EP0744345A1 - Method and plant for making a packaging unit and packaging unit obtained - Google Patents

Abstract

The method involves using a package conveyor (28) which branches into two conveyor units (30,31). The ends of the conveyor units in the travel direction of packages (12) are in the form of phased conveyors (30a,31a). The ends of conveyor units are positioned symmetrically to the grouping/stacking unit (32) which has four stacking shafts (36a-d) which form a stacking intersection (36) with equal arms and a centre (37). A rotor turns the stacking intersection in phases on an axle (A). A feeder supplies a row of packages to the conveyor units. When each layer has been stacked, the stack (11) is lowered and removed.

Description

The invention relates to a method for producing a packing unit according to the preamble of patent claim 1, a system for producing a packaging unit according to the preamble of patent claim 11 and a packaging unit which can be produced by the method or by means of the system according to the preamble of patent claim 26.

In industrialized countries, everyday products such as non-problem food, detergents and cosmetics are mainly manufactured or processed in factories, filled in packs and delivered to retailers in pack units that contain a large number of packs.

For a long time most of these products were offered in cans made of sheet metal or laminated cardboard, in relatively solid boxes made of wood, sheet metal or plastic or in glass containers; a few products were previously sold in sachet or bag packs. In an effort to reduce the amount of waste from packaging material and at the same time to avoid the reusable containers that are not particularly popular with end users, efforts have been made for some time to replace cans, boxes and glass containers with light packaging. Such packs are generally intended as disposable containers and therefore as disposable items and often serve as refill packs, the contents of which are used to refill previously acquired containers, for example made of glass or plastic, which are more practical in use and are more aesthetically pleasing than the refill packs. A considerable variety of products are still sold in boxes, and for certain delicate products, in particular confectionery of the higher price sector, it is never possible to avoid comparatively complex packaging. However, many foods, cleaning products and cosmetics, which can consist of powders, granules, pastes, liquids and mixtures thereof, are increasingly being offered in bags. Such bags can consist of paper or foil material, for example of plastic or aluminum foils or also of laminated foils.

All packs have a bottom part and a head part connected to the bottom part via a jacket. Conventional cardboard packs are usually cuboid, but can also taper in a wedge shape towards the head section. The pouch-like packs can be very different. In the case of envelop-shaped packs, for example for dry soup concentrates, both the base part and the head part are degenerated to one edge, while the casing consists of two lateral surfaces welded to one another; such packs can only be in a lying position. Other bags are bag-like or bottle-like and have a bottom part, the head part often being formed by an edge. Such packs can be on their bottom parts stand and can be deformed like a wedge when lying down. The bottom part is often designed as a folding bottom so that the empty packs can be disposed of in a space-saving manner. The bottom parts mostly have elongated, approximately rectangular or oval shapes, so that two seamless side surfaces also result from a seamlessly surrounding jacket, on which the packs can assume a stable = lying position.

As mentioned at the beginning, packs of all types are delivered to the retailer in pack units, each pack unit comprising a container with a multiplicity of packs. The containers can be shaped pieces made of wood, metal or plastic or folded pieces, usually made of cardboard; the most common are cardboard containers with lids that can be attached or molded onto the container.

When creating the pack units, the procedure is usually that the packs are fed individually or in rows from production or from an interim storage facility, combined in groups in a grouping station and then fed in groups to a loading station. The containers are also fed to the loading station, in particular containers made of cardboard are often only created in the system, be it that one creates blanks from continuous material or sheets or feeds finished blanks, folds them and, if necessary, by sticking, stapling or gluing parts the blanks fastened together. Finishing processes such as printing or perforating can also be carried out within the system.

As mentioned at the beginning, packs and pack units are produced in very large numbers. Because these are mostly disposable items that are used only once, it is of the utmost importance that ecological and economic measures are taken at the same time. This means that not only the packs themselves have to be produced with little packing material, but that as little material as possible is also used for the containers; the packages must therefore be arranged in the containers to fill as much space as possible, and the containers should preferably be made of inexpensive and if possible recycled material without losing their attractive appearance. In order to minimize the space requirement and the investment costs in the companies producing the packaging units, the systems should also create the largest possible number of packaging units in the shortest possible time. Another problem with the creation of pack units is that there is a desire to process packs of various sizes and shapes in one system. This means that the systems should be easily convertible so that they can be adapted to the different packs.

Even if some of the problems described above have been approximately solved, neither a method nor a system are known with which the totality of the difficulties is eliminated. Previously known systems are suitable either for cuboid packs, which get into the containers in several layers, standing or lying in stacked groups, or for bag-like, wedge-shaped deformable packs, which are placed in groups in one layer in the containers. Another problem is the slowness of the systems, since certain speeds cannot be exceeded when the packs are being fed, particularly when the movement is clocked.

The objects of the invention are thus seen in creating a method of the type mentioned at the outset and a system of the type mentioned at the outset, with which packing units of various types and sizes can be produced in an ecological and economic manner, and an improved packaging unit of the type mentioned Propose a type that can be generated by the method or by means of the system.

According to the invention, these tasks are solved by the features of the characterizing parts of independent claims 1, 11 and 26. Advantageous further developments and preferred exemplary embodiments are defined by the features of the characterizing parts of the respective dependent claims.

The process according to the invention accelerates the formation of a group of packs since the packs are supplied not only from one side but from two opposite sides; this is achieved by dividing the packages that are fed by the package conveyor over two package conveyor units. The packs, which are fed in rows, as usual, are added by the two pack conveying units or the cycle conveyors forming their ends either simultaneously or alternately, but at short time intervals to the resulting group. One layer of the group is created from two rows of the two clock conveyors that are supplied at the same time or at short intervals. Further rows are not arranged next to the first rows, but up onto them. The formation of a pack stack, i.e. the formation of a group by stacking packs is known in the processing of box-shaped packs, but not in the processing of pouch-like packs which have hitherto been combined in groups. The packs are arranged horizontally in the pack stack, and packs of the two pack conveyors are arranged counter-parallel in the resulting pack stack due to the new type of feed; the resulting additional advantage in processing for wedge-like or wedge-like deformable packages is described below. The stack of packs is lowered in cycles during stacking, so that the type of stacking is the same for all packs, regardless of whether they will be arranged at the bottom or at the top in the finished pack stack. The finished pack stack is then rotated 90 degrees and moved so far that it is over the container path. Then it is placed in the container. The turning of a stack of packs is already known for packs from rectangular boxes, but not in systems which are also used for processing packs of bags, the latter of which have so far not been merged horizontally to form multilayer pack stacks, but standing up to single-layer groups.

As already mentioned, the packs are fed in rows, whereby a row can also consist of only one pack.

The packs can be fed upright on their base parts and stacked by tipping.

But they can also be fed lying on the surface of their coats and stacked by pushing.

The stacking can take place in that the packs are moved in the direction of the end regions of the pack conveying units.

In another variant, the packs are moved transversely to the end regions of the pack conveyor units for stacking.

As already mentioned, the containers are usually provided with a lid. For this purpose, a lid can be fed via a lid path such that it is located above the unit path along which the finished packaging unit moves. The lid can be attached to the container in the usual way by inserting, gluing or stapling.

If a folding container is used as the container, possibly with an integrally formed lid, the container can be formed on the container path, either from a continuous material from a roll or from plates, but also from pre-assembled blanks. The container is completed by folding and possibly by inserting, gluing or stapling.

Separate folding lids that can be placed on the containers are produced in the same way as the corresponding containers.

Cardboard lids and containers can also be refined in the course of their production by printing and incorporating pre-folds or pre-perforations.

The position of the packs in the pack stack across their bottom parts can be controlled during stacking. This is particularly expedient when stacking wedge-shaped or wedge-shaped deformable packs, essentially in the case of bags. This is because control can take place in such a way that the packs of a layer are not only arranged in parallel and in contact with their head parts, but at least overlap with the areas of their head parts in the pack stack; this gives a particularly advantageous arrangement because it almost fills up the space.

The system according to the invention is intended for carrying out the new method described above. The continuously operating pack conveyor branches into two pack conveying units, the ends of which are designed as clock conveyors, on which the packs are fed symmetrically, generally in mirror image, to the grouping station designed as a stacking station. This means that twice as many packs can be fed per unit of time at the same speed as for systems with only one clock conveyor.

Known systems for processing cuboid or envelope-shaped packs have a stacking shaft, in which a stack of packs is generated from lying packs; the stacking shaft is then pivoted into another position, the pack stack is removed from the stacking shaft and inserted into the container while the stacking shaft is pivoted back into its original position; the whole process is relatively time consuming and the reversal of the stacking shaft movement is unfavorable. In previously known systems for processing bags, the bags are not stacked horizontally, but are brought together in groups in an upright position and thus introduced into the container; in this way, of course, the space in the containers is poorly used. The system according to the invention not only permits rapid stacking, because it is supplied from two sides, without excessively high feed speeds, but also the generation of space-filling stacks from wedge-shaped or wedge-shaped deformable packs can also be stacked in the known stacking shaft. In contrast to previously known systems, the system according to the invention now has not only one stacking shaft but four identical stacking shafts, which together form a stacking cross with the same cross arms and a cross center part. The stacking cross can be rotated in cycles around its main axis, so that each stacking shaft rotates at the top during one cycle and assumes a loading position, lies laterally during the subsequent cycle and assumes an emptying position, and then takes a lower and a lateral pause position during the following two cycles . The stacking cross according to the invention provides a movement and time improvement of the stacking process in the stacking station, since one avoids reversing the stacking shaft movement and can start stacking another stack immediately and does not have to wait for the stacking shaft to return from the emptying station. The stacking chute has means for lowering the stack of packs generated in cycles during stacking, so that, as already mentioned, all packs can be stacked under the same conditions; with all light and therefore not very solid packs, but especially with bag-shaped packs and especially when their contents are liquid, it is necessary to avoid throwing the packs that were first fed into the pack stack into the stack shaft, as they could be damaged.

The stacking shafts are generally designed in such a way that they are delimited by two opposing longitudinal walls which are directed vertically in the loading position and horizontally in the emptying position.

Furthermore, the stacking shaft can be delimited by two mutually opposite transverse walls, which are directed vertically in each position of the stacking shaft.

A preferred means of lowering the stacking shaft during the stacking is in the loading position Stacking shaft to arrange a stacking plate directed perpendicular to the longitudinal and transverse walls and to provide the stacking station with a plate setting device in order to lower the stacking plate step by step or intermittently from an outer position in the area of the outer ends of the cross arms into an inner position adjacent to the middle part of the cross. The stacking plate forms a receiving surface for the pack stack during stacking.

In a corresponding manner, a stacking plate, which is also directed perpendicular to the longitudinal and transverse walls, can be provided in the shaft occupying the emptying position, and the stacking station can be provided with a further plate setting device in order to move the stacking plate from an inner layer adjacent to the cross center part to an outer layer in the area of the outer ends of the To move cross arms. In this way, the stacking plate forms a side stop surface for the stack of packs and, together with its plate setting device, the group displacement device, by means of which the finished stack of packs is moved out of the stacking station and into the loading station.

In a first preferred embodiment of the stacking plate, a total of two stacking plates are provided, namely a first, always horizontal stacking plate for the stacking shaft which takes up the loading position and a second, always vertical stacking plate for the stacking shaft which takes up the emptying position. These two stacking plates are located in the stacking chutes only during the generation or the pushing out of the pack stacks. After the stacking or pushing out of the stack has ended, the stacking plates are withdrawn from their effective areas within the stacking shafts into their reset areas outside the stacking shafts by means of a plate pushing device which forms part of the plate setting device in this arrangement. By rotating the stacking cross, the loaded stacking shaft then reaches the emptying position and the emptied stacking shaft reaches the first pause position. The stacking plates are moved into their respective by means of the plate setting device including the plate pushing device Starting positions shifted, ie the horizontal stacking plate in the next stacking shaft which takes up the loading position and the vertical stacking plate in the stacking shaft which has just been filled and now takes up the emptying position. The advantage of this design variant can be seen in the fact that only two stacking plates are required for the four stacking shafts.

The second embodiment of the stacking plates is to fasten a stacking plate in each stacking shaft, which rotates together with the stacking shaft. In this embodiment, the plate sliding devices are spared because the stacking plates always remain within their stacking shaft. In this embodiment, too, only two plate setting devices are necessary, since, as in the embodiment described above, they belong to the loading position and the emptying position, but not to the individual stacking shafts or stacking plates. For this purpose, the drive connection between the stacking plate and the plate actuating devices is decoupled each time the stacking cross is rotated.

In the embodiment just described, a scissor device can be used to move the stacking plate in each stacking shaft, which is arranged between the stacking plate and the cross center part.

The plate actuator can be fluid operated. In particular, the stacking plates of the first embodiment are preferably actuated by pneumatic cylinder / piston units.

Mechanical actuation of the plate setting device is also conceivable. Mechanically operated plate actuators are particularly often used for arrangements with the scissor device mentioned above.

Both types of drive allow the same plate setting devices to be used for different stacking crosses and, if necessary, different stacking plates, so that they can be adapted to different ones Packs only the stacking cross and possibly the stacking plates must be replaced.

It has been mentioned several times so far that processes in the system according to the invention run in cycles. These statements need to be explained. The supply of the rows of packs on the ends of the pack conveyor units, ie the cycle conveyors, takes place in cycles in a first cycle, the cycles of the two package conveyor units being able to be shifted against one another by a half cycle in certain cases. If the cycles of the pack conveyor units are synchronous, a row of the first pack conveyor unit and a row of the second pack conveyor unit are introduced into the pack stack at the same time, which is useful if the packs are cuboidal or possibly envelop-shaped packs which should not overlap in the pack stack. If the cycles of the two pack conveyor units are shifted against each other by a half cycle, rows of the first and the second stack conveyor units are alternately introduced into the pack stack; for packs that should overlap, this must be done, for packs that should not overlap, it can be done this way. In both cases, the packs each form a row of the first and the second pack conveying unit, a layer of the pack stack, for the generation of which the time period t of a cycle is required. A stack of packs with n layers therefore takes a period of n cycles to finish. The resulting stack of packs is also lowered in cycles, but, as will be explained immediately, possibly in a different cycle. If the ends of the two pack conveyor units are at the same height and non-overlapping layers are generated, the stacking plate is lowered in the same, but not necessarily synchronous, cycle as the packs are fed in at time intervals t, since the lowering always takes place after a layer has been introduced is carried out. If the ends of the two pack conveying units are at the same height and overlapping layers are generated, the stacking plate is lowered twice as often, that is to say after periods of time only be t / 2, since the lowering is always carried out after the introduction of half a layer, ie after a row of the first or the second pack conveyor unit has been stacked. If one of the ends of the pack conveying units is above the other and overlapping layers are produced, the stacking plate is lowered again at time intervals t, since first a row of packs of the lower end and then a row of packs of the higher end are introduced without it would be necessary to lower the stacking plate in between. Other options are conceivable, but the description is limited to the three most common and useful options mentioned.

In addition, it should also be added that the time periods after which the stacking cross is rotated by 90 degrees are the same as the time periods; which is the same for generating the pack stack; A shorter period of time is generally required to remove the stack of packs from the stacking shaft.

Since it almost always takes more time to produce the pack stacks and to deliver them to the loading station than it takes to supply the containers to the loading station, it can be useful to assign a dividing device to each pack conveying unit in order to transfer the half of the packs to an additional pack conveying unit and for the packs thereof to provide additional pack conveyor units, a second stacking station, likewise with a stacking cross, the pack stack of which is delivered to the same or, if appropriate, to a second loading station.

Even though the various options relating to the processing of cuboid packs on the one hand and wedge-shaped or wedge-shaped packs on the other hand were occasionally mentioned in the description so far, the system parts described so far are designed in such a way that they permit the processing of both types of packs. But if wedge-shaped or wedge-shaped deformable packs have to be stacked, it is highly advisable to provide a stop body at the stacking station with means for cyclically moving it between a limit position in the area of the first stacking conveyor unit and a further limit position in the area of the second stacking unit . The stop body forms a stop for the head parts of the packs of the second pack conveying unit in one limit position and for the packs of the first pack conveying unit in its other limit position. It serves to limit the mutual overlap of the packs to the desired extent. Such a stop body can also be useful when stacking cubic packs, naturally in a fixed position above the center of the stacking shaft.

A pack stack is accommodated in each pack unit according to the invention. The packs are arranged in layers; each layer consists of two rows of packs. Since each row comprises at least one pack, only layers with at least two packs are created, the packs of one row being arranged parallel to themselves and counter-parallel to the packs of the other row.

If the pack unit contains cuboid packs, the packs of the two rows are at the same height. Each pack of the first row is opposite to a pack of the second row, and these two packs touch with their head parts, which are formed by rectangular surfaces.

If the packing unit contains wedge-like or wedge-like deformable packs, the packs of the two rows of a layer overlap at least in the area of their head parts, so that a space-filling arrangement of the packs in the container is obtained.

Generally, the bottom and top of the packages are elongated and the packages rest in the container on the narrow surfaces of their jackets.

The packing unit is almost always supplemented by a suitable lid.

The container can be a shaped piece made of metal, wood or plastic.

Most often, however, containers are used which are folded from a cardboard blank.

The lids can be folded from a cardboard blank in the same way as the containers or consist of cardboard sections molded onto the blank for the container. Cardboard consumption can be minimized by using molded lids.

Particularly advantageous containers made of cardboard are designed such that they can be made into one display stand by suitable folding or into two display stands by separating them. For this purpose, the rear wall and the front wall are provided with vertical pre-perforations in the middle and the floor in the middle and parallel to the side walls with a pre-fold. By separating the front and back wall along the pre-perforations and by folding the bottom along the pre-fold, you get a display stand for the packs, in which they stand upright with their base parts on the earlier side walls, which now serve as a base plate. If a pre-perforation but not a pre-perforation is made in the floor, the container can be divided into two display stands.

The rear wall and the front wall can have further pre-perforations to enable the removal of certain cardboard sections, in particular a molded lid, so that a more practical display stand is obtained.

With such a design of the container, it is particularly favorable that the base can be made from recycled, cheap material and that it is possible to affix all the labels such that they are no longer visible on the finished display stand.

Fig. 1

eine erste Anlage, in einem Schaubild;

Fig. 2 - 5

vier weitere Anlagen, in Draufsicht;

Fig. 6

ein erstes Stapelkreuz, in einem Schaubild;

Fig. 7

das in Fig. 6 dargestellte Stapelkreuz zwei Stapelplatten und Plattenstellvorrichtungen in einem Vertikalschnitt quer zu seiner Drehachse;

Fig. 8

das in Fig. 7 dargestellte Stapelkreuz, in einem Vertikalschnitt längs seiner Drehachse;

Fig. 9

ein zweites Stapelkreuz, in einem Schnitt quer zu seiner Drehachse;

Fig. 10

ein Stapelschacht des in Fig. 9 dargestellten Stapelkreuzes in der Beschickungsstellung, mit seiner Stapelplatte in ihrer äusseren Plattenlage, in einem Vertikalschnitt;

Fig. 11

den in der Fig. 10 dargestellten Stapelschacht in der Entleerungsstellung, mit seiner Stapelplatte in ihrer inneren Plattenlage, in einem Vertikalschnitt;

Fig. 12

eine Anlage mit zwei auf verschiedener Höhe angeordneten Taktförderern;

Fig. 13

einen Behälter aus gefaltetem Karton mit angeformtem Deckel, leer, in einem Schaubild;

Fig. 14

eine Packungseinheit mit dem in Fig. 13 dargestellten Behälter, von dem einige Wandteile und der Deckel entfernt sind, während der Faltung in einen Präsentierständer,in einem Schaubild; und

Fig. 15

die in Fig. 14 dargestellte Packungseinheit als Präsentierständer, in einem Schaubild.

For a better understanding of the previously mentioned and further details and advantages of the invention, preferred exemplary embodiments are described in detail below with reference to the drawing. It is shown in

Fig. 1

a first plant, in a diagram;

Figs. 2-5

four other plants, in top view;

Fig. 6

a first stacking cross, in a diagram;

Fig. 7

the stacking cross shown in Figure 6 two stacking plates and plate actuators in a vertical section transverse to its axis of rotation;

Fig. 8

the stacking cross shown in Figure 7 , in a vertical section along its axis of rotation.

Fig. 9

a second stacking cross, in a section transverse to its axis of rotation;

Fig. 10

a stacking shaft of the stacking cross shown in Figure 9 in the loading position, with its stacking plate in its outer plate position, in a vertical section;

Fig. 11

the stacking shaft shown in Figure 10 in the emptying position, with its stacking plate in its inner plate position, in a vertical section.

Fig. 12

a system with two clock conveyors arranged at different heights;

Fig. 13

a container made of folded cardboard with a molded lid, empty, in a diagram;

Fig. 14

a packing unit with the container shown in Fig. 13 , from which some wall parts and the lid are removed, during the folding into a display stand, in a diagram; and

Fig. 15

the packing unit shown in Fig. 14 as a display stand, in a diagram.

It is pointed out that in order to simplify the description and the figures, the same reference symbols are generally used for the same components, even if they have a different shape.

The system 10 shown in FIG. 1 is used to create a packing unit 16 from packs 12 and a container 14 .

Both bag-like and cuboid packs 12 are shown in FIG. 1 to indicate that the system 10 can be converted for processing both types of packs, whereby of course only one type of packs is processed at a time. The packs 12 have a bottom part 18 , a head part 20 and a jacket 22 . The bottom part 18 and the head part 20 are elongated, the head part 20 being degenerated to one edge. The jacket 22 runs from the bottom part 18 in the direction of the head part 20 . The pack 10 has the shape of a wedge 24 on the side and lies on an at least approximately rectangular surface of the jacket 22 , which corresponds to the surface 26 visible from above.

In other exemplary embodiments, not shown, the base part is approximately oval and the head part is an edge, the jacket can be tubular or can be formed by two rectangles which are connected by connections, such as weld seams, which extend from the base part to the head part. Due to the flexibility of the material and the properties of the granular or fluid pack contents, wedge-like packs are obtained in all these cases if they rest on one surface of the jacket. In further exemplary embodiments, likewise not shown, the pack can be a rigid, cuboid pack.

1 , the packs 12 are fed horizontally. However, it is also possible and indicated in FIGS. 2-5 to supply the packs 12 in an upright position. In all of the exemplary embodiments according to FIGS. 1-5 , the packs 12 run one after the other. However, it is also possible to arrange several packs in a row, so that the packs are fed in rows running one after the other.

The packs 12 are fed by endless conveyors such as belt or roller conveyors, namely first continuously by a pack conveyor 28 with two pack conveying units 30 , 31 , the ends of which are then designed as cyclic conveyors 30a , 31a for further conveying in cycles.

The clock conveyors 30a , 31a are arranged such that the packs 12 are moved in mirror image towards a grouping station designed as a stacking station 32 . The stacking station 32 serves to stack the packs 12 in groups in the form of pack stacks 11 and then to feed each pack stack 11 to a loading station 34 , from which the pack stack 11 then enters the container 14 .

In the system 10 shown in FIG. 1 , the clock conveyors 30a , 31a run towards one another, so that the packs 12 are moved further in the same direction during stacking as on the clock conveyors 30a, 31a . This is also the case with those shown in FIGS. 2-4 Attachments like that. 5 shows another system in this respect, in which the clock conveyors 30a , 31a run parallel to one another, so that the packs 10 are moved for stacking transversely to the conveying direction of the clock conveyors 30a , 31a .

The stacking station 32 has four stacking shafts 36a , 36b , 36c , 36d , which together form a stacking cross 36 with the same cross arms and a cross middle part 37 . The cross middle part 37 is suitable for receiving drive and control units. The stacking chutes 36a-36d have walls 38m , 38n, 38p , 38q , which are made of metal or plastic and can be solid or perforated. A lightweight construction is preferred in order to keep the inertial forces of the stacking cross small during its cyclical movement. The stacking chutes 36a-36d serve to form and receive the pack stacks 11 on a stacking plate 40 and to move the pack stack 11 into the loading station 34 . The stacking plate 40 is also preferably made light, since it is also moved in cycles.

Each pack stack 11 is generated in detail in such a way that a pack 12 is brought from the clock conveyor 31a onto the stacking plate 40 by a conventional device (not shown), for example a lever device. This is done by pushing when the packs 12 are fed horizontally according to FIG. 1 , or by tilting when the packs 12 are fed upright according to FIGS. 2-5. In any case, all packs 12 are arranged lying in the pack stack 11 . After the first pack 12 has been introduced into the resulting pack stack 11 , the stacking plate 40 is lowered by one step, and the next pack 12 is fed in the same way, but from the other clock conveyor 30a , so that the two packs 12 lie in parallel, but differ from one another overlap their headboards 20 starting. The first layer of the pack stack 11 is thus finished. Then the stacking plate 40 is lowered a second time. The processes just described are repeated until the pack stack 11 contains the intended number of layers. The stacking plate 40 is lowered in this process after the production of half a shift.

In the previous description, it was always assumed that the clock conveyors 30a , 31a are arranged at the same height. According to FIG. 12 , the clock conveyors 30a , 31a can also be arranged with a height difference which corresponds to the height of half a layer. The stacking plate 40 then only has to be lowered after the introduction of every second package 12 or after the generation of an entire layer.

If, instead of the wedge-shaped packs 12 shown in FIG. 1 , other cuboid packs are processed, the packs are generally fed simultaneously by the two clock conveyors arranged at the same height and the stacking plate is lowered after a layer has been produced.

So that the packs 12 in the pack stack 11 are in the correct position, that is to say as space-filling as possible, a stop device 42 with a stop body 44 is provided on the stacking station 32 . The stop body 44 is moved back and forth between two limit positions in the same cycle in which the stacking plate 40 is lowered. In the limit position shown in FIG. 1 , the stop body 44 is closer to the clock conveyor 30a and, with its invisible surface, forms a stop for the pack 12 of the clock conveyor 31a to be stacked next. Then the stop body 44 moves into its other limit position in the vicinity of the clock conveyor 31a and forms with its visible surface a stop for the package 12 to be stacked next from the clock conveyor 30a .

An essential component of the stacking station 32 is formed by the stacking cross 36 , in whose four stacking shafts 36a , 36b , 36c , 36d the pack stacks 11 are generated. The stacking cross 36 can be rotated in cycles about an axis A, in each case by 90 Grad. In the course of the rotation of the stacking cross 36 , the stacking shaft 36a thus moves from a loading position shown in FIG. 1 into an emptying position, which is assumed by the stacking shaft 36b in FIG. 1 , and then in two pause positions, which in FIG Stacking chutes 36c and 36d are taken. The movements of the other stacking chutes 36b, 36c and 36d run accordingly and will not be described further.

A first embodiment of the stacking station 32 is shown in FIGS. 6, 7 and 8 . It can be seen from this that each stacking shaft 36a-36d of the stacking cross 36 is delimited by two longitudinal walls 38m, 38n , which in the loading position, in FIG . 6 taken in by the stacking shaft 36a , are arranged vertically and, in the emptying position, taken in by the stacking shaft 36b in FIG. 6 , run horizontally. Each stacking shaft 36a-36c is further delimited by two transverse walls 38p , 38q , each of which is separated into two edge parts by a very wide central recess. Adjacent to the cross center part 37 and the walls 38m, 38n , each stacking shaft 36a - 36d has two support strips 38i , the width of which corresponds to the width of the edge parts and whose function is explained below.

As already mentioned, the stacking station 32 also has the stacking plate 40 , which is formed by two partial plates 40a , 40b . the purpose of the division, as will be better understood later, is to prevent canting when moving the stacking plate 40 . The stacking plate 40 serves to receive the packs 12 during the formation of the pack stack 11 and, as described, is lowered in cycles from an outer position (not shown) at the outer end of the cross arms into an inner position shown in FIG. 7 adjacent to the cross center part 37 . A plate actuating device 46 is used for this purpose, which has a pneumatic piston / cylinder unit 46a or 46b for each partial plate 40a, 40b . During this process, the partial plates 40a, 40b are in their effective area within the stacking shaft 36a which takes up the loading position. As soon as the partial plates 40a , 40b have been lowered to the height of the support strips 38i, the stack of packs 11 is finished and lies on the support strips 38i with a minimal further lowering of the partial plates 40a, 40b . The partial plates 40a, 40b are now pulled back from their effective area inside the stacking shaft 36a into their reset area outside the stacking shaft by means of a plate sliding device 48 . The plate slide device 48 contains a pneumatic cylinder / piston unit 48a, 48b for each partial plate 40a, 40b . Once the sub-panels 40a, 40b are reached in its return area, they are raised by the plate actuator 46 to its original height and displaced engaging means of the disk pusher 48 in their operative area within the now the loading position stacking shaft 36d. After the sub-panels had been 40a, 40b retracted from the plate slot 36a, the stack of cross Namely rotated degrees about 90 36, so that the stacking shaft 36a arrived with the finished packing stack 11 into the emptying position occupied in FIG. 7 from the stacking shaft 36b. At the same time, the stacking shaft 36d came from the second pause position into the loading position. The partial plates 40a, 40b are thus raised during the rotation of the stacking cross 36 . The sub-panels 40a, 40b after the forced return into the stacking shaft 36d ready to receive the lowest layer of the now further to forming pack stack. 11

The stacking station 32 has a further stacking plate 140 , which likewise consists of two partial plates 140a, 140b . Just as the stacking plate 40 is assigned to the loading position, the stacking plate 140 is assigned to the emptying position. In order to displace the partial plates 140a, 140b along the stacking shaft which assumes the emptying position, a further plate setting device 146 is arranged , each with a cylinder / piston unit 146a, 146b for each partial plate 140a, 140b . To move the partial plates 140a, 140b between their effective area inside and their resetting area outside the stacking shaft, a further plate sliding device 148 is provided, each with a cylinder / piston unit 148a, 148b for each partial plate 140a, 140b . FIG. 7 shows the stacking plate 140 in its effective area inside the stacking shaft 36b before the pack stack 11, not shown, is pushed out. Due to the synchronous displacement of the partial plates 140a, 140b , to the left in FIG. 7 into the outer position, the pack stack 11 is removed from the stacking cross 36 and fed to the loading station 34 . Then the partial plates 140a, 140b are pushed into their reset area and, in FIG. 7 to the right, are shifted towards the cross middle part 37 and then inserted into the stacking shaft 36a , which is now in the emptying position, namely in the free space under the stack of packs 11 , which is because of the support ledges 38i . The further formation of pack stacks 11 takes place accordingly by repeating the processes described.

A second embodiment of the stacking station 32 is described below, which is shown in FIGS. 9 , 10 and 11 . The stacking shafts 36a-36d of the stacking cross 36 used in this embodiment likewise have two longitudinal walls 38m, 38n and two transverse walls 38p, 38q . The transverse walls 38p, 38q also contain a central opening, which is, however, significantly narrower than the corresponding opening of the stacking cross described above. The stacking plates 40 are also present in this embodiment. However, the stacking plates 40 are not assigned to the loading position and the emptying position or the stacking shafts located there, but each stacking shaft 36a-36c has its own stacking plate 40 which is fastened in it and rotates with it. These stacking plates 40 are in one piece and are always in their effective area within their stacking shaft. The stacking plate 40 of the stacking shaft assuming the loading position, in FIG. 10 stacking shaft 36a , is lowered from its outer length in the area of the outer ends of the cross arms into its inner position adjacent to the cross center part 37 when the stack of packs 11 is formed, then by 90 with the stacking shaft 36a degrees rotated and then pushed back into their outer position, the pack stack 11 coming from the stacking cross into the loading station 34 .

10 and 11 in this embodiment, the stacking plates 40 are moved by a scissor device 50 between their inner layers and their outer layers. The scissor devices 50 are driven via spindles 52a, 52b which belong to the scissor devices 50 . Two drive devices, not shown, are fixedly assigned to the loading position or the emptying position and a drive coupling between the drive devices and the scissor devices 50 takes place when a stacking shaft is in the loading position or in the emptying position.

Regardless of whether a stacking station 32 of the first or the second embodiment is used, the finished pack stack 11 arrives from the stacking station 32 into the loading station 34 . The charging station 34 contains a loading table 54 with side walls 56 and a base which is formed by two plates 58a, 58b which can be pivoted downwards in the opposite direction of rotation. Instead of the plates 58a, 58b which can be pivoted away, plates which can be withdrawn from the loading table 54 can also be provided. The pack stack 11 rests on the plates 58a, 58b after it has left the stacking station 32 . As soon as the container 14 fed by a container conveyor 60 is ready under the loaded loading table 54 , the plates 58a , 58b are pivoted and the pack stack 11 arrives in the container 14 , whereby the packaging unit 16 is formed. The finished packaging unit 16 is then removed from the loading station 34 by a unit conveyor 62 .

The Fig. 2 - 5 show systems 10, in which the containers are folded 14 during its displacement through the container conveyor 60 of carton blanks. 13 As usual, the packing units 16 are completed by, which are fed by a lid conveyor 64 and are folded from cardboard blanks 13a during their displacement on the lid conveyor 62 . The differences between the systems of FIGS. 2, 3 and 4 essentially consist in the different guidance of the pack conveyor units 30 , 31 and the different guidance of the container conveyors 62 . and the lid conveyor 64 . A particularly efficient to operate Plant 10 is the plant shown in FIG. 5 . In this system 10 there is a dividing device through which the packs 12 supplied by the pack conveying units 30, 31 are distributed, in such a way that half of the packs 12 of each pack conveying unit 30, 31 are brought to additional pack conveying units 130, 131 and fed to an additional stacking station 132 from where they get into the common charging station 34 .

Particularly suitable containers 14 for use in the packaging units according to the invention are previously known.

These are containers folded from cardboard, hereinafter referred to as boxes. One of these boxes 14 is shown in FIG. 13 . It can in a system according to FIG. 2 - 5 are manufactured from a cardboard blank 13. A finished cardboard blank can be used or the system expanded so that the blank is cut from a rectangular piece and pre-folded and, if necessary, this piece is previously separated from a roll. Refinement in the form of printing or pasting is also possible. These processes are known in principle and are carried out in the usual way. 13 shows that the box 14 , which has a bottom 116 , a front wall 118 , a rear wall 119 with a molded-on lid 119a and two side walls 120 , is provided with pre-folds and pre-perforations. A pre-fold 122 extends centrally over the bottom 116 parallel to the side walls 120 . The front wall 118 and the rear wall 119 have central, vertical pre-perforations 124 . The purpose of the pre-fold 122 and the pre-perforations 124 is to transform the box 14 into a display stand shown in FIG. 15 by folding it along the pre-fold 122 as shown in FIG. 14 . This is made possible by the separation of the front wall 118 and the rear wall 119 along the pre-perforations 124 . In the box 14 , the packs with narrow sides of their shells 22 lie on the bottom of the box 14 . When folding the box 14 according to FIG. 14 the packages 12, which have been originally supplied from the indexing conveyor 30a, the packs 12 which have been originally supplied from the indexing conveyor 31a. separate In the display stand created from the box 14 , the packs 12 stand upright with their base parts 18 on the previous side walls 24 of the box 14 . Further pre-perforations 126 can serve to remove the cover 119a formed on the rear wall 19 and / or parts of the front wall 118 and / or the rear wall 119 , so that the packs 12 present in the display stand are more visible.

If the box 14 is not folded at the location of the pre-fold 122 but is cut into two parts, two independent display stands are obtained. If necessary, the two halves of the box can be filled with packs of the same type and shape but with different contents.

The above description is limited to a few exemplary embodiments. However, numerous further configurations of the method according to the invention, the system according to the invention and the packaging unit according to the invention are possible within the scope of the invention.

Claims (36)

Method for producing pack units from a rigid container and a plurality of packs to be introduced into each, which have a bottom part and a head part connected to the bottom part via a jacket, the packs being fed along at least one pack along a first pack path in staggered rows, - then groups the packs of several rows together, each group is moved over a container fed along a container path, - in the container and - the resulting packaging unit is discharged via a unit path, characterized by - that the rows are divided into two packing paths, which feed the rows in mirror image, that the groups are formed by stacking the rows of the first partial path and the rows of the second partial path through mutually opposite displacements to form a pack stack, in which pack stack the packs of a first row and a second row together form a layer and are arranged in parallel, - that the stack of packs is lowered in cycles during stacking, - that the stack of packs is rotated by 90 degrees about an axis of rotation running transversely to the base parts, before it is brought over the container path, and - That one generates another pack stack while moving the pack stack over the container path. Method according to claim 1 ,
characterized by
that the packs are fed standing on their base parts and stacked by tipping. Method according to claim 1 ,
characterized by
that the packs are fed lying on the surface of their coats and stacked by pushing them. Method according to claim 1 ,
characterized by
moving the packs toward the ends of the pack paths for stacking. Method according to claim 1 ,
characterized by
that you move the packs to stack across the direction of the ends of the pack paths. Method according to claim 1 ,
characterized by
that the position of the packs in the pack stack is controlled transversely to the bottom parts. Method according to claim 1 ,
characterized by
that after stacking cubic rigid packs, the headers of the first row packs and the headers of the second row packs of a layer touch. Method according to claim 1 ,
characterized by
that after the stacking of wedge-like or wedge-like deformable packs, the packs of the first row and the second row of the same layer overlap at least in the area of their head parts. Method according to claim 1 ,
characterized by
that the containers are formed along the container path. Method according to claim 1 ,
characterized by
that a lid is fed over the unit path via a lid path in order to close the packaging unit with it. System (10) for producing pack units (16) comprising a container (14) and a group (11) of packs (12) arranged therein, which have a bottom part (18) and a head part (20 ) connected to it via a jacket (22) ) own, - With a pack conveyor (28) for feeding packs (12) in successive rows with at least one pack (12) , with a grouping station (32) for forming the groups (11) from several rows, - With a group shifting device (36, 40, 46) for shifting the groups (11) into a loading station (34) , - With a container conveyor (60) for feeding the container (14) to the loading station (34) , which has a device (54, 58) for introducing the group (11) into the container (14) , and with a unit conveyor (62) for leading the packaging unit (16) out of the loading station (34) , characterized by - That the pack conveyor (28) branches into a first pack conveying unit (30) and a second pack conveying unit (31) , the ends of which, seen in the direction of movement of the packs (12) , are designed as clock conveyors (30a, 31a) and symmetrical to the stacking station (32) trained grouping station are arranged, - that the stacking station (32) has four stacking shafts (36a, 36b, 36c, 36d) , which form a stacking cross (36) with the same cross arms and a cross center part (37) , - That a cross-rotating device is provided in order to rotate the stacking cross (36) intermittently by 90 degrees around the axis (A) running transversely to its cross arms, so that each of the stacking shafts (36a-36d) rotates one loading position during one cycle while in the following bar an emptying position and during the two subsequent bars a pause position, - that means are provided to repeatedly feed a row of the packs (12) of the first and second pack conveying units (30, 31) to the stacking chute (36a-36d) taking up the loading position in order to use them to produce a layer of a pack stack (11) forming the group to produce in which the packs (12) of the first and the second pack conveying units (30, 31) together form a layer in which the packs (12) of the first and the second pack conveying units (30, 31) are arranged counter-parallel, - That means (40, 46) are provided to lower the pack stack (11) after the stacking of each layer, and - That the group shifting device for removing the stack of packs (11) is formed from the stacking chute (36a-36d) which assumes the emptying position. System (10) according to claim 11J «,
there; marked by
that each stacking shaft (36a - 36d) is delimited by two continuous longitudinal walls (38m , 38n) , which are oriented vertically in the loading position and horizontally in the emptying position. System (10) according to claim 11 ,
characterized by
that each stacking shaft (36a - 36d) is delimited by two transverse walls (38p , 38q) which have a central opening and are vertical in every position. System (10) according to claims 12 and 13 ,
characterized by
that a stackable stacking plate ( 40), which is oriented perpendicular to the longitudinal walls (38m, 38n) and the transverse walls (38p, 38q) , is arranged in the stacking shaft (36a - 36d ) and that the stacking station (32) has a plate setting device (46 ; 50) in order to gradually lower the stacking plate (40) from an outer position at the outer end of the cross arms into an inner position adjacent to the cross middle part (37) . System (10) according to claim 14 ,
characterized by
that a stackable plate (40; 140), which can be pushed transversely to the walls (38m, 38n, 38p, 38q) , is arranged in the stacking shaft (36a - 36d) and that the stacking station (2) is a plate setting device (146; 50) comprises the stacking plate (40; 140) from an inner layer to be moved adjacent to the cross middle part (37) into an outer position at the end of the cross arms. System (10) according to claim 14 or 15 ,
characterized by
that the plate setting device (46, 146) contains a plate pushing device (48, 148) in order to move the stacking plate ( 40, 140) between its effective area inside the stacking shaft (36a - 36d) and a reset area outside the stacking shaft (36a - 36d) . System (10) according to claims 14 and 15 ,
characterized by
that a stacking plate (4) is fastened in each stacking shaft (36a - 36d) . Appendix (10) according to patent claims 14 and 15 ,
characterized by
that the plate setting device has a scissor device (50) arranged between the stacking plate (40) and the cross central part (37) . Appendix (10) according to claim 14 and 6 15 ,
characterized by
that the plate setting device (46, 166) is fluid-operated by means of cylinder / piston units (46, 48, 146, 148) . System (10) according to claims 14 and 15 ,
characterized by
that the plate setting device (50) is mechanically actuated. System (10) according to claim 11 ,
characterized by
that the clock conveyors (30a, 31a) are at the same height in the area of the stacking station (32) . System (10) according to claim 11 ,
characterized by
that one of the clock conveyors (30a, 31a) lies in the area of the stacking station (32) above the other clock conveyor (31a, 30a) . System (10) according to claim 11 ,
characterized by
that each of the pack feed units (30, 31) is assigned a dividing device in order to bring half of the packs (12) onto a further pack feed unit (130, 131) each, and that a second stacking station (32) is provided to feed the packs ( 12) to stack the further pack feed units (130, 131) and to feed them to the loading station (34) . System (10) according to claim 11 ,
characterized by
that the stacking station (32) has a stop body (42) arranged between the clock conveyors (30a, 21a) above the stacking shaft (36a - 36d) taking up the loading position, the opposite sides of which have stops (44) for the head parts (20) touching one another in the opposite direction and form packs (12) of a layer of the first and second cycle conveyors (30a, 31a) arranged at the same height. Appendix (10) according to PatentansOruch 24 ,
characterized by
that means are provided to push the stop body (42) back and forth between a limit position in the region of the second clock conveyor (31a) and a further limit position in the region of the first clock conveyor (30a) , in order to alternately stop the head parts (20) of the packs (12) of a layer of the first and second cycle conveyors (30a, 31a) overlapping at least with their head parts (20) . Packing unit (16) comprising a rigid cubic container (14, 114) and a plurality of arranged therein packages (12) comprising a bottom part (18), and connected to the bottom part (18) via a shell (22) head ( 20) own
characterized by
that the packs (12) are arranged in several layers, each layer containing a first and a second row of packs (12) with at least one pack (12) and that the packs (12) of the first row are counter-parallel to the packs (12 ) are arranged in the second row. Packing unit (16) according to claim 26 ,
characterized by
that the packs (12) are at least approximately cubic and arranged such that the first and second layers are arranged at the same height 7 and the head parts (20) of the packs (12) of the first and second rows abut one another. Packing unit (16) according to claim 26 ,
characterized in that the packs (12) are deformable in a wedge-like or wedge-like manner and are arranged such that the packs (12) of the first and second rows of a layer overlap at least in the region of their head parts (20) . Packing unit (16) according to claim 26 ,
characterized by
that the base part (18) and the head part (20) are elongated and the packs (12 ) rest on narrow sides or parts of the shells (22) deformed to narrow sides. Packing unit (16) according to claim 26 ,
characterized by
that it has a lid (15) . Packing unit (16) according to at least one of Claims 26 and 30 ,
characterized by
that the container (14) and / or the lid (15) are shaped pieces made of metal, wood or plastic. Packing unit (16) according to at least one of Claims 26 and 30 ,
characterized by
that the container (14) is a folding piece made of cardboard and the lid is a separate (15) or (19a) molded piece made of cardboard formed on the container (14) . Packing unit (16) according to claim 26 or 32 ,
characterized by
that the container (14) has a central pre-fold (122 ) in the area of the head parts (20) and a central vertical pre-perforation (124) in the rear wall (119) and the front wall (118) and is intended to be used along the pre-perforations ( 124) to be cut and folded along the pre-fold (122) until the outer surfaces of the halves of the bottom (116) of the container (14) touch and the packs (12) with their bottom parts (18) on the bottoms of the display stand serving side walls (120) of the container (14) . Packing unit (16) according to claim 33 ,
characterized by
that the container (14) along the pre-fold (122) and the pre-perforation (124) can be separated into two container halves, which form two display stands. Packing unit (16) according to at least one of Claims 32 to 34 ,
characterized by
that the container (14) has further pre-perforations (126 ) in the areas of the front and / or the rear wall (18, 19 ) for removing the lid (119a) and / or further cardboard sections. Packing unit (16) according to claim 26 ,
characterized by
that at least the floor rectangle is made from recycled cardboard.

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