JP3348755B2 - Method and apparatus for forming paper container - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a molding method and a molding apparatus for molding a flat-top type paper container in which a liquid, powder or the like is enclosed as a content.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a container enclosing a liquid such as a liquid beverage or a shampoo for washing hair, or a powder such as a detergent or a bath agent, as shown in FIG. It is already known that there are top-type paper containers. This container, conventionally,
For example, it is manufactured as follows. First, in FIG. 4, a liquid is injected into a rectangular tube-shaped container material 1 c having an opening at the top P of the container through the opening, and the top P is folded inside as shown by an arrow A. Then, as shown in FIG. 5, the pushed-in portion is folded inside, and the side portion protrudes outside the container. These projections M are generally called ears.

[0003] Thereafter, the top of the container is subjected to heat and pressure treatment to seal the top of the container as shown in FIG. 6, and then, as shown in FIG. 7, the bonded top is lowered to a horizontal state. Then, the both ears M are bent downward, and the bent ears M are adhered to the side surface of the container main body with an adhesive or the like as shown in FIG. 9, thereby completing a paper container containing the contents.

[0004]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional molding method, when the ear portion M shown in FIG. 7 is bent downward to the state shown in FIG. 9, the bent ruled line portion K is pulled from both sides, As a result, cracks sometimes occurred in the portion. In general, various types of printing are performed on the surface of the container. If such cracks occur, the printed portion is cracked and the lower layer paper surface is exposed to the outside, and the appearance is very poor.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problem, and it is possible to avoid the occurrence of cracks in the folded creases of the ears of the container by performing a very simple process. The purpose is to be.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, a method for forming a paper container according to the present invention is to form a flat top portion of a container in which contents are enclosed and to project outside the container body. An ear portion forming step of forming an ear portion, and an ear portion bonding step of bending the formed ear portion to the side surface of the container body and bonding it to the side surface thereof, and further comprising an ear formed in the ear portion forming step The ear part pre-folding step of folding the part in a direction opposite to the side surface of the container body is provided before the ear bonding step.

The paper container forming apparatus according to the present invention is further characterized in that the paper container forming apparatus has an ear forming means for forming the top of the container in which the contents are sealed flat and forming an ear protruding outside the container body. Ear portion bonding means for bending the formed ear portion to the side of the container main body and further bonding the side to the side thereof,
Furthermore, the present invention is characterized in that there is provided ear preliminary folding means for bending the ear formed by the ear forming means in a direction opposite to the side surface of the container body.

The specific structure of the ear preliminary folding means is not limited to a special structure. For example, for example, a pressing member for pressing the base of the ear at the top of the container, and a reciprocating member along the side of the container body continuous with the ear. A configuration having a movable ear folding member can be employed. This ear-folding member is
It is only required that the ear portion be a member that can be folded into the side opposite to the side surface of the container body, and the structure and the form of movement are not limited to specific ones. For example, by moving the ear fold member reciprocatingly around a rotation center located outside the container side surface and moving the ear fold member along the side surface of the container body, the ear portion is opposite to the container side surface. Can be folded in the direction. Also, in some cases,
By moving the ear folding member parallel to the side surface of the container body, the ear portion can be folded in a direction opposite to the side surface of the container.

The ear folding member is preferably constituted by a roller which rotates about its own central axis. With this configuration, it is possible to prevent a large frictional force from being generated between the side surface of the container body and the ear by rotating the roller while the roller for folding the ear moves in contact with the roller to fold the ear. Can be prevented.

[0010]

According to the method for molding a paper container according to the first aspect and the apparatus for molding a paper container according to the second aspect, the ear protruding outward from the container main body is folded into the side surface of the container main body, and the outer side is formed on the surface. Prior to bonding, the ears are folded in a direction opposite to the side of the container body. Now, in the ear bonding step, if the ear is bent downward in order to bond the ear to the side surface of the container body, the ear is bent upward at an appropriate angle in the ear preliminary bending step, for example, Bend about 90 °. As described above, when the ear portion is preliminarily bent to the side opposite to the side surface of the container, when the ear portion is adhered to the side surface of the container, a crack is generated at the base portion of the ear portion, that is, the surface of the folding ruled line portion of the container. Disappears.

The reason why the ears are preliminarily bent to the side opposite to the side surface of the container so that cracks do not occur in the folded creases is not always clear, but the following phenomenon is one of the reasons. Conceivable. Now, consider a case where a container is manufactured using a container material having a layer structure of ink layer / PE (polyethylene) / paper as shown in FIG. When this container material is suddenly bent as shown by arrow B at the ruled line K as in the conventional molding method,
As shown by 1, the bent ruled line K is pulled from both sides as indicated by arrows C and C ', and thus a crack W is generated.

On the other hand, prior to bending as shown by arrow B in FIG. 10, the container material is preliminarily bent at an angle of about 90 ° in the opposite direction as shown by arrow D, as shown in FIG. Delamination H occurs in the inside. When the container material in which the delamination H has occurred is bent as shown by the arrow B, the tensile force in the directions indicated by the arrows C and C ′ in FIG. 11 is absorbed by the deformation of the delamination H. It is considered that no crack W occurs.

[0013]

(Embodiment 1) FIGS. 1 and 2 show an embodiment of a filling and packaging apparatus using a paper container forming apparatus according to the present invention.
In particular, FIG. 1 shows the upstream part of the filling and packaging apparatus,
FIG. 2 shows a downstream portion that is continuous with the upstream portion. In the filling and packaging apparatus shown here, first, the flat container material 1a is stored in the material stacker 2 in a stacked state. Then, the lowest one of the stacked container materials 1 a is extracted from the stacker 2. At this time, the container material 1a is pushed and expanded in a rectangular tube shape. The container material 1b expanded in the shape of a rectangular tube is rotated by a rotating conveyor 3 as shown by an arrow L.
And is intermittently rotated and conveyed according to the rotation of the mandrel 4. During this rotation conveyance, a container bottom is formed at one end outside the container material 1b by a container bottom forming mechanism (not shown) arranged around the mandrel 4. FIG. 4 shows an open container 1 thus formed having a container bottom Q at one end and a top opening at the other end.
c is shown.

The open container 1c is transported to a position E where the mandrel 4 faces vertically downward, and is removed from the mandrel 4 at that position. The removed open container 1c is received on the transport rail 5. The received open container 1c is transported linearly and intermittently in the direction of arrow F by a transport device, for example, a transport chain (not shown). In addition, as for the open container 1c received by the transport chain, the upper isosceles triangular plates 6 and 6 (see FIG. 4) in the upper part face the F direction which is the transport direction.

The open container 1c conveyed by the conveying chain is first sent to the container direction changing stage G. In the container direction changing stage G, the open container 1c is once lifted from the container transport rail 5, and
, And then lowered again to the container transport rail 5. By this processing, the open container 1c
The ear isosceles triangular plates 6, 6 are oriented in a direction perpendicular to the container transport direction F.

The direction-changed open container 1c is thereafter
It is conveyed to a position below the filling nozzle 8 extending from the content tank 7 and stops there. The filling nozzle 8 discharges a certain amount of the liquid in the content tank 7 to the outside, and the discharged liquid fills, ie, fills, the inside of the open container 1c through the top opening P (see FIG. 4) of the open container 1c. Is done.
After that, the open container 1c filled with the contents is transported to the top heater 9, and the top heater 9 heats the top, in particular, each of the adhesive plates 10 (see FIG. 4) from the inside. By this heating, the adhesiveness is imparted to each of the pasting plate portions 10.

Thereafter, the open container 1c is connected to the top breaker 11, the top sealing device 12, and the sealing portion pressing device 1.
3 is sent to the ear forming stage N constituted by 3.
The top breaker 11 presses the pair of upper plates 14 at the top of the container from the outside to the inside, as indicated by the arrow A in FIG. By this pressing process, the top P of the open container 1c is temporarily folded. At the time of this preliminary folding, the isosceles triangular plates 6 and 6 at the top of the container project outward, and the ears M are formed as shown in FIG. When the temporary folding process is completed, the open container 1c is carried to the top seal device 12. As shown by an arrow R in FIG. 5, the top sealing device 12 presses the sticking plate portions 10 at the top of the container facing each other from both sides, and the sticking plate portions 10 that have already been provided with adhesiveness are adhered to the sticking plate portions 10. Glue each other based on their properties. Thereby, as shown in FIG. 6, the sealed container 1d having the top seal portion 15 formed by bonding the adhesive plate portion 10 is formed.

Thereafter, the sealed container 1d is sent to the sealing unit pressing device 13. This sealing part press device 13
As shown by an arrow S in FIG.
Press 5 flat. By this pressing process, the container top P is formed into a flat shape, and the flat top container 1e having the untreated ear M as shown in FIG. 7 is formed. The flat-top container 1e is sent to the preliminarily-folded ear portion device 15, as shown in FIG. As shown by an arrow T in FIG. 7, the ear pre-folding device 15 folds the ear M upward in the figure, that is, in the direction opposite to the side surface 16 of the container body by an appropriate angle, for example, 90 °. The ear M is lifted up as shown in FIG.

Thereafter, the container 1e having the ear M temporarily folded is shown.
Is carried to the ear bonding stage V in FIG. The ear bonding stage V includes an adhesive application section 25 having a pair of adhesive spray nozzles 17 opposed to each other across the container transport path.
, An edge bent portion 26 having a pair of guide plates 18 opposed to each other with the container transport path interposed therebetween, and an adhesive fixing portion 27 having a plurality of ear pressing pieces 20 transported by a pair of annular transport chains 19, 19. And is constituted by.

In the adhesive application section 25, the pair of adhesive injection nozzles 17 is connected to the transported flat top container 1.
The adhesive is sprayed on the upper outer peripheral surfaces of the two opposing side walls of e. The container 1e to which the adhesive has been sprayed
Between the two guide plates 18. At this time, the container 1e
The ears M, M are bent toward the container body side surface 16 as shown by an arrow X in FIG. After that, the container 1e is provided with two opposing transport chains 1 having the ear pressing pieces 20.
It is sent between 9 and 19. The interval between the adjacent ear pressing pieces 20 attached to each chain 19 is set so as to exactly match the interval between the two containers 1e to be transported. Accordingly, the top ears M, M of the container 1e sent between the chains 19, 19 are pressed by the ear pressing pieces 20 against the side surface 16 of the container 1e where the adhesive is applied. In this case, the moving speed of the ear pressing piece 20 and the moving speed of the container 1e are set in advance so as to be synchronized with each other.
Do not move relative to the container 1e, and the ears M, M
Press and hold a certain position for a long time. Due to this long pressing process, as shown in FIG.
Is securely adhered to the container side surfaces 16, 16 with an adhesive, and a flat top type container containing contents as a product is completed.

When the flat-top type product container reaches the consumer's hand and takes out the liquid therein, one or both of the ears M, M are pulled up by breaking the adhesive, and the ears are raised. The tip of the part is cut using a cutting instrument such as scissors to form an opening, and the liquid is poured out through the opening.

According to the filling and packaging apparatus of the present embodiment, the ear preliminary folding device 15 is disposed between the ear forming stage N (FIG. 1) and the ear bonding stage V (FIG. 2). As shown in FIG. 8, the ear portions M, M of the container 1e are bent in the direction opposite to the container body side surfaces 16, 16 by the preliminary folding device 15, that is, upward. In other words, prior to bending the ear M in the direction of the container body side surface 16, the ear M is bent in the opposite direction. Due to this bending treatment, delamination H as shown in FIG. 12 occurs. By the action of the delamination H, when a flat-top type container is completed (FIG. 9), the bent ruled line portion K on the surface of the container is formed. The occurrence of cracks in places is reliably prevented.

The ear pre-folding device 15 is not limited to a device having a specific structure. For example, a device having a structure shown in FIG. 3 can be used. The ear pre-folding device 15 shown here includes a machine frame supported by the columns 21 and 21 so that the ear M straddles the transport rail 5 on which the untreated flat top container 1e (see FIG. 7) is placed. 22. A press air cylinder 23 is fixedly installed at the center of the upper surface of the machine frame 22, and the air cylinder 2 for bending the ear portion is provided on both sides of the air cylinder 23.
4, 24 are installed. A flat support plate 30 is provided at the lower end of the output plunger 23a of the holding air cylinder 23.
Are fixed, and container holding members 31 are fixed to the lower surfaces of both ends of the support plate 30. A pair of arm members 32 is rotatably supported on a rotation center 33 on the lower surfaces of both end portions of the machine frame 22. The tip of an output plunger 24 a extending from each ear bending air cylinder 24 is rotatably connected to each arm member 32. A roller 34 as an ear-folding member is supported at the tip of each arm member 32 so as to be able to rotate around a fulcrum 35.

The flat top container 1e (the ear M is in an unprocessed state) carried to the ear preliminary folding device 15 stops between the pair of arm members 32. Then, the holding air cylinder 23 operates to lower the container holding member 31, and the lower end surface of the container holding member 31 lightly abuts on the base of the ear M at the top of the container 1 e. Thereafter, the air cylinder 24 for bending the ears is operated to lift each arm member 32 upward. By this lifting operation, the roller 34 moves upward from below along the container body side surface 16 to bend the ear M extending horizontally to an angle of about 90 ° upward, as shown in FIG. Form into shape. At this time, the roller 34 moves while rolling in contact with the container side surface 16 and the ear M. It rolls and does not damage the container.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 2, the case where the ear portion M is adhered to the container side surface 16 with an adhesive is illustrated, but the outermost peripheral surface of the container material is made of a material such as PET (polyethylene terephthalate) or olefin. In the case where the ear portion M is formed of a thermoplastic resin layer capable of self-fusion, the ear portion M can be fixed to the container side surface 16 by applying heat and pressure without using an adhesive. In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a series of processes of forming the container bottom, filling the liquid content, forming the container top flat, and further fixing the ear to the side of the container are described in one embodiment. Although the processing is performed continuously on the transport rails of the book, each processing unit may be performed on a separate line. Further, the container that can be manufactured by using the present invention only needs to have the ear portion, and is not necessarily limited to the shape illustrated in FIG. 9. For example, it is clear that the present invention can be applied to a container having a stopper attached to the top of the container.

(Example 2) As shown in FIG. 13, the layer constitution was PE 25 μm / paper 350 g / SPE 25 μm / PE 35 μm / GL film 12 μ.
m / PE60 μm However, PE: polyethylene SPE: sand-laminated polyethylene GL film: glass-deposited silicon oxide film Three types of base paper for container materials shown in FIGS. 14, 15 and 16 were produced using a laminated material. The difference between these base papers is the ruled line pattern of the base Y of the isosceles triangular plate 6. Specifically, the one in FIG. 14 uses a straight ruled line pattern, the one in FIG. 15 uses a double ruled line pattern, and the one in FIG.

Using each of the base papers described above, a plurality of containers of the present invention which have been subjected to the pre-folding process shown in FIG. 8 and conventional containers which have not been subjected to the pre-folding process are produced. (Refer to FIG. 9). The results are shown below.

[0028]

[Table 1] (Hereinafter, margin)

[0029]

[Table 2]

In the above tables, cracks (none): no cracks at all Cracks (small): cracks of 2 to 3 mm or less occurred on one side Cracks (middle): cracks of 2 to 3 mm or less occurred on both sides (Large): Cracks of 3 mm or more on both sides and cracks of 5 mm or more on one side (FIG. 14): Same as FIG. 14 with modified wooden mold (FIG. 15): Same as FIG. 15 with modified wooden mold Thing (FIG. 16): It is the same as FIG. 16 but with a modified wood pattern.

As is clear from Tables 1 and 2, when the pretreatment of bending the ear portion to the side opposite to the side surface of the container is performed,
The occurrence of creases has been reduced. Furthermore, when the pre-folding process of the present invention is performed on 1000 containers by modifying the wooden mold in consideration of the contents of Table 2, the occurrence of creases is 2 to 2 on one side.
Only 10 cracks of 3 mm or less occurred, no cracks occurred in 990 containers, and the occurrence of creases was significantly reduced.

[0032]

According to the method for forming a paper container according to the first aspect and the apparatus for forming a paper container according to the second aspect, the ear portion is bent before the ear portion is bent toward the side of the container. Since the provisional folding is performed in the opposite direction to the side surface, it is possible to prevent the occurrence of cracks in the folding ruled line portion of the ear of the container. Also, it is sufficient to perform a very simple process of temporary folding.

According to the paper container forming apparatus of the third and fourth aspects, the ear portion can be reliably bent in the direction opposite to the side surface of the container with a simple configuration.

According to the apparatus for forming a paper container according to the fifth aspect, when the ear portion is temporarily folded in a direction opposite to the side surface of the container, the container is not damaged. Further, the movement of the ear folding member becomes smooth.

[0035]

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a part of an example of a filling and packaging apparatus using a paper container forming apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the remaining part of the filling and packaging apparatus that is continuous with the part of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a front view showing one embodiment of a preliminarily folding device for ears.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing an example of a paper container being manufactured.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing another example of a paper container being manufactured.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing another example of a paper container being manufactured.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing another example of a paper container being manufactured.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing another example of the production of the paper container, particularly a state in which the ear portion is temporarily folded upward.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view showing an example of a completed container.

FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view showing a layer structure of a laminated material mainly composed of paper.

11 is a cross-sectional view showing an example of a state when the laminated material of FIG. 10 is bent.

FIG. 12 is a cross-sectional view showing an example of a state after performing a temporary folding process on the laminated material of FIG.

FIG. 13 is a cross-sectional view illustrating another layer configuration of a laminated material mainly composed of paper.

FIG. 14 is a plan view showing an example of base paper used as a material of a container.

FIG. 15 is a plan view showing another example of the base paper used as the material of the container.

FIG. 16 is a plan view showing still another example of the base paper used as the material of the container.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 1a Flat container material 1b Square cylindrical container material 1c Open container 1d Sealed container 1e Flat top container with untreated ears 2 Material stacker 3 Rotary transfer mechanism 4 Mandrel 5 Transfer rail 6 Isosceles triangular plate 7 Contents tank 8 Filling nozzle 9 Top heater 10 Adhesive plate part 11 Top breaker 12 Top seal device 13 Seal part press device 14 Upper plate 15 Ear pre-folding device 16 Container side surface 17 Adhesive injection nozzle 18 Guide plate 19 Transport chain 20 Ear pressing piece 23 Pressing air Cylinder 24 Folding air cylinder 25 Adhesive coating part 26 Folding part 27 Adhesive fixing part 31 Container holding member 32 Arm member 33 Center of rotation 34 Roller (ear folding member) 35 Support point F Container transport direction G Container direction change Stage H Delamination M Ear N Ear molding Stage P container top Q container bottom V ear part adhering stage W cracking

────────────────────────────────────────────────── (5) References JP-A-5-305905 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) B65B ⁷ /16-7/20 B65B 61 / twenty four

Claims (5)

(57) [Claims] 1. A molding method for molding a flat-top type paper container in which contents are enclosed, wherein the ear is formed such that the top of the container in which contents are enclosed is flattened and protrudes outside the container body. A method of forming a paper container, comprising: an ear forming step of forming an edge; and an ear bonding step of bending the formed ear to a side surface of the container body and bonding the edge to the side surface. A method of forming a paper container, comprising a step of preliminarily folding an ear portion in a direction opposite to the side surface of the container body, between the bonding step and the ear portion. 2. A molding apparatus for molding a flat-top type paper container in which contents are enclosed, wherein the ear is formed to flatten the top of the container in which contents are enclosed and protrude to the outside of the container body. A paper container forming apparatus comprising: an ear forming means for forming an edge; and an ear bonding means for bending the formed ear to the side surface of the container body and bonding the edge to the side surface. An apparatus for forming a paper container, characterized in that an ear part pre-folding means for bending the ear part in a direction opposite to the side of the container body is provided between the adhesive means and the bonding means. 3. The paper container molding apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the ear preliminary folding means includes a pressing member for pressing a base portion of the ear at the top of the container, and a side of the container main body connected to the ear. And a reciprocating ear-folding member. 4. The paper container forming apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the ear folding member reciprocates around a rotation center located outside the side surface of the container body. apparatus. 5. The paper container forming apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the ear-folding member is constituted by a roller that rotates around its own central axis. Molding equipment.