JP2002104308A - Automatic opening-position setting device of lateral sealer in bag-making/filling/packaging machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an automatic opening-position setting device which automatically sets the opening position of a lateral sealer on the preparation works for a bag-making/filling/packaging machine. SOLUTION: The device automatically setting the opening position of the lateral sealer is provided with a distance sensor 82 for detecting the closing position of a suction belt sending out a packaging material cylinder W along a bag-making tube 2, and a control device 70 which sets the opening/closing stroke of the lateral sealer 52 namely its opening position on the basis of the detected closing position of the suction belt.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a bag making and filling machine, and more particularly to an automatic opening position setting device for automatically setting an opening position of a horizontal sealer in accordance with a width of a bag to be manufactured.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In this type of bag making and filling and packaging machine, first, while forming a web material into a cylindrical packing material tube, this packing material tube is sent out along a bag making tube. In this sending process, both side edges of the packaging tube are sealed by the vertical sealer, and the horizontal sealing and cutting of the packaging tube by the horizontal sealer and the filling of the article into the packaging tube are alternately performed. Bags containing individual items are manufactured.

[0003] More specifically, the horizontal sealer has a pair of heater blocks that can be opened and closed, and these heater blocks sandwich the packaging material tube in its closed position and heat seal in a direction crossing the packaging material tube. Incidentally, the opening / closing stroke of the horizontal sealer is uniquely determined by the maximum bag width that can be manufactured by the packaging machine. For this reason, even when a bag having a width smaller than the maximum bag width is manufactured, the heater block operates with a constant opening and closing stroke, so that the manufacturing speed cannot be improved.

[0004] In order to solve such a problem,
For example, a packaging machine disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 6-13326 and a horizontal sealing device disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 2598262 are known. The former packaging machine has a controller for controlling the opening / closing stroke of the horizontal sealer, and the controller can input an opening / closing stroke corresponding to the width of the bag to be manufactured. On the other hand, the latter horizontal sealing device has a computer connected to a control device for controlling the opening / closing stroke of the horizontal sealer, and the computer inputs the width of the bag to be manufactured.

[0005]

The above-mentioned conventional packaging machines and horizontal sealing devices are all for manually inputting information for setting the opening / closing stroke of the horizontal sealer to a controller or a computer thereof. However, such manual input work is required separately from the mechanical setup work of the packaging machine itself, and it is not easy to cope with the bag size change. In addition, manual input operations are likely to cause input errors, and the setting of the opening / closing stroke of the horizontal sealer may be inaccurate.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned circumstances, and an object thereof is to open and close a stroke of a horizontal sealer, that is, in conjunction with a mechanical setup operation of a packaging machine.
An object of the present invention is to provide an automatic opening position setting device for a horizontal sealer in a bag making and filling machine capable of automatically setting the opening position according to the width of a bag to be manufactured.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above object, an apparatus for automatically setting an open position of a horizontal sealer (Claim 1) comprises:
Along with the mechanical setup work of the bag making and filling machine, detecting means for detecting size information that fluctuates in relation to the width size of the bag to be manufactured, based on the detected size information,
Setting means for setting an open position of the horizontal sealer.

If the detection means is provided, the setting means automatically sets the opening position of the horizontal sealer, that is, the opening / closing stroke thereof, based on the size information obtained from the detection means, simultaneously with the completion of the setup operation. . The packaging machine has a feeder unit that sends out the packaging material tube along the bag-making tube, and a suction reservoir chamber whose both side walls can be changed according to the width of the web material. Since a suction unit guides the web material to provide a predetermined tension to the web material, the detection unit is provided in the feeder unit and detects the closed position of the feeder unit as size information. (Claim 2) Or, it is realized by a detector (Claim 3) provided in the reservoir unit and detecting the position of both side walls as size information.

In the case of the former detector, the setting means sets the closed position of the feeder unit, that is, the open position of the horizontal sealer based on the tube diameter of the bag-making tube. In the case of the latter detector, the setting means sets the reservoir. The open position of the horizontal sealer is set based on the side wall position of the unit, that is, the width of the web material.

[0010]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 schematically shows a bag making / filling / packaging machine for a granular material. This packaging machine includes a bag-making tube 2, which is composed of a vertically extending tube portion 4 and a former 6 provided integrally with the tube portion 4. The bag-making tube 2 is a part that is replaced according to the size of the bag P to be manufactured. The bag-making tube 2 has a tube diameter corresponding to the width of the bag P.

A filling tube having an auger screw rotatably contained therein is accommodated in the bag-making tube 2, and the upper end of the filling tube is connected to a hopper (not shown) for receiving a supply of powdery granules as articles. . On the other hand, a web material F made of a heat-weldable film is guided to the bag-making tube 2. The web material F is formed into a cylindrical shape when passing through the former 6 of the bag-making tube 2, and both side edges thereof are formed. The packaging material tube W is overlapped in a predetermined form, and the packaging material tube W is drawn out of the tube portion 4 and down along the tube portion 4.

The feeding of the web material F will be described in detail.
The web material F is fed from the web roll R toward the bag making tube 2 along a predetermined feeding path, and a feed roller 8 is disposed in the middle of the feeding path. Reference numeral 10 denotes a guide roller that defines a feeding path. A reservoir unit 12 is arranged in the middle of the feeding path. This reservoir unit 12 has a reservoir chamber 14, and the reservoir chamber 14
6 and a side wall 18 which can enter between the fixed walls 16. Sliders 20 are respectively provided at the lower ends of the side walls 18, and a center base 22 is fixed at the center between the sliders 20. A guide rod 24 is provided through the center base 22, and the guide rod 24 extends horizontally toward each slider 20. Each slider 20 is slidably supported by a guide rod 24.

A feed screw 26 is provided through the center base 22, and the feed screw 26 guides the guide rod 2 toward each slider 20.
4 and are screwed into these sliders 20. Here, the directions of the feed screws 26 screwed into the respective sliders 20 are opposite to each other.

One end of the feed screw 26 protrudes from the corresponding slider 20, and the rotation handle 2
8 are attached. When the rotary handle 28 is rotated, the sliders 20 move toward and away from each other in association with the center base 22, thereby setting the width of the reservoir chamber 14, that is, the distance between both side walls 18, of the web material F. It can be adjusted according to the width.

Further, the bottom of the reservoir chamber 14 communicates with a suction chamber (not shown), and a blower (not shown) is connected to the suction chamber. The blower exhausts the reservoir chamber 14 through the suction chamber, and supplies a predetermined suction force to the reservoir chamber 14. Therefore, the web material F fed from the web roll R receives the suction force of the reservoir chamber 14, is drawn into the reservoir chamber 14 by a predetermined length in a U-shape, and then fed toward the bag making tube 2. As a result, a predetermined tension is applied to the web material F.

On the other hand, a pair of feed units 30 are arranged on both sides of the bag making tube 2. These feed units 30 have endless suction belts 32,
The suction belt 32 extends along the tube portion 4 of the bag-making tube 2 and can run in one direction in conjunction with a servomotor (not shown). As shown in FIG. 2, each feed unit 30 has a base 34,
The base 34 is slidably attached to upper and lower guide rods 36. These guide rods 36 extend horizontally behind the bag making tube 2, and both ends thereof are supported by side plates 38.

A center plate 40 is disposed behind the bag making tube 2, and the upper and lower guide rods 36 pass through the center plate 40. Each side plate 38
The belt opening / closing cylinder 4 is located between the
2 are each bridged. These belt opening / closing cylinders 42 are rodless cylinders,
4 are connected to the base 34 of the corresponding feed unit 30. Accordingly, each of the belt opening / closing cylinders 42 moves and reciprocates the pair of feed units 30 in association with each other by the reciprocating movement of the slider 44, that is,
Can be opened and closed.

In this embodiment, one belt opening / closing cylinder 42 has a built-in distance sensor, and this distance sensor outputs a positive or negative pulse signal every time the slider 44 moves left and right by a unit displacement. I do. Now, when the pair of feed units 30 are in the closed position, the suction belts 32 of these feed units 30 adsorb the packaging material tube W from both sides, and send the packaging material tube W downward as it travels.
In FIG. 2, reference numeral 46 indicates a suction chamber for applying suction to the suction belt 32.

Further, as shown in FIG. 1, a vertical sealer 48 is disposed between the feed units 30.
The vertical sealer 48 is composed of a heater block 50 extending along the tube portion 4 of the bag-making tube 2, and when the packaging material tube W passes through, the both side edges are vertically sealed, that is, heat-sealed. W is completely closed in its circumferential direction.

On the other hand, a horizontal sealer 52 is disposed below the tube 2. As shown in FIG. 3, the horizontal sealer 52 includes a pair of left and right heater blocks 54, and each of the heater blocks 54 includes a pair of link rods 56, 58.
Are connected to both ends of the rocking lever 60 via the respective levers. The lever shaft 62 of the swing lever 60 is a servo motor 64
Output shaft. Therefore, the servo motor 64 swings the swing lever 60 in a predetermined swing angle range by the forward / reverse rotation, and with this swing, the link rod 5
The heater blocks 54 come into contact with and separate from each other via the elements 6, 58. That is, the horizontal sealer 52 is opened and closed by the forward and reverse rotation of the servo motor 64 with respect to the packaging material tube W sent from below the bag-making tube 2.

When the horizontal sealer 52 is at the closed position, the pair of heater blocks 54 sandwich the packaging material tube W, and heat-seal the packaging material tube W in the transverse direction, that is, perform horizontal sealing. A cutter blade (not shown) is built in one of the heater blocks 54. The cutter blade projects from the one heater block 54 after the completion of the horizontal sealing, and cuts the packaging material tube W. The protruding cutter blade enters a clearance groove formed in the other heater block 54.

The horizontal sealing and cutting of the packaging material tube W by the horizontal sealer 52 are performed alternately with the feeding of the powder and granules from the filling tube into the packaging material tube W by the rotation of the auger screw.
As a result, the bags P individually filled with the granular material are manufactured and dropped from the horizontal sealer 52. Thereafter, the bags P are supplied via a chute onto a transfer conveyor, and transferred to a subsequent box packing machine.

The horizontal sealer 5 is linked with the feeding operation of the packaging material tube W by the feed unit 30 and the filling operation of the granular material.
The servomotor 64 and its built-in rotary encoder 66 are electrically connected to a control device 70 via a servo amplifier 68 in order to control the opening / closing operation of the servomotor 2. The control device 70 includes a CPU 72, a control unit 74, a storage unit 76 such as a ROM and a RAM for storing a control program and data,
The servo motor 64 and the rotary encoder 66 are connected to the input / output interface 80. The rotary encoder 66 supplies the control device 70 with a detection signal corresponding to the actual rotation angle of the servomotor 64, that is, the actual swing angle of the swing lever 60.

The control device 70 also has a function of automatically setting the open position of the horizontal sealer 52. To achieve this function, in this embodiment, the input / output interface 80 of the control device 70 30, the belt opening / closing cylinder 42 and the distance sensor 8
2 are electrically connected. The automatic opening position setting routine executed by the control device 70 will be described below with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

At the time of installation of the packaging machine or at the time of changing the size of the bag P to be manufactured, the bag making tube 2 and the web roll R adapted to the bag P are assembled, or their exchange is performed. , Web roll R from bag making tube 2
Is set as a packaging material tube W surrounding the outside of the bag-making tube 2. The assembling of the bag making tube 2 or its replacement is performed by the feed unit 30.
Is moved to the open position.

At this time, the control device 70 is in a standby state (step S1) waiting for a command for moving the feed unit 30 to the closed position, that is, an input of a belt closing signal for the suction belt 32. The belt closing signal is input to the control device 70 from an input device such as a switch. When the determination result of step S1 is true (Yes), a detection request flag for detecting the closed position of the suction belt 32 is set (step S2), and in response to this setting, the control device 70 sets the distance sensor 82 described above. To the operating state. Thereafter, the control device 70 outputs an operation command to each belt opening / closing cylinder 42,
2 is closed (step S3), while the distance sensor 8 is closed.
2, the pulse signal is counted (step S4), and the moving distance of the suction belt 32 from the side plate 30 is calculated based on the count value.

Then, the control device 70 determines whether or not the closing operation of the suction belt 32 has been completed (step S5). The determination here is made based on the presence or absence of a pulse signal from the distance sensor 82. If the result of the determination in step S5 is false (No), the closing operation of the suction belt 32 and the counting of pulse signals are continued, but the suction belt 32 contacts the bag making tube 2 via the packaging tube W. 5, when the output of the pulse signal from the distance sensor 82 disappears as shown in FIG. 5, the determination result in step S5 becomes true, and the control device 70 immediately stops the operation of the belt opening / closing cylinder 42 (step S6). Then, the detection request flag is reset (step S7).

Thereafter, the control device 70 calculates the belt closing position of the suction belt 32 from the center plate 40 based on the moving distance of the suction belt 32 (step S8), and based on this belt closing position, The stroke amount of the horizontal sealer 52 from the closed position, which is the position, is calculated (step S9). More specifically, the belt closing position is size information indicating the tube diameter of the bag-making tube 2, that is, the width of the bag P to be manufactured. To allow the manufactured bag P to pass from this size information, the horizontal sealer is used. The minimum stroke amount required for the pair of heater blocks 54 in 52 is calculated.

Then, the controller 70 moves the pair of heater blocks 54 of the horizontal sealer 52 to the open position based on the calculated stroke amount (step S10). When the open position of the horizontal sealer 52 is automatically set as described above, the packaging machine starts its operation after the completion of the setup operation. During this operation, as shown in FIG.
Causes the pair of heater blocks 54 of the horizontal sealer 52 to reciprocate between the open position and the closed position, whereby the horizontal sealing of the packaging tube W is repeatedly performed. Since the opening and closing stroke of the heater block 54 is the minimum necessary, the opening and closing speed of the horizontal sealer 52, that is, the manufacturing speed of the packaging machine can be increased.

Further, since the opening position of the horizontal sealer 52 is automatically set in conjunction with the setup operation of the packaging machine, that is, the setting operation of the feed unit 30, an input operation for setting the opening position is unnecessary. As a result, the input error does not occur. The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various modifications are possible.

For example, size information indicating the width of the bag P to be manufactured can also be obtained by the web width measuring device provided in the reservoir unit 12 described above. That is, FIG.
As shown in the figure, the reservoir unit 12 is provided with a web width measuring device 84 between its center base 22 and one slider 20, and this web width measuring device 84 is electrically connected to the control device 70. Have been.

The web width measuring device 84 supplies a positive or negative pulse signal to the control device 70 every time the side wall 18 of the reservoir chamber 14 moves by a unit displacement amount, similarly to the distance sensor 82 described above. In this case, a routine for automatically setting the open position of the horizontal sealer 52 using the web length measuring device 84 is shown in FIG.

First, in this routine, it is determined whether or not the web material F is changed (step S11). If the result of the determination is true, the control unit 70 sets the web length measuring device 8
4, the presence or absence of a pulse signal is determined (step S12). If the determination result is true, it indicates that the web material F is being set in the reservoir chamber 14 along with the replacement of the web material F, that is, the side wall 18 is being moved. After setting the change flag (step S13), the control device 70 counts the output from the web length measuring device 84 (step S14).

Thereafter, the control device 70 determines whether or not the setting of the web material F has been completed (step S15). In this determination, the output from the web length measuring device 84 is also shown in FIG.
This is possible depending on whether there is no state for a predetermined time as shown in FIG. When the setting of the web material F is completed, that is, the movement of the side wall 18 is stopped and the step S
When the result of the determination in step 15 becomes true, the controller 70 resets the change flag (step S16), and based on the count value, the distance between the center base 22 and the side wall 18 in the reservoir chamber 14, that is, the web material. The web width of F is calculated (step S17).

Thereafter, the control device 70 calculates the minimum opening / closing stroke amount required for the heater block 54 of the horizontal sealer 52 and its open position based on the web width (step S18). It is moved to the calculated open position (step S19). As described above, by obtaining the size information in conjunction with the setting operation of the web material F, which is the setup operation of the packaging machine, the horizontal sealer 52 is similarly operated.
Can be set automatically.

The web material F was used for the setup operation of the packaging machine.
If the detection operation for detecting the side edge position is included, the web width is calculated based on the side edge position detected in the detection operation, and the open position of the horizontal sealer 52 is similarly calculated from the web width. Can be set. Specifically, when a mark detection sensor 86 that detects a mark on the web material F is disposed above the feeding path of the web material F, the same as in the case of the side wall 18 of the reservoir chamber 14 described above. The mark detection sensor 86 can be moved in the width direction of the web material F via a feed mechanism 88, and the amount of movement is measured by a length measuring device 90 similar to the above-described length measuring device 84. The web width of F can be detected.

Further, the above-mentioned bag-making tube 2 itself has
A plug or socket type data storage medium storing the size information is provided, and a mounting port electrically connected to the data storage medium is provided at the same time as the bag making tube 2 is mounted on the packaging machine body. At the same time as the assembling or replacement of the bag making tube 2 is completed, the size information of the bag making tube 2 can be supplied from the data storage medium to the control device 70 through the mounting opening of the packaging machine body. In addition, not only the size information of the bag-making tube 2 but also various information can be stored in the data storage medium.

Finally, the present invention can be applied not only to a machine for filling and packing powders and granules, but also to various bag making, filling and packaging machines.

[0039]

As described above, according to the apparatus for automatically setting the open position of the horizontal sealer of the present invention (claim 1), the bag to be manufactured can be formed by the mechanical setup operation of the bag making, filling and packaging machine. Since the detecting means for detecting the size information which varies in relation to the width size is provided, the opening position of the horizontal sealer can be automatically and accurately set from the detected size information, which contributes to speeding up of the packaging machine.

More specifically, the size information is obtained by detecting the tube diameter of the bag-making tube (Claim 2) and the opening width of the reservoir chamber for applying a predetermined tension to the web material (Claim 3). Can be easily obtained.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a bag making, filling and packaging machine.

FIG. 2 is a detailed view of the feed unit of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a schematic configuration diagram of a horizontal sealer of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a routine for automatically setting an open position of a horizontal sealer.

FIG. 5 is a graph showing an operation timing of a belt opening / closing cylinder and an output of a distance sensor when the routine of FIG. 4 is executed.

FIG. 6 is a graph showing an opening / closing operation of a horizontal sealer.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing an automatic opening position setting routine according to a modification.

8 is a graph showing an output from a length measuring device when the routine of FIG. 7 is executed.

[Explanation of symbols]

 2 Bag-making tube 12 Reservoir unit 14 Reservoir chamber 18 Side wall 30 Feed unit 32 Suction belt 42 Belt opening / closing cylinder 50 Vertical sealer 52 Horizontal sealer 54 Heater block 70 Control device (setting means) 82 Distance sensor (detector) 84 Web width measurement Length detector (detector)

Claims (3)

[Claims] While the web material is being formed into a cylindrical packaging material tube, the packaging material tube is sent out, and the horizontal sealing and opening / closing operation of the horizontal sealing device cuts the packaging material tube and cuts the packaging material into the packaging material tube. In the bag making, packaging and filling machine for alternately performing the filling of the articles and manufacturing bags containing the articles individually, with the mechanical setup work of the packaging machine, the size fluctuating in relation to the width of the bags. An automatic setting apparatus for the opening position of a horizontal sealer in a bag making and filling machine, comprising: a detecting means for detecting information; and a setting means for setting an opening position of the horizontal sealer based on the size information. 2. The packaging machine has a feeder unit for sending the packaging material tube along a bag-making tube, and the detecting means is provided in the feeder unit, and the closed position of the feeder unit is used as the size information. The automatic opening position setting device for a horizontal sealer in a bag making and filling and packaging machine according to claim 1, wherein the detector is a detector that detects the position of the horizontal sealer. 3. The packaging machine has a suction reservoir chamber whose both side walls are variable depending on the width of the web material,
A suction unit that suctions and guides the web material into the suction reservoir chamber to provide a predetermined tension to the web material, wherein the detection unit is provided in the reservoir unit, and the position of the both side walls is determined. The automatic opening position setting device for a horizontal sealer in a bag-making and filling machine according to claim 1, wherein the device is a detector that detects the size information.