WO2009133201A1 - Improvements in or relating to packaging machines - Google Patents

Improvements in or relating to packaging machines Download PDF

Info

Publication number
WO2009133201A1
WO2009133201A1 PCT/EP2009/055318 EP2009055318W WO2009133201A1 WO 2009133201 A1 WO2009133201 A1 WO 2009133201A1 EP 2009055318 W EP2009055318 W EP 2009055318W WO 2009133201 A1 WO2009133201 A1 WO 2009133201A1
Authority
WO
WIPO (PCT)
Prior art keywords
sleeve
mandrel
processing arrangement
partially formed
detecting device
Prior art date
Application number
PCT/EP2009/055318
Other languages
French (fr)
Inventor
Harald Harsson
Connie Kormeseth
Myklebust Bjorn
Erik Stabell Sauge
Lars Aksel Thingelstad
Original Assignee
Elopak Systems Ag
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Elopak Systems Ag filed Critical Elopak Systems Ag
Publication of WO2009133201A1 publication Critical patent/WO2009133201A1/en

Links

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
    • B65B43/00—Forming, feeding, opening or setting-up containers or receptacles in association with packaging
    • B65B43/42—Feeding or positioning bags, boxes, or cartons in the distended, opened, or set-up state; Feeding preformed rigid containers, e.g. tins, capsules, glass tubes, glasses, to the packaging position; Locating containers or receptacles at the filling position; Supporting containers or receptacles during the filling operation
    • B65B43/50—Feeding or positioning bags, boxes, or cartons in the distended, opened, or set-up state; Feeding preformed rigid containers, e.g. tins, capsules, glass tubes, glasses, to the packaging position; Locating containers or receptacles at the filling position; Supporting containers or receptacles during the filling operation using rotary tables or turrets
    • 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
    • B65B57/00—Automatic control, checking, warning, or safety devices
    • B65B57/02—Automatic control, checking, warning, or safety devices responsive to absence, presence, abnormal feed, or misplacement of binding or wrapping material, containers, or packages
    • B65B57/06—Automatic control, checking, warning, or safety devices responsive to absence, presence, abnormal feed, or misplacement of binding or wrapping material, containers, or packages and operating to control, or to stop, the feed of articles or material to be packaged
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B31—MAKING ARTICLES OF PAPER, CARDBOARD OR MATERIAL WORKED IN A MANNER ANALOGOUS TO PAPER; WORKING PAPER, CARDBOARD OR MATERIAL WORKED IN A MANNER ANALOGOUS TO PAPER
    • B31B—MAKING CONTAINERS OF PAPER, CARDBOARD OR MATERIAL WORKED IN A MANNER ANALOGOUS TO PAPER
    • B31B50/00—Making rigid or semi-rigid containers, e.g. boxes or cartons
    • B31B50/006—Controlling; Regulating; Measuring; Improving safety
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B31—MAKING ARTICLES OF PAPER, CARDBOARD OR MATERIAL WORKED IN A MANNER ANALOGOUS TO PAPER; WORKING PAPER, CARDBOARD OR MATERIAL WORKED IN A MANNER ANALOGOUS TO PAPER
    • B31B—MAKING CONTAINERS OF PAPER, CARDBOARD OR MATERIAL WORKED IN A MANNER ANALOGOUS TO PAPER
    • B31B50/00—Making rigid or semi-rigid containers, e.g. boxes or cartons
    • B31B50/26—Folding sheets, blanks or webs
    • B31B50/28—Folding sheets, blanks or webs around mandrels, e.g. for forming bottoms
    • B31B50/30—Folding sheets, blanks or webs around mandrels, e.g. for forming bottoms the mandrels moving
    • B31B50/32—Folding sheets, blanks or webs around mandrels, e.g. for forming bottoms the mandrels moving in circular paths
    • B31B50/322—Folding sheets, blanks or webs around mandrels, e.g. for forming bottoms the mandrels moving in circular paths the mandrels extending radially from the periphery of a drum

Definitions

  • This invention relates to an improvement relating to a mandrel-based packaging machine and, in particular, to the supporting of a tubular container sleeve on the mandrel.
  • sleeve stops can be mounted at the appropriate location on the mandrel.
  • the sleeve stops may comprise rods mounted at the free end of the mandrel and extending substantially parallelly thereto, these rods having a series of holes in them so that the sleeve stops, which extend towards the external surface of the mandrel, can be inserted into the appropriate hole corresponding to the particular container size being formed.
  • Known physical sleeve stops and retaining devices are complex in structure and are not very flexible with regards to changes in sleeve sizes to be received on the mandrels.
  • sleeve stops When changing container sizes, sleeve stops must be adjusted accordingly on all mandrels, of which there can be up to twenty-four in a conventional form, fill and seal machine, and so this can be a very time- consuming operation.
  • leaf springs and sleeve stops may damage leading edges of the container sleeves, whilst the leaf springs may also damage the external surfaces of those sleeves.
  • apparatus comprising a mandrel for supporting a sleeve substantially co-axially thereon and a retaining device for retaining said sleeve in a desired longitudinal position on said mandrel and including a wheel arranged to bear on an external surface of said sleeve thereby pressing said sleeve against said mandrel .
  • a method comprising causing a mandrel to support a sleeve substantially co-axially thereon, utilising a wheel of a retaining device to retain said sleeve in a desired longitudinal position on said mandrel, said wheel pressing said sleeve against said mandrel .
  • a sleeve can be held relatively more reliably on a mandrel, with relatively lower risk of damage to the sleeve.
  • the retaining device is a lever arm attached at one end to a rotary spider carrying a plurality of radially extending mandrels and the wheel is located at an opposite free end of the lever arm with the surface of the wheel, in an inactive condition when no sleeve is supported on the mandrel, being located close to or contacting the external surface of the mandrel with which it is associated.
  • the wheel is advantageously in the form of a freely rotatable roller which has a surface which generates sufficient friction against the outer surface of the sleeve to retain the sleeve in a steady position on the mandrel and, at the same time, not damage that outer surface.
  • apparatus comprising a mandrel for supporting a sleeve substantially co-axially thereon, a detecting device arranged to detect the location of said sleeve relative to said mandrel, a processing arrangement with which said detecting device communicates, said processing arrangement serving to receive signals from said detecting device as to the presence of said sleeve in the desired location on said mandrel, and a filling device downstream of said mandrel and controlled by said processing arrangement, said processing arrangement serving to generate control signals for said filling device to refrain from filling a partially formed container produced from a sleeve which has not attained the desired location relative to said mandrel.
  • a method comprising causing a mandrel to support a sleeve substantially co-axially thereon and detecting the location of said sleeve relative to said mandrel, filling a series of partially formed containers produced on said mandrel from such sleeves, but failing to fill a faulty such partially formed container in the case where said detecting has revealed that the sleeve from which the faulty partially formed container was formed was not in a correct final position on said mandrel.
  • the detecting device is in the form of a plurality of sensors which are located on a retaining device extending alongside an external surface of its associated mandrel and are arranged to send signals to a processing arrangement of the apparatus.
  • a processing arrangement of the apparatus e.g., a sleeve which is not fed to the desired location relative to the mandrel, such that a formed container from the sleeve will have a greater risk of bottom leakage, this will be detected by the processing arrangement.
  • the faulty partially formed container would not be filled with a product and when exiting the filling machine, can be removed from the conveyor carrying the formed and filled containers, for example, by a pneumatic jet controlled by the processing arrangement.
  • the sensors are of the optical type, such as photodetectors .
  • a liquid-carrying container forming, filling, and sealing machine comprises a rotary spider 2 which includes a plurality of radially extending mandrels 4 and which is rotated stepwise about its own axis.
  • the mandrels 4 are equi- angularly spaced, at various stations (not illustrated) , about the axis of the spider 2.
  • the mandrels 4 receive opened tubular sleeves 6 (in the direction of the arrow in Figure 1) each open at both ends; the sleeves 6 in turn have bottom end closure panels folded-in; in turn have a hot end press applied to the outer surface of the end closure, to heat- and pressure-seal the end closure panels together; the sealed bottom end closure is then cooled by the mandrel 4 and in turn the container sleeves, now partially formed containers, are removed from the mandrels 4.
  • An opening and feeding mechanism (not shown) is used in pulling side- seam-sealed, tubular, flat, container sleeves of laminate material from a magazine, opening the same into tubes, and feeding the opened sleeves 6 onto the mandrels 4 of the indexing turret 2.
  • the laminate material may be plastics-coated paperboard.
  • Attached to the rotary spider 2 is one end of a retaining device in the form of a lever arm 8.
  • the opposite free end of the lever arm 8 carries a wheel 10 in the form of a freely rotatable roller, the outer surface of which, when in an inactive condition where no sleeve is on the mandrel, is located close to or in contact with the external surface of the mandrel 4 with which it is associated.
  • Distributed along the length of the lever arm 8 facing the external surface of the mandrel 6 is a detecting device in the form of a plurality of sensors 12 for detecting the position of the sleeve 6 relative to its associated mandrel 4.
  • the sensors 12 are preferably optical sensors and are able to detect how far along a mandrel 4 the sleeve 6 is fed.
  • the sensors 12 can also be conductive sensors especially when, for example, aluminium is used in the sleeve 6 or they can be mechanical proximity switches.
  • the sensors 12 are connected to a processing arrangement (not shown) which produces signals as to the longitudinal position of the sleeve 6 relative to the mandrel 4.
  • the sensors 12 may also be located on or in the mandrel 4 itself.
  • the wheel 10 has a surface such that sufficient friction is generated between the wheel 10 and the outer surface of the sleeve 6, when the sleeve 6 is introduced between the wheel 10 and the external surface of the mandrel 4, in order to retain the sleeve 6 steadily on the mandrel 4.
  • the wheel 10 In an inactive condition defined by the absence of a sleeve 6, the wheel 10 is positioned close to or contacting the external surface of its mandrel 4 so that good grip is given for all container sizes. No adjustments to the lever arm 8 and/or the wheel 10 are necessary when the container size to be run in the packaging machine is changed.
  • the sleeves 6 are sealingly closed at their bottoms while received upon respective mandrels 4, the open-topped partially formed containers being removed from the mandrels 4 and filled with a liquid product, and the filled containers are sealingly closed at their tops.
  • the wheel 10 rotates in an anticlockwise direction as the sleeve is fed between the external surface of the mandrel 4 and the wheel 10.
  • the wheel 10 presses the sleeve 6 against the mandrel 4 so as to hold it steadily in place when the sleeve 6 reaches the desired longitudinal position, which is detected by the sensors 12.
  • the processing arrangement with which the sensors 12 communicate produce a signal to the packaging machine not to fill that sleeve when bottom sealed, since there would be a greater risk of bottom leakage from such a partially formed container.
  • the processing arrangement could also produce a signal for a remover to remove the particular unfilled partially formed container from the conveyor as it exits the filling station of the packaging machine.
  • the remover produces a pneumatic jet to remove the faulty partially formed container.

Abstract

A mandrel (4) for supporting a sleeve (6) substantially co-axially thereon and a retaining device (8) for retaining the sleeve (6) in a desired longitudinal position on the mandrel (4) and including a wheel (10) arranged to bear on an external surface of the sleeve (6) thereby pressing the sleeve (6) against the mandrel (4). Also disclosed is a detecting device (12) arranged to detect the location of the sleeve (6) relative to the mandrel (4), a processing arrangement with which said detecting device (12) communicates, the processing arrangement serving to receive signals from the detecting device (12) as to the presence of the sleeve (6) in the desired location on the mandrel (4), and a filling device downstream of the mandrel (4) and controlled by the processing arrangement, the processing arrangement serving to generate control signals for the filling device not to fill a partially formed container produced from a sleeve (6) which has not attained the desired location relative to the mandrel (4).

Description

IMPROVEMENTS IN OR RELATING TO PACKAGING MACHINES
This invention relates to an improvement relating to a mandrel-based packaging machine and, in particular, to the supporting of a tubular container sleeve on the mandrel.
It is known to load, from a magazine, tubular, flat, container sleeves of laminate material on to radially extending mandrels of a rotary spider as part of a container forming process, in particular for bottom forming. In an attempt to stabilise such a container sleeve on a mandrel, it is known to provide a retaining device in the form of a leaf spring biased towards an external surface of the mandrel for holding the sleeve in place whilst on the mandrel. It is also known to provide other forms of retaining devices, such as a cam-driven clamping device or a pneumatic piston. In addition, in order to stop a sleeve advancing too far longitudinally onto a mandrel, physical sleeve stops can be mounted at the appropriate location on the mandrel. The sleeve stops may comprise rods mounted at the free end of the mandrel and extending substantially parallelly thereto, these rods having a series of holes in them so that the sleeve stops, which extend towards the external surface of the mandrel, can be inserted into the appropriate hole corresponding to the particular container size being formed.
Known physical sleeve stops and retaining devices are complex in structure and are not very flexible with regards to changes in sleeve sizes to be received on the mandrels. When changing container sizes, sleeve stops must be adjusted accordingly on all mandrels, of which there can be up to twenty-four in a conventional form, fill and seal machine, and so this can be a very time- consuming operation. Moreover, leaf springs and sleeve stops may damage leading edges of the container sleeves, whilst the leaf springs may also damage the external surfaces of those sleeves. In respect of the known retaining devices and sleeve stops, the complexity in structure results in users not wanting to employ them on their machines such that in such machines there is little control of the sleeves being fed onto the mandrels. If the sleeves are not fed onto the mandrels to a desired longitudinal distance on the mandrel, the risk of the formed container having bottom leakage is much greater. In addition, adjustments to the retaining devices may also need to be made when changing the container size.
According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided apparatus comprising a mandrel for supporting a sleeve substantially co-axially thereon and a retaining device for retaining said sleeve in a desired longitudinal position on said mandrel and including a wheel arranged to bear on an external surface of said sleeve thereby pressing said sleeve against said mandrel .
According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method comprising causing a mandrel to support a sleeve substantially co-axially thereon, utilising a wheel of a retaining device to retain said sleeve in a desired longitudinal position on said mandrel, said wheel pressing said sleeve against said mandrel .
Owing to these two aspects of the invention, a sleeve can be held relatively more reliably on a mandrel, with relatively lower risk of damage to the sleeve. Preferably, the retaining device is a lever arm attached at one end to a rotary spider carrying a plurality of radially extending mandrels and the wheel is located at an opposite free end of the lever arm with the surface of the wheel, in an inactive condition when no sleeve is supported on the mandrel, being located close to or contacting the external surface of the mandrel with which it is associated.
The wheel is advantageously in the form of a freely rotatable roller which has a surface which generates sufficient friction against the outer surface of the sleeve to retain the sleeve in a steady position on the mandrel and, at the same time, not damage that outer surface.
According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided apparatus comprising a mandrel for supporting a sleeve substantially co-axially thereon, a detecting device arranged to detect the location of said sleeve relative to said mandrel, a processing arrangement with which said detecting device communicates, said processing arrangement serving to receive signals from said detecting device as to the presence of said sleeve in the desired location on said mandrel, and a filling device downstream of said mandrel and controlled by said processing arrangement, said processing arrangement serving to generate control signals for said filling device to refrain from filling a partially formed container produced from a sleeve which has not attained the desired location relative to said mandrel.
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method comprising causing a mandrel to support a sleeve substantially co-axially thereon and detecting the location of said sleeve relative to said mandrel, filling a series of partially formed containers produced on said mandrel from such sleeves, but failing to fill a faulty such partially formed container in the case where said detecting has revealed that the sleeve from which the faulty partially formed container was formed was not in a correct final position on said mandrel.
Owing to these two aspects of the invention, it is possible to detect whether the position the sleeve reaches, when fed onto the mandrel, is the desired longitudinal position relative to the mandrel for the particular sleeve so that a determination can be made to fill the partially formed container or not.
Preferably, the detecting device is in the form of a plurality of sensors which are located on a retaining device extending alongside an external surface of its associated mandrel and are arranged to send signals to a processing arrangement of the apparatus. In this way, if a sleeve is not fed to the desired location relative to the mandrel, such that a formed container from the sleeve will have a greater risk of bottom leakage, this will be detected by the processing arrangement. Advantageously, in such a situation, the faulty partially formed container would not be filled with a product and when exiting the filling machine, can be removed from the conveyor carrying the formed and filled containers, for example, by a pneumatic jet controlled by the processing arrangement.
Advantageously, the sensors are of the optical type, such as photodetectors .
In order that the invention can be clearly and completely disclosed, reference will now be made, by way of example only, to the accompanying drawing which is a diagrammatic side view of a rotary turret of a packaging machine including a plurality of mandrels .
Referring to Figure 1, a liquid-carrying container forming, filling, and sealing machine comprises a rotary spider 2 which includes a plurality of radially extending mandrels 4 and which is rotated stepwise about its own axis. The mandrels 4 are equi- angularly spaced, at various stations (not illustrated) , about the axis of the spider 2. The mandrels 4, in turn, receive opened tubular sleeves 6 (in the direction of the arrow in Figure 1) each open at both ends; the sleeves 6 in turn have bottom end closure panels folded-in; in turn have a hot end press applied to the outer surface of the end closure, to heat- and pressure-seal the end closure panels together; the sealed bottom end closure is then cooled by the mandrel 4 and in turn the container sleeves, now partially formed containers, are removed from the mandrels 4. An opening and feeding mechanism (not shown) is used in pulling side- seam-sealed, tubular, flat, container sleeves of laminate material from a magazine, opening the same into tubes, and feeding the opened sleeves 6 onto the mandrels 4 of the indexing turret 2. The laminate material may be plastics-coated paperboard.
Attached to the rotary spider 2 is one end of a retaining device in the form of a lever arm 8. The opposite free end of the lever arm 8 carries a wheel 10 in the form of a freely rotatable roller, the outer surface of which, when in an inactive condition where no sleeve is on the mandrel, is located close to or in contact with the external surface of the mandrel 4 with which it is associated. Distributed along the length of the lever arm 8 facing the external surface of the mandrel 6 is a detecting device in the form of a plurality of sensors 12 for detecting the position of the sleeve 6 relative to its associated mandrel 4. The sensors 12 are preferably optical sensors and are able to detect how far along a mandrel 4 the sleeve 6 is fed. The sensors 12 can also be conductive sensors especially when, for example, aluminium is used in the sleeve 6 or they can be mechanical proximity switches. The sensors 12 are connected to a processing arrangement (not shown) which produces signals as to the longitudinal position of the sleeve 6 relative to the mandrel 4. The sensors 12 may also be located on or in the mandrel 4 itself.
The wheel 10 has a surface such that sufficient friction is generated between the wheel 10 and the outer surface of the sleeve 6, when the sleeve 6 is introduced between the wheel 10 and the external surface of the mandrel 4, in order to retain the sleeve 6 steadily on the mandrel 4. In an inactive condition defined by the absence of a sleeve 6, the wheel 10 is positioned close to or contacting the external surface of its mandrel 4 so that good grip is given for all container sizes. No adjustments to the lever arm 8 and/or the wheel 10 are necessary when the container size to be run in the packaging machine is changed.
In the packaging forming, filling, and sealing machine, the sleeves 6 are sealingly closed at their bottoms while received upon respective mandrels 4, the open-topped partially formed containers being removed from the mandrels 4 and filled with a liquid product, and the filled containers are sealingly closed at their tops.
During use, when the sleeve 6 is fed longitudinally onto the mandrel 4, the wheel 10 rotates in an anticlockwise direction as the sleeve is fed between the external surface of the mandrel 4 and the wheel 10. The wheel 10 presses the sleeve 6 against the mandrel 4 so as to hold it steadily in place when the sleeve 6 reaches the desired longitudinal position, which is detected by the sensors 12. If the sensors 12 detect that a sleeve 6 has not been fed on to the mandrel 4 to the desired longitudinal position, the processing arrangement with which the sensors 12 communicate produce a signal to the packaging machine not to fill that sleeve when bottom sealed, since there would be a greater risk of bottom leakage from such a partially formed container. In addition, the processing arrangement could also produce a signal for a remover to remove the particular unfilled partially formed container from the conveyor as it exits the filling station of the packaging machine. Preferably the remover produces a pneumatic jet to remove the faulty partially formed container.
The use of such a retaining device with the wheel 10 and the use of the sensors 12 instead of conventional physical sleeve stops greatly simplifies the structure of the packaging machine and is relatively more user-friendly.

Claims

1. Apparatus comprising a mandrel for supporting a sleeve substantially co-axially thereon and a retaining device for retaining said sleeve in a desired longitudinal position on said mandrel and including a wheel arranged to bear on an external surface of said sleeve thereby pressing said sleeve against said mandrel .
2. Apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said mandrel is one of a plurality of radially extending mandrels of a rotary spider.
3. Apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein said retaining device includes a lever arm extending alongside said mandrel and which carries said wheel.
4. Apparatus according to claim 3, wherein said wheel is located at a free end of said lever arm.
5. Apparatus according to any preceding claim, wherein, in an inactive condition, the outer surface of said wheel is located close to or contacting an external surface of said mandrel with which it is associated.
6. Apparatus according to any preceding claim, wherein said wheel takes the form of a freely rotatable roller.
7. Apparatus according to any preceding claim, wherein said wheel has a surface which generates sufficient friction against the surface of said sleeve to retain said sleeve in a steady position on said mandrel.
8. Apparatus according to any preceding claim, wherein said sleeve is a tubular, flat, container sleeve and said apparatus further comprises an opening and feeding device for opening the tubular, flat, container sleeve and feeding such sleeve onto said mandrel .
9. Apparatus according to any preceding claim, and further comprising a detecting device arranged to detect the location of said sleeve relative to said mandrel.
10. Apparatus according to claim 9, wherein said detecting device is provided on said sleeve retaining device.
11. Apparatus according to claim 9 or 10, and further comprising a processing arrangement with which said detecting device communicates, said processing arrangement serving to receive signals from said detecting device as to the presence of said sleeve in the desired location on said mandrel.
12. Apparatus according to any one of claims 9 to 11, and further comprising a filling device downstream of said mandrel and controlled by said processing arrangement, said processing arrangement serving to generate control signals for said filling device not to fill a partially formed container produced from a sleeve which has not attained the desired location relative to said mandrel .
13. Apparatus according to claim 12, and further comprising a remover controlled by said processing arrangement, said remover serving to receive signals from said processing arrangement to remove such an unfilled partially formed container.
14. Apparatus according to claim 13, wherein said remover takes the form of applying a pneumatic jet to such unfilled partially formed container.
15. Apparatus according to any one of claims 9 to 14, wherein said detecting device comprises one or more optical sensors.
16. A method comprising causing a mandrel to support a sleeve substantially co-axially thereon, utilising a wheel of a retaining device to retain said sleeve in a desired longitudinal position on said mandrel, said wheel pressing said sleeve against said mandrel.
17. A method according to claim 16, and further comprising, prior to said sleeve being supported by said mandrel, opening said sleeve in the form of a tubular, flat, container sleeve and feeding the opened tubular sleeve onto said mandrel.
18. A method according to claim 16 or 17, and further comprising generating sufficient friction between said wheel and the surface of said sleeve to retain said sleeve in the desired longitudinal position .
19. A method according to any one of claims 16 to 18, and further comprising detecting with a detecting device the position of said sleeve on said mandrel.
20. A method according to any one of claims 16 to 19, and further comprising supplying to a processing arrangement signals from said detecting device as to the location of said sleeve relative to said mandrel .
21. A method according to claim 20, and further comprising filling a series of partially formed containers produced on said mandrel from such sleeves, but failing to fill a faulty such partially formed container, wherein a filling device is arranged to receive control signals from said processing arrangement in the event that said detecting device detects that said sleeve is not in the correct position on said mandrel.
22. A method according to claim 21, and further comprising removing such unfilled partially formed container from said series.
23. A method according to claim 22, wherein said removing is performed pneumatically.
24. A method according to any one of claims 19 to 23, wherein said detecting is performed optically.
25. Apparatus comprising a mandrel for supporting a sleeve substantially co-axially thereon, a detecting device arranged to detect the location of said sleeve relative to said mandrel, a processing arrangement with which said detecting device communicates, said processing arrangement serving to receive signals from said detecting device as to the presence of said sleeve in the desired location on said mandrel, and a filling device downstream of said mandrel and controlled by said processing arrangement, said processing arrangement serving to generate control signals for said filling device to refrain from filling a partially formed container produced from a sleeve which has not attained the desired location relative to said mandrel.
26. Apparatus according to claim 25, and further comprising a sleeve retaining device extending alongside said mandrel, wherein said detecting device is provided on said sleeve retaining device.
27. Apparatus according to claim 25, wherein said detecting device is provided on or in said mandrel.
28. Apparatus according to any one of claims 25 to 27, and further comprising a remover controlled by said processing arrangement, said remover serving to receive signals from said processing arrangement to remove such an unfilled partially formed container.
29. Apparatus according to claim 28, wherein said remover takes the form of applying a pneumatic jet to such unfilled partially formed container.
30. Apparatus according to any one of claims 25 to 29, wherein said detecting device comprises one or more optical sensors.
31. A method comprising causing a mandrel to support a sleeve substantially co-axially thereon and detecting the location of said sleeve relative to said mandrel, filling a series of partially formed containers produced on said mandrel from such sleeves, but failing to fill a faulty such partially formed container in the case where said detecting has revealed that the sleeve from which the faulty partially formed container was formed was not in a correct final position on said mandrel.
32. A method according to claim 31, and further comprising removing such unfilled partially formed container from said series.
33. A method according to claim 32, wherein said removing is performed pneumatically.
34. A method according to any one of claims 31 to 33, wherein said detecting is performed optically.
PCT/EP2009/055318 2008-05-02 2009-05-01 Improvements in or relating to packaging machines WO2009133201A1 (en)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
GB0808048.3 2008-05-02
GBGB0808048.3A GB0808048D0 (en) 2008-05-02 2008-05-02 Improvements in or relating to packaging machines

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WO2009133201A1 true WO2009133201A1 (en) 2009-11-05

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Citations (4)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
GB365522A (en) * 1930-10-13 1932-01-13 Carl Wilhelm Hartmann Improvements in automatic packing machines
GB772960A (en) * 1954-06-22 1957-04-17 Rose Brothers Ltd Improvements in the packaging of articles in pre-formed bags
WO1995010408A1 (en) * 1993-10-15 1995-04-20 Portola Packaging, Inc. Apparatus and method for attaching fitments to cartons
WO2006064225A2 (en) * 2004-12-14 2006-06-22 Elopak Systems Ag Apparatus and method for loading cartons on carton forming machines

Patent Citations (4)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
GB365522A (en) * 1930-10-13 1932-01-13 Carl Wilhelm Hartmann Improvements in automatic packing machines
GB772960A (en) * 1954-06-22 1957-04-17 Rose Brothers Ltd Improvements in the packaging of articles in pre-formed bags
WO1995010408A1 (en) * 1993-10-15 1995-04-20 Portola Packaging, Inc. Apparatus and method for attaching fitments to cartons
WO2006064225A2 (en) * 2004-12-14 2006-06-22 Elopak Systems Ag Apparatus and method for loading cartons on carton forming machines

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