JP3281012B2 - Intermittent feeder for boxes with partitions - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an apparatus for intermittently feeding a box or the like when storing a tube or the like in a box having a partition.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A tube for filling toothpaste or the like is discharged from a production line with its spout closed by a cap and opened at the rear, and supplied to a filling line.

In order to transport tubes from a production line to a filling line, a box having a large number of tube storage chambers formed by grid-like partitions is used. That is, the tubes coming out of the production line are inserted one by one into each tube storage room, and the tubes are covered, and then transported to the filling line.

[0004] Since the tube accommodating chamber of the box is extremely narrow and the partition can move with respect to the box main body, packing of the tubes is conventionally performed manually, and when inserting the tubes into the respective tube accommodating chambers, the tubes, The partition and the box body are not damaged.

[0005]

However, there is a problem that the manual tube packing operation as described above takes time, is inefficient, and hinders both the production line and the filling line.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to solve such a problem by making it possible to intermittently feed a box main body and a partition while maintaining a relative positional relationship when packing tubes.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention relates to a part of a storage chamber (5) formed by a large number of lattice-shaped partitions (3) in a box body (2) . performs positioning of the partition (3) to put each inserter (10), the inner
The contents insertion device (22) stores the contents (1) in a predetermined empty state.
After inserting into the chamber (5), the inserter (10) is stored in the storage chamber (5).
Partitioning device (8) to be taken out of the inserter (1)
0) allowed stop box body (2) when the entry in the storage chamber (5) in said inserter (10) of the housing chamber (5) exits the box body (2) content insertion device (22 Towards the storage room
(5) The intermittent feeding device having a partition including a box main body transfer device (9) for intermittently feeding by a predetermined pitch is adopted.

[0008]

The partition positioning device operates with respect to the box main body to move the inserter into and out of the storage chamber.

The box body transfer device intermittently feeds the box body in one direction each time the inserter goes out of the storage chamber. When the inserter enters the storage chamber, the box body is stopped. For this reason,
When the box main body is temporarily stopped, the partition positioning device restricts the position of the partition in the box main body, and the box main body transfer device restricts the position of the box main body. Is kept constant.

[0010] Each time the box body is temporarily stopped, the contents inserting device such as a tube inserts the contents into the storage chamber of the box body. Since the partition keeps a predetermined position relative to the box body, the contents can smoothly enter each storage chamber without colliding with the partition or the like.

[0011]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of an intermittent feeder of a box having a partition according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

In this embodiment, a tube is housed in a box. First, from this tube, as shown in FIG. 2, each tube 1 has a cylindrical body 1a.
And a cap 1b for closing one end of the cylindrical body 1a. The other end of the cylindrical body 1a is an opening 1c from which the contents can be filled. The present invention can be applied not only to the tube but also to other contents similar to the tube.

The box in which the tube 1 is to be stored includes a box body 2 and a grid-shaped partition 3 inserted into the box body 2.
And a lid 4 to be put on the box main body 2. A large number of tube storage chambers 5 are formed in the box main body 2 by a partition 3 in a checkerboard shape. The present invention is not limited to the illustrated box, but can be applied to other boxes similar thereto.

This intermittent feeder is used to regulate the relative positional relationship between the box body 2 and the partition 3 therein when the tube 1 is inserted, and is provided in a boxing machine for the tube 1. .

The tube box packing machine includes an empty box transport system for transporting an empty box from a position indicated by reference numeral A to a position indicated by reference numeral B in FIG. Removal position C
And a box for transferring the box body 2 from which the cover 4 has been removed at the position B to the position indicated by the sign F via the position E. And a main body transport system.

As shown in FIG. 1, the box intermittent feeder 6 is provided with a tube transfer conveyor 7 in the box main body transfer system.
And a partition positioning device 8 as shown in FIG. 3 and a box body transfer device 9 as shown in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 3, the partition positioning device 8 inserts the inserters 10 into the plurality of tube storage chambers 5 of the box body 2 respectively, pulls out the box body 2 from the upstream side of the transport system, and The partition 3 is positioned by moving the inserter 10 into and out of the tube storage chamber 5.

The reference numeral 11 in FIG. 3 denotes a rodless air cylinder, which extends from the partition positioning device 8 to the next box body transfer device 9. In addition, the roller conveyor 1 is moved along one side of the rodless air cylinder 11.
2, a stopper 13 of the box body 2 is provided on the downstream side. The stopper 13 is made to protrude and retract on the roller conveyor 12 by the air cylinder 14, and is installed at a boundary between the partition positioning device 8 and the box body transfer device 9.

Moving part 11 of rodless air cylinder 11
a, an arm 15 protrudes from the roller conveyor 12 onto the roller conveyor 12,
A holder 17 of the insert 10 is supported at the tip of the arm 15 via an air cylinder 16 so as to be able to move up and down. As shown in FIG. 1, the inserters 10 are arranged in 3 rows × 4 columns, and are arranged so as to avoid some columns of the tube storage chambers 5 on the left side of the box body 2.

The partition positioning device 8 operates as follows. The stopper 13 projects onto the roller conveyor 12 and the box body 2 sent out from the upstream side is moved to the roller conveyor 12.
Take it up. Next, the holder 17 of the insert 10 is lowered onto the box body 2 by the operation of the air cylinder 16 and the insert 10
Penetrates into the tube storage chamber 5 of the box body 2. Subsequently, the stopper 13 escapes from the roller conveyor 12 and the box body 2
Is released, and the movable portion 11a of the rodless air cylinder 11 is released.
Moves toward the box body transfer device 9 and sends the inserter 10 together with the box body 2 into the box body transfer device 9.

The box body transfer device 9 receives the box body 2 carried by the partition positioning device 8 and keeps the box body 2 at the tube insertion position each time the inserter 10 goes out of the tube storage chamber 5. A table 18 is provided for intermittent feeding at a pitch and for horizontally supporting the box body 2.

The table 18 has the same height as the conveyor 12 and its center is cut out in a direction perpendicular to the conveying direction of the conveyor 12, and a single-axis servo module 19 for intermittent feeding is installed there. I have. Feed blocks 20 are mounted on both sides of the single-axis servo module 19 for intermittent feed. Each feed block 20 is attached to a movable portion 19a of a single-axis servo module 19 for intermittent feed via an air cylinder 21 placed vertically, and can be protruded and retracted from the surface of the table 18 by the operation of the air cylinder 21. .

When the partition positioning device 8 carries the box body 2 onto the table 18, the intermittent feed single-axis servo module 19 is operated, and the feed block 2 is moved.
0 positions the box body 2. Thereby, the position of the box main body 2 and the partition 3 therein are aligned. When such positioning is performed, a tube insertion device 22 described later operates to insert the tube 1 into the tube storage chamber 5 on the left end row of the box body 2 in FIG. Subsequently, when the inserter 10 escapes onto the box main body 2 by the operation of the air cylinder 16, the single-axis servo module 19
1 intermittently feeds the box body 2 by one pitch in the tube storage chamber 5 in the left direction in FIG. 1, and then the inserter 10 enters the tube storage chamber 5 again. Then, the tube insertion device 22 operates in the same manner as described above, and inserts the tubes 1 into the tube storage chambers 5 in the next row.

Thus, when the tubes 1 are stored in all the tube storage chambers 5 of one box body 2, the feed block 20 is lowered, and the intermittent feed single-axis servo module 19 returns to the original position. Then, during return, the partition positioning device 8 carries the next box main body 2 onto the table 18.

A tube insertion device 22 for inserting the tube 1 into the box body 2 intermittently transferred by the box body transfer device 9 is provided at a position parallel to the tube transfer conveyor 7 and the box body transfer system. Have been.

As shown in FIG. 5, the tube insertion device 22 has a roller conveyor 23 for receiving the box body 2. The roller conveyor 23 is driven by being incorporated in the box body transport system.

On one side of the roller conveyor 23, a tube unloading conveyor 7 coming from a tube production line (not shown) is arranged. Tube unloading conveyor 7
Has a large number of pedestals 25 slidably mounted in a row on a groove rail 24. Each pedestal 25 is provided with a hole into which the tube 1 can be inserted from the cap 1b side.

The tubes 1 are inserted into the respective pedestals 25 on the tube production line upstream of the groove rails 24, and the respective tubes 1 reach the box-packing positions while standing on the respective pedestals 25.

A pair of stoppers 26 and 27 are provided on the side of the groove rail 24 opposite to the roller conveyor 23. One stopper 26 is on the upstream side of the groove rail 24 and can protrude and retract on the groove rail 24 by the air cylinder 28, and the other stopper 27 is on the downstream side of the groove rail 24 and is on the groove rail 24 by the air cylinder 29. It is possible to appear in. The two stoppers 26 and 27 are arranged at a predetermined interval between them so that a predetermined number of pedestals 25 (in this case, ten) as many as the tube storage chambers in one row of the box body can be taken in.

The two stoppers 26 and 27 operate as follows. That is, initially the upstream side stopper 26 is
A pedestal 2 that has escaped from above and holds the tube 1
5 flows on the groove rail 24 and is blocked by the downstream stopper 27. A predetermined number of pedestals 2 between both stoppers 26 and 27
When a sensor (not shown) detects that 5 has flowed in,
The upstream side stopper 26 protrudes above the groove rail 24 and closes and blocks the subsequent pedestal 25. As a result, a predetermined number of tubes 1 are taken in between the stoppers 26 and 27, and are carried out by the head 30 described below. When the tube 1 is carried out, the stoppers 26 and 27 release the empty pedestal 25 and take in the pedestal 25 holding the next tube 1 in the same manner as described above.

A pusher 3 is provided between the stoppers 26 and 27.
1 is provided. The pusher 31 is an air cylinder 3
2 reciprocates from one side of the groove rail 24 toward the other side.
The whole pedestal 25 between 27 is pressed against the other side of the groove rail 24. Due to the pressing by the pusher 31, the pedestals 25 are correctly aligned in a straight line.

Above the roller conveyor 23, a large number of heads 30 and a plurality of heads 30 for transporting the rows of tubes 1 arranged on the tube unloading conveyor 7 to the box body 2 in the box body transport system. A turret for turning 30 is arranged.

Each head 30 is, as shown in FIG.
A rod member 33 having a diameter slightly smaller than the inner diameter of the tube 1 is provided. The bar member 33 is vertically oriented, and a nozzle hole 34 for blowing air is provided at a lower end thereof.
The upper peripheral wall of the rod member 34 is covered with a flexible rubber sleeve 35, and the upper and lower ends of the sleeve 35 are adhered to the wall surface of the rod member 34. Therefore, a cavity 36 is formed between the wall surface of the rod member 34 and the sleeve 35, and a supply / exhaust hole 37 communicating with the cavity 36 is provided on the wall surface of the rod member 34.

The nozzle hole 34 is for injecting air into the tube 1 when removing the tube 1 from the rod member 33. When the tube 1 is held by the rod member 33, the air supply / exhaust hole 37 blows air into the cavity 36 to inflate the sleeve 35 to contact the inner wall surface of the tube, and when the tube 1 is removed from the rod member 33, It is for discharging air.

A control valve (not shown) is provided upstream of the nozzle hole 34 and the supply / exhaust hole 37, respectively.
When the tube 1 is removed from the tube 1, the air is discharged from the cavity 36, and the air is ejected from the nozzle hole 34 when the sleeve 37 is deflated to the extent that the airtightness in the tube 1 can be maintained. Thereby, the nozzle hole 3
The air injected from 4 is used for removing the tube 1 without leaking out of the tube 1, and the tube 1 is surely separated from the head 30.

As shown in FIG. 1, the head 30
Zero rows are arranged in a row, and each row is
They are mounted at 0 ° intervals. The turret is suspended above the roller conveyor 23 via a rotary drive shaft and an elevating cylinder (not shown).

The tube unloading conveyor 7 for the tube 1
The transfer from the container to the box body 2 is performed as follows. The turret is set to the position shown in FIG.
Intermittently rotates counterclockwise by 0 °. First of head 30
Are the stoppers 26, 27 on the tube carry-out conveyor 7.
The turret is opposed to the row of tubes 1 interposed therebetween, and is lowered integrally with the turret by the operation of the turret elevating cylinder.

Next, air is injected into the cavity 36 of the head 30 from the air supply / exhaust hole 37 to expand the sleeve 35. As a result, the sleeve 35 comes into close contact with the inner wall surface of the tube 1 and holds the tube 1.

Thereafter, the turret is raised and lowered when the first row of the heads 30 is moved above the box body 2 by repeating the intermittent rotation of 90 ° twice twice. At this time, the box body 2
Is in a pause state, and the partition positioning device 8 is
Since the position of the partition 3 within the box body is restricted and the box body transfer device 9 restrains the position of the box body 2, the partition 3 and the box body 2 are restricted.
Is kept constant.

Thus, the tubes 1 held by the head 30 smoothly enter one row of the tube storage chambers 5. When each tube 1 enters each tube storage chamber 5, air is exhausted from the inside of the cavity 36 of the head 30 through the supply / exhaust hole 37. Then, when the air is exhausted from the cavity 36 to such an extent that the airtightness in the tube 1 is maintained, air is injected from the nozzle hole 34. Thereby, the tube 1 is connected to the head 3
0 and reaches the bottom of the tube storage chamber 5.

Thereafter, the turret is raised, and the intermittent rotation is repeated twice, so that the first row of the heads 30 is moved onto the tube discharge conveyor 7 again. Also, the second of the head 30
In the fourth to fourth rows, the tubes 1 are successively sucked in units of rows during the intermittent rotation of the turret, and each tube row is
Into the tube storage chamber 5.

By repeating such an operation, the tubes 1 are stored in all the tube storage chambers 5 of the box main body 2, and the box main body 2 which is full becomes the roller conveyor 23.
It moves up and is carried out toward the discharge side in the box body transport system.

[0043]

The present invention is constructed as described above, so that the contents such as tubes can be inserted into the storage chamber while restricting the relative positional relationship between the box main body and the partition therein. it can. Therefore, the insertion of the contents is ensured, and the packing operation can be performed smoothly without damaging the contents and the box body, and the efficiency of both the production line and the filling line for the contents such as tubes is improved. Can be achieved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall schematic plan view of a tube boxing machine provided with an intermittent feeding device for a box having a partition according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of a box intermittently fed by the intermittent feeding device.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the partition positioning device in the intermittent feeding device.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the intermediate box main body transfer device of the intermittent feed device.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing the box main body transfer device and a tube unloading conveyor.

FIG. 6 is a partially cutaway elevation view of a head used when inserting a tube into a box body.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 2 ... Box main body 3 ... Partition 5 ... Storage room 6 ... Intermittent feeding device 8 ... Partition positioning device 9 ... Box main body transfer device 10 ... Inserter

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-49-133184 (JP, A) JP-A-51-94392 (JP, A) Fully open 1984-112702 (JP, U) Really open Showa 49- 79569 (JP, U) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) B65B 5/00-5/12 B65B 43/52 B65G 43 / 08,47 / 88

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] An insert is inserted into a part of a large number of storage chambers formed by lattice-like partitions in a box body to position the partitions, and a contents insertion device removes the contents from a predetermined empty space.
A partition positioning device for removing the inserter from the storage chamber after being inserted into the storage chamber, and stopping the box body when the inserter enters the storage chamber, and removing the box body when the inserter is out of the storage chamber.
And a box main body transfer device for intermittently feeding the content insertion device by a predetermined pitch of the storage chamber .
That the intermittent feeding apparatus of a box with a partition.