Gdm S.p.a.

Federico Tordini

Matteo Piantoni

Marco Rosani

Valerio Soli

Massimo Pallavera

Mauro Pietralunga

Giacomo Noferini

Andrea Duchini

Francesco Passarotto

A device for applying pieces to absorbent articles includes a supporting shaft rotating an axis; anvils rotating about the axis; a cutting unit operating with an anvil contact surface defining a cutting station for cutting a web into pieces; pads, each having a retaining surface for a piece, are moved about the axis for conveying a piece from the cutting station to a releasing station for release onto a substrate. Each pad rotates for varying the orientation from the cutting station, where the larger side of the pad is parallel to a feed of the web, to the releasing station, where the larger side of the pad is transversal to the feed of the receiving substrate, and vice versa. Each pad translates parallel to the pad axis, away from and towards the shaft axis. Each pad has an oscillating movement about its own axis.

Device for processing and applying pieces for making absorbent articles

A device for applying segments of absorbent articles includes a cutting station for cutting a continuous web into segments and an applicator station for applying each segment on a respective absorbent article. A plurality of carrier units, each includes a pad for retaining and transferring a segment from the cutting station to the applicator station. The pad fully rotates about a main axis to transfer the segment from the cutting station to the applicator station and return to the cutting station and, from the cutting station to the applicator station, rotates at least 90&#xb0; about its axis of rotation to orient the segment transverse to the feed direction of the absorbent article. A first movement member moves one or more first carrier units about the main axis and a second movement member moves one or more second carrier units separately from the first carrier units about the main axis.

Device for applying segments of absorbent articles

A feeding unit to feed a component in an automatic manufacturing machine; has: at least one holding head designed to receive and hold the component; a closed curved guide arranged in a fixed position along an application path; an equipment supporting the holding head and provided with at least one slide coupled to the guide by a plurality of wheels; a linear electric motor, and a movable slider electro-magnetically coupled to the stator and is rigidly connected to the slide. The guide has, on the surface in contact with the wheels, a first transverse profile having a concavity or a convexity; the wheels have, on the surface in contact with the guide, a second transverse profile, which has a convexity or a concavity, and generates, with the first profile, a shape coupling between the guide and the wheels, which forbids a transverse movement of the slide relative to the guide.

Unit to feed components in an automatic manufacturing machine

A feeding unit to feed components in an automatic manufacturing machine; the feeding unit has: a plurality of sucking holding heads, which are each designed to receive and hold a corresponding component; a closed curved guide, which is arranged in a fixed position along the application path; a plurality of equipment, each supporting a corresponding holding head and provided with at least one slide, which is coupled to the guide so as to freely slide along the guide by a plurality of wheels; a suction chamber, which is mounted so as to rotate around a rotation axis; and a flexible connection system, which pneumatically connects the suction chamber to each holding head.

Unit to feed suction-held components in an automatic manufacturing machine

A feeding unit to feed a component in an automatic manufacturing machine, which has at least one holding head designed to receive and hold the component; a conveyor to cyclically move the holding head along an application path; and a rotation station arranged along the feeding path and in which the holding head rotates relative to the equipment and around a rotation axis to vary the orientation of the component. The conveyor has a closed curve guide arranged in a fixed position along the application path; and an equipment supporting the holding head and provided with at least one slide coupled to the guide so as to freely slide along the guide. An actuation system controls rotation of the holding head around the first rotation axis and has a cam and a cam follower roller, which can be coupled to the cam and mechanically connected to the holding head.

A unit for applying first and second tabs, obtained from first and second webs, to a chassis web includes an applicator drum rotatable about an axis and including a main body. A plurality of carriers is movable between a lowered position close to the axis and a raised position away from the axis, each including a suction portion. A first carrier first suction and non-suction portions aligned along the axis. A second carrier includes second suction and non-suction portions aligned along the axis. The first suction portions alternate with the second non-suction portions and the first non-suction portions alternate with the second suction portions. A first system holds the first web on the applicator drum upstream of a cutting device. A second system holds the second web on the drum upstream of the cutting device.

Unit for applying tabs to a chassis web

The unit for feeding lateral flaps of a hygiene absorbent article having: an input conveyor of a first continuous strip; a cutting assembly provided with a receiving drum, of the first suction-pick up heads that hold the lateral flaps and which are mounted to as to be radially movable on the receiving drum, and at least one blade which cyclically cuts the first strip crosswise; a spacer assembly having a pair of spacer drums provided with second suction-pick up heads that receive the lateral flaps of the receiving drum; and an actuator system, which cyclically moves each first suction-pick up head radially between a radial pick-up position and a radial release position, in the area of an output station.

Unit for feeding lateral flaps of a hygiene absorbent article and method for the format change of the feeding unit

A method for making absorbent sanitary articles whereby each absorbent article is provided with at least one pair of side tabs. The method includes the steps of feeding a single continuous web with a longitudinal axis towards at least one cutting station where the continuous web is divided, by a succession of cuts transverse to the longitudinal axis, into a first and a second series of side tabs, each of which has an asymmetrical shape and separately applying each rotated side tab of the first series and each side tab of the second series along a continuous strip of a material for making the absorbent articles, in such a way that each rotated tab of the first series is juxtaposed with a respective tab of the second series to define a respective pair of side tabs.

Method and a machine for making absorbent sanitary articles

An apparatus transferring and rotating an object from a retaining station to a releasing station along an annular transfer path, the object has a first orientation in the retaining station which is different from a second orientation in the releasing station; the apparatus includes: a stator having a revolution body provided with a lateral surface on which a first cam profile is formed; a rotor that is rotatable about a first rotation axis with respect to the stator; at least one retaining head of the object connected to the rotor, which has a retaining element coupled to the first cam profile which can be rotated about a second axis of rotation with respect to the rotor; and wherein the stator has a second cam profile and the transferring and rotating apparatus has at least a first annular guide disposed along the transfer path and the head has at least one first slide supporting the retaining element and is slidably coupled to the first annular guide, the first slide being connected to the rotor by way of a respective angular position variation mechanism coupled to the second cam profile to induce the sliding of the first slide into the first annular guide.

Apparatus for transferring and rotating an object

A feeding unit for feeding a component of a hygiene absorbent article; the feeding unit has: at least one sucking-holding head, which is designed to receive and hold the component; a conveyor to cyclically move the holding head along an annular application path; an input station in which the holding head receives a corresponding component which is connected&#x2014;without gaps&#x2014;to a continuous web; a cutting station provided with a cutting device, which cuts the continuous web crosswise; and an output station in which the holding head releases the component; the conveyor has: an annular guide; a slide which supports the holding head and is coupled to the guide so as to freely slide along the guide itself; and a linear electric motor, which has a stator, which is arranged in a fixed position along the guide and a mobile slider which is electro-magnetically coupled to the stator so as to receive, from the stator, a driving force and is rigidly connected to the slide.

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Pedrengo, Italy

Federico Tordini