JP2023098242A - Packaging device - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a packaging device capable of shortening a time required for packaging.SOLUTION: A packaging device comprises: a film supply stop part for stopping the supply of two continuous films F1, F2 whose front ends are welded to each other and which are supplied so as to move to a downstream side together with an object 100 to be packaged inserted therebetween; a conveyance part 22 for stretching the two continuous films F1, F2 by moving the object 100 to be packaged further to the downstream side in a state where the supply of the two continuous films F1, F2 is stopped; and a heater 20 for thermally welding the two continuous films F1, F2 to each other in a state where a rear end of the object 100 to be packaged conveyed by the conveyance part 22 has passed through the heater 20. The film supply stop part stops the supply of the two continuous films before the rear end of the object to be packaged passes through the heater.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

The present invention relates to packaging equipment.

Patent Literature 1 discloses a packaging device that places an article on a mount and wraps a film around the article together with the mount to package the article. According to this packaging device, it is said that the article can be tightly wrapped together with the backing so that damage to the article during transportation can be suppressed.

JP 2019-172287 A

The packaging apparatus of Patent Document 1 performs stretch packaging by reversing the conveyer for carrying out the article to move the article to the upstream side, or stretching the film by rewinding the film, so that the packaging takes time. It takes

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in such a situation, and one exemplary object of some aspects thereof is to provide a wrapping apparatus capable of shortening the time required for stretch wrapping.

In order to solve the above-described problems, a packaging apparatus according to one aspect of the present invention includes a conveying section that conveys an article to be packaged, and a conveying section that is welded at the ends thereof, and an article to be packaged that is inserted between the conveying sections moves downstream. A film supply adjustment section for making the drawing speed, which is the speed at which the two continuous films are drawn out from one film roll respectively, slower than the speed at which the packaged item moves downstream, and a heater, comprising: a heater for heat-sealing the two continuous films while the trailing edge of the article to be packaged has passed through the heater. The film supply adjusting section makes the pull-out speed slower than the moving speed of the object to be packaged before the rear end of the object to be packaged passes the heater.

Arbitrary combinations of the above constituent elements, and mutual replacement of the constituent elements and expressions of the present invention between methods, devices, systems, etc. are also effective as embodiments of the present invention.

According to the present invention, the time required for packaging can be shortened.

1 is a vertical cross-sectional view of a packaging device according to an embodiment; FIG. FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing an object wrapped with a film by the packaging apparatus of FIG. 1; FIGS. 3(a) to 3(d) are diagrams for explaining the operation of the packaging apparatus in chronological order. 4(a) to (d) are diagrams for explaining the operation of the packaging apparatus in chronological order.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION The present invention will be described below based on preferred embodiments with reference to the drawings. The embodiments are illustrative rather than limiting the invention, and not all features and combinations thereof described in the embodiments are necessarily essential to the invention. The same or equivalent constituent elements, members, and processes shown in each drawing are denoted by the same reference numerals, and duplication of description will be omitted as appropriate.

FIG. 1 is a vertical cross-sectional view of a packaging device 1 according to an embodiment. FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing an item 100 packaged by the packaging apparatus 1. As shown in FIG. The wrapping device 1 is a stretch wrapping device that wraps the object 100 by using the stretchability of the film F. As shown in FIG.

The object to be packaged 100 includes a plate-like mount 102 and an article 104 placed on the mount 102 . The mount 102 is, for example, cardboard. Although the mount 102 is not particularly limited, in this example, it has a rectangular shape when viewed in a direction perpendicular to the mounting surface 102a on which the article 104 is mounted.

The article 104 of the object to be packaged 100 is, for example, a product purchased at an EC site (for example, a mail order site of a store on the Internet), and the object to be packaged 100 is stretch-wrapped with a film F and wrapped in, for example, corrugated cardboard. Boxed and shipped to the purchaser.

The packaging apparatus 1 is an apparatus for packaging an item 100 to be packaged with a film F. As shown in FIG. That is, the packaging apparatus 1 is an apparatus for packaging the article 104 with the film F together with the mount 102 . The packaging device 1 can also be regarded as a device that fixes the article 104 to the mount 102 with the film F. As shown in FIG.

The packaging device 1 has an insertion port 2 located at the right end in FIG. 1 and a discharge port 4 located at the left end in FIG. Hereinafter, the direction from the insertion port 2 to the discharge port 4 will be referred to as a conveying direction D, and in the conveying direction D, the insertion port 2 side will be referred to as the upstream side, and the discharge port 4 side will be referred to as the downstream side. The object to be packaged 100 is inserted through the insertion slot 2 so that the two opposing sides of the mount 102 are parallel or substantially parallel to the conveying direction D. As shown in FIG. The packaging device 1 wraps the object to be packaged 100 inserted from the insertion port 2 with the film F until it is discharged from the discharge port 4 .

The packaging device 1 includes a first roll support shaft 10, a second roll support shaft 12, a receiving portion 14, a first presser 16, a second presser 18, a heater 20, a support member 34, and a conveying portion 22. , a first sensor 24 , a second sensor 26 , a third sensor 28 , and a controller 30 .

The first roll support shaft 10 is inserted through a core (for example, a paper tube) of the film roll R1 and rotatably supports the film roll R1. The first roll support shaft 10 is particularly provided so that the film roll R1 is positioned above the insertion opening 2. As shown in FIG.

The second roll support shaft 12 is inserted through the core of the film roll R2 and rotatably supports the film roll R2. The second roll support shaft 12 is particularly provided so that the film roll R2 is positioned below the insertion opening 2. As shown in FIG.

The film rolls R1 and R2 are obtained by winding a long continuous film around a core. A continuous film F1 is pulled out from the film roll R1 and is hung on the guide 32, the leading end of which is positioned above the receiving portion 14 of the heater 20. As shown in FIG. A continuous film F2 is pulled out from the film roll R2 and is hung on the guide 33, and its leading end is positioned above the receiving portion 14. As shown in FIG. The continuous films F1 and F2 are narrower than the mount 102 of the item 100 to be packaged.

The ends of the continuous films F1 and F2 are welded (that is, connected) by the previous packaging operation. Also, the film rolls R1 and R2 are rotatably supported as described above. Therefore, when the object to be packaged 100 is inserted and moved downstream, the leading ends of the continuous films F1 and F2 are pushed by the object to be packaged 100 and move downstream together with the object to be packaged 100, and are removed from the film rolls R1 and R2. The continuous films F1 and F2 are pulled out by the amount of movement.

The continuous films F1 and F2 are transparent although not particularly limited. The continuous films F1 and F2 are stretch films having elasticity at least in the transport direction D. Having stretchability in the conveying direction D refers to the property of elongating without breaking when a tensile force is applied in the conveying direction D and shrinking when the tensile force is removed. It does not matter whether it returns to its original state when the tensile force is removed, ie whether it returns to its original length.

The first presser 16, the heater 20, and the second presser 18 are arranged in this order from the upstream side. A receiving portion 14 is provided below the first presser 16 , the heater 20 and the second presser 18 . The receiving portion 14 has a flat upper surface 14a. Each of the first presser 16, the heater 20, the second presser 18, and the receiving portion 14 is a member elongated in the width direction.

The first presser 16 can be raised and lowered by a drive mechanism (not shown). In the illustrated example, the lower surface 16a of the first retainer 16 is flat, but is not limited to this, and may be curved, for example.

Both the heater 20 and the second presser 18 are supported by the support member 34 . The support member 34 can be raised and lowered by a drive mechanism (not shown). Therefore, the heater 20 and the second presser 18 can move up and down as the support member 34 moves up and down. In this case, only one driving mechanism for moving the heater 20 and the second presser 18 up and down is required, so the cost is low. Note that the heater 20 and the second presser 18 may be raised and lowered by separate drive mechanisms. In this case, the support member 34 is unnecessary.

The second presser 18 is supported by a support member 34 so as to be vertically movable relative to the heater 20 . One end (upper end) 34 a of the second presser 18 is fixed to the support member 34 , and the other end (lower end) 34 b of the second presser 18 is fixed to the upper end of the second presser 18 by a spring 36 , which moves downward, that is, the upper surface 14 a of the receiving portion 14 . is biased toward

In the illustrated example, the lower surface 18a of the second retainer 18 is flat, but is not limited to this, and may be curved, for example.

The heater 20 is made of, for example, light-weight aluminum or an aluminum alloy with good thermal conductivity. The lower end of heater 20 is formed at an acute angle. A rubber heater (not shown) is baked and fixed to the heater 20, and the heater 20 can be heated by energizing the rubber heater.

A distance L1 in the conveying direction from the first presser 16 to the heater 20 is preferably longer than a distance L2 in the conveying direction from the heater 20 to the second presser 18, as shown. The distance L1 is, for example, the distance between the center of the lower surface 16a of the first presser 16 in the transport direction D and the tip of the heater 20. As shown in FIG. The distance L2 is, for example, the distance between the tip of the heater 20 and the center of the lower surface 18a of the second presser 18 in the transport direction D. As shown in FIG.

A conveying section 22 for conveying the article to be packaged 100 downstream is provided on the downstream side of the second presser 18 . The conveying unit 22 conveys the package 100 by pinching both ends of the mount 102 in the width direction outside the continuous films F1 and F2 and not covered by the continuous films F1 and F2. In this example, two conveying units 22 are separated from each other in the width direction with an interval wider than the width of the continuous films F1 and F2 (only one on the front side of the paper surface is visible in FIG. 1) on the upstream side. A conveying roller pair 38 and two downstream conveying roller pairs separated from each other in the width direction with a gap wider than the width of the continuous films F1 and F2 (only one on the front side of the paper surface is visible in FIG. 1). 40 and Each of the transport roller pairs 38 and 40 includes an upper roller that contacts the mount 102 from above and a lower roller that contacts the mount 102 from below. The pair of conveying rollers 38 and 40 sandwich the mount 102 between the upper and lower rollers and convey the mount 102 and the object to be packaged 100 to the downstream side.

The first sensor 24 is arranged upstream of the first presser 16 . The second sensor 26 is arranged downstream of the second presser 18 and upstream of the conveying section 22 . The third sensor 28 is arranged downstream of the transport section 22 . Sensors 24, 26, and 28 detect the leading edge or trailing edge of package 100 at each position.

The control unit 30 controls the packaging device 1 in an integrated manner. Specifically, the control unit 30 controls the operation of actuators such as motors that drive each mechanism, and the heating of the heater 20 for welding the continuous films F1 and F2. For example, the control unit 30 causes the conveying unit 22 to start and stop the transportation of the object to be packaged 100 based on the detection results of the object to be packaged 100 by the sensors 24 , 26 and 28 .

The above is the basic configuration of the packaging device 1 . Next, the operation will be explained.

FIGS. 3(a) to (d) and FIGS. 4(a) to (d) are diagrams for explaining the operation of the packaging machine 1 in chronological order. In FIG. 3A, the first presser 16, the heater 20 and the second presser 18 are at standby positions spaced upward from the upper surface 14a of the receiving portion 14. In FIG. The object to be packaged 100 is inserted into the packaging device 1 in this state. The standby position is a position (height) at which the first presser 16, the heater 20 and the second presser 18 do not come into contact with the package 100 to be inserted. At the standby position, the second presser 18 is located closer to the upper surface 14 a of the receiving portion 14 than the heater 20 is. The transport roller pair 38, 40 of the transport section 22 is stopped.

In FIG. 3(b), the article to be packaged 100 is inserted up to the conveying section 22. In FIG. The pair of conveying rollers 38 and 40 of the conveying unit 22 starts rotating when the first sensor 24 detects the leading end of the item 100 to be packaged, clamping both ends of the mount 102 and conveying the item 100 downstream. transport.

In FIG. 3(c), the rear end of the item to be packaged 100 has passed through the first presser 16. In FIG. The first presser 16 is lowered from the standby position to the gripping position. The conveying section 22 conveys the article to be packaged 100 further downstream.

The gripping position of the first presser 16 is the position where the first presser 16 is pressed against the upper surface 14 a of the receiving portion 14 . The continuous films F1 and F2 are gripped by the first presser 16 and the receiving portion 14 when the first presser 16 is at the gripping position. That is, the first presser 16 and the portion of the receiving portion 14 facing the first presser 16 constitute a gripping portion that grips the continuous films F1 and F2. By gripping the continuous films F1 and F2, the supply of the continuous films F1 and F2 from the film rolls R1 and R2 is stopped. In other words, the continuous films F1 and F2 are no longer pulled out from the film rolls R1 and R2. In other words, the speed at which the continuous films F1 and F2 are pulled out from the film rolls R1 and R2 (hereinafter referred to as "pull-out speed") becomes zero. In other words, the first presser 16 and the portion of the receiving section 14 facing the first presser 16 serve as a gripping section, and in turn, a film supply adjustment section that stops the supply of the continuous films F1 and F2 (sets the pull-out speed to zero). Configure. The drawing speed is the speed of the continuous films F1 and F2 immediately after being drawn from the film rolls R1 and R2. In addition, the pull-out speed can be regarded as a speed equal to the peripheral speed of the outer peripheral surfaces of the film rolls R1 and R2 that rotate as the continuous films F1 and F2 are pulled out.

More specifically, the first presser 16 reaches the gripping position after the rear end of the package 100 has passed through the first presser 16 and before it passes through the heater 20, and the continuous films F1 and F2 are pulled together with the receiver 14. grasp the

For example, when the first sensor 24 detects the rear end of the item 100 to be packaged, the rear end of the item 100 passes the first presser 16 and is conveyed at a timing before passing the heater 20. Conveyance by the portion 22 may be stopped, then the first presser 16 may be lowered to the gripping position, and then conveyance by the conveyance portion 22 may be restarted. Alternatively, for example, the rear end of the object to be packaged 100 passes through the first presser 16 when the first sensor 24 detects the rear end of the object to be packaged 100 without stopping the transportation by the transport unit 22, In addition, the first presser 16 may be lowered so that the first presser 16 reaches the gripping position before passing the heater 20 .

In a state where the supply of the continuous films F1 and F2 is stopped, the conveying unit 22 further conveys the object to be packaged 100 downstream, so the continuous films F1 and F2 extend downstream of the first presser 16. .

In FIG. 3(d), the rear end of the package 100 has passed through the second presser 18. In FIG. The support member 34 is lowered from the standby position (FIG. 3(a)), and the second presser 18 is lowered from the standby position to the gripping position. The transportation of the item to be packaged 100 by the transportation unit 22 is stopped.

The gripping position of the second presser 18 is the position where the second presser 18 is pressed against the upper surface 14 a of the receiving portion 14 . When the second presser 18 is at the gripping position, the continuous films F1 and F2 are gripped by the second presser 18 and the upper surface 14a of the receiving portion 14. As shown in FIG. That is, the second presser 18 and the portion of the receiving portion 14 facing the second presser 18 constitute a gripping portion that grips the continuous films F1 and F2.

Specifically, the second presser 18 reaches the gripping position after the trailing end of the package 100 passes through the second presser 18, and grips the continuous films F1 and F2 together with the receiving portion 14. As shown in FIG.

For example, when the second sensor 26 detects the rear end of the package 100, the conveying unit 22 stops conveying, and then the second presser 18 is lowered to the gripping position.

In FIG. 4A, the first presser 16 is raised from the holding position to the standby position. The first pressing member 16 only needs to be separated from the upper surface 14a of the receiving portion 14, and does not need to be raised to the standby position. In FIG. 4B, the first presser 16 is again lowered from the standby position to the gripping position. In other words, the continuous films F1 and F2 are temporarily released from the gripping by the first presser 16 and the receiving portion 14 . As a result, the tension of the continuous films F1 and F2 between the first presser 16 and the second presser 18 is lowered. This suppresses the occurrence of poor welding in subsequent heat welding.

The continuous films F1 and F2 are pressed against the receiving portion 14 by a first presser 16 on the upstream side of the heater 20 and a second presser 18 on the downstream side of the heater 20, respectively. Therefore, the continuous films F1 and F2 are in close contact with each other at the position to be welded by the heater 20, that is, the position below the heater 20. FIG.

In addition, in FIG. 4B, the first presser 16 may be returned to a position spaced slightly upward from the upper surface 14a of the receiving portion 14 without being returned to the gripping position. Even if the first presser 16 does not press the continuous films F1 and F2 against the receiving portion 14, if it is positioned slightly away from the upper surface 14a of the receiving portion 14, the continuous film F1 and the continuous film F2 are prevented from being too far apart. can be suppressed. That is, the films F1 and F2 are in relatively close contact. In this case, the first presser 16 may be returned to the gripping position before FIG. 4D, which will be described later, more specifically, before the transportation by the transportation unit 22 is restarted.

In FIG. 4(c), the support member 34 is further lowered. Since the second presser 18 has already reached the gripping position at the time of FIG. Although the material of the receiving portion 14 is not particularly limited, for example, it may be made of a material that does not substantially deform or dent even when pressed downward by the pressers 16 and 18 . On the other hand, the heater 20 descends with the descent of the support member 34 and reaches the welding position. The welding position is a position where the tip of the heater 20 is pressed against the upper surface 14 a of the receiving portion 14 . That is, the first presser 16 and the heater 20 are moving relative to each other. The heater 20 contacts the continuous films F1 and F2, which are in close contact with each other, and thermally welds them. As a result, the continuous films F1 and F2 on the downstream side of the second pressing member 18 are welded to each other while being stretched.

In FIG. 4D, the support member 34 is lifted, and the heater 20 and the second presser 18 are lifted from the welding position and gripping position, respectively. In this state, transportation by the transportation section 22 is restarted, and the continuous films F1 and F2 are cut at the welding position. Then, the film wrapping the object 100 (that is, the film separated from the continuous films F1 and F2) shrinks, and the object 100 is tightly stretch-wrapped.

The above is the operation of the packaging device 1 . Subsequently, in FIG. 3C, before the rear end of the package 100 passes through the heater 20, the first presser 16 reaches the gripping position to grip the continuous films F1 and F2 together with the receiving portion 14. to mention that In the packaging apparatus 1, the film packaging the object 100 in FIG. 4(d), that is, the film separated from the continuous films F1 and F2 on the downstream side of the welded portion by the heater 20 is still about to shrink. The applied force secures the article 104 to the mount 102 .

On the other hand, if the rear end of the item to be packaged 100 passes the heater 20 and then the first presser 16 reaches the gripping position, the continuous films F1 and F2 on the downstream side of the heater 20 will be ), it is already long enough to loosely wrap the item 100 to be packaged. Of course, when the film is released and shrunk after stretching, it does not become shorter than it was before stretching. Therefore, in this case, the film wrapping the item 100 cannot fix the article 104 to the mount 102 .

Therefore, it is necessary to make the first presser 16 reach the gripping position and grip the continuous films F1 and F2 together with the receiving portion 14 before the rear end of the package 100 passes the heater 20 .

However, even if the first presser 16 reaches the gripping position before the rear end of the item to be packaged 100 passes the heater 20, the distance from the rear end of the item to be packaged 100 to the heater 20 at that time is L5 3(c)) is too short, there is a possibility that the object to be packaged 100 can only be wrapped loosely. Specifically, even if the stretched film shrinks, it may not return to its original length, and the length of the portion that is longer than the original length (hereinafter referred to as the “stretched portion”) is longer than L5. In this case, the object to be packaged 100 can only be wrapped loosely. Therefore, L5 must be longer than the length of the stretched portion, and longer L5 allows for tighter packaging. In order to obtain the length of L5, L1 must have a certain length. On the other hand, the length of L2 does not affect this and should be as short as possible in order to make the device compact.

Moreover, as is clear from the fact that the object 100 is wrapped by the stretchability of the film, the distance L2 in the conveying direction from the heater 20 to the second presser 18 and the tip position of the object 100 in FIG. A distance L3 in the conveying direction to the first presser 16 and a distance L4 in the conveying direction from the rear end position of the package 100 to the second presser 18 in FIG. It influences whether or not the article to be packaged 100 is securely packaged so that the article is not misaligned with respect to the mount 102 when it is applied. These distances L2, L3, and L4 may be determined to appropriate values according to the stretchability of the continuous films F1 and F2 based on experiments and the like.

Note that the first presser 16, the second presser 18, and the heater 20 may be separately movable in the transport direction. In this case, the distances L2, L3 and L4 can be changed. For example, when the continuous films F1 and F2 are changed to those with different stretchability, or when the length of the mount 102 in the conveying direction is changed, the distances L2 and L3 are set so that the package 100 is securely wrapped. , L4 should be adjusted.

According to the present embodiment described above, the continuous films F1 and F2 are gripped without moving (backward) the item to be packaged 100 upstream or rewinding the continuous films F1 and F2. The object 100 can be stretch-wrapped by a relatively simple operation of conveying the object 100 downstream to stretch the continuous films F1 and F2 and then welding them in that state, thereby shortening the time required for packaging. can be shortened.

The present invention has been described above based on the embodiments. It should be understood by those skilled in the art that this embodiment is merely an example, and that various modifications can be made to the combination of each component and each treatment process, and that such modifications are within the scope of the present invention. be. Such modifications will be described below.

(Modification 1)
In the embodiment, the case where the first presser 16 and the portion of the receiving section 14 facing the first presser 16 constitute the gripping section and thus the film supply adjusting section has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the packaging device 1 may be provided with a brake mechanism that applies a brake so that the film rolls R1 and R2 cannot rotate, and releases the brake so that the film rolls R1 and R2 can rotate. In this case, the supply of the continuous films F1 and F2 from the film rolls R1 and R2 is stopped by applying the brake so that the film rolls R1 and R2 cannot rotate. In other words, the brake mechanism constitutes the film supply adjustment section.

(Modification 2)
In the embodiment and the modified example described above, the case where the film supply adjustment unit stops the supply of the film, in other words, sets the film withdrawal speed to zero has been described. Even if the pull-out speed is not set to zero, the pull-out speed may be reduced, and specifically, the pull-out speed may be made slower than the speed at which the package 100 moves downstream. If the pull-out speed is slower than the speed at which the article to be packaged 100 moves downstream, the two continuous films F1 and F2 are elongated, so that the same effects as those of the embodiment can be obtained. For example, when the first presser 16 and the portion of the receiving portion 14 facing the first presser 16 constitute the film supply adjusting portion, the force with which the first presser 16 is pressed against the receiving portion 14 is weakened, thereby allowing the film to be pulled out. You should slow it down. Further, for example, when the brake mechanism described in Modification 1 constitutes the film supply adjustment unit, the pull-out speed may be slowed down by applying a weaker brake to the brake mechanism.

Although the present invention has been described using specific terms based on the embodiment, the embodiment only shows one aspect of the principle and application of the present invention, and the embodiment does not include the claims. Many variations and rearrangements are permissible without departing from the spirit of the invention as defined in its scope.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 packaging device 16 first presser 18 second presser 20 heater 22 conveying unit F1, F2 continuous film.

Claims (7)

a conveying unit for conveying the object to be packaged;
For two continuous films whose ends are welded to each other and which are respectively drawn from two film rolls by downstream movement of an item to be packaged inserted between them, the drawing speed is the speed at which the items to be packaged are drawn. A film supply adjustment unit that slows down the speed of moving downstream;
a heater for heat-sealing two continuous films together in a state in which the rear end of the article to be packaged conveyed by the conveying unit passes through the heater;
with
The film supply adjustment unit is a packaging device that makes the pull-out speed slower than the moving speed of the object to be packaged before the rear end of the object to be packaged passes the heater. The film supply adjusting section is configured by a first gripping section capable of gripping two continuous films on the upstream side of the heater. 2. The packaging apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the continuous film is pulled out at a speed slower than the moving speed of the package. The film supply adjustment unit includes a second gripping unit capable of gripping two continuous films on the downstream side of the heater,
3. The packaging apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the second gripping section grips the two continuous films after gripping the two continuous films by the first gripping section and before thermal welding by the heater. The packaging apparatus according to claim 3, wherein a distance in the conveying direction from the first gripping portion to the heater is longer than a distance in the conveying direction from the heater to the second gripping portion. 5. After gripping the two continuous films by the second gripping portion, the two continuous films are temporarily released from the gripping of the two continuous films by the first gripping portion and then gripped again before thermal welding by the heater. A packaging device as described. The two continuous films are narrower than the item to be packaged,
6. The packaging apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the conveying unit conveys the object to be packaged while holding the outer side of the two continuous films in the width direction. 6. The packaging apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the film supply adjustment section sets the drawing speed to zero as the drawing speed slower than the moving speed of the object to be packaged.

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