JP6386833B2 - Packaging alignment transport device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a package aligning / conveying apparatus that can stably perform two-stage aligning and placing of a package without load concentration on a specific configuration.

  Conventionally, when a package containing contents, for example, a product contained in a small box is shipped from a factory, the boxes are packed into large boxes, for example, in units of 20 boxes. From the viewpoint of the subsequent workability, the large box is preferably not the flat shape but has the same length in three directions as much as possible. For this reason, a shape in which the small boxes are stacked in the smallest direction (hereinafter referred to as the thickness direction as appropriate) among the lengths in the three directions of the small boxes (a lump stacked in the thickness direction) is prepared in advance. A method of collectively transferring to a transfer belt for inserting a large box by a pusher is widely adopted.

  In order to form this lump, a suction robot equipped with a suction cup is used. That is, the robot picks up the small box from the small box transfer line, rotates it so that the side faces down, and also rotates the direction of the longitudinal direction, and sequentially places them on the alignment table to form a lump (FIG. 5). ).

Then, a two-stage stack using a robot, that is, a driving mode in which small boxes are similarly stacked on the small box lump formed on the alignment table to form a two-stage lump is generally performed.
Further, this robot may be used as a pusher when pushing and transferring a small box lump from an alignment table to a transfer belt for inserting a large box.

  Conventionally, with such a configuration, efficient two-stage alignment placement or extrusion transfer has been performed while downsizing the device configuration.

However, the conventional technique has the following problems.
Complex work or multiple types of work can be performed by using a suction robot, but there is a problem that stable two-stage alignment cannot be achieved due to the complexity and multiple types of work. there were.

  For example, when making a lump for transfer on an alignment table, after sucking the package, it may be rotated 90 ° to bring the side down and the longitudinal direction may also be rotated 90 ° separately (actual In addition, the package is also raised, horizontally moved, and lowered (placed).

  Therefore, in the case where the package is a band package product, for example, a film in which five PTP sheets are filmed at the center, there is a problem that the sheet is shaken by high-speed rotation and jumps out of the band. In particular, this tendency increases when the package is long in one direction. Also in the case of the pillow packaged product, there is a problem that the pillow packaged product is offset from the suction cup during rotation.

  In particular, when not only placing on the alignment table but also extruding and transferring a lump, it is necessary to shorten each tact of the suction placement process so far, that is, to drive at a high speed in order to increase the extrusion time. The possibility of occurrence of loosening and popping out becomes greater. Further, in the case of a pillow package product, since the exterior is indeterminate, there is a problem that if the product is placed on the alignment table with the side face down and then released immediately, it falls down. In particular, in the case of two-stage stacking, there is a problem that it is necessary to shorten the tact time of each work as a whole, leading to further instability.

JP 2014-000991 A JP2013-249175A

  This invention is made | formed in view of the above, Comprising: It aims at providing the versatile packaging body alignment conveyance apparatus in which stable two-step alignment mounting is possible.

  The packaging body aligning / conveying device according to claim 1 relates to a packaging body in which contents are banded, packed in a bag, or packed in a box, and transporting means for transporting the packaging body downstream in an aligned state, And a transporting means for placing and transporting the packaging body with the longitudinal direction of the packaging body being placed in the transporting direction and positioned in the transporting direction. A mounting table laterally mounted on the transfer means, an alignment table disposed on the transfer direction side of the mounting table and having two levels of upper and lower surfaces spaced apart by a predetermined interval, and on the transfer means The package is sucked from above, rotated about 90 degrees around the transfer direction and moved to the rotating side, and placed on the mounting table with the side face down and in contact with each other in a predetermined number from the back to the front in the moving direction. Adsorption drive means to be placed as a set and a predetermined number on the mounting table A first pusher for extruding the set of packaged bodies in the transfer direction and placing the set on the alignment table; and after placing the set of package bodies on the upper surface after being pushed by the first pusher, the alignment table is raised. After the next set of packaging bodies is placed on the lower stage surface, the raising and lowering movement means for moving the predetermined distance in the transport direction and the movement of the alignment table, the packaging bodies placed on the upper stage surface and the lower stage surface, respectively. And a second pusher for simultaneously extruding the set in the transfer direction and placing the set on the conveying means in a two-stage stacked state.

  That is, the invention according to claim 1 is provided with a mounting table and an aligning table to disperse the transfer and two-stage stacking operation process, thereby simplifying the operation of the suction driving means, and thereby stable two-stage aligning and mounting. Therefore, it is possible to provide a versatile package aligning and conveying apparatus that can perform the above-described operation.

  The package includes a shrink film package. Although a surface or a plane is not necessarily formed depending on the form of the package, a side surface is not a bottom surface but a side that can be regarded as a macroscopic side surface, or a side that is recognized as a side (gawa). The fact that the transfer means is located upstream of the transfer means does not necessarily mean the positional relationship between the two devices, but means that the package placed on the transfer means is subsequently placed on the transfer means. In addition, there may be a conveyor for transferring the package in the same direction as the transport direction upstream of the transfer means, and the lump of the package placed in alignment is inserted into a large box or the like downstream of the transfer means. There may be insertion means to do. The suction drive means can be moved up and down as appropriate. Rotating approximately 90 degrees with the transfer direction as an axis and moving to the rotating side, regardless of the order of rotation and movement, and also in a mode of moving while rotating (rotating while moving) Be good. The term “abut each other” means that the packages are in contact with each other. Needless to say, the lifting / lowering means performs control (returns) to return the alignment table to the initial position after the transfer by the second pusher.

The package aligning and conveying apparatus according to claim 2 is the package aligning and conveying apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the farthest placement position by the suction moving means in the placing table and / or the transport direction of the aligning table. It is characterized in that a posture holding plate is provided on the side and / or on the pushing position on the conveying means on which the package is placed as a two-stage stack.

  That is, the invention according to claim 2 enhances the placement stability or extrusion stability of the package.

The said conveyance direction side of an alignment stand means the lower side of a conveyance direction . A posture holding plate may also be provided on the upper side. The posture holding plate can be exemplified as a flat plate having a predetermined height, but is not necessarily limited to a plate shape, and may be a net or a plurality of rods. Depending on the package, it may be configured to be actively tilted so as to lean on the posture holding plate.

  The packaging body aligning and conveying apparatus according to claim 3 is the packaging body aligning and conveying apparatus according to claim 1, and when the packaging body aligning and conveying apparatus is an irregularly shaped packaging body, the mounting table, the upper stage surface, and the lower stage surface are arranged in the conveying direction. Inclined to the side, the farthest placement position by the suction movement means on the placement table, the transfer direction side of the alignment table, and the push-out position on the transport means on which the packages are placed as two-stage stacking A posture holding plate is provided.

  That is, the invention according to claim 3 enhances the placement stability or extrusion stability of the package.

  The entire surface of the mounting table, the upper surface, and the lower surface need not be inclined, and the extrusion direction has a second inclined surface in the extrusion direction that matches the height of the mating surface. It may be acceptable. The inclination is not particularly limited as long as the posture of the package is stable including the time of extrusion, and an example in which the inclination is inclined by 5 ° from the horizontal can be mentioned.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to stably perform the two-stage aligned mounting that stacks the packaging bodies in a state of lying down sideways without incurring an increase in size or specialization of the apparatus and without concentrating the load on a specific configuration. Therefore, it is possible to provide a versatile package aligning and conveying apparatus.

It is a top view explaining the outline | summary of the boxing line containing the package body alignment conveyance apparatus of this invention. In addition, about the 2nd pusher, although the lower pusher part is hidden in the upper pusher part in planar view, it has shifted and displayed for convenience. It is an external appearance perspective view of a mounting base, an alignment base, a 1st pusher, and a 2nd pusher. It is the transition diagram shown centering on formation, transfer, and stacking of the extrusion posture of a package. (A) shows a state in which the packaging body is placed on the mounting table from the second transfer conveyor by the adsorption robot to form an extrusion posture, and (b) shows the first pusher on the upper stage surface of the alignment table from the mounting table. (C) shows a state where the first pusher pushes the package from the mounting table to the lower stage surface of the alignment table. Each figure on the right side is an AA cross section shown on the left side. It is the transition diagram shown centering on formation, transfer, and stacking of the extrusion posture of a package. (A) shows a state in which the packaging body in which the alignment table is stacked in two stages is moved in the conveyance direction, and (b) shows a state in which the second pusher pushes the upper and lower packaging bodies P from the alignment table to the conveyor. ing. It is explanatory drawing which showed the mode of rotation of the package body in the case of the conventional transfer. Each figure is drawn with a different scale for convenience of explanation and omitting a part of the configuration.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. Here, a line for aligning and transporting the pillow package as a two-stage stack of five bags for insertion into a large box will be described. FIG. 1 is a plan view for explaining an outline of a boxing line including a packaging body aligning and conveying apparatus of the present invention. FIG. 2 is an external perspective view of the mounting table, the alignment table, the first pusher, and the second pusher. 3 and 4 are transition diagrams mainly showing formation, transfer, and stacking of the extrusion posture of the package.

  The boxing line is large and is configured by the package alignment transport device 100 and the insertion device 200, and transfers, stacks, and boxes the pillow packages P. In the present embodiment, the pillow package P has a size of about 10 cm in length (long side), about 5 cm in width (short side), and about 4 cm in height. The exterior is an aluminum vapor-deposited plastic film, and a band is formed by pushing down a seam of about 7 mm in the long side direction at the center of the upper surface, and ears folded on the upper surface side are formed on both sides of the short side. To do. Hereinafter, the pillow package P is simply referred to as a package P as appropriate.

  First, the package alignment transport apparatus 100 will be described. The package aligning and conveying apparatus 100 includes a first transfer conveyor 101, a second transfer conveyor 102, a suction robot 103, a mounting table 104, a first pusher 105, an alignment table 106, and a second pusher 107. The conveyor 108 is a main component.

  The first transfer conveyor 101 is a flat belt conveyor, and the packages P are placed at a certain interval, the longitudinal direction is placed in the transfer direction, and transferred to the downstream, that is, the second transfer conveyor 102 side at a constant speed. The first transfer conveyor 101 and the transfer conveyor 108 are in a parallel positional relationship, and the transfer direction and the transfer direction are the same direction.

  An orientation guide 111 is provided at the end of the first transfer conveyor 101. The orientation guide 111 is a set of plates with a curvature, and the direction of the orientation guide 111 is changed by 90 ° while the package P is delivered to the second transport conveyor 102 as it is transported.

  The second transfer conveyor 102 is orthogonal to the first transfer conveyor 101, receives the package P, and transfers it downstream at regular intervals at substantially equal intervals. The second transfer conveyor 102 is also a flat belt conveyor. In addition, since the transfer distance of the 2nd transfer conveyor 102 does not make the structure of a boxing line large, a short thing is employ | adopted suitably. In other words, the first transfer conveyor 101 and the transfer conveyor 108 are designed so as not to be unnecessarily spaced.

  The suction robot 103 includes a suction cup 131, a joint part 132, a position detection sensor 133, and a robot drive control part 134, and the package P that is sequentially transferred on the second transfer conveyor 102 is used as a sensor. Are detected, picked up, and laid down on the mounting table 104.

  The suction cup 131 sucks the pillow package P that has arrived near the downstream end on the second transfer conveyor 102 by negative pressure. At this time, the position detection sensor 133 provided downstream of the second transfer conveyor 102 acquires the positional information of the packaging body P that is sequentially transferred, and based on this, the suction cup 131 properly adsorbs the packaging body P from the upper surface. To do.

  The joint portion 132 can move up, down, and move horizontally in the X-axis direction, and has a rotation axis in the Y-axis direction. Thereby, the adsorbed package P can be lifted and rotated 90 ° around the rotation axis while moving to the X-axis plus side, and the bottom surface of the package P can be directed to the X-axis. After horizontally moving to a predetermined position, the package P is lowered and placed on the placing table 104 to release the suction. Thereafter, the joint part 132 returns to the origin. A series of operations from adsorption to release to origin return is controlled by the robot drive control unit 134. Since the 90 ° rotation is involved, the packaging body P is placed on the mounting table 104 in a lying state with the side surface side without ears facing down.

  The suction robot 103 repeats this operation, and the package P forms a lump that is in contact with each other while lying down (the robot drive control unit 134 considers the placement position of the previous package P, The lump is formed while controlling the part 132 and shifting the mounting position of the next package P toward the front). Hereinafter, the shape of the lump is appropriately referred to as an extrusion posture.

  The mounting table 104 is placed on the downstream end of the second transfer conveyor 102, and sequentially places the packaging bodies P laid down by the suction robot 103. Further, the mounting surface 141 is a surface inclined 5 ° downward on the X axis plus side.

  The mounting table 104 further includes a holding guide 142 erected vertically to the mounting surface 141 at the back (farthest mounting position) when viewed from the suction robot 103. The bottom surface of the first package P comes into contact with the holding guide 142 and leans to a slightly lying posture. After that, the extruded postures are placed one after another, and a slightly sloping extrusion posture is formed. Although the packaging body P tends to fall down to either one in nature, in the packaging body alignment conveyance apparatus 100, the packaging body P is inclined to one side and the extrusion posture is stabilized. In other words, a stable extrusion posture is formed by conversely using the characteristics of the pillow package P that easily falls in either direction due to the roundness of the long side, the length of the ears, and the like.

  The first pusher 105 collectively pushes the package P in the extrusion posture formed on the mounting table 104 to the alignment table 106.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the alignment table 106 is an alignment table having two upper and lower placement surfaces (upper surface 161 and lower surface 162), and a package pushed out from the first pusher 105 on each surface. Receive the body P as it is. Further, the alignment table 106 is provided with a table drive unit 165 that performs ascending, descending, and horizontal movement in the X-axis direction, and has a table drive control unit 166 that performs drive control thereof.

  Both mounting surfaces will be described. The upper step surface 161 and the lower step surface 162 have the same shape, and are provided with mounting main surfaces 161m and 162m and auxiliary surfaces 161s and 162s, respectively, and are held at positions corresponding to the holding guide 142 on the X axis plus side. A plate 163 and a holding plate 164 are provided. The placement main surface 161m (162m) is inclined 5 ° downward on the X-axis plus side, and the holding plate 163 (164) is erected vertically from the placement main surface, and the placement surface 141, the holding guide 142, The relationship is the same. Note that the end of the auxiliary surface 161s (162s) in the Y-axis plus direction is horizontal, and the height of the end of the auxiliary surface 162s is the same as the height of the conveyor 108. Thereby, smooth transfer to the transfer conveyor 108 becomes possible.

  At the time of driving, under the control of the table drive control unit 166, the table drive unit 165 first aligns the mounting main surface 161m of the upper stage surface 161 and the mounting surface 141 of the mounting table 104 so that the heights are aligned. The stand 106 is put on standby. When the extrusion posture is formed and the packaging body P is collectively transferred from the mounting table 104 to the upper stage surface 161 by the first pusher 105, the stage drive control unit 166 raises the alignment stage 106 and places the lower main surface 162 on the mounting main surface. The table drive unit 165 is controlled so that the heights of the 162 m and the mounting surface 141 are aligned. When the next pushing posture is formed and the transfer to the lower stage surface 162 of the package P is again performed, the table drive control unit 166 horizontally moves the alignment table 106 to the X axis plus side by a predetermined distance.

  In response to the movement of the alignment table 106, the second pusher 107 collectively pushes the lump of the package P placed on each of the upper stage surface 161 and the lower stage surface 162 onto the transport conveyor 108. The second pusher 107 is a bifurcated pusher that is separated into an upper part and a lower part of the upper pusher 171 and the lower pusher 172 (see FIG. 2), and pushes the package P so as not to interfere with the alignment table 106.

  Next, the conveyance conveyor 108 will be outlined. The conveyor 108 receives the package P in the extrusion posture formed in the upper and lower two stages from the alignment table 106 and intermittently drives the package P to the insertion device 200. The conveyor 108 is composed of a flat belt conveyor 181 and two holding guides 182.

  On the alignment table 106, the packaging bodies P in the extrusion posture are separated from each other in the vertical direction, so that the packaging body P on the upper stage surface 161 falls so that the packaging body P on the upper stage surface 161 falls immediately before the completion of extrusion by the second pusher 107. Get on the body P. Therefore, the shape of the two-stage stacking is likely to be unstable, and the left and right holding guides 182 prevent the collapse of the load.

  Next, the insertion device 200 will be outlined. The insertion device 200 includes a flat belt conveyor 201 that translates in synchronization with the transfer conveyor 108 and transfers a large box by intermittent driving, and a large pusher 202. The large box is unfolded and placed upstream of the flat belt conveyor 201, and is sequentially transferred with one of the flaps (the Y-axis minus direction flap) being opened. It is assumed that the width of the large box is larger than the interval between the left and right holding guides 182 and is placed at the same interval as the interval between the adjacent holding guides 182.

  The large pusher 202 inserts the two-stage stacked packages P that are sequentially transported on the transport conveyor 108 into the large box. In addition, the back support plate 211 is provided in the flat belt conveyor 201 so that a large box may not slip | deviate.

  Although a detailed description is omitted, the large box flap is glued downstream of the insertion device 200, and the boxing operation is completed.

  Since the package alignment transport apparatus 100 has the above-described configuration, the package configuration can be stably placed in two stages as a result of not complicating the apparatus configuration and concentrating the load on the specific configuration. It can also be said that the operation tact of each configuration can be made comparable from the viewpoint of driving speed. Further, even if each function is distributed, the apparatus configuration is not increased, and there is no contrary to the recent demand for a compact apparatus configuration. Moreover, not only two-stage stacking of rectangular parallelepiped small boxes with high mounting stability, but also a pillow package with a non-standard exterior can be stably mounted without applying centrifugal force in the longitudinal direction. . It becomes possible to stably handle a band package of a long pharmaceutical tablet such as a so-called weekly PTP sheet.

  In addition, this invention is not limited to said aspect. For example, when the package P in the extrusion posture is transferred to the upper surface 161, the table drive control unit 166 controls the table drive unit 165 to move in the X axis plus direction without raising the alignment table 106, This may be placed on the conveyor 108 by the second pusher 107. That is, it can be boxed in a single stack. At this time, the large bin for one stage is placed on the flat belt conveyor 201 and transferred. Thereby, the boxing corresponding to various large boxes is attained, and the packaging body alignment conveyance apparatus 100 can have versatility.

  Similarly, the robot drive control unit 134 does not rotate the sucked package P, but sucks, lifts, moves horizontally in the Y-axis plus direction to the sky above the conveyor 108, descends, cancels suction, and returns (return). The movement of the suction robot 103 may be controlled so that the packaging bodies P are directly placed on the transport conveyor 108 one by one. That is, it can be individually boxed. At this time, it is carried on the flat belt conveyor 201. Thereby, the packaging body alignment conveyance apparatus 100 can be given further versatility.

Moreover, if it is not a pillow package product or a band package product, the upper stage surface 161 and the lower stage surface 162 of the mounting table 104 and the alignment table 106 may be horizontal without being inclined.
Even in the case of a pillow packaged product or a band packaged product, the upper stage surface 161 and the lower stage surface 162 of the mounting table 104 and the alignment table 106 are horizontal, and the holding guide 142 and the holding plates 163 and 164 are inclined obliquely. The extrusion posture may be formed by leaning (tilting).

  Further, depending on the mode of use, the mounting table 104 is inclined downward in the X-axis plus direction until the extrusion posture is formed, and a guide is separately provided from the front side, that is, the last placed packaging body P side after the extrusion posture is formed. May be erected to support the package P in an extruded posture from both sides. In this case, the mounting surface 141 is returned to the horizontal position, the upper stage surface 161 and the lower stage surface 162 of the alignment table 106 are also configured horizontally, and the package P is pushed out in the posture as it is. In addition, in order to support both the packaging bodies P also on the alignment stand 106, a guide or a holding plate is provided on the opposite side corresponding to the holding plate 163 and the holding plate 164, respectively.

  Further, the alignment table 106 may be slightly lowered from the mounting table 104 to improve the receiving performance. Similarly, the transfer conveyor 108 may be positioned slightly lower than the alignment table 106. The conveyor 108 can be configured as a bucket instead of the two holding guides 182. Instead of the suction cup 131, it is possible to adopt a mode in which it is gripped by an arm or the like, held, held, or held. Needless to say, the driving is performed so as not to interfere with other configurations.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to accommodate one row, one row and one row, one row and two steps, and flexibly respond to the size of the large box and the standard. In addition, it is possible to stack three or more stages as appropriate with the alignment table as an upper stage surface, a middle stage surface, a lower stage surface, or the like. In addition, it can also be set as continuous drive instead of intermittent drive.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 Packing body alignment conveyance apparatus 101 1st transfer conveyor 102 2nd transfer conveyor 103 Suction robot 104 Mounting stand 105 1st pusher 106 Alignment stand 107 2nd pusher 108 Transport conveyor 111 Orientation guide 131 Suction cup 132 Joint part 133 Position detection sensor 134 Robot drive controller 141 Placement surface 142 Holding guide 161 Upper step surface 161m Placement main surface 161s Auxiliary surface 162 Lower step surface 162m Placement main surface 163 Holding plate 164 Holding plate 165 Stand drive unit 166 Stand drive control unit 171 Upper pusher 172 Lower stage pusher 181 Flat belt conveyor 182 Holding guide 200 Insertion device 201 Flat belt conveyor 202 Large pusher 211 Rear support plate P Pillow package (packaging body)

Claims (3)

For packages whose contents are banded, bagged or boxed,
Transport means for transporting the packaging body downstream in an aligned state; and
A transfer means located upstream from the transfer means, wherein the direction perpendicular to the transfer direction is the transfer direction, and the longitudinal direction of the package is placed and transferred in the transfer direction; and
A package aligning and conveying apparatus comprising:
A mounting table next to the transfer means;
An alignment table disposed on the transfer direction side of the mounting table and having two layers of upper and lower surfaces spaced apart by a predetermined distance;
The package on the transfer means is adsorbed from above, rotated approximately 90 degrees around the transfer direction and moved to the rotating side, and the side is faced down on the mounting table in order from the back in the moving direction. A suction drive means that is placed in contact with each other to form a set;
A first pusher for extruding a set of packages placed on a mounting table in the transfer direction and mounting the set on the alignment table;
After receiving the extrusion by the first pusher and placing the set of packaging bodies on the upper stage surface, the alignment table is raised and the next set of packaging bodies is placed on the lower stage surface and then moved by a predetermined distance in the transport direction. Elevating and lowering moving means,
A second pusher that receives the movement of the alignment table, and simultaneously pushes the set of packagings respectively placed on the upper stage surface and the lower stage surface in the transfer direction so as to be placed on the conveying means in a two-stage stack;
A package aligning and conveying apparatus comprising: At the farthest placement position by the suction moving means in the placement table and / or the transfer direction side of the alignment table and / or the push-out position on the conveyance means on which the package is placed as a double stack The package aligning and conveying apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a holding plate. If the package is irregular,
The mounting table, upper stage surface, and lower stage surface are inclined downward in the transport direction side,
A posture holding plate is provided at the farthest placement position by the suction moving means on the placement table, the transfer direction side of the alignment table, and the push-out position on the transport means on which the package is placed as a two-stage stack. The packaging body alignment conveyance apparatus of Claim 1 characterized by these.

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