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
  • B65B17/00—Other machines, apparatus, or methods for packaging articles or materials
  • B65B17/02—Joining articles, e.g. cans, directly to each other for convenience of storage, transport, or handling
  • B65B17/025—Joining articles, e.g. cans, directly to each other for convenience of storage, transport, or handling the articles being joined by a top carrier element
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B31—MAKING ARTICLES OF PAPER, CARDBOARD OR MATERIAL WORKED IN A MANNER ANALOGOUS TO PAPER; WORKING PAPER, CARDBOARD OR MATERIAL WORKED IN A MANNER ANALOGOUS TO PAPER
  • B31B—MAKING CONTAINERS OF PAPER, CARDBOARD OR MATERIAL WORKED IN A MANNER ANALOGOUS TO PAPER
  • B31B50/00—Making rigid or semi-rigid containers, e.g. boxes or cartons
  • B31B50/59—Shaping sheet material under pressure
  • B31B50/592—Shaping sheet material under pressure using punches or dies
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B31—MAKING ARTICLES OF PAPER, CARDBOARD OR MATERIAL WORKED IN A MANNER ANALOGOUS TO PAPER; WORKING PAPER, CARDBOARD OR MATERIAL WORKED IN A MANNER ANALOGOUS TO PAPER
  • B31B—MAKING CONTAINERS OF PAPER, CARDBOARD OR MATERIAL WORKED IN A MANNER ANALOGOUS TO PAPER
  • B31B50/00—Making rigid or semi-rigid containers, e.g. boxes or cartons
  • B31B50/02—Feeding or positioning sheets, blanks or webs
  • B31B50/022—Holders for feeding or positioning blanks or webs
• • 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
• • 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
  • B65B61/02—Auxiliary devices, not otherwise provided for, for operating on sheets, blanks, webs, binding material, containers or packages for perforating, scoring, slitting, or applying code or date marks on material prior to packaging

Definitions

• the present invention relates to a device and a method for pretreating packaging blanks. Furthermore, the invention relates to a packaging device for producing packaging units consisting of at least two articles and an associated packaging blank.
• a common method involves combining several similar items or containers into portable, relatively manageable units or packaging units.
• Producing such packages is usually essential, as they represent the most common type of packaging unit for beverage containers or PET bottles. For transport, these packages are sometimes further bundled and/or stacked in layers and palletized.
• shrink film as packaging material
• the numerous manufacturing steps involved in using shrink film as packaging material require a relatively high energy input, not least because the shrinking process of the film only occurs under the influence of increased heat.
• the film itself incurs costs for production, supply, handling, and eventual disposal, as it is no longer needed after the sale and unpacking of the items or containers.
• the machinery required to provide the so-called film wrapping modules and other handling stations also results in high investment costs.
• the provision of the shrink tunnel, in which the film wrapped around the containers is shrunk using hot air also requires a relatively high capital outlay.
• containers are connected using strapping bands and grouped together to form a single unit.
• containers, items, or bottles are grouped into formations and then strapped with one or more bands using strapping units.
• Typical formations include 1x2 arrangements (two containers in a row), 2x2 arrangements (four containers in a square or diamond pattern), 3x2, 4x3, or, more generally, variable nxm arrangements.
• packaging blanks to form containers
• these packaging blanks generally consisting of pre-cut cardboard material.
• top-grip carton packaging is known, which makes it possible to group several bottles together by their necks by placing these carton packages on top of the previously grouped items.
• Such a gripping carton or cardboard packaging insert typically has an arrangement and number of openings that correspond to the arrangement and number of items or containers to be grouped together.
• the diameter of the openings is usually slightly smaller than the maximum diameter of the items in the upper area where the respective opening is to be positioned.
• the gripping carton or packaging insert is placed onto the items and pressed down so that a defined upper portion of the items is pushed through the openings. Specifically, an upper portion with a maximum diameter is pushed through the openings, and the edges of the openings below this maximum diameter engage with the items, thus securely and firmly fixing the gripping carton or packaging insert to the items.
• the WO 2021/ 043 362 A1 presents a packaging device and a method for producing packaging units in which several articles are grouped together by a secondary package.
• the secondary package is formed by a flat packaging blank, which is applied to prepared groups of articles as described above.
• the packaging blank is transformed from a flat storage state into a three-dimensional sales state.
• This forming process can also include widening the edges of the openings, which can be achieved using suitable forming devices. Examples of such forming devices are so-called breaking cones or expansion cones, the arrangement of which corresponds to the arrangement of the openings of the packaging blank.
• a packaging device and a method for producing packaging units are furthermore from the WO 2020/ 233 943 A1
• This method is known.
• a pretreatment of a packaging blank serving as packaging material is provided before it is pressed onto several articles to combine them.
• a pretreatment module is equipped with a stretching die designed to reduce the resistance forces in the edge regions of the openings of the packaging blank during the subsequent application of the packaging blank to the articles.
• This known stretching die also features several stretching or breaking cones arranged relative to each other, corresponding to the arrangement of the openings in the packaging blank.
• All known expansion dies represent format parts that, for different article or container formations or when used for differently dimensioned articles or containers, must be exchanged for expansion dies adapted to the changed requirements.
• the primary objective of the present invention can be considered to be to eliminate this to reduce or eliminate disadvantages and to offer an improved way to process different article or container formations and/or different article or container dimensions without having to completely replace the corresponding pretreatment tool.
• the present invention proposes a device for pretreating packaging blanks with the features of the independent claim.
• the packaging blanks each have, within a planar area, at least one opening for receiving at least one article to form a packaging unit, comprising the at least one article and the associated packaging blank.
• the packaging blanks each have, within their planar area, at least two similar and, in particular, equally sized openings for receiving at least two similar or identical articles to form a packaging unit, comprising the at least two articles and the associated packaging blank.
• packaging blanks and packaging units equipped with them this includes both the variant with only one item and the variant with several items grouped together within the respective packaging unit.
• the packaging blanks can each have exactly four, six, or eight openings for items.
• the packaging blanks each have more than three openings for items.
• all material of the packaging blank lies in a single plane when placed on the items.
• "Layer” here does not refer to a mathematical plane, but rather a flat area that has the thickness of the cardboard from which the blank was cut or pressed.
• the blank can have more openings than there are items in the final package, in particular exactly twice or three times as many.
• the blank holds the items together on two or more levels. In other words, each item, preferably all of them, pierces the blank at least twice.
• the cut piece can be folded once or several times before being placed on the items, especially to align any openings.
• the device may include an additional folding tool which can be approached by the same handling devices or by additional handling devices.
• an edge of the blank bent at a substantially 90° angle, encloses the items in the package from the side.
• the items may only pierce the blank once, but are held together over a greater height by the wide surrounding edge.
• This device which in this context is also referred to as a pretreatment module and is part of a packaging machine, comprises at least two different stretching dies, each designed and equipped for weakening edge areas and, optionally, also for widening the at least one or more openings of the packaging blank.
• These at least two stretching dies are each equipped with stretching tools with different opening widths and/or different contours for influencing the degree of weakening and/or widening of the opening.
• the device according to the invention is provided that it is equipped with at least one handling robot for the respective merging of the
• the packaging blank is equipped with at least one of the at least two available expansion matrices.
• the handling robot is intended to perform certain tasks, this means that it is kinematically suitable for the defined task and that it has appropriate program control that enables it to perform the required task.
• a robot could, for example, be an articulated robot equipped with several jointed arm segments, which may also be equipped with a gripping device that allows it to grasp the packaging blanks and feed them to the respective stretching dies, and, after the processing has been carried out, to feed the packaging blanks to further system modules and/or process steps.
• a handling robot could, in particular, be an industrial robot.
• the device may optionally be provided with at least one separate handling robot assigned to each of the at least two different stretching dies for the respective combination of the packaging blank to be pre-treated with one of the at least two available stretching dies.
• Each of these handling robots may be designed and equipped to remove packaging blanks from a magazine and individually combine them with its assigned stretching die, i.e., generally press down on the die to widen the openings as desired and thus pre-treat the packaging blanks so that they can be applied to the provided product groups with reduced joining force.
• the device can also be designed so that at least one common handling robot is assigned to the at least two different stretching dies for the respective combination of the packaging blank to be pre-treated with one of the at least two available stretching dies.
• the handling robot operating across both dies can be designed and equipped to remove packaging blanks from two different magazines and individually combine them with the appropriate stretching die, i.e., generally press down on them to widen the openings as desired and expand the packaging blanks. to pretreat them in such a way that they can be applied to the provided article groupings with reduced joining force.
• each of the at least two expansion dies is equipped with a plurality of expansion tools, in particular of the same type and dimensions, wherein these expansion tools form the pretreatment elements for widening and/or stretching the passage openings of the packaging blanks pressed onto the expansion die.
• the stretching tools of different dies are each dimensioned differently and designed for the pretreatment of different packaging blanks.
• the diameters of the stretching tools of a first die can be larger than the diameters of the stretching tools of a second die, because the packaging blanks may have openings of different sizes for items of different dimensions.
• each of the at least two different stretching dies can be assigned to a pre-breaking station for pretreating different packaging blanks and thus each form part of this pre-breaking station.
• the magazines assigned to the respective stretching dies for providing the packaging blanks can also be considered part of these pre-breaking stations.
• At least one of the pre-breaking stations can be equipped with a swiveling or rotating tool carrier, which allows at least two different stretching dies to be brought into engagement with the packaging blanks as active stretching dies, while the stretching die or several stretching dies that are not needed can be moved out of the engagement area and kept ready for later use.
• the device according to the invention can have at least one separate handling robot, which can be arranged between the at least two pre-breaking stations and a staging area and/or a conveyor system with prepared groupings of articles located there, and which is responsible for transferring packaging blanks pre-treated in the pre-breaking stations to the groupings of articles and to the The system is designed and equipped for applying the pre-treated packaging blanks to the product groups.
• a separate handling robot can be arranged between each of the at least two pre-breaking stations and the staging area and/or the conveyor system with the prepared groupings of articles located there, which is designed and equipped for transferring packaging blanks pre-treated in the different pre-breaking stations to the groupings of articles and for applying the pre-treated packaging blanks to the groupings of articles.
• the pre-breaking stations described above are each equipped with at least one stretching die, which in turn is equipped with a variety of stretching tools.
• the stretching die as an interchangeable component, forms part of this pre-breaking station.
• the stretching dies can thus be considered separate components that can be selected from a wide range of differently designed and configured stretching dies and inserted into the packaging device to accommodate different products being processed.
• an existing stretching die in the packaging device can be used as the active stretching die, or a new stretching die can first be inserted into the packaging device, which can then be used to pretreat the packaging blanks.
• expansion die generally refers to a tool into which individual workpieces—in this case, the packaging blanks to be pre-treated—are fed.
• An expansion die serves to pre-treat the openings already present in the packaging blank.
• the packaging blank is typically pressed onto the expansion die in a defined direction, usually over a defined distance and/or with a defined pressure, in order to selectively weaken and/or at least slightly widen the openings. This allows the subsequent application of the packaging blanks to the designated and provided product groups to be carried out with reduced joining force.
• the invention further proposes a method for pretreating packaging blanks with the features of the independent method claim.
• the packaging blanks to be pretreated by the method each have at least one opening within a planar area, which serves to receive at least one article to form a packaging unit, wherein this packaging unit comprises the at least one article and the associated packaging blank.
• the process involves pretreating the packaging blank, which means weakening the at least one opening to reduce the joining force when applying the packaging blank to the at least one item passing through the opening, using a stretching die.
• weakening can, for example, also mean pre-stretching the edge of the at least one opening.
• the opening width and/or the extent of weakening or widening of the opening during pretreatment of the packaging blanks is determined by selecting and using at least one of at least two different dies, each with different contours and/or stretching dimensions. This means selecting from at least two available dies for each stretching or weakening process, whereby both dies can be used simultaneously for the pretreatment process.
• the process may involve bringing together at least two different stretching matrices with packaging blanks to be pre-treated, each using at least one separate handling robot.
• the procedure can also provide that the at least two different stretching matrices are each brought together with packaging blanks to be pre-treated by means of a common handling robot.
• each of the at least two expansion dies is equipped with a plurality of pretreatment elements, i.e., in particular with expansion tools of the same type and dimensions, wherein the plurality of expansion tools of different dies are each dimensioned differently and are provided for the pretreatment of different packaging blanks.
• Each of the at least two different expansion matrices can be assigned to a pre-breaking station for the pre-treatment of different packaging blanks and thus each form a part of this pre-breaking station.
• the process can provide that the packaging blanks pre-treated in the pre-breaking stations are transferred by means of at least one separate handling robot from the at least two pre-breaking stations to a staging area and/or a conveyor system with prepared article groupings located there, and applied to the article groupings there, whereby each of the separate handling robots can access the pre-breaking station to which it is assigned.
• packaging blanks, each pre-treated in the pre-breaking stations are transferred from the at least two pre-breaking stations to a staging area and/or a conveyor system with prepared article groupings located there by means of at least one common handling robot and applied to the article groupings there, whereby the common handling robot can selectively access one of the at least two pre-breaking stations.
• the process can optionally be designed to produce different packaging units during a single production run, each equipped with differently designed and/or pre-treated packaging blanks.
• identical packaging units are produced during a production run, which are exclusively equipped with identically designed and/or pre-treated packaging blanks within one of several pre-breaking stations.
• the invention proposes a packaging device for producing packaging units, which packaging units are formed by at least one article and an associated packaging blank, wherein the at least one article, when connected to the packaging blank, passes at least sectionally through a through-opening in a planar area of the packaging blank.
• This packaging device comprises at least one feeding device for the at least one article or for assemblies of several grouped articles, a pretreatment module for pretreating the packaging blanks for application to the at least one article, and a packaging module for applying and fixing the pretreated packaging blank to the at least one article.
• the pretreatment module is designed to include at least two expansion dies, each with differently dimensioned and/or contoured expansion tools for influencing the degree of weakening of the opening, each designed and equipped to weaken at least one opening of the packaging blank, and the pretreatment module includes at least one handling robot for combining the packaging blank with at least one of the at least two available expansion dies.
• the at least one handling robot can in particular form an equipment element of the device or it can be assigned to this device.
• the packaging device can be equipped with an optical sensor system with downstream image analysis to monitor the applications and/or application results of the packaging blanks on the product groups, located at the staging area and/or the conveyor system with the groups of articles to be fitted with packaging blanks and/or the packaging units already fitted with packaging blanks.
• a camera with appropriate image analysis is suitable for this purpose.
• the packaging device according to the invention can be coupled to or equipped with a control center that serves to control various system functions and is coupled to a data storage device that collects and stores sensor data acquired in the packaging device and can also provide stored sensor data and/or operating and system parameters of the packaging device for influencing system functions.
• the data storage device can, for example, comprise a database, which in turn can be stored in a data cloud or partially stored there. It can keep numerous parameters available, such as those for inputting suitable angles for deforming the tabs on the inside of the through-holes and/or suitable force values for the motors used to apply the packaging blanks to the product groups.
• the various container types, manufacturers, available material data of the packaging blanks, material thicknesses of the packaging blanks, etc. can also be taken into account, from which meaningful values for setting the threshold and target values of the packaging system, as well as for other system components, can be calculated.
• the principles of machine learning can also be considered in all these database accesses and calculations.
• the process, the pretreatment module, and/or The process steps performed by the packaging device for the pretreatment of already manufactured packaging units are specifically designed to reduce the application force required to secure a gripping carton packaging to a group of articles.
• the packaging units produced in this application step comprise at least two articles or containers, on which at least one packaging blank, at least partially planar, is attached, the packaging blank having at least one opening in the planar area for the at least two grouped articles.
• the articles or containers can be, for example, beverage containers, in particular bottles made of PET or another suitable plastic.
• the articles or containers can also be made of plastic and/or aluminum or another metal, etc.
• the packaging device is also suitable for attaching and securing a corresponding packaging blank to other suitable articles or containers.
• the flat packaging blank can be made from recyclable cellulose-based materials. Specifically, it can be made from cardboard and/or carton, which can be easily recycled after use. Alternatively, the flat packaging blank can be made from plastic, particularly single-material thermoplastics, which are also readily recyclable.
• the flat packaging cutout has several cutouts, which may together form a carrying handle.
• the flat packaging cut can be composed of several cellulose-containing layers or of a combination of different materials, as well as different recycled materials.
• the packaging blanks can each have exactly four, six, or eight openings for items.
• the packaging blanks each have more than three openings for items.
• all material of the packaging blank lies in a single plane when placed on the items.
• Layer here does not refer to a mathematical plane.
• plane does not refer to a flat area, but rather a flat area that has the thickness of the cardboard from which the cutout was cut or pressed.
• the blank can have more openings than there are items in the final package, in particular exactly twice or three times as many.
• the blank holds the items together on two or more levels. In other words, each item, preferably all of them, pierces the blank at least twice.
• the cut piece can be folded once or several times before being placed on the items, especially to align any openings.
• the device may include an additional folding tool which can be approached by the same handling devices or by additional handling devices.
• an edge of the blank bent at a substantially 90° angle, encloses the items in the package from the side.
• the items may only pierce the blank once, but are held together over a greater height by the wide surrounding edge.
• a packaging device for producing packaging units comprises at least one feeding device for the single item to be packaged or for assemblies of several items, a pretreatment module for preparing the packaging blank for application to the at least one item, and at least one packaging module for applying and securing the packaging blank to the groupings of items.
• the pretreatment module is designed to reduce resistance in an edge region of the at least one opening of the packaging blank during the subsequent application of the packaging blank to the at least one item.
• the smallest variant of the packaging units produced in this way consists of at least one article or container equipped with at least one first secondary packaging material in the form of a flat packaging blank. All characteristics described here relating to such packaging units may therefore, in principle, be interpreted as applying to packaging units comprising only one item and one packaging insert attached to it. However, all characteristics described here relating to such packaging units also apply analogously or in a suitably adapted manner to packaging units comprising two or more items and one packaging insert attached to them. In this case, the packaging insert may be designed as a carrying handle, which is not described in detail here.
• the items or containers of the packaging units can be additionally bundled together by a second secondary packaging material or by a tertiary packaging material.
• a second secondary or tertiary packaging material can, for example, consist of at least one band- or strip-like, closed strapping that is stretched horizontally around one side of the items or containers and optionally fixed at a point of contact with at least one of the items.
• a defined upper portion of the items is located above the blank, while a defined lower portion is located below it.
• less than one-fifth of the item volume is located above the uppermost (if there are multiple) openings in the blank.
• a pouring opening for the items is also located above the uppermost opening.
• the openings in the packaging blank have, in particular, suitable fixing devices, which may be formed, for example, by fixing tabs.
• the fixing tabs are formed by incisions or similar extending radially from the openings.
• the packaging blank After the packaging blank has been arranged and attached to the articles, the packaging blank is engaged with the articles in such a way that it is essentially fixed in place on the articles and the articles do not undergo any significant relative movements or changes in position relative to each other. and can do more than the packaging blank itself – this applies to the plane in which the packaging blank is positioned.
• the blank If the blank is a thin cardboard blank, it may be flexible after fixing it in place, allowing the items to move relative to each other along their longitudinal axes or in the insertion direction through the openings. Rotating the items around their longitudinal axis, as well as around another axis perpendicular to the longitudinal axis, may still be possible. Applying an additional secondary packaging layer can be particularly useful to prevent this latter possibility.
• the packaging blank can only be removed from the items of the product group with increased force and an upward force component, whereby the packaging blank is usually at least partially or partially destroyed.
• the packaging device comprises at least one feeding unit through which at least one, but typically at least two, items are fed.
• the items are pre-assembled in a suitable number and arrangement as item groups, and these item groups are fed to a packaging module via the at least one feeding unit.
• a packaging blank is applied to and secured to the item group.
• a packaging blank is taken from a magazine and prepared in a pre-treatment module for application to the at least two items of the item group.
• the pre-treatment module includes at least one device designed to reduce resistance in an edge region of the openings of the packaging blank during the subsequent application of the packaging blank to the at least two items.
• the pretreatment module comprises at least one expansion die, optionally a plurality of expansion dies, which is/are particularly suitable for expanding and/or widening the edge regions of the at least one passage opening in the manner described.
• the pretreatment at least slightly increases the mean diameter of the passage openings. This allows an upper region of the articles with a maximum diameter, which is preferably at least slightly larger than the mean diameter of the passage openings, to be more easily passed through the respective passage opening.
• the application force with which the respective packaging blank is pressed onto the articles can thus be at least slightly, and preferably significantly, reduced compared to the application force that would be necessary to adhere a packaging blank to the articles without pretreatment.
• This also reduces the risk of damaging the articles when applying the packaging blank compared to conventional packaging devices and methods. In this case, even articles with a thinner wall can be used without being damaged during the application of the packaging blank.
• the packaging blank is pressed against the stretching dies, so that the stretching tools of the dies engage in certain areas through the openings, and in particular with the edges of the openings. This causes an expansion or other modification of the edges of the openings.
• the material is weakened in the edge regions of the through-holes.
• the expansion dies increase the average diameter of the through-holes.
• an existing connection between tabs arranged in the edge area of the penetration openings may be torn open or broken at least partially and/or in some areas (some tab connections, but not all tab connections) during pre-breaking.
• predetermined breaking points can be incorporated between adjacent tabs during the punching process. These can be introduced, for example, in the form of scoring lines or indentations during the production of the blank.
• a tab is essentially trapezoidal, whereby one or two lines of the trapezoid may be slightly curved.
• the curves may have the center of the opening as the center of their radius.
• the expansion tools of the expansion die can, for example, be conical or frustoconical, with the cone tip or the cone side facing the The smaller cross-sectional area points upwards.
• the expansion dies can be suitable for different article sizes.
• the packaging blank can be pressed downwards accordingly to widen the openings as desired.
• the stretching tools can be essentially trapezoidal in cross-section along their longitudinal axis in certain areas.
• the arrangement, number, and positioning of the stretching tools on the respective stretching dies correspond to the arrangement, number, and positioning of the openings in the packaging blank.
• the appropriate stretching tools can be provided using the interchangeable and/or individually activated stretching dies, allowing for quick and easy adaptation to a planned product change without the need for complex retooling.
• the average diameter of the openings is increased during pretreatment.
• fixing tabs formed in the respective edge area of the openings may be folded over, at least in some areas, so that the fixing tabs subsequently protrude from a plane in which the openings are arranged.
• packaging device can form part of a more complex packaging and/or filling system.
• a filling machine for filling the articles, which are designed as beverage containers, with a liquid, in particular with a liquid beverage.
• the packaging device or system may include a workstation where thermoplastic packaging material can be applied to the groups of articles equipped with the packaging blanks. If such thermoplastic packaging material is a shrinkable film that tends to shrink under the influence of heat, it may be particularly useful to The aforementioned workstation is followed downstream by a shrink tunnel.
• the packaging system can include a shrink tunnel for shrinking the thermoplastic packaging material applied to the article groups or packaging units or containers by means of heat.
• Other useful workstations which can be used alternatively or additionally, include application stations for attaching strapping bands or strapping tapes to prepared groups of items or to finished packaging units or containers, which can then be further processed and repackaged.
• the packaging options mentioned are not to be understood as limiting or exhaustive, so that stretch wrappers or other packaging modules can also be used.
• the packaging device or system may include a grouping station downstream of at least one handling or industrial robot designed to apply packaging material to articles.
• This grouping station allows multiple article groups or multiple containers to be transferred into a relative arrangement, which is configured to form a palletizable layer from the multiple article groups or multiple containers.
• Such a grouping station may, for example, include at least one delta kinematic robot or at least one other type of industrial robot that transfers the article groups or multiple containers into the relative arrangement configured to form a palletizable layer from the multiple article groups or multiple containers.
• the packaging system includes a work device that pushes the article groups or containers of the already formed relative arrangement together, thereby creating a complete palletizable layer.
• the packaging device or system may also include a palletizing station designed for stacking palletizable layers and transferring them to an assigned pallet.
• a feeding device may be provided that supplies the palletizing station with pallets for stacking multiple palletizable layers, either semi-autonomously or fully autonomously.
• a packaging device 2 is used with which packaging units 18 can be produced, each consisting of at least two articles 12 and an associated packaging blank 10 (see figure).
• Fig. 2D wherein the at least two articles 12, when connected to the packaging blank 10, at least sectionally by means of through-openings 14 in a planar area of the packaging blank 10 (cf. Fig. 2A ) pass through.
• the packaging device 2 comprises at least one feeding device 4 for the at least two articles 12, wherein these two or more articles 12 can be fed to the packaging device 2, in particular in grouped form, i.e. as an article grouping 20.
• the packaging device 2 includes a pretreatment module 6 for pretreating the packaging blanks 10 in order to prepare them for application to the at least two articles 12 or to the article grouping 20.
• a pretreatment module 6 for pretreating the packaging blanks 10 in order to prepare them for application to the at least two articles 12 or to the article grouping 20.
• the packaging blanks 10 are thus prepared for application to the articles 12, they are designated with the reference numeral 10v in the following description and in the drawing.
• the packaging device 2 includes a packaging module 8 for applying and securing the pre-treated packaging blanks 10v to the at least two articles 12 of the respective article grouping 20, thereby combining them into packaging units 18.
• These packaging units 18, which are normally produced in large numbers in continuous production sequence using the packaging device 2, can then be subjected to further processing, e.g., repackaging with tertiary packaging materials and/or assembly into palletizable layer arrangements for stacking and palletizing.
• FIG. 2A The schematic top view of the Fig. 2A a first design variant of a packaging blank 10, as used to group articles 12 (cf. Fig. 2B ) can be used by passing these articles 12 with their lateral surfaces through appropriately provided passage openings 14 and being locked into the edge areas 16 of the passage openings 14.
• FIG. 2B an article 12 from above, which is connected to several other similar or identical articles 12 by the packaging cut 10 according to Fig. 2A to a packaging unit of 18 (see Fig. 2D ) or can be grouped together into a container.
• the schematic side views of the Figures 2C and 2D schematically show the application of such a packaging blank 10 to an assembly of articles 12 according to Fig. 2B .
• Such a collection of different sizes, which with regard to the The number and arrangement of the articles 12 contained therein, each adapted to the packaging cut 10 with which the articles 12 are equipped, shall in this context also be referred to as article grouping 20.
• the articles 12 can be beverage containers in the form of bottles or cans 22 made of plastic and/or aluminum or of another suitable metal or material.
• the packaging device and the method for producing packaging units 18, which are explained in more detail below, are also suitable for attaching and securing a corresponding packaging blank 10 to other suitable articles 12. These could include, in addition to the cans 22 shown, for example, mineral glass bottles, PET beverage containers, or the like.
• Articles 12 typically have an annular widening in their upper region, against which the packaging blank 10 can be fixed, in particular by a snap-fit operation.
• the cans 22 have an annular lid rim 24. Below this lid rim 24, the cans 22 have at least a slight taper 26 or constriction 26 of a smaller diameter than the lid rim 24.
• the constriction 26 located below the lid rim 24 has a slightly smaller diameter than the outer surface 28 of the respective can 22 located below the constriction 26 and also a smaller diameter than the lid rim 24 located above the constriction 26.
• the cans 22 may in particular be beverage cans known from the prior art, which in the present context may also be designated with the reference number 22.
• the packaging blank 10 is provided that, after being applied to the assembly or grouping 20 of at least two such cans 22, it is fixed below the lid rim 24, as designated herein, in the area of the taper 26 or constriction 26 on the cans 22.
• the packaging blank 10 after the packaging blank 10 has been applied to the articles 12 formed by the cans 22, a portion of these articles 12 or cans 22 is located above the packaging blank 10, namely, in particular, the can lid with the Fig. 2B illustrated can closure 30, while the remaining range of articles 12 or cans 22 including their respective surface area 28 below the packaging blank 10.
• the packaging blank 10 is fixed in this position by the articles 12 or cans 22 and that, conversely, the articles 12 or cans 22 are also fixed by the packaging blank 10.
• the bottles 12 are bottles made of PET or another suitable plastic material with a screw cap
• the bottle has a widening area below the screw cap in the form of the so-called neck ring (not shown here). Below the neck ring, the diameter of the bottle is again reduced in some areas and widens downwards into the body area.
• the packaging blank 10 after being applied to an assembly of bottles, is positioned below the neck ring of the bottle's closure area.
• the closure area and the neck ring of the bottles are located above the packaging blank 10, while the remaining part of the bottles is located below the packaging blank 10.
• the packaging blank 10 is preferably formed essentially flat and has the features shown in the Figures 2A, 2C and 2D
• the packaging blank 10 has recognizable circular openings 14 for the articles 12 or cans 22.
• the packaging blank 10 is designed such that it can be placed or pressed onto the articles 12 or cans 22 from above, with the articles 12 passing at least partially through the openings 14, so that after the packaging blank 10 is attached to an article grouping 20, the articles 12 are located partly above and partly below the packaging blank 20.
• a defined upper area of the articles 12 or cans 22 is located above the packaging blank 10, while a defined lower area of the articles 12 or cans 22 is arranged below the packaging blank 10.
• an edge area 16, which limits the passage openings 14, abuts the outer surface 28 of the articles 12 or cans 22, as shown in the example of such a packaging unit 18 in Figure 1.
• Fig. 2D This is made clear.
• the through-openings 14 of the packaging blank 10 can have suitable fixing devices, which can be formed, for example, by fixing tabs so designated herein.
• suitable fixing tabs can be formed by incisions extending radially from the through-openings 14, which, however, are located in the Fig. 2A are not shown.
• Figures 3A to 3E These fixing tabs are clearly visible.
• the packaging blank 10 After the packaging blank 10 has been arranged and attached to the articles 12 formed by the cans 22, it engages with the cans 22 in such a way that the packaging blank 10 is essentially fixed in place on the cans 22 and the cans 22 can no longer make any significant relative movements or changes in position relative to each other or to the packaging blank 10.
• the packaging blank 10 can only be removed from the articles 12 or cans 22 of the article grouping 20 with increased force and a force component pointing away from the articles 12, i.e., in particular upwards, whereby the packaging blank 10 is usually at least partially destroyed.
• packaging blanks 10 are also referred to as top gripper carton packaging.
• the packaging blanks 10 can also be considered secondary packaging for grouping several primary packages, namely the cans 22.
• the packaging blank 10 preferably consists of a suitable cardboard material, a plastic material, a cardboard-plastic composite material, or similar, which is normally die-cut into the shapes shown in the text.
• Figures 2A and 3A The shown form is brought into being.
• a packaging blank 10 is pretreated in a suitable manner to reduce the resistance of the packaging blank 10 in the edge areas 16 that define the openings 14 when the packaging blank 10 is applied to the at least two articles 12 or cans 22.
• the pretreated packaging blank 10 shall also be referred to below by the clarifying reference numeral 10v to indicate that the packaging blank 10 has been subjected to the pretreatment steps described below.
• the pre-treated packaging blank 10v is placed on a corresponding assembly or grouping of articles 20 of at least two articles 12 and according to Fig. 2C by means of an application force F directed at least partially downwards or parallel to the longitudinal axes of the upright articles 12 or cans 22, in particular by means of a downward pressure force applied as evenly as possible to the top of the pretreated packaging blank 10v, at least partially pressed onto the articles 12 of the article grouping 20 and thereby fixed to the articles 12 or cans 22.
• the application force F can be significantly reduced compared to the pressure force required for an untreated packaging blank 10.
• This makes it possible to attach packaging blanks 10v even to articles 12 that, for example, have a thinner wall and are therefore less stable under applied pressure and at risk of buckling. In this way, material consumption for the articles 12 can be reduced, as even thinner-walled and mechanically less stable articles 12 can be bundled together using such a packaging blank 10 or 10v.
• the advantageous reduction of the resistance force and thus the application force F makes it possible to apply several packaging blanks 10v simultaneously or almost simultaneously to larger groupings 20 of upright articles 12 or beverage cans 22, thereby increasing the machine performance of a packaging machine involved in this process.
• FIG. 2A An example of a small-area packaging blank 10 with only four perforations 14 punched into it in a rectangular arrangement for grouping an article 20 with only four articles 12 or cans 22 is shown, with reference to the Fig. 2E It should be noted that such packaging blanks 10 can also be significantly larger and may, for example, be suitable for grouping together article groups 20 of twenty-four or more articles 12 or cans 22 in the manner described.
• the packaging blank shown 10 has four rows arranged next to or below each other, each with six through-holes 14, which are also arranged in a rectangular arrangement, as shown. This is already exemplified in the Fig. 2A This is shown. However, this does not preclude other arrangements of the articles 12 to each other, so that they may, for example, optionally be grouped in a close sphere packing or hexagonal arrangement, whereby the lines of contact of the articles 12 to each other may be connected to each other in a top view by triangles.
• Figures 3A to 3E referred to which already had the layout of a corresponding packaging cut 10 ( Fig. 3A ) and its application on an article grouping of 20 ( Fig. 3C ) show, which is formed from four identical cans 22.
• the articles to be summarized in Article 12 may preferably be the same as those in Fig. 2B are shown as examples in a top view.
• the ones in the Figures 3A to 3C The packaging blanks 10 shown can optionally be larger and have more than four openings 14, as can already be seen from the schematic top view of the Fig. 2E The rectangular shape was grouped together.
• FIG. 3A an untreated packaging blank 10, which may have been cut from a sheet of cardboard, for example, using a die-cutting process.
• FIG. 3B such packaging blank 10 according to Fig. 3A , which has undergone pretreatment and is therefore designated with the reference number 10v.
• the Fig. 3C Figure 18 shows a packaging unit 18 formed by four articles 12 in the form of cans 22, which are grouped together by means of a pre-treated packaging blank 10v applied to the articles 12 or cans 22.
• these fixing tabs 32 are at least partially pressed and/or folded in the same direction as specified by the subsequent application process. Since the fixing tabs 32 are formed during an application process of the packaging blank 10 according to Fig. 2C Since they tend to deflect upwards, they are therefore sensibly bent and pre-shaped in the same direction using the stretching tools. The pre-shaped and pre-stretched fixing tabs 32 now project upwards beyond the plane of the packaging blank 10 or 10v, in which the through-holes 14 are located, as shown in the sectional view of the Fig. 3E This is illustrated schematically.
• the mean diameter of such a pre-treated passage opening 14 increases, which is characterized by the use of the reference numeral d14v.
• the mean diameter d14 of a passage opening 14 of a packaging blank 10 before pre-treatment is smaller than the mean diameter d14v of a passage opening 14v of a packaging blank 10v after pre-treatment.
• such a pre-treated or widened passage opening 14 is designated by the reference numeral 14v (see [reference]). Fig. 3E ).
• the fixing tabs 32 are engaged with the underside of the respective lid edge 24 of the cans 22 in such a way that that the packaging blank 10 is firmly fixed to the cans 22 and cannot slip upwards (see also Fig. 2D ).
• the packaging blank 10 can also be provided with perforations extending radially away from the through-openings 14. When the packaging blank 10 is pressed onto the stretching tools, these perforations can break open, forming corresponding fixing tabs 32 which are bent upwards when the packaging blank 10 is pressed further onto the stretching tools, as shown in Fig. 3E This is made clear.
• FIG. 4A to 4C show a difference from the in the Figures 3A to 3E A slightly different further variant of a packaging blank 10 and the corresponding pretreatment and application of such a packaging blank 10 to a grouping of articles 20.
• the packaging blank 10 is similar in layout to those in the Figures 2A and 3A shown packaging blanks 10 with their four through-holes 14 for interaction with the lid edges 24 of correspondingly dimensioned cans 22.
• FIG. 4A an untreated packaging blank 10
• FIG. 4B Figure 10 shows a pre-treated packaging blank 10v. It is provided that during pre-treatment, narrow incisions 36 and/or (micro)perforations are made in the edge areas 16 of the penetration openings 14 in order to reduce the resistance in these areas. These correspondingly pre-treated edge areas 16 are therefore in the Fig. 4B additionally marked with the reference number 16v.
• the narrow incisions 36 thus made extend radially from the passage openings 14.
• the packaging blank 10 can be placed directly onto the articles 12 or cans 22, and the sections 38 formed between the incisions 36 can be pressed upwards with minimal force.
• this embodiment also provides that the sections 38 engage below a maximum article diameter in a specific area, thereby firmly fixing the packaging blank 10v to the articles 12 or cans 22.
• the pretreatment takes place in at least two stages, wherein in a first pretreatment step the incisions 36 and/or (micro)perforations are introduced into the packaging blank 10 and in a second process step the packaging blank 10v thus pretreated is pressed onto a stretching tool provided accordingly, as is the case in connection with the Figures 6 and 7 described further below.
• FIG. 5A to 5D show a third design variant of a packaging blank 10 and the corresponding pretreatment and application of such a pretreated packaging blank 10v to a grouping of articles 20.
• FIG. 5A an untreated packaging blank 10, which does not fundamentally differ from the packaging blank 10 according to Fig. 4A
• the difference lies in the fact that, in both cases, the edge area 16 of each passage opening 14 describes a continuous circular contour and can typically be produced by a punching process.
• the schematic top view of the Fig. 5B Figure 1 shows a pre-treated packaging blank 10v.
• the packaging blank 10 is made more unstable and pliable by moistening the edge areas 16 of its openings 14.
• This type of pre-treatment is particularly suitable for packaging blanks 10 made of cardboard material that do not have a water-impermeable coating.
• the material of which the packaging blank 10 is made can be softened, at least in certain areas, and thus made more pliable. In particular, this selectively softens the edge areas. 16, which limit the openings 14 for the articles 12 or cans 22, moistened.
• That such a pretreatment step can at least slightly enlarge the pretreated passage openings 14v is illustrated by the changed diameter d14v of the passage openings 14v pretreated in this way, as shown in Fig. 5B is shown.
• the altered diameter d14v of the passage openings 14v pretreated by local moistening can be at least slightly larger than the respective diameters d14 of the original passage openings 14 in the original state of the packaging blank 10 (cf. Fig. 5A and Fig. 5B ).
• the packaging blank 10v with the edge areas 16v softened in this way (cf. Fig. 5B ) can now be applied to items 12 or cans 22 with reduced force ( Fig. 5C ).
• a drying step may be provided subsequently, in which the moistened edge areas 16v of the pre-treated packaging blank 10v applied to the articles 12 or cans 22 are dried again by a suitable drying device, for example by means of drying air or similar.
• a suitable drying device for example by means of drying air or similar.
• the edge areas 16 regain their original stability according to the material properties of the packaging blank 10, so that the packaging blank 10 can thereby be more firmly fixed to the articles 12 or cans 22 and fit more securely there (cf. Fig. 5D ).
• the elastic properties in these heated areas can be increased by heating them in specific areas, in particular by heating the edge areas 16 that define the openings 14.
• the edge areas 16e of the openings 14 are heated.
• Fig. 5C applied to a grouping of articles 18, the edge areas 16 of the passage openings 14 adhere particularly advantageously to the outer shell surfaces of the articles 12 or cans 22 during cooling.
• FIG. 6 Figure 1 shows a first embodiment of a part of a packaging device 2 with a pretreatment module 6, as already described above with reference to the Fig. 1 was described.
• Packaging blank 10 is removed from a magazine 42 by means of a suitable gripper head 40, for example a vacuum gripper 14, and transferred to the pretreatment module 6.
• This pretreatment module 6 comprises the stretching dies 44 mentioned several times above, which are required for the pretreatment of the packaging blanks 10.
• Each of these stretching dies 44 is equipped with a number of stretching tools 46 corresponding to the number of openings 14 in the packaging blank 10 to be pre-treated.
• the arrangement of the stretching tools 46 within the stretching die 44 must also correspond to the arrangement of the openings 14 in the packaging blank 10.
• the stretching tools 46 are arranged in a relative arrangement that corresponds to the arrangement of the articles 12 or cans 22 in the finished packaging unit 18.
• the stretching tools 46 of the stretching die can, for example, each be formed by stretching cones 48, as designated here.
• the at least one gripper head 40, which removes the packaging blanks 10 from the magazine 42 and transfers them to the pretreatment module 6, can, for example, be formed by a vacuum suction device 50 or the like.
• the packaging blank 10 is pressed downwards on the expansion cones 48 at least to such an extent that the edge regions 16 of the passage openings 14 are stretched by the downwardly widening cross-section of the expansion cones 48, thereby increasing the diameter of the passage openings 14 at least slightly. Subsequently, the packaging blank 10v, thus pre-treated, is conveyed by the gripper head 40, which still holds the packaging blank 10v, to the downstream packaging module 8 and applied to a waiting grouping of articles 20.
• the packaging blank 10 Due to the inclined or conical shape of the expansion cones 48, each with its upward-pointing tip, the packaging blank 10 is centered and precisely positioned or aligned.
• the packaging blank 10 is at least briefly lifted from the gripper head 40 for centering. is released.
• the pre-treated packaging blank 10v can then be precisely picked up by the gripper head 40 and placed on a corresponding assembly of articles 12 or cans 22, i.e. on an article grouping 20, and secured to them by pressing down.
• the schematic side view of the Fig. 7 Figure 1 shows a second embodiment of a part of a packaging device 2 with a pretreatment module 6, as already described above with reference to the Fig. 1 as described.
• the packaging blank 10 is completely released within the pretreatment module 6 by the gripper head 40 and pressed onto the expansion cones 48 with the aid of a suitable tool 52, formed, for example, by a pressure stamp 54, in order to widen the edge areas 16 of the passage openings 14 and thus reduce the resistance of the packaging blank 10 in the edge areas 16 during subsequent application to the articles 12 or cans 22.
• the remaining components of the in the Fig. 7 The second embodiment of the packaging device 2 shown here essentially corresponds to the components already described above.
• Fig. 6 The first embodiment of the packaging device 2 shown, even though no corresponding instructions are given in each case.
• the packaging blank 10v is picked up by a further gripper head 56, which may also be designed as a vacuum suction cup 58, for example, and conveyed from the pretreatment module 6 to the downstream packaging module 8.
• expansion cones 48 arranged regularly or in an expansion die 44, can optionally be inserted together as combined modules into the packaging machine 2 or its pretreatment module 6 and removed from there as required, which can be useful, for example, when changing products and processing packaging blanks 10 with changed dimensions or spacing of the openings 14 and/or changed diameters of the openings 14 or processing packaging blanks 10 with a different number of openings 14 per packaging blank 10, etc.
• Figures 8A to 9B Figures 10 and 11 show different embodiments of a packaging device 2 according to the invention, which are equipped in particular in the area of their respective pretreatment module 6 with different configurations of handling robots in order to use the different available expansion dies 44, which may be necessary for the pretreatment of different packaging blanks 10, as required.
• FIG. 8A A first embodiment of the packaging device 2, which is equipped with a feeding device 4 for conveying groups of articles 20 in a defined conveying direction on a horizontal conveying device 60 or similar conveying device provided for this purpose.
• the groups of articles 20 conveyed on the horizontal conveying device 60 of the feeding device 4 each comprise a defined number of articles 12 or cans 22, whereby this number and the arrangement of the articles 12 or cans 22 relative to each other can differ in the respective grouping 20, so that differently designed packaging blanks 10 may be required to combine the groupings 20 into packaging units 18.
• the pretreatment module 6 of the packaging device 2 according to Fig. 8A
• the system comprises at least one first pre-breaking station 62, which is arranged on the left side of the feeding device 4, and at least one second pre-breaking station 64, which is located on the right side of the feeding device 4.
• a first magazine 66 In the immediate vicinity of the first pre-breaking station 62 is a first magazine 66 for a first variant of packaging blanks 10, which are not yet pre-treated and whose openings may be punched there in a first arrangement.
• a second magazine 68 for a second variant of packaging blanks 10, which are not yet pre-treated, and whose openings can each be punched in a second arrangement, wherein the spacing and/or size of the openings of the packaging blanks 10 of the first magazine 66 can differ from the spacing and/or size of the openings of the packaging blanks 10 of the second magazine 68, so that the untreated packaging blanks 10 of the first magazine 66 are not suitable for pre-treatment with a stretch die 44 which is matched to the spacing and/or size of the packaging blanks 10 of the second magazine 68.
• a first handling robot 70 is provided, the preferably multi-axis movable swivel arm 72 of which is equipped with a gripper head 40 capable of removing the packaging blanks 10 from one of the two magazines 66 or 68 and feeding them to the respective required pre-breaking station 62 or 64.
• the same first handling robot 70 places the pre-treated packaging blanks 10 onto the respective grouping of articles 20 on the horizontal conveyor 60 of the feeding device 4 in order to form the packaging units 18, as already described in detail above.
• the gripper head 40 guided on the swivel arm 72 of the handling robot 70, with the packaging blank 10 or 10v held there, is located at the first pre-breaking station 62 shown on the left and presses the packaging blank 10 onto the upwardly tapered stretching tools 46 of the first stretching die 44a of the first pre-breaking station 62.
• This stretches the openings of the packaging blank 10 as desired by means of the stretching tools 46 of the first stretching die 44a, which are formed by stretching cones 48, so that the pre-treated packaging blank 10v can be placed onto the article grouping 20.
• the second stretch die 44b located at the second pre-breaking station 64 is not required in this process phase, nor is the entire second pre-breaking station 64 or its second magazine 68 with the packaging blanks 10 stored therein, so that the gripper head 40 of the handling robot 70 is shown with a broken line.
• the first and second expansion dies 44a and 44b differ in at least one of their parameters, i.e., either in the diameters or dimensions of their expansion cones 48 or expansion tools 46, in their spacing and/or arrangement on the expansion die 44a or 44b, or with respect to both parameters.
• the articles 12 or cans 22 can differ both in their dimensions and in their respective number within the formed article groupings 20, the packaging blanks 10 required for each can differ with respect to the number of their openings, the respective diameter of the openings, and their relative arrangement to one another. This can be accommodated by the different pre-breaking stations 62 and 64 with their different expansion dies 44a and 44b.
• the gripper head 40 may be interchangeable and to provide a tool change magazine for this purpose, which can be located within the reach of the swivel arm 72 of the handling robot 70.
• a tool change magazine is in the Figures 8A to 9C not shown.
• One or more such tool changer magazines are/are in the Figures 9D to 11 shown.
• the schematic representation of the Fig. 8A The diagram further reveals a control center 74, which controls at least the handling robot 70 and its movements when removing the packaging blanks 10 from one of the two magazines 66 or 68, when feeding the packaging blanks 10 to the respective pre-breaking station 62 or 64, and also when pressing the pre-treated packaging blanks 10 onto the articles 12 or cans 22 of the respective article groups 20.
• the control center 74 supplies corresponding control signals 76 to the handling robot 70.
• control center 74 The fact that the data connection between the control center 74 and the handling robot 70 is a double arrow labeled with the reference numeral 76 indicates that the handling robot 70 can preferably also supply sensor signals of various types to the control center 74 to facilitate the precise movement control of the swivel arm 72 and the gripper head 40.
• An optional optical sensor device 78 can detect the horizontal conveying device 60.
• This optional optical sensor device 78 or camera 80 with its downstream image evaluation can be assigned to the horizontal conveying device 60. Its function can be, in particular, to monitor the finished packaging units 18 equipped with the pre-treated packaging blanks 10v.
• the image evaluation can be specifically aimed at verifying whether all tabs on the openings of the packaging blanks 10 are correctly engaged and/or whether the packaging blank is properly locked to the articles 12 or cans 22 and is located in the intended horizontal plane.
• the optional optical sensor device 78 or camera 80 also sensibly delivers its image signals 82 to the control center 74, in which the suitable image evaluation can be located in order to obtain the desired or required information on the condition of the completed packaging units from the image signals 82.
• control center 74 can optionally be connected to an external data storage device 84, which may, for example, be a data cloud 86.
• the data 88 exchanged between the external data storage device 84 or the data cloud 86 and the control center 74 are also indicated by a double arrow, which is intended to characterize the bidirectional nature of the data exchange.
• control center 74 can be usefully coupled with the feeding device 4 and with the pretreatment module 6, as shown in the illustration of the Fig. 8A however, it is not illustrated graphically.
• FIG. 8B A second embodiment of the packaging device 2, which in turn is equipped with a feeding device 4 for conveying groups of articles 20 in a defined conveying direction on a horizontal conveying device 60 or similar conveying device provided for this purpose.
• the groups of articles 20 are conveyed on the horizontal conveying device 60 of the feeding device 4, whereby the number and arrangement of the articles 12 or cans 22 relative to each other in the respective grouping 20 can differ, as has already been described several times above, so that differently designed packaging blanks 10 may be required to combine the groupings 20 into packaging units 18.
• the pretreatment module 6 of the packaging device 2 encompasses in the same way as already indicated by the Fig. 8A
• the first pre-breaking station 62 is located on the left side of the feeding device 4
• the second pre-breaking station 64 is located on the right side of the feeding device 4.
• Both pre-breaking stations 62 and 64 are each equipped with first and second magazines 66 and 68, respectively, each containing different variants of packaging blanks 10.
• each of the two pre-breaking stations 62 and 64 is handled by its own handling robot 88 and 90.
• a second handling robot is connected to the first pre-breaking station 62 and its first magazine 66. 88 is assigned, while a third handling robot 90 is assigned to the second pre-crushing station 64 and its second magazine 68.
• Each of the two handling robots 88 and 90 i.e., the second and third handling robots 88 and 90, has a preferably multi-axis movable swivel arm 72, which is equipped with a gripper head 40.
• the packaging blanks 10 can be removed from the magazines 66 and 68 and fed to the respective required pre-breaking station 62 or 64.
• the pretreated packaging blanks 10v are preferably placed by the currently active handling robot 88 or 90, i.e., by the second handling robot 88 or the third handling robot 90, onto the respective grouping of articles 20 on the horizontal conveyor 60 of the feeding device 4, in order to form the packaging units 18, as already described in detail above. Since the reach of the swivel arms 72 of the in Fig. 8B If the handling robots 88 and 90 shown are not sufficient for this purpose, it may be useful to make the positions of the two handling robots 88 and 90 variable, so that they can be designed, for example, as mobile handling robots 88 and 90.
• the gripper head 40 guided on the swivel arm 72 of the second handling robot 88, with the packaging blank 10 or 10v held there, is located at the first pre-breaking station 62 shown on the left and presses the packaging blank 10 onto the upwardly tapered stretching tools 46 of the first stretching die 44a of the first pre-breaking station 62.
• This stretches the openings of the packaging blank 10 as desired by means of the stretching tools 46 of the first stretching die 44a, which are formed by stretching cones 48, so that the pre-treated packaging blank 10v can be placed onto the article grouping 20.
• the gripper head 40 guided on the swivel arm 72 of the third handling robot 90, with the packaging blank 10 or 10v held there, is located at the second pre-breaking station 64 shown on the right and presses the packaging blank 10 onto the upwardly tapered stretching tools 46 of the second stretching die 44b of the second pre-breaking station 64.
• the expansion tools 46 of the second expansion die 44b formed by expansion cone 48 are also expanded in the desired manner, so that the packaging blank 10v pretreated in this way can optionally be placed on the article grouping 20.
• the first and second expansion dies 44a and 44b differ in at least one of their parameters, i.e. either in the diameters or dimensions of their expansion cones 48 or expansion tools 46, in their spacing and/or arrangements on the expansion die 44a or 44b or with respect to both parameters.
• Fig. 8B This in turn allows the control center 74 to be identified, which preferably controls the second handling robot 88 and the third handling robot 90 as well as their movements when removing the packaging blanks 10 from their respective assigned magazines 66 or 68 as well as when feeding the packaging blanks 10 to the respective pre-breaking station 62 or 64 and also when pressing the pre-treated packaging blanks 10v onto the articles 12 or cans 22 of the respective available article groupings 20.
• the control center 74 supplies corresponding control signals 76 to the second handling robot 88 and to the third handling robot 90.
• control center 74 and the handling robots 88 and 90 are each represented by double arrows with the reference numeral 76 is intended to express that each of the second and third handling robots 88 and 90 can preferably also supply sensor signals of different types to the control center 74 in order to facilitate the precise motion control of the respective swivel arms 72 and the gripper heads 40.
• the one in Fig. 8B The recognizable optional optical sensor device 78, which may in particular be formed by a camera 80 with downstream image evaluation, preferably corresponds to the one already described above based on the Fig. 8A
• the optical sensor device 78 described above is described below, so that a further explanation is unnecessary here and reference can be made to the above statements.
• the optional The optical sensor device 78 or camera 80 also sensibly delivers its image signals 82 to the control center 74, in which the suitable image evaluation can be located in order to obtain the desired or required information on the condition of the completed packaging units from the image signals 82.
• control center 74 can optionally be connected to an external data storage device 84, which may, for example, be a data cloud 86.
• the data 88 exchanged between the external data storage device 84 or the data cloud 86 and the control center 74 are also indicated by a double arrow, which is intended to characterize the bidirectional nature of the data exchange.
• control center 74 can be usefully coupled with the feeding device 4 and with the pretreatment module 6, as shown in the illustration of the Fig. 8B however, it is not illustrated graphically.
• FIG. 8C a third embodiment of the packaging device 2, which in turn is equipped with a feeding device 4 for conveying groups of articles 20 in a defined conveying direction on a horizontal conveying device 60 or similar conveying device provided for this purpose, as already described in the Figures 8A and 8B shown.
• the pretreatment module 6 of the packaging device 2 encompasses in the same way as already indicated by the Fig. 8A as well as the Fig. 8B
• the first pre-breaking station 62 is located on the left side of the feeding device 4
• the second pre-breaking station 64 is located on the right side of the feeding device 4.
• Both pre-breaking stations 62 and 64 are each equipped with first and second magazines 66 and 68, respectively, each containing different variants of packaging blanks 10.
• each of the two pre-breaking stations 62 and 64 is handled by its own handling robot 88 and 90.
• the second handling robot 88 is assigned to the first pre-breaking station 62 and its first magazine 66
• the third handling robot 90 is assigned to the second pre-breaking station 64 and its second magazine 68.
• Each of the two handling robots 88 and 90 i.e., the second and third handling robots 88 and 90, has a preferably multi-axis movable swivel arm 72, which is equipped with a gripper head 40.
• the packaging blanks 10 can be removed from the magazines 66 and 68 and fed to the respective required pre-breaking station 62 or 64.
• the pre-treated packaging blanks 10v are not handled by either of the two handling robots 88 or 90 located there. Instead, they are each picked up by the first handling robot 70 and placed onto the respective grouping of articles 20 on the horizontal conveyor 60 of the feeding device 4, in order to form the packaging units 18, as already described in detail above.
• this process is to be carried out exclusively by the first handling robot 70, which has a corresponding reach of its swivel arm 72, while the second and third handling robots 88 and 90 are each to be responsible exclusively for handling the packaging blanks between the respective magazines 66 or 68 and the pre-breaking stations 62 or 64.
• the gripper head 40 guided on the swivel arm 72 of the second handling robot 88, with the packaging blank 10 or 10v held there, is located at the first pre-breaking station 62 shown on the left and presses the packaging blank 10 onto the upwardly tapered stretching tools 46 of the first stretching die 44a of the first pre-breaking station 62.
• This stretches the openings of the packaging blank 10 as desired by means of the stretching tools 46 of the first stretching die 44a, which are formed by stretching cones 48, so that the pre-treated packaging blank 10v can be placed onto the article grouping 20.
• the gripper head 40 guided on the swivel arm 72 of the third handling robot 90, with the packaging blank 10 or 10v held there, is located at the second pre-breaking station 64 shown on the right and presses the packaging blank 10 onto the upwardly tapered stretching tools 46 of the second stretching die 44b of the second pre-breaking station 64.
• This causes the openings of the packaging blank 10 to be opened by means of the stretching tools 46 of the second stretching die 44b formed by stretching cones 48. also stretched in the desired manner, so that the packaging blank 10v pretreated in this way can optionally be placed on the article grouping 20.
• the gripper head 40 of the first handling robot 70 can optionally be equipped with suction devices that can engage between the handling devices of the gripper head 40 of the second handling robot 88 in the manner of a comb or rake.
• the first and second expansion dies 44a and 44b differ in at least one of their parameters, i.e. either in the diameters or dimensions of their expansion cones 48 or expansion tools 46, in their spacing and/or arrangements on the expansion die 44a or 44b or with respect to both parameters.
• Fig. 8C This in turn allows the control center 74 to be identified, which preferably controls the first handling robot 70, the second handling robot 88 and the third handling robot 90 together with their respective movements when removing the packaging blanks 10 from their respective assigned magazines 66 or 68 and when feeding the packaging blanks 10 to the respective pre-breaking station 62 or 64 and also when pressing the pre-treated packaging blanks 10v onto the articles 12 or cans 22 of the respective available article groupings 20 by means of the first handling robot 70.
• the control center 74 supplies corresponding control signals 76 to the first handling robot 70, the second handling robot 88, and the third handling robot 90.
• control center 74 The fact that the data connections between the control center 74 and the handling robots 70, 88, and 90 are each represented by double arrows with the reference numeral 76 is intended to express that each of the first, second, and third handling robots 70, 88, and 90 can preferably also supply sensor signals of different types to the control center 74 in order to provide it with the to facilitate precise motion control of the respective swivel arms 72 and gripper heads 40.
• the recognizable optional optical sensor device 78 which may in particular be formed by a camera 80 with downstream image evaluation, preferably corresponds to the one already described above based on the Figures 8A and 8B
• the optical sensor device 78 described above is therefore unnecessary to explain again here, and reference can be made to the above statements.
• the optional optical sensor device 78 or camera 80 also sensibly delivers its image signals 82 to the control center 74, which can contain suitable image evaluation equipment to obtain the desired or required information about the condition of the finished packaging units from the image signals 82.
• control center 74 can optionally be connected to an external data storage device 84, which may, for example, be a data cloud 86.
• the data 88 exchanged between the external data storage device 84 or the data cloud 86 and the control center 74 are also indicated by a double arrow, which is intended to characterize the bidirectional nature of the data exchange.
• the external data storage device 84 which can be formed, for example, by a data cloud 86, can serve to input and temporarily store numerous data, such as the measured and/or predefinable angles during the deformation of the tabs and/or the force values measured and/or predefinable for pressing the packaging blanks onto the article groupings 20 for the motors used for this purpose, whereby the type of container processed can also be taken into account.
• control center 74 Further relevant data can be stored there and kept available for the control center 74, such as information about the manufacturers and/or the materials and/or material thicknesses of the packaging blanks used, since meaningful setting values, threshold and target values for the packaging device 2 as well as for other plant components can be obtained and derived from this.
• control center 74 can be usefully coupled with the feeding device 4 and with the pretreatment module 6, as shown in the illustration of the Fig. 8C however, it is not illustrated graphically.
• FIGS 9A and 9B show a variant of one of the pre-crushing stations 62 or 64 of the pre-treatment module 6 according to one or more of the Figures 8A to 8C , where the first pre-crushing station 62 located on the left side of the feed device 4 is shown here, while the second pre-crushing station 64 (cf. Figures 8A to 8C ) is not shown here. Consequently, only the second handling robot 88, together with the first handling robot 70, is shown, not the third handling robot 90.
• the first handling robot 70 serves to take the packaging blanks 10v, pretreated by the first pre-breaking station 62, from the expansion die 44 and to place them on the article groupings 20 provided on the horizontal conveyor 60 of the feeding device 4, each grouping consisting of a defined number of articles 12 or cans 22 in a defined arrangement relative to each other.
• the second handling robot 88 has access to two different magazines 66 and 92: the first magazine 66, which contains larger packaging blanks 10, and a third magazine 92 located near the first magazine 66, which holds smaller packaging blanks 10 for removal by the second handling robot 88.
• the larger packaging blanks 10 in the first magazine 66 can then be removed when appropriately sized or configured article groupings 20 are to be supplied with them, and the same applies to the smaller packaging blanks 10 in the third magazine 92.
• the first pre-crushing station 62 is opposite the one in the Figures 8A to 8C
• the variant shown of the first pre-crushing station 62 is modified in such a way that two different expansion matrices 44a and 44c are available there, i.e. according to the nomenclature begun above, the first expansion matrices 44a and a third expansion matrices 44c.
• the Fig. 9A Figure 1 shows the first expansion die 44a as the active expansion die 44 and the third expansion die 44c as the inactive expansion die 44.
• the active first expansion die 44a The third expansion die 44c has larger expansion cones 48 than the expansion tools 46, which are spaced further apart.
• the inactive third expansion die 44c has expansion cones 48 of smaller diameter, with these expansion tools 46 being arranged closer together on the third expansion die 44c.
• the second handling robot 88 has taken a larger packaging blank 10 from the first magazine 66 and pressed it onto the upward-pointing expansion cones 48 of the first expansion die 44a.
• the gripper head 40 of the first handling robot 70 is already there, ready to take over the pre-treated packaging blank 10v and transfer it to the grouping of articles 20 on the horizontal conveyor 60 of the feeder 4, and to press the packaging blank 10v onto the top of the articles 12 or cans 22.
• the third magazine 92 is inactive in the process phase shown, as is the third expansion die 44c, whose expansion cones 48 point downwards without function and cannot be reached by the gripper head 40 of the second handling robot 88 in this way.
• the third expansion die 44c is the active expansion die 44, and the first expansion die 44a is the inactive expansion die 44.
• the active third expansion die 44c has smaller expansion cones 48 than the expansion tools 46, which are spaced closer together.
• the inactive first expansion die 44a has expansion cones 48 of a larger diameter, with these expansion tools 46 being arranged further apart on the first expansion die 44a.
• the second handling robot 88 has taken a smaller packaging blank 10 from the third magazine 92 and pressed it onto the upward-pointing expansion cones 48 of the third expansion die 44c.
• the gripper head 40 of the first handling robot 70 is already there, ready to take over the pre-treated packaging blank 10v and transfer it to the grouping of articles 20 on the horizontal conveyor 60 of the feeder 4, and to press the packaging blank 10v onto the top of the articles 12 or cans 22.
• the articles 12 available on the horizontal conveyor 60 are smaller cans 22, so that the diameters of the through-openings of the packaging blank 10 are also They must be smaller in size.
• the openings must be closer together and configured slightly differently because the entire arrangement of the article grouping 20 differs due to the smaller cans 22.
• the first magazine 66 is in the Fig. 9B
• the process phase shown is inactive, as is the first expansion die 44a, whose expansion cones 48 point downwards without function and cannot be reached by the gripper head 40 of the second handling robot 88 in this way.
• the Fig. 9C Figure 1 further shows an embodiment of a multi-part expansion die 44, which has four sides, each with different configurations of expansion tools 46.
• a downward-facing first expansion die 44a with three larger expansion cones 48 can be identified, which form the expansion tools 46 according to the definition described here.
• a second expansion die 44b with three upward-facing expansion cones 48, which are closer together than those of the first expansion die 44a, is located opposite this first expansion die 44a, so that by rotating the support element 94 by 180°, a choice can be made between these two expansion dies 44a and 44b.
• FIG. 9C A third, left-pointing expansion die 44c with three larger expansion cones 48 can be identified, which form the expansion tools 46 according to the definition described here.
• the expansion cones 48 can have approximately the same spacing between them as in the first expansion die 44a. However, these expansion cones 48 of the third expansion die 44c are shorter, so that a different diameter variant of the through-holes can be pre-treated with it.
• the arrangements and dimensions of the four expansion dies 44a, 44b, 44c and 44d shown here are merely exemplary, as is the respective number of visible expansion tools 46.
• the illustration is primarily intended to demonstrate that interchangeable tools are conceivable, which can be activated or deactivated as needed to make the pre-crushing stations 62 and/or 64 more versatile.
• the schematic representation of the Fig. 9D essentially corresponds to the one already in Fig. 9B
• the variant shown of the first pre-breaking station 62 of the packaging device 2 differs in that the handling robots 70 and 88 shown therein each have their own tool change magazine 96 and 98, wherein these tool change magazines 96 and 98 each serve to store and provide different tools 100 for connection with the gripper heads 40 or for equipping the gripper heads 40 of the two handling robots 70 and/or 88.
• the first handling robot 70 is assigned a first tool change magazine 96, which it can reach with its swivel arm 72, and in which various tools 100 can be kept ready, which can be coupled to the gripper head 40 in an automated or semi-automated manner in order to reliably grasp and handle, for example, differently dimensioned packaging blanks 10.
• a second handling robot 88 can also be assigned such a tool-changing magazine, which will be referred to here as the second tool-changing magazine 98.
• This second tool-changing magazine 98 must also be accessible to the swivel arm 72 of the second handling robot 88, so that the tools 100 held there can be coupled to the gripper head 40 of the second handling robot 88 in an automated or semi-automated manner. This also ensures that the different tools 100 allow the second handling robot 88 to reliably grip and handle packaging blanks 10 of varying dimensions, which it takes, for example, from the first magazine 66 or from the third magazine 92.
• FIG. 10 The two schematic top views of the Figures 10 and 11 Furthermore, two different embodiments of the packaging device 2 according to the invention are shown, which differ in some details from those in the Figures 8A to 8C
• the illustrated design variants of the packaging device 2 may differ, but in many respects they correspond to these design variants, which will be examined in more detail below.
• FIG. 10 This can be Fig. 10 as a fourth embodiment of the packaging device 2 according to the invention, while the Fig. 11 This can be considered the fifth embodiment of the packaging device 2.
• the feeding device 4 for conveying the article groups 20 in a defined conveying direction 102 on the horizontal conveying device 60 provided for this purpose is clearly visible.
• the conveying direction 102 of the horizontal conveying device 60 points from bottom to top in both illustrations.
• the article groupings 20 conveyed on the horizontal conveying device 60 of the feeding device 4 comprise, in the fourth and fifth embodiments shown, the Figures 10 and 11 twenty articles 12 or cans 22 each, which are grouped and assembled in a rectangular arrangement, so that for these article groupings 20 the appropriately configured packaging blanks 10 are kept ready and pretreated in order to be able to combine the groupings 20 into packaging units 18 in the manner described above.
• the pretreatment module 6 of the packaging device 2 according to Fig. 10
• the system comprises the first pre-crushing station 62, which is located to the left of the feeding device 4, and the second pre-crushing station 64, which is also located to the left of the feeding device 4 and – with respect to the conveying direction 102 – below the first pre-crushing station 62.
• the first magazine 66 In the immediate vicinity of the first pre-crushing station 62 is the first magazine 66 for a first variant of packaging blanks 10, which are not yet pre-treated and whose openings may be punched in a first arrangement (not shown here).
• the second magazine 68 for a second variant of packaging blanks 10, which are not yet pre-treated, and whose passage openings can each be punched there in a second arrangement (also not shown here), whereby the distances and/or size of the passage openings of the packaging blanks 10 of the first magazine 66 differ from the spacing and/or the sizes of the openings of the packaging blanks 10 of the second magazine 68, so that the untreated packaging blanks 10 of the first magazine 66 are not suitable for pretreatment with a stretching die 44 which is matched to the spacing and/or sizes of the packaging blanks 10 of the second magazine 68, and vice versa.
• the second handling robot 88 is provided, whose preferably multi-axis movable swivel arm 72 has a suitably equipped gripper head 40 which is able to remove the packaging blanks 10 from the first magazine 66 and feed them to the first expansion die 44a that is suitable for each.
• the pretreated packaging blanks 10v can be placed on the respective article grouping 20 on the horizontal conveyor 60 of the feeding device 4 by means of the first handling robot 70, which is located near the horizontal conveyor 60 and in this case accesses the first pre-breaking station 62, in order to form the packaging units 18 as has already been described in detail above.
• the grouping of articles 20 transported on the horizontal conveyor 60 in the conveying direction 102 has a different configuration, it may be necessary to access the differently configured packaging blanks 10 from the second magazine 68 and thus to use the second pre-crushing station 64 in total.
• the third handling robot 90 is provided, whose preferably multi-axis movable swivel arm 72 has a suitably equipped gripper head 40, which is able to remove the packaging blanks 10 from the second magazine 68 and feed them to the respective second expansion die 44b.
• the appropriately pretreated packaging blanks 10v can be placed on the respective grouping of articles 20 on the horizontal conveyor 60 of the feeding device 4 by means of the first handling robot 70 accessing the second pre-breaking station 64, in order to form the corresponding packaging units 18.
• the fourth embodiment of the packaging device 2 according to the invention is configured in such a way that the first handling robot 70 can access at least the first pre-breaking station 62 and the second pre-breaking station 64, which can take over the packaging blanks 10v provided and pre-treated on the corresponding expansion dies 44a or 44b and place them on the article groupings 20 provided on the horizontal conveyor device 60.
• FIG. 9A to 9D can be used optionally, e.g. alternating with the first and second expansion dies 44a and 44b provided in the first and/or second pre-crushing stations 62 and 64 respectively.
• the pretreatment module 6 of the packaging device 2 can be used according to Fig. 10
• the system may include an optional third pre-breaking station 104, which may, for example, be located to the right of the feeding device 4.
• a third magazine 106 for a third variant of packaging blanks 10, which are not yet pre-treated may be arranged, and whose openings may be punched in a third arrangement (not shown here).
• the spacing and/or size of the openings of the packaging blanks 10 of the third magazine 106 differ from the spacing and/or size of the openings of the packaging blanks 10 of the first magazine 66 and the second magazine 68, so that the untreated packaging blanks 10 of the first and/or second magazine 66, 68 are not suitable for pretreatment with such a stretching die 44 as is adapted to the spacing and/or size of the packaging blanks 10 of the first or second magazine 66, 68, and vice versa.
• an optional fourth handling robot 108 is provided, whose preferably multi-axis movable swivel arm 72 has a suitably equipped gripper head 40, which is able to remove the packaging blanks 10 from the third magazine 106 and feed them to the respective third expansion die 44c.
• the pretreated packaging blanks 10v can again be placed on the article grouping 20 on the horizontal conveyor 60 of the feeding device 4 by means of the first handling robot 70, which is located near the horizontal conveyor 60 and in this case may also access the third pre-breaking station 104, in order to form the packaging units 18, as has already been described in detail above.
• the fourth expansion matrices 44d can be described above (see the). Figures 9A to 9D ) can be used optionally, e.g. alternating with the first and second expansion dies 44a and 44b provided in the first and/or second pre-crushing stations 62 and 64 respectively, or also alternating with the third expansion die 44c provided in the third pre-crushing station 104.
• each of the items in the Fig. 10 The first, second, and/or third pre-breaking stations 62, 64, and/or 104 shown can be considered optional or additional pre-breaking stations 62, 64, and/or 104.
• the arrangement and positioning of each pre-breaking station 62, 64, and/or 104 can also depend on the space available at the packaging device 2 and generally on the prevailing space conditions of the packaging device 2.
• At least one of the three pre-breaking stations 62, 64, and/or 104 shown can optionally be omitted if it is possible to work with two pre-breaking stations 62, 64, and/or 104 and/or if the expansion dies 44a, 44b, 44c, and/or 44d are, for example, located in the Figures 9A to 9D are designed to be interchangeable or convertible in the manner shown.
• first handling robot 70 can optionally be equipped with the one in the Fig. 10
• the first tool changer magazine 96 was clearly assigned, which was the first handling robot 70 with its swivel arm 72 can reach, and in which various tools 100 can be kept ready, which can be coupled in an automated or semi-automated manner with the gripper head 40 of the first handling robot 70 in order to reliably grasp and handle, for example, differently dimensioned packaging blanks 10.
• the tool change magazine 96 located to the right of the horizontal conveying device 60 and below the fourth handling robot 108 of the optional third pre-crushing station 104, can be configured for the first handling robot 70 in the manner already described above with reference to the Fig. 9D was explained.
• the fifth embodiment of the packaging device 2 will be considered below, which is represented by the schematic top view of the Fig. 11 is illustrated.
• the feeding device 4 for conveying the article groups 20 in a defined conveying direction 102 on the horizontal conveying device 60 provided for this purpose is recognizable there, the conveying direction 102 of the horizontal conveying device 60 being shown in the illustration of the Fig. 11 points from bottom to top.
• the article groupings 20 conveyed on the horizontal conveying device 60 of the feeding device 4 comprise, in the fourth and fifth embodiments shown, the Figures 10 and 11 twenty articles 12 or cans 22 each, which are grouped and assembled in a rectangular arrangement, so that for these article groupings 20 the appropriately configured packaging blanks 10 are kept ready and pretreated in order to be able to combine the groupings 20 into packaging units 18 in the manner described above.
• the pretreatment module 6 of the packaging device 2 according to Fig. 11
• the system comprises the first pre-crushing station 62, which is located to the left of the feeding device 4, and the second pre-crushing station 64, which is also located to the left of the feeding device 4 and – with respect to the conveying direction 102 – below the first pre-crushing station 62.
• the first magazine 66 In the immediate vicinity of the first pre-crushing station 62 is the first magazine 66 for a first variant of packaging blanks 10, which are not yet pre-treated and whose openings may be punched in a first arrangement (not shown here).
• the second magazine 68 for a second variant of packaging blanks 10, which have not yet are pretreated, and their openings may each be punched in a second arrangement (also not shown here), wherein the spacing and/or size of the openings of the packaging blanks 10 of the first magazine 66 differ from the spacing and/or size of the openings of the packaging blanks 10 of the second magazine 68, so that the untreated packaging blanks 10 of the first magazine 66 are not suitable for pretreatment with a stretch die 44 which is matched to the spacing and/or size of the packaging blanks 10 of the second magazine 68, and vice versa.
• the second handling robot 88 is provided, whose preferably multi-axis movable swivel arm 72 has a suitably equipped gripper head 40 which is able to remove the packaging blanks 10 from the first magazine 66 and feed them to the first expansion die 44a that is suitable for each.
• the same second handling robot 88 is also designed and positioned accordingly to remove the packaging blanks 10 from the second magazine 68 of the second pre-breaking station 64 and feed them to the second stretching die 44b located nearby.
• the following configuration is used in the Fig. 11
• the second handling robot 88 is positioned between the two pre-breaking stations 62 and 64, as shown in the schematic representation of the Fig. 11 clarifies.
• the preferably multi-axis movable swivel arm 72 of the second handling robot 88 also has the described gripper head 40, which is able to remove the packaging blanks 10 from the first magazine 66 or from the second magazine 68 and feed them to the respective first stretching die 44a or the second stretching die 44b.
• the pretreated packaging blanks 10v can be conveyed by means of the conveyor located near the horizontal conveying device 60, which in this case can be placed both on the The first pre-crushing station 62 as well as the third handling robot 90 accessing the second pre-crushing station 64 are placed on the article grouping 20 that is ready on the horizontal conveyor 60 of the feeding device 4 in order to form the packaging units 18 as has already been described in detail above.
• the third handling robot 90 performs essentially the same tasks as the first handling robot 70 in the fourth version of the packaging machine according to Fig. 10 fulfilled.
• the third handling robot 90 is in the variant according to Fig. 11 positioned in approximately the same way as the first handling robot 70 of the variant according to Fig. 10 .
• Which of the two pre-crushing stations 62 or 64 is accessed depends on the current grouping of articles 20 being transported on the horizontal conveying device 60 in conveying direction 102 and on their respective configuration.
• FIG. 9A to 9D can be used optionally, e.g. alternating with the first and second expansion dies 44a and 44b provided in the first and/or second pre-crushing stations 62 and 64 respectively.
• the second handling robot 88 can optionally be assigned the task described in the Fig. 11
• the first tool change magazine 96 is assigned to the second handling robot 88 with its swivel arm 72, and various tools 100 can be kept in it, which can be coupled in an automated or semi-automated manner with the gripper head 40 of the second handling robot 88 in order to reliably grasp and handle, for example, differently dimensioned packaging blanks 10.
• the third handling robot 90 can optionally also be assigned the function in the Fig. 11
• the second tool change magazine 98 is clearly assigned to it, which the third handling robot 90 can reach with its swivel arm 72, and in which various tools 100 can be kept ready, which can be handled in an automated or semi-automated manner with the gripper head 40 of the third handling robot 90. They can be coupled to reliably grip and handle, for example, differently sized packaging blanks.
• the first tool change magazine 96 located to the left of the horizontal conveyor 60 and below the second pre-crushing station 64, for the second handling robot 88, as well as the functional and spatial assignment of the second tool change magazine 98, located near the horizontal conveyor 60, to the third handling robot 90, can be designed in a corresponding manner, as already described above with reference to the Fig. 9D was explained.
• the optional equipment of the packaging device 2 according to Figures 8A to 8C which may include an optical sensor device 78, which may in particular be formed by a camera 80 with downstream image evaluation, as well as in the fourth and fifth embodiment variants of the packaging device 2 according to Fig. 10 and/or Fig. 11
• This optional optical sensor device 78 or camera 80 with its downstream image evaluation can be assigned to the horizontal conveying device 60.
• Its task can be, in particular, to monitor the finished packaging units 18 equipped with the pre-treated packaging blanks 10v, whereby the image evaluation can be specifically aimed at checking whether all tabs on the through-openings of the packaging blanks 10 are correctly engaged and/or whether the packaging blank is properly locked to the articles 12 or cans 22 and is located in the intended horizontal plane.
• the optional optical sensor device 78 or camera 80 delivers its image signals 82 in particular to the control center 74, in which the suitable image evaluation can be located in order to obtain the desired or required information on the condition of the completed packaging units from the image signals 82 (see above).
• Figures 8A to 8C are illustrations of the optional optical sensor device 78 or camera 80.
• control unit 74 (not shown) can optionally be connected to an external data storage device 84, which may, for example, be a data cloud 86.
• an external data storage device 84 which may, for example, be a data cloud 86.
• control unit 74 and the data-technically connected device 84 or 86 are likewise part of the packaging device 2. according to Figures 10 and 11 This can be the case, as already shown above based on the Figures 8A to 8C was explained.

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