Device and method for producing a pipe body with an optimized cooling device

Abstract

The invention relates to a device (10) for manufacturing a tube body, the tube body being used for a packaging tube made of a material web (1), the device comprising: a mandrel (2) extending in an axial direction, around which the material web (1) can be deformed for manufacturing a tubular part (3); a welding device (4) for welding the material web (1), preferably in a welding zone (23) of the material web (1) and along a transport direction (A) of the material web (1); a cooling device (6) downstream of the welding device (4) for cooling the welded material web (1), wherein the cooling device (6) has a cooling device along the material web (1). A cooling body (20a, 20b) extending in the transport direction (A) of a material web (1), the cooling body comprising: a cooling surface (6a) pointing toward a surface (1a, 11a, 12a) to be cooled of the material web (1), in particular a welding zone (23) of the material web (1) or a welding zone (11, 12) which can be driven in a circumferential direction and is assigned to the material web (1); and a swirling zone (9) arranged therein, which is constructed to provide a swirling gas volume flow (V) between the surface (1a, 11a, 12a) to be cooled and the cooling body (20a, 20b).

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to an apparatus and a method for producing a tube body for a packaging tube made of a weldable material web. In particular, the present invention relates to such an apparatus and a method with an improved cooling device. Background Art

[0002] Apparatuses for producing pipe bodies are known from the prior art. These apparatuses generally comprise a mandrel extending in the axial direction, about which a single-layer or multi-layer material web, such as a plastic laminate web, can be deformed for producing the tubular part, and a welding device, such as an induction welding device, for welding the deformed material web.

[0003] When using a material web having at least one metal layer, for example an aluminum layer, the deformed material web can be welded by inductively heating the metal layer and then cooled. It is also known, in particular when using a material web made of plastic laminate, that the device has external and preferably also internal welding bands made of metal, which are drivable in a circular manner, between which the material web can be received and clamped in the form of a sandwich. With the help of the welding bands that can be heated by the welding device, the deformed material web is heated in the contact area and thus welded in the longitudinal direction and then cooled again. In this case, the welding band fixes the tubular part and protects the new weld. Instead of two welding bands, only one welding band can also be provided, if the material web is pressed against a fixed contact surface on the side facing away from the single welding band. However, in this case, it is disadvantageous that increased friction occurs and the weld seam that has been produced can be smeared out.

[0004] In the case of the known devices, in order to minimize the friction between at least one welding strip and the stationary surface along which the welding strip is transported, in particular a mandrel surface or a surface of a cooling unit is provided, usually a PTFE (Teflon) strip having a thickness extension of approximately 50-250 μm. The PTFE strip is subject to natural frictional wear and therefore has to be replaced regularly. In addition, the heat transfer between the surface assigned to the welding strip and the welding strip is worth improving due to the thickness extension and the poor heat transfer at the interface of the PTFE strip. Instead of PTFE, other materials with good sliding properties can also be used, such as high molecular weight polyethylene (PE-UHMW) or polyetheretherketone (PEEK), but the same thermal problems arise in this case.

[0005] Also known from the prior art are gas outlet openings of micropores in the surface assigned to the welding strip, which allow the gas used to create a gas cushion between the surface and the assigned welding strip to escape. Such devices are described in EP2 502 725 A1. In this case, the welding strip is loaded with a substantially layered and optionally cooled air flow through the outlet openings of the micropores. Since the welding strip has no or only very little contact with the assigned surface in this solution, friction losses are substantially absent. However, this solution has a high degree of complexity and is therefore relatively cost-intensive. In addition, it has been shown that the layered flow leads to an undesirably high thermal insulation effect, which negatively affects the effective heat output from the weld seam of the material web. Summary of the invention

[0006] Starting from the above-mentioned prior art, the object of the present invention is to provide an improved device for manufacturing a tube body, which optimizes the heat transfer between the material web and / or the welding strip assigned to the material web and the respectively assigned surface or surrounding environment in order to ensure improved heat removal from the material web. At the same time, the device should have the least possible complexity and thus simple manufacturability. In addition, the object is to provide a correspondingly improved method for manufacturing a tube body. The basic object is solved by a device and a method having the characteristics of the claimed content. Advantageous improvements of the invention are described in the claimed content.

[0007] In a first aspect, the present invention relates to an apparatus for manufacturing a tube body, which is used for a packaging tube made of a material web, the apparatus comprising: a core shaft extending in an axial direction, the material web being deformable around the core shaft for manufacturing a tubular part; a welding device for welding the material web, preferably for welding in a welding zone of the material web and along a transport direction of the material web, wherein the welding device is preferably arranged in a welding area of ​​the apparatus; a cooling device arranged downstream of the welding device for cooling the welded material web, wherein the cooling device is preferably arranged in a cooling area of ​​the apparatus downstream of or after the welding zone, wherein the cooling device comprises a cooling body extending along the transport direction of the material web, the cooling body comprising: a cooling surface pointing to a surface to be cooled of the material web, in particular the welding zone of the material web, or a welding band that can be driven around and assigned to the material web; a swirling zone arranged therein, the swirling zone being constructed to provide a swirled gas volume flow between the surface to be cooled and the cooling body.

[0008] A swirling gas volume flow is currently understood to be a swirling volume flow or fluid flow. A welding zone is currently understood to be a region of a deformed material web or tubular part, preferably extending along the transport direction of the deformed material web, in which a weld seam and thus a material connection of the material web ends is present.

[0009] The device according to the invention makes it possible to provide a device for the production of pipe bodies which is optimized in terms of cooling power and can be operated economically at the same time, wherein, in contrast to known devices, a significantly improved heat transfer or thermal energy extraction from the material web or the weld zone of the deformed material web is achieved. This occurs either by directly assigning the cooling device to the deformed and welded material web or indirectly by assigning the cooling device to the welding strip assigned to the material web. In particular, a significantly improved heat transfer between the surface to be cooled and the cooling body can be achieved by the swirling gas volume flow and thus an effective extraction of heat from the surface to be cooled, which can exceed 200° C. shortly after the welding process. The device according to the invention is also designed to provide contactless cooling of the material web or the welding strip assigned to the material web, whereby, in contrast to known devices with direct metallic contact on the mandrel or with an intermediately stored PTFE strip, no friction losses occur during cooling.

[0010] The mandrel is preferably an axially extending, essentially cylindrical body, about which the material web which is fed essentially flat can be deformed with or without suitable deformation means of the device. The material web for producing the tube body is preferably made of a plastic laminate and can optionally have at least one metallic intermediate layer. The welding means of the device is preferably formed by or comprises an induction welding device known per se. The welding means preferably extends parallel to the deformed material web within the welding region of the device. The welding means is preferably designed to produce a weld parallel to the axis of the produced tubular part or the deformed material web.

[0011] The raceway is preferably designed so that the surface of the material web or the welding strip to be cooled is impinged upon by the swirling gas volume flow. The raceway is preferably arranged so that the swirling gas volume flow at least partially touches the surface of the welding zone of the material web or the welding strip to be cooled. In a particularly preferred embodiment, the raceway extends parallel to and / or centrally to the material web assigned to the raceway, in particular to the welding zone of the material web or to the welding strip assigned to the welding zone.

[0012] The device preferably has a gas volume flow input device, by means of which a preferably continuous gas volume flow can be input into the raceway. For this purpose, the device can have a compressed gas device, in particular a compressed air device, which is connected to a cooling device for providing a gas volume flow and in particular a compressed air flow for loading the material web or a welding strip assigned to the material web. Optionally, the device can have a gas temperature control device, which is designed to cool the provided gas volume flow. The compressed gas device can include compressed gas bottles, in particular compressed air bottles, which are connected to the raceway in a fluid-conducting manner via corresponding gas lines. Preferably, the compressed gas device includes a compressed gas compressor, in particular a compressed air compressor, downstream of which a compressed gas storage, in particular a compressed gas tank, can be arranged in order to make the gas volume flow uniform.

[0013] The device can have at least one circumferentially drivable welding belt, which preferably passes through the welding area and a downstream cooling area of ​​the device. The welding belt is preferably designed to enable uniform heat injection while passing through the welding device or the welding area. The welding belt is preferably made of metal or of a plastic with at least one electrically conductive layer. In this case, the cooling device is preferably assigned to the welding belt or the surface of the welding belt to be cooled.

[0014] In another preferred embodiment, the device has two welding belts that can be driven in a circular manner, which are configured to be able to receive a deformed material web or a tubular part, in particular a welding area to be connected of a tubular part, at least partially in a sandwich manner between the welding belts. The welding belt preferably includes an outer welding belt and an inner welding belt. These welding belts are preferably configured to protect the tubular part in a manner known per se during the manufacture of the pipe and / or to be able to achieve uniform heat injection while penetrating the welding device or the welding area. The welding belt is preferably made of metal or of a plastic having at least one conductive layer. The cooling device according to the present invention is preferably assigned to at least one of the welding belts. The device according to the present invention can also have at least two cooling devices, which are then assigned to the two welding belts. The surface to be cooled, which is loaded with a gas volume flow by the cooling device, preferably relates to the side or surface of the welding belt that faces away from the material web.

[0015] In a preferred embodiment, the turning zone is formed by a notch in the cooling surface of the cooling device assigned to the surface to be cooled of the material web or the welding strip. The notch preferably has a width that widens from the input slit of the notch toward the surface to be cooled of the assigned material web or the assigned welding strip and preferably in a direction perpendicular to the material web transport direction or the welding strip transport direction. The notch can especially be a substantially concave notch in the preferred end side surface or cooling surface of the cooling device. The notch preferably extends parallel to the surface to be cooled of the material web or the welding strip and / or parallel to the direction of the material web or the welding strip in the cooling area or along the direction of the material web of the cooling device. The input slit of the notch is preferably arranged at one end of the notch substantially opposite to the surface to be cooled. The input slit preferably extends substantially parallel to the surface to be cooled.

[0016] In a preferred embodiment, the cooling body of the cooling device has a substantially elongated shape with a preferably uniform cross section and is arranged in the cooling region of the device along the material web running direction or the welding strip running direction. The cooling body preferably has a high thermal conductivity of preferably more than 100, more preferably more than 200 W / (m*K). The cooling body is preferably formed from metal, particularly preferably from aluminum. Preferably, a fluid line for providing a gas volume flow to the raceway is formed in the cooling body.

[0017] In a preferred embodiment, the cooling device has a cooling segment which is preferably arranged on the back side of the cooling surface of the cooling body and is in thermal connection with the cooling body. The cooling segment is preferably designed for actively cooling the cooling body. This can be done, for example, by means of a cooling fluid guided in the cooling segment. For example, the cooling segment can be cooled with a cooled fluid guided therein, in particular water. The cooling segment preferably has at least one channel for guiding the cooling fluid. The device can have a cooling fluid input device for preferably continuously inputting the cooling fluid. The cooling fluid preferably has a temperature between 10 and 30° C.

[0018] The cooling surface of the cooling device preferably has a delimiting area on both sides of the raceway in which it is arranged, which is arranged parallel to and adjacent to the surface to be cooled, and which is used to form a preferably surrounding outlet gap between the cooling surface and the surface to be cooled. The delimiting area of ​​the cooling surface is preferably a flat surface surrounding the raceway, which is preferably formed on the end side or the bottom side of the cooling device. The gas volume flow provided by the cooling device to the surface to be cooled can thus be discharged into the surrounding environment of the device through the outlet gap.

[0019] The exit gap between the cooling surface and the surface to be cooled preferably has a substantially constant width or thickness of between 5 and 100 μm, preferably between 20 and 75 μm, more preferably between 20 and 50 μm. The length of the exit gap in a direction perpendicular to the transport direction of the material web or the welding strip is preferably selected such that it is at least 0.9 times, more preferably at least 1.3 times and most preferably at least 1.5 times the maximum width of the raceway perpendicular to the transport direction of the material web or the welding strip. In a preferred embodiment, the maximum width of the raceway perpendicular to the transport direction is between 1.5 and 3.5 mm, more preferably between 2.0 and 3 mm, particularly preferably approximately 2.5 mm.

[0020] The width of the inlet slot of the cooling device perpendicular to the transport direction of the material web or welding strip is preferably selected so that it is 5 to 30 times, preferably 10 to 25 times, greater than the width or thickness of the outlet gap between the cooling surface and the surface to be cooled. In a preferred embodiment, the inlet slot has a maximum width of 0.1 to 0.5 mm, more preferably 0.2 to 0.4 mm.

[0021] Tests have shown that the above-mentioned geometric dimensions allow a particularly preferred configuration of the swirling gas volume flow in the swirling zone. In particular, this allows a particularly economical operation of the cooling device, wherein neither excessively high and therefore uneconomical gas volumes or air quantities are required nor excessive surface accuracy and boundary surface quality and alignment of the individual components of the device relative to one another are required, which in turn would significantly increase the production costs.

[0022] The device and / or the compressed gas device of the device are preferably configured so that the surface to be cooled is loaded with a gas volume flow having a speed of 50 to 400 km / h, more preferably 100 to 300 km / h. The speed of the gas volume flow or the provided gas pressure can be set or adjusted using setting devices known per se.

[0023] The cooling device or the cooling body of the cooling device can be positioned in a fixed position relative to the associated surface to be cooled. In this case, the above-mentioned width or thickness of the outlet gap can be selectively set to the desired value.

[0024] In another preferred embodiment, the cooling device is at least partially movably arranged or supported relative to the assigned surface. The cooling device can, for example, have a force-loading device, such as a spring device or a compressed air cylinder, which is configured to preload the cooling surface of the cooling device and, in particular, the bounding area of ​​the cooling surface surrounding the raceway toward the surface to be cooled. In the unactivated state of the cooling device, that is, in the absence of a gas volume flow, the cooling device contacts the assigned surface to be cooled, in particular, by means of the bounding area of ​​the cooling surface surrounding the raceway mentioned above. When a gas volume flow is applied, a pressure is formed inside the raceway, which reacts with the preloaded force-loading device and thus forms an outlet gap on the bounding area surrounding the raceway. Therefore, the cooling device is configured to form a gas cushion between the surface to be cooled and the cooling device, in particular, in the region of the raceway and the bounding area surrounding the raceway of the cooling device, by loading the gas volume flow when the cooling device is running. In this case, the force-applying means and / or the gas volume flow are preferably coordinated with one another and / or adjustable in such a way that the above-mentioned preferred values ​​are set for the width or thickness of the outlet gap between the cooling device and the surface to be cooled. In addition, the device preferably has setting means for the gas pressure and / or volume flow, which enable the setting of the thickness extension of the gas cushion in the area between the surface to be cooled and the delimiting area of ​​the cooling surface of the cooling device surrounding the raceway in this connection.

[0025] The cooling device can also be mounted at least partially in a floating manner in the device. In particular, the cooling device can be designed so that it can be tilted by at least + / -2°, more preferably at least + / -5° relative to the ideal preferred vertical orientation in the device. As a result, the cooling device can be automatically oriented to a slightly deviated orientation of the surface to be cooled relative to the raceway and the bounding area surrounding the raceway.

[0026] The heat transfer or heat energy extraction obtained by the device according to the invention from the weld seam of the welded material web or the weld zone in which the weld seam is arranged or from the weld zone associated with the material web by the gas volume flow applied to the surface to be cooled is preferably more than 500 W / m 2 K, more preferably higher than 1000W / m 2 K.

[0027] In a preferred embodiment, the cooling device and in particular the cooling body of the cooling device have a supply chamber which is fluidically connected to the input slit to the raceway, and which is connectable or connected to the gas input device and / or the compressed gas device of the device. The supply chamber can be an elongated cylindrical chamber, which preferably has a constant diameter. The cooling device can also have a balancing chamber, which is arranged between the supply chamber and the input slit and has a smaller volume than the supply chamber. The balancing chamber can be an elongated cylindrical chamber, which preferably has a constant diameter. The balancing chamber can be connected to the supply chamber by means of a preferably elongated gap. The gap preferably has a width between 0.3 and 3 mm, more preferably between 0.5 and 1.5 mm.

[0028] In a preferred embodiment, the device can additionally have a separating device known per se, which is designed to separate the deformed and welded material web into individual pipe body segments.

[0029] In another aspect, the invention relates to a cooling device for use in an apparatus for producing a tube body for a packaging tube, the packaging tube being made of a material web that can be deformed and welded around a mandrel and preferably continuously fed, the cooling device comprising: an elongated cooling body, preferably formed from metal, having a cooling surface preferably arranged at the end side, the cooling surface being used to be assigned to a surface to be cooled of the material web of the apparatus or of a welding strip of the apparatus that can be driven circumferentially and assigned to the material web, wherein the cooling body has a swirling zone formed in the cooling surface, the swirling zone being constructed to provide a swirling gas volume flow between the surface to be cooled and the cooling body.

[0030] In this case, in order to avoid repetitions, reference is made to the above description of the device according to the invention for producing a tube body for a packaging tube, wherein the features mentioned above are to be disclosed and claimed in the same manner for the cooling device according to the invention.

[0031] In another aspect, the invention relates to a method for operating an apparatus as described above for producing a pipe body made of a material web. Preferably, the method comprises the step of impinging the surface to be cooled with a swirled and preferably pressurized gas volume flow.

[0032] In a preferred embodiment, in the case of the method according to the invention, a gas cushion is formed between the surface to be cooled and the cooling device, in particular in the region of the raceway and in the delimiting region of the cooling surface of the cooling device surrounding the raceway. This is preferably done in such a way that an outlet gap with a width or thickness of between 5 and 100 μm, preferably between 20 and 75 μm, more preferably between 20 and 50 μm is obtained. In this case, the gas volume flow and / or the gas pressure applied or introduced into the raceway is selectively adapted and counter to a preload that may be applied by means of a setting device provided for achieving a preferred outlet gap width.

[0033] In order to avoid repeated reference to the above description of the device according to the present invention. In this case, the features disclosed according to the device should be applicable to those disclosed according to the method and should be claimed. Similarly, the features disclosed according to the method should be applicable to those disclosed according to the device and should be claimed. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0034] Further advantages, features and details of the invention are obtained from the following description of preferred exemplary embodiments and from the accompanying drawings, which show:

[0035] Figure 1a : A highly schematic longitudinal section through an apparatus for producing a tube body for packaging tubes;

[0036] Figure 1b : Through according to Figure 1a A cross-sectional view of a device;

[0037] Figure 2 A perspective side view of a preferred embodiment of the cooling device according to the invention with an associated welding strip;

[0038] Figure 3a A cross-sectional view through a cooling device according to a preferred embodiment;

[0039] Figure 3b according to Figure 3a Detailed view of a preferred embodiment of the invention;

[0040] Figure 3c according to Figure 3a Detailed view of a preferred embodiment of the invention with volume flows shown;

[0041] Figure 3d A detailed view of another preferred embodiment of a cooling device for use in the direct cooling of a welding zone or a weld seam of a material web located in the welding zone;

[0042] Figure 4a , 4bA cross-sectional view of another preferred embodiment of the cooling device according to the present invention; and

[0043] Figure 5 Cross-sectional view through a further preferred embodiment of a cooling device for cooling the inner welding strip of the device according to FIG. 1 . DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0044] Figure 1a A highly schematic longitudinal section through a device 10 for producing a tube body is shown. The device 10 comprises an elongated mandrel 2, around which a material web 1, which is in the form of a plastic laminate, can be deformed by means of a forming device 7, which is in the form of a forming belt, into a substantially circular tubular part 3, which can then be welded to itself by means of a welding device 4, in particular an induction welding device. By means of the welding device 4, the edge regions of the incoming material web, which abut against each other or overlap each other in the welding zone, are welded to each other and a weld seam is produced which extends along the mandrel 2 or runs along the mandrel 2. In the illustrated embodiment, a pressing device 5 is arranged downstream of the welding device 4 in the transport direction A of the material web 1, which pressing device applies a settable pressing pressure to the newly welded tubular part 3. A cooling device 6 for cooling the tubular part 3 and in particular the previously produced weld seam is arranged downstream of the pressing device 5.

[0045] Optionally, the device has at least one, preferably two welding belts 11, 12, namely the so-called inner welding belt 11 and the outer welding belt 12, which extend in sections inside the mandrel 2. The inner welding belt and the outer welding belt 11, 12 receive the material web 1 that is transformed into the tubular part 3 in the form of a sandwich between them and are driven in a circular motion, preferably at least approximately at the material web speed. Both the inner welding belt 11 and the outer welding belt 12 are metal belts that are moved relative to a stationary surface. In this case, the inner welding belt 11 can at least partially fit on the inner surface 2b of the mandrel 2 or be guided along this inner surface, just like Figure 1b The outer welding strip 12 can be guided at least partially along a cooling surface 6a of the cooling device 6, which is described in more detail below.

[0046] Figure 1b A cross-sectional view along the section plane ZZ in FIG. 1 of the device 10 is shown. The elongated mandrel 2 can be seen around which the deformed material web 1 or the tubular part 3 is placed. The inner and outer welding strips 11, 12 surround the abutting or overlapping edge regions of the tubular part 3 arranged between them and thus form the weld zone to be heated in the material web 1. A groove 2a designed as a longitudinal groove is provided in the mandrel 2, the groove bottom of which, in the embodiment shown, forms the inner surface against which the inner welding strip 11 at least partially rests or along which it is guided.

[0047] Figure 2 A preferred embodiment of the cooling device 6 of the device 10 according to the invention is shown in a perspective side view with an associated welding strip, in the present case an outer welding strip 12. The cooling bodies 20a, 20b (see Figure 3a ) is preferably arranged along the transport direction A of the material web 1 or the welding strip 12 and parallel to or along the surface 12a to be cooled of the welding strip 12 (see also Figure 1a ) extends. In particular, the lower cooling surface 6a of the cooling device is arranged adjacent to the surface to be cooled 12a of the welding strip 12. The cooling surface 6a has a whirlpool zone 9 formed therein and pointing to the surface to be cooled 12a and extending parallel to the surface to be cooled. The cooling device 6 is constructed so that the surface to be cooled 12a is loaded with a swirled and cooled gas volume flow V. The already formed tubular part 3 or the deformed material web 1 (not shown here) rests on the lower surface 12b of the welding strip 12 during its passage through the cooling device 6. The back side 6c of the cooling body 20a, 20b opposite to the cooling surface 6a can be provided with fastening means and / or force-applying means for arranging the cooling device 6 in the device 10 (see also Figure 4a , 4b ). The opposite and preferably parallel side surfaces 6b of the cooling bodies 20a, 20b are preferably designed to be planar.

[0048] The cooling device 6 has an interface 8c for compressed gas or compressed air. The interface is connected to a compressed gas device assigned to the device, such as a compressed gas compressor or a compressed air compressor. The cooling device 6 also preferably has a fluid inlet 8a and a fluid outlet 8b, by means of which a fluid, preferably to be cooled, in particular water, can be fed into the cooling device. The fluid is used to cool the cooling body 20b (see Figure 3a ).

[0049] Figure 3a-3c A preferred embodiment of a cooling device 6 according to the invention is shown in cross-sectional view. In these figures, the transport direction A of the material web 1 or the welding strip 12 runs perpendicular to the drawing plane. The cooling device 6 has cooling bodies 20a, 20b, which are preferably formed from metal.

[0050] The cooling body has a cooling section with a channel 19 for a cooling fluid conducted therein. The channel 19 is in fluidic connection with the fluid inlet 8a and the fluid outlet 8b, through which, for example, water with a temperature between 10 and 30° C. can be conducted. The cooling body also has a gas section or air section, which is preferably continuously cooled by the cooling section.

[0051] The cooling body has in the air section a supply chamber 16 which preferably extends along the cooling device and is connected to the interface 8c for compressed gas. A balancing chamber 17 is preferably arranged downstream of the supply chamber 16, which is connected to the supply chamber via a gap 18. The supply chamber 16 and the balancing chamber 17 are preferably formed by a substantially cylindrical notch extending along the cooling device in the longitudinal direction. The diameter of the supply chamber 16 is preferably between 5 and 10 mm, more preferably between 6 and 8 mm. The balancing chamber 17 preferably has a smaller volume than the supply chamber 16. The diameter of the balancing chamber 17 is preferably between 3 and 8 mm, more preferably between 5 and 7 mm. The width b1 of the gap 18, measured in a direction perpendicular to the transport direction A of the welding strip 12, is preferably between 0.3 and 3 mm, more preferably between 0.5 and 1.5 mm.

[0052] The cooling segments and air segments of the cooling body described above can be designed as independent components that are preferably in thermal connection (according to Figure 3a ), or is constructed as a one-piece component or a one-piece cooling body.

[0053] The raceway 9 of the cooling device 6 is constructed in the bottom or end cooling surface 6a of the cooling device or is formed therein. The raceway can be formed by a preferably concave notch. An inlet slot 13 is arranged upstream of the raceway 9, to which compressed gas can be supplied via a supply chamber 16 via a balancing chamber. The inlet slot 13 extends in the longitudinal direction of the cooling device 6 and preferably has a width b Z , measured perpendicularly to the transport direction of the welding strip 12 or the material web 1, the width is between 0.1 and 0.5 mm, more preferably between 0.2 and 0.4 mm. The inlet slot 13 is preferably arranged substantially at one end of the side of the raceway 9 opposite the surface to be cooled.

[0054] The raceway 9 has a width b which preferably increases continuously from the inlet slot 13 toward the associated surface 12a to be cooled. W The maximum width of the raceway b Wmax Preferably it is between 1.5 and 3.5 mm, more preferably between 2.0 and 3 mm, particularly preferably approximately 2.5 mm.

[0055] The cooling surface 6a has a delimiting region 14 which surrounds the raceway 9 and is arranged parallel to and / or adjacent to the surface to be cooled 12a. The delimiting region 14 together with the surface to be cooled 12a forms a circumferential outlet gap S for a gas volume flow V between the cooling device 6 and the surface to be cooled 12a of the weld strip 12. The raceway 9 preferably extends centrally along the weld strip 12 arranged or extending thereunder.

[0056] The cooling device 6 can realize contactless cooling of the welding strip 12 and thus the tubular part 3 at least partially resting on the welding strip 12 while avoiding friction losses. The tubular part 3 to be cooled in this case extends below the welding strip 12 (see Figure 3a The tubular part preferably lies with a weld seam arranged therein and formed by an upstream welding device 4 on the lower surface 12b of the welding zone 12 which is opposite to the surface 12a to be cooled.

[0057] The outlet gap S has a preferably substantially constant width b S , which is between 5 and 100 μm, preferably between 10 and 75 μm and particularly preferably between 20 and 50 μm. The length l of the outlet gap S perpendicular to the transport direction A of the welding strip 12 is S is the maximum width b of raceway 9 Wmax The total width B of the cooling device 6 on the end cooling surface 6a is preferably equal to or more preferably smaller than the width B of the welding strip 12. b .

[0058] The swirl of volume flow V in the swirl zone 9 is Figure 3c . In particular, a clear swirl of the cooled gas volume flow V is achieved by the swirl zone 9 and the upstream inlet slot 13, which directly contacts the surface to be cooled 12a of the welding strip. By the convection that occurs in this case, an extremely effective heat transfer is achieved between the surface to be cooled 12a and the cooling body 20a, 20b, which is many times higher than the heat transfer in the case of air loading in a steady state or turbulent flow. The swirl zone 9 can have a specially shaped surface structure on its inner surface, which surface structure additionally promotes the formation of vortices in the provided gas volume flow or in the swirl zone 9.

[0059] Figure 3d Another preferred embodiment of a cooling device 6 is shown for use in the direct cooling of a welding zone 23 or a welding seam 24 of a material web 1 located in the welding zone 23. The above-described arrangement of the cooling device 6 with the cooling surface 6a and the raceway 9 formed therein and its assignment to the surface to be cooled applies analogously to this embodiment. Instead of cooling the welded material web 1 by means of the welding strip 12, in this case the surface 1a of the welded material web 1 is cooled directly, preferably centered with respect to the welding seam 24 and / or welding zone 23 formed in the welded material web 1.

[0060] An exemplary temperature profile T within the welded material web 1 is Figure 3d The temperature in the welding zone of the welded material web 1 can in this case exceed 200° C. after the welding tool 4 has passed through the device 10 . Figure 3a-3dThe cooling device 6 shown in FIG. 1 can be arranged fixedly or immovably relative to the surface 1a, 12a to be cooled. In this case, the above-mentioned width or thickness b of the outlet gap S is S The distance between the cooling device 6 and the surface to be cooled 1 a , 12 a can preferably be set selectively to a desired value by adapting the distance between the cooling device 6 and the surface to be cooled 1 a , 12 a .

[0061] Figure 4a , 4b Another preferred embodiment is shown, in which the cooling device 6 is arranged at least partially movable relative to the surface 1a, 12a to be cooled of the material web 1 or the welding strip 12. In this case, the cooling device 6 has a force-applying device 15, preferably a spring device, which is fastened or arranged on the back side 6c. The force-applying device 15 can be supported on the support device 21. The cooling device 6 can also be at least partially guided in the support device 21. This can be done with the help of guide strips 22, for example made of polymer material, which are arranged on the side surface 6b of the cooling device. These guide strips allow in particular the following Figure 4b The cooling device can be tilted in a predefined, limited manner as shown in FIG. The tilting can preferably be realized at a deflection angle or tilting angle α of at least + / -2°, more preferably at least + / -5° relative to the vertical. As a result, the cooling device can be automatically oriented to a slightly deviated orientation of the material web 1 and / or the welding strip 12 during ongoing operation.

[0062] The force-applying device 15 is preferably configured so that the cooling device 6 and, in particular, the delimiting area 14 of the cooling surface 6a surrounding the raceway 9 are preloaded relative to the surfaces to be cooled 1a, 12a and, if necessary, taking into account the deadweight of the cooling device 6. In this case, the cooling device 6 is in contact with the surfaces to be cooled 1a, 12a in an inactive state, that is, in the absence of a gas volume flow V. When the gas volume flow V is applied and the pressure buildup in the raceway 9 is generated thereby, a counterforce is generated, which reacts against the preload force of the force-applying device 15. Thus, the exit gap S described above is formed on the delimiting area 14 surrounding the raceway 9. In particular, a gas cushion G is thus formed so that the gas cushion is arranged between the surfaces to be cooled 1a, 12a and the cooling device 6.

[0063] The force-applying device 15 and / or the gas volume flow provided by the gas compression device of the device 10 are preferably coordinated with each other and / or adjustable in this case in such a way that the above-mentioned preferred values ​​are set for the width or thickness of the outlet gap S between the cooling device 6 and the surface 1a, 12a to be cooled.

[0064] Figure 51 and 2, is arranged in the mandrel 2 of the device 10. The cooling device 6' is assigned to the inner welding zone 11 of the device 10 or to the surface 11a thereof to be cooled.

[0065] The cooling body of the cooling device 6' is formed by the body of the mandrel 2, which is preferably formed of metal. The cooling body can be cooled by a cooling fluid via cooling channels 19' guided therein. The gas supply means, in particular the supply chamber 16', the optional balancing chamber 17' and the gap 18' connecting them are configured inside the mandrel body.

[0066] The cooling surface 6a' is formed by the groove bottom of the groove 2a formed in the mandrel, in which longitudinal groove the inner welding strip 11 is guided. The raceway 9' is formed in the cooling surface 6a' or the groove bottom and is connected to the gas supply device via the gap 18' connecting them and via the supply slot 13'. The groove 2a preferably has at least one, more preferably at least two discharge channels 26 for conducting a gas volume flow from the groove 2a.

[0067] The embodiments described above are merely exemplary, wherein the invention is in no way restricted to the embodiments shown in the drawings. In particular, the exemplary embodiments shown can also be combined with one another.

Claims

1. A device (10) for producing a tube body for a packaging tube made from a material web (1), the device comprising: a mandrel (2) extending in an axial direction, around which the material web (1) can be deformed to produce a tubular part (3); A welding device (4) for welding the material web (1) in a welding zone (23) of the material web (1) and along a transport direction (A) of the material web (1); A cooling device (6) arranged downstream of the welding device (4) for cooling the welded material web (1) is characterized in that: The cooling device (6) has a cooling body (20a, 20b) extending along the transport direction (A) of the material web (1), and the cooling body has: a cooling surface (6a) pointing to a surface to be cooled (1a, 11a, 12a) of the material web (1) or a welding strip (11, 12) to be driven around and assigned to the material web (1); a whirlpool (9) arranged therein, the whirlpool being constructed to provide a swirled gas volume flow (V) between the surface to be cooled (1a, 11a, 12a) and the cooling body (20b); The raceway (9) is formed by a concave notch in a cooling surface (6a) of the cooling device (6) assigned to the material web (1) or the welding strip (11, 12), the notch having a width (b 2 ) which widens from the inlet slit (13) toward the material web (1) or the welding strip (11, 12). W ); Furthermore, the cooling device (6) has a force-applying device (15) which is configured to prestress the cooling device (6) and a limiting area (14) of the cooling surface (6a) surrounding the swing zone (9) relative to the material web (1) or relative to the welding strips (11, 12).

2. The device according to claim 1, characterized in that The cooling surface (6a) has a limiting area (14) surrounding the raceway (9) and arranged adjacent to the material web (1) or the welding strips (11, 12) for forming a circumferential exit gap (S) between the cooling surface (6a) and the material web (1) or the welding strips (11, 12).

3. The device according to claim 2, characterized in that The outlet gap (S) has a constant width (b) between the cooling surface (6a) and the material web (1) or the welding strip (11, 12). s ), the width is between 5 and 100 μm.

4. The device according to claim 2 or 3, characterized in that The length (ls) of the outlet gap (S) in a direction perpendicular to the material web transport direction (A) is equal to the maximum width (b Wmax ) is at least 0.9 times.

5. The device according to claim 1, 2 or 3, characterized in that The cooling device (6) is designed such that a gas cushion (G) is formed between the material web (1) or the welding strip (11, 12) and the cooling surface (6a) by impinging on a gas volume flow (V).

6. The device according to claim 1, 2 or 3, characterized in that The device (10) is designed to act on the material web (1) or the welding strip (11, 12) with a gas volume flow (V) having a speed of 50 to 500 km / h.

7. The device according to claim 1, 2 or 3, characterized in that The inlet slit (13) for feeding the raceway (9) with the gas volume flow has a maximum width (b) of 0.1 to 0.5 mm. Z ).

8. The device according to claim 1, 2 or 3, characterized in that A heat transfer of more than 500 W / m2 is obtained between the material web (1) and the cooling body (20a, 20b) or between the welding strips (11, 12) and the cooling body (20b). 2 K.

9. The device according to claim 1, 2 or 3, characterized in that The cooling device (6) has a cooling segment which is arranged on the back side relative to the cooling surface (6a), and has a channel (19) for a cooling fluid which is guided in the cooling segment.

10. The device according to claim 1, 2 or 3, characterized in that The cooling body (20a, 20b) of the cooling device (6) is a metal body.

11. The device according to claim 1, 2 or 3, characterized in that The cooling device (6) comprises: a supply chamber (16) which is fluidically connected to an inlet slit (13) to the raceway (9), the supply chamber being connectable to a gas inlet of the cooling device (6); and a balancing chamber (17) arranged between the supply chamber (16) and the inlet slit (13).

12. The device according to claim 1, 2 or 3, characterized in that A total of two welding strips (11, 12) are arranged in such a way that the material web (1) can be received in sandwich form between the welding strips (11, 12) and / or the cooling device (6) is assigned to at least one of the welding strips (11, 12) on one of the welding strip surfaces facing away from the material web (1).

13. A cooling device (6) for use in a device (10) for producing a tube body for a packaging tube, the packaging tube being made of a material web (1) which is deformable, weldable and continuously fed around a mandrel (2), the cooling device comprising: An elongated cooling body (20a, 20b) formed of metal has a cooling surface (6a) arranged at the end, which is used to be associated with a surface (1a, 11a, 12a) to be cooled of a material web (1) of the device (10) or of a welding strip (11, 12) of the device (10) which can be driven circumferentially and is associated with the material web (1). in, The cooling body (20a, 20b) has a swirling zone (9) formed in the cooling surface (6a), the swirling zone being designed to provide a swirling gas volume flow (V) between the surface to be cooled (1a, 11a, 12a) and the cooling body (20a, 20b); The raceway (9) is formed by a concave notch in a cooling surface (6a) of the cooling device (6) assigned to the material web (1) or the welding strip (11, 12), the notch having a width (b 2 ) which widens from the inlet slit (13) toward the material web (1) or the welding strip (11, 12). W ); Furthermore, the cooling device (6) has a force-applying device (15) which is configured to prestress the cooling device (6) and a limiting area (14) of the cooling surface (6a) surrounding the swing zone (9) relative to the material web (1) or relative to the welding strips (11, 12).

14. Method for operating a device according to any one of claims 1 to 12 for producing a pipe body made of a material web (1), characterized in that The material web (1) or the welding strips (11, 12) assigned to the material web (1) are acted upon by a swirling and pressurized gas volume flow (V); The gas cushion (G) between the material web (1) or the welding strip (11, 12) and the cooling surface (6a) is set to a thickness between 5 and 100 μm by setting the gas volume and / or gas pressure and is set against the preload of a force-loading device (15).

Images