PACKAGE UNIT

Abstract: A package unit, in particular for tissue or nonwoven fabric, comprising a web (1), which is folded back and forth to form blocks (2, 4, 8) with zig-zag layers, whereby the fold edges (3) are perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the web (1) and form the front or back side of a block (2, 4, 8), and the first block (2) being connected to a second block (4) by a continuous portion (5) of the web (1). Further, the beginning (6) of the web (1) of the first block (2) is connected to the web end (7) of a further block (4, 8) to form one integral package unit. This embodiment allows to provide a compact package unit containing a web of great length ready for transport and further processing at the user.

Description: Package unit The invention relates to a package unit according to the preamble of claim 1. Such a package unit is used to provide a continuous web, e.g. tissue or nonwoven fabrics, of highest possible length for transport or fabrication of end products. From EP 366 038 A2 is known an apparatus for zig-zag folding and stacking of a material web, where the material web fed into the apparatus is folded by means of several belts to form a block. As soon as the block has reached a desired height, it is released and leaves the forming station, and the apparatus starts forming the next block. Two adjacent blocks are linked by a portion of the web, so that there are two blocks without connecting end portions as one unit. The finished blocks are delivered via a conveying system to a continuously working processing station. This apparatus is useful for forming blocks utilized in continuous processes, but is not suitable to provide package units ready for transportation. However, there are fields of application, e.g. the fabrication of hygienic products, where web materials are needed in great lengths for making end products and thus must be transported. It is also known as state-of-the-art to use material blocks consisting of one or several strips where the end portions of a block are connected to the beginning por- tions of a second block in a so-called splice. Splicing two loose ends is a manual operation which is generally undesirable in hygienic industry, but nevertheless inevitable for having the material in continuous form. In consequence, it is highly beneficial to reduce this manual operation to a minimum. It is the objective of this invention to provide a package unit with the features as described above, where web material of great length is provided as a compact unit for transport and where the necessity of manual splicing of loose ends is reduced to a minimum. This object is accomplished by a package unit comprising the features of claim 1. If the web beginning of the first block is connected to the web end of a further block to form a package unit, there are several blocks linked to each other which can be transported as one compact package unit. For transportation purposes several blocks can be stacked above each other, whereby the package unit lies upon a side surface. By having several blocks linked to each other by a continuous portion of the web, the manual operation of making a splice connection is nearly eliminated, as in general only one manual connection is made from the first block to the last block of a package unit. The number of blocks is contingent on the end user's requirements, such that in the preferred package arrangement two to twenty blocks can form one package unit (the so-called Megablock). It is also possible to have 2 through n blocks in one package unit. The connection between web beginning and web end has a further advantage, which is that, after the wrapping material has been removed, the blocks can be utilized immediately, as only one connecting portion, which can be marked for greater ease of the operator, has to be found, instead of two loose ends. As the package unit according to the present invention contains one continuous web, this material web can also be separated at any part of the web which might appear convenient to the operator for further use. A further preferred embodiment of the invention is to provide a micro-perforation in the web by means of special crush cut knives, separating the total web width into a plurality of lanes of equal width interconnected by small remaining junctions, such arrangement allowing easy drawing of said lanes for further processing at the end user. This arrangement allows to provide a package unit comprising a material web with a plurality of lanes, pre-cut according to the end user's needs, which helps to reduce considerably production cost per lane, compared to producing small single lane webs. By introducing crush cut perforation lines, an arbitrary number of lanes, i.e. two to n lanes, of variable widths to be determined by the end user, can be supplied in one continuous web for producing, for example, hygienic articles. If in this embodiment the web beginning of the first block is connected to the web end of a further block in a staggered arrangement, the single lanes of the web can be used in a continuous process, i.e. a single lane can be drawn continuously across the whole package unit. Preferably the web beginning of the first block is con- nected with the web end of a further block, respectively the last block in a row, staggered by one lane, as in this arrangement the lane automatically skips to the next lane in the web as soon as it comes to the connecting portion. The embodiment of an ultra-compact package unit without loose ends shows a row of blocks where the outmost lane on one side of the first block being connected with the outmost lane of the opposite side of a further block. This facilitates handling of the package unit at the material producing company, as well as during transport and processing at the end user. It is also feasible to provide only a mark- ing of the ends of the two outmost lanes, without providing the connection. In another beneficial embodiment of the invention each lane is twisted once in longitudinal direction, respectively to twist every n-lane n-times, whereby the twist is made in the connecting portions between the web beginning of the first block and the web end of a further block. When drawing a single lane, a distortion of this lane comes automatically, due to the folding and the running from one block to another block, which is compensated by twisting the lane in the opposite direction. The twist in the portion of the web end and the web beginning, respectively, may amount from 0 to 360°. For example, the web beginning as well as the web end may be twisted by 180°. According to a further embodiment of the invention, at least three blocks are comprised in one package unit, which are provided in a serial arrangement, one block after the other, or in a circular form, or in any other possible configuration. In this arrangement, a continuous web is provided throughout the total of blocks comprised in this package unit, where the web can, for example, be drawn continuously from the middle by a de-festooning unit located in the center. If the web has been pre-cut into lanes, these single lanes can also be drawn continuously across all blocks. This arrangement allows a continuous production process at the end prod- uct producer, as every depleted block of a package unit can be replaced immediately after depletion with a new package unit or with a new block of another package unit, respectively. The embodiments of the invention are described below in various examples in conjunction with the drawings. The drawings show: Fig. 1 : a perspective view of a first embodiment of an inventive package unit; Fig. 2: an enlarged perspective view of a detail in Fig. 1 ; Fig. 3: a side view of the package unit of Fig. 1 ; Fig. 4: a side view similar to Fig. 2, of a second embodiment comprising three blocks, and Fig. 5: a perspective view of a package unit according to a third embodiment. The package unit represented in Fig. 1 and 2 comprises a web 1 of nonwoven fabric, which is folded back and forth in layers on top of each other to form a first block 2 and a second block 4. In the blocks 2 and 4, the web 1 is folded in a line transverse to the web direction, so that at the front and back edges of blocks 2 and 4 folding edges 3 are formed. The first block 2 is linked to the second block 4 by a continuous portion 5 of the web 1. From the top layer of the second block 4 to the bottom layer of the second block 4, the web 1 is folded in zig-zag layers, whereby a block 2 or 4 can contain several 100 m web material. From the bottom of the second block 4, the web 1 is directed round the second block 4 to the top layer of the first block 2. Here is the beginning 6 of the web 1 of the first block 2, connected to a web end 7 from the second block 4, so that the web 1 is in a continuous form within the whole package unit. In the illustrated embodiment, the web 1 is separated into individual perforated lanes 11 made by special crush cut knives, so that the web 1 is divided into several lanes A,B,C,D,E,F,G,H,I,J. The number of lanes to be provided is arbitrarily. Each of these single lanes A through J can be drawn from the other lanes due to the pre- cut arrangement. As to be seen in Fig. 1 , the beginning 6 of the web 1 of the first block 2 is connected to the web end 7 of the second block 4, staggered by one lane. Lane B of web end 7 is thus connected to lane A of web beginning 6, lane C of web end 7 is connected to lane B of web beginning 6, and so forth. At the connecting portion the lanes are illustrated as being arranged above each other. However, it is also possible to arrange both front edges of the lanes in an opposite manner and to provide a connection, e.g. by a seam, bonding tape or other suitable means. The first lane A of web end 7 is then connected with lane J at the opposite side of web beginning 6. However, it is also possible to deliver the package unit without connecting lane J of web beginning 6 to lane A of web end 7, but to let these ends hang loose for further processing. The lane ends are marked, e.g. by colour, to improve handling and locating the ends. In the connecting area between web beginning 6 and web ending 7, each lane A,B,C,D,E,F,G,H,I,J has a twist 10, which is required for easy drawing of each single lane and to prevent their distortion. When drawing lane J of the first block 2, and subsequent drawing of the same lane in the second block 4, there is an automatic distortion caused by the folding arrangement and the running to the first block 2. By introducing the twist 10 in lane J in the connecting area, this distortion is compensated. It is also possible to have several compensating twists 10 only with every second or third lane. For better transport, the blocks 2, 4 and 8 are compressed as single blocks or as package unit, to reduce the volume to a minimum. The connection of web begin- ning 6 to web end 7 can be made either before or after the compression process. According to Fig. 4, also three blocks 2, 4 and 8 can be provided in one package unit, instead of two blocks 2 and 4. In this embodiment, the web 1 of a second block 4 is linked to a third block 8 by a continuous portion 9 of the web, so that the web 1 is not cut. With the arrangement of three blocks 2, 4 and 8, the connection of the third block 8 with the first block 2 is identical as shown in the embodiment of two blocks 2 and 4. By analogy, also four and more blocks 2, 4 and 8 can be comprised in one package unit. As in the example of Fig. 5, a plurality of blocks 2, 4 and 8 is provided which are arranged in series and circular. In this arrangement, the web 1 has a staggered connection between the first block 2 and the second block 4. Between the other blocks 8 and the transition area from the second block 4 to another block 8, and the transition area from the first block 2 to another block 8, there are continuous web portions 5 and 9. In the connection area of web beginning 6 to web end 7, the web 1 is staggered by exactly one lane A and J, respectively. In this way, the user can begin with drawing lane J from the package unit from a de-festooning device the center and deplete the whole circle of blocks. As soon as the first block 2 is depleted, it can be replaced by another block, without interrupting the process of drawing a lane or the web 1. Identically, further blocks 4 and 8 are also replaced after depletion. Finally, the user needs to connect only the last lane A of the second block 4 with the first lane J of a new block of a new package unit.

Claims: Claims 1. Package unit, in particular for tissue or nonwoven materials, comprising a web (1) which is folded back and forth to form blocks (2, 4, 8), whereby the fold edges (3) are perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the web (1) and forming respective the front or back side of a block (2,4,8), and a first block (2) being connected to a second block (4) by a continuous portion (5) of the web (1), characterized in that the beginning (6) of the web (1) of the first block (2) is connected to the end (7) of a further block (4,8) to form a package unit; 2. Package unit according to claim 1 , characterized in that the web (1) is perforated in the longitudinal direction, and the lanes (A,B,C,D,E,F,G,H,I,J) being separated by said perforations can be drawn from each other. 3. Package unit according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the beginning (6) of the web (1) of the first block (2) is connected to the end (7) of a further block (4, 8) in a staggered arrangement. 4. Package unit according to claim 3, characterized in that the beginning (6) of the web (1) of the first block (2) is staggered by one lane (A,B,C,D,E,F,G,H,I,J) connected with the end (7) of a further block (4, 8). 5. Package unit according to one of claims 2 to 4, characterized in that the out- most lane (J) of the first block (2) is connected to the outmost lane on the opposite side (A) of a further block (4, 8). 6. Package unit according to one of claims 2 to 5, characterized in that each of the intermediate lanes (B-I) is twisted once in the longitudinal direction. 7. Package unit according to claim 6, characterized in that the twist (10) is provided in the area of connection between the beginning (6) of the web (1) of the first block (2) and the end (7) of a further block (4, 8). 8. Package unit according to one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that two blocks (2, 4) in serial arrangement are provided within the package unit. 9. Package unit according to one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that at least three blocks (2, 4) are provided within the package unit. 10. Package unit according to claim 8 or 9, characterized in that the blocks (2, 4, 8) are in a substantially linear serial arrangement. 11. Package unit according to claim 8 or 9, characterized in that the blocks (2, 4, 8) are in a serial circular arrangement.

Inventors: SANDER THOMAS, SANDER, THOMAS
Applicants: GEVAS VERPACKUNGSMASCHINEN GMB, SANDER THOMAS, GEVAS VERPACKUNGSMASCHINEN GMBH, SANDER, THOMAS
Application year: 2000
Main classification: B65H45
IPC codes: B65H45