EP2878543B2 - Method and apparatus for the production of a package made of interconnected articles - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a method for producing a bundle of articles connected to one another in accordance with the features of the preamble of claim 1, and a device for carrying it out in accordance with the features of the preamble of claim 9.

Bundles are an effective way of allowing multiple items to be handled at once, for example to facilitate the transport of multiple items at once.

The production of containers is usually unavoidable, since such containers form the most common variant of sales units for various items, such as beverage containers and bottles made of PET plastic.

In order to produce a bundle, it is known to first group a number A of articles, also referred to as the bundle size, which are to be combined in the bundle, according to a desired arrangement within the bundle. For example, beverage containers can be combined into packs of four, six or more containers. The group of articles produced in this way is then held together according to the design of the container.

Through U.S. 5,979,147 It is known to group articles that are conveyed in two or more parallel, uninterrupted streams of articles into article groups that are each to be combined in a bundle in a 2xN arrangement. The packs to be produced consist of two rows and N rows of two articles each arranged at right angles to the rows. An article stream is provided for each row of articles in the container. The articles of each article stream move at a first speed. A number of articles corresponding to the number of rows in the bundle is separated from an article stream by providing a star for each article stream, which star rotates at a peripheral speed that corresponds to an outgoing, higher, second speed. The star separates a required number of articles from the article stream assigned to it, in that the star intervenes in the article stream, starting with a foremost article, after a number of articles corresponding to the number of articles in a row in the finished bundle and for a row in the bundle pushes the required number of articles from behind and accelerates it to the higher, second speed, forming a gap with the articles of the article stream moving along at a first speed. The articles separated from their respective streams of articles are then brought together in parallel according to their arrangement in rows and rows in the group of articles to be combined into the bundle and then packed in cardboard boxes to hold the finished bundle together.

There are various options available for keeping the items in an item group together in a bundle. A first possibility is the use of an enclosure which encloses the articles of the bundle at the periphery of the article group. The items in a bundle can be held together, for example, by means of an enclosure in the form of a strap, an outer packaging such as a wrap, a shrink tube or a cardboard box, a cardboard box or a carrying frame, to name just a few conceivable designs. Simultaneously with the holding together, the container can also be packed by means of an enclosure. For example, beverage containers can not only be held together by means of shrink film wrappings, wrappings or a carton to form bundles, but can also be packed at the same time.

A carrying handle or one or more grip options can be provided on the enclosure in order to be able to grasp the finished container more easily with one hand.

In order to combine articles with partially cylindrical or approximately cylindrical shapes, such as beverage cans or beverage bottles, as space-savingly as possible and with the least possible relative mobility to one another, it is also known to form a so-called honeycomb or spherical composite, which is also referred to as a nested arrangement. The articles arranged in adjacent rows in the container are each offset from one another in such a way that the gaps formed between the containers are as small as possible. The rows do not run at right angles to the rows, but diagonally. Such a honeycomb or spherical arrangement represents a composite of a given number of containers with the smallest possible footprint.

In addition, containers are known that do not require an enclosure. In such containers, the articles themselves are connected directly to one another, for example by detachable snap-in connections, predetermined breaking points, such as perforations, or by means of adhesive bonds between the articles.

Through DE 203 10 721 U1 bundles of articles connected to one another in a 1xN and 2xN arrangement are known, which are free of an enclosure and in which N articles are arranged in one (1xN) or in two (2xN) parallel rows. The articles are formed by containers, each of which has at least one connection means for connection to at least one other container. In a first bundle in a nested arrangement, adhesive strips are attached to the lateral surfaces of the containers that abut in the bundle arrangement to connect the containers. Starting from a vertical container axis, each adhesive strip encloses the outer surface of its container over an angle of between 90° and 180° when viewed from above the container. Thereby each container is with each other in the nested arrangement connected to it adjacent container of the bundle. Furthermore, each container has an adhesive strip, which is a significant waste of resources. In a second container, at least two latching connections offset by 180° are provided on the outer surfaces of the containers. In addition, additional latching connections arranged at a different angle can be provided on the lateral surfaces. This allows nested array trusses to be made, where each container is connected to each adjacent container in the truss in the nested array, and rows and rows orthogonal array trusses, all in a row and in items that are adjacent to each other in a row are connected to each other. A disadvantage here is also the considerable waste of resources due to the partly unused snap-in connections arranged at 180° to one another, because at least one of these snap-in connections arranged at 180° to one another protrudes from the container at least at the end of a row or row.

DE-A-10 2011 119 967 it can be seen how bundles that are designed without an enclosure and consist of articles connected to one another by gluing, which are executed in more than two parallel rows of at least two articles each at regular right angles to one another, are produced. The rows are all glued together at the same time.

However, it is complicated and time-consuming to deal with three or more rows of articles, for example on a curing section, along which adhesive bonds used to directly connect articles in a bundle to one another must cure before the connections made by bonding can be loaded and the bundle is therefore stable.

An object of the invention is to specify a method and a device for producing a bundle of articles directly connected to one another by adhesives, which bundle is designed without a border and the articles of which are regularly offset at right angles or nested in more than two parallel rows are arranged.

The above object is achieved in each case with the features of the independent claims. Further advantageous configurations are described by the dependent claims.

A first subject matter of the invention therefore relates to a method for producing a container from articles which are directly connected to one another by means of adhesives. The items in the pack are arranged in more than two parallel rows of two or more items each, regularly offset at right angles or nested to one another. A first and a second article are connected directly to one another by bonding the outermost layer of the first article, for example its lateral surface or a label applied thereto, to the outermost layer of the second article, for example also its lateral surface or a label applied thereto consisting of one or more adhesive dots or strips. If the items in a pack of items that are directly connected to one another by adhesives are provided with labels, for example, the adhesive spots can also be applied to the labels.

For example, the bundle can contain A=RxZ items in R rows and Z rows with R≥3 and Z≥2.

The bonds are each formed by one, two or more adhesive points of an adhesive. Not every article to be connected to one or more other articles to form the finished bundle has to be provided with one or more adhesive dots or strips, but rather it can be provided that, in the case of two articles to be connected, only one is provided with adhesive dots, whereas the other item remains free of adhesive dots. This simplifies the handling of the articles to be joined together to form the finished bundle, since on the one hand only the articles provided with adhesive dots may have to be aligned in order to turn their adhesive dots towards the other adjacent articles in the finished bundle, and on the other hand the articles without adhesive dots are attacked on all sides when handled can be, since from them in particular no contamination of attacking components of a device that manufactures or assembles the container, goes out. The adhesive dots are accordingly applied to at least one connection point with another article on at least one lateral surface of at least two articles that are directly connected to one another in the finished container.

In this context, it is important to emphasize that an adhesive dot within the meaning of the invention is by no means to be understood in the mathematical-geometrical sense, but rather is a mental auxiliary construct which is intended to illustrate that the application of the adhesive is preferably contact-free and is particularly preferred takes place in a pulsed manner or at least within a short period of time. For the purposes of the invention, the term adhesive point thus includes, at least on the finished container, both a punctiform, linear and also two-dimensional application of adhesive and even a resulting three-dimensional adhesive body or connecting body made of adhesive at the connecting points between the articles. The glue can be applied with a glue gun, for example.

In the following, therefore, no distinction is made between a spot or a strip-like or any other type of adhesive application for producing a bond between adjacent articles in a bundle of articles that are directly connected to one another by adhesives, but the term adhesive point is used uniformly to represent all the types of construction mentioned.

The method provides that for each row of the finished bundle there is a strand of articles with a number of articles corresponding to the number of articles per row in the finished bundle, of which at least one is initially at least one of two articles that are connected to one another in the finished bundle by means of an adhesive bond and each have at least one, two or more glue dots.

The articles of two strands of articles are then brought together and glued together to form an intermediate bundle with two rows, in that the articles of a first strand of articles forming a first row in the finished bundle and the articles of a second strand of articles forming a second row in the finished bundle are attached to the in of the container arrangement are joined and/or pressed against one another and held for connection, in particular until the adhesive has hardened.

After the at least temporary and/or partial hardening of the adhesive at the connection points between the articles of the first and second strand of articles, at least one further row is added to the intermediate bundle, in that the articles forming at least one further row in the finished bundle of at least one further strand of articles from at least one Joined and/or pressed sideways at the connection points provided with adhesive dots against the articles of at least one outer row of the intermediate container and held until the adhesive has at least temporarily and/or partially cured. The further strand of articles and the strand of articles that has already risen in the intermediate container, forming an outer row there, are first brought together according to the desired arrangement of the articles or the rows and rows in the finished container, before their articles are joined to one another at the connection points provided with adhesive dots and/or or pressed and held until the adhesive has at least temporarily and/or partially cured.

In the case of the intermediate bundle, which is produced by gluing the articles of the first strand of articles forming a first row in the finished bundle and the articles of the second strand of articles forming a second row in the finished bundle, the first row and the second row each form an outer row of the intermediate bundle. If a further row is added to the side of the second row facing away from the first row, the first row and the further row each form an outer row of the intermediate container. If a further row is added on the side of the first row facing away from the second row, the second row and the further row each form an outer row of the intermediate container. The restriction according to which the articles forming at least one further row in the finished bundle of at least one further strand of articles are joined and/or pressed against the articles of at least one outer row of the intermediate bundle from at least one side at the connection points provided with adhesive points and held until the adhesive has hardened are to be understood in such a way that either a further row is added from one side to an outer row of the intermediate container, or a further row is added to each of the two outer rows of the intermediate container from both sides at the same time. In other words, articles provided with adhesive dots on both sides of a previously produced intermediate container can each be joined and/or pressed against the articles of the two outer rows of the intermediate container from one side and held until the adhesive has at least temporarily and/or partially cured .

In the case of a bundle with rows and lines running at right angles to one another, the article strands are brought together lying parallel to one another in such a way that the individual articles of the article strands are at the same height.

In particular, the connecting lines between the centers of three L-shaped adjacent articles, two in a row and two in a row adjacent to each other, form an isosceles and right triangle within a right angled array, particularly when the articles are substantially cylindrical.

In the case of a bundle with articles arranged in a nested manner, the strands of articles are brought together in the manner of a zipper, so that at least the articles of two adjacent strands of articles are offset from one another in a compacted arrangement.

In particular, the connecting lines between the centers of three adjacent articles, two in a row and two in a row adjacent to each other, form an equilateral triangle within a nested arrangement, particularly when the articles are substantially cylindrical.

It is important to emphasize that curing of the adhesive in the context of the invention is understood to mean that the adhesive changes from a state in which the adhesive dots are applied after pressing together to a state in which, after the pressing and holding are released, it is able to withstand the loads occurring during further handling of the intermediate container or the finished container due to forces and moments acting between the articles connected to one another by adhesives. Depending on the adhesive used, this condition can already occur before the adhesive has actually cured completely, for example. If, in connection with the process steps described above, the article is joined and/or pressed together for the purpose of producing a permanently adhesive connection of the articles to one another to form a bundle, then this is the case the joining forces used for this purpose can in principle cover a very wide range. For example, pressing can optionally also be understood to mean light pressing together. Joining together can also be understood to mean light pressing or stronger pressing. This joining and/or pressing together can in principle contain the two aspects of producing an adhesive connection and the possibly associated joining force for intensifying the adhesive connection and thus increasing the adhesive forces, without it already being stated how these two aspects should be weighted .

The application of the adhesive dots to the articles of different article strands does not necessarily have to take place at the same time. For example, the adhesive dots can be applied to the articles of a further article strand with a time delay, after the articles of the first and second article strand have already been provided with adhesive dots and/or have already been brought together to form the intermediate container.

The bonds can preferably be produced by an adhesive which, after being applied to the connection points of the articles to be connected to one another, first hardens, for example accelerated under the action of electromagnetic radiation, such as long-wave thermal radiation or short-wave ultraviolet radiation (UV radiation; UV light). As a result, the hardening of the adhesive of the adhesive points at selected connection points can be controlled in a targeted manner by the appropriate action of electromagnetic radiation, whereas the adhesive of adhesive points at connection points at which a connection or adhesion to another article is only produced at a later point in time in the ongoing process, initially remains free of any influence and therefore does not harden. The adhesive of the adhesive points at the connection points at which a connection or adhesion to another article is only produced at a later point in time in the ongoing process is preferably only exposed to the electromagnetic radiation as soon as the adhesive for producing an adhesion begins to cure of the relevant liaison office in the ongoing procedure. This procedure makes it possible, in principle, to apply the adhesive for producing the adhesive points at all connection points simultaneously and to control its curing time in a targeted manner for each connection point by the action of the electromagnetic radiation.

An advantageous embodiment of the method can provide for first producing a first intermediate container with two rows, then, after the adhesive of the first intermediate container has hardened, producing a second and optionally at least one further intermediate container by adding at least one further row to an outer row of the previously produced intermediate container . With each addition of a further row, the articles of at least one article strand forming the respective row are fed from at least one side and joined and/or pressed against the articles of at least one outer row of the intermediate container and held until the adhesive has hardened, before then by adding at least a last row of articles of a last strand of articles to at least one outer row of the previously produced intermediate bundle, pressing the articles together and holding until the adhesive has hardened, the bundle is complete.

A further advantageous embodiment of the method provides that after the application of the adhesive dots, at least the articles provided with adhesive dots are first aligned by rotation about their upright vertical axes, which are normal to a plane including the rows and rows of the container, before they are joined and/or pressed against one another and held until the adhesive hardens.

The method preferably provides that the strands of articles, the articles of which each form a row in the finished bundle, are separated from at least one article flow of articles transported directly one behind the other. Particularly preferably, one article stream is provided for each row of the finished bundle, from which one strand of articles per row of a bundle to be produced is separated, corresponding to an inflow from a number of article streams corresponding to the number R of rows in the finished bundle.

The method can also provide that first the articles of at least one article strand or the articles of the same article strands are connected to one another before the articles of different article strands are connected to one another. It can be provided that first the articles of the first and/or the second and/or at least one further article strand are connected to one another by gluing, before two article strands are brought together and the articles of the merged article strands are connected by gluing, in that the different article strands are joined together and/or pressed and held until the adhesive hardens.

The method can also provide that the intermediate container is held or pressed together in a shorter time than the finished container is held or pressed together. In particular, the total time of the process can be shortened in this way. This is possible in particular if the containers of the intermediate container are held or pressed together with one another (and thus again) while the further row of articles is held or pressed together with the intermediate container.

It is also conceivable with the method to produce different configurations of containers in one production run. For example alternately a pack without adding another row and a pack in the configuration described above can be produced one after the other.

This can be an advantage, for example, if an area of a layer on a pallet is to be completely filled. For example, a layer can consist of several 2x3 packs and 3x3 packs. It is also possible, for example, to accommodate several 3x3 and 4x3 containers on one layer. A large number of combinations are conceivable here.

In particular, the adhesive dots with which the articles in the further row are provided are only applied when the articles in the intermediate container have already been brought together. This also includes in particular the adhesive dots that connect the further row with the intermediate container.

In particular, the articles are transported continuously while being held or pressed together.

1. 1. Fördern von mindestens zwei Artikelsträngen mit mindestens zwei Artikeln pro Artikelstrang;
2. 2. Optional Ausrichten von mindestens zwei Artikeln des ersten und/oder des zweiten Artikelstrangs;
3. 3. Auftragen von Klebepunkten auf mindestens zwei der vier Artikel des ersten und/oder des zweiten Artikelstrangs;
4. 4. Ausrichten der mindestens zwei Artikel des ersten und/oder des zweiten Artikelstrangs, auf denen Klebepunkte angebracht wurden;
5. 5. Zusammenführen der mindestens vier Artikel des ersten und des zweiten Artikelstrangs, so dass sich die Klebepunkte jeweils mit zwei Artikeln verbinden und dadurch ein Zwischengebinde entsteht;
6. 6. Zusammenführen des Zwischengebindes mit mindestens zwei Artikeln des dritten Artikelstrangs, auf welche zuvor, insbesondere nach Schritt 5, Klebepunkte aufgebracht wurden.

In particular, the following process steps are carried out, in particular in the order given:

1. 1. Conveying at least two article lines with at least two articles per article line;
2. 2. Optionally aligning at least two articles of the first and/or the second strand of articles;
3. 3. Applying adhesive dots to at least two of the four articles of the first and/or the second strand of articles;
4. 4. Aligning the at least two articles of the first and/or the second strand of articles on which adhesive dots have been applied;
5. 5. Bringing together the at least four articles of the first and the second strand of articles, so that the adhesive points each connect to two articles, thereby creating an intermediate bundle;
6. 6. Merging of the intermediate container with at least two articles of the third line of articles, to which previously, in particular after step 5, adhesive dots were applied.

In particular, it is possible for the intermediate container to be oriented, in particular turned, before it is connected to one or more articles of a further article strand.

A second subject matter of the invention relates to a device for producing a container from articles that are directly connected to one another by means of adhesive bonds. For example, the bundle can contain A=RxZ items in R rows and Z rows with R≥3 and Z≥2. The bonds are each formed by one, two or more adhesive points of an adhesive. The adhesive dots are applied to at least one connection point with another article on at least one lateral surface of at least two articles that are directly connected to one another in the finished container.

The device comprises provision means for a number of article strands corresponding to the number R of rows in the finished bundle, each consisting of a number of articles corresponding to the number of articles in the individual rows in the finished bundle.

The provision means can include an inflow of a number of article streams corresponding to the number R of rows in the finished container, each consisting of articles that follow one another directly. The provision means can also include separating means for each article stream, which separating means separate an article string with a number of articles from the respective article stream that corresponds to the number of articles per row in the finished bundle from the respective article stream.

The separating means can, for example, work according to the principle known from the prior art described in the introduction, according to which the article string is separated from the article stream by accelerating the articles of an article stream to be separated from an article stream to a higher speed than that of the article stream.

The device also includes attachment means to provide individual, selected or all articles of the article strands with dots of glue.

The attachment means can be implemented by one or more nozzles, by means of which adhesive dots used to produce adhesive bonds can be applied, are applied or can be applied to the lateral surfaces of at least selected articles.

The one or more nozzles can be realized by one or more, in particular V-shaped double nozzles, with which a simultaneous application of two or more adhesive dots on an article or at most a simultaneous application of one adhesive dot on one of the number of nozzle outlet openings of the double nozzles corresponding number of articles is possible.

A nozzle realized by a double nozzle can be arranged, for example, between two article strands that have not yet been brought together or between the transport paths of two article strands, for example from their separation from their respective original article flow to their combination with one another to form a bundle or an intermediate bundle, where they simultaneously transport an article of the can provide one item string and one item of the other item string with one glue dot each.

Alternatively, a nozzle realized by a double nozzle can be positioned to the side of an article strand that has not yet been merged with another article strand or to the side of its transport path from the separation of the line of articles, for example, from its original line of articles to its merger with one or more other line of articles to form a finished bundle or an intermediate bundle, where they place an article of the line of articles with two, for example, along which is normal to a parallel to the rows and rows in the finished Container running plane extending vertical axis distributed arranged adhesive points, or two in one and the same strand of articles following each other can be provided with one adhesive point.

The use of double or multiple nozzles as nozzles significantly reduces the number of nozzle elements required and thereby contributes to simplifying and shortening a device suitable for producing a bundle described. This enables cost savings in the development, construction, assembly and operation of a corresponding device, the latter also because of the reduced space requirement for setting up the device due to a reduction.

The device also comprises first merging means in order to initially collect a first line of articles forming a first row in the finished pack and a second line of articles forming a second row in the finished pack, the articles of which are at least partially provided with adhesive dots, corresponding to the arrangement of the articles of the first and of the second row in the finished container to form an intermediate container, then join and/or press against one another at the adhesive points and then hold at least until the adhesive has at least temporarily and/or partially cured.

Furthermore, the device comprises at least second merging means in order to collect an intermediate bundle and at least one further article line forming at least one further row in the finished bundle, the article--i.e. the articles of the intermediate container and/or the at least one further line of articles - are at least partially provided with adhesive dots, according to the arrangement of the articles of the intermediate container and the at least one further row in the finished container, first to a further intermediate container or to the finished container, then to to join and/or press the adhesive points against one another and then to hold them at least until the adhesive has at least temporarily and/or partially cured.

If a further row of articles is then always supplied to an intermediate container, the device can also comprise third, fourth and so on merging means in order to correspondingly add further rows to the ever-growing intermediate container.

The separating means can be integrated into the combining means.

The bringing together means can be designed to be movable in whole or in part along a conveying direction in order to transport an intermediate container and/or a finished container in the conveying direction while the adhesive is curing.

The merging means can, for example, comprise at least one pressing unit, which joins and/or presses the articles previously provided with adhesive dots of the article strands to be combined to form an intermediate container or an intermediate container to be combined to form a finished container and at least one further article strand against one another and at least temporarily and/or partial curing of the adhesive holds against each other.

A pressing unit can, for example, comprise rotating clamping units, which can be controlled individually and independently of one another and can therefore also be moved to different positions in the conveying direction F during pressing and holding.

The device can also have an application unit for applying a carrying handle to the finished container. In particular, the carrying handle is attached directly to one or preferably to two articles that are opposite one another in the container.

A possible application unit for applying a carrying handle can be arranged above the merging means, for example in the middle and optionally also movable in the conveying direction.

An advantageous embodiment of the device provides that the device comprises alignment means which align at least the articles provided with adhesive dots in accordance with their orientation required for the production of direct connections between the articles formed by gluing in the finished container.

The alignment means can also align the articles even before one or more adhesive dots are applied, so that, for example, an article and the adhesive dots are in a specific orientation relative to the container. This can be desired, for example, to place imprints or labels with a company logo or a brand name inside the container in such a way that they can be seen from the outside.

For example, the alignment means can comprise a carousel on which a plurality of turntables can be arranged, on which the articles are placed. Each turntable can be aligned by a drive individually assigned to each turntable, in particular by a servo drive. In particular, the articles are additionally held from above by a centering head that also rotates with the carousel. The items are thus clamped between the turntable and the centering head.

It can be seen that the invention can be realized by a separate feed of articles to be glued to an existing intermediate container to form at least three-row containers. a yourself The resulting advantage is particularly simple handling of the container and the intermediate container, since three or more rows of articles to be glued together do not have to be joined and/or pressed against one another while the adhesive has not yet hardened.

• Die dritte sowie gegebenenfalls weitere Reihen werden jeweils separat zu einem zuvor hergestellten Zwischengebinde hinzugefügt. Ein Zwischengebinde wird dabei durch Zusammenführung zweier Artikelstränge bzw. eines Artikelstrangs und eines Zwischengebindes bzw. zweier Artikelstränge und eines Zwischengebindes hergestellt. Dabei kann eine weitere Reihe von einer ersten Seite her und eine weitere Reihe von der gegenüberliegenden Seite her dem Zwischengebinde zugeführt und mit diesem verklebt werden.
• Eine Anpresseinheit mit mindestens einer großen Klammereinheit auf dem letzten Klemmförderer für ein zuvor hergestelltes Zwischengebinde.
• Ein eine oder mehrere in Förderrichtung beweglich angeordnete Klammereinheiten beherbergender, letzter Klemmförderer kann länger ausgeführt sein, als ein erster Klemmförderer, um eine Restaushärtung des Klebstoffs vom ersten Klemmförderer zu erhalten.
• Eine Pressung der Artikel erfolgt zumindest auf dem letzten Klemmförderer auch quer zur Transport- bzw. Förderrichtung. Dies trifft bevorzugt insbesondere für die Pressung der Artikel eines Zwischengebindes zueinander zu.

The invention may have one or more of the following features:

• The third and, if necessary, further rows are each added separately to a previously produced intermediate container. An intermediate bundle is produced by bringing together two strands of articles or one strand of articles and one bundle or two strands of articles and one bundle. A further row can be fed from a first side and a further row from the opposite side to the intermediate container and glued to it.
• A pressing unit with at least one large clamping unit on the last clamping conveyor for a previously produced intermediate bundle.
• A last clamping conveyor housing one or more clamping units arranged to be movable in the conveying direction can be made longer than a first clamping conveyor in order to obtain a residual hardening of the adhesive from the first clamping conveyor.
• At least on the last clamping conveyor, the articles are also pressed transversely to the transport or conveying direction. This preferably applies in particular to the pressing of the articles in an intermediate container to one another.

Fig. 1

ein 3x2 Gebinde aus vermittels Verklebungen unmittelbar miteinander verbundenen Artikeln mit drei Reihen und zwei rechtwinklig zu diesen angeordneten Zeilen in einer Draufsicht.

Fig. 2

ein 3x3 Gebinde aus vermittels Verklebungen unmittelbar miteinander verbundenen Artikeln in genesteter Anordnung mit drei Reihen und drei schräg zu diesen verlaufenden Zeilen in einer Draufsicht, wobei n Fig. 2 a) dessen schräg zu den Reihen angeordnete Zeilen V-förmig abgewinkelt sind und in Fig. 2 b) dessen schräg zu den Reihen angeordnete Zeilen gerade verlaufen.

Fig. 3

eine Verklebung zwischen zwei innerhalb eines Gebindes unmittelbar miteinander verbunden Artikeln mit nur einem Klebepunkt in Fig. 3 a), mit zwei über die Höhe der Artikel verteilt angeordneten Klebepunkten in Fig. 3 b) und mit drei über die Höhe der Artikel verteilt angeordneten Klebepunkten in Fig. 3 c), jeweils in einer Seitenansicht.

Fig. 4

eine Vorrichtung zur Herstellung von 3x3 Gebinden mit rechtwinklig zueinander angeordneten Reihen und Zeilen in einer Draufsicht.

Fig. 5

eine Vorrichtung zur Herstellung von 3x3 Gebinden in genesteter Anordnung, dessen schräg zu den Reihen angeordnete Zeilen V-förmig abgewinkelt sind, in einer Draufsicht.

Fig. 6

eine Vorrichtung zur Herstellung von 3x2 Gebinden mit rechtwinklig zueinander angeordneten Reihen und Zeilen in einer Draufsicht.

Fig. 7

eine Vorrichtung zur Herstellung von 3x2 Gebinden in genesteter Anordnung, dessen schräg zu den Reihen angeordnete Zeilen V-förmig abgewinkelt sind, in einer Draufsicht.

In the following, exemplary embodiments are intended to explain the invention and its advantages in more detail with reference to the attached figures. The proportions of the individual elements to one another in the figures do not always correspond to the real proportions, since some forms are shown in simplified form and other forms are shown enlarged in relation to other elements for better illustration. Identical reference symbols are used for elements of the invention that are the same or have the same effect. Furthermore, for the sake of clarity, only reference symbols are shown in the individual figures that are necessary for the description of the respective figure. The illustrated embodiments only represent examples of how the device according to the invention or the method according to the invention can be designed and do not represent any conclusive limitation.

1

a 3x2 bundle of articles directly connected to one another by means of adhesives with three rows and two rows arranged at right angles to these in a top view.

2

a 3x3 bundle of articles connected directly to one another by means of adhesives in a nested arrangement with three rows and three lines running diagonally to these in a plan view, where n Fig. 2 a) whose rows arranged diagonally to the rows are angled in a V-shape and in Fig. 2 b) whose lines arranged diagonally to the rows run straight.

3

a bond between two items that are directly connected to each other within a container with only one adhesive point in Fig. 3 a) , with two dots of adhesive distributed over the height of the articles in Fig. 3 b) and with three dots of adhesive distributed over the height of the articles in Fig. 3 c) , each in a side view.

4

a device for the production of 3x3 containers with rows and rows arranged at right angles to one another in a plan view.

figure 5

a device for the production of 3x3 bundles in a nested arrangement, the rows of which are arranged obliquely to the rows are angled in a V-shape, in a plan view.

6

a device for the production of 3x2 containers with rows and rows arranged at right angles to one another in a plan view.

7

a device for the production of 3x2 bundles in a nested arrangement, the rows of which are arranged obliquely to the rows are angled in a V-shape, in a top view.

a in 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , figure 5 , 6 , 7 The container 01 shown in whole or in part consists of a number A of articles 03 directly connected to one another by adhesives 02. The articles 03 of the container 01 are arranged in more than two parallel rows 04 with two or more articles 03 regularly offset at right angles or nested arranged to each other. The articles 03 of the container 01 are therefore arranged in R rows 04 and Z rows 05, the number of articles 03 per row 04 corresponding to the number Z of rows 05 in the container 01, for example. In principle, however, rows with a different number of articles 03 can also be joined together to form a container 01 .

The container 01 therefore includes, for example, A=RxZ Article 03 in R rows 04 and Z rows 05 with R≥3 and Z≥2.

A container 01 with rows 04 and rows 05 running at right angles to one another is in 1 shown. A container 01 with articles 03 arranged nested is in 2 shown. In the case of a container 01 with Articles 03 arranged nested, the rows 04 and lines 05 run obliquely or diagonally to one another, with the lines running obliquely to the rows 04 in a plan view as in FIG Fig. 2 a) shown in a V-shape, or as shown in Fig. 2 b) shown can run straight.

The adhesive bonds 02 are each formed by one, two or more adhesive dots 20 of an adhesive applied to the lateral surfaces of the articles 03 that abut in the container arrangement. A bond 02 between two items 03 can therefore be used as in Fig. 3 a) shown a, or as in Fig. 3 b) shown two or as in Fig. 3 c) shown include three or more adhesive dots 20.

In principle, not all articles 03 within the container 01 have to be directly connected to each other with all their neighboring articles 03. For example, an article 03 inside the container 01 can only be directly connected to one, two or three articles 03 of all of its neighboring articles 03. However, each article 03 within the finished bundle 01 is preferably connected to each of its neighboring articles 03, which are adjacent at least along the same row 04 and along the same row 05 within the bundle 01.

The adhesive dots 20 are applied in particular to an article 03 at different heights and in particular to the surfaces which are at the greatest distance from the central axis of the article 03. For example, an article 03, such as a bottle, can have an adhesive point 20 above a handle area and below a handle area.

The container 01 can be provided with a carrying handle 06.

A method for producing a container 01 as described above provides that for each row 04 of the finished container 01 a strand of articles 30 is provided with a number of articles 03 corresponding to the number of articles 03 in the corresponding row 04 in the finished container 01, of which initially at least one of two articles 03 connected to one another in the finished container 01 by means of an adhesive bond 02 is provided with at least one, two or more adhesive points 20.

The articles 03 of two strands of articles 30 are then brought together and glued together to form an intermediate container 10 with two rows, in which the articles 03 of a first strand of articles 31 forming a first row 41 in the finished bundle 01 and the articles 03 of a second strand of articles 32 are pressed against one another at the connection points 21 provided with adhesive dots 20 and held until the adhesive has at least temporarily and/or partially cured.

After the adhesive at least temporarily and/or partially hardens at the connection points 21 between the articles 03 of the first strand of articles 31 and the second strand of articles 32, at least one further row 43 is added to the intermediate container 10 by the at least one further row 43 in the finished container 01 forming article 03 of at least one further strand of articles 33 are pressed from at least one side at the connection points 21 provided with adhesive spots 20 against the articles 03 of at least one outer row 40 of the intermediate container 10 and held until the adhesive has at least temporarily and/or partially cured. The further line of articles 33 and the line of articles 31, 32 that has already risen in the intermediate container 10 and forms an outer row 40 there are first brought together according to the desired arrangement of the articles 03 or the rows 04 and rows 05 in the finished container 01, before their articles 03 are pressed against each other at the connection points 21 provided with adhesive dots 20 and held until the adhesive has at least temporarily and/or partially cured.

In the intermediate container 10, which is produced by gluing the articles 01 of the first strand of articles 31, which form a first row 41 in the finished bundle 01, and the articles 03 of the second strand of articles 32, which form a second row 42 in the finished bundle 01, the first row 41 and the second row 42 is an outer row 40 of the intermediate container 10.

In the case of a container with rows 04 and rows 05 running at right angles to one another, the article strands 31, 32, 33 are brought together lying parallel next to one another in such a way that the individual articles 03 of the article strands 31, 32, 33 are at the same height ( 4 ; 6 ).

In the case of a container with articles 03 arranged in a nested manner, the article strands 31, 32, 33 are brought together like a zip, so that at least the articles 03 of two adjacent article strands 31, 32, 33 are offset from one another in a compacted arrangement ( figure 5 ; 7 ).

The application of the adhesive dots 20 to the articles 02 of different article strands 31, 32, 33 does not necessarily have to take place at the same time. For example, the application of the adhesive dots 20 to the articles 03 of another strand of articles 33 as in 4 , figure 5 , 6 , 7 only take place when the articles 03 of the first line of articles 31 and of the second line of articles 32 have already been provided with adhesive points 20 and/or have already been brought together to form the intermediate container 10 .

The bonds 02 can preferably be produced using an adhesive which, after being applied to the connecting points 21 of the articles to be connected to one another, first hardens, for example at an accelerated rate under the influence of electromagnetic radiation, such as long-wave thermal radiation or short-wave ultraviolet radiation (UV radiation; UV light). . This allows the adhesive of the adhesive dots 20 to harden at selected connection points 21 can be controlled in a targeted manner by the corresponding effect of electromagnetic radiation, whereas the adhesive of adhesive points 20 at connection points 21, at which a connection or adhesion 02 to another article 03 is only produced at a later point in time in the ongoing process, initially remains free of any effects and therefore not yet hardened. The adhesive of the adhesive dots 20 at the connection points 21, at which a connection or adhesion 02 to another article 03 is only produced at a later point in time in the ongoing process, is preferably only exposed to the electromagnetic radiation as soon as the adhesive has hardened Production of a bond 02 at the corresponding connection point 21 is provided in the ongoing process. This procedure makes it possible, in principle, to apply the adhesive for producing the adhesive dots 20 to all connection points 21 simultaneously and to control its curing time in a targeted manner for each connection point 21 by the action of the electromagnetic radiation.

For curing using UV light, UV emitters can be provided, for example, above and/or below the second curing section 140 .

The method can provide that if a pack of more than three or four rows 04 is to be produced, a first intermediate pack 10 with two rows 04 is first produced, after which, after the adhesive of the first intermediate pack 10 has hardened, a second and optionally at least one another intermediate container 10 is produced by adding at least one further row 43 to an outer row 40 of the previously produced intermediate container 10 . With each addition of a further row 43, the articles 03 of at least one strand of articles 30 forming the respective row 04 are pressed from at least one side against the articles 03 of at least one outer row 40 of the intermediate container 10 that is then present and held until the adhesive has hardened before the container 01 is then completed by adding at least one last row 04 of articles 03 of a last strand of articles 30 to at least one outer row 40 of the previously produced intermediate container 10, pressing the articles together and holding them until the adhesive has hardened.

According to an advantageous development of the method, at least the articles 03 provided with adhesive dots 20 can first be aligned after the adhesive dots 20 have been applied by rotating them about their upright vertical axes, which are normal to a plane including the rows 04 and rows 05 of the finished container 01, before they are pressed against one another and held until the adhesive hardens.

The method preferably provides that the strands of articles 30, the articles 03 of which each form a row 04 in the finished container 01, are separated from at least one article stream 35 of articles 03 transported directly one behind the other. Particularly preferably, one article stream 35 is provided for each row 04 of the finished pack 01, from which an article strand 30 is separated for each row 04 of a pack 01 to be produced, corresponding to an inflow from a number of corresponding to the number R of rows 04 in the finished pack 01 Article streams 35.

The method can also provide for the articles 03 of at least one article strand 30 or the articles of the same article strands 30 to be connected to one another before the articles 03 of different article strands 30, for example the articles 03 of the first article strand 31 and the second article strand 32, are connected to one another. Provision can be made for the articles of the first and/or the second and/or at least one further article strand 31, 32, 33 to be connected to one another by means of adhesive bonds 02 before two article strands 30 are brought together and the articles 03 of the joined article strands 30 by means of adhesive bonds 02 are connected by pressing the articles 03 of the different strands of articles 30 against one another and holding them until the adhesive has hardened.

It is important to emphasize that, alternatively or additionally, it is also conceivable to first produce two or more intermediate containers 10 and then to glue the intermediate containers 10 together to form a finished container.

one inside 4 , figure 5 , 6 , 7 The device 100 shown in whole or in part is suitable for carrying out a method described above.

The device 100 comprises provision means 110 for a number R of the rows 04 in the finished container 01 corresponding number of strands of articles 30, each consisting of a number of articles 03 corresponding to the number of articles 03 in the respective row 04 in the finished container 01.

The supply means 110 can comprise an infeed of a number of article streams 35 corresponding to the number R of the rows 04 in the finished container 01 and consisting of articles 03 that follow each other directly. The provision means 110 can also include separating means 111 for each article stream 35, which separating means 111 separate an article line 30 with a number of articles 03 from the respective article stream 35 that corresponds to the number of articles 03 in the corresponding row 04 in the finished container 01. The flow of articles 35 is preferably transported on a conveyor belt.

Separating means 111 can operate, for example, according to the principle known from the prior art described in the introduction, according to which accelerating the articles 03 of a line of articles 30 to be separated from an article stream 35 to a higher speed than that of the article stream separates the article line from the article stream.

The device 100 also includes attachment means 120 to provide individual, selected or all articles 03 of the article strands 30 with adhesive points 20.

The attachment means 120 can be implemented by one or more nozzles 121, by means of which adhesive dots 20 used to produce adhesive bonds 02 can be applied, are applied or can be applied to the lateral surfaces of at least selected articles 03. The nozzles 121 can be, for example, a number of glue guns which are aimed at certain points on the items 03 or their lateral surfaces and whose valves are switched by a controller in such a way that a glue point 20 is produced while the items 03 are continuously being conveyed past the glue guns is fired essentially perpendicularly to the lateral surface of the article 03.

Depending on the transport speed of the articles 03, multiple nozzles 121 can be provided in order to apply adhesive dots 20 to the lateral surfaces of the articles 03 being transported past. For example, articles 03 can be transported by means of a star or carousel around whose peripheral section forming a transport path for the articles 03 several nozzles 121 can be arranged. The arrangement of multiple nozzles 121 may be necessary, for example, because the switching speed of the nozzles 121 is limited. In principle, however, it is possible to provide the articles 03 of a line of articles 30 forming a complete row 04 in the finished container 01 with adhesive dots 20 using only a single nozzle 121 .

The one or more nozzles 121 can be implemented as one or more V-shaped double nozzles, with which a simultaneous application of two or more adhesive dots 20 to an article 03 or a maximum of one simultaneous application of one adhesive dot 20 to one of the number of nozzle outlet openings the number of articles 03 corresponding to the double nozzles 121 is possible.

A nozzle 121 implemented as a double nozzle can be arranged, for example, between two article strands 30 that have not yet been brought together or between the transport paths of two article strands 30, for example from their separation from their respective original article flow 35 to their combination with one another to form a container 01 or an intermediate container 10, where it can simultaneously provide an article 03 of one line of articles 30, for example the article 03 of a first line of articles 31, and an article of the other line of articles 30, for example the article 03 of a second line of articles 32, each with an adhesive point 20.

Alternatively, a nozzle 121 implemented as a double nozzle can be positioned to the side of a line of articles 30 that has not yet been merged with another line of articles 30, or to the side of its transport path, from the separation of the line of articles 30, for example from its original flow of articles 35, to its merging with one or more other line of articles 30 a finished container 01 or an intermediate container 10, where they attach an article 03 of the strand of articles 30 with two adhesive dots 20 distributed, for example, along its vertical axis extending normal to a plane running parallel to the rows 04 and rows 05 in the finished container 01, or two articles 03 that follow one another in one and the same strand of articles 30 can each be provided with an adhesive dot 20 .

The device 100 also comprises first merging means 130 for initially providing a first line of articles 31 forming a first row 41 in the finished container 01 and a second line of articles 32 forming a second row 42 in the finished container 01, the articles 03 of which are at least partially provided with adhesive dots 20 according to the arrangement of the articles 03 of the first row 41 and the second row 42 in the finished container 01, to form an intermediate container 10, then to press them against one another at the adhesive points 20 and then at least until the adhesive has at least temporarily and/or partially cured to keep.

Furthermore, the device 100 comprises at least second merging means 140 in order to collect an intermediate container 10 and at least one further article strand 33 forming at least one further row 43 in the finished container 01, the article 03 of which - i.e. the items 03 of the intermediate container 10 and/or the at least one further line of articles 33 - are at least partially provided with adhesive dots 20, corresponding to the arrangement of the items 03 of the intermediate container 10 and the at least one further row 43 in the finished container 01, initially to form a further intermediate container or bring them together to form the finished container 01, then press them against one another at the adhesive points 20 and then hold them at least until the adhesive has at least temporarily and/or partially cured.

If a further row of articles 03 is then fed to an intermediate container 10, the device 100 can also comprise third, fourth and so on merging means in order to add corresponding further rows 43 to the ever-growing intermediate container 10.

The first and second and, if applicable, further combining means 130, 140 can be designed to be movable in whole or in part along a conveying direction F in order to transport an intermediate container 10 and/or a finished container 01 in the conveying direction F while the adhesive is curing.

The first and second, and possibly further, merging means 130, 140 can comprise, for example, at least one pressing unit 150, which presses the articles 03, previously provided with adhesive spots 20, of the article strands 30 to be assembled into an intermediate container 10, or an intermediate container 10, which is to be assembled into a finished container 01, and at least one other Article strand 33 pressed against each other and at least up to at least temporary and / or partial curing of the adhesive holds against each other.

A pressing unit 150 can, for example, comprise rotating clamping units 151, which can be controlled individually and independently of one another and can therefore also be moved to different positions in the conveying direction F during pressing and holding.

The second merging means 140 can be configured so that they press and hold the articles 03 together along the transport direction F for approximately twice as long as the first merging means 130. In order to create rows 04 of two articles each in the finished container 01 and/or in the intermediate container 10 03, twins of clamping units 151 can circulate on the two bringing together means 130, 140. Accordingly, triplets of clamps can circulate on the two bringing means 130, 140 in order to form rows 04 of three articles 03 each in the finished container 01 and/or in the intermediate container 10, or quadruplets of clamping units 151 can circulate in order to form in the finished container 01 and /or to form 10 rows 04 of three articles 03 each in the intermediate container and so on. The number of clamping units 151 in a group or pressing unit 150 therefore corresponds to the number of articles 03, which can be found in a row 04 in the finished container 10, even in other formations.

The clamping units 151 grip the articles 03 preferably at a height which is spaced apart from the horizontal plane in which the adhesive dots 20 were applied. In particular, the clamps of adjacent clamping units 151 within a group engage at different heights, so that collisions between the clamps of adjacent clamping units 151 cannot occur when the articles 03 are brought together along the transport direction F. The distance between two adjacent brackets from different groups is preferably greater than the distance between two adjacent brackets within a group.

A clamping unit 152 of a last pressing unit 150, with which an intermediate container 10 and at least one further article strand 33 are brought together, pressed and held, can be designed with at least one large clamp unit in order to hold the intermediate container 10.

The clamps of the clamping units 152 of the gathering means 140 for holding the intermediate package 10 can, for example, be longer than the clamps of the first gathering means 130 in order to enclose both rows of the intermediate package 10 .

A last pressing unit 150, embodied as a clamping conveyor, for example, which accommodates one or more clamping units 151, 152 that are movably arranged in the conveying direction F, can be longer than a pressing unit 150 that is in front in the conveying direction F, in order to obtain residual curing of the adhesive, for example the adhesive that the first pressing unit 140 has been applied to at least some of the articles 03 of the container 01.

The device 100 can also have an application unit 160 for applying a carrying handle 06 to the finished container 01.

A possible application unit 160 for applying a carrying handle 06 can be arranged above the first or second or, if appropriate, further combining means 130, 140, for example in the middle and, if necessary, in the conveying direction F.

It can be seen that the invention can be implemented through a separate feed of articles 03 to be glued to an intermediate container 10 previously produced by gluing articles 03 from article strands 30 in order to form at least three-row containers 01. A resulting advantage is particularly simple handling with the container 01 and the intermediate container 10, since three or more rows 04 of articles 03 to be glued together do not have to be pressed against one another while the adhesive has not yet hardened.

It is important to emphasize that the articles 03 are pressed against one another, at least on the last clamping conveyor, also transversely to the transport or conveying direction F.

The device 20 described allows a method according to the invention for producing a container 01 to be carried out.

It is important to emphasize that the device 10 described and the method described are basically also suitable for forming bundles 01 with articles 03 arranged in a nested manner with a different number of articles 03 per row 04 . For example, a container 01 with articles 03 arranged in a nested manner can be produced from eight articles 03 arranged in three rows 04, in which the two outer rows 41, 42 each have three articles 03 and the inner row 40 has only two articles 03, or it can For example, a container 01 with articles 03 arranged nested can be produced from a total of ten articles 03 arranged in three rows 04, the two outer rows 41, 42 each having three articles 03 and the inner row 40 having four articles.

It is also important to emphasize that when a container 01 is produced from a total of six articles 03 arranged in three rows 04 and two rows 05 using a previously described method and/or by means of a previously described device 100, the container 01 is ready for further processing steps, such as the arranging a carrying handle 06 or transporting the container 01 to or by means of a palletizer does not have to be rotated by 90°, as is the case in the prior art for a container 01 with two rows 04 and three rows 05 in connection with the arrangement of a carrying handle 06, for example and/or a further pack transport by means of a palletizer is required.

The method described and the device described therefore offer the advantage that the container 01 no longer has to be rotated, which can possibly lead to damage or weakening of the connection points due to the action. An additional advantage results from the fact that during the completion of the final container 01 in the last pressing process, a carrying handle 06 can be applied to the final container 01 during fixing by means of the circumferential gripping and guiding elements. The carrying handle 06 can be applied, for example, by means of an application unit 160, which is capable of synchronizing with the respective container 01 within the conveying or pressing path and attaching a carrying handle 06 to the container 01 while it is being continuously conveyed. A resulting advantage is that the attachment of the carrying handle 06 has no harmful effect on the adhesive bonds 02, since the finished container 01 is still being held by the last pressing unit 150 while the carrying handle 06 is being positioned and is thereby stabilized.

While the inlets to the delivery means 110 of the first two rows are essentially parallel, the inlet of the containers to the delivery means 110 for the additional row to be attached to the intermediate container can partially run perpendicular to the other two inlets.

The distance between the containers standing end to end in the infeed is changed in particular by an infeed starwheel in the supply means 111 in such a way that the containers can be placed individually on turntables of an orientation star of the supply means 111 which are evenly distributed on a carousel. However, the distance between the containers on the turntables is still larger than the distance between the containers in the container. The final spacing of the containers in the container is created in particular by the clamping units in the pressing unit, in particular by the individual clamps diverging in the radius of the deflection of the pressing unit and the coming together of the clamps in the linear part of the clamping unit. This aspect can also represent an independent invention.

In principle, it would be conceivable to add an article strand to the intermediate container 10 formed from rows, each row being assigned to an article strand 30, the row of which is perpendicular to the rows of the intermediate container. In other words, each row of the finished pack could consist of containers that came from different strands 30 .

The invention has been described with reference to a preferred embodiment. However, it will be apparent to a person skilled in the art that modifications or variations can be made to the invention without departing from the scope of the following claims.

Reference List

01

container

02

bonding

03

article

04

Row

05

Line

06

carrying handle

10

intermediate container

20

glue point

21

connection point

30

article strand

31

first line of articles

32

second line of articles

33

another line of articles

35

article stream

40

outer row (of intermediate container 10)

41

first row (of the finished container 01)

42

second row (of the finished container 01)

43

further row (of the finished container 01)

100

contraption

110

provisioning means

111

release agents

120

means of attachment

121

jet

130

first means of merging

140

second merging means

150

pressing unit

151

clamping unit

152

clamping unit

160

application unit

f

conveying direction

A

Number of articles 03 in a container 01

R

Number of rows 04 in a bundle 01

Z

Number of rows 05 in a bundle 01

Claims (15)

1. A method for producing a bundle (01) from articles (03) connected immediately to each other by means of glued joints (02), which bundle (01) comprises articles (03) arranged in at least three rows (04) of at least two articles (03) each, wherein the glued joints (02) are each formed by one, two, or more glue dots (20) of an adhesive, which glue dots (20) are applied onto at least one lateral surface of at least two articles (03) immediately connected to each other in the finished bundle (01), characterised in that an article strand (30) with a number of articles (03) corresponding to the number of articles (03) in the respective row (04) in the finished bundle is provided per row (04) of the finished bundle (01), of which articles (03) at first at least one of two articles (03) connected to each other in the finished bundle (01) is provided with at least one, two, or more glue dots (20), then the articles (03) of two article strands (30) are glued together to an intermediate bundle (10) of two rows (04) with the help of a first merging means (130) by joining and/or pressing the articles of a first article strand (31) against each other, which articles (03) form a first row (41) in the finished bundle (01), and the articles (03) of a second article strand (32), which articles (03) form a second row (42) in the finished bundle (01), at the glue dots (20) and holding the said articles (03) until the adhesive is at least partly hardened, and then at least one further row (43) is added to the intermediate bundle (10) with the help of a second merging means (140) by joining and/or pressing the articles of at least one further article strand (33), which articles (03) form the at least one further row (43) in the finished bundle (01), from at least one side against the articles (03) of at least one outer row (40) of the intermediate bundle (10) at the glue dots (20) and holding the said articles (03) until the adhesive is at least partly hardened.
2. The method as recited in claim 1 wherein at first a first intermediate bundle (10) is produced from two rows (04), then, after the adhesive of the first intermediate bundle (10) has hardened, a second and, as the case may be, at least one further intermediate bundle (10) is produced by the addition of respectively at least one further row (43) to an outer row (40) of the previously produced intermediate bundle (10), wherein, for each addition of a further row (43), the articles (03) of at least one article strand (33) forming the respective row (43) are joined and/or pressed against the articles (03) of at least one outer row (40) of the intermediate bundle (10) from at least one side and held until the adhesive is at least partly hardened, before the bundle (01) is then completed by the addition of at least one last row (43) of articles (03) of a last article strand (33) to at least one outer row (40) of the previously produced intermediate bundle (10), by pressing the articles (03) together and holding them until the adhesive is at least partly hardened.
3. The method as recited in claim 1 or 2 wherein articles (03) of a further article strand (33) on each of both sides of a previously produced intermediate bundle (10), which articles (03) have been provided with glue dots (20), are joined and/or pressed against the articles (03) of the two outer rows (40) of the intermediate bundle (10), each from one side, and held until the adhesive is at least partly hardened.
4. The method as recited in claim 1, 2, or 3 wherein, after the application of the glue dots (20), at least the articles (03) provided with glue dots (20) are first aligned by rotation about their vertical axes that stand normal to a plane enclosing the rows (04) and lines (05) of the bundle (01), before they are joined and/or pressed against each other and held until the adhesive is at least partly hardened.
5. The method as recited in one of the previous claims wherein at first the article strands (30, 31, 32, 33) of at least one article stream (35) of articles (03) being transported immediately one after the other are separated off.
6. The method as recited in claim 5 wherein an article stream is provided for each row of the finished bundle, from which article stream respectively one article strand (30, 31, 32, 33) per row (04, 41, 42, 43) of a bundle (01) to be produced is separated off, corresponding to an infeed of a number of article streams (35) corresponding to the number (R) of rows (04) in the finished bundle (01).
7. The method as recited in one of the previous claims wherein at first the articles (03) of at least one article strand (30, 31, 32, 33) are connected to each other before the articles (03) of different article strands (30, 31, 32, 33) are connected to each other.
8. The method as recited in one of the preceding claims wherein:

   - in the instance of a bundle (01) with rows (04) and lines (05) running toward each other at right angles, the article strands (30, 31,32,33) are merged located in parallel next to each other such that the individual articles (03) of the article strands (30,31,32,33) are located at the same height; or

   - in the instance of a bundle (01) with articles in a nested arrangement (03), the article strands (30, 31,32,33) are merged in a zipper-like manner such that at least the articles (03) of two adjacent article strands (30, 31, 32, 33) are located in a compacted arrangement offset from each other.
9. A device (100) for producing a bundle (01) from articles (03) connected immediately to each other by means of glued joints (02), which bundle (01) comprises articles (03) arranged in at least three rows (04) of at least two articles (03) each, wherein the glued joints (02) are each formed by one, two, or more glue dots (20) of an adhesive, which glue dots (20) are applied onto at least one lateral surface of at least two articles (03) immediately connected to each other in the finished bundle (01), comprising:

   - providing means (110) for a number of article strands (30, 31, 32, 33) corresponding to the number of rows (04) in the finished bundle (01), each article strand (30, 31, 32, 33) with a number of articles (03) corresponding to the number of articles (03) per row (04) in the finished bundle (01);

   - application means (120), for providing individual, selected, or all articles (03) of the article strands (30, 31, 32, 33) with glue dots (20);

   - first merging means (130) for at first merging a first article strand (31) forming a first row (41) in the finished bundle (01) and a second article strand (32) forming a second row (42) in the finished bundle (01), the articles (03) of which article strands are at least in parts provided with glue dots (20), to an intermediate bundle (10) corresponding to the arrangement of the articles (03) in the first and the second row (41,42) in the finished bundle (01), subsequently joining and/or pressing them against each other at the glue dots (20), and then holding them until the adhesive is at least partly hardened; as well as

   - at least second merging means (140) for at first merging an intermediate bundle (10) and at least one further article strand (33) forming at least one further row (43) in the finished bundle (01), wherein the articles (03) of the intermediate bundle (10) and/or the at least one further article strand (33) are at least partly provided with glue dots (20), to a further intermediate bundle (10) or to the finished bundle (01) corresponding to the arrangement of the articles (03) of the intermediate bundle (10) and of the article strand (33) forming at least one further row (43) in the finished bundle (01), subsequently joining and/or pressing them against each other at the glue dots (20), and then holding them until the adhesive is at least partly hardened.
10. The device as recited in claim 9 wherein the providing means (110) comprise:

    - an infeed of a number of article streams (35) corresponding to the number (R) of rows (04) in the finished bundle (01), which article streams (35) are composed of articles (03) immediately following each other;

    - separation means (111) for each article stream (35) for separating off an article stream (30, 31, 32, 33) with a number of articles (03) from the respective article stream (35) corresponding to the number of articles (03) per row (04, 41, 42, 43) in the finished bundle (01) from the respective article stream (35).
11. The device as recited in claim 9 or 10 wherein the merging means (130, 140) are designed to be movable along a conveying direction (F) in order to transport an intermediate bundle (10) and/or a finished bundle (01) in the conveying direction (F) during the hardening of the adhesive.
12. The device as recited in claim 9, 10, or 11 wherein the merging means (130, 140) comprise at least one pressing unit (150), which joins and/or presses the articles (03), which were previously provided with glue dots (20), of two article strands (30, 31, 32, 33) to be merged to an intermediate bundle (10) or of an intermediate bundle (10) to be merged to a finished bundle (01) and at least one further article strand (33), and holds them against each other at least until the adhesive is at least partly hardened, which at least one pressing unit (150) preferably comprises circulating clamping units (151, 152), which are, in particular, controllable individually and independently from each other and movable to different positions, as seen in conveying direction (F), during the pressing and holding.
13. The device as recited in one of the claims 9 to 12 wherein the device (100) comprises alignment means, which align at least the articles (03) provided with glue dots (20) according to their orientation required in the finished bundles (01) for producing immediate connections of the articles (03) to each other, said immediate connections being formed by glued joints (02).
14. The device as recited in one of the claims 9 to 13 wherein the application means (120) are realised by one or more nozzles (121), by means of which glue dots (20) are applicable onto the lateral surfaces of at least selected articles (03).
15. The device as recited in claim 14 wherein the one or more nozzles (121) are realised by one or more V-shaped dual nozzles, by means of which a simultaneous application of respectively two or more glue dots (20) onto an article (03), or maximally a simultaneous application of respectively one glue dot (20) onto a number of articles (03) corresponding to the number of nozzle outlet openings of the dual nozzles is possible, wherein a dual nozzle is arranged between the transport routes of two article strands (30, 31, 32, 33) that have not yet been merged and/or lateral to a transport route of an article strand (30, 31, 32, 33) that has not yet been merged with another article strand (30, 31, 32, 33).

Images