JP2000135748A - Cap attaching apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To miniaturize a cap attaching apparatus, to reduce consumed energy and to enhance treatment efficiency. SOLUTION: A cap attaching apparatus has a cap supply means for intermittently supplying a cap, a base conveyor 15 allowed to continuously run to feed a packing container P, a positioning means for positioning the packing container P at a bonding position corresponding to the position of the cap in the cap supply means and a bonding means moved at a speed equal to the running speed of the base conveyor 15 and taking the cap out of the cap supply means to bond the same to the packing container P. Since the packing container P is continuously fed by the base conveyor 15, it is unnecessary to arrange a package holder for holding the packing container P to the cap supply means and a picking apparatus for holding the cap.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a cap mounting device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, brick-type packaging containers for storing liquid foods such as milk and soft drinks have a top wall provided with an openable / closable cap so that the liquid foods can be repeatedly poured out. Is provided. In this case, the cap is attached to the packaging container by a hot melt method, a heat sealing method, an ultrasonic sealing method, or the like by a cap attaching device.

In the hot melt method, a liquid adhesive is sprayed from a nozzle of a hot melt gun and sprayed on at least one of a packaging container and a cap, and the cap is pressed against the packaging container and adhered. In the heat sealing method, hot air is applied to at least one of the packaging container and the cap, and the cap is pressed against the packaging container while at least one of the film and the cap on the surface of the packaging material forming the packaging container is melted. Stick it.

Further, in the ultrasonic sealing method, ultrasonic waves are applied to the cap in a state where the cap is pressed against the packaging container, and the ultrasonic waves melt the film on the surface of the packaging material forming the packaging container. Is attached to the packaging container.

[0005]

However, in the conventional cap mounting apparatus, in the case of the hot melt method, it is difficult to spray the adhesive accurately and evenly on the cap mounting portion of the packaging container. As a result, the cap cannot be attached to the packaging container while maintaining sufficient strength. Also, if the adhesive is excessively sprayed on the cap mounting portion, the appearance and feel of the packaging container will be impaired.

In the case of the heat sealing method, hot air is applied to the cap mounting portion of the packaging container to melt the film on the surface of the packaging material forming the packaging container, so that it is necessary to raise the temperature of the hot air. In addition to the long time required, the time required to melt the film is also long, resulting in a low processing speed. In the case of the ultrasonic sealing method, since the film on the surface of the packaging material forming the packaging container is melted by ultrasonic waves, it is necessary to provide an ultrasonic generator, and the cost of the cap attaching device is high. turn into. In addition, the time required to melt the film becomes longer, so that the processing speed becomes lower.

In view of the above, a cap mounting apparatus has been proposed in which a predetermined portion on the back side of the cap is heated and melted, and the cap is pressed against a packaging container and adhered. In that case, a package holder and a picking device for holding the packaging container are arranged at a plurality of positions on the peripheral edge of the index table, and the index table is intermittently rotated by a predetermined angle by a drive motor. And
By rotating the index table, the packaging container is moved, and the cap is gripped by the picking device in accordance with the movement of the packaging container, heated, and then pressed on the packaging container and adhered. Further, the packaging container conveyed by the conveyor is pushed into the package holder by the pushing device, and the packaging container after the cap is attached is pushed out of the package holder by the pushing device.

However, in the cap mounting device having the above-described structure, the package holder and the picking device are arranged on the index table.
The cap mounting device becomes large. Further, since the load applied to the index table increases, the load applied to the drive motor increases, and the energy consumed increases.

When the positioning accuracy of the packaging container is low when the packaging container is pushed into or out of the package holder, the packaging container hits the package holder and is crushed. . As a result, the processing efficiency of the cap mounting device decreases. The present invention solves the problems of the conventional cap mounting apparatus, and provides a cap mounting apparatus that can be reduced in size, consume less energy, and improve processing efficiency. The purpose is to:

[0010]

For this purpose, in the cap mounting apparatus of the present invention, there is provided a cap supply means for intermittently supplying a cap, a base conveyor which is continuously run and transports a packaging container, and Positioning means for positioning the packaging container at the sticking position on the base conveyor in correspondence with the position of the cap in the cap supply means, and moving at a speed equal to the traveling speed of the base conveyor; And an attaching means for attaching the cap to a packaging container.

In another cap mounting device of the present invention, the cap supply means is an index table which holds the cap and is rotated intermittently. In still another cap mounting device of the present invention, the positioning means is run at a speed higher than the running speed of the base conveyor, and is equal to an accelerating conveyor for accelerating a packaging container, and a running speed of the base conveyor. It is provided with a transport conveyor which is run at a speed and has positioning pieces formed at an equal pitch.

In still another cap mounting device of the present invention, the attaching means is an application head movably disposed in a vertical direction and a horizontal direction.

[0013]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a plan view of a cap attaching device according to an embodiment of the present invention.
In the figure, reference numeral 11 denotes a frame of the cap attaching device, 12
Is a cap handling unit that transports a cap (not shown), 15 is an endless belt, is continuously driven by driving a driving unit (not shown), and is a base conveyor that transports the packaging container P in the direction of arrow D. A first packaging container transport unit 17 for separating the packaging container P is set downstream from the first packaging container transport unit 16 in the transport direction of the packaging container P, and the packaging container P is placed on the base conveyor 15. A second packaging container transport unit 18 for positioning the index is used to index the cap transported by the cap handling unit 12, and an index table is provided as a cap supply means for intermittently supplying the cap. 19 is a predetermined index on the back surface of the cap. A burner for heating and melting the seal portion set at the location, A cap attached portion for attaching the cap to the container P.

The cap handling section 12 includes an elevator 21, a cap sheet picker 22, and a chute 2.
3, cap sheet conveyor 24, first cutter 25,
Inverter 26, cap web conveyor 27, second cutter 28, cap shooter 29, and cap picker 31
Consists of The cap is made of a thermoplastic resin, and is formed as an 8 × 12 matrix cap sheet (not shown) by an injection molding method. In the cap sheet, each cap is integrally connected to an adjacent cap by a break formed at one point on each side, and thus can be easily separated.

A plurality of cap sheets are accommodated in an accommodating case (not shown) with the back surface facing upward, and are set in a loading portion set below the cap sheet conveyor 24. A feeder (not shown) is provided in the loading unit, and the storage case is set on a lifter of the elevator 21 by the feeder. When the storage case is set on the lifter, the elevator 21 raises the storage case by driving a driving unit (not shown) and stops at a predetermined picking position.

The cap sheet picker 22 is disposed above the elevator 21. The cap sheet picker 22 sucks the cap sheet in the storage case by negative pressure, and pushes the cap sheet in the direction of arrow A. It is conveyed and placed on the cap sheet conveyor 24. The cap sheet conveyor 24 is driven in a direction indicated by an arrow A by driving a driving unit (not shown). When the cap sheet is placed, the cap sheet is conveyed and sent to the first cutter 25. Since the cap sheet conveyor 24 is disposed at an angle with respect to the direction in which the cap sheet is conveyed, the cap sheet is urged toward the sheet feed guide 32 with the conveyance. Therefore, the cap sheet is accurately conveyed along the sheet feed guide 32, and is accurately positioned when it reaches the first cutter 25 disposed at the front end (the left end in the drawing) of the cap sheet conveyor 24.

A sensor (not shown) is provided on the cap sheet conveyor 24. The remaining amount of the cap sheet is detected by the sensor. Is sucked and placed on the cap sheet conveyor 24. When all the cap sheets in the storage case are sucked, the empty storage case is discharged to the chute 23.

The first cutter 25 cuts (rows) the cap sheet to form an 8 × 1 band-shaped cap web (not shown). In addition, the inverter 26 includes:
After inverting the cap web and turning the surface up,
It is set on the cap web conveyor 27. The cap web conveyor 27 is provided with the cap sheet conveyor 2.
4 and is driven by a driving means (not shown) to convey the cap web in the direction of arrow B, and to a second end disposed at the front end (the lower end in the figure) of the cap web conveyor 27. Send it to cutter 28.

The second cutter 28 cuts the cap web, separates the caps one by one, and sends the cap to a cap shooter 29. The cap shooter 29 transports the separated caps one by one in the direction of arrow C,
(The right end in the figure). Then, the cap waits to be clamped by the cap picker 31 in the standby section.

The cap picker 31 clamps the cap waiting in the waiting section, moves the cap in parallel while clamping, and sets it on the index table 18. For this purpose, the cap picker 31 includes an upper arm and a lower arm (not shown), and clamps the cap by sandwiching the upper arm and the lower arm from both upper and lower sides.

Next, the index table 18 will be described. FIG. 2 is a plan view of the index table according to the embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, reference numeral 18 denotes an index table, which is rotatably disposed around a shaft 35 and has pockets 36 at a plurality of positions in the circumferential direction, for example, at eight positions. Each pocket 36 has a U-shaped cross section and is formed by two fingers 37, 38 arranged tangentially and arranged in parallel with each other. An interval is formed between the fingers 37 and 38 so that the cap C can be supported at both edges.

The index table 18 is
It is intermittently rotated at a speed of 140 steps per minute by a drive motor such as a servo motor (not shown).
In this case, the tact time is about 420 [ms] and the stop time is about 330 [ms], and the cap C is set during the stop time. Each pocket 36 is moved to the first station S by rotation of the index table 18.
1 to the eighth station S8, and the cap C at each of the first to fifth stations S1 to S5.
Are performed.

The first station S1 functions as a cap receiving section, and in the first station S1,
The cap C clamped by the cap picker 31 (FIG. 1) is inserted into the pocket 36. When the cap C is inserted into the pocket 36, the cap picker 3
The upper and lower arms (not shown) of 1 are separated,
The clamp is released.

Each of the packaging containers P is not always conveyed continuously on the base conveyor 15, and may come off depending on the conveyance conditions of the base conveyor 15. Therefore, the packaging container P is detected by photoelectric switches 55 (FIG. 3) and 56 serving as packaging container detection means, which will be described later, provided on the exit side of the first packaging container transport unit 16, and the controller 57 detects the cap C It is determined whether or not the packaging container P to which the packaging container P has been passed has passed between the photoelectric switches 55 and 56. If the packaging container P has not passed, the cap picker 31 clamps the cap C at a predetermined timing. It is stopped so that the cap C is not set on the index table 18.

The second station S2 and the third station S2
Station S3 includes a first pre-heating unit and a second pre-heating unit, respectively.
The cap C is preheated by the heated air in the second station S2 and the third station S3. For this purpose, air nozzles (not shown) for blowing heated air to the back surface of the cap C are provided at each of the second and third stations S2 and S3.
3, the heated air is supplied from an unillustrated heated air source to the air nozzle. In the present embodiment, air is used as the heating medium, but a gas other than air may be used.

Further, the fourth station S4 functions as a main heating section, and in the fourth station S4,
The cap C is heated, and the seal set on the back surface of the cap C is melted. To this end, a burner 19 is provided at the fourth station S4, the burner 19 is provided with a plurality of nozzles arranged in a pattern corresponding to the shape of the seal portion, and performs electrolysis in an electrolysis device (not shown). The hydrogen gas and oxygen thus generated are supplied to the burner 19 as a mixed gas and burned. Then, a micro frame is formed in each nozzle, and the seal portion is accurately heated by each micro frame. In this case, since it is not necessary to use a high-pressure gas container such as a cylinder, the safety of the cap mounting device can be improved.

The distance between the cap C and the burner 19 is 2.5 mm, and the heating time is about 330 mm.
[Ms], and the supply amount of hydrogen gas is about 1.6 [l /
m], and the supply amount of oxygen is set to about 3.2 [l / m]. As described above, the cap C is heated after being sufficiently preheated. Therefore, even if the temperature of the atmosphere in which the cap attaching device is provided, the temperature of the contents in the packaging container P, and the like change, each cap may be heated. C is heated under certain conditions. Therefore, the sealing portion can be stably melted. Further, since preheating and heating can be performed with the cap C stopped, not only the preheating time and the heating time can be sufficiently secured, but also the nozzle and the burner 19 can be fixed. Therefore, the third station S
The mechanism of the third and fourth stations S4 can be simplified.

The fifth station S5 functions as a cap take-out unit. In the fifth station S5, the cap C is attached to the pocket 36 by an application head (not shown) as a sticking means provided on the cap sticking unit 20. Taken out of In addition, the sixth station S6, the seventh station S7, and the eighth station S8 function as backup units, and the sixth station S6
6, the cap C is not transported at the seventh station S7 and the eighth station S8.

In this embodiment, the seal portion is heated by the micro frame. However, the seal portion can be heated by hot air. Further, the cap C is stuck by melting the seal portion, but the cap C can be stuck by an adhesive. Next, the first packaging container transport section 16 will be described.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of a first packaging container transport section in the embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the first packaging container transport section in the embodiment of the present invention. As shown in the figure, a cutting conveyor 41 arranged along the base conveyor 15 on the entrance side of the cap mounting device is provided in the first packaging container transporting section 16, and the cutting conveyor 41 is Then, the packaging containers P transported at an arbitrary interval on the base conveyor 15 are cut off one by one, and transported at substantially constant intervals.

To this end, the separating conveyor 41 includes endless belts 43, 44 disposed on both edges of the base conveyor 15, and each of the belts 43, 44 includes driving pulleys 45, 46 and driven pulleys 47, 48. It is stretched between.
A drive motor 49 is provided adjacent to the separation conveyor 41, and an output pulley 51 of the drive motor 49,
A drive belt 52 is stretched between the drive pulleys 45 and 46 and the idle pulley 53.

Therefore, when the output pulley 51 is rotated by driving the drive motor 49, the drive pulleys 45 and 46 are rotated in the directions of arrows E and F, and the belts 43 and 44 are rotated in the directions of arrows G and H. You can run. Here, the traveling speed of the base conveyor 15 is V0,
Assuming that the running speed of the belts 43 and 44 is V1, the running speeds V0 and V1 are set so that V0> V1.
In addition, each belt 43, 4 on the base conveyor 15
The distance between 4 is set slightly smaller than the width of the packaging container P.

Therefore, when the packaging container P transported by the base conveyor 15 at the traveling speed V0 reaches the first packaging container transport section 16, the packaging container P is moved to the belt 4
Since each of the packaging containers P is transported between the belts 43 and 44, the subsequent packaging container P catches up while being transported between the belts 43 and 44. By the way, photoelectric switches 55 and 56 are disposed on the exit side of the first packaging container transport unit 16, and the photoelectric switches 55 and
The packaging container P is detected by 56.
The detection signals from the photoelectric switches 55 and 56 are sent to the controller 57, and the controller 57 determines whether the packaging container P has passed between the photoelectric switches 55 and 56. When the controller 57 determines that the packaging container P has passed between the photoelectric switches 55 and 56,
At this timing, the drive motor 49 is stopped by the driver 58, and the running of the belts 43 and 44 is stopped. As a result, the subsequent packaging container P is braked by the belts 43 and 44 and stopped on the base conveyor 15.

During this time, since the base conveyor 15 continues to travel, the packaging container P passing between the photoelectric switches 55 and 56 is transported in the direction of arrow D as it is. Subsequently, at a second timing when a set time has elapsed from the first timing, the controller 57 outputs the driver 58.
The drive motor 49 is driven by this, and the running of the belts 43 and 44 is started. As a result, the subsequent packaging container P is transported by the belts 43 and 44.

The packaging container P is a photoelectric switch 55,
After passing through the interval 56, the controller 57 causes the driver 58 to stop the driving motor 49 at the first timing, and stops the running of the belts 43 and 44 again. As a result, the subsequent packaging container P is braked by the belts 43 and 44 and stopped again on the base conveyor 15.

In this way, the drive motor 49 is intermittently driven, and the set time elapses after the packaging container P is unreeled from the first packaging container transport section 16 and passes between the photoelectric switches 55 and 56. Each time, the next packaging container P is fed out, so that each packaging container P is transported on the base conveyor 15 at the set transport pitch and is sent to the second packaging container transport section 17 (FIG. 1). .

Here, assuming that the set time is τ1 and the transport pitch is p1, the transport pitch p1 is p1 = τ1 · V0. Next, the second packaging container transport section 17 will be described.

FIG. 5 is a plan view of a second packaging container transport unit according to the embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 6 is a conceptual perspective view of a main part of the second packaging container transport unit according to the embodiment of the present invention.
As shown in the figure, the second packaging container transport section 17 includes first and second regions AR1 and AR2 downstream of the first packaging container transport section 16 in the transport direction of the base conveyor 15.
Is set to Then, in the second packaging container transport section 17, a transport conveyor 61 is disposed along the base conveyor 15 in the first and second areas AR1 and AR2, and along the base conveyor 15 in the first area AR1. An acceleration conveyor 62 is provided. The transport conveyor 61 positions the packaging container P (FIG. 4) at the sticking position corresponding to the position of the cap C on the index table 18. Further, the acceleration conveyor 62 accelerates the packaging container P to position the packaging container P at the sticking position. The transporting conveyor 61 and the accelerating conveyor 62 constitute a positioning means.

The transport conveyor 61 includes endless belts 63 and 64 disposed on both edges of the base conveyor 15.
And the belts 63 and 64 are stretched between the driving pulleys 65 and 66 and the driven pulleys 67 and 68. A drive motor 69 is disposed adjacent to the conveyor 61, and a drive belt 7 is provided between the output pulley 71 of the drive motor 69, the drive pulleys 65 and 66, and the idle pulley 73.
2 is installed. In the vicinity of the upper edges of the belts 63 and 64, positioning pieces 75 and 76 are formed so as to project at an equal pitch. In this embodiment, the positioning pieces 75 and 76 are formed on the belts 63 and 64. However, since the cap attaching portion of the packaging container P is located on the belt 64 side, one of the belts It is also possible to form the positioning piece 76 only at the position 64. In this case, since the packaging container P can be positioned at a portion close to the cap mounting portion, the mounting accuracy of the cap C can be increased.

The accelerating conveyor 62 includes endless belts 8 provided on both edges of the base conveyor 15.
3 and 84, and each belt 83 and 84 is
5 and 86 and the driven pulleys 87 and 88 are stretched. Here, the traveling speed of the base conveyor 15 is V0,
The running speed of the belts 63 and 64 is V2, and the belt 8
Assuming that the traveling speed of the vehicle 3 and 84 is V3, the traveling speeds V0 and V
2, V3 is set so that V0 = V2 <V3. The distance between the belts 83 and 84 is set slightly smaller than the width of the packaging container P.

Therefore, the packaging container P fed out from the first packaging container transport section 16 is used for the second packaging container transport section 1.
7, the belts 83, 84
And is accelerated and conveyed at a speed equal to the traveling speed V3, and approaches the second area AR2. Then, the front wall of the packaging container P hits the positioning pieces 75, 76 of the belts 63, 64 running at the running speed V2, and then passes below the index table 18, and the positioning pieces 75, It is conveyed at the same speed as the traveling speeds V0 and V2 together with 76. In this case, since the positioning of the packaging container P is performed based on the front wall of the packaging container P, even if the dimensions of the packaging container P vary, the sticking accuracy of the cap C does not decrease.

In this manner, the packaging container P is transported by the transport conveyor 61 while the base container 15 is being transported.
It is positioned at a predetermined sticking position above. By the way, the traveling speed V3 of the belts 83 and 84 is
The driving pulleys 85 and 86 and the driving pulleys 65 and 66 are connected via transmission means (not shown) to increase the traveling speed V2 of the driving pulleys 85 and 86 by the driving means. Drive pulleys 65, 66
Higher than the rotation speed of The belts 83, 8
The driving pulleys 85 and 86 can be rotated by another driving means so that the traveling speed V3 of the belt 4 is higher than the traveling speed V2 of the belts 63 and 64. Further, the rotation speed of the driving pulleys 85 and 86 and the rotation speed of the driving pulleys 65 and 66 can be made equal, and the diameter of the driving pulleys 85 and 86 can be made larger than the diameter of the driving pulleys 65 and 66.

When the packaging container P reaches the first area AR1 and is accelerated by the accelerating conveyor 62, the first position of the packaging container P and the positioning pieces 75 and 76 are prevented from interfering with each other. The width between the belts 63 and 64 and the width between the belts 83 and 84 in the area AR1 are set so as to gradually decrease from the upstream side to the downstream side in the traveling direction of the packaging container P. For this purpose, the abutment plate 9 is brought into contact with the inner portions of the belts 63 and 64 in the first area AR1.
1 and 92 are disposed, and the inner portions of the belts 63 and 64 are deflected by the stiffening plates 91 and 92. The positions of the driven pulleys 67, 68, 87, 88 are set slightly outside the positions of the drive pulleys 85, 86 in the width direction of the base conveyor 15.

A packaging container preheater (not shown) is disposed above the base conveyor 15 in the first area AR1. The packaging container P is heated by the heated air injected from the nozzle of the packaging container preheater. Is preheated, and water droplets adhering to the top wall are blown off. In this way, when the packaging container P is positioned at a predetermined sticking position on the base conveyor 15, the cap C taken out of the index table 18 by the application head disposed on the cap sticking section 20 is Affixed to the cap mounting portion on the top wall of the packaging container P.

Next, the cap attaching section 20 will be described. FIG. 7 is a front view of the application head according to the embodiment of the present invention. In the drawing, reference numeral 20 denotes a cap sticking portion, 95 denotes a frame, and 96 and 97 alternately move the cap C above the base conveyor 15.
FIG. 5 is an application head for affixing (FIG. 5) to a cap mounting portion on the top wall of the packaging container P.

The application heads 96 and 97 are
It is attached to the tips of the brackets 98 and 99 and is moved together with the brackets 98 and 99 while drawing a predetermined trajectory above the base conveyor 15. for that reason,
The brackets 98 and 99 are movably supported by a cam mechanism in the vertical and horizontal directions. In this case, assuming that the traveling speed of the base conveyor 15 is V0 and the moving speed of the brackets 98, 99 in the horizontal direction is V5, the running speed V0 and the moving speed V5 are set so that V0 = V5. . Therefore, the cap C can be attached while the packaging container P is being conveyed by the base conveyor 15. In this case, based on the position of the cap C, the positions of the belts 63 and 64, that is, the positions of the positioning pieces 75 (FIG. 6) and 76 are adjusted so that the position of the packaging container P matches the position of the cap C. You.

Then, the application head 9
6, 97, a suction port (not shown) is formed on the lower surface, and the suction port is selectively communicated with a vacuum source (not shown),
Fifth station S5 of the index table 18
In FIG. 2, the cap C is received, moved downward while sucking the cap C by the negative pressure formed in the suction port, and presses the cap C against the top wall of the packaging container P. At this time, since the sealing portion on the back surface of the cap C is melted, the cap C is stuck to the top wall. Since the packaging container P is formed of a packaging material whose surface is covered with a film, the film is also melted when the cap C is attached.

In this case, since the cap C is attached by the two application heads 96 and 97, the cam mechanism can be simplified and the mechanical accuracy can be increased, and the adjustment can be performed. Becomes easier. When the cap C is attached to the top wall,
The cap C is pressed against the top wall with a predetermined pressing force. Therefore, a backup belt can be run on both edges of the base conveyor 15 so that the packaging container P is not deformed by the pressing force.

The packaging container P to which the cap C has been attached in this way is discharged from the second packaging container transport section 17. Further, the operation of the cap picker 31 (FIG. 1), the running of the belts 63 and 64, the application head 96,
The operation of 97 is performed by driving the same drive means, which is driven in synchronization with a drive motor for rotating the index table 18.

As described above, since the packaging container P is continuously transported by the base conveyor 15 and only the cap C is transported by the index table 18, the package holder and the cap for holding the packaging container P on the index table 18 are provided. There is no need to provide a picking device for holding C. Therefore, the cap mounting device can be downsized.

Further, since the load applied to the index table 18 is reduced, the load applied to the drive motor is reduced, and the energy consumed can be reduced. Moreover, since the strength of the index table 18 can be reduced, the cost of the cap mounting device can be reduced. Then, since it is not necessary to push the packaging container P into or out of the package holder, the packaging container P does not hit the package holder and is crushed. As a result, the processing efficiency of the cap mounting device can be improved.

Since the packaging container P is transported by the base conveyor 15 and only moves in a straight line,
The transport state can be stabilized. Therefore, since the packaging container P can be reliably positioned, the sticking accuracy of the cap C can be increased. It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, but can be variously modified based on the gist of the present invention, and they are not excluded from the scope of the present invention.

[0053]

As described above in detail, according to the present invention, in the cap mounting apparatus, the cap supply means for intermittently supplying the cap, and the base for continuously running and transporting the packaging container. A conveyor, positioning means for positioning a packaging container at an attaching position on the base conveyor, corresponding to a position of the cap in the cap supply means, and the cap moved at a speed equal to a traveling speed of the base conveyor; Sticking means for removing the cap from the supply means and sticking the cap to the packaging container.

In this case, the packaging container is continuously conveyed by the base conveyor, and only the cap is supplied by the cap supply means, so that the cap supply means holds the package container for holding the packaging container and the cap. There is no need to provide a picking device. Therefore, the cap mounting device can be downsized.

Further, since the load applied to the cap supply means is reduced, the load applied to the drive motor is reduced.
Energy consumption can be reduced. In addition, since the strength of the cap supply means can be reduced, the cost of the cap mounting device can be reduced. Since it is not necessary to push the packaging container into the package holder or to push it out of the package holder, the packaging container does not hit the package holder and is not crushed. As a result, the processing efficiency of the cap mounting device can be improved.

Further, the packaging container is transported by the base conveyor and only moves in a straight line, so that the transport state can be stabilized. Therefore, the positioning of the packaging container can be ensured, so that the accuracy of attaching the cap can be increased.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a cap attaching device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of an index table according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of a first packaging container transport unit in the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of a first packaging container transport unit in the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a plan view of a second packaging container transport unit in the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a conceptual perspective view of a main part of a second packaging container transport unit in the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a front view of the application head according to the embodiment of the present invention.

[Description of Signs] 15 Base conveyor 18 Index table 20 Cap attaching part 61 Conveyor 62 Acceleration conveyor 75, 76 Positioning piece C Cap P Packaging container

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Yukihisa Kumeda 6-12 Kioicho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo Inside Tetra Pak Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Kazutaka Ueda 377-1 Yodomizu-cho, Fushimi-ku, Kyoto, Kyoto F-term in Kyoto Works (reference) 3E049 AA03 AB03 BA01 CA04 DB01 EA03 EA07 EB03 EC03 FA01 3E075 AA04 BA03 BA04 BB22 CA10 DA15 DA17 DA23 DB12 DD16 DD31 DE03 FA03 FA13 FA23 GA04 GA05

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A cap supplying means for intermittently supplying a cap, (b) a base conveyor which continuously runs and conveys a packaging container, and (c) a position of the cap in the cap supplying means. (D) moving at a speed equal to the traveling speed of the base conveyor, removing the cap from the cap supply means, And a sticking means for sticking the cap to the packaging container. 2. The cap mounting device according to claim 1, wherein the cap supply means is an index table that holds the cap and is rotated intermittently. 3. The positioning means is run at a speed higher than the running speed of the base conveyor, is accelerated at a speed equal to the running speed of the accelerating conveyor for accelerating the packaging container, and the base conveyor, and is arranged at a constant pitch. The cap mounting device according to claim 1, further comprising a transport conveyor on which a positioning piece is formed. 4. The cap mounting device according to claim 1, wherein the attaching unit is an application head movably disposed in a vertical direction and a horizontal direction.