JP2003205921A - Seal breaking apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a seal breaking apparatus capable of positively cutting and removing a packaging material without damaging an item stored in the packaging material. <P>SOLUTION: This seal breaking apparatus 10 has a transferring belt 11 for transferring a seal F; a stopping sensor for detecting the seal F at a predetermined position; a sensing part for sensing a length along a transferring direction of the seal F; ten clampers 12 for holding ten bundles T of the seal F stopped at a predetermined processing position; a row dividing mechanism 13 for moving the clampers 12 holding five bundles at the first row and forming a clearance between the rows; and a cutting mechanism 14 for cutting a film (f) by passing a cutter 14a through the clearance. The transferring belt 11 transfers the seal F in such a way that a center of the clearance oppositely faces against the cutter 14a and then stops the seal F at a predetermined processing position. <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 breaking device for breaking a package in which a plurality of articles are packaged, and more particularly, to a package in which a bundle of paper sheets is aligned and wrapped with a shrinkable film. The present invention relates to a breaking device that automatically breaks.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a tampering device, a bundle of paper sheets has been
BACKGROUND ART There is known a device that receives a bundle of 10 bundles, each of which is aligned in two rows in the same direction and wrapped with a shrinkable film, and cuts the film of the bundle 10 between rows to break the bundle.

In this type of breaking device, for example, each row of 10 bundles is separated from each other to form a gap while stretching the film, and the film is melted and cut while passing a nichrome wire which is energized in the gap. Then, each cut row is erected at 90 ° in a direction facing each other so that the cut portions of the film face downward, and the cut film is pulled out from above each row.

In the above-mentioned conventional tampering device, the film is cut by passing the energized nichrome wire between the rows, so that the nichrome wire does not come into contact with the bundle inside the row. The gap was relatively large.

[0005]

However, when the film is greatly stretched to increase the gap between the rows, when the bundles in each row are erected after the film is cut, the ends of the stretched film are bundled. There was a problem that it got into the underside and it became difficult to remove the film.

Further, in this case, if the film is forcibly pulled out, the posture of the inner bundle is collapsed, causing a problem in the subsequent processing step.

The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and an object thereof is to provide a decapsulating device capable of surely cutting a packaging material without damaging an article inside.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the unsealing device of the present invention has a plurality of articles arranged in two rows and wrapped with a shrinkable wrapping material to form a package in a row direction. A transport mechanism that transports the package to the container, a detection unit that detects the type of the package that is transported, a detection unit that detects the package that is transported at a predetermined position, and a detection unit that is stopped at a predetermined processing position. A gripping mechanism that grips the articles in each row of the package, a moving mechanism that moves one row that is gripped to form a predetermined gap between the rows, and a cutter that waits at the processing position for each row. A cutting mechanism that cuts the packaging material by inserting it in the gap between the
Based on the type of package detected by the detector, the transport amount of the package detected by the detector is calculated, and when one row is moved by the moving mechanism, the gap between each row of packages And a control unit that controls the transport mechanism to stop the package at the processing position so that the cutter faces the center of the package.

[0009]

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

First, before describing the breaking device 10 according to the embodiment of the present invention, a 10-bundle F as a package processed by this breaking device (hereinafter, simply referred to as a closing F).
Will be described.

The seal F is, for example, a stack T (article) obtained by stacking 10 small bundles t each obtained by sealing 100 sheets of paper P with a small strip k and binding them together with a large strip K. Are arranged in two rows of 5 bundles each and wrapped by a heat-shrinkable film f (packaging material) such as a polyethylene film.

The small band k of each small bundle t is wound around a rectangular paper sheet at a position offset toward one end side along the longitudinal direction. Then, 10 small bundles are aligned and stacked so that the small bands k of the small bundles t overlap each other, and the two large bands K are bundled in a cross shape to form a bundle T. The bundle T formed in this way has its short sides oriented so that the stacking direction of the paper sheets P is oriented in the vertical up-down direction and that the end on the side where the small band k is wound is oriented in the same direction. 5 adjacent to each other in contact with each other,
The rows of the five bundles are arranged in two rows and wrapped with the film f to form the seal F (see FIG. 1a).

In the following description, the surface of the paper sheet at the upper end of each aligned bundle T is referred to as the upper surface T1 of the bundle T, and the surface of the paper sheet at the lower end is referred to as the lower surface T2 of the bundle T. The end of the bundle T on the side where the band k is biasedly wound is called a rear end T4, and the other end is called a front end T3. That is, the upper surface T1 of 10 bundles forms the upper surface of the seal F, and the lower surface T2 of 10 bundles forms the lower surface of the seal F,
The front end T3 of the five bundles in the first row forms the front end of the seal F, and the rear end T4 of the fifth bundle in the second row forms the rear end of the seal F.

The rupturing device 10 will be described below.

FIG. 1 (a) is a plan view showing the structure of the essential parts of the breaking device 10, and FIG. 1 (b) is a front view showing the structure of the essential parts of the breaking device 10 as seen from the front side of the device. 1 (c) is a side view of the configuration of the main part of the tearing device 10 as viewed from the right side of the device.

The unsealing device 10 indicates that the inserted seal F is indicated by an arrow a.
A conveyor belt 11 (conveyance mechanism) that conveys and takes in the direction
Ten clampers 12 (holding mechanism) that individually hold each bundle T in the taken-in seal F in the stacking direction of the paper sheets P and hold five bundles in the first row (row on the front end side) 5 Hold 5 bundles of the second clamper 12 (rows on the rear end side) 5
A row dividing mechanism 13 (moving mechanism) that forms a gap between each row of the seals F by separating from the individual clampers 12.
A cutting mechanism 14 for cutting the film f through the cutter 14a between the divided rows, a pusher 15 for feeding the five bundles of the first row in which the film f has been cut to the front side of the apparatus,
And the pusher 16 for feeding the 5 bundles in the second row, which is obtained by cutting the film f, to the front side.

In addition, as shown in FIGS. 2 to 4, in the unsealing device 10, the cutting portion of the film f cuts the five bundles in each row sent by the pushers 15 and 16 (while the film f is covered). It has a bundle erecting mechanism 17 that erects in a downward posture, and a film removing mechanism 18 that deforms the five erect bundles and extracts the film f.

The decapping device 10 having the above structure operates as follows.

The seal F is loaded into the breaking device 10 along the direction of the arrow a in the figure, with the front end T3 side of the five bundles in the first row as the head. The inserted seal F is sent to a predetermined processing position (described later) in the unsealing device 10 via the transport belt 11 and stopped. The seal F sent to the processing position is constrained by the 10 clampers 12 holding 10 bundles T in the seal F along the stacking direction of the paper sheets P, respectively.

In this state, the five bundles in the first row on the leading end side of the seal F are separated from the five bundles in the second row on the rear end side of the seal F.
5 pieces of 5 bundles in the 1st row were clamped by the row dividing mechanism 13
The individual clampers 12 are moved and a gap is formed between the five bundles in the first row and the five bundles in the second row.

Then, the cutter 14a of the cutting mechanism 14 is moved from the front side to the rear side of the apparatus to pass through the gap, and the film f is cut into two. In other words, the seal F conveyed by the conveyor belt 11 is the column dividing mechanism 13
With a gap formed between the first and second rows,
The conveyance amount is adjusted and stopped so that the center of the gap faces the cutter 14a waiting at a predetermined position. In other words, this stop position is the processing position.

After the film f is cut, the pusher 16
Therefore, the 5 bundles in the 2nd row are arranged in the same direction, that is,
It is pushed in the direction of arrow b in (a), or the pusher 15
Therefore, the five bundles in the first row are arranged in that direction, that is, in FIG.
It is pushed in the direction of arrow c in (b), and the five bundles in one row are sent to the carousel 21 of the bundle raising mechanism 17.

The five bundles in the second row are housed in the carousel 21 which is on standby in the posture shown in FIG. 2 (a), and the carousel 21 is centered on a shaft 22 extending in the horizontal direction and indicated by an arrow in the figure. d
It is erected by rotating in the direction. Further, the five bundles in the first row are housed in the carousel 21 which is on standby in the posture shown in FIG. 2B, and the carousel 21 is rotated about the shaft 22 in the arrow f direction in the drawing. Stand up by. The rotation direction of the carousel 21 is such that the five bundles are erected in a posture in which the cut portion of the film f ′ faces downward.

When removing half of the film f'cut from the five bundles thus erected in this way, first, as shown in FIG. 3, the five bundles contained in the carousel 21 extend vertically. 90 ° in the direction of arrow e in the figure around the axis 23
As shown in FIG. 4, only the central three bundles among the five bundles are rotated and lifted upward by a pusher (not shown), and the film f ′ is deformed into the illustrated shape. That is, only the film f ′ is formed above the first bundle and the fifth bundle located at both ends of the fifth bundle. Then, the two pins 31 and 32 of the film removing mechanism 18 are pierced into these two portions and the pins 31 and 32 are moved upward, whereby the film f ′ is pulled out upward.

The film f ′ thus separated from the five bundles is transferred to and stored in a film discharge portion (not shown) by moving the pins 31 and 32 in the direction of arrow g in the drawing. The five bundles in the rack 21 after the film f ′ is removed are returned to their original postures in the central three bundles and sent to a not-shown processing section in the subsequent stage.

In FIG. 5, the cutting mechanism 14 having the above-mentioned cutter 14a, the five clampers 12 for holding the five bundles in the second row, the pushers 16, and the peripheral members thereof are opened by the device 1 for breaking.
0 is a perspective view seen from diagonally right rear of 0. Here, the seal F is fed from the right direction (direction of arrow a) in the figure.

Five clampers 1 for holding the five bundles in the second row
2 is fixedly attached to the frame 10a of the tearing device 10.

The cutter 14a of the cutting mechanism 14 has its upper end fixed to the slider 31. The slider 31 is slidably attached to a rail 32 extending substantially horizontally in the front-rear direction of the device. The rail 32 is fixed to the frame 10a.

The slider 31 includes three pulleys 33a, 3
Endless belt 3 wound around 3b and 33c and stretched
It is attached to 4. The pulley 33a is attached to the rotary shaft of a cutter motor 35 that can rotate in both forward and reverse directions, and functions as a drive pulley.

When the cutter motor 35 is rotated, the belt 34 travels in a predetermined direction, the slider 31 slides along the rail 32, and the cutter 14a moves in the front-rear direction of the apparatus, that is, the arrow h in the figure. Is moved in the direction. The cutter 14a is housed in the case 36 when it slides along the rail 32 to the front end.

The slider 31 has a first and a second.
A mounting arm 44 for mounting the sensors 41, 42 is fixed. The first and second sensors 41, 42 are
The cutter 14a is provided in front of the cutter 14a in the moving direction and close to the cutter 14a, and moves together with the cutter 14a.
To detect objects in front of. First and second sensor 4
Reference numerals 1 and 42 are transmissive sensors each having a light emitting portion and a light receiving portion that form an optical axis extending in the vertical direction.

The optical axis of the first sensor 41 is the cutter 1
It is positioned and arranged so as to pass through a position slightly deviated to the side of the 5th bundle (5 bundles that move) from the movement path of 4a. The optical axis of the second sensor 42 is 5 bundles (fixed 5 bundles) in the second row from the movement path of the cutter 14a.
It is positioned and arranged so as to pass through a position slightly deviated to the bundle side. The first sensor 41 is positioned so that its optical axis passes through a position closer to the front side of the device than the optical axis of the second sensor 42.

That is, when the cutter 14a moves to cut the film f, the first and second sensors 41 and 42 detect an object existing in front of the cutter 14a, and the cutter 14a
This prevents a from accidentally cutting the paper sheets P inside. The first sensor 41 includes the cutter 14 for the five bundles in the first row.
a is prevented from interfering. The second sensor 42 prevents the cutter 14a from interfering with the five bundles in the second row.

Further, a rail 32 is provided on the frame 10a.
A sensor 51 that detects the cutter 14a that has been moved to the front side of the device and is housed in the case along a line, and a sensor 52 that detects the cutter 14a that has been moved to the rear side of the device.
Is attached.

Next, a control system for controlling the operation of the decapsulating apparatus 10 having the above structure will be described with reference to the block diagram shown in FIG.

A control unit 10 for controlling the operation of the unsealing device 10.
0 is a detection unit 101 that detects the length of the seal sent to the unsealing device 10 along the conveyance direction, and a stop sensor 102 (detection unit that detects and stops the seal F conveyed by the conveyance belt 11). ), First and second sensors 41, 42 for detecting an object on the moving path of the cutter 14a, and sensors 51, 52 for detecting the cutter 14a at the front and rear ends of the apparatus are connected. The stop sensor 102 is fixedly arranged at a predetermined position on the conveyance path of the seal F, and detects the seal F conveyed via the conveyance belt 11 and stops it at a predetermined processing position in the unsealing device 10. The trigger signal of is output.

Further, the control belt 100 has a conveyor belt 11
Conveyor motors 103, 1 for moving the paper in both forward and reverse directions
Clamp motor 10 for operating 0 clampers
4. Moving motor 10 for driving the row dividing mechanism 13
5, a cutter motor 35 for moving the cutter 14a of the cutting mechanism 14, and pushers 15 and 16 are connected.

Next, regarding the operation of the control unit 100,
This will be described with reference to the flowcharts shown in FIGS.

First, referring to FIG. 7, the seal F taken in is taken.
The operation up to stopping at a predetermined processing position in the unsealing device 10 will be described.

First, the length of the seal F inserted in the direction of the arrow a along the transport direction is detected by the detecting section 101 (step 1). Then, the conveyor belt 11 is rotated in the normal direction and the seal F is fed into the breaking device 10 (step 2). At this time, the carry amount until the seal F detected by the stop sensor 102 is stopped at a predetermined processing position is calculated based on the length of the seal F detected in step 1 (step 3).

That is, since the length of the seals F varies depending on the type of the bundle T sealed in the seals F, when all the seals F are stopped at a predetermined position, they are formed by the row dividing mechanism 13 in the subsequent stage. In some cases, the cutter 14a may not face the center of the gap between the rows. For this reason, in the present embodiment, the stop position of the seal F is adjusted according to the length of the seal F so that the center of the gap between the rows always faces the cutter 14a.

Then, after the conveyance of the seal F is started in step 2, the stop sensor 51 is turned on within a predetermined time (step 4; NO) (step 5; YES),
The seal F is further transported by the transport amount calculated in step 3 (step 6), the transport belt 11 is stopped (step 7), and the seal F is stopped at a predetermined processing position.

The carry amount calculated in step 3 may be either forward or reverse. The length of the seal F detected in step 1 is determined by, for example, reading the label (not shown) attached to the seal F to determine the type of the seal F, and determine the length according to the type. But it can be detected.

Next, the operation of cutting the film f of the seal F stopped at the processing position will be described with reference to FIGS. 8 and 9.

First, as shown in FIG. 8, ten bundles T of the seals F stopped at the processing position are gripped by the clamper 12 (step 8). Then, the clamper 12 that clamps the five bundles in the first row is moved by the row dividing mechanism 13, the film f is stretched, and a slight gap is formed between the rows (step 9). At this time, the gap formed between the rows may be a relatively narrow gap so that the cutter 14a can be inserted therethrough, and the film f is not undesirably elongated by the operation of dividing the rows. Incidentally, the conveyance amount of the seal F and the divisional movement amount of the row are set so that the cutter 14a faces the center of the gap in the state where the gap is formed between the rows in step 2.

After forming the gaps between the rows, the cutter 14a waiting on the front side of the apparatus is moved (step 10) to pass through the gaps between the rows. At this time, the first and second sensors 41, 42 monitor whether or not there is an object in front of the cutter 14a (step 11). Then, the rear sensor 52 is used by the rear sensor 52 within a certain time (step 12; NO) without detecting an object via the first and second sensors 41, 42 (step 11; NO).
When 4a is detected (step 13; YES), the cutter motor 35 is stopped (step 14) and the cutter 14a is stopped.
Is stopped. At this point, the film f is cut in two.

Then, the condition is that the cutter motor 35 is reversely rotated (step 15), the cutter 14a is moved in the reverse direction, and the cutter 14a is detected by the front sensor 51 within a fixed time (step 16; NO). (Step 17; YES), the cutter motor 35 is stopped (Step 18), and the cutter 14a is stopped. In this state, the cutter 14a is housed in the case 36.
When the cutter 14a moves in the opposite direction, the cutter 14a
The presence or absence of an object on the movement path of a is not monitored.

By the way, in step 11, the first and second
When an object is detected via the sensors 41 and 42 (step 11; YES), a retry process is performed.

In the retry process, as shown in FIG. 9, it is judged whether or not only the first sensor 41 is dark (step 21), and when only the first sensor 41 is dark (step 21; YES). After the cutter motor 35 is stopped (step 22), the row dividing mechanism 13 is driven, and the gap between the rows is slightly widened (step 23). At this time, the movement amount of the five bundles in the first row is about several millimeters, and
It is desirable to monitor the output of the sensor 41 and set the movement amount such that the sensor output becomes clear.

After the clearance is widened in step 23, the processing is returned to step 10 in FIG. 8 and the cutter 14a is restarted to move.

On the other hand, in step 21 of FIG. 9, the first sensor 4
It is determined that only 1 is not dark (step 21;
If NO, it is determined that only the second sensor 42 is dark (step 24; YES), the cutter motor 35 is stopped (step 25), the cutter motor 35 is rotated in the reverse direction (step 26), and the cutter 14a. Are housed in a case 36 on the front side of the apparatus.

After that, the moving motor 105 is rotated in the reverse direction, the five bundles in the first row are returned to the original state by the row dividing mechanism 13 (step 27), and the clamp motor 104 is energized to be held by the ten clampers 12. Canceled (Step 2)
8). At this point, the seal F obtained by cutting the film f halfway
Are returned to their original positions at predetermined processing positions.

Then, the conveyance motor 103 is reversely rotated, the conveyance belt 11 is slightly moved backward, and the seal F is slightly returned to the front side (step 29). After that, the process returns to step 2 in FIG. 8 and the seal F is re-clamped by the ten clampers 12.

In step 24 of FIG. 9, the second sensor 42 is
If it is determined that the first and second sensors 41 and 42 are both dark (step 24; NO), the cutter motor 35 is stopped and the cutter 14a is stopped. Then (step 30), error processing is performed (step 31).

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the stop position of the seal F is adjusted based on the length of the seal F along the transport direction, so that the cutter 14a arranged at a predetermined position is aligned with the cutter 14a. The gap of can always face each other. Therefore, the gap between the rows can be made smaller than that in the conventional apparatus, and when the bundle T is erected after the film is cut, the end portion of the film f does not go under the bundle, and the film f can be removed. It will be easier.

By detecting the object on the moving path of the cutter 14a by the first and second sensors 41 and 42 and performing the retry process, the film f can be safely protected without damaging the sheets P inside. Can be cut into Naturally, the cutter 14
Since the object in front of a can be detected, the film f can be cut without providing a gap between rows more than necessary.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, but can be variously modified within the scope of the present invention.

For example, in the above-described embodiment, when the first sensor 41 detects an object, the row dividing mechanism 13 is operated to move the five bundles in the first row to widen the gap. Alternatively, the clearance may be returned to the original position, the clamp may be released, and the seal F may be slightly conveyed to change the stop position.

[0059]

As described above, since the decapsulating device of the present invention has the above-described structure and operation,
The packaging material can be reliably cut off without damaging the articles inside.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view (a), a front view (b), and a side view (c) showing a sealing device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a view for explaining the operation of the bundle raising mechanism incorporated in the unsealing device of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a state in which a bundle is rotated by the bundle raising mechanism of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a view for explaining the operation of the film removing mechanism incorporated in the breaking device of FIG.

5 is a perspective view of a configuration of a main part of the unsealing device shown in FIG.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a control system for controlling the operation of the unsealing device in FIG.

FIG. 7 is a flow chart for explaining the operation of the unsealing device of FIG.

FIG. 8 is a flow chart for explaining the operation of the unsealing device of FIG.

FIG. 9 is a flow chart for explaining the operation of the unsealing device of FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 ... Unsealing device, 11 ... Conveyor belt, 12 ... Clamper,
13 ... Row dividing mechanism, 14 ... Cutting mechanism, 14a ... Cutter,
15, 16 ... Pusher, 17 ... Bundle raising mechanism, 18 ... Film removing mechanism, 35 ... Cutter motor, 41 ... First sensor, 42 ... Second sensor, 100 ... Control section, 101 ... Detection section, 102 ... Stop sensor, 103 ... Conveyor motor, 104
... Clamp motor, 105 ... Moving motor, f ... Film, F ... Seal, P ... Paper, T ... Bundle.

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A transport mechanism for transporting a package, in which a plurality of articles are arranged in two rows and wrapped with a shrinkable packaging material, in a row alignment direction, and a detection unit for detecting the type of the transported package. A detection unit that detects a conveyed package at a predetermined position, a gripping mechanism that detects an item of each line of the package detected by the detection unit and stopped at a predetermined processing position, and between each line. A moving mechanism that moves one row that was gripped to form a predetermined gap, a cutting mechanism that cuts the packaging material by inserting a cutter waiting at the processing position into the gap between each row, and a detector. Based on the detected type of package, the transport amount of the package detected by the detection unit is calculated, and when one row is moved by the moving mechanism, the center of the gap between each row of packages is calculated. Stop the package at the processing position by controlling the transport mechanism so that the cutter faces each other. A decapsulation device that includes a control unit that enables 2. The unsealing device according to claim 1, wherein the detection unit detects a length of the package along the conveying direction. 3. The tearing device according to claim 1, wherein the cutting mechanism has a sensor that detects an object on the moving path of the cutter. 4. The sensor according to claim 3, wherein the sensor includes a first sensor provided on one row side and a second sensor provided on the other row side that are moved by a moving mechanism from a movement path of the cutter. The unsealing device described. 5. The control unit controls the cutting mechanism so as to stop the cutter and the movement mechanism so as to widen the gap between the rows when the first sensor detects an object. Unsealing device. 6. The control unit controls the cutting mechanism so as to stop and restore the cutter when the second sensor detects an object, and controls the moving mechanism so as to restore the gap between the rows. Then
Control the gripping mechanism to release the grip of the articles in each row,
The tearing device according to claim 4, wherein the transport mechanism is controlled so as to transport the package in the opposite direction. 7. The controller according to claim 4, wherein when the first sensor and the second sensor detect an object, the control unit controls the cutting mechanism so as to stop the cutter and return it to the original state, and performs error processing. Breaking device.