JP6193022B2 - Packaged product supply equipment - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a packaged product supply apparatus, and more particularly, to a packaged product supply apparatus that does not generate overburdens caused by workpiece unalignment time.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a boxing device that translates an article and a box and packs the article using a pusher is known. Further, a boxing device that pushes a plurality of articles into one box is also known (Japanese Patent Application No. 2012-125697). In this case, the articles are respectively moved from the transfer belt to the alignment table, aligned at one end, and pushed into the intermittently transferred box once by the pusher.

  In such a boxing device, when the pusher is driven, the articles cannot be placed in alignment, so that the articles are transferred out of the work range during this time (unalignment time). There was a point. In order to avoid this, conventionally, the transfer speed is slowed down so that articles are aligned and placed without omission and smooth boxing has been realized.

  However, the conventional technique has the following problems. For example, in the case of aligning 10 articles, the leak will occur at most once after 10 reciprocations of the workpiece, so the frequency is low and the transfer speed of the articles is adjusted accordingly. There was a problem that productivity was remarkably deteriorated when it was delayed. That is, in general, the work operating speed and the article supply speed (conveying speed of the transfer belt) are slower than the work operating speed (reciprocating speed). In the boxing mode including the step of making it, there is a problem that it is inefficient to uniformly reduce the supply speed.

Japanese Patent Application No. 2012-125697

  The present invention has been made in view of the above, and improves the working efficiency in a packaging body accommodation line in which the packaging products are once aligned and then accommodated in the packaging body, and the transported packaging products are not missed. An object is to provide a packaged product supply apparatus.

The packaged product supply apparatus according to claim 1 is configured to align a predetermined number of packaged products, which are placed and transported on a packaged product supply belt, onto a stationary alignment table by a workpiece, and are intermittently transported. come into the box through the bag at a package is sequential filling Rubeku work further pressed extruded packaged article group, a packaged article feeder to place the wrapping material storing lines sequentially placing the packaged article Place the packaged goods transport belt that transports in a row downstream and the packaged goods transport belt immediately downstream, accept the packaged goods from the packaged goods transport belt, and deliver the packaged goods at a lower speed than the packaged goods transport belt To transport the packaged product supply belt to be transferred and the packaged product transfer belt to buffer the outflow of the packaged product out of the work area due to the unaligned time of the workpiece on the alignment table generated when the workpiece is pushed out. Multi-row packaged products being transferred in Characterized by providing a sorting means for re-location, a.

  In other words, the invention according to claim 1 realizes maintenance or improvement of productivity by substantially maintaining the operation speed of the workpiece while reducing the conveyance speed by increasing the number of packages to be packaged.

  The packaged product means an object to be accommodated in the package. For example, a packaged product such as an intermediate package or a pillow package in which a plurality of PTP sheets such as tablets are bundled is also included in the packaged product. The package means a box or bag that contains a packaged product. Since the package accommodates the packaged product by the pusher, the package generally waits with at least the side where the pusher is greeted open.

  The workpiece is not particularly limited as long as a predetermined number of workpieces are aligned from the package supply belt to the alignment table. For example, the workpiece is an articulated robot that sucks up by suction and aligns and aligns the workpieces. In addition, it may be moved and aligned by being gripped by an arm or the like. In general, it is preferable to use a workpiece that can be picked up from within a predetermined horizontal plane instead of moving the packaged product from a fixed position of the packaged product supply belt. Note that, depending on the mode of use, they may be stacked and aligned in multiple stages.

  The arrangement in multiple rows may be two rows or three rows, and is not particularly limited. Moreover, an endless belt is preferable for the packaged article transfer belt and the packaged article supply belt. The packaged product is supplied from a hopper, for example. At this time, the hopper discharge ports can be moved to place in multiple rows. However, since the discharge speed is usually high, operating such devices tends to cause problems such as discharge failure and placement failure. Therefore, in the present invention, it can be said that the supply mode from the hopper or the like is the same as the conventional one, and the accommodation speed (boxing speed) is maintained or improved with a simple configuration.

  The packaged product supply device according to claim 2 is the packaged product supply device according to claim 1, wherein the sorting means is a movable guide disposed beside or above the packaged product transfer belt. It is characterized by pressing and rearranging in multiple rows.

  That is, the invention according to claim 2 realizes multi-row with a simple configuration. The guide is a flap attached to the sky, and can include an aspect in which the packaged goods are distributed right and left. Moreover, you may push it so that it may be multi-rowed by the pusher provided beside the belt. A plurality of guides may be provided depending on the mode of use.

  The packaged product supply device according to claim 3 is provided in the packaged product supply device according to claim 1 or 2 at the left and right of each row of the packaged products rearranged in multiple rows. An attitude regulating means for adjusting the placing attitude of the packaged product on the product supply belt is provided.

  That is, the invention according to claim 3 eliminates the placement inclination of the packaged product with respect to the transfer direction, so that the control load of the workpiece can be reduced and high-speed alignment can be realized.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the outflow to the downstream area of the to-be-packaged goods originating in the unalignable time accompanying the accommodation after alignment can be eliminated, and the to-be-packaged goods supply apparatus which improves work efficiency can be provided.

It is a schematic plan view of a packaging line. It is an external appearance perspective view of an alignment stand. It is the figure which showed the flow of the formation operation | movement of the boxing attitude | position of a pillow package, and the extrusion operation | movement centering on the motion of an articulated robot (work). It is the figure which showed the flow of the formation operation | movement of the boxing attitude | position of a pillow package, and the extrusion operation | movement centering on the motion of an articulated robot (work). It is an operation | movement transition diagram of the other structural example of the distribution guide.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. Here, an example will be described in which the packaged product is a pillow package, which is supplied in two rows and boxed every five. Moreover, the example which has arrange | positioned the packaged goods supply apparatus of this invention upstream as a part of boxing line (packaging body accommodation line) is demonstrated.

  FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view of a boxing line. The figure also shows an outline of the boxing operation. FIG. 2 is an external perspective view of the alignment table. FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 are diagrams showing the flow of the forming operation and the extruding operation of the boxing posture of the pillow package centering on the movement of the articulated robot (work). 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 101A, a supply conveyor 101B, an articulated robot 102, an alignment table 103, and a receiving conveyor 104, and delivers the pillow package 300 to the box making apparatus 200 after alignment.

  The transfer conveyor 101A is configured by a flat belt conveyor that transfers the pillow package 300 at substantially constant intervals Va at a constant speed Va. The pillow package 300 is placed in a row from a hopper (not shown) on the transfer conveyor 101A with the longitudinal direction thereof in the transfer direction.

  The mounted pillow package 300 is divided into left and right rows by the sorting guide 400 in the middle. Specifically, the distribution guide 400 is disposed above the transfer conveyor 101A and has a center angle of about 45 ° with the plate body 402 aligned with the pillow package 300 about the axis 401 oriented in the vertical direction. The shaft rotates. As a result, every other pillow package 300 is distributed to the right and left, forming a left column and a right column. The rotation is performed by an actuator (not shown).

  After sorting, the orientation of each pillow package 300 is not necessarily constant. Therefore, on the downstream side of the distribution guide 400, the left row restriction guide 111 and the right row restriction guide 112 are provided above the transfer conveyor 101A in the left row and the right row, respectively. Both the left row regulation guide 111 and the right row regulation guide 112 are widened on the receiving side, and are finally constituted by two plates having an interval of about the width of the pillow package 300. Thereby, the mounting posture is corrected so that the longitudinal direction of the pillow package 300 is the transport direction. As shown in the drawing, the end (downstream side) of the guide reaches the upstream of the supply conveyor 101B. Thereby, the orientation shift | offset | difference which may arise when delivering the pillow package 300 from the transfer conveyor 101A to the supply conveyor 101B is suppressed.

  The supply conveyor 101B is constituted by a flat belt conveyor, and takes the pillow packaging body 300 in two rows and arranged in an orientation posture from the transfer conveyor 101A and transfers it to the downstream as it is. Here, the conveyance speed Vb of the supply conveyor 101B is slower than the speed Va of the transfer conveyor 101A.

  When the pillow package 300 is delivered to a conveyor having a low conveyance speed while being placed in a single row, a stay based on the speed difference occurs between the conveyor and the conveyor, and the pillow package 300 becomes a ball. In order to avoid this, in the package supply apparatus 100, two rows are used to separate the pillow package 300 in each row so that no ball hitting occurs. In other words, by providing a speed difference, the transfer speed of the pillow packaging body 300 of the supply conveyor 101B is slowed (with a speed at which no overloading occurs), and the number of placements per unit area is increased by reducing the distance between the two rows. , Improve processing efficiency.

  As will be described next, the multi-joint robot 102 can move in a plane and pick up the pillow package 300, so that it can cope with multiple rows. In other words, the ability required when aligning the multi-joint robot 102 is also used during pick-up to cope with an increase in the number of placements per unit area.

  The supply conveyor 101B is provided with a sensor 113 to detect the suction position of the pillow package 300 by the articulated robot 102. In the figure, the number of sensors 113 is one, but detection is performed so that the left column and the right column can also be distinguished.

  Based on the information from the sensor 113, the multi-joint robot 102 determines which of the pillow packages 300 that are sequentially transported downstream on the supply conveyor 101B is to be picked up and picks up this. Once aligned, a boxing posture is formed and supplied to the receiving conveyor 104. 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 supply conveyor 101B by negative pressure. At this time, position information from the sensor 113 is acquired by a control unit (not shown), it is determined which column of the pillow package 300 is to be picked up, the joint of the pillow package 300 is avoided, and suction is performed from the upper surface. In addition, by using the two suction cups 121, it is adsorbed at two locations in the longitudinal direction of the pillow package 300 to improve the holding property, and the subsequent posture change is stabilized.

  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 an arbitrary 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 supply conveyor 101B, 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 supply conveyor 101B and the alignment table 103. FIG. 1 also shows an area P that can be picked up by the pillow package 300 of the articulated robot 102. 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 so as not to interfere with, for example, the left row regulation guide 111 and the right row regulation guide 112 by a control unit (not shown). Further, when the pillow package 300 is placed on the alignment table 103, the pillow package 300 that has already been placed is lowered in the Z-axis direction and pressed in the X-axis direction without breaking the posture of the pillow package 300. Drive to do. At this time, although the mounting position of the pillow package 300 is different each time, this is performed by a control unit (not shown) controlling the moving unit 123 and the joint unit 122. If necessary, a sensor may be provided near the alignment table 103 to detect the position.

  The multi-joint 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 five pillow packages 300 formed in a boxing posture on the alignment table 103. Are collectively pushed 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 supply conveyor 101B 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.

  At the time of the extrusion operation by the push-out plate 124, the articulated robot 102 cannot take the pillow package 300 on the supply conveyor 101B, and the pillow package 300 moves to the downstream side. In the packaging body supply apparatus 100, the pillow packaging body 300 is arranged in two rows so that the pillow packaging body 300 does not flow out of the area P where the pickup is possible, and the transport speed Vb of the supply conveyor 101B is made lower than Va. In other words, the package supply apparatus 100 takes the pillow package 300 in two rows in consideration of the alignment impossible time (extrusion operation time), the area P, and Va and Vb. The number of columns may be fixed and the area of Vb and area P may be adjusted.

  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 two surfaces of the mounting table 131 are composed of 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 shape folded into a mountain fold. 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.

  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 and flattened, and the packing box 201 is expanded into a cylindrical shape by a predetermined mechanism, and the flap on one side is folded and glued. 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.

  The package supply apparatus 100 is configured as described above, and solves the possibility of missing due to the non-alignment time that occurs when the pillow package is aligned and pushed out by reducing the number of rows and reducing the production efficiency (packing Efficiency). In particular, the diversity of operation of articulated robots is used not only during alignment but also during pick-up to maximize the potential of articulated robots.

  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. FIG. 5 is an operation transition diagram showing another configuration example of the distribution guide. The sorting guides 500 are arranged on both sides of the transfer conveyor 101A, and push out the pillow packaging bodies 300 every three to the opposite side. As shown in the figure, the pillow package 300 is divided into three rows by the sorting guide 500. In addition, the regulation guide is provided downstream and the orientation posture is adjusted as described above.

  It goes without saying that the present invention can be applied even if it is not a pillow package. PTP sheets and other band bodies and shrink film packaging bodies can also be used. Of course, it may be a rectangular parallelepiped article. Va, Vb, and the number of columns can be appropriately designed according to the operating range, operating speed, etc. of the work (articulated robot).

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 Packaging body supply apparatus 101A Transfer conveyor 101B Supply conveyor 102 Articulated robot 103 Alignment stand 104 Receiving conveyor 111 Left row regulation guide 112 Right row regulation guide 113 Sensor 121 Adsorption cup 122 Joint portion 123 Movement portion 124 Extrusion plate 131 Placement table 131 m Main surface 131 s Sub surface 132 Regulating plate 132 m Guide 132 s Holding guide 141 Flat belt conveyor 142 Holding guide 143 Pusher 200 Box making device 201 Packing box 300 Pillow package 400 Sorting guide 401 Shaft 402 Plate 500 Sorting guide L Packing Line P Articulated robot pick-up area

Claims (3)

The packaged article coming is transported placed on the packaged product supply belt, once the stationary alignment guide on by a predetermined number of aligned by the workpiece, sequential filling into the packaging body is a box or bag coming intermittently transported It is a packaged product supply device that is arranged in a packaging body containing line, in which a work pushes and pushes a group of packaged products as much as possible,
A packaged article transfer belt for sequentially placing the packaged articles and transferring them in a single line downstream;
A packaged article supply belt that is arranged in the immediate downstream of the packaged article transfer belt, accepts the packaged article from the packaged article transfer belt, and transfers the packaged article at a lower speed than the packaged article transfer belt;
In order to buffer the outflow of the packaged product out of the work area due to the unalignment time of the workpiece onto the alignment table that occurs when the workpiece is pushed out, there is a large amount of the packaged product being transferred on the packaged product transfer belt. Sorting means to re-arrange the rows,
A packaged product supply apparatus characterized by comprising:   2. The packaged article supply apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the sorting means pushes the packaged articles by a movable guide arranged beside or above the packaged article transport belt and rearranges them in multiple rows.   2. A posture regulating means is provided on the left and right of each row of the packaged products rearranged in multiple rows, and adjusts the placement posture of the packaged products on the packaged product supply belt. Or the packaged goods supply apparatus of 2.

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