JP2008105705A - Strip-pack apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a strip-pack apparatus having a configuration independent from an upstream side unit or a downstream side unit to provide high versatility, the apparatus which includes a positioning means and smoothly moves an article to a paste position. <P>SOLUTION: The strip-pack apparatus is used to manufacture a commodity composed of articles X pasted on a pasteboard. The strip-pack apparatus includes: a transfer means which transfers the article X in an almost horizontal direction; the positioning means 130 which comes in contact with an end Z of the article X transferred by the transfer means, the end Z being at the front side in the transfer direction of the article X, to position the article X; a moving means which moves the article X positioned by the positioning means 130 diagonally downward to the front side in the transfer direction; a pasting means which pastes the article X moved by the moving means on the pasteboard by pasting the end Z; and a positioning means retreating means 70 which retreats the positioning means 130 to the front side g in the transfer direction when the article X is moved by the moving means. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention belongs to a technical field of manufacturing a product called a strip pack in which a plurality of articles are attached to a mount and displayed in a suspended state.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, products in which a plurality of articles filled with snack confectionery or the like are pasted on a strip or the like are known. This product is displayed in a suspended state in a retail store or the like where a part of the mount is locked, and the purchaser peels off the individual articles from the mount. ). This strip pack is advantageous in that it saves display space and diversifies its design, and promotes the willingness to purchase.

  As a strip pack apparatus for manufacturing such a strip pack, for example, an apparatus described in Patent Document 1 is placed immediately below a vertical bag making and packaging machine, and a pair of left and right upper parts of an article manufactured by the packaging machine are placed on the left and right sides. The upper arm of the article is attached to the mount after the article is moved to the lower application position by being held by the holding arm. The apparatus described in Patent Document 2 is also placed directly under the vertical bag making and packaging machine, and the upper one surface of the article manufactured by the packaging machine is sucked with a suction cup and the article is moved to the front sticking position. Then, the upper end of the article is attached to the mount.

JP 2004-182302 A (paragraph 0034, FIG. 4, FIG. 6, FIG. 10) U.S. Pat. No. 3,864,895 (FIG. 1, text, second column, lines 31-62)

  By the way, since the strip pack apparatus of patent document 1 and 2 is directly connected with the vertical bag-making packaging machine arrange | positioned directly on it, only the articles manufactured with this packaging machine can be made into a strip pack. . In addition, quality inspections such as weight and sealability cannot be performed before an article manufactured by the packaging machine is made into a strip pack. Therefore, it is desired to propose a highly versatile strip pack device having a configuration independent of the upstream device and the downstream device. In this case, the basic configuration of the strip pack apparatus includes a conveying means for conveying an article in a substantially horizontal direction, a moving means for moving the article conveyed by the conveying means to a sticking position, and the moving means moved by the moving means. A sticking means for sticking the article to the mount is provided.

  In that case, it becomes a problem where the sticking position is arranged with respect to the conveying means. If the sticking position is arranged above the conveying means, the moving means must raise the article, which is not common. If the affixing position is arranged on the side of the conveying means, the article moves laterally, the width of the strip pack device is increased, and the layout is deteriorated. In that respect, if the sticking position is arranged below the conveying means, the moving means may lower the article, and the width of the strip pack device does not have to be increased. However, when the affixing position is arranged directly below the conveying means, the moving means becomes an obstacle in order to move the article to the affixing position immediately below the conveying means, so a configuration for removing the conveying means is necessary, There is a problem that the mechanism and operation for that purpose are complicated and the speed cannot be increased.

  Therefore, it is conceivable to arrange the sticking position obliquely downward on the front side in the transport direction with respect to the transport means. According to this, it is not necessary for the moving means to raise the article as in the case where the sticking position is arranged above the conveying means, and the strip pack apparatus is arranged such that the sticking position is arranged on the side of the conveying means. The width does not need to be increased, and the mechanism and operation for moving the article to the pasting position as in the case where the pasting position is arranged directly below the conveying means does not have to be complicated.

  On the other hand, if the position of the article conveyed by the conveying means is not constant on the conveying means, the position when the article is moved to the affixing position also varies for each article, and when the article is affixed directly to the mount, Since the interval between the plurality of articles is not constant and the appearance of the strip pack is deteriorated, it is conceivable to position the articles conveyed by the conveying means before attaching the articles to the mount. The strip pack apparatus is provided with positioning means for that purpose, and the articles positioned by the positioning means are neatly aligned and affixed on the mount.

  However, such positioning means positions the article by coming into contact with the end of the article in the conveyance direction, and for this purpose, the positioning means is arranged on the conveyance direction front side of the conveyance means. In this case, since the positioning means interferes with the obliquely downward movement path on the front side in the conveyance direction of the article by the moving means, the article can be moved obliquely downward on the front side in the conveyance direction from the conveyance means. It will disappear.

  Therefore, the present invention provides a highly versatile strip pack apparatus that is independent from the upstream apparatus and the downstream apparatus, and is provided with positioning means so that the article can be smoothly moved to the application position. Let it be an issue.

  In order to solve the above-mentioned problem, the invention according to claim 1 of the present application is a strip pack device for manufacturing a commodity in which an article is attached to a mount, and a conveying means for conveying the article in a substantially horizontal direction, and the conveying means. Positioning means for positioning the article in contact with the end of the article conveyed in front of the conveyance direction, moving means for moving the article positioned by the positioning means obliquely downward on the conveyance direction front side, and A sticking means for sticking the article moved by the moving means to the mount at the end, and a positioning retracting means for retracting the positioning means forward in the transport direction when the article is moved by the moving means. It is characterized by.

  Next, the invention according to claim 2 is the strip pack device according to claim 1, in which the heel-stretching means for extending the heel of the end portion on the front side in the transport direction of the article positioned by the positioning means; Further, it is characterized in that there is provided a reed-stretching / retracting means for retreating the reed-stretching means to the front side in the conveying direction when the article is moved by the moving means.

  Next, the invention according to claim 3 is the strip pack device according to claim 2, wherein the crease-stretching means is located above the end and extends the crease on the upper surface of the end. An upper heel-stretching member; and a lower heel-stretching member that is positioned below the end portion and extends a crease on the lower surface of the end portion. The positioning means is provided in the lower side stretcher member, and the positioning retracting means is the stretcher retracting means.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, the strip pack device positions the article by the positioning means coming into contact with the front end of the article in the conveying direction, and the moving means conveys the article. In the case where the article is moved obliquely downward on the front side in the direction, the positioning means is retracted to the front side in the transport direction when the article is moved by the moving means. Even if the moving path to the obliquely lower side on the front side in the conveying direction interferes, the movement of the article to the pasting position is smoothly performed.

  Next, according to the second aspect of the present invention, the strip pack device moves when it is further provided with the heel-stretching means for extending the heel of the end portion on the front side in the transport direction of the article with which the positioning means abuts. When the article is moved by the means, the crease-stretching means is also retracted to the front side in the conveyance direction. Even if the interference occurs, the movement of the article to the pasting position is also smoothly performed.

  Next, according to the invention described in claim 3, when the kneading means has a divided upper kneading member above the end of the article and a lower kneading member below. Since only the lower heel-stretching member that interferes with the end of the article is retracted, the movement of the article to the affixing position is allowed efficiently and with a minimum necessary operation. In addition, when the positioning means is provided in the lower side stretcher member, the means for retracting the positioning unit and the means for retracting the lower side stretcher member are combined, so that it is more efficient. The positioning means and the lower heel-stretching member can be retracted at a time with a minimum necessary operation, and the movement of the article to the application position is allowed.

  The best mode of the present invention will be described below.

  As shown in FIG. 1, a strip pack device 1 according to this embodiment includes a supply conveyor 3 to which an article is supplied from an upstream device, and an article supplied by the conveyor 3 to a main unit 2. This apparatus includes an introduction conveyor 4 to be introduced into the interior, a drop conveyor 5 that constitutes a terminal portion of the introduction conveyor 4, and a discharge conveyor 6 that discharges the strip pack manufactured by the apparatus 1 to a downstream apparatus. 1, a brush unit 7 for extending the edge of the article introduced into the interior, a gripping unit 8 for gripping the end of the article, and a pasting unit for sticking the article to the tape at the end 9 and a tape feeding unit 10 for feeding the tape in synchronism with the manufacture of the strip pack. Here, the roll 11 of the tape is disposed on the upper part of the main unit 2. As a result, the tape roll 11 can be easily replaced. The device 1 is highly versatile with a configuration independent of the upstream device and the downstream device.

  As shown in FIG. 2, in the present embodiment, an article supplied to the apparatus 1 is a bag package X (hereinafter simply referred to as a bag X) filled with, for example, snack confectionery, and an arrow a on the supply conveyor 3. After being conveyed in the direction, it is conveyed in the substantially horizontal direction in the direction of arrow b in the opposite direction by the introduction conveyor 4. A member 12 for preventing the bag X falling from the supply conveyor 3 from dropping out of the apparatus 1 is provided at the start end of the introduction conveyor 4. The strip pack SP manufactured by sticking a plurality of bags X ... X on the tape by the sticking unit 9 is delivered to the discharge conveyor 6 while being received by the inclined cradle 13, and the arrow c c Conveyed in the direction. In FIG. 1, illustration of the drop-off prevention member 12 and the cradle 13 is omitted.

  As shown in FIG. 3A, the bag X supplied to the apparatus 1 has a hollow portion Y filled with snacks and the like, and two upper and lower seal portions Z and Z. Further, as shown in FIG. 3 (b), the strip pack SP manufactured by the apparatus 1 has a plurality of bags X... X stuck to an elongated tape T in an aligned state with upper seal portions Z. Is. At one end of the tape T, a punch hole for locking and displaying the strip pack SP in a suspended state is formed.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the brush unit 7 and the gripping unit 8 are arranged on the front side in the transport direction b from the end portion of the drop conveyor 5. The bag X is transported in the direction b in front of the upper seal portion Z, and the gripping unit 8 uses a pair of upper and lower grip fingers 81, 81 to move the upper seal portion Z of the bag X to the side of the upper seal portion Z (that is, the transport direction b). Grip up and down from the front side. The grip fingers 81, 81 are provided in a hand 82 whose front and rear positions can be adjusted with respect to the arm 83, and the arm 83 is provided movably on an inclined guide rail 84. The gripping unit 8 grips the upper seal portion Z of the bag X at the gripping position P1 in the vicinity of the terminal end of the drop conveyor 5, and then moves obliquely downward on the front side in the transport direction b as indicated by an arrow d. Then, the gripped bag X is moved to the pasting position P2 which is the arrangement position of the pasting unit 9. When the bag X is moved obliquely downward, the drop conveyor 5 is inclined so that the front side in the conveying direction b is lowered as indicated by an arrow e.

  As shown in FIGS. 5 (a) and 5 (b), the grip finger 81 is gripped by, for example, rubber or the like at the tip of the finger body 81a that swings with respect to the hand 82 as indicated by an arrow f. It is the structure to which the part 81b was attached.

  As shown in FIG. 6, the brush unit 7 includes a brush 76 for extending the heel of the seal portion Z of the bag X, and a support member 77 for supporting the brush 76. More specifically, the brush unit 7 rotates from the base side to the edge side of the seal portion Z in contact with the upper surface of the seal portion Z of the bag X (see the arrow in FIG. 8). The disk-shaped upper brush 76 that extends the heel of the bag is supported by the upper support member 77 and rotates from the base side to the edge side of the seal portion Z in contact with the lower surface of the seal portion Z of the bag X ( (See the arrow in FIG. 8) A disk-shaped lower brush 76 that extends the ridge on the lower surface of the seal portion Z is supported by a lower support member 77. However, only the upper brush 76 and the upper support member 77 are shown in FIG. The hand 82 and grip fingers 81 of the gripping unit 8 have a pair of left and right grips, and the pair of left and right grip fingers 81 and 81 vertically grip the seal portion Z on both sides of the brush unit 7 or the brush 76.

  Here, the brush 76 has a structure in which a plurality of relatively thin disc-shaped divided brushes are juxtaposed on the rotating shaft 75 at a predetermined interval. As the brush 76, for example, a sponge-like brush or a scrub brush like a bundle of wires bundled radially can be preferably used.

  6, the positioning member 130 for positioning the bag X in contact with the seal portion Z on the front side in the conveyance direction b of the bag X between adjacent divided brushes in the brush 76 is comb-shaped. It is assembled to. The positioning member 130 is supported by the lower support member 77.

  As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the brush unit 7 includes a driving pulley 71 driven by a motor, a driven pulley 73 to which the rotation of the driving pulley 71 is transmitted by a timing belt 72, and the driven pulley 73. An upper shaft pulley 74 whose rotation is transmitted by a timing belt, an upper rotating shaft 75 that rotates integrally with the shaft pulley 74, and an upper brush 76 attached to the rotating shaft 75, and the driven pulley. 73, the upper shaft pulley 74, the upper rotating shaft 75, and the upper brush 76 are supported by the upper support member 77.

  Further, as shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, a driving roller 78 that rotates integrally with the driven pulley 73 is supported by the upper support member 77, and the lower support member 77 connected to the rod of the retracting cylinder 70. A driven roller 79 that rotates by contacting the drive roller 78, a lower shaft pulley 74 that transmits the rotation of the driven roller 79 by a timing belt, and a lower roller that rotates integrally with the shaft pulley 74. A rotating shaft 75 and a lower brush 76 attached to the rotating shaft 75 are supported.

  Here, as shown by a broken line in FIG. 8, a positioning member 130 for positioning the bag X in contact with the seal portion Z on the front side in the conveyance direction b of the bag X is assembled to the lower support member 77. .

  In that case, as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the support member 77 of the brush unit 7 supports the brush 76 at an intermediate portion in the width direction of the brush 76. Thereby, the grip finger 81 of the gripping unit 8 can grip the seal portion Z of the bag X close to the brush 76 without interfering with the support member 77.

  The bag X transported to the terminal end of the drop conveyor 5 has the upper and lower brushes 76, 76 in a state where the seal portion Z is inserted between the upper brush 76 and the lower brush 76 and positioned by the positioning member 130. By rotating from the base side to the edge side of the seal portion Z (see the arrow in FIG. 8), the seal portion Z is squeezed and the ridges of the seal portion Z are extended. Thereafter, the bag X is gripped by the gripping unit 8 and is moved obliquely downward on the front side in the transport direction b to the sticking position P2. At that time, as shown in FIG. 9, the lower support member 77 of the brush unit 7 is retracted in the direction of the arrow g by the operation of the retracting cylinder 70. Accordingly, the lower brush 76 and the positioning member 130 are also moved. Retreating in the direction of the arrow g, the bag X can move smoothly and obliquely downward toward the sticking unit 9, that is, the sticking position P2, without hindrance. In addition, at that time, the lower driven roller 79 is separated from the upper drive roller 78, so that the lower brush 76 is prevented from rotating wastefully.

  As shown in FIG. 10, the pasting unit 9 includes a heater 91 that is a heat source for welding the tape T and the bag X, a clamp 92 that sandwiches the tape T and the bag X between the heater 91, and the clamp Air cylinder 93 for moving up and down 92, punch / cutter unit 94 for making punch holes and perforations in tape T as appropriate, and moving tape T up from heater 91 by moving up to dissolve tape T It has a dissolution preventing member 95 for preventing and an air cylinder 96 for moving the dissolution preventing member 95 up and down.

  As shown in FIG. 11, the grip fingers 81 and 81 of the gripping unit 8 place the seal portion Z on the heater 91 of the sticking unit 9 while gripping the seal portion Z at the sticking position P2. In this case, the tape T fed from the tape roll 11 is placed on the heater 91 in advance, and the seal portion Z is overlaid on the tape T. In this state, the seal portion Z and the tape T are sandwiched by the clamp 92, and the bag X is welded to the tape T at the seal portion Z. In the drawing, the symbol R represents a sticking region of the bag X to be attached to the tape T by extending the ridge of the seal portion Z with the brush unit 7.

  As shown in FIG. 12, the control unit 100 of the strip pack apparatus 1 is connected to the conveyors 4 to 6 and the units 7 to 10 so that various signals can be transmitted and received. Next, with reference to FIG. 13, the main operation of the apparatus 1 by the control unit 100 will be described.

  First, the bag X is introduced to the gripping position P1 (step S101), and the seal portion Z of the bag X is stretched (step S102). Next, after gripping the bag X (step S103), the bag X is moved obliquely downward on the front side in the transport direction b (step S104). At this time, as described above, the lower brush 76 and the positioning member 130 of the brush unit 7 are retracted forward in the transport direction b (step S105). When the bag X arrives at the affixing position P2, the bag X is affixed to the tape T (step S106), and finally the tape T is fed to discharge the strip pack SP as a product (step S107).

  As described above, in the present embodiment, the strip pack device 1 positions the article X by the positioning means 130 contacting the front end Z in the conveyance direction b of the article X (see FIG. 6), when the moving means 8 moves the article X obliquely downward on the front side in the transport direction b, when the article X is moved by the moving means 8, the positioning means 130 is moved to the front side in the transport direction b. Since it is evacuated (see FIG. 9), even if structurally, the positioning means 130 and the moving path of the article X in the conveyance direction b forward side by the moving means 8 obliquely downwardly interfere with each other, The movement of the article X to the pasting position P2 is smoothly performed.

  Further, the strip pack device 1 further includes the heel-stretching means 7 for extending the heel of the end portion Z on the front side in the conveyance direction b of the article X with which the positioning means 130 abuts. During movement, the crease-stretching means 7 is also retracted to the front side in the transport direction b (see FIG. 9). Even if the downward movement path interferes, the movement of the article X to the sticking position P2 is also smoothly performed.

  Further, in the case where the crease-stretching means 7 has an upper crease-stretching member 76 above the end Z of the article X and a lower crease-stretching member 76 below (see FIG. 8), Since only the lower side extending member 76 with which the end Z of the X interferes is retracted (see FIG. 9), the movement of the article X to the attaching position P2 is allowed efficiently and sufficiently with the minimum necessary operation. (See FIG. 4). In addition, when the positioning means 130 is provided in the lower side stretching member 76 (see FIG. 6), means for retracting the positioning means 130 and means for retracting the lower side stretching member 76 (See FIG. 9), it is possible to retract both the positioning means 130 and the lower heel-extending member 76 at a time with a minimum necessary operation more efficiently and sufficiently. The movement to the sticking position P2 is permitted.

  The above embodiment is the best embodiment of the present invention, but various changes and modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the claims. For example, the gripping device 8 of the strip pack device 1 may grip the end portion Z from the side of the article X, as shown in FIG. 6 and FIG. In that case, the gripping device 8 can grip the vicinity of the region where the heel is stretched by the heel stretching device 7 from the side of the article X.

  In the strip pack device having high versatility and independent from the upstream device and the downstream device, the present invention can smoothly move the article to the pasting position while including the positioning means. The present invention is expected to have wide industrial applicability in the technical field of manufacturing strip packs.

1 is a perspective view of a strip pack device according to a best embodiment of the present invention. It is a side view of the same apparatus. (A) The top view of the bag supplied to the apparatus, (b) The top view of the strip pack manufactured with the apparatus. It is a side view which shows the positional relationship of the holding position and sticking position of the apparatus. (A) The side view before holding the seal part of a bag with a holding unit, (b) The side view after holding the seal part of a bag with a holding unit. It is a top view at the time of the ridge extension and the holding | grip of the seal part of a bag. It is a perspective view of a brush unit. It is a side view of the unit. It is the side view which the lower brush and positioning member of the unit retracted. It is a side view of a sticking unit. It is a top view at the time of sticking to the tape of a bag. It is a control system figure of the said strip pack apparatus. It is a flowchart of the main operation | movement of the apparatus.

Explanation of symbols

1 Strip pack device 4 Introduction conveyor (conveyance means)
5 Drop conveyor 6 Discharge conveyor 7 Brush unit (stretching means)
8 Grip unit (moving means)
9 Sticking unit (sticking means)
70 Cylinder for evacuation (positioning evacuation means, eaves extension evacuation means)
76 Upper brush, lower brush (upper crease, lower crease)
130 Positioning member (positioning means)
P1 gripping position P2 sticking position R sticking area T tape (mounting paper)
X Bag (goods)
Z seal part (end part)

Claims (3)

A strip pack device for producing a product with an article attached to a mount,
Conveying means for conveying the article in a substantially horizontal direction;
Positioning means for positioning the article in contact with an end portion on the front side in the conveyance direction of the article conveyed by the conveying means;
Moving means for moving the article positioned by the positioning means diagonally downward on the front side in the conveying direction;
Affixing means for affixing the article moved by the moving means to the mount at the end,
A strip pack apparatus, comprising: a positioning / retracting unit that retracts the positioning unit to the front side in the conveying direction when the article is moved by the moving unit. The strip pack device according to claim 1,
Heel extending means for extending the heel of the end portion on the front side in the conveying direction of the article positioned by the positioning means;
A strip pack device, comprising: a knot-stretching / retracting unit that retreats the knot-stretching unit to the front side in the conveying direction when the article is moved by the moving unit. The strip pack device according to claim 2,
The heel-stretching means includes an upper heel-stretching member that is located above the end portion and extends the heel on the upper surface of the end portion, and a lower side that is located below the end portion and extends the heel on the lower surface of the end portion. Having a stretching member,
The crease-retracting means is for evacuating only the lower crease-stretching member,
The positioning means is provided on the lower side stretcher member,
The strip pack device, wherein the positioning / retracting means is the reed-stretching / retracting means.

Images