Patent Grant
11390405
The present application claims priority to German Application DE 10 2019 135 254.1, filed Dec. 19, 2019, German Application DE 10 2019 128 874.6, filed Oct. 25, 2019, and German Application DE 10 2019 113 176.6, filed May 17, 2019, which are incorporated by reference.
The present invention concerns a method and an apparatus for producing a multipack comprising a plurality of beverage containers.
For the packaging of beverage containers, the beverage containers or bottles can be grouped on horizontal conveying devices and combined into groupings via a packaging material, each grouping comprising a defined number of containers. Well-known examples of such packaging material are strappings, which strappings are applied to a group of beverage containers and which hold the beverage containers of a respective group together. Also known are packaging materials, which consist of thermoplastic material and are shrunk onto a group of articles. Such packaging materials, which are also known as shrink film, are applied to the respective group of articles before being exposed to temperature and thereby shrinking onto the respective group of articles.
Since in practice the consumption of packaging material should be kept as low as possible, packs are also known, in which several beverage containers are held together by a flat packaging blank, which packaging blank is designed with several openings. Through each opening passes the upper part of an assigned beverage container. By such a packaging blank, the beverage containers are held together in a form-fitting and/or force-fitting manner and form a respective multipack. Multipacks of this type are known, for example, to comprise four, six or eight beverage containers.
A multipack, in which the beverage containers are held together by such a packaging blank, is disclosed, for example, in document EP 0 456 357 A1. During production of the multipack disclosed in the EP application, beverage containers are divided into several rows via guide rails. Furthermore, a retaining element is placed in contact with a foremost located beverage container of a respective grouping, and another retaining element is arranged in contact to a beverage container, which beverage container is located at the back of the respective grouping. The beverage containers of a respective grouping are brought into a defined alignment with respect to one another via the guiding rails and the retaining elements, so that a packaging blank can subsequently be placed on the beverage containers via its several openings. Due to the necessary alignment of the beverage containers by guiding rails and retaining elements, it is possible that the beverage containers are unintentionally damaged due to the surface contact with the guiding rails and retaining elements or that the visual appearance of the beverage containers is unintentionally impaired by scratches or deformation due to the surface contact with the guiding rails and retaining elements. Furthermore, the apparatus for producing such multipacks according to the EP application has a complex structure.
For this reason, one task of the invention can be seen as being to provide a generic apparatus and a generic method, with which apparatus and method, the risk of unintentional damage or unintentional impairment of the optical appearance of beverage containers can at least be reduced. Furthermore, one task of the invention can be seen in providing a generic apparatus, which is characterized by a simplified construction. In addition, a task can be seen in providing a method, which can be implemented with reduced constructional effort.
The above task is solved by a method and an apparatus, which include the features in the independent claims. Further advantageous embodiments are described in the dependent claims.
The invention relates to a method for producing a multipack comprising several beverage containers. A multipack produced by the method can, for example, comprise exactly four, exactly six or exactly eight beverage containers.
One step of the method involves aligning several beverage containers intended for a respective multipack with respect to one another, so that a packaging blank can subsequently be applied to the aligned beverage containers. The aligned beverage containers provided for a respective multipack can form a respective grouping, to which grouping a packaging blank is subsequently applied, so that the packaging blank holds the beverage containers of a respective grouping together in a form-fitting and/or force-fitting manner. In particular, a respective lateral surface area of a respective aligned beverage container of a respective grouping can be in contact or surface contact with a lateral surface area of at least one further aligned beverage container of the respective grouping.
Furthermore, a packaging blank is applied to the several aligned beverage containers, which beverage containers are intended for a respective multipack, whereby the aligned beverage containers of the respective grouping pass through openings of the packaging blank and are subsequently held together by the packaging blank.
A respective packaging blank can thus comprise two opposite broadside surfaces and be interspersed with several openings. In particular, a respective packaging blank may consist of plastic material or cellulose-containing material.
It is provided that several groupings with several beverage containers each are placed or deposited on a horizontal conveying device via at least one handling apparatus in such a way, that the several beverage containers of a respective grouping are in an alignment with respect to one another in order to receive a respective packaging blank, which packaging blank is applied immediately upon placement of the beverage containers on the horizontal conveying device. It is conceivable hereby, that at least approximately simultaneously a plurality of groupings, each grouping comprising a plurality of beverage containers, are placed or deposited on the horizontal conveying device via at least one handling apparatus in such a manner, that the plurality of beverage containers of a respective grouping are aligned with respect to one another for the immediate application of a respective packaging blank to the groupings, when they are placed on the horizontal conveying device.
In practice, embodiments have been proven, in which several groupings, each grouping comprising several beverage containers, are set down or deposited on a horizontal conveying device spaced apart from one another or at a distance from one another by at least one handling apparatus in such a way, that the several beverage containers of a respective grouping are aligned with respect to one another for the subsequent application of a respective packaging blank, which application takes place immediately upon placement of the groupings placed on the horizontal conveying device. Alternatively, it can be provided, that a plurality of groupings, each comprising a plurality of beverage containers, are placed on a horizontal conveying device without a spacing between the groupings by at least one handling apparatus, wherein the plurality of beverage containers of a respective grouping are aligned with respect to one another for the immediate application of a respective packaging blank, which application takes place as soon as the groupings are placed on the horizontal conveying device. It is possible that the groupings are only spaced apart from one another after they have been placed on the horizontal conveying device, wherein the spacing is done in such a manner that the plurality of beverage containers of a respective grouping are still aligned with respect to one another for the application of a respective packaging blank after the respective distancing. In particular, embodiments have proven to be useful, in which groupings, which groupings are located ahead of the other groupings, are accelerated in order to be distanced, thereby maintaining the alignment of their respective beverage containers in relation to the groupings that are lagging behind.
Also, a respective packaging blank is applied to the beverage containers of a respective grouping, which beverage containers are placed on the horizontal conveying device and which beverage containers are aligned with respect to one another.
The method may also provide that the application of a respective packaging blank to the aligned beverage containers, which are intended for a respective multipack, is carried out without the lateral surface areas of the aligned beverage containers bearing against any retaining element and/or guiding element, which retaining element and/or guiding element is designed to maintain alignment. Alternatively or in addition to this, it may be provided, that a movement of the aligned beverage containers, which are intended for a respective multipack, is effected by the horizontal conveying device, wherein the movement takes place without contact of lateral surface areas of the aligned beverage containers with any retaining element and/or guiding element, which retaining element and/or guiding element is normally designed to maintain the alignment. It is therefore possible that during the time of the movement over the horizontal conveying device all beverage containers of a respective grouping exclusively have contact with at least one further beverage container of the grouping and with the horizontal conveying device, and/or that during the time of the movement over the horizontal conveying device all beverage containers of a respective grouping have exclusively only contact to the horizontal conveying device.
It is conceivable, that the beverage containers, which are in an alignment with respect to each other and which are intended for a respective multipack, are moved in time by the horizontal conveying device during the application of the respective packaging blank without interruption and preferably at an at least approximately constant transport speed. Such embodiments are characterized by a high throughput and gentle handling of the beverage containers.
It is also possible, that a respective packaging blank is applied to the aligned beverage containers of a respective grouping via at least one application head, wherein the at least one application head performs a lowering movement for applying packaging blanks to groupings, which lowering movement is oriented in the direction of a respective grouping. The beverage containers of a respective grouping can be moved forward in time during the application of the respective packaging blank, the at least one application head moving along in time with the respective beverage containers of a respective grouping during the application of the respective packaging blank.
It is conceivable, that the at least one application head receives or picks up at least one packaging blank from a stack of several packaging blanks, which stack is positioned laterally beside the horizontal conveying device, then the application head positions the respective at least one packaging blank received from the stack above at least one grouping, which grouping is comprising several beverage containers placed or disposed on the horizontal conveying device in an aligned arrangement, and then the application head executes a lowering movement, which lowering movement is oriented in the direction of the respective grouping. In this manner, the at least one application head can be moved back and forth between the stack and the horizontal conveying device.
It is possible, that the at least one application head, after executing a respective lowering movement, applies several packaging blanks to several different groupings, which several different groupings each comprise several beverage containers, which beverage containers have been placed on the horizontal conveying device and which beverage containers have been aligned with respect to one another. In this way, the at least one application head can, if appropriate, simultaneously hold a plurality of packaging blanks, execute a lowering movement and, after execution of this respective lowering movement, apply the plurality of packaging blanks held by the at least one application head to a plurality of different groupings, which plurality of different groupings each comprise a plurality of beverage containers set down on the horizontal conveying device and aligned with respect to one another. It is possible, that the several groupings, each comprising several beverage containers, are set down on the horizontal conveying device at a distance from one another via the at least one handling apparatus and that the several groupings maintain their distance from one another at least until the respective packaging blank is applied. Thus, the plurality of groupings, each comprising a plurality of beverage containers, can be arranged at a distance from one another on the horizontal conveying device, especially temporarily during the application of a respective packaging blank, or the groupings can be moved at a distance from one another by the horizontal conveying device.
It can also be provided, that the at least one application head, after executing a respective lowering movement, applies packaging blanks to the several different groupings or to the several beverage containers of the several different groupings with a time delay. In this way, a force can be kept low, which force must be provided at a certain point in time by the at least one application head for applying packaging blanks.
Embodiments in which the at least one application head executes the lowering movement oriented in the direction of the respective grouping and, in doing so, applies the respective packaging blank to the beverage containers already aligned with respect to one another by the at least one application head pressing a respective beverage container of a respective grouping into a respective opening of the respective packaging blank, so that the beverage containers of a respective grouping pressed into the openings of the respective packaging blank are held together via the respective packaging blank in a non-positive and/or positive-locking manner. It is possible in this case that the at least one application head for pressing the beverage containers into the openings applies a respective defined force to the packaging blank in the region of a respective opening, the respective defined force being applied to the packaging blank with a time offset along the circumferential course of a respective opening.
It is possible that the packaging blank is aligned horizontally oriented above the respective beverage containers of a particular grouping before the beverage containers of a particular grouping are pressed into the openings via at least one application head. It is also possible that the at least one application head has several manipulation elements. A respective manipulation element can be guided in the area of a respective opening against the packaging blank, which is oriented horizontally at least up to that point, in order to press a respective beverage container into a respective opening via a contact surface under the application of force. The contact surface can have a curved and/or an inclined course relative to the packaging blank which is oriented horizontally at least up to that point.
It may be that the packaging blank has for at least one of its openings and preferably for each of its openings a plurality of retaining tabs which, when the beverage containers of a respective grouping are pressed into the openings, are arranged below a respective upper edge of a respective beverage container, so that the packaging blank is thereupon held on the beverage containers substantially immovably in the axial direction relative to the beverage containers via its retaining tabs. It is possible that the retaining tabs are aligned or pre-bent before the beverage containers are pressed into the openings, so that the retaining tabs point away from the packaging blank in an upward direction.
In various designs, one step of the process can include pretreatment of the packaging blank to reduce a respective resistance force, which respective resistance force the packaging blank forms in an edge area of the openings when applied to the respective multiple beverage containers of a respective grouping. It may be that a respective mean diameter of the openings is increased during pretreatment to reduce a respective resistance. Alternatively or in addition to this, it is possible that during pre-treatment fixing tabs or holding tabs formed in a respective edge region of the openings are bent or pre-bent at least in some areas so that the fixing tabs or holding tabs then project from a plane in which the openings are arranged. It is also conceivable that the packaging blank is pressed onto a device with at least one expansion die during pretreatment. In this case, it is possible that the number and arrangement of the expansion dies corresponds to the number and arrangement of the openings of the packaging blank, the packaging blank being pressed onto the at least one expansion die in such a way that the at least one expansion die passes through the openings at least in some areas. If a plurality of expansion matrices are provided, the plurality of expansion matrices can be combined to form a format part.
One aspect may therefore concern a format part for the pretreatment of flat packaging blanks each having several openings, which format part has a carrier preferably in the form of a support plate and comprises a plurality of expansion matrices, wherein it is provided that the plurality of expansion dies are each arranged on the support preferably designed as a support plate and each taper at least in sections in the opposite direction to the support preferably designed as a support plate.
It is also conceivable that during the pre-treatment, incisions and/or perforations are made in the edge areas of the openings. In particular, it is possible that radial incisions and/or radial perforations are made in the edge areas.
Alternatively, or in addition to this, it is conceivable that during the pretreatment the respective edge area of the several openings is moistened or acted upon with liquid. Furthermore, it is possible that during the pre-treatment the respective edge area of the several openings is heated.
The application head can also have several manipulation elements, wherein a respective manipulation element is placed on the packaging blank in the region of a respective opening and, when placed on the packaging blank, is rotated in the region of the respective opening, as a result of which the respective defined force provided for pressing the respective beverage container into the respective opening is applied to the packaging blank with a time offset along the circumferential course of the respective opening.
It has proved to be successful if the at least one application head has at least one suction and/or gripping instrument, which at least one suction and/or gripping instrument holds the packaging blank at the at least one application head temporally before and/or temporally during the pressing of the beverage containers of a respective grouping into the openings. In particular, it is possible that the at least one suction and/or gripping instrument holds the packaging blank on the at least one application head via negative pressure temporally before and/or temporally during the pressing of the beverage containers of a respective grouping into the openings.
In various forms of embodiments, the at least one application head can comprise at least one centering device, which centering device restores, if required, the alignment of the several beverage containers of a respective grouping with respect to one another in a timely manner prior to the application of a respective packaging blank, which alignment is formed immediately upon placement of the beverage containers on the horizontal conveying device. The at least one centering device can be formed by a rigid frame, which frame is coming from above and is guided around a respective grouping, and which frame, as a result of this, restores, as required, the alignment of the several beverage containers of a respective grouping with respect to one another, which alignment is required for the application of a respective packaging blank and which alignment is formed immediately upon placement of the grouping on the horizontal conveying device. The at least one centering device can also be formed by a plurality of centering elements, which centering elements perform a closing and opening movement and thereby restore, as required, the alignment of the plurality of beverage containers of a respective grouping with respect to one another, which alignment is provided for the application of a respective packaging blank and which alignment is formed immediately upon placement of the beverage containers on the horizontal conveying device.
Within the context of the method, the beverage containers can be formed by beverage cans. It is also possible that the beverage containers are formed by beverage bottles and especially by glass bottles and/or PET bottles.
The invention furthermore concerns an apparatus for producing a multipack made of several beverage containers. The apparatus may, if necessary, be designed for the implementation of the previously described embodiments of the method according to the invention. Features which have already been described above for various embodiments of the method may also be provided for embodiments of the apparatus described below and are not mentioned several times. Likewise, features which are described below, which concern various embodiments of the apparatus, may be provided for in the method described above. The apparatus comprises a horizontal conveying device for moving groupings each comprising several beverage containers.
Furthermore, the apparatus comprises at least one working device, which working device can apply a respective packaging blank to the groupings, each grouping comprising a plurality of beverage containers, so that the beverage containers of a respective grouping pass through openings in the packaging blank and are held together by the respective packaging blank.
The apparatus comprises at least one handling apparatus, by which the beverage containers of a respective grouping can be deposited or placed on the horizontal conveying device in such a way, that the beverage containers of a respective grouping are already in an alignment with respect to one another upon placement on the horizontal conveying device, which alignment is required and/or provided for the immediate application of the respective packaging blank. In various embodiments, the apparatus can comprise at least one handling apparatus, by which handling apparatus the beverage containers of a respective grouping can be placed or deposited on the horizontal conveying device in such a way that
the beverage containers of a respective grouping, immediately upon placement on the horizontal conveying device, have an orientation and/or alignment provided and required for the application of the respective packaging blank, and wherein it is provided that the beverage containers of a respective grouping can be placed or deposited on the horizontal conveying device by the at least one handling apparatus in such a way that the groupings are spaced apart from one another in a transport direction or in a conveying direction of the horizontal conveying device immediately upon placement on the horizontal conveying device.
The groupings can therefore be set down or placed on the horizontal conveying device by the at least one handling apparatus, if necessary, the groupings are placed on the horizontal conveying device in a conveying direction at a distance from one another.
The at least one horizontal conveying device can have a circumferential conveyor belt or an endless circumferential traction device, on which circumferential conveyor belt or endless circumferential traction device the beverage containers of a respective grouping are deposited.
The apparatus can be designed or equipped in such a way, that the groupings, each comprising several beverage containers, can be moved via the horizontal conveying device into a working area of the at least one working device consistently without surface contact of their lateral surface areas to any retaining elements and/or guiding elements or guiding rails.
Embodiments have been proven useful, in which the at least one handling apparatus is formed by at least one multi-axis robot or by at least one industrial robot.
The apparatus may optionally comprise a control and/or regulating device connected to the horizontal conveying apparatus, the control and/or regulating device being able to control the horizontal conveying apparatus for the uninterrupted movement of the groupings placed or deposited thereon.
Furthermore, the working device can have at least one application head, whereby the at least one application head can perform a lowering movement oriented in the direction of a respective grouping, in order to apply packaging blanks to groupings.
It is conceivable, that the at least one application head can be moved back and forth between the horizontal conveying device and a stack of several packaging blanks positioned laterally beside the horizontal conveying device.
Furthermore, the at least one application head can be designed in such a way, that the at least one application head can apply several packaging blanks to several groupings with a time delay after performing a respective lowering movement.
It is also conceivable, that the at least one application head comprises at least one centering device, which centering device can restore, if required, an alignment of the several beverage containers of a respective grouping with respect to one another, which alignment is provided for the application of the respective packaging blank.
It may be that the at least one application head comprises a carrier as well as a plurality of manipulation elements suspended from the carrier, via which the packaging blank can be subjected to a defined force in the region of a plurality of openings, so that a respective beverage container of a respective grouping is pressed into a respective opening of the packaging blank. The plurality of manipulation elements arranged suspended on the carrier can be designed in such a way that the plurality of manipulation elements arranged suspended on the carrier can apply a respective defined force to the packaging blank along the respective circumferential course of the respective opening with a time offset for pressing a respective beverage container into a respective opening.
It may be that the several manipulation elements each form a contact surface via which the respective manipulation element can apply the defined force in the area of the respective opening to the packaging blank and which contact surface in the area of the respective opening is oriented obliquely relative to the packaging blank and/or can be placed on the packaging blank with a curved course.
Furthermore, it is conceivable that the several manipulation elements can each perform a rotational movement to apply the defined force along the circumferential course of the respective opening with a time offset.
It is possible that the at least one application head comprises at least one suction and/or gripping instrument, via which at least one suction and/or gripping instrument the packaging blank can be releasably fixed to the at least one application head during the pressing of a respective beverage container into a respective opening. It has proved to be particularly useful in this respect when the at least one suction and/or gripping instrument can fix the packaging blank detachably and via negative pressure to the at least one application head while a respective beverage container is pressed into a respective opening.
The at least one application head may comprise several lateral partitions between which a respective packaging blank intended for application to beverage containers of a respective grouping may be arranged positively or with little clearance.
Furthermore, it is possible that the device comprises a pretreatment module for preparing the packaging blank for application to the beverage containers of a respective grouping. The pretreatment module may comprise at least one device designed to reduce a resistance force occurring in a respective edge region of the openings when the packaging blank is applied. It is conceivable that the at least one device of the pretreatment module comprises at least one expansion die. The at least one expansion die can be detachably arranged in the pretreatment module. Furthermore, the at least one device of the pretreatment module may comprise a plurality of expansion matrices, wherein the plurality of expansion matrices may be arranged in different arrangements and/or in different numbers in the pretreatment module. It is also possible that the at least one device of the pretreatment module comprises at least one cutting device and/or at least one perforating device. Furthermore, it is possible that the at least one device of the pretreatment module comprises at least one cutting device and/or at least one perforating device. It is also conceivable that the at least one device of the pretreatment module comprises at least one moistening device, in particular at least one vaporization device, and/or that the at least one device of the pretreatment module comprises at least one heating device.
Furthermore, it may be the case, that the apparatus is designed to assemble several beverage containers into a respective multipack, which several beverage containers are formed by several beverage cans and/or by several beverage bottles.
In the following passages, the attached figures further illustrate exemplary embodiments of the invention and their advantages. The size ratios of the individual elements in the figures do not necessarily reflect the real size ratios. It is to be understood that in some instances various aspects of the invention may be shown exaggerated or enlarged to facilitate an understanding of the invention.
The same or equivalent elements of the invention are designated by identical reference characters. Furthermore, and for the sake of clarity, only the reference characters relevant for describing the respective figure are provided. It should be understood, that the embodiments described are only examples describing an embodiment of the apparatus and/or method according to the invention. They are not intended to limit the scope of the disclosure.
The embodiments, examples and variants described in the preceding paragraphs, the claims or in the following description of the figures and in the figures themselves, including their different views or respective individual features, may be used independently or in any combination. Features described in connection with a specific embodiment are applicable to all other embodiments as well, unless the features are incompatible.
Even if in the context of the figures in general the terms “schematic” representations and views are used, this does not in any way mean that the figure representations and their description should be of secondary importance with regard to the disclosure of the invention. The person skilled in the art is quite capable of extracting enough information from the schematic and abstract representations, in order to facilitate his understanding of the invention, without his understanding being impaired in any way by the illustrated and possibly not exactly scaled proportions. The figures thus enable the person skilled in the art as reader to derive a better understanding of the idea according to the invention, which is described in the claims as well as in the general part of the description in more general and/or abstract terms, on the basis of the more specifically explained implementations of the method according to the invention and the more specifically explained functioning of the apparatus according to the invention.
Apparatus 1, which is shown in the embodiment according to
The embodiment of a multipack 4 as shown in
In
In order to be able to produce multipack 4 according to the embodiment shown in
In the case of the apparatus known from the prior art, groupings 3 are often formed from several beverage containers 2 using dividers, which groupings 3 each comprise the number of beverage containers 2 intended for the respective multipack 4. In order to be able to guarantee that the beverage containers 2 of such a grouping 3 are in an alignment with respect to each other upon application of a respective packaging blank 4, so that the packaging blank 41 can be applied to the beverage containers 2, apparatuses known from the prior art have guiding rails, which guiding rails extend in the conveying direction FR along the horizontal conveying device 5. Furthermore, retaining elements are known and provided, of applicable, which retaining elements are designed as a component of the respective divider, which retaining elements are moved together with the beverage containers 2 and which support the beverage containers 2 of a respective grouping 3 during their movement along the horizontal conveying device 5. In contrast, the apparatus 1 according to the embodiment shown in
In order to be able to guarantee that a respective packaging blank 41 can be applied to the beverage containers 2 without any problems or to ensure that the beverage containers 2 of a respective grouping 3 are in a suitable alignment with respect to each other for the application of the packaging blank 41, the first module 10 comprises a handling apparatus 15, which comprises one gripping head 17 in the embodiment shown and which can comprise more than one gripping head 17 in further embodiments (see
The deposition or placement of the beverage containers 2 on the horizontal conveying device 5 takes place via the handling apparatus 15 in such a way, that immediately during the deposition a grouping 3 of beverage containers 2 is formed on the horizontal conveying device 5, wherein the number of beverage containers 2 within the grouping directly corresponds to the number of beverage containers 2 of the respective multipack 4 to be produced (see
Temporally, after the groupings 3 have been formed on the horizontal conveying device 5, each grouping 3 comprising several beverage containers 2 aligned with respect to each other for the application of packaging blanks 41, the groupings 3 are moved via the horizontal conveying device 5 in a conveying direction FR. The horizontal conveying device 5 is connected to a control and/or regulating device S, which control and/or regulating device S controls the horizontal conveying device S for the uninterrupted movement of groupings 3 at the same or a constant conveying speed over the course of time, which groupings 3 have been deposited or placed on the horizontal conveying device 5. The groupings 3 then leave the first module 10 and reach the second module 20, which is located downstream of the first module 10 in conveying direction FR.
In order to reduce the risk that the beverage containers 2, which are aligned with respect to one another for the application of a packaging blank 41 immediately upon placement on the horizontal conveying device 5, unintentionally shift relative to one another during a movement in the conveying direction FR, it may be provided that the horizontal conveying device 5 has an endless circumferential traction device or a circulating conveyor belt, wherein between the endless circumferential traction device or circulating conveyor belt and the beverage containers 2 a high static friction is provided. For example, the endless circumferential traction device or the circulating conveyor belt can have a plurality of studs and/or consist of a material, over which plurality of studs and/or material a high level of static friction can be provided between the beverage containers 2 and the endless circumferential traction device or the beverage containers 2 and the circulating conveyor belt.
The schematic view in
Since the groupings 3 are moved in time without interruption by the horizontal conveying device 5 in the conveying direction FR during the application of the packaging blank 41, the application head 26 is moved along with the groupings 3 in the conveying direction FR after lowering and until the packaging blanks 41 are completely applied to the groupings 3. When all packaging blanks 41 have been applied to the groupings 3, the beverage containers 2, which are part of a respective grouping 3, together with the respective packaging blank 41 form a multipack 4 (see
In order to apply the packaging blanks 41 to the groupings 3, the packaging blanks 41 must be pressed onto the respective beverage containers 2 in the direction of the respective beverage containers 2. Accordingly, the working device 25 or the application head 26 must apply a certain force to the respective packaging blank 41 for the application of each packaging blank 41 to the beverage containers 2, which force acts in a downward direction or in the direction of the respective beverage containers 2. In order to avoid that the working device 25 or the application head 26 has to apply a relatively high total force at a certain point in time, embodiments according to
As already mentioned in the context of
Furthermore,
In the design according to
Thus, in order to apply each packaging blank 41, the application head 26 must apply a certain force to the respective packaging blank 41, which force acts in a downward direction or in the direction of the respective beverage containers 2. In the embodiment according to
An overview of
Also for the groupings 3, which are located between the foremost located grouping 3 in view of the conveying direction FR and the rearmost located grouping 3 in view of the conveying direction FR, the application of packaging blanks 41 is carried out in pairs, so that two packaging blanks 41 are applied at least approximately simultaneously to two groupings 3 at a time.
Also in the embodiment according to
For all beverage containers 2 of each multipack 4 to be produced, the application head 26 comprises its own manipulation element 37, the design of which is shown in detail in
The perspective view according to
The spacing between two adjacent lateral partitions 43 is selected in such a way that a respective packaging blank 41 can be arranged between two adjacent partitions 43 with a positive fit or with little play. The rear wall 46 defines a position for a packaging blank 41 arranged between adjacent partitions 43 in a further spatial direction. A packaging blank 41 can therefore be in contact with the rear panel 43 and with two adjacent side partitions 43 or only slightly spaced from the side partitions 43 or slightly spaced from the rear panel 46. Since the lateral partitions 43 and the rear wall 46 prevent a relative movement of a picked-up packaging blank 41 relative to the manipulation elements 37 in several spatial directions, it can be ensured with a high degree of certainty that the manipulation elements 37 hit a predetermined position of the packaging blank 41 precisely when the packaging blank 41 is applied.
The side partitions 43 also have another function, which becomes clear from a summary of
In order to be able to remove a packaging blank 41 from a magazine 48 or from dies 18 (cf.
In
From the perspective view shown in
With the design shown in the figures of the present patent application, the packaging blank 41, when applied to a respective grouping 3, already forms an assigned opening 42 for each beverage container 22 of the respective grouping 3. In further embodiments, however, it is also possible that an area in packaging blank 41 intended to form the openings 42 is pre-punched and that the openings 42 are only formed when packaging blank 41 is applied to the beverage containers 2. The beverage containers 2 can be guided against the pre-punched area under the action of force, the pre-punched area being at least partially separated from the packaging blank 41 and openings 42 thereby being formed in the flat packaging blank 41. Such designs of a packaging blank 41 can also be applied to several beverage containers 2 by the design of an application head 26 as shown in
In
After a respective beverage container 2 has been pressed into a respective opening 42, the retaining tabs 49 are each arranged below the respective upper edge 51 and fix the packaging blank 41 immovably in the axial direction to the respective beverage container 2, which is designed as a beverage can. In order to keep the force required to press the beverage containers 2 into the openings 42 to a minimum, designs have proved effective in which the retaining tabs 49 are pre-bent before the beverage containers 2 are pressed into the openings 42 or, if necessary, converted to an upright orientation as shown in
The alignment of the beverage containers 2 with respect to one another is such that the beverage containers 2 along their respective longitudinal direction are in alignment with the respective assigned opening 42 of the packaging blank 41. After having applied the packaging blank 41 to the beverage containers 2 according to
The design according to
Furthermore, the apparatus 1 comprises a handling device 15 with several gripper heads 17, by which the handling device 15 can receive beverage containers 2 which have been moved up to that point in several parallel rows via the staging 72 and deposit them on the horizontal conveyor 5 as a grouping 3. The apparatus 1 according to
Furthermore, apparatus 1 includes a magazine 48, which picks up the packaging blanks 41 not yet applied to grouping 3. For this purpose the magazine 48 comprises several tines 19, whereby a respective tine 19 grips through a respective opening 42 of a respective packaging blank 41 picked up in the magazine 48. The packaging blanks 41 are thus held in magazine 48 by the tines 19.
In practice, it may be that the gripper heads 26 have to apply a relatively high force to apply a respective packaging blank 41 to a respective grouping 3. Taking Multipack 4 from
As already mentioned above, the packaging blanks 41 are placed on the dies 18 by a transfer tool 90, whereby a respective die 18 dips into a respective opening 42 of a respective packaging blank 41. The number of dies 18 must therefore be at least equal to the number of openings 42 formed by the packaging blanks 41. In order to enable the dies 18 to dip into the openings 42, the arrangement or position of the dies 18 must also be matched to the respective arrangement or position of the openings 42 which form the packaging blanks 41. In order to produce different Multipacks 4, it is possible that packaging blanks 41 may be required for this purpose, which differ with regard to the respective number of openings 42 and/or their respective position or arrangement in packaging blank 41. It may therefore be necessary to exchange the dies 18 if different multipacks 4 are to be produced in consecutive packaging processes using apparatus 1.
In order to be able to exchange dies 18 quickly and easily, several dies 18 are combined to form a respective format part in the design shown in
In the context of a first step of the method 100, which is referred to by reference number 110, several groupings 3, each comprising several beverage containers 2, are deposited or placed on a horizontal conveying device 5 by a handling apparatus 15, which handling apparatus 15 is coming from above. Deposition or placement takes place by the handling apparatus 15 in such a way, that the several beverage containers 2 of a respective grouping 3 are aligned with respect to one another for the application of a respective packaging blank 41 immediately upon placement on the horizontal conveying device 5.
Method step 110 is temporally followed by method step 120, in which the groupings 3 with the beverage containers 2, which are arranged in an alignment with respect to one another, are moved via a horizontal conveying device 5 in the direction of a working device 25. During the movement of the groupings 3 with beverage containers 2, which beverage containers 2 are already arranged in an alignment with respect to one another, in the direction of the working device 25, the beverage containers 2 of the groupings 3 are at no time in contact with any guiding elements extending along a conveying direction FR of the horizontal conveying device 5 or retaining elements, which guiding elements or retaining elements are designed for contacting lateral surface areas of beverage containers 2. During the movement of the groupings 3 over the horizontal conveying device 5 directly adjacent beverage containers 2, which are arranged in an alignment with respect to one another for the application of the packaging blank 4, may be in surface contact with one another via their lateral surface areas. In addition to this surface contact, the beverage containers 2 of each grouping 3, which beverage containers 2 are arranged in an alignment with respect to one another, only have one further contact with the horizontal conveying device 5. Therefore, for the implementation of the method 100 no guiding elements are required to be arranged along a conveying direction FR (see
Temporally, after a respective grouping 3 with its beverage containers 2 has entered the working area of the working device 25 (see
The invention has been described with reference to preferred embodiments. To the expert it is also conceivable, however, to make changes and modifications without leaving the scope of protection of the appended claims.
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