JP6624900B2 - Automatic filling equipment for filling cans - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an automatic filling device for filling a can container.

  Patent Document 1 discloses a filling device for filling a can into a container. This filling device fills the inner bag with the filling material in a state where the inner bag is loaded in the can, and closes the mouth of the inner bag to form a filled can. Then, the filled can container and the empty can container are laid down so as to be in a substantially horizontal state, their openings are opposed to each other, and they are butted up. In this state, the empty can container is raised substantially vertically so as to be positioned below. Further, the inner bag filled with the filling material is moved into the empty can container with the mouth portion of the inner bag facing down, and then the two can containers are separated.

JP-A-9-95393

In the above filling device, the filling material is filled into the inner bag in a state where the inner bag is loaded in the container, and it is assumed that loading the inner bag in the container is a manual operation. Automatic bag loading has not been realized. This requires manpower to load the inner bag.
Further, in the above filling apparatus, when filling the inner bag with the filler, no special consideration is given to increasing the filling rate of the filler into the can container. In this case, the number of cans to be used increases as compared with the amount of the filling material, and an operator must perform an operation of matching the opening of the inner bag with the filling nozzle opening.

When there are many manual steps in which an operator intervenes as described above, it is difficult to perform a filling operation in an inaccessible atmosphere, such as a filling operation in a bad environment, a filling operation of a poison, or the like.
Further, in the above-mentioned filling device, no special consideration is given to automatically sealing the inner bag in an airtight manner, and storing the filled material in a state in which it is securely shut off from the outside for a long period of time. In this case, if the inner bag is sealed with a simple tying such as a string when filling with a filling material that emits a bad smell or a packing material that may cause a fire, the odor may leak from the inner bag and thus the can container, or a fire may occur. There was a risk of causing this.

  The present invention has been made in view of such problems, and an object of the present invention is to automatically load an inner bag into a can container, automatically fill the inner bag efficiently, and further fill the inner bag. The present invention provides an automatic filling device for filling a can into a container, which is capable of reliably keeping the container from the outside and storing it for a long period of time.

  In order to achieve the above object, an apparatus for automatically filling a can into a container according to the present invention includes a can transport conveyor for transporting a can, and an inner bag magazine in which a plurality of folded inner bags are stored one by one, A bag supply arm that supports the inner bag in a hanging position by swinging while grasping the mouth side of the inner bag of the inner bag magazine and pulling out one by one, a lifter that raises the can container and positions the inner bag inside the can container. And a supply device having a jacket inserted into the mouth of the inner bag, supplying a filling gas from the jacket to bring the inner bag into close contact with the inner surface of the can, and then filling the filling. And a seal device having a seal bar for sandwiching and sealing the upper end portion of the inner bag after filling with the filling material.

Preferably, a lid removing device that removes the canopy from the can container conveyed by the can conveying conveyor, a lid conveying conveyor that conveys the canopy, and a lid attaching device that attaches the canopy to the can container after the inner bag is sealed by the sealing device And further comprising:
Preferably, before attaching the canopy to the can container with the lid attaching device, the apparatus further comprises a pushing device for pressing the upper end portion of the inner bag and pushing it into the can container.

Preferably, the bag supply device has a gas pre-supply unit for pre-supplying the filling gas from the filling nozzle before the can container is lifted by the lifter.
Preferably, the jacket forms a nozzle port into which the filling nozzle can be inserted, and the sealing device includes a sealing bar that keeps the jacket airtight by pressing the filling nozzle against the nozzle port.

  Preferably, the jacket has a supply port and an intake port communicating with the outside, and the sealing device has a deaeration means for evacuating the inside of the inner bag through the intake port before sealing the inner bag.

  According to the apparatus for automatically filling a can into a container according to the present invention, the inner bag is automatically loaded into the can, the filling is automatically filled into the inner bag efficiently, and the filling is reliably shut off from the outside. Since it can be stored for a long period of time, work in a bad environment and work for filling toxic substances can be performed unattended.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS It is the schematic of the equipment containing the automatic filling apparatus of the filling material to the can container which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is a side view which shows the lid removal apparatus which comprises the automatic filling apparatus of FIG. It is a side view which shows the lid conveyance conveyor of FIG. It is a side view which shows the bag supply apparatus of FIG. (A) a side view showing the sealing device of FIG. 1, (b) a top view showing the sealing cylinder and the sealing bar when the filling nozzle is inserted in FIG. 5 (a), and (c) a filling nozzle in FIG. 5 (a). It is a top view which shows a sealing cylinder and a sealing bar at the time of extraction. FIG. 6 is a top view showing the opening bar of FIG. 5. FIG. 6 is a plan view showing a jacket and a sealing bar of FIG. 5. FIG. 6 is a plan view showing the pressing bar of FIG. 5. It is a top view which shows the seal bar of FIG. It is a side view which shows the pushing device of FIG.

Hereinafter, an automatic filling device 1 for filling a can into a container according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
As shown in FIG. 1, a facility including the automatic filling device 1 is provided with a pool conveyor 4, and the pool conveyor 4 has a number of drums 6 that can be filled with, for example, a half-day or one-day amount of the filler. It is prepared in advance. The drum can 6 is an example of a can container, which is an open can having a removable canopy 6a, and is lifted by a lifter 8 and placed on the pool conveyor 4 by an operator.

  The automatic filling device 1 includes a can transport conveyor 10, a lid transport conveyor 12, a lid removing device 14 (see FIG. 2), a bag supply device 16, a sealing device 18, a filler supply device 20, and a pushing device 22 for the inner bag 2 ( FIG. 10) and the like. The can transport conveyor 10 forms a can transport path for transporting the opened drums 6 from which the drums 6 and the canopy 6a have been removed. The lid transport conveyor 12 forms a lid transport path different from the can transport path for transporting the canopy 6a.

The lid removing device 14 is provided near the start area of the lid transport path. A large number of drums 6 placed on the pool conveyor 4 are transported to the lid removing device 14 one by one by the can transport conveyor 10. The can transport conveyor 10 is, for example, a roller conveyor, and the lid transport conveyor 12 is, for example, a hanger conveyor.
As shown in FIG. 2, the lid removing device 14 includes a vertically extending suction rod 24, an elevating cylinder 26 that moves the suction rod 24 up and down, and an advance / retreat cylinder 28 that horizontally slides the suction rod 24 and the elevating cylinder 26. It has.

  A suction cup 24a is provided at a lower end of the suction rod 24. The lifting cylinder 26 lowers the suction rod 24 onto the canopy 6a, sucks the canopy 6a with the suction cup 24a, raises the suction rod 24, lifts the canopy 6a, and removes it from the drum can 6. The reciprocating cylinder 28 moves the suction rod 24 that has absorbed the canopy 6a onto the table 30 that has come off the can transport conveyor 10, and the suction by the suction cup 24a is released so that the canopy 6a is once placed on the table 30. You.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the lid transport conveyor 12 includes a horizontally extending gripping arm 32, a driving unit 34 that drives the gripping arm 32 to open and close, and a lifting cylinder 36 that raises and lowers the gripping arm 32 and the driving unit 34. And a transport roller 38 for moving the main body of the lid transport conveyor 12 along a lid transport path which is a hanging rail. The lifting cylinder 36 lowers the grip arm 32, and the drive unit 34 grips and grips the canopy 6 a on the table 30 by closing the grip arm 32. Then, the canopy 6a is transported on the lid transport path in a state where it is gripped by the grip arm 32 and suspended. Note that the lid conveyor 12 may include the same suction rod as the lid removing device 14. Further, the lid transport conveyor 12 may be a roller conveyor or the like.

  On the other hand, the drum 6 from which the canopy 6a has been removed is transported by the can transport conveyor 10, and the inner bag 2 is automatically loaded into the drum 6 by the bag supply device 16. The inner bag 2 is manufactured from a flexible synthetic resin film. This film has a thickness of, for example, about 100 μm to 200 μm, and acquires the functions of the inner bag 2 (corrosion resistance, odor prevention, moisture resistance, oxygen permeability, etc.) required according to the type of the filler. To this end, the resin is formed by laminating polyethylene, polypropylene, polyester and polyamide resins. On the inner surface of the film, a heat-bonding resin capable of forming a bag by at least heat fusion is used.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the bag supply device 16 includes an inner bag magazine 40, a pair of bag supply arms 42, and a lifter 44 (see FIG. 1) that moves up and down the drum. The inner bag magazine 40 is formed by stacking a number of (for example, about 50) racks 40a one above the other. In each rack 40a, the folded inner bag 2 is stored horizontally one by one with its mouth 2a facing the can transport conveyor 10 side. Further, concave notches are formed on both sides of each rack 40a. Each notch exposes a part of both sides near the mouth 2a of the inner bag 2 from the rack 40a.

  Each bag supply arm 42 is formed of a substantially U-shaped plate when viewed from the transport direction X of the can transport conveyor 10. A rotary shaft 46 extends in the transport direction X between the inner bag magazine 40 and the can transport conveyor 10, and one end of each bag supply arm 42 is connected to the rotary shaft 46. At the other end of each bag supply arm 42, a side support chuck 42a that grips both sides near the mouth 2a of the inner bag 2 is formed. When the rotation shaft 46 is rotated by the operation of the bag supply device 16, the bag supply arm 42 swings from the inner bag magazine 40 side to the can transport conveyor 10 side.

  At this time, the side support chucks 42a respectively pass through both cutout portions of one rack 40a of the inner bag magazine 40, and grab and pull out both side portions of the inner bag 2 exposed from both cutout portions on the mouth 2a side. . When the swing of the bag supply arm 42 stops, the inner bag 2 is supported by the side support chuck 42a in a hanging posture with the mouth 2a facing upward. When the bag supplying device 16 is operated, the drum 6 transported by the can transport conveyor 10 is temporarily stopped in front of the bag supplying device 16, and the hanging inner bag 2 is positioned and set directly above the drum 6. .

  Next, the supply of the filling material from the supply device 20 to the inner bag 2 is performed by the sealing device 18. When one inner bag 2 is pulled out from the inner bag magazine 40, the inner bag magazine 40 is raised by the height of one rack 40a by a step motor (not shown) or the like. Thus, after the loading of the inner bag 2 into one drum can 6 and, consequently, the filling of the filling material, the loading of the inner bag 2 into the next drum can 6 can be performed automatically. For example, if a predetermined amount of the inner bag 2 is set in the inner bag magazine 40 in advance, it is possible to automate bag supply for a long period of time.

As shown in FIG. 5 (a) from (c), the sealing device 18 includes a jacket 52, made respectively a pair, upper support chuck 48, tensile chuck 50, the opening bars 90, tightly sealed bar 54, the push bar 56, And a seal bar 58, and respective reciprocating cylinders for driving the chucks 48 and 50 and the bars 90, 54, 56 and 58, respectively. Each of the chucks 48 and 50 and the bars 54, 56 and 58 are formed of a pair of bar members facing each other. The chucks 48 and 50 and the bars 54, 56 and 58 operate in a direction in which the respective rod-shaped members are pressed against each other with the respective reciprocating cylinders sandwiching the upper end of the inner bag 2, and the opening bar 90 is connected to the opening of the inner bag 2. Acting in the direction of expanding the portion 2a, it supports the inner bag 2 at different height levels.

  The sealing device 18 is arranged on the inner bag 2 supported in a hanging posture. The entire seal device 18 is configured to be able to move up and down. After the loading of the inner bag 2 into the drum 6 by the bag supply device 16 is completed, the entire sealing device 18 is first lowered. Next, the upper end support chuck 48 grips the upper end of the inner bag 2, and instead, the side support chuck 42 a of the bag supply arm 42 is retracted, and the inner bag 2 is switched. Is raised.

When the raising of the sealing device 18 is completed, the bag supply arm 42 swings and retracts to the inner bag magazine 40 side. Next, the inner bag 2 is changed from the upper end support chuck 48 to the tension chuck 50. The tension chuck 50 grips the upper end of the inner bag 2.
As shown in FIG. 6, in the opening bar 90, a plurality of (three in FIG. 6) suction pads 60 are arranged on the gripping surfaces 90a of the bar members facing each other.

Each rod-shaped member of the tension chuck 50 is attached to the main body of the sealing device 18 via a spring (not shown). Then, with the suction pad 60 sucking the upper end of the inner bag 2, the rod-shaped members are separated from each other, and the mouth 2a of the folded inner bag 2 is opened.
The spring reduces the tension of the inner bag 2 by the tension chuck 50 when the opening bars 90 are separated from each other, so that the opening 2a of the inner bag 2 can be easily opened.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 7, the jacket 52 is lowered toward the opened mouth 2 a and inserted into the inner bag 2. The jacket 52 is a tube having sharp projections 66 on both left and right sides. As shown in FIG. 5, the jacket 52 is formed with an air supply port 64b and an air intake port 64c communicating with the outside. The inner bag 2 with the jacket 52 inserted therein is pressed against the inner bag by the sealing bar 54 from above and held between the inner bag 2 and the convex portion 66. Thereafter, the tension chuck 50 opens the inner bag 2.

  Next, the filling nozzle 62 of the supply device 20 is inserted into the inner bag 2 through the nozzle port 64a of the jacket 52. Next, the sealing bar 96A is advanced by the sealing cylinder 95A, and the filling nozzle 62 is gripped by the sealing bar 96A. Thereby, the filling nozzle 62 is kept airtight with the jacket 52, and the sealing property between the filling nozzle 62 and the jacket 52 is ensured. Next, a small amount of gas such as air or nitrogen is fed from the air supply port 64b of the jacket 52 to perform gas preliminary supply (gas preliminary supply means). By performing this gas pre-supply, the inner bag 2 slightly expands while maintaining the folded state, and the inner bag 2 in the hanging posture is reliably positioned just above the center of the drum 6 in a substantially vertical posture.

  Next, the drum can 6 is lifted by the lifter 44 (see FIG. 1) provided on the can transport conveyor 10, and most of the inner bag 2 except for the upper end portion is positioned inside the drum can 6. Next, the inner bag 2 is further inflated by further feeding the filling gas from the air supply port 64b of the jacket 52 to perform the main gas supply, and the inner bag 2 is brought into close contact with the inner surface of the drum 6. Next, the filler supply device 20 is operated to supply the filler to the inner bag 2.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the supply device 20 is disposed above the sealing device 18 and includes, in order from the top, a hopper 68, a dust collecting device 70, a cutting device 72, a measuring device 74, a filling nozzle 62, and the like. The hopper 68 is provided with an inlet 68a into which the filler is charged, an inlet 68b for water, an inlet 68c for gas such as nitrogen, and the like. The cutout device 72 is, for example, a screw conveyor or the like, which cuts out a fixed amount of the filler in the hopper 68 and conveys the same to the weighing device 74. The dust collecting device 70 is connected to the air inlet 64c of the jacket 52, and collects dust when evacuating the inner bag 2. The collected dust is separated from the filter provided in the dust collecting device 70 by, for example, vibration, passes through the cutting device 72, and is filled in the inner bag 2 again.

  Here, the filling material for the inner bag 2 is, for example, incinerated ash, pellets, powder, or the like, or a solid or liquid having a corrosive action such as moisture or an odor. The inner bag 2 suppresses the corrosion of the drum 6 by the filler by avoiding direct contact of the filler with the inner surface of the drum 6, and enables stable storage of the filler and the drum 6 for a long period of time. . Further, the inner bag 2 after the filling is filled with heat sealing with a seal bar 58 described later to block the filling from the outside air, thereby spreading odor from the filling, decay of the filling and filling. Suppresses oxidation and the like.

  The weighing device 74 includes a weighing device (not shown) such as a load cell and a gate valve 74a. The metering device 74 is connected to the filling nozzle 62 via a gate valve 74a. When the weight of the filling material measured by the measuring device reaches the specified amount, the weighing device 74 stops the cutout device 72, and the cutout of the filling material from the hopper 68 is completed. Next, by opening the gate valve 74a, the filling material passes through the filling nozzle 62 and is charged into the inner bag 2, and thereafter the gate valve 74a is closed.

  When the first filling of the inner bag 2 with the filler is completed, the lifter 44 slightly raises the drum. This prevents the inner bag 2 from being broken by the weight of the filling material filled in the inner bag 2. Next, a series of steps from the above-described cutting of the filling material to the opening of the gate valve 74a is repeated several times, and the predetermined amount of the filling material is divided into several portions and charged into the inner bag 2, and the inner bag 2 is filled. Complete filling of objects. After the filling is completed, the pressure contact of the filling nozzle 62 by the sealing bar 96A is released, and the filling nozzle 62 can be pulled out.

  Next, the sealing device 18 and the drum 6 are lowered to a predetermined position. At this time, the filling nozzle 62 is pulled out from the nozzle port 64a of the jacket 52, and the sealing bar 96B is pressed against the inner bag. Keep the seal of 2. Next, the inside of the inner bag 2 is degassed by sucking air or a gas such as nitrogen from the suction port 64b of the jacket 52, and an extra space occupied by anything other than the filling in the inner bag 2 is eliminated (deaeration means). ).

Next, as shown in FIG. 8, in the sealing device 18, after the pressing bar 56 presses and holds the upper end of the inner bag 2 located below the lower end of the jacket 52, the sealing bar 96 </ b> B is retracted, and the jacket 52 is retracted. Is pulled out of the inner bag 2.
Next, as shown in FIG. 9, the seal bar 58 holds the upper end of the inner bag 2 above the pressing bar 56. The seal bar 58 is a so-called heat sealer, and the upper end of the inner bag 2 is heat-sealed by the seal bar 58 by heat sealing, and the opening 2a of the inner bag 2 is closed. The length in the longitudinal direction of the seal bar 58 is predetermined so as to be at least smaller than the inner diameter of the drum 6 so that the seal bar 58 can be used without contact with the drum 6 without contact. Next, the seal bar 58 and the pressing bar 56 are retracted, and the drum 6 is lowered by the lifter 44 to the can conveyor 10. Then, the drum 6 is transported to the pushing device 22 by the can transport conveyor 10.

  As shown in FIG. 10, the pushing device 22 includes a disc-shaped pressing plate 76, a motor 78 for rotating the pressing plate 76, and an elevating cylinder 80 for moving the pressing plate 76 and the motor 78 up and down. The pressing plate 76 descends to the inside of the upper end of the drum 6 while rotating by the operation of the motor 78 and the lifting cylinder 80. At this time, the upper end of the inner bag 2 protruding from the upper part of the drum can 6 is pushed into the drum 6 and accommodated therein. Next, the drum 6 is transported by the can transport conveyor 10 to a region where the lid transport conveyor 12 is directly above.

  The lid transport conveyor 12 lowers the gripping arm 32 by the lifting cylinder 36, and opens the gripping arm 32 by the driving unit 34 to release the gripping of the canopy 6 a, and is mounted on the drum 6. That is, the lid conveyor 12 is also used as a lid attaching device for the drum 6. Although not shown, a lid attaching device separate from the lid conveyor 12 may be provided.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 1, data necessary for managing the drum can 6 is printed by an ink jet printer 82 on the top of the can 6 of the drum 6 to which the can 6 is attached, and then the drum 6 is palletized by a palletizer 84. It is put on a pallet 86 and carried out of the equipment by a forklift 88. In addition, other transporting means such as a conveyor other than the forklift 88 may be used to carry out the drum 6 from the facility. If the canopy 6a must be attached to the drum 6 immediately after the filling, the automatic lid tightening machine (not shown) may be introduced into the equipment.

  As described above, the automatic filling device 1 of the present embodiment can automatically pull out the folded inner bags 2 one by one by the bag supply device 16 and position the folded inner bags 2 inside the drum 6. After the filling gas is completely filled from the filling nozzle 62 to bring the inner bag 2 into close contact with the inner surface of the drum 6, the filling material can be supplied and filled. Furthermore, the sealing device 18 can sandwich and seal the upper end of the inner bag 2 after filling with the filler.

  As a result, the inner bag 2 can be automatically loaded into the drum 6, the filling can be efficiently and automatically filled into the inner bag 2, and the filling can be reliably shut off from the outside and stored for a long period of time. Therefore, while improving the filling efficiency of the filling material into the drum 6, the filling operation of the filling material under a bad environment and the filling of the poison can be performed, and further, the filling material is reliably shut off from the outside for a long time. Since it can be stored, it is possible to prevent odor from leaking from the inner bag 2 and thus from the drum 6 and to prevent ignition.

Further, the automatic filling device 1 includes the lid removing device 14 and the lid conveying conveyor 12 also serving as a lid attaching device, so that the automatic loading of the inner bag 2 into the drum 6 and the automatic filling of the filling material can be performed more efficiently. It can be carried out.
Further, before the drum can 6 is lifted by the lifter 44 in the sealing device 18, the filling gas is pre-filled with the filling gas from the filling nozzle 62, so that the inner bag 2 slightly expands while maintaining the folded state, and is in the hanging posture. Since the inner bag 2 is reliably positioned in a substantially vertical position right above the center of the drum 6, the positional accuracy of the bag supply to the drum 6 can be increased.

In addition, since the sealing device 18 includes the jacket 52 and the sealing bar 54, it is possible to ensure a sealing property between the opening 2a of the inner bag 2 and the filling nozzle 62 during the automatic filling of the filling material. Leakage of the filling during automatic filling can be reliably eliminated.
Further, the jacket 52 has an air supply port 64b and an air inlet 64c communicating with the outside, and the sealing device 18 controls the inside of the inner bag 2 via the air inlet 64b and the exhaust port 64c before sealing the inner bag 2. By degassing, the inside of the inner bag 2 can be brought to a vacuum state after the filling is completed. As a result, it is possible to more reliably prevent the odor from leaking from the inner bag 2 and thus from the drum 6 and to prevent ignition.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various modifications are possible.
For example, the inner bag 2 may be attached to a can other than the drum 6.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Automatic filling apparatus 2 Inner bag 2a Mouth 6 Drum can (can container)
6a Canopy 10 Can conveyor 12 Lid conveyor (covering device)
14 Lid removal device 16 Bag supply device 18 Sealing device 20 Supply device 22 Pushing device 40 Inner bag magazine 42 Bag supply arm 44 Lifter 52 Jacket 54 Sealing bar 58 Seal bar 62 Filling nozzle 64a Nozzle port 64b Air supply port 64c Inlet port 90 Opening Bar 96 Sealed bar

Claims (6)

A can transport conveyor for transporting can containers,
An inner bag magazine in which a plurality of folded inner bags are stored one by one, and the inner bag is supported in a hanging posture by swinging while grasping the mouth side of the inner bag of the inner bag magazine and pulling out one by one. A bag supply arm having a lifter that lifts the can container and positions the inner bag inside the can container.
A jacket inserted into the mouth of the inner bag, a filling nozzle inserted into the inner bag through the jacket, and a filling gas was supplied from the jacket to bring the inner bag into close contact with the inner surface of the can container. After, a supply device for filling the filling from the filling nozzle,
A sealing device having a seal bar for sandwiching and sealing an upper end portion of the inner bag after the filling is performed, the device for automatically filling a can into a container. A lid removal device that removes a canopy from the can containers conveyed by the can conveyance conveyor,
A lid transport conveyor for transporting the canopy,
The automatic filling device for filling a can container according to claim 1, further comprising a lid attaching device for attaching the canopy to the can container after the inner bag is sealed by the sealing device.   3. The can filling material according to claim 2, further comprising a pushing device that presses an upper end of the inner bag and pushes the inside bag into the can container before attaching the canopy to the can container with the lid attaching device. 4. Automatic filling equipment.   The filling device according to claim 3, wherein the bag supply device includes a gas pre-supplying unit that supplies a filling gas from the filling nozzle before the can container is lifted by the lifter. apparatus. The jacket forms a nozzle port into which the filling nozzle can be inserted,
It said sealing device, by pressing the nozzle opening to the filling nozzle, and a sealing bar for holding the jacket airtight automatic filling device the filling of the can container according to claim 4. The jacket has an air supply port and an air intake port communicating with the outside,
6. The automatic filling device for filling a can container according to claim 5, wherein the sealing device has a deaeration means for deaerating the inside of the inner bag through the air inlet before sealing the inner bag.

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