Machine and method for secondary packaging of articles

Abstract

A side loading packaging machine for packaging articles in containers including: a section for forming containers starting from die-cuttings, comprising at least one feeding device, a loading section, a closing section, substantially aligned along a longitudinal axis of the machine; a conveyor equipped with transportation members configured to carry at least one of said containers, wherein said conveyor includes a motor arranged to drive the advance of said transportation members or groups thereof in an independent manner, and the machine operates with: a continuous formation of boxes, said feeding member working with a continuous movement and with a constant rate over time, and said transportation members advancing with a continuous movement at said forming section; and a static loading, said transportation members being stationary during the loading of articles into the containers.

Claims

1. A side loading machine for packaging articles in containers, the side loading machine comprising: a containers forming section from die-cuttings, the containers forming section including at least one feeding device; a loading section suitable for loading the articles into the containers; a closing section of the containers; wherein the containers forming, loading, and closing sections are substantially aligned along a longitudinal direction of the side loading machine; a conveyor that extends continuously on a single closed two-way path between the containers forming section and the closing section, the conveyor includes a linear slider system including a plurality of sliders actuated by linear motors on a defined track, the linear motors including at least one coil incorporated therein; a plurality of transportation members running on the single closed path of the conveyor, each of the transportation members being configured to carry at least one of the containers, each of the plurality of transportation members comprises at least one magnet and the conveyor further including a propulsion system arranged to selectively propel each of the plurality of transportation members independently from each other along the single closed two-way path; wherein: the at least one feeding device of the containers forming section is controlled to operate with a continuous motion and with a constant rate over time effective to form a continuous formation of containers; the propulsion system is controlled to impart to the transportation members a continuous advance motion while traveling through the containers forming section to receive the containers from the at least one feeding device; the propulsion system is controlled to keep the transportation members stationary in the loading section during the loading of articles into the containers while the propulsion system continuous advances the transportation members in the containers forming section; the magnetic track of the conveyor imparts traction to the plurality of transportation members; and the at least one magnet and the at least one coil are configured to advance each of the plurality of transportation members responsive to energizing the at least one coil; and a control system controlling: the at least one feeding device of the containers forming section to operate with the continuous motion and with the constant rate of the time effective to form the continuous formation of container; the propulsion system to impart to the transportation members the continuous advance motion while the transportation members travel through the containers forming section and keep the transportation members stationary in the loading section.

2. The side loading machine according to claim 1, wherein the loading section includes at least one insertion member arranged for inserting articles from an accumulation area into respective containers located on the conveyor in a loading section, and wherein the transportation members or groups of transportation members are stopped in correspondence of the loading section, during a period of time when the at least one insertion member introduces a given number of articles directly from the accumulation area of the machine into respective containers.

3. The side loading machine according to claim 2, wherein the accumulation area is represented by the end section of one or more feeding tracks of the articles.

4. The side loading machine according to claim 1, wherein the closing section includes a first sub-section for applying glue to the containers, and a second sub-section for closing the containers, and the side loading machine operates so that the transportation members or groups of transportation members: exiting from the loading section, advance with continuous movement through the first sub-section; and leaving the first sub-section, advance with intermittent movement through the second sub-section.

5. The side loading machine according to claim 1, wherein the conveyor includes a conveyor with multiple pockets including at least two sets of pockets fixed to two respective conveyor belts motorised in an independent manner, each of the multiple pockets being configured to carry one or more of the containers.

6. The side loading machine according to claim 1, wherein the conveyor includes at least four channels so that at least four transportation members or groups of transportation members of the conveyor can be driven in an independent manner.

7. The side loading machine according to claim 1, further comprising: a plurality of feed tracks substantially parallel and adjacent to one another to feed articles arranged in a row; and an insertion group arranged to transfer a number N of articles for each row, from the feed tracks directly into the containers lying on the conveyor in a loading area, the insertion group comprising a mobile carriage equipped with gripping members arranged to grab an N-th article of each feed track, to push rows of N articles into respective containers.

8. The side loading machine according to claim 1, configured for packaging coffee capsules into cases.

9. A method for packaging articles into containers by a side loading packaging machine, the method comprising: starting from die-cuttings, forming containers continuously with a constant rate over time; depositing the containers on a corresponding one of a plurality of transportation members of a conveyor advancing with a continuous movement, the conveyor including a linear slider system including a plurality of sliders actuated by linear motors on a defined track, the linear motors including at least one coil incorporated therein, the track imparts traction to the plurality of transportation members; advancing each of the plurality of transportation members independently from each other along a single closed two-way path by energizing the at least one coil; while depositing the containers on the corresponding one of the plurality of transportation members of the conveyor advancing with a continuous movement, stationary loading of the articles into the containers, by side insertion, the stationary loading being carried out while at least one of the plurality of transportation members of the conveyor and respective containers are stopped at a loading section of the side loading machine; and closing the containers; wherein the forming, loading, and closing steps being carried out in respective forming, loading, and closing sections of the machine.

10. The method according to claim 9, further comprising: advancing of the containers or groups of the containers with a continuous movement during a step of applying glue; and advancing of the containers or groups of the containers with intermittent movement during a step of closing the containers.

11. The method according to claim 9, wherein the articles are capsules for preparing hot or cold drinks.

12. The method according to claim 9, wherein the articles are capsules for preparing capsules for coffee.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) FIG. 1 shows the main components of a packaging machine according to a first embodiment of the invention.

(2) FIGS. 2, 3 and 4 concern details of FIG. 1.

(3) FIG. 5 is analogous to FIG. 1 and refers to an implementation with the technique of linear sliders transportation systems.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

(4) FIG. 1 shows the main components of a machine for packaging coffee capsules 1 inside containers which are represented, according to this non-limitative example, by linear cases 2.

(5) The machine comprises a section 3 for forming the cases 2, a loading section 4 and a closing section 5. Said sections 3, 4 and 5 are substantially aligned along a longitudinal direction, or longitudinal axis, of the machine denoted with L.

(6) The machine comprises a linear conveyor, globally indicated with reference numeral 6, that substantially extends from the forming section 3 to the closing section 5, passing through the loading section 4.

(7) The forming section 3 generates the cases 2 starting from cardboard die-cuttings housed in a store 7.

(8) The framework of the machine is not illustrated, said framework supporting said sections 3, 4 and 5, the conveyor 6, the store 7, the other components that shall be described in the rest of the description and the auxiliary components.

(9) The machine is now described also with reference to the FIGS. 2-4, showing the forming section (FIG. 2) and the loading section (FIGS. 3-4) in a greater detail.

(10) Said forming section 3 comprises a feeding device 8 that substantially forms the cases 2 to release them to transportation members of the underlying conveyor 6. Said device 8, in the illustrated example, comprises orbital gripping members 9 equipped with suction cups 10. Each of said gripping members 9 is configured to take a die-cutting 11 from the store 7 to form one of the cases 2 (FIG. 2). The movement of the orbital holding member 9 places a case 2 in a transportation member of the conveyor 6, for example a pocket 19 as represented in the figures. A feeding device of this type is per se known and therefore does not require a detailed description.

(11) The loading section 4 is set alongside an accumulation area of the capsules 1. Said accumulation area is represented by the end portions of four feed tracks 12. Said loading section 4, moreover, comprises an insertion group that is represented by a mobile carriage 13. Said mobile carriage 13 is arranged so as to insert rows of capsules 1 from the feed tracks 12 into respective cases 2 located on the conveyor 6. The mobile carriage is only partially shown.

(12) Advantageously, said mobile carriage 13 comprises a plurality of pincer members 14, each pincer member being able to grab the edge of a capsule 1 in the N-th position of one of the rows formed in the tracks 12. By grabbing the edge of a capsule, the carriage 13 can positively push a row of capsules, from a first capsule (machine side, close to the case) up to said N-th capsule (input side) into an open case 2. The direction of the active stroke of the carriage 13 is indicated by the arrow A. The carriage 13 can be realized as a single translating member (single carriage) or, in other embodiments, many carriages can be provided, for example a carriage for each track 12. Said pincer members 14 can be electromechanically or pneumatically driven.

(13) The closing section 5 preferably comprises a sub-section 15 for applying glue and a sub-section 16 for closing the edges of the cases.

(14) The conveyor 6 extends without solution of continuity from the forming section 3, through the section 4 and up to the closing section 5, with a closed path that comprises a forward branch and a return branch.

(15) Said conveyor 6, in this example, substantially comprises four pairs of belts 17, which are moved by four respective motors 18 in an independent manner. Two of the motors 18 can be seen in FIG. 1. It may be noted that two motors 18 are mounted coaxially at each end of the conveyor 6, given that such constructive details are not essential for the embodiments of the invention.

(16) Each pair of belts 17 carries one or more groups (trains) of pockets 19, each pocket 19 being able to receive one of the cases 2. Each group or train of the conveyor 6 comprises at least one pocket 19 or, preferably, a plurality of said pockets, so as to transport several cases.

(17) In FIG. 1 four trains of pockets 19 can be seen in the forward branch of the conveyor 6. Said four trains are indicated respectively with the symbols I, II, III and IV, and comprise four cases each. Each of said four trains is fixedly connected to a pair of belts 17, and is moved by one of the four motors 18 in an autonomous manner with respect to the others. Other trains of pockets are found on the return branch of the conveyor 6, facing downwards in FIG. 1.

(18) FIG. 5 shows an example embodiment of the invention with the linear sliders technique. For the sake of simplicity, the same reference numerals of FIGS. 1-4 are used in FIG. 5.

(19) The conveyor 6 in this case is implemented with a transportation system with sliders 20 (also called movers), which are movable along a path defined by a track 21. Each slider 20 carries at least one pocket 19 for a respective case 2. Each slider 20 can be driven automatically by a control system of the conveyor itself. The track 21 is able to impart traction to the sliders 20 in a magnetic way. The traction of the sliders 20 is given, for example, by linear motors in the form of electrical windings incorporated in the track 21, which cooperate with magnets fixed to sliders 20.

(20) In this embodiment the sliders are driven so as to form trains substantially equivalent to those of the machine of FIG. 1, for example the previously mentioned trains I, II, III and IV. It can be noted that sliders 20 can be driven singularly and they can form groups at any distance from one another. As a consequence the pitch is variable: for example FIG. 5 shows a pitch p1 between the case-carrying pockets in the forming area 3 smaller than the pitch p2 during loading in section 4. The possible dynamic variation of pitch represents a further degree of freedom of the embodiment with linear sliders.

(21) Returning now to FIG. 1, the machine operates in the following manner. A generic train in the forming section 3, that is in the position of the train I in the figure, is advanced with a continuous movement, suitably synchronised with the feeding device 8 which forms the cases 2 and places them in the pockets 19 separated by a pitch p (FIG. 2). Said pitch p is the machine-pitch that is constant in the embodiment of FIG. 1.

(22) Once the four cases have been loaded, said train of pockets is advanced to the position II. In said position II, the train is stopped to align the four cases 2 with the feed tracks 12. The mobile carriage 13, at this stage, performs the grabbing of an N-th capsule for each row, through the members 14, and then advances in the direction A, thus positively pushing four rows of N capsules into the four open cases 2 in the loading area.

(23) It can be assumed, for example, that the cases are sized to house ten capsules each. The mobile carriage 13 grips the tenth capsule of each row and, with a single stroke, loads 40 capsules in four cases containing ten each.

(24) In some embodiments, the train II can advance with intermittent movement during the loading, if for example the load comprises two insertion steps. For example insertion in a first group of cases and then in a second group of cases can be provided. In such a case the train takes a first position aligning the first cases with the input tracks 12, and subsequently advances by a pitch bringing the seconds cases in alignment with said tracks 12. In each case, the insertion is performed while the cases 2, intended to receive the articles, are stationary in the loading section 4 of the machine.

(25) Once loading is completed, the train is advanced towards the closing section 5. In the position III, namely at the sub-section 15, the forward movement is preferably a continuous movement. In said sub-section 15, one or more groups for applying glue, mounted at the sides of the conveyor 6, apply a preset amount of glue on the edges of the cases 2. The actual closing of the cases 2 occurs in the sub-section 16 when the train is in the position IV in the figure. Preferably, the forward movement of the train in said sub-section 16 is intermittent and may be advantageously synchronised with mobile closing members, if provided.

(26) The sealed cases 2 leaving the section 5 are delivered to a conveyor 30, which is generally outside the machine. The sealed cases 2 for example are conveyed to another device of a packaging line, for example to a palletizer to be grouped and packed into larger boxes.

(27) It should be noted that the machine operates simultaneously on the various trains on the conveyor 6. For example, with reference to the situation of FIG. 1, in a given instant of time the train I advances with continuous movement to serve the feeding device 8, the train II simultaneously is waiting in the loading section 4, and the trains III and IV advance along the closing section 5.

(28) The version of FIG. 5 substantially operates in an analogous manner, the case-carrying pockets being transported by the sliders 20 instead of belts 17.

(29) In both the embodiments of FIGS. 1 and 5, the compact size of the machine can be noted, particularly in length. The bulk of the machine in substance coincides with a single conveyor 6 extending between the forming section 3 and the closing section 5, which serves the continuous formation of cases and the static or intermittent loading.