JP6001965B2 - Package supply device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention supplies a pillow packaging body in which a plurality of tablet sheets are encapsulated, a band packaging body bundled with a band-like film at the center, a shrink packaging body entirely wrapped with a shrink film, and other packaging bodies to a box making apparatus. With respect to the packaging body supply device, in particular, not only to supply a single package body to the box making apparatus using a single articulated robot, but also to form a box making apparatus in which the packaging bodies with unstable postures are stacked. It is related with the package supply apparatus which can be supplied to.

  In general, when a boxed product (rectangular small box) is wholesaled from a manufacturer to a trader or a retail store, for example, products such as 20 boxes and 50 boxes are packed in a larger box (large box) and distributed. For boxing, a box making apparatus is used, and a system in which stacked small boxes are pushed in from the opening direction of the large box is often employed.

  In actual work sites, many box making devices are not installed according to the size of the small box and the number of boxes, and there are restrictions on the floor area of the line. Correspond to the supply device side, step the small box and push it into the large box.

  By the way, in the case of a PTP sheet encapsulating tablets or the like, for example, 2 tablets × 5 rows = 10 tablets are formed as one sheet, and one set of 10 sheets (100 tablets) is bundled and pillow-wrapped. And when a wholesaler wholesales to a pharmacy etc. from a manufacturer, a pillow packaging body is packed and distributed in a box of 5 sets (500 tablets) or 10 sets (1000 tablets).

  In most cases, the pillow packaging body whose contents are PTP sheets has the shortest height direction (PTP sheet stacking direction) and ears are formed on the short sides of the packaging body in the vertical and horizontal directions. ) A seam is formed in the central long side direction. In some cases, the ears are bent to the side where the seam is located. Regardless of whether or not the ear is bent, the pillow package is not a strict rectangular parallelepiped, and is formed of a soft material, so it does not have a uniform shape although it is similar to a rectangular parallelepiped.

  When packing the box, the method of pushing into the large box with the supply pusher in a lying state in which the upper surface of the pillow package and the lower surface of the next pillow package are stacked in a stacked manner is a general use of box making equipment. From the viewpoint of the above, it is suitable and actually adopted. At this time, the supply device is provided with an inverted bucket or the like in the middle of the line so that each pillow package body whose posture is not stable is laid sideways, and then the pillow package bodies are attached to each other by a width-shifting pusher to be stacked and placed in a lying state .

  In addition, there are usually one type of large box for packing the pillow package, and there are multiple types such as an individual box for one set of pillow package, a large box for 5 sets, and a large box for 10 sets. Boxing is performed by providing a plurality of inverted buckets and the like in the middle of the supply apparatus.

  Conventionally, the pillow packaging body in which the posture is not stabilized in this way is supplied to the box making apparatus in association with the mechanism on the supply apparatus side, and automatic boxing work has been performed.

  In addition to the pillow packaging body, for example, a band packaging body in which a plurality of PTP sheets are bundled with a film at the center and a shrink film packaging body wrapped with a shrink film are less stable in posture. However, the mechanism on the supply device side was made to correspond and supplied to the box making device, and automatic boxing work was done.

However, the conventional technique has the following problems.
If multiple inverted buckets, width-shifting pushers, etc. are provided in the middle of the supply device, it is necessary to provide a conveyor mechanism, a pusher drive unit, and a pusher standby area, respectively, and the supply device side becomes a large scale. There was a problem that it could not be adopted due to restrictions of the line and line recombination.

  Further, even when an inverted bucket is provided, for example, it is difficult to assemble 5 sets × 2 tiers in which 5 sets of pillow wrapping bodies are used as a lower layer and 5 sets of pillow wrapping bodies are placed thereon. If this is possible, there is a problem that a large-scale apparatus is required. The same applies to the band package and the shrink film package. In other words, there is a problem that it may not be possible to follow the accommodation mode of the large box.

  On the other hand, it is possible to pack the pillow packaging body etc., but there is a problem that if the pillow packaging body is laid sideways and sucked and released, it tends to fall down to one side and a stepped sideways state cannot be formed ( It is the same even if it is sucked and laid down and pushed directly into the bin). In particular, the pillow package and the like have a secondary problem that the individual thickness (height) is not constant and the sideways state is not necessarily formed suitably. In other words, there is a problem that the clearance between adjacent packages is not constant. In order to avoid lodging, it is possible to pack the pillow packaging etc. directly into the large box by standing the large box and making the opening direction vertically upward, but this time it is necessary to specialize the box making equipment Problems arise.

JP 2010-100348 A JP-A-6-227505

  The present invention has been made in view of the above, and a pillow packaging body and other packaging bodies whose postures are not stable can be transferred to a box making apparatus without causing an increase in the size of its own mechanism or specialization of the box making apparatus. Another object of the present invention is to provide a package supply apparatus that supplies a plurality of stages in a stable manner, in a state of being laid down and having a clearance suitably.

In order to achieve the above object, a package supply apparatus according to claim 1 is a package supply apparatus that includes an articulated robot and an alignment table, and aligns and supplies sequentially transferred packages when packing them. The articulated robot has a gripping body that grips the packaging body, a joint portion that orients the gripping body in a predetermined posture by a plurality of rotation shafts, and the overhead of the packaging body that is sequentially transferred from the sky of the alignment table A moving part that moves the joint part horizontally and vertically, and an alignment table that has an inclined mounting table on which the package is placed, and a position that receives the inclination of the mounting table along the extrusion direction for packing And a control means for measuring the height of each of the packages that are sequentially transferred, and a memory for storing the height of the package measured by the measuring means. Means and packaging stored by storage means Based of the height, a calculation means for calculating a thickness which is the sum of the individual heights of the package being arranged mounted on top at its side position already mounting table, and controls the multi-joint robot Grasp the package that has been sequentially transferred, and place it on the mounting table in a laid-down position with the bottom side facing the regulating plate and the side facing the mounting table in a tilted upward direction. And a robot control unit that abuts on the package body already placed on the basis of the thickness calculated by the calculation means, and sequentially superimposes it in the ascending and climbing direction when placing in alignment. .

  In other words, the invention according to claim 1 uses only one articulated robot to form a boxing posture with a suitable clearance from a plurality of packages whose posture is not stable or posture is difficult to stabilize depending on the placement direction. In addition, it can be extruded and supplied to the box making apparatus side.

  In the present application, the packaging body refers to a pillow packaging body, a band packaging body, a shrink film packaging body or other packaging body in which the posture is not stable or the posture is difficult to stabilize, or a packaging body in which the height is not constant. In the case of a pillow package, the side surface referred to in the claims is preferably a side surface without an ear. In addition, the band package or the shrink film package does not necessarily have a surface in some cases, but is not a bottom surface, a side that can be regarded as a macroscopic side surface, or a side that is recognized as a side (gawa).

  Packing in a box is not necessarily limited to packing in a rectangular parallelepiped box. For example, as long as a pillow package or the like is accommodated in a good posture, bag packing is also applicable and is not particularly limited. The gripping body is not particularly limited as long as the object to be gripped, that is, the package body can be moved and oriented with good posture stability, and includes, for example, an aspect in which it is sandwiched from the outside by a suction cup or two claws that are attracted by negative pressure. be able to.

  “Orienting” means that it is not necessary to have three axes as long as alignment is possible with two axes. Further, in the present application, to move the joint part horizontally and vertically means that the pillow package or the like that has been gripped moves so as not to interfere with others, and if there is no interference, vertical movement is involved. Even if not, it is included in moving the joint part horizontally and vertically.

  For example, the joint portion can be a parallel robot, but is not particularly limited as long as a predetermined orientation is possible by three-axis rotation of xyz or the like. Further, the horizontal and vertical movements of the joints performed by the moving unit include extending the support rod of the gripping body and the like.

  The inclination of the mounting table is not particularly limited as long as the posture of the pillow package or the like is stable including when it is pushed out. In the present invention, it can be said that stabilization is achieved by positively utilizing the instability of the packaging body in which the posture is not stable or the posture is difficult to stabilize, and the mounting table is inclined. The regulation plate can include a flat plate having a predetermined height, but is not necessarily limited to a plate shape, and may be a net-like body or a (a plurality of) rod bodies, and a tilt of a pillow packaging body or the like. It is included in the restriction plate if it accepts and stabilizes the overall posture. The restricting plate is preferably a guide having a predetermined length so as to stabilize the posture during extrusion.

  In the aspect of measuring the height in the measuring means, the height from the transfer mounting surface itself may be measured, or an increase / decrease value from the reference height may be measured as appropriate. Depending on the package, a value obtained by averaging the heights of a plurality of points on the upper surface may be used as the measurement value, and the highest point may be used as the measurement value.

  The thickness of the package means the sum of the heights of the packages already placed on the mounting table. Further, “abutting and sequentially stacking in the ascending direction” means placing such that a stable lying-down placement posture is formed with a suitable clearance. In other words, when they are mechanically overlapped as a uniform height, the heights are actually slightly higher, and when placing, the already placed package group may be pushed in, causing rebound or overturning. Also, on the contrary, the height is slightly lower, and it may fall into the package group that has already been placed, neither of which occurs, meaning a placement mode in which the placement posture is formed properly To do.

  The package supply apparatus according to claim 2 is the package supply apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the robot control unit aligns and places the package on the mounting table in a predetermined number of layers in an upward direction of inclination. The first layer is then formed, and then the second layer is formed by aligning and placing a predetermined number in the upward direction of the slope with the bottom surface facing the regulating plate and the side surface facing the mounting table. Then, the same layer formation is repeated to form a predetermined layer, and when arranging and placing, in contact with the package already placed on the layer based on the thickness calculated by the calculation means, in the direction of increasing slope It is characterized by overlapping.

  That is, the invention according to claim 2 can form a multi-layered (multi-storey) boxing posture from a plurality of packaging bodies whose postures are not stable by only one articulated robot.

  The completion of the predetermined layer formation by repeating the similar layer formation means that the stacking operation is repeatedly performed after stacking one layer, and is not limited to the formation of three or more layers, but includes the formation of two layers. Depending on the mode of use, it is possible to form a boxing posture having a three-dimensional spread of ○ rows ○ columns ○ steps.

  The package supply apparatus according to claim 3 is the package supply apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the joint portion further includes an extrusion plate body for extruding the package body, and the robot control section is a predetermined unit. It is characterized by further performing a control to go upstream in the extrusion direction after a number of alignment placements, and to pack and arrange the aligned placement packages by the extrusion plate body and to push them out downstream in the extrusion direction.

  That is, the invention according to claim 3 can stably push out and supply the box making apparatus side with the pusher function by driving the articulated robot, and can simplify the apparatus configuration.

  The extruded plate body is not necessarily limited to a plate shape, like the regulation plate, and may be a net-like body or a (multiple) rod body, and a pillow package body aligned in a boxing posture, etc. Any of the extruded plate members that are uniformly in contact with all the ears or side surfaces (end surfaces) of the plate are included.

  Extruding toward the downstream in the extrusion direction may be a mode of pushing directly into a large box waiting on the line of the box making apparatus, or a separate receiving conveyor is provided and supplied to the receiving conveyor. An aspect may be sufficient. In addition, when providing a receiving conveyor, a pillow packaging body etc. are pushed into the large box currently waiting on the line of a box making apparatus from a receiving conveyor after that.

  The package supply apparatus according to claim 4 is the package supply apparatus according to claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein the mounting table is also provided with an inclination in which the surface of the table descends from the middle in the extrusion direction to the downstream side. An auxiliary plate is provided on the inclined surface to guide the package body that is substantially parallel to the regulation plate and aligned and placed together with the regulation plate. It is characterized by performing.

  That is, the invention according to claim 4 can provide the same supply height by eliminating the level difference, and can stably supply the pillow packaging body and the like to the supply destination while maintaining the boxing posture more stably.

  Depending on the mode of use, the receiving line may be received with the height of the supply destination line slightly lower than the end of the mounting table.

  The package supply apparatus according to claim 5 is the package supply apparatus according to claim 1, 2, or 3, wherein the package supply apparatus is erected on the mounting table from the middle of the extrusion direction toward the downstream side and substantially parallel to the regulation plate. An auxiliary plate that guides the packaging body that is aligned and placed together with the restriction plate, and a drive unit that changes the inclination of the placement table from the inclined state to the horizontal state, and the aligned and placed packaging body is an extruded plate The drive unit puts the mounting table in a horizontal state after the body is pushed together by the body and pushed toward the downstream in the extrusion direction and the packaging body reaches the auxiliary plate.

  That is, in the invention according to claim 5, the supply height is the same, and the pillow packaging body or the like can be extruded and supplied to the supply destination while maintaining the boxing posture more stably.

  Although a drive part is not specifically limited, For example, the mechanism in which an alignment stand is axially rotated can be mentioned by using a shaft just under a control board as a spindle. In addition, after extrusion supply, it will return to an inclination attitude | position again and will mount the next package body.

  The package supply apparatus according to claim 6 is the package supply apparatus according to claim 1, 2, or 3, wherein the package supply apparatus is erected from the middle of the extrusion direction toward the downstream side on the mounting table and substantially parallel to the regulation plate. An auxiliary plate that guides the packaging body that is aligned and placed together with the regulation plate, and a support body that is positioned upstream from the auxiliary plate in the extrusion direction and stands up from the state where it is lying on the placement table. And a drive unit that changes the inclination of the mounting table from the inclined state to the horizontal state, and drives after the packaging body is aligned and mounted on the mounting table in order. The unit is characterized in that the mounting table is in a horizontal state.

  In other words, the invention according to claim 6 can extrude and supply the pillow package or the like to the supply destination while maintaining the boxing posture more stably with the same supply height without the step. In addition, since the horizontal posture can be taken at an early stage, the supply speed can be increased.

  The upright plate may be a flap having a support shaft on the standing extension line of the auxiliary plate. The upright plate and the auxiliary plate do not necessarily have to be close to each other, but it is preferable that smooth delivery is realized as an interval shorter than the long side of the package. After the extrusion supply, the upright plate is again returned to the lying state so that no interference occurs with the articulated robot.

  In addition to the structure of the above-mentioned claims, a holding body that receives a package body that is intermittently driven and is pushed out from the alignment table downstream of the extrusion direction and that holds the alignment posture of the package body. And the package may be further transferred to a downstream box making apparatus. Thereby, a receiving conveyor can be interposed between the box making apparatuses, and boxing can be performed with the versatility of the box making apparatus enhanced while maintaining a stable posture.

  Here, the holding body is not particularly limited, but can be constituted by two holding plates widened upstream in the reception, or may be constituted by a bucket, and if it is designed according to the specifications of the box making apparatus Good. Note that the box making apparatus can be rephrased as a boxing apparatus depending on the mode of use. Depending on the box making apparatus, a receiving conveyor may be installed as one configuration of the box making apparatus, and an aspect using this may be used.

  Moreover, it may have a transfer conveyor that sequentially transfers the package, and the articulated robot may sequentially hold the package from the transfer conveyor. Thereby, it becomes possible to supply a smooth pillow package or the like using a belt conveyor (endless conveyor). Here, examples of gripping a pillow package or the like by a gripping body include detecting the position using a sensor as appropriate. In addition, when adsorbing and gripping, the adhering reliability and posture stability are improved if the adsorbing is performed while avoiding the seam of the pillow package and other parts that impede adsorbing.

  According to the packaging body supply apparatus of the present invention, the pillow packaging body and other packaging bodies whose postures are not stable can be transferred to the box making apparatus in a plurality of stages without causing an increase in the size of the mechanism or the specialization of the box making apparatus. It is possible to provide a package supply apparatus that supplies a package in a stable manner in a state of being laid down and having a clearance suitably. More specifically, the package supply apparatus (Claim 1) of the present invention is preferable from a plurality of package bodies that are unstable in posture or difficult in posture depending on the mounting direction, using only one articulated robot. A boxing posture can be formed with a clearance, and the box can be stably pushed out and supplied to the box making apparatus side. Moreover, the packaging body supply apparatus (Claim 2) of the present invention can form a multi-layered (multi-storey) boxing posture from a plurality of packaging bodies whose postures are not stable by only one articulated robot. In addition, the package supply device of the present invention (Claim 3) can be stably pushed out and supplied to the box making device side with a pusher function by driving an articulated robot, and the device configuration is also simple. Can be Moreover, the package supply apparatus (Claim 4) of the present invention eliminates the level difference, maintains the same supply height, and can more stably extrude the pillow package and the like to the supply destination while maintaining the boxing posture. Moreover, the package supply apparatus (Claim 5) of the present invention can supply the pillow package and the like to the supply destination while maintaining the boxing posture more stably with the same supply height. Moreover, since the packaging body supply apparatus (Claim 6) of the present invention can take a horizontal posture at an earlier stage, the supply speed can be increased.

It is a general | schematic explanatory top view of the boxing line containing the package supply apparatus of this invention. It is an external appearance perspective view of an alignment stand. It is the figure which showed the flow of formation operation | movement of the boxing attitude | position of a pillow package body, and extrusion operation | movement centering on the motion of an articulated robot. It is the figure which showed the flow of formation operation | movement of the boxing attitude | position of a pillow package body, and extrusion operation | movement centering on the motion of an articulated robot. It is a block diagram of the package supply apparatus centering on drive control of an articulated robot. It is the figure which showed the other structural example and the concept of operation | movement of the alignment stand. It is the figure which showed the other structural example and the concept of operation | movement of the alignment stand.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. Here, a pillow package will be described as an example. FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view of a boxing line including a packaging body supply apparatus of the present invention. A summary of the boxing operation is also shown. FIG. 2 is an external perspective view of the alignment table. FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 are diagrams showing the flow of the boxing posture forming operation and the extrusion operation of the pillow package body centering on the movement of the articulated robot. Each shows the movement seen from two directions. In the above drawings, the scales are different for convenience of explanation, and a part of the configuration is omitted.

  The boxing line L is large and is configured by the package supply apparatus 100 and the box making apparatus 200, and the pillow package 300 is aligned, supplied, and boxed. In this embodiment, the pillow package 300 is made of an aluminum vapor-deposited plastic film having a length (long side) of about 10 cm, a width (short side) of about 5 cm, and a height of about 4 cm. In the following description, it is assumed that the eyes are pushed down in the long side direction to form a band, and ears folded back on the upper surface are formed on both sides of the short side.

  The package supply apparatus 100 will be described. The package supply apparatus 100 includes a transfer conveyor 101, an articulated robot 102, an alignment table 103, and a receiving conveyor 104.

  The transfer conveyor 101 is configured by a flat belt conveyor that transfers the pillow package 300 at substantially constant intervals. The pillow package 300 is placed on the transfer conveyor 101 with its longitudinal direction facing the transfer direction, and the posture is corrected according to the transfer by the long guide 111 and the short guide 112 on the transfer conveyor 101. The short guide 112 is bent on the receiving side so that the width with the long guide 111 is wide, so that the pillow package 300 can be smoothly introduced.

  Further, a sensor 113 is provided in the vicinity of the downstream end of the long guide 111 and the short guide 112 to detect the suction position of the pillow package 300 by the articulated robot 102 and measure the height of each pillow package 300. Like to do.

  The articulated robot 102 aligns the pillow package 300 sequentially transferred from the transfer conveyor 101 to form a boxing posture, and supplies it to the receiving conveyor 104. Specifically, the multi-joint robot 102 includes two suction cups 121, a joint part 122, and a moving part 123.

  The suction cup 121 sucks the pillow package 300 on the transfer conveyor 101 by a negative pressure. At this time, position information and height information from the sensor 113 are acquired by a drive control unit 505 described below, and the seam of the pillow package 300 is avoided and sucked from the upper surface. The bag of the pillow package 300 is made of an aluminum vapor-deposited plastic film as described above, and the height is not necessarily constant depending on the amount of air contained therein, but a suitable adsorption height is determined by the sensor 113, and two adsorption The cup 121 adsorbs at two places on the upper surface in the longitudinal direction of the pillow package 300 to enhance the holding property, and realizes stabilization of subsequent posture change.

  The joint portion 122 has xyz three-axis rotation shafts, and thereby orients the suction cup 121 attached to the joint portion 122 and the sucked pillow package 300 in a predetermined posture. In the present embodiment, the pillow package 300 is turned 90 °, and the side with no ears is raised 90 ° toward the alignment table 103 side.

  Specifically, the X axis is the transfer direction of the transfer conveyor 101, the Y axis is perpendicular to the X axis and forms a horizontal plane with the X axis (extrusion direction), the Z axis is the vertically downward direction, and the x axis If the y-axis and the z-axis are fixed on the joint portion 122 and are coincident during standby (post-adsorption posture), the orientation is determined after the pillow package 300 is adsorbed. Rotate 90 °, then rotate the x-axis by 90 ° (shake the head) so that the bottom surface of the pillow package 300 faces the X-axis side and the side surface without ears faces the alignment table 103. (See FIG. 3).

  The moving unit 123 moves the joint unit 122 horizontally and vertically over the transfer conveyor 101 and the alignment table 103. The driving method is not particularly limited, and an air cylinder or the like can be used. At the time of driving, the pillow packaging body 300 is moved up and down and moved so as not to interfere with, for example, the long guide 111 and the short guide 112 by a drive control unit 505 described later.

  Even when the pillow package 300 is placed on the alignment table 103, the pillow package 300 that has already been placed is not lowered in posture, but is sequentially lowered in the Z-axis direction and abutted or pushed in the X-axis direction. Drive to make a guess. In particular, with respect to contact or pressing, since the height of the pillow package 300 is not constant, the package supply device 100 performs drive control so that a clearance is suitably obtained during placement. FIG. 5 is a block diagram of the package supply apparatus 100 centering on drive control of the articulated robot.

  The package supply apparatus 100 includes a height measurement unit 501, a storage unit 502, a calculation unit 503, a drive control unit 505, an inclination information storage unit 504, and a robot drive unit 506 regarding drive control. In addition, the height measuring unit 501 is a sensor 113 as hardware and is a component that functionally represents the sensor 113, and the robot driving unit 506 includes a suction cup 121, a joint unit 122, and movement as hardware. The part 123 and the extrusion plate 124 are generically referred to as a structural part that functionally represents them from the viewpoint of driving.

  The height measuring unit 501 measures the height of the pillow package 300 that is sequentially transferred on the transfer conveyor 101. By this measurement, adsorption and placement can be optimized.

  The storage unit 502 stores the height of each pillow package 300 measured by the height measurement unit 501. The calculation unit 503 calculates the total height of the pillow package 300 placed on the alignment table 103 based on the package height stored in the storage unit 502. Thereby, the mounting position of the pillow package 300 to be placed next can be determined.

  The tilt information storage unit 504 stores tilt information of the tilted alignment table 103. Specifically, the height of the mounting surface in the Z-axis direction corresponding to the position in the X-axis direction of the alignment table 103 shown in FIG.

  The drive control unit 505 performs drive control of the robot drive unit 506. Specifically, adsorption, orientation, placement, and push-out control described later are performed. Regarding the suction, the height of the moving unit 123 is adjusted when the pillow package 300 is sucked from the transfer conveyor 101. At this time, the height information stored in the storage unit 502 is used. Further, regarding the orientation, the joint portion 122 and the moving portion 123 are controlled so that the pillow packaging body 300 is oriented along the inclination of the alignment table 103 with the bottom surface facing the regulation plate 132 and the side surface facing the mounting table 131. The orientation is controlled. Regarding the placement, the pillow package 300 that has been sucked is brought into contact with the group of pillow packages 300 that have already been placed based on the tilt information of the tilt information storage unit 504 and the thickness information calculated by the calculation unit 503. Clear and place so that Extrusion will be described later.

  The mounting position of the pillow package 300 is different every time, and the individual heights are not necessarily constant, and repulsion and falling are likely to occur at the time of mounting. The drive control unit 505 and the like are stable and suitable for extrusion. An alignment posture can be formed.

  The articulated robot 102 is also provided with an extrusion plate 124 on the side surface of the joint portion 122 in parallel with the two suction cups 121, and a predetermined number of pillow packages 300 formed in a boxing posture on the alignment table 103. Are controlled by the drive control unit 505 and collectively pushed out to the receiving conveyor 104. In extruding, first, the last pillow package 300 is placed on the alignment table 103, and then the suction cup 121 is folded back in the vertical direction by rotating the x-axis while raising the joint portion 122 by the moving portion 123. . Next, while rotating the z-axis by 90 °, the joint portion 122 is turned to the transfer conveyor 101 side, and the joint portion 122 is lowered to a predetermined position. Finally, the joint plate 122 is moved in the Y-axis direction so that the extrusion plate 124 is applied to each ear of the pillow package 300, and the pillow package 300 is pushed out together to the receiving conveyor 104. At this time, if the suction cup 121 seems to interfere with the alignment table 103, the x-axis may be rotated so that it is oriented opposite to the ear.

  Next, the alignment table 103 will be described. The alignment table 103 includes a mounting table 131 formed of two inclined surfaces and two restriction plates 132. FIG. 2 is an external perspective view of the alignment table 103.

  The mounting table 131 includes a mounting main surface 131m having an inclination of 5 ° and a sub surface 131s that eliminates a supply step to the receiving conveyor 104 of the pillow package 300 group. It is formed as a bent shape. One of the regulation plates 132 is erected at the descending end portion of the main surface 131m, extends in a direction perpendicular to the transfer direction of the receiving conveyor 104 (Y-axis direction), and leans the first pillow package 300 from the side. The other side is formed as a receiving guide 132m with which the bottom surface abuts, and the other is standing from the main surface 131m to the sub surface 131s in parallel with the receiving guide 132m, and holds the packing position of the pillow package 300 during extrusion. Formed as. In addition, the extrusion-side end portion of the holding guide 132s is configured to be widened as an entrance so as to realize smooth reception of the pillow package 300 group.

  Since the pillow package 300 is sequentially aligned in a posture inclined toward the receiving guide 132m due to the inclination of the main surface 131m, a stable boxing posture is formed even if it is a flexible material. In other words, a stable alignment posture can be formed by conversely using the characteristics of the pillow package 300 that easily falls in either direction due to the roundness of the long sides, the length of the ears, and the like. Further, the difference in height depending on the amount of air contained in the pillow package 300, etc., is that the placement position is adjusted by measuring the height individually to stabilize the alignment posture.

  Next, the receiving conveyor 104 will be outlined. The receiving conveyor 104 receives the pillow package 300 group in which the boxing posture is formed from the alignment table 103, intermittently drives it, and sequentially supplies it to the box making apparatus 200 in the boxing posture. The receiving conveyor 104 includes a flat belt conveyor 141, two holding guides 142 that hold a boxing posture, and a pusher 143.

  In operation, the two holding guides 142 are stopped by aligning the receiving guides 132m and the holding guides 132s, and after receiving the pillow package 300 pushed out by the pushing plate 124, the two holding guides 142 are transferred to the next position. Stop (At this time, the next holding guide 142 is aligned with the receiving guide 132m and the holding guide 132s). The conveyed pillow package 300 is pushed out by the pusher 143 and supplied to the box making apparatus 200.

  Next, the box making apparatus 200 will be outlined. The box making device is folded flat and stacked into a cylindrical shape with a predetermined mechanism, the box 201 is folded, glued by folding one side of the flap, and transporting it sequentially with the other open To do.

  At a predetermined position, the pusher 143 is driven to insert a group of pillow packages 300 in a boxing posture from the opening, and the flap on the opening side is folded and glued downstream to complete the boxing.

  Since the packaging body supply apparatus 100 has the above-described configuration, it can be stabilized by stacking the pillow packaging bodies whose postures are not stable with a single articulated robot, and measuring the height of each pillow packaging body. A boxing posture can be formed and a pusher function can be provided to smoothly and stably push out and supply the box making apparatus. Thereby, boxing using a general-purpose box making apparatus is possible.

  In addition, the above is the one-layer stacking in which the pillow packaging bodies are stacked side by side. However, since the suction cup 121 can be driven without interfering with the pillow packaging body 300 on the alignment table 103, a multilayer stacking is possible. Furthermore, a three-dimensional, that is, a boxing posture in which a plurality of stacked or stacked in the XYZ directions can be constructed. As a result, conventionally, it has been necessary to provide a plurality of inverted buckets or the like suitable for the packaging box in the middle of the supply apparatus, which has led to an increase in the size of the apparatus. In the package supply apparatus of the present invention, such a mechanism is provided. There is an advantage that various boxing postures can be formed with one articulated robot. That is, the packaging body supply device of the present invention can be packed in a single package, packed in a single row, packed in a single row, packed in multiple rows, or packed in multiple rows, and can flexibly handle the size of a large box.

  In addition, when forming a three-dimensional boxing posture, the area of the extrusion plate 124 needs to be increased. At this time, if interference occurs when the pillow package 300 is loaded, for example, an air cylinder is attached to the joint portion 122, and only the suction cup 121 portion is extended and pulled back to avoid the interference.

  The package supply apparatus 100 is not limited to the above configuration. In the above example, the suction cup 121 is vertically downward and the pusher plate 124 is on the side surface of the articulated robot 102 in the initial posture. However, the present invention is not limited to this. In addition, the extrusion plate 124 may be attached to the bottom surface of the adsorption robot. Further, these can be attached to the side of the multi-joint robot 102 so as to face backward. These can be further expanded in scope if they can be appropriately recombined via an attachment or the like. When recombination is possible by an attachment or the like, the articulated robot 102 may be configured with three or more axes. The pusher plate 124 can also be attached to the articulated robot 102 at an angle along the inclination of the main surface 131m.

Moreover, the aspect which operates the alignment stand 103 is also employable. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing another configuration example of the alignment table. The alignment table 103 ′ includes a mounting table 131 ′ that is a flat plate and two regulation plates 132 ′.
(132m ′: receiving guide, 132s ′: holding guide) and an actuator 133. Further, the mounting table 131 ′ has a rotating shaft 134 directly under the receiving guide 132m, and an actuator 133 is provided on the back surface in the vicinity of the holding guide 132s ′ so that the length of the support is variable. Due to the extension of the actuator 133, the surface of the mounting table 131 ′ can be made oblique or horizontal.

  By adopting this structure, when the pillow packaging body 300 reaches the receiving guide 132 ′ (or when it is pushed to some extent thereafter) in the pushing operation by the push plate 124, the mounting table 131 ′ is placed in the horizontal state by the actuator 133. As a result, it is possible to feed smoothly to the receiving conveyor 104 without any step.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 7, a flap 135 that can stand up can be provided on the mounting table 131 '. After the last pillow package 300 is placed by the multi-joint robot 102 (when wrapping around when it is pushed out), the flap 135 is raised to support the pillow package 300 horizontally, and the placing table 131 ′ is made horizontal by the actuator 133. To do. With this mechanism, the horizontal state can be achieved more quickly than in the example of FIG. 5, so that the supply efficiency to the receiving conveyor 104 can be increased.

  In addition, for example, after the boxing posture is formed, the holding stability may be increased by bringing the holding guide 132 s into contact with the pillow package 300. At this time, the mounting base 131 is provided with two holes extending in the X-axis direction, the holding guide 132s is formed as two support rods, and is slid in the X-axis direction from the bottom of the hole so as to be a pillow package. 300 may be held.

  Further, the receiving conveyor 104 may be slightly lowered from the alignment table 103 to improve the receiving performance. Similarly, the height of the conveyor of the box making apparatus 200 may be slightly lower than the receiving conveyor 104. Further, the receiving conveyor 104 can be configured as a bucket instead of the two holding guides 142. Instead of the suction cup 121, it may be an aspect in which it is gripped by an arm or the like, held, held, or held. In any case, it goes without saying that they are driven so as not to interfere with other components.

  In the present invention, regarding the pillow package, the inclusion can be used without being limited to the PTP sheet. For example, it may be a pillow package in which flat cylindrical bathing agents are individually packaged, or may be introduced into a line for packing confectionery bags such as snack confectionery. Moreover, it can utilize also about a PTP sheet other band body, and a shrink film packaging body. Even in the case of a package having a constant height, the height is measured, so that an appropriate alignment posture for extrusion can be formed in consideration of the clearance.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 Package supply apparatus 101 Transfer conveyor 102 Articulated robot 103 Alignment stand 104 Receiving conveyor 111 Long guide 112 Short guide 113 Sensor 121 Suction cup 122 Joint part 123 Moving part 124 Extrusion board 131 Placement table (131m: main surface, 131s: sub surface)
132 restricting plate (132m: receiving guide, 132s: holding guide)
133 Actuator 134 Rotating shaft 135 Flap 141 Flat belt conveyor 142 Holding guide 143 Pusher 200 Box making device 201 Packing box 300 Pillow package 501 Height measurement unit 502 Storage unit 503 Calculation unit 504 Inclination information storage unit 505 Drive control unit 506 Robot Drive part

Claims (6)

A package supply apparatus that includes an articulated robot and an alignment table, and supplies a package that is sequentially transferred when the package is aligned during boxing,
The articulated robot has a gripping body that grips the packaging body, a joint portion that orients the gripping body in a predetermined posture by a plurality of rotation axes, and a joint portion that extends from above the packaging body that is sequentially transferred to the sky above the alignment table. And a moving part for moving horizontally and vertically,
The alignment table has a mounting table with an inclination for mounting the packaging body, and a regulation plate erected along the extrusion direction for boxing at a position to receive the inclination of the mounting table,
Furthermore,
Measuring means for measuring each individual height of the package that is sequentially transferred;
Storage means for storing the height of the package measured by the measurement means;
Based on the height of the stored package in the storage means, and calculating means for calculating a thickness which is the sum of the individual heights of the package being arranged mounted on top at its side position already table ,
The articulated robot is controlled to grip the package that is being transferred sequentially, and a predetermined number of layers are stacked in a tilted up-and-down direction in a laid-down posture with the bottom face toward the regulating plate and the side face toward the mounting table. A robot control unit that is arranged and placed on a table, and is placed in contact with a package that has already been placed on the basis of the thickness calculated by the calculating unit and sequentially stacked in an upward direction of inclination.
A package supply device comprising:
  The robot control unit sequentially stacks a predetermined number of packages in the upward direction of the inclination and places them on the mounting table to form a first layer, and then faces the bottom surface to the regulating plate side and the side surface to the mounting table side. Then, a predetermined number of layers are sequentially stacked in the upward direction of the slope and aligned and placed on the first layer to form the second layer, and the same layer formation is repeated to form the predetermined layer. The packaging body supply apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the packaging body is brought into contact with a packaging body already placed in the layer based on the thickness, and sequentially stacked in an upward direction of inclination. The joint part further includes an extruded plate for extruding the package,
The robot control unit further performs control to go to the upstream in the extruding direction after a predetermined number of the aligned placements, and to collectively feed the aligned placed packaging bodies by the extrusion plate body toward the downstream in the extruding direction. The packaging body supply apparatus according to claim 1, wherein: The mounting table is also provided with an inclination in which the surface of the table is lowered toward the downstream side from the middle of the extrusion direction. On the inclined surface, the auxiliary body guides a package body that is substantially parallel to the restriction plate and aligned with the restriction plate. A board,
The package supply device according to claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein the package mounted in alignment is supplied without being out of shape without being displaced in height. An auxiliary plate that is erected from the middle of the extrusion direction toward the downstream side on the mounting table, guides the package body that is substantially parallel to the restriction plate and aligned and placed together with the restriction plate;
A drive unit that changes the inclination of the mounting table from an inclined state to a horizontal state;
Provided,
The drive unit causes the mounting table to be in a horizontal state after the aligned stacked packaging bodies are pushed together by the extrusion plate body and pushed toward the downstream in the extrusion direction and the packaging body reaches the auxiliary plate. The package supply apparatus according to 1 or 3. An auxiliary plate that is erected from the middle of the extrusion direction toward the downstream side on the mounting table, guides the package body that is substantially parallel to the restriction plate and aligned and placed together with the restriction plate;
An upright plate that is positioned upstream of the auxiliary plate in the extrusion direction and that stands upright from the state of lying on the mounting table and laterally supports the package that is aligned and placed, and leads the auxiliary plate to the auxiliary plate;
A drive unit that changes the inclination of the mounting table from an inclined state to a horizontal state;
Provided,
The packaging body supply apparatus according to claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein the driving unit puts the mounting table in a horizontal state after a predetermined number of the packaging bodies are sequentially stacked and placed on the mounting table.

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