JP2008087835A - Box packing apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a box packing apparatus capable of performing a smooth transferring of an outer box and further performing a positive pushing-in of a group of items within the outer box without raising or falling the outer box. <P>SOLUTION: This box packing apparatus 100 comprises an opening or closing device 13, a holding and pressing device 8, a pushing-in device 14, an outer box transferring device 80, a guide member 20, a control device 30 for controlling the opening or closing device 13, holding and pressing device 8, pushing-in device 14 and outer box transferring device 80. A guide member ascending or descending device 21 is provided to raise or fall the guide member 20. The control device 30 controls the outer box transferring device 80, loads in the outer box C, controls the guide member raising or falling device 21 to fall the guide member 20, contacts the edge of an opening of the outer box C to the outer surface of a frame member, controls the pushing-in device 14 to push a group of items into the outer box C. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a boxing device and a boxing method for a boxing device. More particularly, the present invention relates to a pinching type boxing apparatus that forms a group of articles by sandwiching a plurality of articles, and pushes the group of articles into an outer box having an upper surface opened from above at once.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a boxing apparatus that pushes a plurality of articles at a time is configured to first collect a plurality of articles to form an article group and then push the article group into an exterior box. In this case, since the articles need to be pushed into the outer box while maintaining the assembled state of the articles, the group of articles and the outer box have to be brought close to each other. On the other hand, in order to move the group of articles while maintaining the assembled state of the articles, it is necessary to move a device for clamping or narrowing the articles, and the structure of the boxing device becomes complicated, which is not practical. Therefore, the conventional boxing device is configured to lift the exterior box from below the article (Patent Document 1 [FIG. 2], Patent Document 2 paragraph [0018], Patent Document 3 [Claim 1] and Patents). Reference 4 [Fig. 2]).

Patent Document 4 discloses a boxing device having an adsorbing tool that adsorbs the upper surface of a clamped article group (see Patent Document 4 [FIG. 21] and [FIG. 22]).
JP 2000-272605 A JP 2002-19707 A JP 2005-8185 A Japanese Patent No. 3708185

  By the way, in a pinching type boxing device (see Patent Documents 2 to 4) in which a plurality of articles are clamped to form an article group, and the article group is pushed into an exterior box whose upper surface is opened from above at once. It is characterized by a structure in which the group of articles is allowed to escape from the pinched state by pushing down. For this reason, the conventional pinching type boxing apparatus has a structure including an pushing-in device that pushes the article group downward and an exterior box lifting device that lifts the exterior box upward. Therefore, the structure of the boxing device can be simplified by omitting the outer box lifting and lowering apparatus and pushing the article group into the outer box only by pushing the article group.

  However, simply omitting the outer box lifting / lowering device may cause boxing to fail. That is, there is a possibility that the lower end of the article group released from the pinched state expands and the lower end of the article group conflicts with the edge of the opening of the exterior box. On the other hand, since the outer box is put in and out every time the packaging of the article is completed, the arrangement of the equipment of the boxing device around the opening of the outer box may be an obstacle to the conveying operation of the outer box.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and can smoothly transport the outer box, and reliably push the group of articles into the outer box without moving the outer box up and down. The purpose of this is to provide a boxing device.

In order to solve the above problems, a boxing device according to a first aspect of the present invention includes an opening / closing device that opens and closes a floor, and an article group formed by aligning articles on the floor between a pair of pressing plates from an alignment direction. A clamping device for clamping and an adsorber that adsorbs the upper surface of the clamped article group are lowered in a state where the floor is opened, and the article group is allowed to escape downward from between the clamping plates and downward. A pushing device that pushes the group of articles into an outer box that stands by at a waiting position; an outer box carrying device that transports the outer box whose upper surface is open while temporarily stopping at the waiting position; and the floor and the outer box And a guide member having a funnel-shaped frame member that is fitted between the outer box and the opening of the outer box, and controls the opening / closing device, the pressing device, the pushing device, and the outer box conveying device. Control device A boxing device that performs
A guide member elevating device configured to drive the guide member up and down, and the control device controls the outer box transport device to carry the outer box into the standby position, and controls the guide member elevating device to control the guide. The member is lowered to bring the edge of the opening of the outer box into contact with the outer surface side of the frame member, and the pushing device is controlled to push the group of articles into the outer box.

  With such a configuration, the guide member can be made to approach and separate substantially automatically with respect to the edge of the opening of the outer box that is stopped at the standby position by raising and lowering the guide member. That is, the boxing device of the present invention can smoothly convey the outer box, and can reliably push the group of articles into the outer box without moving the outer box up and down.

  In the boxing device according to the second aspect of the present invention, the guide member has a pair of arms extending in the horizontal direction from the opposite sides of the frame member, and the guide member lifting device is a lifting tower extending in the vertical direction. And an attachment member attached to the elevator tower having a bifurcated shape, and the guide member is located at the crotch portion of the attachment member and the attachment member at the extended end of the arm portion It is good to be attached to.

  If comprised in this way, since a guide member can be attached or detached easily, replacement | exchange of a guide member according to the shape of an exterior box can be made easy.

  The boxing device according to a third aspect of the present invention is directed to the control device, wherein the guide member and the suction tool are lowered in parallel while the lower end of the article group is substantially in contact with the inner surface side of the frame member. The pushing device and the guide member lifting device may be controlled.

  If comprised in this way, since the descent | fall of a guide member and the descent | fall of an adsorbing tool can be made parallel, the work tact of a boxing apparatus can be shortened. Further, since the guide member can prevent the lower end of the article group from being lowered, the article group can be guided more reliably into the outer box.

  As described above, the automatic boxing device and the boxing method of the boxing device of the present invention can smoothly transport the outer box, and reliably push the group of articles into the outer box without moving the outer box up and down. There is an effect that can be.

  The best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

(Embodiment 1)
FIG. 1 is a side view showing an outline of a boxing device according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a top view schematically showing the boxing device of FIG. For convenience of explanation, the support 17A of the stop member 17 is omitted in FIG. 1, and a part of the pushing device 14 and the outer box transport device 80 is omitted in FIG.

  FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing an outline of a main part of the boxing device of FIG.

  As shown in FIG.1 and FIG.2, the boxing apparatus 100 of this embodiment horizontally arranges the alignment conveyor 6, the extrusion apparatus 7, the clamping apparatus 8, the opening / closing apparatus 13, the pushing-in apparatus 14, and the exterior box C. An outer box transporting device 80 for transporting in the direction, a guide member lifting device 21 for lifting and lowering the guide member 20, a control device 30 for controlling the operation of these devices 6, 7, 8, 13, 14, 80, 21, And a frame body 1 in which the constituent elements 6, 7, 8, 13, l4, 80, and 21 are arranged in a predetermined positional relationship.

  As shown in FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, the aligning conveyor 6 is placed on the endless track 16 between the partition plates 10 by a group of partition plates 10 standing on the surface of the endless track 16 so as to cross the endless track (conveyor) 16. A plurality of storage portions 11 that can store articles are formed in series. In the present embodiment, five partition plates 10 form a group. Therefore, the four accommodating portions 11 are formed as a group.

  As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the endless track 16 has four annular belts supported by a pair of sprockets 16E. The four annular belts are divided into two to constitute a first belt group 16A and a second belt group 16B. Each of the first belt group 16A and the second belt group 16B is provided with one or more partition plates 10. The partition plate 10 is attached to the first belt group 16A and the second belt group 16B by a coupler 10A. The first belt group 16A is configured to be rotationally driven by one driving device 16C connected to one sprocket 16E by a shaft body 16F. The second belt group 16B is configured to be rotationally driven by the other driving device 16D connected to the other sprocket 16E by a shaft body 16F. Accordingly, since the driving devices of the first belt group 16A and the second belt group 16B are different from each other, the first belt group 16A and the second belt group 16B can be circulated and driven independently of each other. That is, the operation of receiving the article W in the storage unit 11 while one belt group repeatedly stops for a while and the operation of the other belt group stopping at the alignment position T and pushing out the article W from the storage unit 11 can be performed simultaneously. it can.

  A known actuator can be used for the driving devices 16C and 16D.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the shaft body 16 </ b> F is disposed such that both ends of the shaft body 16 </ b> F are supported by the frame body 1 so as to be rotatable about the shaft. More precisely, one end of the shaft body 16F is connected to the driving devices 16C and 16D, and the driving devices 16C and 16D are disposed on the frame body 1.

  As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the extrusion device 7 pushes a plurality of articles W along the partition plate 10 from between a group of partition plates 10 aligned at the alignment position T of the alignment conveyor 6, that is, FIG. 3. The product group consisting of the product W is formed by pushing in the extrusion direction X shown in FIG.

  Here, the alignment position T is a position on the endless track 16 and a position where the series of accommodating portions 11 are aligned. That is, it refers to a position where the endless track 16 is linear and a series of partition plates 10 are arranged vertically.

  In this embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the extrusion device 7 is configured such that the extrusion member 7 </ b> A is guided by the rail member 7 </ b> C by the drive device 7 </ b> B and is advanced and retracted in the extrusion direction X. The extruding member 7A is formed with a slit 12 so as not to touch the series of partition plates 10 at the alignment position T. A known actuator can be used for the driving device 7B. The rail member 7 </ b> C is supported and disposed on the frame body 1 so as to extend along the extrusion direction X.

  The pinching device 8 is configured to pinch the group of articles extruded by the extrusion device 7 from the alignment direction of the articles W. In this embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the clamping device 8 includes a pair of plate-like clamping members 8 </ b> D that face each other in a direction orthogonal to the extrusion direction X, and the clamping members 8 </ b> D. A shaft body 8A extending from the back surface in the vertical direction of the back surface, a bearing member 8C for supporting the shaft body 8A so as to be movable back and forth in the axial direction, and a drive device 8B for driving the shaft body 8A forward and backward in the axial direction are provided. is doing. Since the article group is clamped between the pair of clamping members 8D by the advancement of the shaft body 8A, the articles W of the article group can be brought into close contact with each other. A known actuator can be used for the driving device 8B. The driving device 8B and the bearing member 8C are disposed on the frame 1.

  Further, in the present embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the stop member 17 is disposed to face the pushing member 7 </ b> A at the end of the alignment position T in the pushing direction X. Thereby, scattering of the article W extruded by the extrusion member 7A can be prevented. The stop member 17 is supported by the support body 17A. The support body 17 </ b> A is disposed on the frame body 1.

  Further, as shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, a pressing device 18 is disposed above the vicinity of the extrusion end of the extrusion member 7 </ b> A. The pressing device 18 includes a pressing member 18A and a driving device 18B that swings the pressing member 18A in the vertical direction. By this swinging, it is possible to avoid conflict with the extruding member 7A during the forward and backward movement of the extruding member 7A, and it is possible to prevent scattering of the article group by pressing the upper side surface of the extruded article group. it can. A known actuator can be used for the driving device 18B. The driving device 18B is disposed on the frame 1. The pressing device 18 may be configured such that the pressing member 18A can be advanced and retracted in the vertical direction by the driving device 18B.

  Since the scattering of the article W can be prevented by the stopper member 17 and the pressing device 18, the article group can be smoothly clamped by the clamping apparatus 8.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the opening / closing device 13 is configured to open and close the floor of the article group that is clamped by the clamping device 8. In the present embodiment, the opening / closing device 13 includes a pair of plate-like floor members 13A and a drive device 13B that drives the pair of floor members 13A to advance and retreat. The pair of floor members 13A constitutes a floor that supports the article group. The floor member 13A extends in the horizontal direction and is supported by the frame body 1 so as to be able to advance and retract so that the end faces come into contact with and separate from each other. In this embodiment, the floor member 13 </ b> A is supported by a plurality of rollers 13 </ b> C whose edges are disposed on the frame body 1. Accordingly, when the floor member 13A is driven backward, the lower portion of the pushing device 14 is opened, and the suction tool 14F of the pushing device 14 can push the article group to the exterior box C below the floor member 13A. A known actuator can be used for the driving device 13B. The driving device 13B is disposed on the frame 1.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the pushing device 14 holds the article group by bringing the suction tool 14 </ b> F into contact with the upper surface of the article group clamped by the clamping device 8 and sucking the upper surface of the article group. 14F is lowered to push the group of articles into the outer box C below the floor member 13A. That is, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the pushing device 14 includes an intake device 14H such as a blower and an exhaust pump, an intake pipe 14E having one end connected to an intake port of the intake device 14H, and an intake pipe 14E. A valve 14G disposed in the middle, a hollow shaft body 14A extending in the vertical direction and having the other end of the intake pipe 14E connected to the upper end thereof, an elevating member 14C joined to the upper portion of the hollow shaft body 14A, The tower 14D has a member 14C that can be moved up and down, a driving device 14B that drives the tower 14D, and an adsorber 14F in which the lower end of the hollow shaft body 14A is joined to the upper surface thereof.

  FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view (a) showing an outline of a joining structure between the adsorbing tool and the hollow shaft body, and a bottom view (b) of the adsorbing tool.

  As illustrated in FIG. 4A, the suction tool 14 </ b> F has a hollow substantially rectangular parallelepiped main body 50, and a through hole 54 is formed on the upper surface of the main body 50. The lower end of the hollow shaft body 14A is joined to the upper surface of the suction tool 14F by a fastener 52 so that the hollow portion of the hollow shaft body 14A communicates with the through hole 54. Here, in the fastener, a bolt implanted in the main body 50 so as to extend upward from the periphery of the through hole 54 is inserted into a bolt hole of the rib 60 at the lower end of the hollow shaft body 14A, and is hollowed by a nut. The shaft body 14A and the suction tool 14F are configured to be fastened.

  Further, as shown in FIGS. 4A and 4B, two suction ports 51 are formed on the lower surface of the main body 50. The suction port 51 is formed in a slit shape extending along the alignment direction of the articles W of the article group. As a result, the suction port 51 can contact the upper surfaces of all the articles W constituting the article group, so that all the articles W in the article group can be sucked. The shape of the suction port 51 may be any shape that allows the suction port 51 to be in contact with the upper surfaces of all the articles W constituting the group of articles. For example, the lower surface of the main body 50 may have a lattice shape even if the suction port 51 is a single slit or a large number of circular holes meandering.

  With the configuration of the pushing device 14 as described above, as shown in FIG. 3, the suction tool 14F can be lowered and raised in the pushing direction Z, and air is sucked from the suction port 51 of the suction head 14F by the suction device 14H. In addition, the suction force of the intake device 14H can be blocked by the valve 14G.

  The intake pipe 14E is elastic like a synthetic resin that does not block the pipe line even in a decompressed state in the pipe by the attached intake device 14H, and has the flexibility to follow the lifting and lowering operation of the hollow shaft body 14A. Consists of materials. As a result, the pushing device 14 can maintain the suction force in the suction head 14F even in the up-and-down operation, so that the article group sucked by the suction tool 14F can be pushed into the outer box C without leaking. .

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, the outer box transport device 80 includes a conveyor 82 that transports the outer box C and a braking device 81 that temporarily stops the outer box C on the conveyor 82. The exterior box C such as a cardboard box is transported in the horizontal direction by a number of drive rollers. The conveyor 82 is disposed so as to pass below the floor member 13A.

  The braking device 81 is disposed on the conveyor 82 so as to stop the outer box C at a standby position U below the suction tool 14F.

  The braking device 81 of the present embodiment is a device that advances and retracts a bar that extends in the horizontal direction so as to be orthogonal to the conveying direction of the outer box C. When the rod advances, the outer box C can be stopped at the standby position U by touching the front wall of the outer box C. When the rod is retracted, the exterior box C can be retracted from the standby position U by the conveyor 82.

  Further, by arranging a pair of braking devices 81 on both sides of the conveyor 82, the outer box C can be stopped more reliably.

  The braking device 81 can also be configured using other devices. For example, the rod body can be configured to be rotationally driven. Moreover, a pair of pinching plates that pinch both sides of the outer packaging box C in the conveyance direction can also be used.

  Here, the guide member 20 and the guide member elevating device 21 which are the features of this embodiment will be described.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the guide member 20 is disposed between the floor member 13 </ b> A and the outer box transfer device 80 so as to extend in the horizontal direction.

  FIG. 5 is a top view of the guide member. FIG. 6 is a side view of the guide member. In FIG. 6, for convenience of explanation, a part is shown in a sectional view.

  As shown in FIGS. 3, 5, and 6, the guide member 20 includes a funnel-shaped frame member 20 </ b> A having a shape that fits in the opening of the exterior box C as a main body. Here, the frame member 20A is rectangular in a top view. Further, the guide member 20 has a pair of arm portions 20B extending in the outer horizontal direction from the opposite sides of the frame member 20A. And it is attached to the attachment member 21B of the guide member lifting / lowering device 21 by the fastener 52 at the extended end of the arm portion 20B.

  The frame member 20 </ b> A has a three-layer structure including an inner member 20 </ b> C, an intermediate member 20 </ b> D, and an outer member 20 </ b> E, which are fastened by a fastener 52. The inner member 20C and the outer member 20E are made of a highly rigid material such as stainless steel. The intermediate member 20D is made of a highly flexible material. For example, a resin such as Teflon (registered trademark) or rubber is suitable. As a result, the inner member 20C and the outer member 20E can increase the rigidity of the frame member 20A and can support the intermediate member 20D having low rigidity.

  The intermediate member 20D extends further inward and downward than the inner member 20C and the outer member 20E. As a result, when the article group is guided to the guide member 20, the intermediate member 20 imparts an appropriate drag force to the article group, suppresses the expansion of the lower end of the article group, and bends according to the pushing force of the article group. Thus, damage to the group of articles can be prevented.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the guide member elevating device 21 includes an attachment member 21B to which the guide member 20 is attached, an elevating tower 21A to which the attachment member 21B is attached so as to be movable up and down, and a drive device 21C that drives the elevating tower 21A. And have.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the attachment member 21 </ b> B has a bifurcated shape configured such that the guide member 20 is located at the crotch portion. The guide member 20 is attached to the attachment member 21B by the fastener 52. Thereby, the guide member 20 can be easily exchanged according to the shape of the exterior box C.

  A known actuator can be used for the driving device 21C.

  By causing the guide member 20 to stand by above the standby position U by the guide member elevating device 21, the outer box is used in the operation of carrying the outer box C to the standby position U and the operation of unloading the outer box C from the standby position U. Conflict between C and the guide member 20 can be prevented. That is, the outer box C can be smoothly transported while avoiding obstacles to the transport operation of the outer box C.

  Further, by lowering the guide member 20, the guide member 20 can be arranged almost automatically at the edge of the opening on the upper surface of the outer packaging box C at the standby position U. At this time, the position of the exterior box C can be adjusted more accurately so that the outer surface of the frame member 20A of the guide member 20 contacts the edges of the opening of the exterior box C evenly.

  The control device 30 is configured to control the operation of the boxing device 100. The control device 30 is configured by an arithmetic device such as a microcomputer. In this specification, the control device means not only a single control device but also a control device group. Therefore, the control device 30 may be configured by a single control device that performs centralized control, or may be configured by a control device group that performs distributed control.

  In addition, the control device 30 includes a display unit 30A that transmits attention information. For example, the alarm unit or the indicator lamp is suitable for the display unit 30A. The alarm can use the sound to alert the operator. The indicator light can call the operator's attention using light.

  The frame body 1 is configured such that these constituent elements 6, 7, 8, 13, 14, 80, 21, 30, and 17 are in a required positional relationship with each other. Here, the required positional relationship refers to the positional relationship required for carrying out the boxing operation of the boxing device of the present invention.

  Next, the operation of the boxing device 100 will be described. These operations are performed by the control device 30 controlling the devices 6, 7, 8, 13, 14, 80, and 21 of the boxing device 100.

  In the present embodiment, a supply conveyor 200 that supplies articles is disposed at a predetermined position around the boxing device 100. In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3, the article W placed and conveyed on the supply conveyor 200 is sent out from the outlet end 200 </ b> A. The outlet end 200A is disposed so as to face the accommodation position R. Accordingly, the article W falling from the outlet end 200 </ b> A is guided onto the partition plate 10 waiting for a while at the storage position R and stored in the storage unit 11. As the supply conveyor 200, a belt conveyor or a roller conveyor is used.

  FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the boxing operation of the boxing device of this embodiment.

  In step (alignment step) S1, the articles W supplied from the supply conveyor 200 to the alignment conveyor 6 are conveyed to the alignment position T by the alignment conveyor 6 and are aligned at the alignment position T.

  Next, in step (formation step) S <b> 2, the articles W aligned at the alignment position T are extruded from the alignment conveyor 6 along the plate surface of the partition plate 10 in the extrusion direction X by the extrusion device 7. Then, the group of articles W is surrounded on the floor member 13A by the stopper member 17, the pressing member 18A, and the pair of pinching members 8D to form an article group. In addition, after extruding the article W, the pushing member 7A moves backward to the position before the pushing operation.

  Next, in step (clamping step) S3, the article group is clamped. The article group is clamped so that the articles W are brought into close contact with each other by the pair of clamping members 8D on the floor member 13A (see FIG. 8).

  Next, in step (holding step) S4, the article group is held. The suction tool 14F is lowered and brought into contact with the upper surface of the clamped article group to suck the upper surface of the article group (see FIG. 8). As a result, the group of articles is held by the suction tool 14F. Since the articles W are in close contact with each other in the clamping step S3, the suction port 51 is covered with the upper surface of the article W. That is, the suction force of the article W can be increased by the clamping step S3.

  Next, in step S5 (opening step), the opening / closing device 13 removes the floor member 13A and opens the floor of the article group. Here, the pair of floor members 13A whose end faces are in contact with each other horizontally moves in a direction away from each other.

  In parallel with these steps S1 to S5, a step (carry-in step) S6 and a step (guide member lowering step) S7 are performed.

  FIG. 8 is a side view showing an outline of a main part of the boxing device in the carry-in step. As shown in the figure, the outer box C is carried toward the standby position U by the conveyor 82. A braking device 81 projects a bar (not shown) at the front end position of the standby position U so as to block the front of the outer box C in the transport direction. The outer box C comes into contact with this rod, and the outer box C is stopped at the standby position U.

  In the figure, a state in which steps S1 to S4 have already been performed is shown. In addition, the cover box CF stands up in the outer box C, and the upper end of the cover board CF forms the edge of the opening of the outer box C.

  Next, in step (guide member lowering step) S <b> 7, the guide member 20 descends and approaches the edge of the opening of the outer box C almost automatically. Specifically, the upper end of the cover plate CF of the exterior box C is lowered so as to come into contact with the outer surface side of the outer member 20E of the frame member 20A or the intermediate member 20D. However, if the upper end of the cover plate CF is surely positioned on the outer surface side of the frame member 20A, the upper end of the cover plate CF may not contact the outer surface side of the frame member 20A. Here, the lowest point at which the guide member 20 descends can be set in advance in the control device 30 according to the height of the edge of the opening of the exterior box C.

  In step (adsorbing tool lowering step) S8, the pushing device 14 pushes the article group into the outer box C by lowering the adsorbing tool 14F.

  FIG. 9 is a side view showing an outline of a main part of the boxing device in the pushing step.

  As shown in FIG. 9, the article group is pushed into the outer box C by the lowering of the suction tool 14 </ b> F. At this time, the articles W at both ends of the article group slide through the surface of the pinching member 8D. The lower end of the article group is guided by the guide member 20 into the exterior box C without touching the edge of the opening of the exterior box C.

  Next, in step (returning step) S9, the pushing device 14, the guide member elevating device 21, and the opening / closing device 13 are returned to their original states.

  FIG. 10 is a side view showing an outline of a main part of the boxing device in the return step.

  As shown in FIG. 10, the push-in device 14 lifts the suction tool 14 </ b> F to above the formation position of the article group after releasing the suction of the article W to the suction tool 14 </ b> F. Release of the suction of the article W to the suction tool 14F is performed by closing the valve 14G (see FIG. 1). After the suction tool 14F is raised, the opening / closing device 13 horizontally moves and closes the pair of floor members 13A so that the end surfaces of the floor members 13A are joined to each other. Thereby, the floor of the formation position of an article group is constituted. The guide member elevating device 21 raises the guide member 20 so as to approach the floor member 13A. Thus, the guide member 20 can be separated from the periphery of the opening of the outer box C almost automatically.

  Next, the exterior box C is unloaded from the standby position U in step (unloading step) S10.

  FIG. 11 is a side view showing an outline of a main part of the boxing device in the carry-out step.

  As shown in FIG. 11, the rod body of the braking device 81 is removed from the conveyor 82. As a result, the outer box C containing the article group is carried out of the standby position U by the conveyor 82.

  Then, the boxing operation is newly repeated.

  As described above, the boxing apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment can carry the outer box C into and from the standby position U almost automatically by moving the guide member 20 up and down. In addition, the boxing device 100 according to the present embodiment can reliably push the group of articles into the outer box C without moving the outer box C up and down.

  In addition, the control of the boxing device of the present invention can be modified as follows.

[Modification 1]
In the present embodiment, a predetermined time delay step S8 ′ may be placed after the suction tool lowering step S7 ′, and the guide member lowering step S9 ′ may be arranged in parallel.

  FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing the boxing operation of the present modification. In FIG. 12, the same steps as those in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 12, after the opening step S5 and the carrying-in step S6 are completed, the suction tool lowering step S7 ′ is started. Then, after the suction tool lowering step S7 ′ is started, the guide member lowering step S9 ′ is started after a delay time T ₀ in the time delay step S8 ′. Here, the delay time T ₀ is a time in which the lowering of the guide member 20 and the lowering of the suction tool 14F are performed in parallel so that the lower end of the article group is substantially in contact with the inner member 21C (inner surface side) of the frame member 20A. . If comprised in this way, since the fall of the guide member 20 and the fall of the suction tool 14F can be made parallel, the work tact of a boxing apparatus can be shortened. In addition, since the guide member 20 can prevent the lower end of the article group from descending, the article group can be more reliably guided into the exterior box C. Note that the lowering speed of the suction tool 14F and the lowering speed of the guide member 20 are made substantially equal. The delay time T ₀ can be determined according to the height of the article W and the descending speed of the suction tool 14F. Alternatively, an appropriate delay time T ₀ can be determined in the adjustment operation of the boxing device 100 using the article W. Then, the value may be set in the control device 30.

  Further, instead of the time delay step S8 ', it is also possible to detect the lowering distance of the suction tool 14F and start the guide member lowering step S9' according to this lowering distance.

  The above-described embodiment is an example, and various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention, and the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment.

  For example, the group of articles can be formed by other methods by omitting the alignment conveyor 6 and the extrusion device 7. That is, the alignment step S1 and the formation step S2 can be performed by other methods. For example, the article group can be formed by aligning the article W on the floor member 13A by a worker's human power.

  INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY The present invention is useful as a boxing device that can smoothly convey an exterior box and can reliably push an article group into the exterior box without moving the exterior box up and down.

It is a side view which shows the outline of the boxing apparatus of embodiment of this invention. It is a top view which shows the outline of the boxing apparatus of FIG. It is a perspective view which shows the outline of the principal part of the boxing apparatus of FIG. It is sectional drawing (a) which shows the outline of the joining structure of an adsorption tool and a hollow shaft body, and the bottom view (b) of an adsorption tool. It is a top view of a guide member. It is a side view of a guide member. It is a flowchart which shows the boxing operation | movement of the boxing apparatus of this embodiment. It is a side view which shows the outline of the principal part of the boxing apparatus in a carrying-in step. It is a side view which shows the outline of the principal part of the boxing apparatus in a pushing step. It is a side view which shows the outline of the principal part of the boxing apparatus in a return step. It is a side view which shows the outline of the principal part of the boxing apparatus in a carrying out step. It is a flowchart which shows the boxing operation | movement of this modification.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Frame body 6 Alignment conveyor 7 Extrusion apparatus 7A Extrusion member 7B Drive apparatus 7C Rail member 8 Clamping apparatus 8A Shaft body 8B Drive apparatus 8C Bearing member 8D Clamping member 10 Partition plate 10A Coupler 11 Housing part 12 Glitches 13 Opening and closing apparatus 13A Floor member 13B Driving device 13C Roller 14 Pushing device 14A Hollow shaft body 14B Driving device 14C Lifting member 14D Lifting tower 14E Intake pipe 14F Adsorber 14G Valve 14H Intake device 16 Endless track 16A First belt group 16B Second belt group 16C Second belt group 16C 1 drive device 16D second drive device 16E sprocket 16F shaft body 17 stop member 17A support 18 presser device 18A presser member 18B drive device 20 guide member 20A frame member 20B arm part 20C inner member 20D intermediate member 20E outer member 21 guide member lift Equipment 21A Lifting tower 21B Mounting member 21C Drive device 30 Control device 30A Display unit 50 Main body 51 Suction port 52 Fastener 54 Through hole 60 Rib 80 Outer box transport device 81 Braking device 82 Conveyor 100 Box filling device 200 Supply conveyor 200A Outlet end C Outer box CF Cover plate S Step T Alignment position U Standby position W Article X Extrusion direction Z Push-in direction

Claims (3)

An opening and closing device for opening and closing the floor;
A clamping device for clamping an article group formed by arranging articles on the floor between the pair of clamping plates from an alignment direction;
An exterior that lowers an adsorbing tool that adsorbs the upper surface of the clamped article group in a state where the floor is opened, and allows the article group to escape downward from between the clamping plates and waits at a lower standby position. A pushing device for pushing the group of articles into a box;
An outer box transporting device that transports the outer box having an upper surface opened while temporarily stopping at the standby position;
A guide member having a funnel-shaped frame member disposed between the floor and the outer box and fitted into an opening of the outer box;
A control device for controlling the opening and closing device, the clamping device, the pushing device and the outer box transport device,
A guide member elevating device for raising and lowering the guide member;
The control device controls the outer box transport device to carry the outer box into the standby position, controls the guide member lifting device to lower the guide member, and removes the edge of the opening of the outer box. A boxing device that is brought into contact with the outer surface side of the frame member and controls the pushing device to push the group of articles into the outer box. The guide member has a pair of arms extending in an outer horizontal direction from opposite sides of the frame member,
The guide member elevating device has an elevating tower extending in the vertical direction, and a mounting member having a bifurcated shape and attached to the elevating tower,
The boxing device according to claim 1, wherein the guide member is attached to the attachment member at an extended end of the arm portion so as to be positioned at a crotch portion of the attachment member.   The control device controls the push-in device and the guide member lifting device so that the guide member and the suction tool descend in parallel while the lower end of the article group is substantially in contact with the inner surface side of the frame member. The boxing device according to claim 1.

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