A handling module, a turning unit, and a method and an apparatus for emptying a tray filled with rod like articles of the tobacco industry

A handling module (19) designed to handle a tray (3, 13) filled with rod like articles of the tobacco industry, comprising

• a turning unit (10) with a rotation shaft (12) adapted to rotate the tray (3, 13) around an axis (12A),
• a lifting unit (11) adapted to lift and to lower the turning unit (10),
• the turning unit (10) is adapted to rotate the tray (3, 13) during the movement of the lifting unit (11),
• characterised in that
• the turning unit (10) is further adapted to add to the rotation of the tray (3, 13) a translation transversely to the axis (12A) of the rotation shaft (12), and in a direction with a tangential component to the rotation.

A turning unit (10) designed to turn over a tray for rod like articles (R) of the tobacco industry, provided with

• a rotating shaft (12),
• gripping members (15L, 15R, 16L, 16R, 18) for gripping the tray (3, 13), attached to the rotating shaft (12),
• the gripping members (15L, 15R, 16L, 16R, 18) being adapted so that they make it possible to hold the tray (3, 13) during turning over the tray (3, 13),
• characterised in that
• the turning unit (10) is adapted to rotate the tray (3, 13) and to move the tray (3, 13) transversely to the axis (12A) of the rotation shaft (12) during the movement of the lifting unit (11), and turning unit (10) is further adapted to add to the rotation of the tray (3, 13) a translation transversely to the axis (12A) of the rotation shaft (12), and in a direction with a tangential component to the rotation.

An apparatus (1) for emptying of the tray (3, 13) for the rod like articles (R) of the tobacco industry provided with

• a filled tray station (2),
• handling module (19) comprising a turning unit (10) with a rotation shaft (12) adapted to rotate the filled tray (3, 13) around an axis (12A), and a lifting unit (11) designed to lift and to lower the turning unit (10),
• a filled tray emptying station (23),
• an empty tray station (25),
• characterised in that
• the turning unit (10) is adapted to rotate the tray (3, 13) and to move the tray (3, 13) transversely to the axis (12A) of the rotation shaft (12) during the movement of the lifting unit (11), and turning unit (10) is further adapted to add to the rotation of the tray (3, 13) a translation transversely to the axis (12A) of the rotation shaft (12), and in a direction with a tangential component to the rotation.

A method for emptying of a tray (3, 13) for rod like articles (R) of the tobacco industry, the tray being filled, wherein

• the filled tray (3, 13) is placed on a filled tray station (2),
• the filled tray (3, 13) is conveyed along the filled tray station (2),
• the filled tray (3, 13) is lifted by means of a lifting unit (11),
• the filled tray (3, 13) is moved by means of a turning unit (10) with a rotation shaft (12) with axis (12A),
• the filled tray (3, 13) is placed in a filled tray emptying station (23), thereby becoming empty,
• the empty tray (3, 13) is conveyed to an empty tray station (25),
• the empty tray (3, 13) is received from the empty tray station (25),
• characterised in that
• during the lifting of the tray (3, 13), the filled tray (3, 13) is rotated and moved transversely to the axis (12A) of the rotation shaft (12) in a direction with a tangential component to the rotation, by turning unit (10).