JP4975984B2 - Packaging equipment - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a packaging apparatus that wraps an article to be packaged with a film after pushing the article to be packaged from below toward a stretch film stretched on a packaging unit.

In this type of packaging apparatus, both side edges along the film transport direction are sandwiched and pulled out from the film roll by a pair of upper and lower transport belts. The drawn film is cut by a cutter according to the size of the packaged object, and then conveyed to the packaging part (Patent Document 1).
JP2002-128010 (Summary)

  FIG. 12 is a schematic perspective view showing a conventional film drawing method. The film F is drawn out from the film roll Fr indicated by the two-dot chain line in FIG. That is, the left and right conveying belts 3 and 3 sandwich the side edges Fe in the width direction X of the film F, pull out the film F, and the drawn film F is cut into a predetermined length, It is conveyed to the packaging part S and used for packaging.

  By repeating such packaging, the diameter of the film roll Fr is reduced. While the roll diameter is reduced, the film drawing speed is constant, so that the angular speed (rotational speed) of the unwinding roller 70 on which the film roll Fr is mounted gradually increases.

  On the other hand, the unwinding roller 70 is driven to rotate by a motor (not shown) to facilitate drawing of the film F. In the conventional packaging apparatus, the motor is set to rotate the film roll Fr at a constant angular velocity. The angular velocity of the motor is set in accordance with the angular velocity when the diameter of the film roll Fr is maximum so that the film does not sag.

  However, since the speed of the film F drawn by the conveying belt 3 is constant, the angular speed of the unwinding roller 70 increases as the roll diameter decreases, so that the load on the film F increases. When the load applied to the film F is increased, the film F sandwiched between the transport belts 3 is easily slipped. Moreover, since the load of the film F also fluctuates according to the roll diameter, the slipping condition of the film F on the transport belt 3 also changes. As a result, the accuracy of the film feed is significantly reduced. Therefore, it becomes difficult to stably obtain a good packaging state.

  Further, as described above, when the roll diameter is reduced and the load applied to the film F is increased, as shown in FIG. 10, both side edge portions Fe of the film F drawn by the conveying belt 3 are stretched, and the film F There is a risk that the central portion Fc of the front end is distorted and the front end of the film is detached from the transport belt 3 (hereinafter referred to as “necking”). When such necking occurs, at the time of packaging, the timing at which the film F is removed from the transport belt 3 differs between the upstream end and the downstream end of the film, and a good packaging state cannot be obtained.

  Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a packaging device that can stably obtain a good packaging state regardless of the roll diameter.

In order to achieve the above object, the packaging device of the present invention pulls out the film from a film roll attached to an unwinding roller by sandwiching both side edges in the width direction of the stretch film with a transport belt, and pulls the film to a predetermined length. A packaging device that transports the cut and cut film to a packaging unit, pushes up the package from the lower side of the film by an elevator mechanism, covers the upper surface of the package with the film, and packages the package. A detector that detects an angular velocity corresponding to the angular velocity of the unwinding roller, a motor that rotationally drives the unwinding roller, and a value that is detected by the detector at the time of previous packaging and a predetermined threshold value that is stored in advance are compared. , Bei and control means for setting to the previous according to the comparison result at the time of packaging, one of the angular velocity of the current angular velocity at the time of packaging prestored in the motor Characterized in that was.

  According to the present invention, when the roll diameter is large, the angular velocity of the unwinding roller at the time of drawing the film is small, so the angular velocity of the motor is also set to a small value. On the other hand, when the roll diameter is small, the angular velocity of the unwinding roller at the time of drawing the film is large, so the angular velocity of the motor is also set to a large value. For this reason, even if the roll diameter is reduced and the angular velocity of the unwinding roller is increased, it is possible to suppress an increase in the load on the conveying belt when the film is pulled out, and thus an increase in the load on the film can be suppressed. Therefore, slipping of the film and so-called necking are less likely to occur, so a beautiful packaging finish can be expected.

In the present invention, the control means controls the motor so that the angular velocity of the unwinding roller given by the rotation of the motor is smaller than the angular velocity of the unwinding roller detected by the detector. Is preferred.
According to this aspect, it is possible to prevent the film from slacking when the film is pulled out, and to prevent troubles such as film entrainment.

In the present invention, the unwinding roller is interposed between the output shaft of the motor and the unwinding roller, and allows the unwinding roller to rotate in a direction in which the film is unwound from the film roll. It is preferable to further include a one-way clutch that prevents the motor from rotating in the opposite direction.
According to this aspect, the difference between the drawing speed of the film by the conveyance belt and the unwinding speed of the film by the motor can be absorbed.

In the present invention, it is preferable that the detector detects an angular velocity of a rotating shaft provided between the unwinding roller and the one-way clutch.
According to this aspect, it is easy to detect the angular velocity of the rotating shaft.

In the present invention, depending on the value detected by the detector at the previous packaging, present said control means an angular velocity at the time of packaging of the motor is controlled.
Since the film is stretched, in real-time control, the film is easily stretched at the beginning of drawing the film, so that accurate angular velocity cannot be detected, so that necking cannot be sufficiently prevented. On the other hand, in the present invention , such a problem is unlikely to occur.

In the present invention, and it compares the detected value with a predetermined threshold by said detector, an angular velocity of the motor and the control means controls a plurality of steps in accordance with the comparison result.
B Lumpur width, even if the variation of the detection value caused by changes in the kind of film, it is possible to properly control the angular velocity of the motor.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
In the following description, the tray T in which the contents are stored will be described as an example of the packaged item. However, the packaged item may be a product that is not placed on the tray T.

First, the basic structure and operation of the packaging device will be described.
As shown in FIG. 1, the present packaging device is a packaging device for carrying an article to be packaged from the front side 2a and packaging it, and then discharging it to the front side 2a. Is provided.

  In FIG. 2, the supply device 20 supplies a tray (object to be packaged) T on which the contents M are placed on the lifter 201. Each post 210 of the lifter 201 is disposed immediately below a packaging station (packaging section) S of the packaging mechanism 200 and can be moved up and down by an elevating means 208. When the tray T is supplied from the supply device 20, the lifter 201 rises and lifts the tray T to the packaging station S.

On the other hand, the stretched film F is supplied to the packaging station S by a pair of conveying belts 3 and 3 prior to the packaging operation. The film F comes into close contact with the upper surface of the tray T when the tray T is pushed up. In this state, the film folding mechanism 203 has a pair of left and right folding plates 204, 204, a rear folding plate 205, a round bar-shaped front folding member 206, and a pusher 207 (FIG. 2) to The left and right side edges are folded and packaged on the bottom side of the tray T, and the packaged tray T is conveyed onto the heat welding conveyor 10 of FIG. The heat welding conveyor 10 welds the films F folded on the bottom surface to each other, and then the tray T is discharged onto the discharge table 209.
In addition, a label is stuck on the packaged product M to be discharged by the label sticking machine 12 (FIG. 1).

Film supply mechanism:
As shown in the schematic cross-sectional view of FIG. 4, a pair of a film supply mechanism including a film passing means 5 and a cutting device 6 and a film roll Fr are provided on both sides in the left-right direction of the apparatus. One of the left and right film supply mechanisms is selected, and the film F is supplied to the packaging station S by the transport belts (supply means) 3 and 3.

The film transfer means 5 transfers the film F drawn from the film roll Fr to the transport belts 3 and 3. The conveying belts 3 and 3 sandwich both side edges Fe of FIG. 3 along the conveying direction Y of the film F, and draw out the film F toward the packaging station S of FIG.
The cutting device 6 cuts the film F between the film transfer means 5 and the conveyor belts 3 and 3 after the film F has been drawn out by a predetermined amount by the conveyor belts 3 and 3.
In addition, the said film supply mechanism is comprised substantially symmetrically, and the following description demonstrates mainly the right side part.

As shown in FIG. 5, the film passing means 5 includes a pair of film insertion plates 51 and 52, and a plurality of one-way rollers 53 supported by the film insertion plate 51.
FIG. 5 shows the film insertion plates 51 and 52 from the side. The film insertion plates 51 and 52 shown in FIG. 5 sandwich the leading end side of the film F passed to the conveyor belts 3 and 3, and are between the entry end position P2 indicated by a broken line and the retracted end position P1 indicated by a solid line in FIG. Move up and down. The film insertion plates 51 and 52 pass the leading end F2 of the film to the conveyor belts 3 and 3 at the entry end position P2.

  The one-way roller 53 is in contact with the surface of the film F so that the film F sandwiched between the film insertion plates 51 and 52 does not fall down and can rotate only in one direction. The film F is allowed to be pulled out.

6 and 7 are schematic front views showing the film F supply and cutting operations.
As shown in FIG. 6A, the cutting device 6 includes a cutter 61 and a chopping base 62. The cutter 61 includes presser plates 63 and 63 and a cutter blade 64. As shown in FIG. 7B, the film F is cut by the cutter blade 64 after the pressing plates 63, 63 hold the film F between the substantially “U” -shaped chopping base 62.

  As shown in FIG. 6A, each of the transport belts 3 and 3 includes a set of a lower drive belt 31, an upper driven belt 32, and an introduction belt 33. The introduction belt 33 is provided at the upstream end of the upper driven belt 32, and is driven to open and close as indicated by a broken line and a solid line. That is, the introduction belt 33 sandwiches the film F fed from below by the film transfer means 5 between the upstream end 34 of the lower drive belt 31 and holds the film F with the lower drive belt 31 and the upper driven belt. Lead to 32.

Unwinding device 7:
In FIG. 4, the film roll Fr can be pulled out by the unwinding device 7 as described below. The unwinding device 7 is a device for facilitating the rotation of the film roll Fr when the film F is pulled out, and is provided as a pair on the left and right. In the following description, the right unwinding device 7 will be described as an example.

  As shown in FIG. 8, the unwinding device 7 rotates the unwinding roller 70 loaded with the film roll Fr in the unwinding direction (direction in which the film is unwound), and a drive shaft (only the center line). ) 74 and a motor 78. Belts 72 and 77 are stretched between the unwinding roller 70 and the rotating shaft 74, and between the rotating shaft 74 and the output shaft 75 of the motor 78, respectively. The unwinding roller 70 is rotated through the rotation shaft 74 by the rotation.

The rotating shaft 74 is provided with a brake 85 and a one-way clutch 86.
The one-way clutch 86 is composed of, for example, a free wheel using a ratchet, and transmits the rotation of the rotating shaft 74 only in the unwinding direction to the unwinding roller 70. The one-way clutch 86 is set so as to allow the unwinding roller 70 to rotate in the direction in which the film F is pulled out from the film roll Fr and to prevent the unwinding roller 70 from rotating in the opposite direction.

  The rotation shaft 74 is provided with an angular velocity detector 80 that detects the rotation of the rotation shaft 74. The angular velocity detector 80 is composed of, for example, a rotary encoder. The rotary encoder, for example, transmits a detection signal based on the number of pulses detected for the slit by optically detecting the rotation of a disk with a slit.

  In addition, since the difference between the drawing speed of the film F of the transport belt 3 and the unwinding speed of the film F by the motor 78 is absorbed by the one-way clutch 86, the angular velocity detector 80 is moved from the unwinding roller 70 to the one-way clutch 86. It is preferable to provide between.

  The brake 85 is formed of an electromagnetic brake, for example, and prevents the unwinding roller 70 from rotating due to inertia.

As shown in FIG. 9A, this apparatus includes a microcomputer 40 (microcomputer: control means). The microcomputer 40 is connected to an angular velocity detector 80 and various drive circuits 81 and 82 _i through an interface (not shown). The motor 78 is connected to the drive circuit 81. The other drive circuit 82 _i is connected to, for example, another motor 83 _i that drives the conveyor belt 3, the lifter 201, the folding plates 204 and 205, and the like.

  The angular velocity detector 80 transmits a detection signal for detecting the rotation of the rotating shaft 74 in FIG. The microcomputer 40 calculates the angular velocity α of the rotating shaft 74 based on the detection signal. As will be described later, the microcomputer 40 controls the angular velocity β of the motor 78 based on the angular velocity α of the rotating shaft 74.

The microcomputer 40 of FIG. 9A includes a CPU 40a and a memory 40b. The memory 40b is provided with a threshold storage unit 40c and an angular velocity storage unit 40d.
Threshold values such as the first and second threshold values SL1 and SL2 are stored in advance in the threshold value storage unit 40c.
As shown in FIG. 9B, the angular velocity storage unit 40d stores in advance the ranges of the angular velocity α of the rotating shaft 74 with respect to the threshold values SL1 and SL2 and the angular velocities β1 to β3 of the motor 78 in association with each other. .

Film supply method:
Next, a method for supplying the film F will be described.
After the film F is set, the film F is pulled out by the film passing means 5 shown in FIG.
That is, the film transfer means 5 in FIG. 6A rises from the retracted end position P1 to the entry end position P2 shown in FIG. 6B, and the leading end of the film F is between the introduction belt 33 and the upstream end 34. Insert part F2.

  After the insertion, as shown in FIG. 7A, the introduction belt 33 is closed, and the leading end F2 (FIG. 6) of the film F is sandwiched between the lower drive belt 31 and the introduction belt 33. As a result, the film F is pulled out from the film roll Fr by the belts 31, 32, 33 by a predetermined length (close to the film length and slightly shorter than the film length). On the other hand, the film transfer means 5 descends to the retracted end position P1 and stops.

  Thereafter, after the film F is sandwiched between the holding plates 63 and 63 shown in FIG. 7B between the upper and lower protrusions of the chopping base 62, the cutter blade 64 advances to cut the film F. .

After the cutting, the cut film F is transferred by the transfer belts 3 and 3 in FIG. 4, and the cut film F is transferred to a predetermined position in the packaging station S in FIG.
After the conveyance, the film F is stretched on the packaging station S and packaging of the tray T is started.

Here, when the film F is drawn, a detection signal is transmitted from the angular velocity detector 80 to the microcomputer 40. The microcomputer 40 calculates the angular velocity α of the rotating shaft 74 based on the detection signal.
The microcomputer 40 reads the first and second threshold values SH1 and SH2 from the threshold value storage unit 40c, and compares them with the angular velocity α of the rotating shaft 74. The first and second threshold values SH1 and SH2 are set such that the first threshold value SH1 <the second threshold value SH2.

As a result of the comparison, as shown in FIG. 9B, when the angular velocity α of the rotating shaft 74 is smaller than the first threshold value SH1, the microcomputer 40 determines that the diameter of the film roll Fr is “large”. The angular velocity of the motor 78 is set to a small first angular velocity β1, and the next film F is conveyed.
When the angular velocity α of the rotating shaft 74 is equal to or greater than the first threshold SH1 and smaller than the second threshold SH2, the microcomputer 40 determines that the diameter of the film roll Fr is “medium”, and determines the angular velocity of the motor 78 as described above. The film F is transported next time by setting the second angular velocity β2 that is medium and larger than the first angular velocity β1.
When the angular velocity α of the rotating shaft 74 is equal to or greater than the second threshold value SH1, the microcomputer 40 determines that the diameter of the film roll Fr is “small”, and sets the angular velocity of the motor 78 to a third value larger than the second angular velocity β2. The next film F is transported by setting the angular velocity β3.

  Thus, the angular velocity β of the motor 78 is changed according to the angular velocity of the rotating shaft 74 corresponding to the angular velocity of the unwinding roller 70. Therefore, even if the diameter of the film roll Fr is reduced and the angular velocity of the unwinding roller 70 is increased, it is possible to suppress an increase in the load on the conveying belt 3 when the film is pulled out. it can. Accordingly, slipping of the film F on the conveyor belt 3 and so-called necking are less likely to occur, so that a beautiful finished state can be expected.

Here, the angular velocity of the unwinding roller 70 given by the rotation of the motor 78 is controlled to be always smaller than the angular velocity of the unwinding roller 70 indirectly detected by the angular velocity detector 80. At this time, since the angular speed of the unwinding roller 70 exceeds the angular speed of the motor 78, the one-way clutch 86 is idled by an amount corresponding to the speed difference.
Accordingly, it is possible to prevent the film from slacking when the film is pulled out, and to prevent troubles such as the film F being caught.

Set of film roll Fr:
Incidentally, the film roll Fr may be exchanged depending on the tray size or the like. When the exchange of the film roll Fr is repeated, the film roll Fr used halfway may be set again. Therefore, in this apparatus, when the film roll Fr is set, the angular speed β of the motor 78 during the first film conveyance is set according to the roll diameter by obtaining the diameter of the film roll Fr.

  At the time of replacement of the film roll Fr, when the operator sets the film roll Fr shown in FIG. 8 on the unwinding roller 70, film loading is performed, and the film F is transferred from the film roll Fr by the film passing means 5 shown in FIG. Withdrawn, the unwinding roller 70 is rotated, and the film F is set on the transport belt 3.

  At the initial stage of drawing the film, the rotating shaft 74 is rotated with the rotation of the unwinding roller 70 in FIG. The angular velocity detector 80 transmits a detection signal for detecting the rotation of the rotating shaft 74 to the microcomputer 40. The microcomputer 40 determines the diameter of the film roll Fr based on the detection signal. Specifically, the roll diameter is determined based on the count number of the angular velocity detector (rotary encoder) 80 and the time (sampling time) when the count number is detected.

  The microcomputer 40 reads out a predetermined threshold value from the threshold value storage unit 40c and compares the threshold value with the angular velocity α to substantially determine the roll diameter, and the angular velocity β of the motor 78 corresponds to the angular velocity α. The first packaging operation is performed by setting any one of the first to third angular velocities β1 to β3.

Incidentally, in the illustrated embodiment, it is assumed that to determine the angular velocity of the roll diameter, that the rotary shaft 74 to the three long, intermediate and short, may be a two, even on the four or more Good.

  Further, a detector composed of another rotary encoder or the like is provided in the motor 78, and the unwinding amount due to the angular velocity β of the motor 78 and the unwinding amount due to the angular velocity α of the rotating shaft 74 are compared, whereby the angular velocity β of the motor 78 is Control may be performed. For example, the slippage in the one-way clutch 86 is controlled so that the unwinding amount by the angular velocity β of the motor 78 is equal to or less than the unwinding amount by the angular velocity α of the rotating shaft 74 and close to the angular velocity α of the rotating shaft 74. May be made smaller.

Cutting device 6:
By the way, in the cutting of the film F, after the conveying belt 3 conveys the film F for a predetermined distance, the conveying belt 3 is stopped and the cutting is started. However, when the conveying belt 3 is suddenly stopped, the film F is slightly rotated due to inertia, and the film F is slackened between the conveying belt 3 and the film roll Fr as shown by a two-dot chain line in FIG. Become.

  In the conventional packaging apparatus, since the film F is cut in a slack state, there is a problem that the cut line of the film F cannot be cut linearly. In particular, when the tension of the film F is increased in order to eliminate wrinkles at the time of packaging, or when the film is greatly extended in the width direction using a special film, the film F may be torn from the cut line of the film F. There is.

Therefore, in this packaging device, in order to make the cut line of the film F linear, the following mechanism is provided.
As shown in FIG. 10, the cutting device 6 includes a cutter 61 and a chopping base 62. The cutting device 6 contacts the chopping base 62 and cuts the film F.

  The cutter 61 is provided with presser plates 63 and 63 on the upper and lower sides thereof. A lower presser portion 63 a that presses the film F with the chopping base 62 is formed at the tip of the lower presser plate 63. On the other hand, an upper presser portion 63 b that presses the film F with the chopping base 62 is formed at the tip of the upper presser plate 63. A protrusion 63c that pushes the film F toward the chopping base 62 is provided on the upper presser 63b.

FIG. 11 shows a method for cutting the film F.
As shown in FIG. 11A, the pressing plates 63 and 63 and the cutter 61 start moving toward the chopping base 62.
Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 11B, first, the lower pressing portion 63 a at the tip of the lower pressing plate 63 sandwiches and fixes the film F between the chopping base 62. At this time, the lower pressing portion 63 a sandwiches the film F with the chopping base 62 while the protruding portion 63 c pushes the film F toward the chopping base 62.

  After the fixing, as shown in FIG. 11 (c), the upper pressing portion 63 b of the upper pressing plate 63 sandwiches the film F between the chopping base 62.

Here, since the lower side of the film F is sandwiched and fixed by the chopping base 62 and the lower pressing portion 63a, the protrusion 63c pushes the film F toward the chopping base 62, whereby the lower pressing portion 63a. And the upper presser 63b.
After the stretching, as shown in FIG. 11 (d), the cutter 61 moves forward and cuts the film F.

  Thus, the upper presser portion 63b and the lower presser portion 63a sandwich the upstream and downstream sides of the cutter 61 during cutting. Before the film F is cut, the film F is pressed in the thickness direction by the pressing portions 63a and 63b, and the film F is pressed toward the chopping base 62 by the protruding portion 63c, thereby applying tension to the film F. Thereby, the film F between the conveyance belt 3 and the film roll Fr is not loosened, and the film F can be cut in a state in which the film F is under tension. Therefore, the cut line of the film F can be made linear.

As described above, the preferred embodiments have been described with reference to the drawings. However, those skilled in the art will readily understand various changes and modifications within the obvious scope by looking at the present specification.
For example, the one-way clutch and the brake may be provided on the same axis as the unwinding roller.
Further, the one-way clutch only needs to allow rotation in only a certain direction, and may be, for example, a free wheel using a ball in addition to the ratchet type.
The present invention can also be applied to a so-called top seal type packaging apparatus in which the upper end portion of the tray pushed up on the film is fused while being heated and welded by a heater roller as in Japanese Patent Application No. 11-137025.
Accordingly, such changes and modifications are to be construed as within the scope of the present invention as defined by the claims.

  INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY The present invention can be used for a packaging device that wraps an article to be packaged using a film drawn from a film roll.

It is a schematic perspective view of the packaging apparatus concerning one Example of this invention. It is a schematic side view which shows a packaging mechanism. It is a perspective view which shows the folding operation of a film. It is a schematic sectional drawing which shows the supply mechanism of a film. It is a schematic side view which shows the delivery means of a film. It is a schematic front view which shows the delivery operation | movement of a film. It is a schematic front view which shows the cutting | disconnection operation | movement of a film. It is a schematic perspective view which shows an unwinding apparatus. It is a schematic block diagram of this apparatus. It is a schematic side view which shows the other cutting device of a film. It is a schematic side view which shows the other cutting method of a film. It is a schematic perspective view which shows the problem which arises with the unwinding method of the conventional film.

Explanation of symbols

3: Conveyor belt 40: Microcomputer (control means)
70: Unwinding roller 78: Motor 80: Angular velocity detector 86: One-way clutch 208: Lifting means (elevator mechanism)
Fr: Film roll S: Packaging station (packaging part)
SL1: First threshold SL2: Second threshold T: Tray X: Width direction

Claims (4)

From the film roll attached to the unwinding roller, the both sides in the width direction of the stretch film are sandwiched by a conveyance belt, the film is pulled out, the film is cut into a predetermined length, and the cut film is conveyed to the packaging unit, A packaging device that pushes up an object to be packaged from below the film by an elevator mechanism and covers the upper surface of the object to be packaged with a film,
A detector for detecting an angular velocity corresponding to the angular velocity of the unwinding roller;
A motor for rotationally driving the unwinding roller;
The value detected by the detector at the time of the previous packaging is compared with a predetermined threshold value stored in advance, and the angular velocity at the time of the current packaging of the motor is stored in advance according to the comparison result at the time of the previous packaging. A packaging device comprising: control means for setting one of a plurality of angular velocities .   2. The packaging according to claim 1, wherein the control means controls the motor so that the angular velocity of the unwinding roller provided by the rotation of the motor is smaller than the angular velocity of the unwinding roller detected by the detector. apparatus.   In Claim 1 or 2, while being inserted between the output shaft of the motor and the unwinding roller, and allowing the unwinding roller to rotate in the direction of unwinding the film from the film roll, A packaging device further comprising a one-way clutch for preventing the unwinding roller from rotating in the opposite direction.   4. The packaging device according to claim 3, wherein the detector detects an angular velocity of a rotating shaft provided between the unwinding roller and the one-way clutch.

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