JP6550800B2 - Buffer material manufacturing apparatus and buffer material manufacturing method - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a shock absorber manufacturing apparatus and a shock absorber manufacturing method.

  The packing box for packing a precision device such as a personal computer accommodates a shock absorbing material for alleviating the impact that the precision device receives during transportation. There are various types of cushioning materials. Among them, the corrugated cardboard sheet has an advantage that the folding of the precision device in the packing box is improved by bending the corrugated sheet according to the outer shape of the precision device.

JP-A-3-172241

  By the way, in order to manufacture the cushioning material of the above-mentioned corrugated cardboard sheet, the corrugated cardboard sheet is taken out one by one from the laminated body of a plurality of corrugated cardboard sheets set in the manufacturing apparatus of the cushioning material. Bending is performed.

  However, in a laminate of corrugated sheet, each corrugated sheet may be in close contact with each other by static electricity, and it is difficult to take out a single corrugated sheet from the laminated body.

  The disclosed technology has been made in view of the above, and a shock absorber manufacturing apparatus capable of taking out only one material from a laminated body in which a plurality of sheet-like materials for shock absorbers are stacked. And it aims at providing the manufacturing method of a shock absorbing material.

According to one aspect of the following disclosure, a base, an arm that is pivotally supported by the base and is extendable in a longitudinal direction, and the arm is configured to rotate in conjunction with the expansion and contraction operation of the arm. An adsorbing part that adsorbs the end of the material in the foremost row of a laminated body that is pivotally supported and is laminated with a plurality of sheet-like materials for cushioning material, and a rotating operation and an expansion / contraction operation of the arm A control unit that controls the material, and the control unit displaces the material along the surface of the stacked body by extending the arm in a state where the suction unit is sucking the material. In addition, the adsorption portion is rotated in conjunction with the extension of the arm to warp the end portion of the material, and after the end portion is warped, the arm is rotated to remove the arm from the laminate. be those that separate the front row of the material, said ah Has a base that is pivotally supported by the base, is extendable in the longitudinal direction starting from the base, and has one end pivotally supported by the base and the other. An end portion of the shock absorber is pivotally supported by the suction portion, thereby providing a shock absorber manufacturing apparatus that further includes a link member that rotates the suction portion in conjunction with the expansion and contraction of the arm .

  Further, according to another aspect of the disclosure, the step of adsorbing the end portion of the front row material of the laminated body in which the plurality of sheet-like materials for the shock absorbing material are laminated, and the material of the front row The tip of the material in the front row is warped by the suction portion while the suction portion sucks, and the material of the front row is displaced along the surface of the laminate by the suction portion; And displacing the front row of materials from the stack after the displacement.

  According to the following disclosure, since the material is displaced along the surface of the laminated body while warping the end of the material in the front row of the laminated body of materials, the area where the materials are in close contact with each other by static electricity is reduced. Therefore, it is possible to prevent a plurality of materials from being taken out at the same time, and it is possible to take out only one material from the laminate.

FIG. 1: is a side view which shows typically the manufacturing apparatus of the shock absorbing material used for examination. FIG. 2 is a side view (part 1) for schematically describing the operation of the shock absorber manufacturing apparatus used in the examination. FIG. 3 is a side view (part 2) for schematically explaining the operation of the shock absorber manufacturing apparatus used in the examination. FIG. 4: is a side view (the 3) for demonstrating typically operation | movement of the manufacturing apparatus of the shock absorbing material used for examination. 5 is a side view for schematically explaining the problem of the shock absorber manufacturing apparatus used in the examination. FIG. FIG. 6 is a side view schematically showing an apparatus for manufacturing a shock absorbing material according to the present embodiment. FIG. 7 is a side view schematically showing a supply unit provided in the shock absorber manufacturing apparatus according to the present embodiment. FIG. 8 is a rear view schematically showing a supply unit provided in the shock absorber manufacturing apparatus according to the present embodiment. FIG. 9 is a side view (No. 1) for schematically explaining the manufacturing method of the cushioning material according to the present embodiment. FIG. 10 is a side view (No. 2) for schematically explaining the manufacturing method of the cushioning material according to the present embodiment. FIG. 11 is a side view (No. 3) for schematically explaining the manufacturing method of the cushioning material according to the present embodiment. FIG. 12 is a side view (No. 4) for schematically explaining the manufacturing method of the cushioning material according to the present embodiment. FIG. 13 is a side view (No. 5) for schematically explaining the manufacturing method of the cushioning material according to the present embodiment. FIG. 14 is a side view (No. 6) for schematically explaining the manufacturing method of the cushioning material according to the present embodiment. FIG. 15 is a side view (No. 7) for schematically explaining the manufacturing method of the cushioning material according to the present embodiment. FIG. 16 is a side view (No. 8) for schematically explaining the manufacturing method of the cushioning material according to the present embodiment. FIG. 17 is a side view (No. 9) for schematically explaining the manufacturing method of the cushioning material according to the present embodiment.

  Prior to the description of the present embodiment, matters examined by the inventor of the present application will be described.

  FIG. 1 is a side view schematically showing an apparatus for manufacturing a shock absorbing material used in the examination.

  The manufacturing apparatus 1 manufactures a shock absorbing material by assembling a sheet-like material M such as a cardboard sheet, and includes a frame 2, a supply unit 4, and an assembly unit 5.

  Among these, the frame 2 is provided to extend from the supply unit 4 to the assembly unit 5 in the horizontal plane.

  The supply unit 4 supplies one of the plurality of materials M to the assembly unit 5 and has a slope 3 on which the stack 8 of the plurality of materials M is vertically placed.

  A stopper 13 capable of moving up and down in the direction of arrow A is provided on the stack 8, and the stack 13 is brought into contact with the second material M from the front row of the stack 8 from above, whereby the stack 8 is Getting off slope 3 is prevented.

  Further, when the stopper 13 is raised, the contact between the material M and the stopper 13 is released, and the laminated body 8 comes down the slope 3 by gravity.

  Then, by disposing the material M vertically as in this example, when the material M on the slope 3 decreases, the worker can easily add the material M from the last row of the laminate 8.

  Furthermore, the supply unit 4 has an arm 10 pivotally supported by the frame 2. The arm 10 is provided with a suction pad 11 for suctioning the material M, and the suction force of the suction pad 11 allows the arm 10 to hold the material M in the front row of the laminate 8.

  The frame 2 near the base of the arm 10 is provided with a slide member 16 that can move in the horizontal direction. As described later, the material M is transported to the assembly unit 5 by the slide member 16 and then assembled in a predetermined three-dimensional shape in the assembly unit 5.

  Next, the operation of the manufacturing apparatus 1 will be described.

  2-4 is a side view for demonstrating typically the operation | movement of the manufacturing apparatus 1 of a shock absorbing material.

  In order to manufacture the buffer material in this manufacturing apparatus 1, first, as shown in FIG. 2, the arm 10 is rotated while the material M in the front row of the laminate 8 is adsorbed by the suction pad 11.

  At this time, the second material M from the front row is held by the stopper 13.

  Then, as shown in FIG. 3, the arm 10 is further rotated to place the material M on the frame 2 and the slide member 16, and then the suction of the material M by the suction pad 11 is released.

  Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 4, the slide member 16 slides on the frame 2, whereby the material M is conveyed to the assembly unit 5. Then, the material M is assembled in the assembling unit 5 to form a predetermined three-dimensional shape, thereby completing the buffer material N for precision equipment such as a personal computer.

  According to such a shock absorber manufacturing apparatus 1, it is considered that each material M can be assembled by conveying the material M stocked on the slope 3 one by one to the assembly unit 5.

  However, it was revealed that the manufacturing apparatus 1 had the following problems.

  FIG. 5 is a side view for schematically explaining the problem.

  As shown in FIG. 5, in the laminated body 8 of the material M, the adjacent materials M may be closely_contact | adhered with an electrostatic force. In this case, when the arm 10 is rotated, the arm 10 simultaneously takes out the two sheets of the material M although the next material M is held by the stopper 13.

  In order to prevent the two pieces of material M from being taken out simultaneously as described above, it is also conceivable to strongly suppress the next material M by the stopper 13. However, in this case, the suction pad 11 must have a suction force large enough to separate two materials M that are in close contact with each other due to static electricity, leading to an increase in the size of the manufacturing apparatus 1. End up.

  Hereinafter, the present embodiment will be described in which the material M can be taken out one by one without causing an increase in the size of the manufacturing apparatus.

(This embodiment)
FIG. 6 is a side view schematically showing an apparatus for manufacturing a shock absorbing material according to the present embodiment.

  In FIG. 6, the same elements as those described in FIG. 1 are denoted by the same reference numerals as those in FIG. 1, and description thereof will be omitted below.

  The manufacturing apparatus 21 manufactures a shock absorbing material by assembling the sheet-like material M into a predetermined three-dimensional shape, and includes an assembly unit 5 and a supply unit 24 on the frame 2.

  Among these, the assembly unit 5 is a site where the material M is assembled to the buffer material as described above. Also, the supply unit 24 is a part that supplies one of the stacked bodies 8 of the material M vertically placed on the slope 3 to the assembly unit 5.

  Although a cardboard sheet is used as the material M in this example, a resin sheet or a metal sheet may be used as the material M instead.

  FIG. 7 is a side view schematically showing the supply unit 24.

  As shown in FIG. 7, the supply unit 24 includes a base 25 fixed to the frame 2, an arm 26, and a control unit 40.

  Among them, the arm 26 has a base portion 27 pivotally supported by the base 25 so as to be rotatable around a rotation axis 27 x. One end 27 a of the base portion 27 is a piston 28. Is inserted in a slidable manner. The base 27 doubles as a cylinder that pushes out the piston 28 by air pressure, and by adjusting the air pressure, the arm 26 can extend and retract in the longitudinal direction starting from the base 27.

  In addition, an air cylinder 35 is connected to the other end 27b of the base 27 for rotating the arm 26 by expansion and contraction. The arm 26 may be rotated by a motor instead of the air cylinder 35.

  Furthermore, a substantially rectangular parallelepiped suction portion 30 having a front surface 30a and a back surface 30b facing each other is provided at the tip of the piston 28. The suction unit 30 is pivotally supported by the tip of the piston 28 so as to be rotatable around a rotation shaft 30 x, and a suction pad 29 is provided on the front surface 30 a side.

  The suction pad 29 sucks the material M in the front row of the laminated body 8 by decompressing the inside of the pad, and in this example, two suction pads 29 are provided in one suction portion 30.

  The base portion 27 and the back surface 30b of the suction portion 30 are connected by a rod-shaped link member 31. One end 31a of the link member 31 is pivotally supported by the base 27 so as to be pivotable about the pivot shaft 31x. Further, the other end 31 b of the link member 31 is pivotally supported by the suction unit 30 so as to be pivotable about the pivot shaft 31 y.

  The link member 31 functions to rotate the suction unit 30 in conjunction with the expansion and contraction operation of the arm 26, and the extending direction K thereof is inclined from the extending direction D of the arm 26. By inclining in this manner, the link member 31 is less likely to be inhibited by the extension of the arm 26, and the conversion from the expansion and contraction operation of the arm 26 to the rotational movement of the suction unit 30 becomes smooth.

  In this example, the rotational surfaces of the suction unit 30 and the link member 31 are made parallel by making the rotational axes 30x, 31x, 31y parallel.

  Furthermore, a first stopper 33 and a second stopper 34 are provided on the stacked body 8.

  Among these, the first stopper 33 can be moved up and down in the direction of arrow B, and the material M and the subsequent material M are brought into contact with the second material M from the top row of the stacked body 8 from above. Regulate to get off slope 3

  On the other hand, the second stopper 34 can be moved up and down in the direction of the arrow C, and prevents the material M from descending the slope 3 by coming into contact with the material M in the front row of the stacked body 8.

  The control unit 40 is, for example, a programmable logic controller (PLC), and controls the movement of each unit of the supply unit 24. The control target of the control unit 40 includes, for example, the amount of extension and contraction of the arm 26 and the amount of rotation of the base 27 around the rotation shaft 27x. Besides, the control unit 40 also controls the vertical movement of the stoppers 33 and 34, the suction state of the material M by the suction pad 29, and the sliding amount of the slide member 16.

  FIG. 8 is a rear view schematically showing the supply unit 24.

  As shown in FIG. 8, the supply unit 24 is provided with the two arms 26 described above. The two arms 26 are provided substantially in parallel with each other, and simultaneously rotate about the base 25 as a fulcrum.

  By providing a plurality of arms 26 in this way, the material M can be stably held by each arm 26. If only one arm 26 can stably hold the material M, only one arm 26 may be provided in the supply unit 24.

  Next, a method of manufacturing a shock absorbing material using the shock absorbing material manufacturing apparatus 21 will be described.

  9-17 is a side view for demonstrating typically the manufacturing method of the shock absorbing material which concerns on this embodiment.

  In the present embodiment, the buffer material is manufactured from the material M as follows.

  First, as shown in FIG. 9, the suction pad 29 sucks the material M in the front row while holding the stack 8 by the first stopper 33 and the second stopper 34 under the control of the control unit 40. Then, after adsorption, the control unit 40 raises the second stopper 34 to retract the second stopper 34 above the stacked body 8.

  At this stage, the arm 26 stands upright in the vertical direction, and the extending direction of the arm 26 is substantially parallel to the surface 8 a of the laminate 8.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 10, the arm 26 is stretched in the longitudinal direction D under the control of the control unit 40 while maintaining the adsorbing unit 30 adsorbing the material M.

  At this time, since the movement of the suction unit 30 is restricted by the link member 31, the suction unit 30 slightly pivots about the pivot shaft 30x. As a result, at the same time as the end E of the material M adsorbed by the adsorbing portion 30 is warped, the material M is displaced upward along the surface 8 a of the laminated body 8 by an amount corresponding to the extension of the arm 26.

  This reduces the area where the front row material M and the next material M are in close contact with each other due to static electricity, so that only the front row material M can be easily separated from the laminate 8, and the two materials M can be separated. The possibility of simultaneous adsorption is reduced.

  Moreover, when the two materials M are in close contact with each other by static electricity, a strong force is required to separate the material M in the normal direction n of the material M, but the material M is moved along the surface 8a as in this example. Weak force is enough to displace it. Therefore, since it is not necessary to provide a mechanism for generating a strong force in the supply unit 24, only one of the two sheets of material M can be taken out without causing the supply unit 24 to be enlarged.

  If the end E is too much warped, the material M may be plastically deformed and the shape may not return to the original flat shape. Therefore, the maximum value of the angle θ between the end E and the surface 8a is preferably limited to a size that does not cause plastic deformation of the material M, and in this example, the maximum value is set to about 10 °.

  Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 11, the material M is pulled away from the laminated body 8 by pivoting the arm 26 about the pivot shaft 27x under the control of the control unit 40.

  As described above, in the state where the material M is pulled away from the laminate 8, it is not necessary to keep the material M warping for the purpose of reducing the contact area between the material M and the laminate 8. Therefore, in this example, the arm 26 is contracted under the control of the control unit 40 while the arm 26 is rotating, thereby rotating the suction unit 30 and eliminating the warp of the end E of the material M. Let

  Then, as shown in FIG. 12, the control unit 40 further rotates the arm 26 to place the material M on the frame 2 and the slide member 16. Thereafter, the suction of the material M by the suction pad 29 is released under the control of the control unit 40.

  Subsequently, as shown in FIG. 13, the slide member 16 is slid on the frame 2 under the control of the control unit 40, and the material M is supplied to the assembling unit 5.

  This completes the supply of the material M to the assembling unit 5.

  Thereafter, the material M is bent in the assembling unit 5 and assembled into a predetermined three-dimensional shape to complete the buffer material N for precision equipment such as a personal computer.

  And after paying out the buffer material N to the next process, preparations for manufacturing the next buffer material N are made.

  As the preparation, as shown in FIG. 14, the control unit 40 again lowers the second stopper 34 retracted above the stack 8.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 15, the first stopper 33 is raised under the control of the control unit 40 to retract the first stopper 33 above the stack 8. As a result, the contact between the first stopper 33 and the material M is released, and the laminate 8 of the material M descends from the slope 3 and starts moving toward the base 25 side.

  Then, the movement of the laminated body 8 stops when the material M in the foremost row of the laminated body 8 comes into contact with the second stopper 34.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 16, the control unit 40 lowers the first stopper 33 that has been retracted above the stacked body 8, so that the second material M from the front row of the stacked body 8 is the first material M. Press the stopper 33.

  Then, as shown in FIG. 17, the suction pad 29 is applied to the material M in the front row of the laminated body 8 by rotating the arm 26 again under the control of the control unit 40.

  Thereafter, by repeating the steps of FIGS. 9 to 17 described above, the material M is taken out one by one from the laminated body 8, and the buffer material N is manufactured from the material M.

  According to the above-described embodiment, as described with reference to FIG. 10, the material M and the next material M are electrostatically caused by warping the end E of the material M in the front row of the stacked body 8. The area in close contact is reduced, and the possibility of two materials M being taken out simultaneously is reduced.

  In addition, by deflecting the material M upward along the surface 8 a of the laminated body 8 while simultaneously curving the end E, the material M in the front row can be taken out with a weak force. Therefore, it is not necessary to provide a mechanism for generating a strong force in the supply unit 24, and the size of the manufacturing apparatus 21 does not increase.

  The following additional notes are disclosed for each embodiment described above.

(Appendix 1) Base and
An arm which is pivotally supported by the base and is extendable in the longitudinal direction;
The end of the material in the foremost row of a laminate that is pivotally supported by the arm so as to rotate in conjunction with the expansion and contraction operation of the arm and in which a plurality of sheet-like materials for cushioning material are laminated. An adsorbing part that adsorbs the part;
A control unit for controlling the pivoting operation and the telescopic operation of the arm;
The control unit
By extending the arm in a state where the suction part is sucking the material, the material is displaced along the surface of the laminated body, and the suction part is rotated in conjunction with the extension of the arm. Move the end of the material to warp,
The apparatus for manufacturing a shock absorbing material, wherein the material in the front row is separated from the laminated body by rotating the arm after bending the end portion.

(Supplementary Note 2) The arm has a base pivotally supported by the base, and can extend and contract in the longitudinal direction starting from the base.
One end portion is pivotally supported by the base portion and the other end portion is pivotally supported by the suction portion so that the suction portion is interlocked with the expansion and contraction of the arm. The shock absorber manufacturing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a link member that is rotated.

  (Additional remark 3) The said link member is a rod-shape extended so that it may incline from the extension direction of the said arm, The manufacturing apparatus of the shock absorbing material of Additional remark 2 characterized by the above-mentioned.

  (Supplementary Note 4) The manufacturing apparatus of the shock absorbing material according to Supplementary note 2 or Supplementary note 3 or 3, characterized in that the rotational surfaces of each of the suction portion and the link member are parallel.

  (Additional remark 5) The said control part rotates the said adsorption | suction part by rotating the said arm, rotating the said adsorption | suction part, and cancels the curvature of the said edge part. The manufacturing apparatus of the shock absorbing material in any one of 4.

  (Supplementary note 6) In any one of supplementary notes 1 to 5, wherein the laminate of the material further includes a slope on which the stack is vertically placed, and the material moves down the slope by gravity and moves toward the base side. The manufacturing apparatus of the buffer material of description.

  (Supplementary note 7) The manufacture of the cushioning material according to supplementary note 6, further comprising a stopper that restricts the next material from descending the slope by contacting a material next to the material in the front row. apparatus.

(Supplementary Note 8) A step of adsorbing an end portion of the front row material of the laminated body in which a plurality of sheet-like materials for the shock absorbing material are laminated,
While the front row material is adsorbed by the adsorption portion, the end portion of the front row material is warped by the adsorption portion, and the front row material is displaced along the surface of the laminate by the adsorption portion. A process of
After the displacement, the step of pulling the front row material away from the laminate,
The manufacturing method of the shock absorbing material characterized by having.

(Additional remark 9) The said adsorption | suction part is pivotally supported by the front-end | tip of the arm which can be expanded-contracted in a longitudinal direction from a base, and one end part is the link member pivotally supported by the said base. Pivot the other end,
The method of manufacturing the cushioning material according to appendix 8, wherein the step of warping the end portion of the material in the front row at the suction portion is performed by extending the arm.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1,21 ... Buffer production apparatus, 2 ... Frame, 3 ... Slope, 4, 24 ... Supply part, 5 ... Assembly part, 8 ... Laminated body, 10 ... Arm, 11, 29 ... Adsorption pad, 13 ... Stopper, 16 ... slide member, 25 ... base, 26 ... arm, 27 ... base, 27a, 31a ... one end, 27b, 31b ... the other end, 27x ... rotating shaft, 28 ... piston, 30 ... adsorption part, 30a ... front surface, 30b ... back surface, 30x, 31x, 31y ... rotating shaft, 31 ... link member, 33 ... first stopper, 34 ... second stopper, 35 ... air cylinder, 40 ... control unit, M ... material .

Claims (3)

Base and
An arm which is pivotally supported by the base and is extendable in the longitudinal direction;
The end of the material in the foremost row of a laminate that is pivotally supported by the arm so as to rotate in conjunction with the expansion and contraction operation of the arm and in which a plurality of sheet-like materials for cushioning material are laminated. An adsorbing part that adsorbs the part;
A control unit for controlling the pivoting operation and the telescopic operation of the arm;
The control unit
By extending the arm in a state where the suction part is sucking the material, the material is displaced along the surface of the laminated body, and the suction part is rotated in conjunction with the extension of the arm. Move the end of the material to warp,
After the end portion is warped, the material in the front row is separated from the laminate by rotating the arm .
The arm has a base pivotally supported by the base, and is extendable and retractable in the longitudinal direction starting from the base.
One end portion is pivotally supported by the base portion and the other end portion is pivotally supported by the suction portion so that the suction portion is interlocked with the expansion and contraction of the arm. The shock absorber manufacturing apparatus further includes a link member to be rotated . 2. The cushioning material according to claim 1, wherein the control unit causes the arm to contract while rotating the arm, thereby rotating the suction unit to eliminate warping of the end. 3. Production equipment. The cushioning material according to claim 1 or 2 , further comprising a slope on which the stacked body of the materials is placed vertically, and the material moves down the slope by gravity and moves toward the base side. manufacturing device.

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