JP3112728U - Interactive buffer for supplying sheet-like packaging material to one or more stations of a packaging machine for packaging fluid food - Google Patents

Abstract

Increasing the production rate of a packaging machine without substantially increasing the overall size of the buffer for supplying sheet-like packaging material to one or more stations of the packaging machine for packaging fluid food An interaction buffer adapted to be provided is provided.
A buffer 15 includes guide members 16 to 26 that supply a packaging material 3 along an arbitrary path P _M with traveling components in at least two directions (R, S) intersecting each other. 16 to 26, at least one 19, 20, 24, 25 has an input section I and an output section U of the packaging material 3, and at least one of the above-described directions R and S, R is a guide member 16 ~. 26, it is opposed to the input section I and the output section U of another member 16, 17, 18, 21, 22, 23, 26.
[Selection] Figure 2

Description

  The present invention relates to an interactive buffer for supplying sheet-like packaging material to one or more stations of a packaging machine for packaging fluid food.

  As is known, many fluid foods such as fruit juice, pasteurized or UHT milk, wine, tomato sauce are sold in packages made of sterilized packaging materials. Yes.

  A typical example of this type of package is a parallelepiped shaped package of liquid or flowable food known as Tetra Brik Aseptic®, which folds and seals the laminated strips of packaging material Create by. The laminated packaging material has a layer of fibrous material, such as paper, which is covered on both sides with a heat-seal plastic such as polyethylene, and in the case of an aseptic package, the packaging material eventually comes into contact with the food in the package The side also has a layer of oxygen barrier material, such as a sheet of aluminum foil or a layer of EVOH, which is covered with a layer of heat seal plastic material.

  As is known, this type of package is produced in a fully automated packaging machine, where a continuous tube is formed from the packaging machine that feeds the web. In particular, the packaging material web is unrolled and fed through the aseptic environment of the packaging machine, where it is sterilized by applying a liquid disinfectant such as hydrogen peroxide and then heated, or the packaging material This is evaporated by subjecting it to radiation of the appropriate wavelength and intensity, or both.

  In particular, a web of packaging material is fed along a predetermined path, such as by rollers and guide members, and then passed through a sterilized station and sterilization chamber where the web is maintained in a sterile air environment. In particular, in a sterile chamber, the web of packaging material is fed vertically through several successive folding assemblies, which interact with the web and fold it into a gradually cylindrical shape, which is usually open It defines several forced web passages that gradually change from a C shape to a generally circular shape.

  The folding assembly interacts with the individual opposing side portions of the web and superimposes and heat seals to form a tube of packaging material.

  The resulting tube actually forms an extension of the sterilization chamber and is fed vertically, filled with sterilized or sterilized food for packaging and fed through the forming station to provide individual Form a package.

  That is, at the forming station, the tubes are sealed in several equally spaced sections and are connected to each other by individual transverse sealing bands, ie bands extending perpendicular to the direction of travel of the tubes. Form a continuous strip of packs. Pillow packs are separated by cutting the relative transverse sealing strips and transported to a folding station where they are mechanically folded to form individual finished parallelepiped packages.

  For example, as described in EP-B-0 877 265, a forming station is known which has two chain conveyors defining individual endless paths and fitted with several individual jaws. The two paths have individual branches that are generally facing and parallel to each other, between which the tube of packaging material, the jaws of one conveyor along the branches of the individual paths and the other Cooperating with the corresponding jaws of the conveyor, gripping the tube in several successive cross sections, is supplied to seal and cut the package.

  That is, each jaw on one conveyor and the corresponding jaw on the other conveyor define a forming assembly that periodically interacts with the tubes of packaging material.

  The portion of the tube gripped between each pair of jaws is usually sealed by heating means carried by one of the jaws, which locally melts a layer of heat-seal plastic material firmly held between the jaws. To do.

  Forming stations having only two pairs of jaws are also known, which act on the tube of packaging material periodically and continuously, grip it, along several equally spaced sections such as by heat sealing. Seal. This type of forming station consists of the packaging machines TB / 21, TBA / 19, characterized by TBA / 21 and Tetra Pak A3.

  As each pair of jaws completes the sealing action, the cutter carried by one of the jaws in the relative pair is activated and interacts with the tube of packaging material along the centerline of the section just sealed. And thus separate the pillow pack from the bottom end of the tube of packaging material. With the bottom end sealed laterally, when the relative jaws reach the bottom dead center position, they can open to avoid interference with the top of the tube. At the same time, the other pair of jaws operating in exactly the same way descends from the top dead center position and repeats the above gripping / forming, sealing and cutting process.

  Upstream of the work station and downstream of the packaging material reel, machines of the type described above typically have an interaction buffer, which changes the exhausted reel and removes the material on the new reel without stopping production. Define an additional path for the material that is long enough to overlap the material unwound from the old reel.

  The buffer receives the packaging material directly from the reel and is defined by several rollers, usually having parallel axes, around which the packaging material is wound in several loops, after which various operations of the packaging machine Oriented to the station.

  In one typical known configuration, the rollers are located between the input and output portions of the buffer and are arranged in approximately two spaced horizontal groups so that the packaging material is both vertically and horizontally oriented. Run through the group. That is, the wrapping material is alternately wound around two horizontal groups of successive rollers, thus free in several straight lines connected alternately at the top and bottom by means of a substantially semi-circular portion wound around the individual rollers, and Supplied along a path defined by a substantially vertical portion.

  As the production speed of the packaging machine increases, the type of configuration described above increases the number of rollers in each horizontal group, thus increasing the overall horizontal length of the buffer or increasing the vertical distance between the horizontal groups, It is therefore necessary to increase the overall height of the buffer.

  To increase the production speed of the packaging machine without substantially increasing the overall size of the buffer to supply sheet-like packaging material to one or more stations of the packaging machine for packaging fluid food It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved interaction buffer.

  According to the invention, an interactive buffer is provided for supplying sheet-like packaging material to one or more stations of a packaging machine for packaging fluid food as claimed in claim 1.

  Preferred non-limiting embodiments of the present invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings.

  Number 1 in FIG. 1 is a sealed package 2 of pasteurized or fluid food such as UHT milk, fruit juice, wine from a web 3 of packaging material that is unwound from reel 4 and fed along path P. The packaging machine that continuously produces is shown as a whole.

  In particular, a web 3 having a multilayer structure of the type described above is fed along the path P by a guide member 5 defined by, for example, rollers, etc., and passes continuously through several known work stations of the machine 1, In this machine, the web 3 is folded into a cylindrical shape in order to form a station 6 for wrapping the packaging material when replacing the reel 4, a station 7 for sterilizing the web 3, and a continuous vertical tube 10. Station 8 for sealing in direction, station 11 for filling tube 10 with sterilized or sterilized food, and forming station for producing individual packages 2 by sealing and cutting equally spaced sections of tube 10 12 (FIGS. 3 and 4) is schematically illustrated.

  The machine 1 also has an interaction buffer 15 (FIGS. 1 and 2) which receives a web 3 of packaging material from the station 6 and thus from the reel 4 and feeds it to the stations 7, 8, 11 and 12; The reel 4 can be replaced without interrupting the supply to the stations 7, 8, 11, 12, and thus without interrupting the production of the finished package 2. 3 can be spliced together.

  In particular, the buffer 15 has several guide rollers indicated by reference numerals 16 to 26 which are continuous in the direction of travel of the web 3, around which the web 3 of packaging material is wound in several loops, after which Supplied to stations 7, 8, 11, 12 of machine 1.

  The rollers 16 to 26 have parallel individual axes that are perpendicular to the path P, are attached to the fixed frame 28 of the machine 1 and rotate freely around the individual axes.

In particular, rollers 16-26 define a predetermined portion P _M of sufficiently long road P enough to replace the reel 4 without cease production. Web 3 as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 travels along portion P _M, the running components are two respective horizontal and vertical directions R, S at right angles to each other. In the illustrated example, the travel component in the horizontal direction R is a component that determines travel from the station 6 to the continuous station of the machine 1 through the buffer 15.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the direction R and the direction S are perpendicular to the axes of the rollers 16 to 26.

A particular roller (19, 20, 24, 25) has an input section I and an output section U of the web 3, which is the same as that of the other rollers (16, 17, 18, 21, 22, 23, 26). Opposite the direction R with respect to the input section I and the output section U. As a result, the web 3 “coordinates” in the buffer 15 with the direction R in a sense, and in the opposite sense, maximizes the length of the portion P _M of the path P within a predetermined envelope of the directions R and S. To travel through the buffer 15.

  In alternative embodiments not shown, rollers 16-26 of the same type of configuration may be applied in direction S alone or in a combination of direction R and direction S.

  In the illustrated example, the buffer 15 has an input portion 29 and an output portion 30 of the web 3 that are spaced apart in a direction parallel to the direction R, and in the direction R, the rollers 16, 17, 18, 21, 22, 23. 26, the input section I of the buffer 15 is closer to the input section 29 than the corresponding output section U, and the input section I of the rollers 19, 20, 24, 25 is the output section of the buffer 15 than the corresponding output section U. Close to 30.

As shown in FIG. 2, the rollers 16 to 26 are divided into a top group Z ₁ and a bottom group Z ₂ spaced apart in a direction parallel to the direction S.

The top group Z ₁ is defined by rollers 16, 18, 20, 22, 24, 26 and the bottom group Z ₂ is defined by rollers 17, 19, 21, 23, 25.

The rollers 16, 18, 20, 22, 24, 26 of the top group Z ₁ are aligned in two different directions parallel to the direction R, and the rollers 17, 19, 21, 23, 25 are parallel to the direction S Aligned in two different directions.

  In particular, the rollers 16, 26 are in a higher position in the direction S than all of the other rollers (17-25) and define an input 29 and an output 30 of the web 3 in the buffer 15, respectively, in the direction R With individual axes aligned in parallel directions, the rollers 18, 20, 22, 24 are located directly below the lower rollers 16, 26, which are also individually aligned in a direction parallel to the direction R. The rollers 20, 24 define opposing ends of the horizontal row formed by the rollers 18, 20, 22, 24, and the individual axes of the rollers 16, 26 in a direction parallel to the direction S. The rollers 18, 22 are inserted between the rollers 20 and 24 in the direction R and are arranged continuously from the input 29 to the output 30 of the buffer 15. The

In the bottom group Z ₂ , the rollers 17, 19, 21 have individual axes aligned in a direction parallel to the direction S, closer to the input portion 29 of the buffer 15 than the rollers 23 and 25 in the direction R, The position gradually increases toward the roller 18 and is substantially aligned with the roller 18 in a direction parallel to the direction S.

  Similarly, the rollers 23 and 25 have individual axes aligned in a direction parallel to the direction S, and gradually become higher toward the roller 24, and the rollers 24 and 26 in a direction parallel to the direction S. Almost aligned.

That is, the rollers 17, 18, 19, 21 and the rollers 23 to 26 substantially define two rows parallel to the direction S, and the rollers 17, 19 in one row and the rollers 24, 25 in the other row are The so-called web 3 of packaging material is arranged “in the individual loop”. In order to prevent interference between the various parts of the web 3 along the loop forming part P _M of the path P, the rollers 19, 21, 23 at the bottom end of the individual rows are connected to the other rollers 16, 17, The diameter is larger than 18, 20, 22, 24, 25, and 26.

  As the web 3 exits the buffer 15, it is fed by the guide member 5 to the sterilization station 7, which is known and is therefore schematically illustrated in FIG. 1, in the illustrated example in the form of hydrogen peroxide and water. It has a tank 31 filled with a liquid disinfectant such as a concentrated solution, and the web 3 is supplied to it by a guide member 5.

  In particular, in order to ensure a sufficiently long treatment of the packaging material, the guide member 5 forms a U-shaped path of a predetermined length of the web 3 in the tank 31.

  As the web 3 exits the sterilization station 7, it is fed into a sterilization chamber (not shown) where a tube 10 is formed and filled, and the package 2 is sealed and cut from the tube 10.

  In particular, as the web 3 exits the sterilization tank 31, it is treated mechanically (eg, by a drying roller) and thermohydrodynamically (eg, by a hot air jet) to remove residual sterilant.

Next, the web 3 reaches a station 8, which has several folding assemblies 32 arranged successively along the vertical part P _N of the path P, which interacts with the web 3 and Fold it and gradually make it cylindrical. Folding assembly 32, the web 3, substantially in cross-section gradually changes to a circular from C-shaped open to define a number of compulsory passages having an axis A which coincides with the portion P _N of the road-P.

  The folding assembly 32 interacts with and overlaps the individual opposing side edges of the web 3, which is heat sealed to form a tube 10 that is coaxial with the axis A.

  At the next station 11, a filling pipe 33 extending partially into the pipe 10 and fed from a known filling circuit (not shown) continues the sterilized or sterilized food to the pipe 10. To fill.

  At station 12 of machine 1, tube 10 is finally sealed along an equally spaced section and cut to form package 2.

  In particular, the station 12 of FIGS. 3 and 4 is of a type that uses two forming assemblies 34, 34 ′, each having only two jaws, which can be used periodically and continuously for the packaging material. Acts on and grips the tube 10 and seals, eg heat seals, along the cross-section.

  Alternatively, the forming station 12 can be of the type described and illustrated, for example in EP-B-0 888 265, which uses two chain conveyors, which define individual endless paths, pipes Several jaws acting on 10 are individually supported.

  With reference to FIGS. 3 and 4, the station 12 has a support structure 35 that defines two vertical guides 36, which are symmetrical about the longitudinal vertical plane M at the center of the station 12 through the axis A. And its individual axes lie in the central transverse vertical plane T. Thus, axis A defines the intersection of surface M and surface T.

The forming assemblies 34, 34 ′ move vertically along the individual guides 36 and thus move along a part of the portion P _N of the path P and interact with the tube 10 of packaging material periodically and alternately. Grip the cross section of the tube and heat seal.

  Since both forming assemblies 34, 34 'are symmetric with respect to the plane M, only one (forming assembly 34) is shown in detail in FIG. 4 and described below. Corresponding parts of the forming assemblies 34, 34 'are indicated using the same reference numbers in FIG.

  As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the forming assembly 34 has a slide 37 that travels substantially along the individual guides 36, and two jaws 38a, 38b, which are in the axis of the rollers 16-26. Around the parallel individual horizontal axes B, the bottom is hinged to the slide 37 and is arranged symmetrically with respect to the surface T so as to open and close almost like a book.

  The reciprocating movement of the slide 37 and the opening / closing movements of the jaws 38a, 38b are performed in a known manner not shown by a pair of vertical bars (not shown) controlled by a rotating cam or a servomotor (not shown). Be controlled.

  In particular, each jaw 38a, 38b has a main control body 40, which is in the form of a generally square surface extending along the working surface V (FIG. 4) of the jaws 38a, 38b including the individual axes B. A control arm 41 hinged to the slide 37 near its bottom end, protruding from the face of the body 40 facing the face V and operating in a known manner (not shown) by one of the vertical bars.

  The jaws 38a, 38b also have individual support arms 42 (FIG. 3) that are attached to the upper ends of the individual bodies 40 and are parallel to the individual axes B so that they are located on opposite sides of the tube 10. Projecting substantially in line with the individual working surface V towards the surface M and beyond.

  The protruding portions of the arms 42 of the jaws 38a and 38b are fitted with individual rod-like auxiliary bodies 43, which are individually fitted with sealing members 44 (schematically illustrated by dotted lines in FIG. 4). Defined by an inductor that interacts with 10 and generates a current in the aluminum layer of the packaging material, for example, melts the heat-seal plastic layer by the Joule effect and by a corresponding backup pad that grips the tube 10 at the required thickness Is done.

  The jaws 38a, 38b move between a closed position where the individual sealing member 44 grips the tube 10 and a fully open position.

  At the transverse sealing stage, the tubes 10 are heat sealed along equally spaced sections to form individual sealing bands 45.

  The arms 42 of the jaws 38a, 38b are mounted on individual auxiliary bodies 43 with individual shells 46 that control the volume of the package 2 being formed, commonly known as "volume boxes".

  In particular, the outer shell 46 is hinged to the arms 42 of the individual jaws 38a, 38b with respect to an individual axis C whose bottom is parallel to the axis B, and any known means on the arm 42 by any known elastic means not shown. Maintained in position.

  The outer shells 46 each have a C-shaped cross section that is open at the front and, after being laterally sealed with a sealing member 44, cooperate with each other to define a void of any shape and volume, which is a tube. 10 is enclosed and formed into a rectangular cross-sectional configuration.

  This forming stage produces a “pillow” pack 2 ′, which each has a main portion 50 of the same shape and volume as the finished package, and a transition portion 51 that connects the main portion 50 with individual adjacent sealing strips 45. Have

  The pillow pack 2 'is separated by cutting the individual sealing strips 45 and then transported to a folding station (not shown), where it is mechanically folded in a known manner and individually completed. A parallelepiped package 2 is formed.

  In actual use, the jaws 38a, 38b of each forming assembly 34, 34 'close to grip the tube 10 with a vertically downward traveling component equal to the traveling speed of the tube 10 as the assembly is lowered. In particular, the jaws 38a, 38b of each forming assembly 34, 34 'are brought closer together to gradually deform and “flatten” the cross-section of the tube 10, at which point the sealing member 44 is in two overlapping layers of packaging material. The section is sealed to form a flat cross section.

  As each forming assembly 34, 34 'descends, the jaws 38a, 38b open, releasing the tube 10 just before the forming assembly reaches the bottom dead center position and completing the opening as the forming assembly is raised, The forming assembly is fully opened before reaching the top dead center position, at which point the jaws 38a, 38b begin to close and close sufficiently until the forming assembly begins to descend.

  In order to avoid interference, the travel of the two forming assemblies 34, 34 'is offset by a half period so that the forming assembly 34 is raised with the jaws 38a, 38b open, while the jaws 38a, 38b are closed. It is clear that the forming assembly 34 'is lowered in the closed state.

  The advantages of the buffer 15 and the machine 1 according to the invention will become clear from the above description.

  In particular, with the above-described and claimed configuration of rollers 16-26, the buffer 15 is exactly the same overall size as the known buffer, but without the production interruption caused by the reel 4 replacement of the packaging material. The production speed of the packaging machine can be increased obviously.

  That is, the buffer 15 provides a nearly 50% increase in production capacity within the same volume as the known buffer.

  However, it will be apparent that the buffer 15 and machine 1 as described herein may be modified without departing from the scope of the claims.

Fig. 2 shows a schematic perspective view of a packaging machine featuring an interactive buffer according to the invention and a jaw-type forming station for producing a sealed package of fluid food. FIG. 2 shows an enlarged side view of the interaction buffer of FIG. FIG. 2 shows a front view of the forming station of FIG. 1 with parts removed for clarity. FIG. 2 shows a side view of the forming station of FIG. 1 with parts removed for clarity.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Packing machine 2 Package 2 'Pillow-shaped pack 3 Web 4 Reel 5 Guide member 6 Station 7 Sterilization station 8 Station 10 Pipe 11 Station 12 Forming station 15 Buffer 16 Roller 17 Roller 18 Roller 19 Roller 20 Roller 21 Roller 22 Roller 23 Roller 24 Roller 25 Roller 26 Roller 28 Fixed frame 29 Input section 30 Output section 31 Tank 32 Folding assembly 33 Filling pipe 34 Forming assembly 35 Support structure 36 Vertical guide 37 Slide 38 Jaw 40 Main body 41 Control arm 42 Support arm 43 Auxiliary body 44 Sealing member 45 Sealing zone 46 Outer shell 50 Main part 51 Transition part

Claims (6)

An interactive buffer (15) for supplying sheet-like packaging material (3) to one or more stations (7, 8, 11, 12) of a packaging machine (1) for packaging fluid food; ) Is a buffer having guide members (16-26) for supplying the packaging material (3) along an arbitrary path (P _M ) with traveling components in at least two directions (R, S) intersecting each other. And at least the first member (19, 20, 24, 25) of the guide members (16 to 26) has an input section (I) and an output section (U) of the packaging material (3), At least the first direction (R) of the directions (R, S) is the input section (I) of the second member (16, 17, 18, 21, 22, 23, 26) of the guide members (16-26). ) And the output section (U). §.   The first guide member (19, 20, 24, 25) has an input part (29) and an output part (30) spaced apart in the first direction (R), and in the first direction (R). Input section (I) is closer to the output section (30) of the buffer (15) than its output section (U), and the second guide members (16, 17, 18, 21, 22, 23, 26). 2. The buffer according to claim 1, characterized in that the input section (I) of) is closer to the input section (29) of the buffer (15) than its output section (U).   A number of the first and second guide members (16-26), wherein at least three (17, 19, 21) of the first and second guide members (16-26) are in the direction (R, Buffer according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that it defines columns parallel to the second direction (S) of S).   The buffer according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the first direction (R) is a horizontal direction.   A number of rollers (16-26) attached to the support frame (28) for the guide member to rotate around individual axes parallel to each other and intersecting the two directions (R, S) The buffer according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized by comprising:   A packaging machine (1) for producing a sealed package (2) of fluid food from a sheet-like packaging material (3), wherein the packaging machine (1) comprises one or more work stations (7, 8, 11, 12) and a packaging machine having an interactive buffer (15) according to any one of claims 1 to 5, for feeding said packaging material (3) to said work station (7, 8, 11, 12). .

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