JP2011251722A - Method and device for packing articles in box - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a device for box-packing articles, which can carry out a plurality of packing boxes one by one with a distance therebetween without a separation device, where the articles are stacked and packed in each of the packing boxes.SOLUTION: A plurality of holding heads 38 and 38' ("n" holding heads) of article box-packing means 30 and 30' are provided sequentially from front to rear. A packing box carrying means 10 positions the packing boxes, where n-1 stages of the articles are contained, at locations corresponding to the front most holding heads 38 and 38', respectively. The packing box carrying means 10 positions the packing boxes, where the number of the stages of articles contained is less one by one, at locations corresponding to the subsequent holding heads, respectively. Each of the holding heads 38 and 38' of the article box-packing means 30 and 30' supply the articles P to the corresponding packing boxes C on the packing box carrying means 10. The packing box carrying means 10 carries each of the packing boxes C by a pitch interval in the front-to-rear direction between the holding heads when the articles P inside the packing boxes C corresponding to the front most holding heads 38 and 38' reach the n stages.

Description

  The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for packing an article box, and more particularly to an apparatus and method for storing an article group arranged in a plurality of rows in a packaging box as a single stage and storing the article group in a stacked state in the packaging box. .

  An apparatus disclosed in Patent Document 1 is known as an apparatus for storing a plurality of rows of articles in a stacked state in a state where a plurality of rows of articles are stacked in a transported and supplied packaging box.

  In the apparatus of this patent document 1, the article group is divided into one stage and two stages by two manipulator robots provided on the side to two packaging materials (packaging boxes) supplied to a predetermined apparatus on the supply path. They are supposed to be stacked sequentially. That is, one stage is supplied to two packaging materials simultaneously, and then two stages are supplied simultaneously. As described above, the two packaging materials in which the group of articles are stacked at the same time are stacked in a predetermined level, and are then carried out simultaneously for the next process such as sealing. As described above, in Patent Document 1, two packaging materials are supplied to a predetermined position, a group of articles are stacked on the two packaging materials at a predetermined level at the same time, and the two packaging materials are carried out together after stacking. Therefore, high-speed packaging work is being achieved.

JP-A-2005-335762

  In the apparatus of Patent Document 1, the two packaging materials after stacking the predetermined stages of the article group are transported to the next process apparatus such as a box in a state of being connected to each other because they are carried out simultaneously. . When the next process is sealing, an interval is required between the two packaging materials so that the lid portion of the packaging material can be closed at the time of sealing. Therefore, the two packaging materials after stacking, which are carried in a connected manner, are separated from each other before the sealing step. For this separation, it is necessary to additionally provide a separating apparatus having a speed increasing conveyor for quickly feeding the front packaging material forward and a stopper for temporarily stopping the conveyance of the rear packaging material.

  The use of this disconnecting device not only increases the cost of the equipment, but also increases the line length by the amount of the disconnecting device, thereby restricting the line layout.

  In view of such circumstances, the present invention provides an apparatus and method for packing an article box that does not require an additional apparatus such as a detaching apparatus and that can stack items in a plurality of packaging boxes at the same time and has high work efficiency. Let it be an issue.

  According to the present invention, the above-mentioned problems are solved by the following device invention and method invention.

<Device invention>
An article boxing apparatus according to the present invention includes an article transporting means for transporting an article forward and supplying the article to a predetermined position, and a packaging box having a volume that can be accommodated in a state where the articles are stacked in n stages, in the opened direction A plurality of consecutively arranged packaging box conveying means for feeding the packaging box forward and a plurality of holding heads, each holding head holding and taking out the article from the article conveying means, An article box packing means for packing an article held by the holding head into a plurality of packaging boxes on the packaging box transport means.

  In such an article boxing device, in the present invention, the plurality of holding heads of the article boxing means are sequentially provided from the front to the rear along the packaging box carrying means, and the packaging box carrying means is arranged in the carrying direction. The packaging box in which n-1 stages of articles are accommodated is positioned at a position corresponding to the foremost holding head, and the number of accommodated articles is adjacent to the position corresponding to each subsequent holding head. Position the packaging box one less than the number of articles stored in the front packaging box, and each holding head of the packaging means supplies the articles to the corresponding packaging box on the packaging box transport means. The packaging box transport means transports each packaging box by the front-rear direction arrangement pitch interval between the holding heads when the articles in the packaging box corresponding to the foremost holding head become n stages. Set up as Is, it is characterized in that.

  According to the apparatus of the present invention having such a configuration, the n number of continuous packaging boxes arranged at predetermined positions by the packaging box transporting means are packed with one-stage articles at the same time by the corresponding n holding heads. Immediately thereafter, the n packaging boxes are intermittently carried out at an arrangement pitch interval corresponding to one packaging box in the front-rear direction. Therefore, when this is repeated n times, the n number of packaging boxes are stacked one by one at a time, with the packaging box in the foremost position being n stages and the next being n-1 stages. It becomes a state. That is, when the foremost holding head corresponding to the foremost position packs the article for one stage, the article in the packaging box has n stages. The packaging boxes in which the articles are stacked in n stages are sequentially sent to the next process such as a conveyor located one by one. At this time, if the speed of the conveyor or the like is increased, a desired interval necessary for the sealing process in the next process is formed between itself and the subsequent packaging box that is the next n stages.

  In the state of the present invention device, in a state immediately after the supply of the packaging box containing no articles is started by the packaging box conveying means, the article conveying means is at the rear standby position corresponding to the nth holding head from the forefront of the conveying direction. The packaging box on the supplied packaging box transporting means is packed with one-stage article, each packaging box is transported by the arrangement pitch interval between the holding heads, and then the packaging comes to the rear standby position. One box of goods is packed into the box and the packaging box located in front of it, and each packaging box is transported by the above-mentioned arrangement interval between the holding heads, thereby providing one packaging box to be boxed. The packaging is started in such a manner that the packaging boxes in a state where n-1 stages of articles are stacked are supplied to the position corresponding to the holding head at the forefront in the transport direction.

<Method invention>
An article boxing method according to the present invention includes an article carrying step for carrying an article forward and supplying the article to a predetermined position, and a packaging box having a volume that can be accommodated in a state where n pieces of articles are stacked in an opened state in the carrying direction. A plurality of continuous arrangements, a packaging box transporting process for feeding the packaging box forward, and holding and taking out articles from the article transporting means by the holding heads of the plurality of holding heads, An article boxing step of packing the held articles into a plurality of packaging boxes on the packaging box conveying means.

  In such an article boxing method, in the present invention, a plurality of holding heads of the article box packing means are sequentially positioned from the front to the rear along the packaging box transporting means, and the packaging box transporting means holds the foremost holding direction. The packaging box in which n-1 stages of articles are accommodated is positioned at a position corresponding to the head, and the number of stages of the accommodated articles is the adjacent front packaging at the position corresponding to each subsequent holding head. Position the packaging box in a state where it is one less than the number of articles contained in the box, and each holding head of the article box packing means supplies the article to the corresponding packaging box on the packaging box transport means, and the packaging When the articles in the packaging box corresponding to the foremost holding head are n stages by the box conveying means, each packaging box is conveyed by the arrangement pitch interval in the front-rear direction between the holding heads.

  Such an article boxing method of the present invention can be executed by the article boxing apparatus of the present invention described above.

  In the state immediately after starting the supply of the packaging box in which the article is not accommodated by the packaging box transporting means, the method of the present invention sets the rear standby position corresponding to the nth holding head from the foremost direction in the transporting direction. The packaging box on the supplied packaging box transporting means is packed with one-stage article, each packaging box is transported by the arrangement pitch interval between the holding heads, and then the packaging comes to the rear standby position. One box of goods is packed into the box and the packaging box located in front of it, and each packaging box is transported by the above-mentioned arrangement interval between the holding heads, thereby providing one packaging box to be boxed. The packaging box in a state in which n-1 stages of articles are stacked is supplied to the position corresponding to the holding head at the forefront of the conveyance direction, and boxing is started.

  In the present invention, as described above, n number of packaging boxes are continuously arranged at predetermined positions of the packaging box transporting means, and one stage of articles is boxed at the same time. Each time an article box is packed, it is transported forward by the arrangement pitch interval of the packaging box, so that the packaging boxes packed with n stages of articles are transported one by one forward to the next process and separated as before. Even if an apparatus is not additionally provided, an interval necessary for sealing in the next process can be easily formed between the subsequent packaging boxes only by increasing the speed of the carry-out destination conveyor or the like.

  Therefore, it is possible to prevent problems such as the cost increase of the apparatus due to the provision of the separating apparatus conventionally required and the restriction on the line layout due to the increase of the line length. Furthermore, since the packaging box is intermittently transported in the initial stacking state in which the number of steps has been reduced in order from the previous packaging box, it is not necessary to manually place the packaging box in the initial stacking state at the start of operation of the apparatus. This also improves work efficiency.

It is a top view which shows schematic structure of the one Embodiment apparatus of this invention. It is II-II sectional drawing in FIG. 1 is a side view of the range of the holding head in the front-rear direction during continuous operation of the apparatus, and (a) to (c) sequentially show the operation of the holding head. FIG. 4 is a side view of the article takeout conveyor in the apparatus shown in FIG. 3, and (a) to (c) sequentially show the separation operation of the article group. 1 is a side view of the range of the holding head in the front-rear direction at the start of operation of the apparatus, and (a) to (d) sequentially show the operation of the holding head. FIG. 6 is a side view of the article take-out conveyor in the apparatus shown in FIG. 5, and (a) to (f) sequentially show the separation operation of the article group. 1 is a side view of the range of the holding head in the front-rear direction at the end of the operation of the apparatus, and (a) to (d) sequentially show the operation of the holding head. FIG. 8 is a side view of an article take-out conveyor in the apparatus shown in FIG. 7, and (a) to (f) sequentially show an article group separating operation.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a plan view of an article boxing apparatus according to the present embodiment. The article boxing apparatus includes a packaging box transporting means 10 that transports a packaging box C forward and supplies it to a predetermined position, and the packaging box transporting means 10. Two article conveying means 20 and 20 'that are arranged on both sides of the article P and convey the article P forward and supply it to a predetermined position, and the packaging box at a position above the packaging box conveying means 10 and the article conveying means 20. C and article box packing means 30 and 30 ′ which are movable in a direction orthogonal to the conveyance direction X of the article P, and stack the articles on the article conveyance means 20 into the packaging boxes on the packaging box conveyance means 10. Furthermore, it has unloading means 40 for unloading the packaging box after boxing of the goods to the next process.

  The packaging box transport means 10 is arranged in order from the front to the rear in the transport direction X, and brings the packaging box C into a predetermined position. The packaging box feeding conveyor 11 introduces the packaging box C into the packaging box feeding conveyor 11. A conveyor 12 and a packaging box supply conveyor 13 for supplying the packaging box C to the introduction conveyor 12 are provided. In this packaging box conveying means 10, the packaging box C is sequentially conveyed from the packaging box supply conveyor 13 to the packaging box feed conveyor 11 in the X direction, which is one linear direction.

  The packaging box supply conveyor 13 is formed by, for example, a continuously running belt conveyor, and continuously conveys a plurality of empty packaging boxes C in a row. The introduction conveyor 12 provided in front of the conveying direction has a plurality of belt-like belts 12A, and a gap 12B is formed between adjacent belts 12A. The gap 12B is formed in relation to the packaging box feed conveyor 11 described later.

  The packaging box feed conveyor 11 located in front of the introduction conveyor 12 is formed as a belt conveyor that intermittently conveys the packaging box at regular intervals on the belt surface (in a state of being in close contact in the figure). A restricting member 11A for positioning is provided. One packaging box C comes to be positioned between the regulation members 11A adjacent to each other in the front-rear direction. Further, the regulating member 11A is provided at a position corresponding to the gap 12B of the introduction conveyor 12 in the width direction of the conveyor.

  The two article transporting means 20 and 20 'located on both sides of the packaging box feed conveyor 11 are basically the same form, so only one will be described, and the other will correspond to the corresponding part for the one as necessary. A “prime” symbol is attached to the reference numeral, for example, 20 ′ with respect to the reference numeral 20 and description thereof is omitted.

  The article conveying means 20 has a plurality of front ends that are positioned to coincide with the front ends of the packaging box feed conveyor 11 and whose rear ends are located behind the rear end of the packaging box feed conveyor 11 in the packaging box transport direction. The article take-out conveyor 21 formed by the belt-like conveyor 21A, and a guide 22 provided in the middle position in the width direction of each belt-like conveyor 21A and extending in the conveying direction at a stationary position above the surface of the belt-like conveyor 21A, A gap 21B formed between the belt-like conveyors 21A has a front stopper 23A and a rear stopper 23B (see FIG. 4), which will be described later, which are movable in the front-rear direction and the vertical direction. The width direction interval between two adjacent guides 22 is determined to have a size suitable for guiding the article P, and a lane for the article is formed between the two guides 22. The guides 22 positioned at both ends in the width direction of the conveyor have rear ends extending rearward from the other guides 22, and the extended portions are inclined outward in the width direction. As shown in FIG. 4, the front stopper 23A and the rear stopper 23B are moved in the front-rear direction at a predetermined time by a stopper moving portion 23C located below the conveyor, and are respectively raised and lowered portions 23A-1, 23B-1. It is designed to move up and down.

  An article carry-in conveyor 24 is provided at a rear position of the article take-out conveyor 21. The article carry-in conveyor 24 has one conveyor belt having the same width as the article take-out conveyor 21, the front end is an intermediate position in the front-rear direction of the introduction conveyor 12, and the rear end is more than the rear end of the introduction conveyor 12. It is located at the rear and extends to the range of the packaging box supply conveyor 13. An article supply conveyor 25 is connected to the rear part of the article carrying conveyor 24. This article supply conveyor 25 is a conveyor having a width for conveying articles P in a line between guides on both sides from an article storage section (not shown). In the illustrated example, the article supply conveyor 25 is curved from the storage section located on the side. The front end of the article supply conveyor 25 is positioned on the conveyor surface of the article carry-in conveyor 24.

  An article distribution device 26 is disposed on the article carry-in conveyor 24. The article distribution device 26 includes a lateral guide member 26A that extends in the conveyor belt width direction and is positioned above the conveyor belt surface, and a longitudinal guide that movably supports the lateral guide member 26A in the front-rear direction at one end of the lateral guide member 26A. It has a member 26B, a movable block 26C movable in the lateral direction on the lateral guide member 26A, and a front guide 26D and a rear guide 26E supported by the movable block 26C.

  The vertical guide member 26B has a cylinder device or the like, and moves the horizontal guide member 26A back and forth to a predetermined position at a predetermined time. The movable block 26C provided on the lateral guide member 26A moves to a predetermined position in the conveyor belt width direction at a predetermined time. The rear guide 26E connected to the movable block 26C is formed by a front part and a rear part that are slidable back and forth relative to each other, the front end of the front part with respect to the movable block 26C and the rear end of the rear part. Is rotatable with respect to the front end of the article supply conveyor 25. Therefore, when the movable block 26C moves, the rear guide 26E is inclined with respect to the conveyance direction with the front end of the article supply conveyor 25 as a base point while sliding and adjusting the total length by sliding between the front part and the rear part. To follow the movable block 26C. The front guide 26D extends forward from the movable block 26C. Thus, the article P is fed forward from the front guide 26D by the article carry-in conveyor 24 at a predetermined position in the conveyor width direction from the article supply conveyor 25 through the rear guide 26E.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the article boxing means 30 is disposed so as to straddle the article conveying means 20, 20 ′ at a position corresponding to the front portion of the article conveying means 20, 20 ′ in the front-rear direction. In addition, there are boxing devices 33 and 33 ′ as article boxing means supported by linear drive devices 32 and 32 ′ provided on the lateral member 31 </ b> A of the gate-shaped frame 31. The linear drive devices 32 and 32 'include drive units 32A and 32'A such as motors, and shaft portions 32B and 32'B extending in the lateral direction from the drive units 32A and 32'A. The driving devices 32 and 32 ′ support the boxing devices 33 and 33 ′ supported by the shaft portions 32B and 32′B in a hanging manner, and the shaft portions 32B and 32 are driven by the driving portions 32A and 32′A. The boxing devices 33 and 33 'are moved laterally on' B. This lateral movement is set so that the boxing devices 33 and 33 'reciprocate between the position of the article take-out conveyors 21 and 21' and the position of the packaging box feed conveyor 11 in this direction.

  As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the boxing devices 33 and 33 ′ are vertical support members that are supported by the shaft portions 32 B and 32 ′ B and hang down so as to be movable on the shaft portions 32 B and 32 ′ B. 34, 34 ′, the transverse members 35, 35 ′ connected to the lower end of the transverse members 35, 35 ′, and the transverse members 35, 35 ′ are provided at three locations with the mutual spacing (pitch) being variable. Vertical guides 36 and 36 ′, and holding heads 38 and 38 ′ supported by vertical rods 37 and 37 ′ that are guided up and down by the respective vertical guides 36 and 36 ′ and are movable. Accordingly, each boxing device 33, 33 'has three holding heads 38, 38' in front and rear as seen in FIG.

  Each holding head 38, 38 ′ includes suction members 39 </ b> A, 39 ′ A at the lower ends of the pipe members hanging from the support plates 39, 39 ′ supported by the lower ends of the vertical rods 37, 37 ′. From one support plate 39, 39 ', pipe members are provided at a total of six locations, two at the front and rear and three at the conveyor width direction. Accordingly, the six suction members 39A and 39'A are moved up and down by the vertical movement of one vertical rod 37 and 37 '. The three longitudinal rods 37, 37 'provided in the respective boxing devices 33, 33' in the front-rear direction are independently set in height, but are simultaneously moved up and down. The suction members 39A, 39′A perform a suction operation when picking up the article P on the article take-out conveyor 21, and perform a suction release operation when the article P is stored in the packaging box C on the packaging box feed conveyor 11. To do. The two boxing devices 33 and 33 ′ alternately repeat the boxing operation, that is, during the operation in which one boxing device 33 stores articles in the packaging box C on the packaging box feed conveyor 11, the other boxing device 33 33 'is in the operation of taking out the article P on the article take-out conveyor 21.

  Next, regarding the operation of the apparatus according to the present embodiment, A. B. During continuous operation in which items are continuously boxed; At the start of operation when the device starts boxing, C.I. This will be described separately at the end of the operation when the boxing is finished.

<A. During continuous operation>
During this continuous operation, as shown in FIG. 1, the empty packaging box C is continuously conveyed by the packaging box supply conveyor 13 and delivered to the introduction conveyor 12, and then the packaging box is fed. It is brought to the conveyor 11. The packaging box transport conveyor 11 intermittently performs a transport operation, but FIG. 1 shows that it is stopped. On the packaging box feed conveyor 11, each packaging box C stands by at a predetermined position in the front-rear direction by front and rear restricting members 11 </ b> A attached to the surface of the conveyor. At this time, as seen in FIG. 3 (a), the packaging box C is in an open state with its lid portion C1 suspended upward.

  On the other hand, the articles P are continuously carried in a row from both article supply conveyors 25 and 25 ′ to the rear part of the article carry-in conveyor 24. These articles P are sent from the rear guide 26E of the article distribution device 26 to the front guide 26D, but the movable block 26C moves in the conveyor width direction, and is sequentially intermittent at the position in the width direction corresponding to each lane of the article takeout conveyor 21. By repeating the stop, the article P is sent out from the front guide 26D for each predetermined number and directed to each lane.

  The front guide 26D advances a predetermined number (three in the illustrated case) of articles at the retreat position of the lane on one end side in the width direction of the conveyor, and then advances in synchronization with the moving speed (conveyor speed) of the articles on the conveyor. While moving in the conveyor width direction, the article row is moved to the next lane (the center lane in the figure). Thereafter, after the three articles are moved backward and separated from the guide 26, the articles are moved in the conveyor width direction while moving forward again in synchronization with the conveyor speed, and the article row is further moved to the next lane. By repeating such an operation, the predetermined number of articles are distributed to each lane in the conveyor width direction.

  The articles P brought to each lane of the article take-out conveyor 21 are arranged in front and back in each lane as shown in FIG. 4A, and protrude upward from the conveyor surface at the front position (d) of the foremost article. It moves forward until it comes into contact with the forward stopper 23A (see FIG. 4B). At the same time, the rear stopper 23B is above the conveyor surface at a predetermined number, in the example shown in the figure, three packaging boxes, that is, a position (b) between the sixth and seventh articles P from the front. To prevent the seventh and subsequent articles P from moving forward.

  Thereafter, the front stopper 23A moves forward by a slight predetermined distance from the position (d) (see FIG. 4C). The group of articles from the forefront to the sixth is separated from the subsequent articles. Thus, although the conveyor itself has moved forward, the front-to-front stopper 23A protruding causes the sixth to sixth articles to stop and wait at that position. In the front-rear direction, this group of articles is positioned corresponding to the three packaging boxes from the front to the third of the packaging boxes C on the packaging box feed conveyor 11 that is intermittently stopped as shown in FIG. is doing. The article P is similarly waiting on the article take-out conveyors 21 and 21 'on both sides.

  In this state, one boxing device, for example, the boxing device 33 closer to one article takeout conveyor 21 moves in the width direction of the conveyor and is positioned above the article takeout conveyor 21, and the three holding heads 38 are The pitch between them is lowered while being adjusted to correspond to the three packaging boxes, and the articles P are picked up and lifted by the adsorbing members 39A. The three holding heads 38 can be set differently in the amount of descent independently by each vertical rod 37, but the descent and ascending timings are simultaneous. As described above, each holding head 38 has six (3 columns × 2 rows) suction members 39A, and therefore, six articles P are picked up from the article take-out conveyor 21. That is, 18 articles constituting an article group are picked up by the three holding heads 38.

  Thereafter, the boxing device 33 moves in the conveyor width direction and is positioned above the packaging box feed conveyor 11. As can be seen in FIGS. 3A to 3C, the three holding heads 38 are lowered, the articles (article group) P are loaded in the packaging box C, and then the articles are returned to take out again. Of the three holding heads 38, the holding head 38 corresponding to the frontmost packaging box C has a small lowering amount, and the rear holding heads 38 are gradually lowered by the height of the article. That is, the foremost holding head 38 is the third-stage article in the foremost packaging box C, the second holding head 38 is the second-stage article, and the third holding head 38 is the first-stage article. Stack each in the corresponding packaging box. Thus, as shown in FIGS. 3A to 3C, after the article P is lowered and loaded in the packaging box C and the third-stage article is loaded in the frontmost packaging box, the holding head 38 is raised. At the same time, the packaging box feed conveyor 11 is intermittently conveyed forward by one packaging box, and the foremost packaging box C is delivered to the next carrying-out means 40. The carry-out means 40 is continuously operated, and the next step is performed so as to form an interval with the next packaging box while the packaging box feed conveyor 11 in which the next packaging box is packed is intermittently stopped. Unload to

  In this embodiment, since the two boxing devices 33 and 33 'are provided, the two boxing devices 33 and 33' are placed on the packaging box C waiting on the packaging box feed conveyor 11 located between them. 33 'alternately performs boxing, and while one boxing device 33 is packing an item, the other boxing device 33' takes out the item, so there is no wasted time for boxing. , Work efficiency is good. Of course, when work efficiency is not required, only one boxing device may be used.

  Thus, in the present embodiment, two boxing devices 33 and 33 ′ are alternately used to pack the articles into three packaging boxes at the same time, and the foremost packaging box in which the articles are stacked in a predetermined number of stages is used. Then, it is separated from the next packaging box and carried out to the next process.

<B. At the start of operation>
Even when empty packaging boxes are arranged at positions corresponding to the three holding heads at the start of operation of the apparatus, the packaging boxes are lowered one by one from the front toward the rear packaging box. , You can not box the goods with a step. Therefore, at the start of operation, the previously described <A. It is necessary to perform operation different from that during continuous operation. Hereinafter, the operation will be described.

  As seen in FIG. 5A, in the packaging box feed conveyor 11, first, the foremost packaging box C is first brought to a position corresponding to the third holding head 38 which is the rearmost. At this time, in the article take-out conveyor 21, as seen in FIGS. 6 (a) to 6 (c), the article for one holding head, that is, the position corresponding to the third holding head 38 in the front-rear direction, that is, The two articles positioned at the front and the next are positioned away from the subsequent articles by the action of the front stopper 23A and the rear stopper 23B (this separation and positioning is continuous even if the number of articles is different). Done in the same way as driving).

  In this state, as shown in FIGS. 5A to 5B, the boxing device 33 stores the article in the foremost packaging box C as the first stage.

  Next, as shown in FIGS. 6D to 6F, the first to fourth articles are separated from the subsequent articles and are brought to positions corresponding to the second and third holding heads 38. At the same time, the packaging box C is also moved forward by one packaging box by the intermittent conveyance of the packaging box feed conveyor 11. Thus, as seen in FIGS. 5C to 5D, the articles are stacked in the front and next packaging boxes C by the second and third holding heads 38. That is, the group of articles is packed in two stages in the frontmost packaging box C and in one stage in the next packaging box C.

  Thereafter, the article and the packaging box are advanced in the manner of continuous operation, and are packed into three packaging boxes.

<C. At the end of operation>
At the end of the operation, the number of packaging boxes C on the packaging box feed conveyor 11 is decreased one by one, corresponding to the front holding head 38 and the second holding head 38 as seen in FIGS. 7 (a) and 7 (c). Only two positions, i.e. two packaging boxes C, and then only one position corresponding to the foremost holding head 38, i.e. one packaging box C.

  Therefore, first, as shown in FIGS. 8A to 8C, the article P is moved to the position corresponding to the front and second holding head 38 by the front stopper 23A and the rear stopper 23B, as shown in FIGS. As shown in FIG. 7B, after the boxing of the articles P with these two holding heads 38, the last packaging box C is unloaded and the remaining packaging box C is shown in FIG. 7C. 8), and the article P is positioned corresponding to only the foremost holding head 38 as shown in FIGS. 8D to 8F, and this article P is placed in the final package as shown in FIG. 7D. Boxing and unloading to box C completes all boxing operations.

  In the above-described embodiment, the three holding heads are provided so as to be lifted and lowered independently. However, these holding heads are integrally lifted and connected to a vacuum source only for a desired holding head. The above-described start / end operation may be performed. In this case, the vertical rods 37 and 37 'are vertically guided by the vertical guides 36 and 36' to be movable. However, the vertical rods 37 and 37 'are vertically guided by the vertical guides 36 and 36' while being attached downward. Boxing may be performed by lowering the transverse members 35 and 35 '. In such a form, each vertical rod 37, 37 ′ rises against the downward urging force of 36, 36 ′ according to the number of articles accommodated in the packaging box to be packed, so that the above-described form The same boxing operation as in the case of can be performed.

  In the above-described embodiment, the packaging box feed conveyor 11 is intermittently operated and the boxing operation is performed when stopped. However, the holding head 38, You may make it carry out boxing, making 38 'follow a packaging box conveyance direction.

  In the present embodiment, the articles to be packed are shown in a three-stage row, but by setting the number of holding heads to be front and rear to n, it is possible to stack n-stage article groups on the packaging box. n can be arbitrarily selected.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Packing box conveyance apparatus 20,20 'Goods conveyance means 30,30' Goods box packing means 38,38 'Holding head C Packaging box P Goods

Claims (4)

Article conveying means for conveying the article forward and supplying it to a predetermined position;
A packaging box transporting means for continuously arranging a plurality of packaging boxes having a capacity capable of being accommodated in a state in which the articles are stacked in n stages in an opened state in the transport direction, and supplying the packaging box forward;
A plurality of holding heads, each holding head holding and taking out the article from the article conveying means, and then packing the articles held by the respective holding heads into the plurality of packaging boxes on the packaging box conveying means. In an article boxing device comprising article boxing means for
The plurality of holding heads of the article boxing means are provided in order from the front to the rear along the packaging box transport means by n pieces,
The packaging box transport means positions the packaging box in a state in which n-1 stages of articles are accommodated at a position corresponding to the holding head at the forefront of the transport direction, and accommodates at a position corresponding to each subsequent holding head. Position the packaging box in which the number of articles is one less than the number of articles accommodated in the adjacent front packaging box, and each holding head of the article packaging means is placed on the packaging box conveying means. To supply goods to the corresponding packaging box,
The packaging box conveying means is set so as to convey each packaging box by the front-rear direction arrangement pitch interval between the holding heads when the articles in the packaging box corresponding to the foremost holding head become n stages. ,
An article boxing device characterized by the above. In the state immediately after starting the supply of the packaging box in which the article is not accommodated by the packaging box conveying means,
The article conveying means holds the packaging boxes by packing one-stage articles into the packaging box on the packaging box conveying means supplied to the rear standby position corresponding to the nth holding head from the front in the conveying direction. After transporting only the above-mentioned arrangement pitch interval between the heads,
Next, by packing the article for one stage with respect to the packaging box that has come to the rear standby position and the packaging box located in front of it, each packaging box is conveyed by the above-described arrangement interval between the holding heads, The number of packaging boxes to be boxed is increased one by one, and it is set to supply a packaging box in which n-1 stages of articles are stacked at a position corresponding to the holding head at the forefront of the conveyance direction. Item 1 packing apparatus according to item 1. An article conveying step of conveying an article forward and supplying the article to a predetermined position;
A packaging box transporting step in which a plurality of packaging boxes that can be accommodated in a state in which only n stages of articles are stacked are continuously arranged in the transport direction in an opened state, and the packaging box is fed forward;
Article boxing for packing an article held by each holding head into a plurality of packaging boxes on the packaging box carrying means after holding and taking out the article from the article carrying means by each holding head of a plurality of holding heads In an article boxing method comprising:
A plurality of holding heads of the article boxing means are sequentially positioned from the front to the rear along the packaging box transport means,
By the packaging box transporting means, the packaging box in which the n-1 stage article is stored is positioned at the position corresponding to the holding head at the front in the transport direction, and stored at the position corresponding to each subsequent holding head. Position the packaging box in which the number of articles is one less than the number of articles accommodated in the adjacent front packaging box, and each holding head of the article packaging means is placed on the packaging box conveying means. Supplies goods to the corresponding packaging box,
When the article in the packaging box corresponding to the foremost holding head becomes n stages by the packaging box conveying means, each packaging box is conveyed by the arrangement pitch interval in the front-rear direction between the holding heads.
The article boxing method characterized by the above-mentioned. In the state immediately after starting the supply of the packaging box in which the article is not accommodated by the packaging box conveying means,
The article transport means packs the articles for one stage into the packaging box on the packaging box transport means supplied to the rear standby position corresponding to the nth holding head from the front in the transport direction, and holds each packaging box. After transporting only the above-mentioned arrangement pitch interval between the heads,
Next, by packing the article for one stage with respect to the packaging box that has come to the rear standby position and the packaging box located in front of it, each packaging box is conveyed by the above-described arrangement interval between the holding heads, 4. The packaging box of articles according to claim 3, wherein packaging boxes to be boxed are increased one by one, and a packaging box in which n-1 stages of articles are stacked is supplied to a position corresponding to the holding head at the front in the transport direction. Method.

Images