The present invention relates to an operating accumulation assembly for machines for packaging groups of substantially platelike products and a related machine for packaging such groups of products.

Recently a major spread has been witnessed of chewing gum in an ingot or "stick" format: each single stick of gum to be chewed is usually wrapped with a strip of packaging material (which can be paper, polymeric, metallic and/or combinations thereof). The sticks of gum individually wrapped in the above mentioned strips of packaging material are subsequently grouped and arranged inside a package that can be directly displayed for sale.

For the complete packaging of such sticks of gum to be chewed it is necessary to have two processing stations: a first station is constituted by a wrapping machine, which is designed to wrap the stick with the above mentioned strip of packaging material, and a second station is constituted by a cartoning machine that arranges the groups of sticks, which have already been individually wrapped in strips of packaging material, inside an adapted package.

This type of multiple packaging machine suffers considerable problems which relate to the drawbacks that arise in the event of short stoppages of any nature of one of the two stations.

In fact, a malfunction/shutdown of the wrapping machine determines a consequent discontinuity of operation of the cartoning machine, because the sticks of gum suitably wrapped in strips of packaging material will no longer arrive there. This can also determine the redirection to a respective discard circuit of any packages that are incomplete or even empty.

In the same way, a malfunction/shutdown of the cartoning machine necessarily requires an immediate discontinuity of operation of the wrapping machine, since otherwise the sticks of gum wrapped in the strips of packaging material would have to be redirected to a discard circuit, given the impossibility of arranging them in a respective package.

In any case, upon a malfunction/shutdown of one station, given the impossibility of acting immediately to interrupt the operation of the other station, there will be an accumulation of a plurality of discards (with the consequent burden of production, already borne, and burden of disposal, to be borne).

The aim of the present invention is to solve the above mentioned drawbacks, by providing an operating accumulation assembly for machines for packaging groups of substantially platelike products which minimizes production discards.

Within this aim, an object of the invention is to provide an operating accumulation assembly for machines for packaging groups of substantially platelike products which prevents the interruption of the entire plant in the event of a malfunction of one of the processing stations that constitute it.

Another object of the invention is to provide a related machine for packaging such groups of products with high productivity levels.

Another object of the invention is to provide a related machine for packaging such groups of products which is particularly efficient and is adapted to tolerate faults in its processing stations without requiring operation to be interrupted.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an operating accumulation assembly for machines for packaging groups of substantially platelike products and a related machine for packaging such groups of products which are low cost, easily and practically implemented, and safe in use.

This aim and these objects are achieved by an operating accumulation assembly for machines for packaging groups of substantially platelike products, characterized in that it comprises at least one first pusher for transferring at least one product from at least one conveyance line to at least one respective seat of a storage structure, said storage structure being movable by the action of respective actuators and being provided with at least one series of laterally adjacent and proximate seats, said structure comprising a second pusher for transferring the at least one product that is present within at least one respective seat to the at least one conveyance line.

Such aim and such objects are also achieved by a machine for packaging groups of substantially platelike products, characterized in that it comprises at least one conveyance line, which originates from at least one machine for wrapping a single product and converges toward at least one machine for cartoning groups of products, said line being aligned and proximate, at at least one intermediate portion thereof, to at least one operating accumulation assembly provided with a first pusher for transferring at least one individually wrapped product from the at least one conveyance line to at least one respective seat of a storage structure, said storage structure being movable by the action of respective actuators and being provided with at least one series of laterally adjacent and proximate seats, said structure comprising a second pusher for transferring the at least one individually wrapped product that is present within at least one respective seat to the at least one conveyance line, with consequent transfer thereof to said cartoning machine.

Further characteristics and advantages of the invention will become better apparent from the detailed description of a preferred, but not exclusive, embodiment of the operating accumulation assembly for machines for packaging groups of substantially platelike products and of the related machine for packaging such groups of products according to the invention, which is illustrated by way of non-limiting example in the accompanying drawings, wherein: Figure 1 is a view from above of a packaging machine according to the invention;

Figure 2 is a front elevation view of the machine in Figure 1 ;

Figure 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line III-III in Figure 2;

Figure 4 is an enlarged, partially sectional front elevation view of a dynamic accumulator of a machine according to the invention;

Figure 5 is a side view of the operating accumulation assembly according to the invention;

Figure 6 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line VI- VI in Figure

5;

Figure 7 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line VII- VII in Figure 5.

With reference to the figures, the reference numeral 1 generally designates an operating accumulation assembly for machines 2 for packaging groups of substantially platelike products.

The term "group of products" is used to mean a single platelike product that is suitably wrapped, or a plurality of products (at least two) which are arranged according to a predefined spatial configuration, each one of which is individually wrapped.

In particular it should be noted that the products can preferably be ingots of chewing gum which, for the purposes of the packaging necessary for the sale thereof, must be individually wrapped with a suitable sheet and, subsequently, grouped according to a predefined number and arrangement and placed in a package.

The first wrapping will generally be carried out by way of a wrapping machine (which is arranged upstream of the machine 2), while the final packaging of a group of products will be carried out by way of a cartoning machine (which is arranged downstream of the machine 2).

In its most generic form, the operating accumulation assembly 1 for machines 2 according to the invention comprises at least one first pusher 3 for transferring at least one product from at least one conveyance line 4 to at least one respective seat 5 of a storage structure 6.

The storage structure 6 is movable by the action of respective actuators and is provided with at least one series of laterally adjacent and proximate seats 5.

The structure 6 furthermore comprises a second pusher 3a for transferring the at least one product that is present within at least one respective seat 6 to the at least one conveyance line 4.

It is convenient to note that, for the purposes of optimization of the operation of the assembly 1 and in order to increase its efficiency in association with the conveyance line 4 while also minimizing the overall encumbrances, the movement direction of the seats 5 of the storage structure 6 will preferably be substantially perpendicular to the advancement direction of the products along the conveyance line 4.

Specifically, if the advancement direction of the products on the line 4 is considered longitudinal, then the direction of the seats 5 of the storage structure 6 can be specified as being substantially transverse thereto.

According to an embodiment of undoubted practical and applicative interest, the storage structure 6 can be constituted by a substantially disclike drum 7, which is provided, along at least one portion of its lateral surface, with at least one series of seats 5 distributed in a radial direction.

This embodiment is the one that ensures the minimal space occupation for the same number of seats 5 available for storing individually wrapped products originating from the wrapping machine.

In fact, with the seats 5 being arranged along a circumference, by varying the radius of the drum 7 it is possible to define the total number of seats 5 comprised therein, thus limiting the total space occupation substantially to the diameter of the drum 7 proper (and of its covering housing, if any). In particular it should be noted that there are at least two series of seats 5, which are arranged along the lateral surface of the drum 7 (although, as previously mentioned, an embodiment provided with a single series of seats 5 is also possible and easily implementable), mutually laterally adjacent, and parallel to the advancement direction of the products on the conveyance line 4.

This embodiment determines an increase of the overall capacity of the assembly 1 (the more laterally adjacent series of seats 5 there are, the more products or groups of products that can be accommodated in the assembly 1 ): in such case the pusher 3 can be a single device provided with two synchronous locator levers, which are designed to act on the products, or it can comprise two different movable (independent) tabs that are actuated by a respective motor element.

It is convenient to note that, while remaining within the scope of the preferred embodiment mentioned previously, the storage structure 6 can conveniently comprise a fixed casing 8, which is coupled to the conveyance line 4 (for example the casing 8 can be made integral with the supporting chassis 9 of the line 4), and a gearmotor 10, which is flanged to the casing 8 and is intended to support and move the entire substantially disc-like drum 7.

The gearmotor 10 is in turn controlled by a respective control and management unit for the selective and sequential rotation of the drum 7 and the consequent alignment of each seat 5 with the conveyance line 4 and with the pushers 3 and 3 a.

In essence the gearmotor 10 will make the drum 7 perform predefined rotations in order to align (at each rotation) a specific seat 5 (or a specific sequence of seats 5 that are mutually aligned with respect to the direction of the line 4) with the line 4 and with the pushers 3 (which is designed to transfer the product from the line 4 to the seat 5) and 3a (which is designed to transfer the product from the seat 5 to the line 4). It should be noted that the line 4 usually comprises recesses for the accommodation of products, and it is thus essential that the movement of the line 4 is synchronized with the movements of the pushers 3 and 3a and of the drum 7 in order to ensure the perfect alignment of the recess containing an individual product with the pushers 3 and 7 and with the seat 5.

The possibility is not ruled out of application of the assembly 1 according to the invention in plants in which the conveyance line 4 is designed to transfer at least two products, stacked and/or laterally adjacent, in a respective recess.

In such case the storage structure 6 will comprise seats 5 that are adapted to accommodate the desired number of products with the geometric arrangement assumed thereby on the line 4.

It is furthermore possible to have two or more lines 4 adopted which are overlapped and synchronous: in such case it may be necessary to transfer all the products that are present in recesses of the lines 4 mutually aligned in a single seat 5 of the drum 7, by way of a conveniently contoured pusher 3 (obviously the opposite operation will also require that the corresponding pusher 3a have an adapted shape in order to return each individual product in the respective recess of the corresponding line 4).

The seats of each substantially disc-like drum 7, in order to ensure that it is adapted to the storage of products of various different formats, are preferably delimited by fixed radial plates, in an upward and downward direction, and by a first fixed side wall and a second side wall which can translate parallel to itself.

The translational motion of the second side wall is provided by the action of respective actuators 1 1 which are controlled by a respective control and management unit or manually, in order to adjust the width of the seats 5 in relation to the format of the product to be accommodated.

The accompanying figures show, by way of example, an embodiment in which the actuators are constituted by endless screws which are generally driven by a motor 12 by way of transmission chains (or belts) (if manually activated, the chains will be connected to an element that can be actuated by an operator). However, other implementation solutions that envisage any other type of actuators are not ruled out.

The storage structure 6 can be constituted, according to an alternative embodiment to that described previously, by a substantially vertical column provided, along its face that is contiguous to the conveyance line 4, with at least one series of seats 5 that can slide selectively and sequentially along the column by the action of a respective actuator controlled by a control and management unit or manually.

According to this embodiment, operation will be particularly simple and intuitive (the seats 5 will slide vertically in order to achieve the alignment of each one with the conveyance line and the actuators 3 and 3 a).

On the other hand, this embodiment implies greater space occupation and may require the arrangement of the conveyance line 4 at greater heights than the standard heights, in order to ensure that the number of seats that are at a lower height than that of the line 4 is sufficient for the storage of a number of products that is consistent with the production requirements of the plant (and thus with its productivity).

The possibility is not excluded of providing two substantially vertical columns, which are mutually facing and proximate and connected proximate to their upper and lower ends with means of transport of the seats 5 : this practical implementation identifies a particularly efficient closed carousel in which it is possible to store a plurality of products and/or groups of products and which can optionally be adjusted for a format change in a similar manner to that for the solution described previously which involves the adoption of the drum 7.

The present invention furthermore relates to a machine 2 for packaging groups of substantially platelike products, which comprises at least one conveyance line 4 that originates from at least one machine for wrapping a single product and leads to at least one machine for cartoning groups of products.

According to the invention, in such machine 2 the line 4 is aligned and proximate, at at least one intermediate portion thereof, to at least one operating accumulation assembly 1 provided with a first pusher 3 for transferring at least one product, individually wrapped, from the at least one conveyance line 4 to at least one respective seat 5 of a storage structure 6.

The storage structure 6 in turn is movable by the action of respective actuators and is provided with a series of laterally adjacent and proximate seats 5.

The structure 6 also comprises a second pusher 3a for transferring at least one product, individually wrapped, which is present in at least one respective seat 5, to the at least one conveyance line 4, with consequent transfer thereof to to the subsequent cartoning machine.

It should be noted that in the machine 2, upstream of the cartoning machine and downstream of the operating accumulation assembly 1 , a dynamic accumulator 14 of individually wrapped products can be conveniently arranged.

Such dynamic accumulator 14 is provided with a plurality of receptacles 15, each intended to accommodate at least one individual wrapped product or a predefined group of individually wrapped products.

The receptacles 15 are at least equal in number to the number of products that can be accommodated on the conveyance line 4 downstream of the operating accumulation assembly 1.

In the event of a malfunction of the cartoning machine (or an interruption of operation for another reason), before it is advisable in productive and economic terms to interrupt the operation of the wrapping machine located upstream of the line 4, it will already have sent a large number of individually wrapped products to the line 4.

Such individually wrapped products, however, cannot be received by the cartoning machine, for the formation of a respective package, since it is not in operation.

The products present on the line 4 (and destined for the line 4 from the wrapping machine) must be stored in order to prevent them from being discarded because the cartoning machine cannot receive them.

The assembly 1 , with regard to the characteristics and to the geometric and structural shape described previously, can conveniently accommodate a large number of products (equal to the number of seats 5 that are comprised in it).

But the products that are already on the line 4, downstream of the assembly 1 , cannot be diverted in the assembly 1 by the pusher 3 and will continue on their way toward the cartoning machine (which is not in operation).

In order to prevent such products from having to be discarded, it is possible to use the dynamic accumulator 14 which will be dimensioned to be capable of accommodating a number of products at least equal to those present on the portion of conveyance line 4 which is arranged between the assembly 1 and the point of entry of the accumulator 14.

According to a particularly efficient embodiment, the dynamic accumulator 14 is of the rotary type: it comprises a fixed enclosure 16 within which at least three sectors 17, 18 and 19 can rotate independently.

Each sector 17, 18 and 19 is provided with a plurality of receptacles

15.

During the operation of the dynamic accumulator 14, at least one receptacle 15 of a first sector 17 is aligned with the conveyance line 4 for receiving at least one respective wrapped product.

Simultaneously at least one receptacle 15 of a third sector 19 is instead aligned, optionally with the interposition of conveyor belts 20, with the cartoning machine.

At least one second sector 18 is interposed between the first sector 17 and the second sector 19.

This embodiment makes it possible to have a large number of receptacles 15 : the independent movement of the three sectors 17, 18 and 19 in fact makes it possible to immediately transfer, downstream of the sector that is receiving the products from the line 4 (the sector 17 in the example described previously), the sector that has finished dispensing the products to the conveyor belt 20 (the sector 19 in the example described previously), and which is now ready to accept the products arriving from the line 4 (when the receptacles of the previous one have been completely filled).

As soon as a sector moves from the configuration for dispensing products to the belt 20 toward the conveyance line 4, the sector that follows it (the sector 18 in the example described previously) will move, aligning its receptacles 1 with the belt 20.

In this manner a dynamic storage will be achieved that is adapted to prevent having to discard the individually wrapped products that are present on the line 4, downstream of the assembly 1 , when an interruption in the service of the cartoning machine arises.

The advantages of such an implementation architecture are evident even in the event of a malfunction of the wrapping machine located upstream of the line 4.

In fact the assembly 1 can discharge (by the action of the pusher 3 a and following movements of the structure 6) the products that are accommodated in its seats 5 thus ensuring that, for a certain period of time, the line 4 continues transferring individually wrapped products to the cartoning machine.

The interposition of the dynamic accumulator 1 4 is again very useful here since any delay in the startup of the assembly 1 (once the malfunction of the wrapping machine and the failure to supply wrapped products to the line 4 have been noticed) will not determine a temporary break in the supply of products to the cartoning machine: in fact the dynamic accumulator 14 will continue to dispense the products contained in its receptacles 15 to the cartoning machine until the two sectors (18 and 19 in the example given above) containing the products are emptied.

In this time interval the assembly 1 will certainly have already started up, arranging the products on the line 4 once again and thus enabling the loading thereof in the receptacles 5 of the sector that is aligned with it (the sector 17 in the example above).

The assembly 1 can preferably operate according to Last In, First Out

(LIFO) logic, i.e. the last products stored in it will be in the seats 5 closest to the line 4, thus by inverting the direction of rotation of the drum 7 (by way of the action of the gearmotor 1 0) it will be possible to bring them back into alignment with the line 4 in order to transfer them onto it.

The possibility is not ruled out however of adopting different types of operating logic, such as for example First In, First Out (FIFO) logic, by having the drum 7 rotate in one direction only (each seat 5 will return to face toward the line 4 after a complete 360° rotation of the drum 7).

A machine shutdown should be understood as a stoppage of the portion of the plant upstream (wrapping machine) or downstream (cartoning machine) of the assembly 1.

A stoppage of the wrapping machine upstream of the assembly I would imply the lack of product arriving on the line 4: in this case the assembly 1 will be emptied thus ensuring the operation, if limited, of the portion of the plant located downstream.

But if there is a stoppage downstream of the assembly 1 , and it is therefore impossible to process the arriving products, then in conventional plants it is necessary to either stop the wrapping machine or discard the products. Generally a shutdown is more burdensome, in that the time required to restart the entire plant is considerable, and thus it is almost always decided to discard the product. The assembly 1 , however, makes it possible to store the products for a certain time period, thus preventing the discarding thereof.

The presence of the assembly 1 prevents, in the event of shutdowns, falls in production of the entire plant and of the machine 2.

The assembly 1 , coupled to the conveyance line 4, is, in a particularly functional embodiment thereof, a drum 7 (table) rotating on a horizontal axis which performs a movement that is transverse to the conveyance line 4. The simple kinematic chain is formed by the gearmotor 10 which, furthermore, supports the drum 7 which is mounted in a cantilever fashion.

The capacity of the assembly 1 is determined by the diameter of the drum 7 and of the number of laterally adjacent paths that it comprises (in the accompanying figures, there are two laterally adjacent series of seats 5 on the drum 7).

By way of example it should be noted that by adopting a table of diameter equal to one meter and two paths (series of seats 5) a capacity of the assembly 1 of 840 seats 5 can be achieved: these 840 seats 5 are adapted to accommodate the products arranged radially.

Assuming a hypothetical production rate for the wrapping machine upstream of the assembly 1 of approximately 167 products per minute, the assembly 1 can therefore guarantee support for approximately 5 minutes of production. An assembly 1 of these dimensions is thus designed for short machine shutdowns. The possibility is not excluded of providing larger assemblies 1 in order to compensate for problems derived from machine shutdowns that last a long time.

The assembly 1 , as illustrated above, has the capacity to be adapted to format requirements owing to the presence of a movable side wall in each path (series of seats 5) thereof.

In essence each path (series of seats 5) has a fixed lateral wire and a movable wire on the opposite wall. Obviously the end containment walls will adapt to the distance between the two side walls in order to prevent the products from being able to exit (fall) from the seats 5. Advantageously the present invention solves the above mentioned problems, by providing an operating accumulation assembly 1 for machines 2 for packaging groups of substantially platelike products which minimizes production discards, by making it possible in fact to store a large number of products in the event of interruptions arising in the operation of the stations (for example the wrapping machine) arranged upstream and/or of the stations (for example the cartoning machine) arranged downstream.

Conveniently the accumulation assembly 1 prevents the interruption of the entire plant in the event of a malfunction or shutdown of one of the processing stations that constitute it.

Conveniently the machine 2 enables the packaging of groups of products with high productivity levels, preventing drastic falls in yield and/or productivity in the event of interruptions in the operation of the stations upstream and/or of the stations downstream of the plant in which it is installed.

Positively the machine 2 is particularly efficient and is adapted to tolerate faults/shutdowns of its processing stations without necessitating the overall interruption of the operation.

Positively the operating accumulation assembly 1 and the related machine 2 for packaging groups of platelike products are relatively low cost and are substantially easily and practically implemented, and also safe in use.

Obviously, with regard to what is explained and defined above, the assembly 1 and the machine 2 are also suitable for packaging an individual product, owing to the fact that the term "group of products" has been defined as comprising at least one individually wrapped product (even if, from a practical viewpoint, the adoption of groups constituted by several individually wrapped products is much more likely).

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

In the embodiments illustrated, individual characteristics shown in relation to specific examples may in reality be interchanged with other, different characteristics, existing in other embodiments.

In practice, the materials employed, as well as the dimensions, may be any according to requirements and to the state of the art.

The content of Italian patent application no. BO2013A000354, the priority of which is claimed in the present application, is incorporated as a reference.

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