JP2011105368A - Automatic packaging machine - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an automatic packaging machine capable of preventing a packaging material from being damaged by shocks during the closing operation of a center sealer, and preventing any defective packaged article from being formed by using a servo motor with high controllability for a drive source of a center sealer opening/closing mechanism. <P>SOLUTION: The opening/closing distance and the opening/closing operational time for a packaging material can be set to optimum values according to the packaging condition by using a servo motor 13 with high controllability to a drive source in a center sealer opening/closing mechanism 11, and the center sealer opening/closing mechanism can be executed in a speed pattern for minimizing the shock during the opening/closing operation. Further, the distance between center sealers 5a, 5b can be set to an optimum value corresponding to the set temperature, and problems such as shrinkage of the packaging material caused by the radiation heat during the stop condition or the operation waiting condition of the packaging machine and insufficient sealing strength attributable to a temporary temperature drop when the operation is started can be solved. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

The present invention relates to an automatic packaging machine that uses a servo motor as a drive source in a center sealer opening / closing mechanism.

In a vertical or horizontal automatic wrapping machine, a web-shaped packaging material is usually drawn out from a raw fabric roll by a paper feeding mechanism and sent in a downstream direction, and is formed into a substantially closed curved shape by a cylinder making machine. The packaged product is put into a packaging material (cylindrical packaging material) that is formed into a cylindrical shape by sticking both end portions in the width direction of the packaging material formed in the curved shape to a center, and is filled or fed into the packaging material. Applying an end seal in a direction crossing the cylindrical packaging material between the packaged product and the packaged product, and cutting the cylindrical packaging material between the end seals, the packaged product is placed in the packaging bag. A wrapped bag package is produced.

In the vertical automatic packaging machine, the packaging material is sent in the vertical direction downstream from the cylinder making machine. On the other hand, in the horizontal automatic packaging machine, the downstream side from the cylinder making machine is sent in the horizontal direction. In addition, as a form of feeding the packaging material, there are intermittent feeding and continuous feeding, but in any form, forming into a cylindrical package, center sealing, supply of the packaged goods according to the feeding of the packaging material, End sealing is performed sequentially or continuously to produce a bag package.

In an automatic packaging machine, a heat seal that seals the packaging material by heating and pressing both the center seal and the end seal is used regardless of the vertical or horizontal type, the continuous feeding or intermittent feeding of the packaging material, or the like. It is common. The sealer that heat-seals the packaging material performs sealing by approaching and pressing the packaging material only during the sealing operation, and is placed at a position away from the packaging material when not in a sealing operation. This prevents the packaging material from being damaged due to excessive heating from the sealer when the sealer is in contact with or very close to the packaging material and stops or waits for its operation. It is to do.

For the above-described reasons, in an automatic packaging machine, a sealer that heat-seals a packaging material regardless of the vertical or horizontal type, the continuous feeding or intermittent feeding of the packaging material, and the center sealer and the end sealer have an opening / closing mechanism. ing.

When the packaging material is continuously fed by the horizontal automatic packaging machine or the vertical automatic packaging machine, the center seal mechanism that performs center sealing on the packaging material includes a center sealer opening / closing mechanism that opens and closes the center sealer. The center sealer opening / closing mechanism separates the center sealer for applying the center seal from the packaging material and keeps the state when the packaging machine is in the stopped state or in the standby state for the supply of the packaged product. When it is in a state, it moves close to and presses the packaging material and maintains the state. Conventionally, as a drive source thereof, a constant speed rotary motor with a speed reducer capable of controlling the rotation direction, a fluid pressure cylinder such as an air cylinder, or an electromagnetic solenoid has been used (Patent Document 1, Patent Document 2). ).

The center sealer opening and closing mechanism provided in the center seal mechanism that performs center sealing on the packaging material when the feed of the packaging material is intermittent in the vertical automatic packaging machine, Even during operation, during the period other than the seal timing, it is separated from the packaging material and maintains its state. To perform the operation. As the drive source, a fluid pressure cylinder such as an air cylinder or an electromagnetic solenoid is used.

In the case of a fluid pressure cylinder represented by an air cylinder as the drive source of the center sealer opening / closing mechanism, the reciprocating motion generated by the application and release of fluid pressure and in the case of an electromagnetic solenoid by excitation and demagnetization is opened and closed as it is. In addition, in the case of a constant-speed rotary motor with a speed reducer that can control the rotation direction, the rotary motion is converted into a reciprocating motion by using a cam mechanism or the like.

As described above, when the driving source of the center sealer opening / closing mechanism is a constant speed rotary motor with a speed reducer capable of controlling the rotation direction, a fluid pressure cylinder such as an air cylinder, or an electromagnetic solenoid, the opening / closing operation speed is constant. Therefore, during the closing operation, the packaging material may be damaged by an impact, and the damage to the packaging material may cause a packaging failure. In addition, since the center sealer opening and closing amount is constant, if the center sealer temperature is set to a high temperature to ensure sufficient seal strength, the center sealer is in a state of being separated from the packaging material while the packaging machine is stopped or waiting for operation. Even if it is long, the packaging material shrinks due to radiant heat and causes defective packaging. In addition, in order to avoid the shrinkage due to heat, when the temperature setting of the center sealer is set near the lower limit that can be sealed, when the center sealer starts to press close to the packaging material at the start of operation, the packaging material side Due to the temporary decrease in temperature due to the heat being taken away, the seal strength is insufficient, causing defective packaging.

JP-A-1-267136 JP 2001-328602 A

In order to prevent the center sealer from damaging the packaging material due to the impact when the center sealer collides with the packaging material during the closing operation of the center sealer, the movement of the center sealer is slowly decelerated during the closing operation of the center sealer. Speed shift control is required. In order to eliminate the shrinkage of the packaging material due to radiant heat when the packaging machine is stopped or in standby, and the insufficient seal strength due to the temporary temperature drop when the operation is started, the center sealer separation distance is It is necessary to maintain an optimum separation distance corresponding to the setting.

The present invention intends to solve the above problems by using a servo motor as a drive source of the center sealer opening / closing mechanism and utilizing its high controllability.

The automatic packaging machine according to the present invention separates the center sealer for applying the center seal from the packaging material and keeps the state when the packaging machine is in the stop state or the operation standby state, and wraps the center sealer when the packaging machine is in the operation state. A center sealer opening / closing mechanism that performs an operation of bringing the material close and pressed and holding the state is provided, and a servo motor is used as a drive source of the center sealer opening / closing mechanism.

In the automatic packaging machine according to the present invention, the center sealer opening / closing mechanism is controlled by the control means with a speed pattern intended to minimize vibration and impact during the center sealer opening / closing operation. The control means can create a speed pattern based on data such as an opening / closing distance and an opening / closing operation time in the center sealer opening / closing operation set from the outside by the display / setting means.

The speed pattern of the servo motor in the present invention is a triangle with a steep acceleration and a slow slope of deceleration, or a trapezoid with a slow speed and a slow slope after a constant speed, or It can be assumed that the slope of acceleration and deceleration is the same triangle or the shape of a trapezoid with the same slope of acceleration and deceleration across a constant speed.

In this automatic packaging machine, the control means can display the plurality of created speed patterns on the display / setting means, and can control the operation of the servo motor by the speed pattern selected from the plurality of speed patterns.

In the automatic wrapping machine according to the present invention, the center sealer is a rotatable seal roller having a built-in heating member, and the packaging material formed into a cylindrical shape can be a horizontal wrapping machine that is fed in the horizontal direction.

In the automatic wrapping machine according to the present invention, the center sealer can be a seal bar having a built-in heating member, and the wrapping material formed into a cylindrical shape can be a vertical wrapping machine that is fed in the vertical direction.

In the automatic packaging machine according to the present invention, data such as opening / closing distance and opening / closing operation time in the center sealer opening / closing operation can be set, so that the properties of the packaging material to be used, the required packaging capacity, or the packaging conditions such as the seal temperature can be set. Therefore, it is possible to perform an optimum center sealer opening / closing operation. In addition, since the servo motor used as the drive source of the center sealer opening / closing mechanism has good controllability such as speed control, the center sealer collides with the packaging material during the center sealer opening / closing operation, which may cause packaging failure in the packaging material. Can be prevented from occurring.

It is a schematic diagram of a horizontal automatic packaging machine which is an application example of the automatic packaging machine according to the present invention. It is a schematic diagram of a cross section of the center sealer of the horizontal automatic packaging machine shown in FIG. 1 as viewed from the downstream side in the flow direction of the packaging material, and shows the center sealer in an open state. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a cross section of the center sealer of the horizontal automatic packaging machine shown in FIG. 1 as viewed from the downstream side in the flow direction of the packaging material, and shows the center sealer in a closed state. It is the schematic diagram of the cross section which looked at the center sealer of the horizontal type automatic packaging machine which is an application example of the automatic packaging machine by this invention from the flow direction downstream of a packaging material, and is a schematic diagram which shows the positional relationship of center sealer opening and closing. It is an operation | movement conceptual diagram of the center sealer opening / closing mechanism of the horizontal type automatic packaging machine which is an application example of the automatic packaging machine by this invention. It is the schematic of the movement conversion mechanism which converts the rotation output of the center sealer opening / closing mechanism of the horizontal automatic packaging machine which is an application example of the automatic packaging machine by this invention into an opening / closing movement. It is an example of a center sealer opening / closing operation and a servo motor speed pattern of a horizontal automatic packaging machine which is an application example of the automatic packaging machine according to the present invention. It is a graph showing the relationship between the speed change of the center sealer opening / closing operation | movement of the horizontal type automatic packaging machine which is an application example of the automatic packaging machine by this invention, and setting data. It is a schematic diagram of a vertical automatic packaging machine.

Hereinafter, an embodiment in which the automatic packaging machine according to the present invention is applied to a horizontal automatic packaging machine will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. A schematic diagram of a horizontal automatic packaging machine to which the automatic packaging machine according to the present invention is applied is shown in FIG. FIG. 1a) is a view from the side of the flow direction of the packaging material, and FIG. 1b) is a view from the top of the flow direction of the packaging material. The operation of the horizontal automatic packaging machine is as follows. The packaging material is pulled out from the original roll Wr by the paper feeding mechanism (paper feeding rollers 2a, 2b and paper drawing rollers 4a, 4b) and continuously fed in the downstream direction, and the packaging material is curved substantially closed by the cylinder making device 3. Formed into a wrapping material, and packaged product P is fed. The curved packaging material in which the packaged product P is contained is formed into a cylindrical packaging material Wf by attaching both ends in the width direction thereof with the center sealers 5a and 5b and the center seal 10 applied thereto. End sealers 6a and 6b are provided with end seals in a direction crossing the tubular packaging material Wf. After the end seal is applied, the tubular packaging material Wf is cut in the middle of the end seal in the seal width direction, and the bag package Bp in which the packaged product P is wrapped in the packaging bag is manufactured.

In the horizontal type automatic packaging machine in which the feeding of the packaging material shown in this embodiment is continuous, the sealer that seals the cylindrical packaging material Wf is at a position separated from the packaging material except during the sealing operation, and when the sealing operation is performed. Only close to the cylindrical packaging material Wf, and is sealed by pressing and heating. The operation of the center sealers 5a and 5b, which are embodiments of the present invention, will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3 are cross-sectional views taken along the line AA ′ in FIG. 1 from the downstream side. FIG. 2 shows a state in which the center sealers 5a and 5b are opened, and FIG. 3 shows a state in which the center sealers 5a and 5b are closed. The center sealers 5a and 5b sandwich the both ends Wfe and Wfe in the width direction of the cylindrical packaging material Wf from the outside as shown in FIG. While being pressed, it is controlled so as to rotate by itself at a speed synchronized with the feed speed of the tubular packaging material Wf in the direction of being pushed horizontally toward the downstream side. The center sealers 5a and 5b are separated from the packaging material Wf as shown in FIG. 2 when the packaging machine is in a stopped state or when the packaging machine is in a standby state waiting for the supply of the packaged product P in the operating state. The rotation in the direction of pushing horizontally to the downstream side also stops.

In order to realize the operation as described above, the horizontal automatic wrapping machine described in this embodiment is provided with a center sealer mechanism for applying a center seal 10 by bonding both ends in the width direction of the cylindrical packaging material Wf, as shown in FIG. A center sealer opening / closing mechanism 11 having a servo motor as a drive source, whose operation concept is shown in FIG. 5, is provided. That is, in the center sealer opening / closing mechanism 11, the center sealers 5a, 5b are connected to the rotation shaft of the servo motor 13 (see FIG. 4) via the motion conversion mechanism 12 that converts the rotation output of the servo motor 13 into the opening / closing motion. Yes.

FIG. 4 shows the relationship between the closed position where the center sealers 5a, 5b are close to each other and pressing both ends in the width direction of the cylindrical packaging material Wf and the open position at a predetermined spaced position. explain. FIG. 4a) shows the center sealers 5a, 5b occupying an open position at a predetermined spaced position, and FIG. 4b) shows that the center sealers 5a, 5b are close to each other and press the packaging material Wf. It shows when it occupies a closed position. The control means 14 (see FIG. 1) for controlling the servo motor 13 which is a drive source of the center sealer opening / closing mechanism grasps either the closed position or the opened position as the reference position, and the other position. As a target position. The control means 14 controls the servo motor 13 to stop or hold the center sealers 5a and 5b at the required positions according to the state of the packaging machine and the positions of the center sealers 5a and 5b at that time, or the request. Move to either position. The amount of movement in this case is represented by 9a and 9b.

FIG. 5a) is a diagram showing the center sealers 5a and 5b when they occupy an open state at a predetermined separated position, and the servo motor 13 is stopped in a state of holding the position. FIG. 5b) is a diagram showing the operation when the packaging machine shifts from the stopped state to the operating state, or when the supply of the packaged product P is started from the supply standby state in the operating state. Start rotating in the forward direction as indicated by. The rotation output of the servo motor 13 is converted into an opening / closing motion by the motion converting mechanism 12, and the center sealers 5a and 5b are closed. FIG. 5c) shows a case where the center sealers 5a and 5b are close to each other and occupy a state where the packaging material Wf is pressed. When this state is reached, the servo motor 13 stops in a state where the position is maintained. FIG. 5d) is a diagram showing the operation when the packaging machine shifts from the operation state to the stop state, or when the supply of the packaged product P is lost in the operation state and shifts to the supply standby state. Rotation starts in the back direction as shown in the figure. The rotation output of the servo motor 13 is an operation of opening the center sealers 5a and 5b by the motion conversion mechanism 12 that converts the rotation output into an opening / closing motion. When the center sealers 5a and 5b reach the determined separation positions, the servo motor 13 stops in a state where the positions are maintained. This state is the same as the state of FIG.

In this embodiment, a ball screw as shown in FIG. 6 is used for the motion conversion mechanism 12 for converting the rotational output into the opening / closing motion. However, the present invention is not limited to the ball screw, but a combination of a crank, a rack and pinion, a gear and a lever, etc. Any mechanism that can convert the rotational movement of the servo motor into the opening / closing movement of the center sealer may be used.

In FIG. 6, a) is a top view, and b) is a cross section. The rotation output shaft of the servo motor 13 is transmitted to the ball screw 32 a via the speed reduction mechanism 30. Since the gear 31a on the ball screw 32a meshes with the gear 31b on the ball screw 32b arranged in parallel with the ball screw 32a, the ball screws 32a and 32b rotate in directions opposite to each other. Since the ball screws 32a and 32b are screw-engaged with the center sealer mounting plates 34a and 34b via the screw blocks 33a and 33b, respectively, the center sealers 5a and 5b approach each other according to the rotation direction of the servo motor 13. A closing operation or an opening operation separating from each other is performed.

FIG. 7 illustrates the relationship between the movement of the center sealers 5a and 5b and the opening / closing command. In FIG. 7, when the position at that time is the open position and there is no close command, the speed of the open / close motor as the servo motor 13 is 0, that is, the position is maintained. When the position at that time is the open position and a close command is generated, the open / close motor starts rotating in the direction of the close position. In order to keep vibrations and shocks to a minimum, as the speed pattern of the rotational speed of the servo motor 13, as shown in the figure, the acceleration is a steep slope and the deceleration is moved to the closed position with a gentle slope. . When the movement to the closed position is completed, the speed of the open / close motor shifts to 0, that is, a state in which the position is maintained. When the opening command is generated, the opening / closing motor starts to rotate in the direction opposite to that when closing. In order to keep vibrations and shocks to a minimum, as shown in the figure, the acceleration is steeply inclined and the deceleration is moved to the closed position with a gentle gradient. When the movement to the closed position is completed, the speed of the opening / closing motor is 0, that is, the state where the position is maintained is transferred. The speed pattern shown in the figure is an example. A trapezoidal speed pattern with a steep acceleration and a constant speed followed by a gentle slope, or a deceleration immediately after acceleration or a deceleration after a constant speed. It may be a triangular or trapezoidal velocity pattern with the same slope of adjustment. Anything other than those described above may be used as long as it meets the purpose of minimizing vibration and impact when the center sealer is opened and closed.

As described above, either the open position or the closed position of the center sealers 5a, 5b may be used as a reference as described above. However, in this embodiment, the closed position of the center sealers 5a, 5b is used as a reference. The opening position of 5b is set as the target position. As a method for the servo motor control means to grasp the reference position, an optical sensor or a magnetic sensor for grasping the closed position may be provided, or when the center sealers 5a and 5b are closed without providing a sensor, that is, the center sealers 5a and 5b are It may be determined by using a change in the torque amount or deviation pulse amount of the servo motor 13 that is generated when they are pressed against each other.

The movement amount (open / close amount) 9a, 9b (see FIG. 4) and the time required for movement (open / close time) of the center sealers 5a, 5b may be held as values fixed to the control means 14 of the servo motor 13. In this embodiment, the display / setting unit 15 can arbitrarily set the value within a mechanically permitted range. The control means 14 creates a speed pattern based on those values and controls the servo motor 13. This is explained in FIG. 1 and FIG.

In this embodiment, the speed pattern is fixed, but can also be set by the display / setting means 15. In that case, a triangle with a steep acceleration and slow deceleration, a trapezoid with a steep acceleration and slow deceleration after a constant speed, and a triangle with the same acceleration and deceleration slopes Several speed patterns such as a trapezoid with the same inclination of acceleration and deceleration across a constant speed are prepared in the control means 14, and the operating conditions are selected from the speed pattern candidates displayed on the display / setting means 15. A method of selecting the one that suits the situation can be considered.

As mentioned above, although the embodiment in the horizontal type automatic packaging machine of the present invention has been described, it can be naturally implemented also in the vertical type automatic packaging machine as shown in FIG. In the vertical automatic packaging machine shown in FIG. 9, components having the same functions as those of the horizontal automatic packaging machine shown in FIG.

2a, 2b Paper feed roller
3 Cylinder 4a, 4b Paper drawing roller
5a, 5b Center sealer 6a, 6b End sealer
9a, 9b Center sealer travel 10 Center seal
11 Center seal opening / closing mechanism 12 Motion conversion mechanism for converting rotational output into opening / closing motion 13 Servo motor
14 Control means 15 Display / setting means
20a, 20b Paper feed belt 30 Reduction mechanism
31a, 31b Gear 32a, 32b Ball screw
33a, 33b Screw blocks 34a, 34b Center sealer mounting plate P Packaged product
Bp bag packaging Wr packaging material roll
Wf Cylindrical packaging material Wfe Both ends in the width direction of the cylindrical packaging material Wf

Claims (7)

The packaging material pulled out from the original roll by the paper feed mechanism and sent in the downstream direction and formed into a curved shape by the cylinder making machine is heated and pressed with the both ends in the width direction bonded together to give center seal. Formed into a cylindrical packaging material, into which the packaged product is charged, filled or fed, and heated and pressed in a direction crossing the cylindrical packaging material at a position between the packaged product and the packaged product In an automatic packaging machine for producing a bag package in which the packaged product is wrapped in a packaging bag by giving an end seal and cutting the middle of the end seal,
The center sealer for applying the center seal is separated from the packaging material when the packaging machine is in a stopped state or in an operation standby state, and the state is maintained. An automatic packaging machine comprising a center sealer opening / closing mechanism for performing an operation for maintaining a state, and using a servo motor as a drive source of the center seal opening / closing mechanism The center sealer opening / closing mechanism is controlled by a control means with a speed pattern for minimizing vibration and impact during the center sealer opening / closing operation, and the control means is set from the outside by a display / setting means. The automatic packaging machine according to claim 1, wherein the speed pattern is created based on data such as an opening / closing distance and an opening / closing operation time in a center sealer opening / closing operation. The speed pattern is a triangle with a steep acceleration and a gentle slope with deceleration, or a trapezoidal speed pattern with a steep slope with acceleration and a slow slope after a constant speed. The automatic packaging machine according to claim 2, wherein 3. The automatic packaging machine according to claim 2, wherein the speed pattern is a triangular speed pattern having the same acceleration / deceleration slope or a trapezoidal speed pattern having the same acceleration / deceleration slope across a constant speed. The control means displays a plurality of the created speed patterns on the display / setting means, and controls the operation of the servo motor by a speed pattern selected from the plurality of speed patterns in the display / setting means. The automatic packaging machine according to any one of claims 2 to 4, wherein The automatic packaging machine is a horizontal automatic packaging machine in which the center sealer is a rotatable seal roller with a built-in heating member, and the packaging material formed into a cylindrical shape is fed in a horizontal direction. Item 6. The automatic packaging machine according to any one of Items 1 to 5. The automatic packaging machine is a vertical automatic packaging machine in which a center sealer is a seal bar with a built-in heating member, and the packaging material formed into a cylindrical shape is sent in a vertical direction. The automatic packaging machine according to any one of 5.

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