EP3816056B1 - Hopper for a packer machine to pack smoking articles - Google Patents
Hopper for a packer machine to pack smoking articles Download PDFInfo
- Publication number
- EP3816056B1 EP3816056B1 EP20204753.6A EP20204753A EP3816056B1 EP 3816056 B1 EP3816056 B1 EP 3816056B1 EP 20204753 A EP20204753 A EP 20204753A EP 3816056 B1 EP3816056 B1 EP 3816056B1
- Authority
- EP
- European Patent Office
- Prior art keywords
- hopper
- cigarettes
- channel
- channels
- pockets
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
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Links
- 230000000391 smoking effect Effects 0.000 title claims description 12
- 235000019504 cigarettes Nutrition 0.000 description 80
- 230000033001 locomotion Effects 0.000 description 48
- 238000012546 transfer Methods 0.000 description 25
- 239000000463 material Substances 0.000 description 8
- 230000008859 change Effects 0.000 description 6
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- 239000000284 extract Substances 0.000 description 4
- 238000005520 cutting process Methods 0.000 description 2
- 238000011161 development Methods 0.000 description 2
- 238000000605 extraction Methods 0.000 description 2
- 230000005484 gravity Effects 0.000 description 2
- 238000003780 insertion Methods 0.000 description 2
- 230000037431 insertion Effects 0.000 description 2
- 238000012986 modification Methods 0.000 description 2
- 230000004048 modification Effects 0.000 description 2
- 238000012545 processing Methods 0.000 description 2
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- 238000004026 adhesive bonding Methods 0.000 description 1
- 230000000903 blocking effect Effects 0.000 description 1
- 235000019506 cigar Nutrition 0.000 description 1
- 238000002485 combustion reaction Methods 0.000 description 1
- 238000010276 construction Methods 0.000 description 1
- 230000008878 coupling Effects 0.000 description 1
- 238000010168 coupling process Methods 0.000 description 1
- 238000005859 coupling reaction Methods 0.000 description 1
- 125000004122 cyclic group Chemical group 0.000 description 1
- 238000004049 embossing Methods 0.000 description 1
- 230000002452 interceptive effect Effects 0.000 description 1
- 238000005304 joining Methods 0.000 description 1
- 239000007788 liquid Substances 0.000 description 1
- 230000007246 mechanism Effects 0.000 description 1
- 239000002184 metal Substances 0.000 description 1
- 239000007769 metal material Substances 0.000 description 1
- 230000003287 optical effect Effects 0.000 description 1
- 238000004806 packaging method and process Methods 0.000 description 1
- 238000012856 packing Methods 0.000 description 1
- 239000011087 paperboard Substances 0.000 description 1
- 238000005192 partition Methods 0.000 description 1
- 230000001360 synchronised effect Effects 0.000 description 1
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- 210000003462 vein Anatomy 0.000 description 1
Images
Classifications
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
- B65B—MACHINES, APPARATUS OR DEVICES FOR, OR METHODS OF, PACKAGING ARTICLES OR MATERIALS; UNPACKING
- B65B19/00—Packaging rod-shaped or tubular articles susceptible to damage by abrasion or pressure, e.g. cigarettes, cigars, macaroni, spaghetti, drinking straws or welding electrodes
- B65B19/02—Packaging cigarettes
- B65B19/04—Arranging, feeding, or orientating the cigarettes
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
- B65B—MACHINES, APPARATUS OR DEVICES FOR, OR METHODS OF, PACKAGING ARTICLES OR MATERIALS; UNPACKING
- B65B35/00—Supplying, feeding, arranging or orientating articles to be packaged
- B65B35/30—Arranging and feeding articles in groups
- B65B35/32—Arranging and feeding articles in groups by gravity
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
- B65B—MACHINES, APPARATUS OR DEVICES FOR, OR METHODS OF, PACKAGING ARTICLES OR MATERIALS; UNPACKING
- B65B35/00—Supplying, feeding, arranging or orientating articles to be packaged
- B65B35/30—Arranging and feeding articles in groups
- B65B35/44—Arranging and feeding articles in groups by endless belts or chains
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
- B65B—MACHINES, APPARATUS OR DEVICES FOR, OR METHODS OF, PACKAGING ARTICLES OR MATERIALS; UNPACKING
- B65B57/00—Automatic control, checking, warning, or safety devices
- B65B57/10—Automatic control, checking, warning, or safety devices responsive to absence, presence, abnormal feed, or misplacement of articles or materials to be packaged
- B65B57/14—Automatic control, checking, warning, or safety devices responsive to absence, presence, abnormal feed, or misplacement of articles or materials to be packaged and operating to control, or stop, the feed of articles or material to be packaged
Definitions
- the present invention relates to a hopper for a packer machine to pack smoking articles.
- the present invention is advantageously applied to a hopper for cigarettes, to which the following disclosure will make explicit reference without thereby losing generality.
- the hoppers are used to sort masses of smoking articles so as to be able to insert them, in groups or rows, inside a packing material to be used for producing a pack.
- a hopper of a known type has a vertical development and comprises: an inlet portion for entry of the cigarettes arranged in disorderly masses into the hopper, a plurality of outlet mouths, each of which comprises a plurality of vertical veins (or small channels) for discharge of the cigarettes from the hopper (with the aid of suitable extractor means), and a connection area, which connects the inlet portion to the outlet mouths and is delimited by side walls with which the cigarettes come into contact during their descent.
- the hopper described in patent applications WO2018215948A1 , WO2019049058A1 and WO2019049059A1 has a high descent speed of the cigarettes towards the outlet mouths without causing blockage i.e., unwanted obstructions of one or more outlet mouths caused by incorrect positioning, i.e., orientation, of one or more cigarettes.
- This result is obtained thanks to the presence of two distinct and specular small channels which are arranged respectively on the right and on the left and flow into a free chamber which is arranged immediately above the outlet mouths.
- Each channel is "V” shaped (arranged horizontally) and is delimited laterally by motor-driven conveyor belts; i.e., each section of each channel is internally delimited by an internal conveyor belt and is externally delimited by an external conveyor belt facing and opposite the internal conveyor belt.
- a unit for feeding cigarettes to a packer machine with hopper and independent channels arranged therein, is known from WO02083502 .
- the object of the present invention is to provide a hopper for a packer machine to pack smoking articles, which hopper has a reduced overall dimension without penalizing any of its performances.
- a hopper is provided for a packer machine to pack smoking articles, according to what is claimed in the attached claims.
- the pack 1 of cigarettes comprises an outer container 2 made of a cup-shaped cardboard or rigid paperboard and a pair of wraps 3 (one of which is better illustrated in Figure 4 ) housed side by side inside the container 2.
- the outer container 2 has an open upper end and is provided with a lid 4, which is cup-shaped and is hinged to the outer container 2 along a hinge 5 (illustrated in Figure 2 ) so as to rotate, relative to the outer container 2, between an open position (illustrated in Figure 3 ) and a closed position (illustrated in Figures 1 and 2 ) of the open upper end.
- the outer container 2 has a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape oriented according to a prevalently vertical development direction, is cup-shaped, and has an open upper end, a lower wall 6 opposite the open upper end, a front wall 7 and a rear wall 8 (in which the hinge 5 is obtained) parallel and opposite to one another, and two side walls 9 parallel and opposite to one another.
- Four longitudinal edges are defined between the front 7, rear 8 and side 9 walls of the outer container 2, while four transverse edges are defined between the walls 7, 8 and 9 and the lower wall 6 of the outer container 2.
- the lid 4 has a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape, is cup-shaped, and has an open lower end (facing the open upper end of the outer container 2 when the lid 4 is in the closed position), an upper wall 10 (which is parallel and opposite the lower wall 6 of the outer container 2 when the lid 4 is in the closed position), a front wall 11 (which is parallel to and aligned with the front wall 7 of the outer container 2 when the lid 4 is in the closed position), a rear wall 12 (which is parallel to and aligned with the rear wall 8 of the outer container 2 when the lid 4 is in the closed position and is hinged to the rear wall 8 of the outer container 2 along the hinge 5), and two side walls 13 parallel and opposite to one another (which are parallel and aligned, in particular coplanar and adjacent, to the side walls 9 of the outer container 2 when the lid 4 is in the closed position).
- Each pack 3 encloses a group 14 of cigarettes (illustrated in Figure 5 ) having a parallelepiped shape. Furthermore, each wrap 3 has, at the top and at the front, a removable portion 15 which is separated from the rest of the wrap 3 by a pre-weakened tear-off line 16; at the first opening of pack 1 of cigarettes, the user grabs and tears the removable portion 15 to access the underlying cigarettes of the group 14 of cigarettes.
- the pack 1 of cigarettes comprises, furthermore, a rigid collar 17, which is connected (by gluing) folded in a "U" shape inside the outer container 2 to partially protrude outside the open upper end of the outer container 2 and to engage a corresponding inner surface of the lid 4 when the lid 4 is arranged in the closed position.
- the collar 17 comprises a front wall 18, which is connected to the front wall 7 of the container 2 and is arranged in contact with the front wall 11 of the lid 4 when the lid 4 is in the closed position, and two side walls 19, which are connected to the side walls 9 of the container 2 and are arranged in contact with the side walls 13 of the lid 4 when the lid 4 is in the closed position.
- the front wall 18 of the collar 17 is provided with a pair of extensions 20 which protrude laterally to engage with interference the side walls 13 of the lid 4 when the lid 4 is in the closed position so as to keep the lid 4 in the closed position.
- the front wall 18 of the collar 17 is devoid of the extensions 20.
- each pack 3 is made by folding, around the group 14 of cigarettes, a wrapping sheet 21 provided on one side of the tear-off line 16, which delimits the removable portion 15.
- the outer container 2 and the lid 4 are made by folding a conventional blank 28.
- number 29 denotes as a whole a packer machine which is designed to produce the pack 1 of cigarettes described above and operates with intermittent motion (i.e., a motion which involves a cyclic alternation of motion steps and stop steps).
- the packer machine 29 comprises a frame 30 which rests on the ground by means of a plurality of feet (not illustrated) and is formed by the joining of two bodies 31 and 32 arranged side by side; in particular, the body 31 has a front wall and a side wall on which the operating members are arranged (partially described in the following) while the body 32 has (only) one front wall on which all the operating members are arranged (partially described in following).
- the packer machine 29 comprises a forming unit A in which the groups 14 of cigarettes are formed in succession, a wrapping unit B in which a respective wrapping sheet 21 is wrapped around each group 2 of cigarettes to make a wrap 3, a grouping unit C (coupling) in which the wraps 3 are grouped in pairs (coupled) to form the content of the packs 1 of cigarettes, and a wrapping unit D in which, around each pair of grouped (coupled) wraps 3 a collar 17 and a blank 28 are wound to form an outer container 2 provided with a lid 4.
- the forming unit A for forming the groups 14 of cigarettes comprises a hopper 33 provided with three outlet mouths 34 for simultaneously feeding three pairs of groups 14 of cigarettes (i.e., six groups 14 of cigarettes) to three respective pockets 35 of a forming conveyor 36 which supports a plurality of pockets 35 (each of which, as better described in the following, houses two groups 14 of cigarettes at a time).
- the forming conveyor 36 comprises an annular-shaped conveyor belt, which is wound around two end pulleys (one of which is motor-driven), supports the pockets 35 and moves at step in order to cyclically move the pockets 35 along a forming path P1 (illustrated in Figure 10 ).
- the forming path P1 develops between an inlet station S1, in which each group 14 of cigarettes is extracted from an outlet mouth 34 of the hopper 33 and enters a corresponding pocket 35, and a transfer station S2, in which each group 14 of cigarettes is extracted from the corresponding pocket 35.
- the wrapping unit B comprises a wrapping conveyor 37 designed to feed two side by side groups 14 of cigarettes (extracted together from a same pocket 35 of the forming conveyor 36 in the transfer station S2) along a straight and horizontal wrapping path P2.
- the wrapping path P2 extends from the transfer station S2, in which the wrapping conveyor 37 extracts two groups 14 of cigarettes at a time from the corresponding pocket 35 of the forming conveyor 36, passes through a feeding station S3, in which each group 14 of cigarettes is coupled to a corresponding wrapping sheet 21 which folds in a "U" shape around the group 14 of cigarettes, and ends in a transfer station S5, in which two side by side wraps 3 (each formed by a wrapping sheet 21 folded around a group 14 of cigarettes) leave the wrapping conveyor 37 (to enter the grouping unit C).
- the wrapping conveyor 37 comprises an annular-shaped conveyor belt 38, which is wound around two end pulleys (one of which is motor-driven) and supports a plurality of pairs of pushers 39, each of which is connected to the conveyor belt 38 by means of a support column (narrow, i.e., narrower than the pusher 39) and is designed to engage a rear wall of a corresponding group 14 of cigarettes to push the group 14 of cigarettes along the wrapping path P2.
- the wrapping conveyor 37 comprises two twin horizontal small channels, parallel and side by side, each delimited at least below and laterally (preferably also at the top in its initial part), is arranged along the wrapping path P2, and contains, on the inside, each group 14 of cigarettes while the group 14 of cigarettes advances along the wrapping path P2 pushed from the back by a corresponding pusher 39.
- each wrapping sheet 21 is arranged to be intercepted by a corresponding group 14 of cigarettes around which the wrapping sheet 21 folds in "U" shape; in other words, each group 14 of cigarettes by advancing along the wrapping path P2 intercepts a corresponding wrapping sheet 21 arranged in the feeding station S3, causing the wrapping sheet 21 to be folded in a "U" shape.
- the packer machine 29 comprises a feeding device 40 which cyclically feeds pairs of wrapping sheets 21 into the feeding station S3, i.e., arranges each pair of wrapping sheets 21 in the feeding station S3 so that the wrapping sheets 21 are intercepted by two corresponding groups 14 of cigarettes which advance along the wrapping path P2.
- the feeding device 40 comprises an unwinding station in which a strip 41 of wrapping material is unwound from a reel 42 and is fed (passing alongside the hopper 33) towards a cutting member 43 of known type which is arranged above the feeding station S3 and cyclically performs both a longitudinal cut of the strip 41 of wrapping material and a transverse cut of the strip 41 of wrapping material to separate pairs of wrapping sheets 21 from the strip 41 of wrapping material.
- the feeding device 40 could also comprise a processing member (for example an embosser) which is arranged between the unwinding station and the cutting member 43 and performs a processing (for example an embossing) of the strip 41 of wrapping material.
- the wrapping unit B comprises a pair of folding devices 44 which are arranged along the wrapping path P2 downstream of the feeding station S3 and are designed to fold two open side ends of each wrapping sheet 21 folded in a "U" shape around a corresponding group 14 of cigarettes to form a tubular wrap having an open rear end.
- each folding device 44 comprises only folding profiles (i.e., folding helices) which are fixed (i.e., completely devoid of moving parts) and are arranged on opposite sides of the wrapping path P2.
- the wrapping unit B comprises a pair of folding devices 45 which are arranged along the wrapping path P2 downstream of the folding devices 44 and are designed to complete the folding of each wrapping sheet 21 around the corresponding group 14 of cigarettes (and therefore to finish the production of the wrap 3) to close the open rear end (i.e., left open previously by the corresponding folding device 44).
- the wrapping path P2 begins in the transfer station S2 (in which the groups 14 of cigarettes enter the wrapping conveyor 37 two by two) and ends in the transfer station S5 (in which the wraps 3 leave the conveyor 37, two by two, to enter the grouping unit C).
- the packer machine 29 comprises a transfer conveyor 46 which receives the wraps 3 from the grouping unit C (as better described in the following) and feeds the wraps 3 along a straight transfer path P3 and perpendicular to the wrapping path P2 up to a transfer station S6 (in which the wraps 3 leave the transfer conveyor 46).
- the transfer conveyor 46 comprises an annular-shaped conveyor belt, which is wound around two end pulleys (one of which is motor-driven), supports a plurality of pockets 47 each suitable for housing a corresponding pair of wraps 3 side by side (grouped), and moves at step in order to cyclically move the pockets 47 along the transfer path P3 from the grouping unit C to the transfer station S6.
- the hopper 33 is designed to contain a compact mass of cigarettes (not illustrated) fed to one single upper inlet 48 of the hopper 33 by means of a horizontal feeding channel connected to a cigarette packaging machine (not illustrated).
- the hopper 33 within which the cigarettes, horizontally side by side, are fed transversely to their respective axes, comprises an upper part 49 and a lower part 50, both delimited at the front and at the rear by respective fixed vertical walls (i.e., devoid of moving parts).
- the lower part 50 of the hopper 33 comprises three equidistant lower outlet mouths 51 (better illustrated in Figure 13 ), which are closed at the bottom by respective horizontal bottom plates, are laterally delimited by respective side walls and are divided, on the inside, by a plurality of walls or partitions defining the small channels 52 within which the cigarettes are arranged in substantially vertical stacks.
- Each outlet mouth 51 is designed to form two side by side groups 14 of cigarettes which are extracted together from the outlet mouth 51.
- the upper part 49 of the hopper 33 is divided, starting from the upper inlet 48, into two independent channels 53 which are distinct, separate and side by side (the two channels 53 are arranged parallel and side by side to one another along their entire extension) ; the channels 53 have two respective initial segments 54 which are parallel and side by side to one another proceeding from top to bottom and two respective final segments 55 which are parallel and side by side to one another proceeding from top to bottom. Consequently, a wall of a channel 53 is adjacent to a wall of the other channel 53 along the entire extension of the channels 53.
- each channel 53 has a "V" shape arranged horizontally, (i.e., rotated by 90°), in which the two branches of the "V" are formed by the respective initial segment 54 and by the respective final segment 55.
- each channel 53 in each channel 53 the initial segment 54 has an inclination of 45° relative to the vertical and the final segment 55 has an inclination of 45° relative to the vertical opposite to the inclination of the initial segment 54; consequently, in each channel 53 the initial segment 54 is perpendicular (i.e., angled by 90 °) relative to the final segment 55.
- the final segments 55 lead into a chamber 56 which belongs to the lower part 50 of the hopper 33 and is arranged immediately above the outlet mouths 51.
- the structure of the upper part 49 of the hopper 33 has a substantially "zig-zag” conformation (i.e., both channels 53 form, together, a vertical structure with a “zig-zag” shape), in which the two channels 53 are arranged parallel and side by side to one another along their entire extension from the single upper inlet 48 (common to both channels 53) up to the chamber 56.
- Each segment 54 and 55 is delimited by two opposing conveyor belts 57 (i.e., arranged one in front of the other) and in which a conveyor 57 is arranged above the other conveyor 57, and positioned at a given distance from one another. other (i.e., the two conveyor belts 57 of each segment 54 or 55 are preferably parallel and one of them is arranged in the upper position and the other in the lower position).
- Each pair of conveyor belts 57 defines the opposite side walls of the corresponding segment 54 or 55 of the channel 53 against which the cylindrical side walls of the cigarettes rest.
- fixed profiles 58 can be interposed (i.e., fixed side boards that guide the advancement of the cigarettes) which are more or less triangular in shape and are preferably made up of a rigid metal or plastic profile.
- Each conveyor belt 57 comprises two end pulleys (one of which is in the upper position and the other is in the lower position) and a conveyor belt which is wound in a loop around the two end pulleys and is moved by the two end pulleys.
- an end pulley in each conveyor belt 57 an end pulley is motor-driven (i.e., it is connected to an actuator to be set in rotation) while the other end pulley is idle.
- each conveyor belt 57 comprises its own electric motor which is mechanically independent from the electric motors of the other conveyor belts 57; in this way, each conveyor belt 57 can potentially be driven at a different speed from the other conveyor belts 57.
- the two conveyor belts 57 of each segment 54 or 55 of the same channel 53 share the same electric motor which drives (by means of suitable mechanical transmissions) both conveyor belts 57; in this way, each segment 54 or 55 can potentially be driven at a different speed from the other segments 54 and 55.
- the four conveyor belts 57 of each channel 53 share the same electric motor which drives (by means of suitable mechanical transmissions) all four conveyor belts 57; in this way, each channel 53 can potentially be driven with a different speed from the other channel 53.
- the four conveyor belts 57 of the two initial segments 54 share the same electric motor which drives (by means of suitable mechanical transmissions) all four conveyor belts 57 and the four conveyor belts 57 of the two final segments 55 share the same electric motor which drives (by means of suitable mechanical transmissions) all four conveyor belts 57; in this way, the two initial segments 54 can potentially be operated with a different speed from the two final segments 55.
- the eight conveyor belts 57 of the two channels 53 share the same electric motor which drives (by means of suitable mechanical transmissions) all eight conveyor belts 57; in this way, all eight conveyor belts 57 of the two channels 53 must necessarily be operated at the same speed.
- the conveyor belts 57 have a continuous motion with variable speed (essentially depending on the hourly productivity of the packer machine, or on the number of packs 1 of cigarettes produced in the unit of time).
- the hopper 33 is provided with two filling sensors 59 (one for each channel 53) which detect the filling degree of the hopper 33 (particularly in the transition area between the upper part 49 and the lower part 50, i.e., at the end of the channels 53) and according to the filling level of the hopper 33, the advancement speed of the conveyor belts 57, which form the side walls of the channels 53, is adjusted.
- the hopper 33 is provided with speed sensors which detect (directly or indirectly) the descent speed of the cigarettes along the channels 53 and (also) according to the descent speed of the cigarettes along the channels 53, the advancement speed of the conveyor belts 57, which form the side walls of the channels 53, is adjusted.
- Each filling sensor 59 comprises a flexible belt 60 which is fixed (at least at one end) to a fixed side board of the hopper 33 and is free to be deformed by the presence of the cigarettes which descend along the hopper 33.
- each flexible belt 60 is fixed to a fixed side board of the hopper 33 only at one of its upper ends, while a lower end of the flexible belt 60 opposite the upper end is completely free (i.e., it has no mechanical constraints that impose a precise and predefined position); consequently, the lower end of each flexible belt 60 tends to descend (fall) downwards by gravity until it rests on the underlying cigarettes (when present).
- both ends of each flexible belt 60 are fixed to a fixed side board of the hopper 33 and therefore the flexible belt 60 has less freedom to deform.
- a cavity 61 is formed next to each flexible belt 60 which is arranged next to the flexible belt 60 and inside which the flexible belt 60 can be arranged under the thrust of the cigarettes present in the hopper 33; in particular, the upper end of each flexible belt 60 is fixed to an upper edge of the corresponding cavity 61.
- each flexible belt 60 When the chamber 56 is completely full of cigarettes, each flexible belt 60 is pushed into the corresponding cavity 61 by the cigarettes until it (almost) adheres to the wall of the cavity 61. Instead, when the chamber 56 is at least partially empty, each flexible belt 60 descends downwards by gravity until it gives the flexible belt 60 a substantially vertical configuration (as illustrated in Figure 12 ); obviously, depending on the filling degree of the chamber 56, each flexible belt 60 can assume all the possible configurations between the two extreme configurations corresponding to the completely empty chamber 56 and to the completely full chamber 56.
- Each flexible belt 60 can be formed for example by a net of metallic material (typically a mesh net), by a net of plastic material, or by a strip of plastic material; more generally, the flexible belt 60 can be made in any way that allows the flexible belt 60 to have sufficient flexibility to deform under the thrust of the cigarettes contained in a chamber 6 without, at the same time, the flexible belt 60 interfering with the downward movement of the cigarettes or that the flexible belt 60 can deform (damage) the cigarettes. In other words, it is the flexible belt 60 that must adapt to the shape of the cigarettes and not vice versa (i.e., the cigarettes must not change their shape under the thrust of the flexible belt 60).
- Each filling sensor 59 comprises a detector 62 (for example of the optical or proximity type) which is coupled to a corresponding flexible belt 60 and is designed to detect the position of the flexible belt 60.
- a detector 62 for example of the optical or proximity type
- the hopper 33 comprises a control unit which supervises the operation of the hopper 33 and drives both the conveyor belts 57, which form the side walls of the two channels 53, and the conveyors that adjust the entering of the cigarettes from the top into the hopper 33 for maintaining the filling degree of the chamber 56 (detected in real time by the filling sensors 59) in the proximity of a desired (optimal) value.
- the control unit adjusts in feedback the filling degree of the chamber 56 by using, as a feedback variable, the one measured by the filling sensors 59.
- the desired (optimal) value of the filling degree of the chamber 56 may not be constant, but may be variable according to the actual speed of the packer machine 29: generally (but not necessarily) the desired (optimal) value of the filling degree of the chamber 56 is smaller when the packer machine 29 is slower and is larger when the packer machine 29 is faster.
- FIG 14 illustrates, in detail, a pocket 35 of the forming conveyor 36; each pocket 35 comprises a support body 63 in which two side by side seats 64 are formed, each designed to receive a group 14 of cigarettes.
- a pocket 35 is stationary in front of an outlet mouth 51 of the hopper 33, a comb pusher (driven by a linear electric motor) which moves perpendicularly to the forming path P1 gathers together, from the outlet mouth 51, two side by side groups 14 of cigarettes and inserts them together into the two seats 64 of the pocket 35.
- Each pocket 35 comprises a base 65 on which the support body 63 is mounted and which is designed to be coupled by means of a dovetail joint with an underlying track 66 integral with the conveyor belt of the forming conveyor 36.
- a locking system is provided which binds the base 65 to the underlying track 66 so as to prevent the base 65 from sliding along the track 66 when the base 65 reaches the desired position; said locking system can be deactivated by acting on respective side levers 67 to remove the base 65.
- the disassembly of the pockets 35 designed for the old format and the subsequent assembly of the pockets 35 designed for the new format is particularly quick and simple.
- the grouping unit C is arranged between the wrapping conveyor 37 and the transfer conveyor 46, cyclically receives, from the wrapping conveyor 37 and in the transfer station S5, a pair of wraps 3 that are arranged at an inlet distance I (illustrated in Figure 17 ) from one another, brings (i.e. groups, couples) the two wraps 3 close together to arrange them at an outlet distance O (illustrated in Figure 17 ) smaller than the inlet distance I, and therefore releases the two grouped (coupled) wraps 3 to a pocket 47 of the transfer conveyor 46.
- the wrapping conveyor 37 cyclically feeds along the wrapping path P2 a pair of wraps 3 arranged together at the inlet distance I, while the transfer conveyor 46 feeds its own pockets 47 each containing a pair of grouped wraps 3 (i.e., arranged at the outlet distance O from one another) along the transfer path P3.
- the grouping unit C comprises four pockets 68, 69, 70 and 71, each of which is designed to house a respective wrap 3. Furthermore, the grouping unit C comprises two outlet stations S8 and S9 and an inlet station S7 arranged between the two outlet stations S8 and S9 (and arranged at the transfer station S5).
- the grouping unit C comprises an insertion device 72 (schematically illustrated in Figure 17 ), which is designed to simultaneously insert two wraps 3 received together from the wrapping conveyor 37 and arranged together at the inlet distance I into the pocket 68 and into the pocket 69 which are, together, in the inlet station S7 (as illustrated in Figures 17 , 18 and 19 ) or in the pocket 70 and 71 which are, together, in the inlet station S7 (as illustrated in Figures 21 , 22 , 23 and 24 ).
- an insertion device 72 (schematically illustrated in Figure 17 ), which is designed to simultaneously insert two wraps 3 received together from the wrapping conveyor 37 and arranged together at the inlet distance I into the pocket 68 and into the pocket 69 which are, together, in the inlet station S7 (as illustrated in Figures 17 , 18 and 19 ) or in the pocket 70 and 71 which are, together, in the inlet station S7 (as illustrated in Figures 21 , 22 , 23 and 24 ).
- the grouping unit C comprises an extraction device 73 (schematically illustrated in Figure 17 ), which is designed to simultaneously extract two wraps 3 arranged together at the outlet distance O from the pocket 68 and from the pocket 69 which are, together in the outlet station S8 (as illustrated in Figures 21 , 22 , 23 and 24 ) or from the pocket 70 and from the pocket 71 which are, together, in the outlet station S9 (as illustrated in Figures 17 , 18 and 19 ) that is opposite to the outlet station S8 relative to the inlet station S7.
- an extraction device 73 (schematically illustrated in Figure 17 ), which is designed to simultaneously extract two wraps 3 arranged together at the outlet distance O from the pocket 68 and from the pocket 69 which are, together in the outlet station S8 (as illustrated in Figures 21 , 22 , 23 and 24 ) or from the pocket 70 and from the pocket 71 which are, together, in the outlet station S9 (as illustrated in Figures 17 , 18 and 19 ) that is opposite to the outlet station S8 relative
- the grouping unit C comprises a movement device 74 (illustrated in Figure 15 and partially in Figure 16 ), which is designed to move the pocket 68 and the pocket 69 along a horizontal movement direction D1 between the inlet station S7 and the outlet station S8 and at the same time is designed to move the pocket 70 and the pocket 71 between the outlet station S9 and the inlet station S7; obviously, when the pocket 68 and the pocket 69 are located together in the inlet station S7 (as illustrated in Figures 17 , 18 and 19 ) the pocket 70 and the pocket 71 are located together in the outlet station S9 while when the pocket 68 and the pocket 69 are located together in the outlet station S8 (as illustrated in Figures 21 , 22 , 23 and 24 ), the pocket 70 and the pocket 71 are located together in the inlet station S7.
- a movement device 74 illustrated in Figure 15 and partially in Figure 16 , which is designed to move the pocket 68 and the pocket 69 along a horizontal movement direction D1 between the inlet station S7 and the outlet
- the inlet station S7 and the outlet stations S8 and S9 are aligned one with the other along the movement direction D1 and, as previously mentioned, the inlet station S7 is located between the two outlet stations S8 and S9.
- the four pockets 68, 69, 70 and 71 are mutually aligned along the movement direction D1; furthermore, the pocket 68 and the pocket 69 are arranged on one side while the pocket 70 and the pocket 71 are arranged on the opposite side so that the pocket 69 and the pocket 70 are located between the pocket 68 and the pocket 71 (i.e., the pockets 69 and 70 are located in the middle while pockets 68 and 71 are located at the ends).
- the movement device 74 comprises a rigid support element 75 (essentially a bar arranged horizontally along the movement direction D1) which is mounted axially slidable to move alternately back and forth along the movement direction D1; the support member 75 supports the pockets 69 and 70, i.e. the pockets 69 and 70 are rigidly fixed to the rigid support member 75 and therefore move together with the rigid support member 75 (i.e. the two pockets 69 and 70 always move synchronously one with the other).
- a rigid support element 75 essentially a bar arranged horizontally along the movement direction D1
- the support member 75 supports the pockets 69 and 70, i.e. the pockets 69 and 70 are rigidly fixed to the rigid support member 75 and therefore move together with the rigid support member 75 (i.e. the two pockets 69 and 70 always move synchronously one with the other).
- the movement device 74 comprises a rigid support element 76 (essentially a bar arranged horizontally along the movement direction D1) which is separate and independent from the support element 75, is mounted axially sliding to move alternately back and forth along the movement direction D1, and is arranged parallel to and alongside the support element 75; the support element 76 supports the pockets 68 and 71, i.e. the pockets 68 and 71 are rigidly fixed to the rigid support element 76 and then move together with the rigid support element 76 (i.e. the two pockets 68 and 71 always move synchronously one with the other).
- the two pockets 69 and 70 always have the same law of motion (imposed by the support element 75) which is different from the law of motion (imposed by the support element 76) of the two pockets 68 and 71 (that always have the same law of motion).
- the movement device 74 always moves the two support elements 75 and 76 along the movement direction D1 in the same direction and making the two support elements 75 and 76 travel respective differentiated strokes C1 and C2 (illustrated in Figures 20 and 25 ) i.e., by making the supporting elements 75 and 76 travel different distances.
- the movement device 74 makes the support element 75 (hence the pockets 69 and 70) travel a stroke C1 which is always greater in both directions relative to a stroke C2 travelled by the support element 76 (hence by the pockets 68 and 71).
- the movement device 74 comprises a drive member 77 which moves the support element 75 along the movement direction D1 alternatively in both directions, and a drive member 78 (substantially the twin of the drive member 77) which moves the support element 76 along the movement direction D1 alternately in both directions.
- the movement device 74 comprises one single common electric motor 79: the drive member 77 transmits the motion from the common electric motor 79 to the support element 75 and similarly the drive member 78 transmits the motion from the common electric motor 79 to the support element 76.
- the drive member 77 comprises a rocker arm 80 which is centrally hinged to a fixed frame 81 to rotate around a horizontal rotation axis 82 and is connected (hinged) to an upper end to the support element 75; similarly, the drive member 78 comprises a rocker arm 83 which is arranged alongside the rocker arm 80, is centrally hinged to the fixed frame 81 to rotate around a horizontal rotation axis 84 (parallel to the rotation axis 82) and is connected (hinged) at an upper end to the support element 76.
- the two rocker arms 80 and 83 are connected to one another by means of a connecting arm 85 to rotate together about the respective rotation axes 82 and 84; that is, the connecting arm 85 is hinged to the lower ends of the two rocker arms 80 and 83 (on the opposite side of the support elements 75 and 76 relative to the rotation elements 82 and 84) to make the two rocker arms 80 and 83 angularly integral to one another.
- the common electric motor 79 transmits the rotation movement only to the rocker arm 80 (which in turn transmits the rotation movement to the other rocker arm 83 by means of the connecting arm 85) by means of an eccentric arm 86 which is hinged to a lever 87 angularly integral with the rocker arm 80.
- the drive member 77 comprises a first electric motor and the drive member 78 comprises a second electric motor separate and independent from the first electric motor.
- the drive member 78 comprises a second electric motor separate and independent from the first electric motor.
- the insertion device 72 comprises two pushers 88 which are arranged at the inlet station S7 and are movable perpendicular to the movement direction D1 along a main and horizontal direction D2; moreover, the extraction device 73 comprises two pairs of pushers 89 which are arranged at the outlet stations S8 and S9 and are movable perpendicular to the movement direction D1 along the main and horizontal direction D2.
- the grouping unit C comprises: a rigid and common support element 90 which supports both the two pushers 88 of the inlet station S7, and the two pairs of pushers 89 of the outlet stations S8 and S9; in this way all the pushers 88 and 89 always move together with the same law of motion.
- the grouping unit C comprises a movement device 91 (partially illustrated in Figure 16 and using an articulated quadrilateral) which alternately moves the support element 90 both along the main and horizontal direction D2 perpendicular to the movement direction D1, and along a vertical secondary direction D3, perpendicular to the main direction D2 and perpendicular to the movement direction D1.
- the movement device 91 causes the support element 90 (hence the pushers 88 and 89 carried by the support element 90) to perform a working stroke (in which the pushers 88 and 89 push respective wraps 3) by moving the support element 90 only along the main direction D2 and causes the support element 90 to perform a return stroke (in which the pushers 88 and 89 do not touch any wrap 3) moving the support element 90 in the secondary direction D3 and downwards, then in the main direction D2 with the opposite direction relative to the working stroke, and finally in the secondary direction D3 and upwards.
- the support element 90 (therefore the pushers 88 and 89 carried by the support element 90) is lowered in order not to interfere with the wraps 3.
- the pockets 68, 69, 70 and 71 have a slot at the bottom through which a thin stem passes through, which connects the pushers 88 and 89 to the rest of the support element 90.
- the movement imparted to the support element 90 by the movement device 91 could also be used to complete the folding of the wraps 3; i.e., folding elements are also connected to the support element 90 which, due to the movement of the support element 90, perform terminal folding operations on the wraps 3.
- the pockets 68 and 69 are stationary and are located in the inlet station S7 in alignment with the wrapping conveyor 37 and therefore ready to receive two wraps 3 coming from the wrapping conveyor 37 and are arranged one with respect to the other at the inlet distance I; at the same time, the pockets 70 and 71 are stationary and are in the outlet station S9 in alignment with a pocket 47 of the transfer conveyor 46 and therefore ready to release two wraps 3 grouped in the pocket 47.
- the pushers 88 and 89 complete their working stroke: the pushers 88 insert two wraps 3 which are arranged one with respect to the other at the inlet distance I into the pockets 68 and 69 which are located in the inlet station S7 and at the same time the pushers 89 extract two wraps 3 which are arranged one with respect to the other at the outlet distance O from the pockets 70 and 71, which are located in the outlet station S9 and insert the two wraps 3 into a pocket 47 of the transfer conveyor 46.
- the two pushers 89 of the outlet station S8 also complete their working stroke which is however done on empty since there are no pockets 68 and 69 in the outlet station S8.
- the pockets 70 and 71 are stationary and are in the inlet station in alignment with the wrapping conveyor 37 and therefore ready to receive two wraps 3 which are arranged one with respect to the other at the inlet distance I and come from the wrapping conveyor 37; at the same time, the pockets 68 and 69 are stationary and are in the outlet station S8 in alignment with a pocket 47 of the transfer conveyor 46 and therefore ready to release two grouped wraps 3 into the pocket 47 (i.e. two wraps 3 which are arranged one with respect to the other at the outlet distance O).
- the pushers 88 and 89 complete their working stroke: the pushers 88 insert two wraps 3 which are arranged one with respect to the other at the inlet distance I into the pockets 70 and 71 which are located in the inlet station S7 and, at the same time, the pushers 89 extract two wraps 3 which are arranged one with respect to the other at the outlet distance O from the pockets 68 and 69, which are located in the outlet station S8 and insert the two wraps 3 into a pocket 47 of the transfer conveyor 46.
- the two pushers 89 of the outlet station S9 also complete their work stroke which is however done on empty since there are no pockets 70 and 71 in the outlet station S8.
- the transfer conveyor 46 performs its own advancement steps to move the filled pockets 47 (i.e., containing groups of two wraps 3) from the outlet stations S8 and S9 and towards the transfer station S6 and replace the filled pockets 47 in the outlet stations S8 and S9 with as many empty pockets 47.
- the movement of the various components (wrapping wheels, feed conveyors, pushers, mobile folders...) of the packer machine 29 is carried out by means of respective electric motors which are mechanically independent from one another and are synchronized (i.e., moved at step) in a virtual way (i.e., not by means of a physical constraint, but by means of a control constraint).
- respective electric motors which are mechanically independent from one another and are synchronized (i.e., moved at step) in a virtual way (i.e., not by means of a physical constraint, but by means of a control constraint).
- an electric motor is considered as the reference ( "master” ) and all the other electric motors ( “slave” ) , which follow the position of the reference electric motor ( “master” ) .
- a rotating electric motor which rotates a pinion which meshes with a rack; that is, a "rack and pinion” mechanism is used to transform the rotary movement generated by the electric motor into a linear movement.
- the hopper 33 described above has numerous advantages.
- the hopper 33 described above has a particularly reduced transverse size.
- the hopper 33 described above guarantees a high average descent speed of the cigarettes (i.e., a high number of groups 14 of cigarettes which can be extracted in a unit of time) while presenting a low risk of jamming (i.e., of badly positioned cigarettes inside the hopper 33 with consequent slowdown or blocking of the descent of the other cigarettes).
- the hopper 33 described above is simple and inexpensive to implement with respect to a similar known hopper, since it requires few and easy modifications for its construction which do not entail significant cost increases.
- the grouping unit C described above also has numerous advantages.
- the grouping unit C described above allows you to operate at a high production speed (i.e., with a high number of wraps 3 produced in the unit of time) without damaging the wraps 3.
- the grouping unit C described above allows to change the format of the packs 1 of cigarettes in a relatively simple and fast way.
- the grouping unit C described above is compact and has optimal accessibility to all its components (a particularly useful feature when performing a format change).
- the embodiment illustrated in the attached figures refers to the production of a pack of cigarettes, but the present invention can be applied without substantial modifications, to the production of any other type of pack of smoking articles (for example a pack of cigars, a pack of liquid vaporizing type e-cigarettes, a pack of new generation cigarettes without tobacco combustion ).
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- Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
- Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
- Wrapping Of Specific Fragile Articles (AREA)
- Basic Packing Technique (AREA)
Description
- The present invention relates to a hopper for a packer machine to pack smoking articles.
- The present invention is advantageously applied to a hopper for cigarettes, to which the following disclosure will make explicit reference without thereby losing generality.
- As is known, in the production of packs of cigarettes the hoppers are used to sort masses of smoking articles so as to be able to insert them, in groups or rows, inside a packing material to be used for producing a pack.
- A hopper of a known type has a vertical development and comprises: an inlet portion for entry of the cigarettes arranged in disorderly masses into the hopper, a plurality of outlet mouths, each of which comprises a plurality of vertical veins (or small channels) for discharge of the cigarettes from the hopper (with the aid of suitable extractor means), and a connection area, which connects the inlet portion to the outlet mouths and is delimited by side walls with which the cigarettes come into contact during their descent.
- To date, the need to increase the productivity of packer machines to pack cigarettes is increasingly felt. Therefore, it is necessary to increase the descent speed of the cigarettes within the hoppers towards the outlet mouths.
- The hopper described in patent applications
WO2018215948A1 ,WO2019049058A1 andWO2019049059A1 has a high descent speed of the cigarettes towards the outlet mouths without causing blockage i.e., unwanted obstructions of one or more outlet mouths caused by incorrect positioning, i.e., orientation, of one or more cigarettes. This result is obtained thanks to the presence of two distinct and specular small channels which are arranged respectively on the right and on the left and flow into a free chamber which is arranged immediately above the outlet mouths. Each channel is "V" shaped (arranged horizontally) and is delimited laterally by motor-driven conveyor belts; i.e., each section of each channel is internally delimited by an internal conveyor belt and is externally delimited by an external conveyor belt facing and opposite the internal conveyor belt. - A unit for feeding cigarettes to a packer machine with hopper and independent channels arranged therein, is known from
WO02083502 - The object of the present invention is to provide a hopper for a packer machine to pack smoking articles, which hopper has a reduced overall dimension without penalizing any of its performances.
- According to the present invention, a hopper is provided for a packer machine to pack smoking articles, according to what is claimed in the attached claims.
- The claims describe embodiments of the present invention forming an integral part of the present description.
- The present invention will now be described with reference to the attached drawings, which illustrate a non-limiting embodiment, wherein:
-
Figure 1 is a front perspective view and in a closed configuration of a rigid pack of cigarettes; -
Figure 2 is a rear perspective view of the pack of cigarettes ofFigure 1 in a closed configuration; -
Figure 3 is a front perspective view of the pack of cigarettes ofFigure 1 in an open configuration; -
Figure 4 is a front perspective view of a wrap of the pack ofFigure 1 ; -
Figure 5 is a perspective view of a group of cigarettes contained in the wrap ofFigure 4 ; -
Figure 6 is a plan view of a wrapping sheet used to make the wrap ofFigure 4 ; -
Figure 7 is a plan view of a collar of the pack of cigarettes ofFigure 1 ; -
Figure 8 is a plan view of a blank used to make an outer container provided with a hinged lid of the pack of cigarettes ofFigure 1 ; -
Figure 9 is a perspective view, schematic and with parts removed for clarity of a packer machine which produces the pack of cigarettes ofFigure 1 and is made according to the present invention; -
Figure 10 is a schematic and plan view of part of the packer machine ofFigure 9 ; -
Figure 11 is a schematic and side view of part of the packer machine ofFigure 9 ; -
Figure 12 is a front view of a hopper of the packer machine ofFigure 9 ; -
Figure 13 is a front view on an enlarged scale of a detail of the hopper ofFigure 13 ; -
Figure 14 is a perspective view of a pocket of a forming conveyor of the packer machine ofFigure 9 ; -
Figures 15 and16 are two different perspective views of a grouping unit of the packer machine ofFigure 9 with the removal of parts for clarity; and -
Figures 17-25 schematically illustrate the operation of the grouping unit ofFigures 15 and16 . - In
Figures 1, 2 and3 number 1 denotes as a whole a rigid "twin" pack of cigarettes. The pack 1 of cigarettes comprises anouter container 2 made of a cup-shaped cardboard or rigid paperboard and a pair of wraps 3 (one of which is better illustrated inFigure 4 ) housed side by side inside thecontainer 2. - The
outer container 2 has an open upper end and is provided with alid 4, which is cup-shaped and is hinged to theouter container 2 along a hinge 5 (illustrated inFigure 2 ) so as to rotate, relative to theouter container 2, between an open position (illustrated inFigure 3 ) and a closed position (illustrated inFigures 1 and 2 ) of the open upper end. Theouter container 2 has a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape oriented according to a prevalently vertical development direction, is cup-shaped, and has an open upper end, alower wall 6 opposite the open upper end, afront wall 7 and a rear wall 8 (in which thehinge 5 is obtained) parallel and opposite to one another, and twoside walls 9 parallel and opposite to one another. Four longitudinal edges are defined between thefront 7, rear 8 andside 9 walls of theouter container 2, while four transverse edges are defined between thewalls lower wall 6 of theouter container 2. - The
lid 4 has a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape, is cup-shaped, and has an open lower end (facing the open upper end of theouter container 2 when thelid 4 is in the closed position), an upper wall 10 (which is parallel and opposite thelower wall 6 of theouter container 2 when thelid 4 is in the closed position), a front wall 11 (which is parallel to and aligned with thefront wall 7 of theouter container 2 when thelid 4 is in the closed position), a rear wall 12 (which is parallel to and aligned with therear wall 8 of theouter container 2 when thelid 4 is in the closed position and is hinged to therear wall 8 of theouter container 2 along the hinge 5), and twoside walls 13 parallel and opposite to one another (which are parallel and aligned, in particular coplanar and adjacent, to theside walls 9 of theouter container 2 when thelid 4 is in the closed position). Four longitudinal edges are defined between thefront 11, rear 12 andside 13 walls of thelid 4, while four transverse edges are defined between thewalls upper wall 10 of thelid 4. The longitudinal edges and the transverse edges of thelid 4 are parallel to and aligned with the corresponding longitudinal and transverse edges of theouter container 2 when thelid 4 is in the closed position. - Each
pack 3 encloses agroup 14 of cigarettes (illustrated inFigure 5 ) having a parallelepiped shape. Furthermore, eachwrap 3 has, at the top and at the front, aremovable portion 15 which is separated from the rest of thewrap 3 by a pre-weakened tear-offline 16; at the first opening of pack 1 of cigarettes, the user grabs and tears theremovable portion 15 to access the underlying cigarettes of thegroup 14 of cigarettes. - According to what is illustrated in
Figures 3 and7 , the pack 1 of cigarettes comprises, furthermore, arigid collar 17, which is connected (by gluing) folded in a "U" shape inside theouter container 2 to partially protrude outside the open upper end of theouter container 2 and to engage a corresponding inner surface of thelid 4 when thelid 4 is arranged in the closed position. Thecollar 17 comprises afront wall 18, which is connected to thefront wall 7 of thecontainer 2 and is arranged in contact with thefront wall 11 of thelid 4 when thelid 4 is in the closed position, and twoside walls 19, which are connected to theside walls 9 of thecontainer 2 and are arranged in contact with theside walls 13 of thelid 4 when thelid 4 is in the closed position. According to the embodiment illustrated in the attached figures, thefront wall 18 of thecollar 17 is provided with a pair ofextensions 20 which protrude laterally to engage with interference theside walls 13 of thelid 4 when thelid 4 is in the closed position so as to keep thelid 4 in the closed position. According to a different embodiment not illustrated, thefront wall 18 of thecollar 17 is devoid of theextensions 20. - According to what is illustrated in
Figure 6 , eachpack 3 is made by folding, around thegroup 14 of cigarettes, awrapping sheet 21 provided on one side of the tear-offline 16, which delimits theremovable portion 15. - As illustrated in
Figure 8 , theouter container 2 and thelid 4 are made by folding a conventional blank 28. - In
Figure 9 ,number 29 denotes as a whole a packer machine which is designed to produce the pack 1 of cigarettes described above and operates with intermittent motion (i.e., a motion which involves a cyclic alternation of motion steps and stop steps). - The
packer machine 29 comprises aframe 30 which rests on the ground by means of a plurality of feet (not illustrated) and is formed by the joining of twobodies body 31 has a front wall and a side wall on which the operating members are arranged (partially described in the following) while thebody 32 has (only) one front wall on which all the operating members are arranged (partially described in following). - The
packer machine 29 comprises a forming unit A in which thegroups 14 of cigarettes are formed in succession, a wrapping unit B in which arespective wrapping sheet 21 is wrapped around eachgroup 2 of cigarettes to make awrap 3, a grouping unit C (coupling) in which thewraps 3 are grouped in pairs (coupled) to form the content of the packs 1 of cigarettes, and a wrapping unit D in which, around each pair of grouped (coupled) wraps 3 acollar 17 and a blank 28 are wound to form anouter container 2 provided with alid 4. - The forming unit A for forming the
groups 14 of cigarettes comprises ahopper 33 provided with threeoutlet mouths 34 for simultaneously feeding three pairs ofgroups 14 of cigarettes (i.e., sixgroups 14 of cigarettes) to threerespective pockets 35 of a formingconveyor 36 which supports a plurality of pockets 35 (each of which, as better described in the following, houses twogroups 14 of cigarettes at a time). The formingconveyor 36 comprises an annular-shaped conveyor belt, which is wound around two end pulleys (one of which is motor-driven), supports thepockets 35 and moves at step in order to cyclically move thepockets 35 along a forming path P1 (illustrated inFigure 10 ). As better illustrated inFigure 10 , the forming path P1 develops between an inlet station S1, in which eachgroup 14 of cigarettes is extracted from anoutlet mouth 34 of thehopper 33 and enters acorresponding pocket 35, and a transfer station S2, in which eachgroup 14 of cigarettes is extracted from thecorresponding pocket 35. - As illustrated in
Figure 10 , the wrapping unit B comprises awrapping conveyor 37 designed to feed two side byside groups 14 of cigarettes (extracted together from asame pocket 35 of the formingconveyor 36 in the transfer station S2) along a straight and horizontal wrapping path P2. In particular, the wrapping path P2 extends from the transfer station S2, in which the wrappingconveyor 37 extracts twogroups 14 of cigarettes at a time from thecorresponding pocket 35 of the formingconveyor 36, passes through a feeding station S3, in which eachgroup 14 of cigarettes is coupled to acorresponding wrapping sheet 21 which folds in a "U" shape around thegroup 14 of cigarettes, and ends in a transfer station S5, in which two side by side wraps 3 (each formed by awrapping sheet 21 folded around agroup 14 of cigarettes) leave the wrapping conveyor 37 (to enter the grouping unit C). - As illustrated in
Figure 11 , thewrapping conveyor 37 comprises an annular-shaped conveyor belt 38, which is wound around two end pulleys (one of which is motor-driven) and supports a plurality of pairs ofpushers 39, each of which is connected to theconveyor belt 38 by means of a support column (narrow, i.e., narrower than the pusher 39) and is designed to engage a rear wall of acorresponding group 14 of cigarettes to push thegroup 14 of cigarettes along the wrapping path P2. In other words, thewrapping conveyor 37 comprises two twin horizontal small channels, parallel and side by side, each delimited at least below and laterally (preferably also at the top in its initial part), is arranged along the wrapping path P2, and contains, on the inside, eachgroup 14 of cigarettes while thegroup 14 of cigarettes advances along the wrapping path P2 pushed from the back by acorresponding pusher 39. - Along the wrapping path P2 (and therefore at the wrapping conveyor 37) a feeding station S3 is provided, in which each
wrapping sheet 21 is arranged to be intercepted by acorresponding group 14 of cigarettes around which thewrapping sheet 21 folds in "U" shape; in other words, eachgroup 14 of cigarettes by advancing along the wrapping path P2 intercepts acorresponding wrapping sheet 21 arranged in the feeding station S3, causing thewrapping sheet 21 to be folded in a "U" shape. - The
packer machine 29 comprises afeeding device 40 which cyclically feeds pairs ofwrapping sheets 21 into the feeding station S3, i.e., arranges each pair ofwrapping sheets 21 in the feeding station S3 so that thewrapping sheets 21 are intercepted by twocorresponding groups 14 of cigarettes which advance along the wrapping path P2. As illustrated inFigure 9 , thefeeding device 40 comprises an unwinding station in which astrip 41 of wrapping material is unwound from areel 42 and is fed (passing alongside the hopper 33) towards acutting member 43 of known type which is arranged above the feeding station S3 and cyclically performs both a longitudinal cut of thestrip 41 of wrapping material and a transverse cut of thestrip 41 of wrapping material to separate pairs ofwrapping sheets 21 from thestrip 41 of wrapping material. Thefeeding device 40 could also comprise a processing member (for example an embosser) which is arranged between the unwinding station and thecutting member 43 and performs a processing (for example an embossing) of thestrip 41 of wrapping material. - As illustrated in
Figure 10 , the wrapping unit B comprises a pair offolding devices 44 which are arranged along the wrapping path P2 downstream of the feeding station S3 and are designed to fold two open side ends of each wrappingsheet 21 folded in a "U" shape around a correspondinggroup 14 of cigarettes to form a tubular wrap having an open rear end. Preferably, eachfolding device 44 comprises only folding profiles (i.e., folding helices) which are fixed (i.e., completely devoid of moving parts) and are arranged on opposite sides of the wrapping path P2. - As illustrated in
Figure 10 , the wrapping unit B comprises a pair offolding devices 45 which are arranged along the wrapping path P2 downstream of thefolding devices 44 and are designed to complete the folding of each wrappingsheet 21 around the correspondinggroup 14 of cigarettes (and therefore to finish the production of the wrap 3) to close the open rear end (i.e., left open previously by the corresponding folding device 44). - The wrapping path P2 begins in the transfer station S2 (in which the
groups 14 of cigarettes enter the wrappingconveyor 37 two by two) and ends in the transfer station S5 (in which thewraps 3 leave theconveyor 37, two by two, to enter the grouping unit C). As illustrated inFigure 9 , thepacker machine 29 comprises atransfer conveyor 46 which receives thewraps 3 from the grouping unit C (as better described in the following) and feeds thewraps 3 along a straight transfer path P3 and perpendicular to the wrapping path P2 up to a transfer station S6 (in which thewraps 3 leave the transfer conveyor 46). Thetransfer conveyor 46 comprises an annular-shaped conveyor belt, which is wound around two end pulleys (one of which is motor-driven), supports a plurality ofpockets 47 each suitable for housing a corresponding pair ofwraps 3 side by side (grouped), and moves at step in order to cyclically move thepockets 47 along the transfer path P3 from the grouping unit C to the transfer station S6. - As illustrated in
Figures 12 and13 , thehopper 33 is designed to contain a compact mass of cigarettes (not illustrated) fed to one singleupper inlet 48 of thehopper 33 by means of a horizontal feeding channel connected to a cigarette packaging machine (not illustrated). Thehopper 33, within which the cigarettes, horizontally side by side, are fed transversely to their respective axes, comprises anupper part 49 and alower part 50, both delimited at the front and at the rear by respective fixed vertical walls (i.e., devoid of moving parts). - The
lower part 50 of thehopper 33 comprises three equidistant lower outlet mouths 51 (better illustrated inFigure 13 ), which are closed at the bottom by respective horizontal bottom plates, are laterally delimited by respective side walls and are divided, on the inside, by a plurality of walls or partitions defining thesmall channels 52 within which the cigarettes are arranged in substantially vertical stacks. Eachoutlet mouth 51 is designed to form two side byside groups 14 of cigarettes which are extracted together from theoutlet mouth 51. - The
upper part 49 of thehopper 33 is divided, starting from theupper inlet 48, into twoindependent channels 53 which are distinct, separate and side by side (the twochannels 53 are arranged parallel and side by side to one another along their entire extension) ; thechannels 53 have two respectiveinitial segments 54 which are parallel and side by side to one another proceeding from top to bottom and two respectivefinal segments 55 which are parallel and side by side to one another proceeding from top to bottom. Consequently, a wall of achannel 53 is adjacent to a wall of theother channel 53 along the entire extension of thechannels 53. In other words, eachchannel 53 has a "V" shape arranged horizontally, (i.e., rotated by 90°), in which the two branches of the "V" are formed by the respectiveinitial segment 54 and by the respectivefinal segment 55. According to the (non-limiting) embodiment illustrated inFigure 12 , in eachchannel 53 theinitial segment 54 has an inclination of 45° relative to the vertical and thefinal segment 55 has an inclination of 45° relative to the vertical opposite to the inclination of theinitial segment 54; consequently, in eachchannel 53 theinitial segment 54 is perpendicular (i.e., angled by 90 °) relative to thefinal segment 55. - The
final segments 55 lead into achamber 56 which belongs to thelower part 50 of thehopper 33 and is arranged immediately above theoutlet mouths 51. - To summarize, the structure of the
upper part 49 of thehopper 33 has a substantially "zig-zag" conformation (i.e., bothchannels 53 form, together, a vertical structure with a "zig-zag" shape), in which the twochannels 53 are arranged parallel and side by side to one another along their entire extension from the single upper inlet 48 (common to both channels 53) up to thechamber 56. - Each
segment conveyor 57 is arranged above theother conveyor 57, and positioned at a given distance from one another. other (i.e., the twoconveyor belts 57 of eachsegment conveyor belts 57 defines the opposite side walls of the correspondingsegment channel 53 against which the cylindrical side walls of the cigarettes rest. - Between the
various conveyor belts 57 fixedprofiles 58 can be interposed (i.e., fixed side boards that guide the advancement of the cigarettes) which are more or less triangular in shape and are preferably made up of a rigid metal or plastic profile. - Each
conveyor belt 57 comprises two end pulleys (one of which is in the upper position and the other is in the lower position) and a conveyor belt which is wound in a loop around the two end pulleys and is moved by the two end pulleys. According to a preferred (but not limiting) embodiment, in eachconveyor belt 57 an end pulley is motor-driven (i.e., it is connected to an actuator to be set in rotation) while the other end pulley is idle. - According to a possible embodiment, each
conveyor belt 57 comprises its own electric motor which is mechanically independent from the electric motors of theother conveyor belts 57; in this way, eachconveyor belt 57 can potentially be driven at a different speed from theother conveyor belts 57. According to an alternative embodiment, the twoconveyor belts 57 of eachsegment same channel 53 share the same electric motor which drives (by means of suitable mechanical transmissions) bothconveyor belts 57; in this way, eachsegment other segments conveyor belts 57 of eachchannel 53 share the same electric motor which drives (by means of suitable mechanical transmissions) all fourconveyor belts 57; in this way, eachchannel 53 can potentially be driven with a different speed from theother channel 53. According to an alternative embodiment, the fourconveyor belts 57 of the twoinitial segments 54 share the same electric motor which drives (by means of suitable mechanical transmissions) all fourconveyor belts 57 and the fourconveyor belts 57 of the twofinal segments 55 share the same electric motor which drives (by means of suitable mechanical transmissions) all fourconveyor belts 57; in this way, the twoinitial segments 54 can potentially be operated with a different speed from the twofinal segments 55. According to an alternative embodiment, the eightconveyor belts 57 of the twochannels 53 share the same electric motor which drives (by means of suitable mechanical transmissions) all eightconveyor belts 57; in this way, all eightconveyor belts 57 of the twochannels 53 must necessarily be operated at the same speed. - Preferably, the
conveyor belts 57 have a continuous motion with variable speed (essentially depending on the hourly productivity of the packer machine, or on the number of packs 1 of cigarettes produced in the unit of time). - According to a preferred embodiment, the
hopper 33 is provided with two filling sensors 59 (one for each channel 53) which detect the filling degree of the hopper 33 (particularly in the transition area between theupper part 49 and thelower part 50, i.e., at the end of the channels 53) and according to the filling level of thehopper 33, the advancement speed of theconveyor belts 57, which form the side walls of thechannels 53, is adjusted. In combination or alternatively, thehopper 33 is provided with speed sensors which detect (directly or indirectly) the descent speed of the cigarettes along thechannels 53 and (also) according to the descent speed of the cigarettes along thechannels 53, the advancement speed of theconveyor belts 57, which form the side walls of thechannels 53, is adjusted. - Each filling
sensor 59 comprises aflexible belt 60 which is fixed (at least at one end) to a fixed side board of thehopper 33 and is free to be deformed by the presence of the cigarettes which descend along thehopper 33. In the embodiment illustrated inFigure 12 , eachflexible belt 60 is fixed to a fixed side board of thehopper 33 only at one of its upper ends, while a lower end of theflexible belt 60 opposite the upper end is completely free (i.e., it has no mechanical constraints that impose a precise and predefined position); consequently, the lower end of eachflexible belt 60 tends to descend (fall) downwards by gravity until it rests on the underlying cigarettes (when present). According to a different embodiment not illustrated, both ends of eachflexible belt 60 are fixed to a fixed side board of thehopper 33 and therefore theflexible belt 60 has less freedom to deform. - A
cavity 61 is formed next to eachflexible belt 60 which is arranged next to theflexible belt 60 and inside which theflexible belt 60 can be arranged under the thrust of the cigarettes present in thehopper 33; in particular, the upper end of eachflexible belt 60 is fixed to an upper edge of the correspondingcavity 61. - When the
chamber 56 is completely full of cigarettes, eachflexible belt 60 is pushed into the correspondingcavity 61 by the cigarettes until it (almost) adheres to the wall of thecavity 61. Instead, when thechamber 56 is at least partially empty, eachflexible belt 60 descends downwards by gravity until it gives the flexible belt 60 a substantially vertical configuration (as illustrated inFigure 12 ); obviously, depending on the filling degree of thechamber 56, eachflexible belt 60 can assume all the possible configurations between the two extreme configurations corresponding to the completelyempty chamber 56 and to the completelyfull chamber 56. - Each
flexible belt 60 can be formed for example by a net of metallic material (typically a mesh net), by a net of plastic material, or by a strip of plastic material; more generally, theflexible belt 60 can be made in any way that allows theflexible belt 60 to have sufficient flexibility to deform under the thrust of the cigarettes contained in achamber 6 without, at the same time, theflexible belt 60 interfering with the downward movement of the cigarettes or that theflexible belt 60 can deform (damage) the cigarettes. In other words, it is theflexible belt 60 that must adapt to the shape of the cigarettes and not vice versa (i.e., the cigarettes must not change their shape under the thrust of the flexible belt 60). - Each filling
sensor 59 comprises a detector 62 (for example of the optical or proximity type) which is coupled to a correspondingflexible belt 60 and is designed to detect the position of theflexible belt 60. - The
hopper 33 comprises a control unit which supervises the operation of thehopper 33 and drives both theconveyor belts 57, which form the side walls of the twochannels 53, and the conveyors that adjust the entering of the cigarettes from the top into thehopper 33 for maintaining the filling degree of the chamber 56 (detected in real time by the filling sensors 59) in the proximity of a desired (optimal) value. In other words, the control unit adjusts in feedback the filling degree of thechamber 56 by using, as a feedback variable, the one measured by the fillingsensors 59. - It is important to note that the desired (optimal) value of the filling degree of the
chamber 56 may not be constant, but may be variable according to the actual speed of the packer machine 29: generally (but not necessarily) the desired (optimal) value of the filling degree of thechamber 56 is smaller when thepacker machine 29 is slower and is larger when thepacker machine 29 is faster. -
Figure 14 illustrates, in detail, apocket 35 of the formingconveyor 36; eachpocket 35 comprises asupport body 63 in which two side byside seats 64 are formed, each designed to receive agroup 14 of cigarettes. When apocket 35 is stationary in front of anoutlet mouth 51 of thehopper 33, a comb pusher (driven by a linear electric motor) which moves perpendicularly to the forming path P1 gathers together, from theoutlet mouth 51, two side byside groups 14 of cigarettes and inserts them together into the twoseats 64 of thepocket 35. Eachpocket 35 comprises a base 65 on which thesupport body 63 is mounted and which is designed to be coupled by means of a dovetail joint with anunderlying track 66 integral with the conveyor belt of the formingconveyor 36. A locking system is provided which binds the base 65 to theunderlying track 66 so as to prevent the base 65 from sliding along thetrack 66 when thebase 65 reaches the desired position; said locking system can be deactivated by acting on respective side levers 67 to remove thebase 65. In this way, during a format change operation, the disassembly of thepockets 35 designed for the old format and the subsequent assembly of thepockets 35 designed for the new format is particularly quick and simple. - As previously stated, the grouping unit C is arranged between the wrapping
conveyor 37 and thetransfer conveyor 46, cyclically receives, from the wrappingconveyor 37 and in the transfer station S5, a pair ofwraps 3 that are arranged at an inlet distance I (illustrated inFigure 17 ) from one another, brings (i.e. groups, couples) the twowraps 3 close together to arrange them at an outlet distance O (illustrated inFigure 17 ) smaller than the inlet distance I, and therefore releases the two grouped (coupled) wraps 3 to apocket 47 of thetransfer conveyor 46. In particular, the wrappingconveyor 37 cyclically feeds along the wrapping path P2 a pair ofwraps 3 arranged together at the inlet distance I, while thetransfer conveyor 46 feeds itsown pockets 47 each containing a pair of grouped wraps 3 (i.e., arranged at the outlet distance O from one another) along the transfer path P3. - As illustrated in
Figure 17 , the grouping unit C comprises fourpockets respective wrap 3. Furthermore, the grouping unit C comprises two outlet stations S8 and S9 and an inlet station S7 arranged between the two outlet stations S8 and S9 (and arranged at the transfer station S5). - The grouping unit C comprises an insertion device 72 (schematically illustrated in
Figure 17 ), which is designed to simultaneously insert twowraps 3 received together from the wrappingconveyor 37 and arranged together at the inlet distance I into thepocket 68 and into thepocket 69 which are, together, in the inlet station S7 (as illustrated inFigures 17 ,18 and19 ) or in thepocket Figures 21 ,22 ,23 and24 ). - The grouping unit C comprises an extraction device 73 (schematically illustrated in
Figure 17 ), which is designed to simultaneously extract twowraps 3 arranged together at the outlet distance O from thepocket 68 and from thepocket 69 which are, together in the outlet station S8 (as illustrated inFigures 21 ,22 ,23 and24 ) or from thepocket 70 and from thepocket 71 which are, together, in the outlet station S9 (as illustrated inFigures 17 ,18 and19 ) that is opposite to the outlet station S8 relative to the inlet station S7. - The grouping unit C comprises a movement device 74 (illustrated in
Figure 15 and partially inFigure 16 ), which is designed to move thepocket 68 and thepocket 69 along a horizontal movement direction D1 between the inlet station S7 and the outlet station S8 and at the same time is designed to move thepocket 70 and thepocket 71 between the outlet station S9 and the inlet station S7; obviously, when thepocket 68 and thepocket 69 are located together in the inlet station S7 (as illustrated inFigures 17 ,18 and19 ) thepocket 70 and thepocket 71 are located together in the outlet station S9 while when thepocket 68 and thepocket 69 are located together in the outlet station S8 (as illustrated inFigures 21 ,22 ,23 and24 ), thepocket 70 and thepocket 71 are located together in the inlet station S7. - As is well illustrated in
Figure 17 , the inlet station S7 and the outlet stations S8 and S9 are aligned one with the other along the movement direction D1 and, as previously mentioned, the inlet station S7 is located between the two outlet stations S8 and S9. As is well illustrated inFigure 17 , the fourpockets pocket 68 and thepocket 69 are arranged on one side while thepocket 70 and thepocket 71 are arranged on the opposite side so that thepocket 69 and thepocket 70 are located between thepocket 68 and the pocket 71 (i.e., thepockets pockets - As illustrated in
Figure 15 , themovement device 74 comprises a rigid support element 75 (essentially a bar arranged horizontally along the movement direction D1) which is mounted axially slidable to move alternately back and forth along the movement direction D1; thesupport member 75 supports thepockets pockets rigid support member 75 and therefore move together with the rigid support member 75 (i.e. the twopockets movement device 74 comprises a rigid support element 76 (essentially a bar arranged horizontally along the movement direction D1) which is separate and independent from thesupport element 75, is mounted axially sliding to move alternately back and forth along the movement direction D1, and is arranged parallel to and alongside thesupport element 75; thesupport element 76 supports thepockets pockets rigid support element 76 and then move together with the rigid support element 76 (i.e. the twopockets pockets pockets 68 and 71 (that always have the same law of motion). - The
movement device 74 always moves the twosupport elements support elements Figures 20 and25 ) i.e., by making the supportingelements movement device 74 makes the support element 75 (hence thepockets 69 and 70) travel a stroke C1 which is always greater in both directions relative to a stroke C2 travelled by the support element 76 (hence by thepockets 68 and 71). - As illustrated in
Figure 15 , themovement device 74 comprises adrive member 77 which moves thesupport element 75 along the movement direction D1 alternatively in both directions, and a drive member 78 (substantially the twin of the drive member 77) which moves thesupport element 76 along the movement direction D1 alternately in both directions. - The
movement device 74 comprises one single common electric motor 79: thedrive member 77 transmits the motion from the commonelectric motor 79 to thesupport element 75 and similarly thedrive member 78 transmits the motion from the commonelectric motor 79 to thesupport element 76. According to the (non-limiting) embodiment illustrated inFigure 15 , thedrive member 77 comprises arocker arm 80 which is centrally hinged to a fixedframe 81 to rotate around ahorizontal rotation axis 82 and is connected (hinged) to an upper end to thesupport element 75; similarly, thedrive member 78 comprises arocker arm 83 which is arranged alongside therocker arm 80, is centrally hinged to the fixedframe 81 to rotate around a horizontal rotation axis 84 (parallel to the rotation axis 82) and is connected (hinged) at an upper end to thesupport element 76. The tworocker arms arm 85 to rotate together about the respective rotation axes 82 and 84; that is, the connectingarm 85 is hinged to the lower ends of the tworocker arms 80 and 83 (on the opposite side of thesupport elements rotation elements 82 and 84) to make the tworocker arms electric motor 79 transmits the rotation movement only to the rocker arm 80 (which in turn transmits the rotation movement to theother rocker arm 83 by means of the connecting arm 85) by means of aneccentric arm 86 which is hinged to alever 87 angularly integral with therocker arm 80. - As illustrated in
Figure 15 , it can be seen that the extension of the rocker arm 80 (i.e. the arm of therocker arm 80 relative to the rotation axis 82) is greater than the extension of the rocker arm 83 (i.e. the arm of therocker arm 83 relative to the rotation axis 84); in this way, with the same rotation, therocker arm 80 gives the support element 75 (which carries thepockets 69 and 70) the stroke C1 which is greater than the stroke C2 imparted by therocker arm 83 on the support element 76 (which carries thepockets 68 and 71). - When a format change operation requires modifying the strokes C1 and C2 of the
support elements 75 and 76 (i.e., of thepockets drive members 77 and 78 (for example therocker arms 80 and 83); this operation is however relatively simple and fast. - According to a different embodiment not illustrated, the
drive member 77 comprises a first electric motor and thedrive member 78 comprises a second electric motor separate and independent from the first electric motor. In this way, when a format change operation requires modifying the strokes C1 and C2 of thesupport elements 75 and 76 (i.e., of thepockets - As illustrated in
Figure 17 , theinsertion device 72 comprises twopushers 88 which are arranged at the inlet station S7 and are movable perpendicular to the movement direction D1 along a main and horizontal direction D2; moreover, theextraction device 73 comprises two pairs ofpushers 89 which are arranged at the outlet stations S8 and S9 and are movable perpendicular to the movement direction D1 along the main and horizontal direction D2. - As illustrated in
Figure 16 , the grouping unit C comprises: a rigid andcommon support element 90 which supports both the twopushers 88 of the inlet station S7, and the two pairs ofpushers 89 of the outlet stations S8 and S9; in this way all thepushers Figure 16 and using an articulated quadrilateral) which alternately moves thesupport element 90 both along the main and horizontal direction D2 perpendicular to the movement direction D1, and along a vertical secondary direction D3, perpendicular to the main direction D2 and perpendicular to the movement direction D1. In particular, themovement device 91 causes the support element 90 (hence thepushers pushers support element 90 only along the main direction D2 and causes thesupport element 90 to perform a return stroke (in which thepushers support element 90 in the secondary direction D3 and downwards, then in the main direction D2 with the opposite direction relative to the working stroke, and finally in the secondary direction D3 and upwards. In other words, in the return stroke the support element 90 (therefore thepushers wraps 3. - It should be noted that, as illustrated in
Figure 15 , thepockets pushers support element 90. - According to a possible embodiment, the movement imparted to the
support element 90 by themovement device 91 could also be used to complete the folding of thewraps 3; i.e., folding elements are also connected to thesupport element 90 which, due to the movement of thesupport element 90, perform terminal folding operations on thewraps 3. - With reference to
Figures 17-25 , the operation of the grouping unit C is described in the following. - Initially and as illustrated in
Figure 17 , thepockets conveyor 37 and therefore ready to receive twowraps 3 coming from the wrappingconveyor 37 and are arranged one with respect to the other at the inlet distance I; at the same time, thepockets pocket 47 of thetransfer conveyor 46 and therefore ready to release twowraps 3 grouped in thepocket 47. - At this point, and as illustrated in
Figures 18 and19 , while thepockets pushers pushers 88 insert twowraps 3 which are arranged one with respect to the other at the inlet distance I into thepockets pushers 89 extract twowraps 3 which are arranged one with respect to the other at the outlet distance O from thepockets wraps 3 into apocket 47 of thetransfer conveyor 46. In this step, the twopushers 89 of the outlet station S8 also complete their working stroke which is however done on empty since there are nopockets - Subsequently and as illustrated in
Figure 19 , allpockets pockets pockets pockets pockets pockets pockets - As illustrated in
Figures 21 and22 , at the end of the movement, thepockets conveyor 37 and therefore ready to receive twowraps 3 which are arranged one with respect to the other at the inlet distance I and come from the wrappingconveyor 37; at the same time, thepockets pocket 47 of thetransfer conveyor 46 and therefore ready to release two groupedwraps 3 into the pocket 47 (i.e. twowraps 3 which are arranged one with respect to the other at the outlet distance O). - At this point, and as illustrated in
Figures 23 and24 , while thepockets pushers pushers 88 insert twowraps 3 which are arranged one with respect to the other at the inlet distance I into thepockets pushers 89 extract twowraps 3 which are arranged one with respect to the other at the outlet distance O from thepockets wraps 3 into apocket 47 of thetransfer conveyor 46. In this step, the twopushers 89 of the outlet station S9 also complete their work stroke which is however done on empty since there are nopockets - Subsequently and as illustrated in
Figure 25 , allpockets pockets pockets pockets pockets pockets pockets - At this point the grouping unit C is in the situation illustrated in
Figure 17 and the cycle described above starts again. - Obviously, during the movements of the
pockets transfer conveyor 46 performs its own advancement steps to move the filled pockets 47 (i.e., containing groups of two wraps 3) from the outlet stations S8 and S9 and towards the transfer station S6 and replace the filled pockets 47 in the outlet stations S8 and S9 with as manyempty pockets 47. - According to a preferred, but not binding, embodiment, the movement of the various components (wrapping wheels, feed conveyors, pushers, mobile folders...) of the
packer machine 29 is carried out by means of respective electric motors which are mechanically independent from one another and are synchronized (i.e., moved at step) in a virtual way (i.e., not by means of a physical constraint, but by means of a control constraint). Normally an electric motor is considered as the reference ("master") and all the other electric motors ("slave"), which follow the position of the reference electric motor ("master"). To obtain linear movements (i.e., which involve a movement along a rectilinear trajectory), a rotating electric motor is generally used which rotates a pinion which meshes with a rack; that is, a "rack and pinion" mechanism is used to transform the rotary movement generated by the electric motor into a linear movement. - The embodiments described herein can be combined with each other without departing from the scope of the present claims.
- The
hopper 33 described above has numerous advantages. - In the first place, the
hopper 33 described above has a particularly reduced transverse size. - Furthermore, the
hopper 33 described above guarantees a high average descent speed of the cigarettes (i.e., a high number ofgroups 14 of cigarettes which can be extracted in a unit of time) while presenting a low risk of jamming (i.e., of badly positioned cigarettes inside thehopper 33 with consequent slowdown or blocking of the descent of the other cigarettes). Finally, thehopper 33 described above is simple and inexpensive to implement with respect to a similar known hopper, since it requires few and easy modifications for its construction which do not entail significant cost increases. - The grouping unit C described above also has numerous advantages.
- Firstly, the grouping unit C described above allows you to operate at a high production speed (i.e., with a high number of
wraps 3 produced in the unit of time) without damaging thewraps 3. - Furthermore, the grouping unit C described above allows to change the format of the packs 1 of cigarettes in a relatively simple and fast way.
- Finally, the grouping unit C described above is compact and has optimal accessibility to all its components (a particularly useful feature when performing a format change).
- The embodiment illustrated in the attached figures refers to the production of a pack of cigarettes, but the present invention can be applied without substantial modifications, to the production of any other type of pack of smoking articles (for example a pack of cigars, a pack of liquid vaporizing type e-cigarettes, a pack of new generation cigarettes without tobacco combustion ...).
Claims (13)
- A hopper (33) for a packer machine (29) to pack smoking articles; the hopper (33) comprises:an upper part (49) and a lower part (50), both delimited at the front and at the rear by respective fixed vertical walls;one single upper inlet (48) arranged at the upper part (49) and from which the smoking articles enter the hopper (33);at least one lower outlet mouth (51), which is arranged at the lower part (50), is designed to form at least one group (14) of smoking articles and is divided, on the inside, by a plurality of walls defining small channels (52) within which the smoking articles are arranged in substantially vertical stacks; andtwo and only two independent channels (53), which are arranged at the upper part (49), both originate from the single upper inlet (48), lead into the lower outlet mouth (51), and are distinct and separate from one another;the hopper (33) is characterized in that the two channels (53) are parallel to one another and arranged side by side along their entire extension.
- The hopper (33) according to claim 1, wherein a wall of a channel (53) is adjacent to a wall of the other channel (53) along the entire extension of the channels (53).
- The hopper (33) according to claim 1 or 2, wherein both channels (53) form, together, a vertical structure with a zigzag shape.
- The hopper (33) according to claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein the two channels (53) comprise two respective initial segments (54), which are parallel to one another and arranged side by side, and two respective final segments (55) which are parallel to one another and arranged side by side.
- The hopper (33) according to claim 4, wherein, in each channel (53), the initial segment (54) forms an angle other than zero with the final segment (55), thus giving the channel (53) a zigzag shape.
- The hopper (33) according to claim 4 or 5, wherein each channel (53) has a "V" shape arranged horizontally, in which the two branches of the "V" are formed by the respective initial segment (54) and by the respective final segment (55).
- The hopper (33) according to claim 4, 5 or 6, wherein, in each channel (53), the initial segment (54) has an inclination of 45° relative to the vertical and the final segment (55) has an inclination of 45° relative to the vertical, which is opposite the inclination of the initial segment (54);
- The hopper (33) according to one of the claims from 4 to 7, wherein, in each channel (53), the initial segment (54) is perpendicular relative to the final segment (55).
- The hopper (33) according to one of claims from 4 to 8, wherein each segment (54, 55) is delimited by two motor-driven conveyor belts (57), which are opposite one another and are placed at a given distance from one another.
- The hopper (33) according to one of the claims from 1 to 9 and comprising two filling sensors (59), each arranged at the end of a corresponding channel (53) and designed to detect the filling degree of the hopper (33).
- The hopper (33) according to claim 10, wherein each filling sensor (59) comprises:a flexible belt (60) which is fixed, at least at one end, to a fixed side board of the hopper (33) and is free to be deformed by the presence of the smoking articles moving downwards along the hopper (33); anda detector (62), which is coupled to the flexible belt (60) and is designed to detect the position of the flexible belt (60).
- The hopper (33) according to claim 11, wherein each filling sensor (59) comprises a cavity (61), which is arranged beside the flexible belt (60) and inside which the flexible belt (60) can be arranged under the thrust of the smoking articles present in the hopper (33).
- The hopper (33) according to claim 12, wherein the upper end of each flexible belt (60) is fixed to an upper corner of the cavity (61).
Applications Claiming Priority (1)
Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
---|---|---|---|
IT102019000019970A IT201900019970A1 (en) | 2019-10-29 | 2019-10-29 | Hopper for a smoking items packing machine. |
Publications (2)
Publication Number | Publication Date |
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EP3816056A1 EP3816056A1 (en) | 2021-05-05 |
EP3816056B1 true EP3816056B1 (en) | 2023-04-05 |
Family
ID=69811584
Family Applications (1)
Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
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EP20204753.6A Active EP3816056B1 (en) | 2019-10-29 | 2020-10-29 | Hopper for a packer machine to pack smoking articles |
Country Status (3)
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EP (1) | EP3816056B1 (en) |
IT (1) | IT201900019970A1 (en) |
PL (1) | PL3816056T3 (en) |
Families Citing this family (1)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
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IT202100027605A1 (en) * | 2021-10-28 | 2023-04-28 | Sasib Spa | APPARATUS FOR PACKAGING ONE OR MORE LAYERS OF BAR-SHAPED ARTICLES INSIDE A CONTAINER |
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WO2018214648A1 (en) | 2017-05-25 | 2018-11-29 | 苏州欧普照明有限公司 | Lamp base connector, illumination device and illumination system |
CN111051776B (en) | 2017-09-05 | 2022-08-02 | 约翰·尊科股份有限公司 | Low NO X CO burner method and apparatus |
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2019
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- 2020-10-29 EP EP20204753.6A patent/EP3816056B1/en active Active
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DE1002676B (en) | 1955-04-29 | 1957-02-14 | Hauni Werke Koerber & Co Kg | Device for introducing rod-shaped objects such as cigarettes, cigarillos or the like into grooves of circulating conveying means |
US4196810A (en) | 1976-11-26 | 1980-04-08 | AMF Sasib Societa' per Azioni Scipione Innocenti Bologna | Cigarette hopper with defective cigarette reject means |
US4174780A (en) * | 1977-06-30 | 1979-11-20 | Molins Limited | Feeding cigarettes and similar rod-like articles |
US4795019A (en) | 1986-02-26 | 1989-01-03 | Sasib S.P.A. | Apparatus for withdrawing rod-like articles from a hopper |
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Also Published As
Publication number | Publication date |
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IT201900019970A1 (en) | 2021-04-29 |
PL3816056T3 (en) | 2023-07-31 |
EP3816056A1 (en) | 2021-05-05 |
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