EP3689761B1 - Device and method for handling and / or packaging articles - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a packaging device with the features of independent claim 1. The invention also relates to a method for packaging articles and for transferring several articles into outer packaging with the features of the independent method claim.

For the automated loading of outer packaging with groups of items, such as for filling or loading beverage crates or cartons with beverage containers or bottles, specially equipped handling devices are used, which, for example, have or are formed by movable tool heads or gripper heads with controllable bottle grippers. During the insertion process of the articles, containers or bottles, these gripper heads must be positioned above the outer packaging to be loaded so that the articles, containers or bottles can be inserted there from above without the risk of collision. The bottle grippers in the gripper heads of the handling devices can be formed, for example, by suction grippers or the like.

Increasingly higher demands are placed on the positioning accuracy of the handling devices, as the requirements with regard to the product throughput that can be achieved with modern packaging machines are also increasing. The resulting increasing handling, processing and packaging speeds are accompanied by higher demands on the precision of all recording and positioning processes.

However, it turns out that an isolated consideration of the ever-increasing product throughput of packaging machines can lead to losing sight of other technical aspects, especially if this can lead to conflicting goals. One such important technical aspect when filling liquids into containers, in particular when filling drinks into PET containers or bottles, is the external appearance and/or equipment of these containers or bottles, especially since this external appearance and/or equipment in are usually in the foreground for the end customer, while manufacturing parameters such as The end customer hardly has to be interested in packaging that is as quick and problem-free as possible for the bottling and packaging companies.

Every treatment step that has to take place between the filling of the containers with liquid and the container formation, packaging and/or palletizing, for example by labeling the containers, is inevitably associated with additional effort, which usually also leads to a loss of speed and must therefore lead to a reduction in the product throughput that can be achieved with the respective packaging process.

In addition to known labeling processes, alternative treatment processes for designing and coloring containers are also known. For example, containers and bottles can also be printed with printing ink using so-called direct printing processes, which can be applied directly to the container surface or optionally sprayed onto labels previously attached there. However, there are no significantly different aspects to consider than with labeling, since the various direct printing processes also lead to a reduced product throughput due to the associated handling effort compared to not using such printing.

The significantly increased handling effort can be understood, for example, using well-known publications. In this context, for example, you can refer to: DE 10 2014 218 361 A1 , on the WO 2017/032553 A1 , on the WO 2017/084804 A1 , on the WO 2018/108361 A1 or on the WO 2018/114097 A1 to get expelled. Each of these documents shows that for an error-free printed image, the containers must be guided precisely and brought to the print heads with comparatively considerable additional effort and can only then be fed to further handling and/or packaging steps. WO 2012/057996 A2 shows a gripper for holding multiple bottles for inserting bottles into crates. DE 10 2011 119966 B3 and DE 10 2014 218361 A1 describe manipulators that are designed as a carousel on which several bottles are held and are guided past a print head. JP 2000 313522 A describes a robot with a manipulator and a gripper that can pick up a box, move it past a printer and place it on a pallet.

In view of the potentially occurring conflicting objectives when handling and packaging articles such as containers that are to be subjected to additional treatment steps in connection with influencing or changing the external appearance or design, it can be seen as the primary aim of the invention to use already established packaging processes at a suitable location to add additional process steps with which the items to be packaged and/or combined into containers can be subjected to further treatments without significantly reducing the processing speed.

This aim of the invention is achieved by the subject matter of the independent claims. Further advantageous embodiments of the invention are described by the respective dependent claims.

To achieve the above-mentioned goal, the present invention proposes, in addition to the packaging device described below in various embodiment variants, a method for packaging articles by transferring several articles into outer packaging. The containers or item combinations mentioned here and combined by at least two can be formed, for example, by so-called strapping containers, by foil containers, by shrink-film containers, by so-called adhesive containers, etc.

A strapping bundle means, for example, a group of items that are grouped together by horizontal strapping stretched around the items or by several strapping bands. A film package can be produced, for example, by wrapping a group of articles with a stretchable and/or heat-shrinkable film web, whereby a shrink film package is normally already subjected to a heat treatment so that the film envelops the articles held together in this way under a pre-tension. Adhesive containers can be formed in particular by article groupings with articles that adhere to one another on their lateral surfaces.

On the one hand, the types of containers mentioned here are not to be understood exclusively in connection with the present invention, since there are further container variants with alternative connection and/or adhesion options. On the other hand, the container variants mentioned here can also occur in a variety of combinations, since, for example, an item grouping can be formed by items that are adhesively attached to one another, which are then wrapped with stretch or shrink film and, if necessary, subjected to a heat treatment to harden the adhesive spots and/or to shrink the enveloping film can be subjected to.

The containers or receptacles referred to here as outer packaging are intended to hold at least one group of articles made up of several articles. Such outer packaging can be formed, for example, by simple cardboard boxes, optionally with compartments arranged therein, by beverage crates or crates or by other suitable containers. Also so-called trays, ie Cardboard pads with edges folded upwards at the sides covering the lower areas of the items or containers can fall under the term outer packaging used here.

The method according to the invention provides that at least one group of articles is detected using at least one manipulator and fed to a packaging station and inserted or inserted into a ready outer packaging. This means that after they have been combined, the containers are packaged separately again by being inserted into an outer packaging. Such additional outer packaging is often used to accommodate several containers in a regular arrangement in order to then, if necessary, send them to a further handling and/or packaging step, such as palletizing.

The special feature that characterizes the method according to the invention is that at least one of the articles detected by the at least one manipulator is treated with printing ink at at least one point on its outside before being inserted into the available outer packaging. This takes advantage of the now technically achievable control and positioning accuracy of the available manipulators, as they are not only able to transfer the picked up items with high precision into ready-made outer packaging or to make them available to a packaging station while maintaining tight spatial tolerances place. The positioning services that can be achieved with the manipulators can also be used advantageously to move the articles transferred to a destination on their way past printing devices prepared for this purpose, where they can be printed. This means that printed images, barcodes, spray markings, individual markings, so-called tracking IDs, RFIDs or the like can be applied to the articles as required.

While it is known from the prior art to move circular containers held in container receptacles of a transport device along a transport path a direct print head or to several direct print heads of a direct printing machine and to apply a flat direct print there in cooperation with a rotational movement of the containers, whereby for multi-color printing the containers are usually transported to several direct print heads, the present invention provides a novel and previously unknown and therefore practically unused application of the well-known direct printing process in connection with article handling in the field of packaging technology. Since it was important when packaging items such as bottles and containers of all kinds to have ready-filled and labeled containers or bottles available, or printed using direct printing, in order to be able to combine them into containers and/or package them in other ways without any problems, it did not seem sensible to to intervene in the packaging process in order to label or print the containers or bottles there.

For this purpose, the invention can provide an advantageous method for transferring articles that are in a ready position and/or are transported in mass flow and/or in series transport into outer packaging that is stationary or is moved continuously or intermittently along a conveyor path, these outer packaging being intended to contain at least one of each include an article group formed by several articles. The method variant described here provides for at least one group of articles to be grasped and lifted from the provision position and/or from the mass flow and/or the row transport by means of at least one manipulator, for example formed by or having a gripper head, and placed from above into one of the ready or In addition to the mass flow or the row transport of the items along or on the conveyor line, insert or use outer packaging moving, after which the outer packaging can be transported away. The method variant described here also provides that at least one of the articles detected by the manipulator is treated with printing ink on at least one point on its outside before being inserted into the available outer packaging.

The method according to the invention provides for at least one item to be packaged before being inserted into the to move the waiting outer packaging past at least one stationary print head, which applies printing ink to the outside of the article. As mentioned, the manipulator can, for example, comprise a gripper head which is intended and equipped to simultaneously grasp several articles in order to guide them past or along the print heads before being deposited or inserted into downstream handling stations.

The manipulator can have a wide variety of designs. In particular, the gripper heads mentioned can be used as manipulators, which, for example, have a portal suspension which allows them to be mobile and movable in at least two, but in particular three directions of movement. Optionally, the manipulators can also have multi-axis robots or so-called parallel kinematics robots, which can have a tool head that can be moved in space in this way with a gripper head arranged on it in a movable and possibly rotatable manner. The gripper head can be designed, for example, as a bottle gripper with several suction grippers or with other mechanically acting gripping and/or locking devices for grasping, handling and positioning the articles, containers or bottles.

The at least one print head is formed by a stationary direct print head, past which the at least one article is moved past and/or moved past several times in different directions to produce a printed image. The articles can be moved up and down and/or rotated at a defined short distance from them using the manipulator while they are being printed.

If in this context we are talking about a stationary print head or several stationary print heads, past which the articles are moved, this also means height-adjustable print and/or application heads, to which the articles are brought using the manipulator and held there. while the printhead or printheads could be moved up and down with a movement along the surface to be printed.

Optionally, the at least one article can also be moved one after the other past two or more print heads, each of which can apply different printing inks to the outside of the article. This successive passing of several print heads for different colors can enable multi-color printing with several transfer positions. It is also conceivable to apply a wide variety of barcodes or other markings when using print heads. Labels or, for example, RFID tags or the like can also be attached to the outside of the items using so-called application heads.

Another variant of the method is also conceivable, in which at least two articles captured by the manipulator at the same time are subjected to different treatments, each with different print and/or application images. For example, individual bottles of a batch can be printed differently, ie within the manipulator or gripper head, which provides a great deal of freedom when putting together individually designed batches. For each pallet layer, for example, different item or container combinations can be created, which can be done using appropriate program controls when printing the items contained in each individual cycle of manipulator handling or implementation.

In addition, it can be provided in the method that the articles are dried using suitable devices, that is to say they are freed of any remaining liquid or moisture that may be adhering, before their outer sides are exposed to printing ink and/or a permanently adhesive coating. To dry the outer surfaces of the articles before their further treatment, they can be exposed to hot air, electromagnetic radiation, etc. in order to ensure reliable drying and dehumidification. For this purpose can Optionally, a drying device can be used in front of the machine and/or immediately before printing or application, as wet bottles/cans may pose a problem when printing and/or applying applications.

In order to achieve the above-mentioned aim, the present invention, in addition to the method described in various embodiment variants and modifications, also proposes a packaging device with the features of the independent device claim, which is used in particular to transfer several items into outer packaging, these outer packaging each having at least one of several items include the created article group.

This packaging and/or container forming device according to the invention comprises at least one transport section or staging area for, in particular, grouped items, a packaging station for transferring several items into outer packaging, each of which can accommodate at least one group of articles formed from several articles, and at least one between the transport section or staging area and the Packaging station movable manipulator, which can capture at least one group of articles and feed it to the packaging station and insert or insert the at least one group of articles into a ready outer packaging.

In addition, the packaging device according to the invention comprises at least one direct printing station located between the transport section or staging area and the packaging station and accessible by at least one manipulator for applying printing ink and/or a permanently adhesive coating to the articles or at least one of the articles at at least one point on their respective outer sides such as printed images, barcodes, spray markings, tracking codes, RFID tags or other identification, For example, individual markings for individual printing or application processes on or to which items are attached.

In the packaging device according to the invention, the direct printing station comprises at least one stationary direct print head, which can be reached by the manipulator, which can be moved together with the detected articles or with the at least one detected article on its movement towards the at least one direct print head in order to move the at least one after the approach to move the article to be printed and/or coated past at least one direct print head and/or to move it past several times in different directions to produce a printed image. The movements of the manipulator with the articles held on it depend on the print image to be achieved; The articles can be moved up and down and/or rotated as needed using the manipulator, while the direct print head produces the printed image on the article.

It is also conceivable, depending on the degree of complexity of the printed image, to move the at least one article successively past two or more print heads of the direct printing station, whereby these two or more print heads can each apply different printing inks and/or different substances to the outside of the article. For example, the movement of the articles past several print heads for different colors can be provided in succession, which enables, for example, multi-color printing with several transfer positions. Optionally, barcodes or other markings can also be applied.

The device can also be equipped in such a way that at least two articles captured by the manipulator at the same time are treated with different print and/or application images through different treatment. In this way, for example, individual bottles of a batch, ie within the manipulator or gripper head, can be printed differently.

In order to prevent articles with residual moisture still adhering to their outsides from being treated with inadequate print quality, the device according to the invention can, for example, also be preceded by a drying station for drying the outer surfaces of the articles to be treated. It is also conceivable that this drying station for drying the outer surfaces of the articles to be treated is arranged at least upstream of the direct printing and/or application station, in particular in the immediate vicinity. This can ensure that the articles are dried before they are exposed to printing ink and/or a permanently adhesive coating on their respective outer sides and/or before they are equipped with at least one equipment element that adheres to the outside of the respective article. These drying stations can, for example, work with hot air, electromagnetic radiation, etc., so that wet items, containers, bottles or cans cannot pose a problem.

It should be expressly mentioned at this point that all aspects and embodiment variants that have been explained in connection with the packaging and/or container forming device according to the invention equally relate to or can form partial aspects of the method according to the invention. If, therefore, at one point in the description or in the claim definitions for the packaging and/or container forming device according to the invention, certain aspects and/or When we talk about connections and/or effects, this applies equally to the method according to the invention. The same applies in the opposite way, so that all aspects and embodiment variants that have been explained in connection with the method according to the invention equally relate to or can be partial aspects of the packaging and/or container forming device according to the invention. Therefore, if certain aspects and/or connections and/or effects are mentioned at one point in the description or in the claim definitions for the method according to the invention, this also applies to the packaging and/or container forming device according to the invention.

• Fig. 1 zeigt anhand einer schematischen Draufsicht den grundsätzlichen Aufbau einer Ausführungsvariante einer erfindungsgemäßen Verpackungs- und/oder Gebindebildungsvorrichtung.
• Fig. 2 zeigt in insgesamt sechs schematischen Ansichten (Figuren 2A bis 2F) eine erste Variante eines erfindungsgemäßen Verfahrens zur Verpackung von Artikeln zur Aufbringung von Druckbildern auf die Artikel mittels eines Direktdruckverfahrens.
• Fig. 3 zeigt in insgesamt sechs schematischen Ansichten (Figuren 3A bis 3F) eines Verfahrens zur Verpackung von Artikeln zur Aufbringung von Druckbildern auf die Artikel mittels eines Direktdruckverfahrens, das nicht unter die Erfindung fällt.

In the following, exemplary embodiments will explain the invention and its advantages in more detail using the attached figures. The proportions of the individual elements in the figures do not always correspond to the real proportions, as some shapes are simplified and other shapes are shown enlarged in relation to other elements for better illustration.

• Fig. 1 shows, based on a schematic top view, the basic structure of an embodiment variant of a packaging and/or container forming device according to the invention.
• Fig. 2 shows a total of six schematic views ( Figures 2A to 2F ) a first variant of a method according to the invention for packaging articles for applying printed images to the articles using a direct printing process.
• Fig. 3 shows a total of six schematic views ( Figures 3A to 3F ) a method for packaging articles for applying printed images to the articles by means of a direct printing process, which is not covered by the invention.

Identical reference numbers are used for elements of the invention that are the same or have the same effect. Furthermore, for the sake of clarity, only reference numbers that are necessary for the description of the respective figure are shown in the individual figures. The embodiments shown merely represent examples of how the packaging and/or container forming device according to the invention or the method according to the invention can be designed for packaging or bundling articles or for transferring several articles into outer packaging and do not represent a final limitation.

The schematic top view of the Fig. 1 is only intended to illustrate the basic structure of a packaging device 10 according to the invention, which serves to combine and/or repackage groups of articles, which is to be illustrated in the exemplary embodiment described below by transferring beverage containers into beverage crates serving as outer packaging. These beverage crates are each suitable and intended for holding a defined number of regularly arranged or suitably grouped beverage containers on the top side.

The packaging device 10, which is only indicated schematically here, is assigned a first conveyor line 12 for transporting a large number of upright articles 14. In the present context, these articles 14 are formed in particular by upright beverage containers 16, which are transported in mass flow and/or in row transport in a defined conveying direction 18, which leads to the device 10. In addition, the device 10 has a second conveyor line 20, which is located close to the first conveyor line 12 and runs parallel to it in the exemplary embodiment shown, for the successive transport of outer packaging 22 in the form of beverage crates 24, which act as outer packaging 22 for receiving at least one of several items 14 or beverage containers 16 formed article group are provided and prepared.

In principle, the outer packaging 22 can also be formed by other boxes or crates or containers of various types, for example by boxes made of simple cardboard or, for example, by foil wrappings, shrink foils or other wrappings made of flat packaging material.

As already shown in the schematic top view of the Fig. 1 can be seen, the outer packaging 22 formed, for example, by the beverage crates 24 (or possibly the other packaging materials) are also moved on the second conveyor line 20 in the same conveying direction 18 to the device 10 as the articles formed, for example, by the beverage containers 16 14 on the first conveyor line 12. However, this parallel alignment of the two conveyor lines 12 and 20 to one another is not necessarily mandatory, but can also vary in practice if necessary, so that non-parallel conveying directions 18 of the two conveyor lines 12 and 20 for the articles 14 or Beverage containers 16 or for the outer packaging 22 or beverage crates 24 are conceivable and manageable.

Furthermore, the in the Fig. 1 Packaging device 10 shown schematically is a packaging station 26 which is spatially and functionally equally assigned to the two conveyor routes 12 and 20. Diesel packaging station 26 is used to pack the articles 14 or beverage containers 16 transported in the conveying direction 18 on the first conveyor route 12 by transferring them into the outer packaging 22 or Beverage crates 24, each of which can accommodate at least one article group or container group formed from several articles 14 or beverage containers 16. This packaging or transfer of the articles 14 or beverage containers 16 into the outer packaging 22 or beverage crates 24 always also includes a handling process, which is why this section of the device 10 can also be referred to as a handling and/or packaging station 26.

The packaging station 26 is equipped with a manipulator 28, for example with at least one gripper head 30 or optionally also with several gripper heads 30 that can be controlled in parallel, which is used to simultaneously pick up and record a group of articles with each existing gripper head 30 from the first conveyor section 12 and to their transfer to the second conveyor line 20 within the device 10 and for inserting the group of articles, ie the group of articles 14 or beverage containers 16, into one of the outer packaging 22 or beverage crates 24 conveyed there are provided.

Even if in the present context we are generally talking about a first conveyor section 12, instead of such a conveyor section 12 designed, for example, as a horizontal conveyor device, an almost arbitrarily designed staging area for the articles 14 or beverage containers 16 can also be present and used, from which the articles 14 or beverage containers 16 can be detected by means of the manipulator 28 and fed to the container formation or inserted or inserted into the available outer packaging 22.

The ones in the Fig. 1 Only schematically indicated packaging station 26 with the manipulator 28 or with the at least one gripper head 30 or with several approximately synchronously movable and controllable gripper heads 30 can be formed, for example, by a gantry robot, a multi-axis robot, a parallel kinematics robot or another suitable handling device, whose Manipulator 28, gripper head 30 or their gripper heads 30 between the staging area (not shown here) or the two conveyor lines 12 and 20 for transferring several articles 14 or beverage containers 16 at the same time to the outer packaging 22 or beverage crates 24 that are available or are optionally moved in parallel conveying direction 18 can be moved and simultaneously raised and lowered as required.

The controllable gripper head 30 or the multiple gripper heads 30 located on a movable tool head (not shown in detail) on the manipulator 28, which is preferably used in the handling and/or packaging station 26, serve to simultaneously pick up several articles 14, beverage containers 16 or bottles. For this purpose, the gripper head 30 or the gripper heads 30 are equipped with controllable suction grippers or with controllable gripping tulips or the like, with which the articles 14, beverage containers 16 or bottles are grasped in their neck or head area and for the transfer and the approximately vertical Insertion into the open-top outer packaging 22 or beverage crates 24 is held securely and can be reliably released for placement in the outer packaging 22 provided for this purpose or in the beverage crate 24 provided for this purpose.

If the handling and/or packaging station 26 is equipped in the simplest configuration variant with only one gripper head 30 as a manipulator 28, an outer packaging 22 or a beverage crate 24 can normally be equipped with a defined number of articles 14, beverage containers 16 or bottles at the same time, for example with a number of beverage containers 16 arranged in a rectangular arrangement, totaling twenty or twenty-four or more beverage containers 16 or bottles. Preferably, however, the handling and/or packaging station 26 can also be equipped with two or three similar gripper heads 30, which allow a correspondingly larger number of articles 14 or beverage containers 16 to be grasped simultaneously and, for example, into two or three outer packagings 22 conveyed one behind the other or drinks crates 24 to be sold. Due to the possibility created in this way of simultaneously equipping several outer packaging 22 or beverage crates 24 with respective groups of articles 14 or beverage containers 16, a correspondingly high throughput is possible when equipping outer packaging 22 with articles 14 or containers 16.

The schematic representation of the Fig. 1 Furthermore, the second conveyor section 20, which leads out of the packaging and/or container forming device 10 in the conveying direction 18 to the right or continues in the conveying direction 18, can be seen, the conveying direction 18 of which is used to convey away the containers formed in the station 26 or to convey away those equipped with articles 14 Outer packaging 22 or the beverage crates 24 equipped with beverage containers 16 for their further handling such as palletizing is unchanged. Normally, the section of the second conveyor line 20 leading out of the device 10 to the right can form its continuation, since the beverage crates 24 do not have to be taken down or removed from the second conveyor line 20 when they are equipped with beverage containers 16.

The reference number 32 denotes in the Fig. 1 a direct printing and/or application station, which is located between the transport section of the first conveyor line 12 or the staging area and the handling and/or packaging station 26 and which is reached by the at least one manipulator 28 used with the gripper heads 30 or the at least one gripper head 30 can be. This direct printing and/or application station 32 serves to apply printing ink and/or a permanently adhesive coating to the articles 14 or at least one of the articles 14 at at least one point on their respective outer sides, but can In addition, it also serves to attach at least one equipment element that adheres to the outside of at least one article 14.

The schematic top view of the Fig. 2A shows an arrangement of the device 10 for printing on the outside of articles, in which a larger number of articles or beverage containers (not shown here) can be lifted from a first conveyor line 12 into a direct printing station 32 by means of a manipulator 28 and printed there before the articles or beverage containers are there be lifted out again in order to then be inserted into outer packaging, also not shown here, which is transported on a second conveyor line 20.

Optionally you can according to Fig. 2B Two such direct printing stations 32 can also be arranged next to one another, to which the beverage containers or articles to be printed are fed one after the other. For example, the manipulator 28 can lift a defined number of articles into the first direct printing station 32a so that the articles are printed there, in order to lift out an article that has been printed with a second printing ink in the adjacent second printing station 32b and to the second conveyor line 20 with the hand over to the available outer packaging. If necessary, the manipulator 28 can insert previously or subsequently unprinted articles into the first direct printing station 32a as soon as it is ready to receive the articles again.

The schematic side views of the Figures 2C to 2F illustrate a printing process on a defined number of beverage containers 16, which are fed to a direct printing station 32 by means of suitable gripper heads 30 of a manipulator 28. The gripper heads 30 lift the beverage containers 16 at their neck or head areas, which can be done, for example, with suction grippers 34 with which the gripper heads 30 are equipped. What is important here is that the suction grippers 34 of the gripper heads 30 can not only carry out rotating movements in order to provide the beverage containers 16 with the desired printed images 38 (see. Fig. 2F ) to be able to provide. Equally important is very precise guidance of the beverage containers 16 by means of the suction pads 34 in order to be able to avoid unclean printing due to undesirable movements or insufficiently precise positioning of the beverage containers 16 on the print heads of the printing units 36.

The Fig. 2C illustrates the detection of article groups of four beverage containers 16 on a gripper head 30, which is equipped with a total of four rotatable suction grippers 34. A total of three gripper heads 30 are located on a common manipulator 28, which can be raised and lowered and which transports the beverage containers 16 from the first conveyor line (not shown here) to the direct printing station 32 and, after printing, from this to the second conveyor line (also not shown here). ) can be transported with the outer packaging or optionally to a container forming station.

The total of twelve beverage containers 16 in the example shown here are lifted together into the direct printing station 32 by lowering the manipulator 28 in order to be fed to the printing units 36 there. In the exemplary embodiment shown, several printing units 36 can be located one above the other, over which the beverage containers 16 are guided past one after the other by vertical movements of the manipulator 28 with the gripper heads 30 and, if necessary, rotated in order to successively apply different printing inks to the lateral surfaces of the beverage containers 16 using the direct printing process.

For example, the direct printing station 32 can have a first printing unit 36a for a first printing ink, a second printing unit 36b for a second printing ink and a third printing unit 36c for a third printing ink, each of which is arranged one above the other, so that the beverage containers 16 can only be moved using the gripper heads 30 adjusted in height, but does not have to be moved or moved between several printing stations 32.

The Fig. 2D shows the beverage containers 16 brought into the area of the upper two printing units 36a and 36b, while the Fig. 2E shows the even further lowered beverage containers 16, the outer sides of which are to be printed are brought into the printing range of the third printing unit 36c so that they can be printed there.

The Fig. 2F illustrates the beverage container 16 lifted out of the direct printing station 32 with the manipulator 28 raised, on the outer surface of which a printed image 38 was applied using the direct printing process.

Figures 3A to 3F show devices that are not covered by the invention. The schematic top view of the Fig. 3A shows an arrangement of a device 10 for printing on the outside of articles, in which a larger number of articles or beverage containers (not shown here) are moved from a first conveyor line 12 into a direct printing station 32 by means of a manipulator 28 can be lifted in and printed there before the articles or beverage containers are lifted out again in order to then be inserted into outer packaging, also not shown here, which is transported on a second conveyor line 20. In this alternative variant, the direct printing station 32 is each assigned turntables 40, onto which the articles or beverage containers are placed and held during printing in order to be able to move them past the print heads of the direct printing station 32 in a rotating movement.

As shown in the schematic side view of a direct printing station Fig. 3B clarified, the printing units 36 of the direct printing station 32 can be designed to be height-adjustable in this variant in order not to have to adjust the height of the turntable 40. As with the first variant Fig. 2 In this variant, several printing units 36 can also be arranged one above the other, which can be activated after corresponding vertical movements and used for the successive application of different printing inks to the lateral surfaces of the articles 14 or beverage containers 16 to be printed.

In this second variant, too, the manipulator 28 can, for example, lift a defined number of articles into the direct printing station 32 and place them on the turntable 40 located there so that the articles are printed there, in order to then lift out the finished printed articles and to the second conveyor line 20 to be handed over with the outer packaging provided.

The schematic side views of the Figures 3C to 3F illustrate a printing process on a defined number of beverage containers 16, which are fed to a direct printing station 32 with turntables 40 by means of suitable gripper heads 30 of a manipulator 28. The gripper heads 30 lift the beverage containers 16 at their neck or head areas, for example with suction grippers 34 (cf. Fig. 3C ). In this variant, the gripper heads 30 with the suction grippers 34 are only responsible for the transfer movement, but not for the exact positioning of the beverage containers 16 on the print heads 36. This takes place in the interaction of the height-adjustable printing units 36 and the rotating turntable 40 on which the ones to be printed Beverage containers 16 are fixed.

According to Fig. 3D The beverage containers 16 are each placed on the turntable 40 and fixed there. The suction pads 34 can then be deactivated and the manipulator 28 can be deactivated accordingly Fig. 3E be withdrawn.

Accordingly Fig. 3F The turntables 40 can be rotated so that the beverage containers 16 can be supplied with the desired print images 38 (cf. Fig. 2F ) can be provided.

In this variant too, the direct printing station 32 can have a first printing unit 36a for a first printing ink, a second printing unit 36b for a second printing ink and a third printing unit 36c for a third printing ink, each of which is arranged one above the other and can be jointly adjusted in height (cf. Fig. 3F ), so that the beverage containers 16 do not have to be moved or moved between several printing stations 32.

The schematic views of the Figures 1 to 2F illustrate the special features and new aspects that characterize the method according to the invention by several articles 14 or beverage containers 16 captured by the manipulator 28 before being passed on to a packaging and/or container forming station downstream in the transport route or before being inserted into outer packaging 22 or beverage crates 24 provided for this purpose applied to at least one point on their respective outer sides with printing ink and / or a permanently adhesive coating, if necessary additionally provided with at least one equipment element (not shown here) adhering to the outside of at least one article 14.

In this novel method, the high control and positioning accuracies of the available manipulators 28 are used in particular, since these manipulators 28 are not only able to transfer the picked up articles 14 with high precision into ready outer packaging 22 or to a packaging and/or or container formation station 10 while maintaining tight spatial tolerances. The positioning services that can be achieved with the manipulators 28 are used in the present application to move the articles 14 that have been transferred to a destination on their way past printing and/or application devices prepared for this purpose, so that they have a coating, a print and/or a other equipment can be provided. This means that printed images 38, barcodes, spray markings, individual markings, so-called tracking IDs, RFIDs or the like can be applied to the articles 14 as required.

The invention has been described with reference to a preferred embodiment. However, it will be apparent to one skilled in the art that modifications or changes may be made to the invention without departing from the scope of the following claims.

Reference symbol list

10

Packaging device, container forming device, packaging and/or container forming device

12

first conveyor route

14

Article

16

containers, beverage containers

18

Direction of conveyance

20

second conveyor route

22

Outer packaging

24

box, drinks box

26

Handling station, packaging station, handling and/or packaging station

28

manipulator

30

Gripper head

32

Direct printing station, application station, direct printing and/or application station

32a

first direct printing station (for applying a first printing ink)

32b

second direct printing station (for applying a second printing ink)

34

Suction cups

36

Print head, printing unit

36a

first printing unit (for first printing color)

36b

second printing unit (for second printing color)

36c

third printing unit (for third printing color)

38

Print image

40

Turntable

Claims (10)

1. A packaging apparatus (10), at least comprising:

   - a transport section or staging location for articles (14),

   - a packaging station (26) for packaging articles (14) by transferring a plurality of articles (14) into outer packagings (22), which can each accommodate at least one article group composed of a plurality of articles (14),

   - at least one manipulator (28) that is movable between the transport section or staging location and the packaging station (26), the manipulator (28) being configured to seize an article group and insert or place it into an outer packaging (22) staged at the packaging station (26), and

   - at least one direct-printing station (32) situated between the transport section or staging location and the packaging station (26) and being within reach of the at least one manipulator (28) together with the article group, the direct-printing station (32) having a stationary direct printhead (36) within reach of the manipulator (28), which direct printhead (36) is configured to apply printing ink at least on one location of the particular outsides of the articles (14) that are seized, held, and being moved past the direct printhead (36) by the manipulator (28) in order to be printed on, or at least of one article (14) that is seized, held, and being moved past the direct printhead (36) by the manipulator (28) in order to be printed on.
2. The apparatus according to claim 1, in which the manipulator (28) can move the at least one article (14) to be printed on past the direct printhead (36) and/or, in order to produce a print image (38), can move the at least one article to be printed on several times in different directions past the direct printhead (36).
3. The apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, in which the at least one article (14) can be moved successively past two or more printheads (36; 36a, 36b, 36c) of the direct-printing station (32), which printheads (36; 36a, 36b, 36c) can each apply different printing inks on the outside of the article (14).
4. The apparatus according to one of the claims 1 to 3, in which a drying station for drying the outer surfaces of the articles (14) to be treated is arranged upstream of the apparatus.
5. The apparatus according to one of the claims 1 to 4, in which a drying station for drying the outer surfaces of the articles (14) to be treated is at least arranged upstream of the direct-printing station (32).
6. A method for packaging articles (14) by transferring a plurality of articles (14) into outer packagings (22), which can each accommodate at least one article group composed of a plurality of articles (14),

   - wherein in each case at least one article group is seized and fed to a packaging station (26) by at least one manipulator (28) and is introduced or placed into a staged outer packaging (22) by means of the manipulator (28),

   - wherein printing ink is applied on at least one location of the outside of at least one of the articles (14) seized by the at least one manipulator (28) prior to the article (14) being placed into the staged outer packaging (22),

   - wherein, prior to the article group being placed into the staged outer packaging (22), the at least one manipulator (28) moves the seized article group past at least one stationary direct printhead (36), which applies printing ink on the outside of at least one article (14).
7. The method according to claim 6, in which the manipulator moves the seized articles (14) past the stationary direct printhead (36), and/or, in order to produce a print image (38), moves the seized articles several times in different directions past the direct printhead (36).
8. The method according to claim 6, in which, in order to produce a print image (38) on at least one of the articles (14) seized by the manipulator, the articles (14) seized by the manipulator are moved successively past two or more printheads (36; 36a, 36b, 36c), which printheads (36; 36a, 36b, 36c) can each apply different printing inks on the outside of the at least one article (14).
9. The method according to one of the claims 6 to 8, in which in each case, by different treatment, different print images are fitted or applied on at least two articles (14) that are seized by the manipulator (28) at the same time.
10. The method according to one of the claims 6 to 9, in which the articles (14) are dried temporally before printing ink is applied onto their outsides.

Images