Patent Publication Number: US-7708678-B2

Title: Method for erecting tubular blanks and a station, in which this method is carried out

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
   This application is a division of U.S. application Ser. No. 11/536,071, filed Sep. 28, 2006 now U.S. Pat. No. 7,422,551. 

   FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
   The present invention relates to boxing machines, with particular reference to a station for erecting tubular blanks in boxes. 
   BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   As it is known, the boxing machines are aimed at boxing articles or packages of articles of different kind; in general, the operations occurring in similar machines include the withdrawal of a tubular blank in flat folded configuration from a magazine, erecting the blank, so that it assumes a parallelepiped rectangular section, introduction, according to a lateral or vertical direction, of articles or packages of articles into the unfolded blank, folding the blank flaps and their mutual sealing, so as to define the bottom and the cover of a corresponding box containing the articles. 
   It is understood that some of these operations can be carried out in a different order with respect to the described one, or they can have more steps (for example, it can include a first folding of the flaps forming the box bottom, filling of the blank with articles and then, folding the flaps forming the box cover), in relation to the type of machine taken into consideration. 
   The way of filling of the box being formed remains the same, that is it includes the introduction of the articles, parallel to the axis of the erected tubular blank arranged to be squared. 
   A similar boxing machine, which is described in the European Patent EP 0 036 399, introduces the articles into the erected blank from one side. 
   The machine described in the above mentioned patent includes a vertical magazine, containing a plurality of tubular blanks piled up in a flat, horizontal configuration, and having an outlet section situated below in a position corresponding to the pile bottom. 
   Means for supporting the plurality of blanks are associated to the magazine, so as to allow the withdrawal of one blank at a time from the pile bottom. 
   A flat folded tubular blank is a blank formed by two superposed sheets set in touch with each other and connected along two opposite ends. 
   The blank has longitudinal and transversal pre-creasing lines, facilitating its folding, so as to define the lateral walls and edges of a corresponding box. 
   Each single blank is withdrawn from a pile by suction means, e.g. suction cups, carried by a carriage situated below the magazine and moving between a blank withdrawal station and a container forming and filling station. 
   The suction cups, defining first and second suction means, are aimed at gripping respectively the two lateral lower walls (first and second lateral wall) of the pile lowermost blank, making the blank disengage from the magazine supporting means, after the carriage movement from the withdrawal station toward the forming and filling station. 
   The first suction means are activated only for the time necessary for the disengagement of the pile lowermost blank, while the second suction means remain active during the carriage downward translation and during the subsequent forming and filling steps for obtaining the corresponding box. 
   One end of a first arm is hinged to the carriage, and its other end is articulated to a second arm, formed respectively by a first and second portion, at right angle to each other, and in turn hinged to the apparatus structure. 
   The arm length and position with respect to the carriage are such as to determine prefixed actions on the blank during the relative erecting operations: actually, the carriage downward translation corresponds to the first arm striking the blank first lateral wall and the gradual erecting of the blank, which reaches the open-squared position in the forming and filling station, with the first and second portions of the second arm parallel respectively to the first and second lateral wall. 
   Thus, the tubular blank assumes a parallelepiped form, with a rectangular cross-section, and maintains it due to the action of the second suction means and the action of the suction cups (third suction means), mounted on the first portion of the second arm and activated just a moment before the carriage reaches the forming and filling station. 
   The suction action continues for the time necessary to form the box bottom, to introduce thereinto an ordered pile of articles and to define the box cover. 
   First and second folding means, identical to each other and operated in different times, are aimed at folding the erected blank flaps, so as to define respectively the bottom and the cover of the corresponding box. 
   The operations carried out after the blank erecting are as follows: folding the flaps, which define the bottom of the box being formed, introduction of an ordered pile of articles into the blank, folding of the flaps, which define the box cover and pulling the so defined box toward the taping belt, for subsequent sealing operations to conclude the working cycle. 
   Therefore, the just described apparatus belongs to the type of boxing machine, which withdraws a tubular blank in flat horizontal configuration and erects the latter keeping with its axis oriented horizontal. 
   SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   The object of the present invention is to propose a station for erecting tubular blanks in horizontal flat folded configuration, which allows introduction of the articles, in accordance to a vertical direction, into the box being formed, in other words, a station is proposed for erecting tubular blanks, so that they assume parallelepiped form with rectangular cross-section and vertical axis. 
   Therefore, the invention proposes a newly conceived station for erecting tubular blanks, which is designed to be a part of a boxing machine for in-vertical feeding of the blanks with articles. 
   Another object of the present invention is to propose a station, whose structure is essential, and which is reliable, highly productive and relatively cheap with respect to known solutions. 
   A further object of the invention is to propose a method, which allows to erect tubular blanks in horizontal flat configuration, making them assume a parallelepiped form with rectangular cross section and vertical axis. 
   The above object will be pursued by inventing also a simple method, by which a high production rate can be performed and relatively low costs are required with respect to known solutions. 
   A still further object of the invention is to propose a newly conceived method for erecting tubular blanks in horizontal flat configuration; in this sense, the blanks are erected along a vertical axis, simplifying the subsequent in-vertical filling steps of the corresponding boxes being formed. 
   The above object is obtained by conceiving a simple, essential method, by which a high production speed can be achieved. 
   The above mentioned objects are obtained, in accordance with the contents of the claims, by a station for erecting tubular blanks in boxes, with each blank including two superposed sheets connected along opposite ends of the sheets to define a flat folded configuration, with longitudinal pre-creasing lines made in said sheets for defining a first and a second lateral walls in each sheet and for facilitating folding of the blank, and with transversal pre-creasing lines made in the sheets for defining and facilitating folding of flaps of the blank, to which station said tubular blanks are conveyed one by one in a substantially horizontal position by driving means, with said erecting station including: 
   a gripping and raising unit for gripping said first lateral wall and for raising the blank in a way such that said blank rotates by a 90° angle; 
   first folding means acting on at least one second lateral wall, adjacent to said first lateral wall engaged by the gripping means of said unit, in step relation with the rotation of the blank, so that the blank assumes a parallelepiped shape with vertical axis. 
   The above mentioned station is conceived to carry out a method for erecting tubular blanks in boxes, with each blank including two superposed sheets connected along opposite ends of the sheets to define a flat folded configuration, with longitudinal pre-creasing lines made in said sheets for defining a first and a second lateral walls in each sheet and for facilitating folding of the blank, and with transversal pre-creasing lines made in the sheets for defining and facilitating folding of flaps of the blank, the method including:
         conveying said tubular blanks one by one in horizontal arrangement, to a tubular blank erecting station;   gripping a first lateral wall of each tubular blank and raising said tubular blank by a 90° rotation;   striking at least one second lateral wall of the blank, adjacent to said first lateral wall engaged by the gripping action, so as to arrange the second lateral wall at right angle with respect to said first lateral wall, with consequent erecting of the blank taking a parallelepiped form with a vertical axis.       

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     The characteristic features of the invention, which are not evident from what has been just said, will be pointed out in the following description of some preferred but not exclusive embodiments, with reference to the enclosed figures, in which: 
       FIG. 1  is a schematic, front view of the station, proposed by the invention, in a first significant work configuration; 
       FIG. 2  is a schematic, lateral view, in continuous and broken line, of means of the station of the previous figure, respectively in the first work configuration and in a second significant work configuration; 
       FIG. 3  is a top view of the station of  FIG. 1 , on the basis of the second work configuration; 
       FIGS. 4A ,  4 B are the views analogous to  FIG. 2 , of the proposed station on the basis of a third significant work configuration, respectively in case of maximum and minimum size of the tubular blanks; 
       FIGS. 5A ,  5 B are the views analogous to  FIG. 3 , of the proposed station, respectively in the third and in a fourth significant work configuration; 
       FIG. 6  is the view analogous to  FIG. 1 , of the proposed station on the basis of a fifth significant work configuration. 
   

   DISCLOSURE OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
   Having regards to the above Figures, the general reference S 1  indicates a station, proposed by the invention, in which the tubular blanks  1  are erected. 
   Means  2  convey the flat folded tubular blanks  1 , kept in horizontal position, one by one, toward the station S 1 , up to a fixed abutment  11 , see  FIG. 1 , which defines a first fixed vertical reference plane Z. 
   The means  2  include e.g. a conveying belt, which receives the tubular blanks  1  from a magazine (not shown) and conveys them in a driving direction T, to the erecting station S 1 . 
   Each tubular flat folded blank  1  conveyed to the station S 1 , as it has been said, lays in horizontal position and includes two sheets  1   h ,  1   j , superposed to each other and connected along two opposite ends  1   k ,  1   z.    
   The tubular blanks  1  have also longitudinal and transversal pre-creasing lines, which facilitate the blank erecting, defining lateral walls  6 , the first lateral wall  6 A, the second lateral wall  6 B, the flaps  5 , the first lower flap  5 A and the second lower flap  5 B of a corresponding box. 
   A carriage  8  is moved by relative actuator means, not shown, between the erecting station S 1  and a work station, not shown as not relevant to the invention, in which the erected blanks are filled with articles or packages of articles moved in vertical direction. 
   The carriage  8  bears a unit  3 , which grips and lifts the blank  1  so that it rotates, and first and second folding means  4 ,  9 . 
   The gripping and raising unit  3  includes an arm  3 B hinged to the carriage  8  according to a horizontal direction, perpendicular to the one defined by the longitudinal pre-creasing lines of the tubular blanks  1 , reaching the erecting station S 1 . 
   The arm  3 B supports a plate  3 C, which carries gripping means  3 A, e.g. a plurality of suction cups  12 , connected to a vacuum source, not shown. 
   In the shown example, there are four suction cups  12 , each of which situated near the vertices of the plate  3 C. 
   Suitable actuator means, likewise not shown since known, move the arm  3 B between a horizontal position  0  and a vertical position V (see for example  FIG. 2 ), so as to carry out a 90° rotation between the two positions. 
   In particular, in the position V, the suction cups  12  lye in a second fixed vertical ideal plane K, perpendicular to the first plane Z. 
   The first folding means  4  include a body, having a flat surface  4   a  and hinged to the carriage  8  with possibility of rotation about a vertical axis between a rest position R 1  and a strike-and-fold position I 1  in which it strikes and folds the second lateral wall  6 B of the tubular blank  1  (see  FIGS. 5A-5B ). 
   The means  4  are also subjected to first actuator means (not shown for sake of simplicity). 
   The second folding means  9  include an arm  9 A, pivoted at one side to the carriage  8  so as to rotate about a vertical axis, between a rest position R 2  and a strike-and-fold position I 2  in which it strikes and folds the first lower flap  5 A of the tubular blank  1 , and forming, on the other side, a hook-like element  9 B (see for example  FIGS. 1 ,  2 ,  4 A,  4 B). 
   Obviously, the means  9  are moved by second actuator means, not shown. 
   It is specified that the first and the second folding means  4 ,  9 , as shown in the enclosed Figures, are situated upstream of the gripping and raising unit  3  with respect to the forwarding direction AV of the carriage  8  in the work station. 
   Consequently, the first lower flap  5 A is situated at the rear with respect to the direction AV. 
   Finally, a third fixed folding element  10 , whose profile is shown in  FIG. 6 , is situated near the work station (as already said, not shown). 
   Now, operation of the station proposed by the present invention will be described. 
   The work steps shown in Figures from  1  to  6 , follow one another systematically and repetitively in the tubular blank  1  erecting station S 1  as well as in the subsequent work station. 
   Therefore, reference will be made to the working cycle shown in the above Figures. 
   In  FIGS. 1 ,  2 , a tubular blank  1  of a selected size (for example the maximum one), driven by the conveying means  2  to the erecting station S 1 , strikes against the fixed abutment  11 , while the carriage  8  is in the erecting station S 1  with the arm  3 B set in the vertical position V and the first and second folding means  4 ,  9  are set respectively in the rest positions R 1 , R 2 . 
   This configuration is followed by the movement of the arm  3 B to the horizontal position  0 , with a consequent contact with the first lateral wall  6 A of the blank  1  by the suction cups  12  (see  FIG. 3 ), the activation of the suction cups  12  to suck, so as to grip the blank  1 , and the return of the loaded arm  3 B, to the start vertical position V. 
   Then, the tubular blank  1  is raised, by the gripping action of the means  3 A on the first lateral wall  6 A, and at the same time, rotated by a 90° angle, bringing the first lateral wall  6 A from a horizontal position to a vertical position, in which it is aligned with the second fixed reference plane K. 
   In particular, the weight of the blank  1  and its raising and rotating, cause its partial erecting, making it assume a parallelepiped form with a vertical axis ( FIGS. 4A ,  5 A). 
   The blank  1  remains in this raised position until the cycle ends, with the upper transversal pre-creasing lines, which define the cover of the corresponding box being formed, aligned with a third fixed horizontal plane H, shown in  FIGS. 1 ,  4 A,  4 B, described later on. 
   The first and second folding means  4 ,  9  are operated by the first and second actuator means in reciprocal step relation and with the loaded arm  3 B having reached the vertical position V. 
   During the passage from the rest position R 1  to the strike and-fold position I 1 , the flat surface  4   a  of the body  4  abuts against and pushes the second lateral wall  6 B of the blank  1 , until said wall is oriented at a 90° angle with respect to the adjacent first lateral wall  6 A. 
   In this way, the tubular blank  1  is erected and assumes the rectangular parallelepiped form with a vertical axis. 
   Likewise, the arm  9 A of the second folding means  9  is brought from the rest position R 2  to the position I 2 , in which the hook element  9 B strikes against the first lower flap  5 A of the blank  1 , adjacent to the second lateral wall  6 B, which is consequently, folded by a 90° angle. 
   The striking of the hook element  9 B against the first lower flap  5 A occurs, e.g. after the tubular blank  1  has been erected. 
     FIG. 5B  shows the erected blank  1  with the relative first lower flap  5 A folded by a 90° angle. 
   Finally, the carriage  8  is operated by relative actuators to move from the erecting station S 1  to the work station in the forwarding direction AV. 
   During this movement, the second lower flap  5 B of the tubular blank  1 , opposite to the first lower flap  5 A, strikes against the third fixed folding element  10 , and is therefore folded at right angle, as shown in  FIG. 6 . 
   The last step concludes the present cycle and the subsequent operations, such as defining the bottom of the box and filling it with piles of articles, are not relevant to the invention. 
   A new work cycle begins, when the unloaded carriage  8  moved back to the erecting station S 1 . 
   The above mentioned fixed planes, first Z, second K and third H, act each as a reference for the erected tubular blank  1  in the erecting station S 1 , being aligned respectively with the lateral wall, opposite to the second lateral wall  6 B, with the first lateral wall  6 A and with the relative upper transversal pre-creasing lines of the blank  1 . 
   This is valid for the blanks of any dimensions, between a minimum size ( FIGS. 4B ,  5 B) and a maximum size ( FIGS. 4A ,  5 B), provided that the blank  1  is initially arranged in a suitable way on the conveying means  2  (which is anyway easy to carry out). 
   In the work station, e.g. an article filling station, the first lateral wall  6 A of the blank  1  remains aligned with the second fixed plane K and the upper transversal pre-creasing lines of the blank  1  remain aligned with the third fixed plane H. 
   In known solutions with article being supplied in vertical direction, the erected blank is usually moved to the filling station by conveying means, with its bottom already closed. 
   In this case, when the size is changed, the blank resting on the conveying belt maintains its bottom and its central line aligned with two corresponding fixed planes, one horizontal and the other vertical. 
   The alignment of the blank  1  with the third plane H, according to the invention, is extremely advantageous, because it allows setting at a minimum the stroke of the manipulating means (not shown, acting in the filling station), which introduce articles into the boxes being formed: actually, in case of containers of equal cross-section and the progressively decreasing height, the filling time becomes gradually shorter with respect to the prior art, because the vertical movement, which the manipulating means must perform, decreases proportionally to the box dimensions. 
   In this way, a drawback of the known solutions is resolved, as also the boxes of small dimensions are filled in satisfactory times, maintaining high production rate of the machine, independently from the size type being used. 
   As it can be guessed, still in the filling station, the alignment of the first lateral wall  6 A of the blank  1  with the second fixed plane K allows setting to a minimum the transversal stroke of the manipulating means at the size change, giving the boxing machine a still higher production rate with respect to prior art. 
   As an alternative to the just described preferred embodiment, the carriage  8  can be substituted by a stationary frame: the whole above description would be extended to this variant, together with the manners of the tubular blank  1  erecting and the first lower flap  5 A folding. 
   Thus, supposing that the unit  3  and the first and second folding means  4 ,  9  were connected to a stationary frame, Figures from  1  to  5 B would be valid as to the general way of operation. 
   Obviously, it is also possible to suppose that the third folding member were operated by actuator means, which define the abutment and folding of the second lower flap  5 B, like in already described case. 
   It goes without saying from the above description that in the erecting station S 1  for the tubular blanks  1  in flat folded configuration the following operations are performed:
         conveying of the tubular blanks  1 , one after another and in horizontal arrangement, to the erecting station S 1  of the tubular blanks  1 ;   striking of each blank  1  against a fixed abutment  11 , situated in the station Si;   gripping of the first lateral wall  6 A of the blank  1  and its subsequent raising by a 90° angle rotation, so that the blank  1  assumes a parallelepiped form with a vertical axis, due to the raising with rotation and its weight;   striking the second lateral wall  6 B of the blank  1 , adjacent to the first lateral wall  6 A, so as to define its arrangement at right angle with respect to the first lateral wall  6 A, with consequent erecting of the blank  1 ;   striking the first lower flap  5 A of the blank  1 , situated behind with respect to the subsequent movement of the blank  1  in the prefixed forwarding direction AV, with a consequent inward folding thereof by a 90° angle;   moving of the blank  1  toward the work station, e.g. filling station, in the forwarding direction AV;   striking, in step relation with the moving of the blank  1  toward the work station, of the second lower flap  5 B of the blank, opposite to the first lower flap  5 A, with a consequent folding thereof by a 90° angle.       

   The raising of each blank  1  with a rotation, as it has already been said, causes the alignment of the first lateral wall  6 A with the second fixed plane K, as well as the alignment of the upper transversal pre-creasing line of the blank  1  with the third fixed reference plane H. 
   The above mentioned alignments are maintained at least until the tubular blank  1  reaches the work station. 
   The advantage of the present invention lies in the fact that it defines a newly conceived station, which erects, along a vertical axis, flat folded tubular blanks in horizontal configuration, simplifying the subsequent steps of vertical filling of the box being foisted with articles. 
   In this sense, the proposed station advantageously combines with a boxing machine for filling blanks with articles in vertical direction. 
   Another advantage of the invention lies in the fact that it is possible to change the tubular blanks  1  size without any decline of the production rate of the boxing machine, to which the station is associated. 
   Actually, with any dimensions of the blanks, their alignment in the work station (e.g. filling station) with the second and the third fixed planes K, H remains unchanged, so as to minimize the times of filling boxes being formed, as it has already been mentioned. 
   A further advantage of the invention derives from the fact that the structure of the proposed station is essential, and therefore it is reliable, highly productive and relatively cheap with respect to known solutions. 
   A still further advantage of the invention derives from the fact that it defines a newly conceived method for erecting tubular blanks, initially arranged in horizontal flat configuration. 
   In particular, the method includes erecting blanks in a vertical axis, simplifying the subsequent steps of filling in vertical direction of the corresponding boxes being formed. 
   The erecting operation and vertical arrangement of the blanks is also simple and essential, allowing a high productivity. 
   It is understood that the proposed invention has been described as a mere, not limiting example. Therefore, it is obvious that any changes or variants applied thereto remain within the protective scope defined by the following claims.