JP4592275B2 - Product supply equipment for packaging machines - Google Patents

Description

  BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a product supply apparatus using a conveyor, and more particularly to a product supply apparatus that can accurately supply a product to a packaging machine such as a horizontal pillow packaging machine with a simple configuration.

In a horizontal bag making and packaging machine such as a horizontal pillow packaging machine, in general, a packaging film on which a product is placed is formed into a cylindrical shape, a center seal is applied, and an end seal is applied to the cylindrical packaging film at a position between products. By applying, the product is packaged in a packaging bag. In order to prevent the end seal from biting into the product, it is necessary to place the product on a continuous packaging film at intervals, and to seal the portion of the packaging film on which the product is not placed with an end sealer. Therefore, conventionally, as an article supply device for supplying articles at a predetermined interval toward a horizontal pillow machine, a separation conveyor, a pool conveyor, and an introduction conveyor are sequentially arranged on the upstream side of the horizontal bag making and packaging machine. There is an apparatus for conveying articles conveyed by an introduction conveyor to a horizontal bag making and packaging machine through a pool conveyor and a separation conveyor in order (for example, see Patent Document 1).
JP-A-4-44912 (page 7, lower right column, line 12 to page 8, lower left column, line 16, line 4)

  According to this article supply apparatus, the pool conveyor is driven at a lower speed than the introduction conveyor, and is set so that a plurality of articles transferred from the introduction conveyor to the pool conveyor can be assembled. Further, the separation conveyor is driven at a higher speed than the pool conveyor, and the articles transferred from the pool conveyor to the separation conveyor are set to be separated from the articles on the pool conveyor at regular intervals based on the speed difference. Therefore, since the article is transported from the subsequent article by a fixed distance corresponding to the length of the unit package body at the separation conveyor and downstream thereof, the end seal is not provided in the packaging material portion between the adjacent articles. A space to apply is given.

  In the case of this article supply device, when the supply capacity of articles from the introduction conveyor to the pool conveyor is temporarily increased, the machine speed of the packaging machine, pool conveyor and separation conveyor is automatically increased to cope with the excess capacity. If there is a lot of variation in the interval of articles supplied from the introduction conveyor to the pool conveyor, the intermittent operation of the packaging machine can be performed by controlling the speed of the pool conveyor and the separation conveyor to increase and decrease the speed. It has also been proposed to prevent. In other words, while the packaging machine is in operation, the introduction conveyor continues to operate at a constant speed, so when the supply amount of articles to the introduction conveyor fluctuates, the operation speed of the pool conveyor and packaging machine can be increased or decreased to increase the supply of articles. It corresponds to the fluctuation of quantity.

  In such an article supply apparatus, products that are continuously conveyed can be automatically separated, but at the minimum, using two conveyors (pool conveyor and separation conveyor) having a speed difference while being operated. Yes. As a result, the upstream structure of the packaging machine is long and requires a lot of space to introduce the packaging system. In addition, in order to control the increase and decrease in speed with good response, an expensive servo motor is used in comparison with other motors, and the speed of both conveyors and the amount of product transported are accurately measured between products. In order to produce a precise constant distance, it is necessary to use a relatively expensive sensor such as a rotary encoder. As a result, the cost of the packaging system tends to increase. Furthermore, since only a sensor for detecting the arrival of the product is provided at the exit of the pool conveyor, when two or more products are continuously conveyed at a narrow interval of a predetermined value or less, no response can be taken. The product may be transported to subsequent conveyors in its continuous state, resulting in the packaging machine being forced to stop.

  The above-mentioned problems are caused when products are separated by a speed difference between two or more conveyors while being conveyed by the conveyor. Therefore, there is a problem to be solved in that the two products are separated and sent out accurately even when two products are connected at a narrow interval of a predetermined value or less, while a single conveyor is used to convey the products. is there.

  The object of the present invention is to reduce the number of conveyors for transporting products and shorten the structure of the transport device, thereby saving space when installing the transport device and using a motor that is less expensive than a servo motor. At the same time, it is possible to reduce the cost of the transport device by eliminating the need for using a relatively expensive sensor such as a rotary encoder, and to further improve the arrangement of sensors for detecting products at the exit of the conveyor. It is an object of the present invention to provide a product supply apparatus that can accurately separate a product by a necessary distance even when the above products are continuously conveyed at a predetermined narrow interval.

To solve the above problems, product supply apparatus of the packaging machine according to the present invention, transports the product against the packaging machine, such as a positive pillow packaging machine or the inverse pillow packaging machine is driven by the drive motor and the packaging of products Conveying conveyor, connected to the downstream side of the conveying conveyor and used as a traveling packaging material used in the packaging machine or carrying means as an infeed conveyor, a first disposed at the outlet of the conveying conveyor to detect the product A second sensor disposed at an entrance of the sensor and the unloading means; and a controller for controlling the drive motor based on the detection of the product performed by the two sensors to control the interval between the products in the unloading means. The position of the second sensor is a distance obtained by adding a predetermined minute length to the length of the product from the first sensor toward the downstream side thereof. A position spaced, the controller, the second sensor in response particular said first sensor when starting the detection of the product is detected the product subsequent to the product, between the product The drive motor is temporarily stopped as it is detected that the interval is in a continuous state less than or equal to the minute length, and then the drive is performed in response to the second sensor no longer detecting the product. The interval between the products is made to be a constant set interval by resuming the operation of the motor.

According to the product supply device of the packaging machine , the sensor includes a first sensor disposed at the exit of the conveyor and a second sensor disposed at the entrance of the carry-out means, and the position of the second sensor is the first sensor. It is set as the position which put the distance which added micro length to the length of the product toward the downstream side. The first sensor disposed at the exit of the conveyor and the second sensor disposed at the entrance of the unloading means detect the product, and the controller controls the drive motor that drives the conveyor based on the detection to carry out the unloading. Control product spacing in the means. When the first sensor detects the product following the product when the second sensor starts detecting the product, it can be seen that the interval between the products to be conveyed is in a continuous state of a predetermined minute length or less. Controls to temporarily stop the operation of the drive motor. Therefore, while the subsequent side product of certain continuous state product remains on the conveyor, leading side of the product rather been unloaded by unloading means. Then, it the second sensor in response especially no longer detect the product, the controller since the resume operation of the drive motor, for controlling to enlarge until the spacing between the products in a configured interval by Can do.
In addition, the unloading means may be used as a packaging material or a feed conveyor for feeding the product to a packaging machine such as a normal pillow packaging machine or a reverse pillow packaging machine for packaging the product, and the product supply device of the packaging machine for packaging the product. It is applied as a supply device. For a packaging machine that preferably operates continuously, such as a forward pillow packaging machine or a reverse pillow packaging machine, it is necessary that the product be sent to the packaging material at regular intervals. By applying this product supply device as a product supply device for such a packaging machine, even when the product is supplied in a dispersed state or in a continuous state with a narrow interval, the packaging travels to the packaging machine. Products can be fed at regular intervals onto the material or onto an infeed conveyor connected to the packaging material.

In the product supply device of the packaging machine , the controller can restart the operation of the drive motor that is resumed in response to the fact that the second sensor stops detecting the product with a time delay. When the first sensor detects the preceding product when the second sensor starts detecting the product, the product is continuously spaced at a predetermined distance or less at the exit of the transport conveyor and the entrance of the unloading means. It is in. The controller stops the operation of the drive motor and stops the conveyance conveyor, thereby stopping the conveyance of the product on the subsequent side, while continuing to convey the product on the preceding side by operating the carry-out means. When the product on the subsequent side is somewhat transported on the transport conveyor toward the unloading means due to inertia, driving of the transport conveyor is resumed with a correspondingly long time delay. In this way, the interval between products can be controlled to a normal interval.

Further, in the product supply device of the packaging machine , the controller is configured such that the first sensor detects the product when the second sensor starts detecting the product when the packaging machine is in a standby state or an operating state. The detected product can be delivered to the unloading means without stopping the transporting conveyor in response to the fact that it has not been detected. If the first sensor does not detect the preceding product when the second sensor starts detecting the product, the product is separated at a predetermined interval or more at the exit of the conveyor and the entrance of the unloading means. It can be seen that Therefore, the controller continues the transport of the conveyor by continuing to drive the conveyor without stopping the operation of the drive motor, and also transports the preceding product by operating the unloading means during that time. You can continue packaging with a packaging machine.

In the product supply apparatus of this packaging machine , the mounting position of the first sensor on the transport conveyor can be adjusted according to the length of the product in the transport direction. If the length of the product in the conveying direction is different, the distance between the first sensor and the second sensor must be changed accordingly. Therefore, by making it possible to adjust the position of the first sensor attached to the conveyor, the distance between the first sensor and the second sensor can be adjusted appropriately in accordance with the length of the product in the conveying direction.

The product supply device of the packaging machine according to the present invention is configured as described above, and when it is detected from the detection results of the two sensors that the product is conveyed in a continuous state with a narrow interval, the controller includes a drive motor. of once the control to stop the operation, while Ru Fasten on the transport conveyor the products of the subsequent side of in the continuous state product, the leading side of the product is carried out by discharge means have Kunode, between products The interval can be controlled in the direction of expanding to a certain interval. In addition, the product supply device of the present packaging machine is applied to a horizontal packaging machine such as a normal pillow packaging machine or a reverse pillow packaging machine, so that the traveling packaging material used in the packaging machine or an infeed conveyor connected thereto is used. As a result, the number of conveyors that transport products toward the packaging machine becomes one, shortening the structure on the upstream side of the packaging machine, thereby saving space when introducing the packaging system it can. Further, a motor cheaper than the servomotor can be used to drive the conveyor, and it is not necessary to use a relatively expensive sensor such as a rotary encoder, so that the cost of the packaging system can be reduced. Furthermore, by devising the number and arrangement of sensors for detecting products at the exit of the conveyor, even when two or more products are continuously conveyed at a predetermined interval or less, the products are separated, and the packaging machine It is possible to provide a product supply apparatus capable of avoiding the stoppage.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of a product supply apparatus according to the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a side view showing an example of a packaging system showing a product supply apparatus according to the present invention together with a packaging machine to which the product supply apparatus is applied, and FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of the product supply apparatus used in the packaging system shown in FIG. FIG. 3 is a plan view showing a main part of the product supply apparatus shown in FIG. 2.

  The packaging system shown in FIG. 1 includes a horizontal inverted pillow packaging machine (hereinafter simply referred to as “packaging machine”) 1 that packages a product A by three-way sealing a tubular packaging material as a packaging machine. The packaging machine 1 includes a former 2 that forms a web-like packaging film Fw as a packaging material into a tube shape, a center sealer 3 that applies a center seal to the packaging film Ft that is formed into a tube shape by the former 2, and a center seal. It is comprised from the end sealer 4 which seals the applied tubular packaging film in a cross direction. In the illustrated example, the end sealer 4 is composed of a pair of upper and lower rotary heater blocks 4a, 4a that are heated to a high temperature by energizing a heating wire, and the heater blocks 4a, 4a seal the tube-shaped packaging film Ft. It welds by pinching in the position 5. The product A fed into the tube-shaped packaging film Ft with a predetermined set interval D advances together with the packaging film Ft, and the packaging film Bt is sealed by the end sealer 4 before and after the product A. It is accommodated in the inside and the bag packaging body P is manufactured.

  A product conveying apparatus 10 that supplies the product A to the packaging machine 1 includes a conveying conveyor 11 that is a belt conveyor. On the exit side of the conveyor 11, a wrapping film that travels while being molded by the former 2 is connected as the unloading means 12 across the crossing position 15. A first sensor 13 and a second sensor 14 for detecting the passage of the product A are disposed on the exit side of the conveyor 11 and the entrance side of the unloading means 12 across the crossing position 15. The arrangement of the first sensor 13 and the second sensor 14 will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. The conveyor 11 is a variable supply conveyor that is driven by a variable speed first drive motor M1. The first drive motor M1 may be a servo motor as long as it can stop and operate (shift with a small number of stages), but may be another induction motor or a motor such as a DC brushless motor. it can. Since the servo motor is generally expensive, the induction motor or the DC brushless motor can be used at a relatively low cost. In addition, the product transport apparatus 10 is configured without using a sensor such as a rotary encoder that measures the speed and movement amount of the transport conveyor 11.

  A feed roller 8 that feeds the web-like packaging film Fw and a paper feed roller 9 that feeds the laminated edge of the tube-like packaging film Ft are packaging material feeding means for feeding the packaging film F. Both rollers 8 and 9 are films. It is driven by a feed drive motor M2. Further, the end sealer 4 is driven by an end seal drive motor M3.

  The controller 7 basically performs product supply control and control of the packaging machine 1 by controlling driving of the drive motors M1, M2, and M3 based on a detection signal input from the first sensor 13. That is, in consideration of the speed of the conveyor 11 and the detection interval time of the first sensor 13, if the interval of the product A matches the set interval D, the conveyor 11 and the packaging machine 1 perform normal operations. Do. When the interval between the products A is less than the set interval D, the conveyor 11 performs deceleration control (deceleration drive time control when deceleration is stepwise control) unless the products A are connected with a narrow interval. By doing so, when the product A is transferred to the unloading means 12 having a high driving speed, it is possible to adjust the interval so that the product interval is enlarged to coincide with the set interval D. When the interval between the products A is larger than the set interval D, the packaging machine 1 (specifically, the film feed drive motor M3 and the end seal drive motor M4) including the carry-out means 12 is temporarily stopped according to the interval. It is possible to adjust the interval to return to the set interval D by performing deceleration control (stop / deceleration drive time control when deceleration is stepwise control). When the product A is transferred from the transport conveyor 11 to the unloading means 12 through the crossing position 15 by this interval adjustment, the product A is supplied in a state of being aligned at a predetermined interval D. The unloading means 12 may temporarily stop or decelerate during the operation of the packaging machine 1.

  Prior to packaging, the controller 7 is data necessary for controlling the packaging machine 1 corresponding to the empty space of the product A, that is, the height H and length L of the product A, and the bag packaging in which the product A is packaged. The cut length L1 of the body P, the rotation radius R of the end sealer 4, the distance L2 from the transition position 15 between the transfer conveyor 11 and the carry-out means 12 to the seal engagement position 5 of the end sealer 4 and the like are taken in. When there is a large vacancy in the supply of product A, the packaging machine 1 is stopped in order not to make an empty bag and waits for the resumption of the supply of product A, but the end sealer 4 and the packaging film Ft Based on the above data, the stop position of the end sealer 4 is determined in advance so as not to stop in contact (details are omitted here).

  By detecting the passage of the product A from the transport conveyor 11 to the unloading means 12 by the first sensor 13 and the second sensor 14, the interval state of the product A is detected. The first sensor 13 disposed on the outlet side of the transport conveyor 11 is a sensor that plays a role of supplying the product A to the packaging machine 1 with a predetermined interval D apart. The second sensor 14 disposed on the entrance side of the unloading means 12 is in a state where the product A that has arrived at the crossover position 15 is connected in the front-rear direction at a distance equal to or less than a predetermined interval, as will be described later. It is a sensor that plays the role of detecting.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the first sensor 13 on the transport conveyor 11 has a predetermined minute distance to the length L of the product A toward the upstream side of the sensor 14 arranged with respect to the unloading means 12. They are arranged at positions separated by a distance added with ΔL. At the time when the second sensor 14 starts to detect the products A, sometimes the first sensor 13 has detected the product, it can be determined that the product A is connected with a narrow interval following a small distance ΔL in over position 15. Further, when the first sensor 13 does not detect a product, it can be determined that the product A is not connected at a narrow interval of a minute distance ΔL or less. The minute distance ΔL is, for example, about 20 mm, but depends on the length L of the product A. Therefore, the mounting position of the first sensor 13 on the transport conveyor 11 is adjusted according to the length L of the product A. Preferably it is possible. For example, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the structure in which the mounting position can be adjusted is a structure in which the sensor bracket 18 is slid and fixed by using a long hole 17 formed in the mounting bracket 16. Can be adopted.

When the product A is detected by the first sensor 13 on the outlet side of the conveyor 11, the following operation is performed according to the state of the packaging machine 1. When the packaging machine 1 is in a standby state, that is, when the second sensor 14 does not detect the product A and the product A does not exist on the unloading means 12, the conveyor 11 is not stopped. The product A is delivered to the unloading means 12 and sent to the packaging machine 1. When the product A is fed, the packaging machine 1 starts operation. When the packaging machine 1 is in an operating state and can accept the supply of the product A, the product A is fed into the packaging machine 1 without stopping the conveyor 11. Furthermore, when the product A is not detected by the first sensor 13 and the second sensor 14 , the operation of the packaging machine 1 is stopped. In this case, the operation mode of slowing down the operation speed of the packaging machine 1 to the low speed operation and returning the operation speed of the packaging machine 1 to the normal operation speed when the first sensor 13 detects the product A during the low speed operation. Is preferred.

When the packaging machine 1 is in a state not accept supply of products A In the operating state, i.e., as shown in FIG. 4 (a), products in which the second sensor 14 is preceded even on unloading means 12 (hereinafter , when starting the detection of the called Aa), when the first sensor 13 product a has been fed are detected subsequent product from conveyor 11 to the carrying-out means 12, the operation of the conveyor 11 Stop immediately. That is, the interval between the product Aa and the subsequent product (hereinafter referred to as Ab) is equal to or less than a predetermined interval (micro distance ΔL), and the interval between the products Aa and Ab is adjusted at the operation speed of the conveyor 11. When this is not possible, the interval adjustment is performed by stopping the operation of the conveyor 11. Since the operation of the packaging machine 1 including the carry-out means 12 continues even if the transport conveyor 11 stops, the product Aa is fed into the packaging machine 1 by the carry-out means 12 as shown in FIG. The interval between and increases. The stoppage of the conveyor 11 is increased to a predetermined value (accurately, by considering the speed and operating time of the unloading means 12 and the inertia operation of the conveyor 11). The packaging machine 1 is continued until the supply of the product Ab is accepted, and when the packaging machine 1 is ready to accept the supply of the product Ab, the operation of the conveyor 11 is resumed as shown in FIG. To do. That is, when the second sensor 14 stops detecting the product Aa, it can be seen that the interval between the product Aa and the subsequent product Ab is equal to or greater than a predetermined interval (a minute distance ΔL). Driving can be resumed. In the case where the two products Aa, the spacing between Ab is assumed shorter than the set distance D, by restarting delay the timing of restarting the start of the conveyor 11, the products Aa and product Ab The product interval can be expanded to the set interval D.

  FIG. 5 shows another embodiment of the product conveying apparatus according to the present invention. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 5, the components corresponding to the components of the embodiment shown in FIG. The packaging machine 21 is configured as a horizontal positive pillow packaging machine, and the product conveying device 20 is a roller conveyor as an unloading means connected to the conveying conveyor 11 via the crossing position 15 in addition to the conveying conveyor 11. 6 is provided. The roller conveyor 6 is driven and controlled by a drive motor M2 in accordance with a command from the controller 7. When the operation is performed in a mode for adjusting the stop position of the end sealer 4, the operation may be controlled at a set speed different from the operation of the packaging machine 1. The operation control of the transport conveyor 11 and the feed conveyor 22 using the sensors 13 and 14 is equivalent to the operation control in the embodiment shown in FIGS.

  As mentioned above, although the product supply apparatus of this invention was demonstrated as product supply of a packaging machine, it is clear that this invention is applicable to a general article supply apparatus without being restricted to it. Further, in the present embodiment, an example in which individual products are separated has been described. However, it is of course possible to realize a mode in which a plurality of products are separated in a group unit in which a predetermined number is connected.

It is a side view which shows an example of the packaging system which shows the product supply apparatus by this invention with the packaging machine with which the said product supply apparatus is applied. It is a side view which expands and shows the principal part of the product supply apparatus used for the packaging system shown in FIG. It is a top view which shows the principal part of the product supply apparatus shown in FIG. It is a figure explaining the action | operation of the product supply apparatus by this invention. It is a side view which shows another example of the packaging system which shows the product supply apparatus by this invention with the packaging machine with which the said product supply apparatus is applied.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Horizontal type reverse pillow packaging machine 2 Former 3 Center sealer 4 End sealer 4a, 4a Heater block 5 Seal biting position 6 Roller conveyor 7 Controller 8 Feeding roller 9 Paper feed roller 10 Product conveying device 11 Conveying conveyor 12 Unloading means 13 First sensor 14 Second sensor 15 Crossing position 16 Mounting bracket 17 Long hole 18 Sensor bracket 20 Product conveying device 21 Horizontal pillow packaging machine 22 Feeding conveyor A Product B Packaging bag D Set interval Fw Web-shaped packaging film Ft Tube-shaped packaging film H Product A Height L Length of product A ΔL Minute distance L1 Cut dimension of bag package P L2 Distance between position 15 and position R Rotating radius of end sealer 4 Bag package M1 Drive motor M2 Drive motor M3 Film feed drive motor M4 End seal drive mode

Claims (4)

Conveyor for conveying the product relative to the packaging machine, such as a positive pillow packaging machine or the inverse pillow packaging machine is driven by a drive motor and packaged product, in the packaging machine is connected to the downstream side of the conveyor Unloading means as a traveling packaging material or infeed conveyor used, a first sensor disposed at the outlet of the conveyor for detecting the product, a second sensor disposed at the entrance of the unloading means, and both sensors A controller for controlling the interval between the products in the unloading means by controlling the drive motor based on the detection of the product performed by
The position of the second sensor is a position at a distance obtained by adding a predetermined minute length to the length of the product from the first sensor toward the downstream side thereof,
Wherein the controller, the second sensor in response particular said first sensor when starting the detection of the product is detected the product subsequent to said product, spacing the micro length between the product The operation of the drive motor is temporarily stopped on the assumption that the following continuous state is detected, and then the operation of the drive motor is resumed in response to the second sensor no longer detecting the product. A product supply device for a packaging machine, wherein the product interval is set to a constant set interval. The packaging machine product according to claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to resume the operation of the drive motor, which is resumed when the second sensor stops detecting the product, with a time delay. Feeding device. Wherein the controller, when the packaging machine is in the standby state or the operating state, in response to said first sensor when said second sensor starts detection of the product does not detect the product, the 3. The product supply device for a packaging machine according to claim 1, wherein the detected product is delivered to the carry-out means without stopping the conveyor. The product supply of the packaging machine according to any one of claims 1 to 3 , wherein an attachment position of the first sensor to the conveyor is adjustable according to a length of the product in a conveyance direction. apparatus.

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