JP4608702B2 - Folding method and apparatus for flat article - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention is a flat article that can be folded in two, for example, a two-chamber infusion bag as an article to be wrapped is folded in two from almost the center and compacted, and then filled into an exterior bag by an automatic insertion device The present invention relates to a method for folding a flat article applied to a packaging line or the like and a device therefor.

  In automatic packaging lines, parts processing lines, and various product assembly lines that use conveyor systems, various materials and semi-processed articles are conveyed by the conveyor, and various processes and operations are performed by automatic machinery and robots. Has been done. For example, a two-chamber infusion bag made of synthetic resin for medical use is almost rectangular and flat when viewed from the top in a state where it is filled with a chemical solution. The formed partition wall portion is folded into two to make it compact, and then filled and packaged in an outer bag.

  The operation of folding the infusion bag in two and placing it in the outer bag is generally performed manually, and the work efficiency is poor and automatic packaging has not been performed. In view of this, a folding insertion method and a folding apparatus for a filled packaging bag that automatically perform the operation are disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Nos. 2003-261119 and 2005-212850.

  The folding insertion method and folding machine of the packaging bag filled with the contents described in the former publication are provided with a spout portion at the upper part of the packaging bag (infusion bag) at predetermined intervals in the circumferential direction on a rotating table that rotates intermittently. A plurality of holding means for holding in a suspended state and while the rotary table is stopped, the bag lower part below the folding position of the packaging bag is lifted up and overlapped on the upper part of the bag above the folding position of the packaging bag It is set as the structure provided with the folding means made to fold.

  In the above folding insertion method, the spout portion of the packaging bag filled with the contents is hung on the holding means and suspended. For example, when a heavy infusion bag with a capacity of about 1000 ml is suspended on the spout portion, The spout portion may be damaged, and the internal chemical may leak out due to the damage. For this reason, it can be said that a method / means for hanging a spout part by hanging a spout part is not preferable for an article to be packaged such as an infusion bag.

  In the latter publication, “a flat article bi-folding device” has a plurality of slide members which are movable up and down on a rotating body at equal angular intervals, and a bracket provided on each slide member so as to be rotatable. A suspension rod, a presser member and a scooping member are provided, and a flat article such as an infusion bag is suspended in an inverted U shape by ascending the slide member, and the bent part of the article is pressed by the swiveling operation of the scooping member. The article is folded in two and held in a horizontal state, and the article is transferred to a predetermined position of an automatic insertion device attached to the packaging machine in the posture state.

The “flat folding apparatus for flat articles” described in the above publication is applied to the applicant of the present application. By rotating the article folded in half by being suspended by a hanging rod by 90 degrees, Since the related mechanism of the rotating body that performs the horizontal state has a complicated structure, it is not suitable for speeding up, and the processing capacity is 20 bags per minute at the maximum. Therefore, the present inventor has developed a processing method and apparatus that enables high-speed processing of about 30 bags per minute by simplifying the related mechanism of the rotating body.
JP 2003-261119 A JP 2005-212850 A

  An object of the present invention is to provide a processing method and apparatus capable of dealing with an increase in speed which automatically performs an operation of folding a flat article such as a two-chamber infusion bag into two.

In order to achieve the above object, the method of the present invention described in claim 1 is a method for folding a flat article in which a flat article filled with contents is automatically folded in two.
A rotating body standing upright on the frame is provided so as to be intermittently stopped by driving of intermittent driving means at a plurality of positions including at least a receiving position (a), a relay position (d), and a supply position (g). A clamp piece provided on a movable plate that can be reciprocated between the position (d) and the supply position (g) by driving the motor device and on a support plate that can be tilted by driving the motor device. Using a two-fold processing device provided with a clamping means comprising
At the receiving position (a), a belt conveyor which is arranged at equal angular intervals on the rotating body and which can be moved up and down by a motor device directly above a hanging rod which can be moved to a lower position and a horizontal position by a pneumatic cylinder. To feed the article in a substantially horizontal state ,
Rotating the articles by the lowering movement of the belt conveyor to the relay position in a horizontal position causes suspended substantially inverted U-shape in the hanging rod held in the presses by means pressing the bent portion of the article states (d) Transport ,
At the relay position (d), the pressing operation by the pressing means is released and the hanging parts of the article suspended from the hanging rod and folded in two are sandwiched by the clamp pieces ,
Next, the article clamped by the clamp piece is transferred to the supply position (g) ,
In the supply position (g), the transfer operation for tilting the support plate in the discharge direction by driving the motor device and the opening operation of the clamp piece are performed in one behavior, and the two folded in two. The article is discharged to a predetermined position in a state where the article is converted from a vertical posture to a substantially horizontal posture.

In order to achieve the same object, the invention described in claim 2 is a flat article folding apparatus for automatically folding a flat article filled with contents into two,
A rotating body standing upright on the frame is provided so as to be intermittently stopped by driving an intermittent driving means at a plurality of positions including at least a receiving position (b), a relay position (d), and a supply position (g). A plurality of suspension rods provided on the outer side of the rotating body so as to be movable between a lower position and a horizontal position by a pneumatic cylinder are arranged at equal angular intervals, and a pressing means is provided that allows the upper portion of the suspension rod to be pressed freely. A rotation transfer means provided respectively ;
A belt conveyor provided intermittently at the receiving position (a) and freely movable up and down by a motor device for feeding the article in a substantially horizontal state from a lower position to a position just above the hanging rod held in a horizontal position ;
It consists of a clamp means having a clamp piece on a moving plate provided reciprocally by driving a motor device between a relay position (d) and a supply position (g) ,
The clamp piece is provided to be freely opened and closed on a support plate that can be tilted by driving the motor device,
At the receiving position (a), the article conveyed on the belt conveyor is suspended in a substantially U-shape on the suspension rod by the downward movement of the conveyor, and the bent portion of the article is pressed by the pressing means. In this state, it is rotated and transferred to the relay position (d), and at the relay position (d), the pressing operation by the pressing means is released and the hanging part of the article folded in half by being suspended by the hanging rod is A transfer operation in which an object clamped by the clamp piece is transferred to the supply position (g) and the support plate is tilted in the discharge direction by driving the motor device at the supply position (g). When, by causing the opening operation of the clamp piece in one behavior, given in a state of being converted to a substantially horizontal posture articles folded into two from the vertical orientation It is characterized in that it has configured to emit at.

  In order to achieve the same object, the invention described in claim 3 is the method for folding a flat article according to claim 1 or the apparatus for folding a flat article according to claim 2, wherein the article is However, it is an infusion bag which is an article to be packaged, which has a substantially rectangular shape when viewed from the top, and is configured such that the bent portion corresponds to a partition wall which partitions at least two chambers.

(Invention of Claim 1 and Claim 2)
This flat article folding method and apparatus can automatically and efficiently perform the work of folding the article into two parts and converting it into a horizontal position and converting it into a horizontal position, corresponding to higher speeds. Is possible. Thereby, it can contribute greatly to realization of fully automatic packaging of this kind article.

(Invention of Claim 3)
According to this flat folding method and apparatus for an article, the infusion bag, which is an article having a partition part that divides at least two chambers, is folded into two at the partition part in a substantially horizontal posture. The work to be supplied to the predetermined place can be automatically performed at a high speed.

  Hereinafter, the method of the present invention and the apparatus thereof will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a front view of a flat article folding apparatus according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a schematic plan view thereof, FIG. 3 is an explanatory view of a two-chamber infusion bag, and FIG. 5 is a front view of the conveyor, FIG. 6 is a front view of the clamping means, FIG. 7 is a view as viewed from the arrow A in FIG. 6, FIG. 8 is a view as viewed from the arrow B in FIG. It is explanatory drawing which shows the state which folded up and was made into the horizontal attitude | position.

The flat article folding apparatus K according to the present invention shown in FIG. 1 is an automatic packaging line for filling and packaging a flat article into a packaging bag (exterior bag), and folds the article into two in the previous process of the filling process. It plays the role of supplying it to a predetermined position of the automatic insertion device in a substantially horizontal posture, and is composed of a rotation transfer means 15, a belt conveyor 45, and a clamping means 70.
The “flat article” in this embodiment is intended for a two-chamber infusion bag for medical use (hereinafter simply referred to as “infusion bag”).

  As shown in FIG. 3, the infusion bag 1 is formed into a flat rectangular shape by heat-sealing four sides with a thick synthetic resin film superimposed, and has two chambers, that is, an upper chamber 1a and a lower chamber 1a. The chamber 1b is partitioned by a partition wall portion 4 extending in the short (width) direction so that the capacities of the chambers 1b are different. The infusion bag 1 is provided with a plug 7 at the end 2 of the upper chamber 1a and a plug 8 at the end 3 of the lower chamber 1b. A predetermined amount of chemical solution is filled from the apparatus.

  The rotating body 16 of the rotation transfer means 15 is supported on a support column 17 erected near one end of the frame 11 via bearings 18 and 19 so as to freely rotate. Hexagonal flanges 21 and 22 of the same size are fixed above and below the cylindrical member 20 sheathed on the column 17 of the rotating body 16, and a flat plate-like support is provided between the corresponding sides of the flanges 21 and 22. The members 23 are passed and fixed.

  A swing member 24 rotatably supported by a horizontal shaft 25 is provided on the front surface 23 a of each support member 23, and the rod 26 a side of the pneumatic cylinder 26 attached to the rear surface of the support member 23 is provided on the swing member 24. The lever 24a is connected. The swing member 24 is provided with a round bar-shaped hanging rod 28 that supports the infusion bag 1 with the partition wall portion 4 and suspends the infusion bag 1 in a substantially inverted U shape. The hanging rod 28 is provided with a substantially V-shaped groove 28a along the longitudinal direction of the upper surface. Thus, a plurality of, here, six hanging rods 28 are arranged at equiangular intervals, that is, at intervals of 60 degrees on the outer side of the rotator 16, and the pneumatic cylinder 26 is operated to move to an obliquely lower position and a horizontal position. It is provided movably.

  Reference numeral 30 denotes pressing means provided so that the upper part of the hanging rod 28 can be pressed by the pressing member 35. The holding means 30 is attached to a bracket 31 fixed to the front surface 23a of the support member 23 with a pneumatic cylinder 32 with a rod 32a downward, and a pair of guide bars 33, 33 on both sides of the pneumatic cylinder 32 in the vertical direction. A horizontally long pressing member 35 is attached to the tips of the rod 32 a and the guide bars 33, 33. A lower portion 35 a of the pressing member 35 is provided so as to be engageable with a groove 28 a of the hanging rod 28.

  In the rotation transfer means 15, the rotating body 16 is moved to a plurality of positions, here, the receiving position (A), the idle position (B), the idle position (C), the relay position (D), the idle position (E ) And an idle position (f) are provided with intermittent drive means 38 for rotationally moving while intermittently stopping at positions set at six equiangular intervals.

  As the intermittent drive means 38, an index device 39 having a known structure driven by a motor device 40 is employed, and the output of the index device 39 is connected to the rotating body 16 via a transmission means such as a timing pulley and a timing belt (not shown). The rotating body 16 is provided to intermittently rotate by being transmitted to.

In the receiving position (A), the infusion bag 1 in the unfolded state before being folded in two is intermittently transferred from the positioning conveyor device 100 in the previous step installed adjacent to the bi-folding device K. A belt conveyor 45 is provided that feeds in a substantially horizontal position to just above the suspension rod 28 held in a horizontal position.

As shown in FIG. 2, on the frame of the positioning conveyor device 100, a pair of support columns 46, 46 of the belt conveyor 45 are erected at a predetermined interval. These columns 46 are disposed on the left and right sides of the suspension rod 28. Inside these columns 46, guide bars 47, 47 are provided in parallel in the vertical direction, and a movable table 55 is provided on the guide bars 47, 47 so as to be freely slidable. As shown in FIG. 1, sprockets 48 and 49 are rotatably provided at the upper and lower portions of the outer surface of each column 46, and both end portions 50 a and 50 b of the chain 50 spanning the sprockets 48 and 49 are attached to the movable table 55. Each of the connecting members 56 is connected to the provided connecting member 56. A chain 54 is stretched over a sprocket 51 attached to the same fixed shaft 49 a as that of one sprocket 49 and a sprocket 53 fixed to the output shaft of the motor device 52 installed on the one support 46 side.

  A pair of rollers 59 and 60 are provided on the movable table 55 on both sides of the suspension rod 28 so as to freely rotate, and a conveyor belt 61 is stretched around each set of rollers 59 and 60. A chain 65 is stretched between a sprocket 62 attached to a rotary shaft 58 to which one roller 59 is fixed and a sprocket 64 fixed to an output shaft of the motor device 63, and the conveyor belt 61 is driven by the rotational drive of the motor device 63. , 61 are provided to rotate.

  In this belt conveyor 45, the moving table 55 is provided so as to be movable up and down by the rotational drive of the motor device 52. However, when the moving table 55 is in the ascending position, the horizontal conveying surface 61a of the conveyor belt 61 is in the horizontal position. It is provided to be a little higher than the hanging rod 28 held at the position.

  Thus, the infusion bag 1 on the conveyor belt 61 has a suspension rod 28 that moves upward from the obliquely lower position to the horizontal position by the operation of the pneumatic cylinder 26, and a pressing member that moves downward by the pneumatic cylinder 32 of the pressing means 30. The partition wall portion 4 is sandwiched by 35, and the moving base 55 is moved downward in this state so that it is suspended in an inverted U-shape.

  At the relay position (d), the hanging portion (that is, the upper chamber 1a and the lower chamber 1b) of the infusion bag 1 folded in half by the hanging rod 28 is sandwiched and overlapped and the supply position (g) Clamping means 70 is provided so as to be movable forward and backward.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 7, a pair of left and right guide rails 71, 71 are arranged in parallel on the upper surface of the frame 11 at a predetermined interval and are loosely fitted to the guide rails 71, 71. A movable plate 73 is integrally provided on the slides 72, 72 that can be slid. Timing pulleys 75 and 76 are arranged on the inner surface of the upper part of the machine base 11 at a predetermined interval so that the rotation shaft 77 of the timing pulley 76 near the rotation transfer means 15 is driven and rotated by a motor device 78. . A timing belt 79 is stretched around the timing pulleys 75 and 76, and a part of the timing belt 79 is fixed to the lower surface of the moving plate 73. As a result, the moving plate 73 is reciprocally provided between the relay position (d) and the supply position (g) by driving the motor device 78.

  As shown in FIG. 6, a pneumatic cylinder 81 with a rod 81a upward is attached to the center of the lower surface of the moving plate 73, and a pair of guide bars 82, 82 are slid vertically on both sides of the pneumatic cylinder 81. Set up freely. A base 83 is provided at the tips of the rod 81a and the guide bars 82,82. Reference numeral 86 denotes a rotating shaft that is freely rotated by a bearing unit 85 attached to the upper surface of the base 83. A support plate 88a having a timing pulley 87 fixed to one end portion of the rotating shaft 86 and a support plate 88b fixed to the other end portion in a vertical direction. A timing belt 91 is wound around the timing pulley 87 and a timing pulley 90 fixed to the output shaft of the motor device 89 attached to the base 83.

  As shown in FIG. 7, a pair of clamp members 94, 94 each including a pair of clamp pieces 95 is provided on a pair of shafts 92, 92 fixed between the support plate 88a and the support plate 88b. It is provided to rotate freely. Reference numeral 96 denotes a pneumatic cylinder provided on the support plate 88b. The connecting piece 97 attached to the rod of the pneumatic cylinder 96 and the clamp members 94, 94 are connected by connecting rods 98, 98, respectively.

  Thus, by closing the clamp piece 95 by the operation of the pneumatic cylinder 96, the hanging portions of the infusion bag 1 supported by the suspension rod 28 and the holding means 30 are sandwiched and overlapped in this state. The moving plate 73 is transferred from the relay position (d) to the supply position (g) by driving the motor device 78, and the base 83 is lowered by the operation of the pneumatic cylinder 81 during the transfer, and the supply position (g) The infusion solution in a state of being folded in two by performing a transfer operation for tilting the support plates 88a and 88b in the discharge direction by driving the motor device 89 and an opening operation of the clamp piece 95 by the operation of the pneumatic cylinder 96 in one behavior. Clamping means 70 is configured to discharge the bag 1 to a predetermined location in a state where the bag 1 is converted from the vertical posture to the substantially horizontal posture.

After the infusion bag 1 is discharged, the movable plate 73 returns from the supply position (g) to the original relay position (d) by driving the motor device 78, and the base 83 is moved up by the operation of the pneumatic cylinder 81, and The clamp piece 95 is opened so as to stand by to receive a new infusion bag 1.
Thus, the flat article folding apparatus K according to the present invention is configured.

  In this embodiment, the base 83 is moved up and down by the operation of the pneumatic cylinder 81, but such a lifting structure may not be adopted depending on the height position of the location where the infusion bag 1 is supplied.

  An automatic insertion device (not shown) of an automatic packaging line for filling the outer bag (not shown) with the infusion bag 1 is attached to the supply position (g) of the flat folding device K for flat articles. A conveyor 105 is attached to an automatic insertion device installed in a direction orthogonal to the transfer direction of the infusion bag 1 by the clamp means 70 described above.

Next, the operation of the flat folding apparatus K for flat articles according to the present invention will be described.
(1) In the receiving position (A), the infusion bag 1 which is unfolded and flattened by the belt conveyor 45 is fed.
(2) Next, the infusion bag 1 is moved downward by the suspension rod 28 that moves upward from the obliquely lower position to the horizontal position by the operation of the pneumatic cylinder 26 of the rotary transfer means 15 and the pneumatic cylinder 32 of the pressing means 30. The partition wall portion 4 is clamped by the pressing member 35, and the movable base 55 is moved downward in the clamped state to be suspended in an approximately U-shape.
(3) The infusion bag 1 is rotationally transferred to the relay position (d) via the idle position (b) and (c) while being fixed by the hanging rod 28 and the holding means 30.
(4) In the relay position (d), the infusion bag 1 suspended from the suspension rod 28 and folded in half is sandwiched so that the hanging portions are overlapped by the clamp pieces 95, 95 of the clamp means 70. At substantially the same time, the pressing member 35 of the pressing means 30 returns to the original raised position.
(5) The infusion bag 1 held by the clamp means 70 is transferred from the relay position (d) to the supply position (g) by driving the motor device 78. During the transfer, the base 83 is lowered by the operation of the pneumatic cylinder 81. When the infusion bag 1 is transferred to the supply position (g), the hanging rod 28 returns to the original diagonally lower position, and the rotating body 16 rotates from the relay position (d) to the idle position (e).
(6) In the supply position (g), the transfer operation of tilting the support plates 88a and 88b in the discharge direction by driving the motor device 89 and the opening operation of the clamp pieces 95 and 95 by the operation of the pneumatic cylinder 96 are one behavior. By being performed, the infusion bag 1 in a folded state is discharged onto a conveyor 105 attached to the automatic insertion device in a state converted from a vertical posture to a substantially horizontal posture.
(7) After the infusion bag 1 is discharged onto the conveyor 105, the clamp means 70 is returned to the original relay position (d) from the supply position (g) by driving the motor device 78. Then, in order to receive the infusion bag 1 newly fed by the rotary transfer means 15, the base 83 is moved up by the operation of the pneumatic cylinder 81 in a state where the clamp pieces 95, 95 are opened and deployed, and is put into a standby state. The

  By performing such a series of operations, the infusion bag 1 supplied from the positioning conveyor device in the previous process is sequentially discharged onto the conveyor 105 one by one in a horizontal posture folded in two as shown in FIG. Supplied. This two-fold processing apparatus has a processing capacity of 30 bags per minute when the maximum processing speed is set.

  As described above, the flat folding method of the flat article and the apparatus automatically and efficiently perform the work of supplying the liquid bag 1 to a predetermined place in a state of being folded into two and converted into a horizontal posture. be able to. Since the processing capacity is increased by about 50% compared with the conventional apparatus, it is possible to cope with the high speed of the packaging line.

Front view of a flat folding apparatus for flat articles according to the present invention Same as above, top view Illustration of a two-chamber infusion bag Explanatory drawing of rotation transfer means Front view of conveyor Front view of clamping means A view of arrow A in FIG. B arrow view of FIG. Explanatory drawing which shows the state which folded the two-chamber type infusion bag into two and was made into the horizontal posture

Explanation of symbols

K: Folding device for flat article (b) ... Accepting position (d) ... Relay position (g) ... Feeding position 1 ... Infusion bag (article)
4 ... partition wall portion 11 ... frame 15 ... rotary transfer means 16 ... rotating body 28 ... hanging rod 30 ... presser means 45 ... belt conveyor 70 ... clamp means 95 ... Clamp pieces

Claims (4)

In a two-fold processing method of a flat article that automatically folds a flat article filled with contents into two,
At the receiving position (a), the article is conveyed by a belt conveyor directly above a hanging rod arranged so as to protrude horizontally at equal angular intervals on a rotating body provided to intermittently stop at a plurality of positions. Is moved in a substantially horizontal state, and the article is suspended in a substantially inverted U shape by the downward movement of the belt conveyor, and the bent position of the article is pressed by the holding means (d) In the relay position (d), the pressing operation by the pressing means is released, and the hanging parts of the article folded in half by being suspended by the hanging rod are sandwiched by the clamping means. Then, the article clamped by the clamping means is transferred to the supply position (g), and the clamping means is opened and transferred at the supply position (g). Folded processing method of the flat article, characterized in that it is converted into a substantially horizontal position the article from the vertical orientation so as to release a predetermined portion remain folded in two by a cooperative operation by. In a flat article folding apparatus that automatically folds a flat article filled with contents into two,
A rotating body standing upright on the frame is provided so as to be intermittently stopped by driving the intermittent driving means at a plurality of positions including at least the receiving position (b) and the relay position (d). A plurality of suspension rods are arranged so as to protrude in the horizontal direction at equal angular intervals, and rotary transfer means each having a pressing means provided so as to be capable of pressing the upper portion of the suspension rod, and a receiving position (i) The belt conveyor provided so as to be movable up and down, which is fed in a substantially horizontal state to the position just above the suspension rod that is intermittently stopped, and the hanging portion of the article folded in half are sandwiched and overlapped, and the relay position (d) ) And the supply position (g), and a clamping means provided so as to freely advance and retract.
At the receiving position (a), the article conveyed on the belt conveyor is suspended in a substantially U-shape on the suspension rod by the downward movement of the conveyor, and the bent portion of the article is pressed by the pressing means. In this state, it is rotated and transferred to the relay position (d). At the relay position (d), the pressing operation by the pressing means is released, and the hanging part of the article folded in half by being suspended by the hanging rod is removed. The article clamped by the clamping means and transferred to the supply position (g) is converted from a vertical position to a substantially horizontal position by a linkage operation by an opening operation and a transfer operation of the clamping means, and remains folded in two. A flat article bi-folding apparatus characterized by being configured to discharge to a predetermined location.   The article is an infusion bag as an article to be packaged so that the article has a substantially rectangular shape when viewed from a plane, and the bent portion corresponds to a partition wall that defines at least two chambers. 2. A method for folding a flat article according to 1.   The article is an infusion bag as an article to be packaged so that the article has a substantially rectangular shape when viewed from a plane, and the bent portion corresponds to a partition wall that defines at least two chambers. 2. A flat folding apparatus for flat articles according to 2.

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