JP5164551B2 - Automatic filling and packaging equipment - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an automatic filling and packaging apparatus.

  Fold the running strip-shaped film in the width direction with a folding device, and vertically seal the side edge on the open side of the strip-shaped film with a vertical sealing device, and put the contents into this tubular film from the nozzle For example, Patent Document 1 discloses an automatic filling and packaging apparatus that obtains individual packages as products by intermittently performing horizontal sealing and cutting at a horizontal sealing position after filling.

  In the apparatus of Patent Document 1, the traveling film is changed in the traveling direction downward by a deflecting roller located above the nozzle, and then the above folding device, the vertical sealing device, the nozzle, and It goes through the horizontal sealing device one after another.

  In this type of automatic filling and packaging apparatus, strip films having various widths can be used, and a strip film having a width corresponding to the application is selected and used as a packaging material. In a strip film, marks used for determining the timing of the transverse seal are often given at regular intervals. If the distance from the turning roller to the folding device is too long compared to the width of the film, the film will meander or twist and become unstable, causing wrinkles and twisting. The length of the film cannot be secured sufficiently. Therefore, the distance from the turning roller to the folding device must be appropriately determined according to the width of the film. Thus, the height position of the turning roller is adjusted so that edge misalignment (misalignment between side edges of the folded film), wrinkles and twisting does not occur in the folding device. When the height position of the deflecting roller is adjusted, the distance to the mark position is changed accordingly. Therefore, the timing of the horizontal seal is also adjusted in relation to the position of the mark. Therefore, this timing is determined by the film distance from the mark detection position to the horizontal seal position and the dimension between the horizontal seal and the mark in the product depending on the width of the film.

Normally, in the automatic filling and packaging device, the height position of the above-mentioned turning roller and the timing of the horizontal seal can be freely changed to any height position and seal timing, respectively, so that the film used is of a different width When this is done, the height position of the deflecting roller and the timing of the horizontal seal are adjusted accordingly.
Patent No. 3936212

  However, in the automatic filling and packaging apparatus of the type disclosed in Patent Document 1, when the width of the belt-like film as the packaging material is changed, the state of the film is prevented so that the film is not shifted in edge, wrinkled or twisted by the folding apparatus. The height of the turning roller was adjusted while looking at Therefore, the film travel distance from the mark detection device position to the horizontal seal position also changes, and it is uncertain how long the adjusted travel distance changes, and the timing of the horizontal seal with respect to the film mark is also uncertain. Since it will shift, it is necessary to adjust the timing again so that it has a fixed relationship, making the work of changing the width of the film complicated and taking a long time to adjust, so run as a test in the meantime The amount of film discarded is also a waste.

  In view of such circumstances, it is an object of the present invention to provide an automatic filling and packaging apparatus that can easily cope with a change in film width and can easily adjust the timing of a horizontal seal.

  An automatic filling and packaging apparatus according to the present invention includes a guide roller that travels and guides a belt-shaped film that is drawn from a raw material and travels, and the travel direction of the belt-shaped film is determined at a downstream position in the travel direction of the belt-shaped film with respect to the guide roller. A diverting roller directed downward, a folding device disposed under the diverting roller and slidably in contact with the center position in the width direction of the belt-like film that is running, and the film is folded in the width direction; A vertical sealing device that vertically seals the open side edges of the stacked films, and a nozzle that enters from the upper opening of a flat cylindrical film formed by vertical sealing and fills the cylindrical film with contents An apparatus, and a horizontal sealing apparatus that intermittently horizontally seals the tubular film below the nozzle apparatus.

In such an automatic filling and packaging apparatus, the present invention provides a detection device that detects marks attached to the strip film at regular intervals in the running direction at a position upstream of the deflecting roller, and the deflecting roller has a film width of the strip film. Correspondingly, it has position setting means capable of selectively setting one of a plurality of predetermined height positions with different distances from the turning roller to the folding device, and the film width of the belt-like film The horizontal seal device is characterized in that the operation timing can be adjusted in conjunction with the mark detection according to the height position of the turning roller set correspondingly .

  In the automatic filling and packaging apparatus, when the contents to be filled are changed, the type of the belt-like film, particularly the film width, is also changed to a different type. There are not countless types of film widths continuously, but multiple types of film widths are put on the market in stages. Among them, what the device of the present invention handles is limited to several types. In general, the band-shaped film has marks used for determining the timing of the transverse seal at regular intervals. This mark is used to determine the timing of the transverse seal. At that time, if the distance from the height position of the turning roller to the folding device is not set appropriately, edge misalignment, wrinkles, and twist may occur in the folded film. Even if the distance is appropriately set for a film having a certain width, if the film width is changed, an appropriate height position of the turning roller must be obtained again.

  When the film width is changed, the height position of the turning roller is changed so that the film is not edge shifted, wrinkled or twisted with respect to the film width. The film travel distance to the device will also change. Therefore, in the present invention, the range of the total film width covering a plurality of kinds of expected film widths is divided into a plurality corresponding to each film width, and the film has an edge shift, wrinkle or twist on the film width in each section. The height position of the turning roller where no occurrence occurs is found in advance so that the turning roller can be set at a position corresponding to the film width.

  The position setting of the turning roller to one of the plurality of height positions may be performed stepwise or continuously. As an example of setting in stages, a position setting means can be provided by providing support portions for rotatably supporting the deflecting roller, for example, shaft support holes at a plurality of positions. In order to set continuously, the support portion can be continuously guided, moved by the driving means, stopped at the set position, and the position setting means configured to hold the position. It is also possible to do intermediate to stepwise and continuous. This is to enable continuous movement in a certain height range at each stepwise height position.

  When there is a change in the film width, the position setting means selects one of a plurality of candidate height positions for the turning roller so that the film will not be edge-shifted, wrinkled or twisted. Set the turning roller. When the turning roller is at the height position of each candidate, the mark is not necessarily located at the position required for the horizontal seal, so this position adjustment is performed by adjusting the timing of the horizontal seal position. At this time, since the height direction of the deflecting roller is already set and the position is not adjusted any more, only the timing of the horizontal seal is made. Therefore, this adjustment is fine adjustment and is performed in a short time. This fine adjustment can be easily performed by, for example, setting a numerical value on the operation panel.

  Thus, in the present invention, the plurality of height positions of the turning roller are set corresponding to the widths of various belt-like films that may be used.

  In the present invention, the position setting means has a scale for displaying the height position of the turning roller over a variable range of the height position of the turning roller, and corresponds to this when a film width is given. It is also possible to use the parameter for calculating the timing of the horizontal seal from the scale value at the height position while continuously moving the deflecting roller to the height position. By doing so, the film can be adjusted in a short time in the folding device to a position where no edge shift, wrinkle or twist occurs.

  Further, in the present invention, in order to automatically set the height position of the turning roller, the position setting device includes a control means, and the control means is configured to adjust the height position of the turning roller in the variable range. Recognizing means for recognizing at least one of the height position of the turning roller and the film width, and turning to one position selected from a plurality of predetermined height positions based on a signal from the recognizing means. It is also possible to have driving means for moving the roller. When the height position of the turning roller corresponding to a specific film width is given as a target value, the current height position of the turning roller is recognized by the recognition means, and the turning roller is automatically set by the driving means. When a film with a specific film width is set, the recognition means recognizes the width, and the driving means automatically moves the turning roller to the target height position of the corresponding turning roller. Move it. Furthermore, the position of the turning roller can be automatically changed by inputting the film width into the recognition means. Here, the driving means can be manual as well as automatic.

  In the present invention, as described above, a plurality of height positions that keep the positional relationship between the film mark and the lateral seal device in the film traveling direction constant are set in advance as candidate positions for the turning roller, and the film width When the position is changed, one of the above-mentioned plurality of height positions is selected so that no edge shift, wrinkle or twist occurs in the film, and this is set as the new height of the turning roller. The timing of the horizontal seal that operates in conjunction with the detection of the mark on the film can also be fine-tuned, making it easy to cope with changes in film width. Therefore, a very small amount of film is wasted during adjustment.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2 of the accompanying drawings.

  FIG. 1 shows an automatic filling according to the present embodiment in which a strip-shaped film is drawn from a raw fabric, made into a cylindrical film, filled with contents, and further cut after lateral sealing to obtain individual packages as products. It is a schematic block diagram of a packaging apparatus.

  The automatic filling and packaging apparatus according to the present embodiment shown in FIG. 1 includes a film delivery part I, a filling and packaging part II, and a product take-out part III. Each of these units constitutes a single device in which their casings or frames are detachably connected to each other. The product takeout part III can also be installed outside the machine.

Film feeding section I is be on the base of the device, and rotatably accommodating a raw F ₀ consisting filmstrip F ₁ is wound in the housing or frame. The film F ₁ has marks M on its side edges at regular intervals (see FIG. 2). The film delivery section I is provided with a plurality of guide rollers 1 to 7 for applying a tension and guiding the running while changing the direction of the belt-like film F ₁ drawn from the original fabric F ₀ . Of these guide rollers 1 to 7, a roller 3A that receives motor drive is in pressure contact with the guide roller 3, and the film F is sandwiched between the guide roller 3 and driven at a constant speed. . Further, the guide rollers 5, be supported on the distal end of the swing lever 8, the rocking lever 8 due to the weight of the guide roller 5 is swung around the other end, the tension lever filmstrip F ₁ constant To maintain.

Above the film feeding section I, filling and packaging of transverse sealing at regular intervals the tubular film to fill the contents of the object to be filling in the tubular film after forming the film web F ₁ into a cylindrical shape Part II is arranged.

In the filling and packaging part II, above, but filmstrip F ₁ is formed on the tubular film after being sterilized, the process is carried out in閉筐body where bacteria and the like are prevented from entering from the outside. For that purpose, this閉筐body, and a sterilizing unit 10 for sterilizing the filmstrip F _1.

The film running direction downstream position of the sterilization section 10, bending member 11 as a film folding device, vertical seal member 12, a nozzle 13 for content filling is provided, the filmstrip F ₁ in the width direction After folding in half and matching the side edges, a flat cylindrical film is formed and the contents are filled therein. Between the bending member 11 and the sterilization section 10, a pair of drive rollers 14 for feeding the film web F ₁ at a predetermined speed and the guide rollers 15 and 16 for guiding the filmstrip F _1, is in the film running direction The drive roller 14 is disposed sequentially toward the upstream side (hereinafter simply referred to as “upstream side” and the opposite direction to the “downstream side”). The belt-like film F ₁ is turned downward by a turning roller 18 positioned above the bending member 11 through guide rollers 15 and 16 and fed from above at a predetermined speed. Immediately upstream position of the pair of drive rollers 14, the detector 17 for detecting the marks M of the film F ₁ to travel is disposed facing the side edges of the film F ₁ at the lower surface side of the film .

To a position above the of the drive roller 14 a distance downstream from the L ₂ spaced above bending member 11, the deflection roller 18 for changing the traveling direction of the film F ₁ downward. Here, the distance L ₂ represents the film path length from the driving roller 14 located on the upstream side with respect to the turning roller 18 to the turning roller 18. The diverting roller 18 can be changed and set stepwise by the position setting means. This height position will be described later again.

In the present embodiment, the bending member 11 as a folding device located below the turning roller 18 is made of a member having a small frictional resistance with the film, and is shown in FIGS. ), The guide member and the frame member that supports and surrounds the guide member. The guide member forms a shape which is bent rod-like member in the reverse L shape, and a hanging portion 11B which is bent to the horizontal portion 11A and a lower, downwardly extending portion 11B is, the width direction of the film F ₁ traveling downward in a central position in contact with a light contact pressure to the film F _1. Such an inverted L-shaped guide member is supported by the end 11D of the frame member at the left end of the horizontal portion 11A, and the horizontal portion 11A is surrounded by the U-shaped surrounding portion 11C attached to the end 11D. Has been. A U-shaped gap is formed between the surrounding portion 11C and the horizontal portion 11A of the guide member to allow the film to pass in a folded state. The film F ₁ is superimposed is clamshell above the widthwise center position by downwardly extending portion 11B of the folding member 11, as a two-fold film F _2, further travel downward. The clamshell film F ₂ is FIG. 2 (A), the has a As can be seen from (B), the left edge opening edges right edges have a crease. The mark M is located on one edge of the open edge. This two-folded film F ₂ travels downward while being a gap in keeping the clamshell state guided between the surrounding portion 11C and the horizontal portion 11A.

From the open edge of the side where the folio film F ₂ the bending member 11 is entered, the nozzle 13 forming the said bent member 11 similarly to inverted L-shape not enter between the two-folded film F ₂ Thus, it extends downward from the position of the vertical seal member 12. It said longitudinal seal member 12 is constituted by a seal ring member provided on the roller axis direction end of the pair rollers 12A located on both sides of the plane of the two-folded film F _2. In the present embodiment, which contributes to the vertical sealing left of the seal ring member is in contact with the surface of the open edge of the film F _2. Thus, the clamshell film F ₂ comes to form a flat tubular film F ₃ open edge by the seal member 12 during continuous constant-speed running is sealed, the nozzle into the tubular film F ₃ The contents are filled from 13. Since that time, although the seal ring members to each other, located on both sides of the clamshell film F ₂ are contact pressure rotating together, the roller 12A supporting the sealing member 12 has a smaller diameter than the seal member 12, A space that allows the nozzle 13 to extend downward is secured between the rollers 12A. Of the vertical seal members (seal ring members) 12A provided at both ends of the roller 12A, the right vertical seal member is outside the film width and does not contribute to the vertical seal in this embodiment. .

Below the vertical seal member 12, two horizontal seal members 20, 21 are disposed above and below each other. Have been arranged to form two lateral sealing members 20, 21 together against the both surfaces of the tubular film F _3, is twice the horizontal sealing superimposed on the same site of the film in order to secure a sufficient seal strength The former forms a wide seal portion having a large seal width in the vertical direction in the figure, and the latter forms a narrow seal portion within the former seal width. In the present embodiment, the two horizontal seal members 20, 21 also have a plurality of circumferential heating positions, in the example shown in the figure, two convex heating portions 20A, 21A extending in the axial direction. The film is pressurized by the heating parts 20A of the horizontal sealing member 20 and the heating parts 21A of the pair of horizontal sealing members 21 to perform horizontal sealing. Since the lower horizontal seal member 21 is separated from the upper horizontal seal member 20 by a fixed distance, the seal of the horizontal seal 21 is set by shifting the timing of the seal position by an amount corresponding to the fixed distance. To do.

  A product take-out part III is arranged below the filling and packaging part II. In this embodiment, the product take-out part III has a perforation forming member 31 and a cutter member 32, for example. The perforation forming member 31 forms a perforation in the lateral seal portion. In this embodiment, the cutter member 32 is a known rotary cutter. In the case of single package product production, the perforation forming member 31 is paused, and the horizontal seal portion is cut only by the rotary cutter 32. In the case of continuous package production, for example, to produce a triple package product, the perforation forming member 31 is operated twice and paused once, while the rotary cutter is paused twice and operated once. The above operation is performed so that the perforation or cutting is within the range of the horizontal seal. Thus, a single package or a continuous package P is obtained as a product.

  Next, the relationship between the detection device 17 for detecting the mark M of the film, the turning roller 18, and the lateral sealing devices 20 and 21 will be described.

Marks M attached to the film F ₁ at regular intervals are provided to determine when the horizontal sealing devices 20 and 21 are in operation. Therefore, the interval between the marks M is related to the size of the final product in the film running direction. In the simplest case, the distance between the marks M is equal to the size of the product. Therefore, there is always a fixed relationship between the timing of mark detection and the time of horizontal sealing. This is because when the film width is changed and the height position of the deflecting roller 18 is changed, the film travel distance from the position of the detection device 17 to the position of the horizontal seal devices 20 and 21 is also increased or decreased. Also means that it must be adjusted.

In the apparatus of the present embodiment, the position of the turning roller 18 can be changed in accordance with various film widths by a position setting device (not shown), as shown in FIG. As described above, any _one of the plurality of positions P _{1 to} P ₅ is selected. That is, the film necessary for folding and the distance L ₃ from the deflection roller 18 to the folding apparatus 11 has a changeable during running. When the distance L ₃ is not properly set the width of the film used, Ejjizure and wrinkles and easy twisting occurs in the film during travel. Therefore, the distance L ₃ is, when the film width is changed, needs to be increased or decreased in correspondence with the film width. Therefore, in this embodiment, for each of the various film width that may be used, the height of the deflection roller 18 the film Ejjizure and wrinkles or twisting based on the past performance corresponds to the distance L ₃ does not occur A plurality of positions P _{1 to} P ₅ are selected in advance as candidate height positions. Then, the turning roller 18 is selectively set to the height position of each candidate. Accordingly, when the film width to be used is determined, it is selected from among the height positions P _{1 to} P ₅ corresponding to the film width, and in the example shown in the drawing, the turning roller 18 is set at the height position P _2. Set to However, when the height position of the turning roller 18 changes, the distance L ₂ + L ₃ from the driving roller 14 to the folding device 11 changes, and as a result, from the detection device 17 that detects the mark M to the lateral sealing device 20. The distance L (= L ₁ + L ₂ + L ₃ + L ₄ ) will also change. (Note that the distance L ₁ is detector 17, representing the film path length variation up direction roller 18 just before the driving roller 14. Further, the distance L ₄ are, from the folding device 11 to the lateral sealing device 20 downstream Represents the film path length.) In order to make the relationship between the mark M and the position of the horizontal seal predetermined, the seal timing of the horizontal seal device 20 is corrected. As described above, according to this embodiment, it is not necessary to select the position of the turning roller height by trial and error every time the film width is changed, and the horizontal seal timing adjustment can be easily performed. Can be done.

  In the present embodiment apparatus, the operation is switched from the operation in which the film of one width is filled and packaged in a good state in which the film is not shifted in edge, wrinkle or twisted to operate under a film of a different width. When it is done, the turning roller 18 is set from one of several pre-selected height positions to one position in order to change the distance L according to the film width. After that, it is only necessary to make fine adjustments, for example, to input numerical values of the horizontal seal timing determined from the relationship between the product length, the mark M, and the position of the horizontal seal.

  The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications can be made.

  In the present embodiment, since the height position of the turning roller is at any one of a plurality of preselected positions, the turning roller should be set by moving to these plurality of positions. good. For example, when the movement is performed in stages, the shaft portion of the turning roller is supported by a hole at a selected position among the holes formed at a plurality of height positions, It is also possible to determine the height position as appropriate according to the scale marked along the long hole with the hole as a long hole and having a range in the height direction.

  However, the present invention can also be applied to an apparatus in which the deflecting roller is continuously movable in the height direction and set at an arbitrary position. For example, the position setting means includes a scale or a mark for displaying the position of the direction changing roller over the height position variable range of the direction changing roller. When setting the direction of the direction of the turning roller, it can be manual or automatic. In the case of manual operation, the operator finds a candidate height position corresponding to the film width from the recording, continuously moves the turning roller to the candidate height position, and changes to this candidate position. Set the height position of the direction roller. In the case of automatic, the direction change roller is moved to the candidate height position by the driving means by the control device, and the position is set. At that time, since the height position of the turning roller is recognized, the distance from the detection position for detecting the mark to the horizontal seal device can be calculated, and the timing of the horizontal seal is automatically set based on the value. . Alternatively, when the film width is selected, if the width is input by the control device, the turning roller is automatically moved to the optimum position for the film width, and the timing of the horizontal seal is automatically performed as described above. Is set.

It is a schematic block diagram of the apparatus of one Embodiment of this invention. 1 is a perspective view showing the main part of the apparatus, (A) is an enlarged view of the folding device in (A), respectively (A) from the detection device to the horizontal seal device.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 Folding device 12 Vertical sealing device 13 Nozzle device 17 Detection device 18 Turning roller 20 Horizontal sealing device F ₁ belt-like film M mark F ₃ cylindrical film

Claims (4)

A guide roller that travels and guides the belt-shaped film that is drawn out of the original fabric, a direction roller that directs the traveling direction of the belt-shaped film downward at a downstream position in the travel direction of the belt-shaped film with respect to the guide roller, A folding device which is arranged below the direction roller and slidably contacts the center position in the width direction of the running strip-like film, and folds the film in the width direction, and the open side edge of the film folded in two A vertical sealing device that vertically seals each other, a nozzle device that enters from the upper opening of a flat cylindrical film formed by vertical sealing, and fills the content into the cylindrical film; In an automatic filling and packaging apparatus having a horizontal sealing device that intermittently seals a cylindrical film, marks placed on the belt-shaped film at regular intervals in the running direction are positioned upstream of the turning roller. A detecting device for detecting in a deflection roller, selectively in one from among the plurality of height position where the distance is defined differently in advance in correspondence with the film width of the strip-like film from the deflection roller to the folding device Position setting means that can set the position, the horizontal sealing device can adjust the operation timing in conjunction with the mark detection according to the height position of the turning roller set corresponding to the film width of the strip film An automatic filling and packaging apparatus characterized by   The automatic filling and packaging apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the position setting means is a rotation support portion that rotatably supports the turning roller at each of a plurality of height positions.   2. The automatic filling and packaging apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the position setting means has a scale for displaying the height position of the turning roller over a variable range of the height position of the turning roller.   The position setting means includes a control means, and the control means recognizes at least one of the height position of the direction changing roller and the film width in the variable range of the height position of the direction changing roller; 2. The automatic filling and packaging apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising driving means for moving the turning roller to one position selected from a plurality of predetermined height positions based on the signal.

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