Package making – With means responsive to a sensed condition – Concurrent control of contents and receptacle feeds
Reexamination Certificate
1999-06-18
2001-10-30
Vo, Peter (Department: 3721)
Package making
With means responsive to a sensed condition
Concurrent control of contents and receptacle feeds
C053S065000, C053S148000, C250S548000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06308492
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates to a process for producing packs, in particular cigarette packs, using, for the purpose of wrapping pack contents, packaging material, namely prefabricated blank, material webs wound as a reel and/or blanks severed from said material webs. The invention also relates to an apparatus for carrying out the process.
In packaging technology, in particular during the production of cigarette packs, it is often required to produce different types of pack one after the other on the same packaging machine. The differences here may mean different text, designs or else contents, that is to say different cigarettes in particular. The change in the type of pack makes it necessary for the operators carefully to provide the correct packaging material assigned to the new type of pack.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The object of the invention is to facilitate and, in particular, render more reliable, the operation of changing a type of pack of a packaging machine, in particular for producing cigarette packs, so as to avoid the use of incorrect packaging material.
In order to achieve this object, the process according to the invention is characterized in that, when a packaging machine is started up or when the type of pack which is to be produced is changed, or when the packaging material (reel) is changed, markings, which are assigned to packaging material of different designs and are provided on the packaging material and/or the carrier thereof, in particular on a core of the reel, and/or the pack, are used to identify the packaging material and to check it for correct assignment in relation to the type of pack which is to be produced.
Accordingly, the invention automatically ensures that after a change the correct packaging material is used and the correct pack contents are packed. The markings on the packaging material or on the cigarettes may be formed specifically for identification with the aid of optoelectronic monitoring elements. Alternatively, it may be the standard design of the pack or of the cigarettes which is concerned, it being the case that, for the respective type of pack, characteristic external features, for example the brand mark, are used for identification.
The apparatus according to the invention is provided at suitable locations, namely in the region of conveying paths for packaging material, on the one hand, and in the region of conveying paths for cigarettes or cigarette groups, on the other hand, with optoelectronic sensing elements which sense, for example, from above the articles moved past them and which record characteristic features or markings for identification. The signals received are fed to an evaluation unit and, in the region of the latter, compared with stored, correct features. When incorrect packaging material or incorrect contents are detected, an appropriate signal is generated.
All recognition data for each type of pack and cigarette are stored in the control system and are compared continually or whenever necessary (change of brand) with the materials being run on the machine. The control system does not issue an enabling signal until all data are completely consistent. These recognition data vary according to the type of pack and cigarette and can be switched by the operator at the touch of a button or transmitted from a central control system to the control system of the respective packaging machine.
The packaging material, for example a material web wound to form a reel, can in the simplest case be identified by the application of, for instance, a dot-like marking of a different geometric form and/or color. The markings can also be applied with the help of labels.
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Buse Henry
Engel Gisbert
Focke Heinz
Focke & Co. (GmbH & Co.)
Huynh Louis K.
Sughrue Mion Zinn Macpeak & Seas, PLLC
Vo Peter
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