EP3138779B1 - Method of forming and filling of spout film bags and device for same - Google Patents

Description

The invention relates to a method for shaping and filling Spout foil bags according to the preamble of claim 1 and to a device for shaping and filling Spout foil bags according to claim 5.

State of the art

It is known that foil pouches which are to be filled with a filling product are in a collapsed state before filling. In order to be able to fill these film bags during a filling process, the film bags are previously formed, whereby a cavity in their interior, i. is created between the two film bag halves, which make up the film bag, in which the filling product can then be filled. In general, the film bags are formed by introducing air or sterilizing gas, but it may happen that not all film bags are formed in the same manner.

See eg the documents WO2005 / 100164 . JP2001058602 . US2012 / 0008884 ,

WO2005 / 100164 discloses a method and apparatus for forming and filling Spout foil bags, which are fed by means of a transfer wheel comprising shaping means to a filler downstream of the transfer wheel, wherein after forming the Spout foil bag the Spout formed pouch is formed by means of the transfer wheel is supplied to the downstream filler and filling of the molded Spout foil bag takes place in the filler.

task

The object of the invention is to provide a method for forming and filling Spout foil bags and a device to enable a defined shaping of the Spout foil pouches.

solution

The object is achieved by the method according to claim 1 and the device according to claim 5. Preferred embodiments and further developments are disclosed in the subclaims.

In the method for forming and filling Spout foil bags, the Spout foil bags are fed to a filler downstream of the transfer wheel by means of a transfer wheel comprising blowing nozzles, with a respective blowing nozzle being placed on the spout upper edge of the spout of a Spout foil bag defined pressure pulse for forming the Spout foil bag is introduced by means of the tuyere through the Spout into the interior of the Spout foil bag.

By placing the tuyere on the spout upper edge, a substantially tight seal with the environment is created, so that the pressure pulse, which is introduced by means of the tuyere into the spout foil pouch, arrives substantially entirely inside the spout foil pouch he can not escape into the environment. This can be done For all Spout foil bags, perform the inflation process under the same conditions, since the same defined pressure pulse is used for all Spout foil bags. This results in the same final result of the blow-out process for all Spout foil bags. Prior to placing the tuyere on the spout upper edge, the spout of a spout foil bag may be received in a receiving station of the transfer wheel having a plurality of receiving stations, the receiving station being associated with the tuyere.

The shaping of the Spout foil bag takes place before filling with filling product in the filler. The filling product may be at least approximately liquid food, such as drinks or porridge, or at least approximately liquid animal feed, such as cat's milk or wet food.

A spout foil pouch may be a foil pouch of various types which may be provided with a screw-on reclosure, e.g. a screw cap, is providable. In particular, spout foil pouches may include or include different fill volumes, foil pouch formats, and / or foil pouch materials.

By forming a spout foil bag by means of a defined pressure pulse it can be achieved that the spout foil bag subsequently has a defined shape, i. Also has a defined cavity in its interior, which can be filled with the filling product. Since the transfer wheel comprises a plurality of receiving stations with associated blowing nozzles for molding spout film bags, after a molding process, all of these spout film bags can have the same defined shape and also the same defined inside cavity.

A strength of the defined pressure pulse is calculated based on type specifications of the spout foil pouches, such as filling volume, foil pouch format and / or foil material, wherein the starch comprises a time for a duration of introduction of the pressure pulse and an amount for a medium to be introduced. Such a calculated based on type information, calculated strength can also be referred to as a target strength. The strength of the defined pressure pulse is relevant to the resulting defined shape and the resulting defined cavity in the interior of the Spout foil bag. If a spout film bag to be formed out of a film material having a smaller thickness is produced than an already formed spout film bag, a smaller thickness of the defined pressure pulse is sufficient for the spout film bag to be formed in comparison to the already formed spout film bag Form and create a defined cavity during the molding process.

With the use of the same sheet material for a small or a large spout foil bag, for the small spout foil pouch, a smaller magnitude of the pressure pulse is sufficient, as compared to the large spout foil pouch, to provide a defined shape and cavity during the forming process produce. For the calculation of the strength of the pressure pulse an evaluation and control unit is provided, the type information can be entered and / or eigelesen from a data store.

In addition, the tuyere can be controlled by means of the evaluation and control unit, whereby the defined pressure pulse is introduced with the calculated strength into the interior of the Spout foil bag. If the tuyere is designed to be controllable, it is possible to change the thickness of the pressure pulse for a molding process in a simple manner when changing the type of the Spout foil bag, which is determinable from the type specifications of the Spout foil bag, always to obtain defined shaped spout foil pouches after a molding process.

After the spout foil bag has been shaped, the spout foil bag is fed to the downstream filler by means of the transfer wheel and the spout foil bag is filled in the filler.

A device for forming and filling Spout foil bags and for carrying out the method as described above or below comprises a transfer wheel with a plurality of receiving stations and with the receiving stations associated blowing nozzles, which are placed on the spout upper edges of the spouts for introducing a defined pressure pulse and a filler downstream of the transfer wheel for filling the molded spout foil bags. By means of the receiving stations, the Spout foil bags can be picked up and then formed with the blowing nozzles associated with the receiving stations by introducing gas with a pressure pulse into the interior.

The apparatus further comprises an evaluation and control unit, which is designed to calculate a strength of the pressure pulse based on type specifications of the spout foil bags, such as filling volume, foil pouch format, and / or foil material, the starch being a time for a duration of introduction of the pressure pulse and a quantity for a medium to be introduced. In order to have the ability to mold different types of Spout film bags with a single device for forming Spout film bags, a magnitude of the pressure pulse is designed for the particular type of Spout film bag. For a calculation of the strength of the pressure pulse accordingly, the filling volume, the foil bag format and / or the film material are taken into account.

The evaluation and control unit may be further configured to control a tuyere, whereby the defined pressure pulse having the calculated magnitude, i. the desired thickness, into the interior of a Spout foil bag can be introduced. Accordingly, all the blowing nozzles of the multiple receiving stations of the transfer wheel can be controlled by means of the evaluation and control unit. By controlling the blowing nozzles, it is possible to easily change the intensity of the pressure pulse for a molding process when the type of the spout film bag changes so that different types of spout film bags can be formed with a single device for forming spout film bags can be formed.

One end of the blowing nozzles can each be designed such that it can be placed on the spout upper edge of the spout of a spout film bag, and the defined pressure pulse can be introduced through the one end and through the spout into the spout film bag.

It can be provided that a sterilization wheel is arranged between the filler and the transfer wheel.

• Figur 1 eine Draufsicht einer Vorrichtung zum Ausformen von Spout-Folienbeuteln,
• Figur 2 eine Seitenansicht auf die Vorrichtung zum Ausformen von Spout-Folienbeuteln,
• Figur 3a eine schematische Ansicht einer Blasdüse und eines Spouts,
• Figur 3b eine schematische Ansicht einer auf eine Spout-Oberkante aufgesetzten Blasdüse und
• Figur 4 ein Verfahren zum Ausformen eines Spout-Folienbeutels.

The attached figures represent by way of example for better understanding and illustration aspects of the invention. It shows:

• FIG. 1 a top view of an apparatus for molding Spout foil bags,
• FIG. 2 a side view of the device for molding Spout foil bags,
• FIG. 3a a schematic view of a tuyere and a spout,
• FIG. 3b a schematic view of a patch on a spout upper edge blowing nozzle and
• FIG. 4 a method of forming a spout foil bag.

FIG. 1 shows a plan view of the device 1 for forming Spout foil bags 2. A transfer wheel 3 comprises a plurality of receiving stations 4, of which eight pieces are shown here. The transfer wheel 3 is rotatable about an axis 5 in at least a first direction 6. The device 1 also comprises a linkage 7, on which blowing nozzles - not shown here - are arranged, which are used for shaping the Spout foil bag 2. Here, each receiving station 4 is associated with a blowing nozzle. It can be provided that a blowing nozzle comprises a plurality of nozzle openings. For introducing a defined pressure pulse into the interior of a Spout foil bag 2, the tuyere is placed on the Spout top edge. At five of the receiving stations 4 are recorded schematically Spout foil bag 2 shown, wherein each one of the receiving stations 4 has received a spout 8 of a Spout foil bag 2.

FIG. 2 shows a side view of the device 1 for molding Spout foil bags 2. The two receiving stations 4 shown each have a tuyere 9 associated. The nozzles 9 are by means of the linkage 7, to which it is attached, movable in the vertical direction 10, so that the nozzles 9 can be placed on the spout upper edges of the respective spouts 8. The nozzles 9 are shown here only schematically. Their shape is designed such that they can be placed on the spout upper edge of a spout 8, so that the defined pressure pulse can be introduced into the spout foil bag 2. FIGS. 3a and 3b show a detailed view. After placing a tuyere 9 on the spout upper edge of a spout 8 gas and / or another substance is introduced with a pressure pulse into the interior of the Spout foil bag 2, so that a shaping of the Spout foil bag 2 is achieved, wherein a defined shape of the spout film bag 2 and a defined cavity in the interior of the spout film bag 2 are produced.

The blowing nozzles 9, which are assigned to the respective receiving stations 4, are hereby arranged on the linkage 7, which is rotatable together with the transfer wheel 3 about the axis of rotation 5, so that a blowing nozzle 9, which is associated with a receiving station 4, in each case together with this Receiving station 4 is moved at a rotation of the transfer wheel 3.

FIG. 3a shows the relative arrangement of a nozzle 9 and a spout 8 of a Spout foil bag 2. For clarity, the associated receiving station 4 is not shown. The tuyere 9 is moved by means of the linkage 7 in the vertical direction 10, so that it can be placed on the spout upper edge 11. The illustrated blowing nozzle 9 comprises a passage 12 for the defined pressure pulse. In the region 13 of the tuyere 9, in which it rests on the spout upper edge 11, the tuyere 9 can protrude beyond the spout 8, ie the outer diameter of the tuyere 9 in the region 13 is greater than the outer diameter of the spout 8. Thus can be achieved be that by placing the tuyere 9 on the spout upper edge 11 a substantially tight seal is created to the environment, so that the pressure pulse, which is introduced by means of the tuyere 9 in the Spout foil bag 2, substantially entirely in the interior the Spout foil bag 2 arrives because it can not escape into the environment.

However, it can also be provided that the outer diameter of the blowing nozzle 9 in the region 13 substantially corresponds to or is equal to the outer diameter of the spout 8.

It can also be provided that the blowing nozzle 9 also has a centering device in the region 13, for example a protruding circular hollow cylinder which can be introduced at least partially into the interior 14 of the spout 8. For this purpose, the circular hollow cylinder preferably has a diameter which is smaller than the inner diameter of the spout 8, so that, for example, there is a spacing of 0.5 mm.

FIG. 3b shows a schematic view of the attached to the spout upper edge 11 tuyere 9. In the region 13 of the tuyere 9, in which it rests on the spout upper edge 11, the tuyere 9 via the Spout 8 via. The passage 12 in the blowing nozzle 9 for the defined pressure pulse is arranged above the interior 14 of the spout 8 such that the defined pressure pulse can be introduced into the spout film bag 2 without it escaping into the environment.

FIG. 4 shows a flowchart of a method for forming a spout foil bag. In step 100, a spout of a spout foil bag is received in a receiving station of the above-described device for forming spout foil bags. By means of a blowing nozzle associated with the receiving station, gas is introduced with a pressure pulse into the interior of the spout film bag in step 101. To introduce the pressure pulse into the interior of the Spout foil bag, the tuyere is placed on the Spout top edge. Since it may be necessary to make the magnitude of the pressure pulse different for different types of spout foil bags in order to achieve a desired shape of the spout foil bag, in step 102 type information of the spout foil bag may be entered into an evaluation and control unit and / or be read from a data store. Based on this type information, a magnitude of the pressure pulse is calculated in step 103. In step 104, by means of the evaluation and control unit, controlling the tuyere, whereby the strength of the pressure pulse, which is used in step 101, can be controlled.

Claims (8)

1. A method for forming and filling spout film bags (2) supplied by a transfer wheel (3) comprising blowing nozzles (9) to a filler positioned downstream of the transfer wheel (3), wherein one of the blowing nozzles (9) is placed on the spout upper edge (11) of the spout (8) of a spout film bag and thereafter, a defined pressure pulse for forming the spout film bag (2) is introduced by means of the blowing nozzle (9) through the spout (8) into the interior of the spout film bag (2),
   wherein
   a magnitude of the defined pressure pulse is calculated on the basis of type information of the spout film bag (2), wherein the magnitude comprises an indication of a time period for the duration of the introduction of the pressure pulse and an indication for an amount of a medium to be introduced, wherein the calculation of the magnitude is performed by means of an evaluation and control unit and an inputting of the type information and/or a reading of the type information is performed out of a data storage and
   after forming the spout film bag (2), the formed spout film bag (2) is supplied by the transfer wheel (3) to the filler downstream thereof and a filling of the formed spout film bag (2) in the filler is performed.
2. Method of claim 1, wherein the type information of the spout film bag (2) comprise fill volume, film bag format, and film material.
3. Method of claim 1 or 2, in which prior to placing the blowing nozzle (9) on the spout upper edge (11), the spout (8) of the spout film bag (2) is received at a receiving station (4) of the transfer wheel (3) that includes a plurality of receiving stations (4), wherein the receiving station (4) is assigned to the blowing nozzle (9).
4. Method of one of claims 1 to 3, wherein additionally the blowing nozzle (9) is controlled by the evaluation and control unit, thereby introducing the defined pressure pulse having the calculated magnitude into the interior of the spout film bag (2).
5. Device (1) for forming and filling spout film bags (2) and for performing the methods of at least one of the claims 1 to 4, comprising a transfer wheel (3) with a plurality of receiving stations (4) and blowing nozzles (9) assigned to the receiving stations (4), the blowing nozzles being configured to be placed on the spout upper edges (11) of the spouts (8) for introducing a defined pressure pulse, the device further comprising a filler downstream of the transfer wheel (3) for filling the formed spout film bags (2), the device (1) further comprising an evaluation and control unit configured to calculate a magnitude of the pressure pulse on the basis of type information of the spout film bags (2), wherein the magnitude comprises an indication of a time period for a duration of the introduction of the pressure pulse and an indication for an amount of a medium to be introduced.
6. The device of claim 5, where the type information of the spout film bags (2) comprise fill volume, film bag format and/or foil material.
7. Device of claim 5 or 6, wherein the evaluation and control unit is further configured to control the blowing nozzles (9), thereby enabling the introduction of the defined pressure pulse having the calculated magnitude into the interior of the spout film bag (2).
8. Device of one of claims 5 to 7, wherein one end of the blowing nozzles (9) is configured to be placeable on the spout upper edge (11) of the spout (8) of a spout film bag (2), and the defined pressure pulse is introducible through the one end and through the spout (8) into the spout film bag (2).

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