JP2009107690A - Tape pasting apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an apparatus capable of pasting adhesive tapes to a greater number of types of containers at higher speed than a conventional apparatus. <P>SOLUTION: The apparatus includes an lead-in conveyor 1 and a transfer conveyor 13 which transfer a lidded container 12, pasting members 46 which suck and hold the starting end of an adhesive tape 55 pulled out of a tape roll 49 at both sides of the transfer conveyor 13, a tape cutter, and a pasting drive mechanism having an advancing/retreating mechanism 36 that is driven by a driving motor to reciprocate both the adhesive members 46 along a transfer direction X, a laterally moving mechanism 37 that is driven by the driving motor to reciprocate both the adhesive members 46 in the lateral direction Y, and a lift mechanism 38 that is driven by the driving motor to reciprocate both adhesive members 46 in the vertical direction Z. The pasting drive mechanism causes the advancing/retreating mechanism 36, the laterally moving mechanism 37, and the lift mechanism 38 to cooperate to press the start end of the adhesive tape 55 sucked and held by both the adhesive members 46 over a container 12 while pressing the termination of a tape segment formed by cutting the pulled out adhesive tape 55 by a tape cutter over the container 12 to attach the tape segment to the container 12. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a tape sticking device that fastens a container body and a lid of a container with a lid to each other with an adhesive tape piece.

  Lunch boxes and side dishes sold at convenience stores and supermarkets are housed in container bodies made of materials such as expanded polystyrene, polystyrene, polyethylene terephthalate, and polypropylene, and are made of transparent materials such as polystyrene, polyethylene terephthalate, and polypropylene. A lid is placed over the container body. In general, they are sold by being fastened with an adhesive tape piece so that the container body and the lid are not separated from each other.

  In a manufacturer who manufactures a product in which an object to be stored is contained in such a container with a lid, various kinds of containers having different shapes and sizes are used depending on the type of the object to be stored, and the objects to be stored in the container for each type. Is packed. Moreover, the actual situation is that a series of work including the tape sticking depends on the manual work of many workers.

In order to cope with such a problem, for example, a technique disclosed in Patent Document 1 below has been proposed as an apparatus capable of automating tape attachment to a lidded container.
In this Patent Document 1, a container with a lid is transported to a predetermined position by a conveyor and stopped, the container with a lid is pressed by a pressing plate and sandwiched between the conveyors, and the start end of the adhesive tape is adsorbed and held by an adsorbing part. When the arm is lowered and moved horizontally toward the container with the lid, the adhesive tape can be attached to both sides of the upper surface of the container with the lid and pulled out from the tape roll with the adhesive tape stretched. The adhesive tape pulled out by a predetermined length upon completion is cut between the adsorbing portion of the arm and the side surface of the lidded container, and the terminal end of the adhesive tape is pushed against the side surface of the lidded container. Therefore, improvement in work efficiency can be expected, and automatic tape sticking set to an appropriate sticking position and sticking length of the adhesive tape can be performed.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 11-292028

  Here, a manufacturer who manufactures a large variety of products such as lunch boxes and side dishes with limited expiry dates is required to pack the contents in containers with lids in a short time and deliver them to the seller. ing. However, the intermittent operation type tape adhering device according to the prior art is difficult to process with higher capacity than manual operation by one skilled worker, and as a countermeasure, a plurality of devices are installed. It is necessary to deal with it. However, the installation of a plurality of devices points out various problems such as an increase in equipment costs and an increase in factory installation space in comparison with labor costs.

  Furthermore, since the air cylinder is employed in the drive unit for adhering the adhesive tape, it is difficult to flexibly cope with the setting operation of the arm in accordance with containers of various sizes and shapes. Therefore, as in the case described above, it is necessary to deal with such problems by installing an apparatus for each product type or automating only a limited product type.

  In view of the various problems described above, an object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus that can handle a variety of containers at a higher speed than conventional apparatuses.

The present invention will be described with reference to the reference numerals of the drawings (FIGS. 1 to 9) of the embodiments described later.
The tape sticking apparatus according to the invention of claim 1 is configured as follows.
The introduction conveyor 1 places and transports a container 12 with a lid. The transport conveyor 13 is provided on the downstream side in the transport direction X with respect to the introduction conveyor 1 and places and transports the container 12. The sticking members 46 are respectively disposed so as to sandwich the transport path 17 of the transport conveyor 13 on both sides in the lateral direction Y intersecting the transport direction X of the containers 12 by the transport conveyor 13 and are pulled out from the tape roll 49. The starting end portion 55a of the adhesive tape 55 is sucked and held from the side opposite to the adhesive surface. The tape cutter 26 is disposed on the sticking member 46. In the sticking drive mechanism 35, the advancing / retreating mechanism 36 that drives the sticking members 46 by the advance / retreat drive motor 42 so as to reciprocate the sticking members 46 in the transport direction X, and the sticking members 46 in the transport direction. Driven by a traverse mechanism 37 driven by a traverse drive motor 45 so as to reciprocate in the lateral direction Y intersecting X, and driven by an elevating drive motor 48 so as to reciprocate both the pasting members 46 in the vertical direction Z. When the container 12 is continuously transported on the transport conveyor 13 in cooperation with the elevating mechanism 38, the start end portion 55a of the adhesive tape 55 sucked and held by the both sticking members 46 is used as the lid 12b of the container 12. A piece of tape formed by pressing the adhesive tape 55 out of the tape roll 49 and cutting the adhesive tape 55 with the tape cutter 46. 3 of the terminal portion 63b stroking press the container body 12a is fastened.

  In the second aspect of the invention based on the first aspect of the invention, the upper conveyor 26 is provided so as to be adjustable in height above the transfer conveyor 13 and sandwiches and conveys the container 12 with the transfer conveyor 13. It has.

  In the invention of claim 3 premised on the invention of claim 1 or claim 2, the conveyor 13 is provided with an automatic lateral width adjusting mechanism 21 capable of adjusting the lateral width W17 in the transport path 17, and the container 12 is covered. The horizontal width automatic adjustment mechanism 21 is driven and controlled by the controller 60 so as to change the horizontal width W17 according to the shape or size of the mounting surface and the manner in which the adhesive tape 55 is attached to the container 12.

  The invention according to claim 4, which is based on the invention of claim 1, 2 or 3, and an article for detecting the drive means 6 for driving the introduction conveyor 1 and the container 12 conveyed to the conveyor 13 And an interval S between the preceding container 12 and the succeeding container 12 which are detected by the detection result of the article detection sensor 24a and are transported from the introduction conveyor 1 to the transport conveyor 13 is set to a predetermined value. As described above, the drive means 6 of the introduction conveyor 1 is driven and controlled by the controller 60.

  In the invention of claim 5 premised on the invention of any one of claims 1 to 4, each operation by the traversing mechanism 37 and the lifting mechanism 38 is based on a value set by teaching operation. The transverse drive motor 45 and the lift drive motor 48 of the sticking drive mechanism 35 are driven and set by the controller 60.

  In the invention of claim 6, which presupposes the invention of claim 5, both sticking is performed so that the sticking mode of the adhesive tape 55 according to the longitudinal sectional shape of the container 12 specified by the cross-sectional shape setting operation of the container 12 is obtained. The operation point value of the landing member 46 and the operation patterns of the advance / retreat mechanism 36 and the traversing mechanism 37 are automatically set by the controller 60.

  In the invention of claim 7 premised on the invention of any one of claims 1 to 6, the operating range when the adhesive tape 55 is fastened for the traversing mechanism 37 and the lifting mechanism 38, respectively. The sticking member 46 can be set and stored for each product as an operation pattern along the outer shape of the container 12, and the advance / retreat drive motor 42, the traverse drive motor 45, and the lift drive motor 48 are different for each product. The drive is controlled by the controller 60 so that the rotation amount is obtained.

  In the invention of claim 8 premised on the invention of any one of claims 1 to 7, the operation speed of the adhering member 46 by the traversing mechanism 37 and the lifting mechanism 38 is adhesive. The transverse drive motor 45 and the lift drive motor 48 are driven to change speed so that the speed from the start end portion 55a to the end end portion 63b of the tape 55 is set at a higher speed than before after the operation of fixing the tape 55 to the container 12.

  In the invention of claim 9 premised on the invention of any one of claims 1 to 8, the backward movement speed is higher than the forward movement speed of the sticking member 46 by the advance / retreat mechanism 36. The advancing / retreating drive motor 42 is driven to change speed so as to be set to

  In the first aspect of the invention, the advancing / retreating mechanism 36 driven by the advancing / retreating drive motor 42, the traversing mechanism 37 driven by the traversing drive motor 45, and the elevating mechanism 38 driven by the elevating drive motor 48 cooperate with each other. Since the tape piece 63 can be fastened to the container 12 by the sticking member 46 during the continuous conveyance of the tape, high-speed processing is possible as compared with the conventional tape sticking apparatus. Further, since the drive system using the advancing / retreating drive motor 42, the traversing drive motor 45, and the ascending / descending drive motor 48 is employed, the amount of rotation of these drive motors 42, 45, 48 is controlled for each different container 12 to control the container. It becomes easy to arbitrarily set the fastening position of the tape piece 63 with respect to 12, and the tape piece 63 can be satisfactorily fastened to various types of containers 12 having different shapes and sizes. Furthermore, since the operation range of the sticking member 46 can be arbitrarily changed by changing and setting the operation amount of each drive motor 42, 45, 48, the tape piece 63 is attached to the container 12 according to the cross-sectional shape of the container 12. The tape piece 63 can be attached to only the side surface, the tape piece 63 can be attached to the side surface from the upper surface of the container 12, or the tape piece 63 can be attached to the bottom surface from the upper surface of the container 12 through the side surface. That is, the length of the tape piece 63 can be set to an optimum value that is the minimum necessary according to the container shape. Furthermore, it is possible to increase the speed by setting the sticking member 46 to operate along the outer shape of the container 12 to minimize the operation range of the sticking member 46.

  In the second aspect of the invention, since the container 12 is conveyed with the upper side of the container 12 being pressed by the upper conveyor 26, the change in the posture of the container 12 until the container 12 is conveyed to the adhesive tape 55 attachment position is prevented. In addition, the tape piece 63 can be securely fixed to the container 12 without any deviation of the attaching position.

  In the invention of claim 3, since the width W17 of the transfer conveyor 13 is automatically adjusted according to the size of the bottom surface of the container 12 or the necessity of fixing the adhesive tape 55 to the bottom surface of the container 12, the container 12 is changed. However, the container 12 can be stably conveyed.

  In the invention of claim 4, since the succeeding container 12 is carried out from the introducing conveyor 1 to the conveying conveyor 13 with a predetermined interval S with respect to the preceding container 12, the conveying interval of the container 12 from the upstream side to the introducing conveyor 1 is random. Even in such a case, the tape can be transferred to the transport conveyor 13 at regular intervals, and the tape piece 63 can be smoothly attached to the preceding container 12.

  In the invention of claim 5, since the operation position of the sticking member 46 is set to an arbitrary value by the operation of teaching the sticking member 46 with respect to the actual product of the container 12, the tape adapted to the actual container 12 is set. The fastening position of the piece 63 can be set appropriately. Further, unlike the operation setting method of the sticking member 46 by numerical input, the position of the sticking member 46 can be set while actually confirming the operation position of the sticking member 46 with respect to the container 12. Can be implemented reliably.

  In the invention of claim 6, the number of operation points of the sticking member 46 is automatically set based on the vertical cross-sectional shape of the container 12 only by performing the cross-sectional shape setting operation of the container 12. The operator can set the operation of the adhering member 46 based on the vertical cross-sectional shape of the container 12 by a simple operation that only gives the operation position of the adhering member 46 for each point indicated.

According to the seventh aspect of the present invention, the sticking member 46 can be operated optimally in accordance with the container shape for each product type, and the operation pattern is stored to facilitate the switching setting of multiple products.
According to the eighth aspect of the present invention, it is possible to shorten the return operation time until the next sticking operation is started after the sticking operation by the sticking member 46 is completed, thereby enabling further high-speed processing.

  According to the ninth aspect of the invention, it is possible to shorten the return operation time from the end position Q of the sticking operation by the sticking member 46 to the start position P, thereby enabling further high-speed processing.

Hereinafter, a tape sticking apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
In the introduction conveyor 1 shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, a flat belt 5 is wound between a driving pulley 3 supported on both sides of the machine frame 2 in the front-rear direction X and a plurality of driven pulleys 4. Is rotated by the drive motor 6 with the clutch brake, and the flat belt 5 rotates along the front-rear direction X. In the guide interval adjusting mechanism 7 incorporated in the introduction conveyor 1, the movable frame 8 is supported on both sides of the machine frame 2 in the left-right direction Y so as to be movable in the left-right direction Y, and is attached to the movable frame 8. The guides 9 are disposed on both the left and right sides of the flat belt 5. When the operating handle 10 is rotated, the movable frame 8 moves in the left-right direction Y together with the two guides 9 via the male / female screw mechanism 11, and the guides 9 approach or separate from each other, and the interval W9 between the two guides 9 is set. Can be changed. In this example, the lidded container 12 placed on the flat belt 5 and transported is a lunch box made of a rectangular plastic molded product in a plan view in which a lid 12b is placed on a container body 12a containing various foods. Therefore, the interval W9 between the two guides 9 is changed in accordance with the left and right lateral width (width in the left-right direction Y) of the container 12 with the lid.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, in the transfer conveyor 13 installed on the downstream side in the transfer direction (front-rear direction X) with respect to the introduction conveyor 1, the movable conveyer is spaced a predetermined distance from the center of the transfer line to both sides in the left-right direction Y. A frame 14 is supported so as to be movable in the left-right direction Y along both front and rear support shafts 15, and a belt belt 17 wound around a plurality of pulleys 16 is disposed on the movable frame 14, so The rotor 18 is rotated along the front-rear direction X via the gears 19 and 20. In the automatic width adjusting mechanism 21 incorporated in the conveyor 13, when the width adjusting motor 22 rotates, the movable frame 14 moves in the left-right direction Y together with the belt belt 17 via the female and male screw mechanisms 23. The left and right belt belts 17 approach or separate from each other, and the interval W17 between the left and right belt belts 17 (the lateral width of the transport conveyor 13) can be changed.

  On the downstream side of the introduction conveyor 1, both guides 9 are provided with a first article detection sensor 24 a made up of a light emitting / receiving photoelectric sensor and the like, and a first detector for detecting the arrival of the container 12 on the upstream side of the transfer conveyor 13. A second article detection sensor 24b (see FIG. 6) is provided. Further, an encoder 25 for detecting the travel of the belt belt 17 is attached to the transport conveyor 13.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, in the upper conveyor 26 installed above the left and right belt belts 17 corresponding to the center of the conveying line of the conveying conveyor 13, the elevating frame 27 moves in the vertical direction Z on the machine frame 2. An elastic belt 30 made of a soft material such as a sponge material is wound between a driving pulley 28 and a driven pulley 29 supported by the elevating frame 27. The driving pulley 28 is driven by an upper conveyor drive module. The elastic belt 30 travels along the front-rear direction X by being rotated by the rotor 31. In the height adjustment mechanism 32 incorporated in the upper conveyor 26, when the operation handle 33 is rotated, the elevating frame 27 is moved in the vertical direction Z together with the elastic belt 30 via the male / female screw mechanism 34, and this elasticity is increased. The belt 30 approaches or moves away from the belt belt 17 of the conveyor 13, and the height H of the elastic belt 30 relative to the belt belt 17 can be changed. Accordingly, the lid-equipped container 12 placed on the belt belt 17 of the conveyor 13 and conveyed is sandwiched between the upper conveyor 26 and the elastic belt 30 so that the height of the lid-equipped container 12 is increased. Accordingly, the height H of the elastic belt 30 is set.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the sticking drive mechanism 35 includes an advance / retreat mechanism 36, a traversing mechanism 37, and an elevating mechanism 38. In this advance / retreat mechanism 36, an advance / retreat base 40 is attached via a ball screw mechanism 41 on a fixed base 39 attached to the machine frame 2 below the belt belt 17 of the conveyor 13, and is made up of a servo motor. When the drive motor 42 rotates, the advance / retreat base 40 reciprocates in the front-rear direction X by the ball screw mechanism 41. Further, in the traversing mechanism 37, traversing frames 43 arranged on the advancing / retreating platform 40 so as to face both the left and right sides sandwiching the conveyor 13 are attached via a ball screw mechanism 44, and are traversing drives comprising servo motors. When the motor 45 rotates, both the transverse frames 43 reciprocate in the left-right direction Y by the ball screw mechanism 44 and approach or separate from each other. In the elevating mechanism 38, the adhering member 46 is attached to each traverse frame 43 via a ball screw mechanism 47, and the elevating mechanism is composed of a servo motor disposed in the traverse frame 43 corresponding to each ball screw mechanism 47. When the drive motor 48 rotates synchronously, the left and right sticking members 46 reciprocate in the vertical direction Z synchronously by the ball screw mechanism 47.

  As shown in FIG. 5, in the sticking member 46, the sticking arm 51 is attached to the support plate 50 on which the tape roll 49 is supported so as to be adjacent to the tape roll 49, and the belt belt of the conveyor 13. It protrudes horizontally above 17. A first suction part 53 and a second suction part 54 having suction holes 53a and 54a connected to the negative pressure generating means of the vacuum pump 52 are formed close to each other on the lower surface of the distal end portion of the sticking arm 51. ing. The adhesive tape 55 pulled out from the tape roll 49 is guided to the lower surface of the sticking arm 51 through each roller 56 and a tension roller (not shown), and as shown in FIG. Is adsorbed and held by the second adsorbing portion 54 from the side opposite to the adhesive surface.

  In the tape cutter 57, a cutting blade 58 is rotatably supported with respect to the sticking arm 51 between the first suction part 53 and the second suction part 54 of the sticking arm 51, and is supported by the support plate 50. When the piston rod 59a of the drive cylinder 59, which is an attached air cylinder, contracts, the cutting blade 58 protrudes from the lower surface of the sticking arm 51 and cuts the sticking tape 55.

  As shown in FIG. 6, the drive motor 6 with clutch brake and each article detection sensor 24a, 24b of the introduction conveyor 1, the drive motor 18, the lateral width adjustment motor 22 and the encoder 25 of the conveyor 13, The drive motor 31 of the upper conveyor 26, the advance / retreat drive motor 42 of the sticking drive mechanism 35, the transverse drive motor 45 and the right and left drive motors 48, the tape cutter drive cylinder 59, and the vacuum pump 52 Are connected to the controller 60, respectively.

  With the touch panel 61 connected to the controller 60, the operation setting values and the like of each operation mechanism are set in advance corresponding to each type such as the type name or type number. The controller 60 drives and controls the width adjustment motor 22 of the conveyor 13, and is placed between the belt belts 17 of the conveyor 13 and transports the bottom surface of the lidded container 12 (the surface on which the container body 12a is placed). ) And the distance W17 between the belt belts 17 are automatically changed according to the conditions of the width of the adhesive tape 55 and whether or not the adhesive tape 55 is fixed to the bottom surface.

  Further, the controller 60 specifies the movement trajectory of the sticking arm 51 of the sticking member 46 by the specification by the type switching operation, and the advance / retreat drive motor 42 of the advance / retreat mechanism 36 and the traversing mechanism 37 of the sticking drive mechanism 35. The traverse drive motor 45 and the lift drive motors 48 of the left and right lift mechanisms 38 are driven and controlled with a rotation amount and a rotation speed corresponding to the size and shape of the container 12 corresponding to the product type. In particular, the controller 60 can drive-control those drive motors 42, 45, and 48 based on values relating to operation position conditions arbitrarily set by, for example, the following teaching operation.

  As shown in the screen 62 of the touch panel 61 shown in FIG. 7, as a basic shape of the longitudinal cross-sectional shape of the lidded container 12, for example, a substantially inverted trapezoidal pattern shown in FIG. The roughly rectangular pattern shown in FIG. 7 and the roughly turtle-shaped pattern shown in FIG. 7 (a) and 7 (c), the teaching operation setting point is 6, and the second point is set to the fastening position by pressing the starting end portion 55a of the adhesive tape 55 against the upper surface of the lid 12b. The 5th point is set as the tape cutting position, and the fastening position is set by pushing the terminal portion 63b of the tape piece 63 obtained by cutting the 6th point. In FIG. 7 (b), the teaching operation setting point is 5, of which the second point is set to the fastening position by pressing the starting end portion 55a of the adhesive tape 55 against the upper surface of the lid 12b, and the fourth point is the tape. The cutting position is set as the fastening position by pushing the terminal portion 63b of the tape piece 63 obtained by cutting the sixth point.

  When an operator performs teaching according to the cross-sectional shape of the lidded container 12, a teaching mode is set on the touch panel 61, and one of the above three types of patterns is selected, and then each operation point of the selected pattern is set. For reference, the actual thing of the container 12 is placed at a desired position on the conveyor 13, and the sticking arm 51 of the sticking member 46 is actually operated by operating the operation key 62a on the screen based on the cross-sectional display shown in FIG. According to the outer shape of the container 12 with the lid, the height and the right and left positions of the outer edge are aligned so as to be a desired position, and the optimum position can be registered and stored for each operation point. . In addition, by setting this teaching mode, the traversing mechanism 37 and the left and right lifting mechanisms 38 are automatically set to a low speed operation that is slower than the operation speed during operation. By this teaching operation, the operation trajectory of the traversing mechanism 37 and each lifting mechanism 38 is given so that the pasting member 46 moves between the registered operation points at the shortest distance taking into account the load fluctuations of the motors 45 and 48. The traverse drive motor 45 of the traverse mechanism 37 and the lift drive motors 48 of the left and right lift mechanisms 38 are driven and controlled. The operation pattern set so that the sticking member 46 operates along the outer shape of the container 12 in this way is stored in the controller 60 as setting data for each product type. Regarding the operation speed of the sticking member 46, the sticking member 46 moves from the first set operation point (the operation point 1 of each selection pattern) to the final set operation point (the operation point 6 or 5 of each selection pattern). Rather than the case where the sticking member 46 returns from the last set operation point to the first set operation point, that is, after the operation of fixing the adhesive tape 55 from the start end portion 55a to the end portion 63b to the container 12. It is preferable to set the operation speed to a high speed.

  The containers 12 with lids sequentially placed on the flat belt 5 of the introduction conveyor 1 are detected by the first article detection sensor 24a, and then placed on the belt belts 17 of the transport conveyor 13 from the flat belt 5. And is conveyed while being sandwiched between the elastic belt 30 of the upper conveyor 26. Based on the detection signal from the first article detection sensor 24a and the number of pulses detected by the encoder 25 of the transfer conveyor 13, the controller 60 determines whether the preceding container 12 and the subsequent container 12 are fed from the introduction conveyor 1 to the transfer conveyor 13. On / off drive control of the clutch brake of the drive motor 6 with a clutch brake of the introduction conveyor 1 is performed so that the conveyance interval S becomes constant. Therefore, even if the containers 12 are transported to the introduction conveyor 1 at random intervals from the upstream side, the containers 12 transferred to the transport conveyor 13 are the preceding containers among the containers 12 with lids as shown in FIG. The interval S between 12 and the subsequent container 12 is set to be the same.

  The preceding container 12 is continuously transported by the transport conveyor 13 while maintaining the distance S from the subsequent container 12, and the left and right sticking members already waiting at the sticking start position P as shown in FIG. 46, the two sticking members 46 are moved forward at the same speed as the conveying speed of the container 12, and the sticking end positions of the two sticking members 46 as shown in FIG. Q. Between the sticking start position P and the sticking end position Q, the sticking arms 51 of both sticking members 46 are set by the teaching operation with respect to the container 12 according to the container shape for the preset product type. The operation is controlled based on a predetermined operation pattern corresponding to the cross-sectional shape of the container 12 that has been made. For example, as shown in FIG. 7A, a sticking operation in the case where the teaching operation is performed in advance with an operation pattern in the case where the vertical cross-sectional shape of the container 12 is a substantially inverted trapezoidal shape is shown below.

  The position at which the container 12 detected by a second article detection sensor (not shown) in the transport conveyor 13 reaches a predetermined position by the number of pulses obtained by the encoder 25, that is, the position of the sticking member 46 shown in FIG. At the sticking start position P, as shown in FIG. 9A, the left and right sticking arms 51 are lowered and pressed against the left and right sides of the upper surface of the lid 12b of the container 12, and are sucked and held by the second suction part 54. The start end portion 55a of the adhesive tape 55 is pressed and fixed to the left and right sides of the top surface of the lid 12b. Next, as shown in FIG. 9B, after each sticking arm 51 traverses and descends, it further descends while approaching the side surface of the container 12. At that time, since the sticking force of the start end portion 55a to the lid 12b of the adhesive tape 55 is superior to the suction force of the second adsorbing portion 54 in the sticking arm 51 to the start end portion 55a, the adhesive tape 55 has its start end. The portion 55a is pulled out from the tape roll 49 with tension while the portion 55a is stuck to the lid 12b at the same position. When the sticking arm 51 reaches a position where the sticking arm 51 comes into contact with the side surface of the container main body 12a, the sticking arm 51 stops for a moment and is stuck and held by the first suction part 53 and the second suction part 54. Is cut by the cutting blade 58 of the tape cutter 57, and the starting end side of the adhesive tape 55 is separated as a tape piece 63. The terminal portion 63 b of the separated tape piece 63 is held by the first suction portion 53. The start end portion 55a of the separated adhesive tape 55 is held by the second suction portion 54, and the start end portion 55a becomes the start end portion 63a of the tape piece 63 in the next process. After that, as shown in FIG. 9C, each sticking arm 51 slightly descends along the side surface of the container 12 while slightly descending, so that the terminal end 63b of the tape piece 63 becomes the side surface of the container main body 12a. It is squeezed and fixed. At the sticking end position Q of both sticking members 46, the sticking operation is finished. In this way, as shown in FIGS. 8D and 8E, the tape piece 63 is fastened to a substantially central position in the front-rear direction X on the left and right sides of the container 12.

  Next, the sticking arm 51 of the sticking member 46 leaves the preceding container 12 at the sticking end position Q and returns to the sticking start position P of the sticking member 46. In addition, the backward moving speed when the sticking member 46 moves backward from the sticking end position Q to the sticking start position P is higher than the forward movement speed when the sticking member 46 moves forward from the sticking start position P to the sticking end position Q. It is preferable to set so as to be.

  The timing at which the subsequent container 12 sequentially reaches the sticking start position P can be obtained from the detection signal of the second article detection sensor 24b and the number of pulses of the encoder 25 as described above. Then, the tape piece 63 is fixed.

  Therefore, in this embodiment, the advancing / retreating mechanism 36 driven by the advancing / retreating drive motor 42, the traversing mechanism 37 driven by the traversing drive motor 45, and the elevating mechanism 38 driven by the elevating drive motor 48 cooperate to provide a lid. Since the adhesive tape 55 can be fixed to the lidded container 12 by the sticking member 46 during the continuous conveyance of the container 12 by the conveyance conveyor 13, it can correspond to a variety of containers at a higher speed than the conventional apparatus.

For example, the following embodiment may be configured as follows.
In the embodiment, the guide interval adjusting mechanism 7 of the introduction conveyor 1 and the height adjusting mechanism 32 of the upper conveyor 26 are manually adjusted by the operation handles 10 and 33. Instead of the operation handles 10 and 33, a drive motor may be used as a drive source, and for example, an automatic adjustment method for controlling the drive motor based on data set for each type of different size may be used. .

  In the transport conveyor 13 of the above embodiment, the interval W17 between the left and right belt belts 17 can be automatically changed by the lateral width automatic adjustment mechanism 21 according to the product type. Instead of the lateral width automatic adjustment mechanism 21, a manual adjustment method using an operation handle may be used. Further, a plurality of belt belts 17 are arranged side by side, the plurality of belt belts 17 are configured to be movable up and down, and one of the belt belts 17 is selectively raised to change the placement width of the container 12. Also good.

  -Container data based on any one of width, length, height, or a combination of the container 12 obtained from a sensor for detecting the size of the container 12 or image processing of the container 12 imaged by a camera, and the like. Data on the container 12 corresponding to the product type data is collated with each other to identify the container 12, and based on the obtained container data, the advancing / retreating drive motor 42, the traversing drive motor 45, and the ascending / descending drive motor 45 And a drive motor 48 for adjusting the height of the upper conveyor 26, a drive motor for adjusting the guide interval of the introduction conveyor 1, and a drive motor for adjusting the guide interval of the transfer conveyor 13. The tape piece 63 may be fixed by the control data corresponding to the container 12 even if it is transported at random. This eliminates the need for the operator to set the type of the product, can significantly increase the work efficiency, and can prevent the tape piece 63 from being poorly attached due to an error in human operation such as a product type setting error by the operator.

  -In the said embodiment, regarding the operation condition setting of the sticking member 46, according to the longitudinal cross-sectional shape of the container 12, and the sticking aspect defined with respect to the vertical cross-sectional shape by the setting of the longitudinal cross-sectional shape of the container 12. Conditions are set for causing the operation of the sticking member 46 to follow the outer shape of the container 12. Instead of setting the vertical cross-sectional shape of the container 12, at least the vertical cross-sectional shape of the container 12 such as the name of the container 12 itself, the name of the container that can be specified by the container 12, the entire figure of the container 12 or a photographic image is used. It can respond by giving various data that can be recognized. Moreover, you may set so that the operation conditions of the sticking member 46 may be given arbitrarily each time, without specifying the shape of such a container 12, etc.

  The advance / retreat drive motor 42, the traverse drive motor 45, and the lift drive motor 48 of the above embodiment employ a rotary servo motor that rotates the ball screw mechanisms 41, 44, 47, but a linear servo motor is employed. In addition, a control motor that can arbitrarily change at least the rotation amount and the rotation speed may be employed.

  In the traversing mechanism 37 of the above embodiment, the left and right lifting mechanisms 38 are traversed by one traverse drive motor 45. The left and right lifting mechanisms 38 may be traversed by separate traverse drive motors 45. When the shape of the container 12 is different between the left and right sides, the transverse drive motors 45 may be driven differently to cause the left and right lifting mechanisms 38 to perform different operations. In addition, a transverse mechanism 37 that is independent on the left and right may be disposed on one lifting mechanism 38.

  The upper conveyor 26 is not driven, and a free roller conveyor system in which freely rotatable rollers are juxtaposed in the conveying direction, a push plate for the container 12 is provided to move integrally with the advance / retreat mechanism 36, Or you may make it convey, without suppressing the upper surface of the container 12, without installing the upper conveyor 26 as needed.

(A) is a front view which shows the tape sticking apparatus concerning this embodiment, (b) is also a top view, (c) is also a side view. It is the perspective view which looked at the tape sticking apparatus from the carrying-in end side of a container. It is the perspective view which looked at the tape sticking apparatus from the carrying-out end side of the container. (A) is the perspective view which looked at the sticking drive mechanism and sticking member of a tape sticking apparatus from the carrying-in end side of a container, (b) is the perspective view similarly seen from the lower side. (A) is the perspective view which looked at one raising / lowering mechanism and sticking member in the sticking drive mechanism from the carrying-out end side of a container, (b) is the perspective view which looked at the sticking member from the carrying-out end side of a container. is there. It is a schematic electric block circuit diagram of a tape sticking apparatus. (A) (b) (c) is explanatory drawing which shows the screen of the touch panel which displayed the example of the operation | movement pattern at the time of teaching operation about each operation | movement of a sticking arm. (A) (b) (c) (d) is a schematic operation explanatory view of a tape sticking device, and (e) is a side view showing an example of a lidded container to which a tape piece is fastened. (A) (b) (c) is a schematic operation explanatory view of a tape sticking device.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Introduction conveyor, 6 ... Drive motor with clutch brake as drive means, 12 ... Container with lid, 12a ... Container body, 12b ... Lid, 13 ... Conveyor, 21 ... Automatic width adjustment mechanism of conveyor 24a ... article detection sensor, 26 ... upper conveyor, 17 ... band belt as a transport path of the conveyor, 35 ... sticking drive mechanism, 37 ... transverse mechanism, 38 ... lifting mechanism, 39 ... advance / retreat mechanism, 42 ... advance drive Motor: 45 ... Drive motor for traversing, 46 ... Adhering member, 48 ... Drive motor for raising / lowering, 49 ... Tape roll, 55 ... Adhesive tape, 57 ... Tape cutter, 63 ... Tape piece, X ... Front-back direction which is the transport direction , Y: horizontal direction that is a horizontal direction, Z: vertical direction, W17: distance between the belts as the lateral width of the conveyor, S: distance between the preceding container and the subsequent container, P: sticking Start position of the work, the end position of the Q ... sticking behavior.

Claims (9)

An introduction conveyor that places and conveys containers with lids, a conveyance conveyor that is placed downstream of the introduction conveyor in the conveyance direction and conveys containers, and in the conveyance direction of containers by this conveyance conveyor A sticking member that is arranged so as to sandwich the transport path of the transport conveyor on both sides in the crossing direction and holds the start end portion of the adhesive tape pulled out from the tape roll from the opposite side of the adhesive surface. , A tape cutter disposed on the sticking member,
An advancing / retreating mechanism that drives the advancing and retreating drive motor to reciprocate both the adhering members along the conveying direction, and a traversing operation to reciprocate both adhering members in a transverse direction intersecting the conveying direction. The transverse mechanism driven by the drive motor and the lifting mechanism driven by the lifting drive motor so as to reciprocate both the sticking members in the up and down direction cooperate to continuously convey the containers on the conveyor. The adhesive tape is held by adhering and holding the adhesive tape to the lid of the container by pressing the adhesive lid, and the adhesive tape is pulled out from the tape roll and cut by the tape cutter. A tape adhering device comprising: an adhering drive mechanism for pressing and fixing a terminal portion of the tape piece to the container body. 2. The tape sticking apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising an upper conveyor provided so as to be height-adjustable above the transport conveyor and sandwiching and transporting containers between the transport conveyor. The conveyor has an automatic width adjustment mechanism that can adjust the width of the conveying path, and changes the width depending on the shape or size of the container mounting surface and the manner of sticking the adhesive tape to the container. The tape sticking apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the horizontal width automatic adjustment mechanism is driven and controlled by a controller. A drive unit for driving the introduction conveyor and an article detection sensor for detecting a container conveyed to the conveyance conveyor, and a preceding container and a subsequent container conveyed from the introduction conveyor to the conveyance conveyor according to a detection result of the article detection sensor 4. The tape sticking device according to claim 1, wherein the drive means of the introduction conveyor is driven and controlled by a controller so that the interval between the two is set to a predetermined value. . Each operation of the adhering member by the traversing mechanism and the lifting mechanism is set by driving and controlling the traverse driving motor and the lifting drive motor based on a value set by teaching operation. The tape sticking device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the tape sticking device is any one of claims 1 to 4. The controller automatically sets the operation point value of the adhesive member and the operation pattern of the traversing mechanism and the lifting mechanism so that the adhesive tape is attached in accordance with the vertical cross-sectional shape of the container specified by the container cross-sectional shape setting operation. The tape sticking apparatus according to claim 5, wherein With respect to the traversing mechanism and the elevating mechanism, the operation range when the adhesive tape is fixed can be set and stored for each product as an operation pattern in which the adhesive member follows the outer shape of the container, and the advance / retreat drive motor and the traverse drive The tape sticking according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the motor and the lift drive motor are driven and controlled by a controller so as to have different rotation amounts for each product type. Landing gear. The operation speed of the adhering member by the traversing mechanism and the elevating mechanism is set to be higher than before after the operation of fixing the adhesive tape from the start end to the end of the adhesive tape on the container. The tape sticking device according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the motor and the lifting drive motor are driven at variable speeds. 9. The advancing / retreating drive motor is driven to change speed so that the retreating movement speed is set to be higher than the advancing movement speed of the sticking member by the advancing / retreating mechanism. The tape sticking device according to one claim.

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