Packaging machine

Abstract

The invention relates to a packaging machine 1 for mattresses with a winding drum 3, rollers 10 for rolling mattresses conveyed into the winding drum 9, a drive 11 for rotating the rollers 10, an access 12 for the mattresses to the winding drum 9, which is essentially parallel to the longitudinal axis of the winding drum 9, and a feed area 2 for the mattresses in front of the access 12 for the mattresses to the winding drum 9. The feed area 9 has conveyor belts 3, 4 located at a distance from one another, each of which is separately connected to a motor 7 for conveying mattresses via the conveyor belts 3, 4 to the access 12 of the winding drum 9.

Description

[0001] The invention relates to a packaging machine, in particular a packaging machine for mattresses having the features of claim 1.

[0002] In the following, the term 'mattresses' includes cushions and pads. Packaging machines for mattresses are used for space-saving storage, transport, and protection against soiling and damage. Mattresses are rolled and packaged by packaging machines for storage, transport, and protection.

[0003] A packaging machine for mattresses is known from DE 196 296 06 A1. Mattresses to be packaged are conveyed, for example, by an external conveyor belt through a nozzle-shaped intake area under compression into a winding drum of the packaging machine, where they are rolled. After the mattress has been rolled into its rolled form, the mattress is pushed along the winding drum into a substantially coaxial forming tube, at the end of which the rolled mattress is inserted into a sack, bag, or sleeve. The winding drum consists of essentially circularly arranged, rotatable rollers. In order to achieve a specific degree of compression and thereby drive the mattresses through the rollers in the winding drum so that the shape of a roll is achieved, the rollers bear against the mattresses in a frictional engagement parallel to the rotation of the rollers, without hindering the axial ejection of the mattress from the winding drum to the downstream forming tube.A disadvantage of this prior art is that film is still being used for the sack, bag, or cover. Furthermore, even when rolled with relatively low compression, the mattress is subjected to more or less severe warping, which leads to creases in the ticking. The disclosure of DE 196 296 06 A1 is included in the application.

[0004] The invention is based on the object of creating a packaging machine for mattresses which allows increased compression when rolling the mattresses for packaging in order to reduce their volume, and which exposes the mattresses to less severe warping and protects them.

[0005] This object is achieved according to the invention by a packaging machine having the features of the main claim. Particularly preferred embodiments and further developments of the invention are characterized in the subclaims.

[0006] According to the invention, a packaging machine for mattresses comprises a winding drum made up of rollers. The winding drum has a longitudinal axis around which the rollers are arranged essentially circularly and parallel to the longitudinal axis of the winding drum. A drive is provided that drives the rollers to rotate about their respective axes to roll mattresses conveyed into the winding drum by means of these rollers into a roll essentially parallel to the longitudinal axis of the winding drum. Through an access to the winding drum following an infeed area of the mattress packaging machine, the mattresses are pushed into the winding drum. After rolling, they are compressed and pushed out into a forming tube coaxial with the winding drum. At the end of the forming tube, the rolled mattresses are inserted into a diffusion-permeable packaging, e.g., made of polyethylene or—to avoid plastic waste—into a paper sack, bag, or sleeve.According to the invention, the intake area has revolving conveyor belts for mattresses, spaced apart from one another. Motors are provided, each of which drives a separate conveyor belt. The mattress to be conveyed is fed to the inlet between the opposing conveyor belts. The mattresses are conveyed to the winding drum according to the invention by means of revolving conveyor belts, each of which is wider than the mattresses being conveyed. The mattress to be conveyed rests on at least one of these conveyor belts, and at least one further one of these conveyor belts rests on the mattress to be conveyed for pre-compression of the mattress before the conveyor belts feed the mattress to the inlet into the winding drum. The revolving conveyor belts are each driven separately by the motors at preferably adjustable rotational speeds.According to the invention, the rotational speeds of the rotating rollers of the winding drum are adapted to the conveying speeds of the conveyor belts in the feed area in order to minimize warping and stretching of mattresses during rolling under further compression in the winding drum. Mattresses can thus be rolled more tightly and length losses reduced. Conveying mattresses using circulating conveyor belts in the feed area according to the invention reduces fulling losses and is gentler on mattresses than conveying using driven rollers as in the prior art. Compared to prior art packaging methods, in which unpacked mattresses were wrinkled because the ticking of the quilting creases during compression, this effect is reduced by the invention. The packaging machine according to the invention avoids the use of plastic during packaging and thus the effort and cost of disposing of film waste.With the packaging machine according to the invention, mattresses are reduced in transport volume and packed into a manageable roll. Mattresses to be packaged can be fed into the packaging machine independently, for example, from an external device.

[0007] According to a preferred embodiment of the packaging machine of the invention, the conveyor belts reduce their distance from one another in the intake area in the direction of the access to the winding drum for simplified intake of the mattresses into the intake area and gentle increase in the compression of the mattress on its way to the winding drum.

[0008] According to a further preferred embodiment of the packaging machine of the invention, the conveyor belts each have at least one drive shaft, preferably inside at a front or rear end of the circulating conveyor belt.

[0009] According to a further preferred embodiment of the packaging machine of the invention, the conveyor belts can be adjusted to different belt speeds.

[0010] According to a further preferred embodiment of the packaging machine according to the invention, the conveyor belts can be adjusted to variable inlet heights.

[0011] According to a further preferred embodiment of the packaging machine of the invention, an electronic control device is provided for adjusting operating parameters, such as the belt speeds, the rotational speeds of the rotating rollers of the winding drum, and the variable inlet heights of the conveyor belts. The operating parameters can be optimized by the control device in dependence on one another.

[0012] According to a further preferred embodiment of the packaging machine according to the invention, belt speeds of the circulating conveyor belts remain somewhat behind the rotational speeds of the rotating rollers of the winding drum for stretching the mattress.

[0013] According to a further preferred embodiment of the invention, the conveyor belts in the intake area are each acted upon by a rubberized drive roller to reduce slippage during conveyor belt operation. Adjustable guidance and belt speed allow for better packaging results for mattresses, namely, less layer shifting on the surfaces of the mattresses impacted by the conveyor belts, no loss of mattress length due to varying conveyor belt speeds, more visually appealing roll formation, and gentler handling, particularly for innerspring mattresses, without the need for pressing and vacuuming before insertion into the intake area, thus eliminating the need to wrap and seal mattresses in film strips, with the resulting plastic waste.

[0014] The accompanying drawings show a preferred embodiment of the invention. They show: Fig. 1 a perspective view of a packaging machine according to the invention, and Fig. 2 a sectional view of the packaging machine according to the invention, wherein the winding drum is shown in cross section.

[0015] Fig. 1 : A packaging machine 1 has an infeed area 2 for mattresses (not shown). The infeed area 2 is defined by an upper and a lower conveyor belt 3, 4. The upper conveyor belt 3 is height-adjustable at one end by means of length-adjustable support arms 5, 6 mounted on the packaging machine 1, for an adjustable opening angle between the upper and lower conveyor belts 3, 4 in the infeed area 2.

[0016] Electric motors 7, each with 0.75 kW power, are provided for the separate drive of the conveyor belts 3, 4.

[0017] For packaging, mattresses are transferred from an external device (not shown) into the feed area 2 of the packaging machine 1 onto the lower conveyor belt 4, output from the packaging machine 1 as a roll with a diameter of 36 cm on a forming tube 8 and inserted into a paper sack, bag or sleeve (not shown).

[0018] Fig. 2 : Identical features are identified by the reference symbols from Fig. 1A winding drum 9 comprising several rollers 10 has a longitudinal axis around which the rollers 10 are arranged essentially circularly and parallel to the longitudinal axis of the winding drum 9. A drive 11 designed as a 4 kW electric motor drives the rollers 10 to rotate about their respective axes of rotation to roll the mattresses conveyed into the winding drum 9 into a compressed roll essentially parallel to the longitudinal axis of the winding drum 9. After rolling, the rolled mattress is pushed out of the winding drum 9 by an ejector (not shown) to the forming tube 8.

[0019] Through an access 12 to the winding drum 9, mattresses are pushed from the conveyor belts 3, 4 in the feed area 2 into the winding drum 9. The opposing conveyor belts 3, 4 are each wider than the mattresses to be conveyed. The conveyor belts 3, 4 give the feed area 2 a nozzle shape with a smaller distance between the upper and lower conveyor belts 3, 4 at the access 12 to the winding drum 9 than at the inlet to the feed area 2. The distances between the conveyor belts 3, 4 at the access 12 to the winding drum 9 are smaller than the height of a mattress to be conveyed for compression of the mattress. The positions of the conveyor belts 3, 4 relative to the access 12 to the winding drum 9 are adjustable, in particular height-adjustable relative to the access 12. The mattresses enter the feed area 2 where the distances between the conveyor belts 3, 4 are greatest.

[0020] The conveyor belts 3, 4 each run around shafts 13, 14, at least one of which - driven by the electric motors 7 - drives one of the conveyor belts 3, 4 and is rubber-coated for improved traction. The upper conveyor belt 3 runs with its side facing the lower conveyor belt 4 and the lower conveyor belt 4 runs with its side facing the upper conveyor belt 3 in the direction of the access to the winding drum 9. The belt speed of the upper conveyor belt 3 can be adjusted relative to that of the lower conveyor belt 4 such that the upper edge of a mattress to be conveyed at the access 12 to the winding drum 9 is slightly behind the lower edge of this mattress.

[0021] An electronic control device (not shown) is provided with input options for separately adjusting the belt speeds, the rotational speeds of the rotating rollers of the winding drum and the variable inlet heights of the circulating conveyor belts 3, 4. The belt speeds of the circulating conveyor belts 3, 4 remain somewhat behind the separately controllable rotational speeds of the rotating rollers 10 of the winding drum 9 for stretching the mattresses.

Claims

1. Packaging machine (1) for mattresses, comprising: - a winding drum (9), - rollers (10) for rolling mattresses conveyed into the winding drum (9), which are arranged substantially circularly around and parallel to a longitudinal axis of the winding drum (9), - a drive (11) for rotating the rollers (10), - an access (12) for the mattresses to the winding drum (9) that is substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis of the winding drum (9), - a feed area (2) for the mattresses in front of the access (12) for the mattresses to the winding drum (9), and - a forming tube (8) that is arranged coaxially to the winding drum (9) downstream of an exit of the winding drum (9), characterized in thatthe intake area (9) has conveyor belts (3, 4) located opposite one another at a distance, which are each separately connected to a motor (7) for conveying mattresses via the conveyor belts (3, 4) to the access (12) of the winding drum (9) and rotational speeds of the rotating rollers (10) of the winding drum (9) can be adapted to conveying speeds of the conveyor belts (3, 4).

2. Packaging machine (1) according to claim 1, characterized in that the conveyor belts (3, 4) reduce their distance from one another in the intake area (2) in the direction of the access (12) of the winding drum (9), so that mattresses at the access (12) are compressed into the winding drum (9).

3. Packaging machine (1) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the conveyor belts (3, 4) are each driven by at least one shaft (13, 14).

4. Packaging machine (1) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in thatvariable belt speeds can be set for the conveyor belts (3, 4).

5. Packaging machine (1) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that variable inlet heights can be set for the conveyor belts (3, 4).

6. Packaging machine (1) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that an electronic control device is provided for adjusting the belt speeds, the rotational speeds of the rotating rollers of the winding drum and the variable inlet heights of the conveyor belts (3, 4).

7. Packaging machine (1) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that Belt speeds of the circulating conveyor belts (3, 4) lag behind the separately controllable rotational speeds of the rotating rollers (10) of the winding drum (9).

8. Packaging machine (1) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in thatSupport arms (5, 6) are provided with which at least one of the conveyor belts (3, 4) can be adjusted at one end so that an opening angle between the conveyor belts (3, 4) can be adjusted at the inlet of the intake area (2) for the mattresses.

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