JP7255863B2 - Box making machine - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a box making machine that opens a flat box material before assembly and folds a bottom flap.

As a box making machine as described above, there is one disclosed in Patent Document 1 below.

This box making machine has a structure for opening box materials in the following manner. First, among the boxes stacked flat in the magazine section, the lowest one is sent out onto the table, and the top surface of the box material is vacuum-sucked by the upper surface suction pad attached to the arm, and the lower surface suction pad is moved from the lowered position. It is raised and the lower surface of the box material is vacuum-sucked. Subsequently, the arm having the suction pad on the upper surface is turned upright by about 90 degrees to raise the box material and open it in a sideways state. That is, the box material is picked up by the arm, and the box material is opened by sucking and raising it with the upper suction pad.

For this reason, when opening the box, the arm had to be tilted and then raised, which hindered the opening operation.

JP-A-9-52295

Therefore, the main object of the present invention is to enable the box-making work to be performed efficiently.

The means for this purpose is a box making machine which has a magazine section for flatly stacking flat box materials before assembly, and which opens the box materials supplied one by one from the magazine section into a cylindrical shape and then folds the bottom flaps. An opening preparation section for preparing to open the box material and an opening execution section for executing the operation of opening the box material are provided in this order after the magazine section. a positioning mechanism for aligning the box material to a fixed position, a standing mechanism for standing the box material with the tip of the flap of the box material facing downward, and a first adsorption mechanism provided in the standing mechanism for adsorbing the lower surface of the box material. a second suction mechanism having a standing posture for sucking a surface opposite to the bottom surface of the box material erected by the standing mechanism; and a second suction mechanism erected by the standing mechanism. A rotating mechanism is provided that rotates in two directions: a posture to wait for the box material, and a posture to open the box material by rotating 90 degrees from the waiting direction about the vertical direction and pulling the surface opposite to the bottom surface of the box material. It is a box making machine that

In this configuration, the box material supplied from the magazine section to the opening preparation section is aligned by the alignment mechanism and erected by the erection mechanism. The erected box material is sucked and held by the first suction mechanism. At this time, in the opening execution unit, the second suction mechanism causes the rotating mechanism to cause the box material to stand by in a waiting posture, thereby immediately sucking the box material raised by the standing mechanism. Subsequently, the rotation mechanism rotates the second adsorption mechanism to open the box material while the first adsorption means is performing the adsorption action. This rotation opens the box material.

According to this invention, since the opening preparation section and the opening execution section are provided to divide the opening operation, the opening operation can be performed efficiently without stagnation.

A perspective view of a box making machine. FIG. 2 is a plan view showing the schematic structure of the essential parts of the box making machine. The perspective view of the principal part of an opening preparation part. Schematic configuration diagram of the main part of the box making machine. The top view of the principal part of a box-making machine. The perspective view of the principal part of an opening execution part. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of a second adsorption mechanism; The perspective view which shows a part of box-making process. The perspective view which shows a part of box-making process. The top view which shows a part of box-making process. FIG. 10 is a schematic structural diagram of a box making machine according to another example.

One mode for carrying out the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of a box making machine 11, and FIG. 2 shows a plan view of a schematic structure of its essential parts.

The box-making machine 11 is a device that opens a box material into a square tube shape, folds the bottom flap, and then seals with tape, and is suitably used for making a so-called A-type corrugated cardboard box.

This box making machine 11 has a magazine section 12 for flatly stacking flat box materials before assembly, and a main body for processing to open the box materials supplied one by one from the magazine section 12 and to fold and seal the bottom flaps. It has a part 13 .

The magazine section 12 is stacked flat with the sides having the upper and lower flaps (cover flap and bottom flap) of the box material facing both sides in the supply direction (white arrow X1). A pair of belt conveyors 12a are provided in the lower portion of the magazine section 12, and a pair of guide plates 12b are provided on both sides of the belt conveyor 12a to be adjusted according to the size of the box material. Below the guide plate 12b, separating and dropping means (not shown) for dropping the lowest box materials among the flatly stacked box materials one by one is provided. It has a sending means 12c for sending out the material.

Two such magazine sections 12 are provided so that two types of box materials can be automatically cartoned.

The body portion 13 is provided behind the magazine portion 12 . The body portion 13 includes an opening preparation portion 13a for preparing to open the box material, an opening execution portion 13b for executing the operation of opening the box material, a flap folding portion 13c for folding the bottom flap, and a tape on the bottom flap. The tape attaching portions 13d to be attached are arranged in this order.

The opening preparation portion 13a is a portion for receiving the box materials supplied from the magazine portion 12, and the opening execution portion 13b is provided in the direction perpendicular to the supply direction from the magazine portion 12 in the horizontal direction adjacent to the opening preparation portion 13a. It is Each section after the opening execution section 13b is arranged in a direction orthogonal to the direction in which the opening preparation section 13a and the opening execution section 13b are arranged, that is, in parallel with the supply direction of the box materials from the magazine section 12. FIG. 1 and 2, the box material moves from the magazine section 12 in the direction of the white arrow X1. Subsequently, the box material supplied to the opening preparation section 13a changes direction by 90 degrees in the direction of the white arrow X2, moves in the direction of the opening execution section 13b, and then changes direction by 90 degrees in the direction of the white arrow X3 and moves. will do.

The two magazine sections 12 described above are arranged at opposing positions sandwiching the opening preparation section 13a in parallel with the direction in which the flap folding section 13c and the tape attaching section 13d are arranged. Therefore, the supply directions X1 of the box materials from the two magazine sections 12 are opposed to each other.

FIG. 3 shows a perspective view of the essential parts of the opening preparation section 13a, and FIG.

The opening preparation section 13a has a substantially rectangular frame-shaped stage frame 31 formed to have a size sufficient to receive the box material.

A plurality of rotating rollers 32 are arranged in parallel within the stage frame 31 . The roller 32 extends horizontally, and its longitudinal direction is perpendicular to the direction in which the box material is supplied from the magazine section 12 .

The roller 32 is connected to a roller motor 33 and rotates in one direction. The direction of rotation of the roller 32 is opposite to the direction in which the flap folding portion 13c extends from one of the two magazine portions 12, specifically the opening execution portion 13b (left side in FIGS. 2, 4 and 5). .

Further, on the roller 32, a width adjusting bar 34 that moves along the longitudinal direction of the roller 32 toward the opening execution portion 13b is provided. The width adjusting bar 34 is formed with an appropriate length in the direction in which the box materials are supplied from the magazine section 12, and is connected to an air cylinder 35. As shown in FIG. As a result, the width adjusting bar 34 reciprocates from a predetermined position on the opposite side of the stage frame 31 from the opening execution unit 13b toward the opening execution unit 13b by a distance corresponding to the size of the box material.

Stoppers 36 , 37 , and 38 that move up and down with respect to the stage frame 31 are provided at three locations on the stage frame 31 , namely, the two ends on the magazine section 12 side and the end on the opening execution section 13 b side. The stopper 36 provided on the side corresponding to the rotation direction of the roller 32, that is, on the left side in FIGS. This is the reference side stopper 37 . The stopper 38 provided on the side of the opening execution portion 13b is the standing starting point side stopper 38 .

These reference side stopper 36 , anti-reference side stopper 37 , and rising starting point side stopper 38 are provided with angle members at their upper ends, and are vertically moved by air cylinders 39 , 40 , 41 .

A roller 32 rotating in a direction having a reference side stopper 36, a width adjusting bar 34 reciprocating toward a standing start side stopper 38, and three stoppers 36, 37, 38 define the corners of the supplied box material. An alignment mechanism 42 for alignment is constructed. The fixed position is the intersection of lines connecting the regulating positions of the reference side stopper 36 and the rising starting point side stopper 38 (see the virtual line in FIG. 5. In FIG. 5, W1 indicates a large box material, and W2 indicates a A box stock smaller than that of W1 is shown).

The corners of the box materials W1 and W2 to be positioned at the fixed positions are the corners of the flaps, which may be either the lid flaps or the bottom flaps, but in this example they are the corners of the bottom flaps.

A vertical movement motor 43 constituted by a servo motor is connected to the stage frame 31 via chains and gears (not shown).

The box member positioned inside the stage frame 31 and below the rollers 32 by the positioning mechanism 42 is placed in a posture with the tip of the flap contacting the rising starting point side stopper 38 of the box facing downward. An erecting mechanism 44 for erecting the box material is provided.

The erecting mechanism 44 is provided at two positions inside the stage frame 31 : a position closer to the reference side stopper 36 and a position closer to the anti-reference side stopper 37 . These standing mechanisms 44 have standing and tilting bars 45 extending along the longitudinal direction of the roller 32 at two positions sandwiching the roller 32 .

Specifically, the upright tilt bar 45 is attached to a support shaft 46 provided at the end of the inner side of the stage frame 31 in the direction of the upright starting point side stopper 38 , and is moved by an air cylinder 47 provided under the roller 32 . It is a structure that rotates and tilts up.

The standing tilt bar 45 is tilted with respect to the longitudinal direction of the roller 32 in the normal state. That is, since the support shaft 46 is located below the roller 32, the standing tilting bar 45 extends upward toward the tip side. However, the tip of the standing tilting bar 45 is set below the upper surface position of the roller 32 .

The length of the erect tilt bar 45 is the length necessary to perform the erection of the box material, and has a proximal end member 45a and a distal end member 45b in the longitudinal direction. The distal end member 45b is set to have a greater inclination angle upward than the proximal end member 45a, in other words, to have a greater elevation angle.

The base end member 45a has two suction pads 48 arranged on its upper surface along the longitudinal direction. These suction pads 48 are a first suction mechanism 49 provided in the erecting mechanism 44 and sucking the lower surface of the box material.

Here, the lower surface of the box material is the lower surface of the box material supplied to the opening preparation section 13a, which is flat and spreads in the horizontal direction. It is a surface that stands up vertically.

In addition to the suction pad 48 , a restricting projection 51 is formed on the standing tilt bar 45 at a position near the reference side stopper 36 in the standing mechanism 44 at a position closer to the reference side stopper 36 . The forming position of the restricting projection 51 is a position on the distal end side of the suction pad 48 on the base end member 45a.

A vacuum generator 52 is connected to each suction pad 48 as shown in FIG.

A moving mechanism 55 is provided in the opening executing section 13b. The moving mechanism 55 has a base 56 that reciprocates in one direction, and a support base 57 that is supported by the base 56 and reciprocates in a direction perpendicular to the moving direction of the base 56 .

The base 56 linearly moves in the direction connecting the opening execution portion 13bb and the flap folding portion 13c, and is moved along a guide rod 59 by a moving motor 58 as shown in FIGS. It is configured.

The support base 57 extends toward the opening preparation portion 13a, and is formed at the tip of an advance/retreat portion 62 that linearly moves on the base 56 by the servomotor 61 in the direction connecting the opening preparation portion 13a and the opening execution portion 13b. there is

That is, the support base 57 linearly reciprocates in directions approaching and separating from the opening preparation portion 13a, and the base 56 linearly reciprocates in a direction orthogonal to the direction approaching and separating from the opening preparation portion 13a. do.

As shown in FIG. 6, the support base 57 is provided with a column 63, and the surface of the box member erected by the erecting mechanism 44 opposite to the aforementioned lower surface is attracted to the upper portion of the column 63. A second suction mechanism 64 in a standing posture is provided.

The second suction mechanism 64 is configured by arranging a plurality of suction pads 65 and 66, six in this example, on the same plane. The suction pads 65 and 66 are composed of a group of four first suction pads 64a which are arranged two by two in the vertical and horizontal directions in front of the column 63 at approximately equal intervals, and a group of four suction pads 64a which are positioned slightly apart from the first suction pads in the horizontal direction. are two second suction pad groups 64b arranged vertically. The second suction pad group 64b is formed in a direction away from the predetermined position of the opening preparation portion 13a as compared with the first suction pad group 64a.

The first suction pad group 64a and the second suction pad group 64b are connected to separate vacuum generators 67 and 68 as shown in FIG.

The suction pads 65 and 66 are contracted and deformed in the thickness direction by suction.

As shown in FIG. 7, the holding plate 71 has a flat tip surface 71a at a position retreated from the tip positions of the suction pads 65 and 66 as suction cups for sucking the box material. Specifically, the holding plate 71 has a circular hole 72 larger than the suction pads 65 and 66 in the tip end surface 71a. are positioned. The positional difference between the tip positions of the suction pads 65 and 66 and the tip surface 71a of the holding plate 71 is such that the suction surface of the box material is stably supported by the tip surface 71a of the holding plate 71 when the box material W is sucked. is set to

Of the suction pads 65 and 66 arranged vertically in two stages, the holding plates 71 are provided for the upper three suction pads 65 and 66 and the lower three suction pads 65 and 66, respectively. The upper and lower holding plates 71 each have a bent portion 71b that bends in an L-shape in the vertical direction.

A rotation mechanism 75 for changing the orientation of the second adsorption mechanism 64 is provided below the support 63 as shown in FIG. That is, the second adsorption mechanism 64 is supported via the rotation mechanism 75, and the rotation mechanism 75 is rotated by the air cylinder 76 into two postures that differ by 90 degrees about the vertical direction. The two postures are one in which the suction pads 65 and 66 of the second suction mechanism 64 stand by the erecting mechanism 44 and wait for the box material, and the other in which the box material rotates 90 degrees from the waiting position and pulls the surface opposite to the bottom surface of the box material. It is a posture to open the box material. The latter attitude of opening the box member is, in other words, the attitude of facing the direction of the folded flap portion 13c.

By the moving mechanism 55 and the rotating mechanism 75, the second adsorption mechanism 64 can be moved from the initial position P1 indicated by solid lines in FIG. 5 to a plurality of positions indicated by phantom lines. One of them is a position P2 that is rotated 90 degrees from the initial position P1 and faces the opening preparation portion 13a. In addition, a waiting position P3 moved from the position P2 toward the opening preparation section 13a, an opening position P4 rotated 90 degrees in the opposite direction from the waiting position P3, and a box opening position P4 in this state from the opening preparation section 13a. There is a position P5 where the first suction pad group 64a faces the flap folded portion 13c by moving in the direction of separation.

In addition, as shown in FIG. 6, a folding mechanism 77 that folds the inner flap is provided at a position below the second suction mechanism 64 in the longitudinally intermediate portion of the post 63 .

The folding mechanism 77 has a generally rectangular folding plate 78 which is in a vertical posture in a normal state as indicated by solid lines in FIG. The upper end of the folding plate 78 in the normal state is pivotally attached to the post 63, and is rotatably mounted by the air cylinder 79, so that the folding plate 78 can be rotated to raise the tip located at the bottom in the normal state. It is configured. By the rotation, the folding plate 78 rises horizontally as indicated by the phantom lines and faces in the same direction as the tips of the suction pads 65 and 66 .

The flap folding section 13c positioned after the opening execution section 13b folds the flap of the box material by relative movement. In the flap folding portion 13c of this example, three flaps are automatically folded by moving the opened box material.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the flap folding portion 13c includes an inner flap folding plate 81 extending horizontally like the raised folding plate 78, and rod-like folding guides positioned on both left and right sides of the inner flap folding plate 81. 82. The folding guide 82 is formed in a shape that folds the outer flap that extends obliquely outward and downward.

A conveying means 83 that applies a conveying force to both side surfaces of the box material is provided in the subsequent stage from the flap folding portion 13c in order to convey the pushed box material. The conveying means 83 is composed of a belt conveyor, and the interval can be adjusted according to the size of the box material.

An existing tape applying machine 84 is arranged in the tape application section 13d located in the rear stage of the flap folding section 13c.

As shown in FIG. 4, the actuators of the above-described parts are controlled by the magazine control drive unit 85 for setting the type of box material in the magazine unit 12 and discharging the box material from the magazine unit 12, the conveying means 83, and the like. It is driven and controlled at 86 .

The box making machine 11 configured as described above performs box making by the control unit 86 as follows.

First, box materials are put into the magazine section 12, and the type and size of the box materials and the box-making order of which box material of which magazine section 12 is to be processed first are set. By driving the box making machine 11, the roller 32 in the opening preparation section 13a of the main body section 13 rotates, and the box materials are sequentially supplied from the magazine section 12 toward the opening preparation section 13a.

The corners of both the large box material W1 and the small box material W2 are positioned at fixed positions by the rotation of the rollers 32 and the movement of the width aligning bar 34, as indicated by the phantom lines in FIG.

In order to perform such positioning, the stoppers 36, 37 and 38, which have been lowered during the supply of the box material, are raised. Positioning is performed while the stage frame 31 is lowered.

Subsequently, the erecting tilting bar 45 of the erecting mechanism 44 rotates in the erecting direction with respect to the box material W in the horizontal posture as shown by the solid line in FIG. The box material is placed in a vertical posture as shown in the figure, and the box material is detected by a sensor (not shown). At this time, the box material W is sucked by the first suction mechanism 49 .

Prior to this standing up, the second suction mechanism 64 of the opening execution unit 13b is on standby at the waiting position as shown in FIG. 8(a).

When the box member stands up, the first suction pad group 64a of the second suction mechanism 64, or the first suction pad group 64a and the second suction pad group 64b suction the surface of the box member W opposite to the lower surface. In this state, the rotation mechanism 75 is immediately driven to rotate the second adsorption mechanism 64 by 90 degrees while the first adsorption mechanism 49 is performing adsorption (see the arrow in FIG. 8B). Then, as shown in FIG. 9(a), the box material W is opened to obtain openings in the upper and lower sides.

After that, as indicated by the arrow in FIG. 9(a), the first adsorption mechanism 49 releases the box material W, the upright tilting bar 45 falls down, and the movement mechanism 55 prepares the second adsorption mechanism 64 to open. It moves away from the portion 13a. The movement is performed up to a position where the first suction pad group 64a of the second suction mechanism 64 faces the flap folded portion 13c.

Synchronously with or after this movement, the folding mechanism 77 is driven to raise the folding plate 78 and fold the inner flap Wa located below at right angles (see FIG. 9(b) and FIG. 10). .

Since the second suction mechanism 64 has the holding plate 71 when the box material W is moved forward or the inner flap Wa is folded, the opened box material is supported without shaking. In particular, it is possible to prevent the front side of the box material W, that is, the side opposite to the direction in which the inner flap Wa folded by the folding mechanism 77 hangs down.

Subsequently, as indicated by arrows in FIGS. 9B and 10, the moving mechanism 55 pushes the second suction mechanism 64 toward the flap folding portion 13c. At this time as well, the box material W is strongly supported by the second suction mechanism 64 having the holding plate 71, so that the front part of the box material W in the conveying direction does not sag and is strongly held in the correct posture.

In the box material W moving relative to the flap folding portion 13 c , the inner flap Wb is first folded by the inner flap folding plate 81 , and then the left and right outer flaps Wc are successively folded by the folding guide 82 . After that, the seams of the outer flaps Wc are adhered with a tape (not shown) supplied from a tape applicator 84 to complete the sealing.

When the boxing operation from the box material put into one magazine part 12 is completed, the box material is automatically supplied from another magazine part 12, and the boxing is performed in the same manner as described above.

As described above, the box making machine 11 is divided into two parts, the opening preparation part 13a and the opening execution part 13b, in which the process of opening the box material is divided, and two axes, the axis of the erecting mechanism 44 and the axis of the rotating mechanism 75, are divided into two parts. The opening preparation section 13a and the opening execution section 13b are configured to be independently driven and cooperate at the moment of opening. This makes it possible to eliminate stagnation in the operation. For this reason, the efficiency of the box opening operation can be improved, and more carton making work can be performed in a short time.

In addition, since the box is opened with the flap facing downward, the folding mechanism 77 for folding the inner flap is provided near the second suction mechanism 64, so that the subsequent folding and sealing of the flap can be done in a natural posture without difficulty. , can be done quickly. From this point as well, the efficiency of the box-making work can be improved.

Since the flap folding part 13c is configured to fold the flap of the box material by relative movement, the box making machine 11 can be simplified.

In addition, since the holding plate 71 is provided in the second adsorption mechanism 64, the opened box material can be firmly and stably held, so that the opening operation can be performed smoothly and reliably, and the flaps can be folded accurately. , the occurrence of defects can be eliminated.

In addition, since a plurality of magazine units 12 are provided to automatically form a plurality of types of box materials, the efficiency can be improved in this respect as well, and the number of workers required for the box making work can be reduced.

The above configuration is one mode for carrying out the present invention, and the present invention is not limited to the configuration described above, and other configurations can be employed.

Other examples are described below. In this description, the same reference numerals are given to the same parts as those of the configuration described above, and the detailed description thereof will be omitted.

FIG. 11 shows an example in which three or more magazine sections 12 are provided. In this case, the plurality of magazine sections 12 are arranged along the direction in which the opening preparation section 13a and the opening execution section 13b are arranged, and are arranged so as to extend from the opening preparation section 13a toward the side opposite to the opening execution section 13b. good. In the case of FIG. 11, four magazine sections 12 are provided and arranged in two rows so as to sandwich the opening preparation section 13a. A belt conveyor 88 is provided between the two rows of magazine sections 12, and the box material is conveyed toward the opening preparation section 13a.

Alternatively, the magazine sections 12 may be arranged in a line only on one side of the opening preparation section 13a.

Also, although not shown, folding of the flaps may be performed on the flaps positioned above instead of below.

Folding of the flaps may be performed by relative movement of the box material, or may be forcibly performed.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 11 box making machine 12 magazine section 13a opening preparation section 13b opening execution section 13c flap folding section 42 positioning mechanism 44 standing mechanism 49 first adsorption mechanism 55 movement mechanism 64 second adsorption mechanism 71 ... Holding plate 75 ... Rotation mechanism 77 ... Folding mechanism

Claims (7)

A box making machine having a magazine section for flatly stacking flat box materials before assembly, opening the box materials supplied one by one from the magazine section into a cylindrical shape, and then folding the bottom flap,
An opening preparation unit that prepares for opening the box material and an opening execution unit that executes the opening operation of the box material prepared in the opening preparation unit are provided in the subsequent stage of the magazine unit,
The opening preparation section is provided with a positioning mechanism for aligning the corners of the box material to a fixed position, and an erecting tilting bar having a horizontal spindle that can be rotated from the tilted posture to the standing posture so that the tip of the flap of the box member is lowered. and a first adsorption mechanism provided on the surface of the standing and tilting bar facing the box material and sucking the surface of the box material in the standing posture that was the lower surface before the box material was raised. provided,
The opening execution part waits at a position facing the standing tilting bar in the standing posture and sucks the surface of the erected box material opposite to the surface adsorbed by the first adsorption mechanism. An adsorption mechanism and a rotation mechanism for rotatably supporting the second adsorption mechanism about a vertical axis are provided,
The rotating mechanism rotates the second suction mechanism in a direction to separate the box material from the first suction mechanism by pulling the suction surface of the box material in the erected state following the erection of the box material by the erection mechanism. driven and controlled like
Box making machine. 2. The box making machine according to claim 1, wherein the opening execution unit is provided with a folding mechanism for folding the inner flap positioned below or above the second suction mechanism. 3. The box making machine according to claim 1, wherein the second suction mechanism is provided with a holding plate having a flat tip surface at a position retreating from the tip position of the suction cups for suction. A flap folding section for folding the flap of the box material by relative movement is provided after the opening execution section ,
The position of the flap folding portion is in front of the second suction mechanism that rotates to open the box material in the direction orthogonal to the direction in which the opening preparation portion and the opening execution portion are arranged .
The box making machine according to any one of claims 1 to 3. The opening execution unit moves the second adsorption mechanism and the rotation mechanism in a direction in which they approach and separate from the opening preparation unit and in a direction perpendicular to the directions in which they approach and separate from the opening preparation unit. 5. The box making machine according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein a moving mechanism for reciprocating linear movement is provided in each of the. 6. The box making machine according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein a plurality of said magazine units are provided. 7. A plurality of said magazine sections are arranged along the direction in which said opening preparation section and said opening execution section are arranged, and are arranged so as to extend from said opening preparation section toward the side opposite to said opening execution section. The described carton former.

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