JP2013018516A - Boxing apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a boxing apparatus that can simplify a structure to reduce a manufacturing cost.SOLUTION: The boxing apparatus 10 includes: an article aligning device 14 for aligning a plurality of articles T in a row; an article extruding device 16 for extruding the plurality of aligned articles T to the side of the row at one time; an article squeezing device 18 that has a plurality of chucks 90 for gripping upper parts of the plurality of articles T extruded by the article extruding device 16 and squeezes the plurality of articles T into an exterior box U; and a plurality of upper guides 110 for guiding upper parts of the plurality of articles T extruded by the article extruding device 16 to the plurality of chucks 90 from an extruding direction.

Description

  The present invention relates to a boxing device that houses a plurality of articles filled with contents in a self-supporting bag in an exterior box such as a cardboard case.

  For packaging liquid products such as shampoo and pasta sauce, a self-supporting bag (hereinafter referred to as “standing pouch”) may be used. This standing pouch is generally formed in a three-dimensional shape (conical shape or the like) having a substantially triangular shape in a side view, and an article in which the contents are filled in the standing pouch has substantially the same shape as the standing pouch. That is, the upper part of the article using the standing pouch is pointed in a wedge shape upward. For this reason, it is difficult to suck the article from above with a vacuum suction pad.In conventional boxing equipment, the article is naturally dropped into the exterior box, or gripped by gripping means and placed inside the exterior box. The push-in method (see Patent Documents 1 and 2) has been adopted.

  The conventional boxing device described in Patent Literature 1 includes a direction changing portion having a grip portion and an arm having a gripping claw portion. Then, the first side edge portion of the article is gripped by the grip portion, whereby the article is positioned with respect to the direction changing portion, and the direction changing portion is rotated, whereby the second side edge portion of the article is gripped. Positioned with respect to the claw portion. Further, the second side edge portion of the article is gripped by the gripping claws of the arm and the arm is driven, whereby the article is pushed into the exterior box.

JP-A-11-208606 (FIG. 7) Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2010-6416 (FIG. 9)

  In the conventional boxing device (Patent Document 1), since the second side edge of the article can be accurately positioned with respect to the gripping claw by the direction changing portion, the second side edge can be reliably secured by the gripping claw. It can be gripped. However, since the configuration of the direction changing section is complicated, there is a problem that the manufacturing cost of the entire apparatus increases.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and an object thereof is to simplify the structure and reduce the manufacturing cost.

  In order to solve the above-described problems, a boxing apparatus according to the present invention includes an article aligning apparatus that aligns and aligns a plurality of articles in a row, and an article extruding apparatus that simultaneously extrudes the aligned articles to the side of the array. An article pusher having a plurality of chucks for gripping upper ends of the plurality of articles pushed out by the article pusher, and for pushing the plurality of articles into the exterior box by gripping the upper ends with the chucks An apparatus, and a plurality of upper guides for guiding upper ends of the plurality of articles extruded by the article extrusion apparatus to the plurality of chucks from an extrusion direction.

  In this configuration, the upper end portions of the plurality of articles pushed out by the article extrusion apparatus can be accurately positioned with respect to the corresponding chucks by the plurality of upper guides. The upper guide guides the upper end portion of the article from the extrusion direction to the chuck, and can be easily manufactured by, for example, a pair of upper guide pieces.

  Each of the plurality of upper guides includes a first upper guide piece and a second upper guide piece arranged at intervals in a direction perpendicular to the extrusion direction, and the first upper guide piece and the first upper guide piece The space | interval with 2 upper guide pieces may become narrow toward the edge part on the said article pushing apparatus side from the edge part on the said article alignment apparatus side.

  In this configuration, the distance between the first upper guide piece and the second upper guide piece is narrowed from the end on the article aligning device side toward the end on the article pushing device side. It is possible to accurately guide the corresponding chuck while adjusting the position gradually in the process of pushing out the article.

  The mutually opposing inner surfaces of the first upper guide piece and the second upper guide piece may be formed so as to bend toward the inside.

  In this configuration, the direction of the tangent line in contact with the inner surfaces of the first upper guide piece and the second upper guide piece in a plan view can be made closer to the pushing direction at the end portion on the article pushing device side. It is possible to guide the chuck more accurately.

  A support member that supports the plurality of upper guides, and a mounting portion that attaches the plurality of upper guides to the support member so as to be movable in a direction orthogonal to the extrusion direction.

  In this configuration, since the upper guide can be moved in a direction perpendicular to the extrusion direction, it is possible to easily cope with changes in the number and size of articles to be boxed at the same time.

  You may provide the guide support part which supports the said supporting member so that attachment or detachment is possible in the extrusion path | route of these articles | goods extruded by the said article | item extrusion apparatus.

  In this configuration, the support member, the attachment portion, and the plurality of upper guides as a whole can be attached to and detached from the guide support portion, and by removing them all from the guide support portion, the position adjustment of the upper guide and the like can be performed. It can be done easily.

  The attachment portion is inserted through the elongated hole formed in the support member so as to extend in a direction orthogonal to the pushing direction, a female screw member provided in each of the plurality of upper guides, and the elongated hole. Moreover, you may have the external thread member screwed together by the said internal thread member.

  In this configuration, the attachment portion can be easily manufactured by the long hole, the female screw member, and the male screw member.

  The first upper guide piece and the second upper guide piece may be provided independently of each other, and the female screw member may be provided on each of the first upper guide piece and the second upper guide piece.

  In this configuration, the distance between the first upper guide piece and the second upper guide piece can be adjusted as appropriate.

  The article extruding apparatus may include an extruding unit that presses the plurality of articles in the extruding direction below the plurality of upper guides.

  In this structure, it can prevent that each of a some upper guide and an extrusion part interfere.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and can simplify the structure of the upper guide and reduce the manufacturing cost of the entire apparatus.

It is a front view which shows the structure of the boxing apparatus which concerns on embodiment. It is a top view which shows the structure of the boxing apparatus which concerns on embodiment. It is a perspective view which shows the structure of the principal part of the boxing apparatus which concerns on embodiment. It is a perspective view which shows the structure of the principal part of an article | item pushing-in apparatus. It is a top view which shows the structure of a guide apparatus. It is a perspective view which shows the structure of the principal part of a guide apparatus. It is a front view which shows the positional relationship of a chuck | zipper, an upper guide, articles | goods, and a press part. It is a front view which shows the state which closed the chuck | zipper.

  Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

[Overall configuration of boxing equipment]
FIG. 1 is a front view showing a configuration of a boxing device 10 according to the embodiment, FIG. 2 is a plan view showing a configuration of the boxing device 10 according to the embodiment, and FIG. 3 is a main view of the boxing device 10 according to the embodiment. It is a perspective view which shows the structure of a part. As indicated by the arrows in the drawings, the directions before, after, left, right, up, and down used in the following description coincide with the directions when the boxing device 10 is viewed from the front (FIG. 1).

  As shown in FIG. 1, the boxing device 10 configures an article assembly X by aligning a plurality (four in this embodiment) of articles T, and the articles T with the article assembly X as a unit. It is automatically housed in an exterior box U such as a cardboard case or a dozen box. Here, the article T is obtained by packaging a liquid material such as shampoo and pasta sauce with a standing pouch, and the upper part of the article T is pointed in a wedge shape upward.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the boxing device 10 includes an article introduction device 12 that introduces an article T from a preceding apparatus (not shown) such as a vertical pillow packaging machine, and a plurality of articles T in a row. Article aligning device 14 for aligning and aligning, article extruding device 16 for extruding an article assembly X composed of a plurality of aligned articles T, and an article for pushing the extruded article assembly X into the exterior box U A pushing device 18 and a guide device 20 for guiding the upper ends of the extruded articles T to the article pushing device 18 from the pushing direction are provided. The boxing device 10 includes a frame 22 that supports these devices, and a control device 24 (FIG. 1) that controls the devices 12, 14, 16, and 18 in a unified manner.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the frame 22 is configured by joining pipe-like or bar-like members or plate-like members to each other. As shown in FIG. An opening W through which the body X passes from top to bottom is provided. The article introduction device 12 and the article alignment device 14 are provided side by side at the rear portion of the frame 22, and the article pushing device 18 is provided at a portion corresponding to the opening W in the front portion of the frame 22. ing. In addition, an article pushing device 16 is provided in a region straddling the article aligning device 14 and the article pushing device 18 in the upper part of the frame 22. Further, a guide device 20 is provided in the extrusion path R in the article extrusion device 16. The control device 24 (FIG. 1) has a CPU and a storage device that stores a control program and various data, and the control programs are executed by the CPU, so that the devices 12, 14, 16, and 18 are used. A series of boxing operations is performed.

[Configuration of article introduction device]
As shown in FIG. 1, the article introduction device 12 includes a pair of rollers 26 (the right-side roller 26 is not shown) spaced apart in the left-right direction and an endless belt that is spanned between the pair of rollers 26. 28 and a motor (not shown) for driving at least one of the pair of rollers 26. When a plurality of articles T are sequentially supplied to the article introduction apparatus 12 from a preceding apparatus (not shown) such as a vertical pillow packaging machine, these articles T are placed on the endless belt 28 and directed to the left. And fed to the article aligning device 14 from the left end of the endless belt 28.

[Configuration of article alignment apparatus]
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the article aligning device 14 aligns a plurality of articles T in a line in a standing state, and conveys the plurality of articles T in one direction (left direction in the present embodiment). An endless track 30 having a transfer surface 30a to be transferred, and a plurality of fins 32 provided on the transfer surface 30a of the endless track 30 at intervals in the transfer direction.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the endless track 30 has a first belt 34a, a second belt 34b, a third belt 34c, and a fourth belt 34d arranged in parallel with each other from the front to the rear. The surfaces of these belts 34a to 34d serve as a conveyance surface 30a. The first belt 34a and the third belt 34c are spanned between a pair of pulleys 36 (the left pulley 36 is not shown) spaced apart in the left-right direction. The four belts 34d are stretched between a pair of pulleys 38 (left pulley 38 is not shown) provided at intervals in the left-right direction.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the first drive unit 37 is connected to at least one of the pair of pulleys 36 (FIG. 3), and the second drive is connected to at least one of the pair of pulleys 38 (FIG. 3). A drive unit 39 is connected. Each of the first drive unit 37 and the second drive unit 39 has motors (stepping motors, servo motors, etc.) 37a, 39a capable of highly accurate position control, and these motors 37a, 39a are control devices. 24 is electrically connected.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the plurality of fins 32 are plate-like members that hold a plurality of articles T in a standing state. In the present embodiment, five fins 32 that hold four articles T are one. One fin group 40 is formed as a set, and a plurality of fin groups 40 are arranged on the transport surface 30a of the endless track 30 at a predetermined interval. In a state where the article T is erected between the two fins 32, the shape when the article T is viewed from the rear or the front is substantially triangular (FIG. 1), and when the article T is viewed from the left or right side. The shape is substantially square (can be inferred from FIG. 3), and the shape when the article T is viewed from above or below is substantially elliptical (FIG. 2).

  In each fin group 40, the interval between adjacent fins 32 is designed to be larger than the thickness of the article T. Assuming that a plurality of fin groups 40 arranged on the conveyance surface 30a are consecutively numbered, the fins 32 constituting the odd-numbered fin groups 40 are attached to the first belt 34a and the third belt 34c. The fins 32 that are attached and constitute the fin groups 40 with even numbers are attached to the second belt 34b and the fourth belt 34d. Therefore, the odd-numbered fin groups 40 and the even-numbered fin groups 40 can be driven separately. For example, as shown in FIG. 3, with the preceding fin group 40 stopped at the article alignment position P1, the subsequent fin group 40 is stopped at the article receiving position P2, or toward the article alignment position P1. It can be moved.

[Configuration of article extrusion device]
As shown in FIG. 2, the article extruding device 16 simultaneously extrudes a plurality of articles T arranged in a row from the article alignment position P1 toward the side of the row (front in the present embodiment). The moving mechanism 44, the pushing part 46, the lower guide 48, and the stopper part 50 are provided.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the linear motion mechanism 44 includes a linear rail 52 that extends in the front-rear direction, a reciprocating table 54 that is reciprocally movable with respect to the linear rail 52, and a front end portion of the linear rail 52. And a pair of pulleys 56a and 56b disposed in the vicinity of the rear end portion, an endless belt 58 spanned between the pulleys 56a and 56b, and a motor 60 for driving one pulley 56a. . A reciprocating table 54 is fixed to the endless belt 58. The motor 60 is a stepping motor, a servo motor, or the like capable of highly accurate position control, and the motor 60 is electrically connected to the control device 24 (FIG. 1). Therefore, when the pulley 60a is rotated forward or reverse by the motor 60, the endless belt 58 is rotated forward or reverse, and the reciprocating table 54 is reciprocated forward or backward accordingly.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the pushing portion 46 pushes a plurality of articles T toward the article pushing device 18, and includes a support arm 62 extending in the left-right direction and a plurality of (this embodiment) attached to the support arm 62. In this case, four extrusion plates 64 are provided. The extrusion plate 64 is a substantially rectangular plate-like member that presses the article T accommodated between the two fins 32 in the extrusion direction, and a slit through which the fins 32 pass between two adjacent extrusion plates 64. 64a is formed. The upper end portion of the extrusion plate 64 is fixed to the support arm 62, and the end portion of the support arm 62 is fixed to the reciprocating table 54.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the lower guide 48 guides the lower part of the plurality of articles T (article assembly X) from the extrusion direction to the article pushing device 18, and the plurality of pieces that have been pushed out by the pushing portion 46. It has the 1st lower guide piece 48a and the 2nd lower guide piece 48b arrange | positioned at the row direction both sides of the articles | goods T (article assembly X). Each of the first lower guide piece 48a and the second lower guide piece 48b is a substantially quadrangular plate-like member arranged to face each other, and the interval between the first lower guide piece 48a and the second lower guide piece 48b is the fin group 40. It is designed to be substantially the same as or larger than the interval between the two fins 32 located on both sides of the two, and larger than the entire width (length in the left-right direction) of the plurality of extrusion plates 64. As shown in FIG. 3, the stopper portion 50 is a plate-like member that receives a plurality of articles T (article aggregates X), and is arranged along the front end edge of the opening W.

[Configuration of article pushing device]
FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing the configuration of the main part of the article pushing device 18. As shown in FIG. 3, the article pushing device 18 includes a shutter 66, an article holding unit 68, a pushing unit 70 that grips and pushes a plurality of articles T into the exterior box U, and an exterior box transport device 72. I have.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the shutter 66 opens and closes the opening W of the frame 22 (FIG. 2) and has a pair of left and right opening and closing plates 74 a and 74 b movably provided in the opening W. As shown in FIG. 2, the article holding unit 68 holds a plurality of articles T (that is, the article aggregate X) placed on the upper surfaces of the opening and closing plates 74 a and 74 b from the left and right directions, and a pair of left and right holdings. Plates 76a, 76b and pressing devices 78a, 78b for pressing the holding plates 76a, 76b against the plurality of articles T (article assembly X) are provided. As shown in FIG. 1, the push-in unit 70 includes an elevating tower 80 provided on the frame 22, an elevating arm 82 attached to the elevating tower 80 so as to be raised and lowered, and a chuck unit attached to the lower end of the elevating arm 82. 84, an elevating device (not shown) for elevating the elevating arm 82, and a support column 88 provided on the frame 22 and supporting the air supply ports 86a and 86b.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the chuck unit 84 includes a plurality of (four in the present embodiment) chucks 90 that individually hold the upper ends of the plurality of articles T that have been pushed out by the article extruding device 16, and a plurality of chucks 90. And a base 92 for supporting the chuck 90. Each of the plurality of chucks 90 has a pair of left and right grips 90a and 90b that are driven to open and close by air. On the inner surfaces of the grips 90a and 90b facing each other, a buffer member 93 made of urethane rubber or the like is provided. It is attached. The base 92 is a plate-like member that supports the plurality of chucks 90 from above, and a joint portion 94, a first air distribution portion 96, and a second air distribution portion 98 are provided on the peripheral portion of the upper surface of the base 92. It has been. And the air supply port 86a (FIG. 1), the joint part 94, the 1st air distribution part 96, and each of the some chuck | zipper 90 are connected via the air tube (illustration omitted) of the 1st system | strain. The air supply port 86b (FIG. 1), the joint portion 94, the second air distribution portion 98, and each of the plurality of chucks 90 are connected via a second system air tube (not shown).

  As shown in FIG. 1, the outer box transport device 72 includes an outer box lifting / lowering device 100, an outer box carrying-in device 102, and an outer box carrying-out device 104. The outer box lifting / lowering device 100 raises the empty outer box U to a predetermined packing position P3 located immediately below the opening W, and lowers the outer box U containing a plurality of articles T to a predetermined lowering position P4. It has a table 100a that supports the outer box U and a lifting mechanism 100b that lifts and lowers the table 100a.

[Configuration of guide device]
FIG. 5 is a plan view showing the configuration of the guide device 20, and FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing the configuration of the main part of the guide device 20. 7 is a front view showing a positional relationship among the chuck 90, the upper guide 110, the article T, and the pushing portion 46, and FIG. 8 is a front view showing a state in which the chuck 90 is closed.

  As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the guide device 20 includes a plurality of upper guides 110, a support member 112 that supports the plurality of upper guides 110, and the support member 112 that pushes the plurality of upper guides 110 in the pushing direction. And an attachment portion 114 that is attached so as to be movable in an orthogonal direction.

  As shown in FIG. 1, each of the plurality of upper guides 110 guides the upper ends of a plurality of articles T extruded by the article extruding device 16 to a plurality of chucks 90 from the extrusion direction. As shown, it has a first upper guide piece 116a and a second upper guide piece 116b that are arranged at an interval in a direction orthogonal to the extrusion direction.

  As shown in FIG. 6, the first upper guide piece 116a is formed to project outward from the plate-shaped first guide body 118a for guiding the upper end portion of the article T from the left and the lower end edge of the first guide body 118a. The first reinforcing portion 120a and at least one (two in the present embodiment) first female screw member 122a extending in the vertical direction on the outer surface of the first guide main body 118a are provided. On the other hand, the second upper guide piece 116b is a plate-like second guide main body 118b that guides the upper end of the article T from the right side, and a second reinforcement formed to protrude outward from the lower end edge of the second guide main body 118b. 120 b and at least one (two in this embodiment) second female screw member 122 b provided on the outer surface of the second guide main body 118 b so as to extend in the vertical direction.

  The distance between the first upper guide piece 116a and the second upper guide piece 116b gradually decreases from the end on the article alignment device 14 side (rear side) toward the end on the article pushing device 18 side (front side). The inner surfaces of the first upper guide piece 116a and the second upper guide piece 116b facing each other, that is, the inner surfaces of the first guide body 118a and the second guide body 118b facing each other are curved so as to bulge inward. Is formed. Thereby, the direction of the tangent line which touches each inner surface of the 1st guide main body 118a and the 2nd guide main body 118b in planar view becomes the extrusion direction (namely, straight line extended in an extrusion direction) in the edge part of the article pushing apparatus 18 side (front side). The upper end portion of the article T can be accurately guided with respect to the corresponding chuck 90 (FIG. 1).

  The lengths of the first guide body 118a and the second guide body 118b in the front-rear direction are not particularly limited, but as shown in FIG. 3, in the present embodiment, fins arranged at the article alignment position P1. The length is designed to be approximately the same as the distance from the front end portion of 32 to the rear end portion of the chuck 90. Therefore, the article T can be guided by the upper guide 110 immediately after being pushed out from the fin 32, and this can be reliably guided to the chuck 90 while preventing the article T from falling.

  As shown in FIG. 6, each of the first female screw member 122a and the second female screw member 122b is a tubular member having a female screw formed on the upper inner surface, and the lengths of the first female screw member 122a and the second female screw member 122b. Thus, the relative height direction positions of the first guide body 118a and the second guide body 118b with respect to the support member 112 are determined.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the support member 112 includes a substantially rod-shaped first member 124 a and a second member 124 b that extend in the left-right direction and are arranged in parallel with each other, and a substantially rod-like shape that extends in the front-rear direction and is arranged in parallel with each other. The third member 124c and the fourth member 124d are formed in a substantially rectangular frame shape in plan view. Each of the first member 124a and the second member 124b has a first long hole 126a and a second long hole 126b extending in the left-right direction. In addition, each of the corner portion constituted by the second member 124b and the third member 124c and the corner portion constituted by the second member 124b and the fourth member 124d has a plate-like shape fixed to the frame 22. A fixing portion 128 is formed. As shown in FIG. 6, a screw hole 128 a is formed in the fixing portion 128.

  On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 5, the frame 22 has a function as a “guide support portion” that removably supports the support member 112 of the guide device 20 in the extrusion path R of the plurality of articles T. That is, the frame 22 has a plate-like contact portion 22a that comes into contact with the fixed portion 128 from above, and a through hole is provided at a position corresponding to the screw hole 128a (FIG. 6) in the contact portion 22a. Or the slit (illustration omitted) is formed. A fixing screw 130 is inserted through the through hole or slit from above, and the fixing portion 128 is detachably fixed to the contact portion 22a by being screwed into the screw hole 128a. Has been. In this embodiment, the fixing screw 130 has a handle 130a so that the fixing screw 130 can be operated by a human hand.

  As shown in FIG. 6, the attachment portion 114 is formed in each of the first long hole 126a and the second long hole 126b formed in the support member 112, and the first upper guide piece 116a and the second upper guide piece 116b. The first female screw member 122a and the second female screw member 122b, and a male screw member 132 such as a bolt are provided. The male screw member 132 is inserted from above into the first long hole 126a and the second long hole 126b, and the male screw member 132 is screwed into the first female screw member 122a, whereby the first upper guide piece 116a is supported by the support member. 112 is attached. Further, another male screw member 132 is inserted into the first long hole 126a and the second long hole 126b from above, and the male screw member 132 is screwed into the second female screw member 122b, whereby the second upper guide piece 116b is engaged. The support member 112 is attached.

  In a state where the male screw member 132 is loosened, the first upper guide piece 116a and the second upper guide piece 116b can be moved in the left-right direction along the first long hole 126a and the second long hole 126b. Thereby, while the left-right direction position of the 1st upper guide piece 116a and the 2nd upper guide piece 116b can be adjusted separately, these space | intervals can be adjusted suitably in the left-right direction.

  As shown in FIG. 7, in the present embodiment, the fixing position of the support member 112 with respect to the frame 22 is such that the first guide body 118 a and the second guide body 118 b can guide the upper end portion of the article T above the push-out portion 46. (FIG. 5) is designed, and the lengths (FIG. 6) of the first female screw member 122a and the second female screw member 122b are designed. Therefore, the upper guide 110 can be prevented from coming into contact with the pushing portion 46 when the pushing portion 46 reciprocates in the front-rear direction. Further, as shown in FIG. 7, in this embodiment, the inner surface of the chuck 90 in which the inner surfaces of the front end portions of the first guide main body 118a and the second guide main body 118b are open (in this embodiment, the buffer member 93 of the buffer member 93). The positions of the first guide main body 118a and the second guide main body 118b in the left-right direction are adjusted so as to be arranged inside the inner surface). Therefore, it is possible to reliably guide the upper end portion of the article T pushed out by the article extruding device 16 to the inner region of the chuck 90, and in the subsequent process, the upper end portion of the article T can be reliably secured by the chuck 90. It can be gripped.

[Operation of boxing device]
When the control program is executed by the control device 24 (FIG. 1), the article introduction process, the article alignment process, the article extrusion process, and the article pushing process are executed in this order.

  As shown in FIG. 2, in the article introduction process, a plurality of articles T supplied from a preceding apparatus (not shown) such as a vertical pillow packaging machine are sequentially directed toward the article alignment apparatus 14 by the article introduction apparatus 12. Be transported. In the article alignment step, a plurality of introduced articles T are arranged in a line to form an article aggregate X. As shown in FIG. 3, in the article extruding step, an extruding operation of the plurality of articles T by the article extruding device 16 is executed, and the plurality of articles T are pushed out to the upper surfaces of the open / close plates 74a and 74b. At this time, each upper end portion of the plurality of articles T is accurately guided to the corresponding chuck 90 by the upper guide 110. As shown in FIG. 8, in the article pushing process, first, a plurality of articles T are gripped by a plurality of chucks 90. Further, as indicated by a two-dot chain line in FIG. 1, the empty outer box U is transported to the boxing position P3 by the outer box carry-in device 102 and the outer box lifting / lowering device 100 of the outer box transport device 72. Then, the opening W is opened and the elevating arm 82 and the chuck unit 84 are lowered, and a plurality of articles T held by the chuck 90 are pushed into the exterior box U. When a predetermined number of articles T are stored in the outer box U, the outer box U is lowered to the lowered position P4 and is carried out by the outer box unloading device 104.

  According to the present embodiment, each upper end portion of the plurality of articles T pushed out by the article extruding device 16 can be accurately positioned with respect to the corresponding chuck 90 by the plurality of upper guides 110. As a result, it is possible to reliably hold the article T by 90 and prevent the packaging failure due to the dropping of the article T. Moreover, since the upper guide 110 can be easily manufactured with a metal plate etc., the manufacturing cost of the whole apparatus can be reduced.

(Other embodiments)
In the above-described embodiment, the plurality of upper guides 110 for guiding the upper end portions of the plurality of articles T are provided in the extrusion path R of the article extrusion apparatus 16. In other embodiments, the chuck of the article pushing apparatus 18 is provided. The unit 84 may be provided with an upper guide. For example, a plurality of upper guides may be attached to the base 92 of the chuck unit 84, or a pair of upper guide pieces of the upper guide may be attached to the grip portions 90 a and 90 b of the chuck 90. However, in these cases, since the upper guide passes through the opening W together with the chuck unit 84, the entire upper guide needs to be disposed inside the opening W in plan view.

T ... Article 10 ... Boxing device 14 ... Article alignment device 16 ... Article pushing device 18 ... Article pushing device 22 ... Frame (guide support part)
46 ... Extruding part 90 ... Chuck 110 ... Upper guide 112 ... Support member 114 ... Mounting part 116a ... First upper guide piece 116b ... Second upper guide piece 122a, 122b ... Female screw member 126a, 126b ... Long hole 132 ... Male screw member

Claims (8)

An article alignment apparatus for aligning a plurality of articles in a line;
An article extruding device for simultaneously extruding the aligned articles to the side of a row;
An article pushing device having a plurality of chucks for gripping upper ends of the plurality of articles pushed out by the article pushing device, and for pushing the plurality of articles into the exterior box by gripping the upper ends with the chuck. When,
A boxing device comprising: a plurality of upper guides for guiding upper ends of the plurality of articles extruded by the article extruding device to the plurality of chucks from an extrusion direction. Each of the plurality of upper guides includes a first upper guide piece and a second upper guide piece that are spaced apart in a direction orthogonal to the extrusion direction,
2. The box packing according to claim 1, wherein an interval between the first upper guide piece and the second upper guide piece is narrowed from an end portion on the article alignment device side toward an end portion on the article pushing device side. apparatus.   The boxing device according to claim 2, wherein inner surfaces of the first upper guide piece and the second upper guide piece facing each other are curved so as to bulge inward. A support member for supporting the plurality of upper guides;
The boxing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising an attachment portion that attaches the plurality of upper guides to the support member so as to be movable in a direction orthogonal to the extrusion direction.   The boxing apparatus of Claim 4 provided with the guide support part which supports the said supporting member so that attachment or detachment is possible in the extrusion path | route of these articles | goods extruded by the said article extrusion apparatus. The mounting portion is
An elongated hole formed in the support member so as to extend in a direction perpendicular to the extrusion direction;
A female screw member provided in each of the plurality of upper guides;
The boxing device according to claim 4, further comprising a male screw member inserted into the elongated hole and screwed into the female screw member. The first upper guide piece and the second upper guide piece are provided independently of each other,
The boxing device according to claim 6, wherein the female screw member is provided on each of the first upper guide piece and the second upper guide piece.   The boxing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the article extruding apparatus has an extruding unit that presses the plurality of articles in the extruding direction below the plurality of upper guides.

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