The present invention relates to the field of packaging plants for bottles and/or containers in general for liquids.

It more specifically relates to the end part of the plant, which starts from the labeller or filler and reaches the palletising machine.

It is known that if multiple machines are mechanically or electronically connected, the result is a system having as production efficiency, the product of the efficiencies of the individual machines.

Therefore, by connecting multiple machines in sequence, the overall efficiency is decreased. Furthermore, the interposition of accumulation transports contributes to reducing the overall efficiency.

To increase this value it is necessary for the coupling/interface devices to resolve those problems that generate stoppages and thus losses in the efficiency of the individual machines.

By analysing the individual machines that comprise a packaging plant, the following main problems are for example inferred:

- labeller: wet bottles, reel change;

- shrinkwrap machine: input bottle thrust, film change, thermoshrinking energy;

- cartoning machine: input bottle thrusts;

transports: format change with consequent guide adjustment ;

- palletiser: inlet packs synchronization. The aim of the present invention is to guarantee a constant pressure on the separation system, normally having pegs or spacer elements, of the shrinkwrap machine that is responsible for dividing and spacing each bottle to form the desired groups.

Indeed, this is surely the greatest loss of efficiency problem in the shrinkwrap/cartoning machine.

A further aim of the system is to bring the packs to the palletiser and to allow the oven of the shrinkwrap machine to empty in the event of stoppage, so as to prevent the packs remaining inside the oven for too long from burning.

A further aim is to reduce the linear velocity of the output bottles from the labeller/filling machine in the smallest possible space without introducing instability in the bottles.

These aims are all achieved by the packaging system, object of the present invention, which is characterised by what is provided in the below-reported claims.

This and other characteristics will become more readily apparent from the following description of certain embodiments illustrated, purely by way of a non- limiting example, in the accompanying drawings, in which:

figure 1 illustrates a plan view of an example of bottling line comprising, downstream of a labelling or filling machine, a packaging system object of the invention; figure 2 schematically illustrates the rotating carousel of the bottle dividing device according to a first embodiment;

figure 3 illustrates a diagram of the path of the bottles labelled along the conveying belt on reducing the speed according to the embodiment of figure 2 ;

figure 4 illustrates, in exploded form, the components of the connecting/release zone of the bottles in spiral progression;

figure 5a illustrates, from above, the rotating carousel equipped with gripping means;

figures 5b and 5c show an enlarged detail of the gripping means, in the open position and closed position respectively;

figure 6 illustrates the conveying belt with independent motors for the accumulation of the bottles before the shrinkwrap machine;

figures la-Id illustrate the transport system, with dynamic accumulation without guides, of the bundled packs, according to different operating configurations; figure 8 schematically illustrates the rotating carousel and the bottle dividing device according to a second embodiment;

figures 9 - 15 schematically show an interaction sequence with a bottle of the rotating carousel, of which, for the sake of simplicity, only one gripping means is represented.

With particular reference to figure 1, a bottling line is illustrated comprising, upstream, a blowing and filling machine of known type and, downstream, in the end part of the line, possibly a labelling machine, followed by the packaging system according to the invention.

In the example represented, the packaging system comprises a pick-up device 2 to pick up filled, and possibly labelled, bottles from an upstream machine, a bottle dividing device comprising a multi-lane conveying belt 3, provided with a connecting zone 12 with the labelling or filling machine 1, a shrinkwrap machine 6, a transport system 7, at least one handle applicator 8 to apply the strip that acts as handle of the bundle and at least a palletiser 9.

The pick-up device 2 comprises a dividing carousel that rotates according to a vertical axis arranged at the output, that is to say, downstream of the labelling or filling machine 1 and provided with a plurality of gripping means 13, of a clamp type in the example, which performs the function of picking up bottles 11 and releasing them onto one of the plurality of lanes 14 of the connecting zone 12 of the dividing device. Nine lanes are shown in the example of figure 2, of which eight are transport lanes and one a discard lane, each formed by flexible chain belts.

The connecting zone 12 with the multi-lane conveying belt 3 is formed by a series of a circular arc segments that are joined together so as to define a flexible chain belt with continuous surface having a spiral progression. Spiral progression means a progression with a curvature radius that increases in the advancement direction. Thus, when released by the gripping means 13 on the connecting zone 12, the bottles 11, in addition to being supported in resting in the lane 14 corresponding to the release zone, are progressively moved away from the centre of rotation of the carousel 2 and thus from the respective gripping means 13, according to the above-mentioned spiral progression.

Three segments 12A, 12B, 12C, are shown in the example of figure 4, each substantially defining an arc of a circle of about 90°. Each segment is equipped with a fixed number of lanes 14 greater than the upstream segment in the bottle advancement direction. In the example shown, the first segment 12A has three lanes 14, the second segment 12B has six lanes 14 and the third segment 12C has nine lanes 14, equal in number to the lanes of the conveying belt 3 located downstream. The segments are aligned with each other on the outer perimeter, so that the outer lane 14 of the first segment 12A is also the outer lane 14 of the second and third segment 12B and 12C.

The lanes 14 of the connecting zone 12, arranged with a spiral progression, and the rotating carousel 2, which has the gripping means 13 that are movable along a grip circumference C, are reciprocally arranged so that each lane 14 that forms the belt of the connecting zone 12, is located underneath the rotating carousel 2, so that the release takes place at the desired point corresponding with the intersection X of the grip circumference C, as better illustrated in figures 2 and 3.

In particular, the release of the bottles 11 by the rotating carousel 2 takes place at positions distributed equidistant along an arc of the grip circumference C of angle a greater than 90° and preferably between 180° - 240° and directly on a different lane 14 of the connecting zone 12 underlying the point of release. Thus the bottles 11 are released by the rotating carousel 2, not along a single lane, but already along lanes 14 of the connecting zone 12 which are arranged side by side to each other. In the example illustrated in figure 2, the release takes place along an arc of a circle of substantially 240° in discrete spaced positions of about 30°.

According to a further embodiment shown in figure 8, the connecting zone 12 comprises eight transport lanes 14 separated from each other by a lamina 21. The release of the bottles 11 by the rotating carousel 2 takes place at positions of intersection with the grip circumference C distributed equidistant along an arc of angle a equal to about 240°.

According to a preferred embodiment, as shown for example in figure 9, each of the gripping means 13 of the rotating carousel 2 comprises a thrust linear actuator 22 that pushes the gripping means 13 radially outward against a cam control.

The radial return movement is instead controlled by the cam profile itself.

The reciprocating movement in the radial direction of the gripping means 13 occurs between an extracted position corresponding to the opening of said gripping means 13 and a retracted position corresponding to the closure of said gripping means 13.

A cam 23 is associated with each lane 14 of the connecting zone 12; the cams 23 are distributed on two superimposed discs 24. A service cam 23' along the angular section that does not cooperate with the connecting zone maintains the gripping means in the extracted and open position until the bottle 11 is picked up by the rotating carousel 2 of the filling/labelling machine.

In particular, the release step of the bottle onto the lane 14 of the connecting zone 12 is progressively carried out along an end section, having an inclined profile, of the cam 23 to accompany the bottle 11 in the spiral trajectory of the lane 14.

The sequence of figures 9 - 15 shows the picking up of a bottle 11 transported by a carousel of a filling or labelling machine 1 and the release thereof onto the predetermined lane 14 of the connecting zone 12.

Figure 9 shows the approach step of a gripping means 13 in the advanced open position towards the bottle 11 to be picked up. Moving along the inclined outlet end section of the service cam 23', the gripping means 13 tighten around the bottle and progressively radially retract (figure 10) . After having reached the fully retracted position, the gripping means 13 are maintained in this position during rotation of the carousel 2 (figure 11) until the cam 23 associated with the preselected lane 14, in the example, the third lane 14 from the outside, is reached. The gripping means are progressively pushed by the piston 22 towards the outside and guided by the inclined inlet end section of the cam 23 (figure 12) , progressively opening (figure 13) until the 'bottle 11 is released on the lane 14 in proximity of the bottom of the cam 23 (figure 14) and then recalled by the output end section of the cam 23 in a backward closed position (figure 15) .

The division carousels 2 described for the present invention, adapted to release the bottles 11, not along a single lane but already along lanes 14 arranged side by side to each other, could also constitute an autonomous device combined with the use of timing screws .

The shrinkwrap machine 6 is an automatic or manual packaging machine suitable for grouping the bottles with a thermoshrinkable film.

The transport system 7 with dynamic accumulation is preferably of the counting type and without bundled packs guides .

The handle applicator 8, i.e. an apparatus for applying the strip, generally of paper, which acts as the handle of the bundle, is installed in the represented example on the dynamic transport system 7 and precisely at the inlet of the belt of the palletiser 9. Indeed, one or more palletisers 9 are placed in line with possible pack orienting means 10.

The illustrated example is indicative and it is clear that in addition to the above-mentioned components, further machines suitable for specific purposes may be present without departing from the scope of protection of the invention. The above- mentioned components may also be replaced with equivalent components or in part altogether omitted, as in the aforementioned case of the labeller. Where present, the labeller incorporates a label presence checking device .

For example, the shrinkwrap machine may be replaced by a different packaging machine, such as a cartoning machine. In this configuration, the transport system 7 will be a simple transport without accumulation functions, the oven and the relevant critical issues not being present in the event of stoppage.

Again from the figures, in particular from figure 6, it is observed that each lane of the eight transport lanes of the multi-lane conveying belt 3, transport lanes indicated by the reference 4, is divided into at least three sections 4A, 4B, 4C, that are sequential to each other in the advancement direction. Each of said sections 4A, 4B, 4C has a motor 5A, 5B, 5C that is electronically controlled by counting to keep a constant thrust on to the bottle division system of the downstream shrinkwrap machine. The sections 4A, 4B, 4C of each lane 4 are rectilinear and their arrangement is such as to allow the lateral deviation of the bottles 11 between one section and the other and to allow the scheduled slowdown along the line, as can clearly be seen in the drawings. The ends of two consecutive sections are laterally adjacent.

A discard lane, where present, is indicated by 4 ' . A second preferred embodiment of the conveying multi-lane belt 3 according to the invention, shown in figure 8, provides for the presence, along each transport lane 4, of at least three, in the example four, modular sections ' A, 4'B, 4'C, 4'D, each equipped with its own motor 5' A, 5'B, 5'C, 5'D, wherein each section has a lesser speed with respect to the upstream section and is constituted by a group of conveying belts, each controlled by its own motor 5' A, 5'B, 5'C, 5'D, arranged in oblique direction with respect to the advancement direction of the multi-lane conveying belt 3.

At each of the transport lanes 4, which are separated from each other by laminas 21, adjacent belts belonging to different sections are placed close to each other, along their lateral edge 25. Passing from one section to the next one, which is slower, the bottles 11 decelerate while advancing in a rectilinear line, that is to say, without changing direction.

The gripping means 13 of the rotating carousel 2 will unload the output bottles according to a predefined program, that is to say, depending on the scheme of work of the packaging machine 6. On the connecting zone 12, the bottles 11 are subject to the centrifugal force and the contact/friction of the chain on which the bottles 11 rest .

As regards the second aim of the invention, the provision of a transport system 7 with dynamic accumulation associated with the packaging system allows the packs to be brought to the palletiser 9 and allows the shrinkwrap machine oven (oven, which as known, implements the thermoshrinking) to empty in the event of stoppage. On the contrary, if the packs should remain therein for too long they would be damaged.

The dynamic accumulation transport system 7 consists of a plurality of belts 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20 without guides on which the packs 10 rest. The series of belts 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20 are arranged head- adjacent, namely, along their short side.

Each belt 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20 has an independent motorisation so as to be able to govern, through a central, even computerised, control system, the space between one pack and the next, which will obviously be a function of the speed of the belts sequentially mounted in the advancement direction.

To create accumulation, the packs are brought closer without touching each other, slowing down the successive belt; whereas in normal conditions they are spaced as they leave the shrinkwrap machine . The advantage is that the packs can thus be brought closer without creating impacts between the same. The belt indicated by 20 is the one that acts as a metering device for the palletiser and the handle applicator 8 can be applied to said belt 20.

An encoder and a checking and counting photocell are mounted on each belt. Thus the packs are kept under control throughout the path from the shrinkwrap machine to the palletiser, as number and position.

Figures 7a- 7d show different operating configurations of the transport system 7 with dynamic accumulation object of the present invention. In particular, figure 7a shows normal operating conditions; figures 7b and 7c show operation in the emptying mode of the oven of the shrinkwrap machine 6 according to two successive stages; figure 7d shows operation in stoppage conditions of the palletiser 9.

In the packaging plant according to the invention, the described components are directly connected to each other without interposition of accumulation transports to constitute a single monobloc unit, equipped with a single centralised control (electrical panel, user interface) , thus simplifying the management of the system.

The main advantages of the packaging system object of the invention relate to the following aspects :

- optimal feeding of the bottles into the packaging machine ,

- optimal operation even in the event of bottles of unstable form,

- the packaging machine can work equally with single and double rows ,

- packs transport system without change of format also passing from two-row mode with small packs to single-row mode for large packs,

- pre-packaged system without the need for lengthy on- site testing,

compact system with saving of space due to the installation thereof.