RU2796101C2 - Method for manufacturing packaging for flat plates and blanks for the specified packaging - Google Patents

Abstract

FIELD: packaging.

SUBSTANCE: blank and a package are disclosed, as well as a method for manufacturing a package for flat plates, comprising the steps of: manufacturing a collapsible flat blank (B) made from a packaging material; folding said slab (B) into a box package with open closing flaps; inserting said flat plates into said box pack and closing said closing valves; at the stage of manufacturing a flat blank, the following steps are additionally provided: feeding a roll of said wrapping material into a stamping and sorting unit (1) to obtain strips (C₁-C_n) parallel to the direction of movement; punching and separating from said strips (C₁-C_n) a plurality of elongated modular parts (P₁-P_n); flat folding into an L-shape of these elongated modular parts (P₁-P_n), bringing them together in pairs with the coincidence of the respective ends; fixing said modular parts (P₁-P_n) folded into an L-shape with corresponding ends matching to form said blank (B) in the shape of a quadrangular frame.

EFFECT: effective design.

10 cl, 10 dwg

Description

The field of technology to which the invention belongs

The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing a package for flat plates, a blank for such a package and a device for manufacturing the same, in particular, to a method for manufacturing packages or boxes for wrapping flat plates such as tiles, stone slabs, glass panels, laminated sheets and so on.

Prior Art

On industrial lines designed for packaging in paper boxes, the units are packed in cardboard boxes, which are traditionally obtained by folding die-cut cardboard. Die-cutting techniques have now become widespread in the paper industry, allowing identical and precise cuts to be made in special and complex shapes of paper, cardboard and similar materials.

The blank board is usually produced in the form of a flat tray with suitably shaped contours by a die-cutting operation according to the particular size of the box. On a flat stamped tray, a bending operation is carried out along certain lines, which ensures uniform and accurate folding of a flat material, by pressing paper or cardboard along given fold lines.

In recent years, in the packaging of flat products for the building industry, in particular tiles, it has become common practice to use an alternative technology to the use of boxes obtained as a result of traditional die-cutting technology. In fact, it has been confirmed that, unlike material to be packed in bulk, flat sheet material in stacks, such as sheets, laminates and tiles, does not technically require a complete protective box: it is sufficient to have a package that mutually combines the various sheets in a stack, protecting only their sides and edges. This saves a significant portion of the cardboard box, which would otherwise cover the surface of the sheet or tile without performing any important function.

This technology uses cardboard strips that are appropriately cut and formed in a very complex packaging line, within which a cardboard shell or protective frame is created around the stack of tiles.

Examples of this technology are illustrated, for example, in EP2952437, WO2016156928 and WO2017149422.

The frame system is a viable alternative to replace traditional tray shaped board, offering significant benefits not only in terms of raw material savings, but also ease of adapting to size, resulting in a dramatic reduction in board obsolescence and inventory in the warehouse.

However, perimeter tile wrappers have significant inherent complexity - because they must provide complete wrapping, starting with very simple cardboard strips, and they must simultaneously move a series of heavy stacks of tiles around which to wrap - making them quite expensive. In addition, they completely replace any traditional packaging lines (i.e. lines using classic die-cutting trays), which means an unpleasant annulment of previous investments.

Therefore, there is a need for a packaging method and design capable of balancing the advantages inherent in perimeter packaging with relative material savings and size adaptation, with the ability not to waste the investment already made in conventional packaging equipment.

The essence of the invention

Therefore, the aim of the present invention is to provide a solution that solves the above problems and provides a method and apparatus for obtaining a simple and efficient system for the manufacture of packaging for stacked flat plates, which provides significant material savings relative to classical packaging boxes, but which at least partially uses traditional packaging machines that use preformed trays.

This object is achieved according to the invention by means of a method for manufacturing a package for stacks of flat plates, such as tiles, having the feature of claim 1. Other preferred features of the invention are defined in the dependent claims.

Brief description of the drawings

Additional features and advantages of the invention will in any event be more apparent from the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment, given by way of non-limiting example and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

In FIG. 1 is a schematic top plan view of a packaging blank production line according to the present invention;

in fig. 2 is a view of a part of FIG. 1 showing the untwisting and continuous slitting station;

in fig. 3 is a view of another part of FIG. 1 showing the stamping and sorting station;

in fig. 4A is a pictorial plan view from above of an exemplary die-cut piece of cardboard obtained by the method of the invention, while

in fig. 4B is a schematic top plan view of another exemplary die;

in fig. 5 is a view of another part of FIG. 1, which shows the station for folding and preparing individual parts;

in fig. 6 is a view of another part of FIG. 1, which shows the station for assembling and gluing the workpiece;

in fig. 7 is a view of another part of FIG. 1 showing an application station where corner guards are applied;

in fig. 8 is a view of another part of FIG. 1 showing a stacking and storage station; A

in fig. 9 is an illustrative view of three exemplary photographs of the three stages of folding the corner closing flaps.

Detailed description of the invention

The system for packing flat plates such as tiles advantageously uses a conventional packaging line known per se, in which a flat blank is folded and glued to form a box into which a stack of flat plates is placed before closing properly. To this end, the packaging line includes at least a folding device, a filling unit and a top valve closing system.

However, according to the invention, one or more traditional packaging lines are provided not with the classic die-cut trays, but with an original preform production line, which is described in detail below.

The production line according to the invention, as clearly shown in FIG. 1 contains a plurality of staggered stations designed to create a slab having an initial layout suitable for use in a traditional packaging line, starting from standard shaped flat material such as paper rolls or sheets of suitable thickness, smooth cardboard, corrugated cardboard and the like.

In the first stretching and unwinding station 1, the semi-finished flat wrapping material C, such as thin corrugated cardboard, located in the feeders 10 in folded stacks or reels, is drawn and delivered to a line conveyor for processing.

In case the material is available in the form of individual stacked sheets, it is possible to provide a connection station (not shown) after the drawing station 1, which has the function of joining two or more sheets in series by gluing using, for example, vinyl or hot melt adhesive: the purpose is operation is to obtain a continuous flow of material, if necessary. In this case, it is possible to provide a pressing section in the machine to perform local compression of the flat material in order to reduce the thickness of the overlapped areas at the leading and trailing edges of the individual sheets.

Immediately after stretching and possible continuous joining of the sheets, the flat cardboard material is cut in the slitting unit 11 . In this step, the roll of continuous material is divided into a plurality of strips C ₁ -C _n of the desired width, preferably an even number of strips C _n , for example six strips of the same width. the width of the strips C ₁ -C _n can be determined as needed, for example by changing the distance between the axes of the cutting knives provided at this station.

Then the flat semi-finished material, divided into C ₁ -C _n strips, is processed at the stamping and sorting station 2 . At such a station, punching is carried out, possibly with the help of a transverse knife block (not shown), which separates from continuous strips C ₁ -C _n a plurality of modular belts or parts having a suitable shape P ₁ -P _n of the desired length. the length of the modular parts P ₁ -P _n can easily be changed by changing the cutting speed during the continuous sliding movement of the flat material C along the line and/or the speed of the transverse knives that separate the individual parts from the continuous material.

It is also preferable to carry out the operation of determining the fold lines at the same time, for example by folding or cutting short straight interrupted cuts along predetermined lines on the parts P ₁ -P _n , in order to facilitate the folding of the parts P ₁ -P _n , in particular along the longitudinal lines and the oblique line in the central area that divides each part into two parts.

The preferred shape of the individual modular parts P ₁ -P _n (as shown in Figs. 4A and 4B) provides an overall rectangular shape with a wide rectangular cutout C _F approximately midway through the length of the part that extends from the longitudinal edge to extend beyond the central longitudinal axis of the modular part. the rectangular cut C _F ideally divides the modular part C _n into two opposite branches C _A1 and C _A2 , the length of which is proportional to the two sides of the flat plates to be packed.

From one C _A1, two opposite protrusions or flaps C _E protrude from two opposite branches, extending essentially along the longitudinal central axis of the modular part.

In the cutting operation that takes place at the stamping station 2, the strips C ₁ -C _n are in the form of separate modular parts (FIGS. 4A and 4B), preferably working in such a way as to apply a certain pattern to half of the modular parts located on one side of the longitudinal axis lines and a mirror scheme on the other half of the modular parts located symmetrically on the other side of the longitudinal axis of the line (as shown in detail in Fig. 3).

At the end of stamping, the modular parts are drawn into mirror pairs, P ₁ P _n , P ₂ P _n-1 , P ₃ P _n-2, and are arranged in two advancing rows along the delivery line (see right side in Fig. 3). Essentially, all the modular parts P ₁ -P _n are sorted into only two advancing rows, keeping them side by side in mirror pairs designed for complementary interaction.

It is possible to provide a printing station (not shown) along the advancing row, in which a printing press is located, which prints inscriptions, logos and other graphics on the individual modular parts.

After the stamping and sorting station 2, the individual modular parts are optionally collected outside the advancing row in an additional buffer zone (left side of FIG. 5) where suitable hoppers are located to store these parts, awaiting use in a subsequent processing unit. A working processing module is then prepared to re-introduce mirror and complementary pairs of module parts at a suitable rate into the subsequent processing block.

At station 3, the connections of a pair of complementary modular parts P ₁ -P _n are processed in a folding unit 31 . In particular, each modular part is then folded along an approximately 45° oblique line located in the middle region corresponding to the notch C _F to move the two opposite arms C _A1 and C _A2 of each part P _n from a longitudinally aligned state to an orthogonal relative position. , that is, at an angle of 90° relative to each other (as shown in Fig. 5).

The fold line, as shown above, can be predefined with a folded or interrupted notch.

Folding is performed so that the cut-out part C _F remains open towards the outside of the corner formed by the two branches C _A1 and C _A2 of each part P _n .

Each of the modular parts takes on an L-shaped profile, and since they were previously arranged in mirror pairs, they end up in complementary L-shaped pairs, as shown in FIG. 5. Thus, they are positioned to be adjacent to each other with their respective ends matching to form a perfect quadrangular frame.

The two complementary modular parts P ₁ and P _n , after being placed next to each other and possibly partially overlapping with the matching of the two respective ends, are then securely fastened at the assembly and connection station 4 .

Fastening between two L-shaped modular parts usually occurs by gluing the mutual ends at the points indicated by G in FIG. 6 by methods known in the art, preferably by hot melting, so that the bonding of the adhesive takes place a short time after cooling.

As can be clearly understood from the depiction of FIG. 6, the two modular mutually welded parts form a finished blank B, very similar to a stamp with a traditional tray shape, in which, however, only a rectangular frame is formed with an open window in the middle. the size of the blank can be easily adjusted by changing the width and length of the two branches C _A1 and C _A2 of the modular part along the line.

The final blank B forms a quadrangular flat frame of semi-finished material, such as corrugated board, preferably provided with (folded or engraved) longitudinal fold lines to enable the desired folding to be subsequently carried out. For example, there are two fold lines L ₁ and L ₂ used in the stamping and sorting station 2, along which each side of the frame of the workpiece can then be folded first at an angle of 90° - to define the edge of the perimeter to accommodate the package - then a second time at an angle of 180 ° - to form a valve closing the package.

It is possible to provide an additional finishing station 5 (FIG. 7) on which additional packaging protection devices are used. In particular, at the corners of the rectangular blank B - in the immediate vicinity of the position in which the blank material has a triangular cutout obtained by folding the modular parts around the cutouts C _F - it is possible to use elements or linings R made of a sealing and protective material, for example, polyurethane or polystyrene plates. The pads R are bonded to the paperboard material by gluing, stitching or other similar system.

These corner protectors must remain inside the package, abutting the corners of the flat plates to be packaged, thus providing protection against impacts.

Finally, the blank B is sent to the stacking and storage station 6 .

At this point, blanks B are available to be fed to a conventional packaging line where they are stacked to form a box pack, filled with a stack of plates and/or tiles, and then closed using predetermined closing lines L ₁ and L ₂ .

Valves C can also be used in the folding phase of this box pack._E, to obtain folds between the side faces, while forming a corner closure and an internal reinforcing zone that protects the corners of the packaged material (see photos 1-3 in Fig. 9).

The resulting box pack actually covers and consolidates its contents (i.e. stack of plates) mainly along the side edges and corners, as well as short perimeter stripes on the top and bottom surfaces of the stack, however, leaving most of the larger surface of the plates uncovered, saving packaging material.

In the following, for greater clarity, the overall packaging process according to the method of the present invention is briefly described.

In the first step of the packaging operations, unless standard products are to be handled, the size of the stack of flat plates, eg batches of tiles, to be packed is determined. Based on these measurements, the production line starts manufacturing the plurality of blanks B illustrated in FIG. 1, by adjusting the length and width of the cut tapes C ₁ -C _n , as well as the position of the cutouts C _F , thus determining the absolute and relative length of the two opposite branches C _A1 and C _A2 .

The production of the resulting blanks B starts and ends when the stacking station 6 has received a sufficient number of them to pack the supplied batch.

Thereafter, the slabs B are introduced into the feeder of a conventional packaging line, where they are folded to form a box package, in which the slabs are then placed before the package is closed.

As can be inferred from the above description, the solution proposed by the invention ideally achieves the objectives set out in the introductory part.

The packaging manufacturing method uses a continuous sheet of semi-finished material to produce tray-shaped blanks, the size of which is adjusted according to the requirements of the batch to be packaged, making it unnecessary to store boxes of each particular size.

The resulting preform is specifically designed for packing stacked solids when the need for packaging is limited, to bring together the various stacked parts and protect their thin edges, making it unnecessary to cover the major surfaces of the stack when the package contains virtually no material, allowing save costs.

In addition, it is preferable that the production line delivers a blank that is fully compatible with conventional packaging lines that use preformed tray-shaped blanks: this provides a significant safeguard for the investment already made by tile manufacturers, as the blank production line can be compatible with an existing packaging equipment, and does not replace it. In addition, the fact that flat plates do not end up on the packaging line makes the production line easier, cheaper and faster.

However, it should be understood that the invention should not be construed as being limited to the specific arrangements illustrated above, which represent only illustrative embodiments of its implementation, but that various variations are possible, all of which are within the reach of a person skilled in the art, without deviating from the protection scope of the invention, which is limited solely by the following claims.

For example, the shape of the individual modular parts may also differ from those illustrated in order to meet specific requirements regarding both the type of product to be packaged and the packaging line normally used.

Finally, although the packaging of stacks of flat plates has always been mentioned, it is possible that this method can also be used to pack stacks of other products with a large surface (hence, which do not require protective walls, as for bulk products), for example, dishes (also with a concave surface) or plates of various shapes.

Claims (17)

1. A method for manufacturing packaging for flat plates, including the steps - making a folding flat blank (B) of wrapping material, - folding said flat blank (B) to form a box package with open closing flaps, - insertion of said flat plates into said box package and closing of said closing valves, characterized in that said slab manufacturing step includes the steps - feeding a roll of said wrapping material into the stamping and cutting unit (1) to obtain strips (C ₁ -C _n ) parallel to the direction of travel, - stamping and separating from said strips (C ₁ -C _n ) a plurality of elongated modular parts (P ₁ -P _n ), - flat folding into an L-shape of these elongated modular parts (P ₁ -P _n ), bringing them together in pairs with the coincidence of the respective ends, - fastening said modular parts (P ₁ -P _n ) folded into an L-shape with the matching of the respective ends, forming said blank (B) in the form of a quadrangular frame. 2. The method of claim 1, wherein said step of securing modular (P ₁ -P _n ) pieces folded into an L-shape with respective ends matching, provides a gluing step. 3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein said folding operation folds each modular part (P ₁ -P _n ) along an approximately 45° oblique line located in the middle region to move two opposing arms (C _A1 and C _A2 ) of each modular part from a longitudinally aligned state to an orthogonal relative orientation. 4. The method of claim 3, wherein said step of stamping a plurality of elongate modular parts (P ₁ -P _n ) provides said modular parts (P ₁ -P _n ) with a substantially rectangular shape with a wide rectangular cutout (C _F ) in the middle a region that extends from the side edge until it intersects the longitudinal central axis of said parts, wherein said rectangular notch (C _F ) divides said two opposite branches (C _A1 and C _A2 ) having respective lengths proportional to the sides of the flat plate, to be packed. 5. The method according to claim 4, in which two opposite valves (C _E ) protrude from one (C _A1 ) of said opposite branches, extending essentially along the longitudinal central axis of said modular parts. 6. The method according to claim 4 or 5, wherein said folding step is performed such that the cut portion (C _F ) remains open towards the outside of the angle formed by the two branches (C _A1 and C _A2 ) of each part P _n . 7. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein before said step of folding into an L-shape, there is additionally a step of forming longitudinal fold lines (L ₁ and L ₂ ) on said elongated modular pieces (P ₁ -P _n ). 8. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, further comprising the step of applying additional guards (R) in close proximity to the tops of said rectangular blank (B), said guards (R) being located on the side intended to remain inside the package. 9. A flat blank for manufacturing a box package, characterized in that it consists of a pair of elongated modular parts (P ₁ -P _n ) folded into an L-shape and fastened with the coincidence of the respective ends to form a quadrangular frame. 10. A blank according to claim 9, wherein said elongate modular portions (P ₁ -P _n ) are substantially rectangular in shape with a wide rectangular cutout (C _F ) in the middle region that extends from the side edge until it intersects the longitudinal central axis of said parts, wherein said rectangular cutout (C _F ) divides the elongated modular parts (P ₁ -P _n ) into two opposite branches (C _A1 and C _A2 ) having a length proportional to the sides of the flat plates to be packed.

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