CN111417579A

CN111417579A - Method and device for packaging sanitary products

Info

Publication number: CN111417579A
Application number: CN201880079064.1A
Authority: CN
Inventors: G.普法伊费尔
Original assignee: Opptima Non Woven Fabric Co ltd
Current assignee: Opptima Non Woven Fabric Co ltd
Priority date: 2017-12-06
Filing date: 2018-11-23
Publication date: 2020-07-14
Also published as: EP3495279A1; US20200361648A1; WO2019110324A1; BR112020008543A2; JP7269241B2; JP2021505483A

Abstract

The invention relates to a method and a device for packaging hygiene articles, such as absorbent articles like diapers, sanitary napkins, panty liners, incontinence pads or the like, wherein a plurality of batches (A, B, C, D) of articles (5) is alternately directed towards M packaging arrangements (11, 12) by means of at least one diverter (10), each batch (A, B, C, D) comprising at least one article (5), and wherein the diverter (10) alternately directs a plurality of batches (A, B, C, D) of articles (5) towards the packaging arrangements (11, 12) in a repeating sequence of M × N batches (a-C-B-D), wherein N > =2, wherein at least two of the N batches (A, B) of a sequence of M × N batches (a-C-B-D) directed towards the first packaging arrangement (11) differ in count.

Description

Method and device for packaging sanitary products

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a method and a device for packaging sanitary products, such as absorbent products like diapers, sanitary napkins, panty liners, incontinence pads or the like. The sanitary product is produced through a production line.

Background

Known production lines for such articles have a high throughput that allows the production of 1000 and more articles per minute. However, packaging devices, in particular for providing packaging units containing only a small number of products, generally have a small capacity. It is therefore known to provide one or more diverters for splitting the flow of articles from the production line into two or more sub-flows directed to a two-pass packaging device or two or more independent packaging devices.

US2010/071318 a1 discloses a method and an arrangement for handling diapers, wherein diapers from a production line are alternately transferred to a first grouping subassembly and a second grouping subassembly, and wherein one or more removal conveyors are assigned to the grouping subassemblies via which groups of articles are fed to a packaging device.

FR2798370 a1 discloses a splitter wherein a first and a second batch of products comprising a first and a second number of products, respectively, are alternately directed towards a first and a second grouping device.

WO 2013/038310 a1 discloses a splitter wherein a batch of articles and an individual article are alternately directed towards a first grouping means and a second grouping means.

With more and more types of packaging units, or packaging units of different sizes, more and more flexibility is required.

Disclosure of Invention

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a device and a method for packaging hygiene articles with a high degree of flexibility.

This object is solved by a device and a method with the features of claims 1 and 7. Preferred embodiments are defined in the dependent claims.

According to a first aspect, there is provided a device for packaging hygiene articles, comprising at least one diverter and M packaging arrangements arranged downstream of the diverter, wherein M > =2, wherein each packaging arrangement comprises a grouping device and at least one packaging device, and wherein, by means of the at least one diverter, a plurality of batches of articles are alternately directed towards the packaging arrangement, each batch comprising at least one article, and wherein a control unit is provided, by means of which the at least one diverter is controllable for alternately directing the plurality of batches of articles towards the packaging arrangement in a repeating sequence of M × N batches, wherein N > =2, wherein at least two of the N batches of M × N batches of articles directed towards the first packaging arrangement can be set to different counts.

According to a second aspect, a method for packaging hygiene articles is provided, wherein a plurality of batches of articles, each comprising at least one article, are alternately directed towards M packaging arrangements by means of at least one diverter, and wherein the diverter directs the plurality of batches of articles alternately towards the packaging arrangements in a repeating sequence of M × N batches, where N > =2, wherein at least two counts of the N batches of the M × N batches of one sequence directed towards the first packaging arrangement are different.

In other words, the at least one diverter has at least two outlet lines, wherein, according to the invention, at least two batches with different counts can be fed to at least one of the two outlet lines of the diverter by means of the diverter.

In the context of this application, the words "first", "second", "third", etc. are used merely as a reference and should not be construed as any designation of any hierarchy or structural arrangement.

Alternatively or additionally, in one embodiment, at least the first packaging arrangement is provided with two or more packaging devices or one or more dual lane packaging devices when splitting the product stream into a repeating sequence of M × N batches, where N > =2, each batch may be suitable for the associated packaging device or lane of the packaging device.

The number of articles in each batch in one embodiment is equal to the number of articles to be packaged in one packaging unit. In other embodiments, consecutive batches are grouped, and many grouped batches are packaged together.

In one embodiment, the plurality of packaging arrangements each comprise at least two packaging devices or at least one dual lane packaging device.

Alternatively or additionally, in one embodiment, the device comprises two packaging arrangements arranged downstream of one associated diverter. Such a diverter is simple in design. For further division of the product stream, additional flow dividers may be provided. The diverters feeding the first and second packaging arrangements may be controlled to feed a first count a of articles to the first packaging arrangement, a third count c of articles to the second packaging arrangement, a second count b of articles to the first packaging arrangement, and a fourth count d of articles to the second packaging arrangement. In other words, four batches of the repeating sequence are A-C-B-D, wherein at least two counts a and B are not equal. The count C of the third batch C and the count D of the fourth batch D are selected to be equal in one embodiment. In further embodiments, the count c is set differently than the count d. The two counts a and b may be packed together using a common packing device or packed using two packing devices or a dual pass packing device.

In one embodiment, the grouping means of at least one of the M packing arrangements is a stacker comprising a conveyor with a number of pockets for receiving individual articles. Stackers are for example described in US 2007/0065270a1 and/or US 7475771B 2, which are attached as references. Multiple batches of articles are grouped in stackers, and groups of articles are unloaded or removed from the stackers for subsequent packaging. In one embodiment, the conveyor is an open loop conveyor, wherein pockets can be selectively added or removed from the conveyor. In other embodiments, the conveyor is a closed loop endless conveyor. In one embodiment, the walls separating successive pockets are arranged fixed in position on the conveyor. In other embodiments, the wall is movable within limits relative to the conveyor to allow the pocket size to be reduced after receiving the articles. This may be used for compression and/or calibration applications.

In one embodiment, the speed of the stacker is adapted to the speed of the diverter and product stream so that successive batches are inserted into the pockets of the stacker without gaps.

In an alternative embodiment, at the stacker, successive batches in the same sequence of batches are separated by one or more empty pockets. Alternatively or additionally, at the stacker, successive batches of successive series of batches are separated by one or more empty pockets. The empty cavity may be filled with additional articles of the same or different types to be packaged with a batch of articles. The size of the empty pockets between successive batches may vary, in particular in the case where the walls between successive pockets are movable with respect to the conveyor.

In an alternative embodiment, the grouping means of at least one of the M packing arrangements is a stacker comprising a conveyor with a number of compartments for a plurality of batches of articles. In one embodiment, the size of each compartment is adjustable for adjusting the size of the compartment to the size of the received batch. For the adjustment of the dimensions, the walls defining the compartment are movable relative to each other. In one embodiment, the front wall moves faster than the rear wall when loading the compartment, thereby increasing the size of the compartment. Alternatively or additionally, in one embodiment, after loading the compartment, the rear wall is moved towards the front wall for compressing the articles in the compartment. In one embodiment, when the rear wall is moved towards the front wall of the same compartment, a gap is formed between the rear wall and the front wall of the successive compartment. In other embodiments, the rear walls of successive compartments are coupled to the front walls of the compartments, and the successive compartments increase in size when the rear walls are moved toward the front walls of the same compartments. In a further embodiment, the movement of successive rear walls and/or successive front walls is coupled, wherein the size of the compartments is preferably different to match the size of the relevant batch.

Drawings

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Like elements are indicated by like reference numerals throughout the drawings.

Fig. 1 schematically shows a device for packaging hygiene articles, comprising a flow divider, a first packaging arrangement and a second packaging arrangement arranged downstream of the flow divider;

FIG. 2 schematically shows a stacker for the packaging arrangement of the apparatus of FIG. 1;

fig. 3 schematically shows an alternative embodiment of a stacker similar to fig. 2.

Detailed Description

Fig. 1 schematically shows a device 1 for packaging a sanitary product (5, see fig. 2), such as an absorbent product like a diaper, a sanitary towel, a panty liner, an incontinence pad or the like.

The device 1 shown in fig. 1 comprises a flow splitter 10, a first packaging arrangement 11 and a second packaging arrangement 12 arranged downstream of the flow splitter 10. In the embodiment shown, the first packing arrangement 11 comprises a first grouping means 21 and two packing means 31, 32. The second packaging arrangement 12 comprises a second grouping means 22 and two packaging means 33, 34. The control unit 100 is assigned to the diverter 10. The control unit 100 is in one embodiment part of a central control unit (not shown) arranged for monitoring and/or control of the apparatus 1. In other embodiments, a separate control unit 100 is assigned to the shunt 10.

A product stream (S) from a production line (not shown) is fed to the splitter 10. The diverter 10 is controllable such that by means of the diverter 10, a plurality of batches of articles A, B, C, D are alternately directed towards the first and

second packaging arrangements

11, 12, wherein, in the embodiment shown, the first and second batches a, B are fed to the first packaging arrangement 11 and the third and fourth batches C, D are fed to the second packaging arrangement 12. In the embodiment shown, at the first packaging arrangement 11, a first batch a is processed in the first packaging device 31 and a second batch B is processed in the second packaging device 32. Similarly, at the second packaging arrangement 12, a third batch C is processed in the third packaging device 33 and a fourth batch D is processed in the fourth packaging device 34. It should be understood that the terms "first," "second," "third," and "fourth" are used merely to distinguish between batches and/or devices, and should not be construed as defining any order of priority, hierarchy, and/or structural arrangement.

By means of the control unit 100, the number of articles in each batch A, B, C, D may be set independently, wherein each batch A, B, C, D comprises at least one article. The diverter 10 is controllable to alternately direct a plurality of batches of articles A, B, C, D in a repeating sequence of four batches a-C-B-D toward the first packaging arrangement 11 and the second packaging arrangement 12. Of course, the number of articles in each batch A, B, C, D may be selected to be the same. However, for greater flexibility, at least the first batch a of articles and the second batch B of articles processed in the first packaging device 11 may also be selected to be differently counted. For maximum flexibility, the third batch C of items and the fourth batch D of items processed in the second packaging device 11 may also be chosen to be different in count. To set the count, in one embodiment, the control unit 100 includes a human machine interface to allow a user to independently set the count for each batch A, B, C, D.

It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that additional packaging devices may be added to one or both of the

packaging arrangements

11, 12 and/or additional packaging arrangements may be added downstream of the diverter 10. In this case, the number of batches per sequence may be increased so that the count of articles may be adapted to each packaging device.

In the embodiment shown, two packing

arrangements

31, 32, 33, 34 are provided at each packing

arrangement

11, 12. In an alternative embodiment, a double-lane packaging device is provided at least at one of the

packaging arrangements

11, 12 instead of the two

packaging devices

31, 32, 33, 34. In a further embodiment, one

packaging arrangement

11, 12 comprises only one packaging device.

The number of articles in each batch A, B, C, D in one embodiment is equal to the number of articles to be packaged in one packaging unit at four

packaging units

31, 32, 33, 34. In other embodiments, successive batches to be fed to one of the four

packing devices

31, 32, 33, 34 are grouped and many batches are packed together at the

respective packing device

31, 32, 33, 34.

Fig. 2 schematically shows the grouping device 21 of the apparatus 1 of fig. 1, which in the embodiment shown is a stacker comprising a closed loop endless conveyor 210 with a number of pockets 212 for receiving a plurality of individual articles 5. It should be understood that in the preferred embodiment, the pockets 212 are disposed along the entire path of the conveyor 210, however, for clarity, only a number of pockets 212 are shown in FIG. 2.

As schematically shown, the articles 5 are inserted into the cavities 212. According to the present invention, articles 5 are supplied in two batches A, B with different counts. In the illustrated embodiment, lot a includes three supplies 5 and lot B includes four supplies 5. Furthermore, in the embodiment shown, an empty pocket 212 is provided in each case between successive batches A, B in the same sequence of batches A-C-B-D (see FIG. 1) and between successive batches B, A of a successive sequence of batches A-C-B-D.

Fig. 3 schematically illustrates an alternative embodiment of the grouping device 21 of the apparatus 1 of fig. 1, which in the illustrated embodiment is a stacker comprising a closed loop circular conveyor 210 with a number of

pocket compartments

213, 214, 215, 216, 217 for receiving batches A, B of articles 5. It should be understood that in the preferred embodiment, compartments 213, 214, 215, 216, 217 are disposed along the entire path of conveyor 210, however, for clarity, only a number of

compartments

213, 214, 215, 216, 217 are shown in FIG. 3. Each

compartment

213, 214, 215, 216, 217 is bounded by a front wall and a rear wall. In a preferred embodiment, the front wall and the rear wall are movable relative to each other. In an alternative embodiment, one or more additional separating walls are provided between the front and rear walls of a compartment to separate a batch of articles into two or more sub-batches. The sub-batches of a batch are then supplied to a common packaging unit. In yet another embodiment, successive batches A, B of different counts are inserted between the front and rear walls of the common compartment and supplied to the common packaging device.

The embodiment shown in fig. 3 allows the unused portion along the conveyor path to be minimised, particularly where the thickness products 5 are smaller in size than the pockets 212 of the stacker shown in fig. 2. Optimal positioning of batch A, B along the path is possible, particularly where both the rear and front walls of

compartments

213, 214, 215, 216, 217 are movable relative to the conveyor path. The gaps between

successive compartments

213, 214, 215, 216, 217 in one embodiment are selected to be equal to a set size. In the illustrated embodiment, the gap is variable. This allows moving two consecutive batches A, B closer to each other to push two batches A, B into one common bag and moving consecutive batches A, B further apart, especially when filling two bags at least partially simultaneously.

Claims

1. Device for packaging hygiene articles (5), comprising at least one diverter (10) and M packaging arrangements (11, 12) arranged downstream of the diverter (10), wherein M > =2, wherein each packaging arrangement (11, 12) comprises a grouping device (21) and at least one packaging device (31, 32), and wherein, by means of the at least one diverter (10), a plurality of batches (A, B, C, D) of articles (5) are alternately directed towards the packaging arrangements (11, 12), each batch (A, B, C, D) comprising at least one article (5), characterized in that,

a control unit (100) is provided, by means of which control unit (100) the at least one diverter (10) is controllable for alternately directing batches (A, B, C, D) of articles in a repeating sequence of M × N batches (a-C-B-D) towards the packaging arrangement (11, 12), wherein N > =2, wherein at least two batches of N batches (A, B) of a sequence of M × N batches (a-C-B-D) directed towards the first packaging arrangement (11) can be set to different counts.

2. Device for packaging sanitary products according to claim 1, characterized in that at least a first packaging arrangement (11) of the M packaging arrangements (11, 12) comprises at least two packaging devices (31, 32) or at least one double-lane packaging device, wherein the M packaging arrangements (11, 12) preferably each comprise at least two packaging devices (31, 32, 33, 34) or at least one double-lane packaging device.

3. Device for packaging sanitary products according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the device (1) comprises two packaging arrangements (11, 12) arranged downstream of one associated diverter (10).

4. Device for packaging hygienic articles according to any one of claims 1, 2 or 3, wherein the grouping device (21, 22) of at least one of the M packaging arrangements (11, 12) is a stacker comprising a conveyor, in particular a closed loop circulating conveyor (210), with a number of pockets (212) for receiving individual articles (5).

5. Device for packaging sanitary products according to claim 4, characterized in that at said palletizer (21) successive batches of the same sequence of batches (A-C-B-D) are separated by one or more empty pockets (212).

6. Device for packaging sanitary products according to claim 4 or 5, characterized in that at said palletizer (21) successive batches of successive series (A-C-B-D) are separated by one or more empty cavities (212).

7. Device for packaging sanitary products according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that the grouping means (21, 22) of at least one of the M packaging arrangements (11, 12) is a stacker comprising a conveyor with a number of compartments (213, 214, 215, 216, 217) for a batch (A, B, C, D) of products.

8. Method for packaging hygienic articles, wherein, by means of at least one diverter (10), a plurality of batches (A, B, C, D) of articles (5) are alternately directed towards M packaging arrangements (11, 12), each batch (A, B, C, D) comprising at least one article (5), characterized in that,

the diverter (10) alternately directs batches (A, B, C, D) of articles (5) in a repeating sequence of M × N batches (a-C-B-D) towards the M packaging arrangements (11, 12), where N > =2, wherein at least two of the N batches (A, B) of a sequence of M × N batches (a-C-B-D) directed towards the first packaging arrangement (11) differ in count.

9. Method for packaging hygienic articles according to claim 8, characterized in that the articles (5) are packaged at least at a first packaging arrangement (11) of the M packaging arrangements (11, 12) with at least two packaging devices (31, 32, 33, 34) or at least one double-pass packaging device, wherein in particular the articles (5) are packaged at each of the M packaging arrangements (11, 12) with at least two packaging devices (31, 32, 33, 34) or at least one double-pass packaging device.

10. Method for packaging sanitary articles according to claim 8 or 9, characterized in that at least two of the N batches of M × N batches of articles of one sequence directed towards a different one of the M packaging arrangements (11, 12) differ in count.

11. Method for packaging sanitary products according to any one of claims 8, 9 or 10, characterized in that the products (5) are grouped at least at one of the M packaging arrangements (11, 12) by means of a stacker comprising a conveyor, in particular a closed-loop circulating conveyor (210), with a number of pockets (212) for receiving individual products.

12. Method for packaging sanitary products according to claim 11, characterized in that at said palletizer successive batches (A, B) of the same sequence of batches (a-C-B-D) are separated by one or more empty pockets (212).

13. Method for packaging sanitary products according to claim 11 or 12, wherein at said palletizer successive batches (A, B) of successive series (a-C-B-D) of products are separated by one or more empty pockets (212).

14. Method for packaging sanitary products according to any one of claims 8 to 12, characterized in that the products (5) are grouped at least at one of the M packaging arrangements (11, 12) by means of a stacker comprising a conveyor with a number of compartments (212) for receiving batches (A, B, C, D) of products, in particular a closed-loop circulating conveyor (210).