DEVICE FOR PROVIDING A TWO-COMPARTMENT PACKAGE, AND TWO-COMPARTMENT PACKAGE

Abstract

 A device (10) for providing a two-compartment package (11, 111) starting from a base sheet (13, 113), said device (10) comprising a collar (14) for forming the base sheet (13, 113) and a longitudinal element (15) for shaping the base sheet (13, 113), inserted in the collar (14);
the shaping longitudinal element (15) has two longitudinal ducts (16a, 16b) which are laterally adjacent at least in a first portion (19) thereof at/proximate to the collar (14);
the device (10) comprises pneumatic means (18) for moving the base sheet (13, 113) between the two longitudinal ducts (16a, 16b), downstream of at least one of the two longitudinal ducts (16a, 16b).

Description

[0001] The present invention relates to a device for providing a two-compartment package.

[0002] The invention also relates to a two-compartment package made with such a device.

[0003] Nowadays for the continuous packaging of products, apparatuses are known that comprise a device with a flat region that ends with a collar with a substantially vertical (or horizontal) axis of extension and which is inclined with respect to the plane of arrangement of the flat region.

[0004] The collar has a slit, along the wall that lies opposite to the flat region, which is parallel to the axis of extension of the collar.

[0005] Inside the collar there is a hopper with an axis of extension that substantially coincides with the axis of extension of the collar.

[0006] To package the products, in a continuous process, a sheet of paper-like and/or polymeric material is unwound from a spool and slides over the substantially flat region of the device and is conveyed inside the collar and shaped around the hopper, adhering to the internal wall of the collar, making the two opposing longitudinal flaps of the sheet come together inside the slit.

[0007] The sheet is heat-sealed in a longitudinal direction at the two opposing facing flaps, creating a tubular package, and is subjected to a first cut and simultaneous heat-sealing, in a transverse direction, at the exit from the collar, creating a bag.

[0008] The products are then directed, through the hopper, into the bag being created.

[0009] The bag containing the products then slides through the collar and is sealed with a second cut and simultaneous heat-sealing, in a transverse direction, opposite to the previous transverse direction, again at the exit from the collar.

[0010] Apparatuses are also known which make it possible to provide packages that have multiple separate compartments.

[0011] For example an apparatus is known from Italian patent no. 1398110, by the company MD BAG FORMING SETS SRL.

[0012] The above cited Italian patent describes an apparatus for producing packages with at least one additional pocket, heat-sealed on all sides. This apparatus comprises a collar that guides a base sheet, to be shaped, to a shaping tube.

[0013] The collar in turn has lances that are adapted to cause the formation of an additional cavity which is abutted by the base sheet to be shaped, so as to create a pocket on one side of the package.

[0014] Such conventional techniques have a number of drawbacks.

[0015] In fact, in such apparatus the lances for providing the cavity of the additional pocket are fixed and it is not possible to modify the volume of the compartments of the package according to requirements, without substituting the collar and/or the lances.

[0016] This results in lengthy and inconvenient procedures and in considerable machine shutdown times if it is necessary to substitute the collar and/or the lances in order to modify the volume of the additional pocket.

[0017] Also, with such apparatus, it is not possible to have any control over the depositing and over any wrinkling of the layers of the base sheet, at the dividing wall between the principal compartment and the pocket, prior to the heat-sealing thereof, with the drawback of obtaining packages with edges of considerable dimensions and an unpleasant visual impact.

[0018] The aim of the present invention is to provide a device for providing a two-compartment package, and a two-compartment package, that are capable of improving the known art in one or more of the above-mentioned aspects.

[0019] Within this aim, an object of the invention is to provide a device for providing a two-compartment package that makes it possible to vary the volume and the dimensions of the compartments according to requirements, without the necessity to substitute the collar, thus reducing machine shutdown times with respect to similar, conventional apparatuses.

[0020] Another object of the invention is to provide a device for providing a two-compartment package that allows control over the depositing of the layers of the base sheet, so avoiding any wrinkling of the layers of the sheet prior to the longitudinal heat-sealing thereof.

[0021] A further object of the invention is to provide a two-compartment package with a device that is capable of achieving the above-mentioned object.

[0022] A further object of the present invention is to overcome the drawbacks of the prior art in an alternative manner to any existing solutions.

[0023] Not least an object of the invention is to provide a device for providing a two-compartment package, and a two-compartment package, that are highly reliable, easy to implement, and at low cost.

[0024] This aim and these and other objects which will become better apparent hereinafter are achieved by a device for providing a two-compartment package starting from a base sheet, said device comprising a collar for forming said base sheet and a longitudinal element for shaping said base sheet, inserted in said collar, characterized in that:

• said shaping longitudinal element has two longitudinal ducts which are laterally adjacent at least in a first portion thereof at/proximate to said collar,
• it comprises pneumatic means for moving said base sheet between said two longitudinal ducts, downstream of at least one of said two longitudinal ducts.

[0025] This aim and these and other objects which will become more apparent hereinafter are also achieved by a two-compartment package that is capable of achieving the above-mentioned objects.

[0026] Further characteristics and advantages of the invention will become better apparent from the detailed description that follows of a preferred, but not exclusive, embodiment of the device for providing a two-compartment package and a two-compartment package, according to the invention, which are illustrated for the purposes of non-limiting example in the accompanying drawings wherein:

• Figure 1 is an overall perspective view of a device for providing a two-compartment package, according to the invention;
• Figure 2 is a cross-sectional view of a component of the device of Figure 1 in operation;
• Figure 3 is a rear view of the device of Figure 1;
• Figures 3a and 3b both show the same view of the device as in Figure 3, from which a detail has been omitted, each view in a respective operating configuration;
• Figures 4a and 4b are two different views of a component of the device of Figure 1, in a first operating arrangement;
• Figures 5a and 5b are two different views of a component of the device of Figure 1, in a second operating configuration;
• Figure 6 shows a first embodiment of a two-compartment package, according to the invention;
• Figure 6a is a cutaway view of the package of Figure 6;
• Figure 7 shows a first embodiment of a two-compartment package, according to the invention;
• Figure 7a is a cutaway view of the package of Figure 7.

[0027] With reference to the figures, a device for providing a two-compartment package, according to the invention, is generally designated by the reference numeral 10.

[0028] The device 10 is used for providing a two-compartment package 11, 111 starting from a base sheet 13, 113.

[0029] The device 10 comprises a collar 14 for forming the base sheet 13, 113, and a longitudinal element 15 for shaping the base sheet 13, 113, which is inserted in the collar 14.

[0030] The longitudinal shaping element 15 has two longitudinal ducts, respectively 16a and 16b, which are laterally adjacent, at least in a first portion thereof at/proximate to the collar 14.

[0031] Advantageously, between the two ducts 16a and 16b a space 17 is provided, inside which the base sheet 13, 113 can be inserted and can slide.

[0032] In the embodiment shown in the figures, the ducts 16a, 16b have a cross-section that is quadrangular in profile and square.

[0033] However, in other embodiments, not shown in the figures, the ducts 16a, 16b can have a cross-section with a different profile, for example: circular, semi-circular, triangular, etc.

[0034] The device 10 comprises pneumatic means 18 for moving the base sheet 13, 113 between the two longitudinal ducts 16a, 16b, downstream of at least one of the two longitudinal ducts 16a, 16b.

[0035] The expression "downstream of at least one of the two longitudinal ducts" means that the shaping longitudinal element 15 has a transverse cross-section showing two ducts 16a, 16b, as shown in Figure 2, in a first portion 19, at/proximate to the collar 14, while in a second portion 20, downstream of the first portion 19 in the direction of advancement of the base sheet 13, 113, the wall 21 of the second duct 16b directed toward the first duct 16a is not present, resulting in the absence of the duct 16b and its substitution with a corresponding channel (closed on only three sides, instead of four).

[0036] Advantageously, the pneumatic means 18 sequentially have:

• pneumatic movement means 22, which are arranged substantially at the collar 14 and are kinematically connected to a linkage 23,
• such linkage 23, having a substantially horizontal arrangement, being kinematically connected to a transmission rod 24,
• such transmission rod 24, substantially interposed between the two ducts 16a, 16b, having a substantially vertical arrangement and being kinematically connected to a pusher element 25,
• such pusher element 25, which is elongated, is hinged at a first end thereof to the transmission rod 24 and is movable on a plane that is substantially perpendicular to the axis of extension of the linkage 23, such pusher element 25 being arranged inside the shaping longitudinal element 15 downstream of at least one of the two ducts 16a, 16b.

[0037] The operation of the device 10 according to the invention is the following.

[0038] A base sheet 13, 113 of plastic and/or paper material, is conveyed into the collar 14 and forced to be contoured around the ducts 16a, 16b of the longitudinal element 15, producing an outline substantially shaped like an "8", as shown in Figure 2, with some flaps overlapping, respectively, 31a, 31b and 32a, 32b.

[0039] In this step a portion 26 of the base sheet 13, 113 is interposed in the space 17 between the two ducts 16a, 16b.

[0040] This portion 26 of the base sheet 13, 113 defines the dividing wall of the two compartments 12a, 12b, 112a, 112b of the package 11, 111.

[0041] Downstream of the ducts 16a, 16b, the pneumatic means 18, commanded by a dedicated software program, force a displacement of the pusher element 25 which proportionally pushes such portion 26 of the base sheet 13, 113, stretching it out and orienting it so as to control the overlapping of the layers and so preventing excessive wrinkling.

[0042] After the action of the pneumatic means 18, the base sheet 13, 113 is heat-sealed longitudinally onto itself, at/proximate to the longitudinal ends 30a, 30b of its portion 26, in order to irreversibly fix and close the overlapping flaps of the base sheet 13, 113, respectively, 31a, 31b and 32a, 32b.

[0043] Such operation results in the formation of the two compartments 12a, 12b, 112a, 112b of the package 11, 111.

[0044] Subsequently the packaging apparatus operates in a manner that is per se known, by performing the filling of the compartments 12a, 12b, 112a, 112b and subsequently the transverse heat-sealing and the cutting.

[0045] It should be noted that in order to modify the volume of the two compartments 12a, 12b, 112a, 112b, it is sufficient to modify the cross-section of the ducts 16a, 16b of the shaping longitudinal element 15.

[0046] Figures 6 to 7a show, for the purposes of non-limiting example, two different two-compartment packages made with the device 10.

[0047] The package 11, 111 according to the invention is provided starting from a base sheet 13, 113, and has two compartments 12a, 12b, 112a, 112b which are separated by a partition wall 40, 140 which is advantageously heat-sealed on the mutually opposite sides 51, 52, 151, 152 of the package 11, 111.

[0048] As shown in the figures, the device 10 can be used for packages with reinforced/heat-sealed corners and/or padded packages and/or packages with a square bottom.

[0049] In practice it has been found that the invention fully achieves the intended aim and objects by providing a device for providing a two-compartment package that makes it possible to vary the volume and the dimensions of the compartments according to requirements, without the necessity to substitute the collar, thus reducing machine shutdown times with respect to similar, conventional apparatuses.

[0050] According to the invention, a device has been devised for providing a two-compartment package that allows control over the depositing of the layers of the base sheet, so avoiding any wrinkling of the layers of the sheet prior to the heat-sealing thereof.

[0051] Also, according to the invention a two-compartment package is provided which is capable of achieving the set objects.

[0052] The invention thus conceived is susceptible of numerous modifications and variations, all of which are within the scope of the appended claims. Moreover, all the details may be substituted by other, technically equivalent elements.

[0053] In practice the materials employed, provided they are compatible with the specific use, and the contingent dimensions and shapes, may be any according to requirements and to the state of the art.

[0054] The disclosures in Italian Patent Application No. 102023000012786 from which this application claims priority are incorporated herein by reference.

[0055] Where technical features mentioned in any claim are followed by reference signs, such reference signs have been inserted for the sole purpose of increasing the intelligibility of the claims and accordingly such reference signs do not have any limiting effect on the interpretation of each element identified by way of example by such reference signs.

Claims

1. A device (10) for providing a two-compartment package (11, 111) starting from a base sheet (13, 113), said device (10) comprising a collar (14) for forming said base sheet (13, 113) and a longitudinal element (15) for shaping said base sheet (13, 113), inserted in said collar (14), characterized in that:

- said shaping longitudinal element (15) has two longitudinal ducts (16a, 16b) which are laterally adjacent at least in a first portion (19) thereof at/proximate to said collar (14),

- it comprises pneumatic means (18) for moving said base sheet (13, 113) between said two longitudinal ducts (16a, 16b), downstream of at least one of said two longitudinal ducts (16a, 16b).

2. The device (10) according to claim 1, characterized in that between said two ducts (16a, 16b) a space (17) is provided for the insertion and sliding of said base sheet (13, 113).

3. The device (10) according to claim 1, characterized in that said pneumatic means (18) have, in the following order:

- pneumatic movement means (22), which are arranged substantially at said collar (14) and are kinematically connected to a linkage (23),

- said linkage (23), having a substantially horizontal arrangement, being kinematically connected to a transmission rod (24),

- said transmission rod (24), substantially interposed between said two ducts (16a, 16b), having a substantially vertical arrangement and being kinematically connected to a pusher element (25),

- said pusher element (25), which is elongated, is hinged at a first end thereof to said transmission rod (24) and is movable on a plane that is substantially perpendicular to the axis of extension of said linkage (23), said pusher element (25) being arranged inside said shaping longitudinal element (15) downstream of at least one of said two ducts (16a, 16b).

4. A two-compartment package (11, 111) provided with two compartments (12a, 12b, 112a, 112b) which are separated by a partition wall (40, 140), characterized in that said partition wall (40, 140) is heat-sealed on opposite sides (51, 52, 151, 152) of said package (11, 111).

Drawing