Method and device for producing packs having shrink film

Abstract

For the production of packs ( 10 ) with an outer wrapper made of sealable shrink-wrapping film, the packs ( 10 ) pass through a plurality of processing stations, for sealing and/or shrink-wrapping purposes, individually and at a distance apart from one another in cyclic fashion. In an assembly station ( 40 ), units made up of a plurality of, in particular four, packs ( 10 ) are combined to form a functional unit and, thereafter, are transported in an appropriate conveying cycle and processed simultaneously in the region of operating stations.

1 . A method of producing (cuboidal) packs ( 10 ) having an outer wrapper ( 11 ) made of sealable shrink-wrapping film, in particular a cigarette pack of the hinge-lid-box type, wherein folding flaps ( 18 ,  19 ) of the outer wrapper ( 11 ) are connected to one another by thermal tacking and (subsequent) sealing and the outer wrapper ( 11 ) is subjected to shrink-wrapping treatment by in particular surface-area heat-discharging mechanisms in the region of mutually opposite surfaces or walls of the pack ( 10 ) or outer wrapper ( 11 )—in the case of a hinge-lid box (for cigarettes) a front wall ( 12 ) and rear wall ( 13 ), on the one hand, and (upright) side walls ( 14 ,  15 ), on the other hand—comprising subjecting surfaces of the packs ( 10 ) or walls of the outer wrapper ( 11 ) individually or in pairs, simultaneously or one after the other, to heat and pressure for sealing purposes and/or shrink-wrapping treatment, wherein some walls of the outer wrapper ( 11 ) are subjected to a sealing treatment using heat and pressure and the other walls of the outer wrapper ( 11 ) are subjected—approximately—at the same time to heat and pressure for shrink-wrapping treatment. 
     
     
         2 . The method as claimed in  claim 1 , further comprising the steps of:
 a) folding flaps ( 18 ,  19 ) of the outer wrapper ( 11 ) are fixed by tacking—thermal sealing using small sealing surfaces—in the region of overlaps (immediately) following production;   b) during the operation of tacking sideways directed folding flaps ( 19 ), in particular in the region of an end wall ( 16 ) and of a base wall ( 17 ) of the outer wrapper ( 11 ), selected pack surfaces, that is to say upwardly and/or downwardly directed large pack surfaces—front wall ( 12 ) and/or rear wall ( 13 )—are subjected to heat for the shrink-wrapping process;   c) thereafter, further pack surfaces, in particular side walls ( 14 ,  15 ), of the outer wrapper are subjected to heat and pressure for sealing and/or shrink-wrapping purposes; and   d) then, folding flaps ( 18 ,  19 ) of the outer wrapper ( 11 ) are definitively sealed.   
     
     
         3 . The method as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the operation of sealing folding flaps ( 18 ,  19 ) is carried out in at least two steps, with the folding flaps ( 18 ,  19 ) being affected differently in each case, in particular such that, in a first step, an inner region of a surface of the pack ( 10 ) (that can be deformed by curvature) is subjected to heat and pressure, and then the entire surface, including peripheral pack edges, is subjected to heat and pressure. 
     
     
         4 . A method of treating (cuboidal) packs ( 10 ), in particular cigarette packs of the hinge-lid-box type, having an outer wrapper ( 11 ) made of sealable shrink-wrapping film, of which the folding flaps ( 18 ,  19 ) are connected to one another by thermal sealing and of which the walls are subjected to the action of in particular surface-area heat-discharging mechanisms for shrink-wrapping treatment, wherein the packs ( 10 ) are transported individually, one after the other in a row and at a distance apart from one another, comprising the steps of:
 a) during a first phase of transportation, the packs ( 10 ) are transported in cyclic fashion, with the distance between the packs ( 10 ) being maintained in the process;   b) in an assembly station ( 40 ), a plurality of successive packs ( 10 ) are combined to form a unit—preferably with the distances between the packs ( 10 ) of a single unit and the distances between successive units being maintained in the process—in respect of transportation and treatment;   c) the unit made up of a plurality of, in particular four, packs ( 10 ) is transported in a joint conveying cycle in each case in the region of the assembly station ( 40 ) and/or following the same; and   d) while the packs ( 10 ) of a single unit are at a standstill, these packs are processed preferably simultaneously and in the same way, that is to say they are subjected to pressure and/or heat for tacking and/or sealing purposes and/or shrink-wrapping treatment.   
     
     
         5 . The method as claimed in  claim 4 , wherein:
 a) in the assembly station ( 40 ), the units made up of a plurality of packs ( 10 ) are transported further transversely to the supply direction, in particular in the vertical direction and at a distance apart from one another;   b) during the transversely directed, in particular upwardly directed, cyclic transportation of the units, a plurality of processing stations ( 46 ,  49 ,  51 ) arranged one beside the other or one above the other provide for processing operations to be carried out on respectively all the packs ( 10 ) of a single unit, in particular sealing and/or shrink-wrapping treatment in the region of transversely directed side walls ( 14 ,  15 ) of the packs ( 10 ); and   c) once the processing operations have been carried out in the region of the assembly station ( 40 ), the packs ( 10 ) are transported away, and fed in particular to further processing stations, with the unit being maintained in the process.   
     
     
         6 . The method as claimed in  claim 4 , wherein the packs ( 10 ) are fed individually one after the other, at a distance apart, to the assembly station ( 40 ) along a first, rectilinear (horizontal) path portion ( 21 ) and, following the assembly station ( 40 ), are transported further, in the form of units made up of a plurality of packs ( 10 ), along a following (horizontal) path portion ( 22 ), wherein the latter is offset vertically, in a manner corresponding to the operating height of the assembly station ( 40 ), in relation to the path portion ( 21 ). 
     
     
         7 . The method as claimed in  claim 4 , wherein at least three processing stations ( 46 ,  49 ,  51 ) are arranged (one above the other) in the assembly station ( 40 ), wherein, preferably in a first (lower) processing station ( 46 ), the flap-free side wall ( 15 ) is subjected to a shrink-wrapping treatment and, in further (subsequent) stations ( 49 ,  51 ), the flexible-tube flaps ( 18 ) are connected to one another by sealing. 
     
     
         8 . The method as claimed in  claim 4 , wherein a plurality of operating stations for sealing sideways directed walls—end wall ( 16 ), base wall ( 17 )—and for the shrink-wrapping treatment of the upwardly or downwardly directed front wall and/or rear wall ( 13 ) are arranged in the region of the path portion ( 22 ) which follows the assembly station ( 40 ). 
     
     
         9 . The method as claimed in  claim 1  wherein, in the case of packs ( 10 )—hinge-lid boxes for cigarettes—with complex, contoured pack edges, in particular with round edges ( 73 ) and/or oblique edges ( 74 ), surfaces in the region of said pack edges ( 73 ,  74 ) are subjected separately to a shrink-wrapping treatment by the transmission of heat and surface-area pressure, preferably in a region of the path portion ( 22 ) which follows the assembly station ( 40 ), by means of special shrink-wrapping mechanisms—edge crosspieces ( 79 ,  80 ). 
     
     
         10 . An apparatus for producing (cuboidal) packs ( 10 ) having an outer wrapper ( 11 ) made of sealable shrink-wrapping film, in particular (cigarette) packs of the hinge-lid-box type, wherein the packs ( 10 ), with folded outer wrapper ( 11 ), pass through operating stations for tacking folding flaps ( 18 ,  19 ), for sealing the same and for shrink-wrapping the film, in each case using tacking mechanisms, sealing mechanisms and (surface area) heat-discharging mechanisms, comprising:
 a) following a folding subassembly—folding turret ( 23 )—for the outer wrapper ( 11 ), the packs ( 10 ) can be transported individually and at a distance apart from one another in cyclic fashion—by belt conveyors ( 25 )—along a first path portion ( 21 );   b) an assembly station ( 40 ), which follows the path portion ( 21 ), serves for forming groups or units made up of a plurality of packs ( 10 ) arising one after the other and at a distance apart from one another;   c) each unit made up of a plurality of packs can be transported in the assembly station ( 40 ), and following this in the region of a further path portion ( 22 ), in the form of a unit—in the case of an appropriate conveying cycle—preferably with the relative positioning of the packs ( 10 ) being maintained in the process; and   d) in the assembly station ( 40 ) and/or in the region of the following path portion ( 22 ), the packs ( 10 ) of a single unit can be subjected simultaneously to the action of appropriately designed and/or dimensioned sealing or shrink-wrapping mechanisms.   
     
     
         11 . The apparatus as claimed in  claim 10 , wherein the units which are formed in the assembly station ( 40 ) and are each made up of a plurality of packs ( 10 ) can be conveyed in cyclic fashion in the vertical direction, in particular by vertical belts ( 41 ,  42 ) which are assigned to each pack ( 10 ) of a single unit and grip the packs ( 10 ) in a region directed towards an end wall ( 16 ) and base wall ( 17 ) of the packs ( 10 ) such that at least side walls ( 14 ,  15 ) of the packs ( 10 ) are exposed in the assembly station ( 40 ), wherein sealing and/or shrink-wrapping mechanisms act on each pack ( 10 ) in the region of an operating station ( 46 ,  49 ,  53 ) of the assembly station ( 40 ) during the standstill. 
     
     
         12 . The apparatus as claimed in  claim 10 , wherein, in the assembly station ( 40 ), in a first (lower) operating station—shrink-wrapping station ( 46 )—, shrink-wrapping mechanisms, that is to say elongate heaters ( 47 ), act on flap-free side walls ( 15 ) of the packs ( 10 ), and in that, in the following operating stations—sealing station ( 49 ), sealing station ( 51 )—these being active above the shrink-wrapping station ( 46 ), elongate sealing bodies ( 50 ,  52 ) are active on the side wall ( 14 ) which has the flexible tube flaps ( 18 ). 
     
     
         13 . The apparatus as claimed in  claim 12 , wherein, in the operating stations ( 46 ,  49 ,  51 ), movable supporting mechanisms, in particular (short-stroke) cylinders ( 48 ), are applied to the side wall ( 14 ,  15 ) of each pack ( 10 ), the side wall being located opposite the processing mechanisms ( 47 ,  50 ,  52 ). 
     
     
         14 . The apparatus as claimed in  claim 11 , further comprising:
 a) an (upper) conveying station ( 53 ) serves for transporting away the successively arriving units made up of a plurality of packs ( 10 ), with the distances between the packs ( 10 ) within a single unit being maintained in the process;   b) the units are transported away transversely to the conveying direction of the vertical belts ( 41 ,  42 ) of the assembly station ( 40 ) by a removal conveyor, preferably by an upper belt ( 54 ) with drivers ( 26 ,  27 ) for gripping and fixing each pack ( 10 ) with a single unit on the upper side thereof, wherein transportation preferably takes place with conveying cycles corresponding to the number of packs of a single unit;   c) the upper belt ( 54 ) can convey the packs ( 10 ), along the (horizontal) path portion ( 22 ), through a sealing and shrink-wrapping station ( 57 ), in which preferably downwardly directed large surfaces of the packs ( 10 )—front wall ( 12 ) or rear wall ( 13 )—are subjected to a shrink-wrapping treatment by heat-discharging plates ( 58 ) and folding flaps ( 19 ) or sideways directed walls—end wall ( 16 ), base wall ( 17 )—are subjected to a sealing treatment by sealing crosspieces ( 59 );   d) the sealing and shrink-wrapping station ( 57 ) is followed by further operating stations for treating the packs ( 10 ), preferably following a transfer station ( 61 ), that is to say a final-treatment station ( 70 ), preferably with a heat-discharging plate ( 71 ) arranged on the upper side for subjecting upwardly directed large-surface-area walls—front wall ( 12 ) or rear wall ( 13 )—to a shrink-wrapping treatment and with lateral sealing crosspieces ( 22 ) for the (final) sealing of folding flaps ( 19 ) of sideways directed walls ( 16 ,  17 ); and   e) the upper belt ( 54 ) can feed the packs ( 10 ), following the sealing and shrink-wrapping station ( 57 ), to a transfer station ( 61 ), in which the packs, preferably in the form of a unit made up of a plurality of packs, can be gripped by a final conveyor ( 62 ) in order to continue transportation, wherein the final conveyor ( 62 ), preferably beneath the movement path of the packs ( 10 ), is designed in the form of an endless belt with drivers ( 26 ,  27 ) for the packs ( 10 ).   
     
     
         15 . The apparatus as claimed in  claim 10 , wherein, for producing packs with contoured pack edges, in particular with round edges ( 73 ) and/or oblique edges ( 74 ), in at least one separate processing station—edge station ( 77 ,  78 )—, there are heated mechanisms, in particular elongate shrink-wrapping plates ( 75 ,  76 ) with protrusions—edge crosspiece ( 79 ,  80 )—provided for the shrink-wrapping treatment of the round edges ( 73 ) and/or oblique edges ( 74 ), said mechanisms or plates having a forming edge ( 83 ,  84 ) which is geared to the shape of the pack edges and butts against the same for shrink-wrapping purposes, wherein preferably two operating stations, that is to say edge stations ( 77 ,  78 ), are set up with shrink-wrapping plates ( 75 ,  76 ) for the shrink-wrapping treatment of the pack edges ( 73 ,  74 ), wherein the shrink-wrapping plates ( 75 ,  76 ) are mounted such that, depending on the position of the pack edges ( 73 ,  74 ) which are to be treated, they can be moved up and down above or beneath the movement path of the packs. 
     
     
         16 . The method as claimed in  claim 2 , wherein the operation of sealing folding flaps ( 18 ,  19 ) is carried out in at least two steps, with the folding flaps ( 18 ,  19 ) being affected differently in each case, in particular such that, in a first step, an inner region of a surface of the pack ( 10 ) (that can be deformed by curvature) is subjected to heat and pressure, and then the entire surface, including peripheral pack edges, is subjected to heat and pressure. 
     
     
         17 . The method as claimed in  claim 4 , wherein, in the case of packs ( 10 )—hinge-lid boxes for cigarettes—with complex, contoured pack edges, in particular with round edges ( 73 ) and/or oblique edges ( 74 ), surfaces in the region of said pack edges ( 73 ,  74 ) are subjected separately to a shrink-wrapping treatment by the transmission of heat and surface-area pressure, preferably in a region of the path portion ( 22 ) which follows the assembly station ( 40 ), by means of special shrink-wrapping mechanisms—edge crosspieces ( 79 ,  80 ).