JP2839170B2 - Film packaging equipment - Google Patents

Description

Description: TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a film packaging apparatus for a sheet-like or plate-like article such as a newspaper or a magazine.

2. Description of the Related Art Various devices have already been used as devices for covering an article with a heat-sealable film such as a polyethylene film and heat-sealing the edges of the film for packaging.

FIG. 5 shows an example of such a conventional packaging apparatus.

The packaging device includes a supply conveyor 2 for articles to be packaged 1,
A supply unit 4 for the half-fold film 3 disposed at the end of the supply conveyor 2, a discharge conveyor 5 for placing and moving the article 1 covered with the half-fold film 3 on the top and bottom, and a start end of the discharge conveyor 5 It comprises a frame-shaped heater 6 for fusing the rear end portion and both side portions of the film 3.

The article to be packaged 1 is carried by the supply conveyor 2, inserted into the half-fold film 3, and moves on the discharge conveyor 5 as it is. When the article 1 is placed on the discharge conveyor 5, the heater 6 rotates and contacts the film 3, and the rear end and both sides of the film 3 are fused. Film 3
The rear end of the bag 3a is cut together with the fusion, and covers the article 1.
And a half-folded band portion 3b continuous with the roll film 7.

[Problem to be Solved by the Invention] However, in the above-mentioned conventional packaging device, the film supply unit 4 is arranged between the supply conveyor 2 and the discharge conveyor 5, so that the entire device becomes large, for example, newspaper delivery. It was difficult to easily install it in places, etc. from the viewpoint of space and cost.

In the above-described packaging apparatus, it is conceivable to omit the supply conveyor 2 and manually insert the article 1 into the half-fold film 3. However, in the case of a light article such as newsprint, the article 1 is simply placed on the discharge conveyor 5. Then, it is difficult to pull and move the film 3.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a package which is suitable for packaging sheet-shaped articles such as newspapers, has a relatively simple structure, is compact, and can be easily installed in a newspaper delivery place, for example. It is to provide a device.

"Means for Solving the Problems" In order to achieve the above object, a packaging device according to the present invention comprises: a film supply means for supplying a band-shaped film from above and below toward an insertion slot of an article; A first sensor that is disposed near the insertion opening and detects an article; a main heater that is supported so as to be able to contact and separate from the film and that fuses and cuts the front and rear ends of the film; The upper transport belt is always in contact with the upper surface of the lower transport belt due to its own weight, and when the article is pushed between the two belts, the thickness of the article is increased. A transport belt configured to be pushed upward in accordance with the position, a second sensor disposed near the end of the transport belt, and configured to detect a load, and the transport belt or the insertion belt. A pair of side heaters arranged on both sides of the entrance, for fusing both ends of the film, and when the first sensor detects the leading end of the article, the transport belt is activated, and the first sensor is an article. When the rear end portion is detected, the transport belt is temporarily stopped, the main heater comes into contact with the film, the transport belt operates again in this state, and then the main heater separates from the film, and the second When the sensor detects the rear end of the article, the transport belt stops.

In a preferred aspect of the present invention, the main heater is formed by attaching a cutting blade to a heating element. When the cutting blade comes into contact with the film, the cutting edge of the cutting blade is pressed against a heat-resistant cushion material. Has been.

Further, the side heater includes a pair of plate-shaped heaters disposed so as to be able to contact and separate from the film on both sides of the transport belt, and the first sensor detects a rear end of the article, and the transport belt is When paused, it comes into contact with the film and separates from the film before the conveyor belt operates.

[Operation] In the packaging device of the present invention, for example, a sheet-like article such as a four-folded newspaper is manually inserted from the insertion slot. A belt-like film is supplied to the insertion opening from above and below by a film supply means, and the upper and lower films are connected in advance to form a half-fold. Therefore, the article is pushed into the insertion slot so that the film can be covered up and down.

A first sensor is disposed near the insertion slot, and when the first sensor detects the leading end of the article, the transport belt operates. As a result, the article moves while being sandwiched between the transport belts that are vertically opposed to each other.

When the first sensor detects the rear end of the article, the conveyor belt temporarily stops at a predetermined timing, and the main heater contacts the film located behind the article to fuse the upper and lower films. If the main heater is brought into contact with the conveyor belt in operation, rubbing occurs between the heater and the film, so that the film cannot be fused neatly. When the side heater is composed of a pair of plate-shaped heaters arranged on both sides of the transport belt, the side heater also contacts the film at this time, and after fusing both sides of the film,
The conveyor belt separates from the film before it runs again.

With the main heater in contact with the film, the conveyor belt operates again to move the article. In this way, by moving the article and applying a tensile force to the film while the upper and lower films are being fused by the main heater, the film can be effectively cut. In this case, it is difficult to cut the film simply by pressing the main heater against the film.

Thus, the article is wrapped in a bag by the film and sent out by the conveyor belt. When the second sensor disposed near the end of the conveyor belt detects the rear end of the article, the operation of the conveyor belt stops. By repeating this operation, the articles can be successively packaged in a bag with a film.

As described above, in the packaging device of the present invention, without providing the supply conveyor, the article is manually inserted from the insertion port, and is moved by being sandwiched between the pair of upper and lower transport belts arranged in the insertion direction. The structure of the device can be simplified and made compact. Therefore, it can be easily installed in a newspaper delivery place or the like.

In addition, the transport belt is temporarily stopped, the main heater is brought into contact with the film, and the transport belt is operated again in that state, so that the film can be cut cleanly by applying a tensile force when the film is fused.

"Embodiment" FIGS. 1 and 2 show an embodiment of a film packaging apparatus according to the present invention.

In the figure, reference numeral 11 denotes an insertion slot for articles, and guide rollers 12 are arranged above and below the insertion slot 11. Also, insertion slot 11
A film holder 13 (see FIG. 2) is provided on the front side, and a pair of roll films 14 are supported by the film holder 13 so as to face each other. The strip-shaped film 15 fed from the roll film 14 is guided by the guide roller 12 of the insertion slot 11 and introduced into the apparatus. In addition, as the film 15, any one that can be heat-sealed can be used.
A 0.013 mm polyethylene reinforced film or the like is used.

A first pair of upper and lower light-emitting and light-receiving elements sandwiching the insertion path of the article is provided on the inner side of the device near the insertion port 11.
A sensor 16 is provided. The first sensor 16 detects the leading end of the article when the light is blocked from passing through, and detects the rear end of the article when the light passes from the blocked state.

A main heater 17 is provided adjacent to the first sensor 16 in the article insertion path. The main heater 17 is a lever whose one end is pivotally connected to the frame of the apparatus by a support shaft 18.
19, a heating element 20 attached to the other end of the lever 19,
A cutting blade attached to this heating element 20 with the cutting edge facing downward
21. The lever 19 is a spring
It is always urged by 22 to rotate upward. Further, one end of a link 23 is pivotally connected to an intermediate portion of the lever 19, and the other end of the link 23 is pivotally connected to one end of a lever 25 rotatably supported by a support shaft 24. And the lever
The other end of 25 is pivotally connected to an operating rod 27 of a solenoid 26.

For this reason, when the solenoid 26 operates and the rod 27 is retracted, the lever 25 rotates downward around the support shaft 24,
The link 23 is pulled downward, the lever 19 rotates downward, and the cutting blade 21 descends. A cushion material made of heat-resistant rubber or the like is provided below the cutting blade 21 with the article insertion path interposed therebetween.
28, and the cutting blade 21
Pressed to. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 29 denotes a cover made of a heat-resistant sheet having flexibility.
This is to prevent the film 15 from coming into contact with the cutting blade 21 of the main heater 17 when inserted from the position 11.

Further, in the insertion direction of the articles, the transport belts vertically opposed to each other, that is, the lower transport belt 31 and the upper transport belt 32
And are arranged.

The lower transport belt 31 is stretched around a pair of transport pulleys 33 and 34 rotatably supported by the apparatus frame. A driven pulley 35 is mounted on one of the transport pulleys 34 concentrically therewith, and a timing belt 38 is provided between the transported pulley 35 and a drive pulley 37 mounted on a drive shaft 36 interlocked with a motor (not shown).
Is stretched. Accordingly, when the drive pulley 37 rotates by the operation of the motor, the driven pulley 35 and the transport pulley 34 rotate via the timing belt 38, and the lower transport belt 31 rotates.

The upper transport belt 32 is made of a telescopic material and is stretched over three transport pulleys 39, 40, 41. Transport pulley
39 is rotatably mounted on a support shaft 44 provided at the intersection of the arms 42 and 43. The arms 42 and 43 are rotatable about a support shaft 44 so that they can be opened and closed. The transport pulley 40 is rotatably supported at the end of the arm 42, and the transport pulley 41 rotates at the end of the arm 43. Supported as possible. Therefore, the upper conveyor belt 32 is always in contact with the upper surface of the lower conveyor belt 31 due to its own weight, but when an article is pushed between the two belts 31, 32, it is pushed upward according to the thickness of the article. .

The apparatus frame is provided with a support shaft 45 adjacent to a support shaft 44 supporting the transport pulley 39, and a timing belt is provided between a pulley 46 mounted on the support shaft 45 and the drive pulley 37. 47 are stretched. Further, a gear 48 is mounted on the support shaft 45 concentrically with the pulley 46.
Is geared with a gear 49 mounted concentrically with the transport pulley 39. For this reason, a driving pulley is driven by a motor (not shown).
When 37 rotates, timing belt 47, pulley 46, gear
The transport pulley 39 rotates via the gear 49 and the gear 49, and the upper transport belt 32 rotates.

As shown in FIG. 2, the upper conveyor belt 32 and the lower conveyor belt 31 are constituted by three belts each supported by three pulley groups arranged at equal intervals in the width direction of the article. ing.

A second sensor 51 having a configuration similar to that of the first sensor 16 is disposed at the end of the transport belts 31 and 32.

On the other hand, a pair of elongated plate-like side heaters 52 are arranged on both sides of the transport belts 31 and 32. The side heater 52 is operated by a solenoid 53 arranged inside both side walls of the apparatus frame. That is, one end of an L-shaped lever 56 whose intermediate portion is rotatably supported on the apparatus frame by a support shaft 55 is pivotally attached to the operating rod 54 of the solenoid 53, and the other end of the lever 56 is connected to the slide shaft 57. It is pivotally attached to the upper end. The slide shaft 57 is inserted through the guide frame 58 and supported so as to be slidable in the vertical direction. The lower end of the slide shaft 57 is connected to the center of the side heater 52 in a T-shape. The end of the lever 56 connected to the operating rod 54 of the solenoid 53 is urged by a spring 59 so as to always rotate upward.

Therefore, the solenoid 53 is operated, and the operating rod 54
Is retracted, the other end of the lever 56 rotates downward,
The slide shaft 57 slides downward, the side heater 52 descends, and is pressed against both sides of the film 15. Although not shown, the apparatus frame is provided with a receiving plate to which the lower edge of the side heater 52 is pressed when the side heater 52 is lowered.

Next, the operation of the packaging device of the present invention having the above configuration will be described.

Before starting the packaging work, pull out the band-shaped films 15 from the roll films 14 arranged above and below, insert the newspaper etc. into the insertion slot 11 with the upper and lower films connected with cellophane tape etc. The ends of the film 15 are fused and connected. The worker, in this state,
A sheet-like article to be packaged, such as a newspaper or a magazine, is pushed through the insertion slot 11. The article is inserted so as to be sandwiched between the upper and lower sides by the belt-like film 15.

When the leading end of the article passes between the first sensors 16, the first sensor 16 detects the leading end of the article by blocking light, and operates a motor (not shown) to drive the pulley 37.
Is rotated, and the lower conveyor belt is
31 and the upper conveyor belt 32 are rotated. As the article is further pushed in, the top end of the film is covered
It is pushed between the transport belts 31 and 32 together with 15. At this time, the upper transport belt 32 is pushed upward by the above-described mechanism according to the thickness of the article. When the article is sandwiched between the conveyor belts 31 and 32 in this manner, the conveyor belt
The articles are automatically moved by the rotation of 31, 32.

When the rear end of the article passes between the first sensors 16, the first sensor 16 detects the rear end of the article by passing light again, and takes a predetermined timing to start a motor (not shown). The transport belts 31 and 32 are stopped temporarily. At the same time, the solenoid 26 is operated to lower the main heater 17 by the above-described interlocking mechanism, and the cutting blade 21 is pressed against the cushion material 28 from above the film 15. As a result, the upper and lower films 15 wrapping the article contact and fuse with the heated cutting blade 21. Then, the motor (not shown) operates again at a predetermined timing, and the transport belt 31,
32 rotates again. Therefore, when the cutting blade 21 of the main heater 17 is pressed against the film 15,
Since the film 15 is moved again by being sandwiched between 31 and 32, a tensile force is applied to the film 15, and the film 15 is cut at the fused portion by the cutting blade 21. After that, the operation of the solenoid 26 is released,
The main heater 17 moves upward again and separates from the film 15.

The first sensor 16 detects the rear end of the article,
When 1 and 32 are temporarily stopped, the solenoid 53 is simultaneously operated. That is, the solenoid 53 operates, and the side heater 52 descends via the above-described interlocking mechanism, and is pressed against both sides of the film 15. Therefore, both sides of the upper and lower films 15 are also fused, and the article is covered with the upper and lower films 15 in a bag shape. After the side heater 52 is pressed against the film 15, the operation of the solenoid 53 is released at a predetermined timing, and the side heater 52 leaves the film 15 again.

Thereafter, the article is sent out sandwiched between the conveyor belts 31 and 32. When the rear end of the article passes between the second sensors 51, the second sensor 51 detects this and illustrates a motor (not shown). Then, the transport belts 31 and 32 are stopped. Then, by inserting the next article into the insertion slot 11, the above steps are repeated again, and the articles can be wrapped one after another with the film 15. When the rear end of the article passes through the second sensor 51 and the front end of the next article passes through the first sensor 16, the transport belts 31 and 32 may not be stopped. preferable.

FIG. 3 shows another example of the drive mechanism of the main heater 17 in the above-mentioned packaging apparatus.

In the above-described mechanism for moving the main heater 17 up and down by the solenoid 26, the output and the amount of movement of the solenoid 26 cannot be large, so that it is difficult to swing the lever 19 greatly to open and close the main heater 17 greatly. There is a limit to the thickness of articles that can be made. In this example, the main heater 17 is opened and closed by a crank mechanism using a motor as a drive source.

That is, a rotating shaft 61 that rotates in conjunction with a motor (not shown) is supported by a support plate 62 attached to the apparatus frame, and a disk crank 63 is mounted on an end of the rotating shaft 61. And one end of the link 23 is the disk crank
The other end of the link 23 is pivotally connected to an intermediate portion of the lever 19. For this reason, when the rotating shaft 61 is rotated by a motor (not shown) and the disc crank 63 is rotated, the link 23
Moves up and down, the lever 19 swings via the support shaft 18, and the main heater 17 opens and closes. In this drive machine, the opening and closing of the main heater 17 can be increased, so that a relatively thick article can be inserted.

FIG. 4 shows another example of the structure of the side heater in the packaging device.

In this example, rotating shafts 66 and 67 are supported in parallel on the device frame 65, and a pair of upper and lower rollers 68 and 69 that are in contact with the rotating shafts 66 and 67 are mounted. This pair of rollers 6
Reference numerals 8 and 69 are disposed on both sides of the film 15 in the running direction, respectively, and sandwich and send out both sides of the film 15 wrapping the upper and lower parts of the article S as shown in the figure.

Further, a pair of holders 71 and 72 made of a plate-like member formed in a wedge shape so that the vertical end is thinner is attached to the device frame 65 by a fastener 73 at a butt portion thereof. . Screws 75 are respectively inserted through ends of the holders 71 and 72 in the vertical direction via springs 74, and the tips of the screws 75 are screwed to the device frame 65. Therefore, the holders 71 and 72 are constantly urged by the elastic force of the spring 74 as shown by arrows in the figure. Bar-shaped heaters 76 and 77 are inserted and fixed to the holders 71 and 72, and metal rollers 78 and 79 are rotatably mounted on the tips of the bar-shaped heaters 76 and 77.

As described above, since the holders 71 and 72 are constantly urged by the springs 74 as shown by arrows in the drawing, the rod-shaped heaters 76 and 77 are urged to approach each other, and the roller
78 and 79 are elastically pressed. Then, both sides of the film 15 run while being sandwiched between the rollers 78, 79, and the rollers 78, 79 are passed through the bar-shaped heaters 76, 77.
Is heated, so that both sides of the film 15 are fused and heat-sealed. This main heater is
It is not always necessary to arrange on both sides of the conveyor belts 31 and 32.
As soon as they are introduced into the upper and lower parts 11, they may be sealed on both sides.

"Effect of the Invention" As described above, according to the present invention, without providing a supply conveyor, manually insert an article from the insertion port,
Since the apparatus is moved by being sandwiched between a pair of upper and lower conveyor belts arranged in the insertion direction, the structure of the apparatus can be simplified and the apparatus can be made compact. Therefore, it can be easily installed in a newspaper delivery place or the like. In addition, the transport belt is temporarily stopped, the main heater is brought into contact with the film, and the transport belt is operated again in that state, so that the film can be cut cleanly by applying a tensile force when the film is fused.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory view showing a schematic configuration of a packaging apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a plan sectional view of the packaging apparatus, and FIG. 3 is a main heater driving mechanism in the packaging apparatus of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a partial explanatory view showing another example of the structure of the side heater in the packaging device of the present invention.
FIG. 5 is a schematic perspective view showing an example of a conventional packaging device. In the figure, 11 is an insertion slot, 14 is a roll film, 15 is a film, 16 is a first sensor, 17 is a main heater, 21 is a cutting blade,
28 is a cushion material, 31 is a lower transport belt, 32 is an upper transport belt, 33, 34, 39, 40 and 41 are transport pulleys, 42 and 43 are arms, 51 is a second sensor, and 52 is a side heater.

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on front page (58) Field surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁶ , DB name) B65B 41/12 B65B 9/06

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. A film supply means for supplying a band-shaped film from above and below toward an insertion slot of an article, a first sensor arranged near the insertion slot to detect an article, and A main heater that is detachably supported, fuses and cuts the front and rear ends of the film, and an upper transport belt and a lower transport belt that are vertically opposed to each other in the insertion direction of the article and transport the article therebetween.
The upper conveyor belt is always in contact with the upper surface of the lower conveyor belt by its own weight, and when an article is pushed between both belts, the conveyor belt is configured to be pushed upward according to the thickness of the article. A second sensor arranged near the terminal end of the conveyor belt and detecting an article; and a pair of side heaters arranged on both sides of the conveyor belt or the insertion slot to fuse both ends of the film, When the first sensor detects the leading end of the article, the transport belt operates. When the first sensor detects the trailing end of the article, the transport belt temporarily stops, and the main heater contacts the film. In this state, the transport belt operates again, and thereafter, when the main heater separates from the film, and the second sensor detects the rear end of the article, the transport belt stops. Film packaging apparatus, characterized in that had Unishi. 2. The main heater comprises a heating element having a cutting blade attached thereto. When the cutting blade comes into contact with the film, the cutting edge of the cutting blade is pressed against a heat-resistant cushion material. The film packaging apparatus according to claim 1. 3. The side heater comprises a pair of plate-like heaters arranged so as to be able to contact and separate from the film on both sides of the conveyor belt, and the first sensor detects a rear end of the article, and 3. The film packaging apparatus according to claim 1, wherein when the transport belt is temporarily stopped, the transport belt comes into contact with the film and is separated from the film before the transport belt operates. 4.