Abstract:
The invention relates to a device ( 10 ) for handling a film-like cover strip ( 1 ) on a packaging material web ( 2 ) for a packaging container, comprising a first device ( 20 ) for forming a through-hole in the packaging material web ( 2 ), a second device ( 25 ) for separating one section of the cover strip ( 1 ) and a third device ( 40 ) for joining the separated sections of the cover strip ( 1 ) to the packaging material web ( 2 ) in the region of the through-hole. The section of the separated cover strip ( 1 ) covers the throughole. According to the invention, said three devices ( 20, 25, 40 ) are arranged on a common station ( 13 ) which comprises a frame ( 11 ) on which the position of at least one of the three devices ( 20, 25, 40 ) can be altered with respect to the packaging material web ( 2 ).

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    The invention relates to an apparatus for handling a film-type cover strip on a packing material web for a packaging container. 
         [0002]    An apparatus is already known from practice and serves to prepare the area of a packing material web where a pouring opening made of plastic is applied after the web has been shaped into a packaging container, for example into a tubular bag. For this purpose, it is essential that the relevant area of the packing material web, made of a relatively tough and elastic material, is deliberately weakened for the pouring opening. To do this, a round hole, for example, is in practice punched in the packing material web, and a cover strip is then applied directly to the punched hole on the side forming the inside of the subsequent packaging container. The cover strip is applied, for example, by means of a heat-sealing apparatus with which the cover strip, completely covering the hole, is sealed tightly onto the packing material web. The cover strip ensures at all times identical welding conditions for the application of the pouring opening, regardless of the nature of the material used for the packing material web. Moreover, before the packaging container is opened by means of the pouring opening, the cover strip produces a sealed package in which the entry of germs or the like into the interior of the package is avoided, such that a packaging container designed in this way is suitable for aseptic purposes. To open an aseptic package of this kind, the pouring opening has in particular tooth-shaped cutting projections which, when the lid of the pouring opening is unscrewed, cut through the film-type cover strip and thus allow the filler to exit the packaging container. 
         [0003]    In addition, uses for non-aseptic packages are known in which the pouring opening has no opening means in the form of cutting projections or the like for cutting through the film-type cover strip. In this case it is necessary to apply, in the area of the punched hole in the packing material web, a cover strip that is at least pre-weakened in order to permit manual opening or piercing of the cover strip after the lid of the pouring device has been removed. 
         [0004]    In the prior art, the devices for punching the holes in the packing material web and for handling and applying the film-type cover strip are designed as separate devices. This means that the apparatus as a whole takes up a relatively large space. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0005]    Proceeding from the stated prior art, the object of the invention is to develop an apparatus for handling a film-type cover strip on a packing material web for a packaging container in such a way that an especially compact structure of the apparatus is permitted. This object is achieved, according to the invention, by the fact that the three devices for forming the through-holes, for separating the section of cover strip and for connecting the cover strip to the packing material web are arranged at a common station, which has a frame on which the position of at least one of the three mentioned devices in relation to the packing material web can be changed. By arranging the three devices on a common frame and at a common station, an extremely compact structure of the apparatus is permitted. 
         [0006]    In a preferred embodiment of the invention making it particularly easy to adapt the position of the three devices to the desired position of the hole that is to be punched or to the format of the packing material web, provision is made that the three devices are arranged on a common support element which is movable, on a linear guide arranged on the frame, transversely with respect to the feed direction of the endless packing material web that is fed, in particular intermittently, into the area of the three devices. 
         [0007]    Of particular advantage is an embodiment in which the support element is coupled to a drive, and in which the drive can be controlled by a control device which detects positions of position marks on the packing material web by means of at least one sensor and, if the position marks deviate from a desired position, controls the drive accordingly. In this way, during the operation of the apparatus, a control of the apparatus is permitted that ensures that the hole in the packing material web and the cover strip are at all times arranged at the desired position. 
         [0008]    In another embodiment of the invention, in which a packaging installation has a particularly high degree of efficiency, provision is made that the frame serves to receive two support elements with in each case three devices, and that the in each case three devices cooperate with in each case a separate packing material web. This means that the packaging installation produces and fills packaging containers in parallel operation, and a common frame serves to receive all the devices for both packing material webs. 
         [0009]    In another embodiment of the invention, provision is made that a fourth device is provided for forming at least one opening or weakening in the cover strip in the area of the through-hole, and that the fourth device, seen in the feed direction of the packing material web, follows the second device and the third device, wherein the fourth device is likewise arranged on the support element. In non-aseptic applications, such a design of the apparatus makes it possible to weaken the cover strip and prepare it for the user in such a way that it is not necessary to use pouring openings with integrated tear-open aids. 
         [0010]    It is particularly preferable if the fourth device for forming the opening or weakening in the cover strip and the first device for forming the hole in the packing material web are rigidly connected to each other. Such a design has the advantage that, when the position of the first device is adjusted according to the position for example of the position marks on the packing material web, the fourth device is moved too at the same time, such that the weakening of the cover strip always takes place at the same location in relation to the hole in the packing material web. 
         [0011]    A particularly compact structure of the apparatus in the longitudinal direction of the packing material web is achieved if the second device comprises a transport device with which the cover strip, stored in the form of a roll, is fed transversely with respect to the feed direction of the packing material web. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0012]    Further advantages, features and details of the invention will become clear from the following description of preferred illustrative embodiments and from the drawing, in which: 
           [0013]      FIG. 1  shows a perspective view of the apparatus according to the invention for handling a film-type cover strip, 
           [0014]      FIG. 2  shows a perspective view of a part of the apparatus according to  FIG. 1  in the area where the cover strip is handled, 
           [0015]      FIG. 3  shows a perspective view of a feeding and separating device for the cover strip, and 
           [0016]      FIG. 4  shows a perspective view of parts of a transport carriage for handling a separated section of a cover strip. 
       
    
    
       [0017]    Identical structural parts, or structural parts that have an identical function, are provided with the same reference numbers in the figures. 
       DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0018]      FIG. 1  shows an apparatus  10  for handling a film-type cover strip  1  on a packing material web  2  for packaging containers. Here, packaging containers, particularly in the form of tubular bags, are produced from the endless packing material web  2  by means of a packaging installation (not shown in detail) and are filled in particular with a liquid filler and closed. The apparatus  10  is preferably used in a packaging installation of the kind set forth and described in the as yet unpublished document DE 10 2009 045 153 A1 from the Applicant. Thus, DE 10 2009 045 153 A1 is to this extent intended to form part of this application. In particular, this application also discloses using pouring devices for the packaging containers, which pouring devices are secured or arranged in the area of through-holes on the packaging container. The apparatus  10  according to the invention here serves for forming the through-holes and for closing the through-holes by means of the cover strips  1 . 
         [0019]    The apparatus  10  has a frame  11 , which includes a transverse support  12 . At the two opposite ends of the transverse support  12 , the apparatus  10  has in each case an identically designed station  13  with a support element  14 . 
         [0020]    In the illustrative embodiment shown, the apparatus  10  serves for the simultaneous processing of two packing material webs  2  fed in parallel into the area of the apparatus  10 , and therefore two stations  13  are provided. It is of course within the scope of the invention to modify the apparatus  10  such that it serves for processing only a single packing material web  2 . In this case, the apparatus  10  has just a single station  13 . 
         [0021]    A first device  20  for forming the through-holes in the packing material web  2  is arranged at the station  13 . The first device  20  comprises a punch  21  which is arranged to move up and down, in particular pneumatically, and which cooperates with a matching abutment element (not shown) arranged on the opposite side of the packing material web  2  from the punch  21 . The punch  21  generates through-holes, in particular round through-holes, in the packing material web  2  at uniform intervals in relation to the feed direction, designated by reference number  16  in  FIG. 1 , of the two packing material webs  2 . Moreover, the two packing material webs  2  are fed intermittently into the area of the apparatus  10  by means of conveyor devices (not shown). 
         [0022]    The station  13  further comprises a second device  25  (shown in detail particularly in  FIG. 3 ) for separating in each case a section of defined length of the cover strip  1  stored as an endless roll  4 . For this purpose, the second device  25 , as can be seen particularly in  FIG. 3 , has a block-shaped element  26 , which has a separating blade  27  that can be actuated in particular pneumatically and that can be moved up and down. In the position shown in  FIG. 3 , the separating blade  27  is shown in its raised state, in which it is arranged above an outlet slit  28  on a plate  29  of the block-shaped element  26 . The cover strip  1  (not shown in  FIG. 3 ) is pulled off from the roll  4  by a servo drive  30 , in each case by a defined length, such that the pulled-off section of the cover strip  1  protrudes from the outlet slit  28  in the stationary phase of the servo drive  30  and can be separated from the roll  4  by means of the separating blade  27  being driven down. For this purpose, the second device  25  also has a transport carriage  33  (shown in detail in  FIG. 4 ), which has a plate-shaped carriage  35  driven pneumatically in the direction of the double arrow  34 . 
         [0023]    On its top face, the carriage  35  has holes  36  which are operatively connected to a vacuum source (not shown) via an attachment piece  37 . To separate a section of the cover strip  1  from the roll  4 , the carriage  35 , in the position shown in  FIG. 4 , is arranged directly in the area of the separating blade  27  such that, by activation of the vacuum source, the section of the cover strip  1  protruding from the outlet slit  28  is positioned and held on the carriage  35 . After the corresponding section of the cover strip  1  has been cut off by means of the separating blade  27 , the carriage  35  is moved transversely into the area of its intended position above the through-hole in the packing material web  2 . This position is preferably reached at the latest when the packing material web  2  is located in the apparatus  10  in a stationary phase. In this position, the carriage  35  is aligned with a third device  40  of the station  13 . 
         [0024]    The third device  40  here serves for securing, in particular for heat-sealing, the separated cover strip  1  on the top face of the packing material web  2  that later forms the inside of the packaging container. For this purpose, the third device  40  has an upwardly and downwardly movable sealing jaw  41  whose underside, operatively connected to the cover strip  1 , has holes that are connected to a vacuum source, which positions the separated area of the cover strip  1  on the underside of the sealing jaw  41 . 
         [0025]    Moreover, the station  13  optionally comprises a fourth device  45  which serves to form a weakening, e.g. in the form of a perforation or scratch or in the form of one or more holes, in the cover strip  1 , after the latter is already connected to the packing material web  2 . For this purpose, the fourth device  45  is arranged on that side of the third device  40  opposite the first device  20 . The fourth device  45  comprises an arc-shaped housing  46  with a continuous slit  47  through which the packing material web  2  is fed. A punching, perforating or scratching die (not shown in the figures) is arranged on the housing  46  and can be driven up and down by means of a pneumatic unit  48 . 
         [0026]    The support element  14 , which supports the four devices  20 ,  25 ,  40  and  45 , can be moved transversely with respect to the feed direction of the packing material web  2  on a linear guide  52  on the frame  11  of the apparatus  10 . This mobility or positioning of the station  13  ensures that the through-holes and the cover strips  1  in the area of the packing material web  2  are at all times arranged at a defined edge distance from the packing material web  2 . The exact position of the packing material web  2  in relation to the station  13  is detected by means of a sensor  53  (shown only symbolically in  FIG. 1 ), which detects position marks  5  arranged at uniform intervals on the packing material web  2  and supplies these as input values to a control device  55  of the apparatus  10 . If the position of the position marks  5  deviates from a desired position, a drive (not shown in detail) for the support element  14  is triggered by means of the control device  55  and moves the support element  14 , and therefore the station  13 , on the linear guide  52  transversely with respect to the packing material web  2 , in order to position the station  13  at a defined distance from the longitudinal edge of the packing material web  2 . 
         [0027]    Whereas the second device  25  and the third device  40 , seen in the feed direction of the packing material web  2 , are arranged in a fixed position on the frame  11  or the support element  14 , the first device  20  and the fourth device  45  are arranged movably in the feed direction of the packing material web  2 . For this purpose, the first device  20  and the fourth device  45  are connected rigidly to each other by means of a longitudinal support  56 , and the longitudinal support  56  is arranged on a guide which is adjustable in the feed direction  16  of the packing material web  2  by means of a longitudinal adjustment drive  57 . The longitudinal adjustment drive  57  is controlled according to the position of the position marks  5  that has been detected by the sensor  53  or else by means of another sensor not shown. 
         [0028]    The apparatus  10  described thus far works in the following way: By means of the conveyor device (not shown) for the packing material web  2 , the latter is fed intermittently into the area of the apparatus  10 . Preferably during the delivery phase of the packing material web  2 , a section of defined length of the cover strip  1  is pulled off from the roll  4  by means of the servo motor  30  of the second device  25  and is separated by means of the separating blade  27 . The separated cover strip  1  is then brought by means of the carriage  35  to lie congruent with the position of the through-hole that has been formed in the packing material web  2  by means of the first device  20  during a preceding stationary phase. As soon as the through-hole of the packing material web  2  is congruent with the separated cover strip  1  during the stationary phase of the conveyor device, the cover strip  1 , transferred beforehand from the carriage  35  to the vacuum-assisted sealing jaw  41 , is connected to the packing material web  2  by means of the cover strip  1  being lowered and pressed on. Heat sealing preferably takes place here between the cover strip  1  and the packing material web  2 . The packing material web  2 , with the sealed-on cover strip  1 , is then fed onward. During the next stationary phase, the cover strip  1  can be provided with the described weakening in the area of the through-hole by means of the optionally provided fourth device  45 . 
         [0029]    It will further be noted that the separation of the cover strips  1 , and their delivery to the area in which the cover strip  1  is then connected to the packing material web  2 , preferably takes place during the delivery phase of the packing material web  2 , such that the performance of the apparatus  10  is optimized. 
         [0030]    The apparatus  10  described thus far can be modified in many ways without departing from the concept of the invention.