JP2003191356A - Apparatus for preliminary molding - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To simplify work for adjusting the quantity of overlap. <P>SOLUTION: An apparatus for preliminary molding has forming rings 34-37 which are arranged at a plurality of positions in the conveyance direction of a packaging material 11 to make packaging material 11 tubular by deformation, and increase the quantity of the change of the packaging material toward the downstream side in the conveyance direction; a vertical seal device 41 for sealing both edges of the tubular packaging material 11; and a transfer mechanism for moving a prescribed forming ring 37 out of the forming rings 34-37 in the conveyance direction of the packaging material. When the quantity of overlap is changed, since the quantity of overlap can be adjusted, not only sealing in the longitudinal direction but also sealing in the cross direction are surely done to prevent defective sealing. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

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

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, when manufacturing a packaging container in which liquid food such as milk and soft drinks is stored, a web-shaped packaging material made of a flexible laminated material is formed into a tube, and the tube is Filling liquid food into a box-shaped packaging material
However, it is sealed and cut at predetermined intervals to form a brick-shaped (brick-shaped) packaging container.

FIG. 2 is a schematic view of a conventional filling machine.

In the figure, 11 is a web-shaped packaging material made of a flexible laminated material. The packaging material 11 is manufactured by a packaging material manufacturing machine (not shown), is set on the reeling machine 13 in the state of the reel 12, is reeled out by the reeling machine 13, and is conveyed in the filling machine by the feeding device.

A punch hole (not shown) is formed in the packaging material 11 while being conveyed in the filling machine, and an inner tape (not shown) and a pull tab (not shown) are attached to cover the punch hole. ) Be worn.
Subsequently, the packaging material 11 is conveyed in the vertical direction, and the forming ring 1 arranged at a plurality of positions in the conveying direction.
5 and is deformed into a tubular shape, and both edges of the tubular packaging material 11 are overlapped by a predetermined overlap amount, and the overlapped portion, that is, the overlapped portion is not shown in the vertical direction. It is vertically sealed by a sealing device.

The tubular packaging material 11 is further guided by a tube guide roller 17, during which the liquid food is supplied from above via a filling pipe 16 and filled in the packaging material 11. Next, the packaging material 11 is sandwiched by sealing jaws (not shown) from both sides, laterally sealed at predetermined intervals, and deformed by a molding flap (not shown) to form a pillow-shaped prototype container 18. Become. The sealing jaws constitute a lateral sealing device.

Subsequently, in each of the prototype containers 18, a laterally sealed portion, that is, a laterally sealed portion is cut and molded into a predetermined shape along a crease formed in advance, and a predetermined amount of liquid food product. It becomes a brick-shaped packaging container for housing.

Incidentally, the feeding device is generally arranged adjacent to the feeding device 13 and nip roller R1 (in the figure, one of a pair of nip rollers) that conveys the packaging material 11 by sandwiching it from the front side and the back side. ), A crease roller (not shown) that forms folds in the packaging material 11 while being rotated, and a nip roller R2 (which is disposed at the highest point of the filling machine and transports the packaging material 11 while sandwiching it from the front side and the back side). Only one of the pair of nip rollers is shown in the drawing.), Which is formed integrally with the molding flap and is engaged with an ear piece (not shown) formed adjacent to the lateral seal portion of the prototype container 18. , A locking portion (not shown) that conveys the prototype container 18 and the packaging material 11 along with the movement of the molding flap.

The tube guiding device 17 is composed of at least two supporting rollers, and each supporting roller is
It has a curved surface of a predetermined shape for guiding the packaging material 11.

When the amount of overlap varies, not only the vertical seal but also the horizontal seal cannot be reliably performed, resulting in a defective seal or folding the packaging material 11 along the fold line. It is impossible to do so, and defective molding occurs, and the appearance of the packaging container deteriorates.

In particular, in a horizontal sealing device that laterally seals the tubular packaging material 11 by ultrasonic sealing, if the amount of overlap changes, a further defective seal will occur at the horizontal sealing portion. That is, in such a lateral seal device, a horn (not shown) for generating ultrasonic waves and an anvil are opposed to each other, and the packaging material 11 is sandwiched by the horn and the anvil. Then, since the overlapping portion is continuously formed in the packaging material 11 in the vertical direction, when the packaging material 11 is sandwiched in the horizontal sealing device, the thickness of the portion corresponding to the overlapping portion is Greater than the thickness of other parts. Therefore, the ultrasonic waves generated in the horn
If the ultrasonic waves are transmitted only to the portion corresponding to the overlap portion, the ultrasonic waves are not evenly transmitted to the entire lateral seal portion, and the ultrasonic sealing cannot be performed reliably. Therefore, a concave portion for accommodating the overlapping portion is formed in the anvil, and when the packaging material 11 is sandwiched by the horn and the anvil, ultrasonic waves are uniformly transmitted to the entire lateral seal portion. .

However, when the amount of overlap varies, and particularly when the amount of overlap increases, the overlap portion cannot be fully accommodated by the concave portion and sticks out. As a result, ultrasonic waves are not evenly transmitted to the entire lateral seal portion, ultrasonic sealing cannot be performed reliably, and sealing failure occurs at the lateral seal portion.

Therefore, when the overlap amount fluctuates, the forming ring 15 is replaced with a different size in order to adjust the overlap amount. That is, for example, when the amount of overlap is too large, the forming ring 15 is exchanged with a small size to weaken the narrowing of the packaging material 11, and the amount of overlap is reduced accordingly. Further, when the overlap amount is too small, the forming ring 15 is replaced with a larger one, so that the packaging material 11 is tightly focused, and the overlap amount is increased accordingly.

[0014]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional preforming apparatus, it is necessary to replace the forming ring 15 with one having a different size in order to adjust the overlap amount, which is troublesome. Further, in order to replace the forming ring 15, it is necessary to stop the operation of the filling machine. In that case, in order to restart the operation of the filling machine after replacing the forming ring 15, a predetermined set value is set. Since it is necessary to reset the above, not only the time until it becomes possible to restart the operation of the filling machine becomes long, but also the work for restarting the operation of the filling machine is troublesome. Moreover, since it is not known whether the newly set value is the desired value until the operation of the filling machine is started, it may be necessary to reset the set value, which makes the work even more troublesome. Will end up.

Further, in the aseptic type filling machine for forming a sterilized packaging container, the sterility is lost as the forming ring 15 is replaced.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to solve the problems of the conventional preforming apparatus and to provide a preforming apparatus capable of simplifying the work for adjusting the overlap amount.

[0017]

Therefore, in the preforming apparatus of the present invention, in order to deform the web-shaped packaging material into a tubular shape, it is arranged at a plurality of positions in the transport direction of the packaging material. A forming ring that increases the amount of deformation of the packaging material toward the downstream in the transport direction, a vertical sealing device that vertically seals both edges of the tubular packaging material, and a predetermined forming of each of the forming rings. And a moving mechanism that moves the ring along the transport direction of the packaging material.

In another preforming apparatus of the present invention, further, an overlap amount detecting device for detecting an overlap amount of both edges of the packaging material and a predetermined amount corresponding to the detected overlap amount. And an overlap amount adjustment processing means for moving the forming ring.

In still another preforming apparatus of the present invention, the moving mechanism moves the most downstream forming ring among the forming rings.

[0020]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an essential part of a filling machine according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 3 is a conceptual view showing the operation of a sealing jaw according to the embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 4 is an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a forming ring provided in the above configuration.

In the figure, 11 is flexible and has a paper base material, a resin layer coated on one surface of the paper base material, and an aluminum foil coated on the other surface of the paper base material ( Layer)
A web-shaped packaging material made of a laminated material formed of a resin layer or the like coated on the aluminum foil layer. The packaging material 11 is manufactured by a packaging material manufacturing machine (not shown), is set in a reel state on a feeding machine (not shown), is fed by the feeding machine, and is conveyed in the filling machine by a feeding device.

Then, punching holes (not shown) are formed in the packaging material 11 while being conveyed in the filling machine, and an inner tape (not shown) and a pull tab (not shown) are attached so as to cover the punching holes. It Subsequently, as shown in the drawing, the packaging material 11 is transported in the vertical direction and is arranged at a plurality of locations in the transport direction.
Of the vertical sealing device 4 by being guided by the forming rings 34 to 37 and deformed into a tubular shape.
1, both edges of the packaging material 11 are vertically sealed. Therefore, the first to fourth forming rings 34 to 37 are formed by forming rollers having a curved surface of a predetermined shape in order to deform the packaging material 11 into a tube shape, and are downstream in the transport direction. The amount of deformation of the packaging material 11 is increased.

Subsequently, the packaging material 11 is guided by a tube guide roller 38 arranged on the downstream side of the fourth forming ring 37, during which the liquid food is supplied from above through the filling pipe 16. Then, the packaging material 11 is filled. Next, the packaging material 11 is sandwiched from both sides by the first and second sealing jaws 44 and 45, laterally sealed at predetermined intervals, and deformed by the molding flaps 46 and 47 to form a pillow shape. The prototype container 18 of FIG. In addition,
The first and second sealing jaws 44 and 45 constitute a lateral sealing device.

Subsequently, each of the prototype containers 18 is formed into a brick-shaped packaging container for cutting a lateral seal portion S and molding it into a predetermined shape along a fold line formed in advance so as to accommodate a certain amount of liquid food. Become.

The feeding device is generally arranged adjacent to the feeding device, and a pair of nip rollers (not shown) for nipping and transporting the packaging material 11 from the front side and the back side, the packaging material 11 being rotated. A crease roller (not shown) that forms a fold, and a pair of nip rollers 48, a reversing roller 40, and a pair of molding flaps 46 and 47 that are disposed at the highest position of the filling machine and that sandwich and convey the packaging material 11 from the front and back sides. The formed container 18 is engaged with the not-shown ear piece portion formed adjacent to the lateral seal portion of the prototype container 18, and the prototype container 18 and the second and second sealing jaws 44 and 45 are moved along with the movement of the prototype container 18 and The packaging material 11 includes a locking portion (not shown) that conveys the packaging material 11.

The first to fourth forming rings 3
4-37, vertical sealing device 41, tube guide roller 3
8. A preforming device is constituted by the horizontal sealing device and the like.

Next, the first to fourth forming rings 34 to 37 will be described.

The first forming ring 34 has a cylindrical shape and inverts and sends the web-shaped packaging material 11.
The second forming ring 35 bends both side edges of the web-shaped packaging material 11, and the third forming ring 36 brings both side edges of the curved web-shaped packaging material 11 close to each other. , The cross-section of the packaging material 11 has an elliptical circular shape, and the fourth forming ring 37 is
Both side edges of the packaging material 11 having a substantially elliptical cross section are made closer to each other to form a tube.

Next, the first and second sealing jaws 44, 4
5 will be described.

As shown in FIG. 3, each of the first and second sealing jaws 44 and 45 has a cutting jaw 51 and a heat sealing jaw 52.

In this case, the packaging material 11 is intermittently conveyed downward, and the steps of the first and second sealing jaws 44 and 45 having the same structure are half-processed in order to increase the processing speed of the filling machine. It is designed to be operated alternately by shifting the cycle.

Then, the cutting jaw 51 is
A cutting bar 53 at the front end (right end in FIG. 3),
The heat seal jaw 52 has a front end (the left end in FIG. 3).
And a seal block (inductor insulator) 54, and the seal block 54 includes two inductors 55. The cutting jaws 51 and the heat-sealing jaws 52 are moved forward, and the packaging material 11 is sandwiched from both sides by the cutting bar 53 and the seal block 54 so that the opposing surfaces are brought into contact with each other and sealed in the lateral direction. To form the lateral seal portion S.

In the center of the cutting jaw 51, a flat cutter knife 56 extending in the lateral direction is formed.
Is arranged so that it can be moved back and forth (moved in the left-right direction in FIG. 3), and when the cutter knife 56 is moved forward (moved in the right direction in FIG. 3), the space between the two seal lines of the horizontal seal portion S is Can be cut.

To this end, a cylinder 57 is provided at the rear end (left end in FIG. 3) of the cutter knife 56, and compressed air or the like is supplied to or discharged from the cylinder 57 to move the cutter knife 56 forward or backward. It is designed to be used.

A pair of molding flaps 46, 47 for surrounding and guiding the packaging material 11 are swingably disposed on the cutting jaw 51 and the heat-sealing jaw 52 to guide the packaging material 11. To form a pillow.

By the way, the first sealing jaw 44 is used.
Is at the seal / cut start position in FIG. 3, and the cutting jaw 51 is at the seal / cut start position.
Also, the heat seal jaws 52 are advanced so that the packaging material 11 is sandwiched from both sides and the opposing surfaces are brought into contact with each other. Then, the first sealing jaw 44 descends while holding the packaging material 11 therebetween, and the lateral seal portion S is formed therebetween, and the prototype container 18 is formed.

On the other hand, the second sealing jaw 45 is at the sealing / cutting ending position in FIG. 3, and the second sealing jaw 4 is located immediately before the sealing / cutting ending position.
The cutter knife 56 of 5 is advanced to cut between the two seal lines of the lateral seal portion S, and the prototype container 18 is cut off.

The cutting jaw 51 and the heat-sealing jaw 52 of the second sealing jaw 45 are retracted when the space between the two sealing lines of the lateral sealing portion S is cut, and are raised to rotate. Move to the sealing / cutting start position. Then, the second sealing jaw 4
When 5 moves to the sealing / cutting start position and starts to advance the cutting jaw 51 and the heat sealing jaw 52, the cutter knife 56 of the first sealing jaw 44 advances and cuts between the sealing lines. Then, the prototype container 18 is separated.

Incidentally, the first and second sealing jaws 44, 4
5, a cylinder mechanism (not shown) is provided, and by supplying compressed air or the like to the cylinder mechanism, the cutting jaws 51 and the heat sealing jaws 52 are attracted to each other at the sealing / cutting start position, and are pushed at the time of sealing. Increase pressure.

As the lateral sealing device, a lateral sealing device (not shown) that laterally seals the tubular packaging material by ultrasonic sealing can be used. In the lateral sealing device, a horn for generating ultrasonic waves and an anvil face each other, and the packaging material is sandwiched by the horn and the anvil. Since the overlapping portion is continuously formed in the packaging material in the vertical direction, when the packaging material is sandwiched in the horizontal sealing device, the thickness of the portion corresponding to the overlapping portion is different from that of other portions. Greater than part thickness. Therefore, if the ultrasonic wave generated in the horn is transmitted only to the portion corresponding to the overlap portion, the ultrasonic wave is not evenly transmitted to the entire lateral seal portion, and the ultrasonic seal should be performed securely. Will not be possible. Therefore, a recess for accommodating the overlap portion is formed in the anvil, and when the packaging material is sandwiched by the horn and the anvil, ultrasonic waves are uniformly transmitted to the entire lateral seal portion. .

Next, the third forming ring 36 will be described.

In FIG. 4, 36 is a third forming ring, and the third forming ring 36 is 5
Each forming roller 21 comprises one forming roller 21 and one counter pressure roller 22, and each forming roller 21 includes each shaft 2
3, the counter pressure roller 22 has the shaft 2
4 are rotatably supported with respect to each other, and the tube-shaped packaging material 11 (FIG. 3) is conveyed. To this end, each of the forming rollers 21 and the counter pressure roller 22 has surfaces 28 and 29 having an arcuate cross section, and the surfaces 28 and 29 are arranged adjacent to each other to form a circular space 30 in the center. To be done.

The shaft 24 is attached to the bracket 2
The bracket 25 is connected to a compressed air cylinder (not shown). Then, by operating the compressed air cylinder, the counter pressure roller 22 can be biased toward the packaging material 11 side (right side in the drawing).

By the way, the packaging material 11 is guided by the first to fourth forming rings 34 to 37 and is deformed into a tubular shape, but in the space 30 of the fourth forming ring 37. , The packaging material 1
1 has a tube shape, and both edges of the packaging material 11 are overlapped by a predetermined overlap amount to form an overlap portion.

In this case, if the overlap amount changes, not only the vertical seal but also the horizontal seal cannot be surely performed, resulting in a defective seal or the packaging material 11 along the fold line. It cannot be bent, resulting in poor molding and poor appearance of the packaging container.

In particular, in the lateral sealing device that laterally seals the tubular packaging material 11 by ultrasonic sealing, if the amount of overlap varies, the lateral sealing portion S will be further defective in sealing. For example, when the overlap amount fluctuates and becomes large, the overlap portion cannot be completely accommodated by the recess, and thus the protrusion overlaps. As a result, the ultrasonic waves are not evenly transmitted to the entire lateral seal portion S, the ultrasonic sealing cannot be performed reliably, and a sealing defect occurs in the lateral seal portion.

Therefore, an overlap amount detecting device (not shown) detects the overlap amount. The overlap amount detector irradiates the overlap portion with light and detects the overlap amount based on the reflected light, or detects the overlap amount using a predetermined sensor.

When the overlap amount changes, a predetermined forming ring among the first to fourth forming rings 34 to 37, which is the most downstream in the present embodiment, is used to adjust the overlap amount. So that the third forming ring 36, which is one upstream from the side, can be moved to the upstream side or the downstream side in the transport direction of the packaging material 11, that is, the vertical direction along the transport direction of the packaging material 11. Has become. Therefore, the third forming ring 36 is movably supported by a predetermined moving mechanism (not shown) and is connected to a compressed air cylinder 39 as a driving unit. The compressed air cylinder 39 communicates with compressed air through a control valve (not shown), and the control valve and a control unit (not shown) are connected to each other.

Therefore, the overlap amount adjustment processing means (not shown) of the control unit performs the overlap amount adjustment process, reads the overlap amount detected by the overlap amount detection device, and determines the opening degree of the control valve. By controlling the compressed air cylinder 39, the third forming ring 36 is moved in the vertical direction corresponding to the overlap amount.

That is, for example, when the amount of overlap is too large, the third forming ring 36 is moved downward, the narrowing of the packaging material 11 is weakened, and the amount of overlap is reduced accordingly. When the amount of overlap is too small, the third forming ring 36 is moved upward, the packing material 11 is tightly focused, and the amount of overlap is increased accordingly. In the present embodiment, the first to fourth forming rings 34 to 3 are used.
Although the third forming ring 36, which is one of the seven, is moved, the fourth forming ring 37 can also be moved. Further, it is possible to move a plurality of forming rings. In that case, since the amount of deformation of the packaging material 11 can be shared by each forming ring, the packaging material 11 can be smoothly deformed.

As described above, when the overlap amount changes, the overlap amount can be adjusted by the overlap amount adjusting processing means of the control unit. Therefore, not only the vertical seal but also the horizontal seal can be used. It can be reliably performed, and the occurrence of defective sealing is eliminated.
In addition, the packaging material 11 can be bent accurately along the creases, so that molding defects do not occur and the appearance of the packaging container can be improved.

In order to adjust the overlap amount,
Since it is only necessary to move the third forming ring 36, even if the third forming ring 36 is manually moved, the work can be simplified, and if the third forming ring 36 is automatically moved, the work can be performed. It can be further simplified.

Further, since it is not necessary to change the predetermined forming ring in order to adjust the overlap amount, it is not necessary to stop the operation of the filling machine. Therefore, not only the operation for restarting the operation of the filling machine becomes unnecessary, but also sterility is not lost in the aseptic type filling machine forming the sterilized packaging container.

The present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiments, but can be variously modified within the scope of the present invention, and they are not excluded from the scope of the present invention.

[0056]

As described in detail above, according to the present invention, in the preforming device, in order to deform the web-shaped packaging material into the tubular shape, a plurality of portions in the conveying direction of the packaging material are provided. A forming ring that is disposed in the downstream direction in the transport direction and that increases the amount of deformation of the packaging material, a vertical sealing device that vertically seals both edges of the tubular packaging material, and each of the forming rings. And a moving mechanism for moving the predetermined forming ring of (1) along the transport direction of the packaging material.

In this case, if the amount of overlap changes,
Since the overlap amount can be adjusted, not only the vertical seal but also the horizontal seal can be surely performed, and a seal defect does not occur. In addition, the packaging material can be bent accurately along the fold line, so that molding defects do not occur and the appearance of the packaging container can be improved.

Further, since it suffices to move a predetermined forming ring in order to adjust the overlap amount, even if the forming ring is manually moved, the work can be simplified and automatically performed. When moving, the work can be further simplified.

Further, since it is not necessary to change the predetermined forming ring in order to adjust the overlap amount, it is not necessary to stop the operation of the filling machine. Therefore, not only the operation for restarting the operation of the filling machine becomes unnecessary, but also sterility is not lost in the aseptic type filling machine forming the sterilized packaging container.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a main part of a filling machine according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic view of a conventional filling machine.

FIG. 3 is a conceptual diagram showing an operation of the sealing jaw according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an arrangement state of forming rings in the embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

11 packaging materials 34-37 1st-4th forming rings 41 Vertical sealing device

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    F-term (reference) 3E050 AA08 AB02 AB08 BA01 BA11                       CA01 CB03 CC04 CC09 CC10                       DC03 DE03 DE04 DF03 FA01                       FB01 FB07 GA10 GB06 GC02                       HA01 HA02 HA07 HB01 HB03                 3E075 AA05 AA07 BA46 BA66 BB05                       BB22 CA02 DA14 DA32

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. (a) In order to deform a web-shaped packaging material into a tubular shape, the packaging material is disposed at a plurality of positions in the transport direction of the packaging material, and the downstream packaging material in the transport direction deforms the packaging material. Forming ring that increases the amount, (b)
It has a vertical sealing device that vertically seals both edges of the tubular packaging material, and (c) a moving mechanism that moves a predetermined forming ring among the forming rings along the packaging material conveying direction. A preforming device characterized in that 2. The predetermined forming ring is moved according to (a) an overlap amount detecting device for detecting an overlap amount of both edges of the packaging material, and (b) corresponding to the detected overlap amount. The preforming apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising an overlap amount adjustment processing unit. 3. The preforming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the moving mechanism moves the most downstream forming ring among the forming rings.