Classifications

• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
  • B65B—MACHINES, APPARATUS OR DEVICES FOR, OR METHODS OF, PACKAGING ARTICLES OR MATERIALS; UNPACKING
  • B65B25/00—Packaging other articles presenting special problems
  • B65B25/02—Packaging agricultural or horticultural products
  • B65B25/04—Packaging fruit or vegetables
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
  • B65B—MACHINES, APPARATUS OR DEVICES FOR, OR METHODS OF, PACKAGING ARTICLES OR MATERIALS; UNPACKING
  • B65B1/00—Packaging fluent solid material, e.g. powders, granular or loose fibrous material, loose masses of small articles, in individual containers or receptacles, e.g. bags, sacks, boxes, cartons, cans, or jars
  • B65B1/28—Controlling escape of air or dust from containers or receptacles during filling
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
  • B65B—MACHINES, APPARATUS OR DEVICES FOR, OR METHODS OF, PACKAGING ARTICLES OR MATERIALS; UNPACKING
  • B65B51/00—Devices for, or methods of, sealing or securing package folds or closures; Devices for gathering or twisting wrappers, or necks of bags
  • B65B51/10—Applying or generating heat or pressure or combinations thereof
  • B65B51/14—Applying or generating heat or pressure or combinations thereof by reciprocating or oscillating members
  • B65B51/146—Closing bags
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
  • B65B—MACHINES, APPARATUS OR DEVICES FOR, OR METHODS OF, PACKAGING ARTICLES OR MATERIALS; UNPACKING
  • B65B31/00—Packaging articles or materials under special atmospheric or gaseous conditions; Adding propellants to aerosol containers
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
  • B65B—MACHINES, APPARATUS OR DEVICES FOR, OR METHODS OF, PACKAGING ARTICLES OR MATERIALS; UNPACKING
  • B65B49/00—Devices for folding or bending wrappers around contents
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
  • B65B—MACHINES, APPARATUS OR DEVICES FOR, OR METHODS OF, PACKAGING ARTICLES OR MATERIALS; UNPACKING
  • B65B5/00—Packaging individual articles in containers or receptacles, e.g. bags, sacks, boxes, cartons, cans, jars
  • B65B5/06—Packaging groups of articles, the groups being treated as single articles
  • B65B5/067—Packaging groups of articles, the groups being treated as single articles in bags
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
  • B65B—MACHINES, APPARATUS OR DEVICES FOR, OR METHODS OF, PACKAGING ARTICLES OR MATERIALS; UNPACKING
  • B65B61/00—Auxiliary devices, not otherwise provided for, for operating on sheets, blanks, webs, binding material, containers or packages
  • B65B61/24—Auxiliary devices, not otherwise provided for, for operating on sheets, blanks, webs, binding material, containers or packages for shaping or reshaping completed packages

Definitions

• fruits for example cherries or walnuts
• other fruit and vegetable products are sometimes sold to the end consumer in packages that consist of a protective enclosure made of deformable polymeric material (a bag or a sack), which is often (but not always) closed hermetically.
• the enclosure makes it possible to effectively protect the products from humidity and from ambient weather conditions, from insects and parasites, from dust and from other contaminants in general, while at the same time ensuring product visibility to the consumer, who can thus appreciate its aesthetic qualities.
• Another object of the invention is to provide a station and a method that make it possible to at least partially relieve the operator from the task of closing a deformable enclosure filled with fruit and vegetable products and possibly accommodated in turn in an outer container.
• Figure 2 is a plan view of the station of Figure 1;
• the station 1 comprises first of all at least one line 2 (a conveying line), which is configured to transport deformable enclosures B (i.e. made of deformable material, which do not inherently maintain or ensure a predefined shape) in series, while they are kept resting on the line 2.
• a conveying line configured to transport deformable enclosures B (i.e. made of deformable material, which do not inherently maintain or ensure a predefined shape) in series, while they are kept resting on the line 2.
• the enclosures B when they are delivered to the line 2, the enclosures B already accommodate a plurality of fruit and vegetable products A inside them and are open in an upper region at an end flap C, which protrudes above the fruit and vegetable products A (as in Figures 5- 10).
• line 2 is used here in its conventional meaning of an ordered succession of contrivances that cooperate in the execution of a series of tasks (in this case relating to conveying the products A).
• the line 2 and the contrivances that it comprises therefore identify or define the path imposed on the products A, upstream to downstream.
• upstream and downstream are here used in their common meanings and refer to the direction of motion imposed on the products A along the line 2. With reference to the embodiment in the accompanying drawings, this direction is clearly illustrated by an arrow which is shown (for the sake of simplicity) only in Figure 1.
• the movement of the enclosures B can be entrusted to one or more conveyor belts 2a, variously shaped and in any case aligned, so as to make the enclosures B follow a straight (preferably horizontal) path.
• the possibility is not ruled out of adopting different embodiments of the belts 2a (so as to define more articulated paths), or of using different movement devices.
• the containers D are usually crates (or cases); they can be (typically but not exclusively) box- shaped (parallelepiped) and they can for example be made of cardboard, wood or polymeric material.
• Figures 14-17 show, for the sake of simplicity, only the containers D (although in the corresponding moments of operation they contain the enclosures B, which in turn are filled with products A). The person skilled in the art can easily understand the placement of the enclosures B inside them, which effectively corresponds to what can be seen for example in Figures 5-10.
• the protection claimed herein therefore includes both lines 2 that convey only enclosures B (with the products A inside them) and also lines 2 configured to move enclosures B placed in containers D (and which, in any case, obviously contain products A).
• the scope of protection claimed herein extends to the use of the station 1 for packaging any fruit and vegetable product A (fruit, root vegetables, leaf vegetables, etc.).
• the enclosures B are filled with a single type of fruit and vegetable product A, the possibility is not ruled out that the same enclosure B can hold two or more types of products A simultaneously or that the station 1 can be converted to the packaging of a different type of product A, after its installation and after its first use.
• the product A is a fruit and in particular cherries or peanuts (as shown in the accompanying figures); it could in any case be another product A for which the need is felt to perform the packaging in the manner effected by the station 1.
• the enclosure B is typically made of polymeric material (it is a bag or a sack for example; in the preferred application, and as can clearly be seen for example from Figures 5-10, the plurality of products A is accommodated in the enclosure B so as to fill it up to a level corresponding to the height of the lateral walls of the container D (if applicable, obviously).
• the products A occupy almost all the space inside the container D, and obviously the enclosure B that accommodates them, being made of deformable material, adapts and ends up being spread out along the bottom and the lateral walls of the container D.
• the enclosure B When it is fed to the line 2, the enclosure B, as mentioned, protrudes above the plurality of fruit and vegetable products A and, if applicable, above the container D (above its lateral walls) with its end flap C, which surrounds and defines the mouth through which the filling is previously performed.
• the station 1 also comprises at least one preparation assembly 3 (preparation for sealing) of the flap C, which can move cyclically substantially along at least one active portion of the line 2 and is adapted to keep the end flap C of the enclosure B in a useful configuration, in which, while the enclosure B is being conveyed while resting on the line 2, the flap C is flattened (either subjected to a traction action, or under tension) to form two mutually opposite wings E.
• at least one preparation assembly 3 preparation for sealing
• the flap C can move cyclically substantially along at least one active portion of the line 2 and is adapted to keep the end flap C of the enclosure B in a useful configuration, in which, while the enclosure B is being conveyed while resting on the line 2, the flap C is flattened (either subjected to a traction action, or under tension) to form two mutually opposite wings E.
• the device 4 comprises at least one pair of heat-sealing bars 8 (which operate according to methods that can be chosen from the background art), which are mutually parallel and arranged facing toward the predefined section of the active portion, on opposite sides with respect to the line 2 (and with respect to the enclosures B).
• the bars 8 are oriented parallel to the advancement trajectory G of the enclosures B, imposed by the line 2, with said enclosures coming to be interposed, with their wings E in particular, between the bars 8.
• the first plates 10 can perform an alternating translation, along a second common trajectory I of mutual approach and distancing, at least between a first limit position, wherein the first plates 10 are mutually spaced apart (as in Figure 5 for example), and a second limit position, wherein the first plates 10 are substantially in mutual contact (with the interposition of the flap C and such as for example in Figure 7), so as to be able to compress and heat-seal the wings E of an enclosure B arranged in the predefined section, while it is held by the assembly 3 in the useful configuration. This makes it possible to obtain the (forced) removal of the air contained in the flap C.
• each bar 8 is located just above a respective first plate 10, with the common trajectories H, I mutually parallel.
• the removal means 9 could comprise a suction inlet, connected by means of a respective pneumatic circuit to an element for generating a pneumatic depression and positionable at the flap C, which is (preliminarily) arranged in the useful configuration, in order to extract the air contained between the two wings E.
• the inlet can be chosen to substitute the first plates 10 or to cooperate with them.
• the station 1 also comprises at least one pair of brushes 11, coupled to the lower edge of respective bars 8 or of corresponding first plates 10, in order to skim ("caress") the plurality of fruit and vegetable products A during the mutual approach (and possibly the distancing) of the bars 8 or of the first plates 10, and in any case in order to facilitate the egress of the air from the enclosure B.
• caress the plurality of fruit and vegetable products A during the mutual approach (and possibly the distancing) of the bars 8 or of the first plates 10, and in any case in order to facilitate the egress of the air from the enclosure B.
• the brushes 11 can be made monolithically with the bars 8 and/or the first plates 10 or they can be a separate component, in such case being coupled in various ways to the latter.
• the pressers 20a, 20b can comprise pneumatic or hydraulic actuation systems or they can be provided in any other manner.
• This indirect method of measurement of the dimensions of the enclosure B, via contact is found to be of particular practical interest because it makes it possible to overcome the limitations of optical measurement instruments, which operate with difficulty when the dimensions to be measured are of transparent objects (as is often the case with the enclosures B).
• the enclosure B is kept open preferably manually.
• the rods 23 are moved parallel to each other, while remaining vertical, along a horizontal trajectory (of mutual approach or distancing).
• the framework 21 handles, using any known method, the vertical movement of the rods 23 (integrally with the apparatus 22, which to this end is moved along the vertical axis Ai), while, using known technologies, the two bars 23 are given the possibility of relative translation between the arrangements of minimum and maximum distance.
• the rods 23 are moved vertically downward from above (in the arrangement of minimum mutual distance) in order to be slid inside the flap C of the enclosure B ( Figure 11), which until that point is kept open, for example by the operator F (whose presence therefore can be required solely for this simple and rapid activity). Subsequently, the rods 23 automatically spread out ( Figure 12), moving to the arrangement of maximum mutual distance, and in this way they open out the flap C as desired, forming the two mutually opposite wings E and so providing the useful configuration ( Figure 13), which is maintained while the enclosure B is moved along the active portion (the rods 23 follow the enclosure B synchronously by virtue of the movement along the longitudinal axis A 2 of the apparatus 22). After the heat-sealing, the rods 23 follow the reverse path, and are lifted to exit from the bulk of the enclosure B.
• the line 2 can impose (in its active portion in particular) a straight path on the enclosures B, along which one or more assemblies 3 move back and forth: in particular, it is first of all possible for the station 1 to comprise a single assembly 3, but preferably it comprises (at least) two of them.
• the station 1 comprises at least two preparation assemblies 3, which can move alternately along at least the (straight) active portion of the line 2 and which are adapted to keep the flaps C of respective enclosures B in the corresponding useful configurations.
• a second assembly 3 keeps a second enclosure B in the useful configuration, accompanying it in turn while it advances to the predefined section, where the heat-sealing will be performed.
• a first assembly 3 comprises a first framework 21 for supporting and moving a respective apparatus 22, along the vertical axis Ai and the longitudinal axis A 2 only.
• the station 1 comprises a second assembly 3 which comprises in turn a second framework 21 for supporting and moving a respective apparatus 22 along the vertical axis Ai, the longitudinal axis A 2 , and also a transverse axis A 3 ( Figures 3 and 4), which is perpendicular to the first two.
• a second assembly 3 which comprises in turn a second framework 21 for supporting and moving a respective apparatus 22 along the vertical axis Ai, the longitudinal axis A 2 , and also a transverse axis A 3 ( Figures 3 and 4), which is perpendicular to the first two.
• the movement along the vertical axis Ai (which is also necessary in order to enable the introduction and the removal of the rods 23 into/from the enclosure B) makes it possible to lift the rods 23 and the other components involved above the second assembly 3, which in the meantime can advance under the first assembly in order to keep another enclosure B in the useful configuration, accompanying it toward the predefined section.
• the return of the second assembly 3 avails of the ability to move along the transverse axis A 3 , so as to take the rods 23 away from the line 2 during the return movement toward the end upstream of the active portion, where the rods can await a new enclosure B.
• the second framework 21 comprises (or consist of) a Cartesian robot, which offers the possibility of moving the apparatus 22 along the three axes A A 2 , A 3 .
• the path imposed by the line 2 on the enclosures B and the path of the assemblies 3 can in any case be of a different type: for example, the assemblies can be moved along an annular trajectory that flanks, for a portion thereof, the active portion of the line 2.
• the protection claimed herein also covers a method 100 for packaging fruit and vegetable products A, which is executed by a station 1 according to what is described up to this point (reference can also be made to the foregoing pages for the types of packaging and products A).
• the method first of all comprises a step a. which entails conveying in series, along a line 2 (the line of the station 1 described up to here), a plurality of deformable enclosures B, each one of which accommodates a plurality of fruit and vegetable products A, in such a way that the enclosures B are kept resting on the line 2 and are kept open in an upward region, at an end flap C that protrudes above the fruit and vegetable products A.
• the step a. can optionally include inserting the enclosures B into containers D.

Landscapes

• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• Life Sciences & Earth Sciences (AREA)
• Agronomy & Crop Science (AREA)
• Container Filling Or Packaging Operations (AREA)
• Packaging Of Special Articles (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=85172440

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (7)

Families Citing this family (1)

Family Cites Families (7)

• 2022
  • 2022-11-23 IT IT102022000024066A patent/IT202200024066A1/it unknown
• 2023
  • 2023-11-21 AU AU2023386583A patent/AU2023386583A1/en active Pending
  • 2023-11-21 PE PE2025000838A patent/PE20251658A1/es unknown
  • 2023-11-21 EP EP23809242.3A patent/EP4622880A1/de active Pending
  • 2023-11-21 WO PCT/EP2023/082490 patent/WO2024110434A1/en not_active Ceased
• 2025
  • 2025-04-22 CL CL2025001189A patent/CL2025001189A1/es unknown
  • 2025-05-22 MX MX2025006011A patent/MX2025006011A/es unknown

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