EP0563643B1 - Cartoning machine - Google Patents

Description

The invention relates to a cartoning device with a cartoner for packaging cuboid objects in boxes, a device for feeding and setting up cardboard blanks which have a side wall area and associated bottom and top flaps, a device for inserting the objects to be packaged and a device for closing of the filled, filled cardboard blank with glueing, the side wall area of the cardboard blanks already being closed all round.

If containers such as cigarette sticks are to be cartoned, collecting the containers takes the most time. The greater the number of containers to be cartoned, the more time is required to collect and stack or push the containers together. But even with the containers, the cycle of their production depends on the delivery of the objects to be combined to form the container, such as cigarette packs. Correspondingly, cartoners who only carton certain containers, for example only containers from packages of a certain type of cigarette, are not used optimally.

From US-A-3 134 309 a cartoning device of the type mentioned is known, in which already circumferentially glued carton blanks are used, which are erected by suction devices for inserting objects to be packaged and closed after they have been inserted.

From US-A-3 478 487 a cartoning device is known in which it is assumed that a cardboard blank is spread out flat, which is first cut to the required size and then is opened open by means of a folding device, with a side wall also being opened so that there a stack of to be packed Products can be inserted.

The object of the invention is to provide a cartoning device of the type mentioned at the outset, which allows optimal use of the possible cartoning speed.

This object is achieved in that several adjacent pallet stations are provided for stacks of pallets carrying cardboard blanks, at least one removal gripper serving as a device for feeding and removing and depositing a cardboard blank each being movable in the device for setting up along the pallet stations Setting up the turret, which can be driven step by step and has cells, with associated folding elements, which serve as a device for closing the cardboard blank, for folding over the bottom and top flaps in the closed position and glueing heads is connected downstream and objects to be packaged, delivered by a conveyor, are placed in a position in the receiving position, a cell containing erected cardboard blank can be inserted.

This makes it possible to not only carton one type of container, but also different containers with different formats by means of a cartoner and thus make better use of it, since the cartoning work is not distributed among several underemployed cartoners.

Further refinements of the invention can be found in the following description and the subclaims.

The invention is explained below with reference to an embodiment shown in the accompanying figures.

Fig. 1 shows a schematic perspective of a device for cartoning stacks of packs.

FIG. 2 shows an embodiment for a device for feeding stacked containers for the device of FIG. 1.

Fig. 3 shows schematically an embodiment of a cartoning system with two devices for cartoning.

Fig. 4 shows the system of Fig. 3 in a view rotated by 90 °.

FIG. 5 schematically shows a palletizing robot, in particular for a cartoning system according to FIG. 3.

Pallets 3 with carton blanks 4 stacked thereon can each be conveyed via a plurality of parallel roller tables 2 branching off from a common conveyor line and consisting of a multiplicity of at least partially drivable rollers 1, up to one of several end positions located next to one another, adjacent to a feed side of a multiformat cartoner 5 .

The cardboard blanks 4 are rectangular and glued in the later side wall region 6 of the cardboard in such a way that the side wall region 6 can be set up to form a cylinder with a rectangular cross section, while four cover and bottom flaps 7, 8 are movably connected to the side wall region 6 via fold lines. In the end positions (pallet stations), the carton blanks 4 are arranged in the respective stacks with the lid and bottom flaps 7, 8 in the direction of the multi-format cartoner 5. In relation to the printing and / or the formats of the cardboard blanks, 4 different blank stacks A, B, C, D can be delivered by means of the pallets 3. It does not matter in which end position which carton blanks 4 are delivered, the delivery takes place according to the need for certain carton blanks 4 to free end positions, but more frequently needed but as close as possible to the multi-format cartoner 5.

In each end position, plungers 9 are provided below the respective roller table 2 and can be moved upwards between the rollers 1 in order to lift a stack of blanks of cardboard blanks 4 on a pallet 3 as a whole from the pallet 3 in the vertical direction. The lifted blank stack of cardboard blanks 4 is picked up by a level lift 10, which engages with two parallel support strips 11 on two opposite sides under the underside of the blank stack. The support strips 11 are vertically adjustable via chain drives or toothed belts 12 in order to always keep the top of the stack of blanks at the same height regardless of how many cardboard blanks 4 have been removed from the stack of blanks.

When the level lift 10 has taken over the blank stack, the plungers 9 are returned under the roller table 2 so that the empty pallet 3 can be removed.

In the upper end region of the level lift 10 there is a stop bar 14 which can be pivoted in the direction of the stack of blanks by means of a cylinder 13 on at least two adjacent edges, while a fixed stop 15 is provided on the two remaining edges. The two stop bars 14 press the cardboard blanks 4 at the upper end of the stack of blanks by pivoting them inwards against the fixed stops 15, as a result of which the cardboard blanks 4 are slightly curved or shifted relative to one another so that they are separated from one another to facilitate gripping.

A removal gripper 16, which is provided with a removal head 19 which has a plurality of suction cups 17 and can be moved vertically by means of a drive 18, for example in the form of a cylinder, is arranged such that it can be moved along a horizontal rail 20. The removal gripper 16 removes the uppermost carton blank 4 of a blank stack via the suction cups 17 and transfers it to a set-up device 21.

The set-up device 21 has a vertical set-up wall 22 and a stand-up set-up wall 23, which is located at a distance from it and predominantly runs vertically, and which is bent at the upper end practically without kinks into the horizontal. The two installation walls 22, 23 form a shaft that narrows downward between them. The distance between the set-up walls 22, 23 corresponds in the lower area to the later carton width. Suction cups 24 which can be moved vertically between the set-up walls 22, 23, for example by means of a carrier plate, serve to grip a side wall of the side wall area 6 of a cardboard blank 4 and to pull the cardboard blank 4 into the shaft between the two set-up walls 22, 23 in order to set up the cardboard blank 4 in this way that the side wall area 6 forms a cuboid, open to the bottom and top flaps 7, 8 receiving space.

A delivered cardboard blank 4 lies on one side after delivery to the mounting device 21 on the practically horizontal, upper end section of the mounting wall 23 and on the raised suction cups 24.

In the set-up device 21, a fixed edge for the respectively delivered cardboard blank 4 is formed by two setting angles 25, which are arranged adjacent to the multi-format cartoner 5 on the top of the set-up walls 22, 23. In order to be able to process different formats of cardboard blanks 4, the contact surface for cardboard blanks of the set-up device 21 can be changed. For this purpose, the curved installation wall 23 is in the direction of the vertical installation wall 22 (for example by means of a compression spring 43 for smaller strokes, which at the same time causes the pre-tensioned cardboard blank 31 to be spring-loaded, or a cylinder) and / or two further angles of attack 26 with respect to the angles of attack 25 the distance can be changed, the setting angle 26 being horizontally displaceable via a setting plate 27 which is engaged by a cylinder 28 and which is guided horizontally.

In order to prevent the bottom and top flaps 7, 8 from bending down, inwardly pivotable supports 30 are provided via cylinders 29 in the area occupied by these flaps when a carton blank 4 is placed on the positioning device 21, with a cylinder 29 with its associated support 30 the adjusting plate 27 is arranged for adjustment according to the cardboard blank length and can be moved therewith.

Here it can be used for cardboard blanks 4 for rectangular, i.e. no square receiving cross-sections, in which the middle slots between the cover flaps 7 and between the bottom flaps 8 in the two layers of the folded cardboard cross-section 4, one above the other, are staggered - as shown - to be expedient when the suction cups 24 have just tightened the cardboard blank 4 lying thereon to pivot the pads 30 into the lower middle slots so that they only support the upper layer of the carton blank 4 in order to reliably prevent the entire carton blank 4 from kinking.

Instead, the removal head 16 can also act for a moment on the upper layer of the carton blank 4 when the suction cups 24 act on the lower layer, as a result of which the two layers are pulled apart. This is at least for cardboard blanks 4 for square receptacle cross sections useful.

Although the carton blanks 4 can also be set up with a differently designed erecting device, the one described above is particularly expedient because the carton blanks 4 in the embodiment shown have to be conveyed in the vertical direction anyway in order to be fed to the multi-format cartoner 5, and therefore the sequence of movements is not interrupted.

The cardboard blank 31 set up in the set-up device 21 is transferred to the multi-format cartoner 5 by means of a transfer device (not shown), the lower edge of the vertical set-up wall 22 serving as a fixed edge.

The multi-format cartoner 5 is designed as a turret 33 which is provided with a stepping drive 32 and which has a plurality of cells 34 which are offset by 90 ° in the exemplary embodiment and are open in the axial direction. The cells 34 of the revolver 33 have two adjacent stationary and two adjacent movable cell walls 35, 36, the movable cell walls 36 parallel to the opposite stationary cell wall 35 by means of a servo drive for adapting the receiving space of the respective cell 34 to the cross-sectional format of a cardboard blank 31 to be accommodated, which is inserted axially by means of the transfer device into a cell 34 in the receiving position (the lower cell 34 in the exemplary embodiment shown) can be displaced. In addition, the cell walls 36 are expediently or the like by a small stroke of approximately the order of 2 to 3 mm. spring-loaded inward to compensate for tolerances of the cardboard blanks 4. This can be achieved, for example, by designing the movable cell walls 36 as double walls with compression springs arranged between them.

In addition, the multi-format cartoner 5 is provided with a gluing device 37, which comprises a hot glue container 38, from which hot glue is supplied to two gluing heads 40 via corresponding feed lines 39. The gluing heads 40 are arranged parallel to one another along parallel rails 41 (which are arranged horizontally in the illustrated embodiment because the gluing takes place there in the uppermost position) Cylinder 42 can be moved along the open end faces of the cell 34 of the turret 33 in the gluing position. One of the rails 41 is fixed, while the other, according to the carton format, is adjustable in its distance from the first rail 41 via a cylinder 44 within a frame 45.

Two opposite cell walls 35, 36 are provided with cutouts 46, which are open in the direction of the movable rail 41, so that the cell walls 35, 36 cannot hinder gluing if the carton height is less than the depth of the cells 34. Although it is also possible to use correspondingly short cells 34 in the axial direction, this can impair the support of the cardboard blank 32 that has been set up.

Objects 47 to be packaged, such as cigarette packs consisting of a large number of packets of cigarettes, are delivered as packs of packs 48 in a quantity to be packaged in each case via a clocked conveyor belt 49. The conveyor belt 49 is provided with fixing devices 50 for the stack 48 of containers, the walls 51, 52 of which at the discharge end of the conveyor belt 49 are aligned with the cell 34 located in the receiving position for the stack 48 of containers. The wall 51 of the fixing device 50 located at the rear in the conveying direction of the conveyor belt 49 serves as a fixed wall, since the lower edge of the cell 34 located in the receiving position for the stack 48 of packs is also the fixed edge thereof. The walls 52 can also be omitted. Then an optionally two-sided alignment movement for the bundle 48 at the end of the conveyor belt 49 before being pushed into a cell 34 may be expedient.

Also arranged adjacent to the end of the conveyor belt 49 is a slide arm 54 which can be moved along a rail 53 which extends transversely to the longitudinal direction of the conveyor belt 49 and which, by means of a slide plate 55 and a bridging plate 56, sets up a stack 48 in a receiving position received by a cell 34 Pushes in the cardboard blank 32, the cover or bottom flaps 7 or 8 facing the slide plate 55 can be easily unfolded outwards by grippers (not shown) in order to ensure that the flaps 7 and 8 insert the bundle 48 do not hinder. For the same reason, the slide plate 55 is expediently arranged in the insertion direction at a corresponding distance from the slide arm 54.

The size of the slide plate 55 can be made variable by means of an adjusting device in order to be able to be adapted accordingly to the size of the stack 48 of containers to be pushed over. At least, however, it is approximately as large as the insertion cross section of the smallest cardboard blank 32 that is set up.

As the revolver 33 continues to rotate, the cell 34 containing the erected cardboard blank 32 filled with the stack 48 comes into engagement with folding elements (not shown), two of which are fixed with respect to the rotating cell 34, around the leading inner bottom and top flaps 7, 8 against the To change the direction of rotation of the revolver 33 on the bundle 48, while two further pivotable folding elements fold the trailing inner bottom and top flaps 7, 8 onto the bundle 48. Here, the folding elements on the side where the adjustable rail 41 is also located can be set at an axial distance from the fixed folding elements located on the other side in accordance with the format. The cutouts 46 allow the folding elements to penetrate for folding with a correspondingly short carton. Folding elements of this type are known from cigarette packers in connection with folding revolvers which can be incrementally advanced and which have cells.

After the folded-in inner bottom and top flaps 7, 8 have been glued, the outer bottom and top flaps 7, 8 are folded onto the inner bottom and top flaps 8 by means of folding elements (not shown) when the turret 33 is advanced, so that a fully packaged carton 57 reaches the ejection position in which it is ejected from its cell 34 by means of a slide (not shown) onto a belt conveyor 58 for removal.

Different packs of packs 48, each of which consists, for example, of packs of a certain brand of cigarette, these packs of packs being able to have different formats depending on the brand of cigarette, are activated by cylinders in accordance with the delivery Slider 59 of a collecting elevator 60 collected and stacked in bundles on the conveyor belt 49 between the walls 51, 52. The type of a bundle of packs 48 to be cartoned can be determined by a reader 61 and an appropriate carton blank 4 can be fed to the multi-format cartoner 5 in a timely manner via appropriate control.

If the gluing of the two-layer cardboard blanks 4 in the side wall region 6 leads to an excessive thickness in the gluing region, which requires the cardboard blanks 4 to be stacked alternately rotated by 180 ° relative to one another on the pallets 3 for reasons of stability, the removal gripper 16 can be moved via a corresponding rotary drive - And be rotatable in order to always be able to feed the carton blanks 4 in the same position to the set-up device 21.

The pallet stations for the stack of blanks can not only be arranged next to one another — as shown — but also at least partially one above the other.

In the system shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, bundles 48 are fed via two clocked conveyor belts 49 from opposite sides to two revolvers 33, which are arranged laterally from a central aisle 62, along which a conveyor 63 for feeding pallets 3 carrying blank blanks extends . The pallets 3 are laterally displaced by the conveyor 63 via roller tables 2 in end positions adjacent to the two turrets 33, where the stack of blanks is gripped by level lifts 10 and the required cardboard blanks 4 are gripped by the respective removal head 16 and fed to the respective installation device 21, where the Cardboard blanks 4 set up and a cell 34 of the turret 33, namely in the view of FIG. 3, inserted into the left one. The stack of packs 48 is pushed into the lowest cell 34 in each case. The gluing is carried out in the cell 34 on the right in FIG. 3, the two glue heads 40 being vertically movable for applying the hot glue. The finished carton 57 is ejected in the uppermost cell position on a platform 65 of an elevator 66 which can be moved along a vertical rail 64 and which transports the finished carton 57 upwards, where it is pushed onto a turntable 67. From there the box becomes 57 taken over by a gantry robot 68 which can be suspended from a rail 69 along a pallet space. The pallet space is located on a stage 70 and comprises a series of pallet lifting tables 71 which hold the respective pallets 3 at a predetermined height, so that finished boxes 57 are always loaded at the same height. When the pallets 3 are filled with finished cardboard boxes 57, they are conveyed to a central aisle 72 located above the lower central aisle 62 at the stage height and are transported away from there. Pallets 3 emptied from blank stacks are transferred to a pallet store 74 via a pallet lift 73. However, since significantly more pallets 3 are required for the removal of finished cartons 57 than for the supply of blanks, pallet stacks 62 can be conveyed in between and conveyed to the respective pallet stock 74, for example in between. The control takes place via control devices in control cabinets 75.

The finished cartons 57 can also be stacked using a simply constructed palletizing robot according to FIG. 5.

5, two or four pallet lifting tables 71 for a total of four pallets 3 are accommodated with their drive in a wall 76 which is arranged in a T-shape with another wall 77. In the middle of the wall 77 there is a turntable 67, the drive of which is accommodated in the wall 77. The carton 57 to be palletized is placed on the turntable 67. The support plane of the turntable 67 is essentially in the plane in which the pallets 3 to be filled or the uppermost one of the filled layers of cartons 57 already on the respective pallet 3 are arranged over the stroke of the pallet lifting tables 71. The walls 76, 77 can be used as stops when stacking the cartons 57, but one can also work without these walls.

A simple palletizing robot 78 is provided, which comprises a vertical pivot axis 79 for a pivot arm 80 and its pivot drive mounted in the wall 76. The swivel arm 80 carries at its free end a vertical swivel axis 81 and a swivel drive for a further swivel arm 82, which in turn carries at its free end a vertical axis of rotation 83 with a rotary drive for a gripping head 85 which is particularly equipped with suction openings 84 and which has the stroke for suction takes over. The length of the swivel arms 80, 82 is dimensioned such that the gripping head 85 can reach all palletizing positions of the pallets 3 located on the two pallet lifting tables 71. The gripping head 85 grasps the carton 57 deposited on the turntable 67 in order to position it in a still empty position in the uppermost carton layer to be filled with cartons 57 on the two pallets 3.

Here, the control can be designed in such a way that the turntable 67 already grabs the carton 57 before it is grasped so far that the palletizing robot 78 as possible without or only with a slight rotation of the gripping head 85 relative to the swivel arm 82 by pivoting the swivel arms 80, 82 into the carton 57 desired position. In this way, a very high performance of the palletizing robot 78 can be achieved since vertical strokes cannot be carried out.

However, if the turntable 67 is arranged higher than the level of the last already complete layer of boxes 57 on the pallets 3 to be loaded, a vertical stroke for the gripping head 85 along the axis of rotation 83 must be provided.

The walls 76, 77 can also be arranged in the form of a cross with the palletizing robot 78 in the center, so that four pallets 3 arranged like a cloverleaf around the center can be loaded by the palletizing robot 78 at the same time. The turntable 67 can then be arranged off-center. The distribution of the cartons 57 on the individual pallets 3 can be carried out by means of a corresponding control after the previously identified cartons 57 have been identified.

Under the respective pallet lifting tables 71 there is expediently space for a reserve pallet.

Claims (27)

1. Cartoning apparatus with a cartoner (5) for the packaging of cuboid articles (48) into cartons, with a device for feeding and erecting carton blanks (4) which have a side-wall region (6) and bottom and lid flaps (7, 8) connected to this, with a device for pushing in the articles (48) to be cartoned, and with a device for closing the erected, filled carton blank (32) at the same time as glue coating, the side-wall region (6) of the carton blanks already being circumferentially closed, characterized in that a plurality of adjacently located pallet stations are provided for pallets (3) carrying stacks of carton blanks (4), at least one extracting gripper (16) for removing and depositing one carton blank (4) in each case in the erection device (21) and serving as a feeding device being able to be moved along the pallet stations, there being downstream of the erection device (21) the cartoner (5) which is designed as a turret (33) which can be driven in stepwise fashion and has cells (34), and which has associated folding elements for folding round the bottom and lid flaps (7, 8) into the closed position which serve as a device for closing the carton blank, and glue-coating heads (40), and articles (48) which are to be packaged and are delivered by a conveyor (49) can be pushed into a cell (34) which is located in the receiving position and contains an erected carton blank (31).
2. Cartoning apparatus according to Claim 1, characterized in that the pallet stations are in each case provided with a level lift (10) for the carton blanks (4).
3. Cartoning apparatus according to Claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the extracting gripper (16) has suction cups (17).
4. Cartoning apparatus according to Claim 2 or 3, characterized in that two adjacent stop strips (14), which are pivotable in the direction of the blank stack and by means of which the upper carton blanks (4) can be pressed against fixed stops (15) are provided at the upper end of the level lift 10.
5. Cartoning apparatus according to one of Claims 2 to 4, characterized in that a ram arrangement (9) for lifting a blank stack into a position in which the latter can be grasped by the level lift (10) is arranged underneath each of the level lifts (10).
6. Cartoning apparatus according to Claim 5, characterized in that the rams (9) of the ram arrangement can be guided through struts of a pallet (3) carrying a blank stack and, if appropriate, through rollers (1) of a roller table (2).
7. Cartoning apparatus according to one of Claims 1 to 6, characterized in that the erecting device (21) comprises a vertical erecting wall and an obliquely vertical erecting wall (22, 23) terminating essentially horizontally on the top side, said erecting walls forming a shaft between them, suckers (24) for the grasping by suction of a side wall of the side-wall region (6) being arranged vertically movably in the shaft.
8. Cartoning apparatus according to Claim 7, characterized in that the erecting device (21) has for the carton blank (4) a rest of variable format according to the carton blank (4) to be used for the cartoning.
9. Cartoning apparatus according to Claim 7 or 8, characterized in that the shaft width is adjustable.
10. Cartoning apparatus according to one of Claims 7 to 9, characterized in that inwardly pivotable rests (30) are provided for the bottom and lid flaps (7, 9).
11. Cartoning apparatus according to one of Claims 1 to 10, characterized in that the turret (33) has axially open cells (34).
12. Cartoning apparatus according to one of Claims 1 to 11, characterized in that the cells (34) have two adjacent cell walls (36) movable in order to change the passage cross-section.
13. Cartoning apparatus according to Claim 12, characterized in that the movable cell walls (36) are adjustable by means of a servo-drive.
14. Cartoning apparatus according to Claim 12 or 13, characterized in that the movable cell walls (36) are additionally arranged spring-prestressed inwards by a small stroke.
15. Cartoning apparatus according to one of Claims 1 to 14, characterized in that, in a glue-coating position, a respective glue-coating head (40) is provided on each end face of the cell (34) located in the glue-coating position, both the glue-coating heads (40) being movable in the direction of the end faces of the cell (34) for coating the inner bottom and lid flaps (7, 8) with glue.
16. Cartoning apparatus according to Claim 15, characterized in that one glue-coating head (40) is adjustable axially at a distance in relation to the other glue-coating head (40), according to the carton-blank format.
17. Cartoning apparatus according to Claim 16, characterized in that two mutually opposite cell walls (35, 36) are provided with a recess (46) through which the adjacent glue-coating head (40) adjustable in its distance from the other can pass.
18. Cartoning apparatus according to one of Claims 1 to 17, characterized in that the timed conveyor (49) comprises fixing devices (50, 51) for aligning the articles (48) to be packaged in relation to a fixed edge.
19. Cartoning apparatus according to one of Claims 1 or 18, characterized in that the conveyor (49) can be fed by a collecting elevator (60) with articles (48) to be packaged.
20. Cartoning apparatus according to one of Claims 1 to 19, characterized in that an elevator (66) for conveying ready-packed cartons (57) into another plane is connected downstream of the cartoner (5).
21. Cartoning apparatus according to one of Claims 1 to 20, characterized in that pallet lifting tables (71) are provided to receive pallets (3) to be loaded with ready-packed cartons (57).
22. Cartoning device according to Claim 21, characterized in that a palletizing robot (78) is provided for one or more pallet lifting tables (71).
23. Cartoning apparatus according to Claim 22, characterized in that the palletizing robot (78) has two pivoting arms (80, 82) which can be pivoted horizontally in relation to each other and have a gripper head (85).
24. Cartoning apparatus according to Claim 23, characterized in that the gripper head (85) has suction openings (84).
25. Cartoning apparatus according to Claim 23 or 24, characterized in that a small vertical stroke can be executed via the gripper head (85).
26. Cartoning apparatus according to one of Claims 23 to 25, characterized in that a turntable (67) is provided within the range of the palletizing robot (78) to receive in each case one carton (57) to be palletized, the rotation of the turntable (67) being matched to the movement of the palletizing robot (78) in order to minimize the robot movements.
27. Cartoning apparatus according to one of Claims 1 to 26, characterized in that the conveyor (49) for delivering the articles (48) to be packaged is timed.

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