JP4718035B2 - Filling device - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a filling device used in connection with a packaging machine, and more particularly to a filling device capable of selectively switching and filling a plurality of types of articles to be packaged, that is, filling materials.
[0002]
[Prior art]
In a conventional packaging machine, when the type of packaged product is changed, for example, when the filling liquid is changed, the liquid that has been filled up to that time is removed from the filling device, the filling device is washed, and then after the change. The liquid is supplied to the filling device. Therefore, the packaging machine must be stopped every time the product type is changed, and a reduction in productivity is inevitable.
[0003]
Also, depending on the type of filling device, there are some that must be disassembled and cleaned, and the operation is extremely complicated.
[0004]
Therefore, the above-mentioned problems are very serious when producing a variety of products in small quantities on the same packaging machine. Furthermore, when changing the product type for each bag or for each of a plurality of bags, the conventional packaging machine cannot substantially cope with it.
[0005]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
The present invention has been made in view of the above-described conventional problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a filling apparatus and method capable of filling a plurality of fillings by switching.
[0006]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to solve the above problems, the present invention moves a packaging container along a container movement locus provided in a horizontal plane, and fills the packaging container at a filling position set at a predetermined position along the container movement locus. A filling device used in a packaging machine for filling a product, a plurality of filling units each having a filling nozzle, a switching device for switching and operating the plurality of filling units, and an external device Control for controlling the switching device by selecting the product type specifying device for specifying the type of the packaged product based on the signal and selecting the filling unit corresponding to the specified product type based on the signal from the product type specifying device And a filling device comprising the apparatus.
Each filling unit is provided with at least a filling nozzle movable, and the switching device is provided with a plurality of filling nozzles in the horizontal plane at the same time, in a nozzle movement locus including a horizontal movement locus that overlaps only at the container movement locus and the filling position. The filling nozzle of the filling unit selected by the control device is moved to the filling position.
[0008]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, specific embodiments of the present invention will be described. However, the following description is merely an example, and the scope of the present invention is not limited thereto.
[0009]
FIG. 1 is an elevational view showing a schematic configuration of a packaging system provided with a filling device according to a specific embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a plan view thereof. In the packaging system 1 shown in the figure, three different solid fillings are manually packed by three workers in different bags, and each solid filling or different liquid corresponding to the bag is filled in a packaging machine. This is a system for sealing.
[0010]
In the figure, three workers 2 take out the bags 5 (5a, 5b, 5c) one by one from a magazine (not shown) placed beside them, and put them in the bags 5 with a two-dot chain line in FIG. The solid fillers 4 (4a, 4b, 4c) (see FIG. 1) sequentially supplied from the solid filler supply device 3 shown, for example, including a conveyor, are manually packed. The bag 5 is then fed by a conveyor 6 to a packaging machine 7 described later. In this case, the solid filling 4 to be packed by each operator is different, and in this example, the liquid filling to be filled in each bag 5 in a later process will be described as different. May be filled with the same liquid filling. Also, different bags 5 are used corresponding to the different fillings 4. Each bag 5 is provided with a bar code for identifying the bag 5 at a predetermined position, and this bar code is read by a bag identifying device 22 described later. Sent to the device 23.
[0011]
The bag filling and packaging machine 7 receives the bag 5 filled with the solid filling, and performs packaging processing such as filling with liquid filling, deaeration, and sealing of the bag mouth. The packaging machine 7 includes first and second rotors 8 and 9. The first rotor 8 is provided with a plurality of pairs of known grippers 10 as holding devices for the bags 5. The second rotor 9 is provided with a plurality of known vacuum pots 11 for degassing the filled bag 5 and sealing the bag mouth. These detailed explanations are omitted.
[0012]
Delivery of the bags 5 from the conveyor 6 to the packaging machine 7 is performed via a bag take-out device 12 arranged adjacent to the conveyor 6 and a delivery device (not shown) arranged adjacent to the first rotor 8. However, since these are not directly related to the present invention, a detailed description thereof is omitted.
[0013]
Next, the filling device 21 of the present invention will be described in detail. The filling device 21 is generally composed of a bag identification device 22 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a control device 23, a filling unit 24, and a switching device 25 described later. Note that the control device 23 controls not only the filling device 21 but also the entire packaging system 1. Further, in FIG. 2, three filling units 24a, 24b, and 24c are shown in a parallel state, but this avoids complication of the drawing, and the actual arrangement will be described later.
[0014]
The bag identification device 22 is a device that reads the barcode attached to the bag 5 described above. That is, the bag identification device 22 is disposed adjacent to the first rotor 8 of the packaging machine 7, reads a barcode attached to a predetermined position of the bag 5 held and moved by the gripper 10, and outputs the read signal. Input to the controller 23. In the control device 23, different solid fillings 4a, 4b, 4c or different bags 5a, 5b, 5c, and data relating the filling units 24a, 24b, 24c filling the corresponding liquid fillings with each other in advance. Is remembered. Based on the signal input from the identification device 22, the corresponding liquid filling unit 24 is selected. Based on the selection, the operation of the switching device 25 described later is controlled, and the selected filling unit 24 is operated as described later. Let
[0015]
3 is an elevational view showing the filling unit 24 and a portion of the switching device 25 located on the upper side of the machine base 26 when viewed from the direction of the arrow A in FIG. 2, and FIG. 4 is a plan view thereof. FIG. 5 is an enlarged view of the main part of FIG. FIG. 6 is an elevation view showing a drive unit of the switching device 25 located in the machine base 26, and FIG. 7 is a plan view.
[0016]
As described above, the filling device 21 includes the three filling units 24a, 24b, and 24c, but their basic structures may be the same.
[0017]
In FIG. 3, reference numeral 27 denotes a hollow stand that is erected and fixed on the top plate 26 a of the machine base 26. A hollow rotating shaft 28 extends through the stand 27, and an elevating shaft 29 extends therein. The rotation shaft 28 rotates as described later, but does not move up and down. The lifting shaft 29 moves up and down but does not rotate.
[0018]
First, the rotational movement will be described. Reference numeral 30 denotes a rotational plate integrally attached to a predetermined position in the height direction of the rotational shaft 28 in the cylindrical portion 30a. Two rail stands 31 a and 31 b (see FIG. 4) are provided upright on the upper surface of the rotating plate 30. The T-shaped leg portions 32 a and 32 b are rail attachment portions and extend substantially in the radial direction of the rotation shaft 28. The first and second guide rails 33a and 33b are attached to one side of the stand 31a so as to extend vertically in a back-to-back state, and the second guide rail is attached to the other stand 31b. A third guide rail 33c is attached to the surface facing 33b.
[0019]
Reference numerals 34 a, b, and c are sliders that are respectively fitted to the guide rails 33 a, b, and c and are movable up and down, and 35 a, b, and c are elevating blocks attached to the back side of the slider 34. Inner rollers 36a, b, c and outer rollers 37a, b, c having axial centers on the same line toward the axial center of the rotation shaft 28 are attached to each lifting block 35 so as to face each other. The inner roller 36 and the outer roller 37 are respectively located on the same radius from the center of the rotation shaft 28. This will be further described later.
[0020]
Elongated plate-like elevating plates 38 a, b, and c are fixed to the upper surface of the elevating block 35, and extend in a direction away from the radial direction of the rotation shaft 28. Elongated plate-like nozzle mounting brackets 39 a, b, and c are attached to the front end side of the plate 38 and extend in the same direction as the elevating plate 38. And the nozzle 40a, b, c is attached to the front-end | tip part in the suspended state. The nozzles 40a, b, c are located on the same circle centered on the axis of the rotation shaft 28, and are arranged at the same interval in the circumferential direction in the present embodiment. Reference numeral 41 is a filling liquid supply port connected to the filling pump, and 42 is an air cylinder that operates an on-off valve of the discharge port of the nozzle 40. These are known and directly related to the gist of the present invention. Since it does not have, it abbreviate | omits description.
[0021]
Referring to FIG. 3, a bush 43 with a flange 43 a is fixed to the upper end portion of the stand 27, and a bearing 44 is fitted on the inner peripheral side thereof, and the above-described rotation shaft 28 is rotatable by this bearing 44. It is supported. A support plate 45 is fixed to the upper surface side of the flange 43a, and a wall-like nozzle support cam 46 is installed upright on the upper surface. That is, the cam 46 is formed on the lower side of the outer roller 37 attached to the above-described lifting block 35 so as to extend in the circumferential direction of a circle around the rotation shaft 28 formed by the three rollers. The height is such that when the outer roller 37 is placed on the upper end surface in FIG. 3, the nozzle 40 does not enter the opening of the bag 5 and is positioned above. A groove 47 is formed at a predetermined position in the circumferential direction, that is, in a state shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, where the outer roller 37c of the third filling unit 24c is positioned and vertically extended to a predetermined position below. It has. That is, the filling unit 24 can move downward when the outer roller 37 faces the groove 47, but is supported by the support cam 46 at other positions and cannot move downward.
[0022]
Referring to FIGS. 6 and 7, a driving device for rotating the rotating shaft 28 is housed inside the machine base 26, that is, below the top plate 26a. That is, the rotation lever 48 is fixed to the lower end portion of the rotation shaft 28 entering the machine base 26 so as to rotate integrally. A support bracket 49 having a vertical portion 49a and a horizontal portion 49b is suspended and attached to the lower surface side of the top plate 26a of the machine base 26 at a position away from the rotating shaft 28. Two air cylinders 50 and 51 are arranged in series between the free end portion of the rotating lever 48 and the horizontal portion 49 b of the support bracket 49. The first air cylinder 50 and the second air cylinder 51 are connected via a connecting plate 52 disposed between the bottoms of the cylinders, and the rods 50a and 51a are on the same axis. It extends in the opposite direction. A connecting member 53 is attached to the tip of the rod 50 a and is connected to the free end of the rotating lever 48 via a pin 54. A connecting member 55 is also attached to the other rod 51 a and connected to the horizontal portion 49 b of the support bracket 49 via a pin 56.
[0023]
4 and 5 show a state in which both the rods 50a and 51a of the first and second air cylinders 50 and 51 are contracted, and in this state, the outer roller 37c of the third filling unit 24c has been described above. It is located on the groove 47 of the support cam 46 as shown in FIG. When the rod 50a of the first air cylinder 50 is extended, the rotating shaft 28 rotates counterclockwise by a predetermined angle in FIGS. 4, 5, and 7, and the outer roller 37b of the second filling unit 24b is moved into the groove 47. Located on the top. At that time, each outer roller 37 rolls on the upper surface of the cam 46. When the rod 51a of the second air cylinder 51 is further extended, the outer roller 37a of the first filling unit 24a faces the groove 47. When the rods 50a, 51a of the air cylinders 50, 51 contract, they move in the opposite direction. The aforementioned control device 23 receives a signal from the bag identification device 22, selects the corresponding nozzle with reference to the stored data, sends a signal to the switching device 25 to send the rod 50a of the air cylinders 50, 51, 51a is appropriately expanded and contracted, and the selected filling unit 24 is positioned at the filling position.
[0024]
Next, the vertical movement will be described. As described above, the elevating shaft 29 extends from the machine base 26 to the upper outside through the rotating shaft 28. The upper end of the upper end exceeds the upper end of the rotation shaft 28.
[0025]
6 and 7, an air cylinder 71 for vertically moving the elevating shaft 29 is erected on the upper surface of the bottom plate 26b of the machine base 26. As shown in FIG. The rod 71a expands and contracts in the vertical direction, and its tip is connected to the lower end of the elevating shaft 29 via a connecting block 72 that is bent in the shape of a double hook. Therefore, in accordance with the operation of the air cylinder 71, the elevating shaft 29 moves up and down between an ascending position indicated by a broken line and a descending position indicated by a solid line in FIG.
[0026]
Referring to FIGS. 3 to 5, an arm 73 that extends in the direction in which the groove 47 of the nozzle support cam 46 is positioned is fixed to the upper end of the lifting shaft 29. A roller locking member 74 having a “U” shape that opens toward the groove 47 is attached to the tip of the roller. The position of the locking member 74 in the height direction is between the upper and lower horizontal portions 74a and 74b of the member 74 when the elevating shaft 29 is in the raised position (shown by a solid line in FIG. 3). It is provided at a position where the inner roller 36 of the filling unit 24 that rotates as the moving plate 30 rotates can pass or can be positioned therebetween. That is, when the filling unit 24 selected as described above is rotated to the filling position, the inner roller 36 of the unit is fitted between the upper and lower horizontal portions 74 a and 74 b of the locking member 74. At this time, the outer roller 37 of the selected unit 24 is in a position facing the groove 47 of the support cam 46. Therefore, the downward movement of the unit 24 is not hindered, and when the air cylinder 71 contracts, the unit 24 moves to the lowering position, and the tip of the nozzle 40 enters the opening of the bag 5. Then, the liquid is filled.
[0027]
In the filling device configured as described above, first, the bag identification device 22 reads the barcode attached to the bag 5 that has moved before, and sends a corresponding signal to the control device 23. In the control device 23, with reference to the related data indicating the relationship between the product type and the filling, that is, the filling unit 24, specifically the relationship between each bag and the filling unit 24, stored in advance in the control device 23, A specific filling unit 24 is selected. Next, the control device 23 controls the operation of the first and second air cylinders 50 and 51 of the switching device 25 to rotate the rotating plate 30, and the selected filling unit 24 corresponds to the groove 47 of the support cam 46. Move to position. At this time, the outer roller 37 of the selected filling unit 24 faces the groove 47, and the inner roller 36 is captured by the locking member 74 at the tip of the arm 73. Here, the air cylinder 71 is actuated, the lifting shaft 29 is lowered to a predetermined position, and the tip of the nozzle 40 is advanced into the bag mouth. Filling is performed in this state, and when the filling is completed, the nozzle 40 is pulled up, The following selections are made:
[0028]
In the above embodiment, the bag identifying device 22 automatically identifies the bag. However, when at least a certain number of the same products are continuously packed in a bag, the operator inputs a signal. The filling unit 24 may be switched.
[0029]
In addition, the bag identification device can use a color sensor to identify the bag by detecting the color of the bag or the color attached to a predetermined position of the bag. Moreover, you may make it identify with the shape of a bag or the specific part of a bag using an imaging device.
【The invention's effect】
As described above, in the present invention, a plurality of filling units are selected according to the product type, and the filling nozzle of the selected unit is moved to the filling position. Therefore, a series of operations associated with the change of the product type as in the conventional packaging machine is not necessary, and it is not necessary to stop the packaging machine, and extremely high productivity can be achieved.
[0030]
In addition, when the information held in a bag or container is detected to determine the product type, it is possible not only to switch between different types of products, but also to pack and package multiple types of products at the same time. It becomes.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is an elevational view of a packaging system using a filling device according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a plan view of the packaging system.
FIG. 3 is an elevational view of the operating part of the filling device.
FIG. 4 is a plan view of an operation unit of the filling device.
FIG. 5 is an enlarged view of a main part of FIG. 4;
FIG. 6 is an elevational view of a drive unit of the filling device.
FIG. 7 is a plan view of a drive unit of the filling device.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Packaging system 5 Bag 7 Packaging machine 21 Filling device 22 Bag identification device 23 Control device 24 Filling unit 25 Switching device 28 Turning shaft 29 Lifting shaft 30 Turning plate 33 Guide rail 34 Slider 36 Inner roller 37 Outer roller 38 Lifting plate 40 Nozzle 42 Air cylinder 46 Nozzle support cam 47 Groove 48 Rotating lever 50 First air cylinder 51 Second air cylinder 71 Air cylinder 73 Arm 74 Roller locking member

Claims (8)

Used in a packaging machine that moves a packaging container along a container movement locus provided in a horizontal plane, and fills the packaging container with a filling material at a predetermined position along the container movement locus. In the filling device,
The packing filling device identifies a type of packaging product based on a plurality of packing filling units each having a filling nozzle, a switching device for switching and operating the plurality of packing filling units, and an external signal. A product type specifying device, and a control device for selecting the filling unit corresponding to the specified product type based on a signal from the product type specifying device and controlling the switching device ,
Each filling unit is configured such that at least a filling nozzle is movable, and the switching device includes a horizontal movement locus in which the plurality of filling nozzles are simultaneously provided in a horizontal plane and overlap only at the container movement locus and the filling position. A filling material filling apparatus characterized in that the filling nozzle of the filling unit selected by the control device is moved to the filling position by moving along a nozzle movement locus. 2. The filling device according to claim 1, wherein the horizontal movement trajectory has an arc shape, the switching device includes a rotating member that is connected to a driving device and rotates in a horizontal plane, and the filling nozzle includes the filling nozzle. A filler filling device attached to a rotating member, wherein the control device controls the driving device. 3. The filling apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the nozzle movement trajectory further includes a vertical movement trajectory that extends in a vertical direction at the filling position and is connected to the horizontal movement trajectory at an upper end. A filling filling device. 4. The filling apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the filling nozzle can move up and down only along the vertical movement locus, and is held on the horizontal movement locus at other positions. A filling device. 5. The filling device according to claim 4, wherein the filling device includes an elevating device that moves along the vertical movement locus, and a filling nozzle positioned at the filling position is held by the elevating device to perform the vertical movement. A filler filling device, which moves along a trajectory. 6. The filling apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the elevating device includes a capturing member capable of capturing the filling nozzle, and the filling nozzle is moved along the horizontal movement locus to the vertical movement locus. When passing through the corresponding position, it can pass without being captured by the capturing member, the filling nozzle stays at a position corresponding to the vertical movement locus, and when the lifting device moves, it is captured by the capturing member, A filling material filling apparatus, wherein a filling nozzle moves integrally with the lifting device. The filling material filling apparatus according to any one of claims 3 to 6, wherein the horizontal movement locus is constituted by a wall-shaped cam extending along the horizontal movement locus and having a predetermined height, and the filling nozzle. Comprises a member that is mounted on the upper surface of the cam and supported by the cam, and the vertical movement locus is formed by a vertically extending groove formed in the wall-shaped cam at the filling position. And a filling device. 8. The filling device according to claim 1, wherein the product type identification device detects product type identification information included in the packaging container.

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