EP2935013B1 - Packing machine and packing method for producing an inner container by folding an inner blank about a wrapped group of tobacco articles - Google Patents
Packing machine and packing method for producing an inner container by folding an inner blank about a wrapped group of tobacco articles Download PDFInfo
- Publication number
- EP2935013B1 EP2935013B1 EP13830059.5A EP13830059A EP2935013B1 EP 2935013 B1 EP2935013 B1 EP 2935013B1 EP 13830059 A EP13830059 A EP 13830059A EP 2935013 B1 EP2935013 B1 EP 2935013B1
- Authority
- EP
- European Patent Office
- Prior art keywords
- panel
- folding
- packing
- respect
- blank
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
- Not-in-force
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Classifications
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- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
- B65B—MACHINES, APPARATUS OR DEVICES FOR, OR METHODS OF, PACKAGING ARTICLES OR MATERIALS; UNPACKING
- B65B19/00—Packaging rod-shaped or tubular articles susceptible to damage by abrasion or pressure, e.g. cigarettes, cigars, macaroni, spaghetti, drinking straws or welding electrodes
- B65B19/02—Packaging cigarettes
- B65B19/12—Inserting the cigarettes, or wrapped groups thereof, into preformed containers
- B65B19/20—Inserting the cigarettes, or wrapped groups thereof, into preformed containers into boxes with hinged lids
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- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
- B65B—MACHINES, APPARATUS OR DEVICES FOR, OR METHODS OF, PACKAGING ARTICLES OR MATERIALS; UNPACKING
- B65B19/00—Packaging rod-shaped or tubular articles susceptible to damage by abrasion or pressure, e.g. cigarettes, cigars, macaroni, spaghetti, drinking straws or welding electrodes
- B65B19/02—Packaging cigarettes
- B65B19/22—Wrapping the cigarettes; Packaging the cigarettes in containers formed by folding wrapping material around formers
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- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
- B65B—MACHINES, APPARATUS OR DEVICES FOR, OR METHODS OF, PACKAGING ARTICLES OR MATERIALS; UNPACKING
- B65B19/00—Packaging rod-shaped or tubular articles susceptible to damage by abrasion or pressure, e.g. cigarettes, cigars, macaroni, spaghetti, drinking straws or welding electrodes
- B65B19/02—Packaging cigarettes
- B65B19/22—Wrapping the cigarettes; Packaging the cigarettes in containers formed by folding wrapping material around formers
- B65B19/223—Wrapping the cigarettes; Packaging the cigarettes in containers formed by folding wrapping material around formers in a curved path; in a combination of straight and curved paths, e.g. on rotary tables or other endless conveyors
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- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
- B65B—MACHINES, APPARATUS OR DEVICES FOR, OR METHODS OF, PACKAGING ARTICLES OR MATERIALS; UNPACKING
- B65B19/00—Packaging rod-shaped or tubular articles susceptible to damage by abrasion or pressure, e.g. cigarettes, cigars, macaroni, spaghetti, drinking straws or welding electrodes
- B65B19/02—Packaging cigarettes
- B65B19/22—Wrapping the cigarettes; Packaging the cigarettes in containers formed by folding wrapping material around formers
- B65B19/228—Preparing and feeding blanks
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- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
- B65B—MACHINES, APPARATUS OR DEVICES FOR, OR METHODS OF, PACKAGING ARTICLES OR MATERIALS; UNPACKING
- B65B43/00—Forming, feeding, opening or setting-up containers or receptacles in association with packaging
- B65B43/08—Forming three-dimensional containers from sheet material
- B65B43/10—Forming three-dimensional containers from sheet material by folding the material
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- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
- B65B—MACHINES, APPARATUS OR DEVICES FOR, OR METHODS OF, PACKAGING ARTICLES OR MATERIALS; UNPACKING
- B65B43/00—Forming, feeding, opening or setting-up containers or receptacles in association with packaging
- B65B43/24—Breaking creases to facilitate setting-up cartons
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- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
- B65B—MACHINES, APPARATUS OR DEVICES FOR, OR METHODS OF, PACKAGING ARTICLES OR MATERIALS; UNPACKING
- B65B49/00—Devices for folding or bending wrappers around contents
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
- B65B—MACHINES, APPARATUS OR DEVICES FOR, OR METHODS OF, PACKAGING ARTICLES OR MATERIALS; UNPACKING
- B65B49/00—Devices for folding or bending wrappers around contents
- B65B49/08—Reciprocating or oscillating folders
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
- B65B—MACHINES, APPARATUS OR DEVICES FOR, OR METHODS OF, PACKAGING ARTICLES OR MATERIALS; UNPACKING
- B65B51/00—Devices for, or methods of, sealing or securing package folds or closures; Devices for gathering or twisting wrappers, or necks of bags
- B65B51/02—Applying adhesives or sealing liquids
Definitions
- the present invention relates to a packing machine and a packing method for producing an inner container by folding an inner blank about a wrapped group of tobacco articles
- the rigid packages of cigarettes with a hinged lid are currently the most widespread cigarette packages in the market as they are of simple construction, easy and practical to use and offer good mechanical protection to the cigarettes contained within.
- a package of cigarettes with rigid slide-opening comprises an inner container, which is adapted to accommodate a wrapped group of cigarettes in a wrapping sheet of metalized paper and is housed within an outer container so as to be able to slide with respect to the outer container itself between a closed configuration, wherein the inner container is inserted inside the outer container, and an open configuration, wherein the inner container is extracted from the outer container.
- a rigid slide-open package of cigarettes and with a hinged lid wherein the inner container (or, alternatively, the outer container) is provided with a hinged lid to rotate between a closed position and an open position of an open top end of the inner container.
- the lid has a connecting tab that at one end is integral with the lid and at the opposite end is integral with the outer container (or, alternatively, to the inner container) to control "automatically" (i.e. without the user having to touch the lid) the rotation of the lid by sliding the inner container with respect to the outer container.
- the connecting tab which "automatically" controls the rotation of the lid has a top end that is glued to a top or rear wall of the lid and a bottom end that is integral with a rear wall of the outer container (i.e. a seamless extension of the rear wall of the outer container).
- the known packing machines used for producing packages of cigarettes of the slide-opening type and with a hinged lid are not "flexible", i.e. it is very complicated to modify a packing machine which produces a certain type of slide-opening cigarette package (with or without a hinged lid) to produce another type of slide-opening cigarette package (with or without a hinged lid).
- the patent US4487596 describes a packing machine and a packing method for producing a package of tobacco articles with a hinged lid by folding a single blank.
- Purpose of the present invention is to provide a packing machine and a packing method for producing a package of tobacco articles of the type with a hinged lid, which machine and packing method are free from the drawbacks described above and, in particular, are simple and economical to produce.
- a packing machine and a packing method for producing an inner container by folding an inner blank about a wrapped group of tobacco articles are provided as claimed in the appended claims.
- the package 1 of cigarettes shown in Figure 1 comprises a wrapped group 2 of cigarettes (visible schematically in Figure 8 ), i.e. a group of cigarettes wrapped in a sheet of metalized wrapping paper.
- the package 1 of cigarettes comprises an inner container 3 of the rigid type, inside of which the wrapped group 2 is directly placed, and an outer container 4 of the rigid type, which houses in a sliding manner the inner container 3 to allow the inner container 3 itself to slide with respect to the outer container 4 so as to move with a translational movement between a closed configuration (illustrated in Figure 1 ), wherein the inner container 3 is fully inserted inside the outer container 4, and an open configuration (shown in Figures 2 and 3 ); wherein the inner container 3 is partially extracted from the outer container 4 and allows access to the wrapped group 2 of cigarettes.
- the inner container 3 is parallelepiped-shaped with rectangular cross section, is cup-shaped and has an open upper end 5.
- the inner container 3 comprises a lid 6, which is cup-shaped and is hinged to the inner container 3 along a hinge 7 to rotate, with respect to the inner container 3 itself, between an open position (shown in Figures 2 and 3 ) and a closed position (shown in Figure 1 ) of the open top end 5.
- the inner container 3 has a bottom wall 8 opposite to the open upper end 5, a front wall 9 and a rear wall 10 parallel and opposite one to the other, and two lateral walls 11 parallel to each other and interposed between the walls 9 and 10. Between the walls 9 and 10 and the lateral walls 11 are defined four longitudinal edges while between the walls 9, 10 and 11 and the bottom wall 8 are defined four transverse edges.
- the lid 6 is cup-shaped and has a top wall 12 (which, when the lid 6 is in the closed position, is opposite and parallel to the bottom wall 8 of the inner container 3), a rear wall 13 which is connected with the rear wall 10 of the inner container 3 by way of the hinge 7, and two lateral walls 14 parallel one to the other. It is important to note that the lateral walls 14 of the lid 6 are arranged inside the lateral walls 11 of the inner container 3 as is clearly illustrated in Figures 4 and 5 .
- the outer container 4 is cup-shaped, is of parallelepiped shape with rectangular cross section, and has a bottom wall 15 opposite to an open top end 16, a front wall 17 and a rear wall 18 opposite and parallel with respect to each other, and two lateral walls 19 parallel one to the other and interposed between the walls 17 and 18. Between the walls 17 and 18 and the lateral walls 19 four longitudinal edges are defined while between the walls 17, 18 and 19 and the bottom wall 15 four transverse edges are defined.
- all the transverse edges are straight, the rear longitudinal edges (i.e. arranged on opposite sides of the rear walls 10 and 18) are straight, and the front longitudinal edges (i.e. arranged on opposite sides of the front walls 9 and 17) are rounded.
- the front longitudinal edges are beveled instead of being rounded, or all edges (therefore including the front longitudinal edges) are straight.
- the rear wall 13 of the lid 6 (or in an alternative embodiment not shown, the top wall 12 of the lid 6) is connectable to the rear wall 18 of the outer container 4 by way of a connecting tab 20 to "automatically" control (i.e. without the user having to touch the lid 6) the rotation of the lid 6 by way of the sliding of the inner container 3 with respect to the outer container 4.
- the connecting tab 20 that mechanically couples the rear wall 13 of the lid 6 to the rear wall 18 of the outer container 4
- the lid 6 is pushed by the inner container 3 from the closed position to the open position in an "automatic" way (i.e.
- the outer container 4 has a through window 21 that is formed astride the front wall 17, of a lateral wall 19 and of the rear wall 18 and through which an underlying lateral wall 11 of the inner container 3 is accessible to allow the application of a thrust to the inner container 3 in order to move the inner container 3 between the closed configuration and the open configuration.
- the connecting tab 20 comprises a top portion 22 that is glued (i.e. stably connected) to the rear wall 13 of the lid 6, and a bottom portion 23 that is connected to the top portion 22 along a pre-fold first fold line and is connected to a top edge of the rear wall 18 of the outer container 4 along a pre-fold second fold line.
- the connecting tab 20 is a seamless continuation of the rear wall 18 of the outer container 4.
- the connecting tab 20 also performs the end-of-stroke function since it limits the sliding of the inner container 3 with respect to the outer container 4; namely, the connecting tab 20 defines a maximum opening position (i.e. of maximum extraction of the inner container 3 from the outer container 4 and therefore of maximum rotation of the lid 6 about the hinge 7) further blocking the sliding of the inner container 3 (and therefore the further rotation of the lid 6 about the hinge 7) once reaching the maximum opening position thereof.
- the containers 3 and 4 of the package 1 of cigarettes shown in Figures 1 to 5 are obtained from corresponding blanks 24 and, respectively, 25 illustrated in Figures 6 and 7 .
- Each of the blanks 24 and 25 comprises, among other things, a number of elements, which will be marked, where possible, with accented reference numbers equal to the reference numbers as for the corresponding walls of the respective container 3 and 4.
- the inner blank 24 has two longitudinal fold lines 26 and a number of transverse fold lines 27, which define, between the two longitudinal fold lines 26, at least one panel 9' which forms the front wall 9 of the inner container 3, a panel 8' which forms the bottom wall 8 of the inner container 3, a panel 10' which forms the rear wall 10 of the inner container 3, a panel 13' which forms the rear wall 13 of the lid 6, a panel 12' which forms the top wall 12 of the lid 6, a reinforcing panel 12" which is glued to the inside of the panel 12', a reinforcing panel 13" which is glued to the inside of the panel 13'.
- the inner blank has two longitudinal fold lines and a number of transverse fold lines, which define, between the two longitudinal fold lines, at least one panel which forms the front wall 9 of the inner container 3, a panel that forms the bottom wall 8 of the inner container 3, a panel which forms the rear wall 10 of the inner container 3, a panel which forms the rear wall 13 of the lid 6, and a panel that forms the top wall 12 of the lid 6. Therefore, in said further embodiment, the blank is similar to the blank 24 of Figure 6 but devoid of the reinforcing panels 12" and 13". Similarly, one or more of the above reinforcing panels 12" and 13" may be provided to strengthen the portion on which they will be superimposed.
- the panel 9' has two wings 11', which form an outer portion of the respective lateral walls 11 of the inner container 3, are arranged on opposite sides of the panel 9', and are connected to-the panel 9' by longitudinal fold lines 26. Between the panel 9' and each wing 11' a number of longitudinal fold lines 26 that define a corresponding longitudinal front edge of rounded shape are present.
- the panel 10' has two wings 11", which form an inner portion of the respective lateral walls 11 of the inner container 3, are arranged on opposite sides of the panel 10', and are connected to the panel 10' by longitudinal fold lines 26.
- the panel 13' has two wings 14' which form the respective lateral walls 14 of the lid 6, are arranged on opposite sides of the panel 13', and are connected to the panel 13' by longitudinal fold lines 26.
- Each wing 11" has a tab 28 which is connected to the wing 11' by a transverse fold line 27, is folded by 90° with respect to the_wing 11", and is glued to an inner surface of the panel 8'.
- Each wing 14' has a tab 29 that is connected to the wing 14' by a transverse fold line 27, is folded by 90° with respect to the wing 14', and is glued to an inner surface of the panel 12'.
- the outer blank 25 has two longitudinal fold lines 30 and a number of transverse fold lines 31, which define, between the two longitudinal fold lines 30, a reinforcing panel 17" that is glued to the inside of the panel 17', a panel 17' forming the front wall 17 of the outer container 4, a panel 15' forming the bottom wall 15 of the outer container 4, a panel 18' forming the rear wall 18 of the outer container 4, and a reinforcing panel 18" that is glued to the inside of the panel 18' and is "U" shaped having the connecting tab 20 at the center.
- the panel 17' has two wings 19', which form an outer portion of the respective lateral walls 19 of the outer container 4, are arranged on opposite sides of the panel 17', and are connected to the panel 17' by longitudinal fold lines 30. Between the panel 17' and each wing 19' a number of longitudinal fold lines 30 that define a corresponding longitudinal front edge of rounded shape are present.
- the panel 18' has two wings 19", which form an inner portion of the respective lateral walls 19 of the outer container 4, are arranged on opposite sides of the panel 18', and are connected to the panel 18' by longitudinal fold lines 30.
- Each wing 19" has a tab 32 which is connected to the wing 19' by a transverse fold line 31, is folded by 90° with respect to the wing 19", and is glued to an inner surface of the panel 15'.
- a wing 19' and in a corresponding wing 19" through “U” shaped openings are formed that are intended to form the window 21; in correspondence of said through-openings two respective reinforcing tabs 33 are arranged that are folded about a corresponding longitudinal fold line 30 by 180°, and respectively onto the panel 17' and onto the panel 18' to be glued respectively to the inside of the panel 17' and of the panel 18'.
- FIG 8 a cigarette packing machine 34 is illustrated that produces the packages 1 of cigarettes of the type described above and illustrated in Figures 1 to 3 .
- the packing machine 34 comprises a packing unit 35 that produces the wrapped groups 2 of cigarettes, a subsequent packing unit 36 that produces the inner containers 3 by folding the inner blanks 24 about corresponding wrapped groups 2 of cigarettes received by the packing unit 35, a packing unit 37 that produces the outer containers 4 by folding the outer blanks 25 about corresponding inner containers 3 received by the packing unit 36, and a transfer unit 38 which receives in input the inner containers 3 from the packing unit 36 in correspondence to an input station 39 and feeds in output the inner containers 3 to the packing unit 37 in correspondence to an output station 40.
- the packing unit 36 comprises a packing conveyor 41 which is provided with a number of packing pockets 42 (shown in Figure 14 ), each of which is adapted to house an inner blank 24 to feed the inner blank 24 by steps (i.e. with intermittent motion composed by a succession of motion steps intercalated with a corresponding succession of stopping steps) along a packing path P1 that extends between an input station S1 and an output station S19 through a succession of work stations from S2 to S18 (illustrated in figures 10 and 11 ).
- steps i.e. with intermittent motion composed by a succession of motion steps intercalated with a corresponding succession of stopping steps
- a hopper (not shown) which houses a stack of inner blanks 24 and cyclically feeds the inner blanks 24 from a bottom outlet towards the packing pockets 42 of the packing conveyor 41; in particular, each inner blank 24 arranged in correspondence to' the bottom outlet of the hopper is picked up by a suction gripping head that moves vertically and is supported to an underlying packing pocket 42 of the packing conveyor 41 that stops and waits in the input station S1 in alignment with the bottom outlet.
- the packing conveyor 41 feeds each inner blank 24 along the packing path P1 always transversely, i.e. always with the transverse fold lines 27 parallel to the feed direction; in other words, the packing conveyor 41 does not ever vary the orientation of each inner blank 24 with respect to the feed direction, and then in all the points of the packing path P1 each inner blank 24 has always its transverse fold lines 27 parallel to the feed direction (and thus its own longitudinal fold lines 26 perpendicular to the feed direction).
- Always maintaining a constant orientation of each inner blank 24 along the packing path P1 allows to simplify both the folding operations, and the structure of the packing conveyor 41.
- the packing conveyor 41 is constituted by a conveyor belt that is wrapped about two end pulleys and supports a number of packing pockets 42; accordingly, the packing path P1 has an "U" shape and extends between the input station S1 arranged along a straight initial portion of the packing path P1 and the output station S19 arranged along a straight end portion of the packing path P1 which is connected to the straight initial portion by way of an intermediate semicircular portion.
- a folding device 43 is provided having fixed folding profiles (i.e. folding helixes that are devoid of movable parts and perform the folding operation while the inner blank 24 moves in the packing path P1 and thus exploiting the feeding movement of the inner blank 24); the folding device 43 folds the panel 12' by more than 90° (approximately by 140°-160°), with respect to panel 13', about a corresponding transverse fold line 27 in one direction and then in the opposite direction so that at the end of the folding device 43 the inner blank 24 is flat again.
- the folding device 43 performs two opposite folding operations (i.e. that cancel each other) having a flex function (i.e.
- the function of the folding device 43 is not performing an actual folding of the inner blank 24, but to prepare the inner blank 24 for the subsequent folding operations (described below).
- a folding device 44 is provided having fixed folding profiles (i.e. folding helixes that are devoid of movable parts and perform the folding operation while the inner blank 24 moves in the packing path P1 and thus exploiting the feeding movement of the inner blank 24) ; the folding device 44 folds the tabs 29 by 90°, with respect to the wings 14', about a corresponding transverse fold line 27 in one direction and then in the opposite direction so that at the end of the folding device 44 the blank 24 is flat again.
- the folding device 44 performs two opposite folding operations (i.e. that cancel each other) having a flex function (i.e. weakening in order to considerably reduce the residual spring back force) the inner blank 24 along the corresponding transverse fold line 27. Therefore, the function of the folding device 44 is not performing an actual folding of the inner blank 24, but to prepare the inner blank 24 for the subsequent folding operations (described below).
- a folding device 45 is provided having fixed folding profiles (i.e. folding helixes that are devoid of movable parts and perform the folding operation while the inner blank 24 moves in the packing path P1 and thus exploiting the feeding movement of the inner blank 24); the folding device 45 folds the panel 12" by 90°, with respect to the panel 12' and about a corresponding transverse fold line 27.
- a gumming device 46 (typically provided with nozzles that spray gumming glue) is provided which deposits glue points 47 (illustrated in Figure 11 ) on the panel 12' and on the panel 13'.
- a folding device 48 is provided having movable parts (i.e. parts that move to perform the folding operation while the inner blank 24 is stopped waiting in the work station S14); the folding device 48 folds the tabs 29 by 90°, with respect to the wings 14' and about a corresponding transverse fold line 27, folds of the wings 14' by 90°, with respect to the panel 13' and about corresponding longitudinal fold lines 26, folds the panel 12' by 90°, with respect to the panel 13' and about a corresponding transverse fold line 27 (bringing the panel 12' onto the tabs 29 to which is glued by the effect of the glue 47).
- a folding device 54 having movable parts (i.e. parts that move to perform the folding operation while the inner blank 24 moves along the packing path P1 through the work station from S14 to S17); the folding device 54 folds by further 90° (for a total of 180°) the panel 12" with respect to the panel 12' and about a corresponding transverse fold line 27 (bringing the panel 12" onto the panel 12'), and folds the panel 13" by 90° with respect to the panel 12' and about a corresponding transverse fold line 27 (bringing the panel 13" onto the panel 13' to which is glued by the effect of the glue 47).
- movable parts i.e. parts that move to perform the folding operation while the inner blank 24 moves along the packing path P1 through the work station from S14 to S17
- the folding device 54 folds by further 90° (for a total of 180°) the panel 12" with respect to the panel 12' and about a corresponding transverse fold line 27 (bringing the panel 12" onto the panel 12'), and folds the panel 13"
- the folding device 48 comprises two twin folding bodies 49 (shown in Figure 12 ) which are arranged on opposite sides of the inner blank 24 and are movable in a work direction D1 perpendicular to the packing path P1.
- the two folding bodies 49 are movable, next to the inner blank 24, along a vertical work direction D1, perpendicular to the packing path P1.
- the two folding bodies 49 first fold the tabs 29 by 90°, with respect to the wings 14' and about a corresponding transverse fold line 27, fold the wings 14' by 90°, with respect to the panel 13' and about corresponding longitudinal fold lines 26, and fold the panel 12' by 90°, with respect to panel 13' and about a corresponding transverse fold line 27 bringing the panel 12' onto the tabs 29, while the folding bodies 49 are moving with a continuous movement along the work direction D1.
- the two folding bodies 49 are moved by the corresponding pentalateral articulated elements (partially illustrated in Figure 12 ) operated by two cams.
- Each folding body 49 has a top member 50, an intermediate member 51, and a bottom member 52 which are arranged in vertical positions (i.e.
- the folding device 48 comprises a contrast member 53 (shown in Figure 12 ) that is mounted in a rotary way to rotate about an axis A1 of rotation parallel to the packing path P1 and has two lateral appendixes 55 to provide a contrast to the folds performed by two folding bodies (49).
- the folding device 54 comprises a series of folding members 56 (only one of which is shown in Figure 13 ), each of which is mounted in a rotary way to rotate about an axis A2 of rotation parallel to the packing path P1 between the work station from S14 to S17 and is coupled to a corresponding pad 57 which is arranged on the opposite side of the inner blank 24.
- the folding device 48 comprises two twin folding bodies 49 that are stably mounted at the work station S14 as the corresponding articulated pentalateral elements are hinged to a fixed frame of the packing machine 34.
- the folding device 54 comprises six folding members 56 (and of course the six corresponding pads 57) which are mounted on an end pulley of the packing conveyor 41 to rotate integrally with the end pulley, about a center axis A3 of rotation perpendicular to the packing path P1.
- each folding member 56 (together with the corresponding pad 57) engages an inner blank 24 in the work station S14 and accompanies the inner blank 24 itself for a certain segment of the packing path P1 until the work station S17.
- the two folding bodies 49 are arranged below the inner blank 24 and are then moved from the bottom upwards along the vertical work direction D1 with a continuous movement so that initially the top members 50 of the two folding bodies 49 fold the tabs 29 by 90°, with respect to the wings 14' and about a corresponding transverse fold line 27, then the intermediate members 51 of the two folding bodies 49 fold the wings 14' by 90°, with respect to the panel 13' and about corresponding longitudinal fold lines 26, and finally the bottom members 52 of the two folding bodies 49 fold the panel 12' with respect to the panel 13' and about a corresponding transverse fold line 27 (bringing the panel 12' onto the tabs 29 to which is glued by the effect of the glue 47). It is important to note that the members 50, 51 and 52 of the two folding bodies 49 are arranged at different heights along the vertical work direction D1 and therefore their action is staggered over time as the two folding bodies 49 are raising from the bottom upwards along the vertical work direction D1.
- the contrast member 53 rotating about the axis A1 of rotation, rests on the panel 10', on the panel 13' and on the panel 12' so that their own lateral appendixes 55 rest on the wings 14'; in this way, the lateral appendixes 55 provide a contrast for the folding of the tabs 29 carried out by the top members 50 of the two folding bodies 49.
- the contrast member 53 rotating about the axis A1 of rotation, moves slightly backwards setting free the wings 14' (i.e.
- the contrast member 53 is still resting on the panel 13' to provide a contrast for both the folding of the wings 14' performed by the intermediate members 51 of the two folding bodies 49 and both for the subsequent folding of the panel 12' with respect to the panel 13' performed by the bottom members 52 of the two folding bodies 49.
- the folding member 56 While the contrast member 53 moves away from the inner blank 24, the folding member 56, rotating about the axis A2 of rotation, rests on the inner blank 24 further determining the simultaneous folding of the panel 12" by 90°, with respect to the panel 12' (bringing the panel 12" onto the panel 12') and the folding of the panel 13" by 90°, with respect to the panel 12" (bringing the panel 13" onto the panel 13' to which is glued by the effect of the glue 47).
- the folding member 56 rests on the panel 13" (which is superposed to the panel 13') and clamps, together with the underlying pad 57, the panels 13" and 13'. In other words, in the final position, the two panels 13" and 13' are clamped (i.e.
- the packing unit 36 comprises a packing conveyor 58 which is provided with a number of packing pockets 59 (illustrated schematically in Figure 15 ), each of which is adapted to house an inner blank 24 and the corresponding wrapped group 2 of cigarettes for feeding the inner blank 24 and the wrapped group 2 of cigarettes along a packing path P2 that extends between an input station S20 and an output station S22.
- an inner blank 24 partially pre-folded and coming from the packing conveyor 41 is fed into a packing pocket 59 causing a further folding of the inner blank 24 itself.
- a wrapped group 2 of cigarettes is fed inside a packing pocket 59 to be coupled to the previously fed inner blank 24; in particular in the feed station S21 a rear wall of the wrapped group 2 of cigarettes rests on the panel 10' of the inner blank 24.
- the inner container 3 (formed by folding the inner blank 24 about the wrapped group 2 of cigarettes) is extracted from the packing pocket 59 and proceeds towards the packing unit 37.
- a folding device 60 which folds the tabs 28 of the inner blank 24 by 90°, with respect to the wings 11", and then, by inserting the inner blank 24 into the packing pocket 59, determines the folding of the panel 8' by 90°, with respect to the panel 10' and the folding of the two wings 11" by 90°, with respect to the panel 10'; in other words, after the folding of the tabs 28 by 90°, the input of the inner blank 24 in the packing pocket 59 determines the folding of the panel 8' by 90°, and of the two wings 11" by 90°, with respect to the panel 10' and in this way the tabs 28 rest on the panel 8'.
- a folding device 96 is arranged, which folds the panel 9' by 90°, with respect to the panel 8' and about a corresponding transverse fold line 27.
- the folding of the inner blank 24 is completed in the output station S22 simultaneously with the extraction of the inner container 3 from the packing pocket 59: during the extraction of the inner container 3 from the packing pocket 59 a folding device 62 folds the wings 11' by 90°, with respect to the panel 9', onto the wings 11" and about corresponding longitudinal fold lines 26 completing the formation of the lateral walls 11 of the inner container 3; preferably, a gumming device (not shown) is arranged immediately upstream from the folding device 62 for depositing glue between the wings 11' and 11" immediately before folding the wings 11'. Downstream from the output station S22 a drying conveyor (shown schematically in Figure 8 ) is arranged which transfers the inner containers 3 towards the packing unit 37.
- an opening device 63 upstream from the feed station S21 an opening device 63 is arranged that by rotating the lid 6 of each inner blank 24 about the corresponding hinge 7 moves the lid 6 from the closing position to the opening position so that in the feed station S21 the respective wrapped group 2 of cigarettes can be inserted more easily into the inner blank 24; in particular, in the feed station S21 the wrapped group 2 of cigarettes can be inserted with a substantially axial (i.e. longitudinal) movement into the inner blank 24. Consequently, downstream from the feed station S21 a closing device 64 is arranged that by rotating the lid 6 of each inner blank 24 about the corresponding hinge 7 moves the lid 6 from the open position to the closed position before continuing folding the inner blank 24.
- the packing conveyor 58 is constituted by a rotating wheel which rotates by steps about a central axis of rotation 65 arranged horizontally. Consequently, the packing path P2 that extends from the input station S20 to the output station S22 has a circular shape.
- the packing unit 36 comprises a transfer conveyor 66 which transfers the pre-folded inner blanks 24 from the output station S19 of the packing conveyor 41 to the input station S20 of the packing conveyor 58.
- a gumming device 67 that deposits glue between the tabs 28 and the panel 8' of the inner blank 24 is arranged.
- one inner blank 24 at a time is fed to the packing conveyor 41 in the input station S1 of the packing path P1, and the transfer conveyor 66 transfers two inner blanks 24 at a time from the packing conveyor 41 to the packing conveyor 58; in this embodiment, the packing conveyor 58 at each step treats two inner blanks 24 at a time.
- two inner blanks 24 at a time are fed to the packing conveyor 41 in the input station S1 of the packing path P1.
- the packing unit 37 comprises a packing conveyor 68 that is provided with a number of packing pockets 69 (illustrated in Figure 19 ), each of which is adapted to house an outer blank 25 to feed the outer blank 25 by steps (i.e. with intermittent motion composed by a succession of motion phases intercalated with a corresponding succession of stop phases) along a packing path P3 that extends between an input station S23 and an output station S37 through a succession of work stations from S24 to S36 (illustrated in figures 17 and 18 ).
- a hopper (not shown) is provided, which houses a stack of outer blanks 25 and cyclically feeds the outer blanks 25 from a bottom outlet towards the packing pockets 69 of the packing conveyor 68; in particular, each outer blank 25 arranged at the bottom outlet of the hopper is picked up by a suction gripping head that moves vertically and rests on an underlying packing pocket 69 of the packing conveyor 68 that is stopped waiting in the input station S23 in alignment with the bottom output.
- the packing conveyor 68 advances each outer blank 25 along the packing path P3 always transversely, or always with the transverse fold lines 31 parallel to the feed direction, in other words, the packing conveyor 68 does not ever vary the orientation of each outer blank 25 with respect to the feed direction and therefore in all the points of the packing path P3 each outer blank 25 always has its transverse fold lines 31 parallel to the feed direction (and thus their own longitudinal fold lines 30 perpendicular to the feed direction).
- always maintaining a constant orientation of each outer blank 25 along the packing path P3 allows to simplify both the folding operations and the structure of the packing conveyor 68.
- the packing conveyor 68 is constituted by a conveyor belt that is wrapped about two end pulleys and supports a number of packing pockets 69; accordingly, the packing path P3 has a "U" shape and extends between the input station S23 arranged along an initial portion of the rectilinear packing path P3 and the output station S37 arranged along a final portion of the rectilinear packing path P3 that is connected to the initial straight portion by way of an intermediate semicircular portion.
- a gumming device 70 (typically provided with gumming nozzles that spray glue) is provided which deposits glue points 71 (illustrated in Figure 18 ) on the panel 17' and on the panel 18'.
- a folding device 72 is provided having fixed folding profiles (i.e. folding helixes that are devoid of movable parts and perform the folding operation while the outer blank 25 moves in the packing path P3 and thus exploiting the feeding movement of the outer blank 25); the folding device 72 folds the panel 17" by 180°, with respect to the panel 17', about a corresponding transverse fold line 31, and onto the panel 17' itself (to which is glued by the effect of the glue 71), and the folding device 72 folds the panel 18" by 180°, with respect to the panel 18', about a corresponding transverse fold line 31, and onto the panel 18' itself (to which is glued by the effect of the glue 71).
- the folding device 72 folds the panel 17" by 180°, with respect to the panel 17', about a corresponding transverse fold line 31, and onto the panel 17' itself (to which is glued by the effect of the glue 71).
- the folding device 72 folds the bottom portion 23 of the connecting tab 20 by 180°, with respect to panel 18', about a corresponding transverse fold line 31 in one direction and then in the opposite direction so that at the end of the folding device 72 the bottom portion 23 of the connecting tab 20 is again coplanar with the panel 18'.
- the folding device 72 performs two opposite folding operations (i.e. that cancel each other) on the bottom portion 23 of the connecting tab 20 having a flex function (or weakening to considerably reduce the residual spring back force) the outer blank 25 along the corresponding transverse fold line 31. Therefore, the function of the folding device 72 is not performing an actual folding of the bottom portion 23 of the connecting tab 20, but preparing the bottom portion 23 of the connecting tab 20 to the successive folding operations (described below).
- a folding device 73 is provided having fixed folding profiles (i.e. folding helixes that are devoid of movable parts and perform the folding operation while the outer blank 25 moves in the packing path P3 and thus exploiting the feeding movement of the outer blank 25) ; the folding device 73 folds the top portion 22 by 90°, of the connecting tab 20, about a corresponding transverse fold line 31, with respect to the bottom portion 23 of the connecting tab 20 in one direction and then in the opposite direction so that at the end of the folding device 73 the top portion 22 of the connecting tab 20 is again coplanar with the bottom portion 23 of the connecting tab 20.
- the folding device 73 performs two opposite folding operations (i.e.
- the function of the folding device 73 is not to perform an effective folding of the top portion 22 of the connecting tab 20, but to prepare the top portion 22 of the connecting tab 20 to the successive folding operations (described below).
- a gumming device 74 (typically provided with gumming nozzles that spray glue) is provided which deposits glue points 75 (illustrated in Figure 18 ) on the panel 17' and on the panel 18'.
- a folding device 76 is provided having movable parts (i.e. parts that move to perform the folding operation while the outer blank 25 is stopped waiting in the work station S31); the folding device 76 folds the reinforcing tabs 33 by 90°, with respect to the corresponding panels 17' and 18' and about a corresponding longitudinal fold line 30.
- a folding device 77 is provided having fixed folding profiles (i.e. folding helixes that are devoid of movable parts and perform the folding operation while the outer blank 25 moves in the packing path P3 and thus exploiting the feeding movement of the outer blank 25); the folding device 77 folds the reinforcing tabs 33 by further 90°, with respect to the corresponding panels 17' and 18' and about a corresponding longitudinal fold line 30 so as to rest the reinforcing tabs 33 onto the corresponding panels 17' and 18' (to which the reinforcing tabs 33 are glued by the effect of the glue 75).
- fixed folding profiles i.e. folding helixes that are devoid of movable parts and perform the folding operation while the outer blank 25 moves in the packing path P3 and thus exploiting the feeding movement of the outer blank 25
- the folding device 77 folds the reinforcing tabs 33 by further 90°, with respect to the corresponding panels 17' and 18' and about a corresponding longitudinal fold line 30 so as to rest the reinforc
- a gumming device 78 is provided (typically provided with a gumming nozzle that sprays the glue) which deposits a strip of glue 79 (shown in Figure 18 ) on the top portion 22 of the connecting tab 20.
- the glue 79 is a " pressure sensitive glue " and does not dry, or even after a long time from the instant of deposit the glue 79 maintains its characteristics, in other words, the glue 79 is a pressure sensitive glue that is activated by simple pressure without the need for solvents, water or heat.
- the glue 79 can be deposited at a certain distance from the point where the blank 25 is effectively coupled to the inner container 3; in this way, the gumming device 78 can be arranged in an area wherein the outer blank 25 is still substantially flat and the connecting tab 20 is easily accessible and thus able to be gummed. Consequently, the deposit of the glue 79 on connecting tab 20 is extremely simple and effective and is obtained by a gumming device 78 simple and easy to manufacture and assembly in the packing machine 34.
- the glue 79 instead of being a traditional glue that dries (and therefore must be deposited immediately prior to its use) is a repositionable glue that does not dry simultaneously which allows to have an immediate grip and to be applied in any position (does not ever dry, then, theoretically, may be deposited on the outer blank 25 even days before folding the outer blank 25 itself).
- the packing unit 37 comprises a packing conveyor 80 that is provided with a number of packing pockets 81 (illustrated schematically in Figure 20 ), each of which is adapted to house an outer blank 25 and a corresponding inner container 3 for feeding the outer blank 25 and the inner container 3 along a packing path P4 that extends between an input station S38 and an output station S40.
- an outer blank 25 partially pre-folded and coming from the packing conveyor 68 is fed into a packing pocket 81 causing a further folding of the outer blank 25 itself.
- an inner container 3 is fed into a packing pocket 81 to be coupled to the outer blank 25 previously fed; in particular, in the feed station S39 the rear wall 10 of the container 3 rests on the panel 18' of the outer blank 25.
- the outer container 4 (formed by folding the outer blank 25 about the inner container 3) is extracted from the packing pocket 81 and proceeds towards the outlet of the packing unit 37 (i.e., towards the outlet of the packing machine 34).
- a folding device 82 is arranged, which folds the tabs 32 of the outer blank 25 by 90°, with respect to the wings 19", and then, by inserting the outer blank 25 into the packing pocket 81, determines the folding of the panel 15' by 90°, with respect to the panel 18' and the folding of the two wings 19" by 90°, with respect to the panel 18'; in other words, after the folding of the tabs 32 by 90°, the input of the outer blank 25 into the packing pocket 81 determines the folding by 90°, of the panel 15' and of the two wings 19" by 90°, with respect to the panel 18', and in this way the tabs 32 rest on the panel 15'.
- a folding device 83 is arranged, which folds the connecting tab 20 of the outer blank 25 upon itself, giving the connecting tab 20 itself a "V" shape (schematically illustrated in Figure 22 ).
- the connecting tab 20 is flat (as shown in Figure 21 ), i.e. the top portion 22 and bottom portion 23 of the connecting tab 20 are coplanar one with respect to the other and arranged side by side and are coplanar with the panel 18'; the folding device 83 folds upon itself the connecting tab 20 in order to rest the bottom portion 23 of the connecting tab 20 on the panel 18' and to rest the top portion 22 of the connecting tab 20 to the bottom portion 23 of the connecting tab 20 (as shown in Figure 22 ).
- a further folding device 84 is provided, which folds the panel 17' by 90°, with respect to the panel 15' and about a corresponding transverse fold line 31.
- the folding of the outer blank 25 is completed in the output station S40 simultaneously with the extraction of the outer container 4 from the packing pocket 81: during the extraction of the outer container 4 from the packing pocket 81 a folding device 85 folds by 90°, the wings 19' with respect to the panel 17', onto the wings 19" and about corresponding longitudinal fold lines 30, completing the formation of the lateral walls 19 of the outer container 4; preferably, a gumming device (not shown) is arranged immediately upstream of the folding device 85 for depositing the glue between the wings 19' and 19" immediately before the folding of the wings 19'.
- a drying conveyor (shown schematically in Figure 8 ) is arranged that transfers the packages 1 of cigarettes (each of which is constituted by an outer container 4 containing an inner container 3) towards an outlet of the packing machine 34.
- each inner container 3 rests on the connecting tab 20 (to which is glued by the effect of the glue 79) while the connecting tab 20 is fully extended (i.e. at a position corresponding to a condition of partial extraction of the inner container 3 from the outer container 4). Subsequently and as illustrated in Figure 22 , each inner container 3 is moved with respect to the outer blank 25 to arrange the inner container 3 in a position corresponding to the closed position wherein the inner container 3 is inserted in the outer container 4 determining a subsequent folding of the connecting tab 20.
- each inner container 3 with respect to the outer blank 25 to determine the folding of the connecting tab 20 is performed by the folding device 83 that comprises an actuator member 86 (shown in Figures 21 and 22 ) that rests on the front wall 9 of the inner container 3 and is movable in two directions perpendicular one to the other (in particular, the actuator member 86 is able to translate both perpendicular to the front wall 9 of the inner container 3, and parallel to the front wall 9 of the inner container 3) to follow the rotation of the bottom portion 23 of the connecting tab 20 by 180°, with respect to the panel 18' and about a corresponding transverse fold line 31.
- the actuator member 86 is provided with a suction head 87 wherein the suction can be activated/deactivated.
- the actuator member 86 When a packing pocket 81 carrying an outer blank 25 and a respective inner container 3 arrives in correspondence of the folding device 83, the actuator member 86 is moved towards the inner container 3 so as to come in contact with the front wall 9 of the inner container 3 itself. When the actuator member 86 has come in contact with the front wall 9 of the inner container 3 the suction through the suction head 87 is activated so as to establish a mechanical constraint (generated by the suction force) between the suction head 87 and the front wall 9 of the inner container 3.
- the actuator member 86 moves to move along with itself the inner container 3 with respect to the outer blank 25, and then determine the folding of the connecting tab 20; as mentioned previously, the actuator member 86 is movable in two directions perpendicular one with respect to the other to follow the rotation of the bottom portion 23 of the connecting tab 20 by 180°, with respect to the panel 18' and about a corresponding transverse fold line 31; in this way, the connecting tab 20 is folded without applying any mechanical tension to the connecting tab 20 and therefore avoiding any kind of breakage or undesirable deformation of the mechanical connection between the top portion 22 of the connecting tab 20 and the rear wall 13 of the lid 6 determined by the glue 79.
- the force that is transmitted through the connecting tab 20 during the displacement of the inner container 3 is very low if not zero (due to the pre-flexing performed by the folding device 72 on the bottom portion 23 of the connecting tab 20)and therefore the displacement of the inner container 3 can be performed very quickly without any risk of damaging, even in a slight way, the gluing between the connecting tab 20 and the rear wall 13 of the lid 6.
- the packing conveyor 80 is constituted by a rotating wheel which rotates by steps about a horizontally arranged central axis of rotation 88. Consequently, the packing path P4 that extends from the input station S38 to the output station S40 has a circular shape.
- the packing unit 37 comprises a transfer conveyor 89 which transfers the pre-folded outer blanks 25 from the output station S37 of the packing conveyor 68 to the input station S38 of the packing conveyor 80.
- a gumming device 90 is arranged which deposits glue between the tabs 32 and the panel 15' of the outer blank 25.
- an outer blank 25 at a time is fed to the packing conveyor 68 in the input station S23 of the packing path P3, and the transfer conveyor 89 transfers two outer blanks 25 at a time from the packing conveyor 68 to the packing conveyor 80; in this embodiment, the packing conveyor 80 treats at each step two outer blanks 25 at a time.
- two outer blanks 25 at a time are fed to the packing conveyor 68 in the input station S23 of the packing path P3.
- the packing method and the corresponding packing machine 34 described above have many advantages, as they allow to produce the slide-open packages 1 with a hinged lid with high productivity (i.e. with a high number of packages 1 of cigarettes produced per unit of time) while maintaining a high quality standard.
- This result is obtained thanks to the conformation of the packing units 36 that by completing the formation of the lid 6 in the packing conveyor 41 (i.e. before coupling the inner blank 24 to the wrapped group 2 of cigarettes) allows to form the lid 6 in a simple and effective way and simultaneously allows to greatly simplify the folding of the inner blank 24 about the wrapped group 2 of cigarettes.
- the formation of the lid 6 is easier (and therefore simple and fast) along a straight packing path (as, indeed, is the packing path P1 of the packing conveyor 41), while the folding of the inner blank 24 about the wrapped group 2 of cigarettes is easier (and therefore simple and fast) along a circular packing path (as, indeed, is the packing path P2 of the packing conveyor 58). So, thanks to the conformation of the packing units 36 all the folding operations can be performed in the most favorable situation, and therefore can be performed quickly (i.e. with a high productivity of the packing process) while ensuring a high quality standard.
- the packing method and the corresponding packing machine 34 described above are extremely "flexible", i.e. allow to vary quickly and simply the type of slide-open packages 1 of cigarettes that are produced (with the hinged lid 6 comprised in the inner blank 24 or comprised in the outer blank 25 or without a hinged lid).
- each packing unit 36 or 37 there is a first packing conveyor 41 or 68 wherein a preliminary folding of the inner blank 24 or outer blank 25 is performed and a second packing conveyor 58 or 80 wherein the preliminary folding of the inner blank 24 or outer blank 25 is completed; in fact, thanks to the presence of the first packing conveyor 41 or 68 it is relatively simple to perform the preliminary folding of the inner blank 24 or outer blank 25 to form a lid, and once the lid is formed the final folding of the inner blank 24 or outer blank 25 is "conventional" (i.e. analogous to the folding of a standard blank) and therefore devoid of particular complications.
- both packing units 36 and 37 have the same structure that comprises a first packing conveyor (the packing conveyors 41 and 68) consisting in a conveyor belt and intended to produce a preliminary folding of the blank, a second packing conveyor (the packing conveyors 58 and 80) consisting in a wheel and intended to fold the blank (already partially folded) about the content, and a transfer conveyor (the transfer conveyors 66 and 89) that connects the two packing conveyors.
- the two second packing conveyors (the packing conveyors 58 and 80) of the two packing units 36 and 37 perform almost all the packing operations in the same way and in the same areas.
- the two packing units 36 and 37 can share between one another a large number of components, i.e. the same identical component is frequently present in both packing units 36 and 37 (in particular, the two packing units 36 and 37 can have in common at least 70-80% of the components); in this way, it is possible to break down in a very significant way the production, assembly and maintenance cost of the packing machine 34.
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- Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
- Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
- Wrapping Of Specific Fragile Articles (AREA)
- Basic Packing Technique (AREA)
Description
- The present invention relates to a packing machine and a packing method for producing an inner container by folding an inner blank about a wrapped group of tobacco articles
- The rigid packages of cigarettes with a hinged lid are currently the most widespread cigarette packages in the market as they are of simple construction, easy and practical to use and offer good mechanical protection to the cigarettes contained within.
- Besides the aforementioned rigid packages of cigarettes with a hinged lid, packages of cigarettes have been proposed with rigid slide-open (or sliding) covers comprising two containers inserted one inside the other in a separable way. In other words, a package of cigarettes with rigid slide-opening comprises an inner container, which is adapted to accommodate a wrapped group of cigarettes in a wrapping sheet of metalized paper and is housed within an outer container so as to be able to slide with respect to the outer container itself between a closed configuration, wherein the inner container is inserted inside the outer container, and an open configuration, wherein the inner container is extracted from the outer container.
- Also proposed was a rigid slide-open package of cigarettes and with a hinged lid, wherein the inner container (or, alternatively, the outer container) is provided with a hinged lid to rotate between a closed position and an open position of an open top end of the inner container. The lid has a connecting tab that at one end is integral with the lid and at the opposite end is integral with the outer container (or, alternatively, to the inner container) to control "automatically" (i.e. without the user having to touch the lid) the rotation of the lid by sliding the inner container with respect to the outer container.
- In particular, in a rigid package of cigarettes of the slide-opening type and with a hinged lid the connecting tab which "automatically" controls the rotation of the lid has a top end that is glued to a top or rear wall of the lid and a bottom end that is integral with a rear wall of the outer container (i.e. a seamless extension of the rear wall of the outer container).
- It was observed that the known current mode used for producing the packages of cigarettes of the slide-opening type and with a hinged lid does not allow to achieve high productivity (i.e. a high number of packages of cigarettes produced per unit of time), especially if it is necessary to maintain a high quality standard. Consequently, the known packing machines used for producing packages of cigarette of the slide-open type and with a hinged lid are excessively slow and suitable to produce only limited batches for special series.
- Additionally, but not less important, the known packing machines used for producing packages of cigarettes of the slide-opening type and with a hinged lid are not "flexible", i.e. it is very complicated to modify a packing machine which produces a certain type of slide-opening cigarette package (with or without a hinged lid) to produce another type of slide-opening cigarette package (with or without a hinged lid).
- The patent
US4487596 describes a packing machine and a packing method for producing a package of tobacco articles with a hinged lid by folding a single blank. - Purpose of the present invention is to provide a packing machine and a packing method for producing a package of tobacco articles of the type with a hinged lid, which machine and packing method are free from the drawbacks described above and, in particular, are simple and economical to produce.
- According to the present invention, a packing machine and a packing method for producing an inner container by folding an inner blank about a wrapped group of tobacco articles, are provided as claimed in the appended claims.
- The present invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, which illustrate a non-limiting embodiment, wherein:
-
Figure 1 is a front perspective view and in a closed configuration of a package of cigarettes of the rigid type with slide-opening and with a hinged lid; -
Figure 2 is a front perspective view and in an open configuration of the package of cigarettes ofFigure 1 ; -
Figure 3 is a rear perspective view and in an open configuration of the package of cigarettes ofFigure 1 ; -
Figure 4 is a front perspective view of an inner container of the package of cigarettes ofFigure 1 ; -
Figure 5 is a rear perspective view of the inner container ofFigure 4 ; -
Figure 6 is a plan view of an inner blank used for producing the inner container ofFigure 4 ; -
Figure 7 is a plan view of an outer blank used to produce an outer container of the package of cigarettes ofFigure 1 ; -
Figure 8 is a schematic perspective view of a packing machine that produces the package of cigarettes ofFigure 1 and is made according to the present invention; -
Figure 9 is a schematic perspective view of a first packing unit of the packing machine offigure 8 ; -
Figure 10 is a schematic perspective view of a first packing conveyor of the first packing unit ofFigure 9 ; -
Figure 11 is a plan view of a sequence of preliminary folding of the inner blank offigure 6 operated in the first packing conveyor ofFigure 10 ; -
Figures 12 and13 are two different perspective and schematic views of two folding bodies of a same folding device associated with the first packing conveyor; -
Figure 14 is a perspective view and with the removal of parts for clarity of the first packing conveyor ofFigure 10 ; -
Figure 15 is a schematic perspective view of a second packing conveyor of the first packing unit ofFigure 9 ; -
Figure 16 is a schematic perspective view of a second packing unit of the packing machine offigure 8 ; -
Figure 17 is a schematic perspective view of a first packing conveyor of the second packing unit ofFigure 16 ; -
Figure 18 is a plan view of a sequence of preliminary folding of the outer blank offigure 7 operated in the first packing conveyor ofFigure 17 ; -
Figure 19 is a perspective view and with the removal of parts for clarity of the first packing conveyor ofFigure 17 ; -
Figure 20 is a schematic perspective view of a second packing conveyor of the second packing unit ofFigure 16 ; -
Figures 21 and22 are two side and schematic views of a step of the folding sequence of the outer blank offigure 7 in the second packing conveyor ofFigure 20 . - In
Figures 1 ,2 and3 , with thenumber 1 is indicated, as a whole, a rigid slide-open package of cigarettes by way of translation (linear movement). - The
package 1 of cigarettes shown inFigure 1 comprises awrapped group 2 of cigarettes (visible schematically inFigure 8 ), i.e. a group of cigarettes wrapped in a sheet of metalized wrapping paper. Also, thepackage 1 of cigarettes comprises aninner container 3 of the rigid type, inside of which thewrapped group 2 is directly placed, and anouter container 4 of the rigid type, which houses in a sliding manner theinner container 3 to allow theinner container 3 itself to slide with respect to theouter container 4 so as to move with a translational movement between a closed configuration (illustrated inFigure 1 ), wherein theinner container 3 is fully inserted inside theouter container 4, and an open configuration (shown inFigures 2 and3 ); wherein theinner container 3 is partially extracted from theouter container 4 and allows access to the wrappedgroup 2 of cigarettes. - The
inner container 3 is parallelepiped-shaped with rectangular cross section, is cup-shaped and has an openupper end 5. Theinner container 3 comprises alid 6, which is cup-shaped and is hinged to theinner container 3 along ahinge 7 to rotate, with respect to theinner container 3 itself, between an open position (shown inFigures 2 and3 ) and a closed position (shown inFigure 1 ) of theopen top end 5. - As shown more clearly in
Figures 4 and5 , theinner container 3 has abottom wall 8 opposite to the openupper end 5, afront wall 9 and arear wall 10 parallel and opposite one to the other, and twolateral walls 11 parallel to each other and interposed between thewalls walls lateral walls 11 are defined four longitudinal edges while between thewalls bottom wall 8 are defined four transverse edges. - The
lid 6 is cup-shaped and has a top wall 12 (which, when thelid 6 is in the closed position, is opposite and parallel to thebottom wall 8 of the inner container 3), arear wall 13 which is connected with therear wall 10 of theinner container 3 by way of thehinge 7, and twolateral walls 14 parallel one to the other. It is important to note that thelateral walls 14 of thelid 6 are arranged inside thelateral walls 11 of theinner container 3 as is clearly illustrated inFigures 4 and5 . - As illustrated in
Figures 1 ,2 ,3 and6 , theouter container 4 is cup-shaped, is of parallelepiped shape with rectangular cross section, and has abottom wall 15 opposite to anopen top end 16, afront wall 17 and arear wall 18 opposite and parallel with respect to each other, and twolateral walls 19 parallel one to the other and interposed between thewalls walls lateral walls 19 four longitudinal edges are defined while between thewalls bottom wall 15 four transverse edges are defined. - In the embodiment illustrated in the attached figures, all the transverse edges are straight, the rear longitudinal edges (i.e. arranged on opposite sides of the
rear walls 10 and 18) are straight, and the front longitudinal edges (i.e. arranged on opposite sides of thefront walls 9 and 17) are rounded. According to an alternative embodiment not illustrated, the front longitudinal edges are beveled instead of being rounded, or all edges (therefore including the front longitudinal edges) are straight. - As illustrated in
Figure 3 , therear wall 13 of the lid 6 (or in an alternative embodiment not shown, thetop wall 12 of the lid 6) is connectable to therear wall 18 of theouter container 4 by way of a connectingtab 20 to "automatically" control (i.e. without the user having to touch the lid 6) the rotation of thelid 6 by way of the sliding of theinner container 3 with respect to theouter container 4. In other words, thanks to the connectingtab 20 that mechanically couples therear wall 13 of thelid 6 to therear wall 18 of theouter container 4, when theinner container 3 slides with respect to theouter container 4 from the closed configuration to the open configuration, thelid 6 is pushed by theinner container 3 from the closed position to the open position in an "automatic" way (i.e. without the user having to touch the lid 6); similarly, when theinner container 3 slides with respect to theouter container 4 from the open configuration to the closed configuration, thelid 6 is pushed by theinner container 3 from the open position to the closed position in an "automatic" way (i.e. without the user having to touch the lid 6). In this way, the user only needs to apply the necessary thrust to slide theinner container 3 with respect to theouter container 4 without having to touch thelid 6 as its rotation is "automatically" controlled. - In the embodiment illustrated in the attached figures, the
outer container 4 has a throughwindow 21 that is formed astride thefront wall 17, of alateral wall 19 and of therear wall 18 and through which an underlyinglateral wall 11 of theinner container 3 is accessible to allow the application of a thrust to theinner container 3 in order to move theinner container 3 between the closed configuration and the open configuration. - As illustrated in
Figure 3 , the connectingtab 20 comprises atop portion 22 that is glued (i.e. stably connected) to therear wall 13 of thelid 6, and abottom portion 23 that is connected to thetop portion 22 along a pre-fold first fold line and is connected to a top edge of therear wall 18 of theouter container 4 along a pre-fold second fold line. In other words, the connectingtab 20 is a seamless continuation of therear wall 18 of theouter container 4. In addition to performing the connecting function between therear wall 13 of thelid 6 and therear wall 18 of theouter container 4, the connectingtab 20 also performs the end-of-stroke function since it limits the sliding of theinner container 3 with respect to theouter container 4; namely, the connectingtab 20 defines a maximum opening position (i.e. of maximum extraction of theinner container 3 from theouter container 4 and therefore of maximum rotation of thelid 6 about the hinge 7) further blocking the sliding of the inner container 3 (and therefore the further rotation of thelid 6 about the hinge 7) once reaching the maximum opening position thereof. - The
containers package 1 of cigarettes shown inFigures 1 to 5 are obtained fromcorresponding blanks 24 and, respectively, 25 illustrated inFigures 6 and7 . Each of theblanks respective container - With reference to
Figure 6 , theinner blank 24 has twolongitudinal fold lines 26 and a number oftransverse fold lines 27, which define, between the twolongitudinal fold lines 26, at least one panel 9' which forms thefront wall 9 of theinner container 3, a panel 8' which forms thebottom wall 8 of theinner container 3, a panel 10' which forms therear wall 10 of theinner container 3, a panel 13' which forms therear wall 13 of thelid 6, a panel 12' which forms thetop wall 12 of thelid 6, areinforcing panel 12" which is glued to the inside of the panel 12', a reinforcingpanel 13" which is glued to the inside of the panel 13'. - In an alternative embodiment, not shown, the inner blank has two longitudinal fold lines and a number of transverse fold lines, which define, between the two longitudinal fold lines, at least one panel which forms the
front wall 9 of theinner container 3, a panel that forms thebottom wall 8 of theinner container 3, a panel which forms therear wall 10 of theinner container 3, a panel which forms therear wall 13 of thelid 6, and a panel that forms thetop wall 12 of thelid 6. Therefore, in said further embodiment, the blank is similar to the blank 24 ofFigure 6 but devoid of the reinforcingpanels 12" and 13". Similarly, one or more of the above reinforcingpanels 12" and 13" may be provided to strengthen the portion on which they will be superimposed. - The panel 9' has two wings 11', which form an outer portion of the respective
lateral walls 11 of theinner container 3, are arranged on opposite sides of the panel 9', and are connected to-the panel 9' by longitudinal fold lines 26. Between the panel 9' and each wing 11' a number oflongitudinal fold lines 26 that define a corresponding longitudinal front edge of rounded shape are present. The panel 10' has twowings 11", which form an inner portion of the respectivelateral walls 11 of theinner container 3, are arranged on opposite sides of the panel 10', and are connected to the panel 10' by longitudinal fold lines 26. The panel 13' has two wings 14' which form the respectivelateral walls 14 of thelid 6, are arranged on opposite sides of the panel 13', and are connected to the panel 13' by longitudinal fold lines 26. - Each
wing 11" has atab 28 which is connected to the wing 11' by atransverse fold line 27, is folded by 90° with respect tothe_wing 11", and is glued to an inner surface of the panel 8'. Each wing 14' has atab 29 that is connected to the wing 14' by atransverse fold line 27, is folded by 90° with respect to the wing 14', and is glued to an inner surface of the panel 12'. - With reference to
Figure 7 , the outer blank 25 has twolongitudinal fold lines 30 and a number oftransverse fold lines 31, which define, between the twolongitudinal fold lines 30, a reinforcingpanel 17" that is glued to the inside of the panel 17', a panel 17' forming thefront wall 17 of theouter container 4, a panel 15' forming thebottom wall 15 of theouter container 4, a panel 18' forming therear wall 18 of theouter container 4, and a reinforcingpanel 18" that is glued to the inside of the panel 18' and is "U" shaped having the connectingtab 20 at the center. - The panel 17' has two wings 19', which form an outer portion of the respective
lateral walls 19 of theouter container 4, are arranged on opposite sides of the panel 17', and are connected to the panel 17' by longitudinal fold lines 30. Between the panel 17' and each wing 19' a number oflongitudinal fold lines 30 that define a corresponding longitudinal front edge of rounded shape are present. The panel 18' has twowings 19", which form an inner portion of the respectivelateral walls 19 of theouter container 4, are arranged on opposite sides of the panel 18', and are connected to the panel 18' by longitudinal fold lines 30. - Each
wing 19" has atab 32 which is connected to the wing 19' by atransverse fold line 31, is folded by 90° with respect to thewing 19", and is glued to an inner surface of the panel 15'. - In a wing 19' and in a
corresponding wing 19" through "U" shaped openings are formed that are intended to form thewindow 21; in correspondence of said through-openings two respective reinforcingtabs 33 are arranged that are folded about a correspondinglongitudinal fold line 30 by 180°, and respectively onto the panel 17' and onto the panel 18' to be glued respectively to the inside of the panel 17' and of the panel 18'. - In
figure 8 acigarette packing machine 34 is illustrated that produces thepackages 1 of cigarettes of the type described above and illustrated inFigures 1 to 3 . - The packing
machine 34 comprises apacking unit 35 that produces the wrappedgroups 2 of cigarettes, asubsequent packing unit 36 that produces theinner containers 3 by folding theinner blanks 24 about corresponding wrappedgroups 2 of cigarettes received by thepacking unit 35, apacking unit 37 that produces theouter containers 4 by folding theouter blanks 25 about correspondinginner containers 3 received by thepacking unit 36, and atransfer unit 38 which receives in input theinner containers 3 from thepacking unit 36 in correspondence to aninput station 39 and feeds in output theinner containers 3 to thepacking unit 37 in correspondence to anoutput station 40. - As illustrated in
Figure 9 , thepacking unit 36 comprises a packingconveyor 41 which is provided with a number of packing pockets 42 (shown inFigure 14 ), each of which is adapted to house an inner blank 24 to feed the inner blank 24 by steps (i.e. with intermittent motion composed by a succession of motion steps intercalated with a corresponding succession of stopping steps) along a packing path P1 that extends between an input station S1 and an output station S19 through a succession of work stations from S2 to S18 (illustrated infigures 10 and11 ). - In correspondence to the input station S1, a hopper (not shown) is provided, which houses a stack of
inner blanks 24 and cyclically feeds theinner blanks 24 from a bottom outlet towards the packing pockets 42 of the packingconveyor 41; in particular, each inner blank 24 arranged in correspondence to' the bottom outlet of the hopper is picked up by a suction gripping head that moves vertically and is supported to anunderlying packing pocket 42 of the packingconveyor 41 that stops and waits in the input station S1 in alignment with the bottom outlet. - It is important to note that the packing
conveyor 41 feeds each inner blank 24 along the packing path P1 always transversely, i.e. always with thetransverse fold lines 27 parallel to the feed direction; in other words, the packingconveyor 41 does not ever vary the orientation of each inner blank 24 with respect to the feed direction, and then in all the points of the packing path P1 each inner blank 24 has always itstransverse fold lines 27 parallel to the feed direction (and thus its ownlongitudinal fold lines 26 perpendicular to the feed direction). Always maintaining a constant orientation of each inner blank 24 along the packing path P1 allows to simplify both the folding operations, and the structure of the packingconveyor 41. - According to a preferred embodiment shown in
Figure 14 , the packingconveyor 41 is constituted by a conveyor belt that is wrapped about two end pulleys and supports a number of packing pockets 42; accordingly, the packing path P1 has an "U" shape and extends between the input station S1 arranged along a straight initial portion of the packing path P1 and the output station S19 arranged along a straight end portion of the packing path P1 which is connected to the straight initial portion by way of an intermediate semicircular portion. - As illustrated in
Figure 10 , between the work station S2 and the work station S6 afolding device 43 is provided having fixed folding profiles (i.e. folding helixes that are devoid of movable parts and perform the folding operation while the inner blank 24 moves in the packing path P1 and thus exploiting the feeding movement of the inner blank 24); thefolding device 43 folds the panel 12' by more than 90° (approximately by 140°-160°), with respect to panel 13', about a correspondingtransverse fold line 27 in one direction and then in the opposite direction so that at the end of thefolding device 43 the inner blank 24 is flat again. Thefolding device 43 performs two opposite folding operations (i.e. that cancel each other) having a flex function (i.e. weakening in order to considerably reduce the residual spring back force) the inner blank 24 along the correspondingtransverse fold line 27. Therefore, the function of thefolding device 43 is not performing an actual folding of the inner blank 24, but to prepare the inner blank 24 for the subsequent folding operations (described below). - Between the work station S8 and the work station S10 a
folding device 44 is provided having fixed folding profiles (i.e. folding helixes that are devoid of movable parts and perform the folding operation while the inner blank 24 moves in the packing path P1 and thus exploiting the feeding movement of the inner blank 24) ; thefolding device 44 folds thetabs 29 by 90°, with respect to the wings 14', about a correspondingtransverse fold line 27 in one direction and then in the opposite direction so that at the end of thefolding device 44 the blank 24 is flat again. Thefolding device 44 performs two opposite folding operations (i.e. that cancel each other) having a flex function (i.e. weakening in order to considerably reduce the residual spring back force) the inner blank 24 along the correspondingtransverse fold line 27. Therefore, the function of thefolding device 44 is not performing an actual folding of the inner blank 24, but to prepare the inner blank 24 for the subsequent folding operations (described below). - The above-described flexing of the inner blank 24 along the
transverse fold line 27 which divides the panel 12' with respect to the panel 13' and thetabs 29 from the wings 14' is very useful to allow the proper formation of thelid 6 described in the following; i.e., without this flexing of the inner blank 24 the formation of thelid 6 described in the following can become problematic, and then determine a significant increase of defective inner containers 3 (due to a malformation of the lid 6) that must be discarded. - In the work station S11 a
folding device 45 is provided having fixed folding profiles (i.e. folding helixes that are devoid of movable parts and perform the folding operation while the inner blank 24 moves in the packing path P1 and thus exploiting the feeding movement of the inner blank 24); thefolding device 45 folds thepanel 12" by 90°, with respect to the panel 12' and about a correspondingtransverse fold line 27. - In the work station S13 a gumming device 46 (typically provided with nozzles that spray gumming glue) is provided which deposits glue points 47 (illustrated in
Figure 11 ) on the panel 12' and on the panel 13'. - In the work station S14 a
folding device 48 is provided having movable parts (i.e. parts that move to perform the folding operation while the inner blank 24 is stopped waiting in the work station S14); thefolding device 48 folds thetabs 29 by 90°, with respect to the wings 14' and about a correspondingtransverse fold line 27, folds of the wings 14' by 90°, with respect to the panel 13' and about correspondinglongitudinal fold lines 26, folds the panel 12' by 90°, with respect to the panel 13' and about a corresponding transverse fold line 27 (bringing the panel 12' onto thetabs 29 to which is glued by the effect of the glue 47). - Between the work station S14 and the work station S17 a
folding device 54 is provided having movable parts (i.e. parts that move to perform the folding operation while the inner blank 24 moves along the packing path P1 through the work station from S14 to S17); thefolding device 54 folds by further 90° (for a total of 180°) thepanel 12" with respect to the panel 12' and about a corresponding transverse fold line 27 (bringing thepanel 12" onto the panel 12'), and folds thepanel 13" by 90° with respect to the panel 12' and about a corresponding transverse fold line 27 (bringing thepanel 13" onto the panel 13' to which is glued by the effect of the glue 47). - As illustrated in
Figures 12 and13 , thefolding device 48 comprises two twin folding bodies 49 (shown inFigure 12 )
which are arranged on opposite sides of the inner blank 24 and are movable in a work direction D1 perpendicular to the packing path P1. In particular, the twofolding bodies 49 are movable, next to the inner blank 24, along a vertical work direction D1, perpendicular to the packing path P1. The twofolding bodies 49 first fold thetabs 29 by 90°, with respect to the wings 14' and about a correspondingtransverse fold line 27, fold the wings 14' by 90°, with respect to the panel 13' and about correspondinglongitudinal fold lines 26, and fold the panel 12' by 90°, with respect to panel 13' and about a correspondingtransverse fold line 27 bringing the panel 12' onto thetabs 29, while thefolding bodies 49 are moving with a continuous movement along the work direction D1. The twofolding bodies 49 are moved by the corresponding pentalateral articulated elements (partially illustrated inFigure 12 ) operated by two cams. Eachfolding body 49 has atop member 50, anintermediate member 51, and abottom member 52 which are arranged in vertical positions (i.e. along the vertical work direction D1) differentiated to perform in succession respective folds (detailed below). Furthermore, thefolding device 48 comprises a contrast member 53 (shown inFigure 12 ) that is mounted in a rotary way to rotate about an axis A1 of rotation parallel to the packing path P1 and has twolateral appendixes 55 to provide a contrast to the folds performed by two folding bodies (49). - As illustrated in
Figures 10 and13 , thefolding device 54 comprises a series of folding members 56 (only one of which is shown inFigure 13 ), each of which is mounted in a rotary way to rotate about an axis A2 of rotation parallel to the packing path P1 between the work station from S14 to S17 and is coupled to acorresponding pad 57 which is arranged on the opposite side of the inner blank 24. - The
folding device 48 comprises twotwin folding bodies 49 that are stably mounted at the work station S14 as the corresponding articulated pentalateral elements are hinged to a fixed frame of the packingmachine 34. Instead, thefolding device 54 comprises six folding members 56 (and of course the six corresponding pads 57) which are mounted on an end pulley of the packingconveyor 41 to rotate integrally with the end pulley, about a center axis A3 of rotation perpendicular to the packing path P1. In this way, each folding member 56 (together with the corresponding pad 57) engages an inner blank 24 in the work station S14 and accompanies the inner blank 24 itself for a certain segment of the packing path P1 until the work station S17. - What is described for the formation of the inner container is applied, mutatis mutandis, also for the embodiment previously described, not illustrated and not provided, or provided only in part with the reinforcing
panels 12" and 13". - In use, when the inner blank 24 stops at the work station S14, the two
folding bodies 49 are arranged below the inner blank 24 and are then moved from the bottom upwards along the vertical work direction D1 with a continuous movement so that initially thetop members 50 of the twofolding bodies 49 fold thetabs 29 by 90°, with respect to the wings 14' and about a correspondingtransverse fold line 27, then theintermediate members 51 of the twofolding bodies 49 fold the wings 14' by 90°, with respect to the panel 13' and about correspondinglongitudinal fold lines 26, and finally thebottom members 52 of the twofolding bodies 49 fold the panel 12' with respect to the panel 13' and about a corresponding transverse fold line 27 (bringing the panel 12' onto thetabs 29 to which is glued by the effect of the glue 47). It is important to note that themembers folding bodies 49 are arranged at different heights along the vertical work direction D1 and therefore their action is staggered over time as the twofolding bodies 49 are raising from the bottom upwards along the vertical work direction D1. - Initially, when the inner blank 24 stops at the work station S14, the
contrast member 53, rotating about the axis A1 of rotation, rests on the panel 10', on the panel 13' and on the panel 12' so that their ownlateral appendixes 55 rest on the wings 14'; in this way, thelateral appendixes 55 provide a contrast for the folding of thetabs 29 carried out by thetop members 50 of the twofolding bodies 49. Once the folding of thetabs 29 is finished, thecontrast member 53, rotating about the axis A1 of rotation, moves slightly backwards setting free the wings 14' (i.e. removing thelateral appendixes 55 from the wings 14') to allow the subsequent folding of the wings 14' performed by theintermediate members 51 of the twofolding bodies 49; in this step thecontrast member 53 is still resting on the panel 13' to provide a contrast for both the folding of the wings 14' performed by theintermediate members 51 of the twofolding bodies 49 and both for the subsequent folding of the panel 12' with respect to the panel 13' performed by thebottom members 52 of the twofolding bodies 49. Once the folding of the panel 12' with respect to panel 13' performed by thebottom members 52 of the twofolding bodies 49 is finished, thecontrast member 53, rotating about the axis A1 of rotation, moves away from the inner blank 24. - While the
contrast member 53 moves away from the inner blank 24, the foldingmember 56, rotating about the axis A2 of rotation, rests on the inner blank 24 further determining the simultaneous folding of thepanel 12" by 90°, with respect to the panel 12' (bringing thepanel 12" onto the panel 12') and the folding of thepanel 13" by 90°, with respect to thepanel 12" (bringing thepanel 13" onto the panel 13' to which is glued by the effect of the glue 47). In the final position, the foldingmember 56 rests on thepanel 13" (which is superposed to the panel 13') and clamps, together with theunderlying pad 57, thepanels 13" and 13'. In other words, in the final position, the twopanels 13" and 13' are clamped (i.e. compressed) between the foldingmember 56 and theunderlying pad 57. This clamping is not confined in the work station S14, but continues through the work stations S15 and S16 to finish only in the work station S17; in this way an optimal gluing between the twopanels 13" and 13' by theglue 47 can be ensured. - As illustrated in
Figure 9 , thepacking unit 36 comprises a packingconveyor 58 which is provided with a number of packing pockets 59 (illustrated schematically inFigure 15 ), each of which is adapted to house an inner blank 24 and the corresponding wrappedgroup 2 of cigarettes for feeding the inner blank 24 and the wrappedgroup 2 of cigarettes along a packing path P2 that extends between an input station S20 and an output station S22. - At the input station S20, an inner blank 24 partially pre-folded and coming from the packing
conveyor 41 is fed into a packingpocket 59 causing a further folding of the inner blank 24 itself. In correspondence to a feed station S21 arranged between the input station S20 and the output station S22, a wrappedgroup 2 of cigarettes is fed inside a packingpocket 59 to be coupled to the previously fed inner blank 24; in particular in the feed station S21 a rear wall of the wrappedgroup 2 of cigarettes rests on the panel 10' of the inner blank 24. At the output station S22, the inner container 3 (formed by folding the inner blank 24 about the wrappedgroup 2 of cigarettes) is extracted from the packingpocket 59 and proceeds towards the packingunit 37. - As illustrated in
Figure 15 , in the input station S20 afolding device 60 is arranged, which folds thetabs 28 of the inner blank 24 by 90°, with respect to thewings 11", and then, by inserting the inner blank 24 into the packingpocket 59, determines the folding of the panel 8' by 90°, with respect to the panel 10' and the folding of the twowings 11" by 90°, with respect to the panel 10'; in other words, after the folding of thetabs 28 by 90°, the input of the inner blank 24 in the packingpocket 59 determines the folding of the panel 8' by 90°, and of the twowings 11" by 90°, with respect to the panel 10' and in this way thetabs 28 rest on the panel 8'. - Between the feed station S21 and the output station S22 a folding device 96 is arranged, which folds the panel 9' by 90°, with respect to the panel 8' and about a corresponding
transverse fold line 27. The folding of the inner blank 24 is completed in the output station S22 simultaneously with the extraction of theinner container 3 from the packing pocket 59: during the extraction of theinner container 3 from the packing pocket 59 afolding device 62 folds the wings 11' by 90°, with respect to the panel 9', onto thewings 11" and about correspondinglongitudinal fold lines 26 completing the formation of thelateral walls 11 of theinner container 3; preferably, a gumming device (not shown) is arranged immediately upstream from thefolding device 62 for depositing glue between thewings 11' and 11" immediately before folding the wings 11'. Downstream from the output station S22 a drying conveyor (shown schematically inFigure 8 ) is arranged which transfers theinner containers 3 towards the packingunit 37. - According to a preferred embodiment shown in
Figure 15 , upstream from the feed station S21 anopening device 63 is arranged that by rotating thelid 6 of each inner blank 24 about thecorresponding hinge 7 moves thelid 6 from the closing position to the opening position so that in the feed station S21 the respective wrappedgroup 2 of cigarettes can be inserted more easily into the inner blank 24; in particular, in the feed station S21 the wrappedgroup 2 of cigarettes can be inserted with a substantially axial (i.e. longitudinal) movement into the inner blank 24. Consequently, downstream from the feed station S21 aclosing device 64 is arranged that by rotating thelid 6 of each inner blank 24 about thecorresponding hinge 7 moves thelid 6 from the open position to the closed position before continuing folding the inner blank 24. - According to a preferred embodiment illustrated in the attached figures, the packing
conveyor 58 is constituted by a rotating wheel which rotates by steps about a central axis ofrotation 65 arranged horizontally. Consequently, the packing path P2 that extends from the input station S20 to the output station S22 has a circular shape. - As illustrated in
Figure 9 , thepacking unit 36 comprises atransfer conveyor 66 which transfers the pre-foldedinner blanks 24 from the output station S19 of the packingconveyor 41 to the input station S20 of the packingconveyor 58. Along thetransfer conveyor 66 and upstream from the input station S20 of the packing conveyor 58 agumming device 67 that deposits glue between thetabs 28 and the panel 8' of the inner blank 24 is arranged. - According to a preferred embodiment, one inner blank 24 at a time is fed to the packing
conveyor 41 in the input station S1 of the packing path P1, and thetransfer conveyor 66 transfers twoinner blanks 24 at a time from the packingconveyor 41 to the packingconveyor 58; in this embodiment, the packingconveyor 58 at each step treats twoinner blanks 24 at a time. According to an alternative embodiment not illustrated, twoinner blanks 24 at a time are fed to the packingconveyor 41 in the input station S1 of the packing path P1. - As illustrated in
Figure 16 , thepacking unit 37 comprises a packingconveyor 68 that is provided with a number of packing pockets 69 (illustrated inFigure 19 ), each of which is adapted to house an outer blank 25 to feed the outer blank 25 by steps (i.e. with intermittent motion composed by a succession of motion phases intercalated with a corresponding succession of stop phases) along a packing path P3 that extends between an input station S23 and an output station S37 through a succession of work stations from S24 to S36 (illustrated infigures 17 and18 ). - At the input station S23, a hopper (not shown) is provided, which houses a stack of
outer blanks 25 and cyclically feeds theouter blanks 25 from a bottom outlet towards the packing pockets 69 of the packingconveyor 68; in particular, each outer blank 25 arranged at the bottom outlet of the hopper is picked up by a suction gripping head that moves vertically and rests on anunderlying packing pocket 69 of the packingconveyor 68 that is stopped waiting in the input station S23 in alignment with the bottom output. - It is important to note that the packing
conveyor 68 advances each outer blank 25 along the packing path P3 always transversely, or always with thetransverse fold lines 31 parallel to the feed direction, in other words, the packingconveyor 68 does not ever vary the orientation of each outer blank 25 with respect to the feed direction and therefore in all the points of the packing path P3 each outer blank 25 always has itstransverse fold lines 31 parallel to the feed direction (and thus their ownlongitudinal fold lines 30 perpendicular to the feed direction). Always maintaining a constant orientation of each outer blank 25 along the packing path P3 allows to simplify both the folding operations and the structure of the packingconveyor 68. - According to a preferred embodiment shown in
Figure 19 , the packingconveyor 68 is constituted by a conveyor belt that is wrapped about two end pulleys and supports a number of packing pockets 69; accordingly, the packing path P3 has a "U" shape and extends between the input station S23 arranged along an initial portion of the rectilinear packing path P3 and the output station S37 arranged along a final portion of the rectilinear packing path P3 that is connected to the initial straight portion by way of an intermediate semicircular portion. - As illustrated in
Figure 17 , between the input station S23 and the work station S24 a gumming device 70 (typically provided with gumming nozzles that spray glue) is provided which deposits glue points 71 (illustrated inFigure 18 ) on the panel 17' and on the panel 18'. - Between the work station S24 and the work station S26 a
folding device 72 is provided having fixed folding profiles (i.e. folding helixes that are devoid of movable parts and perform the folding operation while the outer blank 25 moves in the packing path P3 and thus exploiting the feeding movement of the outer blank 25); thefolding device 72 folds thepanel 17" by 180°, with respect to the panel 17', about a correspondingtransverse fold line 31, and onto the panel 17' itself (to which is glued by the effect of the glue 71), and thefolding device 72 folds thepanel 18" by 180°, with respect to the panel 18', about a correspondingtransverse fold line 31, and onto the panel 18' itself (to which is glued by the effect of the glue 71). Furthermore, thefolding device 72 folds thebottom portion 23 of the connectingtab 20 by 180°, with respect to panel 18', about a correspondingtransverse fold line 31 in one direction and then in the opposite direction so that at the end of thefolding device 72 thebottom portion 23 of the connectingtab 20 is again coplanar with the panel 18'. Thefolding device 72 performs two opposite folding operations (i.e. that cancel each other) on thebottom portion 23 of the connectingtab 20 having a flex function (or weakening to considerably reduce the residual spring back force) the outer blank 25 along the correspondingtransverse fold line 31. Therefore, the function of thefolding device 72 is not performing an actual folding of thebottom portion 23 of the connectingtab 20, but preparing thebottom portion 23 of the connectingtab 20 to the successive folding operations (described below). - Between the work station S27 and the work station S29 a
folding device 73 is provided having fixed folding profiles (i.e. folding helixes that are devoid of movable parts and perform the folding operation while the outer blank 25 moves in the packing path P3 and thus exploiting the feeding movement of the outer blank 25) ; thefolding device 73 folds thetop portion 22 by 90°, of the connectingtab 20, about a correspondingtransverse fold line 31, with respect to thebottom portion 23 of the connectingtab 20 in one direction and then in the opposite direction so that at the end of thefolding device 73 thetop portion 22 of the connectingtab 20 is again coplanar with thebottom portion 23 of the connectingtab 20. Thefolding device 73 performs two opposite folding operations (i.e. that cancel each other) having a flex function (or weakening to considerably reduce the residual spring back force) thetop portion 22 of the connectingtab 20 along the correspondingtransverse fold line 31. Therefore, the function of thefolding device 73 is not to perform an effective folding of thetop portion 22 of the connectingtab 20, but to prepare thetop portion 22 of the connectingtab 20 to the successive folding operations (described below). - In the work station S30 a gumming device 74 (typically provided with gumming nozzles that spray glue) is provided which deposits glue points 75 (illustrated in
Figure 18 ) on the panel 17' and on the panel 18'. - In the work station S31 a
folding device 76 is provided having movable parts (i.e. parts that move to perform the folding operation while the outer blank 25 is stopped waiting in the work station S31); thefolding device 76 folds the reinforcingtabs 33 by 90°, with respect to the corresponding panels 17' and 18' and about a correspondinglongitudinal fold line 30. - In the work station S32 a
folding device 77 is provided having fixed folding profiles (i.e. folding helixes that are devoid of movable parts and perform the folding operation while the outer blank 25 moves in the packing path P3 and thus exploiting the feeding movement of the outer blank 25); thefolding device 77 folds the reinforcingtabs 33 by further 90°, with respect to the corresponding panels 17' and 18' and about a correspondinglongitudinal fold line 30 so as to rest the reinforcingtabs 33 onto the corresponding panels 17' and 18' (to which the reinforcingtabs 33 are glued by the effect of the glue 75). - In the work station S34 a gumming device 78 is provided (typically provided with a gumming nozzle that sprays the glue) which deposits a strip of glue 79 (shown in
Figure 18 ) on thetop portion 22 of the connectingtab 20. Theglue 79 is a "pressure sensitive glue" and does not dry, or even after a long time from the instant of deposit theglue 79 maintains its characteristics, in other words, theglue 79 is a pressure sensitive glue that is activated by simple pressure without the need for solvents, water or heat. Thanks to the use of pressuresensitive glue 79 that does not dry, theglue 79 can be deposited at a certain distance from the point where the blank 25 is effectively coupled to theinner container 3; in this way, the gumming device 78 can be arranged in an area wherein the outer blank 25 is still substantially flat and the connectingtab 20 is easily accessible and thus able to be gummed. Consequently, the deposit of theglue 79 on connectingtab 20 is extremely simple and effective and is obtained by a gumming device 78 simple and easy to manufacture and assembly in the packingmachine 34. This result is obtained thanks to the fact that theglue 79 instead of being a traditional glue that dries (and therefore must be deposited immediately prior to its use) is a repositionable glue that does not dry simultaneously which allows to have an immediate grip and to be applied in any position (does not ever dry, then, theoretically, may be deposited on the outer blank 25 even days before folding the outer blank 25 itself). - As illustrated in
Figure 16 , thepacking unit 37 comprises a packingconveyor 80 that is provided with a number of packing pockets 81 (illustrated schematically inFigure 20 ), each of which is adapted to house an outer blank 25 and a correspondinginner container 3 for feeding the outer blank 25 and theinner container 3 along a packing path P4 that extends between an input station S38 and an output station S40. - At the input station S38, an outer blank 25 partially pre-folded and coming from the packing
conveyor 68 is fed into a packingpocket 81 causing a further folding of the outer blank 25 itself. At a feed station S39 arranged between the input station S38 and the output station S40, aninner container 3 is fed into a packingpocket 81 to be coupled to the outer blank 25 previously fed; in particular, in the feed station S39 therear wall 10 of thecontainer 3 rests on the panel 18' of the outer blank 25. At the output station S40, the outer container 4 (formed by folding the outer blank 25 about the inner container 3) is extracted from the packingpocket 81 and proceeds towards the outlet of the packing unit 37 (i.e., towards the outlet of the packing machine 34). - As illustrated in
Figure 20 , in the input station S38 afolding device 82 is arranged, which folds thetabs 32 of the outer blank 25 by 90°, with respect to thewings 19", and then, by inserting the outer blank 25 into the packingpocket 81, determines the folding of the panel 15' by 90°, with respect to the panel 18' and the folding of the twowings 19" by 90°, with respect to the panel 18'; in other words, after the folding of thetabs 32 by 90°, the input of the outer blank 25 into the packingpocket 81 determines the folding by 90°, of the panel 15' and of the twowings 19" by 90°, with respect to the panel 18', and in this way thetabs 32 rest on the panel 15'. - Between the feed station S39 and the output station S40 a
folding device 83 is arranged, which folds the connectingtab 20 of the outer blank 25 upon itself, giving the connectingtab 20 itself a "V" shape (schematically illustrated inFigure 22 ). In other words, up to thefolding device 83 the connectingtab 20 is flat (as shown inFigure 21 ), i.e. thetop portion 22 andbottom portion 23 of the connectingtab 20 are coplanar one with respect to the other and arranged side by side and are coplanar with the panel 18'; thefolding device 83 folds upon itself the connectingtab 20 in order to rest thebottom portion 23 of the connectingtab 20 on the panel 18' and to rest thetop portion 22 of the connectingtab 20 to thebottom portion 23 of the connecting tab 20 (as shown inFigure 22 ). Arranged downstream from the folding device 83 afurther folding device 84 is provided, which folds the panel 17' by 90°, with respect to the panel 15' and about a correspondingtransverse fold line 31. The folding of the outer blank 25 is completed in the output station S40 simultaneously with the extraction of theouter container 4 from the packing pocket 81: during the extraction of theouter container 4 from the packing pocket 81 afolding device 85 folds by 90°, the wings 19' with respect to the panel 17', onto thewings 19" and about correspondinglongitudinal fold lines 30, completing the formation of thelateral walls 19 of theouter container 4; preferably, a gumming device (not shown) is arranged immediately upstream of thefolding device 85 for depositing the glue between thewings 19' and 19" immediately before the folding of the wings 19'. Downstream from the output station S40 a drying conveyor (shown schematically inFigure 8 ) is arranged that transfers thepackages 1 of cigarettes (each of which is constituted by anouter container 4 containing an inner container 3) towards an outlet of the packingmachine 34. - As shown in
Figure 21 , in the station S39 eachinner container 3 rests on the connecting tab 20 (to which is glued by the effect of the glue 79) while the connectingtab 20 is fully extended (i.e. at a position corresponding to a condition of partial extraction of theinner container 3 from the outer container 4). Subsequently and as illustrated inFigure 22 , eachinner container 3 is moved with respect to the outer blank 25 to arrange theinner container 3 in a position corresponding to the closed position wherein theinner container 3 is inserted in theouter container 4 determining a subsequent folding of the connectingtab 20. The displacement of eachinner container 3 with respect to the outer blank 25 to determine the folding of the connectingtab 20 is performed by thefolding device 83 that comprises an actuator member 86 (shown inFigures 21 and22 ) that rests on thefront wall 9 of theinner container 3 and is movable in two directions perpendicular one to the other (in particular, theactuator member 86 is able to translate both perpendicular to thefront wall 9 of theinner container 3, and parallel to thefront wall 9 of the inner container 3) to follow the rotation of thebottom portion 23 of the connectingtab 20 by 180°, with respect to the panel 18' and about a correspondingtransverse fold line 31. Theactuator member 86 is provided with asuction head 87 wherein the suction can be activated/deactivated. - When a packing
pocket 81 carrying an outer blank 25 and a respectiveinner container 3 arrives in correspondence of thefolding device 83, theactuator member 86 is moved towards theinner container 3 so as to come in contact with thefront wall 9 of theinner container 3 itself. When theactuator member 86 has come in contact with thefront wall 9 of theinner container 3 the suction through thesuction head 87 is activated so as to establish a mechanical constraint (generated by the suction force) between thesuction head 87 and thefront wall 9 of theinner container 3. - Once the suction through the
suction head 87 is activated, theactuator member 86 moves to move along with itself theinner container 3 with respect to the outer blank 25, and then determine the folding of the connectingtab 20; as mentioned previously, theactuator member 86 is movable in two directions perpendicular one with respect to the other to follow the rotation of thebottom portion 23 of the connectingtab 20 by 180°, with respect to the panel 18' and about a correspondingtransverse fold line 31; in this way, the connectingtab 20 is folded without applying any mechanical tension to the connectingtab 20 and therefore avoiding any kind of breakage or undesirable deformation of the mechanical connection between thetop portion 22 of the connectingtab 20 and therear wall 13 of thelid 6 determined by theglue 79. In other words, the force that is transmitted through the connectingtab 20 during the displacement of the inner container 3 (i.e. during the folding of the connectingtab 20 itself) is very low if not zero (due to the pre-flexing performed by thefolding device 72 on thebottom portion 23 of the connecting tab 20)and therefore the displacement of theinner container 3 can be performed very quickly without any risk of damaging, even in a slight way, the gluing between the connectingtab 20 and therear wall 13 of thelid 6. - According to a preferred embodiment illustrated in the attached figures, the packing
conveyor 80 is constituted by a rotating wheel which rotates by steps about a horizontally arranged central axis ofrotation 88. Consequently, the packing path P4 that extends from the input station S38 to the output station S40 has a circular shape. - As illustrated in
Figure 16 , thepacking unit 37 comprises atransfer conveyor 89 which transfers the pre-foldedouter blanks 25 from the output station S37 of the packingconveyor 68 to the input station S38 of the packingconveyor 80. Along thetransfer conveyor 89 and upstream from the input station S38 of the packing conveyor 80 agumming device 90 is arranged which deposits glue between thetabs 32 and the panel 15' of the outer blank 25. - According to a preferred embodiment, an outer blank 25 at a time is fed to the packing
conveyor 68 in the input station S23 of the packing path P3, and thetransfer conveyor 89 transfers twoouter blanks 25 at a time from the packingconveyor 68 to the packingconveyor 80; in this embodiment, the packingconveyor 80 treats at each step twoouter blanks 25 at a time. According to an alternative embodiment not illustrated, twoouter blanks 25 at a time are fed to the packingconveyor 68 in the input station S23 of the packing path P3. - The packing method and the
corresponding packing machine 34 described above have many advantages, as they allow to produce the slide-open packages 1 with a hinged lid with high productivity (i.e. with a high number ofpackages 1 of cigarettes produced per unit of time) while maintaining a high quality standard. This result is obtained thanks to the conformation of the packingunits 36 that by completing the formation of thelid 6 in the packing conveyor 41 (i.e. before coupling the inner blank 24 to the wrappedgroup 2 of cigarettes) allows to form thelid 6 in a simple and effective way and simultaneously allows to greatly simplify the folding of the inner blank 24 about the wrappedgroup 2 of cigarettes. In particular, the formation of thelid 6 is easier (and therefore simple and fast) along a straight packing path (as, indeed, is the packing path P1 of the packing conveyor 41), while the folding of the inner blank 24 about the wrappedgroup 2 of cigarettes is easier (and therefore simple and fast) along a circular packing path (as, indeed, is the packing path P2 of the packing conveyor 58). So, thanks to the conformation of the packingunits 36 all the folding operations can be performed in the most favorable situation, and therefore can be performed quickly (i.e. with a high productivity of the packing process) while ensuring a high quality standard. - Additionally, but not less important, the packing method and the
corresponding packing machine 34 described above are extremely "flexible", i.e. allow to vary quickly and simply the type of slide-open packages 1 of cigarettes that are produced (with the hingedlid 6 comprised in the inner blank 24 or comprised in the outer blank 25 or without a hinged lid). Among other things, the high flexibility is provided by the fact that in each packingunit first packing conveyor second packing conveyor first packing conveyor - Finally, it is important to observe that the two packing
units units conveyors 41 and 68) consisting in a conveyor belt and intended to produce a preliminary folding of the blank, a second packing conveyor (the packingconveyors 58 and 80) consisting in a wheel and intended to fold the blank (already partially folded) about the content, and a transfer conveyor (thetransfer conveyors 66 and 89) that connects the two packing conveyors. Furthermore, the two second packing conveyors (the packingconveyors 58 and 80) of the two packingunits units units 36 and 37 (in particular, the two packingunits machine 34.
Claims (17)
- A packing machine (34) for producing an inner container (3) by folding an inner blank (24) about a wrapped group (2) of tobacco articles;
wherein the inner container (3) comprises a lid (6);
wherein the inner blank (24) has at least two longitudinal fold lines (26) and a number of transverse fold lines (27) which define, between the two longitudinal fold lines (26), at least one first panel (9') forming a front wall (9) of the inner container (3); a second panel (8') forming a bottom wall (8) of the inner container (3); a third panel (10') forming a rear wall (10) of the inner container (3); a fourth panel (13') forming a rear wall (13) of the lid (6); and a fifth panel (12') forming a top wall (12) of the lid (6);
wherein the fourth panel (13') has two wings (14') which form respective lateral walls (14) of the lid (6), are arranged on opposite sides of the fourth panel (13'), and are connected to the fourth panel (13') by the longitudinal fold lines (26); and
wherein each wing (14') has a tab (29) which is connected to the wing (14') by a transverse fold line (27);
the packing machine (34) comprises:a packing conveyor (41) which is provided with a packing pocket (42) and feeds the inner blank (24) along a packing path (P1) and through a first work station (S14); anda first folding device (48) which is arranged at the first work station (S14) to fold portions of the inner blank (24);the packing machine (34) is characterized in that:the first folding device (48) comprises two twin folding bodies (49) which are arranged on opposite sides of the inner blank (24) and are movable in a work direction (D1) perpendicular to the packing path (P1) to fold portions of the inner blank (24); andthe said two folding bodies (49) successively fold the tabs (29) by 90°, with respect to the wings (14') and about a corresponding transverse fold line (27), then fold the wings (14') by 90°, with respect to fourth panel (13') and about corresponding longitudinal fold lines (26), and then fold the fifth, panel (12') by 90°, with respect to the fourth panel (13') and about a corresponding transverse fold line (27), onto the tabs (29), while the said folding bodies (49) move with a continuous movement along the work direction (D1). - The packing machine (34) according to claim 1, wherein:in the inner blank (24) the transverse fold lines (27) define, between the two longitudinal fold lines (26), a sixth reinforcing panel (12") that is glued to the inside of the fifth panel (12').
- The packing machine (34) according to claim 1 or 2, wherein each folding body (49) comprises a top member (50), an intermediate member (51), and a bottom member (52) which are arranged in different positions along the work direction (D1).
- The packing machine (34) according to claim 3, wherein during the movement along the work direction (D1) of the folding bodies (49), initially the top members (50) of the two folding bodies (49) fold the tabs (29) by 90°, with respect to the wings (14') and about a corresponding transverse fold line (27), then the intermediate members (51) of the two folding bodies (49) fold the wings (14') by 90°, with respect to the fourth panel (13') and about a corresponding longitudinal fold lines (26), and finally the bottom members (52) of the two folding bodies (49) fold the fifth panel (12') by 90 °, with respect to the fourth panel (13') and about a corresponding transverse fold line (27) onto the tabs (29).
- The packing machine (34) according to one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the first folding device (48) comprises a contrast member (53) which is mounted in a rotatable way to rotate about a first axis (A1) of rotation parallel to the packing path (P1) and has two lateral appendixes (55) to provide a contrast for the folding performed by the two folding bodies (49).
- The packing machine (34) according to claim 5, wherein before the folding of the tabs (29) with respect to the wings (14'), the contrast member (53), rotating about the first axis (A1) of rotation, rests to the third panel (10'), on the fourth panel (13') and on the fifth panel (12') so that their own lateral appendixes (55) rest on the wings (14') to provide a contrast for the folding of the tabs (29) carried out by the top members (50) of the two folding bodies (49).
- The packing machine (34) according to claim 5 or 6, wherein once the folding of the tabs (29) is finished, the contrast member (53), rotating about the first axis (A1) of rotation, moves back releasing the wings (14') to allow the subsequent folding of the wings (14') and remaining resting on the fourth panel (13') to provide a contrast for both the folding of the wings (14'), and for the subsequent folding the fifth panel (12') with respect to the fourth panel (13').
- The packing machine (34) according to one of claims 5 to 7, wherein the contrast member (53), by rotating about the first axis (A1) of rotation, moves away from the inner blank (24) once the folding of the fifth panel (12') with respect to the fourth panel (13') is finished.
- The packing machine (34) according to one of claims 2 to 8 and comprising a second folding device (54) which is arranged between the first work station (S14) and a second work station (S17) along the packing path (P1) for folding portions of the inner blank (24), wherein:the inner blank (24) has a seventh reinforcing panel (13") that is glued to the inside of the fourth panel (13');the second folding device (54) comprises a rotating folding member (56) which is mounted in a rotary way to rotate about a second rotation axis (A2) parallel to the packing path (P1); andwhen the folding of the fifth panel (12') with respect to the fourth panel (13') is completed, the rotating folding member (56), by rotating about the second axis (A2) of rotation, determines the simultaneous folding of the sixth panel (12") by 90°, with respect to the fifth panel (12'), bringing the sixth panel (12") onto the fifth panel (12'), and of the seventh panel (13") with respect to the sixth panel (12"), bringing the seventh panel (13") onto the fourth panel (13').
- The packing machine (34) according to claim 9, wherein the rotating folding member (56) is coupled to a corresponding pad (57) which is arranged on the opposite side of the inner blank (24) ; and
in the final position of the rotating folding member (56) rests to the seventh panel (13") that is superimposed on the fourth panel (13') and clamp, together with the underlying pad (57), the fourth panel (13') and the seventh panel (13"). - The packing machine (34) according to claim 10, wherein the rotating folding member (56) moves in the packing path (P1) between the first work station (S14) and the second work station (S17) to accompany the inner blank (24) along a portion of the packing path (P1) keeping clamped the fourth panel (13') and the seventh panel (13").
- The packing machine (34) according to claim 11, wherein:the packing conveyor (41) is constituted by a conveyor belt that is wrapped about two end pulleys and supports a number of packing pockets (42);the first work station (S14) is arranged close to an end pulley; andthe second folding device (54) comprises a number of rotating folding members (56) which are mounted on an end pulley of the packing conveyor (41) to rotate integrally with the end pulley between the first work station (S14) and the second work station (S17).
- The packing machine (34) according to one of claims 2 to 12 and comprising a third folding device (45) which is arranged upstream from the first work station (S14) and folds the sixth panel (12") by 90°, with respect to the fifth panel (12') and about a corresponding transverse fold line (27).
- The packing machine (34) according to one of claims 1 to 13 and comprising a fourth folding device (43) which is arranged upstream from the first work station (S14) and folds the fifth panel (12') at least by 90°, with respect to the fourth panel (13'), about a corresponding transverse fold line (27) in one direction and then in the opposite direction to flex the inner blank (24) along the corresponding transverse fold line (27) itself.
- The packing machine (34) according to one of claims 1 to 14 and comprising a fifth folding device (44) which is arranged upstream from the first work station (S14) and folds the tabs (29) at least by 90°, with respect to the wings (14'), about a corresponding transverse fold line (27) in one direction and then in the opposite direction to flex the inner blank (24) along the corresponding transverse fold line (27) itself.
- The packing machine (34) according to one of claims 1 to 15 and comprising a gumming device (46) which is arranged upstream from the first work station (S14) and deposits points of glue (47) on the fifth panel (12') and on the fourth panel (13').
- A packing method for producing an inner container (3) by folding a blank (24) about a wrapped group (2) of tobacco articles;
wherein the inner container (3) comprises a lid (6);
wherein the inner blank (24) has at least two longitudinal fold lines (26) and a number of transverse fold lines (27) which define, between the two longitudinal fold lines (26), at least one first panel (9') forming a front wall (9) of the inner container (3), a second panel (8') forming a bottom wall (8) of the inner container (3), a third panel (10') forming a rear wall (10) of the inner container (3), a fourth panel (13') forming a rear wall (13) of the lid (6), and a fifth panel (12') forming a top wall (12) of the lid (6);
wherein the fourth panel (13') has two wings (14') which form respective lateral walls (14) of the lid (6), are arranged on opposite sides of the fourth panel (13'), and are connected to the fourth panel (13') by the longitudinal fold lines (26); and
wherein each wing (14') has a tab (29) which is connected to the wing (14') by a transverse fold line (27);
the packing method comprises the steps of:feeding the inner blank (24) along a packing path (P1) by way of a packing conveyor (41) provided with a packing pocket (42) and through a work station (S14); andfolding portions of the inner blank (24) by way of a folding device (48) which is arranged at the work station (S14);the packing method is characterized in that:the first folding device (48) comprises two twin folding bodies (49) arranged on opposite sides of the inner blank (24) and movable in a work direction (D1) perpendicular to the packing path (P1) for folding portions of the inner blank (24);the said two folding bodies (49) first fold the tabs (29), by 90° with respect to the wings (14') and about a corresponding transverse fold line (27), then fold wings (14') by 90°, with respect to the fourth panel (13') and about corresponding longitudinal fold lines (26), and finally fold the fifth panel (12') by 90°, with respect to the fourth panel (13') and about a corresponding transverse fold line (27) onto the tabs (29), while the folding bodies (49) move with a continuous movement along the work direction (D1).
Applications Claiming Priority (2)
Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
---|---|---|---|
IT000702A ITBO20120702A1 (en) | 2012-12-21 | 2012-12-21 | WRAPPING MACHINE AND SETTING METHOD TO CREATE AN INTERNAL CONTAINER, FOLDING AN INTERNAL BLOCKED AROUND A GROUP OF WRAPPED SMOKE ITEMS. |
PCT/IB2013/061296 WO2014097278A1 (en) | 2012-12-21 | 2013-12-23 | Packing machine and packing method for producing an inner container by folding an inner blank about a wrapped group of tobacco articles |
Publications (2)
Publication Number | Publication Date |
---|---|
EP2935013A1 EP2935013A1 (en) | 2015-10-28 |
EP2935013B1 true EP2935013B1 (en) | 2016-11-02 |
Family
ID=47720585
Family Applications (1)
Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
---|---|---|---|
EP13830059.5A Not-in-force EP2935013B1 (en) | 2012-12-21 | 2013-12-23 | Packing machine and packing method for producing an inner container by folding an inner blank about a wrapped group of tobacco articles |
Country Status (6)
Country | Link |
---|---|
US (1) | US20150329226A1 (en) |
EP (1) | EP2935013B1 (en) |
JP (1) | JP2016501792A (en) |
IT (1) | ITBO20120702A1 (en) |
RU (1) | RU2015129761A (en) |
WO (1) | WO2014097278A1 (en) |
Families Citing this family (3)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
DE102014010422A1 (en) * | 2014-07-16 | 2016-01-21 | Focke & Co. (Gmbh & Co. Kg) | Method and device for producing (cigarette) packages |
GB201419462D0 (en) * | 2014-10-31 | 2014-12-17 | British American Tobacco Co | Apparatus and method for manufacturing a smoking article pack |
US11535411B2 (en) | 2019-12-19 | 2022-12-27 | The Procter & Gamble Company | Folding apparatus |
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US3120089A (en) * | 1960-11-07 | 1964-02-04 | Ex Cell O Corp | Machine for forming plastic coated paperboard containers |
US4112651A (en) * | 1974-03-28 | 1978-09-12 | Hauni-Werke Korber & Co. Kg. | Method and machine for the production of hinged-lid packs for groups of cigarettes or the like |
US3933299A (en) * | 1974-07-05 | 1976-01-20 | Katsuji Shimada | Backward openable container with a device to prevent its inner tray from being slipped downward |
DE2440006C2 (en) * | 1974-08-21 | 1984-06-28 | Focke & Co, 2810 Verden | Method and device for the production of (cuboid) hinged boxes |
US4392338A (en) * | 1976-03-15 | 1983-07-12 | Molins Limited | Packets and the manufacture thereof |
IT1069471B (en) * | 1976-05-06 | 1985-03-25 | Gd Spa | FOLDING DEVICE OF SHEET MATERIAL..PARTICULARLY OF BOARDED OR CARDBOARD CUTS OR SIMILAR TO BE SUPPLIED TO A CIGARETTE CONDITIONING MACHINE IN PACKAGES OF THE TYPE WITH HINGED LID HINGED LID PACKAGE |
IT1091905B (en) * | 1977-09-26 | 1985-07-06 | Gd Spa | DEVICE FOR THE FOLDING OF BLOCKS IN THE MACHINE CONDITIONS TRIZI OF ARTICLES PARTICULARLY CIGARETTES IN RIGID PACKAGES OF THE HINGED LID TYPE |
JPS57502162A (en) * | 1981-01-16 | 1982-12-09 | ||
GB8324609D0 (en) * | 1983-09-14 | 1983-10-19 | Molins Plc | Cigarette packing machines |
DE3802644C2 (en) * | 1988-01-29 | 1999-10-07 | Focke & Co | Method and device for manufacturing folding boxes for cigarettes |
US5478011A (en) * | 1990-08-28 | 1995-12-26 | Focke & Co (Gmbh & Co.,) | Interlocking closure for hinged lid boxes |
IT1252437B (en) * | 1991-07-19 | 1995-06-14 | Gd Spa | METHOD AND DEVICE FOR THE FOLDING OF WRAPPERS OF LONG WRAPPING PRE-WEAK BENDING LINES |
DE19703069A1 (en) * | 1997-01-29 | 1998-07-30 | Topack Verpacktech Gmbh | Method and device for merging and joining box blanks and block-shaped article groups |
DE19720500A1 (en) * | 1997-05-16 | 1998-11-19 | Topack Verpacktech Gmbh | Method and device for folding the top flap of a blank for a cigarette packet |
JP4038601B2 (en) * | 1998-10-29 | 2008-01-30 | 四国化工機株式会社 | Packaging machinery |
IT1320984B1 (en) * | 2000-04-10 | 2003-12-18 | Gd Spa | METHOD AND MACHINE FOR MAKING CIGARETTE PACKAGES WITH HINGED COVERS. |
DE10158736A1 (en) * | 2001-11-30 | 2003-06-12 | Focke & Co | Method and device for manufacturing hard packs for cigarettes |
US6789370B2 (en) * | 2001-12-18 | 2004-09-14 | G.D Societa' Per Azioni | Cigarette packing machine |
ITBO20030249A1 (en) * | 2003-04-29 | 2004-10-30 | Gd Spa | WRAPPING METHOD OF ORDERED GROUPS OF CIGARETTES. |
ITBO20030707A1 (en) * | 2003-11-21 | 2005-05-22 | Gd Spa | METHOD AND BENDING DEVICE FOR HEAD CLOSURE |
US7506755B2 (en) * | 2004-09-16 | 2009-03-24 | Focke & Co. (Gmbh & Co. Kg) | Cigarette box comprising a hinged lid |
ITBO20080092A1 (en) * | 2008-02-13 | 2009-08-14 | Gd Spa | CIGARETTE PACKAGING MACHINE FOR THE CONSTRUCTION OF A RIGID PACKAGE WITH HINGED LID. |
DE102008035467A1 (en) * | 2008-07-30 | 2010-02-04 | Focke & Co.(Gmbh & Co. Kg) | (Cigarette) package and blank, method and apparatus for making the same |
IT1397936B1 (en) * | 2010-01-26 | 2013-02-04 | Gima Spa | PACKING MACHINE AND METHOD FOR PACKAGING SMOKE ITEMS. |
IT1399035B1 (en) * | 2010-01-26 | 2013-04-05 | Gima Spa | OPERATING SYSTEM OF OPERATING GROUPS OF A PACKAGING MACHINE |
IT1399036B1 (en) * | 2010-01-26 | 2013-04-05 | Gima Spa | WRITING CONVEYOR OF A PACKAGING MACHINE |
WO2013028125A1 (en) * | 2011-08-19 | 2013-02-28 | Tetra Laval Holdings & Finance S.A. | Apparatus and method for folding a secondary package |
ITBO20120701A1 (en) * | 2012-12-21 | 2014-06-22 | Gd Spa | WRAPPING AND MACHINING MACHINE TO CREATE AN INTERNAL CONTAINER OF A PACKAGE OF SMOKE ARTICLES WITH SLIDING OPENING AND WITH HINGED LID |
ITBO20120700A1 (en) * | 2012-12-21 | 2014-06-22 | Gd Spa | WRAPPING AND MACHINING MACHINE TO CREATE AN INTERNAL CONTAINER OF A PACKAGE OF SMOKE ARTICLES WITH SLIDING OPENING. |
-
2012
- 2012-12-21 IT IT000702A patent/ITBO20120702A1/en unknown
-
2013
- 2013-12-23 RU RU2015129761A patent/RU2015129761A/en not_active Application Discontinuation
- 2013-12-23 WO PCT/IB2013/061296 patent/WO2014097278A1/en active Application Filing
- 2013-12-23 JP JP2015548879A patent/JP2016501792A/en active Pending
- 2013-12-23 US US14/653,297 patent/US20150329226A1/en not_active Abandoned
- 2013-12-23 EP EP13830059.5A patent/EP2935013B1/en not_active Not-in-force
Also Published As
Publication number | Publication date |
---|---|
WO2014097278A1 (en) | 2014-06-26 |
RU2015129761A (en) | 2017-01-26 |
US20150329226A1 (en) | 2015-11-19 |
EP2935013A1 (en) | 2015-10-28 |
ITBO20120702A1 (en) | 2014-06-22 |
JP2016501792A (en) | 2016-01-21 |
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