DE9408578U1 - Device for compacting and / or transporting films produced in packaging - Google Patents

Description

"Device for compressing and/or transporting films resulting from packaging"

The invention relates to a device for compressing and/or transporting films arising from packaging, with a receiving container for the films and a pressing plate for compressing the films.

It is known that films, which are produced in large quantities in packaging, for example in department stores, food markets and the like, because factory packaging has to be removed in order to be able to stack the containers in a way that is convenient for the customer, are compressed in so-called film compactors. These compactors are usually stationary hydraulic presses, which are comparatively complex to design and therefore expensive to purchase. Such presses are known, for example, from the "Schäfershop" catalog March 1994, page 716.

There are applications in which such complex presses are unnecessary, although the known presses also have the disadvantage that the compressed ingredients must always be removed in order to be able to transport them further.

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The object of the invention is to create a solution with which it is possible to compress films using simple means, whereby the compression device itself can simultaneously be used, if desired, as a transport container for the compressed film.

With a device of the first type, this object is achieved according to the invention by the characterized features of claim 1.

Because the inner surfaces of the container walls have a friction-increasing design, it is possible to compress the film in stages in the container, whereby the press plate can be designed by the guide so that it can also be operated by hand.

Further advantageous embodiments of the invention emerge from the subclaims.

It is particularly useful to provide the press plate with a sleeve-like guide on a perforated guide tube for height adjustment, with a handling lever passing through an approximately central slot in an opposite side wall.

A particularly simple design is to form the wall surfaces of the container from mesh grids and, if necessary, to equip the container itself with rollers.

Such a grid construction with rollers is light and therefore easy to transport and thus represents a particularly useful design of the invention in the event that the entire device is also to be used as a transport device.

During compaction, the film is pressed outwards through the free spaces of the mesh grid and thus clamps itself to the side walls in such a way that after a compaction process the press plate can be lifted back into the top dead center position without the compacted film swelling or springing back significantly.

The sleeve for the press plate can be provided with a latch/lock that can be unlocked using a handle, whereby a belt with a pulley can be provided for lifting the guide tube.

In order not to cause interference in the transport position, the handling lever of the press plate can be designed to be foldable and/or telescopic, and the like.

In order to ensure easy removal of the foil bale, the invention provides that two adjacent side walls of the container can be pivoted open relative to fixed side walls.

The present invention can also provide a drum for binding wires, binding belts or binding bands to enable the pressed film bales to be grasped or wrapped around.

If the device is used directly as a packaging unit to transport the compressed film to a processing plant, it can be useful to be able to return the empty device in the most space-saving way possible. To this end, the invention provides that the side wall surfaces for empty transport of the device can be folded up at least in an L-shape, so that more devices folded up accordingly can be transported stacked inside one another.

The invention is explained in more detail below with reference to the drawing: This shows in

Fig. 1 is a simplified perspective view of the device in the closed state,

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Fig. 2 in the same representation the device in the opened state,

Fig. 3 is a side view according to arrow III in Figure 1,

Fig. 4 a side view arrow IV in Figure 1, as well as in the

Fig. 5-7 Details of a possible embodiment of a latch/catch connection.

The device generally designated 1 is designed in the example shown as a grid box that can be moved on rollers 2, whereby the side walls arranged on the floor surfaces designated 3 and having the rollers 2 are provided with mesh grids 4 in corresponding metal frames.

In the example shown, the device 1 has a front wall 5, a rear wall 6, a first end wall 7 and a further end wall 8, wherein the end walls 7 and 8 are slotted approximately in the middle.

Opposite the base 3 there is a press plate designated 9, which has a handling lever 10 which is guided outwardly through a slot designated 11 in the front wall 2.

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The opposite end facing away from the handling lever 10 is mounted on a swivel joint, with details of the mounting being shown in particular in Figure 6. In Figure 1 it is also indicated that the handling lever 10 can be arranged on the press plate 9 in a bendable or telescopic manner, such that in the transport position it does not protrude beyond the outer contour of the device 1. The telescopic ability is arranged with the double arrow 12, the ability of the press plate to be pivoted around a swivel joint 13 is indicated with the double arrow 14 in Figure 3.

As can be seen in particular from Fig. 4, one end wall 7 has a similar central division as the end wall 8, in the resulting central slot 11a, a perforated tube 15 with a plurality of catches 16 is arranged, wherein the perforated tube 15 is surrounded by a sleeve 17 which carries the pivot axis 13 of the handling lever 10.

In addition to the handling lever 10, the sleeve 17 also has a locking lever, generally designated 18, which has a locking cam 19 that can engage in the holes 16 of the perforated tube 15. A handle can be provided for unlocking. To prevent it from swinging open completely, the sleeve 17 is also equipped with an end stop 21.

The figures also indicate that a belt strap 22 with a clamp 23 can be provided in the area of the pivot axis 13 or the sleeve 17. The press plate 9 can be lifted using this belt strap.

The device works as follows:

In the upper dead center position shown in Fig. 1 or Fig. 3 of the press plate 9 held by a pivotable pin 25, the device 1 can be filled with film 24, since the front container wall 5 in Fig. 1 has a lower height than the other side walls, in order to provide an insertion slot for the film. When the resulting volume of the device 1 is filled with film, the locking bolt 25 can be pivoted away, for example after the lock 23 of the holding belt 22 has been released beforehand, so that the press plate 9 then falls downwards, approximately into the dashed position marked 9' in Fig. This results in a certain compression of the film, also due to the weight of the press plate 9 alone. If the handling lever is now swung downwards according to arrow 14, this results in a further compression of the film 24. The locking mechanism 18 locks the handling lever 10 on one side in such a way that the latch cam 19 engages in a nearby opening 16 in the tube 15, which

Sleeve 17 locks and thus enables the locking plate 9 to pivot around the axis 13. By pressing together, areas of film are pressed into the gaps in the grid surfaces 14. If the pressing plate 9 is now brought from position 9'' back to the top dead center position by lifting, there is no significant swelling of the compressed film 24, since it is jammed in the friction-increasing design of the wall surfaces of the device 1.

To lift the press plate 9, the handle is operated and swung upwards according to arrow 26 in Fig. 6) in such a way that the locking mechanism 19 is disengaged, the locking mechanism 18 then rests against the stop 21 in such a way that the sleeve 17 can be lifted upwards. This can be done by automatically attaching the belt 22 by activating it.

If the device 1 is filled with compressed film, it can be taken to a recycling plant for further processing of the packaging film, but the resulting bale of film can also be removed, for which it is possible (as is particularly evident in Fig. 2) to swing open two adjacent side walls, in the example shown, side walls 5 and 8, while

while the adjacent side walls 6 and 7 including the base plate 3 remain firmly connected to one another.

The edge areas of the side walls 5-8 can be equipped with drums for binding wire 28 or the like, whereby such a drum is only shown in a simplified manner.

Depending on the type of suspension of the press plate 9, it can be folded from its top dead center position, for example against the wall surface 7. Depending on the dimensions, the side walls 5 and 8 can be folded completely outwards or inwards, so as to enable a substantially L-shaped configuration of the device 1 as a transport position. In principle, it is also possible to hinge all the side and base walls together, so as to enable complete folding.

Furthermore, the described embodiment of the invention can be modified in many ways without abandoning the basic idea. For example, the locking mechanism 18 can also be designed as a slip clutch without a tube with holes. As indicated in the figures, instead of the perforated tube, a threaded tube with a threaded spindle could also be provided, for example, through a small

Hand crank drive 26 (Fig. 2) which raises and lowers a linkage position of the pressing die.

Claims (12)

-TL?'- Claims: 1. Device for compressing and/or transporting films arising from packaging with a receiving container for the films and a pressing plate for compressing the films, characterized, that the pressing plate (9) is guided by or between two opposing container walls and is equipped with a pressing lever (10) pointing outwards in the position of use and, that the inner surfaces of the container walls (5-8) have a friction-increasing design. 2. Device according to claim 1,
characterized, that the press plate (9) is pivotally guided on a sleeve (17) arranged approximately centrally, which surrounds a perforated guide tube (15), while the oppositely arranged handling lever (10) passes through a slot (11) in a side wall (8). •"•&tgr;UOD &Ggr;&Ogr; 3. Device according to claim 1 or 2 , characterized in that the wall surfaces (5-8) of the receiving container are formed by mesh grids (4). 4. Device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the sleeve for the press plate (9) is assigned a locking device (18), in particular a latch with an engagement cam (19) for engagement in a hole (16) of the guide tube (15). 5. Device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that a handle (20) or the like is provided on the locking mechanism (18) for releasing the locking mechanism. 6. Device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that in the region of the guide tube (15) a belt (22) with an upper deflection roller (22a) is provided for lifting the press plate (9) into the upper dead center position. ro 7. Device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the handling lever (10) is arranged on the press plate (9) so as to be pivotable and/or telescopic. 8. Device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that two adjacent side walls (6, 7) of the container are arranged stationary on the base plate (3) and the other two side walls (5, 8) are arranged so as to be pivotable. 9. Device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the base plate is equipped with rollers. 10. Device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that drums (27) for binding wire (28), binding belts or binding bands are provided at least in one end region of a wall surface. 11. Device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the height of at least one side wall (5) not used to guide the press plate (9) is less than the height of the adjacent side walls (7, 8). 12. Device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that side wall surfaces (5-8) for empty transport of the device (1) can be folded together at least in an L-shape.