U.S. patent application number 10/500378 was filed with the patent office on 2005-05-19 for device for producing cigarette packs.
This patent application is currently assigned to Focke & Co. (GmbH & Co. KG). Invention is credited to Bretthauer, Hans-Jurgen, Focke, Doris, Focke, Heinz, Focke, Jurgen.
Application Number | 20050102973 10/500378 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 7712014 |
Filed Date | 2005-05-19 |
United States Patent
Application |
20050102973 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Focke, Heinz ; et
al. |
May 19, 2005 |
Device for producing cigarette packs
Abstract
For the purpose of folding a blank (11) in a U-shaped manner
around an article or a folding mandrel, use is made of a folding
roller (34) which is mounted at a fixed location, is driven in
rotation and is rolled, by way of a lateral portion (35), over the
facing surface of the pack (10) or of the folding mandrel (17) with
blank (11).
Inventors: |
Focke, Heinz; (Verden,
DE) ; Focke, Doris; (Verden, DE) ; Focke,
Jurgen; (Verden, DE) ; Bretthauer, Hans-Jurgen;
(Bremen, DE) |
Correspondence
Address: |
TECHNOPROP COLTON, L.L.C.
P O BOX 567685
ATLANTA
GA
311567685
|
Assignee: |
Focke & Co. (GmbH & Co.
KG)
Siemensstrasse 10
Verden
DE
27283
|
Family ID: |
7712014 |
Appl. No.: |
10/500378 |
Filed: |
December 27, 2004 |
PCT Filed: |
January 7, 2003 |
PCT NO: |
PCT/EP03/00047 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
53/234 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B65B 19/22 20130101;
B65B 49/12 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
053/234 |
International
Class: |
B65B 011/28 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Jan 11, 2002 |
DE |
102 01 006.4 |
Claims
1. An apparatus for producing packs (10) with a blank (11) wrapping
an article which is to be packaged, in particular a cuboidal
cigarette pack with an outer wrapper made of film, it being
possible for the blank (11) to be folded around the article and for
peripheral folding tabs (27, 28) to be folded into a transversely
directed position by a fixed-location, movable folding element,
characterized in that the folding element can be moved relative to
the article while carrying along part of the blank (11) in the
direction of a free periphery or of the peripheral folding tab
(27), with the blank (11) being pressed against a surface or wall
of the article.
2. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the
folding element, which moves in rotation, can be rolled along the
surface of the article or of the pack (10), with the blank (11)
being pressed against the same and tensioned in the process.
3. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the
folding element is designed as a rotating folding roller (34)
which, with linear or strip-like abutment against the surface of
the article or of the pack (10), smoothes and tensions the blank
(11) during a continuous rolling movement and presses it against
the article or against the surface of a pack (10).
4. The apparatus as claimed in claim 3, characterized in that the
folding roller (34) is mounted at a fixed location and the articles
or packs (10) with blank (11) can be moved past the folding roller
(38), in particular by a continuously rotating folding turret (13),
the conveying direction of the articles or packs (10) and the
direction of rotation of the folding roller (34) coinciding in the
region where they butt against one another.
5. The apparatus as claimed in claim 3, characterized in that the
folding roller (34) has a plurality of lateral portions (35) which
follow one after the other along the circumference, each for
executing a folding and rolling cycle on an article or on a pack
(10), each lateral portion (35) having a sub-portion of which the
curved surface, which rolls by way of a radial convexity (49),
butts against the article or the pack (10) over the entire width of
the same.
6. The apparatus as claimed in claim 3, characterized in that the
folding element, namely the folding roller (34), has additional
folding tools, in particular radially directed crosspieces (36)
which each adjoin a lateral portion (35) and cause a facing folding
tab--inner tab (27)--to be folded over on to a transversely or
radially directed side wall (22) of the pack (10) or of a folding
mandrel (17), the folding crosspieces (36) each adjoining a rolling
region of the folding roller (34) or of the lateral portion (35)
with an arcuate contour, a rounded chamfer (37) being formed in the
process.
7. The apparatus as claimed in claim 6, characterized in that the
folding crosspieces (36) of the folding roller (34) interact with
folding elements which are fitted radially on the inside of the
folding turret (13), namely folding levers (38) which have a
supporting leg (40) for folding a radially inner outer tab (28),
the folding movements of the folding levers (38) and of the folding
crosspieces (36) being coordinated with one another such that the
folding crosspiece (36) is moved out of the region of action of the
supporting lug (40) when the latter, for the purpose of completing
a flexible-tube fold of the inner tab (27) and outer tab (28),
overlaps the two tabs (27, 28).
8. An apparatus for producing packs (10) with a blank (11) wrapping
a cuboidal cigarette pack with an outer wrapper made of film, in
which the blank (11) is folded around the pack and peripheral
folding tabs (27, 28) are folded into a transversely directed
position by a fixed-location, movable folding element,
characterized in that the folding element is moved relative to the
article while carrying along part of the blank (11) in the
direction of a free periphery or of the peripheral folding tab
(27), with the blank (11) being pressed against a surface of the
pack (10).
9. The apparatus as claimed in claim 8, characterized in that the
folding element, which moves in rotation, is rolled along the
surface of the pack (10), with the blank (11) being pressed against
the same and tensioned in the process.
10. The apparatus as claimed in claim 9, characterized in that the
folding element is designed as a rotating folding roller (34) with
linear or strip-like abutment that contacts the surface of the pack
(10) so as to smooth and tension the blank (11) during a continuous
rolling movement and press the blank (11) against the surface of
the pack (10).
11. The apparatus as claimed in claim 10, characterized in that the
folding roller (34) is mounted at a fixed location and the packs
(10) with blank (11) can be moved past the folding roller (38) by a
continuously rotating folding turret (13), the conveying direction
of the packs (10) and the direction of rotation of the folding
roller (34) coinciding in the region where they butt against one
another.
12. The apparatus as claimed in claim 10, characterized in that the
folding roller (34) has a plurality of lateral portions (35) which
follow one after the other along the circumference, each for
executing a folding and rolling cycle on the pack (10), each
lateral portion (35) having a sub-portion of which the curved
surface, which rolls by way of a radial convexity (49), butts
against the pack (10) over the entire width of the same.
13. The apparatus as claimed in claim 10, characterized in that
folding roller (34) has additional folding tools in the form of
radially directed crosspieces (36) which each adjoin a lateral
portion (35) and cause folding tab (27) to be folded over on to a
transversely or radially directed side wall (22) of the pack (10)
or of a folding mandrel (17), the folding crosspieces (36) each
adjoining a rolling region of the folding roller (34) or of the
lateral portion (35) with an arcuate contour, so as to form a
rounded chamfer (37).
14. The apparatus as claimed in claim 13, characterized in that the
folding crosspieces (36) of the folding roller (34) interact with
folding levers (38) which are fitted radially on the inside of the
folding turret (13), wherein folding levers (38) have a supporting
leg (40) for folding a radially inner outer tab (28), the folding
movements of the folding levers (38) and of the folding crosspieces
(36) being coordinated with one another such that the folding
crosspiece (36) is moved out of the region of action of the
supporting lug (40) when the latter, for the purpose of completing
a flexible-tube fold of the inner tab (27) and outer tab (28),
overlaps the two tabs (27, 28).
Description
[0001] The invention relates to an apparatus for producing packs
with a blank wrapping an article which is to be packaged, in
particular a cuboidal cigarette pack with an outer wrapper made of
film, it being possible for the blank of the outer wrapper to be
folded around the article or around the cigarette pack and for
peripheral folding tabs to be folded into a transversely directed
position by a fixed-location, movable folding element.
[0002] In the production of packs, it is usually the case that a
flexible-tube fold of the blank is produced first of all. This
means that the blank is positioned in U-shaped manner on the
article, and folded around the latter, and the peripheral folding
tabs projecting on one side are folded to form a partial overlap.
In the case of cuboidal (cigarette) packs, inner blanks, paper
blanks (for soft-carton packs) and outer wrapper made of film are
folded in accordance with this principle.
[0003] The invention is concerned with folding blanks, in
particular in conjunction with a flexible-tube fold being formed
from the blank. The task, with a high packaging-machine performance
and thus short operating cycles, is to provide as precise a fold as
possible.
[0004] The object of the invention is thus to provide an apparatus
for folding blanks by means of which, along with the high
performance, the blank can be positioned against the article which
is to be wrapped, and folded around the same, in a reliable and
crease-free manner.
[0005] In order to achieve this object, according to the invention,
the folding element can be moved relative to the article, or to the
pack which is to be wrapped, while carrying along part of the blank
in the direction of the free periphery or of the peripheral folding
tab, with the blank being pressed against a surface of the article
or of the pack.
[0006] According to the invention, rather than the blank being
folded in an operating cycle, the folding element is moved
continuously, in particular rolled, along the surface of the
article, with the blank being pressed against the same and
tensioned in the process, until the peripheral folding tab or
flexible-tube tab is folded. Accordingly, the folding element is
thus preferably designed as a folding roller which is rolled, by
way of a matching circumferential surface, along the facing surface
of the article with the blank, the region of the blank being
pressed against the same and tensioned in the process.
[0007] Furthermore, according to the invention, the folding roller
is designed with more or less radially directed folding crosspieces
or folding noses which, at the end of the rolling movement, fold
over a peripheral tab or flexible-tube tab against a transversely
directed (side) surface of the article. The circumference of the
folding roller--in a departure from a cylindrical shape--is
designed such that it can roll from one periphery of the
continuously moving article to the other periphery, with the
flexible-tube tab finally being folded.
[0008] The further features of the invention concern the
configuration of the folding element. An exemplary embodiment of
the apparatus according to the invention is explained in more
detail hereinbelow with reference to the drawings, in which:
[0009] FIG. 1 shows a schematic side view of part of a packing
machine,
[0010] FIG. 2 shows, on a vastly enlarged scale, a sub-region of a
folding turret of the packing machine in the region of a folding
station,
[0011] FIGS. 3 and 4 show, on a further-enlarged scale, a detail of
FIG. 2 in different folding phases, and
[0012] FIG. 5 shows a radially directed plan view of a folding
element from FIG. 2.
[0013] The exemplary embodiment of the drawings is concerned with
the production of cuboidal packs 10, namely cigarette packs of the
soft-carton type.
[0014] This type of pack serves for accommodating a cigarette group
which, in the case of the present exemplary embodiment, is enclosed
by a single-piece blank. The pack 10 is completed by an outer
wrapper made of film, namely by a blank 11 made of thin,
transparent plastic film. The present exemplary embodiment is
concerned with the folding and/or an important folding step for
fitting the blank 11 of the outer wrapper.
[0015] The packing machine which is shown schematically in FIG. 1
comprises a pocket chain 12, for transporting cigarette groups
which have been formed, a folding turret 13, a transfer turret 14
and a drying turret 15. The cigarette groups, as pack contents, are
transferred to the folding turret 13 from the pocket chain 12. This
folding turret produces the pack 10 and transfers it to a transfer
turret 14, which passes the packs 10 on to the drying turret 15 in
order to stabilize glued connections. The finished packs 10,
finally, are transported away via a removal conveyor 16.
[0016] As is customary for a packer for soft packs, the folding
turret 13 is provided with folding mandrels 17 along the
circumference. These are thin-walled, elongate, rectangular hollow
bodies. The pack contents, namely the cigarette group, are located
within the folding mandrel 17. The blanks for forming the pack 10
are positioned one after the other on the outside of the folding
mandrel 17 and folded thereon.
[0017] In the case of the exemplary embodiment shown, (paper)
blanks for forming the pack 10 are positioned on the folding
mandrel 17 in the region of a first blank station 18. In a
following, first folding station 19 this (paper) blank is folded
around the folding mandrel 17, this being accompanied by the
formation of a base wall comprising folding tabs. This is followed
by a second blank station 20, in the region of which the blanks 11
of film are fed to the folding turret 13 and/or the folding
mandrels 17. The blank station 20 is designed such that the blanks
11 for the outer wrapper are each introduced into the movement
paths of the continuously circulating folding mandrels 17, that is
to say in a more or less radially directed movement. The blank 11,
which is held available transversely to the movement direction of
the folding mandrel, is carried along by the folding mandrel 17 as
a result of the circulatory movement of the latter. The blank 11
here is positioned in a U-shaped manner around the folding mandrel
17 or around the (paper) blank already located on the folding
mandrel 17.
[0018] The folding mandrels 17 are fitted on the folding turret 15
such that a first narrow side wall 21 is directed forward in the
movement direction and a second side wall 22 is directed rearward
in the movement direction. Furthermore, the folding mandrel 17
forms a large-surface-area outer wall 23, which is directed
radially outward, and a radially inner wall 24.
[0019] The available blank 11 is carried along by the front side
wall 21 of the folding mandrel 17. A radially outer folding leg 25
is positioned against the outer wall 23, and an inner folding leg
26 is positioned against the inner wall 24, of the folding mandrel
17. The dimensioning of the blank 11 results in projections, namely
a radially outer inner tab 27 and a radially inner outer tab 28,
being formed in the region of the rear side wall 22. The two
folding tabs 27, 28 are folded one after the other against the side
wall 22 to form the flexible-tube fold (FIG. 4), the entire inner
tab 27 butting against the side wall 22, and the outer tab 28
partially overlapping the inner tab 27.
[0020] Once received by a folding mandrel 17, the blank 11 is fixed
on the folding mandrel, to be precise by a pressure-exerting roller
29, in the region of the front side wall 21. An inner tab 30
belonging to the base wall is already folded at the front in the
region of the blank station 20.
[0021] The blank station 20 is formed in the top region of the
folding turret, approximately in the region of an (imaginary)
vertical center plane. Following the blank station 20, the folding
mandrels 17 move in a downwardly directed movement path, in the
form of an arc of a circle, into the region of a second folding
station 31. This is where the inner tab 27 and outer tab 28 are
formed into the flexible-tube fold. Between the blank station 20
and folding station 31, fixed and arcuate outer and inner guides
32, 33 are positioned on both sides of the folding mandrel 17 in
order to keep the folding legs 25, 26 in the U-shaped folding
position.
[0022] The folding station 31 has a folding element of particular
design, namely a folding roller 34. The latter is positioned at a
fixed location on the outer circumference of the folding turret 13,
adjacent to the movement path of the folding mandrel 17. The
folding roller 34 is driven in rotation such that the region which
is directed toward the folding turret 13 in each case has the same
direction of rotation as the folding turret 13 (arrows). The
folding mandrels 17 are moved one after the other past the folding
roller 34, a circumferential surface of the folding roller 34
butting against the outer wall 23 of the folding mandrel 17 and/or
of the blank 11 during the movement phase. With continuous movement
of the folding mandrel 17 and of the folding roller 34, the latter
rolls on the outer wall 23. The folding roller 34 butts with linear
or strip-like contact against the folding mandrel 17, to be precise
beginning in the region of the front side wall 21 and continuing to
the rear side wall 22. This continuous rolling movement has the
effect not just of positioning the blank 11 or its folding leg 25
against the folding mandrel 17 or the already folded blank. Rather,
it also causes the blank 11 to be smoothed in the direction of the
free periphery, namely in the direction of the inner tab 27. The
folding leg 25 is tensioned in abutment against the folding mandrel
17, with the formation of any creases being rolled out. At the end
of the rolling movement, the inner tab 27 is folded into a
transverse position with abutment against the side wall 22.
[0023] The folding roller 34 has a particularly configured contour
or lateral surface. In the case of the present exemplary
embodiment, four lateral portions 35 are formed one after the other
along the circumference, each for executing a folding cycle, with
the result that four successive packs 10 are processed in the
abovedescribed manner during a full revolution of the folding
roller 34. A radially projecting folding crosspiece 36, which
extends in the axis-parallel direction, is formed between
successive lateral portions 35. This folding crosspiece serves for
folding over the inner tab 27 in each case at the end of a folding
or rolling cycle.
[0024] The lateral portions 35 are designed to deviate (slightly)
from a cylindrical surface, to be precise with account being taken
of the kinematics during the rolling process on the facing surface
of the pack 10 or of the folding mandrel 17. As can be seen from
FIG. 2 in particular, the folding roller 34 or an approximately
quarter-circle-shaped lateral portion 35 comes into abutment
against the pack 10 or against the folding mandrel 17 by way of a
region which is associated with the respective folding crosspiece
36. The rolling region of the lateral portion 35 is designed in the
radial direction as a slight convexity 49, projecting slightly
beyond the circular or cylindrical contour, whereas an upstream
region of the lateral portion 35, as seen in the direction of
rotation, is designed as a radial concavity 50.
[0025] The folding crosspieces 36 are also of particular
configuration in cross section, that is to say they have a
sharp-edged, rounded tapering in the direction of the radially
outer end. A rounded chamfer 37 which adjoins the respective
lateral portion 35 ensures a tensioning-maintaining folding
movement of the inner tab 27 to follow the rolling operation of the
lateral portion 35. The folding crosspiece 36 is radially
dimensioned more or less to correspond to the width of the inner
tab 27. In the end phase of the folding movement, the chamfer 37 is
positioned in a form-fitting manner around a (rounded) edge of the
folding mandrel 17 as the inner tab 27 is folded over.
[0026] In order to complete the flexible-tube fold, a further
folding element becomes active in a temporarily coordinated manner.
This folding element is a folding lever 38 with angled contour.
Such a folding lever 38 is assigned to each folding mandrel 17,
namely is fitted on the folding turret 13. The folding lever 38 is
designed such that a more or less radially directed movement takes
place in the end phase of the folding operation (FIG. 2). In this
case, an approximately circumferentially oriented supporting leg 39
comes into abutment against the radially inner side of the pack 10
or of the folding mandrel 17, namely against the folding leg 26 of
the blank 11. A transversely or radially directed second supporting
leg 40 grips the radially inner outer tab 28 and folds the latter,
in time with the folding crosspiece 36, against the rear side wall
22 of the folding mandrel 17, the outer tab overlapping partially
with the inner tab 27 (FIG. 4).
[0027] The folding tools, namely folding crosspieces 36, on the one
hand, and folding lever 38 or supporting leg 40, on the other hand,
are dimensioned, and coordinated with one another in respect of
movement, such that overlapping does not take place even in the end
phase. As can be seen from FIG. 4, the folding crosspiece 36 leaves
the region on the rear side of the folding mandrel 17 while the
supporting leg 40, on account of continued folding movement of the
folding lever 38, completes the flexible-tube fold. The folding
lever 38 or the supporting legs 39, 40 remains/remain in the
folding position (FIG. 2) until the pack 10 is finished and leaves
the folding turret 13.
[0028] The radially inner guide 33, in the form of a circle arc,
interacts with the radially inner folding element--folding lever
38. The folding leg 26 of the blank 11 with outer tab 28 butts
against this guide. The guide 33 thus terminates in the region of
the folding station 31.
[0029] The guide 33, on the one hand, and the folding lever 38, on
the other hand, are of comb-like design, and accordingly comprise a
plurality of correspondingly shaped crosspieces (FIG. 5). These
form, together, the guide 33 and/or the folding lever 38. The
elements can be moved past one another on account of this comb-like
design.
[0030] Interacting with the folding roller 34 is a co-running guide
element by means of which the fold produced by the folding roller
34 is stabilized on the radially outer side. This guide element is
an endless belt 41. The latter envelops the folding roller 34 over
a relatively large circumferential region determined by a
fixed-location, rotating supporting roller 42. A supporting strand
43 of the endless belt 41, the supporting strand moving in the
direction of rotation of the folding turret 13, butts against the
outside of the pack 10 or of the folding mandrels 17 following the
folding roller 34. The endless belt 41 thus extends over a
sub-region of the movement path of the folding mandrel 17 up to a
deflecting roller 44.
[0031] As can be seen from FIG. 5, the endless belt 41 comprises a
plurality of, namely three, individual belts which are guided in
grooves 45 on the circumference of the folding roller 34. The
latter, in turn, rather than being configured as a continuously
cylindrical structure, comprises a plurality of cylindrical roller
portions 46, 47, 48 which are mounted at intervals from one another
on a common shaft. The roller portions 46 . . . 48 are assigned to
different regions of the folding mandrel 17 or of the blank 11. It
is also the case that the distribution of the individual belts for
forming the endless belt 41, in the case of different axial
dimensioning of the roller portions 46 . . . 48, is divided up to
take account of the folding function.
[0032] The abovedescribed folding means, in particular folding
roller 34, can also be used, with a folding rolling movement for
creating crease-free regions of blanks, in the production of other
types of pack.
List of Designations
[0033] 10 Pack
[0034] 11 Blank
[0035] 12 Pocket chain
[0036] 13 Folding turret
[0037] 14 Transfer turret
[0038] 15 Drying turret
[0039] 16 Removal conveyor
[0040] 17 Folding mandrel
[0041] 18 Blank station
[0042] 19 Folding station
[0043] 20 Blank station
[0044] 21 Side wall
[0045] 22 Side wall
[0046] 23 Outer wall
[0047] 24 Inner wall
[0048] 25 Folding leg
[0049] 26 Folding leg
[0050] 27 Inner tab
[0051] 28 Outer tab
[0052] 29 Pressure-exerting roller
[0053] 30 Inner tab
[0054] 31 Folding station
[0055] 32 Guide
[0056] 33 Guide
[0057] 34 Folding roller
[0058] 35 Lateral portion
[0059] 36 Folding crosspiece
[0060] 37 Chamfer
[0061] 38 Folding lever
[0062] 39 Supporting leg
[0063] 40 Supporting leg
[0064] 41 Endless belt
[0065] 42 Supporting roller
[0066] 43 Supporting strand
[0067] 44 Deflecting roller
[0068] 45 Groove
[0069] 46 Roller portion
[0070] 47 Roller portion
[0071] 48 Roller portion
[0072] 49 Convexity
[0073] 50 Concavity
* * * * *