METHOD AND DEVICE FOR ORIENTING AND/OR DISPLACING A STERILE OBJECT PACKAGED IN A FILM BAG RELATIVE TO THE FILM BAG

Abstract

The invention relates to a method for orienting and/or displacing a sterile object packaged in a film bag, comprising: positioning the film bag with the object packaged therein on a support surface so that an end region of the film bag is arranged between two gripper bars of a gripping device; clamping the end region between clamping surfaces of the gripper bars, the two gripper bars jointly forming a gripper assembly; winding a portion of the film bag adjacent to the clamped end region onto a peripheral portion of the gripper assembly; and orienting and/or displacing the object relative to the film bag by a further peripheral portion of the gripper assembly acting on the object in the winding step. The invention also relates to a device configured to carry out this method.

Claims

1. A method for orienting and/or displacing a sterile object packaged in a film bag relative to the film bag, the method comprising: positioning the film bag with the object packaged therein on a support surface so that an end region of the film bag is arranged between two gripper bars of a gripping device; clamping the end region between clamping surfaces of the two gripper bars, wherein the two gripper bars jointly form a gripper assembly; winding a portion of the film bag adjacent to the clamped end region onto a peripheral portion of the gripper assembly; and orienting and/or displacing the object relative to the film bag by a further peripheral portion of the gripper assembly when winding the portion of the film bag.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising: unwinding at least part of the portion of the wound up film bag from the gripper assembly.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising: cutting open the film bag in a region which is wound onto the gripper assembly.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising: transporting the film bag and the object packaged therein by moving the gripper assembly clamping the end region parallel to the support surface.

5. A device for orienting and/or displacing a sterile object packaged in a film bag relative to the film bag, comprising: a gripping device having two gripper bars which can be moved relative to each other along a clamping direction towards each other and away from each other between a clamping position and a release position, in order to clamp an end region of the film bag in the clamping position between clamping surfaces of the gripper bars and to release the end region in the release position, wherein the two gripper bars together form a gripper assembly in the clamping position, wherein the gripper assembly is rotatable about an axis of rotation perpendicular to the clamping direction, and wherein the gripper assembly is adjustable at least in a horizontal transport direction.

6. The device of claim 5, wherein the gripper assembly is adjustable in two non-parallel directions in an adjustment plane perpendicular to the axis of rotation.

7. The device of claim 5, wherein the gripper assembly has, in a cross-section perpendicular to the axis of rotation, a peripheral portion with a convexly rounded contour.

8. The device of claim 5, further comprising a cutting device having a cutting element for cutting open the film bag, wherein the gripper assembly has a guide slot that is configured to receive a protruding end of the cutting element when cutting open the film bag.

9. The device of claim 8, wherein the cutting device comprises a contact surface, and wherein the guide slot is formed in a peripheral portion of the gripper assembly, wherein the gripper assembly has a contact surface in the peripheral portion that is configured to be in planar contact with the contact surface of the cutting device when cutting open the film bag.

10. The device of claim 5, further comprising a support surface, wherein the gripping device is arranged and configured to transport the film bag with the object packaged therein on the support surface along the transport direction, the film bag being clamped between the gripper bars.

11. The method of claim 4, wherein the steps of transporting the film bag and the object packaged therein and winding the portion of the film bag adjacent to the clamped end region onto the peripheral portion of the gripper assembly overlap in time.

12. The gripping device of claim 7, wherein the peripheral portion with the convexly rounded contour is in a form of a segment of a circle.

Description

[0033] The present invention is explained in greater detail in the following based on a preferred embodiment which is shown in the associated figures. The drawings show:

[0034] FIG. 1 a perspective view of a device according to a first embodiment of the invention, and

[0035] FIGS. 2-5 illustrate an embodiment of the method according to the invention which can be carried out with the device from FIG. 1.

[0036] All figures are simplified, diagrammatic illustrations intended substantially to explain the basic principles of the invention.

[0037] FIG. 1 shows a device 10 for orienting and/or displacing a sterile object packaged in a film bag, the film bag and object in FIG. 1 not being shown for reasons of clarity.

[0038] The device 10 comprises a gripping device 16 with two gripper bars 18 each of which extends along a bar direction L, i.e. in the y-direction in the co-ordinate system shown in the figure.

[0039] The two gripper bars 18 can be moved relative to each other along a clamping direction K, towards each other and away from each other between a clamping position and a release position (vertical here), FIG. 1 illustrating the release position.

[0040] The clamping movement of the gripper bars 18 can be performed, for example, via a drive 20, preferably an electric or pneumatic drive. It may be provided that only one of the bars 18 is movable, while the other is fixedly mounted on a gripper head 22. In the example illustrated, however, both gripper bars, each adjustable separately in clamping direction K, are provided on the gripper head 22.

[0041] The gripper head 22 and therefore also the gripper assembly 24, which is formed by the two gripper bars 18 in the clamping position, is preferably provided on a gripper carriage 28 so as to be rotatable about an axis of rotation R that runs perpendicular to the clamping direction K. A drive not shown here is also preferably provided for the rotary movement of the gripper assembly 24.

[0042] In the embodiment shown, the gripper carriage 28 is provided so as to be adjustable along a horizontal transport direction T on a guide rail 30, preferably by means of a suitable drive, the guide rail 30 itself in turn being adjustable in a vertical direction V, for example electrically or pneumatically, by suitable drives 38 such that the gripper assembly 24 can be rotated as a whole about the axis of rotation R and can be adjusted in an adjustment plane perpendicular to the axis of rotation R in two non-parallel spatial directions (x, z).

[0043] By means of a combined rotary movement about the axis of rotation R and an adjusting movement in the adjustment plane, it is possible to implement the winding movement described in greater detail in conjunction with FIGS. 2-5, in which a portion of the film bag is wound onto a peripheral portion of the gripper assembly 24 and, in the process, the object lying on a support surface not shown in FIG. 1 is oriented or displaced in the film bag.

[0044] A preferred embodiment of the method according to the invention, which can be carried out with the device from FIG. 1, is explained in detail below in conjunction with FIGS. 2 to 5.

[0045] They are simplified and diagrammatic illustrations which show the gripper bars 18 of the gripper assembly 24 in a sectional view in a sectional plane perpendicular to the axis of rotation and the sterile object 14 packaged in a film bag 12 in a simplified lateral view. It should be noted that the shape of the lower gripper bar in FIGS. 2 to 5 deviates slightly from the shape of the lower gripper bar in FIG. 1, but this has no bearing on the explanation of the invention.

[0046] For example, the object 14 may be a so-called tub, i.e. a tub-like plastic container sealed with a peelable film lid, in which, for example, syringes, vials, cartridges or similar receptacles for pharmaceuticals can be accommodated.

[0047] In the method according to the invention, the film bag 12 with the object 14 packaged therein is first positioned, in a step a) illustrated in FIG. 2, on a horizontal support surface 36 in such a manner that an end region 12a of the film bag 12, which may in particular comprise a sealing seam of the bag 12, is positioned between the two gripper bars 18 of the gripping device 16 in the release position.

[0048] In a subsequent step b), the gripper bars 18 are then moved towards each other along the clamping direction K (in z-direction) such that they clamp the partial region 12a securely between two clamping surfaces 18f.

[0049] Complementary positive locking structures 19, for example, can be provided on the clamping surfaces 18f to increase clamping security. Apart from this, the clamping surfaces 18 in the example shown are preferably substantially flat.

[0050] FIGS. 3 and 4 illustrate a subsequent step c), in which a portion of the film bag 12 adjacent to the clamped end region 12a is wound onto a peripheral portion 24.1 (cf. FIG. 3) of the gripper assembly 24 which is formed by the two gripper bars 18 in the clamping position.

[0051] This winding movement, indicated by curved arrows in FIGS. 3 and 4, can be effected in the embodiment shown by superimposing a common rotation of the gripper bars 18 about an axis of rotation R that runs parallel to the y-direction (cf. FIG. 1), which is not shown in the figures, with a two-dimensional adjusting movement of the gripper assembly 24 in an adjustment plane (x-z plane) perpendicular to the axis of rotation R.

[0052] For example, the gripper assembly 24 is rotated about the axis of rotation twice by approximately 90°.

[0053] During winding (between the positions illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 4), a further peripheral portion 24.2 (cf. FIG. 3) of the gripper assembly 24, here convexly rounded, acts on the object 14 and displaces it relative to the film bag 12 away from the intended cutting edge towards the left, i.e. in the negative x-direction, in order to create sufficient distance between the object 14 and a cutting device 40 with which the film bag 12 can later be cut open.

[0054] After displacing or orienting the object 14 in the film bag 12 and before cutting open the bag, part of the portion of the film bag 12 wound onto the gripper assembly 24 can be unwound again (cf. FIGS. 4 and 5), for example to move the gripper assembly 24 into a position suitable for cutting it open.

[0055] In the embodiment shown, the cutting device 40 is provided so as to be vertically adjustable (in the z-direction) below the support surface 36 which has an opening 36o through which the cutting device 40 can be moved upwards, a protruding end of the cutting element 42 being received in a guide slot 46, which is formed in the gripper assembly 24, while the film bag 12 shown in FIG. 5 is being cut open.

[0056] To hold the film bag 12 securely during the cutting process, the gripper assembly 24 as well as the cutting device 40 can each have a contact surface 24k and 40k respectively (cf. FIG. 4) which are configured to be in planar contact with each other during cutting.

[0057] For reasons of time saving, it can be provided in particular that the winding movement and thus the orientation and/or displacement of the object 14 in the film bag 12 takes place overlapping in time with a transport of the film bag 12 in the transport direction (here the x-direction). In particular, the gripping device 16 can thus also serve as a transport device with which the film bag 12 and the object 14 packaged therein can be transported, for example, to a transition or an airlock to an adjacent area of higher cleanliness, the object 14 preferably being transferred into this adjacent area according to the NTT concept after the bag has been cut open.

[0058] Even if the film bag is dissected into two parts during the cutting process illustrated in FIG. 5, the cut off portion remains firmly clamped between the clamping surfaces 18f of the gripper bars 18 and can be fed to a waste container (not shown here) via a transport movement of the gripper assembly 24.