EP0653354A1 - Package for books and/or other products, and process and device for its manufacture - Google Patents

Abstract

A package, as a closable container which can be made by machine, in particular from cardboard, for example for books, in which four container surfaces (11 to 14) and a projection/flap (15) are formed by a rectangular material blank (10) provided with appropriate fold lines, while the two remaining container surfaces comprise prefabricated padding tubes (16, 17) which are connected at their undersides to the container bottom (11) prior to the container being filled and to the closable lid (13) at their upper sides after the container has been filled, in each case by an application of glue, the free end of which lid can be overlapped by the projection (15), which can be folded over from the other side, and is tightly sealed with said projection by means of a glued connection. <IMAGE>

Description

The invention relates to a packaging made of foldable material, such as cardboard, cardboard or corrugated cardboard, as a machine-made, all-round closed, generally cuboid-shaped container for books and / or any other products, with a uniform material cut, the four container surfaces bendable by parallel folding lines (bottom , Cover and two sides) and a flap / flap. In addition, the invention relates to a method or for packaging products in such containers.

Known packaging of the aforementioned type for the transport and shipping of books, video cassettes, vinyl records and CD albums or other products guarantee adequate protection of their contents during transport, but cause a relatively high outlay in that the items or product series to be packaged are very expensive have different formats and each require different cuts, different tools and additional machine set-up times. Furthermore, different packaging blanks for different types of product series must be used to utilize packaging machines Prefabricated in good time and ready for call, which creates additional storage costs for the cuts and the storage space required for them.

Significant disadvantages of known packaging blanks also consist in the fact that the end pads that laterally delimit the product compartment emanate uniformly from both sides of the container base and thereby make the blank very wide over part of its length. These forehead pads, which are attached to the cut, are formed by setting up and repeatedly bending their sides along pre-embossed folding lines with the aid of shaped shoulders and sheets which can be adjusted in the packaging machine. To accommodate them, a large machine length is required, which increases the path lengths and cycle times, especially since the feed speed is limited by the fact that the cutting edge resting on the machine drivers must not be deformed / destroyed by the deformation forces that inhibit the area of the side mold plates. A high rate of consolidation, which is nevertheless aimed for here, leads to reduced security and high reject rates. In addition, the forehead pads attached to the side of the blank base and to be unfolded create an unfavorable blank shape, which causes a lot of waste with additional disposal costs.

The invention has for its object to improve a packaging of the type mentioned in that avoiding the disadvantages of the prior art, in particular while avoiding the previously required variety of types of blanks, a waste-free material blank is created, which can be easily adapted to any product formats and quickly formed into a closable container. The method and a device for packaging objects are to be improved or simplified by shorter production times and less effort.

The product-related problem is solved according to the invention by the features of claim 1. - With the thus improved packaging, there is no waste or waste, since the first material blank has a rectangular shape, which as such or as a correspondingly divisible whole is already easily cut and delivered by the material or cardboard manufacturer. The same applies to the prefabricated forehead pads, which are also folded and glued from rectangular material blanks. Easy adaptability of the packaging to any product format is ensured by only changing the fold line spacing on the first blank to achieve variable container heights and widths. With the length of the forehead pads tailored to a given container width, the product compartment in the container can be enlarged or reduced by changing the fold line spacing and appropriate folding.

In the first material cut, a sequence of surfaces - cover, side, bottom, side, protrusion / flap - is determined by fold lines, by changing their spacing containers with different Heights and / or widths arise. For the desired variability, the protrusion / flap that is used to securely close the container and is to be glued to the outside of the lid is used, which reduces the material areas required to produce a wider and / or higher container to a minimum overlap - or, conversely, by that for a smaller container, the remaining material areas are enlarged.

Since it is customary when shipping books in particular to enclose a present with a copy of the ordered book, the product compartment can be divided by at least one cushion tube glued to the floor between the forehead pads. The product compartment can be divided several times by additional upholstery tubes in order to use the container as packaging for other products, if necessary as a finished container, e.g. after opening the lid. for jewelry collections, coffee, tea or soap ranges and the like. Depending on the type of product, the material of the first and second cuts can also be made of plastic, sheet metal or laminated cardboard apart from cardboard.

According to a variant, at least one of the forehead cushions or one of the upholstery tubes is designed as a folded, upwardly open container with a rectangular bottom, the height of which corresponds to that of the packaging container and which takes over the functions of a forehead cushion and an insert compartment. - In the case of second material cuts for forehead pads made of corrugated cardboard and upholstery tubes, the fold lines are preferably transverse or perpendicular to the direction of the wave.

Forehead pads and upholstery tubes of different cross-sections can be made from the same material cut. The protrusion that arises in the case of closely adjacent fold lines is absorbed by doubling the material or by an additional fold line for an additional protrusion that extends diagonally through the cavity of the cushion. In any case, the upholstery tubes lift four contiguous side sections and a protrusion / flap which is glued to a side section on the inside or outside. - The protrusion can also form an outer material doubling of a side surface, the protrusion continuing outside the cushion area being available as a base reinforcement and additional adhesive surface.

A dividing web serving to subdivide the product compartment can also be produced from the second material blank, by folding or doubling its side walls to one another by 180 ° by closely spaced folding lines, from which protrusions that can be glued to the bottom of the container start.

Additional advantages of the packaging according to the invention result from the packaging process and from the packaging machine according to the invention. Since the forehead pads that are folded into rectangular hollow cross sections and glued together are manufactured separately, this process can be at least partially run at the same time as the creasing or embossing process for the folding lines on the first material blank, so that these manufacturing times overlap and the overall manufacturing time is reduced. The overall length of the packaging machine is also reduced due to the concept of producing the end pads and other joining parts on a separate prefabrication line, for example running transverse to the length of the packaging machine.

The machine length is also advantageously reduced by the fact that the first cuts with their longer length (for example up to 850 mm) lie transversely to the conveying path and consequently only the smaller cutting length (for example up to 400 mm) needs to be taken into account for the length of the work stations . The small dimensions of the work stations thus achieved and their smaller distances enable a cyclical mode of operation that benefits manufacturing safety and a relatively high permissible feed rate of approximately 0.7 m / s. Conventional blanks with laterally attached forehead cushions, on the other hand, must be conveyed in the direction of their largest dimension so that the cushions can be set up and folded over on the conveying path through lateral shaped sheets, so that only in view of the inevitably large distances between individual stations and on the folding deformation resistance forces low feed speeds are permissible and, in addition to very large machine lengths, long production times occur. In addition, in the case of the packaging according to the invention, the upholstery tubes glued to the floor ensure that the side walls to be set up have a firm contact on their open end faces.

Fig. 1

eine perspektivische Ansicht einer geschlossenen Verpackung nach der Erfindung,

Fig. 2

einen größten sowie einen im Verhältnis dazu kleinsten ersten Plano-Zuschnitt,

Fig. 3

eine Polsterröhre in perspektivischer Darstellung,

Fig. 4

eine Draufsicht auf den Plano-Zuschnitt für die Polsterröhre nach Fig. 3,

Fig. 5

eine Polsterröhre wie Fig. 3, deren Überstand im Innern aufgenommen ist,

Fig. 6

eine Polsterröhre wie in Fig. 3 mit über ihre eine Seite vorstehendem Überstand,

Fig. 7

ein als Beilagenfach ausgebildetes Stirn- oder Trennpolster,

Fig. 8

einen Trennsteg,

Fig. 9

einen ersten Zuschnitt mit mehreren konfektionierten Fügeteilen und

Fig. 10

eine Übersicht einer Verpackungsmaschine nach der Erfindung.

Further advantages, features and refinements of the invention result from the claims and from the description and drawings, the individual features being realized individually or in groups in the form of sub-combinations in one embodiment of the invention and can form further protective designs for themselves protection is claimed here. Embodiments of the invention are described below with reference to the drawings. Each shows schematically

Fig. 1

a perspective view of a closed package according to the invention,

Fig. 2

one largest and one smallest first Plano blank,

Fig. 3

a cushion tube in perspective,

Fig. 4

3 shows a plan view of the plano blank for the cushion tube according to FIG. 3,

Fig. 5

3, the protrusion of which is received on the inside,

Fig. 6

3 with an overhang protruding over one side,

Fig. 7

a forehead or separating pad designed as an insert compartment,

Fig. 8

a separator,

Fig. 9

a first cut with several assembled parts and

Fig. 10

an overview of a packaging machine according to the invention.

In the packaging container according to FIG. 1, a bottom 11, a adjoining side wall 12 with a cover 13 extending therefrom, a side wall 14 starting from the opposite bottom side and an overhang / tab 15 attached thereto are formed from a first blank 10. The container is completed on its other side walls by two end pads 16, 17, the side surfaces of the container height and the top and bottom sides glued to the bottom 11 and lid 13 of the limiting length of a product compartment 18 formed in the container are adapted.

Fig. 9 shows the not yet folded blank 10, on which the end pads 16, 17 are already glued to the bottom 11 and an insert compartment 20 is separated from the product compartment 18 by means of an upholstery tube / separating pad 19.

In the top view according to FIG. 2 of the first plano blank 10, which is assumed for the production of the packaging container, fold lines running transversely to the longitudinal direction are entered as an example for two possible container formats, although these fold lines or their distances from one another over the length of the blank 10 can also be distributed in any other way. The fold line 22 defines a relatively narrow cover 13, to which a bottom 11 of the same size is assigned between the fold lines 23, 24. The distance between the fold lines 22-23 on the one hand and between the fold lines 24-24 'on the other hand determines the height of the container side 12 or 14. The protrusion / flap 15 remaining to the right of the fold line 24' in FIG. 2 has approximately the same size as Bottom and lid.

In the second division of the blank 10, the fold line 25 creates a relatively large cover 13, which corresponds to a bottom 11 of the same size delimited by the fold lines 26, 27. The side wall 12 created between the folding lines 25 and 26 corresponds to the same-sized side wall 14 delimited by the folding lines 27 and 28. In this relatively large container format, the blank 10 is used up for a remaining minimum width for the protrusion / flap 15. - For smaller packaging or products up to a shown in Fig. 2 as the smallest first blank 10 'graded intermediate cut sizes are used.

The forehead pads 16, 17 with a right cross section are made from e.g. 4 prefabricated square plano blank according to FIG. 4, which, similar to the first blank 10, is provided with four fold lines 30 to form four profile sides and a glued overhang 35 which overlaps inside or outside according to FIG. 3. The fold lines 30 of this second blank 29 can be changed as desired in their intervals to form flatter and wider forehead pads.

Since the sum of the four profile surface widths in relation to the total width of the second blank 29 is small in the upholstery tube according to FIG. 5, a large overhang arises, which is subdivided into a section 35 glued to one profile side and a section 36 remaining on the inside Help with an additional fold line.

6, the entire larger projection 35 is an outer continuation glued to the profile bottom side in the extension of the floor level. The upholstery tubes can be used both as forehead pads and as separating pads for dividing the product compartment and in the latter case can have the same or different cross-sections as the forehead pads.

To divide the container into a product compartment and an insert compartment, a container 37 shown in FIG. 7 and made of cardboard or made of other material and having a rectangular bottom can be used instead of an end pad. The height of the open container is appropriately adapted to that of the packaging container. A separator 38 according to FIG. 8, which is made from the second material blank 29, can also be used to subdivide the product compartment, the side walls 39 lying twice against one another by closely adjacent fold lines, from which protrusions glued to the container base 11 each extend.

In the exemplary embodiment of a packaging machine according to FIG. 10, the first plano blanks 10 come one after the other from a pallet stack P1 to a lay-up station 40. The blanks are individually provided with folding lines in a creasing station 42, for which purpose two rollers 43 are mounted one behind the other, each carrying two adjustable creasing tools. A creasing tool of the first roller is on the continuously drawn zero line N running through the entire machine aligned. From the creasing station 42, the embossed blanks 10 are transferred by means of conveyor belts to a clocked transport route running through the machine, which has conveyor chains with drivers 41 arranged at specific cycle intervals and stops in each cycle or work station. For this transfer and alignment of the blanks 10, a transfer station 44 is used, from which the fold line running between the base 11 and a side wall 13 is aligned with the aforementioned zero line N. As soon as the blank 10 stops in the following joining station 46 during the cycle time of the chain conveyor, the end pads 16, 17 prepared on a separate production line and, if necessary, one or more cushion tubes are placed on the bottom 12 of the blank 10.

The production line for the parts to be joined begins with a placement station 50 for individual layers of material removed from a pallet stack 48, which in the example are dimensioned such that three second blanks 29 result therefrom. From the feed station 50 each material layer reaches a creasing and cutting station 52, in which it is provided with folding lines by creasing tools of a first roller and divided into three blanks by separating tools arranged on a second roller. The station 54 following the separating roller corresponds approximately to the transfer station 44 of the machine, from which the individual blanks are folded, glued and possibly glued to a predetermined open time on their bottom side on separate conveyor lines in forming stations 56 to form rectangular upholstery tubes. On the subsequent conveyor lines 58, the prefabricated upholstery tubes are buffered in front of a gripper station 60, in which a gripper takes over the next three poster tubes together, brings them together in the direction of a glue roller station 62 and, after gluing their undersides, by means of guides at predetermined intervals on the floor 11 of the blank 10 touches down.

After the union of the upholstery tubes with the container base 11 in the joining station 46, the cycle movement is continued. The cycle time can be in the range of one second or slightly less. The transport time, which together with the dwell time forms the cycle time, is based on the assumption of a permissible feed speed of 0.7 m / s and a distance between the chain drivers or the stations of 500 mm, if the shorter length of the largest occurring blank measured in the conveying direction is about 400 mm, in this example at about 0.7 s. Under these conditions there is still a sufficient dwell time for the respective work step.

On the way to station 64, the container side wall 12 and up to the subsequent station 66 the lid are erected up to the zero line N. Since the carriers of the chain conveyor lie in the immediate vicinity of the zero line on the cut, the righting resistance of the material is easily transferred to the carrier. After the product and insert compartment are prepared in the shipping carton by the upholstery tubes and by the side wall 12 that has been set up, in the loading station 66 the product 70 provided on a cross conveyor line or roller conveyor is inserted into the product compartment by simply sliding it sideways over a feed table. In the following insertion station 72, an insert that was previously brought from an insert stack 74 onto a feed device 76 is pushed or inserted into the insert compartment.

The following stations 78, 80 and 82 can be used as desired, for example to insert additional inserts such as brochures or flyers in the product or insert compartment. The second side wall 14 and the overhang / tab 20 are erected in the station 84, this process being completed when the shipping carton has reached this station. Between station 84 and 88, two hot glue nozzles 86 are provided above the conveyor line in order to provide the tops of the upholstery tubes with glue points or traces onto which the cover 88 is closed and pressed on in station 88. The glue is applied to the top of the forehead pads and the separation pad. The lid is closed by means of a guide plate, not shown. A further hot glue nozzle 90 is provided between stations 88 and 92, which applies a glue trace to the closed lid, via which the protrusion / tab 15 is closed and pressed on.

A subsequent reject station 94 has the task of pushing damaged or incomplete packagings, which have been determined by a shift register, laterally away from the conveyor line and in good time before the finished stacks are stacked Discard packaging. The subsequent stations 96 to 102 carry out common tasks such as addressing, reading, coding, labeling, etc., whereupon the finished packaging is passed on to a stacker.

Claims (16)

Packaging made of foldable material such as cardboard, cardboard or corrugated cardboard, as a machine-produced, all-round closed, generally cuboid-shaped container for books and / or any other products, with a uniform material cut, the four container surfaces that can be bent by parallel folding lines (bottom, lid and two sides) ) and has a flap / tab,
characterized, - That the four container surfaces (11 to 14) and the flap / tab (15) are formed by a first rectangular material blank (10), - That the two remaining container surfaces are formed by end pieces (16, 17) of rectangular tube cross section prefabricated from identical material blanks (29), the side surfaces of which are adapted to the container height and the top and bottom sides of the limiting length of a product compartment in the container, - And that the end pads (16, 17) before filling the container on their undersides with the container bottom (11) and after filling the container on their tops by glue application with the lid (13) can be connected, the free end of the flap / tab (15) covered and firmly closed by glue connection with this. Packaging according to Claim 1, characterized in that containers with different heights and / or widths can be produced by changing the distance of the folding lines (for example 25, 26, 27, 28) in the first material blank (10), the largest sum value consisting of height and width being produced by a certain minimum covering dimension of the tab (15) with respect to the cover (13) and the lowest total value is limited by a maximum covering dimension (= cover width). Packaging according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the fold lines in a first material blank (10) made of corrugated cardboard run transversely to the direction of the corrugation. Packaging according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the product compartment (28) delimited by end pads (16, 17) can be subdivided by at least one folded cushion tube (19) which can be glued to the base (11). Packaging according to claim 4, characterized in that at least one of the forehead pads (16, 17) or one of the pad tubes (19) forms an upwardly open container (37) with a rectangular bottom and has the same height as the packaging container. Packaging according to claim 4, characterized in that in the case of second material blanks (29) made of corrugated cardboard for the end pads (16, 17) and upholstery tubes (19), the fold lines run transversely / perpendicularly to the direction of the corrugation. Packaging according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that end pads (16, 17) or cushion tubes (19) of different cross-sections are formed from the same material blank (29) in that a protrusion (35) resulting from a smaller cross-section or closer folding lines than Double material or as an additional projection (36) is added, which extends approximately diagonally through the cavity of the cushion. Packaging according to claim 7, characterized in that the protrusion of a forehead cushion (16, 17) or a cushion tube (19) forms an outer material doubling and a continuation of the protrusion (35) along the bottom plane of the cushion. Packaging according to one of claims 4 to 8, characterized in that a separating web (38) serving to subdivide the product compartment is made from the second material blank in that the side walls (39) are doubled by fold lines lying closely together, each of which with the Extend any excess glue (35) on the bottom of the container. Process for the production of a packaging from foldable material such as cardboard, cardboard or corrugated cardboard, in the form of a generally rectangular container for books and / or any other products, in which a uniform rectangular material cut is provided with four parallel fold lines for the mutual delimitation of bottom, lid, two sides and a tab hanging on one side, - on the floor in the area of its free sides made of second material blanks, folded and glued end pads are attached and glued to form rectangular hollow cross sections, which form two side surfaces of the container and limit the length of a product compartment, - The sides of the container are set up over the floor until they rest against the open ends of the forehead pads - the product is placed in the product compartment, - The lid is closed by gluing with the tops of the forehead pads and covered at its free end with the flap and glued. A method according to claim 10, characterized in that at least one prefabricated upholstery tube, which is identical or similar to the forehead pads, or a separating pad is glued to the bottom of the first blank. A method according to claim 10 or 11, characterized in that the first blank is moved parallel to its smaller length on a conveyor line, and that the container sides are only set up after the upholstery tubes have been put on and glued. A method according to claim 12, characterized in that initially only one side of the container is set up against the end face of the upholstery tubes and then the product and / or an insert is conveyed or inserted into the compartment of the packaging via the side of the container which has not yet been set up. Method according to one of claims 10 to 13, characterized in that the method steps are carried out in succession in individual work stations of a conveyor line, in each case during its standstill between a clocked feed movement. Machine for producing a packaging according to one of claims 1 to 9 and / or for carrying out the method according to one of claims 10 to 14, characterized in that a clockwise driven longitudinal conveyor device is provided as the production line, which is arranged one behind the other by a plurality of the same distances Workstations runs through, at least through - a feeder and creasing station (40, 42) for fold lines of the first material cuts running in the conveying direction, - a joining station (46), which is assigned a gripper device for placing prefabricated upholstery tubes on the bottom of the blank, a filling station (66) for filling the product compartment which is open on the side on the blank, - One or more erection stations (64, 86) with guide means for erection for the container sides - And by two closing stations (88, 92) with glue nozzles for gluing the upholstery tubes and closing the lid, and with a glue nozzle for gluing the lid and closing the flap (15). Machine according to claim 15, characterized in - That at the joining station (46) is completed by the gripper device (60), in particular transverse to the conveying section, prefabrication section (58) for upholstery tubes, which has an application, creasing and cutting station (50, 52) for embossing and separating one Material layer in parallel adjacent second material blanks for upholstery tubes, - that for every second material cut in the prefabrication line, folding and gluing stations (56), buffer lines and a glue roller station (62) interposed between the buffer lines and the joining station are provided, - And that the gripper device (60) is designed as a common funding for several upholstery tubes via the glue roller station until it is placed on the blank in the joining station (46).

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