WO1996028296A1

WO1996028296A1 - Method for continuously producing collapsible cups

Info

Publication number: WO1996028296A1
Application number: PCT/FR1995/000309
Authority: WO
Inventors: Gilbert Capy; Akiva Buchberg
Original assignee: Gilbert Capy; Akiva Buchberg
Priority date: 1993-09-14
Filing date: 1995-03-15
Publication date: 1996-09-19
Also published as: FR2710005B1; FR2710005A1

Abstract

A method for making a cup (27) from a semi-rigid sheet unwound from a roll (19) and shaped by a series of gears (21, 22) to form a folded-out cup (23) which is then folded into its packaging configuration (27).

Description

DEVICE FOR THE CONTINUOUS MANUFACTURE OF FOLDABLE CUPS.

The invention relates to a continuous manufacturing process for a foldable cup formed from a thin rectangular sheet folded in half, the lateral edges of which are fixed together to leave an opening and create a concave bottom consisting of two isosceles triangles. equals having a common base and whose opposite vertices form an acute angle, while the vertical walls of said cup have two dihedrons whose faces are connected to each other and to the concave bottom by folding and therefore the edges are fixed to those of the opposite dihedron, as described in patent FR-A-2707467.

The cup is made from a semi-rigid sheet by means of a device for preforming the dihedrons, the bottom and the lateral sides, followed by a forming device bringing the lateral edges into contact with a device for fixing said edges, while a device separates the cups.

FIG. 1 represents a perspective view of a semi-rigid sheet comprising webs making it possible to continuously form cups according to patent FR-A-2707467.

FIG. 2 represents the shape taken by the sheet of FIG. 1 during the preforming of the bottom of the cup in the unfolded configuration. We will use the same figure when explaining the preforming of the bottom of the cup in the folded configuration because the shape is very similar.

Figure 3 shows the cups formed with the bottom unfolded but not separated from each other. Figure 4 shows separate cups with the bottom folded and separated from each other.

Figure 5 shows a block diagram of the continuous production line of cups according to the invention. FIG. 6 represents a view of the bottom preforming wheel and of the lateral sides of the cup and of the bottom preforming counter wheel, viewed parallel to their axes of rotation. The wheels are only partially designed because their diameter and the number of teeth can vary considerably depending on the product to be produced and the desired rates. The same drawing is used to explain the preforming of the bottom of the cup in the folded and unfolded configuration. The preforming counterwheels on the lateral sides are not shown.

FIG. 7 represents a view of the preforming wheel of the bottom and of the lateral sides of the cup, of the preforming counter wheel of the bottom and of the preforming counterwheels of the lateral sides, seen perpendicular to their axes of rotation. The wheels are only partially designed because their diameter and the number of teeth can vary considerably depending on the product to be produced and the desired rates. The same drawing is used to explain the preforming of the bottom of the folded and unfolded cup.

FIG. 8 shows a view from above of the shaping devices, of fixing the edges of the cups, of separation and of folding of the cups. FIG. 9 shows in elevation the device for supporting, folding and ejecting the cups in the support configuration.

Figure 10 shows in elevation the element of Figure 9 in the ejection configuration of the cup after folding the latter.

The foldable cup according to patent FR-A-2707467 is made from a thin rectangular sheet folded, the opposite edges of the sheet corresponding to the sides of the cup are folded back on themselves to be fixed; the other edges of the sheet located perpendicular to the first corresponding to the opening of the cup, it being understood that this opening may undergo _t rans higher ormation consisting in particular of the constitution of flap to stabilize the cup in a vertical position; the cup has a concave bottom 11 (fig. 3) formed by two equal isosceles triangles 1 and 2 having a common base 3 and whose opposite vertices 4 and 5 form an acute angle and are in contact with the zones 7 and 8 for fixing its edges; the vertical walls of the cup have two dihedrons whose faces 9 and 10 are connected to each other and to the concave bottom 11 by folding and whose edges 12 are fixed to the edges of the opposite dihedron. The shape of the concave bottom 11 is defined by the angle of the vertices 4 and 5 of the isosceles triangles 1 and 2 which compose it. The folding of the cup, in order to obtain a flat product 13 (fig. 4) is obtained by superimposing the two equal isosceles triangles 1 and 2 (fig. L) by folding at their common base 3, which are inscribed in two equal isosceles right triangles 14 and 15 whose long side 16 is common and contains the base 3 of isosceles triangles 1 and 2; under these conditions the two isosceles right triangles 14 and 15 (fig. 4) overlap and the dihedrons 9 and 10 are folded back on themselves; they are connected to the folded bottom 17 by the short sides 18 of the isosceles right triangles 14 and 15 previously described.

FR-A-2707467 describes a manual method for forming the cup from a cut and grooved blank, followed by folding the cup to lay it flat; this type of folding having an innovative character, there are no machines on the market capable of being directly used to carry it out. The invention consists of a process for carrying out this forming and folding operation from a semi-rigid sheet, one side of which is coated with a film of liquid-tight and heat-weldable material, in the form of a coil. The method, object of the invention, consists of the following operations: unwinding of the reel 19 (fig.5), possible ramage and precut 20, preforming 21 of the bottom 17 (fig.4) of the cup when it is in the folded configuration and on the lateral sides, preforming 22 (fιg.5) of the bottom 11 (fιg.3) of the cup when it is in the unfolded configuration and on the lateral sides, forming 23 (fιg.5) of the cup in the unfolded configuration , introduction inside the cup of the device 24 for supporting, folding and ejecting the cup, device 25 for fixing the lateral edges 12 (FIG. 3) of the dihedrons formed by the lateral sides 9 and 10, device 26 ( fιg.5) of separation of the cups, operation 27 of flattening the cup, operation 28 of transferring the cup flat for further processing.

When done before forming, the ramage is arranged so that the weld zone

30 (fig.l) of the side edges 12 is located perpendicular to the direction of movement 29 of the sheet; during the same operation, it is possible to also cut the stabilization flaps for the production of a cup or the precut of the same flaps necessary for the production of a cup sachet as described in the patent FR- A-2707467; when the precut is not necessary, it is possible to avoid having to make a prior ramage of the sheet and to make the sheet enter directly into the devices preforming the bottom; when the cup must be delivered in the folded configuration, it is preferable to make a first preforming of the bottom 17 of the cup in the folded configuration, without necessarily making a conformation of the lateral sides; then the bottom 11 is shaped in the unfolded configuration; these two operations are very similar and we will describe below one of them and in this case the preforming of the device 21 in the case of the simultaneous preforming of the bottom 17 and the lateral sides. The device 21 (f g.5) preforms the bottom 17 (fig.4) when the cup is in the folded configuration and optionally preforms the dihedrons formed from the faces 9 and 10 (fιg.2); it is composed of a first wheel

31 (fig.5, 6 and 7), turning around an axis 32 perpendicular to the direction of movement of the sheet 29, formed by a central part 33 (fig. 6 and 7) for the preforming of the bottom 17 (fig. 4) of the cup when it is folded and possibly of two symmetrical conical side parts 34 (fig. 6 and 7) for preforming the lateral sides 9 and 10 (fig. 3); in its central part 33 this wheel 31 has teeth formed by rectangular and isosceles triangular facets 35, slightly smaller than those of the cup, having their common base 36, located parallel to the axis 32 of the wheel 31, forming the hollow of the tooth while their apex 37 is projecting and extended by an edge 38 situated in the plane of symmetry of the wheel 31, corresponding to the folding zone 30 (fig. 2) of the edges on themselves for their attachment , and the length 39 of which is twice the width of the area for fixing the lateral edges 12; a counter wheel 40 (fig. 6 and 7) rotating about an axis 41 parallel to that 32 of the first wheel 31, comprising teeth 42, which mesh with those previously described, which have projecting edges 43 parallel to the axis of rotation 41, having the length of the common base of the isosceles right triangles 14 and 15 (fig.4), at the same pitch as that of the corresponding preforming wheel 31 (fig.6 and 7). The conical lateral parts 34 of the preforming wheel 31 have teeth 44, in a number identical to that of the central zone 33, with protruding straight edges 45, situated in a plane passing through the axis 32 of the preforming wheel 31, corresponding to the fold line of the dihedrons 9 and 10 (FIG. 2) constituting the lateral edges of the cup and preferably of at least equivalent length; each of these edges 45 (fig. 6 and 7) starts from the end 46 of the hollow of a tooth in the central part of the preforming wheel 31, forms with it a very precise angle deduced directly from the angle made by between them the isosceles right triangles 14 and 15 (fig.4), thus constituting the hollow of the teeth of the central part 33 (fig.6 and 7) of the wheel 31; the conical side parts 34 have hollow bands 47 the width 39 of double that of the fixing area of the side edges 12; they start from the edge 38 of the central part 33 of the wheel 31 located between the hollows at an angle, with the axis 32 of the preforming wheel 31, well defined, depending on the angle made by the right triangles isosceles 35 and they are tangent, by their median line, to a conical surface of revolution having as axis the axis 32 of the preforming wheel. Two conical lateral counter-wheels 48 mesh with the lateral parts 34 of the preforming wheel 31; the teeth 49 of the lateral counter-wheels 48 have in hollow the counterpart 50 of the edge 45 and projecting the counterpart 51 of the strip 47. The preforming wheel 31 and its three counter-wheels 40 and 48 have their axes 41 and 52 located in the same plane and these three counter-wheels can be synchronized by gear trains or constant velocity joints. When the sheet is grooved in the rowing device 20, it is directed towards the preforming device 21 by bending it longitudinally in the form of a tile, using fixed guides, in order to give it a profile close to that of the wheel. preforming 31; the sheet passes through the preforming wheel 31 so that the branches are correctly positioned relative to the teeth of the preforming wheel 31 while the counterwheels 40 and 48 push the sheet to the bottom of the hollow of the teeth to give the bottom of the future goblet the shape of a concave dihedral, while the lateral sides take the form of convex dihedrons; It is preferable to keep the sheet thus preformed in place on the preforming wheel 31 on a sufficient number of teeth by holding it in place by suction holes, so as to maintain tension in the grooved sheet coming from the ramage device 20 (fig.l). Then the sheet having escaped from the first preforming device 21 is introduced into a second rowing device 22, which is organized like the orecent, with a preforming wheel 53, a counter wheel for preforming the bottom 54, two conical wheels 55 for preforming the lateral sides 9 and 10 (FIG. 2), but which carry out the preforming of the concave bottom 11 of the cup when it is unfolded. It is preferable to maintain the sheet prefojπée on the wheel of prefo.i creep 53 by suction orifices opening at places covered by the sheet, at an angle of rotation sufficient to allow positioning of a shaper 56. When the sheet does not does not have prior creasing, it is necessary to adjust the preforming wheels so that during the preforming operation the sheet is suitably marked at the places where it must be folded.

The preformed sheet (fig. 2) is then detached from the preforming wheel 54 (fig. 5) and enters a shaper 56 whose role is to gradually bring the side sides 9 and 10 closer to the opposite side sides until the attachment zones 30 of the edges 12 come into contact; in a preferred version of the invention the shaping device 56 consists of surfaces on which the sheet slides while continuing to fold at the places already folded by the preforming device 22; as the sheet traverses the conformator 56, the angles of the dihedrons forming the bottom 11 and the lateral sides 9 and 10 close in a coordinated manner. During this operation, a device 24 (fig.5) for folding and ejecting the cups is positioned between the side walls 9 and 10; this device (fig. 9) is made up of a first sub-assembly 57 which is the generally rectangular and not very thick folding device which is placed inside the cup being formed in the plane constituted by the base common 3 (fig.8) of the triangles constituting the concave bottom 11 and the edges 58 of the dihedrons formed by the lateral sides 9 and 10; its width 59 (fig. 9) is slightly less than that separating the edges 58 of the two dihedrons formed by the lateral sides 9 and 10 of the same gooelet and its height 60 is such that its apex 61 comes substantially to the point of fish bone 58 of the dihedrons corresponding to the end 62 (FIG. 3) of the common base of the triangles forming the bottom 11 when the cup is unfolded; this folding device 57 is liable to move apart (FIG. 10) by resting on the edges 58 of the lateral dihedrons, which causes the cup to flatten; during this operation the relative position of the edges 58 with respect to the device 57 changes so that at the end of the operation the top 61 of the folding device 57 is at the height of the end of the common base 16 of the two right triangles 14 and 15 constituting the folded bottom; the sliding of the cup along the folding device 57, can be accompanied by the ejecting device 64 (fig. 9) which can move compared to the folding device 57; the folding device 57 comprises at its base an ejector device 64 which is formed of a flat surface 65, oriented parallel to the orifice 66 (fιg.3 and 4) of the cup opposite the bottom 11 and which can slide in a direction 67 perpendicular to this hole 66 (fig. 4) and to lean on it in order to eject the cup. The folding and ejection device 24 (fig. 5) is part of a chain

69 (fig.5 and 8) of identical devices 24 connected to each other at step 68 (fιg.8) that the cups make between them when they are formed; the chain 69 moves in the direction of movement 29 of the sheet in the shaper 56 (fig; 8) so that the folding devices 57 are progressively placed in the plane formed by the edges 58 of folding the dihedrons when the cup is formed . In the next phase, the fixing zones 30 of the lateral edges 12 are fixed to each other; in a preferred version of the invention the sheet is heat-sealable on at least one face which is, for example, coated with a layer of polyethylene; at the time of shaping the sheet is oriented so that the heat-sealable faces are opposite one another; just pinch them between either a hot electrode

70 and a counter electrode 71, ie between two hot electrodes to obtain a weld; the weld obtained must cover if Dossiole the width 29 to the area 30; these electrodes and counter-electrodes 70 and 71 can constitute the teeth of two wheels 72 located opposite, which rotate at a speed synchronized with the movement of the shaped sheet which moves somewhat like a rack with double toothing between pinions and these wheels 72 continuously fix the lateral edges 12 of the cups. The next station comprises a pair of wheels 73 of the same kind in which the electrodes are replaced by the knives 74 and the counter-electrodes by anvils 75 and which separate the finished cups from one another by cutting substantially in the middle of the zone 30 for fixing the edges 12 and parallel to the latter. The cups are then held in place by the folding device 57 (fig. 9) of the chain 69 (fig. 5); the latter can then move away thanks to a system of cams 76 (FIGS. 9 and 10) fixed on which rollers rollers 77 secured to the folding device 57 by a linkage 78. Then the ejector device 64 slides along the folding device 57 , thanks to cams 79 on which rollers 80 which are integral with the ejector device 64 roll and eject the cup by bearing on its flat face 65 on the orifice 66 (fig. 4) of the cup. During the return phase of the chain elements

69 towards the shaper 56, the cams are profiled so as to bring the folding and ejection device 24 back to the initial configuration. In the illustrated version of the invention, the cup is made with the orifice 66 facing downwards; ejection is then preferably done when the chain has rotated 180 ° and the orifice 66 of the cup is turned upward to benefit from gravity. At this stage, the lateral edge attachment zones remain in a plane parallel to the direction of movement 29 of the chain and must be folded down along the lateral sides 9 and 10 before stacking the folded cups in order to occupy less space. ; this is done in a later stage of the process not described in the context of the present invention.

Claims

Claims.

1 - Device for manufacturing a foldable cup formed from a thin rectangular sheet folded in two, the lateral edges of which are fixed together in zones (7,8) to leave an opening and create a concave bottom (11 , 17) consisting of two equal isosceles triangles (1,2) having a common base (3) and whose opposite vertices (4,5) form an acute angle, while the vertical walls of said cup have two dihedrons whose faces ( 9, 10) are connected to each other and to the concave bottom (11) by folding and whose edges (12) are fixed to the edges of the opposite dihedral, characterized in that it successively comprises:

- A device (19) for distributing and storing the semi-rigid thin sheet on a reel; - A device (20) for creasing and precutting the semi-rigid sheet; a device (21) for preforming the bottom (17) and the dihedrons of the faces (9, 10) of the cup in the folded state;

- A device (22) for preforming the dihedrons of the bottom (11) and of the lateral sides (9, 10) of the cup in the unfolded state;

- a device (23) for forming and a device (56) for shaping bringing into contact the zones (30) for fixing the lateral edges (12) of the cup in the unfolded state;

- a device (24) for supporting and folding (57) and ejecting (64) the cups;

- A device (25) for fixing the lateral edges (12) of the dihedrons formed by the lateral sides (9, 10) of the cup; devices (26,27,28) respectively for separating flattening and transferring the cup in the folded state.

2 - Device according to claim 1, characterized in that the device (21) for preforming consists of a wheel (31) whose central part is used to form the bottom (17) of the cup in the folded state using a counter wheel (40) and the conical side parts (34) of which serve to form the dihedrons constituting the side sides (9, 10) by means of conical counterwheels (48).

3 - Device according to claims 1 and 2, characterized in that the device (22) for preforming is similar to the preforming device (21) but is used for the formation of the dihedrons of the bottom (11) of the cup in the unfolded state.

4 - Device according to claim 1, characterized in that the device (56) for shaping the cup brings the lateral edges (9, 10) closer to the opposite lateral sides, until the zones (30) for fixing the lateral edges (12) come into contact.

5 - Device according to claims 1 and 4, characterized in that the device (24) is introduced into the cup at the shaping device (56) and that the folding of the cup is carried out by spreading the edges from the inside ( 58) dihedrons formed by the lateral sides (9,10) opposite said cup.

6 - Device according to claim 1, characterized in that the movements of the support and folding means (57) and ejection (64) of the device (24) are assembled on a chain (69) and controlled by cams.

7 - Device according to claim 1, characterized in that the zones (30) for fixing the edges of the cup are welded by pinching them by means of wheels (72) having electrodes (70,71).

8 - Device according to claim i, characterized in that the cups are cut between two synchronized wheels (73) comprising, one of the cutting tools (74) and the other of the anvils (75 ⁾ .