JPH0520292B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to an apparatus for wrapping a film around a container.

[Conventional technology]

By wrapping a soft film such as a heat-shrinkable synthetic resin film with a trademark or pattern printed on it around a bottle, can, or other container, it can be used as a label and a protective film for the container. In the past, it has been widely practiced to cover the periphery of the stopper attached to the mouth of the bottle with a part of the film so that it also serves as a cap seal.

There are two main methods for wrapping film around containers. One method is to form a film into a tube in advance, align it with the axis of the container, and fit it onto the container from above or below.The other method is to wrap the film around the container. In this method, the left and right edges of the film are overlapped, and then the overlapped surfaces are joined with an adhesive or by heat fusion of the film itself to form a tube.

Comparing these two methods, in the former method, in which the film is formed into a tube in advance and fitted into the container, (i) the opening of the tube tends to stick tightly due to electrostatic adsorption, so it opens and expands into a cylindrical shape; (ii)
Since the tube is soft and has a weak stiffness, it may break or break due to friction with the container surface while being inserted into the container.
(iii) When automating the tube fitting process continuously, the device configuration becomes complicated because the container transfer direction and the tube transfer direction intersect at right angles, and the high speed fitting process It is difficult to
(iv) There are drawbacks such as the need for a tube forming process in addition to the tube fitting process.

On the other hand, the latter method of wrapping the film around the container does not require the step of forming the tube in advance as in the above method, and it also prevents the film from being damaged due to bending or turning up of the film. It is excellent in that there are no problems such as. When wrapping a film around a container using this method, a film holding mechanism is required to hold the film in place on the surface of the container until it is wound around the container and finished as a tube. be. In addition, regardless of whether the container has a uniform cross-sectional shape such as a cylindrical body, if the container has a concave side surface (for example, a gourd-shaped bottle), the film wound around the container may be Since it is not possible to achieve sufficient bonding by simply pressing the overlapping portion of the left and right edges toward the container surface from the outside, an appropriate plate member is used as a backing plate to be inserted between the overlapping portion of the film and the container. and press the overlapping part against the surface of the backing plate to join it,
After completing the bonding, it is necessary to remove the caul plate from between the film (tube) and the container. Furthermore, the action of applying the backing plate to the side of the container, the action of the holding mechanism that holds both left and right edges of the film wound around the container, and the action of pressing and joining the overlapping parts of the films are linked. It is necessary. This kind of film winding device is
It is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 55-12035. The outline is shown in Figure 5. 300 is a rotary table for transporting the container R along the processing path; 301 is a container holder fixed to the outside of the rotary table 300 and provided with a recessed groove 302 into which a part of the side surface of the container R is fitted; 303 is a recessed a film winding arm for winding a film on the surface of the container R in the groove 302;
04 is a driven arm that is driven by the film winding arm 303 to assist in winding the film around the container, and 305 is a backing plate that is brought into contact with the side surface of the container R. The film winding arm 303 and the driven arm 304 are
As the rotary table 300 rotates around the shaft 400 (arrow mark), the cam mechanism repeats opening and closing operations in the left and right directions at a predetermined period.
As the rotary table 300 rotates, a cam mechanism repeats a vertical movement at a predetermined period corresponding to the opening/closing movement of the film winding arm 303 and the like.

According to the above device, when the film F is supplied into the empty groove 302 under the rotation (arrow) of the rotary table 300, and then the container R is fed into the groove, the backing plate 305 is lowered from above. The film winding arm 30 contacts the side surface of the container R.
3 and the driven arm 304 are gradually closed, the film F embraces the backing plate 305, and its left and right edges overlap on the front surface of the backing plate 305, so that the film F is held in the container R. Next, adhesive is applied between the overlapping surfaces of the left and right edges of the film, and the overlapping portion is further pressed against the backing plate 305 to complete the bonding, and thus the film F is wound. The recessed container R has a concave groove 302.
It is taken out and sent to the next process.

[Problem to be solved]

However, according to the above-mentioned device in which the film is wound around the container by opening and closing operations of the film winding arm 303 and the driven arm 304, both left and right edges of the film F wound around the container R are vertically disposed. There are drawbacks such as misaligned overlapping and looseness in the winding of the film F, and the opening/closing operation of the film winding arm 303 and the like and the backing plate 305.
Due to the necessity of interlocking the lifting and lowering operations, it is structurally difficult to repeat these two operations accurately and at high speed without deviating from the complexity of the structure.

The present invention has been made in view of the above, and provides an improved film winding device that has a simple structure and can wind a film around a container appropriately and at high speed.

[Technical means and effects]

The film mounting device according to the present invention includes: a container transport rotary table that transports containers along a processing path while rotating around an axis; a container holding device that holds the container from the container holding device; a container feeding device that is located almost at the starting end of the container processing path and feeds the container to the container holding device; and a position facing a part of the side surface of the container fed into the container holding device. and a position away from the container above or below, reciprocating parallel to the axis of the container, rotating around the axis of the container relative to the side surface of the container, and rotating around the axis of the container relative to the side surface of the container. The film suction system has two rows of vacuum suction holes on the left and right sides parallel to the axial direction of the container to suction and hold the left and right edges of the film wound around the container. a film feeding device that feeds the film wound around the container in the container holding device so that both left and right edges thereof overlap on the outer surface of a film suction plate that rotates around the container; a film bonding device having a pressing surface body for bonding the overlapping portions by pressing both overlapping right and left end edges of the film wound on the film from the outside toward the surface of the film suction plate; The present invention is characterized by comprising a container take-out device located near the end point of the transport table for taking out the container wrapped with the film from the container holding device of the transport table.

The film suction plate in the device of the present invention functions as a film winding means for winding the film around the container while rotating around the axis of the container, and also functions as a film winding means for winding the film around the container. It serves as a means for holding the film until the edges are joined to form a tube, and also serves as a backing plate to complete the joining when the joining is performed.

According to the apparatus of the present invention, the film suction plate facing the side surface of the container in the container holding device of the container conveyance rotary table has one suction hole row (explanation) of the two rows of left and right vacuum suction holes opening on the outer surface thereof. For convenience, the front edge (left edge) of a film of a predetermined length fed from the film feeder is shown in the left column.
Adsorb the side of the Next, the film adsorption plate is
The film is wound around the side of the container by rotating around the container while holding the front edge of the film. When the film suction plate goes around the container and returns to its original position, the side of the rear edge (right edge) of the film is attached to the other row of vacuum suction holes (right row) on the suction plate. While being attracted, the rear edge is superimposed on the front edge. The film wound around the container does not come off from the side surface of the container because its left and right edges are suctioned by two rows of vacuum suction holes on the left and right sides of the film suction plate. Next, both left and right edges of the film stacked on the film suction plate surface are pressed against the film suction plate surface using a pressing device, and the overlapping portions are joined, thereby finishing the film into a tube shape. Next, the film suction plate stops its vacuum suction and is pulled out from between the side of the container and the film, and the container with the tube-shaped film wound thereon is taken out from the container holding device and sent to the next process. be provided.

〔Example〕

To explain the embodiment of the device of the present invention, the first
The figure is a plan view, and FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view.

Reference numeral 10 denotes a container conveyance rotary table (hereinafter referred to as "conveyance table"). The transport table 10 includes a vertical main shaft 11 located at the center, an upper disc body 12, a middle disc body 13, and A lower disc body 14 is provided, and the main shaft 11 is rotatably held at its lower end within a vertical shaft support cylinder 15 via a suitable bearing 16.

Reference numeral 30 denotes a container holding device provided at the periphery of the conveyance table 10. A plurality of container holding devices 30 (six in the illustrated example) are provided at equal intervals in the circumferential direction around the main axis 11 of the conveyance table 10. Each container holding device 30 includes a container fitting block 31 fixed between the upper disk body 12 and the middle disk body 13 of the conveyance table 10, and
The container mounting table 32 is fitted into a notch hole 17 provided in the container mounting table 32.

The container mounting table 32 is rotatably fitted into the notch hole 17 of the intermediate disk body via a suitable bearing 34. Note that the container mounting table 32 includes
An arcuate groove 3 formed by cutting out a part of the circumferential edge
5 is provided. The arcuate groove 35 forms an insertion path for a film suction plate (hereinafter referred to as "suction plate") 50 as described later.

On the other hand, the container fitting block 31 has a concave groove 36 formed in the vertical direction on its front surface, which is an arcuate surface into which a part of the side surface of the container R is inserted, and in the center thereof, a groove 36 is formed in the front surface of the recessed groove 36. A gap 37 of a predetermined width is provided in the vertical direction, penetrating from the top to the back surface. As will be described later, the gap 37 is located at a position where the pressing face of the film bonding pressing device contacts the back of the container fitting block 31 and the suction plate 50 which is in contact with the side surface of the container in the groove 36. It forms a passage when moving the conveyance table forward and backward in the radial direction between the conveyor table and the conveyor table.

As shown in FIG. 3, the suction plate 50 has two
A front plate member 53 in which a row of vacuum suction holes 51 and 52 are formed and a back plate member 55 having a concave portion 54 facing the vacuum suction holes 51 and 52 on its inner surface are overlapped to form a screw hole 56. It is fixed with screws through. The suction plate 50 has an outer shape corresponding to the side surface shape of the container R (in the illustrated example, an arc shape curved along the cylindrical surface of the container). The two rows of vacuum suction holes 51 and 52 opened on the front surface of the suction plate 50 may be elongated grooves or slits. In addition, each row of the left and right vacuum suction holes 51 and 52 is
They may be formed in two or more rows.

70 is a suction plate holding shaft to which the suction plate 50 is attached. The suction plate holding shaft 70 is a hollow body, and its hollow hole 71 forms a part of the vacuum suction system path. The suction plate 50 has a connecting tool 72 having a communication hole 73 so that the hole 57 opening in the concave portion 54 communicates with the hollow hole 71 of the suction support shaft 70.
The suction plate support shaft 70 is attached to the top of the suction plate support shaft 70 through the screw hole 58, and is fixed by screwing through the screw hole 58.

Reference numeral 90 is a cylindrical guide member that holds the suction plate support shaft 70 so as not to hinder its vertical movement and rotation. The cylindrical guide member 90 includes an outer cylindrical body 91 fixed to the lower disc body 14, and is fitted into the outer cylindrical body 91 via a bearing 92 so as to be rotatable relative to the outer cylindrical body 91. It consists of an inner cylindrical body 93. The suction plate support shaft 70 slides in the vertical direction within the inner cylinder 93 of the cylindrical guide member 90 as described later, and also slides inside the inner cylinder 93 via the slide key 94.
At the same time, it rotates in forward and reverse directions around its axis. A flexible hose 74 connected to a vacuum pump (not shown) is connected to the lower end of the suction plate support shaft 70 with a suitable connector 75 so as not to interfere with the rotation of the suction plate support shaft 70. ing.

Reference numeral 100 denotes a circumferential cam installed around the main shaft 11 of the conveyance table, and its cam surface 101 is undulated in the circumferential direction with a height difference equivalent to a predetermined lifting path length of the suction plate 50. There is. 102 is an element that rolls on the cam surface 101 in the circumferential direction;
103 is a connecting member that connects the trochanter 102 and the suction plate support shaft 70. The trochanter 102 is rotatably mounted on the outer side of the connecting member 103 with a horizontal shaft 104, and on the inner side of the connecting member,
The suction plate support shaft 70 is attached via a bearing 105 so that rotation about its axis is not hindered.

The connecting member 103 has a cylindrical portion 10 in the vertical direction.
6, and a guide shaft 107 that is fixed to the lower disk body 14 and hangs down is inserted into the cylindrical portion 106 so as not to impede the reciprocating movement of the connecting member 103 in the vertical direction. ing.

Reference numeral 120 denotes an annular gear fixed to the circumferential edge of the lower disc body 14 with the main shaft 11 of the transport table as the center. The teeth on the outer surface of the annular gear 120 mesh with a rotary drive gear 121 installed on the side of the transfer table 10, and the rotation of the drive gear 121 causes the transfer table 10 to rotate at a predetermined rotational speed about its main shaft 11. Rotating motion.

130 is a rotation drive shaft for rotating the suction plate support shaft 70 around its axis. The rotational drive shaft 130 extends vertically through the middle disc body 13 and is rotatably attached to the upper disc body 12 and the lower disc body 14 via bearings 131 and 132, respectively. A swing gear 133 is fixed to the lower end of the lower disk body 14 that projects downward. On the other hand, the suction plate support shaft 70
A pinion gear 94 that meshes with the swing gear 133 is located at the bottom of the suction plate support shaft 70.
The guide member 90 is fitted into the guide member 90 so as not to interfere with its vertical sliding movement, and is fixed to the inner cylindrical body 93 of the guide member 90.

The rotational drive shaft 130 rotates in both forward and reverse directions in synchronization with the rotational movement of the conveyance table 10 about the main shaft 11 by a drive mechanism (not shown), thereby supporting the suction plate support shaft 70 fitted therein. The pinion gear 94 rotates around its axis in both forward and reverse directions. The suction plate 50 attached to the upper end of the suction plate support shaft 70 is
On the side surface of the container R, a suction plate support shaft 70
The forward rotation causes the container R to rotate counterclockwise, and the reverse rotation causes the container R to rotate clockwise.

Reference numeral 150 denotes a suction plate receiving device, which consists of a shaft 151, a disk 152 fixed to its lower end, and a pinion gear 153 fitted to its upper end.
The disc 152 has a notched groove 154 on its peripheral edge into which the upper end of the suction plate 50 is fitted. The suction plate receiving device 150 is located coaxially with the suction plate support shaft 70 and is rotatably inserted into the hole 18 bored in the outer side of the upper disc body 12 via a suitable bearing 155. It is fitted.

Pinion gear 15 of the suction plate receiving device 150
3 is meshed with a swing gear 134 fixed to the upper end of the rotary drive shaft 130.
The suction plate receiving device 150 moves the shaft 1 in synchronization with the suction plate 50 attached to the suction plate support shaft 70 by rotating the rotary drive shaft 130 in the forward and reverse directions.
Rotates in forward and reverse directions around 51.

Reference numeral 170 denotes a film pressing device having a pressing surface 171 at the front end for joining the overlapped portions of both left and right edges of the film F wound around the container R; Heater 17 for heat-sealing the joints
2 is built-in. The film pressing device 170
has vertical shafts 173, 174 loosely fitted in its front and rear parts, and vertical shafts 173 and 174 in its sides.
5 penetrates through the upper disc body 12 and the middle disc body 13, and is rotatably attached by bearings 176 and 177, respectively. Film pressing device 170
is the arm 1 spanned between the shaft 173 and the shaft 130.
78 and an arm 179 extending between the shafts 174 and 175 form a parallel link mechanism. The shaft 175 is a fulcrum shaft of the parallel link mechanism, and a horizontal lever 180 is attached to the upper end of the shaft 175 that projects upward from the upper disc body 12.
A vertical pin 181 that is loosely fitted in the vertical pin 181 is configured to reciprocate by a predetermined rotation angle by a drive mechanism (not shown). The reciprocating rotation of the vertical pin 181 causes the fulcrum shaft 175 to rotate in the forward and reverse directions together with the lever 180, so that the film pressing device 1
70 moves forward and backward by a predetermined distance in the radial direction of the conveying table 10 in synchronization with the film winding operation of the suction plate 50 around the container.

In the illustrated example, the film bonding device 170 is built into the conveyance table 10, but it may be disposed on the side of the conveyance table 10.

200 is a container supply path, 201 is a container supply path 20
This is a container supply roller located between the end of the container 0 and the conveyance table 10 and mounted on a shaft 202 on a suitable fixed body. The container supply roller 201 has a plurality of container fitting grooves 203 spaced at equal intervals on its outer circumferential surface, receives the container R transferred by the container supply path 200 in the container fitting groove 203, and transfers it to the conveyance table 10. The containers are fed one by one into the container holding device 30. This container supply path 200 and container supply roller 20
1 constitutes a container supply device.

Reference numeral 210 denotes a film supply roller, which is located on the side of the conveyance table 10, and has a shaft 21 attached to an appropriate fixed body.
He came in first place. Reference numeral 212 denotes a film feeding device disposed between the film supply roller 210 and the conveyance table 10. Film feeder 2
A film holding belt 215 is mounted on the 12 rollers 213 and 214.
holds the film F on its surface by suction or other holding means. The film feeding device 212
The film F cut to a predetermined size is transferred one by one from the film supply roller 210 to the belt 21 while the rollers 213 and 214 rotate in a horizontal direction.
At the same time, it is delivered toward the container R in the container holding device 30 of the conveyance table 10. The film supply roller 210 and the film feed device 212 constitute a film supply device.

Reference numeral 230 denotes a container take-out roller, which is located near the end of the container processing path and is attached to an appropriate fixed body with a shaft 2.
He finished 31st. The container take-out roller 230
has a plurality of container fitting grooves 232 formed at equal intervals on its outer peripheral surface, and each container fitting groove 23
2 receives containers R one by one from the container holding device 30 and sends them into the container discharge path 233.

The container supply roller 201 and the container take-out roller 230 are arranged so that their peripheral speeds are approximately equal to the peripheral speed of the outer peripheral surface of the container holding device 30 of the conveyance table 10, and the film supply roller 230 is
10 and the film feeding device 212 are connected to appropriate coordinating means such as gears (not shown) so that their circumferential speed substantially matches the film winding speed by the suction plate 50 rotating around the container R in the container holding device 30. are synchronously linked.

Next, the operation of the device of the present invention will be explained. Fourth
The figure shows the film winding operation by developing the container processing path of the transport table 10 (circumferential trajectory drawn by the container holding device 30 around the main shaft 11) into a linear shape. Since the transport table 10 is a rotating body, the processing path is an endless feeding path. In this example, the processing start point is the position where the container is fed into the container holding device 30 by the container supply device, and the processing end point is when the container returns to the original position after one rotation in the counterclockwise direction around the main shaft 11. .

First, the container holding device 30
1, the container supply roller 2
The container R is fed into the container holding device 30 from 01. At this time, the suction plate 50 is located below the container mounting table 32. Further, the arcuate groove 35 for inserting the suction plate of the container mounting table 32 and the cutout groove 154 for inserting the upper end of the suction plate of the disk 152 of the suction plate receiving device 150 above the suction plate are located vertically above the suction plate 50. Pressing device 17 for film bonding
0 is located at the rear (Fig. 4 []).

When the container R is placed on the container mounting table 32, the suction plate 50 starts to rise from below due to the relationship between the trochanter 102 and the cam surface 101. The suction plate 50 passes through the arcuate groove 35 of the container mounting table 32, and its upper end fits into the cutout groove 154 of the disc 152 of the suction plate receiving device 150, and stops rising. Also, at this time, the vacuum suction system starts operating, and suction force is generated in the two rows of vacuum suction holes 51 and 52 that open on the front surface of the suction plate 50. By rotating the conveyance table 10, the container mounting table 3
When the container R approaches the film holding belt 215 of the film feeder, the suction plate 5 on the front of the container R
0 and the film F held on the surface of the belt 215 are close to each other, and the side of the front edge _F1 of the film F is attracted to one row of vacuum suction holes (in the example shown, the left row) of the suction plate 50. (Figure 4 [ ]).

The front end of the film F on the film holding belt 215 is held by suction on the surface of the suction plate 50, and at the same time, the suction plate 50 is rotated around the axis of the container R by the rotation of the suction plate support shaft 70 (as shown in the figure). In the example, it begins to rotate (counterclockwise).

Since the suction plate 50 is fitted into the arcuate groove 35 of the container mounting table 32, the container R can be moved together with the mounting table 32.
It rotates around its axis at the same speed and in the same direction as the suction plate 50 (Fig. 4 []).

As the suction plate 50 suction-holds the front edge of the film and rotates about the axis of the container, the film F is transferred around the container R from the surface of the belt 215. The suction plate 50 almost surrounds the container.
When the film F is rotated 360 degrees, the side of the trailing edge F ₂ of the film F faces the suction plate 50 and is attracted to the vacuum suction holes 52 in the right row, and the trailing edge F 2 of the film F is attached to the belt 2
15 and on the plate surface of the suction plate 50,
It is superimposed on the front edge (Fig. 4 [ ]).

Next, the suction plate 50 starts to reverse clockwise while suctioning and holding the film F wound around the container, and the overlapping portion F ₃ of both end edges of the film F is inserted into the gap between the container holding block 31. 3
Rotate approximately 180 degrees to a position facing 6 and stop once. At this time, the film pressing device 170 on the back of the block 31 moves forward, and its pressing surface passes through the gap 37 of the block 31 and presses the overlapped portion _F3 of the film F toward the suction plate 50. The overlapping surfaces of the films are heat-sealed a, and then they are moved backwards (Fig. 4 [ ]). This turns the film into a tube.

In addition, if the film is made of a material that does not have heat-sealing properties, an adhesive application step is provided as a pre-process of pressing the overlapping portion with a pressing device, and after applying the adhesive between the overlapping surfaces of the film. , the overlapping portion may be pressed onto the suction plate 50 surface using a pressing device.

After the overlapping portions _F3 of the films F are completely joined by the pressing device 170, the suction plate 50 further rotates 180° clockwise, returns to almost its original position within the container holding device 30, and rotates. When the film stops moving, it descends and is extracted from between the container R and the film F (Fig. 4 [ ], [ ]).

In this way, when the container holding device 30 reaches the container take-out roller 230, the container R around which the tube-shaped film is wound is removed from the container holding device 30.
The container is sent out to the container unloading path 233. The empty container holding device 30 returns to the processing start point where containers are supplied again, and enters the second processing step. On the other hand, the containers taken out into the container discharge path 233 are sent to the next process and subjected to a predetermined process, for example, a heat shrinking process for the film F, so that the containers are tightly wrapped with the film F as a label. Finished in.

〔Effect of the invention〕

The device of the present invention can efficiently and accurately wrap a film around a container by rotating the film suction plate around the axis of the container. The film suction plate functions as a means for holding the film on the container, as a means for winding the film, and as a patch plate for joining the overlapping parts of the wound films, so the structure of the device is simple and can be downsized. It's easy.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a plan view showing an embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view, Fig. 3 is an exploded perspective view showing an example of a film suction plate, and Fig. 4 shows a straight line of the processing path in the apparatus of the present invention. FIG. 5 is a schematic plan view of the main part of the conventional example. 10: Transfer table, 11: Main shaft, 12: Upper disc body, 13: Middle disc body, 14: Lower disc body,
30: Container holding device, 31: Container holding block,
32: Container mounting stand, 50: Film suction plate, 5
1, 52: Vacuum suction hole, 54: Recessed part, 70: Suction plate support shaft, 71: Hollow hole, 72: Connector, 90: Suction plate support shaft guide member, 9
1: Outer cylinder body, 92: Inner cylinder body, 94: Pinion gear, 100: Circumferential cam, 101: Cam surface, 10
2: Trochanter, 103: Connection member, 107: Guide shaft, 120: Annular gear, 121: Rotation drive gear, 130: Adsorption plate support shaft rotation drive shaft, 1
33: Swing gear, 134: Swing gear, 1
50: Suction plate receiving device, 152: Disc, 153:
Pinion gear, 170: Film pressing device, 17
8,179: Arm, 180: Lever, 200:
Container supply path, 201: Container supply roller, 210:
Film supply roller, 215: Film holding belt, 230: Container take-out roller, 233: Container delivery path, R: Container, F: Film.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A container transport rotary table that transports containers along a processing path while rotating around an axis, and a container that is provided at the peripheral edge of the container transport rotary table and holds the container from above or below. a container holding device for feeding containers into the container holding device; a container feeding device located substantially at the starting end of the container processing path; and a position facing a part of the side surface of the container fed to the container holding device; It reciprocates in parallel to the axis of the container between a position above or below the container, and rotates around the axis of the container relative to the side surface of the container. A film suction plate with two rows of vacuum suction holes on the left and right parallel to the axial direction of the container for suctioning and holding both left and right edges of the film wound around the container, and a container holding device. A film feeding device that feeds a film wound around a container so that the left and right edges of the film are overlapped on the outer surface of a film suction plate that rotates around the container; a film bonding device having a pressing surface body for bonding the overlapping portions by pressing both left and right overlapping end edges toward the film suction plate surface from the outside; 1. A device for wrapping a film around a container, comprising: a container take-out device for taking out the container with the film wound thereon from a container holding device of a conveyance table.