[0001] The present invention relates to a film-wrapping and boxing machine, particularly
for spools of thread and the like.
[0002] As is known, a problem which is currently strongly felt, particularly in the thread
manufacturing industry, is the one related to the film-wrapping and boxing of spools
of thread. Thread spools in fact generally have a truncated-cone shape and must be
arranged in boxes or cartons so as to minimize wasted space.
[0003] Currently known solutions have various problems which mainly arise from the correct
forming of the layer of spools which must be inserted in the cartons, so that considerable
problems occur both in correctly placing the spools for each individual layer and
in completely automating the cycle for the film-wrapping of the individual spools
and for the boxing of the layer of spools.
[0004] Another problem is furthermore related to the forming of the cartons, which are generally
formed starting from a cutout which is already pasted along one edge, so as to form
a tubular element which, when it is to be used, must be opened in order to form the
carton: this operation currently requires a considerable contribution of manual labor
and is never completely integrated with a film-wrapping and boxing machine.
[0005] The aim of the invention is indeed to eliminate the disadvantages described above
by providing a film-wrapping and boxing machine, suitable specifically for spools
of thread and the like, which allows to perform, with a fully automatic cycle, the
boxing of the various spools, forming a layer with a presettable arrangement of the
various spools.
[0006] Within the scope of the above aim, a particular object of the invention is to provide
a film-wrapping and boxing machine which can perform in automatic succession all of
the operations, starting from the film-wrapping of the individual spools up to the
forming of the cartons, with the boxing of the various layers of formed spools.
[0007] Another object of the present invention is to provide a film-wrapping and boxing
machine which is particularly versatile and practical in use, since it can easily
and rapidly adapt to all the types of spools which are commercially used.
[0008] Not least object of the present invention is to provide a film-wrapping and boxing
machine, particularly for spools of thread and the like, which can be easily obtained
starting from commonly commercially available elements and materials and which is
furthermore competitive from a merely economical point of view.
[0009] This aim, these objects and others which will become apparent hereinafter are achieved
by a film-wrapping and boxing machine, particularly for spools of thread and the like,
according to the invention, characterized in that it comprises a station for the film-wrapping
of spools of thread and the like removed from a spool accumulation region, a unit
for the advancement and orientation of the film-wrapped spools, a station for the
forming of a layer of spools, a unit for removing and transferring the layer of spools,
and a station for boxing the preformed layer of spools.
[0010] Further characteristics and advantages will become apparent from the description
of a preferred but not exclusive embodiment of a film-wrapping and boxing machine,
particularly for spools of thread and the like, illustrated only by way of non-limitative
example in the accompanying drawings, wherein:
figure 1 is a schematic plan view of the film-wrapping and boxing machine according
to the invention;
figure 2 is an end view of the station for the film-wrapping of the individual spools
of thread;
figure 3 is a detail view of the thread spool film-wrapping station and of the spool
advancement and orientation unit;
figure 4 is a detail view of the unit for the orientation of the film-wrapped spools;
figure 5 is a view of the unit for the removal and transfer of the spool layer;
figure 6 is a view of the station for the boxing of the formed spools;
figure 7 is a view of a machine for the forming of the cartons, illustrating the unit
for the removal of the cutout;
figure 8 is a view of the carton forming machine during the carton forming step;
figure 9 is a view of the unit for the transfer of the formed carton.
[0011] With reference to the above figures, and in particular to figures 1 to 6, the film-wrapping
and boxing machine, particularly for spools of thread and the like, according to the
invention, comprises a station 1 for the film-wrapping of spools 2 which arrive from
a spool accumulation region 3; a unit 5 for the advancement and orientation of the
spools acts downstream of said station 1 so as to feed said spools into a station
6 for the forming of a layer of spools, where a removal unit 7 acts and transfers
said spools to a boxing station, which is generally indicated by 8.
[0012] More in detail, the spools 2 are placed in the accumulation region 3 so that they
are mutually axially aligned and are all orientated in the same direction, i.e. with
the taper of the spool directed in the same direction; the accumulation region 3 in
practice has a spool transfer lane 11, at the end of which there acts an articulated
arm 12 which supports, at its upper end, a cradle 13 which is available at the lane
11 to remove the spool and arrange it in a guiding cradle 15 arranged on the inlet
16 of the film-wrapping station 1. As illustrated in figure 3, at said inlet there
acts a pusher piston 17 which introduces the spool into a channel 18 outside which
a film 19 of polyethylene or similar material is wrapped continuously; said film 19
is unrolled from a feed roll 20 which continuously feeds said film, which is wrapped
around the channel 18, mutually overlapping its longitudinal flaps.
[0013] Above the channel 18 there is a bar-shaped heat welding unit 21 which, continuously
and in discrete segments, associates the overlapping flaps, in practice joining the
film in the longitudinal direction, so as to obtain a tubular element.
[0014] At the outlet of the channel 18 there is a head 22 for the transverse welding and
cutting of the tubular film element formed upstream. Said head, by means of welding
units, closes the ends of the wrapping.
[0015] The welding head is composed of two sets of welding/cutting clamps 22a and 22b which
are articulated on chain links.
[0016] The welding/cutting units are forced to follow a straight path in the active portion
and a curved one in the idle portion; they are composed of elements which are heated
with electric pulses which have the purpose of welding the wrapping and then separating
it from the tubular film element.
[0017] The spool pushed by the piston 17 (through the channel 18) arranges itself inside
the welding head 22; the clamps 22a are in idle position (open), the clamps 22b are
closed in the end-of-work position (they have welded the front part of the wrapping).
[0018] The rotation of the clamps in the direction indicated by the arrow (the clamps 22a
move so as to occupy the position of the clamps 22b) causes the advancement of the
spool; during this motion, the clamps 22a:
a) weld the rear side of the wrapping;
b) cut the wrapping from the tubular film element;
c) weld the leading portion of the subsequent wrapping,
whereas the previously closed clamps 22b open and move into the open position
previously occupied by the clamps 22a.
[0019] Upon each cycle, a wrapping is formed completely and a spool is thus packaged.
[0020] At the outlet of the welding head 22 there is the advancement and orientation unit,
which comprises a removal unit, more clearly illustrated in figure 4, which is constituted
by a pair of L-shaped arms 25 which are pivoted to the fixed structure at one end
and support a pair of wing-shaped removal devices 26 which are arranged mutually opposite
and are connected to small pusher pistons 27 which allow to couple the wing-shaped
removal devices 26 to the lateral surface of the already film-wrapped spool 2.
[0021] The wing-shaped removal devices can rotate about their own axis so as to rotate the
spool, arranging it with its larger base or its smaller base upward, according to
the packaging requirements.
[0022] As shown in figure 3, the arms 25 are rotated so as to deposit the spool, orientated
with its base arranged in the selected manner, onto an advancement conveyor 30 on
which a plurality of spools is aligned.
[0023] A cross-member 31 is provided transversely to the advancement conveyor 30, is connected
to a side wall portion 32 and in practice stops and positions the first spool of the
row, so as to produce a row with a required number of spools.
[0024] The side wall portion is connected to a traction cylinder 33 which moves said side
wall portion in a direction which is perpendicular to the direction of motion of the
advancement conveyor 30, so that the formed row of spools is removed from the conveyor
30 and is arranged on a forming conveyor 40 which is also constituted by a continuously
advancing belt.
[0025] The rows of spools thus formed are caused to advance up to the station for the forming
of the layer 8, which has a stop abutment 41 (figure 6) which acts as stop element
for the first row of spools which has already been formed.
[0026] Lateral containment walls 42, perpendicular to the abutment 41, are furthermore provided
and can be actuated by pistons for compacting the layer; there is also a front closing
wall 43 which is mounted on an oscillating frame 44, and which is in a raised position
during the spool row or line feeding step and is lowered in order to perform the lateral
compaction of said layer.
[0027] Above the forming station there acts a removal and transfer unit, generally indicated
by the reference numeral 7 and more clearly illustrated in figure 5, which is constituted
by a spool gripping clamp 46 which has an abutment plane 47, above which grip walls
48 are pivoted; said grip walls can be actuated by pistons 49 to secure them against
the lateral region of the formed layer of spools in order to be able to remove said
spools.
[0028] The clamp is connected to a stem 50 which is associated with a carriage 51 which
can move on upper guides 52 for the transfer of the layer of spools.
[0029] The abutment plane is furthermore provided with a limited stroke movement which allows
to separate the spool layer from the grip walls to release said spools into the carton
55 which is arranged adjacent to the belt 40.
[0030] The packaging of the spools furthermore entails the insertion of partitions 56 between
the layers; said insertion is performed by means of a sucker-fitted removal device
57 which removes a partition 56 from a stack and inserts it within the carton immediately
after the insertion of each individual layer, or as otherwise provided for by the
program-based control means.
[0031] The carton 55 is formed by means of a carton forming station or machine, generally
indicated by the reference numeral 9; said carton forming station comprises a sucker-fitted
removal device 62 which removes a single cutout, arranged in flattened configuration
and with its larger face parallel to the ground, contrary to what is observed in the
known art, which provides the placement of the cutouts along a vertical arrangement.
[0032] The removed cutout is carried to the carton forming station, which has a conveyor
belt 64, on which the cutout is placed, as illustrated in figure 8; during the removal
step, the carton, by virtue of the deactivation of part of the suckers, undergoes
a first opening directly by gravity.
[0033] The station furthermore comprises a first arm 65 for folding the bottom side flap
which is arranged opposite to a fixed folding device 66 which in practice closes the
first two opposite flaps.
[0034] There are also an upper folding arm 67, which folds a contiguous flap, and a lower
folding arm 68, which folds the opposite contiguous flap, consequently closing all
four of the flaps of the bottom and consequently forming the carton perfectly.
[0035] Once the bottom flaps have been folded, the carton is caused to advance, by means
of an upper traction device 70 and of the lower one 64, against a taping unit, indicated
by 71, which closes the median region of the bottom, thus making the performed forming
permanent.
[0036] The upper traction device 70 and the lower one 64 then place the carton on an unloading
unit, indicated by 80, which has a grid-like frame 81 which can be overturned in order
to arrange the formed carton, which has its open inlet arranged laterally, so that
its bottom rests on the carton conveyance unit for routing to the boxing station and
so that the upper inlet is open.
[0037] In practical operation, the spools 2, arranged in the accumulation region, are caused
to slide toward the removal arm 12, which introduces them at the inlet 16 of the channel
18, where the piston 17 pushes them, encountering the bottom of the polythene film,
which is already closed transversely and welded along the longitudinal edge.
[0038] Under the thrust of the piston 17, the spool is inserted in the wrapping which has
been preformed by the clamp 22b, and said clamp, by rotating, welds the wrapping in
its rear part, forms another wrapping with a front welding, and positions the packaged
spool so that it is ready to be removed, as shown in figure 4.
[0039] The spool is removed by the removal device, is possibly inverted, if required, and
is then arranged on the advancement belt 30 which moves it forward by one step according
to the program.
[0040] These operations are repeated until a complete row of spools is formed against the
cross-member 31 and the wall section 32.
[0041] When a row is completely formed, the wall 32 is moved, moving the row of spools onto
the forming conveyor 40, which causes the advancement of the formed rows until the
layer is defined in the layer forming region.
[0042] When the layer is completely formed, it is compacted by means of the bars which act
on the periphery of the set of spools.
[0043] The clamp 46 descends onto the layer and the abutment plane upwardly compresses the
spool layer, then the lateral walls of the clamp are closed in order to retain the
spool layer and the clamp is moved initially upward and then in a horizontal direction
to arrange itself above the carton in which the spools are to be inserted.
[0044] The clamp is moved down until it reaches the bottom of the carton and is opened slightly
so that the abutment plane, by means of a slight movement, can release the formed
spool layer.
[0045] The clamp is then retracted above the boxing section, and the sucker-fitted removal
device inserts a partition, or whatever else is required by the production cycle,
into the carton.
[0046] The carton forming unit entails the complete opening of the carton, after the initial
step of removal by means of the suckers and a partial opening directly by gravity,
the folding of a flap by the arm 65 until the flap is closed completely, then the
closure of the opposite flap by means of the opposite arm and the closure of the other
flaps of the carton by means of the upper and lower arms, thus completing the closure
of the carton.
[0047] The upper and lower traction devices pull the carton along the taping unit, which
fixes adhesive paper to the seam of the flaps, so as to close the carton downward.
[0048] The carton thus formed is then conveyed to the grid-like frame, which moves the carton
from the horizontal position to the vertical one, i.e. with the loading opening arranged
upward, onto the conveyor which introduces the carton into the boxing station.
[0049] To the above it should be furthermore added that the taping unit is provided with
adjustable levels so as to position the adhesive tape at the required level.
[0050] From what has been described above it can thus be seen that the invention achieves
the proposed aim and objects, and in particular the fact is stressed that an apparatus
is provided which allows to perform, in a fully automatic manner, the packaging cycle
of spools, comprising the film-wrapping and boxing of the spools and the forming of
the cartons, which are removed from a stack of horizontally arranged cutouts.
[0051] The invention thus conceived is susceptible to numerous modifications and variations,
all of which are within the scope of the inventive concept.
[0052] All the details may furthermore be replaced with other technically equivalent elements.
[0053] In practice, the materials employed, as well the dimensions and contingent shapes,
may be any according to the requirements.
[0054] Where technical features mentioned in any claim are followed by reference signs,
those reference signs have been included for the sole purpose of increasing the intelligibility
of the claims and accordingly such reference signs do not have any limiting effect
on the scope of each element identified by way of example by such reference signs.
1. Film-wrapping and boxing machine, particularly for spools of thread and the like,
characterized in that it comprises a station (1) for the film-wrapping of spools (2)
of thread and the like removed from a spool accumulation region (3), a unit (5) for
the advancement and orientation of the film-wrapped spools, a station (6) for the
forming of a layer of spools, a unit (7) for removing and transferring the layer of
spools, and a station (8) for boxing the preformed layer of spools.
2. Film-wrapping and boxing machine, according to claim 1, characterized in that said
spool accumulation region (3) comprises a lane (11) at the end of which there is an
articulated arm (12) which upwardly supports a cradle (13) which is provided at said
lane (11) in order to remove the spool (2) and arrange it in a guiding cradle (15)
arranged at the inlet (16) of said film-wrapping station (1).
3. Film-wrapping and boxing machine according to the preceding claims, characterized
in that said film-wrapping station (1) has a channel (18) which defines said inlet
(16) and outside which it is possible to continuously wrap a film (19) arriving from
a feeder roll (20), said film (19) wrapping around said channel (18) with overlap
of its longitudinal flaps.
4. Film-wrapping and boxing machine according to one or more of the preceding claims,
characterized in that it comprises a heat welding unit (21) which acts above said
channel (18) for the mutual joining of said longitudinal flaps.
5. Film-wrapping and boxing machine, according to one or more of the preceding claims,
characterized in that it comprises, downstream of said channel (18), a welding and
cutting clamp (22a,22b) which acts transversely on the tubular film formed by said
channel (18).
6. Film-wrapping and boxing machine, according to one or more of the preceding claims,
characterized in that it comprises a pusher piston (17) which acts on the spool (2)
which is arranged in said channel (18) in order to push it against the bottom of the
tubular film (19) which has previously been pulled and welded by the welding clamps
(22a,22b).
7. Film-wrapping and boxing machine, according to one or more of the preceding claims,
characterized in that said advancement and orientation unit (5) comprises a removal
device which is constituted by a pair of L-shaped arms (25) which are pivoted to the
fixed structure at one end and support a pair of wing-shaped removal devices (26)
which are arranged mutually opposite and can move longitudinally in order to engage
the surface of the film-wrapped spool (2), means being furthermore provided for rotating
said wingshaped removal devices about their own axes for the possible overturning
of said film-wrapped spool (2).
8. Film-wrapping and boxing machine according to one or more of the preceding claims,
characterized in that it comprises an advancement conveyor (30) which is arranged
downstream of said removal arms (25), a cross-member (31) being provided transversely
to said advancement conveyor (30) and being connected to a wall section (32) which
is suitable for forming a row of film-wrapped spools.
9. Film-wrapping and boxing machine according to one or more of the preceding claims,
characterized in that said wall section (32) is connected to a traction cylinder (33)
in order to move the row of film-wrapped spools (2) perpendicularly to the direction
of motion of said advancement conveyor (30), with the transfer of said row onto a
forming conveyor (40) which advances continuously substantially perpendicularly to
said advancement conveyor (30).
10. Film-wrapping and boxing machine, according to one or more of the preceding claims,
characterized in that said spool layer forming station (6) comprises a stop abutment
(41) which is arranged on said forming conveyor (40) and is flanked by a pair of lateral
containment walls (42) which are perpendicular to said stop abutment (41), a front
closure wall (43) being furthermore provided, said wall being mounted on an oscillating
frame (44) and being arrangeable opposite to said stop abutment (41), said lateral
walls (42) being movable perpendicularly to the direction of motion of said forming
conveyor (40) for the compaction of the formed layer.
11. Film-wrapping and boxing machine according to one or more of the preceding claims,
characterized in that said removal and transfer unit (7) comprises a spool grip clamp
(46) which is constituted by an abutment plane (47) above which grip walls (48) are
pivoted, said grip walls (48) being arranged perimetrically and being securable against
the lateral region of the formed spool layer, said clamp (46) being connected to a
stem (50) which is associated with a carriage (51) which can move along upper guides
(52) for the transfer of the spool layer removed by said clamp (46).
12. Film-wrapping and boxing machine, according to one or more of the preceding claims,
characterized in that it comprises a unit for the application of a partition (56)
between one layer of spools and the other, said unit comprising a sucker-fitted partition
removal unit (57) which can move on supporting guides for insertion into the carton
(55) in which the spool layers are introduced.
13. Carton forming machine, characterized in that it comprises a sucker-fitted removal
unit (62) which acts above a stack of cutouts which are arranged on a horizontal plane,
at least part of said suckers being deactivatable for the gravity opening of the cutout,
there being also a first arm (65) for the folding of a first lateral flap and a fixed
folding arm (66), arranged opposite to said first folding arm (65), for the closure
of the opposite flap, there being also an upper folding arm (67) and a lower folding
arm (68) for the folding of the other bottom flaps.
14. Carton forming machine, characterized in that it comprises an upper traction unit
(70) which acts on the formed carton in order to move it into a taping unit (71) which
is suitable for applying an adhesive tape which is suitable for making the forming
of the carton permanent.
15. Carton forming machine, according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized
in that it comprises a unit (80) for the unloading of the formed cartons, which is
constituted by a grid-like frame (81) which can be overturned in order to arrange
the formed carton with its open inlet upward.