JP2010173666A - Device and method for opening zipper of zipper bag and opening the bag - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a device and method for opening a bag with which a zipper is reliably opened even in a packaging bag with a zipper of a strong engagement force, and thus the bag is reliably and stably opened. <P>SOLUTION: Both side edges of the bag 51 are gripped by a pair of grippers 3 and 3. A pair of suction cups 7 and 8 oppositely arranged in their respective standby positions separated from each other are moved closest to each other, thereby making the sucking surfaces 9 and 10 suck both side surfaces of the bag. The centers of the suction cups are displaced upward from the widthwise center of the chuck 53. While the suction cups are separated by a predetermined distance from the start of their separation, the suction cups are turned around respective positions separated from the sucking surfaces by a predetermined distance on the sides opposite to each other across the bag. The suction cups perform an reciprocally inclining operation such that the suction cups are moved downward from the directly facing positions of the sucking surfaces, further moved to inclining positions where the sucking surfaces are inclined, and then the suction cups are returned to the directly facing positions. Even after the reciprocally inclining operation is stopped, the suction cups are further separated. When the opening of the bag is finished, the suction is stopped and the suction cups are further moved to the standby positions. While the suction cups suck and separate the bag, the grippers are moved closed to each other according to the separation. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an apparatus and a method for separating and opening a chuck portion of a packaging bag with a chuck. More specifically, the present invention relates to an apparatus and method for separating and opening a chuck portion used for bagging and packaging in which a predetermined packaging process is sequentially performed while transporting a packaging bag along a predetermined trajectory.

  In automatic packaging of food, etc., a protrusion as a male part extending in the width direction of the bag on one of the inner surfaces of both sides of the bag near the upper side of the bag, and a recess as a female part having a groove shape corresponding to the protrusion on the other side A so-called zippered packaging bag is used in which strips are formed and these are fitted to close the bag mouth. When this packaging bag with a chuck is used, the bag must be opened prior to filling the contents such as food, and various devices or methods for separating the chuck portion have been proposed.

Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2007-320630 discloses such a chuck part separating apparatus. In this apparatus, when the pair of suction cups adsorbed on both sides of the bag are moved away from each other in order to open the bag, the suction cup adsorbed on the male part side of the chuck is simultaneously removed from the suction cup adsorbed on the female part side. It is configured to move relatively upward.

For this reason, there is an effect in the case of a bag in which the length of the upper side wall portion of the female side of the chuck is shorter than the length of the lower side wall portion, but for example, the upper and lower wall portions are symmetrical, When the length is long and the male / female engaging force is strong, the chuck may be difficult to separate. Further, for example, when the suction cup adsorbed on the male part side is pulled up to the bag mouth side, a slip may occur between the suction surface of the suction cup and the bag surface, and a vacuum break may occur, and the bag cannot be opened.

In the chuck part separating apparatus and method disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 3578924, the vacuum cup is adsorbed to the packaging bag outside the male and female elements of the seal (chuck) formed on the inner surface of the bag, and the cup on at least one side is supported. The open end of the supporting block is moved downward along the outer surface of the bag, whereby the male element is removed from the female element by tilting the cup with its lower end as a fulcrum (FIG. 8). (See (A)).

However, in the configuration of Japanese Patent No. 3578924, after the chuck portion is separated, the bag opening operation is performed in two steps so as to open the bag by moving the suction cups away from each other. In addition, when the chuck part is started to be separated, the male part and the female part are moved substantially horizontally to be separated, so that the resistance is extremely high and the separation is not easy. This is particularly difficult when the chuck has a relatively large meshing force. Further, in the configuration of Japanese Patent No. 3578924, the chuck line stops at substantially the same position when the bag is opened (see FIG. 8B), so that the chuck line as described later in connection with the present invention is within the bag surface. The effect that the chuck is easily detached due to the deformation of the female portion of the chuck due to the deformation cannot be obtained.

JP 2007-320630 A Japanese Patent No. 3578924

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems of the conventional example, and even with a packaging bag provided with a chuck having a strong engagement force, the chuck can be reliably separated, and the bag opening device can reliably and stably open the bag. And a method.

In order to solve the above-described problems, a chuck part separation and bag opening apparatus according to the present invention is configured as follows. That is, a chuck part separation and bag opening device that separates and opens a chuck part of a packaging bag with a chuck grips both side edges of the bag and can be brought into and out of contact with each other and a vacuum source via a switching valve. And a pair of suction members arranged so that the suction surfaces of the suction portion face each other, and a contact for moving the suction members closer to or away from each other. Separating means. And when the adsorption member is adsorbed on both sides of the bag, the center of the adsorption surface of the adsorption member is shifted from the center in the width direction of the chuck toward the bag mouth side of the bag. Arranged to adsorb. The apparatus further rotates the holding member with a position separated from the suction surface by a predetermined distance on the side opposite to the bag across the suction surface, so that the suction surfaces face each other. Tilting means for reciprocating tilting movement between the paired position and the tilting position where the suction part moves downward and the suction surface tilts, and the contact / separation means starts to separate the suction member While being separated by a predetermined distance, the tilting means causes the holding member to perform a reciprocating tilting operation, and the gripping members approach each other according to the separation while the adsorption member is separated while being adsorbed to the bag.
Furthermore, the present invention also provides a chuck part separating and opening method for separating and opening a chuck part of a packaging bag with a chuck having both side edges gripped by a pair of gripping members, and the method includes the following steps. That is,
A suction step in which a pair of suction members disposed opposite to each other at standby positions spaced apart from each other are moved to the closest position, and the suction surfaces of the suction members are sucked onto both sides of the bag;
A separation step of separating the adsorbed adsorbing members from each other in an axial direction perpendicular to the adsorbing surface;
The suction member is rotated around a position separated from the suction surface by a predetermined distance on the opposite side of the bag with the suction surface interposed therebetween, and the suction surface is moved from a directly facing position where the suction surfaces face each other. A reciprocating tilting process in which the member moves downward and moves to the tilting position where the suction surface tilts, and further returns to the facing position;
An approaching step of bringing the gripping members closer to each other;
The adsorption member is adsorbed in a state where the center of the adsorption surface of the adsorption member is deviated from the center in the width direction of the chuck toward the bag mouth when the adsorption member is adsorbed on both sides of the bag. And
The reciprocating tilting process is executed while the adsorption member is moved away by a predetermined distance after the separation process is started,
The approaching step is performed according to the separation while the adsorbing member is separated in a state of being adsorbed to the bag.
According to the chuck part separating and opening apparatus and method described above, even a bag having a relatively large meshing force can be reliably separated and a stable opening can be performed.
In the chuck part separating and opening apparatus and method, the suction member is in a state where the lower edge of the suction surface is located closer to the bag bottom side of the bag than the chuck when the suction member is sucked to both sides of the bag. It can arrange | position so that it may adsorb | suck to both surfaces of a bag, In this case, a bag opening can be performed more reliably and stably.
Further, the reciprocating tilting operation of the suction member can be performed twice or more while the suction member is separated by the predetermined distance, and in this case, the opening of the bag is performed more reliably and stably. The number of times is selected depending on the structure of the bag chuck, the size of the bag, and the like.

According to the present invention, in the initial stage of opening the bag, the suction member is moved away from the suction member and at the same time, the suction member is reciprocally tilted. Therefore, the lower wall portion of the female portion of the chuck is mechanically forced from the base to the opening direction. Therefore, the action of kneading the female part can be obtained, and the chuck can be easily and reliably separated. Further, by moving the suction member to the tilting position, the chuck line can be deformed so as to be depressed downward, and this also causes deformation in the female portion, and this deformation is applied to the portion where the suction member is sucked. Since it does not stop and occurs at the wide portions on both sides thereof, the separation and opening of the chuck portion can be promoted, and the opening operation associated therewith can be performed reliably and stably.

It is a figure which shows the chuck | zipper part isolation | separation bag opening apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this application, and an adsorption member exists in a standby position. (A) is a plan view and (B) is a side view. The state which the adsorption | suction member adsorb | sucked to the bag is shown, (A) is a top view, (B) is a side view. The state in the middle of bag opening is shown, (A) is a top view, (B) is a side view. The state is shown in which the opening of the bag is completed and the suction member is further moved back to the standby state. (A) is a plan view and (B) is a side view. It is a front view which shows the initial state of separation bag opening operation | movement. It is side surface sectional drawing which shows the initial state of isolation | separation bag opening operation | movement. It is an enlarged view of the A section of FIG. It is a figure which shows the bag opening method in a prior art example, (A) is a side view, (B) is a front view.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. However, the following embodiments are exemplarily shown, and the scope of the present invention is not limited thereto.

FIG. 1 is a view showing a standby state of a chuck portion separating and opening device 1 (hereinafter referred to as “bag opening device”) of a packaging bag with a chuck according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. ) Is a side view. That is, the bag opening device 1 is provided, for example, in a bag opening station of an automatic food packaging machine. FIG. 1 shows a bag opening station in which a packaging bag is held by grippers 3 and 3 described later provided on a rotary table of the packaging machine. The state is shown in which the bag opening device 1 is stopped between the two adsorbing devices 5 and 6 waiting in a separated state. In this figure, only the suction cups 7 and 8 and the members related to the suction cups 7 and 8 which are characteristic portions of the present invention in the bag opening device 1 are shown. A structure for advancing / retracting a contact / separation arm, which will be described later, a structure for approaching / separating the gripper, a structure for applying a vacuum to the suction cup, and the like are well-known. Is also omitted. For example, as a configuration for advancing and retracting the contact / separation arm, for example, the configuration described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2007-320630 can be employed.

  In the figure, reference numeral 51 denotes a known packaging bag with a chuck (hereinafter simply referred to as “bag”), and a known chuck 53 comprising a male part and a female part is formed on the side close to the bag mouth 52. The bag 51 is held in a suspended state by gripping both side edges thereof with a pair of grippers 3 and 3 as gripping members. A plurality of pairs of grippers 3 and 3 are provided at predetermined intervals along the circumferential direction of a rotary table that is provided in a packaging machine in which the bag opening apparatus 1 is used, for example, and rotates intermittently. The held bag 51 is held in a suspended state, and the bag is transferred along a predetermined trajectory as the table rotates, and operations such as opening the bag and filling the contents are sequentially performed at each station. The grippers 3 and 3 can approach and separate from each other.

The bag opening device 1 includes a pair of suction devices 5 and 6, but the configuration is substantially the same. Reference numerals 7 and 8 are suction cups that are attracted to both surfaces of the bag 51 by the suction surfaces 9 and 10, respectively, and are integrally attached to the holding members 11 and 12, respectively. The holding members 11 and 12 are provided with cylindrical portions 13 and 14 extending in a direction substantially perpendicular to the suction surfaces 9 and 10 on the side opposite to the suction cup 7.8. Reference numerals 15 and 16 are holders formed in a substantially L shape. The lower ends of the downwardly extending hanging parts 17 and 18 are bifurcated, and the cylindrical parts 13 and 14 of the holding member are inserted therethrough, The mounting pins 21 and 22 are rotatably attached.

Brackets 23 and 24 for attaching air cylinders 29 and 30 are attached to the ends of the horizontal parts 19 and 20 of the holders 15 and 16. The brackets 23, 24 are formed in a “U” shape in plan view, and air cylinders 29, 30 are suspended by mounting pins 27, 27, 28, 28 on the opposing arm portions 25, 25, 26, 26. It is attached so that it can rotate. The lower ends of the rods 31 and 32 of the air cylinders 29 and 30 extending downward are rotatably attached to the rear end portions of the cylindrical portions 13 and 14 of the holding members 11 and 12 described above. The holders 15 and 16 are attached to the contact / separation arms 33 and 34 at corners where the hanging parts 17 and 18 and the horizontal parts 19 and 20 are connected.

The contact / separation arms 33 and 34 are simultaneously moved in opposite directions using a known structure (for example, the above-mentioned Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2007-320630), so that the suction cups 7 and 8 are moved toward or away from each other. Yes. When the air cylinders 29 and 30 are actuated and the rods 31 and 32 are shortened by a predetermined length, the cylindrical portions 13 and 14 of the holding members 11 and 12 are respectively shown in side views with the mounting pins 21 and 22 as fulcrums. It rotates counterclockwise and clockwise. Reference numerals 35 and 36 are pipes for applying a vacuum to the suction cups 7 and 8, and are connected to a vacuum pump via a filter, a switching valve, etc. (not shown). The operations of the gripper 33, the contact / separation arms 33 and 34, the air cylinders 29 and 30, and the switching valve are driven by appropriate driving means (not shown) or controlled by a control device. In this state, the centers of the suction surfaces 9 and 10 of the suction cups 7 and 8 are displaced from the center of the width of the chuck 53 (vertical width in the side view), that is, shifted toward the bag mouth 52 side. . In this embodiment, the lower edge of the suction surfaces 9 and 10 is located slightly below the chuck 53, but this is not always necessary, and the lower edge is located further below. Alternatively, the lower edge portion may be positioned above the chuck 53 and the suction surfaces 9 and 10 may be completely deviated from the position of the chuck 51.

Next, the separation of the chuck 53 of the bag 51 by the bag opening device 1 and the subsequent bag opening operation will be described. As described above, FIG. 1 shows a state in which the bag opening device 1 is in the standby position and the bag 51 is gripped and transferred by the grippers 3 and 3 and stopped. That is, the bag 51 is stopped between the two adsorption devices 5 and 6. The rods 31 and 32 of the air cylinders 29 and 30 are in an extended state, and no vacuum is applied to the suction cups 7 and 8.

Next, the contact / separation arms 33 and 34 operate simultaneously, the suction devices 5 and 6 approach each other, and the suction surfaces 9 and 10 of the suction cups 7 and 8 are in close contact with both surfaces of the bag 51 at the closest position (see FIG. 2). ). At this time, the aforementioned switching valve is switched at an appropriate timing, a vacuum is applied to the suction cups 7, 8, and the suction surfaces 9, 10 are attracted to both surfaces of the bag 51. At this time, the suction surfaces 9 and 10 of the suction cups 7 and 8 face each other (facing position).

Next, the contact / separation arms 33 and 34 are moved in the opposite directions, and the air cylinders 29 and 30 are also operated in accordance with the movements. The rods 31 and 32 are moved while the suction cups 7 and 8 are separated by a predetermined distance. In this embodiment, the shortening and expansion operations are repeated twice or more. FIG. 3 shows a state in the middle of opening the bag, and shows a state at the time when the rods 31 and 32 are finally shortened. That is, when the rods 31 and 32 are shortened, the cylindrical portions 13 and 14 of the holding members 11 and 12 are tilted, and the suction cups 7 and 8 are moved downward by a predetermined amount, whereby the suction surfaces 9 and 10 are tilted. Thus, both the suction surfaces 9 and 10 are like a “C” in a side view (tilting position). From this state, the rods 31 and 32 are extended again, and the suction surfaces 9 and 10 face each other again. That is, the suction cups 7 and 8 move from the facing position to the tilting position and repeat the reciprocating tilting operation of returning to the facing position twice or more.

Here, with reference to FIGS. 5 to 7, an initial state of opening the bag 51 will be described. FIG. 5 is a front view of the bag 51 in the initial opening state. 6 is a side sectional view, and FIG. 7 is an enlarged view of a portion A in FIG. These drawings show a state in which the suction cups 7 and 8 are slightly moved away from each other and the suction cups 7 and 8 are moved to the tilt position by the first reciprocating tilting operation. As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the suction surfaces 9 and 10 of the suction cups 7 and 8 attracted to both surfaces of the bag 51 are inclined to form a “C” shape. At this time, the suction force of the suction cups 7 and 8 is the strongest at the center portion of the suction surfaces 9 and 10, so that both sides of the bag 51 are chevron with the portion corresponding to the center of the suction surfaces 9 and 10 as shown in FIG. It has become. Since the centers of the suction surfaces 9 and 10 are shifted upward from the center of the chuck 53, both surfaces of the bag 51 expand upward in the lower portion where the suction cups 7 and 8 are sucked, that is, “reverse c”. It becomes the state of the character. Accordingly, the male portion 54 of the chuck 53 is largely deformed by the lower wall portion 56 of the female portion 55 and acts to knead this portion, so that the male portion 54 is easily detached from the female portion 55. Further, as shown in FIG. 5, the suction cups 7 and 8 are moved to the tilt position, whereby the line of the chuck 53 is deformed in the plane of the bag 51. When deformed in this way, the lower wall portion 56 of the female portion 55 of the chuck 53 extends in the length direction of the chuck 53, the upper wall portion 57 contracts, and the female portion 55 is distorted and deformed. The male part 54 is further easily detached from the female part 55. Since this action acts not only on the portion where the suction cup is adsorbed but also on the both sides thereof, the separation of the chuck 53 is promoted.

  By reciprocatingly tilting the suction cups 7 and 8 away from each other as described above, the chuck portion 53 is separated and the opening of the bag proceeds. Then, when the suction cups 7 and 8 are returned to the facing position again from the state of FIG. 3, the reciprocating tilting operation is stopped. During this time, the suction cups 7 and 8 are spaced apart from each other. When the suction cups 7 and 8 move away to the position where the opening of the bag 51 is completed, the switching valve is operated to stop the vacuum action on the suction cups 7 and 8. Then, the suction cups 7 and 8 are removed from the bag 51 and moved to the standby position as they are, and stopped (see FIG. 4).

Claims (6)

  In a chuck part separation and bag opening device that separates and opens a chuck part of a packaging bag with a chuck, a pair of gripping members that can grip both side edges of the bag and can be brought into contact with and separated from each other, and a vacuum source via a switching valve A pair of adsorbing members connected to each other and provided with an adsorbing part and a holding member for holding the adsorbing part, and arranged so that the adsorbing surfaces of the adsorbing part are opposed to each other, and approaching and separating the adsorbing members from each other The suction member has a center of the suction surface of the suction member from the center in the width direction of the chuck to the bag mouth side of the bag when the suction member is sucked on both sides of the bag. The device is arranged to adsorb in a shifted state, and the device further rotates the holding member at a position away from the adsorption surface by a predetermined distance on the opposite side of the bag with the adsorption surface interposed therebetween. The adsorption surfaces Tilt means for reciprocating tilting movement between the directly facing position and the tilting position where the suction portion moves downward and the suction surface tilts, and the contact / separation means moves the suction member The tilting means causes the holding member to perform the reciprocating tilting operation while being separated by a predetermined distance from the start of the separation, and the gripping member responds to the separation while the adsorption member is separated while being adsorbed to the bag. The chuck part separating and opening device characterized in that they approach each other.   2. The chuck part separating and opening device according to claim 1, wherein when the suction member is attracted to both surfaces of the bag, the lower edge of the suction surface is closer to the bag bottom side of the bag than the chuck. A chuck part separating and opening device characterized by being arranged so as to be adsorbed to both surfaces of the bag in a state where the bag is located in the bag.   3. The chuck part separation and bag opening apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the reciprocating tilting operation is performed twice or more while the adsorption member is separated by the predetermined distance. In the method of opening the bag by separating the chuck portion of the packaging bag with a chuck that grips both side edges with a pair of gripping members,
A suction step in which a pair of suction members disposed opposite to each other in a standby position spaced apart from each other are moved to the closest position, and the suction surfaces of the suction members are sucked to both surfaces of the bag;
A separation step of separating the adsorbed adsorbing members from each other in an axial direction perpendicular to the adsorbing surface;
The suction member is rotated around a position separated from the suction surface by a predetermined distance on the opposite side of the bag with the suction surface interposed therebetween, and the suction surface is moved from a directly facing position where the suction surfaces face each other. A reciprocating tilting process in which the member moves downward and moves to the tilting position where the suction surface tilts, and further returns to the directly facing position;
An approach step of bringing the gripping members closer to each other,
The adsorbing member adsorbs when the adsorbing member is adsorbed on both sides of the bag, with the center of the adsorbing surface of the adsorbing member being shifted from the center in the width direction of the chuck toward the bag mouth side,
The reciprocating tilting process is executed while the adsorption member is moved away by a predetermined distance after the separation process is started,
The approaching step is performed according to the separation while the adsorption member is adsorbed to and separated from the bag in the separation step.
A method for separating and opening a chuck portion, characterized in that: 5. The chuck part separation bag opening method according to claim 4, wherein when the adsorption member is adsorbed to both surfaces of the bag, the lower edge of the adsorption surface is lower than the bag bottom of the bag than the chuck. The chuck part separation bag-opening method, wherein the bag is arranged so as to be adsorbed to both surfaces of the bag in a state of being located closer to the side. 6. The chuck part separating and opening method according to claim 4 or 5, wherein the reciprocating tilting operation is performed twice or more while the suction member is separated by the predetermined distance. Bag method.

Images