Machine and method for the automatic treatment of components of inhalers, in particular cartomizers for electronic cigarettes
AssigneeI.M.A. Industria Macchine Automatiche S.P.A.
InventorCarlo Zaniboni
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Machine (10) and method for the automatic treatment of components of inhalers, in particular cartomizers for electronic cigarettes, wherein each component has a central body, preferably of tubular shape, having a lower end part normally protected by a removable lower cap and an upper end part normally protected by a removable upper cap. Upstream and downstream from one or more work stations (S3) and/or one or more inspection stations (S4) there are, respectively, a removal station (S2), configured to selectively and automatically remove the caps from the respective central bodies, and a repositioning station (S5), configured to selectively and automatically return the caps to the corresponding central bodies of the components.
Claims12
A machine for automatic treatment of components of inhalers, wherein each component comprises a central body of a tubular shape and having a lower end part normally protected by a removable lower cap and an upper end part normally protected by a removable upper cap, said machine comprising a loading station configured to load said components on a transporting member, an unloading station configured to unload said components from said transporting member, a controller, and one or more work stations and/or one or more inspection stations, interposed between said loading station and said unloading station, wherein a removal station is disposed downstream of said loading station and upstream of said one or more work stations and/or one or more inspection stations and a repositioning station is disposed downstream of said one or more work stations and/or one or more inspection stations and upstream of said unloading station, wherein the controller is configured to control the removal station to remove said removable lower and upper caps from the central bodies of said components and also configured to control the repositioning station to reposition, respectively, the removed lower and upper caps at the lower and upper end part of the central bodies of each of said components.
A method for automatic treatment of components of inhalers, wherein each component comprises a central body of a tubular shape and having a lower end part normally protected by a removable lower cap and an upper end part normally protected by a removable upper cap, said method comprising:
- loading said components onto a transporting member in a loading station;
- transferring, via the transporting member, said components firstly to one or more work stations and/or to one or more inspection stations, and then to an unloading station;
- removing said lower and upper caps from the central bodies of said components at a removal station disposed downstream of said loading station and upstream of said one or more work stations and/or one or more inspection stations;
- and
- repositioning, respectively, the removed lower and upper caps at the lower and upper end part of the central bodies of each of said components, at a repositioning station disposed downstream of said one or more work stations and/or one or more inspection stations and upstream of said unloading station,
- wherein a controller is configured to control the removal station to remove said removable lower and upper caps from the central bodies of said components and also configured to control the repositioning station to reposition, respectively, the removed lower and upper caps at the lower and upper end part of the central bodies of each of said components.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.