Manufacturing container or tube from paper; or other manufacturi – Container making – Rigid container
Reexamination Certificate
1999-05-06
2001-07-31
Kim, Eugene (Department: 3721)
Manufacturing container or tube from paper; or other manufacturi
Container making
Rigid container
C493S131000, C493S150000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06267715
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates to a folding machine and a method of automatically folding a folding box out of a pre-grooved carton blank.
To package an extremely wide variety of articles, use is made of folding boxes folded out of carton blanks which are supplied as flat sheets and which can be easily transported by being stacked on top of one another. The carton blanks usually consist of solid board or multilayer corrugated cardboard. Items of furniture such an carcass parts or front panel sections etc. particularly prepared for later assembly are dispatched in such folding boxes.
The objects designated here as folding boxes may be designed in different ways. One conceivable type of folding box is that folded out of a pre-grooved carton blank which comprises a base, side walls and flaps adjoining the side walls. Such a structure is then known as a slip lid or slip base. But pre-grooved carton blanks which form a closed folding box are also foldable. For this purpose, in addition to the aforementioned elements, there are corresponding lids present on the carton blank. The aforementioned folding boxes are glued or stuck together, stapled or, if the carton blank is appropriately designed, just folded.
PRIOR ART
On account of items of furniture which are produced in high quantities e.g. in the furniture industry and which are to be prepared ready for dispatch, it is desirable to package these items in an automated manner as far as possible in order to save costs. It has so much been impossible, however, to devise an automatic packaging system for the objects of the aforementioned type in the desired manner with full automation since the folding boxes necessary for this purpose had to be manually pre-folded.
The combination of automatic folding and gluing is so far unknown, particularly in the case of folding boxes with glued flaps. The production of pre-folded and glued folding boxes has so far required time-consuming and expensive manual labor.
With regard to producing a stapled slip base or slip lid, a folding machine is known in which an inserted carton blank is pressed down in the area of its base section in a kind of bottom die or hollow die. Correspondingly shaped solid side walls of the hollow mold then serve to place the side walls of the carton blank upright during the process of pressing down. Such a folding machine is only known for the production of stapled slip bases. Furthermore, conversion to varyingly dimensioned carton blanks is only possible to a limited extent since a corresponding change in the size of hollow mold would involve complex structural elements in the case of folding machines that operate on the basis of the explained principle.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The technical problem upon which the invention is based is to design a folding machine and a procedure by means of which different sizes of carton blank can be mechanically folded in a simple manner.
This technical problem is solved by a folding machine for folding up a folding box made from a pre-grooved carton blank having a base with a plurality of sides and side wall, one side wall at a time being formed on one base side and being defined by one folding groove at a time, the carton blank having a plurality of tabs serving to connect two adjacent side walls when a carton blank is folded, wherein the folding machine comprises: a receiving plane on which the carton blank is placed, at least one alignment means for aligning the carton blank into a predetermined position on the receiving plane, a plurality of pre-folding flaps assigned to one table of the carton blank at a time, for lifting the tabs out of the receiving plane, the pre-folding flaps being movable on the receiving plane, at least one fixing means for securing the carton blank in the predetermined position on the receiving plane, a plurality of erecting flaps movable on the receiving plane, at least one of the erecting flaps being provided for each side wall of the carton blank to erect the side wall out of the receiving plane, and a plurality of connecting means for connecting the tabs to the associated side walls, at least one connecting means being assigned to one tab of the carton blank.
The technical problem is also solved by process of automatically folding a folding box made from a pre-grooved carton blank having a base with a plurality of sides and side walls, one side wall at a time being formed on one base side and being defined by one folding groove at a time, the carton blank having a plurality of tabs serving to connect two adjacent side walls when a carton blank is folded, wherein the process comprises the steps of: placing the carton blank onto a receiving plane, subsequently moving the carton blank into a predetermined position, holding the thus aligned carton blank at its base from the lower side, folding over the tabs of the carton blank to such an extent that without aids they continue to project out of the plane formed by the carton blank, mechanically erecting the side walls of the carton to the associated tabs.
The invention is based on the idea that instead of the “bottom die solution” explained at the start, the folding of the carton blanks is performed by a plurality of mechanically operated flaps which are movable on a common plane or surface—called the receiving plane here. This makes very flexible handling possible with regard to different sizes of the carton blanks to be folded. For the first time, it is necessary just to slide the individual elements in accordance with the dimensions of the carton blank to be folded. The adjustment to the different sizes of carton blank can be performed very easily and quickly as a result of the free movability of the flaps etc.
This concept according to the invention also makes it possible to prepare glued, stapled or just folded folding boxes on the receiving plane of movable flaps. For this purpose, it is necessary only to exchange the connecting device.
The inventive structure of the folding machine comprising at least one alignment device ensures that the carton blank is aligned into a predetermined position. It is then ensured in this position that the pre-folding flap assigned to one carton blank tab at a time can perfectly bend over the respective tab such that after pivoting back the pre-folding flap, this tab also projects out of the previous carton blank plane, causing the tabs to end up inside the folding box when the side walls are subsequently erected (i.e. put upright). The respective connecting devices can then easily connect the tabs to the side walls. The fixing device according to the invention does of course ensure that the carton blank is secured at all times.
In this way, the connecting device in a folding machine for making a glued folding box, i.e. a folding box in which the respective tabs are glued to the associated side walls, comprises a gluing device assigned to one tab at a time and movable on the receiving plane. The connecting device also comprises a pressing flap located in the area of a tab and movable on the receiving plane; this pressing flap is for pressing the glued tab and the associated side wall. If the size of the carton blanks varies, the tabs end up at different positions in the flat state on the receiving plane. Because the gluing devices are freely movable on the receiving plane, an associated adaptation is easily possible. By means of the associated pressing flap, it is easy to bring about the fact that a glued and erected tab and the associated erected side wall are securely connected together.
To form a stapled folding box, the connecting device of the folding machine according to the invention comprises one stapling device at a time, this stapling device being located in the area of a tab and movable on the receiving plane. In turn, the free movability on the receiving plane allows the assignment to a tab to be defined easily and quickly when there are different sizes of carton blank.
If the carton blank is correspondingly designed, it is also possible to prepare a folding box which is just folded. For this p
Krohnert Klaus
Sass Bodo
Schmidt Udo
Tonnigs Bodo
Kim Eugene
Ligmatech Maschinenbau GmbH
Sughrue Mion Zinn Macpeak & Seas, PLLC
LandOfFree
Folding machine and process for automatic folding of a... does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Folding machine and process for automatic folding of a..., we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Folding machine and process for automatic folding of a... will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-2542998