Twin-tube bag forming, filling and sealing machine comprising metering device and transfer system

Abstract

A twin-tube tubular bag machine having two longitudinal sealing elements for forming two parallel film tubes, two parallel transverse sealing jaws for forming sealed tubular bags, and two filling devices for filling the tubular bags. A dosing device is disposed upstream of each of the filling devices for dosing a prespecified filling quantity of the filling material to be filled into the tubular bags. A transfer element having several transfer containers is provided between the filling devices and the dosing device. The filling material is transferred from the dosing device to the transfer containers in an input station. The transfer containers are transported to a pairing of two dispensing stations along a transfer line, the filling material is transferred from the transport containers to the two filling devices, and the transfer containers are transported back to the input station along a return transfer line.

Claims

1. A twin-tube tubular bag machine having two longitudinal sealing elements for forming two parallel film tubes, two transverse sealing jaws, which are moveable against each other and which thereby transversely seal the film tube, being provided for each of the two film tubes for forming sealed tubular bags, having a mechanism which has a drive and which moves the transverse sealing jaws, and having two filling devices for filling the tubular bags formed by the film tubes with filling material, and having two separating elements for separating individual filled tubular bags from the two film tubes, a dosing device being disposed upstream of each of the filling devices, said dosing device allowing for the dosing of a prespecified filling quantity of the filling material to be filled into the tubular bags, wherein a transfer element having a transfer line, a return transfer line, and several transfer containers is provided between the two filling devices and the dosing device, the prespecified filling quantity of the filling material being transferred from the dosing device to the transfer containers in an input station, and the transfer containers being transported to a pairing of two dispensing stations, the two dispensing stations arranged sequentially along the transfer line, and the filling material being transferred from the transport containers to the two filling devices in the pairing of two dispensing stations, and the transfer containers being transported back to the input station along the return transfer line, and wherein the transfer element is controlled by a transfer control system, the transfer control system controlling the transfer process in the input station irrespective of the transfer process in the dispensing stations.

2. The twin-tube tubular bag machine according to claim 1, wherein in a pairing of two dispensing stations, the distance between the two dispensing stations is adaptable.

3. The twin-tube tubular bag machine according to claim 1, wherein the twin-tube tubular bag machine is a vertical twin-tube tubular bag machine.

4. The twin-tube tubular bag machine according to claim 1, wherein the filling devices are each realized in the manner of a forming tube, the film tubes being guided on the outer surface of the forming tubes.

5. The twin-tube tubular bag machine according to claim 1, wherein the dosing device comprises at least a weighing scale or at least a screw conveyor or at least a meter or at least a volume dosing device for measuring the filling material.

6. The twin-tube tubular bag machine according to claim 1, wherein the transfer control system changes the conveying speed of the transfer containers along the transfer line and/or along the return transfer line.

7. The twin-tube tubular bag machine according to claim 6, wherein the transfer control system changes the conveying speed of individual transfer containers irrespective of the conveying speed of the other transfer containers.

8. The twin-tube tubular bag machine according to claim 1, wherein the transfer element comprises at least one buffer, which temporarily stores at least one filled or unfilled transfer container.

9. The twin-tube tubular bag machine according to claim 1, wherein the transfer element comprises at least two input stations, at each of which filling material from a dosing device is transferable to the transfer containers.

10. The twin-tube tubular bag machine according to claim 9, wherein for forming a mixed filling at the different input stations, different filling materials are transferable to a transfer container.

11. The twin-tube tubular bag machine according to claim 1, wherein the transfer element comprises at least two pairings of two dispensing stations each, at which filling material from the transfer containers is transferable to the two filling devices of different twin-tube tubular bag machines.

Description

(1) Different embodiments of the disclosure are schematically illustrated in the drawings and are described in an exemplary manner hereinafter.

(2) FIG. 1 shows a twin-tube tubular bag machine having a dosing device disposed upstream thereof and a transfer element disposed therebetween in a side view;

(3) FIG. 2 shows the transfer element according to FIG. 1 in a top view;

(4) FIG. 3 shows a second embodiment of a transfer element in a top view;

(5) FIG. 4 a third embodiment of a transfer element in a top view.

(6) FIG. 1 shows a twin-tube tubular bag machine 01 for producing tubular bags 02. In the production of tubular bags 02, one packaging film 03 is first formed around each of the two filling devices 04, which are formed in the manner of forming tubes, to one tube each and is then sealed longitudinally. Thus formed film tubes 05 are sealed transversely by means of transverse sealing jaws 06 and are thus closed at the upper or lower end. Tubular bags 02, which have not been closed at the upper end thus far, in the two tubular bag strands are filled with a filling material by filling devices 04 during the filling process in the twin-tube tubular bag machine 01, the filling material falling into the still open tubular bag from above through the internal cross section of the forming tubes.

(7) A dosing device 07 is disposed upstream of twin-tube tubular bag machine 01, said dosing device 07 being formed in the manner of a dosing screw 08 having a corresponding drive in the illustrated embodiment. By suitably driving dosing screw 08, a prespecified filling volume of the filling material can be discharged from a filling material funnel 09.

(8) A transfer element 10 is disposed between twin-tube tubular bag machine 01 and dosing device 07. Transfer element 10 comprises an input station 11 and two dispensing stations 12. Transfer containers 13 of dosing device 07 can be filled with the pre-dosed amount of the filling material in input station 11. Subsequently, transfer containers 13 are transported along a transfer line 14 to dispensing stations 12. Transfer containers 13 are emptied into dispensing station 12, such that the prespecified amount of the filling material falls into the open tubular bags from above through filling devices 04. In this case, transfer containers 13 are filled in input station 11 irrespective of the emptying of transfer containers 13 in dispensing stations 12, such that a synchronicity between the dosing process in dosing device 07 and the tubular bag filling process in tubular bag machine 01 is no longer required. By varying the conveying speed of transfer containers 13 along transfer line 14, synchronicity deviations between the two processes can be easily compensated.

(9) FIG. 2 shows transfer element 10 having input station 11 and the two dispensing stations 12 in a schematic top view. As can be seen in FIG. 2, transfer containers 13 are transported back to input station 11 along a return transfer line 15 after the emptying into the dispensing stations 12, such that they can be filled there once again with a pre-dosed amount of the filling material. In order to also compensate for larger synchronicity deviations between the filling of the transfer containers in input station 11 and the emptying of transfer containers 13 into the two dispensing stations 12, transfer line 14 also comprises a buffer 16 in which several transfer containers 13 can be stored temporarily. Switch elements 17 serve for filling or emptying transfer containers 13 in buffer 16.

(10) FIG. 3 shows an alternative embodiment of a transfer element 18. The basic design of transfer element 18 corresponds to the design of transfer element 10, transfer element 18 comprising an additional input station 19. In turn, transfer containers 13 can be filled with pre-dosed filling quantities of a filling material at additional input station 19 using an additional dosing device 07. It is conceivable that different transfer containers are each filled with filling material in input stations 11 and 19 in order to increase the required dosing capacity in this manner by using two dosing devices. Alternatively, transfer containers 13 can also each be filled with different filling materials in input stations 11 and 19, such that each transfer container contains a pre-dosed mix of filling materials after leaving input station 19.

(11) FIG. 4 shows a third embodiment of a transfer element 20. Transfer element 20 differs from transfer element 18 in that an additional pairing of two dispensing stations 21 is used. As a result, transfer containers 13 can, on the one hand, be filled with filling material in input stations 11 and 19 by means of transfer element 20 using different dosing devices and then, the filling materials can be dispensed to two different twin-tube tubular bag machines 01 from transfer containers 13 at the two pairings of two dispensing stations 12 and 21 each. In so far as the transfer elements comprise additional input stations or dispensing stations, more complex transfer systems, which are made of a plurality of dosing devices and a plurality of tubular bag machines, can be realized.