Classifications

• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
  • B65B—MACHINES, APPARATUS OR DEVICES FOR, OR METHODS OF, PACKAGING ARTICLES OR MATERIALS; UNPACKING
  • B65B53/00—Shrinking wrappers, containers, or container covers during or after packaging
  • B65B53/02—Shrinking wrappers, containers, or container covers during or after packaging by heat
  • B65B53/06—Shrinking wrappers, containers, or container covers during or after packaging by heat supplied by gases, e.g. hot-air jets
  • B65B53/063—Tunnels

Definitions

• the invention relates to a shrink tunnel according to the preamble patent claim 1.
• Shrink tunnels for shrinking a shrink wrap onto packing formations are available from shrink packers, i. in packers or packing machines for packaging packing formations with shrink film known.
• pack formation means the most varied packaged goods to be packed with shrink film, in particular pack formations consisting of several packaged goods or individual packagings, in particular also consisting of several containers, bottles, cans or similar individual packagings, which then pass over the shrunk shrink film are combined to a packaging unit or a container.
• the object of the invention is to provide a shrink tunnel, which allows visual monitoring and / or control of the shrinking process.
• a shrink tunnel according to the patent claim 1 is formed.
• 1 generally indicates the shrink tunnel of a shrink packer, i. a system for shrinking a shrink film 2 on Packformation 3 shown, for example, to form packaging units or containers 4, in which the packing formations 3 forming individual packages are held together via the shrunk shrink film 2.
• a shrink packer i. a system for shrinking a shrink film 2 on Packformation 3 shown, for example, to form packaging units or containers 4, in which the packing formations 3 forming individual packages are held together via the shrunk shrink film 2.
• the shrink tunnel 1 forms a tunnel interior 5 which is closed to the outside by a tunnel wall, through which the packing formations 2 already enveloped by the shrink film 2 move to heat shrink the shrink film 2 or to form the packages 4 by means of a conveyor belt, for example a conveyor belt 6 become.
• the tunnel interior 5 is charged with hot air by a heating device 7, so that the shrinking the shrink film required high temperature of at least 200 0 C is reached.
• the devices 8 and 9 consist, for example, essentially of one or more slit-shaped air outlet openings and of corresponding blown-throughs, which are supplied with hot air from the heating device 7, for example. Outside the tunnel interior, several cameras 10 and 11 are provided with which the tunnel interior 5 or the shrinkage process taking place there can be monitored via the tunnel inlet 5.1 or tunnel outlet 5.2, in each case through the air curtain 8.1 and 9.1.
• a video camera 10 is provided at the tunnel inlet 5.1 and at a sufficient distance from this inlet and another video camera 11 at the tunnel outlet 5.2 with sufficient distance from this outlet, for example at a distance of 1, 5 - 2 m ,
• heat-resistant electric lamps 12 of which in the figure 1 for ease of illustration, only one lamp 12 is shown.
• a monitoring or optical detection (visualization) of the first subregion of the tunnel interior 5 adjoining the tunnel inlet 5.1 in the transport direction A takes place, on which (subregion) the decisive steps of the shrinking process take place. namely, the sealing of the overlapping portions 2.1 of the shrink film 2 located below the respective packing formation 3, the inflation of the shrink film over the lateral shrinkage eyes 2.2 formed when the respective packing formation 3 is enveloped by the shrink film 2, and the actual shrinking process initiated by heating the respective shrink film, in particular also at the respective packaging formation 3 facing inner surface.
• These first steps of the shrinking process which are in any case monitored or recorded by the video camera 10, already decisively determine the later one visual appearance of the container 4 or the quality of the shrinking process.
• the so-called shrinking of the shrink film then takes place at these first steps of the shrinking process.
• the partial space of the tunnel interior 5 in the transport direction A in front of the tunnel outlet 5.2 is detected by the air curtain 9.1 and thus also the packing formations 3 or containers 4 with the shrunk shrink film and the quality of the respective shrinking process.
• the video cameras 10 and 11 are part of a camera or surveillance system which allows versatile use of the images generated by the cameras 10 and 11, e.g. et al a representation of the images on monitors 14, so taking into account these images u.a. an optimal control of the shrinking process or an optimal adjustment of the shrink tunnel 1 and / or a tunnel having this packaging line, especially when changing the shrink film and / or in a format change, etc. are possible.
• the images taken by the camera system during the shrinking process directly, i. E. be transferred without delay to the other location, so that the shrinking process can be changed and monitored directly from this location.
• the expert speaks in a data transmission without delay also from an online transmission.
• FIG. 2 shows, in a depiction like FIG. 1, a shrink tunnel 1 a that differs from the shrink tunnel 1 only in that at the tunnel inlet 5.1 and at the tunnel outlet 5.2 instead of the devices 8 and 9 for producing the air curtains 8.1 and 9.1 respectively
• Curtain or a curtain 15 (at the tunnel inlet 5.1) or 16 (at the tunnel outlet 5.2) is provided from a heat-resistant material.
• the curtains 15 and 16, with which in turn an enclosure of the tunnel interior 5 is also achieved at the tunnel inlet 5.1 or at the tunnel outlet 5.2, are formed, for example, in one piece or in several parts, in the latter case e.g. such that a plurality of curtain elements perpendicular to the transport direction A of the conveyor belt 6 connect to each other and / or are provided consecutively in the transport direction A.
• At least one video camera 17 is arranged in the tunnel interior 5, preferably heat-protected and pivots and / or movable, so that all details and processes in the tunnel interior 5 can be observed accurately.
• the camera 17 is in turn part of the camera system 13, with which the images of the camera 17 in the same manner as described above for the images or image data of the cameras 10 and 11, can be displayed on monitors 14 and / or otherwise used. It is also possible to provide additional cameras outside the tunnel interior 5, as shown by broken lines at 11.
• the video camera 17 is preferably to be provided in a cooler or cooled region of the tunnel interior 5, to be precise outside the heating air flow emerging from the nozzles for shrinking the shrink film 2.
• the conveyor or the conveyor belt 6 can be designed for a single-track packaged product stream or a multi-track packaged product stream.

Landscapes

• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• Packages (AREA)
• Investigating Materials By The Use Of Optical Means Adapted For Particular Applications (AREA)
• Studio Devices (AREA)
• Containers And Plastic Fillers For Packaging (AREA)
• Closed-Circuit Television Systems (AREA)

Priority Applications (5)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Related Child Applications (1)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=39402529

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (9)

Cited By (1)

Families Citing this family (13)

Citations (8)

Family Cites Families (8)

• 2007
  • 2007-03-09 DE DE102007011526A patent/DE102007011526A1/de not_active Withdrawn
• 2008
  • 2008-03-06 WO PCT/EP2008/001776 patent/WO2008110293A1/de active Application Filing
  • 2008-03-06 EP EP08716292A patent/EP2146903A1/de not_active Ceased
  • 2008-03-06 JP JP2009552119A patent/JP2010520839A/ja not_active Withdrawn
  • 2008-03-06 CN CN200880007676A patent/CN101663204A/zh active Pending
  • 2008-03-06 MX MX2009009313A patent/MX2009009313A/es not_active Application Discontinuation
  • 2008-03-06 RU RU2009137365/21A patent/RU2009137365A/ru unknown
  • 2008-03-06 BR BRPI0807274-4A patent/BRPI0807274A2/pt not_active IP Right Cessation
• 2009
  • 2009-09-08 US US12/555,562 patent/US20100058715A1/en not_active Abandoned

Patent Citations (8)

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