Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
2~g63
Apparatus ~or f~ll1n9 large packs w~th foll b~gs
D e s c r ~ P t ~ o n :
1 The invent;on relates to an apparatus for filling large
packs (cartons) with a number of individual articles,
especially foil bags for bulk goods, said art;cles (fo;l
bags) be;ng fed to a packaging station ;nd;vidually or in a
5 continuous row and being lowered into the open carton ~rom
above.
To package foil bags (tubular bag packs) containing de-
licate bulk goods such as potato crisps is particular1y
problematic as the bag contents ar~ very susc~ptible to
mechanical stress. The foil bags are received in a volumin~
ous packaging receptacle, especially a carton, in the form
of a pack group. In the carton, the foil bags are arranged
in tiers and each tier may comprise a plurality of foil
bags lying side by side.
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In a known apparatus for packaging such foil hags in
cartons, the foil bags are conveyed individually and in
succession onto a receiving platform which transfers the
foil bags to a collecting platform on which a group of bags
5 which will form the pack contents ;s collected and then
filled into the upwardly open carton as a unit. The foil
bags or the group of foil bags are in each case transferred
in a free fall. As a result, the foil bags and their con-
tents are subjected to considerable mechanical stress.
The invent;on is based on the object to propose an
apparatus for handling delicate articles, especially foil
bags containing delicate bulk goods, for the purpose of
filling the foil bags into a large receptacle (carton), in
15 which the process of filling or packing is conducted in a
way which treats the articles or foil bags particularly
carefully in order to protect its contents, even though per-
formance is very high.
20 To attain this object, the apparatus according to the
invention is characterized in that the articles can be
deposited on an elevator being up and downwardly movable
within the carton and they can be conveyed therewith in the
carton to their required pack position.
2~
The apparatus according to the invention is based on the
idea to save the foil bags from falling down greater
heights. In particular, the group of bags shall be
introduced to the carton without any falling movements,
30 specifically by the elevator according to the invention
which can be lowered to the bottom of the carton, i.e. for
depos;ting the foil bags on the bottom.
In the upper position for receiving the foil bags, the
35 elevator is located outside the upwardly open carton,
namely above said carton. The foil bags are deposited on
the elevator as complete bag groups corresponding to the
contents of the carton or successively in smaller par~
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groups. In the latter case, i.e. when part groups are trans-
ferred to the elevator, the elevator is lowered by a he;ght
corresponding to the height of the part groups, espec;ally
tier by tier, until a complete group of bags has been
s collected on the elevator.
The elevator preferably enters the carton from below and
for this purpose the carton is open at the bottom during
the f;lling process. In the lower position of the elevator,
o the bag group is received by the carton whose bottom is
formed by folding bottom folding flaps.
According to the invention, the articles, namely fo;l bags,
are deposited above the elevator on an up and downwardly
S movable intermediate conveyor which transfers the foil bags
as a complete bag group or successively as part groups
(tiers) to the elevator. Elevator and intermediate conveyor
are provided with platforms having recesses and projections
corresponding with one another, so that said lifting means
20 can be moved past one another when they conduct the con-
veying movements and transfer or receive the foil bags. To
be specific, the platforms are designed comb-like.
Further features of the invention relate to the conveying
: 25 means for handling the foil bags and the group formed
therewith. An illustrative embodiment of the appara~us
according to the invention will be described below in more
detail with reference to the drawings, ;n which:
30 Fig. 1 is a side view of the apparatus For packaging
foil bags,
Fig. 2 is a plan view of the apparatus according to
Fig. 1,
Fig. 3 is a vertical section of the apparatus according
to F;gs. 1 and 2,
2 ~ fi 3
-- 4 --
Fig. 4 is a vertical section or a view which is offset
by 90 relative to FigsO 1 and 3,
Fig. 5 is a side view correspond;ng to Fig. 4 of the
5upper port;on of the apparatus.
The apparatus shown in the drawings serves for packing foil
bags 10 into a large pack, namely a carton 11. The foil
bags 10, especially tubular bags, are filled with bulk
goods, especially potato crisps, which are susceptible to
mechanical stress.
A feed conveyor 12 feeds the foil bags 10 to a packaging
station 13. This feed canveyor 12 is a belt conveyor wi~h
transverse webs 14 for accurately positioning the ~oil bags
10 in a defined sequence on the feed conveyor 12.
In the region of the packaging station 13, the foil bags
form a group of bags 15 forming the complete contents of
20 the carton 11. The bag group 15 comprises a plurality of
superposed tiers 16 made o-f a plurality of foil bags 10, in
the present case of three foil bags 10. This tier forms a
part group 17 of foil bags 10.
25 One part group 17 at a time, which in the present case com-
prises three foil bags 10, is pushed off by a slide 18 in a
direction transverse to the feed conveyor 12. At a distance
above the carton 11, this part group 17 is deposited on an
intermediate support, namely a support plate 19 which is
30 mounted on the side located opposite the feed conveyor 12
on about the same level. The support plate 19 can be moved
transversely. In the receiving position (Fig. 4), the
support plate 19 is located in lifted position adjacent to
the feed conveyor 12. By retracting the support plate 19,
3~ the foil bags 10 of the part group 17 are stripped off the
support plate 19 and are deposited on an up and downwardly
movable ;ntermediate conveyor 20.
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The support plate 19 is mounted with a slid;ng member 21 on
support rods 22 for conducting the described movements. The
sliding member 21 can be moved backwards and forwards and
is actuated by a push rod 23.
The slide 18 is designed and guided during its movement
such that the return movement back to the initial position
- after a push-off movement has been conducted - takes
place at a distance above the feed conveyor 12, so that
during this time the feed conveyor 12 can be moved on by
another cycle. The path of motion 24 of the slide 18 is
shown in Fig. 4.
The foil bags 10 deposited on the intermediate conveyor 20
15 are moved downwards. A number of foil bags 10 is collected
on the intermediate conveyor in tiers 16 above one another.
The number of foil bags 10 on the intermediate conveyor 20
can be as high as the number of bags making up the complete
bag group 15 which forms the contents of ~he carton 11. In
20 the most simple case, only one part group 17 comprising
only one tier 16 is collected on the intermediate conveyor
20.
The intermed;ate conveyor consists of a carrier platform 25
: Z5 being liftable up and down. In an upper initial position,
the carrier platform 25 is located directly below the plane
of the support plate 19. By retracting the support plate
19, the foil bags 10 are thus directly deposited on the
carrier platform 25. Thereafter, the carrier platform 25 is
30 moved downwards a certain distance so that following foil
bags 10 - a tier 1~ - can be deposited on the part group 17
already formed on the carrier platform 25.
The part group 17 or bag group 15 formed on the interme-
35 diate conveyor 20 or the carrier platform 15 thereof istransferred ~o an elevator 26 which is movable up and down
mainly within the carton 11. The elevator 26 takes over the
bag group 15 or part group 17 and deposits same in the
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carton 11. The elevator 26 moves down transmittently and
continues to receive part groups 17 as long as it takes to
collect a complete bag ~roup 15 form;ng the contents of the
carton 11.
s
To fulfill its functions, the intermediate conveyor 20 is
designed in a special way. The carrier pla~form 25 consists
of several, namely two carrier plates 27, 28. These are
independently movable, namely pivotable. In working
position, the carrier plates 27, 28 are located in a common
horizontal plane (dashed in Fig. 1). In this position, the
carrier plates 27, 28 toge~her form the carrier platform 25
for receiving fo;l bags. By pivoting the carrier plates
27, 28 by gO, they can be moved in a position on the side
15 next to the path o~ motion of the bag group 15 or part
group 17, so that the elevator 26 can receive the bags
(Fig. 33-
For this purpose, the carrier plates 27, 28 are each
20 laterally mounted in a pivotable manner. In the presentcase, the carrier plates 27, 28 are each a~tached to a
p;vot shaft 29. The pivot shafts are mounted with a pivot
bearing 30 in a support member, namely in a common cross-
piece 31, in an up and downwardly movable manner. This
: 25 crosspiece 31 is mounted in an up and downwardly movable
manner on upright guide means, namely spindle rods 32. A
guide member 33 located on the ends of the crosspiece 31 is
designed as a spindle nut. A turn of the spindle rods 32
therefore causes the crosspiece 31 and therewith the com-
30 plete carrier platform 25 to move up or down.
The pivoting movements of the carrier plates 27, 28 arecaused by rotating movements of the pivot shafts 29. On
each end of the pivot shafts 29 there is arranged a pivot
35 lever 34 which can be moved in the one or the other
direction by the push rod 35 and therewith effects partial
rotations of the pivot shaft 29.
7 2 ~ 3
The elevator 26 is provided with a platform 36 for
receiving the bag group 15 or par~ group 17. The platform
36 is arranged on a long-stroke vertical conveyor, in the
present case on liftiny scissors 37. The platform 36 can be
moved up and down by these lifting scissors 37 between an
upp~r receiving position, which is corresponding to the
position shown in Fig. 3 but may also be cons;derably
higher, and a lower end position (dot-dash line in Fig. 1).
In an upper or intermediatte position, the foil bags 10 are
received from the carrier platform 25. For this purpose,
platform 36 and carrier platform 25 are designed such that
they can be moved past one another.
In the present embodiment, the carrier plates 27, 28 on the
one hand and the platform 36 on the other hand are designed
comb-like. Web-like projections 38 of the carrier plates
27, 28 fit into corresponding recesses 39 of the platform
36. The platform 36 is also provided with web-like pro-
jections 40 which in their turn project into recesses 41 of
the platform 36. Carrier plates 27, 28 on the one hand and
platform 36 on the other hand are designed such that there
is a sufficient support surface for the foil bags 10.
When the foil bags 10 are transferred by the carrier
platform 25 to the platform 36, the carrier plates 27, 28
are lowered wlth the foil bags 10 until the carrier plates
27, 28 extend in or below the plane of the platform 36. As
a result, the foil bags 10 are taken over by the platform
36. Subsequently, the carrier plates 27, 28 are pivoted to
the side to an upright position. Thereafter, the platform
36 with the foil bags 10 can be moved down.
When a number of foil bags 10 (bag group 15) corresponding
to the contents of the carton 11 is collected on the
elevator 26 or the platform 36, the platform 36 is lowered
to the position shown in Fig. 1 (solid lines). Here, the
platform 36 is located in the plane of a bottom of the
carton 11.
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The mode oF operation of the described apparatus is as
follows:
An empty carton 11 iS supplied to the packag;ng station 13,
for instance by hand~ The carton ;5 open at the top and
bottom. Upper folding flaps, namely side flaps 42 and
longitud;nal flaps 43 extend the s;de walls of the carton
11. Lower side flaps 44 and lower longitudinal flaps 45 are
downwardly d;rected and extend the assoc;ated s;de walls o~
o the carton. The carton ;s placed with the lower long;-
tudinal flaps 4~ onto a lateral holder, namely onto support
rails 46, 47. These are provided with grooves 48 having a
slightly tilted cross-section. The longitudinal flaps 45
enter these grooves 48 and are therewith fixed in ~he
15 inclined position.
Now, the elevator 26, coming from the lower initial
position (dot-dash lines in Fig. 1), can enter the open
carton 11 w;th the platform 36 from below. The platform 36
20 moves up to an upper receiving position.
At the top side, the carton 11 iS prepared for an
introduction of the foil bags. The carton 11 iS located
directly below a housing 49 having a rectangular cross-
: 25 section. The dimensions (in the longitudinal and thetransverse direction) of this housing 49 are slightly
smaller than the dimensions of the carton 11. Mouthpiece
means ~0, namely pivotable sheet metal strips or webs, are
located at the lower edge of the housing 49. These strips
30 or webs are located at the inside of the upper side flaps
42 and longitudinal flaps 43. To widen the top of the
carton in a funnel-shaped manner, the side flaps 42 and
longitudinal flaps 43 are slightly pushed to the outside by
the mouthpiece means 50 to an inclined positionO This
35 facilitates the process of filling in the bags and prevents
malfunctions.
9 2~4~3
Moreover, the housing ~9 is designed such that the means
entering the housing 49 from the side find appropriate
recesses. Narrow side walls 51, 52 of the housing are pro-
vided with upright slots 53 so that the carrier plates
s 27, 28 or the projections 38 thereof can enter the housing
49.
In the upper region, a longitudinal wall 54 has a smaller
overall height (Fig. 4) to allow the slide 18 to push the
foil bags 10 into the housing 49, namely onto the support
plate 19. The support plate 19 passes through a slot 55 in
the opposite longitudinal wall 56.
When a sufficient number of foil bags is collected on the
intermediate conveyor 20, i.e. on the carrier platform 25
thereof, the bag group 15 or part group 17 is transferred
to the platform 36 by means of a respective downward
movement of the carrier platform 25. When a bag group 15
corresponding to the contents of the carton 11 iS collected
on the platform 36, the downward movement to the already
described position on a level with the carton bottom is con-
ducted. Now, the carton 11 is pushed off together with the
contents in the direction of the support rails 46, 47. In
this process, first the side flap 44 being forward in the
: 25 direction of movement is folded over by a folding means
(not shown). The pushing-oFf movement reaches far enough
for the platform 36 to be emptied so that it can be moved
to the lower position. The other flaps of the carton 11 are
folded in an appropriate way, especially in analogy to the
solution disclosed in EP-B-0 113 ~99.
After the transfer of the bag group 15 to the platform 36,
that is to say after the platform 36 has been lowered, the
intermediate conveyor 20 returns to the upper initial
35 position. Consequently, foil bags 10 can be cantinuously
fed to the intermediate conveyor 20 without delays while
the carton 11 is filled and pushed off. By the time the
next carton is moved to the filling position, the inter-
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media~e conveyor 20 has already receiv~d a greater number
of foil bags 10. Performance is thus very high.
The apparatus can be operated such that a bag group 15
5 corresponding to the complete contents of the car'con 11 is
first collected on the intermediate conveyor 20 and then as
a whole transferred to the elevator 26. Instead, it ;s also
possible to form part groups 17 made up of one or several
t;ers 16 and to transfer th;s part group 17 to the elevator
26 in the upper position of the platform 36. In this mode
of operat;on, the carr;er plates 27, 28 remaln ;n the
laterally pivoted pos;tion. The other foil bags 10 or tiers
16 are now directly deposited on the platform 36 or rather
on the part group 17 already lying on the platform 36. Now,
the platform 36 is lowered section by section, corre-
sponding to the height of one tier 16, until the complete
bag group 15 is formed.
Regarding the lifting move~ent of the pla~form 36, the lift-
20 ing scissors 37 are particularly suitable for covering the
relatively great lifting heights. In the present case,
lifting scissors 37 with a transmission ratio of 2.5 : 1
are provided. To attach and guide the lifting scissors 37,
an upper center link 57 is firmly connected with the bottom
: 25 side of the platform 36. A center link 58 is located there-
under and guided in a guide slot 59. The guide slot is
formed by a guide member 60 on the bottom side of the
platform 36.
