JP5779843B2 - Boxing equipment - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a product boxing device, and more particularly to a boxing device for automatically and efficiently packing a product by changing the attitude (orientation) of the product.

Among “rice balls” sold at retail stores such as convenience stores, the most popular and best-selling product is the so-called triangle-type “hand-rolled rice balls” (the exterior with film is also a triangle).
The "hand-rolled rice ball" is produced by a major convenience store vendor, and its production line is almost automated from the formation of rice to packaging, foreign object detection and pricing. As for the packing operation of “rice balls” in containers (boxes), “hand-rolled rice balls” are packed into the containers with a high accommodation efficiency from the viewpoint of transportation costs, etc. (a method in which triangles are alternately combined in an upright state). It is like that. However, at present, the packing method with high accommodation efficiency is difficult to mechanize and relies on manpower.

This is because, when the product “hand-rolled rice ball” is efficiently packed in a container, half of the product to be stored in the container is stored upright with the top of the triangle facing upward, and the other half stores the top of the triangle. It is accommodated and placed upside down in an inverted triangular space formed between the commodities facing downward.
Prior to container packing of the product “hand-rolled rice ball”, the product “hand-rolled rice ball” is labeled with the product name (including the name of ingredients contained in the product), the price, etc. In order to make it stick in a place and firmly, it will stick on the widest surface of the said goods.
Therefore, before attaching the label, the product “hand-rolled rice ball” is once stood up so that the top of the triangle faces upward, and the product “hand-rolled rice ball” is erected by the label applicator. After the label is pasted, the product “hand-rolled rice ball” to which the label is pasted is conveyed by a conveyor or the like to the downstream boxing area while standing.
However, it is difficult to transport the product “hand-rolled rice balls” after the labeling while keeping the standing posture as it is, and it is transported in an irregular state such as overturning in the middle, and the product stands up (the top of the triangle) It is difficult to pick up the product with a machine.

On the other hand, when packaging the above products manually with increased storage efficiency, labor costs and other costs increase during the busy season, so it is hoped that any vendor can develop a device (machine) that can efficiently pack the product. It was rare.
In addition, there has been a persistent need from the market (major convenience store vendor) to fully automate the line from manufacturing to container packing (box packing) for such products (triangular hand-rolled rice balls) and triangular sandwiches.

An apparatus (robot) having an adsorption unit has been developed as a boxing apparatus for packing packed snacks into a cardboard box (see, for example, Patent Document 1).
The bag containing snacks is filled with air and swells in an approximately oval shape, and it can be accommodated by the same apparatus because it only needs to be stacked and stored in a multi-stage shape without changing the boxing posture. However, since the device is not equipped with a mechanism for changing the posture to reverse the top of the product, it cannot be used for, for example, alternating packaging of triangular products targeted by the present invention. .

JP-A-7-33101

  The present invention has been made in view of the problems of the conventional techniques described above, and the problem is to change the storage posture (orientation) and placement position of the product, and to increase the alignment and storage efficiency of the product. An object of the present invention is to provide a boxing apparatus that can automatically perform boxing.

In order to solve the above-described problems, the boxing device of the present invention lifts a product upward through the suction unit, moves the lifted product to a predetermined boxing position, lowers it, releases the suction, and boxes the container. In the boxing apparatus, the suction unit includes a suction pad for sucking and holding a product and a shaft portion to which the suction pad is attached, and at least two base portions of the shaft portion are movable in a vertical direction and a horizontal direction. A connection that is pivotally fixed to the elevating base and is connected to the operation rod connected to the substantially middle portion in the length direction of the shaft portion and the other end portion of the operation rod connected to each shaft portion in a lump. It is characterized by tilting by a predetermined angle by tilting means comprising a heel (claim 1).
The mechanism for moving the suction unit up and down in the vertical direction and right and left (or back and forth) in the horizontal direction may be any of an extendable arm method, a cylinder method, a chain method, and the like.
The tilting means only needs to be able to rotate the shaft portion pivotally supported by the elevating base in a vertical plane around the shaft support portion.

  According to the above means, the product is adsorbed by the adsorbing pad of the adsorbing unit, and the shaft portion provided with the adsorbing pad intersects the vertical plane by a tilting means at a predetermined angle, for example, vertical (substantially perpendicular to the lifting base). Product), or by tilting it at an arbitrary angle (an angle other than a substantially right angle with respect to the lifting base), the product placement position and product posture can be changed, and the product alignment and accommodation efficiency according to the product mode Can be boxed high.

The tilting means includes an actuator that activates the operating rod . (Claim 2). The actuating rod may be any of a method of directly rotating by an expansion / contraction operation of an actuator or a method of indirectly rotating by a combination of a link and an actuator.

Further, the suction of the product by the suction unit is performed by bringing the suction pad into contact with the product. For example, when the product transported by the transport device is suction-held, the suction surface of the suction pad is substantially reduced by the tilting means. The product is adsorbed while being held in a horizontal state (claim 3).
According to the above means, the adsorption operation can be performed stably and reliably.

  Further, one or a plurality of the adsorption units may be arranged on the lifting base, and each of the adsorption units may be tilted by a tilting means attached to each of the adsorption units. You may make it tilt. Specifically, a plurality of suction units are arranged in parallel on the elevating base at a predetermined interval, an operating rod attached to each suction unit is connected to a connecting rod, and the connecting rod is operated by an actuator. (Claim 4).

  According to the above means, the plurality of suction units arranged in parallel on the lifting base can be simultaneously adjusted to the same inclination by the operation of the actuator. Thereby, a plurality of products can be packed in the same state at a time. The actuator may be of any type as long as it converts hydraulic pressure, air pressure, magnetic force or the like into momentum, and is operated by a motor or a cylinder.

Further, the apparatus may further include a transport device that transports the product, and the transport device may be any form as long as the product can be mounted and transported. For example, the product has a triangular shape such as a “rice ball” or a “sandwich”. In the case of "", it is effective to convey the triangular product in an upright state from the viewpoint of packaging with high accommodation efficiency. Specifically, a receiving portion that holds the supplied triangular product in front view in a standing state with the top facing vertically downward is provided at a predetermined interval in the transport direction on the outer side of the endless rotating rotation belt, Each time a product is supplied to the receiving portion, the rotation band moves in the transport direction, and the supply number of the product is sucked by the suction unit every predetermined number.
The mounting interval of the receiving portion is the same as the mounting interval of the suction units arranged on the lifting base.

  According to the above means, since the triangular product is accommodated and transported in the receiving portion in a standing state with the top facing vertically downward, the upper surface of the product becomes a substantially horizontal surface, and the suction operation by the suction unit is performed stably and reliably. be able to. And when the goods accommodated in the receiving part reach a predetermined number (the number of adsorption units arranged on the lifting base), the adsorption unit descends and adsorbs and holds the goods, so that it can be efficiently adsorbed. Moreover, the boxing posture of the product can be changed by tilting the suction unit holding the product by suction with the tilting means.

  In addition, the suction unit operates the tilting means for the product in the front view triangular shape that is sucked and held so that the top of the product in the front view triangular shape is vertically upward, and the bottom of the product in the front view triangular shape is the container In the state of being substantially parallel to the ground contact surface, the container is moved and lowered to the boxing position, the suction is released, the box is packed into the container, and the triangular triangles opened between the triangular-shaped products housed in the container are opened. The top of the triangular product viewed from the front is moved downward into the space into the space, and the suction is released to perform boxing (Claim 6).

  According to the above means, a triangular product (hand-rolled rice ball or sandwich) is stored in a container (container) with the half of the triangle standing up so that the top of the triangle faces upward, and the triangle stored in the container Move the top of the other half of the triangle-shaped product (hand-rolled rice ball or sandwich) downward into the space of the inverted triangle formed between the shaped products (hand-rolled rice ball or sandwich). It can be accommodated and placed in a container so that triangles of rolled rice balls and sandwiches are alternately raised in a standing state, so that products can be aligned and boxed with high accommodation efficiency, reducing transportation costs. I can do it.

  Further, the boxing position is arranged in parallel with the side portion of the transport device, and the suction unit is configured to slide in a direction perpendicular to the accommodation row in the box arranged at the boxing position ( Claim 7). That is, the suction unit is configured to move up and down on the transport device, move horizontally to the box (boxing position) side disposed on the side of the transport device at the raised position, and further move up and down.

  According to the above-mentioned means, it is possible to automatically and efficiently pack the box by changing the storing posture of the commodity for each storing row in the box.

According to the configuration of claims 1 and 2, the boxing device of the present invention can pack products by changing the inclination of the product in accordance with the product to be boxed or the shape of the box. Boxing with high product alignment and storage efficiency can be performed.
Moreover, the structure of Claim 3 can perform the adsorption | suction of goods with an adsorption pad stably and reliably.
According to the configuration of the fourth aspect, a plurality of suction units arranged in parallel on the lifting base can be simultaneously adjusted to the same inclination by the operation of the actuator. Thereby, a plurality of products can be packed in the same state at a time.
In addition, according to the configuration of claim 5, it is possible to stably and reliably adsorb triangular products (rice balls, sandwiches, etc.) in a standing state and to pack a plurality of products in the same posture at a time. it can.
In addition, according to the configuration of claim 6, it is possible to pack a triangular product (rice ball, sandwich, etc.) with high accommodation efficiency and reduced transportation cost.
Further, according to the configuration of the seventh aspect, it is possible to automatically perform boxing with high accommodation efficiency by adjusting the posture (orientation) of the product or the placement interval of the product.

The front view which shows the whole rice ball production line incorporating the boxing apparatus which concerns on this invention. FIG. The outline of a conveying apparatus is shown, (a) is a front view, (b) is the top view. The expansion perspective view which shows the state in which the packaged goods are accommodated in the receiving part of a conveying apparatus. The front view which shows the state which adsorb | sucks the goods accommodated in the receiving part of a conveying apparatus with an adsorption | suction unit. (A) The same front view which shows the state which inclined the adsorption | suction unit which adsorb | sucked the goods to the predetermined angle by the tilting means, (b) is a front view which shows the state which accommodates the goods tilted by the tilting means in a box. The same front view which shows the state which raised the adsorption | suction unit which adsorb | sucked the goods in FIG. 5 as it is. The perspective view which shows an example of the moving mechanism which moves an adsorption | suction unit up and down and horizontally. A state in which triangular rice balls are boxed in a box is shown, (a) is a perspective view showing a first-stage boxed state, and (b) is a perspective view showing a second-stage boxed state. (A) is a top view which shows the state which stores the goods W by shifting about half a pitch by the row unit, (b) is explanatory drawing which shows the state of the suction pad which carries out shift storage.

Hereinafter, an example of an embodiment of a boxing device according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
1 and 2 show a state in which the present boxing device is incorporated in a production line of a triangular hand-rolled rice ball (hereinafter referred to as a product) W, which is a rice ball manufacturing apparatus A that performs everything from rice cooking to packaging. The foreign matter detection device B and the label sticking device (pricing) C are sequentially connected and arranged in the downstream direction (left direction in the drawing) starting from, and the transport device D and the boxing device E are further connected and arranged in the downstream direction. Are configured to work together.

  The rice ball manufacturing apparatus A is a well-known device for forming cooked rice into a triangular rice ball. A forming hole is formed on the turntable along the circumferential direction, and a predetermined amount of the cooked rice is filled in the forming hole. In the cooked rice, various ingredients are put in accordance with the rice balls to be manufactured, the rice balls are molded, and the formed rice balls are wrapped in a triangular shape with a film or paper coated with a film, and are downstream by a transfer device It is supplied to the foreign matter detection device B on the side. Since the rice ball manufacturing apparatus A is not directly related to the boxing apparatus of the present invention, detailed description thereof is omitted. Examples of the rice ball manufacturing apparatus include Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication Nos. 2007-282567 and 2005-29175. In addition, the packaging by the film or the paper to which the film is attached is not limited to the laver that wraps the rice ball in the film, but may be the packaging of only the film or paper in which the laver is not set.

  The foreign object detection device B detects whether or not foreign substances (metal pieces, metal wires, or other non-metal edible materials) are mixed in the rice balls formed in a triangle. As for foreign matters, various detectors employed today such as metal detectors or X-ray foreign matter detectors can be selected and used. Further, the foreign matter detection device B is arranged along the transfer direction of the transfer device so that the foreign matter can be detected while transferring the product W continuously discharged from the rice ball manufacturing device A by the transfer device without stagnation. Yes. Then, the defective product in which the contamination of the foreign matter is detected is removed from the transfer device, and the product in which the contamination of the foreign matter is not detected is sent to the downstream label sticking device C by the transfer device.

  The label sticking device C is a device for sticking labels 15 such as product labels and additive labels on the triangular surfaces (front and back surfaces) of the product W packaged with a film, and a transport means C1 for transporting the product W in an upright state. The label attaching means C2 attaches a label L such as a product label or an additive label to the moving product W conveyed by the conveying means C1.

The conveying means C1 includes a weighing conveyor that measures and conveys the weight of the product W to be labeled, and a conveying conveyor that conveys the product W that has been weighed by the weighing conveyor toward the downstream label applying means C2. It is comprised and the label sticking means C2 is arrange | positioned at the side part of the conveyance path of this conveyance conveyor.
The weighing conveyor is connected to a load cell on which a conveyor main body having an endlessly rotating belt is mounted and fixed on the base, whereby the weight of the product W is conveyed while the product W is conveyed by the conveyor main body. Can be measured.

The label affixing means C2 includes a holding unit that rotatably holds a roll of rolled label roll paper on which a label 15 is temporarily attached to a strip-like mount so as to be peeled at a predetermined interval, and is held by the holding unit. A feeding section that pulls out the mount from the label roll paper, a peeling section that peels off the label temporarily attached to the mount pulled out by the operation of the feeding section, and a product that transports and moves the label L that is peeled off by the peeling section An affixing portion to be affixed to W; a mount take-up portion for winding up an empty mount (a mount from which the label has been peeled) that has been drawn and moved downstream from the payout portion by the operation of the payout portion; A braking force applying means for applying a braking force to an empty mount passing through the mount transfer path to the mount winding unit is arranged.
When two labels, a product label and an additive label, are pasted on one product W, the label pasting means C2 is disposed on both sides of the transport path of the transport means C1.
Since the label sticking apparatus C is not directly related to the present invention, detailed description thereof is omitted, but the detailed structure of the label sticking apparatus is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2010-6414.

The product W to which the label L is attached is supplied to the transport device D connected and arranged downstream.
The transport device D transports the product W to which the label 15 is attached while holding the product W in a posture in which it is easily sucked and held by the suction unit of the subsequent boxing device E. The receiving part 2 that holds the product W in a standing state in which the top part is directed vertically downward is arranged at a predetermined interval in the conveying direction, and the conveying device D is supported by the supporting legs 3 and 3 ′ at a predetermined height. And is configured so that it can be moved and installed with respect to movement and change of the production line.

As shown in FIG. 3, the receiving portion 2 has two receiving members 2 a formed in a substantially square shape with a synthetic resin material or a metal plate on the outer surface of the rotating band 1, arranged alternately along the conveying direction. Thus, a substantially V-shaped accommodating portion is formed.
Each receiving member 2a constituting the receiving portion 2 is detachably attached to the rotating band 1, and the endless rotation of the rotating band 1 causes the two sets of receiving members 2a to receive the product W on the outward path side. The portions 2 are formed sequentially.

Further, the product W accommodated in the receiving portion 2 is transported to the transport device D outside the width direction (direction orthogonal to the transport direction) of the receiving member 2a provided along the transport direction of the rotating belt 1. The fall prevention rods 4 and 4 ′ for restraining them from falling from the receiving portion 2 are disposed over substantially the entire length of the transport device D on the forward path side. As shown in FIG. 4, the start end side of the drop prevention baskets 4 and 4 ′ securely transfers and accommodates the product W, which is erected and conveyed by the conveying means C <b> 1 of the label sticking device C, to the receiving portion 2 of the conveying device D. As shown, it is formed to expand outward.
The transport device D is intermittently driven to receive the product W transported and supplied from the upstream label sticking device C in the receiving unit 2, and the predetermined number (six in the illustrated example) of the product W is placed in the receiving unit 2. Is accommodated, the boxing device E starts operating.

  The boxing device E includes a suction unit E1 that sucks and holds the product W accommodated and held in the receiving portion 2 of the transport device D, and a tilting unit that changes and adjusts the suction unit E1 to a tilt other than vertical according to the boxing form. E2 and a moving mechanism E3 that moves the suction unit E1 to a box arranged at a boxing position.

The suction unit E1 includes a suction pad 5 for sucking and holding the product W accommodated and held in the receiving portion 2, and a shaft portion 6 to which the suction pad 5 is attached. The base portion of the shaft portion 6 is vertically and horizontally. It is pivotally supported on the lower surface of the elevating base 7 that can move in the direction.
The suction pad 5 sucks and holds the product W by sucking the air inside the suction pad 5 in contact with the product W, and an intake hose 8 is connected to the shaft portion 6 that holds the suction pad 5. The other end of the intake hose 8 is connected to the lift base 7 via a joint so that intake control of the six suction pads can be performed collectively. Specifically, for example, intake pipes (not shown) are accommodated in the elevating base 7, and joints corresponding to the number of suction pads 5 are connected to the intake pipes. Alternatively, the elevating base 7 itself may be formed as a hollow structure as an intake pipe, and a joint may be attached to the elevating base 7. The suction pipe or the hollow lift base 7 accommodated in the lift base 7 is connected to a suction device (not shown) via a hose so that a suction force is generated in the suction pad 5.

Further, a tilting means E2 for tilting the shaft portion 6 to a predetermined tilt is attached to the shaft portion 6 that is suspended and attached to the elevating base 7 so as to be rotatable in a vertical plane.
The tilting means E2 includes an operating rod 9 connected to an intermediate portion (between the shaft support portion and the suction pad) in the length direction of the shaft portion 6, and the other end portion of the operating rod 9 connected to each shaft portion 6. The connecting rod 10 is connected together, and a cylinder (actuator) 11 that moves the connecting rod 10 up and down.
The connecting rod 10 that collectively holds the operating rod 9 has substantially the same length as the lifting base 7, and a substantially central portion in the length direction is attached to the rod 11 a of the cylinder 11 attached to the lifting base 7. The connecting rod 10 is moved up and down by the operation of the cylinder 11.

Further, when the suction pad 5 of the suction unit E1 sucks the product W accommodated and held in the transport device D, the tilting means is arranged so that the suction surface of the suction pad 5 maintains a horizontal state substantially parallel to the upper surface of the product W. E2 is attached.
Specifically, as shown in FIG. 5, when the rod 11a of the cylinder 11 is extended, the shaft portion 6 to which the suction pad 5 is attached is in a vertical state, and the cylinder 11 is moved from that position as shown in FIG. When the rod 11a is operated and the rod 11a is pulled, the connecting rod 10 is pulled upward in the vertical direction, and the operating rod 9 is also lifted by the upward movement of the connecting rod 10, whereby the shaft portion 6 to which the suction pad 5 is attached moves up and down. It is rotated leftward (clockwise direction) in the vertical plane around the shaft support with the base 7 and changed to a predetermined tilt state. Then, the product W sucked and held by the suction unit E1 is also rotated leftward (clockwise), and at the time of suction, the top portion on the vertical line is also rotated leftward so that the right oblique side is substantially the horizontal plane. The posture is changed to a parallel state.
The operation of the tilting means E2, specifically the operation of the cylinder 11, is appropriately switched according to the boxing form of the product W.

The product W sucked by the suction unit E1 is placed in the work area of the suction unit E1 by the moving mechanism E3, specifically, the boxing position P on the box transport conveyor 15 disposed substantially parallel to the transport device D. The boxes 14 are sequentially housed and arranged.
The moving mechanism E3 moves the suction unit E1 up and down in the vertical direction and horizontally moves in the width direction between the position of the transport device D and the boxing position P. It can be configured by appropriately combining.
FIG. 8 shows an example of a moving mechanism. A front arm 12 and a rear arm 13 that can be expanded and contracted are attached to the upper part of the suction unit E1, and the upper ends of the front arm 12 and the rear arm 13 are attached to a machine frame (fixed frame). It is fixed. And movement adjustment can move adsorption | suction unit E1 to the up-down direction and the front-back direction, when CPU expands / contracts the said front arm 12 and the back arm 13 based on coordinate data (boxing form of goods W).

  Next, the boxing operation by the boxing device E will be described based on the boxing examples of FIGS. The operation from the rice ball manufacturing apparatus A to the label sticking apparatus C in the production line shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 is not directly related to the present invention, so the description is omitted, and the operation after the conveyance of the product W by the conveyance apparatus D is omitted. explain.

The boxing example in FIG. 9 is a method in which the products W are packed so that triangles are alternately combined, and the accommodation efficiency of the products W can be improved.
First, as shown in FIG. 9 (a), when the products W1 in the lower row are boxed in the box 14, the lower row packs the products W so that the tops face upward.
When the product W is sequentially stored in each receiving portion 2 of the transport device D and the number of stored products W reaches the number (six) of the suction pads 5 of the suction unit E1 of the boxing device E, the suction unit E1 is received. The operation is started by the moving mechanism E3, and as shown in FIG. 5, the suction unit E1 is moved onto the receiving portion 2 in which the product W of the transport device D is accommodated, and is further lowered vertically at that position. Each suction pad 5 of the unit E1 is brought into contact with the upper surface of the product W, and the product W is sucked and held by the operation of the suction device.

  In this suction state, the top of the product W faces vertically downward, and in order to form a box like the lower row shown in FIG. 9A, it is necessary to change the posture (orientation) of the suction-held product W. is there. For this purpose, as shown in FIG. 6, the product W is sucked by the suction unit E <b> 1, and is lifted upward from the transport device D by the moving mechanism E <b> 3, and then the cylinder 11 of the tilting means E <b> 2 is actuated. The provided shaft portion 6 is inclined at a predetermined angle (for example, 60 degrees), and the posture of the product W is changed so that the top portion is directed in a substantially vertical direction. After changing the attitude of the product, the suction unit E1 is moved onto the box 14 at the boxing position P by the moving mechanism E3, and is lowered and sequentially moved from the left side to the right side of the box 14 in the transport direction of the box transport conveyor 15. Boxed. In the illustrated example, the number of storages in one row is six. However, since the number of suction pads 5 arranged in the suction unit E1 is the number of storages in one row, one row is stored in one packing operation. I can do it.

  As shown in FIG. 6 (b), the lower row of boxes is packed so that the position of the product W sucked and held is tilted by a predetermined angle by actuating the tilting means E2 so that the top portion is oriented substantially vertically (in other words, three sides The slanted side of the box is almost parallel to the ground contact surface), and is lowered to near the bottom of the box 14 in that state, and the suction of the suction pad 5 is released to release the suction of the product. W is accommodated in the box 14 with the top facing the vertical direction. By repeating this operation, the packing of the lower row (illustration example, FIG. 9 (a) 6 × 9 rows) into the box 14 is completed.

After completing the stuffing of the lower row, the upper row is stuffed this time. The upper row is filled with the product W in the substantially V-shaped space between the products W formed by stuffing the lower row of products. By accommodating the product vertically downward (the state in which the storage posture of the lower row is inverted by 180 degrees), as shown in FIG. 9B, it is possible to perform boxing with high product alignment and storage efficiency.
As shown in FIG. 7, the packaging of the upper row of products W2 only needs to pack the products W with the top portion vertically downward, so that the posture when the products W are sucked and held from the transport device D as shown in FIG. The upper row can be stuffed by moving the suction unit E1 in the vertical direction and the horizontal direction (front-rear direction) by the moving mechanism E3 without moving the tilting means E2.
As described above, when the boxes 14 have been filled with a predetermined quantity of products W in both the upper and lower rows, the packed boxes 14 are transported downstream by one box and the empty boxes are moved to the boxing position P.
With the above-described operation, it is possible to automatically perform a stuffing method in which the upper and lower stages, which are conventionally boxed manually, are alternately combined.

The above is an example in which the suction unit E1 is tilted to a predetermined angle by the tilting means E2, the posture of the product W to be sucked and held is changed, and the packing state is changed, but the tilt switching of the suction unit E1 by the tilting means E2 is as follows. It can also be used to change the position where the product W is packed and arranged. An example of its use will be described for boxing shown in FIG.
The box packing shown in FIG. 10 (a) is a method of storing the products W with a shift of about half a pitch in units of columns, and from the left side of the box 14 toward the conveyance direction (arrow direction) of the box 14 in FIG. 10 (a). The odd-numbered rows and even-numbered rows are arranged so as to be shifted by L / 2 of the dimension L of the product W.
Therefore, as shown in FIG. 10B, when packing the odd-numbered products W, the suction unit E1 is moved from the transport device D to the boxing position while holding the products W, and is lowered toward the box 14 Thus, the first row (odd row) is stored. Next, the second row (even-numbered row) is stored in the suction pad 5 that holds the product W by suction by operating the tilting means E2 after the suction unit E1 sucks and holds the product W from the transport device D (FIG. 10). It changes to the inclination state shown by a virtual line in b). Due to the inclination of the suction pad 5, the position on which the product W is placed is moved to the left by approximately L / 2 with respect to the first row.
Therefore, the boxing unit of FIG. 10A can be automatically performed by operating the tilting means E2 of the suction unit E1 holding the product W by suction according to the product storage row.
The box packing shown in FIG. 10A can be packed even if the suction unit E1 itself is moved in parallel by the amount of deviation (L / 2). However, in this case, the entire suction unit is moved, so that movement control is difficult. It is. However, since the method does not change the position of the suction unit E1 itself, it is only necessary to change the inclination of the suction pad, so that the control is simple and it is possible to easily cope with the change of the packing form.

The boxing device of the present invention is not limited to the illustrated embodiment, and can be appropriately changed without changing the gist of the present invention.
(1) In the embodiment, an example in which six suction pads are attached as suction units has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the number of suction pads is arbitrary. However, considering the efficiency of boxing, it is preferable to set the number of one row stored in the box.
(2) In the embodiment, the shape of the receiving portion of the conveying device is for a triangular rice ball or sandwich, but is not limited to this, and is determined according to the shape of the product to be accommodated. In addition, when the receiving member which comprises a receiving part can be attached or detached with respect to a rotation belt, it can respond to boxing of various goods by replacing | exchanging a receiving member according to boxed goods.
(3) In the embodiment, the arm mechanism is exemplified as the moving mechanism of the suction unit, but the present invention is not limited to this, and it may be appropriately selected from the vertical mechanism and the horizontal moving mechanism that are employed today.
(4) In the embodiment, the configuration in which the inclination change of a plurality of suction pads is moved by a single cylinder is shown, but the present invention is not limited to this, and a small cylinder is attached to each suction pad and moved individually. Also good.

D ... Conveying device E ... Boxing device E1 ... Suction unit E2 ... Tilting means E3 ... Movement mechanism W ... Product 1 ... Rotating belt 2 ... Receiving part 5 ... Suction pad 6 ... Shaft part 7 ... Elevating base 9 ... Operating rod 11 ... Cylinder (actuator) P ... Packing position

Claims (7)

In the boxing device that lifts the product upward through the suction unit, moves the lifted product to a predetermined boxing position and lowers it, releases the suction, and packs the container in the box,
The suction unit includes a suction pad for sucking and holding a product and a shaft portion to which the suction pad is attached, and at least two base portions of the shaft portion are rotated to a lifting base that is movable in a vertical direction and a horizontal direction. Tilt means comprising an actuating rod that is axially movable and connected to a substantially intermediate portion in the length direction of the shaft portion, and a connecting rod that collectively connects the other end portions of the actuating rods connected to the shaft portions. The boxing device characterized by tilting by a predetermined angle.   2. The boxing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the tilting means includes an actuator that activates the operating rod.   3. The boxing device according to claim 1, wherein when the product is sucked and held, the tilting means holds the suction surface of the suction pad in a substantially horizontal state to suck the product.   The boxing device according to claim 2 or 3, wherein a plurality of the suction units are arranged in parallel on the lifting base at a predetermined interval, and an operating rod attached to each suction unit is operated by an actuator. .   The apparatus further includes a conveying device that conveys the product, and the conveying device has a receiving portion that holds the supplied triangular product as viewed from the front in an upright state with the top facing vertically downward, outside the endlessly rotating rotation band. It is provided with a predetermined interval in the transport direction, and each time a product is supplied to the receiving portion, the rotation band moves in the transport direction, and the supply number of the product is sucked by the suction unit every predetermined number. The boxing device according to any one of claims 1 to 4.   The suction unit operates the tilting means for the product with a triangular shape in front view that is sucked and held so that the top of the product with a triangular shape in front view is vertically upward, and the bottom of the product in the triangular shape in front view has the bottom of the container in contact with the container. Move and descend to the boxing position in a state substantially parallel to the ground, release the suction and box into the container, and the inverted triangular shape that is vacant between the triangular-shaped products housed in the container 6. The boxing is performed according to claim 1, wherein the top of the triangular product in a front view is moved downward into the space, and the suction is released to perform boxing. Boxing equipment.   The said boxing position is arrange | positioned in parallel with the side part of the said conveying apparatus, The said adsorption | suction unit slides in the direction orthogonal to the accommodation row | line | column in the box arrange | positioned in the said boxing position. Boxing equipment.

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