Machine and method for the automated production of straws
AssigneeI.M.A. Industria Macchine Automatiche S.P.A.
InventorFiorenzo Draghetti
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Machine (10) to produce straws (11), preferably made of paper, comprising a feed unit (16) configured to feed a plurality of tubular elements, preferably made of paper, to different working units (17, 19, 20, 21) configured to automatically carry out different workings on the tubular elements (12), including at least one cut to make a pointed end (13), or an end cut obliquely, a deformation to make a bellows (14), a bend in correspondence with the bellows (14) and the packaging of each straw (11).
Claims16
A machine comprising at least one feed unit configured to automatically feed a plurality of tubular elements toward a plurality of working units of said tubular elements, to make straws, wherein said plurality of working units comprises:
- (i) a deformation unit, configured to make at least one bellows on each of said tubular elements so as to be present in each of said straws;
- (ii) a bending unit, configured to carry out at least one bend on each of said tubular elements, in correspondence with said bellows;
- (iii) a packaging unit, configured to package each of said straws, wherein said deformation unit, said bending unit and said packaging unit are disposed in sequence and without a break in continuity with respect to an advancement direction of said tubular elements, so that the packaging of said folded straws occurs without interruption after said deformation unit has made the bellows and said bending unit has carried out the bending in correspondence with said bellows,
- wherein said deformation unit, said bending unit and said packaging unit each comprise a cylindrical member, each of the cylindrical members being rotatable around a respective axis of rotation at a same peripheral speed, wherein said plurality of working units are disposed so that each of the cylindrical members are tangent to each other, and wherein each of the cylindrical members has a peripheral surface provided with retaining means of the straws suitable to support and temporarily retain the straws being formed, disposed parallel to said axis of rotation, and angularly equidistant, from the adjacent straw, by a determinate pitch.
A method to produce straws, comprising a feed step in which a plurality of tubular elements are fed toward a plurality of working units configured to perform corresponding workings on each of said tubular elements, in order to make said straws, wherein said plurality of working units allow to carry out the following working steps in sequence, without a break in continuity:
- (i) a deformation step, during which at least one bellows is made on each of said tubular elements so as to be present in each of said straws;
- (ii) a bending step, during which at least one bending is carried out on each of said tubular elements, in correspondence with said bellows;
- (iii) a packaging step, during which each of said straws is packaged in a suitable material so that each of said straws is hermetically sealed to be hygienically protected before the use thereof,
- so that said deformation step, said bending step and said packaging step occur one after the other without interruption while said tubular elements advance along an advancement direction-,
- wherein said deformation unit, said bending unit and said packaging unit each comprise a cylindrical member, each of the cylindrical member being rotatable around a respective axis of rotation at a same peripheral speed,
- wherein said plurality of working units are disposed so that each of the cylindrical members are tangent to each other, and wherein each of the cylindrical member has a peripheral surface provided with retaining means of the straws to support and temporarily retain the straws being formed, disposed parallel to said axis of rotation, and angularly equidistant, from the adjacent straw, by a determinate pitch.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.