Conveyors: power-driven – Conveyor system having a gravity conveyor section – With means to affect flow
Reexamination Certificate
2000-06-09
2002-12-03
Dayoan, D. Glenn (Department: 3612)
Conveyors: power-driven
Conveyor system having a gravity conveyor section
With means to affect flow
C198S531000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06488142
ABSTRACT:
The present invention claims priority to a German Patent Application 199 26 713.8, filed on Jun. 11, 1999 and to a European Patent Application 00 102 160.9, filed on Feb. 8, 2000.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a device and a system for handling banderoles. In particular, the present invention being applicable to the technical field involved in banding banderoles for cigarette packs, in other words so-called revenue (tax) banderoles.
Such banderoles are dispatched as printed sheets by the pertinent tax authority of the country concerned to the user, in this case the cigarette manufacturer, where they are made available for the production line. For this purpose, the printed sheets are stacked and trimmed to the banderole format, i.e. stamped on a stamping machine. Stacks of several thousand banderoles are then conventionally provided in cases and supplied to the banderoling machine in the production line, where they are manually loaded into a banderole feeder chute.
2. Description of Related Art
The preamble of the claim
1
is based on a banderole handling device as described in DE 197 30 307 A1. In accordance with this document, the banderole stacks are delivered to the banderoling machine in a larger container-like cassette via a linear conveyor. In this arrangement, the cassette is located horizontally and comprises several parallel chambers, in each of which a stack of banderoles is accommodated. Arranged at one side of each chamber is a pusher for the stack of banderoles, while at the other end a closure member, namely a lowerable pin, is provided. Once the pin has been lowered at the discharge end of a chamber, the banderoles can be discharged by the pusher and be brought to a feeder conveyor.
The disadvantage in this system is that, due to the cassette being located horizontally, the aforementioned pusher is needed to advance or discharge the stack of banderoles. Also disadvantageous is the fact that the cassette needs to be very precisely positioned on the linear conveyor so that a stack of banderoles to be discharged also actually arrives at the correct point on the feeder conveyor for further processing, this necessitating a complicated control system.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is thus the object of the present invention to provide a device or a system for handling banderoles which overcomes the disadvantages of the prior art systems described. More particularly, the intention being to make possible a straightforward, precise means of subsequently guiding the banderoles.
This object is achieved in accordance with the invention by the devices in accordance with claims
1
and
15
and by a system set forth in claim
19
.
In the device for handling banderoles in accordance with the invention, comprising at least one cassette, arranged so that banderoles are supplied therefrom into a banderoling machine, each cassette is arranged substantially vertically in its cassette support and is positioned above a banderole feeder chute of the banderoling machine.
Advantageously, due to one such configuration in accordance with the invention, means are no longer needed to discharge the stack of banderoles from the cassette since the vertical arrangement of each cassette automatically ensures downward discharge of the banderoles by the force of gravity. It is thus now possible to simply design the cassettes accommodating the supply of banderoles without the additional complication of providing a pusher. The banderole feeder chutes of the majority of the banderoling machines on the market are arranged substantially vertically at least in their upper part so that the banderoles can now be transferred directly from a likewise vertically arranged cassette into these banderole feeder chutes. It is to be noted that the invention is also applicable to banderoling machines having slanting banderole feeder chutes; in this case, if of advantage, a vertical entry section may be configured at the upper part of the feed chute as detailed further on. The device is modular in character to thus permit directly attached construction to known banderoling machines without having to interfere with the control or mechanical system of the banderoling machine.
In an embodiment of the device in accordance with the invention, each cassette is removable from the cassette support and comprises an accommodating chute for only one stack of banderoles. In this arrangement, the advantage of the modular construction in accordance with the invention is evident. When, namely, the cassettes can be secured removable to the cassette support, then it is possible to pre-fill the cassettes with stacks of banderoles so that for refilling only one filled cassette needs to be applied to the cassette support in each case, i.e. eliminating the need to refill the individual stacks of banderoles manually which also includes the advantage that there is now no longer the risk of the banderoles being soiled or damaged on being refilled. When the cassettes, as is the case in this embodiment, comprise a chute for accommodating only a single stack of banderoles, exchanging the cassettes also becomes much easier. Cassettes having only a single banderole chute are very light and easy to handle. In particular, this represents an advantage over the system as disclosed by the aforementioned DE 197 30 307 A1, in which it is required that large heavy cassettes including several stacks most be handled. Using individual cassettes to accommodate the banderoles substantially enhances the flexibility of the device as a whole. The device permits accommodating cassettes in greatly differing banderole formats (width×length), i.e. merely requiring the cassettes to be adapted to the format by adapter rails or cassettes being used in the corresponding format.
In another preferred embodiment of the invention, the cassette support is a rotary indexing support removable from the banderoling machine having a vertically axis of rotation at the periphery of which the cassettes are arranged. Such a rotary arrangement has the advantage that a large number of cassettes filled with banderoles can be provided to the periphery of the rotary indexing support prepared and readily accessible. During operation of the machine, when a cassette has been emptied, the support can be rotated at an angle so that the next filled cassette is positioned above the banderole feeder chute of the banderoling machine and the banderole refill reassured for a lengthy period, i.e. once the cassette is empty it can be replaced by a prefilled cassette.
Advantageously, the slide or closure of each cassette is arranged position-adjustable so that it is held in a receiving portion arranged in a fixed position relative to the banderoling machine or banderole feeder chute during its opening process. In this arrangement, the slide or closure may be a slide running in a guide at the discharge opening of the cassette, it being actuatable at both sides by an opening and closing device configured more particularly as a slideactuator means. Due to the slide or closure being accommodated in the receiving portion fixed in position during the opening process, a centering and a precise positioning and arresting of the cassette above the banderole feeder chute during dispensing of banderoles is guaranteed. This eliminates the need for any complicated positioning or restraining devices after arrival of the cassettes at the banderole feeder chute since, after the cassette has been opened, it is now automatically assured that it is correctly positioned above the banderole feeder chute during dispensing of banderoles. The cassette is namely locked in the correct position when the slide is opened. The slide actuator means assure simple and speedy opening and closing of the slide especially when a pressurized air actuator is provided for the opening and closing device.
Preferably, for arranging the device in accordance with the invention on a banderoling machine, the cassette support and all substantial components of the device such as a rotary drive
Herrmann Rainer
Hertrich Heiko
Jung Thomas
Kramp Rolf
Schulte Norbert
British-American Tobacco (Germany) GmbH
Carpenter Scott A.
Middleton & Reutlinger
Salazar John F.
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