JP3016052B2 - Degassing device for automatic 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 a deaerator for removing air from a bag containing a filling material (liquid) in an automatic packaging machine.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As shown in FIG. 9, a basic packaging system of an automatic packaging machine for foods or the like, as shown in FIG. A bag feeding step (I) for delivering to the chuck 2 of the gripping device B on the T side, a marking step (II) for marking the date of production of the food on the surface of the gripped bag 1 by the marking device C, a mouth of the bag 1 -Opening step (III) in which is opened by the suction cup 40 of the bag-opening device D, and a filling step (I) in which the filling device E fills the bag 1 with the filling material and the filling liquid.
V), (V), the first for sealing the bag mouth with the sealing device F
It comprises a next (temporary) sealing step (VI), a second (main) sealing step (VII), a discharging step (VIII) for discharging the bag 1 after the packaging operation is completed, to the next step or outside.

In this packaging system, a filling process (I
In steps (V) and (V), after the air in the filling material (liquid) filled in the bag 1 is released, the bag mouth is sealed (heat sealed). FIGS. 8 (a) to 8 (d) show a deaeration procedure using a conventional deaerator, in which a bag (liquid) containing a filler (liquid) is held and held by chucks 2'a and 2'b. Is received (FIG. A), a pair of drive mechanisms 12'a, 12 '
b is closed, and the deaeration rods 5'a, 5'b and the deaeration rods 4'a, 4'b are respectively placed on the upper part of the bag 1 (chuck 2'a,
2'b and the deaeration plates 4'a, 4'b) and the outer surface of the main body to squeeze air from the bag (liquid) (FIG. B). The hot plates 3'a and 3'b are pressed against the bag mouth to perform heat sealing (FIG. C). When the sealing is completed, the drive mechanisms 12'a and 12'b are opened to operate the deaeration rod 5'a. , 5'b and the deaeration plates 4'a, 4'b are opened from the bag 1, and after the hot plates 3'a, 3'b are released (FIG.
To the next process.

[0004]

In the above-described conventional degassing apparatus (method), the liquid in the bag is spilled to the outside together with the air by being pinched by a degassing rod or a degassing plate during degassing. The cleaning of the devices is troublesome because the devices are soiled, and when the devices are applied to the hot plate, the sealing portion is contaminated, causing contamination and defective sealing. As the above countermeasure, there is a method of performing vacuum packaging by sending to a vacuum packaging machine without using a degassing device using a degassing rod and a degassing plate. However, there are problems such as an increase in equipment costs and steps.

[0005]

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and is characterized in that a bag containing a sequentially transferred filler and a filler is stored from the outer side surface. In a deaerator of an automatic packaging machine that performs narrow pressure to release air by a pair of deaeration plates and heat seals, the suction nozzle of a spatula plate that is communicated with a vacuum pump and inserted into a bag at the time of the air release. A moving device for moving the suction nozzle up and down, a filter device installed in the middle of a passage connecting the suction nozzle and the vacuum pump, and separating the sucked air and the filling liquid; and the filter device. And a switching valve provided in the middle of a passage communicating with the vacuum pump and a movable stopper provided at a lower portion of the filter device. At this time, a pneumatic supply source is connected to the switching valve.

[0006]

[Function] At the time of bleeding air, the moving device is operated to insert a spatula-shaped suction nozzle into the bag. Vent air inside and immediately perform temporary sealing. The air and the liquid (or solid) sucked in the mixed state using the suction nozzle are separated by the filter device and discharged or collected respectively to the outside. Also, due to the effect of the suction guide rod, the suction operation can be continued even if the bag mouth is in close contact with the suction.

[0007]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 shows the overall configuration of the present deaerator.
As shown in the figure, a pair of deaeration plates 4 and 4 driven to be opened and closed by a drive mechanism 12 are gripped by a chuck 2, and a pressure is applied to the outer side surface of the bag 1 body containing a filler and a filling liquid therein. A pair of hot plates 3, 3 for heat sealing the bag mouth are provided above the hot plate.

Above the stop position of the supplied bag 1,
A vacuum pipe 7 is installed so as to be supported by a support base 8 and move up and down by a driving rod 9.
A spatula-shaped suction nozzle 6 is attached to the tip, and the suction nozzle 6 is inserted into or pulled out of the bag 1 through the vacuum pipe 7 by the operation of the drive rod 9.

The vacuum pipe 7 has another vacuum pipe 13
The filter device 11 is installed in the middle of the passage in communication with the vacuum pump 23 via the. Thus, the vacuum pipe 10 which communicates with the vacuum pipe 7 via the flexible vacuum hose 7a is inserted and installed in the filter device 11, and the filter device 11 communicates with the vacuum switching valve 15 via the passage 17. Further, the vacuum switching valve 15 is connected to a vacuum pump 23 via a vacuum pipe 13.

When the vacuum pump 23 operates in the above configuration,
The vacuum action is transmitted to the suction nozzle 6 via the vacuum switching valve 15, the filter device 11, and the vacuum pipe 7, and the air in the bag is sucked and removed by the suction nozzle 6 inserted into the bag. The mixture of the air and the liquid sucked in this way is separated in the filter device 11 and then the movable stopper 2
It is discharged to the outside via 1.

At this time, the vacuum switching valve 15 is switched by switching the solenoid valve 16 by an external signal 20 so that the air pressure 19 acts on the left side 15a or the right side 15b of the vacuum switching valve 15. According to the switching operation, a vacuum is applied to the filter device 11 or the air pressure 18 is supplied to the filter device 11.

Next, the operation of the filter device 11 will be described with reference to FIGS. When the solenoid valve 16 is switched by the external signal 20 and the air pressure 19 is applied to, for example, the right side 15b, the vacuum switching valve 15 is switched to the vacuum side, and the filter device 11 is connected to the vacuum pump 23 through the passage 17 and the vacuum pipe 13. When the air pressure 19 is applied to the left side 15a, for example, the vacuum switching valve 15 is switched to the air pressure side, and the passage 17 is formed in the filter device 11. Pneumatic 1
8 is supplied (FIG. B).

A movable plug 21 is disposed below the filter device 11. The movable plug 21 has an upper plate 21b having an opening 21d, a cup-shaped sealing portion 21a, as shown in FIGS. It is composed of a guide portion 21c and has a vacuum switching valve 15
Is switched to the vacuum side, and when the suction nozzle 6 is operating and the inside of the filter device 11 is at a negative pressure as shown in FIG.
Moves upward, and the sealing portion 21a seals the bottom opening hole 11a of the filter device 11, so that the air and the filling liquid (thing) in the bag are mixed through the suction nozzle 6 in the filter device 1 in a mixed state.
It is sucked into 1.

Among the mixture sucked in this way, the filling is prevented from flowing upward by the obstruction plate 10a attached to the vacuum valve 10, and the filling liquid having a large specific gravity is stored at the bottom of the filter device 11, and the air Only the air is sucked into the vacuum pump 23 through the passage 17.

On the other hand, when the air release from the bag is completed and the vacuum switching valve 15 is switched to the pneumatic side and the pneumatic pressure 19 is supplied from the passage 17 into the filter device 11, as shown in FIG. It moves downward to open the opening 11a at the bottom of the filter device 11, and the filling liquid (thing) stored at the bottom of the device 11 is discharged outside through the opening 21d and the opening 11a. At this time, the filling liquid (thing) which is going to flow backward in the vacuum pipe 10 is prevented from flowing by the check valve 22.

The filling liquid (thing) discharged to the outside is separately collected and reused, and the vacuum pressure adjusting valve 14 is provided with a filter device 11 according to the type of the filling liquid (thing) to be processed. It has the role of appropriately adjusting the inside to an appropriate vacuum pressure. Next, FIGS. 5 and 6 show details of the suction nozzle 6, in which the outer shape of the main body is in the shape of a spatula and the inside has an air flow hole 6b.
Is formed, and a small-diameter suction guide rod 6a is formed at the tip thereof.
Are mounted integrally with the vacuum pipe 7 and are moved up and down by the driving rod 9 to be inserted into the bag 1,
Or, it is pulled out from the bag 1. At this time, the suction guide rod 6a
When the inside of the bag 1 becomes a negative pressure due to the suction action and the bag mouth comes close, a small air flow passage is formed between the guide rod 6a and the bag surface, and the suction action is effectively performed. It has a role to be able to continue continually.

Referring to FIG. 4, a procedure for degassing and temporarily sealing the degassing apparatus of the present invention will be described. When the bag 1 held by the chuck 2 and containing the filling material (liquid) is sent in (FIGS. A1 and a2), first, the driving rod 9 is operated to lower the suction nozzle 6a to thereby lower the bag 1 (FIGS. B1 and b2), and then the drive mechanism 12 is operated to squeeze the bag 1 body from both outer sides with a pair of deaeration plates 4, whereby the liquid level in the bag 1 rises. Then, the liquid reaches the mouth of the suction nozzle 6, and the unnecessary liquid and air are sucked by the vacuum pump 23 which is operated in advance.
Is performed (FIGS. C1 and c2).

In this case, an effective deaeration is performed by appropriately setting the degree of the squeezing pressure by the deaeration plate 4 and the vacuum pressure in the filter device 11. Further, as described above, the filling liquid (thing) sucked together with the air is reliably separated by the filter device 11, discharged to the outside, separately collected and reused.

When the air bleeding in the bag 1 is completed, the drive rod 9 is operated to pull out the suction nozzle 6 from the inside of the bag 1, and then the hot plate 3 is pressed against the bag mouth to heat seal (FIG. D1, FIG.
d2) Then, the drive mechanism 12 is operated to put the deaeration plate 4 into the bag 1
It is released further to complete the entire operation. FIG. 7 shows a diagram in which the device of the present invention is provided in a first (temporary) sealing step.
Immediately after degassing, the first (temporary) seal is performed, and the second (book)
Air is not re-entered because the main sealing is performed in the sealing process.

[0020]

As described above, according to the degassing apparatus of the present invention, the suction nozzle is inserted into the bag at the time of bleeding air, and the vacuum switching valve is switched at the same time as the both sides of the bag are pressed with the deaeration plate, Since the air inside the bag is vented through the suction nozzle, the inside filling liquid (thing) does not spill out of the bag mouth, and effective degassing can be performed. Can be performed.

Further, the air sucked in the mixed state by the suction nozzle and the filling liquid (object) are surely separated by the filter device, and the filling liquid (object) is discharged to the outside and separately collected and reused. As a result, waste of materials is eliminated. Further, by the action of the suction guide rod, the suction action can be continued even if the inside of the bag becomes a negative pressure due to the suction action and the bag mouths come close to each other, so that the suction efficiency is improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an overall configuration of a deaerator of the present invention.

FIGS. 2A and 2B are diagrams showing details of the filter device described above.

FIG. 3 is a view showing a movable stopper of the filter device in FIG. 1;

FIGS. 4 (a1) to ( e1 ) and (a2) to ( e2 ) are diagrams showing a degassing and heat sealing procedure in the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a configuration of a suction nozzle in the present apparatus.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a configuration of a suction nozzle in the present apparatus.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an outline of an automatic packaging system to which the present invention is applied.

FIGS. 8A to 8D are views showing a deaeration method using a conventional deaerator.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an outline of a conventional automatic packaging system.

[Explanation of Symbols] 1 bag 2 chuck 3 hot plate 4 deaeration plate 6 suction nozzle 6a suction guide rod 7, 10, 13 vacuum pipe 9 drive rod H filter device 12 drive mechanism 15 vacuum switching valve 16 solenoid valve 21 movable plug 22 Check valve

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] In a deaerator for an automatic packaging machine, a bag containing a sequentially transferred filler and a filling liquid is squeezed from a lateral side with a pair of degassing plates to release air and heat seal. A suction nozzle of a spatula plate, which is communicated with a vacuum pump and is inserted into the bag at the time of bleeding air, a moving device for moving the suction nozzle up and down, and a passage for communicating the suction nozzle with the vacuum pump. A filter device installed in the middle and separating the sucked air and the filling liquid, a switching valve installed in the middle of a passage communicating the filter device with the vacuum pump, and a switching device provided in a lower portion of the filter device A deaerator for an automatic packaging machine, comprising: a movable stopper. 2. The degassing device of an automatic packaging machine according to claim 1, wherein a pneumatic supply source is connected to the switching valve.