JP2001293798A - Method for inserting/welding port into bag opening part and device therefor - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To simplify an insertion mechanism for a port into a bag opening part and constitute the mechanism in a significantly compact form. SOLUTION: The opening part 4 of the bag 2 formed of a cylindrical plastic film is sucked from the surface and the back with the help of sucking members 26, 26 and is spread wide and the sucking members 26, 26 are moved toward the tip of the port 3 positioned opposite to the opening part 4 in such a state that the bag 2 is sucked. Thus the peripheral barrel part of the port 3 is inserted into the opening part 4, and the opening part 4 of the bag 2 is thermally sealed from the outer face side using heat-sealing devices 40, 46 under the described state. Consequently, the port 3 is airtightly fixed to the opening part 4.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a bag formed from a tubular plastic film such as an inflation tube and having a port serving as a mouth material inserted into an opening of the bag to be sealed in an airtight state. The present invention relates to a port insertion welding method and an apparatus therefor.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Plastic containers for enclosing various liquid materials, for example, containers for infusions, are required to be freely deformable. According to the method described above, there is a problem in that it is expensive in terms of cost because it is molded in units of one unit using a mold, and it is bulky during transportation because it is formed in a swollen state.

Therefore, recently, a method of forming a bag-shaped container from a tubular plastic film (inflation tube) formed continuously in a tubular shape has been adopted.

In order to manufacture a bag 1 for infusion as shown in FIG. 1 from such a bag material, an inflation tube (hereinafter, simply referred to as a tube) is generally provided with a predetermined width in the longitudinal direction. Heat-sealed in the direction, and cut this to form a flat bag 2 having one end opened and the other end sealed, and a plastic cylindrical body made of hard polyethylene or the like as shown in FIG. And is welded to the mouth of the bag 2 so as to serve as a liquid material outlet when used. Conventionally, as means for inserting the port 3 into the opening of the bag 2 is disclosed in JP-A-5-15-1.
As shown in Japanese Patent No. 31573, a bag mounting table is used to position and store bags one by one, and while the bag mounting table is moved over each process, a port is inserted from the opening of the bag opening and the port is inserted. The welding with the bag opening was performed.

[0005]

However, in the above-mentioned prior art, since the bag mounting table for storing and positioning and fixing bags one by one is used, the volume of the entire apparatus becomes extremely large,
In addition, there is a problem that a transport mechanism (conveyor) for sequentially and intermittently moving the bag mounting table also becomes large.

Further, since the port must be moved and inserted toward the opening of the bag held in a fixed position, a port moving device is required, and there is a problem that the device is further enlarged and complicated.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to simplify the bag holding means and to omit the port insertion device, thereby making it possible to remarkably reduce the overall configuration of the device and to facilitate maintenance management. It is.

[0008]

According to the present invention, there is provided a bag formed of a cylindrical plastic film, which is opened by adsorbing the opening from the front and back sides of the bag using a suction member. In this state, the peripheral body of the port is inserted into the opening by moving the suction member toward the tip of the port located opposite the opening, and in this state, the outer side of the bag opening is opened by the heat sealing device. A method of inserting and welding a port to a bag mouth portion by heat-sealing and sealing the port to the bag mouth portion, preferably by welding the port to the bag opening portion. The primary seal for heat-sealing the bag opening on both sides except for the peripheral body of the port and the secondary seal for heat-sealing the peripheral body of the port and the bag opening are formed in the welding portion of the port. It is possible to ensure tightness.

According to the present invention, there is provided an apparatus for performing the above-described method, comprising: an opening habit providing means for expanding an opening of a bag formed of a cylindrical plastic film to provide an opening habit; Bag moving means for adsorbing the front and back of the bag opening provided, moving the bag toward the front end of the port supported by the port support portion against the bag opening, and fitting the port into the bag opening, A first heat sealing device having a pair of heating elements having a U-shaped cross section provided with a concave portion which is opposed to the bag opening portion in which the port is inserted and which has a recess in which a half of the peripheral body of the port can be loosely fitted; A pair of heating elements which are provided on the downstream side of the first heat sealing device and have a semicircular cross section which is provided opposite to the port insertion position and into which the half of the peripheral body of the port can be fitted as closely as possible. A second heat sealing device having:
Driving means for moving at least one of the heating members of each of the heat sealing devices in a direction in which the heating member is separated from and contacted with the other heating member,
A port supporter moving device for intermittently moving the port supporter sequentially to the expanding behavior imparting means, the first heat sealing device, and the second heat seal device; And a vacuum conveyor to be placed.

[0010]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described below with reference to embodiments shown in the drawings.

As shown in FIG. 3, as a conceptual diagram of the case of forming two bags in parallel from a tube T (in this case, an inflation tube) formed continuously in the example shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 3 (A), both ends 1a, 1a and the central portion 1b in the transfer direction are heat-sealed with respect to the transfer direction (a) of the tube T, and heat is transferred in the width direction at a predetermined interval in the transfer direction. By sealing and cutting at the line AA line at the width direction seal portion 1c, the bag opening portion 4 for port insertion is opened as shown in FIG. 3B, and at the same time, a bottom portion is formed at the opposite end. 2 shows a case in which two bags are arranged side by side at the center 1b, and the corners are cut, the hanging holes 5 are pierced, etc., so that the bags 2 are formed.

Thereafter, insertion welding of the port 3 according to the present invention is carried out, so that the bag-like container 1 shown in FIG.
Is formed. In FIG. 3B, reference numeral 6 denotes chips.

FIGS. 4 and 5 show a plan view and a side view of an embodiment of the port insertion welding apparatus according to the present invention. A vacuum conveyor 8 and a conveyor 10 of a port supporting unit moving device 9 running in parallel with the traveling direction of the bag 2 and an endless intermittently rotatable conveyer 10 on a gantry 11 are provided at a terminal position of the device 7. Have been.

The vacuum conveyor 8 has a plurality of suction holes 12 (refer to FIG. 11) for stably holding the bag 2 in a flat shape at a position where the bag 2 is to be placed. A vacuum pump is connected to a casing 13 covering the lower portion of the conveyor 8 to generate a negative pressure for each suction holding area of each bag 2 on the lower surface side of the vacuum conveyor 8, whereby the bags 2 are placed on the upper surface of the vacuum conveyor 8 as shown in FIG. As described above.

A conveyor 10 that rotates endlessly and intermittently between pulleys 14 and 15 in the horizontal plane of the port supporter moving device 9
, Port supports 16, 16... Are attached to the outside at a pitch equal to the mounting interval of the bags 2 that are placed on the vacuum conveyor 8 and held by suction. As shown in FIG. 8, a port support pin 18 for externally fitting and holding the above-mentioned port 3 is provided on a plate 17 fixed to the conveyor 10 in a horizontal direction. Pin 1
The port 3 is fitted to the vacuum conveyor 8 so as to face the vacuum conveyor 8. The conveyor 10 is rotated synchronously with the vacuum conveyor 8, and the bag 2 and the port support 16 move in a one-to-one relationship.

At the end of the bag making device 7, the two bags 2, 2 formed in two rows as described above are separated at the center and cut back and forth to form two bags 2, 2 each. Is sucked by the suction transport mechanism 20 and transferred to the start end position of the vacuum conveyor 8, and at the time of the transfer, the interval between the bags 2, 2 is also widened to an interval suitable for the subsequent processing. It has become.

As shown in FIG. 6 and FIG. 7, the suction conveyance mechanism 20 is mounted on a guide rail 21 installed on a gantry 11 in a horizontal posture and horizontally in a direction perpendicular to the guide rail 21.
An arm 22 extending above the two bags 2 on the end of the bag 2 is provided movably along the guide rail 21, and the bag 2 is sucked onto the arm 22 at two locations in front and behind of the bag 2, for a total of four locations. Vacuum pads 23, 23 ...
Are provided so as to be movable up and down and the distance between them is adjustable. The vacuum heads 24 and 24 are reciprocally movable over a distance L in FIGS. A small air cylinder 24A, 24 is used as a driving means for vertically moving these vacuum heads 24, 24, and moving the distance between them.
A and 24B are used.

The bags 2 transferred onto the vacuum conveyor 8 are worked in the order of the steps shown in FIG. 8, but in FIG. 8, the bags are shown as one bag for convenience.

The bag 2 transferred onto the upper surface of the vacuum conveyor 8 and held at a predetermined position by suction is placed in the conveyor 8
The intermittent movement stops at the positions (a) to (g) in FIG. 8 and the following steps are performed.

(A) The centers of the bag opening 4 and the port 3 supported by the pin 18 of the port support 16 are aligned.

(B) Preliminary opening step in which the bag opening portion 4 is opened by the bag opening portion expanding behavior imparting means 25.

(C) A step of sucking and opening the bag opening 4 by the upper and lower suction pads 26, 26, moving the bag 2 to the port 3 side, and temporarily inserting and fixing the port 3 simultaneously.

(D) Port 3 inserted into bag opening 4
A primary sealing step of heat sealing the bag openings 4 on both sides of the first seal.

(E) A secondary sealing step of heat sealing the peripheral body of the port 3 to the bag opening 4.

(F) Step of cooling the port seal portion.

(G) A step of sucking and retracting the bag 2 with the suction pad, and removing the port 3 from the pin 18 of the port support 16.

(H) A step of discharging the completed bag 2 to the next step.

At the position above the vacuum conveyor 8 where the steps (b), (c), and (g) are performed, the suction for sucking and moving the upper surface at a position close to the bag opening 4 is performed. Pads 26, 27, and 28 are provided to be able to move up and down and move forward and backward. Each of the above suction pads,
Guide rails 29 and 30 arranged on the gantry 11 so as to cross the vacuum conveyor 8 in the same manner as the suction conveyance mechanism 20 provided at the transfer section from the end of the bag making device 7 onto the vacuum conveyor 8. And is movable along the rail by driving means such as an air cylinder, and is vertically movable by an air cylinder or the like.

In the step (b), a preliminary opening is made to ensure that the bag opening 4 is expanded by the suction pads 26, 26 in the next step (c). The device shown in the previous application can be used for the expanding behavior imparting means 25 and the heat sealing means for the port 3.

Therefore, only the outline thereof will be described. However, the expanding behavior imparting means 25 is the port 3 supported by the port support 16 at the position of the step (b).
The upper and lower surfaces of the bag opening 4 are pinched and opened by bifurcated claws disposed on the upper and lower portions on both sides of the bag.

That is, as shown in FIGS. 9A and 9B, the fork claws 31A and 31B are vertically opposed to each other, and are provided so as to be able to move close to each other. These forked claws 31A, 31
Since the configuration of B is the same in the upper and lower parts, only the upper side will be described. A pair of rod members 35A, 35A having claw portions 32A, 32A at the tips and having an intermediate portion pivotally supported by a support member 33A by a shaft 34A so as to be openable and closable. Rod member 35 for opening and closing
A wedge member 37A that splits between the rear ends of the rollers 36A, 36A to open and close the claw portions 32A, 32A of the rod members 35A, 35A, and the wedge member 37A.
And a driving means 38A such as an air cylinder for moving back and forth.

As shown in FIG. 10, the claw portions 32A, 32B of the forked claws 31A, 31B forming the upper and lower pairs are separated from each other as shown in FIG.
A, 32A and 32B, 32B are arranged so as to be crossed with each other, and a claw portion 32A of one forked claw 31A,
32A enters between the claw portions 32B, 32B of the other forked claw 31B. And the wedge members 37A, 37B are rollers 36A, 36A and 36B,
When split between 36B, the claws 32A, 32A and 32B, 32B are closed so that the film in the bag opening 4 can be grasped by each other.

The suction pads 26, 26 for expanding the bag opening 4 in the step (c) are placed above the bag opening 4 near the bag opening 4 at a position advanced as shown in FIG. The suction pads 2 are provided so as to be vertically movable by a driving mechanism such as an air cylinder (not shown) so as to face the lower surface.
6 and 26 attract and pull apart the vicinity of the bag opening 4 so that the bifurcated claws 31A and 31B of the expanding behavior imparting means 25 are provided.
Thus, the bag opening 4 which has been folded down is quickly and largely expanded, and is fitted to the port 3 in this expanded state.

The port support 1 located in the above step (c)
The port 3 supported by the port 6 is preheated by preheating means (not shown). When the bag opening 4 is fitted to the port 3, the port 3 and the bag opening 4 It is temporarily fixed in a spot by external force and positioned.

The first heat sealing device used in the step (d) (primary sealing) for heat sealing the bag openings 4 on both sides of the port 3 is exemplified in FIGS. 12 (A) and 12 (B). The upper sealing device 40 and the lower sealing device 46
The upper seal device 40 has a machine frame 43 supported vertically movably along a vertical guide rail 42 on a side surface of a frame 41 that is fixed and erected. Is an air cylinder 44 fixed to the frame 41
A heating element 45 for heat sealing is provided below the piston rod, and the heating element 45 is located at a position corresponding to the port insertion position in the step (d).

Since the lower seal device 46 is configured similarly to the upper seal device 40, the upper seal device 4
A dash is added to the sign of 0 to make it correspond.

As shown in FIG. 13A, the heating elements 45 and 45 'used in the step (d) have a U-shaped recess 45a into which the peripheral body of the port 3 can be loosely fitted. heating portion 45b which portion is heat-sealed a predetermined area S _1, S ₁ on both sides of the port insertion position of the bag 2 as shown in FIG. 13 (B), which is a 45b, the Shudo portion of the port 3 heat Is not reached.

As shown in FIG. 14A, the ports 3 are inserted into the heating elements 47 and 47 'of the second heat sealing device (the same configuration as the first heat sealing device) used in the step (e). Portions of the port 3 inserted into the bag opening 4 as shown in FIG. the predetermined region S ₂ corresponding to the peripheral body portion which is a heating unit for heat sealing.

In FIGS. 4 and 5, the port supply unit 19
The port 3 is automatically supplied to the port support 16 and the port 3 is fitted to the pin 18 of the port support 16.
The port 3 supplied to the hopper 48 is supplied onto the turntable 49, and the port 3 is sent out to the passages 50, 50 by rotating the turntable 49 in the direction of the arrow to align the posture of the port 3. The large-diameter side of the port 3 is fitted to 18. However, this may be done manually.

Next, the operation of the above embodiment will be described.

In FIG. 4, the port insertion welding process is performed simultaneously for every two bags. However, for convenience, the operation of the port insertion welding process for one bag will be described.
Is supplied and placed on the upper surface of the vacuum conveyor 8 (FIG. 8).
(A)) Then, the intermittent rotation of the vacuum conveyor 8 shifts to the position (b).

In this position, the bag opening 4 of the bag 2 is placed in a state where the bag opening 4 is slightly protruded from the edge of the vacuum conveyor 8 by the suction head 26 (the state shown by a chain line in FIG. 8B).

Here, the upper and lower forked claws 31A and 31B of the expanding behavior imparting means 25 move closer to each other, and the wedge members 37A and 37A are moved.
As the B enters, the claws 32A, 32A, 32B, and 32B are closed and the upper and lower films of the bag opening 4 are pinched and crimped, so that the blocking phenomenon of the bag opening 4 is eliminated and the opening is easily performed. To be done. The port 3 is preheated at this position.

Next, the negative pressure of the vacuum conveyor 8 acts, the bag 2 is sucked and held, and the process moves to the position shown in FIG.
At this position, the negative pressure of the vacuum conveyor 8 is released, and the suction pads 26, 26 are sucked on the upper and lower surfaces of the bag opening 2 and recede, so that the bag opening 4 is expanded. The port 3 that has been preheated while the bag opening 4 expanded by the forward movement is supported by the port support 16.
Fits. When the suction by the suction pads 26 is released, the bag opening 4 and the port 3 are temporarily fixed.

Thereafter, the vacuum conveyor 8 moves to the position (d) in FIG. 8 by intermittent rotation, and the bag opening on both sides of the port 3 is moved by the heating elements 45 and 45 'shown in FIG. Heat sealing (primary sealing) of the part 4 (the range of S ₁ and S _{1 in} FIG. 13B) is performed.

After the end of the primary seal, the vacuum conveyor 8 moves to the position shown in FIG. 8E by intermittent rotation, and here, the heating members 47 and 47 'shown in FIG. outer peripheral portions heat sealed (secondary seal) (FIG. 14 (the range of S ₂ in B)) is performed, the port 3 is welded airtight bag opening 4.

When the welding of the port 3 is completed as described above,
The intermittent rotation of the vacuum conveyor 8 shifts to the position (f) in FIG. 8, where the sealing of the port 3 is cooled.

Next, the vacuum conveyor 8 moves to the position shown in FIG. 8 (g) by intermittent rotation, where the vacuum pressure of the vacuum conveyor 8 is released, the bag 2 is sucked and held by the suction head 28, and the port 3 is moved backward. Is pulled out of the pin 18 of the port support 16.

Thereafter, the suction head 28 opens the bag 2 to form a completed bag-like container 1, which is manually removed from the end of the vacuum conveyor 8 shown in FIG. 8 (h) or recovered by transfer to another conveyor. You.

In the case where two bags are manufactured as shown in FIG. 3, each of the heating members 45, 45 ′, 47, 47 ′ of the expanding behavior imparting means 25 and the heat sealing devices 40, 46,
Each suction pad is provided for two bags.

[0051]

As described above, according to the present invention, since the bag is moved to the port side so that the bag opening is fitted to the port, the structure for inserting the port is simplified. The cost can be greatly reduced. Further, means for pushing the port into the bag opening is not required at all, and the bag placing structure can be configured very simply.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing an example of a bag-shaped container manufactured according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged perspective view of a port in FIG.

FIGS. 3A and 3B are explanatory views showing an example of a manufacturing process of the bag of the bag-like container of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a plan view showing one embodiment of a port insertion welding device according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a side view of the same.

6A is a partially enlarged view of FIG. 5, and FIG. 6B is a plan view.

FIG. 7 is an enlarged view taken along the line BB of FIG. 6 (B).

FIG. 8 is a manufacturing process diagram of the present invention.

9A and 9B show an example of an expanding habit imparting means, wherein FIG. 9A is a front view of an upper forked nail, and FIG. 9B is a front view of a lower forked nail.

FIG. 10 is an explanatory view showing the operation of the forked nail shown in FIG. 9;

FIG. 11 is a perspective view of a step portion of FIG.

FIGS. 12A and 12B are perspective views showing an example of a heat sealing device.

FIG. 13A is a cross-sectional view of a state of sealing by a heating element for primary sealing, and FIG. 13B is an explanatory diagram showing a primary sealing region of a bag opening.

FIG. 14A is a cross-sectional view showing a state of sealing by a heating element for secondary sealing, and FIG. 14B is an explanatory view showing a secondary sealing region of a bag opening.

[Description of Signs] 1 bag-shaped container 2 bags 3 ports 4 bag opening 5 hanging hole 7 bag making device 8 vacuum conveyor 9 port support moving device 16 port support 18 port support pin 19 port supply 20 suction suction mechanism 25 Expanding habit imparting means 40 Upper heat sealing device 45, 45 'heating body 46 Lower heating sealing device 47, 47' heating body

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page F term (reference) 3E064 AA01 AB11 BA22 FA04 GA06 HL05 HN65 3E075 AA04 BA42 BB02 CA01 DD13 DD42 DD43 DE03 DE04 GA05

Claims (3)

[Claims] An opening of a bag formed of a cylindrical plastic film is sucked from both sides by suction members and expanded, and a tip of a port positioned opposite to the opening while the bag is sucked. The peripheral body of the port is inserted into the opening by moving the suction member toward the opening, and in this state, the port is hermetically welded to the opening of the bag by heat sealing from the outer surface side of the bag opening with a heat sealing device. A method for welding a port into a bag mouth by welding. 2. A primary seal for heat sealing the bag openings on both sides of the port except for the peripheral body of the port fitted into the bag opening, and the peripheral body of the port and the bag opening. 2. The method for port insertion welding to a bag mouth according to claim 1, further comprising a secondary sealing step of heat sealing. 3. An opening habit providing means for expanding an opening of a bag formed of a cylindrical plastic film to provide an opening habit, and adsorbing the front and back of the bag opening provided with the opening habit. A bag moving means for moving the bag toward the distal end of the port supported by the port support portion in such a way as to pass through the bag opening and fitting the port into the bag opening, and sandwiching the bag opening in which the port is fitted; A first heat sealing device having a pair of heating members having a U-shaped cross section provided with a concave portion in which a half of the peripheral body portion of the port can be loosely fitted, and a downstream side of the first heat sealing device. A second heat sealing device having a pair of heating elements provided with a concave portion having a semicircular cross-section which can be fitted as tightly as possible with a half of a peripheral body portion of the port being opposed to the port insertion position therebetween; At least one heating element of each heating sealing device is connected to the other heating element And driving means for moving in a direction in contact away, the expansion behavior imparting means the port support part, the first
A bag comprising: a heat-sealing device; a port-supporting-portion moving device for intermittently moving to a second heat-sealing device; and a vacuum conveyor that moves in synchronization with the moving device and suction-loads the bag. Port insertion welding device to the mouth.