Patent Publication Number: US-2022227522-A1

Title: Device for orienting a packaging

Description:
The present invention relates to a device for orienting a packaging, in particular a sterile packaging, which is provided for folding open and/or tightening at least one edge of the packaging in a substantially horizontal plane, wherein a working position is defined in which a packaging to be oriented is to be arranged during operation of the device. 
     Pre-sterilised objects, such as injection syringes, are usually held in so-called tubs for their transport, which tubs in turn are welded into one or more bag-shaped packaging units. The objects are removed from the packaging and the tub in accordance with GMP guidelines and the NTT (No Touch Transfer) concept. For this purpose, the bag-shaped packaging must be oriented accordingly in order to be able to be cut open in a defined manner, wherein this cutting process ideally can be integrated in a modular manner in an overall process sequence. 
     In order to provide a defined cutting region in this context, such bag-shaped containers usually comprise a tab corner called an “edge”, which is folded in for transport and is only folded open and/or tightened again immediately before the cutting to be performed to open the container. This process is collectively referred to as “orienting” the packaging and has the object of preparing the packaging for subsequent cutting, which can be carried out, for example, after it has been transferred to a cutting device. 
     In previously known devices for orienting and cutting packaging in this way, the orienting step could either be carried out manually by a machine operator or automatically by means of a vacuum chamber into which the packaging was inserted, wherein the packaging is oriented by inflating after the vacuum chamber has subsequently been evacuated. Furthermore, automatic devices for orienting a package were also known, in which a needle was inserted into the bag-shaped packaging and a suitable inert gas was blown through this needle. In such devices, too, the edge to be cut was folded open due to the relative overpressure inside the packaging, and the packaging was thus oriented. 
     Although savings can be achieved by using automatic devices for orienting packaging compared to manually orienting packaging, the previously known automatic devices for this purpose are mechanically relatively complex and expensive to operate, and there is therefore still room for improvement. It is therefore the object of the present invention to provide a generic device which, without sacrificing its reliability, has a simplified mechanism in which in particular a vacuum pump or overpressure pump, as is necessary in the devices described above and known from the prior art, can be dispensed with. 
     To achieve this object, the device according to the invention comprises a brush station having at least one substantially horizontally oriented rotating brush, which is designed and arranged to come into frictional contact with the edge of the packaging to be folded open and/or tightened. 
     It is the merit of the inventors of the present device to have found that an edge of a packaging can be folded open not only by a pressure difference between the inside and the outside of the packaging, but also by purely mechanical and thus inexpensive and low-maintenance means, which make physical contact with the corresponding edge of the packaging, and orient and smooth same. It goes without saying that the terms “horizontal” and “vertical” used in this context are primarily intended to indicate that two directions are orthogonally oriented with respect to one another. It is of course also conceivable to arrange the device according to the invention so as to be tilted at an angle to the horizontal. 
     Although a single brush can be used to fold open and/or tighten an edge of a packaging, for example if a suitable contact surface is provided opposite this brush, against which the edge can rest when it comes into contact with the brush, in a development of the device according to the invention, the brush station may comprise at least one upper brush and at least one lower brush, which are designed and arranged in such a way that, when the edge of the packaging in the working position is folded open and/or tightened, said packaging is received between the at least one upper brush and the at least one lower brush, in order to come into contact with the brushes on both sides. Since both the upper side and lower side of the edge to be folded open and/or tightened are in frictional contact with at least one brush in each case, the tensile effect acting on both sides on the material of the edge can ensure uniform tightening thereof. 
     In a further preferred embodiment, two upper and two lower brushes can be provided in each case, which are arranged to extend from both sides of the edge of the packaging in the working position that is to be folded open and/or tightened, towards the centre of said packaging. The provision of two upper and two lower brushes in each case is a further measure that ensures an improved tensile effect on the edge of the packaging, since, as a result, identical or similar forces not only act on the upper and lower sides of the edge, but it can also be ensured that identical or similar forces also act on both sides in the horizontal plane on the upper side and the lower side of the edge, so that the tightening effect of the device according to the invention is also improved by this measure. 
     As an alternative or in addition, the one or at least one of the brushes can be arranged so as to be pivotable in a predetermined angular range about a substantially vertical pivot axis. The pivoting movement to be carried out by the at least one brush has the advantage that it can also provide a force component for folding open and/or tightening the edge of the packaging, and it can also enable simplified placement of the packaging in the working position, since by pivoting the at least one brush can first be moved away from the working position and the packaging before the actual folding open and/or tightening process begins, for which the at least one brush can be pivoted again in the direction of the packaging positioned in this way. 
     In order to allow such an operation, the device according to the invention can furthermore comprise a control device which controls the rotational operation of the at least one brush and the pivoting movement of the at least one brush in a coordinated manner. The individual brushes can be pivoted independently of one another if necessary. For this purpose, separate drive motors can then be provided to drive the rotational movement and the pivoting movement, while, in an alternative embodiment in which the control device is dispensed with, the intended operation of the device according to the invention can also be achieved, for example, by a single motor having suitable deflection means and gears. In any case, suitable drive means can also be used to cause movements of the individual brushes with respect to further degrees of freedom, for example a stroke, wherein all of the brushes could again be moved individually and independently of one another. 
     In one possible embodiment, the or at least one of the brushes of the device according to the invention can comprise a roller body and a plurality of bristles attached to the roller body, wherein the contour of the roller body preferably allows the bristles to bend away. In this embodiment, the friction to be generated between the brush and the edge of the packaging to be folded open and/or tightened is achieved substantially solely by the plurality of bristles, while the roller ideally has only a very low coefficient of friction in order to prevent the entire bag-shaped packaging from being drawn in by the rollers. 
     Here, for example, in an embodiment in which at least one upper and at least one lower brush are provided, the bristles of the at least one upper brush and the bristles of the at least one lower brush can be axially offset from one another. Furthermore, the bristles on at least one of the brushes can be rotationally offset from one another, for example arranged in a spiral shape with respect to one another. 
     In an alternative embodiment, the or at least one of the brushes could be formed by a cylinder having a surface made of a material which has a suitable coefficient of friction, for example silicone, and the cylinder can preferably have a circular, elliptical or oval base. 
     In a development of the device according to the invention, the device can further comprise a feed and/or positioning device which is designed to feed a packaging to be oriented to the working position and/or to position said packaging at this working position. Although manual positioning of the packaging to be oriented in the working position is also possible, the provision of the feed and/or positioning device can accommodate the desire for a higher degree of automation and better integrability of the device according to the invention in a complex overall process. 
     An example of such a system for orienting and cutting open a packaging, in particular a sterile packaging, according to the invention can comprise a device as described above and a downstream cutting device which is designed to cut open the packaging in the region of the folded-open and/or tightened edge. Here, the cutting device can be placed in such a way that it already cuts open the packaging that is still in the working position in the region of the folded-open and/or tightened edge and thus has to assume a position that was previously used by the at least one brush during the process of folding open and/or tightening, while, in an alternative embodiment, a transfer device can be provided which is designed to transfer the packaging in the state with the folded-open and/or tightened edge from the device for orientation to a separately formed cutting device. 
    
    
     
       Further advantages and features of the present invention will become even clearer from the following description of an embodiment of a device according to the invention when it is considered together with the accompanying drawings. In detail, in the drawings: 
         FIGS. 1 a    and  1   b  are a plan view of a device according to the invention in operation; 
         FIGS. 2 a  to 2 d    show the device from  FIGS. 1 a    and  1   b  in a side view; 
         FIG. 3  is a front view of the brushes of the device from  FIG. 1 a  to 2 d   ; and 
         FIG. 4  shows a possible embodiment of the bristles on the respective brushes. 
     
    
    
     In the accompanying figures, a device according to the invention for orienting a packaging is shown in a plan view or a side view in a plurality of operating states and is denoted quite generally by the reference sign  10 . 
     The device  10  is used to fold open and tighten an edge of a packaging V that has been folded in, wherein the edge of the packaging V is denoted by the reference sign K. The sequence of this work process can be understood in particular with the aid of  FIGS. 2 a  to 2 d   , which show the work steps to be carried out in chronological order. 
     In the example shown here, a tub T is accommodated within the packaging V, which tub, for example, can in turn contain injection syringes or other sterile articles, and around which the packaging V has been arranged and sealed by welding. 
     To transport the packaging V, the edge K thereof was initially folded in, as can be seen, for example, in  FIGS. 2 a  and 2 b   . In order to be able to achieve a reliable cutting open of the bag-shaped packaging V, the edge K of the packaging V to be cut must first of all be folded open and oriented. It is desirable here to provide the edge K so as to be as flat as possible and free of folds in the state to be cut. 
     For this purpose, the device  10  according to the invention comprises a pair of upper and lower brushes  12   a ,  12   b  or  14   a ,  14   b  in each case, which in their entirety form a brush station within the meaning of the present disclosure, wherein only the two upper brushes  FIGS. 12 a  and 12 b    can be seen in the plan views from  FIGS. 1 a  and 1 b   , and positions of the lower brushes  14   a  and  14   b  are indicated by arrows, while only the two brushes  12   b  and  14   b  are shown in the side view from  FIGS. 2 a  to 2 d   . As can also be seen in  FIGS. 1 a    and  1   b , the two brushes  12   a  and  12   b  are pivotable in a predetermined angular range about respective pivot axes S 1  and S 2 , which furthermore also applies to the two lower brushes  14   a  and  14   b , which lie below the two upper brushes  12   a  and  12   b  and thus can also be pivoted about the same axes S 1  and S 2 . 
     Each of the brushes  12   a  to  14   b  is in the form of a roller body  16  having a plurality of bristles  18 , wherein the bristles  18  are flexible, as can be seen, for example, in  FIGS. 2 b  to 2 d   , and the roller body  16  is also provided with depressions in the region of the bristles  18 , which allow the bristles  18  to be bent away. In contrast to the rollers  16 , the flexible bristles  18  are formed from a material having a high coefficient of friction, so that they can exert a considerable force on the edge K to be folded open when the brushes  12   a  to  14   b , as indicated by the arrows in  FIGS. 2 a  to 2 d   , rotate. 
     As can be seen in  FIGS. 2 a  to 2 d   , the process of folding open and/or tightening the edge K of the packaging V takes place in such a way that the packaging V is first transferred to its working position in the device  10  ( FIG. 2 a   ), while the brushes  12   a  to  14   d  are still in their pivoted position, which is also shown in  FIG. 1   b.    
     After the packaging V has been placed in the working position in the device  10 , the brushes  12   a  to  14   b  are pivoted back into the position shown in  FIG. 1 a    and come into contact with the packaging V in the region of the edge K. Here, the upper brushes  12   a  and  12   b  each rotate counterclockwise, while the lower brushes  14   a  and  14   b  rotate clockwise. The drive of the individual brushes can be controlled by a control device (not shown) and driven by one or more electric motors, wherein the motors driving the rotation and the motors driving the pivoting about the axes S 1  and S 2  can be operated in a coordinated manner. Initially, the edge K is still folded in, but it is folded back upwards by means of the frictional engagement, first with the lower brushes  14   a  and  14   b , until it is framed in a symmetrical manner between the upper brushes  12   a  and  12   b  and the lower brushes  14   a  and  14   b , as shown in  FIG. 2   c.    
     Since symmetrical forces are now exerted on the edge K by the upper brushes  12   a  and  12   b  and the lower brushes  14   a  and  14   b , the packaging V, as shown in  FIG. 2 d   , is oriented and can be cut open in a subsequent working step in the region of the edge K, without the tub T accommodated in the packaging V being impaired by the cutting process. 
     A possible arrangement of the individual bristles  18  on two opposing brushes  12   b  and  14   b  is shown in  FIG. 3 , wherein, in order to ensure desired effect of the device, the bristles  18  are axially offset from one another, so that the forces acting on the edge K of the packaging P can engage optimally. 
     Finally,  FIG. 4  shows a cross section through a possible embodiment of the bristles  18  on the respective brushes  12   a ,  12   b ,  14   a  and  14   b . Four bristles  18 , which are arranged in a star shape and each have a club shape, are provided. This shape ensures that the bristles  18  are sufficiently flexible to bend when they come into contact with the packaging V, while the contact area between the bristles  18  and the packaging V is optimised. Of course, in other variants of the present invention, a different number of bristles  18  can also be arranged in a star shape in such a configuration, for example three or six, or only two bristles  18  lying opposite one another can be provided.