Apparatus for folding hygienic products
AssigneeWinkler & Duennebier Maschinenfabrik und Eisengiesserei KG
InventorKlaus Munsch
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Abstract
An apparatus for folding hygienic products, especially soft, oblong artic having a small thickness, has a folding tool that is driven by a drive mechanism providing two rotary motions one superimposed on the other and interlinked in such a way that the folding tool applies pressure along an intended fold-line, whereby the article being folded is pushed while being folded in a transport direction. The interlinking of the two superimposed motions assures a quiet, smooth, yet high speed run of the folding tool and its drive mechanism. By pushing the article along its fold-line into a gap or take-up channel, a positive folding of the article is assured, whereby already folded portions are prevented from unfolding again.
Claims16
An apparatus for folding flat, thin articles moving in a feed direction, comprising a stationary frame (17), means forming a folding gap (4), a folding tool (5, 5a, 5b) for performing a composite folding motion to fold said articles into said folding gap, drive means (6) for producing a composite motion for said folding tool, said drive means (6) comprising a stationary sun gear (19) mounted to said stationary frame (17), a planetary gear (22) connected to said folding tool and mounted for rotation in said stationary frame, an intermediate gear (23) interposed between said stationary sun gear (19) and said planetary gear (22), a driven shaft (20a) having a first rotation axis (24) mounted for rotation in said stationary frame (17) centrally through said stationary sun gear (19), a carrier (21) for supporting said planetary gear (22) on a second rotation axis (29) and said intermediate gear on its rotation axis, said carrier being mounted for rotation to said driven shaft (20a) about said first rotational axis, wherein said intermediate gear (23) meshes with said stationary sun gear (19) and with said planetary gear (22), mounting means (25, 26) for rotatably mounting said folding tool to said carrier (21) for controlling said composite motion of said folding tool by said planetary gear (22) for folding an article into said gap (4).
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.