Stacking station for a thermoforming plant, method for producing cup-shaped products and thermoforming plant

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10703583-B2
Application number	US-201414652873-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 21, 2014
Priority date	Mar 22, 2013
Publication date	Jul 7, 2020
Grant date	Jul 7, 2020

Abstract

The invention relates to a stacking station for a thermoforming installation, to a method for producing cup-shaped products in a thermoforming installation and to a thermoforming installation equipped therewith. Ejecting products out of a film plane onto an additional conveyor belt using a pusher is known. The additional conveyor belt first brings the products to a tilting device. After actuation of the tilting device, the products lie on their side and are conveyed onward from there. The present invention provides first pre-stacking the products coming from the ejector, to then tilt them, preferably by way of their own weight, and to stack them only once they are lying.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A stacking station to stack thermoformed cup-shaped products formed from a continuous film strip in a thermoforming installation comprising:
an ejector that ejects the cup-shaped products from an index;
a pre-stack conveyor situated below the index, the pre-stack conveyor receiving the cup-shaped products ejected from the index to form pre-stacks of the cup-shaped products;
a tilting device situated downstream of the pre-stack conveyor and comprised of a tilting edge adjacent to the pre-stack conveyor, the tilting edge tilts the cup-shaped product from a pre-stack orientation to a stacking orientation;
a drop shaft situated adjacent to the tilting edge of the tilting device, the drop shaft receiving the tilted cup-shaped products from the tilting device, the drop shaft including walls, a stack floor, and a fall brake that slows down the tilted cup-shaped products via friction falling through the drop shaft from the tilting edge to the stack floor; and
a deflector device situated in the drop shaft, the deflector device being activated to discharge a row of the cup-shaped products if one of the cup-dash shaped products does not fulfil quality requirements.

2. The stacking station of claim 1 , wherein the ejector includes at least one ejector arm that engages the cup-shaped products to eject the cup-shaped products from the index.

3. The stacking station of claim 1 , wherein the cup-shaped products are formed from an index into stacks, wherein the cup-shaped products in the index are arranged in columns that are substantially parallel to a machine direction of the stacking station and in rows that are substantially perpendicular to the machine direction of the stacking station.

4. The stacking station of claim 3 further comprising a pusher situated below the pre-stack conveyor and a removal conveyor situated adjacent to and downstream of the pusher.

5. The stacking station of claim 4 , wherein the pusher pushes the tilted cup-shaped products from the stack floor of the drop shaft to the removal conveyor to form stacks of the cup-shaped products.

6. The stacking station of claim 5 , wherein the pusher includes a first pushing stage that has a shorter feed motion to stack the pre-stacks from the pre-stack conveyor and a second pushing stage that has a longer feed motion to push the products onward for further transport.

7. The stacking station of claim 6 , wherein the pusher includes a pushing finger for each column of cup-shaped product, wherein the pushing finger for each column enters a corresponding column of the drop shaft to transport the cup-shaped product on the stack floor in the machine direction of the stacking station.

8. The stacking station of claim 7 , wherein the stack floor and the pushing fingers are tilted at an angle with respect to horizontal.

9. The stacking station of claim 1 further comprising a stacking line connected to the drop shaft, the stacking line being titled upward in a machine direction of the stacking station.

10. The stacking station of claim 9 , wherein the stacking line includes a pushing brake that slows down the cup-shaped products pushed by the pusher.

11. The stacking station of claim 1 , wherein the drop shaft includes a column for each column of each of the cup-shaped products in the index.

12. The stacking station of claim 11 further, wherein each column of the drop shaft includes lamellas attached to the walls that prevent the cup-shaped products falling through the drop shaft from inadvertently tilting forward.

13. The stacking station of claim 12 , wherein the drop shafts are arranged as exchangeable modules.

14. The stacking station of claim 13 , wherein the cup-shaped products fall through the drop shaft via gravity.

15. The stacking station of claim 14 , wherein the stack floor and the drop shaft are tilted at an angle with respect to horizontal.

Assignees

• Kiefel Gmbh

Inventors

• Wieser Gerhard
• Knoll Peter

Classifications

• B65G57/08 Primary

  articles being tilted or inverted prior to depositing · CPC title

• B65G57/165

  nested · CPC title

• B29C51/00

  Shaping by thermoforming {, i.e. shaping sheets or sheet like preforms after heating}, e.g. shaping sheets in matched moulds or by deep-drawing; Apparatus therefor {(blow moulding of tubular preforms B29C49/00, deforming of tubular or hollow preforms B29C67/0014)} · CPC title

• B29C51/18

  Thermoforming apparatus · CPC title

• B65G57/16 Primary

  Stacking of articles of particular shape · CPC title