[0001] The invention relates to an apparatus for packaging of piece-goods with a metal detecting
and removing function, operating in a horizontal direction, making packages out of
foil, closing them by longitudinal or transversal welding or sealing, performing two
additional operations besides packaging: 1. it identifies (detects) among the prepared
packages the ones containing metal pollutants, and 2. removes/scraps these packages
as non-compliant ones.
[0002] The object of the invention is to design a machine of simple structure that integrates
the functions of packaging/metal detection/metal removal by combining the structural
components of a horizontal packaging machine for piece-goods, including its product
delivering conveyor belt and controls designed according to the invention, with a
commercially available metal detecting device and a package removing structure.
[0003] According to the invention, this task is solved by applying the appropriately integrated
combination of two kinds of equipment, each of which is commonly used, namely a piece-goods
packaging machine of horizontal operation and a metal detection/removal machine, excluding
the unnecessarily duplicate structural parts of the packaging machine and the metal
detecting/removing machine.
[0004] Checking packaged products by metal detector and removing, scrapping packages containing
metal pollutants is becoming a general requirement in the food industry nowadays.
This requirement is currently met by installing a metal detection/removal machine
as a standalone machine in the production line after the packaging machine that usually
comprises: a platform structure, a self-powered conveyor belt mounted on it, comprising
a section of appropriate length containing no metallic part, a metal detection device,
also mounted on it, and a structure removing any packages with metal content. The
two machines are operated together, so that the piece-goods packaged by the packaging
machine are moved from the delivery conveyor belt of the packaging machine to the
conveyor belt of the metal detection/removal machine, passing the metal detector device
of the machine, and any package containing metal pollutants is removed from the conveyor
belt by a removing structure, usually a pneumatic blow-off or push-off structure operated
by a control signal originating from the metal detector device, whereas the compliant
packages move on to the place of the next operation.
[0005] For example, a metal detection/removal machine of type ARGUS manufactured by ELMED
GmbH is installed as a standalone machine in the technological line after the horizontal
machine packaging piece-goods in foil of type LINEPACK manufactured by BUDAGÉP Kft.
Thus the functions of packaging, metal detection and removal are performed by a group
of machines comprising two standalone machines, in the following way:
- the two machines have independent, separate machine frames, geared product conveyors,
- the two machines have their respective independent controls, and thus the two machines
are started and stopped and the speeds of their respective conveyor belts are regulated
separately.
[0006] Another example is
US 2012/0151887A disclosing a mobile plant for dosing, mixing and packaging, according to which the
plant concerned is meant to dose, mix and package materials in "powdery, granulated
or equivalent form", and its equipment, comprising a sack-filling, a sack-sewing and
a metal-detecting section, is mounted in a container. It can be established from the
description that:
- the machines of the plant, including the sack-filling machine, the sack-sewing machine
and the metal-detecting machine, are individual machines that have their independent
structural units, i.e. own standalone frame, transmission structure and drive,
- from among the parts of the plant, the container actually corresponds to a mobile
building, with the machines making up the plant being fastened to its flooring, as
in any building, so the container cannot be interpreted as the "common frame" of the
machines of the plant, since the respective own machine frames of the machines of
the plant are retained unmodified,
- in the plant, the sack-filling - sack-sewing - labelling machine and the metal detection
equipment have no common structural part, as stated by sentence 0082 of the description:
"After the sacks are closed and labelled, they are put on a conveyor belt operated
by a gear motor...", the container fulfilling the role of building cannot be regarded
as common structural part,
- the use of the "central control station" according to claim 13 of the specification
is general practice in plants comprising several machines, that does not exclude that
the machines of the plant have their own controls, so the "central control station"
synchronises the operation of the machines of the plant, instead of operating them.
[0007] The method described in the above examples, that is, the use of a standalone machine
for packaging and a standalone one for metal detection/removal is not only the general,
but also the exclusive method today. The reason for that is that machines for packaging
of piece-goods and machines for metal detection/removal, respectively, are currently
present in the market only as standalone machines. One disadvantage of this situation
is that two high-value machines need to be procured and operated, another one is that
the plant area occupied by the two standalone machines is relatively large, and a
further disadvantage is that their drives have separate controls, so their operation
is not automatically synchronised.
[0008] The object of the invention is to eliminate the above-listed drawbacks by integrating
the two standalone machines described above by mounting their structural parts needed
for the operations of packaging and metal detection/removal on the frame of the packaging
machine as common frame in the arrangement according to the invention, excluding from
among their structural parts any superfluous duplications and unifying the drives
of the two machines in the controls of the packaging machine.
[0009] The invention is based on the recognition that the structures of the traditional
piece-goods packaging machine and the traditional metal detection/removal machine
comprise superfluous duplications of structural parts present already in the other
machine, and by excluding those and mounting the remaining structural parts of the
two machines on one frame in the arrangement according to the invention a new packaging
machine can be produced that performs, besides the packaging function of the traditional
piece-goods packaging machines, also the metal detection/removal function of the traditional
metal detection/removal machines in a single machine.
[0010] A preferred embodiment of the packaging machine with metal detection/removal function
according to the invention is shown on the basis of the drawing, and it is compared
to the arrangement of the structural parts of the traditionally used standalone packaging
machine and standalone metal detecting/removing machine. In the attached drawings:
Figure 1 shows the horizontal packaging machine with metal detection/removal function
according to the invention in front view, with the schematic representation of the
structural units of the machine,
Figure 2 shows a general exemplary embodiment of a prior art standalone horizontal
packaging machine and the standalone metal detecting/removing machine in front view,
with the schematic representation of the structural parts of the machines.
[0011] Figure 1 shows the horizontal packaging machine with metal detection/removal function
according to the invention that comprises, among other structural parts mounted on
a packaging machine frame 1, a package-making/closing/separating structure 2, operated
under the control of a controller 3 of the packaging machine. A detection conveyor
belt 4 including a specially designed section of a predefined length comprising no
metallic part, driven by a drive 5 controlled by the controller 3 of the packaging
machine is mounted on the section of packaging machine frame 1 after the package-making/closing/separating
structure 2. A metal detecting device 7 is mounted on the same part of packaging machine
frame 1, with a vibration damper 6 being interposed so that the detection conveyor
belt 4, that is also the package delivering conveyor belt of the packaging machine,
will be led through it. A non-compliant package removing structure 8 controlled by
a signal of the metal detecting apparatus 7 is mounted on the section of packaging
machine frame 1 after the metal detecting apparatus 7.
[0012] The horizontal piece-goods packaging machine a metal detecting and removing function
according to Figure 1 operates in the following way: under the control of the controller
3 the package-making/closing/separating structure 2 makes packages that will be closed
by welding or sealing and separated from each other. Products A packaged this way,
not checked by a metal detector, are moved from the package-making/closing/separating
structure 2 to the detection conveyor belt 4 that transports them through the metal
detector device 6 that checks the metal content of the packages. Where the metal detecting
apparatus 7 detects metal pollutants in the package being checked, it outputs a control
signal to the non-compliant package removing structure 8 that removes the package
containing metal pollutants from the detection conveyor belt 4. Products B having
passed the metal detecting apparatus 7, packaged and checked by the metal detecting
apparatus 7, are forwarded by the detection conveyor belt 4 to the place of the following
operation prescribed by the related technology. The package-making/closing/separating
structure 2 and the detection conveyor belt 4 of the packaging machine controlled
by the control unit 3 of the packaging machine are operated synchronously with each
other and in one direction, as indicated by the arrow.
[0013] The structure of the traditionally used combination of the standalone horizontal
packaging machine and standalone metal detecting/removing machine shown in Figure
2 is typically the following:
Besides several other structural parts, package making/closing/separating structure
2 operating under the control of the packaging machine controller 3 is mounted on
packaging machine frame 1 of the packaging machine. A package delivering conveyor
belt 9 driven by a package delivering conveyor belt engine 10 is mounted on the section
of packaging machine frame 1 after the package making/closing/separating structure
2.
[0014] The metal detecting/removing machine is installed in a standalone form after the
packaging machine that is generally designed so that the detection conveyor belt 4
of special design, containing no metallic part over a section of a specified length,
driven by a drive 5 controlled by a controller of the detection conveyor belt 12,
is mounted on a metal detecting/removing machine frame 11. A metal detecting apparatus
7 is mounted on metal detecting/removing machine frame 11 with the insertion of vibration
damper 6 so that the detection conveyor belt 4 is led through it. A non-compliant
package removing structure 8 controlled by the signal of the metal detecting structure
7 is mounted on the section of the metal detecting/removing machine frame 11 after
the metal detector structure 7. The standalone packaging machine and standalone metal
detecting/removing machine according to Figure 2 have their respective own controllers
the operation of which is not synchronised.
[0015] A comparison of the above-described exemplary embodiments of the packaging machine
according to the invention shown in Figure 1 and the standalone packaging machine
and standalone metal detecting/removing machine shown in Figure 2 shows that, by using
the horizontal piece-goods packaging machine with metal detection/removal function
according to the invention as opposed to the standalone packaging machine and standalone
metal detecting/removing machine according to the traditional method, it is possible
to spare the following structural parts:
9 package delivering conveyor belt,
10 package delivering conveyor belt engine,
11 metal detecting/removing machine frame,
12 control of the detection conveyor belt,
and thanks to the joint control of the package-making/closing/separating structure
and the detection conveyor belt, all structural parts will automatically operate synchronously.
[0016] Using the packaging machine with metal detection/removal function according to the
invention has several economic advantages: 1. due to the smaller number of structural
units, it can be produced for less than the combination of the standalone packaging
machine and standalone metal detection/removal machine, of identical use value; 2.
thanks to the smaller number of driven units, its use is concurrent with the consumption
of less energy; 3. its structural length and hence installation area is smaller thanks
to the lower number of structural parts and the one common frame instead of two standalone
ones is smaller than the structural length and installation area of the combination
of a standalone packaging machine and a standalone metal detecting/removing machine;
4.thanks to the joint control of the drives, the synchronicity the packaging and metal
detection operations is automatically ensured.
List of reference signs
[0017]
1 packaging machine frame
2 package-making/closing/separating structure
3 packaging machine controller
4 detection conveyor belt
5 detection conveyor belt drive
6 vibration damper
7 metal detecting apparatus
8 non-compliant package removing structure
9 package delivering conveyor belt
10 package delivering conveyor belt engine
11 metal detecting/removing machine frame
12 detection conveyor belt controls
A: packaged product not checked by metal detector
B: packaged product checked by metal detector
→ travel direction of the products
1. A horizontal packaging machine with metal detection/removal function that makes packages
from foil, closing them and separating them from each other by its package-making/closing/separating
structure; checks the metal content of the packages and removes the packages that
are found to contain metal from among the other packages, characterised in that a detection conveyor belt comprising no metallic part along an appropriate structural
length is mounted instead of the usual package delivering conveyor of the packaging
machine, at the usual place thereof, on the packaging machine frame that also delivers
the packaged products from the packaging machine, and with the insertion of a vibration
damper, a metal detector device is also mounted on the machine frame, through which
the detection conveyor belt is led, and a structure designed to remove any non-compliant
packages found to contain metal from the detection conveyor belt so that the speed
of the detection conveyor belt is synchronised with the packaging speed by the controller
of the packaging machine, as a result of which the automatic synchronisation of the
packaging and the metal detection/removal functions is ensured.
2. A packaging machine according to claim 1, characterised in that only the forward branch of the detection conveyor belt goes through the metal detecting
device, whereas the returning one goes back under the metal detector device.
3. A packaging machine according to claim 1, characterised in that the detection conveyor belt receives its drive from the package making/sewing/separating
structure of the packaging machine and so it does not comprise the separately controlled
detector belt drive.