JP2001171612A - Airtight packaging method, airtight packaging apparatus, and attitude changing apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve the treatment efficiency by shortening the total long working time required to continuously achieve the total processes including opening of a packaging bag, charging works in the bag, closing the bag, evacuation of the bag, and sealing a mouth in this order in a directly-connected manner when a semi conductor storage case is packaged in an airtight manner in a clean room since it takes time to complete evacuation and sealing. SOLUTION: A bagging part 2 to open the bag 5 and store an article W in this bag 5 and a mouth sealing part 4 to close the bag 5 with the works the article W stored therein and seal the mouth 5b after evacuating the bag 5 are provided separately, and connected to each other via a transfer part 3 to achieve the bagging process and the mouth sealing process side by side.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an airtight packaging method, an airtight packaging device, and a posture changing device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art When transferring or stocking semiconductors such as wafers and disks, the semiconductors are stored in a dedicated storage case in advance, and the storage case is further placed in an airtight packaging bag. In some cases, the bag is hermetically sealed by a method of degassing (evacuating) the inside of the bag and sealing the mouth. In this case, the packaging operation is generally performed in a clean room, similarly to the semiconductor manufacturing or handling operation. Conventionally, this type of packaging work includes opening an airtight packaging bag, inserting an article (that is, a storage case in the above case) into the bag, closing the bag, and degassing the bag ( Various steps such as performing through a suction pipe held at the time of closing) and sealing the closed mouth are performed in this order.

[0003]

In the above-described series of packaging operations, the steps of deaeration of the inside of the bag and sealing of the mouth are other steps for improving airtightness (interruption with outside air). Requires a longer processing time. For this reason, if the above-mentioned packaging operation is an integrated operation in which each step is continuously performed in a directly connected state, the entire operation time may require a long time, and this has a problem that the processing efficiency is low. Further, assuming that an automatic machine for performing such an integrated operation is to be developed, all the process processing mechanisms and the like are concentrated around the holding position of the airtight packaging bag, so that the entire apparatus is concentrated. As a result, there is a fear that the structure becomes complicated and large.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and provides an airtight packaging method capable of improving the processing efficiency, and at the time of employing this method, can be mechanically simple and compact. An object of the present invention is to provide an airtight packaging device. Further, the present invention can be suitably adopted in this type of hermetic packaging device and the like (use is not limited to this), and it is possible to change the posture of the article before and after the transfer of the article. It is an object of the present invention to provide a posture conversion device which can be made extremely simple and compact in terms of mechanism and structure.

[0005]

According to the present invention, the following technical measures have been taken in order to achieve the above object. That is, in the airtight packaging method according to the present invention, a bag packing step of opening the airtight packaging bag and storing the articles in the bag, and closing the bag containing the articles to deaerate or deaerate the inside of the bag. The sealing step of sealing the mouth portion without performing the process is performed in parallel with each other with the passing operation of the bag having the articles stored therein from the bag filling step to the sealing step.

[0006] Therefore, the bag filling step can be advanced without being affected by the opening step (degassing, sealing, etc.) which requires a relatively long processing time. Therefore, for example, a plurality of mouth sealing steps can be connected to the bag packing step. In opening the bag in the bag filling step, the corners on both sides of the bottom of the bag are pulled outward in the diagonal direction of the bag. Furthermore, at the same time, it is preferable that both the side and the bottom of the bag sandwiching the corner, or one of the side and the bottom of the bag, be pushed toward the center of the bag. is there.

[0007] That is, it is generally considered preferable to use a bag formed of a relatively hard and stiff material such as an aluminum laminating film as a bag in a package emphasizing airtightness. When a locally hardened and rugged material is locally handled such that only the mouth of the bag is opened, the possibility of wrinkles at the bottom of the bag increases. Therefore, simultaneously with the opening of the mouth, by pulling the corners on both sides of the bottom of the bag outward in the diagonal direction of the bag as described above, it is possible to prevent wrinkles at the bottom and the like,
Thereafter, when the mouth is sealed, the occurrence of pinholes or the like is prevented. At the same time, when the side and / or bottom of the bag is pushed toward the center of the bag, the opening state of the bag can be made into a cubic shape over the entire bag, and the insertion of articles can be facilitated.

In the case where this packaging method is performed in a clean room, in consideration of the fact that clean air is normally maintained in an environment in which clean air flows in a down flow in the clean room, the bag is closed in the bag packing step or the mouth sealing step. It is preferable that the part is held in an upright state with the part facing upward. In other words, if the mouth of the bag is upward, not only is it difficult for particles to enter the inside of the bag, but also the downflow is prevented and the accumulation of particles itself can be suppressed, so the inside of the bag must be clean. I can keep it. In addition, there is also an advantage that the space can be made compact, so that the interior of a clean room where environmental costs are expensive can be effectively used.

However, in the bag filling step, the bag can be held in a flat state with the mouth sideways. In this case, the mouth of the bag is opened sideways, but in order to store the articles in this mouth, the articles prepared in the upright state must be stored sideways in accordance with the bag and then stored. Need to be done. Therefore, in order to move the article from the erect state to the side-down state, the article is moved around the rotation axis by a half circle around the rotation axis inclined along the bisector of the vertical direction and the horizontal direction. Can be adopted.

In this method, the article is lifted, moved between predetermined positions, installed at the destination (down), and moved at the end of the movement by a single operation of half-circle movement of the article. ° A plurality of operations such as posture change (change from an erect state to a sideways state) can be satisfied at a stretch. On the other hand, the airtight packaging device according to the present invention has a bagging portion and a mouth sealing portion which are arranged adjacent to each other, and a transfer portion provided therebetween. The bag packing section includes at least opening means for an airtight packaging bag, and the transfer section is capable of delivering the bag containing the articles from the bag packing section to the mouth sealing section.

[0011] Further, the mouth sealing section has a closing means for closing the bag containing the articles carried in by the transfer section, and a sealing means for sealing the mouth of the bag.
The opening portion may further be provided with deaeration means for evacuating the inside of the bag with articles stored therein, which is carried in by the transfer portion and closed by the closing means. In the opening means of the bag filling portion, wrinkle straightening means capable of pulling the corners on both sides of the bottom of the bag diagonally outward of the bag, and pushing the side and / or bottom of the bag toward the center of the bag. It is preferable to provide a bag opening promoting means for the above-mentioned reason.

The opening means of the bag filling section includes a bag table for holding the bag in a flat state in which the mouth thereof is horizontal, and an article carrying means for carrying articles in an upright state near the bag table. And a posture conversion device for transferring the articles carried by the article carrying means to the front of the mouth of the bag held on the bag table while turning the articles sideways, and an article transferred by the posture conversion device. And insertion means for pushing the bag into the bag on the bag table. Further, as a posture conversion device according to the present invention, a reversing drive unit in which a transfer arm extending in the radial direction around a rotation axis inclined between a vertical direction and a horizontal direction is rotatable; And an article holding section provided at the distal end of the transfer arm so as to be able to move circumferentially. This article holding section extends from before the circumferential movement to after the circumferential movement and between the transfer arm and the transfer arm. The holding posture of the article can be relatively fixed.

For example, the rotation axis is set as a bisector (45 ° inclined line) between the vertical direction and the horizontal direction, and the transfer arm and the article holding section are moved around the circumference by about half a circle (180 degrees).
(Degrees), the article held by the article holding unit is subjected to a 90-degree posture change (for example, a change from an upright state to a side-down state) with respect to the original posture after the circumferential movement. It was done. Therefore, this posture conversion device
When employed in the opening means of the bag packing section described above, the article in the upright state is lifted from the carry-out section of the article carrying means, the article is transferred from the article carrying means to the front part of the bag table, and is placed on the bag table. A plurality of operations, that is, a state in which the articles are placed sideways at the same time at the time of transfer, can be satisfied at a stretch.

[0014] Therefore, while being extremely simple and compact in terms of mechanism and structure, a quick and reliable operation can be obtained, and the positioning of articles after moving can be maintained with high accuracy. In addition, since the driving part such as the reversing driving part can be positioned downward, if this posture changing device is installed in the clean room, it is easy to maintain the clean room cleanly (there is little winding of particles). This is also an advantage.

[0015]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. 1 to 10 show a first embodiment of an airtight packaging device 1 according to the present invention. FIG.
FIG. 2 is a plan view showing a first embodiment of the airtight packaging device 1 according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a view taken along line AA of FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a line BB of FIG. FIG. As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the hermetic packaging device 1 includes a bag packing unit 2, a transfer unit 3, and a mouth sealing unit 4. The bag packing unit 2 and the mouth sealing unit 4 are adjacent to each other, and the transfer unit 3 is provided so as to transfer the bag 5 for hermetic packaging from the bag packing unit 2 to the mouth sealing unit 4. ing.

The bag filling section 2 is provided with opening means 8 for the bag 5. The opening means 8 is provided in opposition on both sides of the holding means 11 for holding (suspending) the bag 5 in an upright state in which the mouth 5b thereof faces upward, and on both sides of the bag 5 in the holding state. A pair of suction means 12 and a driving means (not shown) for holding these suction means 12 so as to be able to approach and separate from each other, and further provided with a wrinkle stretching means 15 and a bag opening promoting means 16. It is a thing. The suspending means 11 is configured to be able to sandwich the upper end of the side 5a on both sides of the bag 5 (a part close to the mouth 5b).
It has a pair of pinch devices 18 provided to face each other, and an advance / retreat driving device 19 such as a fluid pressure cylinder which enables these two pinch devices 18 to be moved toward and away from each other synchronously. The forward / reverse drive 19 is fixed to the apparatus frame 21 via a bracket 20.

The suction means 12 is provided on both sides 5 c of the bag 5.
The suction cups 23 are arranged correspondingly at a plurality of places while giving particular importance to the periphery of the mouth 5b, and these suction cups 23 are appropriately connected to a suction device (not shown) by air. The driving means for the suction means 12 is not shown, but is not shown.
A suction cup holder 25 for holding the suction cups 23 of the suction means 12 is held by a linear guide or the like so as to be horizontally movable (left and right directions in FIGS. 1 and 3), and these suction cup holders 25 are wound around driving means or cam drive. Means or a well-known structure of synchronously moving in the facing direction by a fluid pressure cylinder or the like is employed.

The wrinkle stretching means 15 is provided at the bottom 5 of the bag 5.
d Insert the corners 5e on both sides (the lower ends of both sides 5a) into the bag 5
And has a pair of pinch devices 27 and a vertical movement device 28 such as a fluid pressure cylinder which can synchronously move the pinch devices 27 up and down. Both upper and lower moving members 28 are fixed to the apparatus frame 21 via a bracket 29. The bag opening promoting means 16 includes a side pressing portion 30 capable of pressing the side 5a of the bag 5 toward the center of the bag and a bottom pressing portion capable of pressing the bottom 5d of the bag 5 toward the center of the bag. And a part 31.

The side pressing portion 30 and the bottom pressing portion 31
In each of the embodiments, a pressing element 32 formed of a round bar or the like is made movable by an advance / retreat driving tool 33 such as a fluid pressure cylinder. The operation status of the bagging unit 2 is as follows.
It looks like this: That is, first, in the opening means 8, the suspending means 11 causes the two pinch devices 18 to face and approach each other by the advance / retreat driving tool 19, and the bag 5 is suspended by being pinched by the pinch devices 18.

Next, both suction means 12 are moved toward each other by driving means (not shown) to bring suction cups 23 into contact with both surfaces 5c of bag 5, respectively.
At the same time as the start of the suction, the driving means reverses the operation to separate the two suction means 12 from each other. When the suction means 12 are separated from each other, the wrinkle stretching means 15
Moves the up-and-down moving tool 28 upward and the pinch device 27
By holding both corners 5e of the bag 5 by holding the vertical moving tool 28 downward, the corners 5e are pulled outward (diagonally downward) along the diagonal direction of the bag 5. .

At the same time, the side pressing portion 30 and the bottom pressing portion 31 of the bag opening promoting means 16 respectively advance the retreat driving tool 33, and the pressing element 32 causes the side portion 5a and the bottom portion 5d of the bag 5 to move. To the center of the bag,
That is. By such a series of operations in the bag stuffing unit 2, the mouth 5b of the bag 5 is greatly opened, and the bag 5 is inflated not only in the mouth 5b but also in a cubic shape as a whole bag. Therefore, the article W is held in a state suitable for storage. In addition, at least around the mouth 5b, there is no wrinkle that would be inconvenient at the time of subsequent closing.

The transfer section 3 is provided with the bag packing section 2 as described above.
5 which is opened by the above and further stores the article W
Is transferred from the bag packing portion 2 to the mouth sealing portion 4, and the upper side of the side portions 5 a on both sides of the bag 5 (slightly below the portion of the bag packing portion 2 sandwiched by the suspending means 11). A pair of pinch devices 35 provided opposite to each other so as to be able to be pinched, and a forward / backward drive device 36 such as a fluid pressure cylinder which enables these two pinch devices 35 to be moved toward and away from each other synchronously.
And an up-down moving device 37 for moving these pinch devices 35 up and down together with the forward / backward driving device 36, and a moving mechanism 39 for moving the up-down moving device 37 along a guide rail 38 extending between the bag filling portion 2 and the mouth sealing portion 4. And

Accordingly, the operation of the transfer unit 3 is as follows. That is, the hanging means 1 of the bag stuffing unit 2
The forward / backward driving tools 36 on both sides bring the pinch devices 35 into close proximity to the bag 5 held by the device 1, and the bag 5 is suspended by being pinched by the pinch devices 35. Then, in lieu of this, the hanging means 11 of the bag stuffing unit 2 waits for the bag 5 to be released, and then the vertical moving device 37 lowers the pinch device 35 and the advance / retreat driving device 36, and this vertical moving device The moving mechanism 39 moves the 37 to the mouth sealing section 4.

Then, when the vertical moving tool 37 reaches the mouth sealing portion 4, the vertical moving tool 37 raises the pinch device 35 and the forward / backward driving tool 36. During this time, the pinch device 35 maintains the sandwiching state, and the advance / retreat driving device 36 maintains the advance state. By such a series of operations in the transfer section 3, the bag 5 is
In this case, the mouth 5b is held open. On the other hand, the mouth sealing section 4 has a closing means 42, a degassing means 43 and a sealing means 44.

The closing means 42 is for closing the bag 5 with articles stored therein, which is carried in by the transfer unit 3, and is located near the upper end of the side 5a on both sides of the bag 5 in the open state (the pinch device of the transfer unit 3). A pair of pressing members 50 (only shown in FIG. 3 and omitted in FIG. 1) provided opposite each other with the both sides of the portion sandwiched by 35 sandwiched therebetween, and these pressing members 50 can be moved toward and away from each other. Driving means 51 for holding (see FIG. 1)
And In the first embodiment, one of the pressing members 5
0 is fixed, and only the other pressing body 50 is
It is assumed that it is moved by 1. In addition, as the driving means 51, one using a fluid pressure cylinder as a driving source has been shown.

The pressing body 50 is made of a relatively soft elastic material such as sponge. This is because when the two pressing bodies 50 are brought closest to each other, it is necessary to add an intake pipe 53 of the deaeration means 43 described later between the pressing bodies 50. This is to satisfy the requirement that the user 5b perform hermetic closing. When the closing means 42 closes the bag 5, the degassing means 43 puts the suction pipe 53 into the mouth 5 b of the bag 5 and then degass the inside of the bag 5 via the suction pipe 53. It is about to be done.

In the first embodiment, as described above, in the transfer section 3, the bag 5 is lifted from below when the bag 5 is carried into the mouth sealing section 4, so that the suction pipe 53 is provided in a fixed state. . However, the intake pipe 53 may be moved up and down. Needless to say, the suction pipe 53 is appropriately connected to a suction device (not shown) by air. After the inside of the bag 5 is evacuated, the bag 5 may be filled with an inert gas such as nitrogen gas. In this case, a switching valve (not shown) or the like is provided in the intake pipe 53. A gas filling device (not shown) may also be connected via this.

The sealing means 44 seals the mouth 5b of the bag 5 which has been closed and evacuated, and uses the above-mentioned opening / closing operation of the closing means 42. A sealing heating element 55 is attached to a lower part of the pressing body 50 provided in the closing means 42 (considered to be located below a lower end of the intake pipe 53 in the deaeration means 43). Next, based on the operation status of the airtight packaging device 1 having such a configuration,
The airtight packaging method according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

In this airtight packaging method, as is apparent from the above-described airtight packaging apparatus 1, the bagging step (ie, bagging) until the bag 5 is opened and the article W is stored in the bag 5 is opened. Operation performed in the section 2) and a closing step of closing the bag 5 in which the article W is stored, evacuating the inside of the bag 5, and sealing the opening 5b (that is, in the closing section 4). Work to be performed). Bagging process (bagging unit 2
4), first, as shown in FIG. 4, the suspending means 11 of the opening means 8 puts the bag 5 in the upright state in which the mouth 5b faces upward, and puts the bag 5 in the suspended state. And the adsorption means 1
The bag 5 is opened as shown in FIG. 5 by the combination operation of 2 and its driving means.

At this time, both corners 5e of the bag 5 are pulled outwardly (diagonally downward) along the diagonal direction of the bag 5 by the wrinkle straightening means 15, and the bag opening promoting means 1 is opened.
6, the side 5a and the bottom 5d of the bag 5 are pushed toward the center of the bag. In this way, the bag 5 in the bag stuffing section 2 has its mouth 5b greatly opened, and the bag 5 is expanded not only in the mouth 5b but also in a cubic shape as a whole bag. W is kept in a state suitable for storage. In addition, at least the mouth 5b
The surroundings are in a state where no wrinkles that would be inconvenient at the time of subsequent closing are generated.

In this situation, the transfer section 3 is in a state where it can hold the bag 5 of the bag filling section 2 near the upper end of the both side portions 5a (slightly below the portion held by the hanging means 11). . Therefore, as shown in FIG. 6, the article W is stored in the open bag 5 by, for example, manual operation. Next, as shown in FIG. 7, the transfer unit 3 holds the bag 5 of the bag filling unit 2 near the upper end of the both side parts 5 a (slightly below the part held by the hanging means 11), The hanging means 11 releases the bag 5 instead. Therefore, the bag 5 in which the articles W are stored is suspended by the transfer unit 3.

After the suction of the suction means 12 is released and the operation of the wrinkle stretching means 15 and the bag opening promoting means 16 are stopped (evacuated), the transfer section 3 lowers the held bag 5 once, and 4 and move up after the movement. Thereby, the bag 5 in which the article W is stored is
As shown in FIG. 8, the mouth 5 is transferred to the mouth sealing portion 4, and the mouth 5 b is held in an upright state with the mouth 5 b facing upward. At this time, the bag 5 is positioned so that its mouth 5b is located directly below the suction pipe 53 of the deaeration means 43 waiting downward (that is, in a state where the lower end of the suction pipe 53 is inserted into the mouth 5b). Become).

From here, the mouth-sealing step (ie, the work performed in the mouth-sealing part 4) is started, and as shown in FIG.
2 presses the pressing body 50 from both sides of the mouth 5b against the article-stored bag 5 so as to be in a sandwiching state and close the bag. Here, since the pressing body 50 is formed of a relatively soft elastic material such as a sponge, the mouth 5b of the bag 5 is formed.
Even if the airbag is in a state where the intake pipe 53 of the deaeration means 43 is held, the inside and the outside of the bag 5 are airtightly shut off. Here, the deaeration means 43 deaerates the inside of the bag 5. After the deaeration, the bag 5 may be filled with an inert gas such as nitrogen gas at a predetermined pressure, if necessary.

Next, the sealing means 44 is connected to the sealing heating element 5.
5 is heated, and the closed and degassed bag 5 is opened.
Is sealed. Finally, as shown in FIG. 10, the transfer unit 3 releases the bag 5 after the sealing is completed (that is, the airtight packaging of the article W is completed) or transfers the bag 5 to an appropriate carrying-out means (not shown) so that the airtight packaging is performed. Ends one cycle.
At the time when this mouth-sealing step is started (FIG. 8 and thereafter), the bag packing portion 2 is vacant, and a new bag 5 is suspended by the hanging means 11 of the opening means 8 from this point in time. Then, it is sufficient to start the storage of the articles (that is, the bag filling step).

In this manner, the bag filling step and the mouth sealing step are performed in parallel with each other. In this case, the bagging process is performed by selecting one of the stocked materials in a stacked state.
The bag 5 is taken out, the taken-out bag 5 is opened and inflated in a predetermined shape at a predetermined position, the state is maintained, and the articles W are aligned at an accurate position so as to face the bag 5. There are many types of work, each work is relatively complicated and difficult to mechanize, and when mechanized, there is a dislike that the device becomes complicated and large, and in the hermetic packaging method according to the present invention, this is left to manual work. Can be said.

[0036] This also leads to an advantage that it is possible to easily cope with a case where the kind of the bag 5 or the article W is changed. On the other hand, the mouth sealing step requires a reliable and highly accurate operation for degassing and sealing while taking a relatively long time, and this is mechanized in the hermetic packaging method according to the present invention. , You can say. Therefore, as a whole flow, any work is smooth and without failure,
In addition, a product with little time loss can be obtained, and high efficiency can be obtained.
In particular, since the operation of the operator is suppressed to a small amount in the bag filling process (it is sufficient if the operator is at a fixed position), the operation itself is reduced, and the generation of particles is suppressed as much as possible.
It has a number of advantages.

In the case where the processing speed in the bagging step greatly exceeds the processing speed in the mouth-sealing step, it may be adopted to carry out a plurality of mouth-sealing steps in connection with the bagging step. It is good. 11 to 14 show a second embodiment of the airtight packaging device 1 according to the present invention. In the airtight packaging apparatus 1 of the second embodiment, the most different point from the above-described first embodiment is not only the sealing step (the sealing section 4) but also the bag packing step (the sealing section 2). As an example of the point of having been mechanized (fully automated), and as a solution for realizing it in a compact form, the opening means 8 of the bag-packing unit 2 (because the details are substantially the same as those of the first embodiment, The detailed description using the drawings is omitted. The hanging means 11 will be described later.) The bag 5 is placed flat and the mouth is held in a horizontal position.

The structure of the opening means 8 which is significantly different from that of the first embodiment will be described.
The article carrying means 61 for carrying the article W in an upright state is provided in the vicinity of the bag table 60 which holds the article in a flat state, and the carrying-out portion 61a of the article carrying means 61 and the front of the bag table 60. A posture conversion device 62 for the article W is provided between the two. In addition, the bag table 60
Insertion means 63 for pushing the article W transferred by the posture changing device 62 into the bag 5 on the bag table 60.
Is provided.

The article carrying means 61 is a driving conveyor such as a belt conveyor or a non-driving conveyor such as a free roller conveyor, and the article W is conveyed in an upright state. Therefore,
In the posture changing device 62, the article W in the upright state is taken out, turned to the side down state, and then transferred toward the bag table 60. This posture changing device 62 is provided in the vertical direction Y as shown in FIG.
A transfer arm 66 (see FIGS. 11 and 12) extending in the radial direction is rotatable about a rotation axis P inclined along a bisector (45 ° inclination line) between the axis and the horizontal direction X. A reversing drive section 67 and an article holding section (not shown) provided at the tip of the transfer arm 66 of the reversal drive section 67.

The article holding portion has a structure of gripping the article W by a handling operation, a structure of sucking the article W by a suction action, or hooking the portions between the article W and the transfer arm 66 appropriately. What is necessary is just to employ | adopt the thing of the structure etc. which hold | maintain goods W. When the transfer arm 66 of the reversing drive section 67 rotates, the article holding section vertically moves between the unloading section 61a of the article loading means 61 and the front of the mouth of the bag 5 held on the bag table 60. It moves circumferentially along a meridian that intersects with the midpoint between the bisected position of Y and the horizontal direction X.

At this time, it is important that the article holding section can relatively fix the holding posture of the article W with the transfer arm 66 before and after the circumferential movement. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 14A, before the rotation, in the intermediate rotation position shown in FIG. 14B, and after the rotation shown in FIG. And the posture is converted. In such a posture conversion device 62,
With only a single operation of moving the article W about half a circle (about 180 °), the article W is lifted from the article carrying means 61 and moved from the article carrying means 61 to the front portion of the bag table 60. A plurality of operations such as installation (unloading) at the destination and changing the 90 ° attitude of the article W at the end of the movement (change from the erect state to the sideways state) can be satisfied at a stretch.

Therefore, while being extremely simple and compact in terms of mechanism and structure, quick and reliable operation can be obtained, and the position of the article W after moving can be maintained with high accuracy. are doing. In addition, in this configuration, the driving portion such as the reversing driving portion 67 can be positioned downward, so that when it is installed in the clean room, it is easy to keep the clean room clean (there is little winding of particles). There is also an advantage. The insertion means 63 employs a fluid pressure cylinder or the like as it is.

As shown in FIG. 13, in the second embodiment, in the suspending means 11 provided in the opening means 8,
A pair of pinch devices 18 provided to face each other so as to be able to sandwich forward portions (portions near the mouth 5b) of both side portions 5a of the bag 5;
And a slide mechanism 71 that allows these vertical tools 70 to move laterally. Although not shown, the slide mechanism 71 employs, for example, an endless wrapping drive mechanism, a different traveling mechanism based on a combination of a rack and a pinion, or a different fluid pressure cylinder. The devices 18 can be moved toward and away from each other synchronously.

The transfer section 3 is opened by the bag filling section 2 and, on the side of the bag 5 in which the articles W are stored, the side portions 5a on both sides thereof (for the portion held by the hanging means 11). (A little later), a pair of pinch devices 35, a vertically moving device 73 for vertically moving these two pinch devices 35, and a guide rail 74 extending between the vertically movable device 73 and the bag filling portion 2 and the mouth sealing portion 4. And a moving mechanism 75 for moving it. Although not shown, the moving mechanism 75 employs, for example, an endless winding drive mechanism, a different traveling mechanism formed by a combination of a rack and a pinion, or a different fluid pressure cylinder. Vertical movement 73
Are moved along the guide rail 74 while maintaining a constant interval between them, and the two vertical
5) can be made to be able to approach and separate from each other synchronously.

The operation of the hanging means 11 and the transfer section 3 is as follows. That is, it is assumed that the hanging means 11 is in a state of holding the bag 5 after raising the two pinch devices 18 by the up-down moving tool 70, and the opening to the bag 5 and the storage of the article W have already been performed. . Therefore, the transfer unit 3 is configured such that the moving mechanism 75 aligns the two pinch devices 35 with the bag filling unit 2, the vertically moving tool 73 raises the two pinch devices 35, and the moving mechanism 75 operates
, The bag 5 is held in the same holding state by both the pinch devices 35.

Next, the hanging means 11 releases the holding of the bag 5 by the pinch device 18 instead of this, and separates the two pinch devices 18 from each other by the slide mechanism 71 and the both pinch devices by the up-and-down movement tool 70. 18 is performed. Next, in the transfer section 3, the moving mechanism 75 is configured to
3 (that is, both pinch devices 35) is moved to the mouth-sealing portion 4 with the mutual interval kept constant. As a result, the bag 5 is transferred from the bag filling unit 2 to the mouth sealing unit 4. When the bag 5 is closed, evacuated, sealed at the mouth, and the like, the transfer unit 3 releases the pinch device 35 from holding the bag 5, and the moving mechanism 75 uses the two pinch devices. 35, and the lowering of the two pinch devices 35 by the vertically moving device 73, and further, the returning of the both vertically moving devices 73 (that is, both the pinch devices 35) to the bag packing portion 2 by the moving mechanism 75. That is.

11 and 12, a label sticking device 80 for sticking a label 79 to the bag 5 is provided at the back of the bag table 60 in the bag filling section 2. In the direction, a magazine section 81 for storing the bags 5 in a stacked state, and the magazine section 8
Pickup table 82 for taking out one to one bag 5
From the pick-up table 82 to the bag table 60
A positioning table 83 for positioning the bag 5 is provided as preparation for feeding the bag 5.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, but can be changed as appropriate according to the embodiments.
For example, in the airtight packaging method according to the present invention, it is not limited that the inside of the bag 5 is evacuated in the mouth sealing step, and it is also possible to close the bag 5 and seal the opening 5b without evacuating. Alternatively, it is also possible to close the bag 5 and seal the opening 5b simply by filling another replacement gas. Therefore, also in the airtight packaging device 1 according to the present invention, the mouth sealing portion 4 can be configured not to include the deaeration means 43.

The bag opening promoting means 16 of the bag filling portion 2 may be provided with both the side pressing portion 30 and the bottom pressing portion 31, or may be provided with only one of them. In addition, even when both the side pressing portion 30 and the bottom pressing portion 31 are provided, depending on the material (particularly hardness), thickness, aspect ratio, folded shape, and the like of the target bag 5. Alternatively, only one of the side pressing portion 30 and the bottom pressing portion 31 may be operated, and the other may be rested. The posture changing device 62 is not limited to be used in the airtight packaging device 1 described above, but can be used as a device for changing the posture of an article in various article conveying processes. Therefore, the angle range in which the article is posture-changed can be appropriately changed according to the adoption scene, and accordingly, the inclination angle of the rotation axis P is also changed appropriately between the vertical direction Y and the horizontal direction X. You can do it.

[0050]

As is apparent from the above description, in the airtight packaging method according to the present invention, a bag filling step for opening the airtight packaging bag and storing the articles, and closing, deaeration and opening of the bag. The sealing process is separated from the sealing process, and both processes are performed in parallel. Therefore, the processing efficiency can be improved, and the hermetic packaging apparatus according to the present invention, which can perform such a method. Then, it can be mechanically simple and compact.

Further, in the posture changing device according to the present invention, the transfer arm is rotated about the inclined rotation axis, and the article is moved circumferentially by the article holding portion at the tip end thereof. Lifting, transferring and unloading this article,
A plurality of operations of changing the posture at the time of transfer can be satisfied at once, and a quick and reliable operation can be obtained while being extremely simple and compact in terms of mechanism and structure.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing a first embodiment of an airtight packaging device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a view taken along the line AA of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a view taken in the direction of arrows BB in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing an operation state of the airtight packaging device according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing an operation starting state following FIG. 4 in the airtight packaging apparatus of the first embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing an operation state subsequent to FIG. 5 in the airtight packaging device of the first embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing an operation state subsequent to FIG. 6 in the airtight packaging device of the first embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing an operation state subsequent to FIG. 7 in the airtight packaging device of the first embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view showing an operation state subsequent to FIG. 8 in the airtight packaging device of the first embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a perspective view showing an operation state subsequent to FIG. 9 in the airtight packaging apparatus of the first embodiment.

FIG. 11 is a plan view showing a second embodiment of the airtight packaging device according to the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a perspective view showing a second embodiment of the airtight packaging device according to the present invention.

FIG. 13 is a perspective view of a transfer unit employed in the second embodiment.

FIG. 14 is an explanatory diagram of the operation of the attitude conversion device according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Airtight packaging device. 2 Bag stuffing part 3 Transfer part 4 Mouth sealing part 5 Bag 5a Side part 5b Mouth part 5c Surface 5d Bottom part 5e Corner part 11 Opening means 42 Closing means 43 Degassing means 44 Sealing means 15 Wrinkle expanding means 16 Opening promoting means Reference Signs List 60 bag table 61 article carrying-in means 61a carrying-out section 62 attitude conversion device 63 insertion means 66 transfer arm 67 reversing drive section W goods Y vertical direction X horizontal direction P axis of rotation

Claims (10)

[Claims] 1. A bag-filling step of opening an airtight packaging bag (5) and storing an article (W) in the bag (5), and closing the bag (5) containing the article to close the bag (5). A sealing step of sealing the mouth portion (5b) with or without degassing the inside of the bag is performed between the bagging step and the delivery operation of the bag (5) with articles stored therein from the bagging step to the sealing step. An airtight packaging method characterized by performing parallel processing on each other. 2. In the bag filling step, when opening the bag (5), the corners (5e) on both sides of the bottom (5d) of the bag (5) are pulled outward in the diagonal direction of the bag (5). 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the side portions (5a) and / or the bottom portion (5d) of the bag (5) sandwiching the corner portion (5e) are pushed simultaneously toward the center of the bag while simultaneously performing these operations. Airtight packaging method as described. 3. In the bagging step or the mouth sealing step,
The airtight packaging method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the bag (5) is held in an upright state with the mouth (5b) facing upward. 4. The bag (5) in the bagging step,
In order to hold the upright article (W) in the bag (5) in a state where the mouth (5b) is placed in a horizontal position with the mouth (5b) in a horizontal position, the erect article (W) is placed in a vertical direction (Y). An article by means for moving the article (W) by half a circle around the axis of rotation (P) centered on the axis of rotation (P) inclined along a bisector with the horizontal direction (X) 3. The airtight packaging method according to claim 1, wherein (W) is changed from an upright state to a sideways state. 5. It has a bag packing part (2) and a mouth sealing part (4) arranged adjacent to each other, and a transfer part (3) provided therebetween. ) Has at least an opening means (8) for an airtight packaging bag (5), and the transfer section (3) has a bag (5) in which articles have been stored from the bag packing section (2) to the mouth sealing section (4). ) Can be delivered and received, and the above-mentioned sealing part (4)
Closing means (42) for closing the bag (5) with articles stored therein, which is carried in by the transfer section (3), and the bag (5)
A sealing means (44) for sealing the opening (5b) of the airtight packaging device. 6. An article storage bag (5) which is carried into the mouth sealing portion (4) by the transfer portion (3) and closed by the closing means (42). The airtight packaging device according to claim 5, further comprising a deaeration means (43) for deaeration of the inside. 7. The opening means (8) of the bag packing portion (2) has a corner (5) on both sides of a bottom (5d) of the bag (5).
e) a wrinkle straightening means (15) capable of pulling the bag (5) diagonally outward, and a side (5a) and / or a bottom (5d) of the bag (5) can be pushed toward the center of the bag. The airtight packaging device according to claim 5 or 6, further comprising a simple bag opening promoting means (16). 8. A bag table (60) for holding the bag (5) in a flat state with its mouth (5b) oriented sideways, in the opening means (8) of the bag filling section (2). An article carrying means (61) for carrying the article (W) in an upright state near the bag table (60); and the article table (W) carried by the article carrying means (61) while the article (W) is turned sideways. (60) A posture changing device (62) for transferring the bag (5) held on the front of the mouth, and an article (W) transferred by the posture changing device (62) is stored in a bag table (60). 8. The airtight packaging device according to claim 5, further comprising an insertion means (63) for pushing the upper bag (5) into the upper bag (5). 9. The posture changing device (62) includes an unloading section (61a) of an article loading means (61) and a bag table (60).
The center of the rotation axis (P) which is inclined along the bisector of the vertical direction (Y) and the horizontal direction (X) between the front face of the mouth of the bag (5) held above and the A reversing drive section (67) that enables the transfer arm (66) extending in the radial direction to be rotatable.
And a transfer arm (66) in the reversing drive section (67).
An article holding part provided at the tip of the bag and moving circumferentially between the carry-out part (61a) of the article carry-in means (61) and the front of the mouth of the bag (5) held on the bag table (60). The airtight packaging device according to claim 8, comprising: 10. A reversing drive unit that enables a transfer arm (66) extending in a radial direction about a rotation axis (P) inclined between a vertical direction (Y) and a horizontal direction (X) to be rotatable. 6
7) and the transfer arm (6) in the inversion drive section (67).
6) an article holding portion provided at the distal end portion and capable of circumferential movement, the article holding portion being provided between the transfer arm (66) before and after the circumferential movement. An attitude conversion device, wherein a holding attitude of an article (W) can be relatively fixed.