JP2002347704A - Article-accommodating device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an article-accommodating device serving as both a carton CA for pressing an article sideways and a carton CB for inserting the article from above. SOLUTION: This device for inserting an article 12 into the carton CA with its sides opened includes a carton conveyor 2 for conveying the carton CA at a predetermined pitch under normal conditions, a carton supplying means 6 for supplying the carton CA, and an article feeding conveyor 10 disposed in parallel with the carton conveyor 2 and moving the article 12 synchronized with the movement of the carton CA. The carton conveyor 2 is provided with a second carton supplying means 26 for supplying the carton CB with its opening upward and a second article inserting means 32 disposed at the side of the carton conveyor 2 on the down stream side of the position where the second carton supplying means 26 supplys the carton CB to the carton conveyor 2, and holding the supplied article 12 to insert it into the carton CB from above the carton CB.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an article storing apparatus, and more particularly to an article storing apparatus for inserting an article from an opening of a carton being conveyed by a carton conveyor.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An article storage device (cartoning machine) for inserting an article from an opening of a carton while the carton is continuously conveyed by a carton conveyor is widely known. For example, a carton CA in which a side is opened by a carton conveyor (FIG. 4)
(See (a)) at a constant interval, and articles are conveyed at equal intervals and at the same speed as the cartons CA by an article conveyor arranged in parallel with the carton conveyor, and provided on the article conveyor side. An article storage device is widely used in which an article is inserted from an opening of a carton CA into a carton CA by advancing a pressing member from the article conveyor toward the carton conveyor.

A one-touch carton CB (see FIG. 4 (b)), which has been widely used in recent years, has a four-sided wall CBa, CBb, CBc, and CBd of a box body facing each other and closely contacting each other. Is folded between the closely adhered wall surfaces, and a lid CBf is connected to the upper portion of one wall surface CBc in an upright state. In the article storage device for inserting an article into the one-touch carton CB, the folded one-touch state is used. After taking out the carton CB from the magazine and raising it to the state shown in FIG. 4 (b), articles are inserted by an article inserting means such as a robot from the opening above the carton conveyor while being conveyed by the carton conveyor. It is supposed to.

[0004]

As described above, an article storage device for inserting an article while transporting a carton with an open side portion usually accommodates a small amount of articles in a small carton, In the case of a one-touch carton, a large quantity of articles is stored in a large carton, and the former article storage device is conveyed to the opening of the carton in a lateral direction in synchronization with the carton. The article is pressed in the horizontal direction by the pressing member and inserted into the carton, while the one-touch carton article storage device inserts the article grasped by a robot or the like from above into the open carton. Since the structures for inserting articles are completely different, it was impossible to use these two types of article storage devices (carting machines).

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and is an article which can be used as a carton conveyed with an open side and a carton such as a one-touch carton having an open top. It is an object to provide an accommodation device.

[0006]

According to the present invention, there is provided an article storage apparatus comprising: a carton conveyor for conveying a carton; a carton supply means for supplying a carton to the carton conveyor with an opening directed sideways; And a second carton supply means for supplying the carton with the opening upward to the carton conveyor, and a second carton supply means for supplying the carton with the opening upward. A second article insertion means which is arranged near the carton conveyor downstream of a position where the supply means supplies the carton to the carton conveyor, and which holds the supplied article and accommodates the article in the carton from above the carton. It is provided.

[0007] In the article storage device, when articles are inserted into a carton conveyed with the opening directed sideways, the articles are conveyed by article moving means arranged in parallel with the carton conveyor, while the articles are inserted into the cartons. In the case of inserting the article into the carton and inserting the article into the carton with the opening facing upward, while transporting the carton by the same carton conveyor, the article is inserted by the second article insertion means. Therefore, a carton conveyor can be used for cartons of different sizes and structures.

[0008]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described below with reference to an embodiment shown in the drawings. FIG. 1 is a simplified plan view showing the overall configuration of an article storage device according to an embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, reference numeral 2 denotes a carton conveyor which conveys cartons at a predetermined interval, and is also used for the two types of cartons (carton CA having an open side and one-touch carton CB having an open top). This carton conveyor 2
Is driven by a servomotor 3 (see FIG. 2 described later), and can be switched between continuous operation and intermittent operation.

A large number of cartons CA are accommodated in a carton magazine 4 installed on the upstream side of the carton conveyor 2 in a folded state.
Are taken out one by one and placed on the carton conveyor 2. The carton conveyor 2 has engaging claws 8a, 8b, 8c, 8 for holding the front and rear of the carton CA.
d (see FIG. 2) are provided at regular intervals, and by holding the carton CA by these front and rear engaging claws 8a, 8b, 8c, 8d, the carton CA is formed into an accurate square shape. At the same time, it is transported while maintaining its shape. The carton CA taken out of the carton magazine 4 and supplied to the carton conveyor 2 is conveyed in a state where the opening is directed to the side (the side in the traveling direction of the carton conveyor 2 (see the arrow A)). .

The carton conveyor 2 has a pair of front and rear engagement claws (front engagement claws 8a and 8d and rear engagement claws 8b and 8c), and the positional relationship between the front and rear is changed. By doing, different size cartons CA, CB
Can be conveyed. Here, a configuration for adjusting the distance between the front and rear engaging claws 8a, 8b, 8c, 8d will be described with reference to FIG.

The four shafts 13a and 13 are provided on a rotating shaft 11 which is rotated by transmitting the drive of the servo motor 3.
b, 13c and 13d are attached, and four chains 15
a, 15b, 15c, and 15d are respectively wound around. The front two engaging claws 8a, 8d are attached to the two outer chains 15a, 15d, and the rear two engaging claws 8 are attached to the two inner chains 15b, 15c.
b, 8c are attached.

The two sprockets 13a and 13d around which the outer chains 15a and 15d are respectively wound are fixed to the rotary shaft 11, while the two sprockets where the inner chains 15b and 15c are respectively wound around. The sprockets 13b and 13c are rotatable via bearings (not shown). Two disks 17a, 17b are fixed to the rotating shaft 11 on the side surfaces of the inner sprockets 13b, 13c, respectively. During normal operation, the inner sprockets 13b, 13c are attached to the disks 1b, 13c.
7a and 17b, which are screwed together to rotate integrally with the rotating shaft 11, and the front and rear engaging claws 8a, 8b,
When adjusting the distance between 8c and 8d, loosen the screws with the disks 17a and 17b of the inner sprockets 13b and 13c,
By rotating the two inner sprockets 13b and 13c, the phase in the rotation direction is changed.

An article transport conveyor (article moving means) 10 is arranged adjacent to and parallel to the carton conveyor 2. This article conveyor 10
The engaging claw 8 provided on the carton conveyor 2
Guide members 14 are provided at the same pitch as a, 8b, 8c, and 8d to guide both sides of the article 12 (front and rear in the traveling direction). A first article supply conveyor 16 is disposed at an upstream end of the article conveyance conveyor 10 in a direction orthogonal to the first direction. The articles 12 continuously conveyed by the article supply conveyor 16 form a pair of front and rear guides. Member 1
4a and 14b are sequentially supplied and transported in the same direction as the transport direction of the carton CA. The carton conveyor 2 and the article conveyor 10 are operated synchronously,
The positions of the cartons CA and the articles 12 in the traveling direction always coincide.

An article pushing mechanism (first article inserting means) 18 is provided opposite the carton conveyor 2 with the downstream portion of the article transport conveyor 10 interposed therebetween. The article pushing mechanism 18 includes a carton CA conveying pitch by the carton conveyor 2 and an article conveying conveyor 1.
A plurality of pushers 20 are provided at the same interval as the conveyance pitch of the articles 12 according to 0 (see FIGS. 1 and 3A). These pushers 20 can move forward and backward in a direction crossing the two conveyors 2 and 10,
When the article 12 is inserted into the inside, the article transport conveyor 1 is moved in synchronization with the carton CA and the article 12.
1 (on the upper side in FIG. 1) and onto the carton conveyor 2.

A second carton magazine 22 is provided on the upstream side of the carton conveyor 2, opposite to the article conveying conveyor 10. This second carton magazine 2
2. Inside the folded one-touch carton CB
Are stacked and accommodated, and are taken out one by one by a carton supply robot (second carton supply means) 26, and after being boxed, supplied onto the carton conveyor 2.

The position S2 where the one-touch carton CB is supplied by the carton supply robot 26 is downstream of the position S1 where the carton CA is supplied by the carton supply means 6. The carton supply means 6
Has a low degree of freedom and continuous rotation
To be taken out and supplied to the carton conveyor 2, the engaging claws 8 a, 8 b, 8 c, at the upstream end of the carton conveyor 2.
8d is a point where it rises around the sprockets 13a, 13b, 13c, 13d.
b, 8c, and 8d, deliver the carton CA to the opened state, and then, the carton CA is engaged with the front and rear engagement claws 8a, 8c.
Although the second carton supply means 26 is a robot, it has a high degree of freedom of operation and the front and rear engagement claws 8a, 8b, 8
Since the carton CB can be inserted between c and 8d, the supply position S2 of the one-touch carton CB is set downstream from the supply position S1 of the carton CA as described above.

A second article supply conveyor 28 is installed on the carton conveyor 2 in a direction orthogonal to the downstream side of a position S2 where the one-touch carton CB is supplied by the carton supply robot 26. The second article supply conveyor 28 supplies articles 12 to be inserted into the one-touch carton CB. In this embodiment,
The second article supply conveyor 28 is connected to the first article conveyor 16 via an intermediate conveyor 30, and is supplied with the same articles 12 as the articles 12 to be inserted into the carton CA having the open side.

In the vicinity of the intersection between the carton conveyor 2 and the second article supply conveyor 28, an article insertion robot (second article insertion means) 32 is disposed. Usually, the one-touch carton CB is used for inserting a large number of articles 12,
A plurality of articles 12 conveyed by the second article supply conveyor 28 are grasped simultaneously, or one article 12 is grasped and inserted, and this is repeated a plurality of times, so that a large amount of Is inserted. In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3 (b), the article insertion robot 32 grasps and inserts two articles at a time, and repeats this five times so that 10 robots can be inserted into one one-touch carton CB. The individual articles 12 are inserted.

The operation of the article storage device according to the above configuration will be described. First, the carton C with the side opened
When the articles 12 are inserted into the cartons A, the carton conveyor 2 is continuously operated, the article transport conveyor 10 and the first article supply conveyor 16 are operated, and the first carton supply means 6 causes the carton magazine 4 to move one from the carton magazine 4. The cartons CA are taken out one by one and supplied between the engaging claws 8a, 8b, 8c, 8d of the carton conveyor 2 to form an accurate square shape and to be conveyed downstream.

On the other hand, the article supply conveyor 16 continuously conveys the articles 12 inserted into the carton CA, and supplies the articles 12 to the article transport conveyor 10 running in a direction perpendicular to the conveyor 16. The article transport conveyor 10 is provided with guide members 14 at the same pitch as the carton transport pitch of the carton conveyor 2, and the articles 12 are sequentially supplied between the guide members 14 (14a, 14b) of each set.

The carton conveyor 2 and the article conveyor 10 are operated synchronously, and the carton CA conveyed by the carton conveyor 2 and the article conveyor 1
The article 12 conveyed by 0 moves to the downstream side in a state where the position in the front-back direction matches. These cartons CA
When the article 12 reaches the position of the article pushing mechanism 18 (first article insertion position P1), the pushers 20 that move in synchronization with the carton CA and the article 12 move in the traveling direction of the two conveyors 2, 10. While moving forward in a direction transverse to these conveyors 2, 10. This pusher 2
0, the guide member 1 of the article transport conveyor 10
The article 12 held between 4a and 14b is gradually extruded and pushed into the carton CA on the carton conveyor 2 (see FIGS. 1 and 3 (a)). The carton C in which the article 12 is pushed into the inside from the side opening as described above
A is sent to the next step after being sealed by a sealing mechanism (not shown).

In addition, the article 12 is placed in the one-touch carton CB.
Is inserted, the operation of the article transport conveyor 10 is stopped, the intermediate conveyor 30 and the second article supply conveyor 28 are operated, and the first article supply conveyor 16 is operated.
Then, the same article 12 as that inserted into the carton CA is sent to the second article supply conveyor 28. Although one article 12 is inserted into the carton CA, a plurality of articles 12 are accommodated in the one-touch carton CB. Since the insertion operation is performed, the carton conveyor 2 is switched from the continuous operation to the intermittent operation, and the insertion operation of the article 12 is performed while the one-touch carton CB is stopped.

Further, since the one-touch carton CB is large in size, the engagement claws 8 in front of the carton conveyor 2 are provided.
Adjust the distance between a, 8d and the rear engaging claws 8b, 8c according to the size of the one-touch carton CB. At this time, the screws on the discs 17a, 17b fixed to the rotating shaft 11 are loosened and the two inner sprockets 13b, 13b
Allow c to rotate. In this state, the inner two chains 15b, 15c are moved to engage the front and rear engaging claws 8a, 8c.
Adjust the distance between b, 8c and 8d to the size of the one-touch carton CB. Thereafter, the screws between the discs 17a and 17b are tightened, and the two inner sprockets 13b and 13c are tightened.
Is fixed to the rotating shaft 11.

The carton supply robot 26 takes out the folded one-touch carton CB from the second carton magazine 22, raises the box, and supplies it to the carton conveyor 2 at the carton supply position S2. Carton conveyor 2
The cartons CB sandwiched between the engaging claws 8a, 8b, 8c, 8d are transported downstream to the second article insertion position P2.
Then, the article 12 picked up from the second article supply conveyor 28 is inserted by the article insertion robot 32.
In this embodiment, while the carton conveyor 2 is operating intermittently and the one-touch carton CB is stopped, first, the article insertion robot 28 grasps the two articles 12 from the opening above the one-touch carton CB. This operation is repeated four times, and ten articles 12 are inserted into the one-touch carton CB by a total of five operations.

This one-touch carton CB is also sealed after the article 12 is inserted and sent to the next step. As described above, in the present embodiment, the carton conveyor 2 is also used as the carton CA for horizontally inserting articles from the side and the one-touch carton CB for inserting articles from above. The installation space is smaller than in the case where the article storage devices are independently provided, and the configuration can be simplified.

It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the structure described in the above embodiment, and the shape, structure,
It goes without saying that the arrangement and the like can be appropriately modified and changed.
In any case, it is sufficient that the carton conveyor 2 is common and the carton supply means 6, 26 and the article insertion means (article pushing mechanism 18, article insertion robot 32) are independently provided.

[0027]

As described above, according to the present invention, a carton conveyor for transporting a carton, carton supply means for supplying a carton to the carton conveyor with an opening directed to the side, An article insertion means for pushing the carton into the carton from the side, a second carton supply means for supplying the carton to the carton conveyor with the opening facing upward, and the second carton supply A second article insertion means disposed near the carton conveyor downstream of the position where the carton is supplied to the carton conveyor and holding the articles to be supplied and housed in the carton from above the carton. As a result, it is now possible to use a carton for storing items from the side and a carton for storing items from above, which was not possible previously It became.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a simplified plan view showing the overall configuration of an article storage device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view showing a carton conveyor of the article storage device.

FIG. 3 (a) is a perspective view showing an operation of inserting an article into a carton conveyed with an opening directed sideways, and FIG. 3 (b) is an operation of inserting an article into a carton with an opening directed upward. FIG.

FIG. 4 (a) is a perspective view showing a carton with an opening facing side, and FIG. 4 (b) is a perspective view showing a carton with an opening facing up.

[Explanation of symbols]

CA Carton (carton for inserting articles from side) CB Carton (one-touch carton for inserting articles from above) 2 Carton conveyor 6 First carton supply means 10 Article moving means (article conveyor) 12 Article 18 Article insertion means ( Article pushing mechanism) 26 Second carton supply means 32 Second article insertion means

 ────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued on the front page F term (reference) 3E003 AA01 AA07 AB01 BA02 BB01 BC01 BD04 BD05 BE01 CB03 CB05 CB07 DA04 3E030 AA02 BA04 BB02 DA06 EA01 EA02 GA01

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A carton conveyor for conveying a carton, carton supply means for supplying a carton to the carton conveyor with an opening directed to the side, and article insertion means for pushing an article into the carton from a side. A second carton supply means for supplying a carton to the carton conveyor with the opening facing upward, and a position at which the second carton supply means supplies the carton to the carton conveyor. And a second article insertion means which is disposed near the carton conveyor on the downstream side and holds articles to be supplied and accommodates the articles in the carton from above the carton.