GB2063811A

GB2063811A - Packing of cigarettes

Info

Publication number: GB2063811A
Application number: GB8037779A
Authority: GB
Original assignee: Molins Ltd
Current assignee: Mpac Group PLC
Priority date: 1979-11-29
Filing date: 1980-11-25
Publication date: 1981-06-10
Also published as: GB2063811B

Abstract

In a machine for packing bundles of cigarettes (40) into hinged lid packet blanks, each blank is held in a U-shape by a gripper (34) on a rotor (32) and conveyed into position around a bundle which is fed tangentially to the rotor by a bundle conveyor (36). A pair of conveyor bands (44) engages opposed large faces of the blank to withdraw the blank and bundle from the gripper and convey them past a pair of folders (46, 48) where side panels of the blank are overlapped and sealed to form the blank into a tube around the bundle. Top and bottom flaps of the blank are closed by folders (68) while the packet is grasped in a pocket of a flexible conveyor belt (58). <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Packing of cigarettes This invention relates to the packing of articles, in particular groups of cigarettes. More specifically the invention is concerned with a method of and apparatus for packing cigarettes into hinged lid blanks.

The most common type of blanks for hinged lid packets are of the elongated or "block bottom" type, in which the large faces thereof, i.e. the front and rear walls, are connected by the base, and each side wall is formed by an inner flap extending from the rear wall and by an outer side flap extending from the front wall and adhesively secured to the inner side flap. An example of this type of blank is described in British Patent No.

1,431,173.

An alternative blank is the square type of blank, in which the large faces are connected by one of the side walls, the other side wall again being formed by outer and inner flaps secured together. In this type the top and base ends of the packets are formed by pairs of overlapping flaps adhesively secured together. Such a blank will be referred to in this specification as a "blank of the type described".

An advantage of such a blank is that it can more easily be handled than the elongated type, and is less liable to interlock with other blanks when piled together in a stack. This blank also has the benefit of occupying a smaller area, so that a saving in material can be effected in its production.

According to the invention there is provided apparatus for packing articles such as bundles of cigarettes into blanks, each blank having two large faces connected by a side wall, comprising a first rotary conveyor movable in a plane of rotation and having mounted thereon at least one gripping means for gripping each successive one of said blanks in a substantially U-shape with said side wall innermost and said large faces opposite one another and parallel to said plane of rotation, feed means tangential to said first conveyor for feeding an article between said large faces of the blank while held in said gripping means, forming means for forming the blank into a packet around the article, and transfer means for transferring the blank and the article therebetween from said gripping means along a rectilinear path to said forming means.

The invention also extends to a method of packing articles such as bundles of cigarettes into blanks, each blank having two large faces connected by a side wall, comprising the steps of feeding each blank along a rotary path while being held substantially in a Ushape with said side wall innermost and with said large faces opposite one another and parallel to said path, feeding an article tangentially into a position between said large faces, and transferring the blank and the article therebetween to a rectilinear path along which the blank is formed at least partly into a packet around the article.

The invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 is a perspective view of a packet formed in accordance with the invention, Figure 2 is a blank from which the packet of Fig. 1 is made, Figure 3 is a plan view of apparatus according to the invention, and Figure 4 is a side view of part of the apparatus of Fig. 3.

Referring first to the packet and blank shown respectively in Figs. 1 and 2, the packet comprises a pair of large faces, i.e. a rear wall 1 and a front wall 2, which are joined by a side wall 3. Adjoining the front wall 2 is a side panel 4, and adjoining the rear wall 1 is a similar, though narrower, side panel 5. In the fully formed packet shown in Fig. 1, the panel 4 overlies and is secured to the panel 5. The front wall 2, the side wall 3 and the side panel 4 each include a lower or body portion, separated from an upper or lid portion by a cut line 6. Extending from the front and rear walls are pairs of outer and inner end flaps 7 and 8 respectively. When the packet is completed and the end flaps 7 and 8 are secured together, the lid portion is hingeable about a line 9 at the rear wall 1 of the packet.

The blank is made from a card material coated on each side with a film of polyethelyne. The film allows the panels or flaps which have to be secured together in the formation of the packet to be heated by a stream of hot air, as described below, so that the polyethylene film melts and the overlying panels or flaps are bonded together.

Referring now to Fig. 3, a continuously rotating rotor 32 is provided on its circumference with eight equi-spaced clip pockets 34.

The pockets have a length equal to that of the large faces 1 and 2, and a depth of about one half the width of the faces. To the right of the rotor, as viewed in Fig. 3, is a device (not shown) for inserting a blank of the type described into each pocket such that the blank is held in a U-shape with its large faces 1 and 2, and the adjoining flaps and panels, substantially parallel to the plane of rotation of the rotor 32. As the rotor 32 turns anticlockwise it transports the blank towards a chain conveyor 36 on which are mounted a plurality of equi-spaced pushers 38, each of which conveys a bundle 40 of cigarettes (typically 20 cigarettes) wrapped in foil and having an inner frame or collar 41 positioned along a conveyor surface 39.The conveyor 36 moves at a constant speed approximately equal to the peripheral speed of the rotor 32 at the raidus of the inside of each pocket 34, i.e. at the outside of the side wall 3 of the blank held thereagainst.

As the blank is moved by the rotor 32 into the path of the pushers 38, its movement is phased to straddle a bundle of cigarettes 40, such that at the leftmost position of the rotor 32, as shown in Fig. 3, the blank is fully aligned with and substantially surrounds the bundle. A fixed stripper member 42 now engages the outside of the side wall 3 to remove the blank from the pocket 34 of the rotor 32.

In order to allow the rear wall of the blank together with its adjoining flaps 8 and panel 5, to enter more easily between the bundle 40 and the conveyor surface 39, the latter is formed with a small downward step 43. And a guide surface (not shown) may be provided at the side of the step to the right of the conveyor 36 to further facilitate entry of the blank under the bundle 40 while the blank is still held in the pocket 34.

Extending above and below the conveyor 36 are a pair of conveyor bands 44 which engage with the large faces 1 and 2 of the blank as it is stripped from the rotor 32. The bands 44 are driven at a speed approximately equal to the peripheral speed of the outside of the pockets 34 or of the centre of the large faces 1 and 2 of a blank while on the rotor 32, i.e. at a speed greater than that of the conveyor 36. Due to this speed difference each pusher 38 progressively recedes backwards relative to the bundle, the bands 44 engaging the blank sufficiently to clamp the bundle 40 in between. The narrow panel 5 is now folded upwards by a plough folder 46, and the opposite wide panel 4 is then folded down by a similar plough 48.Before the two panels are overlapped, a hot air heater (not shown) directs air at a temperature in the region of 500-600"C onto the polyethelyne film on the panels, so that as soon as the panels are overlapped they will be bonded together, thus forming the blank into a tube around the bundle.

On reaching the end of the bands 44, the now partly formed packet meets an upper band 52 which engages the top surface of the packet, i.e. the front wall 2. The band 52 conveys the packet along a smooth horizontal surface 54, enabling the pusher 38 to move out of the way of the following packet by passing through a narrow aperture 56 in the surface 54, as the pusher starts to rotate around an end sprocket (below the surface 54 and not shown) about which the conveyor 36 is trained. At the end of the band 52 is positioned a stop 57 which engages against the leading end of the bundle 40 in the packet to bring the whole packet to a halt.

The stop 57 may additionally be shaped to fold two lower corner tabs 1 0, 11 inwardly against the leading end of the bundle. Furthermore the stop may be pivotally mounted so that a defective packet can move past the stop and thus be rejected.

Referring now also the Fig. 4, it can be seen that the partly formed packet is now located between upper side guides 50 about a flexible conveyor belt 58 (e.g. a Timex belt, R.T.M.). The belt is formed with pockets eachdefined by a pair of end faces 60 and 61, the rear face 60 of each pair; extending further from the belt 58 than the front face 61. A spring 59 (which may be mechanically operated) now urges each packet down into a pocket, so that the rear face 60 enages the packet and causes the packet to move at right angles to its previous direction of motion. The belt 58 is trained around a pair of pulleys 62 and 63, and as the pocket moves on to the straight portion between the pulleys the space between the faces 60, 61 decreases, causing the sides of the packet to be firmly gripped between the faces of the pocket.

In the present apparatus the stop 56 does not act to fold the tabs 10, 11; and the ends of the packet now meet a pair of rotary chasing tuckers 64 which fold down the corner tabs 10 at the ends of the side panel 4 of the blank (see Fig. 2). The packet next meets a pair of plough folders (not shown) which fold over the other pair of corner tabs 11 at the ends of the side wall 3, and at the same time hold down the previously folded tabs 10.

As the packet is advanced further by the belt 58, it meets a pair of plough folders 68 which fold up the pair of inner flaps 8 against the ends of the bundle. The packet then passes a further hot air heater (not shown) which directs hot air again at about 500-600 C against the polyethylene film on the pair of outer end flaps 7. This is followed by a further pair of top plough folders 70 which fold down the outer flaps 7 so as to bond them to the inner flaps 8, thus completing the folding of the packet.

As the completed packet reaches the end pulley 63 the space between the faces 60 and 61 increases, enabling the packet to be removed from its pocket in the belt 58. The packet is then collected in a known manner to form a stack of pockets, and the stack may then be transferred to a known parcelling machine where groups of packets are enclosed in an outer wrapper or a box, for example to form packages of 200 cigarettes.

Claims

1. Apparatus for packing articles such as bundles of cigarettes into blanks, each blank having two large faces connected by a side wall, comprising a first rotary conveyor movable in a plane of rotation and having mounted thereon at least one gripping means for gripping each successive one of said blanks in a substantially U-shape with said side wall innermost and said large faces opposite one another and parallel to said plane of rotation, feed means tangential to said first conveyor for feeding an article between said large faces of the blank while held in said gripping means, forming means for forming the blank into a packet around the article, and transfer means for transferring the blank and the article therebetween from said gripping means along a rectilinear path to said forming means.

2. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 in which said forming means comprises a packing conveyor formed with a plurality of regularly spaced pairs of packet engaging members facing one another in the conveying direction, said conveyor having at least one curved portion and one straight portion, so that the pair of members are in engagement with the packet while travelling along said straight portion, and are apart while travelling along said curved portion to enable a packet to be received or released.

3. Apparatus as claimed in claim 2 in which said packing conveyor is made of a flexible material with said packet engaging members formed intergrally therewith.

4. Apparatus as claimed in any of claims 1 to 3 in which said feed means is a second conveyor, said first and second conveyors being each movable continuously at constant speed.

5. Apparatus as claimed in claim 4 in which said transfer means comprises a pair of oppositely disposed conveyor bands engagable with said large faces of the blank, and movable at a speed greater than that of said second conveyor.

6. Apparatus as claimed in claim 5 comprising sealing means adjacent said conveyor bands for securing the blank around the article to form at least a ,ertly packed article.

7. A method of packing articles such as bundles of cigarettes into blanks, each blank having two large faces connected by a side wall, comprising the steps of feeding each blank along a rotary path while being held substantially in a U-shape with said side wall innermost and with said large faces opposite one another and parallel to said path, feeding an article tangentially into a position between said large faces, and transferring the blank and the article therebetween to a rectilinear path along which the blank is formed at least partly into a packet around the article.

8. Apparatus for packing articles substantially as herein described with reference to, and as illustrated in Figs. 3 and 4 of the accompanying drawings.

9. A method of packing articles substan tally as herein described with reference to, and as illustrated in, Figs. 3 and 4 of the accompanying drawings.