also expressly includes a slight inclination at an angle greater than 0° and less than 5° with respect to a horizontally spanned plane, such that the feed device 11 falls slightly in the direction of the transfer device 13, so that the containers 14 with respect to a vertical orientation inclined by the corresponding angle α on the feeder 11 are. Preferably an inclination of 3° from the vertical is selected. As a result, the products within the tray 14 rest securely against the rear wall 6 of the tray 14 . The transport device 12 serves to transport the emptied trays 16 away. The full trays 14 can be transported by means of the transfer device 13 from a pick-up position 17 into the area of an emptying magazine 18 and back into a delivery position 19 . The emptying magazine 18 can be part of the emptying station 32 or arranged as a separate part under the emptying position. In the area of the pick-up position 17 there is a stopper 15 which holds the tray in the pick-up position 17 until it is picked up by the transfer device. Meanwhile, the feed device 11 continues to run below the tray 14, as a result of which electrostatic charges build up in the tray in conventional devices. To prevent such electrostatic charging is the feed device 11 is designed as a conveyor belt, the conveyor belt consisting of a conductive plastic.

The transfer device 13 comprises a cassette 21 which can be moved up and down vertically and is designed to be pivotable. The vertical and pivoting movements can be carried out directly or indirectly by the cassette 21. Furthermore, the cassette 21 is designed and set up to hold a tray 14, 16 during the entire emptying process. This means that the cassette has devices for holding and/or gripping the trays 14, 16, by means of which the trays 14, 16 are fixed within the cassette 21 in a defined position, which can also be inclined to the vertical. Pneumatic gripping elements are preferably provided. The trays 14, 16 themselves can be held, for example, by metallic spring elements or the like. Of course, all other conventional holding and/or gripping mechanisms made of conductive material can also be used. A pick-up element 22 is optionally assigned to the cassette 21 for receiving or picking up the full trays 14 from the feed device 11 . The pick-up element 22 is furthermore set up and designed to position the full tray 14 within the cassette 21 so that it can be fixed in the "middle product" position. The "middle product" position, also known as "constant edge", is advantageous for handling different product lengths in the course of a format change. The pick-up element 22 can furthermore also have a push-off element (not shown), by means of which the ejection of the emptied tray 16 from the cassette 21 is supported. The push-off element can also be provided as a separate device.

The emptying device 10 preferably has a lift device 23 as part of the transfer device 13 in order to carry out the vertical movements from the pick-up position 17 to the transfer position 20 in the region of the pivoting device 27 and back to the delivery position 19 . The lift device 23 includes vertically running guide rails 24 or the like, on or in which a lift fork 25 or the like is guided, as well as a drive unit 26. The transfer device 13 also includes a pivoting device 27. The pivoting device 27 is between the transfer position 20 and the emptying position arranged and set up and designed to carry out an overhead pivoting movement of the full tray 14 holding the cassette 21 via the emptying magazine 18 and the then emptied tray 16 holding the cassette 21 back. The pivoting device 27 is arranged at the upper end of the guide rails 24 and forms a swivel head. The pivoting device 27 has a latching device 28 and a rotatable and stationary shaft 29 , with the latching device 28 being mounted on the shaft 29 . The shaft 29 itself is stationarily but rotatably mounted on a frame or the like. The shaft 29, together with the cassette 21, forms the charge-dissipating element, with the aid of which the charge present in the tray can be discharged via the base frame 33 of the emptying device 10. In addition, a copper mesh (not shown) can be provided in the area of the shaft 29, which supports the charge dissipation.

The latching device 28 comprises a plurality of latching bolts (not shown), which can be actuated, for example, by means of pneumatic cylinders (also not shown) or the like. This means that the movably mounted locking bolts can be moved from a retracted waiting position, in which the cassette 21 can be coupled in or out during transfer from the lifting device 23 to the pivoting device 27 and back, to a locking position in which the cassette 21 is fixed to the pivoting device 27 is connected, and are movable back. In other words, the cassette 21 can be detached from the lifting device 23 and connected to the pivoting device 27 and vice versa. Of course, the locking of the cassette 21 on the pivoting device 27 and the corresponding unlocking can also take place in other conventional ways, provided that the conductive connection between the pivoting device 27, cassette 21 and tray 14 is established. The distance between the axis of rotation D of the shaft 29 and the cassette 21, which is rotatably or pivotably mounted on the shaft 29 by means of the locking device 28, is small. This means that the latching device 28 is very short in terms of structural shape, so that the cassette 21 describes a very narrow envelope curve with a small radius during the pivoting movement. Ideally, the cassette 21 is arranged in the immediate vicinity of the shaft 29 or directly on it. A drive 30 for executing the pivoting movement is assigned to the transfer device 13 and is arranged as an extension of the shaft 29 .

The pick-up position 17 for the full trays 14 and the delivery position 19 for the emptied containers 16 can be at different positions. However, the pick-up position 17 preferably corresponds to the delivery position 19. As a result, a full tray 14 can be picked up from the feed device 11 into the cassette 21 and an emptied container 16 can be delivered from the cassette 21 at the same time. In the preferred embodiment, both the pick-up position 17 and the delivery position 19 is also at the same level, namely at the height of the feed device 11. In order to transport the emptied trays 16 pushed or ejected from the cassette 21 into the area of the removal device 12, a lift device 31 is arranged in the area of the lower removal device 12. The lift device 31 for transporting the emptied containers 16 from the delivery position 19 to the removal device is designed separately from the lift device 23 for transporting the full trays 14 from the collection position 17 to the emptying position and back to the delivery position 19. However, it is also possible to provide a single lifting device for the entire transport of the trays 14, 16.

In the following, the principle of the process is based on the Figures 4 to 6 described in more detail, whereby the description only represents a particularly preferred variant and other processes naturally also fall within the scope of the claims:

At least one full tray 14, but preferably several full trays 14, are arranged or stored on the feed device 11. The trays 14 stand with one narrow side on the feeding device 11, which slopes slightly in the direction of the transfer device 13, so that the trays 14 are transported at an angle α to the vertical in the direction of the transfer device 13 into the pick-up position 17. Of course, the trays 14 can also be transported without being inclined. One full tray 14 is transported from the pick-up position 17 to the emptying position in the area of the emptying magazine 18 . The transport preferably takes place in that the full tray 14 is pulled into the cassette 21 by the pick-up element 22 and positioned there. After the tray 14 has been fixed in the cassette 21, either the tray 14 itself or the cassette 21 is pivoted through an angle to the vertical which is greater than the angle α. With this overall inclination by the angle β to the vertical, the cassette 21 with the tray 14 is moved vertically upwards into the area of the emptying magazine 18 by means of the lifting device 23 .

In the area of the transfer position 20 the cassette 21 is detached from the lifting device 23 and connected to the pivoting device 27 . For this purpose, locking bolts of the locking device 28 are moved from a waiting position into the locking position, so that the cassette 21 is firmly connected to the shaft 29 of the pivoting device 27 . The shaft 29 is connected to the machine base frame 33 at the same time, so that a charge dissipation any electrostatic charge present in the tray 14 occurs. By rotating the shaft 29, the pivoting device 27 performs a pivoting movement, so that the tray 14 is upside down above the emptying magazine 18. The closing element of the tray 14 is opened so that the products fall down out of the container 14 into the emptying magazine 18 . Since the electrostatic charge is dissipated shortly beforehand via the shaft 29 and the machine base frame 33, there is no longer any attraction between the products and the tray 14, so that the tray 14 is completely emptied and there are no products on the floor 5 or on the walls 3, 4, 6 stay behind. After the tray 14 has been completely emptied, the cassette 21 with the emptied tray 16 pivots back. The cassette 21 with the emptied tray 16 is detached from the pivoting device 27 and reconnected to the lifting device 23 . The lift device 23 transports the emptied tray 16 down to the delivery position 19. During the entire emptying process from the collection position 17 to the area of the emptying magazine 18 and back to the delivery position 19, the tray 14, 16 in the cassette can be moved up and down and pivoted 21 held.

As soon as the cassette 21 is back in the delivery position 19 after a tray 14, 16 has been emptied, which corresponds to the pick-up position 17, a new full tray 14 is picked up by the feed device 11 and positioned in the cassette 21, while at the same time the one in the cassette 21 located emptied tray 16 is pushed out of the cassette 21 or pushed. Pushing out or ejecting can take place through the full tray 14 and/or through a push-off element. The emptied tray 16 is pushed out of the cassette 21 onto the lift device 31, by means of which the emptied tray 16 is transported from the level of the feed device 11 down into the area of the removal device 12 and delivered to it.

As already mentioned, not all of the steps mentioned for the preferred execution of the method are necessary. It is crucial for a simple and reliable method that the tray 14, 16 is held permanently in the cassette 21 during the entire emptying process, ie during transport and emptying. In addition, it is necessary for complete emptying that the electrostatic charge generated in the process on trays 14, 16 must be dissipated.

Claims (8)

1. Tray (1) for receiving rod-shaped articles of the tobacco-processing industry, comprising a tray body (2) formed by a rear wall (6), two side walls (3, 4) arranged at least substantially parallel and spaced-apart from each other and a bottom wall (5) providing a receiving space (7) for the products which is designed to be open to the front and above, wherein the tray (1) may be designed as a shaft tray, characterised in that the tray (1) is at least partially constructed of electrically conductive plastic material, wherein the electrically conductive plastic material is an intrinsically conductive polymer, in particular a doped intrinsically conductive polymer.
2. Tray (1) according to claim 1, characterised in that the entire tray (1) is constructed of electrically conductive plastic material.
3. Tray (1) according to claim 1 or 2, characterised in that it is constructed in one piece and is manufactured by injection moulding.
4. Tray (1) according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterised in that the rear wall (6) of the tray (1) is inclined on its inside by at least 1 degree from the perpendicular with respect to the vertical outer side, wherein the wall thickness of the rear wall (6) increases from top to bottom towards the bottom wall (5) and/or that the bottom wall (5) of the tray (1) is inclined on its inside by at least 1 degree from the horizontal with respect to the horizontal outer side, wherein the wall thickness of the bottom wall (5) decreases from front to rear towards the back wall (6).
5. Tray discharging device (10) for automatically discharging trays (1, 14) filled with rod-shaped articles according to any one of claims 1 to 3, into a production or packaging machine of the tobacco-processing industry, comprising a feed device (11) for feeding in trays (14) filled with rod-shaped articles,

   a discharge station (32) with a discharge position for overhead emptying of the trays (14),

   a removal device (12) for transporting away the emptied trays (16) and

   a transfer unit (13) for transporting the trays (14, 16) within the tray discharging device (10) during a discharge cycle,

   characterised in that on at least one device, selected from feed device (11), discharge station (32), removal device (12) and transfer unit (13), at least one charge discharging element is provided, which is configured and adapted to establish a contact between the tray (1) and the earthed machine base frame (33).
6. Tray discharging device (10) according to claim 5, characterised in that the transfer device (13) has a pivoting mechanism executing a pivoting movement limited to 180° with a pivot cassette (21) pivotable about a fixed pivot axis S which is configured and adapted for fixing, pivoting and releasing the trays (14, 16), wherein the pivot axis S is the charge discharging element.
7. Tray discharging device (10) according to claim 5 or 6, characterised in that at least one of a feed device (11) and removal device (12) is configured as a conveyor belt, wherein the conveyor belt consists of an electrically conductive plastic material.
8. Method for automatically discharging trays (14) filled with rod-shaped articles, comprising the steps

   - feeding in trays (14) filled with rod-shaped articles by means of a feed device (11),

   - transporting the trays (14) from the feed device (11) into a discharge position of a discharge station (32) by means of a transfer unit (13), so that the trays are overhead in the discharge position, overhead emptying of the trays,

   - transporting the empty trays (16) by means of the transfer unit (13) from the discharge station (32) onto a removal device (12), and

   - transporting away the empty trays (16) by means of the removal device (12),

   characterised in that the trays (14, 16) are trays according to any one of claims 1 to 3 and that charge discharging takes place in at least one of the method steps.

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