A packaging machine includes a compact dynamic shuttle buffer arranged upstream of a packaging station.

A stack of products such as pouches are formed in a product bucket, pushed into a stack guide bucket and from there into a carton. A stack tamp descends over the stack, engages and confines it downwardly during stack pushing from product bucket and through stack guide bucket into a carton. Multiple product buckets, stack guide buckets and cartons move downstream during cartoning, and are respectively aligned in a cartoning station. Reciprocal containment blades hold the stack in respective cartons prior to flap closing.

The present invention relates to a device for wrapping a piece item stack, which is formed of a plurality of piece item parts that are disposed on top of one another, with a tubular film, wherein the device has a tubular film stock, a conveyor device for pulling a predetermined length of tubular film out of the tubular film stock, a cutting device for cutting the pulled-off tubular film for the formation of a tubular hood and a fitting device, which is arranged downstream of the cutting device in the conveying direction of the tubular film, for pulling the tubular hood over the piece item stack, as well as a method for changing the tubular film stock in such a device. For enhanced safety and guarantee of a disturbance-free operation, a discharge device, which can discharge a length piece (L) of the tubular film, is proposed with the present invention as a part of the device for wrapping the piece item stack. In the method for changing the tubular film stock according to the invention, a lagging end of a consumed tubular film stock is connected to the leading end of a new tubular film stock, wherein the leading end and the lagging end are conveyed in the direction onto the cutting device in order to laterally discharge a length section (L) that bears the leading and the lagging end on top of an intake area for the piece item stack.

Method to feed and form organized groups of smoking articles, providing to feed a plurality of pockets of a transfer conveyor with pockets moved step-wise, thrusting said organized groups of smoking articles, by means of thrusters actuated independently from each other, in a direction of transfer and through respective forming drawers, into said pockets on the basis of a predefined production rhythm. The method provides, in the event of obstruction, stoppage or blockage of a forming drawer, to vary the operating speed of the thrusters associated with the other forming drawers in coordination and in synchrony with the step-wise feed speed of said transfer conveyor with pockets, in order to obtain an effective production rhythm equal or near to said predefined production rhythm.

Transfer device configured to transfer smoking articles in a direction of transfer from a feed store to a transfer conveyor with pockets of an apparatus to feed and form organized groups of smoking articles. The transfer device includes a forming drawer comprising an upper wall and a bottom wall. The upper wall is disposed fixed in a position opposite the bottom wall and the bottom wall is configured automatically mobile with respect to the fixed upper wall between a closed position and an open position.

Disclosed is a method for transferring products, to or from a product collection surface of a product processing line, on which they can accumulate, in which method products are stored in trays. The method includes a loaded tray transfer step, during which a tray, namely the collection tray, is separately moved between the collection surface and a receiving zone, where tray conveyor is provided, as well as a product transfer step, during which products are transferred between the collection surface and the collection tray with a planar sweeping movement, while the collection tray is held flush with the collection surface. Also disclosed is a corresponding device for transferring products.

A machine for forming and filling box-like bodies of different types having a magazine for sheets to be subjected to forming, at least one handling element for at least one sheet at a time, and a conveyor belt for products, clustered in bundles constituted by at least one product each. The machine includes a station for picking up and delivering shaped sheets, in which the magazine accommodates aligned and juxtaposed sheets and at least one handling element having an end bracket provided with at least one grip element and at least one assembly with arms which are articulated with respect to the bracket and are independently movable with respect to a fixed-frame.

Forming unit (A) and forming method to manufacture a group of articles (14), wherein the articles (14) are arranged at a given distance from one another. The following are provided: a forming conveyor (26) which moves at least one forming box (27) along a forming path (P2): a hopper (24), which is arranged along the forming path (P2) and is provided with at least one output mouth (25) comprising a plurality of dividing walls (31) defining channels (32), each configured to contain a vertical stack of articles (14); and an extractor (29), which is configured to extract the group of articles (14) from the channels (32) of the output mouth (25) and to insert the group into the forming box (27) by means of a work stroke, which is perpendicular to the forming path (P2). The forming box (27) has aa plurality of through holes (28) with a cylindrical shape, each being separate from and independent of the other through holes ((2288)) and being designed to house a corresponding single article (14) of the group.

A method and a feeding apparatus for feeding spacers for cigarette packs are disclosed, in which each spacer comprises a substantially rectangular flat body, the spacers being insertable in cartons for cigarette packs to space out packs with dimensions smaller than the standard dimensions; the spacers are stacked on a pallet that is positioned in a withdrawal station; the stacks of spacers are withdrawn from the withdrawal station and transferred to a respective hopper by passing each stack of spacers through an upper opening of the hopper, to then unload the spacers one by one through a lower opening of the hopper.

A box transport rail 70 extending in the box transport direction Tb and a plurality of box transport shuttles 76 movably arranged on the box transport rail 70 to be movable in the box transport direction Tb, which is the movement direction of a packing box Bx, are provided. When located in the sheet feeder 81, the box transport shuttles 76 receive the sheet 9 while being apart from each other across an interval greater than the bottom sheet portion 91 of the sheet 9. During movement from the pushing unit 82 to the sealer 84, the box transport shuttle 76 arranged frontward in the box transport direction Tb is brought close to the bottom sheet portion 91 to reduce the angle of a part 93 frontward of the bottom sheet portion 91 in the box transport direction Tb relative to the bottom sheet portion 91.