HU227146B1 - Packaging machine - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to a packaging machine comprising a horizontal conveyor and stations along this for processing packaging blanks, preferably case blanks, up to ready cases filled with product. The conveyor is constructed around pivotal gear bearings (roller path bearings) or the like, whereby one of the bearing races defines a circular conveyor path, and holders or carrier fingers for the case blanks are arranged on the driven race in the bearing arrangement. The arrangement allows a packaging machine structure where the essential elements are constituted by standard components, and by placing a plurality of bearing rings vertically above one another in the machine frame, possibilities for a flexible camshaft arrangement and format adjustment in the height direction are offered, as well as an open and easily accessible structure being obtained for maintenance and repair. In an alternative embodiment, the camshaft arrangement can comprise a camshaft placed in the centre of the pivotal ring bearing.

Description

The scope of the description is 16 pages (including 9 pages)

22 227 146 1

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a packaging machine having a machine frame supporting a circular member forming an infinite conveyor path and bearing on bearings arranged radially outwardly from the center of the circular member, as well as box holders on the circular member for packaging boxes, and an arrangement for driving a circular member; provided with a dispenser suitable for dispensing and assembling the cut-out sheets of the boxes, and workstations with tools for assembling and filling the cartons along the circular path of the circular member and are provided with an arrangement for conveying the cartons, and a circular member is a ring of a bearing.

The packaging machine takes the material of cardboard or other suitable packing boxes from a container, assembles the boxes and puts them into a holder on an endless conveyor, which is a workstation along the course where the necessary assembly operations are performed on the boxes, the boxes are filled with goods and sealed. Thus, a finished packaged product is created and delivered to a delivery station of the packaging machine.

Such type of packaging machines have long been known in the market, and one of these types has been manufactured since 1950 by the applicant of the present invention. This machine is sold under the trademark "EXPRESSO" and is well known in the commercial circles.

The packaging boxes provided by this machine are boxes that do not have an inner bag, but the boxes are sealed with dust by means of a membrane-like bottom insert and a lid insert. This box is widely used not only for powdery products, but also for frozen products such as fruit juices.

This type of box is cutting-edge in terms of environmental protection and recyclability, and offers great opportunities for meeting current and future environmental requirements.

However, this type of packaging requires a machine designed for this purpose, which has, of course, been developed and put on the market many years ago. When the first machine types were produced, there was a need for the machine to be robust and as reliable as possible and to be used in all kinds of difficult environmental and climate conditions. The machines are therefore made of robust machine parts with heavy, large drive shafts, gears and cam shafts, etc.

This machine type works with a horizontal conveyor, the boxes are delivered to the different machining stations by an endless metal belt, chain or similar running over two sprockets, one of which is driven by a drive motor. The horizontal conveyor has two opposing, straight line segments and, in principle, the bottom of the box is machined along one of the straight track sections, the box is filled in the connecting, partly circular section, and the box is closed in the next straight section. that the boxes then reach a transport and transport station at the end of the straight transport section.

In order to perform the machining in two straight sections of the conveyor, cam shafts are disposed within the machine which are connected to the drive motor by means of a drive motor kinematically, with a lower horizontal camshaft and an upper horizontal camshaft. These shafts have shaped cam discs that move the machining tools at the various machining stations.

The costs of the known machines are relatively high and so far no compromise has been reached between the relatively complicated but reliable operation and a cheaper structure to create a cheaper, reliable machine.

For example, a machine of the type described in the introduction is a machine as described in SE 390 154. This machine is a further development of the known operating principle for continuous operation. However, the machine is provided with the standard conveyor belt for the container holders and is configured with the usual arrangement for the drive shafts and cam shafts. The problem with these known conveyor belts is that they need frequent and extensive maintenance, lubrication and cleaning in an unfavorable environment, and that they can, under certain circumstances, be destroyed to the point of being virtually destroyed.

Another type of drive for packing box holders is disclosed in SE 430 407, wherein the gear moving gear is connected to a toothed shaft. Such a solution means that a large weight is present in the conveyor, the entire machine must be sized accordingly, otherwise large wear will occur.

There is also an auxiliary gear on this toothed shaft, on which a toothed ring is arranged to carry an eccentric for special purposes in connection with the longitudinal sealing of the packets.

The device disclosed in GB 1233818 operates on a circular conveyor belt having a central drum supported by bearings horizontally. A camshaft is mounted on the drum shaft, which moves the tools radially outward from the center. This machine also has a large mass that needs to be rotated and, if possible, many workstations are positioned along its perimeter to utilize it.

DE 1586155 discloses an apparatus for filling and sealing folded boxes. The device handles boxes on a ring forming a circular path. Track-side forwarding of cartons is performed by "swing arms, flaps, levers and equivalent" machine elements. The disadvantage of the solution is that such machine elements are only one machine sub2

EN 227 146 Β1 is designed and manufactured for high-end applications, and therefore very costly, inadequate to meet flexible design and manufacturing requirements.

The object of the present invention is to overcome the above-mentioned problems of known packing machines, to create a new conveyor packing machine with associated workstations, which is particularly suitable for the production of packing boxes of the aforesaid type and for packing of assembled boxes.

The new concept improves operational reliability and provides high flexibility in design and creates the right conditions for optimal manufacturing and operating costs.

According to the invention, the above-mentioned task is accomplished by a packaging machine as described in claim 1, the details of the design of the packaging machine being described in the dependent claims.

The present invention is a packaging machine having a machine frame supporting a circular member forming an infinite conveyor path and bearing on bearings arranged radially outwardly from the center of the circular member, as well as box holders on the circular member for packing boxes and an arrangement for driving the circular member. and a dispenser suitable for dispensing and assembling the cut-out sheets of the cartons, and workstations with tools for assembling and filling the boxes along the circular path of the circular member and equipped with an arrangement for transmitting the boxes, and a circular member for a bearing. its ring, and the ring with a pinion, and the drive arrangement are provided with a pinion associated with the pinion (16).

Preferably at least one workstation is provided with a cam control and / or drive mechanism having a cam axis at the center of the ring.

Preferably, at least one workstation is provided with a cam mechanism for controlling and / or driving the tools, which has a further gear rack mounted on a rack bearing with a cog bearing bearing the endless conveyor path, and an element associated with the rack bearing of the additional rack bearing.

Advantageously, the additional toothed rim bearing rim is provided with an additional cogwheel, and at least one work station is provided with a further gear wheel gear drive to which the drive of the workstation tool is connected.

Advantageously, the bearing bearing the conveyor track and the additional bearing bearing form a fixed horizontal plane of the machine frame.

Preferably, further conveyor bearing bearings and additional gear bearing bearings are provided at a distance adjustable from the bearing conveyor bearing and the additional toothed rim bearing the vertical axis.

Advantageously, the toothed rim of the toothed bearings forming the conveyor path is arranged on the inner ring of the toothed bearing, and the drive is provided with a gear pin mounted on the control shaft, which rests on the machine frame within the toothed rim of the conveyor belt.

The invention will be described in more detail with reference to the drawings, which are exemplary of the present invention. embodiments.

Fig. 1 is a schematic illustration of the drive principle of the conveyor and the box holders used therein.

Fig. 2 is a schematic view of the principle of the cam mechanism for the machining tools together with means for providing movement.

Fig. 3 shows schematically double conveyor elements, together with their drive.

Figure 4 shows an arrangement schematically with two cams and their electronic servo drives.

Fig. 5 shows a schematic arrangement of a servo-like cam structure and a conveyor drive shaft in an embodiment of the invention.

Figure 6 shows another variant of the cam mechanism drive.

Fig. 7 shows a further embodiment of a double conveyor and a cam mechanism with a mechanical drive.

Figure 8 is a schematic view of a device for removing drive energy and transferring motion to the machining tools.

Fig. 9 shows an arrangement in which the axis driving the cam mechanism is arranged in the space within the conveyor path.

Figure 1 schematically illustrates the conveyor structure principle in one embodiment of the invention.

a table of 10 frame frames of the table 10 and an outer ring 13 of an annular bearing 14 is attached to this table with a screw connection 12. The large inner diameter bearing 14 is of the type commonly used, for example, in wind turbines, digging machines or armored vehicles for rotary bearing bearings, which is a standard product that can be obtained at reasonable costs. The diameter of the annular bearing 14 may be in the range of 1-1.5 m. Inside the inner circumference of the inner ring 14 of the bearing 14 is a toothed ring 16, with balls or other bearing elements 17 arranged between the outer bearing ring 13 and the inner ring. The inner ring 14 of the bearing 14 belongs to a moving part of a conveyor.

A drive motor 18 is also provided in the machine frame 10, which is, for example, a drive motor 18, which is equipped with a drive, such as a planetary gearbox 19, and a drive 20 having a gear 19.

EN 227 146 Β1 is a drive shaft 20 for driving a vertical shaft 21. On the shaft 21, the gear wheel 22 is attached to the conveyor, which is connected to the rack 16 of the inner ring. The shaft 21 is bearing at its upper end in the table 11 and at the bottom of the machine frame 10 in a manner known per se.

In the inner ring 15, box holders 23 are secured, which carry boxes 23 of crates 24 of boxes.

The boxes 24 (blank) are in a flat position in a container not shown in the drawing, disposed at a dispensing station along the conveyor bearing 14 of the packaging machine. There are several workstations along the conveyor, for example, a station in which the ends of the bottoms of the boxes are folded, an additional station at which the folded sheets are fitted with a membrane-like sealant, a station at which the bottom plates are folded, a station for folding the top panels of the boxes, a station for filling the boxes through the upper opening, a station for attaching the membrane-like sealing pad to the top sheets, a station for folding, sealing the top sheets and a station for removing the filled and finished boxes.

These workstations are disposed at a predetermined distance along the circumference of the circular conveyor. In order to perform the necessary operations, machining tools are placed on each workstation. These and their drives will be described later.

Note that Figure 1 shows only the principle of the conveyor arrangement, and, of course, the box holders 23 are not necessarily brackets that encircle the boxes, but may also be finger-like holders that move the boxes forward on a conveyor in a circular path along the conveyor. along.

For work tools, certain types of folding arrangements and devices along the track are required at workstations to determine the operating speed.

Figure 2 shows a suitable arrangement for this purpose. A fixed table 25 is supported by the columns 10, the table 25 having a bottom 26, a top 27 and 28 sides. A bearing 29 which is essentially of the same type as the bearing shown in FIG. 1 and which has an annular ring 36 on its inner surface is provided with a 30 screw connection attached to the bottom 26 of the table.

A drive motor 31 is connected to a vertical shaft 33 via a worm gear 32, with a gear 34 mounted on the upper part 33 of the shaft 33, rotatably coupled to the shaft 33, coupled to the rack 36 of the inner bearing ring 35 of the bearing 29. The shaft 33 is mounted on the table 25 and in the machine frame 10 not shown in the drawing. Screwed over the inner bearing ring 35, above it, extending vertically over the outer bearing ring 29 of the bearing 29, a pinion or circular track member 37 is provided which engages with the inner bearing ring 35. The gear wheel or gear pin 37 is coupled to a gear wheel 38 which is mounted in the roof 27 in appropriate positions at the various machining stations along the conveyor conveyor. The conveyor-side conveyor for the boxes is shown schematically in FIG.

The parts of the packaging machine according to the invention, shown in Figures 1 and 2, which have been described so far, show the basic principles of the conveyor arrangement, and further illustrate an exemplary embodiment of a cam mechanism for controlling and propelling machining tools installed at conveyor track machining stations.

Figure 3 shows an improved version of the conveyor of Figure 1. The table 11, which carries the bearing 14, is complemented by a lower table 40, which is bolted to the outer bearing ring 13 'of the bearing 14' in a similar manner to the bearing 14 by a screw connection. An additional gear 22 'is attached to the shaft 21, which is connected to the rack 16' of the inner bearing ring 15 '. The shaft 21 is formed as a groove shaft, so that the positioning of the table 40 becomes possible in a vertical direction, up to an end position shown in the figure by a dotted line. An adjusting and securing means not shown in the drawing is used on the shaft 21 to secure the table 40 in the desired position.

In Fig. 3, the circular conveyor is thus formed of two identical bearings which are coaxially arranged one above the other, wherein the bearing inner ring 14 of the bearing 14 supports the upper box holder 23, and the lowered bearing ring 15 'is supported by the bottom 23 " box holder.

It is evident from Figure 3 that the bearing 14 'and its table 40 are, in principle, a reflection of the bearing 14 and the table 11.

Fig. 4 shows a cam structure comprising an upper and a lower table 25,42 and suitable for the conveyor shown in Fig. 3. The table 25 of FIG. 4 corresponds to the table 25 of FIG. 2, and the double bearing path characteristic of the conveyor arrangement is indicated by a point line 39. On the same axis 33, as in Figure 2, an additional table 42 is positioned vertically displaceable, as indicated by the dotted line. On the table 42, an outer bearing ring 29 'of the bearing 29 is screwed in a fixed manner with a screw connection 30, similar to the bearing 29. The inner bearing ring 35 of the bearing is driven by a gear 34 'which is axially displaceable in the circumferential direction on the shaft 33. Likewise, at the table 25, a pinion or pinion gear 37 is fixedly screwed to the rotatable inner bearing ring 35, which gear or toothed wheel 37 follows the rotational movement of the inner bearing ring 35. Attached to this gearwheel 37 extends along the circumference of the circular motion path

There are gears 38 'at the appropriate positions in the machining stations, which are gears 38' similar to the gears 38, which control and / or drive the machining tools.

It is evident from Figure 4 that the table 42 and its contents constitute a mirror image of the table.

Fig. 5 shows a complete arrangement showing the bearings of two conveyors 14,14 'and two bearings 29, 29'. It is obvious from the figure that the outer bearing ring 29 of the upper cam assembly 29 and the upper conveyor bearing 14 are fastened by a screw connection 43 through the bottom 26 of the table. Similarly, the bearing of the lower conveyor belt 14 'is screwed to the outer bearing ring of the lower cam assembly.

In the illustrated embodiment, the inner bearing pair of the upper bearing pairs 14, 29 is intended for transporting and machining the tops of the boxes, while the lower conveyor bearing ring and cam assembly are intended for machining the bottom of the boxes. Since the lower bearing pair is adjustable in the vertical direction, a minimum operation is required to handle boxes of different heights.

In the embodiment shown in Fig. 5, the shaft 33 is driven at a constant speed by the motor 31 and the gearbox 32, and an absolute position sensor 44 (Fig. 4) transmits the current position of the cam axis path to a servo motor 44 'that performs the required operations. for example, batch displacement of the box holders 23 on the circular motion path with planetary gear 44 '.

In another embodiment of the cam ring drive shown in Figure 5, Figure 6 shows a design in which the outer bearing rings 45, 45 'of the camshaft bearings are driven by their own 46 or 47 servomotors. The bearings of the inner bearing rings of the bearings 14, 14 'are driven by an additional servomotor 48. In order to create the role of the transmission to the machining tools in the machining stations in the embodiment shown in Fig. 6, there is no need for a separate gear pinion or toothed ring on the driven inner bearing ring, but instead the direct-driven outer bearing ring performs the role of transmission towards the machining tools. by controlling the programmable servomotors 46, 47. Likewise, no mechanical switch is required between the cam structures and the drive shaft of the conveyor, since the motors can be pre-programmed for the required operations, and machining operations can also be synchronized in advance at the machining stations.

The arrangement of Figure 6 provides a high degree of freedom and, if necessary, the packing machine can be set to operate continuously.

The embodiment shown in FIG. 7 corresponds in principle to the embodiment shown in FIG. 5, except that the cam shaft drive and the conveyor bearing rings are different. Instead of a motor with an absolute sensor, a motor with a speed control 49 is driven, which drives the shaft 33 through a distributor 50, and which drives the bearing rings of the conveyor via bias 51 and a positioning unit 52 in batch operation, which is synchronized with the control of the cam structure and / or by drilling the machining tools. Instead of a positioning unit, another gear can be used to allow continuous operation.

In the case of a drive cam geared with drive gears or toothed rings, the drive bearing structure of FIG. 8 is preferably located at the machining stations by means of an internal bearing ring.

The drive pin 46 'of FIG. 8 is connected to the cogwheel 38 associated therewith along the circular motion of the camshaft bearing ring by an angular drive 47' to fold its output shaft 48 '. However, the output shaft 48 'drives the machining tools directly or via a transmission mechanism.

As will be apparent from the foregoing, the invention provides a plurality of variations within the framework of the concept that a circular element determines the path of the conveyor movement within the packaging machine. Unlike known solutions, the conveyor is not mounted at the center of the bearings, but on the annular bearings at a radially spaced distance from the center, which provides numerous possibilities for the varied version of the details in terms of cost and, last but not least, a machine that is easy to maintain in terms of maintenance to use.

The depicted cam structure may be replaced by a machine having an axis positioned in the center of the track of the conveyor and having a plurality of cam discs and curved discs which transmit the movement to the machining tools at the machining stations.

Such a version is shown in Figure 9. The fixed table 11 is held in the machine frame by 10 'guide posts and 10' 'guide sleeves. In this table 11, an outer bearing ring 13 of a bearing 14 is fastened with a screw 11 '. The inner bearing ring 15 has a fixed plate 23 'that carries the box holder 23' of the boxes 24.

The bearing inner ring 15 is coupled to an output gear 22 of a drive unit mounted on an output shaft of a star drive 52. The star drive 52 is driven by 21 axes through an angular drive 51 through an auxiliary drive 50 from a motor 49.

The lower table 53 is supported by bearings for vertical displacement on the guide columns 10 'and a 10' lift is operated against the lower table 53 and the top table 54. The elevators 10 'are arranged so that, during vertical adjustment, the tables 53, 54 are displaced at a distance from the horizontal plane of the machine, which is determined by the plane of the box holders 23'.

In the central axis of the bearing 14, the vertical axis 33 'of the cam unit is driven by the motor 49 via the gear 50. The length of the two-part telescopic 33 'shaft can be varied by

EN 227 146 Β1 by means of a sleeve 55 which is connected to the two parts but is rotated in relation to the shaft. This sleeve 55 allows independent vertical displacement of two axle portions of the shaft 33 '.

On these shaft portions, cam cams 56, 57 are fixed at appropriate angular positions. With these discs, motion transfer devices not shown in the drawing cooperate to deliver the necessary movements to the boxes on the conveyor paths at the stations along the conveyor belt.

The cam discs 56, 57 thus follow the displacement of the table 53, 54, thereby assuming positions at equal distance from the center plane, which allows the machine to be easily adjusted for the boxes of different heights.

The invention has been described in connection with a number of embodiments, but in addition, other modifications may be made within the scope of the invention.

Claims (11)

Packaging machine having a machine frame (10) supporting a circular element forming an endless conveyor track, mounted on bearings (17) radially outwardly from the center of the circular element, and box holders (23) arranged on the circular element for packaging boxes (24). and with arrangements for driving the circular member and arrangements for feeding and assembling the cut-out paper sheets of the boxes, and work stations with tools for assembling and filling the boxes along the movement path of the circular member and having arrangements for transporting the boxes and one of the rings (15) of a bearing (14) of the circular member, characterized in that the ring (15) is provided with a rack (16) and the drive assembly is provided with a ratchet (22) connected to the rack (16). TVA. Packaging machine according to claim 1, characterized in that at least one workstation is provided with a cam control (56, 57) for controlling and / or driving the tools, which has a cam axis (33 ') centered on the ring (15). Packaging machine according to claim 2, characterized in that at least one workstation is provided with a cam control (33, 34, 35, 37, 38, 45, 46, 47, 45 ') for controlling and / or driving the tools. a further cogged bearing (36) disposed on a uniaxial cogged bearing (29) forming an endless conveyor path and provided with a member connected to a cogged pin (36) of the further cogged bearing (29). Packaging machine according to Claim 3, characterized in that the inner bearing ring (35) of the further cogged bearing (29) is provided with an additional cogged gear (37) and a drive gear (38) connected to the additional cogged gear (37) in at least one workstation. is provided with a servo motor (46, 47, 48) for moving the workstation tool. Packaging machine according to claim 4, characterized in that the conveyor bearing (14) and the further cogged bearing (29) form a fixed horizontal plane of the machine frame (10). Packaging machine according to Claim 5, characterized in that a further conveyor bearing (14 ') forming a conveyor track and a further adjustable spindle bearing (14') can be adjusted vertically apart from the conveyor bearing (14) and the further cogged bearing (29). a cogged bearing (29 ') is provided. Packaging machine according to Claim 6, characterized in that the gear ring (16) of the cogged bearing forming the conveyor track is arranged on the inner ring of the cogged bearing (14) and the drive within the gear ring (16) of the cogged bearing bearing the conveyor. is provided with a drive gear (22) mounted on a supporting control shaft (21). Packaging machine according to claim 7, characterized in that the element connected to the gear crown (35) of the further cogged bearing (29) is a drive gear (34) mounted on an additional control shaft (33) disposed within the cogged bearing (16) of the conveyor bearing. Packaging machine according to claim 3, characterized in that a separate servomotor (46, 47) is provided to drive each of the outer bearing rings (45, 45 ') of the further cogged bearings (29). Packaging machine according to claim 1, characterized in that at least one workstation is controlled and / or driven by a servomotor (46,47,48). Packaging machine according to claim 10, characterized in that the workstations are provided with means for driving various tools and the drive means are controlled by a single programmable servomotor (46, 47, 48).