EP0842041B1 - Method and device for bonding pourers to flat-topped parallelepidal cartons filled with free-flowing products - Google Patents

Abstract

PCT No. PCT/EP96/03322 Sec. 371 Date Apr. 14, 1998 Sec. 102(e) Date Apr. 14, 1998 PCT Filed Jul. 27, 1996 PCT Pub. No. WO97/04953 PCT Pub. Date Feb. 13, 1997The invention relates to a method of applying pouring elements to flat-gabled packages filled with free-flowing products, where the pouring elements are glued to the individually conveyed and sealed packages, where a fully automatic application operation is possible, where trouble due to improper positioning and incomplete gluing of the pouring elements is reliably prevented. In addition, it is desirable to prevent packages not having the pouring elements attached to them from leaving the gluing station. This is accomplished by the following steps: horizontal conveyance of successively arranged packages standing upright, separation of the packages and introduction of the separated packages into a gluing station depending on the presence of a pouring element, applying adhesive to the pouring element and gluing and pressing the pouring element to a predetermined area of each package.

Description

The invention relates to a method for mechanical Application of pouring elements on with flowable Products filled cuboid flat gable packs, the pouring elements on the individually fed and sealed packs are glued on and one suitable device with feeders for Feeding the packs and pouring elements as well an application station.

Rectangular flat gable packs are especially as Sales units of drinks generally known. Each depending on the size and content of these packs Need such packs with resealable Pour spouts. On the one hand, for hygienic reasons Reasons and on the other hand to make their content longer to be able to keep fresh and aroma or Prevent loss of taste. One previously described Flat gable pack with one reclosable pouring element is for example from EP 0 332 800 B1 or also WO-A-92/18394 known. As with the previously known packs Pouring element on the filled and already closed Pack is applied, the top has a Perforation in the composite material to the actual Opening process of the pack the penetration of the To facilitate opening part of the pouring element. To the pouring element on the top of the pack must be exact be applied above the perforation.

It can quickly be seen that sticking the Pouring elements on the packs very carefully must be done to the one hand the exact position to be adhered to and, on the other hand, secure bonding to achieve so that the pouring element is not from the Pack tears off and thus the desired tightness guaranteed after opening the package.

From US-A-5 219 320 is a method and a Device for the mechanical application of Pouring elements known in which the application of Pouring elements are carried out before the packs are filled. For the actual application, a predetermined amount of adhesive applied and then the pouring element glued on. This type of application pouring elements is not free from disadvantages, because the pouring elements applied there by a in the Package wall previously punched opening applied must become. Through the punching and application process before The pack must be filled for hygienic reasons considerable effort for cleaning and sterilizing the Pack operated in particular in the pouring element area to prevent dust and glue from coming into contact with the product to be filled in the package safely to exclude.

The invention is therefore based on the object the aforementioned method and the corresponding To design and develop the device so that a fully automatic application mode is enabled at malfunctions due to incorrect positioning and incomplete sticking of the pouring elements reliably excluded are. It is also desirable that a Leaving packs without sealed Pouring elements prevented from the application station becomes.

• waagerechtes Zuführen von hintereinander angeordneten und aufrecht stehenden Packungen,
• Vereinzeln der Packungen durch Abbremsen und anschließendes Beschleunigen der Packungen,
• Einbringen der vereinzelten Packungen in eine längs des Transportweges bewegbare Applikationsstation in Abhängigkeit vom Vorhandensein eines Ausgießelementes,
• Beschicken des Ausgießelementes mit Klebstoff und
• Aufkleben und Andrücken des Ausgießelementes auf einen vorgegebenen Bereich jeder Packung.

With regard to the method according to the preamble of claim 1, this object is achieved by the following steps:

• horizontal feeding of packs arranged one behind the other and standing upright,
• Separating the packs by braking and then accelerating the packs,
• Introducing the separated packs into an application station that can be moved along the transport path, depending on the presence of a pouring element,
• Feed the pouring element with adhesive and
• Glue and press the pouring element onto a specified area of each pack.

It is expedient to feed them horizontally Packs standing one behind the other in the longitudinal direction arranged. To glue the pouring elements preferably used hot melt adhesive.

The solution exists with regard to the associated device the object of the invention is that to guide the packs on their underside horizontally moving transport chain is used for Separate the packs and a separator for transport the individual packs a take-away element with a A plurality of drivers are provided that above the Driving element a support chain with a plurality of Pouring element carriers for applying the pouring elements to the packs, the spacing of which is arranged Distance arranged on the driving element Carriers corresponds to that the gluing station one Application element for applying the adhesive to the Has pouring elements and that a detector for Detection of the presence of a pouring element in those fed to the application station Pouring element carriers is provided.

According to the invention, a pack is therefore only ever in the driving chain clocked when a pouring element in the transfer position "waits". That way reliably ensured that one pack at a time each with a properly applied Pouring element leaves the application station. The the Packs leaving the application station can without sorting out packages without pouring element be packed fully automatically. Because of the inventive method or the inventive Device always correctly dosed amount Hot melt adhesive can not be unwanted Downtimes caused by downtimes for the Cleaning too much or incorrectly leaked Hot melt glue is coming.

In a further embodiment of the invention, the Separator a brake unit for holding the supplied packs on the moving transport chain and an acceleration unit for accelerating the supplied packs on the moving transport chain on. This has the advantage that the packs after support chain at the bottom with the same Speed can continue, so that at actuated brake unit a further transport of the in the front of the device on the transport chain existing packs is guaranteed. You can as a braking unit at least two on the side walls each of several neighboring packs acting Conveyor belts may be provided. The brake unit has not just the task of braking the packs, but also serves for lateral guidance. By the design with conveyor belts is used brake not actuated as a means of transport to the gentle transport of the packs with the same Transport speed like the transport chain can be driven.

According to a further teaching of the invention is as Acceleration unit a vertically arranged Separating roller pair is provided. That way it is possible with little design effort neighboring packs on the transport chain to the Transport speed of the driving element too accelerate and so separate.

According to the invention is also a driving element at least one the packs on their back End faces by means of a driving finger Carriers positively leading driving belt is provided. It is clear that within the scope of the invention also a Driving chain or the like can be used.

It is particularly useful if the Transport speed of the driving element is greater than the transport speed of the transport chain and the transport speed of the acceleration unit is greater than the transport speed of the Brake unit. This means that the brake unit only has to be operated when there is no pouring element is fed.

As already mentioned, the glue station with the their underside (= adhesive side) upwards from the Pouring element carriers included and individually supplied pouring elements from pouring element carriers Packs fed from above.

In a further embodiment of the invention, everyone has Pouring element carrier two against a spring force expandable brackets to hold and release the Pouring element on. Furthermore, everyone can Pouring element carrier at least one pressure element for Press the pouring element onto the top of the pack have to gently press the Pouring element on the - already closed and therefore compliant - pack immediately after Application before the pouring element is released enable.

The from a well-known separation and Alignment unit coming pouring elements are only just before merging with the right amount Adhesive coated. This serves after another teaching according to the invention a known per se Applicator roller.

It is also useful if the separator, the Driving element and the transport chain or the carrying chain adjustable in their geometric dimensions are to the pouring elements on packs to be able to stick on different sizes. Thereby can with a single device according to the invention a variety of different pack sizes Pouring elements are provided. Here it is from special advantage if two as a driving element lanyards arranged one above the other are provided, which are height adjustable to each other.

Finally, another teaching of the invention provides that the individual through the packs Treatment centers arranged in a straight line are. In this way, the invention builds Device particularly small and can also be Filling machines with several parallel ones Packing lanes immediately adjacent to others use the same devices.

Fig. 1

eine erfindungsgemäße Vorrichtung in Seitenansicht,

Fig. 2

die erfindungsgemäße Vorrichtung in Draufsicht,

Fig. 3

die erfindungsgemäße Vorrichtung aus Fig. 2 in detaillierterer Darstellung,

Fig. 4

den aus Brems- und Beschleunigungseinheit bestehenden Separator der erfindungsgemäßen Vorrichtung in detaillierterer Darstellung,

Fig. 5

einen Ausgießelementträger der erfindungsgemäßen Vorrichtung im Querschnitt,

Fig. 6

den Ausgießelementträger aus Fig. 5 in einem Schnitt entlang der Linie VI-VI und

Fig. 7

ein bevorzugtes Antriebsschema der erfindungsgemäßen Vorrichtung.

The invention is described in more detail below with reference to a drawing which represents only one exemplary embodiment. The drawing shows:

Fig. 1

a device according to the invention in side view,

Fig. 2

the device according to the invention in plan view,

Fig. 3

2 shows the device according to the invention from FIG. 2 in more detail,

Fig. 4

the separator of the device according to the invention consisting of braking and acceleration unit in a more detailed representation,

Fig. 5

a pouring element carrier of the device according to the invention in cross section,

Fig. 6

5 in a section along the line VI-VI and

Fig. 7

a preferred drive scheme of the device according to the invention.

1 and 2 is the device according to the invention shown in their general structure. Packs 1 become a separator 3 on a transport chain 2 supplied from a braking unit 4 and a Acceleration unit 5 exists.

The braking unit 4 consists essentially of unspecified roles led and the Packs 1 touching from both sides Conveyor belts 6 and the acceleration unit 5 two each also on the package width coordinated vertically arranged pairs of separating rollers 7. The exact arrangement of the separator 3 is in FIG. 4 described again in more detail. There is too recognize that the packs 1 in the range Conveyor belts 6 between their roles with no closer designated support plates are supported.

The actual course of treatment is best describe with reference to FIG. 3. There are packs 1-1 to 1-6 from the brake unit 4 on the in Transport chain moving in arrow direction 2 in "held" position shown. Now leaves one Pack 1-7 the brake unit 4, so it is from the Separating rollers 7 accelerated so that they are in the area the driving belt (shown here in mirror image) 8 in the right position within two driving fingers 9 is promoted. In the illustrated and so far 3 are the preferred embodiment of FIG Drive rollers of the conveyor belts 6 and the Separating rollers 7 via unspecified with each other meshing gears effectively connected. The for Separation of the necessary higher peripheral speed the separating rollers 7 compared to the conveyor belt rollers is replaced by a correspondingly larger one Outside diameter of the separating rollers 7 reached. Of the The distance between the driving fingers 9 corresponds exactly to that Distance between two neighboring (not in Figs. 1 to 3 shown) pouring element carrier, which further below be described in more detail.

1 further shows that in the gluing station a carrier chain 10 above the driving belt 8 is arranged on which the aforementioned (not here ) pouring element carrier are attached. They are used to hold and feed only indicated pouring elements 11, which by a rail-like pouring element feed 12 from one for known and therefore only hinted at isolation and and alignment unit 13 in the correct position Pouring element carriers are supplied. The Pouring elements 11 are then also for one known application roller 14 with the necessary amount Adhesive coated from an adhesive supply 15 and glued to the packs 1 in the correct position.

5 and 6, the pouring element supports are now included the reference numeral 16 shown in detail. Here the pouring elements 11 from against the force of a Spring 17 acting expansion brackets 18 added The spreading clamps 18 are actuated via a a roller 19 operated and also spring-loaded Pressure element 20. The lowering of the pouring element carrier 16 takes place via a role rigidly connected to this 19a. The pouring element supports 16 are not by means shown bolt through two holes 21 each the support chain 10 movably attached.

To stick on the packs 1 are the Pouring elements 11 from one in each Pouring element carrier 16 existing pressure pin 22 against the top of the packs 1 pressed and the Spreading clamps 18 spread around the pouring elements 11 to release. The pressure pins 22 are also spring-loaded, it is also operated via a by a roller 23 actuated pressure element 24.

Finally, in Fig. 7 is another preferred one Drive scheme shown from the schematic shows that the transport speed of the Separating rollers 7 forming acceleration unit 5 is greater than the transport speed of the same drive 25 driven and the brake unit 4th forming conveyor belts 6.

Claims (16)

1. A method for bonding pouring spouts to flat-topped parallelepipedical cartons filled with free-flowing products, with the pouring spouts being bonded to the individually supplied and closed cartons, characterised by the following steps:

   horizontal feeding-in of upright cartons (1) arranged one behind the other;

   separating the cartons (1) by slowing them down and subsequently accelerating them;

   introducing the individualized cartons (1) into a bonding station movable longitudinally to the path of transportation depending on whether a pouring spout (11) is present;

   applying adhesive to the pouring spout (11); and

   bonding and pressing the pouring spout (11) onto a specified area of each carton (1).
2. A method according to claim 1, characterised in that the horizontally fed-in cartons (1) are arranged in longitudinal direction positioned one behind the other.
3. A method according to claim 1 or 2, characterised in that hot-melt adhesive is used for bonding the pouring spouts (11).
4. A device for bonding pouring spouts (11) to flat-topped parallelepipedical cartons (1) filled with free-flowing products, with feeding mechanisms for feeding-in the cartons (1) and the pouring spouts (11) and a bonding station, characterised in that a horizontally moving conveyor chain (2) is used to guide the bottom of the cartons (1); that a separator (3) is provided for separating the cartons (1); and a carrier element with a number of carriers for transport of the separated cartons (1); that above the carrier element there is a carrier chain (10) with a number of pouring-spout carriers for bonding the pouring spouts (11) to the cartons (1), with the spacing of said pouring-spout carriers corresponding to the spacing of the carriers arranged on the carrier element; that the bonding station comprises an application element for application of the adhesive onto the pouring spouts; and that a detector is provided to detect the presence of a pouring spout (11) in the pouring-spout carriers moving to the bonding station.
5. A device according to claim 4, characterised in that the separator (3) comprises a brake unit (4) for stopping the supplied cartons (1) on the moving conveyor chain (2) and an acceleration unit (5) for accelerating the supplied cartons (1) on the moving conveyor chain (2).
6. A device according to claim 5, characterised in that at least two conveyor belts (6) acting on the side walls of several adjacent cartons (1) are provided as a brake unit (4).
7. A device according to claim 5 or 6, characterised in that at least one vertically-arranged pair of separating rollers (7) is provided as an acceleration unit (5)
8. A device according to one of claims 4 to 7, characterised in that at least one carrier belt (8) is provided which by means of carriers designed as carrier fingers (9) guides the cartons (1) by their rear walls.
9. A device according to one of claims 4 to 8, characterised in that the conveying speed of the carrier element exceeds the conveying speed of the conveyor chain (2).
10. A device according to one of claims 5 to 9, characterised in that the conveying speed of the acceleration unit (5) exceeds the conveying speed of the brake unit (4).
11. A device according to one of claims 4 to 10, characterised in that each pouring-spout carrier comprises two spring-loaded spreadable clamps for taking up and releasing the pouring element (11).
12. A device according to one of claims 4 to 11, characterised in that each pouring-spout carrier comprises at least one press-on element (22) for pressing the pouring spout (11) onto the top of the carton.
13. A device according to one of claims 4 to 12, characterised in that an application roller (14) is provided for applying the hot-melt adhesive to the pouring spouts (11) being fed in.
14. A device according to one of claims 4 to 13, characterised in that the separator (3), the carrier element and the conveyor chain (2) or the carrier chain (10) are made so as to be adjustable, to permit bonding of pouring spouts (11) onto cartons (1) of various sizes.
15. A device according to claim 14, characterised in that two carrier belts (8) one arranged on top of the other are provided as a carrier element, with said carrier belts being height-adjustable in relation to each other.
16. A device according to one of claims 4 to 15, characterised in that the individual treatment units (4, 5 and 8) through which the cartons pass are arranged in a straight line in tandem.

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