JP2584603B2 - Automatic connection device for film etc. - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a method of automatically supplying a packaging film to a packaging machine, for example, in the case of a tape, film, web, etc. (hereinafter collectively referred to as a film, etc.) wound in a roll. The present invention relates to an automatic connection device for a film or the like, which automatically pulls out the leading end portion of the film and automatically connects to the rear end of the preceding film or the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art When a container film is supplied in a packaging machine, conventionally, two film setting positions are usually provided, and a film or the like wound in a roll shape (hereinafter referred to as a film roll) is set at each of the setting positions. When the film on one film roll is used up, the front end of the film on the other film roll is connected to the rear end of the film by a connecting device so that the film is continuously supplied. . Then, a new film roll is loaded at the set position where the film has run out.

Meanwhile, loading the film roll to the set position of the film is not to rely on manual conventionally, yet for you to draw the film leader of the film roll automatically is fixed by a tape or the like The leading end of the film must be manually pulled off and set in a predetermined position. For this reason, setting of the roll film is troublesome, and a certain level of skill is required to perform such loading and setting work of the roll film. Furthermore, the interval between film reloading operations is shortened (about 1 hour) due to the fact that there is always only one spare film roll, and the worker leaves the packaging work site and engages in other work. There is a problem that the time that can be shortened.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The problem to be solved by the present invention is to simply load the film roll onto the film support shaft without manually pulling out the film tip of the film roll and setting it at a predetermined position. The object of the present invention is to eliminate the film loading operation by automatically connecting all of the leading end of the film to the trailing end of the preceding film from the peeling of the leading end of the film fixed by a tape or the like.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention, there is provided an automatic splicing device for a film or the like according to the present invention. A film holding mechanism having a plurality of supporting film supporting shafts, wherein the film supporting shaft is relatively rotatable with respect to the turret board;
A film end peeling mechanism that is arranged adjacent to one of the intermittent stop positions of the film roll supported by the film support shaft and pulls out the film tip of the film roll at the intermittent stop position to pull out the film, A movable member capable of reciprocating in the leading-out direction and a film end peeling mechanism having a chuck attached to the movable member and gripping the film end; A connection mechanism that is provided and connects the film end peeled by the film end peeling mechanism to the rear end of the preceding film;
It is provided with.

In the above automatic connection device for a film or the like, a rotation mechanism for selectively rotating the film support shaft is further provided, the rotation mechanism comprising a sun gear rotating about a rotation center of the turret disk; A planetary gear rotatably supported on a turret board for each of the film support shafts and meshing with the sun gear, and a clutch device for selectively connecting the sun gear to the film support shaft,
Alternatively, a rotation mechanism may be provided with a motor linked to each film support shaft. Further, each of the film support shafts may be provided with a brake device for giving resistance to the rotation of the film support shaft. Further, the film tip of the film roll is fixed with an adhesive tape, and the free end of the adhesive tape is bent so that the adhesive sides adhere to each other, so that the free end projects radially outward of the film roll. Is also good.

[0007]

In the automatic connection device for a film or the like having the above structure, after the film roll is loaded on the film support shaft,
The turret is rotated intermittently and the film roll is fed to the film stripping station. Thereafter, the film support shaft rotates to rotate the film roll, and the film end peeling mechanism operates to peel off the leading end of the film of the film roll, draw the film to a predetermined position, and wait at that position. When the currently used leading film is used up, the leading end of a new film waiting at the trailing end of the leading film is connected by the connecting device.

[0008]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of an automatic film connecting apparatus according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 schematically shows an entire front view of the automatic connection device 1 of this embodiment. The automatic connection device 1 rotates a film roll by rotating a turret type film holding mechanism 2 capable of holding a plurality of (four in the present embodiment) film rolls r, and a film support shaft of the film holding mechanism 2. The support shaft rotating mechanism 4, a film leading edge peeling mechanism (hereinafter referred to as a peeling mechanism) 6 for pulling out the film leading edge of the film roll, a heart tube discharge mechanism 7, and a film leading edge peeled by the peeling mechanism are preceded. And a connection mechanism 8 connected to the rear end of the film, which are arranged in the positional relationship shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.

1 to 4, a film holding mechanism 2 includes a hollow main shaft 21 rotatably supported by a main body 10 of the apparatus via a bearing (not shown), and a main shaft 21 of the hollow main shaft 21.
And a turret disk 22 fixed to the tip (the left end in FIG. 2). A plurality of film support shafts 23 are rotatably mounted on the turret board at equal intervals on a circumference of a predetermined radius via a bearing having a known structure (not shown). A gear 25 is formed on the outer periphery of the turret board, and the gear 25 meshes with a drive gear 32 attached to an output shaft 311 of an index device, that is, an intermittent drive device 31 attached to the main body 11 of the automatic connection device. The input shaft 312 of the intermittent drive device 31 is connected to the output shaft 331 of the worm speed reducer 33, and the input shaft 332 of the worm speed reducer 33 is rotated by the motor 35. The gears on the outer periphery of the turret board 22, the intermittent drive device 31, the drive gear 32, the worm speed reducer 33, the motor 35, and the like constitute a drive mechanism 30 for the turret board of the present embodiment.

In the above-mentioned film holding mechanism, the film supporting shaft 23 is thick enough to receive the core tube t of the film roll r without loosening. As will be understood from the reason described later, the film supporting shaft 23 is rotated by rotating the film supporting shaft. It can rotate with the film support shaft. In this embodiment, the turret plate 22 is intermittently rotated in the counterclockwise direction in FIG. 1 at intervals of 90 ° via the worm speed reducer 33 and the intermittent drive device 31 by the rotation of the motor 35, and the film support shaft is rotated. 23 stops at stations A to D.

The support shaft rotating mechanism 4 includes a large-diameter sun gear 41 rotatably supported on the main shaft at the rear portion (right side in FIG. 2) of the main shaft around the center of rotation of the main shaft, and each film support shaft 23. The planetary gear 43 is connected to the film support shaft via an electromagnetic clutch device 42 disposed at the rear end (right side in FIG. 2) of the turret machine at the rear end. And Electromagnetic clutch device 4
2 has a known structure if the film support shaft 23 and the planetary gear 43 can be connected only when the coil is disconnected and the film support shaft 23 is separated from the planetary gear 43 when the coil is not energized. Good. Therefore, a detailed description of the electromagnetic clutch device is omitted here. A gear 44 is formed integrally with the sun gear 41 at a distance in the axial direction, and the gear 44 meshes with a gear 46 of a drive motor 45. A pair of current collecting electrodes 50 and 51 are attached to the periphery of the turret board 22 so as to correspond to each film support shaft 23. The collecting electrodes 50 and 51 are electrically connected to the coil of the electromagnetic clutch device. These collecting electrodes 50 and 51 come into contact with feeding electrodes 52 and 53 attached to the main body 11 at station A, which is one intermittent stop position of the turret board 22, respectively. These power supply electrodes are connected to a power supply. In this embodiment, a hollow shaft connecting the sun gear 41 and the gear 44 is rotatably supported by the main body, and the turret support shaft 21 is rotatably supported in the shaft. Other structures may be used.

In the above support shaft rotating mechanism, when the drive motor 45 rotates, all the planetary gears 43 rotate via the gear 44 and the sun gear 41. However, since the planetary gears 43 in the stations B to C other than the station A are separated from the film supporting shaft 23 by the electromagnetic clutch device 42, the film supporting shafts in the stations B to C do not rotate. The electromagnetic clutch device 42 is energized by the coil to operate, and the planetary gear and the film support shaft are connected. Therefore, the film support shaft 23 in this station A
Is rotated clockwise in FIG. 1 by the rotation of the drive motor 45.

Each of the film support shafts 23 has a turret plate 2
A brake device 55 is disposed on the front side (left side in FIG. 2) of the brake device 2. As shown in FIG. 6, in this embodiment, the brake device 55 includes a case 56 fixed to the turret board 22 and a support rod 57 attached to the case.
And a leather band 58 having one end fixed to the support rod 57 and in contact with the outer periphery of the sleeve 231 fitted to the outside of the film support shaft to give rotational resistance to the film support shaft.
And a helical spring 59 attached to the other end of the leather band 57 and applying tension to the leather band. The helical spring 59 is wound around a spring support shaft 591 attached to a case.

1 and 7, the peeling mechanism 6 is used.
Is extended along the direction of drawing out the film, and
It includes a pair of guide rods 62 fixed Ri by the bracket 61 to 1, and its guide rod 62 movable body 63 which is movably disposed, and a gripping chuck 65 attached by a support shaft 64 to the movable body 63 ing. The gripper chuck 65 includes a rake claw 65 attached by a support shaft 64.
1 has a holding claw 652 rotatably attached to the support shaft 64. Rake claw 65 of gripper chuck 65
1 has a planar shape as shown in FIG. 6, and has a leading end 653 for scooping up a tape t fixing the leading end of the film f of the film roll in contact with the outer periphery of the film roll r, and extending rearward. And an arm 655. The rake claw 651 is biased clockwise (in FIG. 7) around the support shaft 64 by a spring 66 inserted in a spring receiving hole 631 formed in the movable body 63. A holding portion 654 for holding the leading end of the tape t or the film f is formed at one end of the holding claw 652 in cooperation with the rake claw, and an opposite end of the holding claw 65 for driving the holding chuck 65 attached to the movable body 63. It is connected to the piston rod 671 by a known method. The movable body can be reciprocated between a peeling position F and a pull-out position G by a guide rod 61 by a driving device (not shown). A sensor 68 that detects the arm portion 655 of the rake claw 651 and detects the operating state of the rake claw is attached to an end (the right end in FIG. 6) of the movable body. The portions of the rake claw 651 and the holding claw 652 supported by the support shaft 64 are located close to the movable body 63. And therefore FIG.
And extends over substantially the entire width of the film in a direction perpendicular to the plane of the drawing, so that the leading end of the film f or the leading end of the tape connected thereto can be gripped. The driving device for the movable body may be a structure in which a screw shaft rotated by a motor is screwed into a screw hole provided in the movable body and the movable body is moved by rotation of the screw shaft, or a pair of sheaves is provided with a rope. And a known structure such as a structure in which the movable body is fixed to the rope and the rope reciprocates.

The above-mentioned peeling mechanism 6 includes a station A
At the peeling position F close to
The rake claw and the presser claw are on standby in the state shown by the solid line in FIG. Then, a new film roll r is sent to the station A by intermittent rotation of the turret board 32, and when the film support shaft 32 rotates clockwise, the film roll r also rotates together with the film support shaft. For this reason, as shown in FIG.
The rake claw 651 is pushed against the spring 66 because the tape 53 is caught on the tape 53 (since the tip of the tape t is folded back and floats in a direction away from the film roll).
Then, the rear end of the rake claw 651 is at the position shown by the broken line in FIG. 7, and the sensor 68 operates to detect that the rake claw has scooped up the end of the tape and generate a signal. By this signal, energization of the coil of the electromagnetic clutch is stopped and the coil is disengaged, the connection between the planetary gear and the film support shaft is cut off, and the rotation of the film support shaft is stopped.
Since a predetermined braking force is acting on the film support shaft, the rotation of the film support shaft stops immediately when the electromagnetic clutch is disengaged. In addition, the cylinder 67 is operated by the above signal to rotate the holding claw 652 counterclockwise in FIG. 7 and cooperate with the rake claw to grip the tape t. When the gripping of the tape t by the gripping chuck 65 is completed in this way, the movable body 63 is moved in the direction of arrow Y in FIG.
Is pulled out and held at a predetermined position while being held by the holding chuck.

An operation rod 71 is inserted into the support shaft 21 of the rotary disk or turret disk so as to be movable in the axial direction and rotatable with respect to the support shaft.
And an extruding member 72 fixed to the tip (left end in FIG. 2) of the operation rod 71, and a cylinder 73 connected to the rear end of the operation rod 71. The cylinder 73 is fixed to a rear part of the main body 11 by a bracket 74. The extruding member 72 extends toward the station D up to a position close to the film support shaft 23 whose tip is stopped at the station D. This heart tube discharge mechanism 7
Usually, the pushing member 72 is close to the turret board, but when the film of the film roll r is exhausted and only the core tube c arrives at that position, the cylinder 73 operates to move the operating rod 71 forward. (To the left in FIG. 2) to move the extruded member in the same direction,
The pushing member removes the heart tube from the film support shaft 23. Note that the pushing member 72 may be extended toward the station C, and the heart tube may be removed from the film support shaft 23 at the station C.

The connection mechanism 8 includes a lower seal die 8 disposed below the moving path of the film in the vicinity of the pull-out position G.
1 is a heat bonding apparatus having a known structure including an upper seal die 83 which is operated by a cylinder 82 and presses a film in cooperation with a lower seal die. On the upstream side of the lower seal die 81 of the connection mechanism 8, a vacuum head 91 having a known structure for vacuum-sucking the film and movably holding the film is arranged. Reference numerals 92 and 93 denote guide rollers for guiding the film. The guide roller 93 can be selectively moved in a direction perpendicular to the plane of FIG. Has become. A sensor 94 for detecting the end of the film is disposed in the tube between the guide roller 92 and the vacuum head 91.

FIG. 8 shows a film roll r loaded on the film support shaft 23. The film roll r is formed by winding a film f of a desired length around a heart tube c and fixing the leading end of the film f with an adhesive tape t. The tip of the adhesive tape t is folded in two, and the folded portion extends in a direction away from the outer periphery of the roll.

In the automatic film connecting apparatus having the above structure, when the empty tube due to the exhaustion of the film f is discharged from the film supporting shaft 23 at the station D, the discharge of the core tube is completed. When the heart tube is ejected at the station C or after the heart tube is ejected at the station C, the film support shaft 23 at the station C after the heart tube is ejected or after the heart tube is ejected reaches the station D, 8 is manually or by a supply device not shown in FIG.
A new film roll r as shown in FIG. Thereafter, when the motor 38 of the drive mechanism 30 rotates and the drive gear 33 rotates via the worm speed reducer 35 and the intermittent drive device 31, the drive gear 33 and the outer gear 25
The interlocking rotating disc or turret disc 22 is rotated about 90 ° counterclockwise in FIG. 1 and the film support shaft loaded with a new film roll r is fed to station A.

When a new film roll r is transferred to station A
The planetary gear 43 in the station, which is energized by a coil (not shown) of the electromagnetic clutch 42 in the station A, is connected to the film support shaft 23, while the electromagnetic clutches in the other stations B to D are connected. Are not connected to the film support shafts and the planetary gears at those stations. When the drive motor 45 of the support shaft rotation mechanism 4 rotates in this state, all the planetary gears 43 are rotated via the sun gear 41 rotated by the drive motor, but only the film support shaft 23 in the station A is rotated. Since it is connected to the planetary gear via the electromagnetic clutch 42, only the film support shaft 23 in the station A starts to rotate clockwise in FIG. In addition, a new film roll r
The movable body 63 of the peeling mechanism 6 arrives at the peeling position F before or immediately after arrives at the station A while being supported by the film support shaft. When the film support shaft 23 starts to rotate clockwise, the film roll r also starts to rotate, and the leading end of the tape is caught on the leading end 653 of the rake claw 651 of the gripping chuck 65. For this reason, the rake claw 651 is pushed to the left in FIG. 6 against the spring 66, and the rake claw rotates around the support shaft 63 in the counterclockwise direction. For this reason, the rear part 655 of the rake claw 651 is displaced from the position of the sensor 68, and it is detected that the tape t is caught on the rake claw. In response to this detection signal, the power supply to the electromagnetic clutch of the support shaft rotating mechanism 4 is stopped, the electromagnetic clutch disconnects the connection between the film support shaft 32 and the planetary gear, and the cylinder 67 operates to operate the holding claw 652. Then, the tape is gripped by the rake nail and the holding nail.

Next, the movable body 63 is moved to the left side in FIG.
Is moved to the pull-out position G while holding. For this reason, the tape is peeled off from the film roll, and the leading end of the film of the film roll r is pulled out to the vicinity of the drawing position in a state of being adhered to the tape. Movable body 63
Is waiting at this position with the gripping chuck gripping the tape.

On the other hand, a film f is sequentially fed from a film roll r supported by a film support shaft 23 at a station B via a guide roller 91, and is used by a film-consuming apparatus such as a packaging machine (not shown). I have. When the film f of the film roll at station B is exhausted and its trailing edge reaches the position of the sensor 94, the sensor detects that fact. The connection device operates according to the detection signal from the sensor, and the front end of the waiting film is joined to the rear end of the preceding film. The vacuum head 91 is operated to prevent the trailing edge of the film from fluttering, and the connection of the leading edge of a new film (that is, the trailing film) at the station A to the trailing edge of the preceding film is completed. After that, when the rotation of the turret board 22 by about 90 ° is completed, that is, at the time when the roll of the subsequent film arrives at the station B, the operation is started (attraction starts),
While the succeeding film is sequentially drawn from the film roll at station B and used, and the end of the next film drawn from the film roll at station A is connected to the trailing end when the film is exhausted. The operation is continued until a time point when the upper seal die 83 of the connection device 8 is completely lowered, at which point the operation is terminated (attraction is terminated). When the joining of the preceding film and the waiting subsequent film is completed,
The film on the film roll at station A is fed out.

When the feeding of the film from the station B is started, the guide roller 93 is retracted from the film transfer path in a direction perpendicular to the plane of FIG. 1 and the motor 38 of the drive mechanism 30 is operated to operate the turret board. The film 22 is rotated 90 ° in the counterclockwise direction in FIG. 1 and the film support shaft 23 that was in the station A and the film roll supported thereby are sent to the station B. Therefore, a new film roll r at station D
Is moved to the station A. When a film support shaft with a core tube arrives at the station D, the core tube is discharged by the core tube discharge mechanism 7, and then a new film roll is loaded on the film support shaft. Hereinafter, the above-described operation is repeated.

In the above embodiment, the rotating mechanism of the film supporting shaft is constituted by a sun gear and a planetary gear which is always meshed with the sun gear and is selectively connected to the film supporting shaft by respective electromagnetic clutches. A separate drive motor may be connected to the film support shaft, and the drive motor may be mounted on the turret board, and only the drive motor for the film support shaft in station A may be rotated.

In the above embodiment, the structure of the portion of the film support shaft 23 that receives the film roll has a structure that has a diameter that can receive the film roll exactly without slippage, but that portion has the structure of a commercially available air shaft. You may. The structure of this air shaft is shown in FIGS.
As shown in FIG. 7, the film roll mounting portion 232 is constituted by a hollow shaft body 233, and the shaft body 2
A plurality of lug plates 235 are arranged at equal intervals in the circumferential direction in 33, and a lug 236 that can protrude out of the shaft main body through a slit 234 formed in the shaft main body 233 outside the lug plate is formed. A rubber tube 237 that can be radially expanded is arranged inside the lug plate.
Then, a supply / discharge socket (not shown) is inserted into the leading end (left end in FIGS. 2 and 10) of the film roll mounting portion, and is inserted into the rubber tube 237 via a supply / discharge plug 238 of a known structure provided at the leading end. By supplying air, a plurality of lugs project radially outward and hit the inner surface of the core tube c of the film roll r, and hold the film roll so that it can rotate concentrically with the rotation axis of the film support shaft 23. Further, when the air in the rubber tube 237 is discharged, the lugs are retracted inward in the radial direction, so that the film roll can be easily attached to and detached from the film support shaft. Note that the supply / discharge plug has a valve function, and once air is supplied into the rubber tube, the air is retained in the rubber tube until the air is discharged through the supply / discharge plug. . In still another modification, the lug plate may be pressed radially outward by a spring provided with the lug plate inside the lug plate so that the lug contacts the inside of the heart tube c by the force of the spring. An operating rod which is movable in the axial direction and has a conical surface is provided, and a sloping surface which engages with the conical surface of the operating rod is provided on a radially inner edge of the lug plate, and the operating rod is axially moved. The lug may be moved in the radial direction by moving.

When the leading end of the succeeding film is connected to the trailing end of the preceding film using the automatic connection device of the above embodiment, the connection is made with the tape attached to the leading end of the succeeding film attached. Become. However, when the film connected in this way is used as a container film for a packaging machine, when the position of the connection portion is recorded in the control device in advance and the portion arrives at the container forming device, It is only necessary to stop the operation of the molding device and stop molding the container only for that portion. When using the film as a cover film, the container on which the connection portion is superimposed (previously known from the data recorded in the control device) What is necessary is just to stop filling of goods into the inside and punching of the package. These techniques are also used when using films connected by conventional methods. Therefore, the tape may remain attached.

[0027]

According to the present invention, the following effects can be obtained. (1) Since the film tip can be automatically peeled off from the film roll, the film roll can be set simply by mounting the film roll on the film support shaft, and the setting operation can be performed easily and quickly. Can be set in a short time without requiring skill. (2) Since the troublesome work of setting the leading edge of the film during the work of setting the film roll is no longer necessary, it is possible to completely automate the film supply work including the automatic supply of the film roll.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic front view of an embodiment of an automatic connection device for a film or the like according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along the line I-O-I of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line AOD of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a view taken along line JJ in FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along line KK in FIG. 2;

FIG. 6 is a sectional view of a brake device.

FIG. 7 is an enlarged front view of the peeling mechanism.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of a film roll.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view showing a modification of the film roll mounting portion of the film support shaft, with a part thereof removed.

FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view of the film support shaft of FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Automatic connection apparatus of films etc. 2 Film holding mechanism 21 Support shaft 22 Turret board 23 Film support shaft 25 Gear 30 Drive mechanism 4 Support shaft rotation mechanism 41 Sun gear 42 Clutch device 43 Planetary gear 44 Gear 45 Motor 6 Film peeling mechanism 62 guide rail 63 movable body 64 support shaft 65 gripper chuck 7 core tube discharge mechanism 8 connection mechanism

Claims (5)

(57) [Claims] 1. A turret machine which is intermittently rotatable, and a plurality of film support shafts which are arranged on the turret machine at circumferential intervals and extend in front of the turret machine to support a film roll. A film holding mechanism that is relatively rotatable with respect to the turret board, and a film roll that is disposed adjacent to an intermittent stop position of one of the film rolls supported by the film support shaft and is in the intermittent stop position. What is claimed is: 1. A film edge peeling mechanism for peeling a film leading edge and pulling the film leading edge, comprising: a movable member capable of reciprocatingly moving in a film leading direction, and a chuck attached to the movable member and gripping the film edge. A peeling mechanism, and a film end peeling mechanism, which is provided in the middle of a moving path of the movable member and is adjacent to the moving mechanism. Automatic connection apparatus such as a film, comprising: a connecting mechanism which connects the rear end of the film that a preceding pull stripped the film edge by structure, the. 2. The automatic connection device for a film or the like according to claim 1, further comprising a rotation mechanism for selectively rotating the film support shaft, wherein the rotation mechanism is arranged about a rotation center of the turret disk. A rotating sun gear, a planetary gear rotatably supported on a turret for each film support shaft and meshing with the sun gear, and a clutch device for selectively connecting the sun gear to the film support shaft. Automatic connecting device for film etc. 3. The automatic connection device for a film or the like according to claim 1, further comprising a rotation mechanism for selectively rotating the film support shaft, wherein the rotation mechanism is interlocked with each of the film support shafts. Automatic connection device for films and the like equipped with a motor for rotating the film support shaft. 4. The automatic connection device for a film or the like according to claim 1, wherein each of the film support shafts is provided with a brake device for giving a resistance to the rotation of the film support shaft. apparatus. 5. The automatic connection device for a film or the like according to claim 1, wherein a film tip of the film roll is fixed with an adhesive tape, and a free end of the adhesive tape is adhered to an adhesive side. Folded into
An automatic connection device for a film or the like whose free end projects outward in the radial direction of the film roll.