EP0381156B1 - Packaging machine with an integrated orientating device - Google Patents

Description

The invention relates to a packaging machine for packing containers, in particular bottles, in containers, in particular boxes, trays or boxes, according to the preamble of claim 1.

A packaging machine for packing and unpacking small packs in or from open transport containers is known from DE-B-33 16 479 and EP 0 124 854 A3. Containers, such as bottles, are brought via a conveyor belt into the reach of a support designed as an extension arm, to which gripper heads are attached to a gripper carrier. The containers transported here are generally marked with labels. The containers are arranged on the conveyor belt so that they can be gripped by the gripper heads of the gripper carrier. The direction in which the labels of the containers point is completely arbitrary. The containers are made by the Gripper heads removed from the conveyor belt; then the support designed as a boom is brought into a delivery position in which the gripper heads can lower the containers into open transport containers. The containers thus have the same, unordered, statistically distributed position of their labels in the transport containers as they are arranged on the transport belt.

For economic reasons, namely because of the use of uniform transport containers, transport containers should often be used for containers that give no indication of their contents. Then, however, the labels of the containers must be arranged so that they can be seen through inspection holes in the sides of the container. In addition, buyers are more inclined to purchase containers lined up in an orderly manner. With the known packing and unpacking machine described above, it is not possible to carry out the necessary alignment of the containers visible to the outside through the openings in the side walls of the transport containers during the packing process.

From DE-PS 34 31 066 a packing machine is known which, in continuous operation, removes containers, here bottles, from a conveyor belt and packs them in transport containers. However, the bottles in the transport containers are again in statistically distributed positions in their compartments in the transport containers, so that the labels on the bottles point statistically distributed in different directions and can only be recognized from the outside by accident.

From DE-OS 31 28 291 a method and an apparatus for arranging and holding pack units in a common receptacle are known. For this purpose it is proposed to align the individual packaging units, for example bottles during or after the setting process, in boxes equipped with special holding devices in such a way that their labels can be identified through viewing windows in the boxes.

The device proposed in DE-OS 37 28 291 requires an additional work step, since the bottles are packed by a separate machine and then have to be transported via a conveyor belt to the alignment device for their intended use. This requires additional equipment and time.

In addition, this document states that one or more adjusting devices for rotating the bottles in the crate are to be operated via a common motor, the alignment process being terminated using separate coupling elements. The signal which indicates the alignment of the bottle according to its label is intended to trigger the coupling assigned to each individual setting device, as a result of which the alignment process of the bottle in question is ended.

Does the bottle to be aligned e.g. no label or other malfunctions occur, it can happen that the setting device for rotating the bottles turns the corresponding bottle in vain for a long time, since the push-button device does not send the required termination signal, which indicates that the bottle label is in the desired position Location. A wide variety of malfunctions are thus already pre-programmed here.

Finally, from DE-A-3 606 461 an alignment device for bottles on a conveyor line is known.

The invention is based on the object of avoiding the disadvantages of the cited prior art and in particular a packaging machine of the type mentioned at the outset with discontinuous or continuous mode of operation for packing containers, in particular bottles, into transport containers which are open at the top, in particular boxes, trays or cartons, To propose that aligns the containers during the packing process, which will be recognizable after being deposited through inspection holes in the side walls of the transport containers, so that their labels are visually uniformly perceptible through the inspection holes in the transport containers in a uniformly aligned manner, the packaging machine being relative should be uncomplicated and robust.

This is achieved by the features in the characterizing part of claim 1.

Appropriate configurations of this packaging machine are defined by the features in the subclaims.

The packaging machine according to the invention has means for aligning the containers at least on one of the gripper heads, which grasp containers which can be recognized through the holes in the containers after being deposited in the containers. As a result, it is possible in a particularly inexpensive and rational manner to align at least one label or other identification means in such a way that it later gives a viewer information about the contents of the container in the warehouse, in the supermarket or at other locations. If several or all of the gripper heads are provided with alignment devices, the viewer can obtain clarity about the contents of the container even more easily and from any direction, whereby it is expedient as a rule only the gripper heads to be equipped with alignment devices that grip the containers that later pass through the recesses are visible in the containers.

A packaging machine designed in this way is able to pack containers as well as to align the later containers in the containers according to the identification means or label during the packaging process.

The packaging machine according to the invention also has on the at least one gripper head a sensor for a gripper head provided with an alignment device, which enables the surface of each container to be aligned to be scanned, sensor identification means to be sensed thereon, and to be oriented during the alignment process. This enables an even tighter organization of the packaging or alignment process, the precision, the reproducibility and the effectiveness. Alignment is carried out by a drive for rotary alignment, the gripper carriers or the gripper heads being interchangeably mounted, and the at least one gripper head is controlled by electronics which evaluate the signals from the sensors for the purpose of controlling the rotary alignment of the containers, the Electronics is integrated in the gripper carrier or the gripper head.

As already mentioned at the beginning, a main area of application of the alignment device according to the invention is in filling or Packaging of labeled bottles. However, it is pointed out that the alignment device can be used with great advantage wherever the general focus is on the alignment of objects provided with identification means.

Since the gripper heads in a discontinuously or continuously working packaging machine for the containers, which are visible after being placed in the transport containers through holes in the transport container sides, are provided with means for aligning the containers and sensors are also arranged on the gripper carriers or gripper heads a very compact, functional design.

In order to be able to do justice to the many container sizes and container types that occur, it is essential that the gripper carriers are mounted with the gripper heads in such a way that they can easily be exchanged for those that match the respective container sizes. In this way, the packaging machine can be easily adjusted to any container to be packed or to any transport container to be packed in a short time.

It is particularly advantageous if each gripper head is provided with its own electric or electropneumatic individual drive. It is also possible to additionally equip each gripper head with a button that determines whether a container has been gripped at all. Each electrical or electropneumatic individual drive of each gripper head can be controlled separately by means of a key pulse which is emitted by the key.

The gripper heads are particularly easy to control via programmable electronics, which evaluate the signals from the sensors or the push button and convert them into control pulses for the individual drives. As Electronics is particularly suitable here for a programmable logic controller (PLC) that is already provided with power levels. These power levels make it possible to supply the individual drives with electrical current directly via electrical feed lines. This eliminates the need for any electromechanical relays. In this way, lead wires can be saved in various applications, which makes the gripper carriers even easier to replace with the gripper heads, which is extremely important in practice.

The gripper carrier can be designed so that it can be replaced with quick connectors for the power supply of the electronics. and the individual drives of the gripper heads are provided, so that each gripper carrier can be exchanged in the shortest possible time, including gripper heads, individual drives, sensors and the electronics.

In order to protect the sensitive parts of the sensors from mechanical influences, it can be advantageous to use these parts, e.g. have a light source and a light receiver to install in the gripper carrier itself, or in the electronics or the PLC. The scanning and / or response signals then have to be emitted onto the containers via glass fibers or their reflections have to be conducted from the containers to the sensitive parts of the sensors.

To generate an optical scanning signal, it may be appropriate to have a light-emitting diode or a semiconductor laser diode in each Sensor. The reflected light beam, which contains information about the position of the container label, is preferably directed onto a fast-reacting photosensitive element. In the case of a continuously operating packaging machine, it makes sense to supply the individual gripper carriers, or their electrical components, with power via grinders which run over current collector rails.

In order to align the container to be aligned exactly according to the center position of its identification means (label) with respect to a viewing window in the container, control signals for a full revolution are first applied to each alignment device. This advantageously ensures that uniform conditions for aligning the containers are created in the course of this first rotation of the container. Otherwise, it could happen that the identification means of a container is sensed from the start in any arbitrary position. The alignment of the container in question would be very imprecise in this case, since the sensor would immediately give the command to stop the driving device of the alignment device, as a result of which the identification means would be inadequately aligned.

In the present case, the beginning of the identification means is sensed during the first or at least in the course of the second rotation. As the rotation continues, the end of the identification means is also detected. Since existing electronics for controlling the alignment process precisely know and store the speed at which the containers to be aligned are rotated, they are able to use these values to calculate when the rotation of the container is to be stopped, in order to precisely determine the bottle to align with the center of the label. The control electronics calculate the spatial variables from the existing relationship between the interval between the detection of the start and end of the label, the remaining rotation time and the speed of rotation. In order to take into account the inertia of the rotating container and the friction losses, the electronics provide a control impulse to stop deliver the container to be aligned with a certain reserve. The additional rotational movement of the container due to the inertia of the container will in this way move the container into its final, aligned position.

The rotation of the container can be accomplished particularly easily if a rotating part is provided for each container, via which the container can be rotated.

Such an arrangement can be designed both for a standing and hanging holder of the container. For example, the rotating part can be designed as a turntable on which the container can be placed, or the rotating part can have a holding device for hanging the container, for example a so-called gripper tulip.

The invention is explained in more detail below on the basis of exemplary embodiments shown in the drawings, from which further advantages emerge:

Fig. 1

eine Seitenansicht einer Ausführungsform einer diskontinuierlich arbeitenden Einpackmaschine mit einer Vorrichtung zum Ausrichten der Behälter nach dem Flaschenetikett;

Fig. 2

im vergrößerten Maßstab eine Seitenansicht der Ausführungsform nach Fig. 1;

Fig. 3

eine Draufsicht auf eine diskontinuierliche Einpackmaschine mit mehreren Einpackstationen, wobei jede der Einpackstationen mit einer Vorrichtung zum Ausrichten der Behälter nach den Etiketten versehen ist;

Fig. 4

eine Ausführungsform einer kontinuierlich arbeitenden Einpackmaschine in der Seitenansicht, wobei jeder der Greiferträger mit Vorrichtungen zum Ausrichten der Behälter nach den Etiketten versehen ist;

Fig. 5

eine schematische Draufsicht auf die Ausführungsform gemäß Fig. 4;

Fig. 6

eine perspektivische Teilansicht eines Greiferträgers mit Vorrichtungen zum Ausrichten der Flaschen nach ihren Etiketten, wie er bevorzugt bei den dargestellten Ausführungsbeispielen eingesetzt wird;

Fig. 7

einen Teilschnitt durch einen Greiferkopf und dessen elektrischen bzw. elektropneumatischen Einzelantrieb zum Ausrichten von Flaschen;

Fig. 8

ein Flußdiagramm eines bevorzugten Ablaufs beim Ausrichten eines Behälters, insbesondere einer Flasche;

Fig. 9

ein Prinzipschaltbild einer möglichen elektrischen bzw. mechanischen Anordnung zum Ausrichten eines Behälters, insbesondere einer Flasche, nach seinem Etikett;

Fig. 10

ein Prinzipschaltbild zur Steuerung der Greiferköpfe eines Greiferträgers über eine autarke Steuerung, die nicht mit dem Greiferträger mitwandert; und

Fig. 11

ein Prinzipschaltbild, wobei jeder einzelne Greiferkopf eines Greiferträgers eine autarke Elektronik bzw. SPS zur Steuerung enthält, weshalb diese Elektronik sich mit dem zugehörigen Greiferträger mitbewegt.

Fig. 12 und 13

eine in eine Packmaschine integrierte Ausrichtvorrichtung für Flaschen mit einem Tandem-Greiferkopf;

Fig. 14 und 15

vertikale Längsschnitte durch einen Sensor und einen Behälter mit Schrägaufstrahlung eines Sendesignals und gegebenenfalls diffuser Reflexion;

Aus Fig. 1 ist eine diskontinuierlich arbeitende Einpackmaschine ersichtlich, die allgemein mit dem Bezugszeichen 10 versehen ist und im weiteren als Taktpackmaschine bezeichnet wird. Der Grundaufbau einer solchen Taktpackmaschine geht aus der DE-PS 33 16 479 hervor. Die Taktpackmaschine 10 hat einen horizontalen Grundrahmen 16, der mittels Standbeinen 16b auf dem Boden steht.Show it:

Fig. 1

a side view of an embodiment of a discontinuously working packaging machine with a device for aligning the container according to the bottle label;

Fig. 2

an enlarged side view of the embodiment of FIG. 1;

Fig. 3

a plan view of a discontinuous packing machine with several packing stations, each of the packing stations being provided with a device for aligning the containers according to the labels;

Fig. 4

an embodiment of a continuously operating wrapping machine in side view, wherein each of the gripper carriers is provided with devices for aligning the containers according to the labels;

Fig. 5

is a schematic plan view of the embodiment of FIG. 4;

Fig. 6

a partial perspective view of a gripper carrier with devices for aligning the bottles according to their labels, as is preferably used in the illustrated embodiments;

Fig. 7

a partial section through a gripper head and its electrical or electropneumatic individual drive for aligning bottles;

Fig. 8

a flow chart of a preferred process for aligning a container, in particular a bottle;

Fig. 9

a schematic diagram of a possible electrical or mechanical arrangement for aligning a container, in particular a bottle, according to its label;

Fig. 10

a schematic diagram for controlling the gripper heads of a gripper carrier via an autonomous control that does not move with the gripper carrier; and

Fig. 11

a basic circuit diagram, wherein each individual gripper head of a gripper carrier contains autonomous electronics or PLC for control, which is why this electronics moves with the associated gripper carrier.

12 and 13

an alignment device for bottles integrated in a packaging machine with a tandem gripper head;

14 and 15

vertical longitudinal sections through a sensor and a container with oblique radiation of a transmission signal and possibly diffuse reflection;

1 shows a discontinuously operating packaging machine, which is generally provided with the reference number 10 and is referred to below as a cycle packaging machine. The basic structure of such a cycle packing machine is apparent from DE-PS 33 16 479. The cycle packing machine 10 has a horizontal base frame 16, which stands on the floor by means of legs 16b.

Bottles 12 are transported via a conveyor belt 20 in the direction of arrow 12a into the effective area of gripper heads 24 of a gripper carrier 26. The gripper carriers 26 are held vertically displaceably on a guide 19. In order to grip the bottles 12 brought up, a support structure designed as a cantilever arm 8 leans back into a specific position. The movements of the cantilever arm 8 are controlled via a gear, a crank and a coupling rod 28, the latter being attacked by the electric motor.

The upward and downward movements of the gripper carrier 26 or the gripper heads 24 are driven by an electric motor which is mounted on a boom platform 18. If the boom 8 is in its reserve position and the required number of bottles have been conveyed by the conveyor belt 20 into a position in which the gripper heads 24 can grip the bottles by their necks in the lowered state, the gripper carrier 26 is lowered so that each gripper head 24 can grab his respective bottles. When this gripping process has ended, the gripper carrier 26 is raised and the boom 8 is brought into the pivoted-out position. The gripper carrier 26 is then lowered, as a result of which the bottles 12 are introduced into a box 14, which is located under the gripper carrier 26 in the required position. Necessary fine adjustments of the box 14 can be made during the packing process still be carried out via a container centering device 38, which automatically fine-tunes the boxes when the gripper carrier 26 is lowered.

For the rough alignment of the boxes 14, which are brought into the required position via a conveyor belt 22 along the arrow 14a, retaining means 15 are provided which hold the boxes in the desired positions.

While the gripper carrier 26 or the gripper heads 24 including the bottles 12 are moved along the line 12b in the direction of the arrow, the alignment process of the bottles 12 takes place, which will later be seen through the viewing window 17 in the boxes 14. For this alignment process, the corresponding number of electrical or electropneumatic individual drives are provided on each of the gripper heads 24. Using these individual drives, each gripped bottle 12 can be rotated. Before the start and after the start of the rotational movement, the surfaces of the bottles 12 are scanned contactlessly by sensors 30.

The sensors 30 are provided with a radiation source, which mostly emits light onto the surface of a labeled bottle 12. This light serves as a scanning signal and is reflected from the surface of the bottle 12 in a characteristic manner. As soon as the light beam hits the bottle label, the characteristics of the reflected light beam change. The sensor detects this change e.g. with a photosensitive cell that emits an electrical control signal.

As soon as the reflection of the scanning signal is changed characteristically in such a way that it indicates to the sensor that a label of a bottle is located at the scanned location, the rotational movement of the respective bottle is stopped. In order to avoid positioning inaccuracies which can occur, for example, if a label is detected when the scanning signal is sent for the first time, the individual drives of the corresponding grippers can be used heads 24 are controlled so that they always make a rotation of the bottle through 180 ° or another appropriate angle before the measurement results of the sensor 30 of the respective individual drive of a gripper head 24 are used for control.

As soon as the bottles 12, which are held by the gripper heads 24, have reached a position in which the bottles are inserted into the boxes 14 in the required orientation, they are released. The gripper carrier is then withdrawn at least so far that the boxes 14 can no longer collide with parts which are mounted on the gripper carrier. Then the filled box 14 is released by the one restraining means 15 and conveyed in the direction of the arrow 14b.

In this exemplary embodiment, the control, namely electronics, in particular a PLC or a single board computer, is accommodated in the control cabinet 58 and receives the signals from the various sensors of the gripper heads, which are evaluated and converted into control pulses for the individual drives of the gripper heads 24. The electronics contain additional time circuits which switch off the individual drives for aligning the bottles 12 even after a short time when the sensors 30 have not emitted a signal. This recognizes that there is likely to be an accident. This avoids the fact that the individual drives are controlled without performing their intended function. E.g. overheating of the individual drives can be prevented.

Self-sufficient control can also be used.

The gripper carrier 26 can be replaced together with its gripper heads 24, its individual drives and its sensors.

It may be advantageous to keep a distance between the box 14 in the loading position and the box to be loaded thereafter in order to leave a space for the sensors guarantee.

2 shows the cycle packing machine 10 in an embodiment in which the empty boxes 14 are moved transversely to the direction of delivery movement of the boom. The bottles 12 are also moved transversely to the direction of movement of the boom 8 of the cycle packing machine. The equipment and function of the cycle packing machine are essentially the same as the cycle packing machine 10 shown in FIG. 1.

3 shows a cycle packing machine with a total of four gripper carriers 26. The empty boxes come in the direction of arrow 14a and are held in the desired positions required for packing the bottles 12 until the packing process is completed. The filled boxes 14 are then conveyed in the direction of arrow 14b out of the effective range of the cycle packing machine 10. The bottles 12 to be packed are moved along the lines 12a into the effective range of the gripper carriers 26 or the gripper heads 24 mounted thereon. The control of the alignment process of the bottles according to the label is carried out via control electronics, which are alternatively stationary in the switch box 58 or on the gripper head or in the single board.

4 shows a continuously operating packaging machine, which is referred to below as a continuous packaging machine 100. Their basic structure emerges from DE-PS 34 31 066.

Electronics are indicated by reference numerals 160a and 160b. The electronics or PLC 160a is intended to show that it is possible to provide an autonomous control for all rotating gripper carriers 126 or gripper heads 124 which rotates with the rotating gripper carriers or gripper heads. Reference number 160b is intended to indicate electronics for autonomous control, which is mounted separately on each rotating gripper carrier and controls its alignment function. In the latter case, it is possible for the electronics or PLC 160b together with the associated gripper carrier 126 or the associated gripper heads 124 and the associated sensors 130, including the centering means 138 as a whole, to be light and exchange quickly. These units are guided and controlled with or without separate electronics or PLC 160b on rods 119 or rollers on rotating cam tracks 118.

In this case, each (possibly “to be controlled”) required gripper 124 is assigned a separate individual drive and a separate sensor 130, so that the bottles in question can be rotated into a position in which their label is arranged in an orderly manner from the outside, through the viewing holes 117 in the boxes 114 are clearly visible from the outside.

The boxes 114, which are to be filled with bottles 112, are conveyed past the continuous packaging machine 100 via a conveyor device 122 in the direction of the arrow 114a for loading with bottles 112. The bottles are lowered into the boxes 114 after the bottles assigned to the viewing holes have been rotated with their label in the required direction. The bottles 112 brought up on the conveying device 120 are gripped by the rotating gripper heads 124. The incoming bottles or their labels are not aligned in the required manner.

If the electronics for controlling the alignment are the rotating variant 160a, which is intended for controlling all gripper heads of the continuous packaging machine 100, in this case moving electrical connecting lines 161 are required.

FIG. 5 shows the continuous packaging machine 100 according to FIG. 4 in a schematic plan view.

The gripper carriers 126 are guided on rods 119 and rollers (not visible here) along the schematically indicated cam tracks 118. Rotating link chains (not shown here) are generally used to move the gripper carriers 126. Alignment of the bottles according to the viewing holes in the crates takes place after the bottles have been lifted off the conveyor belt 120 and before the bottles fit into one on the conveyor belt 122 moving boxes have been discontinued, i.e. while the gripper carriers change their direction of movement by 180 °.

Fig. 6 turns to an embodiment for the device for gripping and aligning the bottles.

The bottles are gripped over gripper tulips 226. The gripping process itself is carried out via a pneumatic drive. The compressed air for the pneumatically driven gripping devices is supplied via a pneumatic quick coupling 210. The gripper tulips 226, which are assigned to the bottles later visible through the viewing windows of the boxes or cartons, are each provided with geared motors 220. These are connected to their respective gripper tulip 226 via a shaft which is passed through a rotary feedthrough 224.

A sensor 232 is assigned to each of the relevant gripper tulips 226. The sensors 232 are attached to a sensor carrier 230, which is mounted on a mounting plate 233 via a foot 228. The electronics or PLC required for controlling the alignment of the bottles in question is located in a terminal box 218. However, the terminal box 218 can also contain only one circuit board for distributing the control pulses from a central electronics or PLC 160a to the associated gripper tulips 226. A connector 214 is provided for supplying current or for taking and supplying the control pulses.

A quick release device 216 serves to secure the unit shown in FIG. 6, since it is not firmly connected to the discontinuous or continuous packaging machine, but rather can be inserted and held in the holding frame 221 in the form of a slide-in unit. A square iron 223 is provided with a clamping slope 222 in order to give the quick-release device 216 further hold.

7 shows a gripper head which has a gripper tulip 226 and is guided at its upper end in bearings 227. In addition, seals 229 are provided, which are provided to hold the compressed air required for the compressed air-driven gripping device. A motor 220, which is usually electrically driven, carries out the required rotary movement for aligning the bottle according to its label via a gear 220a and a clutch 231. The entire gripper head is held in the mounting plate 233.

FIG. 8 shows a flowchart which shows the actions required for the function and possible alternatives which can occur in the event of a fault.

At the beginning, the bottles are gripped and then raised. The rotary drive then starts. The electronics or PLC monitor the time that passes before the sensor reports the transition from the bottle glass to the label. If a certain period of time has elapsed without a positive LS edge having been detected, i.e. without a transition from the glass to the label being recognized, the motor is stopped. In this case, a malfunction is reported.

The fault can have different reasons:
It is possible that the motor 220 is not rotating or is rotating too slowly because the friction occurring is too great. Furthermore, the gripper tulip 226 may not have gripped a bottle. It is also possible that the bottle has no detectable label so that sensor 232 cannot respond. Other possibilities for the fault lie in the sensor itself, which can be defective, adjusted, but also dirty. In addition, the motor or its power supply lines can be defective. Finally, other electrical elements or assemblies, such as the output card (power level) of the electronics or PLC, or various fuses may be defective.

If this time monitoring was not available, it would be thermal Monitoring of the motor 220 is required, which would only respond, however, if the motor already has a relatively high temperature, as a result of which the motor 220 of the corresponding individual drive 24 can be overloaded and also permanently damaged.

If, on the other hand, the time monitoring does not respond, the motor 220 stops as soon as the positive LS edge is detected, that is to say as soon as the sensor 232 has recognized the transition from the glass to the label. The bottle is now aligned in the desired manner and can be placed in the respective transport container.

The faults listed above can be evaluated by the electronics or PLC. A reported fault does not have to lead directly to failure and thus to a standstill of the packaging machine concerned. So it is e.g. Programmable so that the packaging machine is only brought to a standstill when a fault has been detected three times in succession on the same individual drive of a gripper head.

Fig. 9 shows the basic circuit with the electronics or PLC 360, consisting of a central processor (CPU) 362, an analog-digital converter 364, a power control part 366, and an interface (bus) 368 for assigning the incoming and outgoing control pulses.

The analog-digital converter 364 converts the signal of a reflex sensor 300, e.g. a photodiode, into a digital signal, which supplies the CPU 362 with control data. The CPU 362 evaluates the control data and forwards the resulting control data via the bus 368 to the power control unit 366, which supplies the drive 320 with the required operating current for rotating the bottle in accordance with the control signal passed to it, or interrupts the supply if the Reflex sensor 300 detects that the bottle is aligned with its label.

The electrical connection 302 to the sensor is via a 24 volt Plug connection made that can be quickly and easily made and picked up. The electrical connection 322 to the drive motor 320 is realized via a 220 volt plug connection, which is also easy to establish. All connectors 302 are compatible for devices with 10, 12 and 14 gripper heads.

The individual motor 320 can be equipped with a capacitor which generally has a capacitance suitable for the motor, preferably approximately 1.5 μF, for generating the third current or voltage phase necessary for the operation of the motor. This capacitor, which is required for each motor 320, can be accommodated in the immediate vicinity of the motor, e.g. in the terminal box 218 (Fig. 6), whereby the required number of electrical leads is reduced by ten for a unit with 10 gripper heads.

FIG. 10 shows a basic circuit diagram for an automatic control for the alignment of bottles for a cycle packing machine 10 or for a continuous packing machine 100.

The electronic control or PLC 360 is supplied with the necessary operating current via a slip ring 370. In the configuration shown here, only a single electronics or PLC is provided for controlling all gripper heads 324 to 324a. For the continuous packaging machine, this means that the electronics or PLC 360 is installed so that it moves with the gripper carrier units (see FIG. 4, reference number 160a). The internal processes between the electronics 360 and the functional elements of the individual gripper heads are identical to those which have already been addressed for the basic circuit of FIG. 9.

11 shows a basic circuit for a continuous packaging machine, in which each individual gripper carrier contains an autonomous electronics or PLC 360.

The power supply is used for each of the electronics via a separate power supply via a slip ring 370. However, it is also possible to connect several or all of the self-sufficient control electronics for power supply to a slip ring.

In order to make the entire gripper carrier easy and quick to replace, a plug connection 372, 273 is provided, via which the power connection can be made and removed quickly and easily. In this exemplary embodiment, since each of the gripper carriers 326 to 326a contains its own autonomous control, it is possible to provide the gripper carriers with relatively simple plugs which only have to have a small number of individual wires, so that the replacement of a complete gripper carrier including its associated one Alignment control electronics is even faster and easier. The control processes between the electronics or PLC and the individual functional units of the gripper carrier 326 to 326a function as explained under FIG. 9.

A bottle alignment station integrated in a packaging machine is shown schematically in a highly simplified manner in FIGS. A tandem gripper head 70 'holds two sets of bottles at the same time. The tandem gripper head 70 'places one set of bottles on the alignment device and at the same time the other in the box. An already aligned set is lowered into a bottle crate 76 '.

The bottles are conveyed from a bottle receiving position 72 'into a turning station 74' and aligned in the manner described above. The bottles thus aligned are then transferred to the bottle crate 76 '.

Figures 14, 15 explain the principle of operation of the sensor according to the invention. In order to determine whether a label 82 'is provided on the bottle neck of a bottle 12', the sensor 84 'emits light obliquely onto the bottle neck via a suitable light transmitter. In the position shown in FIG. 18, the light beam, which is indicated by the dashed line, does not strike the label 82 'and is therefore reflected away with an angle of reflection corresponding approximately to the angle of incidence on the bottle neck. However, if the light beam hits a label, enough light is diffusely reflected to the sensor, since the surface of a label is never completely smooth, i.e. the label is registered by the sensor. The tilted sensor emits a light beam that is reflected on the smooth bottle (angle of incidence = angle of reflection) so that the beam does not return to the sensor. I.e. the smooth bottle is not registered by the sensor. A label on a bottle can be clearly identified by means of diffuse reflection.

This position has been reached in FIG. 15. The light emitted by the transmitter of the sensor 84 'reaches the label 82' and is at least partially diffusely reflected back from the label 82 'to the receiver of the sensor 84'. The sensor 84 'then emits a corresponding control signal in order to stop the rotation of the bottle, for example in the manner shown in FIGS. 13 to 15 by a linear movement of a coupling piece.

Claims (8)

1. Packaging machine (10, 10', 10", 100) for packaging containers, in particular bottles, into crates or the like, in particular boxes, trays or cartons, having the following features:

   a) a horizontal basic frame;

   b) conveying means for supplying the containers and conveying means for supplying and carry away the crates or the like to be filled or full;

   c) gripper heads for gripping and releasing the containers;

   d) gripper carriers on which the gripper heads are mounted;

   e) means for holding and moving the gripper carriers or gripper heads along predetermined paths;

   characterized by the following features:

   f) at least one of the gripper heads (24) gripping the containers which after deposition in the crates or the like (14) are visible through viewing holes in the crates comprises at least one sensor (30) and at least one drive (18', 220) for rotational orientation of the containers (12, 112);

   g) the gripper carriers (26, 126) or the gripper heads (24, 124) are mounted exchangeably;

   h) the at least one gripper head is controlled via electronics (60,160b) in particular in the form of a circuit board, which evaluate the signals of the sensors (30, 130, 232) for the purpose of controlling the rotational alignment of the containers;

   i) the electronics (160b) are integrated into the gripper carrier (26) or the gripper head (126).
2. Packaging machine according to claim 1, characterized in that the gripper heads (24, 124) are each provided with their own electronic and/or electropneumatic individual drives (220) and/or that the gripper carriers (26, 126) are exchangeable together with the grippers (24, 124) and/or their individual drives (220) and/or the sensor systems (30, 130, 232).
3. Packaging machine according to any one of claims 1 or 2, characterized in that the electronics (60, 160b), that is in particular a memory-programmable control (SPS) (360), are controllable by means of a program and/or exchangeable together with the respective gripper carriers (26, 126) or gripper heads (24, 124).
4. Packaging machine according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the sensors (30, 130, 232) are installed in the gripper carrier (26, 126) or in the electronics (60, 160b) and the scanning and/or response signals are passed via glass fibres to the containers (12, 112) or from the containers to the sensors respectively.
5. Packaging machine according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the sensors (30, 130, 232) for transmitting the scanning signal include a light-emitting diode and/or a semiconductor laser diode and/or that the sensors (30, 130, 232) include a photosensitive element for receiving the signal serving for the orientation of the containers.
6. Packaging machine according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the sensor (52', 84', 30, 130, 232) comprises a transmitter for transmitting an electromagnetic radiation which is transmitted obliquely onto the container (12', 50', 112) so that when the radiation impinges on an identifying means (82') the radiation is partially diffusely reflected by the identifying means (82') and is detected by the receiver of the sensor (52', 84', 30, 130, 232) and/or that a detection circuit is connected to the sensor by which a control signal can be emitted to the drive means for stopping the rotation of the container, the containers preferably being bottles (12', 50', 58') to each of which a label (82', 54', 60') is attached as identifying means.
7. Packaging machine according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that the electronics (60, 160b) first transmit a control signal for each orientating means which causes the respective orientating means firstly to rotate the container gripped by it, the sensor measuring the start and end of the orientation mark or the identifying means in relation to the rotation time in order to stop the container in its respective aligned position in the course of the following revolution of the container, taking account of an advance which counteracts a trailing inertia movement of the container occurring due to mass inertia of the container and the frictional resistances on interruption of the rotational movement thereof, said stoppage being effected by a control signal emitted on the basis of an evaluation of the measuring data by the electronics.
8. Packaging machine according to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that brake members are provided which stop the gripper heads at a predetermined time, whereby the containers remain in the desired aligned position.

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