Classifications

• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
  • B65D—CONTAINERS FOR STORAGE OR TRANSPORT OF ARTICLES OR MATERIALS, e.g. BAGS, BARRELS, BOTTLES, BOXES, CANS, CARTONS, CRATES, DRUMS, JARS, TANKS, HOPPERS, FORWARDING CONTAINERS; ACCESSORIES, CLOSURES, OR FITTINGS THEREFOR; PACKAGING ELEMENTS; PACKAGES
  • B65D5/00—Rigid or semi-rigid containers of polygonal cross-section, e.g. boxes, cartons or trays, formed by folding or erecting one or more blanks made of paper
  • B65D5/42—Details of containers or of foldable or erectable container blanks
  • B65D5/4279—Joints, seams, leakproof joints or corners, special connections between panels
  • B65D5/4283—Connections formed by separate elements, e.g. clips, bands, straps
• • 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
  • B31B50/44—Folding sheets, blanks or webs by plungers moving through folding dies
• • 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
  • B31B2100/00—Rigid or semi-rigid containers made by folding single-piece sheets, blanks or webs
• • 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
  • B31B2100/00—Rigid or semi-rigid containers made by folding single-piece sheets, blanks or webs
  • B31B2100/002—Rigid or semi-rigid containers made by folding single-piece sheets, blanks or webs characterised by the shape of the blank from which they are formed
  • B31B2100/0024—Rigid or semi-rigid containers made by folding single-piece sheets, blanks or webs characterised by the shape of the blank from which they are formed having all side walls attached to the bottom
• • 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
  • B31B2110/00—Shape of rigid or semi-rigid containers
  • B31B2110/30—Shape of rigid or semi-rigid containers having a polygonal cross section
  • B31B2110/35—Shape of rigid or semi-rigid containers having a polygonal cross section rectangular, e.g. square
• • 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
  • B31B2120/00—Construction of rigid or semi-rigid containers
  • B31B2120/502—Construction of rigid or semi-rigid containers having integral corner posts or reinforcements
• • 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
  • B31B50/60—Uniting opposed surfaces or edges; Taping
  • B31B50/68—Uniting opposed surfaces or edges; Taping by stitching, stapling or riveting
• • 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
  • B31B50/60—Uniting opposed surfaces or edges; Taping
  • B31B50/68—Uniting opposed surfaces or edges; Taping by stitching, stapling or riveting
  • B31B50/70—Uniting opposed surfaces or edges; Taping by stitching, stapling or riveting by corner stapling
• • 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
  • B31B50/74—Auxiliary operations
  • B31B50/81—Forming or attaching accessories, e.g. opening devices, closures or tear strings

Definitions

• the present invention concerns the field of the manufacture of boxes made of cardboard, such as, in particular but not necessarily, flat or corrugated cardboard destined to be successively covered and, more precisely, a method for forming the above boxes. Moreover, the invention extends to a specifically improved apparatus to implement this method, and to a box obtained with this method and apparatus.
• Forming and corner-joining apparatus to form packing boxes are known, in which the boxes themselves are formed through the folding of flat blanks made of paper, via the action of a so-called cast or mould which moves vertically in an alternate manner and consists of a block having a shape corresponding to the box to be formed.
• the box is then transported towards centering systems with respect to a covering paper sheet, on which a gluing substance has been previously distributed, and subsequently towards the covering machine (a machine that covers or wraps the cardboard box up with covering paper).
• the known technique provides for various systems.
• heat sealing lengths of tape are used, by applying them over the contact line between the two open flaps to be joined.
• the arrangement of the tape creates an additional coat of material (the tape itself) which in its turn determines a superficial unevenness which remains and is rather highlighted after the placing of the covering paper.
• the little step formed because of the tape length is in fact made even more evident by the bright finishing of the covering paper.
• the heat sealing tape length is typically some mm shorter than the flaps to be joined, i.e. of the corner to be welded. If the boxes have a sufficient height, the amount of heat sealing tape applied is in any case sufficient to keep the box stable for the subsequent transport and covering operations. However, with particularly low boxes (side walls with a height lower than 12-13 mm), the tape portion which can be applied on the flaps is extremely reduced (5-6 mm) and, besides jeopardizing the tape feeding and cutting operations, it achieves an extremely poor sealing.
• the scanty portion of tape applied does not allow the transport and the folding of the boxes in a safe manner, with frequent re-opening of the flaps and, therefore, repercussions in terms of loss of quality and decrease in productivity.
• Low boxes sealed with tape tend to generally deform in any case, the side walls taking some concavity (the so-called "warping") because the corners are not particularly stiff.
• a further prerogative of the system at issue is in connection with the time necessary to apply the heat sealing tape, which is generally of 0.6 seconds, hence a limit to the speed and productivity of the machines adopting this kind of solution.
• the energy consumption can be an element to be kept under control.
• the applying of the glue requires drying times which make the system slower and hardly compatible with boxes of simple and regular shape for which productivity is an essential element in terms of commercial validity.
• the boxes made with this method should be high, because a limited surface on which to apply the glue limits the adhering strength of the corners, with consequent instability of the box and risk of re-opening during its transport or covering phases.
• the method according to the invention therefore reaches the object of a firm sealing, also in case of low boxes, without detectable surface defects also with thin cardboards, that can be carried out in very short times and with reduced energy consumptions.
• the method according to the invention provides for the applying of at least one metallic staple at the four corners of the box.
• the metallic staple could be generated from a continuous wire reel and then opportunely cut and shaped near the application area, or taken from a suitable charger of pre-shaped metallic staples (like in a manual desktop stapler).
• the head shaping the metallic staple will carry out in sequence the feeding operations of the wire for a portion corresponding to the length of the metallic staple to be applied, the subsequent forming of the staple according to a typical U-shape, the introduction of the staple inside the two flaps of material to be joined and the subsequent folding of the side arms of the U, so as to make them integral with the two portions of the box.
• a subsequent riveting operation of the staple applied will be necessary to englobe the two sections of the metallic staple inside the thickness of the cardboard and limit its projections with respect to the face forming the inner and outer walls of the box.
• the flaps of the cardboard will be suitably shaped to conveniently arrange for the sealing along the sides of the box.
• the metallic staple allows to carry out the sealing in a very stable and safe manner in relation to the subsequent transporting and covering phases of the box, a result which is not at all guaranteed by the traditional sealing systems described above.
• low boxes can be manufactured by applying one metallic staple only.
• the metallic staples will be typically inserted inside the cardboard of which the structure of the box consists, and will not be visible after the covering of the box itself.
• the applying of the metallic staple is a very quick operation which can be done at the end of the erection phase of the box.
• Such operation can be made by stopping the box during the descent phase from the cardboard blank feeding level to the erection level or with a "chase” method which will allow to apply the metallic staples during the final step of the above mentioned descent phase.
• the mould placed inside the formed box matches the application heads of the metallic staples with a suitable metallic counter-plate conveniently shaped such as to work on the metallic staple and carry out its folding and riveting phases at the back.
• the back arms of the metallic staple can have different shapes according to the shape of the metallic counter-plate applied to the four corners of the mould inside the box.
• the mould can also provide, in addition or in the alternative, some active - i.e., mobile - riveting means of the point or staple.
• the staple applied can be made not only with metallic material, but also with a suitably deformable plastic material.
• FIGS. 1 to 6 are axonometric views of, respectively, succeeding phases of a method according to the invention, starting from a flat blank, shown in figure 1 , until reaching a formed, erected box, shown in figure 6, with figures 2 and 5 schematically representing also the most important parts of the apparatus according to the invention;
• FIG. 10a and 10b are axonometric views of an active anvil of an apparatus according to the invention, respectively in a rearward and in a forward or staple closing position.
• the method according to the invention starts from a flat blank, preferably having the characteristics which can be inferred from the example in figure 1.
• a flat blank preferably having the characteristics which can be inferred from the example in figure 1.
• Such example refers to a cross-shaped blank with a central portion 1 , destined to define the bottom of the box, and four side flaps 2 foldably projecting from respective sides of the central portion 1 , destined to form the side walls once orthogonally erected with respect to the central portion.
• the folding lines 3, along which the base corners of the box are formed, are represented with a thin and dotted line in figure 1.
• the side flaps 2 have a special shaping in correspondence with their ends, i.e. in the corner regions where the flap is destined to be joined with the adjacent flap.
• the two flaps at issue do not end with straight borders which depart from respective angles of the base 1 , orthogonally with respect to the folding lines 3.
• said flaps respectively form an excess portion or tab 2a and a lacking portion or cutout 2b, destined to match, being mutually complementary once the box is formed, as we it will be better seen afterwards.
• the excess portion or tab 2a is separated from the rest of its flap by a secondary folding line 4 departing from the angle of the base, orthogonally with respect to the base folding 3.
• This secondary folding line 4 is destined to form the corner between the two consecutive side walls of the box.
• the excess portion 2a and the cutout 2b are shaped according to complementary cut borders which extend slantwise starting from the angle of the base 1 .
• each flap 2' present on both their corner regions the excess tabs 2a, while the four complementary cutouts are obtained on the other two flaps.
• different distributions could be adopted, for example with each flap having a tab at one end and a cutout at the other end.
• the erection or forming of the box occurs in a manner similar to the one of the traditional technique (figure 2 and following), with a mould 5 which hits on the blank, so that the side flaps 2 are erected by contrast with steady and suitably shaped folding arms 6.
• the above mentioned folding arms will also attend to the folding of the excess tabs 2a along the folding lines 4 with respect to the central area of the respective flaps, and are therefore shaped to the purpose, as not represented but obvious for the skilled person.
• the essential aspect of the invention provides that the joining be made through points or staples, generally metallic but also made of other materials with suitable characteristics, shot by stapling devices 7 provided on the apparatus in a suitable configuration.
• Such devices 7, corresponding in number and place to the number and place of the staples to be simultaneously applied, can be moved to be adjusted at least in height (i.e. along the direction of alternative movement of the mould 5), by way of example along rails such as the columns 8 depicted in the figures.
• the devices 7 are in any case controlled so as to operate simultaneously with all the corners of the box.
• the operating heads of the devices 7, indicated as 7a are arranged and work with different modalities according to the constructive solution chosen.
• One of these solutions provides that the heads be under all aspects similar to desktop staplers, operating to fold and close U-shaped staples, supplied as feeding material.
• a continuous wire can be supplied as feeding material, a wire which, besides being folded, must be previously transported and cut into lengths (even with one single device moving along the whole perimeter of the box), in any case using technical solutions which are obvious for any skilled person, or taken from known applications in other fields.
• anvil plates 5a are provided on the mould 5 according to the invention, preferably equipped with a concave shaping 5b adapted to assist and guide the closing of the small arms at the ends of the staple (on the inner face of the wall) towards the central segment (which remains on the outside, bridging over the cut C).
• the anvil plates 5a are clearly located in the regions destined to correspond with the area on which the staple is placed and, therefore, in this specific case, in portions of the plane side faces 5c which determine the side surface of the mould 5, faces delimited among respective corners, said portions resulting adjacent with the corners themselves.
• Figure 6 therefore shows the final result of the corner joining phase, with the staples S which mutually respective excess tabs 2a of a flap 2' to the consecutive flap 2 provided with the cutout, cicatrizing inside the cardboard sheet forming the wall, without creating any detectable additional thickness and, as a consequence, any protrusion.
• the cuts C result in pairs on two opposite walls, but it is obvious that different arrangements can be obtained because if, as mentioned, any flap of the blank has a tab at one end and a cutout at the other end, the composition of the couples tab/cutout will be made on respective walls and, therefore, with a cut C on each wall, near either of the two corners.
• This and other alternative and equivalent arrangements can be chosen from time to time to meet the specific needs required by the characteristics of the box under manufacture.
• the tabs will never be superimposed on the flaps of the respective complementary walls but, on the contrary, they will be perfectly coplanar. This allows to make both the cutting line and the metallic staple invisible in the box once it has been covered.
• Figure 8 such as the following figure 9 again referring to a low box, provides a different example of blank which, again according to the invention, has complementary tabs and cutouts on consecutive flaps in order to move the cut C from the corner to a wall of the box.
• a different shaping with respect to the above tabs and cutouts is used.
• each tab 102a' will prove to be rectangular, ending with a border (corresponding to one of the borders of the cut C) parallel with the relating secondary folding line 104.
• the cut C will not therefore be slanted but parallel with the corner of the box.
• the distance between the cut and the corner such as the slope of the slanted cut in the previous case, could obviously be chosen and optimized according to the needs required by the characteristics of the box under manufacture.
• the shaping of the flaps could in general be changed at one's pleasure, also according to the characteristics of the blank, which could be different from the cross- shaped blank shown in the examples made.
• the system according to the invention could in fact be used with blanks used to create boxes with a polygonal (hexagonal, octagonal, etc.) shape and also with the so-called T- and double T- shaped blanks, always using the expedient of making the consecutive flaps forming a mutually complementary corner, with suitable shapings which advantageously "move" the cut to be stapled from the corner to the flat region of the wall.
• the small arms at the ends of the point or staple S could be staggered with respect to their natural closing position (aligned and superimposed along the central stretch) or shortened so as to leave, always after the closing phase, a portion of free material between the two spikes of the staple itself,.
• the system used for the sealing does not need heating phases for its welding components (heat sealing bars) or for the systems applying the glue (hot melt guns).
• the system is "ready made” and does not need complex or expensive temperature control and management systems;
• the system is not influenced by weather conditions (moisture and temperature);
• the sealing with metallic staple allows to close the borders in a stiff manner and, therefore, drastically reduces the warping phenomenon (particularly evident in boxes made of thin cardboard, having low borders, and being sealed with tape) in favor of the quality of the box;
• the sealing according to the invention is particularly effective because it allows to eliminate glue applicators which are particularly expensive and difficult to manage;
• the device is made of a small block 91 which is integrated in the mould 5 (not depicted in the figures) so that a plane face 91 a of the small block is basically coplanar with a plane face 5c of the mould.
• the small block 91 acts as guide for a slider 92 which, driven by a linear actuator, not represented but of obvious implementation, is adapted to go forward and rearward according to a direction orthogonal with the plane face 91 a to make a couple of pincers 93 pivoted to the small block 91 go forward and rearward in a corresponding manner.
• the pincers 93 counter-rotating and placed side by side so as to have their free ends turned the one towards the other, have an outer side shaped according to respective recesses 93a adapted to engage with the small arms of the metallic staple S.
• FIG. 10a A simple comparison between figures 10a and 10b can help understand the working of the device 9.
• the pincers 93 will go from the rearward position (figure 10a), taken during the insertion of the point from outside, to the forward displaced position (figure 10b), so as to exert the requested folding and hit pressure on the small arms at the ends of the metallic staple against the inner face of the wall of the box, thus integrating the point itself inside the cardboard wall and making it invisible once the box has been covered (both inside and outside).
• the rearward position of the pincers can, as in the example, already have a V-shaped geometry so as to carry out a first folding of the staple, completely open until that time, at the moment of the insertion.

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• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• Making Paper Articles (AREA)
• Coin-Freed Apparatuses For Hiring Articles (AREA)
• Auxiliary Devices For And Details Of Packaging Control (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (2)

Family

ID=45034051

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (2)

Cited By (4)

Families Citing this family (1)

Family Cites Families (6)

• 2011
  • 2011-11-04 IT IT000242A patent/ITFI20110242A1/it unknown
• 2012
  • 2012-11-02 WO PCT/IB2012/056124 patent/WO2013065025A2/en active Application Filing

Non-Patent Citations (1)

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