Machine for packaging products arranged in ordered groups

Abstract

The machine includes a packaging station and a feeding line configured and controlled for feeding ordered groups of products to the packaging station. The feeding line is movable with respect to the packaging station to form an access space between the packaging station and the feeding line.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD[0001]The present invention relates to machines for packaging products arranged in ordered groups, for instance groups of paper rolls, such as tissue paper rolls, or the like, or other products that must be grouped according to defined geometries to form packs or packages.STATE OF THE ART[0002]In the production of products arranged in ordered groups it is well known to provide a feeding line, along which the individual products are fed and grouped in ordered manner and from which the ordered products are synchronously inserted into a packaging machine or station, forming single groups that are then wrapped for instance in sheets of heat-sealed plastic. U.S. Pat. No. 7,909,157 discloses an example of a feeding line to form groups of ordered and superposed products towards a packaging station. This prior art feeding line is comprised of more adjacent modules, joined and connected together to obtain a continuous feeding line and synchronous movements. Once assembled and ...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0011]When it is necessary to have the access space, the movable unit can be moved away from the packaging station without the need for demounting modules of the feeding line.

[0012]The access space is adequately sized, to allow for instance an operator to pass. The access space dimension in the feeding direction along the feeding line may be for instance around 40-100 cm. This allows accessing to the various parts of the packaging station more comfortably. The packaging station may also serve as a passage to allow the operator to access parts of a complex production line that otherwise would be hard-to-reach or require long transfers inside the plant.

[0014]In some embodiments, along the feeding line a backward moving device is provided for moving back the products along said feeding line, designed and arranged to move back the products upwards of the synchronizing and ordering system, when the feeding line is distanced from the packaging station forming said access space. In this way, the movement of the feeding line to open and close the access space does not alter the reciprocal position of the products that have been already ordered and synchronized and are arranged to be inserted into the packaging station. This minimizes the shutdown times. As the access space is closed again and the machine starts, the products closer to the packaging station are already positioned and ordered correctly so as to be inserted into the packaging station and re-start the production.

[0015]In some embodiments the entrance conveyor has a variable length and is shortened when the feeding line is distanced from the packaging station forming said access space. To this end, the entrance conveyor may comprise for instance at least one conveyor belt with an exit end facing the packaging station, wherein said exit end is movable backwards with respect to the product feeding direction along the feeding line, so as to move away from the packaging station when the access space is formed. In this way the access space may be opened and closed without changing the reciprocal position of the products arranged along the feeding line downstream of said end of the conveyor belt. The change in length of the conveyor upstream of the ordering and synchronizing section, or more precisely the change in the active length of this conveyor, causes a backward movement and then a forward movement of the products that are already in the feeding line but not yet positioned orderly with respect to one another to be inserted into the packaging station synchronously.

[0016]In some embodiments the synchronizing and ordering system and the insertion members are supported by a movable unit, for instance a movable carriage or slide, to move towards and away from the packaging station. The access space between the feeding line and the packaging line is advantageously obtained by moving the movable unit away from the packaging station. As the synchronizing and ordering system and the insertion members are carried by the movable unit, the products that are already synchronized and ready to be inserted into the packaging station keep their position with respect to the members moving them. When the line is ready to re-start, the movable unit is therefore moved towards the packaging station and the products can be fed again without the need for a new synchronization. The above mentioned entrance conveyor with variable length may be arranged upstream of the synchronizing and ordering system; this conveyor may be advantageously configured to move its downstream end back when the movable unit moves away from the packaging station forming the access space; in this way the products that are on the entrance conveyor and not yet synchronized do not interfere with the synchronizing and ordering system and do no change the position of the products that are already in the synchronizing and ordering system and in the insertion members.

Problems solved by technology

In these systems shutdowns may occur, for instance when the products jam along the path.

Accessing the packaging station is often difficult or impossible due to the presence of the feeding line, which usually extends in orthogonal direction with respect to the movement of the product groups in the packaging station.

It is difficult for the operator to access the involved area, i.e. the area in which the products are transferred from the feeding line to the packaging station.

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