JPH0398806A - Method for automatic boxing - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To completely automate by placing boxing stations by the number of items or more of works to be carried to an automation line in the vicinity of a conveyer of the automation line for carrying the works. CONSTITUTION:In the vicinity of a conveyer 10 of an automation line for carrying works, boxing stations 5, 5... by the number of items to be carried to the automation line are placed. If the works carried by lots cannot fill the last case of a specified number of cases with remainder left when the works are boxed in a case on said boxing station 5, the case with the remainder is left as it is on said boxing station 5 and the number of remaining works is stored, and boxing is resumed according to the stored number when the works of the same kind are carried in again. Thus a simple and highly reliable and inexpensive unmanned system can be obtained.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

[Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to an automatic boxing machine for packing workpieces into shipping cases, and more specifically to an automatic boxing line that processes in lots in a high-mix, low-volume production system. For example, the present invention relates to an automatic packaging device that can easily process fractions generated from lot to lot on an automatic packaging line that randomly processes a wide variety of products on the same line. [Prior Art] This type of conventional packaging device can be classified into the following three cases. The first case is when packaging is done manually.For example, products loaded on trolleys by type are manually packed into cardboard cases. Cases where fractions occur are handled appropriately, but of course labor costs are incurred. The second case is man-machine type automation,
Carts of the same type are manually set at the entrance of the automatic boxing line one after another, and when all the carts of the same type have been boxed, the type setting is changed and boxing of a different type is resumed. In this example, although labor costs are significantly reduced, the number of trolleys increases in proportion to the type of product, which not only requires a large space for the trolleys, but also leads to longer lead times. ．． Also, the third case is
In the case of complete automation and unmanned operation, if the second case described above in this example is automated for viewing, automatic transport of trolleys, automatic alignment, automatic type setting changes, etc. will be required.
Not only will the amount of capital investment be enormous, but the system will become more complex, its reliability will deteriorate, and unmanned operation will no longer be possible. As a countermeasure to the above, the simplest system would be to temporarily remove the stock on trolleys and automatically transport the products produced in the upstream process to the packaging process for immediate processing, but this poses a problem. The reason for this is that the number of products in a group (lot) of the same type produced in the upstream process is not an integral multiple of the number of boxes packed, but a fraction occurs. Although it is possible to manipulate the lot number in the upstream process to avoid fractions, there is an inspection process between production and packaging for any product, and sampling occurs during this inspection process. Therefore, the occurrence of fractions is an unavoidable problem. Therefore, a commonly used method for handling fractions is to use a pallet for carrying products as a medium for conveyance and stocking, and to temporarily store the products in fractions on the pallet. However, this rounding using pallets wastes time, reduces the processing capacity of the automated line by half, and may require the installation of two automated lines instead of one line. The reason for this is that if the sum of the fractional number of the lot and the number of pieces of the same type temporarily stocked on the fractional stock line exceeds the number of boxes packed in the I case, replenishment is made from the fractional stock line and the boxes are packed. If the number is less than 1, the fraction is transported to the cartoning stock line, but in any case, the products stored in the fraction stock line are transferred to the automated line 2.
There are multiple passes, and in one of those passes, packaging is not actually performed, so time is wasted. The ratio of wasted time increases as the number of items packed in one case increases, and increases as the number of items brought in per lot decreases, and sometimes exceeds 50%. As an example of the conventional method described above, a second rounding method using a pallet will be explained with reference to FIG. In FIG. 4, reference numeral 1 denotes an automatic guided vehicle that transports cheese from an upstream spinning process, and the cheese transported by the automatic guided vehicle 1 is transferred to the main conveyor 10 by a transfer machine 14. The range indicated by A in the figure is an automatic inspection line, which performs processes such as visual inspection of transferred cheese and automatic end yarn processing, and the range indicated by B is an automatic packaging line. The outlet side of the main conveyor IO described above is connected to the pallet conveyor 15, and 16 is connected to the pallet conveyor 1.
The pallet stocker connected to 5 is a facility for storing fractions of each product type, and the maximum stock amount for each product type is the number of boxes minus 1. The cases 3 formed into boxes by the registration machine 2 pass through a lower conveyor 4 to reach the lower stage of a boxing station 5 having an elevating function and are lifted up to perform the boxing operation at the upper stage. In this conventional method, there is only one boxing station 5. 17 is a boxing robot dedicated to transferring cheese, and 18 is a partition transfer machine that transfers the partition plate 8 with pegs. Since the packing arrangement of the above-mentioned inner partition plate 8 with baggage differs depending on the product type, many types are required and cannot be placed in the work space of the boxing robot 17, which is a general-purpose robot. It is structured as follows. In addition, 10c in the figure is a lifting device. When the automatic guided vehicle 1 reaches the entrance of the inspection section 8, the variety of the lot is determined, and cheeses of the same variety placed on pallets are sent out from the pallet stocker 16 and lined up near the packaging station 5. , one or more pieces are transferred one by one to the cardboard case 3 by the packaging robot 17. The newly brought cheese is transferred to a pallet on the main conveyor by the transfer machine 14, and is subjected to various inspections and processing in the inspection section A. Defective products are sent to the discharge line 12 and discharged by the discharge robot 13. , the good quality cheese is transported to the vicinity of the boxing station 5, and is then transferred to the pallet stocker 16 described above.
It is packed in boxes after more cheese is packed and used up. When a predetermined number of cheeses 6 are packed in the cardboard case 3, the case 3 packed with cheese is carried out by the case discharge upper stage conveyor 7, and the lifting device of the packing station 5 is lowered to remove the empty cardboard case. 3, then ascends again and corrects the position of the cardboard case 3 using a positioning device (not shown), completing preparation for packaging. Next, after setting the partition plate 8 with pegs corresponding to the product being packed into the bottom of the cardboard case 3 using the partition transfer machine 18, the boxing robot 17 resumes the boxing work, and inside the cardboard case 3. When the first stage of packaging is completed, the partition plate 8 with pegs is set in the middle stage and packaging is performed again. If the above boxing process is repeated for several cases, the amount of cheese brought in by one automatic guided vehicle will almost disappear and a fraction will remain, but this fraction must be detected by some method.
Furthermore, it is necessary to detect the number of inspected items. In this conventional method, there is only one boxing station 5, and the cardboard case 3 in which the fractional cheese is packed cannot be left on the boxing station 5, so the fractional cheese is Once stocked in the pallet stocker 16, as described above, when cheese of the same variety is brought in again, it is first boxed. Then, when performing the fraction measurement described above by counting the cheese before inspection and counting N + 1 pieces for the number of boxes packed, if one defective item occurs in inspection department A, boxing can be continued. If two or more defective products occur, the products cannot be packed in boxes because the number of defective products cannot be filled, and in this case, the products are temporarily stored in the pallet stocker 16. Therefore, fractional measurements must be performed on the cheese after inspection.
In order to do this, it is necessary to have a stock of N cheeses from the discharge line 2 to the vicinity of the boxing station 5.Securing this condition is not a problem when N is small, but when N is large. Sometimes, this has significant drawbacks in terms of space, maintenance costs, waiting time for packing boxes, etc. [Problems to be Solved by the Invention] The present invention was invented in view of the above-mentioned points. It is possible to process fractions that occur during real-time processing without using stocking means and space, eliminating secondary problems such as wasted time that occurs accompanying the processing, and automatic packaging. The purpose of this invention is to provide a method that can simplify the entire system, and to provide an automatic packaging method for an unmanned system that is simple, highly reliable, and inexpensive. [Means for achieving the object] In order to achieve the above object, the automatic packaging system according to the present invention is an automated line that processes workpieces of the same type in lots in a high-mix, low-volume production system. In the boxing method of A boxing device is provided for packing the upper case into a box, and when the last workpiece of the type of one lot brought in does not fill the predetermined number of pieces in the case and a fraction is generated, the case is transferred to the boxing station. Its feature is that it is left as it is, its fractional state is memorized, and when a workpiece of the same type as the one described above is carried in at an angle, it is controlled to instruct the resumption of packaging according to the fractional state. That is. [Function] The automatic boxing system according to the present invention is an automatic boxing system in an automated line that processes workpieces of the same type in lots. Since we have arranged more cartoning stations than the types of workpieces to be brought in, when the workpieces are packed into the cases on the cartoning station, the workpieces brought in in the lot unit will be packed in the predetermined number of cases. When the last case is not satisfied and a fraction is generated, the case that generated the fraction is left as it is at the boxing station, the state of the fraction in the left case is memorized, and the same When a workpiece of a different type is brought in again, control is performed to resume packing in accordance with the above-mentioned storage state. [Example] An example of the present invention will be explained based on the drawings. Figure 1 is a plan view of the automatic packaging line, Figure 2 is an explanatory diagram of the packaging station in the automatic packaging line, and Figure 3 is a perspective view of the main conveyor in the automatic packaging line. be. The present invention can be applied to any field as long as it is a production process that involves packaging in lots in a high-mix, low-volume production system. We will explain what is applied when processing a workpiece. In this embodiment, members having the same functions as those of the conventional system shown in FIG. 4 described above are designated by the same reference numerals. In FIG. 1, 1 is an automatic guided vehicle that transports cheese in units of tens of pieces from an upstream spinning process, 10 is a main conveyor, and pallets 11 are placed on the main conveyor 10.
One piece of cheese 6 is transferred from the automatic guided vehicle 1 described above by the transfer machine I4. The cheese 6 placed in pallets 1 and conveyed on the main conveyor 10 described above is subjected to automatic visual inspection, automatic terminal processing, etc. on the automatic inspection line in the range indicated by A, and is transported to a boxing station by the case carrying lower conveyor 4. 5, and the cheese 6 transported by the main conveyor 10 is packed into the cardboard case 3. The above-mentioned boxing station 5 is connected to the above-mentioned main conveyor 10.
For example, the number of cheeses 6 is equal to or greater than the number of varieties of cheese 6 produced in one day, and in this embodiment, six cheeses are provided. Since these packaging stations 5, 5, 5, . . . have the same structure, to explain one of them, the boxing stations 5, 5, 5, etc. are connected to the lower conveyor 4 for transporting cases. The lower conveyor 5b temporarily stores empty cardboard cases 3, and the upper conveyor 5a receives the cardboard cases 3 packed with a predetermined number of cheeses 6 and conveys them to the upper conveyor 7 for carrying out the cases. It is. Further, 5c is a lifting device for the cardboard cases 3, which receives and raises the empty cardboard cases 3 stocked on the lower conveyor 5b mentioned above at the lowered position, and performs the boxing operation at the raised position. The device 5C is equipped with positioning means (not shown) for receiving and unloading the cardboard case 3 described above. Reference numeral 8 denotes a partition plate with a beg to prevent the cheese 6 from moving when the cheese 6 is packed in a box.In the case of the boxed example shown in FIG. A partition board 8 with two pegs is used. The peg-equipped inner partition plate 8 is arranged at each of the boxing stations 5, 5.5.
Temporary partitions with begs 8, 8 suitable for each type of...
, 8, . . . are exclusively provided. Further, 9 is a boxing machine, 9a is a grip type hand that grips the cheese 6 conveyed by the conveyor 10 and transfers it into the cardboard case 3, and 9b is a grip type hand that transfers the inner partition plate 8 with a vag. It is a suction type hand. Then, the boxing machine 9 operates each boxing stage 5, 5.5, .
It may be a mobile type that traverses between ..., or it may be a mobile type that traverses between
It may also be a fixture that is installed one by one. The main conveyor 10 described above has the function of transferring the cheese 6 onto a pallet 11 and conveying it, conveying the cheese 6 to each working section of the inspection section and the packaging section, and stopping and positioning as necessary. The main conveyor 10 has two stages, upper and lower. The upper conveyor 10a is for conveying cheese 6, and the lower conveyor 10b is for returning empty pallets 11 without cheese 6. Lifting device 10c at both ends
．． 10c is provided to transfer the pallets l1 between the upper and lower stages.Although any type of conveyor may be used as the main conveyor 10, a free flow conveyor is practical. 12 is the cheese 6 that was determined to be defective by the above-mentioned inspection section A.
In the discharge line 12, the defective cheese 6 is transferred to the discharge line 12.
The pallet 11 is discharged from the yarn by a robot 13 provided at the main conveyor 10 and returned to the main conveyor IO. Since this embodiment is structured as described above, the cheeses 6, 6, 6, etc. are brought in in units of several dozen pieces by an automatic guided vehicle worker.
... is a pallet on the main conveyor 10 by the transfer machine l4}
11. 11. They are transferred one by one to the inspection section A, where they are subjected to various inspections and processing, and defective products are discharged from the discharge line 12 to the outside of the thread. Good quality cheese that passed inspection6.6,6,...
are transported by the main conveyor 10 to the vicinity of the boxing station 5 of the corresponding product, and arranged in a boxing arrangement determined for each product, for example, in units of 3 in the case of 3 products x 2 rows x 2 tiers. Thereafter, the three pieces are gripped at the same time by the grip type hand 9a of the boxing machine 9, and boxed into the cardboard case 3 on the boxing station 5 of the corresponding product. This above-mentioned cheese 6
The purpose of packing in rows is to ensure the pushing capacity, which will be described later.If the pushing capacity is sufficient, it may be possible to pack in individual pieces. The cardboard cases 3 packed with a predetermined number of cheeses are sent to the next process by the upper cheese delivery conveyor 7. Next, the lifting device 5C of the packaging station 5 descends to receive the empty cardboard cases 3 stocked on the lower conveyor 5b, and is raised again to correct the positional accuracy of the cardboard cases 3 using a positioning device (not shown). to complete the packaging preparation. Next, the suction type hand 9b of the cartoning machine 9 suctions the partition plate 8 with pegs, and after setting the partition plate VI8 with pegs on the bottom of the cardboard case 3, the grip type hand 9
The boxing work of cheese 6 is started again by step a. When the first stage of boxing is completed in the restarted boxing work, the boxing work is temporarily stopped, and the inner partition plate 8 with a vag is placed on the top of the first stage of cheeses 6, 6.6 using the suction type hand 9b. Set it up and start packing again. By repeating the above-mentioned boxing work for several cases, cheeses of the same variety 6, 6, 6, brought in by one automatic guided vehicle 1,
. . . will all be packed in boxes, but in reality, in most cases, the packaging ends with less than the predetermined number of boxes, that is, a fraction. When the packaging of the same variety is completed, the cardboard case 3 containing the fractional roasts described above is left as is at the same boxing station 5, and the boxing machine 9 packs the newly brought in variety different from the above-mentioned variety. It moves to the corresponding boxing station 5 and starts the same boxing work as described above, but as a matter of course,
Case 3 of the newly brought in new variety is also in a fractional state. Therefore, a control device (not shown) such as a sequencer is used, and this control device controls each boxing stage 5.
The fractional state of the cardboard case 3 above is memorized, and using this information, the necessary movement/operation instructions are given to the cartoning machine 9, and the grip type hand 9a adjusts the number of pieces of cheese 6 to be gripped according to the instruction, and places it in the required position. Any device may be used as long as it has the function of freely transferring the cheese 6. And, to be more specific, 3
In the packaging format of 2 pieces x 2 rows x 2 tiers, if the previous boxing was completed with the 2 pieces in the 2nd row packed in the first stage, the initial number of boxes to be restarted is 1 piece. This position is the missing part in the second row, and is a control device that has the function of controlling and operating to satisfy this condition. ° Cheese 6, 6, 6.・・・・・・ was brought in, inspected,
The series of operations until the packed case 3 is packed in a box and taken out is as described above. If there is, there will be wasted time for the entire automated line. The reason for this is that during the work at the packing station 5, the time for replacing the cardboard cases 3 and the time for setting the partition plate 8 with pegs can be considered as essentially stopping the boxing work. If the throughput per unit time is the same, the above-mentioned downtime will be a waste of time, and the cheese 6 will accumulate on the main conveyor 10 during this time. As a countermeasure to the above problem, the processing capacity per unit time of the boxing section B is set to be larger than that of the inspection section A, so that the cheese 6, 6, 6, which accumulates during the suspension of the packing operation. . According to this embodiment, packaging stations 5, 5.5.
Since the number of cheeses flowing at that time is greater than or equal to the number of cheese varieties flowing at that time, for example, daily varieties, when a fraction of the same variety occurs, it can be left as it is on the relevant boxing station, When the same type of product as above is transported, it is only necessary to restart packing in the abandoned case, and there is no wasted time caused by rounding.
It is possible to improve the throughput of the line. For example, when one piece of cheese 6 can be inspected in 5 seconds, the throughput of the boxing section B is 146
00 pieces/24 hours, but in the conventional pallet stock method, when the number of boxes packed N=12 pieces and the number of pieces in a lot is 24 pieces, the time is about 10,000 pieces/24 hours. In addition, in this embodiment, unlike the conventional method, there is no need to put the cheese in and out of the pallet stocker, etc., and the cheese 6, 6, 6, etc.
Because the flow of ... is simple and unified at any time, high reliability can be ensured.Furthermore, since the number of lines is small, the equipment cost is low, and the investment efficiency is high. 24 due to the high reliability as described above.
It is possible to convert to an unmanned system that can operate continuously for hours.

【Effect of the invention】

The automatic packaging method according to the present invention is a high-mix, low-volume production method,
and in an automatic boxing method on an automated line that processes workpieces of the same type in lots, a boxing station of a type larger than or equal to the type of workpieces to be carried into the automated line is placed near the conveyor of the automated line that transports the workpieces. , so when the above-mentioned workpieces are packed in the case on the boxing station, if the workpieces brought in in the above-mentioned unit do not fill the predetermined number of cases and a fraction is generated, Even if the fractional cases are left as they are on the station, it will not interfere with the packaging of workpieces of different types that are later transported in lots. The fractional state of the left case is memorized, and when the same type of workpiece is brought in again, the boxing is restarted according to the memorized state. Not only is there no need to carry out wasteful work such as moving the cases to another position or transporting the fractional cases to the boxing station again when restarting, it also eliminates the need for the wasteful work mentioned above. Since this is not necessary, the flow of work flowing through the line can be simplified and unified, increasing processing capacity and ensuring high reliability of work.
As a result of the above, complete automation is possible.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

The drawings show an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 1 is a plan view of an automatic packaging line, FIG. 2 is a sectional view of a packaging station in the automatic packaging line, and FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the packaging station in the automatic packaging line. FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the main conveyor section, and FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of a conventional boxing device. 1: Automatic guided vehicle 3: Cardboard case 5, 5, 5,
: Packing station 6, 6,...: Cheese 9: Packing machine 10: Main conveyor 11: Pallet

Claims (1)

[Claims] In a box packaging method on an automated line that processes workpieces of the same type in lots in a high-mix, low-volume production system, the type of workpiece to be carried into the automated line is placed near the conveyor of the automated line that transports the workpiece. The above-mentioned boxing station is provided, and a boxing device is provided for packing the workpieces on the conveyor into the cases on the boxing station, and the last workpiece of the type of one lot brought in is placed in the case. When the predetermined number of pieces is not met and a fraction is generated, the cage is left as is at the boxing station, the fraction state is memorized, and when the same type of work as above is carried in at an angle, the above case is carried out. An automatic boxing method characterized by controlling so as to instruct restart of packing according to the fractional state.