JP3467598B2 - Container filling and sealing device - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a material filling and sealing apparatus used for producing egg tofu or the like enclosed in a container, and more particularly, an apparatus for filling and sealing a material into two containers having different shapes. Regarding

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art For example, in the case of egg tofu enclosed in a container, those which are enclosed in a box-shaped container like ordinary tofu and bottle-shaped containers are generally used. There are two forms of those enclosed in.

Conventionally, in order to fill and seal the material of such a container, a dedicated filling and sealing apparatus suitable for each type of container has been used. And since these devices are generally intended for mass production, they are rather large. Therefore, when it is attempted to fill and seal two types of containers, a large space is required to set up these devices.

However, in recent years, in addition to mass production, there is a tendency for small-quantity, multi-item production to be required, and the containers filled in the above two forms may also need small-volume production. In such a case, it is not suitable to use the conventional device as described above from the viewpoint of production cost.

In view of the above points, the present invention has two different forms.
An object of the present invention is to provide a filling and encapsulating device suitable for producing a small amount of products enclosed in one container.

[0006]

An apparatus according to the present invention has a large number of container transfer pallets and a device for transferring the pallets along a constant circulation path, and each container transfer pallet has the above-mentioned structure. A container transporting device comprising first and second storage parts for receiving the first and second containers, and a first container and a second container which are set at predetermined positions of the above-mentioned path and are filled with materials. The first and second filling devices, and the first material filling device which is set at a predetermined position of the above-mentioned path.
And first and second sealing devices for sealing the second container,
The basic feature is to have a discharge device for discharging each of the sealed first and second containers from the path.

That is, in the device according to the present invention,
Unlike the conventional filling and encapsulating device, it is characterized by using a container transport pallet capable of accommodating two containers having different shapes. Circulating this through a fixed path, supplying two containers, The material is filled and sealed so that it can be discharged. Therefore, in order to produce two types of filled and sealed products like the conventional filled and sealed device, it is not necessary to prepare two devices for making the respective products, and the problems of the conventional device as described above are solved. be able to.

Specifically, the above-mentioned path is formed so as to define a rectangle, and a predetermined number of container transport pallets are placed so as to be adjacent to each other on the path portion forming each side of the rectangle.
A space for at least one container transfer pallet is left in the same path part in the container transfer direction, and the container transfer pallet on each path part is driven by the drive set corresponding to each path part. The container at the foremost end, which is conveyed by the device, is sequentially fed into the space left at the rear end of the next path portion adjacent to the front side in the transfer direction so as to circulate on the path. There is.

Further, the drive device is composed of four pushers set adjacent to the rear end portion of each path portion in the container transfer direction, and each pusher is arranged in a row on the corresponding path portion. The rear end of the container transfer pallet is pushed to advance the container transfer pallet in the same row, and the frontmost container transfer pallet is fed into the space.

The container transporting device as described above is a novel device which is not available in the conventional filling and sealing device.

More specifically, the first container is substantially box-shaped, and is provided with a flange extending substantially horizontally outward along the edge of the upper opening thereof, and the second container is substantially It has a bottle-shaped material storage portion having a large cross section and an elongated mouth portion provided so as to extend upward on the material storage portion. Each pallet is in the shape of a rectangular thick plate as a whole, and has a first storage portion that receives the box-shaped portion of the first container and a second storage portion that receives the material storage portion of the second container. And a second accommodating portion is a recess formed at the front end face in the transfer direction of the pallet in the path portion through which the second container is filled and sealed, corresponding to the material accommodating portion of the container. It consists of

The second storage portion is formed in this way
This is for facilitating the discharge of the second container when it reaches the final end of the path portion through which the material is filled.

A discharging device for discharging the first container is set at the final end of the path portion for conveying the container conveying pallet containing the container-shaped first container filled with the material. The discharge device extends in the container transport direction of the path portion, and has a swing member that swings about a pivot extending substantially at right angles to the direction, and one end of the member has the path. The swing member has a portion that extends to the final end portion of the portion and that enters below the flanges on both sides of the first container stored in the container transport pallet that is transported to the final end. It is tilted as a whole so that it is engaged with the container transfer pallet that is transferred to the final end and is pivoted about the pivot axis so that the portion that has entered under the flange of the container is lifted, It lifts the container The swing by impulse towards the end opposite along the same swing member is adapted to discharge to the outside.

The bottle-shaped second container filling device includes a nozzle for supplying a liquid material into the container and a second nozzle for the nozzle.
The device is once inserted from outside the container to near the bottom of the container, and the nozzle is gradually raised as the liquid level of the liquid material supplied from the nozzle rises. This prevents the filled material from foaming.

In order to supply the bottle-shaped second container to the pallet, a container supply device is set at a predetermined position of the transfer path. The supply device guides an endless belt conveyor for supplying a second container to the pallet, and a second container conveyed by the endless belt conveyor and supplied from one end thereof to the second storage portion of the pallet. And a guide member for. The endless belt conveyor extends in a horizontal direction substantially at right angles to the path, and one end of the endless belt conveyor is located above the second storage portion of the pallet on the path. Second
Is conveyed toward the one end in a state of contacting each other on the upper traveling part of the belt conveyor, and the guide member is discharged from the one end of the upper traveling part. The second container comes into contact with the guide member so that the container is substantially upright between the one end and the one end and is dropped between them into the second storage portion at the lower position. . The endless belt conveyor is provided when the second container at the foremost end of the second container conveyed by the upper traveling part thereof is placed in a state in which it is substantially upright between the guide member and the one end. It is designed to drive slightly in the opposite direction. The operation in the opposite direction is to prevent the foremost container from being caught between the guide member and the subsequent container and from falling into the second storage portion.

The above-mentioned sealing device is a device for pressing the material storage portion of the second container, and a device for pressing the material containing portion of the second container when the liquid level of the liquid material supplied to the container reaches a predetermined height. It has a device for sealing the mouth portion. The reason for pressing the material containing portion is to correct this because the liquid level of the material may not reach the predetermined height of the mouth portion due to deformation of the container even if a predetermined amount of the material is filled.

The sealing device also comprises a first heating element inserted inside the mouth portion of the second container, and a cylindrical shape concentric with the element and set outside the mouth portion. It has a heating device composed of a second heating element, and a member for sandwiching and sandwiching the mouth portion heated by the heating device from both sides thereof.

[0018]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described below in detail based on the embodiments shown in the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a filling and sealing apparatus 10 according to the present invention. As shown in the drawing, this apparatus has a large number of container transport pallets 12 and the pallets are sequentially arranged along a rectangular circulation path 14. And a transfer device.

Each container transport pallet 12 has a first storage section 16 for receiving a box-shaped container A and a second storage section 18 for receiving a bottle-shaped container B.

Path portions 14a, 14 forming each side of the rectangle
On b, 14c, 14d, a predetermined number (9 in the illustrated embodiment) of container transport pallets 12 are placed so as to be adjacent to each other, and at least a container is provided in the same route portion in the container transport direction. Space S for one transport pallet
Is being left.

Further, the filling and enclosing device 10 has a driving device composed of four pushers 20 which are set adjacent to the rear end portion of each path portion in the container transfer direction, and each pusher is appropriately installed. Are driven in order, and the rear ends of the container transport pallets 12 arranged in rows on the corresponding route parts are pushed to advance the container transport pallets in the same line, and the frontmost container transport pallet is moved in the transport direction of the next route part. By feeding into the space left at the rear end portion, the container pallet is sequentially circulated along the path.

As shown in FIG. 2, the pallet 12 is composed of two upper and lower parts 24 and 26 which are joined to each other. The upper part is made of metal, and the lower part is made of plastic, so that the pallet 12 moves along the path. It is adapted to be slid. A rectangular hole is formed at a substantially central position of these portions, and the above-mentioned first storage portion 1 for the box-shaped container A is formed.
Make up 6. Similarly, a recess is formed at one end edge of these portions, and constitutes the above-mentioned second storage portion 18 for the bottle-shaped container B. An edge member 34 slightly protruding from the upper surface of the upper portion 24 is attached to the periphery of the hole of the upper portion 24 and is formed along the upper edge of the container A when the container A is received. It is designed to support the flange A '. The lower portion 26 has two transverse grooves 36
Are formed, and these are used when taking out the box-shaped container A described later.

Furthermore, the device according to the present invention comprises a pallet 12
Container supply device 40 for supplying a box-shaped container A to
And a container supply device 42 for supplying a bottle-shaped container B
A filling device 44 for filling the bottle-shaped container supplied to the pallet with the liquid material, a sealing device 46 for sealing the bottle-shaped container filled with the material, and a box-shaped container A filling device 48 for filling the liquid material into the container, a sealing device 50 for sealing the container-shaped container filled with the material, and a discharge device for discharging the filled and sealed container-shaped container 52
And have.

The container supply device 40 is set at the lower left corner of the path shown in FIG. 1, and a large number of container-shaped containers are stacked above the corner and a new pallet is sent to the corner. When they are received, they are supplied one by one to the first storage portion 16 of the pallet.

The container supply device 42, as shown in FIG.
An endless belt conveyor 60 for supplying a bottle-shaped container to a pallet, and a bottle-shaped container B conveyed by the endless belt conveyor and supplied from one end thereof to the second storage portion 18 of the pallet. And a guide member 62. The endless belt conveyor extends in a horizontal direction substantially at right angles to the path, and the one end is located above the second storage portion of the pallet on the path. The bottle-shaped container is
The belt conveyor is configured so as to be in contact with each other on the upper traveling portion 64 and is conveyed toward the one end, and the guide member 62 is a bottle type discharged from the one end of the upper traveling portion 64. The container comes into contact with the guide member, and the container is in a substantially upright state between the guide member and the one end so as to drop into the second storage portion 18 at a lower position between them. The endless belt conveyor moves slightly in the opposite direction when the container at the foremost end of the bottle-shaped container conveyed by the upper traveling part thereof is in a state of being almost upright between the guide member and the one end. It is designed to be driven (Fig. 3b). The operation in the opposite direction is to prevent the foremost container from being caught between the guide member and the subsequent container and from falling into the second storage portion.

As shown in FIG. 4, the bottle-shaped container filling means 44 is a rod-shaped nozzle 70 for inserting the liquid material into the container so that the nozzle end at the lower end is inserted close to the bottom of the container. A device for gradually raising the nozzle as the liquid level of the liquid material supplied from the nozzle rises, that is, an endless belt 72 set vertically in the illustrated example, and a constant lengthwise direction of the belt. A nozzle engaging member 74 that is provided at a distance and that engages with the nozzle and raises the nozzle. The nozzle rises to fill a predetermined amount of liquid material into the container. The nozzle is lifted to a position above the outside of the container, then disengaged from the nozzle engaging member, and by that time falls into the bottle-shaped container newly supplied to the position below the nozzle, and the nozzle end at the lower end is When approaching the bottom of the container, it is locked by locking means (not shown), and the above operation is repeated while performing the filling operation again.

FIG. 5 shows a tank device for supplying the liquid material to the nozzle 70. As shown,
The apparatus includes two main tanks 80 and a buffer tank 82, and the two main tanks are used alternately. That is, when one main tank is in use, the buffer tank is running out of material, and it is sensed that the main tank in use is running out of material, and the valve is switched to another main tank. Connect the tank to the buffer tank. In the illustrated example, one sealing lid 84 is prepared for two main tanks, and the lid has a rotating blade for stirring in the center thereof, and seals the main tank to be used. , Stirring the materials supplied inside. Further, although not shown, by connecting a vacuum device to the lid, a negative pressure can be applied to the inside of the main tank at the time of stirring so that bubbles mixed in the material by stirring can be removed as much as possible.

As shown in FIG. 6, the sealing device 46 is a piston-cylinder-type first pressing device that presses the material storage portion or the body portion of a bottle-shaped container filled with a predetermined amount of material by the filling device 44. The device 90, a sensing device 92 for sensing that the liquid surface of the liquid material that rises in the container when pressed by the pressing device reaches a predetermined height of the container mouth portion, and the sensing device 92 of the container mouth portion. First inserted inside
Heating element 94 and a heating device comprising a cylindrical second heating element 96 which is concentric with the element and is set outside the same mouth portion, and is set adjacent to the first pressing device. It has a second pressing device 98 and a crimping device that sandwiches and seals the mouth portion of the container, which is pressed by the second pressing device and whose liquid level has risen.

In this sealing device, first, the heating device is lowered from the position shown in the drawing to heat the container mouth portion from inside and outside thereof, and then the container is pressed by the first pressing device 90,
After memorizing the degree of pressing when the liquid level reaches a predetermined height, the pressing device and the heating device are returned to their original positions,
One pallet is moved forward, and in that state, the same container is pressed by the second pressing device as much as the above-mentioned memory to raise the liquid level of the material again, and in that state, it is previously heated by the crimping device. It is sealed by crimping the mouth of the container.

The filling device 48 has a nozzle connected to the tank device as shown in FIG. 5, and is adapted to supply the liquid material to the open container-shaped container A.

The sealing device 50 presses the sheet roll 100 for supplying the synthetic resin sheet X and the synthetic resin sheet unwound from the roll against the flange of the box-shaped container housed in the pallet to be conveyed, and presses the flange. It has a welding device (not shown) for heat welding and a winding roll 102 for winding up the sheet from which the portion welded to the container has been removed.

The container discharge device 52 is set at the final end portion of the path portion 14c in which the box-shaped container is sealed,
As shown in FIG. 1 and FIG.
A pair of container lifting blades 110 extending in the transport direction in parallel with each other at positions corresponding to two pallets on the upstream side in the transport direction as viewed from c ′, and a swinging member 114 set on the downstream side of the blades. Have The swing member extends in the container transport direction and swings about a pivot 116 extending outside the final end of the path and extending substantially at right angles to the transport direction. The member is formed by connecting a pair of L-shaped (that is, vertical and horizontal portions) members having a cross section, which are separated in parallel to each other in a direction transverse to the transport direction, to each other. One end (the upstream end in the transport direction) of these members extends to the final end portion of the path portion, and the horizontal portion of the member is stored in the container transport pallet that is transported to the final end portion. It is adapted to fit under the flanges on both sides of the box-like container so that as the pallet reaches the final end of the path part, the box-shaped container contained therein is supported by the horizontal part. The swing member is engaged with the container transport pallet that is transported to the final end and is pivoted about the pivot shaft so that the one end of the member is lifted and tilted as a whole. (Fig. 7b). The member has such a length that the portion near the one end supports approximately one box-shaped container, and the subsequent portion is so inclined as to be greatly downward in the conveying direction when the member is lifted as described above. Connected at an angle to.

Therefore, the pallet containing the container is
When the container reaches the final end of the path for the first time, the container accommodated therein is supported by one end of the rocking member 114, and once the rocking member is lifted, the pusher 20
By moving the pallet from the final end portion by advancing on the next path portion 14d following the path portion 14c, the pallet returns to the original position again. Then, when the next pallet is next advanced toward the final end portion, the container which is accommodated in the pallet and is supported by the swing member is pushed forward while the container is newly supported. At the same time, the rocking member is again lifted upward, and thus the previous container is discharged toward the belt conveyor C set outside the path portion.

When the material filling and sealing operation is performed in the above-mentioned apparatus according to the present invention, the box-shaped container A is emptied in the first container storage portion 16 of the pallet by the container supply device 40 at the lower left corner of the path 14. The container A is supplied, the pallet is conveyed to the path portion 14C, the material is filled by the filling device 48, is sealed by the sealing device 50, and is discharged to the belt conveyor C by the discharging device 52. Further, in the bottle-shaped container B, the container is supplied to the second storage portion 18 of the pallet by the container supply device 42, and the filling device 4
4 is filled with the material, and after the container mouth portion is sealed by the sealing device 46, the pallet reaches the final end of the path portion 14b and is automatically discharged from the storage portion 18 of the pallet. Therefore, in the illustrated embodiment, the bottle-shaped container B
No special discharge device for is needed.

[0036]

The material filling and sealing apparatus according to the present invention is constructed as described above, and it is necessary to prepare two apparatuses for producing two kinds of filled and sealed products as in the conventional case. Therefore, they can be produced without taking up much space. Further, because of the above-mentioned configuration, it is possible to provide an apparatus suitable for small-quantity production.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a material filling and sealing device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of a container transport pallet used in the same apparatus.

FIG. 3 shows a supply device for a second container, FIG. 3a shows a state in which the container is conveyed to a position for supplying to the pallet, and FIG. 3b shows the belt conveyor slightly reversed to drop the container onto the pallet. It shows the state.

FIG. 4 is a side view of the material filling device for the second container.

5 is a perspective view of a tank device for the filling device of FIG.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a sealing device for sealing the second container.

FIG. 7 shows a discharging device for the first container, FIG. 7a shows a state in which the first pallet containing the first container has entered the device, and FIG. 7b shows a state in which a second pallet has entered. Shows.

[Explanation of symbols]

12 --- container transport pallet; 14 --- route; 1
6 --- First storage section; 18 --- Second storage section; 44
--- Second filling device; 46 --- First sealing device;
48 --- First filling device; 50 --- First sealing device; 52 --- Ejecting device for ejecting first (bulb-shaped) container.

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (56) Reference JP-A-4-18227 (JP, A) JP-A-60-58391 (JP, A) JP-A-60-34391 (JP, A) 13503 (JP, U) Actual development Sho 59-57309 (JP, U) Actual development Hei 5-10245 (JP, U) (58) Fields investigated (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) B65B 43/54 B67C 3 /twenty four

Claims (9)

(57) [Claims] 1. An apparatus for filling and sealing materials in first and second containers having different shapes, comprising a plurality of container transfer pallets and a device for transferring the pallets along a predetermined path. Then, each container transport pallet is provided with a first and a second container for receiving the first and second containers, respectively, and a first container which is set at a predetermined position of the path. First and second filling devices for respectively filling the first and second containers with the material, and first and second filling devices for sealing the first and second containers filled with the material, which are set at predetermined positions of the path. A container filling and sealing device comprising: a first and a second sealing device; and a discharging device for discharging the sealed first and second containers respectively from the above-mentioned path. 2. The path is formed in a rectangular shape,
A predetermined number of container transfer pallets are placed adjacent to each other on the path portion forming each side of the rectangle, and at least one container transfer pallet space is placed on the path portion in the container transfer direction. It is designed to be left, and the container transport pallets on each path portion are driven by the drive device set corresponding to each path portion,
The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the container at the foremost end is circulated on the path by being sequentially fed into the space left at the rear end of the adjacent path portion in front of the container transfer direction. 3. The drive device comprises four pushers set adjacent to the rear end portion in the transfer direction of each path portion, and each pusher is arranged in a row on the corresponding path portion. The apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the rear end of the container transfer pallet is pushed to advance the line of the container transfer pallet, and the container transfer pallet at the front end of the line is fed into the space. 4. The first container is substantially box-shaped, and is provided with a flange extending substantially horizontally outward along the edge of the upper opening, and the second container is substantially bottle-shaped and has a cross-section. It has a large material storage portion and an elongated mouth portion provided so as to extend upward on the large material storage portion, and the pallet is in the shape of a rectangular plate as a whole, and the box-shaped portion of the first container is It has a first storage part for receiving and a second storage part for receiving the material storage part of the second container, and the second storage part stores the pallet of the pallet in the path through which the container is filled and sealed. 4. The apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the front end surface in the transfer direction comprises a recess formed corresponding to the material storage portion of the container. 5. A discharging device for discharging the first container is set at a final end portion of a path portion for conveying a container conveying pallet containing a container-shaped first container filled with material. The discharging device has a swinging member that extends in the container transport direction of the path portion and that swings about a pivot axis that extends substantially at right angles to the direction. Has an end portion or an inner end that extends to the final end portion of the path portion and is located below the flanges on both sides of the first container stored in the container transport pallet that is transported to the final end portion. The swing member is engaged by a container transport pallet transported to the final end portion and pivoted about the pivot shaft to lift the inner end, and the inner end is lifted. Tilts downward from the opposite side to the outer edge 5. The apparatus of claim 4 wherein the first container having a flange supported by the member is adapted to slide along the member toward the outer end. 6. The filling device for the second container, wherein the nozzle for supplying the liquid material into the container and the nozzle is once inserted from the outside of the second container to near the bottom of the container. The device according to claim 4 or 5, further comprising a device for gradually raising the nozzle as the liquid level of the liquid material supplied from the nozzle rises. 7. An endless device for supplying a second container to the pallet, the container supplying device being set at a predetermined position of the path for supplying the second container to the pallet. The endless belt conveyor has a belt conveyor and a guide member for guiding the second container conveyed by the endless belt conveyor and supplied from one end of the endless belt conveyor to the second storage section of the pallet, and the endless belt conveyor has the above-mentioned path. And extends in a horizontal direction substantially at a right angle to, and the one end is located above the second storage portion of the pallet on the path,
The second container is conveyed toward the one end while being in contact with each other on the upper traveling part of the belt conveyor, and the guide member is discharged from the one end of the upper traveling part. The second container is brought into contact with the guide member so that the container is substantially upright between the one end and the one end and is dropped between them into the second storage portion at the lower position. , The endless belt conveyor,
When the container at the foremost end of the second container conveyed by the upper traveling portion is brought into a state in which it is substantially upright between the guide member and the one end, it is operated in a slightly opposite direction. The device according to any one of claims 4 to 6, which has been described above. 8. The second sealing device is arranged near the material storage portion of a second container to be conveyed, and a device for pressing the material storage portion and a predetermined amount are supplied into the container. 8. The device according to claim 7, further comprising a device for sealing the mouth portion of the container when the liquid surface of the liquid material thus formed reaches a predetermined height by the pressing. 9. The first sealing element, wherein the second sealing device is inserted inside the mouth portion of the second container, and
A heating device having a cylindrical second heating element which is concentric with the element and is set outside the same mouth portion, and the mouth portion heated by the heating device is sandwiched from both sides thereof and the portion is welded and sealed. 9. The device of claim 8 including a stopping device.