Patent Grant
10676303
The present application is a national stage application of International Application PCT/EP2016/058271, filed on Apr. 14, 2016, which in turn claims priority to German Application DE 10 2015 208 102.8, filed on Apr. 30, 2015 and German Application DE 20 2015 102 191.7, filed on Apr. 30, 2015, all of which are incorporated by reference.
The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for supplying, staging, and/or handling, and/or for replacing rolls with flat material and/or film material wound thereonto and serving as packaging material for packaging piece goods, bundles, or the like sets of articles.
It is common in practice to have a set of articles, such as beverage containers or the like, grouped together in a bundle held together by shrink film in order to prevent the set from shifting or from coming undone during further handling or during transport. From the prior art, bundles are known that comprise four, six, or more containers, for example. Such bundles are very commonly used as sales units for beverage containers or bottles of PET plastic. In order to achieve a high throughput for packaging and/or for subsequent palletizing, it is desirable to assemble such bundles as quickly as possible without interrupting the individual process steps.
In order to provide packaging material or shrink film for wrapping bundles partly or completely, apparatuses and methods are already known that unwind the material from a roll or from a plurality of rolls, convey the material within a packaging machine, and wrap the packaging material around the individual bundles or the particular articles intended to form such bundles. In this context, the unwinding of the packaging material from the roll is usually carried out by machine and, in preferred embodiments, performed in a continuous process. Apparatuses are known in which the packaging material is extracted via rollers from the meanwhile rotating roll. After a roll is depleted and the supply of packaging material is exhausted, that particular roll has to be exchanged or replaced with a new roll.
A method and an apparatus are known, for example, from DE 40 40 545 A1, by which new reels can be supplied and used-up reels can be replaced. This known apparatus has a plurality of stock reels arranged side by side for supplying strip material. The core of the reels is in each case positioned on a common pin. A beginning section of the strip material is previously brought into contact with a roller, which extracts the strip material from the particular reel and guides it in a downward direction away from the apparatus. In order to be able to operate this known apparatus and to unwind the material from the reel, the reel has to be positioned rotation-direction-conformingly with its core on the pin. The strip material or, as the case may be, the first layer of the strip material has to dip down, coming from above, toward the rollers. If the roll were positioned on the pin in counter-rotating direction, the strip material could not, or only with difficulty, be extracted from the reel, which would result in complications for unwinding. According to the direction of rotation of the newly positioned reels, it is necessary in these known apparatuses to manually transpose and rotation-conformingly reposition the reels in order to ensure disruption-free operation.
Apparatuses for the automatic supply of material wound onto rolls, and for the replacement of used-up rolls in processing or packaging machines, are moreover known in various embodiments, for example, as apparatuses for supplying and replacing spools with tape material in a processing machine according to DE 32 02 647 A1 or according to DE 41 42 256 A1.
DE 34 25 734 A1 discloses an automated facility for supplying packaging material to production lines and/or packaging lines. The facility comprises a magazine for the packaging material and a carriage equipped with an articulated arm for taking hold of the packaging material and supplying it to the processing machines located along the processing lines. The carriage with the articulated arm moves along lanes, which can be determined by a computer system that is linked to the processing machines.
A device for providing packaging machines with consumables or with packaging material is furthermore known from EP 1 273 541 B1. The material webs are supplied wound onto reels, which are stacked on pallets, and distributed to a plurality of production and packaging machines, with the pallets first being brought to intermediate stores by pallet conveyors, while individual reels are removed by separate reel conveyors and transported to a machine to be supplied.
DE 10 2006 017 379 A1 discloses a device for handling reels of packaging material. The device comprises a reel storage with a gantry where the reels are provided on pallets. A gantry robot with articulated arm transfers reels as required to reeling systems disposed outside of the gantry. From the reeling systems, the material webs are transported to opposite sides in a direction parallel to the longitudinal extension of the gantry to the machines using the material.
The known handling methods and handling apparatuses generally require accurate positioning and feeding of new reels or rolls with packaging material wound thereonto. If it is not possible to ensure such accurate positioning, the smooth replacement of used-up rolls is jeopardized and the proper functioning of the packaging machine can no longer be ensured.
An object of the present invention therefore lies in providing an apparatus, a method, and a receiving mandrel for rolls, for handling with a high degree of automation flat material and/or film material that is wound onto rolls. The apparatus and the method are intended to enable a quick and accurate feeding of rolls, they are intended to operate with a high degree of fault tolerance, and they are to ensure smooth replacement of rolls in any operating conditions.
These objectives of the invention are achieved by the subject matter of the independent claims. Features of advantageous developments of the invention are indicated in the dependent claims. For achieving the stated object, the invention proposes a method for supplying, staging, and/or handling, and/or for replacing rolls with flat material and/or film material wound thereonto and serving as packaging material for packaging piece goods, bundles, or the like sets of articles. In the method, rolls, which are at least approximately completely unwound and/or depleted, are removed from at least one installation position of a packaging machine, and in each case a new roll of flat material and/or film material is hereupon mounted into the particular installation position. Thus, an approximately completely unwound and/or depleted roll can have at least one or exactly one winding of flat material and/or film material. It is also possible that the flat material and/or film material is completely unwound from the roll such that merely a roll core remains in an installation position and is removed from the particular installation position.
After each mounting of a new roll, an externally located layer of the particular new roll is normally extracted near or in the area of its free end and, for the purpose of forming an uninterrupted material web, is attached, in particular heat-sealed or glued, to a section of a material web of a further roll being guided in the packaging machine. Other possibilities of attachment are, however, also conceivable in order to ensure the packaging operation. The method provides that new rolls are staged to the packaging machine in a specified feeder device, for example, pallets, shelf systems, AGVs (that is, automated guided vehicles), or the like, and are mounted there into the particular installation position after a used-up roll was previously removed from there, either by at least one gripping device and/or handling device, or possibly also by being directly supplied and taken over by the packaging machine. The rolls can optionally be received from the sorted feeder device and mounted into the packaging machine independently by a suitable gripping device and/or handling device. Likewise, however, variants are also conceivable where the rolls can be transferred directly from the feeder devices into the packaging machine with the help of at least one below-described, axially movable receiving mandrel, without separate gripping devices and/or handling devices being required for this purpose. The at least one installation position of the packaging machine is defined by at least one rotatable receiving mandrel for the rotatable reception and holding of the rolls with flat material and/or film material arranged thereon and to be unwound in the packaging machine.
The method according to the invention provides that the at least one rotatable receiving mandrel can be shifted in its particular axial direction and moved toward the gripping device and/or handling device or, as the case may be, toward the specified feeder device upon the removal of an at least approximately completely unwound and/or depleted roll and/or upon mounting of a new roll.
In this manner, an easy and smooth roll replacement is possible. Since the rolls are normally not held, moved, or handled by being externally gripped, but are rather taken hold of in the most simple way by a receiving mandrel or, as the case may be, by a retaining mandrel, and moved into the packaging machine or, as the case may be, conveyed from a feeder device with new rolls to the machine and/or to a deposit for used-up rolls, with the receiving mandrel or, as the case may be, the retaining mandrel taking hold of the rolls, as the case may be, from the center by being slid into the roll core and being fixed there, easily handleable procedures are required in order to slide the rolls from the retaining mandrel of the gripping device and/or handling device onto the receiving mandrel of the packaging machine and vice versa without intermediate steps. This can be achieved by an axially shiftable retaining mandrel as provided in the method according to the invention.
For taking over a new roll, the at least one receiving mandrel is preferably moved in its particular axial direction by motor, whereby the roll replacement can be easily automated. In this context, the method expediently provides that the at least one receiving mandrel is moved by motor in its particular axial direction in coordination with movements of a gripping device and/or handling device that is designed for mounting new rolls.
In the method, the gripping device and/or handling device can, in particular, be formed by a multi-axis robot that receives new rolls from the specified feeder device and places them in the packaging machine. The gripping device and/or handling device can optionally have a camera or the like optical detection device associated with it, which can be affixed, for example, at a movable cantilever arm that is designed as a component of the gripping device and/or handling device such that the camera or, as the case may be, the optical detection device can detect all movements in the room as well as being able to take hold of the rolls to be received and positioned into the packaging machine.
For being able to receive the rolls, the gripping device and/or handling device or, as the case may be, the multi-axis robot, preferably has suitable gripping elements and/or holding elements. The gripping device and/or handling device or, as the case may be, the multi-axis robot, thus can have, in particular, a retaining mandrel, which dips face-side into the center of the new roll designed as hollow body, the retaining mandrel increasing its maximum cross-sectional diameter or, as the case may be, increasing the surface of its cross section, and hereby clampingly fixing the particular new roll to the gripping device and/or handling device or, as the case may be, to the multi-axis robot.
In the method according to the invention, the gripping device and/or handling device can optionally also be formed by a driverless and/or remote-controlled transport system (AGV, at least one self-driving shuttle) that receives new rolls from the specified feeder device and places them into the packaging machine. This AGV or, as the case may be, the shuttle of the AGV, can have, for example, a gripping arm or the like for receiving and handling the rolls with which gripping arm or the like it receives the roll, deposits it on a transport support surface, whereupon it moves together with the roll to the packaging machine and mounts the roll there. The shuttle can optionally have an own camera associated with it for controlling the shuttle's movements in the room.
The method can in addition provide that, for the purpose of mounting a new roll into the packaging machine, the particular roll is passed on to the receiving mandrel, which has been shifted in its axial direction, and is slid onto it by the specified feeder device and/or by a gripping device and/or handling device associated with said specified feeder device, or, as the case may be, by the handling robot, whereupon the receiving mandrel is returned in axial direction into a position intended for unwinding the roll.
For replacing an at least approximately completely unwound and/or depleted roll, the at least one receiving mandrel can in addition be moved in axial direction and pass on the roll to the gripping device and/or handling device by a stop element, which is movable in a direction parallel to the at least one receiving mandrel, sliding the roll at least partly off of the at least one receiving mandrel and onto a receiving mandrel or retaining mandrel of the gripping device and/or handling device, whereupon the at least one receiving mandrel is returned in axial direction at least so far that the roll is almost completely or completely slipped off.
The method can optionally provide that, for the purpose of mounting a new roll into the packaging machine, the particular roll is directly passed on to the at least one receiving mandrel, which has been axially moved by a sufficient distance, and is slid onto it by the feeder device, for example, by a feed conveyor belt or the like, whereupon the at least one receiving mandrel is preferably axially returned in axial direction into its position intended for unwinding the roll. For replacing an at least approximately completely unwound and/or depleted roll, the at least one receiving mandrel can in addition be moved in axial direction and pass on the roll to a handling device for the disposal of the used-up rolls by a stop element, which is movable in a direction parallel to the at least one receiving mandrel, sliding the roll at least partly off of the at least one receiving mandrel and onto a suitable handling device, for example, a gripping device and/or handling device equipped for that purpose, whereupon the at least one receiving mandrel is returned in axial direction at least so far that the roll is almost completely or completely slipped off.
The method can furthermore provide that at least the positions of the rolls in the area of the specified feeder device and/or in the area of the staging and/or the gripping device and/or handling device and/or its range of movement are detected by suitable optical sensor devices and/or room monitoring devices. Based on the detected room data, movement data, and/or sensor data, it is possible to control at least the movements of the gripping device and/or handling device in the area of the specified feeder device or of the staging for the rolls or, as the case may be, in the area of the particular movement range of the gripping device and/or handling device. In addition, the at least one axially movable receiving mandrel in the packaging machine can be controlled based on the sensor data, in coordination with the movements of the gripping device and/or handling device, in order to thus enable an automated roll replacement.
The mentioned room monitoring devices can be formed, in particular, by at least one optical detection device, in particular, by a camera, which detects at least the movement range of the gripping device and/or handling device and which provides output signals displaying said movement range and the movements of the gripping device and/or handling device taking place therein. In this context, the at least one optical detection device or, as the case may be, the camera can be associated, for example, with the gripping device and/or handling device or, as the case may be, mounted thereat such that the optical detection device or, as the case may be, the camera, is enabled to verify the movements of the gripping device and/or handling device as well as the rotation-direction-conforming orientation of each new roll prior to or, as the case may be, while it is being mounted. The camera can optionally, however, also cover the movement range by being stationarily mounted in the room or to the packaging machine; additional or, as the case may be, a plurality of cameras at the gripping device and/or handling device are possible as well. It is generally possible to use a plurality of cameras or, as the case may be, optical detection devices, of which the output signals overlap and which can be used for the exact localization of all parts, handling systems, and/or rolls with packaging material to be moved.
In the manner described, the method according to the invention enables an exact positioning and feeding of new rolls with packaging material wound thereonto to a packaging machine and the precisely controlled transfer to the at least one receiving mandrel. The accurate positioning of the handling devices can ensure the smooth replacement of the used-up rolls with said new rolls, thus ensuring the functionality of the packaging machine in an ideal manner. The method has a high degree of automation in handling flat material and/or film material wound onto rolls for packaging purposes such that interruption-free staging of flat material and/or film material is possible, if required. The method moreover operates properly and with a high degree of fault tolerance with inaccurately positioned roll feedings; and it can also ensure the smooth roll replacement under all operating conditions.
Furthermore, the method expediently provides that a rotation-direction-conforming position of each roll to be newly mounted into the packaging machine is verified and corrected, if required, that is to say, in the instance of an incorrectly positioned roll with a loose material web end laying in the wrong direction, while the roll is being handled by the gripping device and/or handling device. In order to be able to correct the direction of rotation, the gripping device and/or handling device can have, for example, an intermediate deposit for a roll to be mounted into the packaging machine associated with it, the intermediate deposit serving as support for the roll, in particular, for the roll being deposited, rotation-direction-conformingly staged, and received again by the gripping device and/or handling device for the purpose of being passed on to the packaging machine. The intermediate deposit can be formed, in particular, by a bearing block or the like, which takes up a fixed or variable position within the range of movement of the gripping device and/or handling device. The bearing block itself can optionally be designed as shuttle of an AGV or, as the case may be, of a driverless transport system, whereby it can be enabled, in the instance of a roll to be turned around, to perform a self-acting rotation by 180 degrees about its vertical axis in order to let the gripping system and/or handling system resume in the proper position the roll deposited there. OK Here again, it is possible to provide that a camera is associated with the intermediate deposit or, as the case may be, with the bearing block, thus ensuring an additional optical monitoring at the bearing block in order to detect the positions of the rolls etc. and in order to control the bearing block or, as the case may be, the gripping device and/or handling device in the required manner.
Furthermore, the bearing block can have a rotary drive associated with it for rotating a roll, which is located on the bearing block, about its horizontal central axis in order to adjust the roll's angular position and/or an alignment of an edge of an outer material web layer. Regardless of whether the bearing block is stationary or movable, it can be associated with a turning mechanism suited to it for being able to perform a rotation by 180 degrees with a roll located thereon in order to be able to bring the roll into the correct installation position.
The method can furthermore provide that the packaging machine itself or, as the case may be, its installation positions for the replaceable rolls with packaging material, and also the movements of the axially shiftable receiving mandrels, are optically monitored. In this context, additional optical monitoring devices or, as the case may be, cameras can be provided in the packaging machine, in particular in the area of the rolls to be replaced or, as the case may be, in the area of the at least one installation position.
New rolls can be moved, for example, by a horizontal conveying device into the area of the gripping device and/or handling device and can be directly removed from the horizontal conveying device by the gripping device and/or handling device. Likewise possible is a supply of new rolls on pallets such that, for example, in each case four rolls are disposed standing upright on a pallet, which rolls are brought into the movement range of the gripping device and/or handling device by a suitable supply device in order for the rolls to be received by the gripping device and/or handling device there and to be mounted into the packaging machine, potentially including in the procedure the intermediate deposit, as described above as an option.
In the method according to the invention, it can be furthermore provided that a control unit is coupled with and linked to the gripping device and/or handling device as well as being coupled with and linked to the room monitoring device and that said control unit controls a clocked operation of the horizontal conveying device under consideration of a particular reception of new rolls, the reception having been carried out by the gripping device and/or handling device, from the feeding area and/or from a horizontal conveying device. The control unit can likewise control the repeated reception of new rolls from the delivered pallets.
For achieving the stated object, the invention furthermore proposes an apparatus for supplying, staging, and/or handling, and/or for replacing rolls with flat material and/or film material wound thereonto and serving as packaging material for packaging piece goods, bundles, or the like sets of articles, the apparatus having the features of the independent apparatus claim. The apparatus provides that at least approximately completely unwound and/or depleted rolls are removed from at least one installation position of a packaging machine and can be in each case replaced by new rolls with flat material and/or film material for each particular installation position where, preferably after each mounting of a new roll, an externally located layer of the particular new roll can be extracted near or in the area of its free end and, for the purpose of forming an uninterrupted material web, can be attached, in particular heat-sealed or glued, to a section of a material web of a further roll being guided in the packaging machine.
The apparatus according to the invention comprises devices for staging new rolls for the packaging machine in specified feeder device, such as pallets, shelf systems, AGVs, or the like, as well as optionally comprising a gripping device and/or handling device for taking over the rolls from the specified feeder device and for mounting the new rolls in the particular installation position of the packaging machine and/or for removing used-up rolls from the particular installation positions of the packaging machine. Variants are likewise possible, where the new rolls are directly conveyed to the packaging machine by a feeder device, such as a feed belt conveyor, and can there be brought into their particular installation positions in interaction with at least one receiving mandrel that is axially movable out of the packaging machine. In this context, the rolls can, in particular, be received from the sorted feeding and mounted into the packaging machine independently by suitable handling and gripping devices. The sorted feeding can, however, also be designed to reach directly up to the packaging machine and to be suited for feeding the new rolls directly to the installation positions.
According to the invention, the at least one installation position of the apparatus is defined by at least one receiving mandrel for the rotatable reception and holding of the rolls with flat material and/or film material to be unwound in the packaging machine. In addition, the at least one receiving mandrel is shiftable in its particular axial direction and is movable toward the specified feeder device for the purpose of removing an at least approximately completely unwound and/or depleted roll and/or upon mounting of a new roll. The at least one axially movable receiving mandrel of the packaging machine can thus interact in a suitable manner, as required, with the gripping device and/or handling device or, as the case may be, with the feeder device or the feeder belts, in this way enabling automated replacing of used-up rolls with new rolls with flat material or film material for packaging purposes arranged thereon without requiring any further intermediate steps.
According to embodiment variant, the gripping device and/or handling device can replace the rolls significantly easier by the at least one axially movable receiving mandrel, as it does not need to dip so deep into the packaging machine. The same applies for an alternative embodiment variant in which the sorted feeding for new rolls can interact with the at least one axially shiftable receiving mandrel in such a manner that the new rolls can be brought into the packaging machine directly from the feeder device—which can be formed by a feeder belt or by a suitable horizontal conveying device for the rolls, for example—by the at least one axially movable receiving mandrel.
Moreover, the at least one receiving mandrel can have a motor drive for the purpose of being axially shifted associated with it. A shiftable axial stop element can furthermore be associated with the receiving mandrel, the stop element being motor-shiftable together with the at least one receiving mandrel or opposite to its axial direction of movement in parallel to said receiving mandrel. This stop element facilitates, in particular, the process of slipping off used-up rolls while they are being passed on to the gripping device and/or handling device, which gripping device and/or handling device can have, in particular, a retaining mandrel that is in each case aligned, while passing on rolls to the packaging machine, with the particular receiving mandrel of the machine onto which the roll is slid or from which the roll is extracted. The extraction can be significantly facilitated by the axial stop element, as said stop element can be shifted against the receiving mandrel to be retracted.
The gripping device and/or handling device can, in particular, be formed by a multi-axis robot that receives new rolls from the specified feeder device and places them in the packaging machine. The handling robot or, as the case may be, the multi-axis robot can optionally have a camera associated with it, which can be disposed on a movable or, as the case may be, articulated gripping arm or cantilever arm, for detecting all objects having been taken up and the particular surrounding in order to be able to control the multi-axis robot better and more precisely. The gripping device and/or handling device or, as the case may be, the multi-axis robot has suitable gripping device and/or holding device, formed, for example, by a retaining mandrel, which dips face-side into the new roll designed as hollow body, with the retaining mandrel then increasing its maximum cross-sectional diameter and hereby clampingly fixing the particular new roll to the gripping device and/or handling device or, as the case may be, to the multi-axis robot.
The gripping device and/or handling device can be equipped and controlled in such a manner that it introduces a new roll into the packaging machine by sliding said roll onto the axially moved receiving mandrel. The receiving mandrel can subsequently be moved preferably in axial direction into its intended position for unwinding the roll.
For replacing an at least approximately completely unwound and/or depleted roll in the packaging machine, the at least one receiving mandrel can be moved in axial direction to pass on the roll to the gripping device and/or handling device by a stop element, which is movable in a direction parallel to the receiving mandrel, sliding the roll at least partly off of the at least one receiving mandrel and onto a receiving mandrel or, as the case may be, onto a retaining mandrel of the gripping device and/or handling device, whereupon the receiving mandrel is returned in axial direction at least so far that the roll is almost completely or completely slipped off.
The apparatus according to the invention can optionally be equipped with room monitoring devices for the purpose of detecting at least the positions of the rolls in the area of the specified feeder device and/or of the staging and/or the positions and/or movements of the gripping device and/or handling device within a range of movement, and for the purpose of controlling the movements of the gripping device and/or handling device in the area of the specified feeder device and/or of the staging for the rolls based on the room data, movement data, and/or sensor data detected by the room monitoring device.
In a variant of the apparatus, the room monitoring devices can be formed, for example, by at least one optical detection device, in particular, by a camera, which detects at least the movement range of the gripping device and/or handling device, and which provides output signals displaying said movement range and the movements of the gripping device and/or handling device taking place therein and sends them to a control system. The at least one optical detection device or, as the case may be, the camera can be associated immediately, for example, with the gripping device and/or handling device. A camera can be mounted there, for instance; said camera can then verify the movements as well as the rotation-direction-conforming orientation of each new roll prior to or, as the case may be, while it is being mounted. The camera can optionally also be disposed in the room or, as the case may be, a plurality of cameras can be disposed in the room and/or at the robot or, as the case may be, at the gripping device and/or handling device. If there is a camera, or, as the case may be, if there are optical room monitoring systems, the entire roll replacement is controlled based on an evaluation of image signals said camera provides or, as the case may be, said optical room monitoring systems provide, including the axial shift of the receiving mandrels and/or of the axial stop elements associated with said receiving mandrels.
The gripping device and/or handling device can optionally be formed by a driverless and/or remote-controlled transport system (so-called AGV with at least one self-driving shuttle) that receives new rolls from the specified feeder device and places them into the packaging machine. This shuttle or, as the case may be, the AGV can optionally also have a camera associated with it.
Independently of the concrete design of the gripping device and/or handling device, there are preferably suitable auxiliary devices present for verifying a rotation-direction-conforming position of each roll to be newly mounted into the packaging machine and correcting said position, if required, that is to say, in the instance of an incorrectly positioned roll with a loose material web end laying in the wrong direction, while the roll is being handled by the gripping device and/or handling device. The gripping device and/or handling device can thus have, for example, an intermediate deposit for a roll to be mounted into the packaging machine associated with it, which intermediate deposit can serve as support for the roll, in particular, for the roll being deposited, rotation-direction-conformingly staged, and received again by the gripping device and/or handling device for the purpose of being subsequently passed on to the packaging machine. The intermediate deposit that is optionally present in the movement range can be formed, for example, by a bearing block, which can take up a fixed or variable position within the range of movement of the gripping device and/or handling device. It can also be provided that the bearing block itself can form a movable and self-driving shuttle of an AGV. Moreover, a camera can be optionally associated with the bearing block, whereby an additional optical monitoring at the bearing block is enabled. In addition, the bearing block can be equipped with a rotary drive for rotating a roll, which is located on the bearing block, about a horizontal longitudinal axis in order to adjust the roll's angular position and/or an alignment of an edge of an outer material web layer. The bearing block can moreover optionally have a turning mechanism for being able to perform a rotation by 180 degrees with a roll located thereon. This function is already present in a design of the intermediate deposit as a self-driving shuttle.
The apparatus can furthermore provide additional optical monitoring devices or, as the case may be, cameras in the packaging machine, in particular in the area of the rolls to be replaced or, as the case may be, in the area of the at least one installation position.
It can optionally be provided for the apparatus that new rolls can be moved by pallets or, for example, by a horizontal conveying device, into the area of the gripping device and/or handling device and can be directly removed from the pallet or from the horizontal conveying device by the gripping device and/or handling device. Preferably, it is further provided that a control unit is linked to the gripping device and/or handling device as well as to the room monitoring device, and that said control unit controls a clocked operation of the horizontal conveying device or of a pallet feeder device under consideration of a particular reception of new rolls, the reception having been carried out by the gripping device and/or handling device, from the feeding area and/or from a pallet or, as the case may be, from a horizontal conveying device.
The invention moreover relates to a receiving mandrel for rolls with flat material and/or film material wound thereonto and serving as packaging material for the packaging of piece goods, bundles, or the like sets of articles. Features that have already been described above regarding the apparatus or, as the case may be, the method, can likewise be provided with regard to the receiving mandrel and are therefore not redundantly mentioned herein. It is furthermore possible for features regarding the receiving mandrel as described below to be provided as well for the previously described method or, as the case may be, for the previously described apparatus.
The receiving mandrel is designed to be shiftable in its particular axial direction for the purpose of removing an at least approximately completely unwound and/or depleted roll from a packaging machine and/or for the purpose of mounting a new roll into a packaging machine. In preferred embodiments, the receiving mandrel can be adjustable in axial direction for the purpose of aligning and centrally positioning a newly mounted roll in relation to the packaging material to be unwound from the roll. It is moreover conceivable that the axial position is readjustable while the packaging material is being unwound from the roll so as to compensate for winding inaccuracies and/or for position changes of the packaging material during a packaging operation. Also, it is possible that the receiving mandrel is shiftable and/or readjustable in axial longitudinal extension direction by pneumatic, hydraulic, or electromotive drive.
It is for instance conceivable that the receiving mandrel is designed so that it can be telescoped for the purpose of axial shifting or, as the case may be, that the receiving mandrel comprises at least two elements that are shiftable relative to each other in longitudinal direction of the receiving mandrel. Furthermore, it is conceivable that the receiving mandrel comprises at least two elements coupled pivotably movable with each other for the purpose of axial shifting. In this context, an axis of rotation can have an at least approximately horizontal orientation, with the two elements being swivelable relative to each other with horizontal orientation about the axis of rotation. The two elements can in the process assume a stable position where the two elements are aligned with each other or, as the case may be, are aligned oriented to each other.
Also, it is possible that the receiving mandrel is mechanically linked to an actuator by a hollow-shaft drive or, as the case may be, that the receiving mandrel is rotatingly driven by a hollow-shaft drive. In order to enable the axial movement of the receiving mandrel, it is moreover possible that the retaining mandrel is formed from two elements seated on top of each other, which can be moved relative to each other in axial direction.
Summarized below are a few aspects, characteristics, and details of the method according to the invention as well as of the apparatus according to the invention. The invention thus relates to a method for handling flat material and/or film material that is wound onto rolls and that serves as packaging material for the packaging of piece goods, bundles, or the like sets of articles. The flat material and/or film material can in this context be designed as shrink film or as customary plastic film. The rolls can have a core in a geometric form corresponding to a hollow cylinder and at least partly consisting of a cellulosic material. Advantageously, each particular new roll can hereby be positioned on a pin of the packaging machine, the pin corresponding with the core, and the roll can rotatingly revolve on the pin when packaging material is being extracted or, as the case may be, is being removed from the roll. In the course of the method, rolls, which are at least partially unwound and/or depleted, are removed from at least one installation position of a packaging machine, and in each case a new roll of flat material and/or film material is hereupon mounted into the particular installation position, with the replacing of the rolls being facilitated and supported by an axial shifting of the so-called pins or, as the case may be, of the receiving mandrels of the packaging machine. In particularly preferred embodiments, it is possible for at least two installation positions to be provided. Each of the at least two installation positions potentially has its own receiving mandrel or pin, which can be axially moved out of the machine, and on which the new roll is positioned, and on which the particular roll rotates for the purpose of unwinding its particular flat material and/or film material. In particular, the rolls can be clampingly fixed on the pin of their particular installation position. The pin can be rotationally driven and can transmit a torque to the particular roll mounted on it such that the roll is rotatingly moved by its pin to unwind its flat material and/or film material. Each pin can be associated with a drive by which the particular pin is rotated. The drives can be linked to a control unit described in more detail below or, as the case may be, they can be activated to rotate the pins by a control unit described in more detail below. Before removing a roll with at least partially unwound and/or depleted packaging material from its particular installation position, the clamping connection between the pin and the roll can be undone such that the roll is no longer fixedly linked to the pin and can be removed from the pin. The rotating movement of the pin can be interrupted until a new roll has been positioned on the pin or, as the case may be, until it has been mounted in the corresponding installation position. After each mounting of a new roll in its particular installation position, an externally located layer is usually extracted from the particular new roll near or in the area of its free end and, for the purpose of forming an uninterrupted material web, is attached to a section of a material web of a further roll being guided in the packaging machine.
The externally located layer of the particular mounted new roll can be extracted, after the roll has been mounted, by a suitable gripping element, for example, by a gripping device and/or handling device operating with pneumatic suction pressure, in a mechanically clamping manner, and/or by electrostatic adhesion, with the gripping device and/or handling device moving back and forth between the at least two installation positions. The gripping element can thus extract externally located layers of the new rolls alternately from the at least two installation positions. In practice, such embodiments have proved successful in which the gripping element temporarily fixes in place the particular externally located layer of the new roll using negative pressure. Furthermore, a sealing bar can be provided, which is moved downward and in the process heat-seals the externally located layer of the particular new roll to the material web being guided in the packaging machine. The externally located layer in question can be moved into the operating range of the sealing bar by the gripping element. The temperature-controlled sealing bar can thus move the externally located layer of the new roll in question in a clamped manner against the material web being guided in the packaging machine. Such embodiments have proved particularly successful in which the sealing bar is moved vertically up and down for this purpose and in a vertical downward movement heat-seals the particular externally located layer of a new roll to a material web being guided in the packaging machine.
Normally, the flat material and/or film material of the further roll is not yet completely depleted while a new roll is being mounted and while the material web is being attached, such that flat material and/or film material is being unwound for the packaging operation interruption-free from at least one roll of the at least two installation positions that are provided in preferred embodiments. Advantageously, the new roll can accordingly be mounted while flat material and/or film material is still being continuously unwound from the further roll in the packaging machine. Even while an at least approximately completely unwound and/or depleted roll is being removed from the packaging machine, flat material and/or film material can be unwound from a further roll of the packaging machine such that flat material and/or film material is unwound continuously and interruption-free from at least one roll positioned in the packaging machine in conceivable embodiments. In the method described with the present invention, at least approximately unwound and/or depleted rolls can be sensor-detected and replaced with new rolls of flat material and/or film material by the previously described gripping device and/or handling device. Sensor detection can be carried out, for example, with the help of optical detectors or, as the case may be, of an optical detection system that can be disposed in the area of the at least one installation position. The optical detection system or, as the case may be, the optical detector and the gripping device and/or handling device can be linked to the control unit, which also controls the movements of the gripping device and/or handling device or, as the case may be, of the multi-axis robot and also, where appropriate, the movements of the axially shiftable receiving mandrels or, as the case may be, of the rotatable pins.
It is optionally possible for a horizontal conveying device that is designed for the transport of new rolls to be disposed upstream of the gripping device and/or handling device, with the horizontal conveying device extending into an operating range of the gripping device and/or handling device and being activatable in clocked operation by the control unit in consideration of a removal of new rolls by the gripping device and/or handling device. In further embodiments it is conceivable for new rolls to be staged to the gripping device and/or handling device on pallets or the like. It is also possible to place new rolls in a container or the like, which is located in the operating range of the gripping device and/or handling device, and by which new rolls are staged to the gripping device and/or handling device. The new rolls can be placed into the container unsorted or, as the case may be, in random orientation, with the direction of rotation and/or the rotation-direction-conforming orientation being verifiable and/or determinable by the optical detector.
In an alternative embodiment variant of the arrangement according to the invention, the mentioned gripping device and/or handling device or, as the case may be, the optionally present handling robot can even be dispensed with if the rolls are conveyed directly up to the packaging machine by a suitable feeder device and received there and pulled and conveyed into the particular installation positions, if required, by the receiving mandrels that are designed as active roll receivers. If “feeder devices” are referred to in the present context, this is intended to comprise feeder belts, horizontal conveying devices, modular belt conveyors, or the like. The feeder devices can likewise be formed by suitable AGVs (driverless, preferably autonomously or partly autonomously driving transport systems, so-called shuttles), which convey the new rolls directly up to the packaging machine and, if required, there supply the rolls to the receiving mandrels, which in this case function as active roll receivers and take the new rolls from the AGVs and pull them into the particular installation position in the packaging machine. The receiving mandrel or, as the case may be, the at least one receiving mandrel itself can be designed as AGV and thus, as the case may be, also move toward a particular roll to be received. After the receiving mandrel or, as the case may be, the at least one receiving mandrel has received the particular roll, said receiving mandrel or, as the case may be, said at least one receiving mandrel can move back toward the packaging machine together with the received roll.
As mentioned above, the invention relates to a receiving mandrel for rolls with flat material and/or film material wound thereonto and serving as packaging material for piece goods, bundles, or the like sets of articles. The receiving mandrel can define one of a plurality of installation positions for rolls with flat material and/or film material wound thereonto and serving as packaging material for the packaging of piece goods, bundles, or the like sets of articles. For purposes of removing at least approximately completely unwound and/or depleted roll from one of the installation positions and/or for mounting a new roll into one of the installation positions, the rotatable receiving mandrel can be shifted in its particular axial direction and can be at least partly moved from the particular installation position out of a packaging machine and toward the specified feeding device. In addition, the receiving mandrel can be adjustable in axial direction for the purpose of aligning and centrally positioning as accurately as possible a newly mounted roll in relation to the packaging material to be unwound from the roll. The axial shiftability of the receiving mandrels mentioned above in the context of the facilitated mounting of new rolls into the packaging machine can in this way be additionally used for positioning the newly mounted rolls exactly centrally in relation to the material web to be unwound. It is thus not required to slide the roll onto the mandrel by a precisely defined distance, since said mandrel itself can provide for the precision adjustment after the roll has been slid on in an approximately fitting way in order to convey the material web in an accurately fitting alignment into the machine.
The receiving mandrel can optionally also be repeatedly readjusted in its axial position during the ongoing operation of unwinding the packaging material from the roll, in particular in order to compensate for winding inaccuracies and/or for position changes of the packaging material during a packaging operation. This readjustability can be monitored and initiated, for example, by cameras or suitable optical sensor devices. The shiftability or, as the case may be, the readjustability of the receiving mandrel can be brought about, for example, by a pneumatic, hydraulic, or electromotive drive.
Furthermore, it should be mentioned that the receiving mandrel according to the invention can be a component of an apparatus, as described above on the basis of a number of embodiment variants, for supplying, staging, handling, and/or for replacing rolls with flat material and/or film material wound thereonto and serving as packaging material for packaging piece goods, bundles, or the like sets of articles, said apparatus having a number of alike, in each case axially shiftable and precision adjustable receiving mandrels corresponding to the number of installation positions.
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 in relation to other elements 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 individual figures are provided. It should be understood that the detailed description and specific examples of the apparatus as well as of the method according to the invention, while indicating preferred embodiments, are intended for purposes of illustration only and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention.
The schematic perspective view of
As shown by the
The new rolls 12 are each composed of the wound-up, planar packaging material 22 or, as the case may be, of packaging film or shrink film, as well as of a core 26, onto which the packaging material 22 or, as the case may be, the shrink film is wound. For receiving a new roll 12 from a horizontal conveying device 28 indicated in
New rolls 12 can be supplied to the gripping device and/or handling device 16 or, as the case may be, to the handling robot 18 by the horizontal conveying device 28 in uninterrupted succession such that another new roll 12 is moved further toward the handling device 16 or, as the case may be, moves up toward the gripping device and/or handling device 16 when a new roll 12 is removed from the horizontal conveying device 28. According to requirements, the horizontal conveying device 28 can be operated as desired in a clocked manner or continuously at a constant speed. The operation of the horizontal conveying device 28 is specified by a control unit 38, which is only schematically indicated here, and which not only controls the horizontal conveying device 28 in its conveying speed and/or clocking, but rather also controls the handling robot 18 in its movements as well as parts of the packaging machine 14, as will be described on the basis of the
The control unit 38 can process, for example, the signals 40 of at least one room monitoring device 42, which can be formed, in particular, by an optical detection device or, as the case may be, by a camera 44, potentially also by a plurality of cameras 44, which at least detect the movement range 46 of the multi-axis robot 18 and its movements, which is also meant to include the precise movements of the cantilever arm 30 with the retaining mandrel 32 disposed pivotably movable thereon in relation to each new roll 12 to be taken hold of. For purposes of better illustration, the movement range 46, which is optically detectable by the room monitoring device 42 formed by the camera 44, is indicated by a fan of beams in dotted lines in the presentation of
Furthermore discernible in
As already mentioned, the horizontal conveying device 28, the gripping device and/or handling device 16 or, as the case may be, the multi-axis robot 18, and the packaging machine 14 are linked to the control unit 38. Said control unit 38 can, in particular, control the clocked operation of the horizontal conveying device 28, and initiate rolls 12 or, as the case may be, rolls 20 to be mounted into and removed from the two installation positions EB1 and EB2 by the handling device 16. Said control unit 38 can moreover control an unrolling of packaging material or, as the case may be, of shrink film from the rolls 12 mounted in the packaging machine 14, as is described in more detail below. In addition, the room monitoring device 42 in interaction with the control unit 38 can enable a movement control of the horizontal conveying device 28 and, in particular, of the gripping device and/or handling device 16, thus allowing fault-tolerant positioning and supply of the new rolls 12 as well as their handling, because it can be effectively supported and controlled by the at least one camera 44 that each new roll 12 is accurately taken hold of by the retaining mandrel 32 of the handling robot 18 such that the accurate positioning of the rolls 12 on the horizontal conveying device 28 becomes less important and can be compensated for by the correspondingly updated movement control of the handling robot 18 within its range of movement 46.
The positioning of the camera 44 indicated in
The control unit 38 can moreover have a visual indicator device 58 or a display, by which information can be visualized for the user 50 relating to the direction of rotation or, as the case may be, the rotation-direction-conforming orientation of new rolls 12 and/or further control parameters or, as the case may be, movement parameters of the multi-axis robot 18 and/or of the horizontal conveying device 28. As exemplarily described below with reference to the
The schematic perspective view of
The second variant of the apparatus 10 shown in
By the pallets 52 being regularly delivered into the movement range 46 with four new rolls 12 each, the gripping device and/or handling device 16 or, as the case may be, the handling robot 18 is provided in uninterrupted succession with new rolls 12 such that upon the removal of all new rolls 12 from a pallet 52, this empty pallet 52 can be replaced by a new pallet 52 with four further rolls 12, which new pallet 52 is in turn to be placed within the movement range 46 of the gripping device and/or handling device 16. This supply delivery can be carried out by suitable industrial trucks, for example by driverless transport systems, so-called AGVs (automated guided vehicles), which are formed by transport vehicles that are self-driving, remote-controlled, and/or that have their own sensor systems for steering, with the transport vehicles being able in each case to convey a pallet 52 with rolls 12 placed thereon into the movement range 46. According to requirements, said transport systems or, as the case may be, said AGVs can be operated as desired in a clocked manner. Their operation is preferably specified by the schematically indicated control unit 38, which not only controls the AGVs (not shown here) in their conveying speed and/or clocking, but rather also controls the handling robot 18 in its movements for replacing the rolls 12 in the packaging machine 14. The control unit 38 can in addition process the signals 40 of at least one room monitoring device 42, which in the variant according to
Due to the sufficiently dimensioned movement range 46, it is not only possible to dispense with the horizontal conveying device in the variant of the apparatus according to
The user 50 standing within the range of movement 46 in
The container 56 that is open at the top and that is located in the operating range 46 of the gripping device and/or handling device 16 is also discernible in
As already mentioned, the gripping device and/or handling device 16 or, as the case may be, the multi-axis robot 18, the controllable intermediate deposit 60 for the rolls 12, and the packaging machine 14 are linked to the control unit 38, which, for delivering the pallets 52, can in addition control the AGVs, which are to be understood as optional and are not shown here. The control unit 38 can thus, in particular, control the clocked operation of the AGVs, can initiate mounting and removing of rolls 12 or rolls 20, as the case may be, from the two installation positions EB1 and EB2 by the handling device 16, as well as controlling the intermediate deposit 60, if applicable, to be used for ensuring the correct direction of rotation of a new roll 12 to be mounted. Said control unit 38 can moreover control an unrolling of packaging material or, as the case may be, of shrink film from the rolls 12 mounted in the packaging machine 14, as is described in more detail below. In interaction with the control unit 38, the room monitoring device 42 can enable a movement control of the gripping device and/or handling device 16, including, as required, the intermediate deposit 60, thus making a fault-tolerant positioning and supplying of the new rolls 12 on the not accurately positioned pallets 52 as well as the handling of the received rolls 12 possible, since the accurate seizing of each new roll 12 by the retaining mandrel 32 of the handling robot 18 can be effectively supported and controlled by the at least one camera 44 such that the accurate positioning of the rolls 12 on the pallets 52 or, as the case may be, the accurate positioning of the pallets 52 themselves on the ground in the area of the movement range 46 becomes less important and can be compensated for by the correspondingly updated movement control of the handling robot 18 within its range of movement 46.
The positioning of the camera 44 indicated in
The control unit 38 can moreover have a visual indicator device 58 or a display, by which information can be visualized for the user 50 relating to the direction of rotation or, as the case may be, to the rotation-direction-conforming orientation of new rolls 12 and/or further control parameters or, as the case may be, movement parameters of the multi-axis robot 18 and/or of the AGVs. As exemplarily described below with reference to the
With reference to the
Nevertheless, an expedient embodiment variant can provide that a gripping device and/or handling device 16 or, as the case may be, an individual handling robot 18 can supply two packaging lines or, as the case may be, two packaging machines 14 in each case, with the movement range 46 being expediently located between the two approximately parallely disposed packaging machines 14 such that the feeding area for new rolls 12 with the horizontal conveying device 28 (cf.
In an alternative embodiment variant of the arrangement or apparatus 10 according to the invention not illustrated here, however, it is even possible to completely dispense with the mentioned gripping device and/or handling device 16 or, as the case may be, with the handling robot 18 as shown in the
The schematic perspective view of
Also discernible in
In the presentation of
Each of the installation positions EB1 and EB2 can in addition be associated with an own sensor system or, as the case may be, with a camera 74, by which rolls 20, which are at least approximately completely unwound and/or depleted, can be optically detected. When a roll 20 is at least approximately completely unwound and/or depleted, the particular camera 74 sends information on the particular roll 20, which is at least approximately completely unwound and/or depleted, to the control unit 38. Based on numerous data, also from the cameras 74 within the packaging machine 14, the control unit 38 already mentioned above controls the gripping device and/or handling device 16 or, as the case may be, the handling robot 18 (cf.
For the purpose of removing the at least approximately completely unwound and/or depleted roll 20 from its particular installation position EB1 or EB2, as the case may be, the receiving mandrel 70 is axially moved out of the packaging machine 14, and the gripping device and/or handling device 16 dips by its retaining mandrel 32 (cf.
After depositing the at least approximately completely unwound and/or depleted roll 20 or, as the case may be, the core 26 in the container 56 (cf.
The further schematic perspective view in
The new roll 12 of the second installation position EB2 from
As soon as the adhesive label 76 has been detected by the particular camera 74, the receiving mandrel 70 is rotatingly moved until the adhesive label 76 faces toward the oppositely located installation position EB1 or EB2, as the case may be. Only after this alignment of the adhesive label 76 is it possible for a gripping rod 78 (only schematically illustrated in
It should be pointed out, however, that embodiments are also conceivable in which the new rolls 12 have no such reflective adhesive labels 76 (corresponding to
The schematic perspective view of
It is thus possible both to determine a direction of rotation or, as the case may be, rotation-direction-conforming orientation within the packaging machine 14 via the cameras 74 and to detect at least approximately completely unwound and/or depleted rolls 20 via the cameras 74. Information on the direction of rotation or, as the case may be, on the rotation-direction-conforming orientation of new rolls 12, as well as information on at least approximately completely unwound and/or depleted rolls 20 is transmitted from the cameras 74 to the control unit 38, which can control an alignment correction of new rolls 12 and a replacement of at least approximately unwound and/or depleted rolls 20 with new rolls 12. This can in particular be carried out in a manner as already explained by
The schematic illustrations of
The
The
The two schematic perspective views of the
Sliding a used-up or almost depleted roll 20 off of the receiving mandrel 70 and taking over the roll by the retaining mandrel 32 of the handling robot 18 is, by contrast, facilitated by a shiftable axial stop 84 as well as by a shiftable bearing of the rotatable receiving mandrel 70, as is illustrated in the
The two schematic perspective views of the
As made clear by the two schematic lateral views of
The
It should be additionally noted that the receiving mandrel 70 can be adjustable in axial direction for the purpose of aligning and centrally positioning as accurately as possible a newly mounted roll 12 in relation to the packaging material to be unwound from the roll 12, this being enabled by correspondingly shifting the pedestal block 90 by the drive 92. In this way, the axial shiftability of the receiving mandrels 70 defined in the context of the facilitated mounting of new rolls 12 into the packaging machine 14 can additionally be used for positioning the newly mounted rolls 12 in each case accurately centrally in relation to the material web to be unwound. It is thus not in each case mandatorily required to slide the roll 12 onto the receiving mandrel 70 by a precisely defined distance, since said mandrel 70 itself can provide for the precision adjustment after the roll has been slid on in an approximately fitting way in order to convey the material web in an accurately fitting alignment into the packaging machine 14.
The receiving mandrel 70 can optionally also be repeatedly readjusted in its axial position during the ongoing operation of unwinding the packaging material from the roll 12, in particular in order to compensate for winding inaccuracies and/or for position changes of the packaging material during a packaging operation. This readjustability can be monitored and initiated, for example, by cameras or suitable optical sensor devices. The shiftability or, as the case may be, the readjustability of the receiving mandrel 70 can be brought about, for example, by a pneumatic, hydraulic, or electromotive drive 92.
The
The pedestal block 90 is still in its position extending to the left, and it remains there until the roll 12 has been completely slid onto the receiving mandrel 70. The sliding procedure is carried out by setting the retaining mandrel 32 of the handling robot 18 off-center and face-side to the end face of the roll 12 facing away from the receiving mandrel 70 (cf.
In principle, it would also be possible to let the receiving mandrel extend even further than shown in
It does not need to be explicitly mentioned here that the roll 12 is clamped onto the retaining mandrel 32 with its roll core 26 for as long as it should be fixed there (
The
Only when the receiving mandrel 70 has been extracted about halfway out of the roll core 26 (
It does not need to be explicitly mentioned here that the roll 20 is clamped onto the receiving mandrel 70 with its roll core 26 for as long as it should be fixed there (
The
The pedestal block 90 is moved together with the receiving mandrel 70 as well as the axial stop 84 to the left along the guide rails 88 for taking over a new roll 12 (cf.
In particular with reference to the
The invention has been described with reference to a preferred embodiment. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that numerous changes and modifications can be made to the preferred embodiments of the invention and that such changes and modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention. It is, therefore, intended that the appended claims cover all such equivalent variations as fall within the true spirit and scope of the invention.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10 2015 208 102 | Apr 2015 | DE | national |
| 20 2015 102 191 U | Apr 2015 | DE | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/EP2016/058271 | 4/14/2016 | WO | 00 |
| Publishing Document | Publishing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| WO2016/173860 | 11/3/2016 | WO | A |
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| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20180141772 A1 | May 2018 | US |
