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
  • B65B19/00—Packaging rod-shaped or tubular articles susceptible to damage by abrasion or pressure, e.g. cigarettes, cigars, macaroni, spaghetti, drinking straws or welding electrodes
  • B65B19/02—Packaging cigarettes
  • B65B19/22—Wrapping the cigarettes; Packaging the cigarettes in containers formed by folding wrapping material around formers
  • B65B19/223—Wrapping the cigarettes; Packaging the cigarettes in containers formed by folding wrapping material around formers in a curved path; in a combination of straight and curved paths, e.g. on rotary tables or other endless conveyors
• • 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
  • B65B19/00—Packaging rod-shaped or tubular articles susceptible to damage by abrasion or pressure, e.g. cigarettes, cigars, macaroni, spaghetti, drinking straws or welding electrodes
  • B65B19/02—Packaging cigarettes
  • B65B19/22—Wrapping the cigarettes; Packaging the cigarettes in containers formed by folding wrapping material around formers
  • B65B19/221—Wrapping the cigarettes; Packaging the cigarettes in containers formed by folding wrapping material around formers in one or more straight paths
• • 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
  • B65B35/00—Supplying, feeding, arranging or orientating articles to be packaged
  • B65B35/30—Arranging and feeding articles in groups
  • B65B35/46—Arranging and feeding articles in groups by rotary conveyors
• • 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
  • B65B49/02—Fixed or resiliently-mounted folders, e.g. non-driven rollers
  • B65B49/04—Ploughs or plates with inclined slots or opposed inclined edges
• • 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
• • 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
  • B65B65/00—Details peculiar to packaging machines and not otherwise provided for; Arrangements of such details
  • B65B65/003—Packaging lines, e.g. general layout
  • B65B65/006—Multiple parallel packaging lines

Definitions

• the present invention relates to a wrapping unit and a method to produce two sealed wraps together, containing two corresponding groups of smoking articles, in particular by simultaneously folding two wrapping sheets around the two corresponding groups of smoking articles.
• Patent application WO2023180862A1 describes a wrapping unit to produce two sealed wraps together, by simultaneously folding two wrapping sheets around two corresponding groups of smoking articles.
• the wrapping unit comprises: a wrapping conveyor that is capable of advancing the two side-by-side groups of smoking articles and coupled to the two wrapping sheets along a straight wrapping path; two folding devices, each of which is coupled to the wrapping conveyor and is arranged along the wrapping path to fold two opposite ends of a wrapping sheet around a corresponding group of smoking articles; and two sealing devices, each of which is coupled to the wrapping conveyor and is arranged along the wrapping path downstream of the respective folding device to perform a seal on both sides of a wrapping sheet folded around a corresponding group of smoking articles.
• Each sealing device comprises an outer sealing head arranged outside the wrapping conveyor, an inner sealing head arranged at the centre of the wrapping conveyor, and an actuator configured to move the two sealing heads between: a working position in which the two sealing heads are at a first mutual distance determining a compression of the corresponding group of smoking articles; an advancing position in which the two sealing heads are at a second mutual distance that is greater than the first mutual distance and allows the corresponding group of smoking articles to advance along the wrapping path; and a rest position in which the two sealing heads are at a third mutual distance that is greater than the second mutual distance.
• each actuator is configured to move the two sealing heads between the working position and the advancing position along a first direction perpendicular to the wrapping path, and is configured to move at least the inner sealing head to and from the rest position along a second direction perpendicular to both the first direction and the wrapping path.
• the construction of the inner sealing heads is relatively complex (especially when the sealed wraps are small) due to the limited space available for the inner sealing heads and it is necessary to equip the inner seal heads with movement in two different and mutually perpendicular directions.
• Patent application EP3653518A1 describes the feeding of two wrapping sheets in a wrapping machine, wherein an initial double-width wrapping sheet is supplied and subsequently split into two halves by applying a force that tears it along a centrally located pre-weakened separation line.
• the object of the present invention is to provide a wrapping unit and a method to produce two sealed wraps together by simultaneously folding two wrapping sheets around two corresponding groups of smoking articles, which wrapping unit and method are simple to implement, allow an operation at high production rate (measured as sealed wraps produced per unit of time), and permit rapid format changeover operations.
• a wrapping unit and a method are provided to produce two sealed wraps together by simultaneously folding two wrapping sheets around two corresponding groups of smoking articles, as claimed in the appended claims.
• FIGs 1, 2 and 3 illustrate as a whole a " twin " rigid cigarette pack, indicated by reference numeral 1.
• the cigarette pack 1 comprises a container 2 consisting of cardboard or stiff paperboard and shaped like a cup and a pair of sealed wraps 3 (one of which is better illustrated in Figure 4 ) housed side by side inside the container 2.
• the container 2 has an open top end and is provided with a lid 4, which is shaped like a cup and hinged to the container 2 along a hinge (illustrated in Figure 2 ) to rotate, in relation to the container 2, between an open position (illustrated in Figure 3 ) and a closed position (illustrated in Figures 1 and 2 ) of the open top end.
• Each sealed wrap 3 (better illustrated in Figure 4 ) encloses a group 5 of cigarettes having a parallelepiped shape (illustrated in Figure 5 ) and has, at the top and front, an extraction opening 6 for the cigarettes, which is defined by a tearable pre-weakened line, is closed by a resealable closing label 7, and extends across a portion of a front wall of the sealed wrap 3 and a portion of a top wall of the sealed wrap 3.
• the sealed wrap 3 lacks the extraction opening 6 and the corresponding closing label 7, and has a removable top portion, which is separated from the rest of the sealed wrap 3 by a tearable pre-weakened line to be removed by tearing upon the first opening of the sealed wrap 3; in this embodiment, the sealed wrap 3 is preferably provided with a tearable opening tape to facilitate the rupture of the sealed wrap 3 along the pre-weakened line.
• the sealed wrap 3 is formed by folding a wrapping sheet 8 (illustrated in Figure 6 ), which has a rectangular shape, comprises at least one layer of heat-sealable and air-tight plastic material, and is folded directly around the group 5 of cigarettes so as to be in direct contact with the cigarettes themselves.
• a wrapping sheet 8 illustrated in Figure 6
• the shape of the sealed wrap 3 itself is stabilized by forming a transverse heat seal on the overlapping portions of the wrapping sheet 8.
• the sealed wrap 3 may comprise a reinforcing element 9 (better illustrated in Figure 5 ), which is made of cardboard or stiff paperboard, is U-shaped, and is placed inside the sealed wrap 3 in contact with the group 5 of cigarettes.
• a reinforcing element 9 (better illustrated in Figure 5 ), which is made of cardboard or stiff paperboard, is U-shaped, and is placed inside the sealed wrap 3 in contact with the group 5 of cigarettes.
• the formation of the sealed wrap 3 involves initially forming the group 5 of cigarettes and then folding the reinforcing element 9 around the group 5 of cigarettes; subsequently, the wrapping sheet 8 is folded around the group 5 of cigarettes coupled with the reinforcing element 9.
• the methods for folding the wrapping sheet 8 around the group 5 of cigarettes coupled with the reinforcing element 9 are known and are, for example, described in patent application WO2023180862A1 ; alternatively, the two open lateral edges of the wrapping sheet 5 may be closed by means of two longitudinal sealing fins instead of a so-called " soap wrap " .
• the wrapping sheet is U-folded around the group 5 of cigarettes in such a way that the U-folded wrapping sheet 8 has two ends protruding from the group 5 of cigarettes; the two ends are then folded toward each other to give a tubular shape to the wrapping sheet 8 and, thus, the overlapping portions of the ends are heat-sealed together to stabilize the tubular shape of the wrapping sheet 8 and form a sealing fin.
• the overlapping and heat-sealed ends i.e., the sealing fins
• a wrapping machine adapted to produce the above-described cigarette pack 1 typically operates with an intermittent motion (i.e., a motion involving a cyclical alternation of motion phases and rest phases) and comprises a forming unit where the groups 5 of cigarettes are formed in succession, a wrapping unit 10 (schematically illustrated in Figure 7 ) in which a respective wrapping sheet 8 is wrapped around each group 5 of cigarettes to form a sealed wrap 3, and a wrapping unit in which a blank is wrapped around each pair of sealed wraps 3 (i.e., arranged side by side) to form the container 2 provided with the lid 4.
• an intermittent motion i.e., a motion involving a cyclical alternation of motion phases and rest phases
• a wrapping unit 10 (schematically illustrated in Figure 7 ) in which a respective wrapping sheet 8 is wrapped around each group 5 of cigarettes to form a sealed wrap 3
• a wrapping unit in which a blank is wrapped around each pair of sealed wraps 3 i.e., arranged side by side
• the wrapping unit 10 (which produces two sealed wraps 3 together, containing two corresponding group 5 of cigarettes) comprises wrapping conveyors which are adapted to advance the two side-by-side groups 5 of cigarettes along wrapping paths.
• each wrapping conveyor supports a plurality of pairs of side-by-side pockets, each shaped to receive and accommodate a corresponding group 5 of cigarettes; in this way, at each advancement step, each wrapping conveyor advances two side-by-side pockets (transversely, i.e., perpendicularly to the wrapping path) and therefore two side-by-side groups 5 of cigarettes contained in the respective side-by-side pockets.
• the wrapping unit 10 comprises a wrapping conveyor 11 receiving pairs of side-by-side groups 5 of cigarettes at a transfer station S1 and is adapted to advance the pairs of side-by-side groups 5 of cigarettes along with the corresponding wrapping sheets 8 along a wrapping path P1 to (begin to) fold each wrapping sheet 8 around the corresponding group 5 of cigarettes.
• the wrapping path P1 extends from the transfer station S1, where the wrapping conveyor 11 receives two groups 5 of cigarettes at a time, crosses a feeding station S2 where each pair of side-by-side groups 5 of cigarettes is coupled with a corresponding pair of side-by-side wrapping sheets 8, and ends at a transfer station S3 where the forming sealed wrap pairs 3 (i.e., each consisting of a wrapping sheet 8 only partially folded around a corresponding group 5 of cigarettes) leave the wrapping conveyor 11.
• each wrapping sheet 8 is initially U-folded and then folded in a tube-like manner around a corresponding group 5 of cigarettes, and the tubular wrap (with two open lateral ends) so formed is stabilized by means of a transverse seal.
• the wrapping unit 10 comprises a wrapping conveyor 12 that is located downstream of the wrapping conveyor 11 (i.e., it receives the pairs of side-by-side groups 5 of cigarettes coupled to the wrapping sheets 8 coming from the wrapping conveyor 11) and is adapted to advance the pairs of side-by-side groups 5 of cigarettes coupled to the wrapping sheets 8 along a straight and horizontal wrapping path P2 to (complete to) fold each wrapping sheet 8 around the corresponding group 5 of cigarettes.
• the wrapping path P2 extends from a transfer station S4, where the wrapping conveyor 12 receives two groups 5 of cigarettes coupled to wrapping sheets 8 at a time, and ends at a transfer station S5, where the complete sealed wrap pairs 3 (i.e., each consisting of a fully folded wrapping sheet 8 around a corresponding group 5 of cigarettes) leave the wrapping conveyor 12.
• each tubular wrap 3 is laterally closed by lateral folds, which are then stabilized by two longitudinal seals, thereby completing (ending) the formation of the tubular wrap 3 (as illustrated in Figure 7 ).
• the wrapping unit 10 comprises a transport wheel 13 (horizontally arranged) which is interposed between the wrapping conveyor 11 and the wrapping conveyor 12, rotatably mounted around a vertical rotation axis 14 (perpendicular to the wrapping path P2), and supports four pairs of pockets 15, each of them adapted for containing a group 5 of cigarettes coupled with a wrapping sheet 8 (therefore, a pair of side-by-side pockets 15 supports a pair of side-by-side groups 5 of cigarettes and coupled with their respective wrapping sheets 8).
• the wrapping wheel 13 advances each pair of side-by-side pockets 15 along a circular transport path P3 between the transfer station S3, where the pair of side-by-side pockets 15 receives a pair of side-by-side groups 5 of cigarettes coupled to wrapping sheets 8 from the wrapping conveyor 11, and the transfer station S4 in which the pair of side-by-side pockets 15 delivers the pair of side-by-side groups 5 of cigarettes coupled with the wrapping sheets 8 to the wrapping conveyor 12.
• the wrapping conveyor 11 comprises a wrapping wheel 16 (vertically arranged), which is rotatably mounted about a horizontal rotation axis 17 (parallel to the wrapping path P2 and perpendicular to the rotation axis 14), and supports a plurality of pairs of pockets 18, each of which is suitable for containing a group 5 of cigarettes coupled to a wrapping sheet 8 (therefore, a pair of side-by-side pockets 18 placed axially supports a pair of side-by-side groups 5 of cigarettes coupled to their respective wrapping sheets 8).
• the wrapping wheel 16 advances each pair of side-by-side pockets 18 along a circular transport path P1 between the transfer station S1, where the pair of side-by-side pockets 18 receives a pair of side-by-side groups 5 of cigarettes from the forming conveyor 37, through the feeding station S2 in which the pair of side-by-side pockets 18 receives a pair of side-by-side wrapping sheets 8 which are arranged outside the pair of side-by-side pockets 18, and a transfer station S6 in which the pair of side-by-side pockets 18 delivers the pair of side-by-side groups 5 of cigarettes and coupled to the sheets wrapping 8.
• the wrapping conveyor 11 comprises a wrapping wheel 19 (vertically arranged) which is arranged immediately downstream of the wrapping wheel 16 and immediately upstream of the wrapping wheel 13, is rotatably mounted around a horizontal rotation axis 20 (parallel to the rotation axis 17 and perpendicular to the rotation axis 14) and supports a plurality of pairs of pockets 21, each of which is capable of containing a group 5 of cigarettes coupled to a wrapping sheet 8 (thus, a pair of axially side-by-side pockets 21 supports a pair of side-by-side groups 5 of cigarettes coupled to respective wrapping sheets 8).
• the wrapping wheel 19 advances each pair of side-by-side pockets 21 along the circular wrapping path P1 between the transfer station S6, where the pair of side-by-side pockets 21 receives a pair of side-by-side groups 5 of cigarettes coupled to wrapping sheets 8 from the wrapping wheel 16, and the transfer station S4 in which the pair of side-by-side pockets 21 delivers the pair of side-by-side groups 5 of cigarettes coupled with the wrapping sheets 8 to the wrapping wheel 13.
• two side-by-side wrapping sheets 8 are placed on the periphery of the wrapping wheel 16 at a respective pair of side-by-side pockets 18 and move with the respective pair of side-by-side pockets 18 to the transfer station S6; at the transfer station S6, the two side-by-side groups 5 of cigarettes on leaving the side-by-side pair of pockets 18 of the wrapping wheel 16 and entering the respective pair of side-by-side pockets 21 of the wrapping wheel 19, drag with them the two side-by-side wrapping sheets 8 which, on entering the pockets 21, are U-folded around the side-by-side groups 5 of cigarettes.
• the wrapping unit 10 comprises two folding devices 22, each of which is coupled to the wrapping wheel 19 and is configured to fold, in a tube-like manner, a wrapping sheet 8 around the corresponding group 5 of cigarettes contained in a respective pocket 21.
• Each wrapping sheet 8 is U-folded around the corresponding group 5 of cigarettes when the group 5 of cigarettes enters (together with the wrapping sheet 8) the respective pocket 21 in the transfer station S6; in addition, each folding device 22 performs the tubular folding of each wrapping sheet 8 around the corresponding group 5 of cigarettes.
• the wrapping wheel 19 advances along the wrapping path P1 a succession of pairs of side-by-side groups 5 of cigarettes coupled to the wrapping sheets 8 (by means of corresponding pairs of side-by-side pockets 21) and, thus, the two folding devices 22 are placed side-by-side to perform the folding of two wrapping sheets 8 around two side-by-side groups 5 of cigarettes together and at the same time.
• each sealing device 23 comprises three different sealing heads arranged in succession around the wrapping wheel 19 (i.e., along the wrapping path P1) in such a way that the transverse welding on each wrapping sheet 8, folded in a tube-like manner, is performed in three distinct and successive steps.
• the wrapping wheel 19 advances along the wrapping path P1 a succession of pairs of side-by-side groups 5 of cigarettes coupled to the wrapping sheets 8 and, thus, the two sealing devices 23 are placed side-by-side to perform the sealing of two wrapping sheets 8 around two side-by-side groups 5 of cigarettes together and at the same time.
• the wrapping unit 10 comprises two folding devices 24, each of which is coupled to the wrapping conveyor 12 and is configured to fold a wrapping sheet 8 around the corresponding group 5 of articles by completing the formation of the sealed wrapping 3, i.e. by closing the two open ends of the tube-folded wrapping sheet 8.
• the wrapping conveyor 12 advances along the wrapping path P2 a succession of pairs of side-by-side groups 5 of cigarettes coupled to the wrapping sheets 8 and, thus, the two folding devices 24 are placed side-by-side to perform the folding of two wrapping sheets 8 around two side-by-side groups 5 of cigarettes together and at the same time.
• each folding device 24 comprises two fixed folding blades 25 and 26 (i.e., folding profiles with no moving parts) arranged along the wrapping path P2 (i.e., along the wrapping conveyor 12).
• a total of four fixed folding blades 25 and 26 are provided, each of which folds one side end of a corresponding tube-folded wrapping sheet 8: the wrapping conveyor 12 advances along the wrapping path P2 a succession of pairs of side-by-side groups 5 of cigarettes coupled to the tube-folded wrapping sheets 8, so that for each group 5 of cigarettes, two fixed folding blades 25 and 26 are required, arranged at the two opposite ends of the group 5 of cigarettes.
• two fixed folding blades 25 are arranged in the centre of the wrapping conveyor 12 (one fixed folding blade 25 operating with the group 5 of cigarettes placed on the right and the other fixed folding blade 25 operating with the group 5 of cigarettes placed on the left) and two fixed folding blades 26 at the sides of the wrapping conveyor 12 (one fixed folding blade 26 operating with the group 5 of cigarettes placed on the right and the other fixed folding blade 26 operating with the group 5 of cigarettes placed on the left).
• the wrapping unit 10 comprises two sealing devices 27, each of which is coupled to the wrapping conveyor 12 and is configured to perform longitudinal seals on a wrapping sheet 8 folded around the group 5 of cigarettes completing the formation of the corresponding sealed wrapping 3.
• Each sealing device 27 is coupled to the wrapping conveyor 12 and is arranged along the wrapping path P2 downstream of the respective folding device 24 to perform a two-sided sealing of a wrapping sheet 8 folded around a corresponding group 5 of cigarettes.
• each sealing device 27 comprises a plurality of outer sealing heads 28 arranged outside the wrapping conveyor 12 and a plurality of inner sealing heads 29 arranged in the centre of the wrapping conveyor 12 (i.e., in the central free area between two side-by-side groups 5 of cigarettes).
• each sealing device 27 comprises several sealing heads 28 and 29 arranged in succession along the wrapping conveyor 12 (i.e., along the wrapping path P2) in such a way that the longitudinal seals on each wrapping sheet 8 are performed in several distinct and successive stages.
• the wrapping conveyor 12 advances along the wrapping path P2 a succession of pairs of side-by-side groups 5 of cigarettes coupled to the wrapping sheets 8 and, thus, the two sealing devices 27 are placed side by side to perform the sealing of two wrapping sheets 8 around two side-by-side groups 5 of cigarettes together and at the same time.
• pairs of side-by-side wrapping sheets 8 are arranged on the periphery of the wrapping wheel 16 at a pair of side-by-side pockets 18 (containing two respective side-by-side groups 5 of cigarettes).
• two side-by-side wrapping sheets 8 may either already be completely separated (i.e., there is no residual joining point between the two side-by-side wrapping sheets 8, which are therefore completely independent of one another) or the two side-by-side wrapping sheets 8 may be joined by one or more tearable joining points which will be torn off later to permanently separate the two side-by-side wrapping sheets 8 (as described in the patent application EP3653518A1 ).
• a pusher 30 and a follower 31 are arranged, which transfer two side-by-side groups 5 of cigarettes to a pair of side-by-side pockets 18 of the wrapping wheel 16.
• a pusher 32 and a follower 33 are arranged, which transfer two side-by-side groups 5 of cigarettes coupled to two wrapping sheets 8 from a pair of side-by-side pockets 18 of the wrapping wheel 16 to a pair of side-by-side pockets 21 of the wrapping wheel 19.
• a pusher 34 and a follower 35 are arranged, which transfer two side-by-side groups 5 of cigarettes coupled with two tube-folded wrapping sheets 8 from a pair of side-by-side pockets 21 on the wrapping wheel 19 to a pair of side-by-side pockets 15 of the wrapping wheel 13.
• a pusher 36 is arranged, which transfer two side-by-side groups 5 of cigarettes coupled to two tube-folded wrapping sheets 8 from a pair of side-by-side pockets 15 of the wrapping wheel 13 to the wrapping conveyor 39.
• the wrapping conveyor 11 is configured to advance two side-by-side groups 5 of cigarettes at a distance D1 from one another along the wrapping path P1
• the wrapping conveyor 12 is configured to advance two side-by-side groups 5 of cigarettes at a distance D2 from one another greater than the distance D1 along the wrapping path P2. That is, along the wrapping path P2 two side-by-side groups 5 of cigarettes are further apart than along the wrapping path P1.
• the transport wheel 13 is configured to increase the mutual distance between two side-by-side groups 5 of cigarettes provided with the tube-folded wrapping sheets 8 between the transfer station S3 and the transfer station S4. That is, the pockets 15 are mounted in a movable manner on the transport wheel 13 in such a way that each pair of side-by-side pockets 15 can cyclically increase and decrease their mutual distance.
• the two pockets 15 of each pair of side-by-side pockets 15 are arranged at distance D1 from one another at the transfer station S3, and are arranged at distance D2 from one another greater than distance D1 at the transfer station S4.
• the transport wheel 13 comprises an actuator device 37 configured to space apart the two pockets 15 of each pair of side-by-side pockets 15 between the transfer station S3 and the transfer station S4.
• the actuator device 37 uses a fixed cam to generate the translational movement of the pockets 15 with respect to the transport wheel 13; specifically, two side-by-side pockets 15 are mounted on two slides sliding on the same linear guide carried by the transport wheel 13 and a lever operated by the cam pushes the two slides along the linear guide.
• both pockets 15 are mounted in a movable manner to move always in opposite directions (i.e., to move away from one another or to move closer to one another); alternatively, in each pair of side-by-side pockets 15, one pocket 15 is fixedly mounted on the transport wheel 13 and the other pocket 15 is mounted in a movable manner on the transport wheel 13 and is, therefore, the only one moving to increase and decrease the mutual distance between the two pockets 15.
• distance D1 is the minimum distance possible to allow the tube-like folding of both side-by-side wrapping sheets 8 without overlapping the wrapping sheets 8.
• the distance D1 is the distance that corresponds exactly to obtaining the two wrapping sheets 8 by means of a central cut of a double-width wrapping sheet. Consequently, the distance D1 is particularly convenient as it simplifies the feeding of the wrapping sheets 8 and allows the tube-like folding of both side-by-side wrapping sheets 8.
• the distance D2 is greater than the distance D1 and allows the space between two side-by-side groups 5 of cigarettes to be increased to the benefit of the inner sealing heads 29, which must occupy precisely the space existing between two side-by-side groups 5 of cigarettes.
• the distance between two side-by-side groups 5 of cigarettes is increased from the distance D1 to the distance D2 by means of a purely horizontal translation that keeps the two groups 5 of cigarettes mutually coplanar; in an alternative embodiment, the distance between the two side-by-side groups 5 of cigarettes is increased from the distance D1 to the distance D2 by means of an at least partially vertical translation which makes the two groups 5 of cigarettes not coplanar (i.e., which arranges the two groups 5 of cigarettes in different and offset planes).
• two side-by-side groups 5 of cigarettes are always coplanar (vertically aligned) with one another, whereas, according to an alternative embodiment, downstream of the transport wheel 13 two side-by-side groups 5 of cigarettes are not coplanar with one another and are therefore vertically offset.
• the embodiments described herein may be combined with one another without departing from the scope of protection of the present invention.
• the wrapping unit 10 described above has many advantages.
• the wrapping unit 10 described above allows for the production of sealed wraps 1 with a high production quality (i.e., presenting accurate and square wrapping sheet 5 folds and strong and sealing wrapping sheet 5 seals) even while operating at a high production rate (i.e., with a high number of sealed wraps 3 produced per unit of time).
• the wrapping unit 10 described above has high accessibility to all its components, and thanks to this feature, format changeover operations (i.e., adaptation operations to change the characteristics of the sealed packages 1 to be produced) can be carried out quickly.
• format changeover operations i.e., adaptation operations to change the characteristics of the sealed packages 1 to be produced
• the wrapping unit 10 described above is relatively simple to implement thanks to the fact that a sufficiently large space is available for the inner sealing heads 25, i.e. it is not necessary to resort to a major miniaturization of the movements and controls of the inner welding heads 25.
• This result is achieved by increasing the distance between two side-by-side groups 5 of cigarettes from the value D1 lower than the higher value D2 before feeding the two side-by-side groups 5 of cigarettes to the wrapping conveyor 12.
• the embodiment illustrated in the attached figures refers to the manufacture of a cigarette pack, but this invention is also applicable, without substantial modification, to the production of any other type of pack of smoking articles (e.g., a cigar pack, a pack for electronic cigarettes of the liquid vaporisation type, a pack of new generation cigarettes without tobacco combustion, etc.).

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• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• Wrapping Of Specific Fragile Articles (AREA)
• Basic Packing Technique (AREA)

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Citations (2)

• 2025
  • 2025-05-29 EP EP25179718.9A patent/EP4663560A1/fr active Pending

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