GB2372242A

GB2372242A - A device for making side folds in a wrapper

Info

Publication number: GB2372242A
Application number: GB0202795A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Steffen Kahl; Albrecht Roehrdanz
Original assignee: Robert Bosch GmbH
Current assignee: Robert Bosch GmbH
Priority date: 2001-02-07
Filing date: 2002-02-06
Publication date: 2002-08-21
Anticipated expiration: 2022-02-06
Also published as: ITMI20020201A0; ITMI20020201A1; JP3764685B2; FR2820403B1; FR2820403A1; GB0202795D0; JP2002284119A; GB2372242B; DE10105451A1

Abstract

A device for making side folds in a wrapper when an object e.g. a sweet, is being wrapped comprises a continuously rotating wrapping wheel (11) including clamping lever pairs (13,14) and a folding wheel (17,18) each side of, and coaxial with, the wrapping wheel (11). The folding wheels (17,18) rotate at the same circumferential speed as the wrapping wheel (11). The clamping surfaces of the clamping levers (13,14) hold a sweet (1) by its largest side faces (5) and the folding levers (22) which are pivotally mounted on the folding wheels (17,18) pivot about an axis (24) which is perpendicular to the rotation axis (15) of the wrapping wheel (11) thus forming a side fold in the wrapper. The axis (24) is preferably arranged at an offset (V) from the rotation axis (15) of the wrapping wheel (11) and the pivoting movement of the folding levers (22) is preferably brought about by a tension rod (28) which co-operates with a cup-shaped cam (32) via a compression spring (29) and a lever (33).

Description

Device for making a side fold Prior art

The invention relates to a device for making a side fold as outlined in the generic part of claim 1, of the type known from patent document DD 294 849 A5. In the known device, the side folds on sweets are formed respectively by a folding element, which is coupled with a drive shaft via an articulated square. The drive shaft is in turn driven by a cam controller. The mechanism causes the folding 0 element to make a linear folding movement, directed radially outwards from the inside, during which the side folds are formed. To produce the side folds, this movement is necessary because the sweets are not held by their largest side faces by the clamping surfaces of the clamp lever pairs. The known device is relatively complex in structure due to the articulated square. Furthermore, when the sweets 5 have just been made and have not yet cooled, there is a relatively high risk that they might be misshapen due to the fact that the sweets are not held by the largest side faces.

Another approach known from DD 275 221 Al is to pivot folding elements, the 2 o pivot axis of which is disposed perpendicular to the wrapping wheel. However, this pivoting motion must be imposed on an axial displacement running parallel with the rotation axis of the wrapping wheel in order to produce the desired movement of the folding elements.

2 5 Advantages of the invention The device proposed by the invention for making a side fold and having the characterizing features defined in claim 1 has a comparative advantage in that it is of a relatively simple mechanical structure and not very prone to faults. At the o same time, the risk of the sweets becoming misshapen is advantageously reduced.

This is achieved by the invention due to the fact that the folding elements need effect only a pivoting movement and the sweets are held by their largest side faces. 5 Other advantageous embodiments of the device proposed by the invention for making a side fold are specified in the dependent claims.

Drawings 0 An example of an embodiment of the invention is illustrated in the drawings and will be described in more detail below. Of these: Figures 1 and 2 are perspective views of a sweet together with wrapper, Figure 3 is a partially cut-away and simplified diagram of the device proposed by the invention, seen in a side view, Figure 4 shows a front view of a partially cut-away folding head.

Description of the embodiment

Figures 1 and 2 respectively illustrate a sweet 1, which might be a soft or hard 2 o sweet 1. The substantially cuboid sweet l has a length L, a breadth B and a height H. whereby L>B>H. Also illustrated in each case is a wrapper 2 consisting of a rectangular cutting. This wrapper 2 is folded in a substantially U-shaped arrangement around the sweet 1 in Figure 1 so that a first portion 3 projects beyond the sweet 1 whilst the oppositely lying portion 4 is placed against the 2 5 largest side face S of the sweet 1. The length I of the cutting for the wrapper 2 is longer than the length L of the sweet 1 so that projections 6 are left at either end of the sweet 1. In Figure 2, the projecting portions denoted by 7, which are disposed parallel with the portion 4, are folded at both ends forming a V- shaped flap 8 on each of the smallest side faces 9 of the sweet 1. The process of placing 3 o the projecting portions 7 against the side faces 9 ofthe sweet 1 will be referred to

hereafter as making side folds.

The device 10 illustrated in Figures 3 and 4 is used to make the side folds on the sweet 1. This device 10 comprises a wrapping wheel 1 1, only generally indicated 5 in the drawing. The wrapping wheel 11, which is not essential to the invention, is of the basic structure disclosed in patent document DE 38 03 423 Al, for example, and has eight radially projecting clamp lever pairs with clamp levers 13, 14 distributed at uniform angular distances around its circumference. A sweet l is clamped respectively between two clamp levers 13, 14. As illustrated in Figure 3, 0 the clamp levers 13, 14 hold the sweet 1 by the largest opposing side faces 5 of the sweet 1 disposed perpendicular to the plane of the drawing.

Continuously circulating about a rotation axis 1 S. the wrapping wheel 1 1 is used amongst other things to make the folds in the wrapper 2. These include other folds 5 in addition to the side folds mentioned above. A plurality of displaceable or stationary folding elements is used for this purpose but those which are not involved in making the side folds are not part of the invention and are therefore not illustrated.

2 o Disposed coaxially with and on either side of the wrapping wheel 11 in mirror image is a respective folding wheel 17, 18. The folding wheels 17, 18 run at the same speed and synchronously with the wrapping wheel 11 about the rotation axis 15. Each folding wheel 17, 18 has a housing 19, the side of which directed towards the wrapping wheel 11 has a number of flange-mounted folding element 2 5 housings 21 corresponding to the number of clamp lever pairs. Projecting out of each folding element housing 21 is an L-shaped folding lever 22 with a block shaped folder 23 at its end. Accordingly, two folders 23 on opposing faces of the sweet 1 are assigned to each sweet 1 or each clamp lever pair, in order to make said side folds.

The folding lever 22 is mounted so as to pivot in an axis 24. As may be seen from Figures 3 and 4, the axes 24 of the folding levers 22 run perpendicular to the rotation axis 15 of the folding wheels 17,18, as a result of which the axes 24 and rotation axis 15 do not intersect. Instead, there is an offset V between each axis 24 5 and an imaginary section plane 26 intersecting the rotation axis 15 and extending parallel with the axis 24 (Figure 4).

Inside the folding element housing 21, the folding lever 22 is fixed on a lever shaft 27 so as to rotate therewith. The lever shaft 27 is coupled with a tension rod JO 28. In the region of the housing 19, the tension rod 28 is enclosed by a compression spring 29, which is supported against a step 31 ofthe housing 19 and pushes the tension rod 28 in the direction of the housing interior. The tension rod 28 is driven by a stationary cupshaped cam 32 by means of a double lever 33 mounted on the housing 19, having a cam roller 34 which rolls on the cup-shaped cam32. In Figure 3, the folder 23 is shown in its two end positions. In one end position (solid line) it is pivoted back away from the sweet 1 so that it terminates more or less on a level with the end face 35 of the folding element housing 21 directed 2 o towards the sweet 1. When the folder 23 is in the other end position (broken line) in which the side fold is terminated, it projects directly onto the sweet l in the region of the smallest side face 9, but does not project beyond the side face 9 in the direction of the portion 4 of the wrapper 2.

25 The device 10 operates as follows. From the wrapping wheel 11, a respective sweet 1 together with wrapper 2 is picked up between a clamp lever pair at a transfer station, not illustrated. In the process, the wrapper 2 is folded in a U-

shape (rotation angle of the wrapping wheel 11 approximately 85^ to 95^).

During the rotation ofthe wrapping wheel 11, the wrapper 2 is folded to the state o illustrated in Figure 1. This is done by means of a stationary folding bow, not

illustrated. Then, within a range of the rotation angle of the wrapping wheel 1 1 of between approximately 180 and 270^, the side folds are made on the sweet 1 by means of the folders 23 so that the state illustrated in Figure 2 is obtained. Within said rotation angle range of 180^ to 270^, the folders 23 pivot firstly out of the 5 pivoted-back end position into the folding position illustrated by broken lines and then back again. The drive mechanism of the folders 23 is designed so that the pivoting motion into the folding position is imparted in a non-positive manner by the spring force of the compression spring 29 whilst the back-pivoting motion is imparted in a positive manner by the cam roller 34 rolling on the cupshaped cam 0 32. As the wrapping wheel 1 1 and the folding wheels 17, 18 continue rotating, other folds are then made on the sweet 1 before the sweet 1 is fed onwards to a station, such as a sealing station for example, not illustrated.

Claims

1. Device ( 10) for making a side fold having a wrapping wheel ( 1 1) continuously rotating about a rotation axis ( 15), on the periphery of which clamping lever pairs 5 are disposed at equal angular distances, between the clamping surfaces ( 13, 14) of which a respective substantially cuboid sweet (1) together with wrapper (2) is held, and having folding wheels (17) coaxial with and on each side of the wrapping wheel (11) which rotate at the same circumferential speed as the wrapping wheel (11), the folding wheels (17, 18) having folding levers (22) for o forming the side folds, characterized in that the clamping surfaces (13, 14) hold the sweet (1) by its largest side faces (5) and the folding levers (22) are mounted so as to be pivotable respectively in an axis (24) disposed perpendicular to the rotation axis (15) of the wrapping wheel (1 1).

2. Device as claimed in claim l, characterized in that the axes (24) of the folding levers (22) are arranged at an offset (V) from the rotation axis (15) of the wrapping wheel (11), i.e. the axes (24) and the rotation axis (15) do not intersect in space.

2 o

3. Device as claimed in claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the pivoting movement of the folding levers (22) is produced by a tension rod (28) disposed parallel with the rotation axis (15) of the wrapping wheel (11), which co-operates with a cup-

shaped cam (32) via a compression spring (29) and a lever (33).

2 5

4. A device for making a side fold substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings.