GB2035201A

GB2035201A - Packing apparatus

Info

Publication number: GB2035201A
Application number: GB7936684A
Authority: GB
Original assignee: Brodrene Gram AS
Current assignee: Brodrene Gram AS
Priority date: 1978-11-01
Filing date: 1979-10-23
Publication date: 1980-06-18
Also published as: GB2035201B; JPS5564010A; NO151192C; FR2440312A1; IT1124877B; DK488478A; FR2440312B1; DE2944107A1; NO793503L; JPS6357288B2; DK147042C; SE442389B; NL7907803A; IT7926972A0; DK147042B; NO151192B; SE7909065L; BE879692A

Abstract

Strips of packing material travelling parallel to one another are formed to a channel section into which articles are deposited. The edges of each strip are welded longitudinally to form a tube around the articles and the tube then passes to a transverse welding station where the parts of the tube between articles are first heated between bars 30, 32 and 31, 33 and then welded between clamps 34, 36 and 35, 37. The bars 30 to 32 and the clamps 34 to 37, which are common to all the packing strips, are mounted on a reciprocating slide 40 which serves to advance the strips gripped by the clamps and has a stroke twice the length of the packages formed in order to increase the capacity of the apparatus without increasing the rate of opening and closing of members 30 to 37. Two cutting devices 49, 50 and 51, 52 separate the packages after welding. Also described are means for feeding two rows of articles into the strips at a predetermined spacing using a ridged conveyor to guide the articles down a slope and hold them until the strips advance. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Packing apparatus The present invention relates to a packing apparatus for packing articles and of the kind wherein a plurality of strips of packing material are passed through a station wherein each strip is shaped to such cross section form that the strips are able to accommodate the articles to be packed, and of the kind comprising a filling station at which the articles are placed into the strips, a lengthwise welding station wherein the longitudinal margins of each strip of material are welded together in order to form a packing tube, a transverse welding station comprising heating means for heating the packing tubes between the articles and comprising clamping means for clamping the heated parts of the packing tubes between the articles, and a separation station comprising transverse cutting means and securing means and wherein the heating and clamping means belonging to the transverse welding station are arranged upon a slide arranged transversely with respect to the strips of material and which is reciprocably movable in the longitudinal direction of the strips of material by means of a driving device and wherein the heating and clamping means are movable for engaging and releasing the strips of material.

Increasing demands as regards the production capacity cause problems in connection with packing apparatuses of the kind referred to above. In order to increase the production capacity it is possible to increase the number of strips of material, but in such cases the width of the packing apparatus also increases, and accordingly also the riskthatthe strips of material will be broken while the apparatus works, and such breakings cause interruption.

Moreover, the more strips the apparatus is arranged for, the wider the slide which carries the heating- and clamping means of the transverse welding station must be, and accordingly increasing demands must be fulfilled as regards the driving device used for the reciprocating movement of the slide. The mass of the slide and of the transverse welding station result in particular in high inertia forces and accordingly high accelerations are requested at the beginning of the stroke of the slide and at the retardations at the end of the stroke.Such forces of inertia, accordingly, limit the number of strokes pertime unit, and due to the fact that it is also rather limited how many strips of material the apparatus may be provided with, it is an object of the present invention to provide a packing apparatus of the kind referred to above according to which the production capacity may be increased without simultaneously increasing the number of strokes per time unit, and this object is according to the invention achieved in that the apparatus comprises two or more sets of heating means and two or more sets of clamping means, and that the driving device is adapted for applying a reciprocating movement to the slide which is two or more times greater than the length of the packings.

Accordingly, it is achieved that the articles to be packed may be fed to the packing machine at a rate which is two or more times greater than the rate of the slide, and accordingly the production may be increased two or more times without increasing the number of strokes per time unit of the transverse welding station.

An embodiment of the apparatus comprising a feeding device for positioning the articles to be packed upon the strips of material and aligning the articles is, according to the invention, characterized in that the feeding device comprises a conveyor divided into compartments and having a run comprising two or more compartments and being movable from a positon parallel with the strips of material, in which position at least two rows of articles arranged after each other are captured between the conveyor and the strips and to a position wherein said at least two rows of articles are free for being carried along together with the strips. According to this embodiment it is secured that sufficient space will be provided between the articles in order to weld the packing tubes between the articles.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will appear more clearly from the following explanation of an embodiment of the apparatus according to the invention illustrated on the drawing. On the drawing: fig. 1 shows a top view of a known packing apparatus comprising more packing lines, fig. 2 a front view of the packing apparatus shown in fig. 1, and, fig. 3,4 and 5 pictures which positioned in continuation of each other show a vertical section through an embodiment of the packing apparatus according to the invention.

The packing apparatus illustrated in figs. 1 and 2 is, as mentioned above, of a construction known per se and comprises two reel frames 1 and 2, each supporting a number of rolls 3 of packing material, e.g.

paper coated on one or both sides by a weldable material. The packing apparatus itself is in fig. 1 designated 4 and comprises, as it also appears from fig. 2, a frame 5 which, as seen in direction from the left to the right, supports a gallows 6 having downwardly projecting fingers 7, the number of which corresponds to the number of strips of packing material and which are arranged aligned crosswise with respect to the machine direction. Upstreams with respect to the fingers a row of shaping 8 means are arranged, also crosswise with respect to the direction of the machine and which apply a U-shaped cross section to the strips of packing material during the passage of the strips through the shaping means.Between the shaping means and the fingers 7, a depositing device is arranged for laying-down articles in the U-shaped strips, and the articles are aligned crosswise with respect to the direction of the machine by means of the fingers 7. After the fingers 7 the frame 5 supports a set of lengthwise welding means 9 by means of which the longitudinal margins of each strip are welded together, and after this welding means a set of folding means 10 follows in order to lay-down the lengthwise extending welding seam made by the welding means 9. Thereafter a set of heating means 11, 12 and a set of clamping means 13, 14 follow which together constitute a welding station for making transverse weldings.The set of heating means comprises a transversely extending upper rail 11 and a transversely extending lower rail 12, and the set of clamping means comprises an uppe rail 13 and a lower rail 14. The two upper rails 11 and 13 are mutually connected by means of arms 15, and the two lower rails 12 and 14 are mutually connected by means of arms 16. The upper rail 13 and the lower rail 16 are connected with an engaging and disengaging device 17 by means of which the two upper rails 11, 13 may be moved upwards and the two lower rails 12, 14 simultaneously may be moved downwards. The distance between the heating means and the clamping means corresponds to the length of the packingsto be manufactured.The welding station comprising the heating and clamping means is carried by means of a slide which extends in the transverse direction of the apparatus, and which is movably supported upon the frame of the apparatus. The slide is reciprocable in the direction of the machine with a length of stroke corresponding to the length of the packings to be manufactured and is driven by means of a driving device (not shown).

After the transverse welding station, a control panel 20 follows, and after the control panel a cutting and securing station 21 is arranged followed by a roller conveyor 22 for separated packings.

The packing apparatus illustrated in figs. 1 and 2 operates in the following way: Before starting the apparatus, the strips of material are passed through the shaping means 8, below the fingers 7, through the welding means 9, through the seam folding means 10, between the upper and lower rails 11, 13 and 12, 14 respectively, which are moved away from each other, and to the station 21 and out through the cutting and securing means of the latter.Accordingly, it will be understood that by applying a reciprocating stroke movement to the engaging and disengaging device 17 and by closing the rails of the welding station before the start of the forward stroke and opening of the rails at the ending of the stroke, the strips of material will be passed stepwise through the apparatus and articles which have been deposited in front of the fingers 7 and have been aligned by means of the fingers, will be enclosed in packings which will be separated with respect to the strips of material at the station 21.

As mentioned above, figs. 3, 4, and 5 illustrate a section through a packing line of an embodiment of the packing apparatus according to the present invention which, as the packing apparatus explained in connection with figs. 1 and 2, comprises a plurality of packing lines, viz. one for each strip of material.

However, it should be noticed that the strips of material in fig. 2 are moved from the left to the right whereas the articles according to figs. 3, 4, and 5, positioned as explained above, are moved from the righttothe left.

As regards the general structure, the embodiment of the packing apparatus according to the present invention illustrated in figs. 3, 4, and 5 corresponds to the apparatus explained in connection with figs. 1 and 2. However, instead of a single set of clamping means and a single set of heating means, the apparatus according to figs. 3-5 comprises two sets of heating means and two sets of clamping means.

The two sets of heating means consist of four rails 30,31, 32, and 33 arranged pairwise opposite to each other and with a distance between the pairs corresponding to the length of the packing requested. The two sets of clamping means consist of four clamping rails 34,35,36, and 37, also arranged pairwise opposite each other and having a mutual distance corresponding to the length of the packing requested. All the rails 30-37 extend in the cross direction of the apparatus and accordingly they are able to grip all the strips of material between each other. The rails 30,31,34, and 35 which are positioned above the strips of material, are mutually connected by means of rods 38, and the rails below the strips of material are also mutually connected by means of rods 39.

The heating means and the clamping means are, in the same way as in the apparatus according to figs. 1 and 2, supported by a slide which in fig. 3 schematically is indicated at 40 and which also extends in the crosswise direction of the apparatus and is movably supported upon longitudinally extending rails with respect to the frame (not shown) of the apparatus.

The upper rails and the lower rails 30,31,34,35 and 32,33,36,37 respectively are movable for engaging and disengaging the strips of material by means of a device corresponding to the device 17 in fig. 2, and which is indicated at 41 in fig. 3. Moreover, the slide 40 and the cross welding station supported thereby and comprising the rails 30-37 is movable in the longitudinal direction of the apparatus by means of a driving device 42. The driving device comprises a pneumatic motor by means of which a crank arm 43 may be pivoted reciprocably along an angle of 1800.

By means of a pivot 44 the crank arm 43 is connected with a control rod 45 which, by means of a pivot 46, is pivotably connected with the frame of the apparatus which symbolically is indicated at 47. By pivoting the crank arm 43 1800 from the position shown in fig. 3, the slide 40 and the means supported thereby will be moved to the left in fig. 3 corresponding to the length of two packings. In other words, the slide 40 is moved with a stroke movement having a stroke length corresponding to the length of two packings.

Instead of a separating station comprising only one set of cutting means, as the apparatus according to figs. 1 and 2, the apparatus according to figs. 3-5 has a cutting station 48 comprising two sets of cutting means 49, 50, and 51, 52 respectively arranged at a mutual distance corresponding to the length of one packing. The set 51, 52 is, in a way known per se, adapted to secure the ends of the strips of material immediately after having made a cutting operation.

A feeding station for the packing line shown is illustrated in fig. 5, wherein 55 is a conveyor band upon which the articles 56 to be packed are fed rowwise after each other. It will be understood that each row of articles 56 comprises as many articles as the number of packing lines. After the conveyor 55, as seen in the direction of the movement of the articles, a pivotable roller table 57 follows which is pivotably supported about a shaft 58, viz. in such way that the table 57 may be pivoted from the position shown in full lines and to the positions shown in dashed lines.

The rollers of the roller table are designated 59 and a stop 60 is pivotably connected to the table by means of a shaft 61 in such a way that a flange 62 of the stop may be pivoted up and down between two adjacent rollers 59 in such a way that a row of.articles may be aligned upon the roller table after having been transferred to the roller table from the conveyor 55. After such alignment of a row ofarticles, the row can be transferred to a further conveyor 64, viz. by pivoting the table 57 to the position shown in dashed lines and by withdrawing the flange 62. The conveyor 64 delivers the articles 56 rowwise to a feeding conveyor 65 which by means of pushing dogs 66 is divided into compartments, the width of which corresponds to the length of the articles 56.The conveyor 65 runs about two rollers 67 and 68 and two sets of rollers 69 and 70. The set of rollers 70 is, by means not shown on the drawing, movable from the position shown in fig. 4 in full lines and to the position marked by means of dashed lines. The sets of rollers 69 and 70 define a run of the conveyor 65 which comprises two by means of pushing dogs 66 defined compartments, viz. in such a way that two rows of articles arranged parallel with each other may be accommodated along said run. The conveyor 65 cooperates with a chute 71, the lower end of which is slotted so that tongues 72 are formed and each tongue extends into a corresponding strip of material 73 which has been bent to U-shaped cross section, in which also the rollers of the set of rollers 69 and 70 are arranged.Also the conveyor 65 is divided into narrow strips generally corresponding to the width of the U-shape of the strips of material in such waythattwo articles following each other may be inserted into each strip of material. In the position of the conveyor run between the rollers 69 and 70 shown in fig. 4, two rows of articles are secured in a definite mutual position and by lifting the front end of the run of the conveyor in question, two rows of articles will be released in such away that the rows may be carried-on by means of the strips of material when the strips are being moved forwardly by means of stroke movement of the slide 40.

As in the case of the apparatus according to figs 1 and 2, also a longitudinally extending welding of each strip of material is made after the margins of the strips have been folded towards each other, viz.

by means of longitudinally extending welding means 75, fig. 4, and the longitudinally extending welding seam produced thereby is laid down by means of a down-folding member 76, fig. 3.

The apparatus shown in figs. 3-5 operates in the following way: Rows of articles 56 are supplied to the apparatus by means of the conveyor 55 at a comparatively high rate, e.g. 70-80 rows per minute. By means of the table 57, the rows are separated a little from each other in such a way that they, when delivered by the conveyor 64 to the chute 71, may be caught by the pushing dogs 66 and accordingly may maintain their rowwise positioning. After having been moved to the position shown in fig. 4, wherein the two caught rows occupy a defined position, the rows may await the forward stroke of the cross welding station. This forward stroke is started by moving the heating and clamping rails in fig. 3 towards each other, whereafter a stroke is applied to the slide 40 by means of the driving device 42.This length of stroke corresponds to the length of two packings requested. During this stroke the strips of material are heated between three rows of articles by means of the heating rails 30-33, and simultaneously a clamping of the strips of material between three preceding rows of articles is carried out which have been heated by means of the heating rails during the preceding stroke. Immediately before the forward stroke is initiated, the front end of the compartment conveyor 65 is lifted by lifting the set of rollers 70 as indicated by means of the arrow 74 in fig. 4, whereby the two previously caught rows of articles will be released and may be carried on by the strips of material during the transportation which is caused by the forward stroke.Meanwhile, the succeeding rows of articles will be kept back by means of the pushing dogs 66, but may by means of the pushing dogs be moved to the position shown in fig. 4 so as to be ready for being released by initiating the next stroke.

During the forward stroke as explained above, all the strips of material will be moved corresponding to two rows of articles, and accordingly two rows of articles will be passed on to the separating station 48 which at the end of the forward stroke will separate the two foremost rows of articles. When such separation has been made, the front end of the strips of material will be secured by means of the cutting means 51, 52 as previously explained and now the heating and clamping rails may be moved away from each other and the reversing stroke may be carried out, whereinafterthe apparatus is ready for a new operating cycle.

According to the embodiment explained above, the apparatus is provided with two sets of heating means and two sets of clamping means and the driving device 42 works with a length of stroke corresponding to the length of two packings. Thereby it is achieved that the rate of welding falls to the half of the rate at which articles arrive at the packing apparatus, but it will be understood that if a further reduction of the rate with which the reciprocating movement of the cross welding station is carried out, is requested, the cross welding station may be provided with three or more sets of heating and clamping means.

Claims

1. A packing apparatus for packing articles (56) and of the kind wherein a plurality of strips (73) of packing material are passed through a station wherein each strip (73) is shaped to such cross section form that the strips are able to accommodate the articles (56) to be packed, and of the kind com prising a filling station (65-71) at which the articles (56) are placed into the strips (73), a lengthwise weld ing station (75) wherein the longitudinal margins of each strip of material are welded together in order to form a packing tube, a transverse welding station comprising heating means (30-33) for heating the packing tubes between the articles (56) and compris ing clamping means (34-37) for clamping the heated parts of the packing tubes between the articles, and a separation station (48) comprising transverse cutting means (49-52) and securing means and wherein the heating and clamping means belonging to the transverse welding station are arranged upon a slide (40) arranged transversely with respect to the strips of material and which is reciprocably movable in the longitudinal direction of the strips of material by means of a driving device (42) and wherein the heating and clamping means are movable for engaging and releasing the strips of material, characterized in that the apparatus comprises two or more sets of heating means (30,32; 31,33) and two or more sets of clamping means (34,36; 35,37) and that the driving device (42) is adapted for applying a reciprocating movement to the slide (40) which is two or more times greaterthan the length of the packings.

2. A packing apparatus according to claim 1 comprising a feeding device for positioning the articles to be packed upon the strips of material and aligning the articles, characterized in that the feeding device comprises a conveyor (65) divided into compartments (66) and having a run (from 69 to 70, fig. 4) comprising two or more compartments and being movable from a position parallel with the strips of material, in which position at least two rows of articles (56) arranged after each other are captured between the conveyor (65) and the strips and to a position wherein said at least two rows articles are free for being carried along together with the strips.