EP3909877A1 - Device for transporting finished and filled tubular pieces - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a device for transporting ready-cut and filled tube pieces. To simplify the structural design of a device for transporting ready-cut and filled tube pieces (54) within a machine for producing double-chamber bags filled with brewable material, with a transport wheel (2 ), which carries and supports several double-chamber bag-forming sets (4.1; 4.2) comprising a leading arm (6) and a trailing arm (8) and a radially movable profile part (10) provided therebetween and which supports a base of a double-chamber bag a cover (46) arranged in the area of the upper apex of the transport wheel (2) is rotatably mounted, the present invention proposes that the arms (6, 8) are mounted eccentrically to the axis of rotation (12) of the transport wheel (2) and that the arms (6, 8) of adjacent Dop pelvic bag forming sets (4.1; 4.2) are pivotably mounted on a common pivot axis (14).

Description

The present invention relates to a device for transporting ready-cut and filled tube pieces within a machine for producing double-chamber bags filled with tea.

From DE 38 06 386 C1 known device has a transport wheel which carries several double-chamber molding sets distributed around the circumference. Each double-chamber bag forming set comprises a profile part that supports the bottom of the double-chamber bag to be formed and arms provided for this purpose on both sides. In the prior art, when the double-chamber bag is formed, previously separated pieces of tubing, each containing two tea portions, are clamped between the arms and a concave contact surface of a cover. These two arms are moved towards one another, while a profile part located between the arms holds a central area of the severed hose section and guides it radially inward. This results in a substantially W-shaped formation of the double-chamber bag, the two tea portions being contained in opposing chambers of the double-chamber bag.

According to the prior art described above, the respective arms are actuated and mounted via a toggle lever mechanism, the levers of which are partially pivotably mounted on the transport wheel. For each double-chamber bag forming set of the rotating transport wheel, two arms and the movable profile part provided between them are provided. The arm of the double-chamber bag forming set that is forward in the direction of rotation is referred to below as the leading arm, and the arm of the double-chamber bag forming set behind it in the direction of rotation is referred to as the trailing arm. The profile part is located between the leading and trailing arm.

The also deviates from this basic structure DE 195 32 816 B4 not from, which develops the aforementioned prior art only to the effect that the arms are designed to be resilient, so that the severed tube piece is placed against the contact surface of the cover under an elastic pretension.

The actuation and storage of the arms via a toggle lever mechanism is complex. It requires a considerable number of components, but nevertheless allows kinematics of the arms together with the profile part in such a way that the molded double-chamber bag compared to a can be pivoted strictly radial direction in order to position a bag head for a subsequent stapling on the transport wheel so that it extends essentially tangentially to the transport wheel.

The present invention seeks to simplify the construction of the previously known device.

To solve this, the present invention proposes a device having the features of claim 1. In this device, the arms are mounted eccentrically to the axis of rotation of the transport wheel. All arms are usually located on a circular surface which is arranged concentrically to the axis of rotation of the transport wheel. Rather, however, the arms of adjacent double-chamber bag forming sets are pivotably mounted on a common axis.

Thus, the trailing arm of a front double-chamber forming set in the direction of rotation is mounted on a common axis with the leading arm of the adjacent double-chamber bag forming set behind it in the direction of rotation of the transport wheel. If, for example, eight different stations are formed by the transport wheel, each with a double-chamber molding set, then only eight pivot axes have to be formed on the transport wheel itself, around which two of the arms can be pivoted. As a result, the design effort for manufacturing the device is significantly reduced.

To further simplify the construction of the device according to the invention, it is proposed according to a preferred development that one of the two arms of one of the double-chamber bag forming sets is driven to pivot via a curved path, while the other arm of this double-chambered forming set is driven to pivot via a toothing with one of the arms is. Thus, only one of the two arms has to be driven, whereas the other is inevitably pivoted as well due to the pivoting movement of one arm, imposed by the cam track and due to the toothing.

According to a preferred development of the present invention, one of the two arms of one of the double-chamber forming sets is non-rotatably connected to a hollow shaft in which a drive shaft of the arm of the adjacent double-chamber bag forming set is received. This can be derived from the consideration that the transport wheel has a certain axial extension and basically the components between two circular disks Receives storage and for driving the individual double-chamber bag-forming sets in itself. For example, one of the shafts can extend between the two disks and can be pivoted at least on one side, preferably on both sides. The other of the coaxially provided shafts according to the development can make use of this mounting of the one shaft by, for example, the other shaft being directly supported on the one shaft and only being mounted indirectly via the one shaft on the transport wheel.

According to a further preferred embodiment of the present invention, a concave contact surface of the cover is arranged eccentrically to the axis of rotation of the transport wheel, the radial distance between this concave contact surface and the axis of rotation of the transport wheel being greater in a front region of the concave contact surface than in a rear region of the concave contact surface is. The front area is the area that is initially swept over by the leading arm when the respective double-chamber bag forming sets are introduced. The rear part lies behind it in the direction of rotation of the transport wheel. In principle, the arms can follow further training DE 195 32 816 B4 operate and accordingly rest against the concave contact surface of the cover with a certain elasticity. The further development discussed above has the effect that, by reducing the radius with increasing movement of the arms under the cover, the pivoting movement of the leading arm in the direction of the center of the double-chamber bag forming set is supported by friction. With increasing rotation of the respective double-chamber bag forming set under the contact surface, the decreasing radial distance accordingly promotes the closing of the double-chamber bag forming set. This makes it possible to design the swivel drive to the two arms to be weaker overall. The development can also be essential to the invention in and of itself. The invention is defined by the preamble of claim 1 and the features of claim 4.

The front area of the concave contact surface is the area where the arms for clamping the separated hose section rest, while the profile part is lowered towards the axis of rotation of the transport wheel to shape the double-chamber bag. In other words, according to this development, the front and rear areas each form clamping surfaces which interact with the respective arms when the double-chamber bag is formed by moving the arms of a double-chamber bag forming set together. The front area is not a conical inlet area, which is intended to facilitate the introduction of the separated hose section under the cover.

In other words, a radius in the direction of rotation of the transport wheel immediately in front of an area of engagement of a hold-down device, which pushes the severed hose piece towards the profile part and usually jams there, is greater than a radius in the direction of rotation behind this area of engagement.

• Fig. 1a bis 1e Seitenansichten eines Ausschnitts eines Transportrades mit zwei benachbarten Doppelkammerbeutel-Formungssätzen in unterschiedlichen Phasen;
• Fig. 2 eine perspektivische Seitenansicht der Arme mit den ihnen zugeordneten Antriebswellen und der Abdeckung des Ausführungsbeispiels und
• Fig. 3 eine perspektivische Seitenansicht eines Doppelkammerbeutel-Formungssatzes mit den zugehörigen Antriebselementen.

Further details and advantages of the present invention emerge from the following description of an exemplary embodiment in conjunction with the drawing. In this show:

• Figures 1a to 1e Side views of a section of a transport wheel with two adjacent double-chamber bag forming sets in different phases;
• Fig. 2 a perspective side view of the arms with their associated drive shafts and the cover of the embodiment and
• Fig. 3 a perspective side view of a double chamber bag forming set with the associated drive elements.

the Figures 1a to 1e each show top views of a transport wheel marked with reference numeral 2, which in the present case carries and forms eight double-chamber bag forming sets, which are marked with reference numeral 4 and each have a leading arm 6 and a trailing arm 8 as well as a profile part 10 provided in between with associated bearing and drive devices include. The transport wheel 2 has an axis of rotation identified by reference numeral 12. Eccentric to this axis of rotation 12 are pivot axes identified with reference numeral 14, about which the arms 6, 8 pivot. The pivot axes 14 lie on a circular area which has its center point in the rotation axis 12.

In the Fig. 1a a leading forming set 4 is identified by reference number 4.1, whereas a trailing forming set is identified by reference number 4.2. The trailing arm 8 of the leading forming set 4.1 is mounted pivotably on a common pivot axis 14 together with the leading arm 6 of the trailing forming set 4.2. For reasons of clarity, the other arm is missing at the level of the leading arm 6 of the leading forming set 4.1 or the trailing arm 58 of the trailing forming set 4.2.

The arms 6, 8 have plates 16, 18 at their ends, which essentially correspond to the configuration DE 195 32 816 B4 correspond.

Between the leading and trailing arms 6, 8 of a forming set 4, there is the profile part 10, which is mounted on a guide rail 20 so that it can move in translation. Three lever arms engage the profile part 10, of which the lever arms 22, 24 in Fig. 1 and all lever arms including the last lever arm 26 in Fig. 2 are shown. The lever arms 22, 24 are each connected to one another or to the profile part 10 or the lever arm 26 via floating bearings. The profile part 10 is firmly connected to a holding plate 28 which is guided in the guide rail 20 and on which the lever arm 22 engages in an articulated manner. The profile part 10 has clamping rollers 30 on both sides, which are spring-loaded against the free end of the profile part 10, as shown in principle in FIG DE 195 32 816 B4 is described.

How out Fig. 3 As can be seen, one end of the lever arm 26 is pivotably guided in a curved path 32 which, as the transport wheel 2 rotates continuously, impresses a movement path on the lever arm 26 which, due to the articulated connection to the holding plate 28, leads to a fixed, predetermined translational movement of the profile part 10. This movement is a radial movement with respect to the axis of rotation 12 of the transport wheel 2.

As the Fig. 2 and 3 occupy, one of the arms, in the present case the leading arm 6, is firmly connected to a hollow shaft 34 in which one in Fig. 2 Not shown drive shaft 36 of the other arm, in this case the trailing arm, is added. At the drive-side end of the drive shaft 36 there is a toothed segment 38 which meshes with a toothed segment 40 which is connected to the hollow shaft 34 in a rotationally fixed manner. As a result, the pivoting movements of the two arms 6, 8 are positively coupled. A drive lever 42, which is guided in a further cam track 44, is connected to the drive shaft 36 in a rotationally fixed manner. The two cam tracks 32, 44 are formed by a cam disk 45 to which the transport wheel 2 rotates relatively, so that the arms 6, 8 and their shafts 34, 36 supported by the transport wheel 2 and carried along with the rotation of the transport wheel in one pivot relative to one another in a manner predetermined by the curved path 44; the same applies to the radial movement of the profile part 10.

the Fig. 3 shows a cover 46 which is formed by a plurality of identically designed disks, between which slots are formed for the engagement of a hold-down device, which is shown in FIG DE 38 06 386 C1 is described. This hold-down device, not shown here, presses the central area of a separated piece of hose, which each side of this center receives a portion of brewable material, radially inward. These sections each form the chambers of the double-chamber bag. To engage this hold-down, the cover 46 has an indentation 48 on its radial outer surface. The opposite and the inner surface of the cover facing the axis of rotation 12 forms a concave contact surface identified by reference numeral 50. This is essentially curved uniformly. In the opposite direction to the direction of rotation, the contact surface 50 has an essentially straight inlet ramp 52 which merges into the concave contact surface 50 without any steps.

Apart from these details, the exemplary embodiment essentially corresponds to that in FIG DE 195 32 816 B4 respectively. DE 38 06 386 C1 described embodiment.

In the exemplary embodiment shown, the concave contact surface 50 is arranged eccentrically to the axis of rotation 12 of the transport wheel 2. A radius identified by the reference symbol R1 at the front end of the concave contact surface 50, i.e. at the transition between the inlet ramp 52 and the contact surface 50, is greater than a radius R2 at the rear end of the contact surface 50.

The mode of operation of the embodiment is described below with reference to FIG Figures 1a to 1e explained. In Fig. 1a the trailing arm 8 of the trailing double-chamber bag forming set 4.2 is located in the area of the largest radius R1. Accordingly, the trailing arm 8 just touches the concave contact surface 50. The leading arm 8 of the corresponding forming set 4.2 is located approximately in the middle of the contact surface 50. Between the free ends of the arms 6, 8, or the plates 16, 18 and the contact surface 50 is a piece of tubing marked with reference number 54, which does not contain any tea material as a brewable product in the middle, but contains tea portions on both sides to the center of the tube piece 54, which are marked with reference number 56. Said center of the hose section 54 is identified by reference number 58.

In Fig. 1 the arms 6, 8 of the trailing forming set 4.2 are spread apart to the maximum. With increasing rotation and based on the specifications of the cam 45, the arms 6, 8 are pivoted towards one another, while the center 58 is supported by the profile part 10. At the level of the indentation 48, the hold-down device already described above engages the indentation and forces the material forming the bag in its center 58 between the clamping rollers 30. This situation is in Figure 1b shown. As the transport wheel 2 (den Figures 1a to 1e clockwise) the arms 6, 8 are pivoted further towards one another, as is basically known from the prior art mentioned above. The end regions of the hose section clamped by the arms against the contact surface 50 are thereby removed 54 moved towards each other. As a result, the chambers of the tube piece 54 formed between the center 58 and the ends are moved radially inward. Meanwhile, the profile part 10 is lowered radially inward along the guide 20, as shown in FIG DE 38 06 386 C1 respectively. DE 195 32 816 B4 is known. This lowering movement is in particular by comparing the Figure 1b with the Figures 1c and 1d made clear. On the way of the forming set 4 in the direction of the rear end of the contact surface, the free ends of the arms 6, 8 are guided further towards one another until the hose piece is fixed by clamping in the area of the free ends.

The arms 6, 8 of the leading forming set 4.1 already have between Figures 1c and 1d leave the contact surface 50 and now clamp the end regions of the hose piece 54 against one another, so that the hose piece 54 is held in this way between the free ends of the arms 6, 8. In this way, the profile part 10 can release the center 58 of the hose section 54 as part of a further radial lowering in the direction of the axis of rotation 12. The double-chamber bag formed in this way is processed further in a further station roughly corresponding to the lower layer of the leading forming set 4.1.

The eccentric mounting of the contact surface 50 and the reduction of the radius in the direction of the rear region of the contact surface 50 in any case promotes the pivoting movement of the leading arm 8 in the direction of the profile part 10.

List of reference symbols

2

Transport wheel

4th

Double chamber bag forming set

6th

leading arm

8th

trailing arm

10

Profile part

12th

Axis of rotation

14th

Swivel axis

16

plate

18th

plate

20th

Guide rail

22nd

Lever arm

24

Lever arm

26th

Lever arm

28

Retaining plate

30th

Pinch roller

32

Curved path

34

Hollow shaft

36

drive shaft

38

Tooth segment

40

Tooth segment

42

Drive lever

44

Curved path

45

Cam

46

cover

48

indentation

50

Contact surface

52

Infeed ramp

54

Hose piece

56

Tea portion

58

Middle of the hose section

R1

Radius of the front end of the contact surface 50

R2

Radius of the rear end of the contact surface 50

Claims (4)

Device for transporting pre-cut and filled tube pieces (54) within a machine for producing double-chamber bags filled with brewable material, with a transport wheel (2) which, distributed over its circumference, has several double-chamber bag forming sets (4.1; 4.2) comprising a leading arm ( 6) and a trailing arm (8) and a radially movable profile part (10) provided in between and supporting a bottom of a double-chamber bag and is rotatably mounted under a cover (46) arranged in the area of the upper apex of the transport wheel (2),
characterized in that
the arms (6, 8) are pivotably mounted eccentrically to the axis of rotation (12) of the transport wheel (2) and that the arms (6, 8) of adjacent double-chamber bag forming sets (4.1; 4.2) are pivotably mounted on a common pivot axis (14) . Device according to claim 1, characterized in that one of the two arms (6; 8) of one of the double-chamber bag forming sets (4.1; 4.2) is driven to pivot via a curved path (32) and the other of the arms (8; 6) of this double-chamber bag Forming set (4.1; 4.2) via a toothing (38, 40) with which one of the arms (6; 8) is driven forcibly coupled to give away. Device according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that one of the two arms (6) of one of the double-chamber bag forming sets (4.2) is connected to a hollow shaft (34) in a rotationally fixed manner, in which a drive shaft (36) of the arm (8) of the adjacent Double chamber bag forming set (4.1) is added. Device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that a concave contact surface (50) of the cover (46) is arranged eccentrically to the axis of rotation (12) of the transport wheel (2) and that the radial distance of the concave contact surface (50) to the axis of rotation (12) of the transport wheel (2) is larger in a front region of the concave contact surface (50) than in a rear region of the concave contact surface (50).

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