JP2005247337A - Manufacturing apparatus for integrally formed container with easily separable lid - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a manufacturing apparatus for an integrally formed container with an easily separable lid, the container having a container body and the lid that can be separated easily for eating fermented soybeans or on the other occasions. <P>SOLUTION: The manufacturing apparatus includes a heater for forming a thin-walled cut part on a hinge of the container, which is composed of the container body and the lid made integral to the container body via the hinge, when the lid is closed. The heater includes a heating part that comes in contact with the hinge to melt it, and a sliding part that moves the heating part back/forth and/or up/down. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an apparatus for manufacturing a container, and more particularly to an apparatus for forming a thin cut portion of a lid easy-separation type integrally formed container in which a lid can be easily separated from a container body.

Plastic molded containers are easy to process, low cost, and easy to transport, especially those made of foamed resin are excellent in light weight, elasticity, heat retention, etc. Widely used as food containers such as containers. Especially, what can isolate | separate a cover body and a container main body easily is especially suitable for the natto container which requires moderate air permeability.
A plastic natto container (natto product) can be generally manufactured by the following steps 1 to 10, as shown in FIGS.

Process 1: The process which heats the synthetic resin sheet 1 used as a raw material with the heating apparatus 2 (FIG. 1A)
Step 2: Vacuum forming the heated sheet 1 with the mold 3 (FIG. 1B)
Step 3: A step of cutting the lid-container integrated molding 10 from the vacuum-formed sheet 1 into individual containers with the cutter 4 (FIG. 1C)
Process 4: The process of stacking the cut and formed integrally molded product 10 (FIG. 1D)
Step 5: Using the container feeder 5, a step of placing the stacked integrally molded products 10 on the conveyor 6 one by one as containers 11 (FIG. 2A).
Process 6: The process of filling the container on the conveyor 6 with the steamed soybean 8 seeded with Bacillus natto using the boiled bean filling machine 7 (FIG. 2B).
Process 7: The process which covers the film 12 cut | disconnected to the appropriate magnitude | size on the steamed soybean 8 with which the container was filled using the film pushing cutter 9 (FIG. 2C)
Process 8: The process of throwing the seasoning bag 13 containing a sauce, mustard, etc. on the film 12 using the seasoning bag thrower 14 (FIG. 2D)
Step 9: Bending the hinge portion so that the container body and the lid of the container overlap and closing the lid (FIG. 2E)
Process 10: The process of joining the flange part of the opposite side of the bent hinge part with the lid sealing machine 15 (FIG. 2E)

  Since the natto container integrally formed by the above-described steps 1 and 2 is subjected to a considerable impact on the container itself, particularly at the hinge portion, as is apparent from the description in the subsequent steps 3 to 10, The hinge portion needs an appropriate strength. For this reason, it is necessary to ensure an appropriate thickness for the hinge portion.

  On the other hand, so-called easy-to-lid natto containers that can easily separate the container body and the lid have been developed. For example, a natto container (Patent Document 1) in which a thin-walled cut portion is formed along the hinge portion and the tensile force is 0.8 kg to 3 kg, or a natto with a perforation on the hinge portion to improve separation. There are containers (Patent Documents 1 to 3), and a natto container (Patent Documents 4 and 5) in which a perforation is provided in the flange portion near the hinge portion.

  As described above, the natto container provided with the thin-walled cut portion and the perforation has a moderate improvement in the thickness of the thin-walled cut portion and the perforated portion as described above, although the separation of the lid from the container body is somewhat improved. Because it is required, there is a limit to easy separability. For this reason, fragments from the hinge part are generated by cutting with a strong force, which is mixed into natto, and further, the container body is cracked. There was a problem.

  Therefore, the present inventors have already passed through a natto filling process, a lid sealing process, and the like in a synthetic resin container including a container body and a lid body integrated with the container body via a hinge portion. If the hinge part is thinned with the lid closed, there is no need to go through the process of applying an impact to the hinge part, so the strength of the thin-walled cut part can be made much smaller than before, so this We succeeded in providing an easy-to-cover easy-to-separate integrally molded container that can form a thin-walled cut portion thinner than conventional containers and has a sharper edge than conventional containers with perforations (Japanese Patent Application 2003-326805). ). The present invention provides a heater for easily and rationally manufacturing the container and an apparatus using the heater.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-305886 JP-A-9-136353 Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 53-81670 JP 2002-59990 A JP 2002-12283 A

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a heater for easily and rationally manufacturing a novel easy-to-lid integrally molded container that can easily separate the container body and the lid, and an apparatus using the same. .

That is, the present invention is a heater for forming a thin cut portion in a hinge portion in a state where the lid body is closed in a container comprising a container body and a lid body integrally formed via the hinge portion. The present invention relates to the heater including a heat generating part that contacts and melts the part and a sliding part that moves the heat generating part back and forth and / or up and down.
The present invention further relates to the heater described above, further comprising a rotating part that makes the angle of the heat generating part variable.
Furthermore, the present invention provides an apparatus for forming a thin-walled cutting portion for forming a thin-walled cutting portion in a hinge portion in a state where the lid body is closed in a container comprising a container body and a lid body integrally formed via the hinge portion. A pair of timing belts rotating in synchronization with each other, supporting the upper ends of the hinge portion side and the opposite side of the container main body, and moving in synchronization with the timing belt and closed The thin-walled cutting section, including: a top-surface suppressing that suppresses the top surface of the lid, and the heater for forming the thin-walled cutting portion in the hinge portion of the closed container while being synchronously moved by the timing belt and the top-surface suppressing. The present invention relates to a forming apparatus.
The present invention also relates to the above apparatus comprising a rail for guiding the container from another production line to the timing belt.

Since the heater and the device according to the present invention can freely change the contact depth of the heat generating portion with respect to the portion to be melt-contacted by adopting the above-described configuration, in particular, the container body and the hinge portion are integrated. When forming the thin-walled cut portion over the entire hinge portion in a state where the lid of the container formed of the lid is closed, it can be easily and rationally adjusted according to the desired thickness.
The heater and device according to the present invention can further arbitrarily set the contact angle with respect to the hinge part of the container in the aspect including the rotating part that makes the angle of the heat generating part variable. It is possible to form a thin-walled cut portion in a desired shape without affecting the above.
Moreover, if the apparatus according to the present invention is used, a desired thin-walled cut portion can be easily formed simply by being installed in an existing production line. That is, since the container is supported by the timing belt and is not affected by the speed of the existing production line, the feeding speed of the container can be arbitrarily controlled, and therefore the thickness adjustment of the thin cut portion can be easily performed. Moreover, since it has independence, it can install in the manufacturing line where it is difficult to attach the heater.

  The heater and apparatus of the present invention are provided on the conveyor of the production line after Step 9 or 10 (after the lid is closed), so that the thin-wall cutting melted by heating in the hinge portion with the lid closed. The part can be formed. At that time, a physical boundary between the thin cut portion and the other portion is formed, and a thin cut portion having a good sharpness can be realized. In addition, the heater and apparatus of the present invention can impart properties such as a thickness of a thin cut portion of 0.8 mm or less, or a tensile force at a hinge portion of 200 g or less, which could not be obtained with conventional containers. .

As described above, the heater and the apparatus of the present invention can arbitrarily fix the position of the heat generating part with respect to the container by the sliding part, and therefore the heat generating part can be easily prepared with a constant contact depth with respect to the hinge part of the container. . As a result, a thin-walled cut portion having a desired strength can be formed over the entire hinge portion of the container, so that the container main body and the lid body must be easily separated even with a relatively small force. The formation of the cut portion can also be easily adjusted.
Further, in the aspect in which the heat generating portion is variable, the heater and apparatus of the present invention can adjust the shape of the thin cut portion to be formed in accordance with the shape of the hinge portion. However, the container is not limited to a natto container as long as it is a container that is used by the user separating the lid appropriately.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings, but the present invention is not limited thereto.
(Thin-wall cutting part forming device)
The apparatus 20 of this invention is installed and used on the conveyance conveyor 6 of the container of a production line, as shown to FIGS.
In the apparatus 20 of the present invention, the container 11 on the conveyor 6 is placed in an appropriate direction with respect to the apparatus 20 by the rails 21 and 22 provided at both ends of the apparatus 20 (the hinge portion of the container 11 is on the heating unit 50 side). After being trimmed, it is guided to a pair of tuned timing belts 23, 24 provided parallel to the inside of the rail. The guided container 11 has its hinge portion and its opposite side riding on the upper portions of the timing belts 23 and 24, floats up from the conveyor 6, and moves at the speed of the timing belts 23 and 24. Therefore, by adjusting the speeds of the timing belts 23 and 24, the containers 11 can be moved regardless of the speed of the conveyor 6.

The timing belts 23 and 24 circulate in the form of a belt conveyor around the rotating shafts (31, 33) or (32, 34) provided on at least two rails 21 and 22, and support the container 11 while being synchronized. The speeds of the timing belts 23 and 24 can be controlled by drive motors 25 and 26 connected to at least one rotating shaft 31 and 32.
When the container 11 moves on the timing belts 23, 24, the container 11 moves while being suppressed from the upper part by the top surface restraint 40 in order to position the container 11 on the timing belts 23, 24. The top surface restraint 40 is also in the form of a belt conveyor and circulates around the rotating shafts 41 and 42 by a drive motor 43 connected to at least one rotating shaft 41 of at least two rotating shafts 41 and 42.

The timing belts 23 and 24 and the top surface restraint 40 are all tuned to move the container 11 in a constant direction at a constant speed, and drive motors serving as their power are respectively provided as shown in FIG. However, it is also possible to take power from one drive motor by devising appropriately. Further, the number may be increased as necessary.
Furthermore, the device 30 of the present invention includes a heat generating portion 50 for thermally processing the hinge portion of the container positioned by the timing belt and the top surface restraint.

  The heat generating part 50 is installed in contact with the hinge part of the container 11. Here, when the container 11 has two thin-walled portions in the hinge portion, of the two thin-walled portions on the lid body side and the container main body side, the processing portion to be thermally melted is on the container main body side, even on the lid body side. Since the installation angle of the heat generating portion 50 may be changed as appropriate, from the simplicity of installation of the heat generating portion, the angle at which the processed portion on the lid side is usually processed to form the thin-walled cutting portion, That is, it installs so that it may become 20 to 70 degree | times with respect to a cover surface (horizontal), Preferably it is 45 degree | times.

Further, the heat processing by the heat generating part 50 can be appropriately changed according to the size, thickness, material, etc. of the container. When the temperature of the heat generating part is low, the timing belt and the top surface restraining speed are reduced. Thus, the contact time between the heat generating portion and the hinge portion can be increased, and when the temperature is high, the contact time can be appropriately reduced. From such a point of view, the temperature of the heat generating portion is typically 120 to 800 ° C.
By appropriately adjusting these heating conditions, it is possible to form a thin cut portion having a desired arbitrary thickness.
The material of the container is not limited as long as the container body and the lid can be formed so as to be integrated with each other via the hinge part and can be processed in the folded hinge part, but a synthetic resin is preferable, and particularly lightweight. A foamable synthetic resin excellent in processability, such as foamed polystyrene and foamed polyolefin, is preferably used.

In the formation of thin-walled cut parts by heat processing, the material of the container is cured by heat denaturation, and the lid body and the container main body are cut along the cured part, so that no part other than the cut part is damaged. . In particular, when the material of the container is a foamed resin, only the heated part is more effective because the foam in the foam disappears due to thermal melting and becomes a solid body that is thinly cured.
The thickness of the thin cut portion formed in the apparatus of the present invention is such that the container main body and the lid can be easily separated from each other, and can maintain the state where the lid is locked to the container main body. Although it will not be specifically limited if it is thickness of this, By adjusting the speed of a timing belt and the temperature of a heat generating part, it can process freely in arbitrary thickness. When the container is for natto, it is preferably 0.8 mm or less from the viewpoint of easy separation of the container body and the lid, and 0.05 or more is preferable in order to maintain the state where the container body and the lid are locked. Therefore, it is preferably 0.05 to 0.8 mm, particularly preferably 0.05 to 0.6 mm, and still more preferably 0.05 to 0.3 mm. Moreover, when the container is for natto, the tensile force of the thin-walled cut portion is 200 g or less, preferably 50 to 200 g, and particularly preferably 150 to 200 g.
When manufacturing the lid easy separation type natto container, typically, the temperature of the heat generating part is set to 500 ° C. and the timing belt for a foamed polystyrene container having a thickness of about 2 mm (thickness of the hinge part is about 1 mm). This is possible by adjusting the speed to 20 m / min.

  The heat generating part of the apparatus apparatus of the present invention does not wear immediately like the blade in the apparatus for forming a conventional perforation, and the thin-walled cutting part is sequentially and sequentially formed in the hinge part of the container. It can be formed and the target container can be manufactured in large quantities.

(Heater for forming thin-walled cutting parts)
As shown in FIG. 6, the heater of the present invention can be installed in an existing production line that moves a container in a fixed manner.
In the production line capable of moving the containers fixedly, the containers are fixedly moved in the direction perpendicular to the drawing while supporting both ends of the containers by the conveyor 70. As shown in FIG. 6, the conveyor 70 typically supports the flange portion of the container from the bottom, but supports the container body 61 from the left and right sides. May be. The heater 80 of the present invention is installed using the heater fixture 81 in a place where it does not interfere with the movable part of the existing production line for moving such a container fixedly.

In FIG. 6, the heat generating part 50 that contacts and melts the hinge part 62 of the container 11 is connected to a power source via a conducting wire 51 and is fixed by a heat generating part fixing plate 82. The heat generating portion fixing plate 82 is rotatably fixed to the shaft 83 and is supported by the shaft fixing plate 84 via the shaft 83. A portion that is connected to the shaft fixing plate 84 and includes a shaft that can slide to the left and right of the drawing and that allows the heat generating portion 50 to move to an arbitrary position is referred to as a sliding portion. The sliding portion may arbitrarily move the heat generating portion 50 back and forth and / or up and down using a sliding member, an arm-shaped member, or the like, or an appropriate gear. Is not particularly limited as long as it enables three-dimensionally.
The size of the heat generating portion fixing plate 82, the position of the fixing plate 82 with respect to the shaft 83, the length of the shaft 82, the size of the shaft fixing plate 84 supporting the shaft 82, the inclination of the shaft 82 with respect to the shaft fixing plate 84, etc. are adjusted as appropriate. By doing so, the heat generating part 50 can be fixed at a desired position. Further, another axis perpendicular to the axis 83 may be provided, and the position of the heat generating unit 50 may be fixed so that the positions of these orthogonal axes can be adjusted as appropriate.
Further, a rotating part may be provided so that the angle of the heat generating part 50 is variable.
In addition, the preferable temperature of the heat generating part 50, the angle with respect to the container, and the like are the same as those in the above-described apparatus.

  FIG. 7 shows a cross-sectional view of an example of a container manufactured using the heater or apparatus of the present invention. As shown in the figure, a thin-walled cutting part 60 is formed at the hinge part where the heat generating part 50 contacts the container 11. Is done. Since the thin-walled cut portion 60 has been heat-processed, a physical boundary with other portions is clearly formed, and the sharpness is extremely excellent.

It is a flowchart which shows the manufacturing process of a natto container. A to D schematically show steps 1 to 4, respectively. The lower row is a top view of the container. It is a flowchart which shows the manufacturing process of a natto container. A to D schematically show steps 5 to 8, respectively, and E schematically shows a series of steps 9 to 10. The lower row is a top view of the container. It is the top view which showed the apparatus of this invention typically. It is the side view which showed the apparatus of this invention typically. It is the front view which showed the apparatus of this invention typically. It is sectional drawing which showed typically one embodiment of the heater of this invention. It is a cross-sectional enlarged view of the container manufactured by the apparatus of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Synthetic resin sheet 2 ... Heating device 3 ... Mold 4 ... Cutter 5 ... Container feeder 6 ... Conveyor 7 ... Boiled bean filling machine 8 ... Steamed soybean 9・ ・ ・ Coating push cutter 10 ・ ・ ・ Integral molding 11 ・ ・ ・ Container 12 ・ ・ ・ Coating 13 ・ ・ ・ Condiment bag 14 ・ ・ ・ Condiment bag charging machine 15 ・ ・ ・ Lid sealing machine 20 ・ ・ ・Devices 21, 22 ... Rails 23, 24 ... Timing belts 25, 26, 43 ... Drive motors 31, 32, 33, 34, 41, 42 ... Rotating shaft 40 ... Top surface restraint 50 ... Heat generation part 51 ... Conducting wire 60 ... Thin cutting part 61 ... Container body 62 ... Hinge part 63 ... Cover body 70 ... Conveyor 80 ... Heater 81 ... Heater Fixing tool 82 ... Heat generating part fixing plate 83 ... Shaft 84 ... Shaft solid Board

Claims (4)

A heater for forming a thin cut portion in a hinge portion in a state where the lid body is closed in a container comprising a container body and a lid body integrally formed via the hinge portion, and heat generation that melts the hinge portion in contact And the sliding part which moves this heat generating part back and forth and / or up and down. Furthermore, the heater of Claim 1 provided with the rotation part which makes the angle of a heat-emitting part variable. A thin-walled cutting portion forming device for forming a thin-walled cutting portion in a hinge portion in a state where the lid body is closed in a container composed of a container body and a lid body integrally formed via a hinge portion,
A pair of timing belts rotating in synchronization with each other, supporting the upper ends of the hinge portion side and the opposite side of the container body;
A top surface restraint that moves in synchronization with the timing belt and restrains the top surface of the closed lid,
The heater according to claim 1 or 2, wherein a thin-walled cut portion is formed in a hinge portion of a closed container while being synchronously moved by a timing belt and a top surface restraint,
The apparatus for forming the thin-walled cut portion. 4. An apparatus according to claim 3, comprising rails for guiding the containers from other production lines to the timing belt.

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