JP2016155562A - Case packer - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent a container from not being gripped by a gripper device.SOLUTION: A case packer 1 comprises: a plurality of gripper devices 6 that have a plurality of grip parts 7 arranged juxtaposed in a transport direction T, and that are disposed spaced from each other in the transport direction T; a transport device 2 that transports a plurality of containers B in a row in a mutually contacting state in the transport direction T; and a sorting part 4 for sorting out a container group G from the plurality of containers B transported by the transport device 2, in a manner that a relative positional relationship of a plurality of containers B constituting the container group G falls within an allowable range with respect to a relative positional relationship of the plurality of grip parts 7. The case packer carries out box packing by introducing the plurality of container groups G into cases 20 having a plurality of storage parts 22 corresponding to the container groups G.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a case packer for packing a plurality of containers in a case.

  Conventionally, a case packer for packing a plurality of containers such as bottles in a case holds the head of the container aligned at a predetermined position on the transfer device with a gripping portion of the gripper device and waits at a fixed position below. The container is lowered toward the case, and the container is introduced into the case and boxed (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

  When the number of containers is large, as shown in FIG. 10, a plurality of cases B (16 cases × 5 rows = 80 pieces) for a plurality of cases (not shown. For example, four cases capable of accommodating 20 pieces) At the same time, a case packer 101 that can be packed in a case from above the transport device 2 is used. The case packer 101 includes a gripper unit 103 having a plurality of gripping sections 7 after aligning a plurality of containers B on the conveyor section 9 using a stopper 114 and a guide (not shown) provided in the conveying device 2. The container B for four cases can be transported simultaneously.

Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 58-37588

By the way, for example, as for beer bottles, the number of bottles that have been reduced in thickness is increasing for the purpose of reducing the weight of the container. As an alternative to beer bottles made of glass, containers made of plastic such as PET are also known. Plastic bottles are deformed when pressed.
That is, even if the containers have the same capacity, containers having diameters different from those of conventional beer bottles are beginning to circulate. As a result, the case packer needs to process a container having a diameter different from that of a conventional container.

  However, when holding the containers B for four cases using the case packer 101 shown in FIG. 10, if the diameters of the containers B are various, the containers B that are gripped most upstream in the transport direction T. Is out of the allowable range of the position where the grip portion 7 of the gripper unit 103 can grip.

Here, when the diameter of the container is D and the number of containers that need to be gripped simultaneously is N, the distance A2 between the center position of the most upstream container B and the center position of the most downstream container B is: It can be calculated by A2 = D × (N−1). Assuming that the dimensional error of the diameter D of the container is ± 1 mm, in the case of the case packer 101 holding 16 pieces, the position of the container B on the most upstream side is calculated to be shifted by about 15 mm at the maximum.
When the gripping unit 7 constituting the gripper unit 103 has an ability to absorb an error of 2 mm, the gripper unit 103 cannot grip 16 containers B.

  The present invention prevents the relative position of the container gripped by the gripper device from being outside the allowable range of the gripping portion constituting the gripper device due to the dimensional difference in the diameter of the container, and prevents the container from being gripped by the gripper device. An object of the present invention is to provide a case packer that can be used.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, the case packer has a plurality of gripping units arranged in parallel in the transport direction, a plurality of gripper devices arranged at intervals in the transport direction, and a plurality of gripper devices A transporting device that transports the containers in a row in the transport direction in contact with each other, and a sorting unit that sorts the container group from the plurality of containers transported by the transporting device, wherein the plurality of containers constituting the container group A sorting unit that sorts the containers so that the relative positional relationship of the containers is within an allowable range with respect to the relative positional relationship of the plurality of gripping units, and the plurality of container groups that correspond to the container groups It is introduced into a case having a portion and packed in a box.

  According to such a configuration, by sorting a plurality of containers into a plurality of container groups, the relative position with respect to the gripping portion constituting the gripper device is outside the allowable range of the gripper device due to the dimensional difference of the diameters of the containers. It is possible to prevent the gripper device from holding the container.

  In the case packer, the sorting unit includes a container unit between the damming unit and the damming unit that temporarily dams the plurality of containers conveyed by the conveying device on the conveying device. And a partition part that separates the plurality of containers.

  The said case packer WHEREIN: The said sorting part may have the arrangement | positioning part which arrange | positions the said several container group mutually in the said conveyance direction at the same space | interval as the space | interval of the said gripper apparatus.

  According to such a configuration, it becomes easy to grip a plurality of container groups with a plurality of gripper devices.

  According to the present invention, by sorting a plurality of containers into a plurality of container groups, the relative position with respect to the gripper device is out of the allowable range of the gripper device due to a difference in the diameter of the container, and the gripper device grips the container. What can not be done can be prevented.

It is a side view of the case packer of the embodiment of the present invention. It is a top view of the case packer of embodiment of this invention. It is A arrow directional view of FIG. 1, and is the side view seen from the conveyance direction of the case packer of embodiment of this invention. It is a top view of a case and a bottle. It is a side view explaining the effect | action of the case packer of embodiment of this invention. It is a side view explaining the effect | action of the case packer of embodiment of this invention. It is a side view explaining the effect | action of the case packer of embodiment of this invention. It is a side view explaining the effect | action of the case packer of embodiment of this invention. It is a top view of the case packer of the modification of embodiment of this invention. It is a side view of the conventional case packer.

Hereinafter, a case packer 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
As shown in FIGS. 1, 2, and 3, the case packer 1 according to the present embodiment transports a plurality of containers B in a row in the transport direction T (in this embodiment, five rows in the depth direction on the paper surface). A device 2; a sorting device 4 that sorts a plurality of containers B into a plurality of container groups G; and a gripper unit 3 that holds and transports the plurality of containers B (container group G) transported by the transport device 2. Yes.

  The case packer 1 is a device that stores (boxes) a plurality of containers B transported by the transport device 2 into the case 20 by a predetermined number (20 in this embodiment) using the gripper unit 3. The case packer 1 of this embodiment has the ability to simultaneously convey and store four sets of container groups G (20 × 4, 80 in total) in the four cases 20. The number of containers B constituting the container group G is not limited to this. Further, the number of cases 20 that can be accommodated simultaneously is not limited to this.

  Here, the container B is, for example, a columnar (bottomed cylindrical shape) glass bottle (bottle) for containing a beverage, and has a shape in which the opening becomes narrower toward the upper side. Hereinafter, the tapered opening of the container B is referred to as a head H. The material and shape of the container B are not limited to this, and include containers made of plastic (resin, mainly PET) and those having a polygonal cross-sectional shape perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the container. Moreover, even if it is a container of the same capacity | capacitance, the thing from which thickness differs is also included. The case packer 1 of this embodiment can process containers B having different diameters D.

  The case 20 (plastic case) is a box-shaped (rectangular) case 20 having an open top and a plurality of accommodating portions 22. As shown in FIG. 4, the case 20 includes a partition plate 21 that arranges and arranges the containers B in a 4 × 5 matrix (lattice). That is, by inserting the container B from above the case 20, the container B can be accommodated in the case 20 in an aligned state. In addition, the 20 containers B arranged in alignment with the case 20 can be accommodated at once from above. The rectangular accommodating portion 22 formed by the partition plate 21 is formed such that the length of one side is slightly larger than the diameter D of the container B.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the case 20 of the present embodiment has four rows (n = 4) of containers B in the first direction in the horizontal direction and five rows (m = 5) in the direction orthogonal to the first direction. 20 containers B (n × m = 20) can be accommodated in a grid shape, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the numerical values of n and m can be changed as appropriate.

The transport device 2 includes a conveyor unit 9 having a placement surface 10 on which the container B is placed, and a pair of guides 11 (not shown in FIG. 1) having a guide surface 12 orthogonal to the placement surface 10. ing. The transport apparatus 2 according to the present embodiment transports the containers B whose outer peripheral surfaces are in contact with each other in an aligned state in five rows in a direction orthogonal to the transport direction T.
The conveyor unit 9 is a chain conveyor system, and the placement surface 10 (upper surface) moves in the transport direction T. As shown in FIG. 3, a plurality (5 in the present embodiment) of the chains 9 a of the conveyor unit 9 are arranged side by side in a direction orthogonal to the transport direction T. A predetermined gap is formed between the adjacent chains 9a. 1 and 2, the plurality of chains 9 a are not drawn, and the chains 9 a of the conveyor unit 9 are drawn as one body.

  The guides 11 are arranged along the transport direction T, and the distance between the guide surfaces 12 of the pair of guides 11 can be changed according to the diameter D of the container B and the shape of the case 20. If the case 20 has a 4 × 5 lattice shape, it can be set to 4 times or 5 times the diameter D of the plurality of containers B transported by the transport device 2. For example, as shown in FIG. 2, by setting the distance between the guides 11 to a distance slightly larger than 5 times the diameter D of the container B, the containers B to be conveyed are aligned in five rows.

  The gripper unit 3 includes a plurality of gripper devices 6. The gripper devices 6 are arranged with an interval (X1) therebetween in the transport direction T. The relative positions of the gripper devices 6 are fixed by a frame 8. The gripper unit 3 can be moved using, for example, a robot arm. The gripper unit 3 can move in the vertical direction V at a gripping position P1 indicated by a solid line in FIG. 1 and a storage position P2 indicated by a two-dot chain line. Further, the horizontal movement L is possible between the gripping position P1 and the storage position P2.

The gripper device 6 has a plurality (20 in this embodiment) gripping portions 7 arranged in parallel in the transport direction T. The gripping portions 7 are arranged in a 4 × 5 grid as viewed from above. That is, the plurality of gripping portions 7 are arranged in a predetermined 4 × 5 grid-like relative positional relationship.
The arrangement of the gripping part 7 corresponds to the arrangement of the accommodating part 22 of the case 20 (the arrangement of the container B accommodated in the case 20). That is, the arrangement of the plurality of containers B grasped by the plurality of grasping portions 7 of the gripper device 6 as viewed from above is substantially the same as the arrangement of the containers B accommodated in the case 20 in a lattice shape. The interval in the conveyance direction T of the gripping part 7 and the interval in the direction orthogonal to the conveyance direction T are substantially the same as the diameter D of the container B.

The gripping part 7 (gripper) can grip the head H of the container B from above. The gripping part 7 has, for example, a holding cylinder that holds the head H of the container B, and a sandwiching tool that is interposed between the holding cylinder and the head H and that is deformed by introduction of compressed air. Can be adopted. The pinching tool is formed of a flexible material such as rubber, for example. The gripping part 7 can grip the head H of the container B by introducing compressed air into the pinching tool in a state where the holding cylinder is put on the head H of the container B and expanding the pinching tool.
The gripping part 7 can grip the head H of the container B arranged immediately below the gripping part 7, but there is an allowable range in which the gripping part 7 can grip even if the position of the container B is slightly shifted. For example, the gripping portion 7 of the present embodiment can grip the container B even when the center of the container B is shifted within a radius of 2 mm with respect to a predetermined point directly below the gripping portion 7.

The sorting device 4 is configured by a plurality of stoppers 14 that stop the flow of the plurality of containers B flowing on the transport device 2 (or make the flow speed of the containers B slower than the transport speed by the transport device 2).
The stopper 14 has a plurality of stopper main bodies 15 that stop the flow of the container B while operating the conveying device 2 by being inserted onto the conveying path of the container B, and a plurality of driving units 16 that drive the stopper main body 15. ing. Hereinafter, in the stopper 14, a state in which the stopper main body 15 is inserted into the conveyance path is referred to as a protruding state, and a state in which the stopper main body 15 is retracted to a position that does not hinder the conveyance of the container B is referred to as a retracted state. The stopper main body 15 and the drive part 16 are provided in five corresponding to the number of rows of containers B (in this embodiment, five rows).

As shown in FIG. 3, the stopper main body 15 is formed by a pair of rod-like members that are spaced apart by a distance slightly smaller than the diameter of the container B. The stopper main body 15 can stop the container B by causing the stopper main body 15 to protrude from the placement surface 10 of the conveyor unit 9. Note that it is not necessary to completely stop the container B with the stopper 14, and it is sufficient that the relative speed with respect to the stopper body 15 can be made zero. That is, it is not necessary to make the absolute speed zero by the stopper 14.
The drive part 16 should just be able to move the stopper main body 15 to an up-down direction, for example, can employ | adopt a hydraulic cylinder.
As described above, a gap is formed between the chains 9a of the conveyor unit 9, and the stopper main body 15 of the stopper 14 is inserted into this gap.

  The stopper 14 includes a plurality of (four in the present embodiment) arrangement stoppers 17 (17a, 17b, 17c, 17d) arranged corresponding to the plurality of gripper devices 6 and the conveying direction T with respect to the arrangement stopper 17. The damming stopper 18 is arranged on the upstream side, and the separation stopper 19 is arranged on the upstream side in the conveying direction T with respect to the damming stopper 18.

  The damming stopper 18 is arranged upstream of the plurality of arrangement stoppers 17 in the conveying direction T. The damming stopper 18 temporarily stops and aligns the plurality of containers B flowing from the upstream side in the transport direction T. Specifically, the five containers B on the most downstream side are aligned when the outer peripheral surface of the container B is in contact with the damming stopper 18, and the containers B after the five containers B are also aligned in the same manner. That is, the plurality of containers B are aligned in five rows by the damming stopper 18 and the guide 11. The damming stopper 18 functions as a damming unit that temporarily dams the plurality of containers B being conveyed by the conveying device 2 on the conveying device 2.

The separation stopper 19 is disposed upstream of the damming stopper 18 in the transport direction T. The distance between the stopper main body 15 of the damming stopper 18 and the stopper main body 15 of the separation stopper 19 is determined based on the diameter D of the standard container B and the number of containers B constituting the container group G (arrangement of the housing portion 22 of the case 20). Configuration). The separation stopper 19 functions as a separation portion that separates the plurality of containers B so that the container group G is formed between the separation stoppers 19.
The case packer 1 according to the present embodiment has a specification in which a plurality of containers B arranged in five rows by the transport device 2 are sorted by four in the transport direction T. Therefore, the stopper main body 15 of the damming stopper 18 and the separation stopper 19 The distance from the stopper body 15 is set to 4 × D + α. α is a predetermined distance.

  The separation stopper 19 is inserted between the containers B in a state where the plurality of containers B are aligned in five rows on the placement surface 10 of the transport device 2 by the damming stopper 18, so that the damming stopper 18 and the separation stopper 19 are inserted. 20 containers B (container group G) can be made independent of the plurality of other containers B.

The number of containers B in the transport direction T of the container group G sorted by the sorting device 4 (the number of container groups G gripped using the gripper device 6) can also be determined by the configuration of the case 20, as described above. However, it can be changed as appropriate. In other words, the gripper device 6 and the gripping portion 7 can be changed as appropriate according to the performance of the gripper device 7 and the dimensional error of the container B.
The sorting apparatus 4 according to the present embodiment sorts the plurality of containers B so that the plurality of containers B constituting the container group G have a 4 × 5 lattice-like relative positional relationship.

Here, an example of a method for determining the number of containers B in the transport direction T of the container group G sorted by the sorting device 4 will be described. The sorting device 4 places the plurality of containers B into the container group G so that the relative positional relationship between the plurality of containers B constituting the container group G is within an allowable range with respect to the relative positional relationship of the gripping unit 7. Sort.
Assuming that the diameter of the container B is D and the number of the containers B simultaneously gripped by the gripper device 6 is N, the value of A1 shown in FIG. 1, that is, the container farthest from the center of the container group G from the center of the container group G The distance to the center of B is calculated by A1 = D × (N−1) / 2.
For example, in the case of a container B having a diameter D of 77 mm and a dimensional error of 1 mm, the value of A1 varies within a range of ± 1.5 mm when N = 4. If the allowable range of the gripping portion 7 constituting the gripper device 6 is 2 mm, that is, has an ability to absorb an error of 2 mm, the gripper device 6 can be gripped without any problem. On the contrary, when the allowable range of the gripping portion 7 is 1 mm, that is, when the 1 mm container B is displaced, it is necessary to reduce the number of containers B to be gripped at the same time.

  The plurality of arrangement stoppers 17 are arranged at positions corresponding to the four gripper devices 6 constituting the gripper unit 3. The arrangement stopper 17 functions as an arrangement unit that arranges the plurality of container groups G in the transport direction T at the same interval as the interval X1 of the gripper device 6. That is, it arrange | positions so that the distance X2 between the arrangement | positioning stoppers 17 shown in FIG. 1 and the distance X1 between the gripper apparatuses 6 may become the same. The arrangement stopper 17 includes a first arrangement stopper 17a that is most downstream in the conveyance direction T, a second arrangement stopper 17b that is provided upstream of the first arrangement stopper 17a in the conveyance direction T, and a second arrangement stopper 17b. The third arrangement stopper 17c provided on the upstream side in the conveyance direction T and the fourth arrangement stopper 17d on the most upstream side in the conveyance direction T are configured.

Next, the operation of the case packer 1 of this embodiment will be described.
FIG. 5 shows a state in which a plurality of containers B conveyed from the upstream side in the conveying direction T are dammed using a damming stopper 18 and then 20 containers B are made independent using a separation stopper 19. FIG.
First, the damming stopper 18 is set in the protruding state and the dividing stopper 19 is set in the retracted state (the dividing stopper 19 is drawn in the protruding state in FIG. 5). Further, the plurality of arrangement stoppers 17 are in a retracted state except for the first arrangement stopper 17a on the most downstream side in the transport direction T.

In this state, a plurality of containers B are transported from the upstream side in the transport direction T. As a result, the plurality of containers B are blocked by the blocking stopper 18 and aligned in five rows by the guide 11.
Next, as shown in FIG. 5, the separation stopper 19 is brought into a protruding state. Thus, 20 containers B are arranged in a 4 × 5 matrix between the damming stopper 18 and the separation stopper 19. That is, 20 container groups G are separated from the plurality of containers B.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 6, the damming stopper 18 is brought into a retracted state. Thereby, the independent container group G is conveyed downstream in the conveyance direction T. The container group G is arranged directly below the gripper device 6 on the most downstream side in the conveyance direction T by the first arrangement stopper 17a on the most downstream side in the conveyance direction T.

  Subsequently, as shown in FIG. 7, the second arrangement stopper 17 b adjacent to the first arrangement stopper 17 a on the most downstream side in the transport direction T is set in a protruding state, and sorting by the damming stopper 18 and the separation stopper 19 is performed. . Thereby, the following container group G is arrange | positioned directly under the gripper apparatus 6. FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 8, four sets of container groups G are arranged at positions corresponding to the four gripper devices 6 by repeating the sorting operation and the arranging operation. That is, by moving the gripper device 6 downward from this state, it is possible to simultaneously hold the containers B for the four cases.

  Next, the four container groups G arranged by the arrangement stopper 17 are gripped by moving the gripper device 6 to the gripping position P1 and lowering it. The grasped container group G is moved to the accommodation position P2 and is accommodated in the case 20 by lowering the gripper unit 3. A tip 24 is provided above the case 20, and the tip of the container B is guided by the tip 24. Next, when the gripping part 7 releases the clamping of the head H of the container B, the container B is introduced into the accommodating part 22 of the case 20 and packed.

  According to the above embodiment, by sorting the plurality of containers B into the plurality of container groups G, the relative position with respect to the gripper device 6 is outside the allowable range of the gripper device 6 due to the dimensional difference of the diameter D of the containers B. The gripper device 6 can prevent the container B from being gripped.

  Further, the sorting device 4 has the arrangement stopper 17 that arranges the plurality of container groups G in the transport direction T at the same interval as the gripper device 6, thereby gripping the plurality of container groups G by the plurality of gripper devices 6. Easy to do.

In the above embodiment, the container group G is stopped using the arrangement stopper 17, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, while the plurality of container groups G are transported in a state corresponding to the distance X1 of the gripper device 6, the arrangement stopper 17 is used when the gripper device 6 grips the transported container group G. It is possible to grip a plurality of container groups G.
Moreover, in the said embodiment, although the structure which accommodates the container B in the four cases 20 of the same shape was shown, the shape of the case 20 does not need to be the same. For example, the case 20 that can accommodate different numbers may be arranged below the accommodating position P <b> 2, and the gripper device 6 having the different number of gripping portions 7 corresponding to each case 20 may be attached to the gripper unit 3.

Next, a case packer 1B according to a modification of the above embodiment will be described.
As shown in FIG. 9, the modified case packer 1 </ b> B has a configuration in which the stopper 14 constituting the sorting device 4 </ b> B can move along the transport direction T. In other words, the sorting device 4B according to the present modification has a stopper moving device 26 that moves the stopper 14 in the direction along the transport direction T. The stopper moving device 26 moves the stopper 14 by a chain conveyor system, like the transport device 2.

The case packer 1 </ b> B of the present modification can move the sorted container group G in the transport direction T by moving the stopper 14 at a speed slower than the transport speed of the container B. By moving the gripper unit 3 (not shown) at the same moving speed as the container group G, the container group G in a moving state can be gripped and transported.
According to the modified example, by performing boxing while moving the sorted container group G, a more efficient boxing operation can be performed.

The embodiment of the present invention has been described in detail above, but various modifications can be made without departing from the technical idea of the present invention.
For example, in the above embodiment, the gripper device 6 is configured to grip the head H of the container B using the container B having the head H, but the present invention is not limited thereto. For example, it is good also as a structure which adsorb | sucks a can body with an adsorption | suction apparatus.

1, 1B Case packer 2 Transport device 3 Gripper unit 4, 4B Sorting device (sorting section)
6 Gripper device 7 Grip part 8 Frame 9 Conveyor part 10 Placement surface 11 Guide 12 Guide surface 14 Stopper 15 Stopper body 16 Drive part 17 (17a, 17b, 17c, 17d) Placement stopper (placement part)
18 Damping stopper (damming part)
19 Separation stopper (separation part)
20 Case 21 Partition plate 22 Housing part 24 Prepayment B Container C Container spacing D Diameter G Container group H Head L Horizontal direction P1 Holding position P2 Storage position T Transport direction V Vertical direction

Claims (3)

A plurality of gripper devices that have a plurality of gripping portions arranged in parallel in the transport direction, and are arranged at intervals in the transport direction;
A transport device that transports a plurality of containers in a row in the transport direction in contact with each other;
A sorting unit that sorts a container group from the plurality of containers transported by the transport device, wherein a relative positional relationship between the plurality of containers constituting the container group is relative to a relative positional relationship between the plurality of gripping units. And a sorting section for sorting so as to be within an allowable range,
A case packer for introducing and packaging the plurality of container groups into a case having a plurality of accommodating portions corresponding to the container groups. The sorting section is
A damming portion for temporarily damming the plurality of containers being conveyed by the conveying device on the conveying device;
The case packer according to claim 1, further comprising: a partition portion that partitions the plurality of containers so that the container group is formed with the damming portion. The sorting section is
3. The case packer according to claim 1, further comprising an arrangement portion that arranges the plurality of container groups in the transport direction at the same interval as the interval of the gripper device.

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