EP2493762B1 - Method and device for handling cutouts of packaging material for cigarette packs - Google Patents

Description

The invention relates to a method for handling blanks of packaging material for cigarette packs, in particular of the type soft pack, wherein the blanks are held in a stack in a magazine and wherein the blanks are removed from the magazine and a packaging machine for cigarette packs, in particular a soft packer fed According to the preamble of claim 1. Furthermore, the invention relates to a corresponding device according to the preamble of claim 8.

Methods and devices of the type mentioned are known in practice in various embodiments. Blanks e.g. for soft packs are kept ready and fed to a packaging machine. It is also known that the blanks are provided with a coding to attach, for example, the batch, the manufacturer or other information. It is known from practice to apply the coding in the production of the blanks or in the manufacture of the packs in the packaging machine. Both solutions, however, have their disadvantages. Thus, no information for the preparation of the package can be attached during the production of the blanks, since this information is not available. In the manufacture of packages, the coding is usually limited to install, since the packaging machines are usually very complex, so that there is hardly any space to provide one or more additional coding stations.

A method and an apparatus according to the preamble of claims 1 and 8 are known from EP 1 449 775 A1 known. From the US 3,929,326 Further, an apparatus for providing blanks of packaging material is known. The DE 199 13 855 A1 from the house of the applicant is concerned with the printing of webs.

Proceeding from this, the object of the invention is to further develop methods and devices of the type mentioned in the introduction, in particular with regard to a preferably advantageous integration of the coding in the production path of the packages and / or with regard to the most effective attachment of codes to different package surfaces.

To solve this problem, a method with the features of claim 1 is proposed.

An advantageous embodiment provides that the blanks in the region of the coding station are at least partially unfolded to identify different areas of the blank, which are located after folding the blank to a cigarette pack on different side surfaces of the cigarette pack. In this way it is more or less possible, by means of a laser, to label several side surfaces of the cigarette pack in one step. There are then neither deflections of the laser required nor the installation of multiple lasers.

According to a further advantageous embodiment of the invention, it is provided that the blanks after encoding with their longitudinal extent transversely to the conveying direction are transported and taken over by the packaging machine, in particular a soft packer, pointing with their longitudinal extent in the longitudinal direction. In this way, the handling of the blanks is particularly advantageously integrated into the production of the cigarette packs.

An apparatus for solving the above-mentioned problem has the features of claim 9.

Fig. 1

eine Zigarettenpackung des Typs Weichpackung,

Fig. 2

einen ungefalteten und ausgebreiteten Zuschnitt für eine Zigarettenpackung gemäß Fig. 1,

Fig. 3

eine schematische Seitenansicht einer Verpackungsmaschine,

Fig. 4

eine Draufsicht auf die Verpackungsmaschine gemäß Fig. 3,

Fig. 5

eine vergrößerte Darstellung des Bereichs V in Fig. 3,

Fig. 6

eine vergrößerte Darstellung des Bereichs VI in Fig. 4,

Fig. 7

eine vergrößerte Darstellung des Bereichs VII in Fig. 4,

Fig. 8

eine Seitenansicht eines Teils der Vorrichtung gemäß Pfeil VIII in Fig. 7 in vergrößerter Darstellung,

Fig. 9

eine vergrößerte Darstellung des Bereichs IX in Fig. 4, und

Fig. 10

einen Ausschnitt der Darstellung gemäß Fig. 9 bei der Ausschleusung von Zuschnitten.

A preferred embodiment of the invention will be explained below with reference to the drawing. In this show:

Fig. 1

a cigarette pack of the type soft pack,

Fig. 2

an unfolded and spread blank for a cigarette packet according to Fig. 1 .

Fig. 3

a schematic side view of a packaging machine,

Fig. 4

a plan view of the packaging machine according to Fig. 3 .

Fig. 5

an enlarged view of the area V in Fig. 3 .

Fig. 6

an enlarged view of the area VI in Fig. 4 .

Fig. 7

an enlarged view of the area VII in Fig. 4 .

Fig. 8

a side view of a part of the device according to arrow VIII in Fig. 7 in an enlarged view,

Fig. 9

an enlarged view of the area IX in Fig. 4 , and

Fig. 10

a section of the representation according to Fig. 9 in the discharge of blanks.

The invention will be explained with reference to an apparatus and a method for producing cigarette packs 10 of the type soft pack. In this type of cigarette packs 10, the cigarettes or the contents of the pack are not in a box of thin cardboard as in Hinge Lid Packaged, but in a blank 11 of packaging material such as paper, plastic film or the like. For this purpose, a blank 11 made of appropriate material is used, which is folded around the contents of the package. This process is basically known from the prior art. The result is a cigarette pack 10 with a large-area front 12, an opposite corresponding back 13, narrow sides 14 connect the front 12 and rear 13 and a bottom wall 15 and opposite end wall 16. In the region of the end wall and the two adjacent side surfaces of the front 12 and the back 13 is as in Fig. 1 shown usually a band 17 is provided. In the area of the bottom wall 15 folding flaps of the blank 11 are folded like a cover. The blank 11 is wrapped around the package contents so that folding flaps of the blank 11 overlap in the region of one of the two narrow sides 14 and are connected to one another.

The blank 11 may have a decorative print 18, which in the present case is provided by way of example in the region of the front 12 and the back 13. In addition to this central printing 18, for example, with the corresponding cigarette brand, other decorative prints on the entire blank 11 may be provided. Instead of an imprint 18, a coupon or another corresponding print carrier can also be provided.

The invention is particularly concerned with the attachment of codes 19, 20, for example in the form of bar codes as in Fig. 1 and 2 shown. However, the coding can also be achieved by other means, for example by numbers, letters, symbols or similar means.

As Fig. 1 shows, the codings 19, 20 are attached to two different side surfaces of the cigarette pack 10. Normally, attaching these codes 19, 20 in the area of a packaging machine 21 would be very expensive, since several lasers or similar coding devices would be required for each side surface of the cigarette pack 10. Alternatively, the laser could be redirected via mirrors or similar reflection devices become. However, both solutions are disadvantageous because in the area of the packaging machine 21 there is usually not enough space available to accommodate such facilities.

In contrast, the solution according to the invention provides for the coding of the cigarette packs 10 to be integrated into the area of the feed of the blanks 11 to the packaging machine 21. The blanks 11 can therefore be coded locally and in immediate temporal relation to the production of the cigarette packs 10. This avoids, in particular, a storage of already coded blanks 11. It also makes it possible to encode and to consume the cigarette pack 10 with price, place of manufacture and product identifications directly in the production of the cigarette packs 10, without the coding devices having to be integrated into the packaging machine 21.

3 and 4 show by way of example a packaging machine 21 and a device for providing and coding the blanks 11, which is arranged upstream of the packaging machine 21. The essential organs of the device are one or more magazines 22 for holding blanks 11, a coding station 23 for attaching the coding 19, 20 on the blanks 11 and various conveyors for connecting the magazines 22 to the coding station 23 and the packaging machine 21 Organs are a buffer 24, a test station 25 and an ejector 26th

The blanks 11 are held in upright magazines 22. Several magazines 22 are combined to form magazine carousels 27. Each magazine carousel 27 receives a plurality of magazines 22, which can be successively rotated by rotation of the magazine carousel 27 in a removal position. Thus, blanks 11 can be continuously removed from the magazines 22. In the present case, two magazine carousels 27 are provided ( Fig. 5 ) from which blanks 11 are removed in parallel. In this way, the seamless feeding of the blanks 11 can be further improved.

The blanks 11 are according to Fig. 6 taken from the bottom of a magazine 22. In the magazine 22, the blank 11 are spread so flat arranged one above the other to form a stack. The removal of the blanks 11 on the underside of the magazine 22 can take place in a manner known from the prior art by means of a removal roller 28, which passes through the blanks 11 to a subsequent conveyor 29 by rotation. The conveyor 29 is used to supply the blanks 11 to the buffer 24th

In the present case, the conveyor 29 is designed so that the blanks are conveyed under overlap in the transport direction. The blanks 11 are thus transported as geschuppter Zuschrittstrom. In the present case, the blank stream is transported between two runs of endless conveyors 30, 31, which rest on the top and bottom sides of the blank stream. The endless conveyors 30, 31 are guided multiple times over pulleys 32 and thereby bent or angled along a conveying path.

Due to the arrangement of two magazine carousels 27 lead in the present case, two conveyors 29 to a common discharge conveyor 33, which is structurally constructed the same as the two conveyors 29. The discharge conveyor 33 accepts the two blank streams from the two conveyors 29, unites them and leads the Blanks in the buffer 24 a. In the buffer 24, the blanks 11 are again arranged as in the magazines 22 to a flat stack one above the other.

It is understood that a different number of magazine carousels 27 may be provided. The same applies to the number of magazines 22. Correspondingly, the number of conveyors 29 can also vary. Optionally, the conveyor 29 may also direct the blanks 11 or the blank stream directly into the buffer 24.

From the buffer 24, the blanks 11 are removed on the underside in a separating station 51 individually. For this purpose, a special removal member 34 is provided which detects the blanks 11 on the underside and at the edge and transfers them to a suction conveyor 35.

The suction conveyor 35 extends in an upright or vertical direction. The suction conveyor 35 has two endless conveyors 36 whose conveying runs have recesses 37 in the manner of suction bores through which the blanks 11 lying on the suction conveyor 35 can be held with negative pressure by means of a vacuum device 38. The two endless conveyors 36 are arranged at a distance from one another and hold the blanks 11 at the edges in the region of opposite side edges.

The blanks 11 separated by the removal element 34 from the buffer 24 are transferred to the suction conveyor 35 by means of conveying rollers 39, 40. The conveyor rollers 39, 40 detect the blanks 11 on both sides and transport them by opposing rotation on. A special feature consists in the fact that a rear conveyor roller 40 is formed of two conveyor roller sections, which end on both sides of the removal member 34, so that the removal member 34 can occur between the two Förderwatzenabschnitte.

Furthermore, control devices in the form of light barriers 41 are provided in the region of the suction conveyor 35. With the aid of the light barriers 41, the relative position and orientation of the blanks 11 is checked. This is done by scanning the edges of the blanks 11. The results of the measurement of the light barriers 41 are evaluated in a control unit, not shown, and used to control the coding 23 as described below.

The coding station 23 is arranged in the region of the upright suction conveyor 35, so that the blanks 11 resting against the endless conveyors 36 can be provided with the coding 19, 20. The blanks 11 are preferably passed completely along the suction conveyor 35 at the coding station 23. However, at least the areas of the blank 11 to be coded should be unfolded in the plane of the suction conveyor 35.

Part of the coding station 23 is a laser 42 which is suitable for writing an encoding on the packaging material of the blank 11. According to Fig. 7 is the laser or whose laser beam is directed transversely to the vertical transport plane of the blanks 11. In the region of the suction conveyor 35, the blanks 11 are singulated, that is, transported at a distance from one another successively. The coding of the blanks 11 can be carried out continuously or during a short standstill phase of the suction conveyor 35.

If it is detected by means of the light barriers 41 that the blanks 11 have not been fed in the prescribed relative position, that is, not at the appropriate distance from one another or at an angle to the transport direction on the suction conveyor 35, the laser 42 can be controlled by means of the control device in such a way that an offset occurs or a misalignment is compensated.

Subsequent to the coding station 23, a test station 25 is arranged in the region of the suction conveyor 35. In a simple case, the test station 25 records an image of the coded blanks 11 and compares it to a reference image. Other testing mechanisms known in the art may also be used.

Subsequent to the coding and testing of the blanks 11, these are again assembled in a grouping station 50 into a blank stream with overlapping of the blanks 11 in the transport direction. For this purpose, a corresponding station 43 in which also recognized as defective blanks 11 can be discarded. This part of the device is in Fig. 9 shown. Subsequent to the suction conveyor 35, the blanks 11 are transported by conveyor roller pairs along a curved conveying path and thereby deflected to a horizontal discharge conveyor 44. By appropriate drive of the conveyor roller pair 45, the blanks 11 are accelerated relative to the discharge conveyor 44 and brought there to overlap. The discharge conveyor 44 is designed as constructively as the discharge conveyor 33 and the conveyor 29th

Preferably, the degree of overlap s is over 50%, preferably 60%. By specifying a relatively large degree of overlap s is a sufficient even in the absence of a blank 11 in the blank stream Residual overlap or a corresponding residual overlap degree s * of about 20% is given.

The discharge conveyor 44 transports the blanks 11 of the blank stream to the packaging machine 21.

The rejection of faulty blanks 11 is carried out by a pivotable rotary flap 46 is pivoted in the deflection region of the conveying path of the blanks 11 as in Fig. 10 shown to weed out a faulty blank 11. In this case, the faulty blank 11 enters the area of a transport shaft 47 which derives the faulty blanks 11 into a collecting container 48.

It goes without saying that individual organs or sections of the device can be dispensed with. Thus, it is conceivable, for example, that the blanks 11 are not initially conveyed as a blank stream with overlapping of the blanks 11 in the transport direction. Instead, it is conceivable that the blanks 11 are also fed directly to the buffer 24 and the suction conveyor 35.

Furthermore, the device is also suitable for processing other blanks 11 in particular for other types of packages or bundles of packaging. LIST OF REFERENCE NUMBERS 10 cigarette pack 39 conveyor roller 11 cut 40 conveyor roller 12 front 41 photocell 13 back 42 laser 14 narrow side 43 station 15 bottom wall 44 discharge conveyor 16 bulkhead 45 Conveyor roller pair 17 banderole 46 butterfly valve 18 Oppression 47 transport shaft 19 encoding 48 receptacle 20 encoding 49 grouping 21 packaging machine 50 separating station 22 magazine 23 coding station s degree of overlap 24 cache s * reduced 25 inspection degree of overlap 26 ejection station 27 magazine carrousel 28 out roller 29 promoter 30 endless conveyor 31 endless conveyor 32 guide rollers 33 discharge conveyor 34 sampling member 35 Saugförderer 36 endless conveyor 37 recess 38 Vacuum device

Claims (11)

1. A method of handling blanks (11) made of packaging material for cigarette packs (10), in particular of the soft-pack type, wherein the blanks (11) are kept in a stack in a magazine (22), and wherein the blanks (11) are removed from the magazine (22) and fed to a packaging machine (21) for cigarette packs (10), in particular to a soft-pack packaging machine, wherein the blanks (11) are fed to a coding station (23) for providing a coding (19, 20) on the blanks (11), and wherein the blanks (11), following the coding operation, are brought together to form a blank stream with overlapping of adjacent blanks (11) and are transferred to the packaging machine (21), characterized in that a plurality of magazines (22) with blanks (11) are provided, from which blanks (11) are removed one after the other in order to ensure an essentially gap-free blank stream, and in that a plurality of magazines (22) are combined to form a magazine carousel (27), and in that the blanks (11) from a plurality of magazine carousels (27) are fed, each by a separate conveyor (29), to the coding station (23), and in that the blanks (11), following removal from the magazine (22), in the first instance are transported along the conveyor (29) in a blank stream with overlapping of adjacent blanks, and in that the blanks (11) of the blank stream are then separated and fed to the coding station (23), and in that the positioning of the blanks (11) is checked as the latter are being fed to the coding station (23), and in that incorrect positioning of the blanks (11) is compensated for by appropriate control of the coding station (23).
2. The method as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the blanks (11), in the coding station (23), are provided with a coding, in particular by means of a laser (42), wherein it is preferable for the blanks (11), in the region of the coding station (23), to be transported along an upright conveying route and to be coded by the laser (42) in a direction transverse to the transporting direction.
3. The method as claimed in claim 1 or one of the further preceding claims, characterized in that the blanks (11), in the region of the coding station (23), are, at least in part, in a non-folded state, in order for different regions of the blank (11), which are located on different side surfaces (12 ... 16) of the cigarette pack (10) once the blank (11) has been folded to form a cigarette pack (10), to be marked.
4. The method as claimed in claim 1 or one of the further preceding claims, characterized in that the coding (19, 20) is checked and blanks with missing and/or defective coding are separated out.
5. The method as claimed in claim 1 or one of the further preceding claims, characterized in that the positioning of the blanks (11) is checked by a plurality of light barriers (41) in the conveying path of the blanks (11) as the latter are being fed to the coding station (23), and in that incorrect positioning of the blanks (11) is compensated for by appropriate control of the laser (42) of the coding station (23).
6. The method as claimed in claim 1 or one of the further preceding claims, characterized in that the blanks (11), as they are being transported as a blank stream with overlapping, have a degree (s) of overlapping of more than 50%, preferably 60%, in order to compensate for separated-out, defective blanks (11) while maintaining a (small) degree (s*) of overlapping.
7. The method as claimed in claim 1 or one of the further preceding claims, characterized in that the blanks (11), following the coding operation, are transported with their longitudinal extent oriented transversely to the conveying direction and are received by the packaging machine (21), in particular a soft-pack packaging machine, with their longitudinal extent oriented in the longitudinal direction.
8. An apparatus for handling blanks (11) made of packaging material for cigarette packs (10), in particular of the soft-pack type, having a magazine (22) for storing blanks (11) in a stack, and having a conveying device for removing the blanks (11) from the magazine (22) and for feeding the blanks (11) to a packaging machine (21) for cigarette packs (10), in particular to a soft-pack packaging machine, having a coding station (23) for coding (19, 20) the separated blanks (11), having a grouping station (49) following the coding station (23) for bringing the blanks (11) together to form a blank stream with overlapping of adjacent blanks (11), and having a conveying device (44) for transferring the blanks (11) to the packaging machine (21), characterized in that a plurality of magazines (22) are arranged on a rotatable magazine carousel (27), in order for blanks (11) to be removed one after the other from successive magazines (22), and in that a plurality of these magazine carousels (27) are provided, and in that each magazine carousel (27) is assigned a separate conveyor (29) in order to feed the blanks (11) to the coding station (23), and in that the blanks (11), following removal from the magazine (22), in the first instance can be transported along the conveyor (29) in a blank stream with overlapping of adjacent blanks, and in that a separating station (50) for separating the blanks (11) of the blank stream is arranged upstream of the coding station (23), and in that wherein the positioning of the blanks (11) can be checked as the latter are being fed to the coding station (23), and wherein incorrect positioning of the blanks (11) can be compensated for by appropriate control of the coding station (23).
9. The apparatus as claimed in claim 8, characterized in that a suction conveyor (35) is provided in the region of the coding station (23) in order to transport the separated blanks (11) on an upright conveying strand of the suction conveyor (35) and in order for different regions of the blanks (11) to be coded by means of a laser (42).
10. The apparatus as claimed in claim 8 or 9, characterized by the provision of an interim store (24) for accommodating the blanks (11) and feeding the same to the suction conveyor (35), wherein a removal mechanism (34) is arranged between the interim store (24) and the suction conveyor (35), in order for the blanks (11) to be transferred individually from the interim store (24) to the suction conveyor (35), and wherein detection means (41) for determining the positioning of the blanks (11) are arranged in the region of the suction conveyor (35), in order for the laser (42) to be controlled.
11. The apparatus as claimed in claim 9, characterized in that the suction conveyor (35) has two endless conveyors (36), which are spaced apart one beside the other, and parallel to one another, and have suction bores (37) for securing the positioning of the blanks (11) on the endless conveyors (36).

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