Magazine for Temporarily Storing Flat-Folded and Upright Standing Package Sleeves for Supplying a Downstream Filling Machine with the Package Sleeves

Abstract

A magazine for temporarily storing at least one package sleeve group having a plurality of flat-folded and upright standing package sleeves and for equipping an unfolding device for the package sleeves following the magazine is represented and described, comprising a supply side supplying the package sleeves, a removal side arranged in a transport direction of the package sleeve group behind the supply side and at least one transport unit movable forwards and backwards along the transport direction to transport the package sleeve group from the supply side to the removal side. In order to ensure the uniform supply of the subsequent unfolding device and therefore to increase the productivity of the subsequent filling machine and also to achieve a constructively simple and simultaneously cost-effective configuration of the magazine, which can also be flexibly applied to different package sleeve sizes, it is proposed that the transport unit has at least two slide elements, arranged opposite one another and in each case resting at least partially on one side of the package sleeves, to align the package sleeves.

Claims

1. A magazine for temporarily storing at least one package sleeve group having a plurality of flat-folded and upright standing package sleeves and for equipping an unfolding device for the package sleeves following the magazine, comprising: a supply side supplying the package sleeves, a removal side arranged in a transport direction of the package sleeve group behind the supply side and at least one transport unit movable forwards and backwards along the transport direction to transport the package sleeve group from the supply side to the removal side, wherein the transport unit has at least two slide elements, arranged opposite one another and in each case resting at least partially on one side of the package sleeves, to align the package sleeves, characterised in that the slide elements in each case have a bearing region running substantially parallel to the transport direction and an alignment region tapering in the transport direction, wherein a distance, running perpendicular to the transport direction, of the slide elements, arranged opposite one another, decreases from the alignment region to the bearing region.

2. Magazine according to claim 1, characterised in that the slide elements are formed so as to be interchangeable.

3. (canceled)

4. The magazine according to claim 1, characterised in that a slide rod running substantially parallel to the transport direction is provided and in that the transport unit has a slide carriage movable forwards and backwards on the slide rod.

5. The magazine according to claim 1, characterised in that the transport unit has at least two feed doors, wherein the feed doors rest in a closed state at the rear side on the last package sleeve of the package sleeve group to be transported and are configured to push the package sleeve group to be transported in the transport direction and wherein the feed doors are configured in an opened state to enable a supply of package sleeves to be transported between the feed doors.

6. The magazine according to claim 5, characterised in that the feed doors are pivotable from the closed state into the opened state and back.

7. The magazine according to claim 6, characterised in that the transport unit has, for each feed door, a spring forcing the feed doors into the closed state by means of a restoring force.

8. The magazine according to claim 1, characterised in that the transport unit has an access opening formed by a U-shaped frame arranged in the transport direction before the package sleeve group to be transported for the supply of package sleeves to be transported.

9. The magazine according to claim 8, characterised in that the feed doors are arranged in the closed state resting on an end side, pointing in the transport direction, of a horizontal support of the U-shaped frame.

10. The magazine according to claim 9, characterised in that the horizontal support of the U-shaped frame has a slide element, pointing towards the bottom in the direction of the package sleeves, to compensate for a vertical height offset of successive package sleeves.

11. The magazine according to claim 1, characterised in that in each case a stop stopping the transport unit after a maximum forward movement in the transport direction is provided on the removal side for each transport unit.

12. The magazine according to claim 11, characterised in that the stop is arranged such that the transport unit impacts against the stop to stop after a maximum forward movement in the transport direction by means of the slide carriage.

13. The magazine according to claim 1, characterised in that in each case at least one slide rail running from the supply side to the removal side along the transport direction is provided for each transport unit as a support for the package sleeves to be transported.

14. The magazine according to claim 1, characterised in that in each case two lateral boundary rails arranged opposite one another and in each case on one side of the package sleeves can be provided for each transport unit.

15. The magazine according to claim 14, characterised in that in each case the bearing region of the slide elements has an oversized portion, compared to the corresponding lateral boundary rail, said oversized portion pointing perpendicular to the transport direction and in the direction of the package sleeves.

16. The magazine according to claim 14, characterised in that the lateral boundary rails have, on the supply side, a tapering region running in the transport direction.

17. The magazine according to claim 1, characterised in that in each case a clamp device is provided on the supply side for each transport unit, wherein the clamp device has a retaining hook engaging a stopper provided on the transport unit.

18. The magazine according to claim 17, characterised in that the stopper is arranged on the slide carriage of the transport unit.

19. The magazine according to claim 1, characterised in that each transport unit is driven by means of a rope pull system.

Description

[0037] The invention is explained in more detail below on the basis of a drawing representing merely preferred exemplary embodiments. In the drawing is shown:

[0038] FIG. 1A a blank known from the prior art for manufacturing a package sleeve,

[0039] FIG. 1B a package sleeve known from the prior art, which is formed from the blank represented in FIG. 1A, in the flat-folded state,

[0040] FIG. 2 a magazine according to the invention for temporarily storing flat-folded and upright standing package sleeves and equipping an unfolding device following the magazine in a perspective view,

[0041] FIG. 3A the magazine according to the invention from FIG. 2 in a side view

[0042] FIG. 3B the magazine according to the invention from FIG. 3A in a plan view from the direction III B in FIG. 3A,

[0043] FIG. 3C the detail view III C of the magazine according to the invention from FIG. 3B,

[0044] FIG. 3D the detail view III D of the magazine according to the invention from FIG. 3B, and

[0045] FIG. 4 the transport unit of the magazine according to the invention in a perspective view.

[0046] A blank B known from the prior art is represented in FIG. 1A, from which a package sleeve P can be formed. The blank B can comprise a plurality of layers of different materials, for example paper, cardboard, plastic or metal, in particular aluminium and is generally laminated. The blank B has a plurality of fold lines which should facilitate the folding of the blank B and divide the blank B into a plurality of surfaces. A package sleeve P can be formed from the blank B by the blank B being folded such that a sealing surface C to be discerned on the right side of the blank B is connected, in particular sealed with the left edge of the blank B.

[0047] A package sleeve P known from the prior art, folded and sealed in the above-described manner having a longitudinal seam is represented in the flat-folded state in FIG. 1B. In the flat-folded state, a plurality of package sleeves P can be combined in a particularly space-saving manner into one unit, in particular placed upright and in a line beside one another, for example organised together in a package sleeve group G not represented in this figure. The package sleeves P are for example combined at the location of manufacture and transported in batches to their intended location, such as the filling operation. The package sleeves P can be supplied to a filling machine there. The package sleeves P have to firstly be unfolded by an unfolding device in order to be able to later fill them with a product, for example a liquid foodstuff. The upright standing package sleeves P to be combined into batches and transported further are open on two opposing sides, in the representation according to FIG. 1B at the top and bottom.

[0048] A magazine according to the invention for temporarily storing at least one package sleeve group G having a plurality of flat-folded and upright standing package sleeves P not represented here and for equipping an unfolding device for package sleeves P not represented and following the magazine is represented in FIG. 2. The magazine serves, on the one hand, to transport individual, lined up, upright standing package sleeves P which can be transported arranged successively in the magazine in a package sleeve group G not represented. To this end, the magazine has a supply side 1 receiving the package sleeves P via which the package sleeves P can be supplied individually or combined in groups. The upright standing package sleeves P are conveyed in the magazine along the transport direction T from the supply side 1 to a removal side 2. The removal side 2 can for example correspond to a subsequent unfolding device of a filling machine or adjoin such an unfolding device on the removal side 2 in which the flat-folded package sleeves P are removed individually and unfolded. The magazine serves, on the other hand, also to temporarily store the package sleeves P before they can be supplied individually to the subsequent unfolding device of the filling machine. In this respect, the magazine provides a type of buffer such that permanent equipping of the unfolding device or filling machine P with package sleeves P takes place.

[0049] In order to transport the package sleeves P not represented, the magazine has at least one transport unit 3 which can move forwards and backwards along the transport direction T.

[0050] The exemplary embodiment represented and in this respect preferred has four transport units 3 arranged in parallel. In order to advance the individual transport units 3 independently, the magazine also has a slide rod 4 for each transport unit 3 and each transport unit 3 itself has a slide carriage 5 which comprises the slide rod 4 and is configured to slide on the slide rod 4. A rope pull system can for example be provided to drive the slide carriage 5 which is connected to the slide carriage 5 such that it is moved forward along the transport direction T by weights provided in the rope pull system such that the downstream unfolding device is uniformly supplied with package sleeves P. Alternatively, the slide carriage 5 could also have a motor as the drive system. Exemplary embodiments with a lower or higher number of transport units 3 arranged in parallel, for example six transport units 3 arranged in parallel may also be preferred.

[0051] Lastly, the transport unit 3 still comprises a U-shaped frame 6 which is connected to the slide carriage 5. In this manner, the U-shaped frame 6 together with the slide carriage 5 can move forwards and backwards along the transport direction T. The U-shaped frame 6 open at the bottom also forms an access opening 7 through which package sleeves P can be pushed to equip the magazine.

[0052] The package sleeves P are received in the magazine on the supply side 1, by firstly being supplied to a tapering region 8. The tapering region 8 tapers in the direction of the transport direction T such that package sleeves P supplied here already undergo a first alignment. The package sleeves P are then transported on slide rails 9 by the magazine. Furthermore, lateral boundary rails 10 are provided which limit an undesired lateral deflection of package sleeves P behind the transport unit 3. The described tapering regions 8 are part of the lateral boundary rails 10 in the exemplary embodiment represented and in this respect preferred.

[0053] A stop 11 is also provided in each case on the removal side 2 for each transport unit 3. The stop 11 serves to stop the transport unit 3 after a maximum forward movement of the transport unit 3 in the transport direction T. To this end, the transport unit 3 impacts on the stop 11 by means of the slide carriage 5 which is provided with a spring to cushion the impact. In this case, the stop 11 together with the spring surrounds the slide rod 4.

[0054] The magazine from FIG. 2 is represented in a side view in FIG. 3A. In this case, the package sleeves P organized in a package sleeve group G are aligned on the removal side 2 of the magazine in a state arranged substantially congruently behind one another. In other words, the package sleeves P have on the removal side 2 no horizontal lateral offset to one another which leads back to the fact that the package sleeves P are located behind the transport unit 3 having the slide elements when viewed in the transport direction T. Even if the package sleeves P have been previously supplied to the supply side 1 of the magazine with a horizontal lateral offset, this is compensated once again by the slide elements on the removal side 2 of the magazine. For the sake of clarity, only one package sleeve group G arranged behind the transport unit 3 is represented, while a representation of further package sleeves P supplied to the magazine has been dispensed with.

[0055] As already described, the transport unit 3 can be moved forwards and backwards on the slide rod 4 along the transport direction T with the slide carriage 5. To this end, the transport unit 3 can be driven externally, for example by means of a rope pull system not represented, which implements an automatic feed of the transport unit 3 along the transport direction T via weights. The transport unit 3 can then be moved backwards manually via a grip element 12 counter to the transport direction T.

[0056] In order to secure the transport unit 3 in a starting position on the supply side 1, a clamp device 13 is provided on the supply side 1. To this end, the clamp device 13 has a retaining hook 14 which engages a stopper 15 provided on the transport unit 3 on the slide carriage 5 and can therefore hold the transport unit 3.

[0057] FIG. 3B shows the magazine from FIG. 3A in the plan view from the direction III B in FIG. 3A. In this case, in addition to the package sleeve group G arranged behind the transport unit 3, further package sleeves P subsequently supplied to the magazine can also be represented. They are package sleeves P arranged before the transport unit 3 when viewed in the transport direction T and partly having a horizontal lateral offset to one another.

[0058] The transport unit 3 has two slide elements 16 to align these package sleeves P. The two slide elements 16 are arranged opposite one another in each case partially resting on one side of the package sleeves P. To this end, the slide elements 16 have in each case a bearing region 17 which runs parallel to the transport direction T. Furthermore, the slide elements 16 in each case have an alignment region 18 which tapers in the transport direction T. In other words, the slight distance, running perpendicular to the transport direction T, of both slide elements arranged opposing one another decreases from the alignment region 18 to the bearing region 17.

[0059] The package sleeves P supplied in an unaligned manner to the magazine are aligned by passing the slide elements 16 namely firstly pre-aligned by the alignment region 18 and then definitively aligned by the bearing region 17. As a result, the package sleeves P arranged behind the slide elements 16 are aligned package sleeves P which are arranged substantially congruently behind one another and do not have any horizontal lateral offset to one another.

[0060] Every transport unit 3 has two feed doors 19 which are represented in a closed state. In the closed state, the feed doors 19 rest at the rear side on the last package sleeve P of the package sleeve group G to be transported such that the feed doors 19 are moved forwards along the transport direction T by the feeding of the transport unit 3 along the transport direction T and the package sleeve group G arranged before the feed doors 19 and resting thereon is moved forwards along the transport direction T. The feed doors 19 are attached to two limbs 20 of the U-shaped frame 6, with the one limb 20 also being connected to the slide carriage 5. In this manner, the feeding of the slide carriage 5 to the package sleeve group G to be transported is transferred.

[0061] The feed doors 19 are configured so as to be pivotable about vertical axes and namely such that they can be pivoted in an opened state not represented. This opened state allows the feeding of further package sleeves P to be transported. The package sleeves P can be received by the transport unit 3 for transport by being pushed either along the transport direction T or by the transport unit 3 being moved backwards counter to the transport direction T. The feed doors 19 represented in the closed state are pivoted into the opened state through this active or passive passing of the package sleeves P to be fed. In this case, the restoring force provided by springs 21 provided in the feed doors 19 must be overcome. After the transport unit 3 has passed the package sleeves P to be fed counter to the transport direction T, the feed doors 19 are then once against pivoted back into the closed state by the restoring force of the springs 21 and cause the secure support of the package sleeve group G from behind.

[0062] Through the backwards movement of the transport unit 3 and the associated passing of the package sleeves P to be aligned, the slide elements 16 are also simultaneously passed by the package sleeves P such that the alignment of the unaligned package sleeves P to the aligned package sleeves P takes place as a result.

[0063] The slide elements 16 are in each case attached to lateral flanks 22 of the transport unit 3. The lateral flanks 22 extend from the limbs 20 of the U-shaped frame 6 parallel to the transport direction T. The slide elements 16 are preferably mounted so as to be interchangeable on the lateral flanks 22.

[0064] The lateral boundary rails 10 of the magazine comprise in each case a guide edge 23 pointing in the direction of the package sleeves P, P to be transported and accordingly perpendicular to the transport direction T. These opposing guide edges 23 serve to limit any undesired lateral pushing of the package sleeves P currently already aligned occurring behind the slide elements 16.

[0065] The detail view III C of the magazine from FIG. 3B is represented in FIG. 3C, while FIG. 3D shows the detail view III D of the magazine from FIG. 3B. In this case, it is discernible how two successive, unaligned package sleeves P have a horizontal offset a to one another. This horizontal offset a can, on the one hand, occur in the case of two successive package sleeves P inside a package sleeve group G (FIG. 3C) or also in the case of two successive package sleeves P in the form of the last package sleeve P of a front package sleeve group G and a first subsequent package sleeve P to be fed from the magazine (FIG. 3D).

[0066] The slide elements 16 are arranged such that the horizontal lateral offset a of the successive unaligned package sleeves P is compensated behind the slide elements 16 when viewed in the transport direction T and package sleeves P aligned accordingly are provided without horizontal offset a.

[0067] Furthermore, it is represented that the bearing region 17 of the slide elements 16 has an oversized portion b which points perpendicular to the transport direction T and in the direction of the package sleeves P, P. As a result, aligning the package sleeves P only by the slide elements is ensured during normal operation.

[0068] The transport unit 3 of the magazine according to the invention is represented in FIG. 4 in a perspective view. Identical features have been labelled with the same reference numerals such that in this respect reference is made to the preceding description.

[0069] An upright standing package sleeve P aligned straight is indicated with a dashed line, with the package sleeve P laying with its lower edge on the two slide rails 9 and resting with its lateral edges on the bearing regions 17 of the opposing slide elements 16. As a result, the alignment of each package sleeve P takes place.

[0070] In addition to the preceding description, it is also discernible that the U-shaped frame 6 of the transport unit 3 has the two lateral limbs 20 and a horizontal support 24 connecting the two limbs 20. The horizontal support is arranged above the package sleeves P, P, P.

[0071] The access opening 7 is formed by the inverted U-shaped frame 6 via which package sleeves P, P to be transported can be fed. The feed doors 19 pivotable corresponding to the double arrow rest in the represented closed state of the feed doors 19 on an end side 25 of the horizontal support 24 of the U-shaped frame 6. In this manner, and due to the restoring force of the springs 21, the feed doors 19 are held in the closed state.

[0072] The slide elements 16 are mounted on the lateral flanks 22 of the transport unit 3 via screw connections 26. In this manner, the slide elements 16 are configured to be interchangeable such that the magazine can also be modified to differently sized embodiments of the package sleeves P. To this end, the slide elements 16 can be easily interchanged for other slide elements of different sizes or alternatively additional spacers can be mounted.