JP2019038587A - Product gathering device - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a product gathering device that, with simple configuration, can gather the products inside the secondary packaging body.SOLUTION: It includes a first conveyor device 32 that conveys the secondary packaging body 2 containing multiple products 1, a second conveyor device 33 provided on the downstream side of the first conveyor device. The first conveyor device is a vacuum conveyor that conveys the secondary packaging body while sucking and holding it, and has the function of stopping temporarily the secondary packaging body being in a state of being positioned at the discharge end side and restarting conveying. With the temporary stop, the bag body of the secondary packaging body sucked and held stops moving, but the product inside is moved forward by inertia force and is gathered to the front end of the moving direction inside the bag. Furthermore, since the conveying surface 33a of the second conveyor device is set at a lower position than the conveying surface 32a of the first conveyor device, the secondary packaging body moved out of the first conveyor device is maintained in a gathered state without being shaken back because the product is from the gathered side firstly dropped and supplied to the second conveyor device.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 4

Description

  The present invention relates to a product assembling apparatus, and more specifically, relates to a technique for bringing a product in a secondary package in which a plurality of products are stored.

  As one of the packaging forms, for example, as shown in FIG. 1, there is a secondary package 2 produced by pillow packaging a plurality of individually packaged products 1. The secondary package 2 has a plurality of products 1 housed in a pillow-packaged bag 3 and the plurality of products 1 are brought close to one end of the bag 3. The other end side of 3 is bundled with the bundling member 4 and narrowed down. The binding member 4 is, for example, an adhesive tape, a bag or a closure. The product 1 is composed of, for example, a package in which noodles are wrapped in pillows and stored in a small bag. Thus, by narrowing down the other end side of the bag body 3 with the binding member 4, a plurality of products 1 are stored in a state gathered on one end side within the bag body 3, and are present separately in the bag body 3. It doesn't look bad.

  By the way, in order to attach the binding member 4 to an appropriate position, a plurality of products 1 are brought close to one end side in the bag body 3 as preprocessing, and the product 1 does not exist in the vicinity of the attachment position of the binding member 4. Therefore, the bag 3 cannot be bound well unless properly aligned. Furthermore, if the products 1 are not neatly laminated, there is a problem that the flat area occupied by the plurality of products 1 in the bag 3 is increased, and efficient boxing cannot be performed. Therefore, in order to automatically perform such product assortment, for example, an apparatus disclosed in Patent Document 1 can be applied. This device is capable of switching a transport conveyor disposed on the downstream side of the top seal device between a basic posture in which the transport surface is in a horizontal state and an operation posture in which the transport surface is inclined downward, and a package is placed on the transport conveyor device. When it is present, the conveying surface is inclined downward by switching from the basic posture to the operating posture so that the product inside is moved toward the downstream side.

JP2015-93731A

  The apparatus disclosed in Patent Document 1 described above has a complicated structure and complicated control since the conveyor apparatus can be switched between a basic attitude in a horizontal state and an operation attitude in a downwardly inclined manner. Moreover, since the attitude | position of the conveyance surface of a conveyor apparatus is switched, there exists a subject that it takes time for the switching and it is difficult to respond also to high speed.

  In order to solve the above-described problems, the product assembling apparatus in the secondary package of the present invention includes (1) a first conveyor device that conveys a secondary package that contains a plurality of products, and the first conveyor device. A second conveyor device disposed on the downstream side, wherein the first conveyor device is a vacuum conveyor that conveys the secondary package while adsorbing and holding the secondary package, and the secondary package is positioned on the carry-out end side The transport surface of the second conveyor device is set at a position lower than the transport surface of the first conveyor device.

  When the first conveyor device is paused immediately before jumping into the second conveyor device from the first conveyor device, the secondary packaging bag is held by suction, so the product in the bag is temporarily stopped. Since it is not adsorbed and held in the apparatus and is in a free state in the bag, it moves forward by the inertial force that accompanies the conveyance prior to the temporary stop. Thereby, each product moves relatively forward in the bag body and is brought closer to one end side (front side in the traveling direction). Along with this, a space in which no product exists is secured on the other end side (the rear side in the traveling direction) of the bag body. In this way, the product can be brought in by simply pausing the first conveyor device, the structure is simple, and the pause time can be a short time for the product to move forward. Yes.

  (2) The transport surface of the second conveyor device may be an inclined surface that lowers the front side in the carry-out direction of the first conveyor device. If this is done, the side where the product of the secondary package has approached is an inclined surface that is lowered, so that when the product is dropped and supplied from the first conveyor device to the second conveyor device, the side where the product is approached becomes a low position. It is good because it can hold the state that has been stopped by the temporary stop.

  (3) It is good to make the conveyance direction of said 1st conveyor apparatus cross | intersect the conveyance direction of said 2nd conveyor apparatus. The secondary package that is being transported through the second conveyor device may be transported in a state in which the side on which the product approaches is inclined downward.

  (4) On the upstream side of the first conveyor device, a downwardly inclined inclined conveyor device is disposed forward in the conveying direction, and the secondary package that is unloaded from the inclined conveyor device is the first conveyor device. It is good to be supplied to. If it does in this way, when the secondary package moves down on the inclined conveyor device, the product may relatively move down in the bag body due to its own weight, and can be preliminarily moved.

  (5) The inclined conveyor device may be a vacuum conveyor that conveys the secondary package while adsorbing and holding the secondary package. In this case, since the bag body of the secondary package is sucked and held, the secondary package can be prevented from sliding down the transport surface of the inclined conveyor device, and only the product in the bag is relatively moved downward. I can do it.

  According to the present invention, just before temporarily jumping into the second conveyor device, the product in the bag of the secondary package can be simply stopped by temporarily stopping the first conveyor that is transporting the secondary package while being sucked and held. The product can be brought close to the end, and the product can be brought together with a simple configuration.

It is a figure which shows an example of a secondary package. It is a front view which shows a suitable example of the packaging system containing the product gathering apparatus which concerns on this invention. FIG. It is a front view which shows suitable one Embodiment of the product gathering apparatus which concerns on this invention. FIG. It is a figure explaining an effect | action.

  DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. It should be noted that the present invention is not construed as being limited thereto, and various changes, modifications, and improvements can be made based on the knowledge of those skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the present invention.

  The product gathering apparatus 10 according to the present invention is arranged on the downstream side of the pillow packaging machine 11 and brings the plurality of products 1 in the secondary package 2 sequentially carried out from the pillow packaging machine 11 to the tip side. The pillow wrapping machine 11 is arranged from the upstream side in order of a packaged article transport and supply device 12 and a packaging machine body 13, and further includes a film supply device 14 below the packaged article transport and supply device 12. The packaged article conveyance and supply device 12 is formed of a finger conveyor device that conveys the packaged article at regular intervals and sequentially supplies the packaged article to the packaging machine body 13 at the next stage. In the present embodiment, the packaged object is an assembly in which a plurality (for example, three) of products 1 are randomly stacked. A restraining belt device 15 is disposed above the carry-out side of the article transporting and supplying device 12 to suppress the lifting of the plurality of stacked products 1 and supply the product into the next-stage bag making device 16.

  The film supply device 14 has a function of feeding a belt-like film 17 continuously fed out from the original fabric roll 18 over a plurality of rollers 19 through a predetermined path and supplying it to the bag making machine 16.

  The packaging machine body 13 includes a bag making device 16 on the carry-in side, and passes the belt-like film 17 supplied from the film supply device 14 through the bag making device 16 to produce the belt-like film into a cylindrical shape. Therefore, the packages to be sequentially transported from the package transport and supply device 12 are supplied into the strip-shaped film that is formed into a cylindrical shape at predetermined intervals. Thereafter, the packages are cylindrical. The film is transported together with the film while being encased in the band-shaped film formed in a bag. Further, the packaging machine main body 13 has a center seal device 20 for center-sealing a portion where both side edges of the belt-like film that has passed through the bag making device 16 and made into bags are overlapped on the downstream side of the bag making device 16. And a top seal device 21 for horizontally sealing and cutting a predetermined position (a portion where no product is present) of the center-sealed tubular film. Thereby, the front-end | tip part (part which includes the head product) of a cylindrical film is isolate | separated, and the secondary package 2 in which the some product 1 which is a to-be-packaged product is included is manufactured. The secondary package 2 is carried out by a carry-out conveyor device 23 arranged on the downstream side of the top seal device 21. The carry-out conveyor device 23 is, for example, a belt conveyor device having a conveyance surface in a horizontal plane, conveys the secondary package 2 at predetermined intervals, and sequentially supplies it to the next product gathering device 10. In addition, since the secondary package 2 performs pillow wrapping of an assembly of a plurality of products 1 that are randomly stacked, for example, the plurality of products 1 contained as shown in FIG. The positions are shifted from each other, and the direction of the shift, the distance of the shift, and the like vary for each secondary package 2.

  The product assembling device 10 is disposed on the carry-out side of the carry-out conveyor device 23, and has an inclined conveyer device 31 having a downwardly inclined conveying surface in the same direction as the carry-out direction of the carry-out conveyor device 23, and the inclined conveyer device 31 A first conveyor device 32 arranged on the carry-out end side and conveyed in the same direction as the conveying direction in plan view of the inclined conveyor device 31, and a first conveyor device arranged on the carry-out end side of the first conveyor device 32. A second conveyor device 33 that conveys the device 32 in a direction orthogonal to the conveying direction in plan view is provided. Furthermore, the 1st conveyance conveyor apparatus 34 and the 2nd conveyance conveyor apparatus 35 which convey in the same direction are provided in the downstream of this 2nd conveyor apparatus 33. FIG.

  The inclined conveyer device 31 is a vacuum conveyer device, and a drive pulley 41 that is supported by bearings between one ends of a pair of left and right side plates 40, a driven pulley 42 that is supported by bearings between the other ends, and a hung between these pulleys. An endless belt 43 arranged to pass is provided. Two endless belts 43 are provided in parallel in the left-right direction. The endless belt 43 includes a plurality of through holes 43a on the belt surface. Further, the drive pulley 41 is supported by a bearing between a pair of left and right first columns 26 erected on the upper surface of the base box 25. Thereby, the one end side of the side plate 40 is also linked between the first support columns 26. Further, the intermediate position in the longitudinal direction of the side plate 40 is supported between a pair of left and right second columns 27 erected on the upper surface of the base box 25. The height of the second support column 27 is lower than that of the first support column 26. Furthermore, the 1st support | pillar 26 is arrange | positioned in the vicinity of the carrying-out conveyor apparatus 23 of the upstream of a conveyance direction. As a result, the side plate 40 supported by the both columns, and thus the endless belt 43, are arranged in a downwardly inclined manner. One end of the drive pulley 41 is attached with a gear and linked to a drive motor mounted in the base box 25 via a power transmission chain 44. Further, a suction pump is mounted in the base box 25, and a suction box is mounted in the internal space of the endless belt 43, and the suction pump and the suction box are linked via a pipe 45. When the suction pump is activated, the inside of the suction box is sucked and sucked from the through hole 43a of the endless belt 43 through an opening formed on the upper surface of the suction box.

  The first conveyor device 32 is a vacuum conveyor device, and includes a drive pulley 51 that is supported by bearings between one ends of a pair of left and right side plates 50, a driven pulley 52 that is supported by bearings between the other ends, and a gap between these pulleys. An endless belt 53 arranged so as to hang over is provided. Two endless belts 53 are provided in parallel in the left-right direction. The endless belt 53 includes a large number of through holes 53a on the belt surface. Further, the side plates 50 are respectively supported by the connection plate 28. By this support, the side plate 50, and thus the endless belt 53, are arranged horizontally. One end of the drive pulley 51 is attached to a gear, and is linked to a drive motor mounted in the base box 25 via a power transmission chain 54. Further, a suction pump is mounted in the base box 25, and a suction box is mounted in the internal space of the endless belt 53, and the suction pump and the suction box are linked via a pipe 55. When the suction pump is operated, the inside of the suction box is sucked and sucked from the through hole 53a of the endless belt 53 through the opening formed on the upper surface of the suction box. Further, an object detection sensor 56 is provided above the carry-out end of the first conveyor device 32. The object detection sensor 56 detects the secondary package 2 that has come to the carry-out end position of the first conveyor device 32.

  When the detection signal is output from the object detection sensor 56, the control device for the drive motor of the first conveyor device 32 temporarily stops and then starts operation. Thereby, the 1st conveyor apparatus 32 conveys the secondary package 2 carried out from the downward inclination conveyor apparatus 31, and after the said secondary package 2 is temporarily stopped in the carrying-out end vicinity of the 1st conveyor apparatus 32, It is carried out to the second conveyor device 33 disposed immediately after the resumption of conveyance.

  The 2nd conveyor apparatus 33 consists of a belt conveyor apparatus, and the conveyance surface 33a is set to the position lower than the conveyance surface 32a of the 1st conveyor apparatus 32. FIG. Furthermore, the 2nd conveyor apparatus 33 of this embodiment makes it the inclined surface where the conveyance surface 33a inclines in a crossing direction with respect to a conveyance direction over the full length. This inclined surface is made to become so low that it leaves | separates from the carrying-out end of the 1st conveyor apparatus 32 in the conveyance direction in the 1st conveyor apparatus 32, ie, the 1st conveyor apparatus 32.

  The first conveyor device 34 and the second conveyor device 35 are belt conveyor devices that convey in the same direction as the second conveyor device 33 in a plan view, and the conveying surfaces are positioned in a horizontal plane.

  The product assembling apparatus 10 described above has a function of operating as follows. First, the inclined conveyor device 31 on the carry-in side conveys the secondary packaging body 2 (see FIG. 6A) containing the three products 1 carried out from the pillow packaging machine 11 in an adsorbed state. Since the inclined conveyor device 31 has a conveying surface that is inclined downward toward the front in the traveling direction, the secondary package 2 receives an urging force in the direction of falling downward due to its own weight, but is held by suction. Therefore, it moves following the rotation of the endless belt 43 without sliding down the transport surface. At this time, since the product 1 in the secondary package 2 is not adsorbed and held, it moves in the bag 3 of the secondary package 2 due to its own weight and is slightly moved forward in the traveling direction (FIG. 6B). reference). In particular, the product 1 is also a package, and its surface is slippery with a film, so that it is easy to move in the bag 3. However, the time for moving on the inclined conveyor device 31 is short, and the urging force due to its own weight is weak, so that it does not reach the one end side sufficiently.

  Thus, the secondary packaging body 2 in a state where the plurality of products 1 to be included are lightly moved moves to the first conveyor device 32 at the next stage and is conveyed by the first conveyor device 32. As the endless belt 53 rotates, the first conveyor device 32 conveys the secondary package 2 in a state of being held by suction. And when the secondary package 2 conveyed in the adsorbed state reaches the carry-out end of the first conveyor device 32, the object detection sensor 56 detects the secondary package 2 and outputs a detection signal. With the output of this detection signal, the first conveyor device 32 temporarily stops. Then, the secondary packaging body 2 that has reached the carry-out end is subjected to a force to move forward as it is due to the inertial force. However, since the bag body 3 is adsorbed and held, the secondary packaging body 2 is temporarily stopped when the endless belt 53 is temporarily stopped. The movement of the body 2 is also temporarily stopped. On the other hand, since the plurality of products 1 in the bag body 3 are in a free state in the bag body 3, they move forward by the inertial force. Thereby, each product 1 moves relatively forward in the bag 3, and all the products 1 are brought close to one end side, so that the three products are neatly stacked (see FIG. 6C). ). Accordingly, a space where the product 1 does not exist is secured on the other end side of the bag body 3.

  If the products are brought together in this way, the first conveyor device 32 starts operation, the secondary packaging body 2 resumes forward movement with the rotation of the endless belt 53, and the second conveyance surface at the lower level of the second stage is resumed. Drop and supply to the conveyor device 33. The side that protrudes first from the first conveyor device 32 in the secondary package 2 is the one end side on which the product 1 approaches. The product 1 jumps out first from the side where it approaches, and is dropped and supplied onto the second conveyor device 33 in the next stage. As a result, the product 1 is not moved back relatively in the bag body 3 due to the swinging back when the operation is resumed, and is transferred onto the second conveyor device 33 while being close to the one end side.

  Furthermore, in this embodiment, since the conveyance surface 33a of the second conveyor device 33 is an inclined surface that becomes lower toward the front side along the carry-out direction from the first conveyor device 32, the side on which the product 1 has approached is at a low position. It moves on the 2nd conveyor apparatus 33 with a certain state, and the state which brought the product 1 near becomes stable.

  Thereafter, the secondary package 2 with the three products 1 approaching the one end side of the bag 3 is sequentially transported by the first transport conveyor device 34 and the second transport conveyor device 35. Since the conveyance surface of each of these conveyance conveyor devices is a horizontal plane, the product 1 is conveyed to the one end side of the bag body 3 as it is in the secondary package 2. Then, the binding member 4 is set at a predetermined position on the other end side of the bag body 3 at an appropriate position. Since the secondary package 2 manufactured in this way is in a state in which the three products 1 are neatly laminated, the area occupied by the assembly of the products 1 in plan view is equivalent to the area of one product. Then, the subsequent boxing can be done easily. Moreover, the appearance of the secondary package 2 is also beautiful.

  In the embodiment described above, the inclined conveyor device 31 is a vacuum conveyor, but the present invention does not necessarily have a suction function. In that case, for example, it is preferable that the transport surface is made not slippery, and the secondary package does not slide down the transport surface. For example, it is preferable that the belt surface is made of a material having a large friction constant, or unevenness is provided on the surface.

  In the above-described embodiment, the first conveyor device has a horizontal conveying surface, but the present invention does not necessarily have to be horizontal. For example, it may be downwardly inclined.

  In the embodiment described above, the conveying surface of the second conveyor device 33 is an inclined surface, but the present invention does not necessarily need to be an inclined surface, and may be a horizontal surface. However, it is preferable to use the inclined surface as in the embodiment because it is easy to maintain the state of the product brought to a temporary stop in the first conveyor device 32.

  In the above-described embodiment, the transport direction of the first conveyor device 32 and the transport direction of the second conveyor device 33 are orthogonal to each other, but may not necessarily be orthogonal and may intersect at a predetermined angle. May proceed in the same direction in plan view without intersecting. However, when orthogonal as in the embodiment, the side on which the product 1 has approached can be received at a low position while maintaining the transport height of the second conveyor device 33, and the product can be transported in its posture, so It is good because it can be stabilized.

  As described above, various aspects of the present invention have been described using the embodiments and the modifications. However, these embodiments and descriptions are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention, and are for understanding the present invention. It is added that it was provided to contribute. The scope of the present invention is not limited to the configurations and manufacturing methods explicitly described in the specification, and includes combinations of various aspects of the present invention disclosed in the present specification. Among the present inventions, the configuration for which a patent is sought is specified in the appended claims, but the present invention is disclosed in this specification even if the configuration is not specified in the claims. I would like to remind you that there is a possibility of claiming this configuration in the future.

1: Product 2: Secondary package 3: Bag 10: Product gathering device 11: Pillow packaging machine 31: Inclined conveyor device 32: First conveyor device 33: Second conveyor device 56: Object detection sensor

Claims (5)

A first conveyor device for conveying a secondary package containing a plurality of products;
A second conveyor device disposed downstream of the first conveyor device;
The first conveyor device is a vacuum conveyor that conveys the secondary package while adsorbing and holding, and has a function of pausing and resuming conveyance while the secondary package is positioned on the carry-out end side,
The product assembling apparatus, wherein the transport surface of the second conveyor device is set at a position lower than the transport surface of the first conveyor device.   2. The product assembling apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the conveyance surface of the second conveyor device is an inclined surface in which a front side in a carry-out direction of the first conveyor device is lowered.   The product assembling apparatus according to claim 2, wherein a conveyance direction of the first conveyor device and a conveyance direction of the second conveyor device intersect each other. On the upstream side of the first conveyor device, a downwardly inclined inclined conveyor device is arranged toward the front in the conveying direction,
The product assembling apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the secondary packaging body carried out from the inclined conveyor device is supplied to the first conveyor device.   The product tilting device according to claim 4, wherein the inclined conveyor device is a vacuum conveyor that conveys the secondary package while adsorbing and holding the secondary package.

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