HK1209694B - Device for producing container products consisting of plastic materials - Google Patents

Description

Device for producing container products from plastic raw material

Technical Field

The invention relates to a device for producing container products from plastic raw material, in particular by means of a forming, filling and sealing process, comprising a forming device to which a forming tube of plasticated plastic raw material can be fed and which has a movable mold surface that simulates a container geometry that can be specified in advance and against which the forming tube can be applied for the forming, filling and/or sealing process.

Background

Apparatuses for manufacturing container articles from plastic are prior art. For producing corresponding products, a tube of plasticized plastic material is extruded into the relevant molding device, the front end of the tube is closed by welding and the tube is expanded by generating a gas pressure difference acting on the tube and formedThe container holds the hose against the profile of the forming device. When carrying out such a manufacturing method, for example, according to methods well known in the artThe method then comprises the sterile filling of the respective container in the forming device via the respective filling mandrel and the sealing closure after the extraction of the filling mandrel.

For the economical and rational production of container products at a production rate which can be specified beforehand, see also US patent 8486324B 2: in the molding device, a mold surface is formed for simultaneously molding a plurality of containers arranged one above the other. However, increasing the production speed by simultaneously forming a plurality of associated containers inevitably leads to processing difficulties in this case. In this way, a reliable demolding process of a correspondingly wide-faced container group (behaltergreppe) is dependent on the use of a well-processable plastic material, for example polyethylene. Manufacturing problems arise if high demands are made on sterility in use and polypropylene, which allows higher autoclaving temperatures, should be used as container material instead of polyethylene. The production speed in the plant known from US patent 8486324B 2 is also limited in this respect because, despite the simultaneous shaping of the containers, the production takes place in the form of a single-piece process, since each production cycle constitutes two or at most three rows of stacked containers, which are individually subjected to further processing. In this regard, a continuous production process is not possible.

DE 102008006073 a1 discloses a device of the type mentioned at the outset, which, in view of increasing the production speed, enables the production of a chain of containers (behalterkey) from associated containers instead of in the form of a single-piece process, wherein the chain of containers is removed from the forming device along the production line. In addition to the more rational production thus achieved, such a device also enables the use of any plastic raw material, since demolding devices are provided for assisting the forming process, which demolding devices act on the outgoing container chain outside the forming device.

Disclosure of Invention

Starting from the prior art, the object of the present invention is to provide a device which, while maintaining the advantages of devices according to the prior art described above, is distinguished by a simple construction.

According to the invention, this object is achieved by a device for producing container products from plastic material by means of a forming method, a filling method and a sealing method, comprising a forming device to which a forming tube of plasticated plastic material can be fed and which has a movable profile that imitates a container geometry that can be specified in advance, against which the forming tube can be placed for the forming, filling and/or sealing process, wherein a guide and holding device is provided, which has movable guide and holding parts that can be controlled in such a way that, in at least one of possible functional positions outside the forming region of the forming device, they act on the forming tube itself and/or on the respective plastic material, the plastic material surrounds at least one finished container product and/or its contents, characterized in that: at the end of the respective forming, filling and sealing process for the container product, the movable guide and holding elements can be brought into a functional position in which they rest in supporting contact against mutually opposite sides of the tube in a section of the forming tube adjacent to the inlet of the forming device.

The apparatus according to the invention is distinguished in that: a guide and holding device is provided, which has movable guide and holding elements that can be actuated in such a way that, in at least one of the possible functional positions outside the forming region of the forming device, they act on the forming hose itself and/or on the respective plastic material that surrounds the at least one finished container product and/or its contents. The guiding and retaining action exerted on the molding tube itself and/or on the container product enables a smooth demolding process and thus a problem-free processing of the desired plastic raw material without the need for demolding devices arranged outside the production area, which are used on the removed container chain. In addition to the intended simplification, the advantage of reducing the overall structural dimensions of the device is also obtained. In addition, the container articles can be produced continuously. The solution according to the invention as a whole can be easily sterilized and also a small filling amount can be designed for valuable filling material.

In a particularly advantageous embodiment, the movable guide and holding elements can be brought into a functional position at the end of the respective forming, filling and sealing process for the container product, in which they rest in supporting manner on the forming hose on mutually opposite sides of the hose in a section adjoining the inlet of the forming device. The support thus formed in the immediate vicinity of the head region of the container ensures a particularly reliable demolding with an even detachment of the container from the mold surfaces which are separated from one another during the demolding process.

The molding device can have mold-forming jaws which can be moved by means of a closing unit along a movement direction which extends perpendicularly to the vertical movement direction of the molding tube between a mold closing position and a mold opening position, wherein a moving unit is provided by means of which the closing unit can be moved vertically downwards from a starting position together with the movement of the molding tube during the molding, filling and sealing process and upwards into the starting position after the molding, filling and sealing process has ended. A continuous production process can be achieved with minimal equipment expenditure by means of a vertical movement of this type, since only one pair of jaws is required for each forming process, and therefore a plurality of pairs of jaws which are brought together like a hobby horse is not required.

The forming device can advantageously have a main jaw for forming the main part of the container and a head jaw which can be moved independently of the main jaw for the head closure of the container by means of a closing unit for the filling process and the subsequent sealing process.

In order to transfer the guide and holding element into the respective functional position, it can advantageously be provided that: the guiding and holding device is movable between an upper position corresponding to the active position (Wirkposition) of the guiding and holding element and a lowered position by means of a second moving unit that can be actuated independently of the moving unit of the closing unit.

In view of the structural design of the guide and retaining device, it can be advantageously provided that: they have, for each guide and holding element, a handling unit which can be moved in a direction extending perpendicular to the vertical between a position close to each other, corresponding to the active position of the guide and holding element, and a position spaced apart from each other. The actuating unit can have a pivot drive for the associated guide and holding elements, by means of which the guide and holding elements can be pivoted between a pivot position, which is assumed in the case of the active position, and a position in which they are outside the region of the molding device, in which they are in a pivoted state aligned with the molding tube.

The guide and retaining elements can be provided in the form of support plates which, in the pivoted position corresponding to the active position, extend over the entire length of the parting plane of the molding device and are seated for a pivoting movement extending in the horizontal plane on pivot axes of the associated actuating unit, which pivot axes extend vertically next to the parting plane and parallel to one another. The support of the respectively extended row of containers can be achieved in a simple manner by means of longitudinally extending support plates.

In a particularly advantageous embodiment, the actuating unit of the guiding and retaining device can have further guiding and retaining elements which can be moved toward one another in the direction of the closed position and can be moved away from one another in the direction of the at least one open position and which, in at least one of the closed positions, act at least partially on the respective plastic material which surrounds the at least one finished container product and/or its contents. The demolding process can thus be designed particularly reliably.

In this case, it can be particularly advantageous to dimension the axial distance, as viewed in the vertical plane, between the respective handling unit and the configurable support plate in such a way that the still hot container products, which are each discharged from the molding device, are received by the further guides and holders of the handling unit before being received, forming a cooling section.

For a particularly reliable retaining action, the support plate can have, for abutting against the molding tube, abutting edges which extend conically relative to one another.

In view of the structural design of the closing unit of the forming device, it may be advantageous to provide: the closing unit has a main bearing on which the main jaw and the head jaw are guided so as to be movable independently of one another in the horizontal direction and which is movably supported on vertical guides of the device frame by means of a first displacement unit.

In order to produce the closing and opening movements of the main jaw and the head jaw, these jaws can be connected to a correspondingly configured, own drive. At least one of the drives may have a lever drive which can be actuated by means of an actuator, which can be provided, for example, in the form of a screw drive which can be actuated by means of an electric motor.

The actuating unit can advantageously also be guided vertically movably on a vertical guide of the device frame by means of the second displacement unit.

The two displacement units can advantageously each have a ball-circulating screw which can be driven by a separate motor for generating a corresponding vertical movement.

The displacement unit of the actuating unit can advantageously have a transverse guide extending vertically between the associated vertical guides of the device frame, along which the actuating unit together with the further guide and holder elements are guided for their horizontal movement and can be moved by means of at least one actuator, wherein a coupling device is provided between the actuating units for synchronizing the horizontal movement thereof.

Drawings

The invention is explained in detail below with reference to embodiments shown in the drawings. In the drawings:

fig. 1 shows a schematic simplified perspective oblique view of an embodiment of the device according to the invention;

fig. 2 shows a perspective oblique view of only a partial region of the apparatus, wherein the mold closing unit and the guiding and retaining device with the respective associated functional elements are shown;

FIG. 3 shows a top view of a portion of the area shown in FIG. 2, including the components in a functional position that varies therefrom;

FIG. 4 shows a front view of the upper main part of the apparatus;

fig. 5 shows a front view on an enlarged scale in relation to fig. 4, in which the operating states at the end of the forming, filling and sealing process are shown;

fig. 6 shows a further enlarged partial view compared to fig. 5, in which the filling operation is shown with the molding device partially closed;

fig. 7 to 11 show views corresponding to fig. 6, in which further operating states during the production cycle are shown.

Detailed Description

In fig. 1, which shows a general view of an embodiment of the device according to the invention in a simplified view, the device frame is designated 1 and has a rectangular box shape with a front side 3 extending in a vertical plane. On the box-shaped upper side of the frame 1, a pressing device is provided, generally designated 5, which is designed according to the related art and has a feed hopper 7 for plastic granules and a motor-driven pressing worm unit 9 for supplying the plastic material plasticized by the pressing head 11. This extrusion head is also designed according to the prior art and extrudes the heated, plasticized plastic raw material in the form of a flat hose which extends over the entire width of the molding device 13, measured along the parting plane. Depending on the design of the forming device 13, a plurality of container products can thus be formed in one forming step from a single extruded forming tube, designated 15 in fig. 5, depending on the number of profiles 17 arranged side by side in a row.

In fig. 1 and 2, which show the forming device 13 in the open state, the profiles 17 of these profiles, which are located in the left-hand part of the forming device 13, can be seen. On the upper side of the device frame 1, a filling device 19 is provided, which serves to deliver a metered amount during the filling of the containers formed in the forming device 13. The filling device 19 has a number of filling mandrels corresponding to the number of containers to be formed, of which only one single filling mandrel is shown in fig. 4, 6 and 7 and is designated 21. The plastic material is extruded by the extrusion head 11 in such a way that the formed molding tube encloses a row of filling mandrels 21, which can therefore be lowered in the molding tube 15 into a filling position in which they fill the containers formed between the profiles 17. In order to shape the container part, which receives the filling quantity in this respect, an additional expansion process is provided, in which a negative pressure is applied in the container mold in order to bring the corresponding wall part into contact with the mold (negative pressure difference). In addition or alternatively, this expansion process (positive pressure difference) can also be carried out by blowing in support or shaping air.

Fig. 2 and 3 each show the closing unit 23 and the guiding and retaining device 25 of the forming device 13 of the present embodiment in a separate view. As fig. 2 shows, both the closing unit 23 and the guide and holding device 25 each have a support plate 27 or 29 extending along a vertical plane. As fig. 4 to 11 show, the device frame 1 has on the front side 3 on both outer sides a vertical guide 31, which is formed by guide rails 33 (fig. 6) which together with guide rails 35 on the support plate 27 and corresponding guide rails 37 on the support plate 29 form a ball track, so that the closing unit 23 with the guide and holding device 25 is guided on the vertical guide 31 so as to be movable in the vertical direction. For the respective vertical movement, screw drives are provided which are operated by the machine control system and which have a ball circulation screw 39 for the closing unit 23 and a ball circulation screw 41 for the guiding and retaining device 25, see fig. 3.

The closing unit 23 of the forming device 13 has a slide as a support for each mold half of the entire mold, the slide on the left being designated 43 and the slide on the right being designated 45 in the drawing. The carriages 43, 45 are guided in a horizontally displaceable manner on guide plates 48 of the support plate 27. On the slide 43, a left-hand main catch 47 is seated on a retaining body 44 fixed to the left-hand slide. On the right-hand slide 45, a right-hand main catch 49 is seated on a retaining body 46 fixed on the right-hand slide. In the closed position of the closed position, the main jaws 47, 49 are closed, as is also shown in fig. 3, forming the main part of the container, which fuses the contents of the respective container. On the upper side of the holding body 44 of the left main jaw 47, which constitutes a flat plate, a holding body 50 constituting a kind of shutter is supported in a horizontally movable manner, and a left head jaw 51 is placed on the holding body. In a corresponding manner, a holding body 52 is arranged horizontally displaceably on the upper side of the holding body 46 of the right-hand main jaw 49, which holding body forms a support for the right-hand head jaw 53. The head jaws 51, 53 can thus be moved into the closed position independently of the main jaws 47, 49 in order to shape the head region of the container and in order to aseptically close the filled container.

For the horizontal movement between the mold closed position and the mold open position, as shown in fig. 2, the main claws 47, 49 and the head claws 51, 53 are each provided with its own actuator, wherein the actuators provided for the main claws 47, 49 are coupled to the support plates 43 and 45 in order to move these support plates along the rails 48, visible in fig. 3, on the support plate 27. The actuators assigned to the head jaws 51, 53 are coupled to the retaining bodies 50 and 52 of said head jaws 51, 53. The two actuators each have a lever mechanism 57, which are arranged one above the other, so that the main components of the lever mechanism 57 located below are not visible in fig. 2 and 3. However, this lever mechanism is identical in functional terms to the visible lever mechanism 57 provided thereon, which serves as a drive for the head jaws 51, 53. Each lever mechanism 57 has, as a drive, a spindle mechanism 62 or 63, which has an associated drive motor 65. In fig. 3, only the screw drive 63 and the associated motor 65 of the upper lever drive 57 can be seen. The screw transmission mechanisms 62, 63 are connected to a cross member 70 on the back side of the support plate 27 via a strut 68, so that the unit constituted by the lever transmission mechanism 57 and the screw transmission mechanisms 62, 63 can move together with the support plate 27 on the vertical guide 31 in accordance with the action of the ball-circulating screw 39.

Fig. 3 shows the main jaws 47, 49 in the closed position, while the head jaws 51, 53 are open. In this position, the associated spindle drive 63 is moved with its actuating spindle for the head jaws 51, 53 into and below the similarly configured spindle drive 62, i.e. the spindle of the drive is in one of its front actuating positions. The tie rods 58 and 60, which are coupled to the spindle drive 63, are pulled upward in fig. 3, by which the pivot levers 59 and 61 are each pivoted about a pivot point 67 into the position shown in fig. 3, wherein the ends of the pivot levers 59, 61, which are hinged to the retaining bodies 50 and 52, are pivoted outward and the head jaws 51, 53 are moved away from one another. The pivot point 67 of the pivot levers 59, 61 is positionally variable in a guide groove 69 in the transverse beam 70 during their movement. For the closing movement of the head jaws 51, 53, the spindle drive 63 is moved out, so that the tie rods 58, 60 separate the rocker levers 59 and 61 at the upper end, so that the ends coupled with the retaining bodies 50, 52 pivot relative to one another and the head jaws 51, 53 are closed. In the closed position of the main jaws 47, 49 shown in fig. 3, the lower screw drive 62 is moved out, so that the two rockers 64 of the lower lever drive 57 are separated from one another at the upper end in fig. 3 and the lower, not shown ends of the rockers 62, 64 are brought together to close the main jaws 47, 49.

The support plate 29 of the guide and holding device 25 and also the support plate 27 of the closing unit 23 are displaceable on the vertical guide 31 of the frame 1, which guide and holding device, like the support plate 27, in a similar manner has horizontal guide rails 71 on which the left-hand actuating unit 73 and the right-hand actuating unit 75 are guided so as to be horizontally displaceable. The actuating units 73, 75 form an actuator for the associated guide and holding elements, wherein the actuating unit 73 actuates the left first guide and holding element and the left second guide and holding element, and the actuating unit 75 actuates the right first guide and holding element and the right second guide and holding element, see fig. 2. The left-hand first guide and holding element and the right-hand first guide and holding element are each formed by pivotable support plates 77 and 81, respectively, which are of identical design and extend in a direction parallel to the direction of the parting plane 85 (fig. 3) in the pivoted position corresponding to their active position. For the adjustment of the pivot position, each support plate 77, 81 is mounted on an associated pivot shaft 87 or 89, which projects out of the housing of the respective associated actuating unit 73 or 75 parallel to one another and extends in the vertical direction next to the parting plane 85. In the housing of the operating units 73, 75, a pivot drive is provided for the pivot axes 87, 89, which can be actuated by the machine control system.

As already mentioned, the actuating units 73, 75 can be moved horizontally on the support plate 29, wherein, as shown only in fig. 9 to 11, a hydraulic cylinder 91 is provided as an actuator. In order to synchronize the horizontal movement of the actuating units 73, 75, a coupling device 93 is provided, which is visible in the open state of the actuating units 73, 75 shown in fig. 6 to 8 and is formed by a respective toothed rack on each actuating unit 73, 75, which toothed racks engage with a common pinion. As shown in fig. 4 and 6 to 11, a rack 95 extends downward from the support plate 29. Fig. 2 shows: a corresponding toothed rack 96 is arranged on the support plate 27 of the closing unit 23. The racks 95, 96 constitute safety means preventing the closing unit 23 and the guiding and retaining means 75 from sinking in case of interruption of the power supply. For this purpose, a pawl (not shown in the figures) is provided for each toothed rack 95, 96, which pawl is biased toward the blocking position, but is pulled back against the bias in the normal operation of the device.

The actuating units 73 and 75 each have a housing part which contains the rotary drive for the associated pivot axes 87, 89 and which, in the closed state as shown in fig. 2, form a housing having a contour corresponding to the triangular shape with the corners removed. The left-hand second guide and holder 79 and the right-hand second guide and holder 83, each formed from a plate body (leistenkorerper), are arranged on the flat upper side such that they extend parallel to the parting plane 85 and rest against the formed row of containers (an der Reihe) in the position in which the actuating units 73, 75 approach one another, as shown in fig. 2.

Fig. 5 to 11 are used to illustrate the processing cycle in the manufacturing process. Fig. 5 shows in a schematic representation an operating state at the end of the production process, in which the closing unit 23 with its support plate 27 and the guide and retaining device 25 with its support plate 29 are moved downwards together with the shaping hose 15 moving at the extrusion speed. The main jaws 47, 49 and the head jaws 51, 53 are closed accordingly and the guide and holding pieces of the guide and holding device 25 are in their active position, respectively. This means that: the support plates 77 and 81, which form the first guide and retaining element, are pivoted relative to one another above the head jaws 51, 53, so that they act with their conically running abutment edges 97 on the molding hose 15 above the head region of the formed container.

At the same time, the second guide and retaining elements 79 and 83 arranged on the upper side of the housings of the actuating units 73 and 75 act on the correspondingly shaped containers in the closed position of the actuating units 73, 75. In the currently occurring mold opening, the finished container is accommodated between the first and second guide and holder 79, 83 and is entrained in a further vertical movement. The axial length of the pivot axes 87, 89 supporting the support plates 77, 81 is determined in such a way as to create a cooling stretch between the first and second guide and retaining members for the respective products of containers originating from the forming device. The vertical movement of the guide and holder can be carried out in such a way that the profiled hose 15 is slightly stretched, in such a way that a particularly precise hose guide (schlauchfuehung) is produced. In the opening movement of the jaws 47, 49, 51, 53, which is caused by the operating state of fig. 5, the supporting action of the guide and holding device 25 ensures that the demolding process is carried out safely.

Fig. 6 to 11 show various details of the functional position of the support plate 27 of the closing unit 23 and of the actuating units 73, 75 of the guide and retaining device 25. In the state of fig. 6, after the start position of the cycle when the support plate 27 is in the upper position, the forming device is then partially closed in such a way that the main jaws 47, 49 are brought together, while the head jaws 55 and 53 are still open. The main part of the container is shaped by the gathering of the main jaws 47, 49. The filling process is started by the movement in of the filling mandrel 21. The guide and holding device 25 is in a lower position in which the support plates 77, 81 are located below the molding device and the actuating units 73 and 75 are moved away from one another. The support plates 77, 81 are pivoted outward, so that the actuating elements 73, 75 can be moved freely upward, as they are shown in fig. 7, wherein the support plates 77, 81 continue to pivot outward above the molding device. The steering units 73, 75 continue to move away from each other.

Fig. 8 shows a further step in which, with the actuating units 73, 75 still moved away from one another, the support plates 77, 81 are pivoted inward for parallel extension (zum Parallelverlauf), wherein the conical support edges 97 are at a distance from one another with the actuating elements 73, 75 still open. The closing unit 23 and the guiding and holding device 25 move downwards together at a constant speed corresponding to the extrusion speed of the molding hose 15, while the filling mandrel 21 moves upwards.

As fig. 9 shows, the head jaws 51, 53 are now drawn together, the head region being shaped and the container being closed. At the end of this process, the actuating units 73, 75 are also moved together, so that the abutment edge 97, the first guide and holding element and the second guide and holding elements 79 and 83 assume their active position. Fig. 10 shows the main jaws 47, 49 and the head jaws 51 and 53 in the open position, while the actuating units 73, 75 continue to move downwards at a constant speed according to the hose speed.

Fig. 11 shows: the handling units 73, 75 have been moved downwards in order to start a new cycle, while the support plate 27 of the closing unit 23 has been moved into the upper starting position and the main jaws 47, 49 are gathered again in order to close the main part of the mould for the moulding process.

Claims (15)

1. A device for producing container products from plastic raw material by means of carrying out a forming method, a filling method and a sealing method, comprising a forming device (13) to which a forming tube (15) of plasticated plastic raw material can be fed and which has a movable profile (17) that imitates a container geometry that can be specified in advance, against which the forming tube (15) can be placed for the forming, filling and/or sealing process, wherein a guide and holding device (25) is provided, which has movable guide and holding parts that can be controlled in such a way that they act on the forming tube (15) itself and/or on the respective plastic raw material in at least one of possible functional positions outside a forming region of the forming device (13), the plastic material surrounds at least one finished container product and/or its contents, characterized in that: at the end of the respective forming, filling and sealing process for the container product, the movable guide and holding elements can be brought into a functional position in which they rest, supported on the forming hose (15), in a section adjacent to the inlet of the forming device (13) on mutually opposite sides of the forming hose (15).

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein: the molding device (13) has jaws forming a mold surface (17), which can be moved by means of a closing unit (23) along a movement direction extending perpendicular to the vertical movement direction of the molding tube (15) between a mold closing position and a mold opening position, and a displacement unit is provided, by means of which the closing unit (23) can be moved vertically downwards from a starting position together with the movement of the molding tube (15) during the molding, filling and sealing process and upwards into the starting position after the molding, filling and sealing process has ended.

3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein: the forming device (13) has main jaws (47, 49) for forming the main part of the container and head jaws (51, 53) which can be moved independently of the main jaws (47, 49) for the head closure of the container by means of a closing unit (23) for the filling process and the subsequent sealing process.

4. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein: the guide and holding device (25) can be moved by means of a second movement unit between an upper position corresponding to the active position of the guide and holding element and a lowered position.

5. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein: the guiding and holding device (25) has, for each guiding and holding element, actuating units (73, 75) which can be moved in a direction extending perpendicular to the vertical between a position close to one another corresponding to the active position of the guiding and holding element and a position spaced apart from one another.

6. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein: the actuating unit (73, 75) has, for the associated guide and holding elements, a pivoting drive, by means of which the guide and holding elements can be pivoted between a pivot position, which is assumed in the case of the active position, and a position in which they are located outside the region of the forming device (13), in which they are in a pivoted state aligned with the forming hose (15).

7. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein: the guide and holding elements are provided in the form of support plates (77, 81) which, in a pivot position corresponding to the active position, extend over the entire length of a parting plane (85) of the molding device (13) and are seated for a pivoting movement extending in a horizontal plane on pivot sources (87, 89) of the associated actuating unit (73, 75), which pivot sources extend vertically next to the parting plane (85) and parallel to one another.

8. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein: the actuating unit (73, 75) as a component of the guiding and retaining device (25) has further guiding and retaining elements (79, 83) which can be moved toward one another in the direction of the closed position and away from one another in the direction of the at least one open position and which, in at least one of the closed positions, act at least partially on the respective plastics material which surrounds the at least one finished container product and/or its contents.

9. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein: the axial distance, as viewed in the vertical plane, between the respective handling unit (73, 75) and the configurable support plate (77, 81) is determined in such a way that the still hot container products, each coming from the forming device (13), are received by the further guide and holder elements (79, 83) of the handling unit (73, 75) before being received, forming a cooling section.

10. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein: the support plates (77, 81) have, for the purpose of resting on the molding tube (15), bearing edges (97) which extend conically relative to one another.

11. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein: the closing unit (23) of the forming unit (13) has a main bearing (43) on which the main jaws (47, 49) and the head jaws (51, 53) are guided in a horizontally movable manner independently of one another and which is mounted in a movable manner on a vertical guide (31) of the device frame (1) by means of a first movement unit.

12. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein: the main jaws (47, 49) and the head jaws (51, 53) are connected for the closing and opening movement to associated drive devices, each of which has a lever mechanism (57) that can be actuated by means of an actuator (62, 63).

13. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein: the handling unit (73; 75) is also guided in a vertically displaceable manner on a vertical guide (31) of the device frame (1) by means of a second displacement unit.

14. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein: the two displacement units each have a ball-circulating screw (39, 41) which can be driven by a separate motor for producing a corresponding vertical movement.

15. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein: the displacement unit of the actuating unit (73, 75) has a transverse guide (71) extending vertically between the associated vertical guides (31) of the device frame, along which the actuating unit (73, 75) together with the further guide and holding elements (79, 83) are guided for their horizontal movement and are movable by means of at least one actuator, and a coupling device (93) is provided between the actuating units (73, 75) for synchronizing their horizontal movement.