ARRANGEMENT FOR FORMING A BAND LOOP AND METHOD AND DEVICE FOR MANUFACTURING PEEL-OFF LIDS
When handling a foil band (6) which is to be uncoiled from a delivery spool (2) and is drawn in gradually by a drawing-in device (4), a foil band loop (7) is produced. In order that this can take place without any errors with high production cadences, provision is made of an arrangement (1) in which a hollow cylinder (10) rests loosely on the band with a limited freedom of movement so as to form the band loop. Such an arrangement is preferably provided for the production of peel-off lids, in which a foil band is uncoiled from a band delivery spool and fed to a stamping and sealing station.
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This application claims the priority of Swiss patent application 0531/10, filed Apr. 13, 2010 and PCT Application No. PCT/CH2011/000071, filed on Apr. 4, 2011, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.
FIELD OF THE INVENTIONThe invention is related to an arrangement for forming a band loop between a delivery spool which is actuated in an uncoiling manner and a band drawing-in device. Particularly, the arrangement is used for a method to produce peel-off lids, comprising the forming of a plurality of parallel rows of lid rings made of metal, wherein a stepwise transport of the lid parts to a plurality of processing stations and a stepwise delivery of a foil band from a delivery spool to the lid rings and the stamping out of foil sections as well as the appliance and heat sealing of the foil sections onto the lid rings in a stamping and sealing processing station are carried out, wherein a foil band loop, which comes to lie between the foil band spool and the drawing-in of the foil band into the stamping and sealing processing station, is formed in the foil band by means of the arrangement. Furthermore, the invention is related to a device for manufacturing peel-off lids with an arrangement according to the invention.
BACKGROUNDIt is known how to execute lids for can-like or tin-like packaging as metal lids permanently attached on the top of the packaging, having an extraction opening remains closed until the first usage of the packaging contents by means of a peelable foil attached by heat sealing, particularly a metal foil. An additional lid made of plastic and arranged on top of the metal lid makes it possible to close again the packaging during the consumption period of the contents. Devices for manufacturing such metal lids will be explainer in the following in more detail by means of
It is the objective of the invention to provide an arrangement by means of which a band loop can be provided in a simple way and which works in a reliable way in the presence of high manufacturing cadences with a stepwise band transport and in case of the most different foil materials.
This objective is reached by the present invention.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONIt has been noticed that, by the hollow cylinder which is freely movable within certain limits, which consequently lies loose on the band for some time and forms the lower deflection of the band loop, a stable band loop is reached even under said conditions. In this way also plastic foils or laminate foils or aluminium foils with band speeds of 60 meters/minute and drawing-in lifts of 50 to 150 millimeters per lift can be handled very well, thus enabling the usage of the arrangement during the manufacturing of peel-off lids with high cadence.
Preferably, a transversal bar lying horizontally and supported on both sides in the side walls runs through the hollow cylinder and limits the free mobility of the hollow cylinder. This results in a particularly easy path limitation for the hollow cylinder. Furthermore it is preferred that the transversal bar is arranged in a vertically shiftable way in a vertical groove guidance in the side walls in order to limit the mobility of the hollow cylinder in vertical direction. The diameter and also the material of the hollow cylinder can be differently chosen. The diameter can be chosen to be e.g. 20 cm or larger. Particularly plastic is a suitable material.
Furthermore, the invention has the objective to provide a method and a device for manufacturing peel-off lids, in case of which the advantageous arrangement for reaching a band loop is used. This is accomplished by the method or the device of the present invention respectively.
The foil band is preferably supplied to the stamping and sealing processing station with partially unequal step lengths in a horizontal way and, as seen horizontally and from the top, with its longitudinal direction substantially perpendicular to the transport direction of the lid parts.
By delivering the foil web in a right angle it is possible, contrary to the ordinary oblique delivering, to save around 20% of the foil. However, the straight delivering results in a strong fluctuation of the step length of the foil band delivering in case of more than two parallel manufactured rows of lids. The stabilizing of the foil band loop by means of the arrangement makes it possible to handle the foil or large step lengths fluctuations respectively, equally in the presence of high delivering speeds.
Further embodiments of the invention and the manufacturing of peel-off lids are described in more detail by means of the following figures.
An actuator 19 which is not shown in detail is provided, being e.g. formed by an electric motor. The skilled person knows such actuators, such that no further description thereof has to be specified. The actuation 19 can be done by controlling the device with the drawing-in device 4, in order to adjust the band uncoiling to the band demand. A sensor 19′, particularly as a distance sensor, can also be provided, by means of which the actuator 19 can react to the length increase or the length decrease of the loop respectively. The sensor signals can be passed to the controller of the device and be processed there for the controlling of the actuator 19 or they may be passed to a controller which is directly attributed to the actuator, in order to supplement the controller signals from the device. The arrangement 1 has two side walls 8 and 9 which consist e.g. of plastic or metal. The band runs between these side walls and forms the loop 7 there. A hollow cylinder 10 is provided, which lies on the band and forms its deflection and therefore facilitates the loop forming and consequently determines the uncoiling reserve. The diameter of the hollow cylinder can be chosen differently. The hollow cylinder may e.g. consist of plastic, particularly polymethylacrylate (Abbreviation PMMA, common speech acrylic glass). Also, a material with a higher specific weight can be chosen in order to reach a higher pre-tension, e.g. aluminium. The hollow cylinder preferably has the shown round cross section, it could however also have an oval or polygon cross section. The hollow cylinder is substantially aligned with its end faces between the side walls, such that it can move freely between the side walls without jamming. The hollow cylinder is free in its movement to a limited extent, such that it can move freely by a certain amount in the band travel direction and perpendicular thereto. This amount depends on the diameter and on the uncoiling. The limitation of the movement can be limited by arbitrary means acting upon the hollow cylinder. Preferably, it is acted upon the hollow cylinder from the inside and particularly by means of a transversal bar 11 which is arranged lying horizontally between the side walls and extends throughout the hollow cylinder. The transversal bar 11 can be arranged in a fixed way in the side walls or it can be guided therein preferably in a vertically slidable way. For this, the shown vertical groove guidances 12, 12′ may be provided.
In
In the shown embodiments the arrangement has an upper drawing-in-sided band deflector 14 and an upper exit-sided band deflector 15. The band deflectors are arranged at the upper side of the side walls. The deflectors can be rolls which rotate with the band. However, also non-rotating deflectors may be provided. Adjustable lateral limiters are preferably provided for the band, such that the latter runs in a defined position above the band deflectors 14, 15. For this, axially shiftable and fixable thrust washers 14′ and 14″ are provided on the band deflector 14 and 15′ and 15″ on the respective band deflector 14 or 15 in the shown embodiment. These thrust washers are adjusted, after releasing their attachment, in their distance with respect to the width of the band, such that they form lateral limiters for the band.
Alternatively to the shown band guidance via the drawing-in-sided deflector 14 of the arrangement 1 the band can also be guided on the drawing-in-side above a deflector 16 (
By means of the mentioned linear transport device lid parts or lids respectively, can be transported with a high cadence of e.g. 200 objects per minute and with reproducible partial steps between the stations. Furthermore, a flexible concept for the large format range of the objects or the lids respectively, which can range for e.g. round lids from a diameter of 40 to 200 mm and which can also receive different rectangular formats, e.g. for ordinary fish cans. The transport device is furthermore, as a compact module, particularly designed for the multiple track configuration. In combination with such a production of lids with a high cadence, the arrangement for forming the band loop can be used in a particularly advantageous way. It can however also be used for other devices where a band loop has to be generated.
A foil band loop is generated when handling a foil band to be uncoiled from a delivery spool, which is stepwise drawn into a drawing-in device. In order for this to take place in an error-free way in case of high manufacturing cadences, an arrangement is provided, in case of which a hollow cylinder for forming the band loop lies loosely on the band with limited mobility. Such an arrangement is preferably provided for manufacturing peel-off lids, in case of which a foil band is uncoiled from a band delivery spool and is provided to a stamping and sealing station.
Claims
1. Arrangement (1) provided and adapted to form a band loop (7) between a band delivery spool (2) which is actuated for uncoiling and an actuated drawing-in device (4) for a stepwise drawing-in of a band (6), characterized in that the arrangement has two side walls (8, 9) between which the band runs, and a hollow cylinder (10) which is guided on each of its end faces through a respective side wall of the arrangement and is loosely movable to a predetermined extent between the side walls, wherein the hollow cylinder is intended to come to lie on the band (6) during operation of the arrangement and to deflect the band as a loop (7).
2. Arrangement according to claim 1, characterized in that a horizontal running transversal bar (11) which is supported on both sides in the side walls runs through the hollow cylinder, which limits the free mobility of the hollow cylinder.
3. Arrangement according to claim 2, characterized in that the transversal bar (11) is arranged in a vertically slidable way in vertical groove guidances (12, 12′) in the side walls (8, 9).
4. Arrangement according to claim 1, characterized in that a drawing-in-sided and an exit-sided band deflector (14, 15) are provided above the side walls.
5. Arrangement according to claim 1, characterized in that a band deflector (16) is provided on the drawing-in side in front of the side walls and on the exit side above the side walls.
6. Arrangement according to claim 4 characterized in that lateral limiters (14′, 14″, 15′, 15″) which are adjustable to the width of the band at the deflectors are provided for the band.
7. Arrangement according to claim 1, characterized in that it has attachment means (17, 18) for an attachment to the support (3, 5) of the band delivery spool, by means of which the distance of the arrangement (1) to the band delivery spool (2) is adjustable in band transport direction.
8. Arrangement according to claim 1, characterized in that it comprises a contactless sensor (19′) for determining the position of the band loop, particularly a distance sensor for determining the vertical distance of the band loop from the sensor.
9. Method for manufacturing peel-off lids by using an arrangement adapted to form a band loop (7) between a band delivery spool (2) which is actuated for uncoiling and an actuated drawing-in device (4) for a stepwise drawing-in of a band (6), wherein the arrangement has two side walls (8, 9) between which the band runs, and a hollow cylinder (10) which is guided on each of its end faces through a respective side wall of the arrangement and is loosely movable to a predetermined extent between the side walls, and wherein the hollow cylinder is intended to come to lie on the band (6) during operation of the arrangement and to deflect the band as a loop (7), comprising the steps of
- forming a row or a plurality of parallel rows of lid rings made of metal, wherein a stepwise linear transport of the lid parts to a plurality of processing stations is carried out,
- stepwise delivering a foil band from a band delivery spool to the lid rings and stamping out of foil sections as well as applying and heat sealing the foil sections onto the lid rings in a stamping and sealing processing station, wherein a band loop, which comes to lie between the band delivery spool and the drawing-in device of the foil band in the stamping and sealing processing station, is formed in the foil band by the arrangement.
10. Method according to claim 9, characterized in that
- the foil band is supplied to the stamping and sealing processing station with partially unequal step lengths and, as seen horizontally and from the top, with its longitudinal direction substantially perpendicular to the transport direction of the lid parts.
11. Method according to claim 9, characterized in that the stepwise linear transport of the lid parts is carried out on a transport device with toothed belts and tappets.
12. Device for manufacturing peel-off lids with an arrangement adapted to form a band loop (7) between a band delivery spool (2) which is actuated for uncoiling and an actuated drawing-in device (4) for a stepwise drawing-in of a band (6), wherein the arrangement has two side walls (8, 9) between which the band runs, and a hollow cylinder (10) which is guided on each of its end faces through a respective side wall of the arrangement and is loosely movable to a predetermined extent between the side walls, and wherein the hollow cylinder is intended to come to lie on the band (6) during operation of the arrangement and to deflect the band as a loop (7), comprising a transport device provided for a stepwise, linear transport of lid parts to a plurality of subsequent processing stations, under which a stamping and sealing processing station is provided, which is adapted to stamp out foil sections as well as to apply and heat seal the foil sections onto the lid rings, and a foil band delivery which is provided for stepwise delivering a foil band from a band delivery spool to the stamping and sealing processing station, wherein a foil band loop is generated by the arrangement, which comes to lie between the band delivery spool and the drawing-in device of the foil web in the stamping and sealing processing station.
13. Device according to claim 12, characterized in that the foil band delivery is arranged in such a way that the foil band is supplied to the stamping and sealing processing station, as seen horizontally and from the top, with its longitudinal direction substantially perpendicular to the transport direction of the lid parts.
14. Device according to claim 12, characterized in that a transport device with lid part trays formed by toothed belts and tappets is provided for the stepwise linear transport of the lid parts.
15. Arrangement according to claim 2, characterized in that a drawing-in-sided and an exit-sided band deflector (14, 15) are provided above the side walls.
16. Arrangement according to claim 2, characterized in that a band deflector (16) is provided on the drawing-in side in front of the side walls and on the exit side above the side walls.
17. Arrangement according to claim 2, characterized in that it has attachment means (17, 18) for an attachment to the support (3, 5) of the band delivery spool, by means of which the distance of the arrangement (1) to the band delivery spool (2) is adjustable in band transport direction.
18. Method according to claim 10, characterized in that the stepwise linear transport of the lid parts is carried out on a transport device with toothed belts and tappets.
19. Device according to claim 13, characterized in that a transport device with lid part trays formed by toothed belts and tappets is provided for the stepwise linear transport of the lid parts.
Type: Application
Filed: Apr 4, 2011
Publication Date: Jan 31, 2013
Applicant: SOUDRONIC AG (Bergdietikon)
Inventor: Nandor Koeteles (Bremgarten)
Application Number: 13/639,679