WO2008023971A2

WO2008023971A2 - Device for separating and preparing for packing products made of rubber or rubber-like material, particularly gloves

Info

Publication number: WO2008023971A2
Application number: PCT/MY2007/000058
Authority: WO
Inventors: Peter Zuber
Original assignee: DÖKA Maschinenbau GmbH & Co. KG; Doeka Asia Sdn Bhd
Priority date: 2006-08-23
Filing date: 2007-08-16
Publication date: 2008-02-28
Also published as: DE102006039458A1; WO2008023971A3

Abstract

The present invention relates to a device (10) for separating and preparing for packing products (11) made of rubber or rubber-like material, particularly gloves such as examination gloves,the products (11) to be separated being provided unordered and unsorted in a collection area (12) and at least one driver (16) gripping in the collection area (12), acquiring a product (11), supplying it to a comparison measurement and placing it on a tray (18) upon successful measurement, from where it reaches the packing ordered and counted with further products (11).

Description

DEVICE FOR SEPARATING AND PREPARING FOR PACKING PRODUCTS MADE OF RUBBER OR RUBBER-LIKE MATERIAL, PARTICULARLY GLOVES

Description

The present invention relates to a device for separating products made of rubber or rubber-like material, particularly gloves.

Products made of rubber or rubber-like material have been known for some time; these include any types of products which are produced either from naturally or synthetically produced rubber. The elastic behavior of products of this type also plays a certain role in regard to the set of problems to be solved.

In particular with products which are provided for use in the fields of hygiene or medicine, such as examination gloves, and which are used in large piece counts, difficulties result during packing in regard to packing in the package provided for this purpose and the exact piece count.

In addition, requirements may also exist for the uniformity of the orientation of such products, which have made manual engagement necessary until now.

On the basis of this prior art, it is the object of the present invention to provide a device of the type cited at the beginning which, with the least possible expenditure of manual engagements, offers the possibility of first separating the products provided in large piece counts and automating the counting, the orientation, and the packing as much as possible.

This object is achieved according to the present invention by the characterizing features of Claim 1. Accordingly, the products to be separated are provided unordered and unsorted in a collection area and at least one driver reaches in the collection area, acquires a product, supplies it to a measurement, and places it on a tray upon successful measurement, where it is sorted with further products and reaches the package ordered and counted.

Preferably, the collection area is formed by a conveyor belt, on which the products are placed in unordered heaps, a spatial distance, over which the at least one driver transports the products, existing between the collection area and the tray. This offers the advantage that the products lying unsorted on the conveyor belt used as the collection area are not combined unintentionally with the already separated products.

A preferred embodiment of the device according to the present invention is characterized in that the at least one driver acquires the particular product and supplies it to a measuring unit, which compares its length or dimensions to a standard in a comparison measurement.

If the comparison measurement performed is successful, i.e., if the test criteria are fulfilled, the affected product may continue through the process.

Specifically, is possible that the driver does not acquire the affected product at its end, but rather at any arbitrary point, for example, in the middle.

Thus, if gloves are to be packaged as the product, a glove may be acquired in the middle instead of at one end, so that it is not stretched when placed on the tray, but rather is folded and is therefore too short, which makes completely automatic packing impossible and requires manual disturbance correction.

In this case, for safety from breakdown, which is indispensable in a completely automatically running process, the incorrectly received product, which has therefore been found to be faulty, is discharged again and returned into the collection area. The at least one driver thus only places products having correct length or dimensions on the tray, but lets products viewed as faulty back into the collection area.

In a further embodiment of the device according to the present invention, the at least one driver moves on a circular path.

In a further improvement of the present invention, a circular driver disk is provided as a base for the driver, on which driver arms are situated at equal angular intervals to one another. In this way, a high frequency of picking up products and thus a high throughput are achieved.

There are numerous possibilities for picking up products without damaging them or even making them unusable. In the present invention, it has been shown to be especially advantageous for the at least one driver to operate pneumatically.

Every driver advantageously has a driver arm which is provided with a tube, whose free end ends at the driver arm and has an opening, while the other end of the tube is connected to a partial vacuum unit.

In the device implemented according to the present invention, a partial vacuum is applied at the opening of the tube situated on each driver arm as a result of the partial vacuum unit, preferably a pump, connected thereto when it engages in the collection area, through which a product to be separated is suctioned on. For this purpose, the partial vacuum is sufficient to acquire the affected product securely, without damaging it, however.

According to a further preferred embodiment of the device according to the present invention, the tray is formed by a conveyor belt which moves only slowly, preferably step-by-step, in consideration of the duration of the separation procedure and the counting. In an expedient refinement of the present invention, the tray is provided with a unit for orienting the placed products, which orients them according to their longitudinal extension, so that, for example, for gloves, the fingers point to one side of the conveyor belt and the engagement opening to the diametrically opposite side.

The unit for orienting the gloves may preferably be provided as a rotating support platform, which is situated so it rotates to the right or left as a function of the orientation of the preceding glove at the end of the procedure.

For this purpose, a holding clip has been shown to be advantageous, which lowers in synchronization with the driver disk in each case directly after the particular driver when the driver begins to place the affected product on the tray, and applies the product held by the driver to the conveyor belt used as a tray and supports the orientation of the affected product and, in addition, overcomes the retention force of the driver produced by partial vacuum and thus removes the product from the driver.

After the particular removal of the product, the holding clip is raised to be lowered again directly behind the next driver and again also remove the product held thereon. The conveyor belt is divided longitudinally for this purpose into a narrow section and a broad section, the narrow section extending longer than the broad section.

The device according to the present invention is implemented so that the product first touches the narrow area and is drawn over it and covers its entire width. The products placed on the narrow conveyor belt advancing step-by-step advance with the conveyor belt and finally reach a position in which they are no longer supported by the broad conveyor belt, which results in their previously supported ends hanging down from the narrow conveyor belt.

In this position, a monitoring unit detects the position of the particular products hanging down, for example, for gloves, whether the end having the fingers hangs down or the end having the engagement opening. As defined by the automation of the device for preparing products for packing also intended according to the present invention, a loading device is additionally provided, which picks up the products located oriented on the tray and places them in a magazine.

In turn, the monitoring unit controls the loading device, which comprises a combination of rollers rotating in opposite directions and a pivotable platform in a preferred embodiment, which work together in such a way that the rollers acquire the particular product and pull it off of the narrow conveyor belt and place one product after another on the platform, so that the products form a stack.

In order to ensure that the products are placed in opposite directions, the platform is implemented as pivotable and performs an appropriate pivot movement depending on the position of the products detected using the monitoring unit, i.e., it accepts the affected product either from one side or from the diametrically opposite side. Completely automatic separation and orientation of the products is thus essentially ensured.

Furthermore, a packing device is provided, which removes the products placed in a magazine upon reaching a predefined piece count and supplies them to a packing station, the packing device placing the products removed from the magazine on a transport belt which in turn supplies the products to the packing unit.

In a further improvement of the device according to the present invention, a counting device is provided, which counts the number of products supplied to the stack in the magazine. The purpose of this counting device is to ensure that the full piece count of products is always provided for packing.

In regard to the main area of application of the device according to the present invention, namely the handling of products made of rubber or rubber-like material, the packing unit compresses the product provided for packing before packing, in order to thus reduce their otherwise large space requirement. Prefinished cartons, which are provided with insertion tabs and/or adhesive spots, may be used as the packages for the products provided for this purpose.

Furthermore, according to the present invention, the device performs the automatic packing of the finished products in that a suction mechanism opens the prefinished cartons and a gripper arm reaches through the open carton and acquires the counted and oriented products provided and pulls them into the carton and the carton is subsequently closed.

These and further embodiments and improvements of the present invention are the subject matter of the subclaims.

The present invention, advantageous embodiments and improvements of the present invention, and special advantages of the present invention are explained and described in greater detail on the basis of an exemplary embodiment of the present invention illustrated in the attached drawing.

The single figure shows a schematic top view of the device according to the present invention.

The device 10 according to the present invention is shown in a schematic top view in the single figure. It is assembled from various components and has the object of preparing arbitrary products made of rubber or rubber-like material for packing and then also performing the packing procedure.

The device 10 according to the present invention first has a collection area 12, where the finished products 11 are placed unordered. This collection area 12 is formed by a conveyor belt which has a sufficient width and length to receive the accumulating products securely. Of course, only products 11 of a specific type and size are placed here for packing in each case, so that the further embodiments always relate to identical products, in particular examination gloves made of latex or latex-type material here.

The products 11 accumulated for packing are first placed unordered in the collection area 12, coming directly from manufacturing. However, for the packing itself, it is necessary to isolate, orient, and count the products 11.

For this purpose a driver unit (driver disk) 14 is provided, which is implemented as a circular disk and is provided with drivers 16 situated uniformly distributed. In consideration of the products 11, which are sensitive to mechanical effects, the drivers 16 operate pneumatically, i.e., tubes are provided - not shown in greater detail here - on the driver arms 16, which are connected via flexible tubing (also not shown) to a partial vacuum unit (also not shown), via which a partial vacuum is applied to each of the open tube ends, which is sufficient to pick up a product 11 from the unordered set.

The driver disk 14 is situated so it is rotatable and successively acquires a product 11 from the collection area 12 formed on the conveyor belt using the particular driver arms 16 and supplies it to a measuring unit 13, in which the products are tested for maintenance of the specified length or size requirements using a standard. If the test is successful, the driver 16 may convey the product further and places it on a tray 18, which is also implemented as a separate conveyor belt, while the product remains in the collection area if the test result is inadequate.

The products 11 placed by the driver arms 16 on the tray 18 are first oriented here in accordance with their longitudinal extension, i.e., for example, for examination gloves, the fingers point in one direction and the engagement opening points in the opposite direction.

For this purpose, the adhesive friction of the conveyor belt forming a tray 18 is used, which causes the driver 16 to move more rapidly than the product and the product to experience a certain stretching in this way. In addition, in an expedient refinement of the present invention, the tray 18 is provided with a unit for orienting the placed products, which orients them in accordance with their longitudinal extension, so that, for example, for gloves, the fingers point to one side of the conveyor belt and the engagement opening points to the diametrically opposite side.

A holding clip 17 has been shown to be advantageous for this purpose, which lowers in synchronization with the driver disk 14 directly after each driver 16 when the driver begins to place the acquired product 11 on the tray 18 and applies the product 11 held by the driver 16 to the conveyor belt used as the tray 18.

Because the holding clip 17 moves along step-by-step with the movement of the tray 18, it causes the orientation of the affected product 11 and, in addition, removes the product 11 from the driver 16 by acting against the retention force of the driver 16 produced by partial vacuum.

After the particular removal of the product, the holding clip 17 is raised and moved into its starting position to be lowered again directly behind the next driver 16 and again also remove the product 11 held thereon. The tray 18 has a broad area 19 and a narrow area 20 for this purpose, which are situated parallel to one another, the narrow area 20 extending longer than the broad area 19.

The device according to the present invention is implemented so that the product 11 guided by the driver 16 first touches the narrow area 20 and is pulled over it, so that it completely covers the width of the narrow area 20 and only partially covers the broad area.

The products placed on the narrow conveyor belt advancing step-by-step advance with the conveyor belt and finally reach a position in which they are no longer supported by the broad conveyor belt, which results in their previously supported ends hanging down from the narrow conveyor belt. In this position, a monitoring unit (not shown in greater detail) detects the position of the particular products 11 hanging down, such as, for gloves, whether the end having the fingers hangs down or the end having the engagement opening.

As defined by the automation of the device for preparing products for packing intended according to the present invention, a loading unit 22 is also provided, which supplies the products 11 lying oriented on the narrow conveyor belt 20 to a magazine 30 and stacks them therein.

The monitoring unit in turn activates the loading unit 22, which comprises a combination of two rollers 24, 26 rotating in opposite directions and a pivotable platform 28 according to a preferred embodiment, which work together in such a way that the rollers acquire the particular product and pull it off of the narrow conveyor belt and place one product after another on the platform, so that the products form a stack.

The two rollers are preferably made of a soft material, so that they do not damage the products 11. They initially have a distance between them, the roller 26 located near the narrow area being moved back enough that it is located below the conveyor belt 20. As soon as a product, such as a glove, reaches the roller 24 on the conveyor belt 20, the two rollers move toward one another and begin to rotate in opposite directions, through which the product is acquired and passes through the gap between the rollers 24, 26. The magazine 30 is ready here on the platform 28 for receiving the products 11 conveyed by the rollers 24, 26.

In order to ensure that the products 11 are placed in opposite directions, the platform 28 is implemented as pivotable and performs an appropriate pivot movement corresponding to the position of the products 11 on the conveyor belt 20 detected using the monitoring unit, i.e., it picks up the affected product 11 either from one side or from the opposite side. Completely automatic separation and orientation of the products 11 is thus essentially ensured. In a further improvement of the device according to the present invention, a counting device (not shown in greater detail) is provided, which counts the number of products 11 supplied to the stack in the magazine 30. The purpose of this counting device is to ensure that the entire piece count of products 11 is always provided for packing.

In regard to the main area of application of the device 10, namely the handling of products 11 made of rubber or rubber-like material, the products 11 provided for packing are compressed before packing. This is performed by the multipart conveyor belt 36. In other words, the products are compressed to form stacks, in order to thus reduce their space requirement, which is otherwise too large.

Furthermore, a transport device 32 having a gripper arm 34 is provided, which removes the products 11 conveyed between the conveyor belt 36 and supplies them to a packing station, the transport device 32 supplying the products 11 removed from the conveyor belt to the package, namely a carton 38.

This is performed in such a way that a suction mechanism (not shown here) opens the prefinished carton 38 and a gripper arm 34 of the transport device 32 reaches through the open carton 38 and acquires the counted and oriented products 11 provided and pulls them into the carton 38. The carton is subsequently closed and provided for shipping.

The illustration of the individual assemblies such as driver 16, loading unit 22, and transport device 32 is schematic, as already noted, and only corresponds to the actual embodiment in regard to the particular function. Thus, for example, the actual mode of operation of the transport device 32 is provided in such way that, as described, it acquires the particular product stack and pulls it through a carton provided, which is opened by a suction mechanism, this carton then being closed.

The design of the individual components of the device is not shown in greater detail, since their functions may be achieved in different ways. List of reference numerals

10 device

11 product

12 collection area

13 measuring unit (standard)

14 driver disk

16 driver, driver arm

17 holding clip

18 tray

19 broad area (conveyor belt)

20 narrow area (conveyor belt)

22 loading unit

24 roller

26 roller

28 platform

30 magazine

32 transport device

34 gripper arm

36 conveyor belt

38 carton

Claims

1. A device (10) for separating and preparing for packing products (11) made of rubber or rubber-like material, particularly gloves such as examination gloves, wherein the products (11) to be separated are provided unordered and unsorted in a collection area (12) and at least one driver (16) reaches in the collection area (12), acquires a product (11), supplies it to a comparison measurement, and places it on a tray (18) upon successful measurement, from which it reaches the package ordered and counted with further products (11).

2. The device according to Claim 1, characterized in that the collection area (12) is formed by a conveyor belt, on which the products (11) are placed.

3. The device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that a specific distance lies between the collection area (12) and the tray (18), which the at least one driver (16) overcomes.

4. The device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the at least one driver (16) acquires the particular product (11) and a measuring unit (13) tests its length or dimensions.

5. The device according to Claim 4, characterized in that the at least one driver (16) only places products (11) having correct length or dimensions on the tray (18), but lets products found to be faulty back into the collection area (12).

6. The device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the at least one driver (16) moves on a circular path.

7. The device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that a driver disk (14) is provided, on which driver arms (16) are situated at equal angular intervals to one another.

8. The device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the at least one driver (16) operates pneumatically.

9. The device according to Claim 8, characterized in that the at least one driver (16) has a driver arm (16), which is provided with a tube, whose free end ends with the driver arm (16) and has an opening, while the other end of the tube is connected to a partial vacuum unit.

10. The device according to Claim 8 or 9, characterized in that the tube situated on the at least one driver arm has a partial vacuum at its opening upon reaching in the collection area (12) and thus suctions on a product to be separated

11. The device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that a counting device is provided, which works together with the at least one driver

(16) and with the tray (18).

12. The device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the tray (18) is formed by a conveyor belt.

13. The device according to Claim 13, characterized in that the conveyor belt used as the tray (18) moves step-by-step.

14. The device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the tray (18) is provided with a unit for orienting the deposited products, which orients them in accordance with their longitudinal extension.

15. The device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that a loading unit (22) is provided, which picks up the oriented products (11) located on the tray (18) and places them in a magazine (30).

16. The device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that a counting device detects the number of products (11) placed in the magazine (30).

17. The device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that a transport device (32) is provided, which removes the products (11) placed in the magazine (30) upon reaching a predefinable piece count and supplies them to a packing station.

18. The device according to Claim 17, characterized in that the transport device (32) places the products (11) removed from the magazine (30) on a conveyor belt (36), which supplies the products (11) to the packing station.

19. The device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the products (11) provided for packing are compressed before the packing.

20. The device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that prefinished cartons (38), which are provided with insertion tabs and/or adhesive spots, are used as the package for the products (11) intended for this purpose.

21. The device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the packing of the finished products is provided automatically.

22. The device according to Claim 21, characterized in that a packing device automatically opens a prefinished carton (38), reaches through the open carton and acquires the counted and compressed products (11) and pulls them into the carton (38) and subsequently closes the carton.

23. The device according to Claim 21, characterized in that the packing device operates pneumatically.