ES2692430B2 - MACHINE TO FIT BOXES - Google Patents

Description

mAq u in a p a r a t a p a c a s

DESCRIPTION

OBJECT OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a machine for closing cartons once they have been filled. The machine has the peculiarity of being very versatile to work with boxes of different dimensions, being of a very simple and very effective use in the capping action.

Find special application in the field of the industry of assembly of boxes.

TECHNICAL PROBLEM TO BE RESOLVED AND BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

In the current state of the art there are known machines for covering boxes focused both on the placement of an external cover on a box that has been assembled and on the process of folding the flaps of the box that has been formed.

The present invention deals with this second type, where the machine is responsible for covering the boxes by folding the flaps.

The existing machines in the state of the art present problems related to the adaptability to different box formats. Although there are many means for regulating the format to be covered, the mechanisms used are not adequately designed for a synchronized adaptation that proceeds to the complete closure of all the flaps, so it must be done in several operations or with manual assistance . This results in a complexity in operations in addition to increasing the cost of the process for labor and time employed.

Additionally, these machines need an input tape or full box feeding and even dosing stations of said boxes, which are usually external to the machine itself, which complicates the machine even more. The importance of control in the supply of boxes from the entrance belt to the cover station must be taken into account, leaving the necessary spaces between two boxes.

The present invention comes to solve these problems that were not solved in the present state of the art, by means of a machine enabled to cover boxes of diverse dimensions that incorporates all the devices to have synchronized the closing movement of the flaps.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

In order to achieve the objectives and avoid the drawbacks mentioned above, the present invention discloses a box-covering machine comprising an entrance area to the machine, a cover station and an exit area.

The entrance area comprises a first conveyor through which a box with a front flap, a rear flap and two longitudinal flaps, all open, advances at a determined speed.

The capping station comprises a guide located longitudinally along the capping station, a pusher responsible for dragging the box along the guide, a front chute shaped by an "L" shaped beam to interfere with the flap front of the box and folding it, a rear blast chiller incorporating a tilting head configured to act on the back flap of the box and folding it, a folding bars located on each of the sides of the guide and converging from one end, so that the longitudinal flaps of the box rub against them to finish folded, some hot-glue injectors, to apply glue strings on the front and rear flaps of the box, a running gear configured to act on the longitudinal flaps of the box and exert pressure to fix them to the tail strings, and a support beam where the previous blast chiller is fixed, the rear blast chiller and the train rolling. The support beam is located parallel to the guide and comprises a transverse upright fixed to a regulating spindle by means of which the height adjustment is carried out.

On the other hand, the abatement bars are fixed to vertical canes that are joined to transversal bars fixed to the support beam, so that the position of the vertical canes in the crossbars determines the working width of the machine.

The machine also comprises parallel supports separated according to the width of the box to be covered, so as to limit the lateral movement of the box in the advance along the capping station.

The entrance zone comprises a second conveyor configured to rotate at a speed higher than that of the first conveyor, so that the cadence of boxes in the machine can be predetermined. In addition, it also comprises a stop at the end of the first conveyor configured to brake a box before entering the second conveyor.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

To complete the description of the invention and in order to help a better understanding of its characteristics, according to a preferred embodiment of the same, a set of drawings is accompanied where, with an illustrative and non-limiting character, they have been represented the following figures:

- Figure 1 represents an elevation view of the machine of the invention.

- Figure 2 represents a plan view of the machine of the invention.

- Figure 3 represents a perspective view of the cap mechanism of the machine of the invention.

- Figure 4 represents an elevation view of the cap mechanism of the machine of the invention.

- Figure 5 represents a box intended to be covered by the machine of the invention.

Below is a list of the references used in the figures:

1. First conveyor.

2. Second conveyor.

3. Pusher.

4. Guide.

5. Former attacker.

6. Blasting after.

7. Glue injector.

8. Abatement bars.

9. Rolling train.

10. Parallel supports.

11. Beam support.

12. Regulation spindle.

13. Transverse upright

14. Vertical guide.

15. Vertical staff.

16. Crossbar.

17. Top.

18. Box.

DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a box covering machine (18) as can be seen in figures 1 and 2.

In these figures it can be seen that the machine of the invention comprises a box entry area (18) in which a first conveyor (1) is defined, formed by a continuous belt and a second conveyor (2), formed by rollers. The fact that the machine incorporates two conveyors (1, 2) is due to the fact that the cadence of boxes (18) can be controlled in a more effective manner. Between the two conveyors (1, 2) there is a stop (17), which is activated to control the cadence between boxes (18) in a personalized and more effective way. In this way, when a box (18) enters the second conveyor (2), on the one hand, the box (18) moves at a higher speed to go to the filling station and, on the other hand, the stop rises. (17), preventing movement to the next box (18), still located in the first conveyor (1), until the previous box (18) has reached a certain position in the machine. At this time, lower the stop (17), releasing the next box (18) to reach the second conveyor (2) and continue the process in a continuous manner. The box (18) is inserted into the machine transversely by means of the front flap.

The second conveyor (2) leads the box (18) to a guide (4), longitudinally centered along the machine, which leads it to the covering station and along the whole of it by means of a pusher (3) which it moves along the guide (4). The pusher (3) has the function of moving the box (18) along the entire route, passing through the cover station and to the exit area, where the box (18) It is already covered and totally conformed.

In a preferred embodiment, the gwa (4) is formed by two rafles between which there is a channel through which the pusher (5) moves.

The capping station comprises a structure in which a series of elements are located that are responsible for making the capping as the box (18) progresses along the guide (4) by the capping station dragged by the pusher (3).

In its movement of entry into the capped station the box (18) meets an anterior blast (5) configured by a horizontal beam parallel to the guide (4) curved upward and forming an obtuse angle. The front flap of the box (18) stumbles against this part inclined upwards causing it to fold.

Then, a back blasting device (6) acts, configured in the form of a swinging hammer, which rotates to collide with the rear flap of the casing (18) and causes its folding. The actuation of the subsequent blast chiller (6) is determined, for example, by means of a presence sensor that determines the position of the box (18).

The height at which the horizontal beam of the front blast chute (5) is located determines the folding of the flaps and is adjusted to the height of the box (18), so that the flaps are folded at an angle as close as possible to 90 degrees.

In this position of the machine, the two transverse flaps of the box (18), the anterior and the posterior, are folded. Next, the box (18) is, in its advance, with some tail injectors (7), preferably hot glue, located symmetrically with respect to the guide (4), programmed to apply glue on surfaces, already folded , of the front and back flaps of the box (18). This programming for the application of the glue can be done, for example, by means of a presence sensor, which determines the position of the box (18) with respect to the injectors (7).

The box (18) continues to advance through the capping station to meet two longitudinal chill bars (8). The abatement bars (8) are located on each side of the guide (4) in a plane at a height slightly higher than the height of the box (18) and converging inwards in the forward direction of the box (18). In this way, the longitudinal flaps of the box (18), in their movement along the cover station, will come into contact with the abatement bars (8) and, rubbing against them, they will end up folded on the tail licks applied by the tail injectors (7).

The machine also incorporates a pair of parallel supports, located in symmetry with respect to the guide (4) and which define the width of the box (18) so that the lateral movement of the box (18) is limited.

To cause the gluing of the longitudinal flaps on the tail lining of the front and rear flaps, the box (18) ends its journey passing a running train (9) formed by a structure comprising two parallel rows of wheels located at the height of the box (18), so that the longitudinal flaps are subjected to a tightening for a certain time without the movement of the box (18) stops.

The running gear (9) extends to the end of the covering station, the box (18) entering the exit area, where the box (18), already completely covered, is in disposition to be removed.

An important feature of the invention is that the machine is valid to cover different models of boxes (18), so it can be configured to accept variations in both height and width.

In this way, on the one hand, there are a series of components that are configured as a function of the height of the box (18), such as the front blast chiller (5), the rear blast chiller (6), the chill bars (8). ) and the running gear (9). On the other hand, the width of the box (18) is defined by the position of the parallel supports (10), while the transverse position of the abatement bars (8) is defined as a function of the width of the selected box (18) .

To configure the machine so that the height is required, the front blast chiller (5), the rear blast chiller (6), the chill bars (8) and the running gear (9) are fixed to a support beam ( 11) longitudinally so that, to vary the configuration depending on the height of the box (18) to be covered, it is only necessary to proceed to vary the height of the the support beam (11).

To be able to vary the height at which it is located, the support beam (11) incorporates a transverse upright (13) by means of which it is fixed to a regulation spindle (12) and to vertical guides (14) responsible for providing support and stability to the support beam (11). Acting on the regulating spindle (12), the required height of the location of the support beam (11) is selected in a continuous manner, so that the height can be selected by default. This actuation can be carried out mechanically or, preferably, electrically.

On the other hand, the configuration of the machine to determine a transversal dimension, depending on the width of the box (18), is carried out by the position of the parallel supports (10). For its part, the abatement bars (8) are positioned according to the width of the box (18). Each of the abatement bars (8) is attached by a vertical rod (15) to a crossbar (16) fixed to the support beam (11). The position of the union of each of the vertical poles (15) to the corresponding crossbar (16) determines the position of the respective abatement bar (8) with respect to the guide (4). As for the parallel supports (10), they are fixed to the support beam (11) in the same way although, due to their greater length, they can incorporate several attachment points.

The machine can also be used to cover flaps located not on the upper face of the box (18), but on one of the longitudinal side faces extending from the top face and also fold on the side faces. This would imply, for example, that there may be situations in which it is of interest to alternate the running gear (9) with the parallel supports (10).

Figure 5 represents a box (18) intended to be covered by the machine of the invention. This type of box (18) usually have similar widths and vary, especially in height. On the other hand, the boxes (18) are full, so that the capping process is the last in a process line that ends with the box (18) ready to be sent to its destination. The fact that the box (18) is full is important in that the content provides a basis for the flaps to support the folded being and can exert pressure on them at the time of being glued and press to maintain contact with them. the flaps with the tail.

It should be borne in mind that the present invention should not be limited to the embodiment described herein. Other configurations may be made by those skilled in the art in view of the present description. Accordingly, the scope of the invention is defined by the following claims.

Claims (4)

1. - Machine to cover boxes comprising a zone of entry to the machine, a capping station and an exit area, where the entrance area comprises a first conveyor (1) to transport a box (18) to the station of covered, where the covering station comprises a longitudinal guide (4), where the machine comprises a support beam (11) in which are fixed: - a front blast chiller (5), for folding a front flap of the casing (18), - a rear blast chiller (6), for folding a rear flap of the casing (18), - chill bars ( 8), for the folding of longitudinal flaps of the box (18), and - a running gear (9), for fixing the longitudinal flaps to the front and rear flaps of the box (18), where - the support beam (11) comprises a transverse post (13) fixed to a regulating spindle (12) that moves in a synchronized manner all the elements fixed to the support beam (11) and by means of which the configuration of the machine for boxes (18) of different heights and the height adjustment of the support beam (11), the machine being characterized in that the entrance zone comprises a second conveyor (2) configured to rotate at a speed higher than that of the first conveyor (1), so that the cadence of boxes (18) can be predetermined in the machine. 2. Machine to cover boxes, according to claim 1, characterized in that it comprises a stop (17) at the end of the first conveyor (1) configured to brake a box (18) before entering the second conveyor (2). 3. - Machine to cover boxes, according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that it comprises parallel supports (10) separated according to the width of the box (18) to be covered, so as to limit the lateral movement of the box (18). ). 4. - Machine to cover boxes, according to claim 1, characterized in that both the separation of the parallel supports (10) and the abatement bars (8) are adjustable to cover boxes (18) of different widths.