JP2008308211A - Article holding and transfer apparatus for overwrapping wrapping machine - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a wrapping condition which suppresses deformation of corner parts of a food which is a rectangular column-shaped, soft, and easily deformed. <P>SOLUTION: A storing member 20 is arranged so as to be freely removable on a conveying body 12. An article storing part 24 which is opened at the upper part and stores and holds the food is composed by an undersurface holding member 22 of the conveying body 12 and the storing member 20. Corner part storing space parts 26 which become empty spaces expanding to the outsides so as to be separated from the corner parts at positions corresponding to the corner parts of the food stored in the article storing part 24. Then, by pushing and storing the food into the article storing part 24 from the upper side of a film sheet placed on the conveying body 12 so as to cover the upper part opening of the article storing part 24, the undersurface and the side faces of the food are covered with the film sheet. At that time, the film sheet pulled into the article storing part 24 with the food has no possibility of being brought together under such a condition that the film sheet is excessively pressed into around the corner parts by the corner part storing space parts 26, and a load applied on the corner parts is reduced. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an article holding and transporting device for an overwrapping machine that wraps food having a corner portion that is soft and easily deformed, such as a prismatic steamed bread, with a film sheet.

An overwrapping machine has been proposed that automatically wraps food that is soft and easily deformed, such as a bun, with a thin film sheet so that the entire food is in close contact, instead of a conventional square wrapping form (e.g., (See Patent Document 1). In the overwrapping machine of Patent Document 1, a film sheet is placed on the upper surface of a conveyance body on which an article accommodating portion having a shape substantially conforming to the outer shape of food is placed, and the food is pushed into the article accommodating portion from above the film sheet. After covering the lower and side surfaces of the food so as to be in close contact with the film sheet, the sheet edge extending outside the article storage portion is folded to the upper surface side of the food, and the folded portion is sealed. The food is packed in
Japanese Patent No. 3612649

  A packaged product in which a food having a plurality of soft and easily deformable corners such as a triangular column-shaped steamed bread is covered and packaged so as to be in close contact with a thin stretch film of about 12 μm made of a polyethylene material is commercially available. When foods having such corners are automatically film-wrapped by applying the technology of the overwrapping machine disclosed in Patent Document 1, the same as described above for the purpose of bringing the food into close contact with the film In addition, since the article storage portion is formed in a shape similar to food, the food is pushed into the article storage portion together with the film sheet in a state without a substantial gap. At this time, the pull-in resistance of the film sheet drawn into the article accommodating portion is likely to concentrate on the corner portion, and the film positioned near the corner portion is drawn so as to be narrowed down so as to be gathered together at the corner portion. For this reason, there is a possibility that the corner portion may be crushed and deformed so as to impair the commercial value. Furthermore, when the edges of the film sheet covering the food contained in the article storage unit are folded together at the top, the force to fold the film sheet concentrates on the corners and the corners are crushed so as to impair the commercial value. There is also a risk of deformation. Accordingly, foods having soft and easily deformable corners such as steamed bread described above still rely on manual work due to problems such as the corners being deformed and the product value being lowered during packaging.

  That is, the present invention has been proposed in view of the above-described problems inherent in the above-described conventional technology, and is preferable to solve this problem, and is excellent in suppressing the deformation of corners in foods having corners. It is an object of the present invention to provide an article holding and transporting device for an overwrapping machine that can be packaged in a package.

In order to overcome the above-mentioned problems and achieve the intended object, an article holding and transporting device for an overwrapping machine of the invention according to claim 1 of the present application,
An article holding and transporting device for an overwrapping machine for packaging food having a three-dimensional shape with corners so as to be covered with a film sheet along an outer peripheral surface,
The transport body disposed in the transport means is provided with an article accommodating portion that is recessed in a shape along the three-dimensional shape of the food, and whose upper opening is covered with a film sheet placed on the transport body,
The article storage portion is expanded outward from the upper side of the film sheet placed on the transport body to a position corresponding to each corner portion of the food stored in the article storage portion so as to be separated from the corner portion. The corner | angular part accommodation space part to be formed is formed.
According to this, when the food is pushed into and stored in the article storage section, the film sheet near the corner is drawn into the article storage section while being separated from the corner by the corner storage space, and the film is in the corner. It is possible to prevent the film sheet pulling resistance from being gathered together and reduce the force acting on the corner portion, and the corner portion is deformed even if it is a soft and easily deformable food such as steamed bread. It is possible to obtain a packaging form that is not inferior to manual packaging. That is, according to the present invention, not only steamed bread, sponge cakes, sandwiches, and other soft and easily deformable breads and cakes, etc. It can be set as a good suppressed packaging form. In addition, the shape of the food is not limited to a prismatic shape such as a triangular prism or a quadrangular prism, and good packaging can be achieved by the present invention as long as it has a corner portion.

The gist of the invention according to claim 2 is that the corner portion accommodating space portion is expanded in an arc shape at the upper portion toward the outer side with respect to the corner portion of the food accommodated in the article accommodating portion.
According to this, since the opening portion of the corner portion accommodating space portion is not angular, the pulling resistance of the film sheet drawn into the article accommodating portion together with the corner portion of the food can be effectively reduced, and the load applied to the corner portion of the food is reduced. It can be made smaller to suppress deformation.

The gist of the invention according to claim 3 is that the contact surface of the transport body with the film sheet is subjected to an adhesion suppression treatment for suppressing adhesion with the film sheet.
According to this, since the adhesion between the film drawn into the article container and the film contact surface of the transport body can be suppressed when the food is pushed into the article container, the film has a self-adhesive film such as a stretch film. However, the tensile resistance with respect to a film does not generate | occur | produce, but the load added to a foodstuff can be reduced and the deformation | transformation of a foodstuff can be suppressed.

The gist of the invention according to claim 4 is that the housing member in which the article housing portion is formed is detachably provided on the transport body.
According to this, by exchanging the accommodating member, the size, shape, etc. of the food to be packaged can be changed, and the versatility of the apparatus can be improved. Further, since the housing member can be removed from the transport body and easily cleaned and washed outside, the maintainability is improved.

  According to the article holding and transporting apparatus of the overwrapping machine according to the present invention, when automatically wrapping food having a corner portion that is soft and easily deformed, such as steamed bread, the deformation of the corner portion is suppressed and the manual operation is performed. It is possible to make packaging that is comparable to packaging.

  Next, with reference to the accompanying drawings, an example is given for an article holding and transporting device of an overwrapping machine suitable for steamed bread, sponge cake, sandwiches, and other soft and easily deformable breads and cakes. Will be described below. In addition, an Example demonstrates the case where the triangular column-shaped steamed bread in which an upper surface and a lower surface exhibit triangular shape is packaged.

  FIG. 1 shows a schematic configuration of an article holding and transporting apparatus for an overwrapping machine according to an embodiment, which is disposed below a film supply station where a film supply apparatus (not shown) is disposed. Conveying means 14 is provided. The transport means 14 includes a drive mechanism composed of a chain and a sprocket, and a plurality of transport bodies 12 are installed at predetermined intervals in the traveling direction between a pair of endless chains 16 and 16 spaced apart in the width direction. By rotating the sprocket, the transport body 12 is configured to move together with the endless chains 16 and 16 at a predetermined speed. The transport means 14 places the film sheet f delivered from the film supply device on the transport body 12 and holds the food 10 supplied so as to be pushed into the transport body 12 from the film f. And is configured to be conveyed downstream. In addition, as the film, a stretch film having a self-adhesive property made of polyethylene having a stretchability of, for example, about 12 μm is used, but if necessary, a film having a thickness of about 8 to 15 μm, preferably 10 to 13 μm is used. Is done. Examples of the film material include vinyl chloride, polyolefin-based polypropylene, and other various materials, and it is possible to use a food packaging stretch film in which films made of these various materials are monolayered or laminated.

  On the downstream side of the film supply station, an article supply station, a film folding station, a seal station, and a discharge station are provided in this order from the upstream side to the downstream side in the article transfer direction. Is controlled to intermittently stop at each station. In addition, a folding device, a sealing device, and a discharging device (not shown) are arranged corresponding to the film folding station, the sealing station, and the discharging station.

  Each of the transport bodies 12 includes a main body 18 connected and fixed to the endless chains 16 and 16, and a housing member 20 that is detachably disposed on the main body 18, and the upper surfaces of the main body 18 and the housing member 20 are the same. Configured to be located in the level. That is, the main body 18 is formed with a concave mounting portion 18c into which the housing member 20 can be inserted from above (see FIG. 2), and a plurality of the housing members 20 inserted into the mounting portion 18c are inserted into the main body 18. It is configured to be engaged and held in a state in which it is prevented from falling off by the engaging means 28 (two in the embodiment facing each other with the accommodating member 20 in between). As shown in FIG. 3, the engaging means 28 is advanced and retracted by an engaging groove 30 that is recessed in the outer peripheral surface of the housing member 20 and a spring or the like that is disposed in the main body 18 and fits into the engaging groove 30. The engaging member 32 includes, for example, a ball plunger and a ball latch having a freely adjustable position screw, and is engaged with the engaging groove 30 when the receiving member 20 is inserted into the mounting portion 18c. The joint member 32 is fitted and the housing member 20 is positioned and held.

  A through hole 34 having a triangular shape in plan view and extending in the vertical direction is formed at a substantially central position of the housing member 20 corresponding to the shape of the food 10. In addition, as shown in FIG. 1, the main body 18 is provided with a lower surface support member 22 that faces the lower side of the through hole 34 when the accommodation member 20 is mounted, and the lower surface support member 22 and the accommodation member 20 penetrate. By the inner wall 20c that forms the hole 34, a concave article accommodating portion 24 that opens upward in a shape that conforms to the three-dimensional shape of the food 10 is defined, and the food 10 is accommodated and held in the article accommodating portion 24. It has become. In the embodiment, the article accommodating portion 24 is a substantially triangular prism-shaped hollow portion for accommodating the triangular prism-shaped food 10 having the corners facing outward, and the lower surface of the food 10 is a film sheet on the upper surface of the lower surface support member 22. While holding through f, the inner side wall 20c defining the through hole 34 in the housing member 20 can hold the outer surface corresponding to each side of the food 10 through the film sheet f ( (See FIG. 4).

  As shown in FIG. 4, the article accommodating portion 24 has a corner accommodating space in which the corner 10 a is accommodated at a position corresponding to each corner 10 a of the food 10 accommodated in the article accommodating portion 24. 26 is formed. The corner portion accommodating space portion 26 is configured to be a void formed so as to expand outward from the corner portion 10 a of the food 10 accommodated in the article accommodating portion 24. Further, the corner portion accommodating space portion 26 is a substantially cylindrical hollow portion that is set so as to expand in an arc with the same radius from the top of each corner portion 10a toward the outer side of each corner portion 10a. It opens in a circular arc shape at the top. A portion where the upper surface serving as the film placement surface of the housing member 20 and the inner wall 20c that defines the through hole 34 intersect (the upper opening edge of the article housing portion 24) is formed as a curved surface, thereby reducing the pull-in resistance of the film sheet f. At the same time, it is configured to prevent the film from tearing or tearing. Further, the surface of the housing member 20 and the upper surface of the main body of the transport body 12, such as the contact surface with the film sheet f, are subjected to adhesion suppression processing such as pear fabric processing or fluororesin coating, and self-adhesion of a film made of a stretch film The film sheet f can be prevented from sticking to the transport body 14 by the action. In addition, the corner | angular part 10a of the foodstuff 10 refers to the part along the ridgeline which connects each vertex of the upper surface of this foodstuff 10, and a lower surface.

  The lower surface support member 22 is formed in a shape along the shape of the lower surface of the food 10 and is disposed on the main body 18 of the transport body 12 so as to move up and down in the article accommodating portion 24. Further, the lower surface support member 22 is held at an article support position that supports the lower surface of the food 10 at a predetermined height position from the film supply station to the sealing station, and is operated and packaged by a discharge device at the discharge station. The food 10 is configured to be pushed out from the article storage unit 24. In the state where the lower surface support member 22 is held at the article support position, the depth dimension of the article storage section 24 is set slightly longer than the height dimension of the food 10 and the food stored in the article storage section 24. When the sheet edge is folded on the upper surface of the food 10, the film is tightly folded on the surface of the food 10 without suppressing the deformation of the food 10 and damaging the food 10.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the main body 18 of the transport body 12 includes a main member 36 on which the housing member 20 is disposed, and front and rear edges of the film sheet f that are positioned in the front and rear of the main member 36 in the article transport direction. It is configured to be divided into three auxiliary members 38 and 38 that support the portion. In the embodiment, one auxiliary member 38 positioned between the main members 36 and 36 of the transport bodies 12 and 12 adjacent in the article transport direction also serves as the auxiliary member of the transport bodies 12 and 12 on both sides. Each conveyance body 12 may be configured to include two auxiliary members 38, 38, respectively. The main body 18 of the transport body 12 is divided into three parts, and the individual members 36, 38, 38 are installed between the endless chains 16, 16, so that the transport body 12 is rotated to the upper carrier side and the lower return side. The diameter of the sprocket to be moved can be reduced, and the enlargement of the apparatus can be suppressed.

  Each auxiliary member 38 in the main body 18 of the transport body 12 is formed in a hollow box shape, and a plurality of vent holes 18 a communicating with the internal space of the auxiliary member 38 are formed on the upper plate of the auxiliary member 38, and auxiliary The lower plate of the member 38 is formed with an intake hole 18b that is spaced apart at a predetermined interval in the moving direction of the carrier 12 at a position spaced in the width direction and communicates with the internal space of the auxiliary member 38 (FIGS. 1 and 2). reference). As shown in FIG. 1, the air holes 18 a are formed along the front edge and the rear edge of the auxiliary member 38 in the article conveyance direction, and the air holes located on one side are the front edge of the film sheet f. The air hole group located on the other side functions to act on the trailing edge of the film sheet f. The housing member 20 is formed in a hollow box shape, and a plurality of vent holes 20a communicating with the internal space are formed on the upper plate at positions excluding the formation position of the article housing portion 24 so as to penetrate vertically. In the lower plate, intake holes 20b that are spaced apart at a predetermined interval in the moving direction of the transport body 12 and communicate with the internal space at positions spaced apart in the width direction corresponding to the suction holes 18b of the transport body 12 are vertically arranged. It is formed so as to penetrate (see FIGS. 1 and 4).

  A suction means (not shown) having suction ports communicating with the suction holes 18b of the transport body 12 and the suction holes 20b of the housing member 20 is disposed on the passage of the transport body 12, and is delivered at the film supply station. The formed film sheet f is conveyed downstream in a state where it is tightly held on the upper surface of the main body 18 and the accommodating member 20 by the air suction force acting through the vent hole 18a of the conveying body 12 and the vent hole 20a of the accommodating member 20. It is configured as follows. It should be noted that air suction force acts on the film through the vent holes 18a and 20a until the transport body 12 to which the film sheet f is supplied from the film supply device passes through the article supply station from the film supply station. Is set.

(Effects of Example)
Next, the operation of the article holding and transporting device of the overwrapping machine according to the embodiment will be described.

  The film sheet f supplied from the film supply device is in close contact with the upper surface of the main body 18 and the housing member 20 by the air suction force acting through the air holes 18a and 20a in the main body 18 and the housing member 20 of the transport body 12. It is placed and held in a state.

  At the timing when the transport body 12 on which the film sheet f is placed and held is intermittently stopped at the article supply station, the article storage section 24 is reversed from the top to the bottom of the film sheet f (the upper surface of the product as a steaming pan) The food sheet 10 in a posture with the surface facing downward is pushed in and accommodated, so that the film sheet f is covered so as to be in close contact with the lower surface and the outer peripheral surface of the side surface of the food product 10. At this time, the film sheet f drawn into the article storage unit 24 together with the food 10 is in an overlapping state so that films near the corners of the food 10 are gathered together at the corners 10a, and through the vent holes 18a and 20a. Retraction resistance is generated by the air suction force acting and the self-adhesive action of the stretch film itself, and the food 10 is also loaded. However, the article accommodating portion 24 that accommodates the corner portion 10a is formed with a corner portion accommodating space portion 26 that is a space that expands in an arc shape outward from the corner portion 10a. As shown in FIG. 4, since the film sheet f gathered near the corner portion and overlapped is drawn into the article accommodating portion 24 without being excessively narrowed by the void of the corner portion accommodating space portion 26, the corner portion 10a. Can be reduced, and deformation of the corner 10a can be suppressed.

  The folding device operates in accordance with the timing at which the article storage section 24 of the transport body 12 storing the food 10 arrives at the film folding station, and the film sheet f is extended out of the article storage section 24 by a plurality of folding pieces. Is folded to the upper surface side of the food 10. At the time of folding the film, the film sheet f drawn into the corner accommodating space 26 is not overlapped in an excessively narrowed state outside the corner 10a. The applied force does not concentrate on the corner 10a. Therefore, favorable fill folding is performed while suppressing deformation of the corner 10a.

  The sealing device is operated in accordance with the timing at which the article storage unit 24 of the transport body 12 storing the food 10 arrives at the sealing station, and the film folding polymerization unit is sealed. Next, the discharge device is operated in accordance with the timing when the transport body 12 that transports the food 10 arrives at the discharge station, and the lower surface support member 22 moves toward the upper opening in the article accommodating portion 24 to force the food 10. Pushed out. Even when the food 10 is pushed out from the article storage section 24, a space by the corner storage space 26 is formed at a position corresponding to the corner 10a. Friction resistance due to the self-adhesive action of the stretch film covering the surface of the food 10 is not directly generated in the corner 10a, and the corner 10a can be prevented from being deformed during extrusion.

  Thus, since the corner portion accommodating space portion 26 that is separated from the corner portion 10a is provided at a position corresponding to the corner portion 10a of the food item 10 in the article accommodating portion 24, when the food item 10 is pushed into the article accommodating portion 24, Or when folding the sheet | seat edge part extended outward from the article | item accommodating part 24 or at the time of extrusion of the foodstuff 10 from the article | item accommodating part 24, it can suppress that a big load is added to the corner | angular part 10a. It can prevent that 10a deform | transforms so that a commercial value is impaired. Therefore, even if the food 10 is soft and easily deformed, such as steamed bread, it is possible to prevent the corner portion 10a of the food 10 from being deformed and to be in a packaged state so that the film sheet f adheres along the outer peripheral surface. Can do. In addition, since the corner | angular part 10a becomes easy to deform | transform, so that the internal angle of the corner | angular part 10a in the foodstuff 10 becomes small, the structure which provides the corner | angular part accommodation space part 26 is a triangular prism shape which cut the rectangular parallelepiped like the Example. This is particularly effective for food 10 having an interior angle of 90 degrees or less, such as food 10 such as steamed bread used as a commercial product.

  Since the storage member 20 is configured to be detachable from the transport body 12, when the size or shape of the food 10 is changed, the storage member 20 can be replaced. In addition, when waste or the like of the food 10 adheres, only the housing member 20 can be removed and easily cleaned or washed outside, so that maintainability is improved.

(Change example)
The present application is not limited to the configuration of the above-described embodiment, and other configurations can be appropriately employed.
1. In the embodiment, the food 10 has been described in the case of a triangular prism having a corner facing outward, but the food 10 can be applied to a food having a plurality of corners such as a quadrangular prism.
2. In the embodiment, the corner accommodating space portion 26 is a substantially cylindrical hollow portion whose opening shape at the top of the article accommodating portion 24 is an arc shape, but the film sheet f is drawn into the corner portion 10 a of the food 10. For example, the opening shape may be other shapes such as an ellipse or a polygon, as long as the load can be reduced. Further, the corner portion accommodating space portion 26 is not limited to the one in which the inner diameter does not change in the height direction of the article accommodating portion 24, for example, the one in which the inner diameter increases or decreases from the upper opening side to the lower side, or a curved surface shape The inner diameter may be changed.
3. In the embodiment, the article accommodating portion 24 is configured by the lower surface support member 22 and the accommodating member 20 of the transport body 12, but the article accommodating portion 24 may be recessed in the accommodating member 20 formed on the bottom. 20 may be formed integrally with the carrier 12.
4). As the motion transmission means of the transport means, other power transmission means such as a belt-pulley can be appropriately employed instead of the chain sprocket.
5. In the embodiment, the case where the transport body 12 is divided into three parts has been described. However, when the sprocket that rotates the transport body 12 to the carrier side and the return side can have a large diameter, the transport body 12 is made up of one or two members. It may be configured.

It is a principal part schematic plan view which shows the conveyance means of the overwrapping machine which concerns on an Example. It is a schematic plan view which shows the state which removed the accommodating member from the conveyance body which concerns on an Example. It is the schematic which looked at the state which isolate | separated the conveyance body and storage member which concern on an Example from the upstream of the article conveyance direction. It is a schematic plan view which shows the accommodating member which concerns on an Example in the state which accommodated the foodstuff and the film sheet in the goods accommodating part.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Foodstuff, 12 conveyance body, 14 conveyance means, 20 accommodation member, 24 article accommodation part 26 corner | angular part accommodation space part, f film sheet

Claims (4)

An article holding and transporting device for an overwrapping machine for packaging a food (10) having a three-dimensional shape having corners so as to cover the outer peripheral surface with a film sheet (f),
The transport body (12) disposed in the transport means (14) is recessed in a shape along the three-dimensional shape of the food (10), and the film sheet (f) placed on the transport body (12) Comprising an article accommodating portion (24) whose upper opening is covered by
In the article storage section (24), each corner (10a) of the food (10) stored in the article storage section (24) from above the film sheet (f) placed on the transport body (12). ), An article holding and transporting device for an overwrapping machine characterized in that a corner accommodating space (26) is formed to expand outward so as to be separated from the corner (10a). .   The corner accommodating space (26) is expanded in an arc shape at the upper part toward the outer side with respect to the corner (10a) of the food (10) accommodated in the article accommodating portion (24). Item holding and transfer device of the overwrapping machine according to Item 1.   3. The overwrapping machine according to claim 1, wherein the contact surface of the transport body (12) with the film sheet (f) is subjected to an adhesion suppression process for suppressing adhesion to the film sheet (f). Article holding and transfer device.   The overwrapping machine according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein a housing member (20) in which the article housing section (24) is formed is detachably provided on the transport body (12). Article holding and transfer device.

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