WO1999005031A1

WO1999005031A1 - Solid-fiber separation elements for packaging cardboard boxes

Info

Publication number: WO1999005031A1
Application number: PCT/IT1998/000200
Authority: WO
Inventors: Leonardo Cazzarolli
Original assignee: CAZZAROLLI Sas DI CAZZAROLLI DR LEONARDO
Current assignee: CAZZAROLLI Sas DI CAZZAROLLI DR LEONARDO
Priority date: 1997-07-25
Filing date: 1998-07-16
Publication date: 1999-02-04
Anticipated expiration: 2000-01-25
Also published as: AU8241698A; IT243649Y1; ITVR970037U1

Abstract

A separation element (10) made of solid-fiber cardboard may be inserted into packaging cardboard boxes (18) for handling and/or storing a plurality of containers, e.g. bottles, jars, tins. Said separation element (10) is provided with at least one hole (11) bored on its flat surface (12) said at least one hole (11) being suitable for cooperating with hooking and translating means (14) belonging to an automatic machine for inserting said separation element (10) into a packaging cardboard box (18).

Description

SOLID-FIBER SEPARATION ELEMENTS FOR PACKAGING CARDBOARD BOXES

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TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to separation elements made of solid-fiber cardboard, which can be used as internal elements of packaging cardboard boxes suitable for handling and/or storage operations of glass bottles or vessels containing any kind of liquid, e.g. wine, beer, oil and the like, jars of jam, tins, foodstuffs in general .

BACKGROUND ART

The use of separation elements to be inserted into cardboard boxes which can be used for packaging any kind of products, e.g. jars of jam, tins, foodstuffs in general, as well as glass bottles containing wine, beer, drinks, oil and the like, is well known in the art.

According to said packaging technique, a plurality of cells is arranged inside of said cardboard boxes in order to house the products, said cells being obtained by mutually joining suitably shaped elements made of cardboard which are successively placed into said cardboard boxes by means of machines that continously carry out the packaging operations.

The joining operation of said separation elements is obtained by means of suitable notches which are placed along the perimetral edges of each cardboard element; the cells are obtained by joining at right angles respective pairs of cardboard elements.

According to a first form of embodiment" of " the state of the art, the separation elements are made of corrugated board; however, its use causes a plurality of disadvantages and inconvenients .

First of all, corrugated board generates a lot of dust during the production of said elements, during the realization of the coupling notches, as well as during the joining operation of the separation elements while they are automatically inserted into the packaging boxes.

Thus, said dust is inevitably present into of the packaging plant as well as into of each box, thereby soiling the products contained inside of the cardboard boxes .

A further disadvantage of using separation elements made of corrugated board derives from their relatively large thickness.

As a matter of fact, for this reason it is not possible to place a large amount of separation elements inside of the machine which is provided for inserting the separation elements into each box; consequently, the machine has to be frequently reloaded.

Besides, the use of relatively thick corrugated boards requires a relevant storage space and it causes remarkable handling problems.

Another drawback ccaused by the use of separation elements made of corrugated board is a small, but inevitable, deflection that the cardboard boxes as well as the separation elements undergo when the cardboard boxes are piled up on each other.

This is particularly disadvantageous since the separation elements do not recover their initial thickness .

Thus, in that case the space, which is initially present between two adjacent products, increases and this is particularly dangerous in the case where "a fragile product is packed inside of the cardboard box.

In fact, the increase of space inside of the cardboard box results in possible movements of the products which can collide, and even break, during their handling.

A further disadvantage of the separation elements made of corrugated board appears when the products to be packed are bottles which have to be inserted into the cardboard boxes before the introduction of the separation elements.

In fact, in this case the insertion of the separation elements very often causes wrinkles and/or tears to the labels of the bottles.

This is due both to the square shape of said separation elements, which are not shaped to preserve the labels, and to the relatively large thickness of said elements made of corrugated board.

In order to set aside the disadvantages and drawbacks cited above, solid-fiber boards has been successively used to produce preassembled so-called "beehives" to be inserted into packaging cardboard boxes, solid-fiber boards being particularly advantageous for these purposes when compared to corrugated boards .

First of all, solid-fiber boards generate very little quantities of dust when they are cut to obtain the coupling notches necessary for joining together the separation elements in order to form said beehives.

According to this form of embodiment, the coupling notches have a very sharp profile and do not crumble like corrugated boards generally do.

Furthermore, even less dust is produced when the separation elements are coupled to obtain the beehive structure forming the packaging cells.

Besides, since solid-fiber cardboard is thinner than corrugated board, it is possible to load a huge amount of separation elements into of the machine for assembling said beehives.

Therefore, the subsequent introduction of said preassembled beehives into of the packaging boxes is realized by suitable machines which are different from the ones cited above that are provided for the introduction of the separation elements made of corrugated board.

Furthermore, the use of a thin material like the solid-fiber cardboard allows storage space to be saved and the costs and problems due to the handling of said elements to be sharply decreased.

Besides, the solid-fiber cardboard does not deflect and maintains its thickness, thereby assuring safety and reliability during the handling of the packaging boxes.

Concerning possible wrinkles and tears^' which can be produced on the labels during the introduction of said separation elements into of the cardboard boxes, these can nearly completely be eliminated since the solid-fiber cardboard is thinner than the corrugated board and also thanks to a suitable shape which is given to the separation elements forming the above cited beehive structure .

In fact, said separation elements are provided with suitably shaped coupling notches which allow a soft introduction of said elements into of the cardboard boxes reducing the risk to damage the labels of the bottles.

Although this solution has set aside the disadvantages and drawbacks generated by the use of corrugated boards, the solid-fiber cardboard has the relevant drawback that it cannot be used by the packaging machines working with corrugated boards .

This is due both to the different thickness of said materials, and to the difficulty of said machines to grip the solid-fiber cardboard.

In fact, a specific portion of a packaging plant, in which the corrugated board is used, is provided with suitable hooking elements which separately grip each separation element by introducing, for a predetermined thickness, suitable hooking elements into of the material of said elements.

Said operation allows to separately grip, one by one, said separation elements which have to be inserted into the packaging cardboard box.

In order to allow such operation, the separation elements made of corrugated board are suitably placed side by side on a loading plane at one end of which there is a slot allowing the passage of a single separation element. Beneath said loading plane there is a suitable, intermittently driven conveyor on which are placed the packaging cardboard boxes .

Under these conditions, each cardboard box is temporarily stopped under said slot whereby a separation element is inserted into the packaging cardboard box.

In order to carry out said operation, each separation element is firstly placed in correspondence of the slot by suitable thrust means, and then it is gripped by said hooking elements and pushed through the slot so that it can freely fall into of the cardboard box below.

However, a solid-fiber cardboard cannot be gripped by said hooking elements; thus, if a solid- fiber cardboard is to be used, it is necessary to provide for machines which are different from the ones operating the corrugated board.

Until now, the solid-fiber cardboard has required a functioning mode which is very different from the one typical of the corrugated board.

In fact, the solid-fiber cardboard "requires the realization of a beehive which is obtained by joining each separation element and which is assembled by a specific machine that is very different from the machines generally used to insert said preassembled beehive into of the packaging cardboard box.

This means that it is necessary at least one specific machine suitable to assemble said beehive, and successively at least one different machine for inserting said beehive into the packaging cardboard box. DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The present invention aims to set aside the disadvantages and drawbacks which are typical of the background art, and to provide, thus, for a separation element made of solid-fiber cardboard which is suitable to be used in traditional packaging machines operating on corrutaged boards, whereby said machines require only few adjustments to operate on solid-fiber boards.

This is achieved by the features disclosed in claim 1. The dependent claims outline particularly advantageous forms of embodiment of the separation element according to the invention.

The separation element made of solid-fiber cardboard suitable to be used for packaging operations according to the present invention, is provided with one or more pairs of holes produced on the surface of said separation element .

Said holes allows the separation elements to be perfectly gripped during the automatic packaging operations of glass bottles and/or jars, and/or tins, and/or foodstuffs, which require separation cells to be inserted into the packaging cardboard box.

According to the invention, said holes allow a simple and reliable hooking of the separation element by the hooking elements which, as cited above, grip the separation elements one by one and let them pass through a slot provided on the loading plane on which the separation elements are placed side to side. Once each separation element has been gripped, it is passed through said slot and then inserted and correctly inserted into the packaging cardboard box which stops below said slot.

According to the present invention, the hooking elements grip the separation element at the lower edge of said holes which are provided on the separation element surface.

Said holes, which are suitably placed in the area on which the hooking elements operate, assure an effective grip of the separation elements made of solid-fiber cardboard and allow the advance of a separation element at a time and a correct functioning of the automatic packaging machine.

Thus, the present invention allows to the difficulties which are typical of the traditional hooking elements to effectively grip the separation elements made of solid-fiber cardboard to be reliably overcome, this problem having been the main hindrance to the use of the solid-fiber cardboard instead of the corrugated board in traditional packaging machines.

Besides, some small adjustments, which are easily and economically carried out, are necessary for a correct working of the traditional packaging machines loaded with solid-fiber boards. For instance, the hooking elements (which are normally constituted by hooks placed at the end of suitable bars or rods) have to be somewhat shorter than the ones belonging to the state of the art since the solid-fiber cardboard is thinner than the ^"'corrugated board, and since the separation elements according to the present invention are advantageously provided with gripping holes to simplify the hooking operation.

Since the solid-fiber cardboard is thinner than the corrugated board, the slot through which the packaging cardboard box is loaded has to be modified too.

In fact, the slot width needs to be reduced in order to allow the passage through the slot and the subsequent drop into of the packaging cardboard box below of a single separation element at a time.

Furthermore, the separation elements made of solid- fiber cardboard according to the invention, solve all the problems cited above which arise when corrugated board is used, i.e. dust production, thickness and deflection problems, wrinkles and tears of the labels.

Therefore, the separation elements according to the present invention show all the advantages typical of the solid-fiber cardboard materials, and allow the use of the same machines which operate on corrugated board materials, said machines requiring only few simple and cheap adjustments .

This means that it is possible to use all the existing machines with no need to buy new machines, as well as it is possible to use a material, i.e. the solid- fiber cardboard, which assures quality and reliability and which sets aside the drawbacks and disadvantages typical of corrugated boards.

According to a form of embodiment of the present invention, the separation elements are provided with suitable notches along the perimetral edge to be inserted in the packaging cardboard box so that the insertion of the separation elements into of said box advantageously occurs in a very soft way.

This aspect is particularly advantageous -when glass bottles have to be packed, the labels of which can be creased and/or torn during the introduction of the separation elements into of the packaging cardboard boxes.

ILLUSTRATION OF DRAWINGS Other features and advantages of the invention will become apparent by reading the following description of a form of embodiment of the invention, given as a non- limiting example, with the help of the figures illustrated in the attached drawings, in which: - figure 1 shows a plan view of a separation element according to the present invention, and figure 2 shows a schematical side view of a particular portion of the packaging plant using the separation element according to the invention. DESCRIPTION OF A FORM OF EMBODIMENT

In the figures, reference sign 10 shows a separation element made of solid- fiber cardboard according to the invention, to be used in a packaging plant.

Figure 2 shows a portion of the packaging plant in which separation elements 10 are placed on a loading plane

15, said separation elements 10 being kept close side by side by suitable thrust means (see arrow A of figure 2) not shown in the figure.

On the other side of said thrust means, loading plane 15 is provided with a pair of bolts (only one 16 is shown) , said pair of bolts allowing separation elements 10 to be suitably kept packed side by side.

At the end of loading plane 15, i.e. in proximity of pair of bolts 16, a slot 17 is provided on the loading plane allowing the passage of a single separation element at a time.

The width of said slot 17 is variable and adjustable according to any specific need (see arrow B of figure 2).

Under loading plane 15, in correspondence of said slot 17, a conveyor 19 is arranged for intermittently translating packaging cardboard boxes which are placed on said conveyor.

The plant configuration is such that each cardboard box 18 temporarily stops under slot 17 to allow each separation element 10 to be dropped into said packaging cardboard box.

According to the invention, each separation element

10 is provided with one or more pairs of holes 11 on surface 12 of said separation element, said holes 11 being provided in corrispondence of the operating area of hooking elements 14 of an automatic packaging machine.

Said hooking elements 14 grip the lower edges of said holes 11 of separation elements 10 by pushing (see arrow C of figure 2) a single separation element at a time through slot 17 and causing its fall (see arrow D' of figure 2) into packaging cardboard box 18 which temporarily stops therebelow.

The presence of holes 11 does not require the insertion of the hooking elements 14 into the cardboard, as it was the case when the corrugated board was in use; in fact, said hooking elements directly grip the edges of holes 11.

Thus, the present invention allows the use of solid- fiber cardboard instead of the corrugated board as raw material for the production of separation elements 10.

Furthermore, the present invention allows the use, with only few adjustments, of the traditional packaging machines operating on the corrugated board with no need to buy any new machines .

Said adjustments concern, for instance, in providing hooking elements shorter than those cooperating with the corrugated board since the solid-fiber cardboard is thinner (e.g., 0,7 mm) than the corrugated board, and since separation elements 10 according to the invention are advantageously provided with hooking holes 11.

Furthermore, since the solid-fiber cardboard is thinner than the corrugated board, the width of slot 17 is modified too; more particularly said width is reduced so that a single separation element at a time passes through the slot.

This is easily achieved by adjusting (see arrow B of figure 2) the width of slot 17. According to a form of embodiment of the present invention, separation elements 10 are provided with suitable notches 14 along the perimetral insertion edge of said separation elements so that they can softly be inserted into the packaging cardboard boxes, thereby assuring a good protection to the products labels during the packaging operations .

Claims

1. Separation element (10) made of solid-fiber cardboard to be used inside of packaging cardboard boxes (18) for handling and/or storing a plurality of containers such as bottles, jars, tins and the like, characterized in that it is provided with at least a hole (11) made on the flat surface of said separation element (10), said at least a hole (11) being suitable for cooperating with hooking and translation means (14) of said separation element (10) which belong to an automatic machine for the introduction of said separation element (10) into a packaging cardboard box (18) .

2. Separation element (10) according to claim 1, characterized in that it is provided with notches

(14) placed along the perimetral insertion edge of said separation element (10) in order to avoid tears or wrinkles of the labels which may be possibly present on the surface of said containers.

3. Separation element (10) according to anyone of the preceding claims, characterized in that it comprises pairs of through-holes (11) bored on its flat surface and cooperating with hooking elements (14) of an automatic packaging machine.

4. Separation element (10) according to anyone of the preceding claims, in combination with an automatic packaging machine for inserting said separation element into a cardboard box, whereby said cardboard box is placed on a conveyor (19) which is provided with an intermittent advancing movement and said separation element is vertically placed on a loading plane (15) which is provided with a slot (17) through which said separation element (10) is made to pass by means of said hooking elements (14) , characterized in that said hooking elements are shaped in order to exert a thrust on the lower edges of said through- holes (11) so that the separation element (11) is firstly inserted into said slot and then it freely drops into a cardboard box (18) which temporarily stops under said slot (17) .