JP2015068817A - Automatic test piece feeder and testing machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve reliability of a test result, which has been a problem when manually implementing a tensile strength test of a heat seal part of a flexible packaging material made of a plastic film, and to eliminate an operator's burden and dange of work.SOLUTION: An automatic test piece feeder 100 includes: a mechanism 110 which prepares a test piece having a structure including a fold; and a mechanism 130 which provides the test piece to a tensile strength testing machine 200. The automatic test piece feeder preferably includes a mechanism 120 which deploys centering around the fold of the prepared test piece, and temporarily stores the deployed state while maintaining the state.

Description

  The present invention relates to a tester and a test strip automatic supply apparatus that automatically supplies a test strip to the tester.

  Packaging materials composed of plastic films are used in a wide range of fields such as food and pharmaceutical packaging, and the contents are in a wide variety of forms such as solids such as powders and liquids. The main purpose of the packaging is to protect the quality of the contents and to prevent damage and secondary contamination during distribution.

  When a large amount of packaging material is manufactured from a plastic film, a film wound in a roll shape with a length of several hundred to several thousand meters is generally used as a raw material. The film is unwound from the roll, and a plurality of films are overlapped or creased, and heat-sealed (heat-sealed) to a place where the contents are sealed to form a bag. At the time of heat sealing, the individual bags remain connected. In addition, since the contents are sealed in a later process, the entrance for containing the contents is not sealed. The bags that are still connected are cut into pieces in a later process, and the packaging material is completed.

  In the packaging material in which the production conditions are abnormal in the heat sealing process, there may be a failure in which the strength of the heat sealing portion is lowered. If the heat seal portion of the packaging material has a low heat seal strength, the packaging material may be damaged by impact during transportation after the contents are enclosed. Accordingly, there is a possibility that the contents are leaked or the surroundings are contaminated by the leaked contents.

  As one of the methods for monitoring the heat seal failure, a part of the produced packaging material is extracted and a heat seal strength test is performed. In JIS, a test method for heat-sealing flexible packaging bags is defined (JIS Z 0238) (see Non-Patent Document 1). In this test, first, a portion including the periphery thereof is cut out from the packaging material as a test piece with a prescribed size, with the heat-sealed portion as the center. Next, the tensile strength tester is caused to grip both ends of the test piece (the portion not heat-sealed) by the tensile strength tester and pulled in the opposite direction. Although it eventually breaks, the maximum value of the force applied when it broke is measured as the tensile strength.

  According to the above-mentioned JIS regulations, 10 or more test pieces are required for each heat seal (bag top, bottom, side, back). In addition, when conducting tests on packaging materials with a large number of productions, if the test frequency is unchanged to ensure the reliability of the test, the number of sampling tests increases in proportion to the number of productions. The time required will increase.

  The work up to the preparation of the test piece, the supply of the test piece to the tensile strength tester, the start of the test, and the discharge of the test piece has been performed manually by humans. For this reason, the following problems occur when a large amount of tests must be performed manually.

  One is the variation of the test piece. If there are variations in the dimensions of the test piece or misalignment during installation on the tensile strength tester, the direction of the force applied to the test piece will change, resulting in variations in the measured value.

  Another is the increased risk of work. When attaching a test piece to a tensile strength tester, chucking using compressed air may be used to increase work efficiency. At this time, it is necessary to hold the test piece with one hand and start chucking with one hand, but in some cases there is a possibility that the hand holding the test piece will be pinched with the test piece There is.

  By automating the tensile strength test, problems in conducting the tensile strength test by the above-mentioned manual work can be avoided.

  Several devices have already been devised for automatically performing a tensile strength test of a plastic film (see, for example, Patent Document 1). However, in the case of the tensile strength test of the heat seal part, since the force to return the cut specimen to the posture when it is sealed works, there is no certainty when the tensile strength tester grips both ends of the specimen. There is a problem.

  As an apparatus for automatically supplying a test piece to a tensile strength tester, for example, a structure as in Patent Document 2 has been proposed. Among these, an apparatus structure using a leaf spring has been proposed as a method of gripping a test piece. However, when a leaf spring is used, there is a problem that the sample is damaged when it is attached to or removed from the leaf spring in a sample having a low seal portion strength. When a tensile strength test is performed using a damaged sample, the test result may be recorded unreasonably low, thereby impairing the reliability of the test.

Utility Model Registration No. 2594507 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 4-125445

JIS Z 0238: 1998 Heat seal soft packaging material and semi-rigid container test method

  The present invention improves the reliability of the test results, which has been a problem when the tensile strength test of the heat seal part of the plastic film soft packaging material is performed manually, and also reduces the burden on the operator and the work. The task is to eliminate the danger.

  In order to solve the above problems, the invention according to claim 1 of the present invention has a mechanism for producing a test piece having a structure including a fold, and a mechanism for supplying the test piece to a tensile strength tester. It is a test piece automatic supply device.

  In the invention according to claim 2 of the present invention, the test piece is characterized in that one member is folded in two, or two members are bonded together. It is a test strip automatic supply apparatus of description.

  Further, the invention according to claim 3 of the present invention is characterized in that it has a mechanism for unfolding around the fold of the prepared test piece and keeping it in a unfolded state for temporary storage. It is a single automatic feeder.

  The invention according to claim 4 of the present invention has a function of transmitting a test start signal to the tensile strength tester after the test piece is attached to the tensile strength tester. It is a test strip automatic supply apparatus given in any 1 paragraph.

Further, the invention according to claim 5 of the present invention has a function of discharging the test piece from the tensile strength tester after the tensile strength test, and the automatic test piece according to any one of claims 1-4. It is a supply device.

  The invention according to claim 6 of the present invention is the test strip automatic supply apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the material of the test strip is a plastic film.

  The invention according to claim 7 of the present invention is the test strip automatic supply apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the test strip is for heat seal strength measurement.

  Moreover, the invention which concerns on Claim 8 of this invention is a testing machine provided with the test strip automatic supply apparatus of any one of Claims 1-7.

  Since the invention according to claim 1 of the present invention has a mechanism for producing a test piece having a structure including a fold, the creation of the test piece is automated, and the effect of improving the uniformity of the dimensions of the test piece is achieved. There is. Further, since the invention according to claim 1 of the present invention has a mechanism for supplying the test piece to the tensile strength tester, the operation of supplying the test piece to the tensile strength tester is automated. It is possible to reduce the variation in the gripping state of the test machine, and to reduce the possibility of an accident in which an operator accidentally gets a hand caught in the chucking mechanism of the test piece. In addition, the invention according to claim 1 of the present invention has an effect that the test piece preparation and the test can be performed in parallel by having these two mechanisms.

  In the invention according to claim 2 of the present invention, since the test piece is one member folded in two, or two members are bonded together, one member is folded in two. There is an effect that a test piece can be prepared from the wrapped packaging material or a packaging material in which two members are bonded and supplied to a tensile strength tester.

  In addition, the invention according to claim 3 of the present invention has a mechanism in which the fold of the prepared test piece is developed around the center and kept temporarily in the developed state, so that the possibility of the sample being damaged can be reduced. There is an effect.

  The invention according to claim 4 of the present invention has a function of transmitting a test start signal to the tensile strength tester after the test piece is attached to the tensile strength tester, so that the test piece is attached to the tensile strength tester. This has the effect that the tensile strength tester can start the tensile strength test.

  Further, the invention according to claim 5 of the present invention has a function of discharging the test piece from the tensile strength tester after the tensile strength test, so that the process from the execution of the tensile strength test to the discharge of the test piece is automated. The tensile strength test can be performed unattended, and the work load can be reduced.

  In the invention according to claim 6 of the present invention, since the material of the test piece is a plastic film, there is an effect that the test piece can be prepared from the plastic film soft packaging material and supplied to the tensile strength tester.

  In the invention according to claim 7 of the present invention, since the test piece is for measuring heat seal strength, a test piece is prepared from a packaging material in which two members are bonded together by heat sealing, and a tensile strength tester is prepared. The effect of measuring the tensile strength of the heat seal part can be performed.

Moreover, since the invention which concerns on Claim 8 of this invention is a testing machine provided with the test strip automatic supply apparatus of any one of Claims 1-7, creation of a test piece is automated. Therefore, the uniformity of the test piece dimensions will be improved, the work of supplying the test piece to the tensile strength tester will be automated, and variations in the gripping state of the test piece to the tester can be reduced. It is possible to reduce the possibility of an accident in which an operator accidentally gets caught in the chucking mechanism of the test piece, and there is an effect that the test piece preparation and the test can be performed in parallel.

  As described above, the present invention has been a problem when the tensile strength test of the heat seal portion of the plastic film soft packaging material is performed manually, improving the reliability of the test results, and the burden on the operator and There is an effect that the danger of work can be eliminated.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Schematic of the test strip automatic supply apparatus of one Embodiment of this invention. The top view of a test piece cut-out part. The side view of a test piece cutout part. The flowchart which shows the flow of operation | movement of the test strip automatic supply apparatus of this invention. The enlarged view of the test piece holding | grip and expansion | deployment mechanism 113. FIG. The top view of the test piece conveyance stage 123. FIG. The top view of the test piece conveyance stage 123 (when the extrusion cylinder 131 is extended).

  FIG. 1 is a schematic view of an automatic test strip supply apparatus 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The test strip automatic supply apparatus 100 is used together with the tensile strength tester 200.

  The test strip automatic supply apparatus 100 shown in FIG. 1 is roughly composed of three mechanisms: a test strip cutout section 110, a test strip storage section 120, and a test strip supply section 130.

  The test piece cutout part 110 cuts out the test piece including the heat seal part from the soft packaging material. FIG. 2 shows a view of the test piece cutout portion 110 as viewed from above, and FIG. The test piece cutout section 110 includes a cutout table 111, a Thomson blade 112, a test piece holding / deploying mechanism 113, and a test piece holding / deploying mechanism support base 114 that supports the test piece holding / deploying mechanism 113.

  The test piece storage unit 120 stores the cut test piece 103. It consists of a test strip transport belt 121, a test strip gripping clip 122, a test strip transport stage 123, and an elevator 124. A test piece gripping clip 122 is provided on the outer periphery of the test piece transport belt 121 so as to face each other vertically (FIGS. 1 and 2). The test piece gripping clip 122 has a structure that allows the test piece 103 to be gripped by sandwiching both ends of the test piece 103 with a pair of upper and lower sides. The test strip transport belt 121 is placed on a test strip transport stage 123 and can be moved between a test strip mounting position 125 and a test strip supply position 126 by an elevator 124.

  The test piece supply unit 130 supplies the test piece 103 stored in the test piece storage unit 120 to the tensile strength tester 200 and transmits a test start signal to the tensile strength tester 200 to thereby obtain the tensile strength tester 200. The tensile strength test is started, and after the tensile strength test, the tested specimen is removed from the tensile strength tester 200. It consists of extrusion cylinders 131 and 132, an extrusion cylinder base 133 that supports them, and an extrusion cylinder stage 134. The extrusion cylinder mount 133 is placed on the extrusion cylinder stage 134.

FIG. 4 shows an operation flow of the automatic test strip supply apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention. In the following, according to FIG. 4, the flow of this operation will be described by taking as an example the case of testing the heat seal strength of the soft wrapping material.

  First, the soft packaging material 101 subject to the tensile strength test of the heat seal portion is placed on the cutting table 111 (S1). Above the cutting table 111, a “U” -shaped Thomson blade 112 is provided. The Thomson blade 112 operates perpendicular to the cutting table 111, and cuts out the soft wrapping material 101 placed on the cutting table 111 with a predetermined dimension (S2). The cut-out dimension of the test piece is a dimension determined by the standard of the tensile strength test. The dimensions of the test piece defined in Non-Patent Document 1 are a width of 15.0 ± 0.1 mm and a developed length of 100 mm or more.

  The test piece 103 cut out by the Thomson blade 111 is held by the test piece holding / deploying mechanism 113 (S3). The test piece gripping and unfolding mechanism 113 is sandwiched from above and below the test piece 103, and a vacuum suction mechanism is provided on the surface on the side that touches the test piece. The test piece gripping / deploying mechanism 113 is attached to the support base 114, and the support base 114 moves in a direction away from the packaging material 101 after gripping the test piece 103 (S4). Even if the test piece 103 is not completely separated from the packaging material 101, the test piece 103 is pulled and separated from the packaging material 101 when the support base 114 moves in a direction away from the packaging material 101. At this time, the specimen gripping / deploying mechanism 113 is in the position shown in FIGS.

  FIG. 5 shows an enlarged view of the specimen gripping / deploying mechanism 113. The test piece gripping / unfolding mechanism 113 separates the test piece 103 from the packaging material 101, and then the upper and lower arms are opened from the state shown in FIG. 5A to the state shown in FIG. 103 is expanded (S5).

  The support table 114 can rotate in a horizontal plane. The support base 114 is rotated, and the test piece gripping / deploying mechanism 113 is directed toward the test piece transport belt 121 (S6).

  The test piece 103 is replaced from the test piece gripping / deploying mechanism 113 to the test piece transport belt 121 (S7). The test piece gripping / deploying mechanism 113 is moved to move both ends of the test piece 103 to a position where the test piece 103 is sandwiched between the test piece grip clips 122, and then sandwiched by the test piece grip clip 122. After that, the vacuum suction of the specimen gripping / deploying mechanism 113 is stopped.

  The test strip conveying belt 121 is fed, and the test strip gripping clip 122 that has not yet gripped the test strip is moved in a direction of the test strip gripping / deploying mechanism 113, and waits until the next test strip is received (S8).

  The operations from S1 to S8 are repeated until a desired number of test pieces are stored in the test piece storage unit 120. Or it repeats to the upper limit of the number of test pieces which can be stored in the test piece storage part 120. When the desired number is not reached, the test target packaging material 101 is replaced with the next test target packaging material, and a test piece is cut out (S9 to S10). Or you may cut out a test piece from another place of the same packaging material. If the user of the apparatus does not operate the individual machine operations from S1 to S8 one by one, but only performs the cutting operation by the Thomson blade 112 while monitoring the current number of stored specimens, the user's work load Is reduced.

  After a desired number of test pieces are stored in the test piece storage unit 120, the test piece transport stage 123 is moved from the test piece mounting position 125 shown in FIG. 1 to the test piece supply position 126 by the elevator 124 of the test piece storage unit 120. (S11). The position of the test piece transport stage 123 at the time when the operations from S1 to S8 are performed is the test piece mounting position 125. FIG. 6 shows a top view of the test strip transport stage 123 moved to the test strip supply position 126.

  Thereafter, a tensile strength test is sequentially performed on the test piece 103 stored in the test piece conveyance belt 121. The test piece conveyance belt 121 is fed, and the test piece 103 for performing the tensile strength test is moved to the belt position A127 in FIG. 6 (S12). Next, the push-out cylinders 131 and 132 attached to the test strip supply unit 130 extend in the direction of the belt position A127, and grip the test strip gripping clip 122 attached to the belt position A127. As shown in FIG. 7, with the test piece 103 attached to the test piece gripping clip 122, the test piece 103 is pushed out to the test piece gripping position of the tensile strength tester 200 (S13).

  The test piece chucking operation is performed by the test piece holding mechanisms 201 and 202 of the tensile strength tester 200 to hold the test piece 103 (S14). The test piece gripping clip 122 has dimensions that do not mechanically interfere with the test piece gripping mechanisms 201 and 202 of the tensile strength tester 200. After the test piece 103 is gripped by the tensile strength tester 200, the test strip gripping by the test strip gripping clip 122 is released (S15). The extrusion cylinders 131 and 132 are returned to their original positions (S16), and a tensile strength tester 200 is started by transmitting a test start signal to the tensile strength tester 200, whereby the tensile strength tester 200 is started. A tensile strength test is performed according to (S17). The test piece 103 is broken by the tensile strength test of the heat seal strength.

  After the tensile strength test, the extrusion cylinders 131 and 132 are again pushed out toward the tensile strength tester 200. Both ends of the test piece 103 that has been broken again by the test piece gripping clip 122 are gripped, and the clip 122 is attached to the belt position A127 (S18).

  The operations from S12 to S18 are repeated until the test of all the test pieces attached to the test piece transport belt 121 is completed. The second and subsequent test pieces are supplied to the tensile strength tester 200 after confirming that the previous tensile strength test has been completed. As a specific example, it can be confirmed by detecting that the test piece gripping portion of the tensile strength tester 200 has returned to the initial position by using a displacement meter inside the tensile strength tester 200 or a photoelectric sensor attached to the outside. . By automating the confirmation work, the operator's operation procedure can be omitted.

  In the above description, the test piece transport stage 123 has two positions, the test piece mounting position 125 and the test piece supply position 126. However, a plurality of standby positions are provided between the two positions, or the test piece supply is performed. It is also possible to provide a position for retracting and placing the test piece transport stage 123 for which all the test pieces have been subjected to the tensile strength test after the position. As a result, the number of test piece transport stages that can be handled can be increased, so that the number of test pieces stored waiting for the tensile strength test can be increased. As an effect, it is possible to automatically perform a tensile strength test in parallel while creating a test piece and adding it to the test piece transport stage on the one hand, thereby improving the work efficiency of the tensile strength test.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 ... Test piece automatic supply apparatus 101 ... Packaging material 102 of test object ... Heat seal part 103 of packaging material ... Test piece (what cut out packaging material)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 110 ... Test piece extraction part 111 ... Cutting table 112 ... Thomson blade 113 ... Test piece gripping / deployment mechanism 114 ... Test piece gripping / deployment mechanism support stand 115 ... Packaging material abutting mechanism 120 ... Test piece storage part 121 ... Test piece conveyance Belt 122 ... Test piece gripping clip 123 ... Test piece conveyance stage 124 ... Elevator 125 ... Test piece mounting position 126 ... Test piece supply position 127 ... Belt position A
130 ... Test piece supply part 131 ... Extrusion cylinder (upper side)
132 ... Extrusion cylinder (lower side)
133 ... Extrusion cylinder mount 134 ... Extrusion cylinder stage 200 ... Tensile strength tester 201 ... Test piece gripping mechanism 202 ... Test piece gripping mechanism

Claims (8)

  An automatic test strip supply apparatus, comprising: a mechanism for creating a test strip having a structure including a fold; and a mechanism for supplying the test strip to a tensile strength tester.   2. The test strip automatic supply apparatus according to claim 1, wherein one member is folded in half, or two members are bonded together.   The test strip automatic supply device according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising a mechanism that unfolds the fold of the prepared test strip as a center and temporarily stores the unfolded state.   The test strip automatic supply device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, which has a function of transmitting a test start signal to the tensile strength tester after the test piece is attached to the tensile strength tester. .   The test strip automatic supply apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4, which has a function of discharging the test strip from the tensile strength tester after the tensile strength test.   The test strip automatic supply apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein a material of the test strip is a plastic film.   The test strip automatic supply device according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the test strip is for heat seal strength measurement.   A test machine comprising the test strip automatic supply device according to claim 1.