FR2775657A1 - Improvement to parceling machine - Google Patents

Abstract

The parceling machine (1) comprises a support (13) for the object (2) or group of objects (3) during its or their packaging. A roller (5) and guide (6) deliver the wrapping paper and a ram (4) which moves along an axis (17) transfers, moves and retains the objects on the support. A second ram pushes and retains the object on the packaging support. A control pushes an object on to the support by means of the first ram then by the second ram.

Description

Improvement to shrinkwrappers
The present invention relates to an improvement made to automatic shrinkwrappers.

 The technical sector of the invention is that of the manufacture of automatic machines for packaging objects or groups of objects with a paper sheet or equivalent, the packaging of the object being essentially obtained by folding the paper.

The present invention applies in particular to shrinkwrappers and / or to machines for wrapping an object (or a group of objects or a burden), in particular objects in the form of a hexahedron (such as a rectangular parallelepiped) which can be delivered by a conveyor (or conveyor) with belt (or equivalent), in a sheet of a material such as paper or equivalent; such machines or shrink wraps generally include
- a support (such as a substantially horizontal table) of the object or group of objects during its wrapping,
- means for delivering, cutting and gluing paper,
- a ram (or pusher) movable in translation along a generally substantially horizontal axis, for transferring objects or groups of objects, for example one by one, from the conveyor to the wrapping support, and / or for moving (by pushing it along the support) and to retain the object or group of objects on the support, during its wrapping essentially obtained by folding.

 The objective of the invention is to propose an improved shrinkwrapper.

 The object of the present invention is more particularly to propose a shrink wrapper which allows rapid wrapping of an object or group of objects in a sheet of paper without the need to increase the speed of movement of the object and / or of the sheet. of paper, which could have unfortunate consequences, such as in particular the deterioration of the object or of the sheet of paper used to wrap the object.

The solution to the problem is to provide a shrinkwrapper which further comprises
- A second ram (or second pusher) movable in translation, generally horizontal, along said axis (or parallel to the axis) of translation of the first ram, for moving by pushing and / or for retaining the object or group of objects on the packaging medium, and
- Control means of the two rams for, during each wrapping cycle of an object or group of objects, to push the object on the support by the first ram then by the second ram.

 In this way, the first ram can be retracted (in the starting position) while the second ram allows the wrapping of an object or group of objects, which makes it possible to accelerate the rate of wrapping of the objects without increasing the average speed of movement of paper and objects; the invention has the effect of avoiding printing objects and paper with high accelerations and consequently makes it possible to avoid deterioration, in particular by tearing, of the paper and / or deformation of the objects to be wrapped, thanks to the successive action of the two rams working in relay.

According to preferred embodiments of the invention 1 invention
- the second ram (or second pusher) is retractable out of the path of the objects on the wrapping support
- The second ram (or second pusher) is mounted movable in translation along the wrapping support table thanks to a carriage supporting the second ram, which is slidably mounted on first fixed slides of longitudinal axis parallel to the axis of the support, and said second ram and / or said carriage is further mounted mobile in rotation about a second axis, by virtue of two bearings aligned along an axis of rotation substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the first fixed slides, which bearings allow the pivoting of the second ram (and / or the ram support carriage) along their axis
- said second carriage (or second pusher) is mounted movable in translation along a third substantially vertical axis, thanks to rod-shaped guides extending along two axes (vertical) parallel to each other, on which second sliding bearings can slide forming part (or made integral) of movable slides on which the retractable pusher (and / or its support carriage) can slide, by means of wheels for example
- The second ram (or second pusher) is retractable by passage through at least one opening (and preferably by passage through two openings) cut (s) or provided (s) in the wrapping support; in the case where two openings are provided, these are interconnected by at least one slot extending substantially parallel to said axis of translation of the rams, that is to say along the trajectory of the objects on the support of the '' wrapping and / or along the longitudinal axis of this support
- Said second ram (or second pusher) comprises a head or support member on the object which is threadlike, in particular of branched shape, which makes it possible to reduce the mass of the second ram and which makes it possible to reduce the surface of the openings provided in the wrapping support table for the retraction of the second ram through this table
- According to a particular embodiment, the shrink wrapper according to the invention comprises
* a carriage supporting the second ram, which ram
has an elongated arm capable of extending across
a longitudinal groove provided in the support, and
includes a support member capable of passing through a
opening provided in the support
* a slide parallel to the longitudinal axis of the support,
which is fixed under this support and receives the carriage by rotary bearings
* a slide movable vertically under the support under
the action of a first connecting rod driven by a camshaft,
which slide supports the trolley through
wheels and allows by its vertical movement the pivoting of the
carriage for retracting the ram through the support
* a second carriage connecting rod in
translation along the fixed slide,
and said first and second rams are arranged to
on either side of a feed conveyor and / or on the edge
front of support
- The paper delivery means comprise a first paper drive device and comprise a second paper drive and delivery device, which first and second paper drive device are separated by an area comprising cutting means sheet from a strip of paper, which cutting means preferably comprise at least one fixed knife cutting member and at least one movable knife cutting member; the shrinkwrapper further comprises means for controlling the paper drive devices for successively controlling, during each cycle, the actuation of the first and second paper drive means.

 According to another aspect, the invention consists in using a method of wrapping an object or a group of objects in a sheet of paper, in which the object to be wrapped is placed on a support table and one realizes wrapping the object or group of objects in a sheet of paper by pushing and / or moving the object or group of objects on the support table during folding of the paper, using a first pusher; in accordance with the invention, a second pusher movable in translation is used parallel to the support to push and / or hold the object during its wrapping (obtained by folding), and said first and second rams are controlled to successively push the object or group of objects.

Preferably, in a method according to the invention
- the mass of each burden is of the order of 1 to 20 kilograms, in particular from 3 to 12 kilograms
- the time of each load wrapping cycle (T) is less than 5 seconds
- the stroke of the second ram is of different value from the stroke of the first ram, preferably less than this
- the average speed of said first and second rams is of the order of 0.5 to 1.5 meters per second
- the average speed of paper feeding is of the order of 0.5 to 1 meter per second
- The second ram is retracted during part of each packaging cycle through the wrapping support on which the object or group of objects to be wrapped is arranged.

 The advantages provided by the invention will be better understood through the following description which refers to the appended drawings, which illustrate without any limiting nature the preferred embodiments of the invention.

 In the drawings, identical or similar elements, unless otherwise indicated, have the same references from one figure to another.

 Figure 1 illustrates in schematic perspective view the main components of a known shrinkwrapper.

 FIG. 2 illustrates in side view an embodiment of a device and a shrink wrapper according to the invention, and more particularly illustrates means for pushing objects or groups of objects to be wrapped.

 Figure 3 which is a view along III / III of Figure 2, illustrates in sectional view through a plane perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the wrapping support as well as to the axis of translation of the rams or pushers of the shrinkwrapper, the part of the shrinkwrapper used for wrapping and using the second pusher in accordance with the invention; this figure illustrates more particularly means for moving and retracting the second pusher, through the wrapping support table.

 Figure 4 which is a view along IV of Figure 3, illustrates a top view of a part of the wrapping support table of a shrinkwrapper according to 1 invention equipped with openings allowing the retraction of the second ram.

 Figure 5 is a side view (similar to Figure 2) of a part of the shrinkwrapper and more particularly illustrates the means for driving the second ram in movement and the means for its retraction through the support table d 'wrapping.

 Figure 6 is a schematic side view essentially illustrating the paper supply means of a shrinkwrapper according to the invention.

 FIG. 7 illustrates the timing diagrams of the displacements of the first and second rams as well as the steps of feeding paper by the first and second feeding means shown in particular in FIG. 6.

 With reference to FIG. 1 in particular, the invention applies to a machine generally known as shrink wrapping machine 1, which comprises a support 13 such as a horizontal table extending along a longitudinal axis 16 on which are wrapped loads 3 made up of a group of objects 2 joined to one another in one or more rows and / or stacks, in a sheet 9 of paper cut from a strip 7 of paper delivered by means of guide means 6 by a roller 5 for storing the paper strip, along the downward vertical arrow 8, that is to say along the vertical axis 18.

 To this end, the sheet 9 is cut along the dotted line 10 by cutting means.

 Objects 2 can be delivered in the vicinity of the front edge 15 of the support 13, generally in a grouped fashion, via the platform 14 of an elevator capable of moving between a position where the platform 14 is substantially in the extension of the support 13, opposite its front edge 15, and a lower position where the platform 14 receives the objects 2 delivered by usual means of transport, for example delivering the objects or groups of objects according to a axis 28 horizontal perpendicular to axis 16.

 In a known manner, the group of objects 3 disposed on the platform 14 of the elevator is introduced on the support 13 according to the arrow 11 when this platform is in the extension of the support 13, by the action of a pusher 4 moving in a translational movement along the horizontal axis 17 parallel to the axis 16 of the support; since the sheet of paper extends vertically in front of the front edge 15 of the support 13, this movement of the group of objects causes the objects to come into contact with the sheet and then causes the sheet 9 to deform, as illustrated figure 1 after folding of the edges of the sheet 9 by known means (not illustrated), to carry out the wrapping, the group of wrapped objects represented on the right in figure 1 is evacuated according to arrow 12 by traditional means of transport .

 With reference to FIG. 2, when the platform 14 is in the extension of the support table 13 for wrapping, near its front edge 15, the first ram 4 equipped with a head or support member 21 capable of to take support on a part of the object or group of objects to be wrapped moves from left to right along the axis 17 of translation of this pusher (such as a jack), according to a stroke 25, for example on the order of 0.5 to 1 meter, to transfer the group of objects initially placed on the platform 14 as far as the support table 13, to a position in which the first jack or pusher 4 is then retracted and a second cylinder or pusher 19 is erected passing through slots provided in the table 13 wrapping support; said second pusher 19, 19l equipped with a body or head 192 for support and / or contact on a face (called front) of the group 3 of objects 2 to be wrapped, can then retain and / or move according to a stroke 26 , the group of objects 3 until the end of its wrapping with a sheet of paper (not shown), with a view to its subsequent evacuation.

 FIG. 2 particularly illustrates a conveyor 22 with a longitudinal axis 28 perpendicular to the plane of the figure, which comprises a movable upper platform 27 on which the objects 2 can be delivered, one by one; a grouping member 24 such as a cylinder with an axis parallel to the axis 17, groups the objects 2 delivered by the conveyor 22, on the platform 14 of the elevator 23 when this platform 14 is in a position substantially in the extension of the upper platform 27 of the conveyor 22.

 With reference to FIGS. 3 to 5 in particular, the second pusher 19 comprises an angled arm 191, the base of which is fixed to a carriage 32 and the upper end of which is provided with filiform organs 192, for example constituted by parallel rectilinear sections metallic, intended to bear on one face of the group of objects 3 to be wrapped; in the case where the second pusher 19 has this configuration of branched support member illustrated in FIG. 3, openings 13B, 13C provided in the support table 13 of the objects to be wrapped are of complementary shape to allow passage through these openings 13B, 13C, rectilinear sections 192 of the support member of the second pusher through the table, limiting to a minimum the area of these openings to avoid a risk of deterioration of the paper and / or groups of objects wrapped during their passage with regard to these openings, as well as to limit the weakening of this support table 13; to allow the translation of the second pusher 19 along the axis 16 of the support 13 and / or in the extension of the axis 17 of translation of the first cylinder 4, to cause the displacement of groups of objects according to arrow 12 , a groove 13A extending along the axis 16 connects the first group of openings 13B to the second group of openings 13C.

With reference to FIGS. 3 and 5 in particular, the retraction of the second ram 19 which is obtained by passing the bent arm 191 and the support members 192 through the packaging support table 13, is effected by means of a mechanism for driving and moving the carriage 32 pusher support 19, which comprises
- Fixed slides 30 extending along a longitudinal axis 29 parallel to axes 16 and 17, under the table 13, which allow a movement in translation along the support 13 of the carriage 32 receiving the base of the arm 191 of the pusher 19; this carriage 32 is also pivotally mounted on a movable axis 31, by means of bearings 33, in order to allow the passage from the position in solid lines illustrated in FIG. 5, to the position in dotted lines illustrated in this same figure by rotation along the pivot axis 31, which causes the displacement along the paths 45 of the support parts 192 of the pusher 19 and their passage through the openings 13B or 13C provided in the table.

 The carriage 32 is further equipped with wheels 34 capable of rolling on a raceway of a slide 35 mounted vertically movable, thanks to the presence of rods 36 extending along the two longitudinal axes 49 parallel to the plane of FIGS. 3 and 5, which allow the movable slides to go up and down 35 on which the wheels 34 fitted to the carriage 32 roll.

 The upward and downward movement of the movable slides 35 is effected by the action of a connecting rod 43 pivotally mounted along a fixed axis 41, driven in movement by cams equipping a camshaft 42 rotatably mounted along a perpendicular axis 39 in the plane of Figure 5 the movement of the rod 43 is transmitted to the movable slides 35 via a link 44 articulated at the left end of the rod 43, itself articulated along an axis 40 to a part 37 in the form of a yoke linked to the movable slides 35.

 The translational movement of the carriage along the fixed slides 30, in synchronism with this movement of raising and lowering of the slides 35, is obtained by the action of a second connecting rod (not shown) similar to the connecting rod 43, driven by the same camshaft 42; the movement in translational driving of the carriage along the slides 30 is transmitted to said carriage by means of a part 38 illustrated in FIG. 3.

 With reference to FIG. 6, the strip 7 of paper guided by a roller 6 moves in a downward vertical translational movement, along the axis 18 under the effect of a traction exerted by a drive assembly constituted by: a motor 50 driving by a belt 51 a roller 52 cooperating with a second roller 53 and frictionally driving the strip 7, the roller 53 being pressed by a spring 54 against the roller 52; guides 55 and 60 are provided under this first drive device for guiding the sheet in its downward vertical translation movement, and between these guides 55 and 60 is provided a cutting system comprising a fixed knife 59 and a knife 56 movable under the action of a jack 57, along an axis 58.

 Two devices 67 and 68 can allow the gluing of the sheet 9 cut from the strip 7 by the knives 56, 59, before the drive of this sheet, guided by the slides 60, by a second drive system constituted by: a motor 61 driving, via a belt 62, a conveyor 63 with a roller or perforated strip; the conveyor 63 with perforated belt is equipped with a box 630 connected to a vacuum pump 631 (which puts it under vacuum) and extending between the rectilinear (vertical) sections of the perforated belt 632; the air sucked through the perforations of the strand 633 of the strip causes the sheet 9 to be pressed and held by suction to the perforated strip during its vertical downward movement, thus ensuring precise and rapid movement of the sheet; this simple system allows the delivery of the sheet 9 and, thanks to the movement 11 printed to the group of objects 3 by the first ram, the group of objects is brought into contact with the sheet 9, when it extends into the substantially free position shown in dotted lines in Figure 6; the subsequent movement of the objects according to arrow 11 causes the sheet 9 to be deformed and, simultaneously, the group of objects 3 is transferred to the wrapping support table 13 which rests on the ground 33 by feet.

With reference to FIG. 7, the timing diagram C21 schematically illustrates the variation over time of the speed of the first ram (reference 4, FIGS. 1 and 2 in particular) whose speed V1 in a first step A of rapid advance decreases up to at a value V2 in a second step B, corresponding to the contacting of the support member of the first jack with the burden, and the transfer of the burden from the platform of the elevator to the support of wrapping; at the end of step B, the speed of the first pusher is canceled and takes a negative value -V3, which corresponds to a step
C return of the first cylinder or pusher to its initial position, at the end of the wrapping machine operating cycle T.

During this same operating period, the second pusher or jack (19) follows the timing diagram C19, the speed (measured along an axis oriented parallel to the axis of the support 13) varying between a positive value V4 and a negative value V5 in the following successive stages
step D corresponds to the thrust of the group of objects on the wrapping support table by the second jack,
step E, characterized by a substantially zero longitudinal speed of the second pusher, during which the latter is retracted through an opening provided in the object support table,
- step F corresponds to a return phase of the second cylinder (or pusher 19) behind, for example under the table, as illustrated in FIGS. 3 to 5 in particular, until reaching step G corresponding to the erection of the second cylinder and its passage through the second opening provided in the support table, in order to allow the thrust (according to step D above) of the next group to be wrapped.

Steps H and I illustrated on the timing diagram C52-53 in FIG. 7 correspond respectively to a phase H of stopping the first means of driving the paper and a phase I of actuating these driving means to deliver a section of strip capable of constituting a sheet after cutting; this sheet manipulated by the second drive means, is moved according to step J illustrated in the fourth timing diagram marked C63-64 in this figure 7, step
K corresponding to a stopping phase of the second drive means (61 to 64 shown in FIG. 6 in particular).

Claims (10)

 1. Bundler (1) which includes  - a support (13) of the object (2) or of the group (3) of objects during its wrapping,  - means (5, 6) for delivering paper,  - a ram (4) or pusher movable in translation along an axis (17), for transferring the objects and for moving them on the support (13),  characterized in that it further comprises  - a second ram (19) or push rod movable in translation along said axis (17), for moving by pushing the object or group of objects on the packaging support,  - Control means for, during each wrapping cycle, pushing an object on the support by the first ram (4) then by the second ram (19).  2. A shrinkwrapper according to claim 1, in which the second ram or pusher is retractable out of the trajectory (17) of the objects (2) on the support (13) for wrapping.  3. shrinkwrapper according to any one of claims 1 or 2, in which the second ram (19) or pusher is mounted movable in translation along the wrapping support table thanks to a carriage (32) supporting the second ram, which is slidably mounted on first fixed runners (30) with a longitudinal axis (29) parallel to the axis (17) and said second ram and / or said carriage is further mounted mobile in rotation along a second axis, thanks to bearings (33) with an axis of rotation (31) substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal axis (29) of the fixed slides, which bearings allow the pivoting of the second ram and / or of the ram support carriage (32) along said axis (31 ).  4. shrinkwrapper according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein said second ram (19) or pusher is mounted movable in translation along a third substantially vertical axis, thanks to guides (36) in the form of rod extending along two axes (49) parallel to each other, on which can slide bearings (48) integral with movable slides (35) on which the pusher (19) or its support carriage (32) can slide.  5. shrinkwrapper according to any one of claims 1 to 4, in which the second ram (19) or pusher is retractable by passage through two openings (13B, 13C) provided in the support (13) for wrapping and connected therebetween by at least one slot (13A) extending substantially parallel to said first axis (17), that is to say along the trajectory of the objects on the support of the wrapping and / or along the axis longitudinal of this support.  6. shrinkwrapper according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein said second ram (19) or pusher comprises a head or member (192) bearing on the object (2) which is threadlike, in particular of shape branched, which makes it possible to reduce the mass of the second ram or pusher and makes it possible to reduce the surface of the openings (13B, 13C) in the wrapping support table for the retraction of the second ram through this table.  7. shrinkwrapper according to any one of claims 1 to 6, which comprises  - a carriage (32) supporting the second ram (19), which ram has an elongated arm capable of extending through a longitudinal groove (13A) provided in the support (13), and comprises a member (192) bearing capable of passing through an opening (13B, 13C) provided in the support (13)  - A slide (30) parallel to the longitudinal axis (17) of the support (13), which is fixed under this support and which receives the carriage (32) by rotary bearings (33);  - A slide (35) movable vertically under the support (13) under the action of a first connecting rod (43) driven by a camshaft (42), which slide (35) supports the carriage (32) by the intermediate wheel (34) and allows by its vertical movement the pivoting of the carriage for the retraction of the ram through the support (13)  a second rod for driving the carriage (32) in translation along the fixed slide (30),  and wherein said first and second rams are arranged on either side of a feed conveyor (22) and / or the front edge (15) of the support (13).  8. shrinkwrapper according to any one of claims 1 to 7, in which the paper delivery means comprise a first device (50, 51, 52, 53) for driving the paper and comprise a second device (61, 62, 63, 64) of paper drive, which first and second paper drive are separated by an area comprising sheet cutting means (9) from a strip (7) of paper, and the wrapper comprises control means for successively controlling, during each cycle, the actuation of the first and second paper drive means.  9. Method for wrapping an object or a group of objects in a sheet of paper, in which the object to be wrapped is placed on a support table (13) and in which the wrapping of the object or group of objects in a sheet (9) of paper by pushing and / or moving the object or group of objects on the support table during folding of the paper, by a first pusher (4), characterized in using a second pusher (19) movable in translation parallel to the support to push and / or hold the object during its wrapping, and in that said first and second rams are controlled to successively push the object or group of objects.  10. The method of claim 9, wherein a wrapper is used according to any one of claims 1 to 8, and wherein  - the mass of each burden is of the order of 1 to 20 kilograms, in particular from 3 to 12 kilograms,  - the time of each load wrapping cycle (T) is less than 5 seconds,  the stroke (26) of the second ram is of different value from the stroke (25) of the first ram, preferably less than this,  - the average speed of said first and second rams is of the order of 0.5 to 1.5 meters per second,  - the average speed of paper feeding is of the order of 0.5 to 1 meter per second,  and in which the second ram is retracted during part of each packaging cycle through the wrapping support (13) on which the object or group of objects to be wrapped is arranged.