Classifications

• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
  • B65B—MACHINES, APPARATUS OR DEVICES FOR, OR METHODS OF, PACKAGING ARTICLES OR MATERIALS; UNPACKING
  • B65B11/00—Wrapping, e.g. partially or wholly enclosing, articles or quantities of material, in strips, sheets or blanks, of flexible material
  • B65B11/06—Wrapping articles, or quantities of material, by conveying wrapper and contents in common defined paths
  • B65B11/08—Wrapping articles, or quantities of material, by conveying wrapper and contents in common defined paths in a single straight path
  • B65B11/10—Wrapping articles, or quantities of material, by conveying wrapper and contents in common defined paths in a single straight path to fold the wrappers in tubular form about contents
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
  • B65B—MACHINES, APPARATUS OR DEVICES FOR, OR METHODS OF, PACKAGING ARTICLES OR MATERIALS; UNPACKING
  • B65B21/00—Packaging or unpacking of bottles
  • B65B21/24—Enclosing bottles in wrappers
  • B65B21/245—Enclosing bottles in wrappers in flexible wrappers, e.g. foils
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
  • B65B—MACHINES, APPARATUS OR DEVICES FOR, OR METHODS OF, PACKAGING ARTICLES OR MATERIALS; UNPACKING
  • B65B35/00—Supplying, feeding, arranging or orientating articles to be packaged
  • B65B35/30—Arranging and feeding articles in groups
  • B65B35/44—Arranging and feeding articles in groups by endless belts or chains
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
  • B65B—MACHINES, APPARATUS OR DEVICES FOR, OR METHODS OF, PACKAGING ARTICLES OR MATERIALS; UNPACKING
  • B65B41/00—Supplying or feeding container-forming sheets or wrapping material
  • B65B41/18—Registering sheets, blanks, or webs
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
  • B65B—MACHINES, APPARATUS OR DEVICES FOR, OR METHODS OF, PACKAGING ARTICLES OR MATERIALS; UNPACKING
  • B65B57/00—Automatic control, checking, warning, or safety devices
  • B65B57/02—Automatic control, checking, warning, or safety devices responsive to absence, presence, abnormal feed, or misplacement of binding or wrapping material, containers, or packages
  • B65B57/04—Automatic control, checking, warning, or safety devices responsive to absence, presence, abnormal feed, or misplacement of binding or wrapping material, containers, or packages and operating to control, or to stop, the feed of such material, containers, or packages
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
  • B65B—MACHINES, APPARATUS OR DEVICES FOR, OR METHODS OF, PACKAGING ARTICLES OR MATERIALS; UNPACKING
  • B65B57/00—Automatic control, checking, warning, or safety devices
  • B65B57/10—Automatic control, checking, warning, or safety devices responsive to absence, presence, abnormal feed, or misplacement of articles or materials to be packaged
  • B65B57/14—Automatic control, checking, warning, or safety devices responsive to absence, presence, abnormal feed, or misplacement of articles or materials to be packaged and operating to control, or stop, the feed of articles or material to be packaged
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
  • B65B—MACHINES, APPARATUS OR DEVICES FOR, OR METHODS OF, PACKAGING ARTICLES OR MATERIALS; UNPACKING
  • B65B61/00—Auxiliary devices, not otherwise provided for, for operating on sheets, blanks, webs, binding material, containers or packages
  • B65B61/04—Auxiliary devices, not otherwise provided for, for operating on sheets, blanks, webs, binding material, containers or packages for severing webs, or for separating joined packages
  • B65B61/06—Auxiliary devices, not otherwise provided for, for operating on sheets, blanks, webs, binding material, containers or packages for severing webs, or for separating joined packages by cutting
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
  • B65B—MACHINES, APPARATUS OR DEVICES FOR, OR METHODS OF, PACKAGING ARTICLES OR MATERIALS; UNPACKING
  • B65B21/00—Packaging or unpacking of bottles
  • B65B21/02—Packaging or unpacking of bottles in or from preformed containers, e.g. crates
  • B65B21/04—Arranging, assembling, feeding, or orientating the bottles prior to introduction into, or after removal from, containers
  • B65B21/06—Forming groups of bottles
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
  • B65B—MACHINES, APPARATUS OR DEVICES FOR, OR METHODS OF, PACKAGING ARTICLES OR MATERIALS; UNPACKING
  • B65B53/00—Shrinking wrappers, containers, or container covers during or after packaging
  • B65B53/02—Shrinking wrappers, containers, or container covers during or after packaging by heat
  • B65B53/06—Shrinking wrappers, containers, or container covers during or after packaging by heat supplied by gases, e.g. hot-air jets
  • B65B53/063—Tunnels

Definitions

• the present invention relates to a method for operating a packaging device and a packaging device for articles such as beverage containers or the like.
• packaging for processing, assembling, grouping and packaging articles such as beverage containers. If certain items, such as beverage containers made of PET containers with low wall thicknesses, have a low dimensional stability, such beverage containers are in practice often placed on packaging blanks made of cardboard and/or cardboard in order to counteract unwanted damage to such beverage containers during transport .
• packaging blanks are also referred to as trays or PADs and can optionally have edge areas which are folded upwards as part of packaging the articles or beverage containers.
• Packaging blanks are also known which are only formed by a flat support without edge areas, with the individual articles or possibly a respective combination formed from a number of articles standing on the flat support.
• the respective article standing on the tray or packaging blank or the respective assembly of articles standing on the tray or packaging blank can then be wrapped with thermoplastic packaging film, after which the respective article standing on the tray or PAD or the respective article on the Tray or PAD standing assembly of articles placed in a shrink tunnel and the thermoplastic packaging material is shrunk onto the respective article or onto the respective assembly of articles.
• Such a device by means of which articles can be placed on flat packaging blanks or on trays, is known, for example, from the German patent application with the publication number DE 102014 112 341 A1.
• This known packaging device includes a first endless conveyor with upper run and lower run.
• the first endless conveyor comprises at least one circulating conveyor chain for transporting articles arranged on a tray in a first operating mode.
• the packaging device In a second operating mode, the packaging device is provided for the transport of articles and/or groups of articles without a packaging material base.
• Devices of this type can be prone to errors if problems arise when feeding the packaging blanks. It is often not possible to determine the cause of the respective error in a short time. It would also be desirable to have packaging devices and methods which counteract certain errors themselves during operation or can even eliminate such errors.
• one object of the invention can be seen as providing a possibility for improved handling of errors, which errors are associated with the feeding of packaging blanks in devices of the generic type.
• the invention relates to a method for operating a packaging device for articles such as beverage containers or the like.
• the packaging device can, for example, be designed in such a way that the packaging device packs beverage containers during operation, which beverage containers are formed by beverage bottles and/or by beverage cans. It may be that the packaging devices can be used to produce bundles which each comprise a plurality of beverage containers formed by beverage bottles and/or beverage cans.
• a first step of the method provides for moving articles over at least one horizontal conveyor.
• the at least one horizontal conveying device can optionally include an inlet, via which the articles are transported in at least one row. In this case, consecutive articles can be in contact with one another or be in surface contact with one another.
• a dividing device can be provided which separates a specific number of leading articles from trailing articles accelerated and thereby forms a respective compilation of articles.
• the dividing device can comprise a linear chain, to which a plurality of dividing rods provided for rear contact with articles to be accelerated are fastened and which linear chain moves the dividing rods fastened to it in a rotating manner.
• a further step of the method provides for packaging blanks to be moved via a transport device along a defined transport path, the packaging blanks thereby being introduced into a transport path of the articles transported via the at least horizontal conveyor device and the articles moved via the horizontal conveyor device driving onto the packaging blanks introduced into the transport path .
• the articles are then moved together with the respective packaging blank onto which they have been driven, by a device which places flat thermoplastic packaging material on the articles.
• the articles can then be moved through a shrink tunnel together with the applied thermoplastic packaging material, the applied thermoplastic packaging material being shrunk onto the articles.
• the items can still be on the packaging blank on which they have already been driven.
• Embodiments have proven themselves in which the transport device is arranged below a transport level, which transport level provides the at least one horizontal conveyor device for moving articles or for moving assemblies of articles that have already been formed.
• a stack of packaging blanks can be arranged in the area of the transport device. Individual packaging blanks arranged at the top of the stack can be removed from the stack and then moved along the defined transport path by means of the transport device.
• At least one sensor system and one control and/or regulating device are also provided for the method.
• the at least one sensor system is arranged in the area of the transport device, so that a respective packaging blank temporarily occupies the at least one sensor system during its respective movement along the defined transport path.
• the control and/or regulating device generates operating information which takes into account data on the occupancy of the at least one sensor system and a transport speed of the transport device.
• the at least one sensor system can be connected wirelessly or by cable to the control and/or regulating device. It can also be the case that the transport device is controlled wirelessly or with a cable via the control and/or regulating device for moving packaging blanks along the defined transport path at a specific transport speed.
• the control and/or regulating device outputs the operating information for a user.
• the control and/or regulating device may regulate the transport speed of the transport device, taking the operating information into account.
• control and/or regulation device has a display or is connected to a display, via which display the control and/or regulation device outputs the operating information for a user.
• control and/or regulating device takes into account data relating to a period of time, over which period of time the at least one sensor system is occupied by the respective packaging blank as it moves along the defined transport path.
• control and/or regulating device concludes the length of the respective packaging blank from the period of occupancy of the at least one sensor system and from the transport speed of the transport device and outputs an error message as part of the operating information if the respective length of the respective packaging blank deviates from a predetermined target length.
• the error message can also be output via the already mentioned display, which is possibly designed as a component of the control and/or regulating device or with which display the control and/or regulating device is connected. If the respective length of a respective packaging blank deviates from a specified target length, this can lead to problems in the packaging of articles. If in such embodiments in the context of Operating information, an error message is issued, a user can be informed of the deviation of a respective actual length of a respective packaging blank from a specified target length and eliminate the error before problems arise with the further packaging of articles.
• the transport speed of the transport device can be regulated taking the operating information into account. In this way it can be ensured, if necessary, that a respective packaging blank is introduced into the transport path of the articles at a predetermined point in time even if its respective length deviates from a predetermined desired length. In such embodiments, it is not necessary for a user to intervene in the packaging operation, even if the length of a packaging blank deviates from a predetermined target length.
• the at least one sensor system is successively occupied by several packaging blanks over a respective period of time. It may be that the control and/or regulating device generates an arithmetic mean value for the average length of packaging blanks from the periods of occupancy and the respective transport speed of the transport device and uses the generated arithmetic mean value for the average length of packaging blanks as the target length for packaging blanks.
• packaging device can determine the respective dimensioning or the respective length itself and automatically determine the arithmetic mean value for the target length of packaging blanks without a user having to specify the target length for the respective packaging blanks.
• the transport device is regulated via the control and/or regulating device, taking into account the respective length of the respective packaging blank, in such a way that the respective packaging blank is introduced into the transport path of the articles at a specific point in time.
• packaging blanks are moved via the transport device by means of at least one circulating conveyor run.
• packaging blanks can be moved together via the transport device by means of at least one first circulating conveyor strand and by means of at least one second circulating conveyor strand, with the at least one first circulating conveyor strand and the at least one second circulating conveyor strand having conveying directions for the packaging blanks that run parallel to one another.
• a plurality of vacuum suction heads can be arranged on at least one circulating conveyor run, which several vacuum suction heads hold the packaging blanks during their movement over the at least one circulating conveyor run.
• At least one first sensor system and at least one second sensor system can be provided, with the at least one first sensor system and the at least one second sensor system each being arranged in the area of the transport device, so that packaging blanks successively receive the at least one first sensor system and the at least one second sensor system during their respective movement along the defined transport route.
• a period of time which packaging blanks require is monitored by means of the control and/or regulating device in relation to the respective transport speed, with the control and/or the control device detects an elongation of the at least one circulating conveying strand if the length of time increases by a certain amount in relation to the transport speed.
• control and/or regulating device can issue a warning message if the at least one circulating conveying strand has become longer.
• the regulation can also take place in such a way that a respective packaging blank is introduced at a specific point in time into the transport path of the articles moved via the at least one horizontal conveyor device.
• the invention also relates to a packaging device for articles such as beverage containers or the like.
• a packaging device for articles such as beverage containers or the like.
• Features which have already been mentioned above for various embodiments of the method according to the invention can also be provided for the embodiments of a packaging device according to the invention described below and are not mentioned several times. as well features that are described below for the various embodiments of the packaging device according to the invention can be provided in the previously mentioned embodiments of the method according to the invention.
• the packaging device comprises at least one horizontal conveyor device designed to move articles, as well as a transport device, which can move packaging blanks along a defined transport path and thereby introduce the articles moved via the at least one horizontal conveyor device into a transport path, so that the articles moved via the at least one horizontal conveyor device can be placed on the drive up the packaging blanks placed in the transport route.
• the at least one horizontal conveyor device can have a first conveyor device and a second conveyor device, with a gap being formed between the first conveyor device and the second conveyor device, via which gap the transport device can introduce packaging blanks into a transport path of the articles moved via the at least one horizontal conveyor device.
• the packaging device also includes at least one sensor system, which at least one sensor system is positioned in such a way that a respective packaging blank temporarily occupies the at least one sensor system during its movement along the defined transport path.
• a control and/or regulating device which is connected to the at least one sensor system and the transport device, is also part of the packaging device. Provision is made for the control and/or regulating device to be designed to generate operating information, which operating information takes into account data on the occupancy of the at least one sensor system and a transport speed of the transport device. It is further provided that the control and/or regulating device is designed to output the operating information to a user and/or to regulate the transport speed of the transport device, taking into account the generated operating information.
• the control and/or regulating device can usefully be designed as a computer-aided system for generating the mentioned operating information.
• control and/or regulating device is designed to generate operating information, which operating information is data take into account that relate to a period of time over which the at least one sensor system is occupied by the respective packaging blank as it moves along the defined transport route.
• control and/or regulating device is designed in such a way that the control and/or regulating device, from the data relating to a period of time, over which period of time, the at least one sensor system over the respective packaging blank during its movement along the defined movement path is occupied and from the respective transport speed of the transport device can infer a length of the respective packaging blank. It may be the case that an error message can be output via the control and/or regulating device if the length of the respective packaging blank deviates from a specified desired length.
• control and / or regulating device is designed in such a way that the control and / or regulating device from several lengths, which the control and / or regulating device for packaging blanks has concluded, an arithmetic mean to the average length of Can generate packaging blanks.
• the generated arithmetic mean for the average length of packaging blanks can then be set as the target length via the control and/or regulating device.
• the transport device can be regulated via the control and/or regulating device, taking into account the respective length of the respective packaging blank, in such a way that the respective packaging blank is introduced into the transport path of the articles at a specific point in time.
• the packaging blanks can be moved via the transport device by means of at least one circulating conveyor run.
• the transport device can have at least one first circulating conveyor strand and at least one second circulating conveyor strand, the transport directions of which are oriented parallel to one another for the joint movement of a respective packaging blank.
• the packaging device can also comprise at least one first sensor system and at least one second sensor system, which are each connected to the control and/or regulating device, the at least one first sensor system and the at least one second sensor system being spaced apart from one another along the defined Movement path are positioned so that a respective packaging blank in the course of its movement along the defined movement path successively the at least one first sensor and the at least one second sensor temporarily occupied.
• a specific area can thus be formed along the defined transport path between the at least one first sensor system and the at least one second sensor system, within which specific area a respective packaging blank transported along the defined transport path is at least partially outside the detection ranges of the at least one first sensor system and the at least a second sensor is located.
• the control and/or regulating device can be designed in such a way that the control and/or regulating device calculates a period of time which packaging blanks require, starting from when the at least one first sensor system is occupied until the at least one second sensor system is occupied, over the course of time in relation to the Transport speed can monitor.
• control and/or regulating device can be designed in such a way that the control and/or regulating device detects an elongation of the at least one circulating conveying strand if the period of time increases by a certain amount in relation to the transport speed. It can also be the case that a warning message can be issued by means of the control and/or regulating device in the event that the at least one circulating conveying strand is lengthened.
• the transport speed of the transport device can be regulated by means of the control and/or regulating device in the event that the at least one circulating conveying strand is lengthened.
• Embodiments have proven themselves in which the at least one sensor system is formed by at least one light barrier. in further embodiments it can also be provided that the at least one sensor system is formed, for example, by at least one button or a similar sensor.
• FIG. 1 shows a schematic view of a first embodiment of a packaging device according to the invention.
• FIG. 2 shows a schematic view of an embodiment of a transport device as can be provided in various embodiments of a packaging device according to the invention.
• FIG. 3 shows individual steps in a flow chart, as can be provided in various embodiments of the method according to the invention.
• Fig. 1 shows a schematic view of a first embodiment of a packaging device 1 according to the invention.
• the packaging device 1 is provided for placing assemblies 3 of articles 5 on packaging blanks 7 formed by cardboard or paperboard, which packaging blanks 7 in the exemplary embodiment from Fig. 1 as a stack 9 are presented via a deployment 11 .
• the articles 5 are each formed by beverage containers.
• the beverage containers are in the present case beverage bottles.
• the beverage containers can also be in the form of beverage cans.
• One of these horizontal conveyors 13 is designed as an inlet 15 for the articles 5 or for beverage containers. Further horizontal conveying devices 13, which move articles 3 along the packaging line VS, follow the inlet 15 along the packaging line VS.
• the articles 5 are first moved in a row one behind the other via the horizontal conveyor device 13 or via the feed 15 , with individual assemblies 3 being formed from articles 5 by means of the linear chain 19 .
• the linear chain 19 has a large number of dividing rods, which are guided in a circumferential direction and are not shown in the figures of the present patent application, which are brought into contact on the rear with a rear or trailing article 5 provided for a respective assembly 3 and articles 5 provided for a respective assembly 3 compared to the articles 5 moving in a row on the horizontal conveyor 13 or the feed 15 for a short time.
• the dividing rods of the linear chain 19 slide the assemblies 3 of articles 5 along the transfer plates, which are referred to in FIG. 1 with number 14.
• the linear chain 19 with its dividing rods and the transfer plates 14 thus form a horizontal conveyor 13 which is connected to the inlet 15 .
• a gap 8 is also shown, which is located directly between a transfer plate 14 and a subsequent horizontal conveying device, to which directly subsequent horizontal conveying device is still referred to with number 13 . After the assemblies 3 of articles 5 have been moved across the gap 8, the assemblies 3 of articles 5 are fed to the device 20 by means of this subsequent horizontal conveyor device 13.
• the facility 20 applies thermoplastic packaging material to the assemblies 3 of articles 5 . Together with the thermoplastic packaging material, the assemblies 3 of articles 5 are then moved into a shrink tunnel, not shown, in which the thermoplastic packaging material is shrunk onto the assemblies 3 of articles 5.
• Flat packaging blanks 7 made of cardboard and/or cardboard can also be designed as a PAD or base without lateral, front and/or rear flaps, with the PAD or base having a flat or essentially flat contact surface for a respective assembly 3 Articles 5 provides.
• the packaging blanks 7 can be designed as a tray, which tray has tabs that are to be folded at the side and in the upward direction.
• FIG. 1 further illustrates, there is a transport device 50 below a transport level formed by the horizontal conveyor devices 13.
• the packaging blanks 7 are moved by means of the transport device 50 in the direction of the gap 8 and then introduced through the gap 8 into the transport path of the articles 5, so that the assemblies 3 of articles 5 moved via the horizontal conveyor devices 13 are placed on the respective over the gap 8 packaging blank 7 introduced into the transport path.
• packaging blanks 7 are introduced into the transport path of the assemblies 3 of articles 5 in a clocked manner. Problems can arise, for example, if the respective actual position of the respective packaging blanks 7 moved by means of the transport device 50 deviates from an expected target position, since this means that the assemblies 3 of articles 5 may not move exactly onto the respective packaging blank 7 .
• packaging blanks 7 are transported by means of the transport device 50 via revolving conveying means or chains and/or belts, as will be explained in more detail in the exemplary embodiment according to FIG. If the conveying means or chains and/or belts are worn out or have lengthened after a long period of operation of the packaging device 1, the transport of the packaging blanks 7 can continue to be associated with problems, so that the respective packaging blank 7 may not or not with exact Position on the respective compilation 3 of articles 5 meets.
• packaging blanks 7 have dimensions that are tailored to the respective combination 3 of articles 5 .
• this dimensioning can be subject to certain deviations, so that if certain tolerance ranges are exceeded or fallen short of, problems can arise when a respective combination 3 of articles 5 hits the respective packaging blank 7 .
• the transport device 50 designed as part of the packaging device 1 has a first sensor system 52 and a second sensor system 54.
• the first sensor system 52 and the second sensor system 54 are each designed as light barriers 53 and 55 and are connected to a control and/or control device S in connection.
• a schematic perspective view of a transport device 50 as can be provided for various embodiments of the present invention and possibly also for the embodiment of a packaging device 1 according to FIG. 1, is shown in FIG.
• the transport device 50 is connected wirelessly or by cable to a control and/or regulating device S, as is already shown schematically in FIG. 1 .
• the transport device 50 comprises a first conveyor unit 60 and a second conveyor unit 70 , with a support 17 being located between the first conveyor unit 60 and the second conveyor unit 70 .
• This embodiment of a transport device according to FIG. 2 can be provided for the embodiment of a packaging device 1 according to FIG.
• the transport device 50 can be provided for further embodiments of a packaging device, so that the features described for FIG. 2 do not have to be closely linked to a packaging device 1 corresponding to the embodiment according to FIG.
• the first conveying unit 60 has a conveying run 62 which is moved in a revolving manner and can be designed, for example, as a chain or as a belt.
• the second conveyor unit 70 also has such a conveyor run 72, which is moved in a revolving manner and can be designed, for example, as a chain or as a belt.
• the running direction of the first conveying strand 62 is oriented parallel to the running direction of the second conveying strand 72 .
• FIG. 2 shows that a packaging blank 7 rests on both the first conveyor unit 60 and the second conveyor unit 70 as it moves in the direction of a gap 8 (cf. FIG. 1).
• a respective packaging blank 7 is thus transported in the direction of the gap 8 via the conveyor run 62 of the first conveyor unit 60 and via the conveyor run 72 of the second conveyor unit 70 and introduced into a transport path of the respective combination 3 of articles 5 .
• vacuum suction heads can be arranged on a respective conveying strand 62 or 72, which temporarily hold a respective packaging blank 7 during its movement over the transport device 50.
• Part of the transport device 50 are a first sensor 52 and a second sensor 54, which are positioned offset along the direction of movement of the packaging blank 7.
• the first sensor system 52 and the second sensor system 54 are each arranged in the region of the second conveyor unit 70 .
• the first sensor system 52 and the second sensor system 54 are in the present case designed as light barriers 53 and 54, but in further embodiments they can also be designed as buttons or as further alternative sensors.
• the first sensor system 52 and the second sensor system 54 are each connected to the open-loop and/or closed-loop control device S.
• the packaging blank 7 is first conveyed into a detection area of the first sensor system 52, as a result of which the first sensor system 52 is temporarily occupied by the packaging blank 7.
• Such an occupancy is recognized by the open-loop and/or closed-loop control device S.
• the control and/or regulating device S is also connected to one or more actuators, via which the conveying run 62 of the first conveying unit 60 and the conveying run 72 of the second conveying unit 70 are moved in a rotating manner.
• control and/or regulating device S can control and, if necessary, regulate a transport speed of the transport device 50 via the actuators.
• control and/or regulating device S also knows a transport speed of the transport device 50 at which the transport device 50 moves packaging blanks 7 along a defined transport path or in the direction of the gap 8 (see FIG. 1) at a specific point in time.
• each Packaging blank 7 corresponds here to the product of the respective duration of occupancy of the first sensor system 52 and the respective transport speed at which the respective packaging blank 7 is moved via the transport device 50 while the first sensor system 52 is occupied. An arrow has been applied to the packaging blank 7 in FIG. 2 to illustrate such a length.
• the length of the respective packaging blank thus ascertained via the control and/or regulating device S thus corresponds to operating information which the control and/or regulating device S can optionally show on a display. Since packaging blanks 7 are continuously moved through the detection area of the first sensor system 52, there is the possibility that the control and/or regulating device S in various embodiments continuously shows the respective length of a respective packaging blank 7 that has just been moved through the detection area of the first sensor system 52 on a display as operational information.
• a user can therefore easily recognize whether the lengths of packaging blanks 7 are uniform or vary continuously. If necessary, in such embodiments a stack 9 (see FIG. 1) of packaging blanks 7 can be exchanged by a user and replaced with a new stack 9 in which the lengths of packaging blanks 7 are within a certain tolerance range.
• Packaging blanks 7 are characterized in that their lengths differ slightly from one another.
• a plurality of packaging blanks 7 are therefore initially moved through the detection range of the first sensor system 52 by means of the transport device 50, with the control and/or regulating device S determining their respective length in the process.
• An arithmetic mean value is then generated from the determined lengths of these packaging blanks 7, which defines a target length for the respective packaging blanks 7 to be introduced into the transport path of the assemblies 3 of articles 5.
• the packaging device 1 is therefore first trained or calibrated in a fully or partially automated manner, with a target value for an average length of packaging blanks 7 being calculated via the control and/or regulating device S for this purpose. After training the packaging device 1 or the control and/or regulating device S, the packaging process can begin.
• the transport device 50 moves continuous packaging blanks 7 in the direction of the gap 8 and introduces the packaging blanks 7 via the gap 8 into the transport path of the assemblies 3 of articles 5 .
• the respective length of the packaging blanks 7 transported via the transport device 50 is determined via the control and/or regulating device S, as mentioned above, with the aid of the first sensors 52 and the duration of their respective occupancy and can be output as operating information.
• control and/or regulating device S recognizes that a length of a respective packaging blank 7 is outside the specified tolerance range, the control and/or regulating device S can increase the transport speed of the transport device 50, taking into account the length of the respective packaging blank that is outside the tolerance range 7 rules.
• the regulation can take place in such a way that the combination 3 of articles 5 is aligned exactly with respect to the respective packaging blank 7 after driving onto this packaging blank 7 .
• a proportionate A large overhang of the respective packaging blank 7 on one side is to be avoided in practice in order to be able to ensure later shrinking of the thermoplastic packaging material without the formation of wrinkles and in order to be able to provide a container with the greatest possible stability. If such an overhang is present, there are also numerous other problems in the packaging of articles 3. It may be the case that the thermoplastic packaging material or the packaging film is damaged by the lateral overhang and possibly cut.
• the regulation is thus preferably carried out in such a way that the assembly 3 of articles 5 is located in the area of a center of gravity of the packaging blank 7 after driving onto the packaging blank 7 .
• Appropriate regulation of the transport speed of the transport device 50 can ensure that even if there are deviations in lengths that are outside a predetermined tolerance range, the container produced by the packaging device 1 is still stable and does not show any unwanted folds or damage. It can also be ensured, at least with a high degree of probability, that the respective packaging blank 7 with the assembly 3 of articles 5 standing on it does not unintentionally get stuck or jam during the further movement over one of the horizontal conveyor devices 13 (cf. FIG. 1).
• a packaging device 1 has only one sensor system 52, which is possibly designed as a light barrier 53, so that the advantages described above compared to embodiments known from the prior art can already be used.
• the embodiment of a packaging device 1 or a transport device 50 of the present exemplary embodiment according to FIG. As a result, there are other advantages over embodiments of packaging devices already known from the prior art.
• the conveying run 62 of the first conveying unit 60 and the conveying run 72 of the second conveying unit 70 can each be designed as a chain or as a belt. If the packaging device 1 or the transport device 50 is operated over a longer period of time, it can be assumed that such a chain or such a belt exhibits a certain lengthening after a longer period of operation. If this is the case, the respective chain or the respective belt must be replaced in order to be able to continue to ensure a defined introduction of packaging blanks 7 via the gap 8 into the transport path of the assemblies 3 of articles 5 . If the chain or belt lengthens, the packaging blanks 7 would be introduced into the transport path of the articles 5 with a delay. As a result, the articles 5 are not in a predetermined position after driving onto the packaging blank 7 .
• the first sensor system 52 and the second sensor system 54 are arranged at a distance from one another along a transport path over which the packaging blank 7 is transported in the direction of the gap 8 by means of the transport device 50 .
• a packaging blank 52 first enters the detection area of the first sensor system 52 and, after a certain period of time, enters the detection area of the second sensor system 54 .
• control and/or regulating device S Since the control and/or regulating device S is connected to the first sensor system 52 and to the second sensor system 54, the control and/or regulating device S can monitor a period of time that the packaging blanks 7 start from entering the detection area of the first Sensors 52 need to enter the detection range of the second sensors 54.
• control and/or regulating device S can thereby conclude that the conveying run 62 of the first conveying unit 60 and/or the conveying run 72 of the second conveying unit 70 have already lengthened.
• the control and/or regulating device S can then output operational information for lengthening via a display for a user.
• control and/or regulating device S should Transport speed of the transport device 50 is increased or regulated in such a way that the packaging blanks 7 continue to be introduced at a desired time via the gap 8 into a transport path of the assemblies 3 of articles 5.
• the control and/or regulating device S can also have a memory in which information is stored if an error or problem occurs in connection with the assembly 3 of articles 5 on a respective packaging blank 7 .
• the memory can contain a database in which errors that have already occurred are assigned to a respective cause. If the control and/or regulating device S recognizes an error that has already been assigned, the control and/or regulating device S can output information about the error and the cause of the respective error to a user, so that the respective error is eliminated via the user can be.
• suction instruments can be arranged, which hold the respective packaging blank 7 via a vacuum. If packaging blanks 7 are incorrectly introduced into the transport path of assemblies 3 of articles 5 over the course of time, such an error may indicate that the suction instruments are subject to wear or are even damaged.
• control and/or regulating device S has information about the type of article 5 to be packaged. If, at a later point in time, another type is to be packaged that differs from the previously packaged type, it is necessary in practice for individual components of the packaging device 1 to be exchanged or adapted for a type change.
• the packaging blanks 7 are usually exchanged and replaced by packaging blanks 7 with larger or smaller dimensions in order to be matched to the type to be packaged. With regard to the exemplary embodiment of a transport device 50 according to FIG. 2, it may therefore be necessary when changing types to increase or decrease the relative spacing of the conveyor units 60 and 70 from one another.
• control and/or regulating device S is also designed in such a way that the control and/or regulating device S detects defects in the event of several faults occurring after a brand change of certain components or an incorrect adjustment of various components.
• a self-learning intelligence can be stored on the control and/or regulating device.
• the respective errors that have occurred can optionally also be assigned corresponding causes in a database.
• the control and/or regulating device S can continue to show information about the respective error and the respective cause on a display, so that a user can recognize the error and the respective cause and, if necessary, eliminate the problem manually.
• FIG. 3 shows in the flowchart individual, successive steps, as they can be provided individually or also in the combination shown in FIG. 3 in various embodiments of the method 100 according to the invention.
• packaging blanks 7 are transported via a transport device 50 along a defined transport path, with a sensor system 52 being temporarily occupied by the respective packaging blank 7 .
• a control and/or regulating device S generates operating information that takes into account the duration of the respective occupancy of the sensor system 52 and a transport speed, by means of which the packaging blank 7 is moved over the transport device 50 during the occupancy.
• step 130 which normally follows the second process step 120, the transport speed of the transport device 50 is regulated, taking into account this operating information generated by the control and/or regulating device S, in such a way that the packaging blank 7 crosses a gap 8 (cf. Fig. 1) can be introduced into a transport path of articles 5.
• an assembly 3 of articles 5 then moves onto the packaging blank 7 introduced into the transport path via the gap 8, whereupon the packaging blank 7, together with the assembly 3 of articles 5 standing on it, is conveyed to a device 20 (cf. Fig. 1) which applies thermoplastic packaging material to assembly 3 of articles 5, which assembly 3 of articles 5 thereby continues to stand on packaging blank 7.

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• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• Control Of Conveyors (AREA)
• Auxiliary Devices For And Details Of Packaging Control (AREA)

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Publications (1)

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ID=79287931

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• 2021
  • 2021-01-18 DE DE102021100903.0A patent/DE102021100903A1/de active Pending
  • 2021-12-14 EP EP21839859.2A patent/EP4277851A1/de active Pending
  • 2021-12-14 CN CN202180081371.5A patent/CN116547203A/zh active Pending
  • 2021-12-14 WO PCT/EP2021/085701 patent/WO2022152487A1/de active Application Filing

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