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EP-4741319-A1 - SIDE-BY-SIDE PLACING DEVICE FOR BOXES AND PACKAGING MACHINE COMPRISING SUCH DEVICE

EP4741319A1EP 4741319 A1EP4741319 A1EP 4741319A1EP-4741319-A1

Abstract

Side-by-side placing device (1) configured to place a plurality of boxes side by side, wherein each box comprises a housing portion and a cover portion connected to the housing portion and comprising a first side flap and a second side flap which protrude from opposite sides along an advancement direction (D) with respect to the housing portion, the device (1) comprising: - support means defining a first alignment position (20) and at least a first further alignment position (21) downstream of the first alignment position (20), wherein the boxes can be positioned substantially aligned with each other along the advancement direction (D) ; - sorting means (3) comprising at least a first fin (31) arranged so that it can be interposed between the first side flap of the box positioned in the first alignment position (20) and the second side flap of the box positioned in the first further alignment position (21), the first fin (31) being rotatable on itself around a first axis of rotation substantially perpendicular to the advancement direction (D); and - movement means (27) that can be operated to advance the box positioned in the first alignment position (20) along the advancement direction (D) towards the box positioned in the first further alignment position (21).

Inventors

  • CORRADO, Antonio

Assignees

  • OCME S.r.l.

Dates

Publication Date
20260513
Application Date
20251110

Claims (10)

  1. Side-by-side placing device (1) configured to place a plurality of boxes (S) side by side, wherein each box (S) comprises a housing portion (A) and a cover portion (C) connected to the housing portion (A) and comprising a first side flap (C1) and a second side flap (C2) which protrude from opposite sides along an advancement direction (D) with respect to the housing portion (A), the device (1) comprising: - support means (2) defining a first alignment position (20) and at least a first further alignment position (21) downstream of the first alignment position (20), wherein the boxes (S) can be positioned substantially aligned with each other along the advancement direction (D); - sorting means (3) comprising at least a first fin (31) arranged so that it can be interposed between the first side flap (C1) of the box (S) positioned in the first alignment position (20) and the second side flap (C2) of the box (S) positioned in the first further alignment position (21), the first fin (31) being rotatable on itself around a first axis of rotation (R1) substantially perpendicular to the advancement direction (D); and - movement means (27) that can be operated to advance the box (S) positioned in the first alignment position (20) along the advancement direction (D) towards the box (S) positioned in the first further alignment position (21).
  2. Device (1) according to claim 1, wherein the support means (2) define at least another further alignment position (22, 23) downstream of the first further alignment position (21), and the sorting means (3) comprise at least one further fin (32, 33) arranged so that a further fin (32, 33) can be interposed between the first side flap (C1) and the second side flap (C2) of each pair of boxes (S) positioned at consecutive further alignment positions (21, 22, 23), each further fin (32, 33) being rotatable on itself around a respective axis of rotation (R2, R3) substantially parallel to the first axis of rotation (R1), and wherein the movement means (27) are operable to serially advance each box (S) along the advancement direction (D) towards the boxes (S) positioned downstream.
  3. Device (1) according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the sorting means (3) comprise an end fin (34) arranged downstream of the most downstream alignment position, the end fin (34) being rotatable on itself around an end axis of rotation (R4) substantially parallel to the first axis of rotation (R1).
  4. Device (1) according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein each fin (31, 32, 33, 34) is rotatable on itself around a respective axis of rotation (R1, R2, R3, R4) between a first rest configuration, in which the fins (31, 32, 33, 34) form angles with the advancement direction (D) which are substantially equal and open alternately on opposite sides of the advancement direction (D), and an operating configuration, in which the fins (31, 32, 33, 34) are substantially parallel to the advancement direction (D).
  5. Device (1) according to claim 4, wherein each fin (31, 32, 33, 34) is rotatable on itself around its respective axis of rotation (R1, R2, R3, R4) also between a second rest configuration, substantially symmetrical to the first rest configuration with respect to the operating configuration, and the operating configuration.
  6. Device (1) according to claim 5, wherein the sorting means (3) comprise a first fluid-dynamic actuator (35) and a second fluid-dynamic actuator (37) which are alternately kinematically connected to the fins (31, 32, 33, 34) and operable in such a manner as to rotate the fins (31, 32, 33, 34) between the first rest configuration, the operating configuration and the second rest configuration.
  7. Device (1) according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the support means (2) comprise a first guide (24) and a second guide (25) extending along the advancement direction (D), the alignment positions (20, 21, 22, 23) being defined between the first guide (24) and the second guide (25).
  8. Device (1) according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the movement means (27) comprise at least one pusher element (27) configured to contact the housing portion (A) of the box (S) positioned in the first alignment position (20) and to move along the advancement direction (D).
  9. Packaging machine configured to pack products in a plurality of boxes (S), wherein each box (S) comprises a housing portion (A) and a cover portion (C) connected to the housing portion (A) and comprising a first side flap (C1) and a second side flap (C2) which protrude from opposite sides along an advancement direction (D) with respect to the housing portion (A), the machine comprising: - forming means operable to form the boxes (S); - filling means operable to fill the formed boxes (S) with the products; - closing means operable to close the filled boxes (S); characterised by additionally comprising a device (1) according to any one of the preceding claims configured to place the formed boxes (S) side by side before they are filled with the products.
  10. Machine according to claim 9, in which the forming means are operable to form the boxes (S) by positioning them in the alignment positions (20, 21, 22, 23), preferably by moving them perpendicular to the advancement direction (D).

Description

The present invention relates to a side-by-side placing device for placing a plurality of boxes side by side, and in particular to such a device adapted to be part of a packaging machine. In the packaging sector, automatic packaging machines capable of packing specific products in specific quantities inside cardboard boxes have been known for some time. Such machines generally comprise a forming area in which each box is formed, for example, from a cardboard die-cut, a filling area in which each box is filled with the products to be packed, and a closing area in which each box is closed after being filled, and advancement means operable to advance the boxes in order from one area to the next. A type of box particularly often used in such machines is the one depicted in Figure 1. Such box S comprises a housing portion A defining a compartment suitable for housing the products and accessible through an opening O, and a cover portion C adapted to selectively close the opening O. More specifically, the housing portion A comprises a substantially rectangular bottom wall F and a lateral surface L having a first lateral wall L1 and a second lateral wall L2 opposite to each other along an advancement direction D, and a front wall LF and a rear wall LP opposite to each other perpendicularly to the advancement direction D. The lateral surface L ends at the top with a rectangular edge that delimits the opening O. The cover portion C, on the other hand, comprises a rectangular-shaped central flap CC connected to the edge of the rear wall LP of the housing portion A, so that the cover portion C can rotate with respect to the housing portion A around an axis parallel to the advancement direction D between an open configuration, in which it allows access to the compartment through the opening O, and a closed configuration, in which the central flap CC closes the opening O, preventing access to the compartment. The cover portion C further comprises a first side flap C1 and a second side flap C2 connected to the central flap CC so as to protrude from the housing portion A along the advancement direction D on opposite sides, specifically so as to protrude with respect to the first lateral wall L1 and the second lateral wall L2, respectively. The cover portion C can further comprise a front flap CF connected to the central flap CC so as to protrude from the housing portion A (specifically with respect to the front wall LF) when the cover portion C is in the closed configuration, perpendicularly to the advancement direction D. In the packaging machine, each box S as previously described is initially formed in the forming area in its open configuration, and is then advanced into the filling area by the advancement means. In order to facilitate the operations of filling and subsequently closing the boxes S, it is desirable that the boxes S are advanced into the filling area, and subsequently also into the closing area, substantially aligned with each other and uniformly oriented, i.e., so that the advancement direction D of each box S is the same, thereby defining a collective advancement direction D, and the front walls LF and the rear walls LP of the boxes S are all respectively aligned with each other along the advancement direction D. However, by arranging the boxes S aligned and uniformly oriented, they must necessarily be arranged so that their respective housing portions A are spaced apart from each other along the advancement direction D. Indeed, since the side flaps C1 and C2 protrude along the advancement direction D with respect to the housing portions A, placing the housing portions A side by side along the advancement direction D would result in a collision between the first side flap C1 of each box S and the second side flap C2 of the box S arranged immediately downstream; such a collision could cause undesirable and unpredictable displacement of the boxes S, thereby compromising their subsequent filling and closing, and possibly causing malfunctions or jams in the machine. Accordingly, currently, the packaging machine must necessarily comprise advancement means capable of moving the boxes S along the advancement direction D while keeping them spaced apart from each other, and filling systems capable of filling each box S individually. Such solution is particularly costly and inevitably limits the productivity of the machine. An object of the present invention is to overcome the above-mentioned drawbacks, and in particular to enable a packaging machine to pack products into boxes S with high productivity and low cost, meanwhile reducing the likelihood of malfunctions or jams. A further object of the present invention is to enable a packaging machine to occupy a limited space and to easily pack products into boxes S of different sizes. These and other results are achieved, according to the present invention, by making a device according to claim 1, and a packaging machine according to claim 9. Further features of th