Bundle of tubular and/or rod-shaped glass articles, method for its fabrication as well as for unpacking said bundle

Abstract

A method for unpacking a bundle of tubular and/or rod-shaped glass articles has the steps of holding the bundle in a locked position and pulling a thread-like element that is wrapped around the glass articles so that the thread-like element is withdrawn from the bundle. The bundle includes a longest dimension, layers (NL) of the glass articles, and the thread-like element. The longest dimension extends in a first direction. The glass articles in each layer are arranged side by side in a second direction. The layers are arranged side by side in a third direction. The first, second, and third directions are perpendicular to one another. The thread-like element is around two of the glass articles in at least one layer so that the two glass articles are spaced apart. The thread-like element has a cross section between at least 0.25 mm and at most 4.0 mm.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method for unpacking a bundle of tubular and/or rod-shaped glass articles, comprising:
 holding the bundle in a locked position; and   
       pulling a thread-like element that is wrapped around a plurality of the glass articles so that the thread-like element is withdrawn from the bundle. 
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the step of pulling the thread-like element includes applying a pulling force or tension in an axial direction that is between 0.1 N and 4 N. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the step of holding the bundle includes applying a supplemental normal force on the bundle that is not greater than 100 N. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the thread-like element has a cross section between at least 0.25 mm and at most 4.0 mm, and wherein the thread-like element includes a material with a surface energy of at least 25 mN/m and at most 38 mN/m. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the thread-like element is twisted from fibers or from strips of material and/or encompasses strings, lines, or cords and has a cross-section of at least 0.25 mm, and wherein the thread-like element is fastened to form a slipped knot or a running knot. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein the cross section is between at least 0.5 mm and at most 2.5 mm. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the thread-like element is fastened to form a knot with an adhesive force between about 0.1 and 4.0 N. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the thread-like element has a tensile elasticity (C S ) at least 80 N to at most 700 N, and wherein the tensile elasticity (C S ,) is defined by the following equation: 
       
         
           
             
               
                 C 
                 S 
               
               = 
               
                 L 
                 · 
                 
                   
                     Δ 
                     ⁢ 
                     F 
                   
                   
                     Δ 
                     ⁢ 
                     L 
                   
                 
               
             
           
         
         wherein L corresponds to an initial length of the thread-like-element, ΔL is an amount by which a length of the thread-like element changes, and ΔF is a change of tensile force in the thread-like element. 
       
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the thread-like element has a minimum cross section (c r ), wherein the thread-like element is wrapped around the glass articles at a plurality of different spaced positions (n t ) along the length of the glass articles, wherein the plurality of different spaced positions and the minimum cross section are selected according to: 
       
         
           
                 
                 
               
                     
                 
                     
                   C r -value 
                 
                 
                 
                 
                 
                 
               
                   N L   
                   Less than 3000 
                   6000 . . . 12000 
                   12000 . . . 20000 
                   More than 20000 
                 
                     
                 
                   Less than 8 
                   n t  ≥ 2,  
                   n t  ≥ 2, 
                   n t  ≥ 3, 
                   n t  ≥ 4, 
                 
                     
                   c t  ≥ 0.5 mm 
                   c t  ≥ 0.5 mm 
                   c t  ≥ 0.9 mm 
                   c t  ≥ 1.0 mm 
                 
                   8 to 12 
                   n t  ≥ 2, 
                   n t  ≥ 2, 
                   n t  ≥ 3, 
                   n t  ≥ 4, 
                 
                     
                   c t  ≥ 0.6 mm 
                   c t  ≥ 0.6 mm 
                   c t  ≥ 1.0 mm 
                   c t  ≥ 1.1 mm 
                 
                   More than 12 
                   n t  ≥ 3 
                   n t  ≥ 3, 
                   n t  ≥ 3, 
                   n t  ≥ 4, 
                 
                     
                   c t  ≥ 0.7 mm 
                   c t  ≥ 0.7 mm 
                   c t  ≥ 1.1 mm 
                   c t  ≥ 1.2 mm 
                 
                     
                 
             
                
                
               
            
             
                
                
                
                
                
                
                
                
                
               
            
           
         
         wherein the C R -value corresponds to: 
       
       
         
           
             
               
                 C 
                 R 
               
               = 
               
                 
                   l 
                   2 
                 
                 
                   
                     d 
                     o 
                     2 
                   
                   + 
                   
                     2 
                     ⁢ 
                     
                       t 
                       w 
                       2 
                     
                   
                   - 
                   
                     2 
                     ⁢ 
                     
                       
                         d 
                         o 
                       
                       · 
                       
                         t 
                         w 
                       
                     
                   
                 
               
             
           
         
         wherein l corresponds to the length of the glass articles in mm, 
         wherein d o  corresponds to an outer diameter of the glass articles in mm, and 
         wherein t w  corresponds to a wall thickness of the glass articles in mm, the wall thickness of a rod-shaped article being equal to one half of the outer diameter. 
       
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the plurality of different spaced positions (n t ) are positioned so that a first distance (a) is between a half-length of the glass articles and a first spacer position, a second distance (b) is between the half-length and a second spacer position, and a third distance (c) is between the half-length and a third spacer position, wherein (a) is smaller than (b), and wherein (b) is smaller than (c), and wherein (a), (b), and (c) are chosen according to: 
       
         
           
                 
                 
                 
                 
               
                     
                 
                   n t   
                   (a) 
                   (b) 
                   (c) 
                 
                     
                 
                     
                 
                 
                 
                 
                 
                 
               
                   2 
                   0.25  
                   ≤ a/L ≤ 0.29 
                     
                     
                 
                   3 
                   −0.015  
                   ≤ a/L ≤ 0.015 
                   0.32 ≤ b/L ≤ 0.40 
                     
                 
                   4 
                   0.10  
                   ≤ a/L ≤ 0.16 
                   0.36 ≤ b/L ≤ 0.43 
                     
                 
                   5 
                   −0.025  
                   ≤ a/L ≤ 0.025 
                   0.18 ≤ b/L ≤ 0.24 
                   0.38 ≤ c/L ≤ 0.44. 
                 
                     
                 
             
                
                
                
               
               
                
               
            
             
                
                
                
                
                
               
            
           
         
       
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the thread-like element includes a plurality of thread-like elements so that at each of the plurality of different spaced positions (n t ) there is a different one of the plurality of thread-like elements. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the thread-like element includes between at least 5 and at most 20 strands, and wherein each strand has an outer diameter of at least 0.1 mm and at most 1 mm. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the strands are twisted so that per 1 centimetre length of the thread-like element there are at least 0.1 windings and at most 1 winding. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the thread-like element includes a material with a surface energy of at least 25 mN/m and at most 38 mN/m. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the thread-like element includes a plastic material selected from a group consisting of polypropylene (PP), polyethylene (PE), high-density polyethylene (HDPE), polyethylene wax, polyamide (PA), styrene-acrylonitrile resin (SAN), polyester polyethylene terephthatalate (PET), polybutylene terephthalate (PBT), polyurethane (PU), polycarbonate (PC), acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), polyether ether ketone (PEEK), and any combinations thereof. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the thread-like element includes a material with a Young's modulus between of at least 500 MPa and of at most 1000 MPa. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the two glass articles are spaced apart by a distance of at least 0.5 mm. 
     
     
         18 . A method for bundling tubular and/or rod-shaped glass articles to obtain a bundle, comprising:
 wrapping a thread-like element around at least two of the glass articles in at least two spaced positions to form a first layer of spaced apart glass articles;   wrapping another thread-like element around at least two more of the glass articles in at least two spaced positions to form a second layer of spaced apart glass articles; and   stacking the first and second layers of spaced apart glass articles.   
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 18 , wherein a step of pulling the thread-like element when unpacking the bundle of tubular and/or rod-shaped glass articles includes applying a pulling force or tension in an axial direction that is between 0.1 N and 4 N. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 19 , wherein a step of holding the bundle when unpacking the bundle of tubular and/or rod-shaped glass articles includes applying a supplemental normal force on the bundle that is not greater than 100 N. 
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 18 , wherein the thread-like element includes between at least 5 and at most 20 strands, and wherein each strand has an outer diameter of at least 0.1 mm and at most 1 mm. 
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein the thread-like element has a minimum cross section (c r ), wherein the thread-like element is wrapped around the glass articles at a plurality of different spaced positions (n t ) along the length of the plurality of glass articles, and wherein the plurality of different spaced positions and the minimum cross section are selected according to: 
       
         
           
                 
                 
               
                     
                 
                     
                   C r -value 
                 
                 
                 
                 
                 
                 
               
                   N L   
                   Less than 3000 
                   6000 . . . 12000 
                   12000 . . . 20000 
                   More than 20000 
                 
                     
                 
                   Less than 8 
                   n t  ≥ 2,  
                   n t  ≥ 2, 
                   n t  ≥ 3, 
                   n t  ≥ 4, 
                 
                     
                   c t  ≥ 0.5 mm 
                   c t  ≥ 0.5 mm 
                   c t  ≥ 0.9 mm 
                   c t  ≥ 1.0 mm 
                 
                   8 to 12 
                   n t  ≥ 2, 
                   n t  ≥ 2, 
                   n t  ≥ 3, 
                   n t  ≥ 4, 
                 
                     
                   c t  ≥ 0.6 mm 
                   c t  ≥ 0.6 mm 
                   c t  ≥ 1.0 mm 
                   c t  ≥ 1.1 mm 
                 
                   More than 12 
                   n t  ≥ 3 
                   n t  ≥ 3, 
                   n t  ≥ 3, 
                   n t  ≥ 4, 
                 
                     
                   c t  ≥ 0.7 mm 
                   c t  ≥ 0.7 mm 
                   c t  ≥ 1.1 mm 
                   c t  ≥ 1.2 mm 
                 
                     
                 
             
                
                
               
            
             
                
                
                
                
                
                
                
                
                
               
            
           
         
         wherein the C R -value corresponds to: 
       
       
         
           
             
               
                 C 
                 R 
               
               = 
               
                 
                   l 
                   2 
                 
                 
                   
                     d 
                     o 
                     2 
                   
                   + 
                   
                     2 
                     ⁢ 
                     
                       t 
                       w 
                       2 
                     
                   
                   - 
                   
                     2 
                     ⁢ 
                     
                       
                         d 
                         o 
                       
                       · 
                       
                         t 
                         w 
                       
                     
                   
                 
               
             
           
         
         wherein l corresponds to the length of the glass articles in mm, 
         wherein d o  corresponds to an outer diameter of the glass articles in mm, and 
         wherein t w  corresponds to a wall thickness of the glass articles in mm, the wall thickness of a rod-shaped article being equal to one half of the outer diameter.