JP2001310816A - Positioning method for article and its device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a positioning method for an article and its device for positioning an article between a front end regulating member and a rear end regulating member by bringing into contact with the front end regulating member from the front in the conveying direction of the article on the way of conveying without applying excess force to the article. SOLUTION: The front end regulating means 30 traveling with a traveling means 10 comprising sprockets 13, 14 and an endless chain 15 is operated by a cam means 40 arranged along the traveling means 10. The front end regulating means 30 is relatively approached to the front end part a2 of the article A from the front in the conveying direction to the article A during conveying, and conducts positioning of the front and rear ends in the traveling direction between a pusher 3 which is the rear end regulating means capable of regulating the position of the rear end part a1 and itself. A front end regulating plate 31 becomes more distant in the front in the conveying direction of the article A after positioning and change of the attitude of the article A and damage of the article A can be prevented.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for positioning an article such as a solid package while the article is being conveyed by conveying means.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, depending on the size of a stick-shaped or stick-shaped article such as a confectionery, it may be processed individually or in a package. For example, in the case of packaging using a packaging machine, some of these articles meet a certain standard and are mass-produced, such as a food factory. Time and cost savings are made. When packaging by hand, it is possible to pack the package by bringing it to the bottom of the bag, but in order to perform processing by various machines provided downstream of the conveying means, positioning the end of the article, It is convenient to align them.

[0003] If the article is packaged with the edges of the article positioned or aligned, a good-looking package can be obtained and the package can be compactly packed. It is expected that the use amount will be reduced and the packaging cost and environmental impact will be reduced. If they are not aligned and are not aligned, unintended articles may be jammed by a sealing means such as a heat seal bar when closing the opening of the packaging material such as heat sealing or binding. When the parts are aligned, such biting is prevented, so that the occurrence of troubles of the packaging machine can be expected to be reduced.

[0004] In a film packaging in which a slender plant such as a green onion is to be packaged, a finger claw that runs at a predetermined interval in the same direction as the transport direction of the package with the root side of the slender plant forward. Supply the article to be packaged, insert it into the packaging film after pressing the root side of the slender plant against the front fingernail, the packaging film by a known horizontal pillow packaging machine,
A packaging method for obtaining a package of a slender plant by applying a vertical seal, a horizontal seal, and cutting has been proposed (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Sho.
2-4019 and JP-A-62-94518). In order to press the root side of the slender plant against the front fingernail, the roller carrying the slender plant rides on the guide rail as the chain travels, rotates it, and adds the peripheral speed of the roller to the traveling speed accompanying transport With this, slender plants are accelerated and transported to a speed exceeding the running speed of the chain. It has also been proposed to use an endless belt instead of the guide rail as the acceleration means (for example, see Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 52104/1987).

[0005] Incidentally, articles grouped in a plurality of units may be conveyed in a horizontal direction by a conveying means such as a conveyor provided with a pusher. The grouped articles are conveyed by frictional force from the conveying surface when the conveying surface moves with the movement of the conveyor like a belt conveyor, but are conveyed by being pushed by a pusher on the non-moving conveying surface. At this time, since the supply of the articles to the transporting means is generally performed roughly, the ends are not uniform. The pusher comes into contact with only some of the articles, and pushes some of the articles during transportation, and the other articles are pushed by the frictional force of the article pushed by the pusher. In any case,
In the case of grouped articles, in particular, in the case of an elongated rod-shaped article in the transport direction, the front-end articles of some articles are often not always aligned. Therefore, conventionally, the alignment plate engaging with the front end of the article conveyed by the conveyance means, in front of the front end of the article, by driving vertically or swinging back and forth by an actuator such as an air cylinder,
2. Description of the Related Art A front end article of a plurality of articles is arranged between an aligning plate and a pusher.

[0006] If the bag is pushed into the bag only by the frictional force between the conveyor surface of the conveyor and the bottom surface of the article at the packaging position of the destination, the pushing force is small and is not evenly transmitted to all the articles.
Even though the ends are once aligned, the contact between the bag and the article may cause the article to be packed out of alignment within the bag. Therefore, it is preferable that each of the articles in the aligned state is pushed into the bag by pushing the rear end of the article with the pusher.

In an automatic packaging machine in which a pusher of a conveyor pushes a rear end of an elongated article such as spaghetti or dry noodle into a bag while pushing the rear end thereof, a pusher for pushing a rear end of the article and a pusher of the article for aligning the ends are provided. There has been proposed an article aligning apparatus in which an end of an article is aligned by sandwiching the article between a pusher abutting plate abutting on a front end of the article (see Japanese Utility Model Application Laid-Open No. SHO 51-51).
-17190). In this article alignment device, when the irregularly arranged packages are provided on the article transfer trough tip article and come into contact with an opening / closing plate provided with a balance weight, each of the gradually protruding packages is temporarily stopped from moving forward. The pusher is further advanced after the alignment is completed, and the pushing force of the advancing pusher pushes up the opening / closing plate via the package to feed the package to the bag making device. Shortly before the package is completely sent into the bag making machine, a signal from the packaging machine causes an actuator provided separately to forcibly rotate the opening / closing plate upward against the balance weight, and To remove the holding power.

[0008]

A structure for aligning irregularities in the conveying direction of an article by sandwiching the front and rear ends of the article with a force while applying the force to the article is a fragile article such as a cookie or dry noodle. In some cases, this can cause damage to the item. On the other hand, if the length of an article is determined as a certain standard, if the article is regulated so that it falls within the range of the standard, the irregularity of the article in the transport direction of the article is within an allowable error. It is possible to align the ends. In addition, in consideration of the subsequent processing, it is structurally simple and reliable to transport the article in accordance with the rear end reference. Therefore, during the transportation of single articles or grouped articles that are supplied rough and are intermittently transported one after another, without stopping the transport of the articles and without exerting an excessive alignment force on each article, There is a problem to be solved in that positioning of the front and rear ends of the article in the transport direction is continuously performed.

[0009]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to solve the above-mentioned problems, and it is desirable that an article be transported by a transporting means having a regulating means for a rear end in the transporting direction.
An object of the present invention is to provide an article positioning method and an apparatus for continuously positioning the front and rear ends of each article in the transport direction without applying an excessive force to the articles.

[0010] The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-mentioned object.
It is configured as follows. That is, the present invention conveys the article by conveyance means having a rear end regulation means capable of regulating the position of the rear end of the article, and conveys the front end regulation means engageable with the front end of the article. The article is relatively approached from the front in the conveyance direction, and the front and rear ends of the article being conveyed between the front end regulation means and the rear end regulation means are positioned, and the front end after the positioning of the article is performed. The present invention relates to a method for positioning an article, comprising moving a regulating means forward in the direction of transport of the article being transported.

Further, the present invention is applied to a conveying means provided with a rear end regulating means capable of regulating the position of a rear end of an article, and in a positioning device for positioning the article during conveyance, the conveying means Traveling means for traveling along a traveling path along the transport direction of the article, front end regulating means attached to the traveling means and capable of engaging with a front end of the article being transported, and As you travel,
With respect to the front end regulating means, the article is being conveyed relatively closer from the front in the conveying direction of the article being conveyed, and the front and rear ends of the article being conveyed between the rear end regulating means are positioned in the conveying direction. The present invention relates to an article positioning device comprising a cam means for performing a positioning operation for moving the article being transported forward in the transport direction after the positioning.

According to the method and the apparatus for positioning an article according to the present invention, the article is conveyed by the conveying means having the rear end regulating means capable of regulating the position of the rear end.
At this time, the article may be supplied in a state where the article has already been regulated by the trailing end regulating means, but is usually in an unregulated state because it is roughly supplied to the transport means. By moving the front end regulating means which can be engaged with the front end of the article relatively closer to the article being conveyed from the front in the conveyance direction of the article being conveyed, the article is moved rearward with respect to the article being conveyed. Regardless of whether or not the position is already regulated by the end regulating means, positioning of the front and rear ends in the transport direction is performed between the front end regulating means and the rear end regulating means. Further, after the article is positioned, the front end regulating means is moved away from the front in the conveying direction of the article being conveyed, so that the front end regulating means does not change the posture or damage the positioned article. In the article positioning device, the traveling means travels along a traveling route along the transport direction of the transporting means, and the front end regulating means attached to the traveling means moves the front end of the article being transported along with the traveling of the traveling means. In this case, the front and rear ends of the article are positioned with respect to the rear end regulating means.

[0013] The articles are a plurality of small articles arranged in a lateral direction with respect to the conveying direction, and by positioning the front and rear ends of the articles in the conveying direction, at least the small articles are arranged. The front ends are aligned. The length of the small article in the transport direction is often constant, but is not necessarily limited to such an article. Even if the length of small articles is not uniform,
The front end regulating means which relatively approaches the small article being conveyed from the front in the transport direction makes it possible to align at least the front end of the small article. If the rear ends of the small articles are also aligned by the rear end regulating means, both ends in the length direction of the small articles are aligned.

[0014] The conveying means conveys the article placed on a conveying surface, and has a pusher as the rear end regulating means capable of regulating the position of the rear end of the article. Conveyor. The pusher may be of a type that always pushes the article during transportation,
Also, the article is placed on rollers and belts and transported,
It may be one that has a function of pushing out an article when the article is transferred from the conveyor.

The article is a package which is conveyed to a packaging machine by a package supply device and is packaged by the packaging machine, and the method and apparatus for positioning the article comprises a means for conveying the package. It is applied to the package supply device. The position of the package in a container such as a bag is related to problems such as the occurrence of biting with respect to closing of the bag mouth by heat sealing, and the formation of extra space in the bag and the inability to realize tight packaging. is there. By applying the article positioning method and apparatus in the package supply apparatus, by positioning at least the front end of the article, biting of the article in the subsequent packaging machine is prevented, and tight packaging becomes possible. The workability and handleability of the packaging machine are improved.

In the article positioning apparatus, the traveling means is an endless traveling means having a rotating wheel disposed along a transport direction of the transporting means and an endless body wound around the rotating wheel and traveling. The traveling route is a lower traveling route that travels on a side of the endless body near the transporting means. The rotating wheel and the endless body are a sprocket or a pulley and an endless chain or an endless belt, respectively. Since the endless traveling means circulates above the transport means,
The traveling route is a lower traveling route that travels on the side of the endless body that is closer to the transporting means.

The running means receives a distribution of driving force from a drive system for driving the transport means, and is driven in synchronization with the transport means. By arranging a plurality of rear end regulating means on the transport means at equal intervals, attaching a plurality of front end regulating means on the traveling means at equal intervals, and driving the traveling means and the transport means in synchronization, each rear end regulating means With respect to each article conveyed by the conveying means provided with, each front end regulating means attached to the traveling means sequentially approaches and engages with the front end of the article at an appropriate position and posture to continuously position the articles. Becomes possible.

The front end regulating means is provided integrally with the front end regulating plate rotatably provided with respect to the traveling means and the front end regulating plate. A cam follower for rotating the front end regulating plate and a spring means for urging the cam follower toward the cam means. Therefore, since the cam follower provided integrally with the front end regulating plate is pressed by the cam means by the urging force of the spring means, when the traveling means travels, the front end regulating plate provided on the traveling means is moved by the cam means. And a cam follower that receives a cam action between the two, thereby changing the position and posture of the article being conveyed. That is, the front end regulating plate approaches the front end of the article from the front in the conveying direction of the article being conveyed, and positions the front and rear ends of the article in the conveying direction with the rear end regulating means. A positioning operation of moving away from the front in the transport direction of the article is performed.

The cam means comprises a cam surface disposed along the traveling means and engaging with the front end regulating means, and the cam surface is provided for moving the front end regulating means to the article above the transport means. 1st run in non-interference posture
A second surface that is connected to the cam surface and the first cam surface and changes the front end regulating unit to a position in which the front end regulating unit can contact the front end of the article;
A third position which is connected to the cam surface and the second cam surface and positions the article by maintaining the posture of the front end regulating means and relatively approaching the front end regulating means from the front in the transport direction of the article being transported; A fourth cam surface connected to the cam surface and the third cam surface for changing the posture of the front end regulating means to a position away from the front end of the article being conveyed in a positioned state. That is, the positioning operation by the front end regulating means is performed by a mechanical means such as a cam means having a cam face which is divided into the first to fourth cam surfaces and each of which is shared over time and functionally. If the running of the means and the conveyance of the conveying means are synchronized, the positioning operation of each front end regulating means is performed reliably and continuously for each article, and the collision with the rear end regulating means of the front end regulating means and the Can be prevented from being damaged.

The traveling means, the front end regulating means, and the cam means are formed as a unit, and are arranged so as to be able to move up and down in a lump with respect to the frame of the transport means. That is, the traveling unit, the front end regulating unit, and the cam unit, which are unitized, are lifted and lowered collectively with respect to the frame of the conveying unit according to the size of the article, and incorporated into the conveying unit of the positioning device. Removal becomes easy, and the front end regulating means can be moved to an optimal vertical position with respect to the article.

[0021]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of an article positioning method and apparatus according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a front view showing an embodiment of an article positioning apparatus according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the article positioning apparatus shown in FIG. 1 taken along the line BB, and FIG. It is CC sectional drawing of the positioning apparatus of the article shown. In addition,
The front end regulating means 30 is partially omitted in the drawing.

An article positioning device 1 according to the present invention comprises:
This is a device for regulating the positions of both ends of the article A in the conveying direction while the article A is being conveyed by the conveying means 2 and positioning the article A on the conveying means 2. The transporting means 2 is a pusher conveyor in the illustrated example, and a rear end portion a _{1 of the} article A.
The pusher 3 is a rear end regulating means capable of regulating the position of the pusher 3. The pusher 3 is a chain 5 that runs along a groove-like transport path 4 formed by both side walls 6 and 6.
Are arranged at predetermined intervals L. The transporting means 2 shown in the figure, as best shown in FIG.
Is a roller conveyor in which a number of rollers 7 (only some of which are indicated and denoted by reference numerals) are directly arranged in a horizontal direction. The pusher 3 serves to push out the article A from the transporting means 2 for transfer when feeding the article A to a packaging machine (not shown) such as a pillow packaging machine.

In the example shown in the figure, the article A is like dry noodles.
Although it is composed of a number of laminated elongated small articles, it may be a food such as a stick-shaped confectionery or a cookie. In addition, the article A may be one or more bar-shaped vegetables such as onions, eggplants, and cucumbers, or industrial products such as electrodes and metal bars. Further, in terms of the number, the articles A may be single articles or a large number of small articles as illustrated.

In the case of grouped articles A,
When the article A is conveyed in a state of being placed on the roller 7, a part of the rear end portion a ₁ of the article A is conveyed by the abutment against the pusher 3, the remainder of the irregular state of the articles A May be transported. Regardless rear portion a ₁ is on whether irregular or sometimes all of the components of the article A is misaligned not abut the pusher 3. Even when the article A is a single article, the article A may be conveyed without being in contact with the pusher 3 and being displaced.

In order to correct and align the positional deviation or irregularity of the article A as described above, the article positioning device 1 includes a traveling means 10 traveling along a traveling path 11 along the transport direction D of the transport means 2, 10 engageable with the front end portion a ₂ of the article a in the attached and are conveyed to a front end regulating means 30,
And a cam means 40 for causing the front end regulating means 30 to perform a positioning operation as the traveling means 10 travels along the traveling route 11. The positioning operation performed by the cam means 40 with respect to the front end regulating means 30 is such that the articles A being conveyed relatively close to the article A being conveyed from the front in the conveying direction to the pusher 3 which is the rear end regulating means. This is an operation of positioning the front and rear ends in the transport direction with the object A interposed therebetween and, after positioning the article A, moving the article A being transported away from the front in the transport direction.

The traveling means 10 includes a lifting frame 2 which will be described later.
Double sprocket type drive sprocket 1 rotatably supported at 0 and continuously driven to rotate in a predetermined direction
3 and the driven sprocket 14, and both sprockets 13,
14 is an endless chain running means comprising an endless chain 15 wound around each of them, and a lower running path 11 along the conveying direction D of the conveying means 2 and an upper running path 12 parallel to the running path 11. have. On the lower traveling route 11 near the transporting means 2, the endless chain 15 travels in the same direction as the transporting direction D (FIGS. 1 and 2) by the transporting means 2.

The vertical frame 20 can be adjusted in the vertical direction with respect to the fixed frame 21, and is used for initial setting when the positioning device 1 is mounted on the transport unit 2 and for the transport unit 2.
In order to facilitate attachment and detachment from the user, and to change the height position of the front end regulating means 30 according to the shape of the article A,
The vertical position with respect to the transport means 2 is adjusted. The vertical position of the lifting frame 20 is adjusted by a screw action of a handle shaft 23 that is rotated by the handle 22. The lifting frame 20 includes a substrate 24, a sub-plate 25 disposed parallel to the substrate 24, and a support 26 for attaching the sub-plate 25 to the substrate 24. Drive sprocket 13
Is mounted on a drive shaft 27 rotatably supported by the base plate 24 and the sub plate 25, and the driven sprocket 14
Is a driven shaft 28 attached to the substrate 24 and the sub plate 25.
It is supported rotatably.

Travel guides 16, 16 for stabilizing the travel of the endless chain 15 are provided on the lower travel path 11 and the upper travel path 12 of the traveling means 10.
With respect to the driven sprocket 14, in order to adjust the tension of the endless chain 15, on each side of the base plate 24 and the sub plate 25 of the elevating frame 20, a long hole and an adjusting screw which enable adjustment of the gap between the driven sprocket 14 and the driving sprocket 13 are used. Is provided. Further, in order to prevent foreign matter from being scattered to the articles due to the running of the chain, the periphery of the endless chain running means can be covered by an appropriate case.

The engageable front regulating means 30 to the front end portion a ₂ of the article A being conveyed is attached to spaced a predetermined distance from the endless chain 15 constituting the driving means 10. 1 to 3, only a part of a plurality (six) of the front end regulating means 30 is shown for simplicity. The front end regulating means 30 is
The front end regulating plate 31, which is provided rotatably with respect to the endless chain 15, is provided integrally with the front end regulating plate 31, and rotates the front end regulating plate 31 by a cam action generated between the front end regulating plate 31 and the cam means 40. A cam follower 32 is provided, and a coil spring 33 as a spring means for urging the cam follower 32 toward the cam means 40. The installation interval of the front end regulating plate 31 is, as described later,
Is set slightly longer than the installation interval L of the pusher 3 of the conveying means 2 in order to match the traveling speed of the conveying means 2 slightly lower than the conveying speed of the conveying means 2.

More specifically, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, brackets 34 are attached at predetermined intervals while being hung over the endless chains 15, 15 wound twice. A rotating shaft 35 provided at one end of the front end regulating plate 31 is rotatably supported by the bracket 34. Therefore, the front end regulating plate 31 is swingably supported by the rotating shaft 35 protruding on one side of the bracket 34. On the other side of the bracket 34, the rotating shaft 35
Is provided with a cam follower 32 extending forward in the traveling direction of the bracket 34. That is, the front end regulating plate 31 is
It is integrally formed with the cam follower 32 via the rotating shaft 35. Between the bracket 34 and the cam follower 32, a coil spring 33 for urging the cam follower 32 toward a cam means 40 described later is provided in a tensioned state.

The cam means 40 is provided along the traveling means 10 and comprises a cam surface which engages with the front end regulating means 30. As shown in FIG. 1, the cam surface is formed as an inner peripheral surface of a circular elongate plate cam 45 which is attached to an appropriate position with respect to the substrate 24 of the elevating frame 20 by an appropriate fixing means 46. On the surface, the front end regulating means 3
The zero cam follower 32 is in contact with the urging force of the coil spring 33.

As shown in FIG. 1, the cam surface has a first cam surface 41 for causing the front end regulating means 30 to travel in a posture not interfering with the article A above the conveying means 2, and is connected to the first cam surface 41 to regulate the front end. the second cam surface 42 for changing the means 30 can come into contact posture to the front end a ₂ of the article a, the front end regulating means 3 maintains the posture of the front end regulating means 30 connected to the second cam surface 42
The third cam surface 43 for positioning the article A by relatively approaching the article A from the front in the conveyance direction of the article A being conveyed, and the posture of the front end regulating means 30 connected to the third cam surface 43 and being positioned. and a fourth cam surface 44 to change the attitude away from the front end portion a ₂ of the articles a being conveyed. That is, the positioning operation by the front end regulating means 30 is performed by a mechanical means such as a cam means 40 having a cam face which is divided into the first to fourth cam surfaces 41 to 44 and shares respective functions with time and takes over. Since the setting is properly performed at first, if the setting is properly performed at first, the positioning operation for the article A by the front end regulating means 30 can be surely performed by the synchronized traveling of the traveling means 10 and the transportation of the transporting means 2. Become. Further, the front end regulating means 30 is provided with a pusher 3 which is a rear end regulating means or an article A (particularly, in the case of a fragile article).
And the front end regulating means 30, the pusher 3 or the article A
Damage can be prevented.

Since the cam follower 32 provided integrally with the front end regulating plate 31 is pressed by the cam means 40 by the urging force of the coil spring 33, the cam follower 32 is provided on the traveling means 10 when the traveling means 10 travels. The front end regulating plate 31 rotates together with the movement of the cam follower 32 receiving the cam action generated between the front end regulating plate 31 and the position and posture of the front end regulating plate 31 with respect to the article A being conveyed. Hereinafter, the positioning operation of the front end regulating plate 31 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG.
(A)-(d) is an explanatory view explaining step by step the article positioning operation by the article positioning apparatus shown in FIGS. 1 and 4, the front end regulating plate 3
The trajectory of the tip of No. 1 is indicated by a chain line.

In the travel of the cam follower 32 in contact with the first cam surface 41, as shown in FIG. 4A, the front end regulating plate 31 of the front end regulating means 30 is lifted up above the conveying means 2. In this state, the vehicle travels in a posture that does not interfere with the article A. A second cam surface connected to the first cam surface and inclined downward from the first cam surface;
4B, the front end regulating plate 31 is positioned such that the front end of the front end regulating plate 31 is lowered substantially straight by the cam action between the second cam surface 42 and the cam follower 32, as shown in FIG. There are changes can come into contact posture to the front end a ₂ of the article a intersect orthogonally to the conveying means 2.

In the process in which the cam follower 22 travels in contact with the second cam surface 42 and in contact with the third cam surface 43 parallel to the travel path 11, as shown in FIG. attitude is maintained can contact posture to the front end a ₂ of the article a. The traveling speed of the traveling means 10 is the transporting means 2
In this step,
Front regulating plate 31 is relatively close to the front end portion a ₂ of the article A from the conveying direction in front of the articles A being conveyed. The traveling speed of the traveling means 10 and the relative positional relationship with the pusher 3 which is the rear end regulating plate of the front end regulating plate 31 are set in advance according to the length and the transport speed of the article A. Since the front end regulating plate 31 positions the front and rear ends of the article A in the conveying direction between the pusher 3 and the pusher 3, the ends a ₁ and a _{2 of} the article A, which have been uneven, are aligned.

The front regulating plate 31 of the front end regulating means 30, event, when subjected to large reaction force from the article A, by further pulling the coil spring 33 via the cam follower 32, the front end portion a ₂ of the article A Escape forward in the transport direction,
An excessive force is not applied to the article A. At this time, the cam follower 32 floats from the cam surface of the plate cam 45.

In the process in which the cam follower 22 runs while contacting the fourth cam surface 44 which is connected to the third cam surface 43 and rises and falls, as shown in FIG. The posture is the positioned article A being transported.
2 shows a movement away from the front in the transport direction. Even if the traveling speed of the traveling means 10 is lower than the transporting speed of the transporting means 2,
Due to the cam action exerted on the cam follower 32 by the cam surface 44, the speed at which the tip of the front end regulating plate 31 is lifted and escapes is higher than the conveying speed of the article A, and no excessive force acts on the aligned article A. However, there is no possibility that the irregularity will occur again.

The traveling means 10 receives a distribution of driving force from a drive system for driving the transport means 2 and is driven in synchronization with the transport means 2. That is, the transporting means 2 is driven by the electric motor and the chain transmission mechanism, and the driving sprocket 13 is driven via the driving mechanism 50 (FIGS. 1 and 2) which receives the distribution of the driving force from the chain transmission mechanism. . The drive mechanism 50 includes sprockets 51, 52, 53,... And a chain 54 wound around the sprockets and a sprocket (not shown) of the drive system of the conveying means 2. In a state where the plurality of pushers 3 as the rear end regulating means are arranged at equal intervals in the conveying means 2 and the plurality of front end regulating means 30 are attached to the traveling means 10 at equal intervals, the traveling means 10 and the conveying means 2 are synchronized. By driving each of the articles A intermittently conveyed by the conveying means 2, the front end regulating means 30 attached to the traveling means 10 sequentially moves the front end of the article A at an appropriate position and posture. And the positioning operation of positioning the pushers 3 with the pushers 3 provided on the transport means 2 and aligning the ends can be performed continuously.

The traveling means 10, the front end regulating means 30, and the cam means 40 are formed as a unit. The traveling means 10, the front end regulating means 30, and the cam means 40 are arranged on a lifting frame 20 which can be moved up and down in a lump with respect to the fixed frame 21 of the conveying means 2. I have. That is, the unitized units 10, 30, and 40 are lifted and lowered in a lump with respect to the fixed frame 21 of the transporting unit 2, so that attachment and detachment become easy, and front end regulation is performed according to the size of the article A. It is possible to move the means 30 to an optimum vertical position with respect to the article A. Note that, when the lifting frame 20 is moved up and down with respect to the fixed frame 21, a structure is employed in which a problem such as loosening of the chain 54 does not occur due to the pulley principle.

In the above embodiment, a plurality of loose rod-shaped articles A
Although the description has been made by taking the case as an example, it is apparent that the positioning based on the present invention can be applied to a single article or a plurality of articles arranged vertically in the transport direction. Further, the transporting means 2 may have a structure in which the article A is not placed on the roller 7 but is transported while being pushed by the pusher 3 while being placed on a fixed bottom wall. The transporting means 2 is provided with a pusher 3, and the article A is positioned by being sandwiched between the pusher 3 and the front end regulating plate 31. The restriction that the article A, whose length is not more than the length, is stored within the interval slightly longer than the predetermined length between the pusher 3 and the front end regulating plate 31, that is, the rear end without contacting the rear end regulating means. The regulation may be such that it is set within a certain distance from the end regulating means. In addition, as the traveling means 10,
Although the endless chain running means is shown, an endless belt running means using an endless belt or an endless rope instead of the endless chain 15 or an endless rope running means may be used. Furthermore,
The traveling means 10 does not necessarily need to use an endless body, and may be any means as long as it can travel on the lower traveling path 11 such as a movement path such as a box motion. Also, the cam means 40 need not be limited to the cam surfaces 41 to 44 described in the embodiment as long as the cam means 40 can escape upward so as not to interfere with the following article being conveyed and can travel on the same traveling route again. Absent.

This device for positioning an article is particularly suitable for a pillow wrapping machine for filling a package while making a bag with a packaging film or a packaging machine for packing a package in a ready-made bag.
The present invention is applicable to an article supply device that supplies an article as a package. That is, since the article positioned by this positioning device is sent into the bag on the basis of the rear end in the transport direction, the rear end of the packaged article is located on the bottom side of the bag inside the bag package, and the bag neck is Sufficient allowance is provided for subsequent heat sealing and bundling, so that the article is not jammed by the heat sealing or bundling closure. Also, in particular, even if the article is a cookie or a vegetable that is lightweight and easily adheres to the packaging film, the package is supplied on the basis of the rear end, is packaged in a state aligned in the bag, and is loosely packed in the bag. And a tight package can be obtained without making significant changes in the structure and operation of the packaging machine. As a result, a tight-looking package with good appearance is obtained, and the commercial value of the package is enhanced.When the bag package is packed in a box, the alignment of the package is good, the boxing workability is improved, and the distribution stage is improved. Workability can be improved.

[0042]

Since the present invention is configured as described above, it has the following effects. That is, according to the article positioning method and apparatus according to the present invention, the article being transported roughly supplied to the transporting means having the trailing end regulating means capable of regulating the position of the trailing end portion is compared with the article being transported. By moving the front end regulating means engageable with the front end relatively closer to the front than in the conveying direction of the article being conveyed, positioning of the front and rear ends of the article in the conveying direction is performed between the front end regulating means and the rear end regulating means. Will be Further, after the article is positioned, the front end regulating means is moved away from the front in the conveying direction of the article being conveyed, so that the front end regulating means does not change the posture or damage the positioned article. Therefore, the article is conveyed by the conveying means, and is positioned so that the article can be positioned on the basis of the rear end or the end portions can be aligned without stopping the article and applying excessive force to the article. Further, since the front end regulating means is operated by a mechanical means such as a cam means, the positioning is performed at low cost and securely, and no collision with the article occurs.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view showing an embodiment of an article positioning device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the article positioning device shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the article positioning device shown in FIGS. 1 and 2;
It is C sectional drawing.

4 (a) to 4 (d) are explanatory views for sequentially explaining the article positioning operation by the article positioning apparatus shown in FIGS. 1 to 3. FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Positioning device 2 Conveying means 3 Pusher (Conveyor with a pusher, rear end regulating means) 10 Traveling means 11, 12 Traveling path 13 Drive propet (rotating wheel) 14 Follower propet (rotating wheel) 15 Endless chain (endless body) 20 Lifting frame Reference Signs List 21 fixed frame 30 front end regulating means 31 front end regulating plate 32 cam follower 33 spring means 40 cam means 41 first cam surface 42 second cam surface 43 third cam surface 44 fourth cam surface 50 driving means A article a ₁ rear end a ₂ Front end D Transport direction

Continued on front page F term (reference) 3E054 AA05 DD03 DD16 EA03 FA03 FA07 FC02 FC08 FC19 FE03 GA01 GA08 GB01 GC10 3F081 AA08 AA29 BA02 BC03 BD18 BF13 BF23 CC12 CC15 CE14

Claims (13)

[Claims] The article is conveyed by a conveying means having a rear end regulating means capable of regulating a position of a rear end of the article, and the front end regulating means being engaged with a front end of the article is being conveyed. The article is relatively approached from the front in the conveyance direction, and the front and rear ends of the article being conveyed during the conveyance between the front end regulation means and the rear end regulation means are positioned. After the positioning of the article, the front end regulation is performed. A method for positioning an article, comprising: moving a means forward in a conveying direction of the article being conveyed. 2. The article is composed of a plurality of small articles arranged in a lateral direction with respect to a transport direction, and by positioning the front and rear ends of the article in the transport direction, the plurality of small articles are arranged. 2. The method for positioning an article according to claim 1, wherein at least the front ends are aligned. 3. The transportation means, wherein the article is transported in a state of being placed on a transportation surface, and a pusher is provided as the rear end regulating means capable of regulating the position of the rear end of the article. 2. The conveyor of claim 1 wherein said conveyor is a pusher conveyor.
Or the method for positioning an article according to 2. 4. The article is a package that is conveyed to a packaging machine by a package supply device and is packaged by the packaging machine, and the method of positioning the article is performed by the transportation unit that conveys the package. The article positioning method according to claim 1, wherein the article positioning method is applied to the package supply device. 5. A positioning apparatus which is applied to a transporting device having a rear end regulating means capable of regulating a position of a rear end portion of an article and performs positioning of the article during transportation, wherein the positioning device is arranged in a transport direction of the transporting means. Traveling means for traveling along the traveling route,
A front end regulating unit attached to the traveling unit and capable of engaging with a front end of the article being conveyed, and transported with respect to the front end regulating unit as the traveling unit travels along the traveling path. Transporting the article during the transport after the article is positioned after positioning the front and rear ends of the article being transported with the rear end regulating means by relatively approaching the article in the transport direction from the front in the transport direction; An article positioning device comprising a cam means for performing a positioning operation for moving the article forward in the direction. 6. The article comprises a plurality of small articles arranged in a lateral direction with respect to a conveying direction, and the positioning of the front and rear ends of the article in the conveying direction is performed, whereby a plurality of the small articles are arranged. The article positioning device according to claim 5, wherein the front ends are aligned. 7. The conveyance means, wherein the article is conveyed while being placed on a conveyance surface, and a pusher is provided as the rear end regulating means capable of regulating the position of the rear end of the article. 6. A conveyor comprising a pusher.
Or the article positioning device according to 6. 8. The running means is an endless running means comprising: a rotating wheel disposed along a transport direction of the transporting means; and an endless body which runs around the rotating wheel. The apparatus according to any one of claims 5 to 7, wherein the path is a lower traveling path that travels on a side of the endless body near the transporting means. 9. The article positioning apparatus according to claim 8, wherein said traveling means receives a driving force distribution from a drive system for driving said transport means, and is driven in synchronization with said transport means. . 10. A front end regulating plate provided rotatably with respect to the traveling means, a front end regulating plate provided integrally with the front end regulating plate, and a cam formed between the front end regulating plate and the cam means. The article according to any one of claims 5 to 9, comprising a cam follower for rotating the front end regulating plate by action, and a spring means for urging the cam follower toward the cam means. Positioning device. 11. The cam means comprises a cam surface disposed along the traveling means and engaging with the front end regulating means, wherein the cam surface moves the front end regulating means above the transport means. A first cam surface that runs in a posture that does not interfere with the article, a second cam surface that is connected to the first cam surface, and that changes the front end regulating unit to a posture that can contact the front end of the article. A third cam surface connected to a surface to position the article by maintaining the posture of the front end regulating means and relatively approaching the front end regulating means from the front in the transport direction of the article being transported; and A fourth cam surface which is connected to a cam surface and changes the posture of the article being conveyed away from the front end in a state where the posture of the front end regulating means is positioned.
The article positioning device according to any one of claims 10 to 13. 12. The traveling means, the front end regulating means, and the cam means are formed as a unit, and are arranged so as to be able to move up and down in a lump with respect to a frame of the transport means. The article positioning device according to claim 5. 13. The article is a package that is conveyed to a packaging machine by a package supply device and packaged by the packaging machine, and the article positioning device is configured as the conveyance unit that conveys the package. The package according to any one of claims 5 to 12, which is applied to the package supply device.
Item positioning device.