ITBO20120032A1 - WRAPPING MACHINE AND WRAPPING METHOD TO PRODUCE A PACKAGE OF SLIDING SMOKE ITEMS. - Google Patents

Description

DESCRIPTION

of the industrial invention entitled:

"Packing machine and wrapping method to produce a pack of sliding type smoking items."

TECHNIQUE SECTOR

The present invention relates to a packing machine and to a wrapping method for making a package of sliding-type smoking articles.

In the following description reference will be made, for the sake of brevity, to a packet of cigarettes with sliding opening and hinged and boxed lid without the present invention having to lose generality.

ANTERIOR ART

Rigid cigarette packets with hinged lid are the most popular cigarette packets currently on the market as they are simple to make, are easy and practical to use and offer good mechanical protection to the cigarettes contained inside.

In addition to the aforementioned rigid cigarette packets with hinged lid, rigid cigarette packets with sliding (or sliding) opening have been proposed comprising two containers inserted one inside the other in a separable way. In other words, a rigid packet of cigarettes with sliding opening comprises an internal container, which is adapted to receive a group of cigarettes wrapped in a sheet of metallized paper wrapping and is housed inside an external container so as to being able to slide with respect to the external container itself between a closed configuration, in which the internal container is inserted inside the external container, and an open configuration, in which the internal container is partially extracted from the external container.

A rigid packet of cigarettes with sliding opening and hinged lid has also been proposed, in which the internal container (or, alternatively, the external container) is provided with a hinged lid to rotate between a closed position and an open position. of an open upper end of the inner container. The lid has a connection tab which at one end is integral with the lid and at the opposite end is integral with the external container (or, alternatively, with the internal container) to control "automatically" (ie without the user having to touch the lid) rotation of the lid by sliding the internal container with respect to the external container.

It has been observed that the current known methods used to make cigarette packets with sliding opening and hinged lid do not allow to reach high productivity (i.e. a high number of packets of cigarettes produced in the unit of time), in particular if we want to maintain a high quality standard. Consequently, the known packing machines used to make the packets of cigarettes with sliding opening and with hinged lid are excessively slow and suitable for producing only limited batches for special series.

Moreover, but not least, the known packing machines used to make cigarette packets with sliding opening and hinged lid are not very "flexible", that is, it is very complicated to modify a packing machine that produces a certain type of cigarette packs with slide-open (with or without hinged lid) to produce another type of slide-open cigarette packet (with or without hinged lid).

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The object of the present invention is to provide a packing machine and a wrapping method for making a package of sliding smoking articles, which wrapping machine and method are free from the drawbacks described above and, in particular, are simple and economical to produce. .

According to the present invention there are a packing machine and a wrapping method for making a pack of smoking articles of the sliding type, according to what is claimed in the attached claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention will now be described with reference to the attached drawings, which illustrate some non-limiting examples of implementation, in which:

Figure 1 is a front perspective view and in a closed configuration of a rigid cigarette packet with sliding opening and hinged lid;

Figure 2 is a front perspective view and in an open configuration of the packet of cigarettes of Figure 1;

- Figure 3 is a top view and in an open configuration of the packet of cigarettes of Figure 1;

Figure 4 is a front perspective view of an external container of the packet of cigarettes of Figure 1;

Figure 5 is a front perspective view of an internal container of the packet of cigarettes of Figure 1 without the group of cigarettes and provided with a connecting tab;

figure 6 is a plan view of an internal blank used to make an internal container of the packet of cigarettes of figure 1;

figure 7 is a plan view of an external blank used to make an external container of the packet of cigarettes of figure 1;

Figure 8 is a schematic and perspective view of a packing machine which produces the packet of cigarettes of Figure 1 and is made in accordance with the present invention;

figure 9 is a perspective and schematic view of a first wrapping unit of the packing machine of figure 8;

Figure 10 is an enlarged scale view of a detail of Figure 9 and shows a first wrapping conveyor of the first wrapping unit of Figure 9;

Figure 11 is a plan view of a preliminary folding sequence of the internal blank of Figure 6 illustrated in Figure 10;

Figure 12 is a perspective view of a belt conveyor of the first wrapping conveyor of Figure 10;

Figure 13 is an enlarged scale view of a detail of Figure 9 and shows a second wrapping conveyor of the first wrapping unit of Figure 9;

figure 14 is a perspective and schematic view of a preliminary folding sequence of the outer blank of figure 7 in a second wrapping unit of the packing machine of figure 8;

Figure 15 is an enlarged scale view of a detail of Figure 14 showing the preliminary folding sequence of the outer blank of Figure 7;

Figure 16 is a plan view of the preliminary folding sequence of the outer blank of Figure 7 illustrated in Figure 15;

Figure 17 is a perspective view of a first wrapping conveyor of the second wrapping unit of Figure 14;

figure 18 is an enlarged scale view of a detail of figure 14 showing a final folding sequence of the outer blank of figure 7;

figure 19 is an enlarged scale view of a detail of figure 14 and shows a second wrapping conveyor of the second wrapping unit of figure 14;

- figures 20 and 21 are two perspective views and on an enlarged scale of a phase of the final folding sequence of the outer blank of figure 7 illustrated in figure 18;

- figures 22 and 23 are two lateral and schematic views respectively corresponding to the perspective views of figures 20 and 21;

Figure 24 is a front perspective view and in an open configuration of a different type of rigid packet of cigarettes with sliding opening and hinged lid which can be produced in the packing machine of Figure 8;

Figure 25 is a rear perspective view and in an open configuration of the packet of cigarettes of Figure 24;

figure 26 is a plan view of an internal blank used to make an internal container of the packet of cigarettes of figure 24;

figure 27 is a plan view of an external blank used to make an external container of the packet of cigarettes of figure 24;

figure 28 is a perspective and schematic view of a preliminary folding sequence of the internal blank of figure 26 in a first wrapping unit of the packing machine of figure 8; Figure 29 is a plan view of the preliminary folding sequence of the internal blank of Figure 26 illustrated in Figure 28;

figure 30 is a perspective and schematic view of a variant of the preliminary folding sequence of the internal blank of figure 26 in a first wrapping unit of the packing machine of figure 8; And

Figure 31 is a plan view of the preliminary folding sequence of the internal blank of Figure 26 illustrated in Figure 30.

PREFERRED FORMS OF IMPLEMENTATION OF THE INVENTION In Figures 1 and 2, the number 1 indicates, as a whole, a rigid packet of cigarettes with sliding opening by translation (linear movement).

The pack 1 of cigarettes illustrated in Figure 1 comprises a group 2 of wrapped cigarettes (visible in Figure 2), ie a group of cigarettes wrapped in a sheet of metallized paper wrapping. Furthermore, the packet 1 of cigarettes comprises an internal container 3 of the rigid type, inside which the wrapped unit 2 is directly placed, and an external container 4 of the rigid type, which slidably houses the internal container 3 to allow the inner container 3 itself to slide with respect to the outer container 4 to move with a translation movement between a closed configuration (illustrated in Figure 1), in which the internal container 3 is completely inserted inside the external container 4, and a configuration open (illustrated in Figure 2), in which the internal container 3 is partially extracted from the external container 4 so as to make it possible to access the group 2 of wrapped cigarettes.

As shown in Figure 5, the internal container 3 is parallelepiped in shape and has a lower wall 5, an open upper end 6 opposite the lower wall 5, a front wall 7 and a rear wall 8 parallel and opposite to each other, and two side walls 9 parallel to each other and interposed between walls 7 and 8.

As shown in Figure 4, the external container 4 has an open upper end 10 and is provided with a lid 11, which is hinged to the external container 4 along a hinge 12 to rotate, with respect to the external container 4 itself, between a position opening (illustrated in Figures 2, 3 and 4) and a closing position (illustrated in Figure 1) of the open upper end 10 of the outer container 4 and, at the same time, also of the open upper end 6 of the inner container 3 . The outer container 4 is parallelepiped in shape and has a lower wall 13 opposite the open upper end 10, a front wall 14 and a rear wall 15 parallel and opposite to each other, and two side walls 16 parallel to each other and interposed between the walls 14 and 15.

The lid 11 has an upper wall 17 which, when the lid is in the closed position, closes the open upper end 10 of the outer container 4 (and, at the same time, also the open upper end 6 of the inner container 3), a front wall 18 and two side walls 19. The upper wall 17 of the lid 11 is "flat" (that is, it consists of a single cardboard panel or several cardboard panels packed one on top of the other and is therefore internally full), while the walls 18 and 19 of the lid 11 are " boxed "(ie they consist of two cardboard panels spaced apart and are therefore internally empty) and have a triangular cross section. When the lid 11 is in the closed position, the walls 18 and 19 of the lid 11 are inserted into the open upper end 10 of the outer container 4 so that the upper wall 17 of the lid 11 is arranged flush with the upper edges of the walls 14, 15 and 16 of the outer container 4. It is important to note that the lid 11 is "boxed", that is, it is provided with walls 17, 18 and 19 which are arranged perpendicularly to each other and give the lid 11 the shape of a "box".

According to a preferred embodiment, the rear wall 8 of the inner container 3 is connected to the upper wall 17 of the lid 11 by means of a connecting tab 20 to control the rotation "automatically" (ie without the user having to touch the lid 11) of the lid 11 by sliding the inner container 3 with respect to the outer container 4. In other words, thanks to the connection tab 20 which mechanically binds the upper wall 17 of the lid 11 to the rear wall 8 of the internal container 3, when the internal container 3 slides with respect to the external container 4 from the closed configuration to the open configuration, the cover 11 is pushed by the internal container 3 from the closed position to the open position in an "automatic" way (ie without the user having to touch the lid 11); similarly, when the internal container 3 slides with respect to the external container 4 from the open configuration to the closed configuration, the lid 11 is dragged by the internal container 3 from the open position to the closed position (i.e. without the user having to touch the lid 11). In this way, the user only has to apply the thrust necessary to slide the internal container 3 with respect to the external container 4 without having to touch the lid 11 whose rotation is controlled "automatically". Preferably, the connecting tab 20 is seamlessly integral with the lid 11 and is glued to the rear wall 8 of the internal container 3.

As shown in Figures 1, 2 and 4, the front wall 14 of the external container 4 has a through window 21 through which the underlying front wall 7 of the internal container 3 facing the front wall 14 of the external container 4 is accessible to allow applying a thrust to the inner container 3 in order to move the inner container 3 between the closed configuration and the open configuration. In other words, in use to use the pack 1 of cigarettes, the user holds the external container 4 with one hand and at the same time with the thumb of the same hand pushes on the front wall 7 of the internal container 3 through the window 21 of the front wall 14 of the external container 4 so as to apply a thrust to the internal container 3 aimed at making the internal container 3 slide with respect to the external container 4.

The containers 3 and 4 of the pack 1 of cigarettes illustrated in Figures 1-5 are obtained starting from corresponding blanks 22 and, respectively, 23 illustrated in Figures 6 and 7. Each of the blanks 22 and 23 comprises, among other things, a plurality of elements, which are marked, where possible, with accented reference numbers equal to the reference numbers which distinguish the corresponding walls of the respective container 3 and 4.

With reference to Figure 6, the internal blank 22 has two longitudinal weakening lines 24 and a plurality of transversal weakening lines 25, which define, between the two longitudinal weakening lines 24, a panel 7 'constituting the front wall 7 of the inner container 3, a panel 5 'constituting the lower wall 5 of the inner container 3, and a panel 8' constituting the rear wall 8 of the inner container 3. A reinforcement panel 7 "is connected to the panel 7 'along a transverse weakening line 25, and in turn a further reinforcement panel 7'" is connected to the reinforcement panel 7 "along a transverse weakening line 25; the two reinforcement panels 7 "and 7 '" are folded 180 ° around the corresponding transverse weakening lines 25 to be superimposed and glued to an internal surface of the panel 7' so as to form a thickening (strengthening) of the front wall 7 . According to a different embodiment not shown, the reinforcement panels 7 "and 7" are absent. An 8 "reinforcement panel is connected along a transverse weakening line 25 to the panel 8 ', and in turn an 8'" reinforcement panel is connected along a transverse weakening line 25 to the 8 "reinforcement panel; the 8 "and 8" reinforcement panels are folded 180 ° around the corresponding transverse weakening lines 25 to be superimposed and glued to an internal surface of the 8 "panel so as to create a thickening (strengthening) of the rear wall 8. According to a different embodiment not shown, the reinforcement panels 8 "and 8" are absent. The panel 7 'has a pair of lateral wings 9', which constitute an external part of the side walls 9, are arranged on opposite sides of the panel 7 ', and are separated from the panel 7' by the longitudinal weakening lines 24. The panel 8 'has a pair of lateral wings 9 ", which are glued to the corresponding wings 9', constitute an internal part of the side walls 9, are arranged on opposite sides of the panel 8 ', and are separated from the panel 8' by the 24 longitudinal lines of weakening. The 9 "lateral wings of the panel 8 'have a pair of tabs 26, each of which is separated from the respective lateral 9" wing by a transverse weakening line 25.

With reference to Figure 7, the outer blank 23 has two longitudinal weakening lines 27 and a plurality of transversal weakening lines 28, which define, between the two longitudinal weakening lines 27, a panel 17 'constituting the upper wall 17 of the lid 11, a panel 15 'constituting the rear wall 15 of the outer container 4, a panel 13' constituting the lower wall 13 of the outer container 4, and a panel 14 'constituting the front wall 14 of the outer container 4. A reinforcement panel 14 "is connected to the panel 14 'along a transverse weakening line 28 which is folded 180 ° around the corresponding transverse weakening line 28 to be superimposed and glued to an internal surface of the panel 14' so as to form a thickening (strengthening) of the front wall 14 of the outer container 4. According to a different embodiment not shown, the reinforcement panel 14 "is absent.

A panel 18 'is connected to the panel 17' along a transverse weakening line 28 and in turn a panel 18 'is connected to the panel 18' along a transverse weakening line 28; the two panels 18 'and 18 "form the front wall 18 of the lid 11 and in particular they respectively form the external part and the internal part of the front wall 18. The connecting tab 20 is connected to the panel 18 "and along a transversal weakening line 28 which in turn is composed of four panels 20 ', 20", 20 "' and 20" "which are separated from each other by respective lines 28 transverse weakening; the panel 20 'of the connection tab 20 is glued to an internal surface of the upper wall 17 of the cover 11 (therefore to an internal surface of the panel 17'), while the panel 20 "'of the connection tab 20 is glued to a surface external of the rear wall 8 of the internal container 3 (after having been rotated by 180 °, superimposed and glued to the 20 "" panel).

The panel 14 'has a pair of lateral wings 16', which constitute an external part of the side walls 16, are arranged on opposite sides of the panel 14 ', and are separated from the panel 14' by the longitudinal weakening lines 27. The panel 15 'has a pair of lateral wings 16 ", which are glued to the corresponding wings 16', constitute an internal part of the side walls 16, are arranged on opposite sides of the panel 15 ', and are separated from the panel 15' by the 27 longitudinal lines of weakening. The 16 "lateral wings of the panel 15 'have a pair of tabs 29, each of which is separated from the respective 16" lateral wing by a transversal weakening line 28.

The panel 17 'has a pair of lateral appendages, which are arranged on opposite bands of the panel 17', are separated from the panel 17 'by the longitudinal weakening lines 27, and are composed of respective wings 19', 19 "and 19" ' separated from each other by further longitudinal weakening lines, and form the lateral walls 19 of the cover 11. Each lateral appendage of the panel 17 'has two wings 19' and 19 "which respectively form the external and internal parts of a lateral wall 19 and a wing 19 "'which is glued to an internal surface of the upper wall 17 of the cover 11 with the interposition of the panel 20' of the connecting tab 20 (i.e. the panel 20 'is directly glued to the internal surface of the panel 17' and the wings 19 "'are glued to the panel 20').

The through window 21 obtained through the panel 14 'is surrounded by four reinforcement tabs 21 which are connected to the panel 14' along respective weakening lines arranged at the perimeter of the window 21; the reinforcement tabs 21 are folded 180 ° around the corresponding weakening lines to be superimposed and glued to an internal surface of the panel 14 'so as to form a thickening (strengthening) of the front wall 14 of the external container 4. According to a different embodiment not shown, the reinforcing tabs 21 are absent.

Figure 8 schematically illustrates a cigarette packing machine 30 which produces packets 1 of cigarettes. The packing machine 30 comprises a wrapping unit 31 which produces the groups 2 of wrapped cigarettes, a subsequent wrapping unit 32 which produces the internal containers 3 by folding the internal blanks 22 around the corresponding groups 2 of wrapped cigarettes, a subsequent unit 33 of wrapping which makes the outer containers 4 (thus completing the formation of the packets 1 of cigarettes) by folding the outer blanks 23 around the corresponding inner containers 3, and finally a processing unit 34 which receives the packets 1 of cigarettes from the wrapping unit 33 and performs a first opening (i.e. the first sliding of the inner container 3 with respect to the outer container 4 to partially extract the inner container 3 itself and thus determine the rotation of the lid 11 towards the open position) and subsequent closure of each packet 1 of cigarettes.

The processing unit 34 carries out the opening and subsequent closing of each packet 1 of cigarettes to "undermine" the wrapping material (or to break or in any case loosen part of the mechanical bonds inside the wrapping material) at the lines of hinge, in such a way that the subsequent opening of the pack 1 of cigarettes that will be carried out by the end user is facilitated (ie it does not have to overcome the resistance due to the "yielding" of the wrapping material in correspondence with the hinge lines).

As illustrated in Figure 9, the wrapping unit 32 comprises a wrapping conveyor 35 which is provided with a plurality of wrapping pockets 36 (illustrated in Figure 12), each of which is adapted to house an internal blank 22 for advancing the inner blank 22 along a wrapping path P1 which extends between an input station S1 and an output station S2. At the inlet station S1, a hopper 37 is provided, which houses a stack of internal blanks 22 and cyclically feeds the inner blanks 22 from a lower outlet to the wrapping pockets 36 of the wrapping conveyor 35; in particular, each internal blank 22 arranged in correspondence with the lower outlet mouth of the hopper 37 is picked up by a suction head which moves vertically and is placed on an underlying wrapping pocket 36 of the wrapping conveyor 35 which is stationary in the inlet station SI aligned with the lower outlet mouth of the hopper 37.

It is important to note that the wrapping conveyor 35 advances each internal blank 22 along the wrapping path P1 always transversely, or always with the transverse weakening lines 25 parallel to the direction of advancement; in other words, the wrapping conveyor 35 never varies the orientation of each internal blank 22 with respect to the direction of advancement and therefore in all points of the wrapping path P1 each inner blank 22 always has its own parallel transverse weakening lines 25 to the direction of advancement (and therefore its own longitudinal weakening lines 24 perpendicular to the direction of advancement). Always maintaining a constant orientation of each internal blank 22 along the wrapping path P1 allows to simplify both the folding operations and the structure of the wrapping conveyor 35. As illustrated in Figure 10, a gumming device 38 is coupled to the wrapping conveyor 35 which is arranged along the wrapping path P1 downstream of the entry station SI and deposits glue 39 (illustrated in Figure 11) on the panel 7 "and on the 8 ”panel of each internal blank 22. Coupled to the wrapping conveyor 35 is a folding device 40 which is arranged downstream of the gumming device 38 along the wrapping path P1 and folds the panel 7 '"with respect to the panel 7" so as to overlap and glue the panels 7 "and 7 '"and fold the 8'" panel over the 8 "panel in order to overlap and glue the 8" and 8 '"panels. Coupled to the wrapping conveyor 35 is a pressing device 41 which is arranged downstream of the folding device 40 along the wrapping path P1 and keeps the panels 7 "and 7 '" mutually pressed so as to favor mutual re-gluing of the panels 7 "and 7 '"themselves and keeps the panels 8" and 8' "mutually pressed in order to favor mutual re-gluing of the panels 8" and 8 '"themselves.

Coupled to the wrapping conveyor 35 is a gumming device 42 which is arranged along the wrapping path P1 downstream of the pressure device 41 and deposits glue 43 (illustrated in Figure 11) on the 7 '"panel and on the 8'" panel of each blank 22 interior. Coupled to the wrapping conveyor 35 is a folding device 44 which is arranged downstream of the gumming device 42 along the wrapping path P1 and folds the panels 7 "and 7 '" superimposed on each other with respect to the panel 7' so as to overlap and glue panels 7 ', 7 "and 7'" and fold panels 8 "and 8 '" overlapping each other with respect to panel 8' so as to overlap and glue panels 8 ', 8 "and 8'". Coupled to the wrapping conveyor 35 is a pressure device 45 which is arranged downstream of the folding device 44 along the wrapping path P1 and keeps the panels 7 ', 7 "and 7'" mutually pressed so as to facilitate mutual gluing panels 7 ', 7 "and 7"' themselves and keeps the panels 8 ', 8 "and 8"' mutually pressed in order to favor the mutual bonding of the panels 8 ', 8 "and 8"' themselves.

According to a preferred embodiment illustrated in Figure 12, the wrapping conveyor 35 consists of a conveyor belt which is wound around two end pulleys and supports a plurality of wrapping pockets 36; consequently, the wrapping path PI has a "U" shape and extends between the entry station SI arranged along an initial straight section of the wrapping path PI and the output station S2 arranged along a final straight section of the path PI of wrapping which is connected to the initial straight section by means of an intermediate semicircular section.

As illustrated in Figure 9, the wrapping unit 32 comprises a wrapping conveyor 46 which is provided with a plurality of wrapping pockets 47 (schematically illustrated in Figure 13), each of which is adapted to house an internal blank 22 and a corresponding group 2 of wrapped cigarettes to advance the internal blank 22 and the group 2 of wrapped cigarettes along a wrapping path P2 which extends between an inlet station S3 and an outlet station S5. At the inlet station S3, a partially pre-folded internal blank 22 coming from the wrapping conveyor 35 is fed into a wrapping pocket 47 causing a further folding of the inner blank 22 itself. At a feeding station S4 arranged between the inlet station S3 and the outlet station S5, a group 2 of wrapped cigarettes is fed into a wrapping pocket 47 to be coupled to the previously fed internal blank 22; in particular, a rear wall of the group 2 of wrapped cigarettes is placed on the panel 8 'of the internal blank 22. At the output station S5, the internal container 3 (formed by folding the internal blank 22 around the group 2 of wrapped cigarettes) is extracted from the wrapping pocket 47 and sent to the wrapping unit 33.

As shown in Figure 13, a folding device 48 is arranged in the inlet station S3, which bends the tabs 26 of the internal blank 22 by 90 ° (around the corresponding transverse weakening lines 25) with respect to the wings 9 "and therefore inserting the internal blank 22 into the wrapping pocket 47 determines the 90 ° folding (around the corresponding transverse weakening line 25) of the panel 5 'and the 90 ° folding (around the corresponding longitudinal weakening lines 24) of the two wings 9 "; in other words, after the 90 ° bending of the tabs 26, the entry of the internal blank 22 into the wrapping pocket 47 determines the 90 ° bending of the panel 5 'and of the two wings 9 ". A folding device 49 is arranged between the feeding station S4 and the output station S5, which bends by 90 ° (around the corresponding transverse weakening line 25) the panel 7 '(on which, previously, they were superimposed and glued panels 7 "and 7 '"). The folding of the internal blank 22 is completed in the output station S5 at the same time with Γ extraction of the internal container 3 from the wrapping pocket 47: during Γ extraction of the internal container 3 a folding device 50 folds by 90 ° (around the corresponding longitudinal lines 24 weakening) the wings 9 'against the wings 9 "forming the side walls 9 of the internal container 3; preferably, a gumming device (not shown) is arranged immediately upstream of the folding device 50 to deposit the glue between the wings 9 'and 9 "immediately before the folding of the wings 9'.

According to a preferred embodiment illustrated in the attached figures, the wrapping conveyor 46 consists of a rotatable wheel which rotates in pitch around a central rotation axis 51 arranged horizontally. Consequently, the wrapping path P2 which extends from the input station S3 to the output station S5 has a circular shape.

As shown in Figure 9, the wrapping unit 32 comprises a transfer conveyor 52 which transfers the pre-folded internal blanks 22 from the output station S2 of the wrapping conveyor 35 to the input station S3 of the wrapping conveyor 46. Along the transfer conveyor 52 and upstream of the inlet station S3 of the wrapping conveyor 46 there is a gumming device 53 which deposits glue between the tabs 26 and the panel 5 'of the internal blank 22.

According to a preferred embodiment, the hopper 37 feeds one internal blank 22 at a time to the wrapping conveyor 35 in the entry station S1 of the wrapping path P1, and the transfer conveyor 52 transfers two inner blanks 22 at a time from the wrapping conveyor 35. wrapping the wrapping conveyor 46; in this embodiment, the wrapping conveyor 46 processes two internal blanks 22 at a time with each step. According to an alternative embodiment not shown, the hopper 37 feeds two internal blanks 22 at a time to the wrapping conveyor 35 in the entry station S1 of the wrapping path P1.

As illustrated in Figures 14 and 17, the wrapping unit 33 comprises a wrapping conveyor 54 which is provided with a plurality of wrapping pockets 55, each of which is adapted to house an outer blank 23 for advancing the outer blank 23 along a wrapping path P3 which extends between an input station S6 and an output station S7. At the inlet station S6, a hopper 56 is provided, which houses a stack of outer blanks 23 and cyclically feeds the outer blanks 23 from a lower outlet mouth to the wrapping pockets 55 of the wrapping conveyor 54; in particular, each external blank 23 arranged in correspondence with the lower outlet mouth of the hopper 56 is picked up by a suction head which moves vertically and is placed on an underlying wrapping pocket 55 of the wrapping conveyor 54 which is stationary in the inlet station S6 aligned with the lower outlet port. It is important to note that the wrapping conveyor 54 advances each outer blank 23 along the wrapping path P3 always transversely, as shown in Figure 15, or always with the transverse weakening lines 28 parallel to the direction of advancement; in other words, the wrapping conveyor 54 never changes the orientation of each outer blank 23 with respect to the direction of advancement and therefore in all points of the wrapping path P3 each outer blank 23 always has its own parallel transversal weakening lines 28 to the direction of advancement (and therefore its own longitudinal weakening lines 27 perpendicular to the direction of advancement). Always maintaining a constant orientation of each outer blank 23 along the wrapping path P3 allows to simplify both the folding operations and the structure of the wrapping conveyor 54.

As illustrated in figure 17, a gumming device 57 is coupled to the wrapping conveyor 54 which is arranged along the wrapping path P3 downstream of the inlet station S6 and deposits glue 58 (illustrated in figure 16) on the panel 20 '" and on the panel 14 'of each outer blank 23. Coupled to the wrapping conveyor 54 is a folding device 59 which is arranged downstream of the gumming device 57 along the wrapping path P3 and folds the panel 20 "" with respect to the panel 20 "'so as to overlap and glue the panels 20" 'and 20 "", fold the panel 14 "with respect to the panel 14' so as to overlap and glue the panels 14" and 14 ', and fold the reinforcement tabs 21' with respect to the panel 14 'so as to overlap and glue the 2 1 'reinforcement tabs to panel 14'. Coupled to the wrapping conveyor 54 is a pressure device 60 which is arranged downstream of the folding device 59 along the wrapping path P3 and keeps the panels 20 "'and 20" "mutually pressed so as to favor the mutual gluing of the panels 20 "'and 20" "themselves, keeps the panels 14" and 14' mutually pressed in order to favor the mutual bonding of the panels 14 "and 14 'themselves, and keeps the reinforcement tabs 21' and the panel 14 mutually pressed so as to favor the mutual bonding of the reinforcement tabs 21 'and of the panel 14'.

Coupled to the wrapping conveyor 54 is a gumming device 61 which is arranged along the wrapping path P3 downstream of the pressure device 60 and deposits the glue 62 (shown in Figure 16) on the panel 17 'of each outer blank 23. Coupled to the wrapping conveyor 54 is a folding device 63 which is arranged downstream of the gumming device 61 along the wrapping path P3 and folds the panels 20 ', 20 ", 20"' and 20 "" (the latter two together superimposed and glued) to rest the panels 20 "'and 20" "(superimposed and glued together) to the panel 15' and to form the front wall 18 of the lid 11. In particular, the folding device 63 folds the panel 18 at the same time 'with respect to panel 17', panel 18 "with respect to panel 18 'and panel 20' with respect to panel 18" to bring panel 20 'into contact with panel 17' (to which it is glued by the effect of glue 62) and at the same time forming the boxed front wall 18 of the lid 11 by arranging the panel 18 'and the panel 18 ”inclined relative to each other. Coupled to the wrapping conveyor 54 is a pressing device 64 which is arranged downstream of the folding device 63 along the wrapping path P3 and keeps the panels 20 'and 17' mutually pressed so as to favor the mutual gluing of the panels 20 ' and 17 'themselves. According to a preferred embodiment, the folding device 63 comprises a contrast body around which the panels 18 'and 18 "are folded to form the front wall 18 of the lid 11 according to what is better described in the patent application B02011A000426 incorporated herein for reference.

Coupled to the wrapping conveyor 54 is a gumming device 65 which is arranged along the wrapping path P3 downstream of the pressure device 64 and deposits the glue 66 (illustrated in Figure 16) on the panel 20 '(which has been superimposed and glued previously to panel 17 ') of each outer blank 23. Coupled to the wrapping conveyor 54 is a folding device 67 which is arranged downstream of the gumming device 65 along the wrapping path P3 and simultaneously folds, in each lateral appendage of the panel 17 ', the wing 19' with respect to the panel 17 ' , the wing 19 "with respect to the wing 19 'and the wing 19"' with respect to the wing 19 "to bring the wing 19" 'in contact with the panel 20' and at the same time form the box-shaped side wall 19 of the lid 11 by arranging the wing 19 'and the wing 19 ”inclined with respect to each other. Coupled to the wrapping conveyor 54 is a pressure device 68 which is arranged downstream of the folding device 67 along the wrapping path P3 and keeps the wings 19 "'and the panel 20' mutually pressed (which has been superimposed and glued previously to panel 17 ') so as to favor the mutual bonding of the wings 19 "' to panel 20 '. The folding device 67 is arranged in correspondence with a final portion of a rectilinear section of the wrapping path P3, while the pressing device 68 is arranged along a curvilinear section and is provided with pliers mounted rotatably which follow each outer blank 23 along an arc of the curvilinear section of the wrapping path P3. According to a preferred embodiment, the folding device 67 comprises two contrast bodies around which the wings 19 'and 19 "are folded to form the side walls 19 of the lid 11 according to what is better described in patent application BO201 1A000426 incorporated herein for reference.

According to a preferred embodiment illustrated in Figure 17, the wrapping conveyor 54 consists of a conveyor belt which is wound around two end pulleys and supports a plurality of wrapping pockets 55; consequently, the wrapping path P3 has a "U" shape and extends between the entry station S6 arranged along an initial straight section of the wrapping path P3 and the exit station S7 arranged along a final straight section of the path P3 of wrapping which is connected to the initial straight section by means of an intermediate semicircular section. The folding device 67 and the pressing device 68 are arranged in correspondence with this semicircular intermediate section.

As illustrated in Figures 18 and 19, the wrapping unit 33 comprises a wrapping conveyor 69 which is provided with a plurality of wrapping pockets 70, each of which is adapted to house an outer blank 23 and a corresponding inner container 3 to advance the outer blank 23 and the inner container 3 along a wrapping path P4 which extends between an inlet station S8 and an outlet station SIO. At the entrance station S8, a partially pre-folded external blank 23 coming from the wrapping conveyor 54 is fed into a wrapping pocket 70 causing a further folding of the outer blank 23 itself. At a feeding station S9 arranged between the input station S8 and the output station S10, an internal container 3 is fed into a wrapping pocket 70 to be coupled to the previously fed external blank 23; in particular, the rear wall 8 of the internal wrapping 3 is placed on the panel 15 'of the outer blank 23. At the output station S10, the outer container 4 (formed by folding the outer blank 23 around the inner container 3) is extracted from the wrapping pocket 70 and sent to the processing unit 34.

In the inlet station S8 there is a folding device 71, which bends the tabs 29 of the outer blank 23 by 90 ° (around the corresponding transverse weakening lines 28) with respect to the wings 16 "and then inserting the outer blank 23 in the pocket 70 of wrapping determines the folding of 90 ° (around the corresponding transverse weakening line 28) of the panel 13 'and the folding of 90 ° (around the corresponding longitudinal weakening lines 27) of the two wings 16 "(while the panel 17' of the outer blank 23 remains coplanar with the panel 15 '); in other words, after the 90 ° bending of the tabs 29, the entry of the outer blank 23 into the wrapping pocket 70 determines the 90 ° bending of the panel 13 'and of the two wings 16 ".

A folding device 72 is arranged between the feeding station S9 and the output station S10, which in the inner blank 23 folds by 90 ° (around the corresponding transverse weakening line 28) the panel 17 'with respect to the panel 15' ( or bends the lid 11 by 90 ° with respect to the panel 15 ') causing simultaneous axial sliding of the inner container 3 with respect to the outer blank 23 (as will be better described below). Immediately downstream of the folding device 72 there is a folding device 73, which bends by 90 ° (around the corresponding transverse weakening line 28) the panel 14 '. The folding of the outer blank 23 is completed in the output station S10 at the same time as the extraction of the outer container 4 from the wrapping pocket 70: during the extraction of the outer container 4 a folding device 74 folds by 90 ° (around the corresponding lines 27 longitudinal weakening) the wings 16 'against the wings 16 ”forming the side walls 16 of the external container 4; preferably, a gumming device (not shown) is arranged immediately upstream of the folding device 74 to deposit the glue between the wings 16 'and 16 "immediately before the folding of the wings 16'.

According to a preferred embodiment illustrated in the attached figures, the wrapping conveyor 69 is constituted by a rotatable wheel which rotates in pitch around a central rotation axis 75 arranged horizontally. Consequently, the wrapping path P4 which extends from the input station S8 to the output station S10 has a circular shape.

As shown in Figure 17, the wrapping unit 33 comprises a transfer conveyor 76 which transfers the pre-folded outer blanks 23 from the output station S7 of the wrapping conveyor 54 to the input station S8 of the wrapping conveyor 69. The transfer conveyor 76 is arranged below the wrapping conveyor 69 and comprises a pair of parallel and spaced conveyor belts which together support pairs of pockets, each of which carries an outer blank 23 from the exit station S7 of the conveyor 54 of wrapping at station S8 of entry of wrapping conveyor 69. Preferably, the transfer conveyor 52 of the wrapping unit 32 (shown only very schematically in Figure 9) is substantially constructed like the transfer conveyor 76 of the wrapping unit 33 illustrated in Figure 17.

Along the transfer conveyor 76 and upstream of the inlet station S8 of the wrapping conveyor 69 there is a gumming device 77 which deposits glue between the tabs 29 and the panel 13 'of the outer blank 23. Furthermore, the rubber device 77 also deposits glue 78 and glue 79 (illustrated in figure 16) on the panel 20 "'of the connection tab 20 (previously superimposed and glued to the panel 20" ") which had previously been placed on the panel 15 '. The glue 78 and the glue 79 determine the gluing of the rear wall 8 of the internal container 3 to the connection tab 20 (i.e. to the panel 20 "'of the connection tab 20) when the internal container 3 is placed on the panel 15' of the blank 23 outside in the station S9 for feeding the wrapping conveyor 69.

According to a preferred embodiment, the hopper 56 feeds one outer blanks 23 at a time to the wrapping conveyor 54 in the entry station S6 of the wrapping path P3, and the transfer conveyor 76 transfers two outer blanks 23 at a time from the wrapping conveyor 54 wrapping to wrapping conveyor 69; in this embodiment, the wrapping conveyor 69 processes two external blanks 23 at a time at each step. According to a different embodiment not shown, the hopper 56 feeds two outer blanks 23 at a time to the wrapping conveyor 54 in the station S6 for entering the wrapping path P3.

According to what is illustrated in Figures 20, 21, 22 and 23, the folding device 72 folds the panel 17 'with respect to the panel 15' by 90 °, in the internal blank 23 (i.e. the lid 11 folds 90 ° with respect to the panel 15 ') causing a simultaneous axial sliding of the inner container 3 with respect to the outer blank 23 (the axial sliding of the inner container 3 with respect to the outer blank 23 is evident by comparing the position of the inner container 3 in figures 20 and 22 before folding the lid 11 and in figures 21 and 23 after folding the cover 11). The axial sliding of the inner container 3 with respect to the outer blank 23 during the rotation of the lid 11 around the hinge 12 is due to the fact that the inner container 3 (in particular the rear wall 8 of the inner container 3) is mechanically constrained to the lid 11 ( in particular to the upper wall 17 of the lid 11) through the connecting tab 20; therefore, a movement of rotation of the lid 11 around the hinge 12 always corresponds to a similar movement of translation of the internal container 3 according to the transmission ratio determined by the mechanics of the connecting tab 20.

The sliding of the inner container 3 is necessary, in fact, to allow also the "boxed" lid 11 to re-enter the outer container 4 when the pack 1 of cigarettes is in the closed configuration, as illustrated in Figure 1.

Associated with the folding device 72 is an actuator element 80 which rests on the front wall 7 of the internal container 3 and is movable along two mutually perpendicular directions (in particular, the actuator element 80 is capable of translating both perpendicularly to the front wall 7 of the inner container 3, is parallel to the front wall 7 of the inner container 3). In addition, the actuator element 80 is provided with a suction head 81 (illustrated in figures 22 and 23) in which the suction can be activated / deactivated. When a wrapping pocket 70 carrying an outer blank 23 and a respective inner container 3 arrives at the folding device 72, the actuator element 80 is moved towards the inner container 3 so as to come into contact with the front wall 7 of the container 3 interior itself. When the actuator element 80 has come into contact with the front wall 7 of the internal container 3, suction is activated through the suction head 81 so as to establish a mechanical constraint (generated by the suction force) between the suction head 81 and the wall 7 front of inner container 3.

Once the suction has been activated through the suction head 81, the actuator element 80 and the folding device 72 are moved together (as illustrated in Figures 22 and 23) and in a coordinated way to cause the folding of the lid 11 and to determine the simultaneous sliding of the internal container 3 with respect to the external blank 23: in particular, the actuator element 80 is translated parallel to the front wall 7 of the internal container 3 to axially push the internal container 3 (pushing on the front wall 7 of the internal container 3 ) while the folding device 72 is rotated around its own axis of rotation (coaxial with the hinge 12 of the lid 11) to rotate the lid 11. The lid 11 of the outer container 4 is mechanically connected to the inner container 3 by means of the tab 20 of connection, therefore the actions of the actuator element 80 and of the folding device 72 must be neutral mutually coordinated (i.e. the translation displacement of the actuator element 80 must always correspond to the rotational displacement of the folding device 72 according to the transmission ratio determined by the mechanics of the connecting tab 20) to avoid generating unwanted deformations and / or breakages .

It is important to note that each wrapping pocket 70, in addition to housing the outer blank 23 and the corresponding inner container 3, mechanically blocks (holds) at least the panel 15 'of the outer blank 23 to prevent axial movement of the panel 15' itself along the direction of translation of the inner container 3 during the 90 ° folding of the lid 1 1.

As previously mentioned, the rubber device 77 simultaneously deposits glue 78 and glue 79 on panel 20 "" of the connection tab 20 (previously superimposed and glued to panel 20 "") which had previously been placed on panel 15 '. The glue 78 and the glue 79 determine the gluing of the rear wall 8 of the internal container 3 to the connection tab 20 (i.e. to the panel 20 '"of the connection tab 20) when the internal container 3 is placed on the panel 15' of the blank 23 outside in the station S9 for feeding the wrapping conveyor 69. The glue 78 is permanent and dries, that is, after a certain time from the instant of deposition, the volatile components of the glue 78 evaporate, resulting in a permanent and non-separable connection, if not following a mechanical break that cannot be reassembled; instead, the glue 79 is different from the glue 78 and is repositionable and does not dry, that is, even after a long time from the instant of deposition, the glue 79 maintains its characteristics unaltered and allows the glued parts to be separated and reunited several times. Preferably, the permanent drying glue 78 is a vinyl-based cold glue.

According to a preferred embodiment, the repositionable glue 79 which does not dry is deposited away from a hinge of the connection tab 20 (the hinge of the connection tab 20 is constituted by the transversal weakening line 28 which divides the two panels 20 "and 20 "'), While the permanent glue 78 which dries is deposited near the hinge of the connecting tab 20. In this way, the repositionable glue 79 which does not dry works in shear during the folding of the lid 11 performed by the folding device 72 (and is therefore more stressed) while the permanent glue 78 which dries works in traction during the folding of the lid 11 performed by the folding device 72 (and therefore is less stressed); it is important that the repositionable glue 79 is stressed more as it is able to reach its maximum adhesion capacity much more quickly (practically instantaneously), and similarly it is important that the permanent glue 78 is less stressed as it requires a relatively long time to reach an adequate adhesion capacity. According to a preferred embodiment, the aforementioned use of permanent glue 78 which dries combined with repositionable glue 79 which does not dry is not limited to the particular case described above, but can advantageously be extended in all situations in which it is necessary to glue two together. distinct elements in the realization of a package by folding a blank (or a sheet of wrapping) around a group of articles. By way of example, each of the glues 39, 43, 58, 62, 66 that are deposited on the blanks 22 and 23 can comprise a part of permanent glue that dries quickly (i.e. a hot glue) and a part of permanent glue that dries slowly (i.e. a cold glue); alternatively, in each of the glues 39, 43, 58, 62, 66 which are deposited on the blanks 22 and 23 in place of the permanent glue part which dries quickly, it is possible to use a repositionable part of glue which does not dry similar to repositionable glue 79 which does not dry described above. It is important to note that the two wrapping units 32 and 33 are very similar to each other: both wrapping units 32 and 33 have the same structure which envisages a first wrapping conveyor (the wrapping conveyors 35 and 54) consisting of a conveyor belt intended to carry out a preliminary folding of the blank, a second wrapping conveyor (wrapping conveyors 46 and 69) consisting of a wheel and intended to fold the blank (already partially folded) around the content, and a transfer conveyor (transfer conveyors 52 and 76) which connects the two wrapping conveyors. Furthermore, the two second wrapping conveyors (wrapping conveyors 46 and 69) of the two wrapping units 32 and 33 perform almost all wrapping operations in the same way and in the same areas. Therefore, the two wrapping units 32 and 33 can share a large number of components, i.e. the same identical component is frequently present in both wrapping units 32 and 33 (in particular the two wrapping units 32 and 33 may have in common at least 70-80% of the members); in this way, it is possible to significantly reduce the cost of production, assembly and maintenance of the packing machine 30.

A very important advantage of the cigarette packing machine 30 is its flexibility, i.e. its ability to adapt quickly and easily to the production of different types of packets 1 of cigarettes with sliding opening and with hinged lid (and also without hinged lid ). Among other things, the high flexibility is offered by the fact that in each wrapping unit 32 or 33 there is a first wrapping conveyor 35 or 54 in which a preliminary folding of the blank 22 or 23 is performed and a second conveyor 46 or 69 of wrapping in which the preliminary folding of the blank 22 or 23 is completed; in fact, thanks to the presence of the first wrapping conveyors 35 or 54 it is relatively simple to carry out the preliminary folding of the blank 22 or 23 to form the lid 11, and once the lid 11 has been formed, the final folding of the blank 22 or 23 is "conventional" (i.e. analogous to the folding of a standard blank) and therefore without particular complications.

Thanks to its high flexibility, the packing machine 30 can produce without distortion both the pack 1 of cigarettes with sliding opening and with hinged lid illustrated in Figures 1-5 in which the lid 11 is hinged to the external container 4 (and therefore the lid 11 is "integral" to the outer blank 23), both the pack 1 of cigarettes with sliding opening and hinged lid illustrated in figures 24-25 in which the lid 11 is hinged to the inner container 3 (and therefore the lid 11 is " integral "to the internal blank 22). The major modification to the packing machine 30 for passing from the production of the pack 1 of cigarettes illustrated in Figures 1-5 to the pack 1 of cigarettes illustrated in Figures 24-25 is the formation of the lid 11 in the wrapping conveyor 35 of the wrapping unit 32 instead than in the wrapping conveyor 54 of the wrapping unit 33. It should be noted that this modification does not "upset" the packing machine 30, since the basic structure of the wrapping conveyors 35 and 54 is identical.

For simplicity, in figures 24 and 25 the various parts of pack 1 of cigarettes will be indicated with the same reference numbers already used for pack 1 of cigarettes illustrated in figures 1-5: pack 1 of cigarettes illustrated in figures 24 and 25 comprises a group 2 of wrapped cigarettes (visible in Figure 24), an internal container 3 of the rigid type, inside which the wrapped group 2 is directly located, and an external container 4 of the rigid type, which slides into place the inner container 3.

The internal container 3 has a parallelepiped shape and has a lower wall 5 (not visible in Figures 24 and 25), an open upper end 6 opposite the lower wall 5, a front wall 7 and a rear wall 8 parallel and opposite to each other, and two side walls 9 parallel to each other and interposed between the walls 7 and 8. The internal container 3 is provided with a lid 11, which is hinged to the internal container 3 along a hinge 12 to rotate, with respect to the internal container 3 itself, between an open position and a closed position of the open upper end 6 of the inner container 3. The lid 11 has an upper wall 17, a rear wall 82, and two side walls 19. It is important to note that the lid 11 is "box-shaped", that is, it is provided with walls 17, 19 and 82 which are arranged perpendicularly to each other and give the lid 11 the shape of a "box", that is to say such as to delimit a three-dimensional space.

The outer container 4 is parallelepiped in shape, has an open upper end 10 through which the inner container 3 moves, and has a lower wall 13 opposite the open upper end 10. Furthermore, the external container 4 has a front wall 14 and a rear wall 15 parallel and opposite to each other, and two side walls 16 parallel to each other and interposed between the walls 14 and 15. The rear wall 15 of the external container 4 is connected to the upper wall 17 of the lid 11 by means of a connecting tab 20 to "automatically" control (ie without the user having to touch the lid 11) the rotation of the lid 11 by sliding the internal container 3 with respect to the external container 4.

The front wall 14 of the external container 4 has a through window 21 through which the underlying front wall 7 of the internal container 3 facing the front wall 14 of the external container 4 is accessible to allow the application of a thrust to the internal container 3 for this purpose. to move the internal container 3 between the open position and the closed position.

The containers 3 and 4 of the pack 1 of cigarettes illustrated in Figures 24-25 are obtained starting from corresponding blanks 22 and, respectively, 23 illustrated in Figures 26 and 27. Each of the blanks 22 and 23 includes, among other things, a plurality of elements, which are marked, where possible, with accented reference numbers equal to the reference numbers which distinguish the corresponding walls of the respective container 3 and 4.

With reference to Figure 26, the internal blank 22 has two longitudinal weakening lines 24 and a plurality of transverse weakening lines 25, which define, between the two longitudinal weakening lines 24, a panel 7 'constituting the front wall 7 of the internal container 3, a panel 5 'constituting the lower wall 5 of the internal container 3, a panel 8' constituting the rear wall 8 of the internal container 3, a panel 82 'constituting an external portion of the rear wall 82 of the lid 11, a panel 17 'constituting an external portion of the upper wall 17 of the cover 11, a panel 17 "constituting an internal portion of the upper wall 17 of the cover 11, a panel 82" constituting an internal portion of the rear wall 82 of the cover 11, and a panel 8 "Reinforcement that is internally superimposed and glued to the panel 8 'in order to create a thickening (strengthening) of the rear wall 8 of the internal container 3.

The panel 7 'has a pair of lateral wings 9', which constitute an external part of the lateral walls 9 of the internal container 3, are arranged on opposite sides of the panel 7 ', and are separated from the panel 7' by the longitudinal lines 24 weakening. The panel 8 'has a pair of lateral wings 9 ", which are glued to the corresponding wings 9', constitute an internal part of the lateral walls 9 of the internal container 3, are arranged on opposite sides of the panel 8 ', and are separated from the panel 8 'from the longitudinal weakening lines 24. The 9 "lateral wings of the 8 'panel have a pair of tabs 26, each of which is separated from the respective 9" lateral wing by a transverse weakening line 25 and is internally superimposed and glued to the 5' panel.

The panel 82 'has a pair of lateral wings 19', which constitute the side walls 19 of the lid 11, are arranged on opposite sides of the panel 82 ', and are separated from the panel 82' by the longitudinal weakening lines 24. The lateral wings 19 'of the panel 82' have a pair of tabs 83, each of which is separated from the respective lateral wing 19 'by a transverse weakening line 25 and is internally superimposed and glued to the panel 17'.

The panel 8 "has a pair of lateral wings 84, which are internally superimposed and glued to the corresponding wings 9", are arranged on opposite sides of the panel 8 ", and are separated from the panel 8" by the longitudinal weakening lines 24.

With reference to Figure 27, the outer blank 23 has two longitudinal weakening lines 27 and a plurality of transverse weakening lines 28, which define, between the two longitudinal weakening lines 27, a panel 14 'constituting the front wall 14 of the external container 4, a panel 13 'constituting the lower wall 13 of the external container 4 and a panel 15' constituting the rear wall 15 of the external container 4. A reinforcement panel 15 "is connected to the panel 15 'along a transverse weakening line 28 which is folded 180 ° around the corresponding transverse weakening line 28 to be superimposed and glued to an internal surface of the panel 15' so as to form a thickening (strengthening) of the rear wall 15 of the external container 4.

The panel 14 'has a pair of lateral wings 16', which constitute an external part of the side walls 16, are arranged on opposite sides of the panel 14 ', and are separated from the panel 14' by the longitudinal weakening lines 27. The panel 15 'has a pair of lateral wings 16 ", which are glued to the corresponding wings 16', constitute an internal part of the side walls 16, are arranged on opposite sides of the panel 15 ', and are separated from the panel 15' by the 27 longitudinal lines of weakening. The 16 "lateral wings of the panel 15 'have a pair of tabs 29, each of which is separated from the respective 16" lateral wing by a transversal weakening line 28.

With reference to Figures 28 and 29, the preliminary folding of the inner blank 22 performed in the wrapping unit 32 while the blank 22 is advanced by the wrapping conveyor 35 along the wrapping path P1 is described below.

Initially, the two tabs 83 are bent by 90 ° around the corresponding transverse weakening lines 25 and with respect to the wings 19 '; subsequently the two wings 19 '(together with the previously folded tabs 83) are bent 90 ° around the corresponding longitudinal weakening lines 24 and with respect to the panel 82'. At this point, glue 85 is deposited on panel 17 "and glue 86 on panel 17". Subsequently, panel 17 '(together with panels 17 ", 82" and 8 ") is bent 90 ° around the corresponding transverse weakening line 25 and with respect to panel 82'; this folding brings the panel 17 'into contact with the tabs 83 with which it is glued thanks to the glue 86.

At this point, glue 87 is deposited on the 9 "wings, glue 88 is deposited on panel 82 ', and glue 89 is deposited on panel 8'. Finally, by means of a single folding operation, the panel 17 "is bent by 180 ° around the corresponding transverse weakening line 25 and with respect to the panel 17 'and at the same time the panel 82" is bent by 90 ° around the corresponding transverse line 25 of weakening and with respect to the 17 "panel; these two folds bring panel 17 "into contact with the tabs 83 with which it is glued thanks to glue 85, bring panel 82" into contact with panel 82 'with which it is glued thanks to glue 88, bring panel 8 "to contact of the panel 8 'with which it is glued thanks to the glue 89, and bring the wings 84 in contact with the wings 9 ”with which they are glued thanks to the glue 87.

It is important to note that the fins 83 are enclosed between the two panels 17 'and 17 "to which they are glued respectively above and below by respectively glue 86 and 85.

Figures 30 and 31 show a variant of the preliminary folding of the inner blank 22 performed in the wrapping unit 32 while the blank 22 is advanced by the wrapping conveyor 35 along the wrapping path P1; the only difference introduced by this variant is the fact of first bending the two wings 19 '(together with the tabs 83 not previously bent) by 90 ° around the corresponding longitudinal weakening lines 24 and with respect to the panel 82' and subsequently bending the two tabs 83 of 90 ° around the corresponding transverse weakening line 25 and with respect to the wings 19 '(folded previously). In other words, the two variants differ in the order of folding of the wings 19 'and of the corresponding tabs 83.

Once the preliminary folding of the inner blank 22 has been completed in the wrapping unit 32 while the blank 22 is advanced by the wrapping conveyor 35 along the wrapping path P1 (i.e. once the formation of the lid 11 carried by the inner blank 22 has been completed), the pre-folded inner blank 22 is fed as previously described to the wrapping conveyor 46 to be folded around the packet 2 of wrapped cigarettes and thus completing the formation of the inner container 3. The folding of the pre-folded internal blank 22 around the group 2 of wrapped cigarettes is entirely similar to what was previously described with reference to Figure 13.

The folding of the outer blank 23 illustrated in Figure 27 is much simpler than the folding of the outer blank 23 illustrated in Figure 7: the pre-folding of the outer blank 23 illustrated in Figure 27 along the wrapping path P3 only involves folding of 1 80 ° the reinforcement panel 15 "against the panel 15 ', while the folding of the outer pre-folded blank 23 around the wrapped inner container 3 is completely analogous to what was previously described with reference to figures 18 and 19.

The wrapping method and the corresponding packing machine 30 described above have numerous advantages, since they allow to produce the packets 1 of cigarettes with sliding opening and with hinged lid with high productivity (i.e. with a high number of packets 1 of cigarettes produced in the unit of time) while maintaining a high quality standard. This result is obtained thanks to the conformation of the wrapping unit 33 which by completing the formation of the box-shaped walls 18 and 19 of the lid 11 in the wrapping conveyor 54 (i.e. before coupling the outer blank 23 to the inner container 3) allows to form the walls 18 and 19 boxes of the lid 11 in a simple and effective way and at the same time allows to greatly simplify the folding of the outer blank 23 around the inner container 3. In particular, the formation of the box-shaped walls 18 and 19 of the lid 11 is easier (therefore simple and fast) along a straight wrapping path (as, in fact, is the wrapping path P3 of the wrapping conveyor 54), while the folding of the outer blank 23 around the inner container 3 is easier (therefore simple and fast) along a circular wrapping path (as, in effect, is the wrapping path P4 of the wrapping conveyor 69). Therefore, thanks to the conformation of the wrapping unit 33, all the folding operations can be performed in the most favorable situation and therefore can be performed quickly (ensuring a high productivity of the wrapping process) while guaranteeing an excellent quality standard.

Obviously, the same identical considerations made with respect to the wrapping unit 33 in which the lid 11 is formed when the pack 1 of cigarettes illustrated in Figures 1-5 is produced, also apply to the wrapping unit 32 in which the lid is formed. 11 when the pack 1 of cigarettes illustrated in Figures 24 and 25 is produced.

It is also important to underline the usefulness of the action of the pressing devices 41, 45, 60, 64 and 68 which immediately downstream of the overlapping of the corresponding portions of the blanks 22 and 23 keep the corresponding overlapping portions pressed against each other ensuring a correct gluing even when the speed of the wrapping cycle is high (i.e. in the presence of a high productivity of the wrapping process). In the absence of the pressing devices 41, 45, 60, 64 and 68, it would be essential to slow down the action of the corresponding folding devices 40, 44, 59, 63 and 67 to give the corresponding overlapping portions more time to reach an adequate degree of gluing. reciprocal and obviously this would entail a significant decrease in the productivity of the wrapping process.

Furthermore, but not least, the wrapping method and the corresponding packing machine 30 described above are extremely "flexible", ie they allow the type of packets 1 of sliding-opening cigarettes that are produced to be varied quickly and easily (for example passing from the pack 1 of cigarettes illustrated in Figures 1-5 to the pack 1 of cigarettes illustrated in Figures 24 and 25).

Claims (17)

CLAIMS 1) Packaging machine (30) for making a package (1) of sliding-type smoking articles; the packing machine (30) comprises: a first wrapping unit (31) making a group (2) of wrapped smoking articles; a second wrapping unit (32) which, by folding an internal blank (22) around the group (2) of wrapped smoking articles, creates an internal container (3) which accommodates the group (2) of smoking articles and presents a open upper end (6); and a third wrapping unit (33) which, by folding an outer blank (23) around the inner container (3), forms an outer container (4), which slides inside the inner container (3); the packing machine (30) is characterized in that the second wrapping unit (32) includes: a) a first wrapping conveyor (35) which receives the inner blank (22) and advances the inner blank (22) along a first wrapping path (PI); b) at least one first folding device (40, 44) arranged along the first wrapping path (PI) to perform a preliminary folding of the inner blank (22); c) a second wrapping conveyor (46) which receives the partially folded inner blank (22) along the first wrapping conveyor (35), receives the group (2) of wrapped smoking articles from the first wrapping unit (31), and advances the inner blank (22) and the group (2) of wrapped smoking articles along a second wrapping path (P2); and d) at least one second folding device (48, 49, 50) disposed along the second wrapping path (P2) which folds the inner blank (22) around the group (2) of wrapped smoking articles to form the container (3 ) internal; the third wrapping unit (33) includes: e) a third wrapping conveyor (54) which receives the outer blank (23) and advances the outer blank (23) along a third wrapping path (P3); f) at least a third folding device (59, 63, 67) arranged along the third wrapping path (P3) to perform a preliminary folding of the outer blank (23); g) a fourth wrapping conveyor (69) which receives the outer blank (23) partially folded along the third wrapping conveyor (54), receives the inner container (3) from the second wrapping unit (32), and advances the blank (23) external and the container (3) internal along a fourth wrapping path (P4); and h) at least a fourth folding device (71, 72, 73, 74) arranged along the fourth wrapping path (P4) which folds the outer blank (23) around the inner container (3) to form the outer container (4) . 2) Packaging machine (30) according to claim 1, wherein the third folding device (59, 63, 67) arranged along the third wrapping path (P3) forms the walls (17, 18, 19) of a lid ( 11) hinged to the external container (4) by folding respective parts (17 ', 18', 18 ”, 19 ', 19”, 19 ”') of the external blank (23). 3) Packaging machine (30) according to claim 1, wherein the first folding device (40, 44) arranged along the first wrapping path (PI) forms the walls (17, 19, 82) of a lid (11) hinged to the internal container (3) by folding respective parts (17 ', 17 ”, 19', 82”, 83) of the internal blank (22). 4) Packaging machine (30) according to claim 1, 2 or 3 wherein: The inner blank (22) has at least two longitudinal weakening lines (24) and a plurality of transverse weakening lines (25) which are perpendicular to the longitudinal weakening lines (24); the outer blank (23) has at least two longitudinal weakening lines (27) and a plurality of transverse weakening lines (28) which are perpendicular to the longitudinal weakening lines (27); The first wrapping conveyor (35) advances the inner blank (22) along the first wrapping path (PI) always transversely, or always with the transversal weakening lines (25) parallel to the direction of advancement; and the third wrapping conveyor (54) advances the outer blank (23) along the third wrapping path (P3) always transversely, or always with the transversal weakening lines (28) parallel to the direction of advancement. 5) Packaging machine (30) according to claim 1, 2 or 3 wherein: the inner blank (22) has at least two longitudinal weakening lines (24) and a plurality of transverse weakening lines (25) which are perpendicular to the longitudinal weakening lines (24); The outer blank (23) has at least two longitudinal weakening lines (27) and a plurality of transverse weakening lines (28) which are perpendicular to the longitudinal weakening lines (27); the first wrapping conveyor (35) advances the inner blank (22) along the first wrapping path (PI) always longitudinally, i.e. always with the longitudinal weakening lines (24) parallel to the direction of advancement; and The third wrapping conveyor (54) advances the outer blank (23) along the third wrapping path (P3) always longitudinally, i.e. always with the longitudinal weakening lines (27) parallel to the direction of advancement. 6) Packaging machine (30) according to one of claims 1 to 5 wherein: the first wrapping conveyor (35) consists of a conveyor belt which is wound around two end pulleys and supports a plurality of first wrapping pockets (36); the first wrapping path (PI) has a "U" shape and extends between an input station (SI) arranged along an initial straight section of the first wrapping path (PI) and an output station (S2) arranged along a final straight section of the first wrapping path (PI) which is connected to the initial straight section by means of an intermediate semicircular section; and the second wrapping conveyor (46) is constituted by a rotatable wheel which supports a plurality of second wrapping pockets (47). 7) Packaging machine (30) according to one of claims 1 to 6, wherein: the third wrapping conveyor (54) consists of a conveyor belt which is wound around two end pulleys and supports a plurality of third wrapping pockets (55); the third wrapping path (P3) has a "U" shape and extends between an input station (S6) arranged along an initial straight section of the third wrapping path (P3) and an output station (S7) arranged along a final straight section of the third wrapping path (P3) which is connected to the initial straight section by means of an intermediate semicircular section; and the fourth wrapping conveyor (69) is constituted by a rotatable wheel which supports a plurality of fourth wrapping pockets (70). 8) Packaging machine (30) according to one of claims 1 to 7, wherein: the second wrapping unit (32) includes: i) a first hopper (37) which feeds at least one blank (22) inside at a time to the first wrapping conveyor (35) in an entry station (SI) of the first wrapping path (PI); and j) a first transfer conveyor (52) which transfers at least two internal blanks (22) at a time from the first wrapping conveyor (35) to the second wrapping conveyor (46) and is arranged between an exit station (S2) of the first wrapping path (PI) and an entry station (S3) for the second wrapping path (P2); the third wrapping unit (33) includes: k) a second hopper (56) which feeds at least one blank (23) external at a time to the third wrapping conveyor (54) in a station (S6) for the entry of the third wrapping path (P3); and l) a second transfer conveyor (76) which transfers at least two external blanks (23) at a time from the third wrapping conveyor (54) to the fourth wrapping conveyor (69) and is arranged between an exit station (S7) of the third wrapping path (P3) and a station (S8) for the entry of the fourth wrapping path (P4). 9) Packaging machine (30) according to one of claims 1 to 8 wherein: the second wrapping unit (32) includes: m) an entry station (S3) of the second wrapping path (P2) in which the partially folded inner blank (22) is inserted into a second wrapping pocket (47) of the second wrapping conveyor (46) causing a folding of the blank (22) inside itself; and n) a feeding station (S4) of the second wrapping path (P2) which is arranged downstream of the inlet station (S3) and in which the group (2) of wrapped smoking articles is inserted into the second pocket (47) wrapping the second wrapping conveyor (46) and coupled to the internal blank (22); the third wrapping unit (33) includes: o) a station (S8) for the entry of the fourth wrapping path (P4) in which the partially folded outer blank (23) is inserted into a fourth wrapping pocket (70) of the fourth wrapping conveyor (69) causing a folding of the outer blank (23) itself; and p) a station (S9) for feeding the fourth wrapping path (P4) which is arranged downstream of the inlet station (S8) and in which the internal container (3) is inserted into the fourth wrapping pocket (70) of the fourth conveyor (69) for wrapping and coupled to the outer blank (23). 10) Packaging machine (30) according to claim 9, in which, entering the fourth wrapping pocket (70), a first panel (13 ') of the outer blank (23) which constitutes a lower wall (13) of the container (4 ) bends by 90 °, and two wings (16 ”) of the outer blank (23) forming the side walls (16) of the external container (4) bend by 90 °. 11) Packaging machine (30) according to claim 10, in which, entering the fourth wrapping pocket (70), the internal container (3) rests on a second panel (15 ') of the outer blank (23) constituting a wall (15) rear of the outer container (4) while a third panel (17 ') of the outer blank (23) constituting an upper wall (17) of the lid (11) remains coplanar with the second panel (15'). 12) Packaging machine (30) according to claim 11, in which, downstream of the feeding station (S9) of the fourth wrapping path (P4), the fourth folding device (71, 72, 73, 74) of 90 ° the third panel (17 ') of the outer blank (23) with respect to the second panel (15') causing a simultaneous sliding of the inner container (3) with respect to the outer blank (23). 13) Packaging machine (30) according to claim 12, wherein the third wrapping unit (33) comprises an actuator element (80) which contacts a wall (7) of the inner container (3) and applies, simultaneously and in coordination with the 90 ° folding of the third panel (17 ') of the outer blank (23), a push to the inner container (3) to make the inner container (3) slide with respect to the outer blank (23). 14) Packaging machine (30) according to one of claims 9 to 13, in which, entering the second wrapping pocket (47), a first panel (5 ') of the inner blank (22) which forms a lower wall (5) of the internal container (3) folds by 90 °, and two wings (9 ") of the internal blank (22) which form the side walls (9) of the internal container (3) fold by 90 °. 15) Packing machine (30) according to claim 14, in which, entering the second wrapping pocket (47), the group (2) of wrapped smoking articles rests on a second panel (8 ') of the blank (22) interior constituting the rear wall (8) of the internal container (3). Packaging machine (30) according to one of claims 1 to 15, wherein: the second wrapping unit (32) includes: q) at least one gumming device (38, 42) which is arranged along the first wrapping path (PI) upstream of the first folding device (40, 44) to deposit glue (39, 43) on the internal blank (22) . the third wrapping unit (33) includes: r) at least one gumming device (57, 61, 65) which is arranged along the third wrapping path (P3) upstream of the third folding device (59, 63, 67) for depositing glue (58, 62, 66) on the outer blank (23). 17) Wrapping method for making a pack (1) of sliding type smoking articles; the wrapping method comprises the steps of: making a group (2) of wrapped smoking articles by means of a first wrapping unit (3 1); making, by means of a second wrapping unit (32) and folding an internal blank (22) around the group (2) of wrapped smoking articles, an internal container (3) which accommodates the group (2) of smoking articles and presents an open upper end (6); And making, by means of a third wrapping unit (33) and folding an outer blank (23) around the inner container (3), an outer container (4), which slides inside the inner container (3); the wrapping method is characterized by the fact that the step of making the internal container (3) includes the further steps of: I. advancing the inner blank (22) along a first wrapping path (PI) and by means of a first wrapping conveyor (35) of the second wrapping unit (32); II. carrying out a preliminary folding of the inner blank (22) by means of at least a first folding device (40, 44) arranged along the first wrapping path (PI); III. transferring the partially folded inner blank (22) from the first wrapping conveyor (35) to a second wrapping conveyor (46) of the second wrapping unit (32); IV. transferring the group (2) of wrapped smoking articles from the first wrapping unit (31) to the second wrapping conveyor (46); V. advancing the inner blank (22) together with the group (2) of wrapped smoking articles along a second wrapping path (P2) and through the second wrapping conveyor (46); And YOU. folding the inner blank (22) around the group (2) of wrapped smoking articles to form the inner container (3) by means of at least one second folding device (48, 49, 50) arranged along the second wrapping path (P2) ; the step of making the external container (4) includes the further steps of: VII. advancing the outer blank (23) along a third wrapping path (P3) and by means of a third wrapping conveyor (54) of the third wrapping unit (33); VIII, carrying out a preliminary folding of the outer blank (23) by means of at least a third folding device (59, 63, 67) arranged along the third wrapping path (P3); IX. transferring the partially folded outer blank (23) from the third wrapping conveyor (54) to a fourth wrapping conveyor (69) of the third wrapping unit (33); X. transferring the inner container (3) from the second wrapping unit (32) to the fourth wrapping conveyor (69); XI. advancing the outer blank (23) together with the inner container (3) along a fourth wrapping path (P4) and through the fourth wrapping conveyor (69); And XII. folding the outer blank (23) around the inner container (3) to form the outer container (4) by means of at least a fourth folding device (71, 72, 73, 74) disposed along the fourth wrapping path (P4).