CN1878696A - Method and device for packaging articles with a film of plastics material and package obtained therefrom - Google Patents

Abstract

According to the method for wrapping articles with a film of plastic material, a band (6) of plastic film is fed to a conveyor means (5) while a strip of adhesive (18) is applied along the longitudinal edges of the band (6) of plastic film and regularly spaced zones (19) of adhesive are applied transversely to the band (6) of plastic film. A series of articles (2) to be packaged is fed to the conveyor (5) above the band of plastic film (6) in a position between the transverse zones of adhesive (19), the longitudinal edges of the band of plastic film (6) being subsequently folded to form a tube around the articles (2), so that the edges of the band of plastic film (6) overlap. The edges of the band (6) of plastic film are pressed to stabilise the joint and the transverse zones (19) of adhesive are also pressed, simultaneously with the transverse cutting of the band (6) of plastic film at the portions located between the transverse zones (19) of adhesive, to obtain the individual packs of articles (2).

Description

Method and device for packaging articles with a film of plastics material and package obtained therefrom

technical field

The invention relates to a method for packaging objects with a film of plastic material and a device for carrying out the method. The invention also relates to a package obtained with the method and device described above.

Background technique

A protective film of plastic material, usually transparent such as cellophane, is often used to package printed matter such as books, newspapers, magazines and the like.

Items are packaged by known machines having a conveying mechanism that feeds regularly spaced items from a wrapping station to a device that forms a plastic film wrap around said items.

In the machine described above, the strip of plastic film is continuously fed to a conveying mechanism that is aligned and continuously running with the mechanism for feeding the items to be packaged.

The items are conveyed in suitably spaced rows over a strip of plastic film which is wrapped around the items by means of a suitable folding mechanism thereby forming a tube shape with overlapping longitudinal edges.

Each package is then closed around each individual article by longitudinal welding means acting on the overlapping edges of the plastic film and by subsequent transverse welding means forming some transverse welds between adjacent articles department.

The plastic film is then cut between transverse welds to obtain individual packages.

In known devices, the means for welding longitudinally overlapping edges of plastic films generally comprise a welding member with a substantially circular welding surface arranged in a plane longitudinal with respect to the path of feeding the plastic film .

A pressurizing mechanism is located downstream of the welding member for acting on the items covered by the plastic film.

European patent EP 0.220.759 describes a longitudinal welding device in which the above-mentioned welding member is carried in a swinging manner about a horizontal axis transverse to the direction of forward movement of the articles. The fusing members are heated and passed over the plastic tape at the overlapping edges, thereby sealing the overlapping edges to each other.

Furthermore, according to another known solution, the transverse welding mechanism operates while, optionally, moving in the direction of the longitudinal feed of the objects covered with the plastic film strip at the same speed. The strip of plastic film is sealed transversely during the forward stroke of the welding device.

The above-mentioned longitudinal and transverse welding of plastic films requires a considerable amount of time, which accounts for a significant proportion of the duration of the entire packaging cycle.

The inability to reduce the welding time without compromising the quality of the packages obtained is a significant constraint on the productivity of known packaging machines.

Contents of the invention

The object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems by proposing a method for the efficient and rapid packaging of objects with a film of plastic material, in particular to achieve a significant increase in productivity.

Another object of the invention is to propose a device for carrying out the above-mentioned method, which has a simple, reliable and versatile structure.

According to the content of the claims, the above object is achieved by a method for packaging articles with a film of plastic material, characterized in that the method comprises the following steps:

Continuously feed the plastic film strip to the conveying mechanism;

applying at least one adhesive strip along the longitudinal edges of said strip of plastic film;

applying at least one series of regularly spaced adhesive zones (19) transversely to said strip of plastic film;

A series of articles to be packaged are sequentially conveyed to the conveying mechanism above the plastic film belt, and the plastic film belt is fed to the same conveying mechanism, and the series of articles to be packaged are respectively positioned at the the location between the lateral adhesive zones;

Folding the longitudinal edges of the strip of plastic film over the article so that the longitudinal edges of the strip of plastic film overlap and form a tube shape around the wrapped article, the longitudinal adhesive strip remains on the between said opposite edges of said tape;

joining said edges of the strip of plastic film along said longitudinal adhesive strip and said transverse adhesive zone;

The strip of plastic film is cut transversely at portions located between the transverse adhesive zones to obtain individual packages of articles.

The above method is implemented by a device for packaging articles using a film of plastic material, characterized in that the device includes:

a conveying mechanism on which the strip of plastic film is continuously fed;

an adhesive application station at which an appropriate adhesive is applied;

a first adhesive application mechanism, located at said adhesive application station, for applying at least one adhesive strip along a longitudinal edge of said plastic film strip;

a second adhesive application mechanism, located at said adhesive application station, for applying at least one series of regularly spaced transverse adhesive zones to the plastic film strip;

a fixed folding mechanism for folding the longitudinal edges of the strip of plastic film over the article to form a tube shape around the article to be packaged and moving along the conveying mechanism, the longitudinal edges of the strip of plastic film being overlapped such that said longitudinal adhesive strips remain between said opposed longitudinal edges of the tape;

means for securing the engagement of said longitudinal edges of said strips of plastic film along said longitudinal adhesive strips and said transverse adhesive zones;

Means for transversely cutting said strip of plastic film at portions located between said transverse adhesive zones to obtain individual packages of articles.

By employing the method described herein and the associated machinery for carrying out the method, a package is obtained comprising articles covered by a sheet of plastic material having transverse ends closed by a strip of adhesive , and the longitudinal edges of the sheets are also joined to each other by strips of adhesive.

Description of drawings

The features of the invention will be elucidated in the following description of some preferred but not exclusive embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a side view of the whole device for packaging articles with a film of plastic material according to the method proposed by the present invention;

Figure 1A represents a part of a film of plastic material;

Figure 1B shows an enlarged representation of K in Figure 1;

Fig. 2 is the plan view of the device proposed by the present invention;

Figure 3 is a corresponding top view of the plastic film strip during the packaging of the article;

Fig. 4 is a partial side view of another embodiment of the device proposed by the present invention.

Detailed ways

With reference to the above figures, reference number 1 denotes a device for wrapping an object 2 such as a book, newspaper, magazine etc. with a protective film of plastic material, preferably transparent such as cellophane.

The items 2 to be clad are sequentially fed to the device 1 by means of a conveying line 3 equipped with a suitable drive mechanism 4 in a known manner.

The device 1 comprises a conveyor belt 5 running continuously in the direction indicated by the arrow A.

The plastic film strip 6 is continuously fed on the conveyor belt 5 and thus withdrawn from the inlet region of the items to be packaged 2 . The plastic film strip 6 is unwound from the bobbin 16 .

In the area upstream of the entry of the items 2 to be packaged into the conveyor belt 5, the plastic film strip 6 passes through a station C where a suitable adhesive, suitably heated, is applied.

The station C is located, for example, in an area corresponding to the vertical path of the belt 6 extending between suitable deflection rollers 7 .

At station C there are first adhesive application means 8 and second adhesive application means 9 , for example nozzles of known type.

The purpose of the first adhesive application mechanism 8 is to apply adhesive strips 18 along the longitudinal edges of the plastic film strip 6; the purpose of the second adhesive application mechanism 9 is to apply a series of Regularly spaced adhesive regions 19 (see FIG. 1A ).

The adhesive strip 18 and the transverse adhesive zone 19 are preferably applied on the same side of the plastic film web 6 , in particular on the side on which the plastic film web 6 is turned towards the inside of the package 2 .

The longitudinal edges of the strip of plastic film 6 contact the folding mechanism 10, the purpose of which is to wrap the strip of plastic film 6 in the shape of a tube around the items 2 to be packaged which are sequentially conveyed on the conveyor belt 5.

The folding mechanism 10 guides the edges of the plastic film strip 6 over the articles 2 and overlaps substantially along the median longitudinal axis of the conveyor belt 5 (see in particular FIG. 2 ).

Downstream of the folding mechanism 10, in the direction A of the forward movement of the conveyor belt 5, there is a rotary pressing belt 11, the purpose of which is to substantially stabilize the overlap of the plastic film strip 6 in the area covered by the longitudinal adhesive strip 18. The edges act to stabilize the joint of the edges.

The position of the rotary press belt 11 can be adjusted vertically by means of a suitable actuating mechanism.

The cutting mechanism 12 is located downstream of the rotating press belt 11 , in the area corresponding to the loop formed by the conveyor belt 5 delimited by a series of deflection wheels 14 .

The purpose of the cutting mechanism 12 is to cut the strip of plastic film 6 transversely in an area corresponding to the junction of the transverse adhesive zone 19 in order to obtain individual packages of objects 2 .

In the present application, the cutting mechanism 12 includes a pair of relatively rotating rollers 13A, 13B located at the upper and lower parts, respectively, and suitable cutting members T are provided on their peripheral surfaces.

The cutting member T comprises a blade 50 radially carried by the upper wheel 13A and located between two pressing elements 60A, 60B, the purpose of which is to press the two side-by-side transverse portions 19A, 19B in the zone 19 . The portions 19A, 19B are separated by cutting the zone 19 by the blade 50 .

Thus, according to the method of packaging the item 2 , adhesive strips 18 are applied at station C along the longitudinal edges of the plastic film strip 6 and regularly spaced transverse adhesive zones 19 are applied on the plastic film strip 6 .

The adhesive can be applied in a continuous manner, in a spot-feed manner, or in other suitable manner as required by the use.

Figure 4 shows a different embodiment of the device in which the first adhesive application mechanism 8 has a pair of relatively rotating wheels 15 which contact the plastic film strip 6 and are fed through a suitable adhesive tank 17 so that A continuous strip of adhesive 18 is applied along the longitudinal edges of the strip of plastic film 6 .

The strip 6 of plastic film, on which adhesive is applied, is continuously fed to a conveyor belt 5 over which the items 2 to be packaged are conveyed successively at positions defined between transverse adhesive zones 19 .

Subsequently, the folding mechanism 10 folds the edges of the strip of plastic film 6 to form a tube around the material to be packaged 2 which is conveyed in turn on the conveyor belt 5, so that the edges of the strip of plastic film 6 overlap so that the longitudinal adhesive strips 18 contact the plastic film The opposite edge of the band 6.

The rotary pressure belt 11 then acts on the overlapping edges of the plastic film strips 6 essentially in the region with the longitudinal adhesive strips 18, so that the longitudinal joining of said edges is stabilized.

The strip of plastic film 6 wrapped around the object 2 in the shape of a cylinder reaches the counter-rotating rollers 13A, 13B of the cutting mechanism 12, which, thanks to the action of small pressing elements 60A, 60B, makes the The joint of the parts becomes firm and the strip 6 is cut transversely by the cutting member T.

It is to be noted that the strip of plastic film 6 is cut transversely by the blade 50 along the sections connected by the transverse adhesive zones 19, more precisely in the middle of the zone 19 between the sections 19A, 19B (see Fig. 3).

Thus, the proposed method achieves the purpose of packaging objects with films of plastic material in an efficient and quick manner, in particular it reduces the duration of the packaging cycle and thus significantly increases the productivity.

The resulting package, shown in FIG. 3 still partially engaged on the plastic strip, comprises articles such as magazines, books, Newspaper etc., the ends 19A, 19B are closed by a strip of adhesive between the upper and lower parts of the sheet. The longitudinal edges of the sheets are also joined to each other by the adhesive strip 18 .

In particular, this result is achieved due to the longitudinal joining of the edges of the plastic film wrapped around the object in the shape of a cylinder by using a suitable adhesive applied to the plastic film at a suitable station, and Transverse joining of identical tubular plastic films between two adjacent articles.

In other words, the proposed solution overcomes the technical drawbacks of the known devices in which the longitudinal and transverse joining of the edges of the plastic film is achieved by heat-welding, since it dispenses with the sealing plastic tape well known to those skilled in the art All the heat-welding mechanism needed and all the problems associated with it eliminated.

It should also be noted that the above results were obtained by simple, reliable and versatile means.

It should be appreciated that the proposed invention has been described by way of example only and not limitation with reference to the accompanying drawings. Therefore, it is obvious that any changes and modifications can be made to the present invention within the protection scope of the technical solutions of the present invention as described above and claimed below.

Claims (10)

1. a method that adopts the blister-pack article of plastic material is characterized in that, said method comprising the steps of:

Plastic film tape (6) is supplied to conveying mechanism (5) continuously;

Longitudinal edge along described plastic film tape (6) applies at least one strip of glue (18);

With described plastic film tape (6) traversed by apply the isolated regularly adhesive area of quilt (19) of at least one series;

Top at described plastic film tape (6) is sent to described conveying mechanism (5) successively with a series of article to be packaged (2), described plastic film tape (6) is fed into same conveying mechanism (5), and described a series of article (2) to be packaged are in the position that limits between the described horizontal adhesive area (19) respectively;

The longitudinal edge of described plastic film tape (6) is folded in above the described article, so that the described longitudinal edge of described plastic film tape (6) forms overlappingly around the barrel shape of packaged article (2), described vertical strip of glue (18) remains between the described opposed edges of described band (6);

Make the described edge joint of plastic film tape (6) along described vertical strip of glue (18) and described horizontal adhesive area (19);

At the part place that is positioned between the described horizontal adhesive area (19) described plastic film tape (6) is carried out transverse cuts, to obtain the individual packaging spare of article (2).

2. the method for claim 1 is characterized in that, described vertical strip of glue (18) and described horizontal adhesive area (19) is applied to the same side of described plastic film tape (6).

3. method as claimed in claim 2 is characterized in that, described vertical strip of glue (18) and described horizontal adhesive area (19) is applied to this side of inside of the package that is diverted into described article (2) of described plastic film tape (6).

4. the method for claim 1 is characterized in that, applies described vertical strip of glue (18) continuously along one of described longitudinal edge of described plastic film tape (6).

5. the method for claim 1, it is characterized in that, being positioned at the station (C) of upstream that article to be packaged (2) enter the zone of described conveying mechanism (5), described vertical strip of glue (18) and described horizontal adhesive area (19) are applied on the described plastic film tape (6).

6. device that adopts the blister-pack article of plastic material is characterized in that described device comprises:

Conveying mechanism (5) is gone up plastic film tape (6) at described conveying mechanism (5) and is supplied with continuously;

Adhesives applies station (C), applies station (C) suitable adhesive at described adhesives and is applied in;

The first adhesives applying mechanism (8) is positioned at described adhesives and applies station, is used for applying at least one strip of glue (18) along the longitudinal edge of described plastic film tape (6);

The second adhesives applying mechanism (9) is positioned at described adhesives and applies station, is used for the isolated regularly horizontal adhesive area of the quilt of at least one series (19) is applied to plastic film tape (6);

Fixed fold mechanism (10), described fixed fold mechanism (10) is used for the longitudinal edge of described plastic film tape (6) is folded in above the described article, to form barrel shape around packaged article (2) and to move along conveying mechanism (5), the longitudinal edge of described plastic film tape (6) is superimposed, makes described vertical strip of glue (18) remain between the described opposing longitudinal edges of band (6);

Be used for making the firm mechanism (11,13) of joint of the described longitudinal edge of described plastic film tape (6) along described vertical strip of glue (18) and described horizontal adhesive area (19);

Be used for being positioned at the described plastic film tape of part place transverse cuts (6) between the described horizontal adhesive area (19) with the mechanism (12) of the individual packaging spare that obtains article (2).

7. device as claimed in claim 6, it is characterized in that, the described mechanism that is used for the described plastic film tape of transverse cuts (6) comprises a pair of counterrotating roller (13A, 13B), in the described a pair of counterrotating roller at least one carries radially blade (50) and two pressurizing member (60A, 60B), described two pressurizing members are positioned at the both sides of blade (50), be used for and the adjacent part (19A that the cutting step of Cross slat (19) is compressed relatively horizontal adhesive area (19) by described blade (50), 19B), so that (19A 19B) separates with two parts.

8. one kind is passed through the package that the described method of claim 1 obtains, comprise being covered by and have lateral ends (19A, article in the thin slice of plastic material 19B) (6), described lateral ends is by strip of glue (19) sealing, and the longitudinal edge of described thin slice also is bonded with each other by strip of glue (18).

9. package as claimed in claim 8, wherein, strip of glue (19) be present in barrel shape be covered by each lateral ends between the upper and lower part of the thin slice (6) around the described article (19A, 19B).

10. package as claimed in claim 8, wherein, strip of glue (18) is present in barrel shape and is covered by between the longitudinal overlap edge of the thin slice (6) around the described article.

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