JPH0422776B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Purpose of the Invention (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention is directed to, for example, a tray packaging machine for fresh food, in which an article is transferred from an article supply device onto a supply tray (with items stored in the tray). This relates to a positioning device for objects (injected objects).

(Problems to be solved by conventional techniques and inventions) Conventionally, as this type of packaging machine, for example,
There is one shown in Publication No. 58-90010. In this packaging machine, when the tray on the product holder device is pushed up to the packaging position from a state in which the packaging film stretched in the packaging section is held by both front and rear pressing members at both edges in the width direction, The packaging film is stretched to cover the tray from above, and then the packaging film is folded by a folding device below the tray to package the tray.

That is, in the folding device of this packaging machine, the rear folding member moves in the front and rear directions relative to the fixed front folding member to approach and separate from each other, and the rear folding member moves in the front and rear direction with respect to the rear folding member. At the same time, the rear folding members move forward and backward with respect to the rear folding member to approach and separate from each other, and both the left and right folding members open and close each other below the rear folding member as they move back and forth, and A supply holder provided upright on the item holder device can be tilted inward by contact with the rear folding member and both left and right folding members. When the rear folding member moves forward and the left and right folding members are closed together, these folding members push the packaging film toward the bottom of the tray on the supply tray, and the same It makes contact with the pedestal and tilts it. When the article receiving device moves downward at the same time as this tilting, the tray is sequentially placed on the rear folding member from the rear side of the lower surface, and the packaging film is folded under the tray from both rear and left and right directions. Thereafter, when the tray is conveyed forward by the rotation of the conveyor belt and transferred from the rear folding member to the front folding member, the packaging film hits the front folding member on the underside of the tray during the transfer, and the packaging film hits the front folding member and moves forward. The tray is also folded in from the bottom, and the folding from the rear is overlapped with the folding from both the left and right directions, and the folding from the front is further overlapped to form a folded portion at the bottom of the tray. Next, the rear folding member retreats, and as the rear folding member retreats, the left and right folding members also open from each other.

In this case, as mentioned above, folding from the front is performed by folding from both the rear and left and right directions, and then the tray is transported forward and the packaging film hits the front folding member, so a good packaging condition can be maintained. In order to achieve this, it is necessary to set a reference position near the inner edge of the front folding member so that the front end of the tray is always positioned at this reference position regardless of its longitudinal width.

In this packaging machine, the direction in which the trays are transferred on the product supply device and the direction in which the trays are carried out in the packaging section are opposite to each other. is provided, and when the traveling member stops, the tray stops on the article receiving device and is positioned so that the front end of the tray is directly below the reference position of the packaging section.

However, even if the traveling member stops, there is a risk that the tray may slip on the article holder device and overrun the reference position. Some pedestal devices are provided with a stopper member. This stopper member is biased by a spring so that it can respond to changes in the front and back width of the tray.

However, since the weight of the items varies,
In order to prevent all items from overrunning, it is necessary to adjust the elastic force of the spring according to the weight of the items, which not only complicates the adjustment structure but also makes the adjustment work very troublesome. .

Therefore, the present invention provides a stopper member that moves while the article is in contact with the article, and stops the stopper member by detecting the front end of the article, thereby reliably positioning the article. .

Structure of the Invention (Means for Solving the Problems) That is, the present invention provides an article 23 transferred from the article supply device 1 onto the supply tray 6 of the article tray device 5.
an article stopper member 13 supported so as to be movable back and forth along the transfer direction A; and an article stopper member 13 provided in front of the article stopper member 13;
Rear end 24 of item 23 being transported backwards towards
an article detecting means 21 that transmits a first detection signal when detecting b, and transmits a second detection signal when detecting the front end 24a of the article 23;
Drive means 16, 17, 1 for moving the article stopper member 13 back and forth between an initial position close to the article detection means 21 and a predetermined position at the rear;
8, 19, drive means 16, 17, 18, 19 based on the first detection signal of the article detection means 21, and drive means 16, 17 based on the second detection signal of the article detection means 21. ,1
8 and 19, and sets the transfer speed of the article 23 transferred from the article supply device 1 onto the supply tray 6 to be higher than the speed at which the article stopper member 13 moves backward. , at least before the second detection signal is transmitted, the article 23 is moved toward the article stopper member 13 moving toward the rear.
The rear ends 24b of the two are in contact with each other.

(Function) With the above configuration, in the present invention, when the article detection means 21 detects the rear end 24b of the article 23 being transferred backward toward the article stopper member 13, the first detection signal is transmitted. Based on the first detection signal, the control unit 22 controls the driving means 16, 17,
18 and 19 are driven. Then, the rear end 23b of the article 23 comes into contact with the article stopper member 13 which moves backward based on the speed difference, and both 13 and 23 continue to move while in contact with each other. When the article detection means 21 detects the front end 24a of the article 23, a second detection signal is transmitted, and based on this second detection signal, the control section 22 controls the drive means 16, 17,
18 and 19 are stopped. As a result, the article stopper member 13 is also stopped, and the article 23 that has been moved in contact with the article stopper member 13 is positioned on the supply tray 6.

(Example) An example of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the article feeding device 1 uses a conveyance system using round belts 2, and the article is transported under each round belt 2 that is stretched between a driving roller 3 and a driven roller 4 at the rear end. A pedestal device 5 is provided so as to be movable up and down. A supply holder 6 is tiltably supported on the article holder device 5, and the holder 6 is designed to pass between the respective round belts 2 and rise. This embodiment is installed in a model in which the direction of transport of the tray on the product supply device and the direction of transport of the tray in the packaging section are opposite to each other, as shown in, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 58-90010. , article supply device 1
For example, as the article holder device 5,
Please refer to the one described in Publication No. 1667819.

Next, the article positioning device provided on the article holder device 5 will be described in detail.

A guide plate 8 attached to the machine frame 7 has a rail hole 9.
A support plate 11 is attached to a pair of guide rollers 10 that are fitted into the rail hole 9 so as to be movable in the front and rear directions. This support plate 1
A support rod 12 is attached to the front end of the support frame 12 so as to extend in the left-right direction, and six stopper members 13 are attached to the support frame 12 so as to extend forward in parallel with each other. The contact portion 13a is bent downward. Further, a limit switch 14 is mounted on the guide plate 8, and a limit switch 14 is attached to the support plate 11.
It is adapted to be turned on and off by an engaging member 15 attached above.

A drive motor 16 is attached to the machine frame 7 above the guide plate 8, and between a drive pulley 17 attached to its output shaft 16a and a driven pulley 18 supported above the drive roller 3. A timing belt 19 is stretched around the belt. The support plate 11 is attached to the timing belt 19 via a connecting portion 20, and is configured to reciprocate in the front and rear directions along the rail hole 9 as the timing belt 19 rotates forward and backward. The drive motor 16, drive pulley 17, driven pulley 18, and timing belt 19 constitute a drive means for moving the article stopper member 13 back and forth.

A sensor 21 as an article detection means is installed on one side of the article supply device 1 slightly in front of the article pedestal device 5.
(Photoelectric switch) is installed.

As shown in FIG. 3, detection signals from the article detection sensor 21 and the front limit switch 14 are input to a control section 22, and the control section 22 drives and controls the drive motor 16 based on these input signals. .

Now, the item 23 placed on the item supply device 1
(The items stored in the tray 24) are transported rearward by the round belt 2 toward the item stopper member 13. The article stopper member 13 has first and second
As shown in the figure, it is stopped at an initial position slightly behind the article detection sensor 21, and in this state the limit switch 14 is pressed by the engagement member 15. Note that the article supply device 1 is constantly driven during packaging.

As shown in FIG. 4a, while the item 23 is being transferred, the rear end 24b of the tray 24 is
When detected, the control unit 22
drives the drive motor 16, and the article stopper member 13 moves in the same direction as the transport direction A of the tray 24 at approximately half the transport speed of the tray 24.
Therefore, immediately after the article stopper member 13 begins to move, the rear end 24b of the tray 24 comes into contact with the abutting portion 13a of the article stopper member 13, and they move in this abutting state. In this way, the stopper member 13 receives the moving article 23 while running away from it, so that the impact generated when the stopper member 13 and the article 23 come into contact is alleviated.

Thereafter, when the article detection sensor 21 detects the front end 24a of the tray 24 as shown in FIG.
is stopped, the article stopper member 13 is also stopped, and the tray 24 is positioned there. At this time, the article 23 is stopped along the abutting portion 13a of the stopper member 13, so that it does not tilt. In this positioning state, the front end 24a of the tray 24 is directly below the reference position of the packaging section described above.

Next, the article pedestal device 5 is raised to place the article 23 on its supply cradle 6, and the article 23 is transported to the packaging section where it is packaged. After packaging, the article holder device 5 is lowered and returned to its original state as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.
During the descent of the article pedestal device 5, the control section 22 reversely rotates the drive motor 16, and the article stopper member 13 moves forward. When the limit switch 14 is pressed again by the engaging member 15, the control section 22 stops the drive motor 16 based on the detection signal, and the article stopper member 13 returns to the initial state shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.

In particular, in this embodiment, the articles 23 move in the same direction while in contact with the stopper member 13, and then the article detection sensor 21 detects the front end 24a of the tray 24 and stops the stopper member 13. Therefore, even if the front-to-back width of the tray 24 varies, the front end 24a always stops at a fixed position depending on the front-to-back width, and if the position is adjusted so that it is directly below the reference position of the packaging section, the items 23
positioning can be performed reliably.

In the embodiment described above, the stopper member 13 always returns to a certain initial position and starts moving when the article detection sensor 21 detects the rear end 24b of the tray 24, but this is because the front and rear widths of the tray 24 are different. The tray 24 is designed to be able to come into contact with the stopper member 13 in a constant state at all times, but this is not necessarily necessary. Further, the stopper member 13 may be stopped immediately after the front end 24a of the tray 24 is detected, or may be stopped after a certain period of time.

On the other hand, although it is not directly related to the gist of the present invention, in the above-described embodiment, a sensor (for example, a photoelectric switch) is used to detect the longitudinal width of the tray 24 on the article placement section at the front end of the article supply device 1. In addition, a sensor for detecting the position of the stopper member 13 (for example, the rotation of the output shaft 16a of the drive motor 16 is detected by a potentiometer) is provided. ), the positional data of the stopper member 13 with respect to the front and rear width of the tray 24 is stored in advance,
It is also possible to control the drive motor 16 so that the position data of the stopper member 13 matches the stored position data.

Effects of the Invention In short, according to the present invention, the stopper member 13 is stopped by using the detection of the front end 24a of the article 23, so even if the front and rear widths of the article 23 are different, the front end 24a is related to the front and rear width of the article 23. It is possible to always stop at a fixed position without any trouble, and to reliably position the article 23.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partially cutaway plan view showing the article positioning device according to this embodiment, FIG. 2 is a partially cutaway side view, FIG. 3 is an electrical block circuit diagram of the device, and FIG.
Figures a and b are action explanatory diagrams. Product supply device...1, Product pedestal device...5, Supplied product pedestal...6, Product stopper member...13, Drive motor constituting drive means...16, Drive pulley...17, Driven pulley... ...18 and timing belt...19, article detection sensor as article detection means...21, control unit...22, article...2
3. Front end of the item...24a, Rear end of the item...24
b.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. An article stopper member 13 supported so as to be movable back and forth along the transfer direction A of the article 23 transferred from the article supply device 1 onto the supply tray 6 of the article tray device 5; provided in front of the article stopper member 13;
A first detection signal is transmitted when the rear end 24b of the article 23 being transferred backward toward the article stopper member 13 is detected, and a second detection signal is transmitted when the front end 24a of the article 23 is detected. an article detecting means 21 that detects the article stopper member 13;
Drive means 16, 17, 1 for moving back and forth between an initial position near to a predetermined position at the rear.
and drive means 16, 17, 18, 19 based on the first detection signal of the article detection means 21, and drive means 16, 17 based on the second detection signal of the article detection means 21. . and a rear end 24b of the article 23 comes into contact with an article stopper member 13 moving rearward at least before the second detection signal is transmitted. Equipment for positioning goods on top.