EP3210896B1 - Method for operating a deep draw packaging machine - Google Patents

Description

The invention relates to a method for operating a thermoforming packaging machine according to claim 1.

From the DE 102 24 237 A1 discloses a thermoforming packaging machine for producing packages with a horizontally inclined sealing seam. A product stack of several slices of a food is inserted by means of an obliquely arranged conveyor belt in the form of a withdrawal tape in the molded into a lower film web trough. One reason for the inclination of the conveyor belt relative to the thermoforming packaging machine or the film transport plane lies in the structure of the forming station above the film transport plane. The conveyor belt must be arranged above the uppermost interference contour on the forming station and by the subsequent oblique course of the conveyor belt to the film transport plane approaching a range from the forming station to the beginning of the insertion path is necessary, which is not used by any workstation.

EP 2 412 632 A1 discloses a method of operating a thermoforming packaging machine having at least two staple chains for holding a bottom sheet and transporting the bottom sheet along a production direction of the thermoforming packaging machine, the staple chains being guided in chain guides, the thermoforming packaging machine having a forming station for forming trays in the bottom sheet, a sealing station and at least one cutting station arranged on a machine frame in that order along the direction of production, the chain guides extending at least from the forming station along an insertion path to the sealing station, the chain guides having a horizontal orientation along and at the sealing station Chain guide along the insertion path at least partially has an increasing orientation, and wherein a separation point between the product insert belt and this directly stromaufww rts upstream Produktzuführband is provided.

The object of the present invention is to reduce the machine length of a thermoforming packaging machine and to improve the insertion process of products into molded troughs.

This object is achieved by a method according to claim 1. Advantageous developments of the invention are specified in the subclaims.

The method according to the invention defines a method for operating a thermoforming packaging machine with at least two staple chains for holding a lower film on both sides and for transporting the lower film along a production direction of the thermoforming packaging machine on, wherein the staple chains are guided in chain guides. The chain guides each have an upper guide surface and a lower guide surface, between each of which a staple chain can be guided. The thermoforming packaging machine has a forming station for forming depressions in a lower film, a sealing station and at least one cutting station, which in this Sequence along the production direction are arranged on a machine frame, wherein the chain guides extend at least from the forming station along an insertion path to the sealing station, and wherein the upper guide surface on or along the forming station has a horizontal orientation and a first vertical distance from a footprint of the machine frame the thermoforming packaging machine, wherein the chain guides at or along the sealing station have a horizontal orientation and the upper guide surface has a second vertical distance from the footprint, wherein the second distance is greater than the first distance, as well as the chain guide along the insertion path at least partially has increasing orientation. The thermoforming packaging machine according to the invention is characterized in that the product inlay belt has at least two separately drivable belts. The thermoforming packaging machine has one band per track, wherein one track is defined by successive troughs in the direction of production. This embodiment of a thermoforming packaging machine allows a short insertion path, since a product feeding belt can deliver products in a simple and process-reliable manner, at least substantially horizontally, and place them in trays. The separately drivable belts allow a correction of different incoming products between the individual tracks, so that the insertion accuracy of the products in the wells is greatly improved.

The method according to the invention for operating a thermoforming packaging machine has a separation point between the product inlay belt and a directly upstream upstream product feed belt in order to change the position of products which are brought to the thermoforming packaging machine via a product feed belt and to adapt them to the insertion conditions.

The method according to the invention for operating a thermoforming packaging machine is also characterized in that the bands of the product insert belt are controlled such that when the products are transferred from the product supply belt, the belts are controlled separately with the product supply belt to correct positional differences of adjacent products in the production direction. This improves the subsequent loading process and leads to an improvement in the positional accuracy of the products in the troughs to avoid or at least reduce manual post-corrections by an operator.

By means of one or more sensors in front of the separation point, the position of adjacent products is detected and this information is transmitted to a control of the thermoforming packaging machine, wherein the controller evaluates the information about the positions and the difference from a leading edge of a first product of the first track to the leading edge of a second product of the second lane. Thus, a leveling or balancing this difference in the acquisition and before inserting done and make an exact insertion.

In this case, the control system preferably controls the bands during the takeover of the products in such a way that, after the takeover, the leading edges of successive products in the production direction each have a predetermined distance, which preferably corresponds to a spacing of successive depressions in the lower foil.

Preferably, the takeover of the products by the product insert belt, while the feed of the staple chains is stopped.

Figur 1

eine schematische Seitenansicht einer Verpackungsanlage mit einer erfindungsgemäßen Tiefziehverpackungsmaschine und mit einem Produkteinlegeband,

Figur 2

eine schematische Seitenansicht des Verlaufs der Klammerketten von der Form- zur Siegelstation und der Einlegestrecke mit dem Produkteinlegeband,

Figur 3

eine schematische Draufsicht der Einlegestrecke mit dem Produkteinlegeband und einem Produktzuführband in einer ersten Phase,

Figur 4

eine schematische Draufsicht der Einlegestrecke mit dem Produkteinlegeband und dem Produktzuführband in einer zweiten Phase und,

Figur 5

eine schematische Draufsicht der Einlegestrecke mit dem Produkteinlegeband und dem Produktzuführband in einer dritten Phase..

In the following, an advantageous embodiment of the invention is illustrated in more detail with reference to a drawing. Showing:

FIG. 1

a schematic side view of a packaging system with a thermoforming packaging machine according to the invention and with a product inlay,

FIG. 2

a schematic side view of the course of the staple chains from the form to the sealing station and the insertion path with the product infeed belt,

FIG. 3

a schematic plan view of the insertion path with the product insert belt and a product feed belt in a first phase,

FIG. 4

a schematic plan view of the insertion path with the product infeed belt and the product feed belt in a second phase and,

FIG. 5

a schematic plan view of the insertion path with the product infeed belt and the product feed belt in a third phase ..

The same components are provided throughout the figures with the same reference numerals.

Fig. 1 shows a schematic side view of a thermoforming packaging machine 1 with and a product insert belt 3. The thermoforming packaging machine 1 comprises a machine frame 4, which is aligned along a production direction R and has a footprint A on its underside. At the right in the Fig.1 shown beginning of the thermoforming packaging machine 1, a rolling device 5 is provided for a lower film 6. The lower film 6 is fed by means of two laterally of the lower film 6 arranged staple chains 7 a forming station 8 to deepen wells 11 with a vertical depression depth T in the lower film 6. Furthermore, an inclined or inclined relative to a horizontal angle α insertion path 9 for inserting a product 10 in molded wells 11 (see also Fig. 2 and 3 ) in the production direction R following the forming station 8. In the further course of production, a sealing station 12 for closing the troughs filled with product 10 with a cover film 13 and a first cutting station 14, which is designed as a cross-cutting station. A second cutting device 15, which is arranged downstream of the first transverse cutting station 14, is designed as a longitudinal cutting station 15 and separates the packages 16. The individual packages 16 are removed from the thermoforming packaging machine via a conveyor belt 17 1 transported out. The thermoforming packaging machine 1 has a controller 18, which can not only control the drive 19a, for example a servomotor, the staple chains 7, but also drive the drive 19b of the product insert 3 to synchronize the speeds of both drives 19a, 19b to each other or each other to be able to perform the insertion process optimally according to the product 10 and / or the trough 11.

The staple chains 7 are in a chain guide 30, in FIG. 1 shown schematically as above and below the dashed line for the staple chains 7 parallel dash-dotted lines, out. Such a chain guide is for example from the DE 102006005405 A1 known. The chain guides 30 have an upper guide surface O and a lower guide surface U, between which a staple chain 7 is guided.

FIG. 2 shows a schematic side view of the course of the staple chains 7 and thus the lower film 6 from the forming station 8 to the sealing station 12. In the forming station 8 one or more consecutively and / or juxtaposed and forming a format wells 11 are formed in the lower film 6. The staple chains 7 are moved synchronously per working cycle by a film feed V in the direction of production R, in order to provide newly to be filled troughs of the insertion path 9 and the product insert belt 3. FIG. 2 further shows a schematic detail view of the insertion path 9 with the product insert belt 3, are promoted on the products 10 in the production direction R. The product inlay band 3 has a vertical height H in the area above the forming station 8.

The course of the chain guide 30 from the forming station 8 to the sealing station 12 is approximately S-shaped. The chain guide 30 is aligned horizontally in the areas of the forming station 8 and the sealing station 12 and in the region of the insertion path 9, the chain guide 30 has a rising from the forming station 8 to the sealing station 12 course. The upper guide surface O along the forming station 8 has a horizontal orientation and a first vertical distance V1 from a footprint A. The upper guide surface O along the sealing station 12 has a horizontal orientation and a second vertical distance V2 from a footprint A. In the transitions from the forming station 8 to the insertion path 9 and from the insertion path 9 to the sealing station 12, the chain guide in each case has a radial course with a radius RA of 500 mm to 1000 mm. On the one hand, this ensures gentle transitions of the chain guide 30, so there are no kinks in the wells 11, especially when using rigid films. On the other hand, the insertion path 9 should not be unnecessarily long in order to keep the overall machine length of the thermoforming packaging machine 1 as short as possible.

The product inlay band 3 is connected, for example, to the machine frame 4 by means of a first adjusting device 23 and a second adjusting device 24. For example, manual or power-operated settings of the product insert belt 3 can be carried out via the adjusting devices 23, 24.

FIG. 3 shows a schematic plan view of the insertion path 9 with the product insert belt 3 and a product feed belt in a first phase. The product inlay band 3 comprises two belts 3a and 3b, which are respectively provided for a track S1 and S2 for the product supply. A track S1, S2 is defined by the troughs 11 which follow each other in the direction of production R. The two belts 3a, 3b can each be driven by separately actuatable drives 21a, 21b.

In FIG. 3 the product infeed belt 3 is assigned a product supply belt 30 for feeding products 10 in a first track S1 and in a second track S2 in accordance with the number of tracks of the thermoforming packaging machine 1. At the transition from the product feed belt 30 to the product insert belt 3, a separation point 31 is provided and before the separation point 31, a device 32 for detecting the products 10 on the product feed belt 30 is arranged. The device 32 may, for example, have a vision system common to both lanes, or a sensor 33 may be provided for each lane S1, S2 to detect a leading edge 34 of the product 10 and forward this information to the controller 18.

The distance A between two successive products 10 and their leading edges 34 of a track S1, S2 preferably corresponds to the distance A 'of two successive wells 11, for example, to insert a group of four products 10, a so-called format. The group in FIG. 3 2, two times corresponds to products 1c, 2c, 1d, 2d, and this group of products 10 can be inserted into the troughs 11 with a common and synchronous feed movement of product inlay tape 3 and staple chains 7. The product feed belt 30 has a drive 30a, preferably a servomotor drive analogous to the drives 21a, 21b.

The products 3c, 4c, 3d, 4d, which can be fed on the product feed belt 30, have, as in FIG FIG. 3 6 illustrates a difference D in the direction of production R with respect to the leading edges 34 of two adjacent products 3c and 3d detected by means 32 while the products 10 are in or passing through their measurement range. In the case of an existing difference D, this means that a product 10 in the production direction R is already located at the front or further back on the product feed belt 30 in relation to an adjacent product 10 on an adjacent track S1, S2.

The belts 3a, 3b are shown in an advancing movement to transport the group of products 1c, 2c, 1d, 2d to the front end thereof in a subsequent power stroke, this group or just two adjacent products 1c and 1d during a common cycle Feed with the staple chains 7 in the wells 11 insert.

FIG. 4 shows a schematic plan view of the insertion path 9 with the product insert belt 3 and the product feed belt 30 in a second phase. The belt 3a of the first track S1 positions the product 2c at a position intended to produce a distance A from the product 2c to the subsequent newly picked-up product 3c when taking over the subsequent product 3c. Similarly, this also performs the second band 3b for the products 2d and 3d, wherein the two bands 3a, 3b and their products 2c, 3c, 2d, 3d have the difference D, which is generated in the acquisition of the products 3c and 3d or automatically results. In FIG. 4 shown, the product feed belt 30 is in the feed motion, see arrow. The first band 3a moves in this phase already shown synchronously with the product feed belt 30 and takes up the product 3c, while the second band 3b first synchronizes with the product feed belt 30 as soon as the next product 3d of the second track 2 comes to take over or ., The leading edge 34 is located at the separation point 31.

FIG. 5 shows a schematic plan view of the insertion path 9 with the product insert belt 3 and the product feed belt in a third phase. In this phase shown, the products 3c and 3d are completely taken over by the product feed belt 30 on the product insert belt 3 and the difference D can be compensated for by a relative movement of the two belts 3a, 3b to the leading edges 34 of the products 2c, 2d on a common virtual Line L transverse to the production direction R to position. In the in FIG. 5 shown embodiment, only moves the second Band 3b in the direction of the arrow to compensate for the difference D. During this phase, the advance of the staple chains 7 stops and the product feed belt 30 does not accept any new products 4c, 4d.

Subsequently, the two bands 3a, 3b are positioned on the insertion position for the next insertion process or transfer operation.

This invention also includes a product inlay band 3 with more than two tracks or bands, and further groups with a different number of products 10 can be inserted into the recesses 11 during a loading process. The detection of the speed of the product supply belt 30 for synchronization with the belts 3a, 3b may be effected via a measuring system on the product supply belt 30 or on its drive 30a, which is connected to the controller 18 of the thermoforming packaging machine 1. Alternatively, the information of the speed can be transmitted via a bus system from the control of the product supply belt 30 to the controller 18 of the thermoforming packaging machine 1. The sensors 33 can be designed as optical sensors.

Claims (4)

1. Method for operating a deep draw packaging machine (1) comprising at least two clamp chains (8) for holding a bottom film (6) on both sides and for conveying the bottom film (6) along a production direction (R) of the deep draw packaging machine (1), wherein the clamp chains (7) are guided in chain guides (30), wherein the deep draw packaging machine (1) comprises a forming station (8) for producing troughs (11) in the bottom film (6), a sealing station (12) and at least one cutting station (14), which are arranged on a machine frame (4) in this sequence along the production direction (R), wherein the chain guides (30) extend at least from the forming station (8) along an infeed line (9) to the sealing station (12), wherein the chain guides (30) each comprise an upper guide surface (O) and a lower guide surface (U) between which a respective clamp chain (7) is guided, and the upper guide surface (O) has a horizontal orientation at and along the forming station (8) and has a first vertical distance (V1) from an installation surface (A) of the machine frame (4) of the deep draw packaging machine (1) in this section, wherein the chain guides (30) have a horizontal orientation at and along the sealing station (12) and the upper guide surface (O) has a second vertical distance (V2) from the installation surface (A) in this section, and the second distance (V2) is greater than the first distance (V1), and the chain guide (30) along the infeed line (9) has an ascending orientation at least in part,
   wherein the product infeed belt (3) comprises at least two separately drivable belts (3a, 3b),
   and wherein a separation point (31) is provided between the product infeed belt (3) and a product supply belt (30) arranged directly upstream thereof,
   wherein in the method the belts (3a, 3b) of the product infeed belt (3) are controlled such that when the products (10) are transferred from the product supply belt (30) the belts (3a, 3b) are separately controlled with the product supply belt (30) to correct positional differences of neighboring products (10) in production direction (R),
   wherein further with the help of one or plural sensors in front of the separation point (31) the position of neighboring products (10) is sensed and this information is transmitted to a controller (18) of the deep draw packaging machine (1), wherein the controller (18) evaluates the information on the positions and determines the difference (D) of a front edge (34) of a first product (10) of the first track (S1) in relation to the front edge (34) of a second product (10) of the second track (S2),
   and wherein when the products (10) are taken over, the controller (18) respectively controls the belts (2a, 3b) such that after takeover the front edges (34) of products (10), which are successive in production direction (R), of a respective track (S1, S2) have a predetermined distance (A).
2. Method according to claim 1, wherein the distance (A) corresponds to a distance (A) of successive troughs (11) in the bottom film (6).
3. Method according to any one of the preceding claims 1 or 2, characterized in that upon transfer of the product (10) to the respective belt (3a, 3b) the speed of said belt (3a, 3b) is synchronized with the speed of the product supply belt (30).
4. Method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the products (10) are taken over by the product infeed belt (3) while the advance movement of the clamp chains (7) is at a standstill.

Images