Method and device for handling sanitary articles
09834402 · 2017-12-05
Assignee
Inventors
Cpc classification
B65H39/00
PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
B65H2406/323
PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
B65H3/128
PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
B65H2404/2693
PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
B65H2220/01
PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
B65B35/50
PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
B65H1/26
PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
B65H2220/01
PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
B65H2301/44734
PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
B65B57/14
PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
B65H2220/02
PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
B65H2701/1924
PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
B65H2301/44734
PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
B65H2301/4454
PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
B65H2220/02
PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
B65H2404/2615
PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
B65H2301/4451
PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
B65H39/02
PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
International classification
B65G43/00
PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
B65H3/12
PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
B65B35/50
PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
B65H39/00
PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
B65B57/14
PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
B65H39/02
PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
B65H1/26
PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
Abstract
A method for handling (flat) objects (10), in particular sanitary articles such as diapers, sanitary napkins or the like, wherein the objects (10) are conveyed along a transport section (12) in a product flow and are then put together in a grouping station to form groups of objects (10). The objects (10) are introduced into the product flow in the region of an inlet station (23) before the objects (10) are put together to form groups.
Claims
1. A method for handling flat objects (10), comprising: conveying the objects (10) along a transport section (12) in a product flow and then putting the objects (10) together in a grouping station to form groups of the objects (10); and introducing the objects (10) into the product flow in the region of an inlet station (23) before the objects (10) are put together to form groups, wherein the objects (10) are made available in a hopper (39, 71) in the region of the inlet station (23) and are removed from said hopper and introduced into the product flow, wherein a removal device (38) for removing the objects (10) from the hopper (39, 71) is arranged in the region of the inlet station (23) above the hopper (39, 71) or above a removal opening (43) of the hopper (39, 71), wherein the removal device (38) for removing the objects (10) from the hopper (39, 71) is a suction belt (35), and wherein to remove one of the objects (10) from the hopper (39, 71), the removal device (38) is lowered at least in part by means of an adjusting device (65) and is raised again after the removal of the one of the objects (10) from the hopper (39, 71).
2. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the objects (10) are moved upward in the hopper (39, 71) by means of a lifting device (45, 72), wherein the lifting device (45, 72) is controlled by a control unit (17) in dependence on the thickness of the objects (10), and the objects (10) are removed from the top of the hopper (39, 71) which is situated below the transport section (12).
3. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein objects (10) that are identical to and/or different from the objects (10) that are already situated in the product flow are introduced in the region of the inlet station (23).
4. A method for handling flat objects (10), comprising: conveying the objects (10) along a transport section (12) in a product flow and then putting the objects (10) together in a grouping station to form groups of the objects (10); and introducing the objects (10) into the product flow in the region of an inlet station (23) before the objects (10) are put together to form groups, wherein several hoppers (39) are associated with one conveying device (66), and are moved one after another into the region of the inlet station (23) and there are emptied by introducing the objects (10) from the hoppers (39) into the product flow.
5. The method as claimed in claim 4, wherein objects (10) that are identical to and/or different from the objects (10) that are already situated in the product flow are introduced in the region of the inlet station (23).
6. The method as claimed in claim 4, wherein the conveying device (66) is an endless conveyor with receiving means (61) for a plurality of the hopper (39).
7. A method for handling flat objects (10), comprising: conveying the objects (10) along a transport section (12) in a product flow and then putting the objects (10) together in a grouping station to form groups of the objects (10); and introducing the objects (10) into the product flow in the region of an inlet station (23) before the objects (10) are put together to form groups, wherein conveying or production speeds of individual or several members in the transport section (12) are adapted by at least one control means (17, 19, 20) in the inlet station (23) for introducing the objects (10), and wherein at least one of (a) the production speed of a converter (11) is reduced and (b) the conveying speed of a conveyor (22, 24, 27, 28) is increased to introduce the objects (10) into a gap in the product flow.
8. The method as claimed in claim 7, wherein objects (10) that are identical to and/or different from the objects (10) that are already situated in the product flow are introduced in the region of the inlet station (23).
9. A device for handling flat objects (10), said device comprising; a transport section (12) for transporting the objects (10) in a product flow in the direction of a grouping station for forming groups of the objects (10); an inlet station (23) for introducing the objects (10) into the product flow is provided along the transport section (12) and at a spacing from the grouping station; a hopper (39, 71); and a lifting device (45, 72), wherein the hopper (39, 71) is provided with the objects (10) in the region of the inlet station (23), from the top of which hopper said objects are removable, and the lifting device (45, 72) is provided for transporting the objects (10) inside the hopper (39, 71), wherein the hopper (39, 71) is closed in part at the top by a cover (42) and a removal opening (43) for objects (10) is formed outside the cover (42), and wherein at least one of the cover (42) and the objects (10) is arranged at a slight angle.
10. The device as claimed in claim 9, further comprising a removal device (38) arranged in the region of the transport section (12) above the hopper (39, 71), wherein, to remove one of the objects (10), the removal device (38) is lowerable at least in part to grip one of the objects (10) that projects in part from the removal opening (43).
11. The device as claimed in claim 10, wherein the removal device (38) is a suction belt (35).
12. The device as claimed in claim 9, further comprising a conveying device, wherein several hoppers (39) are associated with the conveying device and are transportable one after another into the inlet station (23) for emptying the hoppers (39), wherein an intermediate hopper (71) is arranged in the inlet station (23) above the hopper (39), wherein the objects (10) are initially transportable by the lifting device (45) into the region of the intermediate hopper (71) and wherein the objects (10) can be supplied to the removal device (38) from the intermediate hopper (71) by means of a further lifting device (72) whilst the empty hopper (39) is replaced by a filled hopper (39).
13. The device as claimed in claim 12, wherein the hoppers (39) are testable by means of a testing device (81) for the presence of the objects (10), wherein the conveying device (66) is controllable in such a manner by means of a control unit (17) whereby only hoppers (39) with the objects (10) are held ready in the inlet station (23) for the removal of the objects (10).
14. The device as claimed in claim 12, wherein the hoppers (39) are releasably fastenable on the conveying device (66) for filling the hoppers (39) with the objects (10), for cleaning the hoppers (39), and for stocking the hoppers (39) outside the conveying device (66).
Description
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
(1) Preferred exemplary embodiments of the invention are explained below by way of the drawing, in which:
(2)
(3)
(4)
(5)
(6)
(7)
(8)
(9)
(10)
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
(11) The invention is described below by way of a device for grouping objects 10. The objects 10 can be sanitary products such as diapers, sanitary napkins or the like. In the present case the objects 10 comprise a flat shape. It is naturally also conceivable to use the device with other products.
(12) The objects 10 are transported from a converter 11 along a transport section 12 and are transferred to a further feed conveyor 14 by a filling member 13. The feed conveyor 14 runs past two packaging machines for wrapping groups 14 of objects 10 in (foil) bags 16. By means of pushing devices (not shown), groups can be supplied in a selective manner to the one or other packaging machine 15. The groups can also be conveyed past the packaging machines 15 in a selective manner into the region of a packaging machine (not shown) for collapsible boxes or into the region of a packaging machine (not shown) for sealed packaging.
(13)
(14) coming from the converter 11, the objects 10 are transported initially between conveyor runs of a first conveyor 22. Following the conveyor 22, the objects 10 run through an inlet station 23 which serves for supplying or introducing objects 10 into the transport section 12. A further conveyor 24 follows the inlet station 23. An ejection station follows this, of which only an ejection unit 25 and a collecting container 26 are shown. Following this is a next conveyor 27 for rotating or aligning the objects 10. Following this in turn is a last conveyor 28 which supplies the objects 10 to the filling member 13. The filling member 13 serves for pushing objects 10 into compartments of the feed conveyor 14. The device is controlled by a central control unit 17 which is connected via control lines 18 to a machine control means 19 for the converter 11 and to a control device 20 for the conveyors 22, 24, 27 and 28. The inlet station 23 and the ejection unit 25 can also be controlled by the central control unit 17 or the control device 20. It is also conceivable for the control unit 17 and/or the machine control means 19 and/or the control device 20 to be incorporated in one device.
(15)
(16) The two conveyors 22, 24 are realized in each case as a pair of endless conveyors, the conveyor runs 29, 30 of the same being guided by means of guide rollers 31. The objects 10 are conveyed in the transport direction according to arrow 32 lying flat between the conveyor runs 29, 30 which face one another in each case.
(17) The spacing between the conveyors 22, 24 is bridged by a further conveying member of the inlet station 23. In this case, this is a conveyor 33 which is also realized as an endless conveyor and is guided by means of guide rollers 31 such that a bottom conveyor run 34 runs along the transport section 12. Said conveyor run 34 is acted upon with a negative pressure such that the objects 10 are held on the bottom surface of the conveyor run 34 in the region of the conveyor 33. The conveyor 33 is therefore realized in the present case as a suction belt 35, a negative pressure being generated in the region of the conveyor run 34 to hold the objects 10 by means of a vacuum chamber 36, which is connected to a vacuum source (not shown) by a vacuum connection 37. At the same time, the conveyor 33 is also part of a removal device 38 which serves for the purpose of removing individual objects 10 from a hopper 39 which is arranged in the inlet station 23 below the conveyor 33 or below the transport section 12.
(18) In the hopper 39 the objects 10 are arranged lying flat one on top of another in a stack 40. The objects 10 are supported at the side by vertical walls 41 of the hopper 39. The hopper 39 comprises a cover 42 at the top. The cover 42 does not extend over the entire top surface of the hopper 39 such that a removal opening 43 is formed in the remaining region. The size of the cover 42 preferably corresponds to a large part of the top surface of the hopper 39, in particular to approximately ¾ of said surface.
(19) Inside the stack 40 the objects 10 are arranged at a slight angle, namely ascending in the conveying direction according to arrow 32. The cover 42 comprises a corresponding inclination. In the present case, the angle of the objects 10 is obtained as a result of the bottommost object 10 in the hopper 39 resting on an inclined surface. In the exemplary embodiment shown, in this case this is a top surface of a lifting part 44. The lifting part 44 is part of a lifting unit 45 for transporting the objects in the direction of the removal opening 43.
(20) In addition, the hopper 39 is mounted so as to be displaceable transversely with respect to the transporting direction according to arrow 32. To this end, the hopper 39 is mounted on a pneumatic cylinder 47 by means of a support arm 46 and can be moved in the longitudinal direction of the pneumatic cylinder 47, as indicated in
(21)
(22) A characteristic is the functioning of the removal device 38 which is explained in particular by comparing
(23) In the present case, the entire suction belt 35 is pivoted about an axis. The axis is situated in the region of a lateral guide roller 53. As a result of pivoting the suction belt 35, its bottom conveyor run 34 is inclined downward in opposition to the transporting direction, namely approximately at an angle which corresponds to the angle of inclination of the objects 10. The conveyor run 34 is moved in the direction of the hopper 39 in this way in such a manner that the uppermost object 10 in the hopper 39 can be gripped and introduced into the product flow.
(24) Once the object 10 has been removed from the hopper 39, the suction belt 35 is pivoted back such that after this a position according to
(25) An adjusting device 65 for pivoting the suction belt 35 is described below:
(26) a support plate 55 is mounted on the support wall 50 by means of several running rails 56 so as to be displaceable in the vertical direction. The suction belt 35 can be positioned in the transport section 12 in this way. Two toothed wheels 58, 59, which are coupled together by means of a toothed belt 60, are driven by means of a drive 57. The toothed wheels 58, 59 are mounted on shafts 61, 62 which are guided through the support plate 55. A lowering lever 63 is mounted in an eccentric manner on the shaft 62 such that when the toothed wheel 59 is rotated, the lowering lever 63 is raised (
(27) The device described so far operates as follows:
(28) the objects coming from the converter 11 are transported along the transport section 12 in the direction of the filling member 13 and are put together in a grouping device which is not described in detail to form groups which are subsequently packaged in one of the packaging machines 15.
(29) The grouping device for forming groups of objects can be associated with one of the packaging machines 15 or with the filling member 13. The grouping device is arranged downstream of the inlet station 23 and is placed such that the groups are formed before the objects 10 are packaged, that is, for example, into the bags 16. There are numerous examples in the prior art with regard to the design and method of operation of the grouping device. The present invention is not concerned with a specific design.
(30) Insofar as necessary, individual objects 10 can be introduced into the packaging flow in the region of the inlet station 23. To this end, the suction belt 35 is moved into a position according to
(31) It is naturally also conceivable for objects 10 to be removed from the hopper 39 if the converter 11 is non-operational or is temporarily not delivering any objects 10 on account of a fault.
(32) Objects 10 which correspond to the objects 10 which originate from the converter 11 can be situated in the hopper 39. However, it is also conceivable for them to be objects 10 which deviate from the objects 10 which originate from the converter 11, which comprise other characteristics, for example. In this way it would be possible to add one or several different objects 10 to a group of objects 10 in order to enable, for example, particular packaging compositions in this manner. Differently printed or colored sanitary products would be conceivable, for example, in order to give the pack contents an interesting appearance.
(33) In addition, it is conceivable to use the inlet station 23 in order to replace objects 10 removed from the product flow. This can be necessary, for example, if individual objects 10 are removed for control purposes or are discharged on account of product faults. It is additionally conceivable for additional objects 10 to have to be introduced into the product flow on account of faults in the region of the packaging machine.
(34) The following characteristics are to be taken into consideration from a control point of view:
(35) when objects 10 are introduced into the product flow, the speeds of the members located upstream and/or downstream of the inlet station 23 have to be adapted. For example, slowing down the converter 11 and at the same time increasing the conveying speed of one, several or all of the conveyors 22, 24, 27, and 28 is conceivable. This is effected by means of the different control means 17, 19, 20.
(36) In addition, it must also be possible to fill in gaps in the packaging flow by means of the control means 17, 19, 20. For example, it is conceivable for gaps in the product flow to be signaled by the machine control means 19 of the converter 11 and then to be compensated for by controlling the inlet station 23 in a corresponding manner. In such a case, the conveying speed of the conveyors 22, 24, 27, 28 may not have to be altered.
(37) In addition, it is conceivable for one or several objects 10 to have to be separated out from the product flow in the region of the ejection unit 25. It would be conceivable in this case for the expected gap to be already filled beforehand by the control unit 17 in the region of the inlet station 23 or for an additional object 10 to be introduced which, as a result of controlling the conveyors 22, 24, 27, 28 in a corresponding manner, later takes the place of the discharged object 10.
(38) In the event of the inlet station 23 serving for introducing different objects 10, the converter 11 can also be controlled such that the product flow comprises gaps into which the different objects 10 are then pushed in the inlet station 23. However, it is also conceivable for the packaging flow which comes from the converter 11 to be gap-free and for the gaps to be formed by controlling the conveyors 22, 24 in a corresponding manner and to be closed in the inlet station 23.
(39) The aim of the control means is that the product flow is supplied regularly or in a gap-free manner to the grouping device. In the present case, the product flow is already gap-free in the region of the filling member 13.
(40) Inside the hopper 39, the objects 10 are conveyed upward by means of the lifting device 45. It has been shown that it is advantageous when the travel of the lifting device 45 is controlled in dependence on the thickness of the objects 10. Said control can be effected by means of the control unit 17. The solution shown also has the advantage that the objects 10 are able to be pressed at a consistent pressure against the suction belt 35 by the lifting device 45 such that controlled removal is possible.
(41) In addition, it has been shown that as a result of the inclined position of the cover 42, the topmost object 10 escapes slightly from the hopper 39 and can be gripped in a simple manner by the suction belt 35 and removed from the hopper 39. In this way, removing more than one object 10 at a time from the hopper 29 is also prevented.
(42) The hopper 39 can be removed from the inlet station 23 and filled up at a position remote from the feed line.
(43) A further exemplary embodiment of the invention is shown in
(44) A characteristic of the second exemplary embodiment is that several hoppers 39 are arranged on a common conveying device 66 below the transport section 12. The conveying device 66 in the present case is an endless conveyor which runs round in the horizontal plane. In the exemplary embodiment shown, this is a belt conveyor, the conveyor belt 67 of which is guided around two guide rollers 68. Receiving means 69 for in each case one hopper 39 are provided at intervals on the outside of the conveyor belt 67. The hoppers 39 can be fastened in a releasable manner, for example by means of hooking, on the receiving means 69 by means of laterally arranged holders 70.
(45) The conveying device 66 runs transversely with respect to the transport section 12.
(46) The conveying device 66 is positioned in such a manner that the hoppers 39 are able to be positioned on the periphery of the conveyor belt 67 below the suction belt 35. An intermediate hopper 71 is situated there in this exemplary embodiment. The intermediate hopper 71 is preferably arranged fixed in position below the suction belt 35, like the hopper 39 in the case of the first exemplary embodiment. It has a cover 42 as in the first exemplary embodiment and a removal opening 43 for the removal of individual objects 10 by means of the suction belt 35. In addition, as in the first exemplary embodiment, a lifting device 45 is provided for transporting the objects 10 in a vertical direction in the hopper 39. A second lifting device 72 is provided additionally for transporting the objects 10 in the vertical direction in the intermediate hopper 71.
(47) The second lifting device 72 has a lifting arm 73 for transporting the objects in the vertical direction in the intermediate hopper 71, namely until removal by means of the suction belt 35 in the region of the removal opening 43 of the intermediate hopper 71, as in the first exemplary embodiment.
(48) The lifting arm 73 of the intermediate hopper 71 is movable in two directions by two drives. The details are described below by way of
(49) In contrast to the first exemplary embodiment, the lifting arm 48 of the lifting device 45 reaches through slot-like recesses 76 in a wall 41 of the hoppers 39 and grips the stack 40 of objects 10 in the hopper 39 at the bottom. To this end, the front free end of the support arm 46 is realized in a tine-like manner, the top surfaces of the tines 77 forming an inclined plane on which the bottommost object 10 rests and is aligned at a correspondingly slight angle.
(50) As can be seen in particular in
(51) The device described so far functions as follows:
(52) once a full hopper 39 has been moved below the intermediate hopper 71, the objects 10 are transported upward by means of the lifting device 45 or the lifting arm 48 until the topmost object 10 of the stack 40 is ready to be removed by the suction belt 35 in the region of the removal opening 43 (
(53) Once the stack 40 has been transferred to the second lifting device 72, the lifting arm 48 of the first lifting device 45 is moved out of the hopper 39 again (
(54) The cycle so far described is repeated continuously such that it is not necessary to interrupt the production in order to transfer a new filled hopper 29 into the inlet station 23. The time necessary to exchange an empty hopper 39 for a full hopper is able to be bridged by the intermediate hopper 71.
(55) The filling of the emptied hoppers 39 is effected in a filling station 80. In one of the following stations, a test can be run by means of a test device 81, in particular a sensor 82, as to whether there are objects 10 situated in the hoppers 39. If this is not the case, the control unit 17 can control the conveying device 66 such that the non-filled hopper 29 is not stopped below the intermediate hopper 71, but only the filled hopper 39 following next.
(56) The empty or filled hoppers 29 can be filled, cleaned or stored outside of the conveying device 66.
(57) As an alternative to this, it is naturally conceivable not to remove the hoppers 39 from the conveying device 66 for filling.
(58) It is also conceivable over and above this to use an intermediate hopper 41 without a conveying device 66 located below it for the hoppers 39. For example, it would be conceivable for the hoppers 29 to be hooked-in and exchanged manually below the intermediate hopper 71.
LIST OF REFERENCES
(59) 10 Object
(60) 11 Converter
(61) 12 Transport section
(62) 13 Filling member
(63) 14 Feed conveyor
(64) 15 Packaging machine
(65) 16 Bag
(66) 17 Control unit
(67) 18 Control line
(68) 19 Machine control means
(69) 20 Control device
(70) 22 Conveyor
(71) 23 Inlet station
(72) 24 Conveyor
(73) 25 Ejection unit
(74) 26 Collecting container
(75) 27 Conveyor
(76) 28 Conveyor
(77) 29 Conveyor run
(78) 30 Conveyor run
(79) 31 Guide rollers
(80) 32 Arrow
(81) 33 Conveyor
(82) 34 Conveyor run
(83) 35 Suction belt
(84) 36 Vacuum chamber
(85) 37 Vacuum connection
(86) 38 Removal device
(87) 39 Hopper
(88) 40 Stack
(89) 41 Wall
(90) 42 Cover
(91) 43 Removal opening
(92) 44 Lifting part
(93) 45 Lifting device
(94) 46 Support arm
(95) 47 Pneumatic cylinder
(96) 48 Lifting arm
(97) 49 Running rail
(98) 50 Support wall
(99) 51 Toothed belt
(100) 52 Bottom wall
(101) 53 Guide roller
(102) 54 Double arrow
(103) 55 Support plate
(104) 56 Running rail
(105) 57 Drive
(106) 58 Toothed wheel
(107) 59 Toothed wheel
(108) 60 Toothed belt
(109) 61 Shaft
(110) 62 Shaft
(111) 63 Lowering lever
(112) 64 Support plate
(113) 65 Adjusting device
(114) 66 Conveying device
(115) 67 Conveyor belt
(116) 68 Guide roller
(117) 69 Receiving means
(118) 70 Holder
(119) 71 Intermediate hopper
(120) 72 Lifting device
(121) 73 Lifting arm
(122) 74 Pneumatic cylinder
(123) 75 Servo drive
(124) 76 Recess
(125) 77 Tine
(126) 78 Tine
(127) 79 Recess
(128) 80 Filling station
(129) 81 Test device
(130) 82 Sensor