Abstract:
The present invention concerns a method and a machine to group and join at last two articles by attaching a first packaging to form a packaging unit. The individual packaging units are joined together with an additional second packaging to form a bigger unit. The process is carried out continuously, whereby the packaging units are transposed or not.

Description:
This claims the benefit of German Patent Application DE 10 2009 026 220.2, filed Jul. 22, 2009 and hereby incorporated by reference herein. 
     The present invention concerns a method and a machine to group and join at least two articles by attaching a first packaging means to form a packaging unit, whereby the individual packaging units are joined together with an additional second packaging means to form a bigger unit. 
     BACKGROUND 
     Machines and methods for the continuous formation of packs are known. A continuous method is realized for instance in the packaging lines TLM of the company Schubert. This packaging line first forms an inner pack (cluster pack of four) and then packs a plurality of these inner packs to form an outer pack (tray). Hereby clocked working steps are required to unite the articles to an inner pack and to subsequently join them to an outer pack. 
     The packaging machines often use separate machines located upstream, that—in case of a container flow—place a continuous plastic foil over the containers that is specially adapted to the containers. The combination made out of containers and foil is then formatted or packed as required. The plastic foil is cut at predefined connecting elements. The thereby formed packs are then transferred to another packaging machine where these so called HiCone packs are then further grouped and displaced and get an outer packaging, for instance an underlay in form of a tray or an outer package called wrap-around 
     WO 2000/46102 A1 describes a modular packaging machine. The aim of the described invention is the use of independently controllable single modules, that each has a defined duty in the formation of a package or wrapping. These modules are located in one line and plane. This document only shows the formation of one packaging unit. It does not show the formation of two or more independent packs in this machine. 
     DE 10 2007 017 646 A1 discloses a modular packaging machine, whereby in each module individual working steps are carried out. The central aspect in this document is the modular design of the machine. No details about the formation of the product are revealed. 
     DE 10 2006 045 292 A1 shows a machine to pack articles in blister packs. This machine is composed of individual, separable modules. To shorten the time for the production, installation and implementation of the machine it is proposed that each module contains separated drives for the transport and the processing of the blister pack band that can be operated independently of each other. 
     Furthermore U.S. Pat. No. 5,765,336 A reveals a packaging machine whereby articles coming in a flow are brought together in groups of articles and are placed on so called trays (usually transport packs made out of cardboard). In this way articles can be joined to 6×4-packs and put on the trays. The assembled articles can then be wrapped with a shrinking foil. The machine can have one or two lanes and is realized as a clocked machine. 
     Different machines are known that form different packs successively. These are usually so called picker lines. These picker lines have the disadvantage that they are clocked machines and that their performance can only be increased by the addition of parallel working steps, for instance more clock lines and steps. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     It is an object of the present invention to provide a method and a machine to group and join articles that allow the production of packs of different size in one machine, whereby the articles are combined to one pack and/or bigger units. The assembly should be carried out continuously. 
     The invention relates to a method to group and join at least two articles by attaching a first packaging means to form a packaging unit, whereby the individual packaging units are subsequently joined together with an additional second packaging means to form a bigger unit during a continuous conveying movement with or without a transposition of the packaging unit. 
     The articles can be bottles made out of plastic or glass, cans or the like. In their upper section the articles preferably show a shoulder or a similar enlargement, so that the cross section in this area is at least slightly enlarged compared with the upper side. The packaging units are transported along with a continuous conveying movement. This continuous conveying movement is produced by a horizontally moving conveyor element. The horizontally moving conveyor element can for instance be a feed belt or a conveyor belt on which the articles, packaging units and/or bigger units are moved along continuously through the packaging machine. 
     Optionally the packaging units can be transposed and then joined by a second packaging means to form a bigger unit. The packaging units are preferably are transposed with respect to their conveying movement, especially they are transposed at an angle of approximately 90° with respect to their conveying movement. This packaging method is versatile and can be used universally to pack and handle a huge variety of articles and packs. 
     In preparation of the packaging process the articles are isolated into lines on the conveyor belt by an article guiding element. The article guiding element can be made out of leading plates, dividing plates of any kind or something alike that are able to group the incoming articles into single lanes so that the articles are arranged in x lanes and transported further along on the conveyor element. Subsequently the articles are grouped on the conveying element and joined with a first packaging means to a packaging unit while continuously transported further. 
     During the continuous conveying movement of the articles at least two differently configured packaging units can be produced simultaneously. It is possible for instance to form packs out of 2, 4, 6 and/or 8 articles. It is also possible for the packaging machine to join 9, 12 or 15 articles in a pack. It is possible to produce these different packs subsequently with or without converting the packaging machine. Therefore it is possible to produce two differently configured packaging units with just one configuration of the packaging machine. 
     A first packaging means serves for the configuration of the packaging units. This first packaging means is also called inner packaging. This first packaging means can be all known packaging means, for instance cardboard clips and/or plastic clips and/or banderols and/or blanks of e.g. plastic foil or prefabricated foil. 
     As already described above, the first packaging means defines the size of the produced packaging units. For instance the use of a cardboard clip with six gaps or slots leads to the production of a six-pack or a packaging unit made out of six articles. The clip can be made out of cardboard or plastic. The clip is applied on the upper part of the article, for instance around the bottleneck so that the clip rests on the shoulder of the article or bottle. If a banderol is used as first packaging means it is preferably wrapped around the biggest perimeter of the article, for instance it is wrapped around the belly of the bottles. The application of the first packaging means onto the articles is carried out continuously and is preferably synchronised with the conveying movement of the articles. 
     Prefabricated foil can also be used as first packaging means. Preferably foil with pre cut openings is used. The foil is put of the articles or rather their neck region and can subsequently be cut at predefined places. The plastic foil has elastic properties, therefore the openings enlarge slightly when the foil is put over the articles and afterwards it encloses the articles tightly so that the articles cannot move anymore and/or are under tension. Preferably the first packaging means is secured against slipping by the enlargement of the articles in their upper region as described above. The plastic foil is preferably an endless foil provided on a roll that is unwound during the packaging of the articles. During the packaging process the foil roll can for instance be located above the articles. 
     To separate an arbitrary amount of articles in packaging units any known cutting device can be used. Preferably at least two articles are joined in a packaging unit by a first packaging means in form of a foil. A cutting device usually comprises at least one rotating cutting blade for instance a cutting disc with at least two separating means or blades. 
     The cardboard clips, plastic clips or the other blanks are preferably taken out of at least one storage depot by a robot arm in a robot station. The robot station can preferably be a jointed arm robot with vacuum suction heads or the like. Subsequently the removed first packaging means is applied onto the articles. During the application of the first packaging means the articles are transported continuously in a specified conveying velocity on the conveying element. 
     After the articles are joined together by the first packaging means to form a packaging unit, a second packaging means is used to produce bigger units of these packaging units. For instance a six-pack of articles is produced by the application of the first packaging means. Four of these six-packs are then joined by the second packaging means to form a pack out of 24 articles. The second packaging means is preferably a carton, shrinking foil or the like. With a described outer packaging out of shrinking foil and/or a pad and/or a packaging blank a bigger unit can be produced. 
     The articles that are joined by the first packaging means to a packaging unit are further transported along the transport direction. For the production of bigger units out of the packaging units there are different possibilities. One possibility is to slide the packaging units onto a tray. The tray, pad or an alike blank is usually taken out of a depot and slit onto the transport belt from below. At the same time the packaging units are deposited onto this second packaging means. As already described above it can be advantageous that the small packaging units produced first are transposed before they are joined to bigger units. For instance the smaller packaging units can be rotated about an angle of circa 90° relative to the transportation direction. This can optionally be carried out by an arm with a gripper, a so called pusher, a suitable turntable in the course of a horizontal conveyance or by another suitable means or facility. For the production of the bigger units several packs can be enveloped by a shrinking foil to form the bigger unit. 
     The present invention describes a method and a packaging machine for the implementation of the described method, that allow the production of packaging units with a first and a second packaging means in a continuous process. The packaging machine serves to group and join at least two articles by attaching a first packaging means to form a packaging unit, and to join the individual packaging units with an additional second packaging means to form a bigger unit along an uninterrupted conveyor device. 
     The uninterrupted conveyor device can be a continuously moving transport belt, a conveyor belt or something alike. The articles stand on this belt and are transported with a conveying velocity along the band in the conveying direction. The uninterrupted conveyor device forms a product flow in one plane. Additionally the packaging machine is a machine working continuously. If in this context we speak of an uninterrupted conveyor device, it also comprises conveyor devices that ensure an almost uninterrupted article flow. In the course of the article flow the packaging units can be rotated if required to get them in a favorable position for the packaging of the bigger units. This variant also constitutes a continuous conveyance flow of articles and/or packaging units because this optional rotation does not need to lead to an interruption of the article flow. 
     The articles can be joined and converted into a specified, common format of packaging units, for instance 1×2 packs, 1×3 packs, 2×2 packs, 2×3 packs, n×m packs and so on. The process is independent from the required format or the container size. The conversion to another format or to another container size can take place following a new instruction by a suitable controlling device. The instruction can define a new width adjustment and/or a conversion of defined parameters in the control program of the controlling device. 
     Because of the continuous process in a product line the floor space requirement of such a packaging machine is significantly reduced compared to known packaging machines. Also the processes are better adjustable because between the machines or the single modules respectively there are almost no accumulation lines, buffering lines and/or packaging unit transport lines. The continuous flow path also leads to a higher total efficiency. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The exemplary embodiments in the following passages, with the aid of the attached figures, are intended to explain in detail the invention and its advantages. The size ratios of the individual elements in the figures do not necessarily reflect the real size ratios. It is to be understood that in some instances various aspects of the invention may be shown exaggerated or enlarged to facilitate an understanding of the invention. 
         FIG. 1  shows a first embodiment of a packaging machine to group and join articles. 
         FIG. 2  shows an enlarged section of the packaging machine to group and join articles by a first packaging means from  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 3  shows another embodiment of the packaging machine to group and join articles by a first packaging means. 
         FIG. 4  shows several articles that are joined together by the first packaging means to form a packaging unit. 
         FIG. 5  shows packaging units that are joined together to bigger units by a second packaging means. 
         FIG. 6  shows other embodiments of bigger units. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     The same or equivalent elements of the invention are designated by identical reference characters. For the sake of clarity, only the reference characters relevant for describing the respective figure are provided. It should be understood that the embodiments described are only examples of designing the bodies, the packages, the device, or the method according to the invention, and they are not intended to limit the scope of the disclosure. 
     The schematic representation of  FIG. 1  shows an embodiment of a packaging machine  10  for grouping and joining of articles  12 . The articles  12  to be packed are guided into appropriate lanes  16  with the help of an article guiding element. The article guiding element can for instance be a transport belt arranged before the single lanes  16 . With the help of lane plates  14  the articles  12  are arranges in rows and transported along a transport belt  18  through the packaging machine  10 . The embodiment shown contains six rows to guide the articles  12 . 
     The packaging machine  10  can be separated into several different working sections, whereby the articles  12  are usually not transposed. As soon as the articles  12  are guided into the lanes  16 , the articles move towards a robot station  50 . There the first packaging means  20  (see  FIG. 2 ) is applied onto the articles  12  by at least one jointed arm robot  51 . The shown embodiment contains four jointed arm robots  51 , which combine the incoming articles  12  arranged in rows with a first packaging means  20  to a packaging unit  22  (see  FIG. 2 ). The first packaging means  20  therefore serves to form one or more packaging units  22 , whereby several packaging units  22  can be formed simultaneously. 
     The packaging units  22  formed by this method are then handed over to a pushing device  53 . Optionally, a transposition device  100 , shown schematically as an arm with a gripper, can rotate the packaging units 90° before being handed over. In this pushing device  53  the packaging units  22  are joined to form bigger packaging units  26  (see  FIG. 5 ). For the combination of the packaging units  22  to bigger packaging units  26  a second packaging means  40  (see  FIG. 5 ) is required. In the pushing device  53  the packaging units  22  can be covered by a shrinking foil  46  (see  FIG. 6 ) and/or the bigger packaging units  26  are pushed onto a tray  42  (see  FIG. 5 ). The tray  42  can for instance be moved from a conveying device  44  from below up to a transport belt  18 . Also the shrinking foil  46  or something the like can be transported up from below and cover the packaging units  26 . This machine is not shown because it is already known state of the art. In the pushing device  53  the packaging units  22  are joined to bigger packaging units  26  of desired size and form independently of the constructive details of the machine and independently of process details. Therefore the packaging machine  10  can be used to group different article formations to packaging units  22 . 
     The enlarged section of  FIG. 2  shows details of the packaging machine  10  for grouping and joining of articles  12  from  FIG. 1 . The articles  12  to be packed are guided into appropriate lanes  16  with the help of an article guiding element  14  (see  FIG. 3 ) or elements of equal function. The combination of the articles  12  with the first packaging means  20  is performed in a robot station  50  by a jointed arm robot  51 . As first packaging means  20  a plastic clip  28  or a cardboard clip  30  (see  FIG. 4 ) or something alike can be used. The four jointed arm robots  51  shown in  FIG. 2  take the respective first packaging means  20  out of a depot  54  at different times and cover the articles  12  with the first packaging means  20 . The jointed arm robots  51  each comprise a vacuum suction head  52  that takes the first packaging means  20  out of the depot  54 . Depending on the required performance the number of jointed arm robots  51  in a packaging machine  10  can be upgraded or reduced. 
     The first packaging means  20  also determines the size of the packaging units  22  to be formed. Meanwhile the articles  12  are joined to packaging units  22  the articles or the packaging units  22  continuously move along the transport belt  18  in the transport direction T with an almost constant conveying velocity, so that the formed packaging units  22  or so called packs  24  can be combined to bigger units  26  (see  FIG. 5  or  FIG. 6 ). The combination of several packaging units  22  to a bigger unit  26  occurs with the help of a second packaging means  40  (see  FIG. 5  or  FIG. 6 ). In this context it should be mentioned again that the articles  12  move along the transport belt  18  with a continuous conveying velocity in transport direction T while the first packaging means  40  is applied. 
     The schematic representation of  FIG. 3  shows another embodiment of a packaging machine  10  for applying a first packaging means  20  onto articles  12 . Also in this embodiment the articles  12  to be packed are guided into appropriate lanes  16  with the help of article guiding elements  14 , so that the articles  12  can be joined to packaging units  22  (see  FIG. 4 ) by the application of a first packaging means  20 . Hereby a pre-configured foil  32  that contains pre-cut openings  34  is put over the articles  12  and cut afterwards at defined positions (not shown). The plastic foil has elastic properties. Therefore the pre-cut openings  34  are slightly enlarged when put over the articles. Afterwards they fit tightly onto the articles  12  or sit on the articles  12  with a slight tension without slipping. The bottle necks  60  (see  FIG. 4 ) point upwards through the pre-cut openings  34 . 
     The pre-configured foil  32  can for instance be removed from a supply (not shown) and guided over a roll  36 . The roll  36  comprises the necessary techniques to put the foil  32  over the articles  12  to form an article-foil-composite  38  to begin with. Subsequently the foil  32  is cut with a cutting device  56 . The cutting device  56  can contain several cutting blades  58  arranged beside each other that are not further explained here. By cutting the article-foil-composite  38  with the help of the cutting device  56  packaging units  22  of desired size and form are formed. 
     The representation of  FIG. 4  shows several articles  12  that are joined by a first packaging means  20  to a packaging unit  22 . Several variants of differently sized and formed packaging units  22  are shown. The articles  12  of the packaging units  22  shown on the left comprise a banderol  31 . The banderol  31  keeps the single articles  12  together in the packaging unit  22 . In the shown embodiment either three articles  12  or four articles  12  are joined with a banderol  31  to form a packaging unit  22 . The articles  12  of the packaging unit  22  shown in the middle are kept together by a pre-configured foil. The formation of such a packaging unit  22  is already described in reference to  FIG. 3 . The articles  12  of the packaging unit  22  shown on the right are kept together by a clip  28 ,  30  out of plastic or cardboard. 
     The representation of  FIG. 5  shows packaging units  22  that are joined to a bigger unit  26  by a second packaging means  40 . The packaging machine  10  (see  FIG. 1  and  FIG. 2 ) enables for instance the formation of a bigger unit  26  or a tray of twenty four out of four packaging units  22  or four packs  24  with six articles  12  each (see illustration depicted on the left of  FIG. 5 ). 
     As shown in the illustration depicted on the right of  FIG. 5  instead of cardboard clips  30  a pre-configured foil  32  (so called “HiCones”) can be used. These packaging units  22  are formed by a machine shown in  FIG. 3 . These packaging units  22  can also be joined to a bigger unit  26 , whereby they are pushed onto a tray  42  by the packaging machine  10 . 
       FIG. 6  shows further embodiments of bigger packaging units  26 . Both left rows of the bigger packaging units  26  are formed by a tray  42 . Both illustrations on the right show bigger packaging units  26  that are formed by the application of a shrinking foil (upper illustration) or a carton  48  (lower illustration). Each illustration of  FIG. 6  clearly shows how the individual packaging units  22  are joined to bigger packaging units  26  by a second packaging means  40 . 
     The invention has been described with reference to preferred embodiments. To the expert it is also conceivable, however, to make changes and modifications without leaving the scope of protection of the appended claims. 
     LIST OF REFERENCE CHARACTERS 
     
         
           10  packaging machine 
           12  Article 
           14  lane plate 
           16  Lane 
           18  transport belt 
           20  first packaging means 
           22  packaging unit 
           24  Packs 
           26  bigger unit 
           28  plastic clip 
           30  cardboard clip 
           31  Banderol 
           32  Foil 
           34  pre-cut opening 
           36  Roll 
           38  article-foil-composite 
           40  second packaging means 
           42  Tray 
           44  conveying device 
           46  shrinking foil 
           48  Carton 
           50  robot station 
           51  jointed arm robot 
           52  vacuum-suction head 
           53  pushing device 
           54  Depot 
           56  cutting device 
           58  cutting blade 
         T transport direction