FR2531405A1 - MACHINE FOR PLACING A STRIP AROUND A SET OF CONTAINERS TO FORM A PACKAGING - Google Patents

Abstract

THE INVENTION RELATES TO A PACKAGING MACHINE. IT IS DESIGNED TO CONTINUOUSLY ADVANCE A PREDETERMINED SET 74 OF CONTAINERS AT PREDETERMINED SPEEDS, BELOW AN ENDLESS SERIES OF JAW STATIONS 54 DESIGNED TO SLOWLY STRET BANDS, FEED A SPOOL 22, AND THEREFORE ASSOCIATE THEM EACH HAS AN ASSOCIATED ASSEMBLY 74, WHILE MINIMIZING THE DISTANCE TRAVELED BY THE ASSEMBLIES THROUGH THE MACHINE 10. FIELD OF APPLICATION: PACKAGING FOR CONTAINERS, BOXES AND OTHER GROUPED ARTICLES.

Description

Previous machines intended for

  continuous applications of multi-packs

  ples on containers are well known and are described

  in a general way, for example in the United States patent.

  United States of America Nos. 3,383,828, 3,775,935 and 4,079,571. The machines described in these patents are generally

  intended for the high-speed installation of a device for

  multiple ballasting that applies to the upper part of boxes in order to secure several of these boxes in a package In the same way tests have focused on the formation of a package by setting up a

  elastic band on the periphery of a set of

  Examples of such devices are described in United States Patent No. 3,404,505.

  and No. 3,714,756 A package which combines the characteristics

  support device ticks securing the upper ends of cans and tapes holding a set of cans has been developed to form a superior multiple package for a larger set of containers. For example, a package produced by the aforesaid machine, described in the aforementioned patent No. 4,079,571, produces a set of twelve boots arranged

  in four rows and three columns It appeared

  to stabilize and further secure such a package by means of an elastic band accurately studied and comprising a handle An example of such a

  packaging is described in the United States patent of

  No. 4 269 3083 The machine according to the invention is

  to produce such a stable packaging, in a way that

effective.

  The invention therefore relates to a machine intended to set up a wrapping band around a set

  of containers, while sets are advanced in.

  The invention also relates to a machine for forming a multiple package comprising a band placed on the periphery of the assembly in an efficient manner, the setting up being carried out without the strip being subjected to undue stresses while the length of the stretching path in the

machine is minimized.

  Another advantage of this machine lies in the use of several conveyor systems for continuously moving the assembly to be packaged to the packaging forming device, longitudinally to the machine,

  while the whole and the device are associated teles-

  copically, which reduces the length of the machine.

  The objects and advantages of the invention are achieved by means of a machine having a continuously moving main conveyor for driving sets of advanced containers through the mabhine together with an endless series of jaws. , continuously moving, first designed to receive a device at a first level of the machine, secondly to progressively deform the device by stretching with the aid of several jaws which are driven by cams to a stretching configuration which is slightly larger than the set, and thirdly by establishing a secure framing of the stretched device

  above all so that the latter and the

  tif can be telescopically assembled by a combination of jaw level

  carrier moving the whole thing forward.

  The invention will be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings by way of non-limiting example and in which FIG. 1 is a plan view of the packaging laying machine according to the invention; Figure 2 is an elevation of the machine shown in Figure 1; Figure 3 is a longitudinal section of the machine taken along line 3-3 of Figure 2; FIG. 4 is a plan view of a device for forming a package to be placed on a set of containers by the laying machine according to the invention; FIG. 5 is a fragmentary end view, on an enlarged scale, of the machine according to the invention, along line 5-5 of FIG. 2; FIG. 6 is an enlarged plan view of an ejection station. along line 6-6 of Figure 2 Figure 7 is a partial elevation, on an enlarged scale, of the ejection station along the line 7-7 of Figure 6; Figure 8 is an enlarged partial end view of the front end of the ejection station taken along the line 8-8 of Figure 7; and Fig. 9 is an end to end view

  the rear end of the ejection station, followed by

line 9-9 of Figure 7.

  To facilitate the understanding of the operation of the machine 10, it seems appropriate to carry out a brief review of the basic parts of the machine, followed by a more detailed analysis of each of these parts.

of the machine.

  As shown in Figures t and 2, the machine comprises a base or a frame 12 which supports a system 14 for advancing a support band, a first conveyor system 16 for guiding the support band, a second transport system 18 and stretching the carrier web and a third transport system 20 which continuously feeds the assembly 74 of containers to

  through the machine, from an inlet end 13 to a -

output end 15.

  Boxes 11 are brought to the inlet end 13 of the machine, in a continuous flow, by a conveyor 66 for feeding. These boxes 11 are preferably arranged

  in a set of twelve boxes forming four rows-

  and three columns by a main package carrier, the latter being able to consist of a single carrier or two carriers as described in the aforementioned Patent No. 4,269,308. As described below, a secondary packaging device 70 is intended to be applied around the periphery of the assembly to form a package

solidarized and stable 74.

  The secondary packaging devices 70 intended to be placed by the machine 10 are preferably connected together end to end and carried on a spool 22 so as to be advanced towards the first conveyor system 16 via the system 14 This feeding system can generally comprise a plurality of rollers 24 of

  guidance, tension and stabilization and several

  Clamping bars which fragment a continuous band of support devices 70 into independent supports This is achieved in this embodiment by means of rollers rotating at different speeds, these rollers being

  represented in the form of games 26 and 27 of rollers.

  The set 27 of rollers is designed to rotate at a higher speed than the game 26, which causes the application of a tension between the two sets of rollers and separates

  thus in series the supports of each other, this sepa-

  This is facilitated by cutting lines made in the strip. After the supports 70 have been thus separated, they are advanced through a set of stabilizing rollers 28 to arrive in the first system.

carrier 16.

  The transporter 16 is designed to uniformly guide

  mement the independent devices vcers of the jaws

  which will be described in more detail below.

  The conveyor 16 mainly comprises an endless chain 30 which carries several pairs of fingers 32 and 33 This conveyor 16 is designed to turn in the opposite direction to that of the hands of a watch, as indicated by the arrow A The fingers of each pair are spaced from each other so that the front finger 32 of each pair bears against the front end of the opening of the device 70, pulling it towards the input end of the machine, and that the The rear finger 33 of each pair is thus inserted in close proximity to the rear end of the opening of the device. As shown in FIG. 2, the rear finger 33 also serves as a stop for the next support that this transporter must drive when The fingers 32 and 33 serve only to move the support longitudinally to the machine and not to stretch or modify the configuration of the band. Generally, these two fingers are used with a plate 34 which bears against the upper and lower edges of the device 70 and maintains the latter at a predetermined level of the machine, while the fingers 30 and 32 can continue their course. longitudinal thanks to the presence of a slot

36 formed in the tray.

  While the device 70 is driven under

  a weak or free force of the feeding system

  towards the input end of the machine, the second conveyor system 18 operates to continuously feed jaw stations 52 into a telescopic arrangement with the devices. These jaw stations are shown in detail in FIG.

  Figure 5 and they are mounted on pairs of trans-

  carriers 40 arranged on either side of the central axis of the machine The conveyor chains 40 turn clockwise, as indicated by the arrow Bet they are also configured to change level as clearly indicated on FIG. 2 The level changes are determined by a guide frame 42 which comprises an inlet section 44 raising the jaws from a first level to a position in FIG.

  which they are associated telescopically with the provisions

  sub-stretched layers, and a stretching and stabilizing section 46 which, as shown in FIG. 2, comprises an upper-level section 47, a curved section 48 which modifies the direction of movement of the support in

  moving it from a direction towards the extreme

  In this case, the cross section 50 for the unloading of the supports will be described hereinafter with the transport system 20.

container support.

  Each jaw station comprises four curved jaws 54 facing upwards and their

  associated bases 55 of support Each jaw is de-

  placed in a linear direction relative to its base by means of a slider and a cam follower 56. The cons-cams as it appears in the figures,

  are controlled by two cam grooves 57 to

  expensive selectively the jaws of the central axis, to place them in the closed position, or to move them away

  of the central axis to place them in the open position.

  The opening position, presented in section 49 of the

  carrier 18, is maintained along the section 50.

  As shown in Figures 1, 5 and 6, the jaws are configured to essentially define the angles 1-5 of a rectangle The open position of the jaw stations defining a rectangle has a perimeter slightly greater than that of the whole of containers

to pack.

  As described in the above-mentioned patent No. 4,269,308, and as shown in FIG. 4, a handle 72 is made in one piece with the device 70. It is important that this handle is arranged in a constant manner with respect to the vertices. boxes, that is to say, it is always oriented upwards or downwards, and therefore a bar 63 orientation or guiding of the handles is placed at the mouth of the inlet end 13 of the machine and in the immediate vicinity of the section

  curve 48 and the lower section 49 of stretching.

  As shown in FIG. 5, this bar 63 orients

  the direction in which the bands move

  cent to go from a plan state to a state in which the band is pressed against the periphery of the set

  and against the surfaces of the curved jaws.

  To ensure the association of the stretched strips 70 with the sets of boxes over the shortest possible distance without, however, using a technique producing a sudden stretch, the jaws carrying the strip, as well as the assembly to be assembled, come close to each other while these elements continue to move towards the output end of the machine It appears therefore that the section 50 of the jaw carrier changes level down to the conveyor 20 at the same time that the latter changes level by lifting towards the conveyor 18 With the jaws the sets of boxes 11 are advanced continuously by the conveyor 20 after they have been introduced in a manner

  the input end by a device 65 with star wheels.

  Sets, however, change level from the input end due to the presence of a section

in ramp 64.

  Another carrier, presenting itself under the

  form of a set of chains, can be placed

  happily close to the path followed by the boxes and

  on either side of the longitudinal axis of the machine.

  These chains 58 carry a plurality of tabs 59 which are designed to space the packages to be wrapped by a distance sufficient to match the distance required between the jaw stations 52. To ensure net alignment of the assemblies with the jaw stations, the system 58 chain of cleats is designed to rotate substantially at the same speed as that of the conveyor 18 of the jaws conveyor 20, carrying the boxes or sets to be packaged, however moving at a speed slightly greater than the corresponding linear velocity of the jaw station located immediately above this conveyor O As a result of the combined effect of the speed difference between the conveyor 20 and the chains 58, the assemblies abut against the stops 59, which ensures their proper alignment with the stretched support which is trained

  continuously above each set.

  Since lip-70 is noticeably stretched, there is considerable friction between the jaws 54 and the stretched devices.

  these jaws could be highly polished, a

  The forcibly ejecting device must be used to separate the bands from the jaws when they have been properly positioned around the assembly. Each chain 58 with lugs also carries a plurality of ejection arms 60 whose number is equal to that of the cleats. arm 60

  ejection are represented as being designed to enter

  in contact with the upper edge of the band 70 and to pivot gradually to push the band down from the top of the boxes The pivoting is

  force produced by contact between a cam located in the

  outer tremity of each arm 60 and a cam surface 62 fixed to the frame; on both sides of the longitudinal axis This action appears clearly in Figures 6 to 9 and represents a firm way of separating the elastic band from a jaw station to place it in an elastically stretched state around the together,

in a positive way.

  The machine according to the invention is described in a particular use with a set of twelve boxes grouped in four rows and three columns. It should be noted that two sets of six rows and columns can be associated in a similar manner using

  of this machine without departing from the scope of the invention.

  it should also be noted that although the highest 16 conveyor system allows to associate

  devices using the jaws of labels.

  the first carrier can be deleted at

  condition that the tape is advanced precisely

on jaw posts -

  It goes without saying that many modifications can

  vent hearth brought to the machine described and represented

  without departing from the scope of the invention.

Claims (12)

  A machine for placing a strip around a set of containers (11) to form a package, characterized in that it has inlet and outlet ends (13, 15) and a support frame (12) ,   means for the serial separation of food   a continuous reel (22) to form separate wrapping webs (70), an endless stretching conveyor (40) comprising a series of jaws (54) adapted to progressively deform the separate webs to transitioning from an undeformed closed configuration to an open and stretched array receiving configuration, while the webs are continuously fed through the machine, a container conveyor (20) continuously advancing independent assemblies of containers to a level lower than that of the stretch conveyor in order to achieve a continuous telescopic association with separate strips open to produce a suite of packaging.   2 Machine according to claim 1, characterized in that it comprises a feed conveyor (14) for advancing the separate strips means for separating these bands one after the   others to the carrier and the means of stretching.   Machine according to claim 2, characterized in that the feed conveyor and the stretch conveyor are endless chain devices arranged so that the feed conveyor is juxtaposed   stretch conveyor, food conveyors   and stretching being arranged to rotate in opposite directions, allowing a lower portion of the feed conveyor to move in the same direction.   meaning that an upper part of the stretching conveyor.   Machine according to claim 1, characterized in that the stretch conveyor comprises a plurality of regularly spaced jaw stations (52), each jaw station having opposed pairs of jaws (54) adapted to move away from axis - 10   longitudinal center defined on the path traveled by the stretch conveyor.   Machine according to claim 4, characterized in that each jaw is integral with a cam follower (56) slidable in a base (55) itself designed to slide linearly to move closer and away from the central longitudinal axis of the machine, the movement of the jaws being controlled by   cam grooves (57) adjacent to the path of the   endless chains, on both sides of the axis central of the machine.   6 Machine according to claim 4, characterized in that it comprises a member (63) of strip-like orientation of strips, arranged substantially along the longitudinal central axis, at the inlet end of the lower part of the stretch conveyor to firmly orient the bands on the jaw station   before their stretching and their association to the sets.   Machine according to claim 1, characterized   in that the container carrier and the lower part   top of the stretch conveyor converge near-   machine exit zones to reduce the difference between   height band between the stretched band and the set of containers to be packaged, which causes a combination of   telescopic on a relatively short course.   Machine according to claim 1, characterized in that the container conveyor and a juxtaposed section of the stretching conveyor move in the same direction from the inlet end to the end. out of ladmuachine.   Machine according to Claim 8, characterized in that the container conveyor moves at a speed slightly greater than that of the juxtaposed sections. of the stretching conveyor.   Machine according to claim 9, characterized in that it comprises elements (58) carrying an endless series of pairs of opposing cleats (59) situated on either side of the longitudinal central axis of the container conveyor. , the cleats being advanced at a speed   which is less than the speed of the reciprocal   which is substantially equal to the speed of transmission stretching carrier.   Machine according to claim 1, characterized in that the means for separating the webs of a continuous roll comprise sets of clamping rollers   (26, 27) rotating at different speeds.   Machine according to claim 2, characterized in that the feed conveyor comprises a series of pairs of fingers (32, 33) designed to be inserted near the inner end of the separate strips, in their substantially closed state, and a tray (34) having a longitudinal slot (36) that the fingers can travel continuously while supporting and   guiding the marginal side surfaces of the strips.   Machine according to claim 1, characterized in that cam-controlled arms (60) are arranged in fixed longitudinal positions on both sides of the container conveyor at the end of the machine.   out of the machine, in order to abut against the upper edges   of the band stretched out on the whole and to separate at   force, by moving it down, the band of the jaws.