JPH03133701A - Filling method - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent a bag from tearing at the folds at the two lateral sides when the bag is filled with material with fluidity by a method wherein a bag held in a flat shape is inserted with the bottom side foremost into a container, which is a rectangular parallelepiped at a horizontal section, in such a manner as to have the bag in agreement with a diagonal line at the opening of the container and have the two sides of the bag held along the respective inner corners of the container. CONSTITUTION:A bag-conveying device takes out a bag 43 from a pile, holds it between suction cups with the opening upward, and brings the bag under an expansion hopper 3 in a filling device. Grippers 26 in a clamp mechanism then hold the bag at the two lateral sides at the opening and the suction cups separate from each other so as to open the opening. On the other hand, a container 5 is brought directly under the expansion hopper 3 and positioned in such a manner as to have one of the diagonal lines of the opening of the container in agreement with the bottom side of the bag 43. Next the expansion hopper 3 opens and enters the bag 43 and a shoot 8 enclosing a discharge chute is lowered into the bag 43 while the container 5 is raised so that the bag 43, guided by the shoot 8, enters the container 5. The bag 43 is filled with material with fluidity through the shoot 8 and the discharge chute with the two lateral sides 4 of the folded bag held along the respective inner corners of the container 5.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] Industrial applications The present invention relates to improvements in filling methods.

Conventional technology When storing and shipping fluids such as fine powders that dislike moisture,
In addition to filling a plastic bag with a fluid to prevent moisture and make it easier to take out the contents, the bag opening filled with the fluid is also placed in a rectangular shape to prevent the bag from tearing and to allow products to be stacked. They are usually stored and shipped in shaped containers.

Furthermore, automation of this type of filling work has been carried out for a long time. When automating filling work, flat bags are usually stacked and stored, and the bags are taken out one by one one by one. The bag is transported above a rectangular container placed with the opening facing upward, and inserted into the container with the bottom of the bag parallel to one side of the opening of the container, and the bag is filled with fluid. I was trying to do that.

Problems to be Solved by the Invention Therefore, according to the prior art, the inserted bag is filled with fluid with both sides in contact with the flat inner peripheral surface of the container,
This results in strong tension acting in the circumferential direction on both sides of the bag, which is the folded portion, and this has the disadvantage that this portion is more likely to tear.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to eliminate the drawbacks of the prior art and provide a filling method that does not easily cause bags to tear.

Means for Solving the Problems The filling method of the present invention involves inserting a flat bag from the bottom so that the flat cross section of the container matches the diagonal line of the opening of the container, and then filling the bag with a fluid. The patented effect is characterized in that the flat cross section is aligned with the diagonal line of the opening of the rectangular container, and the flat bag is inserted from the bottom.
Both sides of the bag are supported along a portion of the inner corner of the container, which relieves the tension acting on the folded portions on both sides of the bag during filling with fluid, and prevents the bag from tearing.

Example Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

8 and 9 are front views schematically showing a filling device 1 and a can positioning device 2, which are main parts of an automatic mold bag packaging machine according to an embodiment of the filling method of the present invention, and FIG. 10 and FIG. FIG. 11 is a side view and a plan view of each of the devices 1 and 2 as viewed along arrows A and B.

The automatic bag packaging machine takes out the bags stored in a stack one by one and transfers them to the expansion hopper 3 of the filling device 1.
A bag transfer device that opens the flat bag by transferring it to a lower position, that is, an upper position of the rectangular container 5 positioned by the can positioning device 2, and a driving conveyor of the can positioning device 2. 4 is provided with a conveyor and the like for delivering the rectangular containers 5 one by one, but since these are not directly related to the gist of the present invention, their explanation will be omitted.

The filling device 1 has a tubular discharge gutter 7 approximately in the center of the machine frame 6 for discharging fluid sent from a weighing machine (not shown).
A cylindrical chute 8 that is driven in the vertical direction is provided surrounding the discharge gutter 7 (see FIGS. 8 and 10).

At both ends of the machine frame 6 shown in FIG. 10, a shaft 9 shown in FIG. 8 and a shaft 9' parallel to the shaft 9 and located on the inside of the machine frame 6 are rotatably mounted. and each shaft 9
The tips of the arms 10, which are fixed in parallel downward from the substantially central portions of the arms 10 and 9', are pivoted to the four corners of the base 12 of the clamp mechanism 11.

On the other hand, at one end of the machine frame 6, a substantially central part of an adjustment rod 14 that rotatably supports the base of the ram 13 is pivotally attached, and an adjustment mechanism 15 fixed to the machine frame 6 allows the machine frame Adjustment rod 1 for
The rotational position of 4 can be adjusted as desired (see Fig. 10). The actuator 16 of the ram 13 is pivoted to the end of a lever 19 fixed to one end of a shaft 18 which is pivoted to a bracket 17 fixed to a substantially central portion of the machine frame 6, and is pivoted to the other end of the shaft 18. A substantially central portion of a rotating rod 20 having one end of a link member 21 pivotally attached to both ends thereof is fixed. The tip of a crank-shaped lever 22 whose one end is fixed to the shaft 9' is pivotally attached to the other end of the link member 21, and the actuator 1
The extension and contraction of 6 is lever 19° rotation rod 20. Link member 21.
A shaft 9' provided at both ends of the machine frame 6 via a lever 22
By rotating the arms 10 fixed to each shaft 9' and simultaneously moving the arms 10 forward, the clamp mechanism 11 attached to the tip of the arm 10 can be moved toward and away from the expansion hopper 3 at the same time. ing. In FIG. 10, the state in which the clamp mechanism 11 is farthest away from the expansion hopper 3 is shown by a solid line, and the state in which it is closest is shown by a chain double-dashed line. By adjusting 15, the separation position and approach position of the clamp mechanism 11 can be shifted inward.

A ram 23 is attached to the upper surface of the base 12 of the clamp mechanism 11, and a link mechanism (not shown) is driven by the expansion and contraction of the actuator of the ram 23, and a link mechanism (not shown) is rotatably mounted on both sides of the lower part of the bracket 24 on the lower surface of the base 12 with shafts 25. The supported holding member 26 is simultaneously opened and closed in the left and right directions in FIG.

A shaft 28 to which the expansion hopper 3 is fixed is rotatably installed horizontally on both sides of the bottom of a flat plate 27 fixed to both sides of the chute 8 at the bottom of the machine frame 6, and also serves as a stay for the expansion hopper 3. A link member 31 is connected to the tip of the lever 29 via a ball joint 30. Each link member 31
One end is fixed to the end of a shaft 33 that is rotatably supported by brackets 32 fixed to both sides of the other plate 27, and is connected to a ram 34 provided on one side of the machine frame 6. By expanding and contracting the actuator 35, one of the link members 31 connected to the actuator 35 is moved forward, and by moving the other link member 31 forward via the shaft 33, the balls connected to each link member 31 are moved forward. Fitting 30
The opening and closing operations of the expansion hoppers 3 are performed by simultaneously rotating each expansion hopper 3 about the shaft 28 via the expansion hoppers 3. 8th
Although the figure shows the expansion hopper 3 in a closed state, when each link member 31 rotates counterclockwise in FIG. The hopper 3 has a circular arc portion 3a
The expansion hoppers 3 are rotated outwardly around the shaft 28 while sliding into contact with each other, and the expansion hoppers 3 are opened until the bottom surfaces 3b of each expansion hopper 3 are parallel to each other.

The can positioning device 2 is located directly below the filling device 1 as shown in FIGS. 9 and 11, and lifts up the drive conveyor 4, the positioning mechanism 36 attached to the drive conveyor 4, and the drive conveyor 4. link mechanism 37
Consisted of.

The drive conveyor 4 is a normal belt conveyor whose drive is appropriately controlled by a drive means such as a motor, and a positioning mechanism 36 is disposed on stays 38 fixedly installed on both sides of the belt conveyor.

The positioning mechanism 36 includes a support shaft 40 erected approximately at the center of the stay 38, positioning plates 39a, 39b rotatably supported by the support shaft 40, and positioning plates 39a, 39b.
As shown in FIG. 11, the positioning plates 39a are pivotally supported on the lower side of each support shaft 40, and the positioning plates 39a are arranged at a substantially right angle with their tips facing upward. The positioning plate 39b, which is bent and pivotally supported on the upper side of the support shaft 40, is bent at a substantially right angle with its tip facing downward, and each positioning plate 39a, 3
As shown in FIG. 9, the bent end portions 9b face each other at the height of the gap in the vertical direction. The driving force of the air cylinder 41 that drives each positioning plate 39a, 39b is equal, and when the air cylinder 41 is retracted, the bent end portion of each positioning plate 39a, 39b is approximately parallel to both sides of the drive conveyor 4. When the air cylinder 41 is released and extended to grip and position the rectangular container 5, the positioning plates 39a and 39b supported by the respective support shafts 40 approach together. Note that the shape of each part of each positioning plate 39a, 39b is usually determined based on the dimensions of the container 5 that is the object of positioning, and the positioning plate 39a,
These positioning plates 39
a.

The angle formed by the bent end portion of 39b is approximately a right angle, and
The side portion of the container 5 and each tip bent portion are in complete contact with each other (see FIG. 11).

The link mechanism 37 that lifts up the drive conveyor 4 is a normal booster composed of a plurality of link members 42, and is driven vertically as appropriate by connecting a hydraulic ram or the like between opposing nodes.

Hereinafter, the filling method in this example will be explained based on the above configuration.

First, a bag transfer device (not shown) takes out one of the topmost bags stacked in a stack, sucks the front and back sides of the bag with a suction cup, and holds the bag with the open side facing upward. This bag is transferred to the lower position of the expansion hopper 3 in the filling device 1. The direction in which the bags are transported is the direction that coincides with the bottom side of the bag as in the prior art, the front-rear direction in FIG. 8 and the left-right direction in FIG.

During the bag transfer process, the clamp mechanism 11 is connected to the expansion hopper 3.
It is located at the farthest position from the holding member 26
is in the released state, but when the transfer is completed, both sides of the opening side of the bag positioned at the bottom of the expansion hopper 3 are closed to the clamp mechanism 11.
When the bag enters between the clamping members 26, the clamping members 26 are closed by the operation of the ram 23, and both sides of the opening side of the bag are clamped.

Next, each clamping mechanism 11 that clamps both sides of the opening side of the bag simultaneously approaches the expansion hopper 3 by the operation of the ram 13 to give slack to the opening of the bag, and the bag transfer device suctions the front and back sides of the bag. The suction cup separates and opens the bag opening (note that after releasing the bag opening, the bag transfer device returns to its initial position).

On the other hand, the driving conveyor 4 of the can positioning device 2 transfers the containers 5 received from the conveyor (not shown) to the approximate center of the conveyor 4, that is, directly below the expansion hopper 3 in the filling device 1, and then stops. , position 0 The operation of the positioning device 36 is started.

When the air cylinder 41 expands due to the operation of the positioning device 36, the positioning plates 39a pivotally supported by the respective support shafts 40
, 39b come into close contact with the side of the container 5, and the positioning plate 39a.

39b further approaches the container 5, the side portion of the container 5 and each tip bent portion are brought into complete contact with each other, and the loading direction of the container 5 is corrected. The bottom of the bag 43 held by the clamp mechanism 11 of the filling device 1 and the container 5 are in a state substantially perpendicular to the direction.
coincides with one diagonal of the opening (see FIG. 11).

In this way, when the positioning of the container 5 is completed so that one diagonal of the opening of the container 5 coincides with the bottom side of the flat bag 43, the ram 34 of the filling device 1 is activated and the expansion hopper 3 is opened. The chute 8, which opens outward and enters the bag 43 from inside the opening of the bag 43 (see Fig. 1) and surrounds the discharge gutter 7, descends into the inside of the bag 43 (see Fig. 2) and positions the can. The link mechanism 37 of the device 2 is activated, and the drive conveyor 4 on which the container 5 is placed starts to rise, and the drive conveyor 4
As a result of the container 5 placed above being lifted, the bag 43 guided by the chute 8 enters into the container 5.

When the drive conveyor 4 is raised to a predetermined position and the bag 43 is fully inserted into the container 5, the linkage mechanism 37 is deactivated and the fluid discharged from the weighing machine (not shown) is transferred to the filling device. 1, the bag 43 is filled via the gutter 7 and the chute 8 (see FIG. 3). Bag 43 inserted into container 5
As shown by the dotted chain lines in FIG. 11, since the folded both sides 43a are supported along a part of the inner corner of the container 5, the folded parts 43a on both sides are supported when filling with fluid.
The tension acting on a is relaxed, and the folded portion is not forcibly spread out, so that tearing is prevented.

When the filling of the fluid is completed, the chute 8 rises and the bag 43
After the air is removed by the degassing rod 44 inserted into the bag 43 (see FIG. 4), the expansion hopper 3 is closed, and the clamp mechanism 11 is separated from the expansion hopper 3 and the clamping member 26 Tension is applied to the opening of the bag 43 held on both sides, and a presser 45 is applied from the front and back of the bag 43 to apply an impulse seal to the opening (see FIG. 5).

Note that when transitioning from the completion of filling to the start of degassing, the container 5 is slightly lifted upward by the link mechanism 37, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5. Therefore, the bag 43, which had been given tension in the vertical direction as shown in FIG. 6 due to the weight of the filled fluid, is now given slack in the vertical direction as the container 5 rises. As shown in FIG. 7, reliable degassing can be performed until the inner surface of the bag comes into close contact with the filling.

When the impulse seal is completed, the link mechanism 37 is activated to lower the drive conveyor 4 and return it to the initial position.
The positioning plates 38a and 38b are released to drive the drive conveyor 4, and the filled container 5 is sent to the next process.
The filling device 1 and the can positioning device 2 return to their initial states, and one cycle 2 of filling work is completed.

Effects of the Invention In the filling method of the present invention, a flat bag is inserted from the bottom with its flat cross section aligned with the diagonal line of the opening of a rectangular container. It is supported along a portion of the bag, which relieves the tension applied to the folded portions on both sides of the bag during filling with fluid, and prevents the bag from tearing.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIGS. 1 to 5 are schematic diagrams illustrating an embodiment of the method of the present invention in association with an embodiment apparatus; FIG. 6 is a side view of the state of the bag shown in FIG. 4; FIG. 7 is a side view of the bag shown in FIG. 5, and FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of a filling device which is a main part of an automatic molded bag packaging machine according to an embodiment of the method of the present invention. FIG. 9 is a front view schematically showing the can positioning device of the same embodiment, FIG. 10 is a side view of the filling device of FIG. 8 taken along arrow A, and FIG. FIG. 3 is a plan view of the can positioning device shown in the figure, taken along arrow B; 1... Filling device, 2... Can positioning device, 3...
Expansion hopper, 4... Drive conveyor, 5... Container, 6
... Machine frame, 7... Discharge gutter, 8... Chute, 9,
9'... Axis, 10... Arm, 11... Clamp mechanism, 12... Base, 13... Ram, 14...
Adjustment rod, 15... Adjustment mechanism, 16... Actuator, 17... Bracket, 18... Shaft, 19...
・Lever, 20... Rotating rod, 21... Link member,
22... Lever, 23... Ram, 24... Bracket, 25... Shaft, 26... Holding member, 27...
Plate, 28...shaft, 29...lever 30...
Ball joint, 31... Link member, 32... Bracket, 33... Shaft, 34... Ram, 35... Actuator, 36... Positioning mechanism, 37... Link mechanism, 38... ... Stay, 39a, 39b... Positioning plate, 40... Support shaft, 41... Air cylinder, 4
2...Link member, 43...Bag, 44...Degassing rod, 45...Press bar 5 report (14 Procedural amendments November 20, 1989)

Claims (1)

[Claims] A filling method characterized in that a flat bag is inserted from the bottom side of a container having a rectangular cross section so as to match the diagonal of the opening of the container, and then the bag is filled with a fluid.