EP1317971A2

EP1317971A2 - Paper dust removing apparatus for corrugated paperboards

Info

Publication number: EP1317971A2
Application number: EP02258166A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Toshinari Noma
Original assignee: Asahi Machinery Ltd; Chiyoda Container Co Ltd
Current assignee: Asahi Machinery Ltd; Chiyoda Container Co Ltd
Priority date: 2001-12-04
Filing date: 2002-11-27
Publication date: 2003-06-11
Also published as: EP1317971A3; JP3490077B2; JP2003164812A

Abstract

A paper dust removing apparatus for corrugated paperboards includes a supply conveyer (1) for a block (2) composed of corrugated paperboards, stoppers (6) for the block (2) projecting above and retracting below the surface of the supply conveyer, a paper dust removing brush roll (8) supported to rotate and move up and down in contact with the front surface of the block (2), a first belt conveyer (11), a reversing transfer conveyer (12) coming into contact with the block (2) in a laterally stacked state from the lower surface thereof and having a multiplicity of transfer blades (14) standing in a peripheral direction for scooping up the block (2), paper dust removing brush rolls (15, 23) rotating and coming into contact with the upper surface and both the side surfaces of the block being transferred in a vertical attitude by the reversing transfer conveyer (12), air ejection nozzles (19), sterilization lamps (26), a second belt conveyer (30) for receiving the block (2) made to the horizontally laterally stacked state again by being supported by the transfer blades (14) of the reversing transfer conveyer (12) at the trailing end thereof, a discharge conveyer (34), and a casing (20) having air suction units therein for entirely covering from the positions of the stoppers (6) of the supply conveyer (1) to the discharge conveyer (34). With this arrangement, the conventional paper dust removing apparatus for corrugated paperboards is more improved to thereby enhance the efficiency thereof and reduce its size.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to an apparatus for removing paper dust adhered onto corrugated paperboards having been cut.

2. Description of the Related Art

Conventionally, apparatuses such as those disclosed in, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publications Nos. 7-68494 and 10-202215 are known as an apparatus for removing paper dust adhered onto corrugated paperboards having been cut.
Incidentally, these apparatuses are arranged such that paper dust on the end surfaces of corrugated paperboards is removed with a brush and the like and sucked by a suction device. However, in the suction device, since paper dust is sucked only in the vicinity of a dust suction port, a problem is arisen in that paper dust located apart from the dust suction port floats and scatters in the circumference of the machine and deteriorates a peripheral environment.
Further, while a portion where brushing is executed may be covered with a closed casing, other devices, for example, a device for transferring or reversing a block composed of a multiplicity of stacked corrugated paperboards are disposed outside of the casing. Thus, devices accommodated in the casing and devices disposed outside of the casing must be installed separately, which is disadvantageous in that the apparatus itself increases in size and is inefficient.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to further improve the conventional apparatus by overcoming the above problems so that the efficiency of the apparatus is enhanced and the size thereof is reduced.
To solve the above problems, a paper dust removing apparatus for corrugated paperboards according to a first aspect of the present invention for removing paper dust adhered to a block composed of a multiplicity of stacked corrugated paperboards with a brush roll and the like comprises a supply conveyer for transferring the block composed of the multiplicity of stacked corrugated paperboards in a laterally stacked state, stoppers for the block projecting above and retracting below the surface of the supply conveyer, a front surface paper dust removing brush roll supported to rotate and move up and down in contact with the front surface of the block on a forward side in transfer of the block stopped by the stoppers, a first belt conveyer for moving the block having been brushed with the front surface paper dust removing brush roll in a transfer direction, a reversing transfer conveyer coming into contact with the block in the laterally stacked state from the lower surface thereof at a position where it does not interfere with the first belt conveyer and having a multiplicity of transfer blades standing in a peripheral direction for scooping up the block, paper dust removing brush rolls rotating and coming into contact with the upper surface and both the side surfaces of the block being transferred in a vertical attitude between transfer blades in the horizontal transfer process of the reversing transfer conveyer, air ejection and paper dust suction nozzles disposed in correspondence to the paper dust removing brush rolls, sterilization lamps disposed to irradiate the outer peripheral surface of the block being transferred in the vertical attitude, a second belt conveyer for receiving the block made to the horizontally laterally stacked state again by being supported by the transfer blade of the reversing transfer conveyer at the trailing end thereof, a discharge conveyer for receiving the block transferred from the second belt conveyer, and a casing having air suction units therein for entirely covering from the positions of the stoppers of the supply conveyer to the discharge conveyer.
Thus, according to the paper dust removing apparatus for corrugated paperboards, the corrugated paperboards are stopped by the initial stoppers, the front surface of the corrugated paperboards is brushed with the brush roll at the position, then the overall peripheries of the corrugated paperboards are brushed and paper dust is removed therefrom in the sealed chamber, the thus removed paper dust and the like are sucked by the air stream flowing from the air ejection nozzles to the suction unit in the sealed chamber. As a result, the paper dust and the like do not scatter to the periphery of the apparatus, and the environment can be maintained.
The paper dust removing apparatus for corrugated paperboards may comprise a reversing unit disposed so as to be substituted for the discharge conveyer, the reversing unit comprising a fork for clamping the block in the laterally stack state, which is composed of the multiplicity of corrugated paperboards and transferred from the second belt conveyer, between the upper and lower surfaces thereof, being rotatable about an axis perpendicular to the transfer direction of the second belt conveyer while clamping the block, and positioned at the trailing end of the second belt conveyer in place of the discharge conveyer, when necessary.
According to the apparatus composed of only the first aspect of the present invention, the laterally stacked attitude of the block composed of the multiplicity of stacked corrugated paperboards before the block is transferred to the paper dust removing apparatus is made to a reversed laterally stacked attitude after the completion of the paper dust removal processing.
No problem will be arisen in the reversed laterally stacked attitude when the front surface and the back surface of each corrugated paperboard need not be discriminated as in a case in which no pattern is printed on the front and back surface thereof or in which the same decoration is printed on the front and back surface thereof. However, in the corrugated paperboards the front and back surfaces of each of which must be discriminated because only one surface thereof is printed or the front and back surfaces are printed differently, the block reversed once must be reversed again to a normal attitude.
According to the paper dust removing apparatus arranged as described above, the block of the corrugated paperboards may be reversed again at the time the paper dust has been removed.
Further, since the reversing unit for this purpose is disposed so as to be replaced with the discharge conveyer, a job in which the block must be reversed and a job in which the block need not be reversed can be easily selected.
The paper dust removing apparatus for corrugated paperboards may comprise air nozzles disposed above the reversing transfer conveyer in the upper outer periphery thereof for blowing air to the block on the transfer conveyer in the transfer direction of the conveyer.
According to the paper dust removing apparatus for corrugated paperboards described above, the respective blocks of the corrugated paperboards accommodated between the transfer blades in an upright state fall down and lean to the transfer blades in the transfer direction. Thus, when the blocks are made to the laterally stacked attitude at the terminal end of the reversing transfer conveyer, the multiplicity of corrugated paperboards are stacked without disturbance, thereby the bundle of the corrugated paperboards arranged as the block can be easily handled.
The paper dust removing apparatus for corrugated paperboards may comprise an antistatic units disposed in the vicinity of the paper dust removing brush roll.
When the brush roll rotating at a high speed comes into contact with the corrugated paperboards in a dry atmosphere, removed paper dust is liable to be charged with static electricity, and scattering paper dust is adhered electrostatically to peripheral interiors and does not float. In this case, it is difficult to discharge the paper dust. According to the present invention, the above problem can be avoided, and paper dust can be smoothly removed.
In the paper dust removing apparatus for corrugated paperboards, the overall bottom surface of the casing from the positions of the stoppers for stopping the block to the discharge position of the second belt conveyer may be arranged as a hopper having a dust suction port, and nozzles may be disposed on a side surface of the hopper for intermittently ejecting air to the dust suction port.
Accordingly, the paper dust falls onto and deposit on a floor in the sealed chamber and sucked into the dust suction port by the air stream intermittently ejected from the nozzles, thereby the paper dust is certainly sucked and removed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of a paper dust removing apparatus for corrugated paperboard of an embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 2 is a plan view the paper dust removing apparatus shown in FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is a side elevational view of the paper dust removing apparatus for corrugated paperboard of the embodiment of the present invention in another state of use.
FIG. 4 is a plan view the paper dust removing apparatus shown in FIG. 3;
FIG. 5 is a view of air duct paths of the paper dust removing apparatus for corrugated paperboard of the embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 6 is an enlarged side elevational view of a reversing apparatus;
FIG. 7 is an enlarged plan view of the reversing apparatus; and
FIG. 8 is an enlarged sectional view of a drive unit of a movable pillar.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

Embodiment 1

FIG. 1 is a side sectional view of a paper dust removing apparatus for corrugated paperboard of the embodiment, FIG. 2 is a plan view of the paper dust removing apparatus, FIG. 3 is a side elevational view of the paper dust removing apparatus for corrugated paperboard of the embodiment in another state of use, and FIG. 4 is a plan view of the paper dust removing apparatus of FIG. 3.
Note that since the apparatus shown in FIGS. 1 and 3 is the same as that shown in FIGS. 2 and 4 except the portion of a reversing unit, the reference numerals of respective components in FIG. 1 denote the components of the upper half portion of the figures and the reference numerals of respective components in FIG. 3 denote the components of the lower half portion of the figures to avoid the complication of the figures.
In FIGS 1 and 2, reference numeral 1 denotes a roller conveyer driven by a motor (not shown) to transfer a block 2 composed of a mutiplicity of corrugated paperboards, for example, about 50 to 100 sheets of corrugated paperboards having been stacked (hereinafter, simply referred to as "block") in a laterally stacked attitude (hereinafter also referred to as "lateral attitude").
As shown in FIG. 2, guides 3, 3 for guiding the block 2 at the center of the transfer surface of the roller conveyer 1 are disposed on both the sides of the roller conveyer 1 across the transfer surface so as to be projected and retracted in a direction perpendicular to the transfer surface of the roller conveyer 1 by drive units 4 such as air cylinders. The guides 3, 3 are abutted against the side surfaces of the block 2 and align it in a width direction.
As shown in FIG. 2, the side ends 5, 5 of the guides 3, 3 for receiving the block 2 are curved outward from each other so that the distance between the confronting guides is extended in a trumpet shape. Thus, the block 2 having been transferred by the roller conveyer 1 can be smoothly guided between the guides 3, 3 even if it is dislocated in the width direction from the center of the roller conveyer 1 or even if the stacked state of the block 2 collapses in the width direction. Then, after the block 2 is received, it is accurately positioned by the projecting and retracting operation of the guides 3, 3 driven by the drive units 4 such as the air cylinder.
Stoppers 6 are disposed on the forward side end in transfer of the roller conveyer 1 so as to be projected above and retracted below the transfer surface by a piston cylinder unit 7 disposed on the lower surface of the roller conveyer 1. The stoppers 6 are projected above the transfer surface of the roller conveyer 1 by a sensor (not shown) sensing the approach of the block 2, and the block 2 is stopped thereby. Note that when the block 2 is stopped by the stoppers 6, the roller conveyer 1 is stopped by a sensor for sensing that the block 2 has been stopped.
A paper dust removing brush roll 8 is journaled at a position in the vicinity of the stoppers 6 on the forward side in transfer thereof. After the stoppers 6 journaled across the transfer surface have been retracted, the brush roll 8 can be reciprocatingly moved in a vertical direction while rotating and coming into contact with the front surface of the block 2 being transferred.
In FIG. 1, reference numeral 9 denotes an air cylinder for moving the brush roll 8 up and down by driving a support frame 10 which journals the rotating shaft of the brush roll 8 at both the ends thereof 8a, 8a (FIG. 2).
Note that the path from the position of the brush roll 8 to a discharge conveyer 34, which will be described later, is covered with a casing 20, thereby the overall apparatus is covered with the casing 20 so that paper dust generated therein does not scatter to the circumference of the apparatus. Note that wheels 20r, 20r are disposed on the lower surface of the casing 20 to permit the casing 20 to make parallel movement, thereby the overall casing 20 can be assembled to and disassembled from a corrugated paperboard processing line.
A first belt conveyer 11 is disposed in the casing 20 at a position on the forward side in transfer of the front surface paper dust removing brush roll 8 to transfer the block 2 from the front side surface of which the paper dust has been removed.
The first belt conveyer 11 has such a structure that it is divided into a plurality of slender conveyer sections in the width direction perpendicular to a transfer direction in relation to a reversing transfer conveyer 12 which will be described later. That is, the first belt conveyer 11 is composed of a combination of a plurality of narrow belt conveyers 11a, 11b, 11c, and 11d disposed in parallel with each other at intervals.
Then, the reversing transfer conveyer 12 is disposed on the forward side in transfer of the first belt conveyer 11.
As shown in FIG. 1, the reversing transfer conveyer 12 is composed of power transmission training units 13 such as chains each including a multiplicity of transfer blades 14, ..., 14 disposed therearound so as to project in a radial direction, when viewed in a side elevation. Further, as shown in FIG. 2, when viewed in a plane, the power transmission training units 13 are disposed in three rows 2 at positions corresponding to both the sides and the center of the block 2 in the laterally stacked state, and the transfer blades 14, ..., 14 are disposed around the respective power transmission training units 13 along the same see-through lines in the width direction.
In FIG. 1, reference numerals 13a and 13b denote pulleys of the power transmission training units 13 such as the chains, one of them arranged as a drive pulley and the other of them arranged as a follower pulley.
Then, the respective transfer blades 14, ..., 14 rotate between the plurality of parallel belt conveyers 11a, 11b, 11c, and 11d constituting the first belt conveyer 11 and thereafter travel linearly together with the belt conveyers, thereby the transfer blades and the first belt conveyer 11 operate without interfering with each other.
Brush rolls 15, 15 are journaled in an upright state on both the sides of the reversing transfer conveyer 12 so as to rotate in contact with both the side surfaces of the block 2 being transferred by transfer blades 14 in an upright attitude (hereinafter, also referred to as "vertical attitude"), further the peripheries of the brush rolls 15 are surrounded by hoods 17, and an air suction port 16 is defined in each of the hoods 17.
Air injection nozzles 18, 18 are disposed at two positions on the forward side in transfer of the brush rolls 15 along the transfer direction and eject air from one side surface to the other side surface of the block 2 being transferred between transfer blades 14 in the upright state.
As shown in FIG. 2, each of the nozzles 18 has an injection port 19 formed slender toward the reversing transfer conveyer 12, the injection port 19 being formed of a slit whose length is longer than the vertical length of the block 2 in the vertical attitude as shown by dotted lines in FIG. 1.
Then, a suction hopper 21, which collects ejected air together with paper dust blown off by the stream of the ejected air, is disposed on a side opposite to the nozzles 18 across the reversing transfer conveyer 12.
Note that an air suction port 22 is formed in the air suction hopper 21, thereby the air stream mixed with the paper dust is fed to dust collection bags 40, ..., 40 through a duct 41 which will be described later.
Further, a brush roll 23 is journaled above the reversing transfer conveyer 12 and rotated in contact with the upper surface of the block 2, and further the circumference of the brush roll 23 is surrounded by a hood 25 through which an air suction port 24 opens.
Further, sterilization lamps 26, ..., 26 composed of ultraviolet lamps are disposed above the reversing transfer conveyer 12 and sterilize the respective surfaces of the block 2 such as the side and front surfaces thereof from which the paper dust has been removed with ultraviolet rays.
Note that, while not illustrated, antistatic grounding units may be disposed on the lower edges of the support covers 26a of the sterilization lamps 26, and the like in the vicinity of the brush roll 23.
In this case, charge of static electricity, which is caused when the paper dust removing brush roll 23 rotates at a high speed in contact with the block 2, is prevented, thereby paper dust and the like are prevented from clinging to various units in the vicinity of the brush roll 23.
A blower 27 is disposed on the forward side in transfer of the reversing transfer conveyer 12 to urge respective blocks 2 being transferred between transfer blades 14 in the vertical attitude so that they fall down uniformly forward in the transfer direction as well as to remove paper dust remaining between respective corrugated paperboards with an air stream.
The blower 27 has a slit-shaped ejection port 28 facing the forward direction of transfer. Note that, in FIG. 1, reference numeral 29 denotes an air supply port to the blower 27, and reference numeral 20a denotes a dust collection hopper disposed on the lower surface of the casing 20.
Air ejection nozzles 20b, ... are disposed to a bottom side of the dust collection hopper 20a to intermittently eject air to the other side, and a dust collection duct 20c opens through the other side of the casing 20 confronting the air ejecting direction of the air ejection nozzles 20b so that the paper dust, which scatters in the casing 20 and falls and deposits on the bottom thereof, is forcibly blown into and collected in the dust collection duct 20c periodically.
FIG. 5 is a view explaining the duct 41 for communicating the air supply port and the air suction ports with a blower (not shown) or with the dust collection bags 40. The compressed air supplied from the blower is blown out from an air supply duct 41a through respective branch ducts as shown by an arrow and supplied to the respective air ejection nozzles (shown by the reference numerals) in FIGS. 1 and 2.
Further, the air sucked from the air suction ports together with paper dust is collected in the dust collection bags 40 through a collecting duct 41b, and the paper dust is collected through a bag filter. Note that the reference numerals at the destinations of the arrow denote respective air suction ports, likewise.
A second belt conveyer 30 for transferring the block 2 in the lateral attitude again is disposed and the front end of the reversing transfer conveyer 12.
As shown in FIG. 2, the second belt conveyer 30 has such a structure that it is divided into several pieces of slender conveyer sections in the width direction perpendicular to the transfer direction in relation to the reversing transfer conveyer 12 similarly to the first belt conveyer 11 and composed of a combination of a plurality of belt conveyers 30a, 30b, 30c, and 30d disposed in parallel with each other at intervals, and the transfer blades 14 travel between the respective belt conveyers.
Further, guide plates 32, 32 are disposed on both the sides of the transfer surface of the second belt conveyer 30 in order to correct the position of the block 2 so that it is located at the center of the transfer surface also on the second belt conveyer 30. Reference numeral 33 denotes cylinder piston units for adjusting the position of the block 2 by projecting and retracting the guide plates 32 with respect to the transfer surface.
The discharge conveyer 34, which discharges the block 2 having been subjected to paper dust removal processing, is disposed on the forward side in transfer of the second belt conveyer 30. The discharge conveyer 34 is a roller conveyer composed of a multiplicity of rollers disposed along a transfer path.
Note that, in the illustrated example, the discharge conveyer 34 can be replaced with a reversing unit 35 as shown in FIGS. 1 and 3.
This is because when it is not necessary to return the attitude of the block 2 having been reversed by the reversing transfer conveyer 12 to a normal attitude, it is sufficient to provide only the discharge conveyer 34, but when the attitude thereof must be returned to the normal attitude, it is necessary to provide the reversing unit 35.
In FIGS. 1 and 3, the reversing unit 35 is supported by a frame 36 above the discharge conveyer 34.
The discharge conveyer 34 and the reversing unit 35 are separated from each other vertically through a predetermined distance. Then, the reversing unit 35 is supported by movable columns 48, which can move vertically along guide columns 37, so as to move vertically such that a state in which the discharge conveyer 34 is aligned with the second belt conveyer 30 as shown in FIG. 1 is changed to a state in which the reversing unit 35 is aligned with the second belt conveyer 30 as shown in FIG. 3.
The reversing unit 35 is composed of a receiving conveyer 38 for receiving the block 2 from the second belt conveyer 30, reversing blades 39, and a discharge conveyer 42 composed of slender conveyer sections likewise the second belt conveyer 30 for discharging the reversed block 2.
As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7 in enlargement, in the reversing unit 35, each of the reversing blades 39 is composed of a fixed blade 39a fixed on one of the four sides of a rotating barrel 35a, which has a square cross section, and projecting in a radial direction and a movable blade 39b supported by an actuator 43 in parallel with the fixed blade 39a such that the distance therebetween can be varied. As shown in FIG. 7, the respective fixed and movable blade 39a and 39b are arranged such that they travel between the narrow conveyers, which constitute the receiving conveyer 38 and are disposed in parallel with each other, without interfering with the receiving conveyer 38. Further, the respective reversing blades 39 are intermittently rotated 90° each time by a not shown drive unit.
Further, as shown in FIG. 6, the extreme end of each movable blade 39b is curved outward to increase the distance between it and a fixed blade 39a so that the block 2 transferred to the movable blade 39b can be smoothly received thereby.
Then, as shown in FIG. 7, the reversing blades 39 and the slender conveyer sections of the discharge conveyer 42 are located at different positions so that the reversing blades 39 travel between the slender conveyer sections without interfering with each other.
Since the structural relationship between the reversing blades 39 and discharge conveyers 4 is the same as that between the reversing transfer conveyer 12 and the second belt conveyer 30, the detailed description thereof is omitted.
The receiver conveyers 38 and the discharge conveyer 42 can be driven by an electric motor 45 through belts 46.
Then, these components are disposed on the frame 36, and the discharge conveyer 34 is disposed through the movable columns 48, ..., 48 below the frame 36 with a predetermined distance therebetween.
Guide plates 51 and 52 are disposed above the frame 36 and correct the positions and inclinations of the upper and side surfaces of the block 2 held between a fixed blade 39a and a movable blade 39b, these guide plates 51 and 52 being provided with piston cylinder units 53 and 54, respectively.
Then, as shown in FIG. 8, a screw nut 49 using a ball screw is disposed at the lower end of each movable column 48, ...48 and a screw rod 49a is disposed in each guide column 37 and engaged with the screw nut 49.
Each screw rod 49a is driven forward and backward by an electric motors 50, by which the screw nut 49 is moved up and down along the screw rod 49a, thereby the reversing unit 35 and the discharge conveyer 34 are replaced with each other.
Note that, in the illustrated example, the screw rod 49a is disposed only in the central guide column 37 of the three guide columns 37, ..., and sliders 51 and guides 52 are used in place of the remaining two guide columns 37 and disposed on both the sides of the frame 36 across the screw rod 49a as a pair.
Next, operation of the above embodiment will be described.
First, when the block 2 composed of 50 to 100 sheets of corrugated paperboards having been stacked is transferred by the roller conveyer 1, the stoppers 6 are projected above the transfer surface of the roller conveyer 1 by the piston cylinder unit 7 in response to the information of the sensor (not shown) having detected the block 2.
Just before the projection of the stoppers 6, the position of the block 2 is corrected by the guides 3, 3 so that it is located at the center of the transfer path and then the block 2 is stopped by being abutted against the stoppers 6. At the same time, the unevenly stacked state of the corrugated paperboards of the block 2 in the transfer direction is corrected by the impact applied to the block 2 when it is abutted against the stoppers 6.
Then, the roller conveyer 1 is stopped in response to the information of the sensor (not shown) having detected the block 2 stopped by the stoppers 6, and, at the same time, the stoppers 6 are retracted by the piston cylinder unit 7.
Then, the brush roll 8 is rotated and moved vertically by the piston cylinder unit 9 at the same time.
Then, paper dust and chips adhered to the front surface of the block 2 are removed by the movement of the brush roll 8.
When the brush roll 8 has moved upward and the paper dust has been removed, the first belt conveyer 11 is driven again and simultaneously the first belt conveyer 11 is driven, and the block 2 is transferred into the casing 20.
The reversing transfer conveyer 12, which waits with the transfer blades 14 locating between the respective slender conveyer sections of the first belt conveyer 11, begins rotation and movement when the block 2 approaching to it is detected and scoops up the block 2 from the lower surface thereof.
Then, the block 2 is turned 90° from the conventional lateral attitude to the vertical attitude by transfer blades 14 on the horizontal portions of the power transmission training units 13.
When the block 2 has been set to the vertical attitude, the brush rolls 15, 15 in rotation come into contact with the block 2 on both the side surfaces thereof, thereby paper dust and the like are removed from both the side surfaces of the block 2 and instantly sucked and removed through the air suction ports 16 of the brush rolls 15.
Further, the brush roll 23 in rotation comes into contact with the upper surface of the block 2 being transferred between the transfer blades 14 in the vertical attitude and removes paper dust on the upper surface of the block 2. The paper dust and the like generated at this time are also sucked and removed instantly together with air through the air suction port 24.
Further, air is ejected onto the block 2 from a side direction thereof by the air injection nozzles 18 at positions in front of and behind the position where the paper dust is removed with the brush roll 23. Thus, the respective corrugated paperboards constituting the block 2 are fluttered under the influence of a resultant air pressure, and paper dust remaining between the corrugated paperboards is blown off by the fluttering of the corrugated paperboards and collected in the air suction hopper 21 located at the position opposite to the air injection nozzles 18 across the transfer path of the conveyer and sucked and removed through the air suction port 22 (FIGS. 2 and 4).
Note that, paper dust floating above the transfer path is also collected in the air suction hopper 21 and removed through the air suction port 22 at the same time.
The end surfaces and the front surface of the corrugated paperboards are simultaneously sterilized by the sterilization lamps 26 located on both the sides of the brush roll 23. Further, when the antistatic units are provided, the floating paper dust is prevented from being charged with static electricity so that the deposition thereof by the static electricity can be prevented.
Then, an air pressure is applied to the corrugated paperboards, which have been loosened under the influence of the air blown from the air ejection nozzles 18, by the blower 27 in a predetermined direction, thereby all the corrugated paperboards are fallen down and lean against a transfer blade 14 on the forward side in transfer of the corrugated paperboards. This is executed to naturally change the vertical attitude of the block 2 to the laterally stacked attitude on the subsequent second belt conveyer 30.
Then, as the transfer blades 14 are made to a horizontal attitude again along the pulley 13a of the power transmission training units 13, the block 2 is placed on the second belt conveyer 30 while being guided by the guide plates 32.
At this time, the block 2 is in a reversed state opposite to the state thereof before it is transferred to the paper dust removing apparatus, in other words, it is in a backside attitude.
When the backside attitude is acceptable, the block 2 is discharged by the discharge conveyer 34 and supplied to a next process.
Then, when the block 2 must be reversed again, the movable columns 48 are lowered with respect to the guide columns 37 by the action of the screw nut 49 and the screw rod 49a, thereby the reversing unit 35 is disposed in alignment with the second belt conveyer 30 as shown in FIG. 3.
The block 2 transferred by the second belt conveyer 30 is received by the receiving conveyer 38 and inserted between a fixed blade 39a and a movable blade 39b.
Next, the reversing unit 35 is intermittently rotated at 90° and changes the block 2 held between the fixed and movable blades 39a and 39b to the vertical attitude again, and the stacked state and the dispersion of the corrugated paperboards of the block 2 are corrected by moving a guide 55 up and down and guides 56, 56 in the width direction. Then, the block 2 is clamped and fixed between the movable 39b and the fixed blade 39a by moving the movable blade 39b toward the fixed blade 39a by the actuator 43.
Then, when the reversing unit 35 is further rotated 90° and the block 2 is reversed to an original normal attitude, the movable blade 39b is moved in an opening direction, and the block 2 is transferred onto the discharge conveyer 42.
With this transfer operation, the block 2 is supplied to the next process by the discharge conveyer 42 in the normal attitude.
As described above, according to the paper dust removing apparatus for corrugated paperboards of the present invention, paper dust and burr-like fiber members adhered to the peripheries of a block can be removed without scattering to the circumference of the block. Thus, they can be processed in a clean state.
Further, since the paper dust and the like are removed while raising up the block composed of corrugated paperboards from the lateral attitude to the vertical attitude and bringing down it again to the lateral attitude, the paper dust and the like can be removed without almost being left. Further, since the paper dust and the like are processed in the casing, they do not scatter to the circumference of the block as described above as well as they are collected effectively. Further, the block is subjected to sterilization processing when it is in the vertical attitude, the present invention is advantageous in that the corrugated paperboards can be kept in a clean state.
Further, since the all the processing steps are executed in the casing, the present invention is advantageous also in that the apparatus can be reduced in size.

Claims

A paper dust removing apparatus for corrugated paperboards for removing paper dust adhered to a block composed of a multiplicity of stacked corrugated paperboards with a brush roll and the like, characterized by comprising:

a supply conveyer (1) for transferring the block composed of the multiplicity of stacked corrugated paperboards in a laterally stacked state;

stoppers (6) for the block projecting above and retracting below the surface of the supply conveyer (1);

a front surface paper dust removing brush roll (8) supported to rotate and move up and down in contact with the front surface of the block on a forward side in transfer of the block stopped by the stoppers;

a first belt conveyer (11) for moving the block having been brushed with the front surface paper dust removing brush roll in a transfer direction;

a reversing transfer conveyer (12) coming into contact with the block in the laterally stacked state from the lower surface thereof at a position where it does not interfere with the first belt conveyer (11) and having a multiplicity of transfer blades (14) standing in a peripheral direction for scooping up the block;

paper dust removing brush rolls (15, 23) rotating and coming into contact with the upper surface and both the side surfaces of the block being transferred in a vertical attitude between transfer blades (14) in the horizontal transfer process of the reversing transfer conveyer;

air ejection and paper dust suction nozzles (19) disposed in correspondence to the paper dust removing brush rolls (15, 23) ;

sterilization lamps (26) disposed to irradiate the outer peripheral surface of the block being transferred in the vertical attitude;

a second belt conveyer (30) for receiving the block made to the horizontally laterally stacked state again by being supported by the transfer blade (14) of the reversing transfer conveyer (12) at the trailing end thereof;

a discharge conveyer (34) for receiving the block transferred from the second belt conveyer (30); and

a casing (20) having air suction units therein for entirely covering from the positions of the stoppers (6) of the supply conveyer (1) to the discharge conveyer (34).
A paper dust removing apparatus for corrugated paperboards according to claim 1, characterized by comprising a reversing unit (35) disposed so as to be substituted for the discharge conveyer (34), the reversing unit (35) comprising a fork for clamping the block in the laterally stack state, which is composed of the multiplicity of corrugated paperboards and transferred from the second belt conveyer (30), between the upper and lower surfaces thereof, being rotatable about an axis perpendicular to the transfer direction of the second belt conveyer (30) while clamping the block, and positioned at the trailing end of the second belt conveyer (30) in place of the discharge conveyer (34), when necessary.
A paper dust removing apparatus for corrugated paperboards according to claim 1 and 2, characterized by comprising air nozzles (18) disposed above the reversing transfer conveyer (12) in the upper outer periphery thereof for blowing air to the block on the transfer conveyer (12) in the transfer direction of the conveyer (12).
A paper dust removing apparatus for corrugated paperboards according to any of claim 1, 2 and 3, characterized by comprising an antistatic units disposed in the vicinity of the paper dust removing brush roll (23).
A paper dust removing apparatus for corrugated paperboards according to any of claim 1, 2, 3 and 4, characterized in that the overall bottom surface of the casing (20) from the positions of the stoppers (6) for stopping the block to the discharge position of the second belt conveyer (30) is arranged as a hopper (20a) having a dust suction port (20c), and nozzles (20b) are disposed on a side surface of the hopper (20a) for intermittently ejecting air to the dust suction port (20c).