The present invention relates to the field of packaging plants for bottles and/or containers in general for liquids.
It more specifically relates to the end part of the plant, which starts from the labeller or filler and reaches the palletising machine.
It is known that if multiple machines are mechanically or electronically connected, the result is a system having as production efficiency, the product of the efficiencies of the individual machines. Therefore, by connecting multiple machines in sequence, the overall efficiency is decreased. Furthermore, the interposition of accumulation transports contributes to reducing the overall efficiency.
To increase this value it is necessary for the coupling/interface devices to resolve those problems that generate stoppages and thus losses in the efficiency of the individual machines.
By analysing the individual machines that comprise a packaging plant, the following main problems are for example inferred:
The aim of the present invention is to guarantee a constant pressure on the separation system, normally having pegs or spacer elements, of the shrinkwrap machine that is responsible for dividing and spacing each bottle to form the desired groups.
Indeed, this is surely the greatest loss of efficiency problem in the shrinkwrap/cartoning machine.
A further aim of the system is to bring the packs to the palletiser and to allow the oven of the shrinkwrap machine to empty in the event of stoppage, so as to prevent the packs remaining inside the oven for too long from burning.
A further aim is to reduce the linear velocity of the output bottles from the labeller/filling machine in the smallest possible space without introducing instability in the bottles.
These aims are all achieved by the packaging system, object of the present invention, which is characterised by what is provided in the below-reported claims.
This and other characteristics will become more readily apparent from the following description of certain embodiments illustrated, purely by way of a non-limiting example, in the accompanying drawings, in which:
a illustrates, from above, the rotating carousel equipped with gripping means;
b and 5c show an enlarged detail of the gripping means, in the open position and closed position respectively;
a-7d illustrate the transport system, with dynamic accumulation without guides, of the bundled packs, according to different operating configurations;
With particular reference to
In the example represented, the packaging system comprises a pick-up device 2 to pick up filled, and possibly labelled, bottles from an upstream machine, a bottle dividing device comprising a multi-lane conveying belt 3, provided with a connecting zone 12 with the labelling or filling machine 1, a shrinkwrap machine 6, a transport system 7, at least one handle applicator 8 to apply the strip that acts as handle of the bundle and at least a palletiser 9.
The pick-up device 2 comprises a dividing carousel that rotates according to a vertical axis arranged at the output, that is to say, downstream of the labelling or filling machine 1 and provided with a plurality of gripping means 13, of a clamp type in the example, which performs the function of picking up bottles 11 and releasing them onto one of the plurality of lanes 14 of the connecting zone 12 of the dividing device. Nine lanes are shown in the example of
The connecting zone 12 with the multi-lane conveying belt 3 is formed by a series of a circular arc segments that are joined together so as to define a flexible chain belt with continuous surface having a spiral progression. Spiral progression means a progression with a curvature radius that increases in the advancement direction. Thus, when released by the gripping means 13 on the connecting zone 12, the bottles 11, in addition to being supported in resting in the lane 14 corresponding to the release zone, are progressively moved away from the centre of rotation of the carousel 2 and thus from the respective gripping means 13, according to the above-mentioned spiral progression.
Three segments 12A, 12B, 12C, are shown in the example of
The lanes 14 of the connecting zone 12, arranged with a spiral progression, and the rotating carousel 2, which has the gripping means 13 that are movable along a grip circumference C, are reciprocally arranged so that each lane 14 that forms the belt of the connecting zone 12, is located underneath the rotating carousel 2, so that the release takes place at the desired point corresponding with the intersection X of the grip circumference C, as better illustrated in
In particular, the release of the bottles 11 by the rotating carousel 2 takes place at positions distributed equidistant along an arc of the grip circumference C of angle α greater than 90° and preferably between 180°-240° and directly on a different lane 14 of the connecting zone 12 underlying the point of release. Thus the bottles 11 are released by the rotating carousel 2, not along a single lane, but already along lanes 14 of the connecting zone 12 which are arranged side by side to each other. In the example illustrated in
According to a further embodiment shown in
According to a preferred embodiment, as shown for example in
The radial return movement is instead controlled by the cam profile itself.
The reciprocating movement in the radial direction of the gripping means 13 occurs between an extracted position corresponding to the opening of said gripping means 13 and a retracted position corresponding to the closure of said gripping means 13.
A cam 23 is associated with each lane 14 of the connecting zone 12; the cams 23 are distributed on two superimposed discs 24. A service cam 23′ along the angular section that does not cooperate with the connecting zone maintains the gripping means in the extracted and open position until the bottle 11 is picked up by the rotating carousel 2 of the filling/labelling machine.
In particular, the release step of the bottle onto the lane 14 of the connecting zone 12 is progressively carried out along an end section, having an inclined profile, of the cam 23 to accompany the bottle 11 in the spiral trajectory of the lane 14.
The sequence of
The division carousels 2 described for the present invention, adapted to release the bottles 11, not along a single lane but already along lanes 14 arranged side by side to each other, could also constitute an autonomous device combined with the use of timing screws.
The shrinkwrap machine 6 is an automatic or manual packaging machine suitable for grouping the bottles with a thermoshrinkable film.
The transport system 7 with dynamic accumulation is preferably of the counting type and without bundled packs guides.
The handle applicator 8, i.e. an apparatus for applying the strip, generally of paper, which acts as the handle of the bundle, is installed in the represented example on the dynamic transport system 7 and precisely at the inlet of the belt of the palletiser 9. Indeed, one or more palletisers 9 are placed in line with possible pack orienting means 10.
The illustrated example is indicative and it is clear that in addition to the above-mentioned components, further machines suitable for specific purposes may be present without departing from the scope of protection of the invention. The above-mentioned components may also be replaced with equivalent components or in part altogether omitted, as in the aforementioned case of the labeller. Where present, the labeller incorporates a label presence checking device.
For example, the shrinkwrap machine may be replaced by a different packaging machine, such as a cartoning machine. In this configuration, the transport system 7 will be a simple transport without accumulation functions, the oven and the relevant critical issues not being present in the event of stoppage.
Again from the figures, in particular from
A discard lane, where present, is indicated by 4′.
A second preferred embodiment of the conveying multi-lane belt 3 according to the invention, shown in
At each of the transport lanes 4, which are separated from each other by laminas 21, adjacent belts belonging to different sections are placed close to each other, along their lateral edge 25. Passing from one section to the next one, which is slower, the bottles 11 decelerate while advancing in a rectilinear line, that is to say, without changing direction.
The gripping means 13 of the rotating carousel 2 will unload the output bottles according to a predefined program, that is to say, depending on the scheme of work of the packaging machine 6.
On the connecting zone 12, the bottles 11 are subject to the centrifugal force and the contact/friction of the chain on which the bottles 11 rest.
As regards the second aim of the invention, the provision of a transport system 7 with dynamic accumulation associated with the packaging system allows the packs to be brought to the palletiser 9 and allows the shrinkwrap machine oven (oven, which as known, implements the thermoshrinking) to empty in the event of stoppage. On the contrary, if the packs should remain therein for too long they would be damaged.
The dynamic accumulation transport system 7 consists of a plurality of belts 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20 without guides on which the packs 10 rest. The series of belts 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20 are arranged head-adjacent, namely, along their short side.
Each belt 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20 has an independent motorisation so as to be able to govern, through a central, even computerised, control system, the space between one pack and the next, which will obviously be a function of the speed of the belts sequentially mounted in the advancement direction.
To create accumulation, the packs are brought closer without touching each other, slowing down the successive belt; whereas in normal conditions they are spaced as they leave the shrinkwrap machine. The advantage is that the packs can thus be brought closer without creating impacts between the same.
The belt indicated by 20 is the one that acts as a metering device for the palletiser and the handle applicator 8 can be applied to said belt 20.
An encoder and a checking and counting photocell are mounted on each belt. Thus the packs are kept under control throughout the path from the shrinkwrap machine to the palletiser, as number and position.
a-7d show different operating configurations of the transport system 7 with dynamic accumulation object of the present invention. In particular,
In the packaging plant according to the invention, the described components are directly connected to each other without interposition of accumulation transports to constitute a single monobloc unit, equipped with a single centralised control (electrical panel, user interface), thus simplifying the management of the system.
The main advantages of the packaging system object of the invention relate to the following aspects:
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
PR2012A000024 | Apr 2012 | IT | national |
The present application is related to, claims the priority benefit of, and is a United States 35 U.S.C. §371 national stage entry of, International Patent Application Serial No. PCT/IB2013/043108, filed Apr. 19, 2013, which is related to, and claims the priority benefit of Italian Patent Application Serial No. PR2012A 000024, filed on Apr. 20, 2012. The contents of each of these applications are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety into this disclosure.
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
PCT/IB2013/053108 | 4/19/2013 | WO | 00 |