Packaging device for producing packaging unit

Abstract

The utility model discloses a packaging device for manufacturing a packaging unit, which is used for combining at least two articles together to manufacture the packaging unit through applied packaging blanks and comprises at least one transfer robot. The transfer robot can make contact with at least two sub-warehouses of the warehouse, the sub-warehouses are located within the contact range of the movable tool head, and the sub-warehouses are filled with packaging blanks to be used. The transfer robot retrieves the packaging blanks from the magazine and applies them to the set of ready items. According to the invention, one of the sub-reservoirs of the magazine can be at least partially removed from the operating position, in particular from the packaging device, in order to recharge the sub-magazine after removal of available packaging blanks in the sub-magazine while continuing to use another sub-magazine. The sub-magazine and / or the associated magazine location removed from the operating position, in particular from the packaging device, can be at least temporarily isolated from the tool head of the handling robot by a movable barrier.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The utility model relates to a packaging device for manufacturing a packaging unit. Background Art

[0002] There are many types of packaging for the processing, assembly, grouping and packaging of articles, such as beverage containers. A common variant is to combine a plurality of articles or containers of the same type into a portable, relatively light bundle or packaging unit. For this purpose, different solutions are known for combining individual articles or containers into larger bundles. For example, beverage containers are usually combined with the aid of heat shrink film and packaged into bundles of four, six or more containers. The production of bundles is usually unavoidable, since bundles are the most common variant of packaging units for beverage containers or bottles made of PET plastic. For transportation, the bundles are sometimes combined again and / or layered and stacked on pallets.

[0003] It is also known to use so-called top-gripping cardboard packages, for example, in order to bring together a plurality of bottles via their neck region or a plurality of cans. Patent document EP 1 075 419 B1 describes a packaging machine for placing such top-gripping cardboard packages. In this case, articles or containers are arranged in a box, and the gripping cardboard package is placed from above on at least one article arranged in the box. In particular, a plurality of articles are arranged in the box, and groups are formed by placing a small number of top-gripping cardboard packages, each of which brings together a part of the articles arranged in the box.

[0004] The arrangement and number of the through-openings of the gripping cardboard package correspond to the arrangement and number of the articles or containers to be combined. The diameter of the through-opening is usually slightly smaller than the maximum diameter of the upper area of ​​the articles. The gripping cardboard package is placed on the articles and pressed so that the well-defined upper area of ​​the articles passes through the through-opening. In particular, the upper area with the largest diameter is pushed through the through-opening, and the edge area of ​​the through-opening contacts the articles below this maximum diameter, so that the gripping cardboard package is reliably and firmly fixed to the articles. In order to fix the gripping cardboard package on the articles in this way and to push the articles through the through-opening, a certain force needs to be applied. Accordingly, the articles must provide appropriate resistance to this force in order to avoid damage to the articles when the gripping cardboard package is placed.

[0005] Patent document WO 2020 / 233 943A1 describes a packaging device and a method for manufacturing a packaging unit. A large number of flat packaging blanks are stacked in a material warehouse. The case describes an industrial robot with a working tool that can simultaneously receive a plurality of flat packaging blanks and apply them to a plurality of groups of items.

[0006] Especially for continuous operation, it is very useful to have a sufficient number of packaging blanks available to the application at all times, which can be easily ensured by a sufficiently large magazine. However, loading larger magazines with ready-to-use packaging blanks increases the handling workload, because these magazines need to be refilled after the stored packaging blanks have been used up, or replaced by filled magazines. If there is only one magazine, this replacement or refilling of the magazine also causes interruptions in operation.

[0007] Furthermore, larger magazines require more space within the packaging machine, while the aim of many machine layouts is to make the individual system modules as compact as possible.

[0008] Interchangeable magazines that can be exchanged while the packaging machine is still running at least eliminate the disadvantage that when only one magazine is used, the operation must be interrupted when replacing or filling the magazine. However, even when using interchangeable magazines, there is the problem that the packaging operation must be interrupted when replacing an empty magazine component with a filled replacement magazine, especially in the case of very compact system modules, and movable machine parts or robot parts do not allow manual intervention in the relevant magazine position, because for safety reasons, manual intervention or personnel access is only allowed when the robot is stopped.

[0009] In view of these recognized disadvantages, it can be considered that the main object of the present invention is to ensure that when changing the magazine in the packaging machine, the magazine components and the packaging blanks stored therein can be safely replaced without interrupting the ongoing packaging operation. Utility Model Content

[0010] In order to achieve the above object, the utility model provides a packaging device for manufacturing a packaging unit, wherein the packaging unit can be formed by combining an article group consisting of at least two articles using at least one packaging blank.

[0011] The packaging device comprises at least one handling robot which has access to at least two sub-reservoirs of a material store, said sub-reservoirs being within the reach of a movable tool head of the handling robot and containing ready-to-use packaging blanks, from which the packaging blanks can be removed by the at least one handling robot and applied to the ready-to-use group of articles. Furthermore, one of the sub-reservoirs of the material store can be at least partially removed from the operating position or the storage position to which it belongs, in order to refill it after removing the available packaging blanks therein, while the other sub-reservoirs continue to be used. This removal can also be carried out before replacing it with a material store already filled with packaging blanks.

[0012] Finally, in the packaging device of the invention, a sub-magazine and / or an associated magazine location removed from an operating position, in particular from the packaging device, can be at least temporarily isolated from the tool head of the handling robot by a movable barrier.

[0013] The article that is merged into packing unit or bundle by using packaging blank mentioned herein can especially be beverage container, for example the bottle made of PET plastics or other suitable plastic materials.Alternatively, these articles also can be formed by glass bottle or the can made of plastics or light metal.

[0014] The packaging blank referred to herein can be formed, for example, by a flat packaging blank in the form of a so-called top grip cardboard package, a so-called top clip, etc. The arrangement and number of the through-openings of the packaging blank corresponds to the arrangement and number of the articles or containers to be incorporated. The diameter of the through-opening is usually slightly smaller than the maximum diameter of the upper region or neck region of the articles.

[0015] The flat packaging blank can be made, for example, from a recyclable cellulose-containing material. For example, the flat packaging blank can be formed from cardboard and / or paperboard, which can be easily recycled after use. It is also conceivable to manufacture the flat packaging blank from plastic or composite materials, so that pure thermoplastics can be used, which can also be easily recycled.

[0016] According to another embodiment, the flat packaging blank can be composed of a plurality of cellulose-containing layers, or can be composed of different materials and different recycled materials. In addition, the packaging blank can also have a plurality of grooves, which together form a handle if necessary.

[0017] At least one handling robot is used to pick up at least one packaging blank from the storage, optionally two packaging blanks at the same time, and to apply the at least one packaging blank or the two packaging blanks to the ready group of articles. For this purpose, the handling robot can preferably be equipped with corresponding gripping elements for gripping the packaging blanks, such as suction grippers or similar gripping elements.

[0018] At least one handling robot of the packaging device is designed and equipped to take packaging blanks from a sub-store of the store individually or in pairs and apply them to the ready groups of objects, thereby combining these groups of objects into a packaging unit. These application processes are preferably repeated continuously in order to form a large number of packaging units within a given time.

[0019] In order to reliably prevent collisions with persons who are in the magazine or who reach into the magazine, at least during a magazine change, the movable barrier at least temporarily isolates one of the sub-magazines from the tool head of the handling robot which grabs the packaging blanks and removes them from the relevant sub-magazines. In this way, the movable barrier can create an area which is separated from the tool head of the handling robot and in which the sub-magazines to be refilled with packaging blanks and / or the magazine locations for the sub-magazines to be refilled with packaging blanks are located.

[0020] Typically, the movable barrier can create or form an area that is separated from the tool head of the handling robot, which area is located below the height level of the handling robot. In this way, when the movable barrier is moved between the handling robot and the material store or the sub-material store, the sub-material store and / or the material store locations for the sub-material store can be covered on the upper side by the movable barrier.

[0021] According to a preferred embodiment of the packaging device of the utility model, it can also be arranged that: the movable barrier is formed by at least one cover plate, and when the cover plate is in a horizontal pivot position, at least some areas of the material store are isolated from the handling robot. In particular, it can be arranged that: when the cover plate is in a horizontal pivot position, at least one sub-material store and / or one of at least two material store positions are isolated from the handling robot.

[0022] In this case, it can be provided that each sub-store and / or store position corresponds to a movable barrier formed by at least one pivotable cover plate.

[0023] In addition, the packaging device of the utility model can also adopt the following design: at least one cover plate of the movable barrier is pivoted to one side in the non-working state, and the tool head of the handling robot can contact the material storehouse and / or the sub-material storehouse. For example, at least one cover plate can be folded up from the middle, wherein the cover plate that can be folded up from the middle is folded in the non-working state in such a way that the two halves abut against each other or overlap each other and pivot to one side, wherein the cover plate or the cover plate halves are particularly brought into an approximately vertical pivot position.

[0024] At least one cover of the movable barrier is preferably movable by means of an actuator, in particular an electric actuator, a hydraulic positioning cylinder or the like. Thus, the folding and / or displacement or folding movement of the movable barrier can also be carried out in an automated manner, in particular in conjunction with an automated or semi-automated replacement of the sub-stores with the packaging blanks stacked therein.

[0025] In the packaging device, the sub-store of the storehouse can be removed from its working position or the storehouse position and moved out of the packaging machine so as to refill new packaging blanks. In this case, the sub-storehouse can be manually taken out from the packaging machine and new packaging blanks can be loaded.

[0026] As an alternative, the sub-magazine can also be removed from the packaging machine semi-automatically or fully automatically and loaded with new packaging blanks. This solution can be well combined with the above-mentioned barrier motion control solution.

[0027] If it is meaningful to combine with each other from the perspective of professionals in the field involved, some or all of the previously mentioned variations or implementation variants of the packaging device of the present invention may be optionally combined with each other, so as to at least partially achieve the purposes set out above and / or to obtain the desired effects of the present invention.

[0028] In addition, a method for providing a packaging device with packaging blanks is also introduced. In this case, the packaging blanks are particularly used to make packaging units consisting of grouped articles and are taken out in sequence from a material store by the packaging device.

[0029] The material store comprises at least two separate sub-stores, each of which stores packaging blanks to be used, wherein each individual sub-store can be refilled with new packaging blanks after the packaging blanks stored therein for use by the packaging device are taken out, while the other sub-store continues to be used. In addition, at least the sub-store refilled with new packaging blanks and / or the related material store positions are isolated from the movable handling device of the packaging device by means of a movable barrier.

[0030] In this way, a person can enter an inactive storage space or can reach into this storage space without the risk of colliding with movable parts of the packaging device or with the movable handling device, because this can be reliably prevented by activating the movable barrier.

[0031] The movable handling device of the packaging device can be formed in particular by at least one handling robot which can access a magazine containing packaging blanks and apply the gripped packaging blanks to the group of objects provided for this purpose. Such a handling robot can preferably take single or multiple packaging blanks from a sub-magazine of the magazine and apply them to the ready group of objects, thereby combining the group of objects into a packaging unit.

[0032] According to a variant of the method, it can be provided that the movable barrier at least temporarily isolates one of the sub-magazines from a tool head of the handling robot which grips the packaging blanks and removes them from the relevant sub-magazines. In particular, the movable barrier can in this way create an area which is isolated from the tool head of the handling robot and in which the sub-magazines to be refilled with packaging blanks and / or the magazine locations for the sub-magazines to be refilled with packaging blanks are located.

[0033] When the movable barrier moves between the handling robot and the magazine or sub-magazine, the sub-magazine and / or the magazine positions for the sub-magazine can be covered on the upper side for manual access without the risk of collision with the handling robot.

[0034] The barrier can be formed, for example, by a multi-part cover which can be folded and moved between an operating position and an inoperative position. In the unfolded operating position, the storage location can be separated from the handling robot, while the inoperative position allows the handling robot to enter the storage location without hindrance. For example, the method can be configured such that at least one cover can be folded up from the middle, wherein the cover is folded in the inoperative state in such a way that the two halves lie against each other or lie one above the other and are pivoted to one side, wherein the cover or the cover halves are in particular brought into an approximately vertical pivot position.

[0035] If it makes sense to combine with each other from the perspective of professionals in the field involved, some or all of the previously mentioned variations or implementation variants of the method may also be optionally combined with each other in order to at least partially achieve the purposes set out above and / or in order to achieve the desired effect of the present invention.

[0036] At this point, it should be explicitly mentioned that all aspects and implementation variants related to the packaging device of the present invention are equally related to or may be partial aspects of the described method. Therefore, if certain aspects and / or connections and / or effects are mentioned at a certain point in the description of the packaging device of the present invention, the same applies to the described method. In a reverse manner, the same applies, so all aspects and implementation variants related to the described method are equally related to or may be partial aspects of the packaging device of the present invention. Therefore, if certain aspects and / or interrelationships and / or effects are mentioned at any point in the description of the method, this also applies to the packaging device of the present invention. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0037] In the following, embodiments of the present invention and their advantages will be explained in more detail with reference to the drawings. The size ratios of the individual elements in the drawings do not always correspond to the actual size ratios, since some shapes are simplified and other shapes are enlarged compared to other elements for better illustration.

[0038] Figures 1A to 1C The present invention is a packaging device of various perspective views of an embodiment variant, wherein the packaging device is equipped with a replaceable sub-material magazine for loading stacked packaging blanks.

[0039] FIG. 2A to FIG. 2C are multiple perspective views of a movable barrier with which a sub-store of the packaging device shown in FIG. 1 can be covered.

[0040] Figure 3A and Figure 3B A folding barrier for a sub-store is respectively shown, which enables a handling robot to access the sub-store. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0041] The same reference numerals are used for the same or similarly effective elements of the present invention. In addition, for the sake of clarity, only the reference numerals necessary for the description of the corresponding figure are depicted in a single figure. The depicted embodiments represent only examples of how the device or method of the present invention may be designed and do not represent conclusive limitations.

[0042] Figures 1A to 1C The schematic diagram and perspective view show different views of an embodiment variant of the packaging device 10 of the utility model. In particular, the packaging device 10 can be a modular component of a larger and more complex packaging machine for producing packaging units not shown here. These packaging units are formed by combining several articles together with packaging blanks, each article group can include two or more previously grouped articles. The packaging blank (also not described in detail here) is applied to the article group and can, for example, be locked there.

[0043] Such packaging blanks are usually made of flat cardboard material, but can also be made of plastic, composite materials or recyclable cellulose-containing materials, and often have a plurality of openings at defined locations, so that individual articles can be inserted into the openings provided for this purpose, so that the articles are held in the corresponding openings of the packaging blank in a form-fitting manner. Such packaging is also referred to in practice as top-clip or grip cardboard packaging.

[0044] The arrangement and number of the through-openings of the packaging blank correspond to the arrangement and number of the articles or containers to be combined. The diameter of the through-opening is usually slightly smaller than the maximum diameter of the upper area of ​​the articles. The packaging blank can optionally have a plurality of grooves which, if necessary, together form a handle.

[0045] These packaging blanks, which are usually made of flat cardboard material, are generally stored in a magazine 12 and made available to the packaging device 10 so that they can be applied in turn to groups of articles that are ready or that pass through the packaging machine in a continuous conveying process. Figures 1A to 1C The packaging device 10 shown by way of example in FIG. 1 comprises a magazine 12 which is formed from two separate sub-magazines 14 and 16 .

[0046] The two sub-magazines 14 and 16 of the magazine 12 are within the reach of a movable tool head 18 of a handling robot 20 which can access the ready-to-use packaging blanks in the sub-magazines 14 and 16 and remove them in order to apply them to the groups of articles that are ready or passing through the packaging device 10, respectively.

[0047] The magazine 12 is designed in such a way that, in order to be refilled after all available packaging blanks have been taken out from the operating position 22, one of the two sub-magazines 14 or 16 can be removed from the magazine position 24, while the other sub-magazines 16 or 14 remain within the reach of the handling robot 20 and its movable tool head 18 so that packaging blanks can continue to be taken out from this magazine 16 or 14 and applied to the item group.

[0048] in particular, Figure 1C The perspective side view of 1 shows a situation in which the first sub-stockroom 14 located on the left in the stockroom 12 is in its operating position 22 located in a first stockroom position 24 in the stockroom 12, so that the handling robot 20 can remove packaging blanks from the first sub-stockroom 14. In contrast, the second sub-stockroom 16 located on the right in the stockroom 12 is in a removal or replacement position 26, in which the second sub-stockroom 16 has been removed from its second stockroom position 28 and moved out of the stockroom 12. This removal or replacement position 26 of the second sub-stockroom 16 selectively allows the second sub-stockroom to be refilled and filled with new packaging blanks, or to replace an empty sub-stockroom 16 with another sub-stockroom (not shown here) containing packaging blanks.

[0049] Figure 1B An oblique perspective top view and Figure 1C The perspective side view of 20 shows movable barriers 30 which can be moved over the upper side 32 of the two magazine locations 24 and 28 so that, as required, the two magazine locations 24 or 28 can be shielded from the tool head 18 of the handling robot 20. The movable barriers 30 are used in particular to shield a magazine location 28 or 24 after the associated sub-repository 16 or 14 has been moved out of its respective operating position 22 and into the removal or replacement position 26, so that a person can safely remain in the area of ​​the magazine location 28 or 24 or reach into it without the risk of colliding with the tool head 18 or other movable parts of the handling robot 20.

[0050] In the illustrated embodiment, the right sub-stockroom 16 has been moved out of the second stockroom position 28 to which it belongs and has been taken out of the stockroom 12, thereby being in the removal or replacement position 26 (see Figure 1C ). The upper side 32 of this second magazine position 28 is shielded by the movable barrier 30. For this purpose, the two-part pivotable cover 34 forming the right-hand movable barrier 30 is placed in an approximately horizontal position in order to spatially separate the second magazine position 28 from the movement space of the handling robot 20. Conversely, the two-part pivotable cover 34 forming the left-hand movable barrier 30 is placed in a vertical position so that the upper side 32 of the first sub-repository 14 located on the first magazine position 24 in the operating state 22 remains freely accessible so that the tool head 18 of the handling robot 20 can remove the packaging blanks stacked in the first sub-repository 14 from there.

[0051] The sub-magazines 14 and 16 can be moved between the respective operating position 22 and the removal or replacement position 26, optionally on a rail system (not shown in detail here) or in some other way, and in this way can be removed from the magazine 12 of the packaging device 10 in order to be able to fill a new stack of packaging blanks. The sub-magazines 14 and 16 can also have, for example, a lower pull-out platform 36 in order to be able to move in the horizontal direction indicated by the arrow towards the observer (see Figure 1C ), right (see Figure 1A ) or left (see Figure 1B ) moves from the respective operating position 22 into the removal or replacement position 26 illustrated for the second sub-store 16.

[0052] The two sub-material storages 14 and 16 are respectively used to receive a plurality of flatly stacked packaging blanks, so that a tool head 18 of the handling robot 20 equipped with a suitable gripping tool (not shown here) can remove the packaging blanks one by one from the top of the stack in order to transfer them to the application area 38, in which the packaging blanks are respectively applied to groups of articles that are ready or transported there along the conveying direction TR in order to process these groups of articles into packaging units.

[0053] The material store 12 is arranged adjacent to the application area 38 , wherein the movement space of the handling robot 20 covers both the material store 12 and the sub-material store 14 and / or 16 located at the operating position 22 , and the application area 38 . Figures 1A to 1C Two adjacent handling robots 20 and 40 are shown, wherein the first handling robot 20 spatially corresponds to the storage 12, and the second handling robot 40 located next to it spatially corresponds to the application area 38. Figure 1A and Figure 1B However, the respective movement areas of the two handling robots 20 and 40 preferably cover both the magazine 12 and the application area 38, so that the two handling robots can ensure a higher processing speed in parallel operation (i.e., the two handling robots alternately take out packaging blanks from one of the two sub-magazines 14 or 16 while avoiding collision, transfer the packaging blanks received by the respective tool heads 18 to the application area 38, and apply them to the group of objects there).

[0054] In the illustrated embodiment, the two handling robots 20 and 40 are respectively designed as tripod robots or parallel kinematic robots, the latter having three pairs of articulated arms movably suspended on the upper side of a frame 42 and a tool head 18 suspended on the lower side of these articulated arms. However, the handling robots 20 and 40 may also be designed as truss robots or vertical multi-joint articulated robots, etc. However, the advantage of designing as parallel kinematic robots is that two such handling robots 20 and 40 can be placed in a relatively small space, and their motion control can be programmed to make parallel operation possible without the robot's tool head 18 or arm colliding.

[0055] As shown, the frame 42 can constitute a module of the packaging machine and can accommodate the packaging device 10 described here and all the individual elements. The frame 42 also realizes the upper side suspension and anchoring of the two handling robots 20 and 40, as well as the anchoring of the pull-out platform 36 for the mobile sub-stores 14 and 16 of the store 12 (containing the available packaging blanks).

[0056] Furthermore, the frame 42 shown in the figure also spans an application area 38, on which groups of items to be configured as packaging blanks are conveyed along a conveying direction TR to a subsequent processing module of the packaging machine, for example, to be assembled into a layer array that can be loaded into a pallet and then stacked and loaded into a pallet.

[0057] FIG. 2A to FIG. 2C The schematic diagram illustrates the function and working mode of the movable barriers 30, which can separate the movement space of the handling robot 20 from the material storage positions 24 and 28 as needed, especially when one of the two sub-material storages 14 or 16 is moved out of its respective operating position 22 and into the removal or replacement position 26, which is the case for the second sub-material storage 16 in the illustrated embodiment.

[0058] Figure 1C The perspective side view of illustratively illustrates the situation in which the second sub-magazine 16 located on the right has been moved out of the magazine 12 by means of the movable pull-out platform 36 so that it can be refilled with stacked packaging blanks. Figure 2A The perspective side view of shows the same view again, but without the sub-stores 14 and 16 and without the two handling robots 20 and 40 and their suspension on the frame 42 .

[0059] When the left pull-out platform 36 for the first sub-stockroom 14 on the left is in the operating position 22 on the first stockroom position 24, the right pull-out platform 36 for the second sub-stockroom 16 on the right is pulled horizontally out of the stockroom 12, so that this second sub-stockroom 16 (not shown here) is in the removal or replacement position 26.

[0060] In order to avoid any danger caused by the moving parts of the handling robot 20 or the tool head 18 suspended therefrom during the handling and manual or semi-automatic filling of the second sub-stockroom 16 located outside the silo 12, the two-piece cover 34 of the right-hand movable barrier 30 is in a horizontal position to isolate the second stockroom position 28 from the handling robot 20 and allow personnel to enter.

[0061] There is no risk of manual intervention in the spatial region of the second storage location 28 either, since even in the case of an erroneous movement program of the tool head 18 of the handling robot 20 wanting to enter the second storage location 16 , the activated barrier 30 reliably prevents such entry.

[0062] Conversely, the two-piece cover plate 34 of the left movable barrier 30 is in the vertical inactive position at the edge of the frame 42, so that the tool head 18 of the handling robot 20 can enter the first magazine location 24. This makes it impossible to manually intervene in the spatial area of ​​the first magazine location 24, because for safety reasons, the movement program of the tool head 18 of the handling robot 20 entering the first magazine 14 to remove the packaging blanks there does not allow such entry or manual intervention.

[0063] Figure 2B and Figure 2C The two perspective detail views illustrate further design details of the cover 34 of the right-hand movable barrier 30, which is placed in a horizontal position in such a way as to shield the second storage location 28 from access by the handling robot 20 and in such a way as to allow manual intervention in the second sub-storage 16 and / or its second storage location 28. Figure 3A and Figure 3B The two perspective detail drawings illustrate further design details of the cover 34 of the left movable barrier 30, which is placed in a vertical non-working position so that the handling robot 20 cannot be prevented from entering by blocking the first material storage position 24, thereby prohibiting manual intervention in the first sub-material storage 16 and / or its first material storage position 24.

[0064] Figure 2B The perspective detail view of shows the activated right-hand barrier 30 from obliquely above. Figure 2C The perspective detail view of FIG. 3 shows the activated right barrier 30 from obliquely below. The two-part cover plate 34 arranged in an approximately horizontal position covers the upper side 32 of the second storage position 28 (see FIG. 3 ). Figure 1C ), so that the tool head 18 of the handling robot 20 can move above the barrier 30 formed in this way, but cannot reach the area below the barrier 30.

[0065] The first rectangular portion 44 of the two-piece cover 34 adjoins the frame 42 with one longitudinal side and is hingedly mounted there so as to be pivotable by about 90° about a first horizontal pivot axis 46, which is close to the vertical strut of the frame 42. In order to function as a barrier 30 and to cover the upper side 32 of the second storage location 28, the first rectangular portion 44 of the cover 34 is in Figure 2B and Figure 2C Approximate horizontal tilt position shown.

[0066] The second rectangular portion 48 of the two-piece cover 34 adjoins with one longitudinal side the second longitudinal side of the first portion 44 of the cover 34 remote from the frame 42 and is also hingedly mounted there so as to be pivotable by about 90° about a second horizontal pivot axis 50, which is located directly below the dividing line 52 between the adjacent longitudinal sides of the two portions 44 and 48 of the cover 34. In order to function as a fully extended barrier 30 and cover the upper side 32 of the second storage location 28, the second rectangular portion 48 of the cover 34 is in a Figure 2B and Figure 2C The horizontal position shown, therefore, the two parts 44 and 48 lie generally in one plane and together form the two-piece cover 34 .

[0067] The two parts 44 and 48 are of approximately equal size, and their narrow sides 54 each have a certain length, so that when the two parts are spliced ​​together, they can span the width of the second storage location 28. The longitudinal sides of the two parts can be approximately equivalent to the depth of the sub-stores 14 and 16.

[0068] like FIG. 2A to FIG. 2C As shown, when the two-piece cover 34 is in the unfolded state in the horizontal position, the end longitudinal edge 56 of the second part 48 can be placed against the upper side of a frame-shaped storage wall 58 located between the two storage positions 24 and 28 and separating the storage positions 24 and 28. The height of this storage wall 58 is slightly higher than each sub-storage 14 and 16, so that the barrier 30 in the horizontal position can be placed there.

[0069] The following will refer to Figure 2B , Figure 2C , Figure 3A and Figure 3B The folding process of the two-piece cover 34 about the two horizontal pivots 46 and 50 is explained in more detail. The pivotal mounting of the first portion 44 of the two-piece cover 34 about the first horizontal pivot 46 near the edge side frame 42 has been mentioned above.

[0070] like Figure 3A and Figure 3BAs shown in the left material storage position 24 in FIG. 1 , when the movable barrier 30 needs to be placed against the frame 42, the first part 44 can be pivoted upward about the first horizontal pivot 46 near the longitudinal side of the frame 42. To this end, the frame 42 is provided with two spaced-apart convex plates 60, which respectively serve as bearings for pivoting the first part 44 upward. The first part 44 is hingedly mounted on the convex plate 60 at the edge of its opposite narrow side 54, so that it can be pivoted upward by about 90° (see FIG. 1 ). Figure 3A ).

[0071] The second portion 48 is hingedly mounted on the first portion 44 at its edge facing away from the frame 42, so that the second portion 48 of the two-piece cover 34 can be pivoted downwardly about 180° relative to the first portion 44 about the second horizontal pivot axis 50 so as to lie flat against the first portion 44 (see FIG. Figure 3A ). In this case, the dividing line 52 which previously divided the cover plate 34 in the middle is located above the two parts 44 and 48 which are attached to each other.

[0072] The folding process is made possible by the scissor-type mechanism 62 located on the narrow sides 54 of the two parts 44 and 48. Since the convex plate 60 serving as the support point of the first part 44 is fixedly anchored on the frame 42, the first horizontal pivot 46 does not change its height level during the pivoting process, and the scissor-type mechanism 62 ensures that when the first part 44 is moved from the horizontal position ( FIG. 2A to FIG. 2C ) pivots to an upward vertical position ( Figure 3A and Figure 3B ), the second portion 48 pivots downward in the opposite direction and Figure 3A The upper side 32 of the first sub-stock 14 is thus flat against the first portion 44. Figures 1A to 1C The illustrated embodiment is exposed and accessible to the tool head 18 of the handling robot 20 .

[0073] Two long struts 64 are located on either side of the narrow side 54 of the first portion 44. The length of each of these long struts 64 is approximately equal to the length of each narrow side 54 of the portions 44 and 48. When the cover 34 is in the horizontal position, the long struts 64 are hinged and anchored just above the convex plate 60 through which the first horizontal pivot 46 passes.

[0074] Furthermore, the long struts 64 are respectively connected in an articulated manner to the center of the two narrow sides 54 of the first portion 44 at half their length, and their ends continue into the short struts 66 which are articulated on the respective free ends of the long struts 64 .

[0075] A second horizontal pivot axis 50 passes through this hinged connection between the free end of the long leg 64 and the short leg 66, as does a dividing line 52 between adjacent longitudinal sides of the portions 44 and 48, located directly above the second horizontal pivot axis.

[0076] The other end of the short support rod is not hingedly connected to the long support rod 64 , but is hingedly mounted at the center of the two narrow sides 54 of the second part 48 .

[0077] The pivoting process is achieved by vertical displacement of the support points 68 of the long struts 64, which can be displaced in height parallel to the vertical struts of the frame 42. FIG. 2A to FIG. 2C In the embodiment, the support point 68 of the long support rod 64 is located at a lower position just above the convex plate 60, so the long support rod 64 is slightly inclined downward relative to the horizontal line, but according to Figure 3A and Figure 3B As shown, the support point 68 can be displaced upward and spaced apart from the convex plate 60. Since the long struts 64 are hinged at the center of the narrow side 54 of the first part 44 at half the length, they pull the first part upward until the first part is pivoted upward approximately vertically and abuts against the frame 42.

[0078] Since the free end of the long strut 64 is hingedly connected to the narrow side 54 of the first part 44, this causes the free end of the long strut to pivot downwards and the second horizontal pivot 50 to be spaced apart from the longitudinal sides of the adjacent parts 44 and 48 at the dividing line 52. The short strut 66 is also deflected and pulls the second part 48 downwards, since the short strut is respectively hinged to the center of the two narrow sides 54 of the second part 48.

[0079] When the height-adjustable support point 68 is displaced upward to the respective upper stop (this can be achieved, for example, by a suitable linear drive), the two parts 44 and 48 of the two-piece cover 34 are folded, in which the two parts 44 are folded together. Figure 3A The two storage locations 24 are placed together in the manner shown and pivoted upward approximately vertically so that the first storage location 24 is freely accessible in the manner shown so that the tool head 18 of the handling robot 20 can enter, for example, Figure 1C The first sub-stock storehouse 14 can be clearly seen in FIG.

[0080] Figure 3B The perspective oblique top view of FIG. 1 illustrates the pivot position of the movable barrier 30 , but omits the two parts 44 and 48 in order to make the position of the long strut 64 and the short strut 66 clear.

[0081] The linear drive device suitable for adjusting the height of the two supporting points 68 of the long support rod 64 can be a hydraulic or pneumatic positioning cylinder, or a linear motor can be selected, but synchronous control must be ensured to ensure that the folding process is not disturbed.

[0082] List of reference numbers

[0083] 10 Packaging device

[0084] 12 Material warehouse

[0085] 14. First sub-stock warehouse

[0086] 16 Second sub-warehouse

[0087] 18 Tool head

[0088] 20 handling robots, the first handling robots

[0089] 22 Operating position, operating status

[0090] 24The first material storage location

[0091] 26Remove position, change position, remove or change position

[0092] 28 Second material storage location

[0093] 30 Barrier, Active Barrier

[0094] 32 upper side

[0095] 34 cover, two-piece cover

[0096] 36 Pull-out platform

[0097] 38 Application Areas

[0098] 40 handling robot, second handling robot

[0099] 42 Frames

[0100] 44 (cover) first part

[0101] 46 First horizontal pivot

[0102] 48 (cover) second part

[0103] 50 Second horizontal pivot

[0104] 52 Divider

[0105] 54 Narrow Edge

[0106] 56 End longitudinal edge

[0107] 58 Material storage wall, frame-shaped material storage wall

[0108] 60 convex plate, support point

[0109] 62 Scissor-type mechanism

[0110] 64 rods, long rods

[0111] 66 rod, short rod

[0112] 68 Support point (for long support rod)

[0113] TR transport direction, conveying direction.

Claims

1. A packaging device (10) for producing a packaging unit, for producing a packaging unit by combining at least two articles together by using a packaging blank, - comprising at least one handling robot (20, 40), said handling robot having access to at least two sub-stockrooms (14, 16) of a stockroom (12), said sub-stockrooms being within the reach of a movable tool head (18) of said handling robot (20, 40) and containing ready-to-use packaging blanks, said packaging blanks being taken out of the sub-stockroom by said at least one handling robot (20, 40) and applied to a ready-to-use group of articles, -in, One of the sub-stockpiles (14, 16) of the stockpile (12) can be at least partially removed from the operating position (22) in order to refill the sub-stockpiles after removing the usable packaging blanks in the sub-stockpiles while continuing to use the other sub-stockpiles (16 or 14), -in, A sub-magazine (14, 16) and / or an associated magazine location (24, 28) removed from the operating position (22) can be at least temporarily isolated from a tool head (18) of the handling robot (20, 40) by a movable barrier (30).

2. A packaging device (10) according to claim 1, wherein one of the sub-stockpiles (14, 16) of the stockpile (12) can be removed from the packaging device (10) so that the sub-stockpiles can be refilled after the available packaging blanks in the sub-stockpiles are taken out, while continuing to use the other sub-stockpiles (16 or 14).

3. A packaging device (10) according to claim 2, wherein the sub-material storage (14, 16) and / or the related material storage positions (24, 28) removed from the packaging device (10) can be at least temporarily isolated from the tool head (18) of the handling robot (20, 40) by a movable barrier (30).

4. The packaging device (10) according to claim 1, wherein the movable barrier (30) creates an area isolated from the tool head (18) of the handling robot (20, 40), and the sub-material magazine (14, 16) to be refilled with packaging blanks and / or the material storage position (24, 28) for the sub-material magazine (14, 16) to be refilled with packaging blanks are located in the area.

5. The packaging device (10) according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the movable barrier (30) creates an area isolated from the tool head (18) of the handling robot (20, 40), the area being located below the height level of the handling robot (20, 40).

6. A packaging device (10) according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein when the movable barrier moves between the handling robot (20, 40) and the material warehouse (12) or the sub-material warehouse (14, 16), the sub-material warehouse (14, 16) and / or the material warehouse positions (24, 28) for the sub-material warehouse (14, 16) can be covered by the movable barrier (30) on the upper side respectively.

7. A packaging device (10) according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the movable barrier (30) is formed by at least one cover plate (34), which isolates at least some areas of the material warehouse (12) from the handling robot (20, 40) when the cover plate is in a horizontally pivoted position.

8. The packaging device (10) according to claim 7, wherein the movable barrier (30) is formed by at least one cover plate (34), which, when in a horizontally pivoted position, isolates at least some areas of the sub-material storage (14, 16) and / or one of the at least two material storage positions (24, 28) from the handling robot (20, 40).

9. The packaging device (10) according to claim 7, wherein each sub-store (14, 16) and / or store position (24, 28) is assigned a movable barrier (30) formed by at least one pivotable cover plate (34).

10. The packaging device (10) according to claim 7, wherein at least one cover plate (34) of the movable barrier (30) pivots to one side when not in operation, and enables the tool head (18) of the handling robot (20, 40) to access the material store (12) and / or the sub-material store (14, 16).

11. The packaging device (10) according to claim 9, wherein at least one cover plate (34) of the movable barrier (30) pivots to one side when not in operation, and enables the tool head (18) of the handling robot (20, 40) to access the material store (12) and / or the sub-material store (14, 16).

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