Glass article layer, glass article bundle, and packing method

Abstract

A glass article layer is provided that includes at least two cylindrical glass articles extending in a z-direction and arranged side by side in an x-direction. Two spacers are provided spaced apart from one another at an interval longitudinally of the glass article in the z-direction. The spacers are arranged between the glass articles. The spacers are thread-like elements and at least one of the thread-like elements is provided at each spacer position.

Claims

1. A glass article layer comprising: two glass articles extending in a z-direction and arranged side by side in an x-direction; two spacer positions are provided spaced apart at an interval A in the z-direction longitudinally of the two glass articles; and spacers are arranged between the two glass articles, wherein the spacers are thread-like elements, wherein at least one of the thread-like elements is provided at each of the two spacer positions, wherein only one of the thread-like elements is provided at each of the two spacer positions, and wherein the only one of the thread-like elements includes a loop in a y-direction below or above the two glass articles.

2. The glass article layer of claim 1, wherein the thread-like element is at least partially wrapped around every glass article at the two spacer positions.

3. The glass article layer of claim 1, wherein each of the thread-like elements has two thread sections interposed between the two glass articles at each of the two spacer positions.

4. The glass article layer of claim 1, wherein the glass articles are glass tubes or glass rods.

5. The glass article layer of claim 1, wherein each of the thread-like elements has a thread thickness S where 0.25 mm≤S≤2.5 mm.

6. The glass article layer of claim 1, wherein each of the thread-like elements is made of a plastic material.

7. The glass article layer of claim 6, wherein the plastic material is selected from a group consisting of polypropylene (PP), polyethylene (PE), high-density polyethylene (HDPE), polyethylene wax, polyamide (PA), styrene-acrylonitrile copolymer (SAN), polyester, polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polybutylene terephthalate (PBT), polyurethane (PU), acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene copolymer (ABS), polyether ether ketone (PEEK), and polycarbonate (PC).

8. The glass article layer of claim 1, wherein the two spacer positions are provided at intervals between 20 cm and 80 cm.

9. The glass article layer of claim 1, wherein the only one of the thread-like elements has two thread sections interposed between the two glass articles at each of the two spacer positions.

10. The glass article layer of claim 9, wherein the two thread sections extend at an angle α relative to the z-direction, with 80°≤α≤100°.

11. The glass article layer of claim 9, wherein each thread section of the two thread sections is wrapped around at least 5% of the outer circumference of one of the two glass articles.

12. The glass article layer of claim 9, wherein each thread section of the two thread sections is juxtaposed in the z-direction.

13. The glass article layer of claim 1, wherein the only one of the thread-like elements is wrapped around at least 70% of the outer circumference of the two glass articles.

14. The glass article layer of claim 1, wherein two thread-like elements is provided at each of the two spacer positions, the two-thread like elements comprising a first thread-like element and a second thread-like element.

15. The glass article layer of claim 14, wherein the first thread-like element has one thread section and the second thread-like element has another thread section.

16. The glass article layer of claim 15, wherein the thread section of the first and second thread-like elements form an interlace between the two glass articles.

17. The glass article layer of claim 15, wherein the thread section of the first and second thread-like elements form a knotted interlace between the two glass articles.

18. The glass article layer of claim 14, wherein the first thread-like element is wrapped around an upper half of an outer circumference of two glass articles and the second thread-like element is wrapped around a lower half of the outer circumference.

19. A glass article bundle comprising two glass article layers as claimed in claim 1, the two glass article layers being arranged on top of each other in a y-direction, wherein the two glass article layers are arranged offset one above the other.

20. The glass article bundle of claim 19, wherein the thread-like elements of the glass article layers are spacers between the two glass article layers.

21. The glass article bundle of claim 19, further comprising a cover sheath at least at both ends.

22. The glass article bundle of claim 21, wherein the cover sheath is made of a shrink film.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) Exemplary embodiments of the invention will now be explained with reference to the drawings, wherein:

(2) FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a glass article bundle comprising a plurality of glass article layers;

(3) FIG. 2 is a plan view of a glass article layer;

(4) FIG. 3 is a perspective view of glass article portions of a glass article layer comprising three glass articles according to a first embodiment;

(5) FIG. 4 is an elevational view showing the end face of the arrangement of FIG. 3;

(6) FIG. 5 is a side view of a portion of a glass article;

(7) FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view through the glass article of FIG. 5 along the line X-X;

(8) FIG. 7 is a plan view of a section of the glass article layer according to FIG. 3;

(9) FIG. 8 is an end view of a glass article bundle comprising glass article layers according to FIGS. 3 to 7;

(10) FIG. 9 is a perspective view of glass articles portions of a glass article layer according to a second embodiment;

(11) FIG. 10 is an elevational view showing the end face of the glass article layer of FIG. 9;

(12) FIG. 11 is a schematic illustration of an interlace;

(13) FIG. 12 is a schematic illustration of a knotted interlace;

(14) FIG. 13 is a plan view of the arrangement of glass articles of a glass article layer as shown in FIG. 9;

(15) FIG. 14 is an elevational view showing the end face of a glass article bundle comprising glass article layers according to FIGS. 9 to 13;

(16) FIG. 15 is a schematic view of a packing system for producing glass article layers and glass article bundles;

(17) FIGS. 16-19 show several method steps of a wrapping procedure according to a first embodiment;

(18) FIGS. 20-25 show several method steps of a wrapping procedure according to a second embodiment;

(19) FIG. 26 is an illustration for explaining the producing of a glass article bundle.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

(20) FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of a glass article bundle 100 which comprises six glass article layers 110. The glass article layers 110 lie in an x-z plane, and the glass articles 50 extend in the z-direction and are arranged side by side in the x-direction. The glass article layers 110 are stacked on top of each other in the y-direction.

(21) Each glass article layer 110 has four spacer positions 112 arranged at an interval A from each other. In the embodiment shown here, two different intervals A.sub.1 and A.sub.2 are provided.

(22) At each end 102, 104 of the glass article bundle 100, a cover sheath 120 is provided, which is made of a shrink film, which extends over an end portion of the glass article layer 110 and hence over end portions of the glass articles 50 and covers the end faces of the bundle 100 of glass articles. Since these are glass tubes in the embodiment shown here, the tube openings are also covered by the cover sheath 120, so that the interiors of the glass tubes are protected from contamination.

(23) FIG. 2 is a plan view of a glass article layer 110, which comprises six glass articles 50.

(24) FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a glass article layer 110 comprising only three glass articles 50, in order to explain the arrangement of a thread-like element 10. Shown are only the portions of the glass articles 50 where a spacer position 112 is located, by way of example.

(25) For the sake of better understanding, the spacing between the glass articles 50 is shown significantly enlarged and the thread-like element 10 is indicated by arrows P to illustrate the running direction of the thread-like element 10, which will be explained in more detail in conjunction with the method for producing the glass article layer 110 (see FIGS. 16 to 19).

(26) FIG. 4 is an elevational view of the portion of a glass article layer 110 shown in FIG. 3.

(27) A single thread-like element 10 having ends 11 and 12 is wrapped around all three glass articles 50, while the thread-like element 10 does not necessarily engages everywhere on the outer surface of the glass article 50. Whether the thread-like element 10 engages on the outer surface of the glass article 50 depends on the selected thread tension of the thread-like element 10 during the production process of the glass article layer 110. Moreover, the spacing between the adjacent glass articles 50 can be adjusted through the thread tension.

(28) In FIG. 3, the centers MP of glass articles 50 are indicated, which lie on a line L. The center lines ML of the glass articles 50 lie in a common plane E which intersects the outer surfaces of the glass articles 50 along the so-called contact line 114. The juxtaposed glass articles 50 would contact along this contact line 114, if no spacers were provided.

(29) The thread-like element 10 is wrapped around the upper outer circumference of each glass article 50 and forms a wrap 13 there, which in the region of the contact line 114 transitions into the thread section 14 that provides the spacer between the glass articles 50. In the embodiment shown here, each thread section 14 is wrapped around 10% of the outer circumference of the glass article 50. Between the spacers, each thread-like element 10 forms a loop 16 which is located below the respective glass articles 50 and has first and second loop sections 17 and 18. The two loop sections 17 and 18 are interconnected by a third loop section 19 which is substantially accommodated in a lower wedge-shaped interspace 15.

(30) Two of the three loops 16 are interlooped with a respective neighboring loop 16. To this end, loop sections 17 and 18 of one loop 16 are passed through the neighboring loop 16. It is also possible for the thread-like element 10 to be arranged such that the loops 16 rest on the upper side of the glass articles 50.

(31) While the thread sections 14 define the spacers between adjacent glass articles 50, the loops 16, in particular loop sections 17 and 18, are provided as spacers between the glass articles 50 of two glass article layers 110 stacked on top of each other in the y-direction.

(32) FIG. 5 shows a side view of a glass article portion with a thread-like element 10, where the thread section 14 forms an angle α of 90° with the z-axis and thus with the contact line 114.

(33) FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view through the glass article 50 along the line X-X in FIG. 5 to illustrate the thread section 14 that is effective as a spacer. The ten-percent overlapping with the outer circumference of glass article 50 mentioned in conjunction with FIG. 4 means that the thread section 14 extends over approximately 5% of the outer circumference of the glass article 50 on both sides of the contact line 114. When adjacent glass articles 50 slip in the y-direction, thread section 14 always prevents the surfaces of the adjacent glass articles 50 from contacting each other.

(34) FIG. 7 is a plan view of the glass article layer 110 of FIG. 3, showing that the spacing B between adjacent glass articles 50 corresponds to the thread thickness S of thread sections 14.

(35) FIG. 8 is an elevational view showing the end face of a glass article bundle 100 which comprises three glass article layers 110 according to FIGS. 3 to 7. The glass article layers 110 are arranged offset to one another, so that when the glass article layers 110 have reached their final position, close-packing of the glass articles 50 is achieved. In the view of FIG. 3, the glass article layers 110 have not yet reached their final position, for a better illustration of the course of the threads. It can be seen that the loops 16 form spacers between superposed glass articles 50.

(36) FIG. 9 shows portions of three glass articles 50 which form a glass article layer 110 according to a second embodiment.

(37) As in FIG. 3, the center points MP, center lines ML, line L, plane E, and contact lines 114 are indicated in FIG. 9. FIG. 10 shows an end view of the section of a glass article layer 110 shown in FIG. 9.

(38) In this embodiment, two thread-like elements 20, 30 are provided at each spacer position 112. The first thread-like element 20 which may also be referred to as an upper thread 20 is wrapped around the upper half of the outer circumference of the glass article 50 and forms an upper wrap 25, while the second thread-like element 30 which may also be referred to as a lower thread 30 is wrapped around the lower half of the outer circumference of the glass article 50 and forms a lower wrap 35.

(39) The ends 21, 23 of the upper thread 20 are connected to the ends 31, 33 of the lower thread 30, for example by fusing or gluing.

(40) Between the upper wraps 25, thread sections 24 are provided defining the spacers. Between the lower wraps 35, thread sections 34 are provided defining the spacers. Each thread section 24, 34 engages both on the outer circumference of one glass article 50 and on the outer circumference of the adjacent glass article 50. Thread sections 24, 34 are bights 27 which are entangled to form an interlace 40. Thread sections 24, 34 with the interlaces 40 define the spacers and are located in the region of the contact line 114.

(41) Interlace 40 is shown enlarged in FIG. 11.

(42) FIG. 12 illustrates a modification of the interlace 40, which is referred to as a knotted interlace 40′. Thread section 24 is in the form of a turn with lengths of the thread section 24 crossing each other. The bight 27 of thread section 34 extends through this turn 26, and when the turn 26 is tightened the thread section 34 will be fixed in the turn 26.

(43) FIG. 13 is a schematic plan view of the glass article layer 110 of FIG. 9 showing that the spacing B between adjacent glass articles 50 may be greater than the thread thickness S of thread sections 24, 34, because of the interlace 40.

(44) FIG. 14 shows the end face of a glass article bundle 100 which comprises three glass article layers 110 stacked on top of each other in the y-direction in accordance with FIG. 9. The glass article layers 110 are arranged offset to one another, so that a close-packing is achieved.

(45) FIG. 15 schematically shows a packing system 60 for producing glass article layers 110 and glass article bundles 100. The glass articles 50 are provided on an inclined plane 64 and taken over by a first conveyor belt 66 in a feed station 62. The individual glass articles 50 are transferred to a second conveyor belt 70 and fed into a separation station 68.

(46) Conveyor belt 70 feeds the separated glass articles 50 to a packing station 80 which comprises at least two wrapping stations 82. The wrapping stations 82 are arranged next to each other at an interval A which corresponds to the distance between the spacer positions 112 of the glass article layer 110, so that the wrapping operation can be carried out at the spacer positions 112 of the glass article layer 110. The second conveyor belt 70 consists of a plurality of juxtaposed and synchronously operated individual belts 71, the number of which depends on the number of wrapping stations 82.

(47) Preferably, three individual belts 71 are provided in the case of two wrapping stations 82, which are spaced from each other. The spacing between the individual belts 71 is required for passing the needles 84 of the wrapping stations 82.

(48) After the thread-like elements 10, 20, 30 have been severed, the completed glass article layer 110 is then transferred to a container 130, in a transfer station 95, where the individual glass article layers 110 are stacked on top of each other in close-packing. Thus, there is a glass article bundle 100 in the container 130, which is taken away and provided with a cover sheath 120 made of a shrink film at the ends 102, 104 thereof, in an enveloping station (not shown).

(49) By way of example, FIG. 16 shows a side view of such a wrapping station 82 according to a first embodiment, with an upstream separation station 68. In this separation station 68, a separating tool 72 is provided which is wedge-shaped and is introduced in the vertical direction between the glass articles 50 arriving on the second conveyor belt 70 in order to separate the glass articles 50. Subsequently, the separated glass article 50 is fixed on the second conveyor belt 70 by a downholder 83 and a thread-like element 10 is wrapped around it in the wrapping station 82, which thread-like element 10 is fed from above into an eyelet 85 of a needle 84. FIG. 16 shows an individual belt 71 of the second conveyor belt 70 in a side view.

(50) The needle 84 is located above the second conveyor belt 70 and is moved in the vertical direction. Needle 84 cooperates with a thread looper 86 which is disposed below the second conveyor belt 70. Thread looper 86 is a loop-taker 87 which grasps the loop 16 of the thread-like element 10 extending through the gap between two adjacent individual belts 71 of the second conveyor belt. The needle 84 passes the thread-like element 10 through the provided loop 16.

(51) The individual steps of the wrapping process are illustrated in more detail in FIGS. 17 to 19. The procedure involves a needle 84 reciprocating up and down, and a loop-taker 87 reciprocating back and forth.

(52) The wrapping technique is comparable to the single-thread chain-stitch technique known from sewing machines.

(53) In FIG. 17, the needle 84 is further lowered and the loop-taker 87 releases the loop 16, while the needle 84 retains the loop 16 thereby expanding it until the needle 84 is able to enter into the open loop 16, as seen in FIG. 18. Thereafter, the loop-taker 87 is withdrawn and releases the loop 16. When the needle 84 is subsequently pulled up, the loop-taker 87 grasps the new loop 16 which extends though and is interlooped with the preceding loop 16. Thereafter, the process starts from the beginning to wrap the subsequent glass article 50.

(54) FIG. 20 shows a side view of a wrapping station 82 according to a second embodiment, by way of example, with an upstream separation station 68. In this separation station 68, a separating tool 72 is provided, which is wedge-shaped and is introduced in the vertical direction between the glass articles 50 arriving on the second conveyor belt 70 in order to separate the glass articles 50. Subsequently, the separated glass article 50 is fixed on the second conveyor belt 70 by a downholder 83 and a thread-like element 20 (upper thread) and a second thread-like element 30 (lower thread) are wrapped around it in the wrapping station 82.

(55) The upper thread 20 is introduced from above into an eyelet 85 of a needle 84 which is provided above the second conveyor belt 70. The lower thread 30 is wound on a bobbin 89 and is introduced to the glass articles 50 from below, through a gap between adjacent individual belts 71 of the second conveyor belt 70.

(56) As in the previous embodiment, the second conveyor belt 70 consists of two or more synchronously driven strap belts arranged along the advancement direction and defining the individual belts 71. These individual belts 71 are positioned in such a manner along the axis of the glass article 50 that the needles 84 can be positioned in the free spacings and are not hindered by the individual belts 71.

(57) The bobbin 89 is accommodated in a bobbin case 91 which is surrounded by an annular thread looper 86 that is also referred to as a rotary hook 88. The bobbin 89 and the rotary hook 88 rotate together about a horizontal axis 90 in the direction of the arrow.

(58) The needle 84 is moved down into the vicinity of the bobbin 89, whereby the upper thread 20 forms a loop 27 which is grasped by the rotary hook 88 (see FIGS. 21, 22). During the continued rotation of the rotary hook 88, the upper thread 20 is pulled around the bobbin 89 and the needle 84 is pulled upwards, while the lower thread 30 is simultaneously introduced into the loop 27 of the upper thread 20 (see FIG. 23). Then, the loop 27 of the upper thread 20 is released from the rotary hook 88 (see FIG. 24). In this way, the interlace 40 is formed (see FIG. 25). Thereafter, the process starts from the beginning to wrap the subsequent glass article 50.

(59) FIG. 26 shows the producing of a glass article bundle 100. Once the wrapping process has been completed, the individual glass article layers 110 are not separated from one another as has been explained in conjunction with FIG. 15. A layer ribbon 132 consisting of glass article layers 110 is fed into a U-shaped container 130 where the layer ribbon 132 is folded down such that the individual glass article layers 110 come to rest on top of each other in close-packing. When the container 130 is filled so that a bundle 100 of glass articles is completed, the layer ribbon 132 is severed between two glass article layers 110. The glass article bundle 100 is provided with a cover sheath 120 from both ends thereof and is then removed from the container 130.

LIST OF REFERENCE CHARACTERS

(60) 10 Thread, thread-like element 11 First end 12 Second end 13 Wrap 14 Thread section 15 Wedge-shaped interspace 16 Loop 17 First loop section 18 Second loop section 19 Third loop section 20 First thread-like element, upper thread 21 First end 23 Second end 24 Thread section 25 Upper wrap 26 Turn 27 Bight 30 Second thread-like element, lower thread 31 First end 33 Second end 34 Thread section 35 Lower wrap 40 Interlace 40′ Knotted interlace 50 Glass article 60 Packing system 62 Feed station 64 Inclined plane 66 First conveyor belt 68 Separation station 70 Second conveyor belt 71 Individual belt 72 Separating tool 80 Packing station 82 Wrapping station 83 Downholder 84 Needle 85 Eyelet 86 Thread looper 87 Loop-taker 88 Rotary hook 89 Bobbin 90 Horizontal axis 91 Bobbin case 95 Transfer station 100 Glass article bundle 102 End of glass article bundle 104 End of glass article bundle 110 Glass article layer 112 Spacer position 114 Contact line 120 Cover sheath 130 Container 132 Layer ribbon consisting of glass article layers A, A1, A2 Interval of spacer positions L Line extending through the centers of the glass articles S Thread thickness e Plane P Arrow for advancement direction ML Center line MP Center