Machine for making absorbent sanitary articles

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10028863-B2
Application number	US-201715794097-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 26, 2017
Priority date	Sep 21, 2011
Publication date	Jul 24, 2018
Grant date	Jul 24, 2018

Abstract

A machine for making absorbent sanitary articles, where each article includes components progressively positioned relative to each other and assembled along a production line. The machine includes a programmable electronic controller device having a shift register, at least one optical inspection system connected to the programmable electronic controller device, and an operator interface connected to the electronic controller. The programmable electronic controller device generates a machine sync signal, a trigger signal for activating the optical inspection system in phase with the sync signal and a shift register shift command. The optical inspection system receives the trigger signal and has a defined maximum response time which produces at least one band of uncertainty. The operator sets with the operator interface the instant of activating the shift register shift command outside the band of uncertainty and between two consecutive sync signals defining a machine step.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A machine for making absorbent sanitary articles, comprising:
a programmable electronic controller device comprising a shift register,
at least one optical inspection system connected to the programmable electronic controller device, the optical inspection system including an image acquisition and processing unit,
an operator interface connected to the electronic controller;
the programmable electronic controller device programmed to generate a machine sync signal, send a trigger signal to the optical inspection system to activate the optical inspection system in phase with the sync signal and apply a shift register shift command on the shift register;
the optical inspection system receiving the trigger signal;
at least one chosen from the programmable electronic controller device and the optical inspection system programmed and arranged to:
set, from a moment the optical inspection system receives the trigger signal, a defined maximum response time for flagging a presence of a production defect, if any, of a sanitary article;
the defined maximum response time creating a band of uncertainty, defined temporally from an instant in which the optical inspection system receives the trigger signal to an instant in which the optical inspection system flags the presence of the production defect, if any;

the image acquisition and processing unit programmed to send, before an end of the band of uncertainty, a rejection signal to the programmable electronic controller device;
the programmable electronic controller device programmed to produce, after receiving the rejection signal, a rejection information item to be assigned to a particular step of the shift register and to shift the particular step to a last block of the shift register, to generate a command for rejecting a finished sanitary article which is at a rejection station;
an operator interface operably connected to the programmable electronic controller device, the programmable electronic controller device programmed to set an instant of activating the shift register shift command to be 1) within a machine step defined by two consecutive sync signals and to be 2) outside the band of uncertainty based an input from the operator interface.

2. The machine according to claim 1 , wherein the instant of activating the shift register shift command is set before the band of uncertainty by the operator interface.

3. The machine according to claim 1 , wherein the instant of activating the shift register shift command is set after the band of uncertainty by the operator interface.

4. The machine according to claim 1 , wherein the optical inspection system comprises at a video camera for capturing at least one image of the absorbent article and wherein the image acquisition and processing unit is connected to the video camera.

5. The machine according to claim 4 , wherein the video camera is a linear video camera.

6. The machine according to claim 1 , wherein the optical inspection system is a vision system.

7. The machine according to claim 1 , wherein the optical inspection system includes a video camera located in a proximity of an outfeed end of a production line of the absorbent sanitary articles.

8. The machine according to claim 4 , wherein at least one chosen from the optical inspection system and the programmable electronic controller is programmed to activate the video camera at least once within a single step producing a corresponding band of uncertainty; the instant of activating the shift command being settable outside the band of uncertainty by the operator interface.

9. The machine according to claim 4 , and further comprising a plurality of video cameras, wherein at least one chosen from the optical inspection system and the programmable electronic controller is programmed to activate the plurality of video cameras within a single step each producing a corresponding band of uncertainty; the instant of activating the shift command being settable outside the bands of uncertainty by the operator interface.

Assignees

• Gdm Spa

Inventors

• Piantoni Matteo
• Perego Alberto

Classifications

• B29C66/96

  characterised by the method for implementing the controlling of the joining process · CPC title

• A61F13/15739 Primary

  Sealing, e.g. involving cutting · CPC title

• A61F13/15772 Primary

  Control · CPC title