JPH05139405A - Method and device for encasing flexible bag - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To facilitate tight encasing with simple and inexpensive mechanism, by shortening the conveying interval of a number of packaged products by temporarily holding them on a transport conveyer, and by pushing up each package from the beneath to tilt it to head-down position followed by encasing with lifting the rear end of each package. CONSTITUTION: A large number of packaged products S are sent in tandem by a plurality of belt conveyers 5, 5', converted in their direction at each turn table 6, 6', and transported in parallel by a plurality of accumulation conveyers 7, 7'. In this case, at the discharge end of each accumulation conveyer 7, 7, each packaged product S is temporarily stopped by a stopper (not illustrated here) to shorten the sending interval of each packaged product S. In this condition, the rear part of each packaged product is pushed up by pushers 10-10' to tilt each product to head-down position. Further, the rear part of each packaged product is held up by each absorption unit 18-20. The products are encased into a shipping box in a condition that the front end and rear end of adjacent packaged products S are heaped up.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention is an apparatus for tightly storing a large number of packaged products in a cardboard box or the like so that gaps are not formed as much as possible. At that time, by pushing up the bagged product conveyed by the conveyor from below,
After each of the bagged products is inclined downward to the front,
While gripping and lifting the rear portion of the inclined bagged product by the suction unit having a vacuum mechanism that waits above each bagged product, in an outer box provided within the movable range of the suction unit, The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for packing boxes in which the rear ends and the front ends of adjacent bagged products are partially wrapped with each other.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A soft packaged product (hereinafter referred to as a bagged product) in which snack foods such as potato chips and popcorn are packed in a bag (hereinafter referred to as a bagged product) when the product is transported, stored or handled. Packing and packing in an outer box such as a cardboard box are performed.

Conventionally, most of the snacks mentioned above have the property of being brittle and easily broken, and therefore, when packing them in a box, cracking of the product as shown in FIGS. 1 (A) and (B) is required. In order to prevent this, a packaging method of enclosing a predetermined amount of air, nitrogen gas 3 or the like in the bag 1 together with the product 2 is adopted. Moreover, in packing the bagged product in the outer box 4, as shown in FIG. 2 (A), the bagged product S is adhered to the box 4 as closely as possible so that no gap is formed between the bagged products S. It was necessary to let it be packed. As for the products that contain air or gas as described above in the confectionery packaging process, when the temperature of the products decreases after bagged, the bags gradually shrink and the bulk becomes smaller, so initially in the box. The bag-packed product that was tightly packed in the container is also shown in Fig. 2 over time.
This is because, as shown in (B), the box may be in a scraped state. Further, the air or gas enclosed in the bag is unavoidable to gradually escape during the distribution process, although it depends on the sealing property and sealing property of the bag itself.

By the way, as an apparatus for automatically packing bag-filled products in a box, for example, Japanese Patent Publication No. 62-251302, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 60-23105, and EPC Patent No. 0242758,
U.S. Pat. No. 4,800,703, U.S. Pat. No. 4,77
Various disclosures are made by US Pat. No. 6,148, US Pat. No. 4,611,458 and the like. These are such that the bag-filled product is hoisted upward through a suction pad and then packed in a box. Further, the present inventors, even after the bag itself has been contracted after the bag-filled product is first housed in the box,
A method and device for boxing are proposed while aligning the bagged products in a partially overlapped state so that no gap is formed between the bagged products S (JP-A-3-85205).
issue).

However, in this apparatus, after the bagged products conveyed on the conveyor are aligned in a horizontal line, the bagged products are lifted upward through the suction pad, and then the bagged products are separated from each other. Put them together in the center so that they partially overlap, and then drop the packed items in the gathered state to the placing surface while maintaining the hanging state without dropping by their own weight into the open outer case. The method was to successively stack multiple layers in the case.

[0006]

Therefore, in the apparatus of the above-mentioned Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 3-85205, when a bag-filled product is packed in an outer case, the bag-filled product is lifted by a movable suction unit, and this is mainly used. Since it is necessary to integrate the cam floor, the cam floor, the cam floor rail, and the suction unit need to be moved in parallel, and it is unavoidable that the mechanism may be somewhat complicated.

In view of the above-mentioned circumstances, the present invention collects the suction pads at the center so that the bag-filled products partially overlap each other when the bag-filled products are lifted up through the suction pads. Instead, by simply reciprocating the fixed suction pad back and forth, it is possible to package with the rear end and the tip of the adjacent baggage partially overlapped with each other so that the box can be packed. The purpose of the present invention is to propose an inexpensive and highly reliable boxing device with few failures.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a required number of bag-filled products while temporarily holding the bag-filled products supplied by an accumulator conveyor. By pushing up the bag-filled products from the bottom with the feeding interval reduced, the bag-filled products are respectively inclined downward to the front, and then a vacuum mechanism is provided for waiting above each bag-filled product. While gripping and lifting the rear portion of the slanted bag-filled product by the suction unit, the rear end and the tip of the adjacent bag-filled product are partially wrapped with each other in the outer box provided in the movable range of the suction unit. The present invention proposes a method for packing a bag-filled product, which is characterized in that the bag is packed in the left state.

Further, the apparatus of the present invention is provided with a stopper for stopping the bagged product at the discharge end of the accumulator conveyor for carrying the bagged product, and a succeeding bagging bag at the bottom of the accumulator conveyor. A plurality of pusher lifting devices, which also function as stoppers for the products and which push up the preceding bag-filled products in a slanting state in the vertical direction, are installed vertically at intervals in the traveling direction of the bag-filled products. , The accu
A detection device for detecting the bag position on the conveyor is provided near the side of the mullet conveyor, and the pusher lifting device is controlled by the signal of the detection device to move the pusher up and down. A suction unit that is provided on the upper part of the mullet conveyor and corresponds to the pusher lifting device, and that holds the rear portion of each bag-filled product pushed up by the pusher in a front-down inclined state by a vacuum mechanism to move up and down and reciprocate. It is characterized in that a unit is provided, and further, a device for inserting the bag-filled product is provided above the outer box of the bag-filled product provided within the movable range of the suction unit.

[0010]

Embodiments of the present invention will be specifically described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. As shown in FIG. 3 to FIG. 4, the bagged product S targeted by the present invention is a packaged product in which a predetermined number of the packaged products S are hoisted and transferred onto an outer box 4 such as a corrugated cardboard box for packing. As mentioned above, the bagged goods that are conveyed at a constant interval by the accumulator conveyor should be placed on the conveyor before the posture of the bagged goods is adjusted. After the slanted state is lowered, the bagged product is lifted upward while keeping the slanted state through suction pads 18a, 19a, 20a whose intervals are not changed from beginning to end, and then the bagged product is placed on the outer box. It is lowered to the surface and inserted into the outer box 4 in an open state so as to partially overlap each other with each other and stacked in a plurality of stages in the box.

FIG. 5 is an overall plan view showing an embodiment of the device of the present invention, and FIG. 6 is an elevation view thereof.

In the illustrated example, the bag-filled articles S, which have been conveyed in vertical rows by the belt conveyors 5 and 5'in a plurality of rows, can be changed in angle by 90 degrees by the turntables 6 and 6 '. Are fed to and transferred to the accumulation rate conveyors (roller conveyors) 7 and 7'of the above. That is, the bags supplied in a vertically elongated state by the belt conveyors 5 and 5'are rearranged horizontally by the turntables 6 and 6'and transferred to the accumulation rate conveyors 7 and 7 '.

The above-mentioned accumulation rate conveyors 7, 7
In the lower part and the upper part of ´, the bagged products conveyed on the conveyor are set in a state in which the feeding intervals of the bagged products are closed on the conveyor as described below, and the posture of the bagged products is set to the front. There is provided a device for inclining to a downward slope and a suction unit for waiting above the bag-filled items and transporting them to the outer packaging box. Reference numerals 40 and 40 'denote sheet magazines for outer boxes, 41 and 41' denote corrugated cardboard casers, and 42 and 42 'denote discharge conveyors.

FIG. 7 is a plan view showing the accumulation rate conveyor, and FIG. 8 is an enlarged side view showing the main part thereof. The illustrated accumulation rate conveyor is provided at its discharge end with a stopper 8 for temporarily retaining the bag-filled products supplied on the conveyor. Further, at a position upstream of the stopper 8, the pusher 1 for pushing up the bag-filled items is kept in a state where the feeding interval of the bag-filled items is closed on the conveyor.
A plurality of pusher lifting devices 9, 9 ', 9 "in which 0, 10', 10" are erected in the vertical direction are installed at intervals in the traveling direction (three in the illustrated example).

The pusher is composed of a plurality of protrusions (including rod-shaped or plate-shaped protrusions) 11, 12 and 13 having different heights and having a substantially branched upper portion like a hawk. The protrusions forming the pusher are driven and controlled by the pusher lifting device so that they can move from the bottom to the top of the conveyor as shown in FIG. 8 and vice versa. An air cylinder or a stepping air cylinder is used for the pusher lifting device. The pusher in the illustrated example has three protrusions that emerge from between the rollers as an example, and the height of these protrusions is such that the height of the protrusions gradually increases from the downstream side to the upstream side of the conveyor. I am configuring.

As shown in FIG. 9, each pusher is
When the bagged items temporarily retained by the stopper 8 on the accumulation rate conveyor are pushed up by extending the rod of the lifting device, the postures of the bagged items are almost horizontal when pushed up by the action of the projections 11, 12, and 13. Therefore, the slope is lowered from the front to the front. At this time, the projection 13 at the rearmost portion in the traveling direction also functions as a stopper that stops the bagged products that follow from the front so that they do not move forward and that the bagged products that have become inclined do not slip off.

As shown in FIG. 9, the interval l between the pushers is set to have a relationship of l ₀ > l when the length of the bag-filled product is l ₀ . Further, as will be described later, the interval between the suction units that stand by above each bag and hoist it and convey it onto the outer box may be the same as the interval 1 of the pushers. Needless to say, the suction position of the suction unit with respect to the bagged product is set to the rear side in the traveling direction with respect to the center position of the bagged product.

By the way, as shown in FIG. 7, on the upper side of the accumulation rate conveyor, a position detection by a photoelectric tube system is provided as an example of detecting the presence or absence of a bag on the elevating device corresponding to the pusher elevating device. Devices (hereinafter, simply referred to as photocells) 15, 16 and 17 are installed. This photoelectric tube detects the presence / absence of a bag-filled product on each pusher lifting device, and the detection signal sends the signal to the pusher lifting device, and the signal causes the pusher to rise between the rollers or fall between the rollers. Controlled by.

In the upper part of the accumulation rate conveyor, suction units 18, 19 and 20 are provided for lifting the rear part of each bag-filled product pushed up by the pusher in a slanting state to the front and transporting it to the outer box. There is. That is, the suction unit is reciprocably installed so as to stand by on the pusher lifting devices. When the pusher lifting device operates and the pusher pushes up the bag-filled product, this suction unit suction-holds the pushed-up bag-filled product via the suction pad. By the way, reference numerals 18a, 19a, 20a are suction pads, which are fixed so that the interval is not changed from beginning to end. The suction pads are attached to the lower portion of the suction pipes 21, 22 and 23 as a set of two suction pads, for example.

FIG. 10 and FIG. 11 show the details of this suction unit. Reference numeral 24 is a movable frame for reciprocating movement, and a pair of left and right guide rails 26, 26 attached to the upper beam member 25. It is configured to reciprocate in a direction (direction of an arrow shown in the drawing) at a right angle to the above-mentioned accumulation rate conveyor. The drive source can be set arbitrarily, and an actuator 27 such as an air cylinder is used as an example. In addition, the suction pipes 21, 22, 23
Air hoses 21a, 22a and 23a are connected to the upper part of the solenoid and the solenoid switching valves 21b and 22 are individually connected to the hoses.
b and 23b are connected. The switching valve is connected to an intake source (not shown) via a common air pipe 29.

In the figure, reference numeral 4 denotes an outer box provided within the movable range of the suction unit. In addition, a comb-shaped vertically movable pushing plate 31 that opens toward the suction unit is installed on the upper part of the exterior box. Reference numeral 32 denotes a support for the pushing plate, which is driven and controlled by a cylinder 34 via an elevating post 33 attached to the beam 25. Reference numeral 35 is a lifter provided in the outer box 4, and the bagged product lifted through the suction pad is conveyed to directly above the outer box in the open state while maintaining the inclined state, and the lifted state is maintained. While still keeping it, lower it to the mounting surface of the lifter 35,
After that, the lifter is lowered.

Next, the function and effect of the above embodiment will be described. As described above, the feeding interval of the bagged product temporarily retained by the stopper 8 on the accumulation rate conveyor is kept close, and the bagged product is pushed up by extending the rod of the elevating device, and the projections 11, 12, Thirteen
By the action of, the postures of the bag-filled items are inclined from the substantially horizontal state to the front downward direction when pushed up. that time,
The rear portion of the bag-filled product that has been pushed up is suction-held via a suction pad. As described above, the distance l between the suction pads is set to have a relationship of l ₀ > l when the length of the bag-filled product is l ₀ . The bagged product S is not only tilted up to but also conveyed with a mutual interval narrower than the length l _{0 of the} bagged product (FIGS. 8 to 9).
reference). Then, the bagged product is boxed through the pushing plate 31 and the cylinder 34 so as to be pushed into the outer box without being naturally dropped. At this time, the suction action of the suction pad is released simultaneously with the operation of the pushing plate.
As a result, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 11, the bagged products are partially overlapped with each other, that is, the bagged products are inserted into the box without being partially overlapped with each other like sashimi. .. Then, the bag-filled products are sequentially stacked in a plurality of stages in the box.

As described above, according to the present invention, the bagging is performed by using the cam floor or the cam floor rail without changing the interval between the adsorbing units, and by simply performing the parallel movement without changing the interval. The products can be inserted into the box without partially overlapping each other.

In the embodiment of FIG. 5, the bag-filled products S conveyed in a plurality of rows are not packed on the plurality of rows of accumulating conveyors at the intervals of feeding the bag-filled products, and the bag-filled products in each row are packed. Although an apparatus has been shown in which the posture of the product is inclined downward to the front and the product is hoisted and conveyed to the outer packaging box to be packed in the box, it is possible to apply it to a bagged product conveyed in a single row. Also, although a roller conveyor is shown as the accumulation rate conveyor, it is possible to use a multi-strand belt conveyor. Further, although each pusher may be pushed up to the highest point at the same time by the air cylinder, the operation of the air cylinder may be divided into a plurality of times, or each pusher may be raised individually. Furthermore, although the pusher in the illustrated example has three protrusions that emerge from and emerge between the rollers, the protrusion may be an L-shaped pusher including only the protrusion at the rearmost portion in the traveling direction.

[0025]

As described above, according to the present invention, the bagged product carried on the accumulation rate conveyor is
While temporarily staying on the conveyor, the bagged products are pushed up from below with the feeding interval of the bagged products being shortened, whereby the bagged products are inclined forward and downward, respectively. Since the rear portion of the bag-filled product is lifted and gripped by the suction unit and is conveyed right above the outer case to be packed in the box, compared to the method of Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 3-85205 filed previously, the suction units are The pushing plate has a simple shape without changing the interval, and therefore the mechanism is mechanically simple, which brings about an effect that reliable and stable operation with few failures can be obtained.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1A is a perspective view of a bagged product which is an object to be handled according to the present invention.

FIG. 1B is a sectional view of the same.

FIG. 2A is a partially cutaway perspective view showing an example of a state in which a packaged item is filled in an outer box.

FIG. 2B is a cross-sectional view showing another example of the same.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory view showing a state in which the above-mentioned bag-filled product is picked up and transferred via a suction pad.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory view showing a state in which the baggage that has been lifted up is filled in an outer box.

FIG. 5 is a plan view showing an embodiment of the device of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is an elevation view of the same.

FIG. 7 is a plan view showing an accumulation rate conveyor.

FIG. 8 is an enlarged side view showing the main part of the same.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram showing a positional relationship between a bag-filled product on an accumulation rate conveyor, a pusher for pushing the bag-up product, and a suction pad of the bag-filled product.

FIG. 10 is a plan view showing details of a suction unit.

FIG. 11 is a front view of an apparatus for filling the outer box with a bag-filled product from the suction unit.

[Explanation of symbols]

 S Bagging item 4 Cardboard case 5,5 'Belt conveyor 6,6' Turntable 7,7 'Accumulation rate conveyor 8 Stopper 9,9', 9 "Pusher lifting device 10,10 ', 10" Pusher 11,12, 13 Protrusions 15, 16, 17 Bag Position Detection Device 18, 19, 20 Suction Unit 24 Movable Frame 26 Guide Rail 27 Actuator 29 Air Pipe 31 Pushing Plate 33 Lifting Post 34 Cylinder 35 Lifter

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[Procedure amendment]

[Submission date] January 27, 1992

[Procedure Amendment 2]

[Document name to be corrected] Drawing

[Correction target item name] All drawings

[Correction method] Change

[Correction content]

[Figure 1]

[Fig. 2]

[Figure 3]

[Figure 4]

[Figure 5]

[Figure 6]

[Figure 7]

[Figure 8]

[Figure 9]

[Figure 10]

FIG. 11

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁵ Identification code Internal reference number FI Technical display location B65G 47/52 C 8010-3F 47/88 A 8010-3F 47/91 A 8010-3F 57/03 Z 7018-3F 57/04 7018-3F (71) Applicant 591210301 SSA Packaging Engineering, Consulting and Consulting PTE EW Ltd. S. A. PACKAGING EN GINEERING & CONSULT ANT PTY. LIMITED Australia 2230 New South Wales Wool-wear Churches Treat 3 (72) Inventor Seiichi Ako 2230 New South Wales Wool-wear Church Treat 3 (72) Inventor Fujio Waki 1812-2 Oshima-cho, Nishisonogi-gun, Nagasaki Prefecture

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A bagging product supplied by an accumulator conveyor is temporarily retained on the conveyor, and the bagging product is pushed up from below while the feeding interval of the required number of bagging products is shortened. After tilting the bag-filled products in a front-down inclined state, the rear portion of the tilted bag-filled products is gripped by an adsorption unit equipped with a vacuum mechanism that waits above each bag-filled product. While hoisting a bag, the outer box provided within the movable range of the suction unit is packed in a box with the rear end and the tip of the adjacent bag partially overlapped with each other. How to pack in a box. 2. A stopper for stopping a bag-filled product is provided at a discharge end of an accumulator conveyor for carrying the bag-filled product, and a stopper for a subsequent bag-filled product is also provided at a lower portion of the accumulator conveyor. In addition, a plurality of pusher lifting devices, each having a pusher for vertically pushing up the preceding bag-filled product in an inclined state of falling forward, are arranged at intervals in the traveling direction of the bag-filled product. A detector for detecting the position of the bag on the conveyor is provided on the side of the conveyor, and the pusher-elevating device is controlled by the signal of the detector to raise and lower the pusher. On the upper part of the mullet conveyor, the rear part of each bag-filled product, which corresponds to the pusher-elevating device and is pushed up by the pusher in a downward slope, is vacuumed.
A suction unit that is gripped by a moving mechanism and that moves up and down and reciprocates is provided, and a device that inserts the bagged product is provided above the outer box of the bagged product that is provided within the movable range of the suction unit. A device that packs bagging items into boxes. 3. A plurality of pushers configured to be able to move upward from below the conveyor and downward toward the bottom of the conveyor are erected on the upper portion of each pusher lifting device, and the pushers of each pusher are provided. 3. The apparatus for box-packing bag-filled products according to claim 2, wherein the height is such that the height is higher on the upstream side of the conveyor.