FR3105939A1 - Method and device for making conical envelopes - Google Patents

Abstract

Device for making conical envelopes which comprises: - a reel (12) for a strip (2) wound on a roll (10); - a cutting station (4) for producing paper formats according to a predetermined shape; - a gluing station (6) suitable for depositing glue locally on a paper format; - a rolling station (8) comprising at least one conical shape, means for maintaining a paper size on the conical shape and driving means for winding a paper size held on the conical shape around said conical shape; and - an ejection station adapted to remove a format of paper wrapped around a conical shape of said conical shape. A method implemented by this device. Abstract figure: Figure 1

Description

Method and device for producing conical envelopes

The present invention relates to a device for producing conical envelopes.

This disclosure relates to the field of machine tools. This is more particularly a machine intended for the manufacture of paper envelopes to then manufacture a cigarette or similar.

Here, cigarette or similar means a tube formed by a rolled sheet, generally made of paper, surrounding a dried and prepared vegetable substance, tobacco in the case of a cigarette, other substances for similar devices, and intended to be smoke. A filter may be provided. It is then intended to be attached to one end of the tube containing the tobacco, or other vegetable substance, and to form an interface between the tobacco, or other, and the mouth of a smoker. Indeed, to smoke the cigarette or the like, the smoker draws air through the cigarette or the like and the filter is present to then prevent pieces of tobacco or the like from then coming into the smoker's mouth and/or to retain harmful substances.

To smoke certain substances, especially substances that burn less easily than tobacco, it is preferable to have a conical envelope to have a better draw and promote the combustion of the substances. In this case, it is preferable to have a filter whose shape is adapted to the shape of the envelope to be able to more easily assemble the filter and the envelope (to be filled or filled).

It is known to make conical envelopes to receive tobacco or another vegetable substance in an artisanal way, by hand with the help of tools.

Summary

This disclosure improves the situation.

First of all, a method for producing a conical envelope is proposed, comprising the following steps:

- cutting of a sheet to a predetermined format according to the desired shape for the conical envelope;

- application of glue along at least one edge of the cut sheet;

- installation and maintenance of an edge of the cut sheet on a conical shape;

- rolling the cut sheet around the conical shape so that the edge of the cut sheet provided with glue covers a part already rolled around the conical shape; And

- ejection of the cut and rolled sheet.

Such a method can be implemented by machines and makes it possible to produce conical envelopes at an industrial rate, without manual intervention. The order of the stages can be modified, in particular for the first three stages provided for above. The adhesive can be deposited before or after cutting, before or after positioning on the conical shape.

In the proposed method, provision may be made for the format of the sheet to comprise two straight edges forming between them an acute angle, the ends of said straight edges being connected two by two by circular arcs.

It is also possible to provide for the deposition of glue to be carried out, for example, by flexography.

Optionally, the conical shape on which the cut sheet is rolled is composed, on the one hand, of a conical filter and, on the other hand, of a complementary shape of a device for producing a conical envelope. , the cut sheet being rolled in part around the conical filter. In the end, a set consisting of a filter and a conical envelope is then produced.

This disclosure also relates to a device for producing conical envelopes which comprises:

- a cutting station to produce paper formats according to a predetermined shape;

- a gluing station suitable for depositing glue locally on a paper format;

- a rolling station comprising at least one conical shape, means for holding a paper format on the conical shape and drive means for winding a paper format held on the conical shape around said conical shape; And

- an ejection station suitable for removing a paper format wrapped around a conical shape from said conical shape.

Such a device is suitable for carrying out a method as proposed above. The various items may be in a different order from that mentioned above.

Such a device may comprise, for example, a transfer drum which can be driven in rotation and provided with nozzles opening into the peripheral surface of the drum, as well as a pneumatic system connected to said drum and having a distribution system making it possible to suck air through the nozzles depending on their angular position. The drum then makes it possible to pass a sheet to various positions of the device. The cut sheet is sucked up as it passes from one station to another.

In the proposed device:

– a reel for tape wound on a roll can be provided to supply paper to the device; and or

- the cutting station can for example comprise a cutting cylinder cooperating with another cylinder, the latter forming a counter support to perform the cutting. A fly cut or any other solution can also be considered; and or

- the gluing station includes a flexographic printing machine. Bonding by pad printing, spraying or any other solution can also be envisaged; and or

- in the winding station, each conical shape can be provided with suction nozzles, and each conical shape can be movable between a transfer position at the exit of the gluing station to receive a paper size and a position facing a movable cone mounted eccentrically so as to be able to perform a circular translational movement around the conical shape; and or

- a loading station for placing a filter at the end of a conical shape can be provided.

Other characteristics, details and advantages will appear on reading the detailed description below, and on analyzing the appended drawing, on which:

Fig. 1

shows a device for producing conical envelopes in perspective.

Fig. 2

shows in perspective a cutting station of the device of figure 1.

Fig. 3

shows the cutting station of Figure 2 in elevation.

Fig. 4

shows an example of cutting carried out by the cutting station of figures 2 and 3.

Fig. 5

shows in perspective a gluing station of the device of figure 1.

Fig. 6

shows in perspective a rolling position of the device of Figure 1.

Fig. 7

shows a detail of the perspective of figure 5.

Fig. 8

shows a detail in elevation of the taxi stand of figure 5.

The drawing and the description below contain, for the most part, certain elements. They may therefore not only serve to better understand this disclosure, but also contribute to its definition, where applicable.

Reference is now made to Figure 1. This figure gives an overview of a device for producing conical envelopes. These envelopes are made from a strip of paper 2. This strip is cut in a cutting station 4. The cut pieces are then covered locally with a line of glue at a gluing station 6 before be rolled around and by extending a filter (optional) in a rolling station 8.

The paper used here is for example a thin paper, of the cigarette paper type. It has for example a surface weight of 15 g/m2. Here, paper also means "substitute" materials such as food materials made for example from corn starch or other and in the form of a flexible sheet.

The strip of paper 2 is fed from a roll 10 mounted on a reel 12. It is provided here to arrange the reel 12 at a distance from the device for producing conical envelopes in order to leave access to the machine proper for its maintenance. The strip of paper 2 is thus first of all guided downwards to pass under a floor 14 before joining the cutting station 4. The floor 14 can then serve as a place of intervention for the maintenance of the device.

The assembly formed by the cutting station 4, the gluing station 6, the rolling station 8 is mounted on a frame 16 itself fixed to a base 18. This assembly is then arranged substantially at head height. An air and electricity supply can be achieved for example by passing pipes through the base 18 and the frame 16.

The strip of paper 2 is guided and entrained by passing over rollers extending perpendicular to its movement. In a known manner, some rollers are free, some are driven in rotation and/or the axis of certain rollers is fixed or else mobile while being prestressed to exert tension on the strip of paper 2.

The strip of paper 2 is thus guided to the cutting station 4 illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3. This cutting station 4 essentially comprises a cutting cylinder 20 which constitutes a cutting tool and which cooperates with a transfer drum 22 which constitutes a support surface to allow cutting.

The cutting cylinder 20 has blades on its peripheral surface according to a predetermined pattern illustrated in FIG. on the other hand, bases 28 not linear but in an arc of a circle so that the cut made corresponds to a truncated cone developed with an overlap. The shape of the cutout depends in particular on the desired conicity, the height of the cone and the diameter of the truncated cone (at its base or at its top).

In the example embodiment illustrated in Figure 4, it can be seen that the cutouts are made head to tail. In fact, the illustrated embodiment corresponds to a preferred embodiment of a device for producing conical envelopes which comprises a double rolling station 8 to allow a higher production rate. The cutout illustrated in Figure 4 also has the advantage of limiting paper scraps.

In order for the blades of the cutting cylinder 20 to be able to make cuts 24 in the strip of paper 2, a support surface is required against which the strip of paper 2 comes to rest. This support surface corresponds here, in the form of embodiment illustrated by way of non-limiting example, to the outer peripheral surface of the transfer drum 22.

The transfer drum 22 is in the form of a section of circular cylindrical tube. Inside the wall of this section of tube are channels which open into a front surface 30 (cf. FIGS. 2 and 3) of the transfer drum. To each of these channels correspond nozzles 32 which open into the outer peripheral surface of the transfer drum 22. These nozzles 32 are placed so as to lie along a symmetrical edge 26 of a cutout 24, inside of it.

The channels inside the transfer drum 22 are either under depression with respect to atmospheric pressure, or under overpressure (or at atmospheric pressure). They are under depression when it is appropriate to maintain a blank 24 on the transfer drum 22 and placed at ambient pressure or under overpressure when it is appropriate to remove the blank 24 from the transfer drum 22. Thus, the channels of the transfer drum transfer 22 according to the position in which they are, are in depression, and the corresponding nozzles 32 are then suction nozzles, either at atmospheric pressure or in slight overpressure.

The channels of the transfer drum 22 facing the cutting cylinder 20 are in depression so that the cut 24 made by the cutting cylinder 20 comes to "stick" by suction to the periphery of the transfer drum 22.

Figures 2 and 3 also show a bearing 34 on which the cutting cylinder 20 is mounted. Cylinders 36 act on the bearing 34 to constrain it in the direction of the transfer drum 22, which serves as a counter-support, with an adjustable pressure . Note also in these figures the presence on the left of guide means for the cut strip of paper.

The blanks 24 coming from the cutting station 4 are transported by the transfer drum 22 to the gluing station 6. The purpose of the latter is to place a line of glue on one of the two symmetrical edges 26 of each cutout 24 so that after rolling the cutout 24 the line of glue makes it possible to maintain the cutout in its rolled up position, the edge covered with the line of glue being superimposed on the other edge so that the line of glue sits sandwiched between the two overlapping edges.

The removal of the line of glue can be done for example, as provided in the illustrated embodiment, by flexography. A gluing station 6 operating on this principle is illustrated in Figure 5.

In this gluing station 6, a cylinder (not shown) dabbles in a reservoir of glue located under the handle 38 of FIG. 5. This handle 38 makes it possible to grasp the reservoir to fill it and put it back in place. The glue from the reservoir comes to cover the cylinder which bubbles. The glue used is a glue for paper. It may for example be a cold glue offered under the name Tobacolle by the manufacturer Henkel under the reference 233-300.

Reference is made to document FR2793441 in the name of Saint Eloi Mécanique Outillage for example for a principle that can be implemented here for the gluing carried out here. From this cylinder covered with glue, a pattern of glue predefined by the shape of the cutouts 24 is transferred onto a gluing roller 40. The latter is arranged directly opposite the transfer drum 22. Thus, the sizing cylinder 40 transfers the lines of glue that have been placed on its periphery onto the blanks 24 fixed by suction to the transfer drum 22.

It is planned here to make the cut before gluing. These two operations could be reversed. One could in fact glue the strip of blank paper 2 and then cut out the trapezoidal shapes intended to be rolled up.

Figures 6 to 8 illustrate a winding of a blank 24 glued to form a conical envelope.

In the preferred embodiment which is illustrated here, the rolling station 8 is double because two conical casings are produced in parallel. Figure 6 illustrates the rolling station 8 as a whole. This figure shows the transfer drum 22.

The conical envelopes made in the embodiment described here by way of non-limiting example are formed at least partially around a tip, or filter. A filter used here has, for example, a frustoconical outer overall shape. The filter used thus globally presents a form of revolution around an axis of revolution. By way of non-limiting illustrative example, the base of the filter, that is to say the base of the frustoconical shape, has a diameter of approximately 8 mm corresponding to a conventional diameter for a cigarette, the top of the filter, c that is to say the top of the frustoconical shape has a diameter of about 6 mm and the height of the filter (distance between the base and the top measured along the longitudinal axis) is between 20 and 30 mm. The conical casing made in the rolling station surrounds at least the large diameter end of this filter.

A filter as described in European patent application EP19315282.8 is particularly suitable for taxiing station 8. It has the particularity of having a free space in its center. The filter can be made of various materials. For example, it is more rigid than the paper used to make the conical envelope.

We see in Figure 6 the presence of two supply tubes 42 in filters 44. These filters 44 are for example propelled in the supply tubes 42 by compressed air. They are then placed in a dispenser 46.

The rolling station 8 comprises pipettes 48 which have a shape corresponding to the conical shape that the casings produced must ultimately have. These pipettes 48 are provided with an internal channel which can be placed under vacuum to suck up a cutout 24 bearing a line of glue. They are arranged on a barrel 50 driven by a motor 52. As indicated, the rolling station 8 is double, that is to say it comprises two barrels 50 arranged substantially opposite each other with however an offset angular around the transfer drum 22 for space issues.

Each barrel 50 has the function of passing the pipettes 48 past various stations to carry out the rolling operations of the conical envelope.

First of all, a pipette 48 passes in front of the distributor 46 which corresponds to it to receive a filter 44. The pipette 48 comprises for this purpose a stem which extends projecting from a conical part serving as a preform thereafter for the rolling conical envelopes. A filter 44 is placed on the stem of the pipette 48 when the latter is aligned with the filter 44 facing an outlet of the distributor 46. An actuator pushes the filter 44 onto the stem of the pipette 48, for example.

The pipette 48 then comes in front of the transfer drum 22 to take a blank 24 there with its line of glue. The passage of a blank from the transfer drum 22 to the pipette 48 is done pneumatically. When the pipette 48 is facing the transfer drum 22, the channels of the drum corresponding to the cutout facing the pipette 48 are exposed to the open air (or under overpressure) while they were under depression since the cutout 24 corresponding had been cut from the strip of paper 2. At the level of the pipette 48, a depression is created and a network of nozzles then comes to suck the cutout 24. The latter is then maintained on the pipette 48 only by a symmetrical edge 26 which corresponds to the edge opposite to that carrying the line of glue received at the gluing station 6.

The cutout 24 can then take on its conical shape. It is then rolled up around the pipette 48. To do this, the pipette 48 comes face to face with a rolling sleeve 54. This rolling sleeve 54 has the same taper as the pipette 48 and is mounted eccentrically on a rotating disc 56 The pipette 48 with its cutout 24 is placed opposite the rolling sleeve 54. The two cones (that of the pipette 48 and that of the rolling sleeve 54) are oriented head to tail so that the rolling sleeve 54 comes resting on the pipette 48 along an edge, the cutout 24 being between the rolling sleeve 54 and the pipette 48. a little more than one turn around the pipette 48 to form the conical envelope.

The conical envelope is now formed. The barrel 50 is rotated so that the conical envelope thus produced comes to an ejection station. A manipulator, for example, removes the filter 44 and its conical envelope from the pipette 48 by pinching and pulling the conical envelope at the end of the pipette 48. This assembly can then be evacuated from the manufacturing device by suction. A suction mouth 58 is illustrated in particular in Figure 7.

The presence of a filter is optional. It can be envisaged to make a conical envelope without providing it with a filter.

Another variant embodiment provides that during the rolling operation described above, the rolling sleeve comes to form both the filter and the conical casing. A form made of paper, cardboard or the like having a tab could then be loaded onto the pipette (instead of the filter described above) and be rolled with the blank to form in a single rolling operation the conical envelope and its associated filter.

This technical solution can be applied in particular to the production of envelopes intended to receive a dried plant substance, such as tobacco or the like.

The device described and the corresponding method allow industrial implementation whereas previously such shapes were generally only produced manually.

This disclosure is not limited to the examples of method and device described above, solely by way of example, but it encompasses all the variants that those skilled in the art may consider within the framework of the protection sought.

For reasons of space, the method proposed with a step of cutting a sheet to a predetermined format according to the shape desired for the conical envelope, then of depositing glue along at least one edge of the cut sheet, then positioning and holding an edge of the cut sheet on a conical shape, followed by rolling the cut sheet around the conical shape so that the edge of the cut sheet provided with glue covers a part already rolled around the conical shape; and finally an ejection of the cut and rolled sheet, is implemented on a machine with stations placed around a transfer drum. A linear layout could also be considered to implement the proposed steps.

It is provided in the device to have a double rolling station in which two conical envelopes are produced each time in parallel. By adapting the cutting of the strip of paper, a simple rolling station can also be envisaged.

The cutting technique, the gluing technique, the rolling technique are offered here by way of non-limiting illustrative examples. Other methods known to those skilled in the art can be considered here.

Maintaining and transferring the cut sheets by a pneumatic system is interesting and allows good handling of the cuts. A mechanical solution, with for example pliers would also make it possible to implement the proposed method.

Claims (10)

Method for producing a conical envelope comprising the following steps:
-cutting a sheet (2) to a predetermined format according to the desired shape for the conical casing;
-deposition of glue along at least one edge (26) of the cut sheet (24);
- positioning and maintaining an edge (26) of the cut sheet (24) on a conical shape (48);
-rolling the cut sheet around the conical shape (48) so that the edge (26) of the cut sheet (24) provided with glue covers a part already rolled around the conical shape (48); And
- ejection of the cut and rolled sheet. Method according to Claim 1, characterized in that the format of the sheet comprises two straight edges (26) forming between them an acute angle, the ends of the said straight edges being connected two by two by circular arcs (28). Process according to one of Claims 1 or 2, characterized in that the application of glue is carried out by flexography. Method according to one of Claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the conical shape (48, 44) on which the cut sheet (24) is rolled is composed, on the one hand, of a conical filter (44) and , on the other hand, of a complementary shape (48) of a device for producing a conical envelope, the cut sheet (24) being rolled in part around the conical filter (44). Device for producing conical envelopes, characterized in that it comprises:
-a cutting station (4) for making paper sizes according to a predetermined shape;
-a gluing station (6) suitable for depositing glue locally on a paper format;
-a rolling station (8) comprising at least one conical shape, means for holding a paper format on the conical shape (48) and drive means (54) for rolling up a paper format (24) held on the conical shape (46) around said conical shape; And
-an ejection station suitable for removing a paper format wrapped around a conical shape from said conical shape. Device according to Claim 5, characterized in that it comprises a transfer drum (22) which can be driven in rotation and provided with nozzles (32) emerging in the peripheral surface of the drum, as well as a pneumatic system connected to the said drum and having a distribution system for sucking air through the nozzles (32) according to their angular position. Device according to one of Claims 5 or 6, characterized in that the cutting station (4) comprises a cutting cylinder (20) cooperating with another cylinder (22). Device according to one of Claims 5 to 7, characterized in that the gluing station (6) comprises a flexographic printing machine. Device according to one of Claims 5 to 8, characterized in that in the winding station (8), each conical form (48) is provided with suction nozzles, and in that each conical form (48) is movable between a transfer position at the exit of the gluing station (6) to receive a paper format (24) and a position opposite a movable cone (54) mounted in an eccentric manner so as to be able to carry out a circular translation movement around the conical shape (48). Device according to one of Claims 5 to 9, characterized in that it further comprises a loading station (46) making it possible to place a filter (44) at the end of a conical shape (48).