PACKAGING MACHINE HAVING AN ADJUSTABLE PNEUMATIC/HYDRAULIC DRIVE
The invention relates to a packaging machine, wherein at least one tool can be displaced to a lowered or to a lifted position by means of a lifting system, the lifting station being driven by at least one adjustable pneumatic/hydraulic drive.
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The present invention relates to a packaging machine, in which at least one tool can be displaced by way of a lifting system into a lowered and into a raised position, the lifting station having, as drive, at least one automatically controlled pneumatic/hydraulic drive.
Nowadays, foodstuffs are often packed in plastic packagings, in order to make them nonperishable. The packagings are produced and filled as a rule by way of a packaging machine which operates semicontinuously and in which first of all the packaging cavity is deep drawn from a film, is then filled with the material to be packaged and is subsequently sealed with a cover film. The packagings which are produced in this way are cut from one another in a final step. During the production of the packaging, tools, for example the deep drawing mold, the sealing tool and/or the cutting tool, have to be moved vertically, quite considerable forces occurring, in particular, during sealing and cutting. The abovementioned tools have often been driven by way of pneumatic cylinders because they are simple and favorable to handle.
It was the object of the present invention to make a packaging machine available which is quicker, produces less noise and has less wear than machines according to the prior art.
According to the invention, the object is achieved by way of a packaging machine, in which at least one tool can be displaced by way of a lifting station into a lowered and into a raised position, the lifting station having, as drive, at least one automatically controlled pneumatic/hydraulic drive.
It was certainly surprising to a person skilled in the art and not to be expected that said packaging machine operates substantially more quickly and causes less noise than packaging machines according to the prior art. Moreover, the packaging machine according to the invention is less intensive to maintain than the packaging machines of the prior art.
According to the invention, the packaging machine has an automatically controlled pneumatic and/or hydraulic drive as drive for at least some of the tools which are present in it. Said pneumatic and/or hydraulic drive has a cylinder and a working rod. The cylinder or the rod is connected directly or indirectly to the tool. The cylinder and the rod can be connected fixedly or movably to the frame of the packaging machine or to the underlying surface, on which the packaging machine stands. Since the pneumatic and/or hydraulic drive is automatically controlled, the travel, the speed and/or the acceleration of the working rod and/or the cylinder are/is automatically controlled. Accordingly, the respective tool covers a very defined travel and the speed is automatically controlled at every instant of the travel, the speed not being constant. For example, it is possible as a result that the tool which is driven by the pneumatic and/or hydraulic drive covers the greatest part of its travel at a very high speed and moves gently into its end position.
The pneumatic and/or hydraulic drive can drive any desired mechanism, for example a crank mechanism, a cam mechanism or a linkage and a combination of said mechanism types. In one preferred embodiment of the packaging machine according to the invention, the pneumatic and/or hydraulic drive drives a toggle lever system which in turn brings about the up and down movement of the respective tools.
In the context of the invention, a tool is every tool which serves to produce a packaging and which has to be moved up and down. For example, the tool is a deep drawing mold, a sealing tool and/or a cutting tool. In the context of the invention, a tool can be situated below and/or above the film web, from which the packaging cavity is produced. A pneumatic and/or hydraulic drive can move both the lower tool and the upper tool of a workstation at the same time or one after another.
The pneumatic and/or hydraulic drive can be controlled in every way known to a person skilled in the art. The pressure of the pneumatic and/or hydraulic drive is preferably regulated. In phases, in which the pneumatic and/or hydraulic drive is to move quickly, a high pressure therefore prevails which is then reduced, for example, before an end position is reached.
The pneumatic and/or hydraulic drive preferably has an absolute travel transmitter, with the result that, in particular, the position of that end of the working rod which faces away from the drive cylinder and therefore the position of the tool are known precisely at all times to a controller of the packaging machine according to the invention. This signal is used to regulate the movement of the tool. This regulation not only permits the tool to be displaced between two fixed end points, but rather for it to be possible for the raised and lowered positions to be set as desired. Furthermore, this drive makes it possible for the speed at which the respective tool is moved between the two positions to be automatically controlled in a targeted manner at any instant.
In the context of the invention, a packaging machine is not only a thermoforming machine, in which the packaging cavity is produced by deep drawing and is then filled and is sealed with a cover film, but also what is known as a tray sealer, in which packaging cavities which have already been preformed are filled with a material to be packaged and are subsequently sealed with a packaging film. Furthermore, in the context of the invention, a packaging machine is also what is known as a tray former, in which only packaging cavities are deep drawn from a film and are subsequently cut from one another.
In the following text, the invention will be explained using
The lifting system can also be configured in all the exemplary embodiments as in EP 0 569937 or in DE 103 51 567.4.
LIST OF DESIGNATIONS1 Cylinder
2 Piston
3 Frame
4 Transverse rod
5 Frame
6 Guide rods
7 Rollers
8 Hollow body, guide
9 Guide bushings
10 Part of a toggle lever arrangement
11 Part of a toggle lever arrangement
12 Lever
13 Lever of a mechanism
14 Lever of a mechanism
15 Connecting elements
16 Shaft
17 Nut
18 Frame
19 Yoke
20 Clamping nut
21 Screw
22 Setting means of the stroke
42 Underfilm web
43 Forming station
44 Upper tool of the forming station
45 Lower tool of the forming station
46 Lifting system
48 Sealing station
49 Upper tool of the sealing station
50 Lower tool of the sealing station
51 Cutting station
52 Upper tool of the cutting station
53 Lower tool of the cutting station
54 Material to be packaged
55 Top film
56 Punching means
57 Packaging machine
58 Packaging cavity
Claims
1. A packaging machine, in which at least one tool can be displaced by way of a lifting station into a lowered and into a raised position, characterized in that the lifting system has, as a drive, at least one automatically controlled pneumatic/hydraulic drive.
2. The packaging machine as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that a pressure of the pneumatic/hydraulic drive is automatically controlled.
3. The packaging machine as claimed in claim 2, characterized in that it has an absolute travel transmitter.
4. The packaging machine as claimed in claim 3, characterized in that the absolute travel transmitter knows the precise position of a piston rod of the drive.
5. The packaging machine as claimed in claim 4, characterized in that the lifting system has a toggle lever.
6. The packaging machine as claimed in claim 5, characterized in that the tool is a deep drawing mold, a sealing tool and/or a cutting tool.
7. The packaging machine as claimed in claim 6, characterized in that the movement of the tool can be controlled by a computer.
8. The packaging machine as claimed in claim 7, characterized in that the tool is arranged together with a lifting station horizontally along the packaging machine.
9. The packaging machine as claimed in claim 8, characterized in that a tool can be driven by way of a plurality of lifting systems which are arranged next to one another.
10. The packaging machine as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the lifting system has a toggle lever.
11. The packaging machine as claimed in claim 3, characterized in that the lifting system has a toggle lever.
12. The packaging machine of claim 10, characterized in that the machine is employed in a system that packages foodstuffs between opposing film webs the toggle lever includes at least two lever elements pivotally connected to each other and to a frame of the tool for transferring the lever elements from a bent position to a stretched position, and vice-versa, in response to rotation of a shaft.
13. The packaging machine of claim 11, characterized in that the toggle lever includes three lever elements pivotally connected to each other and to a frame of the tool for transferring the lever elements from a bent position to a stretched position, and vice-versa, in response to rotation of a shaft, and further wherein the frame of the tool is oriented parallel to the shaft and raises and lowers as the levers go between bent and stretched positions.
14. The packaging machine of claim 1, characterized in that it includes a lifting system that has a toggle lever that includes three lever elements pivotally connected to each other and to a frame of the tool for transferring the lever elements from a bent position to a stretched position, and vice-versa, in response to rotation of a shaft, and further wherein the frame of the tool is oriented parallel to the shaft and raises and lowers as the levers go between bent and stretched positions.
15. The packaging machine of claim 12, characterized in that the shaft is oriented parallel to a direction of film transport across the machine.
16. The packaging machine of claim 13, characterized in that the shaft is oriented parallel to a direction of film transport across the machine.
17. The packaging machine of claim 14, characterized in that the shaft is oriented parallel to a direction of film transport across the machine.
18. The packaging machine of claim 1, wherein the machine includes two lifting systems that have their lifting synchronized by connecting at least one shaft of one lifting system to at least one shaft of the other lifting system.
19. The packaging machine of claim 14, wherein the machine includes two lifting systems that have their lifting synchronized by connecting the shaft of the machine to at least one shaft of a second lifting system.
20. The packaging machine of claim 19, wherein the machine includes two lifting systems that have their lifting synchronized by connecting the shaft of the machine to at least one shaft of a second lifting system.
Type: Application
Filed: Oct 18, 2007
Publication Date: Jan 21, 2010
Applicant: CFS Germany GmbH (Biedenkopf-Wallan)
Inventors: Hans Günter Donges (Bad Endbach), Bruno Baumeister (Aachen)
Application Number: 12/441,596
International Classification: B65B 65/02 (20060101); B65B 61/06 (20060101); B65B 47/00 (20060101);