JP2538473B2 - Vacuum packaging machine - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an improvement of a bag gripping device of a vacuum packing machine for vacuum packing a bag containing a filling.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 8 shows an outline of a vacuum packaging system. In the filling step A, while the bag 1 is intermittently rotated together with the table T ₁ , a filling material and a filling liquid are stored therein, In the step B, the bag 1 is received in the vacuum chamber 2 and held by a bag holding device (not shown), and vacuum packed while rotating intermittently with the table T ₂ . It is designed to be discharged to the next process. By the way, in the conventional bag gripping device installed in the vacuum chamber 2, generally, as shown in FIG. 9, a chuck composed of a movable part 5 ′ and a fixed part 6 ′ is arranged on the left and right, and arranged on the left and right respectively. Drive shaft 3'a, 3'b
The movable parts 5 ′ and 5 ′ are driven by a separately provided driving mechanism.
Is opened and closed to grasp both end portions of the bag 1. In addition, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 62-220420 (hereinafter referred to as a prior application) discloses a rotor type vacuum packaging machine, and its bag gripping device is as shown in FIGS. 11 and 12 (corresponding to the invention of the present application for convenience. The gripping portion 5'a facing the fixed portion 6'is configured to be swingable about the drive shaft 3'in the lower portion of the chamber 2 with the supporting arm 13 as a substantially radius while keeping parallel to each other.

[0003]

As described above, in the conventional bag holding device of the vacuum packaging machine, the chucks are arranged on the left and right, and each of them is driven. Therefore, the chuck opening / closing mechanism is complicated, and the left and right chucks are made. Since the interval is fixed, it cannot be used when changing size (bag width changes). Alternatively, it is necessary to readjust the chuck interval each time.
On the other hand, when applying a vacuum action, it was held to prevent the filling material from spilling from the bag mouth, and especially to extend the wrinkles due to the slack in the central part due to the filling material inside the bag at the sealing part in a bag with a large bag width. It is necessary to pull the bag to the left and right, but a device for that is required separately, and when gripping the bag 1 as shown in FIG. 10, the table T ₁ (see FIG. 8) is stopped to move the left and right chuck movable parts 5 ′. 5 ′ are opened uniformly (90 °), and then the bag 1 is supplied in the direction of the arrow by the transfer means C, and the left and right chuck movable parts 5 ′ and 5 ′ are closed and grasped,
Then, since the bag 1 is pulled leftward and rightward, there is a drawback that the stop time of the table T ₁ becomes long. When the bag gripping device in the prior application is used to provide a versatile chamber, since the bag is generally long in the bottom direction with respect to the width of the bag opening, the support arm 13 (see FIG. 11) is Therefore, the gripping portion 5'a has a large swing radius. For this reason, a rigid structure is required to secure the parallel adhesion between the fixed portion 6'and the grip portion 5'a, which increases the mass of the vacuum table peripheral edge and becomes an impeding factor for high-performance operation. The other big problem is the grip 5'a
Even if it is possible to open the fixed part 6 ′ by swinging around 90 °, the opening time is set to an appropriate degree because the time loss until closing is large, but at this time the transfer means C is rotating. The angle θ in FIG. 13 in the state toward the vacuum table side of FIG. 13 is derived from the difference in structure between the prior application of the bag gripping device and the present invention, and the fixing portion 6 ′ of the delivery means C.
This is a condition that limits the timing of approach to the. This becomes an obstacle to high-performance driving. Further, if the moving speed of the delivery means C is increased and an attempt is made to cope with the problem, there arises a problem that the bag containing the filling is greatly shaken or collides with the chamber wall surface.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is intended to solve the above-mentioned problems, and is characterized in that the length corresponding to the bag contacting surface of the bag gripping fixing portion mounted in the chamber. The bag grip, which has a length approximately equal to the length, is attached to the upper part of the drive shaft that is erected from the lower corner of the table in the chamber on the retard side in the direction of table rotation. In the angle range smaller than 90 °, the bag is grasped or opened between the fixing portion by rotating and opening and closing on the horizontal plane with respect to the bag contact surface. A notch shorter than the bag width is formed in the grip portion, and either the bag contact surface or the pressing surface is formed into a V-shaped groove, and the other is formed into a curved surface.

[0005]

According to the present invention, by driving the drive shaft to open and close the movable part, the bag supplied by one set of gripping device can be easily gripped or opened over substantially the entire width of the bag. Also, because the notch of a predetermined length is formed in the grip,
When the bag is gripped, a predetermined gap is formed in the grip portion corresponding to the notch, and when a vacuum action is applied, the air inside is discharged from the bag mouth located in the gap portion. On the other hand, since either the bag contact surface or the pressing surface has a V-shaped groove and one has a curved surface, the bag is bent and gripped, and the bag is pushed downward by the weight of the filling material in the bag. The deviation is suppressed.

[0006]

1 to 3 show the construction of a bag holding device installed in a vacuum packaging machine according to the present invention. As shown in the figure, the gripping device has a gripping part 5a having a length corresponding to the bag contact surface 6a of the fixing part 6 with respect to the bag gripping fixing part 6 mounted in the chamber 2. The movable part 5 is configured by being attached to the upper part of the drive shaft 3 which is erected from the lower corner of the table in FIG.
At this time, 4a and 4b are bearings for the drive shaft 3 and are supported by bushes 11a and 11b respectively, and the lower end of the drive shaft 3 is projected to the outside of the chamber 2 and the arm 7 is It is connected to the piston rod 8a of the air cylinder 8 via the. Then cylinder 8
When the piston rod 8a is expanded and contracted by driving the
Swings around the drive shaft 3 as indicated by arrows (a) and (b) so that the bag 1 can be gripped or released between the grip portion 5a and the bag contact surface 6a of the fixed portion 6. It has become.
At this time, 10 is a connecting member for connecting the vacuum chamber 2 to the table T ₂ (see FIG. 8).

4 to 6 show concrete examples of the grip portion 5a and the bag contact surface 6a in the movable portion 5 and the fixed portion 6, and FIG. 4 shows the bag contact of the fixed portion 6. This is an example in which the notches 12 are formed at a plurality of positions of the grip portion 5a having a length substantially the same as the bag width corresponding to the contact surface 6a. In this case, cutout 1
2 may be formed at one place in the central portion, but notch 12
The total length of is slightly shorter than the bag width of the target bag,
The notch depth S is about 0.1 to 0.5 mm.

In FIG. 5, the notch 12 and the V-shaped groove are fixed to the fixing portion 6.
The number of notches 12 is an example provided on the bag contact surface 6a of
The length, depth, etc. are the same as in the above example. In the above description, the grip portion 5a while the notch 12 is not formed is formed into a continuous curved surface or the like.

FIG. 6 shows an example of a side cross section of the pair of gripping portions 5a and the bag contact surface 6a described above. The pressing surface of the gripping portion 5a of the movable portion 5 is formed into a curved surface. The bag contact surface 6a of the fixing portion 6 corresponding to the above is formed in a V-shaped groove so that the bag 1 can be effectively prevented from being displaced.

Next, the operation of the bag gripping device according to the present invention will be described. The movable part 5 before gripping the bag 1 is opened at a predetermined angle smaller than 90 °, and the bag 1 can be transferred to the vicinity of the fixed part 6 by the delivery means C while rotating toward the stop position. When the vacuum chamber 2 comes to a predetermined position and stops and the bag 1 containing the filling is supplied, the air cylinder 8 operates and the movable portion 5 rotates in the direction of arrow (a) around the drive shaft 3. The bag 1 is moved and closed, and the bag 1 is gripped by sandwiching the bag 1 between the grip portion 5a and one bag contact surface 6a. At that time, the bag 1 is held evenly over substantially the entire width of the bag,
As described above, the notch 1 is formed in the grip portion 5a or the bag contact surface 6a.
Since the groove 2 is formed, a predetermined gap is formed at the position of the notch 12 and the gripping pressure is zero. Therefore, when the vacuum chamber 2 closes the door and applies a vacuum action, the air remaining in the filling portion is Is discharged to the outside from the bag mouth located at this portion, and the air is sufficiently evacuated. In this case, the value of the depth S of the notch 12 is appropriately determined, and the notch length and arrangement are appropriately set, so that the gap formed in the grip portion has a function of bleeding air, especially for a bag having a large bag width. It is possible to seal the bag mouth, which also has a function of preventing wrinkles generated in the sealing portion of the bag 1 due to the filling material in the bag.

Incidentally, FIG. 7 shows the timing of gripping the bag 1 by this apparatus, and as shown in the figure, the gripping part 5 of the operating part 5 is shown.
a is initially opened at an angle slightly smaller than 90 ° of the alternate long and short dash line and is rotating toward the stop position, and the bag 1 is indicated by the arrow (d) in accordance with the rotation of the rotary table T _{2 in} the arrow (c) direction. Since it is supplied from the directional position, the vacuum chamber 2 is stopped and at the same time the grip portion 5a is closed to grip the bag 1, and the stop time of the table T ₂ required for gripping the bag 1 is extremely small. It will be possible to complete. In the description of the above embodiment, the one in which the air cylinder 8 is used for the opening / closing operation of the grip portion 5a has been described, but a spring or the like having a predetermined rigidity may be used instead of this.

[0012]

Since the present invention has the above-described structure, the structure is simple, and the gripping action is performed accurately and easily, which facilitates maintenance management. Further, since the bag grip has a notch formed therein, when the bag is gripped, the chamber door is closed and a vacuum operation is performed, the air remaining in the filling material forms a gap due to the notch. Will be released from the air, and sufficient air removal will be performed.

Further, by appropriately setting the depth of the notch and appropriately setting the notch length and the arrangement thereof, a wrinkle caused in the bag sealing portion by the filling material in the bag, particularly for a bag having a large bag width. In addition, since the present grasping device has a configuration in which one set of grasping devices is erected from the lower corner on the retard side in the table rotation direction in the chamber, the rotating table T It becomes possible to start the delivery operation of the bag 1 in advance in accordance with the timing before the chamber reaches the stop position on the side of the rotation direction of ₂ , and therefore the stop time of the table can be shortened, which contributes to the improvement of productivity. It will be great. In addition, size change (change of bag width) can be dealt with immediately, and since either the bag contact surface or the pressing surface has a V-shaped groove and the other has a curved shape, the bag is bent. Therefore, there is an effect that a downward shift of the bag due to the weight of the filling material in the bag does not occur.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view showing a configuration of a bag gripping device of a vacuum packaging machine according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side sectional view taken along line XX of the same figure.

FIG. 3 is a side cross-sectional view taken along line YY of FIG.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory view showing a specific example of a bag gripping portion in the above.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing another example of the same.

FIG. 6 is a side sectional view of a configuration example of the bag grip portion.

FIG. 7 is a timing explanatory diagram of the bag gripping portion.

FIG. 8 is an overall perspective view showing an outline of a vacuum packaging system.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view showing a conventional internal structure of a chamber.

FIG. 10 is a timing explanatory diagram of the conventional bag gripping.

FIG. 11 is a front view of a conventional chamber (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 62-220420).

FIG. 12 is a side view of the above.

FIG. 13 is a diagram for explaining the difference when the conventional example is applied to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 bag 2 chamber 3 drive shaft 4a, 4b bearing 5 movable part 5a gripping part 6 fixed part 6a bag contact surface 8 air cylinder 12 notch 13 support arm θ advancing angle due to difference in movable part A filling side table B vacuum side Table C Delivery means

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. A plurality of chambers are attached to a peripheral portion of a filling table and a vacuum table in a substantially close contact state, and a bag filled with products is delivered to the vacuum table side by a delivery means which moves from the filling table on a substantially horizontal plane. In a vacuum packaging machine, a bag gripping part having a length substantially equal to the length corresponding to the bag abutting surface of the bag gripping fixing part mounted in the chamber, the base end side of which is a table inside the chamber. It is attached to the upper part of the drive shaft that is erected from the lower corner of the lag side of the rotation direction, and it rotates and opens and closes on the horizontal surface with respect to the bag contact surface within an angle range of less than 90 ° at one side position in the chamber. The vacuum packaging machine is characterized in that the bag is grasped or opened between the fixing portion and the holding portion by performing the above-mentioned operation. 2. A notch having an appropriate length is formed so that a gap shorter than the bag width is formed between the bag contact surface and the bag grip portion when gripping the bag, and either the bag contact surface or the pressing surface is formed. The vacuum packaging machine according to claim 1, wherein the V-shaped groove is formed, and the other is formed into a curved surface.