JP2019064716A - Lid closing system and lid closing method - Google Patents

Abstract

To improve reliability of lid closing.SOLUTION: A lid closing system 1 includes a container conveying conveyor 2 for conveying a food container 60 provided with a flange part 61, a container clamping device 3 for holding the food container 60 conveyed by the container conveying conveyor 2, at a lid closing position 21 in a state of being floated from the container conveying conveyor 2 with a flange portion 61 supported, and a lid closing robot 4 for pressing a lid 70 against the food container 60 held by the container clamping device 3 to perform a lid closing.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  Embodiments disclosed herein relate to a lid closing system and a lid closing method.

  Patent Document 1 describes a lid device for a container with a lid. The lidding apparatus for containers with lids separates the stacked lids one by one, supplies them onto the containers transported to the working position, and applies pressure to fit the lids onto the containers.

Patent No. 3016429 gazette

  In the above-mentioned prior art, when the strength of the container is weak, the container may be deformed when pressing the lid, and the lid may not be reliably closed.

  The present invention has been made in view of such problems, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a lid closing system and a lid closing method capable of improving the reliability of lid closing.

  To solve the above problems, according to one aspect of the present invention, a transport device for transporting a container, and a holding device for supporting the side portion and holding the container transported by the transport device in a lid closing position And a lid closing system having a lid closing device for pressing the lid against the container held by the holding device to perform lid closing.

  Also, according to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a lid closing method performed by a lid closing system, comprising: transporting a container; and supporting and holding a side portion of the transported container in a lid closing position. And closing the container by pressing the lid against the held container.

  According to the present invention, the reliability of lid closing can be improved.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS It is explanatory drawing showing an example of the whole structure of the lid closing system which concerns on embodiment. It is a top view showing an example of composition of a container clamp device. It is a side view showing an example of composition of a container clamp device. It is a perspective view showing an example of composition of a container centering device. It is an explanatory view showing an example of lid closing operation at the time of closing a lid on an outside fitting type rectangular container. It is an explanatory view showing an example of lid closing operation at the time of closing a lid on an outside fitting type rectangular container. It is an explanatory view showing an example of lid closing operation at the time of closing a lid on an outside fitting type rectangular container. It is a flowchart showing an example of the processing content of the controller in a lid closing process. It is explanatory drawing which shows an example of the attitude | position of the food container after centering. It is explanatory drawing showing an example of operation | movement, such as a clamp arm at the time of adjusting the position of a clamp arm to the position corresponding to the attitude | position of a food container. It is explanatory drawing showing an example of operation | movement, such as a clamp arm in the case of hold | maintaining a food container by a clamp arm. It is explanatory drawing showing an example of operation | movement, such as a clamp arm in the case of moving to a lid closing position, correcting the positional offset of a food container by a clamp arm. It is an explanatory view showing an example of lid closing operation in the case of closing a lid to an inner fitting type circular container. It is an explanatory view showing an example of lid closing operation in the case of closing a lid to an inner fitting type circular container. It is an explanatory view showing an example of lid closing operation in the case of closing a lid to an inner fitting type circular container.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings. In addition, although the case where a lid | cover is attached to a food container is demonstrated as an example in this embodiment, the kind of container is not limited to a food container.

<1. Overall configuration of lid closing system>
First, an example of the entire configuration of the lid closing system 1 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 1. In the following description, the X-axis direction is the conveyance direction of the container conveyance conveyor 2, the Y-axis direction is the width direction of the container conveyance conveyor 2 orthogonal to the conveyance direction, and the Z-axis direction is orthogonal to the X-axis direction and the Y-axis direction. The vertical direction and the θ axis direction indicate the rotation direction around the Z axis.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the lid closing system 1 includes a container transport conveyor 2, a container clamping device 3, a lid closing robot 4, a container centering device 5, a container lighting device 6, and a container position detection camera 7. It comprises two lid supply devices 23, a lid transport device 22, a lid illumination device 24, a lid position detection camera 25 and a controller 12.

  The container conveyer 2 (an example of a conveyer) is a conveyer having a conveyer belt 13 (an example of a belt). The container transport conveyor 2 transports the food container 60 from the upstream side (upper side in FIG. 1) to the downstream side (lower side in FIG. 1). The container transport conveyor 2 is provided with a drive roller 14 at the downstream end in the transport direction, and is provided with a driven roller 10 at the upstream side in the transport direction. A conveyor belt 13 is wound around the driving roller 14 and the driven roller 10.

  A conveyor motor 15 for driving the container conveyor 2 is attached to the drive roller 14. The conveyor motor 15 is connected to the controller 12, and the container transport conveyor 2 is operated and stopped under the control of the controller 12. Note that, instead of the automatic control by the controller 12, the user may operate and stop the container transport conveyor 2 by manual operation.

  The container conveyor 2 has a roller conveyor unit 18 upstream of the portion where the conveyor belt 13 is driven. The roller conveyor unit 18 has a plurality of rollers 17 arranged in parallel. The plurality of rollers 17 are wider than the conveyor belt 13 (the dimension in the Y-axis direction is larger), and a power transmission belt (not shown) is wound around the driven rollers 10. Thus, the roller conveyor unit 18 is driven along with the rotation of the conveyor belt 13 (the rotation of the driven roller 10). That is, the conveyor belt 13 and the roller conveyor unit 18 of the container conveyor 2 are driven by a single conveyor motor 15.

  The container conveyance conveyor 2 which is the said structure conveys continuously several food containers 60 (an example of a container) mounted in the conveyance direction by predetermined spacing. At this time, the container transport conveyor 2 is not operated intermittently but continuously. In the food container 60, food such as rice and sugar beet is accumulated in a food preparation line (not shown) installed on the upstream side of the container conveyance conveyor 2. The food container 60 is provided with a flange portion 61 around the upper end of the opening.

  A container detection sensor 29 is installed at the inlet (the inlet of the roller conveyor unit 18) at the upstream end of the container conveyance conveyor 2. The container detection sensor 29 detects whether the food container 60 has been carried in at the inlet of the container transport conveyor 2. The detection result of the container detection sensor 29 is transmitted to the controller 12.

  The container centering device 5 (an example of the width shifting device) is installed above the roller conveyor unit 18. In addition, in FIG. 1, only two centering arms 51A and 51B which the container centering apparatus 5 has are shown in figure for a complicated prevention. The container centering device 5 is connected to the controller 12 and executes the centering operation of the food container 60 under the control of the controller 12. That is, when the food container 60 is detected at the inlet of the container conveyance conveyor 2, the controller 12 drives the container centering device 5. The container centering device 5 sandwiches the food container 60 on the roller conveyor unit 18 from both sides by two centering arms 51A and 51B, for example, at a central position (center line) in the width direction (Y-axis direction) of the container conveyance conveyor 2. The food container 60 is moved and centered. The configuration of the container centering device 5 will be described in detail later (see FIG. 4 described later).

  The container lighting device 6 (an example of a lighting device) is installed below the conveyor belt 13 on the upstream side of the container clamping device 3. Further, the container position detection camera 7 (an example of a position sensor) is installed above the container illumination device 6 with the conveyor belt 13 interposed therebetween. The container lighting device 6 is, for example, a panel illumination light accommodating a plurality of LEDs, and is configured in a flat plate shape that covers the width direction of the conveyor belt 13 of the container conveyance conveyor 2. The container illumination device 6 emits illumination light upward, and illuminates the food container 60 transported by the container transport conveyor 2 from below via the light transmissive conveyor belt 13. The container position detection camera 7 captures an image of the food container 60 illuminated from above by the container illumination device 6 via the conveyor belt 13, and the position of the food container 60, that is, the position of the food container 60 on the XY plane coordinates ( The position on the X axis and the position on the Y axis) and the rotation angle (rotation angle θ around the Z axis) in the XY plane are detected. Position data of the detected food container 60 is transmitted to the controller 12.

  The container clamp device 3 (an example of a holding device) is installed downstream of the container lighting device 6. The container clamp device 3 includes two clamp arms 31A and 31B positioned on both sides in the width direction of the container transfer conveyor 2. Each of the clamp arms 31A and 31B is provided so as to be able to open and close independently in a direction in which the clamp arms 31A and 31B approach each other and to be rotatable about the Z axis. The container clamp device 3 is connected to the controller 12 and executes the holding operation of the food container 60 under the control of the controller 12.

  The container clamp device 3 supports the side of the food container 60 transported by the container transport conveyor 2 by two clamp arms 31A and 31B. Here, the “side portion” is a portion other than the bottom portion of the food container 60 in contact with the container transport conveyor 2 and includes, for example, a side surface, a flange portion, and the like. In the present embodiment, the lower surface of the flange portion 61 of the food container 60 is supported by the two clamp arms 31A and 31B as an example of the side portion and floated from the conveyor belt 13 at the lid closing position 21 by the lid closing robot 4 Hold. During the holding, the clamp arms 31A and 31B first move to a position corresponding to the positional deviation from the lid closing position of the food container 60 and stand by under control of the controller 12 based on the position data of the food container 60. Then, when the food container 60 is transported, the clamp arms 31A and 31B move in the direction (closing direction) of the food container 60 to support the flange portion 61 from below. At this time, the food container 60 is lifted from the conveyor belt 13 by a predetermined amount and floats. Then, the clamp arms 31A and 31B move the food container 60 to the lid closing position 21 while correcting the displacement amount from the lid closing position 21 and hold it. The configuration of the container clamp device 3 will be described in detail later (see FIGS. 2 and 3 described later).

  Each of the two lid supply devices 23 accommodates a plurality of lids 70 stacked vertically, and a lid tray 19 is disposed below the plurality of lids 70. The lid supply device 23 separates the lids 70 one by one from the lower ends of the stacked lids 70 and places the lids 70 on the lid tray 19 disposed below. A lid conveying device 22 is installed between each lid supply device 23 and the lid receiving position 20 by the lid closing robot 4. The lid conveying device 22 alternately conveys the lid 70 placed on the lid tray 19 from the two lid supply devices 23 to the lid receiving position 20 by the lid-closing robot 4 by moving the lid tray 19. By parallelizing the operation process of supplying the lid 70 in this manner, the cycle time can be shortened.

  A lid illuminating device 24 is installed below the lid receiving position 20, and a lid position detection camera 25 is installed above the lid receiving position 20. The lid tray 19 is made of a light transmitting material. The lid illumination device 24 is, for example, a panel illumination light accommodating a plurality of LEDs, and is configured in a flat plate larger than the lid tray 19. The lid illumination device 24 emits illumination light upward, and illuminates the lid 70 transported to the lid receiving position 20 from below via the lid tray 19. Since it is not necessary to arrange illumination above the cut-out lid 70 by this, there is no restriction of the operation of the lid-closing robot 4 and the lid 70 can be grasped by the shortest operation, so the tact time can be shortened. Can. The lid position detection camera 25 captures an image of the lid 70 illuminated by the illumination light from above, and the position of the lid 70, that is, the position on the XY plane coordinates of the lid 70 (position on X axis and position on Y axis And the rotation angle (rotation angle .theta. Around the Z axis) in the X-Y plane. The detected position data of the lid 70 is transmitted to the controller 12.

  The lid closing robot 4 (an example of a lid closing device) is, for example, a vertical articulated robot or a horizontal articulated robot, and is provided with a suction pad 4a at its tip. In addition, although simplified and shown in figure in FIG. 1, the suction pad 4a has a shape which covers the lid | cover 70 (refer below-mentioned FIG. 5, FIG. 6). The lid closing robot 4 is connected to the controller 12 and executes the lid closing operation under the control of the controller 12. That is, the lid closing robot 4 sucks and holds the lid 70 transported to the lid receiving position 20 by the suction pad 4a. Then, the lid closing robot 4 transfers the lid 70 to the lid closing position 21 by turning in the horizontal direction, and presses the lid 70 onto the food container 60 held at the lid closing position 21 to attach it. At the time of transfer of the lid 70 to the lid closing position 21, the lid closing robot 4 is controlled in position and posture with respect to the food container 60 whose lid 70 is held at the lid closing position 21 under control based on the position data of the controller 12. The lid 70 is moved to the lid closing position 21 while correcting the position of the lid 70 so as not to shift.

  In addition, the structure of the lid closing system 1 mentioned above is an example, and is not limited to the above-mentioned content. For example, although two lid supply devices 23 are disposed in the lid closing system 1, three or more lid supply devices 23 may be installed to further shorten the cycle time, and in particular, shorten the cycle time. The lid supply device 23 may be one when there is no need to. In addition, the roller conveyor unit 18 may not be provided on the upstream side of the container conveyance conveyor 2, and for example, the roller conveyor unit 13 may be configured only by a portion that drives the wide conveyor belt 13.

<2. Configuration of container clamp device>
Next, an example of a structure of a container clamp apparatus is demonstrated using FIG.2 and FIG.3.

  As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the container clamp device 3 includes two clamp arms, ie, a first clamp arm 31A (an example of a support member) and a second clamp arm 31B (an example of a support member); First and second horizontal actuators 32A, 32B for independently moving each of the second clamp arms 31A, 31B in the horizontal direction independently, and a rotary actuator for rotating the first and second clamp arms 31A, 31B around the Z axis And 33, a vertically moving actuator 34 for moving the first and second clamp arms 31A and 31B in the Z-axis direction.

  The first clamp arm 31A is disposed on one side in the width direction of the conveyor belt 13 (left side in FIG. 2, the front side of the sheet in FIG. 3), and the second clamp arm 31B is the other on the width side of the conveyor belt 13. It is arrange | positioned at the side (The right side in FIG. 2, the back side of the paper surface in FIG. 3).

  The first clamp arm 31A has a plate-like head portion 36 having a container support portion 37, and a leg portion 38 integrally provided below the head portion 36, and the attachment portion 38a of the leg portion 38 is a first It is attached to the horizontal actuator 32A.

  The head portion 36 is disposed on the upper side of the upper track of the conveyor belt 13 on one side in the width direction of the conveyor belt 13, and a recess 36 a is formed on the conveyor belt 13 side. The container support portion 37 is provided on the top surface of the head portion 36 along the edge of the recess 36 a. The container support 37 is a projection that protrudes upward from the head 36. The recess 36 a and the container support 37 correspond to the shape of the food container 60 to be supported, and in this example, are formed in, for example, a rectangular shape corresponding to the rectangular food container 60. The leg 38 has at its lower end a mounting portion 38a disposed below the lower track of the conveyor belt 13, and the first clamp arm 31A is mounted to the first horizontal actuator 32A via the mounting portion 38a. It is done.

  The first horizontal actuator 32A includes a guide rail 40 attached to the upper surface of the actuator base 39, a slider 41 movably mounted along the guide rail 40, and a servomotor 42 for moving the slider 41 in a substantially horizontal direction. And. The mounting portion 38 a of the first clamp arm 31 A is fixed to the slider 41.

  The second clamp arm 31B has an arrangement configuration in which the first clamp arm 31A is rotated by 180 ° around a rotation axis AX described later. That is, the second clamp arm 31B has a plate-like head portion 36 having a container support portion 37, and a leg portion 38 integrally provided below the head portion 36, and the attachment portion 38a of the leg portion 38 is It is attached to the 2nd horizontal actuator 32B.

  The head portion 36 is disposed above the upper track of the conveyor belt 13 on the other side in the width direction of the conveyor belt 13, and a recess 37 a is formed on the conveyor belt 13 side. The container support portion 37 is provided on the upper surface of the head portion 36 along the edge of the recess 37a. The container support 37 is a projection that protrudes upward from the head 36. The recess 37 a and the container support 37 correspond to the shape of the food container 60 to be supported, and in this example, are formed in, for example, a rectangular shape corresponding to the rectangular food container 60. The leg 38 has at its lower end a mounting portion 38a disposed below the lower track of the conveyor belt 13, and the second clamp arm 31B is mounted to the second horizontal actuator 32B via the mounting portion 38a. It is done.

  The second horizontal actuator 32B has an arrangement configuration in which the first horizontal actuator 32A is rotated 180 degrees around the rotation axis AX. That is, the second horizontal actuator 32B moves the guide rail 40 attached to the upper surface of the actuator base 39, the slider 41 movably mounted along the guide rail 40, and a servo for moving the slider 41 in a substantially horizontal direction. And a motor 42. The mounting portion 38 a of the second clamp arm 31 B is fixed to the slider 41.

  The rotary actuator 33 and the vertical movement actuator 34 are disposed below the actuator base 39.

  The vertical movement actuator 34 includes a guide rail 44 attached to a frame (not shown) of the container clamp device 3, a slider 45 movably mounted along the guide rail 44, and a linear movement attached to the lower end of the guide rail 44. A mechanism 46 and a servomotor 47 for moving the slider 45 in the substantially vertical direction (Z-axis direction) via the linear movement mechanism 46 are provided.

  The rotary actuator 33 includes a support 48 attached to the slider 45 of the vertical motion actuator 34, a reduction gear 49 attached to the lower end of the support 48, a servomotor 50 attached to the lower end of the reduction gear 49, and a support And a base mounting portion 49a disposed above the body 48 and connected to the output shaft of the reduction gear 49. The actuator base 39 is attached to the base attachment portion 49a.

  The first horizontal actuator 32A moves the slider 41 along the guide rail 40 by the servomotor 42, whereby the first clamp arm 31A attached to the slider 41 is substantially horizontal, independently of the second clamp arm 31B. Move to Similarly, by moving the slider 41 along the guide rail 40 by the servomotor 42, the second horizontal actuator 32B makes the second clamp arm 31B attached to the slider 41 independent of the first clamp arm 31A. Move almost horizontally. Thereby, the first clamp arm 31A and the second clamp arm 31B can open and close independently of each other.

  Further, the vertical movement actuator 34 moves the slider 45 in the vertical direction along the guide rail 44 via the linear movement mechanism 46 by the servomotor 47, and moves the rotary actuator 33 up and down. Thus, the actuator base 39, the first horizontal actuator 32A, the second horizontal actuator 32B, the first clamp arm 31A, the second clamp arm 31B, etc. attached to the rotary actuator 33 move in the vertical direction.

  Further, the rotary actuator 33 causes the servomotor 50 to rotate the base mounting portion 49a via the reduction gear 49, and causes the actuator base 39 to rotate around the rotation axis AX (an example of the vertical axis) along the Z-axis direction. As a result, the first horizontal actuator 32A, the second horizontal actuator 32B, the first clamp arm 31A, and the second clamp arm 31B attached to the actuator base 39 rotate around the rotation axis AX.

  With the above configuration, the container clamp device 3 operates the first and second clamp arms 31A and 31B independently in the horizontal direction (X-Y plane direction), and also in the vertical direction (Z-axis direction) and the rotational direction. It can be operated in the (θ-axis direction). Thereby, even if there is a positional deviation in the transported food container 60, the food container 60 is held at the displaced position, and the food container 60 is moved to the lid closing position 21 in the held state to adjust the position. Can.

  A plurality of types of first clamp arms 31A and second clamp arms 31B are prepared in accordance with the shape and size of the food container 60, and are configured to be replaceable. At that time, each clamp arm 31A, 31B may be connected to a plurality of members, and for example, only the head portion 36 may be replaced.

<3. Configuration of container centering device>
Next, an example of a structure of a container centering apparatus is demonstrated using FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the container centering device 5 moves the first and second opening / closing actuators for horizontally moving the first and second centering arms 51A, 51B and the first and second centering arms 51A, 51B, respectively. 52A and 52B, a feed belt 53, and a feed belt servomotor 54.

  The first opening and closing actuator 52A and the second opening and closing actuator 52B are installed on a substantially horizontal support plate 55 attached to a frame (not shown) of the container centering device 5.

  The first centering arm 51A (an example of the arm member) is attached to the upper surface of the slider 57 of the first opening / closing actuator 52A, and attached to the attachment portion 90 projecting upstream of the support plate 55 in the transport direction And a support portion 91 extended in the Z-axis direction, and a lower end portion 93 attached to the lower portion of the support portion 91. The lower end portion 93 includes a pulley support portion 92 which is bent inward (toward the second centering arm 51B). The pulley support portion 92 is a substantially rectangular plate-like member extending in the X-axis direction, and two pulleys 94 are attached to the lower surfaces of both end portions in the transport direction (in FIG. Shown). A feed belt 53 in contact with the food container 60 is wound around the two pulleys 94. The feed belt servomotor 54 is mounted on a support plate 95 attached to the outer surface of the support portion 91. The feed belt 53 is driven by the feed belt servomotor 54 and rotates so that the track inside the feed belt 53 (on the side of the second centering arm 51B) moves at the same speed as the conveyance direction of the container conveyance conveyor 2 and at the same speed. . The feed belt 53 may be made of, for example, a material having a large friction such as a rubber material, or may be made of, for example, a material having a small friction such as resin or metal.

  The first opening and closing actuator 52A has a guide rail 56 installed along the Y-axis direction on the upper surface at a position near the width direction one side (left side in FIG. 4) of the support plate 55, and a slider 57 mounted on the guide rail 56. And a servomotor 58 for driving the slider 57 via the reduction gear 59. The first opening and closing actuator 52A moves the slider 57 along the guide rail 56 by the servomotor 58, thereby moving the first centering arm 51A in the Y-axis direction.

  The second centering arm 51B (an example of the arm member) is attached to the upper surface of the slider 57 of the second opening / closing actuator 52B, and attached to the attachment portion 90 projecting to the downstream side of the support plate 55 in the transport direction And a support portion 91 extended in the Z-axis direction, and a lower end portion 93 attached to the lower portion of the support portion 91. The lower end portion 93 has a pulley support portion 92 which is formed to be bent inward (toward the first centering arm 51A). The pulley supporting portion 92 is a substantially rectangular plate-like member extended in the X-axis direction, and pulleys 94 are respectively attached to the lower surfaces of both end portions in the transport direction (only the pulley on the downstream side is shown in FIG. 4) . A feed belt 53 in contact with the food container 60 is wound around the two pulleys 94. The feed belt servomotor 54 is mounted on a support plate 95 attached to the outer surface of the support portion 91. The feed belt 53 is driven by the feed belt servomotor 54 and rotates so that the track inside the feed belt 53 (on the side of the first centering arm 51A) moves in the same direction as the conveyance direction of the container conveyance conveyor 2 and at the same speed. .

  The second opening and closing actuator 52B has an arrangement configuration in which the first opening and closing actuator 52A is rotated approximately 180 degrees around the Z axis. The second opening and closing actuator 52B has a guide rail 56 installed along the Y-axis direction on the upper surface at a position near the other side (right side in FIG. 4) of the support plate 55 in the width direction, and a slider 57 mounted on the guide rail 56. And a servomotor 58 for driving the slider 57 via the reduction gear 59. The second opening / closing actuator 52B moves the slider 57 along the guide rail 56 by the servomotor 58, thereby moving the second centering arm 51B in the Y-axis direction.

  With the above configuration, the container centering device 5 operates the first centering arm 51A and the second centering arm 51B independently in the Y-axis direction. Thereby, the food container 60 carried into the inlet of the container conveyance conveyor 2 from the upstream side is sandwiched from both sides by the first centering arm 51A and the second centering arm 51B, and the width direction position of the food container 60 is The food container 60 can be aligned to substantially match the desired widthwise position (e.g., center line). At this time, the feed belt 53 in contact with the food container 60 is driven by the feed belt servomotor 54 at substantially the same speed as the transfer speed of the container transfer conveyor 2 (roller conveyor unit 18). It can be prevented from falling.

  In addition, the structure of the container centering apparatus 5 mentioned above is an example, and is not limited to the above-mentioned content. For example, although the first centering arm 51A and the second centering arm 51B can be driven independently of each other in the above description, for example, they may be opened and closed by a single servomotor by a rack and pinion mechanism or the like. However, by enabling both arms to be independently driven using the two servomotors 58 as in the present embodiment, it is possible to change and adjust the width shift position afterward.

<4. Lid closing operation when closing the lid on an externally fitted rectangular container>
Next, with reference to FIGS. 5-7, an example of lid closing operation in the case of closing a lid to an outside fitting type rectangular container is explained.

  As shown in FIG. 5, for example, a food container 60 which is a rectangular container has a container body 62 having a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape, and a flange portion 61 is provided around the upper end of the opening of the container body 62. The side portion 69 of the food container 60 includes the side surface of the container body 62 and the flange portion 61. As shown in the enlarged view in FIG. 5, the flange portion 61 has a flat portion 63 which protrudes substantially horizontally outward of the container main body 62, and a projection 64 which is bent substantially perpendicularly downward from the tip of the flat portion 63. And a recess 65 is formed on the lower surface of the flange 61. On the other hand, the lid 70 has a substantially square frustum lid main body 72 corresponding to the rectangular shape of the food container 60, and a flange portion 71 is provided around the lower end of the opening of the lid main body 72. As shown in the enlarged view in FIG. 5, the flange portion 71 has a flat portion 73 that protrudes substantially horizontally outward of the lid main body 72, and a protrusion 74 that is bent substantially perpendicularly downward from the tip of the flat portion 73. Have.

  The suction pad 4 a has a substantially rectangular pad body 80 corresponding to the rectangular shape of the flange portion 71 of the lid 70, and a suction pipe 82 attached to the upper surface of the pad body 80 via a mounting plate 81. The pad main body 80 has a substantially square cylindrical frame-like pressing portion 83 that abuts on the upper surface of the flat portion 73 of the flange portion 71 of the lid 70, and the inside is negative pressure by being sucked through the suction pipe 82. And a space 84. The suction pipe 82 at the top of the pad body 80 communicates with the internal space 84. The lid-closing robot 4 covers the suction pad 4a on the lid 70, brings the lower end of the pressing portion 83 into contact with the upper surface of the flat portion 73 of the flange portion 71, and applies negative pressure to the inside of the internal space 84 via the suction pipe 82. By doing this, as shown in FIG. 6, the lid 70 is adsorbed and held by the suction pad 4a in a state where the lid main body 72 is housed in the pad main body 80.

  A plurality of types of suction pads 4a are prepared according to the shape and size of the lid 70, and the suction pad 4a is configured to be replaceable with the lid-closing robot 4.

  As described above, in the first and second clamp arms 31A and 31B of the container clamp device 3, the recess 36a of the head portion 36 and the container support 37 are formed in a rectangular shape corresponding to the rectangular shape of the food container 60. There is. When holding the food container 60, as shown in FIG. 5, the head portion 36 of the clamp arms 31A and 31B ascends sandwiching the container body 62 from both sides. Thereby, as shown in the enlarged view in FIG. 6, the container support portion 37 is fitted to the recess 65 of the flange portion 61 of the food container 60, and the container support portion 37 supports the flat portion 63 of the flange portion 61. , Hold the food container 60 in a floating state from the conveyor belt 13;

  Then, as shown in FIG. 6, the lid 70 adsorbed to the suction pad 4a by the lid-closing robot 4 is pressed against the food container 60 held by the clamp arms 31A and 31B. At this time, the flange portions 61 and 71 are sandwiched by the pressing portion 83 of the suction pad 4a and the container support portion 37 of the clamp arms 31A and 31B. Thereby, as shown in the enlarged view in FIG. 7, the flat portion 73 of the flange portion 71 of the lid 70 is superimposed on the upper surface of the flat portion 63 of the flange portion 61 of the food container 60, and the protrusion of the flange portion 71 of the lid 70 The lid 70 is attached to the food container 60 in a so-called outer fitting state, with the outer surface 74 of the flange portion 61 of the food container 60 being overlapped.

<5. Processing contents of controller in lid closing process>
Next, with reference to FIG. 8, an example of processing contents executed by the controller 12 in the lid closing step will be described.

  In step S10, the controller 12 drives the conveyor motor 15 to drive the container transport conveyor 2. After this, the container transport conveyor 2 is operated continuously, and continues the operation while the food container 60 is held by the container clamp device 3 in step S60 to step S80 described later.

  In step S20, the controller 12 determines whether the container detection sensor 29 has detected the food container 60 at the inlet of the container transport conveyor 2. When the food container 60 is not detected (step S20: NO), step S20 is repeated until the food container 60 is detected. If the food container 60 is detected (step S20: YES), the process proceeds to step S30.

  In step S30, the controller 12 controls the container centering device 5, and the first and second centering arms 51A and 51B align the food container 60 so as to substantially coincide with, for example, the center line of the container transport conveyor 2. At the same time, the feed belt 53 is driven at substantially the same speed as the transfer speed of the container transfer conveyer 2 to prevent the reduction of the transfer speed of the food container 60 due to the centering.

  In step S40, the controller 12 images the food container 60 from above by the container position detection camera 7 and determines the position of the food container 60 (the position on the X axis, the position on the Y axis, and the rotation angle θ around the Z axis). To detect.

  In step S50, the controller 12 controls the container clamp device 3 based on the detected position of the food container 60, and the positions and postures of the food container 60 at the positions of the first and second clamp arms 31A and 31B of the container clamp device 3. Adjust to the position corresponding to. That is, the clamp posture is made in accordance with the positional deviation or the inclined posture of the food container 60.

  9A and 9B show an example of the operation at this time. As shown in FIG. 9A, the food containers 60 are offset from the center line of the conveyor belt 13 and are transported in a posture inclined also in the θ axis direction. In addition, in order to make description easy, in FIG. 9A-FIG. 9C, position shift is emphasized and shown. And as shown to FIG. 9B, the position of 1st and 2nd clamp arm 31A, 31B is adjusted to the position corresponding to the position which the food container 60 shifted, and an attitude | position.

  In step S60, the controller 12 controls the container clamp device 3 to move the first and second clamp arms 31A and 31B toward the food container 60 to support the flange portion 61 of the food container 60, and the food container 60. The container is lifted from the container transport conveyor 2 and held in a floating state as it is. FIG. 9C shows an example of the operation of the clamp arms 31A, 31B, etc. at this time. Furthermore, the controller 12 controls the container clamp device 3 to move the food container 60 held by the clamp arms 31A and 31B to the lid closing position 21. Thereby, the positional deviation of the food container 60 is corrected. FIG. 9D shows an example of the operation of the clamp arms 31A, 31B, etc. at this time.

  In step S70, the controller 12 images the lid 70 from above with the lid position detection camera 25 and detects the position of the lid 70 (position on the X axis, position on the Y axis, and rotation angle θ around the Z axis). .

  In step S80, the controller 12 controls the lid closing robot 4 based on the detection position of the lid 70, adsorbs the lid 70 at the lid receiving position 20 by the suction pad 4a, and lids the adsorbed lid 70 from the lid receiving position 20 The lid 70 is transferred to the closing position 21, and the lid 70 is pressed against the food container 60 held at the lid closing position 21 by the clamp arms 31A and 31B, and the lid 70 is closed on the food container 60. When the lid 70 is displaced at the lid receiving position 20 (position on the X axis, position on the Y axis and rotation angle θ around the Z axis), the lid closing robot 4 receives the lid 70 at the lid receiving position During the transfer from the position 20 to the lid closing position 21, the positional deviation is corrected to a position and posture corresponding to the food container 60 held in the lid closing position 21.

  In step S90, the controller 12 controls the container clamp device 3 to open the clamp arms 31A and 31B to release the holding of the food container 60, and the conveyor belt of the container transport conveyor 2 is mounted on the food container 60 with the lid 70 attached. Put back on 13 Thereby, the food container 60 to which the lid 70 is attached is carried out from the container outlet of the container conveyance conveyor 2. This is the end of the flow.

  In addition, the process process mentioned above is an example, At least one part of the said process may be deleted and changed, and processes other than the above may be added. For example, when the user manually operates the container transport conveyor 2, the step S <b> 10 may be omitted.

<6. Effect of embodiment>
As described above, the lid closing system 1 according to the present embodiment covers the container transport conveyor 2 for transporting the food container 60 and the food container 60 transported by the container transport conveyor 2 by supporting the side portion 69 and closing the lid. The container clamping device 3 held at the position 21 and the lid closing robot 4 for closing the lid 70 by pressing the lid 70 against the food container 60 held by the container clamping device 3 are provided. This produces the following effects.

  That is, according to the present embodiment, with the side portion 69 of the food container 60 supported, the lid 70 is pressed against the food container 60 to close it. By supporting the side portion 69 of the food container 60, it is possible to prevent the compressive force from acting on the container body 62 when the lid 62 is pressed. Thereby, even when the strength of the food container 60 is weak, it is possible to suppress the occurrence of deformation in the container, so that the reliability of the lid closing can be improved.

  Further, in the present embodiment, in particular, the food container 60 includes the flange portion 61, and the container clamp device 3 supports the lower surface of the flange portion 61. Generally, the flange portion 61 is provided at the upper end of the container main body 62. Therefore, by supporting the flange portion 61, the effect of preventing the compressive force from acting on the container main body 62 when pressing the lid 62 is enhanced. Can.

  Further, in the present embodiment, in particular, the container clamp device 3 holds the food container 60 in a floating state from the container transport conveyor 2, and the container transport conveyor 2 holds the food container 60 by the container clamp device 3. Continue driving.

  As a result, the container transport conveyor 2 does not need to be operated intermittently, and the container transport conveyor 2 can be operated continuously at a constant speed. As a result, the cycle time of the lid closing process can be shortened, and the apparatus configuration (can be driven by a single motor) and control of the container transport conveyor 2 can be simplified.

  Further, particularly in the present embodiment, the lid closing system 1 is based on the container position detection camera 7 that detects the position of the food container 60 transported by the container transport conveyor 2 and the position data output from the container position detection camera 7 And the controller 12 which controls the container clamping device 3 to move the food container 60 by the displacement amount from the lid closing position 21 and hold the food container 60 in the lid closing position 21. This produces the following effects.

  That is, in the previous step of the lid closing step performed by the lid closing system 1, for example, the step of storing the food of the contents in the food container 60 is performed, but the position of the food container 60 is predetermined in the previous step. (The position in the width direction corresponding to the lid closing position 21). According to the present embodiment, the container clamp device 3 can correct the positional deviation, move the food container 60 to the lid closing position 21 set in advance, and hold it. Thereby, since the positioning accuracy of the food container 60 can be improved, the certainty of lid closing can be improved. Further, since the lid closing robot 4 can always perform the lid closing at the constant lid closing position 21, the cycle time of the lid closing process can be shortened.

  Further, particularly in the present embodiment, the container clamp device 3 moves the two clamp arms 31A and 31B for supporting the flange portion 61 of the food container 60, and moves the clamp arms 31A and 31B independently in the horizontal direction. And two horizontal actuators 32A, 32B to move the food container 60 by the amount of horizontal displacement from the lid closing position 21 based on the position data. Control. This produces the following effects.

  That is, according to the present embodiment, even if the food container 60 is misaligned in the horizontal direction (X-axis, Y-axis direction) in the previous process, the positional deviation is corrected by the horizontal actuators 32A and 32B and then the lid is removed. It can be held in the closed position 21. Thereby, since the positioning accuracy of the food container 60 can be improved, the certainty of lid closing can be improved. Further, since the lid closing robot 4 can always perform lid closing at a constant lid closing position, the cycle time of the lid closing process can be shortened.

  Further, particularly in the present embodiment, the container clamp device 3 has a rotary actuator 33 for rotating the two clamp arms 31A and 31B around the rotation axis AX, and the controller 12 operates the food container 60 based on the position data. The rotary actuator 33 is controlled to move by the amount of positional deviation in the rotational direction from the lid closing position 21. This produces the following effects.

  That is, according to the present embodiment, even when the food container 60 is misaligned in the rotational direction (θ-axis direction) in the previous process, the positional deviation is corrected by the rotary actuator 33 and held at the lid closing position 21. can do. Thereby, since the positioning accuracy of the food container 60 can be improved, the certainty of lid closing can be improved. In addition, since the lid closing robot 4 can always perform lid closing at a constant lid closing position and posture, the cycle time of the lid closing process can be shortened.

  Further, particularly in the present embodiment, the lid closing system 1 has the container illumination device 6 that illuminates the food container 60 transported by the container transport conveyor 2 from below, and the container transport conveyor 2 receives the light of the container illumination device 7 The container position detection camera 7 is a camera that captures an image of the food container 60 illuminated by the container illumination device 6 via the conveyor belt 13 from above. This produces the following effects.

  That is, according to the present embodiment, by applying light from behind the food container 60 and imaging with the camera 7, the contour is made clear not only when the food container 60 is opaque but also when the food container 60 is transparent. So-called transmitted light photography. Thereby, the detection accuracy of the position of the food container 60 can be improved. Further, since it is not necessary to arrange the illumination above the container conveyance conveyer 2, there is no restriction on the operation of the lid closing robot 4 and the lid 70 can be transferred or closed in the shortest operation, so the tact time is shortened. can do.

  Further, particularly in the present embodiment, the lid closing system 1 is disposed on the upstream side of the container clamping device 3 in the conveyance direction of the container conveyance conveyor 2 and the food container 60 conveyed by the container conveyance conveyor 2 is perpendicular to the conveyance direction. The container centering device 5 is moved to a position corresponding to the lid closing position 21 in the width direction. This produces the following effects.

  That is, according to the present embodiment, the position in the width direction of the food container 60 is adjusted in advance by the container centering device 5 on the upstream side so that the positional deviation can be corrected by the container clamp device 3. be able to. That is, the position of the food container 60 can be roughly adjusted by the container centering device 5 and finely adjusted by the container clamping device 3. As a result, since the positioning time at the time of the fine adjustment of the food container 60 is shortened, the tact time can be shortened.

  Further, in the present embodiment, in particular, the container centering device 5 is disposed opposite to the width direction, and opens and closes the pair of centering arms 51A and 51B and the pair of centering arms 51A and 51B sandwiching the food container 60 in the width direction. It has a feed belt 53 disposed at the contact portion between the opening / closing actuator 52A, 52B and the food container 60 in each of the pair of centering arms 51A, 51B and circulatingly driven at the same transport speed as the container transport conveyor 2. This produces the following effects.

  That is, in the container centering device 5, the food container 60 being transported is brought into contact with the pair of centering arms 51A and 51B so as to be pinched, and the food container 60 is moved to a predetermined position. At this time, if the movement of the food container 60 is stopped or the transport speed is reduced due to the friction with the centering arms 51A and 51B, the cycle time of the lid closing step is extended and the food container 60 on the upstream side collides later And other problems may occur.

  According to the present embodiment, the feed belt 53, which is driven to circulate at the same transport speed as the container transport conveyor 2, is provided at the contact portion of the centering arms 51A and 51B with the food container 60. The food container 60 can be moved to a predetermined width direction position without feeding. Therefore, it is possible to prevent such problems as prolongation of the cycle time of the lid closing process, and a rear impact of the food container 60 on the upstream side.

  Further, particularly in the present embodiment, the container clamp device 3 has two clamp arms 31A and 31B for supporting the flange portion 61 of the food container 60, and the clamp arms 31A and 31B are formed in the shape of the food container 60. It is configured to be interchangeable.

  According to the present embodiment, by exchanging the clamp arms 31A and 31B of the container clamp device 3 according to the shape of the food container 60, it is possible to flexibly cope with containers of various shapes.

  Further, in the present embodiment, in particular, the lid closing robot 4 is provided with the suction pad 4a for sucking the lid 70 at the tip, and transfers the lid 70 supplied to the lid receiving position 20 to the lid closing position 21 to perform lid closing. The robot is an articulated robot, and the suction pad 4 a is configured to be exchangeable according to the shape of the lid 70.

  According to the present embodiment, since the multi-joint type lid closing robot 4 is used as the lid closing device, it is possible to enhance the transfer path and positioning freedom of the lid 70 by increasing the number of axes as necessary. . In addition, since the lid 70 is adsorbed by the suction pad 4a and pressed onto the food container 60, the lid 70 may be either an outer fitting type container or an inner fitting type container (see FIGS. 10 and 11 described later). it can. Furthermore, by replacing the suction pads 4a of the lid-closing robot 4 according to the shape of the lid 70, it is possible to flexibly cope with lids of various shapes.

<7. Modified example>
The embodiment of the disclosure is not limited to the above, and various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit and the technical idea thereof. Hereinafter, such a modified example will be described.

(When closing the lid on the internal fitting type circular container)
Although the case where lid 70 is closed to the outside fitting type rectangular food container 60 was explained as an example in the above-mentioned embodiment according to the shape of food container 60, the clamp arms 31A and 31B of container clamp device 3 And by replacing the suction pad 4a of the lid-closing robot 4, it is possible to flexibly cope with various shaped food containers. In this modification, an example of the lid closing operation in the case of closing the lid on the inner fitting type circular container will be described with reference to FIGS. 10 to 12.

  As shown in FIG. 10, a food container 160, which is, for example, a circular container, has a substantially cylindrical container body 162, and a flange portion 161 is provided around the upper end of the opening of the container body 162. The side portion 169 of the food container 160 includes the side surface of the container body 162 and the flange portion 161. As shown in the enlarged view in FIG. 10, the flange portion 161 is bent at a substantially right angle from the tip of the first flat portion 163 protruding substantially horizontally outward of the container main body 162 and the tip of the first flat portion 163 A vertical portion 164, a second flat portion 165 projecting substantially horizontally outward from the tip of the vertical portion 164, and a protrusion 166 bent substantially perpendicularly downward from the tip of the second flat portion 165 A recess 167 is formed on the lower surface of the flange portion 161. On the other hand, the lid 170 has a substantially frusto-conical lid main body 172 corresponding to the circular shape of the food container 160, and a flange portion 171 is provided around the lower end of the opening of the lid main body 172. As shown in the enlarged view in FIG. 10, the flange portion 171 has a flat portion 173 which protrudes substantially horizontally outward of the lid main body 172 and a vertical portion 174 which is bent substantially perpendicularly upward from the tip of the flat portion 173. And a protrusion 175 protruding substantially horizontally outward from the tip of the vertical portion 174.

  The suction pad 104 a has a substantially cylindrical pad main body 180 corresponding to the circular shape of the flange portion 171 of the lid 170, and a suction pipe 182 attached to the upper surface of the pad main body 180 via a mounting plate 181. The pad main body 180 has a substantially cylindrical frame-like pressing portion 183 which abuts on the upper surface of the flat portion 173 of the flange portion 171 of the lid 170, and an internal space which becomes negative pressure by being sucked through the suction pipe 182. And 184. The suction pipe 182 at the top of the pad body 180 is in communication with the internal space 184. The lid-closing robot 4 covers the suction pad 104a on the lid 170, brings the lower end of the pressing portion 183 into contact with the upper surface of the flat portion 173 of the flange portion 171, and negative pressure in the internal space 184 via the suction pipe 182. By doing this, as shown in FIG. 11, the lid 170 is adsorbed and held by the suction pad 104 a in a state where the lid main body 172 is accommodated in the pad main body 180.

  In the first and second clamp arms 131A and 131B of the container clamp device 3, the recess 136a of the head portion 136 and the container support portion 137 are formed in an arc shape corresponding to the circular shape of the food container 160. When holding the food container 160, as shown in FIG. 10, the head portions 136 of the clamp arms 131A and 131B ascend and sandwich the container body 162 from both sides. As a result, as shown in the enlarged view in FIG. 11, the container support portion 137 is fitted in the concave portion 167 of the flange portion 161 of the food container 160, and the container support portion 137 is the first flat portion 163 of the flange portion 161. It supports and holds the food container 160 in a floating state from the conveyor belt 13.

  Then, as shown in FIG. 11, the lid 170 adsorbed to the suction pad 104a by the lid-closing robot 4 is pressed against the food container 160 held by the clamp arms 131A and 131B. At this time, the flange portions 161 and 171 are sandwiched by the pressing portion 183 of the suction pad 104a and the container support portion 137 of the clamp arms 131A and 131B. As a result, as shown in the enlarged view in FIG. 12, the flat portion 173 of the flange portion 171 of the lid 170 is superimposed on the top surface of the first flat portion 163 of the flange portion 161 of the food container 160. Vertical portion 174 of the flange portion 161 of the food container 160 is overlapped, and the projection 175 of the flange portion 171 of the lid 170 is overlapped on the upper surface of the second flat portion 165 of the flange portion 161 of the food container 160, A lid 170 is attached to the food container 160 in a so-called inner fit.

  As described above, the present invention can also be applied to the case of closing the lid 170 on the inner fitting type container 160. The inner fitting type container is used as a microwave oven compatible container, for example, when generated water droplets are unlikely to leak to the outside of the container when the food of the contents is warmed by the microwave oven. According to this modification, even in the case of using such a container, the reliability of lid closing can be improved.

(7-2. Other)
In the above, although the articulated robot is used as the lid closing device, a dedicated machine other than the robot may be used. In the above description, the positional displacement of the food container 60 is corrected by the container clamping device 3. However, without correcting the container clamping device 3, the position of the transfer destination of the lid 70 is corrected at the lid closing robot 4 side. It is also good. In this case, the rotary actuator 33 is unnecessary, and the horizontal actuators 32A and 32B can be made into one axis, so the container clamp device 3 can be simplified.

  In the above description, when “vertical”, “parallel”, “plane”, etc. are described, the description does not have a strict meaning. That is, the terms "vertical", "parallel" and "plane" mean "substantially vertical", "substantially parallel" and "substantially planar" as their design allows for manufacturing tolerances and errors. .

  Further, in the above description, when there are descriptions such as “identical”, “identical”, “equal”, “different” etc. in terms of size, size, shape, position and the like on the appearance, the description is not strict. That is, "the same" "same" "equal" "different" means that design tolerances, manufacturing tolerances and errors are allowed, and "substantially identical" "substantially identical" "substantially equal" " It means "substantially different".

  Also, other than those described above, the methods according to the above embodiments may be used in combination as appropriate. In addition, although not illustrated one by one, various changes are added and implemented in the above-mentioned embodiment in the range which does not deviate from the meaning.

1 lid closing system 2 container conveyance conveyor (an example of a conveyance device)
3 container clamp device (an example of holding device)
4 lid closing robot (an example of lid closing device)
4a Suction pad 5 container centering device (an example of a width adjustment device)
6 container lighting device (an example of a lighting device)
7 Container position detection camera (example of position sensor)
12 Controller 13 Conveyor belt (an example of a belt)
21 Lid closing position 31A first clamp arm (example of support member)
31 B Second clamp arm (example of support member)
32A 1st horizontal actuator 32B 2nd horizontal actuator 33 Rotational actuator 51A 1st centering arm (an example of an arm member)
51B Second centering arm (an example of an arm member)
52A 1st opening-and-closing actuator 52B 2nd opening-and-closing actuator 53 Feed belt 61 Flange part 60 Food container (an example of a container)
69 Side 70 lid AX axis of rotation (an example of vertical axis)

Claims (12)

A transport device for transporting the container;
A holding device for supporting the side portion and holding the container transported by the transport device in the lid closing position;
A lid closing device for pressing a lid on the container held by the holding device to perform lid closing;
A lid closing system characterized by having. The container is
Equipped with a flange,
The holding device is
The lid closing system according to claim 1, wherein the lower surface of the flange portion is supported. The holding device is
Holding the container in a floating state from the transport device;
The transport device
The lid closing system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the operation is continued while the container is held by the holding device. A position sensor for detecting the position of the container transported by the transport device;
The controller further controls the holding device to move the container by the amount of positional deviation from the lid closing position and to hold the container in the lid closing position based on the position data output from the position sensor. The lid closing system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that: The holding device is
A plurality of support members supporting the sides of the container;
And a plurality of horizontal actuators for independently moving each of the plurality of support members in the horizontal direction.
The controller
5. The lid closing system according to claim 4, wherein the plurality of horizontal actuators are controlled based on the position data to move the container by an amount of horizontal displacement from the lid closing position. The holding device is
A plurality of support members supporting the sides of the container;
And a rotary actuator for rotating the plurality of support members about a vertical axis,
The controller
The lid closing system according to claim 4 or 5, wherein the rotary actuator is controlled based on the position data to move the container by an amount of positional deviation in the rotation direction from the lid closing position. It further has a lighting device that illuminates the container transported by the transport device from below,
The transport device
It is a conveyer provided with a light transmitting belt which transmits the light of the lighting device,
The position sensor is
The lid closing system according to any one of claims 4 to 6, wherein the lid closing system is a camera which picks up an image of the container illuminated from above by the illumination device through the belt. The container, which is disposed on the upstream side of the holding device in the transport direction of the transport device and transported by the transport device, is moved toward the position corresponding to the lid closing position in the width direction perpendicular to the transport direction. The lid closing system according to any one of claims 1 to 7, further comprising a width adjustment device. The width adjustment device is
A pair of arm members disposed opposite to each other in the width direction and sandwiching the container;
An opening and closing actuator for opening and closing the pair of arm members in the width direction;
9. The lid closing system according to claim 8, further comprising: a feed belt disposed at a contact portion with each container in each of the pair of arm members, and driven to circulate at the same transport speed as the transport device. . The holding device is
A plurality of support members supporting the side of the container;
The support member is
The lid closing system according to any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein the lid closing system is configured to be exchangeable according to the shape of the container. The lid closing device is
An articulated robot comprising a suction pad at a tip end for suctioning the lid, and transferring the lid supplied to the lid receiving position to the lid closing position to close the lid;
The suction pad is
The lid closing system according to any one of claims 1 to 10, wherein the lid closing system is configured to be exchangeable according to the shape of the lid. A lid closing method performed by a lid closing system, comprising:
Conveying the container,
Support the side of the container to be transported and hold it in a closed position;
Pressing a lid against the held container to perform lid closing;
A lid closing method characterized by having:

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