[go: up one dir, main page]

EP2388197A1 - Machine pour la mise sous carton continue de produits - Google Patents

Machine pour la mise sous carton continue de produits Download PDF

Info

Publication number
EP2388197A1
EP2388197A1 EP10425168A EP10425168A EP2388197A1 EP 2388197 A1 EP2388197 A1 EP 2388197A1 EP 10425168 A EP10425168 A EP 10425168A EP 10425168 A EP10425168 A EP 10425168A EP 2388197 A1 EP2388197 A1 EP 2388197A1
Authority
EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
conveyor
box
product
boxes
products
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status 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 status listed.)
Withdrawn
Application number
EP10425168A
Other languages
German (de)
English (en)
Inventor
Daniele Bellante
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
CAMA 1 SpA
Original Assignee
CAMA 1 SpA
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 CAMA 1 SpA filed Critical CAMA 1 SpA
Priority to EP10425168A priority Critical patent/EP2388197A1/fr
Publication of EP2388197A1 publication Critical patent/EP2388197A1/fr
Withdrawn legal-status Critical Current

Links

Images

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
    • B65B5/00—Packaging individual articles in containers or receptacles, e.g. bags, sacks, boxes, cartons, cans, jars
    • B65B5/02—Machines characterised by incorporation of means for making the containers or receptacles
    • B65B5/024—Machines characterised by incorporation of means for making the containers or receptacles for making containers from preformed blanks
    • 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
    • B65B35/00—Supplying, feeding, arranging or orientating articles to be packaged
    • B65B35/10—Feeding, e.g. conveying, single articles
    • B65B35/20—Feeding, e.g. conveying, single articles by reciprocating or oscillatory pushers
    • B65B35/205—Feeding, e.g. conveying, single articles by reciprocating or oscillatory pushers linked to endless conveyors
    • 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
    • B65B43/54—Means for supporting containers or receptacles during the filling operation

Definitions

  • the present invention relates to the field of machines for cartoning products.
  • a cartoning machine of the type herein considered comprises a loading station, essentially with at least one first conveyor that transports the products and one second conveyor that transports the empty cardboard boxes.
  • Appropriate inserting devices transfer the products from the first conveyor into the boxes on the second conveyor, without a solution of continuity of the movement of said conveyors.
  • the two conveyors are positioned side by side, with products and boxes transported at the same speed and pitch, so that a product on the first conveyor, during transit through the loading station, is facing a respective box; the inserting devices are represented by pushers with an alternating piston motion, which push each product into the respective box, as the product and box proceed side by side along the loading station.
  • This type of cartoning machine (or line) is well known.
  • Cardboard boxes are normally parallelepiped shaped with a square or rectangular cross-section.
  • boxes with a more elaborated cross-section there is a need to use boxes with a more elaborated cross-section.
  • substantially tubular cardboard boxes with flat upper and lower faces and two slightly curved sides, for example rounded so that the box has a "barrel" cross-section
  • Other examples may contemplate a hexagonal section, etc.
  • the requirement for a box with a special shape and section may arise from purely aesthetic or marketing considerations, or from the need for an appropriate product holding, due to the shape of the actual product, for example.
  • the product purely as an example, may be a flowpack containing a backed foodstuff, a snack, etc. and may have an elongated or flattened section.
  • the boxes are generally loaded in the form of blanks into an appropriate magazine, and picked up by a carton feeder, in a rapid movement, which opens them and feeds them to the respective conveyor.
  • Handling complex-shaped boxes poses some problems that are not easy to solve.
  • boxes with a complex shape, with rounded sides for example have been found to be more exposed to occasional deviations from the design specification.
  • a box positioned on the relative conveyor may fail to comply with the specification due, for example, to the effect of the flexibility of the cardboard and/or the rapid movement of the carton feeder.
  • the curvature of the walls may be less accentuated than expected or, in extreme cases, may be opposite to the design curvature (inverted walls). Consequently, it may be impossible to insert the product, causing a reject or in the worst case a blockage of the machine.
  • Similar drawbacks may derive from incorrect positioning of the front closing flaps of the box, which may also hinder loading of the product and/or prevent correct closure.
  • FIG. 6 represents the cross-section of a cardboard box 100, given by way of example.
  • This box has flat upper face 101 and lower face 102 and sides 103 curving outwards, obtaining a rounded cross-section.
  • the curve of the sides 103 is obtained when the blank is opened, by the separator, and positioned on the conveyor. Due to the effect of the intrinsic flexibility of the cardboard and/or defect in the quality of the blanks, the rounded sides 103 may not open sufficiently, giving a narrower cross-section, or may invert and assume the configuration indicated by the dotted line 104, which prevents the insertion of the product. Similar problems are encountered with boxes of another shape, more complex than the common square or rectangular cross section.
  • the aim of the invention is to enable an effective and certain insertion of products into boxes with complex cross-sections, such as for example boxes with variously polygonal or rounded sections or more generally with curved walls, in a cartoning machine with continuous operation.
  • the solution involves equipping the loading station with a system to keep the boxes in shape by temporarily insertion into the box of an appropriate shaping pin, operated in a synchronised way with the box conveyor and the product-inserter group.
  • a machine for continuous cartoning of products comprising at least a first product conveyor, a second box conveyor, a loading station with a group for inserting products inside the boxes, from a product-insertion side, said first conveyor and second conveyor and said inserter unit being operated with a continuous and synchronised motion, by which said inserter unit transfers products from said first conveyor into boxes with ends open and positioned on said second conveyor, characterised in that: the machine comprises at least a further group for keeping said boxes in shape, said further group being synchronised with said product conveyor, box conveyor and inserter unit, said further group comprising at least one shaping pin operated with a movement of insertion into a box and subsequent extraction from said box, from a side opposite to said product-insertion side, during the passage of the box through said loading station.
  • said at least one shaping pin is operated to enter the box, entering by a fixed linear extent, substantially at the same time the product is inserted from the opposite side of the box.
  • the insertion of the shaping pin into the box takes place slightly before, or substantially at the same time as, the insertion of the product.
  • An object of the invention is also respective method for the continuous cartoning of products, wherein: a plurality of products and a plurality of boxes are transported by a first conveyor and by a second conveyor respectively; the products are transferred with a continuous insertion movement from said first conveyor into boxes on said second conveyor, the first and second conveyors having a synchronised advance motion and an arrangement of products and boxes with the same pitch; the insertion of products being effected from a product insertion side of the boxes arranged on said second conveyor, said method being characterised in that at least one shaping pin is inserted into each of said boxes, from a side opposite to said product insertion side, substantially concurrently with the initial phase of insertion of the product into the box.
  • the boxes have a substantially tubular shape.
  • An application consists in handling boxes that have curved side walls, for example boxes with rounded cross-sections.
  • said at least one shaping pin comprises a shaft portion and a head portion.
  • the shaft portion is made of metal while the head portion is made of a plastics material.
  • the head portion is advantageously replaceable in order to configure the machine to operate with boxes of different shapes.
  • the pin or pins comprise a shaped head, advantageously with a tapered insertion end, for example in the shape of a wedge, arrow, etc., these embodiments being equivalent.
  • a tapered shape of the head end of the shaping pin facilitates entry into the box even when, for example, the inlet section of a box on the conveyor is smaller than expected under design conditions, due to a deformation of the box or incorrect opening of the blank.
  • said at least one shaping pin is operated with an alternating rectilinear motion relative to a conveying unit, which is synchronised with said product conveyor and box conveyor.
  • the conveying unit is for example a conveyor belt.
  • the alternating rectilinear motion involves: an insertion phase of the shaping pin into a box, to a fixed distance of penetration; a subsequent phase of extraction of the pin from the box, to leave the internal volume of the box free and enable the complete insertion of the product. More preferably, the insertion and extraction of the shaping pin occur along a substantially straight portion of the travel of the product and box conveyors respectively, alongside each other along the part of the machine that corresponds to the loading station.
  • Said alternating motion is advantageously operated by a mechanical guide, or a cam system, or equivalent mechanical device.
  • said at least one shaping pin is controlled by a bearing connected to said pin and engaged in a guide that is fixed relative to said conveying unit. More preferably, said at least one shaping pin comprises a shank portion and a head portion; the shank portion slides linearly on a respective fixing support on said conveying unit; at least one rotating bearing is connected to the shank portion, and said bearing can engage a guide that is fixed in relation to the conveying unit. The engagement between said bearing and said guide imparts the above-mentioned alternating motion on the shaping pin.
  • Each shaping pin can optionally be connected to a resilient device, such as a spring.
  • the product conveyor and box conveyor are of a known type, for example chain conveyors, and their embodiment is not essential for the purposes of the invention.
  • the synchronised command and control of the product conveyor, box conveyor and the unit that carries the shaping pins is achieved using known techniques.
  • the invention allows the correction of an error in the shape of a box during the critical phase of product insertion; the insertion of the above-described shaping pin allows to restore the cross section of the box, by correcting an error in shape caused by the flexibility of the cardboard and/or by the handling made by the carton feeder.
  • the invention avoids that a box reaches the loading station outside design specifications, which could compromise insertion of the product.
  • the advantages of the invention therefore comprise a more certain and reliable handling of high production capacities and the possibility to work with complex-shaped boxes, maintaining a fast and stable process.
  • a machine for continuous cartoning of products is shown as a whole in Fig. 1 .
  • the products P are fed by a launch belt 1 and loaded onto a continuous-motion product conveyor 2, with the appropriate pitch p .
  • the conveyor 2 is preferably configured with a series of product-carrying pockets or equivalent devices to contain and convey the products, appropriately spaced apart.
  • the machine inserts said products P into boxes 100, which are transported by a box conveyor 3, with the same pitch p.
  • the boxes 100 have, for example, a tubular-prismatic shape with rounded side walls, as illustrated in Fig. 6 .
  • the product conveyor 2 and the box conveyor 3 are synchronised and have the same speed of advance.
  • the conveyors 2 and 3 run side by side, so that a product P on the product conveyor 2 is aligned and along the same axis of a respective open box 100 which is positioned on the juxtaposed box conveyor 3.
  • An inserter group 5 operates within the loading station 4 and in the example comprises a plurality of inserter devices 6 which act with a substantially piston movement.
  • the inserters 6 are connected to a chain conveyor belt; an appropriate mechanical control causes an advance of the inserters 6 coordinated with the motion of the conveyors 2 and 3, so that for each passage (work cycle) an inserter 6 pushes a product P from a product-carrying pocket on the conveyor 2 into a box 100 on the conveyor 3.
  • the entire process occurs with a continuous movement, i.e. without stopping either conveyor 2 or conveyor 3, until all of the products P are inserted into the boxes.
  • a section 7 that closes and possibly glues the flaps is provided downstream of the loading station 4.
  • the products P enter the boxes from an insertion side of the loading station 4, which coincides with the position of the inserter group 5 in relation to the box conveyor 3. For example, in Fig. 2 , looking at the machine from the feed side where the belt 1 is located, the product insertion side is on the left.
  • the boxes 100 are formed from flat blanks contained in a magazine 8 and are deposited on the conveyor 3 by a carton feeder 9.
  • a flat blank, picked up by the carton feeder 9, is opened following fold lines in the blank, assuming for example the configuration of Fig. 6 .
  • the machine comprises a group indicated as a whole by 10, located substantially at said loading station 4, for maintaining the shape of the boxes 100 during the insertion phase of products P.
  • said group 10 substantially maintains or restores the roundness of the walls 103 of a box, during the product insertion phase, by temporarily inserting an appropriate shaping pin 11 into the box, from the side opposite the product-insertion side, as illustrated above.
  • the inserter group 5 and said group 10 with shaping pins 11 are located on opposite sides of the loading station, as shown in Fig. 1 .
  • the group 10 comprises a plurality of shaping pins 11, the same in number as the inserter units 6.
  • a shaping pin 11 is inserted at least partially into said box 100, with the purpose of maintaining the curved walls 103 spaced apart in accordance with the design rounded form, and in accordance with the specification of the box itself.
  • a preferred form of said group 10 and relative pins 11 is better seen in Figs. 2 to 4 .
  • a shaping pin 11 comprises a shank portion 12 and a head portion 13.
  • the head 13 is connected to the shank 12; preferably said head 13 is interchangeable.
  • the shank 12 slides in relation to a block 14 for fixing to a conveyor belt 15, driven by two pulleys 16 and 17.
  • a rotating bearing 18 is provided on the shank portion 12. Due to the dragging effect imparted by the belt 15, said bearing 18 can engage in a guide groove 19 which is made in a fixed part 20 of the group 10. In particular, the bearing 18 engages in the guide groove 19 due to the effect of the relative motion between the belt 15 and the fixed part 20.
  • This groove 19 is shaped so as to impart to the shaping pin 11 a forward and backward movement respectively approaching and moving away from said conveyor 3 and achieving the temporary insertion of the pin into a box 100 located on the conveyor 3, during the passage through the loading station 4.
  • the head portion 13 ( Fig. 4 ) has the shape of an irregular hexagon, with a wedge-shaped or arrow-shaped tapered head, due to two inclined lateral faces 13a that converge and merge into a front face 13b. More generally, a tapered front head part is preferred in order to facilitate the entry of the shaping pin 11 into the box.
  • Fig. 5 is a diagram of the mechanical control of the shaping pins 11.
  • the guide groove 19 is shaped with at least a first oblique forward travel section 19a and a second oblique return travel section 19b.
  • the shaping pin 11 extends beyond the group 10 and relative conveyor belt 15, entering to a certain extent a corresponding box 100, while from the opposite side the product P, pushed by one of the inserters 6 of the group 5, enters the same box 100.
  • the effect of the pin 11, particularly thanks to the wedge shape of the head 13 is to space apart the rounded walls of the box and facilitate the entry of the product.
  • the pin 11 withdraws from the box while the product P gradually enters.
  • the forward and backward movement, combined with the dragging movement of the conveyor belt 15, causes the shaping pins 11 to follow the trajectory 21 shown in Fig. 5 .
  • the conveyor belt 15 advances at the same linear speed as the conveyors 2 and 3 and so enables synchronism with these conveyors; an appropriate spatial arrangement of the guide 19 brings about the desired synchronism between the shaping pins 11 and product inserters 6, from opposite sides of the loading station 4. In other words, the movement of one of the product inserters 6 is synchronised with the action of a respective shaping pin 11.
  • Fig. 3 The interaction between unit 10 and the insertion of products is further explained by Fig. 3 .
  • the unit 10 In the foreground, the unit 10 is shown together with its motor 22, which drives the conveyor belt 15 and the shaping pins 11 associated with it.
  • Fig. 3 also shows that the conveyor 3 of the boxes 100 is formed essentially of two chains 30 and 31, and pairs of transport elements 32, 33 fixed to said chains 30 and 31, the distance between paired elements 32, 33 being equal to the above-mentioned pitch p.
  • the continuous load in fact requires that the pitch of the products is equal to the pitch of the boxes, on conveyors 2 and 3 respectively.
  • the products P in the example are shown as flowpacks having a slightly flattened oval section, to be contained in a box of the type shown in Fig. 6 .
  • a lid 105 and flaps 106 of the box are shown from the side of the group 10, which are closed in section 7 (shown in Fig. 1 ) further downstream. Said lid and/or said flaps can be appropriately opened out by fixed and/or rotating devices provided for this purpose. It must also be noted that the shaping pin 11 may contribute to correctly opening out the flaps 106 to the advantage for example of the operation of closing and/or glue application units.
  • a preferred application consists in the secondary cartoning of foodstuffs previously packed in pouches, flowpacks or other known systems.

Landscapes

  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
  • Making Paper Articles (AREA)
EP10425168A 2010-05-21 2010-05-21 Machine pour la mise sous carton continue de produits Withdrawn EP2388197A1 (fr)

Priority Applications (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
EP10425168A EP2388197A1 (fr) 2010-05-21 2010-05-21 Machine pour la mise sous carton continue de produits

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
EP10425168A EP2388197A1 (fr) 2010-05-21 2010-05-21 Machine pour la mise sous carton continue de produits

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
EP2388197A1 true EP2388197A1 (fr) 2011-11-23

Family

ID=43037761

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
EP10425168A Withdrawn EP2388197A1 (fr) 2010-05-21 2010-05-21 Machine pour la mise sous carton continue de produits

Country Status (1)

Country Link
EP (1) EP2388197A1 (fr)

Cited By (6)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
CN102673827A (zh) * 2012-05-28 2012-09-19 李健权 硬装硅酮胶成品自动入箱包装机
CN102826254A (zh) * 2012-08-07 2012-12-19 武汉人天包装技术有限公司 一种工业炸药震源药柱的自动装箱设备以及工艺
CN103129758A (zh) * 2013-02-27 2013-06-05 扬州中欧工业机器人有限公司 软包装食品袋的全自动装箱系统
WO2018188833A1 (fr) * 2017-04-12 2018-10-18 Robert Bosch Gmbh Dispositif et procédé de remplissage d'un carton
US10850879B2 (en) 2013-06-04 2020-12-01 Cama1 S.P.A. Machine and method for secondary packaging of articles
US20220048652A1 (en) * 2018-12-14 2022-02-17 Westrock Packaging Systems, Llc Carton Maintaining Tools

Citations (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
DE3537690A1 (de) * 1985-10-23 1987-04-23 Weiersmueller Gmbh & Co Verfahren und vorrichtung zum befuellen von verpackungsbehaeltern
US5657610A (en) * 1994-05-13 1997-08-19 Robert Bosch Gmbh Packaging machine
US5787680A (en) * 1993-12-17 1998-08-04 Tisma Machinery Corporation Horizontal cartoner with vertically articulating product trays for multiple counts/layers of wrapped products

Patent Citations (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
DE3537690A1 (de) * 1985-10-23 1987-04-23 Weiersmueller Gmbh & Co Verfahren und vorrichtung zum befuellen von verpackungsbehaeltern
US5787680A (en) * 1993-12-17 1998-08-04 Tisma Machinery Corporation Horizontal cartoner with vertically articulating product trays for multiple counts/layers of wrapped products
US5657610A (en) * 1994-05-13 1997-08-19 Robert Bosch Gmbh Packaging machine

Cited By (7)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
CN102673827A (zh) * 2012-05-28 2012-09-19 李健权 硬装硅酮胶成品自动入箱包装机
CN102826254A (zh) * 2012-08-07 2012-12-19 武汉人天包装技术有限公司 一种工业炸药震源药柱的自动装箱设备以及工艺
CN102826254B (zh) * 2012-08-07 2014-06-25 武汉人天包装技术有限公司 一种工业炸药震源药柱的自动装箱设备以及工艺
CN103129758A (zh) * 2013-02-27 2013-06-05 扬州中欧工业机器人有限公司 软包装食品袋的全自动装箱系统
US10850879B2 (en) 2013-06-04 2020-12-01 Cama1 S.P.A. Machine and method for secondary packaging of articles
WO2018188833A1 (fr) * 2017-04-12 2018-10-18 Robert Bosch Gmbh Dispositif et procédé de remplissage d'un carton
US20220048652A1 (en) * 2018-12-14 2022-02-17 Westrock Packaging Systems, Llc Carton Maintaining Tools

Similar Documents

Publication Publication Date Title
EP2388197A1 (fr) Machine pour la mise sous carton continue de produits
CN102905880B (zh) 使用多个拾取头将多个纸箱同时地供给至传送机轨道的纸箱供给器系统和方法
US6202392B1 (en) Flexible tissue handling apparatus
US10183813B2 (en) Carton feeder device and method for feeding a carton to a conveyor track
JP3721474B2 (ja) 積み重ね物品のカートン詰め機
US2756553A (en) Apparatus for handling packages
US9745146B2 (en) Conveying device
EP1278691B1 (fr) Appareil et procede de rassemblement et d'encartonnage de produits unitaires
US3085377A (en) Method and machine for packaging articles
EP0814038B1 (fr) Procédé et dispositif de transport vertical de paquets de cigarettes
CN209290824U (zh) 自动装盒机
JPS62168818A (ja) スリーブ形容器用物品装填装置
CN114206728B (zh) 用于由坯件形成容器的机器和方法
US10611584B2 (en) Method and device for grouping product blanks
EP3784575B1 (fr) Manipulation de sachets et chargement de cartons
EP2345590B2 (fr) Barrette d'entraînement pour octogone
CN102020109A (zh) 用于对物品进行分组的方法和装置
EP0588772A1 (fr) Procédé pour alimenter et préparer des feuillets de renseignement dans une ligne de production et système pour la mise en application de ce procédé
WO2018192856A2 (fr) Améliorations apportées à des machines d'emballage
US6912826B2 (en) Carrier loading cartoner
CN111989268B (zh) 包装机
JPH09502954A (ja) 物品グループ内への仕切り挿入方法及び装置
EP0632776B1 (fr) Appareil de chargement croise destine a etre utilise avec des systemes d'encartonnage
EP4272946A1 (fr) Machine pour former des récipients à partir de flans
US5400571A (en) Method and machine for producing cartons of cigarettes

Legal Events

Date Code Title Description
AK Designated contracting states

Kind code of ref document: A1

Designated state(s): AL AT BE BG CH CY CZ DE DK EE ES FI FR GB GR HR HU IE IS IT LI LT LU LV MC MK MT NL NO PL PT RO SE SI SK SM TR

AX Request for extension of the european patent

Extension state: BA ME RS

PUAI Public reference made under article 153(3) epc to a published international application that has entered the european phase

Free format text: ORIGINAL CODE: 0009012

STAA Information on the status of an ep patent application or granted ep patent

Free format text: STATUS: THE APPLICATION IS DEEMED TO BE WITHDRAWN

18D Application deemed to be withdrawn

Effective date: 20120524